What is the title of your latest release? ROLAND ROGERS ISN’T DEAD YET What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A ghostwriter ghostwrites for a ghost. How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Stay with me here: The ghost in question is a recently deceased movie star named Roland Rogers, but no one knows he’s dead yet. Roland is trapped in some sort of purgatory, only capable of communicating through electronic appliances. Before his body can be found, he wants to reveal a closely held lifelong secret, so he reaches out to a struggling memoirist named Adam Gallagher for help. All of which is to say this book had to take place where you’d expect an A-lister to live, which is why it’s set in a cliffside Malibu mansion with obscene square footage. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Adam is a lot like me, so no. What are three words that describe your protagonist? Smart, sad, and stubborn. What’s something you learned while writing this book? I learned how much Calacatta marble countertops cost. Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I used…

1–What is the title of your latest release? NAPOLEON’S MIRAGE 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Epic and rich with well-researched detail, NAPOLEON’S MIRAGE is a novel of misguided ambition leading to brutal warfare, failures of cultural appropriation, and a military defeat that just may have changed the course of history. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Because I write historical fiction, my locations are largely determined by actual events and settings. As this is a sequel to BEYOND THE GHETTO GATES, part of the novel takes place in Ancona, Italy, so that the reader learns just how much Mirelle is in trouble with her Jewish community because of actions taken in the previous book. But most of it follows Napoleon’s military expedition, starting from Toulon where his massive fleet embarks, to Malta, Egypt, and then to Isarel. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? While I have four main characters, the bulk of the narrative is given over to Daniel, a young officer in Napoleon’s artillery. He is undergoing significant changes in his attitude toward war and to Napoleon in particular, moving from hero-worshipping the young general to…

1–What is the title of your latest release? BRIDE OF THE SHADOW KING is a re-release of an independent 2022 publication. Two years later, and it’s getting a whole new life as an Ace Books publication, complete with a gorgeous new cover. 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A princess suffering from chronic illness is forced to disguise herself as her beautiful younger sister and take her place in a political marriage with a dangerous troll king. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Ever since reading The Princess and the Goblin as a child, I’ve wanted to explore a magical, subterranean realm. So I made my hero a troll king (but a hot one, don’t worry!) and indulged in all things caves and magical crystals, bringing the Under Realm to life. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? For sure! Princess Faraine is modeled after two of my best friends (both of whom deal with similar forms of chronic illness). She is definitely someone I would be friends with in real life! 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Courageous, kind, compassionate 6–What’s something you learned while writing…

Book Title: DEVIL’S DEFENSE Character Name: Diane Myers How would you describe your family or your childhood? Normal, I guess.  Normal.  Mama and Daddy stayed together til death parted them. I have a sister, Denise, who’s three years older than me.  We get along okay, but we’re different.  She keeps a pretty big stick up her butt, always has.  What was your greatest talent? I can tie a cherry stem into a knot with my tongue. Significant other?  I married my true love, David, right out of high school, but he died in his thirties from pancreatic cancer.  Since then, I’ve just been enjoying myself. Biggest challenge in relationships?  Clingy men.  Where do you live?  I live in Ashton, GA, but not in the city limits.  Out north, towards Parksville. Do you have any enemies? (Laughs.)  Of course I do!  But they’re smart enough not to tell me. How do you feel about the place where you are now? Is there something you are particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place?  I’ve lived in Ashton my whole life.  The thing about a small town?  The town itself is part of your family.  Sometimes it irritates the fool…

Step into a world where ballet slippers are traded for renovation boots, and an old European coin holds the key to unexpected romance. In this week’s Jen’s Jewels, author Lindsay Gibson introduces us to THE CHRISTMAS COIN, a heartwarming tale set in the enchanting town of White Bridge, Connecticut. Through her protagonist Amelia Collins, Gibson weaves together the magic of holiday traditions, the challenge of starting anew, and the serendipitous nature of finding love when you least expect it. From snow-tubing adventures to caroling beneath a historic covered bridge, Gibson draws from her own Connecticut roots to create an authentic New England Christmas experience that will have readers believing in second chances—and perhaps a touch of Irish luck. Jennifer Vido: Amelia Collins’s shift from ballet dancer to home renovator is quite a leap! What inspired her to take this new direction, and what drew her to settle in White Bridge, Connecticut? Lindsay Gibson: Amelia’s grandfather always inspired her with how he’d reconstruct historical homes. She’d spend time as a child listening to him tell her all about the old homes he had been working on and found it interesting the way he’d preserve their structures. When her grandparents passed away,…

1–What is the title of your latest release? PUCK AND PREJUDICE (A Regals Hockey Romance #1) 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? When NHL goalie Tucker Taylor takes an accidental swan dive through time into the Regency era, he meets his match in Lizzy Wooddash, a woman whose life goals include: hanging with her cool friends like Jane Austen and avoiding marriage at all costs, or barring that…becoming a widow. A marriage of convenience with a time traveler seems like the perfect hat trick: she gets her future independent widowhood, he gets a place to crash while figuring out how to get home, and nobody catches feelings. But soon they’re catching feelings, and their perfectly practical plan begins looking about as solid as ice in August. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Since my Georgette Heyer fangirl phase I’ve loved Regencies, and setting the book in 1812 allowed me to place my characters right when Pride & Prejudice was being written. I love “How Did This Get Made” content, and I thought it would be fun to loosely play around with the concept of what might have inspired Austen as she was…

1–What is the title of your latest release?  PICKLEBALLERS  2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?  PICKLEBALLERS is a sporty, enemies to lovers rom-com. Think, The Hating Game, meets Dodgeball.  When Meg Bloomberg’s brief marriage implodes, her friend Annie drags her onto the pickleball courts to help boost her mood. Six months later, Meg is on the mend; loving her new pickleball community and even steaming up her car in a sexy encounter with a hot environmentalist. And all is well until…she finds out he is the same guy in charge of closing down her community’s pickleball courts to restore the wetlands. Hilarity ensues. And sexual tension, of course.  3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place?  I set a lot of the action on Bainbridge Island, a short ferry ride away from Seattle, mainly because that is where pickleball originated in 1965! Also, the Seattle area has been my home for thirty years, and I love the Pacific Northwest; the magnificent mountains, the brooding Puget Sound, and even the rain. All play a part in the story.  4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?  No way. She’s kind of strait-laced and…

Hi there! Misty Simon at your service bringing you the Mysteries on Monday! I’ve guest blogged here before and loved it. So, when they were looking for someone to do a monthly check in with recommendations, I was thrilled to get a chance to talk with you all on a more regular basis! Let me introduce myself a bit. From the beginning of my writing journey in 2000, I have always written sassier sleuths and spunky main characters. As Misty Simon I started with Ivy Morris, who was working hard to not be a door mat in the Ivy Morris Mysteries. Then I moved on to Mel Hargrove, who was making peace with the path her life was on, while corralling a junkyard full of ghosts in Adventures in Ghostsitting. Next came my big break at Kensington with Tallie Graver, who is looking for a second chance while making amends for her past in the Tallie Graver Mysteries. Moving back into paranormal too, I wrote The Magically Suspicious Mysteries, where we ride along with Verla Faeth and her friends at a Ren Faire where no one can do what they thought they were destined to do. Then in walks her…

Book Title: THE LAST AGENT IN PARIS Character Name: Noor Inayat Khan How would you describe your family or your childhood? My father was a famous Sufi teacher from India, and he travelled the world to build up a network of Sufi centers. But the hub of it all was our home in Paris, where I lived with my two brothers and sister and parents. But darling Appa died many years ago, and so it has been just the five of us since then. Ma is American. She’s from California. She had to cut herself off from her family to marry Appa, because they disapproved of her marrying a “wandering Indian fakir”, as they called him. But eventually he made well; he found fame, if not exactly fortune, and he created a wonderful home for us on the outskirts of Paris. We are a very close family, and it broke all our hearts when Appa passed away.  Appa had been strict, in a loving, caring way. We all learned to play musical instruments, and we spoke English, French and Hindi at home.When he died, I was thirteen and I had to be the mother of everyone, because Ma fell into…

Good afternoon to you all on this beautiful 21st of June, 1815. My name is Lady Petra Forsyth, and I am delighted to show you some of London. Oh! Yes, you are indeed correct, I am the daughter of the Earl of Holbrook. You may also have heard that I have announced my intention never to marry since I have a fortune of my own, and that is quite true as well. Nevertheless, whilst my papa prefers to live at Buckfields, which is his seat in County Suffolk, he entrusts me to the care and running of Forsyth House here in London. In Berkeley Square, which is located in Mayfair, within London’s city of Westminster, to be quite specific. But we must make haste on our tour, you understand, as certain parts of the city are already filling with people, and some streets may turn impassible. Why, have you not heard? The entire city is waiting with bated breath to hear if Wellington and his forces have finally defeated Napoleon, and word is expected sometime this evening. And if Wellington has succeeded, the Prince Regent shall declare three days of celebrations throughout the city. Now, I shall first take you…