Hello, Fresh Fiction Readers! I’m Alexa Aston, author of LOVE IN EVERY BITE. This is the 4th book in my small-town romance series Lost Creek, Texas Hill Country. Don’t worry – I write all my romances to read as standalones (and they are ALL available in Kindle Unlimited). Here’s a little bit about my hero & heroine: Ry Blackwood is a Lost Creek native, an army veteran returning home after a dozen years away. He’s eager to be back in Texas, working at his family’s legendary BBQ business, smoking meats. Emerson Frost is a teacher who has inherited the town’s bakery, turning her life upside down. She’s finding her feet as a business owner – and while attracted to Ry – she’s determined to concentrate on business and not pleasure. L is for love. Hey, this is a romance! But it will be hard for Ry, toughened by military action, & Emerson, a foster child, to speak those words to one another. O is for others. Both Ry and Emerson form close friendships with other people in Lost Creek, including the heroes & heroines from the previous three books. This chosen family of friends helps them both find a sense…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Danielle Bannister (who also writes under Dani Bannister)!   Writes: Fair warning. THE SAFEHOUSE, and the first book in The Captive Series, THE CAGE are NSFW. Or children. Or people who don’t like spicy scenes. Or those who don’t enjoy a hint of danger to their romance. This series is for slightly twisted readers. You know who you are.   About: Because the author is a Libra, she can’t help but have a light and a dark side, which is why she writes in sweet romance as well as sexy and suspenseful. As such, no matter your mood, she probably has something for you, especially if you like broken characters eventually finding their happily ever after they muck things up a bit first.   What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Someone who has read book one, THE CAGE (Otherwise they will be quite confused.) Is not disturbed by spicy content. Okay, a lot of spicy content. Loves a page-turner that will…

Book Title: DANCING WITH DANGER Character Name: Ruby Bell   Hi Ruby, it’s so nice to have you with us. Thank you so much for having me!   Let’s jump right in, shall we? How would you describe your family or your childhood? This is an easy one because my family is amazing! We are all super close, and they love and support me. They always have, even when my ideas are a little crazy. Dad is a principal at the local high school, and Mom is a preschool teacher. I have a brother who works as a history teacher at Dad’s school and is married to his high school sweetheart. He and his wife are expecting my first niece or nephew in the spring. I grew up in a small town in North Georgia where everyone knew everything about me. There were no secrets and getting away with mischief was nearly impossible. I think that’s part of why I moved away. Of course, my new home in Aloha Lagoon is just as tight knit. It doesn’t take long for news to get around!   Aloha Lagoon? Is that where you live now? Yes, I live in Aloha Lagoon, Hawaii….

1–What is the title of your latest release? ELIZABETH OF EAST HAMPTON 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A fresh and fun modern retelling of Jane Austen’s classic Pride and Prejudice that transports the story to summer in the Hamptons, where classes clash, rumors run wild, and love has a frustrating habit of popping up where you least expect it. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? It feels like the minute we decided to tackle a modern take on Pride and Prejudice, the Hamptons jumped out as the perfect spot. Like Hertfordshire in the original novel, the Hamptons sits just outside a bustling metropolis yet offers a small town feel where locals and those escaping the city regularly mingle. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely! Lizzy Bennet is a favorite literary heroine for a reason–I think almost anyone would want to be friends with her. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Bold, smart, and compassionate 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? Lizzy Bennet was so ahead of her time. Even though the original book was written over 200 years ago, she is still as…

1–What is the title of your latest release? CLICKBAIT 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Natasha is a journalist who’s just made a huge mistake, professionally and personally. It’s a mistake that cost her everything: her prestigious journalism job, her marriage, a lot of her friendships, and a great big chunk of her sanity. In self-imposed exile at the Rockaways on the edge of New York City, she now churns out clickbait stories for a tabloid obsessed with lurid tales of sex and death. Then her ex moves into the spare room — and a dangerous obsession begins. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I always write about the place where I’m currently living, so I knew the book was going to take place in New York. But I grew up in a cold country by the sea and I wanted an atmospheric backdrop for Natasha’s breakdown that underlined the isolation she’d brought upon herself. I always wondered what it might be like to live in one of those high-rises at Rockaway Beach during the off-season. I wrote how I imagined it and then, during edits, my amazingly dedicated copy-editor suggested I…

FREQUENT FLIERS main characters, Lanie Turner and Ridley Aronsen, sit for a brief interview.   How would you describe your family or your childhood? RIDLEY: (pauses) Fine. LANIE: It was just me and my mom, but during the summers, there were lots of people: my grandma and my cousins, Gem and Les… extended family, friends and neighbors. Mine was a small but very happy family. RIDLEY: That. Happy. LANIE: silence RIDLEY: Okay, maybe a little less supervised than hers, less structured or I suppose, supervised, but still happy. I had three older siblings and there was always some adult around to sort us out…eventually.   What is your greatest talent? LANIE: I can tie a cherry stem with my tongue. RIDLEY: (chokes) Well, then. Um, I can… LANIE: (nudges him): Say it. Come on, say it, say it, say it! RIDLEY: Alright, alright. I can wiggle my ears. I also have perfect pitch but for some reason, people are less impressed by that. LANIE: Because he doesn’t play an instrument! You don’t play an instrument and you refuse to sing.   Significant other? LANIE: (thumbs his way) RIDLEY: This beautiful woman beside me.   Biggest challenge in relationships? LANIE: He…

Book Title: MATTERS OF THE HEART Character Name: Declan Miller   How would you describe your family or your childhood? Big, noisy, crowded, loving . . . I have eight brothers and sisters so you can imagine just how loud it can get. Especially when we all get together for meals and holiday celebrations. Plus, us men are auctioneers, so we’re used to spewing words all over the place. You’d think the women folk would have a hard time getting a word in edgewise, but they hold their own pretty good. We’re really close. You have to be when you all work together. My brothers and I work with my dad in the family auctioneering business started by my grandpa. My mom has a general store on the farm where she and the girls sell produce, sewn goods, jams and other canned goods, etc. So, it’s one big family affair.   What was your greatest talent? It’s hard to say. I don’t like to toot my own horn—if I played a horn, which of course, I don’t. I’m a good auctioneer, maybe not as good as my older brothers Toby and Jason, but I do my best. Really the thing…

Dancing with Danger by Kimberly Griggs Seduced by the Sheikh, Book 2, The Sheikhs’ Convenient Brides Series by Diana Fraser Blast From the Past, Book 10, Tales of Lentari Series by Jeffrey Poole My So-Called Luck by Jennifer Fischetto Aria by Michael R. Hicks Played by Sandra Alex Handsome Devil, Book 3, Ascent of the Wicked Series by Rebecca Main Goddess Of The East, Book 18, Forgotten Gods Series by Laura Greenwood Pulse, Book 7, Medical Kidnap Files Series by P.D. Workman Phoenix, Book 5, Danger Bluff Series by Becca Jameson     Each Monday the Smashwords store lists the top ten most highly anticipated indie fiction ebooks based on the previous week’s preorder accumulations. Each title on the list is scheduled to release within the next week. To help the talented authors on this list accumulate even more preorders, click the title of the book. The hyperlink will bring you to a Books2Read page where you can order from your preferred ebook retailer. If the preorder is part of a series, click the hyperlinked series title to learn about the other books in the series. Be sure to check back Friday for a list of the Top 25 Bestselling…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE DARK WE KNOW 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? THE DARK WE KNOW is a queer YA horror about an art student who reluctantly returns to the haunted small town she ran away from, where she reunites with her estranged childhood friend to stop a supernatural evil that killed their friends two years earlier. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The setting, an old mining town buried in the mountains called Slater, sort of developed over time. I knew from the start it was going to be a secluded small town surrounded by forest, but in the first draft it was a generic mining town. Then at the encouragement of my agent and editor, it got progressively stranger and more isolated. I think as a writer I’ve also become more and more drawn to weird fantasy/horror, so if I wrote it again I’d probably push it even further. It’s vaguely American, but I didn’t want it to be anywhere you could exactly pinpoint. I wanted it to be a little folkloric and surreal, while also being grounded in real characters. 4–Would you hang…

What is the title of your latest release? PEACH TEA SMASH is the 28th book in my New York Times bestselling Tea Shop Mystery series. Though each book is written as a stand-alone, they all feature the same cast of characters. What’s the elevator pitch for your new book? Theodosia Browning, owner of the Indigo Tea Shop in Charleston, gets pulled into a grisly murder at the Mad Hatter Masquerade, a black-tie fundraiser for the Opera Society. When the police seem content to question only the board members, Theodosia’s fierce curiosity and sense of justice prompts her to launch her own shadow investigation. How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Since Theodosia owns a tea shop, it only stands to reason the mystery should take place in Charleston, SC, home of a 200-year-old tea garden. Also, Charleston is a highly atmospheric old city perched on a peninsula with haunted graveyards, hidden lanes, and old families with skeletons in the closet. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely! Theodosia is a girl after my own heart. She’s feisty, inquisitive, rides horses, loves sports cars, and doesn’t mind a bit of high fashion….