It is Penny’s first day of work, and she’s already running late, gasping and panting, with beads of sweat on the bridge of her nose. She had a celebratory dinner with her family yesterday before chatting the night away with her friends, hence the oversleeping. Today, the city is especially busy with locals and out-of-town sleep customers. Penny quickly pushes through the crowd, knocking shoulders and apologizing. She finally catches her breath when she arrives at the back alley of the Dallergut Department Store. She might just make it on time. As she steps inside the department store, she is greeted by an enormous throng of customers. At the lobby’s front desk, an employee is making announcements into a microphone. It is the same middle-aged woman Penny saw yesterday, who was busy on the phone. “Attention, new out-of-town customers. All costs are deferred! You may leave once you receive your dream! Hey, Dojicom siblings! That doesn’t apply to you. You guys come and pay first!” A young, freckled brother and sister get caught trying to sneak through the back door. They trudge toward the front desk. Penny is confused about whether she should go to Dallergut’s office first or…
Book Title: HAUNTED WARRIOR – Ravenscraig Legacy #6 Character Name: Graeme MacGrath How would you describe your family or your childhood? Aye, well, that would be a tale for a long, dark winter night, if you’d know the truth. There are also things better left unsaid. Someone you know as the author, wouldn’t appreciate me revealing certain aspects of my past. I can tell you that my family held sway at my ancestral home, Castle Wrath, for nearly as long as time exists. Wrath stood on a high cliff along a wild stretch of Scotland’s North Sea coast and remnants of its walls remain to this day. But I am the last of my line. It’ll have to suffice to know that I am descended from a long line of proud lairds and chieftains, powerful, courageous men who loved the sea with the whole of their hearts and loved their women and children even more. Sadly, we often fought on the wrong side of battles and made our share of enemies. Now, I’d best say no more—beyond adding that, to a MacGrath, little matters more than heritage, tradition, and the sea-washed shores of our home. What was your…
The Unfamiliar (Exclusive Excerpt) The Feral Ferret had a certain derelict charm about it. It was a place where songs and fistfights broke out in equal measure. A place where bets were lost, and friends were made. The kind of place where Elwyn might have pilfered her dues, back when she’d belonged to the Greyscale. It was not the kind of place she’d have ever visited for leisure. Far too many bodies crowded between those four wooden walls—fighting, dancing, more-than-dancing. A band of bards rollicked upon a makeshift stage in one corner, weaving an up-tempo reel for a mob of writhing revelers. Along the opposite wall, a belabored barman scurried frantically to and fro, filling orders for the impatient press of patrons. “Oh, rats.” Elwyn stepped back from the doorway. “It appears they’re far too busy to seat us. We’ll just have to wait outside for the others.” “Don’t be silly!” Aedyn tapped his lopsided circlet. “You forget who you’re with.” His confidence was insufferable. Unfortunately for Elwyn, it was also justified. The throng parted at the sight of his crown—the fae, with tipsy bows; the mortals, with cautious scowls. Elwyn had never seen so many of each intermingling…
Book Title: BLACK BIRD Character Name: Nik Byron How would you describe your family or your childhood? I’m the oldest of three, my other two siblings being a twin brother and sister. Only separated by one year, we were close, both chronologically and emotionally. As the oldest, it fell to me to organize activities and adventures for us as we grew older. We lived in a remote area of Michigan and the Great Lakes were our front yard. In the summertime, we swam, sailed, fished, and camped on the beach. In the fall, it was team sports, hunting and cutting wood to heat our home. In the winter, it was hockey, ice fishing, tobogganing and snowshoeing. Our parents were busy with their own lives — our father was a captain on a Great Lakes freighter and our mother a schoolteacher — and took a hands off approach to child rearing. With the exception of an occasional broken arm, busted front tooth or black eye, It worked pretty well all in all. It certainly made the three of us independent at a very early age. What was your greatest talent? Extracting my sibs from sticky, sometimes threatening, situations after blindly…
1–What is the title of your latest release? PAINTED MELODIES, which is Book 2 in my Lost Creek Texas Hill Country small-town contemporary series. Each book in the series reads as a standalone, but if you start from the beginning, you’ll run into familiar characters throughout the series. 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Will an artist leave everything behind—including her budding romance with a divorced coffeehouse owner new to town—to pursue a painting career beyond Lost Creek? 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I’m a native Texan, and my publisher, Tanya Anne Crosby, liked that I set my previous small-town series, Sugar Springs, in East Texas. She asked for me to bring readers back to Texas with my 2024 series. I decided I would head to the Texas Hill Country, which is considered the border between the American Southeast and Southwest. It’s known for its rugged hills, plains, and valleys—as well as numerous wineries—and I thought it would make for a scenic and interesting setting for a small town, with the action revolving around a family winery. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? AB-solutely! When I write…
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 Allison B. Hanson! Writes: Highlander Historical Romance – With cinnamon roll heroes that will melt your heart! About: I’m a project manager by day, and write most evenings and weekends, so spending quality time with me may be difficult. But when I have a minute, I enjoy riding my motorcycle, playing the drums, or running. I also like quiet walks on the beach and am addicted to Swedish fish. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: My ideal reader match for my latest book, HIS SECRET HIGHLAND BRIDE, must love… Secret identities that might cause a war A broken hero looking for the right woman to put him back together again A saucy heroine who doesn’t need saving Bickering siblings who know what’s best And, of course, the happiest of ever afters What to expect if we’re compatible: If we’re compatible, you may want to live in historic Scotland with the MacPherson clan, or even visit Clan MacKinley…
Hi! I’m Becky Dean, author of HEARTS OVERBOARD, and I’m excited to share a bit about my newest book. After a public breakup gets her labeled “Moore the Bore,” a seventeen-year-old decides she’ll use her mom’s company cruise to Alaska to try new things and prove she can be fun. She hopes to win back her ex, but when she gets unexpected help from her longtime rival, all her careful plans—and her heart—might go overboard. H is for Humorous – Expect awkward situations, mishaps, and lots of snark. E is for Exploration – The characters explore not only the beauty of the outdoors but themselves as well. A is for Alaska – The setting plays a big role in the story, and I hope readers feel immersed in the amazing location and it makes them want to take their own Alaskan cruise. R is for Rivals – One of my favorite romance tropes, longtime acquaintances who don’t get along but who learn there might be more to the person they dislike than they ever realized. T is for Tanner – Our hero, a football player who’s fun and outgoing and a bit of a daredevil. S is for Savannah…
1–What is the title of your latest release? UNTIL NEXT SUMMER 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Two former best friends reunite at their childhood summer camp for a nostalgic adults-only camp before it closes for good, where they rebuild their friendship, re-experience all their favorite camp memories, and each find love. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? We’ve been excited about setting a book at a summer camp ever since our first novel, THE BEACH TRAP, which opened with a flashback scene to Camp Chickawah, where our main characters met as kids. Readers loved that scene, and we decided we’d love to set an entire book at a camp—except make it an adult camp so there can be sexy scenes and adult beverages! We set the camp’s location in Minnesota because that’s where Alison went to summer camp when she was a kid. Alison’s dad helped us come up with the name of the camp—Camp Chickawah was the camp he attended as a child! 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Yes! We have two main characters: Jessie the camp director, and Hillary who returns to camp after…
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 Sabine Barclay! Sabine writes super steamy Mafia romance that will make your toes curl and your granny blush. Her newest book, MOB PRINCESS, is an erotic contemporary romance about two people from rival families but don’t know it until the sparks fly. Waring syndicates, angry relatives, and an attraction that can’t be ignored. About: Imagine curling up with a book that’ll make you grip your armchair when the plot twists surprise you and lust frustrates you. I love crafting stories that leave you wondering what’s going to happen next and longing to be the heroine with a suave hero who only has eyes for you. It’s never a straight path to the happily ever after… Though the action in and out of bed will leave you satisfied. So if we hit it off, remind me to tell you about how I started writing Mafia romance when I realized it’s modern day medieval romance. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader…
1–What is the title of your latest release? THE CONFIDENCE GAMES 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A modern-day Thelma and Louise meets Ocean’s 8 that follows the exploits of best friends and Europe’s most infamous swindlers, Emma and Nellie, who are blackmailed into stealing a priceless bracelet 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The book takes place mostly in London, with flashbacks set all over Europe. This might make me sound a bit nuts, but the heroine—Emma—just told me she was British and that was that 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Hell yeah! 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Heartbroken, brave, loyal 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? How to hack an email account (sort of) 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I usually write a short first draft (approx 50K), just to get the basic structure and sequence of the story clear in my mind. After a short break, I go back and edit this draft over and over (and over and over) until it feels ready to share with my agent and editor(s)…