Book Title: THE QUEEN OF SUGAR HILL Character Name: Hattie McDaniel   How would you describe your family or your childhood? We are full of love and joy. Unfortunately, love and joy don’t pay the bills, so we lived a life of abject poverty. My daddy was disabled from the war. He suffered some serious injuries – physically and mentally. That kept him from holding down a job. And since he was a proud man, that took its toll on him. The government wouldn’t even give Daddy his pension because he couldn’t produce a birth certificate. He was born a slave! His Master didn’t give him a birth certificate. Anyway, Mama tried her best to make ends meet, cookin’ and cleanin’ for white folks, but it was never enough. Me and my seven siblings lived in a three-room delipidated shack. But we learned to entertain ourselves to take our mind off the hunger pains rumbling in our stomachs. So I guess you could say that’s how the entertainment fire was lit inside of me.   What was your greatest talent? My perseverance and my ability to entertain.   Significant other? Ooooh, chile. Don’t get me started on that. Unfortunately, I…

SEAL’s Claiming, Coronado Team 2 Series, by Makenna Jameison Tempting the Earl, Book 1, Wright Bastards Series by Amy Sandas Chasing Kassie, Book 2, Serenity Mountain Series by Cassie Colton Thirst, Book 2, Jensen City Heroes Series Tori Ross Vampire Girl, Book 1, Vampire Girl Series by Karpov Kinrade Unrelenting Love, Book 1, Black Swan Series by KaLyn Cooper Starlight Dreams, Book 2, Starlight Hollow Series by Yasmine Galenorn The Dark Guest by Sarah Hamaker The Housemaid by Sarah A. Denzil Saving Easton, Book 2, Oakside Military Heroes Series by Kaci Rose The Deadly Series Box Set by Kate Parker Speed Rail, Book 3, Bridges and Bitters Series by Lainey Davis Devil’s Last Dance by Sam Crescent Prisoners of a Dark Night by Timothy Bryan Gamble’s Risk, Book 5, Riot MC Biloxi Series by Karen Renee The Witch Collector, Book 1, Witch Walker Series by Charissa Weaks Get In My Swamp: An Ogre Love Story, Book 1, Get In My Swamp Series by G.M. Fairy Cold As Ice, Book 4, Lakeshore U Series by L. A. Cotton Unlikely Omega, Book 1, Hunted Fae Series by Mona Black Her Mafia Protectors by Julia Sykes     Each Friday the Smashwords store…

1–What is the title of your latest release? IMMORTAL SECRETS 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Joanna Shepard knew her childhood home of Good Harbor wouldn’t be the same after her parent’s death, but she never would have associated it with danger. She returns to deal with the sale of her childhood home, but a sudden attack rips away the safety of a small town. The attack is the first of a series of events that expose dangers lurking in the dark. Lies told to her and her brothers by a beloved family member are revealed and they may be connected to the danger now threatening them. Jo finds herself a pawn in a struggle that is beyond her wildest imagination and she’s not sure who she can trust. Everyone has secrets, but Akantha, now living as Alex Thorne, has more than others. She put the conflicts in her long past behind her and focused on a quiet life on the coast of Maine with an adoptive family. The quiet she sought is shattered when she learns hostile forces are coming after her. She accepts help from her long-time love and sometimes enemy, Damianos, counting on him to…

1–What is the title of your latest release? My latest book is called GOOD TASTE. It came out in paperback in the US in November. 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? It’s set in 1932, at the time of the Great Depression, and the main character is Stella Douglas, a food journalist who has been commissioned to write a history of English cookery. Stella’s publisher wants this to be a book that will raise morale, that will make people feel good about their national story and their cuisine. But as she sets out on her research, travelling around the English countryside and speaking with the public, Stella discovers that this history is rather more complicated – and then she comes under the influence of certain people who have their own agendas and want to manipulate what she’s writing. It’s a book about food, about what it means to be English and it’s the story of a career-minded young writer trying to make her way in a society which still has lots of boundaries for women. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? This book takes the reader on a culinary tour around England,…

1–What is the title of your latest release? ALL RHODES LEAD HERE 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Following the end of her long-term relationship, Aurora de la Torre is going back to the small town in the mountains where she grew up. Too bad the man she’s renting a garage apartment from has no idea she’s moving in. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I’ve wanted to write a story in the town where I live for a few years and was just waiting for the right idea where I could incorporate the mountains and the kind of active lifestyle you can have in them, into. People move there to hike, to be out in nature, to live a slower pace of life. Rooting for a heroine who had turned into a “city girl” over the years while she tries conquering all those things seemed so much fun to me. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? It would be a pleasure. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Loving, likeable and resilient. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? Writing certain scenes can make me…

1–What is the title of your latest release? BELONGING   2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Spanning three decades, Belonging is about first love and heartbreak, friendship and secrets, family and forgiveness, hometowns and coming of age, and memory and music. The heart of the story is Jenny’s struggle to undo the binds of a childhood that have deeply affected her life, the painful path to love endured by children raised in alcoholic families, and the grim reality of believing you must hide a part of yourself in order to belong.   3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I grew up in Bakersfield, California and have always felt so much affection for the town, and the Central Valley in general. I wanted to explore the things that made it feel special to me, that were so stuck in my memory: the country music in the middle of California; the farmland, the flat horizon, and the river; the heat and the fog; the history; the food; the families who have been there for generations.   4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? I would! But I would probably rather hang out with…

Book Title: MAFIA STAR Character Name: Marco Mancinelli   How would you describe your family or your childhood? My childhood was more normal than most people would expect. Sunday dinners with at Uncle Salvatore and Aunt Sylvia’s, and usually Wednesday dinners rotated. I played wee sports and little league sports with the other syndicate families. We were friends until we each turned eleven. We used to shoot basketballs together, now we shoot bullets at each other.   What was your greatest talent? The ability to read people. I’ve lived to the ripe old age of 31 because I can tell who’s lying to me and who I can trust. My intuition buzzes when danger is around. Without it, I wouldn’t have lived long enough to meet Beth.   Significant other? Elizabeth – Beth only to me. I never imagined I would fall for my brother’s new sister-in-law. I never imagined two brothers would fall in love with two sisters. Biggest challenge in relationships?   Where do you live? Manhattan, but my family is from Queens. A couple generations back, we moved away from Brooklyn and the typical home of the Italian Mafia.   Do you have any enemies? Of course…

Book Title: SOOTHING THE BEAST Character Name: Sigurd. Interviewed at the end of the book, the second in the Noble Norsemen series   How would you describe your family or your childhood? Hard. I was orphaned at a very young age, so anything related to childhood is painful for me to recall. I was nicknamed “Beast” by the boys in the village and the name didn’t help me make new acquaintances, as you can imagine.   What was your greatest talent? I don’t know that it is a talent, but I managed to survive in the wild on my own despite my young age. I hunted for food, kept myself warm and fed, weathered the other boys’ taunts. I like to think resilience is one of my strengths. Other than that, I am the best swimmer I know. And of course, I’ve been told I am rather skilled in bed… (winks) But that’s probably not what you meant.   Significant other? Frigyth, a Saxon woman whom I call Birdie. The most entrancing woman in the world. I fell for her at first sight, and she then ensnared me further with her infuriating questions, her talent for making delicious food and…

What is the title of your latest release? WORK IT OUT   What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A Hollywood superhero transformation in a Southwestern Stars Hallow gym, with a chronic illness spin.   How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I’m a midwestern girl with Phoenix family. Arizona is one of the few places I’ve visited that leaving feels like homesickness. And of all its beauty, I think the Coconino National Forrest haunts me most. This way at least I can visit in my daydreams.   Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? Absolutely! Rayah is a badass who loves her chosen family more than anything. Combined with her sass and that ass… Who could resist?   What are three words that describe your hero? Punny, adorable, relentless   What’s something you learned while writing this book? I realized that I had yet to fully accept what having a dynamic disability means for me. Jake’s case is much like my own when I was that age. I pushed through things I shouldn’t have, called myself horrible names, listened to the whispers of doctors and gym teachers lingering in the…

Difficult by R.L. Mathewson The Ghost, Book 6, Ruthless Regency Dukes Series by Carole Mortimer Mercer, Book 17, Were Zoo Series by R.E. Butler Worlds Apart: A Novella by Elizabeth Hunter Ouch! My Vampire Doms Stole My Heart, Book 6, My Vampire Doms Series by Calista Jayne The Sports Quintet Series by M.E. Clayton Solomon’s Scrolls by Richard Turner The Crystal Spire, Book 1, Tales of Lor’Iylsar Series by Nicole R. Taylor Case of the Hobbit Heist, Book 19, Corgi Case Files Series by Jeffrey Poole I’ll Wait by Sandra Alex     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…