1–What is the title of your latest release? CASE OF THE BLEUS 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? When cheese shop owner Willa Bauer’s former employer, the enigmatic cheesemaker Max Dumas, dies, he leaves everyone in the cheese world scrambling to discover the secrets to his award-winning blue cheese. But when the cheesemonger expected to inherit those valuable secrets is murdered, Willa and her Team Cheese crew must race to decipher the riddles Max left in order to find the sought-after cheese and the murderer before Willa becomes the next victim. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I discovered a cheese trail map that follows a plethora of family-owned dairy farms, creameries, and cheese shops in northern California. Since the Sonoma Valley is primarily known for its wine, which happens to complement cheese, I decided it would be a great place for my fictional small town of Yarrow Glen. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely. I love mysteries and cheese, as does she, and she’s a loyal friend. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? loyal, confident, hardworking 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book?…

1–What is the title of your latest release? MURDER MOST ROYAL 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Queen Elizabeth II solves a Christmas crime at Sandringham, when she recognizes the ring on a severed hand. This time, it’s personal. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The first book in my series took place at Windsor Castle. Then it was Buckingham Palace and Balmoral. I’m following the Queen through her traditional year, so it was natural to end up at her Norfolk seaside estate of Sandringham. However, I had no idea North Norfolk was so beautiful and evocative, with its beaches and nature reserves, old churches, and little flint cottages. It was a joy to set the book there, and it gave me the idea for the murder and all the themes of the novel – which talk about our love of the land, who owns it, and our need to look after it for future generations. 4–Would you hang out with your sleuth in real life? In a heartbeat. Obviously, that’s not possible anymore. But I interviewed to work as her assistant private secretary in the 1990s and it was the job…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE DUKE GETS DESPERATE 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? An Arab-American woman unexpected inherits a rundown English castle and immediately clashes with the duke who lives there and insists the castle is rightfully his. Lots of angry kissing ensues in this classic enemies-to-lovers story. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I wanted a heroine from America and a duke from England because I really wanted to set up the clash between American ingenuity and English tradition. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely! 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Raya is smart, fierce, and determined. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I learned a lot about the causes of the decline of the great English estates, which often serve as the setting in many in historical romances. Nearly half of the grand homes have been demolished because the owners couldn’t afford the upkeep. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? Both! I usually go back over what I wrote yesterday before writing for today. When the first draft is…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE WAKE-UP CALL 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Two hotel receptionists – and arch-rivals – are forced to work together to return a collection of wedding and engagement rings discovered in the hotel’s lost and found. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The setting is so key to this book! It takes place in the New Forest, which is a beautiful area of the UK not far from where I live. The name is kind of misleading: the New Forest is very old, and it’s basically a huge swathe of woodland and heathland in the south of England, filled with wild ponies and deer and mossy riverbanks. I knew I wanted THE WAKE-UP CALL to be set in winter – I’d never written a wintery book before – and there is just something magical about forests in wintertime, so it seemed like the perfect moment to write about the New Forest. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Oh, absolutely. I think Izzy would be a pretty amazing friend, actually. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Sparkly, optimistic,…

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 Zoe Allison!    Writes:  Romantic comedy featuring strong, relatable heroines who you’ll root for and also want to be BFFs with. Plus hot, swoon worthy, emotionally intelligent heroes who are deserving of these awesome women.   My new book—THE EX-MAS HOLIDAYS—features a mixed-race heroine, Maya Bashir. People pleaser Maya is travelling home to the Scottish Highlands for Christmas, dreading having to tell her driven father that she’s lost her job, boyfriend, and apartment in one fell swoop. But when Maya stops off at a friend’s festive party, the last person she expects to encounter is her old flame and heart breaker, Sam Holland, who is serving drinks at the party—naked except for a tiny apron adorned with tinsel! Maya and Sam are forced together when she joins him as a fellow instructor at their local ski resort. However, working with your first love can be a slippery slope…   About:  Mixed-race Yorkshire woman living in Scotland. Author who does a bit of doctoring on…

Hey y’all! My Name is Kristen McKanagh and I’m so excited to be here today to share a little bit about my new sweet holiday romance SNOWBALL UNWRAPPED with Fresh Fiction’s fun Title Challenge. Featuring the ever-mischievous matchmaking cat Snowball, she really has her work cut out for her with a twin swap, a film crew arriving to do several holiday themed live shows, and another cat who is not so nice.   Let’s go….   S is for Snowball. The mischievous cat who is a holiday matchmaker for all her favorite humans. N is for No Way. A twin swap is happening y’all. O is for “Oh Christmas Tree.” Deck the halls with all the best holiday traditions in this cozy, sweet romantic escape. W is for Weber Haus. The Victorian mountain inn and shops where Snowball lives. B is for Ben. Co-host of Home & Hearth has no idea that the woman he thinks is his cohost is actually her twin sister. He just knows there are sparks now, when there never were before. A is for Angel. Another white kitty is on the scene, but if anything Angel is the devil in disguise. L is for LIVE…

1–What is the title of your latest release? UNLEASHED HOLIDAY 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? When an old rival reappears right before the holidays, a professional dog trainer must decide if the melting frost between them can make up for their ruff past. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? My hometown is incredibly quaint, and I thought a fictional town that mirrors the charm of it would be the perfect setting. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? 100% Although I’m not sure she’d want to hang out with me! (She’s a bit of an introvert.) 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Driven, optimistic, conflicted. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? There are three quarrelsome goats in UNLEASHED HOLIDAY, so I spent time getting acquainted with a crew of goats on a local farm. I absolutely fell in love with them! I knew goats were adorable thanks to social media, but my hands-on research showed me how clever and dog-like they are. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I always edit as I write. I’m a pantser…

Hello, Cindy here. My thriller MULTO – meaning ghost in Tagalog – is about a Filipino American bounty hunter chasing an undocumented immigrant who can disappear like a ghost. I’m Filipino American like my protagonist, Domingo the bounty hunter. That’s where the similarity ends. Domingo is a new kind of hero for a diverse audience. He’s tough in the mold of Robert De Niro’s bounty-hunter character in Midnight Run, but with the sense of humor of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum (One for the Money). Looking for a fugitive requires a lot of waiting and stalking, so during downtime, Domingo writes a wiseass advice book for immigrants.     M is for Monica. She’s a biracial Filipina who travels to the U.S. and stays on illegally to look for her American father, an Air Force general who doesn’t know she exists. Unlike the criminal undocumented immigrants that Domingo usually hunts down, Monica is not a murderer or a drug dealer or a gun smuggler. Her biggest crime is to dream of being acknowledged by her father, who represents her American Dream. But the general wants her out of his country, and so he hires Domingo to take her to immigration authorities…

Book Title:             BAKE, BATTER, AND ROLL Character Name:  Sally Muccio Donovan   How would you describe your family or your childhood?  My parents are a bit on the strange side. I love them to death (excuse the pun), but they’re not your typical parents. They march to the beat of their own drummer. My father has a weird obsession with death and owns a funeral home. It’s been his lifelong dream. My mother, at the age of 55, still shops at Forever 21. When people see us together, they automatically think that she’s my sister. My younger sister. It’s a little hard to take at times.   What was your greatest talent? I’m proud to say that I have turned into a good baker. I still can’t cook, but at least I can bake.   Significant other? My husband, Michael Donovan. We’ve been married for four glorious years. Biggest challenge in relationships? Hmmm….well, based on past experiences, I’d say stop and listen to each other. You can avoid years of problems by doing that. Trust me.   Where do you live? Colwestern, New York. It’s in Western New York which means that we get about 50,000 feet of snow every…

Book Title: ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS CALL Character Name: Patty Buford   How would you describe your family or your childhood? I had an idyllic childhood outside of Chicago. My mom and I were really close until my little sister Eliza arrived when I was 10. I’ll be honest – it took me a long time to get used to her, but I love her now as much as I loved my mom.  I wish every day Mom was still alive.   What was your greatest talent? I’m a pretty great mother, if I do say so myself.   Significant other? Dr. Matt Buford, cardiologist. He’s my rock.   Biggest challenge in relationships? I find change very difficult – and I had to do A LOT of it in 1972.   Do you have any enemies? 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? 1972 was the hardest year of my life – harder than when Mom died, in a lot of ways.  But it made me into the person I am today, and I wouldn’t do a…