1–What is the title of your latest release? THE HIKE 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Four friends leave behind their everyday lives and stride out into the beautiful Norwegian wild – nothing between them and the mountain peak but forest, sea and sharp blue sky. But there’s a darker side to the wilderness. A woman went missing a year ago, scarring the mountain with suspicion and unanswered questions. Now the friends are hiking into the heart of the mystery. And waiting on the trail is someone who’d do anything to keep their secrets buried – and to stop the group walking away alive. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I wanted to examine how the wilderness can switch from being a place of beauty to a landscape raw with danger. Norway felt like the right setting to explore this because its sheer, rugged scale provides true isolation. It’s the perfect place to have an adventure – or to disappear. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? I would be strapping on my backpack and joining these four women in a heartbeat. They are complex and flawed and messy…

Her Love Submission, Book 4, Billionaires’ Reluctant Brides Series by Helen Walton The Alpha Species by WW Mortensen Emergence by Shira Shiloah Finding Amanda by Robin Patchen The Housemaid by Sarah A. Denzil Lost King, Book 6, Kings of Retribution MC Montana Series by Crystal Daniels Alien’s Host, Book 1, Shards of Infinity Series by Alexandra Norton Son of a Gun, Forever Marked: The Second Generation of the Marked Men Series by Jay Crownover Bee and the Honey Crew by Mona Black The Unrestrained Series Omnibus Collection by S. E. Lund Russian and Royally Complicated, Book 2, The Crowned Hearts Series by Gwyn McNamee The Witch Collector, Book 1 Witch Walker Series by Charissa Weaks Escape to Tullagulla by Heather Reyburn Deadly Manor, Book 10, Deadly Series by Kate Parker Thrust, Book 1, The Alpha Escort Series by Sybil Bartel Influence, Book 9, Beginning’s End Series by W.J. May Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries, Volume 5 by Ashley Gardner The Score, Book 3, Off-Campus Series by Elle Kennedy The Setback, Book 7, The Birch Creek Ranch Series by B. E. Baker The Ruthless King, Book 2, The Dark Kings of NYC Series by Juliette N Banks   Each Friday the Smashwords…

Will Trent is the leading man in eleven novels by international bestselling author Karin Slaughter, including her latest release AFTER THAT NIGHT. A longtime investigator for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), he is also a heartthrob, according to his 40 million adoring fans and his longtime love interest, Sara Linton. Today he steps outside the pages for a Q&A with his creator.   Karin Slaughter: Let’s start with some easy questions. What is your favorite food? Will Trent: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Pizza. Convenience store burritos. The same kind of stuff everyone eats. KS: What do you like to do with your free time? WT: I like to work on anything that has an engine or a motor. I have a Porsche 911 that I’ve fully restored from the ground up. I also like to work on my house, which is older and needs a lot of attention. I like spending time with my fiancé. And I take care of my dog, Betty. KS: OK, let’s get a little more serious. You grew up in the Atlanta Children’s Home, which was basically an orphanage. Tell us about what that was like? WT: I guess it was like any home that has a lot…

Summer is winding down. But you’ve still got time to squeeze in one or two more beach reads, and might want to add Susan Wiggs and Melanie Benjamin’s latest novels to your TBR stack. Though set in different time periods, both stories take place primarily in California beachside communities and feature strong, athletic heroines facing big problems who find escape, purpose, and poetry in the world of competitive surfing. Susan Wiggs’ Welcome to Beach Town kicks off in the early 1980’s in Alara Cove, a fictional beachside community in Southern California.  A haven for tourists and for surfers in search of the big waves, sunny, charming Alara Cove seems idyllic. But tensions between the wealthy residents who live in newly constructed beachfront mansions, send their privileged offspring to Thornton Academy, and hold the reins of political power, and those of lesser means who work low-paying jobs and live in pre-gentrification beach cottages and trailer parks, lie just below the surface. The two worlds collide when Nikki Graziola, a scholarship student at Thornton who lives in an Airstream trailer park that some deem historic and others consider and eyesore, goes off-script during her valedictory speech, revealing secrets that the school, and…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE CAGE   2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Misery mixed with a splash of Stockholm Syndrome   3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The story decided for me. When I started writing The Cage, I couldn’t decide if it was an adorable meet-cute or something more sinister. It could have gone either way. Once Amanda got in the elevator, however, I knew where the story was going to unfold. I write sweet, sexy, or suspenseful stuff. I never know what I’m going to be writing until the characters tell me. This one landed on suspense with some sexy tossed in for fun. Nothing sweet about this one!   4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? She’d probably find me boring, honestly. Ha. Yet there would be some things we could bond over. We’d both know a thing or two about making things work in a tough situation but that’s about where our similarities would end.   5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Feisty, stubborn, cunning   6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? To never go apartment…

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 Kelly Creagh!   Writes: I write about girls who find beauty in the monsters they meet—and sometimes fall for. I draw on the classics for inspiration and turn timeless dark tales like Jane Eyre and The Phantom of the Opera inside out. Ghosts, monsters, angels, and demons run amok through the pages of my books—but not in the ways you might expect. And while I borrow my favorite aspects of the classics that inspire my stories, I always take care to infuse newness, throwing in a twist or two—dark surprises to keep you guessing. And turning pages.   About: If you’re into slow burn love stories with spooky undertones, morally gray love interests, love triangles, wisecracking side characters, and steamy scenes with a pinch of spice, just crack the spine of one of my books! While I can’t promise the darkness within won’t escape into your world to haunt you in all the best ways, I can promise you won’t regret it. A date…

Taking something supernatural and putting your own spin on it can be a challenge. There are many authors out there molding the status quo of supernatural abilities into something refreshing and exciting. I love it when I find a series that feels new in some way. With my Shadow Rider series I have people who can use shadows in order to travel anywhere. Then I layered in the fact that they’re assassins who mete out justice where the law has failed to give it. Now, book #8, SHADOW DANCE, will be released on August 22nd and we’ve moved from Chicago to New York. Whether it’s a new ability or a unique spin on an established supernatural trope I love when an author creates a series that pulls me in. Here’s a list of just a few series that I find refreshing, interesting and exciting. Gunnie Rose series by Charlaine Harris: Magic. Western. Need I say more? This series is an alternate history in the U.S. where magic is acknowledged but not entirely trusted. Especially by Lizbeth “Gunny” Rose. I’ve always loved westerns. I love how you feel like you’re part of the world Charlaine Harris has created. You feel grounded…

Book Title: THE WITCH AND THE TSAR Character Name: Yaga   *This interview was conducted in Yaga’s hut before the events of The Witch and the Tsar. Yaga doesn’t know it yet, but the next night, she will receive a visitor whose news will interrupt her peaceful yet lonely existence. In a matter of days, it will catapult her from the woods to a royal court, where she will meet Ivan IV—soon to be Ivan the Terrible—and begin a years-long battle not only for the land she loves, but for her heart.   How would you describe your family or your childhood? My family consisted of my mother, as I never knew my father. My childhood with her had been ideal. She was the Earth Goddess Mokosh, the protector of women and their destiny. She is also the one who taught me about charms and rituals, about herbs and incantations. Sometimes, a god or goddess would appear on our doorstep and stay with us for a while, which piqued my curiosity about Mother’s world. Old gods and goddesses walked the Earth then, and we were venerated. It was only when Mother died, and a new god came to Russia, that…

1–What is the title of your latest release? IN CHARM’S WAY 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? The fourth standalone story in the Witches of Thistle Grove series, In Charm’s Way is about a witch who casts a risky, forbidden spell in order to regain the memory she’s lost, and finds herself getting much more than she bargained for—including a slew of dangerous creatures intent on eating her, and a sultry, half-fae monster hunter with motives of her own. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I’ve been hanging out in the enchanted town of Thistle Grove, Illinois—complete with four witchy families with different talents, a magical lake on top of a mountain, and everything from occult megastores and themed restaurants to apple orchards and an oversized spin on Renaissance Faires—for three years, and I’m still loving it! 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely… if she’d let me! Delilah Harlow isn’t exactly known for being gregarious. Or approachable. Or even really very pleasant. But once you get past the prickly veneer, this fiercely independent scholar and her raven familiar are surprisingly sweet, and make for delightful company. 5–What…

1–What is the title of your latest release? My latest historical romance was TWELFTH KNIGHT’S BRIDE! If you read it, then you’ve already met Brighde MacDonald from my newest release, A HIGHLAND ROGUE TO RUIN, as well as heard of Tormund MacLeod. And my latest contemporary was THE COWBOY’S TEXAS HEART, book 3 of that series. 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Tormund MacLeod, the “Demon of the Seas,” is bent on revenge for the death of his brother, when a bonny angel throws him off his guard. Too late, he realizes she’s the sister of the man he wants brought to justice. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I’d already established Brighde and Tormund as side characters in my Scottish historical, Twelfth Knight’s Bride, as well as hinted at an annual Inverness faire each summer. So it made sense to set this book in Inverness, and make the faire the summer harvest festival called Lughnasadh! I like the idea of holiday traditions and events being used to bring people together. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely! Brighde would be fun, sweet, and such a loyal friend….