Book Title: MARRYING OFF MORGAN MCBRIDE Character Name: Morgan McBride   How would you describe your family or your childhood? The McBrides are chaos. Uncontainable and uncontrollable – each and every one of them is a force of nature. It’s like living with a cabin full of hurricanes. I love them but, hell, they make my life a hardship. It’s just my three younger brothers and my kid sister since Pa ran off and Ma died, leaving me to raise the pack of kids by myself. And what do I know about parenting? The only role model for a father I had was a drunk. But I did it. I raised them up. Well, all except for Junebug, who may yet be the death of me.   What was your greatest talent? Planning. There was no time for fun when I was dragging myself up to manhood – I can’t play a fiddle like my brother Jonah, or work an anvil like Kit, who’s a first-rate blacksmith. But I can lay in supplies enough for the hardest winter, and make sure the horses are shod and the cabin is leak-proof. I can take care of business. And that’s no small…

Book Title: THE VISCOUNT WHO VEXED ME Character Name: Emma Clark, Lady Dearborn   How would you describe your family or your childhood? Lovely. My sister Fanny and I spent many idyllic years in the countryside before we entered society. I was a bit wilder, and Fanny wiser, but we complimented each other in that way. We carried on until it was necessary to be singularly focused on finding the perfect match, because what else is a young woman of a certain age to do? It’s a daunting task when you think of it, determining who will be your lifelong partner with only a few conversations in the company of parents or chaperones. What was your greatest talent? One I discovered after I’d married. I don’t mean to boast, but I am very good at hosting parties. Garden parties, teas, balls—whatever social gathering you can imagine, I excel at putting together all the necessary ingredients—drinks, entertainment, guests—to guarantee a spectacular event. Significant other? I suppose you mean my husband, Lord Dearborn. I would not like to disparage him, but he was neither as handsome nor as dashing as Mr. Olivien, the Weslorian earl who came to call one day, quite…

1–What is the title of your latest release? BEWARE THE WOMAN 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Beware the Woman is the story of Jacy—newly married and with a baby on the way—and her new husband, Jed, embarking on a trip to visit Jed’s father, Dr. Ash, in Michigan’s far-flung Upper Peninsula. Once there, Jacy has a mild health scare and her Edenic idyll turns into something far darker. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I’m from Michigan and its Upper Peninsula has always fascinated me—its beauty and remoteness, its own cultural traditions, and idiosyncrasies. It turned out to be the perfect setting. The more I dug into its lore, the more it gave me. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Definitely. And I would warn her! 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Hopeful, romantic, resilient. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I learned how to make a Cornish pasty. I learned about mountain lions. I learned about the art of neon-sign making. And a few things I can’t say to avoid spoilers. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THAT SUMMER FEELING 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A divorcée attends an adults-only week of a summer sleepaway camp, where she runs into a man from her past that she believes she’s meant to be with, only to fall head over heels for his sister instead. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The summer camp setting is so integral to the plot that once I landed on my idea for the premise, the setting came to life alongside it. I’ve never been to a proper sleepaway camp, but I spent some time on the Georgia/North Carolina border a few years ago, and it felt like just the place to plant my fictional summer oasis. It was so perfectly idyllic—greenery and mountains and lakes galore—I knew Camp Carl Cove would fit right in. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? My protagonist Garland would be fun to talk to and quick to give out a meaningful compliment. I’d definitely hang out with her! 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Openhearted, eager, courageous 6–What’s something you learned while writing this…

Book Title: ESME CAHILL FAILS SPECTACULARLY Character Name: Esme Cahill   How would you describe your family or your childhood? My mother, Robyn, was an unwed, teenage mother with a reckless streak she never outgrew. She couldn’t keep a job for long, so we were always moving. She had a revolving door of boyfriends too, some better than others. One of them, Zip, taught me how to read before disappearing, taking money from Robyn’s purse but leaving me with my escape – books. It wasn’t all bad, but chaotic is an apt description of my early childhood, chaotic and unstable. That changed after Robyn was arrested for drug distribution and George and Adele, the wonderful grandparents I’d never known existed, took me in and raised me at the lakeside resort they owned, not far from Asheville, North Carolina. It felt like heaven, a refuge. For the first time, I got to be a child. But, as it turned out, I wasn’t very good at childhood. It always made me feel too much at the mercy of others. When an injured animal is given time to heal, there comes a day when refuge feels like suffocation. That’s why, even though I…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE VANISHING HOUR 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Grace Holloway keeps to herself. Since narrowly escaping death at the hands of the man who kidnapped her, she’s thrown herself into the small inn she runs in Rock Harbor, Maine. It’s quiet, quaint and, in the off-season, completely isolated—the perfect place for Grace to keep her own secrets. But Grace isn’t the only one with something to hide, and Rock Harbor isn’t just a sleepy vacation town. Someone is taking young women—girls who look an awful lot like Grace did when she was kidnapped so many years ago. When a surge of disappearances brings the investigation to her door, Grace finds herself unwillingly at the center of it all and doing everything she can to keep her distance. Because Grace knows something…something that could change everything. And when the truth comes to light, getting justice for the vanished might be more than Grace can handle alone… 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I thought it needed to be a lonely, coastal town—someplace cold and woodsy, not beachy, and then I settled in Maine because…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE BODY IN THE WEB 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? The Body in the Web is the 26th in my Faith Fairchild series (they don’t have to be read in order) and finds my amateur sleuth/wife/mother/caterer faced with the difficulty of solving a crime during the pandemic when the death of a friend is declared a suicide by the police, but Faith knows better—it’s murder. The title refers to both a spider web and the worldwide one, both traps! With her college-aged son and high school senior daughter at home studying remotely and her husband tending his flock in much the same manner, Faith finds her days overflowing with ways to keep her “Pod” nourished in body and mind. A subplot involves a young woman who has had to postpone her elaborate June wedding and her plans to have a honeymoon baby. 2022 saw 2.5 million weddings, the most in forty years, due to the pandemic backlog. Another ripple effect I write about is the way older people had to cope with Covid, describing how a character in other books, Millicent Revere McKinley, faces severe food and fuel insecurity…

Wicked Curses, Book 7, The Shadow Realms Series by Brenda K. Davies Wickedly Innocent, Book 4, The Wicked Series by A.E. Nalle Off The Ice by RJ Scott and V. L. Locey Carmel Springs: The Colters by M.E. Clayton The Mafia King’s Siren, Book 3, Death Riders MC Series by Beth D. Carter Dark Shores of Salvation, Book 3, Travail of The Dark Mage Series by Brian S. Pratt Destined for Him by Linzvonc A Widower’s Amish Courtship by Jennifer (J.E.B.) Spredemann The Bratva’s Nanny, Book 11, The Nannies by Sam Crescent Death at the Donut Shop by Kelly Hashway   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…

1–What is the title of your latest release? SUMMER STAGE 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A family of famous, non-famous, and reluctantly famous people gather on Block Island to mount a summer production of Much Ado About Nothing and learn a lot about themselves and each other in the process. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I knew I wanted to revisit the setting of my 2019 novel, The Islanders, and include some of the same characters, so it was easy. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? I have three main POVs so I’ll answer these for one of my favorites. Her name is Sam and I’d definitely hang out with her. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Funny, brave, sassy 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I learned a lot about the intricacies of the theater world, in particular from one of my best friends (a casting director) and her husband (an actor). 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I write a very messy first draft then edit many times. 8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?…

Hi! I’m Karen Katchur, author of six mystery/thriller novels, and I’m excited to share with you my latest release, THE GREEDY THREE. It’s a story about a kidnapping gone awry, and how three desperate characters find themselves trapped inside a remote cabin with a baby and a bag full of money. It’s gritty and offbeat with a full cast of quirky characters you can’t help but root for.   T:  Thriller H:  High stakes E:  Entertaining   G:  Gunslinger R:  Runaway E:  Eccentric characters E:  Engaging, fast-paced plot D:  Darkly funny Y:  Yummy hamburger dish (not really!)   T:  Tense H:  Human trafficking R:  Remote cabin E:  Emotional ending E:  Enjoy the ride! THE GREEDY THREE: A THRILLER by Karen Katchur When a kidnapping goes awry, three desperate characters find themselves trapped inside a remote cabin with a baby and a bag full of money. Noah is a kidnapper, hired to buy a baby from a human trafficking ring and smuggle her across the Canadian border for a cool half a million dollars. Eve is a teenage runaway, who takes the infant—and the sack full of cash—away from him. Hester is an outcast, living alone in a backwoods cottage, harboring secrets of…