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 Sarah Hawley! Writes: I write fantasy romantic comedies featuring chaotic witches, brooding demons, and a mix of steam and magical hijinks. My debut romance, A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon, is about a magically-challenged witch named Mariel Spark who tries to summon flour for a spell and accidentally summons a demon for an unbreakable soul bargain instead. The demon, Ozroth the Ruthless, can’t leave her side until he gets her soul… but as he spends time with lively, kind Mariel, he decides he wants her heart, instead. About: Originally an archaeologist (I excavated at an Inca site in Chile, a Bronze Age palace in Turkey, and a medieval abbey in England), I now write steamy romance and fantasy novels. Passionate about: cheese, books, theatre, fictional villains, colorful socks, and weird trivia. When not dreaming up whimsical love stories, I can be found reading, dancing, or cuddling my two cats.   What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Likes to laugh…

To celebrate Jennifer Estep’s new “Gargoyle Queen” book CONQUER THE KINGDOM, we here at Fresh Fiction thought it would be a fun way for readers to get to know her characters better (from her many many fab books) to play a little game we call “The Character Most Likely”. I love this because it satisfies my romance nerd self. If you’re new to her Gargoyle Queen series – It’s a mix of magic, adventure, and romance. The result often combines chaos and eroticism in a satisfying way. Jennifer is free to select her answers from any of her paranormal series. Most likely to figure out a way to use an enemy’s strength against him? ANSWER: Vesper Quill from ONLY BAD OPTIONS. Vesper is an inventor/engineer who works in the research and development lab for a large corporation, so she is always dreaming up ways to make brewmakers, blasters, and other objects better, faster, and stronger. Sooner or later, she would figure out how to turn her enemy’s strength into a weakness.   Most likely to prefer using strategy or magic rather than swords or other instruments of battle? ANSWER: Reiko Yamato from CONQUER THE KINGDOM. Reiko is a spy at…

1–What is the title of your latest release? A WEDDING GONE TO THE DOGS 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Samantha’s best friend/cousin, Candie, is getting married but there is a major hitch. A former fiancé of Candie is found murdered in her home. Sam and her dachshund, Porkchop, jump to make sure Candie walks down the aisle and doesn’t spend her honeymoon in the poky. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Like a lot of cozy authors, I wanted it to be set in a small town so that my main character would have a connection to a lot of the people in the town. Fortunately, where I live in upstate New York I am surrounded by lovely small towns that are perfect for my story’s setting. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely. She’s independent, feisty, and like me, owns an adorable dachshund. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? She’s fun loving, loyal and willing to be a bit of a daredevil. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? It certainly is no walk in the park, but writing gives me a natural…

1–What is the title of your latest release? GOODNIGHT FROM PARIS 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? In Nazi-occupied France, an American film star takes on the most dangerous role of her life in a gripping novel about loyalty and resistance, inspired by a true story, from the Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Secret Stealers. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? It’s inspired by a true story of an American actress living in Paris, so that had to be the location. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? I think I would – she was a real person in history – a complex woman with a fascinating life story. I’d love to get to know her better. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Strong-willed, confident, brave 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? That the Germans really imprisoned American women in a zoo outside Paris after the U.S. entered the war. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? A little bit of both actually. 8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence? Really fantastic gourmet cheese! 9–Describe your writing space/office! It’s in…

1–What is the title of your latest release? ROYAL BLOOD 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? After accidentally setting her boarding school on fire, the seventeen-year-old illegitimate American daughter of the King of England is forced to spend the summer in the UK with the less-than-thrilled royal family, whom she’s never met, and things only get worse when her identity is leaked to the press—and she’s accused of murder. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? This might seem like an obvious answer, because of course a book about the illegitimate daughter of the King of England would take place in England, but I’ve been trying to write this book for more than a decade, and the original premise involved an American royal family and a Swiss boarding school my main character attended with her half-sister, the heir to the throne, and other teens from royal families throughout the world. None of that was working the way I’d hoped, though, and when I got the idea to have the story take place in an actual royal setting, everything else started to fall into place. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real…

1–What is the title of your latest release? When my editor and I were discussing a title for my upcoming suspense thriller, she pulled a phrase from my synopsis and said, “FORGET WHAT YOU KNOW is an interesting title!” Sure, interesting title except…it’s also a command, forget what you know, which to my brain means You are to forget your own book title! And I do. On a regular basis I try to say or write something about the upcoming book, and I can’t remember the title. It’s getting embarrassing. The book is, um, FORGET WHAT YOU KNOW. Pretty sure.   2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Car pulled from the bottom of lake! Driver shot in the back of the head! Priceless statue Dragon’s Heart found inside! Greedy collectors converge, and only flower-breeder and unknowing heir Zoey Phoenix stands in their way… Forget what you know…yet the past remembers.   3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? FORGET WHAT YOU KNOW is the second full-length suspense set in Gothic California, a small town on Big Sur known for its legend: “On stormy nights, Gothic is said to disappear, and, on its return,…

T is for thrilling. Set during the early years of World War 2, Viv’s life in Liverpool is fraught with danger. H is for heartbreaking. At the start of the war, Viv finds herself faced with an impossible decision: keep her daughter Maggie with her in Liverpool and risk air raids or send her to live with strangers in the safety of the English countryside. E is for estrangement. Viv is estranged from her husband Joshua, who married her after she fell pregnant. He left to pursue a career as a jazz musician in New York, but she chose to stay behind in Liverpool.   L is for Liverpool Blitz. During the war, Liverpool was heavily bombed because of its importance as a port and manufacturing center. Viv and her family spend air raids sheltering in their cellar, praying that their house won’t be hit by a falling bomb. O is for orchestra. When he meets Viv, Joshua is playing in an orchestra at one of Liverpool’s famous ballrooms, wishing for a life of fame and fortune. S is for silence. Joshua, who hasn’t heard from Viv since their wedding day, is wracked with guilt over his past choices. T…

1–What is the title of your latest release? SECOND TIME AROUND 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Mallory Farrell gives up her design career and oversized empty nest to transform her grandmother’s cheesy tourist shop into a beautiful interior design store called “Romancing the Home.” Despite opposition from local developer Grayson Matthews, her venture is so successful she is featured on a new home improvement show. But there’s a hitch. The TV show also wants to film Mallory’s apartment above the chic shop—and it’s a disaster area. That’s where Grayson and his construction crew step in to lend a hand. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I love the beautiful Oregon Coast. It used to be our second home, and I’ve set lots of books there. After we sold our little beach cabin, I’ve lived there vicariously by writing about it. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely! Like Mallory, I love interior design. At one time I worked for a very talented designer and considered a career in it. But I soon discovered I preferred writing. Still, I dabble in it from time to time, in my…

1–What is the title of your latest release? DEATH WATCH 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? An expensive but potentially deadly watch creates cultural chaos—and attracts buyers. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? My last two novels were part of a Boston-based crime series. Wanted to get out of Boston and head to New York. Much of the action of DEATH WATCH happens in NYC and Tokyo. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Definitely. He’s fun. The book’s nowhere near as dark as it might sound. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Canny, impulsive, and easily fascinated. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I learned that high-end watches have complications that make them more unique and valuable—like showing the phases of the moon or ringing on the half hour. I decided that the ultimate complication would be if the watch could, at any moment, kill its wearer. Like the Sword of Damocles on the wrist. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I edit as I go. Then edit even more when I’m done. 8–What’s your favorite foodie…

1–What is the title of your latest release? BURNING DISTANCE 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A modern-day Romeo and Juliet— set against the backdrop of deadly weapons smuggling. When ten-year-old Elizabeth West’s father dies in a plane crash over the Persian Gulf, her mother uproots their life in Washington, D.C. and moves to London where she marries a knighted British businessman who has two children, and Elizabeth (Lizzy) and her two sisters move in with their new family. While attending the American School of London, Lizzy meets and falls in love with Adil Hasan— but when Adil’s father, a noted arms middleman, is deported, Lizzy and Adil are separated. Lizzy’ s family also has ties to French-German industrialist Gerald Rene Wagner. Little does she know that Adil’s family has ties to the man as well. When a member of her family is murdered in Berlin under mysterious circumstances, questions surface about Wagner’ s dealings, and Lizzy reexamines what really may have happened to her father. All the while, she endeavors to reunite with her lost love, Adil, and reclaim the connection that was ripped away. Set in the years before and after the first Gulf War, Burning Distance is…