1–What is the title of your latest release? ARTFULLY YOURS 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? It’s a slow-burn Victorian romance about an art forger who gets dangerously entangled with the one man capable of seeing through her. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I’ve always loved Pre-Raphaelite paintings and they inspired me to write a series of books set in and around the late 19th century London art world. The first book, The Duke Undone, follows Lucy, a painting student at the Royal Academy. She wants to paint dazzling pictures and make a name for herself. With Artfully Yours, I imagined a heroine with a very different relationship to art. Nina never signs her name to anything she paints. As a forger, she exists in the art world’s shadow. Scenes take place in galleries and auction houses and museums, but also in the forger’s workshop, where she fakes Rembrandts with her brother. 4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? I would, absolutely. I wrote Artfully Yours during the pandemic lockdown, when I was at peak loneliness and missing everyone. As a result, Nina feels more like a friend…

I’m so excited about my new release COWBOY WILD. I’m excited about every new release, but you know, some books are self-indulgent, and this is one of them. Why? It’s all about the tropes, and this one is stacked with quite a few of my favorites. Best friend’s little sister Age gap First love (virgin trope) Enemies/ish to lovers Why do I love these tropes? Well, mostly, it’s the tension. All three of these tropes have a lot of tension built into them, and any chance I get to layer the tension on, I’m happy.   What do I love about best friend’s little sister books? It’s actually adjacent to what I love about one of my other favorite tropes – friends to lovers. I always love the moment when they see each other in a new light for the first time. And I especially love that in a best friend’s little sister book because it’s SO challenging for the hero when he’s put the heroine in a box, and she defies his expectations and tempts him. Friendship is really powerful, and for attraction to compromise that friendship speaks to the power of the attraction. I love it.   Age…

1–What is the title of your latest release? BEST SERVED HOT 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Best Served Hot is about two restaurant critics with opposing tastes and methods of reviewing who are forced to work together after a video of them fighting goes viral. Aside from a spicy enemies-to-lovers romance, it features some class warfare, lots of droolworthy food descriptions, and a ton of love for New York City and its restaurants. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I knew I wanted to write about food critics and restaurants, and while I’ve had amazing food all over the country, my stomach is happiest in New York City, where I live. The book became a love letter to my home and its incredible food scene. 4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? Absolutely! Julie and I would have a ton of fun going out to eat together and savoring every bite. 5–What are three words that describe your hero? Polished. Loyal. Hungry. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? How stressful it can be to be a major restaurant reviewer! Think wigs, aliases, and full-on disguises so…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE WOMAN WITH THE CURE 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Polio haunted the world for thirty-nine summers, preying on babies, children, and young adults. The heroic men in the race to find the vaccine have gone down in history. But finding polio vaccines actually hinged on the work of equally heroic, perhaps more determined, women. This book is about them. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? History decided that for me. Once I chose Dorothy Horstmann as my protagonist, I just followed her around. Fortunately, she went to places I’ve visited and love, San Francisco, New York City, Warm Springs, Georgia, and Copenhagen and Odense, Denmark, to name a few. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? YES! I love her! 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Warm, curious, determined. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I learned how connected we all are. Everyone got into the fight to beat polio: parents of polio patients, the patients themselves, the nurses and physical therapists who figured out ways to rehabilitate paralyzed limbs, moms who went door-to-door to…

P is for punny. My title is a fun play on words. R is for rehab. In this book, carpenter Whitney Whitaker and her cousin Buck rehab on old houseboat. I is for imagination. Whitney and Buck have to use their imaginations to visualize the decrepit boat as it could be once it’s fixed up. M is for marriage. Buck is engaged to Whitney’s best friend Colette, and their nuptials are planned to take place right after the boat rehab is complete. E is for exciting. Lots of exciting stuff happens in this story! R is for reconnoitering. In this story, there’s someone who seems to be keeping a watchful eye on the area.   A is for anticipation. You’ll be dying to know who killed Grant Hardisty and why! N is for nautical. This book has a nautical theme. D is for design. Whitney enjoys coming up with the design elements for their flip projects.   P is for purrs. Sawdust, Whitney’s sweet buff-colored cat, provides lots of purring! U is for underwater. That’s where the victim and his boat end up! N is for nighttime. That’s when some suspicious things happen in this story. I is for insufficient….

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE DUKE’S SECRET CINDERELA   2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?  Ever After meets the Regency! Saucy dowagers, quips, and dances under the stars abound!   3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place?  I’m a panster. So, after a plot talk with my editor Elizabeth Pelletier, I then did a lot of daydreaming, and the locations came to me from all the research I’ve done on the period.   4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?  Yes. Charlotte is absolutely friend material. She’ll have your back, help you get stuff done, and make you laugh along the way.   5–What are three words that describe your hero? Passionate, honorable, determined, and undaunted.   6–What’s something you learned while writing this book?  I spent time learning about the original orphan asylums in London and that a specific color of blue was used for the uniforms.   7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I never edit while I write the first draft.   8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence? Cake. Almost all cakes.   9–Describe your writing space/office!  Well,…

Raw Desires Book 3 Cyborg Unity by Cynthia Sax Dissolution Book 14 Eagle Elite by Rachel Van Dyken Merry Wrath Mysteries Boxed Set Vol. VIII (Books 22-24) Merry Wrath Mysteries by Leslie Langtry Her Hero Book 31  Curvy Women Wanted by Sam Crescent The Mafia’s Desire Book 7 Maclean Mafia Men by Lila Fox From Fear by Megan Derr Heart Sick by Monica James No More Grace by Sandy Appleyard The Men of Whiskey Mountain by Frankie Love Fading Away by Angela White     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 Indie Ebooks.

Book Title:  ONCE UPON A STORM by Kimberly Cates Character Name: Captain Simon Harcourt   How would you describe your family or your childhood? Happy enough until I was nine.  As an earl’s son, I had the run of Everdene estate, a stable that was pure magic for a horse-mad boy.  My older brother and two sisters filled the nursery with fun.  When my mother visited our tenants, the village was my playground, and the lads there my partners in mischief. My father was grim, but he came to Everdene less and less over the years, his temper fearful (not that I ever flinched from it).  But the year I turned nine all hell broke loose.  My mother fled Everdene, trying to take my sisters with her.  Of course, father caught them.  Cassandra and Jane were sent to aunts in Italy, and mother… well, she vanished. Lucien and I were left with my tyrannical father who beat me whenever I spoke her name.  In time, I quit asking where she was, and my heartbreak turned to bitterness.  As Lucien said, Mother had always planned to abandon the two of us.   What was your greatest talent? Getting into trouble, taking…

Jews and Gypsies are no longer considered German Reich citi­zens and do not have the right to vote in either Reichstag elec­tions or the Anschluss. Johannes I checked my watch as I ate the last of the dinner Hannah had prepared. “Is it alright?” she asked. I suddenly realized that I’d been gulping it down without re­ally concentrating on what I was eating. I paid more attention, savoring the current mouthful: lamb goulash with sweet pa­prika and potatoes. “Very nice—as it always is.” Hannah was a good cook, but her repertoire extended to no more than eight or nine dishes, which she’d regularly rotate. “Good, Momma,” our youngest, Elena, just four years old, agreed with a big smile. Hannah had spent a few minutes dic­ing her lamb into smaller pieces as we’d sat down while Elena protested, “I’m not a baby anymore—you don’t need to.” Our eldest, Stefan, now nine, simply smiled and nodded, not wanting anything to interrupt his racehorse eating—though his was more through enjoyment than eagerness to be some­where else. My mind was already half on the plans I’d discussed earlier with Mathias. It was decided that one of us should check out the “amnesty” that this…

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 Sajni Patel!   Writes: I’m an award-winning author best known for my romcoms and contemporary young adult novels. Isha, Unscripted is a comedic women’s fiction with romcom elements perfect for fans of Bad Moms and Dial A for Aunties. Unwilling to yield to familial expectations, an aspiring screenwriter attempts to pursue her dreams during an unforgettable night of chaos. Isha Patel isn’t quite living the life her parents wanted, but when her cousin convinces her to pitch her script to a local celebrity—who happens to be her former professor—she finds herself caught in an unexpected adventure across Austin. Full of hijinks and heart.   About: I was raised in the heart of Texas on the best Tex-Mex, Mexican, southern, and Indian food around. I write stories inspired by personal experiences with a splash of humor. Featured in Austin Women’s Magazine, Teen Vogue, and many others, I aim for world domination with my two ferocious Yorkie minions at my side. I currently live a few…