1–What is the title of your latest release? NEXT OF KIN 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? On an ordinary working day, London architect Leila Syed receives a call that cleaves her life in two. Her brother-in-law’s voice is filled with panic. His son’s nursery has called to ask where little Max is. Leila was supposed to drop Max off that morning. But she forgot he was in her car ­– on the hottest day of the year. Racing to the carpark, she grasps the horror of what she has done. What follows is an explosive, high-profile trial that will tear the family apart. But as the case progresses it becomes clear there’s more to this incident than meets the eye… 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I was born and raised in East London, which is one of the most deprived areas of the UK. It has this sense of menace that’s irresistible to a novelist. Authors like Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde used it as a sinister setting, a place of grime, vice and flux. Although my main character, Leila, lives in a small desirable pocket, the surrounding sense of…

1–What is the title of your latest release? FELIX SILVER TEASPOONS & WITCHES   2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Think Golden Girls meets The Goonies!   3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I always liked the idea of a lil seaside town being catapulted into chaos. There’s a place in England near Cornwall called Port Isaac that I pictured for the setting of Felix Silver.   4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Back when I was Felix’s age I think we would’ve been friends at school for sure.   5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Queer, kind, adventurous   6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? Writing this book was quite challenging. I was going through a rough time personally and so writing about love, magic and happy ever afters was tricky. I learnt that the best way out of a funk is to just keep pushing through it and to stay present.   7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I used to edit on the go but now I go back at the end.   8–What’s…

Excerpt from GUARDING HER HEART by: Negeen Papehn   I’m yawning and rubbing my eyes as I head into the empty gym. The silence that meets me is a welcome sound. I’m not a morning person, and I prefer to push my limbs to their limit without anyone around to watch me. I throw my ear pods in and crank up the volume so it’s loud enough that I couldn’t think even if I wanted to. I lean over the treadmill, taking a second to stretch before I start the machine. It takes a few minutes until I’ve raised the speed high enough that the pounding of my feet against the belt is in perfect time to the music. I’m so lost in my sprinting that I almost trip when Travis’s unhappy face appears beside me. “Shit!” I stumble, my hand slamming on the red emergency button, slowing my treadmill to a stop. “You scared the crap out of me.” “Sorry,” he grunts. His face is twisted with frustration. “What are you doing here?” His question sounds more like an accusation. “Working out,” I answer, raising a brow. “Forget something?” He taps his foot, and the sound fills the gym….

1–What is the title of your latest release? UNWIELDY CREATURES 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Unwieldy Creatures is a biracial queer gender-swapped retelling of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. It follows the story of three beings who navigate life from the margins: Plum, a queer biracial Chinese intern at a top embryology lab; Dr. Frank, a queer biracial Indonesian scientist who compromises everything she claims to love in the name of science and ambition; and Dr. Frank’s nonbinary creation, brought into the world due to complications at birth, only to be abandoned. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Indonesia, Vermont, and west Texas. In terms of both Indonesia and west Texas, I wanted to work with settings that were in the world of geographic locations that had meant a great deal to me, but that felt somewhat unfamiliar. In terms of the Southern United States, it was important that one of Unwieldy Creatures’ main characters navigate the battle of abortion and reproductive rights—when I was first writing the book, that was most clearly being fought in the south. In terms of Vermont, which isn’t so much a setting as a framework to understanding…

Hi! I’m Luna, the author of HOW TO DATE A FURY. This steamy paranormal romance kicks off the Syn City Shifters trilogy with mythological warriors, alpha shifters, and fated mates. Dottie and Chase have a second chance at love when she visits Syn City and becomes the victim of a serial killer only to come back as a mortal daughter of the mythological Furies. Turns out Chase had a secret when he left their small town and broke her heart in high school—he’s a mountain lion shifter. Now, she needs to find a killer and learn to use her new wings while figuring out this whole fated mates thing. My title challenge was a fun one. I hope it gives you an idea of what you can expect from the book and the series.   H is for hot shifters, because rawr! Chase is a handsome shifter with alpha bloodlines O is for opposites attract. Chase is a bad boy. Dottie’s a good girl. Sparks will fly. Speaking of flying… W is for wings, and the patience and space for klutzes like Dottie while she learns to fly.   T is for thrills and the murder mystery that comes with the…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE REAL MRS. TOBIAS 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A sharply funny, big-hearted multigenerational story about the complicated relationships between mothers- and daughters-in-law, told by three women who marry into the same family. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The Real Mrs. Tobias takes place in Manhattan’s Upper West Side and at a family farm in Iowa. The New York location was a no-brainer because I have lived on the Upper West Side since moving to NYC after graduating from college. I chose Iowa because of its Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa, which factors in the storytelling–that and the butter sculpture at the State Fair. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely. In many respects, I already do hang out with Mel Glazer, the primary protagonist, because for better or worse she is the character in the book most like me. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Feisty, warm, and unpretentious 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? Writing a book doesn’t get easier, even if it’s #7. 7–Do you edit as you draft…

1–What is the title of your latest release? TYPECAST 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? What would you do if your ex brought your breakup to the big screen?  This is the question 31-year-old preschool teacher Callie Dressler faces just as she’s also dealing with “the invasion” – her Type-A older sister Nina and her family are moving in with her while their house is being renovated.  While the movie consumes her thoughts, Callie can’t help wondering if Nina and her friends are right that she hasn’t moved on. When a complication with Nina’s pregnancy brings Callie in close contact with Nina’s smart and funny architect, Callie realizes she’d better figure out whether she wants to open the door to the past—or risk missing out on her future. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? They say “write what you know” – and what I know best is suburban New Jersey.  And at the time I started writing, my own boys weren’t far out of preschool – hence Callie’s job! 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Yes.  Perhaps not surprisingly, Callie’s sense of humor resembles my own!  And while…

1–What is the title of your latest release? FINAL HEIR 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? The stakes couldn’t be higher in the newest novel in the New York Times bestselling, pulse-pounding Jane Yellowrock series. Jane Yellowrock is the queen of the vampires, and that makes her a target as she fights to maintain control and keep peace in the city of New Orleans. She has enemies at every turn, because vampires live forever, and they keep their grudges alive with them. That includes the Heir, the vampire sire of the Pellissier bloodline, which gave rise to Leo Pellissier himself—Jane’s old boss and the former master of the city. With the Heir and all the forces of darkness he can muster arrayed against her, Jane will need all the help she can get. She’ll find it in her city, her friends, her found family, and, of course, the Beast inside of her. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? As the last book in the series, It seemed only right to bring Jane Yellowrock back to New Orleans, where her saga began, where she turned a corner from hunting rogue-vampires to working for…

1–What is the title of your latest release? SONG OF VIRGO 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Taylor and Julian, wolf-shifters who wield magic, are busy fighting to rekindle the passion in their relationship when their infant daughter goes missing. A quest to save their baby girl thrusts them back into a world of dark magic that they thought they’d escaped, where frightening secrets about a catastrophic prophecy are revealed. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The area of Peru where the beginning and end of the book takes place is an integral part of the series world and was a natural fit. The evil theme park turned out to be a fun way to make the setting come alive and to blend fantasy and reality. 4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? Of course! Taylor is wicked smart, a total badass, and wittier than I could ever hope to be. 5–What are three words that describe your hero? Protective, Compassionate, Loyal. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? Keeping world-building details straight across multiple books requires a LOT of dedicated organization. 7–Do you edit as you draft…

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 as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Susanna Allen!   Writes: I write Regency era historical + shapeshifter romance: think Bridgerton but with werewolves (and werebears and werelions) A DUKE AT THE DOOR is the third in my Shapeshifters of the Beau Monde series, featuring a lion Shifter who refuses to Change out of his human skin, and the lady apothecary who is charged with restoring him to health. If Alwyn, Duke of Llewellyn doesn’t Change he will die; since this is the first Miss Tabitha Barrington has ever heard of verispelles (‘two skins’) she doesn’t know where to begin… but it all ends with an expanded found family, love and happily ever after.   About: I grew up in New Jersey, went to art school in Brooklyn and lived in Brooklyn and NYC (with a short sojourn in Paris) before moving to Dublin. Her feet still itch on occasion, but I counter that urge with long visits home at the holidays and the occasional short city break. I took up horseback riding as…