What is the title of your latest release?I’M NOT THE ONLY MURDERER IN MY RETIREMENT HOME What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Carol Quinn, a retired serial killer, is released from prison and decides to live her final years in a luxury retirement home. When a resident is murdered, everyone assumes she did it. Now she has to find the real killer and clear her name. What makes that all the trickier, is that every other resident seems to be a retired investigator of some sort. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I wanted to take a quintessentially cozy mystery location, chuck a serial killer into the mix, and see what happens. A luxury retirement home felt like a good fit. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?I think Carol Quinn would be great fun to hang out with. That said: I wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of her. What are three words that describe your hero?Oddly likeable murderer What’s something you learned while writing this book?I’ve always loved to make people laugh, but with this book, I learned how rewarding it is to dig deeper into who…

What is the title of your latest release?DEADLY CURRENTS What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Journalist Cressida Dane uncovers deadly secrets tied to a ghost ship, and Detective Braden Sanders must protect her as they race to survive the dangerous currents of Hidden Bay’s past. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I’ve always been drawn to the rugged beauty and mystery of the Pacific Northwest coastline, and knew I wanted to set a series there. I live about an hour from where I imagined the series and story is set. Hidden Bay is a fictional region on the Washington coast inspired by small coastal communities where travelers come to watch the storms gathering and the waves crashing. I think it makes a great suspenseful setting. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Absolutely! Cressida’s curiosity and determination would make for a fun day out. We’d probably spend hours in a cozy seaside café discussing mysteries, history, and the hidden stories behind old shipwrecks, which I would absolutely love it. Who knows—she might give me a few more story ideas. What are three words that describe your hero?Loyal. Steadfast. Protective. What’s something you…

Book Title:  HER DAUGHTER Character Name:   Alice Wilson Alice is meeting with her divorce lawyer to prepare for her looming legal battle with her vengeful, estranged husband, Dan, over custody of their four-year-old daughter, Esme. LAWYER: How would you describe your own childhood and your own family while you were growing up? ALICE: Well, my dad died when I was nine–It was a freak accident; he fell off the roof while he was cleaning the gutters. So that was hard, of course, but my mom never made me feel like our life was a tragedy. She doesn’t like to look at the depressing side of anything– And she’s a great cook. Esme loves to help her bake raisin-chocolate chip cookies. LAWYER: So do you see her as a role model for what you could be, as a single mother to your daughter? Loving, warm, baking cookies, providing a secure home? A portrait we can paint for the Family Court judge. ALICE: Actually, I don’t cook much. LAWYER: You don’t cook. Okay, what is your greatest talent? ALICE: Umm…I work hard for the things I care about. At my job, instance. My boss calls me the Environmental Guru, because I nag…

February is the month of love, which makes it the perfect time to feature my dear friend, Dana Hawkins, and her fabulous new release, I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU (MAYBE). In this week’s Jen’s Jewels feature, Dana shares her thoughts in a fun lightning round, a heartfelt deep dive, a personal touch, and a look at what’s coming next. Trust me—you’re going to be hooked. LIGHTNING ROUND THE DEEP DIVE THE PERSONAL TOUCH LOOKING AHEAD Thank you so much for sharing your insights and creativity! I can’t wait for readers to discover your new release. Happy writing! I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU (MAYBE) by Dana Hawkins Meet Cute in Minnesota What’s worse than regretting a one-night stand? Being snowed in with her. Since losing her wife six years ago, Colby has perfected the hermit lifestyle: secluded Minnesota cabin, golden retriever, weekly cupcake run. Zero complications. Until a chaotic, pink-haired vet tech arrives for a house call and—in one reckless moment—Colby lets someone in. It was supposed to be one night. Then the blizzard hit. Josie is a serial hobbyist who’s perfected the art of avoiding rejection. Pilates, painting, pickleball—anything but feelings. So being trapped in a cabin with no distractions and a gorgeous woman who…

Excerpted from FIREFLIES IN WINTER by Eleanor Shearer: The Trial January 1798 Halifax County Court is a stage waiting for its players. The judge’s place is empty, as is the dock, enclosed on all sides but one. This is where the accused will stand. The room carries the weight of its past, all it has witnessed, leaving it hard and cold. Winter winds rattle loose windowpanes. Dark wood-paneled walls remember the methodical dissection of every kind of crime. Killers and crooks, robbers and the robbed, victims and perpetrators alike have all wet the uneven floor with their tears, lifted their gaze to the rafters and prayed. The public benches are almost deserted, but a young woman waits there. It is, of course, a waiting kind of place—for confessions, for verdicts, for justice. Her eyes dart between the clerk in the corner and the two white men who stand in hushed conversation at the front, a lawyer and his client. She cannot stay still, one moment leaning forward in her seat, the next sitting back and gripping the bench with both hands. She breathes with some difficulty, the sign of a chill settled on the lungs. The door to the courtroom opens. Everyone…

What is the title of your latest release?MARRIAGE AND OTHER MONUMENTS What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Set in Richmond Virginia in the summer of 2020, MARRIAGE AND OTHER MONUMENTS, tells the story of two estranged sisters whose marriages implode against the backdrop of social justice protests and removal of the Confederate monuments. It’s a must-read multigenerational drama set against a tumultuous time of racial tension in the South. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?The city of Richmond, Virginia is a central character in the novel. The story couldn’t take place anywhere else. The history of the city and also what took place there in the summer of 2020 shape the characters, challenging them to become who they really want to be. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?MARRIAGE AND OTHER MONUMENTS has four main point of view characters: the two sisters, Cynthia and Melissa, and their husbands, Bobby and Marshall. I’d want to hang out with all of them! I would especially want to be with them in Richmond, where they live and where my story takes place. Their perspective on the city at that dramatic moment in the…

A tour of old Shanghai – as told by Caroline Stanton from THE FOURTH PRINCESS by Janie Chang: The sun rose and Shanghai’s waterfront came into view. I leaned against the ship’s railing and shivered with anticipation. Somehow I just knew this city would transform my life, far more than becoming Mrs. Thomas Stanton, far more than surviving a railway disaster. It was 1911, we were young and rich, and it seemed to me that anything was possible in Shanghai, the Paris of the East.   A view of The Bund from the water, Shanghai. 1900. Courtesy: VirtualShanghai.net We stepped off the gangplank and entered chaos. Porters vied to carry our luggage, horse carts belonging to hotels waited patiently for guests, and my ears caught words shouted out in a dozen languages. Disembarking passengers called out to their families on the wharf, sailors elbowed their way through the crowd, while red-turbaned Sikh police kept beggars and vendors away from the arrivals area.  1900. Customs house on The Bund, Shanghai. Courtesy Univ. of Bristol Mason Burnett, Thomas’ uncle, was waiting for us and we hurried into his luxurious carriage as a cold winter rain began falling. His coachman directed porters to load…

Hi, I’m Kerry, here to talk about my historical adventure, THE SECRET COURTESAN, which reads like THE DA VINCI CODE with a feminist twist. Historian Dr. Mia Harding risks her career and safety to prove the sculptor of an unearthed erotic statue was not a famous male artist, but his courtesan erased by history. T is for thrilling. The twists never let up H is for heroine. Two heroines chasing the same statue, four hundred years apart. E is for erased. History erased female artists, including Sophia S is for spicy romance scenes. A few get steamy! E is for The Estasi the erotic statue that changes everything C is for Carnival. This story takes place during the theatrical celebration of Venice R is for Renaissance, where Sophia fights the unfair laws against women artists E is for electric. Our two heroines have their lives upended by electric romances T is for twists, as in plot twists. So many secrets and clues to unravel C is for courtesan, the highly educated, powerful women of high society Venice O is for outrun. Mia and Noah must outrun the criminals that threaten them U is for unearthed. Statues appear throughout Venice that…

Each Friday the Smashwords store reports the bestselling indie fiction titles based on the previous week’s sales. If an author has more than one title eligible for the list, only the highest performing title will be included. This ensures high-performing titles receive the accolades they deserve, while providing up-and-coming authors the visibility they have earned. Don’t miss Monday’s Top 10 Hot Preorders List, where Smashwords will provide a list of the most highly anticipated ebook preorders.

Enemies to lovers is romance under pressure. Put two people on opposite sides of a line, then watch what happens when circumstance forces them to share oxygen, intel, and eventually trust. Fantasy turns that tension into high drama, because the line is never only personal. It might be a border river, a blood oath, a curse that feeds off lies, or a prophecy that names them as each other’s ruin. The power struggle makes every glance strategic and every touch a calculated risk. When the fall finally comes, it feels earned because surrender costs something. Below are five fantasy romances that stage the rivalry in different arenas. You will find knives disguised as compliments, alliances with expiration dates, political marriages that feel like sieges, and magic systems that treat intimacy like leverage. Pick the poison that matches your mood. THE BRIDGE KINGDOM by Danielle L. Jensen A princess trained as a weapon marries the enemy king whose trade routes strangle her homeland. Lara arrives on his island with a mission that reads like a countdown. The setting does a lot of heavy lifting here. Storm-cut channels, guarded spans, and a capital that lives by the tides give every conversation a…