To celebrate Elizabeth Rose’s new book BEWITCHED – the second book in her Portals of Destiny series, 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”. If you’re new to her Portals of Destiny series – It’s a mix of fantasy and historical romance. Elizabeth Rose is free to select her answers from any series. Most likely to hold a grudge longer than anybody else? That would have to be Reed Douglas, my hero from Reckless Highlander, Book 3 of my Legendary Bastards of the Crown. He is a triplet and also the last of the brothers to forgive his father – the king – for wanting them killed as babies, among other things.   Most likely to figure out a way to use an enemy’s strength against him? This, I think would be Medea, my heroine from Bewitched. She is a witch sired from good and evil. Most of the time, she is her worst enemy. Medea was first seen in Lady in the Tower (Rapunzel) from my Tangled Tales…

You write some of my favorite heroes and in LOVE IN 3D, Xavier is another example of your strong and sexy yet sweet heroes. What makes a good hero for you? He must be someone I’d want to date in real life. – grin – Emotionally mature but not perfect by any means. Handsome—if not traditionally, then at least appealing to the heroine—and funny. And he’s typically a part of a group, a family or band of brothers. I find the hero’s family almost as appealing as the hero!   Justine, the heroine in LOVE IN 3D, has complicated family relationships. These is a theme often repeated in your novels. What do you like about using this as a source of conflict in your books? When writing contemporary romance, a lot of the conflict has to be with relationship dynamics, as the heroine isn’t running from a killer (not a romantic suspense book) or fleeing vampires (not paranormal.) And if there is no obstacle to the protagonists’ happily ever after, the book will be done in a few pages. And boring, to be frank. We need to see them hurdle obstacles and succeed! Family makes for the juiciest conflict, and…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE MANHATTAN GIRLS 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Sex in the City set in the 1920s, as Dorothy Parker and three friends navigate life, love and careers in a city of jazz clubs, speakeasies and badly behaved men 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I write about real women in history and had long wanted to make Dorothy Parker a subject, especially covering the early, very vulnerable period in her life. I had also always wanted to write about Prohibition-era Manhattan, so the two came together. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Definitely! Dorothy was the wittiest woman in the world ever. I’d love to go out on the town with her, drinking hooch, gossiping, and sharing secrets. She was notoriously indiscreet but so funny I’d forgive her anything. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Genius, chaotic, fragile. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? Just how corrupt Prohibition was. Banning law-abiding citizens from buying alcohol turned them into white-collar criminals. Many crime bosses made their fortunes through bootlegging in the 1920s, and they offered protection…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE SCOT WHO LOVED HER, book 4 in my Scots of Honor series.   2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? After a brutal fight to secure a vital military secret, Scottish lord Malcolm Gordon, codename Raven, races from Edinburgh to deliver the news to his commanding officer in London. But before he arrives, he crosses paths with a lady’s bullet…   3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I absolutely love Scotland, and one of my favorite cities is Edinburgh. I also feel at home in London. When I decided to write a Regency series, it was natural for me to choose Scotland as a home base – Edinburgh and the countryside specifically, and then also London, because what Regency is complete without a visit to Almacks?   4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? Oh yes! In fact, I’d probably hand her the punch she’s so famous for tossing on the rude blokes who think they can get away with being insulting to her. She is fun and quirky and a definite rebel in society. She’s also got a great sense…

First, I just want to say that I love the covers for your books. Thank you! I’ve been incredibly lucky with the team at Berkley. Vikki Chu is the cover designer and Rita Frangie the art director. The books burst with such color—pure sunshine in paper form. I love how striking all three covers are, and yet how the design is so cohesive across the collection. I think the illustrations capture the whimsy contained in each novel.   What inspired you to write SOPHIE GO’S LONELY HEARTS CLUB? This book was a love letter to my grandparents and to my city, Toronto. I was close to my grandparents. I wanted to show how spunky and sassy they were, and how they were so full of life and joy. I remember my Amah holding a Heineken within each hand while playing a wicked game of Mahjong! Seniors are often ignored and deemed disposable by society. Writing this book was my way of trying to change that line of thinking.   How much of you is in this story? Places, characters, and experiences from your own life? Much of my childhood haunts, and some kernels of my life, are woven into Sophie’s…

1–What is the title of your latest release? Our newest release is a sparkly new print edition of ADDICTED TO YOU, published by Berkley and coming August 16th! 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Two best friends pretend to be in a relationship to hide their addictions from their families. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The Addicted series follows elite wealthy families on the East Coast, and we decided on Philadelphia, which has become the birthplace of the fictional soda company Fizzle. 4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? Absolutely! Lily Calloway is a lover of all things fandom, especially X-Men. As are we! We would gush with her all day, every day. 5–What are three words that describe your hero? Sarcastic. Sharp-edged. Redeemable. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? Not judging people too quickly—everyone has demons and issues that weigh under the surface that not everyone can see. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? Since there are two of us, we edit as we draft. We don’t split chapters between the two of us. Instead, one of us…

1–What is the title of your latest release? LOVE IN THE TIME OF SERIAL KILLERS 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Phoebe Walsh is a PhD candidate studying true crime, which is why she can’t help but view the world through that lens. She can’t help but be suspicious of her nice, hot neighbor . . . but she soon realizes that the only thing in danger is her heart. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The boring answer is that I just set it where I live, in Central Florida. But I think Florida works really well as a setting because of its reputation for being kind of weird, but how interesting and dynamic a setting it can be when you get past the touristy stuff. Its summers are also SO humid, which is an atmosphere that worked well in the book. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely! We could watch Forensic Files together. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Prickly, wry, vulnerable. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? As weird as this may sound, I feel like I learned that I…

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 Lisa Childs!   Writes: Hi, I write everything.  My current release is a Harlequin Romantic Suspense called HOTSHOT HERO ON THE EDGE.  It’s sexy and suspenseful. I also write sweet and wholesome family stories like my Bachelor Cowboy series for Harlequin Heartwarming.  Then there’s my super sinister suspenseful Bane Island series with Kensington about an exclusive resort on a remote island off the coast of Maine where guests and some of the hired help keep turning up dead. About: I’m a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author with nearly 100 books published. I like fast-paced plots with a lot of action in my romantic suspense with some friends and family sprinkled in to support the central romance.  And the central romance is always the most important element of the story for me.  I am a “hopeful” romantic. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Someone who likes a variety Someone who likes to live and read fast Someone who likes…

1–What is the title of your latest release? FLORA FLOWERDEW AND THE MYSTERY OF THE DUKE’S DIAMONDS!  A bit of a mouthful, but it suits this first in a new mystery series—a bit silly, a bit romantic, a bit caper-ish.  I loved writing it! 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Flora Flowerdew has a secret. The former Florrie Gubbins, music hall dancer, is now Madame Flowerdew, one of London’s most renowned spirit mediums. But it’s actually her beloved Pomeranian dog, Chou-Chou, who can see the ghosts. One of her most lucrative seances, for the wealthy Petrie family whose daughter is about to marry a handsome young duke, goes chaotically awry. The duke’s late, and very irate, grandfather demands Flora and his grandson Benedict find the long-missing family diamonds—even the search becomes littered with mayhem and murder! Can Flora discover the jewels before she loses her career, her sanity—and her heart? 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I’ve always been a big fan of reading steampunk stories!  And even though “Flora…” isn’t steampunk (she lives in a very real Victorian London) I thought some of that foggy, gaslit atmosphere was just right 4–Would…

1–What is the title of your latest release? HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Shauna seeks refuge in the Amish country to stay alive… 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Living in Wisconsin, I knew we had several Amish communities, so I took a trip to Green Lake and found there was a group of Amish living nearby. The town itself isn’t Amish, but the proximity to the Amish community gave me the idea to set a series there. Green Lake is a small town within a large county, and there are three smaller lakes in the area, too. A beautiful place to visit! 4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? Yes! The thing is, there’s a little of me in every heroine I write. I worked three jobs to get myself through nursing school, so Shauna’s working while attending classes was something I could relate to. And her can-do attitude is similar to mine, lol. Of course, one of her friends dies in the story, so there is that… 5–What are three words that describe your hero? Liam Harland – Sheriff, protector, and loner….