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 Darci Hannah!   Writes: I cut my teeth writing Scottish historical fiction, but now I’m indulging my passion for cozy mysteries by writing the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series. My third book in the series, MURDER AT THE BLUEBERRY FESTIVAL, will be out on July 26th. What is a cozy mystery you ask? To me it’s a lot like visiting a favorite, welcoming, happy place. I set my cozy mystery series in the beautiful yet fictitious lakeside village of Beacon Harbor, Michigan. It’s such a delightful place that I (and hopefully readers) want to visit it again and again. The characters in cozy mysteries can be a bit quirky, but often they’re a hoot. They’re they type of people you want to hang out with and invite to dinner, because you know the conversations are going to be entertaining. I love writing feisty, interesting, and endearing protagonists. I also delight in giving them a host of interesting family and friends who both challenge and help…

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 Gabby Allan! Writes: One of my favorite things in life is that I get to have an absolute blast bringing readers the blend of RomCozies – traditional murder mysteries with a rom com twist that’s sure to make you laugh and sigh in delight, all while trying to figure out whodunnit. Hopefully not before me since that would ruin the fun or our race to the finish! About: Just to give you a little taste––island life, chaos, golf carts galore, and tricky murderers fill my head as I do my best to bring laughter, escape, and a story that makes you forget to make dinner and/or go to bed on time. I used to enjoy long walks on the beach, but since I’m now living in the middle of Pennsylvania they’re no longer as accessible as when I lived in California. Now my life is mostly filled with recapturing those long-gone times on the page and praying my curly hair won’t completely go rogue…

For me, the spice of life is good food and trying new things. The author I’m interviewing today brings both of those experiences to the table—and it’s a table loaded with good recipes and fantastic writing. Yum! Like many mystery readers, Lucy Burdette caught my eye with her hit Key West Food Critic Mystery series. Her character’s growth is fully developed and insightful, not to mention she’s got a drop-dead gorgeous setting and recipes! (Did I already say yum?) To top that off, she’s willing to step off the ledge and go for something new—dark even and utterly fantastic. As a book critic, I know what I like, and I love her new endeavor into the thriller category. Take a chance, enjoy another great Key West Food Critic cozy mystery with A DISH TO DIE FOR– and then go for not an edge of your seat suspense, but a narrow escape from the edge of the dock spine chiller in her UNSAFE HAVEN crime thriller. It’s a leap you will love!   Kym: Hi Lucy, welcome to the Cozy Corner! Lucy: Thanks so much for the invitation!   Kym: You have two books releasing within a couple weeks of each…

In your thriller POINT LAST SEEN, Elle has amnesia. Has that been a topic that has always interested you? I dunno. Maybe it’s that sense of, “Could you be the one who tried to kill me?” “Are you really my lover?” and of course, “When I look in the mirror, what am I seeing? A scholar? A parent? A murderer?” What inspired you to write POINT LAST SEEN? I always enjoy watching the documentaries on people who have seemingly disappeared. In one case, a woman disappeared, and was found a year or so later in a hospital and having amnesia. They were only able to identify her and reunite her with her family because of her distinctive tattoo. Are you ever inspired by real life cases? I imagined the opening of POINT LAST SEEN years and years ago as a start to a historical novel: a woman rolls in on an icy surf, seemingly dead, then comes to life and doesn’t know where she came from…or so she says. I never could find the story to fit that scenario, but like all great ideas, it hovered on the fringes of my mind. Then. :sigh: Then in early 2020 I was…

What’s the recipe for a fun mystery? When I was writing MINT CHOCOLATE MURDER I decided to indulge myself and add an ingredient I’ve been dying to use for ages. I’ve always wanted to set a murder in a moody haunted castle! Here’s a list of some of the other ingredients in my newest Ice Cream Shop mystery – I hope you’ll enjoy it.   M – Mysterious supermodel with a royal secret I – Ice cream social to die for N – New England village of your Hallmark dreams T – Teashops and treachery   C – Crafty clues and red herrings H – Haunted Scottish castle O – Obsessions turned deadly C – Cat who needs therapy O – One hot veterinarian L – Locked room mystery A – Art world gossip T – Tantalizing twists E – Enemies and frenemies   M – Malicious suspects U – Unrequited love R – Race against the clock D – Danger in the dungeon E – Extra sprinkles! R – Riley Rhodes, my main character, an ice cream shop manager and former CIA librarian with plenty of secrets of her own MINT CHOCOLATE MURDER by Meri Allen Ice Cream Shop #2 Riley…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE OTHER GUEST 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? One year ago, Leah’s twenty-one-year-old niece, Amy, mysteriously drowned in the beautiful lake near her family-owned luxury resort in Northern Italy. When Leah returns to Lake Garda for the first time since Amy’s death, she is shocked. Her sister, brother-in-law and surviving niece have erased all reminders of Amy and fought to have her death declared an accidental drowning, despite murky circumstances. As Leah tries to uncover the truth, her family seem determined to stop her. Meanwhile, in Central England, university counsellor Joanna is recovering from a break-up when she is swept off her feet by a handsome bartender. But after she invites him into her home, Joanna realizes that their meeting may not have been a coincidence. These two seemingly unconnected women must question everything – and everyone – they love in order to untangle truth from lies, even if it puts their lives in danger.   3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I grew up in Derby, in Central England, and still have a lot of friends and family there, so I naturally…

Hi! I’m Denise Williams, author of THE SWEETEST CONNECTION, an airport-based friends to lovers novella. I’m excited to to tell you all about the story. Teagan dreams of traveling the world, but currently works in an airport. Silas works in airport customer service and is holding onto secret feelings for his best friend. Teagan and Silas have one week to solve the mystery of an uncovered love letter before time runs out. Along the way, they might stumble on sweet truth about how they feel about each other! The Sweetest Connection is the third novella in the Love and Other Flight Delays collection that also includes THE LOVE CONNECTION and THE MISSED CONNECTION. Flight delays have never had so much romantic potential!   T is for Teagan, the book’s heroine, who works in an airport candy shop. H is for Her best friend, Silas, who she’s known since college. He works in customer service at the airport. E is for Every joke they’ve shared over the last seven years.   S is for Something has changed, and Silas finds it hard to fight his feelings for Teagan. W is for When they find a love letter written by a colleague….

Jennifer Vido: What inspired your new release, The Edge of Summer? Viola Shipman: Every novel I write is a piece of my heart and inspired by a deeply personal story. The Edge of Summer is no exception: It’s inspired by my grandma’s buttons and button jars (which I still have), her love of sewing and her love of me. It’s a tribute to the sacrifices of our mothers and grandmothers. My working poor Ozarks grandma, Viola Shipman (my pen name), stitched overalls at a local factory until she couldn’t stand straight. But even after sewing all day for work, nothing brought her more joy than taking a seat at her Singer. My grandma was like a ballerina at her Singer, her body in motion and in tune with the machine. It was a gorgeous dance to watch. She was also the first “artist” I ever knew, though she would blush at the mere utterance of such a fancy word. The Edge of Summer is inspired by these memories. It’s also inspired by the thoughts that spun in my head as I watched her sew, or when she would look up at me and smile, especially as I grew older: What…

1–What is the title of your latest release? A WEDDING AT SANDY COVE 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Imagine ‘Bridesmaids’ meets ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’ with a sprinkle of ‘Suits’. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? A seaside location for a wedding sounded perfect so I chose the Norfolk coast as it’s somewhere I love to visit. 4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? I definitely would hang out with Ella somewhere chilled for a natter but I think Lucy and I would have a whale of a time. 5–What are three words that describe your hero? Hot, Caring and Troubled 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? That there’s a lot more to altering wedding dresses than just turning up a hem. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I write a full first draft and then I self-edit before it goes to my agent and then to my editor. 8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence? Biscuits. I always have emergency biscuits. 9–Describe your writing space/office! It’s our spare bedroom where I have a corkboard, a desk called Duncan…

To celebrate Theophilus Monroe’s new book WITCHES AND WOLVES, we here at Fresh Fiction thought it would be a fun way for readers to get to know his characters better by playing a little game we call “The Character Most Likely”. Theophilus is free to select his answers from any of his paranormal series. Most likely to hold a grudge longer than anybody else? Mercy Brown (BLOODY HELL).  Given the fact that her own father tried to stake her and burn out her heart when she first became a vampire, she (understandably) harbors a lot of resentment. It might take longer than the average human lifespan before she lets go of her anger and opens herself up to be loved by another human being. Will she get there? You’ll have to read to find out.   Most likely to figure out a way to use an enemy’s strength against him? Joni Campbell (DRUID’S DANCE / WYRMRIDER ASCENDING) is a siphon. She can extract magic from anyone she encounters who wields a magical force and amplify it several times over. If her enemy has any supernatural power, can access any kind of magic at all, she can harness their power and…