To celebrate Gena Showalter’s new book RUTHLESS, 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”. I love this because it satisfies my romance nerd self AND because I love Gena Showalter’s books. If you’re new to her Immortal Enemies series – It’s a mix of fantasy and romance – with men AND women who are ruthless. The result often combines chaos and eroticism in a satisfying way. Gena is free to select her answers from any of her paranormal series. Most likely to hold a grudge longer than anybody else? ANSWER: Kaysar the Unhinged One from Heartless and Ruthless. He forgives no one, ever. Well, except his darling, homicidal Chantal, who can do no wrong.   Most likely to figure out a way to use an enemy’s strength against him? ANSWER: Micah the Unwilling from Ruthless. As a beast tamer, he often senses the inside scoop. Before scooping out their insides.   Most likely to prefer a cloak of invisibility to super-duper sword or other instruments of battle? ANSWER: Viori…

Chapter 6   New York, New York Emily slipped into a dreamy state of contemplation. The voices of the attendees in the gallery faded away as she absorbed the beauty of the artwork. Marco Allegretto’s paintings were so vivid, they took on a life of their own. Where does the truth lie? In the paintings, or the book, or both? Even if their love affair had been doomed, what an experience to treasure, to be loved and adored like the mysterious woman in the painting. Or the mysterious Iris in the novel. Emily’s Romeos always turned out to be Bozos the Clown or, in Will’s case, a serial cheater. Despite her failed relationships, Emily still yearned for that wondrous one true love. Am I destined to be alone for the rest of my life? Or will I have to wait for the next lifetime to find my soul mate? An eerie sensation rippled up her spine and she nearly jumped off the bench. The first painting seemed to be moving. Emily wondered if she was seeing things, or if it was a surprise 3D effect of the exhibit? The woman posed in the chair in La Sedia shifted and was…

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 Shana Galen! Writes: Shana Galen writes fast-paced historical romance with bold heroines and dangerous heroes. Expect laugh-out-loud humor, nail-biting suspense, and toe-curling romance. Her latest, Beauty and the Thief, is the first in the new Royal Saboteurs series. About:   I’m a perennial award nominee but rarely the award-winner. Reviewers call my writing “lighthearted yet poignant, humorous yet touching.” I live in Houston and before being a writer and mom full-time, I taught English at the middle and high school level for eleven years. Most of those years were spent working in Houston’s inner city. I’m a magnet for animals in distress and have four rescue cats and one rescued dog. I’m also a dance mom (the good kind!) to a teenage daughter, and you can find me typing my latest book in a loud dressing room or a darkened auditorium. The ideal reader for Beauty and the Thief adores Enemies to lovers A hero with a sexy Irish accent Spies and secret agents…

When I made my first Facebook ads for my Gilded Age MM series, The Slippery Slope, I used the tagline, “Romance in the Gay Club Scene of the 1890s!”. And almost immediately, I had someone comment saying “Are you kidding? Or do you mean the 1980s?” Fortunately, I was able to reply and say, “It’s not a typo! There was a thriving gay club scene in The Bowery in the 1890s and earlier.” And guys, there was! The neighborhood of Bowery was famous for being a little slice of New York City where all the rules were broken and where men and women of all inclinations could live as their most authentic selves. It was so famous for the wild lives people lived that “going slumming” by visiting the Bowery clubs was considered to be one of the not-to-be-missed tourist attractions of New York before the twentieth century. The idea of social clubs and bars wasn’t new to the twentieth century. Neither was the concept of dance halls or public houses of ill-repute. By the end of the nineteenth century in large cities around the world, that hangout spot where everybody knew your name and was always glad you came…

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 Madeleine Roux!   Writes: Many readers might know me from my bestselling horror novels, but my first passion as a reader and writer was romance! As a teenager, I spent my nights and days obsessed with authors like Jude Deveraux, imagining a time I might get to bring my own romances to life. Twenty years later, I finally get to show THE PROPOSITION to the world. The Proposition is my eighteenth novel, but my first foray into romance, and I’ve poured my heart and soul–and my love for strong, smart heroines–into this book. In this Regency romance, you’ll join Clemency Fry as she grapples with her desire for independence and her desire for revenge against the man that tricked her into a loveless match. Her prospect of happiness seems dashed until a handsome stranger comes along, offering the revenge she seeks, and much more. Clemency never expected to fall in love while getting even with a dangerous villain.   About: Hopeless romantic seeks readers…

Do you enjoy humor in romance? I know I do. I’m not talking about an all-out slapstick comedy. Some readers love slapstick, which is great, but it’s not my thing (although a surprise slapstick-esque scene can be fun). And I’m not specifically referring to “rom-coms” either, since that definition has become a bit fuzzy over the past few years. Not every romance with funny scenes is a rom-com. But I do enjoy having a good chuckle while reading…and while writing. As an author, I have a choice to make. Do I want the scene to be funny for the reader, as someone observing what’s happening? Or do I want the scene to be funny for the characters, with the reader in on the joke? A great example of funny for the reader, while not funny (at least not at the time) for the character, is the “Wibblet” scene from Lucy Parker’s Headliners—a lovely enemies-to-lovers romance about two morning TV hosts. In this scene, a guest brings on a popular robotic toy called a Wibblet, and the thing goes crazy—terrifying the heroine, cursing and running amok—causing a scene on live television. It was so well-written that I had to set my…

1–What is the title of your latest release? STORM ECHO 2–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The Psy-Changeling series encompasses multiple settings. This time around, I knew we were heading into the territory of the DarkRiver leopard changelings: San Francisco and the surrounding area. The series hasn’t been back in San Francisco for some time, so it was wonderful to return and see glimpses of several familiar characters. I originally chose SF (and more widely, California) as a setting because I’d recently traveled through it, and it just felt right for this series. It has sprawling landscapes, big cities, rivers, mountains, deserts, everything you need for both the shapeshifting changelings as well as the more city-based humans and Psy. I also particularly loved the energy of SF’s Chinatown, and it just worked its way seamlessly into the series – which it does this time around too, with a major scene taking place in the heart of Chinatown. 3–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? Absolutely! She’s fun, deeply caring, a loyal friend, and has a wildly colorful style. 4–What are three words that describe your hero? Cool, controlled, devoted. 5–Do you…

1) What is the title of your book? EDGE OF MIDNIGHT, The McClouds & Friends Series, Book 4. 2) Give us your elevator pitch. Sean, the youngest McCloud brother, has a bad habit of running headlong into deadly danger. Years ago, he was forced to drive away his true love, Liv, to protect her from that danger. Now Fate has put her on his path once again …and the danger is back, too. But nothing on Heaven or earth will keep him away from her this time… 3) How did you decide where your book would take place? From the very first book in the series, I knew it was the Cascade Mountains. That’s where I grew up, deep in the backwoods. My parents did the back-to-the-land thing, so I gave that exact weird and complicated backstory to my McCloud brothers, times a thousand! I based all of the city plot stuff in the series near Seattle, which I think is a gorgeous town. Those colors, those skyscrapers, those snowcapped mountains, the Puget Sound, Mt. Rainier looming over it all, the misty rain, the flowers…ahhh. 4) Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Hell, yeah! Sean is…

I love the twists and turns of a difficult investigation, the danger and uncertainty of an undercover mission, the psychological complexity of profiling a suspect. I love knowing that my protagonists are bound by rules that my villains are not, that my protagonists will have to work harder and smarter if they want to prevail. I love that my protagonists are almost always working on behalf of someone who can’t fight this battle themselves, that they are in pursuit of truths and seeking to right wrongs. I love writing law enforcement heroes. Almost all of my novels feature a law enforcement character in a primary role. Occasionally, I even have a villain using the power and protection of a badge and a gun to do wrong. But usually, it’s my heroes who are connected to law enforcement in some way. One of my most popular series, The Profiler series, features an FBI agent who went through the FBI Academy, spent years as a regular Special Agent running investigations, but now tackles a different side of the process. As a profiler (or Criminal Investigative Analyst), Evelyn Baine spends a lot of time digging into case files and inside the minds of…

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 Amanda Jayatissa! Writes: Thrillers and psychological suspense, usually including cultural elements from Sri Lanka, where I am from. My most recent novel, YOU’RE INVITED, follows a woman who discovers that her ex-best friend is marrying her ex-boyfriend and would go to any length to stop the wedding, until the bride is presumed dead, and she’s blamed for the murder.   About: When I’m not reading about murder, writing about murder, or dreaming up interesting ways to murder someone (which takes up 90% of my time) I run a cookie shop (such a cliché, right?), run corporate trainings, and am a doting dog mother to my two exuberant huskies.   What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Someone who loves to play detective watches “Say Yes To The Dress” AND “Dateline” enjoys morally ambiguous characters likes reading about different cultures and experiences prefers a. Their food extra spicy or b. Their hero a little salty   What to expect if we’re compatible: I…