Excerpt from RED SEAL by Rosa Kwon Easton: KO-CHAN Pyongyang April 1943 The loud squeal of the train’s brakes woke Ko-chan up from a deep sleep. He patted his jacket and felt the gold metal buttons on his kindergarten uniform. He was a big boy now at seven, not six, Mother said, because in Korea you’re already one when you’re born. His black school cap sat flat on his lap. He had lost it for a second when he ran back to hug his grandmother outside their house in Kyoto. “Where are you going?” his cousin had asked him. Ko-chan and his cousins had all lived together with their grandparents ever since he was born. His father died when he was a baby, so his grandparents took care of him while his mother worked. “I’m going on a trip with my mom!” Ko-chan said. “She promised we’ll be visiting my uncle in Korea. He’s going to give me chocolate!” Ko-chan had been excited at first, but then that stranger in the red hat came out of nowhere at the ferry station in Japan and said his grandparents were looking for him. But his mother said she wanted to be with…

Excerpt from THE TOWER OF BEGGARS by Torsten Weitze: Silence had fallen on the neatly cobbled street as Niri continued to push her coal cart towards her destination, the stately house looming ahead of her in the distance. The sun had already disappeared behind the horizon, with only the echo of its powerful rays bathing the plastered facades of the two-storey, half-timbered houses with their slate roofs that dominated this district of Brightburgh in a bluish twilight. Niri was glad not to have to share the street with anyone as she steered her cart to the middle of the road, where the cobblestones had not yet been damaged by the wheels of heavy carriages. Here the vehicle was much easier to handle, and, with a bit of luck, she might manage to finish this last delivery of the day before these newly constructed eerie lanterns which lined the streets of the rich and powerful blazed to life. Her nuncle Vasdram had explained to her that there were caves deep be neath the city filled with flammable gas which seeped in through their walls, and that these crude-looking, sooty tubes protruding from the earth – each with a dome-shaped structure on…

Dragons sit in a strange place in fantasy romance. They are monsters, gods, weapons, hoards, guardians, tyrants, and sometimes the most emotionally inconvenient person in the room. They carry all the grandeur of old myth, but they also make excellent romantic pressure: what happens when desire has claws, when trust requires standing close to something that could burn the world down, when the beloved is bonded to a dragon. It feels like the perfect October topic. Halloween gives us permission to lean into the monstrous, and with THRESHING DAY bringing dragon bonds back to the center of the romantasy conversation, now is a good moment to look beyond one school, one trial, or one series. Hachette describes THRESHING DAY as thirteen stories set around Basgiath’s brutal dragon-bonding trial, where would-be riders fight to earn a dragon or die trying. But dragons have been shaping romantic fantasy for a long time, and the best dragon romances understand that the fire is never only literal. DRAGON BOUND by Thea Harrison DRAGON BOUND is a classic for a reason: Pia Giovanni steals from a dragon’s hoard, and the dragon notices. More specifically, she takes a coin from Dragos Cuelebre, one of the most…

What is the title of your latest release?PORTRAIT OF A HAUNTING What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?PORTRAIT OF A HAUNTING is about a young woman who’s plagued with the ability to see ghosts. When she comes home to find her best friend has been murdered, a crime that’s eerily connected to her dark past, she must use her ability to find the killer… before it’s too late. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I knew pretty immediately that the book would take place in New York City. There’s so much local lore and history to work with. I never thought twice about it! Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?I would! Tatum and all the characters are so vivid in my mind. To me, they feel very real. What are three words that describe your hero?Strong, independent, and stubborn. What’s something you learned while writing this book?I spent months researching the supernatural and specifically theories around ghosts, across different cultures, to ensure the lore in the book felt whole. I ended up stumbling across different NYC ghost stories that ended up inspiring things that happen in the book – but…

What is the title of your latest release?MORSELS What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?MORSELS is essentially – You’re Next meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers in a supernatural “meet-the-family” horror romp about family dysfunction, childhood trauma, and the evil that festers in the basements of our past. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?There are few places scarier than your in-laws’ isolated summer vacation home out in the middle of the woods! Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Absolutely. Connie is a badass. Her harrowing life experiences have given her a cool head and an open mind. Plus, I know she’d have my back if we ran into any supernatural shenanigans. What are three words that describe your hero?Resilient, determined, hopeful. What’s something you learned while writing this book?More than I ever wanted to know about surviving the loss of a limb. Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?Definitely both! I reread yesterday’s work before writing today’s. Makes the actual editing phase much smoother. What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?Definitely all the ice cream. All kinds of ice cream. And gelato. Describe your writing space/office!My…

What is the title of your latest release?EVIE WALTERS TAKES THE WHEEL What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?A 71-year-old widow shocks everyone when she buys a camper van and hits the road in search of the sender of an exotic orchid—and along the way, she rediscovers herself. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I travel all over the country in a Sprinter van, so that’s the inspiration of place – on rural roads and in campgrounds. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Absolutely! Dare I admit to wanting to BE Evie Walters! What are three words that describe your hero?Brave. Willing. Kind. What’s something you learned while writing this book?That writing is possible even when you only have small increments of time. Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?I wrote EVIE chapter by chapter and edited chapter by chapter. But I knew the ending, I just had to figure out how to get there. What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?Coffee, my liquid food. Describe your writing space/office!At home, I write in my little She Shed. On the road, I write in the jump seat of…

Excerpt from COZY LITTLE CHRISTMAS by RaeAnne Thayne: For far longer than he should have, Wes stood in the parking lot of his grandfather’s retirement community watching Hannah’s taillights fade in the increasing snowfall. She looked even more beautiful than she had been when he left, if that were possible. He had always found her captivating, with her mischievous smile and free spirit. Now she was stunning. Hannah Goodwin had always seemed to vibrate with some kind of inner melody. Music wasn’t simply something she loved; it was an integral part of who she was. He remembered how she would hum softly under her breath while studying, her fingers absently tapping out rhythms on textbooks or coffee mugs. Her laughter always had a musical quality to it, light and melodious, and in quiet moments, he would sometimes catch her swaying slightly, as if moved by some unheard song. While he had been back to Shelter Springs a handful of times since he left, he hadn’t bumped into her in all those years. He had done his best to stay away, especially after he learned she had moved back. Being here, remembering everything, was too painful. Still, he hadn’t avoided it…

What is the title of your latest release?LOOKS PERFECT What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Stella Lerner is crumbling under the pressure of her massive Instagram following, growing indie fashion brand, and tensions in her relationship with her boyfriend, Alex, when she rediscovers herself by connecting with an anonymous stranger on an experimental dating app who teaches her the difference between being looked at and being seen. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?The protagonist, Stella, is a New Yorker through and through, there was nowhere else this book could’ve taken place! Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?In the second half of the book, definitely. What are three words that describe your hero?Smart, charming, creative What’s something you learned while writing this book?In writing Stella’s relationship with Pineapple, I really learned the difference between disclosure in a relationship and true vulnerability. Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?I edit as I go! Part of why LOOKS PERFECT took me so long to write is that I had a hard time moving forward in the narrative if everything that came before wasn’t “done.” What’s your…

What is the title of your latest release?THE RALLY What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?White Lotus meets The Wedding People: a young founder, ousted from the company she built, flees to Europe for a champagne-soaked classic car rally — and finds reinvention, romance, and just a little revenge. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I did a rally like this one in my twenties, so the setting came straight from life. It’s glamorous on the surface but a pressure cooker underneath — and there’s something about beautiful places that makes people drop their guard. Perfect for a story about secrets. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Absolutely. Charlie is brilliant and a little bit of a mess, which is my favorite kind of person. I’d want to take her out for a drink and tell her to stop apologizing for taking up space. What are three words that describe your hero?Magnetic, guarded, and a little bit of a control freak. What’s something you learned while writing this book?That fiction can tell a truer story than the truth. There were things about ambition, power, and being a woman in those rooms…

Book title: THE PARIS FILESCharacter: Yousef Al Shami Yousef Al Shami is the proprietor of a fruit stand at 51 Rue Oberkampf in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. Al-Shami was a key witness in The Paris Files, the case of the disappeared American tourist. He joins us here to discuss the case, his ties to the community, and the never-ending appeal of Paris. How would you describe your upbringing in the 11th arrondissement?My mother was an ox. She would rise from bed and touch her toes twenty times, right until her ninetieth year, when her diabetes took her left leg. My scoundrel father had no place in our home from the day in my early childhood when he was caught en flagrante with a cloudy-eyed Yugoslavian on the onion sacks in our storage room. From that day forward my mother and I ran the fruit stand ourselves and when she could not mother me because the demands of commerce grew too high, the people of Rue Oberkampf did. The woman who sat every day on the steps of the public bath and gave me my first cigarette at age nine and made a man of me at age fourteen. I…