Is Ella Shane based on any historical figure? Having the story set in 1900, did you do any research on the time period? Are you a history buff? I like to describe Ella as part Beverly Sills, part Anne of Green Gables and part Errol Flynn. She’s brilliantly talented yet approachable like Sills, an orphan made good like Anne, and a swashbuckler like Flynn. Probably the closest real-life figure to Ella is Lillian Russell, a singer and actress who owned her own theatre company in the late 19th century. BUT — she didn’t play trouser roles, and Miss Russell’s personal life (four marriages and a very public affair with Diamond Jim Brady!) was the exact opposite of respectable Ella’s. I’ve been a history buff since I learned to read, and the Victorian Era is one of my favorite periods. When I started working on the series, it was tremendously fun to research the details – and the outfits! In A FATAL OVERTURE, Ella Shane’s love interest is described as “long-distance love, Gil Saint Aubyn”. Does Ella have support from friends, family, or friendly investigators to be part of her “Scooby gang” as she plays the role of amateur sleuth? Absolutely!…

I admit that I couldn’t see the appeal of mafia-themed romance. Then I read one or two by the author MINK and I got into it a bit. How would you describe your “Dark Mafia” romances to romance fans new to your books or new to the mafia-themed romance sub-genre in general? What makes them so fab? Well, everyone loves a bad boy. There is just something sexy about a man who is willing to do anything, and I do mean anything, to keep the woman he loves by his side. My men are OTT arrogant, possessive, domineering and dangerous. The dangerous part is what sets both dark romance and the dark mafia sub-genre apart from more standard romance. In my books, the villain gets the girl. There are no moral code restraints on his actions which makes the books unpredictable and exciting.   I’m always interested in the heroines in these types of romances. How would you describe the heroine in SWEET BRUTALITY? Can she hold her own with the hero? Absolutely. Carinna is bold, sassy, and independent. She is determined to make her own way in the world and does not need or want a man’s help. This,…

1–What is the title of your latest release? A BRUSH WITH LOVE 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Two dental students trade fillings for feelings as they navigate first love, being “just friends,” meddling found family, and finding what they really want out of life while also working through the hard parts of mental illness and grief. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I wrote ABWL during my first year of dental school. While in the program, your world becomes really small (and tooth-shaped) to the point that you’re thinking about school or exams or hanging with other dental students talking about school or exams… it’s as tedious as it sounds. Harper and Dan, my main characters who are in dental school, popped into my head one day and wouldn’t shut up! It was fun to watch their friendship and romance unfold in a setting I’d never seen in a romance novel before. 4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? Oh heck yes. I love Harper Hannah Horowitz with my whole heart. She’s funny and determined and would do anything for the people she loves. She’d also probably push…

1–What is the title of your latest release? INKED CRAVING 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? “She expected a proposal but ended up dumped and pregnant. Now she’s alone…and trying not to fall for her best friend. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? My series is set in Colorado since I used to live there, and I love it so much! 4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? Totally. Paige is one of my favorites. 5–What are three words that describe your hero? Broken. Grumpy. Dependable. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I had to learn all about the timeline of pregnancies LOL. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? Answer: I wait until I’m done so I don’t get confused. 8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence? Cheese. All the cheese. 9–Describe your writing space/office! I have an office in my house, so I don’t end up working in the rest of my house and never sleep. 10–Who is an author you admire? I am enthralled with Nalini Singh’s worldbuilding and just how wonderful she is! 11–Is there a book that changed…

Jen: What inspired your new release, THE TOBACCO WIVES? Adele: As a young girl growing up in North Carolina, I was fascinated by my grandmother’s stories about the women she called the tobacco wives. She was a hairdresser for the wives of the wealthiest, most powerful tobacco magnates in Winston-Salem, NC in the 1940s, and tales of these wealthy, glamorous women captured my imagination.   Jen: What’s the most fascinating thing you learned while researching the book? Adele: Insights into what life was like for tobacco workers was fascinating, and pretty disturbing. One example is that the field workers suffered from a condition called “the green monster.” When they tended to and picked wet tobacco leaves, nicotine seeped into their skin, giving them tobacco poisoning. I had no idea about this condition. Factory conditions and practices were also a shocker to me.    Jen: What brings Maddie Sykes to Bright Leaf, North Carolina? Adele: When Maddie’s father is killed in WWII, her mother has a breakdown. She doesn’t know how she’ll support herself and her daughter and decides to take Maddie to her Aunt Etta’s house in the tobacco capital of the South. Aunt Etta is a professional seamstress in the…

When I first read the description for your book REMEMBER ME GONE, I was immediately fascinated. It seemed very Stephen King or David Lynch-ish. What inspired you to write REMEMBER ME GONE? It’s funny that you mention Stephen King. Growing up, he was my mom’s favorite author and she often left his books lying around the house. When she wasn’t looking, I would sneak-read as many pages as I could cram in, or until I scared myself so badly I’d have to stop. So I guess you could say he’s had a big influence on my writing and even my desire to be a writer from a young age. He’s also the reason I still look behind me whenever I walk down a hotel hallway. But the inspiration for REMEMBER ME GONE came from an episode of True Blood, the HBO series based on The Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris. In the episode, someone hires a vampire to erase her husband’s memories in the hopes of curing his PTSD. I started wondering what it might be like to run a memory-taking business and, boom, the idea was born. Sans vampires.   Did you always plan on having Lucy, your…

Your book BOSS WITCH comes out April 5th. It’s described as an “opposites attract paranormal romcom”. What attracts you to stories with characters who are opposites getting together? Opposites are like magnets with a positive and negative charge. They’re drawn together irresistibly, but the challenge is whether the characters can make it work long-term. And that’s where the fascination comes into play. Two people with wildly different viewpoints… the idea that they can form a lasting partnership and turn those variations into a complementary relationship—where one supplies what the other lacks? It’s the ultimate form of optimism and makes us feel brighter about real life opposition.   How would you describe Gavin in BOSS WITCH? What makes a good hero to you? Gavin is lonely and tormented. He hates his job, and he’s been isolated from the world by an emotionally abusive parent. What he wants more than anything is a place to belong. As for what makes a good hero, as long as he meets his fictional partner’s needs, that definition can apply to any type of character.   Your thriller THE THIRD MRS. DURST sounds intriguing. As an author, is it a much different process writing a thriller…

1–What is the title of your latest release? BROKEN HEIR, A Dark Fated-Mates Romance 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? He’s a ruthless warlord out for revenge and redemption. She’s his enemy’s daughter with a big secret of her own— and he’s about to leave her breathless, begging, and broken. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? BROKEN HEIR is the third book in the Ruthless Warlords series and so I knew early on that this book would be about the beautiful, broken alpha Alexi’s book, the third oldest brother in the Skolov family, and his search for his missing brother among his enemies, the Sartins. I also knew he would find his fated mate in the midst -and that it didn’t matter that the timing was all wrong, or that he was promised to someone else, or that she was involved in her own mess and that their attraction ruined all their plans and only made everything more complicated, dangerous, and more of a mess. I knew they’d be unable to stay away from each other, and I knew she would help heal him while he saved her too.  I knew it…

1–What is the title of your latest release? TEMPTING THE EARL, Wright Bastards Book #1 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? The Earl of Wright is determined to acknowledge his illegitimate sister and provide her with the life she’d been denied. But first, he must convince the stubborn Scotswoman who raised her that he isn’t the villain his father had been. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The hero in this book first appeared in an earlier book of mine, Luck is No Lady, which was set in Regency London. I wanted to continue his story and though he makes a short trip to the Scottish Lowlands, most of the book takes place in London where more characters from previous books make appearances. 4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? Of course! With her straight-forward attitude and fierce loyalty, Ainsworth would be a great friend to have. 5–What are three words that describe your hero? Reserved, shy, passionate 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I learned that although I love an alpha hero, there is something to be said for the quieter, more restrained hero who finally…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE TREASURE OF LOVE which is lucky thirteen in my Book of Love series, a charmingly humorous Regency romance series that deals with a mysterious book that seems to hold the secrets to finding true love. When I signed on to write these stories, my publisher and I were contemplating maybe six books in all, but they are so much fun and have developed a following, so I would love to keep writing them until I turn 100! 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Think of the ‘traveling pants’ stories. In my series, each heroine passes along the mysterious Book of Love to a friend or relative ready to make their debut in London Society in the hope the wisdom in this book will lead them to finding their true love. The strength of these stories is that while they are cute and fictional romances, the advice in this Book of Love is quite real and based on the neurological behaviors in our brain associated with love. Male and female brains work differently, so these stories delve into these different aspects. What first attracts a man to a woman? How…