1–What is the title of your latest release? OUT OF THE BLUE 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?  A curvaceous woman on a wellness journey falls for her personal trainer. But will her newfound courage allow her to face her biggest fear and seize the life she truly wants? 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place?  OUT OF THE BLUE is the fourth book in my Perfect Fit series, and all of the titles in this series have taken place in the fictional town of Granite, Texas. 4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?  Absolutely! Preslee is a kind, genuine character who has real insecurities like the rest of us. She’s clumsy, playful, and has a funny—if not quirky—sense of humor. She would be so much fun to hang out with. 5–What are three words that describe your hero? Kind, positive, and competitive. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book?  While writing OUT OF THE BLUE, I learned that not everyone takes the same path on their wellness journey…and that there’s nothing wrong with sometimes paving your own road. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you…

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 Caridad Pineiro! Writes: Meet THE FAMILY SHE NEVER MET, a romance with a strong women’s fiction element. About: Caridad likes to write all kinds of stories, from paranormal to romantic suspense to contemporary romance. She loves the challenge of creating characters who readers will fall in love with. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: If you’re looking for a story with a strong romance, an emotional story about women overcoming the past to build the future, with a Miami vibe, THE FAMILY SHE NEVER MET is the book for you! What to expect if we’re compatible: If Caridad is your author to try, you’ll get compelling characters, an emotional story, interesting settings, good food, and a rewarding happily-ever-after. THE FAMILY SHE NEVER MET by Caridad Pineiro Jessica Russo knows nothing about her mother’s family or her Cuban culture. Every time she’s asked about it, her mother has shut down. But when the Cuban grandmother she’s never met sends her right-hand man, Luis, to…

Danielle Jackson: Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Alexandria! COUNT YOUR LUCKY STARS is a second chance romance (one of my favorite tropes). What were some of the challenges of writing this romance trope? What were your favorite parts of the process?   Alexandria Bellefleur:  Striking the right balance between informing the reader of Margot and Olivia’s past while not overwhelming them with backstory details proved a bit of a challenge! I didn’t want to rely on flashbacks so I tried to incorporate small memories into conversations to show how close they once were while also giving them opportunities to get to know the people they’ve become after ten years. I love the tension that’s inherent to the second-chance trope—Margot and Olivia have chemistry, they think it might be mutual but they second-guess the situation since it didn’t work out between them the first time around. They know how devastating it can be if it doesn’t work. That combination of tension and stakes was a lot of fun to play around with. Olivia is a wedding planner—what a wonderful occupation for a romance novel character! What kind of research did you do to get acclimated with the wedding industry?   I spent…

I went to Booklovers Con a few weeks ago. Yes, right before Christmas but not a moment too late. I had a great time.  It is true I pretty much have a great time everywhere I go, but this Con was valuable because it reminded me of how important readers are to my creativity. First, I don’t want to write in a vacuum.  When I’m in my office, struggling with all the crazy doubts writers have, I start to wonder what good all this plotting and thinking is. What does story matter when life seems upside down or sideways? Nor do I think writers are the only ones who question themselves when left alone too long. We all do. Daily routines keep me going but they can also be stagnating. What plugs me into life is when I take time out for a bit of adventure . . . which, when I think about it, is exactly what I ask the characters in my books to do.  After all, when did Belle become interesting enough to have her own story?  When she was going to the bookstore again? Or when she went to rescue her father?  The Beast reminds us…

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 Teri Anne Stanley! Writes: Sassy, sexy, fun romance where hot soldier cowboys can’t resist smart, gutsy women. There are dogs and horses. Maybe some goats and turtles, too. And chickens. About: Me: Crafty, sciencey, book nerd Loves watching other people take long walks on the beach, long weekends wrapped in a blanket watching Netflix, and pizza rolls. Has been known to spend hours at a time rewriting one paragraph. Rarely cooks or cleans. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: You: Prefer books to people (some people, anyway). Love military guys with wounded souls May have watched every season of Virgin River and/or Homestead Rescue Roll your eyes (but look anyway) whenever there’s a new internet scandal What to expect if we’re compatible: Instagram posts about yarn and dogs Intermittent newsletters (I’m going to be better about this. I really mean it). Stories with heart and a lot of laughs Relatable characters The occasional shot of suspense All the feels CHARMING TEXAS COWBOY by Teri Anne Stanley Big…

Jen Vido: What inspired your new book, THE MAGNOLIA PALACE? Fiona Davis: THE MAGNOLIA PALACE was inspired by the Frick Collection, a museum in New York City that was home to Henry Clay Frick (an industrialist and art collector), and his family. I loved that it was both a residence and a museum, which works well with a dual-timeline novel. Some of the characters are real people – Henry Clay Frick and Helen Frick, his adult daughter, in particular. And some are fictional, like Lillian, who’s inspired by a celebrated artists’ model from the 1910s named Audrey Munson. Audrey posed for the reclining nude figure that’s carved above the entrance to the Frick mansion. In 1919, what happens in Lillian Carter’s life that lands her in the Frick mansion? Lillian has been struggling in her career as an artists’ model since her mother died earlier that year, and then was accused by the police of being part of a sordid love triangle after her landlord killed his wife. (The scandal is drawn directly from Audrey Munson’s real life.) Early in the book, Lillian is staring up at the image of herself in the Frick’s doorway, wondering what’s going to become…

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 Terry Spear! Writes: I write paranormal romance and medieval Highland romances because I love both. Because of that, I create a world of romance, intrigue, mystery, suspense, that makes you feel like you’re part of their world. You deserve a happy ending today. About: I love mystery and suspense, thrillers, romance, and the paranormal. My favorite heroines have spunk and can take care of the hero as he takes care of her with a guaranteed HEA and so that’s what I write. I’m a retired army reservist and have lived all over, though I come from California and now am living in Texas, spoiling my grandchildren and my two Havanese every chance I get. I also create teddy bears that have been featured in magazines and won awards and found homes all over the world. When I’m not writing or creating teddy bears, I garden and I photograph flora and fauna. And when I’m finished, I create photo art from my photos and from other sources. What I’m…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE GOOD WIFE OF BATH 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?  Set in the Middle Ages, it’s the story of the most infamous of Geoffrey Chaucer’s characters from his Canterbury Tales – the bold, sensual, assertive, and much-married Wife of Bath – but told in her own voice. The reader meets her at 12 years of age and we’re taken through her five marriages and what becomes of her beyond the limits of Chaucer’s poem in every way. It’s funny, heart-wrenching, infuriating, and draws on history to tell a much-maligned woman’s (mostly) true story.  3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place?   Ah, that was easy. I had great source material with the original poem, so placed my characters in all the places the poem mentions – Bath in England and its surrounds, but also medieval London, Cologne, Jerusalem, Rome, Canterbury, and other places too. I was able to travel vicariously when the world was shut down. A wonderful guilty pleasure, really.  4–What are three words that describe your main character?  Sassy, clever, and kind. 5–Which side character stole your attention the most from the main…

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 NIK JAMES …aka Nikoo and Jim McGoldrick… aka May McGoldrick… aka Jan Coffey Writes: Stories that will grab you and not let go. BULLETS AND SILVER will sweep you along on a Western adventure like few others. Caleb Marlowe is a hero to swoon over, and when villains from his past come hunting him in his new home in Elkhorn, Colorado, he’ll do anything it takes to protect what’s his, including the woman he’s come to care about more than he wants to admit. Sparks and bullets fly in this stand-alone second book of the Caleb Marlowe Westerns series. About: After too many years of New England weather, we’re living in Southern California, where the sun always shines and it never rains (except yesterday…and the day before that). We love living by the beach, and we walk the trails overlooking the canyons and the ocean every day, thinking up stories that you’ll love. When we’re not doing that, we curl up on the sofa to enjoy a good…

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 Lauren Accardo! Writes: Steamy contemporary romance; small towns with cute bookstores, coffee shops, and the scent of pine wafting through every square inch. About: Oh hi! Nice to meet you! My name is Lauren Accardo, and I live for an unforgettable HEA. Love stories are my jam. If the book has a broody but smoking hot main character, a strong, take-no-bull second main character, and some type of across-the-room-eye-contact-that-leads-to-touching, I either read it or wrote it. Outside of swoony romance, my interests include baked goods of any variety, karaoke, vacations to Italy, dogs, the Adirondack mountains, and making my 5-month-old baby laugh. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Can inhale a book in just one sitting Roots for a snarky female lead Has a soft spot for adorable but occasionally clueless men Enjoys excessive descriptions of food and usually reads with a snack in hand Loves a good love story What to expect if we’re compatible: Chemistry on chemistry on chemistry Lots of characters…