Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Avery! We are happy to have you here. Please tell us about yourself and your new book, MAMA’S BOY.  Thank you so much for having me! Love getting to hang out with fellow Fresh Fiction book nerds. I have the absolute best memories of FF get-togethers and how nice everyone was and how fun it was to get to talk books with everyone. So. Much. Fun. Speaking of fun, that’s pretty much what you get with MAMA’S BOY. It’s the first book in the Last Man Standing series all coming out together on August 30 (my birthday!). It has Dixon (a billionaire mama’s boy control freak determined to win a bet), Fiona (a Hartigan and a woman on a mission to put this billionaire in his place), attack geese, a hidden room in a library scene that is HOT, and a ghost dog that isn’t a ghost but is most definitely a dog. Basically, it’s a good time in book form.  MAMA’S BOY is the first book in the Last Man Standing series, with NEANDERTHAL and MANSPLAINER are coming soon. I have to admit, the titles are very intriguing, but perhaps more than what they seem on…

Nash A new start. After driving a moving van fourteen hours, putting his stuff in storage, living out of a suitcase for two weeks while sleeping on his best friend Brandon’s couch, and finally finding an apartment, Nash had a home. It was the size of a shoebox…but it was a home. He closed the door and turned to survey the studio. He didn’t have much stuff—­he’d sold most of it before coming up north. The windows behind his couch overlooked Third Street. His bed was pushed up against the left corner of the apartment, a nook where the living space met the outer walls of the bathroom, creating a dedicated sleeping space. The renovated kitchen lined the right-­side wall, conspicuously smaller than any kitchen Nash had ever seen, with a door at the end for a bathroom. He remembered the nights when the electricity went out and Mom had shouting matches with the electric company about extending their payment period. Memories of his twin mattress against the carpet made him thankful for the fact that he could afford a box spring now. While the walls could have used a new coat of paint, as Brandon so kindly pointed out,…

The Palais Garnier sat fat and contented after its opening night. The final trickle of theatergoers making their way from the building had stopped, and women with scarves tied around their heads pushed brooms and mops across the front steps. The light from the theater, which had poured golden and fizzy like champagne at the beginning of the night, was slowly being extinguished, one window at a time. On a cold, iron bench, Benedict stared up at the single room at the very top of the building. It was still lit—a pale, watery light that spread mere feet across the domed roof beyond its windows. She wouldn’t be there. He doubted she could even climb the stairs after tonight’s performance, with her hip in that condition. She’d danced perfectly tonight. No one would have noticed the injury—even he had sensed rather than seen it. He didn’t know how she was dancing on it. The pain must be unimaginable. Perfect. A strangely unpleasant word. He shivered and pulled his coat closer. After the performance, he and Victor and Camille had gone to a late supper, and then to a bar. After the three had drunk several bottles of champagne (and two…

You know the scene. That one where the hero races through the airport to catch his sweetheart before she boards the plane and soars out of his life forever. It’s a moment in countless stories, both in print and in cinema, where we cheer for the couple and maybe even become a little misty-eyed. But really, what would you do if you were faced with the potential of losing the best thing in your life? Many great love stories feature an airport or airplane scene, often in those final moments of the story when all hope seems lost. That’s when one of the characters realizes the depth of their feelings and risks everything to declare their love. Here are my top five favorite airport/airplane scenes from movies and television: Love Actually: This movie is unique in that it starts and ends in Heathrow airport. As the movie opens, we see various couples and families happily hugging their loved ones at the arrival gate. At the end of the movie, we watch as a dad, played by Liam Neeson, rushes his son through the airport so that the young boy can express his feelings to a classmate who is moving away….

1–What is the title of your latest release? A COWBOY CHRISTMAS LEGEND  2–What is it about? Once a former Texas Ranger, Sam Legend has retreated from family, friends–and life–and settled in the northernmost reaches of the Texas Panhandle. He’s unable to come to terms over the loss of his young wife and throws himself into a new venture of forging knives. All he wants is to be left alone and forget all about any happy celebration, most of all Christmas. But Cheyenne Ronan refuses to let him. She sees his wounded soul and is driven to try to help him. Christmas is no time to be alone, wallowing in misery. Beneath his long hair and unkept appearance is a man worth saving and she’s just the woman to do that. But she has secrets of her own. As Christmas approaches, they have to work together to put another broken family back together and find Christmas is filled with miracles and unexpected love. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  The starkness of the Panhandle with it’s harsh winters and heavy snows seemed the perfect place for a man to disappear into. It has high mesas, sweeping vistas, and is filled with deep ravines and gullies. I lived there for a…

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 as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Jennifer Snow! Writes: USA Today Bestselling Author of fast-paced, sweet, and sexy contemporary romance set in small towns with quirky characters and snappy dialogue. About: Jennifer enjoys writing books that have humor, heart and heat! She loves to write dialogue and the witty banter between her hero and heroine is her favorite. She likes to populate her small towns with a quirky, lovable cast of characters that readers like to revisit. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: -Likes fast-paced, low drama romances with open door sex scenes -Prefers a Beta to an Alpha male lead -Has a slightly sarcastic and dry sense of humor -Must not require much sleep because once they start reading, it’s impossible to put the book down. What to expect if we’re compatible: -More book releases than you can keep track of (I have a similar *problem*) -A guaranteed HEA in every romance. -To be introduced to my dark alter-ego, J.M. Winchester who prefers…

Danielle: Welcome back to Fresh Fiction, Annabeth! Congrats on your new release, SAILOR PROOF. Can you give us the quick elevator pitch for this book?  Annabeth:  This is my new military romance LGBTQ+ series. Readers who loved my Out of Uniform series will love this best friend’s little brother romance which has a heaping helping of fake dating, close proximity, only one bed, and big feels in a low-angst package! This is the start of a new series for you! What do you like about starting new series? What are some of the challenges?   I love getting to explore a new universe, discover interesting side characters and places, and I actually love the research aspect. Here, I got to research Navy subs, Seattle, and the Olympic Peninsula. It was hard because of COVID-19 because I couldn’t actually go places and had to rely a lot on memories as well as tons of pictures, videos, documentaries, blogs and more.  To make his ex jealous, Naval Chief Derrick Fox wants to return home with what appears to be a new boyfriend. But his plan goes awry when he and the fake BF, Arthur, start to have very real feelings. Fake dating…

CHAPTER SIX San Francisco On Monday, Hannah made the biggest decision of her life. In response, her mother called a man named Dayo. And a day later, Dayo emailed Hannah a business class plane ticket. Destination: Lagos, Nigeria. On Thursday, a day before her departure, Hannah pushed a fork through bits of kale and tried to ignore the anxiety that had given her a sleepless night and an unproductive morning in the office. Despite her attempt, the nerves were impossible to disregard. She tossed the fork on the plate and huffed. “Not hungry?” Flo said, pulling round sunglasses from the crown of her head and over her narrowed eyes. “You’ve hardly eaten a thing.” “I don’t have much of an appetite today.” A fly buzzed above Hannah’s head. She swatted it and protected her drink with one hand over the rim. The salad, she didn’t bother to guard. She had given up on it, her growling stomach be damned. “Maybe we should have gotten a table inside.” Flo dipped sweet potato fries into a glop of ketchup. “It’s so damn hot today.” And the massive umbrella wedged in the middle of the round table did very little to ease their…

New series are always a delight to find. When it’s written by a tried and true mystery author, it’s like finding unexpected money in the laundry. Not a one-dollar bill or even a five, but a twenty—crisp and clean—the perfect, unexpected treasure that you want to tell everyone about, yet keep it for yourself. After all, you never know what kind of castle doors that treasure could open;) Even better when it’s the gateway to Castle Dark:) I was lucky enough to chat about those wonderous doorways and the new Dinner and a Murder Mystery series with ever-talented, Julia Buckley writing under the pseudonymVeronica Bond. Kym: Hi Veronica, thank you for joining us at the Cozy Corner on Fresh Fiction! Veronica: Thank you for inviting me!  When I read the premise of your new series, Dinner and a Murder Mystery, I was hooked. I’ve only gone to one of our local murder mystery dinner theater, but thoroughly loved the experience. How were you inspired? Did you visit a local theater in Chicago, or go on a weekend trip to an enchanting Castle Dark? I used to go to a wonderful dinner theater called the Candlelight Dinner theater (alas, now closed), but…

“I guess that officially makes us neighbors, then.” He smiled. “Nick Silva. I live at the end of the street. The only house that isn’t the color of an Easter egg, by the way.” Jess was tempted to smile back, but something told her it would only encourage him to linger. Not that Nick needed encouragement. He extended his hand. “And you are…” “Jessica Keaton.” Jess recreated Nita Warrior Princess’s brisk handshake. The rosebush tried to hinder Jess’s final quickstep to the patio, but she made it. Nick followed, Chuck Taylor high-tops trampling violas left and right. “Does that Buick out front belong to you?” Without thinking, Jess shook her head. As far as she was concerned, it wasn’t a lie. The Buick belonged to Jessie Keaton, an eighteen-year-old escapee from a small town much like Winsome Lake. The car had aided and abetted her flight to freedom a decade ago until it eventually made its way to an outbuilding on the Donovan estate. Safely locked away. Like everything else in Jess’s past. But as much as she wished a tow truck would haul the thing to the nearest scrapyard, Jess doubted a vehicle was part of her new benefit…