1–What is the title of your latest release? The Wedding Dilemma 2–What is it about? An accident-prone artist is rescued from a failed body cast art project by a sexy firefighter, only to discover he’s going to be her new stepbrother! They have to help plan wedding parties together while fighting off the volcanic attraction they feel, but he’s keeping a secret that could ruin everyone’s happily ever after. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  It’s set in the Mile High City, aka Denver, Colorado, the best place to live (I might be a little bias since I live here, lol). 4–How did your heroine surprise you?  She was much more afraid of love than I first thought. 5–Why will readers love your hero?  He’s a Cinnamon Roll firefighter, what’s not to love;) 6–What was one of your biggest challenges while writing this book (spoiler-free, of course!)?  Researching all the firefighting facts. I did interviews with firefighters and my own personal research, but as I’ve never been a firefighter, I’m sure I made a mistake somewhere (my apologies for any mistakes made). 7–Do you look forward to or do you dread the revision process?  I dread…

Thirteen years ago, decorated former Army Ranger Roman Sheppard rescued Mexican heiress Cenobia “Cen” Trujillo from a shocking kidnapping that riveted the world. Now, this reluctant warrior prince–head of an elite security firm and the lost prince of a small Spanish kingdom–has come to Mexico to once again protect the heiress-turned-CEO as growing threats work to derail her launch of a car that will change the Mexican industrial landscape for the better.  Cenobia hopes his close proximity will allow her to finally figure out if what she feels for him is a teenager’s daydream or a grown woman’s reality. Roman, however, is doing everything he can to resist thinking of her as his sweet Cen. *** He was the sensation she knew he would be in the vast room with its spectacularly decorated high ceiling of stained glass, its giant chandeliers gleaming off marble floors, and large, gold framed mirrors that made the room boundary-less. National and international representatives of the auto, oil, and gas industries, many who were wealthy enough to buy small nations, weren’t immune to the presence of royalty, no matter how reluctant the royalty was. Roman shook the hands and said the words, but quickly demurred…

ALL FIRED UP is the first book in my new Ashes & Dust series, which is a spin-off set in my Not Dead Yet universe. It follows Evan Fournier, a.k.a. Vamp Junior from Not Dead Yet, as he settles into his own as a private investigator and a vampire in paranormal Toronto. When his partner PIs, Wes and Hudson, are called away to handle a family emergency, Evan is left in charge of the agency with the firm instruction that he is not to take on any paranormal cases. But when a longtime friend comes to him for help, how can he say no? Suddenly he finds himself undercover at a spa retreat that looks like a perfect getaway for stressed-out paranormals—except people are returning home without their magic. Why? And what does the mysterious (and kind of sexy) Red have to do with it? Join Evan as he works to determine who’s behind the latest upheaval in Toronto’s paranormal community. The story continues in House on Fire (out November 2021) and Out of the Ashes (out 2022). *** A is for Anika, Evan’s doctor and friend, who comes to him for help. L is for London, where Wes and…

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 Laura Kennedy! Writes: Young Adult/New Adult and Chick Lit, my latest release from Melange Publishing being Suddenly Singapore, the third YA in my Coral Cove series. About:  Author reluctant to admit her age seeking adventurous teens and twenty-somethings who love adventure, romance and intrigue in faraway places.  Join irrepressible seventeen-year-old Floridian Brooke Bentley who is forced to navigate the beautiful but repressive city/state Singapore when her father is transferred to Malaysia for a year.  Enrolled in tony Marlborough Academy, Brooke is immediately forced to contend with the infamous Chameleons (aka Cammies), the snottiest, wealthiest girls in her Senior Class. Brooke finds friendship in Mu and Tai (Toy), which helps her survive.  Giving her additional will to live is her tentative romance with Raffie Desai, the hottest, yan dao guy at Marlborough. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: .  Readers who identify with someone like Brooke who tries to do the right thing but sometimes finds herself making less…

Dear Reader, Christmas Day of 2020 gave us all something to glom onto and obsess over: the Netflix adaptation of Julia Quinn’s beloved Bridgerton series, quite aptly titled BRIDGERTON. Diversely cast, boldly fashionable, unabashedly sexy, and just plain fun, BRIDGERTON is the romance series adaptation we’ve been waiting for… With Shonda Rhimes’ production company at the helm, would you expect anything else? This isn’t an article dissecting the show (it’s not perfect, but I was able to overlook some of its missteps—particularly those around race and what the diverse casting really meant and didn’t follow through on—and still enjoy it), or the merits of having Dame Julie Andrews as the witty and sharp voice of Lady Whistledown. Instead, this is an article about why, after I binged the series over a couple of days in January, I decided to embark on a re-read of the entire Bridgerton book series. I read the Bridgerton books back in 2008, when I had just started working in publishing and was fully ensconced in the romance genre. I believe I picked up ON THE WAY TO THE WEDDING, which, as it happens, is the last book in the series. Within a few chapters, I…

The Viking invaders played a big part in the Conquest world of 1066 England whose stories were featured in last month’s column.  With May being spring in Norway—when we lived in Oslo for three years, our landlord declared the second week of May to be officially “spring” and allowed us to clear any remaining snow off our lawns then—this month we will explore more stories that illuminate the Viking world by interpreting the lives of historic and legendary Viking women.  As with the world of 1066, this era seems to attract writers who produce multi-volume sagas.  What greater delight to an avid reader than discovering a new series? We begin with THE NORSE QUEEN by Johanna Wittenberg, which reinterprets the life of the Viking queen Asa.  In the ninth century, Viking power is just developing, with the land still fragmented into thirty warring kingdoms that continually raid each other to pillage and capture wives and slaves.  Fifteen-year-old Asa, daughter of the King of Tromoy, is sought as a bride by Gudrod, king of a neighboring province.  Her refusal to wed him sparks a bitter reprisal, in which her family is killed, and to save her people, she must marry her…

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 Hudson Lin! Writes: I write queer romance featuring people of color. I truly believe that everyone deserves a Happily Ever After, especially folks who feel like outsiders and are looking for a place to belong. HARD SELL is about a successful businessman looking for something more. That’s when his best friend’s kid brother walks back into his life, all grown up and impossible to ignore. They’re on opposite sides of the boardroom, but definitely on the same side of the bedroom as they navigate family and careers to find their happily ever after. About: Taiwanese Canadian bisexual woman living in Toronto. Avid knitter, crafter, cook, baker, reader, and TV-binger. Can talk for hours about social justice, mental health, anti-oppression, and equity—and get a little angry while doing it. Left the corporate world to be an artiste. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Loves to read with a box of tissues at hand. Wants to travel around the world…

Danielle: Hi, Wendy! Welcome to Fresh Fiction. Please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your new book, THE BREAK-UP BOOK CLUB.  Wendy: Thanks so much for inviting me to share my latest novel. It’s great to be here. THE BREAK-UP BOOK CLUB revolves around a book club that meets in the carriage house of a historic Atlanta home turned bookstore and explores the ways in which books can bring even the unlikeliest people together. At its core, it’s a story about the kind of friendship that gets us through the toughest times. Book clubs are almost like a rite of passage in life at this point! Have you been in book clubs over the years? What do you think makes a great “book club book”?  I’ve spoken to a lot of book clubs over the last twenty plus years, but I hadn’t belonged to one for almost that long. As part of my research, I joined a group led by a former independent bookseller and longtime friend. The book club lives on Meetup and attracts a more diverse group than the neighborhood group I once belonged to and many that I’ve visited. This opened up and impacted…

“So, about Book Five…” Sara’s attorney, David, finally stopped fiddling with his glasses. He clasped his hands together, swallowed hard, and fixed his gaze firmly on Sara. “Your mom wants you to write Book Five.” Sara laughed. David didn’t. Sara laughed again. More like a confused sputter. Then with a quick gasp, the whole amusing absurdity of the joke settled in and Sara laughed fully and deeply. This was actually a very funny joke. “Aww, David. You know the Graysons too well. You did get my attention, though, with the hands-clasped-together and that scary attorney look—like I’m going to find out my mother is broke.” David laughed nervously. “No, your mother isn’t broke. But yes…she did choose you to write the book.” That’s when Sara noticed David’s sweaty brow and how he wasn’t wiping it. Two beads of sweat hung there, practically defying gravity, and David didn’t budge. Sara’s stomach dropped to her toes, and disbelief washed over her entire body. “David, you can’t be serious. The book’s already written. It has to be. Mom’s a finisher, a closer. I heard Anna-Kath ask her about the final book. Mom said it was taken care of. I heard it myself.” David…

There was only one other car parked on the dirt-packed lot at the entrance to the falls, a silver Mercedes with “Just Married” scrawled on the rear window. Shrugging off his curiosity, Noah locked the doors of his rental and headed for the trail, hoping Jack was right and a bit of peace awaited him at the bottom that would quiet the ants. Noah paused at the top of the trail going down, frowning at seeing the white heels, one upright and the other on its side. A pair of white stockings were draped over a nearby bush. He glanced back at the Mercedes. Was he going to stumble on a bride and groom, and what the devil were they doing here of all places? He almost turned around to leave, but curiosity got the better of him. If he discovered them getting it on—a distinct possibility considering the bride was shedding clothing—he’d discreetly disappear. Going down in stealth mode, he reached the bottom of the trail, stopping dead in his tracks when a feminine voice said, “Cheers to me.” He blinked and then blinked again. A woman wearing nothing but lacey white panties, a white corset, and a veil…