1–What is the title of your latest release?  THE VINES 2–What is it about? Across a century and against seemingly insurmountable odds, a woman with an astonishing immune system and an equally dramatic determination to survive is held against her will on an abandoned island near New York City. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  Everything. The idea for this novel started with its setting—an abandoned quarantine facility on an isolated island in the middle of bustling New York City. Originally an isolation hospital for the city’s poor immigrants, Riverside Hospital on North Brother Island underwent several reincarnations before becoming an experimental treatment center for drug-addicted teens in the 1950s. In 1963, the facility was shuttered. Ever since, a forest has been hellbent on destroying the hospital remains. Now a federally protected heron reserve, North Brother Island cannot be accessed without a permit from the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they’re not accepting applications. The island has a dark, little-known history, rife with tragedy and misery. In its present state, its crumbling buildings serve as an eerie foreshadowing of a post-apocalyptic world. Several photographers have been able to capture…

1–What is the title of your latest release? Knit, Purl, a Baby and a Girl 2–What is it about? Knit, Purl, a Baby and a Girl is all about a young woman, Poppy, who finds herself accidentally pregnant after a one night stand with her stoner ex. She’s not sure if she’s ready to be a mother and she doesn’t have a lot of support, so she joins a local Stitch n’ Bitch to make friends and boost her confidence by finally following through on learning how to knit. What she’s not expecting is to fall for Rhiannon, the hot butch clinic escort who’s been giving her lessons. At any other time in their respective lives, it’d be a perfect meet-cute, but can commitment-shy Rhiannon with her chronic second sock syndrome handle the pressure of knowing that being with Poppy means taking on her baby-to-be as well? 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  Setting the book in Yonkers, New York was definitely a challenge. I’ve set past books in all sorts of locales, from Vancouver to Ireland to ancient Rome, some of which I haven’t even visited, but New York, even if it’s not NYC proper,…

The announcer started the final countdown, and a buzz went up among the hovering guests. Claire smiled at people as they stepped in front of her, but then looked around them to lay eyes on one of three extremely pricey items up for auction. Items that were small enough for someone to walk away with. A man stood in front of the pair of diamond earrings. The woman with him smiled as he wrote his name slowly. Next was a sapphire-and-diamond tennis bracelet where a lone woman was also writing her name. Then there was a Victorian brooch that was previously owned by some famous woman Claire didn’t know. The starting bid was twenty thousand dollars. But at last look, the bid was nearly double that. It, too, was where it needed to be. “Three, two, one. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to step away from the auction to enjoy the rest of the evening.” With the final direction from the announcer, she heard the first chords of a guitar strummed from the stage. The band hired for the evening welcomed everyone. The coordinators for the event started to push in as the guests dispersed. Her gaze ignored…

As I embark on this journey into becoming a published author, I had a stark realization – my former creative endeavor is about to become… a job. A job I am very grateful for and you better be sure I’m going to work super hard to make this job as an author a successful one. But what am I going to do now… for fun? Throughout the pandemic, people have suddenly found hobbies. Some people work out, others started making bread, and some people even learned new skills. Starting last fall, when my book was officially out on submission, I decided to find something new to occupy all the free time I had with a kid in virtual learning, working on what I hope will be book 2 in my series, figuring out how to safely celebrate the holidays in a meaningful way, and try to you know, breathe a bit. Clearly, I need MORE to do, right? CROSS-STITCHING/EMBROIDERY Look, there’s something very cathartic about stabbing something over and over and over again. The tips of my fingers aren’t all that happy, but I’m enjoying this! I’ve done some simple patterns, stitched pithy sayings on sweaters and fabric bookmarks, and…

Every high school student reads about the famous betrayal of Caesar in the Shakespeare play but few learn much more about the period.  Especially lacking are in-depth portrayals of the females who played important but often under-reported roles.  The selection of books this month seeks to address that imbalance by offering striking fictional depictions of some dynamic and fascinating Roman women. Before Rome became the major power of the ancient world, there was the rival Etruscan city of Veii.  In THE WEDDING SHROUD: A TALE OF ANCIENT ROME BOOK ONE, author Elizabeth Storrs illuminates the rivalry between the two by means of an arranged marriage between a high-born Roman maiden and Veientane leader Mastarna.  Caecillia is an unwilling bride, dispatched to marry a man she’s never seen to cement a truce between the two cities.  To her surprise, she discover Veii in 365 BCE to be a much larger, more sophisticated city than Rome, a place where she can own land and make her own decisions, something impossible in Rome’s patriarchal society in which women are mere chattels of their fathers, brothers or husbands. Over time, she and her chance-given husband come to share a deep and sincere love, but…

1–What is the title of your latest release? The Virgin Hunt Games Volume 3 2–What is it about? We have a whole new lot of contestants in the Virgin Hunt Games Volume 3, where terrible perils are faced by 10 women (hunted) and 10 men (hunters) on every level of the six floors of the Games. Violet has signed a contract for the deadly contest so that her biological parents might recognize her face that will be on every screener around the universe if she wins (she is hard to miss with her rare violet coloring and gold eyes.) Prince Zel is her mate in these Games, which means he has to have sex with Violet as often as possible while gifting her with orgasms to win. But they also have to survive the deadly obstacles and each other, not to mention the other hunters and hunted who are out for blood so they can be the victor. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book? I just love that for each book the tower and the amphitheatre are the same, but inside the six levels of the tower, every Games (held every four years in place of…

Hi! I’m Zoe Forward, and I’m so excited to introduce you to NIGHTSHADE’S BITE. Here’s a sneak peek at what this book’s about: Kiera Rossard’s secret life just got complicated. She’s leader of the Nightshade League, a rebel vampire society that rescues werewolves during the interspecies war. Everyone wants her dead—vampires and the werewolves who don’t know her secret. Most especially, the wolf she just saved—Michael Durand. Something about this particular werewolf sets her blood on fire. She’s not good at resisting temptation. So what if vampires always bite when they’re turned on? And so what if one drop of his blood will kill her? What’s life without a little risk? N is for Nightshade’s League, the name of the secret group Kiera leads to rescue werewolves during the vampire-werewolf war. I  is for irresistible. The smell of Michael’s werewolf blood is irresistible and intoxicating to Kiera, a vampire. But one bite…one drop of his blood will kill her. G is for grudgingly. Michael grudgingly accepts help from Kiera, first in escaping almost imprisonment from vampires and second to free a baby werewolf who was stolen. H is for hot. The chemistry between Michael and Kiera is hot from the…

As both a reader and writer of romance, I have one major pet peeve: overbearing heroes. Sure, some “Alpha” males can’t seem to help themselves, but no means no, even if it’s something small like walking a lady home. I try not to write the kinds of heroes who don’t take no for an answer, especially when it’s something major. However, my gargoyles were created not only as full-grown men, but as protectors of an entire kingdom and all of the citizens within. So, it comes as no surprise to me when they have a hard time not protecting the person they’ve set their hearts on. In BORN OF THE FORBIDDEN, Adalstan has the misfortune of falling for a Kevan woman. Keva is a kingdom of female warriors akin to the Amazons. They certainly don’t need protection. In the following excerpt, both Adalstan and Brónach come to realize they have something to learn about each other. Excerpt: Adalstan landed well shy of the first houses marking the large border city of Angor. He set Brónach on her feet but didn’t move from her space. She gave him a wary glance before stepping back two paces away from him. They’d been…

Joachim set about tidying up the plates and glasses for the housekeeper, who’d arrive the following morning, and encouraged the Graham siblings to get the last few dances out of their system in the salon. He carried an over-heavy armful of crockery backward through the swinging door to the kitchen and nearly dropped the entire load when he caught sight of an unfamiliar blonde man draped over the old oak kitchen table. The chap gave a rude hand-gesture. “För i helvete. Du lämnar.” “I beg your pardon,” said Joachim, bluff and friendly, pretending as though he hadn’t nearly had a heart attack. “I didn’t know any guests were still here.” He lowered the stack of dishes into the sink without incident and wiped his hands on a tea towel before turning back around. But there was no one there, nor was the door to the kitchen still swinging. Peculiar. There was no time to be concerned because a howl of indignation came from the living room came such that Joachim would have run to see what was the matter—if his ankle was willing to be run on. An old battlefield injury precluded that, but Joachim was still quicker than most—even…

“Aiden, are you okay?” Janie’s soft voice—the hesitation, the worry— hung over him, hovering, beckoning him to let her into this dark place until she filled it with light. But he couldn’t do that to her. He couldn’t risk losing her. He couldn’t let her see who he really was. He couldn’t scare her. But God, he wanted her. He wanted her softness, her compassion, her heart—all of her. “I’m fine. Wait for me outside,” he bit out, hating the harshness in his voice. His heart throbbed painfully in his chest as he waited to hear her footsteps leaving. Janie didn’t leave. Instead she knelt down beside him and placed a hand over one of his, which were still holding on to that box like it was his last hope. Until the sight—the feel of her softer, smaller hand on his, gripping him—pulled him back from an edge he hadn’t visited in so long. “Hey, it’s okay. Whatever it is, it’s okay, Aiden.” She turned to him, her other hand going to the scarred side of his face. The side he hated. He forced himself to meet her eyes and searched for signs of disgust, because he knew she could…