1–What’s the name of your latest release?  Wildflower Road 2–What is it about?  A widow searching for peace and a fallen pastor seeking refuge must work together to save her family’s struggling resort on Montana’s Madison River, but it’s only a matter of time before their pasts catch up to them. 3–What word best describes your heroine?  Resilient–Despite all Ryann has endured, she has remained steadfast and loyal to those around her. 4–What makes your hero irresistible?  Shane has a humility that could only come from losing everything and everyone he’s loved, all thanks to his own actions. He doesn’t believe he deserves the second chance at life he’s been given in Montana. And he certainly doesn’t believe he deserves the affection of a girl as trusting as Ryann. He’s as vulnerable as he is dreamy. 5–Who are the people your main characters turn to when they need help?  They both have a tendency to carry their own burdens to protect those around them. In one another, they find someone they can finally lean on. 6–What do you love about the setting of your book?  My parents introduced me to West Yellowstone, Montana, when I was younger. I’ve waded in…

1–What’s the name of your latest release? GOODNIGHT BEAUTIFUL 2–What is it about? A newlywed couple named Sam and Annie move from New York City to Sam’s sleepy home town. Sam, a therapist, opens a home office, unaware that his sessions with patients can be overheard from a room upstairs. Listening ensues, an alluring patient transpires, Sam disappears, and all hell breaks loose. (I would like to add that Sam’s disappearance is very much related to him participating in an eerily similar 20 Questions column for a local newspaper, so I’m suspicious of this already.) 3–What word best describes your main character(s)?  Sam: sensitive hunk Annie: clever 4–What makes your story relatable?  The story is premised on a person discovering a chance to eavesdrop on therapy sessions, forcing you, as the reader to question if, in that position, you would choose to listen. (Which, of course you would.) But what I find more compelling is that underneath the plot is an exploration of the lasting impact of a father’s influence on his son–and in particular, when a father teaches his son a toxic idea of masculinity. I think toxic masculinity is something we all can relate to at this particular…

From The Christmas Table by Donna VanLiere Chapter Two Lauren Mabrey stands on the sidewalk at the entrance to Glory’s Place, welcoming children as they arrive for the after-school program. She finished her shift in the floral department at Clauson’s Supermarket an hour ago. Clauson’s has given her the morning shift so she can be at Glory’s Place each day by three to help. In November the twenty-three-year-old will mark two years of volunteering here and less than a year as a married woman. Just five months ago, in December, she stood in the gazebo in the heart of Grandon, surrounded by the townspeople who had adopted her as one of their own, and became Mrs. Travis Mabrey. She stumbled upon Grandon just a year and a half ago by accident, a literal crash. She was a witness to a car crash while driving through Grandon one day, was called back to town to identify the man involved in the hit-and-run, and never left. After years in foster families and with no family of her own to return to, she became a volunteer at Glory’s Place, fell in love with the children at Glory’s Place, with Grandon itself, and then…

Jen: What inspired you to write Millicent Glenn’s Last Wish? Tori: When I was around five years old, I was at a big family reunion and overheard some older, distant cousins allude to the tragedy that I’ve fictionalized here. That mental vision of what happened stayed with me throughout my life. Years after the woman who was involved had already passed, I asked three people close to her if she’d ever spoken about it. They each said they’d had but one conversation in all the time they’d known he–—and they each had a different detail to share with me. I took those few details and built a whole story around them. The novel is set in two time periods. How much research was needed in order for the story to ring true with readers? I began with a sweeping search for information about the late-WWII years and early 1950s. Besides learning about fashion, media, foods and so forth, I discovered things like the need for prefabricated houses for growing families, and I wove that into my story. I read accounts written from women of the period, too–some of whom felt confined in their suburban homes and by a society that…

Hi, Susan! Welcome back to Fresh Fiction. Please tell us about yourself and your latest book, THE PRICE OF VALOR.  My latest release, THE PRICE OF VALOR, is the final book in a trilogy about a man’s search for his wife…and ultimately, a quest to save his nation. The wife of Former Navy Seal, Hamilton Jones has been missing and presumed dead for over a decade. But when Ham discovers that she’s not only alive, but has vital information about the safety of America, he has to find her, get the information, bring her home, and maybe, just maybe, reignite their romance. It takes place in Italy, Minnesota, and finally, Washington D.C. Can you give us an overview of your Global Search and Rescue series? What do you love most about this action-packed world you’ve created?  The G-SAR series is bigger, bolder, and braver than my Montana Rescue series–sort of Rescue on steroids. First, my heroes tackle crazy scenarios–like rescuing a team of women off Denali. Or choosing to ride out a Cat 5 hurricane. Or running from a tsunami. But they also go global– from Alaska to the Florida Keys to Italy. And finally, they not only encounter challenges…

Hi, Olivia! Welcome to Fresh Fiction. Please tell us about yourself and your new book, SPOILER ALERT.  Hi! I’m Olivia Dade, a lifelong nerd and enthusiastic, pants-averse hag. I’m also a writer, and Spoiler Alert is my print debut. I’m incredibly excited about it, because the story tackles so many topics close to my heart: fandom, fanfiction, fatness, friendship, and family. It also contains a startling number of dirty geology puns, because no one stopped me!  Put briefly, the story is about a himbo actor, Marcus, who is secretly smart and hates how his worldwide-hit TV show has gone off the rails in recent seasons. He pours his frustration into anonymous fanfiction with the help of his online BFF, April–but if anyone found out he’d been criticizing his own show so openly, his career would be over. Which is a problem, especially once he meets April in person and falls in love. . . but can’t tell her they already know one another. Spoiler Alert is a sweet-hot romcom with lots of banter and emotion and nerdery, and if you read it, I hope you absolutely love it. The world of fandom is a relatively recent phenomenon in pop culture….

1. Autumn colors!–and not just the spectacular varieties of leaf color, but also walking through the leaves. The brush and crunch underfoot add music to wherever you walk and the colors a feast for your eyes. Get outside, be active, and enjoy the season. 2. Cozy sweaters–I love snuggling into a soft warm sweater on cool mornings and evenings. Add a cup of hot chocolate or apple cider, and a good friend to talk or binge-watch TV with and I’m having a great time. 3. Crafting with friends–I start working on Christmas craft projects in October. I’m a paper crafter, so handmade Christmas cards are a must, but also paper ornaments, exploding box cards, and folded books. Here some pics of projects I’ve already completed. 4. Pumpkin. . . everything–Latte, pie, or muffin, I love it all. Did you know Kraft Dinner has a new Pumpkin Spice flavor this year? I’m trying to find it so I can try it, but I haven’t been able to get my hands on any yet. If you’ve tried it, please let me know in the comments what you think of it. 5. Catching up on a good book. . . or three–I’m reading…

I pick up all the pillows, toss them back on the bed, straighten out my clothes, and climb under the sheet. The heat inside me has officially cooled. My eyelids grow heavy. When I blink, I don’t see Callum anymore. Every muscle in my body is relaxed, free of tension at the thought. Soon I’m asleep. It’s deep and hard and everything good. Until I start to dream. *** Dream Callum is a million times nicer than real-life Callum. Dream Callum spoons me from behind, my absolute favorite. How did he know? He presses his clothes-free body against mine, a perfect shell for my hot and bothered self. None of this is real. That doesn’t make it any less divine. He wraps his arms around me. They’re so thick that when pressed against me, they cover most of my naked chest. Leaning back, I groan. “You like that?” he asks. I nod a yes, then moan again. Those thick lips press against the back of my neck. “What do you want, Nikki?” When his voice is this low, this gentle, it makes my eyes roll to the back of my head. The hottest sound in the world is Callum’s English…

1–What’s the name of your latest release?  Untamed Passion 2–What is it about?  After a single night of passion results in an unplanned pregnancy, a woman must decide if she can make a future with a man who can’t embrace love while he’s trapped by his resentment of his father. 3–What word best describes your heroine?  Determined. 4–What makes your hero irresistible?  I love Oliver’s inner strength. He’s a recovered addict who strives every day to stay sober despite the increasing pressure coming to bear on him because of the drama surrounding his father’s criminal activity. 5–Who are the people your main characters turn to when they need help?  Oliver struggles to reach out to anyone. He has estranged himself from his family and keeps most people at arm’s reach. His assistant is the person who he relies on the most. It’s to her he turns when he needs to find the woman who ran out on him after an incredible night of passion. Sammi has a tricky relationship with her mother who has managed Sammi’s modeling career since she was a baby. Sammi has a best friend, a fellow model who offers some much-needed career and romantic advice. 6–What…

Hi, Sarah! Welcome back to Fresh Fiction. Please tell us about yourself and your new book, MISTLETOE AND MR. RIGHT. Thanks for having me back! My name’s Sarah Morgenthaler, and I write romantic comedy and contemporary romance. MISTLETOE AND MR. RIGHT is my Alaskan Christmas romcom set in the fictional town of Moose Springs.     This is the second book in the Moose Springs, Alaska series. What do you love about creating this town and its inhabitants?   I’ve had a blast creating Moose Springs. The residents are so quirky and fun to write. They’re very loyal to each other, and even more loyal to the land and to the wildlife in their community. It’s a close-knit place full of love. (They just don’t love all the tourists coming to town!)       What did you do to get into the holiday spirit while writing this novel, even when it wasn’t the holidays?   One of my good writer friends suggested I buy a Christmas-themed candle. Burning that while writing worked great for setting the scene! I also played lots of Christmas music while writing and looked at pictures of winter scenes.     Lana Montgomery has big plans to improve…