Each Friday the Smashwords store reports the bestselling indie fiction titles based on the previous week’s sales. If an author has more than one title eligible for the list, only the highest performing title will be included. This ensures high-performing titles receive the accolades they deserve, while providing up-and-coming authors the visibility they have earned. Don’t miss Monday’s Top 10 Hot Preorders List, where Smashwords will provide a list of the most highly anticipated ebook preorders.

Welcome back to Jen’s Jewels, your go-to column for the hottest reads available now! This week, I’m shining the spotlight on MOTHER DAUGHTER SISTER STRANGER by Hank Phillippi Ryan—a gripping thriller about two sisters, one devastating secret, and a shocking truth. Add this one to your TBR! Read more… LIGHTNING ROUND What’s your favorite way to spend a crisp September afternoon?So funny that you asked that, because my first moment of my first day in Boston, almost 40 years ago, was a crisp September afternoon. I looked up into that perfectly blue Boston sky, saw the sun shimmer through the trees of the public garden, heard the sound of gulls over Boston Harbor, and smelled that briny fragrance of the sea. I thought wow, we don’t have this back home in Indiana! I got the job as investigative reporter at Boston’s Channel 7 that day, and have been here ever since. Years later, my husband and I were married on a crisp September afternoon, and our wedding photo was taken in that same public garden. Some of the fondest moments of my life took place on a crisp September afternoon. So a walk through the public garden, with the swan…

Book Title: GOODNIGHT MONSTERSCharacter Name: Lia Montgomery How would you describe your family or your childhood?My childhood was picture perfect—a patient mother who had her quasi-healthy chocolate chip cookies at the ready each day after school, a permanent imprint on the edge of my sister’s bed for how often we played Uno while talking about boys, and a dad who let me help drive the tractor and feed the goats and asked me for a dress-up date every month, just the two of us, to talk about my future hopes and dreams. Picture perfect, right? Until it wasn’t. What was your greatest talent?My ability to imagine, to create stories in my mind. Is that a talent? I know it doesn’t translate to anything tangible, not something I can quite share with others, but it feels like a skill, a talent for sure. I have this strong capacity to imagine something so vivid I often forget it’s not real. Maybe one day I’ll write these stories down. Into a novel or something. Significant other?Evan? My husband? He’s pretty significant. Evan saved me from a Freudian relationship I was dabbling in, literally grabbed my hand and dragged me away. Not forcefully; he’s…

What is the title of your latest release?A TIME OF WITCHES, which releases on September 1 – it’s perfect for lovers of dual-timeline historical fiction with magical realism and female empowerment What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Lilith Legare has spent years dreaming she is being burned alive at the stake. Fate brings her to an abandoned manor in England where she discovers that the woman in her dreams was real, and the past is not finished with either of them. In 1645 England, another woman is fighting to survive one of the country’s most notorious witch hunts. Bound across centuries by blood, betrayal, and a magic that refuses to remain silent, these two women have one chance to rewrite history before they are both erased. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?Bury St. Edmunds, England, because it was the site of one of the largest witch trial executions in English history under the self-proclaimed Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins. I wanted to tell the story of the women whose voices were silenced during that time. For the contemporary timeline, I set it in Savannah, Georgia. I love how much history is there and how…

What is the title of your latest release?I HOPE THIS EMAIL FINDS YOU IN HELL What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?A down-on-her-luck receptionist’s life takes a hellish turn when she catches her hot boss performing an exorcism at the office and proceeds to join him on a road trip through hell to save their emotional support coworker, the world – and maybe fall in love. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?After I got the idea for the title, having the majority of the book take place in literal hell only felt right. Then it was just a matter of figuring out what hell looked like – kind of like a more corporatized, flipped version of our world. It was so fun filling it with all kinds of mischief and monsters (and, of course, the hot devil CEO). Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Absolutely! Brie and I would binge so much reality TV together. What are three words that describe your hero?Trying her best What’s something you learned while writing this book?Honestly, how to write books for adults! This was the first adult novel I ever wrote, so it…

What is the title of your latest release?AN IMMACULATE DECEPTION What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Madalena falls pregnant with a child conceived in sin and her mother issues a threat: marry or surrender the baby. Confident that the father will propose, Madalena sets off to his sprawling estate but discovers he is no longer the charming poet she knew. Trapped in a decaying house of secrets, she must uncover the truth before the men around her destroy her, and before the hell she fears becomes the one she’s living in. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I’m originally from Brazil and I love Latin American Gothic horror like Mexican Gothic and The Hacienda. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Yes, but I think it’s more interesting to hang out inside her head. What are three words that describe your hero?Madalena: hopeful, willful, thoughtful What’s something you learned while writing this book?I learned to trust the characters and not outline so much. I still outline, but it’s more of a balance. Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?I wait until I am done, except when…

What is the title of your latest release?TOM CLANCY PRESSURE DEPTH What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?When a U.S. Navy dive team discovers a Soviet relic from the Cold War at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, Jack Ryan, Jr. and his team of Campus operators find themselves in a race against the Chinese military to uncover its purpose and prevent it from sparking global war. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?Since Jack Ryan, Jr. was introduced in THE TEETH OF THE TIGER, he has found himself in some harrowing situations as an operator with The Campus. But I wanted to put him somewhere so isolated that he knew he was on his own. Help wasn’t coming. It was up to him. And there’s no place on earth more isolated than the bottom of the ocean. Would you hang out with your hero in real life?Jack is a loyal and trustworthy friend with an unrivaled moral compass. I’d love to hang out with Jack Ryan, Jr. if not for one little problem… Trouble always seems to find him in the unlikeliest of places. What are three words that describe your hero?Intelligent. Charming….

      Excerpt from LIBRARY OF FORBIDDEN BOOKS by Mario Escobar: “Good afternoon, I do hope we aren’t interrupting. I believe we’ve met before,” he said, holding out his hand to Helene. “Herr Kummer, I didn’t know you had planned to visit today.” The man studied the three librarians with a penetrating stare before barking to his men, “Search the place from top to bottom!” He then turned back to the librarians. “I’ve compared the register of destroyed books with your holdings, and they don’t fully align. Some books are missing. “I’ve been quite benevolent with you up to now, Miss Nathan. I have overlooked your Jewish blood, the fact that you’re a pacifist, and the fact that you’ve not joined the Party. Herr Krüss encouraged lenience. The old man is too soft on Jews and communists. It doesn’t hurt that your fiancé is the personal assistant to the Minister of War, but everything has a limit.” His tone grew increasingly angry. He glanced toward Klaus and Lena. “You, Miss Nathan, are endangering your colleagues. I understand you are to marry in a few days. Go on with your husband. Think long and hard about whether you should come back to…

Excerpt from THE ENDLESS ONE by Emma Hamm: One Month Ago Jessamine pored over a stack of documents that Sybil had brought her hours ago. Each one of them was the written record of someone who claimed they knew about Leon and his plan. All of them, thus far, were useless. People said they knew where he was, but every tip had turned out to be a lie. After the Pleasure District had fallen, Leon had gone into hiding. And the witches themselves? Well, the coven was stronger than ever, but it certainly didn’t have the capability to find a man with that many resources. Sybil meandered over to her again, this time with another stack in her arms that was smaller than the first. Thankfully, they could be outside for this. The haunted home in the Pleasure District was easily expandable with Elric’s magic. The garden they’d created in the back was full of every poisonous plant imaginable, from belladonna to oleander to daffodil. Jessamine found she quite liked being surrounded by poisonous things. There was something soothing about knowing she could protect herself with just the plants around her. There was a certain level of ease that came…

What is the title of your latest release?KISS SLAY REPLAY What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Time loop horror at a wedding. Every wedding guest’s worst nightmare on repeat! How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I wanted the slasher vibes of a summer camp, but also a picture-perfect wedding venue. So, the book takes place at a former summer camp that is now a stunning wedding venue. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Oh, for sure! Willa might be going through it, but she’s good company. What are three words that describe your hero?Self-aware, witty, and resilient. What’s something you learned while writing this book?That courage isn’t conquering the horrors, courage is the commitment to trying (over and over and over again). Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?I’m a Type A Virgo, if I stopped to edit as I drafted, I’d never finish anything! I need to wait until I’m done. What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?I love a crazy latte. Like a seventeen-dollar, beautiful, ridiculous latte is the epitome of luxury to me. If it’s basically a milkshake, I’m in. Describe your writing space/office!I…