From Chapter 1 White Night February 1994 Lynwood, Louisiana The bald tires of Frank Daniels’s corroded pickup rolled over a shallow bed of popping gravel and stopped next to two men in pointy hoods. The men huddled together, shifting around an imaginary fire and stomping their feet now and again. Their hoods were for show, not warmth. The other conspirators waited inside the clapboard frame house. Daniels got out of his truck and acknowledged the security detail with a half salute, which was all the formality he could muster given the late hour. With a rocking gait and fixed grin, he waddled up to the house in oversized boots worn to accommodate his swollen feet. The sentinels followed, hoods now in their hands. He wasn’t yet much of a Klansman, not compared to Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, but Daniels soon would fix that by leading his own white night. The residents of Lynwood wouldn’t know it right away, but the town’s coming racial reckoning would be the doing of the Klan’s new grand dragon. All revolutions started somewhere, and that Friday evening Lynwood would join Fort Sumter as a cradle of insurrection. He closed the door behind him and…

The world needs more female leaders, that’s for sure. But bringing a strong female leader to life in my latest book Echoes from the Veil wasn’t always easy for me. In this book my half-Fae main character Elizabeth Tanner has to learn how to trust herself and her abilities to lead a Fae rebellion. I didn’t want to write a cliché “kickass female heroine,” though. I wanted readers to see her development, her struggles, and her insecurities. I’ve recently finished Brené Brown’s book Dare to Lead and she says that one of the most defining factors of a good leader is being able to lean into vulnerability. It seems a bit counterintuitive in our hyper-competitive, “show no fear” kind of leadership culture, but for Brené Brown, true leadership comes from understanding one’s values, strengths, and weaknesses. It means coming to terms with fundamental truths about who we are, and in order to do that, we must make ourselves vulnerable. In Echoes from the Veil, I wanted readers to experience that journey with my heroine as she struggles to carry the heavy mantle of leader of a resistance movement in the Faerie realm. Because she doubts herself and her abilities, she…

Blake suspected Clay was going to be trouble no matter what they did. Give him a room. Don’t give him a room. But Blake liked that Nicole was willing to allow the guy the opportunity to remain there and do his investigation. Hopefully, Clay would stay out of Nicole’s way. Blake knew Nicole would love to complete the task, and he and his brother and sisters would do anything they could to aid her in finishing it. He thought the world of her for being good-natured enough to be okay with Clay solving the case so she could spend more time with Blake. Besides, staying with her while the guy was here was definitely a good thing. At least he hoped so. He remembered going on a trip with his siblings to Grand Cayman Island once, and Roxie talking to a middle-age couple about why they were there. Was it a honeymoon? Anniversary? She learned the couple had dumped their spouses and were doing a trial vacation in paradise. They were each paying their own way, but this was like a honeymoon before the marriage, if it went that far. Blake wasn’t surprised Roxie would talk to the woman. She…

1–What’s the name of your latest release?  Red Letter Days 2–What is it about?  Two American women escape the Hollywood blacklist for England, where they are able to continue working and remain free, but find that they still aren’t as safe as they hope. It’s also very much about love, passion for work, resilience, friendship, and maintaining a sense of self and humour in the face of adversity. 3–What word best describes your main character(s)?  Plucky. 4–What makes your story relatable?  To my vexation, it is getting more relatable by the day, what with accusations of “communist”, right-wing attacks on the arts, and attempts to purge anyone who doesn’t tow the party line from the government. Also attempts to sequester passports from citizens, deny citizenship – you get the idea. But what matters is that then, as now, more people are pushing back and standing up for what is right. The political parallels aside, the story will also speak to anyone who has had a passion and pursued it; or found themselves alone and reached out to find friends they might not have expected to become part of their lives. And anyone who has ever fallen in love and found…

Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Janna! Please tell us about yourself and your latest historical romance, WILD, WILD RAKE. Thank you so much for having me here today! This is a real honor. I write historical romances set in the Regency period for St. Martin’s Press. My current series is the Cavensham Heiresses. I adore Fresh Fiction and your website is a go-to for me to find the latest about my favorite authors and their romances.          This is the 6th book in your beloved Cavensham Heiresses series. What’s your favorite thing about writing this long-running series?  I adore this family so much. They have problems with each other, as all families do. However, they always stand together when any member of the family needs support. Their love for one another is endearing and rich. Lady Avalon Warwyck is recently widowed after a loveless marriage and is thrilled to have some independence to raise her son how she sees fit and concentrate on her work – helping fallen women start their own businesses. Tell us more about how the character of Avalon developed for you.  Avalon was first introduced in the Cavensham Heiresses #5, ROGUE MOST WANTED. She was not a sympathetic character….

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-ReaderMatch” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Anna Harrington! Writes: Suspenseful, sexy Regency romances with a modern feel with dashing heroes and fiercely independent heroines. An Inconvenient Duke, the first book in the new Lords of the Armory series, is based loosely on comic book superheroes in which an evil organization named Scepter plans to overthrow the British monarchy; only the Lords of the Armory possess the powers to stop it. About: Historical romance writer who wishes she could time travel seeks same! Loves ballroom dancing, gardening, and taking long walks, as well as coffee, roses, jazz music, and all things chocolate. I’m looking to meet someone who understands that real men wear cravats and aren’t afraid to waltz. Should we hit it off, I promise to fill your rainy and winter afternoons with plenty of adventure and spice between the covers. So let’s give it a shot and see if we can spark a “happily ever after.” What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Loves dashing soldiers turned dukes who possess a vulnerable side…

1–What’s the name of your latest release?  HIS SECRET MISTRESS, the first book of The Logical Men’s Society’s Guide to Dangerous Women series 2–What is it about?  It is about the one that got away. You know, that person whose path crossed ours with such intensity, we couldn’t believe what the relationship promised was real.  So, for whatever reason, we made other choices. Still, the memory of that relationship lingers in the back of our minds years after we have gone on—until we rediscover each other.  Fun stuff because usually, the first parting was not present. 3–What word best describes your heroine(s)?  I will go with a phrase: They aren’t fools. 4–What makes your hero irresistible?  That in spite of being mutton-headed at times, his heart is always in the right place. 5–Who are the people your main characters turn to when they need help?  Friends.  Friends are our sounding boards, our mini-mes.  I need my friends to give me a hard shove in the right direction when I go astray . . . or start feeling sorry for myself. 6–What do you love about the setting of your book?  I’ve been writing about Regency England for over twenty-five years. …

Welcome back to Fresh Fiction, Emily! Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your new book, Eternity Springs: Tucker. I’m a native Texan and spend most of my time at our home in the Texas Hill Country. When I decided to do a trilogy set within the Eternity Springs world but in a locale outside of Colorado, Texas was a perfect fit. Gillian Thacker owns a bridal salon but hasn’t had the best luck when it comes to her own dating life. I love that contradiction – someone who works in the wedding business but isn’t really ready to settle down herself. What do you think readers will find relatable in Gillian? Gillian is a strong, capable person, but when she is thrown a big life curve, it takes her a little while to recover. I believe life is like that. It can knock you down, and we don’t all climb back on our feet at the same pace. I try to write my characters realistic. They’re not perfect, but they’re real. After a career in the Army, Tucker McBride is trying to navigate civilian life, and the last thing he wants is a boring desk job. So…

1–What’s the name of your latest release?  TANGLED UP IN TEXAS. It’s the first book of the Lone Star Ridge series for HQN. 2–What is it about? It’s about a Texas rancher, Shaw Jameson, who’s reunited with his childhood crush, Sunny Dalton. Sunny was once the star of a reality TV show that featured her and her triplet sisters, and she’s returned home after some personal and medical setbacks. 3–What word best describes your heroine?  Resilient. Sunny’s been through a lot, but she’s managed to hang onto her “sunny” outlook on life. 4–What makes your hero irresistible?  Along with being hot, Shaw is a rock. As the oldest of his many siblings, he handles a lot of the family problems along with running a ranch. He’s the go-to guy who’s only missing one thing from his life–the woman he let get away. But now he has a chance to fix that. 5–Who are the people your main characters turn to when they need help?  Both the hero and heroine have siblings–lots of them–so they have plenty of help when they need it. My heroine, Sunny, is a triplet, and she’s very close to her sisters and her brother, Hayes. I…

Happy February! Holy cows, I’m so glad we finally made it through the entire year of January–phew!  I’m KC Enders, Karin since we’re getting to know each other and all. My installment in the 425 Madison Avenue series is called Sweet on You and it’s all about finding love and returning home. I was so excited to write this story, something light and a little different from what I normally write. As it turned out, life happened and this story became one of the hardest things for me to get through. As I was just getting started, we got word that we were moving for my husband’s job, after sixteen years in the house where we raised our kids. Ooof. It was good, though. Because while we were moving to a new city, we were returning home. My husband is an engineer-like Raleigh-and he was away on assignment for almost two years. We only saw each other a couple of times a month but, it put things in perspective. If we learned nothing from this experience,  it’s that home is more than a place…it’s absolutely where the heart is. I hope you enjoy Sweet on You and maybe check out…