What is the title of your latest release?SECOND CHANCE ROMANCE What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Even though Karl and Molly haven’t talked in two decades, and they were never quite a couple in high school, the news of his death devastates her. Grief brings her back to her long-ago home of Harlot’s Bay, Maryland—where she finds Karl very much alive…and very much determined to finally get his chance with Molly, the woman he never managed to forget. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?All the books in this series take place in the fictional small town of Harlot’s Bay, Maryland, a lovely and close-knit waterside community loosely inspired by the area where I spent the first decade of my life. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?I would gladly hang out with Molly and Karl! That said, I would probably annoy Karl, since he’s more than a little cranky (although he would still bake my favorite scones, because he’s all bark and no bite). What are three words that describe your protagonist?Karl: cantankerous, laconic, huge-hearted. Molly: kind, independent, cynical. What’s something you learned while writing this book?Molly is an audiobook…

Excerpted from THE BODYGUARD AFFAIR by Amy Lea: “Some guy just walked into my stall while I was peeing,” I announce instead, keeping my head low.             Laine’s brows shoot up to her hairline. “You didn’t lock the door?”             “I thought I did, but it was broken. And that’s not even the worst part. The guy saw everything because I had to take this whole thing off.” I motion to my onesie.             “Full bush?” she asks, because apparently that’s an important detail.             “Not full. But overdue for a wax.” Not that I’m planning on getting one. No one’s venturing downtown anytime soon. No point in subjecting myself to socially sanctioned torture just to impress a man.             Laine erupts in booming, witchy laughter, following it up with a smack on the thigh. She does that when something particularly amuses her (which is most things). Her tendency to feel every morsel of emotion with her whole body is one of the things I love most about her. Her intensity is what makes her excellent at her job. When she’s finally collected herself, she turns and pops her head over the back of the booth like a gopher peeking…

THE MARRIAGE METHOD by Mimi Matthews, Excerpt from Chapter One: Miles ran a hand over the side of his face, wishing like the devil he’d followed his instincts and gone to Miss Corvus’s Academy himself. Instead, he’d wasted months, engaged in correspondence with a woman he had foolishly assumed was an antiquated spinster. But she wasn’t. Antiquated, that is. With her flaxen blond hair, heart-shaped face, and graceful figure, Miss Trewlove had more in common with an angel than she did with his, admittedly narrow, preconception of a schoolteacher. A sultry angel, at that. Her hooded, long-lashed gray eyes had a deceptively sleepy quality to them. Like a tigress drowsing in the sun, as languorous as it was lethal. The effect was intensified by the elegant curve of her high cheekbones, and the voluptuous fullness of her lush, Cupid’s-bow lips. A small jet brooch in the shape of a butterfly sparkled at her throat, the only spot of brilliancy in her dull black mourning ensemble. “It’s a personal calculation,” she replied to him. “Every girl has a different set of strengths. A head for mathematics, for example. Or an aptitude for writing, or a skill for sport.” “Sport,” Miles repeated….

From Vows and Villainy by Elizabeth Penney. Copyright © 2025 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group. Chapter 2 “Molly, are you all right?” Daisy crouched down beside me, her face creased with concern. “Not really.” I rested my head on my knees and closed my eyes. “I think I heard . . . whatever happened to Sir Nigel last night. A shout, followed by the sound of something falling into the water.” “Oh, how awful.” Her blue eyes widened. “You definitely should tell the police.” “I plan to.” My laugh was dry. “And won’t they be surprised that I’m involved in another mysterious death? Not.” You might say that I’d been a thorn in the side of the Cambridge homicide team. And if this was murder, they’d certainly be called in. “You know what else is strange?” I said. “If I did hear Sir Nigel? No one reported him missing. You’d think his wife would have noticed he wasn’t in their room.” Sir Nigel’s wife, Belinda Stevens, was the other lead actor in the troupe. They oversaw the productions together. “Good point,” Daisy said. “Where is she right now?” “No idea.” By the time…

What is the title of your latest release?WATCH US FALL What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?WATCH US FALL is a psychological suspense novel about four best friends—Addie, Lucy, Penelope, and Estella—living their post-grad dream life in a shared house in trendy Georgetown, Washington DC. When Josh—Addie’s celebrity ex-boyfriend—disappears, police come calling, secrets spill, and things fall apart fast. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?My novels always take place in Washington, DC. I’ve lived in DC or the DC area since I was sixteen years old, and I love the city so much. For Watch Us Fall, it was a matter of choosing the right neighborhood. My narrator is a broke post-grad up to her ears in student debt, and I thought, no way she’d get very far from her alma mater, which were the best days of her life. So I tossed her and her friends in a very glamorous but falling apart Georgetown rowhouse, where the rent is super high but the social scene fantastic. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?Of course! Did I mention Lucy and their friends have great parties? Who doesn’t want to go…

This time of year, there’s a toy elf that surfs through houses, spying on unsuspecting children for Santa. Out of fear of the elf’s all-knowing gaze, my nephew would just fess up to his misdoings. I never used it on my children. I deputized myself to join the nice and naughty list brigade. As a child, I wondered about Santa. We had a fake fireplace in our house. Our dog slept in it. My dad painted it orange, it’s a long story. Back to my concerns, how would Santa get in? Where would the reindeer land? How come I got substantially less gifts than my well-crafted wish list enumerated? When I was five, shopping bags appeared under my bed. I checked all and they were full of boys’ clothes. Should I contact Santa’s staff about the wrong delivery and get moved up the nice list? I caught my mom putting more bags in my room. I didn’t realize my room had been her gift hiding place for years. I had declared my room a no boys allowed space, that included their undeserving presents. My mom fessed up to being Santa which explained so much. By eight years old, I was…

Ten years ago, an unsuspecting romance author sat down to write a charming Christmas tale. She imagined snow drifting over the Pocono Mountains, a lonely house sitter named Marcy, a mischievous little dog named Ginger, and an antique Christmas elf waiting on a shelf. It should have been a sweet holiday story.It was not. Instead, the elf in her book became the kind that watches with unblinking eyes—the kind that knows more than it should. Marcy can sense something is off. Ginger barks whenever the elf appears. And hiding inside that little toy? A modern camera planted by a stalker determined to claim Marcy as his holiday prize. That dark twist sparked the beginning of To Catch an Elf: Pennsylvania Fighter Pilot. And it sparked something else entirely— A decade of real-life elf mischief. The First Hint of Trouble Back then, the author planned an online party to celebrate the story—a fun event with decorative elves as prizes. Feeling festive, she left the elves at home while she set sail on a Christmas cruise with family. When she returned, her writing office looked as though a blizzard of books and candle wax had blown through. They’d gotten into the champagne…

Many current best-selling mystery series revolve around a married couple or a happily committed couple who solve crimes together. Does a romantic relationship add a whole new dimension to the plot? Is there an extra layer of emotional conflict when the marriage is threatened or turns rocky? Here’s what I found. True love can withstand the test of time. In EXPLOITED, a thriller by Pamela Callow, lawyer Kate Lange is reunited with Randall Barrett, her former boss and the managing partner of one of the top law firms in Halifax. Kate defended him in an earlier book in the series when he was accused of murdering his ex-wife. With limited criminal law experience, Kate performed brilliantly in a case that seemed unwinnable, while battling her own demons and resisting her white-hot attraction to Randall. Ten months later, they meet again in EXPLOITED, but much has changed. Kate is packing her office to begin a job at a different firm, when Randall appears at the door. She glances up, and “the gaze that met hers was the one she’d been waiting for all morning. In fact, it was one she’d been waiting for the past ten months.” In spite of the…

In this week’s Jen’s Jewels, author Sarah Monzon takes readers on a heartwarming ride in HEARTS IN CIRCULATION, a charming tale about a hopeful librarian, a reclusive hero, and the bookmobile affectionately named Cletus that brings them together. Blending humor, heart, and a touch of small-town magic, Sarah delivers a story filled with second chances, unexpected connections, and the quiet courage it takes to open one’s heart. Join me as Sarah shares the inspiration behind her beloved Checking Out Love series, the power of empathy in fiction, and why libraries, big or small, rolling or stationary, remain the heart of every community. Jen: I just love the premise of this story, a rundown bookmobile bringing two hearts together. What first inspired this idea, and did you always know it would center around a library on wheels?Sarah: I originally pitched a single story featuring a librarian and my editor came back and asked if I could come up with a couple more ideas to make it a series. Which of course I said absolutely! I wanted each book to be unique even though the main character in each would be librarians, and so decided to focus each book on a specific…

Book Title: LADY DARINGCharacter Name: Henrietta Wardley-HinesTime: May 1791 What brings you to London? This is your first Season, correct?It is my first Season, and I’m told I’m far too old to make a proper debut, but will please Lady Mama—that is my stepmother, Lady Clarinda. She is so terribly plumped that Jasper has been elevated with a knighthood—that is my father, Sir Jasper Wardley-Hines as he is styled now. What fun his suppliers and wholesalers are going to have with him when we return to Lancashire! Sir Jasper will be roasted everywhere, I don’t doubt. There’s been any number of comments here about mill owners who are plump in the pocket filling the King’s coffers in return for titles. They say that is how Jasper won Lady Mama, too—an earl’s daughter marrying a mushroom, that scandal still seems terribly current in some minds, I’m afraid. Still, I’ve agreed to make my curtsy to the Queen to do my duty by Wardley name, as my own dear Mama had a proper debut ages ago, and Aunt Davinia will like to think of me presented, though she won’t come to see it. But if you ask what brings me to London,…