A tour of old Shanghai – as told by Caroline Stanton from THE FOURTH PRINCESS by Janie Chang: The sun rose and Shanghai’s waterfront came into view. I leaned against the ship’s railing and shivered with anticipation. Somehow I just knew this city would transform my life, far more than becoming Mrs. Thomas Stanton, far more than surviving a railway disaster. It was 1911, we were young and rich, and it seemed to me that anything was possible in Shanghai, the Paris of the East.   A view of The Bund from the water, Shanghai. 1900. Courtesy: VirtualShanghai.net We stepped off the gangplank and entered chaos. Porters vied to carry our luggage, horse carts belonging to hotels waited patiently for guests, and my ears caught words shouted out in a dozen languages. Disembarking passengers called out to their families on the wharf, sailors elbowed their way through the crowd, while red-turbaned Sikh police kept beggars and vendors away from the arrivals area.  1900. Customs house on The Bund, Shanghai. Courtesy Univ. of Bristol Mason Burnett, Thomas’ uncle, was waiting for us and we hurried into his luxurious carriage as a cold winter rain began falling. His coachman directed porters to load…

Hi, I’m Kerry, here to talk about my historical adventure, THE SECRET COURTESAN, which reads like THE DA VINCI CODE with a feminist twist. Historian Dr. Mia Harding risks her career and safety to prove the sculptor of an unearthed erotic statue was not a famous male artist, but his courtesan erased by history. T is for thrilling. The twists never let up H is for heroine. Two heroines chasing the same statue, four hundred years apart. E is for erased. History erased female artists, including Sophia S is for spicy romance scenes. A few get steamy! E is for The Estasi the erotic statue that changes everything C is for Carnival. This story takes place during the theatrical celebration of Venice R is for Renaissance, where Sophia fights the unfair laws against women artists E is for electric. Our two heroines have their lives upended by electric romances T is for twists, as in plot twists. So many secrets and clues to unravel C is for courtesan, the highly educated, powerful women of high society Venice O is for outrun. Mia and Noah must outrun the criminals that threaten them U is for unearthed. Statues appear throughout Venice that…

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.

Enemies to lovers is romance under pressure. Put two people on opposite sides of a line, then watch what happens when circumstance forces them to share oxygen, intel, and eventually trust. Fantasy turns that tension into high drama, because the line is never only personal. It might be a border river, a blood oath, a curse that feeds off lies, or a prophecy that names them as each other’s ruin. The power struggle makes every glance strategic and every touch a calculated risk. When the fall finally comes, it feels earned because surrender costs something. Below are five fantasy romances that stage the rivalry in different arenas. You will find knives disguised as compliments, alliances with expiration dates, political marriages that feel like sieges, and magic systems that treat intimacy like leverage. Pick the poison that matches your mood. THE BRIDGE KINGDOM by Danielle L. Jensen A princess trained as a weapon marries the enemy king whose trade routes strangle her homeland. Lara arrives on his island with a mission that reads like a countdown. The setting does a lot of heavy lifting here. Storm-cut channels, guarded spans, and a capital that lives by the tides give every conversation a…

Shadow Pluck bonds to a user of magic.Earnest weaver, Petra scared but willing.Campus life thrives. Marty arrives.Overjoyed, Petra sees hope fulfilling.Nefarious Thoth plots to end Pluck and Petra,Declaring a pain born in history lost.He holds a grudge. Both jury and judge.And Pluck, he says, must pay the cost.Never will Petra abandon her shadow.Doctor Strom, too, takes their side. Love grows with a kiss. They vow to resist.Until peace again will abide.Courage outweighs the sins of the past.Kindness and love will not fall. Thoth strives against both, denying Pluck’s oath,That Secondhand Luck will save all. SECONDHAND LUCK by Kim Harrison Shadow Age #2 Against an ancient shadow with a deadly agenda, Petra Grady’s luck may be about to run out, in the next book in the enthralling contemporary fantasy series from the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Hollows novels. It’s been months since Petra Grady bonded with the shadow Pluck. With the help of researcher Benedict Strom, she has made a place for herself at St. Unoc University as the first weaver to use shadow magic in a thousand years. But some are not happy to acknowledge the new shadow/weaver pair, and Petra and Pluck aren’t surprised when they’re blamed for every…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Debbie Cassidy! Writes Hi, I write fantasy and paranormal romance featuring kick-butt heroines morally grey characters, and strong elements of found family. My stories blend magic, deep world building, and characters you’d want to hang out with. Books like WICKED ONYX, a dark academia about a cursed sorceress who will go to any lengths to prove her family innocent of a heinous crime. As the last of her bloodline, she gains admission to Nightsbridge Academy, a school at the edge of nowhere, responsible for keeping monstrous creatures called Horrors and Echoes at bay. The only problem is, you don’t graduate Nightsbridge Academy, you survive it. About It’s just as well I love the rain because England has plenty of it, and I can enjoy it to my heart’s content tucked away in the southeast. I’m a mum of three humans and two cats and am generally a homebody who loves nothing more than curling up with a good book, my sketch pad, or a…

I’ve had fun putting together this mini playlist for my new novel, THE WANDERING QUEEN. The novel is a historical fiction reimagining of the legendary Queen Dido, who left her home and travelled across the sea to found the ancient city of Carthage. The chosen songs are all great matches for the novel and for Dido’s story, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! ELASTIC HEART – SIA Well, I’ve got thick skin and an elastic heartBut your blade, it might be too sharp I feel like the lyrics to this song really sum up Dido’s emotional journey in THE WANDERING QUEEN. She goes through some real heart ache, heart break, and betrayal, yet through all of it she shows so much resilience. She learns how to protect herself, how to wrap up her heart after it is wounded, but she is still willing to risk everything and fight for love. Dido fights, but can she ever win? Even elastic hearts have a breaking point. DOG DAYS ARE OVER – FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE Happiness hit her like a bullet in the back This is such a beautiful and subtle song, with lyrics open to interpretation….

Unlike many werewolf-themed paranormal romances, Atlas – in your book MUSCLES & MONSTERS – is furry and wolfy 24/7. What got you into writing “monster” romance? I had read a few monster romances before I started writing MUSCLES & MONSTERS, specifically the Monstrous Series by Lily Mayne and the Prime Mating Agency Series by Regine Abel. I love non-human love interests and their unique anatomy, so I figured I’d try to write my own. What really inspired me to write a wolfman was the anime Beastars. I found the wolfman main character, Legoshi, so kind and sensitive, but he had this strong, protective side. One thing I like about Atlas is that, though he’s super strong, he’s not aggressive in any negative context or condescending with Tegan. Years ago, I was surfing online and saw an author differentiate between an “alpha” hero and a guy who was an “alpha-hole”. An alpha-hole being a male protagonist in a romance who uses his physical strength as an excuse to be a jerk to everybody around him. What are your thoughts on alpha heroes? I love alpha heroes and alpha-holes in romance. I am a huge dark romance, mafia romance, and motorcycle romance…

Chapter 8 Excerpt from OUR BEAUTIFUL MESS by Adele Parks: Luke was snoring heavily, which annoyed her in a petty way that she wasn’t proud of. When they were younger, if he had slept peacefully as she lay counting sheep, she might have turned on her side and simply gazed at him. She’d have examined the contours of his face and plump lips, fought the urge to kiss them so as not to wake him up. Now, she often prodded him in the ribs, not caring if she disturbed his sleep. But then, when they were younger, he didn’t snore. She did not love her husband any less now than she did before – she probably loved him more as the years passed – but she was less dazzled by him, more prone to accept and expect everything he had to offer. That was what contentment was, she supposed: a surrender of the heady, exhausting days when emotions ran high and reactions couldn’t be predicted or counted upon. Anyway, his snores were not the reason sleep eluded her. She never could sleep until she heard the girls arrive home. It was nonsensical, because of course, the oldest two lived elsewhere…

Book Title: WE INHERIT THE FIRECharacter: Kewame How would you describe your family or your childhood?I grew up with my mother and her sisters and my grandmother and grandfather all in the same house. My mother and aunts were very close and I was closer to my grandmother than I was to my mother. What was your greatest talent?I could sing. I became very well known for it all over our township and later in the country. Significant other?I have been married for several years to a very strong, very hard-working and financially very successful man who is admired by everyone but resents that he is not as famous as I am. Biggest challenge in relationships?I have difficulty connecting with the present because I am so scarred by my experience in prison, so I have trouble staying emotionally open to my husband. Where do you live?Up on the hill in the township, in the place where the people who make a good living have all built big houses. Do you have any enemies?Yes. The government. I am considered a terrorist since I was once imprisoned under the Terrorism Act. How do you feel about the place where you are now?…