With a cozy mystery, the setting is important. And if a writer is really lucky, that backdrop becomes a character in its own right. With Coral Cay, I created my Florida dream town.  A comfortable village that’s big enough to support a downtown populated with shops, a local grocer and a bookstore. And small enough that the denizens know each other on sight. It also has a bit of a glamorous reputation. The resort area on the far side of the island is a playground for the rich and famous. The beautiful beaches and quaint village attract a flood of tourists every year. And, rumor has it, the island was originally discovered by pirates. In Coral Cay, I wanted a place that was all the best parts of the state – the things I love. Deserted beaches. Afternoon cloudbursts that last all of fifteen minutes. Warm sand. Sunshine all year round. Cooling sea breezes smelling of salt. And brightly colored flowers everywhere. And hopefully, some interesting people, too. A few readers have commented on the eccentric characters who inhabit Coral Cay. But really, they’re just like the people who live in your own neighborhood. In a book, though, you get…

1. Travel! I spent two years between high school and college seeing the world. I helped bathe orphans in Mexico, saw the wall come down in Germany, rode a bike in snowy Denmark, slept in too many airports to count, sang on a stage in Poland, and so much more. Since then I’ve sailed to the Bahamas, climbed a lighthouse in Bermuda, hiked the Na Pali coast in Hawaii, canoed in Venezuela, zip lined a forest, crawled through caves in Ireland, and the list goes on… Travel! It’ll open your mind and soul to this incredible earth we live on. 2. Be open to change. When your heart and gut tell you to take a less comforting choice, consider listening. 9 times out of 10 your heart and gut are right. 3. Learn a language. Be it Spanish, French, Farsi, or whatever, dig in and learn it. Be willing to travel to a country that speaks your chosen language and do total immersion. Be willing to take more classes than are required for a high school diploma. Knowing another language is an irreplaceable skill. 4. It’s okay to break up with someone you’re dating. What’s it’s not okay to do…

Welcome to Fresh Fiction! Can you tell us about the Broken Pieces series, and your latest novel, NOTHING BUT THIS?  Hello. Thank you so much for having me back to chat about my new release. The Broken Pieces series is a duet set on the same timeline. Each book focuses on a different couple and their stories, while separate, occur at the same time, around the same events. It was challenging to write because while some conversations are repeated, they’re shown from different points of view in each book and the emotions surrounding them are definitely not the same. The stories are also very different and can be read as standalone novels. NOTHING BUT THIS focuses on Greyson and Libby, the events surrounding their daughter’s birth is what kickstarts the series. Greyson doesn’t believe the baby is his and says some extremely hurtful and unforgivable things at the start of this book. Libby leaves him and promises him that he will come to regret what he has said. Her words prove to be prophetic because Greyson’s regret and remorse sets in almost immediately. This story tells of Greyson’s fight to win his family back. NOTHING BUT THIS is a second-chance…

Let’s talk book boyfriends. We all have them, right? And all through my teens, that was the only kind of boyfriend I had. I was such a gawky, awkward girl that when my friends were out on dates, I was home watching episodes of The Love Boat. But I did have my romance novels. I read a ton of romances back in the day and there was one similar feature to all of the stories: The girl always fell for the guy first. It was the guy who had to come to his senses and realize that she was worth loving. And I always wondered, Why can’t he fall for her first? Why can’t she be the one who has to be convinced? I wanted to read that book. If there was going to be a character in love, heart cracked open and oozing need—why couldn’t it be the guy?  Maybe it was about fairness. I want to even the score after all those books I read, all those poor heroines who fell first. Maybe it was a little wish fulfillment. There’s something sexy about a guy who’s fallen hard and isn’t afraid to admit it to a girl. Or…

Can you judge a man by the way he kisses? A kiss is a personal thing, made even more so by how a man feels about the person he is kissing. As a reader looking for the next great book boyfriend, what kind of kisses pique your interest? Soft and slow? Hard and demanding? Tension filled and fierce? Tender and loving? With my newest dragon shifter book—The Rogue King—out now, I thought I’d let you vote for which of the heroes in my two crossover shifter series—Fire’s Edge and Inferno Rising—you would want most for a book boyfriend…based on the way he kisses. Here are the first kisses between each hero and heroine in each book. Vote below. Which is your fav? Fallon & Maddie – The Mate (Fire’s Edge Prequel) Without turning his head away, Fallon addressed the Council. “I’m sorry, gentlemen. I’m afraid I have to break the rules to prove something to my mate.” Maddie’s lips parted on an indignant gasp at his arrogant assumptions. “You don’t know that I’m your—” She got no further. Fallon yanked her into his arms and claimed her lips in a kiss that immediately burned white hot, like her body remembered…

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 as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present ASHLEY HASTINGS!  What I Write About: I write contemporary and new adult fiction that leans to towards the humorous side. My version of romance is steamy with a lot of hearts and flowers. My goal when writing is to rev up your libido while tugging at your heartstrings! All of my books are set in the small, fictional town of Peacock, and my characters cross over from book to book. Although the books are linked, they are all stand-alones, so you can jump in and start reading with any book. About Me: Lifelong romantic seeks readers who appreciate heroines who are facing change in their lives with courage and a sense of humor. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Must appreciate witty banter. Stray animals who show up and move in. Whimsical, over-the-top characters and predicaments. Must also love an Alpha male and the women who keep them in check. What to expect: Jaw-dropping plot twists. Swoon-worthy love scenes….

Scotland’s held a special place in my heart for a long time. My mom put me in Highland Dancing when I was little, and I can remember standing on a chair in our dining room for hours as she struggled to make my kilt–pinning and repining the pleats and making sure it sat perfectly on my hips. She also made me a fitted, velvet vest to wear over my lacey blouse. The final product was beautiful but heavy (all those deep pleats!), making the dances even harder to perform. Not surprisingly, when I grew out of my costume a few years later and needed a new one, she paid someone else to make it. We were both happier that she left it to the professionals! So years later, when I was on a University exchange in England for six months, the first trip I took during spring break was all the way north through Scotland to the Orkney Islands, off the northeast coast. To get there I stopped in Edinburgh, Inverness, and other places along the way. Scotland was a magical place to me with its history, castles, green valleys, craggy mountains, and wild seas. And brawny Scots in kilts,…

I walk onto the floor of Apropos. The light is dim and filtered a pale blue. It’s crowded tonight for a Thursday. Some women dance on the floor while men sit around the outside near the bar area, unwinding after a long day, wondering if they have a shot at a one-night stand with any of them. Their ties are pulled looser, sleeves are rolled up some, and jackets are hung on the backs of barstools. I move up the stairs to the pods where I typically work. The top tier overlooks the dance floor, but it is divided up into twelve private areas called pods. Each server is responsible for three pods at a time. These areas are reserved in advance and are typically booked by repeat customers here to relax under the guise of a business meeting, almost always to cater to their clients’ needs that they don’t always subscribe to themselves personally. Either that or to screw around on their significant others. Privacy and service is what they pay for. Privacy and service is what I give them. Moving into the Seven Pod, I assess the two men in deep conversation, one obviously angry despite the two…

There are so many things I love to do with my dogs, it’s hard to pick, but snuggling definitely tops the list. I have two rescues, Hazel (9) and Nala (3), and their personalities couldn’t be more different. Hazel, the border collie mix, is independent and task-oriented. Nala, who was DNA tested and found to be a mix of pit bull, Basset hound, Rottweiler, and Newfoundland mastiff, is a 55-pound, squat-legged companion dog…and the family snuggler. As soon as one of us sits on the couch, she’s up there with us and as close as can be. She doesn’t understand boundaries…at all! She sleeps on my bed most nights, and once in a while, I will wake up to find she’s using me as a pillow. Experiencing that quiet, unspoken trust makes my morning. My second favorite activity is the twice-daily walks around the neighborhood or to the park with Nala and Hazel. Sometimes we all three have different motivations—Hazel is on the lookout for squirrels and rabbits, Nala is all about other dogs and people, and I’m always hoping to work in some real cardio. We each make concessions, and I find these walks to be disjointedly peaceful. Any…

As a born and raised Montana rancher and rodeo cowgirl, I am immersed in my subject matter—often literally in the case of mud, manure, and bovine amniotic fluid. Yeah, I see that face you’re making. I do occasionally get a little too real and my editor has to explain that not only is she baffled when I say a horse ‘broke in two’, but the visual is extremely disturbing. (For the record, it is a synonym for suddenly starting to buck, also known as ‘bogged his head’ and ‘blew up’.) Beyond the language and the technical details, though, I find a writer is most likely to miss the mark by failing to understand that this is a culture unto itself. Regular folks tend to find our values and priorities a tad difficult to comprehend. First, and most awesome, is the way in which women tend to be perceived. Imagine a world where you are routinely praised for being strong, aggressive, independent, and competitive. Where on a day to day basis you are valued for what you can do versus how you look and complimented for kicking ass. Imagine being in a relationship with a man who is utterly baffled if…