Do you remember the TV show Buck Rogers in the 25th Century? For a while, it was my favorite show as a kid. For those who don’t remember, the premise of the show was that a US astronaut got accidentally frozen on a deep space mission and then was defrosted five hundred years later, only to find that Earth was a completely different place to the one he remembered. Although the TV producer’s vision of the future looked a lot like the era it was made—Farrah hair, shiny neon cat-suits, and mini-skirts! The thing that really stuck with me though, *mumble-cough* years later, was that the hero was a man out of his time. All the cultural references he made were lost on the people around him. His jokes fell flat because they didn’t have the context for them. But we did. And the audience laughed along with Buck and commiserated that no one else got the joke. Although to be fair, I think sometimes we were laughing at Buck rather than with him. Go back and watch an episode, you’ll see what I mean! The thought of being transported to the future has always tickled my imagination. What would…

Romance tropes, cute dogs, and Scottish vacations – oh my! Enjoy the chat between author Talia Hibbert and editorial manager Danielle Dresser! Welcome to the Fresh Fiction blog! Can you tell us a little bit about the Ravenswood series? Hi! Thanks so much for having me. ☺ Ravenswood is a small English town where things aren’t as sweet and simple as they seem. The series follows four prickly, guarded women who have become Ravenswood’s outcasts, and the strong, loving heroes who support them on their journey to happiness. I’d say the Ravenswood series is very steamy, very tropey, funny and mildly dramatic. It also features issues like family illness and looking after your mental health in a compassionate way. As a woman of color, I love and appreciate the diversity among your characters and couples! Rae and Zach have different backgrounds, life experiences, and not to mention a significant age difference – how did their love story develop for you? Thank you! Diversity of all kinds is very important to me. I knew from the moment I introduced Zach in A Girl Like Her (Ravenswood book 1) that he would have his own story, but I didn’t know who his heroine…

Research has a way of pulling us historical authors down into a never-ending spiral of, oooh, I must know more. For some of us, it’s the most fascinating part of our job and for even more of us history geeks, it’s like catnip. We’ve always been infatuated with those who came before us. But that must be the reason we love the genre to begin with. Recently, I was listening to a YouTube video of the song, The Massacre at Glencoe, sung by John McDermott. I found this ballad on a previous trip down the research rabbit hole and I’m still occasionally haunted by it, so when the mood strikes, I pull it up and listen again. The song is about the true story that inspired the “Red Wedding” in Game of Thrones. It’s the tale of the slaughter of innocent members of clan MacDonald by Campbells, who were under the MacDonald roof as guests and it has always touched me emotionally. This particular day, I started bawling. That’s when I decided to go on a quest. There must be something about me that makes this reach into my soul the way it does. I suddenly remembered the magazine I’d…

Editorial Manager Danielle Dresser chats with bestselling author CHRISTY CARLYLE! Welcome back to the Fresh Fiction blog! For readers who aren’t familiar, can you tell us more about the Duke’s Den Series? The idea behind the series is that it’s a Victorian take on the reality TV show, Shark Tank, in which inventors present their ideas to venture capitalists. In this case, those with capital are dukes (except for the hero of this book) and they are investing in the wild plethora of inventions and innovations that were popping up with regularity during the Victorian era. I really loved that Diana Ashby was an independent woman, focused on her inventions and work. What inspired Diana’s tenacity and creativity? I know lots of women creators: writers, artists, and innovators, and I’m inspired by their tenacity. Diana wasn’t inspired by one single woman I know but by many who believe in themselves and their work and don’t let disappointments or even rejection stop them. Diana definitely embodies the kind of woman I’d like to be. Aidan Iverson had humble beginnings, but has become a successful and wealthy man. Nonetheless, he still strives to be accepted by high society. Why is this acceptance…

Usually, the books I love make me laugh. But…the books I love most make me cry. Anyone else out there love a good cry? I still tear up just thinking about the on-page death of Snape and how Harry names a child after him in the Harry Potter series. Or when they have to put the dog down in Marley and Me (especially since my dog was exactly that crazy). Actually, now that I think on it, it’s true of movies as well. I can’t stand cheating stories, but the scene in The English Patient where he carries her body out of the cave still makes me sob. Or (SPOILER ALERT) Hodor holding the door in Game of Thrones. I can tell you right now that writing a scene with that kind of emotional gut punch is difficult. I have one in my new release, The Rookie that took a lot out of me to do. My editor said, “I don’t want to see tears on page. Make the reader cry all the tears.” What I did with that advice was reach into moments I usually prefer not to visit. I’ve been to my fair share of funerals over the…

From Chapter 1 of TIGHTROPE:  “There is no need to fear robots,” Dr. Pickwell declared. It was clear that the suggestion that robots would displace workers annoyed him. He raised his voice to be heard above the murmurs of the crowd. “I urge you to consider that these machines could take the place of soldiers. Wars of the future will be fought with robots, not human beings. Think of the lives that will be saved.” “You’re mad,” someone else shouted. “You want to create robots that can kill? What if these machines of yours decide to turn on their creators and try to destroy us?” “Don’t be ridiculous,” Pickwell snapped. “Robots are nothing more than mechanical devices. Fundamentally, they are no different than the cars we drive or the radios that we use to get our news.” “Futuro looks mighty dangerous to me,” the man in the front row called. “Nonsense,” Pickwell said. “Allow me to demonstrate how useful Futuro can be. Futuro, what is the forecast for tomorrow?” The robot answered in a scratchy, hollow voice. “There will be fog in the morning but by noon the day will turn warm and sunny. No rain is expected.” Pickwell faced his…

Hello, hello! My new release, Boyfriend Maintenance, might not be about hot gamer boys, but it stays true to my tagline, Nerdy and Flirty. I wanted to highlight a few things I totally nerded out to in the book. There are few definitions for the word nerd, but I like “a single-minded expert in a particular technical field” the best. With that being said, the following topics that are absolutely nerd-worthy from Boyfriend Maintenance… 1) Skee-Ball The popular arcade game is so much fun I have to play it whenever I’m someplace that has it. The carnival, any arcade, the bowling ally (yeah I know, but honestly, I’d rather Skee-Ball than bowl). I don’t remember how my love for Skee-Ball came up in a group chat between myself and the other 425 Madison authors, but somehow I was challenged to write Skee-Ball into my story. Challenge accepted. The whole premise of Boyfriend Maintenance starts and ends with Skee-Ball. 2) Grilled Cheese I love giving my characters a favorite food. The only downfall to this is because I write about the food obsession I end up obsessing about it as well. In this case, Emmy King was utterly in love with…

We’ve all met those couples who met, fell in love, and are living happily ever after, right? I think it’s awesome when it happens and while I love hearing about it – briefly – their story isn’t one you could make a romance novel out of. I mean, you could, but why? Angst and beating the odds in one way or another make for an emotional story and that’s what keeps you turning the pages. For those of you who’ve read my books, you know I tend to be fairly light on the angst, but that doesn’t mean my couples have it easy. I’ve had things as easy as couples having to deal with living far apart and figuring out logistically how they can be together, to couples where fertility is an issue and the heroine sacrifices her chance of a future with the hero because he desperately wants a large family. Opposites attract, dating the best friend’s older brother, office romances, enemies to lovers – all of these tropes bring conflict into a story and if we’re honest, we love it! We want the struggle, we want our couple to have to fight for their happily ever after! I…

Wow – the final book in your long-running and beloved Playful Brides series is finally here with NO OTHER DUKE BUT YOU! What has this series meant to you over the years? Oh, it’s meant so much. As I say in the dedication, the series began as the stories of three friends, but the love that readers showed for them and the books enabled me to write eight more books and two novellas! I’ve been so close to the characters for so long, it’s definitely difficult to let them go.       Delilah is a perfect historical romance heroine – headstrong, self-assured, a little quirky, and completely oblivious that the perfect man is literally right in front of her. Tell us more about her character development over the course of this series and this book in particular. Delilah was introduced in book four of the series, the Irresistible Rogue. That book was inspired by The Philadelphia Story, in which the heroine’s quirky, self-assured little sister, Dinah, steals a lot of scenes. Delilah was based on Dinah and it was an absolute joy to write her. I think I knew by the end of writing that book that she would be the heroine…

Gosh, it’s hard to choose just five books. I love reading romantic suspense, but I’m voracious when it comes to romantic thrillers. Give me an edge-of-your-seat plot, pulse-pounding action with a love story thrown into the mix any day. There’s nothing wrong with a straight romance either, but the right romantic thriller is like a cheese plate paired with a glass of big, bold red wine—irresistible. I will devour it. Out of Control by Suzanne Brockmann The Troubleshooters series is addictive. Brockmann always manages to give the reader an entertaining roller-coaster ride while tugging on heartstrings. When Savannah van Hopf decides to pay the ransom for her kidnapped uncle, she turns to Navy SEAL Ken “Wildcard” Karmody, a man she’s had a crush on for years. He’s nicknamed Wildcard for his ability to come up with unconventional solutions and his reputation for saying the unexpected. The two set off for Jakarta, but the simple ransom exchange goes horribly wrong. Ken and Savannah race through the jungle of a hostile country, struggle to evade terrorists as well as friendly fire from other American operatives sent by Savannah’s grandmother. In the process, they learn to trust each other and to see beyond…