Thanks for having me at Fresh Fiction! I’m delighted to be here and chat about one of the elements from my latest release, DEADLOCK (June 25)! What strikes me most about my hero and heroine is that they begin from a place of high-stakes mistrust. One wrong move might get either of them killed. What’s more tantalizing than a couple so overcome with need for each other that they throw all caution to the wind to be together? I love it. And so I present you, in no certain order, my Top 5 enemies-to-lovers romances. A COURT OF MIST AND FURY by Sarah J. Maas It’s hard to say too much about this one without spoilers, so consider this your warning! I was simply floored at how masterfully Maas took a character who seemed to be a villain from the previous book and turned him into a hero. Amazing. (A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES is required reading to get the full impact of this one, but it’s fabulous as well.) WALLBANGER by Alice Clayton When you can hear your neighbor’s, erm, very frequent nocturnal activities through the thin wall separating your bedrooms, how can you face him? This is…

I love second-chance romances. Couples who fall in love only to lose each other have lots of time to stoke the fire as they search for a relationship as intense as their first love. By the time they get back together, the sparks really fly! That’s the case with Jess and Cade in Cowboy Summer, and you’ll find the same heat and passion in these classic novels by some of my favorite authors. I had to put them in alphabetical order (by last name), because I couldn’t choose a favorite! Kari Lynn Dell: Tangled in Texas Kari Lynn Dell’s books are wildly authentic because she’s the real deal—a ranch-raised cowgirl and true-life rodeo competitor. She’s a compelling writer as well, creating characters who are vivid and alive. In this story, physical therapist Tori’s latest client is her ex, bronc rider Delon Sanchez, who’s suffered an injury that may end more than his rodeo career. The chemistry between these two ranges from fiery disputes to touching love scenes, and like all her books, it’s full of heat and action as well as humor and emotional insight. If you want to get a taste of the true cowboy life, you need to…

Bowie got out with the purchases he made at Unique Boutique and headed for the door. There wasn’t a woman in sight when he let himself in, but he heard a lot of chatter coming from his bedroom. “Lucy! I’m home!” he yelled. There was a moment of silence. Then the door opened, and Ella came out, laughing. “You sure got our attention with that greeting,” she said. Pearl and Rowan were right behind her. “Bowie, do you remember all those old I Love Lucy reruns we used to watch when you were little?” Pearl asked. Bowie grinned. “I sure do.” “We’re mostly ready,” Ella said, then frowned. “Rowan doesn’t want to go.” “I think she might change her mind,” he said, and handed her the sack. “Go try them on.” Rowan’s eyes widened when she saw the Unique Boutique sack and peeked inside, then clutched the clothes to her chest and ran back into the bedroom. “I’m going to wash up and put on a clean shirt,” Bowie said. Pearl hugged his neck. “You are an old softie…getting your not–really–kin friend something new.” He shrugged. “I haven’t spent a dime of my own money on anyone but myself in…

Sammy’s heart sank. Could this day get any worse? She’d hoped to spend more time with her old neighbor, but she resigned herself to the fact that the timing apparently wasn’t meant to be. Maybe it never had. Sammy’s mind wandered to Mayor Allen, his wife, Connie, and Carter too. With Carter abroad at school, she hoped his parents’ sharing what she had uncovered about his sister’s death wouldn’t cause him to want to come home. What would that kind of news do to his psyche, especially while he was so far away from Heartsford? She wondered if she had made the right decision to get involved. Did ignorance really mean bliss? She didn’t think so. Knowing Kate’s death wasn’t an accident didn’t make it easier, though. Would bringing the murderer to trial bring Kate back? Certainly not. Or Jane Johnson? They deserved justice though and young Ethan deserved justice for his injuries too. The carnage! She needed a mind break. Sammy decided on a whim to try to return Bradley’s call. The phone went straight to voicemail: “Hey, Bradley, -um, -I mean…Brad. That feels weird on my tongue. Anyway, have a safe trip. Catch you on the flip side!…

What inspired me to write about the first female SEALs? It’s actually a multi-part answer: –First and foremost, the #MeToo movement made me want to revisit the idea of women finally breaking through the last all-male bastions left in the U.S. military. There are only a few career fields women haven’t entered yet, and the SEALs are arguably the most visible one of those. –Second, I wanted to put it out there in the universe, for young women who might dream of being a SEAL, that there’s a realistic path to get there, someday. Most people do, in fact, believe that the first female SEALs will come from the Crossfit™ fitness system. The top several women Crossfit athletes in the world meet all the entrance requirements for BUD/S—it’s just that none of them have wanted to be a SEAL, yet. –Third…SEALs! Who doesn’t love a hot, sexy SEAL? And who better to get to know and fall in love with a SEAL than a woman training with him? It’s the fastest and most complete way to get to know an operator—see him in his native environment! –Fourth, it seemed like an awesome battle of the sexes moment to pit a…

Welcome back to Fresh Fiction! Can you tell us about your new End of the Line series, and the first book, The Friend Zone? I got inspired to write the “End of the Line” series after seeing the Netflix documentary Last Chance U. I loved the idea of a junior college that gave Division 1 football players a second chance at the NFL or to play for a Division 1 school again after they’d screwed up their scholarships. I chose football because while my family is not a typical sports family (my husband doesn’t watch at all), my oldest son played football all four years of high school and I’ve always enjoyed watching the game. Plus, isn’t there something just inherently appealing about football players? THE FRIEND ZONE is a story about Logan Hunt, a disgraced football player being given a second chance to play and graduate from college, which he is determined to do. His new coach has a lot of rules he expects his players to follow, including no dating. Jess is Logan’s math tutor and off limits, especially since she’s the coach’s daughter. They decide to stay just friends and try to fight off their growing attraction to one…

We’re ending our week-long recipe roundup with the MAIN (course) event: a mouthwatering recipe for Grilled Butter Trout from inspirational romance author, Karen Barnett! EVER FAITHFUL, a Vintage National Parks Novel, is the perfect book to finish our Summer BBQ-themed week of shared recipes – read on for more! Be sure to check out our other Summer BBQ Recipe Roundup posts all week! Thanks for joining us – look for another recipe roundup soon. Day 1: http://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=10089 Day 2: http://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=10090 Day 3: http://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=10091 Day 4: http://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=10092 *** Nate Webber’s family is struggling to get by during the Great Depression, so he’ll try anything—even signing up for the president’s new Civilian Conservation Corps. But for this Brooklyn man, being shipped off to the wilds of Yellowstone National Park comes as a shock. The work is hard, but the combination of fresh air and good food is a pleasant change. What’s even better is having days off to enjoy the park and spend time with the pretty college girls who work as pillow punchers at the park hotels.   Growing up as a park ranger’s daughter, Elsie knows Yellowstone’s Fishing Bridge is the perfect place for catching enough trout to feed a…

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 Magan Vernon!  Hi, y’all! I’m Magan. I write contemporary and new adult romance books with love and laughs. Dirty Irish is my latest release that focuses on the last of three Irish, playboy brothers who in order to inherit the family business, have to be married. I’ve been published since 2011, writing young adult science fiction novels. But I’d actually started writing New Adult contemporary romance in 2009, just couldn’t find a place for it. Then when my first New Adult contemporary book was published in 2012, I knew that was the place for my writing. Younger characters. Some giggles. Some heat. All of it. And always with a happily ever after. So hopefully I’d be the ideal match for a reader looking for these things. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Someone not afraid to laugh in public places Vast knowledge of the Google search bar when they want to look up Irish phrases and then start using…

From Zane’s Point of View “You want to know how a werewolf realizes when they’ve found The One, that one-in-a million soul mate that’s supposed to be out there for all of us?” Zane Kendrick repeated, sure he must have heard the question wrong. When the woman sitting across the table from him nodded, all he could do was stare, not sure how this situation had turned so personal. Zane had arrived at the SWAT compound that morning thinking a local reporter was there to interview him about the narcotics case his pack had helped with recently, but instead he’d walked into the training room to find a blogger from a website called Fresh Fiction waiting for him. Everything had gone pear-shaped in a damn hurry after that. Especially when it became obvious the woman knew he and the rest of the Dallas PD SWAT team were all werewolves. “Yes,” she said. “I’ve heard it’s already happened to several of your pack mates, so I thought it would be a good question to start with. And I have no doubt my readers are going to find it interesting. In fact, several of them have already asked how they can snag…

Let’s get real for a second: paranormal romance readers are looking for something unique. We all love classic paranormal tropes, but in recent years, the true treasures among the genre have taken those classic elements and turned them on their head. Likewise, if you’re a western romance reader, you’re looking for the sexy tried and true cowboys you love but with an extra special, fresh twist. So what if I told you that you could have the best of both worlds? –Cue collective gasps! Paranormal romance with a western twist is exactly what you’ll find in Cowboy in Wolf’s Clothing, my newest release and the second installment in dark and dangerous Seven Range Shifter series, where the heroes are cowboys by day, wolf shifters by night. Now I’m not really one to sing my own praises, but since I’m here to convince you that cowboy + wolves is the mashup you’ve been waiting for, here are three reasons why I love writing the Seven Range Shifters. All the sexy alpha male angst, none of the alpha-hole bull… We’ve all read it—the alpha-male wolf shifter who is just a little too…alpha. And while I love a sexy alpha male shifter as…