What is the title of your latest release?RECIPE FOR JOY What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?RECIPE FOR JOY is about a book of cherished family recipes, a series of letters sent by a mysterious hand, and two sisters who need directions back to one another. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?This came organically while I was writing the book. At the time we were living in Gates Mills, Ohio, which is the loveliest town on the east side of Cleveland. I knew this was the town I wanted to nestle my story in. The charming village, the memories, and meaningful time spent there…it’s all layered into my novel along with so much love. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Absolutely. She’s a good soul who appreciates delicious food, so at the very least, we’d eat well. But I suspect we’d have some really connective conversations as well. What are three words that describe your hero?Loving, searching, tender What’s something you learned while writing this book?I learned the importance of writing longhand. It was actually my way into this novel. Since then, I’ve incorporated writing longhand into everything, even if…

This week, I’m chatting with Adriane Leigh about her gripping new release, SOCIETY WOMEN. If you love smart, twisty psychological thrillers, this one belongs on your TBR. Set in the glittering world of New York City high society and centered around an elite women’s club, SOCIETY WOMEN unravels a web of ambition, privilege, and dangerous secrets. Dark, layered, and impossible to put down, it’s a must-read for thriller fans. LIGHTNING ROUND • In three words, describe the vibe of your book. Elegant. Unsettling. Ruthless. • Plotter, pantser, or organized mess? I’m an organized mess! I work off an outline but always leave room for surprises as I go! • If your book had a theme song, what would it be? Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift. Not because it’s about revenge in a literal sense – but because of the tone. The sense that someone has been underestimated… and is done playing nice. THE DEEP DIVE  • Every book has an origin story. What was the “lightning strike” moment that made you say, “I have to write this”? The lightning strike wasn’t a single headline. It was a pattern. It was watching, over and over again, powerful…

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 Olesya Salnikova Gilmore! Writes:Speculative gothic suspense and other dark fiction where magic and reality intersect, and that have: lush and swoon-worthy atmospheric settings in a different time and place, flawed female characters with major family issues but who still somehow manage to tug at your heartstrings, a mystery at the root of everything, romance as a subplot and not the whole thing, and all the gothic feels, with a dash of whimsy and a splash of blood here and there, of course! The newest book, THE FORTUNE TELLERS OF RUE DARU, is set in Jazz-Age Paris and follows a spunky young fortune teller named Zina, who must use her powers to divine who she can trust when an exiled Romanov princess and her brother come to her seeking answers about a decades-long mystery at the heart of the tearoom she owns with her grandmother . . . before she summons a vengeful spirit who knows something sinister about her mother’s untimely death and dark…

Excerpt from DAUGHTER OF CROWS by Mark Lawrence: 1 Molly Plight The calm before this particular storm had lasted ten years, much of which Molly Plight had spent knitting. Trouble had arrived in the shape of a man of no great height, road-dirty and weather-beaten. Save for the cruel curve of the knife at his hip and the dull glint of mail beneath his fleece, there would have been nothing to mark him. But when he paused in the inn’s doorway and smiled that smile, Molly knew that the peace she’d thought would claim her final days was over. She knew what a predator’s hunger looked like. “That bull the Millers have won’t last another season.” Jayne Clay, the tiny old woman on Molly’s left, was given to predicting the death of prized livestock. That topic and regaling anyone who so much as paused in her vicinity with the doings of her two dozen towheaded grandchildren constituted the majority of her conversation. Molly’s needles and ball of yarn lay on the table before her, abandoned in favour of a pipe and a drink. The village children said the pipe smelled like a burning midden heap, perhaps not unfairly, but good…

My novel probably could not avoid some comparison to the song, Yellow, by Coldplay. And once my main character decides to name the slime mold just that, the song worked its way onto my Yellow playlist, of course! Here are a few others that I found influential, inspirational, or just kept me writing pages. My main character Eliza discovers Yellow, the slime mold of the title, on a fallen log in her backyard one steamy Louisiana summer in 1973. She’s 12 and as she watches its growth, the organism attracts her in a very mystically moody way (as artistic pre-teens are geared to be). It just so happens that I’d been deep into the music of composer Ludovico Einaudi—having chanced upon his album Time Lapse by way of some algorithm or other–and so three of the albums’ songs  “Walk,” “Run,” and “Discovery at Night” (ironic, since this is what happens to Yellow) set the pace as I  imagined one fantastical night when Eliza feels an ineffable connection with the slime mold. The orchestral weave of these songs, for me, imitates the prose style of Yellow. Our lives are woven with historical context, our parents’ burdens, lovers’ expectations as well as…

Music has always been an important part of my storytelling. While I mostly listen to instrumental movie soundtracks when I am writing, my novels reference a wide range of pop songs. Since I always have a song in my head, it’s only fair for my characters to do the same. Stella Stark is a private investigator-turned-dispenser of poetic justice, a.k.a. Little Miss Petty. Malone is her hot neighbor who’s impervious to her attempts. Here are six very different songs you’ll find in LITTLE MISS PETTY: “Man in Finance” – Girl on Couch, Billen Ted, David GuettaWhen Stella bumps into Malone, he’s wearing an expensive suit. He’s also tall. She quips “Are you that man in finance I ordered? That was a fast delivery.” When Megan Boni aka Girl on Couch created these lyrics, she was poking fun at unrealistic expectations. Don’t worry. Malone may not be 6’5″ with blue eyes, but he’s really the kind of guy we’re all looking for. Also, you’ll have that song stuck in your head for a while. Oops. “All Too Well”- Taylor SwiftStella’s upstairs tween neighbor is prone to melodramatically playing the ten-minute version of this song on repeat. Stella’s concerned about her well-being….

Book Title: STORM WARNINGCharacter Name: Alex Carter How would you describe your family or your childhood?I had an unusual childhood. My mother was a pilot in the Air Force, and so we lived in many different places as I was growing up. She liked to play survival games with me, wanting to prepare me for any kind of situation. Sometimes she’d drop me off in the woods and I’d have to navigate back home alone. She taught me resourcefulness, how to use anything at hand as a tool or a weapon. She was tough, but creative and loving. I lost her when I was 12, when her plane went down during a mission. I was devastated. My father is a landscape painter and is one of my best friends. He’s jovial and curious about life. Whenever we moved to a new airbase, he’d get a stack of field guides, and we’d go out and learn all the local flora and fauna. What was your greatest talent?My resourcefulness has come in handy on myriad occasions. I can fix machines and improvise solutions to complex situations. I’ve had to fight and think my way out of some seriously dangerous circumstances. Significant other?No….

Sweet Nothing by Taylor Swift Tess Lee, the protagonist, is a world-famous author. She’s been on the covers of magazines and on morning and late-night shows. People recognize her all the time. Her books tap into people’s pain and offer hope and inspiration. Because Tess’s books mean so much to her fans, they have huge emotional reactions to meeting her, often sharing their own stories of trauma. Tess is generous to a fault, so she feels obligated to make each person feel seen. But Tess has never been comfortable with fame and feels the weight of others’ pain. She longs to be safe and alone with her beloved Jack, in their private little bubble. “Sweet Nothing” captures this perfectly and was an inspiration while I was writing the novel, especially the chapter that begins with Tess and Jack cuddling in bed, then overwhelmed by Tess’s fans in a store parking lot, concluding with them back at home and Tess just wishing they could be alone and normal. Harleys in Hawaii by Katy Perry TWINKLE OF DOUBT opens with Tess and Jack getting back from a sexy vacation in Hawaii in celebration of their second anniversary. Tess tells her bestie, Omar,…

There’s something about this season that pairs perfectly with cozies. Here’s a list of some favorites: It’s the season of fresh starts… and sometimes, long-buried secrets. March Cozy Mysteries to Add to Your TBR Here are two new and trending books that cozy readers are loving right now: BURIED IN A BOOK by T.C. LoTempioA bookshop setting, a lovable sleuth, and plenty of literary charm make this a must-read for cozy fans who adore book-themed mysteries. COCONUT CONFESSIONS by Addison MooreSet in a sunny Hawaiian backdrop, this new series starter blends tropical vibes, humor, and a puzzling mystery that’s perfect for spring reading. Reader Picks & Trends This month, readers are especially loving: Bookshop and library settingsFood-themed mysteries (especially bakeries!)Light paranormal elementsStrong female sleuths starting over If you’re looking for your next favorite series, these trends are a great place to start. Stay Connected I’ll be sharing more cozy mysteries, hidden gems, and reader favorites. So, you’ll always have your next read lined up. And if you’re like me, your TBR pile is growing faster than you can keep up… but that’s part of the fun. Until next time, happy reading and happy sleuthing! Warmly, Jamie  P.S. Have a favorite…

One overprotective father. Eight, curvaceous, beautiful sisters all raised to be modest, proper young ladies. Kept secluded for years, invisible to society, the Harrington sisters were raised to keep their voluptuous forms hidden least they end up scandal plagued and fodder for the gossips. The sisters are happy but chafe against their gilded cage. But after their father’s death, the lives of the Harrington sisters will change forever. He leaves them each a note, a quest to be completed, one that will take them out of their comfortable, if isolated lives, to experience the world. One that must be completed or they will not receive their inheritance. On the surface, the tasks are simple. Paint a duke. Start a charity. Live humbly. Retrieve a family heirloom. Every task is different, but their father’s last wish for all of them remains the same; live boldly, love recklessly, and never again hide the curves of your lives—or your bodies. The Harrington sisters will embark on their own journey to find passion, possibly scandal, invite defeat and…love. I present to you The Busty Bodice Club, a shared world revolving around the voluptuous Harrington sisters written by some of your favorite historical romance authors;…