Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Lori Handeland! Lori: Most readers know me as an author of paranormal, contemporary and historical romance, but my most recent novel, JUST ONCE, is a contemporary women’s fiction novel.  Women’s fiction deals women’s relationships-sisters, friends, children, parents, lovers – and may or may not contain a romance. AUTHOR-READER MATCH Fifty-something romance author seeks readers for an exploration of the relationship between two women who love the same man and how they come together when he needs them the most. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: – Free time is often spent chatting with friends about their lives and problems – Favorite books and movies are best read and viewed with a box of Kleenex nearby – Believes in true and forever love – Recent book favorites include The Nightingale, The Great Alone, and Before We Were Yours – LOVED the movie The Notebook What to expect if we’re compatible: – A journey through four decades with three characters…

Set in the fictional college town of Deaton, Montana, The Wolf Tone centers around an unlikely friendship between two drastically different women. Margot Fickett is the middle-aged principal cellist for the Deaton Symphony Orchestra. Eva Baker is a twenty-year-old single mother who claims that her three-year-old boy is Margot’s grandson. Convinced of her son’s innocence, Margot insists on a paternity test. Before she complies, Eva leads Margot to her boyfriend’s burgeoning medical marijuana business, the reason she wants her child support money in the first place. Over the course of a tumultuous Montana spring, Margot and Eva witness one another’s difficult, often poorly thought-out decisions. As they approach real disaster, the women begin to see that what they want is not so different.   I hope you enjoy this peek at chapter one! Chapter One Spring took its time. March in Deaton, Montana, was winter’s final exhale. Robins had been spotted and the creeks were beginning to melt, but the surrounding mountain ranges still slumbered under blankets of white. The night of her accident, a new moon held the canyon in complete dark and Margot Fickett couldn’t sleep. Earlier her cello group played at the cider house, seventy minutes of…

Happy New Year, Fresh Fiction folks! Thank you so much for inviting me to join you today and for helping celebrate the release of my tenth historical novel, A Bound Heart, with a three-book giveaway! When I’m not writing and traveling, I’m at home in the kitchen baking. As an author, I enjoy reading about as well as including culinary details in my own historical novels. Doing so lends a richness and authenticity to the story. My characters are historical foodies, for sure! And so, I’m delighted to share this Scottish shortbread recipe from my heroine, Lark MacDougall’s, humble hearth on the Isle of Kerrera in Scotland. This shortbread pairs deliciously with a steaming cup of tea or even coffee. Sláinte! Classic Scottish Shortbread 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar or superfine sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup oats, traditional or quick 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8″ round cake pan. 2. Grind the oats in a blender or food processor. If you don’t have a blender or food processor, use quick oats, rather than traditional. Combine the oats with the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix…

She leaned across the table and held his gaze. “I heard they found a murdered body not too far away.” Her voice was appropriately quiet, but fascination burned in her eyes. Alarms rang in Ollie’s head. “Do you know if that’s true?” Tabitha asked. “Or are people making stuff up?” “It’s true,” he admitted. Her eyes widened. “Oh! How scary … Did they catch who did it?” “It happened a long time ago,” Ollie informed her, feeling a little guilty for talking about the dead. “It wasn’t really a body … Just a skeleton was left.” An image of the skull’s bullet hole flashed in his mind. “Do they know who it was? Or how long ago it happened?” She took another bite, her gaze never leaving his as she hung on every word. Melted soft serve dripped on the table. “Well … don’t tell anyone, but they think it’s related to a big robbery that happened in Portland a long time ago.” “You’re not talking about the Gamble-Helmet Heist, are you?” Ollie froze. “How’d you know?” “Everyone knows about it.” She shrugged and looked at her parfait as she scooped up fudge and peanuts. “If it’s related to that,…

I always look forward to a new Lorraine Heath book and her newest novel, TEXAS LEGACY, is something very special. The hero in TEXAS LEGACY is a character who was a boy in Lorraine Heath’s Texas Trilogy, which she wrote quite a few years ago. Lorraine Heath’s new book got me thinking about all the wonderful supporting characters I’ve read about over the years. Sometimes, as with TEXAS LEGACY, an author will give the character a book of his own and other times the reader is just left to forever wonder “what if.” Love’s a silver bullet That blows your world apart I wanna be remembered as an outlaw The boy who stole your heart I wanna be the guy who wears the white hat Then rides across the plain I’m gonna be your enigmatic stranger Honey, you are looking at your Shane – “Cowboy Dreams,” Prefab Sprout Rawley Cooper first appeared in Lorraine Heath’s Texas Trilogy series as a boy who knew what it was to suffer. Now, in TEXAS LEGACY, Rawley is a grown man coming back home and reuniting with the girl he left behind. In the earlier series, Rawley’s story made readers shed a few tears,…

Something about the richness and vibrant color of the brocade gowns of the Italian Renaissance calls up to me the decorations of the winter season—bright golds, reds, purples and candlelight glowing against the dark of winter.  So for this New Year’s column, we will look at several works of historical fiction that illuminate the art and politics of Medici Florence and Borgia Rome. We begin with BOTTICELLI’S MUSE by Dorah Blume.  Drawing upon much of what is known about the artist’s life, Blume presents the political and artistic cosmos that is Renaissance Florence through the focus of one of history’s most compelling painters, Sandro Botticelli.  While under the patronage of Piero Medici, during a visit to his sister at her convent, Sandro meets and falls in love with Floriana, a Jewish weaver who will be the inspiration for his masterpiece La Primavera. But disruptive forces are at work, the radical priest Savonarola exhorting not just against Jews, but decrying books, art and the Medici rulers themselves.  Deftly handling a large cast of characters, including notables Lorenzo Medici and Lucrezia Borgia, Blume’s story draws out the heart of Florence during one of its most tumultuous periods. The Savonarola movement also plays…

I’m so excited to be starting 2019 with the first book in my new series Jokers Wild.  ONE NIGHT GAMBLE is a sexy, emotional story that proves that we make our own luck. I love setting books in Las Vegas because I like playing around the idea of illusion that what you see isn’t what’s really on the inside.  And no city typifies that for me more than Sin City! My hero and heroine both grew up in Las Vegas and have seen the seamier side of the city. Their childhoods were very different and yet they both were shaped by them into the person we see today.   Casey took a gamble on himself when he left the group home he was living in and struck out on his own.  He was determined that with his belief in himself and the luck he made he could make a fortune using only his skills with cards and his ability to read people.  He’s done it. He’s made more money than anyone ever expected him to and he’s one of the top poker players in the world. When he meets Talia he takes another risk.  She’s different, she works for him,…

Please welcome New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Carolyn Brown! Her latest book, THE MAGNOLIA INN, is in stores now.  1. While a lighthearted novel, The Magnolia Inn explores grief, loneliness, regret, and ultimately, redemption. What inspired these heavier themes throughout the novel? Carolyn: They say you should write about what you know. I lived with a father who was a weekend drunk and then with an alcoholic stepfather. They were both good men underneath all their problems, but the problem was there in both instances and it affected a lot of people around them. 2. Female friendship is such an important part of this book. I absolutely LOVED the characters of Aunt Sugar, Dottie, Lucy, and Flossie! They are four women who know what they want and aren’t afraid to ask for it, but even more importantly, they are there to support each other and Jolene no matter what. How did you go about bringing such authentic women to life? Carolyn: I simply combined some of the strongest women I know into those characters. A short story here about a sweet lady who has long since passed away. Miz Marie told me once that she’d hired a man to…

If you hang out on Twitter, you might’ve seen a meme going around that asked people to name 5 things they love that aren’t books or people. It’s a tougher question than it looks at first glance, so I spent some time thinking about it. Here’s what I came up with, in no particular order: 1. My DVR – If you follow me at all on social media or if you’ve met me in real life, you know that I watch a lot of TV. Like A LOT. I’ve always been a bit of a TV junkie and having a DVR (as opposed to having to record on a VHS tape – remember those days?) has fed my habit. In the past, as new shows debuted, I had to sift through and decide what I wanted to watch. With small children in the house, more often than not, it was what can I record to watch later. Now, I’m much less choosey. If it sounds remotely interesting, I set a timer to record. I can give more shows a chance. It’s always easier to delete a timer than to try to catch up on a show later. 2. Netflix –…

My novel, THE WIDOWS, is set In 1920s Appalachia, specifically in the Appalachian foothills of Ohio. It was inspired by Ohio’s true first female sheriff in 1925, Maude Collins, who became sheriff after her husband was killed in the line of duty. Lily, my main character, likewise becomes sheriff after her husband dies in the line of duty, but here, the story diverges into fiction. In Lily’s case, no one is sure who killed her husband, Daniel, and Lily doesn’t buy into the “escaping prisoner” explanation. As she investigates, she meets a childhood friend of Daniel’s, Marvena. This novel is not a love triangle, but Marvena, as Daniel’s oldest friend, knows a lot about his background that Lily doesn’t, that Daniel kept from her. Likewise, Lily knows a great deal that Marvena doesn’t. Together, they solve the mystery of his murder, save their community from disaster, and in the process, grow as individuals and become friends. So, since they live just miles apart, how do they not know each other? Appalachia is challenging terrain, even today with good roads in many areas. In 1925, it would have been difficult to travel from one hill or holler to the other, especially…