Happy Friday, friends! Thanks so much for joining me. Today’s letter is E and for it I chose the word extraordinary. I love this word because it literally means extra ordinary. Or, if you want to get more technical, Dictionary.com defines extraordinary like this: beyond what is usual, ordinary, regular, or established exceptional in character, amount, extent, degree, etc.; noteworthy; remarkable I personally love the first definition. Beyond what is ordinary. I like it so much because for us, to become beyond what is ordinary, we need God. God takes the ordinary (though if you think about it, nothing God created is ordinary. Everything is a masterpiece and work of art, but I digress.) and makes us extraordinary. He equips us through His Holy Spirit to accomplish extraordinary tasks, to break the bond of what is regular, and to become remarkable. A few examples from the Bible that I love are: David defeats Goliath. A young boy with a sling and a rock defeats a mighty warrior. ( 1 Samuel 17) The walls of Jericho come tumbling down from just the blare of horns and days of marching around them. (Joshua 6) Sarah gives birth to Issac when she is…

CROWNED AND DANGEROUS by Rhys Bowen A Royal Spyness Mystery For the first time in paperback, the latest Royal Spyness Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Malice at the Palace. Nothing is simple when you’re thirty-fifth in line for the British crown, least of all marriage. But with love on their side, and plans to elope, Lady Georgiana Rannoch and her beau, Darcy O’Mara, hope to bypass a few royal rules. Their plans are thwarted when they learn that Georgie’s future father-in-law has been arrested for the murder of a wealthy American. With the elopement postponed, they head for Ireland where Darcy’s father insists he’s innocent, and it’s up to Georgie and Darcy to prove it—for better or worse. Mystery Private Eye | Mystery Historical [Berkley Prime Crime, On Sale: August 1, 2017, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book (reprint), ISBN: 9780425283493 / eISBN: 9780698410244] Buy CROWNED AND DANGEROUS: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | iTunes/iBooks | Kobo | Google Play | Powell’s Books | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Ripped Bodice | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR About Rhys Bowen Rhys Bowen is the New York Times Bestselling Author of the Royal…

Ready for a murder mystery cloaked in a “costume?” Fear not, Diane Vallere is here! DRESSED TO CONFESS by Diane Vallere A Costume Shop Mystery Someone is masquerading as a murderer at Proper City’s annual Sagebrush Festival—and it’s up to costume shop owner Margo Tamblyn to solve the case. It’s time for the annual Sagebrush Festival in Proper City, Nevada, and this year’s theme is family game night. Margo Tamblyn and her dad, owners of the Disguise DeLimit costume shop, have provided costumes for local dance troupe the Domino Divas, who each wear a different color domino mask. When head dancer Ronnie Cass misses the performance, Margo finds her dressed to kill in her costume—and dead. As the police investigate, Margo learns that Don Digby, her father’s best friend, is the prime suspect, tied to the victim by a long-ago unsolved robbery. Now Margo must unmask the real killer before her dad’s buddy winds up in prison stripes. Mystery Cozy [Berkley Prime Crime, On Sale: August 1, 2017, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780425278307 / eISBN: 9780698183452] Buy DRESSED TO CONFESS: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | iTunes/iBooks | Kobo | Google Play | Powell’s Books | Books-A-Million |…

[giveaway id=15315] ADDRESSED TO KILL by Jean Flowers A Postmistress Mystery Third in the Postmistress Mystery series by Jean Flowers, following Death Takes Priority and Cancelled by Murder… Love is in the air for postmaster Cassie Miller and the residents of North Ashcot, Massachusetts. Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and the town is gearing up for a special dinner dance at the senior center. With the local musical group performing at the dance displaced from their regular practice location, Cassie is all too happy to host them during off-hours at the post office. But not everything is coming up roses. When one of the musicians, Dennis Somerville, is found shot in his home, rumors swirl over who might have wanted him dead. Cassie must determine if there is a link between a string of recent break-ins and Dennis’s murder before another victim winds up with more than a broken heart. Mystery Amateur Sleuth | Mystery Cozy [Berkley Prime Crime, On Sale: July 25, 2017, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780425279120 / eISBN: 9780698185197] Buy ADDRESSED TO KILL: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | iTunes/iBooks | Kobo | Google Play | Powell’s Books | Books-A-Million | Indiebound |…

[giveaway id=15311] A TANGLED YARN by Betty Hechtman Yarn Retreat Betty Hechtman knits up murder and mayhem in the latest in the national bestselling Yarn Retreat Mystery series. Casey Feldstein has her hands full with preparations at the Vista Del Mar hotel on the scenic Monterey Peninsula as another yarn retreat begins. The retreaters will be thrown for a loop this time, learning the trendy art of arm knitting and finger crocheting. But not everyone is enthusiastic about trying something new, and Casey is forced to come up with an alternative craft for her less adventurous pupils. Things go from worst to worsted when a travel writer from a neighboring retreat group is found dead in his room among a sea of feathers. When one of the owners of Vista Del Mar pleads for help, Casey gets hooked into the case and must unravel a delicate skein of secrets to catch a killer. Mystery Cozy [Berkley Prime Crime, On Sale: August 1, 2017, Mass Market Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780425282687 / eISBN: 9780698406179] Buy A TANGLED YARN: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | iTunes/iBooks | Kobo | Google Play | Powell’s Books | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Ripped Bodice |…

I love lipstick! So what else is new? Most women love it. But I want to share with you why I love it. My favorite color is RED. Red lipstick is bold. It tells people – Don’t mess with me, I have a smart mouth and I know how to use it! It’s been said that men love red lipstick. Bright red lipstick, red roses, the lady in red—it seems as though all things love and romance are associated with the color red. … Do you wear the color red? read more… INDIGO SKY by Gail Ingis In a whirlwind romance, a lovely New York socialite marries a fêted, debonair author. But beneath the charm is a cheating husband addicted to hasheesh. Her dream marriage turns sour and the simplicity of her life runs amok when a handsome stranger, her husband’s business partner, threatens her staunch loyalty to her wayward husband. When she faces the ugly truth about her marriage, her need to finalize her divorce sends her on mad chase across the wilds of nineteenth century America with a handsome stranger where she learns the hard lessons of murder, kidnapping, and more, that almost destroy her. Romance Historical [Soul Mate Publishing, On Sale: October 21,…

Read all about us! We’ve gathered a sampling of brand new reviews for you to check out. See for yourself what others have to say about Fresh Fiction Box Not to Miss. Remember, the last day to subscribe is Sunday, August 20th! Lovely Loveday Blog “I really love getting this book box in the mail because it feels like Christmas! Fresh Fiction sends an amazing selection of books each month. I find it hard to pick which one to read first because they all sound really interesting. This monthly subscription box allows me to read books that I might have overlooked or missed at the bookstore. Fresh Fiction has sent me some really great reads from authors that I have not read before but have started following and reading other books from these authors.” Check out their full review! Roses Are Blue “The August box was well packaged, as usual. The sturdy custom made box protects the books during shipping, and, by the way, is great to reuse for storage. The selection of books and ebooks varied from contemporary romance to steamy romance to romantic suspense to historical romance, an eclectic booklover’s dream.” Check out their full review, be sure…

I never planned on becoming a writer. Not even when a high school English teacher told me to “be sure to send [her] a copy of my first book” in my yearbook at the end of junior year. But, at the point, I thought that writing stories was something I just did for fun. She had no idea that I had odds and ends of a bunch novels on my Macintosh SE. I didn’t plan on becoming a writer when I was ten years old and spending the summer at my grandparents’ house on Lake Mille Lacs in Minnesota. My grandmother was a voracious reader, and her shelves were always stocked with mysteries, biographies, literary fiction, and romance novels. Until that summer, I’d gorged myself on all of the genres but the final one. But one day, after I’d run through all the new mystery arrivals, I stumbled on a grocery sack filled with Harlequin Romances. I distinctly remember being mesmerized by the colors and the story descriptions. Unlike the mysteries or the classics I’d read, these books were set in far flung, glamorous locales. There was *kissing* in these books. And the endings were all happy. Romance novels became…

Thanks so much for hosting me for the release of the third book in my Shifter Wars series, TAMING THE LION. At this point in the series, we’ve got enemies thrust together with decisions to make. Alicia is a bear shifter/healer, and Marco is a lion/heir to the leadership of the pride. He’s been hurt in battle and she’s got to figure out whether she will go with her healer’s oath and help him, or let her enemy die. If she helps him, she risks angering her den. If she doesn’t, her grandmother is going to be upset with her for breaking her oath. Since these two are like oil and water, I thought it would be fun to have a recipe that combines things you might not think go together well but in reality, really do! I’ve picked something I personally thought I’d never try because…well, it doesn’t seem to go together! What am I talking about? Fish tacos! Yeah! How many of you, like me, just went, “yuck”? I kept seeing Fish Tacos on the menu and did finally try them. You know what? They are good! Surprisingly so. Granted, I tried them at a Tapas place (I’m…

I write in the area between romance and women’s fiction. I’ve been a romance reader since my teens, and most of my favorite stories are set in small communities or rural areas like those from where I draw my roots. When I hit my thirties, though, I also began reading uplifting women’s fiction—stories that focus on women’s life experiences and relationships that often include, but extend beyond, a central romance. Now as an author, I’ve found my happy place writing the kind of feel-good books I like to read—about women’s lives, loves and family and community relationships, all set in a heartwarming small-town world much like the one I call home. However, and as with any writing, there are challenges (and sometimes surprises) in writing this type of fiction. Here are my top five. A balancing act Between creating a believable small-town world, developing a central (and sometimes secondary) romance with related character growth, and then mixing in relationships with children, friends and extended family across generations, one of the biggest challenges in writing this type of fiction is keeping all the strands balanced and going in the right direction, at the right time. One strand can’t overwhelm the other…