GAME ON is dedicated to two very strong young women who are both in a field that’s dominated by men: engineering. It’s also dedicated to my daughter Bean who is loves her STEM programs at school and talks about building robots all the time. Olivia Dawson’s career path was inspired by all three of them. According to Business Insider (March 8, 2017), women still make $.79 to every dollar men make. It’s a struggle for some women to even get the recognition they deserve in their desired fields. Olivia wants to design and build airplanes, and she knows how much harder she has to work to get ahead of her male colleagues. She fights for every single thing. In this day and age, it’s hard to believe that women are still having this battle. Olivia’s battle isn’t just to prove herself to her male classmates or to her mentor. She’s constantly trying to prove herself to herself. Growing up in a family of all males, she has always struggled to get out of the gender assigned roles she had to take on. It’s a constant struggle. GAME ON may be dedicated to my nieces and daughter, but it’s really a…

Thank you to Fresh Fiction for having me here today! Food, glorious food. As a fulltime author, I write all hours of the day, morning, noon, and night. Funny thing, though. I’ll be searing the keyboard with a high-octane car chase or a steamy bedroom scene or snarking it up with a good viola joke (although really, is there such a thing as a bad viola joke? lol) when the urge hits me. I take my characters to a restaurant and sit them down for a good meal. Juicy sausage, crisp fried potatoes, creamy beer cheese soup. Or maybe an orange-cranberry scone, glossy frosting dripping off its steamy, tender pastry to pool glistening onto the plate. Which usually means it’s lunchtime at Casa Hughes, lol. Because my series is set in a small Midwest town settled by German immigrants, bratwurst and schnitzel feature heavily. It started me thinking—food is like romance novels. Why? From paranormal to billionaire to suspense, romance is often identified by its (sub)genres. And food…well, what do you think of when I list spaghetti Bolognese, five-cheese lasagna, and mushroom risotto? How about spring rolls, sweet-and-sour pork, and Peking duck? Doesn’t the first conjure up images of red-and-white…

TWELVE REASONS YOU’LL LOVE CHARLEY DAVIDSON She’s the grim reaper. She’s irreverent to the extreme. She’s turned sass into an Olympic sport. She can see dead people. She has a hot husband, both literally and metaphorically. She names her body parts. She has a rad Jeep Wrangler name Misery. She solves crimes. She looks great in jeans. (At least her ass does.) She lives on coffee, chocolate and sarcasm. Mostly sarcasm. She has a heart of solid gold alloy. She risks her life to right the wrongs of the world. Grim Reaper Charley Davidson is back in the twelfth installment of Darynda Jones’ New York Times bestselling paranormal series, The Trouble with Twelfth Grave. THE TROUBLE WITH TWELFTH GRAVE by Darynda Jones Charley Davidson #12 Grim Reaper Charley Davidson is back in the twelfth installment of Darynda Jones’ New York Times bestselling paranormal series. Ever since Reyes escaped from a hell dimension in which Charley accidently trapped him, the son of Satan has been brimstone-bent on destroying the world his heavenly Brother created. His volatile tendencies have put Charley in a bit of a pickle. But that’s not the only briny vegetable on her plate. While trying to domesticate the…

As fall finally starts to creep in we turn our attention toward new holiday reads. Of course Halloween arrives weeks for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so it was only a matter of time before the spooky-sexy books began filling our e-readers. Miranda Owen chatted with Marie Harte about her newest romance ALL I WANT FOR HALLOWEEN, the perfect addition for anyone looking to dig into a new book instead of a pumpkin. I love Halloween-themed romances, and in ALL I WANT FOR HALLOWEEN, I think you do a wonderful job of maintaining balance between the silly, the sexy and the emotional punch. Do you consciously try to maintain that balance in every book you write, or does it just happen organically? Which comes first, or is easiest to write – the story or the characters? Thanks! I like humor in my books, and I tend to write on the sexy side. I do strive for a balance between deeper emotion and humor. While I’d like to you feel what my characters feel, I also want you to enjoy the experience, and to me, laughter and tears go together quite well. *grin* Though not all my stories have sad pasts, they have…

I love movies and television and will often write with the television on in the background. I’m a very visual person and draw a lot of useful cues from the expressions on the actors’ faces, how a shot is framed or the rhythm and words in the dialogue. Eye Candy in some cases. Of course, sometimes I watch just because it’s a darn good movie! LOL! So today I’m sharing with you my Top 5 must see movies or television shows! 1. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER – I got hooked on this show accidentally when I caught a scene between Buffy and Angel as I was flipping through the channels. After that, I was a loyal viewer all the way to the seventh season. If you’re wondering if I’m an Angel or Spike girl, Spike all the way! He always had such passion! 2. X-FILES – So loved all the creepy unexplained phenomena and Sculley and Mulder. The tension that grew between them was so amazing and I could not wait for the movie and that one kiss. . .and then it didn’t happen. Sigh. Still waiting for a true happily ever after for them. I am a hopeful romantic….

Kate stopped as her phone began to buzz. She slipped it out of her purse and felt her arms start to tingle as Jonah’s name popped up on the screen. She’d programmed it in after Viv had given her the number, wanting to be prepared in case he did call. “Sorry, I need to take this,” she said, stepping away from the giraffe as she tapped the phone screen to answer. “Hello, this is Kate Geary,” she said in her best professional voice. “Kate Geary,” he repeated, his voice smooth and warm the way it had sounded over dinner in Ashland that night. It was so different from how he’d sounded at Viv’s house earlier that day or when she’d chased him down the boardwalk during his shirtless dog-walking exercise. “This is Jonah Porter.” “Hello, Jonah.” “Tell me something, Kate Geary,” he said. “What would you like to know, Jonah Porter?” Kate wasn’t sure if the name or the flirtatious note in her voice made Amy look up. The assistant producer lifted one eyebrow and turned to look at a copper shelf on the wall. Jonah laughed on the other end of the line and Kate had another flash of…

Hey, Everyone! So HOLIDAY SPICE is – obviously – a holiday romance and I am so excited that it’s finally here!! I love the holidays – the traditions, the decorations, but mostly I LOVE the movies!! So to celebrate the release of Darcy Shaughnessy’s story, here are my Top Five Favorite Holiday Movies. Just know this…I have VERY eclectic taste in movies and wanted to give you a good variety. Enjoy!! Scrooged – I absolutely ADORE this movie. This is a tradition in our house and I swear we quote it year-round. With Bill Murray in the lead, this comedic take on a Christmas Carol is absolutely hysterical! A Charlie Brown Christmas – This is a classic and we watch it as a family, every single year. I’ve probably watched it every year of my life because I am a HUGE Peanuts fan and every year, whenever there was a Peanuts special on, my grandfather would call and remind me. It’s just a great memory. The Holiday – I love writing holiday romances and I love watching them too. And there is just something very real about this movie that’s not over-the-top or cheesy, but just makes you feel good!…

When I first wrote the story that became THEN CAME YOU. it was set on the wrong coast. That may seem like an odd statement, but the original book was set near Puget Sound in Washington State. I’d made my own town, college, populated it and set to work. However, when I finished Mia and Adam’s story, and there was something off – something not right about it. So, I sent it to my friend JoAnn Ross, a woman who has turned small town romance into an art form, and she said something that floored me: “Your characters are looking at the wrong ocean.” That wasn’t what I expected. But it sure made me think. As I examined the story, I went back over JoAnn’s thoughts about the book, and while she liked it, she agreed that it needed more. That more was a location change. Now, it wasn’t as simple as switching coasts. I started at square one, and that’s when Compass Cove was born. I recreated the character backstories, I tweaked the plot, but more than that, I set out along the north shore of Long Island, the place I’d live my whole life, and found the inspiration…

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 Elizabeth Harmon What do I Write: Romance with a dash of different. Which means characters and settings you don’t see often (if ever!) in contemporary romance. Such as present-day Moscow, sans spies or hitmen. A warm-hearted small town, on the scenic coast of…Antarctica. Hot guys who play hockey on their days off, but are better known as world champion figure skaters. A male stripper who aspires to be the next Stephen King. A wallflower who blossoms on a sexy reality show. A prim and proper Ice Queen, whose mom was a Guns N’ Roses groupie. A billionaire’s son who’s changed his bad boy ways—if only he can make the woman he loves believe it. Intrigued? Let’s get to know each other. More about me: I’m a contemporary romance author whose latest release, SHINING THROUGH, comes out today! My five book Red Hot Russians series is set primarily in the world of competitive figure skating, and the first book in the series,…

Ellie, the main character in my debut YA contemporary romance, A MESSY, BEAUTIFUL LIFE, is captain of her high school’s improv team. She meets Jason onstage in an improv scene that turns pretty steamy. I love improv, and as an anxiety-prone introvert the principles of improv have been a huge gift in my life—stay present, listen, trust. Really, improv has all the benefits of meditation, but without the pesky sitting-still part. For me, the greatest gift of improv has been meeting some of my best friends, including my husband, Brian. (But no, we did not meet in a steamy improv scene.) Since it’s contemporary romance day at Fresh Fiction, I thought I’d talk about relationships. I don’t profess to be a relationship guru (not at all!), but Brian and I have been friends for 22 years and we’re celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary three days before my book release. We believe so much in the principles of improv that we based our vows on them, and I thought it might be a fun way for non-improvisers to think about their relationships: THE IMPROV GUIDE TO RELATIONSHIPS You are all supporting actors Just as in a good improv scene, no one…