It’s official. After sixteen books, our Greenwich Village coffeehouse manager, Clare Cosi, finally becomes engaged to her boyfriend, NYPD Detective Mike Quinn. Unfortunately, the vintage diamond Mike slips on Clare’s finger in DEAD COLD BREW, opens a Pandora’s box to a cold case murder that occurred sixty years before. This chilling homicide happened in a stateroom of the Andrea Doria, a luxurious Italian ocean liner that tragically sank off the coast of Nantucket in 1956. On board that ship was a gifted Italian artisan named Gus Campana, the jewelry designer who created Clare’s engagement ring. When Clare finds Gus poisoned behind his West Village workshop, she won’t rest until she uncovers who may have done it and why. Her search uncovers family scandal, a charming thief, and a deadly adversary. If you are new to our long-running Coffeehouse Mystery series, don’t hesitate to pick up DEAD COLD BREW. You can read it as a stand-alone, and if you like it, you have 15 more mysteries to enjoy. But don’t miss this latest entry. It’s embedded with twists, turns, and wonderful secrets about New York City that we’ve discovered over the years—from an exclusive room in the legendary 21 Club, to…

Hello, Readers, The fifth Hat Shop mystery ASSAULT AND BERET is on the shelves now and since I wrote it a year ago, I had to go back and remind myself of what happened in the book. It sounds crazy, I know, but after I finished that book, I went on to write four more so you can imagine that all of those characters, plots, and settings fill up the filing cabinet in my head and make it very difficult to remember who did what to whom, when and where. Which brings me to the best part of writing, at least for me, the research! I love doing the ground work for a book. Usually, I learn so much more than I can ever stuff into a story, but when the book is released, it gives me a chance to revisit all of the facts that I learned and much like reacquainting myself with the characters, it’s like visiting with old friends. I usually remember exactly what I was doing when I learned a new fact or read and interesting story. That is, when I take the time to revisit the book that is being released. True story, funny story:…

If you read MISSED CONNECTIONS, you’ve already met the delicious massage therapist Blake Wilde, but in the second novel in the Summer Love Series, you get to see more of him. Way more. With thrusting. 😉 He even gets a Point Of View of his own in this book, so you get to crawl around inside his mind as well as Melanie Walker’s (the other main character). But before you delve between the covers of his book and take him home with you, there are a few things you should brace yourself for. Without being too spoilery, here are the top 5 reasons Blake Wilde is as Scorching Hot as Miami! His last name His last name is literally Wilde. A sexy last name automatically makes someone seem hotter. Picture Brad Pitt. Now imagine his last name is Wilde. He’s at least 37% hotter now. Let’s face it, if there was no Brad Pitt and you heard that name, what springs to mind? Definitely not the deliciousness we’ve grown to associate with that name. But if you married Blake Wilde, YOUR new name, should you choose to accept it, would be Wilde as well. It’s sexy. It’s dangerous. It’s fun—just…

Happy New Year Fresh Fiction Readers! I hope that you all rang in The New Year exactly how you wanted! As for me, I was in my jammies long before midnight, tucked into my bed with my beagles snoring by my side and a good book on my kindle! And maybe, just maybe, a glass of sparkling vino on my nightstand! Today, I’m toasting to my new release, BREAK POINT. BREAK POINT is a two-part romance. Part One is equal parts steamy and sad. College transfer student and tennis hopeful, Juliette Smith, falls for her dreamy, alpha coach, Drew King. He’s all man with the most spectacular forearms. Their affair is forbidden and steamy until it’s not…anything…anymore. Part Two reintroduces us to Jules and Drew a few years later, both carrying baggage—Juliette’s slightly heavier than Drew’s. Given a second chance, the pair has to work through all the emotions and coming to terms with their past while taking care of Darla—Jules’ daughter. At one point during the story, Drew is tasked with caring for a sick Darla. With a sore throat and a fever, Darla is a mess. Inside Drew’s bachelor pad, he doesn’t have much to offer her for…

Sometimes a question comes up when I’m writing, and the answer is as close as Google (does anyone remember having to go to an actual LIBRARY to find out answers to things?). Sometimes you have to go a little farther. A couple of years ago, when my agent and I were tossing setting ideas for a new series back and forth, I said, “Maybe they own a vineyard,” thinking that maybe Mr. Stanley and I could use his airline points for a trip to California. But then she said, “What about a bourbon distillery?” Being the agreeable little writer that I am, I said, “Okay!” After which I hung up the phone and went, “Um, I don’t drink liquor. My bourbon days are (thankfully) long past.” On the other hand, I do live in Kentucky, which is the absolute best (some might say only) place in the world to get good bourbon whiskey. So I gathered up the previously mentioned Mr. Stanley, and we drove an hour South to tour the Buffalo Trace Distillery It was a tough job, but my brave and heroic husband drank my share of the free samples. I learned a lot of good stuff about…

I never considered myself a “cruise” person. In my mind, a Caribbean cruise was for newly-weds and nearly-deads. I pictured crowded buffets, jam-packed pool decks, windowless cubicles masquerading as staterooms. Turns out I was looking at the wrong cruise lines. The Mystery and Romance Cruise, dreamed up by the dreamers at Vacations By Design, is the one you want. It’s an eleven-day indulgence you’ll never forget. Okay, so some of you are objecting to the price. I don’t blame you. An eleven-day cruise is going to cost you. But let’s face it—eleven days on ANY vacation is going to cost you. I’m good at math. Used to teach it, in fact. So let’s do the math. What does a nice hotel room—a suite—run you these days? Probably around $300 per night. And meals (we’ll assume meals for two, and we have to include drinks and tip)—breakfast, $30. Lunch, $50, afternoon tea, $40, cocktail hour, $40, dinner at a nice restaurant, $100. Entertainment—live shows, music, films, dancing, sports…The sky’s the limit, but let’s say you go to a performance every day, which is what you’ll do on the ship. Minimum $100 for two seats at a live show. We’re already up…

BREATH OF FIRE by Amanda Bouchet The Kingmaker Chronicles #2 SHE’S DESTINED TO DESTROY THE WORLD… BUT NOT IF SHE CAN HELP IT “Cat” Catalia Fisa has been running from her destiny since she could crawl. But now, her newfound loved ones are caught between the shadow of Cat’s tortured past and the threat of her world-shattering future. So what’s a warrior queen to do when she knows it’s her fate to be the harbinger of doom? Everything in her power. Griffin knows Cat is destined to change the world—for the better. As the realms are descending into all-out war, Cat and Griffin risk sacrificing everything they’ve fought for. Gods willing, they will emerge side-by-side in the heart of their future kingdom…or die trying. Romance Paranormal | Fantasy [Sourcebooks Casablanca, On Sale: January 3, 2017, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781492626053 / ] The follow-up to 2016’s most popular debut Buy BREATH OF FIRE: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Kobo | Powell’s Books | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR “I did it!” Jocasta shouts. I grin at the target. Her knife isn’t in the middle, but it’s pretty damn close….

Good mornin’ to everyone. Here’s hoping that your holidays were amazing, that you got to spend time with your family and friends and that you now have time to sit down, prop up your feet, enjoy a good cup of coffee, hot chocolate or wine and enjoy reading for a few days. Thank you, Sara, and all the folks at Fresh Fiction for letting me stop by today and talk about my newest release, THE BAREFOOT SUMMER. Three women all married to the same man. None of them know about the other two. Until they all three show up at his funeral. They all three listen to country music and the songs that they like play a part in the book. There were five that really made an impact on the women’s decisions, though. Number 1 was “Heartbeat” by Carrie Underwood. Kate is helping out a ranch belonging to the detective who is trying to prove that one of the women killed the cheating husband when she hears the song. The story the words tell is one of her heart. She’s trying to decide whether to go on with the path that was set out for her by her mother…

As the happy servant to a couple of rescue dogs, I have a deep, warm place in my heart for the people and organizations that care for neglected animals. Nothing upset me more than hearing about an animal being abused. What I fantasize about doing to abusers would get me locked up, but it might be worth it. Where I live has what’s called a Saving Train. Earlier this year they held an open house, and I took my granddaughters to it with me so the three of us could learn more about this service. (I also thought the girls might volunteer to work with the animals during summer break, which one of them did.) The director explained that the Saving Train’s purpose is to take hand-picked dogs and cats from overcrowded pounds (I hate that word) elsewhere and bring them to our area where they’re adopted. The rescuers travel long distances to retrieve animals needing second and sometimes first chances. It goes without saying that by the end of the open house, I wanted to bring at least one animal home with me, but I’m at my limit walking two dogs. Months later, as I worked on my Feral…

Can we agree that sometimes change is needed to create momentum? Can we agree that sometimes creativity requires a jump start? We’ve just begun 2017, but this time last year I was struggling… My muse and I were on the outs and I couldn’t write a scene without copious amounts of caffeine, self-deprecation, and lots of second guessing. I found myself putting off writing to do other things, month after month, and eventually, around June 2016, I gave up, putting my WIP aside to pursue a career as a publicist. I quickly realized that helping other authors promote their books made me jealous, but it also made me angry that I wasn’t writing my own books. What happened to me? I went from being passionate about creating worlds and characters to bitter and dispassionate. I hated myself. I hated that I was scared of writing. I hated that my muse had abandoned me. I sat down, cried, and decided to be honest with myself; my muse and I were getting a divorce. Irreconcilable differences. She and I had different goals: she wanted to write something other than sexy romance, and I was determined to finish book three of a sexy…