Book Title: PROPHETS OF WARCharacter Name: Alex Morgan What got you interested in finance as a career?I grew up around business. My father ran a successful insurance brokerage, and most of my aunts and uncles were entrepreneurs. Industry was in my blood going back generations. At Brookville College, investing in stocks was the cheapest way to get started. I fell in love with the rush, the pure adrenaline from picking the winners. I had a better strategy, I foresaw something others didn’t, I saw the future. I won. I also studied the great titans of business history. That’s where an interest became a passion. Then I got into real estate investing. Similar concept, but bricks instead of stock tickers. I started applying the same methods across both. By the time I graduated, it was a coin flip between real estate and stocks. Lucky me, I got my good pal Gordon as my first boss and the rest was history. What makes you good at it?First, you’ve got to be fluent in numbers. Accounting is the language of business—if you don’t speak it, you’re already out of the game. You can’t let emotions drive your trades. You need the temperament to…

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 RACHEL LINDEN! Writes:I write stories about so many of my favorite things – strong women facing big challenges, delicious food, travel, and second chance romance, all with a touch of magical realism and a happy, hopeful ending! My newest novel, THE SECRET OF ORANGE BLOSSOM CAKE, is set on a gorgeous olive farm in Italy and is about three generations of strong women, a magical cookbook, and a lost recipe that can show you the happiest moment of your life. Oh, and a second chance romance with the hot olive farmer next door! About:I’m a novelist and humanitarian aid worker whose adventures in fifty countries around the world provide excellent grist for my writing. I live with my family and sweet pup Cosmo in a charming little harbor town in the Pacific Northwest where I enjoy growing dahlias and herbs, kayaking, camping, reading on the porch in the salty sea air, and cooking my way around the globe in the kitchen. I love a…

Jen: What inspired you to write a story about mothers, daughters, and finding your own way in the world?Jane: Mothers, daughters, finding your own way in the world: that’s one of the basic stories, isn’t it? A friend of mine said, Jane, the Phoebe book is so brave. I said, what are you talking about? It’s an old-fashioned novel. She said, I know, that’s what I mean! That’s why it’s brave. This made me laugh because: I didn’t set out to write a brave book or an old-fashioned book. I wanted to write about a specific girl and her mothers, and the problems she faces. And then, when I was done, I thought, Oh! This book is about mothers of various sorts, and it’s a coming-of-age story, and it’s about those solemn and continuing questions: Who am I? What am I? What can I do in this life? Jen: Phoebe’s relationship with her birth family really shakes things up for her. What made you want to explore adoption and identity through her story?Jane: I’d heard a few real-life stories from acquaintances about adopted people who meet their birth families wherein they realize that the birth families have been intact all…

What is the title of your latest release?CHRISTMAS PEOPLE What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?When a woman who has totally lost her Christmas spirit begrudgingly visits her family for the holidays, she gets more than she bargained for when she wakes up to a version of her hometown that’s straight out of the too-cheery-for-their-own-good holiday movies that air on the Heartfelt Channel. To get back to reality, she needs to throw herself into the season, and into a love triangle featuring her smoldering ex, and her high school crush. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?Though I live in the Los Angeles area now, I’m originally from the south suburbs of Chicago, and I’ve made it my mission to see the place where I grew up on the page. Powell Park – the name of the town my main character Jill Jacobs hails from – is a fictional version of Oak Lawn, Illinois, my hometown. Jill eventually is trapped in a Heartfelt Channel (you know what Heartfelt is a stand-in for) iteration of Powell Park, which was a choice I made because so many Christmas movies are either set in a big city,…

Book Title: KILLER TRACKS, A Misty Pines Mystery (#3)Character Name: Deputy Rachel Killian How would you describe your family or your childhood?Traditional, I’d say. I’m the only daughter of a cop, and a stay-at-home mom. My parents were solid, although there were few dull moments. Mom was always in charge of something whether it had to do with charity work for the Police auxiliary, or the PTA. She’d chosen to stay home with me because of the uncertainty of my dad’s job, which often kept him out late. Sometimes I think she believed that if she spent enough time with me I’d want to do something else for a living. But as you can see, I followed in my father’s footsteps, which has been a blessing and a curse, but more on that later. What was your greatest talent?Taking care of plants, if you can believe that. Both my parents have what they called the black thumb, but I can make anything grow. When I had my place in Portland, I had plenty of Monstera because the big leaves are just cool. But honestly, I love all things green. Probably why I love the forest so much. Significant other?It’s complicated….

Dear Reader September 30th is a huge date for me – it’s publication day for COLD PANIC, my new psychological thriller. It’s been a few years since my last book was published – with a busy day job, four kids to raise, life, etc., writing time is a rare commodity. But I had this idea that just wouldn’t let me go: What would you do if some very bad people kidnapped your little boy and were holding him for an outrageous ransom? And calling the police was not an option? Wouldn’t you do just about anything to get him back? Wouldn’t you turn to anyone who might be able to help? Even someone who had betrayed you decades ago, and who’s whole life has been defined by fraud, theft, and murder? That story idea haunted me so much that I couldn’t help but sit down and write it. What is it about anti-heroes that fascinates us so much? Those characters who might ultimately help their families, mete out justice, but use very questionable means to do so? Think Dexter Morgan, Lisbeth Salander, Tony Soprano – all people who operate well outside the lines of what society might deem acceptable, moral…

Excerpt from OLD MONEY by Kelsey Miller: Briar’s Green was always a destination of sorts. Renowned as both idyllic and elite, the village has long been considered the archetypical Hudson Valley enclave: lush, bucolic and laden with early American history—and just dazzling in the fall. It’s been the subject of countless short stories and rhapsodical poems, and a whole school of nineteenth-century painters, who came to perch along its stony shore and capture the almost unimaginable grandeur of its vistas. It’s also the place where, twenty years ago, my cousin, Caitlin Dale, was beaten to death by her boyfriend and left floating in a pool. Almost twenty years ago—it’ll be twenty years next month on July Fourth, 2019. Everyone seems to know that now. For the last decade, I’ve been the oddball who goes somber as July Fourth approaches, showing up to the barbecue with supermarket potato salad and a forced smile that makes everyone ask if I’m feeling okay. I’ve been hurrying home to my apartment at dusk, while the rest of Manhattan floods outward toward the waterfront, angling for a decent view of the fireworks. Nobody remembered that July Fourth was also the day of a once-infamous murder….

The spooky season is here! My dark heart can delight…it’s officially the season of vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and all sorts of supernatural monsters that go bump in the night. I’ll be honest with you; I love to read paranormal romances and romantasy books ALL YEAR LONG…but I’m always extra motivated and intrigued by these books as we lead up to Halloween. So, what are a few of the spooky reads that are currently on my TBR list? Well… Several fabulous authors have books in a collected that is literally called “Scared Sexy”—and I can’t wait to read these books. I’ve currently got HOT FOR SLAYER by Ali Hazelwood on my e-reader. It’s going to be my reward read this weekend. As someone who used to be addicted to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, there is no way I was going to miss this story. And how can I not read THE WITCH QUEEN OF HALLOWEEN this October? Kresley Cole always delivers an outstanding paranormal read. I’ve been wanting to curl up with this book for quite some time. Spooky season will make this one extra fun for me. Finally, how about a little zombie scare? Jeneva Rose’s DATING AFTER THE END…

The importance of “setting” in a novel came to me as I was sitting at the News Café in South Beach. I was sipping a cappuccino when I noticed a beautiful young girl hurrying into a glamorous hotel. She was struggling with her shopping bags and handed them over to the doorman, flashing a dazzling smile before she disappeared inside. It was obvious she was a resident, not a guest, at the hotel. She was as much a part of the South Beach ambiance as the pastel-colored hotels, the European style outdoor cafes, the tang of salt in the air and the swaying palm trees. Somehow, I knew I’d tie it all together in a book and I did, in a book called GOLDEN GIRL. The plot and the characters grew out of the setting. Julie Hyzy’s White House Chef Mystery series could only take place in Washington, DC. Ms. Hyzy, author of HOME OF THE BRAISED has created an attractive heroine, Olivia (Ollie) Paras and offers a tantalizing peek at life at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. As executive chef, Ollie’s world is the White House kitchen, along with her crew of talented cooks and her devoted staff. Politics is an integral part…

What is the title of your latest release?LADY DARLING INQUIRES AFTER A KILLER What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Lady Bridgerton meets The Thursday Murder Club How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I thought a Victorian-set mystery series with an older protagonist (she’s FIFTY! Quelle horreur!) would be super fun because that was the time when Sherlock Holmes was first being published. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?Absolutely. What are three words that describe your protagonist?Bold, eccentric, and beyond giving a care what people think What’s something you learned while writing this book?That women “of a certain age” are fun to write! Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?I edit as I write, and end up with one draft that is the only and final version. What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?A really good Margarita pizza….or crab legs Describe your writing space/office!My office is a loft in our upper floor. It has huge windows on two walls and floor to ceiling bookshelves on the other two. I use a treadmill desk when I write most of the time. Who is an author you admire?Nora Roberts/JD…