My answer is it depends. Why? Because readers look for different things in different kinds of mysteries. Thrillers, police procedurals, traditional mysteries and cozies all have their fans, who bring their own expectations to each sub-genre. Cozies mystery readers probably look for romance the most in their mysteries. Why? Because cozies focus on characters much more than other kinds of mysteries, which is just fine with their fans. They like getting to know the people in a series, watching their lives change, and enjoying the interactions. Some of those interactions are logically going to be romantic—especially if the main character is single (though there can certainly be romance between married couples) and also, but not necessarily, if they are young. In my Pickled and Preserved series, my main character, Piper Lamb, is single and young. At the beginning of the first book, THE PICKLED PIPER, Piper had broken off an engagement and moved to a small town to start a new life. The only problem was that her ex-fiancé, Scott, didn’t take the break-up seriously. During his travels around the world to “find himself” he sent Piper messages and gifts as though they were still a couple, much to her…

by Candy Holliday Blueberry Farmer and Amateur Detective as told to B.B. Haywood, author of TOWN IN A CINNAMON TOAST, available everywhere on Feb. 2, 2016 Candy Holliday, I tell myself, you should know better. But here I go again! I know I promised more than a few people (including our local police chief, Darryl Durr) that I would stay out of trouble and stop playing detective. It’s just that one of the most important events of the year is going to happen in three days, and there’s trouble in the air, thanks to a missing best man and a misguided bottle of champagne! You see, my best friend and sidekick, Maggie Tremont, and our local German baker, Georg Wolfsburger (commonly known as Herr Georg) are getting married—right here at Blueberry Acres, the blueberry farm I run with my dad, Henry “Doc” Holliday. Our farm is located on the outskirts of the seaside village of Cape Willington in Down East Maine, and we’re in the process of getting it ready for the wedding—tidying up, setting up a reception tent, that sort of thing. But we’ve run into a fatal snag. When Herr Georg’s best man, local historian Julius Seabury, fails…

Have you ever visited Ohio? Some people think the entire state is flat. It’s not. Holmes County, which is situated above Columbus, consists of beautiful rolling hills Have you ever stayed a bed-and-breakfast and awakened to the sound of chickens and cows? It’s serene, idyllic, and delicious. I stayed at an inn at the south portion of Holmes County years ago. The next day, I got lost while driving around. What a fabulous experience that was! Truly. I discovered all sorts of little towns and treasures. Right now, in my latest release FOR CHEDDAR OR WORSE, it’s time for the first-ever Cheese Festival in Providence, Ohio. Charlotte Bessette, the protagonist, is a cheese monger, and she and her new husband, Jordan, have been invited to stay at nearby Emerald Pastures Inn to participate in a brain trust. What’s a brain trust? It’s an event where marketers, cheese makers, cheese authors, and journalists will taste, make, and talk all things “cheese.” Charlotte and Jordan can’t wait. But there will be others at the brain trust plus one surprise guest from the past—Lara Berry, pretentious cheese whiz, pompous bestselling author, and pungent critic whose extra sharp tongue can crumble a reputation. Charlotte…

When Fresh Fiction asked me to share some of my favorite things, I sat right down and started a list. Saturday mornings at Starbucks with my own leading man. Spending time with my extended family. Performing in community musical theater productions. Baking fattening desserts. Playing in my garden. But there’s no time to talk about all those in this short column, so I’ll focus on just one of my favorites. Long, spectacular hikes while on vacation. Now, before you get the wrong idea, I’m not one of those people who straps 50 pounds of stuff on her back and disappears into the wilderness. I’m a day hiker. My husband didn’t discover this until after we were married. But he quickly learned that it’s not a vacation for me if I don’t log some serious hiking miles in God’s country. Don’t get me wrong. He’d done some hiking before we married, too. But it was not on his list of favorite things. However, he humored me—and through the years, some of our treks have been both easy and amazing. Hiking down from the Gornergrat in Switzerland on a smooth, well-marked trail with clear views of the Matterhorn all the way is…

What are you passionate about? Perhaps you love to cook, sew or paint. Maybe you’re passionate about your family. As an author, I’m passionate about what I do. Just ask anyone who has made the mistake of asking me about my writing. Passion is a boundless enthusiasm for something Enthusiasm for something drives us to want to know more about the object of our passion, whether it’s a person, place or thing. Julia Child was passionate about French cooking. However, she did not will herself to become one of the world’s greatest chefs. She had to learn and practice. When I started writing, all I knew was that I wanted to write and that, someday, I wanted to be published. But to make that dream come true, I had to learn the craft of writing. I bought books, attended writers’ conferences and honed my craft for nearly a decade before ever seeing that dream of being published come true. Never stop learning Julia Child may have written MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING, but she still continued to learn. How do I know this? Because I’ve watched her shows, In Julia’s Kitchen with Master Chefs and Julia Child & Jacques…

I have been a fan of ABC’s Scandal from day one. Why? Because it is one of the few books or films that combines swoon-worthy assassins and wine into a lovely, entertaining cinematic package. I love books and films that incorporate espionage and political intrigue into the plot, throw in one of my favorite cities – Washington DC and a protagonist who is always working it… and I am hooked. The fact that the heroine of the television show, Olivia Pope is masterfully and flawlessly portrayed by the gorgeous Kerry Washington is a boon. Most television shows and films in this genre usually feature a man and completely gloss over stuff like fierce hair, gorgeous clothes and the romance lives of the characters – and that is why I love Scandal. While men obviously enjoy the show, this is espionage and political intrigue by women and for women It’s exactly like the fiction genre, romantic suspense – you know, books that usually feature a gorgeous Navy Seal, a tall dark and handsome FBI agent or maybe a dreamy CIA operative… and the women that love them? There is usually lots of action, danger and steamy love scenes…. Read more… About…

Can’t wait until April? We can’t either because it’s when Samantha Chase’s new book releases! You can pre-order LOVE WALKS IN now, which we highly recommend, and as a treat–don’t we all deserve one in February–here is an exclusive sneak peek! It took a full minute for Hugh to realize he was staring at nothing but his window before he shook his head to clear it and made his move. In a flash he was silently through the window, and his sexy intruder hadn’t noticed. She was looking around the dimly lit room and unfortunately, he couldn’t get a good look at her. Standing in the corner, he continued to observe. If she was going to try and steal something, he wanted to be certain to catch her in the act. In a perfect world, he’d hit the lights as soon as she took something that clearly didn’t belong to her so he could press charges. He hated people touching his belongings—especially when they so blatantly held such little regard for his privacy. But who was she? Why was she here in his office? “Finally,” he heard her mutter. Stepping closer to his desk, he reached for the small lamp…

Dear Readers, I’m so excited to be on Fresh Fiction today celebrating my new release, BORROWING TROUBLE. Brady Benson, BORROWING TROUBLE’s hero, first appeared in the fourth book of my Nugget Romance series, STARTING OVER. I liked him so much that I wanted to give him a book of his own. That’s the thing about writing minor characters. You never know when he or she will worm their way into your heart and beg you for their own happily ever after. I’ve had some secondary characters who would’ve taken over an entire book if I’d let them. Brady’s a chef and I’m a former food writer so already we were a match made in heaven. He was also mysterious. In Starting Over he’d arrived in Nugget running from a secret. The honest truth: I hadn’t worked out his secret yet. For that book the important thing was to give him an air of intrigue and if I never used him again—or continued using him only as a minor character–so be it. I like writing character-driven stories and I like writing stories where traditional rolls are flip flopped. For instance, Brady spends his days in a kitchen and the heroine, Sloane…

We all know about Colin Firth emerging from the lake. (Right???? If not, here’s a little primer on “the scene that changed everything.”) Mr. Darcy and his soggy shirt are the stars of what is probably the most popular Jane Austen adaptation out there, the 1995 miniseries that also starred Jennifer Ehle as Lizzy Bennet. And, hey, you’ll get no argument from me. That series is a delight from start to finish. But how about some lesser-known Austen adaptations and Austen-inspired movies and TV shows? Without further ado, I give you my four favorites. The 2007 version of Persuasion, starring Sally Hawkins as Anne Elliot and Rupert Penry-Jones as Captain Wentworth. Interestingly, PERSUASION isn’t my favorite Austen novel. But this adaptation! It is glorious. I’m particularly fond of the last scene, where Anne goes running after Captain Wentworth, tearing though the streets of Bath in a most unladylike manner as the camera jiggles around like crazy. Oh, my heart! The Jane Austen Book Club, a 2007 Hollywood movie about a group of friends who start a Jane Austen-reading book club to cheer up one of their members, who has just been dumped by her husband. If I recall correctly, this…

One of the first historical romance novels I ever read was LOVESONG by Valerie Sherwood, when I was about fifteen. There’s an early scene featuring the heroine sneaking out of her London boarding school to meet up with her elusive beau at an 18th century gaming hell (spoiler alert: he’s not the hero and this doesn’t end well for her). Her friends help her dress in disguise as a young man, so she can prowl the streets of London at night alone. One provides a pale green satin men’s suit with silver metallic embroidery, made for her brother. She wears her own clocked stockings and garters. Another friend styles the heroine’s platinum blonde hair into something resembling a powdered wig. It’s been thirty years and I can still remember that dress up scene and still recall small details of her outfit. I couldn’t recall the heroine’s name, or the shady beau’s, or the eventual hero’s. But that green satin suit? It stayed with me forever! That was probably my first indication that my future lay in costume design. I ended up getting a master’s degree in costume design, and I’ve spent twenty years in New York working in the industry….