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 N.J. Walters! Writes:N.J. Walters spends her days with werewolves, drakons, shapeshifters, fallen angels, and other intriguing paranormal creatures. She merely takes diction and tries to be as faithful as possible to the stories they relate. Fated mates, dangerous situations, enough passion to heat up the coldest night, and heartrending tears. The characters will take you on an unforgettable journey that always ends with a happily-ever-after. Werewolves, drakons, shapeshifters, fallen angels, and other intriguing paranormal creatures all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match:• Reader must love tall, dark, and dangerous paranormal heroes—in this latest book, a reaper—and a tough, independent heroine with a guarded heart and fiery spirit.• Crave heart-pounding passion and danger.• Be intrigued by the Grim Reaper’s personal messenger, a crow who snoops and interferes more than he helps.• Dark secrets that threaten the lives of both hero and heroine.• Sacrifice, tears, and a wild paranormal…

Each Monday the Smashwords store lists the top ten most highly anticipated indie fiction ebooks based on the previous week’s preorder accumulations. Each title on the list is scheduled to release within the next week. To help the talented authors on this list accumulate even more preorders, click the title of the book. The hyperlink will bring you to a Books2Read page where you can order from your preferred ebook retailer. If the preorder is part of a series, click the hyperlinked series title to learn about the other books in the series. Be sure to check back Friday for a list of the Top 25 Bestselling Indie Ebooks.

What is the title of your latest release?TILL TAUGHT BY PAIN What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?A pioneering surgeon struggles to advance the field and make a name for himself after experiments with cocaine leave him addicted and dependent on his wife to help hide the weakness that could destroy him. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?It’s a historical novel, based on real people and events. The protagonist was the first surgeon-in-chief at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, so I knew it would be set largely in Baltimore at the turn of the 20th century. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?I would love to! She’s smart, kind, and witty. But she’s introverted. She might not want to hang out with me! What are three words that describe your hero?Brilliant, sarcastic, tortured What’s something you learned while writing this book?I learned a lot about the history of medicine and surgery in America. I came to really admire the early Johns Hopkins physicians. They were discovering things we take for granted now. Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?I edit as I draft. I can’t…

Book Title: STILL WATERSCharacter Name: Beth Peachy How would you describe your family or your childhood?I always thought my childhood was perfect. I grew up in a close-knit Amish community. My parents loved each other and were very close. I visited my grandmother, who we call Mammi, in Shepherd’s Hill, Pennsylvania every summer. It was ideal. But there was something missing, and I only noticed after my father passed away. But my family had a very strange void in the center of it. What was your greatest talent?I’m a swimmer, and while we Amish don’t compete, I’ve been told that I’m very good. My father taught me how to swim, and I have been pushing myself to get stronger and have more endurance ever since I started to paddle. I often wonder if I might have been good enough to race if I’d grown up Englisch. Significant other?At the moment, I’m single. I’m visiting my grandmother one last time while I help her get the house ready to sell. And there’s this guy I was friends with as a girl who lives along the same lake—Danny Lapp—and I have to say… there’s a spark! And we’re both old enough to…

What is the title of your latest release?LAST CALL AT THE SAVOY What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?When party girl Cinnamon Scott jets off to London to help her very pregnant sister, she expects tea and maybe escaping for a few late-night cocktails; not a mystery hidden within the glittering halls of The Savoy Hotel. But when she uncovers the legacy of Ada Coleman, the hotel’s first, and once legendary, female bartender, whose story history tried to erase, Cinnamon becomes determined to set the record straight. As she delves into the past, she sparks an unexpected romance, reconnects with her sister, and begins rewriting more than just history. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I stumbled upon the idea for my book in the very place it’s set, the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel. Much like my character, Cinnamon, when I learned the story of the Savoy’s first female mixologist I wanted to know more. And also like Cinnamon, I was frustrated to find there was very little written about this incredible woman. I knew right then I want to do something about it! Would you hang out with your protagonist in…

Lucky by Britney SpearsThis song is about a young actress experiencing the dark side of fame, but it’s got this bubbly chorus and Britney’s signature sultry-sweet vocals, so the real heart of its story– the despair of a depressed and lonely starlet—can sometimes get buried. Add the spoken word interlude (“And the winner is….Lucky!”) and you have an iconic Y2k earworm that seems sparkly even while it’s totally depressing. It’s the perfect song for Maggie McKee, who bedazzles everything about her life as a popstar on Reality TV, from her marriage to her friendships to her diet. She might be lucky, but she is also clearly stuck. You’ll Ask For Me by Tyler HiltonI played this song on repeat while thinking about Cassidy and Gabe. How much of someone’s reputation matters when they are standing right in front of you being vulnerable? It’s also an ode to patience and waiting until the time is right, which has everything to do with Cassidy and Gabe’s romance. Hits Different by Taylor SwiftIt’s hard to choose a favorite Taylor song, but this one might be it for me. I think the line “the sun burns my heart and the sand hurts my feelings”…

This week on Jen’s Jewels, I’m thrilled to welcome back New York Times bestselling author Karen White. Beloved for her richly layered Southern settings and unforgettable heroines, Karen once again invites readers into a world of charm, mystery, and heartfelt emotion in New Orleans with her latest release, THE LADY ON ESPLANADE. Blending wit, wisdom, and a touch of the unexpected, her new novel explores the strength of family, the pull of the past, and the healing that comes when we finally uncover the truth. Grab a cozy seat and join me as Karen and I chat about the inspiration behind her story, the characters who leapt off the page, and the magic that keeps readers coming back for more. Jen: What inspired you to return to Nola Trenholm’s story in THE LADY ON ESPLANADE?Karen: A contract! OK, that’s not the whole story, but I am contracted for four books in the series right now. But Nola’s story is far from being over and the characters are all so young so there are many more books I could write in which I continue to torture them, I mean, watch them learn and grow. Jen: For readers new to the Royal…

As was the case when Fresh Fiction was amazing enough to feature the Songs/Book match for my last novel, Beneath the Poet’s House, I offer up this playlist with the caveat that I’ve never been someone who can listen to music while writing, so the following songs are less of an author-curated track list than they are a collection of tunes that go along with the events and personalities of the characters in HOW TO FAKE A HAUNTING. Enjoy, and be warned, the vibe is creepy, sneaky, and overwhelmingly angry… what else would you expect from a woman hellbent on scaring her husband out of their house for good and her wild and crazy “brains-of-the-operation” best friend, Adelaide?  “Do You Want to Know a Secret?” The BeatlesThe song that inspired the song that Adelaide and Lainey use to first scare Callum, “Do You Want to Know a Secret?” actually played out of nowhere on MY Amazon Echo while I was working on this book, at the exact point when I was trying to come up with something that had vibes similar to when Liv Tyler’s character in The Strangers is unknowingly sharing the house with a masked intruder and “Sprout…

What is the title of your latest release?FREEBOURNE What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?A thinking-reader’s thriller set in an idyllic English town of the near future, with a twist that’s never been done before in fiction. After learning of his wife’s affair with his best friend and business partner, divorced and unemployed MindTech entrepreneur Dr Harry Coulson arrives in the idyllic English town of Freebourne, looking to start a new life. But any hopes of quietly picking up the pieces of his broken world are shattered when he steps off the train to discover the body of a young woman lying in the snow. It’s almost as if she’d been left there for him to find. Harry does everything he can to help. But as a stranger arriving on the night Freebourne witnesses its first murder in over a century, he not only becomes a suspect in the woman’s killing but finds himself caught in a deadly game between science, faith, and free will – in a secret far darker and more terrifying than anything he could have imagined. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?A lot of thrillers are set in big,…

What is the title of your latest release?EXCAVATING FATE What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?While on a dig in Tunisia, a 19-year-old archeology intern uncovers a relic that thrusts her back to an alternate version of ancient Carthage, where a vengeful god’s plan to destroy Rome could fracture history itself. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I’ve always been a bit of a history nerd, the kind who gets way too excited over dusty ruins and obscure documentaries. The idea for EXCAVATING FATE really took root after I took a DNA test and discovered that I had a smidge of North African ancestry. Suddenly, Hannibal Barca and the lost city of Carthage weren’t just historical footnotes, they felt personal. Of course, when I tried to share my excitement with my teenage son by queueing up a History Channel documentary, he sat there like he was serving a prison sentence. That’s when it hit me: if I wanted the next generation to care about this fascinating slice of history, I had to make it fun. While I usually gravitate toward adult fantasy, this time I decided to write something that could both inform and…