I have a confession to make. History was never my favorite subject in school and for years I avoided reading all historical fiction and historical romance because of it. My younger brother, a history fan, even listed once on a questionnaire that the one thing I needed to do to improve was to read more history LOL.  I don’t blame my teachers, though, as the curriculum often didn’t connect the past with the present in any meaningful way for me. Two teachers successfully bridged that gap for me, although not enough to encourage me to read historical fiction. Instead, I stumbled upon it somewhere along the way (most likely through Amanda Quick, as my mom collected all her books) and my eyes were opened to pieces of the past they never taught us in school. In today’s environment, more than ever, I think it’s important for us to know the good, the bad, and yes even the very ugly parts of history. After all, one of those excellent teachers I mentioned drilled into my head the George Santayana quote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Jane Addams is well known to social workers for her…

“French” is often synonymous with romance, passion, drama and intrigue—concepts borne out well in this month’s selections!  In honor of Bastille Day, we present stories that look at four very unique situations and personalities. Moving chronologically, we begin with JOAN: A NOVEL OF JOAN OF ARC.  Author Katherine J. Chen produced a revisionist look at this classic French heroine.  Chen’s Joan is a larger-than-average girl, strong and strong-willed enough to defy her tyrannical father.  And rather than a soul guided by her voices, Chen’s Joan is a secular figure who depends on her strength and fighting ability, not her faith, to protect and guide her.  This recreated Joan is set into the meticulously researched details known about her life, beginning with her teen years through her travels to the court, her support of the Dauphin, and her life as a warrior, ending before the events that lead to her death.  Was she merely an accomplished warrior?  Or a leader instructed by God to save the French nation?  Chen’s unique perspective may have you questioning all you thought you knew about the mythic Joan. We jump ahead several centuries to the court of Louis XIV with THE MENAGERIE: PASSION, POISON AND…

Here at Fresh Fiction, we love book chat, and we have a lot of reviewers with fierce opinions about the authors, characters, and books they love (and about the things that drive them crazy). This is the first in a series of reviewer profiles. Hopefully, these will give other readers ideas about what books to add to their TBR lists, as well as spark some conversations. What qualities make a book super satisfying for you – characters, dialogue, setting, mood? Does it depend on what genre the book is? Any examples? Debbie Wiley: World building and character development are the biggest factors for me in whether I thoroughly enjoy a book or not. My favorite genres are urban fantasy and cozy mysteries, and both of those elements are crucial to the genre. Most of my favorite urban fantasy characters tend to be heroic in nature, even when it goes against their own best interests. For instance, Harry Dresden – the protagonist in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, makes numerous choices that put his own life at risk in order to save others- that’s my kind of urban fantasy hero! For cozy mysteries, I want main characters who are the kind of person I…

Jennifer Vido: What inspired your debut novel, THE TRUTH ABOUT BEN AND JUNE? Alex Kiester: My most organic writing happens when I explore my fears, and at the time I began my novel, my biggest fear was the ambivalence of entering into parenthood. In most capacities, I know what I want from my life, yet I’ve never known whether or not I want kids. And as this is one of the biggest decisions anyone can make ambivalence about it can be terrifying. Over the years, I’ve dealt with this fear like any writer would—by pawning it off onto my unsuspecting fictional characters. The book originated as one simple scene between a husband and wife who have just discovered the woman is pregnant and are deciding whether or not to have the baby. While these characters later became my protagonists, Ben and June, they started as nothing more than the two conflicting sides of my brain. Eventually, I decided they were going to have the baby, and the rest of the book snowballed from there.   Jen: How would you describe Ben and June’s relationship? Alex: At the start of the novel, Ben and June’s relationship is broken. For many months…

Summers in Florida are hot! There are two kinds of Floridians in the summer- the kind who spend the days lathered in coconut smelling suntan lotion lounging on the beach and then the kind like me who seek out only places where the AC is set to frigid. As my husband has pointed out when I’ve stayed outside too long in the sun and heat, I’m a shade tree rather than a sunflower. Staying cool in Florida takes a bit of imagination and I’ve got some tips featuring cozy mysteries to help keep you cool on these hot days! Tip #1: Ice cream is always the answer but even more so when you want to stay cool in the heat. We have two yummy places to choose from, starting first with Crewse Creamery in A GAME OF CONES by Abby Collette. Bronwyn Crewse is in a bit of a battle with her aunt who has just arrived in town over some of the flavors, so make sure you check out her cherry amaretto chocolate chip ice cream or her delicious tea and shortbread ice cream. Meri Allen’s Udderly Delicious shop featured in MINT CHOCOLATE MURDER is managed by Riley Rhodes,…

Many romances feature dukes, princes, and other highly placed aristocrats, spotlighting the luxury, excess and intrigue of life at court.  But for the Grey family in Tudor times, being high-born and close to the throne became a deadly peril.  This month’s selections feature stories of the Nine Days Queen Lady Jane Grey, her sisters, and her mother. We begin with HER HIGHNESS, THE TRAITOR, a story that despite the title focuses on the Nine Days Queen from the perspective of her mother, Frances Brandon Grey, (Countess of Suffolk, daughter of King Henry VIII’s sister,) and her mother-in-law, Jane Guildford Dudley, (wife of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, mother of Guildford Dudley, who marries the doomed queen, mother also to Robert Dudley, Queen Elizabeth’s great love, and Mary Dudley Seymour, one of Elizabeth’s ladies-in-waiting and good friend.)  The story is told in alternating diary entries by the two women, giving a sense of immediacy and realism to the story.  Rather than appearing as a shy, bookish puppet, the Lady Jane portrayed here is as difficult and militant about her Protestantism as Mary Tudor is about her Catholic faith, believing that Mary’s adherence to the old religion makes her unfit to be…

Even though there are a gazillion or so paranormal romances out there nowadays, it still surprises me when I read stories about supernatural beings that work a regular job or are some type of performer. Stereotypes can be a hard thing to shake. Part of me still expects a vampire to have a castle and be shrouded in shadows and be all dark and mysterious. The books I’m going to discuss here are full of vampires, orcs, demons, and all kinds of paranormal hotties who would be amazing to have as a showstopper at any party. The first paranormal romance I remember reading was DARK PRINCE by Christine Feehan. I can think of a few characters from her Carpathian series who would make my list for must-have entertainment. I know, I know. These two series have different versions of “vampires”, but I think it would be cool to have Savannah from DARK MAGIC by Christine Feehan perform her magic act for Laurell K. Hamilton’s Circus of the Damned. Of course, her honey Gregori wouldn’t be thrilled about having her around all that paranormal eye-candy. Four bands that would make an electric musical combo would be the Dark Troubadours from DARK…

Francesca watched in horror as her husband ran from the lake, from her, and from Addie, disappearing into the advancing shadows. For a moment, she comforted herself with the belief that he was going for help, but the moment faded as quickly as it had come. Hope dissolved into panic and despair. In her heart, she understood the truth. He had answered her tearful pleas with nothing but a hurtful, intractable silence. A silence that flew over the lake toward her, landing like a purposeful blow, striking her to her core. A silence that inflicted a mortal wound from which she knew she would never recover. He hadn’t once looked back at her or the lake. He just ran. Away from her and Addie, leaving them both to die. She was overcome with sorrow and a crushing fear. She wanted to find Addie, to help her and to save her, but she felt her physical self weakening. The more exhausted she grew and the more fearful, the more she thrashed about in the water. — “No, no,” Dominic cautions as he tries to stop her. “Don’t struggle so much. You need to just relax. Relax.” “It’s too deep,” she frets as Dominic puts his arms around her and guides his six-year-old daughter to the middle…

Excerpt from Chapter 1     Beth He looks at me with what appears to be great effort. Like he was about to nod off into a heavy, much-needed nap when I interrupted. He doesn’t look too bothered. Not like he might were I a car smashing through his fence. See that, Mom? I take my hand off the Nikon’s focus ring and give him a friendly wave. Hopefully he doesn’t find it creepy that I’m peering over his fence with a camera in hand. Why am I still holding the camera, anyway? “Hi?” he says as if he isn’t sure I’m even real. “I thought I was all alone out here.” I gesture vaguely at the world around us. Told you I’m a liar. “Seems like everybody else on the street already jumped ship for the season. Winter is coming.” “Call it a slack tide,” he says with a somber nod. “We’re between holidays, the kids are back in school, the weather’s just starting to turn, but the storm watchers won’t start arriving for another month. There aren’t many year-rounders here.” He pokes at the logs with an old hot dog skewer that’s coated in rust. The sight of…

Who are you going to believe, the rumor mill, a teenager who could be protecting someone, or a kid with a propensity for fibbing? Real-life mysteries can be messy. The witnesses are rarely unbiased, and everyone’s got dirt in their past—even the squeaky clean. Trust me, I’ve seen the dust bunnies hiding in their closets and under their beds! That’s also what makes people intriguing – flaws and all. A fictional mystery that can bring those elements of reality into a story puts them in the very satisfying read pile on my bookshelf. I found that to be the case with both books I’m featuring this month—two entirely different types of mysteries with the same outcome—me happy. Katie Gayle has created an interesting new series with her first Julia Bird Mystery, An English Garden Murder. I’m pretty sure we’ve all had a few misgivings about what could be underneath the soil when we start digging, I know I wondered about it when we dug a pool:). It’s even worse when your new to town and you start to wonder what the heck you got yourself into. What our former social worker and newly divorcee finds however, is a great community…