Your book THE HIGHLANDER’S STOLEN BRIDE is described as an enemies-to-lovers romance. Not counting a few exceptions that prove the rule, I’ve always been more of a friends-to-lovers fan. What is the dynamic between these two characters? And what makes their love story so compelling? I confess, I’m a huge enemies-to-lovers fan, especially when it includes a wounded hero…which this one does. When the Campbell clan comes back from their exile in Ireland to reclaim their land in Scotland, the McMillan siblings scramble to ally themselves through the best way they could in those days – through marriage. This is the last book of the Highland Alliance’s series and the heroine, Elspeth MacMillan, is supposed to wed the son of a neighboring laird, but on her way to the unwanted union, she gets kidnapped by Calum Campbell, son of the notoriously cruel Alexander Campbell who killed Elspeth’s father and many of their people. However, Calum Campbell is not only the son of a terrible and powerful man, he’s also the hero of The Highlander’s Stolen Bride.   Do you like to throw third act surprises in your romances? Like the hero and heroine almost have their relationship worked out when…

What was your inspiration for BECOMING MY SISTER? Either from true crimes or from modern celebrity culture? I live in Palm Springs and have been at events and people’s homes and estates in what is the setting for this novel, The Movie Colony. So first, I thought of it as a perfect V.C. Andrews location, meaning the setting plays a dramatic role in the story. In our culture now especially, celebrity is almost a religious thing. People apply to celebrities what they apply to icons of film and television. Being in their presence is truly an almost spiritual event, even just seeing someone in person. To take that concept and apply it to the mother of two adolescents was a natural V.C. thought for me.  The girls are not so much in rivalry with themselves as they are with the ghosts of old movie stars. How can they compete? What does their mother demand of them in relation to this? How have the learned to deal with it and how does it make them more independent. Their father is almost oblivious to it all.  Gish, our man character, named after Lillian Gish, looks to her sister Gloria for guidance because…

Your book, DARK FIRE, just came out. It’s part of your “Fireblood Dragon” series. I think that might be the only series of yours I haven’t dipped into. Can you explain for readers what that world is about? Where it takes place and the basic dynamic between species. DARK FIRE is set in the world of Fireblood Dragons, which is our world, except seven years in the past, a Rift between worlds was torn open and a host of dragons flew into our world from another. The dragons immediately went crazy and destroyed everything, killing, and destroying until there wasn’t much of civilization left.  Now people live in ‘forts’ set up in old cities and try to eke out an existence. Turns out that the dragons aren’t just sky-sharks – they’re also people. Shifter people! And the only thing that can tame a male dragon is a mate.   I was so happy to find out your Ice Planet Barbarian books were being reissued. I have many of them on my kindle, but with the new covers being so pretty, I might finally get print copies of my favorites. Will all your Ice Planet Barbarian books be reissued? I get…

Is Ella Shane based on any historical figure? Having the story set in 1900, did you do any research on the time period? Are you a history buff? I like to describe Ella as part Beverly Sills, part Anne of Green Gables and part Errol Flynn. She’s brilliantly talented yet approachable like Sills, an orphan made good like Anne, and a swashbuckler like Flynn. Probably the closest real-life figure to Ella is Lillian Russell, a singer and actress who owned her own theatre company in the late 19th century. BUT — she didn’t play trouser roles, and Miss Russell’s personal life (four marriages and a very public affair with Diamond Jim Brady!) was the exact opposite of respectable Ella’s. I’ve been a history buff since I learned to read, and the Victorian Era is one of my favorite periods. When I started working on the series, it was tremendously fun to research the details – and the outfits! In A FATAL OVERTURE, Ella Shane’s love interest is described as “long-distance love, Gil Saint Aubyn”. Does Ella have support from friends, family, or friendly investigators to be part of her “Scooby gang” as she plays the role of amateur sleuth? Absolutely!…

Jen: What inspired your new release, THE TOBACCO WIVES? Adele: As a young girl growing up in North Carolina, I was fascinated by my grandmother’s stories about the women she called the tobacco wives. She was a hairdresser for the wives of the wealthiest, most powerful tobacco magnates in Winston-Salem, NC in the 1940s, and tales of these wealthy, glamorous women captured my imagination.   Jen: What’s the most fascinating thing you learned while researching the book? Adele: Insights into what life was like for tobacco workers was fascinating, and pretty disturbing. One example is that the field workers suffered from a condition called “the green monster.” When they tended to and picked wet tobacco leaves, nicotine seeped into their skin, giving them tobacco poisoning. I had no idea about this condition. Factory conditions and practices were also a shocker to me.    Jen: What brings Maddie Sykes to Bright Leaf, North Carolina? Adele: When Maddie’s father is killed in WWII, her mother has a breakdown. She doesn’t know how she’ll support herself and her daughter and decides to take Maddie to her Aunt Etta’s house in the tobacco capital of the South. Aunt Etta is a professional seamstress in the…

Your book BOSS WITCH comes out April 5th. It’s described as an “opposites attract paranormal romcom”. What attracts you to stories with characters who are opposites getting together? Opposites are like magnets with a positive and negative charge. They’re drawn together irresistibly, but the challenge is whether the characters can make it work long-term. And that’s where the fascination comes into play. Two people with wildly different viewpoints… the idea that they can form a lasting partnership and turn those variations into a complementary relationship—where one supplies what the other lacks? It’s the ultimate form of optimism and makes us feel brighter about real life opposition.   How would you describe Gavin in BOSS WITCH? What makes a good hero to you? Gavin is lonely and tormented. He hates his job, and he’s been isolated from the world by an emotionally abusive parent. What he wants more than anything is a place to belong. As for what makes a good hero, as long as he meets his fictional partner’s needs, that definition can apply to any type of character.   Your thriller THE THIRD MRS. DURST sounds intriguing. As an author, is it a much different process writing a thriller…

In your latest book, A HALF-BAKED ALIBI, Sherry gets involved in a murder investigation because she wants to clear her friend from being thought of as a suspect. With cozies, there are all kinds of amateur sleuths who have all kinds of reasons for getting involved in an official investigation. I think this is one of the better ones – to help a friend or family member in trouble, as well as when they have to clear themselves from being a suspect. Do you ever find it difficult coming up for reasons for Sherry to be involved in a murder investigation? After six books, and the seventh on the way, thank goodness I haven’t had any trouble getting Sherry involved in murder investigations. Introducing more characters slowly as needed is one way to broaden her reasons for involvement. Another is the fact that she’s becoming known for her amateur sleuthing successes and people are beginning to seek out her skills. She has to want to become involved and that, too, is part of the story. What draws her in isn’t always cut and dry. To repeatedly make the reason be the suspicion of a relative or friend gets old to…

Danielle Jackson: Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Jen! We are so glad to have you hear and chat about your new book, THE ASTRONAUT AND THE STAR. What are three words/phrases you think best describe your book?   Jen Comfort:  funny, nerdy, and “horny” (the latter is according to the starred Library Journal review, and I am very proud she got away with that description in the official tagline!)   First things first, I love a grumpy sunshine pairing. But what I love more is when the female main character is the grump, and the male main character is the sunshine! Reggie and Jon are this to a T! What appealed to you about this grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract setup?   Jen:  The original premise for this book was that it was a gender-flipped take on I Dream of Jeannie, which I watched a lot of growing up (I was just a very indoor child without many cool hobbies). In the show, there’s this grumpy, workaholic astronaut named Tony who gets saddled with the cheerful, chaos-causing magic Jeannie—a character who could be the blueprint for the “manic pixie dream girls” of our time. Since my absolute favorite thing to do is play,…

How would you describe your protagonist, Detective Koa Kane, in DEATH OF A MESSENGER to readers? Koa Kāne is a cop with a dark past. As a teenager, he accidentally killed the sugar mill owner who tormented Koa’s father. After Koa covered up the killing as a suicide, Koaʻs remorse and guilt drove him to become a detective and embued him with a powerful empathy for victims and uncanny abilities to pursue criminals. As a native Hawaiian, Koa is also my readers’ window into the unique geography, history, culture, and language of the Hawaiian islands.   There are some ritualistic elements to the crimes in DEATH OF A MESSENGER. What about that attracted you as an author to put something like that in your story? Hawaii itself is a character in all four of the Koa Kāne mysteries. The human characters interact with and are shaped by the Big Island’s landscape, speak its lyrical language, relate its past, and celebrate its myths. The ritual elements in the crime at the heart of Death of a Messenger provide a mechanism to explore the cultural history of the islands. Thus, the crime scene at the beginning of the book offers a platform…

Audio books have become my favorite way to continue a story while keeping up with my busy schedule. It’s not like my husband is talking to me while reading his email on his phone, or the kid cares what’s on the car radio while watching YouTube on our commute. And don’t get me started about how tedious laundry, vacuuming, or steaming the floors can be! Audio books are a life saver! However, I must confess that I can be rather picky when it comes to the actor who presents the author’s characters. Finding the perfect marriage of mystery and voice can be difficult—but I discovered it in Elle Cosimano’s collaboration with Angela Dawe in FINLAY DONOVAN KNOCKS ‘EM DEAD, and naturally I had to get Elle here for just deeper look into her story!   Kym: Hi Elle, welcome to the Cozy Corner! Elle:  Thank you for inviting me, Kym! Kym: First off, I loved the audio version of FINLAY DONOVAN KNOCKS ‘EM DEAD which released 2/1/22. Angela Dawe brought all of the characters to life with amazingly different voices. What is your favorite thing about having your books in audio format? Elle: Angela is AMAZING! She is the perfect…