1–What is the title of your latest release? MESSAGE IN THE SAND 2–What is it about? MESSAGE IN THE SAND is a love story: the love of small town life, teenage love, rekindled adult love, and what makes up the fabric of family. MITS is about a young war veteran suffering from PTSD, Wendell Combs, who returns to the sleepy small town of Saybrook, CT where he works on the lush and private estate, White Pines, for the Lancaster family. After a heartbreaking loss, all Wendell wants, and feels he deserves, is to be left alone. The Lancaster family, however, has different plans for him. Despite his best intentions, Wendell feels the pull of the family unit, especially fifteen-year-old Julia, their eldest and strong-willed teenage daughter. Julia has her sights set on a summer riding her horse, swimming in the lake of White Pines, and spending time with the boy next door, who she has never really noticed, but now fears she may be falling in love with. One perfect summer night, as Julia’s family hosts their glamorous annual gala, a tragic accident occurs that no one in the close-knit community could have imagined. The accident leaves Wendell and the…

1–What is the title of your latest release? HOW NOT TO MESS WITH A MILLIONAIRE 2–What is it about? A sassy American interior designer and a brooding Italian restauranteur engage in a battle of wills over who gets to stay in a villa on the Amalfi Coast that should be big enough for two—but not these two. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  It’s Italy. What’s not to love? The food. The wine. The Mediterranean. I wish I was there right now. 4–How did your heroine surprise you?  All of my heroines tend to be spunky, but Zoe might be the feistiest one yet. And she’s super creative when it comes to dreaming up ways to get Dante to vacate the villa. 5–Why will readers love your hero?  He’s a classic alpha wounded hero. He knows how to love deeply but is afraid to go there again. It doesn’t hurt that he’s smoking hot, as Zoe quickly learns when she arrives at the villa and finds him buck naked. Plus there’s that Italian accent. Swoon. 6–What was one of your biggest challenges while writing this book (spoiler-free, of course!)?  Honestly, it was Dante. I’ve never written…

1–What is the title of your latest release? Dead Dead Girls 2–What is it about? Dead Dead Girls is a prohibition-era about a tiny, tired Black lesbian who is forced into solving crime. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  I love the vibrancy and how alive the 1920s were. Even when the world was reeling, postwar, there is a generation that still grew and thrived on their own terms. 4–How did your main character(s) surprise you?  My main character, Louise Lloyd, surprised me by being so confident and determined. She is put into many different situations and still manages to come through as herself and stronger. 5–Why will readers relate to your characters?  I think readers will relate to my characters because they’re human. They get to make mistakes and have fun and be wrong and right. 6–What was one of your biggest challenges while writing this book (spoiler-free, of course!)?  One of the biggest challenges while writing this book was getting the vibes exactly right. I was trying to get myself in the headspace of a woman who was born nearly a century before me, and has lived a completely different life. It’s impossible to…

1–What is the title of your latest release? My upcoming release on June 1st, ANNE OF MANHATTAN, is a modern adaptation of Anne of Green Gables set on Long Island and in New York City. It’s actually my debut novel! 2–What is it about? Loosely based on some of the original book’s events, and inspired by L.M. Montgomery’s cast of beloved characters, Anne of Manhattan reimagines what it would be like if college-aged Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe, and their friends were going to school and living in modern NYC. It’s a romantic comedy that also deals with themes like #MeToo (sexual harassment) and learning how to trust in love. And hopefully, I’ve done a good job of paying tribute to a book I love so much! 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  There are two main settings in the book. One is NYC, where Anne, Gil, and their friends go to school and live. That bounces between Brooklyn, the Village area, and Hell’s Kitchen. The second main setting is Avonlea, which I set on Long Island for the purposes of it making sense so many characters would wind up living in the city. Since I wanted…

1–What is the title of your latest release? CRAZY ABOUT A COWBOY 2–What is it about? CRAZY ABOUT A COWBOY follows the story of Jasper Taylor, a Texas cowboy trying to save his family’s land in Ido, Texas, and secure the title of Most Romantic Small Town, and Delilah Stone, a beauty queen who’s judging the contest. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  I’ve fallen in love with the little town of Ido, Texas. The whole town is like one big family who’s come together to try to revamp their struggling economy. They love harder, smile longer, and stick up for one another in Ido. 4–How did your heroine surprise you?  Delilah has spent her entire life trying to please her mother. I enjoyed her journey from people pleaser to standing up for herself and figuring out what she wants out of life. 5–Why will readers love your hero?  Jasper is the total package. He’s loyal to his family and friends, devoted to the woman he adores, and is willing to put everything on the line and do what it takes to take care of those he loves. 6–What was one of your biggest challenges while…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE PROMISED QUEEN 2–What is it about? This is book three in the Forgotten Empires trilogy, which is about the marriage of state between two enemies – a rebel, ex-slave prince, and a queen trapped in her own diplomatic web. They learn to work together to face their common enemy, a tyrannical emperor who has terrorized them, their families, and their people. This book is the culmination of their unlikely love affair and their attempt to triumph in an unwinnable war. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  My queen, Lia, rules over the last good place left. It’s a tropical island called Calanthe where all pleasures are indulged, sanctuary is given to all, and no one judges anyone. I’ve heard some readers call it “Versailles in Hawaii.” It’s a beautiful place, full of flowers, gentle seas, birds, bees, wildlife, and peace. I love everything about it. 4–How did your heroine surprise you?  Lia has a lot of secrets – about who she really is, her magical gifts, who her mother was, and how she came to be born. All of that surprised me! 5–Why will readers love your…

1–What is the title of your latest release? It’s called the PINT OF NO RETURN. Cutest title ever, right? I take no credit. It was my editor’s idea. 2–What is it about? Here’s the blurb. Trinidad Jones is a woman trying to find her way again after a betrayal. The Shimmy and Shake Shop, home of the fantastic freakshake, is supposed to be her magnum opus in the idyllic town of Upper Sprocket…until the dead body turns up. It’s going to take a super-sized scoop of courage to flush out the killer! 3–What do you love about the setting of your book? I simply adore Upper Sprocket because it’s the kind of town I would like to visit. It’s set in Eastern Oregon, “the Swiss Alps of Oregon”, so the postcards say. It’s the kind of place where folks can stroll the main street, visit Three Egg Lake, and pick their own apples. It’s small-town America, where everyone knows everything about everyone, at least they think they do! 4–How did your main character(s) surprise you? Trinidad has way more courage than I first imagined. Not just the kind needed to be a sleuth, but the courage required to find your…

1–What is the title of your latest release? DEATH IN BLOOM (Book 1 in the Flower House Mystery series) 2–What is it about? It’s about flowers, dreams, mishaps, and mystery… Or, as the back cover says: Sierra Ravenswood is the new part-time employee of the Flower House, a flower shop in Aerieville, Tennessee. It’s true she didn’t expect to be back in her hometown at twenty-eight years old, but after her dream of making it as a singer in Nashville crashed and burned, she’s just grateful to have found a soft place to land. Because, after all, Sierra firmly believes in being optimistic and positive about life, so she’s sure she won’t have to work at the Flower House forever. But things take a decidedly negative turn when a customer drops dead in the middle of her new bouquet-arranging workshop at the store. When it’s discovered he was poisoned by a snack at the event, everyone at the workshop, including Sierra, is on the suspect list. To make matters worse, her boss has gone AWOL and left the store to her for the cost of one dollar, leaving Sierra in charge of both his store and his high-energy Corgi puppy,…

1–What is the title of your latest release? The Wedding Dilemma 2–What is it about? An accident-prone artist is rescued from a failed body cast art project by a sexy firefighter, only to discover he’s going to be her new stepbrother! They have to help plan wedding parties together while fighting off the volcanic attraction they feel, but he’s keeping a secret that could ruin everyone’s happily ever after. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  It’s set in the Mile High City, aka Denver, Colorado, the best place to live (I might be a little bias since I live here, lol). 4–How did your heroine surprise you?  She was much more afraid of love than I first thought. 5–Why will readers love your hero?  He’s a Cinnamon Roll firefighter, what’s not to love;) 6–What was one of your biggest challenges while writing this book (spoiler-free, of course!)?  Researching all the firefighting facts. I did interviews with firefighters and my own personal research, but as I’ve never been a firefighter, I’m sure I made a mistake somewhere (my apologies for any mistakes made). 7–Do you look forward to or do you dread the revision process?  I dread…

1–What is the title of your latest release? Heirly Ever After 2–What is it about? A young woman is attending her sister’s royal wedding–sans a date who broke up with her after she dropped out of college for him–so she takes a date with a Scottish man she meets on the train who happens to be the outcast of the royal family. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  I love the Cotswold feel of an English country town with rolling hills and the historical aspects of the castle that I built in my head in Heired Lines from watching a lot of Secrets of Great British Castles 4–How did your heroine surprise you?  She wasn’t supposed to be this dang persistent. In my head originally she was spunky, but I kept having to tell my brain one thing and she wanted to do another. 5–Why will readers love your hero?  That he’s genuine. His story could have been very different and he could have been a villain or an anti-hero. 6–What was one of your biggest challenges while writing this book (spoiler-free, of course!)?  To make Lord Jacob a real hero and not an anti-hero. 7–Do…