Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Kate McMurray | Author-Reader Match: WHAT THE CAT DRAGGED IN
Author Guest / December 7, 2021

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 as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Kate McMurray! Writes: WHAT THE CAT DRAGGED IN is a contemporary romance, second in a series set at a cat café in Brooklyn, New York. In this book, the cat café’s events manager, Paige takes center stage. Paige is an event planner by training, a classic type A who never met a spreadsheet she didn’t like. One night, she volunteers for a cat rescue organization and meets Josh, a cute lawyer with a biting sense of humor. They get along so well, neither wants the night to end, so it… doesn’t. But in the light of the next morning, Paige puts together that Josh is her best friend’s brother. Whoops! About: I live in a studio apartment in New York City with a bossy cat and so many books that I secretly think they’re mating like Tribbles. I like museums and baseball and show tunes and indie bookstores and karaoke—I am stoked that Broadway is back and hope to go to…

Alanna Martin | Author-Reader Match: LOVE AND LET BARK
Author Guest / November 30, 2021

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 Alanna Martin! Writes: I write contemporary romance with lots of family drama, humor, and heart. My heroines are smart and successful, and my heroes prove that nothing is sexier than kindness. It’s always my hope that my stories be reminders that love can win in the end, no matter the obstacles. For the characters in LOVE AND LET BARK, love is also about finding the strength to be the person you want to be. About: As a city girl transplanted to a small town, I’m always up for breaking big city and small town stereotypes. I love being outdoors, having coffee with friends, and dreaming big—all traits that have a tendency to show up in my characters. If I’m not writing, I’m probably lost in the mountains. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: -someone who loves a soft-spoken, big-hearted firefighter -who relates to a practical-minded, protective heroine -must love puppies -has a thing for found families -is tired of billionaires getting everything they want -is ready for…

Coreene Callahan | My Writing Routine + Giveaway!
Author Guest / November 23, 2021

I’m often asked about my writing routine. How I write. When I write. Where the ideas come from and how I get each one onto the page. For me, ideas have never been a problem. I have too many most of the time. The trick is deciding which ones I connect with most. My characters help me with that when they show up and start talking. The loudest, most determined one always gets the most airtime inside my head, invading my creative bubble so insistently I can no longer ignore them. Sometimes, it makes for a chaotic start to my day! One thing for sure, though, remains consistent about my writing routine. I’m a morning person, pure and simple. So when I tell people I get up at 5 AM, seven days a week, to write, I am invariably treated to incredulous looks and even a few “Are you crazy?” comments. Maybe I am. Then again, maybe I’m just the right amount. My imagination is alive early in the day. From the moment I open my eyes, the story I’m writing comes to life inside my mind and characters take shape and form. There’s just something about a quiet house…

Ginger Bolton | Title Challenge + Exclusive Excerpt: DECK THE DONUTS
Author Guest / November 22, 2021

D is for Deputy Donut, both the cat and the shop. E is for Emily and the exciting Brent Fyne. C is for coffee, crime, and that cop. K is for mistletoe—you know what I mean. (And did I mention the handsome Detective Brent Fyne?) * T is for tourists stranded in town. H is for houseguests, feeling quite down. E is for events and entertaining all ‘round. * D is for donuts, detectives, delight. O is for observing, overhearing, and “Oooohs!” N is for nosing around in the night. U is for understanding the most subtle clues. T is for treats. (That includes mistletoe.) S is for sleuthing, skiing, and snow. Exclusive Excerpt from DECK THE DONUTS Chapter 6 I turned on the bedside lamp. Dep stood with her nose against my closed bedroom door. Her tail twitched back and forth, and the fur along her spine stood up in a way that made my own hackles rise. It was one thirty in the morning. Who had closed the front door? Had Paige left, or had someone arrived? I always locked the door, but maybe seeing Dep on Paige’s lap after I came in from parking the car had…

Kris Clink | SISSIE KLEIN IS COMPLETELY NORMAL + Giveaway!
Author Guest / November 18, 2021

My first book in the Enchanted Rock Series was GOODBYE, LARK LOVEJOY. With its many characters, the novel provided threads to pull from later when I began writing the future books in the series. Of those, Sissie Klein was a minor character, married to a man who, to put this kindly, was confused about his commitments and priorities. Although her role in the first novel was that of a supporting character, Sissie whispered to me, “I have a story, too.” I considered how easily we make assumptions about relationships from the outside, asking: Why is she/he with her/him? How did they get together? What keeps them in the relationship? What’s keeping them from leaving? So I gave it a whirl, writing Sissie’s story in first-person because I wanted to see what Sissie saw, hear her thoughts, and sense her emotions. I sat with her when she learned she was pregnant. I feared for her newborn daughter’s fragile health, and I grieved when her marriage hit the rocks. Sissie taught me a thing or two about assumptions, but that’s not all I learned while writing this novel: Everyone has a story. Don’t overlook the possibilities of the quiet girl at the…

A.J. Locke | MAGIC DARK, MAGIC DIVINE: Meet the Characters
Author Guest / November 15, 2021

Hi everyone, I’m A.J. Locke, author of the upcoming urban fantasy novel, MAGIC DARK, MAGIC DIVINE with Entangled Publishing. Today I thought I’d share a fun interview with my four main characters, Pennrae, Callan, Gideon, and Toji, as a way of introducing them so you can get to know what they’re like before you meet them on the page. The answers they give don’t just pull from the book either! You’ll learn tidbits about them here that don’t echo in the novel, so it’s a great bit of insight into who they are as well as what their relationships with each other are like. I hope you enjoy getting to know my crew a bit. Q1: Give one word to describe the others Penn: Oh, this should be good… Gideon: Unflattering descriptions will be heckled. Toji: Gideon is one of the most fiercely caring people I know. Penn is unfathomably protective of those she cares about. I don’t know Callan very well yet, but he has to be strong if Penn has him by her side. Callan: I definitely need my strength. She throws a mean punch… Penn: Watch it before one really comes your way. Gideon: Me next! Toji,…

Natalie Walters | Author-Reader Match: LIGHTS OUT
Author Guest / November 5, 2021

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 Natalie Walters! Writes: I write what I love to read. Intriguing suspense centered around intricate plots; memorable characters who make me laugh with them, love them, and root for them; and a storyline that speaks internal truths that stick with me long after the last page. Oh, and I unapologetically exploit my dear friends whose careers in the military, three-letter agencies, and law enforcement help me bring a level of authenticity to my stories! Proof of that exploitation is evident in my newest novel, LIGHTS OUT. When an Egyptian spy goes missing in America, CIA officer Elinor Mitchell is the only one to blame. In a race against an impending terror threat, Elinor must work with the last person she expected, Jack Hudson. Not only is he her ex-boyfriend, the man she betrayed, but also the team leader for the Strategic Neutralization and Protection Agency—a private contract agency that keeps Americans obliviously unaware of the continuous threats against them and their country. Without Jack…

Cookie O’Gorman | Top 5 Body Positive YA Romance Books & Movies
Author Guest / November 4, 2021

Body Positive is a term I’ve been hearing a lot lately. That could be because I just wrote my first-ever #OwnVoices YA romance. It’s called CUPCAKE, and it features a teen girl named Ariel who is an amazing baker, movie addict, and a reluctant princess when she is nominated onto her high school’s Homecoming Court. She also just happens to be plus-size. That ‘just happens to be’ is actually very important to the book. When I was growing up, there weren’t a lot of stories—either in film or literature—that had characters who are plus-size, let alone ones that were happy in their own skin. Ariel (aka Cupcake) loves herself as she is. She loves her body. She’s a healthy teenager with a healthy relationship to food. That self-love, though it may waiver slightly, is the beginning and end of everything. When I sat down to write this list, I knew that there still wasn’t a lot of representation of plus-size characters—especially in YA. But I also realized that several of my favorite movies/books on this list may be body positive—but they typically feature main characters who struggle with their weight for most (if not all) of the story and are…

Kelly Farmer | Title Challenge: UNEXPECTED GOALS
Author Guest / November 2, 2021

The Out on the Ice series features Sapphic women’s hockey romances. These strong athletes find love on and off the ice. Their friendships, teammates and found families play an integral role in each woman’s journey to happily ever after. UNEXPECTED GOALS is the second book in the series. It hits the ice today (November 2, 2021). Woo-hoo! It’s an enemies-to-friends-to-lovers story between Canadian goalie Maisy Goode and American forward Jen Donato. International competition has created a bitter rivalry between them. Now teammates in the women’s pro league, they have to learn how to play nice in order to win. What they didn’t expect was falling for one another. U is for Uniforms. Maisy and Jen wear different ones on their national teams, but now don the same uniform for the Boston Ice. N is for Nature. They find common ground in their love of the outdoors. E is for Enemies…to friends…to “Oops! Feelings!” X is for EXpedition Unknown. It’s one of my favorite TV shows, and I based Maisy and Jen’s favorite show, Nature Escape, on it. P is for Professional women’s hockey players. Unexpected Goals is full of female athletes competing in the sport they love, where they make…

Terry Spear | JINGLE BELL WOLF
Author Guest / October 28, 2021

I’ve written nearly a dozen Christmas stories and the challenge for each of them is writing something new and different. From lost and found reindeer to Highland kilts and mystery and romantic suspense, to billionaire wolves, white wolves, red wolves, SEAL wolves, and even jaguars, I’ve enjoyed giving them the holidays to look forward to. I think the hardest part for me is figuring out what people should get for Christmas. I have the same problem with picking out gifts for family and friends. When they have a Christmas wish list, I do much better. Wouldn’t it be neat if the characters in my stories all had Christmas wish lists too? It would make my life so much easier! I have lived in the south or in moderate climates for most of my life: Florida, Texas, California, so snow isn’t usually a big issue in the winter. Though with the weirder weather we’re getting, who knows what the future will bring. In the Houston area, we had temperatures in the teens for a week last year, breaking all records and we had lots of snow too. But I’ve also lived in places where we’ve had regular snowstorms—got stuck in them,…