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…

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 Verity Lowell! Writes: I write steamy romances about ambitious and creative women-falling-for-women. I think of it as queer of color romance but, like the world, my stories have all sorts of ages and stages and different kinds of people. I love to travel and I love good food and I’m always interested in giving the reader a vivid sense of place—if you’re not into evocative description, I may not be your gal. My debut romance, MEET ME IN MADRID is a second-chance entrée with a healthy side of age-gap and plenty of sweet, long-distance relationship angst for dessert. When a blizzard grounds her in Madrid, Charlotte, a museum courier stuck in a job she hates in Connecticut, is unexpectedly reunited with her super in-charge, grad school crush, Adrianna, who offers her a place to “sleep.” Both characters are women of color and part of what brings them together is their shared experience of being marginalized in the academy; the other thing…

As a group, the four witches turned to catch sight of him standing there. That’s when the zing rebounded be­tween him and Ruby Thorne and he had to tighten his hand on the doorjamb to keep his knees from buckling. One corner of her mouth rose and his watered be­cause he knew what she tasted like. And until right then, he’d forgotten just how much he’d missed his lips on hers. And now she was home and they were both six years older and wiser. He sure hoped he was because a woman like the one he currently stared at deserved that. “Well, hey there, Damon Dooley,” Ruby said, the smile taking over her entire face as she approached him. She’d been pretty six years ago, but she was lumi­nous now, her magic around her shoulders like a man­tle. He wanted to roll around in her, coat himself in her. Damon reined it in, assuring the wolf they’d get to that point but it was important to wait for the right time. Rather than a handshake, Damon opened his arms, waiting a beat to be sure she had the chance to stop her trajectory. Thank the lord above, she came…

1—What is the title of your latest release? HER WOLF IN THE WILD. It’s out from Carina Press now! 2—What is it about? Christiana—a young bisexual woman—is on the run from her abusive boyfriend, who also happens to be a member of Arizona law enforcement. She gets picked up off the road by Micah, a butch biker who runs the Hounds of God, a local motorcycle club. Except it turns out the MC is a cover for the local werewolf pack—of which Micah is their alpha—that already has some trouble with the cops going on. The last complication these two need is finding out that they might be fated mates. 3—What do you love about the setting of your book?  It was really nice to go back to Arizona, metaphorically speaking. I lived there when I was twenty, and putting a supernatural edge to the desert was a lot of fun. I also liked exploring the background of LGBTQ+ motorcycle clubs, since that’s not what comes to mind when most people think of an MC. 4—How did Christiana surprise you?  She’s a younger and less experienced protagonist than I usually write, so finding her voice and motivation took a different…

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 KD Casey! Writes: Steamy, poignant queer romance usually set in the world of sports. In my debut, UNWRITTEN RULES, professional baseball player Zach Glasser reunites with Eugenio Morales, his ex-teammate—who’s also his ex-boyfriend—for a second chance. About: Nice Jewish author from Washington, DC, seeks readers. Likes: spending time with family (often), sports (when it’s going well), and reading (constantly). Convinced her fourth-grade teacher to let the class watch A League Of Their Own because, quote, it was women’s history month. Reply if you also enjoy thunderstorms, cat-herding, improvisational cooking, baseball on the radio, and tea. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: My ideal reader: Is looking for high heat romance with a slow emotional burn Likes stories about family, including families of choice Enjoys flawed characters who (I hope!) you want to root for Loving sports is a plus but not required What to expect if we’re compatible: #OwnVoices Jewish characters of a variety of observance levels Second…

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 Suleena Bibra! Writes: Hi! I write contemporary Rom-Coms with Indian-American characters who love banter and avoiding their feelings. My debut novel, TWO HOUSES, is about auctioneers from rival auction houses in New York City. Priya and Gavin have been in competition since preschool, because of their families’ businesses, and their feud has only intensified since they began working at their respective companies. The rivalry heats up even more when they go head-to-head to win the rights to sell a big collector’s art, wooing him at his week-long country house party in a historic Long Island mansion. Forced together, feelings arise that neither can deny. Now they both have to decide if they can work together for a relationship, or if their life-long competition will prove too big a barrier to overcome. About: I’m from Southern California, but currently live in Virginia (I am not handling weather, particularly humidity, well—I was very spoiled in California). I love travelling and learning about art…

Danielle: Welcome back to Fresh Fiction, Annabeth! Congrats on your new release, SAILOR PROOF. Can you give us the quick elevator pitch for this book?  Annabeth:  This is my new military romance LGBTQ+ series. Readers who loved my Out of Uniform series will love this best friend’s little brother romance which has a heaping helping of fake dating, close proximity, only one bed, and big feels in a low-angst package! This is the start of a new series for you! What do you like about starting new series? What are some of the challenges?   I love getting to explore a new universe, discover interesting side characters and places, and I actually love the research aspect. Here, I got to research Navy subs, Seattle, and the Olympic Peninsula. It was hard because of COVID-19 because I couldn’t actually go places and had to rely a lot on memories as well as tons of pictures, videos, documentaries, blogs and more.  To make his ex jealous, Naval Chief Derrick Fox wants to return home with what appears to be a new boyfriend. But his plan goes awry when he and the fake BF, Arthur, start to have very real feelings. Fake dating…

Danielle: Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Penny! Please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your debut novel, FOR THE LOVE OF APRIL FRENCH.   Here’s the bio I’ve been using everywhere! “Penny Aimes was assigned Hoosier at Birth but made her way to Austin, Texas, where she lives with a beautiful accountant and a very loud bird. Her debut novel FOR THE LOVE OF APRIL FRENCH is the story of a trans woman who has always seen herself as a stopover for others on their way to a happily ever after and the cis man who knows his home will never be complete without her. Both kinky and unrepentantly fluffy, it is a story about letting go of fear and believing that you can love and be loved in return. It’s also about embracing your community and letting your community vice you a little versa now and then.” “Kinky and unrepentantly fluffy” comes from a very kind review from Talia Hibbert, which is also quoted on the front of the book. A funny thing about that quote is that we had to keep revising the attribution as Talia got more awards and honors. I think we finally settled…

Danielle: Welcome back to Fresh Fiction, Chantal! We are so excited to have you here. Congrats on the release of your new book CUSTOM LOVE. What is it about?   Chantal:  Thank you for having me! Custom Love is Trade and Nadia’s story, and is a romantic suspense full of surprises, love and second chances. CUSTOM LOVE is the latest book in your Fast and Fury series, a spinoff of your Knights of Fury series. What do you love about writing in this world you’ve created?  I love that the books have MC elements, but also give me more room to play. I love the characters and the friendships between them. Nadia and Trade are characters we’ve seen throughout the series and are finally getting their own story told. What are some of the challenges of bringing together two characters readers already feel like they know? Did Nadia and Trade surprise you in any way while writing their love story?   They did surprise me. I think the two of them surprised each other, too, and were meant to be together. Trade is a single dad and has experienced tragedy in his life. How do you think these aspects of…

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 Hanna Earnest! Writes: Romance with big feelings and big moments, like ALL THE BEST NIGHTS, which pits privacy against paparazzi as two musicians try to keep their contemporary marriage of convenience from the tabloids. Rock-star-with-writer’s-block Bran Kelly and pop-star-on-the-rise Nelle are tired of the cost of fame, so they elope to have a secret: something off the record, something just for them. But when real passions threaten the fake feud they devise to protect their pact, they have to decide if keeping their secret is worth staying apart. About: A South-Sider first and a Chicagoan second, my interests include: overhyping my ability to ice skate (and other seasonal activities), the table with the outlet at the coffee shop, and prescription sunglasses. I love to cook and not clean, spam the group chat with inspirational Real Housewife gifs and/or Walt Whitman quotes, and—while my dog is asleep and my daughter is occupied—write books I want to read. What I’m looking for in…