Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-ReaderMatch” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Naima Simone! Writes: Sexy, contemporary romances with broken but honorable alpha heroes, perfectly imperfect heroines who take zero mess, family drama worthy of a reality TV show, and aaaall the swoony passion. And sex. Hot sex, too. 😀 In BLAME IT ON THE BILLIONAIRE, a city-wide blackout provides the perfect backdrop for a CEO and a beautiful stranger to indulge in naked shenanigans. But when daylight reveals she’s his employee, he’s determined to keep his distance. Until his matchmaking mother and a persistent vengeful ex pushes him to ask her to be his fake fiancée. What’s supposed to be pretense is suddenly feeling all too real. . . About: 18ish author. . . Okay, fine, I won’t start our relationship by catfishing you. 40ish author urgently seeking readers who acknowledge sarcasm as another language, don’t mind my hermit-like tendencies or potty mouth, agree that Jessica Fletcher is a certified, MENSA-level genius, will bring incense to burn at my alter devoted to Nalini…

My latest adult contemporary romance, HEARTS ON HOLD, features a professor and a librarian who engage in a short affair while working together on a university project. Dr. Victoria Reese isn’t expecting to catch feelings during this three-week trist; she’s looking for a release from the stressors of teaching at a predominantly white university, nosy administrators, and an overbearing mother. Her secret lover, John Donovan, has his own share of stressors: Managing the children’s department of The Farmingdale Library and caring for a cheeky 12-year-old niece. Working with the tightly-wound, schedule-obsessed professor sounds like a challenge for a man who has ADD and tries to live a laidback life. But there’s something about Victoria and her overdue paperback romance that makes John intrigued. He’s always up for a sexy challenge. H is for Hot. These two have amazing chemistry. E is for Earnest. John is there to support A is for Attraction. It’s instant. R is for Rendezvous. They have few of those. T is for Time-management. Victoria loves to schedule S is for Sisterhood. Yay for female friendships!   O is for Overdue. Victoria’s paperback is crazy late N is for Nemisis. Victoria’s boss is a meany.   H…

Welcome back to Fresh Fiction, Marie! Please tell us about yourself and your new book, THE KISSING GAME! Hi there! I’m a NYT and USA Today bestselling romance author of over 100 books. I write contemporary, paranormal, and romantic suspense, all with a bit of heat and humor. And I live in Central Oregon with two growing teens, a dog and a cat (who thinks he’s a dog). The Kissing Game is a standalone romance centered around Valentine’s Day. It’s also a book I’ve been dying to write for YEARS. The heroine is a romance book lover; the hero is a tall Viking-like hunk who has a big heart but isn’t great at showing it. They are perfect for each other! The story has the hero doing his best to win the heroine by Valentine’s Day with some. . . interesting. . . presents. Tell us more about the heroine of THE KISSING GAME, Rena Jackson. Fans of your books know that she was actually introduced a few years ago. . . what sparked her having a book of her own? Rena Jackson was first introduced as the romance book-loving cousin of the heroine from What to Do with a…

To be honest – it’s that second chance. Initially falling in love has its challenges, depending on the baggage your characters come with. But asking them to fall in love for a second time with someone with whom they already tried to have a relationship with? That’s asking a lot of anyone. When they fall in love or ‘connect’ with someone the first time, there’s hope that ‘this time will be different’.  Sometimes, the characters don’t even see it coming. (That’s one of the best kind—friends/enemies to lovers—another fabulous trope!) But here they are, in love, making promises. Then ‘reality’ hits, and one, or both, of them, has a major freak out of some sort. This usually comes from fear and any one of a multitude of insecurities, leading to termination of that relationship. Things are said, promises are broken, ties are cut. And now, it’s over. Each character will try to heal, to move on, but they KNOW deep down it’ll never be as good as that one true love that didn’t work out. That is exactly what my melty, romantic, heart-eyes, heart loves about Second Chances- they never really stopped loving each other. Love endures and conquers all….

I can’t exactly remember when and where my fascination with dogs started–but it wasn’t because I grew up with dogs. My mother’s dad raised Border Collies that he trained to herd sheep–they weren’t pets, and she had no desire to have the stinky dirty beasts in the house. And then my little brother developed allergies to dogs (and cats, and chocolate, and just about everything else you can imagine), so the first pet I was allowed to own was a turtle that I named Paddlefoot. My love of dogs must have started with books and movies. The first dog I remember knowing about was Lassie, the transgender wonder dog (you might remember that Lassie was always played by a male dog. Anybody know why?). But she/he was a little too perfect to be my first dog crush. That flowing coat, though. She/he was totally the Fabio of dogs, wasn’t she/he? I really fell in love with dogs from reading The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith. Yes, it was an actual book before ‘ol Walt made it into a movie. I read and re-read the book almost as often as I read Charlotte’s Web (but I didn’t cry since…

We asked the authors of the 425 Madison Ave series about their favorite parts of the 425 Madison world. Join the group during each release about the best parts of the series! My next release is a sweet but emotional best friends to lovers! Here’s a little to expect from Must Love Forever: An Irish hottie – CHECK New York – CHECK Lover of all things pink – CHECK Suspense – CHECK Crazy funny side characters – CHECK Bianca and Mick will grab your hearts with both the history they share and the love they build! My favorite 425 Madison neighbor is: I love Mallory Greer. She is seen in both Must Love Coffee as Gwen’s close friend and as a true confidant to Bianca Rodriquez. The 425 Madison favorite mode of transport: I love the subway. There are so many cool things about the subway, but the coolest is to be able to people watch. And Bianca loves to take it because it means she’s not walking around in her pink heels. My Must see NYC landmark: I personally love Central Park because there are so many fun things to do there. In Must Love Coffee, they go to…

Even poodles didn’t have an endless enthusiasm for dog parks. Now on their fifth stop of the day, Caleb and Riley sank onto a dog bone shaped bench in Hollywood, Florida’s recently renovated Hollywoof park and surveyed the weaving poles, the separate sections for large and small dogs, and the mushroom like platforms at different heights for what Caleb could only guess was for doggy step classes. LouLou didn’t stray too far from them, exhausted from a frenzy of running at Snyder Park when she’d spotted turtles in the lake. She hadn’t gone in after them, but she’d run the shore in anxious back-and-forths until Riley’d finally scooped her up and hosed her off. He’d watched as Riley added hoses to her dog park wish list. He noticed that she didn’t add lake or turtles. She’d been awfully worried that LouLou would catch a turtle, even though the poodle was never closer to one than ten feet. “What would you even do with a turtle, LouLou?” she’d asked while hosing mud out of her curly coat. LouLou’s response had been enthusiastic tail whumping and a roll in the soft grass as soon as Riley loosened her hold on the dog….

Suzanne was fed up. Ready to throw in the towel and give up on the Neanderthal on her couch. The only prob­lem with that plan? It didn’t get him off her couch or out of her cottage, or get her out of the position of car­ing for him. So giving up was not an option—not be­cause she was determined or noble but simply because she was stuck. So as the early darkness of winter fell over Summer Island, she did two things. First, she texted Dahlia, irate. Look, I don’t know where you are or why you’re not answering Zack, but he’s had a major mental setback. I accept that you’re not here, physically—but I need you to be present with him, Dahlia. He’s officially despondent now, and I’m not sure what to do. Please call him as soon as you see this. Second, she made a delicious dinner. Remembering that Dahlia had once mentioned Zack loved her meat­balls, Suzanne got out the recipe, which Dahlia had given her along with others, and started squishing ground beef into a mixture of bread crumbs, minced onion, Parme­san cheese, an egg, and some spices. She took her time, since he clearly needed…

So, it happened. 2020 is here! We all talk about resolutions, but this got me thinking. As a reader, what are your resolutions? Could it be to read more books? To ditch paperbacks and embrace e-readers? To try a new-to-you author every month? Or, perhaps… reading outside your comfort zone. That’s one of my reader resolutions. I tend to favor m/f contemporary, erotic romance and mystery. It’s not that other genres don’t matter to me, they do, but we all have those kinds of books we’re drawn to. So, this year I will enrich my Goodreads Reading Challenge with more LGBTQ books, and who knows, maybe an inspirational or two (I tend to stay away from romances with no sex or closed-door sex).  I’m excited to open my mind to new reads and authors. Another resolution is…to listen to more audiobooks. I’ve come to love listening to audiobooks in my car. Guys, the amount of time I spend in my minivan (yes, glamorous! I know…) is ridiculous. When I have the children with me, I can’t listen to racy reads, but after I drop them off at school it’s fair game. And my third resolution as a reader is to…

What is a perfect day? It’s a different answer for everyone. For some, it’s a thrilling adventure at an amusement park with friends while for others it’s a quiet day at home in solitude. I think a perfect day is one that allows for resting and recharging, but also leaves time to enjoy the company of loved ones. If I had to choose, here is what my perfect day would look like: It would start with sleeping in as late as I want. I have two kids in the single digits so the “I’m hungry. She hit me. Mooooooomy wake upppppp!” Start early. After waking up I’d enjoy a warm cup of coffee and a yummy breakfast of fruit and cheese while reading a few chapters of a favorite book while the kiddos snuggle at my side with their own books. Reading doesn’t have to be a solitary enjoyment. Even if you’re reading different things, when you read together, it’s great family time. After enjoying a relaxing morning it would be time for a sandwich and snacks party with my friends where we’d munch while playing Tabletop games. Because it’s my day, the games on the docket would be Betrayal…