Fresh Fiction Senior Reviewer Miranda Owen loves a contemporary gothic story! The atmosphere, the moody settings, and the thought-provoking plotlines… The de Vincent estate was one of the most haunted locations in the entire state of Louisiana. –MOONLIGHT SCANDALS by Jennifer L. Armentrout I have been fascinated by gothic tales of romance and danger since I read my first Dorothy Daniels book in junior high. It had a predictably historical setting, with a dash of the paranormal, and a hint of romance. For a long time, I only connected gothics with a historical setting, and never imagined that there were such things as contemporary gothics. I recently discovered Jennifer L. Armentrout’s spectacular “de Vincent” series and was immediately sucked into her world of danger, mystery, and eroticism with a decidedly gothic edge. All of the authors discussed in this article utilize a few classic elements of a gothic novel but throw them in a story with a contemporary setting. She felt…God, this sounded insane, she felt watched. Obviously, she wasn’t being watched unless it was by a ghost. There were no windows and no one else was in here. –MOONLIGHT SINS by Jennifer L. Armentrout Location is everything. Authors who…

Hey everyone! So one of the questions I get asked a lot, is what’s my writing space like. And the simplest answer is EVER-CHANGING! I’m most definitely a creature of habit… until I’m not lol. For instance, I might move from my office desk to my office couch to the comfy chair in the living room to my bedroom, getting huffy at every stop until I find that spot that clicks and I finally drop into THE ZONE. I know. This sounds ridiculous, but it’s just how it goes. And once I figure out the spot that works…  I’ll ride it into the ground lol. I’ll go back to writing in my bed or at my desk while sitting on a yoga ball every day for as long as it triggers that free flow of flirty, sexy storytelling that is so much fun! This week, I’m all about the desk and the rolling, spinny chair lol. One thing that doesn’t change? All the crap I tote along with me lol. Soundproof headphones (regardless of whether the house is silent or not) Two, yes two mugs of gorgeous assorted pens and highlighters My project specific spiral notebook (it needs to be…

I have to admit, I am always alternately excited and confused when my publisher decides one of my books falls under the romantic comedy heading. Excited because rom-coms are my favorite type of romance. Confused because I don’t really set out to write comedy. Why? Because comedy is hard. It’s not that I don’t think I’m funny. I mean, if I can still make my teenagers laugh, but not laugh at me, I must be doing something right in the live comedy department. But in my experience, written comedy is a whole other ball game. And kind of like a five-year-old who is trying to learn to tell jokes, when I try to write comedy, it comes off stilted and…not funny. So rather than try to write comedy, I aim to write people the way people around me actually talk. Yet, I tend to fall back on two of my comedic influences when writing anyway. The first (love him, hate him, or try to ignore the bad stuff about him) is Joss Whedon. I’m going to take a stab in the dark that, like me, he doesn’t really consider himself a comedy writer. However, most of his work has strong…

My name is Evangeline Fontenot but everyone calls me Evie except my papá, he calls me ’tit ange. Little angel. I have people in my life who love me, but what I really want is a mother. I’m in the second grade and our class just got a new teacher. Her name is Miz Honeycutt and I decided she’d make a great mom. She’s real pretty, loves kids and she has a big orange cat named Henry. I know because she has a picture of Henry on her desk. I haven’t met Henry yet, but I’m sure he’s real nice too. I’ve been telling Papá about Henry and Miz Honeycutt every night at supper, but he still hasn’t gone to meet her. Bobby, a boy in my class, says he got a bad grade on his spelling test and his mom had to come to talk to Miz Honeycutt. It worked for him so I decided it might work for me. It did, but now I have to make sure Miz Honeycutt doesn’t decide she likes my uncle or anyone else better than my papá. Who knew getting a mom with a cat was this hard! Excerpt from The Sheriff’s…

(This article is dedicated to my sister-in-law, who for the past ten years single-handedly prepared the traditional Seven Fishes of Christmas Eve for her husband and his family, cleaned her house top to bottom, worked full-time and did all the Christmas shopping while being a super mom to her twins. This year, she is going out to eat. Buon Natale, Lisa!) Some people are just so organized. Bless their hearts! I found this out while I was trying to decide what to write about for Fresh Fiction. So many authors write about their books or writing—and that’s fine. But, I’m thinking—it’s close to the holidays! Who’s got time to think about books when there are meals to be prepared and houses to clean and most of all, guests coming to your home? Seriously. Even now, your family may be preparing to descend upon you and yours, like D-Day, only with in-laws and cousins.  The most wonderful time of the year? For who? Apparently, it can be that way for you. Do you know, not everyone is up until 2:00 am the night before Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day? (I know! It’s shocking.) There are some things which can be…

Exclusive Interview with Ryan Quinn, the Hero of The Memory of You 1) Greetings Ryan! Thanks for joining us today. We know you have a lot going on–you’re a single father and public defender and you just had a big move back to your hometown. Can you tell us a bit about your day-to-day life? Thanks for having me. At the moment, my day-to-day life is a bit chaotic now that I’ve temporarily moved in with my folks while my divorce is finalized. I’ve started a new job and am trying to get my young daughter to embrace a new school and make new friends. Meanwhile, my meddling mother went and hired my high school sweetheart, Steffi, to remodel her house, so now I have to see Steffi every day, too. Emmy, my daughter, is taking to her, which is a risk because Steffi can’t be trusted to keep her commitments anymore than Emmy’s mom can. But I do love being home on Long Island Sound, and I look forward to getting back out on my old sailboat. 2) Emmy sounds great, but it seems like your divorce has been really hard on her. What has been her reaction to all…

My new book, Quick Fall, is set solely in the timeframe between Labor Day weekend and mid-November.  I was settling in with some recently downloaded books on my Kindle last week and I kept scrolling past thrillers and deep dramas looking for something a bit lighter, something with a guaranteed happily-ever-after.  It made me realize just how much I love reading romance in the Fall season … here are five reasons I think you should too! 5. In the real world, Fall is a very serious season.  Escape – in the form of a romance book – is a healthy mental choice!  If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time reading the news and hearing about world events on social media.  It’s hard on your mental health to constantly absorb the problems and negativity that are everywhere.  But reading a romance can give you a few hours’ breather! You can enter a world where the main concern is that your characters find a true emotional connection … and possibly, some amazing sex!  🙂  4. The holidays!  I love it when romance books have Halloween trick-or-treating or Thanksgiving dinner scenes.  It makes me look forward to those events in…

Dear Reader, As an author with more than twenty titles under my belt, I know I’m kind of supposed to have the whole “words” thing down by now… but there ARE NO WORDS to convey just how stoked I am to finally have Sean & Molly’s story out in the world!! YAY!!! JUST THIS ONCE hit the shelves on October 2nd, and believe me when I tell you we couldn’t wait a second longer!! LOL!! These smack talking, trouble making friends-to-lovers have been whispering naughty line-budging ideas in my head since the Wedding Date series was first conceived. They were NOT into being the third book in the series and kept pushing their love story to the forefront of my mind… begging for just a few more lines in each book, another hint, maybe just one really hot, eyes lingering, breathless anticipation, sizzling off the page scene… But tough as it was, I managed to wrestle them back, knowing their story would be worth the wait. And it SO was. Writing Sean and Molly was one of the most fun experiences of my career. They couldn’t wait to hit the page, and wouldn’t stop whispering to me until THE END was typed……

Hi there! Thanks for having me. There are so many beloved tropes in romance, sometimes it’s hard to choose which ones will fit a particular story. When I’m starting a new book, I always begin with my characters: who they are, what they want most, and how they plan to get it. With COULDN’T ASK FOR MORE, Bryan, the hero, came to me first. A wealthy textiles executive, he’s handsome and successful. Yet, he still feels the need to prove himself to his father by making sure the family business remains prosperous, and he’s willing to do the work to make that happen. When my heroine, Alexis, stepped onto the page, I saw her as a young, driven fashion designer. She has big plans to shake things up inside the fashion industry, but she is savvy enough to know she’ll have to work her way there. She’s not one to pass up a golden opportunity, and the upcoming Carolina Music and Fashion Festival is just that. The small, regional festival will be the perfect launching point for her new fashion line, Krystal Kouture One. Bryan and Alexis have something of a mutual goal—they are both seeking success in their careers, in…

TUNES Excerpt Copyright © 2018 KC Enders Gavin Gracyn’s gone. She fucking left me in the middle of the night, buck-ass naked and in her bed. I waited more than an hour for her to come back from wherever she’d scampered off to, almost certain that she’d just gone out to grab us some breakfast. Took a shower and threw on my clothes from last night. Well, my board shorts because my favorite fucking shirt was gone, too. No Gracyn. No note. No shirt. Nothing. The sun blazes down on my bare shoulders as I walk back to my shitty motel. It’s petty and stupid, but I’m too pissed off to put on a different T-shirt. It’s the principle. My fist connects with Ian’s door with three solid thumps. The last thing I want to do is walk in on him getting ass when my chick had taken her fill and bailed on me. No fucking way I feel like dealing with his shit over this. I don’t want to hear it. “Dude, you good?” I call as I hit the door again. “S’open,” Nate yells. “Hey, didn’t think we’d see you today. She leaves tomorrow, right? That chick you’ve…