We are THRILLED to feature a DOUBLE COVER REVEAL from USA Today bestselling author, Priscilla Oliveras! What a treat–especially because she’s also sharing an exclusive excerpt from the highly-anticipated second book in the Keys to Love series, ANCHORED HEARTS. Read on to see the gorgeous covers and to read more about her upcoming releases.  *** For me, one of the best moments of author life is when my publisher and I finalize a cover for one of my upcoming books. Even though I’ve spent countless hours pecking away at the keyboard striving to bring my characters to life, seeing that cover makes the book feel more real. A giddiness tickles my chest. A palpable excitement courses through me at the thought of sharing the image that captures the essence of the love story. Getting a chance to share a DOUBLE cover reveal for my novella HOLIDAY HOME RUN and ANCHORED HEARTS, book 2 in my Keys to Love series, thanks to Fresh Fiction is. . .  ¡Bueno, it’s fantastico! Definitely a first time I’ll always remember! HOLIDAY HOME RUN features Julia Fernandez, a cousin of my beloved Fernandez sisters in the MATCHED TO PERFECTION series. Julia’s an event planner, in…

He suspected it was this that his father worried about, that one day he might want this love that had the power to ruin him. Rubbish. What sort of fool would he be to allow an intangible idea to inflict havoc with his life? “Love has a way of creeping upon you when it is least expected,” the old earl said with a probing stare. “You must be on your guard at all times.” “Truly? Based on your ramblings, I believe it can strike with the ferocity of lightning and thunder, and I’ve wondered why you’ve bothered to caution me against something that will come at me without warning,” he rejoined. His father scowled. It was difficult to explain to the man before him that he did not hunger for any particular connection. He wasn’t seeking love. Nor was he running from it. He was just not. . . interested. “I’ve far more important things to occupy my mind than an attachment with a lady…even the one I intend to marry.” Such as your impending death and the dark hole it will leave. And situating my family for a life of happiness and prosperity. His father appeared contemplative for a…

Prologue Ocean Boy glided through the day in gradients of gray and green; occasional glittering light broke through the liquid world when his two-foot dorsal fin, notched and battle-scarred, cut the surface for a quarter hour, unaware he was a two-thousand pound apex predator marvel. At gloaming, he rode the liquid slopes to deeper, deepest depths, specialized blood vessels keeping Ocean Boy’s body temperature higher than the cold water pressing his organs. The hunt was on. Night vision was activated. His black eyes rolled back to fibrous muscle as his jaws snapped the meaty squid, clamped rows of sharp teeth, his torpedo body impervious to struggling arms and suckers, to spilled ink blacking the already black depths. Sated, he headed northwest. Forty-three miles a day he averaged, intent on a destination his brain had mapped at birth, a magnetic and magnificent tug toward innate hunger for fatty seal and sea lion, for adding weight, for adding years, for adding fear. At purple dawn, Ocean Boy’s dorsal fin broke the southern sea surface. The scent of blood increased his speed. *** Chapter One Safe from the tempest, Alexa Glock dripped across the cement floor to the ticket counter. She scanned the…

One Before she did anything else today, Clemmie had to check up on her next door neighbor, Dom. Why Dom had moved to Sun City was not clear. He had never joined anything, attended anything, nor shown interest in anything. He just sat in his villa watching TV, playing video games, and smoking cigarettes. He owned the tiniest of the three attached villas, the one in the middle with no side windows and little sun. Clemmie lived on the left, and a couple she hardly ever saw owned the right-hand villa, using it as a hotel when they visited grandchildren in the area. When they arrived, which was infrequently, they used their automatic garage door opener, drove in, closed the garage door behind them, and that was that. Nobody ever spotted them again. Clemmie wasn’t sure she’d even recognize them. It was agreed that Clemmie had the least rewarding neighbors in Sun City. Luckily, in her pod—the slightly creepy collective noun Sun City used instead of neighborhood–the little villas were tucked close together in heavily landscaped culs-de-sac, so Clemmie knew all her other neighbors–wonderful friendly people who hosted outdoor barbecues and took her bowling and carpooled when everybody went to…

The shade of the trees made her feel better almost immediately, although the headache didn’t disappear–just receded a little bit, like a fighter taking two steps back before charging in again with a flurry of punches. Still, she thought she might be able to get to her bike and make it home without fainting, which was the key thing. Lauren had almost reached the ghost tree and her bike when she felt it–a strange sort of shifting, although the shifting wasn’t anything external that she could tell. The trees all stood in their usual places and the wind rustled their branches like always and her feet were firmly planted in the ground and her stomach wasn’t even queasy any longer. But still–there had been something. A feeling that made her skin prickle and her left eye twitch and cold sweat pool at the base of her spine. She shook her head even though it made her headache feel like it was knocking from side to side inside her skull. Those were all things that happened to other people when they walked in the woods that bordered Smiths Hollow. They got spooky feelings and broke out in a sweat and talked…

I opened my eyes, and once more I was sitting on a bench between the sweet neighborhood to my right and the bustling downtown to my left. The thoughts I’d recovered earlier crashed into my brain, and their rumbling fears with them. My heart rate spiked. I could feel beads of sweat collecting at my hairline. I had to control this. Deep breaths. Internalize the fear. See it, switch it off, stomp it out. I’d been trained to do so. Wasn’t that what Dr. Loveless had said? “You came back,” the small voice beside me said. I turned and saw the high ponytail and unicorn shirt. “You lied to me.” The girl’s face went sour. “Did not.” “You said you would show me the game.” “I did. It’s not my fault you lost.” Lucy, remember, this is your mind. You are safe. Dr. Loveless’s voice echoed like a whisper in my ears. I had to keep my brain trained on the truth of her words. “Are there more games like that one?” I asked the child. “Oh yeah, lots,” she said, her eyes widening. “Can you show me?” “Not until you win the first one.” Fear beat against my heart….

S: Summer E: Evie A: Alpha S: Sweetgrass O: Opening up to N: Nature * O: Orrrroooo! F: Forever Wolf * T: Tenderness H: Home E: Endures * W: Wildness O: Our L: Love is F: Fierce — Read on for an exclusive excerpt from SEASON OF THE WOLF: Pups spend their first years wild. Then comes the dreaded Year of First Shoes when they have to begin to learn how to be in skin. The First Shoes are supposed to wait for the adult wolves to come before they get into the water, but they are too anxious. . . Something splashes, followed by excited yips and yells made by children who aren’t used to the form until one of the older ones calls out: “Tasha felled!” Leonora starts to run, hampered by sandals. I run, too, hampered by the jostling of injured ribs, but Constantine races past me, wolf-fast on two legs. The children huddle to the side of the dock as his feet pound down the dock and he launches himself far out into the water, cutting through it like an otter. At the edge of the dock, I lie down, my arms in the water where…

Duke woke just after daybreak, but when he heard rain on the roof, he knew morning chores were going to be messy. He rolled over on his back and began mentally going over the tasks for the day. He’d still been up when Hope came home last night, and he knew today was her day off, so she was likely sleeping in a bit. Jack tried to be protective of Hope, but she was just as strong-willed and independent as her sister, Mercy, and somehow that became what was most special about her. Lord knows, Jack was forever smitten. Duke sighed. He really didn’t want to grow old alone. He wanted to be smitten, too, but for whatever reason, he’d never found that certain someone. And the very next thought that went through his mind was of Cathy Terry. He wondered if she’d been able to sleep much last night and if she needed help with anything. He’d left his number with her, but he knew she wouldn’t call. That left the next move up to him, so he got up, showered, shaved, and dressed, then made his bed before going downstairs to start breakfast. Because of Hope’s work schedule,…

I’m delighted and grateful Fresh Fiction is offering me this opportunity to share a part of my historical fiction. Thank you. Dorothea Hubble Bonneau Excerpt from Once in a Blood Moon: The house has settled for night. Alexandra stuffs her pillows under her blankets to make it look like she’s sleeping in her bed and steps out onto her balcony, deter­mined sneak down to the village and beg Papa to help save her violin teacher, the man she loves. When she dangles her feet over the edge of her bed, an Ahoelra, one of those discontented African ghosts with mischief on its mind, slips into her head. You don’t have the courage to do this thing, the Ahoelra whispers. “I do have the courage.” Taking a deep breath, she touches her toes to the floor, warm and damp under her bare feet, like a living thing that has caught a fever. Pulling her black cloak over her dress, more for camouflage than warmth, she slips into her riding boots and steps out onto the balcony. Taking hold of the dew-slick railing, she feels her way to the back landing, grateful when she sees the porch lantern is still lit. She…

Chapter 2 Two weekends before Christmas, McAlpin’s department store was bustling. In the fine china department where Jeff worked, sparkling crystal vases and gilt ornaments were flying off the shelves. Of course, it was just the time for her to get the stomach flu. She had thrown up that morning at home, and thought it was the chili dog and fries she’d eaten at the Paris Grille the night before, but whatever the cause, she knew it wasn’t going to be a good day. At lunch, since she didn’t feel hungry, she decided to call Eric. In the two months since he’d left, they’d talked at least once a week. Jeff would tell him about cheerleading practice and school parties, while Eric spoke about some fancy place called Brunswick Prep. Imagining him meeting up after school with pretty girls in expensive clothes, Jeff couldn’t help feeling jealous. Toward the end she would try to steer the conversation toward how they might see each other again, but Eric would become vague and say he had to get off the phone. It took all of Jeff ’s self control to resist telling Eric that she loved him. He must feel the same,…