Welcome back to Fresh Fiction! Can you tell us about your new End of the Line series, and the first book, The Friend Zone? I got inspired to write the “End of the Line” series after seeing the Netflix documentary Last Chance U. I loved the idea of a junior college that gave Division 1 football players a second chance at the NFL or to play for a Division 1 school again after they’d screwed up their scholarships. I chose football because while my family is not a typical sports family (my husband doesn’t watch at all), my oldest son played football all four years of high school and I’ve always enjoyed watching the game. Plus, isn’t there something just inherently appealing about football players? THE FRIEND ZONE is a story about Logan Hunt, a disgraced football player being given a second chance to play and graduate from college, which he is determined to do. His new coach has a lot of rules he expects his players to follow, including no dating. Jess is Logan’s math tutor and off limits, especially since she’s the coach’s daughter. They decide to stay just friends and try to fight off their growing attraction to one…

We are so excited to share this interview with New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Ashley and Fresh Fiction Editorial Manager, Danielle Dresser! Thanks for coming to Fresh Fiction! Can you tell us about your Kat Holloway Mystery series and the latest book, Death in Kew Gardens?  The Kat Holloway series revolves around a cook in Victorian England. Kat is young for a cook, but she’s the best, and she knows it (though she strives to be modest about this). She’s also a very curious person and gets involved in solving murders and ferreting out secrets. In Death in Kew Gardens, Kat becomes distressed when the police accuse a Chinese gentleman who has been kind to her of murdering her employer’s next-door neighbor. Convinced the man is innocent, Kat sets out to prove her new friend, Mr. Li, couldn’t possibly have done it.  One of my favorite things about accomplished cook/ amateur sleuth Kat Holloway is how steadfast and hardworking she is, but she still has moments of vulnerability and even some fun now and then. What are some of your favorite qualities about Kat, and how has she changed since book one, Death Below Stairs? Kat is a woman of her time…

The South Shores series, featuring Claire (Britten) Markwood, has been one you have been writing for a while.  Did you know from the beginning that it would have the surprises it has for Darcy and Claire at the end? The more rom/sus novels I have written, the more I have learned to let the characters and events take over the story.  Although I do send my editor an early “proposal” of what will take place in the novel, she knows the story will grow as it goes and possibly takes off in another direction.  Darcy and Claire’s strong sisterhood relationship is something I planned from the first, but the real story of their mother and what happens to Darcy in Dark Storm was a surprise to me too. It’s amazing how books can take on a life of their own. You wrote a note to your readers at the end that you were ending the series after 6 novels.  Is there a reason to end the series now? I have loved seeing Claire and Nick’s romance and family grow.  I could keep the series going with other crimes they solve together, but I think their marriage has reached some stability…

Shakespeare, hot Brits, and aspiring author advice – enjoy Danielle Dresser’s chat with award-winning romance author Melonie Johnson! Welcome to Fresh Fiction! Please introduce us to your Sometimes in Love series, and tell us more about book two, Smitten by the Brit, out next week! Hi! The Sometimes in Love series centers on a group of five best friends, and their friendship plays a strong role in all of the stories, but each book also focuses on one of the girls going after her goals, chasing her dreams, and finding her HEA. Of course, sometimes, the road to a happily ever after isn’t so smooth, so get ready for some bumps along the way. Smitten by the Brit is the second book in the series, and features Bonnie and Theo, the best friends of the hero and heroine in book 1, Getting Hot with the Scot. And speaking of bumps, this book opens with a pretty big one.  Bonnie Blythe is smart, hardworking, and fiercely loyal to the people she cares about – even though in the case of her fiance, he doesn’t deserve it. What did you love about creating Bonnie? What surprised you about her as she developed…

Romance tropes, cute dogs, and Scottish vacations – oh my! Enjoy the chat between author Talia Hibbert and editorial manager Danielle Dresser! Welcome to the Fresh Fiction blog! Can you tell us a little bit about the Ravenswood series? Hi! Thanks so much for having me. ☺ Ravenswood is a small English town where things aren’t as sweet and simple as they seem. The series follows four prickly, guarded women who have become Ravenswood’s outcasts, and the strong, loving heroes who support them on their journey to happiness. I’d say the Ravenswood series is very steamy, very tropey, funny and mildly dramatic. It also features issues like family illness and looking after your mental health in a compassionate way. As a woman of color, I love and appreciate the diversity among your characters and couples! Rae and Zach have different backgrounds, life experiences, and not to mention a significant age difference – how did their love story develop for you? Thank you! Diversity of all kinds is very important to me. I knew from the moment I introduced Zach in A Girl Like Her (Ravenswood book 1) that he would have his own story, but I didn’t know who his heroine…

Today, Senior Reviewer Miranda Owen brings us a fascinating chat with G.A. McKevett! The latest book in her long-running Savannah Reid mystery series, BITTER BREW, is available now. About a million years ago, one of your Savannah Reid books caught my eye at my local library. Naturally, I raved about it to my grandmother (fellow cozy mystery junkie) and got her hooked on the series too. Why write a cozy mystery series? What do you like about writing (or reading) cozies? First, let me say, “Thank you,” for passing the addiction along to your grandma. Families that read together…keep us authors in business. 🙂 Why write cozy mysteries? I’ll be honest with you; that’s what my publisher asked for. I agreed a tad reluctantly. I don’t know if this was true 25 years ago, or if I was ignorant of the genre, but I held the opinion that cozy mysteries, back in the day, made light of the horror of murder. Like homicide was some sort of fun puzzle. Like I said, I could’ve just been ill-informed. I’m sure there were many cozies, even back then, that treated the subject with sensitivity. I just hadn’t read them. My children and I…

Enjoy this chat between bestselling author Sarah Morgan and Fresh Fiction Editorial Manager Danielle Dresser! The unlikely friendship between Grace and Audrey is my favorite part of this novel. How did these two characters come to life for you? I’m pleased you enjoyed that part of the book because it was my favorite part to write! I knew from the start of this book that I wanted to write an inter-generational friendship. I felt it would add a richness to this story that would be missing if Grace had, for example, befriended someone her age. Right from the start, I could see the potential for humor and emotion in the relationship between these two. They are different in personality and life experience, and yet they form a deep and lasting bond. Playing with their dialogue, and watching each character push the other out of her comfort zone, was great fun. Paris is a wonderful setting for this novel. What do you love most about the City of Lights? There’s the food of course, and the wine, but as well as that Paris is a pretty city, light and airy with beautiful buildings, wide open boulevards, and an energy that is…

We are pleased to share this interview between bestselling author KAREN ROSE and Fresh Fiction reviewer Pat Pascale. Karen’s new book, SAY YOU’RE SORRY, is in stores now. If you’re in the Houston area, Karen Rose and Lisa Gardner will be at Murder by the Book this Wednesday, February 20, for a fun event. You can find out more here: https://www.murderbooks.com/event/lisa-gardner-karen-rose. Now, on with the interview! I’ve been a fan of the bestselling and award-winning author Karen Rose since she published DON’T TELL in 2004. SAY YOU’RE SORRY is among my best reads of the year so far. It’s over 600 pages of pure terror, excitement with a touch of sweet romance kept me glued until the end. The serial killer in this novel is a monster who must be stopped before he mutilates, assaults, and kills another victim. He has a strange “code of ethics” behind how he chooses victims. Please tell us more about him, and how this character formed in your mind while writing SAY YOU’RE SORRY. I wanted to write a killer whose fury might be understandable to readers, even when his actions were totally wrong. SAY YOU’RE SORRY’s killer tells himself he’s taking out this fury…

Today, Editorial Manager Danielle Dresser welcomes award-winning author Laura Trentham! The first book in her new Heart of a Hero series, THE MILITARY WIFE, is available now. One aspect that I found interesting in the military life you portrayed was how lonely it could be, but also at the same time, there’s a support network of people who will go above and beyond to be there when someone needs help. Can you talk a little bit about these “found” families, and how they formed among your characters? My best friend is a military wife, so I’ve had a front-row seat to the spouse experience for two decades. Military bases are their own communities and only the women (and men) who walk the experience can ever truly understand what it’s like to have a spouse deploy for months at a time, especially when you have kids. It really does take a village. In The Military Wife, the friendship between Harper and Allison is sisterly. Allison is Harper’s guide into a strange new world and gives her some good, but tough advice. Then, when Allison needs support, Harper is ready and willing to step up. I loved how their friendship weathered time…

Today, we have a great interview between Fresh Fiction reviewer Teresa Cross and thriller author Andrew Grant, about his latest release, INVISIBLE! You can read Teresa’s review of INVISIBLE here. Enjoy! Teresa: Your latest book is about a character, Paul McGrath, an Army Intelligence who comes home to find his father had passed away which was a big surprise for him. Then he goes undercover as a janitor at the courthouse. Where did you get the idea or concept for the storyline for INVISIBLE? Andrew: It came about as the combination of two strands of thought: one new, and one old. Over the last couple of years, I’ve felt a change in the mood of the country, a growing sense of unease as inequality has grown more pronounced and injustice more rife, so it seemed like it was time for a different kind of hero: One who would stand up for the 99%. Added to that I’ve been fascinated since I was a little kid by characters like the Scarlet Pimpernel – heroes who are driven by what’s right, not by the desire for fame or reward, and consequently work in the shadows where their true identities are never revealed….