Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Lori Handeland! Lori: Most readers know me as an author of paranormal, contemporary and historical romance, but my most recent novel, JUST ONCE, is a contemporary women’s fiction novel.  Women’s fiction deals women’s relationships-sisters, friends, children, parents, lovers – and may or may not contain a romance. AUTHOR-READER MATCH Fifty-something romance author seeks readers for an exploration of the relationship between two women who love the same man and how they come together when he needs them the most. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: – Free time is often spent chatting with friends about their lives and problems – Favorite books and movies are best read and viewed with a box of Kleenex nearby – Believes in true and forever love – Recent book favorites include The Nightingale, The Great Alone, and Before We Were Yours – LOVED the movie The Notebook What to expect if we’re compatible: – A journey through four decades with three characters…

Happy New Year, Fresh Fiction folks! Thank you so much for inviting me to join you today and for helping celebrate the release of my tenth historical novel, A Bound Heart, with a three-book giveaway! When I’m not writing and traveling, I’m at home in the kitchen baking. As an author, I enjoy reading about as well as including culinary details in my own historical novels. Doing so lends a richness and authenticity to the story. My characters are historical foodies, for sure! And so, I’m delighted to share this Scottish shortbread recipe from my heroine, Lark MacDougall’s, humble hearth on the Isle of Kerrera in Scotland. This shortbread pairs deliciously with a steaming cup of tea or even coffee. Sláinte! Classic Scottish Shortbread 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar or superfine sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup oats, traditional or quick 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8″ round cake pan. 2. Grind the oats in a blender or food processor. If you don’t have a blender or food processor, use quick oats, rather than traditional. Combine the oats with the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix…

I always look forward to a new Lorraine Heath book and her newest novel, TEXAS LEGACY, is something very special. The hero in TEXAS LEGACY is a character who was a boy in Lorraine Heath’s Texas Trilogy, which she wrote quite a few years ago. Lorraine Heath’s new book got me thinking about all the wonderful supporting characters I’ve read about over the years. Sometimes, as with TEXAS LEGACY, an author will give the character a book of his own and other times the reader is just left to forever wonder “what if.” Love’s a silver bullet That blows your world apart I wanna be remembered as an outlaw The boy who stole your heart I wanna be the guy who wears the white hat Then rides across the plain I’m gonna be your enigmatic stranger Honey, you are looking at your Shane – “Cowboy Dreams,” Prefab Sprout Rawley Cooper first appeared in Lorraine Heath’s Texas Trilogy series as a boy who knew what it was to suffer. Now, in TEXAS LEGACY, Rawley is a grown man coming back home and reuniting with the girl he left behind. In the earlier series, Rawley’s story made readers shed a few tears,…

People often ask me where I get the ideas for my books. And I wish I had a response that involved dreams or visions or muses, but I don’t. Because I write contemporary commercial fiction, set in Small Town, America, ideas come at me every day – and often in the most mundane ways. I read a newspaper article. I have a conversation with a friend or a stranger. I hear a song on the car radio. Once the seed is planted, my mind starts to sort through the myriad ways of telling the story. A quick tour of my previous books will help illustrate the process. My first book, THE GOOD LIFE, is a story about the definition of success, as seen through the eyes of a wealthy, mid-western, CEO’s wife. A CHANGING MARRIAGE is a look at what can happen in a marriage after the honeymoon is over and life’s challenges test love’s limits. The Summer Cottage is a novel about competition, sibling rivalry, and the strength of the family bond, set in a beach house on the Connecticut shoreline. And EVERY OTHER WEDNESDAY parses what mid-life crisis looks like for three, recent empty-nesters looking for a new…

Hi there, and thank you for joining me over here on Fresh Fiction today. I’m so excited to be here celebrating the release of LENNON REBORN. And with the final book in the series comes the usual question, “Which was your favorite moment of the series?” So, I thought I’d cut to the chase and share them here with you. The Preload series features four men who group up in a Toronto group home together… men who went on to the dizzy heights of success as one of the world’s most incredible metal bands. Dred, the lead singer, is the hero of THE PUREST HOOK in the Second Circle Tattoos series, but Preload focuses on the rest of the band. Without further ado, here are my five favorite moments from the series: The Phone – JORDAN RECLAIMED Jordan has lived most of his life disconnected, literally, from the rest of the world with the exception of the band. He sleeps in the attic, despite living in a beautiful house and doesn’t even own the bass guitars he plays. But meeting Lexi, his ballerina, and the light to his dark, he realizes for the first time in his life that he…