Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Interview with Lucie Snodgrass
Guests / March 24, 2010

Jen’s JewelsGet the lowdown on your favorite authors with Jennifer Vido. I have always been fascinated with the art of knitting. As a child, I would watch in awe as my mother would create beautiful afghans and colorful scarves. She always seemed so relaxed and at ease while masterfully designing her next creation. When the time finally came for me to join in on the fun, it didn’t take long for the “ooh” and “ahh” factor to quickly fade away. Knit one. Purl two. Whatever! Let it suffice to say that it’s not as easy as it looks! Cooking has always been an interest of mine despite my lack of aptitude. Sure, I can whip up a tasty meal courtesy of my ever-reliable crock-pot. As far as I am concerned, being able to cook an entire meal in one pot is worth its weight in gold. However, when the task of grilling meat while simultaneously sautéing veggies with perhaps a side of you-name-it comes into play, that’s when I call in the reinforcements…my husband and sons! This month’s Jen’s Jewels Lucie Snodgrass is always a welcomed guest in our home. A culinary expert in her own right, she has cleverly…

Fresh Pick | REVENGE WEARS RUBIES by Renee Bernard
Guests / March 14, 2010

Jaded Gentlemen #1 March 2010On Sale: March 2, 2010Featuring: Haley Moreland; Galen Hawke336 pages ISBN: 0425233375EAN: 9780425233375Paperback$7.99 Romance Historical Buy at Amazon.com Revenge Wears Rubiesby Renee Bernard Vengeance doesn’t always turn out the way you planned Vengeance doesn’t always turn out the way you planned. First in a sexy new series of erotic passion set in Victorian London Galen Hawke desires nothing but revenge against the woman who betrayed his dearly departed friend. Instead of mourning the loss of her fiancé, Miss Haley Moreland is merrily celebrating her upcoming nuptials to another man. Now, Galen has one mission: to seduce Miss Moreland and enslave her heart. And when she is completely his, he will destroy her. The journey is long for an emotionally crippled man to finally discover the ability to love. Excerpt Bengal, 1857 They’d just been voices in the dark to each other in the first few days. The familiarity of English accents and the simple relief at not being alone were stark comforts none of them had ever experienced. In an ancient pitch-black oubliette, unsure of their ultimate fate, they’d observed the rituals of introduction and exchanged names and shaken hands as if they were in the…

SANDI SHILHANEK | LAUGH OR CRY WHICH DO YOU PREFER
Guests / March 14, 2010

This week I got news I wasn’t expecting and have spent a lot of time crying over it. I know that as the next few weeks and months go by I’m going to be doing a lot more crying, so I thought what a perfect time to read a book that makes me cry, because I can just blame my news on why I’m crying, and my husband and sons won’t poke fun of me for crying over a book. On the other hand i’m also going to need to find things to laugh about, and I know there are books out there with the humor I’m looking for. I read and cried over The You I Never Knew by Susan Wiggs, Cloud Nine by Luanne Rice, and The Things We Do For Love by Kristin Hannah just to name a few. I read and laughed over Big Girls Don’t by Cathie Linz, Bet Me by Jennifer Cruise, and True Confessions by Rachel Gibson again to just name a few. So, which do you prefer….to laugh while reading or a good tear jerker? Does it depend on your mood? What recommendations do you have for me and others this week?…

Miranda Neville | I Wish I Were An Orphan
Guests / March 9, 2010

In the book I just finished writing, the heroine has two living parents who are loving and functional. Not that she doesn’t have her issues with them, but they haven’t (a) died and left her in poverty (b) sold her into sexual slavery, or (c) forced her into marriage with a pox-ridden octogenarian to save the family fortune. It occurred to me how rare it is in romance for a character not to have parent issues of some kind. To have both hero and heroine in possession of two good, living parents is almost unheard of. Off the top of my head, the only one I can think of is Loretta Chase’s Not Quite a Lady. (And one of them is a stepmother though not a wicked one). Julia Quinn’sBridgertons are a famous example of a really loving family – I want Violet to be my mom – but even with them, the father is dead and all the Bridgertons fall in love with people who have difficult family backgrounds. The characters in my current release come from the more common unhappy families. The heroine of The Wild Marquis isn’t even sure who her parents were. The hero had a…

SANDI SHILHANEK | Help With Category Recommendations
Guests / March 7, 2010

Every week when I sit down to write I try to think of what has caught my attention for the week that might catch yours as well. This week I’m going to be a bit selfish and ask for happy thoughts for a close family member. She’s going to be having a major surgery on Tuesday and has a long recuperation period ahead of her. Unfortunately I live too far away to be of much use during the recovery period, but I can provide her with plenty of material to read, and that’s where all of you come in. She loves category romances. Every month she’s at e-harlequin ordering the Harlequin Presents and the Harlequin Romances. Those are her two favorite series, but she will read other category romances. My question this week is do you read category romances? If so do you have a favorite line? A favorite book? A favorite author? Remember they can be a bit old as I live in a fairly large metropolitan area and have plenty of used bookstores to scour. Even if you don’t read category romances, but read shorter books say 300 pages or less I’d love your recommendations. What better thing…

Fresh Pick | CORPSE ON THE COB by Sue Ann Jaffarian
Guests / February 27, 2010

Odelia Grey #5 February 2010On Sale: February 1, 2010Featuring: Odelia Grey336 pages ISBN: 0738713511EAN: 9780738713519Paperback$14.95 Mystery Woman Sleuth, Mystery Cozy, Mystery Amateur Sleuth Buy at Amazon.com Corpse On The Cobby Sue Ann Jaffarian What do you have to lose when you go searching for the mother who walked out of your life thirty-four years ago? I mean besides your pride, your nerves, and your sanity? Odelia finds herself up to her ears in trouble when she reunites with her mom in a corn maze at the Autumn Fair in Holmsbury, Massachusetts. For starters, there’s finding the dead body in the cornfield—and seeing her long-lost mom crouched beside the corpse with blood on her hands . . . A Lively Mystery Mixes Up Humor With Clues… A fun, sexy mystery for Big Girls and Those That Love Them! Previous Picks Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

Shanna Swendson | Chasing a Fad…You’ll Never Catch Up!
Guests / February 21, 2010

I emerged from my winter hibernation to attend ConDFW in a snowy Dallas the weekend of February 12 through 14. I didn’t come across any late-breaking or astonishing publishing news or book industry gossip, but it’s always fun to get together with other authors and talk about our work. I ended up as an emergency fill-in on the Fantastic Realms: Trends in Fantasy panel. The thing about trends is that they can change in a heartbeat, so it’s not something aspiring writers can really look at and plan their careers around. By the time you get that book written and submitted, the trend will have changed. It does seem like the dark, edgy urban fantasy that has a lot in common with paranormal romance is currently dominating the market — you know, those books with tough-looking women in black leather holding big weapons on the covers (though now the women are more likely to be looking at you instead of keeping their backs turned). But who knows what will start striking editors’ fancies next. One difficulty in spotting trends is that the books may be shelved all over the store. With blended genres, books can fall into science fiction/fantasy, mystery,…

SANDI SHILHANEK | THE SEASONS OF READING
Guests / February 21, 2010

About a week ago I experienced winter in a way that I haven’t had to since we moved to Texas. Our area had a record snowfall of 12.5 inches, and while I realize that’s nothing compared to the rest of the country, for Dallas it’s paralyzing. All that winter weather got me to thinking about books with winter or some other season in the title. Off to Fresh Fiction I went searching, and found The Edge of Winter by Luanne Rice. I read this when it first came out and was unfortunately less than impressed, but Luanne Rice is still one of my must read authors, and I have several favorites by her including Cloud Nine which is what my friends call a weepy read…so if you decide to read it have the Kleenex handy. The opposite of winter is summer…so I went searching for titles that have summer in them, and was amazed at how many there were, and that I needed a list to remind me of one of my favorite books, The Summerhouse by Jude Devereaux When I read this book it spoke to me on so many different levels, and if I were a keeper it…

Sara Reyes | Winter Musings
Guests / February 20, 2010

It has been nearly a decade since I had a snow day…one of those days made for curling up under a blanket with a good book, watching the big fluffy snow pelting down. In Texas it never happens But this month we were blessed with a foot of snow. WOW plus two days to “enjoy” it, and a week to recover from the repercussions of the snowfall…you know, collapsed roofs, broken trees, fallen tree limbs etc. But I enjoyed my day off with escape to foreign climes… went to India! Yes, it seems to be a new trend in the romances, adventure in the subcontinent during the late 1700s early 1800s. Two of my favorite authors brought out books with part of the story set in India. Lauren Willig‘s latest Carnation is BETRAYAL OF THE BLOOD LILY and Stephanie Laurens new quartet, the Black Cobra. Lauren Willig has taken us all over England and parts of France with her amazing series of spies during the Napoleonic era, but now she’s taking us off to India with a bride who’s perhaps made a not-so-wise choice in trying to escape her life. Captain Alex Reid has better things to do than play…

JENNIFER BLAKE | REALISM AND FAIRY TALES
Guests / February 6, 2010

I saw it again this week: “Romance novels, like fairy tales, lack realism; they make young women believe a handsome prince is going to rescue them with promises of happy-ever-after.” Oh, please. I loved fairy tales as a girl, but spent not a single second staring down the road for my prince. It’s my considered opinion that those who use this analogy know fairy tales only from Disney movies, particularly “Cinderella” with its dreamy-eyed heroine singing “Some Day My Prince Will Come.” They are seriously misinformed. (And don’t get me started on the premise that women can’t tell fiction from real life while men apparently have no problem distinguishing between James Bond’s 007 stunts and their daily grind.) To read more of REALISM AND FAIRY TALES please click here. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.