Hi, Lexi! Welcome to Fresh Fiction. Please tell us a little bit about yourself!   Thank you for having me! Let’s see, I’m a romance author, I like to line dance, my own hero is a veteran, former fire chief, and current Coast Guardsman. I’m a native of nowhere but live in Florida at the moment. I have two kittens named Bailey and Whiskey. I make my own ice cream every weekend. I always wear a hat. Did I mention I’m a romance author? I’m a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of romance inspired by the classics and I now have 30 books out. Yay! The Time Weavers Inc. series is such a fun premise! For readers who aren’t familiar, can you set up the series for us and tell us where A POCKET IN TIME fits in?  Oh, I’d love to! Time Weavers, Inc. (TWI) is basically “Quantum Leap” meets “Charlie’s Angels” meets “X-Men.” 🙂  TWI was created by the mysterious Jules who only communicates telepathically with the agents of TWI. Disruptors have been changing history to the detriment of mankind, so the agents go back in history and basically reset history on its original path. The first book…

So why are Regency romances as popular as ever? Romance readers of all stripes know that a happily-ever-after ending is coming by the last page of any romance they pick up. But historical romance readers want more – they also want the fantasy world that historical romances create. After all, we live in the same world as contemporary romances (international tycoons aside…for most of us, unfortunately). But historicals give us not just the swooning romance but also the fairytale fantasy of escaping the contemporary world. Okay, let’s be honest. For all that historical romance writers do our best to be historically accurate with the details, the overall world we portray in our pages is pure fantasy. The real Regency era was smelly, dirty, disease-ridden, filled with a large amount death and starvation, a dearth of good teeth, and very limited indoor plumbing. Very limited. Even Jane Austen, the original Queen of Regency Romance Novels, avoided this darker side of life, only tangentially including poverty and war into her books, although both were pervasive in real Regency England. What romance readers want, though, isn’t reality; they want the fairytale world of castles (or at least grand country estates), carriages, dashing princes…

1: Sink me! I adore a good caper. And The Scarlet Pimpernel is a GORGEOUS movie and full of hilarious banter. Plus, it features an amazing cast that includes a young Ian McKellen! 2: Emma with Romola Garai is my very favorite version. It is such a treat! Romola plays Emma as fun, feisty, and yet limited by the fact she’s never left home. Also, they do a great job of giving context to the childhoods of supporting characters. A really lovely and fun presentation! 3: Girls are boss! In this very gritty, funny, and pretty true series, Harlots gives Georgian England the full female treatment. I’ve read a lot about Covent Garden and the show holds true to form. This one is not for the light of heart or for those who prefer their love scenes off screen. Produced, directed, and largely acted by women, I love it! So gorgeous! 4: War and Peace sounds really heavy and it is serious, but I could look at the main characters in their fabulous costumes in their fabulous settings all day. It’s a gorgeous trip back into the height of war time 1800s. The balls are out of this world. 5:…

1–What is the title of your latest release? WAITING FOR A SCOT LIKE YOU 2–What is it about? Major Duncan McCameron is struggling to adjust to life in peacetime, so as a favor to a friend he agrees to escort a widowed countess on a trip north. He didn’t anticipate that Lady Faris would be a vibrant woman eager to explore all of life’s experiences. They clash at first, but as their journey turns into a wild ride, they can’t deny the explosive attraction between them. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  I love road stories because they’re always full of adventure, and this book is no different! 4–How did your heroine surprise you?  Beatrice’s zest for living comes from the fact that she’s spent most of her life in an unsatisfying, confining marriage, and I loved learning how determined she is to finally break free. 5–Why will readers love your hero?  Three words: grumpy Scot Dom. Okay, two more words: younger man. 6–What was one of your biggest challenges while writing this book (spoiler-free, of course!)?  Making sure that Duncan and Beatrice challenge but also complement each other on their emotional as well as physical…

It’s still early enough in 2021 that I’m still mulling over my goals and intentions for the year. Drink more water. Write more. Move (with intent) for at least 30 minutes a day. Read more. This last one is always on my list. READ MORE. Is it truly possible? There are so many uncertainties right now, it’s hard to carve out dedicated time to really read. But one thing I do have control over is what I read and every year, I try to push myself to read things that I might not normally gravitate toward. I chose a few recent reads I’ve enjoyed that have been squarely outside of my comfort zone and that I really enjoyed. *** SCIENCE FICTION Look, I love Star Wars a whole bunch, but I’ve never been able to get into “Science Fiction” the “genre.” I stumble over worldbuilding that relies on a ton of explaining, but when it is done well and woven into the fabric of the narrative, I can relax and fully enmesh myself in the setting and the story. WINTER’S ORBIT by Everina Maxwell – What starts out as an arranged marriage to keep political alliances in line turns into…

1–What is the title of your latest release? DARE TO BE A DUCHESS 2–What is it about? It’s an enemies-to-lovers historical romance between a mixed heritage girl from India and a duke. 3–What do you love about the setup of your book?  I love the slow burn romance between the hero and the heroine. They didn’t set out to fall in love. In fact, they both knew that their love was forbidden. They waged a daily battle within themselves to forget the other and that internal conflict is what I loved the most. 4–How did your heroine surprise you?  When I was writing Lara’s character, I wanted her to be brave, wild, and rebellious, and while I hope to have achieved that, what I think also came across is how loyal she is, how fiercely she loves, and how vulnerable she feels when she falls in love. 5–Why will readers love your hero?  Wolf is a proper Duke. At the beginning of the book he’s stiff, broody, and moody, but all that changes once he starts to fall in love. Readers will enjoy how his character transforms across the book and how he breaks all the rules of society and…

Today’s recipe is perfect for a date-night-in! While the characters in TO LOVE AND TO LOATHE by Martha Waters have known each other for years and spent most of that time arguing, they are about to spend a ton of time together at a country house party—the perfect place for shenanigans… Tomorrow is the last day of the Valentine’s Day Recipe Roundup! Come back for one more day of fun! Jeremy, the Marquess of Willingham, and Diana, Lady Templeton, have known each other for years, and have spent much of that time at each other’s throats. They are famed among their friends for their bickering, and no one is surprised when they agree to an impetuous bet: Jeremy will be married within the year, or Diana owes him one hundred pounds. What is a surprise is when Jeremy, after receiving some unflattering commentary on his bedroom skills, proposes a no-strings-attached affair with Diana for the duration of a country house party—both to get feedback on his performance, and to dispel the inconvenient attraction that has plagued them for years. This frenemies-with-benefits arrangement quickly becomes more complicated, and both Diana and Jeremy drink a good deal of wine over the course…

Welcome back to Fresh Fiction, Allie! Please tell us about yourself and your Magic in Manhattan series.   Thank you so much for having me! I’m Allie, a Cuban-American author, attorney, parent, spoonie, and occasional oversharer of cat pictures. The Magic in Manhattan series is a blend of urban fantasy and romance set in 1925 New York City. It follows an “opposites-attract couple” through three books: Arthur, a non-magical WWI soldier from a political family who hunts supernatural relics, and Rory, an immigrant’s son hiding his ability to see visions of objects’ pasts by working in a Hell’s Kitchen antiques shop.   WONDERSTRUCK is the final book in your Magic in Manhattan series. What is it like bringing a series to an end? What are some of your favorite things about writing this magical series?   Endings are hard! It’s bittersweet to say goodbye, but at the same time, it was really nice to finally be able to give Arthur and Rory their happily ever after. Some of my favorite things about writing this series were learning about New York’s history, and coming up with ways to intertwine magic and history and romance all together. I love that these books…

Enemies to lovers… opposites attract! How can these two possibly fall in love? We trust Lorraine Heath to take us on a wonderful journey in SCOUNDREL OF MY HEART. And this recipe for Strawberry Delight is the perfect treat for them to share together… And don’t forget to come back tomorrow for another wonderful recipe!  SCOUNDREL OF MY HEART is an enemies to lovers story. He finds her irritating. She considers him a scapegrace. He dreams of owning a club. She dreams of inheriting her grandmother’s cottage by the sea. He needs funds to see his dream to fruition. She needs to marry a duke to gain her inheritance. He wants to ignore her. She needs his help to gain the duke’s attention. He betrays her. She wants her revenge. But when his father is found guilty of treason, and Lord Griffith Stanwick’s family loses everything, including their place in Society, he takes a detour through the darker corners of London and emerges a changed man, a man to be reckoned with. A man Lady Kathryn Lambert desires. Soon she must decide if giving up her inheritance is worth a chance at love. While it’s not a historical recipe and…

Winter glared at the butler for making him feel guilty. “No. Call for my horse. I’m going out.” “You just returned home, my lord.” “Are you my keeper now?” Ludlow’s mouth had gone so thin, it was nearly invisible. “Someone has to be.” “Now, see here—” Winter had had just about enough. He turned to give the man the blistering he deserved and stiffened as the front door to his house crashed unceremoniously open, letting in a burst of cool, fragrant wind. A cloaked vision stood there as the enticing waft of flowers slammed into Winter. He couldn’t see beyond the heavily-brimmed bonnet, and for a moment, he thought the actress, Aline, had changed her mind about a frolic in the sheets with Matteo. But Aline was petite. This new arrival was not. Ludlow rushed toward the door in greeting, and froze as the woman chuckled and said something to him in a low, sultry voice. He couldn’t quite see the butler’s face. He also couldn’t catch the lady’s tones to recognize its owner, but they were decidedly refined. Most of his callers were from the demimonde, but the occasional aristocratic lady still found her way to 15 Audley Street…