1–What’s the name of your latest release?  A Life Once Dreamed 2–What is it about? A Life Once Dreamed is the story of Agnes Pratt, who ran from her upper-class life to the rustic town of Penance six years ago. She’s a teacher who loves her students, her town and friends, but still wonders what might have been had she not left everything behind. When the new doctor arrives she’s forced to confront the past she ran from and to once again ask herself what she wants in the future. 3–What word best describes your heroine?  Stubborn, kind, resilient, loving and mysterious 4–What makes your hero irresistible?  He’s determined, has a heart that’s fully committed, is stubborn about the right things and is willing to make a fool of himself for the girl he loves. 5–Who are the people your main characters turn to when they need help?  The people of Penance are loyal to each other. My main character’s closest friends are Minnie (a loud mouth with a good heart) and Hannah (a quiet gentle soul). 6–What do you love about the setting of your book?  The Black Hills are secluded and such a contrast from the world Agnes…

I am a tenth-generation Texan, but London has held a place in my heart for over ten years. You see, I have a son who has lived there for more than a decade. Thanks to him and his family of three–my granddaughter was born there on New Year’s Eve 2019–the city will always be special to me. There is absolutely nothing like walking those streets with a thousand years of history close enough to touch. It was on a walk with my son through this great city that the stories of nineteenth-century London came alive. With fog shrouding the rooftops of buildings that were hundreds of years old and our footsteps echoing on the cobblestones, I could imagine a time when lack of electricity and CCTV would make this place less than charming on a dark night. Less than safe. What reminded me of my favorite childhood movie, Mary Poppins, quickly became more reminiscent of Jack the Ripper. And then a story was born. Only I just had half the story. The other half came to me several years later when I stumbled across an article in Texas Monthly magazine about a serial killer who rampaged through Austin, Texas in…

Would you love to chat with Sarah MacLean? Join us TOMORROW, Thursday, July 30, at 7pm CT for a Fresh Fiction Book Club chat. There’s an interview with Sarah first and then a chance to ask her questions directly, via a Zoom Chat. You can find out more details and register to attend here: Video Book Club with Sarah MacLean *** I was late to the Bareknuckle Bastards. Don’t ask me why–but it was always one of those sore spots in with my fellow citizens of Romancelandia… “You HAVEN’T?” and “Why NOT?” and “Oh, you MUST REMEDY THIS NOW OR WE WON’T BE FRIENDS.” That last one is slightly exaggerated, though not by much. I understood their astonishment that I, a Sarah MacLean fan, had not read each book as it came out over the last few years. I just didn’t. . . But then came the cover reveal for DARING AND THE DUKE, the final book in the Bareknuckle Bastards series and these books were back on my radar. I decided to read all three of them back-to-back-to-back, and readers, I’m so happy I did. The worldbuilding, the backstory, the characters. There’s so much to love in the part…

REDEEMING A ROYAL is the third and last installment of my Royals of Aldonia series. And while that makes me so sad because I have truly fallen in love with this royal family, I feel it’s only fair, to be honest, and say that this series was never supposed to happen! Allow me to explain. . . When I write books from a series, I always write them as inter-connecting standalones. So, any of them can be read without having to read the ones that came before. And the reason I write them like that is because the Royals of Aldonia is the third series of mine that wasn’t supposed to exist. Reader – I have a problem! The Hidden Prince, which is book one and a novella, was supposed to be just that. A cosy, Christmas novella because nothing can be more swoon-worthy than a prince at Christmas. Right? Well, yes and no. Because while I was writing The Hidden Prince–Prince Alexander’s story–I wrote about his sister Princess Harriet who was very much a secondary character and who was supposed to trot off into the sunset with the rest of those characters. I should have known that she was…

For the month of Bastille Day, I’m serving up a selection of historical fiction that captures the time just before, during, and after the Revolution. Caught in the merciless cogs of this seismic shift are four very different women, some who will thrive–and one who will pay the ultimate price for being on the wrong side of history. Beginning first with the one who loses the most, we have ABUNDANCE by Sena Jeter Naslund. Much like Sophia Coppola’s film Marie Antoinette, Naslund’s book looks at Marie’s life through her own eyes. Beginning as a giddy 14-year old thrilled to be going to France to marry the 15-year-old Dauphin, completely unprepared for the vicious cauldron of political intrigue that is Versailles, Marie is dazzled by the court, who seemed charmed by her. But although she works hard to build a relationship with her husband, his failure to consummate the marriage and give France the heir it needs sours her life at court. She buries her disappointment by retreating in opulent comfort, surrounding herself with a small coterie of women friends, the Austrian ambassador–the Swedish Count Von Fersen. By the time the long-awaited children arrive, France is in desperate circumstances, with bitter…

1–What’s the name of your latest release?  The Rebel Wears Plaid 2–What is it about? The Rebel Wears Plaid is the first book in my Prince Charlie’s Angels series. I thought it would be a lot of fun to take some of the strong women of history who were immeasurable in their part during the Jacobite uprising and pair them with men who are equally patriotic to their cause. In Rebel, my heroine Jenny is a highborn lady, her brother is a powerful chief of his clan—but has sided with the Royal Government against the Jacboites, going against their people and everything their father and grandfather fought and died for. Jenny decides that she’s going to go against her brother—in secret—to fulful her family’s legacy, and it starts at a young age where she makes an oath with her childhood friends to see it through. By day she pretends to be the lady her brother expects, but by night she’s raising an army, gathering weapons and coin and support for the prince who will eventually land on Scottish soil from exile. She’s grown quite infamous as the Mistress J. While out on one of her missions she runs into a…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Renee Dahlia! Writes: Renee writes romances featuring women who seek personal success and stumble across love. Some of her books are historical, some are contemporary, and nearly all of them feature LGBTIQ+ characters. In Her Lady’s Honor, WWI veterinarian Nell agrees to deliver her boss’s horse to his home in Wales because she doesn’t know what else to do with her life now the war is over. When her boss’s wife dies in mysterious circumstances, she stays to help her boss’s daughter, Beatrice, figure out what happened. Beatrice has a big heart and reminds Nell about what is important. Love, family, and that money can’t solve all your problems, although it certainly helps. About: Book loving author, who is really just a reader who writes to satisfy her creativity, seeks other readers who want to squeal about their favourite authors, argue over why secret baby is the worst trope (or is it misunderstandings/miscommunication?), and who love a little mystery with their…

All right, let’s talk first loves. No, I don’t mean that sexy bad boy from school. I’m talking about the paper kind. Those first, unforgettable books that were your introduction–your gateway drug, if you will–into the wonderful world of Romance. Was it that illicit stash of Harlequins you discovered at your grandma’s house? The dog-eared bodice-ripper you reluctantly started because it was the only book in the vacation rental that wasn’t by Stephen King? Whatever it was, it changed your life for the better. I was, I admit, a latecomer to romance. I’d studied ‘Serious, Proper Literature’ at University–which generally meant books written by men. I’d read everything from Chaucer to James Joyce, Shakespeare to Kafka. And I’d noticed how few of the women in those ‘classics’ ever achieved success or received any pleasure. If they did, they were usually punished, or ended up dead. I clung, ever hopeful, to the sparsest of romantic threads, but ended up shouting at my paperbacks instead; “Forget the train station, Anna Karenina! Run off with Vronsky and bloody well live happily ever after.” “Step away from the poison, Madame Bovary, he’s not worth it!” Don’t even get me started on Tess of the…

The Summer BBQ Recipe Roundup continues with another scrumptious recipe! Today, Vanessa Riley shares an amazing coconut bread recipes, which is also featured in her new historical romance, A DUKE, THE LADY, AND A BABY. And check out our earlier recipes from earlier this week: Day 1, an appetizer with Lynn Austin: https://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=10708 Day 2, a main course with Dylann Crush: https://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=10709 Day 3, a side dish with Elise Hooper: https://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=10710 Vanessa Riley here, Patience Jordan is the fierce heroine of A Duke, The Lady, And A Baby. As the newest recruit to the Widow’s Grace, she’s undercover in her old house, trying to find evidence of the plot which caused her husband’s death and restore her custody of her infant son, Lionel. The Duke of Repington has command of her house and dictated the care of her son, his new ward. The handsome man demands order but from Nanny Patience, but she quick to discover his secrets. To protect Lionel from his late cousin’s conspiracy, the wily duke has filled Patience’s home with soldiers, wounded warriors recovering from the Peninsula War. To keep the peace, Patience bakes Coconut Bread. If the boys are good and put away their canons…

Hi, readers, I’m Callie Hutton, author of over 45 books, almost all historical. My latest release, A Scot to Wed is the second book in my Scottish Hearts series from Entangled Publishing. Mistress Katie Sterling has what she believes is proof that her mother’s family was cheated out the MacDuff Clan’s lands and castle many years ago. She has arrived to claim it waving an old, faded document. Evan McNeil has legally inherited the unwanted responsibility of running the MacDuff clan and tenants. He has his own clan to take care of miles from the MacDuff land. However, when he meets Katie on the road to the castle, with her so-called proof, he is determined to do his duty to his inherited clan and squelch any claim that Katie has. His ancestors had fewer problems when they fought for their land using crossbows and boiling oil. They didn’t want to bed the enemy. A – is for all the problems Evan has inherited along with the MacDuff clan. * S – is for Scottish honor, which Evan has, so he will not relinquish the castle and lands to an usurper no matter how many times she waves that paper in…