Jennifer Vido: What inspired your new holiday release, THE CHRISTMAS LETTERS? Jenny Hale: I actually came up with the title first and then built the story around it. There’s something about Christmas that makes me nostalgic. I wish my grandparents were still around to share the holidays with us, so I thought it might be interesting to write a story where Nan, who’s passed on, is able to contribute to the holiday through her old letters.   Jen: Why is Elizabeth Holloway leaving her life behind in New York City to return home in the Great Smoky Mountains?  Jenny: After a rocky twelve months romantically, her boyfriend of seven years has decided that they should break up, right at Christmas. (This was the second idea that came to me after the title: what if finding her Prince Charming was the exact opposite of what she thought? Her boyfriend is uber-wealthy, buys her all the things, and they live in a penthouse in New York. A lot of times, in a romantic story, that’s the ending. What happens if it’s the beginning and it totally falls apart?)   Jen: What is Elizabeth’s first impression of Paul Dawson? Jenny: She’s emotionally and…

FRESH FICTION AUTHOR-READER MATCH DETAILS   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 you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Sarah Robinson!  Writes: Sarah Robinson writes award-winning, bestselling contemporary romance and women’s fiction. Her recent novel, EVERY LAST DROP, was a finalist in the 2021 Vivian Awards and her next book, MALL YOU NEED IS LOVE, comes out on February 11, 2022. She writes stories that will make you laugh, swoon, and feel like you’re part of the hero and heroine’s emotional journey all the way until the HEA! About: Sarah Robinson loves stories that pack an emotional punch, and she believes in diversity and representation in all her work. Her characters all share her wit and sass, something that her readers look to her for every day in her Facebook group. As a full-time therapist during the day, she hears wild stories at work and then comes home to write even wilder stories at night. She is also a human mom, dog mom, and subpar wife to a gentle giant.   What I’m looking for in my ideal…

She leaned over to grab one side of the eight-foot-long banner that was supposed to say Merry Christmas, Twilight giving him a straight-shot view down the front of her sweater. She waited for him to pick up the other half. His eyes bugged. Joel stopped in his tracks, gaze fixed on Jana’s cleavage. His pulse jumped right off a cliff. Last night, this gorgeous creature was in my bed. “Joel?” “Huh?” “You gonna stand there all day with your mouth hanging open?” He shut his jaw, picked up the other end of the banner and followed her outside to drape it from the railing of the upper deck. “Before we anchor the banner securely, let’s make sure it’s even,” she said and hit the stairs for the lower deck so they could stand back and examine their handiwork. He followed her, hunching his shoulders against the cold air blowing off the water. Jana cleared the stairs ahead of him, turned and stared owl-eyed at the message on the unfurled banner above them. She gasped. “What’s this?” He stared up. The banner read Will You Marry Me? Seeing the words spelled out in red letters across the boat yanked the breath…

“You can’t leave me,” my best friend whispers into the phone, her voice urgent and filled with abject terror. In the background, I hear Lillianna Cox, the world’s worst boss, having one of her legendary temper tantrums. “Yikes. That’s at least one good thing about this whole situation. I’ll never have to hear that again.” It’s not the answer Cassie wants to hear. “Meghan Ann Julliard. Get right back onto that plane and fly back to New York. I can’t do this alone. I heard she’s making us work late on Christmas Eve, and anyone who doesn’t show up to her party on New Year’s is getting written up. Then—” She cuts off, and the phone goes dead. I can only imagine that Lillianna caught her on the phone. Personal calls are prohibited at Stitch, and since it’s the top fashion magazine at the moment, everyone will put up with any rule and the world’s worst boss to work there. I personally tried for four years to get on staff . . . and a scant six months later, here I am. Leaving it behind. So, as I sit on the El and watch Chicago’s skyscape blur past, I don’t…

Christmas Eve had the nerve to show up just like it did every year: way too quickly and with ridiculous fanfare. The nerve. Rory Andrews stood in the courtyard of the Pacific Pier Building in San Francisco, surrounded by sparkly holiday lights and enough garlands to give the place its own ozone, and told herself things could be worse. She just wasn’t sure how. It was the unknown, she decided. Because this year, unlike the past six, she’d be spending Christmas with her family, a thought that caused a swarm of butterflies to take flight in her belly. Not an uncommon feeling since she’d turned twenty-three a few months back and decided it was time to become a person she could be proud of if it killed her. And given the guy leaning against one of the lamp poles clearly waiting for her, arms crossed, frown in place, it just might. Max Stranton. At his side sat Carl, his huge, eternally hungry, adorable Doberman. “No,” she said, not to Carl but to Carl’s owner. Who was not lovable. “No way.” As always when their gazes locked, Max’s was a disconcerting mix of heat and . . . something else that…

It’s that time of year when a warm inviting fire beckons us to curl up on the couch with a great romance novel and some hot cocoa. Perhaps this is why I couldn’t resist setting my latest romantic comedy at Christmastime. COLORADO CHRISTMAS MAGIC brings two high school sweethearts together to debunk a small mountain town’s famous Scrooge Legend. The more these skeptics attempt to prove that Christmas magic doesn’t exist, the more the magic begins to work between the two of them, and they soon experience love, laughter, and holiday cheer, which is what Christmas is all about. Is it me, or has life become so busy that it’s become more difficult to enjoy the holidays? When you’re answering work emails at midnight two weeks before Christmas, here’s a listicle of my favorite Christmas movies and books that will help to put you in the Christmas spirit. # 5 The Night Before Christmas by. This children’s book, for all ages, sparked my love for writing and Christmas. During the holiday season, my mom used to read this story to my sister and me before we dozed off to sleep. The detailed description of St. Nick and his reindeer is timeless,…

Danielle Jackson: Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Jenny! We are excited to chat with you about your new book, DUKE, ACTUALLY! First things first, we love the title and how it reminds us of Love Actually. Do you have a favorite holiday movie that gets you in the holiday spirit?   Jenny Holiday: This is going to sound silly, but my all-time favourite holiday movie is Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. I’ve been watching it annually since I was a kid and we had it on DVD. Now I subject my own family to it. Though I shouldn’t say “subject,” as it’s truly wonderful, and it has some of the best Christmas songs of all time. Is there anything more delicious than a bad-boy royal? What did you love about writing Maximillian von Hansburg, future Duke of Aquilla?  Max as a person is so easygoing and warm, and he was also like that to write. He just sort of emerged as himself, which doesn’t happen that often! Dani has recently ended her marriage and has sworn off men for a while, which of course is perfect timing when the infuriatingly charming Max shows up in New York. She’s thrust into the pomp and propriety of…

Danielle: Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Carrie! We are thrilled to have you here. Can you tell us about your new series, Sea Spray Island, that starts with your latest release, CELEBRATION AT CHRISTMAS COVE?  Carrie: The books in my Sea Spray Island series are humorous, heartwarming holiday romances set on an island where the scenery is gorgeous, the townspeople are quirky, and the heroes and heroines are definitely not looking for love…but they’re finding it anyway!  Celeste is still grieving the loss of her mother and had plans to spend Christmas in the Caribbean, but her plans are thwarted, and she ends up on a small Massachusetts island. What do you think readers can take away or learn from Celeste’s predicaments in this novel?   Without giving too much of the plot away, I hope readers will connect with Celeste’s experience of believing she knows exactly what she wants in life until she encounters obstacles that force her to consider other possibilities she might not have imagined for herself.   Nathan is also dealing with loss, and he wants the holiday season to be very special for his daughter, Abigail. When he meets Celeste, he’s unsure if he’s ready for…

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 you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Kari Lee Harmon! Writes: National Bestselling Author Kari Lee Harmon writes romantic comedies, emotional women’s fiction, and dark women’s fiction. She also writes fun cozy mysteries as Kari Lee Townsend. Her newest book JINGLE ALL THE WAY is book 3 of the Merry Scroog-mas holiday romance novella series. Her books always have a bit of humor, a bit of romance, and depending on the genre, a bit of mystery or emotion. WWW.KARILEETOWNSEND.COM About: If you’re looking for an author who will make you laugh out loud one minute, shed a tear the next, and sigh as you reach The End, then I’m the author for you. I love to go on adventures, play with my two big fluffy Samoyeds, drink a great glass of wine, pretend I’m a professional photographer, and curl up with a good book. I used to love a hot bubble bath, but now I’m all about a hot tub. My favorite holiday is Christmas, and, yes, I start watching Hallmark Holliday movies just as…

I’ve written nearly a dozen Christmas stories and the challenge for each of them is writing something new and different. From lost and found reindeer to Highland kilts and mystery and romantic suspense, to billionaire wolves, white wolves, red wolves, SEAL wolves, and even jaguars, I’ve enjoyed giving them the holidays to look forward to. I think the hardest part for me is figuring out what people should get for Christmas. I have the same problem with picking out gifts for family and friends. When they have a Christmas wish list, I do much better. Wouldn’t it be neat if the characters in my stories all had Christmas wish lists too? It would make my life so much easier! I have lived in the south or in moderate climates for most of my life: Florida, Texas, California, so snow isn’t usually a big issue in the winter. Though with the weirder weather we’re getting, who knows what the future will bring. In the Houston area, we had temperatures in the teens for a week last year, breaking all records and we had lots of snow too. But I’ve also lived in places where we’ve had regular snowstorms—got stuck in them,…