The phone clicked off in Molly’s ear. She put the device down on the counter and took a deep breath. “I’m happy to report that Singing Crystals has been saved from a near-death experience.” Newton chortled and bounced a little, responding to the profound relief in her voice. She patted him on the head. Clement grinned. “We’ve still got the contract?” “Yep. Ms. Bell reminded Claude that she had been through a similar business disaster.” “That’s true,” Clement said. “And look what happened. They made a movie out of her experience down in the tunnels. Guild Boss is going to be released the day after the wedding.” “I know. Leona and I are planning to see it with the moms.” Clement started to say something but changed his mind. He nodded, his eyes bleak and sympathetic, and went back to sweeping up broken flowers. “My sister is alive, Clement,” Molly said quietly. She touched the yellow crystal she wore around her neck. “I’d know if she wasn’t.” “Right,” Clement said. Molly started out from behind the counter, intending to give Clement a hand with cleaning up the shop. She stopped when her phone rang again. Returning to the counter, she…

Who is Ravenna Chastain? How would you describe her to readers? From the book description, she sounds like she lives a complicated life. JAK:Ravenna possesses an unusual skill set that makes her an excellent criminal profiler.  She realizes that’s pretty much the same skill-set required for successful matchmaking so she decides to change career paths. Her own dating life is a little more complicated because she’s got this weird talent for starting paranormal fires.  She makes men nervous.   How would you describe the dynamic between Ravenna and Ethan? JAK: Ravenna is looking for a man who isn’t afraid of her fire talent. Ethan Sweetwater comes from a family with a long history of hunting human monsters. The Sweetwaters are in a different line these days but he’s got the old family talent. Ravenna’s thing for fire doesn’t worry him but she’s starting to wonder if she might be dating a mob guy.   I started reading your books because of so many rave reviews from my fellow readers in online book groups. The thing that gets mentioned more than anything else, is how fab the main characters are. They stay with you long after you finish a book. What…

Here at Fresh Fiction, we love book chat, and we have a lot of reviewers with fierce opinions about the authors, characters, and books they love (and about the things that drive them crazy). This is the first in a series of reviewer profiles. Hopefully, these will give other readers ideas about what books to add to their TBR lists, as well as spark some conversations. What qualities make a book super satisfying for you – characters, dialogue, setting, mood? Does it depend on what genre the book is? Any examples? Debbie Wiley: World building and character development are the biggest factors for me in whether I thoroughly enjoy a book or not. My favorite genres are urban fantasy and cozy mysteries, and both of those elements are crucial to the genre. Most of my favorite urban fantasy characters tend to be heroic in nature, even when it goes against their own best interests. For instance, Harry Dresden – the protagonist in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, makes numerous choices that put his own life at risk in order to save others- that’s my kind of urban fantasy hero! For cozy mysteries, I want main characters who are the kind of person I…

Traveling is one of my favorite things to do. I love almost every aspect of it, but I particularly love planning out the itinerary so that I can make the most of my time and see all sorts of new sights and places. Traveling in person has resumed for many folks, but most of my travel right now is through books. Rather than a typical travel schedule, I thought it would be fun to plan an out of this world spring break adventure to explore some of the various paranormal and fantasy worlds authors have created for us. So, without further ado, let’s get started! Day 1 We start off with a trip to the planet Harmony, courtesy of author Jayne Castle.  Illusion Town is our first stop on the planet and is described by the author as a weirder version of Las Vegas. The Harmony world features all sorts of fun things, from ghosts and paranormal energy to the Midnight Carnival, Dead City, and Ghost City. GUILD BOSS is the latest offering from Jayne Castle but honestly readers new to the series will want to devour all of her books as they are just that good! One of my…