You write some of my favorite heroes and in LOVE IN 3D, Xavier is another example of your strong and sexy yet sweet heroes. What makes a good hero for you? He must be someone I’d want to date in real life. – grin – Emotionally mature but not perfect by any means. Handsome—if not traditionally, then at least appealing to the heroine—and funny. And he’s typically a part of a group, a family or band of brothers. I find the hero’s family almost as appealing as the hero!   Justine, the heroine in LOVE IN 3D, has complicated family relationships. These is a theme often repeated in your novels. What do you like about using this as a source of conflict in your books? When writing contemporary romance, a lot of the conflict has to be with relationship dynamics, as the heroine isn’t running from a killer (not a romantic suspense book) or fleeing vampires (not paranormal.) And if there is no obstacle to the protagonists’ happily ever after, the book will be done in a few pages. And boring, to be frank. We need to see them hurdle obstacles and succeed! Family makes for the juiciest conflict, and…

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 Marie Harte! Writes: Romance with heat, snarky humor, and band of brothers, heroes with low angst. There’s always a happily-ever-after, few tears, and a lot of banter with fun heroines and sexy heroes. Whether it be firefighters in Seattle or vampires taking mates, the romance is always steamy and satisfying. About: Coffee addict who loves all things romance, thinks there are such things as stupid questions, and will never, ever go into a haunted sanitarium after dark or jump off a cliff for fun. A huge fan of work smarter, not harder. Too lazy to research and write historicals. Thought about writing an inspirational love story but got as far as “Oh, God, yes,” in a sex scene and figured that was as inspirational as I could get. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match for BETWEEN BLOODE AND WATER: Has a snarky sense of humor Loves vampires, especially those who can swim Enjoys the camaraderie of six murderous blood-drinkers annoying one…

One of my favorite authors – Marie Harte – gave us an interview talking about her new super spicy paranormal romance series. What can you tell me about your new “Between the Shadows” series? I know the most recent installment – Book 2 in the series – came out December 14th. I know it’s about vampires, and that the first two books got sexy facelifts with awesome new covers. What else? I’m so in love with Between the Shadows! It’s a blend of urban fantasy and paranormal romance. The center of this series is the Night Bloode—a clan of murderous vampires who would normally kill each other, but they’re under a spell to become kin (family). Think snarky, vampire band-of-brothers who meet their match in the women they come to love. The Night Bloode clan has been tapped to work for the goddess, Hecate. (Oh, and they hate gods too. Vampires are really arrogant.) She’s gathered them to fight a coming darkness that has the potential to end everything. Hecate has a plan. Force these vampires to find love and they’ll fight heaven and earth to protect it. Each book is a standalone, yet they build up to an ending…

Welcome back to Fresh Fiction, Marie! Please tell us about yourself and your new book, THE KISSING GAME! Hi there! I’m a NYT and USA Today bestselling romance author of over 100 books. I write contemporary, paranormal, and romantic suspense, all with a bit of heat and humor. And I live in Central Oregon with two growing teens, a dog and a cat (who thinks he’s a dog). The Kissing Game is a standalone romance centered around Valentine’s Day. It’s also a book I’ve been dying to write for YEARS. The heroine is a romance book lover; the hero is a tall Viking-like hunk who has a big heart but isn’t great at showing it. They are perfect for each other! The story has the hero doing his best to win the heroine by Valentine’s Day with some. . . interesting. . . presents. Tell us more about the heroine of THE KISSING GAME, Rena Jackson. Fans of your books know that she was actually introduced a few years ago. . . what sparked her having a book of her own? Rena Jackson was first introduced as the romance book-loving cousin of the heroine from What to Do with a…

Our reviewer retrospective continues with Miranda Owen‘s favorite books of this year!  I love making lists. At the end of a year, friends and fellow readers will post about their top favorite five or ten books of the year. I’m not configured that way. Trying to pick only five or ten favorite books out of the hundred or so I’ve read over the course of a year is unfathomable to me. Instead, I’ve picked about five or so titles in four different categories. Many of these selections fit a few of different categories listed here. I mostly read and review romances, but cozy mysteries are my jam too. Christmas-themed Romance Picks THE MATCHMAKER’S MISTLETOE MISSION by Jaci Burton A COWBOY UNDER THE MISTLETOE by Jessica Clare ONE HOT HOLIDAY by Cynthia Eden MEET ME UNDER THE MISTLETOE by Stacey Kennedy ONE CHRISTMAS EVE by Shannon Stacey There was a ridiculous amount of amazing Christmas-themed romances that came out this year, many of which came out at the end of October. The ones I’m discussing were my absolute favorites, but there were a bunch more that put a smile on my face. THE MATCHMAKER’S MISTLETOE MISSION by Jaci Burton and A…

by Senior Reviewer Miranda Owen Haven’t we met? Some kind of beautiful stranger You could be good for me I’ve had the taste for danger If I’m smart then I’ll run away But I’m not so I guess I’ll stay Haven’t you heard? I fell in love with a beautiful stranger –Beautiful Stranger, Madonna Two of my favorite romance authors are Mary Balogh and Jennifer Ashley. Both authors write well-crafted character-driven stories that capture the imagination. Both authors also write about extremely close yet also extremely complicated families. Two of my all-time favorite books are both by these authors and are both about characters who meet under unusual circumstances, but who find something compelling and experience an unexplainable initial attraction. I’ve always maintained that AT LAST COMES LOVE by Mary Balogh has one of the best introduction scenes and “getting to know you” dialogue I’ve ever read. The scandalous Duncan Pennethorne, the Earl of Sheringford and beautiful yet very respectable Margaret Huxtable collide at a time when they each have something the other desires. Duncan is looking for a well-connected wealthy wife to satisfy his grandfather and secure his inheritance and, and that particular moment, Margaret needs a fake beau…

The sight that met Evan’s eyes had him staring, unsure of what to do. Though he owned part of his and his cousins’ local moving company, he’d only been doing the grunt work of actually moving people for the past two weeks. With one of his cousins temporarily out due to an injury, Evan had willingly stepped in to take up the slack. At first, being able to get out from behind a desk, away from a past life of accounting, had seemed a blessing. Sure, he was still sore, taxing his muscles on a daily basis doing manual labor, but he considered the physical exertion to be just the thing to kick-start his new life. No one had mentioned what to do when the client got into a free-for-all in the middle of the living room. The client, Rachel Kim, a petite Korean woman with a soft demeanor and a cute dimple, was wrapped around a tall, statuesque black woman. Rachel had her in a headlock, clinging to her like a koala on a tree. “I’m taking it!” she shrieked and refused to let go. “It’s a memory, and it’s mine!” “Idiot, it’s not yours,” the other woman managed,…

My top five favorite workplace romances? The author who immediately comes to mind on workplace romances is Jayne Ann Krentz. Most of her early heroes felt like cowboys in the boardroom. I used to eat up her contemporary romances like they were going out of style. So I’d have to put an oldie but a goodie, Sweet Fortune by Jayne Ann Krentz, on my list. And if she’s there, then I have to also add Susan Elizabeth Phillips and the first in her Chicago Stars books, It Had to Be You, about a woman who inherits a football team yet knows nothing about the sport. The humor and conflict between the hero and heroine are laugh-out-loud funny. And the steam factor is high! On a less contemporary note, I’m a huge Shelly Laurenston fan, and she’s known for writing zany paranormal romances. But one workplace romance that’s stayed with me is Big, Bad Beast, which pits wolf shifter and former Marine sniper Dee-Ann Smith up against Ric Van Holtz, her boss. I laugh and flip page after page whenever I’m reading Shelly Laurenston’s books. Staying in the paranormal lane, I’d have to go with Thea Harrison’s The Elder Races series,…

I’ll just admit it. I have a thing for a man in uniform. Having spent several years in the U.S. Marine Corps, I have a slight bias for Marines in general. And I love putting that service spin on my characters. In the Movin’ On series, the heroes (and a heroine!) are veterans. And not just Marines, which made the story even more fun. There’s something magical that happens when you group together people from different armed services—they talk a lot of smack. At the gym, Reid and his brother, Cash, are getting help from a fellow Marine and trainer (Gavin): “Reid, that’s pathetic,” Gavin said. “Lift like you got a pair, man. Or do you want people to think you were in the Air Force?” Next to them, an older man frowned. “Hey.” “Sorry. I meant the Army.” “What’s the difference?” Cash muttered, and Gavin did his best to calm a different older man down. When writing The Whole Package, I had the Marine Corps stuff pretty much nailed down. The other services I had to research, and I learned some interesting facts. Military Police (MPs) are called different things in the different services. The Marines and Army have…

Sadly, the Donnigans series is coming to a close with THE ONLY THING. Though all the books stand alone as their own stories, I do like to weave characters from other series in and out of various books. It’s like six degrees of separation with Kevin Bacon, but instead of the grand Footloose Master, you have the McCauleys! The MCCAULEY BROTHERS books are the first I wrote for Sourcebooks, and they revolve around the McCauley brothers (go figure.) Their cousins, THE DONNIGANS, also live in Seattle. As do the mechanics who feature in BODY SHOP BAD BOYS, who work for Del McCauley at Webster’s garage. Confused yet? But hey, THE ONLY THING is about J.T. Webster and Hope Donnigan. So let’s focus on these two. Some interesting facts about… HOPE DONNIGAN First appeared in RUINING MR. PERFECT because she works for Cameron McCauley. Is the only girl in her family and among her McCauley cousins Has in the past babysat her nephew Colin McCauley (who appeared in all the McCauley books, staring with THE TROUBLEMAKER NEXT DOOR) First met J.T. at her cousin Mike’s Wedding in WHAT TO DO WITH A BAD BOY J.T. WEBSTER First appeared in (and I…