Two sisters, Ryan and Wendy, are at the core of this novel, and even though they don’t always see eye to eye, Ryan is ready to help Wendy when she needs help. How does their relationship fuel the plot of this suspenseful novel? Ryan, who is much younger than Wendy, has always been in awe of Wendy. They’ve never lived in the same house, because Wendy was on her way to college when Ryan was born, and afterward she was married and traveling with her new husband. Wendy was the beautiful, seemingly perfect stranger who was so beyond Ryan in everything she did or could do, that there was no hope to compete or to truly win her sister’s affection. Then, suddenly, as the book begins, Ryan is given the chance for both. I really love the title of this book: A FAMILY OF STRANGERS. It’s very captivating! What does feeling like a stranger in one’s own family do to the characters in your book? I originally titled this book The Perfect Daughter, and we all loved it. But suddenly there were dozens of books scheduled everywhere with “perfect” in the title. So when I started looking for a new…

Fresh Fiction Senior Reviewer Debbie Wiley is here to take us on a tour of one of the hottest summer vacation destinations: FLORIDA. All of these great summer reads are set in the Sunshine State!!  Summer is here, and vacation mode is in full swing for many. Florida is one of the hot spots for summer travel. Not everyone can travel in person, however, so traveling to Florida through books is a great alternative. Here are some books to help you tour Florida this summer: We start out our adventure in Key West with Lucy Burdette and A DEADLY FEAST. Amateur sleuth Hayley Snow has a new mystery on her hands when someone dies during a seafood walking tour. Lucy Burdette takes readers to real restaurants in the Keys, giving readers a guide to locate all the scrumptious and tasty treats. I’m not kidding when I say I not only love the Key West Food Critic series but that I also use the series as a travel guide for my visits. While we are down in the Keys, don’t forget to stop in No Name Key and visit the No Name Pub. Tim Dorsey visits the Keys and No Name…

Thank you for hosting me for a guest post on Fresh Fiction to celebrate my new release, Vow of Silence. I’ve been fortunate for the opportunity to write a few different genre’s, but hands-down my favorite and the most difficult to craft is romantic suspense. I akin writing romantic suspense to putting together a mental jig-saw puzzle. Every piece needs to fit just perfectly, or the picture won’t come out right. For a pantser like myself, this is an especially difficult task, but it’s also incredibly rewarding. When I wrote Vow of Silence, I didn’t even know who the killer was until I was 2/3 done with the book. Sometimes I’m just as surprised as my readers at how a story evolves itself. Most of all, I think my favorite part of writing romantic suspense is the thrills and chills. For me, a great book is one that gives the reader goosebumps—both the good kind and the bad. Vow of Silence delivers both. Readers who are familiar with my work would agree that I’m known for writing the thrills. Who doesn’t love a good, steamy sex scene? But today, I want to focus on the chills. My favorite part of…

My newest book, THE DARK BONES, is about a cop who learns that her father—a retired police officer—has killed himself. My heroine, Detective Rebecca North, cannot believe it. But in order to prove it Rebecca must return to her small and rural home town where she will be forced to face a lot of dark things she’s been running from, including Ash Haugen, the man she left behind long ago, and a cold case everyone thought long buried. At the heart, THE DARK BONES is about second chances, about being forced to revisit mistakes from the past, and then digging deep in an effort to set things right, and heal. It’s about the cold case wounds I suspect we all have buried in our subconscious somewhere, in one way or another, those unhappy events that have helped shape everything we do, and everything we have become. In Rebecca and Ash’s case, it’s also about being able to love again once they’ve addressed the reasons underpinning their old mistakes and lies. I’m a plotter for the most part. I go into a new story knowing who my protagonists are. I know what their big ‘wounds’ are, and I know what they…

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 CLARE O’DONOHUE! Writes: Spy novels and mysteries, with my latest, BREAKING THE DANCE, the 2nd in my World of Spies series hitting the shelves May 8th, 2019. About: Mystery writer and avid traveler seeks readers for adventures in Ireland (BEYOND THE PALE) and South America. BREAKING THE DANCE is Nick & Nora meets James Bond when a husband & wife team of accidental spies try to help an art thief stay alive while on the trail of a notorious Argentinian killer. Laughs, thrills and a few tips on how to dance the tango all included. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader: A detective who follows the clues no matter where they go A traveler (real & armchair both welcome!) A lover of smart, strong characters living out real relationships amidst sometimes surreal circumstances An adventurer who doesn’t mind hanging out with art thieves, spies, and killers Someone who enjoys classics like Mrs. Polifax, and Lord Peter Whimsey & Harriet Vane…

Today, Senior Reviewer Miranda Owen brings us a fascinating chat with G.A. McKevett! The latest book in her long-running Savannah Reid mystery series, BITTER BREW, is available now. About a million years ago, one of your Savannah Reid books caught my eye at my local library. Naturally, I raved about it to my grandmother (fellow cozy mystery junkie) and got her hooked on the series too. Why write a cozy mystery series? What do you like about writing (or reading) cozies? First, let me say, “Thank you,” for passing the addiction along to your grandma. Families that read together…keep us authors in business. 🙂 Why write cozy mysteries? I’ll be honest with you; that’s what my publisher asked for. I agreed a tad reluctantly. I don’t know if this was true 25 years ago, or if I was ignorant of the genre, but I held the opinion that cozy mysteries, back in the day, made light of the horror of murder. Like homicide was some sort of fun puzzle. Like I said, I could’ve just been ill-informed. I’m sure there were many cozies, even back then, that treated the subject with sensitivity. I just hadn’t read them. My children and I…

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 Terry Shames!  What I write about: A  traditional mystery series set in small-town Texas, and featuring Chief of Police Samuel Craddock. Jarrett Creek is based on a town in central Texas where my grandparents lived when I was a child. It’s populated with characters that I hope readers will love.  I write about people faced with all the issues of small-town life, and I include a healthy dose of contemporary social issues. About Me: I grew up in Texas, and attended UT Austin. Wanderlust took me to Washington, D.C., where I worked for the CIA; Denver, where I was a computer programmer, and finally to the San Francisco Bay Area. I am a reluctant sailor (my husband’s passion), a hiker, and an enthusiastic cook. Find out more at www.Terryshames.com. What I’m Looking for in my ideal reader match: Kirkus says, “A favorite of fans who like their police procedurals with a strong ethical center.” My ideal reader likes: Traditional crime novels. Likes…

We use the word beauty in many different scenarios and situation, but could we ever use it to describe death? In Glimpse, the Beautiful Deaths, criminal psychologist Patricia Holmes, attached to the Major Crime Squad of the Western Australian Police Department does. That’s a beautiful dress, we might say, or what a beautiful day, those flowers are beautiful, that child has a beautiful personality, she has a beauty spot on her cheek……….You get the idea for how often we can use the adjective. I’ve even heard sports commentators say what a beautiful shot, he’s swimming beautifully and once, in a heavyweight boxing match, what a beautiful knock out punch. It seems to me to be over-used, and in some cases is completely opposite from what the word actually means. Patricia Holmes, asks us to consider beauty in its purest form. She describes a man who has an obsession to own and possesses beautiful things so badly it leads to six cases of murder. During a meeting with homicide detectives where she delivers the profile of the man they are hunting, she nicknames him Gordon. She urges the men to think of him that way; an ordinary man, not a master…

Writes: An award-winning mystery/thriller police detective series set in Phoenix. The latest release, DEATH BLOW, book #3 in the Veranda Cruz series, hit the shelves in March 2019. About: Retired police captain turned award-winning author seeks readers who are adrenaline junkies looking for a high-octane thrill ride. DEATH BLOW features a strong—but flawed—female lead who must fight her inner demons as she’s pulled into a deadly trap. It’s the story of three families: Veranda Cruz’s large, loving, sometimes interfering ethnic family; her somewhat dysfunctional police family; and a notorious crime family that threatens everything she holds dear. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Enjoys police detective shows like “Law & Order” Has a thing for cops Is intrigued by an author with marksmanship medals and training in high-speed pursuit, defensive tactics, and interrogation techniques The sound of a siren gets your pulse racing—in a good way Secretly wants to be a detective Has a twisted sense of humor Is fine with a book that contains NO vampires, werewolves, witches, or cats Prefer your villains keep-you-up-at-night scary Isn’t squeamish about crime scene investigation Insists on multi-dimensional, complex characters (including the bad guys) Enjoys delving into a rich back…

Today, Fresh Fiction Editorial Manager Danielle Dresser chats with bestselling author Melinda Leigh about the latest book in her popular Morgan Dane Series, SECRETS NEVER DIE! Your Morgan Dane mystery series is long-running. For new readers, tell us a little bit about the series, and what inspired the creation of Morgan. Morgan was originally a secondary character in my Scarlet Falls Series. By the time I had finished writing Seconds to Live, she wanted her own story. I had been wanting to write a continuing character series for a while, and Morgan seemed perfect. She was already a complex character. I’d given her a deep backstory that begged for further development. What are the pros and cons of writing about Defense Attorney Morgan and PI Lance Kruger now that they are in an established relationship? After writing a dozen traditional romantic suspense novels, I was ready for a fresh challenge with the Morgan Dane Series. I enjoyed writing a continuing character series much more than I expected. In a traditional romance novel, the couple must achieve their happily ever after by the end of the book. Slowing down the romance to a pace that felt more organic meant I never…