Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-ReaderMatch” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Sarah Ballance! Writes: Finding Mr. Right Next Door, a smoldering friends-to-lovers firefighter romance filled with banter, swoon-worthy moments, kitchen fails, dating disasters, and hilariously inappropriate comments from a grandma who tells it like it is. About: Sarah Ballance is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary, historical, and supernatural romance and romantic suspense. She’s been married to her own romantic hero for what he calls a “long, long time” (and no, he’ll never hear the end of saying that). Together they have six children. . . and clearly too much time on their hands. She currently writes for Entangled Publishing and enjoys long quarantine-inspired walks from one end of the house to the other, dodging the dog’s overzealous morning zoomies, and removing the used coffee pods her husband leaves in the machine. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Must be able to laugh at yourself, even (okay, especially) in the bedroom Must tolerate relentless banter from adoring friends Must love takeout (real food stands no chance in…

I’ll be the first to admit a book set during the Salem witch trials doesn’t exactly scream romance. For that matter, the setting doesn’t even whimper romance—at least not at first glance. I mean, there were hangings and rotting jail cells and constant fear—not just of the evil that supposedly lurked among the people of Salem, but of being accused of so-called affliction and being sent to die. This fear was tangible. It lived and breathed among these people as if it were one of their own, and I admit my initial draw to Salem had a whole lot to do with its dark history. And I felt guilty. Separated by both time and distance, my interest in the Salem witch trials wasn’t purely for entertainment value, but I have to admit the cinematic appeal was there. The events themselves are so absurd that it’s hard to equate them with reality. How could something like this happen? It seems unfathomable, but history is sadly full of these atrocities. There’s no doubt they exist, but do they belong in romance? The answer is a resounding yes, and here’s why. When I began researching the Salem witch trials for my Sins of…