1–What is the title of your latest release? My newest release is called THE CHEMISTRY OF LOVE! 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Nerdy/fangirl cosmetic chemist Anna is desperately in love with her boss and can’t figure out how to get his attention. Enter his dashing, handsome half-brother and CEO Marco, who offers to help by fake dating her (given that his brother is so competitive with him). Anna agrees and despite her best intentions, starts to fall for Marco. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I set a lot of my books in Southern California, because that’s where I grew up. I chose it this time because the Los Angeles area has a lot of cosmetic companies. I also knew there would be some scenes that took place in the snow (in Vermont) and I wanted the heroine to be from a place where she had never actually seen it before. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? I absolutely would, although we might drive each other a little bonkers. Of all the heroines I’ve written, Anna is the most like me. She thinks like me, has some…

CHAPTER FIVE His smile flickered, fading off his face. My revelation seemed to displease him, but it was like I couldn’t shut up. “You’re that prince or duke or whatever.” “Not a prince. Or a duke. Just an earl.” That teasing lilt in his voice was gone, but I couldn’t focus on that. All I could think about was that this entire situation was completely impossible. How had I ended up at a party, one that I wasn’t even supposed to be at, with the very man Alice had hoped would be here? It was like she was reaching out with her puppet master hands, tugging at my strings, willing this entire encounter into being. For a second I wondered whether I was having some kind of guilt delusion, a wonderful fantasy that I’d conjured up to share with my sister, but it was very real. And he was looking at me like I was a ditzy airhead. Which might have been warranted, considering how I was gawking at him with my mouth hanging open. I snapped it shut. “My sister’s obsessed with you.” The words were out before I could snatch them back. “With me, specifically?” He edged back…

Chapter One Juliet, I think we should go over the rules one more time,” my best friend, Shelby, said to me while anxiously wringing her hands. I wanted to remind her that we were wearing gorgeous formal gowns and standing backstage in a massive theater filled with some of the most famous people in the world. This was the kind of moment we’d dreamed about having when she’d been sick. I wanted her to live in the moment with me. But I knew why she couldn’t, so instead I nodded. “Tell me again.” “When the cameras are on, make sure that you don’t do anything that will draw attention to yourself, or else you’ll get kicked out and then Allan’s mom will hate me forever.” I reached over to squeeze her hand. Even while Shelby had been going through the worst parts of fighting leukemia, she was always so serene and calm. A year after she was officially declared to be in remission, she’d met Allan Standish, and they’d both fallen quickly and hard. I hadn’t been the least bit surprised when he proposed to her two weeks ago, even though they’d only been dating for about three months. Apparently…

Welcome back to Fresh Fiction! Can you tell us about your new End of the Line series, and the first book, The Friend Zone? I got inspired to write the “End of the Line” series after seeing the Netflix documentary Last Chance U. I loved the idea of a junior college that gave Division 1 football players a second chance at the NFL or to play for a Division 1 school again after they’d screwed up their scholarships. I chose football because while my family is not a typical sports family (my husband doesn’t watch at all), my oldest son played football all four years of high school and I’ve always enjoyed watching the game. Plus, isn’t there something just inherently appealing about football players? THE FRIEND ZONE is a story about Logan Hunt, a disgraced football player being given a second chance to play and graduate from college, which he is determined to do. His new coach has a lot of rules he expects his players to follow, including no dating. Jess is Logan’s math tutor and off limits, especially since she’s the coach’s daughter. They decide to stay just friends and try to fight off their growing attraction to one…

My newest release, #MOONSTRUCK, which goes on sale July 17, is the second in my #Lovestruck series for Montlake about “hometown” girls who fall in love with celebrities, with the help of social media. In #MOONSTRUCK, Maisy Harrison is a hairdresser and lead singer in the fledging rock band Yesterday. She and her three brothers play in a local bar once a week—and dream of making the big time. It’s actually her friend Angie’s obsession with international pop singer Ryan de Luna, though, that puts Maisy and Ryan together when he comes to town to perform in concert. And the obvious question I get asked a lot is, am I—or was I—ever a fangirl of celebrities? The answer is, YES! And I kind of still am. I make a daily stop at eonline.com to catch up on entertainment news. I’m glad that I had no Internet or social media growing up, because I can see how that might have gotten me in trouble. I might have cyberstalked some celebrities back then! I’ve never had a backstage pass to a concert, as Angie and Maisy do in #MOONSTRUCK. When I was a teenager, going to concerts wasn’t something my parents could…