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…

Today we are joined by Senior Reviewer Deb Wiley, with an article all about charismatic pets as side characters in cozy mysteries, contemporary romance, and other fiction genres. Enjoy! Stories featuring pets are always a popular draw for me. Whether it involves a man borrowing someone’s dog to capture the interest of a woman, such as in Sarah Morgan’s NEW YORK, ACTUALLY, or a mysterious cat who keeps popping up at the most opportune times, such as in FINAL SHADOWS by Kay Hooper, dog and cat stories are almost guaranteed to be on my TBR shelf. But what about stories featuring some more unusual animals rather than the expected dog or cat? Here are a few of the more intriguing stories I’ve read with pets outside the norm. Kym Roberts is hands-down the winner for having the most unusual and most entertaining pet! Her Book Barn series features a bookstore owner, which already draws my attention. However, Charli Rae Warren’s pet pink armadillo, Princess, steals the show in almost every book. In KILLER CLASSICS, Princess gets a boyfriend.  I’m not going to spoil anything by saying more but if you love pets and other animals getting involved in the storylines,…