New Books - NewInBooks

Interview with Alexi Venice, Author of Standby Counsel

What can you tell us about your new release, Standby Counsel?

I’ll provide a quote from a Goodreads reviewer because she summarizes the story better than I could anyway😊 I replaced a few of her sentences with a bracketed ellipsis […] where there was a spoiler.

“This is one action-packed, keeps you guessing, can't put it down, legal thriller! Alexi Venice knows how to write engaging and complex courtroom dramas. Standby Counsel is an exceptional tale of crime, drama and romance. Venice leaves her readers captivated till the very end!

Monica Spade practices civil law in the close-knit community of Apple Grove, Wisconsin, a normally quiet little Midwestern town. Life is pretty good for her. She's in love with Shelby St. Claire, a beautiful high school art teacher. She's enjoying practicing law inside the walls of Spade, Daniels and Taylor. It seems as if nothing could wipe the smile off her face, except maybe a phone call from a judge ordering her to serve as standby counsel…

Even though Monica tries her best to convince the judge that she is ill-equipped for the job, her arguments fall on deaf ears. The two-week trial that captures the interest and fascination of Apple Grove only proves to complicate the lives of Monica and her lover Shelby… The trial's outcome is nothing anyone in Apple Grove could have predicted, especially Monica and Shelby.

The character development in this book is quite exceptional. Monica is viewed as the protagonist, while Stela is the antagonist. The character work devoted to Stela is nothing short of amazing. Venice really hits the mark here. Stela is a driven, powerful and motivated diabolical psychopath. Readers are meant to dislike her. However, even though they don't care for her, they understand her. Warped as she is, they get what drives her and what motivates her. Stela cranks up the emotion and tension in this thriller-like any true villain should.

Monica's character work and story arc are also nicely done. Readers connect and relate to her very easily. She plays the part of a flawed hero quite fittingly. Readers appreciate her imperfections with enthusiasm. She is likable and approachable; one cannot help but embrace her. Though she isn't perfect, she is always kind, caring and loyal. One of her most attractive traits is her willingness to love with her whole heart, passionately and completely…

The pacing and plotting of this story are top-notch. There are so many riveting twists and turns; readers are more than likely to lose sleep turning pages into the night with this one. Venice's own experience in the courtroom lends itself to a creative and well-written story. Once this story gets its talons into a reader, it does not want to let go.

Venice's books don't disappoint. If you enjoy high octane, suspense-filled legal thrillers, then I would strongly suggest getting this one. She knows how to entertain her readers with solid courtroom dramas that keep readers guessing. Standby Counsel should not be missed.” 5 Stars-The Lesbian Book Blog

Tell us more about Monica Spade. What makes her tick?

Monica is insecure, but she takes a strategic risk in her legal practice by accepting the appointment of standby counsel for Stela-the-slayer. Monica is terrified, but curious and courageous, so she braces herself to meet Stela at the jail. While terrified of Stela, Monica is also intrigued. She digs into the case because she’s curious and methodical. Monica has much to learn about manipulative clients and the practice of law, especially legal antics in the courtroom. In her personal life, Monica has some catching up to do in the dating world. She doesn’t want to come off as naïve to Shelby in matters of the heart, but she’s never fallen for a woman like she has for Shelby.

What makes Monica and Shelby such a great couple?

They don’t compete with each other on any level. Monica is attracted to Shelby’s beauty and sweet personality, and Shelby is attracted to Monica’s smart mind and genuine, transparent love. Monica feels like Shelby is too good for her, but women hit on Monica all the time, so she is just maturing into her own sexual appeal. Each woman approaches their relationship with tenderness and respect, acknowledging that their chemistry in bed is undeniable.

What inspired you to write a legal thriller about a young woman who stabs her boyfriend to death?

During my day job as a practicing attorney, I became involved in a murder trial where a young woman stabbed a man to death in the back seat of her car. While working closely with the District Attorney to prepare my clients to testify, I became immersed in the evidence and courtroom battle. That televised drama was inspirational for me to write this novel, which contains different characters, a new set of facts, and a heady dose of international intrigue.

As an attorney, do you write a lot about legal events in your real world?

My 31-year career has provided some spicy vignettes that inform my writing. A few lessons I’ve learned are that initial facts aren’t always supported by the evidence, DNA evidence can be manipulated if you understand the medicine, and people aren’t always who they claim to be.

In the first Monica Spade book, Conscious Bias, I explored several angles of bias regarding a young white man accused of killing a Saudi foreign exchange student. This was based on actual events and a murder trial in which my clients testified. There are arrows of bias flying all over in that story, including at Monica Spade. I’m not trying to avoid controversy. Instead, I’m attempting to unearth some deep-rooted stereotypical biases in small-town America.

In Standby Counsel, I challenge the perceptions of a seemingly helpless woman, her assertion of self-defense, and deeper layers of her motives.

Initially, I was nervous about the reception for brutal storylines, but I’ve been pleased that readers have embraced the Monica Spade Series and have really embraced Monica and her girlfriend, Shelby. Since I’ve personally experienced many of the events in Monica’s world, I believe her narrative is authentic and genuine.

Why do you write legal and crime drama with lesbian romance?

The old adage is to write about what you know, and I feel comfortable writing about legal drama, the courtroom theater, and unexpected things that might, or might not, happen in hospitals. I also delight in adding dark humor to heavy issues, so playful dialogue and subplots are intentionally woven into my storylines.

In addition, the books I enjoy have a little romance in them, so I always include romance in my legal and crime dramas. Both the Monica Spade Series and the San Francisco Mystery Series have lesbian romances. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve written plenty of straight romance, but the market is flooded with male heroes who get the girl at the end, so I’m offering an alternative—the female heroine who vanquishes the female villain and gets “the girl” at the end😊.

By the way, I’m an equal-opportunity writer, so the antagonists in my books are mostly female as well. Who says the “bad guy” has to be a guy at all? I love writing about seriously flawed, powerful women with deadly skill sets who commit heinous crimes. I know, right? Don’t be intimidated. My female heroines—Monica Spade and District Attorney Amanda Hawthorne—have the guts to take them on.

I also adore the supporting cast of strong men around Monica—her mentor and senior partner of their law firm, Jim Daniels; and her friend and peer, the fiery litigator, Nathan Taylor.

Do any of your characters go rogue, refusing to do what you had planned for them?

Yes! Two characters unexpectedly stormed center stage in Standby Counsel. My editor helped me work through their backstories and encouraged me to craft their twisty-turny subplot. I spent long bike rides thinking about their subversive agenda and how Monica would strategically deal with them. I processed and processed, then the story miraculously took shape, and I ultimately felt blessed that they inserted themselves into my story. Despite outlining Standby Counsel, or perhaps because of it, there were truly magical moments during the creative process that made this story special for me to write.

Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you?

I invite readers to visit my website at www.alexivenice.com; check out my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/alexivenicenovels; or follow Alexi Venice on Instagram.

Alexi Venice is the author of the new book Standby Counsel.

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Interview with Lori Benton, Author of Mountain Laurel

What can you tell us about your new release, Mountain Laurel?

Mountain Laurel is set in 1793 North Carolina. After a couple of false starts, Scottish-born and Boston-bred Ian Cameron is once again set on establishing a life that will make his father proud, though Ian would settle for unashamed. But in his newly adopted role as his planter uncle’s heir, Ian soon finds himself at odds with his kin’s acceptance of slavery and the injustices he witnesses. He’ll need a force more compelling than familial expectations to guide him through the web of kinship, oppression, and casual cruelty in which he’s all too quickly become entangled.

As an enslaved young woman, Seona has few avenues of self-expression. The one she has found, secretly drawing on scraps of paper she scrounges, has been discovered. To Seona’s surprise, Ian Cameron not only keeps her secret but encourages the endeavor. But trusting her master’s nephew in this one thing leads to complications Seona could never foresee.

What or who inspired you to become an author?

It was Leah, my best friend in the third grade. One day she told me she’d written a story and showed it to me to prove it. It was a moment of revelation, one of the standouts in my life. Already an avid reader, inspired by my favorite stories to create costumes and role-play my favorite characters, it had not yet occurred to me that I could write an original story of my own. I promptly did so. I continued writing stories into high school and always enjoyed writing projects best of any schoolwork—except for art. When I was in my early twenties, knee-deep in an art career, I decided to write a novel and see if I could get it published. Since then I haven’t stopped writing, except for a few years in my early thirties when I struggled with chemo fog, post cancer treatment. The journey from that decision to write a novel to finally seeing one published took twenty-two years. I wrote several novels that turned out to be for practice before Burning Sky was published in 2013.

What's on your top 5 list for the best books you've ever read?

This is always a tough question to answer. Tomorrow I might come up with another list but the ones that come to mind right now are:

Summer of the Danes by Ellis Peters (narrated by Patrick Tull)
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
To Say Nothing of the Dog, or How We Found the Bishop’s Bird Stump at Last by Connie Willis (narrated by Steven Crossley)
Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (narrated by Davina Porter)
The Mitford series by Jan Karon (narrated by John McDonough)

That last one was a cheat (a whole series!) but I’m going to cheat again because I really ought to put James Alexander Thom’s eighteenth-century frontier stories on this list. If it were a six-book list, I’d include The Red Heart or Panther in the Sky.

Say you're the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask

Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander books. I’ve known her for a long time via a writers’ forum we both frequent. She’s been a huge inspiration to me in many ways, including the writing of Mountain Laurel. It was an unexpected characteristic given to a minor character in her book Drums of Autumn that inspired Mountain Laurel and its sequel (coming in 2021). In Drums, Josh, an enslaved young man on a plantation, speaks with a Scottish accent. When I asked whether she had made this up or found it in her research, Diana shared the source that inspired her to give Josh that surprising character trait. I read it for myself then did what writers do: let my mind go spinning away with a thousand what-if questions. That story-weaving eventually led to the creation of Lily and Malcolm, two secondary characters readers will meet in the pages of Mountain Laurel.

What would I ask Diana? Just a million things! But I’d start by asking what challenges she faced writing Outlander, a novel about a place (Scotland) she’d never at the time visited, a thing I’ve done myself with some of my eighteenth-century stories.

What's your favorite thing about writing?

It’s also the thing I find the hardest—the actual writing. Most days writing is flat-out hard work. Until it isn’t. Until inspiration shows up at last and something surprising happens on the page, something that moves me to tears, makes me laugh, solves a plot issue, reveals another facet of a character I thought I knew inside and out, or deepens a theme in some unexpected way. Those are the moments I write to reach.

What is a typical day like for you?

I like to be at my computer as close to 8 a.m. as I can manage, after seeing my husband off to work, feeding the dog, etc. I’ll dink about with email and social media for a bit but when 9 a.m. rolls around, I want to be working. I’ll write until lunch, take a break and ride my stationary bike, then, if a deadline is pressing or I feel motivated to do so, I’ll go back to the computer for a couple more hours. (This might be to write or for promotional work.) That’s the shape of a typical writing day. In the weeks right before a deadline, I’ll often set my alarm for 3 a.m. and get an extra writing session in before my husband wakes up, then break until he leaves for work. I do my best work in the mornings. Afternoon work tends to be less productive.

What scene from Mountain Laurel was your favorite to write?

I’m normally a linear writer, but not with Mountain Laurel. It was the first book I wrote as I was recovering from the aforementioned chemo fog and discovering that I needed to retrain my brain to do what I’d been doing for a decade before the cancer journey began—sit down at the computer each morning and hammer out words for about four hours at a stretch. Plotting a whole novel was beyond me, but I could see a few vivid scenes. So I wrote those, not knowing where they might fit into the vague notion I had for this story. Proceeding in that manner, I eventually finished Mountain Laurel, but those early scenes remain some of my favorites, because they brought me out of the fog and returned the joy of writing to my life. One of those has to do with that raven on the book’s cover. It’s the first scene in Mountain Laurel that features the raven, but that’s all I can say without giving away a major spoiler in the story!

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

Taped to my monitor is this quote, unattributed, and it’s been there so long I have forgotten who said it, but it’s a reminder my oft-impatient spirit needs constantly. “Don’t steal tomorrow out of God’s hands. Give God time to speak to you and reveal His will. He is never too late; learn to wait.”

Lori Benton is the author of the new book Mountain Laurel.

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Interview with Rachel Hauck, Author of To Love a Prince

What can you tell us about your new release, To Love a Prince?

After the success of my Royal Wedding Series, readers were asking for more royals. When I introduced Prince Gus in my novel, The Fifth Avenue Story Society, I knew he needed his own story. Jilted at the alter by an American heiress, I wanted to give him a happy ending.

What or who inspired you to become an author?

I've been a writer from a young age. I kept a diary when I was six! My dad encouraged me and you know what they say, "Father knows best!"

What's on your top 5 list for the best books you've ever read?

I'm actually thinking of hosting a podcast for authors! Who would my first guest be? I'd ask my writing partner, Susan May Warren, because I think readers and aspiring authors like to hear about the writing process and the publishing business. Susie is interesting and funny, and we have a lot of stories to tell on each other!

Say you're the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask

What's your favorite thing about writing?

Having written! Ha! And interacting with the readers is so satisfying. They are the ones who keep me inspired on the hard days.

What is a typical day like for you?

I always start my days with prayer. Then it's off to the gym with my hubby (based on his work schedule) and breakfast at our favorite diner. Home to clean up and do a few chores before climbing the stairs to my office to work. I try to be "backside in chair" by Noon. I work until I hit my daily word, or page count. Toward deadline, those days are pretty long! We've had dinner at 10:00 p.m. before.

What scene from To Love a Prince was your favorite to write?

There are quite a few scenes I loved in this book but one in particular comes to mind. The prince arrives at Hadsby Castle after a few too many pints at the local pub. He discovers the heroine, Daffy, inspecting a very rare and ancient royal chair. He decides to sit on what used to be the House of Blue's throne and the legs crack! The dialog from that point on still makes me laugh. That scene really defined their relationship for me during the fast draft stage.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

With God, all things are possible.

Rachel Hauck is the author of the new book To Love a Prince.

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Interview with Joan Livingston, Author of Killing the Story

What can you tell us about your new release, Killing the Story?

Isabel Long, an amateur private investigator, uses her skills as a former long-time journalist to solve cold cases in the hilltowns of Western Mass. For her fourth, she is investigating the death of a small town newspaper editor, which might not have been an accident after all. One of the obstacles Isabel faces is the local police chief, who makes it clear she is not welcome in his town or looking into this case. But then again, the chief and the victim have a dark history. Could there be a connection? Isabel is brave enough to find out. This book can stand on its own, but those following the series get to enjoy the characters, settings, and story lines that I carry over on these books.

What or who inspired you to become an author?

I was fortunate to have teachers and professors who made me believe I am a writer. In college, I fancied myself a poet. But I had a serious writers block afterward during the time I raised six kids and my creative energy certainly went into them. Funny though, I still believed I was a writer although I couldn’t get anything down. Then, I got this very part-time gig as a correspondent for the local newspaper covering the small town (1,200 people) where I lived. I was not only writing again, but observing people and listening to the way they talked. But my fiction didn’t take off until I became a news editor. (Being a reporter is a lot of work.) Suddenly, all the pieces came together and I couldn’t go a day without writing fiction, which has become such an important and rewarding part of my life. But the path to becoming a published author was harder. As I say, there’s writing and then there is the business of writing.

What's on your top 5 list for the best books you've ever read?

I would say any book that makes me forget I am reading it goes to the top of my list. But if I have to choose the top five: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey; The Shipping News by Annie Proulx; Animal Farm by George Orwell; Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.

Say you're the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask

Stephen King, not to talk about his genre, but about the topic of writing. He wrote one of the best books on the topic, On Writing, in which he says writing is telepathic. I heartily agree and would want to learn more about his experience.

What's your favorite thing about writing?

I’d say totally losing myself in it, that when I write, I am thinking and doing nothing else.

What is a typical day like for you?

I am the editor-in-chief of a daily newspaper, which naturally consumes a great deal of my time. So, I get up very early, typically 5-5:30 a.m. to write after making coffee and something to eat. I don’t do quotas but I typically end up with 500 more words for WIP. Then, I head to the newsroom. On the weekends, I certainly can devote more of my time to my writing.

What scene from Killing the Story was your favorite to write?

It was also the trickiest to write, that ah-ha moment when Isabel solves the crime. Sorry. I can’t tell you any more about it or I will spoil it for readers.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

I seek the best possible outcome for any situation I face.

Joan Livingston is the author of the new book Killing the Story.

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Interview with David Temple, Author of The Poser

What can you tell us about your new release, The Poser?

The Poser is my first mystery thriller. It stars rookie Detective Patricia “Pat” Norelli who has a chance at cracking her first big case. She’s smart, beautiful, and lives in the shadow of her very successful older brother—also a cop, and her father—an LA Circuit Court Judge. She has a lot to prove. So when a case pops up that is called a suicide, she sees it differently...and puts her job on the line to prove it. Pat is divorced, a single mother with a daughter soon off to college, and has a bit of a swinging door of boyfriends, when it comes to relationships.

For readers who enjoy Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch, or John Sanford’s Lucas Davenport, they’ll enjoy my Pat Norelli.

As a bit of background, I use LA, and Hollywood specifically, as a backdrop because I lived there on three different “tours,” working as a radio host, an actor, and a VoiceOver talent. The city pulls you in, making you—along with everyone else, think they’re a star.

What or who inspired you to become an author?

I’ve always loved the art of story. And thanks to my mother—an insatiable reader, I’ve always enjoyed the escape of a good book. I’ve been a storyteller for most of my life; working as a Radio Host for nearly 25 years—mostly as a Morning Man, being a VoiceOver actor for over two decades, and acting in Television and Film for nearly a decade. Each of those jobs involved telling stories and/or selling products/services.

So when it was time to move along—after Corporate Consolidation killed the radio star —I turned to my next love: writing. Now in my “third chapter of life,” I want to spend my next career writing books and turning them into television shows and/or feature films.

What's on your top 5 list for the best books you've ever read?

Tough question, I have so many. I’ll just toss out the first 5 that come to mind: (1) Don Winslow’s THE FORCE, (2) Lou Berney’s NOVEMBER ROAD, (3) Jack Carr’s SAVAGE SON, (4) Tom Wolfe’s BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES, and (5) TALE OF TWO CITIES by Charles Dickens.

Say you're the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask

It’s a toss-up between Henry David Thoreau, because I admire the simplicity of his inspiration, and Elmore Leonard, as I have always admired his supreme craft of concise storytelling. They are both fascinating and highly creative individuals. If I could have them both of the show, I’d ask them where they found “the magic” that sparked their imaginations. I’m certain the conversation would take on a life of its own!

What's your favorite thing about writing?

Creating people and their conversations from thin air. It’s amazing to me, to this very day, to have characters “come alive” to me as they do, as well as the way they stay with me long after the story is complete.

What is a typical day like for you?

I am up at 5 AM, six days a week (I’ll sleep until 6 on Sundays). I get a coffee, gather my thoughts, and usually begin working around 5:30. The earlier I begin my creative work, the better off I am, as the quiet is truly the best place to create with reckless abandon.

I’ll work until 10, take a 15 minute break to stretch, coffee and such, then work until Noon, where I’ll stop for an hour to eat and relax, usually in my back yard with my dog. I’ll work until about 3 where I’ll take either a 15-min cat-nap, or a double-espresso— depending upon mood, and usually wrap sometime around 5.

Note: I like to create new work in the first half of the day, using the latter half for either brainstorming, or for social/admin work. I’ll work out every day, somewhere in between.

What scene from The Poser was your favorite to write?

While I thoroughly enjoyed creating the character of Pat Norelli, I particularly enjoy crafting bad guys. And in Chapter 77 “Handy Work,” you get to experience the crucial turning point of the story when you learn who the bad guy is (if you haven’t figured it out yet), and see first hand just how evil his dark side is.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

I try to be kind to everyone I meet. Kindness takes such little effort, yet creates such deep goodness.

As for quotes, I have a few faves: “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm,” by Emerson.

And Thoreau said, “What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.”

David Temple is the author of the new book The Poser.

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Interview with Sagan Morrow, Author of Her Bad Idea

What can you tell us about your new release, Her Bad Idea?

Her Bad Idea is an enemies to lovers, fake relationship, slow burn, forced proximity romcom. It follows the story of Scarlett Mitchell, a burlesque dancer who's struggling to make ends meet. Her only chance to save her failing business is to become dance partners with her enemy, Pete Fraser... who just happens to be outrageously sexy. Things get complicated when Scarlett unexpectedly finds herself in an accidental fake relationship with Pete, as a way to garner media ratings (and, she hopes, to make her unrequited crush Westley Prince jealous...). There's a thin line between love and hate in this dance competition romance!

Her Bad Idea is Book 7 in the Polyamorous Passions series, but it can be read as a complete standalone. Readers are calling it a "laugh out loud, witty romantic comedy, and the perfect escape from all that's going on in the world right now."

What books are currently on your nightstand?

A few books I'm looking forward to reading include Kevin Kwan's Sex and Vanity, Alisha Rai's Girl Gone Viral, Lauren Layne's The Prenup, and Katrina Jackson's The Spies Who Loved Her series. I also recently signed up for Kobo Plus, so my TBR is a mile long!

What advice would you give your teenage self?

Stay true to yourself, and don't be afraid to embrace who you are—you don't need to force yourself to fit into a particular box that society has created, if it doesn't feel right for you.

The tagline for my Polyamorous Passions series is "Make your own rules," and the theme of living life the way *you* want—regardless of what other people think—is a really important message across all of my books. Too often, we make ourselves unhappy by trying to please other people. But in doing so, we dim our own sparkle... and we start to resent the people around us... and we aren't given the space we need to achieve our full potential.

Every person in the world has something different to offer, and my advice to my younger self would be to identify what it is that feels *right* for you... and follow through on where your heart guides you! I hope readers can take courage from this message in my romantic comedies, too.

If you had an extra hour each day, how would you spend it?

When I'm not writing romance novels, I'm a productivity strategist: I teach about time and energy management to other solopreneurs and multi-passionate creatives, through programs like my Productivity Powerhouse e-course. So I have a pretty good handle on my own time management! I have the privilege of being able to spend a lot of downtime on hobbies (burlesque dancing, kayaking, reading, watching TONS of Netflix...).

That being said, I'd probably spend an extra hour each day writing. There are so many other tasks and activities that authors need to do—especially indie authors, like me—besides writing (learn more about that in my Indie Author Weekly podcast). And I have so many story ideas that I want to write and share with the world! An extra hour of writing every day would be pretty fantastic. I'd like to release new books more quickly.

What makes your world go round? Why does it bring you joy?

There are so many things that bring me so much joy. I love living. There's so much beauty in the everyday little things that make up our lives... I think the important thing is to really connect with ourselves and ask ourselves, every day, "Am I happy? What would make me happier? How can I make that my reality?" and then taking action on it. (Just like my characters figure out for themselves, in my Polyamorous Passions series!)

...So as a result, there really isn't any one thing that makes my world go round. It's all about making small tweaks in many different aspects of life so that it all adds up into our own version of something extremely joyful. The people I love (my spouse, best friends, and family), writing books and sharing stories, teaching others about productivity and time management, enjoying a really great story (books, TV/movies, theatre, ballet, opera), dancing, going on long walks, listening to great music and singing along... all of these things add up to make my world go round and give me joy.

What scene in Her Bad Idea was your favorite to write?

I love writing high-tension scenes and sparring dialogue. The sassy conversations between Scarlett and Pete—especially when we get glimpses that they're lusting after each other, even though they're so suspicious of one another—were some of my favourites. Also, the previous 6 books in the Polyamorous Passions series teased at the storyline between Scarlett and her long-standing unrequited crush, Westley, and this story was the first time we get to see a lot more of them together (and all of the tension that's between them!). So it was fun to finally start to really flesh that storyline out, and prepare to continue developing it in the next couple books in the series.

The scenes featuring Scarlett with her two best friends, Emma and Helen, are some of the funniest—those three characters are all so different and extremely opinionated, while being very supportive of each other. It makes for some entertaining scenes, which are just as enjoyable to write as they are to read!

Sagan Morrow is the author of the new book Her Bad Idea.

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Interview with Karen Renee, Author of Relentless Habit

What can you tell us about your new release, Relentless Habit?

Relentless Habit is the first book in my new O-Town series, and takes place in the Orlando area. It’s a contemporary romance about redemption, family, making a new start, with a hint of suspense.

What books are currently on your nightstand?

Right now, I’m reading Engagement and Espionage by Penny Reid, and next up on my TBR list is The Rivals by Vi Keeland.

What advice would you give your teenage self?

I would tell my teenage self to listen to my mother more because she’s almost always right. Also, I would tell myself to be more accepting of change since that is constant in writing/publishing and life in general.

If you had an extra hour each day, how would you spend it?

I would love to say I would spend it writing, but it’s more likely I would spend it with my family because it’s tricky to strike the right balance between writing and being with them.

What makes your world go round? Why does it bring you joy?

Aside from my family, music definitely makes my world go round. I love hearing how people express themselves with different instruments, and anyone with the ability to tell a story within a three or four minute song has my utmost respect. Plus, all of my books have playlists and it never fails when listening to new music, a new character comes to mind.

What scene in Relentless Habit was your favorite to write?

The scene when Cecilia’s sister, mother and grandmother show up at Brock’s apartment unexpectedly is one of my favorites. Her family can be rather meddlesome – but in a loving way – and they’re determined to meet the new man in Cecilia’s life. Her grandmother nearly steals the scene because she’s such a hoot, and I simply love her.

Karen Renee is the author of the new book Relentless Habit.

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New Mystery and Thriller Books to Read | September 1

Hold on to the edge of your seat as we hunt for clues and solve the case with these exciting new mystery and thriller books for the week! There are so many bestselling authors with new novels for you to dive into this week including David Temple, Joan Livingston, Alexi Venice, Louise Penny, Brad Parks, and many more. Enjoy your new mystery, thriller, and suspense novels. Happy reading!

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New Romance Books to Read | September 1

Looking to fall in love with some new romance reads? You’ll adore these exciting new novels! This week you can get your hands on books by bestselling authors Rachel Hauck, Karen Renee, Sagan Morrow, Ava Ryan, and more. Enjoy your new romance books and happy reading!

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New Books to Read in Literary Fiction | September 1

Literary fiction readers are in for a treat. This week’s latest releases list is full of intriguing reads you won’t want to miss! The new releases list includes so many bestselling authors like Lori Benton, June A. Converse, Yaa Gyasi, Asha Lemmie, and many more. Enjoy your new literary fiction books. Happy reading!