#authorinterview – Page 18 – Avonna Loves Genres

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Sound of Light by Sarah Sundin

Book Description

When the Germans march into Denmark, Baron Henrik Ahlefeldt exchanges his nobility for anonymity, assuming a new identity so he can secretly row messages for the Danish Resistance across the waters to Sweden.

American physicist Dr. Else Jensen refuses to leave Copenhagen and abandon her research–her life’s dream. While printing resistance newspapers, she hears stories of the movement’s legendary Havmand–the merman–and wonders if the mysterious and silent shipyard worker living in the same boardinghouse has something to hide.

When the Occupation cracks down on the Danes, these two passionate people will discover if there is more power in speech . . . or in silence. Bestselling author of more than a dozen WWII novels, Sarah Sundin offers pens another story of ordinary people responding to extraordinary circumstances with faith, fortitude, and hope for a brighter future.

***

Elise’s Thoughts

The Sound of Light by Sarah Sundin shows why her name has become synonymous with captivating and historically accurate World War II books. This novel has ordinary people responding to extraordinary circumstances using their courage, faith, fortitude, and a bit of hope.

The story shows how the Nazi occupation was different with Denmark. After the Germans occupy Denmark during WWII, they treat the country as a “model protectorate”. They didn’t enforce the same antisemitic laws as they did throughout Europe, allowing the Danes to self-govern and keeping the power of King Christian intact. For a while, things remained very much the same.

But when the plot fast forwards to 1943 everything changes. Baron Henrik Ahlefeldt exchanges his nobility for anonymity, so he can secretly row messages for the Danish Resistance across the waters to Sweden. He had three personas. Havman is the name chosen for helping the Danish Resistance. The “Merman” is based on the Hans Christian Anderson story The Little Mermaid. As a former Olympic rower, he volunteers to row vital intel across the Sound to the allies in Sweden. There is also Hemining chosen by Henrik to be the opposite of the Baron, portraying an illiterate silent ship worker.

As Hemining, he meets Dr. Else Jenkins, an American Physicist who decides to stay in Denmark even after the Nazi occupation. But she is also working for the resistance, helping to publish a resistance newspaper for her friend Dr. Laila Berend, a mathematician. Neither Else and Laila know Hemining’s identity and resistance activities, and he does not know of their resistance activities. This changes in 1943 after the Nazis decide to round up the Danish Jewish community. Together along with most of Denmark, they hide and then transport most of the Jews to safety in Sweden. They face the constant danger of getting arrested, tortured, and executed.

The themes of the book are bravery, forgiveness, heartbreak, and horror along with the resilience of the Danes. Sundin has a way of bringing to life the true history in a fictional story.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?

Sarah Sundin: It came from historical research. Since this is my fifteenth WWII novel, I find new stories that piqued my interest through my research. I came across the amazing things Denmark did during the World War, especially how they rescued the Danish Jews.

EC: The Nazis were uncharacteristic the way they treated the Danes?

SS: My last book was set in France, previous ones set in Germany. Yet, how the Nazis treated the Danes goes against everything learned about the Nazis. When the Germans occupied Denmark, they made the country a “model protectorate.” They allowed the king and the government to remain in place, and they gave the Danes, as “fellow Aryans,” freedoms unheard of in the rest of Europe. For that reason, resistance was slow to develop in Denmark, but it did develop. In late 1943, the German crackdown on the Danish Jews dramatically fueled the resistance, and the various groups united to form the Freedom Council to coordinate their efforts, not only with each other but with the Allies.

EC: How would you describe Else?

SS: She is a nuclear physicist. She is very sweet natured and hates to confront people. She learns how to speak up for herself, developing a backbone.

EC: What role did Professor Mortensen play?

SS: He is a chauvinist pig, condescending and rude to her, treating her as more of a secretary than a scientist. He basically humiliated Else. He is arrogant and dismissive. He forces her to speak up to save her career, which means everything to her. She needs to learn the difference between being nice and kind. Niceness is giving in on everything whereas kindness is respecting someone and being considerate.

EC: The other physicist Bohr was a contrast to Mortensen?

SS: He is a real person, while Mortensen is fictional. I was so impressed with Bohr. He truly cared for those he worked with, nurturing them, and bringing out their brilliance. He used his brilliance to help others. Mortensen never cared about others. I chose to make Else a physicist after hearing about Nobel Laureate Niels Bohr’s institute in Copenhagen and the role Bohr played during the war.

EC: How would you describe Henrik?

SS: A nobleman who led the playboy life until the Nazi occupation. He was an Olympic rower and used those skills for the resistance, rowing to Sweden to give messages. Henrik’s character was inspired by Knud Christiansen, a Danish Olympic rower who rowed Jews to Sweden. He is bold and outspoken until after he took on his secret identity where he becomes a shipyard worker, appearing to be all muscle and very silent.

EC: What are the similarities and differences between Henrik, Havmand, and Hemining?

SS: He took on all three personas. Henrik was a nobleman with daddy issues. His father had high standards for his son, causing Henrik to rebel. Havmand was the rower, a code name. In Danish it means Merman. He took inspirations from The Little Mermaid story since she gives up her voice to have legs. He basically did the same thing, giving up his voice to be mobile for the resistance. Hemining was the ship worker. Else describes all three: Hemining was noble in character, Henrik noble in birth and upbring, and Havmand is noble in his deeds.

E: How would you describe them:

SS: Henrik was a leader, stubborn, direct, determined, protective, wants to be a warrior, and courageous.

Hemining was level-headed, responsible, considerate, thoughtful, hard-working, stubborn, direct, determined, protective, humble, and courageous.

Havmand was level-headed, responsible, considerate, stubborn, direct, determined, protective, humble, a warrior, and courageous.

EC: How would you describe the relationship between Hemining and Else?

SS: Henrik pretends to be someone else in her presence. He is trying to restrain himself to make sure he does not reveal his identity. She on the other hand is confronting her prejudices. She is a scientist who falls for someone who can barely read, Hemining. She is drawn to his kindness and decentness. She becomes more attractive to him and realizes that what is more important is someone’s character, not the letters after their name.

EC: What was the role of Leila in the book?

SS: She is spunky, fun, persistent, and a good foil for Else. She was Else’s best friend. She quits her job as a PHD mathematician to join the resistance. Leila is Jewish and needed the help of Else and Henrik to escape the Nazis. She symbolized in the story the persecution of the Jews and the courageous acts of resistance. The Danes managed to save almost all the Jews in Denmark by ferrying them across to Sweden. I wanted to tell these stories.

EC: Next book?

SS: It is coming out in February 2024 and set in London during the Blitz. A Dutch refugee is separated from her son who is sent to London as they both flee the Nazis. She enlists a BBC radio correspondent to help find the son. In the flames of the city a bunch of murders pop up. This one will be a mystery and thriller.

THANK YOU!!

***

BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Secretary by Catherine Hokin

Book Description

The Tower House. Down a secluded path, hidden by overgrown vines, the crumbling villa echoes with memories. Of the family who laughed and sang there, until the Nazis tore them from their home. And of the next woman to walk its empty rooms, whose courage in the face of evil could alter the course of history…

Germany 1940. As secretary to the leader of the SS, Magda spends her days sending party invitations to high-ranking Nazis, and her evenings distributing pamphlets for the resistance. But Magda is leading a dangerous double life, smuggling secrets out of the office. It’s a deadly game, and eventual exposure is a certainty, but Magda is driven by a need to keep the man she secretly loves safe as he fights against the Nazis…

Forty years later. Nina’s heart pounds as she steps into an uncertain future carrying a forged passport, a few bank notes, and a scribbled address for The Tower House taken from an intricate drawing she found hidden in her grandmother’s wardrobe. Separated from her family and betrayed by her country, Nina’s last hope is to trace her family’s history in the ruins of the past her grandmother ran from. But, when she finally finds the abandoned house, she opens the door to a forgotten story, and to secrets which will change everything: past, present, and future…

***

Elise’s Thoughts

The Secretary by Catherine Hokin is a gripping novel spanning four decades. It has a dual timeline covering Germany during WWII and East Berlin after the war. Throughout the book readers will wonder would they be brave like the two heroines or remain a neutral bystander? Did the heroines take enough action, or should they have done more?

Magda Aderbach became the personal assistant to factory owner Walther Tiedemann, reminding readers of Oskar Schindler who saved Polish-Jewish refugees from the Holocaust. Because of her efficiency Magda impresses Heinrich Himmler, the leader of the SS and architect of the Holocaust, and she volunteers to be his secretary. She leads a dual life, pretending to enjoy hob-knobbing with the powerful Nazis, but also working for the resistance because she hates the Nazis and what they stand for. She smuggles reports, forges documents, arranges fake IDs to smuggle Jews out of Germany, and has organized safe houses for the Jews as well.

Fast forward forty years where Magda now lives in East Berlin, behind the Berlin Wall with her daughter, her husband, and her granddaughter, Nina Dahlke. Both Magda and Nina have similar personality traits, wanting to fight injustice, although the granddaughter is more impulsive and a lot less cautious. Beyond that, Nina does not understand why her grandmother is so secretive about her life in Germany during WWII. She knows there is a house in question, that was once lived in by Magda, but there are secrets involved with that house, and more secrets that Magda has kept to herself. After the Wall falls, Nina takes a journey to West Berlin to find the Tower House, hoping to trace her family’s history in the ruins of the past her grandmother ran from. But, when she finally finds the abandoned house, she finds out who owned the house, and wonders if her grandmother had a dual life, seeing pictures of her with Himmler. To make matters worse, Nina meets Elsa, the former wife of an SS officer, who lies and tries to pin her atrocities on Magda.

What the author does brilliantly is show parallels and similarities between the Nazi regime and the Communists control of East Berlin, the Stasis. As with both regimes there were spies everywhere, no freedom, a life lived under guards and rifles, terrible atrocities, and inhuman behavior where there was oppression, imprisonment, and killings. Readers understand the heroism of Magda and Nina as they were brave enough to stand up to tyranny even if it meant a harsh imprisonment or execution. Once the wall falls, the two worlds of Nina and Magda collide in a major revelation.

This novel is riveting throughout. Readers will not be able to put the book down, wanting to find out how the stories end for both Nina and Magda. The portrayals of these characters who must make impossible choices will keep people on the edge of their seats. A bonus is the history sprinkled throughout the novel.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Did you get the idea from The Lost Mother?

Catherine Hokin: This book follows my previous novel, The Lost Mother, since it is still in Germany, this time after WWII. I also spent a lot of time in Berlin. They have a wonderful museum dedicated to the heroes of the silent resistance. What interests me is what happened because of WWII.

EC: What was your experience like when you went to Germany?

CH: I come from a tiny village in England. When I was seventeen, I went there and saw the wall, in about 1979. I never have seen people with machine guns. I spoke with a local woman who told me that her sister lived in East Berlin, and she has not seen her in over twenty years. The wall went up overnight and if someone was caught on the other side that was it. My mind fast-forwarded to this story. There are a lot of flash points for me which I write about in my books.

EC: Did the book have similarities between Communists and the Nazis?

CH: They both were oppressive, used surveillance, and censorship, controlling people’s lives and minds. I did the comparison intentionally. I find it fascinating how in a short period of time society moved from one dictatorship to another. When East Germany was born there was hope behind it, but it turned into something people had fought to get rid of, such as the genocide.

EC: How did you do the research?

CH: I read a huge number of books, spent a lot of time in London’s Holocaust Library, and saw on the Internet people who told their stories. With every book I spent six months of research to understand the nuance.

EC: How would you describe Magda?

CH: She is reliable, steady, impulsive, loyal, brave, and chose to fight injustice. But I do not think she realizes the scale of what was the cost of her involvement. She has a naïve view that she can stand up to the Nazis who she worked with. Magda questions if she did enough? She did arrange escape routes and wrote reports, forging IDs, and had safe houses.

EC: Magda’s saving of Jews-was it based on reality?

CH: Yes. About 6000 Jews survived in hiding in Berlin. People found them a cellar to hide in and had them move around. I even put in a scene where Magda tried to go back out to help more. I wanted to show how the Nazis treated the Jews.

EC: How would you describe Nina?

CH: I felt a kinship with her. I was a lot like her. She felt she did not fit in her world. She fought back although clumsily, putting others at risk. Nina is a feisty character. To write the scenes where she was imprisoned, I spent a lot of time at the Hohenschonhausen Prison in East Berlin, a horrible place. She is spunky, innocent, conflicted, and hot-headed. She did not have choices and control over her life. After the Wall came down, she felt alienated.

EC: What was the role of Elsa in the story?

CH: She is horrible, hard, vicious, dangerous, and cruel, an adversary of Magda. I wrote her to show how someone during those times was immersed in the Nazi life. She loved the lifestyle. Elsa was caught up in the cause and jealous of Magda. Elsa liked being in control of the chess board, pulling people’s strings.

EC: Next books?

CH: This is the third book published by Grand Central in the US. I have written seven books, the seventh one coming out this month in the UK. People can get any of my books in E format in the states. I also write a series where the third book comes out in the UK in January. The series is about a photographer and a Jewish detective, taking place from 1933 to 1963, set in Berlin and Prague. The first two books involve serial killers, taking revenge on what happened to them. The fourth book in the series comes out in May. Each book has crimes that came of WWII.

THANK YOU!!

***

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Mysterious Amish Nanny by Patrice Lewis

Book Description

Stepping into her past…

Reveals a future she didn’t know she wanted.

When car failure stalls Englischer Ruth Wengerd’s impulsive cross-country trip, she doesn’t expect to be rescued by a horse and buggy—or to suddenly become a nanny for widower Adam Chupp’s son. Helping the sweet family reminds Ruth of her Amish upbringing and the shameful secret she’s hiding. But when the temporary job begins to feel permanent, can she face up to her past…for a future she left once before?

***

Elise’s Thoughts

The Mysterious Amish Nanny by Patrice Lewis is a very uplifting book. It has readers understanding how someone needs to change their lifestyle for their emotional well-being, preferring to have family come first.

The heroine, Ruth Wengerd, quits her lucrative job on Wall Street and impulsively leaves behind everything to go on a cross-country trip. Unfortunately, her car breaks down in the middle of nowhere and she needs to be rescued by an Amish man and his son. Because she needs money, she agrees to be the nanny for Lucas, the son of Adam Chupp who is a widower. She begins to fall for this family, bringing back memories of the time she was part of an Amish community as a young child.

Adam is also a contrast for Ruth. He shows her the importance of family, and that money should be for support not for ambition. While Ruth makes Adam understand the importance of having a partner, he shows her the importance of family.

As with all of Patrice Lewis books readers get a heartfelt story with some mysterious plotlines that will keep people turning the pages.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: The idea for the story?

Patrice Lewis: I had this story in my head years ago. I wanted to write someone snaping emotionally, where they leave their job, and then have their car break down in the middle of nowhere after going on a cross country trip. I had read about the pressure cooker environment of Wall Street, contrary to the lifestyle I have. I based some scenes in the story from the book Young Money by Kevin Roose. Where my routine is deliberately slow and unpressured this is contrasted by the intense Wall Street environment that sucks employees every hour of someone’s life. This was the theme I wanted to explore.

EC: What is the mystery of the story?

PL: There are several little mysteries woven through it. First, why did the heroine’s parents leave the Amish when she was a ten-year-old? There is also how Adam tries to figure her background out after seeing a missing flyer of Ruth. Besides those there was why Ruth left a successful job on Wall Street, what had she done to become so ashamed?

EC: You explore some traditions of the Amish?

PL: I wrote in the story how they sing hymns. On YouTube I came across a couple of Amish girls, one playing the guitar and the other singing a particular hymn.

EC: How would you describe the heroine, Ruth?

PL: She is impulsive and ambitious. She is also impetuous, affectionate, kind, and tender, which comes out in her love of children. She is searching for a “home.”

EC: How would you describe Adam?

PL: There is a lot of my husband in him. We have a woodcraft business for several years. It can leave someone very frazzled which is how Adam reacts. He is lonely, caring, kind, and worried about his hyperactive son. He left behind his support structure after his wife passed away. He was a single dad.

EC: How similar is the relationship between the four-year-old child Lucas and Ruth?

PL: Both are impulsive, enthusiastic, energetic, and firecrackers. Ruth understood Lucas. I based the story where Ruth became Lucas’ nanny on my daughter. She was a professional nanny and learned how to deal with these overly active children by keeping them occupied. Lucas adored Ruth and always wanted to impress her.

EC: What about the relationship between Adam and Ruth?

PL: She still has the Wall Street mentality that money is everything, while he just wants to earn enough to support, himself and his son. Ruth is vulnerable. The relationship started with the young boy’s feelings for Ruth. She remembers the fond memories of the Amish view of community and family since in her early life she was raised Amish. They both realize what they are missing: her a family, and he a solid home life.

EC: How did the financial end affect the relationship?

PL: Adam and Ruth became a team first, as she helped him with his finances. Ruth was able to keep track of his finances, write proposals, write estimates, and do the billing and payroll. This freed him up to build, construct, and supervise. This is also based on how my husband, and I handled our business. He can create and build, while I do the numbers and taxes. Just as with us, with Ruth and Adam, one person’s weakness is the other person’s strength. They balance each other off.

EC: Next book?

PL: The title is The Quilter’s Scandalous Past. It is based on a huge Amish store in Ohio called Lehman’s. The heroine, Esther, manages the store for her aunt and uncle. She works with this prospective buyer who knew her as a teenager. It is probably coming out in June. The third story in this series has a “Beauty and the Beast” theme.

THANK YOU!!

***

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Nazi Conspiracy by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch

Book Description

From the New York Times bestselling authors of The First Conspiracy and The Lincoln Conspiracy comes the little-known true story of a Nazi plot to kill FDR, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill at the height of World War II.

In 1943, as the war against Nazi Germany raged abroad, President Franklin Roosevelt had a critical goal: a face-to-face sit-down with his allies Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill. This first-ever meeting of the Big Three in Tehran, Iran, would decide some of the most crucial strategic details of the war. Yet when the Nazis found out about the meeting, their own secret plan took shape—an assassination plot that would’ve changed history.

A true story filled with daring rescues, body doubles, and political intrigue, The Nazi Conspiracy details FDR’s pivotal meeting in Tehran and the deadly Nazi plot against the heads of state of the three major Allied powers who attended it.

With all the hallmarks of a Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch page-turner, The Nazi Conspiracy explores the great political minds of the twentieth century, investigating the pivotal years of the war in gripping detail. This meeting of the Big Three changed the course of World War II. Here’s the inside story of how it almost led to a world-shattering disaster.

***

Elise’s Thoughts

The Nazi Conspiracy by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch dives into the 1943 Nazi assassination threat against the Big Three world leaders. As the war against Nazi Germany raged abroad, President Franklin Roosevelt had a critical goal: a face-to-face sit-down with his allies Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill. This first-ever meeting of the Big Three in Tehran, Iran, would decide some of the most crucial strategic details of the war. Yet when the Nazis found out about the meeting, their own secret plan took shape; an assassination plot that would have changed history.

A true story filled with daring rescues, body doubles, and political intrigue, The Nazi Conspiracy details the pivotal meeting in Tehran and the deadly Nazi plot against the heads of state of the three major Allied powers, Russia, US, and England. A bonus is the backstory on what was happening during WWII, including the Holocaust and thoughts of how the Big Three would structure the war. As with all books by these authors readers get a thrilling plot with gripping details.

***

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?

Brad Meltzer: I saw in a half page newspaper article years ago this story. It said that there was a plot to kill FDR, Churchill, and Stalin at the height of WWII, an attempted assassination by the Nazis. I found this detail that FDR was hiding in the back of a beat-up sedan, while his actual motorcade had a body double in it. Josh and I decided to answer the threshold questions why was FDR hiding and who was going to murder him? We point out how this is imperfect information because so many documents were destroyed over the years.

EC: What do you believe-was the plot a hoax or reality?

BM: Either the assassination attempt was planned, or Joseph Stalin pulled one of the greatest scams in all of history and tricked FDR and Churchill in the height of WWII. My personal belief is that this was a credible threat. The one person who never changed his story was the head of the Secret Service Mike Riley. With the big three together, they were a tantalizing target for the Nazis.

EC: Why is Mike Riley so important?

BM: He is the one who looked the Russians in the eye, their evidence, their MO, and assessed the threat. He really believed to his dying day that this was a real plot to kill all three.

EC: Why did you touch on the hatred of the Jewish race?

BM: Whenever Josh and I start these books we ask, ‘what is the book about?’ We included the Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden at the height of WWII. There were 20,000 Nazis cheering with a picture of George Washington surrounded by Nazi banners. A speaker there said if George Washington was alive today, he would be friends with Adolph Hitler. We also included the details of the Holocaust which is relevant today. The Holocaust started with slogans, propaganda, rallies, and book bans. A group of people pointed at others and said, ‘they will take away our way of life.’ We are seeing it repeat now.

EC: Why the background history?

BM: People think we punched the Nazis in the jaw and saved the day. But this is not the story. The US did not want to be in WWII. WWI was not too far in the background, there was the depression with the stock market crash, and FDR was to save the country from ruin. There were other priorities. Josh and I wanted to put in the context to understand the only reason the US entered WWII was because of Pearl Harbor. For context, we put in how Yamamoto, the architect of Pearl Harbor, was assassinated by the US to show how assassination was a valid and common weapon of WWII.

EC: What was the role of the Nazi Franz Mayr?

BM: In his late twenties, a Nazi spy, a zealot in Tehran. The reason he is so vital is that he was the one to convince the Nazis about the plot although he is not a part of the actual plot, getting arrested months before. The Germans completely believe they can drop paratroopers into Tehran without being seen as the US, England, and Russia meet for the Tehran Conference. Oddly, it is his arrest that foiled the plot.

EC: Who is the true hero?

BM: I think there were two heroes. First, the Soviets, who captured the 36 Nazi paratroopers and found out about the plot. The other hero is Mike Riley who assessed the threat. You cannot have one hero without the other. If Riley did not believe the information the Russians provided about the plot it could be a disaster. It takes one believing the other.

EC: Why had the storyline shifted?

BM: During the Cold War since the US did not want the Russians to be seen as the good guys. Suddenly it was given the name of Operation Long Jump. There is no proof it was ever called it. Josh and I showed in the book how the stories became exaggerated, shifted, and changed.

EC: You also have in the book the relationship between FDR, Churchill, and Stalin. Please explain.

BM: It was precarious at best. FDR pivoted and adjusted. He believed in his ability to charm the other leaders. He is the middleman who held it all together because Churchill and Stalin hated each other.

EC: What do you want readers to get out of the book?

BM: To entertain, to inform, but also to warn people. Good people should not stay silent. Anti-Semitism is at an all-time high since it has been tracked by the ADL starting in WWII. People should appreciate the freedom we have now.

EC: What about your next books?

BM: There will be some children’s’ books including Wonder Woman out in a few months. Then I am working on the novel sequel that brings back Zig and Nola. It will take a few years to come out.

THANK YOU!!

***

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: High Mountain Tracker Series by Freya Barker

Book Descriptions and Elise’s Thoughts

The “High Mountain Tracker” four book series by Freya Barker has characters people will root for within a very suspenseful plot. The characters are strong, mature, and range in age from their late thirties to middle age with both the hero and heroine having histories and hang ups to navigate. In each book there are strong independent women facing off against alpha-males. It is a modern-day western suspense with added doses of romance.

The first book in the series, High Meadow has Jonas Harvey facing off with Alex Hart. He has a business that tracks domestic terrorists, criminals, and missing people with his retired Special Forces buddies, Fletch, Sully, and Bo. Jonas also has another business, the High Meadow Stud Horse Ranch where he and his ex-military friends work on the ranch.

Alex and her friend Lucy have a business that rescues abandoned and abused horses as well as dogs and a donkey. New to the area, they would have to build the rehabilitation reputation of their farm. But everything is put on hold until escaped convicts are found because they have decided to set up their terrorist operations on Alex’s land. Jonas feels the need to protect her even though she makes it clear she and Lucy can protect themselves. As they work together a chemistry is formed that leads them to become intimate.

High Stakes has Nella Freling searching for her sister Pippa who has gone missing in Montana. No one in law enforcement will help so she tries to contact Fletch Boone, a highly recommended tracker. Nella’s first interactions with him goes badly since he is rude and an overall jerk.

They decide to work together to find Pippa since Fletch realizes that Nella had no sense of self-preservation, and her stubbornness got her into trouble in more than one circumstance. She went off into the mountains looking for her sister with no idea what she was doing and Fletch needing to rescue her multiple times. The couple bond over the search but each has insecurities that they must overcome before the relationship becomes solid.

High Ground has Pippa Freling recovering from the attacks after being rescued by Nella and Fletch. Pippa has decided to make roots in Libby Montana to be closer to her sister. Unfortunately, she got pregnant after a one-night stand with Sully Eckhart, one of the trackers and a ranch hand. She is resentful and angry since he never contacted her after that night, basically ghosting her. But after hearing he is the father; he becomes very protective of Pippa. Eventually they decide for the baby’s sake to get together, realizing that they are more alike than not.

The suspense happens after Pippa has inadvertently become involved in a murder case. The FBI has her as a suspect in a five-victim murder investigation. This also puts her in the scope of the killer. Now Sully and the team must protect her and work with the FBI to clear Pippa’s name and find the true killer.

High Impact focuses on the backstory of Lucy Lenoir. She was a common thread throughout the series, always helping the other heroines. Lucy was there for everyone. She was content to run the horse rescue and horse therapy alone and be in her own company. This story has Lucy attempting to overcome her past and hiding from it. She ran away from an abusive situation and has tried to reinvent herself. But after Lucy suddenly becomes the center of threats, framed for a murder, and has her rescue animals attacked, she realizes her past has caught up with her.

Bo Rivera is content to work with his “brothers” on the ranch and helping with the tracking business. But watching his friends finding someone to share their life outside the business has created some longing for more in his life. Being misled and trusting too quickly almost had him burned so he is very careful when it comes to women. But he feels a draw to Lucy that he can’t seem to ignore. The attraction that has simmered between Bo and Lucy for a while keeps growing and Bo appoints himself to watch over Lucy and find the person responsible for threatening her. All these stories have plenty of drama and suspense. There are twists and turns, surprises, and dangerous situations. Wanting to learn more about these mature characters’ lives will keep readers turning the pages.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Why the hero and heroine chapters in each book of this series?

Freya Barker: It was not a conscious decision. I have had that in every book I have written. I have found books written from a single point of view to be unbalanced. I want to be inside both main characters heads to show more of their personal evolution and thought process during the book. Readers get both perspectives from an event that happened. It enables me to explore behind the scenes when something happens.

EC: Are your books more mystery or romance?

FB: I think I do a pretty good balance, leaning on a little more suspense. The label romantic suspense for me creates pockets of tension through misunderstandings. I want to include everyday events that people experience in real life. This puts the characters in a context on how they interact to life.

EC: Why the title in a sentence of each story?

FB: I try to do it, so the title becomes purposeful with an intent and cohesiveness. Everything gets tied in including the title. I will sneak it in, knowing the readers’ enjoy trying to find it.

EC: How would you describe Alex, the heroine of High Meadow?

FB: Independent, motivated by idealism, emotional, passionate, strong, determined, big- hearted, and pragmatic. She is a bit of an earth-mother type. She has preconceived ideas which can make her a bit naive.

EC: How would you describe Jonas?

FB: He is a traditionalist and old fashioned. He has lived in a male dominated environment, being surrounded by ranchers and having been in Special Forces. He is considerate and can be a charmer when he wants to be. Jonas can also be open-minded.

EC: What about the relationship?

FB: It is a mature relationship. Neither is looking for a partner, yet there was some chemistry both could not ignore. There is not a lot of angst, emotional situations, in the relationship, but more a cerebral approach. I am not a fairy tale writer and want it to be real. I hope I reflected that they could talk about misunderstandings and their feelings. In the beginning Alex is guarded but not for long, because she was willing to open to a possibility.

EC: In the book, High Stakes, how would you describe Nella?

FB: I wanted to write a contrast to her sister Pippa who went missing. Nella is the stable one. At first view, each sister appeared unmatchable. Nella is determined, cautious, stubborn, gutsy, headstrong, and direct. Because she is a librarian, she has become very sheltered, and kept her world as a very small safe environment. She found herself after her sister disappeared.

EC: How about the hero Fletch?

FB: He was in the background in the first book, High Meadow. I love grumpy characters considering three of my four brothers are cantankerous. These types of men have a softer core that they protect by portraying themselves as grumpy. He likes to avoid people, does not know how to communicate but is loyal and caring. Fletch is a bit of a hermit and does not have the patience to deal with other people’s stupidity.

EC: The relationship between Nella and Fletcher?

FB: At first it was condescending with him being bossy over her. They eventually found trust with each other. They were an unlikely combination until they were thrown into a dire situation. They saw each other in a different light. Nella’s determination to expose herself to danger has Fletcher seeing her as naïve at first.

EC: In High Ground how would describe Pippa, the heroine.?

FB: She is like me since I have an interest in traveling in a camper. She is colorful, exuberant, adventurous, unpredictable, a Tomboy, non-traditional and non-conventional. She is a rebel.

EC: How about the hero Sully?

FB: Protective, possessive, formidable, confident, kind, and complex. He is a decent and strong man. Underneath there are levels of insecurities.

EC: How about the relationship?

FB: Everything changes once Pippa finds out she is pregnant from a one-night stand with Sully. At first, she is angry, hurt, and vulnerable. Then they became supportive of each other. It was a process because they were forced into the situation with the unexpected pregnancy. This is based on reality since I just witnessed it with my daughter. She found out she became pregnant by her friend. The friendship had to evolve into something else. They chose to forge a relationship and some of that was portrayed in the book. I wanted to bring up the real issue of health insurance and how it affected the characters’ decisions.

EC: The latest book of the series, High Impact has very emotional topics?

FB: Yes, this book was heavily loaded in terms of Lucy’s background who was abused. I wanted to show how the heroine, Lucy was raped, bullied, manipulated, and lost control. Lucy lived a lie for years, basically hiding in plain sight.

EC: How would you describe Lucy?

FB: From the first book on Lucy is portrayed as someone with a chip on their shoulder and someone who is hiding something. Anti-social with trust issues because of what she went through. She is also independent, stubborn, strong, sarcastic, and defiant. But she can be compassionate by establishing a horse therapy site for those who were raped or abused. For me, horses were a comfort. It is a way to teach people to trust again. She is extremely complicated and has many layers because she is a survivor. She is an observer, someone who sees herself as an outsider to avoid scrutiny.

EC: How about the hero Bo?

FB: Tenacious, relentless, a flirt, egotistical, cautious, and caring. He likes to joke and rib his peers. Because he is black, I wanted to show how difficult he had it. At the same time, I wanted to show how he does not view himself much different.

EC: What was the role of Bo’s mom, Zuri?

FB: She was a bit of comic relief. Zuri showed how loyal he was to his mom and their relationship anchored him. She is pushy, sharp-tongued, and is how Lucy’s backstory becomes prevalent becomes she probed her.

EC: What about the relationship between Bo and Lucy?

FB: She never likes to show public affection which put their relationship off-balance. Bo was smitten with her. He became frustrated with her lack of communication. She has self-protective instincts which holds her back.

EC: Next books? Are you going to write about any of the secondary characters from this series?

FB: By the time I was writing the last book the side characters played a role. I am thinking of either doing a spinoff, a next generation, or just continue the books with the secondary characters becoming main characters. There will be more books with a fictional timeline moving forward in years.

My next book, the sixth in my “Arrows Edge series,” titled Edge of Trust, is out in March. In Durango the head of a motorcycle gang is married to an FBI Agent. One of the gang members is matched up with a bartender. She is a rebel, like Pippa. In the story there is a murder, a sex club, and organized crime.

THANK YOU!!

***

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Honeymoons Can Be Hazardous by Amanda Flower

Book Description

Set in the fan favorite Amish village of Harvest, Ohio, the latest novel in USA Today bestselling author Amanda Flower’s Amish Matchmaker series brings back the unlikely sleuthing duo of an Amish widow and her zany, thrice divorced best friend. Will appeal to fans of cozy mysteries, small-town mysteries, wholesome romance, and inspirational fiction.

Millie’s decidedly not Amish best friend, Lois Henry, is outspoken, colorful, and so hopelessly romantic, she’s had four husbands. Millie doesn’t judge, and she also doesn’t expect to run into Lois’s most recent ex, gambler Gerome Moorhead, in small-town Harvest, Ohio. With him is the very young, new Mrs. Moorhead, aka “Honeybee.” Lois is outraged, but Millie is completely shocked to learn the next day that Gerome is already a widower .

When a large wood carving at the cozy Munich Chalet falls on “Honeybee,” all eyes turn toward Lois. Who else would want a tourist—a complete stranger—dead? And half of Harvest witnessed Lois’s enmity toward the young woman. Suddenly Millie must put aside her sewing needle and flex her sleuthing skills. She’s no stranger to a murder investigation, after all, and if she doesn’t learn who killed Honeybee, Lois could go from Millie’s boisterous best friend to her horrified prison penpal . . .

***

Elise’s Thoughts

Honeymoons Can Be Hazardous by Amanda Flower is a fabulous cozy mystery that takes place in Harvest Ohio. The duo of Millie Fisher and Lois Henry are back. They are the Odd Couple since Millie is Amish and Lois is English and very flamboyant. Beyond this, readers also learn a bit about the Amish culture, beliefs, and problems. In this story Flower delves into the drug problem among the Amish.

As in all the books in the series Millie and Lois make a formidable sleuthing team. They must investigate the killing of Paige Moorhead, the wife of Lois’ latest ex-husband, gambler Gerome Moorhead. She gets hit on the head by an oversized cuckoo clock that fell. Unfortunately, Lois become one of the main suspects. Millie aka the Amish Marple is determined to find the real killer, and Lois makes sure she is included in the sleuthing.

Readers learn a little more about Lois’s backstory. They will laugh as she carries around a huge purse a la Mary Poppins’ satchel. It seems she has everything in it but the kitchen sink. The purse matches Lois’s personality, colorful, full of spirit, and very outspoken.

People will find themselves quickly drawn into the story and mystery. They will eagerly flip through the pages to find out what happens next. The characters are fun and quirky, and the story has many laughs.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?

Amanda Flower: I wanted to write about Lois and her relationships, since she was married three times. I introduced her last husband. I also wrote about the world’s largest cuckoo clock that is in Ohio Amish country. I did not use it specifically because it is so beautiful, has been restored, and is beloved by the Amish. I made up another cuckoo clock that fell and crashed on someone.

EC: Lois and her purse reminded me of “Let’s Make a Deal” TV show?

AF: I did know that people brought things in their bags, trying to have what was asked for. My mom had a purse like Lois’s. It was large and vibrantly colored and pulled a lot of crazy stuff out of it. This is where the inspiration for that came from.

EC: The drugs and alcohol in the Amish community?

AF: There is a real problem. In rural Ohio there is an opium crisis because it is so inexpensive and easily accessible. In the last decade it has come to the Amish community. I wanted to make people aware. Per capita drug use is higher in the rural counties. The more Liberal Amish districts will go to hospitals for medical conditions, although I never heard someone going for drug therapy. Drug use is more whispered about than out in the open. In the book, I had a crisis center being created.

EC: Lois’ backstory?

AF: In future books I want to have Lois find a partner because she is a hopeless romantic. In this book she realized she has not made the best decisions when it comes to men. This is setting up the next book.

EC: Next books?

AF: The next book in this series comes out this time next year titled Dating Can Be Deadly. Lois is dating a couple of guys. I am going to Pinecraft, the Amish retirement community in Florida to research about it. Millie and Lois will have a girl’s trip there.

The next Candy Shop Amish book is called Blueberry Blunder and comes out in April. Bailey is in the process of building her candy factory. Unfortunately, a general contractor was corrupt. He gets murdered inside the job site. At the same time, blueberries are a popular crop in Ohio and Harvest has a Blueberry festival. Both series are continuing. I told my editor I will write them as long as they will contract me.

THANK YOU!!

***