#authorinterview – Page 3 – Avonna Loves Genres

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Truffle Trouble and Newlyweds Can Be Knocked Off by Amanda Flower

Truffle Trouble, an Amish Candy Shop Mystery book, and Newlyweds Can Be Knocked Off, an Amish Matchmaker Mystery book, both by Amanda Flower, have humor, great characters, and a puzzling mystery. Unfortunately, the Candy Shop series will have only one more book before it ends, and this is the last one in the Matchmaker Mystery book series. But as the saying goes, “every story has an end; yet in life every end is a new beginning.” Amanda Flower discusses what is next in store for readers with her new series as well as her insight into these two books.

***

Book Description

Summer is finally upon the village of Harvest, Ohio, nestled in picturesque Amish Country, and folks are abuzz over their very own Bailey King’s upcoming June wedding. The Amish Candy shop owner and star of TV’s Bailey’s Amish Sweets is marrying Holmes County Sheriff Aiden Brody. To sweeten the occasion will be a scrumptious giant chocolate truffle wedding cake, made especially for the happy couple by Bailey’s New York City mentor, Jean Pierre. Other than the risk of the ring bearer, Jethro the pig, taking a bite out of the confection, what could go wrong?

As it turns out, a food-related disaster does befall the day. But with Bailey in the mix, it’s nothing so pedestrian as a peckish pig. At the reception, a wedding guest dies after sampling the hors d’oeuvres. Café owner and new caterer Darcy Woodin, who made all the food except the desserts, is pegged by police as the number one suspect. Even more incriminating, the victim is one of Darcy’s ex-boyfriends . . .

Still, Bailey is friends with Darcy, and she’s certain the young woman is innocent. Even before the first dance with her new husband, Bailey’s on the case. Can she help solve it in time for her honeymoon—or will a killer try to end her happily ever after before it’s even begun . . .?

###

Elise’s Thoughts

Truffle Trouble’s plot includes the long-awaited wedding between candy shop owner Bailey King and Sheriff Aiden Brody. The wedding allowed for readers to have their favorite characters together, old and new. All the regular characters are present including Margot Rawlings, Charlotte Little, Ruth Yoder, Millie Fisher, Lois Henry with her over-sized purse, granddaughter Darcy Woodin, the caterer of the wedding. And of course, Jethro the pig. Bailey’s old boss and mentor from New York City, Jean Pierre is also in it and he takes a shine to Lois Henry.

But an Amanda Flower book is not complete without a murder. At the reception, a wedding guest dies after sampling the hors d’oeuvres. Café owner and caterer Darcy Woodin, who made all the food except the desserts, becomes the number one suspect since the victim is one of Darcy’s ex-boyfriends, Jason. Now, Bailey must put aside her honeymoon plans to prove her friend Darcy’s innocence.

***

Book Description

After years on her own, Millie has been busy adjusting to married life once again. Meanwhile, her best friend, Lois Henry, is still salty that Millie didn’t have a big wedding where she could get dressed up and be maid of honor. But there’s a way Millie can make it up to her: with a dreary January upon them, it’s the perfect time for a girls’ trip to the Amish community in sunny Pinecraft, Florida. Oft-divorced Lois is decidedly not Amish, but she thinks it will be a hoot.

With the blessing of her sweet husband, Uriah, Millie agrees to go. On the tour bus that transports Ohio’s Amish snowbirds to Florida every year, Millie and Lois strike up a friendship with a young woman traveling alone. She reminds Millie of her beloved niece, and Millie takes her under her wing. But even before the end of their first day in Florida, tragedy strikes.

Millie and Lois find their new friend dead on the beach, seemingly drowned. But who would want to hurt the sweet young woman? Is there a murderous snowbird among them? Or was it someone vengeful from her past? Clearly, vacation time is over for Millie and Lois, and it’s time to dive beneath the surface to hook a killer . . .

###

Elise’s Thoughts

Newlyweds Can Be Knocked Off has Lois and Millie taking a girl’s trip to the Amish community in sunny Pinecraft, Florida. Oft-divorced Lois is decidedly not Amish, but she thinks it will be a hoot. On the tour bus that transports Ohio’s Amish snowbirds to Florida every year, Millie and Lois strike up a friendship with a young woman traveling alone. She reminds Millie of her beloved niece, and Millie takes her under her wing. But even before the end of their first day in Florida, tragedy strikes. Millie and Lois find their new friend dead on the beach, seemingly drowned. Her hands had been tied and there were signs of trauma. Both Millie and Lois realize a murder has taken place and are intent on finding the killer.

Any Amanda Flower book will have characters that readers can connect with and a murder that is not easy to solve. There are red herrings and misdirection at every turn. Readers will be sad to see that these two series are ending but will find joy in her new series coming out next year.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story, Truffle Trouble and the wild mushrooms?

Amanda Flower: I know some people here in Ohio that are mushroom foragers. So, I kind of got the idea from that, and the Amish also forge mushrooms. It’s like one of the things they do. So, it seemed like a good fit.

EC: Was it hard to write the marriage scene between Bailey and Aiden?

AF: I didn’t spend a ton of time on it because I wanted to get to the murder. I think the wedding scene was fitting because the couple are pretty simple. They knew everyone wanted to celebrate, so they did it as simple as they could for the whole town to be there.

EC: Darcy was accused of killing her ex-boyfriend. How would you describe her?

AF: Darcy is the grand-daughter of Lois Henry. I would say Darcy is more of a loner than Bailey. She likes to go back to her one room apartment because she spends all day talking to people that dine there, and she needs to get away. Although she’s curious, a skill needed as an amateur sleuth, but I think she’s not as curious as her grandmother who kind of pushes her to get involved in stuff. She’s a little more reserved, definitely than Lois for sure.

EC: How would you describe her ex-boyfriend, Jason?

AF: Jason, her first love interest, is chauvinistic, temperamental, and felt he was owed something. He would do anything for money. He is also critical, untrusting, sophisticated, greedy, spiteful, and self-centered.

EC: What about the relationship between Lois and Jean?

AF: Lois Henry and Jean Pierre will appear in most of the future Harvest books. There will be one more candy shop book that’ll come out in the spring of 2027. It’s called Strawberry Scam. Jean Paul will come and visit because he likes Lois. He is a retired, very wealthy man, so he can come as often as he wants to get on his plane and fly over.

EC: What about the idea for the other book Newlyweds Can Be Knocked Off?

AF: There is an Amish community in Florida in Pinecraft, where they go, and I went there to visit, probably 3 years ago, and I just thought it was so fascinating to be walking on the beach by the ocean. I saw Amish ride around on their scooters, they’re not allowed to have horses and buggies there because it’s in the city limits of Sarasota. They get around on electric bikes and electric scooters for the most part. I just thought that would be really funny to send Lois and Millie there. There’s a bus that comes to Holmes County every week in the winter and takes Amish snowbirds down south. So just, like, Ohioans that aren’t Amish go to Florida for the winter, elderly Amish go to Florida for the winter, too

EC: Who finds more dead bodies, Millie or Bailey?

AF: Bailey, because there are ten books out in “The Candy Shop series” featuring Bailey. So, she’s found quite a few dead bodies by this point, and Millie’s on her 6th book in the “Amish Match Maker Mystery series.” So that’s how I would decide it.

EC: How did you come up with the great quote about community?

AF: You are referring to “a community is like a quilt. Each piece is important to make a whole. That is actually a nice Amish proverb. They have a lot of sayings like that.

EC: Are your series interconnected?

AF: I think my greatest example is when you see Ruth Yoder, the bishop’s wife, from Bailey’s point of view. Bailey sees her as crotchety, creepy, and mean, but Millie and Lois grew up with her, so they have a completely different view and they don’t take her as seriously. It’s fun to see characters with a different point of view of someone, because they have a different experience or relationship with them. So that’s really fun to write to show how each character has a different experience or relationship with them.

EC: Are you ending these two series?

AF: Kensington is stopping their mass market paperbacks. All their series are either being switched over to trade paperback or being ended that are in mass market. There will be one more Bailey book and no more Millie/Lois books. The new series, featuring Darcy will come out in trade paperback.

EC: Rumor has it there is a new series?

AF: In February of 2027, there’s a new series in harvest featuring Darcy Woodin, Lois’s granddaughter as the main character. The series is called “The Amish Country Cafe Mysteries.” And the first book is called Apple Cornered. Darcy takes over Bailey’s role as an amateur sleuth. Lois always helps out Darcy who owns the café and Millie’s always with Lois, so they have very large parts in the new series. Bailey and Aidan will make cameos, and Jethro, the pig, will too. All the characters will drop in here and there. And you’ll see Aiden and Deputy Little quite a bit because there’s always a murder, and they’re the ones that are the cops involved. So, readers will see all the regulars, which is fun because I can write them from a different point of view.

EC: Will Darcy have a love interest?

AF: She will. A guy that owns an apple orchard is her love interest in the first book. And he’s not Amish. He is former Amish. His brother, his family is still Amish, but he’s not.

EC: Does she question her choices in men?

AF: She feels she has terrible taste in men and feels her track record is bad. Darcy is a little more standoffish about the idea of dating anyone. She’s just trying to focus on her business and put relationships to the side.

EC: Are you writing another non-Amish series?

AF: I’m writing a third Katharine Wright mystery. I have a new series with Kensington, which is called “The First Ladies Murder Club.” It’s set in the 19th century and will have first ladies and murders in the White House. The first has Francis Cleveland, the first lady, set in 1894. Her husband is President Grover Cleveland. The first book is called First Lady’s Guide to Murder, and it comes out November 26th, which is Thanksgiving week.

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: Love Comes in Small Packages by Lori Foster and Maisey Yates

Book Description

THAT SPECIAL SOMEONE * LORI FOSTER
Compared to her smart, responsible twin, Laylee has always been labeled the party girl sister. Now she’s really screwed up by finding herself possibly accidentally pregnant, and definitely not in love. With her sister away on her honeymoon, Laylee’s only confidant is her guy friend Knox. There’s mutual attraction there, yet they’ve been tiptoeing around it. But telling Knox everything may change . . . well, everything. Especially amid a comedy of pregnancy test errors, a robbery, a cat rescue mission—and the realization that Knox sees her as so much more than a pretty face . . . .

THE RANCHER’S UNEXPECTED FAMILY * MAISEY YATES
Ellie Parks helplessly watched her beloved sister, Melanie, spiral into addiction in high school, thanks to her toxic relationship with Ty Porter. Ellie, now a teacher, hasn’t seen Melanie in over a year when she gets a call from Child Protective Services that Melanie has a baby—and she’s surrendered her parental rights. Ellie races to the hospital, but someone’s beat her to it: rodeo champion Clark Porter, the baby’s uncle. Clark’s a good man and he’ll be damned if his niece grows up without him. Until they find a custody solution, Ellie will just have to move into his ranch house. Temporarily. Obviously. Except that they’re attracted to each other. Risking the unconventional family they’re creating is the last thing they need. Then again, if what they feel is deeper than attraction, it may be what they need most . . .

***

Elise’s Thoughts

Love Comes in Small Packages is book 2 of the novella anthology by Lori Foster and Maisey Yates. These two short stories, one written by Lori and one written by Maisey, are wonderful reads by two very talented authors. That Special Someone by Lori Foster features characters readers first meet in “The Odd Couple” of the book The Two of Us.

Laylee and Knox are pet-sitting for his brother and her sister. Compared to her smart, responsible twin, Laylee has always been labeled the party girl sister. Now she’s a wreck believing that she is possibly accidentally pregnant, and not in love. With her sister away on her honeymoon, Laylee’s only confidant is her guy friend Knox. There’s mutual attraction there, yet they’ve been tiptoeing around it. Readers are once again delighted to have animals in the story
and to find intriguing characters.

A bonus is that this is one of Lori’s benefit books where all of Lori’s advance & royalties will go to the Animal Adoption Foundation, a no-kill animal shelter.

***

Author Interview with Lori Foster

Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?

Lori Foster: My idea for the story was just to show the topsy-turvy trip a romance can take before it lands where it’s meant to be. Rarely is it smooth. Also, we can fall in love with someone because of things they’ve done for others. We see their heart in how they give to someone, the care they take with different relationships.

EC: What is the theme of the book/story?

LF: “Love Comes in Small Packages,” meaning love isn’t always a tidal wave that knocks you over. Often, it’s finding common ground over things we love – like children, animals, and good friends.

EC: Did you write the story independently or consult Maisey?

LF: I write every story 100% independently. I’d be a terrible collaborator because I’d want everything my way. Plus, Maisey has her own unique, wonderful voice, and it’s different from mine. (That’s probably true for most authors!)

EC: How would you describe Laylee?

LF: Overall, Laylee uses bravado and a party-vibe to hide her insecurity. Her family often compared her to her studious, very serious twin sister, and she felt she had to live up to the role assigned to her. Yet, she’s also smart, just as her twin is also pretty and lively. Too often parents innocently say things without realizing how it might impact their children later in life.

EC: How would you describe Knox?

LF: Knox is a hard worker, a loyal friend, a family guy – he has a great family – and he wants to settle down. He wants home and hearth, with that one special woman. Finding her was the issue – until he met Laylee. Unfortunately, Laylee didn’t realize that, so she stuck him in the friend zone. Once he was there, she feared losing his friendship if she pushed for more.

EC: How is Laylee different from her twin sister Skye?

LF: She’s far more of a fashion icon, comfortable in crowds, and always ready to have a good time. She’s also a local model, doing well enough to live independently.

EC: What role did Laylee being possibly pregnant play in the story?

LF: The pregnancy scare was the catalyst to their romance. Knowing a guy would stick with you, even if you were pregnant with someone else’s child, showed Laylee just how much he cared, and how reliable he was for the long term. It also drove home to Knox how important she is to him, no matter what.

EC: What role did the dogs and cat play in the story?

LF: Pets are a great unifier! If you’re sharing responsibility as “pet sitters,” you’re naturally brought closer together. It also gives insight on how someone nurtures, and the level of their responsibility and reliability.

EC: How would you describe Laylee and Knox’s relationship?

LF: They were very good friends – biding their time until they could declare their true feelings. The friendship was important to them both, and that alone is a great basis for a relationship. Of course, friendship will only do for so long when you’re in love with someone, and fortunately, they get to work that out in the book.

EC: How about your next book(s)?

LF: THE LAKE HOUSE was just released May 26^th.
It’s the 2^nd book in the Firefly Summer series, though each book stands alone. Both Pixie and Brogan have wounds to heal; Pixie is already well on her way, thanks to a big-hearted but tiny town and the wonderful, quirky people who live there. She’s part of a “found family” now, and wants to concentrate on raising her toddler son. Brogan never had much family, until he joined the service, but then he loses his team, his brothers, and finds himself gravely wounded in a hospital. He had little reason to live – until an estranged sister made him guardian of her infant daughter. From the moment he meets Pixie, the young single mother gets a grasp on his heart. Now together, they deal with threats from his past, and the secrets he reveals. I recently finished writing book 3, THE RAINBOW CONNECTION, which will be out next year.

WHEN I FIRST MET YOU will be released July 14^th.
It’s the 2^nd book in the Family Ties series, and again, each book stands alone.
It shows how first impressions aren’t always accurate, something Kam figures out when Glory has a stalker threatening her life. He steps up to protect her, and as they grow closer, he realizes there are layers to Glory he never expected.
Also, he had a truly awful, abusive childhood before being adopted into a great family. In many ways, Glory helps him to really deal with his past, something he hadn’t yet been able to do.

THANK YOU!!

***

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Everything Has Happened by T. Greenwood

Book Description

In 1986, a child disappeared. Nearly forty years later, a tip line rings.

It’s been almost four decades since Edie Marshall’s little brother, Charlie, vanished on his walk home from day camp. After the case went cold, Edie—who had once dreamed of pursuing a life beyond the confines of her small Vermont town—never left, her dreams disappearing right along with Charlie. In her fifties now, she teaches at her old high school and has returned to her childhood home to care for her ailing mother.

When the long-dormant tip line set up for Charlie rings for the first time in years, Edie assumes it’s a wrong number—but on the other end is Jericho Jenkins, the only person of interest ever identified in the investigation. Jericho believes he’s found something of Charlie’s on his property, and with this news, all the pain and uncertainty of that summer rushes back to Edie, including vivid memories of her best friend, Trill: their shared secrets and the devastating lie Edie told that could have changed everything.

Now Jericho is under suspicion again, Trill is coming home, and her mother’s hope is renewed. Edie’s in the same place with the same people as when Charlie first vanished, but somehow everything is different now, and maybe this time they can discover the truth.

***

Elise’s Thoughts

Everything Has Happened by T. Greenwood delves into a mystery surrounding a missing child.

The plot begins with the family’s tip line ringing after forty years. It’s been almost four decades since Edie Marshall’s little brother, Charlie, who vanished on his walk home in 1986. Fast forward to the present, in 2023, when Edie, Charlie’s older sister, has returned to her childhood home to take care of her mother and is now the teacher at her old high school. She answers the tip line and realizes the call is from Jericho, the brother of her estranged best friend and the only person of interest ever identified. He thinks he has found something of Charlie’s on his property.

Edie’s dreams were put on hold after Charlie disappeared. But with the phone call she must now confront the past. Things seem to be going in a repeat direction after Jericho once again falls under suspicion and Edie’s childhood friend Trill returns home. What peaks readers interest are the dual timelines told between the 1980s and 2023.

The story delves into buried truths, forbidden young love, and guilt over what happened. The mystery will keep readers turning the pages.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?

Tammy Greenwood: Several years ago, I listened to a podcast about Jacob Wetterling, a little boy who went missing in Minnesota in the 1980s. One of the episodes was dedicated to the man who had been a person of interest, a music teacher who lived with his mother, near where Jacob disappeared. He was an innocent man, but his life was destroyed by the accusations; he became a pariah in his community. I wanted to explore what happens in the aftermath of an innocent man being suspected of a horrible crime. In the same podcast, Jacob’s parents talked about the tip line phone they had – and the idea of living with such a live wire in one’s home really haunted me. And this was where the first scene came from – a tip line rings after forty years, and on the other end of the line is the man who was wrongly accused.

I also wanted to set a novel in the 1980s. As a Gen X reader, I haven’t read many books that capture what it was like to be a teen in the 80s. I wanted to lean into that nostalgia. Writing, for me, often arises from a desire to revisit places and times in my life.

Lastly, I wanted to tell the story of a young woman’s coming of age in a small town. A girl who is ready to spread her wings only to have all those wild dreams squashed. And that is where we meet Edie – almost forty years after the disappearance of her brother Charlie – as stuck as she was at eighteen years old.

EC: Did you want to get across that a missing person is harder on the family than someone who has been killed?

TG: There is a purgatorial aspect to the lives of these characters. Their home is a virtual time capsule. The tip line phone remains in the family room. Bonnie, the missing boy’s mother, has Alzheimer’s and still believes that Charlie will still walk through the door one day. And Edie, Charlie’s sister, is paralyzed in a life she never chose for herself.

EC: Also, it seems there is a lot of publicity in the beginning but then the world moves on except for the family. What emotions do you want to have the readers understand that the family goes through?

TG: I think the hardest thing about a cold case is that attention spans are short. Initially everyone is actively engaged in the search, attentive to the family’s needs, eager to help. But as time passes, hope and interest both wanes. But for the family the pain lingers. Forever.

EC: What role did Charlie’s disappearance play in the story?

TG: Charlie’s disappearance is the central mystery of the story. It is the question which drives the plot forward. It is a cold case story until the former suspect discovers evidence on his property which opens the case back up.

The novel is told in a dual timeline, where we follow the new leads and then dip back into the events leading up to Charlie’s disappearance.

EC: How would you describe Charlie?

TG: Charlie is a sensitive and inquisitive little boy. He is bright and obsessed with anything to do with space. He adores his older sister and is worried about what will happen to him when she goes off to college.

EC: How would you describe Evie?

TG: Evie is, like so many teens, yearning for what comes next. She’s stuck in a small town; stuck with a boyfriend she really doesn’t love. When Trill moves to town, this world cracks open for her, and suddenly she sees all the different lives she could have. She becomes fixated on going to Smith College instead of the state school in town. And Trill also awakens her sexuality in a way that Nathan simply has not.

EC: How would you describe Trill?

TG: Trill, to Edie, is magical. She lives with her herbalist mother and artist brother on a former commune. She has been living in New York City with her father for the last ten years or so. She’s street savvy and cultured. She’s obsessed with film and wants to be a filmmaker when she grows up.

EC: How would you describe Nathan?

TG: Nathan is Edie’s next-door neighbor – more brother than boyfriend. He’s a good kid. An altar boy at their Catholic church. He works for his dad’s construction company and aspires to take over one day. He loves Edie, or the idea of Edie, anyway. His plans for their future together are clear and immutable.

EC: Can you compare the relationship between Trill and Evie with Nathan and Evie?

TG: Edie likens Nathan to a comfortable pair of slippers. He’s predictable, comfortable, safe. Trill is the exact opposite. She challenges Edie. She is unknowable in some ways. Her life and history are exotic to Edie. She represents everything beyond the confines of this small Vermont town.

But Trill also really sees Edie. And she loves her for who she is, not who she wants her to be.

EC: What was the role of Sylvia Path in the story?

TG: Edie is obsessed with Sylvia Plath. She has read all her journals and letters and poems. She identifies with Plath’s hunger and yearning. With her rage and feelings of paralysis. Trill gets this about Edie in a way that no one else has, and she arranges for the two to take a “Syl-grimage” to all of Sylvia’s haunts, including her old dorm room at Smith. I made a similar Syl-grimage myself several years ago. I was a Plath girl in high school too.

EC: Next book?

TG: I am almost finished with the first draft of a new novel – but I am not talking about it yet.

THANK YOU!!!

***

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Last Baby in Auschwitz by Anna Stuart

Book Description

Naomi Demetriou has survived three years behind the walls of Auschwitz. Torn apart from her family, every breath could be her last. She’s learnt to survive by secretly trading the clothes she’s forced to sort through in exchange for food. But when an SS officer singles her out, her life becomes even harder. And then she discovers she’s pregnant…

With the support of Ana, the kind midwife, and the other mothers in Barrack 24, Naomi does the impossible and gives birth to a tiny baby boy. Hiding in the shadows, Naomi vows to do whatever it takes to keep baby Isaac safe. With rumours circulating of an Allied invasion, Naomi holds onto the hope the camp will be liberated. And she dreams of returning to her house by the Greek sea with her son.

But the day comes when Naomi hears heavy footsteps and the harsh voice of an SS guard. ‘Out! Now! You can’t take anything with you!’ She’s shoved into a line of people being marched out of the iron gates. Thick snow falls around them. Tears sting in Naomi’s eyes.

It all happened so fast. And she was unable to grab the bundle of blankets containing her little boy. But Ana is still there, will she and the other brave women be able to save him?

***

Elise’s Thoughts

The Last Baby in Auschwitz is a very gripping and compelling novel. Inspired by true stories, this novel shows how the characters remained courageous in a time of unimaginable darkness. There is fear of not only losing their country, but also family, and who they are as they fight to survive the hellhole of Auschwitz.

The story follows two young cousins from a Jewish Greek family as each fight to survive. Naomi Demetriou is separated from her escaping family and captured by the Nazis. Lieke Demetriou is rounded up with her father, mother, and brother and sent to Auschwitz. Lieke’s mother is Austrian and has spoken to her daughter in German, so they are both bilingual. Because of this, Lieke and her mother are among the few prisoners chosen to work in the camp offices. Yet her father and brother are separated from them and forced into slave labor.

Throughout the years, the cousins occasionally speak to each other, at Auschwitz, and remind the other that as Naomi’s mother told them, their family ties are like a spider’s web and even when destroyed, the spider will keep rebuilding them. Now three years in Auschwitz these sixteen-year-olds learn to survive.

Naomi ‘s life gets even harder after she is singled out by a German SS officer who constantly takes her for his own sexual pleasure. She survives by thinking of her mother’s words and using the “gifts” he gives her to help others.

After discovering she is pregnant by him, Naomi vows to give birth and keep the baby. She is aided by Ana, the kind midwife, Ester, and others in Barrack 24. They hide the pregnancy and then the baby from the evil Kapo, Klara. Hearing rumors of an Allied invasion, Naomi holds onto the hope the camp will be liberated, and dreams of returning to her house by the Greek sea with her son.

Naomi and Lieke stories are ones of survival, resilience, and hope even during the dark times, enduring the evils of the Nazis with their total lack of humanity and cruelty.

***

Elise Cooper: Do you think this book is relevant today?

Anna Stuart: There is a huge antisemitism in Britian, and it is truly shocking. It is not seen as terribly serious. This is why these types of novels are relevant and important. It is very easy to forget about the Holocaust, and I don’t know why. It should not be forgotten considering the burning of people of all ages, the rapes, and the working of people to death.

EC: Idea for the story?

AS: I wrote Midwife of Auschwitz, the first book in the series that tells the story of Ana Kaminski and Ester Pasternak. This was followed by Midwife of Berlin. Naomi was also in the first book as a young counterpart to the others. When doing my research for these books I read about the Greek Holocaust. I really wanted to write about Naomi and what happened to the Greek Jews which is why I wrote this story. The overall thread is friendship and family and holding onto people.

EC: Were Greek Jews treated like the rest of Europe by the Nazis?

AS: The Nazis had a level of excessive disdain for them. They were considered more Eastern. They raped and pillaged the Greeks. The disparity between how the Jews were treated and the non-Jewish Greeks was much less than in other places.

EC: What was true in the story?

AS: There was an Italian zone in Greece, more of a safe zone for the Jews. The Italians in charge resisted deporting the Jews until the Germans took over Athens. The Italians did not consider the Jews the root of all evil as the Nazis were.

Black Sabbath was also true. The Nazis ordered the Jewish men to Platia Eleftherios, Freedom Square. They made the men do humiliating and meaningless exercises, forced into relentless calisthenics, and men were forced to drag one another across the square in races where the Nazis bet. Losers were shot. Those that lived were rounded up and sent into slave labor.

The Jewish Ghetto was interesting for me. They were transient camp ghettos, briefly lived in, because they were deported so quickly in an inhumane way. Some believed that the Germans were selling them land in Poland to get them to go quietly. It was the same trick they played when they offered people soap to supposedly go into the showers, but it was the gas chambers.

EC: How would you describe Naomi?

AS: A risk-taker, brave, determined, soft-hearted, cunning, independent, and tough. Once she got to Auschwitz, she felt humiliated, a slave laborer, bitter, lonely, and escaped through her memories. The way she coped is to try to find the positives. For example, her rapist gives her gifts that she passes on to others to help them survive. Ana and Ester were her mother’s substitutes. They were her new adoptive family.

EC: How would you describe Naomi’s mom, Agata?

AS: She seems to be one of the few who connected the dots. She is from Polish origin. She is tough but leaves Naomi with words of wisdom, such as, “Your body is your own,” that Naomi thinks about why being raped, trying to keep a part of herself.

EC: What is the role of the spiders?

AS: Naomi associated it with her mom Agata, a connection. Her mom told Naomi spiders are resilient creatures. They create these amazing webs. It is a symbol. The friendships in Auschwitz were a web that held together. These women clung onto each other. Just as the saying goes, “spinning the family web.”

EC: How would you describe Lieke?

AS: She is daring, hopeful, has a dry-wit, cynical, bold, protective, and resilient. I wanted a character who is Jewish, Greek, and can speak German. She speaks the language of the enemy, which ultimately saves her family. As the story progresses, she becomes stronger.

EC: What is the role of Mala?

AS: Mala is a real person. I kept her as a real person. She worked as an administrator in Auschwitz. She could have just stayed safe but did everything she could do help others. She helped link up Naomi and Lieke. She contrasts with the Kapos like Klara, also based on a real person, and Grunwald. The Kapos figured out to survive Auschwitz as they went over to the dark side.

EC: Why did you have Naomi want to keep the baby boy, Issac?

AS: Although he was a reminder of her rape, Naomi tried to divorce Issac from the Nazi father. She sees Isaac as a bit of her. Isaac became a symbol of saving all the babies who were lost. It is a defiance that proves love can win. Naomi is a positive person who saw Isaac as only hers.

EC: Do you only write Holocaust stories?

AS: I started writing Medieval novels under my real name, Joanna Courtney. My first series is called, “The Queens of Conquest.” Then the series, “Shakespeare’s Queens” and I have just finished a book in a new series “Women of the Ancient World,” titled “Cleopatra & Julius”.

EC: Next books?

AS: Midwife of Berlin is the sequel to the first book, Midwife of Auschwitz. It is set in Berlin in 1961. It explores what happened to Ester’s baby, taken away from her, in Auschwitz. Both are published now. The other books in the series that are also out are The War Orphan and The Secret Message. The Children on the Train is about the saving Jewish German children in 1938/39 and will be published in September.

THANK YOU!!

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: You Can Tell Me by Melinda Leigh

Book Description

On the three-year anniversary of true crime writer Olivia Cruz’s horrific kidnapping, she’s scheduled to walk her podcaster friend Zoe March through the crime scene, but Zoe fails to show. Olivia knows Zoe would never stand her up—not today.

Zoe’s husband, who claims she never came home the night before, has reported her missing. But marital conflicts make the police suspect she has left him. Olivia thinks otherwise. The police aren’t looking for Zoe, so Olivia begins her own investigation. Retracing her friend’s last steps, she finds Zoe’s phone and a text with one chilling word: Run.

It soon becomes apparent that Zoe has been keeping secrets, and with her true crime podcast, there’s no telling what she has unearthed. To find her, Olivia must dig into her friend’s past. Did Zoe vanish to escape a killer, and is Olivia walking into a deadly trap?

***

Elise’s Thoughts

You Can Tell Me by Melinda Leigh features Olivia Cruz. Fans might remember her from the Morgan Dane series. This story plays off what happens to Olivia in Save Your Breath.

It soon becomes apparent that Zoe has been keeping secrets, and with her true crime podcast, there’s no telling what she has unearthed. To find her, Olivia must dig into her friend’s past.

While going to a coffee shop with her niece, Olivia is attacked. But with the help of her niece, Nicki, she thwarts the attacker. Now Nicki demands to join the search for Zoe. The two soon decide that the most likely suspects to have plotted an abduction are those close to Jennifer Hamilton or Evan Brown, the two long-dead victims Zoe had been researching as possible subjects for future seasons.

Olivia also get help from her PI boyfriend Sharp Lincoln, who insists on being involved in the case. Since he is the partner of Morgan Dane’s husband, Lance, they are also brought into the story to help find what happened to Zoe.

Readers will enjoy this first in the series and will yearn for the next book that is sure to have another heartbreaking drama, a suspenseful story, and gripping characters. The exploration of secrets and trust along with the pacing heightens the tension.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Why this new series?

Melinda Leigh: It is refreshing for me. I have written police procedurals and law books for the last sixteen books, either Morgan Dane or Bree Taggert. I think with this series I went outside the box. My publisher asked me to write something new, and I immediately thought of Olivia from the Morgan Dane books. She is in books 4, 5, and in 6 plays a significant role.

Writing a series enables me to challenge my protagonists over a long period of time. They can adapt and grow.

EC: Idea for this story?

ML: I wanted to tie it with her experiences the last time she was on the page. Basing a series on a true crime writer, Olivia, gives me more flexibility.

EC: How would you describe Olivia?

ML: She is spunky, bold, and a little different from my other female characters. She is steady, methodical, competitive as the auntie, confident, very smart, and short in statue.

EC: Zoe was a true crime podcaster?

ML: A lot of true crime podcasts are cold cases. They take years of investigations and boil down into about six episodes. With fiction, people can get involved with the characters whereas true crime focuses on the crime. The way I write is to create the plot around the characters, deciding what the characters will experience to get the emotional hit. Most of my books take place over a short period of time, about four or five days. Zoe, one of the main characters, was a true crime podcaster. She was impulsive, punctual, not tidy, loyal, and someone who compartmentalizes.

EC: Did you speak with people who was traumatized?

ML: I have in the past talked to victims who were traumatized, although I did not do it for this story. I do read a lot of memoirs. They are great resources for what happens to someone and their emotional response to it.

EC: How would you describe Nicki, the niece of Olivia?

ML: She is a lot like Olivia. She is a typical Gen-Z. I drew her character from my youngest son and my nieces, although not all her personality. She is arrogant, can be self-centered, stubborn, improvising, independent, and tech savvy. She is very funny.

EC: How did you come up with the date rape drug scene that had Nicki replaying what Olivia told her?

ML: That really happened. I have read cases where even though women are vigilant about their drinks the bartenders or other people have doctored drinks before it gets to the table. I tell my nieces to order cans so they can open them. Go out with a friend and have them watch each other’s backs. It is sad that we must do this.

EC: Do you think Nicki is a lot like Olivia?

ML: They are both bold, outgoing, and fearless.

EC: How would you describe Sharp Lincoln, the male lead?

ML: He is Olivia’s boyfriend who is a PI. He has zero tolerance for people who commit crimes. He sees things black and white. He is tough, a mother hen, and protective.

ML: Morgan Dane has a cameo appearance?

EC: They are all part of the same world as Olivia. I do not see how I cannot have them show up. Lance is Sharp’s partner. They all work together. Morgan shares an office with Lance and Sharp. They will interact and run into each other. Morgan will be in more of the books but regarding how much will depend on the storyline. Lance will also probably be in more of the books.

EC: Of course, a Melinda Leigh novel must have a dog in the story. Correct?

ML: Yes-this one has Chewy, a border collie. I had that breed as a child, and I believe the border collie ate our basement door. She was a dog my parents found. This breed needs a lot of physical and mental exercise or they become destructive. I named Chewy because Olivia and Sharp are Star War fans, a play on the name.

EC: Next book(s)?

ML: I will be writing more Bree Taggert books. The eleventh in the series will come out next January. The title is Kill for Her. It is about a gruesome double murder that exposes the secrets of the dead. The next Olivia book is titled I Know Your Secret and will release in September in 2027. It will have secrets and probably someone will be dead. Nicki, Sharp, and Chewy will be in it. I will alternate the two books, writing one every eight months.

THANK YOU!!

***

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Where the Truth Lies by Katherine Greene

Book Description

Childhood sweethearts Rhett and Lucinda seem to have the perfect marriage, the child they always wanted, and even the white picket fence. But fifteen years ago, the couple came very close to losing everything. When outsider Jennifer Moore arrived in their tight-knit Kentucky town, a brief but explosive affair between the newcomer and the soon-to-be-married Rhett stirred up a violent storm of betrayal that ended with a dead body and a mystery riddled with corruption and deception.

Now, new evidence has surfaced—including an eyewitness who places Rhett at the scene of the brutal crime. Soon the carefully constructed life Rhett and Lucinda built starts to crumble—and the truth waiting beneath the surface could destroy them both.

In a town steeped in deadly Southern charm, secrets don’t fade—they fester.

***

Elise’s Thoughts

Where The Truth Lies by Katherine Greene, the pen name of bestselling authors A. Meredith Walters and Claire C. Riley, is a domestic suspense story. The small-town setting enhances the secrets, affairs, and deception made by each character, along with the alternating timelines and multiple POVs.

High school sweethearts Rhett Clark and Lucinda Herbaugh seem to have nothing in common. She is from a very powerful and rich family while he is being raised by a single mom who works very hard at her job. Yet, they appear to love each other and to be the picture-perfect couple with the perfect marriage.

But fifteen years ago, the couple came very close to losing everything, when outsider Jennifer Moore arrived in their tight-knit Kentucky town and had a brief but explosive affair with soon-to-be-married Rhett. Fast-forward to the present where new evidence has surfaced, including an eyewitness who places Rhett at the scene of the brutal murder of Jennifer.

Now the betrayal once again comes to the surface, and the mystery of Jenn’s death is riddled with corruption and deception. Everything Rhett and Lucinda strove for is crumbling as the “truth” begins to come out. Abuse plays a role in the story whether emotional, physical, or both. Lucinda’s father made sure everyone in the family and town sided with him. Jenn’s brother believes women should be dominated and intimidated, influencing Rhett in a bad way. With Jenn’s death at the center of the story each of the other character’s will have to answer to their own demons.

Other than Jenn, all the other characters are not likeable and very complex. This story has readers only rooting for Jenn to get justice as they turn the pages to find out the truth.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?

Abbi Meredith Walters: It is inspired by true events, a cold case, that happened in Virigina involving people in my family. I had this old scrapbook that was my grandmothers. I sent this to Claire, and we decided to write a book based on the information. There are personality traits like the people the characters were modeled after. We did make changes.

EC: How did you both decide to write together?

Claire C. Riley: Abbi and I have been friends for ten plus years. We met on Facebook in a writer’s group. We had both been writing separately for a very long time. During Covid Abbi had a bit of a writer’s block and I suggested we should write a book together. We both really, really liked doing it.

EC: Why the pen name Katherine Green?

CCR: My middle name is Catherine with a “C”, so I changed it to Katherine with a “K” and Abbi was stuck for a surname. She liked green and so did I, so we chose that as the last name.

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

AMW: Claire and I agreed that the victim, Jenn, needed a voice. We wanted the reader to remember she was at the heart of the story and did not want her to get lost in it. She was meant to be the most likeable character in the story.

CCR: After writing about half the book, Abbi realized Jenn needed her own chapters. In the news the victim tends to be lost so we wanted to make her the forefront. We thought it was much more important for her to tell her story, more than anyone else. It helped to build the story around her.

EC: How would you describe Jenn?

Katherine Greene: She started innocent and finished innocent. She is vulnerable, fearful, a teaser, vulnerable, timid, and ran away from her life. Jenn was a prisoner in her family’s home. In some ways she is the other woman but unwillingly because she did not know.

EC: What was the relationship between Jenn and Rhett like?

AMW: He got something for this relationship that was lacking in his life. He was able to control her and felt he was in charge. I do not think he was capable of truly loving her and betrayed her. His entire relationship with her was what she could do to fill his needs.

EC: What about Rhett?

Katherine Greene: He was bullied into submission by this strong-willed family. He enters this dark world and is led astray by the other male character. We wanted to show how he was led down this different path that he meant not to go down. He started off as a lovely person who wants to please all the women in his life. We hope readers like him at first, and then at the end do not like him with the slow descent. At first, he is seen as trustworthy, honest, dependable, quiet, and charming. But then becomes obstinate, lacks common sense, and has rage.

EC: What do you want to say about Lucinda?

CCR: She just wants her parents’ approval and to be loved but must deal with overbearing parents. She has a slow descent into becoming an unlikeable person because of her striving for perfectionism. She is at times out of control, confident, from a privileged family, lonely, manipulator, and strong-willed.

EC: What about Lucinda and Rhett’s relationship?

Katherine Greene: They had secrets. She had old-fashioned values where she wants to get married and have children. He felt trapped in their relationship and felt emasculated by her and her family. She felt betrayed, deceived, and humiliated by him. They were bitter and combative toward each other. She stays with him out of spite because her parents never liked him. He creates a prison for her as much as she does for him. She was trapped by hoping he would love her.

EC: Do you think control plays an important role in the book?

Katherine Greene: The men in this book are all quite toxic in wanting control, while all the women felt they did not have control of their own lives. The continuity is that the characters felt all out of control over their own lives. The main characters each had to deal with overbearing people. Lucinda felt out of control because of her overbearing parents, Rhett felt overbearing by Lucinda, and Jenn ran away from home. No one was in control of their lives or actions. All were led astray by someone else’s actions.

EC: Do you agree that Marty, Jenn’s brother, was a character who did have toxic masculinity?

Katherine Greene: He passed it on to Rhett who latched on to him and had dark thoughts put in his head because he did not start out that way. He is domineering, wants things his way, unethical, intimidating, powerful, sadistic, arrogant, and wants to control the family dynamic. He has this book quote, “Women want to be tamed. They want to be controlled. They want to be put in their place.”

EC: How would you describe Bailey, Lucinda’s sister?

Katherine Greene: She is vulnerable, malleable, and family is most important to her. She has layers. She is also an attention-seeker, angry, possessive, and naïve.

EC: Next book?

Katherine Greene: We are writing two books. One is the sequel to The Lake of Lost Girls. The other book is Here We Lay Our Bones that has four simultaneous storylines, a mystery/thriller. The plot is based around the discovery of some bones.

THANK YOU!!

***