Summer Reads, Road Trips & Real Talk: Four Authors on the Books That Belong in Your Beach Bag

What this episode covers

What makes the perfect summer read? Host Samantha Tennant puts that question to four of Fresh Fiction’s Game Sponsors — and the answers are as delightful as their books. In this episode, award-winning contemporary romance author Nina Crespo (Bishop Honey Bee Farm series, Tilbridge Stables world) talks about writing characters inspired by country music and why passion is always the first connection between her leads. Multi-award-winning historical romance author Misty Urban (The Ladies Least Likely series) shares her obsession with rich historical settings and heroines who refuse to sit quietly in a ballroom. Carrie Schaffer — also writing as Carrie Ann King — explains how a personal hatred of funerals became the spark for an entire mystery series. And bestselling romantic suspense and Western romance author Deborah Parmley, who is currently traveling the US full-time with her veteran husband, reveals that even when she deliberately set out to write a sweet holiday romance, a stalker ended up climbing down the chimney anyway. We dig into each author’s writing journey — the manuscripts that got picked up, the ones that didn’t, the genres they stumbled into, and the ones they can’t seem to escape. We talk about what comes first: characters or plot (spoiler: it’s almost always the character). And we ask each author what the common thread is in every single book they write, no matter the genre. Then we get to the fun part: book picks for the Fresh Fiction Summer Travel Going Places Challenge. Between the four of them, we’ve got a Marine hero on a cruise ship, a 1790s reformer sailing off at the end of the story, a road trip in search of a rock star’s biological father (with a Walmart DNA kit), and a haunted island with a talking raven. Plus carriage rides, multiple states, horses, and yes — someone pretending to be on a cruise ship to avoid being bothered. We wrap up with Fresh Fiction Facts: rapid-fire questions that reveal everyone’s gas station snack of choice, a classic novel each author hasn’t read yet, what they own a ridiculous amount of (dogs, pens, plants, and crystals all made the list), and the most dog-eared book in their collection. GUEST LINKS • Nina Crespo — Instagram + Newsletter (best found via Instagram or her arc team) • Misty Urban — mistyurban.com | also on Linktree • Carrie Schaffer / Carrie Ann King — allthingskerri.com (K-E-R-R-I) | Instagram: @all.things.kerri • Deborah Parmley — Website + Thursday Newsletter | YouTube channel + travel blog (coming soon) FRESH FICTION READER GAMES • 2026 Bingo Challenge • A to Z Challenge • Summer Travel Going Places Challenge Find them all at freshfiction.com → Reader Games

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