Amoret, Texas, 1982. Life along the border is harsh, but in a world where cultures work together to carve a living from the desert landscape, Blaine Beckett lives a life of isolation. A transplanted Boston intellectual, for twenty years locals have viewed him as a snob, a misanthrope, an outsider. He seems content to stand apart until one night when he vanishes into thin air amid signs of foul play.
Noah Grady, the town doctor, is a charming and popular good ol’ boy. He’s also a keeper of secrets, both the town’s and his own. He watches from afar as the mystery of Blaine’s disappearance unravels and rumors fly. Were the incipient cartels responsible? Was it a local with a grudge? Or did Blaine himself orchestrate his own disappearance? Then the unthinkable happens, and Noah begins to realize he’s considered a suspect.
Paced like a lit fuse and full of dizzying plot twists, The Bones of Amoret is a riveting whodunit that will keep you guessing all the way to its shocking conclusion.
A gripping, openhearted novel about family, reconciliation, and bringing closure to the secrets of the past.
Early into the tempestuous decade of her thirties, Rae Langdon struggles to work through a grief she never anticipated. With her father, Connor, she tends to their Ohio farm, a forty-acre spread that itself has enjoyed better days. As memories sweep through her, some too precious to bear, Rae gives shelter from a brutal winter to a teenager named Quinn Galecki.
Annie Rushton leaves behind an unsettling past to join her brother on his Montana homestead and make a determined fresh start. There, sparks fly when she tangles with Adam Fielding, a visionary businessman-farmer determined to make his own way and answer to no one. Neither is looking for a partner, but they give in to their undeniable chemistry.
Annie and Adam’s marriage brims with astounding success and unanticipated passion, but their dream of having a child eludes them as a mysterious illness of mind and body plagues Annie’s pregnancies. Amidst deepening economic adversity, natural disaster, and the onset of world war, their personal struggles collide with the societal mores of the day. Annie’s shattering periods of black depression and violent outbursts exact a terrible price. The life the Fieldings have forged begins to unravel, and the only path ahead leads to unthinkable loss.
Winner Best Cover Design: Fiction 2022 Best Book Awards
Finding out who you are has never been so deadly.
Seventeen-year-old Kade Shaw is a privileged Golden. Kade and his family have the best money can buy, living in the wealthiest area of Sector One. A bored rich kid, Kade’s tired of his mundane life, and regularly sneaks out to the skate park and the slums to take risks and feel alive—maybe even kiss a Dreg girl or two. Until one night at an illegal party, everything goes horribly wrong.
When the cops accuse Kade of falsifying his Golden status, an offense that carries a death sentence, he is forced to question his true heritage after his powerful parents won’t save him. Then, on the eve of his execution, he’s rescued by a guerilla Dreg group—but why? What do they want from him? As he lives with them in squalor, trained in raiding for food, fighting, and how to survive, he slowly gains respect for the Dreg people, seeing them as more than “other”, confusing the age-old lines of good and bad. But despite his infatuation with Saya, a beautiful Dreg girl, Kade still wants his old life back.
Finalist Best Cover Design: Fiction 2022 Best Book Awards
Twenty-four-year-old Violet wants one thing: to hide from life after her husband's death left her reeling. But life has other ideas. Well, life and a certain seven-year-old neighbor.
Violet moves to Magnolia Avenue, a forgotten street in a forgotten neighborhood filled with forgotten mobile homes. It looks like the perfect place to retreat and lick her wounds. But it's not long before her young neighbor, Arabella, enlists her in the rescue of the cantankerous old woman next door who has fallen ill. But if Violet thinks this is a one-off event, she's wrong. Next thing she knows, she is entangled in the lives of several neighbors from grumpy Mr. Pritchard to the handsome GI across the street. Set against the backdrop of the 1969 moon landing when astronauts broke the boundaries of Earth, A Boundless Place shows what happens when people are able to break through their own boundaries and reach out to others.
Finalist Best Cover Design: Fiction 2022 Best Book Awards
MEET AVERY, a well-rounded, fifteen-year-old girl who suddenly has the power to enter an alternate dimension where she discovers her life's purpose-to protect animals and help save the planet before it's too late. Thrilled to unmask the hidden mysteries found within this parallel universe but overwhelmed with the pressure of knowing that the fate of the animal kingdom is in her hands, Avery can finally breathe a sigh of relief when she learns that she is not alone.
Follow Avery as she tries to cope with this new reality while juggling the rest of her life-which includes investigating her nagging suspicion that the new owners of the local zoo are up to no good.
Claudia lives in a very small town in Southern Italy where the cobblestone streets are so narrow you can’t have a car, not that there is any money for one. No money, no food and barely any education. All around her is poverty and nothing to do but marry a local boy and start a family of her own. But Claudia has a feeling that there’s more for her out in the world. One fateful visit from a distant relative and suddenly she knows what she needs to do. Despite all the obstacles she knows she will face, Claudia sets out on a very difficult and unknown journey that challenges her every step of the way. A journey that will either be the best thing she’s ever done or the biggest mistake of her life.
Beyond the Cobblestones is a heartwarming tale based on true stories told to the author by her parents. It reminds us that it is important to stay true to oneself; to follow one’s dreams. Readers will feel inspired by this story to take action in their own lives and follow their passions!
She has an eerie gift for drawing faces. Will one terrifying vision tear apart everything she loves?
Ohio, 1987. Adriana Krause hasn't slept in weeks. Desperate for work to keep her three-year-old son out of her powerful father's controlling clutches, her vivid illustrations land her a job as a police sketch artist. But the only image she can draw is the shockingly mangled visage from her recurring nightmare.
With her disturbed nights spiraling into violent episodes, Adriana's unique talents pull her into the tight-knit small-town's buried secrets. And now fearing she'll lose her little boy to the madness sucking her down, she's convinced that the monstrous likeness she can't stop scrawling holds the answer to a brutal crime.
Can this struggling mother solve a dark puzzle before her family is destroyed?
Face the Night is a bone-chilling supernatural thriller. If you like complex characters, lived-in settings, and tension dripping from every page, then you'll be transfixed by Alan Lastufka's gripping tale.
Finalist Best Cover Design: Fiction 2022 Best Book Awards
Kathryn Bek gets the chance of a lifetime: a job offer right out of college, and in New York City, where adventure lies around every corner. Believing she is recruited for her marketing prowess, she is excited by the prospect of her new job in the intelligence sector; but all is not what it seems. Before long, Kathryn and her new team are thrown into a world of mystery, murder, and magic. As the team rushes around the world, untangling the web of lies, she finds that her past may be the key to protecting her, and the world's, future.
Will she be able to confront her fuzzy past to unlock the secrets within herself? Can her team rise to the challenge and stop the Paolucci Crime Family before they unleash havoc upon the globe?
Who will endure, the Kathryn of the past, or that of the future?
A pair of strong hands choke the final breaths out of black singer Etta Childs. When Miami police fail to turn up a lead, her brother Wendell Childress turns to private investigator and former police detective Ben Sheen.
It quickly becomes apparent that the investigation could have been more thorough. Meanwhile Sheen’s own dead ends keep piling up. He’ll have to go up against both the police and political powers if he has any hope of solving the crime.
Sheen’s got a hunch why they don’t want him to make progress. One more body will fall before he’s got it all figured out, and he’ll have to work fast to crack the case open before his unexpected new lover is caught in the cross fire. Can he find the answer in time?
It’s 1972 and Isabelle is four years old. She, her eight-year-old brother, and their mother are grappling with yet another harsh Maine winter under crushing poverty. With their father absent, their mother takes the children South to Georgia to be near her family. Their extreme economic hardship continues as residents of a public housing complex in Albany. Their lives become juxtaposed with the phenomenon of “White Flight” as they, a Caucasian family, become a local minority living among a societal minority. The predominately white world outside the public housing development is largely unknown to Isabelle and her siblings. Meanwhile, those with whom they most identify (the children in “The Projects”) reject them or directly take their frustrations out on them. Subsequently, Isabelle struggles to figure out where she belongs. That is, until she becomes best friends with Evelyn, a Black girl who moves in across the driveway. Their friendship blossoms and flies in the face of typical racial attitudes of the day. They become each other’s lifeline and hope in an environment rife with adversity. Soon, however, they are confronted with an earth-shattering event that completely changes Isabelle’s view of the world.
Times are tough for sixteen-year-old Stick McLaughlin, running from a trumped up arson charge and hiding among hobos in 1918 Boston. Denied the companionship and support of lifelong soul mate Ellie, Stick edges her way through prison as “Mac,” only to be thrust alone and wide-eyed into the very definitely Roaring Twenties. She swallows what’s left of her pride through the final year of her sentence—serving as maid to a wealthy family—but stockpiles many invaluable lessons about rapidly-changing life in 1924.
Confrontations with bootleggers and a particularly enthralling flapper go a long way toward molding a strong, confident, clever “Mac,” who hits the streets with a gang of her own, determined to claim the good life she deserves by beating the corrupt system and Boston’s ethnic mobs at their own game.
When Marco struts into Gigi’s grill, Alex wonders if she has found the one. When he takes the seat next to her and strikes up a conversation, She is immediately aroused by the heat of his animal magnetism. There is something she sees in his vulnerable, piercing green eyes that touches her heart. She realizes that she wants this handsome man to be more than just her bedmate. She wants him to be her soulmate. Marco was instantly smitten the moment he fixed his eyes on Alex. There was something about her warm, sympathetic gaze that filled him with hope. Maybe he had a chance to overcome the bitterness and despair that had blighted his life. Perhaps finally some measure of happiness is within his grasp.
This inspiring debut novel is about love--where showing compassion toward others becomes a magical experience and changes people's lives--even when they are strangers.
The cross-country road trip began innocently enough ... but unexpected detours lead them down a road that will change their lives.
Megan and Katie Summers are leaving on their long-planned road trip and are thrilled when the departure day finally arrives. But Katie is apprehensive because her dreams are confusing; a mysterious fire, two sisters screaming, an Indian woman with a long grey braid, a white horse, and trees that want to hurt her. She didn't know how to interpret them.
Two women, one ancient Egyptian harem, and the daring decision that changed the course of history.
In the opulent court of Egypt’s tenth dynasty, Princess Hagar has always known her destiny. One day, she will marry the Crown Prince Merikare and become the Great Royal Wife, the most powerful woman in Egypt. But dark dreams afflict Hagar the moment she hears of the latest addition to Pharaoh’s harem: the stunning, iridescent Sumerian, Sarai. Princess Hagar feels a powerful presence around the Sumerian woman. Hagar suspects Sarai has brought black magic into the palace—but what can she do to convince Pharaoh?
The intrigue of Pharaoh’s court pales in comparison to that swirling in the Royal House of Women among the wives, children, and concubines of the king. Sarai’s arrival upsets the already precarious balance. Loyalties divide, and betrayal, jealousy, and tragedy plague the once peaceful household. When a series of disasters befalls Egypt, Hagar must make a daring decision, and the stakes could not be higher. She could lose everything—her position, her power, her family, and even her life.
The next novel in The Immortality Wars series continues…
Hidden in the bottom of a roadside ditch as a baby, Evangel is only steps away from her viciously murdered parents. An old hermit finds her there a day later and takes her to his home in the heart of a sylvan wilderness. She is raised in a hermitage built by Matthew where he learns she is touched by a rare spiritual power.
Seventeen years later, a series of miracles occur that rock the very nature of her reality. Befriended by outlaws and a king's champion, she is also betrayed by a woman of the cloth during a bard of the realm's performance. That night, in a dream, Evangel envisions her future soulmate, Pall Warren, on a battlefield of death, and casts a prayer of protection around him. Thus begins a remarkable journey to save herself and those who believe in her.
A hauntingly beautiful and startling tale of wonder.
A riveting coming of age story, that will make you laugh, cry and root for Laura to find happiness.
Laura Shirk is a normal, happy, go-lucky, little girl playing with Cabbage Patch dolls and Legos. Until she isn't. Set in the late 1980s-early 90s, a visit to her aunt and uncle's house changes everything.
What follows is a nerve-racking story shedding light on child sexual abuse. As the tragedy unfolds, Laura mutters through life concealing her secret from everyone. Feeling alone and isolated, she struggles to navigate her younger years wondering if she can or will ever find happiness.
Finding inspiration where she least expects it, one woman's life is about to change forever.
Life has not been kind to Georgette. Growing up with an alcoholic father and an enabling mother, she clings to the loving memory of a childhood trip to Martha's Vineyard to help see her through the bad times; and now, as an adult, she returns to the island to start her life over. Soon she becomes the private nurse for a prize-winning novelist. As the two become friends, he opens her mind to new possibilities.
But everything changes when she encounters the mysterious Dock. Georgette isn't quite sure about him but finds him irresistible. She quickly loses herself in her relationship despite the inherent dangers that come with him. Torn between her own future or spiraling into a life she tried so hard to leave behind, Georgette must make her most important decision ever.
Set authentically in the High Sierra, The Trail is a moving story showing how nature helps us find what's missing in our lives.
More than a hiking novel, The Trail is fused with humor, philosophy, and trail lore. Woven in is a back story detailing the origins of the John Muir Trail: a 211-mile trail spanning the rooftop of the Sierra Nevada from Yosemite Valley to Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the continental United States.
Finalist Best Cover Design: Fiction 2022 Best Book Awards
ALL BEGINNINGS COME AT A PRICE. ARE YOU WILLING TO PAY IT?
Lilla must recruit the biggest and most dangerous army in the Seven Galaxies, but the Teryn emperor will not comply unless Lilla earns the blessing of the Teryn Guardian Goddess Laoise.
Dealing with gods is never easy. Guardian Goddess Laoise’s condition for bestowing her blessing is for Lilla to bring her the mysterious Heart Amulet. Now Lilla is trapped in a strange place with no way out, no idea where to go or how to find the amulet.
The only way for Lilla to complete her mission is to uncover the biggest secret of all Teryns. Will she survive discovering the secret of what it means to be a True Teryn?
At the reading of her beloved father's will, Kate, a divorced French professor, learns of his affaire de coeur during World War II with a French artist named Emilie, to whom he has left a substantial bequest. Kate, stunned to discover the existence of this woman who captivated her father, is determined to unravel the mystery of his past and unearth the truth.
Though Emilie has passed away, her daughter Yvette sends a box of her mother's keepsakes from the war that are even more unnerving - among them a dried flower, a photograph, two smooth stones, and a train ticket. With the help of a long-hidden memoir Kate begins to see the significance of these items that create the picture of a father she thought she knew.
Finalist Best Cover Design: Fiction 2022 Best Book Awards
SOMETIMES SECRETS ARE TOO BIG TO IGNORE.
After a lifetime of lacking confidence at work and in life, Rebecca has finally found her voice. Her blog for women is gaining traction, even getting noticed by the world’s top fashion magazine. When they request an article, Rebecca is beyond thrilled. So why is her boyfriend Kyle so concerned?
Kyle has a blank spot in his past he won’t share—not even with Rebecca. But his secret is blown when a powerful woman from Kyle’s fashion past, becomes desperate to get his attention. It’s attention he never wanted and has been trying to forget for eleven years.
As Kyle takes steps to heal, Rebecca’s article becomes a global sensation. Events force Kyle’s past and present to converge, putting Rebecca’s future at serious risk.
Into a tenuous calm left behind by the War in the Woods-which pitted environmentalists against loggers, and resulted in the largest mass arrest in Canadian history-paddles Pulp & Paper empire. As a test of his loyalty, and with his inheritance on the line, he's been dispatched to break a logjam in stalled timber negotiations, and to fix a management problem at the swanky Headlands Lodge. His ailing grandfather has millions riding on both ventures.
With his new kayak packed with gear, and his head crammed with schemes, Heritage pursues his own mission to halt the decades of damage his grandfather's companies have inflicted on the rainforest. First, though, he must limb the deadwood off the family tree, outwit a half-dozen witches, and deal with a fifteen-year-old terror named Aidan-also known as "Satan with an A."
