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It's Hard to Tell You This by James Kinsley Michael’s father didn’t leave much behind. A handful of battered paperbacks, a few family photos, and an ancient tape recorder - the scattered remains of an old man’s empty life. But that tape recorder sparks something in Michael, a need to take stock of his own thoughts. His memories. His regrets. Turning the recorder on, Michael begins to speak. About the loves he lost. The girls who slipped away. The women he hurt. Each memory spools out of him and onto the tape, raw and unedited. As the recorder fills with Michael’s confessions, his days grow longer, his relationships stranger, his shelves emptier. And Michael finds himself on the precipice of an ending… |
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After suffering an intensely traumatic loss at the hands of Jesse "Snake Eye" Musslin, the eccentric, queer, and legendary outlaw Ezra "Two Shots" Smith embarks on a lifelong quest for revenge, eventually crossing paths with Alexander "Good Times" Davis, who stubbornly refuses to let him be. Dangling High is a gripping Western adventure that turns the genre’s typical, problematic tropes upside down for a more progressive rhetoric. It is a fresh, politically driven take on what the United States has stood for in the past, the danger of the current moment, and the potential to embrace a future that is based on entirely different systems of power and ways of life. |
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Shoebox is a gritty and emotional exploration of the human condition, Steve Lewis, a dedicated paramedic, faces the devastating aftermath of a fatal accident that casts a dark shadow over his once-passionate commitment to saving lives. Plagued by guilt and grief, he finds his career, family, and very existence at risk as he navigates the complexities of trauma, both personal and professional. As Steve grapples with the high stakes of his job amidst the scrutiny of a community that admires yet questions him, each life he saves rekindles his passion for his work, reminding him of the profound connections he can forge through compassion and care. About Sean Paul Bedell: Author of the novels Shoebox and Somewhere There’s Music, Sean Paul Bedell has been writing and publishing for more than 30 years. Sean was a longtime paramedic and captain with the fire service. Bedell has worked in the finance, insurance, and aerospace industries. He is a leading safety expert and has provided safety consultation to private and public sector entities, including transportation, mining, manufacturing, and construction operations. Sean holds the Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP) designation. He was a director with Capital Health, the precursor of Nova Scotia Health and he was appointed by the Minister of Labour to Nova Scotia’s Occupational Health & Safety Advisory Board. Sean is a member of The Writers’ Union of Canada, The New Brunswick Writers’ Federation, and the Nova Scotia Writers’ Federation. He served on the board of the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia for many years, including as president. Sean was instrumental in the creation of the Jampolis Cottage writing retreat centre. Sean is married to Lisa, and they live in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, with their golden retriever, Maggie. They have two grown children, Amy, and Luke. Sean enjoys reading, travel, music, hiking, kayaking, golf, and spending time at the cabin on North Mountain. |
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Stan On Guard, forthcoming with Guernica Editions on March 1, 2026. Ishtanu (call him Stan) is a Hittite immortal keeping his head down in Toronto and recounting some of his experiences. Tróán is an immortal Trojan princess who thought she’d killed Stan in post-war Berlin but who now knows he survived. Yes, technically Stan can die. He has just managed not to for 3200 years. As their stories braid together toward a final reckoning they take us through a subversive retelling of the Odysseus story, the resistance of pagan Lithuania against Papal crusaders, the decline of Friedrich Nietzsche in a German clinic, the arts scene in belle epoque Paris, and the descent of Europe into the horrors of the Great War. Strap in. Stan On Guard is the follow-up to K. R. Wilson’s tragical-comical-historical novel Call Me Stan: A Tragedy in Three Millennia, which was long-listed for the 2022 Leacock Medal for Humour. About K. R. Wilson: K. R. Wilson is a Toronto-area writer. His novel An Idea About my Dead Uncle won the inaugural Guernica Prize in 2018, and his novel Call Me Stan was long-listed for the 2022 Leacock Medal. His follow-up novel Stan on Guard will be published by Guernica Editions in 2026 and his SF-noir Tendrils by Palimpsest Press in 2027. His work has appeared in various literary journals and the flash fiction anthologies This Will Only Take a Minute (Guernica Editions) and Sticks and Stones (Chicken House Press). He can be found at www.krwilson.ca and on social media at @krwbooks. |
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Marmalade Parade by Matthew Joudrey Marmalade Parade is a mesmerizing short novel that explores themes connected to different forms of memory. Memory as construct that is both built, destroyed, and altered daily, its reliability fleeting. A first-person narrator arrives at a house set high in the mountains in an undisclosed, remote location. He is confused, disoriented, and guarded. The home is owned by a man who is suffering from an illness affecting his memory. Both must navigate their combined gaps in memory to determine why they’ve been brought together. M. C. JOUDREY is an award winning Canadian writer, artist and designer. His second novel Of Violence and Cliché was released 2013, followed by his collection of short storiesCharleswood Road: Stories in 2014 (nominated for a 2015 JohnHirsch Manitoba Book Award). His novel Fanonymous was released in 2019 and won the Independent Publisher gold medal for best work of fiction for Western Canada. It was also nominated for two Manitoba Book Awards, including the Margaret Laurence Award for best work of fiction. M. C. Joudrey has been a member of the submission selection committee for the CBC Short Fiction Prize and a jury member for the Manitoba Book Awards. As a designer, his work has been awarded two Alcuin Design Book Awards and the Manuela Dias Manitoba Book Award for Design. He is also a bookbinder and a number of his works are held in galleries internationally. |
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The Unravelling of Ou by Hollay Ghadery Moving on is hard—even harder when it’s from a make-believe friend who’s been your strongest source of support. On what should be one of the happiest days ever, the day her granddaughter is born, Minoo faces a terrible choice: make a clean break from her constant companion, a sock puppet named Ecology Paul, or lose her daughter and granddaughter forever. The Unravelling of Ou follows Minoo’s journey from teenage pregnancy in Iran through exile to Canada, exploring questions of sexuality, identity, and survival with extraordinary imagination and heart. What makes this novel particularly compelling is its bracingly effective central conceit—first-person narration by the protagonist’s sock puppet. This approach provides a unique lens for the examination of female shame, neurodivergent experience, and the courage required to break free from internalized oppression. It’s a story about finding authentic voice and reconnecting with the people you love told through a lens that’s moving and refreshingly unconventional. This promises to be a standout debut novel from an already acclaimed author whose memoir Fuse won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award and whose short fiction collection Widow Fantasies is a finalist for the 2025 Toronto Book Awards. |
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Gitwaałtk by Crystal AJ Smith Gitwaałtk tells the story of a young Indigenous woman who loses her sister to the Highway of Tears and embarks on a journey with her nux nux (spiritual beings) to find—and bring to justice—the person responsible. Weaving prose, poetry, and oral tradition, Smith’s novel traces a path through grief toward healing, where family, community, and culture become sources of strength and reclamation. The story is at once a personal act of remembrance and a larger statement on resistance, love, and spiritual continuity. |
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The Fall-Down Effect by Liz Johnston Exploring protest, climate change, and fractured family relationships, Liz Johnston’s eagerly anticipated debut novel, The Fall-Down Effect, asks what we really owe people in our lives when we are fighting for a greater cause. As a child in the late 1980s, Fern is the wild heart of her tree-hugging family—quick-tempered and yearning to spend every minute in the woods of the small Pacific Northwest logging town where they live. She is also most like her environmental activist mother, Lynn, who chafes against the demands of motherhood and yearns for the protests of her youth. As tensions escalate, Lynn leaves her partner, Tom, and their three children, telling herself she will devote her life more fully to fighting for the earth. At nineteen, Fern commits her own radical act of protest in the town, which authorities label ecoterrorism. When Fern goes underground, her parents and siblings—responsible grad student Sylvia and budding artist River—struggle to make sense of her actions while also trying to cover up her absence. Fern’s secret proves impossible to keep, and when she becomes a wanted woman, the rest of the family trades blame. Years later, when Lynn takes shelter from a forest fire in the home she left so many years before, the family is forced to confront their regrets during a fraught, baggage-filled reunion. |
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Can the heart forgive what memory cannot? Between dusk and dawn lies the Vanilla Hour, that fragile moment when memory and reality blur, and the past comes knocking in the scent of rain and old love. Dr. Nandini Yadav has rebuilt her life from the ruins of trauma: a brilliant geochemist, a devoted mother, a woman who has survived what should have broken her. But when an unexpected reunion draws her back to the storm-swept coast of Goa and the man whose shadow lives in her daughter’s smile, she must finally confront the truth she has buried for decades. Spanning continents and generations, Vanilla Hour is a haunting and luminous story of love, loss, and consequence, where the heart’s geology is mapped in golden seams but riven with fault lines. From the rain-soaked streets of Delhi to the neon quiet of Tokyo, it explores what it means to survive, to forgive, and to rediscover the courage to live without armor. Equal parts romantic suspense and literary thriller, this is a deeply human tale of mothers and daughters, of memory and mercy, and of the fragile beauty that emerges when we stop running from our past and choose, instead, to step back into the light. Find out what happens when the ghosts of love refuse to fade. |
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A Portrait For Tomorrow by Raynarde After a failed stint in college, Gerald Waller is a reclusive lion unhappy with his static life. Buried are his desires of being an artist like his late mother, along with the prospect of finding love. When chance connects him with Michael, an optimistic fox with a penchant for the guitar, Gerald begins to see life with a fresh perspective and optimism. With renewed inspiration, Gerald resurrects an ambitious painting project and falls in love with Michael. However, life's fast and unexpected curveballs overturn Gerald's life and shakes his faith. Balancing between caring for his lover's health, his strained relationship with his alcoholic father, and progress on his painting, Gerald wonders how he can march forward with all he's learned and remain hopeful. Intimate and philosophical, A Portrait For Tomorrow is a hopeful story celebrating the wonders of life and the precious people we encounter. |
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Closure May Never Come by PD Doling When a romantic holiday ends in tragedy, Rob Wyatt is determined to help his wife, Vikki, recover from her accident. As he fights to restore her to her former self, an ancient evil begins to manipulate their lives. Rob’s growing suspicion leads him to a chilling realisation: that the soul he’s trying to save may no longer be human… --- Perfect for fans of Stephen King's Bag of Bones, Mike Gayle meets H.P. Lovecraft in this genre-spanning, gothic-tinged tale of love, commitment, and paranormal suspense. |
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Shadows In The Mirror by Abagail Brown Mistie escaped a past she'd mostly forgotten. No one would go looking for her buried past if she lived up to her dreams. Or so she believed. Smoky tendrils wrapped the horrors she couldn't quite remember. Flickering shadows crept through the mirror to bring her past to her present. Nightmare generational abuse on a scale she never imagined. Never knew she had been part of. Didn't want in her past. Or her future. Secrets are twin sisters. Whether fraternal, or identical, depends on the shadows dancing in the mirror. Like mother, like daughter, Goddess of the moon, Selene watches over us, Leaving Helen to carry on her task. Patricia, Quin, and Eleanor, Must find the missing ones, To bring Selene's dream to pass. The daughters returned - Mistie, and another Patricia, Home together, at last. |
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Dum Spiro, Spero by Grace Manders What does it mean to live and love? How do we deal with loss? What if the stories we were told growing up were told from a different perspective? Dum Spiro, Spero is a collection of short stories and poems based in hope and the human experience. |
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Echo’s End by Claudia J. Filusch THE WORLD IS COLLAPSING—QUIETLY. COMPLETELY. The sky rains golden ash. Villages lie swallowed in dust. And from the heavens it descends, silent, monolithic, like a sentence long awaited. A cuboid humming with a power no one dares to name. The story follows Caden, a quiet survivor with Echodust in his veins and Jira, a sharp-eyed healer bound to him by choice, not fate. Together, they navigate a dying continent littered with failed machines, ghost-towns of ritual, and warnings about “the one who walks without skin“. But the deeper they go, the more the past bleeds into the present, and the more the line blurs between memory, magic and machine. Echo's End is a story about grief and survival, love and legacy. A world at its edge. And the silence that cradles what we could not carry. With the emotional intimacy of The Book Thief, the haunting mystery of Annihilation, and the high-concept tension of Dune, Echo's End explores legacy, loss, and what it means to remain human in a world unmaking itself. |
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The Gilded Butterfly Effect by Heather Colley When introverted loner Penny transfers to a Midwest university in search of the all-American college experience, she finds herself under the intoxicating influence of Stella, a glamorous, damaged sorority girl with a razor-sharp wit and a bottle full of secrets. As their unlikely friendship deepens into obsession, both young women spiral into a hall of mirrors—haunted by frat-house cruelties, prescription drug dependencies, and the brutal expectations of modern femininity. Narrated in alternating voices, The Gilded Butterfly Effect exposes the glossy absurdities and grim realities of contemporary campus life, exploring themes of body dysmorphia, mental health, sexual assault, and peer manipulation with both ferocity and humor. This acerbic, atmospheric debut asks: how much of ourselves do we lose when trying to belong? |
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Our Funny Love Story (Resistance #1) by Byrd Koto Normal People meets 10 Things That Never Happened with a literary whodunit twist in this Achillean romantic mystery set in Tokyo. A comedy of errors, until fate decides to reveal its twisted sense of humor. Kamada Eizo, a popular young web novelist, lands his dream—a flagship fantasy series with an ambitious publisher. Miyamoto Ran is the brusque, uncompromising editor assigned to turn his series into a hit. Perfect opposites, they clash at the start. Eizo is skilled at spinning tales; Ran hates liars. Eizo is quick to notice Ran’s aversion to touch; Ran sees through Eizo’s polished smiles. What follows is a frustrating series of one-upsmanship games with no clear winners, only bruised egos. As the weight of their high-stakes project closes in, Ran senses something amiss about Eizo. He begins to uncover the man behind the writer, a truth that forces Eizo to double down on his defenses, fighting not just for his story but to keep Ran out. But exposing the truth will come at a cost; Ran isn’t prepared to pay, not when his long-suppressed feelings are becoming as complicated as the mystery he’s trying to solve. Expect dual third-person perspective, layered narratives, and banter teeming with romantic tension and psychological intrigue. This is Book 1 of a duet that ends in a happily-ever-after. |
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Dissolution Protocol by H.J. Barner What would you sacrifice for the greater good? Nearly 200 years ago, half of humanity fled to the stars to escape an Earth butchered by climate change and nuclear war. Ever since, dozens of colonies have been attempted on distant planets, each one failing after the last. Today, remaining space-dwellers live on Space Stations orbiting resource-depleted planets, indifferent to the riots and unrest on the Earth they left behind. Aboard the S.S. Obsidian Dawn, Captain Everest Eskandari navigates the harsh realities of a collapsing Space Republic with her crew and two passengers: Eridan, a navigator who thinks himself helpless to fix a broken world; Zeya, a mechanic with faith that the government will take care of everything well enough; Dorian, an electrician who's come to accept that they're all doomed anyways; Kalani, a scientist on the run; and Samson, an Earthling who's finally stopped running from his fate. When dangerous secrets come to light, the crew must grapple with everything they thought they ever knew, and both Space-dweller and Earthling alike must make sacrifices capable of forging the future for centuries to come. Through the lense of six lives, "Dissolution Protocol" explores themes of apathy and indifference, and warns of a world where ignorance is not just bliss, but a dangerous, corrosive force. |
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A House To Die For by Wes Davis Luxury, wealth, and danger collide in the heart of Las Vegas, where one mansion holds secrets that could lead to certain death. In the exclusive area of Las Vegas, a magnificent mansion known as Casa Sunset stands tall and alluring. Its opulent features and prime location make it the perfect target for a quick sale. But then people start dying Robert Holcomb, a former neighbor and a Realtor®, is called upon by the owners of Casa Sunset to sell their property. But little do they know, Robert's involvement will uncover a deadly mystery threatening their lives. As Robert and his team delve deeper into the enigma of Casa Sunset, they realize that it may be more than just a house for sale - it's a house to die for. If you enjoyed the suspense and intrigue of "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn, you won't want to miss "A House to Die For." Buy before the price changes and join Robert, JJ, and their crew on a thrilling journey. |
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Meet Me at the Ruins by Luna Westish It's 2003, and Margo is reeling from a bad breakup. She’s looking forward to a drama-free semester abroad at the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland. When she meets Ren, her beautiful and mysterious downstairs neighbor, her plans to keep things uncomplicated suddenly vanish. Struggling with the pace of her courses, and unsure of how to nurture her new friendships, Margo's brain works overtime to make sense of her environment. She longs for Ren, but she's unwilling to pine away while he figures out his complicated feelings. Constantly trying to rise above her anxious nature, Margo throws herself into the social – and sensual – opportunities that studying abroad offers. She discovers that her happiness is made up of small but significant moments. She revels in cappuccinos with fluffy foam, long runs past ancient stone buildings, museums with friends, and surprising, spicy encounters. Despite the low rumble of an existential crisis nipping at her feet, Margo is determined to find her place in the world. |
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Enamoured: A Triptych by Shelley Lavigne Alchemists may have failed to distill youth, but Josephine is determined to bottle beauty. Josephine is determined to make her fortune, but in early 1900s Canada as a widow under suspicion of murder, her dream of building a cosmetic empire seems like a fantasy. That is until a wealthy young socialite enters her shop, her presence reigniting long-caged desires and memories of Josephine's first love. As their unassuming relationship turns into a seductive power struggle, and the cosmetic application takes a dangerous turn, will Josephine choose companionship or capital? Billed as NATURAL BEAUTY meets DELIVER ME meets PERFUME: STORY OF A MURDERER, and containing three illustrations by Becca Snow, this novella follows Josephine as she plays the gruesome game of LOVE, CAPITALISM, and BEAUTY. |
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Till Death Do You Part by Marisa Billions Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, Sage Foster-Reed is frustrated and not at all content with her life or marriage. She’s restless and there’s nothing she can seemingly do about it. Her wife, Jules, has been asked to officiate a friend’s wedding, pulling them to a hotel out of town for three days. In Good Times and Bad, In Sickness and in Health … When Sage goes to run an errand, she encounters Cat, a sexy stranger who seems to appear everywhere after their chance encounter. Cat brings Sage out her fog of misery and now Sage must make a decision- work on her marriage and go forward with the woman she’s built a life with, or run off to chase an uncertain future with Cat. Fretting the decision to be made, Sage finds herself at a crossroads- until Fate steps in and makes the decision for her, and one of the two women she is torn between winds up dead. Is it a terrible accident, or did jealousy culminate in murder? Till Death Do You Part |
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Like Sapphire Blue by Marisa Billions Your eyes are amazing. I’ve never seen a blue like that.” Emma Landry is tough, independent, beautiful, and smart. Being an outcast unable to identify with her classmates, she was willing to do whatever it takes to climb her way out of poverty. “What color would you say they are?” Like Sapphire Blue Having never known a mother’s love, her father “Bear”, raised her on the wrong side of the tracks in a wealthy town. When success beckons, the woman she’s been in love with is, finally, within her grasp. Life is now worth living and loving. That is, until a dark family secret is revealed. A secret tied into the very fabric of who she is, and what she spent a lifetime working to overcome. Faced with a foundation shattering treachery, Emma finds herself at the crossroads. Can she overcome a destiny stronger than death, destitution, and murder, to prove she is more than just her father’s daughter? Or will this new knowledge lead her to destroy the world she’s spent a lifetime building? |
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Historic Brotherhood by Johannes T. Evans Novella. London, 1979: a young gay man seeks mentorship from a classmate’s flamboyant uncle. 23k, rated M, Gen. Mortimer Jones, a young gay man, comes from Tewkesbury to London where he meets Percival Campbell and, in short order, Percival’s beloved uncle — the flamboyant and loquacious Queen B. Uncle B soon takes Mortimer, shy and as-yet uncertain of his place in the world and in the gay community, under his wing, and serves as mentor. Focus on queer community in the 1970s, discussions of monastic history, science fiction, comedy, art and architecture, pop culture, connection, and cross-age friendship. Lots of body positivity for Mort and B, both fat men, in the aftermath of fatphobic bullying and homophobic isolation; lots of flirtation as a confidence and identity-building exercise even whilst B sets clear boundaries between them in terms of actual sexual activity; references to and discussion of historic and period homophobia throughout, but the tone is generally warm and companionable. |
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Trapped in the Past by Indira Merritt What if the only way to fix your future… was to confront the past that broke you? Seventeen-year-old Lennox Merritt is tired of holes―the ones in his story, his home, and his hope. When a glitch in an experimental beat machine hurls him three decades into the past, he lands in 1995 with nothing but a backpack and music the world hasn't heard yet. In a world of boom boxes, beepers, and block parties, Lennox meets people who feel too familiar―and a version of someone who never got the future they deserved. But getting back home isn't just about rewiring time. It's about feeling the grief he buried, the silence he inherited, and the choices he still has the power to make. Set in a rhythm-rich world where hip hop holds memory and healing moves through basslines, Trapped in the Past is a time-bending debut novel about rewriting what hurt you, reclaiming what made you, and remembering that the story isn't over just because the page turned. |
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Dance With Me by Livia J. Elliot A haunting and poignant fairy tale for adult readers, blending delicate imagery with psychological depth. In a world of beauty, a ceramic-made ballerina awakens atop her music box. She must dance for her elven owners, and so her ballet goes on and on. They praise her elegance, her poise and balance, until one day she falls and her ceramic fractures—but the ballerina dances again, ignoring her ever-increasing fissures. The music plays, captivating and demanding... but should she dance? Even when what she once loved becomes a trap? This is a dark fairy tale fantasy exploring the confines of depression. |
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Mr. Strong: A Novella by Alex Tilley A crippling car accident shatters Elgan’s concept of masculinity as he goes from body builder to body dysmorphic with the inability to feel. Self-isolation, social anxiety, delusional perceptions of what it is to be a man, Elgan seeks to find purpose in an apathetic and dark world. |
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Queer horror in the style of House of Leaves and Cormac McCarthy. Hallucinatory. Hidden ciphers. No quotation marks. This is a challenging read. Proceed with caution. Consult sample chapters and content warnings. A disgraced detective is hired to investigate a ritualistic killing in an isolated prison town. Falls into the hands of a charming doctor on a crusade to cure mankind of sin. a queer gothic neo western horror novel, ergodic literature, psychological horror, religious trauma, lobotomies, m/m, trans, biromantic, ace, 70k Bentham, Wyoming. A deserted ghost town built upon abandoned coal mines. Once windtorn woodrot, now a private penitentiary set in a reformative community pledged to clinical testing. Neurosurgeon Dr. Wayne Sykkes truly believed he had found the cure for all sin. But one year into testing and Belle Rivera, twenty-four, was found dead. Bloodied in the underbrush. A sprig of hyssop pressed to her lips. Enter Corey Handler Delgado. Fallen angel scorned. Five years ago he was nothing more than a scruffy detective. For an act of brutal justice he was arrested in the attempted murder of an innocent man. One call and the charming doctor has convinced him to take a second chance. Insists that he can be saved. But something is wrong. Something is wrong with this town. Something is wrong with this body. Something is wrong with this cure. Cora isn't dead. |
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Turn Back Time by Anagha Bailur Thousands of books on love and heartbreak, I promise you nothing different, I promise you nothing new, but I promise hope, I promise you a story that you and I can identify with. No heroes, no beauty queens, no successful business men in chateaus. I promise the bare nakedness of souls, simplicity and jagged sharpness of hurt and heart! We all have that one time in our lives that we would like to go back to and live it again. What is yours? Love happens, distorts, you give yourself another chance, but are 2 chances enough? This is a story about Hridaan, his love conquest and how the warrior in him helps him fight all the demons in his head. Read on for tears and inspiration, smiles and motivation, because love is like a warm candle inside of you, if you let it fall die out, you will be stuck in eternal darkness, but if you push it beyond a threshold, it holds the capacity to burn lives! |
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Bad Girl Pie by Marilyn Horowitz Bad Girl Pie follows the tumultuous journey of Dorothy Sherlock, a celebrity cookbook ghostwriter. After the death of her father, Dorothy has a vivid dream warning her that she must write her own book or risk becoming a ghost herself. Spurred on by her best friend and agent, Suzanne, Dorothy embarks on writing a book about how eating dessert first can help with weight loss. With her book outline complete, Dorothy heads to Cancun for a week of tango dancing, where she meets a sexy fireman. Their passionate interlude reignites Dorothy's long-dormant desires, a flame that had been extinguished since her heartbreak over a fellow tango dancer. Dorothy finishes her book and Suzanne promptly betrays her by selling it to a Food Network diva. Devastated, Dorothy seeks comfort in her ex, but after a steamy reunion, she finds out that he has been living with his cleaning lady. The final blow comes when Dorothy learns her father cut her out of his will. Overwhelmed, she takes a near-lethal dose of Oxycontin, but survives, finding humor in her paradoxical situation. This moment of levity marks the beginning of her recovery. In her quest for a fresh start, Dorothy receives an unexpected opportunity to co-write a tango book with a renowned teacher preparing a famous actor for a film role. Despite her initial skepticism about the book's commercial prospects, Suzanne’s remorse and a promise of success persuade Dorothy to take on the project. When the actor heads to Hollywood, he insists that Dorothy join him as his on-set tango coach. While filming the climactic dance scene, the actor freezes and Dorothy steps in, leading to an unexpected cameo. This boosts the book's success and establishes Dorothy and her co-writer as a formidable team in the tango world. Yet, Dorothy realizes that while tango is a passion, it is not her career. She decides to quit and reflect on her next steps. One evening, as Dorothy cleans up her computer files, she finds a recipe for Bad Girl Pie, a decadent confection. She shares it with Suzanne who immediately recognizes its potential as the foundation for a new bestseller and lifestyle brand. This discovery gives Dorothy her second chance at true success.-------------------------------------- **A feminist, Jewish and smart and dynamic main character who goes through hell and back to take a courageous step to claim her life and her dreams. This is empowering, funny and sharp!** |
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The Marfa Blues - searching for treasure by John Egenes Vera DeSoto runs a cafe in Marfa, Texas in 1968. The cowboys and truckers who come in fantasize and hope for a chance with her, but she enjoys her solitary life and isn’t ready to settle down with anyone. Somehow, Vera seems to collect strays—lost and wayward people looking for second chances. A 14-year-old girl, two hippie boys, and a scared young artist manage to find their way into her life and suddenly, Vera is joining them in a search for buried treasure in the badlands of the rugged desert of Southwest Texas. Egenes gives us a mismatched group of characters that helps explore themes of found family, redemption, and the varying interpretations of "treasure"—is it gold, or human connection? The dusty, mystical backdrop of 1968 West Texas—with its iconic Marfa Lights—adds a magical, almost surreal quality to the narrative. In a playful yet poignant tone, the author takes us from hippie culture and desert adventure to giant cloned cows and a psychic raven, as the novel balances whimsy with real emotional stakes. If you're drawn to offbeat, character-driven fiction with a strong sense of place, this could be a delightful discovery. It’s breezy enough to read quickly, yet it lingers in your mind due to its emotional resonance and quirky charm. It’s an unexpectedly warm, humorous, and heartfelt adventure story—perfect for fans of nostalgic road trip vibes and unconventional treasures. If you enjoy that kind of narrative, The Marfa Blues is definitely worth a read. From the author of the award-winning “Man & Horse: The Long Ride Across America.” |
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His Name is Junsaku by Tenkara Smart Amidst the grandeur and tradition of feudal Japan, where samurai warriors clash in deadly battles and the shogunate reigns supreme, one man stands out. Junsaku Aoyama, driven by an unshakeable belief in his destiny, is determined to become Japan's greatest samurai. But as Junsaku pursues his dreams, he is faced with a difficult choice when he meets a Lithuanian woman who disembarks a Dutch merchant ship. Caught between his loyalty to his country and his growing love for her, Junsaku must navigate the treacherous waters of honour and duty, even as a mysterious ghost draped in black warns him of impending danger. His Name is Junsaku is the page-turning sequel to She Named Me Wolf, transporting readers to 17th-century Japan, where Junsaku, much like Wolf, encounters a ghost that brings him messages and warnings about his life’s path. As he faces various challenges and opportunities, Junsaku evolves into a skilled warrior and a master of martial arts. Yet, beneath his growing prowess lies a shadow of past-life tragedy that lingers in his soul. Will Junsaku unravel the cryptic meanings of the apparition’s messages before time slips away, or will his past continue to haunt him until it is too late? |
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"You can't outrun the ghosts you create." Desire and Deception A Psychological Thriller by MKJ In a world where truth is a weapon and love is a battleground, one choice shatters everything. On the night of her arranged wedding, Meera waits—not for vows, but for the freedom she never thought she'd claim. When a single gunshot tears through her future, the threads of loyalty, betrayal, and obsession tighten around her, pulling her into a deadly spiral. At the center stands Kartikeya Sharma—a brilliant, dangerous psychology professor, a man who can see through lies but cannot outrun the darkness inside him. Years later, buried secrets claw back to the surface. As forbidden desires ignite and old betrayals resurface, Meera and Kartikeya find themselves locked in a brutal game where love is a lie—and survival means sacrificing everything. Desire and Deception is a gripping psychological thriller about manipulation, obsession, and the devastating cost of freedom. Because some choices don’t set you free. They bury you deeper. |
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In rich, compelling prose, Melanie Finn perfectly captures a world of consequences, and the characters who must survive them. Pilgrim Jones' husband has just left her for another woman, stranding her in a small Swiss town where she is one day involved in a tragic car accident that leaves 3 school-children dead. Cleared of responsibility though overcome with guilt, she alights for Africa, where she befriends a series of locals each with their own tragic past, each isolated in their own private way in the remote Tanzanian outpost. Mysteriously, the remains of an albino African appear packaged in a box, spooking everyone—sign of a curse placed by a witch doctor—though its intended recipient is uncertain. Pilgrim volunteers to rid the town of the box and its contents, though wherever she goes, she can't shake the feeling that she's being followed. The Gloaming is a thrilling, haunting new work of guilt, atonement, and finally, hope. |
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Strange as This Weather Has Been by Ann Pancake Set in present day West Virginia, this debut novel tells the story of a coal mining family—a couple and their four children—living through the latest mining boom and dealing with the mountaintop removal and strip mining that is ruining what is left of their hometown. As the mine turns the mountains “to slag and wastewater,” workers struggle with layoffs and children find adventure in the blasted moonscape craters. Strange as This Weather Has Been follows several members of the family, with a particular focus on fifteen–year–old Bant and her mother, Lace. Working at a motel, Bant becomes involved with a young miner while her mother contemplates joining the fight against the mining companies. As domestic conflicts escalate at home, the children are pushed more and more frequently outside among junk from the floods and felled trees in the hollows—the only nature they have ever known. But Bant has other memories and is as curious and strong–willed as her mother, and ultimately comes to discover the very real threat of destruction that looms as much in the landscape as it does at home |
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As an Etheri, Mari lacks physical strength and mana control. She feels destined to play the supporting role for her partner Rhu (a natural talent and future Lord of Newhaven) and her cousin Junie (the confident and beautiful one). But when Mari learns that Junie is a member of the Blaze—a mysterious criminal organization—she isn’t sure what to think. Mari starts learning about the Blaze and finds herself embroiled in their misadventures. By the time Junie’s identity is leaked to the Etheri villages and the Blaze comes under attack, Mari is no longer convinced that she can pick a side, but failing to do so begins to endanger not just herself, but the people she loves. Mari must choose where her loyalties lie: with her village, with her friends, or with herself. From author Sage T. Greene, ETHERI is an earnest, often-humorous quest for self-determination. Fans of reluctant protagonists and character-driven narratives will enjoy this series. |
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the drowners by David A. Anderson For Aaron, this world is an unfathomable puzzle. Haunted by disturbing dreams, he drifts through empty days, shielding himself behind sarcasm and cynical wit. After being expelled, he sees an opportunity to rewrite his future at a new school. Connecting over a shared love for De Niro films with Robbie, an aspiring actor of Jamaican descent, he unexpectedly finds his companion piece, one person who truly understands him. Together, they navigate the chaotic waters of adolescence, from dramatic first dates to sociopathic bullies, iconic concerts, drugs, and a dead body. With adulthood fast approaching, can their unique bond survive the crushing weight of societal pressures and devastating revelations? Confronted by the ghosts of his past, Aaron must choose whether to blaze bright or fade away. A funny and poignant meditation on the forces that shape us, The Drowners transports us back to a time when our tolerance for hypocrisy was zero and life seemed infinite. An early draft of this novel won a 2021 YA Watty award. |
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Unspoken: A Dust Novel by Jann Alexander "The novel reminds me, in tone, of Texas classics like The Time it Never Rained and Giant. I loved it. Alexander is a great new talent in the genre of Texana." —W.F. Strong, author, Stories From Texas, and radio commentator for NPR Texas _________________________________ A Farm Devastated. A Dream Destroyed. A Family Scattered. And One Texas Girl Determined to Salvage The Wreckage. Ruby Lee Becker can’t breathe. It’s 1935 in the heart of the Dust Bowl and the Becker family has clung to its Texas Panhandle farm through six years of drought, dying crops, and dust storms. On Black Sunday, the biggest blackest storm of them all threatens young Ruby with deadly dust pneumonia and requires a drastic choice—one her mother, Willa Mae, will forever regret. To survive, Ruby’s forced to leave the only place she’s ever known. Far from home, wondering why she’s been abandoned, she’s determined to get back. Through rollicking adventures and harrowing setbacks, the tenacious Ruby Lee embarks on her perilous quest for home—and faces her one unspoken fear. Even after twelve years, Willa Mae still clings to memories of her daughter. Unable to reunite with Ruby, she’s broken by their separation. UNSPOKEN shines a light on women driven apart by disaster who bravely lean on one another, find comfort in remade families, and redefine what home means. |
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The Other Place by Elizabeth Roderick Living in Justin Flaherty’s mind has never been easy. Unfortunately, things are about to get much worse... At eighteen years old, most guys are chasing girls or dreams. Justin, on the other hand, wants to draw and be left alone. He’s been diagnosed with schizophrenia, but it’s more than that. He's in tune with the Dark Energy that surrounds us all, and can see how it controls people’s actions. Sometimes, the Dark Energy will give him visions, to help him on the road to enlightenment. When his mother hooks up with a Baptist preacher named David who believes Justin’s schizophrenia can be cured with prayer, Justin knows he has to get out—or risk involuntary commitment in a religious facility. After a brush with incarceration, Justin takes off to San Francisco, where his drawings are not just noticed, but admired... Justin’s bizarre and beautiful drawings create a stir in the art world. Meanwhile, he’s homeless, couch surfing, and trapped in a continuous battle with his mental illness. His salvation is a girl named Liria Czetski with a shady past. They’d met a year ago, and she’s appeared in his visions ever since. It turns out Liria has been sharing those visions, something that is a surprise to everyone but Justin... When secrets surface, Justin is forced to realize that being a genius has a downside. Surrounded by people who want to exploit his talent, he must fight not only for his career and freedom, but perhaps for his life... |
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The Other Team by Felix Fowler Kit Cook is about to learn a whole lot more than soccer this summer Weltmeister Academy is the absolute last place Kit Cook wanted to go at the end of his freshman year. His parents are forcing him to leave behind his friends and go to the toughest soccer camp in the country so he has a chance to make varsity in the fall. With a lot of hard work, a little luck, and help from his new friend Freddie, Kit manages to build a semblance of normalcy and get through the summer. That is, until Kit sees something he wasn’t meant to, and his world is thrown into chaos. His friendships foundering and performance failing, Kit must find a way to reconcile what he saw if he wants to save his friendship and summer. Soccer isn’t all he’s going to learn this year – he’s going to learn all about a side of himself he didn’t know existed… |
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It’s been seven years, and Mari has cut all ties with the Blaze. Even so, she just can’t manage to avoid their destruction; the Blaze is more powerful than ever. Leon took the power of the Attuned, and now Rhu is vulnerable. The villages are under constant threat of Blaze attack, and Valis might have been taken over completely. Mari has taken great pains to keep the Blaze out of Newhaven, but now there’s another threat: the Etheri villages themselves. Battle is looming on the horizon, and the Blaze is to blame. There will be a final showdown—but who will make it out alive? From author Sage T. Greene, ETHERI is an earnest, often-humorous quest for self-determination. Fans of reluctant protagonists and character-driven narratives will enjoy this series. |
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As an Etheri, Mari lacks physical strength and mana control. She feels destined to play the supporting role for her partner Rhu (a natural talent and future Lord of Newhaven) and her cousin Junie (the confident and beautiful one). But when Mari learns that Junie is a member of the Blaze—a mysterious criminal organization—she isn’t sure how to move forward. Mari finds herself learning about the Blaze and gets embroiled in their misadventures. By the time Junie’s identity is leaked to the Etheri villages and the Blaze comes under attack, Mari is no longer convinced that she can pick a side, but failing to do so begins to endanger not just herself, but the people she loves. Mari must choose where her loyalties lie: with her village, with her friends, or with herself. |
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Space, Collisions by L. N. Holmes "Three perfectly paced and elegantly written stories that leave the reader breathless and pensive at once." —Meredith Allison, author of Blood & Whiskey "L. N. Holmes has a talented pen and a great imagination. . . ." —Renwick Berchild, Nothing In Particular Book Review SPACE, COLLISIONS is a micro-chapbook containing three brief stories. In "When Continents Collide," a man waits on the shores of the Outer Banks for the collision of the North American and African continents. "Trace" focuses on the intimate secrets shared between one pining woman and her self-destructing lover. In "Spacefall," two scientists take a break from work to drive to the countryside and bask in their friendship. Each installment in this short collection offers motifs of physical distance and intimate connection. Overall, the stories emphasize the common longing to overcome the space that divides. SPACE, COLLISIONS is part of the 2018 Summer Micro-Chapbook Series at Ghost City Press. |
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A Bend In The Future by Abby Brown Tammy's move to the city opens secrets hidden from her, many on the horse farms around her. Some secrets her family thought she knew. Others, they hoped would never affect her. Building a future means forging unexpected bonds and traveling roads she never imagined. |
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Cracks In The Wall by Abagail Brown Survivors know no other life. Abuse often starts before awareness of self, and others. Abuse is normalized. Questions lead to life threatening consequences. A few escape. Read their histories. Recognize those you know who may need a nudge to acknowledge the abuse they suffer from in their daily lives. Prevent continuing the vicious cycle of so many who merely exist throughout their lives. |
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Recording the village elder's life stories should be routine. Always on the outside of village life, looking in. Terra's rocked babies, cooked meals, written memories. Nothing more. Until now. Saving stories in a village of people lost between cultures interrupts her search for belonging. Their fragmented stream of life threatens all Terra knows of her own past, and future. She must tame the stream back into its banks to create a home she never dreamed existed. |
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Ten years into their marriage, Lenore’s relationship with her husband, Henry, has soured, and no child has arrived to fill the distance between them. Lenore’s frustration grows when Henry’s ambitions, both work and societal, take them out of London and into the countryside, to the imposing Nethershaw manor, where he is planning to host a hunt. Lenore keeps a terrible secret from the last time her husband hunted, and though they never speak of it, it haunts their marriage to this day. A carriage accident near their home soon brings the mysterious Carmilla into Lenore’s life. Carmilla, who is weak and pale during the day but vibrant at night; Carmilla who will not eat meals with the family; Carmilla who stirs up a hunger deep within Lenore. Torn between regaining her husband’s affection and the desire Carmilla’s presence awakens in her, Lenore begins to unravel her past. Her search leads her to uncover a darkness in her household that’s set on destroying her. Hungerstone is a mesmerizing reclamation of the lesbian vampire trope, set against the backdrop of the voracious appetite of the Industrial Revolution. |
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Littlethumb Sneezed by Truant D. Memphis What would happen if everything in the world froze but you? Littlethumb Sneezed is the tale of prolific artist and renowned philanthropist, Littlethumb Brooks. From the discovery of his creative genius as a child to his rise to fame, join Littlethumb on a satirical journey through the world of American pop culture. It is a life filled with love, laughter, charity, art, disguises, magic tricks, international intrigue and unfortunately, horrible tragedy. Also, there's a punk rocker named Tommy Toxic. It began with the Occurrence. Littlethumb was a little boy… |
