Today's Featured Books

An Oracle Walks into a Bar

Book 1 in The Misadventures of a Paranormal Post-Relationship Personal Effects Repossession Specialist
4.5 stars, 63 ratings
FREE!


August Shade has found his niche. He’s a post-relationship personal effects repossession specialist. Satisfaction not guaranteed. But at least you’ll have your favorite whatever back.

Vilde Tank has found her destiny. Guided by her horoscopes, the huldra hires August to reclaim an unusual book. It reveals the secret of the Zodiac’s thirteenth sign, bestows its reader with the power to write their own future, and is currently in the possession of her vampire ex-lover.

Clarissa Steyer has found her calling. The oracle writes horoscopes for the local paper. Her celestial predictions help keep the world spinning. Now August is in all of her visions and the world might be coming to an end. She knows that the shapeshifter can change into a lot of things, but can he change the future?

Plagued by the oracle’s horoscopes, haunted by a dark past, and grappling with his penchant for making bad decisions, the only sure thing about August’s future is that it looks short.

"Sharp and funny—think the Hitchhiker's Guide only paranormal." ~Andrew Shaffer, NY Times bestselling author

A Scarecrow Wins an Award

Book 2 in The Misadventures of a Paranormal Post-Relationship Personal Effects Repossession Specialist
4.7 stars, 16 ratings
From $0.99 (Free via Kindle Unlimited)


Shapeshifter August Shade saved the world. The personal effects repo man bested a vampire, a warlock, and a troll without even breaking a sweat.

While his growing celebrity has been good for business, it’s also meant taking jobs farther from home. Now, the cranky shapeshifter is in farm country—definitely not his natural habitat—and mixed up with two feuding hag sisters, a loan sharking coblyn, and a mysterious woman with a very scary ex. The manure hits the fan when his best friend blows the lid off a major conspiracy and lands August in a heap of trouble.

A Scarecrow Wins an Award is a great read for fans of John Dies at the End by Jason Pargin, Arcane Casebook by Dan Willis, Moth Busters by Margaret Lashley, and Douglas Adams's A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

A Siren Sings Her Heart Out

Book 3 in The Misadventures of a Paranormal Post-Relationship Personal Effects Repossession Specialist
New Release: Coming June 30, 2023
From $0.99 



August Shade needs a break. Reptilians are trying to take over the world. Powerful paranormals are a little too interested in whether he lives or dies. After years of laying low, the grumpy shapeshifter’s face is all over the Internet. If that wasn’t bad enough, August’s best friend is playing around with necromancy.

Desperate to clear his head, the cranky shapeshifter heads north to the shores of Lake Superior. Now he’s drowning in lake monsters, paranormal prophecies, and reptilian plots. A drink would help, but the only bar in town is a karaoke bar.

For a guy who has tried to not make waves, life is getting pretty choppy. It’s sink or swim for the poor repo man. If he’s going down, though, August will make sure he goes down singing.

About the Author
Scott Burtness writes about ordinary Midwesterners making an extraordinary mess of things. "If the flannel fits…" says Scott.

Important to note: To Scott, "ordinary” includes vampires, werewolves, zombies, witches, shapeshifters, aliens, and more.

When Scott is not writing, he can be found hanging out at the local brewery, hanging out with his dog, or hanging out with his dog at the local brewery. Learn more at Scott's website, sign up for his monthly newsletter, or follow him on social media: TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads.

Congratulations to Martha Engber and Vine Leaves Press on the release of Bliss Road, a memoir about living a lie and coming to terms with the truth.

★★★★★ “Illuminates the complicated path of a neurodiverse family.” ~Liane Holliday Willey, author of Pretending to be Normal: Living with Aspergers Syndrome

Bliss Road by Martha Engber

Martha Engber lives a charmed life in the suburbs with a husband and two kids where everything is fine, fine, fine until suddenly she’s…completely broken. She’s so used to lying to others and herself that she has no idea who she really is or how she feels about anything. What happened? Why is her life smooth driving one minute and totaled the next?

In this sometimes funny often devastating memoir, Martha describes the arduous journey toward discovering the invisible roadblock that ran her life off course: her psychological distress is the result of being the neurotypical daughter of a dad with undiagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a condition that affects more than 75 million people worldwide.

Martha uses personal anecdotes and research about the emergence of ASD as a diagnosis to explain the psychological, emotional, and social challenges she faced as a child, then as an adult and parent. Along the way, she shows the sometimes harrowing but eminently rewarding route others can follow to chase down the source of their family angst and to reach a more blissful future.
 
Praise for Bliss Road
★★★★★ “A raw and real memoir, illuminating the complicated path of a neurodiverse family fixed in a legacy between trepidation and tenderness.” ~Liane Holliday Willey, author of Pretending to be Normal: Living with Aspergers Syndrome

★★★★★ “With bracing honesty and rare insight, Martha Engber’s courageous, highly readable account of her experience as the child of a parent with undiagnosed ASD is compelling, joyous, and inspiring.’” ~Byddi Lee, author of The Rejuvenation Trilogy

★★★★★ “A glorious blend of insights and wisdom, this memoir may just be what we need to deepen our human capacity for love and understanding.” ~Imi Lo, author of Emotional Sensitivity and Intensity: How to Manage Intense Emotions as a Highly Sensitive Person

★★★★★ “Engber skillfully integrates current knowledge about autism into her own engaging story as the child of a parent on the autism spectrum.” ~Patti Isaacs, author of The Second Long March: Memoir from a Witness to China’s Transformation

Free online: Nature's Wonders - Meet the Author. Nature’s Wonders is a mix of evocative writing, beautiful photographs, and facts that serve as an inspiring guide to connecting with nature. Author Jane V. Adams has been featured in BBC Countryfile Magazine and BBC Wildlife Magazine. Tuesday, June 6, 2 PM CDT. 

"There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” ~Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

A lovely coffee table book incorporating poetry and illustration. Written especially for seniors, this book is about all of the caring, hard work, and thoughts still felt by an aging population. "I hope this book will be a keepsake on a bookshelf to read when someone needs some inspiration or comfort. It will bring back some memories of how life flourished years ago." -Arlene Kinnavy. From $22.42 SHOP NOW / 

Free online this weekend: Meet the Indie Author Project Award Winners from Logos & Mythos: Florida Indie Author Project Award Winner J.S. Farmer, Nevada Winner J.A. Curtis, Missouri Winner Annie Lisenby, Illinois Winner Alina Rubin, and Louisiana Winner Joy E. Rancatore. One attendee will win a Book Swag Prize Pack. Sunday, June 4, 7 PM CDT.

“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.” ~Rainer Maria Rilke

"I love the storyline and the writing...there is nonstop action!" -Modupe Hendricks, Vine Voice. The starship Freedom was once a mighty warship. Today she's a tourist attraction. The space wars ended long ago. The Freedom is now a flying museum. The tourists love it. The Changing of the Guard, the starfighter aerobatics, the starboard cannon salute...it's the best show in the galaxy. Until the aliens attack... Battlestar Galactica meets Starship Troopers in this sci-fi adventure from Daniel Arenson, the USA Today bestselling author of Earthrise. 4.1 stars, 2200+ ratings. FREE - SHOP NOW / 

A powerful story of one ordinary family thrown into darkness when an EMP shuts off the power to the entire U.S. mainland and throws the country back into the 1800s in seconds. A family must quickly amass a group of friends and neighbors for an 800-mile trek from north Texas to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Character-driven, the story twists and turns and doesn’t let up until the end. A Post-Apocalyptic Next-World Series Volume 1. 4.4 stars, 960 ratings. From $0.99. Free via KU. SHOP NOW / 

Every relationship is like a shelter. But not every relationship is meant to be a home. Allie has always thought that when you find "the one," everything in life will fall into place. That love will always find a way in the end. But soon, she realizes that loving someone isn't enough to make a relationship succeed. And, sometimes, loving someone too much can ignite a relationship as quickly as it could extinguish one. Her self-discovery journey began with her first crush in high school and continues today with the man she calls her home. From 6.99 SHOP NOW / 

What do you remember about 2020? "A gripping account of real people before, during, and after Covid. Watching this unfold on the 24-hour news, it was easy to forget the often brutal impact it had on ordinary people." -Amazon review. Winner of a grant from the Raleigh United Arts Foundation for the production of an audiobook, the audio version is voiced by over fifteen actors and brings back the immediacy of 2020 even more clearly. Ebook: FREE. Audiobook: $13.08. SHOP NOW / 

Abandoned by her mother ten years earlier, Stella Ingman returns to her childhood home to help her father clean up after a flood. But she’s horrified when repairs to the backyard swimming pool reveal her missing parent’s hidden corpse. Plunged into the depths of guilt and refusing to see her father as the number one suspect, Stella focuses on solving the gruesome crime. But hunting a murderer in the tight-knit small town could leave her exposed as the culprit starts sizing up more victims… FREE - SHOP NOW / 

What if someone you love is a serial killer? While investigating a series of murders, DCI Eric Shaw, leading a forensic team at Scotland Yard, notices a possible relation to a cold case involving a person he cares for. But he ignores that the details of similar crimes are described in an anonymous blog. “The opening of the novel immediately throws the reader into the heart of the story, and the expectation grows in the following pages.” -Thriller Nord. From $0.99 SHOP NOW / 

Free online event: Sand, Sun and Stories. Make summer reading fun with tips from this one-hour workshop. Families will learn simple, effective strategies they can do at home to make reading together fun and engaging for the whole family. Thursday, June 1, 11 AM CDT.

"Be who you are and say how you feel because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." ~Dr. Seuss

In the dark world of the relentless .40 Caliber Killer, FBI super-profiler Agent Meredeth Connelly fights to stop him before he massacres another family. As she meticulously collects evidence and the body count rises, it becomes clear that this ruthless murderer knows her intimately. After two decades spent hunting serial killers, Agent Connelly thought she had seen it all. But delving deeper into the maze of clues dead-ends produces strange occurrences within her, awakening fragmented dreams and unsettling hallucinations. Book 1 in the Meredeth Connelly Mind Hunt Thrillers series. 4.3 stars, 200+ ratings. From $0.99 SHOP NOW / 

He hunts women. She hunts him. FBI Agent Meredeth Connelly tracks The Savannah Strangler by day. At night, she mimics his prey. She has little to go on. He's crafty and smart - he dumps bodies in the Savannah River after stoning his victims to death. But he won't escape. She won't let him. She will do anything to make Savannah safe again. She will do anything to stop him. The dead pile up. Pressure, a hellish headache, desperate secrets. Heat, stiletto heels, fear. She won't let anything stop her. A Meredeth Connelly Mind Hunt Thriller. 4.2 stars, 1100+ ratings. FREE - SHOP NOW /