Today's Featured Books

Today, LitNuts is shining a spotlight on five fantasy novels from author Lara A. Steel, including Beastly - The Dark Heart, released on October 28, 2023. Read on to learn more!

Beastly - The Dark Heart

Jack Beastly: “All these years I watched you and knew: someday you would have to fulfill the prophecy and then you would belong to me. Someday I would come for you! And today is that day.”

Heather O'Hara: “Even as a child I knew it was best not to get too close to Jack Beastly’s cursed mansion. And to this day I still give its sinister walls a wide berth. So imagine my shock when, after a painful blow to the back of the neck on my wedding day, I wake up in Jack Beastly’s house. But it turns out he’s not the cranky old geezer I always assumed him to be. He’s an intimidating but very attractive young man and apparently no ordinary human. And what he wants from me is simply outrageous”

Dawn of the Dragons

Hunter is a dragon. An assassin, the deadliest of them all. His assignment is to hunt down Dawn Frazer. And as always, he’ll carry out his assignment with cold-blooded efficiency...or so he thinks! When a stranger is brought to Dawn's emergency department, she performs a complicated operation to save his life, and the only thanks she gets is to be abducted by him. He keeps babbling about dragons and his destiny. It’s clear to Dawn that this outrageously attractive bastard has a screw loose! At least, that’s what she assumes...

Angels of Sin (three book series)

"Beautiful, soulful, and exciting." ~Amazon Review. 

Angels of Sin is a three-book, slow-burn, young adult fantasy series featuring angels, demons, and a battle between light and damnation. The series includes three complete novels that were originally released in German. Each is now available in English, and each is free via Kindle Unlimited: 

• Blood Moon: 4.3 stars, 3600+ ratings (German edition)
• Heart of Ice: 4.5 stars 2900+ ratings (German edition)
• Dark Desire: 4.5 stars, 3300+ ratings (German edition)

Lara A. Steel

      

Free online children's lit event on Halloween: READ, SCREAM, REPEAT. A spooktacular collection of scary stories by thirteen of the most exciting authors in children’s books today! Perfect for readers aged 9-12. Tuesday, October 31, 6:00 - 6:45 CDT. 

"Every day is Halloween, isn't it? For some of us." ~Tim Burton

Great news for fans of vampire, werewolf, and zombie horror-comedy...

Monsters of the Midwest is FREE through October 31, 2023!
 

Monsters of the Midwest: The Complete Trilogy includes three novels from author Scott Burtness: 

• Wisconsin Vamp: Book 1 in the series, 4.1 stars, 383 ratings
• Northwoods Wolfman: Book 2 in the series, 4.4 stars, 98 ratings
• Undead Cheesehead: 4.4 stars, 74 ratings

Read on to learn more about this great offer!

Monsters of the Midwest: The Complete Trilogy

A cheese-infused, flannel-clad, very Wisconsin horror-comedy trilogy

Herb, Dallas, and Stanley live in small-town Wisconsin, where life is nice and simple.

Until Herb becomes a vampire.
And Dallas becomes a werewolf.
And Stanley becomes a zombie.

Folks like to say that sometimes it takes a big change to discover who you were meant to be. Join the three friends on their hilarious misadventures and find out if that's true!

It all begins in Wisconsin Vamp. Truckstop diner cook and mediocre bowler Herb Knudsen starts rolling strikes. His best friend, Dallas, suspects the bloody reason why. When the newly-turned vampire and Dallas both go for the same girl, Herb has to decide whose life to spare: His friend's or his own.

The story continues in Northwoods Wolfman. After crowning himself the Hero of Trappersville, egotistical Dallas signs up with a group of monster hunters. When his first hunt reveals that he's the monster they're hunting, Dallas is forced to reckon with his new nature and redefine his humanity.

The trilogy's epic conclusion comes in Undead Cheesehead. A zombie apocalypse is overtaking the town, courtesy of local oddball and T.V. addict, Stanley. After getting turned, the little guy just can't stop biting people. Fortunately, there's someone trying to stop the zombie apocalypse. Someone that looks a lot like Stanley. If his friends and the whole town are going to survive, Stanley will have to be twice the man he is. Or three times. Maybe even four...

The Monsters in the Midwest trilogy is a great read for fans of Rick Gualtieri (Bill the Vampire), D.M. Guay (The Graveyard Shift), and Christopher Moore (Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story).

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.

Other books by Scott include The Misadventures of a Paranormal Post-Relationship Personal Effects Repossession Specialist, An Oracle Walks Into a Bar, A Scarecrow Wins an Award, and A Siren Sings Her Heart Out.

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 Scott's monthly newsletter The Paranomedy Pint (where drinking is the least of your problems), and follow Scott online: 

Ready...Set...Pride! by Truscott Jones is a unique coming-of-age novel. Young Max is looking forward to his last year of high school. He is still in the closet, but he is surrounded by friends and a loving family, so still has time to figure things out quietly. Or so he thought.

Things change when Max inherits his family's National Football League team. Suddenly, Max is thrown into the national spotlight where he will be forced to face his own truth, find the love of his life, and run a professional football team, all under the harsh glare of social media, hardcore fans, and brutal sports reporters.

Here's what readers are saying:

★★★★★ "Incredibly eye opening and insightful!"

★★★★★ "Captivating read with a lot of heart."

★★★★★ "Fun read with a easy-to-love hero...for both young and older adults alike."

★★★★★ "I was rooting for Max from the first chapter as he navigates his own self doubts and learns to find his courage against ever escalating adversity and pressure. It's a tribute to friendship, family, love, and the human spirit."

Ready...Set...Pride!

Max only thought his last year of high school was confusing, with the gorgeous but horribly straight Silas Cannon roaming the halls, and Max still in the closet. 

No one foresaw Max thrust into the gladiatorial world of football, a sport he barely followed, and only because his grandpa Gunnar owned the NFL’s newest franchise, the Portland Rogues.

No one imagined Gunnar suddenly dying, leaving the team not to Max's Uncle Fen, the team's general manager and Gunnar's only son, but to 18-year-old Max!

Meanwhile on the field, Portland has never put together a winning season. They have plenty of talent, and Coach Curcio definitely commands respect. But is it even possible for the Rogues to overcome the war between their suddenly jilted GM and his young, “undeserving” nephew?

Can Max survive his peers’ sudden interest, or the judgments of Reddit, Snapchat, and Twitter? Will he overcome the scheming Uncle Fen and the skepticism of Rogues players? And what about the other owners—is accepting a teen colleague their biggest challenge, or the waving of a giant Pride flag?

Most of all, though, does Max believe enough in himself, whether it’s leading the club, confronting his foes, or accepting the affections of an unexpected beau? Can he win the Super Bowl and the hottest guy in school?

About the Author
Truscott Jones practiced trial law for 25 years, eventually leaving to teach 12th grade government. Way before that, he played wide receiver in high school, spent four years on a major college program’s football staff, and survived the travails of being a closeted teen.

In Ready...Set...Pride!, Truscott draws upon his own experience to explore what it means to uncover and accept who you are, to experience the gift of love and the blight of prejudice with equal resolve, and to learn that change is both difficult and inevitable.

Free online lit event: Hudson Valley Writers Center. Slapering Hol Press presents eight poets who will read from their recently published poetry collections. Sunday, October 29, 4:00 - 5:30 PM EDT.

“A poet can survive everything but a misprint.” ~Oscar Wilde

Newly minted homicide detective Kit Hanover is paired with a crusty veteran who makes no bones about his feelings for Native Americans. Their prickly partnership becomes more antagonistic when Kit's first murder case proves devastating and she is reassigned. Determined to work the case in her own time despite the emotional consequences, she finds herself and her family the target of an unknown madman. She withstands the inexplicable attacks as she continues her investigation until she finds herself face-to-face with the murderer. Only one of them will survive. From $2.99 SHOP NOW / 

A bittersweet, literary, coming-of-age story. In 1990s California, there is no hotter star in pop culture than Brad Pitt, an actor who exudes confidence and charisma. And then there is Bradley Pitt, a Filipino-American teen who could not feel more different from the handsome actor with whom he shares a name. As Bradley deals with the complex emotions of life, his therapist instructs him to write letters to his best friend, Sammie. Through these letters, Bradley unveils all that happened the summer that his whole world was changed. FREE - SHOP NOW /