“A novel of conflicting and intertwined stories, desires, and loyalties, Finding Napoleon offers an intriguing new look at one of the most famous men in history.” —The Washington Independent Review of Books

With its delightful adaptation of Napoleon Bonaparte’s real attempt to write romantic fiction, Finding Napoleon: A Novel offers a fresh take on Europe’s most powerful man after he’s lost everything—except his last love. A forgotten woman of history—the audacious Countess Albine—helps narrate their tale of intrigue, desire, and betrayal.

After the defeated Emperor Napoleon goes into exile on tiny St. Helena Island in the remote South Atlantic, he and his lover, Albine de Montholon, plot to escape and rescue his young son. Banding together enslaved Africans, British sympathizers, a Jewish merchant, a Corsican rogue, and French followers, they confront British opposition—as well as treachery within their own ranks—with sometimes subtle, sometimes bold, but always desperate action.

Amid his passions and intrigues, Napoleon finishes his real novel Clisson that he started writing as a young man. Now it's a father's message to the young son whom his enemies took from him, but how can they get it to the boy?

When Napoleon and Albine break faith with one another, ambition and Albine’s husband threaten their reconciliation. To succeed, Napoleon must learn whom to trust. To survive, Albine must decide whom to betray. This elegant, richly researched novel reveals the Napoleon history conceals and the Countess Albine history has forgotten.

Awards:

2022 NYC Big Book Awards Distinguished Favorite in Historical Fiction

2021 Top Shelf Magazine Awards First Place Winner in Literary Fiction

2021 IPPY Awards Gold Winner in Best First Book – Fiction 

2021 International Book Awards Finalist in Best New Fiction

2021 American Fiction Awards Finalist in Best New Fiction and Historical Fiction

2021 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Honorable Mention in Fiction – Historical (Personage) 

2021 Sarton Award Finalist in Historical Fiction

More Reviews:

“A we’ll-written take brings to life the twilight years of a captivating historical figure.” —Kirkus

“In this romantic and earthy novel, Rodenberg has given us a fully fleshed-out Napoleon in his many facets—father, lover, friend, and warrior.” —The Literary Hill

“Rodenberg inventively uses Bonaparte’s own unfinished novel to tell the story of the despot’s rise to power, which she juxtaposes against the story of his last love affair. Told creatively and with excellent research!” —Stephanie Dray, New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of America's First Daughter and The Women of Chateau Lafayette

“No one is more qualified to tell this sweeping tale than Margaret Rodenberg—her research is in a league of its own, and her writing is beautiful and poignant.” —Allison Pataki, New York Times best-selling author of The Queen’s Fortune

“…a fascinating look at Napoleon as a writer of romance, a tender father, and a mature lover examining happier times amid the trials of his life in St. Helena—a side to him not often explored, and one I found completely enrapturing. His forgotten lover, Albine de Montholon, adds an intriguing dimension. Rodenberg’s sense of revolutionary culture and period detail sparkle and her storytelling is truly absorbing. A winner!” —Heather Webb, coauthor of Ribbons of Scarlet and author of Becoming Josephine

“From the first words, Finding Napoleon enchanted me. Exceptionally well researched, the writing is vibrant, the details evocative. The story of Napoleon’s final years is conveyed with moving compassion, humor, and wit. I love Margaret Rodenberg’s writing and I look forward to reading more by her. Highly recommended!” —Sandra Gulland, author of The Josephine B. Trilogy and The Game of Hope

“Vive l’Empereur! In Finding Napoleon, the Bonaparte endgame becomes a new beginning—and a rousing, delightfully peopled adventure. Margaret Rodenberg’s superior scholarship, exquisite scene-setting, and crackling storytelling mark her as a historical novelist to watch.” —Louis Bayard, New York Times notable author of Courting Mr. Lincoln

“Margaret Rodenberg has an outstanding knowledge of and empathy for the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, especially his time in exile on St. Helena. And unlike many, she has actually visited that remote island and seen the actual conditions of his captivity. In Finding Napoleon, she combines that knowledge and empathy with her exceptional ability to weave her imaginative story of Napoleon and Albine de Montholon. In so doing, she leaves readers greatly entertained and, I hope, wanting to read more about one of history’s most fascinating personalities. I highly recommend this fine book by an outstanding author.” —J. David Markham, president of the International Napoleonic Society; Knight, Order of the French Academic Palms; and author of Napoleon for Dummies and Napoleon and Dr. Verling on St. Helena

“A tale within a tale, Finding Napoleon creates three vivid characters—Napoleon in exile, Napoleon becoming a young military hero, and Albine de Montholon, his last and little-known love. Through superb writing, Margaret Rodenberg brings history to life while offering insights into the passions that drove this man to greatness. Highly recommended.” —M.K. Tod, author of Paris in Ruins and Time and Regret

“In her haunting historical novel Finding Napoleon, Margaret Rodenberg bookends the Emperor’s life. She enlarges upon his own semi-autobiographical novel, giving us insight into his early days, contrasting them with the contracted, duplicitous court that accompanied him into captivity on St. Helena after Waterloo. And yet it is through unexpected friendships forged on the island, his tumultuous final love affair with Albine de Montholon, and a longing for the son he’s lost that we truly do find Napoleon during these his last days. Highly recommended.” —Michelle Cameron, author of Beyond the Ghetto Gates

Author Bio:

Margaret Rodenberg’s passion for French history began when she lived in France as a young teen with her US Navy family. An avid traveler who has visited over sixty countries, she has journeyed more than 30,000 miles to conduct Napoleonic research, including to St. Helena Island in the remote South Atlantic where Finding Napoleon takes place. She’s a former businesswoman, an award-winning writer, and a proud director of the Napoleonic Historical Society, a non-profit that promotes knowledge of the Napoleonic era. Finding Napoleon is her first novel. She lives near Washington, DC. She's as happy in a kayak and she is in a museum.

Independently published with She Writes Press

Meet the Sullivan sisters of Bluebird Bay in this heart-warming USA Today bestseller!

Celia Burrows thought she had it all—a handsome husband, two successful children, and a gorgeous beach house on the Northern coast of Maine. But her perfect life cracks apart when her husband of thirty years informs her that he’s leaving. In a note. And since problems come in threes, her adult children reveal they’ve both been struggling with issues of their own.

Before the separation, Celia was the main caretaker for her elderly father, but as her sisters step up to help in the wake of her troubles, neither of them takes to the role. Being tethered in Bluebird Bay is a nightmare for Anna, the youngest, whose passion for travel photography has taken her around the world. And Stephanie has struggled ever since her husband died in a freak boating accident a couple of years ago.

As Celia begins to come to terms with her own shocking loss, she’s surprised to feel a giddy sense of freedom. For thirty years, she’s buried her own dreams in support of her husband’s vision. But that was the past. It’s time to pick herself up, dust herself off, and create a better, more fulfilling tomorrow. Now, if only she can convince the people she loves to do the same...


Author Bios:
Denise Grover Swank was born in Kansas City, Missouri. At nineteen, she became a nomad, living in five cities, four states, and ten houses over the next decade before returning to her roots. Her hobbies include making witty Facebook comments and dancing in the kitchen. She has six children and hasnt lost her sanity or so she leads everyone to believe.

Christine Gael lives with her sweet, funny husband in South Florida, where she spends the majority of her day writing and consuming mass amounts of coffee. Her favorite pastimes include playing pickle ball and tennis year-round, and texting pictures of palm trees and the beach to her New England-based friends in the wintertime.

When Meg shows up at her mother's door, she has no idea how to break the news to her.

She's come home from France, pregnant. At just nineteen years old, this wasn't where she saw her life going.

Now, trying to hide her growing belly and figure out her next decision, she moves in with her mother, sister and aunt on Seabreeze Island. But, how long can she keep her pregnancy a secret, and what happens if another surprising person shows up at the front door of Julie's house?

In this 3rd installment of the South Carolina Sunsets series, you'll get to read Meg's story and also see more of Dawson and Julie's story unfold. Of course, Janine, William, Colleen and Dixie will be there too

But, what will happen when a woman from Dawson's past shows up and might just throw a kink in his relationship with Julie?

A "heartwarming" novel by USA Today bestseller Elizabeth Bromke: Four sisters are ready to start fresh... as soon as they settle the secrets of their past (Goodreads).

On the verge of divorce, Megan Hannigan needs a distraction. So, she turns to the sunny tract of farmland left in her mother's will. It's the perfect locale for a budding business, but locals disagree. Only a third party can help navigate this pesky small-town grudge or else Megan's career plan is dead in the water.

Meanwhile, Megan's oldest sister, Kate, hosts a grand opening for her newly renovated Heirloom Inn. Everything is going smoothly until her high school sweetheart reveals a disastrous confession.

Amelia and her new flame are working to bring a local monument back to life. They figured the mysteries of the past were dead and buried, until Amelia accidentally discovers more information.

Claire, a teacher, capitalizes on summer break by working on her new cottage and lounging near the water. But then her principal makes a midsummer request...and a new revelation shocks the shoreline and changes everything.

Fireflies in the Field is the third installment in the Birch Harbor family saga. These romantic women's fiction titles are best enjoyed in sequential order.

Escape to Birch Harbor, Michigan and visit the Hannigan sisters, who live and love on the quaint shores of Lake Huron. Birch Harbor is a romantic women's fiction series and a family saga by the author of The Farmhouse.

Book One: House on the Harbor

Book Two: Lighthouse on the Lake

Book Three: Fireflies in the Field

Book Four: Cottage by the Creek

Book Five: Bells on the Bay

Christine Sheridan is the middle sister of the Sheridan clan: lost between her older sister, Susan, a successful criminal lawyer and her whip-smart little sister, Lola. Over twenty years apart, she and her sisters have just learned the secret that their dead mother has kept from them all these years, of their mother's true fate. Now, Christine returns to New York City, to her boyfriend Frank, to a life she once loved. But the prestige's restaurant they own is no more, and Christine is left once again without solid ground.

At forty-one, unable to have children, and with nowhere to go--she knows only to return home to the Vineyard and her family. Martha's Vineyard is in full summer bloom. After over twenty years away, Christine falls in love again with the water, with boating, the people, and with carefree days that meander and pop with bright conversations with Lola and Susan and long afternoon swims through crystal waters. Unfortunately, her high school rival, the ever-handsome Zach Walters, seems to lurk everywhere she goes--even offering her a pastry chef position at the Sunrise Inn Bistro. Almost reluctantly, she takes it--and soon becomes the most championed pastry chef on the island. Zach doesn't seem so bad, either, although he does seem to harbor his own secrets.

Still, the Sheridan clan is never far from heartbreak. As the Sheridan sisters grow closer, their father loses even more of his memory; their mother's real killer remains on the loose, as does Scott's brother, who stole an obscene amount of money from the Sunrise Cove Inn. Secrets swirl through the family--and drama escalates when Lola's daughter, Audrey, calls with shocking news that sends ripples through the entire Sheridan family.

Every day, the Sheridan sisters find new ways to support, enrage, love, and surprise one another. At forty-one, Christine feels caught between her old life and her new one--poised on the brink of either collapse or the greatest love she's ever known. Will she find happiness on the island? Come and find out

Dive into book two of this new women's fiction series: a backdrop of white sand and crystal blue waters, following the Sheridan sisters' heartwarming journey of friendship, loss, and love.

For fans of Pamela Kelley, Caroline Brown, Debbie Macomber, and Jan Moran.

She has matrimony on her mind ... but not necessarily for herself.

As summer slips in over the countryside, Melinda's focused on giving her farmhouse the facelift of a lifetime and planning Prosper's first Founders Day festival. Her to-do list gets longer when Horace's great-niece suddenly needs a wedding venue. Melinda and her friends vow to give Jen a celebration she will never forget ... but will Jen be the only one to make a commitment?

Love may be in bloom, but things in Prosper aren't so simple and sweet. Auggie's grand plan to expand the co-op has many residents seeing red, and the stability of Prosper Hardware could hang in the balance. And when a beloved community member is sidelined, an unexpected visitor is determined to pick up the slack.

Through it all, Melinda has to confront her past and consider her future. Can she make the right choices to secure the life she wants? Don't miss the final installment in this heartwarming series!

Starting over is never easy.
For Hatch, nothing ever is.
Seeking a connection to her past,
Hatch crosses paths with a girl in need.
And she'll risk everything to save her.

In the most intense novel to date, ex-military police officer Rachel Hatch faces off with a criminal enterprise trafficking girls. Hatch can't look the other way and is called by her code of justice to seek resolution. With her back against the wall and innocent lives held in the balance, Hatch does what she does best and brings the fight to the enemy. Only this enemy is unlike any she's ever faced.

And she'll have to walk through fire if she plans to come out alive.

From New York Times bestselling author Joanne DeMaio comes a novel snow-dusted with love and possibility.

Lindsey Haynes' father once gave her a snow globe with the note: "Unsure where to go? Give a little shake...and your heart will always know." On a whim, those words lead her to the quaint New England town of Addison. It's a place straight out of a storybook with its twinkling town green, decorated Main Street, and secluded lakeside cabin community.

But an encounter with a dejected doctor named Greg Davis turns Lindsey's days upside down, much like a snow globe in motion. With a little nudge from endearing townsfolk, and a few chance meetings of their own, a magical flurry of emotions suddenly swirls around them.

First Flurries is an enchanting story about finding love and home when you're not even looking. So cozy up and settle in with a tale that will simply capture your holiday heart.

Author Bio:

Joanne DeMaio is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary fiction. The novels of her ongoing and groundbreaking Seaside Saga journey with a group of beach friends, much the way a TV series does, continuing with the same cast of characters from book-to-book. In addition, she writes Winter Novels set in a quaint New England town. Joanne lives with her family in Connecticut.

Shop The Winter Series

Can these forever friends recapture their zest for life together?

Annie Pierce knows the best part of turning fifty will be raising a glass in a toast with her oldest friends. As long as there is water, wine, and warmth, plus time to reminisce and reconnect, everyone should be happy. Fun with friends is a great way to escape life for a while. And Annie needs the escape. Will a week in Arizona be enough to quell her growing trepidation?

She'd expected to enjoy her empty nest, but the house is too quiet and regrets are piling up over decisions made long ago. The rift within her blended family feels like a chasm. Her husband is pulling away, her ex is back, and loyalties are in question. Frustrations at work aren't helping. A favorite student is making stupid choices and putting lives at risk. As she awaits her first grandchild, Annie would give anything to bring her family back together.

How can this soon-to-be grandma muster the energy to save both her family and her students? She'll need the support of her best friends if she's going to move forward through these paralyzing midlife struggles.

She used to be fearless. Now she's frozen.

Can Annie begin to thaw under the Arizona sun with a little help from her friends?

Enjoy a fun-filled girls' trip with this welcoming group in Five Golden Friends, book three of The Kaleidoscope Girls women's friendship series by Kimberly Diede. Life is a compilation of yesterday's choices, but hard-earned wisdom plus a little courage can lead to new pathways and fewer regrets.

Sometimes it takes a while to truly know how you feel...

Robin and Jay have been friends for a long time.

It's obvious to everyone except Robin and Jay that they are more than friends.

Just when they start to discover that fact for themselves, Jay's past comes back to haunt him. Their tenuous footing is swept away when Robin finds out the secrets he's hidden from her for Five Years or So.

Read the exciting and delightful continuation of the Charming Inn series.

This is book five in the Charming Inn series:

One Simple Wish - Book One

Two of a Kind - Book Two

Three Simple Things - Book Three

Four Short Weeks - Book Four

Five Years or So - Book Five

Six Hours Away - Book Six

Charming Christmas - Book Seven

Ria Stiles is a good wife, a loving mother and successful photographer. She is also a practiced liar, with a dark past concealed by a new identity. Her husband Jim is no saint. He's preoccupied by the threat he is about to be fired and their teenage son's questionable antics.

When gunfire erupts in broad daylight on their street and one of their neighbours is murdered, Ria and Jim's home life begins to unravel. Both double down to protect themselves, desperate to keep their nefarious activities hidden. As the police try and track down the shooter, Ria and Jim's secrets collide.

But not everything is as it first appears.

In a game of lies, when only one can win...

Sometimes the truth can be deadly.

Rasa Gustaitis, who was a child when she fled Lithuania and came to America, centers this compelling historical memoir on her pursuit of traces of her father, last known to be in a grim Soviet prison. A lifelong journalist, the author follows four generations of a family caught up in the tumultuous history of Eastern Europe, beginning with the childhoods of her extraordinary parents and continuing to the Singing Revolution that liberated one small, defiant country from the grip of the USSR. Flight is eye-opening, the story of a little-examined landscape within a war that changed the world. The author paints the details of everyday life with poignancy and joy, while placing individual lives within the grand sweep of history. Like all the best accounts of the past, this beautifully written book leaves us with food for thought about our own lives and times.

"This is a 5-star book that I recommend to anyone who likes an adventurous story of discovery mixed with love, rebellion, and suspense all rolled into one." —Readers' Favorite, 2021 Silver Medal for YA Epic Fantasy

An ancient prophecy, now an outlawed myth. A forbidden love, that could be deadly. A young girl, who never suspected that those who promised safety were her deadliest enemies.
Iskra is committed to following the rules, the rules that keep everyone safe. But when a supposedly savage outlaw rescues her from a gang of vicious bandits, she realizes the price of safety is freedom. And that most of what she believes is a lie.

When her questions prompt the authorities to abduct her friend, Iskra resolves to learn the truth about the rebellious outsiders and their magic amulets.

Even though she knows that her quest for answers could get her killed—or worse—she presses on to discover the shocking truth that has been ruthlessly suppressed. Will she overcome her fears in her fight for truth and freedom, or will the pitiless leaders destroy her and her love?
Flight of the Spark is the thrilling first book in The Outlawed Myth YA fantasy series. If you like dystopian worlds, tenacious heroines, compelling characters, and a splash of romance, then you’ll love Evelyn Puerto’s gripping tale.

More Reviews:

"Don't pass up the opportunity to enter the world that Evelyn Puerto has so passionately created for us. Flight of the Spark will fill you with a magic you may have thought disappeared a long time ago." —Long and Short Reviews

"An impressively original, deftly crafted and inherently entertaining read from cover to cover, Flight of the Spark is an unreservedly recommended addition to school and community library YA Fiction Collections." —Midwest Review of Books

"Evelyn Puerto has laid the groundwork for a fantastic fantasy in this first in the Outlawed Myth series...Flight of the Spark is a wickedly entertaining story for anybody who has ever wanted to break free." —Indies Today

Author Bio:

Evelyn Puerto reads just about anything and writes in multiple genres. When she married, she inherited three stepdaughters, a pair of step-grandsons, and a psychotic cat. Currently she writes from South Carolina. 

I should be the one dying.
I should be dead.

The doctor flashed her penlight into my eyes, and I blinked against the bright ray. My dog Blue sat on the floor next to me, his head resting on my knee. My fingers curled around the edge of the exam table, gripping onto the seat, hoping I could hold onto reality.

Robert Maxim stood by the door, his arms crossed and face shadowed. He watched us, reminding me of a simmering pot, one just on the cusp of a rolling boil.

The sound of thunder rumbled in the back of my brain. The stringent scent of the hospital tickled my nose. My heart echoed in my chest, pounding out Mulberry's name.

He'd changed my life, Mulberry-helped me when I needed it and when I didn't. Touched me when I asked and stayed away when I insisted. Now, if my mind was to be believed, his life teetered on the edge, his leg blown off, the veins opened, his blood spilled onto the battlefield, rushing away from him.

The doctor stepped back, a woman in her early 40s with straight black hair and big glasses that slipped down her elegant little nose. "You've suffered major trauma."

Thanks Captain Obvious.

"I think..." She cocked her head, narrowing her eyes, inspecting me like a gardener might a plant that refused to grow toward the sun. "We need to get you back to the States." She turned to Robert.

Thunder rumbled louder, crackling in my ears and blotting out her voice. Lightning sizzled across my vision, and I blinked against the bright, white light.

A woman's voice whispered through the storm...You are a miracle.

I shook my head, trying to shake free of the hallucinations, but they clung to me like fog hovering over a harbor-thick and dangerous, but intangible, impossible to touch or avoid. There and yet not.

Had my worst nightmare really come true? Mulberry, the man I loved, in dire danger. Me, powerless to help.

P.S. The dog does not die in this series.
**Beware: If you can't handle a few f-bombs, you can't handle this series.**

About the Author
Emily Kimelman not only writes adventure, she lives it every day. Embodying the true meaning of wanderlust, she's written her Sydney Rye mysteries from all over the world. From the jungles of Costa Rica to the mountains of Spain, she finds inspiration for her stories in her own life. While living under communist rule in the former Soviet Union, the KGB sprinkled her with "spy dust", a radioactive concoction that made her glow and left a trail they could follow. She was two. She was destined for amazing things after that, and she continues to find adventure to inspire characters like the badass Sydney Rye. Download the first Sydney Rye Thriller, Unleashed, for FREE on all major ebook platforms and join the adventure!

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool Me Twice, shame on me...

When the body of a high-profile, semi-retired barrister is found brutally murdered at his Norfolk home, DI Tom Janssen and the team must work to uncover who killed him and why.

With a glittering career, spanning several decades representing the privileged and the wealthy, behind him the focus of the investigation inevitably turns toward cases and clients past and present, but was his death linked to his work or is there another, darker and far more sinister motive at play?

No matter how successful, privileged or elevated in society one person can be, one universal rule applies... we all bleed the same...

Set within the mysterious beauty of coastal Norfolk, this fast-paced British detective novel is a dark murder mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end when the final shocking twist is revealed.

Fool Me Twice is the tenth novel in the Hidden Norfolk series of thrillers from the million-copy bestselling British crime writer, JM Dalgliesh, the author of the Dark Yorkshire books. Perfect for fans of LJ Ross, JD Kirk, Angela Marsons, Simon McCleave and Damien Boyd.

Dublin, Ireland 1915

Eighteen-year-old May Gallagher is beautiful but restless, and longs for the freedom to live her own life, to decide her own destiny. Mollycoddled as the only remaining child of middle-class parents in the suburbs, she sneaks out to the theatre when she can. She is mesmerised by the captivating actor Peter Cullen, and wishes she could enjoy a more bohemian life.

The Great War is taking all the boys away, and the promise that it will all be over by Christmas is ringing more hollow with each passing month.

Her parents would be appalled if they knew she'd befriended the enigmatic Peter, who was from the wrong side of the city, but there is something about him that intrigues May.

When catastrophe strikes Peter, it's to May that he turns, and in that moment she knows her life will never be the same again.

Ivy Rune not only escaped the Count's castle; she uncovered the truth of her father's disappearance. But the consequences of this revelation force Ivy to seek help from her friend Ember's mother. However, as Keeper of the White Forest, Airlend Frost is also an enemy of the Count.

With the Count on their trail, Ivy and her friends race to the White Forest. But when they arrive, a buried fate in Ember's world collides with the final secret of Ivy's past, unexpectedly binding Ivy to the White Forest.

To protect her loved ones and the White Forest from the Count's coming destruction, Ivy accepts a mission to retrieve a powerful object. With everyone's future at stake, Ivy discovers fate has its own plans for her, and there's a price to wield this magic. If she's not careful, Ivy risks betraying those she loves by fulfilling a fate she never intended.

Three-hundred years into the future, and the world has changed. Among a chosen few, life expectancy is now hundreds of years. These are the foreverchildren, and science has found a way to keep them in a nearly endless childhood. Secure in their giant hives, they have left the outsiders, who must live natural lives, to fend for themselves.

This is the story of Kianno and Seelin, two children who find themselves trading places in this strange new world, one leading the life of a foreverchild and the other growing up in the anarchy of the outside world. Their lives come together again in surprising and unexpected ways, as they both become involved in a fierce struggle between the two worlds.

About the Author
Decesare, Leah: - Leah DeCesare is the author of the nonfiction parenting series Naked Parenting, based on her work as a doula, early parenting educator, and mom of three. Her articles on parenting have been featured in The Huffington Post, the International Doula, and The Key, among others. In 2008, she cofounded the nonprofit Doulas of Rhode Island, and in 2013 she spearheaded the Campaign for Hope to build the Kampala Children's Centre for Hope and Wellness in Uganda. In a past life, DeCesare worked in public relations and event planning. She now writes, teaches, and volunteers in Rhode Island, where she lives with her family and talking cockatiel.

"Endearing and casual, like an old friend sitting down for a drink with you to tell you of their exploits..." —Readers' Favorite

Fans of Cory Mortensen’s The Buddha and the Bee and Paul Stutzman’s Biking Across America will enjoy Forty to Finish!

Embark on a cross-country cycling adventure in this exciting sequel that finds author Larry Walsh on yet another solo trek across America. Here, Walsh brings readers along for the ride of a lifetime: 4,200 miles, cutting across ten states, from Oregon to Virginia. The Trans Am Bike Race is so grueling that less than 300 solo riders in the last decade have crossed the finish line. But Walsh did just that. Reaching the Yorktown Victory Monument, however, is just a small part of this tale.

In this inspiring follow-up to Suit to Saddle, we find Walsh a year removed from his fortuitous layoff that spurred his first cross-country voyage of self-discovery. This time we join the Army veteran on another exhilarating pilgrimage that's sure to reawaken that long-dormant sense of adventure, broaden horizons, and challenge the default notions of the American people. All the while, Walsh inspires readers to reconnect with their own goals and ambitions, proving that even the most daunting journey is possible with determination and faith.

Meet colorful folks from across the country as Walsh cycles through over 300 towns, and experience the ever-changing countryside, from scaling mountains to pedaling through sacred Native lands. This love letter to the American road is sure to light a fire and set readers on the course for their own unforgettable journey. For anyone feeling obsolete or past their prime, Walsh proves it's never too late to start the race of a lifetime.

More Reviews:

"Bicycling enthusiasts will find here an enjoyable depiction of the sport and its devotees’ yearnings...well-observed and engrossing account of competitive bicycling and its spiritual overtones." —Kirkus

"Lovers of sports stories and tales of endurance will appreciate this memoir of cycling across the United States." —BookLife

"Forty to Finish is a must-read...a remarkably profound and healthy book that redirects one's focus from materialistic concerns and social media content to the wonderful natural environment around us." —Manhattan Book Review

"Larry Walsh’s Forty to Finish is a straightforward, quietly dramatic memoir of a 4,192-mile bike race from Oregon to Virginia, a love letter to America, and a story of hard-won victory." —IndieReader

Author Bio:

Larry Walsh, US Army veteran, family man, and author of Suit to Saddle, left the corporate world after thirty years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He needed a change. Wanted a change. So he set out on a 3,120-mile bike ride from California to Florida. A wise man one said, "If you dig it, do it. If you dig it a lot, do it again"—Jim Croce. So that's what he did. He entered the 4,200-mile TransAmerica Bike Race, finishing the grueling ride from Oregon to Virginia in thirty-eight days.

He found it difficult to share his experiences in quick conversations with family and friends, so he wrote about his adventures pedaling through 528 towns, covering 7,300-miles and crossing 17 states. His uplifting stories from his travels encompasses two books, Suit to Saddle (available now) and Forty to Finish (coming soon).

He finds inspiration writing at the family cabin in Torch Lake, Michigan. When he's not in Michigan, he resides in Morris County, New Jersey with his wife and son. A proud father of two daughters, a son, a basketball enthusiast, he enjoys spending time with family.

Shop all Adventure Travel Series

A heart-rending story of two mothers-one white, one black-struggling for truth and justice in the Civil Rights-era South

In 1958, when almost no women own and edit newspapers, Pearl Goodbar, a white mother of two teen-age girls, risks her family's financial future to buy a small, defunct Southern weekly. Before she can get the paper up and running, her husband loses his job, a smoldering desegregation crisis flames up in the state capital, and Elton Washington-a young black man whose mother, Sadie Rose, is also a businesswoman-disappears.

The mystery of Elton's whereabouts brings Pearl and Sadie Rose together in a gut-wrenching search for truth and justice and leaves Pearl facing editorial and business decisions that could lead to more money woes and even physical harm to herself and those around her. Which way will she turn when commitment to honesty, integrity, and equal rights runs headlong into responsibility and duty to family?

Both women's lives are complicated further when townspeople learn what happened with Elton. Meanwhile, the head of the local White Citizens' Council stirs racial hatred, and another prominent white man hides a dark secret that Sadie Rose knows but will not tell. The town's former marshal-a white septuagenarian everyone calls Mr. Claude-and a black businessman-Leon Jackson-play important roles in the shocking events, including murder, that follow. But Pearl is key to the answers they seek.

Find out why.

About the Author
Adams, George Rollie: - George Rollie Adams is a native of southern Arkansas and a former teacher with graduate degrees in history and education. He is the author of South of Little Rock, which received four independent publishers' awards for regional and social issues fiction; author of General William S. Harney: Prince of Dragoons, a finalist for the Army Historical Foundation's Distinguished Book Award; coauthor of Nashville: A Pictorial History; and coeditor of Ordinary People and Everyday Life, a book of essays on social history. Adams has served as a writer, editor, and program director for the American Association for State and Local History and as director of the Louisiana State Museum in New Orleans. He is president and CEO emeritus of the Strong National Museum of Play, where he founded the American Journal of Play and led the establishment of the International Center for the History of Electronic Games.

Sometimes four weeks is enough... and sometimes it's not...

Lillian Charm is content running Charming Inn. She has everything she wants or needs. Well, she kind of regrets her purchase of the house next to the inn. She wants to turn it into a guest house. But It has been nothing but problem after problem.

Gary Jones comes to Belle Island for a brief vacation... oh, let's be honest... he's hiding out from his past. He knows it and anyone who knows who he really is knows it. One other reason to make sure no one finds out his true identity.

Gary takes over the job of rehabbing the guest house for Lillian. At the very least it will keep him busy, and maybe it will help him hide from his memories and the overwhelming guilt.

But when an accident at the guest house makes it seem like history is repeating itself, Gary knows it's no longer possible to hide from his past.

Lillian and Gary have only known each other for four short weeks... and that may be all they have.

This is the delightful continuation of the Charming Inn series. Sara and Noah are making wedding plans and then there's Charlotte. What's up with Ben and Charlotte? Of course, we're still waiting to see what happens between Robin and Jay. Visit all of them along with your favorite Lighthouse Point characters.

This is book four in the Charming Inn series:

One Simple Wish - Book One

Two of a Kind - Book Two

Three Simple Things - Book Three

Four Short Weeks - Book Four

Five Years or So - Book Five

Six Hours Away - Book Six

Or try the Lighthouse Point series. Either series can be read first, so jump right in.

The Lighthouse Point Series:

Wish Upon a Shell - Book One

Wedding on the Beach - Book Two

Love at the Lighthouse - Book Three

Cottage Near the Point - Book Four

Return to the Island - Book Five

Bungalow by the Bay - Book Six

We never call it homeless. We're just "camping" in the jungle on Kauai...

We live in a place everyone calls paradise. Sure, Kauai's beautiful, with empty beaches, drip-castle mountains, and perfect surf...but we've been "camping" for six months, eating boiled chicken feed for breakfast, and wearing camouflage clothes so no one sees us trespassing in our jungle hideout. The cockroaches 1/2leave rainbow colors all over everything from eating the crayons we left outside the tent, and now a tractor is coming to scrape our camp into the river.

Standing in front of the tent in my nightgown, clinging to my sister as we face the tractor, I know my own truth: I just want to be normal.

But Mom and Pop are addicted.
Addicted to Kauai's beauty, to drugs, to surfing, to living a life according to their own rules out from under their high-achieving parents' judgmental eyes. I'm just their red-headed, mouthy, oldest kid. What I want doesn't matter.

But I'm smart. I will make a different life for myself someday if I keep up my grades no matter what happens.
No matter how often we run out of food.
No matter how many times I change schools...or don't go to school at all.
No matter how many bullies beat me up for the color of my skin.

2022 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards Honorable Mention - Psychological Thriller Fiction

“...impossible to put down.... A truly unmissable read.” —K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

Free From Sin is a gripping psychological crime thriller/mystery story about the intertwining lives of three unlikely women in the hills of Kentucky, and the explosive results when a troubled teenager has her day of reckoning.

Sheriff Sadie Mills navigates the challenges of single motherhood while solving crimes in the rural community of Possum Gap, Kentucky. The recent trailer shootings in her jurisdiction have her on edge, and the new coroner, a Yankee transplant from the east coast, is still adjusting to life in the wilderness when all hell breaks loose. Cases stemming from an out-of-control hillbilly clan, sex trafficking, and a murder in the nearby Amish community collide, and Sheriff Mills finds herself in a race to stop a serial killer before they strike again.
Lucinda Coblentz is a devoted wife, mother, and member of a strict religious order. Her kind and generous ways make her the perfect target of a master manipulator and has put her beloved family in grave danger. Can she make matters right before it's too late?

More Reviews:

“This exciting psychological thriller adds a human dimension to a hard-nosed crime story…. Readers who relish strong female leads will enjoy this suspenseful but nuanced crime novel…. Great for fans of Linda Castillo’s Kate Burkholder series, Vannetta Chapman’s Shipshewana Amish Mystery series, Chris Offutt’s The Killing Hills.” —BookLife

“Free From Sin is a gentle (if a murder/mystery can be termed such a thing) and beguiling story that takes the reader right into the redneck backcountry that is the hills of Kentucky…. This is a simple, yet immensely satisfying read and one I can highly recommend.” —Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite

“…a suspenseful crime novel. The characters feel authentic and deal with everyday problems that make them and the story surrounding them genuine...” —Delene Vrey for Readers' Favorite

“I loved this book!” —Liz's Book Reviews

Author Bio:

Karen Ann Hopkins writes Amish fiction, mysteries, YA literature, paranormal, dystopian and romance for readers of all ages. She resides in northern Kentucky with her family on a farm that boasts a menagerie of horses, goats, sheep, peacocks, chickens, ducks, rabbits, pigs, dogs, and cats. Karen rescues and fosters a variety of pets and farm animals, but she also finds time to give riding lessons, coach a youth equestrian drill team, and of course, write. She was inspired to create her first book, Temptation, by the Amish community she lives in. The experiential knowledge she gained through her interactions with her neighbors drove her to create the story of the star-crossed lovers, Rose and Noah.

Shop the Possum Gap series

Shop all Karen Ann Hopkins books

Recipient of the 2021 Gold IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award, Historical Fiction category.

1729: Blair Eakins is a fifteen-year-old Ulster-Scot living in Ireland under the crushing weight of famine, poverty, and prejudice against his people. In search of a better future for himself and his beloved, he pays for passage to the American colonies the only way he can: he commits himself as an indentured servant for a term of four years, having no idea what he's in for. His rough ocean crossing is ony the beginning of a new life of hardships in Philadelphia. In Lodon, ten-year-old orphan pickpocket Mallie Ambrose is arrested for stealing a handkerchief. After experiencing the horror of Newgate prison, she is sentenced to Transportation; bound into indentured servitude and exiled to the American colonies. Once in Maryland, she is sold to a tyrannical tobacco planter for seven years. As Blair and Mallie each endure hellish conditions, their paths eventually cross when they are acquired by the same owner. After Blair steps in to defend Mallie from their cruel master, the two escape and head west, finding unlikely allies among the Delaware Indians. But as fugitive without rights, they live in constant fear of capture.Indra Zuno vividly portrays the terror and injustice of indentured servitude in pre-Revolutionary War America while championing the indomitable spirits of two strong survivors who struggle against monumental odds to find the freedom to love each other and control their own destiny.