2019 National Indie Excellence Winner for Chick-Lit

2019 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist for Chick-Lit

"I was caught on page one and didn’t put the book down until I was done traveling with the girls. This is a fabulous story of travel, romance, and true friendship, touching on the subject of how to cope after the loss of a friend or loved one.… Highly recommended for anyone who loves feel-good stories with plenty of oomph!" —Readers' Favorite

Harper Rodrigues’ five-year plan was on track. She’d worked hard to secure her graduate marketing job, her boyfriend Adam was set to propose any day, and she was learning to process the death of her sister. She’d been through some dark times, but there was light at the end of the tunnel.

At least, that’s how it had seemed until the day she was fired in the morning and dumped by nightfall.

Now, with her life plans in ruins, Harper turns to her best friends who are going on the trip of a lifetime—five-months traveling across Asia and Oceania. Determined to see the silver lining in her unraveled plans, she decides to book a plane ticket to join them and resurrect her dreams of becoming a travel photographer.

But Harper’s travels aren’t all sunshine and cocktails. With Adam begging for her forgiveness and proposing on the eve of her departure, Harper knows she must be on her best behavior. But when she meets Xavier, an enigmatic poet on the beaches of Goa, that may just be easier said than done.

Runaways is the empowering and racy tale of one woman’s voyage of self-discovery.

Author Bio:

Writer, traveler, content creator, master of random jobs, avoider of the 9-5. In 2010, Rachel Sawden set off on a trip around the world hoping to be given a sign of what to do with her life. That sign never appeared. It turned out the entire trip was the sign. When she returned to her home in Bermuda, she began to write about the countries she traveled to because she was still obsessed with them and had run out of people to listen to her drone on about her trip. She turned a life-long personal challenge of ‘write a book’ into Runaways, her debut novel. She has continued to travel, take photos, and write ever since.

Samira, a budding psychologist, is on her way to becoming the next Dr. Phil-or at least equally famous. Except that when confronted with the reality of choosing a career path, her ripe hunger for greatness conflicts with the spirit of the helping profession.

Balancing a long-distance relationship with her high school sweetheart in Nigeria and pressure to excel in her new home, she faces a life-changing dilemma. Should she stay in America, chasing the immigrant dream, or return home to be with her love interest, who might be drawn to her best friend?

Running Between Trees follows the identity crisis of an immigrant daughter while exploring the nuances of leaving one's home in pursuit of American opportunities.

A 2023 Wall Street Journal Bestseller

"As someone who's had the privilege of being a part of many chapters of her story, I can vouch for its authenticity. Through Lori's words, readers will find inspiration, courage, and a renewed faith in the power of determination and resilience." -Paul M. Hatch, Founding Partner and CEO, Vestria Capital

"There are a lot of valuable lessons to be learned from Lori's story... I liked how this book didn't just focus on her wins but talked about the challenges she faced. The book is no fluff..." -Seattle Book Review



Running with Grace is [Lori Van Dusen's] story of triumphs and defeats, told to inspire the reader to never give up. -Readers' Favorite

Nothing about Lori Van Dusen's childhood indicated she'd become one of the nation's top independent financial advisors. She was born prematurely on the wrong side of the tracks and with a genetic blood disorder. Her parents divorced when she and her twin brother were less than a year old. But her big, boisterous, loving Italian family, led by her beloved grandfather, a first-generation American with only an eighth-grade education, taught her that the only limitations in life are those we impose on ourselves.

As a young person, Lori wanted to sing on Broadway, not manage money on Wall Street. But in 1986, this quiet, serious young woman walked into the rough-and-tumble, eat-what-you-kill world of Shearson Lehman Brothers and never looked back. She fought her way to the top by thinking outside the box and working her ass off despite the jeers, insults, and sideways glances. Her secret weapon? A need to prove herself so strong she could outwork anyone.

But Lori's trajectory to the top was not a straight, upward line; it was a rollercoaster. She hit the pinnacle of success only to have it ripped away in a legal battle with one of the biggest banks in the world. She was raped by a PhD candidate at Harvard, swindled by a business partner, and battled two life-altering medical diagnoses. None of that, though, would compare to having the two people she loved most in the world taken way too soon.

Despite the fear and pain, Lori remained hopeful and resilient. In this memorable, poignant, and inspiring memoir, she shares her lowest lows and highest highs as well as hard-earned wisdom from her bumpy personal, professional, and spiritual journey. Life was never meant to be fair, she learned, but we must keep running with grace if we are to find purpose and joy in the face of adversity.

When life races with chaos and uncertainty, run beyond your fear with bold faith.

Humanly speaking, we are no match for a horse's strength or speed. But "the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah," and the prophet was able to outrun Ahab's royal chariot on the long streak from Mount Carmel to Jezreel (1 Kings 18).

In the same way, personal relationship with Almighty God inspires and empowers us to accomplish great exploits we never thought possible and, like Elijah, to deliver something of prophetic value to the culture and the world.

Running with Horses is a volume of daily writings exhorting every individual this way-to expect impossible outcomes, even supernatural interventions. Inspired this way, when the pace speeds up in the sphere to which you are called, you run ahead of anything believed possible.

Like all of creation, you were born with a specific design and purpose. Yours, I am convinced, is for this no-holds-barred day, for this prophetic time.

Whether days of peace or trouble, you were born for this time.

Everyone has a secret. Some are worth killing for...some are worth dying for...

The son of an art thief, FBI agent Flynn MacKenzie is no stranger to deception, but when the brutal murder of a federal judge unravels an intricate and shocking web of lies, he finds himself tangled up in personal life-changing secrets and in the arms of a woman he isn't sure he can trust.

Callie Harper not only wants justice for her stepfather, she also wants to protect her family. Staying close to Flynn seems like the smart option, until she starts to fall for the man who could hurt everyone she loves.

The lines between good and bad, guilty and innocent, are blurred. Callie and Flynn quickly realize their search for the truth could take them somewhere they don't want to go...if they can stay alive long enough to get there.

Don't miss this thrilling romantic suspense from #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Barbara Freethy

Also Available in the FBI Series:

Perilous Trust #1

Reckless Whisper #2

Desperate Play #3

Elusive Promise #4

Dangerous Choice #5

Ruthless Cross #6

Critical Doubt #7

What the readers are saying...

"Count on Freethy to thrill your socks off, while running away with your heart. RUTHLESS CROSS had me holding my breath and biting my nails as I sat on the edge of my seat. Caught in an epic battle of good versus evil, two strangers risk everything to get to the truth." Isha C

"RUTHLESS CROSS is another adrenaline-filled story, with well written and developed characters, Barbara Freethy is a master of her craft " Booklovers Anonymous

"Barbara Freethy writes a beautiful, edge of the seat story, full of intrigue, mystery and romance. This is my favorite FBI series Can't wait to read the next book " Christine

Return to a world of secrets, love, and spies this historical novel of epic romance, dangerous deceit, and gripping adventure in the Middle Eastern front of the Great War, the second book of The Windswept WWI Saga by author Annabelle McCormack.

Egypt, 1917: British nurse Ginger Whitman thought she escaped the intrigue that devastated her family and threatened her life on the desert sands of WWI Palestine. But when she's drafted into an investigation for the Cairo Intelligence Department, she uncovers forces at work to destroy the man she loves: intelligence officer Noah Benson.

As an old enemy resurfaces, Ginger and Noah are pulled into a minefield of lies, greed, and political deception that threatens the stability of the British alliance. With an enemy that knows their secrets, no one they love is safe. But nothing is what it seems-and a far more nefarious foe may be toying with them both.
Sands in Sirocco is the second novel in the Windswept WW1 Saga, a historical fiction series featuring a strong female protagonist. A story of spies, family drama, romance, and epic adventure, it is set in the British Middle Eastern front of the First World War. This novel contains violence, mild language, and romantic, steamy scenes.

Author Bio: 

Annabelle McCormack spins you tales of epic historical adventure, heartfelt romance, and complex family dynamics with strong female protagonists to make things interesting. She graduated from the Johns Hopkins University's M.A. in Writing Program. She's a sucker for pizza (cheese, bread, and tomatoes are the perfect foods) and mangoes, loves baking and photography, and never wants to do laundry again. She lives in Maryland with her, husband, five children, and two boxers. She's half-Costa Rican and speaks fluent Spanish, so you can always drop her a line in either English or Spanish. Pura vida!

Eighteen-year-old Sasha Clems didn't mean to steal a seadragon's magic. Or err... More correctly, she did. She just didn't mean to get caught.

Sasha is tired of being poor. Tired of foreclosure notices tacked to her family's fridge, tired of working four jobs, tired of dreaming about college rather than attending.

When one morning she witnesses a dying seadragon expel its magic in the form of a basketball-sized jewel, she grabs it. The last time this happened, the jewel sold in the high nine-figures, but only after a kidnapping, three deaths, and an international manhunt by the Magic-Handlers' Alliance.

No reward without a little risk.

Sasha bolts off on a cross-country race to the single person she trusts to help auction off the jewel. Chasing her is the government, the Magic-Handler's Alliance, more dragons, and the hottest teenage magician on the face of the planet.

Even worse, the more Sasha discovers about the world of magic and the nature of the seadragon itself, the more she realizes there are things and people that just might be more important than money.

Maybe...? Because Sasha is really done with being poor.

It boils down to not just outracing her pursuers but confronting just how far she's willing to let her own moral compass slide.

Gripping the test in my hand, I can't stop staring at the blue cross in the window.

Tears roll, hot and slow, down my cheeks. I huddle in a low ball, emotion bowing me. My dog, Blue, whines and presses against my side, his warm tongue laving my cheek, his musky scent enveloping me. A familiar comfort.

Will my child love Blue as I do?

My phone vibrates on the bathroom counter, and I hiccup a sob. Squeezing my eyes shut, pressing more tears free, I hold my breath. Blood rushes in my ears, and my heart throbs in my chest...a tidal wave is washing me away. I can't do this.

The soft ping of a voicemail brings my eyes open. I'm staring at the cross again.

Blue shifts closer, leaning his warm weight against me. As tall as a Great Dane, with the elegant snout of a collie, the markings of a wolf, and mismatched eyes-one blue the other brown-Blue means the world to me.

My heart will have to make room for more.

Fear slices through me, adrenaline flooding my veins and bringing another soft whine from Blue. Standing quickly, the adrenaline demanding action, I glance at my phone.

Robert Maxim.

He can't know. My eyes trace to the trash can of the hotel bathroom. Wrap up the test and put it in there.

But my hand won't follow the advice. My fingers grip tighter, refusing to release the small wand of plastic. The proof. The truth.

Grabbing my phone off the counter, I step back into the hotel room. Blue stays close to my hip, his nose tapping my waist once, a gentle reminder he is there.

I shove the plastic wand into my bag, pushing it into a zipper interior pocket and closing it up. Locking it away.

Just throw it out.

I can't.

My hand strays to my stomach, and Blue's nose swipes against my fingers. Vision blurred with tears, I stand in the center of the hotel room, my mind reeling. Lightning sizzles across my vision, and thunder ricochets inside my mind.

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

"[A] brilliant recreation of the lives of inspiring heroines from seventh-century Northumbria." —Readers' Favorite

Perfect for fans of Philippa Gregory's The White Queen and Sandra Gulland's The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.

Seventh century England is a hodgepodge of warring Anglo-Saxon states filled with shifting alliances and treacherous grabs for royal power. Kings rise and fall, depending on Woden's Luck. Northumbria, the damp kingdom north of the River Humber, is a state riven with rivalries and kings determined to expand at any cost.

Women have no obvious role in a warrior society, but by using their wits, four women—two queens and two abbesses—make monumental changes. One woman marries a pagan king and successfully converts him to Christianity before he dies in battle. One becomes the most powerful abbess in Northumbria and holds the Great Synod at Whitby Abbey, which brings the kingdom back to the Roman Church. Another becomes queen and keeps political alliances strong despite different religious denominations. The fourth woman ushers in a new age by negotiating with kings and churchmen to establish one united church in the Northumbrian kingdom.

Based on true events and people, this is the story of Northumbria through the eyes of the most important women of their time.

More Reviews:

"Old gods fall as Christianity rises across Northern Europe with a fair amount of help from the women behind the scenes, the wielders of true power." —Chanticleer Reviews

"...dramatically gripping novel... A captivating account of the lives of extraordinary women in perilous times." —Kirkus

"[A] fascinating story of upheaval in early Britain...Historical fiction readers will be absorbed by this intricate tale of memorable Northumbrian women fighting for change." —BookLife

"Men have had the first and last word for too long. In Sandra Wagner-Wright's Saxon Heroines, we get to hear from the powerful women of the early medieval world. Well researched, well detailed, and a compelling story make it an enjoyable fresh take on medieval historical fiction." —San Francisco Book Review

Author Bio:

Sandra Wagner-Wright holds the doctoral degree in history and taught women’s and global history at the University of Hawai`i. When she’s not researching or writing, Sandra enjoys travel, including a recent visit to Antarctica. She lives in Hilo, Hawai`i with her family and writes a blog relating to history, travel, and the idiosyncrasies of life. Ambition, Arrogance & Pride is Sandra's most recent novel.