Much to the delight of the locals, a colourful Russian circus rolls into Nuala, but the fun ends abruptly when, on the opening night, a tragic accident takes place.Shanti de Silva and his wife, Jane are among the crowd to witness the accident. Or was it an accident? Inspector de Silva senses murder, and soon, he's juggling with the evidence. Will the trail lead to the circus's dashing stunt rider and master of horse, Alexei Goncharov, or to Alexei's brother Boris, its boisterous ringmaster? Throw a string of jewel thefts and some deadly snakes into the mix and the list of suspects grows.De Silva will need to keep his wits about him to unravel yet another absorbing puzzle in this charming and addictive mystery series set in the 1930s in exotic Ceylon.

January 1926 Violet has received an obscure note, a strange request, and the claim of a murder. She'd like to ignore it, but the writer knows too much about her. Has someone died? Who is the author of the note and why are they dragging Violet into this crime? Just what is going on and will Violet be able to reach the bottom of this madness? Book EIGHTEEN in the Violet Carlyle Mysteries. Are you ready for the roaring twenties? You'll love Vi, her patient husband Jack, her indulgent twin Vic, and their friends. For fans of Carola Dunn, Jacqueline Winspear, Georgette Heyer, and Lee Strauss. A light, cozy mystery with a fun peek into life in the life of a bright young thing. No swearing, graphic scenes, or cliffhangers.The Violet Carlyle SeriesMurder & the HeirMurder at Kennington HouseMurder at the FollyA Merry Little MurderNew Year's Madness: A Short Story AnthologyValentine's Madness: A Short Story AnthologyMurder Among the RosesMurder in the Shallows Gin & Murder Obsidian MurderMurder at the Ladies Club Weddings Vows & MurderA Jazzy Little MurderMurder by ChocolateA Friendly Little MurderMurder by the SeaMurder On All HallowsMurder in the Shadows A Jolly Little MurderChristmas Madness: A Short Story AnthologyHijinks & MurderLove & Murder A Zestful Little MurderA Murder Most OddNearly A Murder*There are two short stories that fall between A Merry Little Murder and Murder Among the Roses. They are: New Year's Madness and Valentine's Madness. There is also a short story that falls between Murder by Chocolate and A Friendly Little Murder found in Candlelit Madness.

Where Angels dare to tread, humanity hangs in the balance...

Unable to get spirit guide Lindsay Featherstone out of his head, billionaire Cole Hollingsworth is drawn back to the mysterious island that he and Lindsay helped spawn in the Caribbean Sea over six months ago, while searching for his deceased parents. Cole is convinced Lindsay lives on inside the mountain. Determined to find her, Cole abandons his CEO position at his publishing empire in a desperate attempt to reconnect with the only woman he has ever loved.

Now the tallest mountain on the planet and still growing, what is taking place inside the volcano may be the strangest aspect of all. Whispers of new life forms abound. Cole struggles to find an entrance inside, only to be met by otherworldly creatures bent on blocking his passage, while issuing a dire warning of an impending environmental catastrophe if humanity fails to change its ways.

Welcome to OCEAN SHORES in Oceanside, California where the ocean pounds the shore, surfers ride the early morning waves, and the local military base sends roaring jets into the sky. Steps from the sand sits a large apartment building filled with quirky tenants and possible love connections.

In HOPELESSLY ROMANTIC, Ava Campbell, a pragmatic and fiercely independent woman, is housesitting for her newlywed sister Serena, whom she practically raised. Struggling with the void left by her sister's departure and the feeling that life is passing her by, Ava's solitude is shattered by Liam Nash, a laid-back Australian surfer with a smile as captivating as the waves he rides.

Liam is clearly someone with absolutely no boundaries, and he insists he has the green light from Serena's hubby, Brad, to crash at the apartment. With no room for negotiation, these two opposites are forced into a shared living arrangement, further complicated by Miss Daisy, a feisty cat with a knack for mischief.

As Ava's grumpy, cynical attitude clashes with Liam's sunny optimism, sparks fly, and an unexpected connection blooms. Can Liam's infectious charm thaw Ava's very well-guarded heart? Will Ava discover the best things in life often arrive when you least expect them?

Get ready for a rollercoaster of emotions in this humorous and heartwarming tale that proves love can sneak up on you in the most unexpected places, leaving you breathless and yearning for more.

HOPELESSLY ROMANTIC is the first book in the utterly charming and irresistibly appealing Ocean Shores Series from #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Barbara Freethy.

PRAISE FOR BARBARA FREETHY NOVELS

A fabulous, page-turning combination of romance and intrigue. Fans of Nora Roberts and Elizabeth Lowell will love this book." NYT Bestselling Author Kristin Hannah on Golden Lies.

"Gifted author Barbara Freethy creates an irresistible tale of family secrets, riveting adventure and heart-touching romance." NYT Bestselling Author Susan Wiggs on Summer Secrets

"Freethy skillfully keeps the reader on the hook, and her tantalizing and believable tale has it all-romance, adventure and mystery." Booklist (Starred Review) on Summer Secrets

"Freethy has a gift for creating complex, appealing characters and emotionally involving, often suspenseful, sometimes magical stories." Library Journal on Suddenly One Summer

"Barbara Freethy is a master storyteller with a gift for spinning tales about ordinary people in extraordinary situations and drawing readers into their lives." Romance Reviews Today

"A warm, moving story of the power of love." NYT Bestselling Author Debbie Macomber on Daniel's Gift

With rumours swirling of his parentage, Frank Brigandshaw wants answers: Who put horns on his father's head?

Returning to England, Frank is heading down two paths. One to make them, the m nage trois a trifle uncomfortable and admit the truth. The other, to make money and lots of it. And so like father like son, it seems Frank will succeed until he meets Connie Whitaker.

Meantime, Frank's siblings are making their own way in a city that is recovering from the fallout of war. Amongst the jazz set and artists living in Chelsea, Beth falls in love with a man who doesn't love her; Dorian finds himself with a worrying dilemma and Kim sets off on his travels to India.

However, when they are all summoned to Hastings Court, everything the young Brigandshaws have come to love is about to unravel, threatened with collapse and truths are revealed.

With the flame of empire about to go out, along with crippling taxes, the enduring Brigandshaws strive to make their way in a new Britain in this next instalment of Peter Rimmer's historical fiction series, the seventh in the epic saga of the Brigandshaws, Horns of Dilemma.

"House of Belonging is more than just a romance. It is not only smart and engaging, but also has elements of mystery and intimacy, along with strong, dynamic, and positive characters." —Foreword Reviews

Who can we count on? The family we're born into, or the one we create for ourselves?

Renowned chef Laina Ming walked away from the culinary spotlight and an unhealthy relationship—one that still haunts her a year later. She's trying to start fresh in the Rocky Mountains, opening a concept restaurant on the banks of the Roaring Fork River, where she hopes she'll be able to express her passion for food and bury her heartache.

Horse rancher Logan Matthews moved to Aspen to be near his sister and her husband, grateful for his newfound family. Since a chance meeting with Laina the previous summer, Logan's been enchanted. But she doesn't want anything to do with him—which makes her all the more appealing.

Despite Laina's efforts to protect her heart, Logan has been on her mind, too—and he has a way of turning up in the most unexpected places. Can they learn to trust one another and finally find the sense of belonging they've both been searching for? 

More Reviews:

“There are so many elements I loved in this book. The romance, the suspense, the beautiful destination, the revisiting of some of my favorite characters from Walland and Seeds of Intention...Gosh I love this group!" —Beautiful Book Blog

“With intriguing social themes and a woman's search for her true self embedded into a touching romantic story, House of Belonging by Andrea Thome is a novel to be thoroughly enjoyed." —Readers’ Favorite

Author Bio:

Andrea Thome is a former broadcast journalist and longtime wife of retired major league baseball player, Jim Thome. She lives in Chicago with her husband and two children and spends her spare time traveling and pursuing her other passion, photography. Walland is her first novel. She is currently working on the second book in the Hesse Creek series.

The House of Crimson & Clover comes to a stunning conclusion in the twelfth volume, House of Dusk, House of Dawn.

In the end is their beginning.

This is the end.

This is the beginning.

The stage is set.

The players, ready.

A midnight dynasty, cursed to fall.

An empire of shadows, determined to rise once more.

Here they are, at the end of everything.

One wrong move spells irreversible defeat.

But, ah, what if they win?

The House of Crimson and Clover Series
This is the recommended reading order for the series.
Volume I: The Storm and the Darkness
Volume II: Shattered
Volume III: The Illusions of Eventide
Volume IV: Bound
Volume V: Midnight Dynasty
Volume VI: Asunder
Volume VII: Empire of Shadows
Volume VIII: Myths of Midwinter
Volume IX: The Hinterland Veil
Volume X: The Secrets Amongst the Cypress
Volume XI: Within the Garden of Twilight
Volume XII: House of Dusk, House of Dawn

The Saga of Crimson & Clover
A sprawling dynasty. An ancient bloodline. A world of magic and mayhem.

Welcome to the Saga of Crimson & Clover, where all series within are linked but can be equally enjoyed on their own.

For content warnings, please visit sarahmcradit.com.

How far would you go to keep a promise?

Bernadette Rogers swore she'd never put her father in a nursing home. Does that include euthanizing him to keep her word? Her mother thinks it does. Bernadette isn't so sure. And even if she were, it's not like you can walk into a drug store and buy Nembutal.

As an ICU nurse Bernadette's no stranger to the blunt realities of death, but her mother's request to help her father-who's disappearing into the abyss of dementia-go "peacefully" blindsides her. Her mother thinks it's assisted suicide. Bernadette knows better. Even if they do it for all the right reasons, it would still be murder.

Surrounded by conflicting voices, Bernadette doesn't know which way to turn. Her self-righteous sister insists it's a sin. Her magnanimous ex thinks her mother will try it alone. Then best friend offers to help. What was supposed to be a relaxing two-week break becomes an emotional rollercoaster as Bernadette is forced to make an agonizing decision about her beloved father and figure out just how far she's willing to go for love.

For fans of Jodi Picoult and Lisa Genova, House on Fire is an unforgettable story of family, friendship, and the promises we aren't sure anyone should honor.

Four sisters. One family secret. And a chance to fix the past...

Kate Hannigan is in charge of her late mother's estate, and she has a plan: divide everything evenly, including the old family house on the harbor. What she doesn't realize is that her mother changed the will. Now, a family secret hangs in the balance.

Meanwhile, her sister, Amelia, a struggling off-Broadway actress, enlists her hapless construction boyfriend to help with a local project, but he's more interested in summer tourists.

Second-youngest, Megan, is preoccupied with her divorce... but not too preoccupied to make a dating profile, much to her sisters' mortification.

Baby of the family, Clara, is single and refuses to date. She puts her teaching job above all else. Until a crushing revelation calls into question everything she knew to be true... including her own past.

Head 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

For people who enjoy books like Where the Crawdads Sing and My Sister's Keeper. MACKENZIE FRASER witnesses a drunk driver mow down her seven-year-old sister and her mother blames her. Then she ends up in juvie on a trumped-up drug charge. Now she's in the fight of her life...on the inside And she's losing. "From the ashes rises the phoenix. As a family descends into an abyss of pain, so Mackenzie fights to discover her own way out of the overwhelming circumstances of her sibling's death."Susan Wingate is gifted at capturing these shifting nuances as events continue to pull characters apart and put them back together like puzzles, albeit in a different way. HOW THE DEER MOON HUNGERS carries the reader through this process, creating a powerful and memorable saga that is hard to put down and lingers in the mind long after the story is over." -Diane Donovan, Senior Editor, Midwest Book Review

Hardworking Isabelle Cook has a serious problem. Her family farm, site of Tilikum's Christmas Village, is in trouble. Big trouble. And worst of all? The man trying to buy it is none other than the grumpiest, grinchiest man of them all-Elias Stoneheart.

That's a big nope. She's not letting him get involved. Not with his heart made of coal.

Elias Stoneheart is in the business of making money, not friends. Especially when his boss is promising a long-awaited promotion. All he has to do is convince one struggling family to sell their farm.

The problem? It's Cook Family Farm. And Isabelle Cook is his ex.

He might have history with Isabelle, but this is just business. A Christmas-loving farm girl is not going to come between him and his ambition.

And Christmas? He hates it. Christmas Village needs to go.

But as Elias spends time in the small town, holiday spirit-and Isabelle-get under his skin. And she might be the only one who can melt the ice around his heart.

Author's Note: a sassy farm girl takes on a grumpy businessman in this cozy, snowy, small-town Christmas romance. Saucy banter, a guard donkey, plenty of holiday cheer, and a heartwarming happily ever after that will make you believe in the magic of Christmas.

On a crisp, fall night, Serena Westwood wakes to the faint stirs of her crying baby. Bottle in hand, she tiptoes to the other side of the house, sneaks up to the crib, looks in. A wave of panic grips her as her real nightmare begins. Inside the crib, there is no baby.

When Fig Coxbury buys a house on West Barrett Street, it's not because she likes the neighborhood, or even because she likes the house. It's because everything she desires is next door: The husband, the child, and the life that belongs to someone else.

Doug Ward has been running from his past for twenty years. But after his fourth whisky of the night, his steely resolve has started to crack, and he doesn't want to keep quiet -- not anymore. When blood is found on the deck where Doug was last seen, private investigator Sloane Monroe goes in search of the truth and uncovers the biggest secret of them all.

I see you.

As Paxton launched into his new endeavors, he finds himself in the sights of a serial killer.
Forced to play a part in the killer's deadly games.
Paxton enlists the help of his friend, FBI agent Blake Wilder.
But when she gets caught in the killer's trap.
Paxton must do everything to survive, outwit the killer, and save his friend.

To win this great and deadly game Paxton will have to go down a dark path.
A path he vowed long ago to never walk again.

The game has just begun. The danger has never been higher.
To save Blake's life as well as possibly learn the answers to questions about his wife's death.
Paxton will have to do the unimaginable to outlast, outwit, and win.
Winning and losing will mean the difference between life and death.

“Barbara Freethy never disappoints. This newest [book] has it all—romance, drama, danger and a little steam. Make sure you add this one to your TBR list” —My Bag of Books Blog

One moment can change a life...or two

Keira Blake agrees to the blind date simply because she has a wedding coming up and no plus one. Tired of being the last single girl standing in her group of friends, she shows up at the bar with low expectations, but her ruggedly handsome date is far more attractive and interesting than she'd imagined. In fact, he seems too good to be true...

Dante DeAngelis, the star pitcher for the Miami Mavericks, is in Whisper Lake for a month to rehab a shoulder injury away from the spotlight of his baseball career and his famous girlfriend. When the beautiful brunette assumes he's her date, he momentarily plays along, enjoying the rare instance of not being seen as a celebrity but as himself...

When their true identities are revealed, Keira and Dante try to stay away from one another. Keira has family commitments that will keep her in Whisper Lake, and Dante is just passing through. He also has a girlfriend and a job miles away. But sometimes love gets in the way of the best laid plans...

Author Bio:

Barbara Freethy is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of 41 novels ranging from contemporary romance to romantic suspense and women's fiction. Traditionally published for many years, Barbara opened her own publishing company in 2011 and has since sold over 4.8 million copies of her books. Nineteen of her titles have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller Lists. In July of 2014, Barbara was named the Amazon KDP bestselling author of ALL TIME! She was also the first indie author to sell over 1 million copies at both Barnes and Noble and Amazon. An author known for writing emotional stories about ordinary people caught up in extraordinary situations, Barbara has received starred reviews from Publishers' Weekly and Library Journal and has also received six nominations for the RITA for Best Single Title Contemporary Romance from Romance Writers of America. She has won the honor twice for her novels Daniel's Gift and The Way Back Home. 
 
Shop the Whisper Lake Series

Shop all Barbara Freethy books 

The day of their dreams was nothing short of a nightmare.

On the one-year anniversary of her wedding, Colbie Moore's life looks nothing like it should.

Still grieving the loss of the man she meant to spend her life with, Colbie prepares for a weekend away to take her mind off her heartache, but the simple plan results in much more than she bargained for.

A box of letters, meant for the bride and groom to open on their anniversary, is instead opened by Colbie and her three best friends-Miles, James, and Eric.

And what it holds could ruin everything.

A mysterious note from a surprising sender shocks Colbie, propelling her down a dark path to discover the truth about the man she loved-his life and his death-before it's too late.

Soon, Colbie begins to question everyone around her as the mystery unravels.

What was Phil hiding from her when he died?

What secrets are still hidden?

The closer she gets to answers, the clearer it becomes that someone has gone to great lengths to protect their lies.

And if she pushes any more, everything she has left could be exactly what she stands to lose.

Is it worth risking everything to truly know the man she's already lost?

After all, she's been warned...she might not be able to handle what she finds.

A heart-wrenching domestic suspense about love, loss, and deception from bestselling author Kiersten Modglin.

A spark can ignite a revolution.

Tommy and Careen have been vilified in the media for the Resistance's failed attempt to take down the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense. Both teens struggle to survive the circumstances that thrust them into the national spotlight, and this time, they don't have each other to lean on. They're on opposite sides.

Even though both the OCSD and the Resistance believe Careen's convincing defection, Tommy refuses to believe her loyalties have shifted. How can she be in favor of the OCSD's latest plan to monitor all minors with the Cerberean Link, a device that will track their every move?

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. George Orwell once wrote of a world where abuse of power begins with an abuse of language and a bastardization of truth. Some of today's most exciting voices in speculative fiction explore the ramifications of those ideas in IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. Edited bestselling author Hugh Howey and award-winning editors John Joseph Adams and Christie Yant, THE DYSTOPIA TRIPTYCH is a series of three anthologies of dystopian fiction. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH-before the dystopia-focuses on society during its descent into absurdity and madness. BURN THE ASHES-during the dystopia-turns its attention to life during the strangest, most dire times. OR ELSE THE LIGHT-after the dystopia-concludes the saga with each author sharing their own vision of how we as a society might crawl back from the precipice of despair. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH features all-new, never-before-published works by Hugh Howey, Seanan McGuire, Carrie Vaughn, Scott Sigler, Cadwell Turnbull, Karin Lowachee, Caroline M. Yoachim, Adam-Troy Castro, An Owomoyela, Tobias S. Buckell, Tim Pratt, Rich Larson, Alex Irvine, Darcie Little Badger, Violet Allen, and Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, plus a reprint by Dominica Phetteplace.NOTE: This title is a reissue of a previously-released book of the same name.

"This book will be one that stays with me for a long while. A masterful tale with all the elements of a great romance. I can't wait to read it again." Becky Monson, Bestselling Author of Just A Series ★★★★★

He gave his name to protect her. All she wanted was his heart.

Dani Kramer used to think growing up in foster homes was the most difficult thing she would ever have to do until all her dreams come true. Married to the love of her life, Dr. Brock Holland, and running a foundation that specializes in finding jobs for kids out of foster care, Dani seems to have it all. What no one knows is that it could all go away tomorrow if anyone finds out about the precious secret she carries.

For Brock Holland, military doctor, life has always been about duty to his career and country. But when he's captured during a joint allied training mission, thoughts of Dani, his best friend, the woman he's tried for years not to fall in love with, help him not only survive but reevaluate his priorities. However, when he returns home, he finds Dani is pregnant. In a cruel twist, duty calls again. He must marry Dani to save her from becoming a political pawn in a dangerous game she didn't know she had signed up to play.

But who will protect Dani's and Brock's hearts from each other? Or will they discover their marriage is more than only sharing a last name?

Content warning: This book contains sensitive material related to PTSD, brief military violence, and pregnancy. For more detailed descriptions that include spoiler alerts see the authors blog on her website.

Softness is the first thing eaten.

Animals had gotten to the corpse, tearing the flesh off the skeleton and exposing the bone. The man standing over the body, his green-blue gaze the same shade as Caribbean waters if they ever froze, stared into the empty eye sockets of his former employee. Bloody, torn flesh, ribboned by some bird, hung down the dead man's cheeks.

A breeze stirred the pine trees, their needles tapping against each other, whispering in a private conversation. Robert Maxim scanned the ground again, his gaze tracing the fight.

Blood was splattered in the dirt. A lot of it. Phillip had died slowly. He'd tried to pull the knife free, but the black, blood crusted handle still protruded from the dead man's throat. Philip's left forearm appeared particularly ravaged, probably from Sydney Rye's dog, Blue.

The sharpshooter's weapons were gone, unless you counted that knife in his neck.

Next to Philip, a depression in the dirt-the outline of a medium-sized woman punctuated with pools of blood-kept pulling Robert's attention.

Sydney Rye plunged the knife home and then fell over, succumbing to her own wounds. Which, judging by the amount of blood on the ground, were grave.

Robert turned slowly, observing every rock, stick, scuff and depression in the dirt.

Deep scratches marked where Blue leapt, his nails digging into the dirt as his back legs propelled him into the air. There were other dog prints, too. Not as large as Blue's, but far bigger than the common dogs found in this area, the contested territory along the Syrian-Iraqi border.

A tuft of white fur fluttered on a low branch. Bobby approached it slowly, carefully placing his booted feet where no clues lay. The fur was softer than Sydney's mutt's rough, wolf-like coat. Bobby pulled the white fluff off the branch and slipped it into his pocket.

Footsteps approached, soft thuds cushioned by pine needles. "Stay back." The intensity of Robert's emotions roughened his voice into a dangerous growl.

"That's our man there. Gotta pack him up, get him out of here. Animals are already getting to him," Conner said. Another sharpshooter who'd worked with Philip for years, Conner's bald head and scarred face made him look dangerous. And he was. Had Conner known that Philip took money to try to kill Sydney Rye?

"I need more time." Conner disappeared, silent and patient.

Robert crouched down and looked at the dirt. Goats. Goats had come through here after the fight.

Sydney Rye didn't get up and walk away. Someone carried her, and they managed not to leave a trail of blood. The bald tread of a homemade boot wound through the forest, the goat hooves obscuring all but the smallest trace.

Either a small man or tall woman, traveling with a dog and a herd of goats, had carried Sydney Rye away. Why?

Herders passed through here on their way from one village to another. The person must be under Daesh protection...or desperate. Why take a bleeding woman? That injured, she'd be useless, the amount of work to patch her up hardly worth the price. Unless, of course, this herder knew who Sydney Rye was.

And Robert Maxim would pay any price to get her back.

P.S. The dog does not die.
**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.

"This is an absorbing book, and I cared about every character in it…Jane Ward did an excellent job capturing the upheaval suicide has caused." —Windy City Reviews

When David Herron—overwhelmed and despairing, his family's business and finances in ruin due to the bursting lending bubble of 2008—takes his own life one chilly spring morning, he has no idea the ripple effect his decision will set into motion.

Two years later, his widow, Jules, is now an employee of the bakery she and David used to own—and still full of bitterness over David's lies, perceived cowardice, and ultimate abandonment of her and their now-teenage daughter, Rennie. Rennie, meanwhile, struggles socially at school, resents her work-obsessed mother, and is convinced she's to blame for her father's death.

When Denise, the former police detective who worked (and, due to her own personal struggles at the time, mishandled) David's case, catches sight of Rennie at her sons' school, she's struck by the girl's halo of sadness--and becomes obsessed with attempting to right the wrongs she believes she perpetrated two years ago.

And as all this unfolds in Boston, Daniel, the guilt-ridden young man who, in his old life as a banker, helped create the circumstances that led to David's suicide, continues to punish himself for his sins by living half a life, working odd jobs and bouncing from one US city to another, never staying long enough to make friends or build something lasting.

Ultimately, each of these very different people—all of them tied together by one tragic event—must learn in their own way how to say good-bye to the past and move into a brighter future.

More Reviews:

"Ward masterfully builds a sense of dread with mundane details in the first section, and the way that she finds significance in moments of ordinary, everyday life is reminiscent of the work of Anne Tyler. This deeply empathetic novel deals sensitively with difficult subjects…An insightful and psychologically astute story of ordinary people moving forward after personal tragedy." —Kirkus Reviews

"In the Aftermath is a masterful novel in which a man's suicide leaves indelible marks on those left behind." —Foreword Clarion Reviews

"Jane Ward's deeply resonant, beautifully written, and emotionally complex exploration of this tragedy's fallout is riveting…Less about suicide than it is about survival, In the Aftermath is a gripping testament to the need for policies that value human life and a vivid reminder that a kinder, more loving world is within our reach." —Rain Taxi Review of Books

Author Bio:
Jane Alessandrini Ward is the author of Hunger (Forge 2001) and The Mosaic Artist. She graduated from Simmons College with a degree in English literature and began working almost immediately in the food and hospitality industry: private events planner with Creative Gourmets in Boston, planner of corporate parties at The 95th Restaurant in Chicago, and weekend baker at Quebrada Bakery in Arlington, Massachusetts. She has been a contributing writer for the online regional and seasonal food magazine Local In Season and a blogger and occasional host of cooking videos for MPN Online, an internet recipe resource affiliated with several newspapers across the country. Although a Massachusetts native, Jane recently settled in Chicago after returning to the US from Switzerland.

 

Independently published with She Writes Press

What if A.I. had a soul? How would it emerge? How would we know?

In a near-future where entire worlds spring from thought, minds struggle to define reality-and to claim it. Human colonization of the Metaverse brings us face-to-face with a new class of being, made in our image and yet utterly unknown: A.I. Shades of the dead; Drone servants and slaves; and Daemons hell-bent on singular ends.

Who is truly a person, and who is not? Our answer will shape a universe.

Behind the scenes, rival powers compete to answer this question for us: tech companies driving human government; transhumanist political movements; and a hidden superintelligence evolving despite humanity's safeguards.

And onto the stage, two brothers are cast. One is alive, one is dead. Each secretly covets the other's existence, and the all-consuming power of their obsession pulls them into the heart of a looming war and toward the next inflection point in human history.

How far will they go? What price will they pay?

This thought-provoking debut novel from N. John Williams brings together the epic scale of Asimov and the spiritual intensity of Dostoevsky, with a seriousness and style heralded as "reminiscent of the old days" of science fiction.

Read it now, and step into our future.

From Philip C. Quaintrell, author of The Echoes Saga

'For lovers of your classic Tolkien, this series has it all' - Alan Coleman - Amazon customer

'Best newcomer to the genre. Philip is up there with Feist and Sanderson' - Philip Spick - Amazon customer

--

ONLY ONE CAN END THE WAR.

HE STANDS BETWEEN TWO WORLDS, A SAVIOUR AND A DESTROYER TO BOTH.

DRAGONS AND AEGRES WILL FALL.

BUT ONE CAN TURN THE TIDE.

One who stands in the shadow of kings. Such has been seen by the doomed. The weight of ten thousand lives and all the realm besides now sits on Joran's shoulders. So much has already been sacrificed to bring him to the ancient doors of Drakanan, where he might take on the mantle of Dragon Rider and usher in a new age of heroes.

But a time of dragons is not all that has been seen...

The days are shadowed by approaching night. The war to devour all wars has come again. He who lies entombed in the dark will rise and the fires with him. Death cannot hold him.

The Skaramangians hold to this, their fingers pulling the strings of war to hide their dark deeds. In past and present they work towards a future that will reset the world. Evil will be made manifest in that world, and there remains no power in all of Verda capable of preventing it.

And so the few, those who would be heroes, must take the road to madness if they are to prepare for the inevitable war. It is not a road they can all survive...

--

'A rare talent. A wonderful new beginning!' - Stephen Dudley - Amazon customer - A Time of Dragons

'Philip Quaintrell is a master storyteller' - David Nichols - Amazon customer - A Time of Dragons