This is the first book in the Perfect Dish Romances. Other titles include Just Desserts and I Choose You   THE POSSE: One woman, three men and beach romance stronger than the riptide. In a story of friendship, loss and second chances, Jude will learn her life is far from being over.

This is the first book in the Crystal Cove Romances. Other titles include The Plan, The Path and Underneath My Christmas Tree. THE LAST ONE: He didn't want her. She couldn't stand him. Love doesn't listen to logic.

This is the first book in The One Trilogy (A Small Town Georgia Romance). Other titles include The First One, The Only One, The One Trilogy Box Set (including The Perfect One) and the Always Love Trilogy (Always For You, Always My Own and Always Our Love).

Contemporary Romance

Date Published: October 2016

Taylor Grant thinks she has life all figured out. But when her longtime boyfriend says goodbye via a few scribbled words on the back of coffeehouse napkins, she begins to doubt everything she ever knew about love and relationships. What she needs now is time to refocus and regroup…somewhere far, far away from the man who broke her heart.

After Texas cowboy Cole McKenzie finds his wife in the arms of another man, he goes in search of a new life, somewhere where he won’t be reminded of his wife’s infidelity. The Caribbean island of St. John seems the perfect place to start over. That is until he runs into city gal Taylor Grant.

Taylor isn’t ready for a new love. Cole has a secret he isn’t ready to share. Can escaping to a tropical island heal all wounds, or will Taylor’s past show up in paradise and make her an offer she can’t refuse?

About the Author

Alexa Darin makes her home in Washington State, where she has a habit of exploring the Alpine Wilderness. She believes that every romance writer needs a survival kit that contains dark chocolate and red wine.

My Own Nightmare

Shattered Lives Series; Book 1

Published: November 26, 2016

Published by: Barb Shuler

Genre: Suspense/Thriller

Cover Designed by: MadHat Books

~ Blurb ~

One night a life changed. My life.

I used to write about chaos – about lives turning on a dime. Never once did I think it would ever happen to me. I went from a blossoming career to a prisoner in the span of a single evening. A living nightmare I was determined to escape.

The price of evil was high, but I wasn’t backing down. I knew in my heart the men in my life would be looking. I just had to survive. One day at a time. Minutes turned to hours. Hours turned into days. Then, it was time to make a choice.

Live or Die?

I chose to live.

Hell hath no fury and I had no more time...

Goodreads

~ Purchase Links ~

Amazon US : AU : CA : UK

**On Kindle Unlimited

~ Excerpt ~

Looking around, I finally saw Drew and Jackson as they walked into the gym. The looks on their faces made my heart sink a little. It was if they had bad news to tell or something, and both were still in their uniforms. Were they still on duty? And where was my dad? They both caught my eye and their faces changed as they moved my direction. Big smiles met me as I was engulfed in huge arms and spun around by Jackson. Before I could catch my breath Drew pulled me up into his arms and I could feel the fire burning in my cheeks as he kissed my lips softly.

“You’re gonna squeeze me to death one of these days,” I said as I looked up at them and patted their cheeks at the same time.  

It was then that I felt Drew pulling me back to him. We were in public, but I couldn’t hide it anymore, I didn’t want to. It was time to let it be known that he and I were a couple. His arms wrapped around me as our lips met again. I heard Jackson beside us chuckle and say “busted”. A moment later I heard a shrill voice yelling over the crowd behind me. Damn, Katie saw us, now we were busted. I reluctantly pulled back from his lips and grinned as he told Katie to shut it. “Play nice, you two.”

I turned in his arms and as he held me against him. I looked at her, her face contorted as her hands went to her hips. “What is this?” Her eyes were tearing into us like we were sadists walking into a Baptist church on Sunday morning. I held my hand up to her and raised a brow.

“Before I tell you what this...” I gestured between us as I looked back at her smiling, “is, you have to not lose your cool.” I glared at her scowl; my eyes on hers. “Katie Landry, promise me!” She crossed her arms over her chest and I followed her eyes as she glared at her brothers who were both wearing identical smirks.

“If you don’t promise I will make you wait longer…” My words trailed off as I felt Drew’s lips move down the length of my neck, making it hard to focus. Asshole. He knew exactly what he was doing to me and I could see on Katie and Jackson’s faces they did not love our PDA.

“Andrew Landry, you stop that right this minute.” I tried to sound stern but my voice was raspy and I smirked to myself. His arms moved up mine and I smiled back at Katie. “Well, Landry, do we have a deal?”

“You hid this from… me?” She blinked a few times and narrowed her eyes at me. “That is just rude, Dani Lynn Cartwright!” She huffed. “Oh my God, like really? I will hate you forever now. Some friend… And you…” she said, her voice hitting an octave higher now as she pointed her bony little finger towards Drew. “You are supposed to be my brother, and you kept it from me, too?” She crossed her arms back over her chest and acted like she was going to pout.

I snickered and moved out of Drew’s embrace to hug her around the neck and whisper in her ear. “Please don’t be mad, I wanted to surprise you with this.” There was more, but that would be for another time. I had to make sure the test I took yesterday was accurate. And, let’s face it, I needed to check my math. I sucked at math. When Drew was around I seemed to lose track of so many things. My period was the biggest one apparently. If I was pregnant, he had to be the first one to find out. Privately. I wasn’t sure how he would react. Then I’d tell Daddy. Everyone else would have to wait.

Copyright © 2016 by Barb Shuler  

~ Meet Barb Shuler ~

I’m a Carolina Girl by right and a Texan by birth. Best of both worlds. I have the brass sass to keep up with my Texas sized temper. Living and working in both states I’ve learned a lot about hard work, adapting to your surroundings and making the best of the path that you have been led down. My grandma Dollie once told me I would know what I was meant to do when it happened. She was right, as always.

As with most book lovers, I am an avid reader. Reading has always been a hobby - a passion, really and a way to get lost in other people’s lives, their drama and other worlds. It’s a private movie in your imagination that you get to cast and navigate through, at your own pace. Reading helps to expand the perimeters of one's mind. That is what got me into writing. Writing has been something that I have done since I was a kid. If I had paper, I was writing. Nine out of ten times it made no sense but what are words if they are not to be used to your advantage? Words are a part of us all. Why not use them, right?

During the day I work as a ‘desk jockey’ and help the residents of my county navigate themselves around our little, but not too little country town. By night I am either blogging, doing PA work for some of my favorite authors or fighting with the voices in my head. They can be stubborn at times. It’s a blessing and I am cherishing every moment. Tomorrow is never guaranteed so I want to make sure I live the day as fully as possible. For what is my creation, can become someone else's treasure.

~ Connect with Barb ~

Email : Facebook : Blog : Blog Facebook : Twitter : Pinterest : Instagram : Goodreads

Want to be a Misfit? Oh yes, you do!

My group will get teasers, excerpts and all the behind the scenes things of my writings before anyone else gets them. #BecomeAMisfit

Come and join the fun! Sunday, December 4th @ 6:30pm CST / 7:30 EST in Nancee Cain’s Cain Raisers Group!

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Young Adult

Date Published:  July 2016

Pia Wade’s life is a book with torn-out pages, she sees things no one else can, and she has weird dreams. It all started four years ago when she mysteriously vanished in the night. One problem though, she has no memory of the incident whatsoever, yet claims she was kidnapped.

But as Pia embarks on a trip back to where her nightmare began, she wishes all her troubles would—Poof!—disappear. If only her parents would grant a little more breathing room because after all, whatever happened that night, she certainly did not kidnap herself. What Pia doesn’t know is that a new door of craziness will open up and lure her to investigate a strange world--our world--only she seems to live in. That is until a certain young man by the name of Cameron Jacks enters her life.

Will Pia uncover the mystery of four-long years?

The clock is ticking!

Chapter One

No Turning Back

In theory, there’s only one day that comes and goes in precise intervals, that’s unaware of itself and its unique charm. We rise accordingly and go about our daily routine, and near time for it to make its exit, we settle down in the same position as we started. And when the day rolls around again, we repeat. Almost mechanically. As if we were spellbound by the cycle of day and not know it. As if, when change comes along and snaps its fingers, the spell’s broken. And it’s a rude awakening…sometimes.

This day especially was like that. And it didn’t matter that it had been four years and three months, two weeks and a day in the making, and should go down in history as Pia’s day of dread, though I had the guts to face it somehow, one precarious step after another, as I embarked on a trip moments away from takeoff. No. What mattered was the unpredictable path I was on and how it would end about a week from now.

With my backpack hanging off my shoulder and a mild breeze playing in my hair, I led the way to the plane. I couldn’t believe that I was actually going through with this. But not only that, I had a weird feeling I just couldn’t shake. But when you find yourself returning to a dark part of your past—to a place you thought you would never see again because your last experience there resembled episodes of the Twilight Zone, this place much like home to you too—then how should you feel?

I drew in a deep breath, and then stole a few moments to make a wish. A mere request, because I believed with all my heart that anything was possible—and because I had the experience to back it up. So I closed my eyes and wished this moment away forever; wished away the nightmare and all memory of it forever times two. Then…one, two…I counted to five for good measure. And then I heard it! Something magical. A whisper. And right then I knew. Knew that my “wish come true” would have been exactly that had the little voice only said, “Your wish is my command.”

But it disappointed me instead. Is that what you really want…never know what happened during the most critical hours of your life?

Of course granting my wish would have served me just fine, I thought with pooched lips. But I knew all too well. Knew that deep down I would give just about anything to know what really happened that night at the Florida beach house, where I mysteriously vanished in my sleep. And if it took going back to find out, ultimately proving my theory of what happened, then so be it. After four long years of not knowing anything, it would mean the world to me. Not to mention that it would probably be the greatest solved mystery of all times.

I arrived at the plane looking back at my parents coming up behind me. I settled the backpack on the ground, attempting to stretch precious moments I had left, by any means possible, before boarding the plane. I looked up as one flew over me, closed my eyes, and let my mind wander up to the universe. Suddenly I was amazed that we were all right here, right where we were supposed to be…at a point of no return. Or was I just plain crazy about all this? Some people, however, wouldn’t have a problem thinking so.

Suddenly, I felt a nudge on my back. In an instant I turned, thinking someone had snuck up on me but…no one was there. I frowned. That was creepy. I lifted my backpack and contemplated that some more. I could’ve sworn…it couldn’t have been the wind hitting me like that in just that spot.

“Pia, is everything okay?” Dad asked as he and Mom approached.

“Yeah, sure,” I replied, still in wonder. Maybe it was the hands of the universe…had to be, urging me to get moving. So I boarded the plane convinced that that was it.

Mom and Dad filed in behind me. And in moments, the twin-engine plane roared to life.

“All set?” Dad’s vibrant tenor reigned over the humming engines. Wearing dark shades and a ready-to-go smile, he looked back at me, as did Mom, her hazel eyes gleaming. Through them I pretended to read her mind. Pia, if you’re not ready, it’s not too late to cancel this trip.

I imagined her reading mine. But Mom, it’s spring break, and we’re all set to go. And what about the pilot’s convention? The house? Dad could sell it for real next time. It’ll be okay, you’ll see.

Mom was the reason Dad hadn’t sold the house already. She was right, though: The house had deep, sentimental value, had been part of the family for far too long to get rid of. Dad had lost sight of that and probably would’ve regretted selling it. And how could either of us blame the house? It hadn’t whisked me away in the middle of the night, stolen sixteen hours of my memory, and set my mind to see creepy things. It hadn’t…changed my life forever.

We just needed to go back…to heal and…and because destiny was calling and because…just because.

I gazed out the window. Was I really out of my mind? Suddenly my fingers were tap-dancing on my lap. I stared at them for a moment then curled them into a tight fist. If I was a real nutcase, I supposed I would soon find out.

The plane taxied into position for takeoff. Upon clearance, it became a straight line of roaring thunder up the runway. Up, up the plane climbed over Houston. My eyes shut tight, hands gripping the armrests as anxiety grew like fever through my body.

No turning back.

We were on our way.

No turning back.

About the Author

C.C. Wyatt is new to the young adult arena. Her debut novel, Ferret, has the right kind of ingredients that young readers and adults alike will hunger for more. She is a consultant, have a degree in business, but her role as a writer resonates who she is.

As to writing, she is meticulous when it comes to stringing words together which are specifically prescribed to entertain in a very unique way. Performing magic on paper is what she calls it. And oftentimes she finds a goldmine in movies, music, and of course books to help in performing such magic.

Unlike most authors, her joy of reading came later in life. When it did, it was as if she'd been placed under a spell to devour all kinds of books. And then the images started coming. But it wasn't until the images started to go wild that she finally realized that her desire to read had evolved into something else. At first she didn't know what to do with the fussy images; she just wanted them to go away so that she could get some sleep. But it didn't take long to realize it was time to pick up a pen.

Humorous Crime Novel, Women’s Suspense/Mystery

Date Published:  June 2016 

Publisher: Promontory Press

Jeanette Hubbard's humorous style of suspense writing has been compared to Carl Hiaasen and Janet Evanovich. In this quirky follow-up novel, a chance encounter in a remote forest campground plunges plucky retiree Claudie O'Brien into a vortex of crime, kidnapping, and a marijuana hijacking. A pleasant dinner with Nathan, the gentleman at the next campsite, is disrupted by the arrival of a very loud and a very angry young man. The next morning both Nathan and the man are gone, but Claudie suspects something is not right. No one believes her when she tells them that Nathan might be in danger. It's up to Claudie to connect the dots and find out why Nathan disappeared in the middle of the night.

Humorous, Women's Fiction, Women's Suspense/Mystery

Published: June 2015

On a crisp winter mid-afternoon, Claudie O'Brien finds herself parked in her BMW with some old pills, a bottle of champagne, and no reason to keep on living. When an accident occurs in Claudie's attempt to take her own life, she finds herself rescued by Peter, a local vice-principal turned tow truck driver. In Secrets, Lies and Champagne Highs, written by first-time novelist Jeanette Hubbard, readers follow Claudie's journey to Sisters, Oregon,having moved into the remodeled garage of Peter, his two sweet kids, and his not-so-sweet second wife, Chrystal. Claudie quickly realizes that she's entangled herself in more than she anticipated. On top a botched suicide,there's the meth lab across the street, a non-existent murder plot turned reality, a phony spiritual guru, and more affairs between local citizens than she can keep straight.

After reading this humorous take on small town life in Central Oregon,  those sleepy little towns will never look the same.

 

Nathan regained consciousness somewhere just before Hammer turned off I5 in Yreka. They had used duct tape on his mouth, hands, and feet, and then wrapped it around his chest and the chair for good measure. He wasn’t going anywhere soon. The blood had crusted on the side of his head where Hammer had clocked him. The pain was deep and centered behind his left eye. He had gotten lax. After all those years in Lebanon, and other more dicey places, he had left his RV unsecured. A child could have found the Glock 39. He wiggled his jaw a bit, the three days growth of beard had prevented the duct tape from adhering securely to his skin, and he worked to loosen it. He didn’t want it to drop noticeably so he did just enough so he could talk or shout if needed. The majority of the space inside the RV was taken up with stacks of plastic-wrapped marijuana bricks. There wasn’t any way he could get to his second, emergency revolver that was hidden under the sink. Pity. Hammer parked the RV in a small park and reached over to the passenger seat where he had a small cooler and pulled out a cold beer. He drank it down in three long pulls and then sat fidgeting for about fifteen minutes before he started calling. First his brother Sprocket, and then someone else called Dwight. Hammer was nervous and agitated. The trick was how to use that to his advantage. 

Nathan watched the single headlight of a truck go by on the road. He knew they were in northern California, an area referred to as the Emerald Triangle. Full of nasty boys. He could only wonder why thieves from Oregon would set up a drug deal in the middle of California’s prime marijuana growing fields. Well, it wasn’t hard to figure out. These weren’t the brightest guys he’d come across. Yet, he was the one tied up. Not time to feel too superior. The truck with one headlight drove by again. A little slower this time.

 “You do know that you’re trying to do your deal in enemy territory?” Hammer jumped a foot off his seat, giving Nathan a small amount of satisfaction.

 “What the fuck? How did you …?” “It’s the beard. Duct tape can’t adhere strongly to it. A good thing too. I have a slight cold. I would have had trouble breathing. I assume you’re not planning to kill me?” 

“Don’t be too sure, old man.” 

“The way I look at it, Hammer—you don’t mind if I call you Hammer?—if your buyer doesn’t get here in the next, say, thirty minutes or so, you’re going to have an up front and probably hazardous to your health kind of confrontation with some local guys. They find out you’re selling dope in their territory, they’re going to be real perturbed. They’re going to have a short and to the point discussion about the lack of respect that demonstrates to them.”

“What the fuck? I didn’t understand half of what you said, old man. Can’t you speak plain American?”

“My name’s Nathan. Sorry about the verbiage. I was a university professor. Big words were my stock and trade, so to speak. To be simple, you may have already attracted the attention of some other bad guys. They may be coming back. If they do, they will probably shoot at you. I don’t like the idea of being in the middle of your shit. Is that plain enough?”

“Don’t you worry about me, Professor, I ain’t exactly unequipped for run-ins with other dudes. This here is one nice pistol. Where’d you get this? You sure don’t look like someone who’d be packing a Glock. Even if it’s a little bitty one like this.” Hammer pulled the gun out from under his seat and waved it in Nathan’s direction. Nathan pretended to flinch; unless the idiot had been playing with it there was no bullet in the chamber, so the deadly weapon was currently just a piece of metal. 

“Don’t worry yourself, Professor, I ain’t hit anything I didn’t want to since I was ten.”

“I have a question for you, Hammer. Why am I here? Why didn’t you just leave me at the campground? I’m just unnecessary baggage. You could kick me out now and there wouldn’t be any way I could muck up your plans.” 

Hammer snorted. “My dumb brother thought you’d freeze or something. Don’t worry, Professor, I’m dumping you as soon as I can.”

Nathan watched him closely. Hammer’s eyes and forehead were scrunched in thought. Nathan assumed he was trying to figure out a way to get rid of the problem that was Nathan. A witness who could identify him. The thought that this idiot might decide on a lethal solution to his problem made Nathan highly uncomfortable. He’d have to help Hammer come up with a resolution that didn’t end up with Nathan rotting in a shallow grave in the forest. There had only been one other time that he’d gotten in a jam, it was when he was “consulting” for a certain unnamed government agency. He kept his captor talking, trying to make himself human to a man who viewed non-believers as sub-human. That time of course, Dani swooped down and saved the day. He needed to let her know that somehow he’d tangled with some nasty boys. And in the meantime, as the great Chinese general Sun Tzu would have advised, “Pretend inferiority and encourage arrogance.” The great thing about dumb people like Hammer, they never knew they were dumb. They always thought they were the smartest people around. Sort of like the Enron guys. 

About the Author

Jeanette Hubbard was brought up in Iowa to be a very good girl. Then she moved to Portland, Oregon the city that prides itself on weird. She has utilized her degree in English from the University of Iowa in a variety of jobs, including driving a school bus, selling car insurance, and growing, (and sometimes killing), plants at her wholesale nursery west of Portland. She now lives with her Border collie Buddy, Mitten the monster cat, her roommate's two demented small dogs, a miniature horse and two chickens in a small house in SE Portland. Actually, the horse and chickens live in the backyard.

Title: Grayson: A Bully Novel

Author: Morgan Campbell

Genre: LGBTQ Romance (M/M)

Release Date: December 6, 2016

Blurb:

Ten years ago…

-Grayson-

A month and a half ago, I made a choice.

A choice that nearly cost me everything:

my friends, my family, my life.

Who knew that choice would nearly cost me my future?

-Finn-

A month and a half ago, I made a choice.

I chose to turn my hell into someone else’s.

I nearly ruined someone’s life because I couldn’t handle my own.

Who knew that choice would threaten my future?

Ten Years Later…

Grayson Michaels made that fateful decision as a teenager, he’s determined to not let the past define him. Control him. Bind him. Vulnerability is not an option. When his demons surface in the form of Finn Abbott, Grayson learns that everything isn’t as it seems.

Finn Abbott is trying to put his life back together. Divorce, house arrest, and a slew of lovers have only caused his life to spiral out of control. But a job offer comes along and everything seems to be back on track. That is until the ghost of a scorned boy returns in the form of a vengeful man.

Fate is a fickle friend. Questions need answered and debts need repaid. What happens when past and present collide? Can two people destined to be enemies find love instead? As they say, there’s a fine line between love and hate.    

Add to your Goodreads TBR

Excerpt:

“I started cutting here,” and he places my fingers on his forearm. His eyes never leave mine as he keeps talking. “On both arms.” I start to look down but he stops me. My free hand slams across my mouth and stops the silent screams from escaping. I start to shake my head in protest. Inside my head I’m screaming no.

“Eyes on me, Abbott. Only on me if you want to know the story.” He then lowers my hand to his thigh, warm, strong, and so close to –

“Then, I moved to my thighs.” Here, I feel some slightly raised skin. I breathe in a shaky breath through my nose. I can’t move my hand from my mouth just yet. I feel the sharp sting to my eyes and I try to will them away. I don’t like where this is going and it’s all my fault. “And finally, I … I.” He closes his eyes and drops my hand. The pained look on his face kills something inside me.

I put my hands on either side of his face and he opens his eyes. “Tell me, please,” I rasp and I can’t stop the rogue tear that slides down my face.

“Two days before Halloween, I did this,” and he takes my hand and moves it across the thick scars on his wrist. “I hated you. So much so that I wanted to die for everything I was put through because I thought the world would be better without me in it …” His voice trails off, hollow and void of any emotion. Dead.

I completely lose my shit.

The tears come pouring down my face in heavy, hot rivulets, burning my eyes and heating my cheeks as they fall.

My body slumps over and I’m on my hands and knees, trying to breath in air. But my lungs don’t cooperate as it proves to be difficult to inhale air. I manage to breath in a deep gulp but the burn hurts.

My hand clutches the skin over my heart, or what was once a heart. There’s an emptiness where my shattered heart once lay. In the wake of Grayson’s news, I could feel the stabbing pain as it broke piece by piece.

My soul was damaged. Irreparable, irreversible, and irrevocably damaged.

~About Morgan Campbell~

Morgan lives in the south of Texas, going back and forth from Austin and Houston, with her husband. When she’s not writing, she can usually be found with her nose stuck in a book, cooking, baking, crocheting, and causing a general ruckus with her friends and family! Filled with an overactive imagination at a young age, she began writing her thoughts down in a journal, and the rest, as they say, is history.

~Connect With Morgan~

Facebook : Twitter : Goodreads

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Author: Lindsay Detwiler

Title: Where Love Went: Holiday Special

With the holidays in full swing, it's not long before the drama and hilarity unfold for Charlotte, Annie, and Ameila.

Join the mayhem as this year's festivities unravel.

Where Love Went: Holiday Special is a companion short and is not intended as a standalone. To fully appreciate and understand the events, Where Love Went must be read first.