Readers Alley

Book Deals & New Releases

MG Fantasy – Casey Grimes: The Mostly Invisible Boy

Posted on by

Middle-Grade Fantasy

Published Date: 4-25-20

Publisher: INtense Publications LLC

photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

Eleven-year-old Casey Grimes is invisible. Really. When he leaves suburbia and infiltrates a secret forest society, he can finally be seen—but Sylvan Woods hates outsiders as much as it loves killing monsters. As Butcher Beasts invade, his flimsy cover story falls apart, and courage is his only chance to belong.

About the Author

AJ Vanderhorst has had many jobs, including journalist, paramedic, escape artist, and baby whisperer. One time in fifth grade, he built a traffic-stopping fort in a huge oak tree, using only branches and imagination, and slept there for a week.

Now he and his wife live in a woodsy house with their six proteges and a ridiculous number of pets, including a turtle with a taste for human toes. This makes AJ an expert on wild, dangerous things—invisibility spells, butcher beasts, hungry kids, you get the idea.

He is the only author in the world who enjoys pickup basketball and enormous bonfires, preferably not at the same time. He and his family have drawn up several blueprints for their future tree castle. Visit AJ online at ajvanderhorst.com.

Contact Links

Purchase Link

Historical Romance – The Blond Devil of the Sea

Posted on by

Historical Romance
The Blond Devil of the Sea
By Celeste Barclay

What happens when a lady smuggler meets a ruthless pirate?

Caragh Pedrick is used to men on the wrong side of the law since she runs her Cornish village’s smuggling ring. Fishing no longer feeds their families in her coastal village, so she puts her resourcefulness and bravery to use. But she’s unprepared for the pirate captain who captures her during a raid. Whisked away on a pirate ship, Caragh soon discovers that her pirate captain’s form of command is anything but unsavory. Tempted by his piercing blue eyes and powerful manner, Caragh finds herself giving in to the Blond Devil. Can Caragh leave her smuggler’s life behind for life on the high seas?

What happens when a pirate captain tries to tame the fearless woman he mistakes for a lad?

Rowan MacNeil was forced from his home on the island of Barra and into a life of piracy. Now the captain of his own ship, Rowan expects obedience from the minx he unwittingly captures. When he raids the quiet village of Bedruthen Steps, Rowan decides Caragh, dressed as a lad, would make a fine cabin boy, but it’s not long before Rowan discovers the curves that lay beneath her disguise. While he likes her spirit, his palm itches to lay down the law with the woman who’s invaded his cabin and his life. The question is: will she give in to the Blond Devil?

When misunderstanding and distrust threaten his burgeoning relationship, Rowan must put his faith in his lady smuggler. With a choice to make, Caragh must decide if she can forgive her pirate lover and make a new life with him. Can Rowan put his painful past behind him to save his burgeoning relationship? Can she curb her independent spirit in exchange for an adventurous new love?

Pirates of the Isles is a STEAMY series where lust and love become tangled when pirates and their ladies toe the line between pain and pleasure. Travel to the Hebrides and the coast of Scotland as these pirates pillage and plunder not only villages and ships but the women fearless enough to take them on. Each book can be read as a standalone, but many characters appear throughout the series. The first third of this book appeared as a novella in the Pirates, Passion & Plunder anthology. It has since been expanded to add more than two hundred pages of new content.

This passionate love story is ready to go up in flames. It contains adult scenes with explicit content. If this type of material offends you, please do not download.

Buy Links:

About the Author:

Celeste Barclay, a nom de plume, lives near the Southern California coast with her husband and sons. Growing up in the Midwest, Celeste enjoyed spending as much time in and on the water as she could. Now she lives near the beach. She’s an avid swimmer, a hopeful future surfer, and a former rower. When she’s not writing, she’s being a mom.

Find Celesete Online:

Fantasy Fiction – The Thief’s Betrayal

Posted on by

Fantasy Fiction

Date Published: February 4th 2019

Publisher: Rebel Press

Someone is murdering the citizens of Kira’s village, and her fellow thieves are being blamed. Desperate to clear their names and restore the reputation of the guild, Kira embarks on a dangerous mission to infiltrate the palace and enlist the help of the king and queen.

One man stands in her way, Chaol, the head guard, who threatens to steal the thief’s heart.

And he’s not the only one. Her childhood crush on Badrick might finally be developing into something more than friendship. But only if they can figure out who is threatening to kill them before it is too late.

Kira wants to trust Kingsman, the man who took her in and raised her as his own, but she is starting to wonder if he has been lying to her all along.

Can the three men closest to her keep Kira safe long enough for her to carry out her plan to save the village? Or will the secrets they have kept from her destroy her happiness—and her life—before she has a chance to clear her name and prove the innocence of those she cares about the most?

About the Author

When Cassondra was growing up, if she wasn’t competing in sports, she was usually writing, reading, or drawing. It wasn’t long before she formed an addiction to the thrills of fantasy, which led her to write her debut novel, The Thief’s Betrayal. Cassondra is currently attending college. She was born and raised in Southern California where she lives in a home overflowing with books.

Contact Links

Purchase Links

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Historical Novel – Obadiah

Posted on by

Historical Novel

Date Published: January 2020

Obadiah is the story of how Obadiah, a worshipper of the true Jehovah, and who is mentioned in only one chapter of the bible, got the job of palace administrator for King Ahab, who, along with Queen Jezebel is trying to rid the country of ancient Israel of Jehovah worshippers, and how he survives the machinations of the Queen who tries everything from seduction to outright murder to remove Obadiah from his position.

About the Author

Growing up on the family farm, Eldon Spady used his teenage imagination to spin stories to his helpers, two foster boys who lived with the family for a number of years. The purpose? To encourage their cooperation in helping with the chores. Some of these stories would last days. As long as the tales continued, his helpers never staged a mutiny.

Since writing four non-fiction books, the Billy Bob Joe Block trilogy, and My Uncle Vellanoff’s Journal, Spady has continued using his storytelling talents – this time to expand the fictional history of Obadia, a Biblical character briefly but tantalizingly mention in the Book of Kings.

Contact Links

Purchase Links

Poetry – PoeTaree

Posted on by

The Jurisprudence of Life

Poetry

Published: February 2020

Publisher: Reality Writings

PoeTaree: The Jurisprudence of Life is a compilation of dynamic poetry that was written while on the Lollapalooza, European and Australian tour with the pivotal group.

From the Author:

“Earth, Wind and Fire” is the title track to PoeTaree: The Jurisprudence of Life. It’s like I wrote the complete manuscript to one of their timeless hit songs. The eighth chapter of this book is to encourage you to write. PoeTaree is a collection of many topics I thought about while touring Europe, Australia and Lollapalooza. Filled with stories and memories, this book is delivered in a way for one and all to enjoy. Take an adventure with me as I employ the writing techniques used to compose the hit single “Tennessee” for Arrested Development. Become a PoeTaree person by completing this book and filling the eighth chapter with your own words. I encourage you to expand your mind and lift your soul with all of my solo projects involving PoeTaree: The Jurisprudence of Life!

About the Author

Aerle Taree, two-time Grammy award winning co-writer of the hit songs “Tennessee” and “Revolution” with the music group Arrested Development, has expanded her writing talent in the newly published book PoeTaree: The Jurisprudence of Life.

Taree is noted as being a prolific writer. Her other titles are Humanities Matter: The Essay Collection, Molly’s Mental Health: Love Me Too, Autobiography of Aerle Taree: Originally of Arrested Development, Coco: The Girl, and, Bettie The Bee: Its A Sin.

It was as a member of that Atlanta-based group that Taree’s writing blossomed, co-writing the hit songs “Tennessee” and “Revolution,” (at the request of Spike Lee for Malcolm X: The Movie). During this time, Taree continued her studies at Clark Atlanta University; by the age of 19, she had won two Grammy Awards, two NAACP Image Awards and a BMI Songwriter of the Year Award. Taree’s career with Arrested Development gained her nationwide recognition and awards, including MTV Music Awards, Soul Train Awards, and Rolling Stone Critic Poll’s Band of the Year.

Following her departure from Arrested Development, Taree continued to grow artistically. She has also started her own multifaceted entertainment company in Atlanta called Reality Writings, Inc., one of the newest members of the Universal Music Publishing family. Taree has written her own book of narrative poems entitled PoeTaree: The Jurisprudence of Life. Writer Zora Neale Hurston, activist/?poet Sonia Sanchez and poet Gil Scott Heron have largely influenced her work.

She currently lives in Dekalb County, GA.

Contact Links

Purchase Links

Drama – The Long Way Home

Posted on by

Biographical Fiction, Drama

Published: February 2020

Publisher: Outskirts Press

The Long Way Home is a compelling work of fiction set in 1950s Madison County, Nebraska.

At the heart of the story is Maggie Davis, a middle-aged widow and recent heiress to a grand Victorian manor. The stately home, which Maggie shares with her spirited nine-year-old daughter Jenna, also serves as a bed and breakfast to a once regular, but now transitory, clientele.

The kitchen table is the epicenter of lively, often contentious, dialogue where no topics are off-limits. An outspoken neighbor and routine visitor delights in keeping everyone on guard with her opinionated tirades but is frequently reigned in by an elderly, equally forthright family member who has recently become a permanent dweller at the manor.

Maggie finds herself struggling with the painful memories of her husband’s tragic death, as well as the stirrings in her heart associated with a new house guest. A scandalous scheme to swindle her out of her property rides on the heels of a sudden, unexpected death, pointing to a member of the family as a suspect. Set against an intriguing backdrop of family secrets, scandal, love, and humor, the story culminates with an emotional twist.

About the Author

D.L. Norris is a notable author and motivational speaker who has written numerous short stories and articles on health, emotional wellness, family, and cultural history. Norris’s novel, The Long Way Home, captures in colorful, humorous style the actual events and cultural mindsets surrounding her Scandinavian family and personal life experiences. Norris’s expressive writing style quickly engages her readers and encourages them to sit back and enjoy a nostalgic, magical journey. She and her husband are happily retired in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, where she continues a passion for writing.

Contact Links

Purchase Links

Children’s Book – I Love Me!

Posted on by

Picture Book

Date Published: 4/21/20

Publisher: Beaming Books

I love me from my mouth and chin

all the way down to my knees and shins.

This affirming picture book features a diversity of races and ethnicities, physical features, body types, abilities and disabilities. I Love Me teaches all kids they have many, many reasons to love themselves.

About the Author

LaRonda Gardner Middlemiss found that motherhood immersed her in the fascinating world of picture books as she shared in her son’s love of story time. Experiencing picture books with varying styles, stories and approaches to themes inspired her to write stories of her own. With a vision to create stories that will entertain, enlighten and empower all children, she ultimately aspires to both author and illustrate her work.

LaRonda is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators as well as Storyteller Academy. Living in her home state of North Carolina with her husband and son, she participates in a local SCBWI critique group and a regional SCBWI illustrators network. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering.

Contact Links

Purchase Links