Fiction – Page 4 – Readers Alley

Category: Fiction

Historical Fiction – The Sun at Twilight

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Empire at Twilight, Book 4

Historical Fiction, LGBT Historical Fiction

Published: February 2021

Publisher: WayBack Press

Which would you choose: love, or peace in your Kingdom?

In the twilight years of the Hittite Empire (1230s BC), Tudhaliya IV comes to the throne as a usurper’s younger son, determined to rule according to the traditional values of justice and clemency, despite the harder advice of his ambitious mother and his questionably loyal older brothers. When his cousin Kurunta, with whom he was raised as someone dearer than a brother, decides his own claim to the throne is stronger than Tudhaliya’s, the latter must decide whether to apply the brutal pragmatism of his advisors or risk appearing weak, and how to manage to leave his own son an empire that is finally free from civil war. The cost will be the sacrifice of his deepest friendship.

About the Author

N.L. Holmes is the pen name of a professional archaeologist who received her doctorate from Bryn Mawr College. She has excavated in Greece and in Israel, and taught ancient history and humanities at the university level for many years. She has always had a passion for books, and in childhood, she and her cousin (also a writer today) used to write stories for fun.

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Modern Drama – Kate’s Gift

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The Jimmy Eagleson Stories, Book 3

Modern Drama

Date Published: 04-19-2021

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Helping people deal with their history and problems is Psychologist Kate O’Connell’s area of expertise. She is dying from cancer now and wants to help her closest friends deal with their history and with each other. Set in familiar and beatiful surroundings, The Camp is a fixture in her friend’s lives. Exploring each friend’s deep secrets, Kate will give them all peace of mind and peace with each other.

As things seem to settle, a friend from the past shows up with an astonishing surprise.

Kate’s Gift is the third of the Jimmy Eagleson stories. Each book stands beautifully on its own, but a description of the setting and characters is included for those who have not yet been introduced or wish to refresh memories.

About The Author

Award-winning author Jeff Delbel first studied writing at the University of Miami, Fla. and continued at the Syracuse University S. I. Newhouse School where he earned a PhD. He has written and produced scores of scripts and received national recognition from PBS. Jeff is now Professor Emeritus of Communications and Philosophy from a Central New York college and lives in the Finger Lakes region writing fiction.

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Literary Fiction – A Season in Lights

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A Novel in Three Acts

Literary Fiction

Date Published: April 2021

Publisher: Lucid House Publishing

Passion, ambition and escape, in the colorful artistic underworld off-Broadway.

Cammie, a dancer in her mid-thirties, has just landed her first part in a show since coming to New York City. Yet the tug of familial obligation and the guilt of what she sacrificed to be there weigh down her dancing feet. Her lover, Tom, an older piano player, came to the city as a young man in the 1980s with a story eerily in tune with Cammie’s own. Through their triumphs and failures, both learn the fleeting nature of glory, the sweetness of new love, and how a dream come true isn’t cherished until it passes. The bright lights of the stage intoxicate, while degradation and despair lurk close behind the curtain. Their sagas are marred by two pandemics, AIDS in the 1980s and COVID-19 today, which ravaged the performing arts community, leaving a permanent scar on those who lived through them. The poignant intersection of their stories reveals a love affair unbound by time, reaching across decades through the notes of a piano’s remembered song.

Praise for A Season in Lights

“Possibly one of the most important odes to New York City’s artists and the fragility of life since Rent.” – Nicole Evelina

“A heartfelt and moving love letter to New York City and it’s artistic community.” – Geoffrey Owens

About The Author

Award-winning author Gregory Erich Phillips writes stories with strong characters whose lives, with their many challenges and joys, resonate with a wide audience. Raised in a literary family, Gregory began writing at the age of fourteen. Also an accomplished tango dancer and musician, Gregory has impressed audiences from the West Coast to New York City with his drama and grace on the dance floor.

“Gregory is a force with the written word, a force with his knowledge of the arts and surely a gift to all of us who love these crafts!” – Annie McDonnell

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Modern Drama – Kate’s Gift Teaser Tuesday

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The Jimmy Eagleson Stories, Book 3

Modern Drama

Date Published: 04-19-2021

As things seem to settle, a friend from the past shows up with an astonishing surprise.

About The Author

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Chick Lit – Spring

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The Matchmaker Chronicles Duets, Book 4

Chick Lit, Romantic Comedy, Multicultural Romance

Date Published: March 2021

Publisher: Mapp & McCurry LLC

Mothers. Meddling. Matchmaking. What could possibly go wrong?

Matchmakers Maggie Barnes and Rina Thorn are back “helping” two new couples navigate the journey to find love.

It’s a simple marriage of convenience. She needs a temporary husband. He needs the money she’s offering.

Christy Roban walked away from her brief marriage with a battered heart and damaged pride. The entanglement-free life she’s built suits her just fine, until she finds herself in need of a temporary husband.

A committed relationship is the last thing Aaron Thorn is looking for, but Christy makes an offer he can’t refuse. Besides, he’s a sucker for a damsel in distress.

What happens when the lines blur and their simple fake marriage of convenience starts to feel like the real thing?

* * *

He starts their relationship with a lie. Now he has to tell her the truth.

Disillusioned by his broken engagement, Phil Wentworth wants a woman to love him for the person he is, not the riches he has. He wants a future with Marissa, but when she finds out he lied, will she forgive him?

Marissa Stone didn’t expect falling in love would be so complicated. They are from two different worlds. What if their sizzling chemistry fades? What if she’s only a rebound romance? Can she trust him again and find her happily ever after?

Buy Spring: Book Four of the Matchmaker Chronicles for another heartwarming romance duet, because who doesn’t love Margarita-sipping, meddling, matchmaking mommas.

Other Books in the Matchmaker Chronicles Duets series:

Summer

The Matchmaker Chronicles Duets Book 1

Autumn

The Matchmaker Chronicles Duets Book 2

Winter

The Matchmaker Chronicles Duets Book 3

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Janis McCurry was born and raised in Boise, Idaho, nestled in the beautiful Treasure Valley. She’s never wanted to live anywhere else. She loves to write believable characters with humor and tenderness. She writes romance because she believes in happy endings, whether with a first-time or a second-chance love.

Lynn Mapp was a Navy brat, born in San Diego, California. While she was born in California, her Idaho roots are deep. Her mother and grandfather were Idaho natives. She has always looked for happily ever afters, the light after the darkness. Families and humor are central in her life and her stories.

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Mystery – A Light to Kill By

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Book 3 of the Mourning Dove Mysteries Series

Mystery, LGBTQ

Date Published: August 3, 2021

Publisher: Acorn Publishing

Emory Rome is back in A Light to Kill By, the third book in the Mourning Dove Mysteries series – a follow-up to the international bestsellers Murder on the Lake of Fire and Death Opens a Window.

Moments after construction tycoon Blair Geister’s death, a mysterious wandering light kills someone else on her Southern estate. Is the avenging spirit of the millionairess on a killing spree, or are other forces threatening those in her inner circle? As the will is read, suspicion and jealousy arise, and fingers point to the heirs of her fortune. Private investigator Emory Rome and his Mourning Dove partners accept an invitation to stay at Geisterhaus and unravel its secrets before more lives are lost.

Get caught up on the previous books in the series:

At twenty-three and with a notorious case under his belt, Emory Rome has already garnered fame as a talented special agent for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. His career is leapfrogging over his colleagues, but the jumping stops when he’s assigned a case he fought to avoid – an eerie murder in the Smoky Mountain hometown he had abandoned. The mysterious death of a teen ice-skater once destined for the pros is soon followed by an apparent case of spontaneous human combustion. In a small town bursting with friends and foes, Rome’s own secrets lie just beneath the surface. The rush to find the murderer before he strikes again pits him against artful private investigator Jeff Woodard. The PI is handsome, smart and seductive, and he just might be the killer Rome is seeking.

Amazon

Emory Rome is back in DEATH OPENS A WINDOW, Book 2 of the Mourning Dove Mysteries and the follow-up to the international bestseller MURDER ON THE LAKE OF FIRE.

As he struggles with the consequences of his last case, Emory must unravel the inexplicable death of a federal employee in a Knoxville high-rise. But while the reticent investigator is mired in a deep pool of suspects – from an old mountain witch to the powerful Tennessee Valley Authority – he misses a greater danger creeping from the shadows. The man in the ski mask returns to reveal himself, and the shocking crime of someone close is unearthed.

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About The Author

Award-winning mystery author Mikel J. Wilson draws on his Southern roots for the international bestselling Mourning Dove Mysteries, a series of novels featuring bizarre murders in the Smoky Mountains region of Tennessee. Wilson adheres to a “no guns or knives” policy for the instigating murders in the series.

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Christian Fiction – Transformation – 30 Years

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Christian Fiction

Publisher: Outskirts Press

Transformation: 30 Years is an autobiographical yet fictionalized account of a young woman’s journey through many facets, or serious issues, of life such as racism, domestic violence, bullying, eating disorders, lost love, alcoholism, low self esteem, poor self image, overcoming poverty, stereotypes…These are just some of the issues that are addressed in this book. The protagonist resents her “overprotective” mother keeping her from the “fun and mystery” of the darkness. When she finally “escapes” to college and has the power to “live life her own way” she experiences some of the lowest points of her life. Had it not been for the Grace of a Risen Savior, she would have perished. She was, “Saved by Grace.” The book is an easy, quick read that speaks to varying age groups. There is something in the book for anyone who reads it. The book is a ray of hope for those going through various struggles in life to be “tenacious,” and have hope because your Transformation is on the way!!!

Excerpt

The rampant partying continued even after classes had started. Even after a couple of years had passed. Even after it all became unfun. Partying and drinking had become a lifestyle that got in the way of the intended purpose of being there to learn and pursue a degree leading to a career. Jenny had frequent bouts of home sickness and was sinking deeper and deeper into depression. The late nights had become unfun; the hot wings, steamed oysters, and the pitchers of beer had become unfun. The frat parties with their free kegs and anything-goes antics had become unfun. The stories of drunken stupors, hellacious hangovers and promiscuous hook ups had become unfun. Depression was beginning to overtake her to the point of having suicidal thoughts. If life was going to be like this, why live?…

About The Author

Ms. Julie Cull is a born again believer in Jesus Christ. She earned a B.A. in English from the University of Florida and a Master’s in Education from the University of Phoenix. She resides in the Sunshine State, Florida. Ms. Cull loves reading, writing, and going to the beach. She has a daughter and a grandson. She believes in the power of transformation because of the adversities she experienced in her own life. Going through life’s trials can lead you to a personal relationship with Jesus that can forever change your life!!

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