More than anything else, Cindi wants a playmate for Christmas – the four-legged, furry kind. That and snow. But how can she tell everyone what she wants? After all, she is a dog. She decides she must do what human children do and ask Santa...

Blood or Loyalty is a work of fiction in the religious fantasy genre and serves as the first installment in The Wayward Sons of the Empyrean series. It is aimed at young adults and was penned by Adam Miller. The book is a retelling of...

Call My Name by Jenni Ogden is an impressive and complex novel, especially concerning friendship, motherhood, and grief. It follows Olivia Newman, an orphaned girl who is raised by her mother's best friend, Cathie Tulloch, and her husband. Now aged 22 and a newly graduated...

The Silhouette by Andrew Van Dyk presents an early twentieth-century rural commune that is flourishing but hiding a dark secret. The first several chapters present the beautiful, serene, wooded setting beside a glittering lake. There are three three-story cabins, and we meet the residents; at...

In Tree Fairies and Their Short Stories, written by D.L. Finn, on a camping trip with his parents, the narrator, Daniel Burns, follows what he thinks is his sleepwalking nine-year-old sister, Colette, into the woods, only to find that she believes she has been called...

Bride by Proxy by Lori Power takes us all the way back to 1798 where Captain Garrett McGuire is sailing the seas of the Caribbean and the newly minted United States of America, building a shipping dynasty for his father back in England. His father...

Have you ever been pulled into the ocean by a tsunami? Have you ever been chased in a jungle by a wild animal? Belinda Smith-Cicarella has had these and many other events happen in her life. To say she has led an exciting life is...

Shadows In Light is a work of fiction in the fantasy genre and serves as the first book in the Hidden Rims Saga. It is aimed at the adult reading audience and was penned by P. M. Amaras and Paul Driggere. Set in the magical...

Chasing Zorba: A Journey of Self-Discovery in a VW Bus, by Jerry Steimel, is an intriguing travelogue of introspection and fulfilling a lifelong dream. The Vietnam War is a powder keg in America, along with other social issues, and the author has just finished college....

Clochán by Lawrence P. O’Brien takes us back to the late eighteenth century and the mystical, superstitious Emerald Isle. As a young six-year-old boy, Kevin Neal had watched his entire family butchered by the English soldiers in the rebellion of 1798. He watched his two...

The Crossing Gate by Asiel R. Lavie is the first book in The Waltz of Sin and Fire series. Lenora is anxiously waiting for her third attempt going through the Crossing Gate which will allow her to enter adulthood. Her family is relying on her...

“Wow! What a great idea!” was my first reaction after reading Owl’s suggestions to stop a bully—but H.I.T. doesn’t mean to swing at him. Little Chick Gets Bullied is a wonderful book offering sound advice on how to deal with a bully. Written by teacher-turned-author...

It’s never easy to have one of your parents sent overseas. When you’re young, you want your family close. But those who work in the military, both men and women, have to accept assignments far from home. That’s what it means to be deployed. One...

The Heart of a Soldier is a work of military non-fiction written by Eleanor D. Alspaugh, the daughter of soldier George Donald. Her work in researching and compiling this riveting account of the years around WWII is a study of the soldier’s psychology, a love...

Trez, Frez and Inez, written and illustrated by Deb Neeley-Garcia with the help of her grandkids, is a fabulous book for preschool kids and looks to be one of a series, this one titled The Workshop. Author Neeley-Garcia calls it “a story of fun, friendship...

You Will Never Be Normal is a work of nonfiction in the memoir, autobiographical writing, and mental and physical health subgenres, and was penned by author Catherine Klatzker. The work is intended for the general adult reading audience and contains references to trauma, abuse, self-harm,...

Many people have a romanticized perspective of owning a bed and breakfast property. Sue and her boyfriend TR bought a house in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. At first, the transfer seemed normal until the previous owners did some odd things, like not moving out on...

The Lost Art of Magic is a work of fiction in the urban fantasy genre. It is aimed at young adults, though I should warn that the book infers a scenario involving sexual violence that may be upsetting to some readers. Penned by John Kovacich,...

Design Your Daring Life Workbook: Achieve Confidence, Success, and the Courage to Have It All! is a self-help book for teens or young adult women. Chapters included are Dare to Dream Big, Dare to be Confident, Dare to Build Successful Relationships, Dare to be Fearless,...

Joe Numbers returns to the ode in his poetry anthology The Last Hello: 99 Odes to the Body. In this collection of poems, Numbers views the tangible beauty of human anatomy in a vision that is both playful and sensuous. These poems are tributes to...