Mommy’s Night Before Christmas (Family Christmas Tales) by Katie L. Carroll is an endearing children’s picture book story that is also very appealing to adults. In fact, some children might recognize themselves a bit in the story, along with some parents who find that they...

The political science fiction series The Tribal Wars is back with its second book, The Body Politic by Stella Atrium, which I was fortunate enough to read just a couple of weeks after finishing book one, The Bush Clinic. Women are burning themselves up in...

Music Notes is a collection of seven short stories about singers from varied backgrounds trying to get by in a world where the pursuit of art and success sometimes produce mixed results. Written by J.J. Maze with some eye-catching line drawings by Indonesian illustrator Ryan...

My Cat Thinks He’s a Puppy by Patricia Allieri is a 24-page children’s picture book about Puppy-Cat, a fun companion who brings adventures to life. This frisky feline seems to act more like a puppy dog than a cat. While this comparison is being made,...

A Crime Story: A Mother-Daughter Cozy Mystery by Richard E. LaMotte is a light-hearted thriller about a mother and daughter who get stuck in a small town with a murder mystery on their way to Hollywood. Clair and Mindy decide to start investigating the unsolved...

Layers is a collection of eight short slice-of-life stories by Zuzanne Belec. These imaginative stories put a lighter touch on the darker aspects of life. The book opens with "The Christmas Charge," where three elderly sisters jump at the chance to spend Christmas on an...

Élise is born into a world ravaged by political violence. She watches as the authorities brutalize her parents and all she can do as a baby is wail and run. Her guardian angel scoops her up and takes her to safety. By age forty, Élise...

Battle for Eklatros is the first book in the promising Rebalancing the Cosmos Series by Alex Galassi. Eklatros is a peaceful planet, but horrific tragedies occur, and the planet has seen its share of back-to-back conflicts, notably the War for Equality and the Dark War....

Me Power by LaNysha T. Adams, Ph.D. is a self-help book that delivers on many different levels. As readers, we get an immediate front-row seat in one of the most crucial moments of the author's life. A singular moment that might break others in half...

Patricia Allieri and Stella Maris’s Aqua Paws is a beautiful picture book with some powerful themes. Aqua Paws the cat loves playing at the beach with his sea turtle friend, Purple Beak. However, Aqua Paws is terrified of being pinched by a crab. Purple Beak...

A young girl named Eleanora, who adores music, is the subject of Musical Soul Mates. She can distinguish between happy and sad sounds, hears them everywhere she goes, and gives them distinct names. She considers music to be her best friend because she confides all...

Embers on the Wind by Lisa Williamson Rosenberg is a captivating literary fiction novel that unravels at the historic Whittaker House, which was run as part of the Underground Railroad by a family of abolitionists of the same name in 1850. Here, freedom seekers Clementine...

D.K. Marie’s romance Fairy Tale Lies: An Opposites Attract Novel features a story of high versus lower social class. Greta Meier is spending her summer as an intern at her father’s company, Swift Financial. While sitting in on a new client meeting, she is stunned...

Stella and James are the stars of House of Diamonds, with an interesting cast. Stella has just left Perth, Australia, and Damian, her domineering boss and the man she was in love with. She arrives in Sydney to move in with her sister and...

Disenchanted (A Lay of Ruinous Reign: Book One) by Brianna Sugalski is a fantasy adventure filled with romance and intrigue. Princess Lilac has a peculiar curse. She can communicate with the magic folk in her kingdom. Her parents have kept her locked in their castle,...

A Happy Christmas Ceilidh by Zoe Tasia is a Christmas mystery tale. A family takes on the role of detectives when they notice strange things happening around their home during preparations for the festive season. Becca and her boyfriend Greg prank her daughters with an...

Innervate by Liza Bec is a short story told from two points of view. Sarah is a brain that has been engineered, and as an engineered brain, Sarah is expected to be perfect. And Sarah is perfect in many, many ways. Sarah the brain learns...

Firekind by Angela Wren is the first book in a YA fantasy series. Poppy Paquin is 18 years old when she gets dragged into the Twin River by a strange creature. Poppy has no memory of life before she moved in with her mother but...

The Mystic Swords of Love and Innocence: Reclaim Your Magnificence by Elizabeth Upton is a wonderful, honest, and inspirational book about love and innocence. In it, with great candor, Elizabeth Upton dismisses the idea that once we turn into adults, we lose our innocence or...

Nervous Nolan Bison Goes Poopy on the Potty is an encouraging rhyming story. Kevin Christmann did a wonderful job of crafting this book for youngsters who may have trouble pooping on the potty. The story is engaging, educational, and entertaining. It's about Nolan, a tiny...