historical fiction

Phantom in the Pines by R.K. Latch

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Phantom in the Pines by R.K. Latch

Henry Lawton is a young man in 1930’s Mississippi. He works for his father in the family moonshining business and is one of the best bootleggers around.

He is secretly in love with the granddaughter of a woman the locals consider a true-to-life witch. So he has plenty to keep him busy.

But, when a relentless federal agent enlists the aid of the corrupt local sheriff, things take a turn for the worse. Lives and families are destroyed.

As the death toll mounts and the situation grows dire, perhaps the only thing that can fight man’s evil is the supernatural.

When the spirit of the trees walks free, evil runs in fear.

All the Colors of My Soul by Leta McCurry

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All the Colors of My Soul by Leta McCurry

What could drive a loving wife and mother to commit cold-blooded murder?

Growing up in the 1930s Santa Clara Valley, California, Neva Holiday wanted nothing more than to reach eighteen, have a beau, get married and mother a houseful of kids. Simple, quiet, peaceful.

As she blossoms into a young woman during high school, she finds herself torn between a life-long bond with the boy next door and her growing love for a handsome newcomer escaping the destitution of Dust Bowl Oklahoma. Before she can discover the desire of her heart, WWII tears her world apart, plunging her into years of fear and dread of receiving the telegram beginning, “We regret to inform you.”

A son brings joy, purpose and focus to her life until an insidious influence creeps into the family unawares, creating an unspeakable tragedy, forever shattering Neva’s dreams of quiet happiness, and forcing her to confront whether she will turn the other cheek or deliver cold-hearted retribution.

In a dizzying exposé of the human spirit, Leta McCurry weaves a riveting tale of a young woman’s descent into darkness. Emotionally gripping and magnificently crafted, this rich and heart-wrenching novel will keep you on the edge of your seat as you race to its extraordinary conclusion. — Heidi Thomas, Award-winning author of the “Cowboy Dreams” series.

All the Colors of My Soul is a sweeping twentieth-century historical fiction. If you like captivating character studies, poignant moral quandaries, and vivid snapshots of the past, then you’ll love Leta McCurry’s mesmerizing story. — Sally Bates, Award-winning author of Western fiction and poetry.

Targeted Age Group:: 18+
Heat/Violence Level: Heat Level 4 – R Rated

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
Two tragic family incidents. The situations were similar but the responses of the individuals involved were vastly different. All the Colors of My Soul is not the story of either of those incidents, but was inspired by the different reactions of the human spirit to an unspeakable tragedy.

How Did You Come up With Your Characters?
Characters are always influenced to some degree by people we have known, particularly in childhood for me. Additionally there are those people who appear for an instant and then are gone, the slouched old man sitting on a park bench, his face a road map of life, the thin woman with a smelly infant slung on her hip, the child with the haunted eyes. They speak to me on a primal level and I remember them. I don't pattern characters after any one person, but exposure to all these are the bits and pieces of the mosaic that becomes a new identity in my stories. Beyond that, the stories themselves are a big factor in character development – kind of like the character rises to the occasion.

Book Sample
Inside my chest, my heart slowly expanded until it pushed against the constraints of my ribs and into my throat as if it would flow out and fill the room with something sparkling and golden, but warm and soft. I held my breath, wanting to extend the moment, to fill my hands with the manifestation of my love for him, to smear it on my face and arms, and his, where it would forever color our skin with a lasting testimony of my unspeakable love for him.

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Angel of Mercy by Melina Druga

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Angel of Mercy by Melina Druga

She had her entire life planned until the Great War began and everything changed.

April 1914. Barrie, Ontario. Hettie Steward is feisty, educated, ambitious and stubborn. Her fiancé, Geoffrey Bartlette, the love of her life since childhood, has been a patient man. He waited while she attended nursing school and worked a year, but now it is time to wed. While Hettie is thrilled to be starting her life with Geoffrey, she laments that marriage means sacrificing her beloved nursing career, and domestic life brings her nothing but drudgery and boredom.

When the Great War begins a few months into their marriage, Geoffrey enlists and persuades Hettie to join the Canadian Army Nursing Service and follow him overseas. After all, everyone says the war will be short, and it will be their opportunity to have a proper honeymoon. Returning to work is exactly what Hettie was craving, and she eager accepts.

The war, however, does not end quickly. Soon tragedy strikes, proving true the old adage “be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.” Geoffrey is killed at the Second Battle of Ypres, and Hettie is faced with a choice. Return home or stay in Europe and continue nursing? Moreover, will she discover the person she is meant to be now that her life has been steered onto a new path?

Angel of Mercy is the first in a trilogy following Hettie and her family as they navigate the challenges and heartbreak World War 1 brings. Each novel is a standalone story.

Also available: Those Left Behind, the home front story. Adjustment Year, the homecoming story.

A Poor Man’s Supper by Jim Gulledge

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A Poor Man’s Supper by Jim Gulledge

In the North Carolina mountains two people, destined to love each other, are doomed to be apart.

Vancie Keller is trying to survive on her mother’s failing farm when her life is forever altered by the arrival of two men, Josiah Buckland and Jagger Hill.

One, she will love, the other she will marry. She has a secret neither of them know.

Orphaned as a teen, Josiah Buckland came down from the rugged mountains of North Carolina to try to find work and possibly a home. He didn’t expect to find the love of his life.

Jagger Hill has secrets of his own. When he comes to town and starts to rebuild, nobody knows him for who he really is, but people will soon learn. Some things cannot be kept hidden forever…

A powerful, heart-breaking tale of the tremendous consequences of our choices and actions, sprinkled with revelry in the natural world, faith, song and myth.

Crossword by Alan Bricklin

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Crossword by Alan Bricklin

By early 1944 Hitler’s general staff realized that they had lost the war. Hitler did not. In late 1943 Allied bombers destroyed the Norwegian power station that supplied power for the factory making fissionable material for Hitler’s drive to produce an atomic weapon. The remaining material was ordered to be brought to Germany under heavy guard, but a lone German general set into motion a series of events that threatened to alter the outcome of World War II.

A troubled OSS agent is sent behind enemy lines to prevent the development of the atomic weapon that could win the war for Germany; but Hitler and the Allies are not the only ones interested. There are secret forces at work in both the United States and Germany that want the fissionable material for their own reasons.

Alone and injured in Germany, the OSS agent must enlist the aid of a beautiful, young German woman to help him while he plays cat and mouse with his enemies, both known and unknown. An undertaking gone terribly wrong. Has it turned into a suicide mission?

The Secret of Scripture by Felix Alexander

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The Secret of Scripture by Felix Alexander

An International Murder Mystery About the Conflict Between the Three Abrahamic Religions.

An ancient prophecy.

A devastating revelation.

The Holy Land on the brink of war.

When a theoretical physicist is found dead on the steps of the eastern triple arched Huldah Gates of the Temple Mount hours before a technological summit in Tel Aviv is set to begin, Professor of Biblical Studies Aiden Leonardo is sought for questioning in connection to the murder. But what begins as a simple inquiry about Aiden’s meeting with the victim on the previous night erupts into a race against the clock to prevent the unthinkable from occurring in Jerusalem.

Tension in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has reached its peak. With rumors about a “Jewish Plan” to destroy the al-Aqsa mosque and build the Jewish third temple on its remnants, and growing resentment in the hearts of Palestinians toward their Israeli neighbors, a technological summit threatens to push the conflict beyond its tipping point with Artificial Intelligence presenting a philosophical perspective that will change our view of religion forever.

Religious extremists hold Jerusalem hostage when a message reveals that bombs are scattered throughout the Old City. The United Nations convene as militaries around the globe prepare for war. With time ticking away, Aiden joins forces with a chief inspector of the Israel police force, and a director of the technological summit well-versed in religious history to locate the and disarm the bombs.

They embark on a frantic hunt through the catacombs of the ancient city, sacred sites, and forgotten tombs, using scripture and the Dead Sea Scrolls to reveal their enemies and prevent Armageddon from occurring as the prophets had foretold. Their only hope lies in the words that remained unchanged for 2,000 years, but could threaten the validity of the most revered faith on earth.

Surviving the Fatherland by Annette Oppenlander

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Surviving the Fatherland by Annette Oppenlander

***Winner 2017 National Indie Excellence Award***Indie B.R.A.G. Award Honoree***Winner Chill with a Book Readers’ Award***Finalist 2017 Kindle Book Awards***Winner Readers’ Favorite Book Award***An IWIC Hall of Fame Novel***

Spanning thirteen years from 1940 to 1953 and set against the epic panorama of WWII, author Annette Oppenlander’s SURVIVING THE FATHERLAND is a sweeping saga of family, love, and betrayal that illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the children’s war.

The Doppelganger’s Dance by Libi Astaire

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Jane Austen meets Sherlock Holmes when a crime wave sweeps through Regency London’s Jewish community and the adventures of wealthy-widower-turned-sleuth Ezra Melamed are recorded for posterity by Miss Rebecca Lyon, a young lady not quite at the marriageable age.

In this fourth volume of the series, David Salomon, a young violinist and composer, has left New York to find fame and fortune in Regency London. But disaster strikes not long after he arrives. Someone is stealing his compositions before he can perform them and soon he is the laughingstock of the beau monde that he had hoped to conquer.

With few friends and even fewer resources, he turns to Ezra Melamed for help with finding the thief. But who would wish to harm a young stranger? The deeper Mr. Melamed looks into the violinist’s story the more jarring notes he finds, making The Doppelganger’s Dance one of the most discomposing mysteries of his career.

Targeted Age Group:: Adults

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
While doing research for an earlier book in my Ezra Melamed Mystery Series, which is set in Regency England, I ran across a mention of a piano-making shop. Since I love music, I had to read about this shop, the sorts of pianos that were made there, the new technologies that were being used in the race to construct a better pianoforte, etc. And as I was reading it occurred to me that I had found the subject of a future mystery story – which became The Doppelganger’s Dance, a mystery about technology, greed and, of course, music.