Belfast Girls by Gerry McCulloug

Belfast Girls by Gerry McCulloug -  Available on Amazon

he story of three girls - Sheila, Phil and Mary - growing up into the new emerging post-conflict Belfast of money, drugs, high fashion and crime; and of their lives and loves.
Sheila, a supermodel, is kidnapped. Phil is sent to prison. Mary, surviving a drug overdose, has a spiritual awakening.
It is also the story of the men who matter to them -
John Branagh, former candidate for the priesthood, a modern Darcy, someone to love or hate. Will he and Sheila ever get together? Davy Hagan, drug dealer, ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know’. Is Phil also mad to have anything to do with him?
Although from different religious backgrounds, starting off as childhood friends, the girls manage to hold on to that friendship in spite of everything.
A book about contemporary Ireland and modern life. A book which both men and women can enjoy - thriller, romance, comedy, drama - and much more ....

Fifty Shades of Swartz by Ed Harris

Fifty Shades of Swartz by Ed Harris - Available on Amazon

Part One of Fifty Shades of Schwarz.

Fifty Shades of Grey is hilariously sent-up by an exciting new indie author, Ed Harris, in Fifty Shades of Schwarz. Ana Steele, move over and make way for Maya Stein, a sexy 29-year old Brandeis graduate living in trendy Brooklyn and working in Manhattan for an Internet marketing firm. While Ana of that other series - which has sold a mere 65 million copies - may be a virgin who never owned a computer, Maya is a confident, experienced young woman with several notches on her belt and who spends most of her day surfing the web.
As the book opens, Maya is dating Jeremy Goldberg, a part-time waiter and yoga teacher who is pursuing an online graduate degree in education and trying to develop a screenplay. Maya is ambivalent about her feelings for Jeremy. She insists that they be allowed to date other people and refuses to change her Facebook status to “in a relationship.” A chance encounter on JDate leads Maya to Aaron Schwarz, a brooding, intense commercial real estate broker with unusual tastes in the bedroom as a result of a troubled upbringing. Meanwhile, Maya’s mom, Dottie Stein, is trying to fix Maya up with a single young rabbi, David Teitelbaum. And, more than ten years later, Maya still wonders wistfully if she should have gone to senior prom with Adam Goldman, who is about to graduate from Harvard Medical School. How might her life be different today as a doctor’s wife if she hadn’t turned him down because of his teenage acne?

Jambalaya by Philip Whiteland

Jambalaya by Philip Whiteland - Available on Amazon

It’s a time of Civil War; of cowboys and soldiers, riverboats and gamblers, genteel Southern Belles and dark deeds.

Celany Garden had it all – big house, doting wealthy parents and not one but two devoted lovers. So why is she being pursued by kidnappers? What has happened to her maid, and where does an Army Major called Agnes fit in? Can Celany beat the law, the army, and an enthusiastic posse in finding the answers? Everything hinges on a flatulent horse called Thunder, a General who hates loud noises and a psychopathic Marshall with a penchant for torture. Gone with the Wind was never like this!
If you like your humour a little on the silly side, and you're a fan of the great British tradition of word-play, stretching from 'The Goons' to 'The Two Ronnies', via the 'Carry On' series and Benny Hill for a healthy(?) dose of innuendo and double-entendre, then take a Look Inside, you might just find what you've been waiting for!

The Six Train To Wisconsin by Kourtney Heintz

The Six Train To Wisconsin by Kourtney Heintz - Available on Amazon

Sometimes saving the person you love can cost you everything.

There is one person that ties Oliver Richter to this world: his wife Kai. For Kai, Oliver is the keeper of her secrets.
When her telepathy spirals out of control and inundates her mind with the thoughts and emotions of everyone within a half-mile radius, the life they built together in Manhattan is threatened.
To save her, Oliver brings her to the hometown he abandoned—Butternut, Wisconsin—where the secrets of his past remain buried. But the past has a way of refusing to stay dead. Can Kai save Oliver before his secrets claim their future?

An emotionally powerful debut, The Six Train to Wisconsin pushes the bounds of love as it explores devotion, forgiveness and acceptance.

Adventures of a Love Investigator by Barbara Silkstone

Adventures of a Love Investigator by Barbara Silkstone - Available on Amazon

Meet author, Barbara Silkstone, who traveled the country for six years armed only with a tape recorder and a quirky sense of humor, listening to men talk about women, love, commitment, and male hopes and fears.
Women will enjoy this book for the insight it gives them into the male mind. Men will immediately compare themselves with the 527 Naked Men. Both genders will gain a new and often humorous perspective on the opposite sex. This is a work of True Fiction.
“Barbara is able to capture how men constantly wrestle their inner demons. Even if he’s the model spouse, he is not immune to the thoughts and desires that afflict every man.”
Scott Kudia, Ph.D Relationship Expert

Lynchcliffe Chronicles by Melanie Dent

Lynchcliffe Chronicles by Melanie Dent - Available on Amazon

September 1891
When a new mother tragically dies her grief-stricken widower places his daughter, Margaret, up for adoption with his childless employers, Lord & Lady Trevelyan, and she grows up not knowing her real father is living on the same estate.
April 1912
When Lord & Lady Trevelyan are declared missing as a result of the tragedy of RMS Titanic Margaret is thrown on the mercy of relatives she had never known existed.
Margaret struggles to adjust to her new life and relatives. Then, following an instant mutual attraction, she begins to develop a relationship with chauffeur Lewis Franklin, who lost his own nephew on the Titanic.
Then secrets emerge. Secrets only previously hinted at. A spiteful grudge then leads to murder.
Margaret and the Lynchcliffe family must steel themselves to face the future while Franklin and Margaret must decide if they can have a future together
A novel about sex, secrecy, betrayal, sibling rivalry, family relationships and intrigue which will captivate the mind and keep the reader enthralled from first page to last.

NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN OR YOUNG ADULTS OWING TO ADULT CONTENT OF A SEXUAL NATURE

Behind The Tears by Marita A. Hanson

Behind The Tears by Marita A. Hanson - Available on Amazon

To trust is to get hurt, to be loved could end in death.

Everyone sees Ash as the toughest of the Rata brothers, the tall, tattooed man who is untouchable. But not many know of his past, of a tormented youth, which almost saw him take his own life. For ten years he's lived with the nightmares of his stepfather raping him, and how it destroyed his family. Further tormented by his first love leaving him, he tries to move forward with his new partner Beth, but is unable to open up to her, his past continuing to eat away at his soul.
Beth knows Ash is keeping her in the dark, and every word he doesn't say, every secret he keeps, pushes her further into his brother's arms, someone who doesn't understand boundaries, a trait that has given Dante a wild reputation: the man every woman wants to bed. Hedonistic and uncontrollable, Dante desires Beth to the point of madness, his bipolar condition worsening with the stress of his hidden desires. He wants to control her, to take her, but he is deeply reliant on Ash, and like his brother, he hides his true nature. On the outside he shows a confident swagger that gets him the attention of both sexes, but on the inside all he wants is one woman who sees him as more than a sexual object.

Only The Innocent by Rachel Abbott

Only The Innocent by Rachel Abbott - Available on Amazon

Every moment of Sir Hugo Fletcher’s life has been chronicled in the British press: his privileged upbringing, his high-profile charity work to end human trafficking—even his two marriages. But when the billionaire philanthropist is discovered murdered in his London home, tied naked to a bed, the s
candal is only a shadow of the darkness lurking off-camera.
Laura Fletcher returns from an Italian vacation to find her husband dead and her home under siege by paparazzi. Is she shocked? Yes. But is she distraught? Not exactly. Especially when Chief Inspector Tom Douglas reveals his suspicions that Hugo’s killer is female. Laura always knew she wasn’t the only woman in Hugo’s life. And she knows she wasn’t the only one with a motive to kill.
The deeper Douglas digs, the more sordid details about Hugo Fletcher he uncovers. And yet nothing compares to the secret Laura guards, a secret that could bring the guilty to justice—or destroy an innocent life forever.

Shadow of the Wraith by Ross Harrison

Shadow of the Wraith by Ross Harrison - Available on Amazon

It sounds like a simple assignment: track down the mysterious Star Wraith and put an end to its rampage. But when Travis Archer and his team of inept soldiers find themselves the most wanted people in the galaxy - hounded by assassins, terrorists and their own military - they realize the Wraith is just a symptom of a much larger problem.
Finding war raging between one army intent on destroying an entire species, and another that will destroy the galaxy, Travis must put aside his fears and his past to uncover the truth behind it all. To become the hero he's always imagined.

Onyx Dragon by Shawn E. Crapo

Onyx Dragon by Shawn E. Crapo - Available on Amazon

When a young Northman mysteriously appears at the gates of Morduin to ask for aid, it is discovered that his plight is more than it appears. The servants of an ancient, malevolent being known only as The Lifegiver have stepped foot on the divided island kingdom, and threaten to enslave its people.
To save his kingdom, young Prince Eamon must travel to the ruins of Dol Drakkar, an ancient temple once dedicated to worship of The Dragon. There, he will receive the blessing of the mysterious Firstborn and take on the mantle of all the kings before him. Bearing the Serpent’s Tongue, a sword forged in the fires of the Earth by The Dragon himself, Eamon will have to awaken a long forgotten order of knights and unite the kingdoms once again. Only then can he and his new found allies drive the enemy away forever.

Hooking Up by Jessica L. Degarmo

Hooking Up by Jessica L. Degarmo - Available on Amazon

 Would you go out to a bar and pick up any random handsome man to spend the night with to mute the heartbreak of your long-term lover - your rock - walking out on you?
Caitlin Edison was so badly hurt by her boyfriend of ten years leaving her that she no longer wanted love, she wanted a cure for love.
After several drinks, one of her best friends suggested she indulge in a one-night stand, a mindless night of fun with absolutely no consequences, to help her heal.
At first, Caitlin scoffed at the idea, but the idea niggled at her and one reckless night, she plucked up all her courage and actually followed through.
There was only one problem - how did Caitlin end up with the one guy in town who wanted more than a one-night stand?
'Hooking Up' is romance at its best – exhilarating, surprising, passionate, witty, moving, enraging, frustrating, sly, worldly and wise.
When Caitlin gets the ride of her life, so will you. Hook up with 'Hooking Up', place yourself in the safest of hands and let yourself go.

Dead Radiance by T.G. Ayers

Dead Radiance by T.G. Ayers - Available on Amazon

Bryn Halbrook had always seen the glow. But it is only when her best friend dies that she discovers the meaning of those beautiful golden auras--Death. Alone, lost in the foster system, she struggles to understand who she is and why she was cursed with the ability to see the soon-to-be-dead.
The new foster kid, Aidan, isn't helping any. Mr. Perfect seems to fit in no matter what, making her feel even more pathetic. But when his affections turn to her, Bryn finds him hard to resist. Impossible, actually. A mystery himself, Aidan disappears, leaving behind a broken heart and a mysterious book that suggests Bryn might not be entirely human.
Bryn stands at the threshold of a journey of discovery. Will destiny help her find herself, find her purpose and her place in a world in which she'd never belonged?

Shaddowdon by John Booth

Shaddowdon by John Booth - Available on Amazon

Old secrets emerge and evil threatens from all quarters as a brother and sister use their magical powers to investigate the disappearance of their mother.
Sharing an ancient living mansion with ghostly servants ought to be cool and some of the time it is. Living up to your family's expectations isn't so easy if you happen to be a Shaddowdon and your younger sister is incredibly smart.
Set in an alternate England where magic and science have coexisted since records began, when Tim finally decides to talk to the pretty girl he sees down by the brook he sets in motion a chain of events that will change his life forever.
Tim's mother vanished mysteriously four years ago and he is going on a quest to find out why. Secrets, hidden for hundreds of years, are about to be revealed. Things everyone believes to be true are about to be turned on their head.
His search will bring him face to face with evil in human and ghostly form. It will lead to death and destruction as well as the righting of many wrongs.

Get Lenin by Robert Craven

Get Lenin by Robert Craven - Available on Amazon

As the German troops approach Moscow during the Russian offensive of World War II, encountering ever more determined resistance as they go, what if they could snatch the greatest and most heroic symbol of the Soviet Revolution, the body of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin?
Would Soviet morale collapse? Would Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union be defeated? Would Nazi Germany conquer the world?
This is the intriguing premise of Robert Craven's 'Get LENIN' which pits the academic British spymaster Henry Chainbridge and the seductive Polish infiltrator Eva Molenaar against the elite of the German Third Reich and the wealth and ambition of American movie mogul Donald T. Kincaid who will amass yet another fortune for himself recording the Nazis' triumphal seizure of Lenin himself.
The race is on, and if the Nazi plot succeeds the war and humanity itself may be lost.

Diary of a Single Parent Abroad by Jill Pennington

Diary of a Single Parent Abroad by Jill Pennington - Available on Amazon

When Jill and her family moved to Italy she expected life to change but she had no idea how massive that change would be. Shortly after the move, she discovered her husband had been having an affair and had no intentions of staying in Italy.
Despite being in a foreign country with no income, limited language skills, a house that needed rebuilding and three young children to care for, she never once considered returning to the UK. With strength and determination she accepted any challenge, dismantling a derelict house to ground level, digging out a three metre deep well with her hands to get free water and overcoming her fear of the chainsaw to cut the winter wood. When there was very little money for food she made risotto with nettles collected from the roadside. She overcame many problems, learned new skills and discovered that money is not important, the only things in life that matter are health, happiness and her children.
Jill's story is delivered with an ever present hint of humour because, as she says, 'Without laughter life wouldn't be funny'.

Happily Never After by Missy Fleming

Happily Never After by Missy Fleming - Available on Amazon

There's no such thing as happy endings.
Savannah, Georgia is rumored to be the most haunted place in America. Quinn Roberts knows it is. She's felt the presence of spirits her entire life, investigating and photographing them with her best friend. Only none of those encounters ever turned violent, until now. The menacing darkness feeding off her stepmother has promised she won't live to see her eighteenth birthday.
After a chance meeting Quinn reluctantly allows actor Jason Preston into her life, which has complications of its own. She's not used to letting people get close. Falling for him while fighting for her life, and her family's legacy, only complicates things more. Jason shows her exactly what she stands to lose, especially when she's being attacked by the mysterious entity. Each attack is more violent and terrifying than the last.
With Jason's help, she dives into the Roberts' family history, searching for a link between a woman who went missing a hundred and fifty years ago and what's happening now. What they find is a brutal murder and that the ghost doesn't just want to hurt Quinn, it wants revenge.

It wants her life.

No Good Deed by M. P. McDonald

No Good Deed by M. P. McDonald - Available at Amazon

Mark Taylor discovers first hand that no good deed goes unpunished when the old camera he found during a freelance job in an Afghanistan bazaar gives him more than great photos. It triggers dreams of disasters. Tragedies that happen exactly as he envisions them. He learns that not only can he see the future, he can change it. Then the unthinkable happened and everyone ignored his frantic warnings. Thousands die. Suddenly, the Feds are pounding on his door and the name they have for Taylor isn't urban hero. It's enemy combatant. And, it means they can do anything they want to him. Anything at all.

The Forever Girl by Rebecca Hamilton

The Forever Girl by Rebecca Hamilton - Available on Amazon

Sophia's family has skeletons, but they aren't in their graves.

At twenty-two, practicing Wiccan Sophia Parsons is scratching out a living waiting tables in her Rocky Mountain hometown, a pariah after a string of unsolved murders with only one thing in common: her.
Sophia can imagine lots of ways to improve her life, but she'd settle for just getting rid of the buzzing noise in her head. When the spell she casts goes wrong, the static turns into voices. Her personal demons get company, and the newcomers are dangerous.
One of them is a man named Charles, who Sophia falls for despite her better judgment. He has connections that might help her unveil the mystery surrounding her ancestor's hanging, but she gets more than she bargains for when she finally decides to trust him.
Survival in his world, she learns, means not asking questions and staying out of the immortal council's way. It's a line she crossed long ago. If Sophia wants to survive the council and save the people she loves, she must accept who she is, perform dark magic, and fight to the death for her freedom.
The Forever Girl is a full-length Paranormal Fantasy novel that will appeal to lovers of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, witches, vampire fiction, ghost stories, paranormal mystery, and paranormal horror.

The Old Man & The Monkey by George Polley

The Old Man & The Monkey by George Polley - Available on Amazon

The Old Man & The Monkey' is a stunningly beautiful story of a relationship which develops between an old man and a creature which is regarded as a dangerous pest in Japan, a snow monkey, in George Polley's moving allegory of dignity in the face of racism.

Will You Love Me Tomorrow by Danny Gillan

Will You Love Me Tomorrow by Danny Gillan - Available on Amazon

Some aspiring musicians wait a lifetime for that elusive record deal. Bryan Rivers waited three days longer.
As if dealing with the suicide of her clinically depressed husband wasn’t difficult enough, to Claire Rivers’ amazement one of the biggest record companies in the country suddenly wants to offer him a contract.
When his ‘status’ is viewed as only a minor inconvenience, she begins to wonder if someone, somewhere, is playing a very distasteful joke on her.
Set in 2006, Will You Love Me Tomorrow is a comedy about death, depression, grief, loss, friendship, family, haircuts and the music business.

Sliding on the Snow Stone by Andy Szpuk

Sliding on the Snow Stone by Andy Szpuk - Available on Amazon

It is astonishing that anyone lived this story. It is even more astonishing that anyone survived it.
Stefan grows up in the grip of a raging famine. Stalin’s Five Year Plan brings genocide to Ukraine – millions of people starve to death. To free themselves from the daily terrors of Soviet rule, Stefan and his friends fight imaginary battles in nearby woods to defend their land. The games they play are their only escape.
‘Sliding on the Snow Stone’ is the true story of Stefan's extraordinary journey across a landscape of hunger, fear and devastating loss. With Europe on the brink of World War Two, Stefan and his family pray they'll survive in their uncertain world. They long to be free.
(In 1932-33, as part of their drive towards industrialization, the Soviet Union demanded impossibly high requisitions of grain from rural areas in Ukraine. In a deliberate act of genocide, Ukrainian smallholdings were stripped of food, and the population began to perish, with some estimates as high as 10 million deaths, from starvation. In Ukraine, this atrocity became known as the Holodomor (death by hunger). The following years saw Soviet purges and terrors resulting in the elimination of academics and intellectuals, or of anyone who spoke out against Soviet rule. When World War Two arrived on Ukraine’s doorstep, many people viewed the Nazis as liberators – a view that was quickly proved wrong. ‘Sliding on the Snow Stone’ is Stefan’s personal account of a historical period drenched in the blood of a nation, and of his yearning for freedom).

Swallow the Moon by K.A. Jordan

Swallow the Moon by K.A. Jordan - Available on Amazon

June called down the moon to find her one true love. A motorcycle from hell dumped Eric on her doorstep.
An accountant for a failing company, June will do anything to find true love. In a Wiccan summoning ceremony, she swallows the moon in an effort to find her soul mate. What she gets is Ohio National Guardsman Eric Macmillan, who owns a cursed Suzuki Hayabusa and two spirits: DEA agent Jake the Snake, and the malevolent Cora Cobra.
Back from Afghanistan, divorced and un-employed, Eric is the third owner of a Suzuki Hayabusa. The other owners are dead, just not departed. He's looking for the artist who created 'Cora's' snake-inspired paint job. When Eric arrives at the scene of Jake's last sting, on a one-of-a-kind motorcycle, all hell breaks loose – someone tries to kill him.
Van Man Go is the world's greatest airbrush artist. He will repaint Eric's Hayabusa, for the usual price. Like Cora Cobra and Jake the Snake, Eric must put his soul up for collateral. Cora and Jake failed to pay their debts, now there is Hell to pay.

Care to take a ride on the Hayabusa from Hell?

Fat Chef by Fred Nath

Fat Chef by Fred Nath - Available on Amazon

A captivating World War 2 novel of unrequited love, Nazi occupation and a rather suspect béchamel sauce.
1940, Paris falls to the occupying Germans. Raoul, Head Chef of Le Metro, the top hotel of Paris, is nonchalant. After all, he need only wait for Pétain to make peace, and everything will return to normal. Then he can get on with life, and admire his demi-sous chef, Natalie, with unrequited love.
But matters soon change. When the Germans begin to cut out the Jewish staff, he hides the refugees everywhere he can in the sprawling hotel. In the end, even the wine cellar is occupied. On the night of a big German military banquet, an SD officer discovers Natalie still working in the kitchens. Raoul, in a moment of panic, kills the officer with a cast-iron frying pan. But where to dispose of the body? Forced into action, Raoul discovers that he has more strengths than his béchamel sauce.
The Fat Chef is from popular novelist Fredrik Nath, author of The Cyclist, Francesca Pascal and the Roman 'Galdir' saga.

Tribesman by Paul Freeman

Tribesman by Paul Freeman - Available on Amazon

Banished from his homeland, a warrior of the Northern Clans grows weary of life in a harsh alien land.
With the dark god Morrigu haunting his dreams, Culainn a warrior and champion sets forth on a journey north in search of a merchant's daughter abducted by clansmen. With a desert princess as a companion he will travel through a land baked by a scorching sun, where bandits roam free and dark beasts stalk the night.
An ancient evil is rising from the desert. A Benouin myth of a ghost city inhabited by the souls of their ancestors, a bridge to the Underworld is unleashing demonic creatures on an unsuspecting world. Culainn and Persha, warrior and mage stand alone against a tide of darkness. All the while, Morrigu, the dark war god of the north seeks to use Culainn as her own tool, her own champion.

The Last American Martyr by Tom Winton

The Last American Martyr by Tom Winton - Available on Amazon

Every now and then one small soul rises from the crowded depths of obscurity and causes the earth to wobble on its axis. This last happened in 2008 when an unemployed doorman stepped onto the worldwide stage in Stockholm and accepted The Nobel Prize for Literature.
In this me-me twenty-first century, Thomas Soles may very well be the last American martyr. This self-described “simple man” writes a book that is so powerful it brings back to life the all-but-dead international labor movement. The response to his thoughts and perceptions are astounding. Around the globe, from pole to pole, America to Zimbabwe, the footsteps of marching workers begin to tremor the earth. But not everyone is pleased.
There’s a tight-knit, elitist clique that is absolutely livid over the thoughts and ideals that fill the pages of Tom's book. And when he and his wife, Elaina, return home from Sweden, they realize just how dangerous this profit-hungry mob can be.
Mortified by the horrible scene that awaits them inside their apartment, the Soles have no choice but to flee their longtime home. Hoping to find peace and anonymity, they bounce all over America in an RV. But they don’t find what they're looking for. Instead they become moving targets. And everywhere they go they're followed by a succession of life-threatening events.

Of Unicorns and Pegasuses by G.R.H. Wagner

Of Unicorns and Pegasuses by G.R.H. Wagner - Available on Amazon

Years ago, David Phillips was captivated by a temptress named Desiré. It was not a forever affair and as a parting gift, he asked her to draw for him a Pegasus, never realizing how the drawing would forever bind him to her. Even years after her funeral, he is compelled to answer an invitation to return to her hometown, and in the company of others who had known her for decades, David is taken to the place where Desiré was born and raised and made aware of her unusual upbringing. When he is taken to a castle that Desiré had dreamed of, where other drawings of hers are prominently displayed, he learns that someone else desires possession of his Pegasus, and things aren’t as he was led to believe, prompting questions, the most consuming of which are who was the father of the child Desiré birthed the night she was shot four years before, and why was David there.

Missing by Declan Conner

Missing by Declan Conner - Available at Amazon

Missing: The Body of Evidence, is a gripping crime thriller. A story of secrets and deceptions, and one woman’s determination to discover the truth.

When rookie LAPD detective Nancy Roberts is called to the scene of a fire and the remnants of a body are discovered, CSI can’t be sure if it is the result of a suicide, accident, murder, or.... Well... kind of something else.
The CIA declare an interest and point everyone on the investigation in the direction of a freak accident. Nancy doesn’t buy the theory of spontaneous combustion put forward. Her own unconventional investigations point her in a different direction, but they are curtailed when she is framed for being on the take. This brings her into conflict with her fellow detective and boyfriend, Kyle.Suspended and under orders not to continue with the search for answers, threats to her life and those she holds dear force her in a race against time to clear her name. But will she avoid death long enough to prove her innocence and to uncover the truth behind the strange events?

Broomsticks, Walking Sticks and Zimmer Frames by Sue Moorhouse

Broomsticks, Walking Sticks and Zimmer Frames by Sue Moorhouse - Available at Amazon

Fairy Tales for the Mature.
'Why is it always the young and glamorous - the beautiful princesses and handsome princes - who dominate fairy tales? These fun, adult, fairy tales are written from the viewpoint of the older characters: Red Riding Hood's grandma, a fairy godmother with a touch of Alzheimer's, the matron of Rapunzel's boarding school, a very stressed planning officer, the troll in the tower block and many more.'

Conquering Babel by Claire Handscombe

Conquering Babel by Claire Handscombe - Available on Amazon

A practical guide to learning a language

So, this time you're really going to do it. You're really going to learn a language.
But where do you even start?
Conquering Babel offers hints, tips and recommendations from an experienced language tutor and answers questions such as:

How do I stay motivated?
Do I really need to learn grammar?
How do I get the locals to speak to me in their language?
Why bother learning anyway when they all speak English?- what are the best resources available for self-study?
How can I find a good language tutor?

Catnip by Valerie Tate

Catnip by Valerie Tate - Available on Amazon

‘Finally, what you'll all have gathered to hear, I give, devise, bequeath and appoint  my entire estate, including all financial assets, properties and personal possessions to my only true friend and companion, my cat, Marmalade.’

With those words, Amanda Dunbar sets in motion a series of events that will lead her family and Christopher Mallory, the young attorney who finds himself trustee to the cat, into mischief, misadventure and murder!
Set in the picturesque town of Dunbarton, Ontario, Catnip is the story of what befalls the dysfunctional Dunbar family, and the chaos that ensues, when the matriarch of the clan leaves the family fortune to her cat.  That formidable feline proves to be more than a match for the humans in his life until one fateful night when, caught unawares, he is stuffed in a sack and  carried away.  When a murder occurs Christopher and Alicia Dunbar  finds themselves confronting a ruthless killer who would do anything, including kill again, to conceal his/her identity.

The Hard Swim by Keith Dixon

The Hard Swim by Keith Dixon - Available on Amazon

February 1942: The Struma, a broken-down steamer, explodes and sinks in the Black Sea, drowning 768 Rumanian Jews fleeing the Nazis and heading for Palestine, and safety.

June 1944: Thirty-one SAS soldiers are captured behind enemy lines and are forced to dig their own graves before being shot and buried in a forest in the heart of France.

Seventy Years Later: A young woman is attacked in the grounds of Edinburgh Zoo - the attacker seeking the document that might link these two wartime events.

Private Investigator Sam Dyke rescues the woman, Chantal Bressette, and embarks on a quest to find out why the document she carries is being sought by a high-ranking Government official and his team of ex-Army thugs.

Chimaera by Tina Rath

Chimaera by Tina Rath - Available on Amazon

A collection of short fantasy stories for the 21st century, told by a gentle little monster with a penchant for happy endings. 

When a small chimaera appears in her wardrobe the narrator  is only mildly surprised. She agrees to let him stay and in return he tells her stories featuring such characters as Sergeant Prendergast, an ordinary policeman with some rather unusual friends including the Queen of Elphame and a sexy young gorgon; a hob with a grievance; an avatar of the Moon goddess; a stage-struck devil, and fairy tales telling what really happened to the Frog Prince, and Rumplestiltskin. All end happily – more or less. But readers must wait for the end of the book to find out if the narrator ever does finish writing her novel, if her true love does come home, and what ultimately happens to the chimaera.

Monsoon Season by Katie O'Rourke

Monsoon Season by Katie O'Rourke - Available on Amazon

The story of a girl growing up and learning to let people love her. Riley graduates from college with a degree in philosophy and no idea where she's headed.  On a whim, she moves to Tucson from the east coast and quickly loses herself in a dysfunctional relationship. When things in Tucson fall apart, Riley returns home and is forced to confront the same dynamics in her family and other relationships that she thought she had escaped.

With alternating narrative, we see what Riley has learned about love from the people closest to her, how she has grown into the person she is, and how she struggles to change. Monsoon Season explores how well we know the people we love and how much every person we choose to let into our lives shapes who we become.

The Night Watch by Eric Laing

The Night Watch by Eric Laing - Available on Amazon

Murder, sex, magic, and ancient Rome.

A serial killer preys upon those who are truly the most dangerous game…the gladiators. As the killer collects macabre trophies, it falls to the Prefect of the Night Watch to end the madness.

But this is Rome, where blood spills like wine, and dreams…they are all too often nightmares.

Head Count by Russell Cruse

Head Count by Russell Cruse - Available on Amazon

When fifteen- year-old Carly Elliot parts company with an Alp, David Benedict, the teacher in charge of the ski-party is suspended from his job pending charges of negligence and possibly even manslaughter. His only ally is journalist Rebecca Daley and even she's trying to connect him to two teenage suicides. Polizeikommissar Kurz thinks David may be a murderer, D.S. Sands thinks he's an idiot and the others down the nick reckon he's a paedophile but it won't be until he finds himself tied to a chair in a run-down church, an automatic pistol in his face and trying desperately, through broken teeth, to speak German with a Swiss accent that he'll begin to suspect he may be in over his head. Could things get any worse? Of course they can; this is David Benedict we're talking about. Daley wants a story, Benedict wants his old life back; if either gets what they want, the other will be seriously disappointed. In the event, each of them is going to get a bloody sight more than they bargained for.

The Mobius Construct by Spilota

 The Mobius Construct by Spilota  -  Free pdf available from the author

The Möbius Construct is a space station near a Star Jump which can take travellers to other galaxies and star systems. But it shouldn’t exist…

After an attack by the aggressive Heebies, survivors abandon ship and head for safety in the nearest star system. A malfunction sends their life craft into a dangerous uncharted area of space. They finally make a landing on the massive space station known as the Möbius Construct. But this cannot be possible.

Five hundred years previously, the Heebies destroyed the Möbius Construct. The AI in charge of their life craft is unable to explain what has happened. The threat from the Heebies is still very real and something they must face. And then there’s Kyri, the Caretaker of the space station. Just who is she? What is her connection with one of their number?

Charlie and Pearl by Tammy Robinson

Charlie and Pearl by Tammy Robinson - Available on Amazon  

Charlie still lives in the same quaint New Zealand coastal town he was born in, and where he passed his teenage years on the beach yearning to make out with girls, if only they'd let him. He lives with his mum and works in the local bookshop. Nothing much in Charlie's life ever changes, which isn't necessarily a bad thing as he's not sure he'd know what to do with himself if it did.
Pearl has come to the bay to escape the memories of a love affair that ended badly, leaving her with a lingering melancholy that she just can't shake. She hides up in her Grandmothers old Beach house, where she indulges her dark mood with walks on the beach, showers under the night sky and wine. Lots of it.
They meet and Charlie is captivated by Pearl. She has a secret though, one that she knows will prevent them from having any kind of happy ever after. Question is: can she resist his charms knowing there's no hope for them?

Maniac by Patrick Whittaker

Maniac by Patrick Whittaker - Available at Amazon

The seaside town of Chadham prides itself on being sleepy. Until Maniac turns it into the murder capital of Britain.

Detective Inspector Harry Nyman is the world's most reluctant policeman. He'd much rather be playing jazz than investigating crime. Unfortunately, murder sets its own agenda.
As the body count rises, it becomes clear the murderer has an ultimate goal: to destroy Harry Nyman

The Grave by Diane M Dickson

 The Grave by Diane M Dickson - Available at Amazon

                                                          

Samuel is reclusive, He visits town rarely and mixes with no-one until the day he buys Sylvie a drink. The results of the encounter are tragic, life changing and dreadful. Samuel knows that he must get away from his present situation and Sylvie is swept along with him. As the relationship between them deepens Samuel's shadowy past is the biggest threat to any sort of future.