Swimmers and Abuse: A Cold and Quiet Place #NewFiction #YAFiction

by Alison DeLuca

Sometimes the deepest scars can be invisible.

I did a lot of research about competitive swimming and emotional abuse as I wrote A Cold and Quiet Place. This Young Adult novel is about a young swimmer who suffers horrible emotional abuse from her boyfriend, who is also a swimmer. 

The Paris Secret by Natasha Lester ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

Cornwall, August 1928

"I can see your underwear."

Skye Penrose knew that the ordinary response of a ten-year-old girl to such a statement would be to stop cartwheeling along Porthleven pier like a gamboling star and restore her skirt to its proper position. Instead she paused to change direction, then turned two perfect cartwheels toward the boy who'd spoken. In the rush of her upward trajectory, she lunged at him and gave his trousers a swift tug, dislodging them from his waist and popping at least one button in the process. (p. 7)

5 Fun Halloween Reads

by Donna Huber

MK has provided a number of scary reads to get you ready for Halloween, but I don't read horror. I prefer the fun side of Halloween - the parties, the cute costumes, and humorous frights. I still like to read Halloween-themed stories to get in the mood. What do I read then if not horror? Mostly I read paranormal cozies featuring ghosts and witches and the occasional friendly vampire (I don't read many paranormal cozy the rest of the year so it is a treat). I usually hit the free Kindle bestsellers list at Amazon to find a few free reads for the holiday, but it is full of Christmas reads already. As my treat for you, I did the heavy lifting and searched for some fun (and free) reads. Here's what I found.

2 New Thrillers to Read

by Susan Roberts

Summer is over so it's time to put away those beach reads and dig into some good suspense novels.  Here are reviews of two excellent thrillers that I've read this month.

Reading Post-Apocalyptic Fiction During a Pandemic

by Donna Huber

My post-apocalyptic book club has continued to meet. We had already met in March before everything started to shut down and we quickly pivoted to meeting via Zoom in April. We've even added a mid-month meet up to just chat about life which has been a great opportunity to get to know each other as our book club meeting is really focused on discussing the book (I know some book clubs are more social at their meetings but we spend the entire hour talking about the book we read). You might think we wouldn't want to read post-apocalyptic fiction while it seems like we are living through an apocalypse, but I'm really enjoying these books. And, for me at least, our current experiences help me understand more how the fictional society could get to the point they are at. Also, one of the reasons I've always liked about post-apocalyptic fiction is that there is hope - the world has collapsed but at least a few have survived and try to create a life for themselves in the "new normal". 

The Christmas Swap by Sandy Barker ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

Do you like the movie The Holiday? If so, then you are going to love Sandy Barker's The Christmas Swap.