Book picks similar to
An Inheritance by Diane Simmons


novellas
all-about-family
novellas-in-flash
plays-with-form

Holding His Heart & His Gun: A Savage Love Story


Jahquel J. - 2017
    Losing her mother to the prison system, she had to step in and raise herself. Besides her mother, the only other person she has had is her best friend, Brandi. Living together and trying to make ends meet in expensive New York City seems nearly impossible. Especially, when her best friend has three mouths to feed, along with her dead beat baby father. Keeping her head low and working at a hotel for close to minimum wage, Love is convinced that things will pick up for her. That is, until Burna pushes himself into her life -- literally. Burna is the black casanova. Known to have a few chicks on his team, he's not tied to anyone. Used to having women throw themselves at him, he meets his match one drunken night. When he awakes from a night of wild sex and heavy drinking with missing money, plus jewelry, he finds Love in his hotel room and all hell breaks loose. When this smart-mouthed Brooklyn girl crosses paths with him, a chance encounter turns into something more. But with a girl like Love, will Burna be able to add her to his team? Or will his heart get involved, making him start letting players off his team, for just one? Kashira has been the girl that every man has wanted, Boogie especially. He has watched her for many years, but always kept it friendly. One night out changes it all for them both. Except, both of them are too stubborn to admit it. When Boogie finds out that Kashira has been hiding secrets, will he be able to forgive? Or will he step away from the situation altogether?

The Pleasure Principle: an erotic evolution


Nicole Falls - 2020
    

Tiny Crimes: Very Short Tales of Mystery and Murder


Lincoln Michel - 2018
    This anthology gathers leading and emerging literary voices to tell tales of crime and intrigue in only a few hundred words. From the most hardboiled of noirs to the coziest of mysteries, with diminutive double crosses, miniature murders, and crimes both real and imagined, Tiny Crimes rounds up all the usual suspects, and some unusual suspects, too. Benjamin Percy, Amelia Gray, Adam Sternbergh, Yuri Herrera, Julia Elliott, Carmen Maria Machado, Elizabeth Hand, Brian Evenson, Charles Yu, Laura van den Berg, and more scour the underbelly of modern life to expose the criminal, the illegal, and the depraved.

The Vertical Interrogation of Strangers


Bhanu Kapil - 2001
    Only at the end of the twentieth century could a writer create this compelling combination of experience and imagination, education and tradition, sex and prayer. This magic and modern coming of age could not have been written at any other time, yet its references bring the reader places that are distinctly not 1990s America.

The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Nonfiction: Advice and Essential Exercises from Respected Writers, Editors, and Teachers


Dinty W. Moore - 2012
    With a comprehensive introduction to the genre and book by editor Dinty W. Moore, The Field Guide is perfect for both the classroom and the individual writer’s desk—an essential handbook for anyone interested in the scintillating and succinct flash nonfiction form. How many words does it take to tell a compelling true story? The answer might surprise you. “The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Nonfiction, edited by the invaluable Dinty W. Moore, is a lot more than flashy. These thoughtful, thought-provoking essays and exercises have the paradoxical effect of slowing down our attention and encouraging an expansion of the moment, while seeming to be saving writing and reading time. A very useful compilation.” ~Phillip Lopate , The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present

I'd Rather Be With You


Kay Shanee - 2019
    When they finally hook up, her lust turned love consumes her thoughts and all that she can think about is being with him. The dilemma…Keva has a man and doesn’t know how to tell him that she’d rather be with someone else. Damarion Sanders is the ultimate bachelor and in no rush to settle down. He’s been in a situationship for several months but only because he can’t have who he really desires. But after succumbing to his attraction to Keva, his best friend’s sister, making her his forever is the only thing on his mind, except…he promised his best friend that he’d stay away from Keva. Will Keva and Damarion find a way to be together? Will Keva risk her relationship and take a chance on giving Damarion all of her love? Will Damarion break the promise he made to his best friend and risk eighteen years of friendship for the woman he’s come to love?

How The Light Gets In


Clare Fisher - 2018
    A book of very short stories that explores the spaces between light and dark and how we find our way from one to the other. From buffering Skype chats and the truth about beards, to fried chicken shops and the things smartphones make you less likely to do when alone in a public place, Fisher paints a complex, funny and moving portrait of contemporary British life.

Where There's Smoke: Charlie Walden's First Case


Peter Murphy - 2017
    But he soon finds himself struggling to keep the peace between three feisty fellow judges who have very different views about how to do their job, and about how Charlie should do his.And as if that’s not enough, there’s the endless battle against the ‘Grey Smoothies’, the humourless grey-suited civil servants who seem determined to drown Charlie in paperwork and strip the court of its last vestiges of civilisation.No hope of a quiet life then for Charlie, and there are times when his real job – trying the challenging criminal cases that come before him – actually seems like light relief. If you like Rumpole of the Bailey, you'll love Walden of Bermondsey Praise for Walden of Bermondsey 'No one writes with more wit, warmth and insight about the law and its practitioners than Peter Murphy. He has no equal since the great John 'Rumpole' Mortimer' - David Ambrose'Though his exasperation is sometimes palpable, what triumphs over everything is his sense of humour. And it is the humour that makes Walden of Bermondsey such a delightful read. Think of him as what Rumpole would be like if he ever became a judge, and you get some idea of his self-deprecating wit and indomitable stoicism. Add a dash of Henry Cecil for his situation and AP Herbert for the fun he has with the law, and you get a sense of Peter's literary precedents' - Paul Magrath

A Brave Day for Harold Brown


Mishana Khot
    Brown wants is a nice cup of tea and a peaceful evening with his cat on his knee. He’s too old for love and adventure. Or so he thinks. This morning when Harold Brown woke up, it seemed like a normal day. Why would a 50-year old man feel anything about a circus coming to the quiet town of Limberlost? But BonBon Circus has brought a Bengal tiger, and Harold’s never seen a tiger before. When he decides to disrupt his routine to visit the circus, it sets in motion a few other changes, all leading up to one thrilling day. Will Mr. Brown’s life ever be the same again?

My Christmas Carol


Flora Ferrari - 2020
    All year-round too, not just on Christmas.I think it’s enough.But it’s a lonely life of being Mr. Claus without his significant other.Checking in on the dressing room when I know I can’t be today Santa I find what I’ve been looking for.Her.But I know it’ll never be enough. Not until I have her as my own.A lifetime’s worth of yearning solved in one single moment.The day I meet my one true love.And it’s Christmas.There are angels, and I’ve had one fall to earth.Right in my lap.Carol.My Christmas Carol.CAROLI hate Christmas.But it’s usually a way to pick up extra work when everyone else is on holiday.But I only hate it because it means being alone.Again.Until I see Lucian.He’s my forever Christmas, even if it’s only in my mind.The dream boss I figured wasn’t my boss at all.As if an older guy like him would ever go for a younger curvy girl like me.But he does.He insists on it and I can’t refuse.Maybe this Christmas won’t be so bad after all?

Double Trouble : A Silent Luna Bonus Chapter


Sabrina Noury - 2017
     The storm has finally passed and all the pack is left to do now is to wait for their Luna to pull through and finally wake up. While unconscious and recovering, James, her loving and faithful Alpha mate, never leaves her side; sitting and waiting beside her bed, day and night. Until two bundles of joy arrive to the pack at an unexpected moment; bringing hope and reminding everyone that there are still things worth celebrating. Join James in discovering and experiencing the wonderful chaos of having a double dose of surprise in one day. Grab a copy of the epilogue to Sabrina Noury’s “Silent Luna.”

Nasty Secrets Part 2


La'Tonya West - 2012
    She has moved and started a new relationship but still she longs to be with Ericka. Find out what happens when Jas revisits her past. Will it be a beautitful blissful reunion or are there more nasty secrets waiting to be uncovered?

Aftermath


Elle Charles - 2014
     Every action has a consequence and this is the aftermath. My name is Kara Petersen. I am one of life’s survivors, but my life has not been easy. I am the product of a dysfunctional, broken home and parents who don’t care. Fallen from grace, abandoned and betrayed, I am now alone. Then there was hope. A boy, a saviour. He saved me, empowered me, and gave me the strength and courage to leave. To live. His actions will not be in vain. I will do whatever it takes to survive. My name is Sloan Foster. I am one of life’s failures, but my life has not been fair. I am the product of a loving home, a mother and father who adored each other, until death paved the way for the devil. Trapped inside a world with a gilded façade, I have always felt alone. Then there was hope. A girl, an angel, a beacon of pure light in the dark. She subconsciously called to me, reached deep into my soul, unknowingly claiming a part of myself I had let die years ago. I promised I would do whatever it took to be her protector. My promises were unachievable and futile. I will do whatever it takes to find her again. Please note this is a 36,000 word novella, chronicling the lives of Kara and Sloan and the ‘missing’ eight years. It is not a continuation of the present story, and should be read after Fractured and Tormented.

Milo's Story


E.E. Holmes - 2015
    Holmes' award-winning paranormal series, The Gateway Trilogy, comes the first in a set of stories that will take the reader even deeper into the lives of their favorite characters. In Milo's Story, journey back to Milo's first day at New Beginnings, and discover the details of how he and Hannah first met, told from the ever-sassy perspective of everyone's favorite spirit guide.

Twinkle Toes: A Dev Haskell Short Mystery


Mike Faricy - 2014
    Years back he knew her as Twink, the hottest girl in high school with pink hair. Now, she's vanished after a supposed photo shoot with Tom Cruise and it's left up to Dev to find her. He enlists the help of failed NFL tight end, Luscious Dixon who suffers from an anger management 'disability'. From there things seem to plummet downhill. Faricy is at it again, this time with a zany short mystery that's at once hilarious and somewhat chilling. Twinkle Toes is yet another fast paced crazy tale from Minnesota's Master of the Bizarre, Mike Faricy.