Holly Anna Paladin can’t wait to celebrate Christmas with family and friends. She loves everything about the season—celebrating the birth of Jesus, singing carols, and baking Christmas treats, just to name a few. But when a local family needs help, how can she say no? Holly’s community has come together to help raise funds to save the home of Greg and Babette Sullivan, but a Bah-Humburgler has snatched the canisters of cash. Holly and her boyfriend, police detective Chase Dexter, team up to catch the Christmas crook. Will they succeed in collecting enough cash to cover the Sullivans’ overdue bills? Or will someone succeed in ruining Christmas for all those involved? ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS WISH ~ Samantha Bayarr Kate is lonely, single, and about to turn forty. She has lost all interest in the Christmas season until a mysterious package that has followed her around for twenty years winds up at her doorstep. When her handsome neighbor, Jack, takes an interest in the contents of the mystery package, will Kate's outlook on Christmas change? How will Jack help her get past her worst Christmas ever? BRIGHT NEW MURDER ~ Traci Tyne Hilton Homeless preschoolers, angry protesters, frozen yogurt, and murder. Jane Adler is keen to try on her detective hat, and the dead lady at the Christmas fundraiser is her perfect shot. Timing is everything and this murder was timed perfectly to destroy her best friend Jake's growing Fro-Yo business. He's a great friend--just a friend, honest-- and she owes him a favor or two. But discovering who would want to kill the town’s favorite preschool teacher is messy business, and Jane doesn't have a moment to waste! SECRET SANTA ~ Amanda Tru It was time for Hailey Rhodes to admit the truth: things were not going well. After losing her job as a teacher, she finds herself broke, unemployed, and tricked into accepting a date from a department store Santa Claus. When new opportunities and new love interests present themselves, will Hailey choose a career and a man she's always admired, or will she wait for the identity of her Secret Santa to be revealed? THEN THERE WERE NONE ~ V.B. Tenery Mass murder doesn’t happen in Matt Foley’s town . . . it doesn’t happen to his friends. Someone is going to pay. Disturbing crime scenes are nothing new to the Twin Falls Police Chief. But this one is different. The victims are friends. In their Tudor mansion just inside the city limits, a family is dead—husband, wife, two kids, and the family cook. The killer made one mistake. He left a survivor. The husband is one of the big three in the microchip industry. The family lived a quiet modest life. It doesn’t make sense. Until . . . SHADOWS OF DOUBT ~ Susette Williams Raffealle Gellermine has a very protective uncle and two protective brothers. They never like the men she brings home. Mathew Flannigan has a past, but for the life of her, she can’t figure out why her Uncle Rob and her brothers are trying to encourage a relationship between them.

    But when she and her friend, Peter, find a valuable coin and try to take it out of the shop, they find themselves in the fifteenth century. But that is only the beginning. The Edward V Coin The discovery of the coin from the short lived reign of Edward V, prompts Peter to want to find out what really happened to the princes in the Tower. The Anne Boleyn Necklace When Peter finds the famous B necklace worn by Anne Boleyn in many portraits, he is eager to use it to go back and see her in the flesh. But Rachel has sworn she'll never time travel again, until she finds a journal which reveals a cousin, stranded in the fifteenth century. She feels she must rescue her, but she doesn't stop to wonder if the cousin wants to be rescued. The Ripper Rings Jack the Ripper took souvenirs in the form of organs from his victims. But from one victim he took three rings and when they turn up in the antique shop, both Peter and Rachel are keen to find out how they got there.

    

    Responding to the crash, the primitive earthlings discover the ship's commander Valerie Dunne is a 5,000-year-old woman from the future, forced to escape her nemesis, the Boecki, by hiding in the past. Soon they learn the fate of the future world now rests on this strange woman's ability to harness five Hesaurun rings - rings with the power to destroy, heal, and manipulate time - and somehow, to find a way to alter her own destiny.An epic Sci-Fi tale of good and evil, rescue and survival, betrayal and love, and a threat to mankind unlike anything the human race has ever faced, The Rings of Hesaurun: Book One burns with the scope and imagination of the greatest Fantasy novels of the golden age. Weaving in a huge cast of humans and aliens, Peter Harrett has crafted a galaxy for readers of the 21st century to believe in...immense, ancient, and mind-bending.

    Real Place. Real Magic.Marco's summer in Glastonbury is starting to get seriously weird… The locals are having strange and terrifying visions, and then Marco's friend, Rosa, finds an ancient relic which experts identify as Excalibur, sword of the legendary King Arthur.According to the folk tales, Arthur will return to fight the forces of night. But where is the real threat coming from? A new evil is loose on the streets of the old town and inside the ruins of its ancient abbey... and walking right into it is Marco's sceptical London friend, Josh, the psychiatrist's son who's too clever for his own dad.Only Marco and Rosa can see the real darkness rising... and the blade about to fall.

    All that goes into the river the day he is adopted by Nefer-Djenou-Bastet, a highly opinionated sacred cat. From that point on, the young scribe's life is turned upside down. Everyone sees him as special; favored by the gods. Naturally, that makes him the perfect person to investigate a plot against the Great House of Ramesses II. Suddenly, Sitehuti is up to his neck in political intrigue, conspiracy and murder that takes him right into private heart of the royal palace. He's been bestowed a great honor. Now all he has to do is survive it.

    There’s only one problem; no one seems to know who Monroe Lovett is, and to make matters worse, he hasn’t had a single client. His sole hope is that just one person will hire him.That hope is answered when in walks Ashley Butler. Monroe is so glad to see her, happy to have a someone in need of his service that he jumps at the opportunity to represent her. Little does he realize, Ashley’s case will pit him against forces wanting his client convicted. Her case will open the closest to the Butler family’s secrets.Ashley Butler’s problems started when adultery and accusations led to a single rash act that ended in murder. In a matter of seconds, an argument climaxed with Julie, Marcus Butler Jr.'s mistress, dead.The Lane County Sheriff’s Department receives a tip of hearing what sounded like gunshots coming from inside the Butler home. Minutes later, deputies arrived to find Julie's body lying on the bedroom floor. The ill-tempered Detective Carson investigates the crime scene and upon leaving gets a tip that Ashley is the killer. The detective attains an arrest warrant and puts out an all-points bulletin for the arrest of Ashley Butler.Ashley hears from a friend that deputies are looking for her. Knowing her husband’s family, she seeks the help of the only person she believes she can trust, Lane County's newest defense attorney, Monroe T. Lovett. Knowing that her husband’s father, Marcus Sr., holds power over most of Lane County, she's not even sure Monroe can help her. But he's her only hope.Speaking with Monroe in his office, Ashley explains that she is about to be arrested for murdering her husband's girlfriend. After she tells him of her predicament, and with only a few details, Monroe, in desperate need of a client, agrees to take her case. Soon, he learns Ashley isn't just any client, and he will have to fight to save her life.To make matters worse, Monroe will face Lane County’s District Attorney Robert Breaux. Breaux. Monroe will discover that Robert Breaux is a self-serving, egotistical district attorney, who is interested in one thing—winning. Justice is not Breaux's goal. Convictions translate into votes and those votes to lead to him gaining more political clout.Monroe soon finds himself in over his head. A godsend in the person of Herman (Herm) Edwards, a retired New Orleans detective and a native of Peregrine offers to help Monroe. Monroe is skeptical, knowing that Edwards is from the area. In need of help, Monroe, with the urging of his wife, Debbie, decides to hire Herm. But he still unsure of Herm’s allegiances. Trust issues arise between them as suspicions of a possible corrupt sheriff's department is trying to impede Ashley’s case.As Monroe’s case begins to unravel, Monroe is forced to seek a different approach to prove Ashley's innocence. This new tactic lands him right in the middle of the Butler family secret, a secret that even Ashley does not know about. No one in Lane County knows the truth the Butlers have been hiding for years, and Monroe is ready to rip the door off the closet. To stop him, Marcus Butler Sr., the family patriarch, will do whatever he must to keep the closet locked.To stop Monroe, Marcus Butler Sr. forms some new alliances to ensure his secrets stay buried. His new ties include a man named Félix Roche, a man who has many aliases and a sinister reputation with more than one agenda.Only the truth can free Ashley, but finding the truth will mean revealing her past, a past she would just as soon forget. However, Monroe encourages her, convincing her this is the only avenue to freedom. Monroe’s plan? Go after the patriarch, Marcus Butler Sr., and expose the man and the Butler family secrets. It is the only way Butler's justice will prevail.

    Jonathan Munro's house is broken into, and his former best friend and colleague, archaeologist Stephen Kaufman, is knifed in the streets of Ankara, he is thrust into a world of international criminals who will stop at nothing to claim the priceless artifact Dr. Kaufman unearthed - a scroll revealing the location of the missing autographs of the New Testament. Is it the find of the century, or a costly fraud?As he flees with Isabel, Kaufman's beguiling sister, Dr. Munro finds himself pursued by relentless mercenaries intent on seizing this incalculable treasure for themselves. Through some of Christianity's most revered historical sites, he and Isabel must race to unravel the clues and find the autographs before they fall into the wrong hands.

    First, historian Jasper Willoughs, his closest friend, didn’t toss himself off a dormitory roof. Second, a Georgetown University secret society—a running joke on campus—has blood on its hands. Torres’s pursuit of the truth embroils him in a bizarre and thrilling scavenger hunt. The clues, scratched out on parchment by the mysterious Odd Fellows Society, lead Santi to risk everything he holds sacred: his job, his life, even the woman he secretly loves. As for his relationship with his God? Well, that’s complicated. A hold-your-breath thriller that explores our national obsession with race, The Odd Fellows Society will have you looking at the U.S. capital—and its monuments’ secrets—in a whole different shade of black and white.

    When it’s all at risk and you’ve lost hope…don’t call them.You’ve been warned.Meet Robert Bangers & Steven Mash, Paranormal Investigators of the Arcane.When danger terrorizes the city, Bangers & Mash take it upon themselves to investigate, despite everyone advising against it.They won’t let common sense and the threat of a horrific creature capable of ripping them to shreds stop them.There’s no case they can’t make worse, but this time they may have bitten off more than they can chew.Join Bangers & Mash—the newest paranormal investigators to wreak havoc on the city as they take their cases from bad to disastrous!

    Behind everything crouched the brooding, festering horror of the ancient town, and of the moldy, unhallowed garret gable where he wrote and studied and wrestled with figures and formulae when he was not tossing on the meager iron bed. His ears were growing sensitive to a preternatural and intolerable degree, and he had long ago stopped the cheap mantel clock whose ticking had come to seem like a thunder of artillery. At night the subtle stirring of the black city outside, the sinister scurrying of rats in the wormy partitions, and the creaking of hidden timbers in the centuried house, were enough to give him a sense of strident pandemonium. The darkness always teemed with unexplained sound—and yet he sometimes shook with fear lest the noises he heard should subside and allow him to hear certain other fainter noises which he suspected were lurking behind them.

    The War on Terror provides the backdrop for the novella that introduces the roots of ultimate antihero, Max Ahlgren.Captain Max Ahlgren is proud to be one of the first team commanders in the Marine Corps' nascent MARSOC detachment. Finally, the Corps' elite warriors are working alongside those of other branches, battling insurgents, not on the front lines but behind them. After his first mission, however, Max learns he will be replaced as team commander.The new commander, Major Whitbeck, comes from 8th and I: Marine Barracks, Washington DC. His late father, a revered general, died in a terrorist car bombing. The commander is in Afghanistan for vengeance--and redemption.When the team infiltrates the ancient desert fortress of Kazindrak, hunting an elusive Al-Qaeda terrorist, Whitbeck reveals his ineptitude in combat. Max's fury grows as the body count rises. When the actual nature of the mission is revealed, Max gets a good look at the sordid underbelly of the War on Terror and sees first-hand what monsters men can become. If he is to survive, however, he may have no choice but to become one.Sometimes the greatest enemy is within...

    

    While mourning the death of her husband, Senior Tissue Engineer, Stephani Robbins, is plagued by recurring visions of a child being locked up in a chicken coop. Meanwhile, someone is sending her creepy love poems, roses, and photos that have been taken without Stephani's knowledge. As more photos appear, the police suspect that Stephani has hired someone to take these photos. She before she can convince the police to take her seriously she is kidnapped. While imprisoned she discovers why she has been having these visions and it is more chilling than she ever imagined. Can she make it out alive? What some of my beta readers said... Wow! You've got a thriller with a level of horrific reality here. You take the reader inside a perverted serial killer's head and an innocent woman whose life has been ripped from her and whose present season of recovery is being trespassed. You describe the love of an adoring niece for her mourning auntie and this connects the reader to the prologue and adds another level of emotion to this already captivating plot. What a book! I have to say 'wow' because your writing style is so picturesque. You show a every detail to plainly. I was captured right away. The showing is real and to telling, which is a top virtue in any real book. The main character Stephanie has a sassy attitude underneath all of the hurt. Her story is heart breaking and so deep I felt her agony. This is a worthy read. O.N. Stefan, this one is so chilling and well written. The villain jumps off the page at the reader and scare the bejeebers out of you. You descriptions of the lab scene in the first chapter are right on and her getting the poem was quite spooky. The conflict of the mother and Puddles was well done showing just the type of upbringing or lack of this man had. High stars! I think you have a great novel here. The prologue is intense and urged me to keep reading, as well as setting the stage for when she discovers the pictures to give a sensation of malice. Your voice is exciting and the dialogue is good. It does seem more formal at times, but that is to be expected when having highly educated characters. I especially like your detailed descriptions and the use of medical terminology.

     The Secret Letter Victoria Owens's life takes a sudden turn after she receives an unexpected chain letter about her upcoming high school reunion. She's quick to dismiss the letter and focus instead on her busy day, amidst a preoccupied husband and eleven year-old-daughter. But the letter is only the beginning of a series of anonymous gifts, each more bizarre than the next, which shed light on a past long forgotten. Suspicious of her newfound admirer, Victoria soon finds herself trapped in a dangerous game of vengeance and betrayal, where her survival hangs in the very balance with every move that she makes.