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Our Poison Horse


Derrick Brown - 2014
    Brown. Brown is the winner of the Texas Book of The Year Prize, 2013. The New York Times calls his work a rekindling of the faith in the shocking, weird and beautiful power of words. Brown finally sold the ship, The Sea Section, upon which he lived for years in the Long Beach harbor, after which he took to hunting for a city that was affordable and had a bustling writer s community. He landed in Austin, Texas and when the progress of that town got to be intense, he moved to the nearby countryside in Elgin, Texas, and from that pastoral setting came unfurling this new collection of his most personal work to date. Brown has been known as one of the most touring, well travelled living poets in America. He has based his whole writing career on changing peoples minds about poetry and he feels a quality, unforgettable live experience can achieve that. Brown told himself he needed a 10-year hiatus from writing poetry when he felt the well of creativity had dried up. 2 years ago, he wrote a one-hour long poetic play called Strange Light, commissioned by The Noord Nederlands Dans Group in Holland. The piece was performed by 14 dancers and accompanied by a live orchestra using music composed by fellow Americans, Emily Wells and Timmy Straw. While he was working on a new libretto for Wayne State University in Detroit, he was set up in a seemingly pastoral country setting, where, as Brown says, an incredible war broke out inside and out, such bright, massive storms, snakes, guns, howling wind, hard sun: all kinds of poems gushed forth. I gave in to the process and my best work to date was born, this will be my 5th book. Our Poison Horse touches on more autobiography than the romantic and fantastical that was so present in his past work. In Derrick Brown s words: I found a poetry in the real events that shaped or broke me. Every morning, I would quiet down, stare out into the field where we were watching our neighbors horse, a horse that was poisoned with pesticide by some local boys, a horse with massive scars all down its body from it s skin peeling from the poison sprayed upon it maliciously by some bastard kids. I watched the horse heal and finally come to me, and trust me and eat carrots. Something about that horse, Lacey, about it not trusting me and then warming up pulled something out of me that I didn t know I was ready for. There is a theme that in beautiful places, you will"

The 20-Month Legend: My Baby Boy's Fight with Cancer


Steve Tate - 2018
    The once-star collegiate football player finds himself fighting for his son’s life. This memoir takes you through the various challenges of raising a family of six kids and balancing a career, all while his son battles to defeat the odds of survival. Both Steve and his high school sweetheart, Savanna, found hope and happiness through the example of their 20-month-old son Hayes.

Eve (or: 'How to be a Zombie and not Murder Everyone')


Cesar Vitale
     Eve is an 18,000 word novella originally published as an ongoing story on Reddit's Writing Prompts forum by user /u/psycho_alpaca.

Pretty Bad Things


Yoly Marquez - 2015
    If it weren’t for the secret list of crazy things she’d like to do, she’d be less interesting than a piece of stale bread. Harvey Lockwell is a God. An unattainable God.Livvie’s content with staring Harvey down from afar and wiping the drool from her chin, until everything changes when she’s forced to have actual contact with him during their after-school tutoring seasons. In a cringe-worthy chain of events, Livvie’s boring life turns into a catastrophic mess when Harvey ends up finding her secret list.Things take another turn for the worse when Livvie accidentally runs away from home while on a high-speed chase straddled to the back of Harvey’s motorcycle. Not only does she have to endure the embarrassment from being caught with a bucket list at the ripe age of seventeen that includes losing her virginity, but she also has to figure out exactly what Harvey ended up doing that caused them to be chased out of town by a band of criminals and how to fix it. Crazy house parties, grungy motel rooms, unexpected make-out sessions, bad dancing, and a scandalous twist are just the beginning. For a girl who’s never done anything remotely exciting, Livvie Jefferson is in for some pretty bad things.

Blushing: Expressions of Love in Poems and Letters


Paul B. Janeczko - 2004
    A pit in your stomach. A blush. These are the symptoms of love sickness, and if you've ever experienced them, this book is for you.Critically acclaimed poet and anthologist, Paul Janeczko has turned his attention to a new compilation of love poems for teens that collects the most poignant and moving musings about love from a diverse group of classic poets and writers like Shakespeare, Dickinson, Whitman, Millay, Angelou, and many more.This is a book girls will carry with them always. They will dog-ear the pages, pass it to friends, sleep with it. And they will go back to it again and again and find in it the drama, the pain, the joy of loving.

In Paris With You


Clémentine Beauvais - 2016
    Eugene and Tatiana had fallen in love that summer ten years ago. But certain events stopped them from getting to truly know each other and they separated never knowing what could have been. But one busy morning on the Paris metro, Eugene and Tatiana meet again, no longer the same teenagers they once were. What happened during that summer? Does meeting again now change everything? With their lives ahead of them, can Eugene and Tatiana find a way to be together after everything? Written in gorgeous verse, In Paris With You celebrates the importance of first love. Funny and sometimes bittersweet this book has universal appeal for anyone who has been in love.

Drunk by Noon


Jennifer L. Knox - 2007
    (It was John Findura in Verse Magazine.) She's also been compared to comedian Sarah Silverman, artist Jeff Koons, a 10-year-old who can't keep her mouth shut, and cartoonist R. Crumb. None of these equations is quite right, however. Jennifer L. Knox's work is unmistakably her own: darkly hilarious, surprisingly empathetic, utterly original. DRUNK BY NOON is the eagerly awaited sequel to Knox's first book, A GRINGO LIKE ME, which is also available from Bloof in a new edition. Jennifer L. Knox is a three-time contributor to the Best American Poetry Series and her poems have also appeared in Great American Prose Poems and Great American Erotic Poems. For more information, see www.jenniferlknox.com.

The Bad Boy Calls Me Kitten


HessianKills
    "Dude, you just got freaking stabbed! You're letting out more blood than a girl on her period! You are not going to be fine! I have to call the police. No wait, I have to call an ambulance! Oh my God, why didn't I think of that before? Stupid, Genevi-""Shut the fuck up!" he yelled, turning away. I wrung my hands together in panic, trying to calm myself down. "I can take care of this, kitten. Leave me alone. It's just a small wound. Not like I haven't been stabbed before." he muttered the last part."What?!""Leave." he growled. I stared at him, unable to close my mouth. I had never seen someone get stabbed before. Heck, I had never seen someone get into a fight before. Ever. The only violence I had experienced was in movies. It was unfortunate for me that I found out how I would react in a danger situation like this. And by react, I mean to completely flip the hell out.*LANGUAGE WARNING*

Return Of His Bubblegum Klutz (His Bubblegum Klutz, #2)


CJustMe - 2015
    

The Ones Left Behind: A Traditional Regency Romance (Brethren in Arms Book 4)


Elizabeth Johns - 2021
    

Don't Kiss Your Brother's Sworn Enemy (Don't Kiss! Series Book 1)


Elle Gonzales - 2020
    Well, according to her twin brother Cole, that is. Cole's resentment toward him has been there for as long as she can remember.So it goes without saying that she needs to stay away from Jake if she wants to keep the peace. That should be easy, right?Except there's one problem: Jake is assigned as her partner for a school paper. And as if that's not enough, she also needs his help to get back in her best friend's good graces.Callie knows that getting close to him is not a good idea. Too bad she's starting to like him...

Forbidden Love with a Thug


Shvonne Latrice - 2020
    With no way to make ends meet, she turns to the world of stripping in order to keep herself afloat. Jersey feels that she is simply existing, and finds nothing interesting about her life, until she meets Tommy Brownson. Tommy is cute, sweet, persistent, and patient. Jersey finds herself smitten with him, but soon after becomes just short of infatuated with his frenemy Kilexis Camren. Conflicted, Jersey is having a hard time figuring out if she wants the kind and gentle Tommy, after all he did approach her first, or the mysterious, rugged, and frank Kilexis. Not able to decide right away, Jersey dabbles with both, showing a much more favortism to the latter. Will she be able to pick in enough time to preserve the losing man's feelings? Or will fate choose for her, causing a heightened rivalry between the men? Cheyla Austin is a pill popping stripper, who has no idea where she wants to go in life, and to honest she's perfectly okay with that. Living life one day at a time, and having to answer to no one, has proved to be Cheyla's method for achieving contentment. She has no interest in dating anyone who may disrupt her easy going and detached life, until she meets the sexy, ambitious, and clever Kantwan Camren. Kantwan is a no nonsense guy, and refuses to be with a woman who will cower when met with true love or hardwork. Will Cheyla be able to mature into the woman Kantwan needs? Or will she continue to live life as a disconnected and afraid little girl, causing her to lose out on the man of every girl's dreams? Ivy Horne, hasn't had it easy for the past few years. With her child's father being thrown in jail for reckless petty robberies, she is forced to make sure her son has everything he needs. In order to put food into her son Donovan's mouth, she joins best friends Jersey and Cheyla, by dancing every night for cash. Her plan is to focus on making money, while looking for a new job to obtain before her man Portland comes home. In addition to that, there are no ifs, ands, or buts about her being faithful to Portland while put away. That all changes upon meeting the intelligent, handsome, and aggressive Elijah Camren, who tries to show Ivy that she is way too good to hold a man down that has been so disloyal to her in the past. When Ivy falls for Elijah's charm, just a teeny bit, she is stuck with having feelings for him even when Portland returns. Will she dibble and dabble like Jersey? Or will fate have to pick for her as well? Everyone seems to be in a love that's forbidden, frowned upon, or just downright wrong. Follow Jersey, Cheyla, and Ivy, as they all share forbidden love with a thug.

Hood Legacy: Rise of the Young Royals


K.C. Mills - 2017
    Their fathers are street legends, and the four of them feel it’s necessary that they wear their own crowns. Problem is, they won’t be allowed to take part in the legacy until they prove they’re ready, so for now, they’re just doing what they do best, living life to the fullest. They’re wild, reckless, and doing the most, but what happens when they get their heads on right and decide that that they can do it on their own. For these young men who typically get anything they want based on their names alone, they begin to realize that the most powerful thing in the world is not money, which they have plenty of, it’s respect. Add in love, and you have a disastrous combination. Family means everything, and Legacy is the key, but when you want it all, sometimes you have to do it your way. When you’re trying to find your way and someone else finds your heart, will you be able to hold onto that dream of being the greatest of all time? Hood Legacies are built, not earned.

A Thousand Boy Kisses


Tillie Cole - 2016
    But a thousand kisses can last a lifetime. One boy. One girl. A bond that is forged in an instant and cherished for a decade. A bond that neither time nor distance can break. A bond that will last forever. Or so they believe. When seventeen-year-old Rune Kristiansen returns from his native Norway to the sleepy town of Blossom Grove, Georgia, where he befriended Poppy Litchfield as a child, he has just one thing on his mind. Why did the girl who was one half of his soul, who promised to wait faithfully for his return, cut him off without a word of explanation? Rune's heart was broken two years ago when Poppy fell silent. When he discovers the truth, he finds that the greatest heartache is yet to come. A stand-alone young adult tearjerker romance, recommended for ages fourteen and up.

Deepwoods Trilogy


Honor Raconteur - 2019
    Until it arrives. From the desk of Honor Raconteur comes the tale of one guild, who believes in the impossible, and fight with everything they have to prevent the war they see coming. ~ Contains all three books in the trilogy "Deepwoods," "Blackstone," and "Fallen Ward," as well as "Origins," the collection of short stories.