Fiction – Page 14 – Book Reader Magazine

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Squeeze Plays by Jeffrey Marshall

Squeeze Plays by Jeffrey Marshall

Squeeze Plays takes the reader to an opulent world of penthouses and paneled boardrooms in New York, where the head of a publishing empire who has risen far above his talents is facing a serious financial shortfall – and his banker isn’t about to give him a leg up.
The chairman of Star Enterprises, Winston Crumm, is the captain of his own ship, though he is never the one actually piloting it. When he steps in to save his family’s newspaper business, he gets his company into bed with a shady Russian oligarch without the knowledge of anyone else on the board.
When the Whitehall Banking Group pulls the loan that Star Enterprises has been living on, Winston Crumm needs to do something to save his pocketbook. The easy road arrives in the form of Maxim Ripovsky, a London-based billionaire who offers $20 million, the exact amount of the Whitehall loan. Ripovsky’s terms for this investment are mildly bizarre, but seem perfectly tolerable to the desperate Winston.
Unbeknownst to Winston, Ripovsky is working his own scheme to get on the board of Whitehall by blackmailing their CEO. Meanwhile, Bob Mandell, a Financial Times reporter catches the scent of the mysterious investment that saved Star Enterprises and begins to uncover Ripovsky’s many shell corporations and their questionable investments, putting Winston’s company once again at risk.
Along the way, the reader encounters sexual and financial blackmail, a break-in intended to quash Mandell’s story, and the places and people in the lives of the ultra-privileged. It also uses the author’s background as a financial journalist to bring to life the investigative reporter’s probe into the loan, the shell companies and the secretive investment.
SQUEEZE PLAYS is a financial espionage novel of 67,000 words. It uses wit and an insider’s experience with financial journalism to explore the underhanded agreements and suspect motives of investors and desperate men.

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Between Two Dreams by S. Lee Fisher

Between Two Dreams by S. Lee Fisher

Can Eddy and Harriett Kepler keep their marriage together, despite his lies, transgressions, and abandonment? The answer lies Between Two Dreams.

S. Lee Fisher, multi-award-winning author of Becoming Olive W. masterfully weaves the Women of Campbell County saga to an end! The anticipated, Between Two Dreams, is the continuing story of Olive Westchester Bailey, Harriett Bailey Kepler, Eddy Kepler, and their extended families, beginning in 1953. Fisher, using unexpected twists and turns, skillfully binds characters and plots to a startling, but satisfying conclusion.

Read the entire The Women of Campbell County Saga starting with Becoming Olive W., followed by Westchester Farms, Under the Grapevine, Hill House Divided, and ending with Between Two Dreams.

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The Stitchin by Mark Lakeram

About Featured Book: The Stitchin by Mark Lakeram

The Stitchin begins with a fateful bike ride that entangles the life of seventeen-year-old Samuel Yates with the eponymous secret organisation that controls powerful global institutions. As unwilling initiates into this elite cult, Sam and his brother Mitch are presented with a series of dubious feats to death-defying challenges.

The brothers have no choice but to fulfil these tasks or face a brutal death. As they fall deeper and deeper into this criminal nexus, they are forced to confront the deepest ethical dilemmas and their own complicated personal history.

Caught up in this dangerous web is Sarah Silver, a hardened detective trying to escape her own dark past. A seemingly inconsequential case of a missing gypsy girl entangles Sarah’s life with the lives of the Yates brothers and thrusts her into the dark heart of the powerful survivalist organisation.

As the challenges escalate Sam needs to decide how far he is willing to go and Sarah must solve her case before they both get stitched up…

This Fiction book is available in these Formats: eBook, Print

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KIKI COTO by Edward Avanessy

About Featured Book: KIKI COTO by Edward Avanessy

Kiki Coto is an action/adventure/suspense story with an in-depth spiritual aspect. The sound and evil, with their mirror images in the spirit world, present themselves to the readers.
It reminds the reader that life is eternal, and after the death of the physical body, the soul continues on other journeys. Even the worst experiences in life are blessings in disguise for saving the soul, and miracles materialize when you detach yourself from the outcome.

This Fiction book is available in these Formats: eBook, Print

The Téuta’s Child by S. G. Ullman

About The Téuta’s Child by S. G. Ullman:

In the land of Téuta, there was a catastrophic event in which the ground shook, and a cliff collapsed, causing boulders to roll down and destroy everything in their path. Many people were killed, and the surviving villagers immediately accused Welo, the giant known as the bringer of nightmares, of causing the disaster.

However, little blind Kaikos had noticed strange spiritual activity on the ground, and she knew there was more to the story. She kept this information to herself, knowing that the panicked villagers would do anything to stop the earthquakes, including sacrificing Welo’s cursed granddaughter.

As fear and mistrust began to tear apart the bonds of love and community, Kaikos must find a way to survive in the midst of growing darkness and danger.

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Orkney: a Novel

About Orkney: a Novel:

Have you ever pondered the idea of reincarnation? If there is such a thing as reincarnation, a concept deeply believed in by several faiths, then what does that imply? Who were you? Through what worlds have you passed? And who around you that you love now was there with you?

Four brothers from Iron Age Orkney die almost simultaneous deaths in battle. The energy of their passing is so extreme that they are bound together through time. Their adventures lead them from Orkney to Roy Bridge, Scotland; Lismore, Co. Waterford, Ireland; Chaffee’s Lock, Ontario; and finally, Fredericton, New Brunswick in the 20th century.

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All That Is Hidden by Laura DeNooyer-Moore

All That Is Hidden by Laura DeNooyer-Moore

Are secrets worth the price they cost to keep? Ten-year-old Tina Hamilton finds out the hard way. In 1968, trouble erupts when northern exploitation threatens her southern Appalachian town. Her father’s hidden past collides with the present, mirroring the clash of progressive ideas and small town values.

“All That Is Hidden” won the Artisan Book Excellence Award. This novel is perfect for fans of Sarah Loudin Thomas, Chris Fabry, or Lisa Wingate.

“All That Is Hidden is a beautiful novel, the kind of book that sweeps you up in its story, makes you fall in love with its characters, and breaks your heart along with theirs when they go through suffering.” — Writer’s Digest

“For fans of historical fiction with heart and soul, All That Is Hidden is a beautiful gem of a book with fascinating characters. This 5 star, one-of-a-kind novel is a book you won’t want to put down.” — Artisan Book Reviews

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Honesty by Donna M

About Featured Book: Honesty by Donna M

This is the coming of age story of Honesty Love. Honesty is a beautiful young lady that is used to a luxurious lifestyle. She is the daughter of a Highly recruited football player and granddaughter of one of the most popular Indian Chiefs in New Orleans. Honesty has no real choice but to be a shot caller. After so many setbacks in life and nearly hitting rock bottom, she finally sees a way to really make a mark in the city.

This Fiction book is available in these Formats: eBook

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The Whistle of a Bird by Laura J Bloom

The Whistle of a Bird by Laura J Bloom

What would you sacrifice to save your children?
… It is difficult to keep moving as the mud sucks at her boots. Nadiya walks alongside her. Maryna sees the hole in Nadiya’s shoe where her toes poke through to show a child’s patterned sock. She is proud of how brave her little sister has been. “My little crumb” is what her father called her. Tiny for her age. She has not complained but she is tired and hungry and won’t be able to continue much longer.
…Fujiko’s stomach is growling, and she is cold. So cold that her hands hurt. Her feet stopped hurting a while ago. Now they are just numb. This is worse than the heat of last summer when she lay in bed kicking the covers to the floor…
…Benita is locked in a shroud of silence where everything around her has ceased to exist. It is hard to mobilize her limbs. They feel heavy and slow, yet she is running as fast as she can. It is too late, they are gone. She sits alone on the hot, blood splattered ground, in shock, with tears streaking her face…
America’s history is like no other nation. Immigrant women have had a profound role in its evolution and continue to inspire its evolving story. When confronting modern struggles, many find empowerment through the sacrifice, hope, and determination of those who came before them. Glimpse into the lives of nine ordinary generational immigrant women who through extraordinary circumstances, and overlapping moments in time, are linked as America’s daughters.
Release date Feb. 9, 2023. Available for .99 pre-order NOW until Feb. 23rd then $2.99

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Sunflower Signs

About Sunflower Signs:

In our darkest hour, can a deceased love offer guidance? Emily Mason has never been able to escape the grief she feels over the death of her childhood love and hero, Danny – though it’s been almost nine years since he passed away. She will sometimes even sleep on his grave for comfort. She can’t seem to do anything right in the eyes of her husband, Scott – who reprimands Emily about everything from her messy handwriting, to singing Christmas songs outside of the month of December, to her inability to bring home enough groceries in her bike basket. She depends on her reluctantly psychic older sister, Ericka, to always come to her rescue when she is in peril – which is often. Her fears are many – she’s terrified of people dressed in costumes, thunderstorms, and she refuses to drive a car. Just when Emily’s life begins to completely unravel, Danny leaves her a sign that can’t be ignored. Emily is faced with making a decision that will take her far away from the security of her sister’s care, and the comfort of being near Danny’s final resting place. Sunflowers Signs is a quirky, funny, and emotional story about love, family, and the connections we keep with those who have passed over to the other side.

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Wanted: An Honest Man by Cricket Rohman

Wanted: An Honest Man by Cricket Rohman

With a little mystery and a little romance, WANTED: AN HONEST MAN portrays Lindsey Lark’s search for a balance between her love life and her teaching career. Deceived by the man of her dreams, then haunted by strange, threatening phone calls, she worries about a stalker. She’s grateful to have Wendell, her 180-pound mastiff, close by.
Come along with Lindsey as life leads her to the Grand Canyon, North Dakota, and the Zuni Mountains, where she stumbles upon adventure, danger, and love.

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Visions of Johanna by Peter Sarno

About Featured Book: Visions of Johanna by Peter Sarno

"A beautifully written literary novel . . . Sarno's use of metaphors and lush language draws readers into the story . . . [who] may shed a tear or two before the final page is turned."
—BlueInk, Starred Review

Johanna, an artist, and Matt, a music critic, couldn’t be more different, but by a simple twist of fate, she plucks him from a crowd at a Dylan concert. What follows is a heady and intense relationship buffeted by the usual suspects that gently rocked the ‘80s. Matt’s lessons in art—as well as life—at the hands of Johanna, drive the novel into pockets of feminism and quiet revolution. All of this is tempered by deeply held traumatic secrets that torque their intimacy.

Yet it's Revere—and not Boston—that remains one of the underlying attractions in "Visions of Johanna". This north shore backdrop brings Matt into full focus—a child in a city of recent immigrants, life by the ocean, the bilious flavor of the Mob are just some of the elements rendered in skillful detail. Johanna, a renegade from Wisconsin—freewheeling and hyper-energized—draws Matt out of his comfort zone and into her world.

A meditation on art and unrest, "Visions of Johanna" celebrates life, love, memory and the undying power of the deep connections that sustain us. The novel follows Johanna and Matt as they pursue their dreams to paint and to write. But burdening problems collide with these artistic desires and other forces conspire against them. Ultimately, the two are done in by their inability to share aspects of their past they believe they must hide from.

The novel travels through time and social unrest to the final moment hinted at in the prologue. Within this book's pages, tragedies haunt, acts of moral goodness manifest themselves, and benevolence reigns with a finality that absolves all.

"A beautifully intimate romance that doesn't shy away from challenging topics."
—Publishers Weekly's BookLife

“This would be a perfect book club book. With questions that address the concepts of faith and hope to the efforts put towards the women’s movement, there is a lot that can be talked about…Detailed, wonderfully written, and thought-provoking, 'Visions of Johanna' will have readers thinking long after they put the book down.”
— Kristi Elizabeth, Manhattan Book Review

This Fiction book is available in these Formats: eBook, Print

This book is in Kindle Unlimited!

Spring Flowers in the Snow: An Unexpected Blessing by Nancy H. Pressley

About Featured Book: Spring Flowers in the Snow: An Unexpected Blessing by Nancy H. Pressley

One rarely expects to begin a new and exciting chapter when you have walked the earth more years than the average life span.
The following is the story of an exception to the usual. For two septuagenarians, the holiday season of 2016 brought an unexpected blessing.
An intelligent but introverted girl seeks to find her place in the world as she moves in and out of uncomfortable roles until finally discovering a fit, including a soul mate and purpose, in the fourth quarter of life.

This Fiction book is available in these Formats: eBook, Print

This book is in Kindle Unlimited!

Visions of Johanna by Peter Sarno

About Visions of Johanna by Peter Sarno:

“A beautifully written literary novel . . . Sarno’s use of metaphors and lush language draws readers into the story . . . [who] may shed a tear or two before the final page is turned.”
—BlueInk, Starred Review

Yet it’s Revere—and not Boston—that remains one of the underlying attractions in “Visions of Johanna”. This north shore backdrop brings Matt into full focus—a child in a city of recent immigrants, life by the ocean, the bilious flavor of the Mob are just some of the elements rendered in skillful detail. Johanna, a renegade from Wisconsin—freewheeling and hyper-energized—draws Matt out of his comfort zone and into her world.

A meditation on art and unrest, “Visions of Johanna” celebrates life, love, memory and the undying power of the deep connections that sustain us. The novel follows Johanna and Matt as they pursue their dreams to paint and to write. But burdening problems collide with these artistic desires and other forces conspire against them. Ultimately, the two are done in by their inability to share aspects of their past they believe they must hide from.

The novel travels through time and social unrest to the final moment hinted at in the prologue. Within this book’s pages, tragedies haunt, acts of moral goodness manifest themselves, and benevolence reigns with a finality that absolves all.

“A beautifully intimate romance that doesn’t shy away from challenging topics.”
—Publishers Weekly’s BookLife

“This would be a perfect book club book. With questions that address the concepts of faith and hope to the efforts put towards the women’s movement, there is a lot that can be talked about…Detailed, wonderfully written, and thought-provoking, ‘Visions of Johanna’ will have readers thinking long after they put the book down.”
— Kristi Elizabeth, Manhattan Book Review

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Learn more about the writer. Visit the Author’s Website.

The Big Bad Wolf: Book 1: Blood (A Fantasy Reincarnation Isekai Light Novel) by 13 Pitch Black Cats

About Featured Book: The Big Bad Wolf: Book 1: Blood (A Fantasy Reincarnation Isekai Light Novel) by 13 Pitch Black Cats

For a limited time after release at $0.99. Valid until January 20, 2023

When a mysterious entity grants a man who died a chance to be a hero in another life in a fantasy world, he cannot believe his luck. The one condition: he must fight the demon king if he shows up during his new iteration.

He accepts and…

Wakes in the body of a young female wolf beastkin named Lucia haunted by the memory of orcs ravaging her town. Not the rebirth he was hoping for.

He soon learns that beastkin are not looked upon kindly in these parts and, because Lucia is an orphaned beastkin, she is drafted into the military. But this new body has its perks as well as its drawbacks. She possesses a hot temper, an incredibly youthful and strong body, and claws. However, the longer he is in this body, the willpower of his former life begins to yield to Lucia’s overwhelming primal instincts.

With the help and magic of an enigmatic female elf at an orphanage, Lucia may have a chance at controlling her violent nature as she contends with this harsh, new alien world. Among the threats: murderous orcish raiders, fearsome beasts, and summoned demons. And quite possibly, the demon king himself.

No small feat for a young beastkin, but it sure beats being dead.

This Royal Road alumnus is a unique reincarnation fantasy adventure featuring plenty of action, twists, and memorable characters that takes place during the hero’s rebirthed childhood rather than glossing over it like most books in the genre. This exciting isekai story with its female lead will transport you to a lush new world filled with fantastical races, unforeseen danger, and powerful magic you won’t soon forget.

This Fiction book is available in these Formats: eBook, Print

This book is in Kindle Unlimited!

Zoratama The Muisca Princess by Jaime Bedoya Martinez

About Featured Book: Zoratama The Muisca Princess by Jaime Bedoya Martinez

The history of pre-Hispanic South America is prolific in narratives of violence perpetuated, in battle and commerce, to an indigenous population. Mostly for the sake of feeding a perverse avarice and yearning for indulgence that was the fashion for Old World society at the time, this conquering force overcame great odds and difficulties to satisfy their greed for material treasure. They consequently took out their frustration and discomfort on these communities. Their occupation exhibited the brutality of a society desperate to pay their debts and build their riches with whatever could be extracted from other people, foreign lands.

Disregarded by history are the stories of the daily life of these indigenous people as they built true humane societies and developed myths to satisfy their curiosities of the workings of their natural world.

What has been lost to history is the spark of wonder when the European encountered the native for the first time, in submission rather than domination. Zoratama is that glimpse, told in the passion of a conquistador for a native beauty. The story is a tragedy of the forbidden, unprecedented and one that passion, eroticism, could not resolve. Love defeated by one of the many sins which motivated Europe to its genocidal tendencies. Ultimately it is not devotion to another being which drove the history, but rather devotion to the unknown.

Jaime Bedoya Martinez’s Zoratama constructs the structure for modern Hispanic society through the unrealistic passion of consorts of divergent worlds. His belief that the legacy of the Muisca has been abandoned is true, for beyond anthropological and archeological studies explaining in detail the life, religion, society of these people, little credit is given to their contributions to current culture.

And the assimilation, whether military or societal, of these cultures is anything but polite; the Spaniards greedy and brutal, the Muisca resolute and tribal.

Mr. Bedoya beautifully builds an alternate storyline which ultimately argues that commitment to passion and transcendence has no boundaries. Zoratama, the Muisca princess, and Lázaro Fonte, the Spanish conquistador, construct a love story for the ages, replete with spiritual integration and an offspring of a new race.

Ultimately, the writer in his true fashion destroys this love, immersed in the tragic myths of both races, in an absurd annihilation of people, family, emotion and sentiment because the ironic metaphor that evolves is the incarnation of a new race, culture and historical footprint.

This Fiction book is available in these Formats: eBook, Print, Audiobook

This book is in Kindle Unlimited!

Secrets My Mothers Kept by Rebecca Tucker

Secrets My Mothers Kept by Rebecca Tucker

“Tucker exhibits mesmerizing story-telling skills in this heartfelt, honest story of love and betrayal…Fluid dialogue and a tightly formatted storyline set this novel aside in a refreshingly unique category all its own.” – Readers’ Favorite

“Tucker has delivered an evocative, poignant read that lovers of literary fiction won’t want to miss.” – The Prairies Book Review

Austin Nobel is preparing for a summer trip to France, which includes obtaining a passport. However, when she receives her birth certificate in the mail with the wrong name on it, Austin uncovers that she was adopted, something her parents had kept secret from everyone.

Austin pursues more information about her birth parents and their complicated history against the wishes of her family, while struggling with the impact this revelation has on her status within the Reform Jewish community. Is she really Jewish in the eyes of her community? In her own eyes? As Austin searches for answers about her own complicated origins, she struggles to reclaim her identity and forgive those who betrayed her.

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Somewhere Else by Alex J. Milan

About Somewhere Else by Alex J. Milan:

“Had me gripped from the start.” – Amazon review.
Haunted by a past tragedy, thirty-one-year-old Isabel leads a nomadic lifestyle, following her two golden rules: never stay anywhere for more than two years and never get too close to anyone. When she meets the charismatic Vanessa, she breaks her second rule, only for their friendship to come to an inexplicable end.
Months later, Isabel receives a message from her former friend, suggesting they reconcile at Vanessa’s new home in Lisbon. Keen to escape her problems and to resolve their difference, Isabel agrees to go. When she arrives to find that Vanessa has disappeared, it marks the start of a chain of events which will turn Isabel’s life upside down. She finds herself unwittingly drawn into a game of cat and mouse against an adversary who will stop at nothing to drive her to the brink. Meanwhile, she is troubled by her growing attraction to the one man who seems determined to help her and who threatens to overturn her ordered and deliberately isolated life.
When Isabel arrives at her friend’s home only to find she has disappeared, it triggers a chain of events which will turn Isabel’s life upside down. She finds herself unwittingly drawn into a game of cat and mouse against an adversary who will stop at nothing. Meanwhile, she is troubled by her growing attraction to the one man who seems determined to help her.

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Things I want Adam to know by Aisha Hinnawi

About Featured Book: Things I want Adam to know by Aisha Hinnawi

“Thing’s I want Adam to know”, at the heart of an Arab female taboo

The story of a young Muslim woman who falls in love and suffers the consequences. Will she find a reason to live, or will she finally give in to death?

The novel will move you and inspire you to think about what is really important for your own life.

This Fiction book is available in these Formats: eBook, Print

This book is in Kindle Unlimited!