The Wars Among the Paines

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. John M. Millar will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Spanning over 200 years of American military history, “The Wars Among the Paines” (Koehler Books, September 30, 2020), tells the complex story of a family defined by war, accounting in vivid detail its toll in blood, treasure, and emotional turmoil. Nearly 50 years in the making, “The Wars Among the Paines” is the debut novel by Vietnam veteran John M. Millar, who tells a story that illustrates how the consequences of America's foreign wars escape the boundaries of the front lines, and ripple through generations of families, friends, politics, and the lives of we the people.

Read an Excerpt

OUR TOUR THROUGH EUROPE

Versailles was our first stop on the tour that Michelle had laid out. Because of my possible military service in the future, we avoided any of the communist countries. We chose to start in Italy after our trip to Versailles. The European railroad system was amazing for how quickly we got to our destinations. We took the overnight train to Naples, Italy, and then worked our way west through Italy. Our next stop was Rome for three days, Siena for two days, Florence for three days, Venice for a wonderful week, and finally for three days at Lake Como. We then traveled up to Switzerland, staying only a day each in Zurich, Lucerne, Bern, and Geneva.

Even after twenty-two years, Michelle would not go to Austria and Germany. To the French, those nations were still anathema for their actions in World War II. She preferred what she called the “romance countries” of Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal. Our next stop was Cannes then on to Aix-en-Provence, north of Marseilles. The next part of Tour Michelle was to Spain with several days in Barcelona and Madrid. We then spent three days in Lisbon, Portugal, before moving on to Andorra in the Pyrenees Mountains. Our last days of the tour were in the wine region of Bordeaux and then back to Paris.

When I looked back on those over forty days of touring, I realized this was a farewell tour for us. We traveled first class on the trains, stayed at the best hotels, ate at the best restaurants, and made love passionately at every stop. I did not realize it at the time, but Michelle knew she was never leaving France again. That meant the likelihood of us marrying and settling in France were remote. Whatever path I took when I arrived back in the States, neither one was likely to lead me back to France and her.

This whirlwind summer tour was meant to keep us from thinking about this reality. It accomplished that for me. I would always remember it as a joyous summer with a touch of sadness. When we arrived in Paris, we stayed at a hotel near Orly Airport, from which I would be leaving in two days. There was much holding, kissing, lovemaking, and crying for those two days. I told her I had not made up my mind about whether to go to law school or Vietnam. I would call her first about my decision. Michelle did not come to see me off because she thought she would break down. I thought that was best because I knew I would break down.

About the Author:

John M. Millar has no traditional experience in writing a novel. “The Wars Among the Paines” is a result of a fifty-year process since returning from Vietnam in 1969. Millar grew up in Central Pennsylvania; and graduated from Cornell University in 1966. He served in the U.S. Army from 1966-1969; graduated from Officer Candidate School in July 1967; served as a First Lieutenant with the First Infantry Division in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969; and received two Bronze Stars, an Air Medal and a Commendation Medal from the U.S. Army. From the Vietnam government, Millar received the Vietnamese Honor Medal and the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross for joint operations. He graduated from the Darden Graduate Business School, University of Virginia with a MBA in 1972. For the past forty-five years, he has served in senior executive positions in the department store, regional mall REITs and mixed-use town center development industries.

Website: http://thewarsamongthepaines.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/warsamongthepaines/
https://www.koehlerbooks.com/writer/john-m-millar/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20171543.John_M_Millar

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Wars-Among-Paines-John-Millar-ebook/dp/B086L4L5D7/
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-wars-among-the-paines-john-m-millar/1136756769

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Madam in Silk

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Gini Grossenbacher will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

San Francisco,1849. Despite her objections, twenty-year-old Ah Toy and her servant Chen voyage from China to San Francisco with her husband who dies on board ship. With little cash and bound feet, how is she to find employment in the Gold Rush town? Since she is the only Chinese woman there, she opens a "Lookee Shop," catering to miners who pay in gold dust to see her exotic beauty. As her notoriety grows, so does her attraction to the devoted policeman, John Clark. Yet should she put her faith in one man? Will their love survive despite her frightening encounter with Sydney Ducks, threats from rival madam Li Fan, and a tempting offer from Henry Conrad who promises her wealth and security? Armed with her mystical beliefs of the inner dragon and Goddess Mazu, Ah Toy faces much more than the journey from the ancient ways in China to the new world in America. In fact, she must find the true source of courage in a life or death struggle for her own fate, justice, and dignity. Based on page-turning accounts about the life of Ah Toy, one of San Francisco's most legendary madams.

Read an Excerpt

She glanced at the stranger, his dark sandy hair blowing about, his pants rolled up to his knees; his rucksack slung across his back. The man sported long sideburns that followed the jawline midway toward his chin.

She held up her pantaloons to the knees. The waves were curling, laughing, in and out, their foam capturing, then releasing her feet, then ankles, then calves as she ventured each step into the icy water. She shivered as the water splashed, making her skin tingle. . . .

“Careful, man,” the stranger said. “That undertow can take you out quick.” Though his words carried a warning, his voice was casual as if he knew her and Chen.

When the water rushed out, abandoning the bare sand, Chen pointed to a round brown knob sticking out of the water not far from shore. “Look!”

The stranger said, “I see it now.” His voice rose against the waves. “It came up before, but then it disappeared.” He said, “Do you see it, Miss?”

Wordless, Ah stood next to Chen who shielded his eyes from the glare and observed the sea creature. Holding the brim of her sunhat against the glare, she followed the direction of the stranger’s outstretched arm. Again, a brown knob rose above the water, and she saw two large chocolate-colored eyes, a snout like a dog’s, and gray whiskers. The shiny creature rose its head above the waves and fixed a stare in her direction.

About the Author:

MADAM IN SILK is California teacher and editor Gini Grossenbacher’s second historical fiction novel. Her debut novel MADAM OF MY HEART garnered the 2018 IPPY silver medal for Historical Fiction; finalist in the 2018 American Fiction Awards for Historical Fiction; honorable mention at the 2018 San Francisco Book Festival for General Fiction; and runner-up in the 2017 Hollywood Book Festival for Genre Fiction. She is also a copyeditor and leads an aspiring writers group called Elk Grove Writers and Artists, providing lessons in novel writing, memoir, poetry, and flash fiction. When she’s not writing, Gini can be found taking long walks, tending the roses in her garden, and barbecuing with her husband and beloved dog, Murphy Brown.

Amazon buy book link: https://www.amazon.com/Madam-Silk-Gini-Grossenbacher-ebook/dp/B07VH5SXVN/ref=sr_1_1

Social Media Links:

Website: http://www.ginigrossenbacher.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ginigrossenbacherauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ggrossenbacher
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ggrossenbacher/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ggrossenbacher/

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The Perils of Autumn

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Rusty Blackwood will be awarding an inscribed and autographed softcover copy of "The Perils of Autumn" to be given to three randomly drawn winners (US/Canada only) via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

From the author of the riveting romantic fiction drama, Passions in Paris: Revelations of a Lost Diary, and the celebrated, 5-star award-winning romantic fiction drama, Willow's Walk, comes the intense romantic drama, The Perils of Autumn.

This page-turner, set primarily in the early 1970s, centers on a young Kentucky woman, Autumn Leeves, born in 1946 to Abigail Leeves, an unwed mother who struggles to make ends meet. By 1970, Autumn graduated nursing school and is sent on assignment by the local hospital to care for the terminally-ill wife of middle-aged English equestrian master, Cyril Landon, owner of Landon Lawns Stables, a most successful thoroughbred racing stable located just outside Lexington, Kentucky in a posh community known as The Meadows.

Duff Taylor, a world-renown jockey who is tops in his field, lives full-time above the tack room at Landon Lawns and enjoys the many benefits it brings, but he also has a dark secret surrounding an unsolved racing incident from his past that he will go to any length to protect.

Autumn arrives at Landon Manor in time to be thrown into the drama and finds herself caught in the ongoing disruption that ensues.

Read an Excerpt

The time of year a child is born can often explain the name they are given, and this significant gesture seems to happen more often when the new arrival is female. Seasons can play a huge part, as well as the mother’s frame of mind when she gives birth. There can be many contributing factors behind a name, multiple reasons for choosing a certain one, but regardless of the reason, a name can often determine the course of one’s life.

It was mid-spring of 1946 when twenty-one-year-old, blonde haired, blue-eyed Abigail Leeves found herself an unwed mother and totally on her own. Her fiancé, and father of her unborn child had been killed in a car crash on route to their April wedding, leaving the three-month pregnant bride awaiting his arrival of which would never come. This would have been devastating for anyone, and Abigail, who fought to hold it together was no different, but being the strong-willed person that she was, she held her head high, and carried on. The situation was unfortunate in other ways, because it not only meant a difficult life for a single mother by way of integrating into a community of married couples, it also meant the child born out of wedlock would be looked down upon for the simple reason they had no father. This narrow-minded outlook would thankfully change for later generations, but for those born in Lexington Kentucky before the 1960’s it meant a never-ending search for acceptance, and for auburn-haired, brown-eyed Autumn Rose Leeves, born in early October of 1946, it was the normal way of life.

Abigail Leeves was not only resilient to the negative way she was being treated, she was a proud woman, determined to make a decent life for herself and her baby girl. In early December of 1946, with the Christmas season fast approaching, Abigail managed to find employment in the millinery department of Perkins Dry Goods, a popular ladies shop located on the busy corner of Main Street and Elm Tree Line in downtown Lexington. The engaging shop was owned and operated by seventy-eight-year-old Lucy Perkins, a kindly widow who adored children but had never been blessed with any of her own. She immediately took a shine to baby Autumn and fixed an area in a private room at the back of the shop in which to care for her. This oasis was complete with a small table and two chairs, a crib, and an easy chair, all providing the young mother a cozy area in which to take her breaks and spend time with her infant daughter. The svelte Abigail was extra fortunate, for Lucy Perkins lived directly above the shop in a large, three-bedroom apartment that she offered to share with the young family in return for a nominal fee. It was a wonderful arrangement. Not only did it allow the young mother a safe and comfortable home in which to raise her daughter, the cozy area in the back of the shop provided a protective cocoon for the baby during working hours. Lucy Perkins doted on baby Autumn, never once complaining when she cried or became fussy. She would help as diligently as she could, which in turn brought abundant gratitude from the child’s young mother.

The entire setup impressed Abigail immensely for when Autumn was born, she had no-one in which to turn. Her parents were gone, and she was an only child. These thoughts thrust her back to when she had spent countless hours holding Autumn in her arms while searching for a job, only to find door after door slammed in her face. It became a daily occurrence; one that left her no alternative but to go on city relief, that of which paid for a small, dingy room in a boarding house with minimal compensation left-over for food. This treatment continued until she came to Lucy’s shop, where she expected the same rebuttal, but was appeased to find instant asylum in Lucy’s opened arms as she smiled, and welcomed them in.

About the Author:

Top ranking romantic fiction author Rusty Blackwood, who chose her plume de nom by combining the colour of her russet hair with her husband's great, great, Scottish grandmother's maiden name, was born in St.Thomas, Ontario, Canada on October 5th, and grew up on her paternal grandfather's farm in the County of Elgin, located in the south-western portion of the province of Ontario.

She acquired her love of literature while still in elementary school where she entered her original compositions into county fairs, school contests, and whatever venue allowed participants in the writing field. She has carried that love ever since and has put it to use many times since becoming a professional writer in 2001.

From the time of youth she has loved the Arts in their many unique forms, she is a graduate with honors in Interior Decorating & Design. She spent many years on the south-western Ontario stage performing with her family's country music band: The Midnight Ramblers, followed by the country - rock - blues band: 'MIRAGE' as an accomplished vocalist, bassist, and rhythm guitarist. She now resides in the cultural city of St. Catharines, Ontario.

Official Author Website: https://www.rusty-blackwood.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4067877.Rusty_Blackwood
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/writerrusty/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rusty_blackwood
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rusty-blackwood-1223513a/
Book Bub Author: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/rusty-blackwood-93610ada-5182-429c-93e3-b42d527eb545

The Perils of Autumn is a 2019 International Book Awards Finalist in Romance along with being a 5 star winning novel.

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2MuAoN5
Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2QVhIou
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2Xx27Oj
Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2IEmUJR

Also, there’s an Ebook sale at the same time of "The Perils of Autumn" Tour for her romance title "Willow's Walk" for $1.99

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The Fortress

The Fortress

by Madeleine Romeyer Dherbey

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GENRE:   WWII Historical

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BLURB:

The war has not made much of difference in Alix’s life. Her father has seen to it that she grows up unaware, unworried, but safe in her tiny village under the cliffs of the Vercors. All around her he has built a fortress whose walls are impregnable—until the 27th of April, 1944. That day he makes a stupid mistake up on the cliff, and the walls of the Fortress start crashing down. Reality breaks into Alix’s life with unrelenting violence, unforeseen possibilities. From now on, every decision she makes will mean life or death.

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EXTRA INFORMATION:

Six weeks before D-Days, a thousand kilometers from the beaches of Normandy.

There are no generals in the French Vercors, just a handful of men and women against the Nazi war machine. They come from Bretagne, Paris, and Slovenia, and the villages up on the cliff. They are the Fortress.

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EXCERPT:

When she looked up, the cart had rounded the curve, and the way ahead was wide open. In a minute they would leave the cliff Madeleine Romeyer Dherbey 14 behind. She stopped the horses and turned around, expecting to see her father on top of the log pile. “Papa?” she called. There was no response. Her eyes darted from one place to another. On the wall against the blue sky, behind the cart, down the road, as far as it went along the rock face. “Papa?” she called again. He was there a second ago…right there, he was standing right there…. “Papa,” she cried. “Where are you?” Then she saw Mikko, two paws on the wall, sniffing. And her hands started to shake. “Papa,” she said, but no sound came out. “Papa, come back.” 

Author Interview:

1.Did you always want to be an author? 

In some very obscure recess of my consciousness, yes? I never brought it to the surface, for a ton of—obviously invalid—reasons, the main one being, writing in a foreign language is rather daunting. I didn’t think I could pull it. With college, children, and job pressures, I didn’t have the time to even consider it. And I think I did not—could not—still do not—consider myself to be a writer. I see myself as a multifaceted person, like all of us, who happen to write as one of the things a person can do. I am a wife, a mother, a teacher. I am Christian, I am a woman—but not a feminist. In fact, I am nothing that ends in ist, unless it’s individualist. My day job is teaching a wonderful bunch of non-verbal high-schoolers, a real challenge for someone who lives to share ideas. The positive side is that I won’t get in trouble with my school district for jumping on my soap box and voicing politically incorrect ideas. I like to work, it provides a wealth of details and ideas I can adapt to my stories, particularly the MS I’m working on now. Needless to say, I am happy with the release of my first book, and I hope it is read and appreciated by many. My message to my readers is, consider taking up an artistic activity as one of the things you do. Painting, music, writing, you don’t need to be a master to become one by creating a master piece. 

2.Tell us about the publication of your first book. 

My Fortress world already existed. I grew in the Vercors mountains, near a village called Malleval which was destroyed by the Nazis in 1944. My uncles were accused of betraying the resistants encamped there, and while kids my age worried about the future, I wondered about what had really happened, and how my family was involved. Were they Nazis, did they cause their own neighbors to be murdered? I had been building that world for so many years in fact, that when I felt ready, the characters just appeared, some jumping out of history books, others out of my childhood, and quite a few out of some recess of my mind where I didn’t know they were hiding. The inspiration came from an intense longing for that past, my past, the grandfather I never met, the father who still guides my decisions, the brother I never got to see all grown up.

The eight months it took to compose the first draft were almost hypnotic. The result was not good, but I didn’t know it, thank God, or I would have never submitted it. It was picked up by John W. Ware, a New York agent whose patient expertise is the professional touch behind my sometimes too emotional rhetoric—and the French turn of phrase. He did bug me about commas, though, and said that my tendency to lend human traits to things was odd. The best compliment was when he told me he fell in love with the female protagonist, Alix. 

3.Besides yourself, who is your favorite author in the genre you write in? 

Väinö Linna,Under the Northern star, a trilogy. It’s a story of hard work, loyalty, forgiveness, and amazing courage during the ferocious civil war in Finland. Read it. Akseli Koskela will show you what a real man looks like.

4.What's the best part of being an author? The worst? 

Again, I really don’t identify as an “author”, perhaps because the idea is stressing to me. The marketing, promotional efforts, the speaking in public, all of that bores and intimidates me. I wouldn’t mind writing full-time, if I could afford it, but it would imply projecting myself as more confident, maybe even more arrogant, than I am. 

I like to write, period. The writing process has made me a little wiser, certainly more thoughtful. It has taught me to look at people, events, in a more open-minded manner, and forced me to acknowledge latent conflicts, if not resolve them. 

5.What are you working on now?

I am working on the contemporary tale of a young school teacher who is entrapped in a scheme to cast her as a terrorist. There are strong political and religious themes, as well as a romantic element. I guess you could call it a tale of modern resistance. I am a school teacher, and expressing political opinion in school is forbidden—really forbidden. Besides, the likes of me are pretty much underground. We recognize each other like Christians in Rome, with a glance and a rolling of the eyes. So being able to write the ins and outs of oppression in the public-school world, coupled with a the building of a fake terror plot by a branch of the federal government no one in their right mind should trust, was a bit of a catharsis for me. You will love it or hate it, depending on your allegiances, and who cares? It’s not meant to be commercial.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Madeleine Romeyer Dherbey was born in the French Alps, moved to the United States twenty-five years later, and currently lives in the mountains of Virginia with her husband, two daughters, and Mikko.

Website

WWW.MadeleineRomeyerDherbey.com

FaceBook

https://www.facebook.com/Madeleine-Romeyer-Dherbey-2067077286871927/?modal=admin_todo_tour

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:

Madeleine Romeyer Dherbey will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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The Atomic City Girls

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Three randomly drawn readers will receive a digital copy of the book. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

In the bestselling tradition of Hidden Figures and The Wives of Los Alamos, comes this riveting novel of the everyday people who worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II.

“What you see here, what you hear here, what you do here, let it stay here.”

In November 1944, eighteen-year-old June Walker boards an unmarked bus, destined for a city that doesn’t officially exist. Oak Ridge, Tennessee has sprung up in a matter of months—a town of trailers and segregated houses, 24-hour cafeterias, and constant security checks. There, June joins hundreds of other young girls operating massive machines whose purpose is never explained. They know they are helping to win the war, but must ask no questions and reveal nothing to outsiders.

The girls spend their evenings socializing and flirting with soldiers, scientists, and workmen at dances and movies, bowling alleys and canteens. June longs to know more about their top-secret assignment and begins an affair with Sam Cantor, the young Jewish physicist from New York who oversees the lab where she works and understands the end goal only too well, while her beautiful roommate Cici is on her own mission: to find a wealthy husband and escape her sharecropper roots. Across town, African-American construction worker Joe Brewer knows nothing of the government’s plans, only that his new job pays enough to make it worth leaving his family behind, at least for now. But a breach in security will intertwine his fate with June’s search for answers.

When the bombing of Hiroshima brings the truth about Oak Ridge into devastating focus, June must confront her ideals about loyalty, patriotism, and war itself.

About the Author:

Born and raised in East Tennessee, Janet Beard moved to New York to study screenwriting at NYU and went on to earn an MFA in creative writing from The New School. Her first novel, Beneath the Pines, was published in 2008. Janet has lived and worked in Australia, England, Boston, and currently, Columbus, Ohio, where she is teaching writing, raising a daughter, and working on a new novel.

https://www.janetbeard.com/
http://www.facebook.com/janetbeardauthor
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1425436.Janet_Beard
https://www.instagram.com/janetlbeard/

Buy links:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-atomic-city-girls-janet-beard/1126314388?ean=9780062666710#/
https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-City-Girls-Novel/dp/0062666711/ref=sr_1_1

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The Lady's Arrangement

The Lady’s Arrangement

by Colleen L. Donnelly

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GENRE: Historical Fiction

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BLURB:

Neither Rex nor Regina wants a spouse, but they do have needs.

Ranger Rex Duncan needs a false identity—just long enough to uncover a ring of Kansas ranch thieves. Answering Regina’s ad for a temporary husband, he leaves his beloved red dirt of Oklahoma to assume that disguise. But the most obstinate woman he’s ever known confounds his assignment, and with hair the red color that has always made his heart beat a little faster.

Regina Howard needs a new Mrs. in front of her name—just long enough to reclaim her deceased husband’s ranch, since Kansas law won’t allow women to own property. When Rex answers her ad for a husband who can take orders as part of a brief business arrangement, she finds this stubborn man ignores her every command. Yet a good man is far more than just a name…

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EXCERPT

I tossed my head back again, hoping the sun would hide the crimson burning my face, praying when I looked back, Ben Miller would be gone. For good this time.

Ben let go of the horn of his saddle. I looked back at him as it dropped to the ground, the top leaning against his leg. “Look, I’m no good at these man-and-woman things, but you need more than a business arrangement. You need a real husband. Why settle for some agreement with a stranger when there’s a man close here who’d marry you right?”

“Mr. Miller…I…” No more words would come. They caught in my chest, where my heart struck up a chorus of eager beats as I stared up into eyes I could tell meant everything the man behind them said. If a cowhand ever proposed to me, that’s exactly how I imagined it would sound.

He raised a finger in my silence. His hand came close, his finger at my lips. “Please listen. I want you married the right way, with your property secure.”

I nodded. His finger brushed against my mouth, the sensation delicate, yet firing all the way to my toes.

“I’m suggesting you consider Doc for a husband. Admittedly, you’re too much of a wild thing for him, but he’ll give you more than just a last name. He’ll dote on you, watch out for you, and probably even take orders from you. And he’ll be good to Jess.”

Doc. My heart became silent, my chest an empty cavern. Ben lowered his finger before I could bite it off.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Born and raised in the Midwest, Colleen earned a four-year degree in Medical Technology and used it to travel and explore other parts of the country while working in the field of science.

Outside the laboratory she delves deeply into literature, both reading and writing, her interest piqued by tales involving moral dilemmas and the choices people come up against.

A lover of the outdoors as well as a comfy living room, Colleen is always searching inside and out for the next good story.

Social Media Links:

Website link -   www.colleenldonnelly.com

Goodreads author page -    http://www.Goodreads.com/colleenldonnelly

Twitter – https://twitter.com/ColleenLDonnell

Facebook url - https://www.facebook.com/ColleenLDonnelly

Amazon Author Page – https://www.amazon.com/Colleen-L-Donnelly/e/B00ELP1GIA

Buy Links:

The Book is on Sale for $0.99 during the tour.

The Lady’s Arrangement:  http://amzn.to/2qj7DE2

Mine to Tell: http://amzn.to/1PNJo4S

Love on a Train: http://amzn.to/1m9eYCx

Asked For: http://amzn.to/1TyflEu

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Colleen will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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Adunni Dares to Dream

Write Now Literary is pleased to announce Adunni Dares to Dream by Taiwo I Ajao, Virtual Book Tour, June 5-30, 2017.

Genre: Historical Fiction, Kids, Youth

Author/Illustrator Bio

The Dr. Ajaos are a husband-wife, doctor-nurse team who have a joint passion for health literacy, preventative healthcare, and education for at-risk groups in the Global setting. Mrs. Taiwo I Ajao, the Author, is a Registered Nurse with a Master’s in Public Health in Maternal and Child Health, while Dr. ‘Wale Ajao, the Illustrator, is an internationally-trained medical doctor with a Master's of Arts in Communications & Producing for Film and Video. Together, The DrAjaos intend to address health literacy via it’s most fundamental forms: using the arts of writing, entertainment, and communication to educate children and their parents. Adunni Dares to Dream is the beginning of a beautiful merger of not just a celebration of educational achievement, but also of Faith, Hope, Love and Miracles.

About The Book

Adunni Dares to Dream is the true tale of a poor African girl who just wanted to go to school. Although she was a part of a very hardworking family, Adunni just could not have the finer things in life, like school, books, & literacy. In her culture, girls were just expected to look pretty, get married and have children. But Adunni wished for something more.

As Adunni dares to dream , she inspires many others to dream too, including a handsome young man who couldn't stop dreaming about her! So Adunni has choices to make. Does she give in to her society's expectations? Does she chose the status quo? What are Adunni's dreams and where do her dreams take her?

Excerpt

Whenever Adunni brought up the idea of school, somehow Mama found a way to end it. Despite the fact that she was illiterate, Mama was sharp, hardworking and very resourceful with money. Mama had married young, as was common in the culture, and she started to bear children as a teenager. It was unfortunate, however, that she experienced the loss of many of those children during childbirth. Only Adunni and her sister had survived, and Adunni wondered often about what she could have done to save those who hadn't made it. Adunni was tearful as she remembered how her mother had nearly died last year during childbirth. Was every girl expected to get married and have children, even if it killed her? Adunni didn’t want to be like other girls: she wanted to be great! Adunni believed that to be great, she must be smart and be able to read, and learn great things. 

Amazon Link 

for Reviews Only

Website

Tour hosted by Write Now Literary

Follow the tour here 

Taffy

Please join author Suzette. D Harrison as she tours the blogosphere with  Write Now Literary Book Tours 

and her new release Taffy on

October 4, 2016.

Author: Suzette D. Harrison

Genre: Historical Fiction; Historical Romance

Book Title: TAFFY

Publication Date: February 11, 2016

ISBN-10: 1523298251

ISBN-13: 978-1523298259

About The Book

Welcome to the sleepy, all-Black southern town of Bledsoe, where Colored residents proudly declare "ain't nothing white here 'cept milk and teeth." It's 1935. A press-and-curl costs a quarter. Records play on phonographs. And a telephone is a luxury. Meet twenty-three-year-old Taffy Bledsoe Freeman. She doesn't need her gift of second sight to know her "mockery of a marriage" to a man twice her age is far from good. After a seven-year exile Up North, Taffy travels down-home to the small town bearing her family's name, plotting her escape from a marriage not worth the price of a press-and-curl. She only needs to retrieve the son her husband banished to her parents' care, before boarding a train headed for the Windy City filled with liberty and opportunity. Instead, Taffy stumbles into Roam Ellis: the man Taffy meant to marry. Twenty-six-year-old Roam Ellis is a "broad-shouldered, hard-bodied" Pullman porter riding the rails coast-to-coast, outrunning the bitter heartbreak Taffy left behind. Now, after a seven-year absence, Roam is face-to-face with his first love. Anger ignites. Old wounds are exposed. But when pain subsides, passion rises, thrusting Taffy and Roam into a hurricane of buried secrets and lies. Reminiscent of the works of Bernice McFadden, Bertice Berry, and Andrea Smith (The Sisterhood of Blackberry Corner) this Historical Romance is bathed in southern lore and sweeping imagery. Lyrical and powerful, Taffy is a story of restoration and redemption that you won't soon forget.

About The Author

Suzette D. Harrison, a native Californian and the middle of three daughters, grew up in a home where reading was required, not requested. Her literary “career” began when her poetry appeared in a volume of creative writing published by her junior high school. While Ms. Harrison pays homage to Gloria Naylor, Dr. Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, and Toni Morrison for initially inspiring her creative spirit, it was Alex Haley’s Roots (which she read at the age of fourteen) that unveiled the tremendous power and importance of African American literary voices. In addition to being the wife of a university professor and mother of gorgeous children, Suzette is a cupcake proprietor who loves singing gospel-with-a-hint-of-jazz. An elementary school librarian, Suzette is currently working on her next novel…in between batches of cupcakes.

Excerpt

Taffy made ready to fuss him out only to reconsider. That steel-headed man won’t move. She would. Taffy eyed the fence, knowing she’d earlier hopped it with ease. But she couldn’t hike her dress up before present company. “Go ahead,” Roam goaded, popping peppermints in his mouth, ready to enjoy the spectacle. “I’d like to see you try.” Options were few with the opposite side of the road lined by a ditch and a frighteningly out-of-control briar patch. Taffy could reverse her path. I’m not! Taffy had long ago learned how to do what she had to. “You ‘bout to break something,” Roam warned, shaking his head as Taffy prepared to climb. “Gal, quit acting up and walk this way.” Ignoring Roam, Taffy hoisted herself onto the bottom rail. Fumbling, she tried climbing with shoes in hand, finally dropping them over the fence, onto the other side. Roam moved quickly before Taffy, too, was beyond reach. Taffy felt an arm snake about her waist, effortlessly hauling her backward as if it didn’t cost Roam a thing. “What’re you doing?!” “Whatever I want,” Roam responded, setting Taffy on her feet, anchoring an arm about her waist when Taffy spun, spitting heat. “Move, Roam.” Taffy strained against Roam’s iron hold. “Get off me before I hurt you!” “Already did.” Her fire fizzled. Voice softened, tongue tasted regret. “Roam, what do you want?” “You.” Taffy stilled. Roam reinforced his hold. “Two things I won’t do with you: mince words or waste time.” Lifting her chin, claiming her mouth, Roam proved his point. His lips were hot, soft, sweet. Taffy got lost savoring them and him, and the bombarding emotions of mere moments before became nonexistent. Oh my blessedness, Taffy inwardly purred, feeling a slow, unsanctioned melting. They’d shared quick, quaint kisses in adolescent sweetheart days. Never this. Never with man-to-woman savoir faire. Resuscitated passions exploded and multiplied. Taffy could barely breathe let alone think, so she followed love’s lead and held on for the ride.

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