A sailing adventure romance in Tahiti. Imagine commiting a crime and not knowing it. Can Ben survive the crew he has joined? Will his plan bring him the riches he’s counting on? Will the love of a beautiful Tahitian girl be his after the ship hits the fan?
Better Than Ever, Again
August 31, 2014 By
Land of Deep Waters
August 29, 2014 By
Land of Deep Waters -Honduras, land of deep waters, a country torn apart by civil unrest, violence and poverty: Is it possible to go back? Thirty years after being banned from Honduras as a young nun, Joan, now married with two grown sons, finds herself haunted by memories of her four years there. She is determined to return, but how, and if so what will she find?
Patricia Robertson’s novel, Land of Deep Waters will help you appreciate the challenges faced by missionaries who give up their own country in order to walk with others in third world countries. It will also lead you through the deep waters where conversion takes place.
Through extensive interviews with others who lived in Honduras in the mid-1970’s, research on the Internet and her own encounters with life in a third world country, Patricia Robertson is able to recreate the experience for her readers. She currently resides in Jackson, Michigan, with her husband, where she continues to seek out ways to care for the least among us and be true to her beliefs.
Short Scares for Before Prayers
August 29, 2014 By
If you read what’s within these pages, I can guarantee you’ll be saying your prayers before bed.
‘Short Scares for Before Prayers’ showcases college student Michael T. Guidry’s ability to induce fear and spine-chilling stories in a matter of minutes. This collection of horrific short tales contains nearly thirty well-crafted and terrifying situations that are sure to keep your eyes wide open as you read them- and while you try to sleep after.
This anthology contains a guardian angel that isn’t so innocent or imaginary, extreme weight loss techniques, recurring nightmares, terrifying valentines, an all-too revealing palm reading, a deathbed confession that guarantees something far worse than death itself, and much, much more.
The length of the stories inside range from a few simple sentences to six pages long, each designed with the intent to terrify and disturb. Turn to any page you wish, and it doesn’t matter if you’re tucked in- nothing will save you from the monstrosities in this book.
Their Ex’s Redrock Serial Bundle 1-4
August 28, 2014 By
A man and a woman find themselves drawn to each other after they discover their spouses’ affair.
Tess is set to catch her husband. She runs toward the hotel in a thunderstorm seeing a couple in a clench on an outside balcony. She opens her mouth to scream at them when a man grabs her, shutting off her scream. Tess learns the tall, dark, and powerful man is Vincent Whitehorse and it’s his wife having an affair with her husband.
Vincent and Tess find themselves drunk in a rainstorm trying to cover their pain, then they find they have an amazing and instantaneous connection of the lips. When Tess falls into bed with Vincent they combust like nothing Tess has felt before. However both their ex-spouses are crazy. Tess’ ex-husband has unwittingly hooked up with the mob while Vincent’s ex-wife thinks she’s the next Cher.
Can Vincent convince Tess to believe in him when things around them are unbelievable in this hot and very sexy second chance at romance?
The Ways of Mud and Bone
August 19, 2014 By
In the summer of 1918, as the Great War rages in Europe, nineteen-year-old Meryl Goodson’s
small-town life is shattered when her cousin Nora’s fiancé is killed in France.
The tragedy causes a rift in the community between those for the war and those against it. As local tensions rise, Meryl begins her service with an overseas relief unit. Caught up in her own brutal day-to-day struggle in war-weary France, she is unaware of how far matters have deteriorated at home. The truth leaves her broken and grieving. Is the world she once knew gone forever? Or can the friendships she’s made help Meryl find the strength to begin again?
A bit like LITTLE WOMEN meets ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, THE WAYS OF MUD AND BONE is a uniquely American book about the war to end all wars.
Home
August 16, 2014 By
This book is a collection of poems and stories in tribute to my father, who was a poet, artist, and author.
Edited and translated with great care, it brings into focus all the longing we have for an ideal place, the home of our childhood. The idea for it came to me during the mourning period for his passing.
Intended for Harm
August 12, 2014 By
A powerful family saga like no other …
At the height of the Vietnam War in 1971, Jake Abrams is desperate to leave his oppressive home in Colorado and begin a new life in college in LA, but his dreams are waylaid when he meets Leah, an antiwar protester who pushes him into marriage and family. Jake tries to juggle school, his job, and raising four children, but Leah turns to drugs and drinking, and finally runs off with her rock band, leaving Jake reeling.
When he falls for Rachel and marries her, his children rebel. And when Joseph, their love child is born, Jake makes the same fatal mistake his own father did–he shows favoritism to this divinely gifted boy who has the power of healing. After Rachel dies in childbirth, bringing Ben into the world, Jake turns his back on God and buried himself in denial. His children are wild weeds, and as they grow, the older sons’ resentment of Joseph’s gifts fester until they can take it no longer.
The family hides a dark secret of murder, which Joey threatens to spill out of righteous indignation and fear of God, and the only way to stop him is to kill him. The intend harm for him, but God has other plans for Joseph, and in a divinely orchestrated twist, years later Joseph confronts his brothers, who do not recognize him. True to the Bible story this is patterned after, Joseph is reunited with his estranged brothers, and Jake finally welcomes his long-lost son back into his arms, which brings closure and healing to his hurting family.
Written in a contemporary flash-fiction style, Intended for Harm covers forty years, each chapter a year, with a theme from a hit song for that year. Each scene is a fifteen-minute snapshot of the Abrams family, a “photo album” of Jake’s life of wandering “through the wilderness” and coming home to faith at the end of his life. Anyone familiar with the Bible will recognize many similarities to the famous story of Jacob and his son Joseph. At the heart of this family saga is an exploration of fathers and sons, of loyalty and betrayal. And mostly, how we often intend harm to others because of wounds we carry in our souls, often without our knowing.
The Ways of Mud and Bone
August 9, 2014 By
American sisters Meryl and Claire witness their world change forever when their cousin’s sweetheart is killed in the Great War. Now the small hamlet of Swann River is choosing sides.
The sisters help the only way the can–joining a relief unit bound for France. When illness forces Claire to stay behind, Meryl must suffer the privations and dangers of war-torn Europe on her own. She longs for home.
But as roiling pro and anti war tensions test loyalties and destroy lifelong friendships, will there still be a town to return to?
The Reading Lessons
August 6, 2014 By
Mississippi 1920: Nine year old servant, Hadley Crump, finds himself drawn into a secret world when he is invited to join wealthy Lucinda Browning’s dirty book club. No one suspects that the bi-racial son of the cook is anything more to Lucinda than a charitable obligation, but behind closed doors, O! she doth teach the torches to burn bright.
What begins as a breathless investigation into the more juicy parts of literature quickly becomes a consuming and life-long habit for two people who would not otherwise be left alone together. As lynchings erupt across the South and the serving staff is slowly cut to make way for new mechanical household conveniences, Hadley begins to understand how dangerous and precarious his situation is.
The Return of the Six-Gunner
August 3, 2014 By
Floyd Hamby’s bearded face was contorted with an old rage against anything that got in his way or caused him any trouble. And now he stood at the door of the restaurant accusing Cole Decker of stealing one of his horses.
“Ain’t no call to talk that way, Floyd,” Sheriff Felix Peabody said. “He thought the horse belonged to a dead man who tried to kill him.”
“Why are you tryin’ to protect him, Peabody?” Floyd Hamby asked suspiciously.
The small old sheriff looked surprised. “I ain’t tryin’ to protect him, Floyd. I’m tryin’ to protect you.”
Floyd Hamby scowled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Christ, Floyd, he’s already killed Crane and Tip Adams, and either one of them could shoot rings around you.”
Warning: Reading a Van Holt western may make you want to get on a horse and hunt some bad guys down in the Old West. Of course, the easiest and most enjoyable way to do it is vicariously – by reading another Van Holt western.
Van Holt writes westerns the way they were meant to be written.
Apart From Love
July 25, 2014 By
Ben is called back home, and faces his father, from whom he has been estranged for ten years, and his new wife, Anita. He finds himself attracted to her, and missing his mother, who has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. He is embroiled in a guilt and blame game and must find a path to forgiveness.
Ben finds his father’s old tape recorder, and every evening he and Anita find a few moments to record their most intimate thoughts, without knowing that their secrets are being captured, and then written down in a book, by his father.
A Favorite Son
July 24, 2014 By
This is a gripping story of greed, betrayal, and regret. In it, Yankle describes the plot, in which his mother Becky (modeled on the biblical figure of Rebecca) conceives the idea to cheat both Esav, her other son, and her husband Isaac who is lying on his deathbed.
Yankle knows that when she tells him, “On me your sin, my son,” it is not love for him that drives her, but the need to protect her own future.
Finding Her Feet
June 29, 2014 By
Finding Her Feet by Jams N. Roses is the tragic story of a child who causes the death of her twin sister, and spends her life learning how to cope with the guilt.
Amanda goes through hell and back, and the rest of her family don’t do much better themselves.
Let the drama begin…
Rise to Power
June 27, 2014 By
During his last days David reflects on his life. For the first time ever he feels an urge to tell his own version, which is different than the official version written by the court historians. This is his opportunity to tell it all candidly.
Rise to Power is the first volume of the trilogy The David Chronicles.
Angels
June 25, 2014 By
Angels presents a new genre, an illustrated short story for adults. Set in inner city Detroit, this is a tale of a family beset by the traumas of drug addiction, adultery, prison, violence as well as the joys of sexuality, love and, especially, children. The mother, desperate when he husband is sent to prison, becomes a stripper to support her two daughters, her angels.
Both the story and the collage illustrations are done by Ann Pearlman. The images of both eroticism and violence are tasteful.
While writing, Ann sees scenes playing out in her mind’s eye. Combining pictures with the narrative was her way to share some of her images while words flowed. This is the first in a series of storybooks that contain the thrill of illustrations we loved in books as kids with narratives slated for adults.
The Angel’s Covenant
June 18, 2014 By
Chosen as the Keeper of Humanity I guide dying, and lost spirits home. In the quiet moments, I hear the whispered question, “Are you Shadow or are you Light?” Once I thought I knew the answer to that question. Now as I sit watching over this six-year-old girl, keeping the demons at bay, I wonder will I ever know the answer.
As children, they teach us to lift up our shields of faith, that fear and worry gives the demons an opening. How do I do that when my shield is so heavy with the blood of those I left behind? They say my thoughts must solely rest in the Maker. The demons thrive on terror and pain; I have seen that first hand with the massacre of my family. The screams of the dead haunt me still.
The tinkling of wind chimes fills the air, distracting Elina from her thoughts. It is never the same, the moment before death, and this is no exception. A soft glow begins to seep into the room and Elina smiles as she feels the velvety brush of the Angels wings as they pass.
The Shadows come, drawn by the light of the child’s pure spirit. Elina stands becoming the warrior she was born to be. Her eyes meet his, her guardian and trainer the Archangel Malach. He never understood why his brothers chose to fall and break the Covenant, until he looked into her blue eyes. Trouble is brewing amongst the Angels. Some feel humanity is the problem, but he knows the truth. Elina is the only hope they have against the Dark angel, fore he is building an army bent on ruling Heaven and Earth.
Rebel With A Gun
June 14, 2014 By
He was fifteen when the Civil War started, nineteen when it ended. His parents were dead by then, their farm sold for the taxes. The girl he loved had married a boy he hated. Nothing seemed right.
So he headed for Texas with a disreputable old snake oil peddler and a beautiful blonde with a jealous husband and a dangerous secret that could get them all killed.
Even though he had ridden with Quantrill and Bloody Bill, he was not like the others. Many of them were not the only bushwhackers who flourished during the war. Men just like them had waved the Union flag and used it to cloak their crimes, and now that the fighting was over not all of them would be content to lay down their arms and return to their former pursuits. Some, like their southern counterparts, would become outlaws. Many on both sides had never been anything else, and for them the war had just been a continuation of a life of lawlessness and violence. Now they would use the unsettled conditions in the wake of the war to camouflage their activities.
Of course, many would go west, especially to Texas. For years men had been going to Texas who were wanted or not wanted in other states. There was a well-known saying— “Gone to Texas.” It usually applied to men who had gone there a jump ahead of the law.
Phases: Mind of a Minor
June 13, 2014 By
Life is a series of phases, you are born a child and then you grow out of it. Everyone goes through the same phases, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, senior citizen, and then death. What if you took those same phases and made them relevant to your life, your experiences, what would they be called? Well, for Olivia, it’s Easy Street, Sex, Maturity, and Relaxation. Olivia Denise Adams is at a stand still, desperately trying to decide how to approach the next phase in her life. She takes the time to reflect on her past phases and how they have affected her and her attitude towards men, sex, marriage, and her career. Follow Olivia as she drifts through her phases from the mind of her minor self!
Seduced by Innocence
May 30, 2014 By
Secrets, deceit, betrayal. Paranormal powers that can give life as well as kill it. A timeless romance that will survive even the fires of Hell. The story of Rose and Derek is one that will keep you on the edge of your seat and make you believe in the enduring power of true love, even against all odds.
Forbidden Passions.
Deadly secrets.
A love that will stand against it all.
Ill Wind
May 25, 2014 By
Gabriella Berryngton is an unhappy and oppressed fourteen-year-old girl living in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1683. She dreams of escaping her bitter, ambitious stepfather and sailing off into the unknown.
Her dreams come true when her stepfather sells her into marriage.
Aboard the Freyja, she is hopeful that her new life in the Dutch West Indies will be an improvement – a hope that dies when she is given a slave, Klara, and a whip. She discovers that her soon-to-be father-in-law is a ruthless slave trader in league with pirates, and her fiancé is cold, unfriendly and disinterested in Gabriella. She is little more than a vessel to provide the next generation of van Eckens.
Largely ignored and desperately unhappy, she and Klara develop a friendship which makes life bearable – at first. Once married, Gabriella’s life takes a turn for the worse and she descends into a world of horror and abuse until tensions finally explode. Life will never be the same and she has no choice but to take fate into her own hands.
To Catch a Salaryman
May 23, 2014 By
Mr. Yamamoto hates his job. He is a middle-aged Japanese salaryman who works for Hello Kitty. He particularly hates the fact that people get to come into his office and pitch him ideas for new Hello Kitty products. So, he finds other ways to amuse himself. When he’s not looking at porn on his computer, he’s making inappropriate advances towards his scatterbrained secretary. However, things begin to spin out of control when he meets a much younger girl and follows her all the way to the beach.
What emerges is an irresistibly ironic story of desire, deceit, and deception, a perversely magical romance set in the world of Hello Kitty and exotic Japan.
Vivien: A Modern Gothic Fairy Tale
May 23, 2014 By
Arrogant war hero, Captain William Thorpe crashes his car in the remote Scottish Highlands. He is rescued and taken to the mysterious and secluded Dungarvan Castle. When he recovers consciousness, he looks up at a sea of faces and sees the beautiful woman he is told is his wife. His desire for Vivien is only matched by his horror as he slowly realizes she is the voracious thing that haunts him and that he must defeat.
Set in 1925 in a romantic Scottish castle troubled by a Bean Shìth, taking the form of a beautiful dark haired woman. The story is reminiscent of Daphne De Maurier’s Rebecca and Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla: an atmospheric setting with lots of mood, a dash of lust, a smidgeon of murder and a bunch of supernatural visitation.
Seduced by Innocence
May 22, 2014 By
Forbidden Passions.Deadly secrets.
A love that will stand against it all.
All my life I’ve been told that I will kill my first love. That the dark power I harbor within myself will destroy him.
Just like it’s destroyed others.
Witches take an oath to do no harm, but I broke that oath even as a child, and so I hide within the invisible walls of my strange coven, keeping everyone at a distance.
Until I meet Derek.
His magnetism draws me in even as I know I should run. But I can’t run, because I need him to teach me how to defend myself and others, so I don’t fall victim to the shifters out to terrorize my coven.
He can’t know my secret, and I can’t give in to the other need that’s growing between us, the one that heats me from within whenever we’re together.
But flesh is weaker than intention, and neither of us can fight the fates. If only we’d known the truth before taking that first bite of forbidden fruit.
Now it’s too late.
The Belief in Angels
May 17, 2014 By
Jules Finn and Szaja Trautman know that sorrow can sink deeply—so deeply it can drown the soul.
Growing up in her parents’ crazy hippie household on a tiny island off the coast of Boston, Jules’s imaginative sense of humor is the weapon she wields as a defense against the chaos of her family’s household. Somewhere between routine discipline with horsewhips, gun-waving gambling debt collectors, and LSD-laced breakfast cereal adventures, tragedy strikes with the death of her younger brother.
Jules’s story alternates with that of her grandfather, Szaja, an orthodox Jew who survives the murderous Ukranian pogroms of the 1920s, the Majdanek death camp, and the torpedoing of the Mefkura, a ship carrying refugees to Palestine. Unable to deal with the horrors he endures at the camp, Szaja develops a dissociative disorder and takes on the persona of a dead soldier from a burial ditch, using that man’s thoughts to devise a plan to escape to America.
While Szaja’s and Jules’s sorrows are different on the surface, adversity requires them both to find the will to live despite the suffering in their lives—and both encounter, in their darkest moments, what could be explained as serendipity or divine intervention. For Jules and Szaja, these experiences offer the hope the need in order to come to the rescue of their own fractured lives.
Death in Black Holsters
May 16, 2014 By
They said Lorn Chambers packed death in his black holsters. But Chambers was a relic from the past, the last of the great gunfighters. All the others were dead or had hung up their guns, trying to change with the times. Chambers turned his back on the future and rode off into the western wasteland, looking for what was left of the past. What he found was some vicious killers from his own past. They had robbed and murdered his parents years before and planned to kill Chambers before he could kill them.
Warning: Reading a Van Holt western may make you want to get on a horse and hunt some bad guys down in the Old West. Of course, the easiest and most enjoyable way to do it is vicariously—by reading another Van Holt western.
Van Holt writes westerns the way they were meant to be written.
