The Year of Dangerous Days: Riots, Refugees, and Cocaine in Miami 1980by Nicholas Griffin

In the tradition of The Wire, the harrowing story of the cinematic transformation of Miami, one of America’s most bustling cities–rife with a drug epidemic, a burgeoning refugee crisis, and police brutality–from journalist and award-winning author Nicholas Griffin

Miami, Florida, famed for its blue skies and sandy beaches, is one of the world’s most popular vacation destinations, with nearly twenty-three million tourists visiting annually. But few people have any idea how this unofficial capital of Latin America came to be.

The Year of Dangerous Days is a fascinating chronicle of a pivotal but forgotten year in American history. With a cast that includes iconic characters such as Jimmy Carter, Fidel Castro, and Janet Reno, this slice of history is brought to life through intertwining personal stories. At the core, there’s Edna Buchanan, a reporter for the Miami Herald who breaks the story on the wrongful murder of a black man and the shocking police cover-up; Captain Marshall Frank, the hardboiled homicide detective tasked with investigating the murder; and Mayor Maurice Ferré, the charismatic politician who watches the case, and the city, fall apart.

On a roller coaster of national politics and international diplomacy, these three figures cross paths as their city explodes in one of the worst race riots in American history as more than 120,000 Cuban refugees land south of Miami, and as drug cartels flood the city with cocaine and infiltrate all levels of law enforcement. In a battle of wills, Buchanan has to keep up with the 150 percent murder rate increase; Captain Frank has to scrub and rebuild his homicide bureau; and Mayor Ferré must find a way to reconstruct his smoldering city. Against all odds, they persevere, and a stronger, more vibrant Miami begins to emerge. But the foundation of this new Miami–partially built on corruption and drug money–will have severe ramifications for the rest of the country.

Deeply researched and covering many timely issues including police brutality, immigration, and the drug crisis, The Year of Dangerous Days is both a clarion call and a re-creation story of one of America’s most iconic cities.

Sisters One, Two, Threeby Nancy Star

After a tragic accident on Martha’s Vineyard, keeping secrets becomes a way of life for the Tangle family. With memories locked away, the sisters take divergent paths. Callie disappears, Mimi keeps so busy she has no time to think, and Ginger develops a lifelong aversion to risk that threatens the relationships she holds most dear.

When a whispered comment overheard by her rebellious teenage daughter forces Ginger to reveal a long-held family secret, the Tangles’ carefully constructed web of lies begins to unravel. Upon the death of Glory, the family’s colorful matriarch, and the return of long-estranged Callie, Ginger resolves to return to Martha’s Vineyard and piece together what really happened on that calamitous day when a shadow fell over four sun-kissed siblings playing at the shore. Along with Ginger’s newfound understanding come the keys to reconciliation: with her mother, with her sisters, and with her daughter.

At turns heartbreaking, humorous, and hopeful, Sisters One, Two, Three explores not only the consequences of secrets–even secrets kept out of love–but also the courage it takes to speak the truth, to forgive, and to let go.

Take It Down A Notchby Weston Parker

I read this book twice. That first chapter sealed the deal for me, I knew this was going to be a kind of story that I was going to throw my day plans right in the trash for. — Amazon Reviewer

If only men were for sale this time of the year.

Then I could buy one, use him as a companion for my son who needs a male figure in his life, and then return him once we were all good again.

But it doesn’t work that way. A friend mentions a Big Brother Program, and I’m all in.

My little one gets what he needs, and I don’t have to sacrifice my freedom and worry about love loss again.

The handsome guy they assign my son isn’t at all what I expected. Nor are the warm fuzzies I get when I see him.

Come to find out, he’s not there for the best reasons.

But me and my kiddo have fallen in love with this unruly, aggressive alpha male.

There’s no way to work out the desires bubbling up inside of me and keep my morals in check.

And for the first time in my life, I want to make the wrong decision. The selfish one. The one just for my own deep, dark pleasures.

To find out that he’s beyond wealthy, just like my son’s father was, leaves me cold. I should run far from him.

My ex’s family made me sign a contract promising to never tell about the baby in my belly.

My life was forever changed.

Rich people are horrible people.

This new love interest is no different.

Yet I’m trapped in desire and drowning in need when he’s around.

With no way to take it down a notch.

Not sure I would if I could…

Every good girl deserves a bad boy. ~ Weston

Recovery from Complex PTSD: From Trauma to Regaining Self Through Mindfulness & Emotional Regulation Exercises; Helping Overcome Anger, Anxiety & Depressionby Don Barlow

Are you suffering from chronic anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, or uncontrollable emotions?

Although PTSD affects 7-8% of people in the world, it remains a relatively taboo subject. When people do talk about it, it’s usually restricted to war veterans and victims of child abuse.

The truth is, PTSD can manifest in response to any kind of trauma — but what does this mean for people who have been repeatedly subjected to traumatic events?

Recent research has shown that it is possible to recover from nightmarish experiences and live a life that feels happy and secure.

You don’t have to resign yourself to jumping at shadows and enduring intrusive, negative thoughts that wear you down mentally and physically.

By taking the steps to understand why you’re experiencing these things, you can begin to unlock the strength you have within you.

Instead of struggling to find a sense of worth, you can rewrite the script and engage with yourself compassionately. It can be so easy to judge yourself harshly, but you have to remember this:

When you are cruel to yourself, you are inadvertently cruel to the innocent child within you.

You may have spent years seeking compassion and validation from others and finding only frustration and despair.

However, that doesn’t mean you’re beyond help. Recovery from complex trauma is a long journey, but the rewards you’ll reap along the way will keep you moving forward.

In Recovery from Complex PTSD, you will discover:

• What Complex PTSD is and how it differs from the more commonly known PTSD
• How to rewrite the narrative of your life to overcome negative self-concept and regain control over your life
• The Loop of Traumatization: how your brain creates a survival-based narrative that dictates your thoughts and behaviors
• How understanding the causes of complex trauma can allow you to overcome the fear and pain that accompany distressing experiences
• What it means when you consistently experience disturbed interpersonal relationships
• The avoidance techniques you are unconsciously employing in your daily life that protect you but are also keeping you stagnant
• How you can build an accurate sense of self that isn’t formed by the events from your past

And much more.

You know what helplessness feels like. The paralysis of panic, the loss of control. What it’s time for you to learn, is that these feelings aren’t forever.

You are capable of transforming the way you experience life and in turn, change the lives of the people who care about you most.

Windfall: A Henry Lysyk Mysteryby Byron TD Smith

Henry has hit rock bottom. A fifty-year old mystery could save him – or finish him off.

“…a masterful work of mystery, drama, and criminally good writing.” (K.C. Finn, ReadersFavorite.com)

Henry Lysyk’s life is a mess.

With his marriage over and his accounting career marred by scandal, he retreats to the anonymity of a rented suite in a house shared with strangers. But the trail of a decades-old crime leads a murderous treasure hunter to his doorstep, and Henry is baffled by his neighbors’ cover-up.

An unexpected visit from his adventure-hungry niece, Frieda, further complicates Henry’s efforts to lay low. With his houseguest refusing to stay away from the danger, Henry’s terrified they’re about to expose secrets someone would kill to protect. Not knowing who to trust, they must choose which parts of the past to uncover, and which to leave buried.

A real-life ransom, a shadowy past, unlikely allies, and ruthless murder. Can Henry unravel this cold case before he and Frieda become its next victims?

If you enjoy absorbing mysteries, original characters, and a dash of true crime, then you’ll love Byron TD Smith’s clever “What if…” solution to the most captivating unsolved heist of the twentieth century. 

Windfall is the first instalment in the Henry Lysyk Mystery series. 

Time Warriorsby Amy Jarecki

What if it were up to three teen ninjas to save the world?

Recruited into the exclusive and highly secretive Military Academy of Martial Arts, sixteen-year-old Genesis Mans relishes the challenge, even after upperclassman and super jock, Noah Jones, tries to convince her to quit. Yeah, he may be the best fighter in school, but he’s totally wrong about her. His warning makes the girl fight harder to succeed, to uncover secrets first years aren’t allowed to know. She’s curious, she’s smart, and her developing second sight leads to peril beyond her imagination–straight through an off-limits time warp–with Noah and mastermind, Amir, in her wake.

Genesis soon learns she’s not on a joyride. Only a chosen few can travel through time and they have no idea where in history they’re headed. All they have to rely on is their God-given talent, elite training, knowledge of the past and, most of all, their will to win. The Qiang are meddling with the past and if they’re not stopped, tomorrow may never come.

Landing in 1215 London, these highly trained ninjas must cast their differences aside and work together to find the enemy and prevent them from altering time. And there’s nothing like fighting for their lives to transform a heated rivalry into an indestructible bond. But this mission is no date-night sparring match. It’s as real as it is deadly.

My Last Love Affairby Ali Parker

You won’t want to miss their story, filled with ups, downs, love, lust and lots of sexy times. This is a must read. — Amazon Reviewer

Get Married. Have a child. These are the only two rules to get my inheritance.

Neither of which I want. My billionaire life doesn’t play well with either idea.

But no one asked me. My father’s company is up for grabs, and whichever of my brothers makes it to the finish line first wins.

In no time, I’ve found the perfect woman to play my fake fiancée while I figure things out.

Beautiful. Smart. Strong.

Everything I crave in a relationship and more.

But there’s a problem. She’s got a past I can’t ignore.

Not with just anyone.

With my younger brother.

To top it all off, she gets pregnant.

And the one person she doesn’t tell?

Me.

Kick Your Fat in the Nutsby T.C. Hale

Not only will Tony have you laughing out loud while he reveals the secrets behind weight loss and how the human body functions, you will also learn how to look at your own body chemistry to understand the underlying cause of YOUR weight issues. Since the reasons for weight gain vary from person to person, once you understand what is going on with your chemistry, this book will help you understand what foods, supplements, or lifestyle changes could eliminate your need to continue buying bigger pants.

Here’s the scoop:

If you’ve ever gained twenty pounds using the same diet that helped your friend lose weight, this book will not only help you understand why, you’ll also learn what steps could work best for you.

•You don’t need to count your calories with the accuracy of a NASA mission.
•You don’t need to starve, feel light-headed, or become a version of yourself that your spouse can’t live with.
•You don’t need to eat food that resembles Styrofoam.
•You don’t need to lift weights nonstop, like you might see on reality shows.
•You don’t need to do cardio until the cows come home. They’re not coming home.

What the Celebrities say…

“Working with Tony is like jumping into the arms of your favorite aunt. Except it’s not. At all. I mean, his methods work. But it’s not like that at all.” – Jane Lynch (Glee)

“I confess to being a full-blown ‘gymophobe.’ (I still have flashbacks of my mean fourth-grade gym teacher!) Tony actually makes the gym panic-attack free.” – Tom Kenny (Voice of Spongebob)

“You can argue with Tony, or you can do what he says and buy smaller jeans.” – Kari Wahlgren (Voice of Tigress, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness)

“So you know that moment when you are just finishing a hard workout with Tony and he says, ‘Alright, you warmed up? We can start now?’ and then he laughs… I hate that moment.” – Kayla Radomski (So You Think You Can Dance)

This book will help you understand…

•There is no diet that is right for every person. It’s never going to happen!
•Your unique “Bio-Individuality” can provide insights into the nutritional changes that could allow you to work WITH your body instead of against it.
•How to run simple tests on your physiology at home, using inexpensive tools you can pick up at just about any pharmacy or health food store.
•Once you discover the variety of reasons the body stores fat, you’ll begin to understand why so many people find it almost impossible to lose weight.
•How digestive symptoms can indicate an improperly functioning digestive system, and how digestive problems can restrict any type of weight loss effort.
•How to maximize digestion so you can actually pull the nutrients out of the food you’re eating.

Imagine gaining control over cravings, eating foods that you enjoy, and actually feeling great after each meal. You can do all of these things once you maximize digestion and adjust your diet in a manner that works with your specific body chemistry.

Once you read this book, the light will go on and all of your previous diet failures will make total sense. Don’t be surprised if you improve a whole lot more than just your waistline.

SPECIAL BONUS FOR READERS!

In this book, you’ll find the link to a free and private support group where you can ask questions if you get stuck. The body can be complicated, but help is only a click away.

Note: This is the more comical version of Tony’s book, Done With Being Fat.

Who Gets It?!: How To Find, Motivate and Retain Top Talentby Dan and Eric Hoffend

Who Gets It?! How to Find, Motivate, and Retain Top Talent.

Never underestimate the power of customer service, or the importance of creating a company culture in which policy aligns with logic. If employees don’t see the value in your company, customers won’t either. This is why the right attitude, approach, and communication strategies are essential for a successful business. Those who “get it” already understand this.

We think of “getting it” as a philosophy, a strategy, a management technique, and a wellness lifestyle that can help motivate all stakeholders in a company.

Based on our extensive experience in the events industry, we’ve identified five categories that we’ve seen the members of our teams fall into every time without fail. We’ve seen this in every other type of business as well. At the top are those who get it, and those who are energized. The bulk are in the middle or the comfort zone, and at the bottom are those who don’t care or who just don’t get it.

Our method starts with identifying the top performers who “get it.” You can then use the strategies in this book to build a stronger company culture around their efforts, while also motivating others. This book steps you through how to identify employees in every category and also provides suggestions for how to energize or “jump” them up to the next level of engagement. Most importantly, you will learn how to attract top talent, as well as how to keep them engaged, motivated, and dedicated to your company.

The Girl Next Door by Lorhainne Eckhart

Romance and suspense collide in this haunting romantic thriller.

When special forces operator Luke O’Connell meets a woman he never expected to see again, he uncovers the dangerous secret she is hiding and realizes the lengths someone will go to stop him from uncovering the truth.

Luke never in a million years expected to see Misty Bates again after a weekend of no strings and no names. But when his family introduces him to the nice girl next door, who turns out to be his mysterious fling, he soon figures out that the small-town girl is running from something, and uncovering it could destroy his chance at love.

Luke O’Connell has been unlucky in love because of who he is. He has a job he can’t talk about, with trouble always following him, and a peaceful night’s sleep is something he can only dream of having.

The O’Connells step in and introduce him to Misty, a nice small-town girl, in the hopes that the two will hit it off, but what they don’t know is that Luke and Misty have already met. Years ago, they spent a weekend together after a mission on the other side of the world. Luke is adamant he’s not looking for a relationship, and he can’t help seeing red flags behind Misty’s nice-girl front. In her, he sees the kinds of ghosts people hide when they’re running from something.

Luke doesn’t like secrets, and there isn’t a secret out there that he can’t uncover. He soon discovers that Misty Bates used to be Chloe Welch, and she testified against a local hero after witnessing an unspeakable crime in which a house was burned down and a family perished. But when the small-town jury voted to acquit, the protection she had been promised by local authorities disappeared, and the suddenly hostile residents forced her to leave town.

Luke swears there can never be anything between him and Misty, but his digging has already put her in danger. Two cops show up on her doorstep with an arrest warrant, because the evidence in the case is suddenly pointing in her direction. Someone out there is trying to settle a score, and once again, the O’Connells find themselves deeply embroiled in a scandal, one that could ultimately endanger everyone in the family.