CHIP ROCK and the FAT OLD FART by MICHAEL DASWICK

The importance of the Outsider. Chip Rock has just aged out of the pathetic orphanage known as Boys Hall, in the comically doleful little town of No Palms on the SoCal coast. Low on luck and opportunity, Chip sets out to find a meaningful place in the world. It’s no ordinary journey. Aimless and quick with bad choices, Chip wanders into a rich tapestry of characters: the grumps at the No Palms Women’s Club; the nagging neighbor Rosita right across the street; the Old Town Dog, luckless fishermen, and the pretty new girl at the bank.

Never shy, Chip meets an outcast butcher named Deacon O’Dell, seemingly the embodiment of all Chip’s lousy luck, rolled into one person. Nonetheless, sparks set off an unlikely bond and an adventure of stunning hardships, but with a remote chance for rejuvenation. CHIP ROCK and the FAT OLD FART tells the story of the comic and poignant friendship between 23 year old Chip and 55 year old Deacon, and explores the glue which bind together imperfect families and flawed friendships.

Author Michael Daswick is the winner of the two greatest literary awards from Columbia University. His inspiring work tackles epic themes of guilt, redemption, loss, struggle, friendship and fatherhood. Rich yet quirky, always mixing humor with drama, Michael writes at the crossroads of sophistication and the idiosyncratic.

Fat Old Fart constantly mixes striking settings, and noble decisions that lead to unexpected results. It’s a coming-of-age saga about Chip — and a coming-of-old-age awakening for Deacon, who strives to learn the true meaning of fatherhood. A spree of events teaches the orphan Chip how families are born not only by blood, but also through friendship, workplace, and neighborhoods. Families beget entire communities. From No Palms to Mexico, their adventure and struggle brings together a vastly different collection of people, building into a desperate and very emotional ending which none of them expect.

Fat Old Fart grew out of several linked short stories, always portraying the Underdog, from which author Michael Daswick won both of Columbia’s prestigious literary awards: The Bennett Cerf Memorial Prize for Fiction and The Cornell Woolrich Fellowship for Creative Writing. He lives in Scottsdale with his wife Kim and family.

Fat Old Fart is the first in the Chip Rock Series. The sequel is CHIP ROCK and the CATALINA KID. Chip’s early years at Boys Hall are chronicled in the award-winning short story collection, HALLBOYS.

Hearts: Of Surgeons and Transplants, Miracles and Disasters Along the Cardiac Frontier by Thomas Thompson

By 1970, the Texas Medical Center in Houston was the leading heart institute in the world, home to the field’s two most distinguished surgeons: Dr. Michael Ellis DeBakey and his young and ambitious disciple, Dr. Denton Arthur Cooley. Their combined mastery in occlusive disease, coronary artery bypass surgery, angioplasty, and heart transplants was unparalleled. For years they worked across the same operating table focused on, and fighting toward, the same lifesaving goals.

But what began as a personal friendship and a mutually respectful professional partnership soon deteriorated into a jealous and embittered feud. Though their discord was a cause célèbre among colleagues, it would take award-winning investigative journalist Thomas Thompson to uncover the stunning betrayals and simmering resentments that fueled one of the most famous rivalries in the history of medicine.

Weaving the story of DeBakey and Cooley with the stories of patients suffering life-threatening medical conditions, Thompson paints a fascinating portrait of the risks and rewards of cutting-edge science. From devastating tragedies to miraculous breakthroughs, Hearts is a richly detailed and utterly “compelling” account of the turmoil and tension behind one of the greatest medical achievements of the twentieth century (Time).

Highland Skyby Elizabeth Rose

From admired warriors to outcasts in a blink of an eye, these rugged Highlanders are out to find redemption.

Gluttony, lust, pride, and greed, might sound like deadly sins. However, they are nothing compared to the wrath of Old Callum MacKeefe if you break his rules while drinking in his tavern!

The Accused: Nash MacKeefe.
He’s been called boastful, and his pride has done him in.

The Crime: Having fun celebrating in the tavern, Nash accidentally sets the thatched ceiling on fire. He’s broken Old Callum MacKeefe’s rule number four: Never damage anything inside the Horn and Hoof Tavern.

The Punishment: Nash is sent to a needy clan in the Highlands to help thatch roofs that have been burned by their enemy in a raid. He’s a warrior, but this is work for laborers. He’d rather be out fighting, but needs to comply if he is going to be redeemed and welcomed back into his clan. While thatching roofs, he meets a woman who seems like she wants to kill him. The trouble is, all he wants to do is kiss her.

The Thatcher’s Niece: Devastated when they are raided and their crops and cottages burned by the enemy, Kellina focuses on bringing hope back to her weakened clan. She helps her distraught uncle repair the damage to the roofs, having learned the skill of thatching as a young girl.

When a Highlander shows up to assist them, the man’s boasting makes her want to stay far away at first. But it doesn’t take long before she realizes his sense of pride is just what her clan needs. It will help to bring back hope where there is only despair. It’s in her best interest to work with him instead of against him.

Love blooms in the most unlikely of places . . . atop a roof! Sometimes, the answer to a prayer comes in mysterious ways, closer to the heavens than one thinks.

Highland Outcasts
Highland Soul
Highland Flame
Highland Sky
Highland Silver

Rolling Thunder (Coastal Fury Book 1) by Matt Lincoln

Back in his day, Ethan Marston was the best of the best when it came to taking down the worst of the worst in Miami. Now though? Well, he’s just a humble bar owner with a story to tell, a girl to save, and a few drinks to make… or is he?

Love Abandonedby Rose Phillips

He’ll do anything to keep her safe…even if it means breaking her heart.

Elizabeth Thornwood is a countess. A singularly lonely countess. Having produced the heir and the spare, she has been left to rusticate in the country. Not content to wait in a shroud of memories, she packs up the boys and heads to London, determined to have her husband back in her life…and in her bed.

Richard Thornwood loves his wife. When she surprises him in London and is clearly bent on seduction, he fears he might not be able to hold to the promise he made to himself the night she almost died—to do everything in his power to keep her safe. So, when the opportunity to do some intelligence gathering arises, he seizes it. It’s the perfect solution. He can assist in the war against Napoleon and avoid Elizabeth.

Richard finds the game of espionage daunting, but the cat and mouse game of temptation Elizabeth plays at home is far more dangerous.

How can he let her win, when it means losing everything?

Read Free in Kindle Unlimited!

Honorable Intentions
Love Denied
Love Abandoned
Love Unraveled

Bad Mood Bossby Ali Parker

Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. My grumpy ex.

Maybe it’s because one of his new billion-dollar toys is broken and I’m the only one brainy enough to fix it.

So sad. Sorry, not sorry.

He thinks I’m stubborn, obnoxious, and worst of all, smarter than him.

He’d be right. Tough situation for the hottie, for sure.

But for me? I’m loving every crabby second of it.

I love the offer he makes. This alphahole thing that he’s going to be calling the shots. And I’m here to fix things and keep my mouth shut.

He makes the rules in the office, and it would seem in the bedroom too.

It’s super cute that he thinks he’s in charge, and that’s fine for now.

His bad mood has clouded his vision.

I’m here to save the day, fix the broken stuff, and heal a guy that’s so much better than his mood.

Like most women… I’ll win the day and let him think it was his idea. Ha!