Small Storiesby Rob Roy O’Keefe

One town is just like another.

Except when it’s the focus of a wild experiment gone off the rails.

Duncan and Maya Small have just moved to an out-of-the-way town full of odd characters, quirky customs, and a power-obsessed local official who believes he should be declared emperor. Duncan is sharp enough to know something needs to change, and delusional enough to believe he’s the one to make it happen. The only thing standing in his way are feral ponies, radical seniors, common sense, and Duncan’s inability to do anything without a list. Oh, and an entire town that won’t take him seriously.

Small Stories: A Perfectly Absurd Novel, is a tale of power, bake sales, manipulation, the Welcome Wagon, deception, and yes, diabolical forces at work in the shadows, although the Smalls soon discover nothing is as it seems. One thing is certain – there’s something funny going on here.

Eleven Pipers Pipingby Emily E K Murdoch

It’s 1813, with eleven pipers piping – but only one has caught Harmony’s eye…

Harmony Fitzroy never expected to fall into the spotlight. Her musical talents finally recognized, despite her shyness she’s offered an invitation: to participate in the Christmas Eve Concert at the Assembly Rooms in Bath. If only a fellow musician hadn’t caught her eye, she’d be able to focus on the music.

David Navarre is everything Harmony knows she shouldn’t go near; a gentleman of dark handsome looks, sparkling wit, and absolutely no money. But David has a secret – one he’s left behind in Manchester, a scandal he doesn’t want high society in Bath to discover. Especially Harmony.

His eleven pipers piping are drawing a crowd, but that’s the last thing Harmony wants. She has to marry for money, but he’s about to teach her how their bodies can play a new melody together…

This novella is a steamy Regency romance with a happily ever after, no cliffhangers, and is part of a series which can be read in any order – but follow the numbers down for the best reading experience!

Note: This series is part of Dragonblade’s Flame line, so this is a sexy, steamy, and scorching-hot read with multiple sex scenes. Be advised.

The Jilterby Kate Archer

A Cautious Lady and a Courageous Lord

Six highly placed matrons mourn their lack of daughters until they devise a scheme to launch eligible girls in need of assistance, and so The Society of Sponsoring Ladies is born.

Lady Prudence Landry, only daughter of the Earl of Copeland, has been besieged by Lord Luckstone. He has told the neighborhood that they are engaged and he attempts admittance to the house daily. She never agreed to such a thing and she and her elderly father have all but barricaded themselves inside. When there seems nowhere to turn, the earl sends an urgent message to his cousin, Lady Featherstone.

Lady Featherstone is baffled by Lord Luckstone, but there is nothing she likes so much as a mystery. She sets off for Kent with the redoubtable Lady Heathway, determined to bring Lady Prudence to London. It is finally her turn to act as mama to a charming young lady.

Ambrose Thorpe, Marquess of Ryland, is larger than life and the founder of the Society for Advancing Criminal Knowledge. The ton believes the lord merely wishes to assist the crown, but he has another reason for involving himself in England’s underbelly—long ago, someone murdered his father for a famed diamond the lord never had in his possession. Lady Featherstone is one of his longstanding members and when she summons him to the earl’s estate, he promptly answers the call.

The Convenient Engagementby Emily E K Murdoch

Sapphire de Petras will be taken seriously. All she needs to do is fake a convenient engagement.

After all, it was ridiculous. Yes, she was the youngest of the de Petras family, but that didn’t mean she needed to be treated like a complete child. And they won’t, Sapphire is sure, if she can provide her family with the spectacle of an engagement. How convenient that her best friend is an earl, and unable to say no.

‘No’ isn’t a word James, Earl of Maltravers, has ever said to Sapphire. But then, neither is ‘love’ or ‘marriage’: two words he’s longed to say for years and has never managed.

So when the beautiful woman who makes his heart skip a beat bounces up to him and demands that he propose, what is Maltravers supposed to do?

If only either of them thought about how to extricate themselves from this ruse…

Afro-Bougie Bluesby Lauren Wilson

Twelve stories – original, engaging, occasionally edgy.

Step into the world of Afro-Bougie Blues and walk in the shoes of different protagonists as they struggle to move through the world. Read how ordinary black women and men develop tenacity when they have to deal with the reality of their choices. Alexis finally finds love after seventeen years of a lonely existence, but life throws a curveball into her life. Watch as she overcomes the challenge despite her past still looming over her head. Walk with Rodney, a gulf war veteran who tries to drown the war memories with alcohol. See Bessie, overweight and stuck in life, make a decision that sets her on a journey that transforms her life in ways she never imagined. Thirteen-year -old Aisha wants answers to her complicated question about love. And this sets her father on the task of reflecting on what the word “love” really means. Listen to Lenore and her sisters recount stories from their father’s life after he succumbs to cancer.

From depression, abortion, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), spousal abuse, addiction, and extramarital affairs to colorism. Each short story takes you on a rollercoaster of emotion as you experience different areas of life narrated from a first-person perspective.

Afro-Bougie Blues is about characters with stories that are relatable because it captures struggles people deal with in everyday life. The author’s captivating prose and incredible storytelling will plunge the reader into fascinating worlds and challenge them to take on new perspectives that in turn inspire, move and entertain.

A great read for anyone who wants to know how people with diverse problems face the toughness of the world they inhabit. How they move forward when the future is uncertain and fortunes change in the blink of an eye, challenging their reality and overcoming it.

“You will find yourself not wanting this book to end.”