Sneak Peek: Between the Sound and Sea by Amanda Cox

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29 June 2024

Between the Sound and Sea by Amanda Cox

After a lawsuit tarnishes her family’s name, Josephina (Joey) Harris can barely show her face in public. The opportunity to escape the scrutiny comes in the form of a decommissioned lighthouse on a North Carolina island. If she takes on the temporary job of lighthouse keeper and works on its restoration, she can leave behind her small town and the rumor mill.

But the lighthouse is unlike other projects she’s worked on. There are odd notes tucked in hidden crevices of the crumbling stone walls— pages torn from the lighthouse keeper’s log—but they are signed by someone named Mae. In the notes, Mae details her time caring for the lighthouse and the dangers she’s experienced with the sea. Joey is drawn to Mae’s story and searches for more information about her— only to discover that there’s no record of her at all.

When strange things begin to occur on the island, the locals are convinced that it is the ghost of the lighthouse keeper and his daughter who were lost at sea during World War II. To find the truth, Joey gathers all of the information she can, some legend and some fact. The tale she weaves is one of love and wonder—but she’s left without an ending. If Joey wants answers, she will have to find the end to Mae’s story herself.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Amanda Cox is the Christy Award–winning author of The Edge of Belonging, The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery, and He Should Have Told the Bees. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Bible and theology and a master’s degree in professional counseling, but her first love is communicating through story. Her studies and her interactions with hurting families over a decade have allowed her to create multidimensional characters that connect emotionally with readers. She lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with her husband and their three children. Learn more at AmandaCoxWrites.com.

Book Review: The Love Shack by Lori Foster

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Jocie McKade

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28 June 2024

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The Love Shack By Lori Foster

The Love Shack, Cemetery Indiana’s new Animal Shelter goes from the perfect place for Berkeley Carr to hide from attention and her scandalous past to becoming a large part of the town’s heart through her natural caring personality.

A small town, feel good, read of new beginnings, healing past scars, building family, friendships, and finding a home a place to belong.

Lori does a wonderful job telling us the stories within these pages through heart-felt connections, matchmaking shenanigans from the town matriarch, fur family, and the town mannequin. All have a part in love stories where individuals and couples find trust acceptance and happily ever afters.

FORMER PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON MEMOIR TO BE PUBLISHED THIS OCTOBER

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Jocie McKade

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28 June 2024

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HarperCollins announced today the publication of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s memoir, Unleashed. William Collins will publish in the UK on October 10th, and Harper will publish in the US on Tuesday, October 15. David Roth-Ey, Managing Director and Publisher of William Collins & 4th Estate, and Arabella Pike, William Collins Publishing Director, acquired World All Language rights from Natasha Fairweather at RCW. President and Publisher Jonathan Burnham will publish the book for Harper.

Shattering the mold of the traditional political memoir, Unleashed is a candid, unrestrained, and revealing book by Boris Johnson, the Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

In Unleashed, Johnson takes readers through all the big decisions during his time in power and why he took them. The challenges and crises, how they were resolved – or not – and how he nearly died from COVID; riots; crime; the London Olympics, and so much more. Johnson writes about his role in Brexit and the constitutional sea-change in British politics in 2019 with his landslide election victory.

Underlying everything in the book is Johnson’s belief that the UK is an extraordinary country and should have an exceptional future. Unleashed stands out as a rare glimpse into the inner workings of leadership at the highest levels of power.

William Collins Publishing Director Arabella Pike says, “Unlike most top politicians, Boris Johnson is also a writer. His book, Unleashed is compulsively readable, stuffed to the brim with serious reflections on his time in office but written with his charismatic trademark wit, his vivid use of language and stories galore. We are delighted to be publishing this autumn.”

Boris Johnson commented, “I am honored that HarperCollins is publishing my personal account of the huge realignment that took place in UK politics in the last 15 years – and what may lie ahead. So stand by for my thoughts on Britain’s future to explode over the publishing world like a much shaken bottle of champagne.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Boris Johnson served as Prime Minister from July 24, 2019, to September 6, 2022. He was previously Foreign Secretary, Mayor of London, Conservative MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip and Conservative MP for Henley. In addition to his work in politics, Mr. Johnson is an award-winning journalist, writer and editor. He is the author of almost a dozen books, including the globally bestselling historical biography of Winston Churchill, The Churchill Factor. He edited The Spectator magazine for six years and has written for dozens of major publications including, London’s Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail.

Sneak Peek: QUEEN B by Juno Dawson

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Jocie McKade

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28 June 2024

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QUEEN B by Juno Dawson

This next spellbinding installment of Juno’s “irresistible” fantasy series Her Majesty’s Royal Coven (Lana Harper) takes us back to the reign of Henry VIII and the origins of Her Majesty’s Royal Coven under the beautiful, the bewitching, Anne Boleyn.

It’s 1536 and the Queen has been beheaded.

Lady Grace Fairfax, witch, knows that something foul is at play—that someone had betrayed Anne Boleyn and her coven. Wild with the loss of their leader—and her lover, a secret that if spilled could spell Grace’s own end— she will do anything in her power to track down the traitor. But there’s more at stake than revenge: it was one of their own, a witch, that betrayed them, and Grace isn’t the only one looking for her. King Henry VIII has sent witchfinders after them, and they’re organized like they’ve never been before under his new advisor, the impassioned Sir Ambrose Fulke, a cold man blinded by his faith. His cruel reign could mean the end of witchkind itself. If Grace wants to find her revenge and live, she will have to do more than disappear.

She will have to be reborn.

In this gripping, propulsive, sultry short novel, Juno Dawson takes us back to the bloody beginnings of Her Majesty’s Royal Coven to show us the strength, steel and sacrifice it takes to make a sisterhood.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Juno Dawson is a bestselling novelist, screenwriter, and journalist. Juno’s books include the global bestsellers, This Book is Gay and Clean. She also writes for television and has multiple shows in development both in the UK and US. An occasional actress and model, Juno appeared on HBO’s I May Destroy You.

Sneak Peek: A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor by Darci Hannah

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Jocie McKade

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27 June 2024

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A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor by Darci Hannah

From the author of the charming Beacon Bakeshop Mysteries, the first in a new set at a haunted English manor and featuring chef Bunny MacBride, whose big break on her first reality TV show may be cut short by an unscripted murder…

It isn’t how chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride imagined her own cooking show unfolding. But, if preparing historic meals with a modern flair is what it takes to get her cooking on the air, she can deliver, even if her dinner guest is a ghost. That’s the premise of the new reality TV show Food & Spirits, where Chef Bunny teams up with ghost hunter Brett Bloom and psychic medium Giff McGrady to visit haunted locales around the world and tempt lingering spirits back to the table with a beloved meal. For their first episode, the Food & Spirits team sets off to investigate Bramsford Manor, a historic house turned famously haunted hotel, in picturesque Hampshire, England. The sprawling estate is said to be home to the Mistletoe Bride, a young woman who died in the 18th century, the victim of a tragic accident on her Christmas wedding night.

Disliking spooks but loving food, Bunny leaves the spectral search to the pros and focuses on the feast, creating a traditional English holiday wedding dinner, complete with a gorgeous prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, and rustic apple tarts. It’s a sumptuous meal she hopes will entice the ghostly Mistletoe Bride to take a seat and join them while the cameras roll. But Bunny’s task is made more difficult when someone steals a boning knife from her custom kit. Alas, when the blade finally turns up again—in the chest of an all-too-human dinner guest—Bunny’s woes only grow as she is named a lead suspect in the case! Now, with a haunted house full of living residents, staff, and crew, Bunny will need the help of Brett, Giff, and her clairvoyant Grandma Mac, to solve this murder before the manor gains another ghost!

Gallery Books to Publish Ione Skye’s Memoir, SAY EVERYTHING

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Jocie McKade

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27 June 2024

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Gallery Books will publish actress Ione Skye’s memoir, SAY EVERYTHING: A Memoir. Written with honesty, clarity and candor, Skye, a Gen X icon, shares a life spent in Hollywood and reveals and reflects upon her messy, glamorous, and unapologetically unconventional life.

The daughter of a magnetic ‘60’s It Girl and the folk-singing legend Donovan, Skye chased her absent father’s approval throughout her life and sought warmth through infatuations and affairs with some of the brightest film stars, indie darlings, and musicians of the time.

Set against a kaleidoscopic backdrop of Topanga Canyon sunsets, Indian ashrams, rock royalty compounds, and the sets of classic late-century films like River’s Edge, Gas Food Lodging, and Wayne’s World, SAY EVERYTHING is a vulnerable and cinematic account of Skye’s evolution to self-acceptance, reconciliation with her father, and a celebration of living and loving out loud.

“As an actress, thinking of my life as a drama helped me keep the painful parts at a distance. Now, as an author, I am able to reconnect with the young woman I was and re-examine my life fully, with clarity and compassion,” said Ione Skye.”

Ione Skye made her film debut opposite Keanu Reeves in River’s Edge, followed by her iconic role as Diane Court in Say Anything. Skye has appeared in other notable film and television projects including Zodiac, Wayne’s World, Fever Pitch, Arrested Development, Camping, Good Girls, Beef, and much more. In addition to acting, Skye is a painter who has exhibited and sold her work for twenty-five years. She is the author of the children’s book, My Yiddish Vacation, and cohost of the weekly podcast Weirder Together. Ione is the mother of two daughters and lives in Los Angeles with her husband, and collaborator, the musician Ben Lee.

Gallery Books will publish SAY EVERYTHING on March 4, 2025.

Sneak Peek: Chickens Are Animals, Too!: Fannie Goes to Washington By Tracey Winter Glover

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Jocie McKade

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27 June 2024

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Chickens Are Animals, Too!: Fannie Goes to Washington By Tracey Winter Glover

A heart-warming story demonstrating that chickens matter, too, by critically acclaimed author and vegan activist Tracey Winter Glover

In Chickens Are Animals, Too!, follow Fannie, a courageous and determined chicken, on a heartwarming journey from rescue to revolution. Discovering chickens aren’t seen as animals, Fannie, with newfound friends, stages a historic march on Washington seeking justice for chickens. This enchanting tale of friendship, bravery, and advocacy captivates with its blend of whimsy and inspiration. Join Fannie’s crusade as she proves the might of even the smallest voices. Will she achieve her dream, or is the challenge too vast? Dive into a story where courage and compassion know no bounds.

Books – 12 Willows Press

Chickens Are Animals, Too!: Fannie Goes to Washington – Kindle edition by Glover, Tracey Winter, Travis, Mariella. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tracey Winter Glover, JD, is an animal caretaker, vegan activist, truth-seeker, and author. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Michigan, where she received a BA in history and political philosophy, followed by a law degree in which she focused primarily on constitutional and international refugee law. After almost a decade in Washington DC, practicing administrative health care law, she made something of a pilgrimage to India, where she spent a summer in the foothills of the Himalayas studying yoga and meditation and re-evaluating the purpose of her life, ultimately leading her to leave the practice of law and move to Mobile, Alabama to be closer to her aging father, from whom she inherited her lifelong love of animals and the natural world. In 2014, she co-founded a non-profit intersectional animal rights group, Awakening Respect and Compassion for all Sentient Beings (“ARC”), of which she remains the Executive Director. In January 2019, Tracey adopted 8 chickens rescued from a bankrupt chicken farm in Colorado that had turned off the heat and stopped feeding the 40,000 birds in their chicken houses. This was the beginning of Sweet Peeps Microsanctuary (not so micro anymore), which is now home to over 50 unique and personable individuals, most of whom were rescued directly from the meat industry and which occupies most of her time. She is the author of the book “Lotus of the Heart: Living Yoga for Personal Wellness and Global Survival.” In 2021, she released a short award-winning documentary entitled “Until All Are Free,” which examines the far-reaching impacts of animal agriculture and traces the roots of social injustice and our environmental crisis back to our hierarchical and exploitative relationship with “the other.” Tracey’s first children’s book, inspired by the chickens at Sweet Peeps, “Chickens Are Animals Too! Fannie Goes to Washington,” is scheduled to be published June 30th through 12 Willows Press.

OverDrive “All Access” Collections to Enable Millions of Readers to Enjoy Premium Digital Library Books with No Holds or Wait Times

By

Jocie McKade

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26 June 2024

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Curated ebook collections for Romance, Mystery, and Kids’ Essentials provide cost-effective options for library lending

As part of OverDrive’s advocacy for flexible and reasonable digital book costs for schools and libraries, OverDrive announced today three new All Access Collections of simultaneous use ebook subscriptions for libraries. Designed to address the significant growth in reader demand for eBooks within the Libby and Sora apps, libraries will delight patrons with access to a growing catalog of in-demand titles without any holds. These genre-specific collections, priced with a fixed annual fee, will add meaningful inventory of popular titles to libraries and supplement other access models available from OverDrive Marketplace.

New subscriptions launching this summer from participating publishers include All Access Romance and All Access Mystery. The All Access Romance Collection will launch with over 1,000 titles from Kensington Publishing available for purchase through OverDrive Marketplace. Titles in each collection were selected based on OverDrive data including title circulation, holds, and Notify Me engagements from readers around the world. Each collection will be refreshed regularly to add new titles to satisfy this audience of voracious readers.

“The initial success of public library eBook lending was built on the adult fiction categories of romance and mystery over 20 years ago,” says Steve Potash, founder and CEO of OverDrive. “All Access collections enable librarians to further optimize the performance of their digital library budget and support simultaneous access to titles for book clubs, community reading programs, and general patron use. Each collection provides something for all. In the Romance collection readers will delight in titles from contemporary to paranormal to western while in the Mystery collection titles span from cozy to police procedural to suspense thrillers.”

Last year OverDrive introduced simultaneous access to children’s eBooks focused on early literacy through its All Access Supersonic Phonics & Decodables collection. This will be joined by the All Access Kids Building Block Library which bundles together five new subcollections: Emotional Wellness, Graphic Nonfiction, Animals & Nature, STEM, and Beginning Reader. Librarians can purchase all 800+ titles or select the subcollections that best fit their readers’ needs.

“The need for readily available eBooks is ever-growing as the popularity of digital books rises,” says Catherine Mason, Digital Buying Lead at Columbus Metropolitan Library in Columbus, OH. “Simultaneous use packages keep our patrons satisfied and engaged while they wait for other books they’ve placed on hold, without burdening our budgets and librarians.”

OverDrive All Access Collections build on the success of similar on-demand models such as Kanopy PLUS Packs, All Access Comics & Graphic Novels, All Access Magazines, and OverDrive Max. OverDrive Marketplace recently reached a milestone of over 1 million premium, in-copyright ebooks, and audiobooks available for schools and libraries through the OverDrive Max access model.

“Simultaneous use packages have been a fantastic addition to the Ohio Digital Library collection,” notes Anne Kennedy, Library Consultant, State Library of Ohio. “Our data shows highlighting ‘always available’ titles in curated collections and featured title campaigns has increased checkouts and patron satisfaction. I plan on immediately creating new romance curated collections once I buy the first All Access package.”

“OverDrive’s publisher services team has been educating authors, agents, and publishers on the tremendous influence that librarians have to promote book sales for print, digital and audio editions of each work,” notes Potash. “When libraries and schools promote always available titles for community reading events and book clubs, retail sales see a boost.* We’re looking forward to launching more collections soon.”

Scholastic’s Graphix Announces The Cartoonists Club by Bestselling Comics Legends Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud

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Jocie McKade

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26 June 2024

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Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, announced today the publication of The Cartoonists Club — a one-of-a-kind graphic novel from #1 New York Times bestselling authors Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud. Releasing on April 1, 2025, in the U.S., World rights were acquired by Cassandra Pelham Fulton and David Saylor in a deal with Judy Hansen of Hansen Literary Management.

In the dream team collaboration combining award-winning creators Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud’s trademark charm, reliability, and comics expertise, The Cartoonists Club blends captivating narrative, how-to, and the enchanting art of comics to inspire a new generation of young cartoonists.

“The Cartoonists Club, at its heart, is a story of friendship, so it’s only right that it came about from the real-life friendship of two titans of the comics world. The result of this collaboration is a story that will at once be instantly familiar to readers of their previous work yet something wholly original,” says Pelham Fulton, Editorial Director of Graphix.

“With more than 26 million books in print, in 34 languages, and 639 weeks on the New York Times bestsellers list, Telgemeier’s legion of fans have been eagerly waiting since 2019 for her next book. So to pair her with comics powerhouse, Scott McCloud, the man who literally wrote the book on comics, is a marriage made in comics heaven. Fans will eat up this dynamic collaboration written from both of their hearts,” adds Saylor, Vice President and Publisher of Graphix.

On putting together the book, Telgemeier remarks, “Whenever I speak to kids, they ask me what advice I have for budding cartoonists. I hope this book serves as a good answer, or at least a great jumping-off point! I have wanted a book like this to exist for a long time, and collaborating on it with Scott has truly been a dream come true. I’m ecstatic for younger readers to discover Scott’s insights into how comics work, what makes them special, and how to think about them!”

“Collaborating with Raina on The Cartoonists Club has been one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences I’ve had in all my decades of making comics. She understands the power of comics in her readers’ lives like no one else. I hope that the love we have for these kids and their journeys shines through on every page,“ enthused McCloud.

The Cartoonists Club has an announced first printing of 750,000 copies and will be edited by Pelham Fulton. Books will be in stores nationwide on April 1, 2025.

Pegasus: A Journey to New Eden by James Hill

By

Jocie McKade

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26 June 2024

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A Journey to New Eden by James Hill

Zack and Zuri are set to embark on the Pegasus for New Eden, an unknown and unexplored planet four light years from Earth. For Zack, four light years isn’t nearly far enough from the madness that has been mankind’s history. For Zuri, it is a chance to have the family she has so long desired. Pegasus is humanity’s greatest invention, a modern day Noah’s Ark, set to spread civilization to the stars. But Pegasus has secrets which some will do anything to possess, and Zack and Zuri have yet to discover. A journey to New Eden is an emotional rollercoaster that will take the pair to the depths of despair, launch them beyond heavenly delights, and into the heart and soul of humanity.

Pegasus, the first starship, will take the best that the world has to offer and transplant it on another world. Readers are taken on an emotional rollercoaster as the only two people to escape the escalating madness must wrestle control of the ship from its Artificial Intelligence and restore faith in human dignity. In this work, readers see a future that is just around the corner. Beware, technology advances faster than our knowledge of what to do with it.

Amazon.com: PEGASUS: A Journey To New Eden eBook : Hill, James L, Paris, Athina: Kindle Store

RockHill BookStore – RockHill Publishing LLC

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

James L Hill, a.k.a. J L Hill, is a native New Yorker from the South Bronx, Fort Apache, of the turbulent 60’s. He earned a degree in computer programming, his other love. A multi-genre author, his experiences seasoned his novels and the worlds he imagined. James started RockHill Publishing LLC to publish his own work and give others access to the literary world.