How well do we really know the people sleeping next to us in bed at
night?
After a tragedy strikes the Barnes family, Sarah’s husband Tom begins
acting strangely. It starts with wild mood-shifts and accusations at their
thirteen-year-old daughter, but quickly escalates to the attempted murder of
an off-season mall Santa. From what Sarah can tell, Tom’s only motive seems
to lie behind a mysterious hatred for Christmas that burns year-round.
What’s worse, Tom’s only defense lies in a long-forgotten book he wrote
detailing a traumatic event in his childhood that seems too far-fetched to
be believed. His entire case revolves around the notion of talking Christmas
trees, a living army of toys, and worst of all, a monster masquerading as
Mrs. Claus.
Now, Sarah must go on a journey into her husband’s past to learn if Tom is
in the midst of a psychotic breakdown, if he’s a danger to his family, or if
he really is being hunted by the malevolent holiday horror that destroyed
his childhood.
Excerpt:
“Please, I’m just trying to understand what’s happening. He gave me this book that he swears explains everything, but I don’t know what to make of it.”
“Everything Is Temporary,” she said. Simply producing the words made her look like it left a rotten taste in her mouth. I nodded.
“You’ve read it?”
“No. I’ve spent a lifetime trying to forget he ever existed. The last thing I want to do is further indulge in a psychopath’s delusions.”
“Please,” I begged once more. “Can we just sit for a minute? I feel like I’m going crazy. I’m just looking for an explanation.”
About the Author
JON COHN IS A WRITER and professional board game designer based out of San
Diego, California. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter
@joncohnauthor.
He would also love to give you free stuff like stories, audiobooks, and
games by signing up for his mailing list at http://www.joncohnauthor.com.
Book Title: And the Trees Talked Back by Frederick J. Burns Category: Children’s Fiction (ages 3 to 7), 48 pages Genre: Children’s Book Publisher: Frederick J. Burns Release date: Nov 4, 2023 Content Rating: G. Suitable for everyone.
Book Description:
Meet Amanda, an extraordinary child with a unique gift — she can talk to trees.
Living in a quaint village with a mystical forest, Amanda’s life takes an enchanting turn when she seeks out her inquisitive cat, Daisy. As the sun sets and the moonlight casts its glow, the duo embark on a thrilling night-time adventure.
As Amanda encounters ancient trees, she uncovers a world she never knew existed, where wisdom and acceptance coexist with fear and hatred. Amidst the rustling leaves and haunting shadows, she confronts the duality of nature, discovering the true meaning of good and evil. Her bonds with nature deepen and she learns to navigate the world where choices shape destinies.
And The Trees Talked Back is a heartwarming tale of wonder, friendship, and self-discover that will captivate readers of all ages.
Burns, always an artist on the inside, breaks through his trial attorney exterior at age 63, to write and illustrate his first children’s book, AND THE TREES TALKED BACK. Three years in the making, Burns strives to convey a world where commonalities are more important than differences, where empathy is more important than distain and where making friends is more important than creating enemies. With no formal art training, Burns enjoys working in and learning new mediums and styles. His art has won awards in juried competitions, been displayed on billboards, in government offices, the D’Amour Museum of Fine Art, and now graces the cover of Dave Brinnel’s second CD, ALONE. His detailed illustrations of trees using pen and ink with washes of watercolor have been compared to the fantastical illustrations of Arthur Rackham and Maurice Sendak. Burns lives in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts with his wife, Heather and two dogs, where he is developing ideas for his next book. connect with author: website ~ instagram ~ goodreads
Come with me to Bethlehem. A sleepy hamlet in the mountains of Southern
Israel. Here we will find a newborn baby lying in a manger surrounded by his
parents and barn animals.
It doesn’t seem like the most idyllic Christmas. There is no tree, no
presents, and no stockings hung by the fireplace. Everything is ordinary.
Jesus lying in a mound of hay is the furthest thing from extraordinary. Yet,
the Savior of the world begins his first moments here in this barn, in this
village.
During this journey, you will discover the true meaning of the season.
It’s not the glow of lights or the smell of pine needles. We celebrate
Christmas because of Jesus Christ, God’s gift to us.
About the Author
Joseph Guy serves as the President of Joseph Guy International Ministries,
an organization dedicated to reaching people around the world through
digital ministry. He is the host of the podcast Biblical Insight With Pastor
Joseph, and winner of the 2022 Readers’ Favorite 5-Star Review Award.
It is his goal to change the world one life at a time through the timeless
message of the Gospel. The great outdoors is where you can find him when
he’s not building God’s kingdom.
Nancy Drew meets How the Grinch Stole Christmas in this delightful cozy mystery set in Charleston, SC.
Who’s stealing the holiday decorations? They’re disappearing like Christmas cookies from PeggyLou Designs, and Lou’s newly launched event planning service is in trouble. He implores his neighbor and friend, Private Investigator Liz Adams, to bring the thief to justice.
The clock is ticking. It’s only ten days until the mayor’s big holiday celebration. The party that will make or break Lou’s business.
Liz’s mom, Babs, steps in to help, and the investigation becomes complicated. Suddenly the holidays are not all mistletoe and merriment when Bab’s life is threatened. Will Liz and her lie-detecting Labrador retriever, Duke, discover the perpetrator before it’s too late?
Experience Charleston in the city’s full Christmas glory in this fun fast-paced holiday story.
About Stacy Wilder
Stacy Wilder has traveled to six out of seven continents Books have shaped her life and her travels. Her love of mysteries began with Nancy Drew.
A Christmas Conundrum is the third book in the riveting Liz Adams Mystery series. In addition to mysteries, Stacy writes children’s stories, short stories, and poetry. She and her husband live in Houston, Texas, with a totally spoiled Labrador retriever, Eve.
Brimming with heartfelt anecdotes, nostalgic escapades, and timeless humor,
Hair on Fire is a Christmas memoir like no other. It will warm your heart,
make you laugh uproariously, and transport you back to the most magical time
of the year. So grab a hot cocoa and snuggle under a cozy blanket while
Horner-Miller beguiles with her tales!
Chapter Twelve
A CHRISTMAS SAD AND PRECIOUS
It was in the late 1960s. Mom, Dad, my teenage brother, and I arrived in Poway, California for a special Christmas celebration. My sister’s husband had recently been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver, and the future loomed bleak. This was only the second time we’d traversed to California for Christmas, and this trip had such a mixture of emotion.
A couple years before, as newlyweds, my sister, her new husband, and his two children came to Colorado for a truly country Christmas with lots of snow.
My new brother-in-law immediately started picking on me, and we bonded deeply even though he forced me to try cranberries—I had never tried this dish before. In reality, it wasn’t a dish—Mom opened cranberry sauce that slid out of the can whole—plop!—and served it. It always looked slimy to me. With his humor and persistent influence, I grew to love cranberries!
Sunny California appeared gloomy and heavy. The festive atmosphere of Christmas felt tinged with a deep sadness and fear. My sister greeted us warmly, knitting like a crazy woman. She shared with me that all of their gifts this year were knitted. I thought it a wonderful idea, but shortly I learned finances drove her decision.
I gasped silently at the man we saw on arrival, a shadow of the man we met a few short years ago. The disease had ravaged my brother-in-law’s body, and he had lost so much weight, his clothes hung loose and limp on his frame.
But his spirit of love and laughter prevailed. Mom tried her hand at making homemade pie crusts, forgetting the effect of being at sea level on a recipe usually done at 6,100 feet above sea level. She grumbled about the gooey mess she kept trying to roll out, and my brother-in-law teased her unmercifully. As he ducked out of the kitchen with his latest quip, she slung the ball of dough at him, hitting him in the eye—a magnificent bullseye. Our laughter filled the kitchen with delight in the ridiculous.
Christmas Eve morning came, and my brother-in-law slipped into Mom and Dad’s bedroom and whispered his plan for the day to Mom and me. “I’m going to go sell some wood so I can buy my loving wife some Christmas presents. Don’t let her know where I’ve gone. Can you help me wrap the presents when I get home?”
Mom and I both choked back tears, nodding our heads.
The impact of my brother-in-law’s health had destroyed their finances. He hadn’t worked his normal construction job in several months; my sister had a good job, but she was so busy and overwhelmed being a caregiver, too. Living in the wooded area of Poway, he cut wood whenever he could and sold it to make some extra money and to keep active—his current lack of working was not his nature.
Christmas Eve day went by uneventfully except for my sister’s repeated refrain, “Where is my husband? What is he doing?” Her distress weighed on me, but I couldn’t ruin his surprise. She continued to knit, the needles rapidly moving in her nervous hands.
Daylight slowly faded into darkness. Mom and I exchanged worried glances all day—Dad and Bub joined my sister in wondering about the whereabouts of my brother-in-law.
Mom and I went to their bedroom to talk about what we should do—the pending darkness scared us. He had been gone for hours. What if something went wrong? Quietly my brother-in-law opened the door of my parent’s bedroom, a couple bags in hand. He looked exhausted but pleased with himself.
We wrapped the small collection of gifts—all kitchen utensils for my sister. We placed the gifts under the tree, and my sister, contrite in her reaction to her husband’s day-long absence, held back tears and pain.
I knew deep in my heart that this was the most precious exhibition of love I’d ever seen. His generosity and spirit graced the rest of that holiday.
Sixty-some years ago, and it still brings a smile to my heart, yet a tear to my eyes, as I remember his mission of love and the true spirit of Christmas.
Have you had a Christmas like this—both sweet and bittersweet at the same time?
About the Author
Larada Horner-Miller is an award-winning poet, essayist, blogger and
accomplished multi-genre author who holds a bachelor’s degree in
English and a Master of Education Degree in Integrating Technology into the
Classroom. She is the accomplished author of seven award-winning historical
fiction, memoir, and poetry works plus three self-published cookbooks.
Her new release, Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Christmas
Memoir is available in paperback and e-book format.
Her sixth book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better?, is available in
paperback and four e-book formats. It won the 2023 New Mexico/Arizona Book
Awards for the Self Help/Guides category and the 2022 New Mexico/Arizona
Book Award for the Mind, Body and Spirit category. Larada offers the reader
the opportunity to look back at 2020 and the global pandemic through her
prose and poetry through reading, then reflecting and responding. She
addresses all the emotions she felt during this overwhelming time and leads
the reader through to a self-access: bitter or better?
Her fifth book is the authorized memoir and biography of world-renown
square dance caller Marshall “Flip” Flippo. Just Another Square
Dance Caller: Biography of Marshall Flippo is available now in hardback,
paperback and four e-book formats. Recently Just Another Square Dance Caller
won two awards: Book Excellence Awards Finalist and Silver award for eLit.
Book Awards.
Larada and her husband, Lin, enjoy being nestled in the mountains above
Albuquerque, New Mexico, near the village of Tijeras. She enjoys square
dancing, traveling, knitting, and reading.
Welcome to Winterwood… a small town with more heart than people!
When Grace is told it’s unlikely Granny will live to see another Christmas, she comes up with a unique plan to transform her home into a festive inn for the holidays, offering an authentic, old-fashioned Christmas experience to her guests. To make her plan a reality, Grace must convince her small-town community to get on board and help her bring her vision to life. Along the way, she meets a diverse group of people who all have their own issues and struggles, but they come together at the inn to celebrate the holiday season and find hope and joy in the midst of their challenges.
If you love, small-town, holiday romances, you’ll love Countdown to Christmas. A story about love, family traditions, and memories that last a lifetime.
About Dianna Houx
Dianna Houx is a wife, mother, reader, writer, and small-town girl at heart. She resides in a rural Missouri town of less than twenty-five hundred people with her husband and three boys in a late 1800s home they’ve been lovingly restoring when she isn’t busy working on her next book.
A romantic at heart, she believes in happily-ever-afters rooted in realism and, most importantly, humor!
She is the author of Forsaking the Dark, a paranormal romance, The Queen’s Revenge, a historical romance, and the Holiday Countdown Series, a sweet, small-town romance series.
I am pleased to be hosting a Review for The Haunting Scent of Poppies by Victoria Williamson and I would like to thank The Write Reads and the author for the opportunity to read a copy of this book.
Book Info
Genre: Historical Fiction/YA/Horror
Published: 1st of December 2023 by Silver Thistle Press
A spine-chilling winter ghost story set in the months after the Great War. Perfect for lovers of MR James and Susan Hill
The War is over, but for petty criminal Charlie his darkest days are only just beginning.
Charlie Briggs is never off-duty, even when a botched job means he’s forced to lay low in a sleepy Hampshire town for the holiday season. Always searching for his next unwitting victim, or a shiny trinket he can pilfer, he can’t believe his luck when he happens upon a rare book so valuable it will set him up for life. All he needs to do is sit tight until Boxing Day. But there’s a desperate story that bleeds beyond the pages; something far more dangerous than London’s mobsters is lurking in the shadows.
Could the book be cursed? Why is he haunted by the horrors of war? Can he put things right before he’s suffocated by his own greed?
My thoughts…
The Haunting Scent of Poppies follows Charlie Briggs a thief who comes across an incredibly rare book that he can’t resist stealing when he has the opportunity to.
The synopsis of this book instantly drew me in and you are thrown into the action from page one as you are taken on a wild adventure just after the First World War. The author weaves together a compelling narrative that combines historical accuracy with engaging characters that are edgy and relatable, to provide a vivid and emotional portrayal of a pivotal period in human history. The book is also filled with spooky happenings and the paranormal. Charlie as a character was hard to feel sympathy for given his criminal nature but I was compelled to find out what happens to him.
The Haunting Scent of Poppies is a captivating historical fiction novella and is definitely something for the ghost story lovers. As it is a novella and therefore quite short it made its message so much more powerful. The book is a short but entertaining historical read and a brilliant ghost story set at Christmastime. It is definitely a captivating read that you will sail through in just one sitting and I highly recommend it.
My Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
About the Author –
Victoria Williamson is an award-winning author who grew up in Scotland surrounded by hills, books, and an historical farm estate which inspired many of her early adventure stories and spooky tales. After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real-life adventures, which included teaching maths and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with additional support needs in the UK. Victoria currently works part time writing KS2 books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels, and visiting schools, libraries and literary festivals to give author talks and run creative writing workshops.
Victoria’s previous novels include The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, Hag Storm, and War of the Wind. She has won the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award 2020/2021, The YA-aldi Glasgow Secondary School Libraries Book Award 2023, and has been shortlisted for the Week Junior Book Awards 2023, The Leeds Book Awards 2023, the Red Book Award 2023, the James Reckitt Hull Book Awards 2021, The Trinity School Book Awards 2021, and longlisted for the ABA South Coast Book Awards 2023, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020, and the Branford Boase Award 2019.
Her latest novel, The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams, is a middle grade fantasy inspired by classic folklore. Twenty percent of the author royalties for this book are donated to CharChar Literacy, an organisation working to improve children’s literacy levels in Malawi.
You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and free resources for schools on her website: www.strangelymagical.com
Book Title: The Psychologist’s Shadow by Laury A. Egan Category: Adult Fiction (18+), 336 pages Genre: Psychological Suspense Publisher: Enigma Books, imprint of Spectrum Books, UK Release date: Nov 18, 2023 Content Rating: PG-13. One scene of violence, no sexual scene
“…a ‘I-read-it-in-two-days’ book. Egan creates a gifted analyst and gripping case studies of her clients, one of whom is a disturbed admirer. The novel delivers chills in a highly sophisticated, wise, and ultimately poignant psychodrama.”—Karla Linn Merrifield, author of Psyche’s Scroll
In October 1992, Dr. Ellen Haskell begins a new therapy practice in Princeton after a tragic error with a former client. Demoralized by her failure, Ellen strives to restore her emotional and professional confidence. Her parents have departed for Greece, leaving Ellen alone in their secluded country house. As the reader is introduced to her roster of clients through their individual sessions, Ellen becomes unnerved when she receives hang-up phone calls and a series of bizarre gifts from an anonymous admirer—at first at her office and then at home. As the obsessive lover increasingly invades her life, Ellen’s anxiety crescendos and she begins to fear the stalker’s behavior will escalate into violence.
The Psychologist’s Shadow is a portrait of a compassionate, introspective therapist who finds herself in a dangerous struggle with an unknown stalker. The novel is a simmering literary suspense, one in which tension accumulates as the reader gains insights during sessions with clients—one of whom may be the psychologist’s shadow—and through the stalker’s journal entries, which serve as a discordant counterpoint.
Laury A. Egan is the author of eleven novels, The Firefly; Once, Upon an Island; Wave in D Minor; Turnabout; Doublecrossed; The Swimmer; The Ungodly Hour; A Bittersweet Tale; Fabulous! An Opera Buffa; The Outcast Oracle; and Jenny Kidd; in addition to a collection, Fog and Other Stories. Four limited-edition poetry volumes have been published: Snow, Shadows, a Stranger; Beneath the Lion’s Paw; The Sea & Beyond” and Presence & Absence.”She lives on the northern coast of New Jersey.
When All is Said and Done Christy Hayes Publication date: December 5th 2023 Genres: Women’s Fiction
A heartbreaking novel about the sacrifices we make for love.
After an unstable childhood, marriage isn’t just a promise to Dustin Carver, it’s his lifeline. He and Tegan grew up together, fell in love, and planned their perfect life. When the future they imagined gets derailed by her demanding law career, their marriage slowly slides off the rails.
Tegan can’t believe her husband took her threat of a separation seriously and walked away without a backward glance. Heartbroken and embarrassed, she covers for his absence with lies. Lies she tells herself about her career. Lies she tells her family about her marriage. And lies she’s yet to confess to her husband about a secret she kept while he was away. When Dustin finally returns, she’s running on fumes and her lies are about to be exposed.
Seven weeks in Key West licking his wounds and watching his best friend fall in love is enough to convince Dustin to come home and fight for his marriage. Saving their relationship means returning to therapy and facing a bitter truth neither wants to address. What if their childhood romance doesn’t have a happy-ever-after ending?
This emotional read told with brutal honesty begs the ultimate question for marriages far and wide. At the end of the day-at the end of our lives-what is worth fighting for, and when, if ever, should we walk away?
He heard a noise from the kitchen, and his pulse picked up the beat. Was that the side door closing or the echoed rumble from his rebellious stomach? He stilled the strings with his palm and recognized the familiar sound of Tegan hanging her keys on the hook and shucking her shoes by the door. His heart lurched into his throat.
Dustin cursed himself for getting lost in the music and not preparing for her return. He should have been rehearsing speeches in his head or making dinner instead of mowing the lawn, adding a couple of towels to her burgeoning laundry pile, and playing around on the guitar. He propped the instrument against the couch and stood on unsteady legs.
A surging swell of love, swift and savage, swept over him as he looked at her, sent his heart thrashing against his chest. There she is—my center, my orbit—in living, breathing color. Tegan had her back turned and was flipping through the mail on the counter. Her hair was longer than normal, a dark curtain falling well past her sagging shoulders.
“Hi.”
She gasped and spun, clutching her chest with both hands, her eyes blinking furiously. Frozen in that position like a still photograph captured on film, she looked thin—too thin—and fragile as blown glass. “Dusty.”
His name from her lips, soft and scratchy, scorched his eviscerated heart. “Sorry to startle you. I … I figured you’d see my car.”
She seemed confused, shaking her head, squinting her eyes. “Your car?”
“In the garage …” He tried and failed to keep the exasperation out of his voice. He’d been gone for weeks, and she hadn’t moved a muscle in his direction. Hadn’t flashed a smile or inclined her head or opened her arms to make him feel welcome. And after everything they had to say to one another, they were talking about his car?
“I parked in the driveway,” she said.
Her guilty tone and the way she tucked her chin to her chest were another lash to his pride. How many times had he begged her to park her car in the garage? They lived in a nice neighborhood, but why invite crime by leaving her car parked out in the open and alert everyone to her patterns of coming and going?
She read the look on his face and offered a muttered, “I was tired, and the garage door has been giving me fits. I think it needs grease or something.”
Stop talking about the stupid garage! He wanted to scream at her, grab her arms and shake her, invade the personal space she protected with her arms crossed tightly against her chest. He wanted to do something, anything, to get a rise out of her and stop the inane garage discussion.
The way she looked—the way she looked at him like a racoon caught pillaging the trash—kept his voice even and his feet rooted firmly in place. Even in the muted light, she appeared ready to drop. He longed to go to her, wrap her in his arms, let her lean on him the way she always had when life kicked her in the tail. But he couldn’t. Not now. Not with everything at stake.
Author Bio:
Christy Hayes writes romance and romantic women’s fiction. She is the proud mother of two grown children and lives outside Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and rescue dogs.
Book Title: Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times®, Vol. 1 by Pam Gittleman Category: Children’s Fiction (ages 2 to 5), 46 pages Genre: Children’s Picture Book Publisher: Mascot Kids, an imprint of Amplify Publishing Group Release date: Oct 3, 2023 Content Rating: G. Suitable for everyone.
Book Description:
What happens when Three KIND Mice put their heads (and bodies!) together to get some cheese on top of the counter? Will Humpty Dumpty be left in pieces when his friends notice that he’s fallen off the wall? And who will get bags of wool–and toys and books–from Baa Baa BRIGHT Sheep? Read all about the beloved characters from traditional nursery rhymes in this endearing collection of eight updated rhymes that nurture kindness, empathy and gratitude!
Pam has been an early childhood music educator for over twenty-five years with a passion for singing, rhyming, reading stories, and making music with preschoolers.
When Pam noticed that some children seemed unfamiliar with traditional nursery rhymes, and that parents and teachers were avoiding them because of their outdated, dark, and inappropriate nature, she set out to modernize them. Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Times® provides a memorable way to build language, musicality, and literacy through songs, stories and rhymes that nurture kindness, empathy, and gratitude. The inclusion of resources that support social and emotional learning (SEL) make it easy for parents and teachers to engage with the children they love.
The rhymes in the book can also be enjoyed as songs on the Nursery Rhymes for Kinder Timesalbum recorded by Raffi and Lindsay Munroe, as well as in videos on theNursery Rhymes for Kinder Times® Show on YouTube. (www.linktr.ee.com/forkindertimes)
Aside from making music with young children, Pam loves dogs and dark chocolate. She lives in New York with her husband, and loves when her children, grandchildren, and granddogs come to visit!
Pam collaborated with Dan and Catherine Markowitz for art and design of the book.
Diane’s Book Journal 