Pinedale High—where every shade of love stands a ghost of a chance.
Blurb
Holden and Peyton don't expect much from senior year. He probably won't manage to date any guys. She'll still pine over Juliette, the beautiful and unattainable cheerleader. But when they step between class bullies and Oliver, a super-hot transfer student, their year starts to go off the rails.
As a star football player, Oliver hadn't anticipated trouble. Turns out Pinedale High not only comes with bullies, but with new friends, plus the ghost of a Civil War soldier, and a shy naked guy in the library. Between the living and the dead, senior year is about to get interesting.
Free Use Image from Open Clipart Vectors
Ornery Owl's Review
Rating: Four out of Five Stars
This relatively short book has a lot going on. There are multiple characters with angsty romantic subplots. Two of these characters are ghosts. Only a couple of the other characters can see them. Holden and Juliette try to help their ghost friends, one a nerdy guy who died as a senior in 1989, the other a young Civil War soldier who died in 1865, all while dealing with homophobic and racist bullies and no small amount of personal issues. The story also features Holden's best friend, Peyton, and his epic crush, the seemingly perfect new football star, Oliver.
Each character gets his or her own chapter, narrated in the first-person POV. This technique helps the reader understand the mystery and adds a personal touch to the story. The principal characters are all likable, and the reader (or listener, in my case) hopes they will find a satisfactory solution to their dilemmas.
An incident reporting/checklist narration style bogged down the first couple of chapters. The story tried a bit too hard to establish that these characters were QUEER and PART OF THE RAINBOW COMMUNITY! At that point, I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy the story. When a character's gender identity and/or sexual orientation forms their entire personality, that makes for a boring narrative. I come to care about characters for who they are, not for how they identify or who they are attracted to.
I will never like the term queer, which for most of my life was a homophobic slur used by bullies such as those who hung around outside gay nightclubs, hoping to beat up a few of the guys and harass their female friends. While reading or listening to modern LGBT fiction, I often groan inwardly (or sometimes outwardly, depending on where I am), "Please, for the love of Dionysus, just say GAY! Or lesbian. Or bisexual."
As a minor quibble, I wasn't sure someone from the Civil War era would use the term dick to refer to a man's privates. I'm not invested enough to research this mystery, and I wouldn't dock a star from a story for using a common but possibly more modern term for said dangly bits. The soldier is probably familiar with the common vernacular if he's hanging around potty-mouthed teenagers.
Once it moved beyond reporting and checklist mode, I liked the story. I cared about the characters and their struggles and enjoyed the surprise twist. I won't even hint at what this is because I want other readers and listeners to enjoy it too.
You will probably like this book if you enjoy paranormal mysteries, angsty crushes, and young, snarky characters.
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.
Pinedale High—where every shade of love stands a ghost of a chance.
Blurb
Holden and Peyton don't expect much from senior year. He probably won't manage to date any guys. She'll still pine over Juliette, the beautiful and unattainable cheerleader. But when they step between class bullies and Oliver, a super-hot transfer student, their year starts to go off the rails.
As a star football player, Oliver hadn't anticipated trouble. Turns out Pinedale High not only comes with bullies, but with new friends, plus the ghost of a Civil War soldier, and a shy naked guy in the library. Between the living and the dead, senior year is about to get interesting.
Free Use Image from Open Clipart Vectors
Ornery Owl's Review
Please come back this evening to read the review. My son and I have to take our elderly cat to the vet this morning. It's a routine appointment, and we're hoping the vet can suggest some solutions to help him gain weight. I wanted to get the promo part of the post up ASAP and didn't want to do a rushed review.
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.
Fly along with Ruby, Sarra, Isoke and other young heroines as they take to the skies to save their families.
Nine scenarios, nine heroines, nine lessons in flight.
Gia travels from Manhattan's Lower East Side to the Aleutian Islands to capture one of the most mysterious warplanes of all time - the Mitsubishi A6M Zero.
Young Yi-Tai Jo falls in love with the homely, misunderstood X-1 rocket jet. Heartbroken at X's failure to break the speed of sound, she may have a solution.
One morning, bratty Anke has a bitter spat with her sister, Romy. Yet when Romy is kidnapped, Anke is the one who can save her - using an old war-kite to glide to the villain's tower. Can she navigate gliding through the Black Forest and save Romy?
Ship-salvager's daughter Sarra defies a garrison to save Father from Rome's wrath. Can her home-made balloon win the day?
"Tom's delightful stories in The Aviation Girls span ancient ideas
about flight through the Golden Age of aviation to the Age of
Rocketry."
-- Anne Millbrooke, author of the award-winning “Aviation
History
About the Author
Tom Durwood is a teacher, writer and editor with an interest in history.
Tom most recently taught English Composition and Empire and Literature at
Valley Forge Military College, where he won the Teacher of the Year Award
five times.
Tom’s historical fiction adventures has been promising. The stories
have won nine literary awards to date. “A true pleasure …
the richness of the layers of Tom’s novel is compelling,” writes
Fatima Sharrafedine in her foreword to “The Illustrated
Boatman’s Daughter.” The Midwest Book Review calls that same
adventure “uniformly gripping and educational … pairing action
and adventure with social issues.” Adds Prairie Review, “A
deeply intriguing, ambitious historical fiction series.”
Fourteen years ago, Storm Tera failed to save the world. Born a prophecy child, foretold to save magic, he went into war untrained, unprepared and lost everything. Ever since, he’s been in self-exile, turning his back on magic as it grows and festers inside of him, unused and unwanted.
Then a young witch makes an offer he can’t refuse: to go back in time and undo the mistakes that led to his failure. They have one chance to rewrite the past, to save everyone he lost, and ultimately…to save magic.
Storm is about to play a game of cat and mouse with time and the Fates. Necromancy is in his blood, but if he can’t find a way to prevent the death of Rowan Copry, he can say goodbye to magic, and life as he knows it, forever.
Waking in a bed of tangled sheets, coated in sweat, was nothing new for Storm. Every night of the last fourteen years had been predictable, from the racing heartbeat and the slow-fading memories, to the shaking of his right hand every time he reached for a cigarette. He took his first puff, raked a hand through his hair, and swung his legs out from under the thin sheet.
Storm walked into the bathroom and started the shower. Eyeing the mirror, the inevitable awaited: black smoke as dark as his magic swirled in his eyes, tempting him to delve into the darkest of powers, a birthright no one had bothered to teach him. If he’d known how to wield forbidden magic, he wouldn’t have spent his adult life having night sweats and nightmares, all because the Fates were bickering bitches.
The thin line along his top lip suggested he was dehydrated. His tawny skin showed paler than usual, meaning he could add anaemia or vitamin deficiencies to his worries. That was all part of living in the West of Scotland, he supposed: sea air and lack of sunshine. Pushing aside the long fringe of his raven hair, he wondered if the time had come to move somewhere new, less conducive to invisibility. If he wasn’t careful, he’d fade for real.
Ignoring the temptation to test his untapped abilities, Storm showered to wash off the shakes, sweat, and lingering memories of the worst night of his life. He dressed in the invisibility of a white T-shirt, black jeans, and a black leather jacket, the same thing everyone else wore in this neck of the woods who came here to disappear. There was a reason he lived above a biker bar, miles from the nearest town, deep in the heart of the woodlands. The storms were turbulent here by the sea, and most witches knew better than to settle where magic was at its wildest.
Storm was safer living far from other magic users, friends and enemies alike. He’d come here to escape the world of magic, laws and backstabbing, and the politics of guardians, gods, and elements. Running didn’t exorcise his demons. He took them everywhere he went. If anyone was desperate enough to seek him out, they knew where to find him. The wind could tell them if they had the sense to listen.
He didn’t bother with keys or a wallet as he left the apartment and descended the steps. Wards carved into the wooden door frame kept everyone out. His bar tab was paid at the end of every month, when he got his pathetic human salary from the docks, and Storm kept strict control of his vices and exit strategies.
Magic coursed through his veins like a torrent of the most volatile cyclone. Nothing calmed the raging heat and hate beneath his skin like working on the docks, unloading the fishing boats. The movement, the lack of a routine, and never knowing what tomorrow would bring was the unpredictability his soul craved, the freedom and life of a drifter, with no job, boss, or family to tie him down.
On solid ground, with nothing but compacted earth and weeds beneath his black boots, he stopped. Storm tipped his head to the sky and basked in what the world could tell him. Rain was coming; not an unfamiliar warning in this area, promising not to be heavy or dangerous. He mentally pushed the warning aside and moved on to the next. The wind wanted him to know magic was in the air, someone powerful approaching from the west. He’d suspect someone was passing through, coming for his help, but the wind seemed unsure. When Storm stuck his tongue out, the first drop of rain brought little clarity. Something was coming. A deeply buried instinct screamed Beware! Nosy. Too curious. Whoever was on their way, the rain thought they should mind their own business.
Around Halloween, curious kids would drift through town in hopes of seeing the crackpot Storm Tera: prophesied Chosen One, mage of the elements and earth. Too early in the year for that, he wondered what was hunting him and why they made the wind nervous.
Storm mused over what was coming, wondering if they would be brave enough to approach or if he’d get to keep his peace for another day. Hopefully, the latter.
He went into the bar beneath his apartment, ignoring the stale air and sticky floor to focus on the familiar hints of hops and cigar smoke. The latter came from the old man in the corner, a permanent fixture since Storm moved here three years ago.
He smiled, remembering the first time the man had spoken to an invisible companion. Storm had tapped into his powers, wondering if a spirit, demon or creature was toying with the man, but there had been nothing.
Storm caught the bartender’s eye. He gave a nod of greeting and took the centre stool at the bar like always. No one spoke to him; they never did. The bartender tended to flirt late at night when Storm was leaving. He’d get that look in his big blue eyes, tip his head in curiosity and wait for Storm to make the first move. He never did, never would.
How could he explain the nightmares that plagued him each night? No ordinary person, those who lacked even the simplest magical gifts, would understand the black mist clouding his eyes whenever he felt too strongly, all because he didn’t know how to suppress the darkness in his veins.
Settled in his stool, Storm tapped out a cigarette and used Ithen’s old lighter for his second smoke of the night. At barely after midnight, he’d only left the bar a few hours ago but no one would remark on his return. They never did.
A glass of scotch appeared along with a tentative smile. When he didn’t react, except to lift his glass and take a drink, the bartender moved on, knowing better than to hover.
A lesson he wished the rest of the world would learn.
Free use image by Gordon Johnson on Pixabay
Ornery Owl's Review
Rating: Five out of Five Stars
This intricate, immaculately written and edited story presents a bit of a conundrum. It is clearly fantasy, complete with demons, time travel, dark magic, undead, and plenty of peril for the embattled hero. Yet the narrative reads like a true crime documentary. This is a story encompassing full-on fantasy with a realistic feel all in one place. It makes the reader believe that anything is possible.
Sometimes the hero in a story this precise ends up being a bit of a Gary Stu who can do anything well at any time and always comes out looking clean and polished, as if he just stepped out of a spa treatment rather than a battle of supernatural forces. The author avoids this pitfall.
Storm Tera commands powerful magic but is deeply troubled and filled with doubts. Choices he made in the past resulted in the death of someone he cared about. He has never been able to forgive himself for Rowan Copry's death. Now, he must manipulate time to change the past and save the future.
With believable characters, fantastical situations, and an immersive plot, this book is a sure-fire winner for readers who enjoy their fantasy on the dark and gritty side. Because of the detailed descriptions of fantasy violence and mature situations, I would not recommend this book for readers younger than sixteen.
Elaine White is the author of multi-genre MM romance, celebrating ‘love is love’ and offering diversity in both genre and character within her stories.
Growing up in a small town and fighting cancer in her early teens taught her that life is short and dreams should be pursued. She lives vicariously through her independent, and often hellion characters, exploring all possibilities within the romantic universe.
The Winner of two Watty Awards – Collector’s Dream (An Unpredictable Life) and Hidden Gem (Faithfully) – and an Honourable Mention in 2016’s Rainbow Awards (A Royal Craving) Elaine is a self-professed geek, reading addict, and a romantic at heart.
Shay, fourteen and queer, just got placed with her fifth foster family in three years. Of course, she’s always angry or about to be, who wouldn’t be? This latest foster family, a rabbi, an accountant, eight-year-old twins, and a big black cat offer Shay another chance at being part of a family.
Shay is the new kid at school for the third time in one year, which is bad enough, but being in eighth grade just complicates things, especially when Shay develops a crush on the cute girl who runs the art club. As much as she tries to stay above the school drama, Shay is sucked into it after she makes yet another anger-fueled bad decision that gets caught on video and goes viral. One bad decision essentially ruins her school life and a budding relationship. It jeopardizes Shay’s placement with the Morgensterns just when they’re finally getting closer.
When Shay gets an apology letter from her estranged father, recently released from prison, she realizes she needs to make a choice. Should she stay with the Morgensterns, or should she give her father another chance? Will her anger issues continue to sabotage any chance at stability?
Things that suck about being a foster kid (incomplete)
Changing schools
Being perpetually behind in school (see #1)
Not knowing the rules and breaking them anyway
Being the “outsider-est” outsider everywhere, even at home
Having to pretend to like everyone in the new family
All of the above happened to me this past year. Three times. There was more that happened to me this year. I was placed with three different foster families, went to three new schools, ran away from one super shitty caseworker (twice), met some stereotypical mean girls, and had a starring role in one viral video that ruined my life.
Things didn’t completely suck 100 percent for once in my shitty life, when, by good luck, which I never had, I met the Morgensterns. (You should know that I don’t believe in luck. I don’t know how else to explain that my placements usually suck, but this one doesn’t. I’m partially at fault for my bad placements—I have “anger issues,” according to my social worker, Rhonda the Craptastic, and I make pretty bad choices, if I’m being completely honest.)
One more thing. I almost died from the smell of bacon drifting into my room. Absolutely starving, I started down the stairs to find the bacon in my brand-new placement and tripped over a big black cat on the landing. Grabbing the railing to prevent plunging to my death, I stopped and sat with this huge cat next to me, staring at me. I tried to remember when I had eaten last—I guessed Thursday. And today was Saturday? Maybe?
I couldn’t stop thinking about the peanut butter sandwich I’d eaten under the train tracks. This was how much of an idiot I was. I could have taken the whole loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter, but no, I packed one whole sandwich to sneak out of my last foster house. Not even an apple or anything. Idiot. (You should know that I’m not an idiot when it comes to school. I’m okay at school, when I go to school. I just “lack common sense,” according to Rhonda the Craptastic, who can rot in hell.)
Happy family sounds rose up from downstairs. That made me so angry I forgot about being hungry for, like, a minute. I wasn’t angry at the family sounds or the family. It wasn’t their fault my shitty social worker called them at midnight last night to come pick me up. I was just angry in general. I didn’t even know why. (You should also know I’m usually angry.) Sometimes, it got my attention, like now—it was there, right below my skin. Just as quickly, I only felt hungry again; the anger had slipped back beneath the surface. I heard a door open behind me.
“I hope you’re hungry. Mrs. Morgenstern always makes a nice breakfast on weekends. I hope Spock didn’t bother you. He doesn’t usually like people. He’s not as hefty as he seems. He’s under tall.” Mr. Morgenstern laughed at his own corny joke as he made his way down the stairs, stepping carefully around Spock, the huge black cat.
I remembered Mr. Morgenstern driving home. He could barely see over the steering wheel. Sitting on the stairs, I thought, He’s under tall too.
He stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Here comes the pep talk. But he simply said, “Come on in when you’re ready. I’ll save you some bacon.”
I was so hungry. So hungry. But I was sitting on the stairs in another new house. With a new family. And new rules. And eventually, new drama. Then a new new family. A burst of laughter came from the kitchen. Suddenly, I was more tired than hungry. So tired. Too tired to even be angry. I went back upstairs to the room on the third floor and crawled back into bed.
Jessie has been performing comedy in her spare time for over twenty-five years, which definitely comes in handy during the day in her job as a high school teacher. She grew up in the Poconos, in a house in the woods on a lake, with very little parental oversight. It was even more dangerous than it sounds, but it was the ’70s. Jessie is a lifelong writer, and with her first novel, she is eager to contribute to the queer YA subgenre. Jessie lives outside Philadelphia with her wife, two cats, and fantasies of days spent volunteering at goat rescues after she retires.
Giveaway
One lucky winner will receive a $50.00 NineStar Press Gift Code!
In a time when rock-n-roll is deemed evil music and blamed for youth
rebellion, The Hound Dogs and The Dice are set to clash at the Madison
Community Center.
The Hound Dogs search for a drummer to complete their lineup while The Dice
hires Patrick McNeil as Danny Bruer's replacement. Unbeknownst to The Dice,
Patrick carries a hidden agenda to sabotage his former band and settle old
scores.
As Patrick and his accomplice, Stu, execute their plot, questions loom over
the Madison Community Center. Can The Hound Dogs triumph against the odds?
Will the controversy ignite a community torn between tradition and
rebellion?
In a world where rock-n-roll rebels against societal norms, the destinies
of two bands hang in precarious balance. The echoes of their battle will
resonate far beyond the Madison Community Center.
Hard Dog’s Night, the second book in The Hound Dogs Series, is a
unique blend of historical fiction, coming-of-age, and the power of music as
it forever alters lives in the name of rock-n-roll.
Do you know what it's like to win an Olympic gold, then have it stripped
away? I do.
Gold is every figure skater's life dream. At fifteen, I experienced the
thrill of wearing the medal for a few minutes until judges accuse me of
being too young to be eligible. That's when I realize my father's ultimate
lie could cost more than my title.
During our daring escape from Russia, I pressure my coach to tell the truth
about my adoption. But the quad combination and two world titles aren't
enough to keep the scandal from erasing my career and identity. Disgraced,
disqualified, and devastated, I can't face a rink, fans, or daily life. My
controlling dad's betrayal lights a fire to break free from his bad
decisions. My best friend and a journalist who will tell my story step in to
stop the downward spiral and help me uncover my past.
The story of Docia's fierce determination to discover her true identity,
unerase her career, and find the passion to skate again will engage teen
readers, figure skating fans, and anyone who's ever experience betrayal from
someone close.
About the Author
Addison Brae lives in Dallas, Texas on the edge of downtown. As a child,
she was constantly in trouble for hiding under the bed to read when she was
supposed to be napping. She has been writing since childhood starting with
diaries, letters, and short stories. She now writes new adult and adult
speculative and romantic suspense, and young adult contemporary fiction.
Addison’s still addicted to reading and enjoys jogging in her
neighborhood park, binge-watching TV series, vintage clothing, and hanging
out with her artistic other half and their geriatric kitten Lucy.
It's
been one hundred and sixty years since the Confederacy won its
independence at the Battle of Altamaha Crossing. Slaves of African
descent still perform most of the work in the South. This seems
normal to Ryan Walters and his friends who attend high school in
Huntsville, Alabama. Like teens everywhere, they enjoy sharing
videos, playing sports, and hanging out with friends. Jaybird's
drive-in is their favorite gathering place. There, they befriend
Mish, a slave girl who works as a car hop. When the drive-in’s
owner sells Mish to a dirty old man, Ryan and his friends awaken to
the injustice around them. Despite the danger, they decide to help
Mish escape. Will they succeed?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt
Melanie
wanders into the dining room and finds her parents already seated at
the table with their personal slaves standing behind them. Her
mother, Dorothy, takes a sip of orange juice and replaces the glass
on the lace tablecloth. Her servant, Natty, immediately gets a
pitcher from the sideboard and refills the glass. Meanwhile, James is
smiling at Melanie. “Morning, Miss,” he says. The white-haired
Black man pulls out her chair. Once she’s seated, he spreads a
cloth napkin over her lap.
“What
was all the ruckus at Jaybird’s last night?” Dan Montgomery asks.
He’s the mayor of Huntsville and knows everything.
“A
German boy started it,” Melanie says defensively.
“Yes,
and his father already called me to complain. He’s a big wheel at
The Space Flight Complex.”
“Sorry!”
Montgomery
points to the syrup. His slave, Parker, reaches for it and then
pours. “Enough,” Montgomery snaps. He turns back to Melanie. “You
and all the others will have a week of detention.”
Melanie
gasps. “What about cheerleading practice?”
“You
should have thought of that before you went to the drive-in. That’s
where all the delinquents hang out and you with them.”
“I
won’t go anymore. Please.” Melanie bats her baby blues at her
father. His expression melts. “Go to detention after school today,
and maybe we’ll see about tomorrow.”
“Thanks,
Dad.”
Montgomery
cuts off a bite of pancake and pops it into his mouth. That reminds
Melanie to eat as well. It’s almost time for the bus.
Guest Post
THOUGHTS ON WRITING IN A NEW GENRE
William A. Glass, Author
Thank-you for featuring my novel,
CROSSING DAY on READERS ROOST! This is my third novel but the
first one in the Young Adult genre. My previous books, As Good As
Can Be and Off Broadway are Historical Fiction based on
personnel experience. Because they are autobiographical, the stories
were already in my head. Crossing Day belongs to a new genre
for me. It takes place in a speculative world. So, for the first
time, I encountered the challenge of making a narrative up from
scratch. It was fun!
The similarity between the new book
and my previous two is that all are based on actual history. Crossing
Day is in the Alternative History subgenre of Young Adult. The
story follows a group of teenagers living in Alabama one hundred and
sixty years after the Civil War. Readers learn about the causes of
the war, and how it started. The alteration in actual history is that
in my story, the Confederacy gained its independence in the war. So,
even though the time period covered is the present, the characters in
the book are used to living in a country where slaves of African
descent still perform most of the labor. The teenagers complacency is
shattered by an event that causes them to rebel against the system.
Since the repressive Confederate government doesn’t take kindly to
descent, the action now becomes hot and heavy.
I really enjoyed writing in a new
genre, tackling controversial subject matter, and letting my
imagination run wild. Early readers of the manuscript were effusive
in their praise, so I’m excited to get the novel out there. The
launch date is May 15. Crossing Day will be available wherever
books are sold.
AUTHOR
Bio and Links:
Bill
is a retired business executive who now lives in a small southern
town with his wife, Bettina. She’s a retired high school German
teacher. Bill coaches soccer at a small college. Often, Bettina, who
has a commercial driver’s license, pilots the soccer team bus to
away games.
Bettina
and Bill have three sons, Alex, Robert, and Gordon who have all
graduated from college and moved away to pursue careers. Instead of
having an empty nest, Bettina and Bill now host three rescue dogs.
They enjoy finding promising hiking trails to explore with their
dogs.
The coming battle has been foretold by the myths of the Indigenous
Americans of the Arizona desert for generations.
Now, in the modern world, Alexa has celebrated twelve birthdays without her
father, and on the eve of her sixteenth, he mysteriously returns with a gift
she never imagined and a story of alien worlds beyond our own.
Can Alexa and her friends unlock the secrets of the Southwest, millions of
years in the making?
Can they stop the threat from a planet thousands of light-years away?
In this “can’t-put-it-down” young adult sci-fi fantasy, a
battle for the future of planet Earth, itself, is waged, and only a teenage
girl can save them, now.
About the Author
Phil Asmundson has taken an unusual path to publish his first
book—the first of a trilogy no less. He was an outdoor kid who built
not only miles of trails through the woods but also created adventures that
lived only in his mind. After a 33-year career at Deloitte & Touche, he
began researching Southwest myths, discovered the Tuar Tums' legend, and
brought them to life. He’s always had a passion for science and is
fond of saying, “True science is indistinguishable from magic.”
Phil and his wife, Kim, live in Arizona, where they own Deep Sky Vineyard
and spend their nights looking at the stars.
