The Indie Books & Authors Newsletter #20
Celebrating amazing indie authors! Find your next indie read today!
Editor’s Note
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New Releases
The Accidental Cop by Eve Koguce
Youth is supposed to be the best time of your life. But if you enter adulthood during the savage 90s, it can turn into your personal hell.
Roberts Bergs had to start making difficult choices early in life. With few options to choose from, he settles for available ones. Beggars cannot be choosers, is his motto.
His coursemates at the Police Academy dip their toes into adulthood while still living in the cocoon of their parental homes. For them, life is about parties, new experiences, and searching for their true self. For Roberts, it’s about poverty, hunger, and not being killed by a crazed drunkard with an axe during a patrol shift.
A patrolman of the Public Order Police patrol battalion isn’t Roberts’s dream job. But it is better than not having one. Trudging through the grim slums of the city, his interest in arts, history, and literature is what sustains him.
He believes in human dignity and freedom of choice. He wants to become a lawyer.
To succeed you must play by the rules. Roberts learns the rules quickly. The system run by the Soviet-era ex-militia officers is a good teacher. Who you know counts for more than your abilities, qualifications, and knowledge. The system also doesn’t tolerate disobedience.
Still, Roberts keeps climbing up the career ladder. The contrast between those who play by the rules and those who believe in honesty and justice becomes starker. Luxury and self-indulgence for the first, and dragging out a miserable existence for the latter.
Roberts has to make more difficult choices. Is it worth it to remain true to his principles? Or is succumbing to the corrupted and merciless system the only way to survive?
Set in Latvia at the end of the first post-Soviet decade, The Accidental Cop is a blend of noir crime and police procedural with psychological suspense elements.
The Less Year: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Story by C K Oldfield
AFTER 20 YEARS OF PEACE, COLLAPSE IS ON THE HORIZON.
WILL THE NAMELESS SON OF MAGNUS AND MARIAM SURVIVE THE DESTRUCTION?
OR WILL HE BE JUST ANOTHER VICTIM OF THE BRUTAL LESS YEAR?
Magnus and Mariam never named their son. Why name a thing that may not live to earn it? Tucked away on the broiling edge of failed civilization, their reclusive child is left to fumble his way through a dangerous and cruel world that is only going to get crueler.
Because a Less Year is coming.
For the first time in twenty years, no trade along the world's last road is to be permitted. No trees are to be felled, no stones quarried. For an entire year, every village and town must isolate. So the land can heal. So the population can dwindle.
As resources wither and betrayal looms, the nameless Boy must embrace his parents' secret survivalist ways lest he succumb to a world set on destroying itself.
Because less is coming. It’s coming for everyone...
A Widow's Kiss by Penny Benjamin
Cara Danforth, a beautiful young woman with a fiery temper and the tenacity to match, is setting out to save her beloved home, Danforth House, and protect her three siblings from the ruination left in the wake of their father’s death. Piecing together reasons for their current economic state, Cara devises a plan to take back what was rightfully theirs.
Arriving home after years in the field, Roland Acworth, the Duke of Fairhaven, pondered his current situation. He was a spy not a guardian. What on earth was he going to do with four small children? It would appear, he would have time to figure it out. For before he could venture to Danforth Estates, Roland’s superiors tasked him with finding the thief responsible for a string of robberies amongst England’s elite.
The Hook by Catherine Morrison - now available on Audible
Kate arrives in New York on a mission to right a wrong. Posing as a reporter, she enlists the help of New York Times Editor Mike Kelly. Sparks fly as they try to uncover the motives for embezzlement and murder, and they embark on a whirlwind romance that is almost certain to fail. Will she let him break down her defenses? Will he still want to when he discovers her lie?
Guinevere: Bright Shadow by Sarah Provost
“You may think you know my story. My name has been bandied in ballads and jests, for good and (mostly) for ill. High Queen, priestess, adulterer… but first and always a woman. Courage and honor shaped me; ecstasy transported me; grief, betrayal and terror tempered me.
“My loyalty to the Goddess was supreme. But as the new religion took hold, the pagan way was threatened with extinction. There were those on both sides who would use me as a pawn in that battle, even if it meant taking my life.
“Yes, I bear my portion of blame. I loved Arthur, and I loved Lancelot, will I or no. But that was only one element in the impending chaos. Britain was divided, my love was divided, and such divisions cannot endure. I did everything in my power – and learned new powers – to prevent an all-out war. But would it be enough?”
Pre-Order Now
Exile (The Caein Legacy Book 1) by A J Calvin
Explore a new epic fantasy series featuring forbidden magic, dragon-shifters, and a villain who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. Exile is the first book in The Caein Legacy.
Andrew grew up in the royal palace of Novania, the eldest son of the queen. He went on to achieve fame and glory as a renowned soldier, and was eventually named commander of the king’s army. The kingdom believed he would be named heir to the throne, but he has long known he is ineligible. The king is not his father.
The truth of Andrew’s lineage is only partially known to the king; the identity of his father is a mystery that even Andrew is unaware of. He knows only that his father was a dragon-mage, and the dragons have fled to another world. Andrew is a skin-changer, but the laws of Novania forbid his very existence. If the king were to learn the truth of what he is, he would face execution.
The laws are equally hostile to humans born with the Mark of the Magi and the ability to wield magic. Andrew’s younger half-brother, Alexander, bears the Mark. The pair keep one another’s secrets into adulthood…Until the king dies unexpectedly and Colin ascends the throne.
When Alexander’s Mark is revealed for all to see, Andrew is faced with a choice: To watch his brother be killed, or reveal his true nature in an effort to save him from the headsman’s axe.
*** New indie releases and pre-orders wanted! Send in details for the opportunity to be featured! ***
Book Review
What I Meant When I Said I’m Fine by Hazel Gahagan, reviewed by N S Ford
When someone asks how you are, what's your reply? You probably say "I'm fine", regardless of how you're feeling. Anyone who has experienced anxiety, overwhelm, pain, grief, fear, new diagnoses, or any other challenges to their mental health will find both recognition and comfort in these poems. There is both darkness and light in this collection and I really admire how authentic the expression is. The overall message of this book, at least what I took from it, is that it's OK to open up and talk about how you're feeling, even if you're not fine. Taking a courageous look at what's going on in your head, talking to someone about it, or even writing it down, are steps towards hope and recovery.
*** Book Reviews wanted! Send in a review of an indie book you enjoyed and get a FREE promotional ad for your books/website/services in an edition of the Newsletter! ***
Free Book
The Psychic Cafe Mysteries Box Set 1 by April Fernsby
(Available for free on Amazon US and UK at the time of this Newsletter issue)
*** If you are an indie author with a free book promotion coming up in the next few weeks, or have a book available perma-free, send details to the Editor for the opportunity for inclusion in the Newsletter. ***
News Round-Up and Featured Promotion will be back next week!
The Indie Books & Authors Newsletter is compiled and edited by N S Ford, indie author and book blogger.