John Staughton, Senior Reviewer

An unapologetic and darkly humorous memoir with a hit parade of a soundtrack, Life and How to Live It by Chaz Holesworth reminds readers that life at any age is rarely easy. Raised in a home fractured by addiction, the dark side of faith, and a shocking lack of communication, the author escapes into music as his guiding light, letting it lead him through a painful adolescence. This raw coming-of-age story is his unvarnished plunge into memory – an anecdotal flood of emotional confessions, casual reviews of iconic albums, and frank accounts of youthful resilience in the face of overwhelming […]

Potent prose, layered characters, nuanced emotion, and smoldering chemistry elevate Cypress Grace by Jeff Bartrom above the crowded and too-often predictable romance genre. Alex is a trauma-scarred “soldier without a battlefield,” while Olivia is a brooding artist channeling her persistent pain onto the canvas. The stormy connection of their melancholy souls in the sultry South is intense and irresistible, for both the characters and the reader. Unfurled in lyrical prose that is uniquely expressive and contemplative for romance, which confidently captures the cautious nature of embattled hearts, this novel is an affecting exploration of creation, identity, sacrifice, and redemption.

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A wildly imaginative collection of cosmic tales, Those Alien Skies by Clayton Graham is an ominous but entertaining vision of humanity’s future. A planet-leaping mission to confront a corrupted mentor, a search for missing children on an uncharted alien world, and a tense standoff against extraterrestrial masters of illusion, this tangled trio of novellas is alight with tension, drama, and ingenuity. From murderous impersonations and desperate lunar escapes to multi-universal spies, human hybrids, and secret peacekeeping incursions, these vibrantly spun stories are as immersive as they are unique, highlighted by meticulous detail and palpable emotional stakes. Extrapolating a wild future […]

A layered and revelatory second installment of The Nabukko Trilogy, K.R. Gadeken’s Daedalus deepens this already standout science fiction series. After being falsely arrested for a murderous spree that shakes her newfound community, Effie wins back the trust of some, but not all, and must learn to navigate her divided desire for answers, stability, and companionship. Muddling through a murky web of secrets, lies, and half-recollected memories, she journeys to uncover the truth about their collective Obliviation, and risks everything to break the survivors free of a vicious cycle of forgetting. With compelling prose and dextrous world-building, Gadeken puts […]

A gut-wrenching story of chosen family and the heartbreaks that define our identity, A Thousand More by K.S. Lynn delicately captures the burden of loss and the redemptive power of love. Identical twins Shelby and Michelle are separated at birth, but fate brings their lives back into orbit, forcing both to reckon with their inexplicable connection and painful secrets of the past. As they both embark on unexpected paths to motherhood amid their individual griefs, they come to learn what sacrifice and unconditional devotion really mean. A striking example of parallel storytelling that highlights women’s unbreakable bonds and timeless struggles, […]

An edgy slice of sci-fi layered with philosophical subtlety, Hypocrisy by A.J. Thibault posits a near-future crisis when Earthlings learn that non-human intelligence has been living among them for millennia. Caught in a cosmos-spanning war over a buried storehouse of galactic history, Alen Innocent is a bad alien with good intentions, and some serious concerns about the fate of the universe. Returning to the pale blue dot to save his niece and the remaining inhabitants of our “library planet,” this shape-shifting protagonist is a fascinating lead character to explore myriad issues of the human experience, encouraging readers to step back […]