Hey, back to phone blogging since I can only use one hand, which is why I’m sick and being told that it’s all in my head doesn’t help at all. Anyway, this week’s topic is about indie authors and indie reads. Lucky for me, I do keep an indie shelf on Goodreads, so I’ll pick from there. Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl, who has a new weekly topic.
Goodreads Blurb:
Philip Sanders believed the truth would keep his family safe. He was wrong.
His wife is gone.
His son cannot accept her loss.
And someone is still watching.
When Ellie’s final documentary is released without warning, it does more than raise questions–it turns Philip into a suspect. Colleagues distance themselves. Friends disappear. The life Philip thought he understood begins to collapse.
Desperate for answers, he returns to the film she left behind—studying it frame by frame, searching for what she was trying to reveal… and who she was trying to expose.
What he finds reaches far beyond New York—into a network of quiet power, hidden alliances, and decisions made far from public view.
Then a message arrives.
It offers the truth, at a price.
But in the Zone of Deceit, the price is always too high.
It will take everything he has lefe
Goodreads Blurb:
Inheriting a rundown bar from the father who abandoned me should be my chance to start over.
Instead, it puts me directly in the path of Hudson Fitzgerald—single dad, small town royalty, and the most insufferable man I’ve ever met. He’s rich, broody, and way too good-looking for my peace of mind.
Oh, and he wants me gone.
But I didn’t come here just to tuck my tail and run away. I came to prove I’m not the hot mess everyone thinks I am. Even if that means going head-to-head with Hudson every single day.
He thinks I’m chaos in a crop top. I think he’s a control freak with a stick where the sun doesn’t shine. But beneath all that tension is something else. Something electric.
And when he kisses me? Let’s just say, for a man who claims he doesn’t do messy, he sure knows how to make a mess of me.
I was only supposed to be here long enough to fix up my bar. I never meant to fall for the man who runs this place like he owns it.
But in a small town like this, love has a way of sneaking up on you.
Goodreads Blurb:
Samantha is a reclusive mountain woman, and that’s just fine with her. But Samantha’s sister, Mallory, drags the stoic mountain woman out of her cabin and forces her to attend Camp Pride’s staff party. Samantha’s old high school sweetheart has returned to the tiny mountain town to work at the summer camp as an art teacher. Sparks fly between Samantha and Caroline, their old flame quickly rekindling. But Caroline will only be in town for two months, so they agree to have a no strings attached summer fling. No one’s ever had problems with that arrangement, right?
Goodreads Blurb:
A fresh start, a twist of fate, and a whole lot of unexpected drama.
Freshly divorced Rosi Laruee—named Rosisophia Doroche after her mother’s beloved Golden Girls—is ready for a quiet, stress-free reset at the Tucson Valley Retirement Community. What she doesn’t expect? Tripping (literally) into a murder mystery. But when local troublemaker Salem Mansfield turns up dead, Rosi’s peaceful retreat turns into a full-blown investigation.
With nothing but her rusty reporter instincts, a mischievous Golden Retriever puppy (who’s more trouble than she bargained for), and a lovable crew of nosy seniors who think they’re the real detectives, Rosi is all in—whether she likes it or not. Add in a suspiciously handsome landscaper, a less-than-helpful police officer, a raucous karaoke night, and more juicy secrets than you can keep up with at a bingo night, and Rosi finds herself knee-deep in a case that’s equal parts puzzling, hilarious, and heartwarming.
Goodreads Blurb:
Sydney Smith is used to hitting impossible targets. Becoming America’s most wanted woman was never part of the plan. Framed for assassinating a senator, the Montana sharpshooter is suddenly running for her life with nothing but borrowed disguises, a wrecked reputation, and one homeless pit bull who decides he belongs to her. Clearing her name is going to take a miracle. Or something even more dangerous.
Harper Wasden already ruined Sydney for every other man with one devastating kiss. Then he got called to duty and vanished, leaving her with a memory no real-life man has ever come close to touching. Now he is back—stepping into the chaos like he owns it, and looking at her like he never forgot that kiss either.
But Harper is trouble in all the ways Sydney should know better than to trust. He is smooth, reckless, sinfully handsome, and far too experienced at making women melt. He says he is here to help her clear her name. He says if that fails, he will smuggle her out of the country and keep her safe. But Sydney is not about to hand her heart to a charming bad boy unless he can prove she is not just another woman in his orbit. She needs more than heat. She needs to know she is the only one.
Now, with the FBI closing in, a killer still free, and Cooper stealing every scene he wags into, Sydney has to decide what is more the men hunting her, or the man who can kiss her breathless, and make forever sound far too tempting.
Goodreads Blurb:
Coming from a small, rural town in North Carolina, Sawyer grapples with what it means to grow up queer, where the population of queer people was, to the untrained eye, non-existent. Nuanced with the societal constructs of the gender binary, they deconstruct what it means to be queer in an evangelical Southern family. From growing up being a family proclaimed “tomboy,” to joining the Army under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Sawyer brings you a collection of essays detailing everything from coming out, to family life to church hurt and everything in between. Candid, honest, insightful, and sometimes breathtakingly haunting,
Coming Home is all about finding your queer voice in a heteronormative world. With an honest zeal for life, this set of essays will show you what it truly means to come home.
Goodreads Blurb:
Hell’s most incompetent demon meets Earth’s most hopeless romantic.
All Ethan wanted was someone who could help him find love—or at least someone to pop his cherry. A spell from an odd book he found at the library promised him a wish from Cupid. Sure, some of the ingredients weren’t easy to get, but he could improvise. Was there really that much difference between dried laurel leaves and coriander?
He never meant to summon a demon.
Malphas hasn’t been to Earth in a hundred years, not since he accidentally created a massively successful support group for gamblers and saved hundreds of souls from damnation. As punishment, he’s stuck in Hell’s archives filing dusty prophecies because his boss is convinced he’s incapable of being properly evil.
When Ethan’s summoning yanks him topside, he sees his chance to prove himself. He’ll make a deal with the human—and collect that blindingly bright soul.
All he has to do is to help Ethan get together with his crush.
What could possibly go wrong?
Goodreads Blurb:
Jenna
There are two things you need to know about me: I’m very independent and I’m a genius. Literally, I’m a genius. At least that’s what my IQ score says. But even being a genius, mistakes are bound to happen. I am human, after all. It all started one night when a sexy billionaire bought me a drink and I accidentally tossed it all over his five-thousand-dollar suit. He tried to blame me, but in actuality, it was his fault because of his lack of respect for my personal boundaries. I offered to pay for the dry cleaning and gave him my number to let me know how much it cost. He did, and we ended up spending the night together. Long story short, the condom broke, I forgot to take my pill two days in a row and we mistakenly created a baby. I never planned on telling him about the baby until I lost my job, and my landlord turned the apartments I lived in into condos. He told me he couldn’t be a father, and I was okay with that. I didn’t need a man complicating my life. I was all set to embark on my journey as a single parent until…
Lucas
The only thing I did was notice a beautiful woman and buy her a drink. A drink she carelessly spilled all over me and then had the nerve to say it was my fault. I forgave her because I wanted her. At least for one night. Maybe I should have just forgotten about her and thrown her number away. But I didn’t, and a mishap occurred during our one-night stand that resulted in a baby. I wasn’t father material, or maybe I was, but just didn’t want to be. The last thing I needed in my life was baby drama. I liked my bachelor life the way it was, and Jenna was cool with that. She made it clear she didn’t want me involved. I was all set to continue on with my life as if nothing happened until…
Goodreads Blurb:
One simple mistake…
When out of work graphic designer Verity Long accidentally traps a ghost on her property, she’s saddled with more than a supernatural sidekick—she gains the ability see spirits. It leads to an offer she can’t refuse from the town’s bad boy, who also happens to be the brother of her ex and the last man she should ever partner with.
Ellis Wydell is in possession of a stunning historic property haunted by some of Sugarland Tennessee’s finest former citizens. Only some of them are growing restless—and destructive. He hires Verity to put an end to the disturbances. But soon, Verity learns there’s more to the mysterious estate than floating specters, secret passageways, and hidden rooms.
There’s a modern day mystery afoot, one that hinges on a decades-old murder. Verity isn’t above questioning the living, or the dead. But can she discover the truth before the killer finds her?
Goodreads Blurb:
I’m Princess Alice, and I’m determined to forge my own path outside the palace walls as I prepare to start university.
But when your father is the King and every move you make is scrutinized by the public, nothing is ever simple—especially when it comes to finding a flat and convincing my parents to let me live on my own.
Just as I think I’m getting things under control, another challenge comes my my longtime security officer, Bruce, announces his retirement.
Enter Arthur—the grumpy, rule-following officer assigned to replace him.
No matter how hard I try to have him reassigned, it looks like I’m stuck with him until the end of the summer.
Can I handle having him around, or will I discover that sometimes the greatest engineering feats happen in matters of the heart?