A feast of family can be a plate load of problems! It’s the Sixties. Modernity and tradition clash as two newlywed couples set up house together.

Dee and her daughter Valerie move with their husbands into a modern glass house Valerie built in a proudly rural Los Altos, California, neighborhood. When their young relatives start showing up and moving in, the neighbors get suspicious. Then a body is found in the backyard and the life they are trying to build comes undone.

Father Mike is back to guide Dee through a difficult time with humor and grace, even as his own life is unraveling. Now he’s going to have to take some of his own advice about love. The sequel to The Sheep Walker's Daughter,

The Lyre and the Lambs explores the passions that draw people together and the faith it takes to overcome trauma.

"Prepare yourself to be taken on an emotional journey."

–Kellie Hodges, NC SBI, Special Agent In Charge of Human Trafficking and Crime Scene

Best friends Anna and Rosa are lured from the coffee fields of Nicaragua to a hotel in Costa Rica with the promise of steady employment as maids. They travel together with the excitement of a new life awaiting. What they find instead is a life of slavery and abuse.

Anna and Rosa are determined to rescue themselves and the others they befriend—but the journey will take them years and could cost them their lives.

Based on real-life stories, The Maid brings the problem of human trafficking to life and encourages readers to connect with the victims on a personal level.

The fate of mankind teeters on the edge of the megalith union.

Just as life was returning to normal for Brendan as a college freshman, the hands of fate intervene and adventure besets him again in the second installment of the best-selling Celtic Mythos series. Elethan, the golden god of Celtic lore, is reborn out of the ashes of a dead king and evil witch.

Through Brendan and his family, Elethan maneuvers the tendrils of destiny, seeking to gain ultimate power at the expense of all humanity. Dogged by giants, alphyns, and ruas Brendan, Dorian, Lizzie, and a new cast of characters risk it all to unravel the mystery of the ultimate foe.

With Corways under attack and Brendan's father captured by a forgotten enemy, can Brendan and his allies prevent the end of days? As the megalith union looms, Brendan and his friends must look to the past to prevent a future where Elathan reigns supreme. If you liked Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Fablehaven, you won't want to miss The Megalith Union!

An Illuminated Alphabet

Monica Byrne’s artfully crafted alphabet gives a whimsical nod to the illuminated manuscripts of ages past. This gorgeous book will take children on an art-filled journey from A to Z. With surprising entries in three languages, children will learn to see their letters—and the world around them—in a brand new light.

Sending your son or daughter off to college is never easy, but sending your pride and joy to the United States Military Academy is downright scary. There are so many unknowns—from Beast to boodle to all those confusing Army acronyms! In the beginning, you don’t even know what you don’t know. That’s where The Mom’s Guide to Surviving West Point comes in. Lisa and Debbie, veteran West Point moms and charter members of the West Point Moms Facebook group, are here to help moms like you navigate the next four years. Ultimately, your cadet will be the survivor and you will play a major supporting role.

This book is designed to guide you as you figure out how best to support and encourage your cadet through the next four years. You’ll find yourself turning to this book time and again as new questions arise while your cadet travels the road from candidate to graduate. Some have likened the 47-month adventure to a roller coaster ride. All types of twists and turns await you, but you can do this: you’re a West Point Mom!

For the first time, read the whole Montaland Adventures Trilogy in one eBook boxed set!

Captives of the Fern Queen is the first in a series of three stories that take place in Montaland, the mountain world. Montaland is a world of mountains: icy peaks, tree-covered ranges, rocky crags, and lowest of all—the grassy hills of the Kingdom of Mount Pasture. Hills shouldn’t be in a mountain world, especially not hills covered by smelly sheep. That’s what Mt. Pasture’s twelve-year-old Princess Janna thinks anyway, and when she tries to liven up her boring kingdom by telling the old stories to younger kids, everyone gets angry at her. Janna would give anything to get out of her kingdom and see something from the old stories, but when she does get out, it’s not exactly what she had in mind. Crawling through a dark tunnel isn’t fun and neither is starving as a prisoner of the Fern Queen.

Fernpeople. In the second book of the Montaland series the evil Fern Queen is dead but five green-veined fernpeople have survived. They will do anything to protect themselves. The Kingdom of Mount Pasture seems like a peaceful, safe place. The most exciting event in eleven-year-old Benk’s life is lambing time. His older brother Alland is traveling to another kingdom to woo a princess. This infuriates Benk who is left behind with pregnant sheep duty. Sixteen-year-old Janna is baking cookies in Mount Pasture’s castle kitchen when something hits her on the head, knocking her to the floor. As she loses consciousness, Janna has a dazed vision of a green-veined arm coming around her and roughly lifting her up. Fernpeople! Fernpeople have her! Benk “borrows” a horse and sets out from Mount Pasture. Wolves start howling near the fernpeople’s hidden cave—and Janna, held hostage, wonders how she can keep going.

Benk and the Ugly Princess. In Montaland, the mountain world, there are different kingdoms. Rose, a high-ranking princess in one of the kingdoms, has disguised herself to look ugly, but her coverup is exposed and she will soon be forced to marry the highest bidder. She must escape, but how far can she get on her own? Benk is a famous scout who finds Rose and wants to help her, but they are trapped in a cabin by evil wedewolves. Will even Benk be able to plan his way out of this one? Benk and the Ugly Princess is a fun fantasy with likeable characters who deal with one danger after another and find that the Maker of all worlds comes through for them—in unexpected ways.

"The Moscow Affair is a thoroughly entertaining and unforgettable thriller punctuated by smart dialog, richly crafted scenes, and a topical plot." –Dave Edlund, USA Today bestselling author of Valiant Savage

In this fast-paced mystery, P.I. Nicole Graves agrees to an unusual, short-term assignment working for MI6 in Russia. It sounds straightforward, even pleasant: a two-week luxury riverboat cruise on the Volga, observing a group of fellow passengers and filing a daily report on their activities. It's simple enough, except for one caveat: No matter what these people do, she’s to tell her handler at MI6—no one else, especially not the Russian police. When one of the riverboat passengers winds up dead, Nicole realizes this assignment was anything but straightforward.

Soon, Nicole is immersed in a high-stakes game of murder and espionage where trusting a stranger can be as deadly as a bullet.

"Nicole Graves is the best fictional sleuth to come down the pike since Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone." –Laura Levine, bestselling author of the Jaine Austen Mysteries

The Nicole Graves Mysteries have been compared to the mysteries of Mary Higgins Clark and praised for contributing to the "women-driven mystery field with panache" (Foreword Reviews) as well as for their "hold-onto-the-bar roller coaster" plots (RT Book Reviews).

Kirkus Reviews concluded, "Boyarsky's weightless complications expertly combine menace with bling, making the heroine's adventures both nightmarish and dreamy." And Foreword Reviews has fallen for the "tough and likable protagonist Nicole Graves" while Midwest Book Review praises the "exquisite tension" throughout the plot.

Each book in the Nicole Graves Mysteries is written as a stand-alone. Readers do not need to read every book in the series to follow along.

Author Stephen Martino delivers an action-packed medical thriller in a heart-stopping race to save humanity.

In the year 2080, a deadly retrovirus is inadvertently released upon the planet. Facing financial ruin and catastrophic loss of life, the world's nations turn to acclaimed neuroscientist Alex Pella and NIH expert Marissa Ambrosia. Assembling a team of experts, the scientists begin an international search for the cure while fighting off a foreign elite military unit sent to stop them at all costs. Guided by a code concealed within the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, the scientists must traverse ancient lands and solve a biblical riddle in their quest to save humanity from its eminent destruction.

Drawing from both our nation's politically charged environment and the worldwide economic crisis, The New Reality follows Alex Pella on a journey that projects a frightening path for human existence in the twenty-first century.

Tess Goodwin’s life in rural Iowa is sheltered and uncomplicated. Although she chooses to spend most of her free time playing chess with her best friend Zander, the farm-boy from next door, her skills as a bovine midwife and tractor mechanic ensure that she fits in with the other kids at West Hancock High. But when her veteran father reenlists in the Army, moving her family halfway across the country to North Carolina, Tess is forced out of her comfort zone into a world she knows nothing about.

When Leonetta Jackson is assigned as her mentor, she becomes Tess’s unexpected guide through the winding labyrinth of cultural disparities between them, sparking a tentative friendship and challenging Tess to confront her reluctant nature. As the pieces move across the board of her upended life, will Tess find the acceptance she so desperately desires?

The Swap - Book 1 in the Nicole Graves Mystery series

"full of page-by-page surprises" –Kirkus Reviews

"a hold-onto-the-bar roller coaster of a mystery" –RT Book Reviews

When Nicole Graves arranges a summer-long swap of her Los Angeles condo for a London couple’s house, she thinks it’s the perfect arrangement. She’s always dreamed of seeing the real London; she’s also hopeful the time away with her husband Brad will be good for their troubled marriage. But things don’t turn out the way Nicole expects: The Londoners fail to arrive in L.A. and appear to be missing. Then people begin following Nicole and making threats, demanding information she doesn’t have. Soon, Nicole realizes she’s in serious trouble––but she can’t get Brad or the police to believe her. When the confrontations turn deadly, Nicole must either solve the case or become the next victim.

Winner of the Eric Hoffer Award — Best Micro Press Book of the Year

The Bequest - Book 2 in the Nicole Graves Mystery series

Nicole Graves, still reeling from her London kidnapping in The Swap, is struggling to balance work at L.A.’s most prestigious law firm and a long-distance romance with her English lover. Things go sideways when she tracks down a missing colleague. The murder of the firm’s in-house investigator, his mysterious wealth, and his inexplicable bequest make Nicole a target for the police, the paparazzi, and the killer. When Nicole’s life takes an unexpected turn, she uncovers evil and corruption among the city’s most powerful people. The fast-paced mystery unravels against the backdrop of L.A. with its peculiar mix of balmy weather, the celebrity-crazed media, and a corrupt power structure hidden by the veneer of glamour and wealth.

“Boyarsky’s weightless complications expertly combine menace with bling, making the heroine’s adventures both nightmarish and dreamy.” –Kirkus Reviews

Liar Liar - Book 3 in the Nicole Graves Mystery series

Nicole Graves finds herself in the crosshairs when she reluctantly agrees to babysit a witness in a high-profile rape trial. Mary Ellen Barnes is suing her university’s star quarterback for rape when the authorities won’t act. In the court of public opinion, Mary Ellen appears to be the quintessential, pious, good girl. But her lies and mysterious comings and goings lead Nicole to suspect that she’s not what she seems. It isn’t just Mary Ellen who’s acting suspiciously. No one wants to own up to the truth in _Liar Liar_, not even Nicole, whose fiancé begs her not to look into the case. But when the witness goes missing during the trial, Nicole is caught up in a tangle of lies that turns deadly. After the investigator assigned to the case fails to do his job, Nicole is determined to find the killer on her own, no matter the risks. The truth is elusive in Liar Liar.

“Nicole Graves is a charming and straight-shooting heroine” –Foreword Reviews

“Nicole Graves is the best fictional sleuth to come down the pike since Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone.” –Laura Levine, author of the popular Jaine Austen Mysteries

The Ransom (Nicole Graves Mysteries, #4)

"Nicole Graves is the best fictional sleuth to come down the pike since Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone." –Laura Levine, bestselling author of the Jaine Austen Mysteries

As a newly minted private investigator, Nicole Graves expects to take on legal cases for corporate clients. But when her client’s son, Brad Rexton, is killed trying to protect his wife, Ashley, from a home invasion-turned-kidnapping, the firm is hired to investigate what will become Nicole's most dangerous case yet.

Within a few days, someone dear to Nicole is kidnapped in the same manner as Ashley. Nicole is willing to hand over the ransom at any cost but finds it’s not so easy. The kidnappers have an uncanny ability to track her every move, and they suspect a trap. When their most terrifying threat is delivered to her door, Nicole is faced with a dreadful choice: Can she count on the police or must she risk going it alone?

The Entitled (Nicole Graves Mysteries, #5)

"Vibrant street scenes, swift pacing, and Nicole’s steely nerve make The Entitled an entertaining adventure." – Foreword Reviews

Travel to London and retrieve Abigail Fletcher, a 17-year-old in a study abroad program at the prestigious King’s College in London. The assignment sounds simple enough.

But Abigail’s return is put on indefinite hold when she’s charged with the murder of her boyfriend, a former student at King’s. Nicole believes Abigail has been framed, but the victim’s tight-knit circle of friends and relatives are most unwilling to talk to an American detective. Further complicating the case, is Abigail’s defiant and uncooperative demeanor.

As evidence stacks up against Abigail, Nicole discovers that she herself has become the next target. Nicole’s first solo case abroad as a private detective has just turned a lot more deadly than she ever anticipated.

The Nicole Graves Mysteries have been compared to the mysteries of Mary Higgins Clark and praised for contributing to the "women-driven mystery field with panache" (Foreword Reviews) as well as for their "hold-onto-the-bar roller coaster" plots (RT Book Reviews).

Kirkus Reviews concluded, "Boyarsky's weightless complications expertly combine menace with bling, making the heroine's adventures both nightmarish and dreamy." And Foreword Reviews has fallen for the "tough and likable protagonist Nicole Graves" while Midwest Book Review praises the "exquisite tension" throughout the story.

The Moscow Affair (Nicole Graves Mysteries, #6)

"The Moscow Affair is a thoroughly entertaining and unforgettable thriller punctuated by smart dialog, richly crafted scenes, and a topical plot." –Dave Edlund, USA Today bestselling author of Valiant Savage

In this fast-paced mystery, P.I. Nicole Graves agrees to an unusual, short-term assignment working for MI6 in Russia. It sounds straightforward, even pleasant: a two-week luxury riverboat cruise on the Volga, observing a group of fellow passengers and filing a daily report on their activities. It's simple enough, except for one caveat: No matter what these people do, she’s to tell her handler at MI6—no one else, especially not the Russian police. When one of the riverboat passengers winds up dead, Nicole realizes this assignment was anything but straightforward.

Soon, Nicole is immersed in a high-stakes game of murder and espionage where trusting a stranger can be as deadly as a bullet.

When a mad witch with a magically crafted and frightfully powerful Obsidian Dagger threatens to obliterate humanity and overtake the magic clans of the Celtic Isles, destiny forces 17-year-old American, Brendan O'Neal, and his younger sister, Lizzie, to intervene.

Joining the desperate princess of the Leprechauns, Dorian, and her two loyal companions, Rory and Biddy, they embark on a dangerous and wondrous adventure across Ireland and Scotland to thwart the witch and save mankind.

Battling the witch's mutated forces of magical beings, the heroic band will have to reach deeper into themselves than they ever thought possible to find the strength, courage, and will to see their quest through to the end. Brendan will soon learn that the lines between reality, mythology, and divinity are more blurred than he ever imagined.

"Edwards solidifies his place in the hallowed ground of Brad Meltzer, Steve Berry and James Rollins. Not to be missed." —Jon Land, USA Today bestselling author

“A well-crafted story of conspiracies and secrets that is as imaginative as it is compelling." —Steve Berry, New York Times and #1 international bestselling author

"To catch a phantom, you must open your mind to new realities and venture far into the unknown.” —The Omega Accord

After shocking murders ravage the Federal Reserve, FBI agents Mackenzie Fallon and Morgan Nash are assigned to investigate. As clues reveal connections to secret societies and ancient symbols, Mackenzie and Morgan traverse the globe in search of the truth.

The investigation twists and turns, revealing a secret brotherhood pulling the strings behind Presidential assassinations, Vatican successions, and government destabilization. The deeper Mackenzie and Morgan dig, the murkier the lines between friend and foe become.

With pandemics and global war threatening the world they love, Mackenzie and Morgan must race against a shadowy brotherhood to eliminate the mastermind before everything they love crumbles around them.

This high-octane thriller is full of conspiracy and espionage, painting a world where nothing is as it seems.

Curl says she’d rather die than spend the rest of her life trapped under Wasso Lake.

What if her wish is coming true?

Nineteen-years-old and still longing to see new things, Curl plans an exploration trip with Lynn’s sons, Mindik and Chera. Their goal is to find Tarth’s legendary Opal Cavern.

Lacht has recurrent, heavy feelings that her Wassandra friend shouldn’t go, but nobody listens and the team leaves.

Then Wave learns something from an old Wassandra diary that can mean life or death for Curl. A rescue team rushes off but they don’t know how long it will take to find her.

They do know that if they don’t find her soon, time will run out before they can get her back.

RNA-sequencing is one of the most powerful tools available to cancer researchers, but it is not without its challenges.

In this book, Dr. Rathe provides a plethora of user-friendly tools and methods to assist cancer researchers in making the most of their RNA- sequencing data.

Dr. Rathe describes a novel approach to prioritize the gene and pathway changes in controlled experiments (DEAPR), as well as a causal deconstruction process for uncovering disease-specific expression patterns in patient samples (NODC). In addition, her experience with characterizing unusual cellular changes directly related to the use of CRISPR and Sleeping Beauty is a must for researchers utilizing these cell modification techniques. Her personalized approach makes the reading experience enjoyable as well as informative.

"I am pleased that Sue has pulled together this entertaining and easy-to-understand technical manual, so cancer researchers outside of my laboratory can benefit from her experience and avoid many of the pitfalls associated with RNA-seq data." —David A. Largaespada, PhD Professor, University of Minnesota

The War may be over, but secrets linger.

While World War II has been over for two years, its horrors linger within society, and chance encounters expose the still-festering wounds. Like most Americans, Beatrix Patterson and her husband Thomas Ling are trying to accept the past in order to focus on the future and a family.

Despite her desire for a quiet life, Beatrix must become a pursuer of truth once again when asked to expose suspected war criminals who may have killed thousands, a diabolical scheme to rob Indigenous Americans of their relics, and a person practicing voodoo as a means to murder a respected member of the Santa Barbara religious community.

Who can she trust to speak the truth when everyone involved seems to be hiding something that could ruin their lives?

Each book in the Beatrix Patterson Mysteries is written as a stand-alone. Readers do not need to read every book in the series to follow along.

As a newly minted private investigator, Nicole Graves expects to take on legal cases for corporate clients. But when her client’s son, Brad Rexton, is killed trying to protect his wife, Ashley, from a home invasion-turned-kidnapping, the firm is hired to investigate. Nicole soon discovers that Ashley is not the person she claims to be, but her real identity remains a mystery.

Meanwhile, a long-delayed and undesired inheritance is finally deposited into Nicole’s bank account. Within a few days, someone dear to Nicole is kidnapped in the same manner as Ashley. The perpetrators demand Nicole’s full inheritance as ransom. She’s willing to hand the money over but finds it’s not so easy. The kidnappers have an uncanny ability to track her every move, and they suspect a trap. When their most terrifying threat is delivered to her door, Nicole is faced with a terrible choice: Should she count on the police or risk going it alone? Each Nicole Graves books can be read in the series or as a stand-alone novel.

One child could change the future of humanity.

Eleven years after a virus swept through the world, small, spread-out gangs are all that's left of humanity. Veena Osborne and her mentor, Abraham Jones, lead the Tierrans through the daily trials of surviving in post-apocalyptic San Diego. Together, they cling to the daily disciplines of faith and life that keep them safe and alive.

When Nate Sinclair stumbles out of a NASA-sponsored suspended animation experiment and into a world changed by catastrophic fires and pandemics, he finds his way to the Tierrans, and to Veena. The miraculous preservation of Nate through all the trials of the world might be enough to keep a sterile humanity alive, but the spreading knowledge of his immunity threatens to push the surviving humans into all-out war.

This apocalyptic novel is sure to entice fans of P.D. James (The Children of Men), Lauren James (The Quiet at the End of the World), and Clare Morrall (When the Floods Came) with its vibrant characters and intense storylines.

Paul Dodge is ready to return to his normal job as a Parole Agent in Virginia after a much-needed—and not very restful—personal hiatus. When a local street woman is found dead, he's assigned to work the case despite his personal objections.

Now working a case outside of his normal expertise with a new team and a boss he isn't sure he can trust, Dodge tries to make the best of the bad situation. The sooner the case is closed the sooner he can get back to his parole work rather than poking his nose into the life of a serial killer.

With the killer growing in confidence and an old flame back in town, Dodge's personal and professional lives get tested and tangled. When accusations fly and tensions rise, time is running out for Dodge to find justice for the victims and stop a psychopath before the body count rises again.

Don't Miss the other books in the Paul Dodge series:

Trust Misplaced

Last Rays of Daylight

While they are a series, the Paul Dodge novels can be read and enjoyed in any order.

It’s February 1942. War grips the world. Asian hate runs rampant, and New Orleans is a dangerous place for Chinese-English scientist Thomas Ling as he collides with self-proclaimed psychic Beatrix Patterson. She's a good liar with an excellent memory, which in truth is her only gift—well, that and conning the well-heeled out of their money and secrets.

Hired by the US Army to use her connections to expose Nazi saboteurs and sympathizers, Beatrix recruits the reluctant Thomas. Together, they pit their skills against a government conspiracy, terrorist cells, kidnappings, and murderous plots. As Beatrix grapples with the truth of her own past, she must come to terms with her ruse. Exposing the Nazi war machine about to invade the country could cost Beatrix everything she's worked so hard to build. But the information she and Thomas uncover could change the outcome of the war.

The question remains: will anyone believe a liar and a suspected traitor?

Does it really matter where you come from?

In 1953, a war widow’s difficult mother dies before revealing the identity of her daughter’s father and his cultural heritage. As Dee sorts through what little her mother left, she unearths puzzling clues that raise more questions: Why did Leora send money every month to the Basque Relief Agency? Why is her own daughter so secretive about her soon-to-be-published book? And what does an Anglican priest know that he isn’t telling?

All of this head-spinning mystery breaks a long, dry period in Dee’s life and leads her to embark on an odyssey. She might just as well lose her job and see where the counsel of her new spiritual advisor and the attentions of an enigmatic ex-coworker lead her.

The Sheep Walker’s Daughter pairs a colorful Basque immigrant history of loss, survival, and tough choices with one woman’s search for identity and fulfillment. Dee’s journey will take her through the Northern and Central California valleys of the 1950s and reach across the world to the Basque Country.

Can Nellie rescue her broken-hearted daughter, and give badly needed direction to her headstrong granddaughter who is on a path to disaster?

Rachel, a middle-aged novelist and university professor in North Carolina, finds herself in a downward spiral when she learns that her brother Dennis, from whom she’s been estranged for decades, is dying. The news brings back memories she has long repressed.

As she reflects on how early trauma changed the trajectory of her life, Rachel remembers her youth and begins to rethink her role as a woman, a daughter, a wife, and a mother, reexamining the life she’s found herself living.

At times, Rachel's attempts to mine her own complicated past and to weave her memories into the fabric of her professional and creative work are laugh-out-loud funny; at other times, they're painful, though always off-beat and deeply intimate.

Emily is playing on her swing in the backyard when she sees movement near the porch. Dirt is flying through the lattice work to make a pile on the grass. Someone, or something, is digging under the porch! She stops to investigate and encounters a small, sad skunk named Adam. He’s lost something important. Emily sets out to help him.

We have all been confused by words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. This charming story is perfect for kids learning the differences between such words. The whimsical tale is followed by a list of some common words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Also included are several Fun Facts about skunks and an easy recipe for a tasty snack to make with a grown-up.

A depressed eighteen-year-old

An old couple with a terrible secret

A new exploration on an ancient mountain

In the bowels of the mountain, two boulders leaned against a wall in a small chamber. Everything was as it had been for years upon years. No sounds from the explorers working on the surface above penetrated to the chamber. It was the deepest of the deep places. Then the air changed. The change was barely discernible, but it was there.

One of the boulders moved. Slowly, impossibly, it stood upright. A grating sound came from it, and the other boulder slowly moved upward. For a long time, the boulders stood next to each other, motionless. Finally, as if hearing a cue only they could hear, they moved forward out of the small chamber.