Coma Girl by @stephaniebond

When Never Comes by @bdavisauthor

An Amazon Charts most-read and most-sold book.

Author Barbara Davis deftly explores an emotionally charged landscape of pain, loss, and despair—and the risk one woman will take in the hope of loving again.

As a teenage runaway and child of an addict, Christy-Lynn learned the hard way that no address was permanent, and no promise sacred. For a while, she found a safe haven in her marriage to bestselling crime novelist Stephen Ludlow—until his car skidded into Echo Bay. But Stephen’s wasn’t the only body pulled from the icy waters that night. When details about a mysterious violet-eyed blonde become public, a media circus ensues, and Christy-Lynn runs again.

Desperate for answers, she’s shattered to learn that Stephen and his mistress had a child—a little girl named Iris, who now lives in poverty with her ailing great-grandmother. The thought of Iris abandoned to the foster care system—as Christy-Lynn once was—is unbearable. But she’s spent her whole life running—determined never to be hurt again. Will she finally stand still long enough to open herself up to forgiveness and love?

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I Dare You by @ilsamaddenmills

Now a Top 2 Amazon Bestseller!
#1 Contemporary Romance, #1 Sports Romance, #1 New Adult and College Romance, #1 Romantic Comedy

Wall Street Journal bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills returns with an all-new swoon-fest of a novel about what happens when you look beyond labels and take a chance on love.

Badass Athlete: I dare you to…
Delaney Shaw: Who is this?

The late night text is random, but "Badass Athlete" sure seems to know who she is…

Delaney Shaw.
Good girl.
Lover of fluffy kitties and Star Wars.
Curious.

His dare? Spend one night in his bed—a night he promises will be unforgettable—and she can solve the mystery of who he is.

She knows she shouldn't, but what else is she going to do with her boring Valentine's Day? One sexy hook-up later, her mind is blown and the secret's out.

Maverick Monroe.
Bad boy.
The most talented football player in the country.
Just ask him.

Too bad for him Delaney's sworn off dating athletes forever after her last heartbreak.

But Maverick wants more than one night and refuses to give up on winning Delaney’s heart. She isn’t one to be fazed by a set of broad shoulders.

Will the bad boy land the nerd girl or will the secrets they keep from each other separate them forever?

I DARE YOU is a full-length stand-alone novel of 60,000 plus words.
For a limited time, when you buy or download the book in KU, you'll also receive the first five chapters of her #1 Amazon bestselling romance Dirty English! 

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Wicked for Hire by @LottaSmithNovel

Friend From the Internet by Amy Cross

All alone at home one night, May suddenly hears a noise downstairs. She tells herself that she's imagining the whole thing, that nobody's trying to break into the house. And then, moments later, she meets the girl who'll change her life forever.

There's a killer on the loose in the small coastal town of Croftby. One girl has already been found murdered and everyone is on edge. So when May meets Paula, it seems natural for them to stick together. Soon, however, May starts to realize that Paula is hiding some dark secrets. And by the time the truth comes out, it might be too late for May to escape someone who knows her inside and out.

Friend From the Internet is a psychological horror thriller about two girls trying to hide from a killer, and about the dangerous obsessions that can break even the strongest of minds.

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He Said/She Said by Erin Kelly

RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK 2018
SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
SIMON MAYO RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK
SHORTLISTED FOR CRIME AND THRILLER BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018
LONGLISTED FOR THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2018
'I'm calling it: THIS is the book I wish I'd written' Clare Mackintosh, author of Let Me Lie
***********
Don't be left in the dark.
In the hushed aftermath of a total eclipse, Laura witnesses a brutal attack. She and her boyfriend Kit call the police, and in that moment, four lives change forever.
Fifteen years on, Laura and Kit live in fear.
And while Laura knows she was right to speak out, she also knows that you can never see the whole picture: something is always hidden . . . something she never could have guessed.
***********
See what everyone is saying about this brilliant read:
'It's SO good . . . I was carrying it around the house I was so gripped' Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent
'A gripping, twisting, furiously clever read . . . I loved it' Ruth Ware, author of The Lying Game
'It's magnificent. Stunningly twisty plot and weep-makingly brilliant writing' Marian Keyes, author of The Break

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The Silent Wife by Kerry Fisher

Would you risk everything for the man you loved? Even if you knew he'd done something terrible?

'A heart-wrenching and gripping tale. I was hooked from the very first page.' Write Escape

Lara’s life looks perfect on the surface. Gorgeous doting husband Massimo, sweet little son Sandroand the perfect home. Lara knows something about Massimo. Something she can’t tell anyone else or everything he has worked so hard for will be destroyed: his job, their reputation, their son. This secret is keeping Lara a prisoner in her marriage.

Maggie is married to Massimo’s brother Nico and lives with him and her troubled stepdaughter. She knows all of Nico’s darkest secrets – or so she thinks. Then one day she discovers a letter in the attic which reveals a shocking secret about Nico’s first wife. Will Maggie set the record straight or keep silent to protect those she loves?

For a family held together by lies, the truth will come at a devastating price.

A heart-wrenching, emotionally gripping read for fans of Amanda Prowse, Liane Moriarty and Diane Chamberlain.

What everyone's saying about The Silent Wife:

'A compulsive read about secrets, lies, and the complexities of families.' Bloomin' Brilliant Books

'What a great novel this is! A very moving story filled with deception, betrayal and, contrastingly, loyalty, love, caring and forgiveness... and it has a brilliant ending!' Splashes Into Books

'Well, this book is a firecracker!...you will experience a rollercoaster of emotions, with laughter, sadness and a satisfying ending that will bring a lump to your throat.' Many Books Many Lives

'A fantastic, thought-provoking story, told with pace and style.' Laura Bambrey Books

'My heart broke … The plot is so well written that you begin to feel as though you are one of the family and it is packed with twists and turns.' The Reading Reverie

'A page turner - full of implied secrets, unravelling family lives, new family dynamics.' Bookworms and Shutterbugs

'An addictive novel about family dynamics, secrets and betrayals that will have your mouth hanging open in disbelief many times along the way.' Books of All Kinds

'A compelling, chilling and heart pounding read which will take you on a rollercoaster ride you'll never want to leave. Phenomenally written and undeniably powerful, Kerry Fisher has done it yet again.' The Writing Garnet

'My only regret about this book is beginning to read it at half term and not being able to finish it quicker. A gripping and emotional read.' De Ja Reads

'It is rare that a book will make you look at your own personality and inspire you to be a better person. A less judgmental person. A braver person. The Silent Wife did that for me – and in the most unexpected way … I gasped, laughed and cried.' The Glass House Girls

'I loved this book… I was riveted throughout. 5 stars.' Emma B books

'The Silent Wife had me engrossed from page one. Five Stars!' Boon's Bookcase

'Another five star read from Kerry Fisher ... I love Kerry Fisher's books and this was no exception!'Strongly Review

'A wonderful, poignant, heart breaking, heart warming story of families and secrets, of hidden strength and unexpected friendship. Brilliant! Very highly recommended. Cannot wait for Kerry's next!' Renita D'Silva

'Another five star read from Kerry Fisher.' Judging Covers

'I loved this! It was absolutely unputdownable and I didn't want it to end.' Jenny Ashcroft

'A gripping, emotional novel ... a real page turner!' La Biblio de Cara

This book was previously titled The Secrets of Second Wives 

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#free today!

 

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"Anytime you give an electronic device a brain, it has the capabilities to outgrow the possibilities that were set forth in the plans."

The Unit by Katie Jaarsveld
From the Depths by McKenzie Richardson
Everything Has a Price by Sheri Velarde
Fulfilling Killingsby M Earl Smith
Touch by TW Iain
Dark Web Demon by Kevin S. Hall
Ocean’s Bounty by Andrew J Lucas
Catfish by Samie Sands
Viral Venom by Alex Winck
Domain of the Dragon by L.H. Davis
My Skin Crawls by Katie Jaarsveld
My Name Is Human by Rob Shepherd

 

Bane by L.J. Shen

NOW A TOP 10 AMAZON BESTSELLER 

From bestselling author L.J. Shen, comes a new, standalone, contemporary romance.

"BEST BOOK OF 2018!" - Sophie, Bookalicious Babes Blog.
"Honestly the best novel L.J. has written to date." - Ratula, Bookgasms Book Blog. 

Roman 'Bane' Protsenko
Naked surfer. Habitual pothead. A con, a liar, a thief and a fraud.
Last I heard, he was extorting the rich and screwing their wives for a living.
Which is why I'm more than a little surprised to find him at my threshold, looking for my friendship, my services, and most puzzling of all--looking humbled.
Thing is, I'm on a boycott. Literally--I cut boys from my life. Permanently.
Problem is, Bane is not a boy, he is all man, and I'm falling, crashing, drowning in his sweet, perfect lies.

Jesse Carter
Hot as hell, cold as ice.
I wasn't aware of her existence until a fat, juicy deal landed in my lap.
She's a part of it, a little plaything to kill some time.
She is collateral, a means to an end, and a side-bonus for striking a deal with her oil tycoon stepdad.
More than anything, Jesse Carter is a tough nut to crack.
Little does she know, I have the teeth for it.

*This book contains material that might be offensive for some or elicit a strong emotional response.

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Living on Borrowed Time by Samie Sands

This isn't your ordinary love story...

Lara Rogers isn’t supposed to be here. She was supposed to die over a year ago from a long-term illness, yet somehow she managed to make a miracle recovery. The only problem is now she has an endless future stretched out in front of her—one that she wasn’t expecting, and one that she has no idea what to do with.

After she got the positive diagnosis, she moved to the big city where she knows no one to become another anonymous face, but this life isn’t making her happy. In fact, she’s more miserable than ever.

An unexpected night out with a girl that seems to want to be her friend leads to all sorts of new experiences, including one that might even be love...

The only problem is Lara has spent so long not knowing who she is, that she doesn’t know how to act around all of these new people, and slowly things become increasingly difficult for her. She begins a negative spiral into self-destructive behaviour, sinking deeper and deeper until she isn’t sure that she can ever get out.

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Extract:
I shouldn’t be here.
No, not here, in the hot, sweaty kitchen of this rundown diner—although, to be honest, I highly doubt I should be here either.
No, I shouldn’t be alive.
I was supposed to die eighteen months ago. That was supposed to be it for me.
I was ill for a very long time, so getting that final diagnosis of six months to go was as reliving as it was devastating. To be honest, my emotions about it were completely mixed. I didn’t want to die necessarily—not that I think anyone does really—but I was so sick of the constant round of doctors, hospitals, tubes, pills, sickness...it was exhausting, and the thought of escaping that was something of a relief.
I just wanted an end to it.
Of course, not everyone felt the same. At least, not at first, but once my family and friends got used to the idea that I was dying, that I was going to be relieved of my suffering, they were intent on making my final months amazing, and boy did they succeed! I went travelling, I had parties, I did everything that was on my bucket list—except bungee jumping. I bottled that at the last second. It was fabulous, a real whirlwind of fun and excitement. Of course, there was the odd interruption with my health, but somehow we managed to work past that. Sure, we were all acutely aware of where it was heading but it didn’t taint the mood. Not really. 
“Lara what are you doing just standing there? I pressed the bell about five minutes ago...these burgers aren’t going to take themselves to table twelve.” The grumpy head chef, Alfie yelled at me. He didn’t care about my internal struggle. He had no idea what it was like to know that you should be dead. All he cared about was getting this disgusting, fatty food out as quickly as possible so he could return home, to his sad middle-aged man ‘bachelor pad’ to smoke and drink his wages away.
I snatched the plates out of his hand and stalked moodily over to the table, where a couple were sat there smiling intently at each other. This could have been their first date, or they could have been married for years—that wasn’t what I noticed. It was the light that was shining in their eyes, as they gazed at one another. Happiness. An emotion I couldn’t even begin to understand anymore.
I shoved the food on the table in front of them, asking them if there was anything else they needed in the flat, monotone sound that had somehow become my voice. They didn’t even acknowledge my existence, they simply waved me away. I was nothing to them, just as I was nothing to everybody.
I’d been that way for a very long time now.
Once my deadline had passed, and the high started to wear off, I wondered what was happening, why I was still alive. Confused, I took myself to the doctors and after a whole range of invasive tests, they told me something unexpected, something miraculous—that I was actually starting to get better. Against all odds, I was somehow surviving.
I felt numb as he said those words. I know he expected me to celebrate, to be happy with the news that I would get to live longer, but I wasn’t. I’d gotten so used to the idea that I was going to die. I’d even adjusted to it, become comfortable with it, that to hear otherwise was utterly overwhelming. I had become so used to living in the moment, not worrying about the future because I was never going to have one, that with a long, black emptiness stretching out in front of me, I felt terrified.
What was I supposed to do? I had no future, no dreams, no plans. I had no idea where I was supposed to go next, how could I? How was I supposed to craft a new beginning out of zilch? It seemed like a ridiculously impossible task, that I couldn’t even begin to overcome.
Then again, I still had no prospects, no real education, no interests, no desires...nothing, and I no longer had any excuse for that. A year and a half had passed. There was so much that I could have done with that time, but I hadn’t.
I’d done absolutely nothing with it, I’d merely existed. 
Every day it hit me how I would have been better off dead. I might as well have died, because since my positive diagnosis I was just living on autopilot, going through the motions aimlessly.
My friends and family couldn’t understand how I just seemed empty after I got the good news, and as I continued to improve, to get better, they got more and more frustrated by my increasingly negative attitude. One-by-one they became annoyed by me. I did something to piss all of them off and now, none of them bother with me anymore.
Not that I bother with them either. I feel like too much has passed; there’s too much negative water under the bridge to even think about repairing those fractured relationships.
When my mum eventually asked me to move out because I was putting too much pressure on everyone else in the family, I left quickly and got an apartment in the nearby city. I couldn’t stay in that little, suffocating town anymore, where everyone knew absolutely everything about me. I had no excuse to remain there anyway; it didn’t hold anything for me anymore, except for memories and bad feeling. I desired to be anonymous so I could wallow in my own misery in peace, without anyone trying to cheer me up. I didn’t want anyone else to feel responsible for my own happiness, when it was so clear that nothing could be done about it.
So I upped and left, without even glancing backwards.
I got everything that I ever wanted—a tiny, albeit grotty apartment that was just for me, a job in a diner where no one bothers to try and find out more about my life, and no one to speak to. Perfect.
Yet, of course, I still wasn’t happy.
“Got much planned over the weekend? You have tomorrow night off, don’t you?” Amy, the eighteen-year-old waitress, who was constantly chewing gum and nosing about in other people’s business, asked me in her typical over-the-top fashion.
She didn’t care about me of course, not at all. To her I was just another loser waitress, but she always tried to rile me up for some reason, and she quickly discovered that my non-social life was a sore point for me. I don’t know whether I was just a game to her, if she really wanted to piss me off, or if she just wanted to make herself feel better by commenting on my sad existence. Either way, it drove me crazy.
“I dunno...not really.” I kept my eyes fixated on the floor as I spoke, praying that she would take the hint and leave me alone.
“Why are you so boring? You never seem to do anything!” She laughed, genuinely thinking she was joking.
I looked up and smiled blandly at her, hoping that she would assume I took the joke in light humour, but the look she was giving me suggested that she might just be able to see the vulnerable weakling behind the cold exterior mask I gave myself.
The thought of anyone seeing any of the real me filled me with an intense fear that gripped tightly onto my heart, so I instinctively turned away from her, trying to discretely wipe the frustrated tears from my eyes before they fell onto my cheeks.
Idiot! I thought to myself. What the hell are you doing?
Hiding emotion was something I thought I’d become particularly good at, but with one look, Amy—a girl I barely knew—had managed to revert me back into a blubbering mess.
“I’m going out to that new club tomorrow night with a group of friends. Do you...would you maybe want to come?” She asked, with a kindness to her tone that I hadn’t ever noticed before.
Pity. It had to be.
Normally, I would have shot her down right away. Even the thought of going to a club filled me with fear—the drinking, the dancing, the socialising...it all felt a little too much for some like me. I’d never really done anything like that before, and it was intimidating as hell. Even at all the parties that had been held for me, I’d avoided alcohol due to the medication, I’d been too tired for dancing, and socialising hadn’t been too much of an issue because it was with people I’d known my whole life. Plus, my best friend Daphne had always been there to protect me if things got too much.
Daphne.
I instantly forced myself to shake the image of her from my mind, in the way I always did when she cropped up. Daphne was a no-go now, there was no point in even giving her a seconds thought. I didn’t want to upset myself over nothing.
“Sure.” I eventually replied, distractedly. I wasn’t really thinking about my answer, I just wanted the conversation done, and it was a shortcut way to achieve that.
“Oh...” Amy sounded incredibly shocked—understandably so. “Okay cool. We’re meeting up at about eight-ish so...” She looked at me strangely, as if she was wondering what the hell was going through my mind. “I’ll see you there I guess.”
As she wandered off, a sinking feeling set in. Why the hell had I agreed to that? I didn’t want to go out to a club! Keeping my existence simple and straightforward was the only way I managed to get through everyday life. Now, I’d just agreed to something that threatened to send me into an anxiety meltdown, just to shut her up.
I was an idiot!
No, I would have to phone Amy tomorrow with a plausible excuse. I needed to get out of going. Disrupting my routine with something so terrifying could only have negative results.

Disappearance at Oare by Julie Wassmer

The Whitstable Pearl restaurant has been busy all summer while Pearl's detective agency has brought few interesting cases - until a prospective client calls...

Christina Scott confides that seven years ago she had the perfect life with a seaside home, a confirmed pregnancy and Steven, a loving husband - until one morning she woke to find herself alone. Christina's husband had vanished, taking nothing with him but his car - which was later found abandoned at the beautifully mysterious Oare Marshes.

Now, with the legal presumption of Steven's death about to be made, Christina shows a photograph to Pearl. It's not of him, but of her young son, Martin, who has grown up without his father but Christina is adamant he now deserves to know the truth. And will Pearl help her solve the riddle of Steven's disappearance?

DCI Mike McGuire warns Pearl she's on a fool's errand but the case resonates with Pearl as she begins to uncover secrets and lies that take her on a dangerous journey back into her own past, as well as Christina's...

'A tried-and-tested crime recipe with Whitstable flavours that makes for a Michelin-starred read' Daily Mail

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Now on #KindleUnlimited!

As we connected, I found myself staring for much longer than I intended to. I drank in his full appearance unabashedly as he did the same to me. My mind was going crazy with anxiety, begging me to look away, but my body was only concerned with him, and the fact that he was making me feel in a way that I never had before—and a way that I really didn’t want to stop feeling. He had dark, shaggy hair which hung past his eyebrows, giving me the almost uncontrollable urge to push it to one side. 
Beneath his glasses I could see dark, brooding eyes which seem to be full of mystery and laughter, and he was tall...much taller than me—not that that was difficult—and he was kind of muscular too, but not too much so. He had his hands shoved into his jeans pockets and I scanned my eyes over his t-shirt, which was of some band I didn’t recognize. He had a real geeky rock star look about him, and something about that was making my legs feel like jelly. I didn’t even realize that this was the sort of guy I would feel any kind of attraction to, yet here I was almost falling apart at the mere sight of him. 
He smiled brightly at me, and for a second, I was completely blindsided by him. My heart started hammering like crazy and butterflies tickled my tummy. I didn’t recognize this feeling, not at all, so I was actually glad when the connection broke and my body started to return to normal. Having my body go all crazy like that was bizarre. It may have felt nice at the time, but it wasn’t something I was ready to go through again. Not until I had deciphered every second of that brief interaction.

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Charlie: Living on Borrowed Time

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Have you read Living on Borrowed Time yet? Want to see through Charlie's eyes? Read on...

Charlie

What the hell am I doing here?

That thought swirled around and around in my brain as I glanced my eyes around the room, drinking in the slow descent of what promised to be a very legendary house party. As I looked at everyone I could see in turn, I quickly realized that they were all faces I barely recognized—sending me back to another time in my life. One where I spent most of my time at parties with people I didn't know.

I clutched the bottle of beer tightly between my fingers, recalling how it didn't matter back then because I would always manage to find a way to get myself so wasted that I didn't care. I thought the screwed up, off-my-face version of Charlie was a whole heap of fun.

Now I could see that he was just another fuck up with no future ahead of him.

I wasn't sure why I had allowed myself to get talked into this night, but the more that time passed, the more I regretted it. The home belonged to one of my old school friends, someone that I bumped into randomly a few days ago. At the time, I thought it would be good to reconnect with some of my old crowd, the ones I knew before everything went wrong, but since I'd been here, I hadn't actually managed to see a single one of them.

I sighed deeply to myself, making the smart decision that this one drink would be my only one. After I finished it I would make my way back home, where I could reflect in peace about the prospect that I had finally reached that grand old age where I was too old to party—where it wasn't as much fun anymore. I'd probably gotten there much quicker than everyone else because of my past, but they would eventually catch up to me and see that this lifestyle was pointless.

It was time to move on, to start thinking about settling down and really carving out a future for myself. Everything else was futile...pointless.

I hadn't done bad, considering. As soon as I discovered that Olivia—my much older girlfriend who had been integral in setting me down the wrong path in life—was cheating on me, my crappy life crashed around me leaving me with only two choices.

Did I take the easy way out and carry on down the shitty route that I was currently traveling down, or did I really put in some effort and clean myself up, to try and achieve something more? After all, I had been filled with a whole heap of potential and promise not that long ago—everyone told me that!

Sticking to the difficult option was not a simple one. In fact, I almost went back on it more than once, but now that I'd seen the light at the end of the tunnel, and I'd dragged myself through it, I could see how worthwhile that journey had been.

The only problem was I'd been left with some quite serious baggage. I didn't like to let anyone in too close anymore, and I'd purposely made decisions to help me with that. I started up my own graphic design business, which after a slightly rocky start was actually starting to do well. It was great to have something so intense to throw myself into, but it isolated me too. It kept me locked in my office, in solitary confinement, while I completed very intricate, time-consuming jobs. It gave me a whole heap of my own company, and no headspace to think.

At one time, that had been perfect, but as time went on I started to realize just how lonely that was, and now I wanted more. I wanted to meet someone, to start a future with her, to get over the trust issues that Olivia had left me with.

But I was utterly terrified to take that first step.

Maybe that was why I'd agreed to come here, maybe I was hoping that it would help lead me back into socializing in a normal way, rather than what I was used to.

Sighing dejectedly, I slowly made my way towards the kitchen to chuck my bottle away. There was an intense disappointment crushing down on my insides, hurting me because tonight hadn't gone the way that I wanted it to. I allowed it to consume me for a few seconds, knowing that I needed to really feel it before I could brush it to one side. I had gotten into plenty of trouble in my life by trying to ignore all of my issues, so I was perfectly aware that this was the only way...

Woah.

As I stepped into the kitchen, my eyes instantly fixated on the lone girl gripping tightly onto what I knew was a bottle of very strong whiskey. I stared in fascination as she poured three glasses of the stuff, wondering how the hell someone so petite and waifish would be able to handle something like that.

Maybe she didn't know what it was, maybe she was just about to make the hugest mistake of her life—one that would lead her to throw up all over someone's home, completely humiliating herself.

Warn her! I tried to tell myself, by my racing heart and my bone-dry mouth was too scared to speak out. Tell her, she needs to know.

"Strong choice," I eventually managed to blurt out, in a nervy-sounding voice that I was certain would put her off me forever.

But as she span around, and our eyes connected, a burst of electricity bolted right through me, so powerfully that it almost knocked me backward. I smiled—or at least, I tried to—while I soaked every inch of her in. That sleek auburn hair, her pale, almost translucent skin, the body language that seemed to scream 'fear'. But what drew me in most of all were her eyes. They were a deep, ocean-like blue—a color that I had never seen before—and they were windows to her soul, and what I could see in there was a reflection of myself. That deep, intense sadness, that hollow, empty feeling, that sensation of being lost.

I knew at that moment that I had found a kindred soul, one that needed me, one that I would do just about anything for.

This is the one, I decided as she finally forced our eye contact to break. The one that will change me forever. Maybe I was being naive, maybe not, I wasn't sure—but for the first time in my life, I was willing to find out...

COMING SOON: Too Many Steps Too Far – Daniel Sebata

From a glance history will tell you the 1980s in Zimbabwe was a time filled with great hope for independence under Robert Mugabe’s government. But like anything else, dig a little deeper and you will find skeletons and learn that the decade was a time of unimaginable fear, dread and death. Families were killed, children tortured, and women raped.
Meet Dots. Dots is a product of rape by Mugabe’s Fifth Brigade army – Gukurahundi. As a walking reminder of Gukurahundi to her family and community, she’s enslaved as a child and finds herself desperately searching for an identity unmarked by The Gukurahundi. Childhood life taught her to think about her survival first, and by hook or by crook she finds her way to England, leaving her tainted history behind. But when she reaches the Promised Land and is in the midst of starting all over again, she is threatened by deportation back to Zimbabwe. Panicked by the fear of being separated from her new-born baby and the thought of going back to her Gukurahundi-stained life, she fights from a place unthinkable to avoid her fears materialising into reality.
About the Author

Daniel Sebata was born in Zimbabwe and he relocated to the UK with his family in 1998. He spent about ten years as a secondary school teacher in Zimbabwe and he later trained and worked as a registered mental health nurse in the UK. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Mental Health Nursing and he uses that knowledge as an immigrant to tell stories about how child abuse compromises the child’s mental health resulting in sociopath, stalking and antisocial behaviour tendencies in his writings.
He is an ardent writer and reader, and Too Many Steps Too Far is his second novel. In his first novel entitled Why Rock The Boat When You Don’t know How To Swim, Dots, the main character is his second novel, remained in the shadows until the last minute. In Too Many Steps Too Far Dots tells her story.
Daniel taught as a temporary teacher (supply teacher) in 1984, in his home area in Zimbabwe, Gwanda, before he trained as a secondary school teacher in Gweru Teachers’ College. His home was under the control of the notorious Fifth Brigade, the Gukurahundi at the time. These soldiers raped women and children, and maimed and killed the locals. Living under the Gukurahundi inspired him to write Dots’ story.
Daniel is a bit of a traveller too. In 2015 he temporarily relocated to the USA, South Dakota, when his 14-year daughter moved to the USA to pursue her studies and tennis.
Excerpt
Armed with my father’s details and directions, I boarded a bus in rural Gwanda that took me to Bulawayo, where I took another one to Harare. At a bus terminus called Mbare Musika, in Harare, I approached vendors as I had been advised to by bokokoMaPalesa. There were many of them there, selling various dried foodstuffs, like ground nuts, dried vegetables, biltong including roasted rats. It was the first time I had seen roasted rats on sale. BokokoMaBuang used to ridicule me by saying that my people ate rats, but I never believed her. At Mbare Musika it dawned on me that they were delicacies to my father’s people. They had been salted and peppered and hung on improvised laundry like lines as grains of coarse salt and red pepper clung to their skin and teeth.
I approached one of the vendors and asked for directions in broken English because I did not speak the Shona language. But just mentioning my father’s name attracted more than half a dozen vendors. They congregated around me, talked over each other as they gave me the directions. Speaking in what sounded like broken English, like mine, they told me where to board the bus at the terminus and where to disembark. The attraction I generated was not only because of my father, but also due to the fact that I could not speak the Shona language and how I dressed. I was wearing this woollen dress, which was originally a grown-up person’s jumper. It went down to well below my knees. My height made it look oversized. From the attention I generated at the terminus, one would be forgiven to think that an argument was taking place among us. What surprised me the most was that most of the vendors in Mbare Musika knew my father. Even as I sat in the bus on my way to Zvimba, some people kept glancing and pointing the fingers towards my direction and whispering in Shona. It demonstrated my father’s fame. I assumed the vendors passed a word around of my destination as I boarded the bus.
At Mbare Musika, they told me that even a blind girl would not miss my father’s home, as it was the biggest in the area and it sat on a hill very close to the bus stop. When the bus stopped at my final destination I realised why the vendors had fought to give me the directions and why some passengers were whispering and pointing at me during the journey. My father’s homestead was like a gated community. It stood on a hill with four big houses at each corner of the homestead, the main house, a two-storey building, sat in the middle of the residence. The two-storey house was bigger than many houses I had seen in Gwanda and Bulawayo. At the entrance of the gated community, a woman met me. I told her that I wanted to see a man called James Chigwindiri and she led me onto the veranda of the two-storey house and told me to wait while she went inside. A short fat bald-headed man came out of the house, followed by a woman who I suspected was my stepmother. He just stared at me and said nothing for a while. It was an unbearable, drawn-out, thunderous pause that was unbefitting of a father coming face-to-face with his long-lost twelve-year-old daughter for the first time.
“Who’re you?” he asked, finally breaking the uneasy silence. No greeting, no manners – bokokoMaBuang would have called him all those names she showered on me.
I faced up to the man, who appeared stunned. He recognised me straightaway. For me to look like my father in that way was very unfair.
“I’m Doti.”
“Dhoti?” he repeated after me and the woman smiled. I understood later why she smiled at the mention of my name. “Dhoti” in Shona means faeces, so my father saw me as poopie, just like bokokoMaBuang in Gwanda had.
“Yes, sir,” I responded politely. The woman could not hold back her laughter anymore; she burst out laughing.
“Dhoti, from where?”
“From Ntalale in Gwanda, your daughter…”
“You’re shit for sure,” he thundered, interrupting me, then continued, “yes, you’re my shit, my past, the rubbish I thought I had swept away. You have no reason to come here. I had nothing to do with you then and I have nothing to do with you now. Get out of my home!” he shouted at me. “Go back to Matabeleland – to your people. Don’t dig up the past, unless you want to meet the devil that ate your mother. Don’t be a hero!”
I remember those words now as if they had been said yesterday. I stood there, transfixed.
“Go back to Gwanda now!” he screamed at me, pointing towards the gate and I turned and walked away, wondering if he was my real father. But we didn’t only look similar, we were a similar height too. He reminded me of bokokoMaBuang, who never got tired of shouting at me saying, “Follow your father to Mashonaland, to your horrible people.” That day I was told to go the opposite direction. It was clear that nobody wanted me. I was a bloat, a stain in people’s lives and they wished me away.

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Fuel Your Faith: A Practical Guide to Igniting a Healthy Spirituality by Jean Wise

Does your faith need rekindled? Do you spend your days disconnected from God and yearn for a closer relationship with him? Too often Christians live a lukewarm existence mired in a rut of unfulfilled restlessness. How do we live with a vibrant faith?

Fuel Your Faith – a Practical Guide to Igniting a Healthy Spirituality is a guidebook to fan the flames of your faith. This book is not a deep theological discourse about spiritual disciplines, but a quick resource for ideas to stir the embers of belief God gives each of us.

In Fuel Your Faith, you will:
•Discover a potpourri of spiritual practices to move you from stuck to unstuck.
•Gather ideas applicable right away to your life to awaken your spirit.
•Learn ways to pray, study, connect, and celebrate God’s presence.
•Find inspiration, encouragement, and courage to explore your faith.

Fuel Your Faith will empower you to move from the chilliness of shallow faith to the warmth, power, and comfort of a blazing fire.

We can cultivate a healthy spirituality. God wants our faith to grow and our lives to glow with his love. What a marvelous gift God gives us – let’s fan the flames of our faith.

About the author

Jean Wise is writer, speaker, and retreat leader. She is spiritual director, RN, and a Deacon, living in northwest Ohio. Her passion is to help others deepen their walk with God. She writes weekly on her blog at: www.healthyspirituality.org and is the author and contributor of a growing number of books.

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This Does Not Leave This House by Julie Coons

How does a little girl survive an abusive mother, Catholic school, rape, and a near-death experience?

Raised by an abusive, narcissistic mother (who once tried to trick her into having an abortion), Julie Coons was also raped in college by a stranger and later married an abusive man who threatened to kill her if she ever tried to leave.

Suffering from physical and mental torment resulting in very low self-esteem, Julie often felt so completely alone during the many struggles of her life that she tried to take her own life.

This book is her true story—telling all the secrets she was never allowed to tell to encourage and motivate others to heal their own lives and break the cycle of abuse.

Her story shows that there is hope and life after abuse.

Now that the secrets are finally out, Julie has found freedom.

So can you.

This Does Not Leave This House is a raw, poignant, and secret-revealing memoir written to lead a movement to break the silence of abuse and finally end its vicious cycle. With strength and resiliency, Coons provides a voice for the silent abused, letting them know they’re not alone. Justice and hope can prevail. The abused can become victorious.

Read the heartbreaking true story of her journey to triumph above overwhelming obstacles.

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Second Chance Romances by @SamieSands

This isn't your ordinary love story...

Lara Rogers isn’t supposed to be here. She was supposed to die over a year ago from a long-term illness, yet somehow she managed to make a miracle recovery. The only problem is now she has an endless future stretched out in front of her—one that she wasn’t expecting, and one that she has no idea what to do with.

After she got the positive diagnosis, she moved to the big city where she knows no one to become another anonymous face, but this life isn’t making her happy. In fact, she’s more miserable than ever. 

An unexpected night out with a girl that seems to want to be her friend leads to all sorts of new experiences, including one that might even be love...

The only problem is Lara has spent so long not knowing who she is, that she doesn’t know how to act around all of these new people, and slowly things become increasingly difficult for her. She begins a negative spiral into self-destructive behaviour, sinking deeper and deeper until she isn’t sure that she can ever get out. Amazon Link

“Will you marry me?”

Four words I’ve waited my whole life to hear. Four words I was sure would change my life forever…and they did. Just not in the way I expected.

Finding out my extremely gorgeous rock star boyfriend was about to propose had the complete opposite effect I thought it would. Rather than catapult me into a future I’ve always wanted, it plunged me back to a past I tried to forget.

Now I can’t get him out of my head. I can’t help but wonder what could have been, how our lives would have ended up if he didn’t leave me behind, a shattered mess.

All these memories are dangerous. They’re bringing my past back to ruin my future. And worst of all, they’re taking me right back to him, my childhood sweetheart, my first love…my biggest regret. Amazon Link

Scott and Carlie, Carlie and Scott...

From the moment these two lay eyes on each other it seems inevitable that they'll end up together. Sure, they're young so mistakes are made along the way, but the connection they share is like nothing either of them has ever experienced before.

That is...until fate gets in the way.

A catastrophic event leaves Carlie questioning everything. Every single decision that she's ever made comes under scrutiny, including those that involve Scott.

There's something she needs to say, but is she brave enough or will Carlie always be...Tongue Tied? Wattpad Link

True Fiction by Lee Goldberg

#1 New York Times and Amazon Charts bestselling author Lee Goldberg hits the ground running in a breakneck thriller where truth and fiction collide for the unluckiest writer alive.
When a passenger jet crashes onto the beaches of Waikiki, bestselling thriller writer Ian Ludlow knows the horrific tragedy wasn’t an accident.
Years before, the CIA enlisted Ian to dream up terrorism scenarios to prepare the government for nightmares they couldn’t imagine. Now one of those schemes has come true, and Ian is the only person alive who knows how it was done…and who is behind the plot. That makes him too dangerous to live.
Ian goes on the run, sweeping up an innocent bystander in his plight—Margo French, a dog walker and aspiring singer. They are pursued by assassins and an all-seeing global-intelligence network that won’t stop until Ian and Margo are dead. Ian has written thrillers like this before, but this time he doesn’t know how it’s going to end—or if he will be alive to find out.

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Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan

Soon to be a major television event from Pascal Pictures, starring Tom Holland.
Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, the USA Today and #1 Amazon Charts bestseller Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours.
Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian teenager—obsessed with music, food, and girls—but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior.
In an attempt to protect him, Pino’s parents force him to enlist as a German soldier—a move they think will keep him out of combat. But after Pino is injured, he is recruited at the tender age of eighteen to become the personal driver for Adolf Hitler’s left hand in Italy, General Hans Leyers, one of the Third Reich’s most mysterious and powerful commanders.
Now, with the opportunity to spy for the Allies inside the German High Command, Pino endures the horrors of the war and the Nazi occupation by fighting in secret, his courage bolstered by his love for Anna and for the life he dreams they will one day share.
Fans of All the Light We Cannot See, The Nightingale, and Unbroken will enjoy this riveting saga of history, suspense, and love.

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TwoSpells by Mark Morrison

Sarah and her twin brother Jon are heirs to an ancient magical realm and its most valuable treasure, an enchanted library. The library endows readers with the supernatural means of crossing into the uncharted inner-sanctum of the second dimension, inhabited with peculiar and sometimes perilous creatures.

The children are emboldened with a wondrous mystical gift that no other being has ever possessed. But fate intervenes and triggers a disastrous inter-dimensional war that disrupts the fabric of time and space spanning multiple universes, tearing destiny a new and savage pathway.

The two must rescue their world from a phantom hybrid alien race controlled by a demented dark-wizard, Jeremy Sermack. They will either assimilate or be exterminated.

Will they be the saviors the prophets spoke of, or will they retreat to the perceived safety of their distant homeland?

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