These Thy Gifts

These Thy Gifts is a forbidden love story spanning 50 years between a priest and the widow of a mobster. It encompasses history, mystery, comedy, gangsters, beautiful women, war, and religion. 2006 is a tumultuous year for the Catholic Church. Reports of horrific sexual abuse are becoming widespread. Monsignor Steven Trimboli is troubled. He worries for the future of the church—and rightly so. A new crime will soon reverberate throughout his church and hit closer to home than he ever imagined.

As Trimboli examines his faith, he must also examine his past. This poignant new novel takes readers back fifty years to meet Trimboli as a young and passionate priest, ready to tackle the world.

Good for One Ride

“I've read hundreds of books about that war and written several myself, but the one thing that most often eludes these stories, my own included, is the terrifying sense of anticipation that every soldier carries through every day and brings home to live with for the rest of his life. To feel that every second in a war zone holds the origin of your oblivion and to realize once you leave that you are living on time borrowed from corpses is emotionally exhausting and almost impossible to put into words.

And yet, Gary McGinnis has managed to do just that with grace and lyricism and great honesty. His book, ‘Good for One Ride' is a small book in terms of pages, but it is a huge story.

Forgiven

South Africa, 1899…

I'm in trouble. I'm concussed, wounded, and I've a large bandage around my head. I'm surrounded by scruffy, scowling, heavily armed men.

I've felt low before but never as bad as I feel now. Thank God Rachel can't see me. She's on the other side of the world, and it feels as though I'll never be able to find my way back to her.

Rachel is intelligent, cultured and charming, but things are not what they seem. The victim of rumour and innuendo she reached a new low in her life, but with Richard's help things improved until in a desperate attempt to prove his worth to Rachel's father, he volunteered to fight in South Africa and left her under a cloud.

IRON CROSSED

When you are a war-hardened 20-year-old on operations with the elite Brandenburger Commandos, you know that less than one in two come back and your only victory is survival. You lose your virginity, gain three Iron Crosses and nearly lose your manhood. But you survive. Iron Crossed is a true story of sacrifice, heroism, loss and love.

Martin is twice decorated for bravery on his first mission. As the war turns against the Germans, he has to combat partisans in the blood-freezing desolation of the Russian front. When his war ends, another challenge arises as he and his pregnant wife Marlene have to make a daring escape to the West from Russian occupied Germany.

Skills of the Warramunga

Early in 1946, former army officer, Jamie Munro, and his half-Aboriginal friend and colleague, Jack ‘Jacko’ O’Brien, who head the Commonwealth Investigation Service in Darwin, are called on to assist in the rescue of Colonel John Cook, a senior operative of MI6, who has been kidnapped by bandits and taken into the jungles of Malaya.

Jamie and Jacko had worked in intelligence operations with Colonel Cook during the desert campaign in North Africa in the Second World War, as the Afrika Corps threatened Egypt.

Mar

An Iranian fighter jet flies high above the Line of Control, which marks the contested border between Indian and Pakistan.  The airplane appears to be in trouble.  The pilot seems to have a problem with the craft's flight control surfaces. Smoke trails behind its port engine.  Apparently it does not have the ability to emit any electronic signals and is unable to fire its missiles if required to do so.

An enemy aircraft, smelling blood and sensing an easy combat victory closes in for the easy kill.

Sometimes, appearances can be deceiving.

The White Vixen

November 1981. Captain Jo Ann Geary, USAF Special Operations, is on a Chinese island, sent there to rescue a captured British secret agent. An expert linguist and martial artist, the Korean-American officer has volunteered to assist UK Royal Marines in the operation, a decision that will lead to the most dangerous mission of her career.

April 1982. A shadow government in Argentina is pushing the country to capture the Falkland Islands, in order to lure the British fleet into a trap. Once again, MI6 calls upon Geary for help. She is to go undercover deep inside Argentina, to find the man behind the plot, confront a terror thought long dead, and prevent an attack that could touch off World War III.

Cold Lonely Courage

Madeleine Toche races to the front only to find her brother mortally wounded during the German Blitzkrieg attack on France at the outset of World War II. His death and her rape at the hands of an SS Stormtrooper cast Madeleine down a path of death and violence as her desire for revenge reaches a crescendo. Award-Winning Novel, Best Fiction, Fade-In Magazine.

Review
Mary Ann Grossmann Book Editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press says:
“If you like strong heroines, you'll love Madeleine Toche.

The Apprenticeship of Nigel Blackthorn

A family slaughtered by Comanche. A boy left to die on the prairie. Can his determination help him survive long enough to claim his revenge?

Texas, 1853. Thirteen-year-old Nigel Blackthorn is the spoiled son of a Protestant preacher. But when his family is the victim of a brutal Comanche attack, his easy childhood crumbles in an instant. While he narrowly escapes the slaughter, the rest of his loved ones aren’t so lucky. The preacher's son finds himself alone, struggling to survive on the wild frontier.

When Nigel stumbles upon a defrocked priest who offers a ride in exchange for hard labor, he takes the promise of food and shelter.

Raised in the Shadow of the Bomb

This story began before I was born, when my father, Ellis P. Steinberg, and uncle Bernard Abraham worked on the secret undertaking that developed the first atomic bombs.

These later were dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was not only my extended nuclear family that experienced and was affected by growing up at this time in history, but a whole generation of other children raised in the shadow of the bomb who had stories to tell. The result is this book—part memoir, part discussions with siblings and cousins, and part interviews with a dozen others who had a parent who worked on the Project.

Nikki Magee

Nikki is an orphan, age 11. She's a musical prodigy, with a voice. Her story begins when she is thrown from an uncaring dark world into the morning light of her life, soon finding herself protected by a guardian in the form of a mob boss and his family.

Nikki Magee is a relatively fast paced novella suitable for adults and teens. As one reviewer says, “Think: Cinderella without the midnight deadline.” There's a cast of characters involved in the journey she must take.

Nikki's story is one of music. From Chopin to Joe Cocker, Nikki's wish is to play, and play she does. She has a dream, and at age 15 she goes to her first rock concert where Fate is going to intervene, on a massive scale.

Three Fifths

What would you do if death came knocking at your door? And how would you carry on if your life was instantly turned upside down? Johnny Silva, a recovering alcoholic and addict, sets off on a weekend getaway from Pismo Beach to the foothills of Northern California.

Upon his arrival in the small town of Pioneer, he’s thrust into an encounter with a worn down homeless man, an encounter that forces him to look back at his rocky past as he listens to a tale of woe about a life suddenly launched in a tragic direction.

Emotional Abuse Silent Killer of Marriage

Stuck in an ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP?

Burrow inside an emotional abuser's head and find out why I…

• am so charming one minute and a raging manic the next
• blame you for everything
• must stay in control all the time
• belittle your feelings, opinions, or your accomplishments
• try to punish you
• never seem to support you
• cut you down in front of friends and family

21 Days to Happiness

Struggling to find work-life balance?  Whether you're feeling overwhelmed and frustrated or just want to increase your happiness, you can learn how in just 10 minutes a day! 

The Yes Game

Struggling to find work-life balance?  Whether you're feeling overwhelmed and frustrated or just want to increase your happiness, you can learn how in just 10 minutes a day! 

Perfectly Lonely

On a business trip to Vegas, Layla Sands confesses a secret that wasn’t hers to tell, in this enticing follow up novel from Jessica Marin. 

I’ve loved and lost. Now I lose myself in mindless sex, drinking and work, anything to pass the time and fill the void that I feel. Another drink, another guy…until Chase Wilson. He’s not what I expect, turns out he’s also not who I thought. Then again, neither am I.

Some might call what I’m doing destructive, I call it survival. When finally putting myself out there backfires, I vow not to let it happen again. I know what my body wants, but it’s not what my heart needs and it’s about time I learn the difference.

A Christmas Holiday Affair

On a business trip to Vegas, Layla Sands confesses a secret that wasn’t hers to tell, in this enticing follow up novel from Jessica Marin. 

During the Christmas Holiday:
Chaos and romance collide when Abby Andrews takes a three day trip to Las Vegas with her twin sister, Lisa. Abby upsets the routine life of Garth Harrison, who is recovering from a disastrous relationship.

A Recipe for Romance:
Take Abby Andrews, a klutzy, attractive high school teacher.
Add Garth Harrison, a good-looking, charismatic casino owner.

An Unexpected Affair

Unexpected love . . .

While doing geological field work in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, Hannah Connors, a beautiful geology professor, sees Cameron Dalton fall down the side of a mountain and rescues him—saving his life!

Cameron, a former pro football player and entrepreneur, has recently given the responsibilities of managing his company, Dalton Sports, to his younger brother, Warren, and is living in a luxurious, secluded cabin in western Colorado. The ex-football star needs someone to take care of him while he is recuperating from a broken arm and a concussion.

A Sporting Affair

Woman on a Mission!

Lisa Andrews, an attractive high school teacher, is literally swept off her feet when she meets Warren Dalton again. She remembers him as being a male chauvinist. There is no way she can be attracted to him. No way.

After Lisa's twin sister, Abby, gets married, Lisa breaks up with her longtime boyfriend and feels lost and alone. While Abby and her husband are in Hawaii, Lisa takes care of Abby's dog, the mischievous MG. While out walking the dog, Lisa encounters Warren Dalton—the handsome man who was best man at Abby's wedding. At the wedding, Lisa overheard Warren, CEO of a sporting goods company, say condescending comments about women athletes.

An Accidental Affair

Kimberly Watson, a spoiled, rich, Las Vegas socialite is suffering from a broken heart. The man she loved fell in love with someone else and dumped her! Then a car accident interrupts her life giving her a concussion and the unthinkable—amnesia!

Tyler Graham, a self-made millionaire, feels guilty about hitting Kimberly's car and follows her to the hospital to find out her condition. He is further devastated to learn she has a concussion and amnesia. After meeting Kimberly, he is determined—because of a strong attraction to her—to help her recover from her injuries.

The Lawson Boys

Crashing her cheating boyfriend’s wedding in a fit of rage was not voluptuous Belle Broune’s best plan. Now she’s been branded by the gossips as ‘The Other Woman’. Oh, the shame of it!

Wedding guest Marty Lawson finds it all very funny, but when family connections result in him trying to comfort her in his usual jovial way, the sparks start to fly between them. Can he convince this luscious woman that he’s serious and not just simply amusing himself?

Imperfect Promises

When a homegrown terrorist threatens the woman he loves, former Special Forces soldier Jonas Cameron calls on old friends to help him eliminate the danger.

Award-winning romantic suspense author, Elizabeth Noyes raises the bar in this stunning conclusion of The Imperfect Series!

Former Special Forces operative, Jonas Cameron, traded his past and his service for his family back in Idaho and the ranch he loves. But ghosts have a disturbing way of not staying where you leave them. He learns of a homegrown terrorist threat against him and his family at the same time a mysterious stalker sets his sights on Shea Townsend, the woman Jonas had left behind.

The Queen of Paradise Valley

Diana Rennie, daughter of a wealthy rancher, attempts to persuade mystery man Del Russell to leave his grievances behind and forgive her father for past mistakes. Her careful plan goes awry and results in a shotgun wedding and a prison sentence for Del.

Four years later, Del is back in her life with a vengeance—back for his rightful share of Diana's ranch, back to prove he isn't the criminal she thought he was, back to finish what the two of them started years ago in a passionate daze. And he isn’t going anywhere, no matter what beautiful, treacherous Diana does or says to try to get rid of him.

Restore Trust

Economic Solutions to Current Social and Political Issues in the U.S. Poverty is a structural problem created by economic thinking errors and institutional poverty traps, revealed and discussed in detail in this book. Neff argues that America is a welfare state. The working poor are a social problem created by politics.

The low minimum wage does not support a most basic lifestyle and as a result, food stamps, free medical services and other social programs become necessary to cover the gap. Half of the Federal budget supports the poor and the elderly across the country

Bring Home the Bacon

In “Bring Home the Bacon” you’ll learn Larry Tracy’s S3P3 System for delivering persuasive presentations that resulted in President Ronald Reagan calling him “An extraordinarily effective speaker.” This easily-learned method can be used in any speaking situation.

The book flows from Larry’s “been there, done that” experience in high-pressure speaking situations. He is a retired Army colonel who served as Senior Intelligence Briefer to the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff (CJCS) in various crises during the Cold War.

The White House later detailed him to the State Department to debate controversial issues before demanding audiences throughout the country.

Hurricane Harvey, Houston and Heroism

This book is a celebration of Houston's response to this disaster and narration of the stories of heroism, sacrifice, goodness, and decency that unfolded for all the world to see. I was at the George Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston talking to survivors, first responders, and volunteers. It was a soul-etching experience for me in many ways. But, the one takeaway from that visit is reflected in this quote from Lori, a mother of five, whose family barely escaped from their flooded townhouse with only the clothing they were wearing.

Inside the Mind of a Borderline Personality, My Life and Recovery with BPD

It is a book about a person who tells the story of his life living and dealing with BPD and other mental health conditions, along with alcoholism.

As you read the journey of what he calls his life you'll be amazed that he survived.

Sober and Pissed Off

Sober and Pissed Off is a book for recovering alcoholics who are struggling with emotional wellbeing. There is no known cure for alcoholism, and the only proven treatment is spirituality. Jane Zarse is a recovering alcoholic who will never be cured. What she really has is a daily reprieve, contingent on the maintenance of her spiritual condition.

When Zarse got tangled up emotionally, her spiritual condition suffered greatly. When a recovering alcoholic loses serenity, sobriety is usually next. Zarse is grateful that she didn’t return to drinking, but if she stayed as miserable as she had become, there’s no telling what could have happened. There are millions of people in recovery who are struggling with emotional sobriety.

Tim

For the most part, Tim is living up to expectations—his parents’ and his own. He’s in college, making good grades, and having dorm-room sex with a girl both beautiful and brainy. But he’s coming to realize it’s no longer enough.

He can’t continue ranking everything else, including his father’s ambition, above the one thing that matters most to him: his art.

American Voices

American suburbs are populated with mostly white and wealthy residents, white picket fences, and children preparing themselves for corporate positions at Ivy-league schools. Connecticut certainly fits this profile, as it is often cited as a state with the densest concentration of wealth in the USA.

But labels or hashtags can be misleading, especially in an age when voices tend to congregate in separate choirs. If one takes the time to listen, there are interesting personalities who may miss the color in their own lives in pursuit of “something better.”

Traitors, Heroes, or Gods

This is the first book in the Journey series and this installment leads you on an adventure from an astonishing discovery at a remote, desert location in Africa to the bottom of a frozen lake in Alaska, and then far, far beyond.

A motley group works feverishly (but not always in harmony) to save themselves and their discovery from a power-hungry politician, a ruthless drug cartel leader, and a demon. In the process, some find God and lead others to Him.

Then, the stakes go up to galactic levels when their discovery informs them of a ruthless race who will inevitably invade Earth.

The Coven

The future queen awakens…

Newly single mother Stevie Lewis divides her time between raising Charlie, running a store with her best friend, and avoiding the meetings of her mother’s Beaufort Historic Society. Although her life has its challenges, it’s altogether average. Just the way she likes it.

When Vanessa, a ruthless dark witch, launches an attack against young Charlie, Stevie’s simple life derails, and her long-dormant powers awaken. A 300-year-old secret is exposed, revealing her destiny to one day rule the clandestine community of witches who hide in plain sight.

The Legend of Astridr

Before the Allegiance came Astridr, whose legend began long before her birth.

When the imprisoned seer Sonja is liberated by thirteen Viking warriors, a storm takes the lives of her rescuers and she’s left dying and alone. The fae prince Hakon hears her cries—as does Freyja, goddess of the underworld, who arrives to negotiate for Sonja’s soul.

In love and sacrifice, Sonja survives to bear a daughter, Astridr—while the bargain between the fae prince and the goddess lays the foundation for an immortal’s legend.

Missing

We follow Elle Burton in her efforts to find her kidnapped baby brother, JJ. As a newly designated guide, sworn to protect the children of Earth, she's desperate to find her brother and get him back. Elle teams up with the winged warriors from the dimension of Fiori to save him, but JJ isn't the only one in danger. What will Elle sacrifice to bring her brother home?

“Missing” is an engaging coming of age fantasy for middle-grade readers to adults who love an action-packed adventure. Elle Burton is determined to find her kidnapped brother, but she what she finds is pure evil.

The Family Morningstar

After the Great War, one of Lucifer's gifts to those who followed him was the ability to procreate, one of the very things the war had been fought over. As Hell was being built and the new rules for Creation established, The Fallen as they were now known, began to settle in to their new lives and began raising families.

The Dark Lord was no different. One of the most feared and hated creatures in all of creation was Xia Morningstar, Lucifer's great-grandson. No one could control him, no one tried for he was The Dark Lord's most prized possession. As great as Lucifer's love for Xia was, so in equal, was his mother's hatred of her son.

Apollo's Raven

A Celtic warrior princess is torn between her forbidden love for the enemy and duty to her people.

AWARD-WINNING APOLLO’S RAVEN sweeps you into an epic Celtic tale of forbidden love, mythological adventure, and political intrigue in Ancient Rome and Britannia. In 24 AD British kings hand-picked by Rome to rule are fighting each other for power. King Amren’s former queen, a powerful Druid, has cast a curse that Blood Wolf and the Raven will rise and destroy him.

The king’s daughter, Catrin, learns to her dismay that she is the Raven and her banished half-brother is Blood Wolf.

Painting of Sorrow

What would you do if you discovered a lost masterpiece worth millions, which a curator will kill to keep hidden?

Sarah Downing, an art conservator, hiding in witness protection, identifies a lost masterpiece by Caravaggio. History says it burned in WWII Berlin, but here it is, on her easel.

Soon she is fighting to save the painting and herself. Someone has betrayed Sarah—an agent, a friend? Whoever it was, her ex-husband Jimmy is standing on her street, outside her house, waiting.

What Sarah does next sends her from Kingston to Italy to rural Ontario in her desperate attempt to survive, save the Caravaggio and rebuild her life.

Plowed over: on the wing

Former bicycle messenger Lucy Prestipino has a new life, a new job, and a new look. The U.S. Marshals Service has hidden her in a small town nestled in Maryland’s Allegheny Mountains. She is slowly adjusting to the constraints of witness protection.

Her job plowing snow from dangerous mountain roads provides the thrills she craves. Maryland State Trooper Jimmy Bittinger warms her with his friendship.

Life is getting better—until the snowy night she plows up a dead man.

Cure of the Ottawa

In my paranormal short story, Curse of the Ottawa, there is only one female and she is there only briefly, but she is the central character.

It is difficult to be genre specific with the story. It is certainly a horror story although it takes 200 years to complete. And usually horror stories are more compressed. It is science fiction since it involves a curse and practically no one believes in curses any more.

It is a fantasy for much the same reason.

I’ve settled for paranormal because that at least gives it a shot at some people giving it some credibility.

IN THE WOODS

A role-playing game staged in the remote woods of the North East Kingdom, turns into a deadly pastime when a killer uses the game as a means to seize his victims.

A dead body is discovered in the woods by Samantha Tremblay, a Forest Ranger who works at Maidstone Lake. The locals call her Sam. She swears to bring the killer to justice for the victim but soon finds herself in over her head, as she works alongside New Hampshire Trooper Zachary Gerard assigned to the case. More bodies turn up and motivation to solve the crimes mount.

Old secrets get in Sam’s way, and she isolates herself from others. Haunted by unanswered questions about the past, she lives with cracked relationships—between herself and her father—her friends.

Teardrops of the Innocent

One woman’s search for her ancestry leads not only to skeletons in the closet…but to one buried in the back yard.

Stephanie Kincaid’s quest brings her to Olde Towne Portsmouth, where unseen forces drive her right into the path of ghosts and old mysteries…not to mention the arms of hunky firefighter Gage Dunbar. But is he who he seems to be? After a simple mistake reveals the truth, their romance heats up faster than a three-alarm fire.

As she discovers clues about her ancestors, the ghost of a young girl appears and begs her to find her lost “teardrop.”

The Asylum Tour

Sometimes, the past really does come back to haunt you.

When reporter Jeannie Jones learns that a billionaire businessman with a dark past plans on opening an abandoned asylum to the public, alarm bells ring.

What do the invited guests of the first Asylum Tour have in common except for the uncanny resemblance they bear to victims of the infamous serial killer who was held at the asylum?

Is it really just a harmless haunted house tour, or is it something altogether more sinister?

Jeannie must answer these questions and more – before it’s too late.