Contemporary Fiction

Fortunate

Fortunate
Title: Fortunate
ASIN: B00DGQ9DJO
Publisher:
Published: June 17, 2013
Author's Twitter: @AndrewJHSharp
Locked into a lonely future by a cruel twist of fate, Beth reaches breaking point, leaves her husband, and flees to faraway Zimbabwe. But there she finds herself at the centre of a deadly struggle for the ownership of a farm. From a guest of honour at the President’s table to a disastrous decision that betrays a good man, her fresh start threatens to end in catastrophe. Does the land and its painted rocks hold clues to atonement and re-found love?

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Six Months to Get a Life

Six Months to Get a Life
Title: Six Months to Get a Life
ASIN: B00R0IR70Q
Published: January 21, 2015
Author:
Author's Twitter: @benadamsauthor
Graham Hope had it all – a wife, two perfect children, a detached house in the suburbs and a huge TV. He now has an ex-wife, lives in his parents’ spare room and gets the kids and the dog at weekends. He might be lost and lonely, but Graham is not a victim. In exactly six months time, he will be forty-three. He vows to sort this mess out by his birthday. He gives himself six months to get a life. Will Graham play a meaningful role in his boys’ lives? Will his friends take him under their wing? Will he move out of his childhood home? More importantly, will he ever have sex again? For Graham, failure is not an option. Warning: if you are looking for a sanctimonious self-help book, then ‘Six Months to Get a Life’ is NOT for you.

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The Retail

The Retail
Title: The Retail
ASIN: B00LXF6DOI
Published: November 11, 2014
Author's Twitter: @joshdankerdake
Aspiring writer Penn Reynard has just joined the ranks of America’s fifteen million retail workers: fresh out of college with an English degree, he can’t find a job anywhere except at the local big-box hardware store. Working returns, Penn experiences firsthand the often comical absurdity, chaos, and shenanigans of the retail world. At least he has a new romance with a coworker going for him—if he doesn’t screw it up. The constant pressures of dealing with hostile customers, oblivious coworkers, and overbearing management begin to take their toll on him, though, and as his desired career path threatens to fall out of reach, Penn struggles to break free of retail’s clutches.

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Awesome Allshorts: Last Days, Lost Ways

Awesome Allshorts: Last Days, Lost Ways
This superbly written short story anthology showcases talented Awesome Indie authors from around the globe. Though from a variety of genres, the stories are all entertaining, contemporary and thought-provoking.   Indulge your taste for good fiction with this short story anthology by authors with bold new voices. Though from diverse genres, the stories share a contemporary and contemplative feel that will linger long after the reader has read the last one. Awesome Allshorts showcases talented authors from around the globe, many whose novels have received multiple honors, including Awesome Indies approved status. Stories selected by Tahlia Newland, Dixiane Hallaj and Richard Bunning.

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Delirium – The Rimbaud Delusion

Delirium – The Rimbaud Delusion
Title: Delirium – The Rimbaud Delusion
ASIN: B00FKJ1OCE
Published: July 30, 2014
Author's Twitter: @BSE_Writer
How many times had I dreamt of coming across the yellowing manuscript of La Chasse Spirituelle? Inside an old book on a stall in Paris, perhaps. Or in the attic of some befriended ancient. How many daydreams had I enjoyed over the possibility that one day…? I shook myself. It couldn’t possibly be true. 1872: The explosive love affair between flamboyant French poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine rocks French society. They flee to London, abandoning the manuscript of La Chasse Spirituelle to Verlaine’s scorned young wife. When a lawyer’s clerk salvages it from a dusty deed box, the manuscript begins its journey down the decades, revealing the secrets and betrayals of its various keepers. 2004: Andrea Mann, disenchanted with life and love, travels to France. Driven by her obsession with Rimbaud, she’s chasing her dream – the missing manuscript. Beside the poet’s grave at Charleville-Mézières, she meets a beautiful young man who shows her a single page – from La Chasse Spirituelle. Andrea embarks on a desperate quest. Drawn into a manipulative relationship with the youth and his Svengali-like mentor, the mysterious Albert, she faces unwelcome truths. The closer she gets to the manuscript, the further she veers from reality. But is Albert’s copy genuine? And can La Chasse Spirituelle fill the void in Andrea’s soul?

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The Sicilian Defence

The Sicilian Defence
Title: The Sicilian Defence
ASIN: B00LDEM686
Publisher:
Published: June 28, 2014
Stories reflecting Sicily’s power to encompass ideas of Good and Bad, Heaven and Hell, to enmesh them so tightly that, at times, it remains impossible to distinguish the two concepts.   A talented schoolboy struggles with unseen forces that rip his family apart; a hand-written note hidden in a hotel magazine has dire consequences for a relationship; a private detective hired to track a cheating fiancé is faced with a life and death decision… These short stories provide a window on contemporary Sicilian life seen through the lens of the island’s literary history. They reflect Sicily’s power to encompass perfectly the ideas of Good and Bad, Heaven and Hell, to enmesh them so tightly that, at times, it remains impossible to distinguish the two concepts.

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A Lifetime Last Night

A Lifetime Last Night
Title: A Lifetime Last Night
ASIN: B00MLDFI38
Published: August 10, 2014
Author:
Author's Twitter: @DavidHomick
Every choice has a consequence, a notion Richard Dunham refuses to acknowledge even as his twenty-five-year marriage to college sweetheart Emily falls apart. Forced into a homeless shelter when Emily throws him out, Richard has an unexpected encounter with an eccentric old man who offers him a rare opportunity. A fatal accident leaves Richard between two worlds, but he refuses to leave this one before making things right with Emily. Left with only one option, he embarks on a mission to reclaim the heart of the only woman he’s ever loved, while trapped in the body of a man she’s never met – the man involved in her husband’s death. With time running out, Richard must navigate a minefield of obstacles that stand in the way of reclaiming everything he once held dear. A shocking discovery offers hope, but is it too late? Will Richard let his past determine his future, or will he discover that it is never too late to be what he might have been?

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Replying to @Awesome_Indies

Thank you, but this book is no longer in print. The revised version is named “Reason to Live”

Sunspots

Sunspots
Title: Sunspots
ASIN: B00ANBR4TQ
Publisher:
Published: December 12, 2012
A love story of loss and redemption and the ghosts that haunt our lives and our houses. Aurora Goldberg Stein is lost in grief. Her beloved husband, Jake Stein, has just died in a tragic car accident and her sorrow is overwhelming. But is this really the end? Perhaps, perhaps not. She hears his voice. She sees his ghostly presence. She travels back in time to another life with Jake. What is going on? What is the message? Jake Stein, a dashing Texan, sweeps Aurora off her feet and changes her life. A Brooklyn born actress, she moved  to NYC and does temporary work to pay her bills. On this particular assignment, she accidentally meets Jake Stein, who is her dance with destiny. Leaving everything she knows, she marries him and moves to Austin, Texas. No longer struggling to make ends meet, Aurora wiles away her time bored and lonely, and trying to recapture the excitement she once had with this man. And then suddenly, it’s all over, her life, her future is gone. Vanished are all her hopes and dreams. But destiny comes in many forms, and when Aurora moves to a new house, she discovers that the previous owner has never left. The ghostly presence of Viola Parker looms large and becomes Aurora’s guide through time revealing to her the mistakes she’s made with Jake Stein through the centuries. This time, maybe this time, Aurora can get it right.

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The Scottish Movie

Scottish Movie, The
Title: Scottish Movie, The
ASIN: B008YCE50C
Published: August 15, 2012
Author:
Why is 'Macbeth' known as 'the unlucky play'? Young Harry's unpublished novel has the answer. And when some Hollywood producers steal it, they find themselves making a very unlucky movie.   Harry Greenville, a young actor and part-time writer struggling to make a living in modern Los Angeles, writes a novel about Shakespeare. ‘It’s 1606 and the Bard needs a new play for King James, who is notoriously hard to please. As history tells us, he comes up with ‘Macbeth’. But the rehearsals are dogged by illnesses and accidents, the royal premiere gets the royal thumbs down, and the actors consider the play to be more than unlucky – they believe it’s cursed. The question is: Why?’ Harry’s novel offers an intriguing answer, and he posts the first draft on a website in the hope that a Hollywood agent will discover it. And someone in the movie business does discover it – but not the kind of person Harry had in mind. The result is a truly Shakespearean tale of theft, revenge, and just desserts.

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