Fiction

“Tell Me about Orchard Hollow is the second in the Smoky Mountain Novel series. Stepp’s first installment was The Foster Girls. In Tell Me about Orchard Hollow, marital betrayal sends New Yorker Jenna Howell retreating to her friend’s mountain cabin in Townsend, Tennessee. She hopes for peace and quiet and time to think about the course her future should take, but soon she finds herself challenged by unexpected events and new friends. One of her neighbors is Boyce Hart, whom Jenna knows she has no right to find as attractive as she does. This upbeat contemporary romance is set against the backdrop of the picturesque Smoky Mountains.”

“Eighty-seven year old Viola Garland has secrets that have tormented her for over sixty years. She kept these secrets because she believed her family would be protected. When a skeleton is discovered at a Rayes County building site, the choice she made as a young woman threatens to come to light. She knows the lie has kept the family disjointed but she is sure the truth will destroy it. Set in 1936 rural Kentucky and Northern Ohio, Sister Blackberry is a story about women—friends, sisters, mothers, daughters and granddaughters—and how their relationships are affected by secrets and lies of the past. When the truth surfaces, these women learn things about themselves and the family matriarch that shake each woman’s idea of who she is and how she fits into the only family she’s ever known.”

“A smooth prose style and an authentic Big Easy vibe distinguish Tentler’s debut. Dr. Rain Sommers, the host of Midnight Confessions, a New Orleans late-night radio talk show, was two years old in 1981 when Gavin Firth, Rain’s British guitarist father, murdered her mother, Desiree Sommers, a popular goth singer, then killed himself. Special agent Trevor Rivette of the FBI’s Violent Crimes Unit has been hunting a serial killer dubbed ‘the Vampire’ (aka Dante), who’s slain five women across the U.S. and is now in New Orleans. The sadistic Dante slashes his victims’ throats and leaves a signature rosary just like one Rain’s mother wore in some publicity photos. After killing three goth scene teens, Dante targets Rain. While thriller fans will find much that’s familiar, from the vampire-like killings to the dependable FBI guy falling for the pretty woman in jeopardy, the shivers are worthy of a Lisa Jackson.”

“Ben Fish has recently graduated with a degree in anthropology, undying love for his high-school-aged ex-girlfriend Jess, who broke up with him six months ago, and no plans for how to spend his summer. To avoid another season working a dead-end job at the local mall, he responds to a newspaper ad from one John Barrow, who is looking for a driver on short notice. John hires Ben to drive him to Memphis, 900 miles away, in search of his granddaughter Nadine. Their trip quickly turns into a capriciously epic journey as John, who claims to be, and for all purposes seems to actually be, Elvis Presley, takes them on detours to fight with biker gangs, visit an oracle, and save a hooker named Ginger from her one-eyed pimp. Nathan presents the reader with several fantastic characters in this rollicking, adventurous tale. Readers will pore through this fast-paced, adrenaline-filled novel and eat up the fantastic dialogue that brings Elvis back to life in a new, deliciously lascivious way.”

“When Riley Sinclair stepped into her new job as director of guest relations at a posh resort on Paradise Island, she felt the final pieces of her once-broken life coming together. But the waters become choppy when Riley discovers that some who come to the Atlantis Hotel are accompanied by paralyzing secrets and overwhelming fears. Riley and three guests are in desperate but unknowing need of each other, eventually forging unlikely yet powerful friendships. With a hurricane headed straight for the island, together they embark on a journey of laughter, heartache, and healing.”