Miami Beat III: Illusions by Frederica Burden

Mirror, mirror on the wall… someone’s shooting star is bound to fall. Will one go down, or will they all?

Sidney Stevens has a front row seat to the destruction of everyone she loves. Her family is poised to drive her absolutely crazy as she runs from one person to the other, extinguishing fires. Sidney faces the ultimate betrayal when her brother exposes the love of her life and his heinous crimes. Now she is forced to decide between what her heart feels and what her mind knows to be true.

Chief of Police Marcus J. Mystic has his hands full with a maniacal wife who is hot and heavy on his heels. Vondra has escaped the North Florida Mental Hospital with a plan and a purpose. If the authorities don’t capture her soon, they will all be doomed. Mystic also grapples with his love affair with Sidney. Their once sizzling union has now been doused with ice-cold reality due to accusations levied against Mystic by Randy Jr. Sadly, Mystic’s list of critics is growing longer by the minute. It’s a race against time to see who gets to him first.

Can Mystic convince Sidney of the truth before it’s too late?

Locked away in prison, Randy Jr. faces his own version of hell as he stares down a hefty sentence for murder. He is desperate to get out of prison and settle the score with his enemies. Will prison be the distraction that he needs to get his life together or just another place for his sins to incubate?

Spencer thought that he was off the hook for Linda’s murder, but now he finds himself in a battle for his own life. Spencer has to prove to everyone that he isn’t the killer, but he isn’t entirely convinced of his own innocence. Luckily, he has Artie in his corner.

Artie Garcia has been an integral person in everyone’s life, but deep within the recesses of his heart, he holds secrets that threaten to destroy him. As he vies for Sidney’s affections and aspires for a higher position on the force, Artie tests the bounds of friendship and loyalty to see his goals manifest. The games that he plays will put his life in jeopardy. Only Artie can determine if it’s worth the risk.

Join the characters of Miami Beat III: Illusions as they return for another action-packed journey guaranteed to have you questioning whether what you see is the truth or merely an illusion.

 

Miami Beat: The Secret Society by Frederica P. Burden
Listen to a chilling audio excerpt from Miami Beat: http://www.audioacrobat.com/note/CTgGTxsX

Miami Beat II: Dilemmas by Frederica P. Burden
Listen to a dramatic reading from Miami Beat II: Dilemmas: https://www.audioacrobat.com/note/CCmvBHQX

Miami Beat III: Illusions by Frederica P. Burden
Listen to a dramatic reading from Miami Beat III: Illusions: http://www.audioacrobat.com/note/CwmNTyfX

 

 

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Excerpt: Chapter 11

Marcus Mystic appraised his reflection in the mirror with a smile. His bright green eyes sparkled with charm and charisma. His skin was the color of café au lait, and his smile could make any woman melt. For years he got by on his looks and his charm. He did climb through the ranks of the Police Department rather quickly, based on his experience and knowledge which he so prominently displayed, daily.

He thought about Sidney every minute of the day when he was apart from her. It bothered Mystic that he couldn’t get through to Sidney. He loved her desperately, but he also knew that he couldn’t say but so much. Although he cared about Sidney, he also cared about his job and his lifestyle that he worked so hard for.

Mystic hated keeping secrets, and he despised scandal. Currently, he was involved in a huge scandal. He still had Killa Dre’s hand in his possession. He knew that the heat would come down on him hard if someone found out that he knew who was behind the slaying of Killa Dre.

Killa Dre’s death was a great benefit to the community because the drugs he sold and controlled in the neighborhood was to their detriment. Mystic knew that Killa Dre’s murder wouldn’t wholly eliminate drug abuse in the community, but it would slow it down considerably until a new gangster took over.

Mystic didn’t miss Killa Dre, but he knew that someone would. He knew personally that a few officers were on Killa Dre’s payroll. He surmised that they would try to investigate the death of Killa Dre to avenge him.

Killa Dre’s criminal empire kept food on the table for some of the most unlikely individuals. It unnerved Mystic that he had to actually cover for Randy Jr., but Mystic couldn’t think of another way to fix the situation with the love of his life and winning her trust back.

Mystic couldn’t win.

Sidney was pissed with him, and he didn’t know how to get her to believe in him again. Mystic considered that if he turned in Killa Dre’s hand and affirmed where he located the hand, Randy Jr. wouldn’t stand a chance. He would never be let out of prison with an additional murder charge on his record.

Mystic considered the idea. Randy Jr. hated him. He knew a few things that Sidney didn’t. Mystic wondered if he let Randy Jr. rot in prison how long it would take before Sidney forgot about the accusations he hurled at Mystic during the prison visitation. He wondered if he would ever get Sidney back in his arms.

That was only one of his troubles.

Vondra was posed to cause him some serious issues if she didn’t calm down in the mental hospital. He estimated locking her away at the North Florida Mental Hospital was a great temporary solution to his troubles, but he could tell that something wasn’t working correctly. Vondra called him daily, nonstop.

Vera called him just as often as Vondra. Mystic ignored her incessant calls. He blocked the hospital number from his cell phone and told himself that he would deal with it when he was ready. Mystic couldn’t tell his aunt about the issue because he really didn’t want to speak with anyone at the hospital. So, he ignored every call that came through his phone, unless it came from his office.

Mystic wanted to just bury Vondra at the hospital and walk away, forever. He begged his aunt for help, and Vera quickly jumped into action. He considered contacting Vera to tell her that Vondra had somehow obtained telephone privileges. That way he could stop the incessant phone calls. She left him messages, over 100 per day. Mystic simply deleted the messages he received from the hospital.

He no longer cared.

Now that he was the Chief of Police he had real things to worry about. He didn’t have time to chase behind his wife to make sure that she was taking her medication and abiding by the law. It was too tiring for Mystic.

The two women in his life were both driving him crazy.

( Continued… )

© 2019 All rights reserved. Miami Beat III book excerpt reprinted by permission of the author, Frederica Paremore Burden. Do not reproduce, copy or use without the author’s written permission. This excerpt is used for promotional purposes only.

 

 

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Summer 2019 New Releases: Psychological Thrillers

Her Deadly Secrets By Laura Griffin

Watching You: A Novel by Lisa Jewell

 

Watching You: A Novel by Lisa Jewell

“Quickly and assuredly, Jewell builds an ecosystem of countervailing suspicions…Tricky, clever, unexpected.” —New York Times Book Review

“Brace yourself as Jewell stacks up the secrets, then lights a long, slow fuse.” —People

“A seize-you-by-the-throat thriller and a genuinely moving family drama.” —A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window

 

 

The instant New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Then She Was Gone delivers another suspenseful page-turner about a shocking murder in a picturesque and well-to-do English town, perfect “for fans of Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, and Luckiest Girl Alive” (Library Journal).

Melville Heights is one of the nicest neighborhoods in Bristol, England; home to doctors and lawyers and old-money academics. It’s not the sort of place where people are brutally murdered in their own kitchens. But it is the sort of place where everyone has a secret. And everyone is watching you.

As the headmaster credited with turning around the local school, Tom Fitzwilliam is beloved by one and all—including Joey Mullen, his new neighbor, who quickly develops an intense infatuation with this thoroughly charming yet unavailable man. Joey thinks her crush is a secret, but Tom’s teenaged son Freddie—a prodigy with aspirations of becoming a spy for MI5—excels in observing people and has witnessed Joey behaving strangely around his father.

One of Tom’s students, Jenna Tripp, also lives on the same street, and she’s not convinced her teacher is as squeaky clean as he seems. For one thing, he has taken a particular liking to her best friend and fellow classmate, and Jenna’s mother—whose mental health has admittedly been deteriorating in recent years—is convinced that Mr. Fitzwilliam is stalking her.

Meanwhile, twenty years earlier, a schoolgirl writes in her diary, charting her doomed obsession with a handsome young English teacher named Mr. Fitzwilliam…

In Lisa Jewell’s latest brilliant “bone-chilling suspense” (People) no one is who they seem—and everyone is hiding something. Who has been murdered—and who would have wanted one of their neighbors dead? As “Jewell teases out her twisty plot at just the right pace” (Booklist, starred review), you will be kept guessing until the startling revelation on the very last page.

About The Author
Lisa Jewell is the internationally bestselling author of eighteen novels, including the New York Times bestseller Then She Was Gone, as well as I Found You, The Girls in the Garden, and The House We Grew Up In. In total, her novels have sold more than two million copies across the English-speaking world and her work has also been translated into sixteen languages so far. Lisa lives in London with her husband and their two daughters. Connect with her on Twitter @LisaJewellUK and on Facebook @LisaJewellOfficial.

 

 

 

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Her Deadly Secrets By Laura Griffin

A young private investigator finds out the price of keeping deadly secrets when a vicious killer sets his sights on her in this pulse-pounding thriller from the USA TODAY and New York Times bestselling author of the Tracers series.

Private investigator Kira Vance spends her days navigating the intricate labyrinth of Houston’s legal world, and she knows all of its shadowy players and dark secrets.

On a seemingly normal day, she’s delivering a report to her top client when suddenly everything goes sideways and the meeting ends in a bloodbath. Twenty-four hours later, the police have no suspects but one thing is clear: a killer has Kira in his sights.

Fiercely independent, Kira doesn’t expect—or want—help from anyone, least of all an unscrupulous lawyer and his elite security team. Instead, she launches her own investigation, hoping to uncover the answers that have eluded the police. But as Kira’s hunt for clues becomes more and more perilous, she realizes that she alone may hold the key to finding a vicious murderer. And she knows she must take help wherever she can find it if she wants to stay alive…

Written with Laura Griffin’s signature “gritty, imaginative, sexy” (Cindy Gerard, New York Times bestselling author) style, Her Deadly Secrets is an electrifying and scintillating novel that packs a powerful punch.

Purchase Her Deadly Secrets (Wolfe Security) by Laura Griffin
https://www.amazon.com/Her-Deadly-Secrets-Wolfe-Security/dp/1501162438

About The Author
Laura Griffin is the New York Times bestselling author of the Tracers series, the Wolfe Sec series, the Alpha Crew series, and several other novels. A two-time RITA Award winner and the recipient of the Daphne du Maurier Award, Laura lives in Austin, where she is working on her next book. Visit her at LauraGriffin.com, and on Facebook at Facebook.com/LauraGriffinAuthor.

 

Miami Beat III: Illusions by Frederica Burden

 

Mirror, mirror on the wall…someone’s shooting star is bound to fall. Will one go down, or will they all? Sidney Stevens has a front row seat to the destruction of everyone she loves. Her family is poised to drive her absolutely crazy as she runs from one person to the other, extinguishing fires. Sidney faces the ultimate betrayal when her brother exposes the love of her life and his heinous crimes. Now she is forced to decide between what her heart feels and what her mind knows to be true.

Chief of Police Marcus J. Mystic has his hands full with a maniacal wife who is hot and heavy on his heels. Vondra has escaped the North Florida Mental Hospital with a plan and a purpose. If the authorities don’t capture her soon, they will all be doomed. Mystic also grapples with his love affair with Sidney. Their once sizzling union has now been doused with ice-cold reality due to accusations levied against Mystic by Randy Jr. Sadly, Mystic’s list of critics is growing longer by the minute. It’s a race against time to see who gets to him first.

Can Mystic convince Sidney of the truth before it’s too late?

Locked away in prison, Randy Jr. faces his own version of hell as he stares down a hefty sentence for murder. He is desperate to get out of prison and settle the score with his enemies. Will prison be the distraction that he needs to get his life together or just another place for his sins to incubate?

Spencer thought that he was off the hook for Linda’s murder, but now he finds himself in a battle for his own life. Spencer has to prove to everyone that he isn’t the killer, but he isn’t entirely convinced of his own innocence. Luckily, he has Artie in his corner.

Artie Garcia has been an integral person in everyone’s life, but deep within the recesses of his heart, he holds secrets that threaten to destroy him. As he vies for Sidney’s affections and aspires for a higher position on the force, Artie tests the bounds of friendship and loyalty to see his goals manifest. The games that he plays will put his life in jeopardy. Only Artie can determine if it’s worth the risk.

Join the characters of Miami Beat III: Illusions as they return for another action-packed journey guaranteed to have you questioning whether what you see is the truth or merely an illusion.

Listen to a reading from Miami Beat: The Secret Society: http://www.audioacrobat.com/note/CTgGTxsX

Listen to a reading from the book, Miami Beat II: Dilemmas: http://www.audioacrobat.com/note/CCmvBHQX

 

 

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Miami Beat II: Dilemmas by Frederica Burden

The warm, salty, sea air of Miami blows in change for everyone that Sidney holds dear to her heart. After years of hard work and dedication, Sidney Stevens’ dreams have finally manifested to reality. The Academy extended an offer of a lifetime, and she is prepared to invest everything she has into her future, everything EXCEPT her heart.

Sidney’s heart belongs to one man, Major Marcus Mystic.

Major Mystic has demons of his own to put to rest. His wife Vondra is on a misguided pursuit of the love she once had with her husband. She will stop at nothing to get her husband and their relationship back to how it was, and she is willing to kill anyone who stands in the way. With his wife on the hunt for blood, Mystic faces dilemmas of his own. Mystic is forced to choose between his deranged wife, Sidney, and the promotion that he so desperately covets. Afraid to lose it all, he can’t imagine selecting just one.

Which will Mystic choose?

As long as Vondra is alive, Sidney’s life is in danger, and everyone she loves is at risk. Luckily, Sidney has her closest friend to protect her, but unbeknownst to her, he has dilemmas of his own to conquer.

After a night of passion that he can barely recall, Spencer has found himself on the wrong side of the law. Spencer only has Artie Garcia in his corner, and he’s petrified that Artie’s affiliation with the Department could shake his resolve.

Will Spencer trust his lover with his life?

The characters from Miami Beat: The Secret Society have returned with drama so hot it will have you sweating. As the body count increases, everyone is left wondering, who will be next?

Purchase Miami Beat II: Dilemmas by Frederica Burden
https://www.amazon.com/Frederica-Burden/e/B07KQLRDLP
Fiction » Mystery » Psychological Thriller » Erotic Suspense » Crime Trilogy
Books can be found on Amazon and Barnes&Noble.  Available in Paperback and Kindle Unlimited eBook format.

 

 

The Last Thing You Surrender: A Novel of World War II by Leonard Pitts Jr.

The Last Thing You Surrender: A Novel of World War II by Leonard Pitts Jr.

Could you find the courage to do what’s right in a world on fire?

 

Pulitzer-winning journalist and bestselling novelist Leonard Pitts, Jr.’s new historical page-turner is a great American tale of race and war, following three characters from the Jim Crow South as they face the enormous changes World War II triggers in the United States.

 

“The Last Thing You Surrender” is the intertwining story of two families from the Jim Crow South – one black and poor, the other wealthy and white – through the carnage of World War II, an ordeal that will threaten their faith and challenge everything they know about race hatred and love.

 

An affluent white marine survives Pearl Harbor at the cost of a black messman’s life only to be sent, wracked with guilt, to the Pacific and taken prisoner by the Japanese . . . a young black woman, widowed by the same events at Pearl, finds unexpected opportunity and a dangerous friendship in a segregated Alabama shipyard feeding the war . . . a black man, who as a child saw his parents brutally lynched, is conscripted to fight Nazis for a country he despises and discovers a new kind of patriotism in the all-black 761st Tank Battalion.

Set against a backdrop of violent racial conflict on both the front lines and the home front, The Last Thing You Surrender explores the powerful moral struggles of individuals from a divided nation. What does it take to change someone’s mind about race? What does it take for a country and a people to move forward, transformed?

 

Nora Jean M. Goodreads 5-Star Customer Review for The Last Thing You Surrender 
This is a POWERFUL read, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is an avid reader. The language is beautiful although the story is haunting. The character development is very real, and it makes the reader hurt even more for these people who become important to the readers’ lives. This is an area of history that we do not learn in school, and the author has provided an imitate portrait of this time. Read this book!

 

Reader Review from Grayson Hugh
5.0 out of 5 stars | A New Classic

The best novels not only entertain us with good characters, an interesting story and skillful prose; they show us something about what it means to be a human being. Tolstoy, Joyce , Faulkner, Hemmingway, Updike, Morrison, Baldwin, Wright, Momaday, to name just a few, have created timeless works that are timeless stories of the human experience. With “The Last Thing You Surrender”, by Leonard Pitts, Jr., we have a new classic.

It is fitting that it is a story about race, as it would seem the brains and souls of men and women, especially in America, need to continue to evolve. But this book, The Last Thing You Surrender, is more, much more, than a dry treatise on that subject. It is a love story, a human story, a story of war and peace, it is a story about the love, pain, the joys and sorrows that pass between a parent and child, grandparent and grandchild, sister and brother.

It is the story of what is learned and lost between forces of good and evil. It is eloquent, heartbreaking and beautiful. It is a new classic. Read it, America; read it, world. And learn some more about that most tremendous gift of all that the Creator gave us: the ability to see things through another’s eyes, to care deeply about someone other than one’s self, in short, to love.

 

 

Reader Review from Sheila Boyce
5.0 out of 5 stars | Powerful, compelling and important story

Since first reading Leonard Pitts, Jr.’s columns in the Miami Herald almost 18 years ago, I have found that if Pitts has something to say, I want to read it. . . in fact, I need to read it. He can put complex, often difficult, ideas into beautiful words that show the reader his point of view, educating and helping the reader gain empathy and understanding.

I ordered Pitt’s latest book, #TheLastThingYouSurrender, as soon as it was released – and it was everything I expected and more. It is a deeply researched work of historical fiction, with a compelling story that is hard to put down. I tried to keep from racing through the book, as I didn’t want to say goodbye to the characters who became friends, and who showed me the world through their eyes – which is why we read!

Yes, there are parts that are very difficult to read, but part of the power of this book is to show us, to remind us of the brutality of parts of our history that get glossed over as some of us extol the “good old days.”

I highly recommend this book, and hope Mr. Pitts will write a sequel to show us how they carry their inspiration and motivation into battles to come.

 

 

Editorial Review: The Last Thing You Surrender
Leonard Pitts, Jr., a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, turns again to America’s fraught history of race relations in this unflinching, gritty WWII saga. It centers on a trio of finely drawn characters, two black and one white, all from Alabama, whose worlds collide because of Pearl Harbor.

Marine Private George Simon—wealthy, religious, white—survives the sinking of his ship because Eric Gordy, a black messman, rescues him. Eric dies, and while George recuperates, he pays a condolence call on Eric’s widow, Thelma. Thelma and her brother, Luther Hayes, a bitter alcoholic, are living with the memory of their parents’ lynching 20 years earlier.

George and Thelma begin a correspondence after he returns to active duty; she takes a job in a shipyard. Luther, deciding this is a white man’s war, tries to evade the draft but ends up serving with a tank battalion in Europe. George endures horrific conditions in the Pacific as Thelma faces growing racial hostility at work, culminating in a brutal moment of violence that compels her to make a difficult decision.

While remaining true to his characters, Pitts brings the story lines to realistic conclusions even as he holds out hope for the future, resulting in a polished, affecting novel. —Janelle Walden Agyeman, Agent Marie Brown Assoc.

 

 

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Chapter Excerpt: The Last Thing You Surrender

Luther stood on top of the tank. He felt his mouth fall open. He felt his mind fumble for language. But there were no words.

It was a camp of some sort, barracks arranged in neat rows. And hobbling, shuffling, tottering toward them from every direction came an assemblage of stick men in filthy black-and-white striped prison suits. Maybe some of them were women, too. It was hard to tell. The creatures seemed sexless.

Dazed, Luther dismounted the tank. His mouth was still open.

The creatures swarmed the colored tankers. It was difficult to believe they were even human. Their eyes were like those of small, frightened animals, peering out from the caverns their eye sockets had become. Their mouths were drawn tight against their bony jaws. You could look at them and see where tibia met patella, count their ribs by sight. They were little more than skeletons wearing rags of flesh.

And their eyes gleamed with a madness of joy, an insanity of deliverance at the sight of the colored tankers. They shook clasped hands toward Heaven, they smiled terrible, toothless smiles, they looked up at the Negro soldiers like penitents gazing upon the very throne of God. A woman—at least he thought it was a woman—took Luther’s hand and lifted it to her cheek. Her grip was like air. She held his skin to hers, which was papery and thin, almost translucent. Her face contorted into an expression of raw, utter sorrow, and she made groaning sounds that did not seem quite human. It took Luther a moment to realize that she was crying because her eyes remained dry, no water glistened on her cheeks. She had no tears left in her.

And Luther, who had never touched a white woman before, who had never so much as brushed against one in a crowd, who had avoided even that incidental contact with a kind of bone-deep terror accessible only to a Negro man in the Deep South who grew up knowing all too well what messing with a white woman could get you, could only stand there, stricken and dumbfounded, as this woman pressed his hand to her cheek. He was a man who had seen his parents tortured and burned to death before his very eyes at his own front door by white people. It had never occurred to him that their capacity for bestial cruelty was not limited to the woes they inflicted upon Negroes.

But here was the proof, this poor thing whose gender he had to guess, this creature whose age might have been 16, might have been 60, holding his hand in her airy grip, crying without tears.

Luther looked around. The place reeked of death and shit, a stink of putrefaction that surely profaned the very nostrils of God. Naked and emaciated bodies lay stacked in piles exactly like cordwood, only their gaping mouths and sightless eyes attesting to the fact that once they had been human and alive. Flies droned above it all in great black clouds, a few of them occasionally descending to walk in the mouths and eyes of the dead.

At length, the crying woman got hold of herself. Luther gently took back his hand. She gave him a shy, weak smile, touched her feathery hand to his shoulder—some sort of thank-you, he supposed—and wandered slowly away. Luther watched her go, still dazed, still failed by language. And he still struggled to understand. It had never occurred to him, not even in his angriest, most bitter imaginings, that something like this was possible.

How could white people do this to white people?

How could anybody do this to anybody?

( Continued… )

© 2019 All rights reserved. Book excerpt reprinted by permission of the author, Leonard Pitts Jr. Do not reproduce, copy or use without the author’s written permission. This excerpt is used for promotional purposes only.

Purchase The Last Thing You Surrender: A Novel of World War II by Leonard Pitts Jr.

Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Thing-You-Surrender-Novel/dp/1572842458

Barnes&Noble:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-last-thing-you-surrender-leonard-pitts-jr/1128941167

Publisher:
https://www.agatepublishing.com/titles/the-last-thing-you-surrender

Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38225249-the-last-thing-you-surrender

 

 

Seeds of Deception by Arlene L. Walker

 

A clash between Cherokee Indians and their former African slaves comes to a head in the tribal town of Feather Falls.

 

On the same day Sput Louie McClendon is evicted by reviled town tycoon Goliah Lynch, her husband mysteriously vanishes. Has he fallen prey to bushwhackers or timber thieves? Or is Lynch behind his disappearance?

Alone and desperate, Sput Louie turns to town elder Two Bird for help, but with racial tension between the two factions, are his intentions pure?

As Sput Louie’s frantic search for her husband intensifies, she stumbles onto a dark twisted family secret – one that could not only have devastating implications for her, but the entire town of Feather Falls.

 

 

Reviews for Seeds of Deception by Arlene L. Walker

“Seeds of Deception has characters you’ll love, a plot that pulls you in and twists you’ll never see coming.”
— Pamela Samuels Young, author of Anybody’s Daughter anf Abuse of Discretion, NAACP Image Award winner

 

“Hypnotic prose, vivid characters. I was blown away. A masterful first novel.”
— Dwayne Alexander Smith, author of Forty Acres, NAACP Image Award Winner

 

“I wish I could go back and meet all her characters again. Haven’t stopped thinking about them yet. Easily one of my favorite reads this year.” — Lisa Bobbit, reviewer, ReadInColour.com

 

“Ms. Walker’s writing is uninhibited and honest.”
— C. Knight, Book-a-licious Book Club

 

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EXCERPT: Seeds of Deception by Arlene L. Walker

Goliah T. Lynch, known as Old Crow behind his back, was a man of considerable coin. He was arguably the most powerful mixed-blood in Feather Falls, being half-white and half-Cherokee. He was also the man who had owned both Sput’s and Benjamin’s families during slavery.

Sput wanted to spit bile. She knew Benjamin did as well.

That her two older sons were not around gave Sput some small solace.

“Here come the boys.” Benjamin jutted his chin towards the prairie to the left of Goliah Lynch.

She followed his nod. Sure enough, there was Hunter Big, her oldest, trailed by Archie, her middle son. They both knew of her and Benjamin’s loathing for Goliah. They’d cut their teeth on it.

Hunter Big was a bison of a man. He swung a rope-tied red fox from his left hand and carried a bow in his right.

Just like Benjamin, Hunter Big knew by heart the rise and fall of the land. He strode wide and shrewd towards them now.

Trying to keep up with him was Archie, Hunter’s twin brother. They neither looked alike nor were alike. Archie was the only member of the family who had managed to amass any schooling in his 20 years on earth. Hunter, on the other hand, saw no need for the alphabet if it couldn’t back him up in a bear fight.

The two boys flanked their parents and their youngest brother L.B. as they watched Goliah’s wagon roll to a stop.

“Osiyo.” Benjamin greeted first.

At the Cherokee greeting, Goliah flinched like he had been pinched.

“I have a hundred head of new cattle coming in,” he said, skipping any semblance of social pleasantries.

No surprise to Sput there.

“Well, suh,” Benjamin began.

What was a surprise to Sput was hearing her husband refer to this particular man as “sir.” She whipped her head around to give Benjamin a questioning stare. Was that a smile she saw stretching at his lips? A nasty shiver went down her spine, as her ire heated up. But then, she understood how desperation could make a man like Benjamin sacrifice his skin in order to save his bones.

“I — I don’t have a mule no more —” Benjamin continued.

“Cauth we ate him.” L.B. hooked his thumbs around the shoulder straps of overalls that didn’t quite reach his ankles. “He died firth. Then we ate him.”

Benjamin was not sidetracked. “But if you supply a horse,” he went on as if L.B. hadn’t said a word, “I can rope a steer, brand it, and castrate it with the best of ‘em. Never lost a steer to a snippin’ yet.”

Archie jumped right on board with the idea of any one of the McClendons being hired out. “They don’t call Pa Snippin’ Ben for nothing.”

“And Hunter here,” Benjamin pointed with a proud nod of his head, “he can break a bronco into a cow pony in no time. And Archie can rope and ride a salty one all day long,” he said, rounding out the recitation of McClendon family skills.

Goliah began a slow, guttural laugh. “I’m not looking to hire you.” His laugh grew. “I’m looking to evict you.”

 

Quick and Easy Guide to Signing by Lauren K. Bell

Trilingual Publications Presents Quick and Easy Guide to Signing. American Sign Language in English and Spanish. Includes DVD with over 200 Signs

Volume 1 covers Alphabets (Alfabetos), Numbers (Numeros), Education (Educacion), Careers (Carreras), and Feelings (Sentimientos)

Volume 2 covers Family (Familia), Home (Hogar), Clothing (Ropa), and Food (Comida)

Volume 3 covers Sports (Deportes), Action (Accion), Animals (Animales), Colors (Colores), and Religion (Religion)

Volume 4 covers Medical (Medico), Time (Tiempo), and Opposites (Opuestos)

Volume 5 is a Children’s Book (Libro De Los Niños) which covers a variety of signs

American Sign Language is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities.

 

Visit the Trilingual Website: buytrilingual.com
The Quick and Easy Guide to Signing  |  English Spanish American Sign Language

 

The Quick and Easy Guide to Signing – These learning tools provide the basic building blocks with which a creative and active mind will succeed. This is a significant contribution for American Sign Language. English and Spanish are dominant languages. Lauren K. Bell has provided the hearing impaired community with the strategies and tools needed to improve student retention and performance.

The five books in this series, with clear illustrations and DVDs, are required for anyone who wants to understand the most important means of communication for the Deaf. Lauren K. Bell has thrown open the doors, revealing distinguished ways to share learning previously known to only a few. She has written a whole new chapter in American Sign Language.

–Dr. Odie H. Tolbert, Jr., Deaf for 30 years
Associate Professor Emeritus (retired), University of Memphis, TN

 

Featured Authors in “Love Like It’s Hot!” Book Set

“Love Like It’s Hot!” Book Set Coming to an e-reader near you July 1, 2019!

Featured Authors in “Love Like It’s Hot!” Book Set:

* Love for Liberty by Ann Clay
* Heat at First Sight by Barbara Keaton
* Best Laid Plans by Deatri King-Bey
* Summer Sizzle by Donna Hill
* Sweet Heat Rising by Nicki Night
* The Fourth by Xyla Turner

Be sure to check out some of Ann Clay’s previous titles while you wait for Love Like It’s HOT!   Find her titles on Amazon at: https://tinyurl.com/yybujtsr

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
An avid reader and lover of positive, strong men, award-winning author, Ann Clay began her writing venture in 1999. She has been duly recognized for her warm-hearted stories, bursting with memorable characters, places and special moments. Venturing into several genres, Ann still prefers her romantic versions of life and living. She resides in Southern Illinois with family and loves hearing from her readers. Check her out at http://www.annclay.com, by email at annclay@annclay.com, Ann Clay on Facebook, annclaywrites on Twitter, or annclay35 on Instgram.

 

 

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Be sure to check out some of Barbara Keaton’s previous titles while you wait for Love Like It’s HOT!  Find her titles on Amazon at: https://tinyurl.com/y3urh8ee

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A Chicago native, Barbara Keaton loves the city and says she cannot imagine living anywhere else. Educated in Catholic schools up until 12th grade, Barbara credits the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the oldest order of black nuns, and her late maternal grandfather, Thomas Hill, for her love and respect of the written word.

Barbara’s first romance novel, All I Ask, was published in 2000. Since then she’s gone on to write thirteen total romance novels which celebrate black love. In addition to her books, she’s also written several articles and editorials that have appeared in various publications: Today’s Black Woman Magazine; The Chicago Crusader; The Chicago Defender; The Chicago Reader; Bronze Thrills; True Confessions; and, Affaire de Coeur.

Barbara Keaton holds a MS in Journalism from Roosevelt University and belongs to several civic and professional organizations, namely Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. In her spare time, she’s an avid reader and writer. Married to a minister, Barbara has no children of her own, but she considers her niece and nephew, Stephanie and Matthew, and her step-daughter, Candice, as her “babies”. In addition, she’s a grandma and a great-aunt. Barbara lives by a personal credo: I ANSWER TO TWO—MY GOD AND MYSELF! You can check Barbara out at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Barbara-Keaton-582585395172168