Revell; 383 pages; $14.99; Amazon

Now available from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, is Naomi's Hope, book 3 in the Journey To Pleasant Prairie series, by Jan Drexler.

Set in LaGrange County, Indiana, in 1846, the novel centers Naomi Schrock, a single Amish woman who had taken in a young boy Davey after his family had been killed. Getting married is not an option for her, because she believes no man would be interested in a woman with an adopted kid. Well, her thoughts begin to change after Cap Stoltzfus moves into the area and starts a friendship with Davey.

Cap comes with emotional scars, as he had loss his family back in Ohio. Despite his heartache, he journeyed to Indiana to start anew. The last thing he was looking for was love, but he that changes once he meets Naomi.

Cap's and Naomi's future is tested when Preacher Shem Fischer moves to the county and causes a whole set problems.

Now available to purchase on Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, Google Books, and Barnes & Noble is the paranormal romance Ancient Heat, book one in The Followers series, by Kira Shayde.




When did you become interested in storytelling?

As a child, I had a severe case of over imagination and would not shut up. I wrote my first romance in fifth grade (I vaguely remember it also featured a cat). In high school, I wrote angsty poetry and had a sketchbook where I drew just parts of people. Then I found sci-fi and began to express the weirdness in my head on paper. But after a half-completed sci-fi/paranormal novel drew confusion from a class of general fiction writers (is your heroine an animal or an alien?) and consternation from a sci-fi group (why is there sex in this?), I lost my gumption and stopped writing for a long time.

What was your first book/story published?

My first story published was in 2012. On Par with a Fairy by Lyla Bardan is a young adult fantasy novella about a fairy who sacrifices immortality to become human and date a teen boy.

What inspired you to write Ancient Heat?

My dreams. All my books are inspired by my weird, lucid dreams.

What character in Ancient Heat is the most/least like you, and in what ways?

None of the characters are like me. The heroine has a number of traits from my daughter though, my son pops up in a couple of the secondary characters, and whenever I needed the hero to be a moody poop, I relied on my husband. LOL.

Well, I'm still reading Into The Water by Paula Hawkins. To be honest, I have only read a few pages of it since checking it out at the library. What's the holdup? I had to read a few review titles last week, such as The Fifth Petal, and Book One and Two in The Girls Of Spindrift series. A blog tour suddenly came across my radar (actually, I had forgot about it), so I now have to read Naomi's Hope either tonight or early in the morning, as my review needs to be posted tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll have time tomorrow to start reading Into The Water, again! The book is due back at the library on the 20th, but I like to get it read by Friday.

I also have a bookmark already slipped inside the Alien Covenant paperback, as I've already started reading a few pages of it.

Being released this summer from Pocket Star eBooks are the first two books in the all-new e-novella series "The Girls Of Spindrift" by V.C. Andrews, the New York Times bestselling author of Flowers in the Attic and My Sweet Audrina. There will be four e-novellas in the series, which will all form a prequel to the novel Bittersweet Dreams (2012).

Kindle; Nook

CORLISS, Book One of the Girls of Spindrift, was released today! It centers on an incredibly intelligent teenager named Corliss. Despite her high IQ, she doesn't have very many friends, mostly due to her shyness and her difficulty of fitting in with the other students at the Los Angeles high school. Though she has always been known as the 'good girl" in school, Corliss gets in a bit of trouble at a school party, where a group of girls spikes her drink.

After a trip to the emergency room, which scares her parents to death, Corliss decides to get even with her classmates.

DONNA, Book Two of the Girls of Spindrift, will go on sale on August 14th! It centers on a half Latino, half Irish teenager named Donna, who is the most gifted student at her high school. Her teachers have no clue what to do with her, as it seems she always has the correct answers to every test she takes. Of course having a high IQ comes with a price, as Donna isn't very popular at school.

Out of nowhere, a boy becomes interested in Donna, which leads to her stepping outside of her comfort zone. Everything in her life seems to be perfect, well, that is until a violent confrontation rocks her world.

Crown; 448 pages; Amazon

Probably the best way to hear about a new book is  by word-of-the-mouth, which is exactly how heard about The Fifth Petal by Brunonia Barry. I kept noticing other book bloggers were reading the title, so I signed up to review an electronic galley several weeks ago.

Set in Salem, this murder-mystery centers around a teenager boy being murdered on Halloween night. John Rafferty, aka the chief of police, believes the boys death is somehow connected to the notorious cold case known as "The Goddess Murders," in which three young women, all descendants of accused Salem witches, were murdered on Halloween night in 1989!

John teams up with one of the 1989 victim's daughter, Callie Cahill. While all the clues points to the local historian Rose Whelan as the killer, John and Callie believe someone or something else is the murderer. Maybe even something supernatural!

Fox Home Entertainment; 88 minutes; $14.99

Now available on DVD + Digital HD from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is Strawberry Shortcake: Dance Berry Dance, featuring four exciting episodes from the hit series. There are no special features or extras on the single-disc; though it does includes a 'printable coloring pages.'

Based on the popular American Greetings' character, Strawberry Shortcake's Berry Bitty Adventures aired on The Hub (now known as Discovery Family) from 2010 to 2015. The series centered on Strawberry Shortcake, a chef and owner of Berry Bitty Café. The episodes follows Strawberry and her pals as they go on adventures, tell fun tales, and explore their city.

The four episodes on this release are from the fourth and final season of the series.

The episodes are:

"A Berry Merry Birthday" - Twins Sweet and Sour Grapes decide to have separate birthdays.

"The Berry Bitty Dance Disaster" - Apple makes a pair of magical grove booties to make her dance better.

"Doggie Dance No-Show" - Strawberry and Plum uses the groove booties to teach a trio of pups how to dance.

"Dance Puppy Dance" - Cherry's new song "Dance Puppy Dance" is a hit all over town. Everyone loves the song, well, except for Cherry. She believes the song is too big of a distraction, so she attempts to destroy it.