(NewsUSA) -  

“Curb Children”
by Carlos and Javier Avitia-Velazquez       

“Once a Punk, Always a Punk; Expect Nothing, Cherish Everything.” Los Angeles native David Leandro “Leo” Rial-Alvarez takes these mantras to heart. But what do they mean to an 18-year-old Latino Millennial dealing with the suicide of his close friend Aqua at his going-away party before his flight to college in New York? Especially when he left behind Astair, his childhood love, and all his other California friends?  

A subcultural coming-of-age tale, “Curb Children” embarks on an epic odyssey through strange, vibrant portions of the Los Angeles countercultural underground, circa the late 2000s. Rounded off with nostalgic, magical “dreams” guided by a punk-rock angel, Leo’s deceased Tio Angel, “Curb Children” shows what the past -- and future -- once held for a group of idealistic young Millennials.

Purchase at https://curbchildren.com/buy.

“Segment of One”
by Michael Grigsby  

Newly retired marketing analyst Nick Vanderoff lost his wife last year to cancer. Now he just wants to relax and repair family relationships. He’s been spending time with his math-genius granddaughter and his estranged daughter. But a serial killer is on the loose, and traditional forensics have produced nothing. Nick has consulted for the police department before, but not on anything like this.  

Can he trust the algorithms that worked in the corporate world to flush out a madman? The answer becomes personal when Nick's projections thwart the killer’s plans, and he realizes the police are closing in on him. The sniper attacks escalate, and the killer turns toward Nick. Can Nick use his marketing skills to target a lethal segment of one to reveal himself?

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3yiN7sy.

“Celebrating Their Lives”
by Norah Machia  

Fourteen uplifting and inspirational profiles of families who sought meaningful ways to honor the loss of their loved ones by showing tremendous acts of kindness and compassion for others. As they faced the grieving process, these families worked through their pain by creating scholarship funds, supporting medical research and organizing community education programs with a goal of saving lives. Here they share their personal insights to provide hope and inspiration for others struggling with the tragic death of a loved one.  

By creating meaningful legacies, these families found comfort in their healing journeys and were given a lifelong opportunity to share the values and beliefs of those who passed away. Each profile provides valuable resource information to create your own legacy initiatives.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3PhtmI8.

“Karma Under Fire”
by Love Hudson-Maggio  

Two societies collide: the trendy, upscale ultra-hip universe of Atlanta and the alluring, bound-by-tradition world of old India. Pressured by her “challenging” mother, Harlow Kennedy, an ambitious woman, agrees to marry politically ambitious pretty boy Addison Whitmore. The match will elevate Harlow’s social standing and guarantee financial security. The wedding will take place as soon as Harlow returns from her BFF's wedding in India.  

On the other side of the world, the parents of Tej Mayur, the hottest restauranteur in the hottest city in the South, are fretting about their son’s unmarried status. When Harlow and Tej find themselves seated together on a flight to New Delhi, sparks fly. When they touch down, they flee one another's company -- or so they think.

Purchase at https://bit.ly/3ProMXB.

NOTE: BookBites is presented by BookTrib.com.

(NewsUSA) -  

“Shadow Song”
by Anita Morrish       

“A brilliant story of courage, resilience and love.” Rome 1943 ... As war ravages Italy, Rome’s inhabitants are watched and under curfew. Some join the resistance. Francesca, a talented art student, finds work at Rome’s opera house where nothing is as it seems. Carlo, a doctor, returns unexpectedly to Rome, unable to escape his past. Danger lurks in the shadows, threatening Francesca, Carlo and those they love.  

“The story is unputdownable,” says www.lovereading.co.uk. “Shadow Song” is a gripping, heart-wrenching World War II tale that will stay with the reader long after the book is finished. Anita Morrish's story is filled with inspiration that people can act for what is right in the face of adversity and tragic circumstances.”

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3rVUAd9.

“Primitives”
by Erich Krauss  

From NYT bestselling author Erich Krauss comes the story of two unlikely heroes thrust into a post-apocalyptic mission to restore humanity.    

Thirty years after The Great Fatigue infected the globe, Seth Keller makes a gruesome discovery which forces him to leave the safety of his desert home and the only other person left in the world … at least, as far as he knows.    

Three thousand miles away in Costa Rica, Sarah Peoples has made her own discovery -- just as horrific, and just as life-changing.    

On separate journeys a world apart, Seth and Sarah find themselves swept up in a deadly race to save humankind. But does humanity deserve to survive? “An absolute page-turner,” says NYT bestselling author, Glen Cordoza.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/36biwlh.

“Paul S. Endy Jr.: Las Vegas Casino Gaming Legend”
by Eric P. Endy.  

There isn’t a person who had anything to do with the gaming industry in Las Vegas -- or the world for that matter -- who doesn’t recognize the company name of Paul-Son Dice. But how many know the name of the man behind PaulSon, Paul S. Endy Jr.? He was known by many names, including Mr. Paulson, the old man, a mover and a shaker, a bull in a china shop, and Mr. Endy. But he was the author’s father, and this is the story of his life and the legacy to the gaming industry he left behind.  

Says Wayne Newton, “Paul Endy was a real Casino Gaming Legend and a great human being! I will always cherish the time we spent together. This book continues his legacy.” Purchase at legendendy.vegas.

“Asterisk: A Wildcard Character”
by Booth Milovnik  

In January of 1983, 14-year-old Cindy found out she was pregnant. Her faith-filled mother was crushed. She ended up giving birth and naming the baby Matthew. Cindy ended up calling Matthew her little asterisk. As Cindy tells us the story of her life, Matthew seems to be a footnote to everything that happens.  

But Matthew is not just an asterisk in his mother’s story. Family members and friends also share their stories, and Matthew seems to be an asterisk in all of them. Who is Matthew? Who is his father? Just how important is Matthew to everyone he encounters as he grows up? Read stories that are raw and emotional, sometimes funny, often sad, but always compelling.

Purchase at https://bit.ly/386ctyJ.

NOTE: BookBites is presented by BookTrib.com.

(NewsUSA) - The award-winning documentary, “Adapting to Dive,” follows filmmaker David Marsh on a transformational journey. Marsh lost his son to an opioid overdose on Thanksgiving, one week before he joined the non-profit group, Diveheart, on an adaptive scuba diving trip to Cozumel, Mexico.     

The moving and inspirational film premiered on May 18, 2022, in Diveheart’s hometown of Downers Grove, Illinois, and it has earned laurels from the Orlando International Film Festival and the Cine Paris film festival, and has been named an official selection for the Marina Del Ray film festival and the 2022 Impact DOCS awards.     

Marsh did not share his son’s death with the Diveheart group until the filming was completed, and only after being asked by his new Diveheart friends for his overall impressions of the trip.     

Marsh explains in the film, “After going through this entire process of creating a film, releasing it to the world, and seeing the response, what I’ve learned is that we are all adapting to something in life. Diveheart and the adaptive divers showed me that we have to learn to go through these challenging things,” he says.     

“It is important to remain positive no matter what happens, because it doesn’t matter what happens, it only matters what you do with what happens that makes the difference in your life,” he emphasizes. “Share your story, because we are all moved by hearing another person’s perspective. Each one of us is a unique, individual reflection of creation itself, so honor and appreciate your uniqueness. Give grace to others with patience, because, like you, they are also having to adapt to something in life,” he adds.     

“When David and his brother Scott were not filming and interviewing participants, they were always busy helping others. We had no idea what David was dealing with mentally and emotionally after the sudden loss of his son,” says Diveheart founder and president Jim Elliott.     

“The story that David has articulated through this film is nothing short of amazing,” says Tinamarie Hernandez, Diveheart’s executive director. “Throughout the film you see the transformation that David experienced -- a transformation that no one realized was unfolding each day,” she adds.     

Adapting to Dive is especially powerful in light of the ongoing opioid crisis that affects so many families, and the film’s inspiring messages of empathy, hope and healing. Viewers will experience the genuine themes of trust, adapting, challenge, loss and love.     

Founded in 2001, Diveheart serves youth, veterans and others with physical and cognitive disabilities, and trains instructors and divers of all abilities in adaptive scuba.     Adapting to Dive can be found on Amazon and other streaming services and select film festivals around the world.     

Visit diveheart.org for more details.

(NewsUSA) - Spice up your summer with the premiere of the much-anticipated, four-part limited series, Flowers in the Attic: The Origin, starting July 9 on Lifetime Television.     

The series is inspired by the gothic “Flowers in the Attic” book series from best-selling author V.C. Andrews, and is based on the prequel novel, “Garden of Shadows,” by Andrew Neiderman, longtime ghostwriter of the V.C. Andrews franchise.     

Jemima Rooper (Gold Digger) stars as Olivia Winfield Foxworth, with Max Irons (Condor) as Malcolm Foxworth, parents to Corinne Foxworth and grandparents to Cathy and Chris Dollanganger. Additional series stars include Kelsey Grammer, Harry Hamlin, Kate Mulgrew, Hannah Dodd, T’Shan Williams, Paul Wesley and Alana Boden.     

In the first installment, airing July 9, Olivia Winfield is a young woman in the early 20th century who gives up her career, her home, and her name to become Mrs. Malcolm Foxworth, the wife of the nation’s richest man. However, Olivia soon realizes that life at Foxworth Hall is far from the fairytale she imagined, and that her husband has a dark side. She begins to question her choices, but she is already on a journey that will take her down her own twisted path.   

In the second episode (July 16), Olivia and Malcolm’s family grows, but Olivia struggles to give her children a safe and happy childhood in the face of Malcolm’s sinister nature and obsession over his own family secret, which severs their relationship further.     In part three (July 23), Olivia opposes the unions of her adult children after suffering another devastating loss of her own. As the episode ends, she finds blood on her hands and uncertainty over the fate of an old foe.     

The series wraps up on July 30, with Olivia’s descent into the most notorious and terrifying version of herself. After losing connections with all her children, Olivia copes with the tragedy and tension by embracing religious beliefs instilled in her by her cousin. These beliefs turn into obsessions, and her desire to wreak vengeance on those around her drives her to become someone capable of locking her own grandchildren in the attic when her daughter returns after another family tragedy.     

The first two episodes of the series will also be available the day after they respectively premiere on the Lifetime app and MyLifetime.com without a cable subscription (for 10 days after they debut).  Additionally, V.C. Andrews fans can find more on Lifetime this summer; 14 titles from the V.C. Andrews movie collection will be available on demand and on TV Everywhere platforms from June 1 through August 31.     

Visit mylifetime.com for more information about Lifetime’s summer lineup and other programming.

Max Irons, Kate Mulgrew, and Kelsey Grammer star in Flowers in the Attic: The Origin ©2022 A+E Studios, LLC.  All rights reserved. Photo credit: Vlad Cioplea/ Courtesy of A+E Studios and Lifetime

(NewsUSA) -  

“Free the Animals – 30th Anniversary Edition”
by Ingrid Newkirk       

Oliver Stone calls “Free the Animals” “a moving story about extreme cruelty and extreme courage and an inspirational and practical guide for anyone bent on challenging the system.” Told as a thriller, it a classic work of radical popular storytelling, in the mold of Edward Abbey’s “The Monkey Wrench Gang.”  

It is the story of Valerie, a young police officer whose world is turned upside down when she learns about the abuses of animals in laboratories. The book describes how this law-abiding woman comes to challenge the system by taking direct action and examines why ordinary people are moved to do extraordinary things on behalf of animals. Full of fascinating characters, vivid descriptions and thrilling incidents.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3JWo0hE.

“Solitario: The Lonely One”
by John Manuel  

River guide Robbie Ducharme seeks to recover his business and sanity after the tragic events described in the author’s previous novel, “The Lower Canyons.” Ducharme hires as his assistant 18-year-old Lara Hart, herself seeking to find direction as the product of a broken family and a survivor of the Lower Canyons debacle.  

On the eve of a trip down the Rio Grande, heavy rains send that river into flood and persuade Ducharme to divert his group to a never-before-run desert arroyo. The clients are at first thrilled to enter this awe-inspiring landscape, but soon enough run into trouble.  

The novel poses the ultimate question: Are we right to be bold with our lives and the lives of others when the potential rewards are great?

Purchase at https://jsmanuel.com/books/solitario-the-lonely-one.

“The Last Lumenian”
by S.G. Blaise  

A rebellious and heroic princess chasing after destiny. Menacing villains around every corner. All happening within a galaxy created by S.G. Blaise. “The Last Lumenian” is a wonderful science fiction, fantasy adventure book tastefully garnished with charming alien romance. It’s a coming-of-age story of Lilla. She is a not-your-average princess and a rebel-in-disguise, fighting for the refugees’ freedom.  

The arrival of the mysterious and ruggedly handsome Callum brings news of a bigger battle -- the Era War between the two ruling archgods -- that threatens not only Lilla’s home world but everyone else’s in the Seven Galaxies. Lilla must learn to control her magic and defeat the dark god before he finds her -- the last Lumenian.

Purchase at https://sgblaise.com/the-last-lumenian.

“A Moment of Change”
by Edgar Nguyen  

What can make a sudden change in a young boy? A white boy feels unhappy with his Christian mother who is disciplined, strict and determined. He decides to leave home and swears that he will never come back.  

He falls in love with a Korean immigrant girl who saves his life. But in American society, which remains controversial regarding issues about racism, will their families accept their love story? Would they come to a true love and interracial marriage such as in fairy tales?

Purchase at https://bit.ly/3xSOvSK.

NOTE: BookBites is presented by BookTrib.com.

(NewsUSA) -  

“Almost a Serial Killer”
by Margaret Lashley       

She took a stab at stardom. It stabbed back.  

“The Golden Girls” meets “Married to the Mob” in this madcap mystery series packing Mafioso-style mayhem peppered with a generous dollop of Southern-style sarcasm. A laugh-out-loud treat sure to satisfy fans of cozy mysteries and women’s fiction alike.  

When wannabe actress Doreen Diller takes a job with her celebrity crush, his new acting gig takes them on location to St. Petersburg, Florida. What awaits Doreen in the Sunshine State will seal her fate -- in the form of a role she didn't see coming and a family she didn’t bargain for. “Almost a Serial Killer” is book one in a brand-new series by Margaret Lashley, author of the best-selling “Val Fremden Midlife Mystery Series.”

Purchase at https://amzn.to/38uxYJR

“Please Cooperate”
by Jeffrey Harper  

Sweet, funny and moving, “Please Cooperate” is a socially observant, emotionally warm, resonant and tartly wrought novel for fans of Tom Wolfe, Jay McInerney and Nick Hornby. The book is a lament for, a love letter to -- and a comedy of bad manners about -- middle-class life in New York and America.  

In exquisite, often hilarious, detail, the novel portrays how a once-happy building of caring, supportive neighbors come together for the wedding of a resident. But the recent arrival of rich young owners changes everything.  

Friendships and love relationships fray until acts of betrayal and hostility -- and the demonstrations of the power of money and social class -- transform forever the lives of the characters and their once-perfect lives together.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3uq2r4f.

“My Name is Edward”
by Annmarie Topel  

In a chance meeting, a powerful businesswoman named Ann and a troubled homeless man named Edward take a journey together that is as heart-wrenching as it is heartwarming -- a work of passion inspired, in part, by true events.  

While Edward battles his inner demons and struggles to stay alive on the streets, Ann relentlessly works to gain his trust and find him a home to call his own. As she fights to save the man she barely knows, she’s forced to confront the wounds from her own past. Through the twists and turns of this unlikely friendship, we’re taken on an emotional ride that touches the heart and opens the eyes. One reviewer writes, “It was riveting. A new author with a great future!”  

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3j9Kwby.

“Forensic Data Collections 2.0”
by Robert Fried  

Modern-day investigations frequently require the identification, preservation and collection of electronic evidence from a variety of data sources. The field of digital forensics is constantly evolving, and it is vital for all parties involved to work together to understand where relevant data is stored, and how it can be accessed and collected, in a forensically sound manner that is defensible and efficient.  

Aspiring forensic practitioners, investigators and even those who have experience with eDiscovery as an attorney, litigation support specialist or professional services provider, are provided a clear and concise understanding of what to expect, and what may need to be asked of the parties involved, when encountering today’s most common data sources during an investigation.

Purchase at https://forensicsbook.com.

NOTE: BookBites is presented by BookTrib.com.

(NewsUSA) -  

“For the Love of Buddy”
by Dyanna Morrison       

“For the Love of Buddy” is a whimsical and heartfelt, true tale that highlights the journey of a girl and her cat, from the East Coast to the West Coast and from asthma to diabetes. It will serve as a touching and frequently humorous reminder of how our pets experience the same medical ailments that we, as humans, face over the course of our lifetimes. It is a poignant story of love and remembrance, even when confronted with the inevitable pain of loss.  

The book will bring a smile to your face and a tear to your eye, and will be embraced by children and readers of all ages, as you recount and celebrate memories from your lifelong journeys with members of your own furry families.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3JEMf3u.

“The Friendship Pact”
by Jill Shalvis  

New York Times best-selling author Jill Shalvis returns to Sunrise Cove with a powerful, moving story about a young woman on a quest to find the truth about her father who learns the meaning of true love along the way. Alone in the world, Tae Holmes and her mother April pretty much raised each other, but as Tae starts asking questions about the father she’s never met, April goes silent.  

Then Tae finds herself face-to-face with Riggs Copeland, whom she hasn’t seen since their high school fling, but who comes to her aid to help track down her father. On a hunt to unlock the past, the two of them learn a shocking truth, while also reluctantly bonding in a way neither had seen coming.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3jHkf4V.

“Riding the Executive Roller Coaster: Medical Staffing Cases”
by Kelli Christina  

The author creatively uses real-life events and court cases unnoticed by the public eye over a decade and fictionalizes them in a compelling story of the tribulations of professional offices at their highest and lowest moments.  

Handling business or professional issues improperly or illegally has consequences that can escalate and destroy lives along the way. Too often, bosses and employees learn the hard way about employment laws that were designed to help businesses. And when business goes wrong, you can expect to find yourself in attorneys’ offices and court proceedings.  

This book is geared to help business leaders learn employment laws as well as necessary life lessons that can affect our well-being, families, friends, relationships, and love life.

Purchase at https://bit.ly/37P2SfB.

“Living and Leaving My Legacy”
by Merle Saferstein  

A serious journal writer, the author has filled more than 380 journals since 1974 and undertook a legacy journal project. She sorted through thousands and thousands of pages and found meaningful excerpts to share with others. Somewhere along the way, this morphed “Living and Leaving My Legacy (Volumes 1 and 2).”  

When she began, she chose 70 relevant topics, eventually narrowing it down to 22. After careful editing, she chose to include the excerpts that best capture her thoughts, feelings, conversations, encounters, memories, dreams, travel adventures, and more. She has been teaching a course, “Living and Leaving Your Legacy,” since 2012. She has taught 61 classes and speaks on the subject of legacy to a wide range of audiences locally, nationally, and internationally. Learn more at https://merlersaferstein.com.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3MFpzTj.

NOTE: BookBites is presented by BookTrib.com.

(NewsUSA) - ­­­­

“Iris in the Dark”
by Elissa Grossell Dickey       

A single mother faces her worst fear -- the past -- in a provocative novel of suspense by the author of “The Speed of Light.” Iris Jenkins knows that bad things happen. She’s tried to escape these things for years.  So when she is entrusted to house-sit at a lodge on the South Dakota prairie, she thinks she’s prepared for anything.  

But one surprise is Sawyer Jones, the property’s neighbor and caretaker, and a caring, reassuring presence. Then late one night, Iris hears a chilling cry for help coming from a walkie-talkie buried in a box of toys. As the calls get more desperate, personal and menacing, Iris realizes the person on the other end isn’t reaching out for help, but to terrorize her. Purchase at https://amzn.to/37PteOI.

“Monkey Business”
by Carleton Eastlake  

When TV writer William Fox is dragged by his show’s toxic producers to a “gentleman’s club,” he meets Nicole, a mysterious dancer who claims to be an anthropologist searching for signs of rational life on Earth.   Enchanted by her playful and serious ideas, Will falls in love -- and his ever-more troubled, love-struck behavior and the acidly destructive battles during the production of his show begin to illustrate Nicole’s theories.  

Nothing about Nicole seems authentic. After she warns she’ll soon leave and his producers are humbled by an uncanny encounter with the police, Will begins to wonder whether Nicole is staging real world events with him and the producers as her experimental subjects? And if so, can he learn the lessons she’s trying to teach and earn her love? Purchase at https://amzn.to/3ruWDoh.

“Crazy to Leave You”
by Marilyn Simon Rothstein  

From the author of “Husbands and Other Sharp Objects” comes a witty, big-hearted novel about the happy accidents that lead to love and second chances.  

Forty-one years old, the last of her friends to marry, and down to a size 12, Lauren Leo is in her gown and about to tie the knot. There’s just one thing missing: the groom. With one blindsiding text, Lauren is unceremoniously dumped at the altar.  

Picking her heart up off the floor, Lauren turns to her work and plans her next step, finding a second chance in the most unexpected place. “A heartfelt, delicious story,” says Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Magnolia Palace. Purchase at https://amzn.to/3Eeeg0S.

“A Letter in the Wall”
by Eileen Brill  

It’s 1971, and Joan Dumann fears her former business partner wants her dead. As she constructs a letter about her predicament, she revisits her past.   Born into a prominent Philadelphia Quaker family in 1915 and raised with privilege, Joan wrestles with her turbulent thoughts and unfulfilled desires. When she attempts to push against the norms for women of her time to forge her own identity, she is met with resistance.  

Inspired by a letter written by the real Joan, found hidden in the wall of a Pennsylvania home more than half a century later, this is a fictionalized imagining of who she was and what motivated her. Moving through several decades, the book examines the factors that influence one woman’s journey toward independence and empowerment.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3vkCUZN.

NOTE: BookBites is presented by BookTrib.com.

(NewsUSA) - BookBites is presented by BookTrib.com.

­­­­“Antithesis”
by Svet Rouskov       

A collection of vivid and exhilarating science fiction stories, tied together by characters whose moral challenges offer windows into humanity and the human condition. These stories are cautionary tales, flights of fancy, terrifying psychological journeys, humorous romps and even a space opera.   Among them: a speculative tale about humankind becoming obsolete from the perspective of the machines we created. An airline pilot who loses his faith in the physics of flying. A new galaxy where humans are irrelevant, but the conflicts of a class-based society are not. A mission to Mars, the origins of humanity and an atrocity that stretches across time and space.  

Escape into worlds unlike anything you have seen before, but some eerily similar to our own.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3FcLxtZ.

"Preposterous: An Elizabeth Cromwell Mystery"
by Jennifer Mason  

A San Francisco dominatrix, Elizabeth Cromwell, is drawn into the sudden disappearance of Edith Barlow, an heir to the estate of an old friend of Elizabeth’s, a woman who herself had vanished seven years earlier. A struggling poetry zine, a 400-meter hurdler who just missed the Olympics, a women’s track coach with a yen for bullwhips, a billionaire with a state-of-the-art S&M dungeon, a man serving a life sentence in Alabama, and an erotic art dealer, are a few of the many mysterious parts in a highly convoluted string of strange disappearances.  

Says Kirkus, “The murkiness of the tale and its California setting will call to mind the works of Thomas Pynchon, but Mason creates an atmosphere that is very much all her own.”

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3uwabk0.

“Storm Surge”
by John F. Banas  

Brenda Meyers is having a bad day. Her daughter is trapped somewhere in New Orleans right before Hurricane Katrina strikes. Her increasingly estranged husband may be on the verge of losing another job. And her cheating former fiancé claims to have evidence that his wife and Brenda’s husband are having an affair.  

But nothing matters more than finding and rescuing her daughter. Brenda feels a rescue mission can be made before the storm hits. So, when her former fiancé offers his boat and his help, Brenda reluctantly accepts, knowing her husband and ex cannot get along.  

Her worries prove correct. While racing the raging storm, she uncovers a fiendish plot to murder her well-insured husband, who happens to harbor secrets of his own.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3uTBsgu.

“Disorderly Conduct on a Flyer”
by Tiera Newhouse  

A single mother is falsely incarcerated and accused of disorderly conduct over punching a flyer, which ends in another twist of events. The author believes a life is far more valuable than a piece of paper. Read it and weep as the story describes how easy it is to get a false charge against you if you fail to comply with what the police ask you to do -- whether you break the law or not.  

Tiera shares her story on behalf of those who did not get to share theirs. It’s a story so serious that you’ll laugh when it’s over. Tiera illustrates the value of never giving up when things still look bad. Keep fighting to progress in the right direction, and you will succeed.

Purchase at https://bit.ly/3LqTptK.

NOTE: BookBites is presented by BookTrib.com.

(NewsUSA)

"All We Have to Believe In"
by Jeffrey Lousteau

A captivating story of love and loss, of betrayal and redemption, set against the backdrop of America in the 1920s. Edward Dooley is a disillusioned veteran of the Great War who comes home to San Francisco, struggles to fit into a fast-changing society, and falls in love with the daughter of immigrants who is as headstrong as he is idealistic.

Beneath all the glamour of the dazzling decade, however, xenophobia is taking hold, prosperity is undone by greed, and Prohibition proves morally bankrupt. Told with compassion and rich in historical detail, the themes of this story continue to resonate today. Says one reviewer, "Will pull at your heartstrings and make you nostalgic about an era long forgotten." Purchase at https://amzn.to/3wocIPU.

"A Good Lie"
by Roberta Temes

Could you perpetuate a devastating lie and never reveal the truth to your daughter? Louie plans to.

Could you withhold a shocking secret from your new spouse? Suzie plans to.

Catastrophe occurs after a quiet Midwestern family receives flawed medical advice concerning psychotic postpartum depression. This psychological novel takes you from 1960s Iowa to 1980s New Jersey. You'll root for Laurie, the desperate, lonely teenager who is intrigued by a cult leader, and you'll probably root for Dot, the voice of reason and common sense, but will you root for the struggling dad, or the devious psychotherapist, or the strong woman who defies society's expectations?

Families are complicated; good people may do bad things, and bad people may do good things. Are family secrets always harmful? Purchase at https://amzn.to/3tyReOy.

"Dusted by Stars"
by G.A. Matiasz

This far-future science fiction adventure thriller is a rollicking space opera with a touch of fantasy. Set in the universe of the author's previous books, Stacy Jones is a small-time contractor and proud citizen of socialist Mars. But she barely makes ends meet as an independent starship pilot and freight hauler. When Stacy takes a commission to transport the mythical sangrael possessed by the legendary Medea Ae?tes, she unknowingly puts her life and livelihood at risk.

Stacy teams up with Kryz, a diminutive Rarj, to battle thieves and hijackers across a galaxy swarming with aliens and riddled with danger. Together they maneuver through bar brawls and mercenaries, armed seizures and dogfights, suicide attacks and death squads to protect her precious cargo. Purchase at https://amzn.to/3Nbnq2c.

"Exiled South"
by Harriet Cannon

This book "rips the cover off traditional Southern sagas and takes you on a riveting international journey exploring the hidden trauma and deep wounds of three generations following the Civil War," says author Eleanor McCallie Cooper.

School counselor Lizbeth Gordon returns home to South Carolina after her husband's sudden death. But the quiet life doesn't last. An elderly aunt has troubling family stories: a blockade runner hunted as a traitor after the fall of Charleston, and ancestors who disappeared during Civil War Reconstruction.

We're taken across continents when Lizbeth takes a job at a school in Rio de Janeiro, where she meets a descendant of Confederate exiles, with the Gordon surname and nineteenth-century documents. Can the keys to generations-long secrets open a path to family reconciliation? Purchase at https://amzn.to/3DaZasp.

NOTE: BookBites is presented by BookTrib.com.