Small States

Mick Hardin is back in the hills of Kentucky. He’d planned to touch down briefly before heading to France, marking the end to his twenty-year Army career. In Rocksalt, his sister Linda the sheriff is investigating the murder of Pete Lowe, a sought-after mechanic at the local racetrack. After another body is found, Linda and her deputy Johnny Boy Tolliver wonder if the two murders are related. Linda steps into harm’s way just as a third body turns up and Mick ends up being deputized again, uncovering evidence of illegal cockfighting, and trying to connect all the crimes.

“An amazing collection of page-gripping short stories” -Amazon reviewer. “A beautifully crafted, highly entertaining horror collection.” -Amazon reviewer Are you ready to enter a world of darkness and fear? A world where the unknown lurks around every corner and terror is waiting just for you? Then welcome to a collection of horror stories from the renowned indie author, Samuel Small, that will keep you on the edge of your seat and leave you questioning the boundaries of the unknown. From a middle schooler receiving texts from the dead, to a group of teens clowning around an ...

A stand-alone contemporary romance: The Telescope Set in a Washington State small coastal town. Come along for the adventure as two unlikely strangers conquer the meaning of loneliness, rejection, abandonment, and expanding their boundaries for what might be...if it's in the stars. When angry landowner, Derrick Fern discovers a squatter on his property one night, he's ready to call the police. But the light from the cabin reveals a young woman, Andrea Willow, who pleads with him to hear her story. "I was trespassing, but no one’s ever here, and I promise I didn’t go near the house. ...

Starting over takes a heart of courage. Staying alive takes two. Fleeing into the night along a dark coastal road, Hayden Ryan is determined to grab hold of a new life, free of the clutches of a ruthless Russian mobster—her former boss. But when she meets the ruggedly handsome deputy sheriff of sleepy Pelican Pointe, starting over grows ever more complicated. Fighting for freedom, yet trapped between a suspicious cop and a burning desire to be with him, can she survive with a price on her head? "The second book in the award winning Pelican Pointe Series”

After finding her ex-boyfriend robbing someone, Cece Jennings finds herself on the receiving end of threats from her ex and his family. She’s used to some danger—after all, she and her friends have earned the nickname Danger Girls for their infamously bad luck—but when things go too far, she calls in help. Travis Bane comes to her rescue and even tolerates her crazy grandma. When things get scary, he’s there for her. Her ex won’t back down easily, though. Not even in the face of a gun-toting grandma who isn’t afraid to shoot. Travis has finally found something interesting in ...

Summer was dying in Perfect. But boys will be boys and Jimmy Becker discovers something in the woods just beyond town, unwittingly unleashing something upon his hometown. But it was not the first time, and the town of Perfect was being watched by a group that was as old as recorded history, a group that sends someone in the take care of the problem, someone only known as Hunter.

In her rural Appalachian holler, 10-year-old Misty’s closest friends are the crawdads. Misty can speak to them, to the birds, to the creek, to everything outside, and she understands how they think. She knows that if she could just speak to her parents in the same way, she could stop all the fighting. But it’s too hard. Strange things start to happen in the holler. When her friend William takes their friendship too far, Misty’s need to connect is greater than ever, but it’s hard to talk about what you don’t understand.

A collection of five lesbian romantic short stories by the author of Broken Women and Healing Embrace, mostly sweet with a little spice. Loving Blue in Red States: Sweetwater Texas Emmie Warren is a middle school teacher who is just trying not to rock the boat until she can finish her Master’s Degree and find the courage to move herself and her son away from sleepy Sweetwater to diverse, vibrant Austin, the only place in Texas she ever felt free to be herself. She’s been hiding her truth for years. She doesn’t see any reason to change that before she can make a clean break of things ...

Case Lawton comes from a family of criminals. So as the sheriff of Loveless, Texas, he's determined to do everything by the book - until he's called to Aspen Barlow's office after a so-called break-in. The last thing he wants to do is help the woman who cost him custody of his son. But Aspen isn't the heartless lawyer Case remembers, and he starts to question his long-held grudge....

It wasn’t until he faced death that life gave him hope and hope gave him the courage to love. Archaeologist River Amandez comes to Pelican Pointe to excavate and catalogue a long-buried Chumash settlement. She brings with her a not-so-pretty past and only one man in town can help her figure out how to make things right. Brent Cody is back in town to recover from a near-fatal attempt on his life. Together the two will lean on each other through tough times, finding strength and courage to correct their mistakes. They'll soon make plans for a reunion of a lifetime and discover the dunes ...

Ira Levinson is in trouble. At 91 years old, in poor health, and alone in the world, he finds himself stranded on an isolated embankment after a car crash. Suffering multiple injuries, he struggles to retain consciousness until a blurry image materializes and comes into focus beside him: His beloved wife, Ruth, who passed away nine years ago. Urging him to hang on, she forces him to remain alert by recounting the stories of their lifetime together - how they met, the precious paintings they collected together, the dark days of WWII and its effect on them and their families.

Judith Kratt inherited all the Kratt family had to offer - the pie safe, the copper clock, the murder that no one talks about - and she knows in her old bones that it's time to make an inventory of her household and its valuables. But she finds that cataloging the family belongings - as well as their misfortunes - won't contain her family's secrets, not when her wayward sister suddenly returns, determined to expose skeletons that the Kratts had hoped to take to their grave.

Ocean. Sand. Long summer nights. A sexy Cape Cod escape. What could possibly go wrong? Simon Bremmer has put war and the Army behind him. He’s living the good life stateside in Pelican Pointe. He’s doing what he loves. His business is booming. He has no complaints. But all that is about to change when he gets a visit from a Boston lawyer. She not only drops a bombshell but delivers a package he never expected. Single mom, Gilly Grant, has given up on men. She’s trying to raise her three-year-old son by herself and deal with her mother, who has suddenly developed complicated health ...

Drawing on the same lyrical prose and strong sense of place that distinguished his award-winning first novel, One Foot in Eden, Ron Rash has written a book about the deepest human themes: the love of the land, the hold of the dead on the living, and the need to dive beneath the surface to arrive at a deeper truth. Saints at the River confirms the arrival of one of today's most gifted storytellers.

With his heart blown to bits by a staggering loss, Sheriff Zeb Hanks falls into an abyss of drunkenness, hatred, and rage. With the help of Deputy Kate Steele, former sheriff Jake Dablo, medicine man Jimmy Song Bird, and close friend Josh Diamond, Zeb pulls himself back from the edge and turns his rage on the cause of his torment: a Mexican drug and human trafficking cartel.

A new town. A new beginning. A Christmas he’ll never forget. Quentin Blackwood has come to Pelican Pointe to replace Jack Prescott as the town’s one and only doctor. But he’s in for a tough time, especially since nurse Sydney Reed doesn’t quite trust him. But that’s just one of the many problems Quentin must face as he tries to help a teenage boy and his grandmother going through hard times.It’s all happening with Christmas approaching—a holiday that should mean hearth, home, and plenty of family. But with Quentin, it only brings up haunting memories of a past he’s tried to ...

One of the bestselling novelists of the American West brings us a gripping tale of gold, greed, and vengeance.

In the tradition of his beloved first novel, The Notebook, number-one New York Times best-selling author Nicholas Sparks brings listeners the remarkable story of two couples whose lives intersect in profound and surprising ways.

A brother who disappeared. A mystery worth solving. A love worth finding. Hannah Summers lost her innocence the day she came home from school and found police cars in front of her house. Her parents are dead, her loss is deep, but its more than that—her baby brother, Micah, is missing. Vowing to find Micah no matter what she has to do or how long she has to search, Hannah ends up in Pelican Pointe with more questions than answers. She’s holding on to a shred of hope that Micah is still alive. While Hannah isn’t looking for love, one resident has other ideas. Caleb Jennings has his own...

Nothing casts a more sinister shadow over our nation's history than the gruesome lynchings that happened between 1882 and 1937, claiming 4,680 victims. Often, in a show of racist violence, the lynchers tortured their victims before murdering them. Most killers were never brought to justice; some were instead celebrated as heroes, their victims' bodies displayed or even cut up and distributed as trophies.