Southern Fiction Humor

Welcome to Madison, Georgia, where the magnolias bloom, the tea is sweet, and the monsters are real. In this cozy horror anthology, the charming town of Madison hides secrets in its flowerbeds and shadows in its attics. Behind every wrought-iron fence and sun-warmed porch lies something unexpected: a banshee who quilts in the carriage house, a wight who prefers crossword puzzles to haunting, a wendigo who wears sweaters by the fire, and cryptids who just want someone to talk to. But don’t be fooled by the cobblestone streets and Southern charm. The ghouls here are real and love has a ...

“Don’t you ever want to run away from Christmas?” Mildred Budge’s answer to Dixie was immediate and truthful. “Yes, yes, yes,” Mildred said with conviction. She couldn’t stop saying yes, though the very idea that a good church lady would want to run away from the occasion during the year that marked the birth of Jesus-- the reason for the season for a tried and true church lady of the South-- was almost beyond explanation. “Then, let’s go. Let’s go to Fountain City and find Mr. Fixit and eat sublime pies,” her friend Dixie urged. The two needed Mr. Fixit because of a ...

Life in Blossom Branch hasn’t always been sweet for Leah Marks. Growing up in the shadow of her overachieving siblings, the shy psychology grad has struggled to find her own place in the world. So when she inherits a long-forgotten summer camp, Leah sees an opportunity to help other kids who are struggling—and maybe find happiness for herself. Her plan takes an unexpected turn, however, after a scorching encounter with the local fire chief, Lucas Carter. He’s brave, he’s kind…and he’s not quite ready to settle down.

Always a bride's maid--never a bride. That's part of the story of the life of Mildred Budge in this third novel in the series. But there is more to know about this Sunday School teacher who has been recruited to be a maid of honor for her good friend's wedding. As someone who has routinely had to muzzle herself at weddings by not calling out when the preacher asks if anyone knows a reason these two should not be wed, "It's not going to work out," this new role of supporting the bride has its challenges for this church lady of the South, Mildred Budge. But being a bride's maid also has its ...

Romaine Wilder, big-city medical examiner with a small-town past, has been downsized and evicted. With few other options, she’s forced to return to her hometown of Roble in East Texas, leaving behind the man she’s dating and the life she’s worked hard to build. Suzanne Babet Derbinay, Romaine’s Auntie Zanne and proprietor of the Ball Funeral Home, has long since traded her French Creole upbringing for Big Texas attitude. She’s a member in a number of ladies’ auxiliaries and clubs, including being in charge of the Tri-County Annual Crawfish Boil and Music Festival. Hanging on to ...

Drugs. Delusions. Or the Biggest Mystery in Florida Since Will-o'-the-wisp? Meet Barry Babcock, your typical Florida Man—unemployed, self-medicated, and living in a swamp-side trailer with a laundry list of bad decisions behind him. But when a death-defying stunt lands him in a psychiatric facility, Barry’s got a hell of a story to tell. To the staff psychiatrist, it starts off as the usual Florida nonsense: drugs, booze, alligator dodging, and some questionable life choices. But then Barry takes a sharp left into the unexplainable—because according to him, the real reason he wound up...

Janet Williams is practically invisible. If only she had the pluck to speak up at work, flirt with the handsome barista she sees every day, and realize how special she is. When a magical wig offers Janet a chance to shake things up, will she dare to try a bold new style? The voice in her head - flashy and fierce, with an unbridled southern drawl - tells her to go for it. And once she does, there’s no turning back.

Series is finished! Your favorite bartender is jetting off to Louisiana for the holidays! This time the mysterious shenanigans don’t involve high heels and handsome hunks. Try a gator, a grouchy granny, and a fortune in GOLD! Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and Vicki Bohanan is more than ready for whatever mysteries await. Between her confusing dating life and a never-ending home remodel, even a family vacation at the De’Laruse historic antebellum promises a better night’s sleep. Fat chance in the land of Fat Tuesday when family secrets come to light. Gold was captured during ...

Lou Ann Hunter’s mother, Patricia, has always had a passionate nature, which explains why she’s been married and divorced five times and spooned enough male patients to be ousted from three elderly care facilities. She also has Alzheimer’s, which is why she wants to spend the rest of her life surrounded by childhood memories at Sutton Hall, her family’s decrepit plantation home in Louisiana. Lou Ann, aka Lulu the Love Guru, has built an empire preaching sex, love, and relationship advice to the women of America - mostly by defying the example her mother has set for her.

Fannie Flagg gives us a story of richly human characters, the saving graces of the once-maligned middle classes and small-town life, and the daily contest between laughter and tears.

Mildred Budge returns in Kingdom Come, a story about setbacks and how to face them. The fourth novel in the series, Kingdom Come, continues with the stories of Mildred, Fran, Winston, Janie, and Chase. In this story, Mildred’s Cloverdale bungalow is crowded. Her best friend Fran observes, “For a single woman, Mildred, your quiver is getting very full.” And it is. There is little room in Mildred’s Cloverdale bungalow for solitude and extended prayer, and Mildred Budge needs both. Many people do. And it is harder to find that kind of quiet in a world where background noise is as ...

After a political scandal, fledgling lobbyist Dempsey Jo Killebrew is left almost broke, unemployed, and homeless. She reluctantly accepts to refurbish Birdsong, the old family place in Guthrie, Georgia. But, oh, is Dempsey in for a surprise. "Bird Droppings" would more aptly describe the moldering Pepto Bismol - pink dump. There's also a murderously grumpy old lady who has claimed squatter's rights and isn't moving out. Ever.

Do you brace for Christmas and the energy it requires to meet the social demands? At the same time do you long for that elusive Christmas spirit that brings refreshment and satisfaction? You will find amusement and nostalgia in your favorite Christmas movies. You will enjoy singing along with your favorite characters about a white Christmas and love. But the Christmas spirit your soul craves is found in the story of a babe born in a stable. The story of the Christ child being born in squalor and what his life means for people everywhere is the story that will bring you the Christmas spirit ...

When Jimmy McMullen, a fireman, is killed in the line of duty, his wife, Jackie, and ten-year-old son, Charlie, are devastated. Charlie idolized his dad, and now the outgoing boy has become quiet and reserved. Trusting in the healing power of family, Jackie decides to return to her childhood home on Sullivan's Island. Awaiting them is Annie Britt, the matriarch who has kept the porch lights on to welcome them. Thrilled to have her family back again, Annie promises to make their visit perfect - even though relations between mother and daughter have never been smooth.

She’s got one good leg. Two bad habits. And enough attitude to burn this whole town down. Nik Briscoe is an ex-Navy SEAL with a titanium prosthesis, a telekinetic secret she’ll kill to protect, and a gift for pissing off all the wrong people. After getting blamed for a New Orleans drug boss’s dead brother, Nik’s been on the run—living out of her pack, staying one jump ahead of the bounty hunters sent to collect her head. Her latest stop? Possum Trot, Alabama. She just wants a burger and five minutes of peace. What she gets is a twitchy junkie with a six-shooter, a murder rap ...

In You Will Never Be Forgotten, Mary South explores how technology can both collapse our relationships from within and provide opportunities for genuine connection. Formally inventive, darkly absurdist, savagely critical of the increasingly fraught cultural climates we inhabit, these 10 stories also find hope in fleeting interactions and moments of tenderness. They reveal our grotesque selfishness and our intense need for love and acceptance, and the psychic pain that either shuts us off or allows us to discover our deepest reaches of empathy.

Chef extraordinaire Gina Foxton doesn't expect anything to be handed to her on a platter. After years of hard work, the former runner-up Miss Teen Vidalia Onion is now the host of her own local Georgia public television show called Fresh Start, and she's dating the show's producer. But when her show gets canceled - and she catches her boyfriend in flagrante delicto with the boss' wife - Gina realizes that she's meant for bigger and better things. Namely, a gig on national television.

Three sassy retirees. One dead developer. Zero patience for nonsense. Welcome to Conch Key, where the sun is hot, the gossip is hotter, and the local beach just coughed up a corpse in Gucci loafers. Daisy Picklesworth wanted nothing more than a quiet morning, a strong cup of tea, and to finish her mystery novel on the porch of The Barnacle. What she got instead was a bloated real estate mogul dead in the surf, a jellyfish charm that doesn’t belong, and the strong suspicion that someone in their sleepy seaside town just committed the most stylish murder Florida’s ever seen. With her ...

Folly Beach is the land of Cate Cooper's childhood, the place where all the ghosts of her past roam freely. Cate never thought she'd wind up in a tiny cottage on this breathtakingly lovely strip of coast. But circumstances have changed, leaving Cate homeless, broke, and unmoored. Yet Folly Beach holds more than just memories. Once upon a time another woman found unexpected bliss and comfort within its welcoming arms. An artist, writer, and colleague of the revered George Gershwin, Dorothy Heyward enjoyed the greatest moments of her life at Folly....

When Miss Julia burst on the scene in her debut, Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind, this proper lady of a certain age found her orderly world turned upside down when Hazel Marie Puckett appeared with her nine-year-old son, Little Lloyd, who looked disturbingly similar to Miss Julia's late husband. Now, in Miss Julia Takes Over, with her sharp tongue and iron backbone intact, Miss Julia must tackle another disruption when Hazel Marie doesn't return from a dinner date. Miss Julia hires J. D. Pickens to investigate, despite her reservations about his taste for beer and women.