From Joanne Kukanza Easley, the multi-award-winning author of Sweet Jane and Just One Look, comes I’ll Be Seeing You—a raw, gripping saga of one woman’s wild ride through five decades, fueled by ambition, derailed by booze, and haunted by the past.
About I’ll Be Seeing You
From Joanne Kukanza Easley, the multi-award-winning author of Sweet Jane and Just One Look, comes I’ll Be Seeing You—a raw, gripping saga of one woman’s wild ride through five decades, fueled by ambition, derailed by booze, and haunted by the past.
Lauren’s done with ranch life. Spotted by a modeling scout at the 1940 Fort Worth Stock Show Parade, she ditches Palo Pinto County for Manhattan’s glitz. But when her dream crashes, she drowns her sorrows in liquor and lovers. By twenty-four, she’s a widowed, divorced mess, hopping cities until Austin becomes her last stand. After a decade of chaos, she claws her way to sobriety and builds a thriving business, yet peace is still out of reach.
Then, in 1985, the past storms back: Brett, her third husband, wants to reconcile after thirty-three years apart. Reeling from old wounds, Lauren turns to Jane, her AA lifeline. The clock’s ticking—will she rewrite her story or let it burn?
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About the Author
Joanne Kukanza Easley, a retired registered nurse who worked in the cold, stark environment of operating rooms and the highly charged setting of psychiatric facilities, now resides in the Texas Hill Country. There, she crafts fiction centered on complex women of the twentieth century. Her debut novel, Sweet Jane, garnered multiple accolades, including the adult fiction prize at the Texas Author Project, and was a finalist for prestigious honors like the Sarton Award and the Eric Hoffer Award, among others. Her second book, Just One Look, was selected as a May 2022 Pulpwood Queen Book Club Pick. Her third novel, I’ll Be Seeing You, revisits characters from Sweet Jane. Her fourth novel, Higher Love, a continuation of her third, is slated for release in Spring 2025. Easley’s award-winning short stories and poetry have been featured in various anthologies.
Follow along in Foster’s Leash to see rescue dog Pepper and her foster family navigate the foster process, the feelings that come with it, and how one leash makes all the difference.
About Foster’s Leash
Fostering animals isn’t easy. Suddenly, you’re living with a strange dog that needs your help. And once you’ve finally bonded, it’s time to say goodbye. But hard things are worth doing, especially when they change lives.
Follow along to see rescue dog Pepper and her foster family navigate the foster process, the feelings that come with it, and how one leash makes all the difference.
Sarah Sommer is an award-winning children’s picture book author who aims to tell stories that evoke emotion. As a former professional musician, Sarah values the way words, art, and stories come together in picture books. Having fostered many German shepherds, Sarah is passionate about animal advocacy and helping others. Sarah wrote this book to showcase the foster process and inspire others to open their hearts and homes.
In MIT OUT SOUND, amidst Apache holy grounds and the magic of day-for-night shooting, the lines between past and present blur and the flawed characters’ backstories intertwine into a tumultuous finale that exposes their hidden animosities, demons, and loves.
About MIT OUT SOUND
“It’s time to make a mess,” said Emily.
Would-be movie producer Emily Bennett didn’t believe the legend of a lost movie, starring James Dean and John Wayne. But when she meets two uncannily talented celebrity impersonators-Jimmy Riley and Tom “Duke” Manfredo, and stumbles upon the elusive film editor who stole the master negative of Showdown, it dispels her doubts, fills her with a courage she didn’t know she had, and she sets out to complete the movie.
But as Emily and her stars prepare for day one of shooting, they find themselves entangled in a complex love triangle with Oedipal undertones, mirroring their own past lives and off-screen dynamics. As doubts about their ruthless director, Solange Borugian, surface, Jimmy’s and Duke’s friendship is turned upside down, while Emily and her brother Ben, struggle with their own unresolved issues and are forced to confront their dying father.
On location in Arizona, amidst Apache holy grounds and the magic of day-for-night shooting, the lines between past and present blur and the flawed characters’ backstories intertwine into a tumultuous finale that exposes their hidden animosities, demons, and loves.
When Rick Lenz retired as a stage and film actor (playing opposite Ingrid Bergman, John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Walter Matthau, Peter Sellers, etc.), his passion for drama refused to retire with him. Although he was an actor most of his life, he is also a seasoned writer.
His plays have been produced Off-Broadway, on PBS television, and in regional theatres across the country. Rick’s memoir North of Hollywood was called “masterful” by Writer’s Digest. His first novel, The Alexandrite was named “one of the best books of the year” by Kirkus Reviews. Bret Easton Ellis called it “almost impossible to put down.” Booklife calls A Town Called Why, “An absorbing tale of mystery and revenge… nuanced … powerful.” Rick’s books have won several awards, including, Readers Views (first place), the Chanticleer Somerset Grand Prize for Literary, Contemporary and Mainstream Fiction, an IPPY Award, and a Foreword Book of the Year. Most recently, his time-travel love story Hello, Rest of My Life was a 2022 Silver Nautilus Book Award winner (fiction), and Eric Hoffer Award finalist (fiction).
He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Linda and an ever-shifting array of animals.
Twenty-one-year-old Neka is a bit of an introvert, she also happens to be stunningly beautiful.
When she discovers her friend James is about to be dumped, she sees the perfect opportunity to escape from her quiet life. Can she summon the courage to leave it all behind?
James Copley comes from a ruthless family. It’s rubbed off.
Years ago, he disengaged from his brother’s smear campaign, but now his father has offered him an ultimatum, “Get married or lose your seat at the table.”
Plotting to stamp his design on the family business, he proposes to a woman, even though he doesn’t love her.
But his carefully laid plans start to unravel when she leaves him on the day she’s due to meet his family.
Could years of planning his comeback vanish with her departure?
A possible solution comes in an unexpected form: Neka. She’s not only a friend, but the daughter of his benefactor. And she’s right there, offering to support him.
But will her support stretch to marriage?
He attempts to win her over to his plan but collides with her powerful father who wants to leverage the situation for his own gain.
In their fight for survival and love, they are forced to face some uncomfortable truths.
Can they overcome thwarted dreams and missed chances to find true love, or does forcing destiny’s hand only lead to misery?
It was a match made in heaven. Or so everyone thought. Sadie Mae Cummings is all set to marry her childhood sweetheart, Kyle, when she is assigned to tutor Lincoln, the new college football running back. This sophomore phenomenon has all the girls on campus knocking on his door. But Sadie isn’t interested in his advances.
Lincoln’s overblown ego doesn’t take well to being shunned, and he resolves to make Sadie his own. He pursues her relentlessly, until finally Kyle finds himself shut out of Sadie’s life, with their shared future crumbling around him.
After two years, Sadie’s relationship with Lincoln ends, and she is left having to put the pieces of her life back together. She desires nothing more than to recapture her relationship with Kyle. He has stayed true to the dreams they had planned together, living the vision even without Sadie by his side.
When she moves back to her hometown, she labors to rekindle their love. But things have changed, and Kyle has moved on. Sadie quickly discovers how hard it is to rebuild burned bridges.
Follow Sadie’s story as she fights for a chance to restore broken dreams. Will love endure?
This inspirational romance by E. C. Jackson is book two of the Hope series and is a standalone book.
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and Bookbub.
The Certain Hope: Hope Series, Book Three
Love at first sight. It’s every girl’s dream. But Tara Simpkins is finding out it’s not as easy as it seems. Is this truly the man God sent to be her husband, or is she just desperate to escape her loneliness? The recent loss of both parents has left her reeling, and close friends don’t think she’s in any position to make major life decisions. She and her new-found love are convinced they can live happily ever after in the home of their dreams. His family thinks he’s moving way too fast and might disappoint the kind-hearted woman he’s fallen head over heels for. And then there’s Leah. Leah is supposed to be part of his past, but what if she decides she’s his future? Tara’s match made in Heaven may be over before it truly begins.
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and B&N.
The Confident Hope: Hope Series, Book Four
Is there hope for this love between friends?
Pamela Hayes is a smart, successful business owner with a supportive family and a thriving bakery. She should be the happiest girl in the world. But she can’t shake the melancholy that accompanies every conversation she has with her best friend, Mark. Pamela doesn’t know how much longer she can hide her true feelings.
Why can’t Mark see how perfect they would be together? She would make a much better girlfriend than the one he currently has. Pamela prays he’ll come to his senses soon and realize he’s with the wrong girl. But when her dream comes true, it isn’t the fantasy she had envisioned.
There is trouble in paradise from the start, and all the red flags she’s been ignoring are starting to threaten her confidence…and her relationship with Mark. She’ll have to rely on family and her faith in God to help her secure the hope she so desperately needs.
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and B&N.
Overflow With Hope: Hope Series, Book Five
Two men. One wrong choice.
Tempia Wade’s life had jumped the rails.
One fateful night, she believed a stranger’s lie rather than the assurance of a trusted friend. For her lapse in judgment, she paid an agonizing price.
Her now-bankrupt life featured shattered dreams, ruined friendships, and the loss of a promising relationship. Now, two years later, the twenty-three-year-old prayed for a second chance with the man she had fallen for at first sight.
Would Cory Sanders finally overlook her egregious mistake in accepting a next-day date and liaison with another man? Or would she have to truly accept life without him?
You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and B&N.
About the Author
E. C. Jackson began her writing career with the full-length play “Pajama Party.” Thirty-one years later, she adapted the play into Pajama Party: The Story, a companion book to the second book in the five-book standalone Hope series.
Jackson’s favorite pastime is reading fiction. She enjoys taking the journey along with the characters in the books. That also led to her unorthodox approach to story writing. Her vision for each book she writes is to immerse readers into the storyline so they become connected with each character.
“The Write Way: A Real Slice of Life” is the slogan on her Facebook author page. She feels that if every person reading her books feels connected to the characters, her job is done.
In To Win A Prince, though they come from vastly different worlds, Iris and Ekon are both determined to reach their goals, and the only way to do that is to work together–if they can just keep their hearts from getting in the way.
About To Win A Prince
As a fashion aficionado and best friend of the queen of the African island country Ọlọrọ Ilé, Iris Blakely dreams of using her talent to start a sustainable clothing line to help citizens in impoverished areas and honor the country’s resources. But when she discovers that Ekon Diallo–the man who betrayed her best friend–will be her business consultant, the battle between her desires and reality begins.
Ekon Diallo has lost everything: his princely title, his material possessions, his friends, and the respect of his fellow Ọlọrans. To pay for his actions against Ọlọrọ Ilé, he’s forced to assist the charismatic Iris Blakely–but he can’t allow his heart to distract him from regaining his status.
My Thoughts
Book two by this author does not disappoint! I love the way Toni writes – it draws you into the story and connects you with the main characters in an intimate way. This novel delivers that and more.
In this novel, we are introduced to the Queen’s best friend Iris. While we meet her in the first novel, in this one we take a deep dive into her life, her passions and feelings. She is drawn to the people and wants to help support the less fortunate of this beautiful country she has come to. She is also strongly attracted to the man who tried to ruin her best friend and who is supposed to be completing community service with her business! Talk about conflicting priorities – Iris is torn between seeing the good in someone, forgiveness and her own beliefs. Is she being used for her good heart? Will she be hurt? What path should she follow?
At the heart of her dilemma is Ekon – by far one of my favourite characters in this novel. I loved watching him mature and grow chapter by chapter. While from the outside, many would see the privileged and rich life he had but this came with its own consequences and damages to his emotional and mental health that we cannot see. He struggles with everything that he has been taught as a child, with his love and loyalty to family (despite how they treat him) and how and who he wants to be.
While a story with great lessons and growth and development, it is told in a fun and engaging manner that keeps you turning each page, wanting to know more. I could not put this one down – I cannot wait to read more from this author.
Toni Shiloh (www.tonishiloh.com) is a wife, mom, and multi-published Christian contemporary romance author. Her novel In Search of a Prince has been praised by OprahDaily.com, Popsugar, Library Journal, and Booklist, and is a Parable bestseller. Her books have been finalists for the HOLT Medallion and the Selah Award. As a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), Toni loves connecting with readers and authors alike via social media.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
