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Where Awesome Book Readers Meet Awesome Writers

1. Summer of the Loon by Deanna Lynn Sletten

   About Summer of the Loon by Deanna Lynn Sletten:

   New Release Deal $1.99 March 5-9th!

   From the author of Maggie’s Turn and Sara’s Promise comes a heartwarming story of family and first love.

   Life can change in a heartbeat…

   Ali Jenson’s life changed forever the moment her mother died. The sixteen-year-old was suddenly swept away from the life she knew in California to live with her estranged grandfather in the deep woods of northern Minnesota. Ali’s life has never been easy, but it seems her grandfather is trying his best to make it even more difficult. Her only hope is to get through the summer and her last year of high school so she can return to her old life in California. What she hadn’t counted on was slowly becoming attached to the grumpy old man and falling in love for the very first time.

   Benjamin Jenson never planned on meeting his granddaughter, let alone having her live with him. He wasn’t thrilled with the idea of a teenage girl coming into his home or his life. He’d been down that path once before, and he didn’t want to relive it again. But he is her only living relative, and he knew his deceased wife, Lizzie, would have wanted him to give Ali a home. Grudgingly, he figured he could put up with the girl for a year. He never expected Ali to find a way into his heart and make him face painful past memories and his worst fear. The fear of losing yet another person he loves.

   Will Ben finally put away the past and give Ali the one thing she’s always dreamed of? A home.
   What readers are saying about Deanna Lynn Sletten:

   “Love, love, love this book! I have now read 3 of Deanna’s books and I think she just keeps getting better and better!” – Susan R. Schleicher of The Book Bag – From Maggie’s Turn

   “Author Deanna Lynn Sletten weaves a captivating tale of love and forgiveness that will simply pull at your heartstrings.” – Jersey Girl Book Reviews – From Sara’s Promise

   “Deanna Lynn Sletten is absolutely amazing! I won’t compare her to Nicholas Sparks (one of my favorites) because I believe she is even better!” – Billie J. Copas – From Memories

   “Each book that Ms. Sletten writes is always better than the last one.” – Dianna Kennedy – From Sara’s Promise

   Learn more about the author, buy the book, or follow them on social media:
   Visit the Author’s Website.
   Buy the Book On Amazon.
   Visit the Facebook Fan Page.
   Goodreads Profile Page

   Author Bio:
   Deanna Lynn Sletten writes women’s fiction and romance novels that dig deeply into the lives of the characters, giving the reader an in-depth look into their hearts and souls. She has also written one middle-grade novel that takes you on the adventure of a lifetime.

   Deanna’s romance novel, Memories, was a semifinalist in The Kindle Book Review’s Best Indie Books of 2012. Her novel, Sara’s Promise, was a semifinalist in The Kindle Book Review’s Best Indie Books of 2013 and a finalist in the 2013 National Indie Excellence Book Awards.

   Deanna is married and has two grown children. When not writing, she enjoys walking the wooded trails around her northern Minnesota home with her beautiful Australian Shepherd or relaxing in the boat on the lake in the summer.

   Summer of the Loon by Deanna Lynn Sletten is a post from Awesome Gang

2. Red Clover by Florence Osmund

   

   About Red Clover by Florence Osmund

   Imagine feeling like an outsider. Now imagine feeling like an outsider in your own family.

   Lee Oliver Winekoop is born into extreme wealth, but despite his near genius IQ, he doesnʾt have the resourcefulness to realize any of its benefits. His motherʾs passive parenting style and frequent absences from their lakefront mansion leave him in the care of nannies as a child even when sheʾs home, making Lee feel unwanted and alone, and his fatherʾs inexplicable contempt toward him only makes matters worse.

   When Lee is twenty-six, his motherʾs favorite uncle dies and leaves him a sizable inheritance—an inheritance with some bizarre strings attached. But as soon as he tries to start using it to mold an identity for himself, his world is turned upside-down when he learns shocking family secrets—causing him to rethink who he is and where heʾs going.

   Readers will find Leeʾs reinvention of himself on his journey into manhood surprising; the roadblocks he confronts unnerving; and the cast of characters he befriends along the way both heartwarming and amusing.

   Buy the book on Amazon.

   Red Clover by Florence Osmund is a post from Awesome Gang

3. People Like Us

   About People Like Us:

   It should have been easy, Nicolas Keszthelyi knew. The nuns at the Carmelite convent of Notre-Dame-de-Pitié had no idea that their collection of religious bric-a-brac contained a lost masterpiece worth millions. Anyone could have walked away with it. Certainly an unscrupulous dealer like Keszthelyi – with a network of shady contacts and an amoral devotion to beauty – should have had no trouble at all…

   Should.

   Now two people are dead, the convent has been burnt to the ground, and the work of art has vanished. Nicolas Keszthelyi is fleeing from the forces of law and order, and the only way for him to escape the consequences of his actions is to tell the whole story, including the parts that the police would rather stayed hidden.

   People Like Us is a story about aesthetics, unrequited love, and what to do with frozen courgettes.

   Learn more about the author, buy the book, or follow them on social media:
   Visit the Author’s Website.
   Buy the Book On Amazon.
   Visit the Facebook Fan Page.
   Goodreads Profile Page

   Author Bio:
   Like his main character, D.Z.C. is a specialist in eastern art and antiquities. Unlike his main character, he has never killed anyone. He lives in Paris and Vientiane, and likes receiving e-mails from readers, especially if they have pictures of cats in them.

   “D.Z.C.” is, in case you were wondering, a pseudonym.

   deng.zichao8 (at) gmail.com

   People Like Us is a post from Awesome Gang

4. Why Leadership Sucks by Miles Anthony Smith

   

   About Why Leadership Sucks by Miles Anthony Smith

   What is leadership? How do we define leadership? What is servant leadership? What are the most effective leadership characteristics? Do you wish your company had a leadership development program, or are you frustrated with organizational leadership? Do you wonder why some leadership styles suck? You are not alone.

   So why does leadership suck? It sucks because real leadership is hard, requires selfless service, and because the buck stops here. Servant leadership or Level 5 leadership is uncomfortable, humbling, self-denying, painful, and counter-intuitive; nonetheless, servant leadership is the only kind of leadership that brings lasting results, genuine happiness, and true self-fulfillment.

   To discover why servant leadership is frustrating and learn practical leadership principles for your leadership journey, download a sample or purchase Why Leadership Sucks for only $2.99 for a limited time.

   Buy the book on Amazon.

   Why Leadership Sucks by Miles Anthony Smith is a post from Awesome Gang

5. Mortom

   About Mortom:

   Mortom: population 986.

   On the outskirts of town, 33-year-old Craig Moore is found drowned in the lake. A loner and town eccentric, few attend the funeral.

   One week later Andy Crowl arrives in Mortom, still stunned by his cousin’s death and equally confused why everything was left to him. The two hadn’t spoken in years and shared little outside of fierce childhood competition.

   But Craig hardly did him a favor. The estate amounts to little more than a drained bank account and a property overridden with junk. When Andy finds a dead rat under the refrigerator with a key in its mouth, he thinks it’s some sort of sick joke. Then he finds the letter left by Craig, written two days before his death … detailing the rules of “the game.”

   Learn more about the author, buy the book, or follow them on social media:
   Visit the Author’s Website.
   Buy the Book On Amazon.
   Visit the Facebook Fan Page.
   Goodreads Profile Page

   Author Bio:
   Erik Therme has thrashed with multiple garage bands, (inadvertently) harbored runaways, and met Darth Vader. None of these have come close to the thrill of releasing his debut novel, Mortom.

   When he’s not at his computer, he can be found cheering on his oldest daughter’s volleyball team, or chilling on the PS3 with his 10-year-old. He currently resides in Iowa City, Iowa—one of only 7 places in the world the UNESCO has certified as a “City of Literature.”

   Visit with him on Facebook or www.eriktherme.com.

   Mortom is a post from Awesome Gang

6. Light in the Mountains — Namaste, Rakshi, and Electricity in a Himalayan Village

   About Light in the Mountains — Namaste, Rakshi, and Electricity in a Himalayan Village:

   At his wife’s behest, Jeff Rasley first trekked the Himalayas to resolve a mid life crisis. His travels around Nepal eventually connected him with a remote village in eastern Nepal called Basa.

   What is real community? In Light in the Mountains Rasley relates what he discovered in the unique and ancient communal practices of the Rai people in remote Basa Village in the Nepal Himalayas. Rasley was welcomed into the community, not as stranger or even guest, but as “Dhai”– brother. The villagers taught Rasley the true meaning of communal hospitality. Rasley has returned each year to Basa and has helped to build an elementary school, a hydroelectric system, smokeless stoves, and a water system. But Rasley affirms that he has received more from Basa than he has given.

   Reviewers have praised Bringing Progress to Paradise, the prequel to Light in the Mountains, as a more honest Three Cups of Tea. It is “Part memoir, part travelogue, part documentary, this true adventure captures your interest in the opening pages and leaves you yearning for your own personal pilgrimage through the remote villages of Nepal.” Cherri Megasko

   “Well written and full of colorful descriptions and insights about the mystical Nepalese, this book made me want to get in high-altitude shape and go trekking under the shadows of the Himalayas to meet these wonderful people.” Glen Craney

   Light in the Mountains is a call to those living in urban North America and Europe to regain the connectedness of community. The wisdom offered to “us” by Basa Village is to work hard but sing, dance, cultivate flowers, and enjoy life in community.

   Readers of Bringing Progress to Paradise demanded the rest of the story:

   “But the central issue … demanding a sequel, is the question of whether the “Progress” he is bringing, while admittedly of material value to the villagers, might lead to some degree of corruption of their way of life, a consumerist, Western-oriented degradation of a spiritual depth and sensitivity to their surroundings… I can hardly wait for the necessary follow-up in the next book of the series.” John McLaughlin, Ph.D.

   “The reader is taken on a fascinating journey to explore, compare and contrast, as well as debate how the meeting of the East and West has altered the landscape and lives of people in this remote part of the globe.” Erika Borsos

   “If I could picture a time pre-written word and be sitting around a campfire with the people of my community listening to the old story teller sharing stories of the quests of our people, I could picture Mr. Rasley being that story teller.” DJ Sauer

   If you liked Seven Years in Tibet or 3 Cups of Tea, read Light in the Mountains to find out whether “progress” has damaged the village called a beautiful little flower in the mountains.

   Learn more about the author, buy the book, or follow them on social media:
   Visit the Author’s Website.
   Buy the Book On Amazon.
   Visit the Facebook Fan Page.
   Goodreads Profile Page

   Author Bio:
   Jeff Rasley is the author of seven books and has published numerous articles in academic and mainstream periodicals, including Newsweek, Chicago Magazine, ABA Journal, Family Law Review, American Athenaeum, Pacific Magazine, Indy’s Child, The Journal of Communal Societies, The Chrysalis Reader, Faith & Fitness Magazine, Friends Journal, and Real Travel Adventures International Magazine. He is an award-winning photographer and his pictures taken in the Himalayas and Caribbean and Pacific islands have been published in several journals.

   Rasley has engaged in social activism and philanthropic efforts from an early age. In high school he co-founded the Goshen Walk for Hunger. In law school he was an advocate of residential renters’ rights as a lobbyist and president of the Indianapolis Tenants Association. He is the founder and president of the Basa Village Foundation USA and currently serves as an officer or director for five nonprofit corporations.

   Jeff is an avid outdoorsman and recreational athlete. He leads trekking-mountaineering expeditions in Nepal and has solo-kayaked around several Pacific island groups. He also loves to read and considers completing Marcel Proust’s 3600 page Remembrance of Things Past as great an adventure as climbing Himalayan peaks and solo-kayaking Pacific islands.

   Rasley is a partner in the e-book publishing enterprise Midsummer Books through which he also provides writer coaching and editing services. He is U.S. liaison for the Nepal-based Himalayan expedition company, Adventure GeoTreks Ltd. He has taught classes for IUPUI Continuing Ed. Program, Indiana Writers Center, and Marian University. He currently teaches philosophy of philanthropy at Butler University.

   Jeff is a graduate of the University of Chicago, A.B. magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, All-Academic All-State Football Team and letter winner in swimming and football; Indiana University School of Law, J.D. cum laude, Moot Court and Indiana Law Review; Christian Theological Seminary, M.Div. magna cum laude, co-valedictorian and Faculty Award Scholar. He has been admitted to the Indiana, U.S. District Court, and U.S. Supreme Court Bars.

   For chairing the Indiana-Tennessee Civic Memorial Commission Rasley and the Commission received Proclamations of Salutation from the Governors of Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Pennsylvania and he was made an honorary Lieutenant Colonel Aide-de-Camp of the Alabama State Militia, a Kentucky Colonel and honorary Citizen of Tennessee. He was given a Key to the City of Indianapolis for serving as an intern to Mayor Hudnut and preparing a report on the safety conditions of all Indy Parks. Rasley has received the Man of the Year award from the Arthur Jordan YMCA and the Alumni Service Award from the University of Chicago Alumni Board of Governors.

   Rasley has given serious and humorous interviews to many broadcast programs and provided programs for service clubs, community organizations, and churches.

   Light in the Mountains — Namaste, Rakshi, and Electricity in a Himalayan Village is a post from Awesome Gang

7. Waiting for a Wide Horse Sky by Elaine Kennedy

   

   About Waiting for a Wide Horse Sky by Elaine Kennedy

   Hardcover: $29.95 e-book : $ 9.40

   Waiting for a wide horse sky. Elaine Kennedy

   A true story about modern day slavery.

   The plight of migrant factory workers in South Korea leads Australian author, Elaine Kennedy to question her own motives for travel and working in Daegu. Heartbreaking and surprisingly intimate, Kennedy’s memoir is full of true drama and incident. This is a stranger than fiction story that compels like the best written novels. The reader is drawn deeper and deeper into the beauties, mysteries and injustices that surround and disturb the author, while Kennedy’s undercover fight to assist those who have come to Korea without her own privileges is tense and gripping. This original, warm and suspenseful story is peopled with wonderful characters and rings with the passion and authenticity of truth.

   Published by Transit Lounge Publishing 2011

   Buy the book on Amazon.
   Buy the book on Fishpond.com.au.
   Buy on Abe Books.

   Waiting for a Wide Horse Sky by Elaine Kennedy is a post from Awesome Gang

8. Dorm Daddy by Andy Cox

   

   Dorm Daddy A Hot Gay Novella from Andy Cox

   Ed has his hands full with two young college guys bunking with him until State U has their dorm rooms ready. The fun begins in Ed’s car during the ride home and doesn’t end until their last night together. Watch the young men play dress-up with Ed’s dearly departed mom’s sexy negligees. Spankings and other punishments have little effect in curbing these rambunctious young men’s appetite for sex.
   There’s a shower scene similar to the one in Hitchcock’s “Psycho.” But don’t worry. It ends hilariously. Gets a little serious at the very end when Ed relives a moment from his childhood. But every page promises to have you laughing or doing something else in secret. Women who love reading male erotica will get a kick out of Dorm Daddy.
   Available on iTunes, Nook, and Smashwords also.

   Buy the book on Amazon.

   Dorm Daddy by Andy Cox is a post from Awesome Gang

9. The Opposite of Normal by Judy Mollen Walters

   About The Opposite of Normal by Judy Mollen Walters:

   When Rabbi Mark Friedlander moves his teenage children from Manhattan to a quiet town in Northwestern New Jersey after the death of their mother, he hopes for a fresh start, a place for him and his children to heal while he leads a vibrant synagogue that will embrace them. What he gets instead is just the opposite.

   His daughter, Hannah, twelve, struggles with grief, loneliness, and what it means to be Jewish as a Chinese adoptee. She wants to fit in, but that’s difficult in their new mostly white and Christian town–so she decides to secretly convert.

   His son, Aaron, a senior in high school, is applying to Ivy League schools and counting down to when he can leave the small town–until he discovers a shocking secret that threatens his entire future.

   Lurking in the shadows is a pastor who says he just wants to support the kids in his congregation, but is that all he really wants?

   The Opposite of Normal is about what it means to love and accept, what it means to do the right thing, and what it means to heal after loss.

   Learn more about the author, buy the book, or follow them on social media:
   Visit the Author’s Website.
   Buy the Book On Amazon.
   Visit the Facebook Fan Page.

   Author Bio:
   Judy Mollen Walters was an editor of non-fiction until she became a Stay-at-Home Mom 17 years ago. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two teenage daughters, where she loves to read, write, and bake. She loves to hear from readers and other writers! To contact her, email at judymwalters@gmail.com

   The Opposite of Normal by Judy Mollen Walters is a post from Awesome Gang

10. The Runner by J.M. Johnson

    About The Runner by J.M. Johnson:

    Ten years ago the president of the United States declared that global warming had reached a tipping point from which it would not recover. In answer to this dilemma, modern technology was shut down. The elderly and other volunteers could opt to live out the rest of their lives in a virtual world, but all others were left to fend for themselves.

    Avi Bloom lives in a world in which each family must contribute one child as a runner. A runner risks life and limb to travel from village to village delivering news and other small items. Avi is one run shy of retiring when she discovers that whole villages are disappearing, leaving only a few dead bodies and the youngest children behind. Now, Avi must find out who or what is responsible for these missing people as she goes on a journey and discovers friendship, love, and betrayal. She also discovers that the forces behind these disappearances are much larger and more frightening than she could ever have imagined.

    Learn more about the author, buy the book, or follow them on social media:
    Visit the Author’s Website.
    Buy the Book On Amazon.
    Visit the Facebook Fan Page.
    Goodreads Profile Page

    Author Bio:
    J.M. Johnson lives in the middle of nowhere with her husband, three children, three cats, five chickens, and hamsters that keep growing in number even after they’re separated by gender. When she is not busy writing she can be found reading a book, in the garden, or wandering through the woods.

    The Runner by J.M. Johnson is a post from Awesome Gang

11. No Amber Waves of Grain by Steven M. Moore

    

    About No Amber Waves of Grain by Steven M. Moore

    This action-packed sci-fi thriller completes the “Clones and Mutants Trilogy.” Set in a future when South Korea and North Korea have united, evil still lingers from the latter in an industrialist out for personal revenge. The protagonists from Full Medical and Evil Agenda band together to thwart his plan, but not before he crosses an old and familiar villain who begins to seek his own revenge. Lurking in the wings are some Russian heavies who are determined to steal the technology responsible for the clones and mutants. This tale will get your adrenalin flowing and dispel that winter ennui.

    Buy the book on Amazon.

    No Amber Waves of Grain by Steven M. Moore is a post from Awesome Gang

12. Best Dating Advice I Ever Got 2 by Dr Ali Binazir

    About Best Dating Advice I Ever Got 2 by Dr Ali Binazir:

    Surprising Solutions to Smart Women’s Most Common Dating Problems

    From the author of the #1-Rated Dating Book on Amazon for 157 weeks, The Tao of Dating: The Smart Woman’s Guide to Being Absolutely Irresistible

    “Where do you find good men? Why do I keep falling for bad boys? What is love anyway? How do I get him to commit? What about online dating? Do men love bitches? How do I get the guy to fall in love with me? How do I get him back?”

    My readers have sent me thousands of questions like these since I started the Tao of Dating blog in 2008. In response, I’ve written a few hundred articles. Best Dating Advice I Ever Got 2 is a collection of the 35 best of those articles to bring even more love, joy and sexiness into your life, as voted by hundreds of thousands of discerning (and demanding) readers like yourself.

    Learn more about the author, buy the book, or follow them on social media:
    Visit the Author’s Website.
    Buy the Book On Amazon.

    Author Bio:
    Dr Ali Binazir is Chief Happiness Engineer and the author of “The Tao of Dating: The Smart Woman’s Guide to Being Absolutely Irresistible”, the highest-rated dating book on Amazon.com for 157 weeks, ‘Best Dating Advice I Ever Got 2′ and ‘The Tao of Dating: The Thinking Man’s Enlightened Guide to Success with Women.’ He holds an A.B. from Harvard College, an M.D. from UC San Diego School of Medicine, and an M.Phil. from Cambridge University. Formerly a consultant to the Fortune 500 at McKinsey & Co., he writes a popular column for Huffington Post and practices hypnotherapy in San Francisco. He is committed to helping you become the happiest, most fulfilled version of you.

    His books are available through Amazon (http://amzn.to/a1ic0F) and TaoOfDating.com/women. Read his blog (TaoOfDating.com), follow him on Twitter (@DrAliBinazir) or write to him directly at DrAli(at)TaoOfDating.com.

    Best Dating Advice I Ever Got 2 by Dr Ali Binazir is a post from Awesome Gang

13. Elsewhen by Gary Buloock

    

    About Elsewhen by Gary Buloock

    Little Laura Elizabeth Austin (Laura Bess grows up in a small farming town in the midwest. Already a genius at age 8, she and equally bright Elijah Grant (Lije) are very different from other kids their age, but Laura Bess and Lije have each other.

    They are fascinated with Science and endlessly talk about the big cosmological questions – the nature of time, black holes, the origin and the destiny of the universe, and the two little geniuses become soul-mates, at the tender age of 8.

    They even have their first kiss while debating the nature of Time. (Laura says it doesn’t exist).

    But they are also troubled by strange visions. Laura sees people who aren’t “there”. A mysterious Indian woman suddenly appears when she is playing alone one day, then just as suddenly disappears. Laura begins to think she is seeing ghosts, then realizes the people she sees think that she is a ghost. Very puzzling to an 8-year old, and she learns not to talk about it.

    Lije sees flashes of things that haven’t happened – yet. A scene of devastation. The face of a young woman reflected in a window. An older man raising his glass in a toast. Meaningless to an 8-year old boy.

    By age 17, the two of them are inseparable. Laura wins a full scholarship to Stanford, Lije to MIT. They pledge their love the night before they are to leave for college. But as Laura Bess flies off to San Francisco, the plane goes down. There are no survivors.

    Lije is devastated; he can’t believe he has lost the love of his life. His passion for the sciences, and life in general, fade away.

    Years later, Lije works at a radio astronomy site, in a deadly dull job, tracking space junk all day. But during a routine track of a deep space satellite, it suddenly veers out of orbit, then disappears into the depths of space.

    He investigates, and discovers that it is the work of a small black hole, which is gobbling up everything in its path, and it is coming closer. The Earth has a only a few days before it’s swallowed.

    And that’s when Laura Bess walks up to Lije in a coffee shop and says “Hello, Stranger.”

    The future just isn’t what it used to be, and neither is the past.

    Buy the book on Amazon.

    Elsewhen by Gary Buloock is a post from Awesome Gang

14. How to Turn Your Pain into Power by Rose Chandler

    

    About How to Turn Your Pain into Power by Rose Chandler

    Are you stuck in a rut because of a painful past event?
    Are you feeling depressed, stressed and very unhappy as a result?
    Do you want to transform your life and program you mind for everyday success?
    I have been there, I know how crippling and demoralising this can feel. This is why I have written “How to Turn Your Pain into Power” designed to empower you to get out and stay out of that rut.
    If you suffer with the negative emotions of angry, jealousy, guilt and depression because of your past, you will find within “ How to Turn your Pain into Power” 9 powerful life saving strategies. These are designed to move you from misery to mastery and from pain to power. I have shared how I have applied these strategies and turned my life around from life threatening illness, redundancy, rejection and bereavement to a jubilant life of personal power and rich fulfilment. Your will learn the secrets to regain your joy, peace, self respect and passion again. This book is packed with time tested principles, step-by-step instructions and turnaround tools, which will help you to:
    • Remove past hurts blocking your future success
    • Discover your purpose and maximise your potential
    • Change negative thought patterns to access the power within.
    • Program your mind for everyday success
    • Develop and deploy Massive Intelligent and Deliberate Actions M.I.D.A.s ™ to “Turn Your Pain into Power” Get ready for a turnaround To Your Success!

    BONUS Register on my website and get my FREE pdf/ebook of “Life Plan Example and Template” at http://PainToPower.co.uk

    Buy the book on Amazon.uk.
    Buy the book on Amazon.

    How to Turn Your Pain into Power by Rose Chandler is a post from Awesome Gang