BOOKS BY MY FRIENDS
ANNE FOTHERINGHAM, JOY E. HELD, BARBARA JEAN MILLER, DON TASSONE & KAREN WYLE
Thursday, 30 January 2025
Welcome to Books By My Friends! Today we are featuring:
ANNE FOTHERINGHAM
JOY E. HELD
BARBARA JEAN MILLER
DON TASSONE
KAREN WYLE
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BOOK: Summers in the City
AUTHOR: A. J. Fotheringham
GENRE: Mystery
BLURB: Bailey Summers, a Montreal journalist, and her photographer boyfriend, Derek Carstairs, take a deep dive into the art world to find out why her estranged father, Lewiston Summers, a well-known artist, was brutally attacked. Who is threatening the residents at her father’s artists’ collective? Why? Who broke in and shot one of the artists? Meanwhile old issues come to light in the Summers family and complicate the action.
When her father’s wife Melanie is abducted, the kidnappers threaten to kill her if a stolen item is not returned. But the police are baffled as Bailey and her family have no idea what this item is. Luckily, Bailey and Derek come to Melanie’s rescue but as the story reaches its climax, secrets from the past are revealed, including a love story and the truth about missing paintings. And family issues are resolved as Derek and Bailey show once more that they are sleuths to be reckoned with.
ABOUT AUTHOR: A. J. Fotheringham is a Canadian author based in Montreal, Quebec. Her latest release is Summers in the City, the third book in her Bailey Summers Mysteries series. She is also the author of nine books in the Lamb’s Bay Mysteries series and has published short stories and poetry. A graduate of McGill University and Seton Hill University, she is a former journalist and professional communicator.
AUTHOR: Joy E. Held
GENRE: Self-help, nonfiction, creativity, journaling
BLURB: Writer Wellness Workbook is a safe place to spell out, experiment with, and practice your crazy, juicy ideas about journaling, fitness, relaxation, nutrition, and creative play.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joy E. Held is an author, educator, book coach, and the CEO/Founder of My WriteDay subscription and gift boxes for writers.
BOOK: Viscount for Hire
AUTHOR: Barbara Jean Miller
GENRE: Regency
BLURB: The wealthy Kate Hamilton must marry the wounded viscount she is sheltering in her London townhouse since saving his life has ruined her. But he is a perfect candidate since he needs to marry well. When he seems reluctant, Kate proposes hiring him as her husband to disguise her love for him.
Hugh Bartram, Viscount of Dancy, has never met anyone like levelheaded Kate, thrusting herself into a scandal to save his sister from gossip. He resents Kate trying to solve everything with money, even as he admits her heart is in the right place.
Just as they wed, his sister elopes, and Dancy is captivated by the unconventional Kate as they ride across England together to prevent another scandal.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Barbara Jean Miller is an author, educator, and nature observer.
BOOK: Flash 50: Stories
AUTHOR: Don Tassone
GENRE: Flash Fiction
BLURB: Flash 50 features an eclectic mix of 50 new, very short
stories. Fifty unique takes on life and the human condition. Each
of these finely crafted stories is sure to captivate, move and
nourish.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: After a long career in the corporate
world, Don Tassone has returned to his creative writing roots. He
is the author of two novels and nine short story collections. His
first novella and childrens book will also be published in 2025.
Don and his wife Liz live in Loveland, Ohio. They have four
children.
BOOK: The Decision
AUTHOR: Karen A. Wyle
GENRE: Historical Fiction
BLURB:
A Life of Contradictions, and A Moment of Truth
It is autumn of 1938, in Hitler’s Germany, in the capital city of Berlin, perhaps a month before the devastating anti-Jewish violence of Kristallnacht. Three Jewish boys have received new bicycles — because their family has, with difficulty, arranged to leave Germany, and they will not be allowed to take much cash with them. Two of the boys are experienced bicyclists, but the youngest is less so. On a downtown street, the latter’s lack of skill causes an accident. And the traffic policeman on the scene wears, just visible under his uniform, the brown shirt of a member of Hitler's storm troopers.
What did the policeman do? The answer is known, because the preceding paragraph describes an actual event. But why did the policeman make the choice he did? What life did he live that led him to make it? And what happened to him, while the boys and their family escaped, lived, and thrived? This novel imagines possible answers to these questions. In doing so, it takes the reader into the heart of the experience of wartime, and the repercussions of such conflict for years thereafter.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Karen A. Wyle was born a Connecticut Yankee, but eventually settled in Bloomington, Indiana. She now considers herself a Hoosier. In addition to being an author, she is a quasi-retired appellate attorney, photographer, and mother of two.
Wyle's thoughtful and compassionate fiction includes SF, historical romance, historical fiction, and fantasy. Her authorial voice is the product of a lifetime spent reading both literary and genre fiction. Her personal history has led her to focus on often-intertwined themes of family, communication, the impossibility of controlling events, and the persistence of unfinished business.
Wyle publishes under the imprint Oblique Angles Press.
If you would like to be a featured author on Books By My Friends, please leave a comment and I’ll be in touch!
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The wealthy Kate Hamilton must marry the wounded viscount she is sheltering in her London townhouse since saving his life has ruined her. But he is a perfect candidate since he needs to marry well. When he seems reluctant, Kate proposes hiring him as her husband to disguise her love for him.
Hugh Bartram, Viscount of Dancy, has never met anyone like levelheaded Kate, thrusting herself into a scandal to save his sister from gossip. He resents Kate trying to solve everything with money, even as he admits her heart is in the right place.
Just as they wed, his sister elopes, and Dancy is captivated by the unconventional Kate as they ride across England together to prevent another scandal.
If you would like to see your book advertised here, please leave a comment and I will be in touch!
JOY E. HELD is an author, educator, editor, entrepreneur, and literary citizen responsible for this site and its contents. She is the author of
Writer Wellness: A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity (Headline Books, Inc., 2020)
Writer Wellness Workbook: A Guided Workbook and Journal to Accompany Writer Wellness: A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity (Headline Books, Inc., 2023)
The Mermaid Riot (Fire and Ice YA, 2024) Young Adult Historical Fantasy
She writes spicy historical fiction under a pen name.
She is the winner of multiple writing and book awards:
West Virginia Writers, Inc. Annual Writing Contest, Honorable Mention, Novel, 1998.
New York Book Festival, Honorable Mention, Writer Wellness, 2020.
Next Generation Indie Book Awards, Finalist, Writer Wellness, 2021.
Northeast Ohio Romance Writers of America, Member of the Year, 2020.
Northeast Ohio Romance Writers of America, First Book Award, 2020.
She is an adjunct faculty member in the Southern New Hampshire University Online MFA Creative Writing.
She is a proud graduate of Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA with an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction.
She is a member of The Authors Guild and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Joy is the founder and CEO of My WRITEDAY Subscription Box for writers and readers.
