This Month From BookEnds… December 2017

The Holidays are finally here, and BookEnds has just the gifts you’re looking for, for every reader on your list. Check out what’s new from us this December!

Monthly Spotlight:

THE TRUTH BENEATH THE LIES by Amanda Searcy (12/12) Amazon | Barnes & Noble

This month’s spotlight is the YA thriller you’ve been waiting for; what Kirkus calls “An intricately plotted thriller that’s both gritty and engrossing.”

Fight or Flight.

All Kayla Asher wants to do is run. Run from the government housing complex she calls home. Run from her unstable mother. Run from a desperate job at No Limit Foods. Run to a better, cleaner, safer life. Every day is one day closer to leaving.

All Betsy Hopewell wants to do is survive. Survive the burner phone hidden under her bed. Survive her new rules. Survive a new school with new classmates. Survive being watched. Every minute grants her another moment of life.

But when fate brings Kayla and Betsy together, only one girl will live.

THE TRUTH BENEATH YOUR LIES was also named one of Amazon’s Editor’s choice for Best YA books of the month!

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Mystery:

GINGER SNAPPED by Gail Oust (12/12)– Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Piper Prescott and Police Chief Wyatt McBride might have gotten off on the wrong foot but, over the past year, their interactions have evolved into a friendship of sorts. And when the body of Shirley Randolph is found floating in a fishing hole, their relationship reaches entirely new territory.

Shirley, the town’s Realtor of the Year, was also Wyatt’s suspected romantic interest, and now the residents of Brandywine Creek are speculating that Wyatt is responsible for her death. As the town council moves to suspend the handsome lawman, Piper springs into action to save his reputation and possibly his freedom. She enlists the aid of her BFF, Reba Mae Johnson, along with Wyatt himself, to help solve the puzzle and find Shirley’s real killer.

Pointing them toward high-powered real estate tactics and possible affairs, the investigation soon becomes personal when Piper’s shop, Spice It Up!, is burglarized, and she’s forced off the road late one night, narrowly escaping serious injury. Realizing that she must be close to uncovering the truth, and that the evidence against Wyatt is no longer circumstantial, Piper resorts to drastic measures to prevent a grave miscarriage of justice.

 

THE TROUBLE WITH MURDER by Kathy Krevat (12/12) Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Colbie Summers has moved back in with her father, a place she left with no intention of ever returning. When her father grows ill, Colbie knows she has no choice but to pack up her 12-year-old son, their cat, Trouble, and her gourmet cat food business and go back to the tiny town of Sunnyside, CA.

While Colbie expected that things might be complicated, she certainly never expected the complications to lead to murder. When police suspect her of murdering one of the other women in the Sunnyside Power Moms trade show, Colbie realizes that in order to save her name, her business, and her son, she needs to find out who the real killer is and that might include getting into a little trouble!

 

 

 

 

HISTORICALLY DEAD by Greta McKennan (12/19) Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Seamstress Daria Dembrowski must find a historically-minded killer before the fabric of her peaceful town rips wide open . . .
 
When the reality show My House in History comes to Laurel Springs, Pennsylvania, savvy seamstress Daria Dembrowski sees a business opportunity. The show follows two elderly sisters’ quest to restore their colonial mansion, and that means a heap of work for a seamstress who specializes in historical textiles. Although one of the old women is a bit of a grump, Daria loves the job—until she discovers one of the researchers dead, and the whole project threatens to unwind.
 
The professor was researching the sisters’ famous ancestor, Revolutionary War legend Samuel Compton, and died after finding evidence that Compton was a traitor. As a series of historical crimes pile up, from a stolen Paul Revere platter to a chilling incident of arson, Daria must find the killer quickly, for her life is hanging by a thread.

 

 

BETTER DEAD by Pamela Kopfler (12/26) Amazon | Barnes & Noble

As the owner of a charming Louisiana bed and breakfast, Holly Davis believes in Southern hospitality–but she draws the line at welcoming the ghost of her cheating husband . . .

Burl Davis checked out of this life a little earlier than expected–before Holly could serve him with divorce papers over his extramarital flings. Unfortunately, it was not before he nearly bankrupted her beloved B&B, Holly Grove, a converted plantation that has been in her family for generations. Holly would never wish anyone dead, but three months later she’s feeling a lot more relief than grief.
Until Burl’s ghost appears as an unwelcome guest. Before his spirit can move on, her not-so-dearly departed needs Holly’s human help to bust up the drug smuggling ring he was involved with. She has reservations, to say the least, but agrees to assist him if he’ll make a show of haunting the B&B to draw in visitors. But when Holly’s former love, Jack McCann, mysteriously resurfaces in town and checks in, she has to wonder if her B&B is big enough for the ghost of her husband and the very real physical presence of her old flame . . .

 

Romance:

KILLER COLTON CHRISTMAS by Lara Lacombe (12/5) Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Coltons of Shadow Creek series comes to a shocking Christmas climax in two heart-pounding stories

Special Agent Cowboy by Regan Black:

When hackers strike Colton, Inc., they put executive Marie Meyers in their crosshairs. FBI agent Emiliano Ortega is charged with protecting the beautiful city girl on his ranch. But keeping their mutual attraction professional under the mistletoe is impossible…

The Marine’s Christmas Case by Lara Lacombe:

When Dario Ortega meets Felicity Grant, the lovely marine-turned-PI spurns his advances. Instead, Dario offers his tech expertise to help Felicity solve the Colton, Inc., hacking. Working the case together softens Felicity’s steely heart and makes Dario rethink bachelorhood. But can they catch a killer Colton in time for Christmas?

 

FERAL PASSIONS by Kate Douglas (12/5) Amazon | Barnes & Noble

TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME AS A COMPLETE SET!

Welcome to Feral Passions, a luxurious private resort nestled in a woodland preserve and staffed by dangerously sexy men, making it a haven for women who want to get away from it all. But Feral Passions is a front for a deeper, sexier secret–it’s a hunting ground for these men. Men focused on meeting each woman’s every need. Men who are also the beautiful wolves running wild—each of them searching for a mate.

Feral Passions– Chereza Dubios is more comfortable solving math equations than she is with her voluptuous body and meeting men. But when her younger sister and best friend trick her into vacationing at Feral Passions, Cherry finds herself attracted and torn between two men who find her curvy body and intelligent mind irresistible. Two men who share a secret–they want to share her.

But that takes trust–can Cherry open herself to love with two sensual and powerful werewolves?

Wild Passions– Four women—friends closer than sisters—head off to an exclusive mountain resort for a week-long bachelorette getaway, where most of the women just want to know if there are any good men left in the world.

There are, and they’re the men of Feral Passions…this will be one bachelorette party the women will never forget!

Dangerous Passions– Pack alpha Traker Jakes and his lieutenant Evan Dark are the last single men standing as the season draws to a close at the Feral Passions resort—until the appearance of two strong, sexy women alters the threat of a long, cold, lonely winter. But Darnell and Chelo are stalked by danger—danger that threatens everyone in the pack at Feral Passions.

 

West Coast Love by Tif Marcelo (12/11) Amazon | Barnes & Noble

An aspiring food journalist and a grumpy cameraman take to the California coast for the biggest foodie event of the year in this sweet third novel in Tif Marcelo’s charming and romantic Journey to the Heart series.

Online food blogger Victoria Aquino has spent years doing social media for True North and Paraiso Retreats, and she’s ready to take her blog and writing to the next level. But after she was catfished and suffered a heartbreak, she’s clamoring for change. She auditions for and accepts a food host opportunity: covering the Labor Day holiday BBQ festivals along the California coast. For eight days, she’ll travel with a producer and a camera and sound person, in a vintage—and rickety—RV, and she’ll get her very first byline as a video journalist. The only catch? She can’t stand BBQ.

And the cameraman also auditioned for the job.

Joel Silva is a cameraman with his own past and big dreams of his own, and when he finds out that the job he auditioned for went to Victoria—a woman he’d gotten to know covering Paraiso Retreats, and someone he later slept with—he’s understandably furious and curious. Joel knows the BBQ circuit like the back of his hand, and he now has to help Victoria do her job amidst their growing attraction.

When the producer picks up on their push/pull vibe and increases the ante to feature both in front of the camera with the best host taking the next cross-country feature, the two have to decide: is their blossoming romance something that should be left to fizzle along with BBQ season? Or is it the beginning of something even more delicious?

 

Coming Soon:

I think the whole team at BookEnds is pretty psyched for Yvonne Ivinson’s debut (and two follow ups). We can’t wait for you to get your hands on this picture book!

Great News:

H.G Bells’ debut SLEEP OVER is set to publish in January, and it’s been receiving some great reviews ahead of time. Check out what Publisher’s Weekly and Booklist had to say:

“[Bells’s] linked stories span the globe and the human spectrum, made even scarier by their relatability. . . . Despite the grim elements, human resilience and compassion are the overwhelming themes of this well-written collection, and the coda is full of hope.”―Publishers Weekly

“Readers looking for a twist on conventional apocalypse tales will enjoy this look at alternative human zombies that is no less political than Nancy Kress’ Beggars Trilogy. A grimly suspenseful tale with a brutally real ending.” ―Booklist

We’ve added a bunch of new authors to our rosters in November. Here are some names you should be looking out for: Nicole Clarke, James Markert, Amber Huang & Jill Weatherholt.

We’re also doing a Holiday themed giveaway on the blog! Check out our Mystery or Romance giveaways going up on and enter for your chance to win some of our best holiday titles!