An American Family. A World War. A First Love. A Small Hotel.

It’s the summer of 1941. Europe is at war, but New York's Thousand Islands are at the height of the tourist season. Kennet Fiskare, son of a hotel proprietor, is having the summer of a lifetime, having fallen deeply in love with a Swedish-Brazilian guest named Astrid Virtanen. But the affair is cut short and the young lovers permanently parted, first by Astrid’s family obligations, then by America’s entry into the war.

The rigors of military life help dull his heartache, but when Kennet’s battalion reaches France, he is thrown into the crucible of front line combat. As his unit crosses Europe, from the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium to Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria, Kennet falls into a different kind of love: the intense camaraderie between soldiers. It's a bond fierce yet fragile, vital yet expendable, here today and gone tomorrow. Sustained by his friendships, Kennet both witnesses and commits the unthinkable atrocities of warfare, altering his view of the world and himself. To the point where a second chance with Astrid in peacetime might be the most terrifying and consequential battle he’s ever fought.

With her signature blend of soul-stirring prose and emotional complexity, Laqueur takes readers on a journey through events that shape an American family’s weakest moments and finest hours. A Small Hotel illuminates the experience of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary circumstances, and their once-in-a-generation camaraderie, courage and resiliency. It’s a novel for the world, a heartbreaking, uplifting story of family, love and human endurance.

France, 1940.
An unexpected gift of an old motorcycle with a tragically romantic past hurls a young orphan into the thick of things as war breaks out and his life changes forever. Half-French/half-German Daniel must find a way to survive in a world that mercy seems to have abandoned. This book transports the reader to Nazi-occupied France, where Daniel unwittingly and unexpectedly finds himself working for the Resistance, and ultimately to the Russian Front in a twist of fate so startling that no one can see it coming. In turn quirky, heartwarming, beguiling and uncompromising, author Marc Sercomb weaves together many moods and colors to tell young Daniel’s story. Beyond engaging, Picasso’s Motorcycle has been hailed as a genuine “page-turner” by those who have so far encountered it.

If you like “The Book Thief” and “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” you’ll love this book!

From the author of IR Discovery Award finalist Learning to Haight comes the next great punk rock novel.

Wally, a neurotic, self-depreciating sales rep in San Francisco, somehow wins the heart of Julie, the drummer for a rising punk band. She’s everything he isn’t—cool, brash, confident in her own skin—and Wally never feels he’s able to live up to her public persona.

Complicating matters is the fact that Wally is convinced he will die young and has taken weirdly precise considerations to make sure his affairs are taken care of after he is gone—even going as far as to pick out a potential mate for Julie to step in after his death.

When tragedy tears them apart, Wally spirals into a tailspin involving booze, strippers, old wedding videos, a Jack Russell named after Joey Ramone and a dramatic rescue on the Golden Gate Bridge. Eventually, it’s his circle of friends that act as his de facto family as he deals with a devastating loss.

Above all, Polk Gulch is a startlingly honest story about love and grief that allows readers to enter the brain of someone who is haunted by the impending specter of death.

During Dust Bowl days in west Texas, a country doctor with shaky credentials delivers a baby, a so-called “monster,” acceptable parlance of that era indicating a newborn with multiple birth defects.

Later, Ivy Pettibone is mistakenly thought schizophrenic due to her garbled speech, landing her in a mental institution. There, she weaponizes one of her unusual birth defects, allowing her to emerge as an alpha female among the inmates.

In a parallel story merging decades later, Chase Callaway, grandson of Ivy’s delivering “doctor,” enters medical school planning on a career in psychiatry. While working as an aide in the mental institution, he strikes up a friendship with Ivy whereupon their lives become intertwined. After observing a surgical procedure with its instantaneous success, Chase alters his path toward specializing in general surgery. There, he ignores warning signs that he might be headed in the wrong direction. As Chase builds his shell of emotional protection to combat the “sins of commission” that are encountered in surgery, his armor includes one rusty bolt – his relationship with a distant physician-father who never finished his surgical residency.

Relationships shift and coincidences abound, raising the question of metaphysical explanations. Is the Callaway family haunted by a 13-generation curse? Is Ivy a designated guardian angel for Chase? Or, is the saga a simple tale made complex by quirky events?

PRANKS. OIL. PROTEST. JOKES BETWEEN NEWLYWEDS. AND ONE HILARIOUS SIEGE OF A MAJOR CORPORATION.

Remmy grows up with Beth in Bellhammer, Illinois as oil and coal companies rob the land of everything that made it paradise. Under his Grandad, he learns how to properly prank his neighbors, friends, and foes. Beth tries to fix Remmy by taking him to church. Under his Daddy, Remmy starts the Bell Hammer Construction Company, which depends on contracts from Texarco Oil. And Beth argues with him about how to build a better business. Together, Remmy and Beth start to build a great neighborhood of "merry men" carpenters: a paradise of s’mores, porch furniture, newborn babies, and summer trips to Branson where their boys pop the tops of off the neighborhood’s two hundred soda bottles. Their witty banter builds a kind of castle among a growing nostalgia.

Then one of Jim Johnstone’s faulty Texarco oil derricks falls down on their house and poisons their neighborhood's well.

Poisoned wells escalate to torched dog houses. Torched dog houses escalate to stolen carpentry tools and cancelled contracts. Cancelled contracts escalate to eminent domain. Sick of the attacks from Texaco Oil on his neighborhood, Remmy assembles his merry men:

"We need the world's greatest prank. One grand glorious jest that'll bloody the nose of that tyrant. Besides, pranks and jokes don't got no consequences, right?"

:: PRAISE FOR LANCELOT SCHAUBERT AND BELL HAMMERS ::



"Schaubert recounts a mischievous man's eight decades in Illinois's Little Egypt region in his picaresque debut. Remmy's life of constant schemes and pranks and a lifelong feud with classmate Jim Johnstone and the local oil drilling company proves consequential. This is a hoot."

— Publisher's Weekly



“BELL HAMMERS is written in a style not unworthy of John Kennedy Toole and William Faulkner – the vivid characterization of Southern ethnography commingled with stark, episodic spectacle breathes with the spirit of quintessential Americana. It is a text I would happily assign in an American Novel class and would expect it to yield satisfying discourse alongside works in the canon, whether beside the sardonic prose of Mark Twain or the energetically painful narratives of Toni Morrison.”

— Dr. Anthony Cirilla



“Schaubert’s words have an immediacy, a potency, an intimacy that grab the reader by the collar and say, ‘Listen, this is important!’ Probing the bones and gristle of humanity, Lancelot’s subjects challenge, but also offer insights into redemption if only we will stop and pay attention.”

— Erika Robuck, national bestselling author of Hemingway’s Girl



“Myth, regret, the lore of our heritage and the subtle displays of our castes — no one so accurately and imaginatively captures the joys and sorrows of life in the Midwest as Schaubert does here. BELL HAMMERS is a Tree Grows in Brooklyn as told by Gabriel Garcia Marquez if Marquez lived in rural Illinois and only told stories to his grandkids. Seriously a delight to read.”

— Colby Williams, author of the Axiom Gold Medal winning book Small Town, Big Money



“Loved BELL HAMMERS because Lancelot wrote about people who don’t get written about enough and he did it with humor, compassion, and heart.”

— Brian Slatterly, author of Lost Everything and editor of The New Haven Review



“I’m such a fan of Lancelot Schaubert’s work. His unique view and his life-wisdom enriches all he does. We’re lucky to count him among our contributors.”

— Therese Walsh, author of The Moon Sisters and Editorial Director of Writer Unboxed

The International Bestseller!

Recommended by Oprah Magazine ∙ Cosmo ∙ PopSugar ∙ SheReads ∙ Parade ∙ and more!

An epic saga from New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray based on the true story of an extraordinary castle in the heart of France and the remarkable women bound by its legacy.
 
Most castles are protected by men. This one by women.

A founding mother...
1774. Gently-bred noblewoman Adrienne Lafayette becomes her husband, the Marquis de Lafayette’s political partner in the fight for American independence. But when their idealism sparks revolution in France and the guillotine threatens everything she holds dear, Adrienne must renounce the complicated man she loves, or risk her life for a legacy that will inspire generations to come.

A daring visionary...
1914. Glittering New York socialite Beatrice Chanler is a force of nature, daunted by nothing—not her humble beginnings, her crumbling marriage, or the outbreak of war. But after witnessing the devastation in France firsthand, Beatrice takes on the challenge of a lifetime: convincing America to fight for what's right.

A reluctant resistor...
1940. French school-teacher and aspiring artist Marthe Simone has an orphan's self-reliance and wants nothing to do with war. But as the realities of Nazi occupation transform her life in the isolated castle where she came of age, she makes a discovery that calls into question who she is, and more importantly, who she is willing to become.

Intricately woven and powerfully told, The Women of Chateau Lafayette is a sweeping novel about duty and hope, love and courage, and the strength we take from those who came before us.

What if I am the very darkness that I fear?

I’ve made a lot of bad decisions, like getting myself arrested and saying “I do” to an irresistible drug dealer. Even still, I managed to make some good ones, too. But when shadow-ridden nightmares encroach upon my waking life, my world flips upside down.

I search inside myself for answers, unleashing a powerful force from within that can face the shadow’s depths.

But those depths hide grave secrets within the very establishment sworn to protect us. Will I be able to save not only myself but countless others? Or is this all part of a greater delusion?


Content Advisory: Story contains mature themes and is intended for readers 18+

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What Amazon readers are saying:

★★★★★ 'A suspenseful urban fantasy adventure, unlike any I have ever seen'

★★★★★ 'I could not put this book down, and stayed up all night to finish!'

★★★★★ 'The dream sequences were written so well, they pulled me in, left me with the surreal feeling of having experienced them myself.'

About the Author
Rossana's inspiration comes from a variety of authors and genres, including McKenzie Hunter, Margaret Atwood, K.F. Breene, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Arturo Perez-Reverte, Paolo Coehlo, Sarah Maas and so many more.

"A gay man questions Britain's repressive new political regime... Cacoyannis has written a thoroughly gripping novel, using the rhetoric of a real-life pandemic to fashion a chilling vision of an abnormal 'new-normal' to come." Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

London 2030. When a postman knocks on his door, the news he delivers will cause 70-year-old Anthony Pablo Rubens to reflect on all the sadnesses and joys of the past, while he begins to prepare for the surprises of the future.

The past still revolves around the moment in the summer of 1984 when young Anthony first realized he had fallen in love.

The present is a Kafkaesque nightmare worse than Orwell's 1984, "a hideous world where people don't need to be watched by Big Brother." It's a world that Anthony has mostly shut his eyes to, but which suddenly he is forced to confront.

And the future now encompasses the mystery, and excitement, and dread of a day as an exhibit at the National People's Museum.

A dystopian political satire, The Coldness of Objects is also a story of loss, and of different kinds of love.

"An intriguing, timely, and terrifying portent of life after Covid-19." Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"a small jewel, filled with exquisite language, intimate human characters and poignant drama" Casey Dorman - Lost Coast Review

Contains Mature Themes and Strong Language.

Hamilton is crushed by a secret so shameful that it is beyond bearing.
His heir is dead; his daughter has gone insane with grief.
His dear wife, Eliza, now shudders at his touch.

He never intended to send his son to his death. That wasn't in his plans.
And his wife may never forgive him.

As Hamilton struggles to save his marriage and his family, his political opponent, Aaron Burr, threatens to topple the nation. The nation which Hamilton had risked everything to forge.

Burr, impoverished and embittered by a humiliating loss, blames Hamilton. Burr will stop at nothing to regain his lost power and restore his fortunes. If he can destroy and defame Hamilton in the process, he will have his ultimate triumph.

It is a time of honor, duels, political intrigues, and political violence.
It is an age of men.

Torn between his duty to his wife and family, and his allegiance to the country, Hamilton must make his choice.

You know his name, but this is the story that you haven't heard before! If you loved the score of Hamilton, the biographies of Chernow, and the novels of Stephanie Dray - you would love Hamilton's Choice!

Read it Today!

‘Everything happens for a reason.’
It’s 1972. Raymond Mann is seventeen. He is fearful of life and can’t get off buses. He says his prayers every night and spends too much time in his room.
He meets Ernest Gardiner, a gentleman in his seventies who’s become tired of living and misses the days of chivalry and honour. Together they discover a love of sunflowers and stars, and help each other learn to love the world.
Ernest recounts his experiences of 1917 war-torn France where he served as a photographer in the trenches … of his first love, Mira, and how his life was saved by his friend Bill, a hardened soldier.
But all is not as it seems, and there is one more secret that will change Raymond’s life for ever.
Cold Sunflowers is a story of love.
All love.
But most of all it’s about the love of life and the need to cherish every moment.

Find out more about the book and its author, Mark Sippings, at www.coldsunflowers.co.uk.

Kept apart by society, two lovestruck mariners face the forces of time, death, and the afterlife in order to reunite.

At the peak of the whaling boom in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1857, Nicolas Adams and his best friend, Henry Lawton, are living during a time when expressing their true feelings for each other is dangerous. After a prank goes disastrously awry, Nicolas and Henry are sent aboard Henry’s father’s whaling ship, where they experience a rough awakening to the harsh realities of seafaring life.

When Henry is seduced by another shipmate, Nicolas is forced to confront his growing romantic love for his friend. But before he can admit to his desire, the two of them are involved in a fatal accident, the consequences of which send Nicolas to the Realm, where he discovers that he will exist in the afterlife as an assignment angel—one who is sent to Earth to intervene in the lives of the living.

During an assignment, Nicolas returns to New Bedford and decides to seek revenge on the shipmates who were complicit in his fate, including Henry, who is now engaged to a woman. But Nicolas’s actions only lead to endless longing, and he must deepen his search to discover what is truly needed to reunite him with Henry.

Putting the will in willpower.

Josh McCain has two years to reinvent himself. Stripped of everything that made life a swanky, booze and babe-filled breeze, Josh embarks on a grueling and often hilarious two-year regimen of self-discipline that targets his mind, body, and spirit.

Along the way, skeptics mock him; his own past taunts him; and saboteurs resolve to stop him. But Josh is determined to complete his "bucket list from hell," and prove that who he was is not as important as who he can become.

Operating in unfamiliar territory, Josh turns to a cast of quirky characters to aid him on his secret journey; persons he'd have previously shunned. Upbeat and inspiring, The Will is an enthralling story of goofs and grit, of the regenerative power of friendship--and if Josh doesn't blow it--real love.

Yuki accidentally witnesses Jack Delgato murder an informant friend of hers and wants to avenge her death.

Jack is a crooked homicide cop, he’s in the police business, and the drug business. Jack also has an addiction, not to drugs, but a more dangerous one for Yuki, erotic asphyxiation.

Three novellas, each about seventy pages, depicting the power of blind spots in transforming our lives. In this collection meet Franck, who has to align his desires with his needs; Nathan, who has to adjust to his constantly changing turf; and, Cedric, who has to open his eyes to reconstruct himself.



The author:
Indrajit lives in Paris with his family. 'The Eye Opener' is his second work of fiction.

The ULTIMATE battle of the spouses!

Read the iconic novel that became a Hollywood box-office hit!

Jonathan Rose has a cushy law career, and Barbara's gourmet culinary business is just a pâté recipe away from glory. Add in their picture-perfect children - matrimonial perfection!


But the line between suburban bliss and guerilla warfare is thin...

When Jonathan has a heart attack scare, the sudden event unmasks their idyllic family life, revealing the loveless union underneath. The Roses' mutual hatred becomes ammunition in a bloody (and hilarious) domestic battle.

"The gradual progression from cuddly love to cooking the dog's liver into pate is... MESMERIZING!"

Read Adler's macabre divorce masterpiece today!

What kind of shadow does a family secret cast over the child?
Mark Aherne is a middle-aged, married man living in Chicago. He's estranged from his parents in Boston, his father having bullied and belittled him throughout his childhood.
One Sunday he receives a desperate phone call from his sister who has been caring for their parents for many years. She needs help: his parents are sick and have started drinking again. Mark soon finds himself back with his sister dealing with their parents' loss of independence.
While caring for his parents, he remembers the past when he dealt with his father's emotional effect on him and the family. His memories include many childhood events that filled him with guilt and a sense of separation.
As he slowly comes to understand his family's dysfunction, he discovers secrets in his parents' lives that led to their own unhappiness. With his mother's dementia and his father's stubborn isolation, Mark fears his own aging as he learns to lay to rest the experiences of his childhood.

"A powerful story of seldom-sung heroines in humanity's darkest days and a vivid reminder of the power of conscience." -- Edgardo David Holzman, author of Malena

Throughout the occupied territories, Catholic Sisters were active members of The Nazi Resistance.

Based on letters and documents written by Catholic Sisters during the Nazi occupation of Belgium, this book tells the remarkable story of these brave and faithful women, and how they served to resist the German forces.

From running contraband to hiding Jews, from spying for the allies to small acts of sabotage, these courageous women risked their lives to help defeat the Reich.

This is a story that needs to be told.

"...an engaging account of World War Two as told through the voice of a fictional Belgian nun... fascinating and valuable." -- Donald Lystra, Author of Season of Water and Ice

"…a generous recounting of the deeds of marvelous nuns living in the midst of mortal danger. It's also a great read!" -- Father James Heft, Professor of Religion at the University of Southern California

Named to Kirkus Reviews' Best Books of 2018

July 1969. While men are walking on the moon, life in London for sixteen-year-old Jane takes unexpected turns. On the point of falling in love with her best friend Karl, she discovers that there's more to her father's spectacular girlfriend than at first meets the eye. In the sweltering heat of a fast-moving evening, other revelations quickly follow, reconciling Jane with her father but also reopening wounds from the past, laying bare raw emotions kept suppressed for too long. And as the evening draws to a close, the night's drama has only just begun, unfolding in a sequence of violent events that threaten to have lasting repercussions for Jane and the people she loves...

Lightened by music and humor and darkened by Kafkaesque dreams, with magic tricks, sexuality, and family secrets all playing a prominent part, The Madness of Grief is a coming-of-age tale of friendship, betrayal and loss.

Contains Mature Themes

For centuries, poets have argued that unrequited love is love in its strongest form. From Afar is a timeless tale of Morgan Stanfield's search for love in the far northern city of Saint Petersburg, Russia. Leaving the warm climate of Santa Barbara, he embarks on a four-day odyssey where he encounters a Russian beauty, a prostitute, a wise old babushka, an American chauvinist, intellectuals, the Russian mafia, and the 'face' of love, and comes to know how love from a distance can be more captivating than love close on hand.

After a loved-up adventure in a wood in North London, sixty-odd-year-old Lily drives off in her Classic Mercedes and takes a wrong turn. The day is unbearably hot, and the snazzy car's air-con is broken, blowing out hot air instead of cold. Lily follows the meandering road in a state of dehydration, and experiences a series of encounters with angels and demons and ghosts from the past.