Family is Family (A Blue Spruce Hills Novella)

Family is Family (A Blue Spruce Hills Novella) By E.D. Hackett
Publication date: October 1, 2026
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance

She’s living the dream, but it’s not her own. Can this devoted divorcee pave her own path despite her irresponsible ex?

Violet McFadden is a helper at heart. Tired from co-parenting four teenage girls and co-owning a bookstore with their disorganized father, this dedicated forty-five-year-old can’t seem to get five minutes to herself. And she’s worried when her rent skyrockets, fearing their struggling business is doomed.

An upcoming Thanksgiving 5k road race may temporarily save the store, but the conscientious shopkeeper knows deep down that she’d rather be teaching children than managing the shop. As time marches on, an unexpected snowstorm, urgent teenage fires, and her own overprotective motherly drive keep her firmly rooted in the past.

Will Violet keep only her former spouse’s dream alive, or will she choose herself and her true calling?

Family is Family is a heart-warming standalone piece of the multi-author women’s fiction Blue Spruce Hills Novella Series. If you enjoy characters who are never too old to start over, complex families, and tight-knit communities, then you’ll adore E.D. Hackett’s charming story.

Buy Family is Family to rekindle soul-inspiring goals today!

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EXCERPT:

At five o’clock, I closed the shop to dash to Ivy’s scrimmage. When I arrived, I found Reid surrounded by two of our four daughters. Forcing my most enthusiastic smile, I climbed over familiar faces, settling between my seventeen-year-old daughter, Willow, and my twelve-year-old daughter, Daisy.

Reid gave a small smile and a slight wave before scooting closer to Daisy to make room for my large satchel.

“You missed it, Mom,” Willow said. My eldest tilted closer, her long strawberry-blonde hair hanging to her elbows, framing the freckles dotting her makeup-free cheeks.

I leaned forward, keeping my eyes on Ivy. “Missed what?”

The Academy War

The Academy War By Sean Scarborough
Publication date: October 1, 2026
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Three colleges, three hearts, one prophesy that will either save magic or destroy it.

On their eighteenth birthdays, three strangers are ripped from ordinary life and thrust into a hidden world that has shaped history for centuries.

Aryna awakens a rare, volatile magic that doesn’t just channel power — it absorbs and reshapes it. At the Mage War College, her dangerous gift sets her apart and draws the secret attention of those with their own agendas.

Paul is claimed by an ancient vampire bloodline and forced into brutal trials where dominance means survival. As his humanity slips away, he realizes he’s being forged into a weapon for a war older than he knows.

Dean Blackthorn, an orphan desperate to belong, bonds with a powerful Stormwing dragon in trials where most recruits die. For the first time, he has a place — and a destiny tied to coming conflict.

Separated across rival academies, each believes they are training to protect their own kind. But when a devastating attack shatters the illusion of safety, a darker truth emerges:

They are not just students. They are pieces in a game controlled by an ancient power now awakening — and the fate of magic, monsters, and humanity may rest on who learns to control it first.

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CHAPTER 1:

The Wish

Aryna

“Look, Aryna,” my mom said, setting down the lopsided chocolate cake she’d clearly stayed up late making—complete with uneven frosting and slightly smudged Happy 18th Birthday written in shaky pink letters—her cheerfulness seemed forced.

“Let’s try to make today as fun as we can,” she said.

I love my mom, I really do, but sometimes she drives me absolutely crazy.

“Honey, I’m not upset you were out with your friends last night. I just wanted to know where you were.”

One Night Band Stand (Get What You Need, #2)

One Night Band Stand (Get What You Need, #2) By Julia Kent
Publication date: September 30, 2026
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance

Who accidentally has a one-night stand with her alumni band director?

Yep. Me.

I know what you’re thinking. Whoops! I slipped on some valve oil and accidentally landed on his baton during a rousing chorus of Stars and Stripes Forever.

That’s not quite how it went.

But the alumni band director is really, really skilled with that baton, if you know what I mean.

So what am I supposed to do now, as I walk into the morning’s rehearsal — three feet from the podium because of course I play piccolo — and find the guy I ghosted on this morning … right there, smiling at me like he remembers exactly what tempo I prefer?

He’s perfect. Too perfect.

He’s a widowed dad of two adorable little kids that — oh, by the way — he forgot to mention.

But I also haven’t mentioned the seventeen-year-old I live with, either. He’s not my boyfriend. I’m his guardian. He’s autistic and non-speaking, and he’s been my whole world since I was nineteen.

I want Mr. Band Director. He wants me. Nothing — not the secrecy, not the awkwardness, not the 500 miles between his life and mine — will make this chemistry stop.

Except for three pesky little things: the secrets we’re hiding from each other. Three very human secrets.

I’ve never felt so seen before. He gets me. I get him. But we’re buried in responsibilities and loyalties that get in the way. When I’m with him, I can play. Really play.

And not just music.

He can’t quit his job and move his kids to be close to me. I can’t uproot a fragile teen who needs round-the-clock care and is still mourning his parents. The odds are stacked against us.

But who ever let that get in the way of love?

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EXCERPT:

There are naked boobies in my bed, and they are not my wife’s.

What have I done?

My body goes cold and hot, skin pulsing against the sheets, blood pooled in morning wood. Wood that rests against my not-wife’s thigh. My eyes widen. My beard itches around my lips, lips that feel raw, my tongue a bit overused at the tip, like I just had sex with –

I cheated on my wife.

Haunted Holiday (The Holiday Chronicles, #3)

Haunted Holiday (The Holiday Chronicles, #3) By Lindsey Gray
Publication date: September 29, 2026
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance, Supernatural

Everyone in Clarkstown believes they know who killed firefighter Zane Gravenhurst.

His girlfriend, Jillian, sits behind bars, accused of leaving him to die after a rainy night ended in tragedy. The case is all but closed.

Only Zane’s younger sister, Molly, knows the truth isn’t buried because she can communicate with his ghost.

Molly needs help to get justice for her brother.

Her shy neighbor, whom she’s crushed on since high school, Duncan, comes to her aid.

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EXCERPT:

Molly

“Molly! Wake up!”

Molly groaned and rolled over to check the red numbers on her bedside clock. She wanted to jump back into the dream she’d been having before the voice rudely awakened her. In that dream, her thoughts lingered on her neighbor, Duncan, the one with the scar etched across his ear. Something in the scene comforted her; she wished to slip back into that warm haze and forget all the chaos that surrounded her.

Hook, Line, and Murder (The Sweet TOOTH Murder Mystery)

Hook, Line, and Murder (The Sweet TOOTH Murder Mystery) By GG Calpo
Published by: The Wild Rose Press
Publication date: February 9, 2026
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Adult, Cozy Mystery, Mystery

What does Meg, a retired kindergarten teacher, do when the killer of her husband and only child still walks free a year after dirt had covered their graves? 

Go rogue, of course! 

When the detective responsible for Meg’s nightmares takes over the murder investigation of her former student, Meg hunts the killer down with help from her friends. Their cozy lunches at Sweet Buns Café turn into tactical meetings while these retired grade school teachers get themselves in trouble better suited to those in their twenties. 

And to put the icing on their cream scones, someone is after Meg. Is it the killer? Or has Meg uncovered secrets better left buried with her loved ones?

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EXCERPT:

The day was beautiful, with clear skies and a mild snap in the air. It was cold yet warm with the right amount of heat from the sun, making it the perfect spring day. Motorboats and sailboats dipped in and out of the water, out by Poet’s Bay. And at the edge of the harbor were the fishermen, alone or in groups of two or three, a rod in their hands and their tackle boxes opened beside them.