Just a note: A few people voted for two of my books, and I thank them for the votes. However, I took my books off the final lists so everything is fair and honest.
Top 20
Best Indie Books
2018
01
Inside A Dog's Mind: Jacob's Journal by Michelle Holland
​
This story is written through the eyes of Jacob, an eight-week old border collie. At only eight weeks old, Jacob was taken from his Mum to start a whole new life, but sadly he landed into the hands of a bully.
Jacob's Journal will take you through the first year of his life. There will be laughter, tears and heartache along the way. Will Jacob have a happy ending?
02
The Adventures of Bella & Emily by Michelle Holland
​
A delightful story in Emily's own words. Emily Pope is Thirteen years old and lives near the South Downs. Ever since she can remember she has dreamt of owning her own pony. The pony will be her best friend and they will share many adventures together. Emily's parents think she is too young for the responsibility of owning a pony and needs to gain more experience before they will consider it. So the adventure begins. Emily starts work at the nearby riding stables, works hard and learns everything she can. Will her parents relent when they see how single minded she is? Will Emily find her dream pony? This story will touch the heart of any child who loves ponies and take them on a delightful journey. There will be tears, laughter and joy along the way. Will it be worth it in the end? 50% of any profit from the sale of this book will be donated to animal rescue charities and animal rescue organisations.
03
Kids, Camels, & Cairo by Jill Dobbe
​
At sunrise each morning, I peeled my eyes open the second I heard the call to prayer resound through the air. At 7:00 A.M., I walked out to a rare quiet Cairo street and waited for the van to pick me up. Climbing onto the van, I found a seat alongside other Muslim and foreign teachers, where I was one of only a few not wearing hijab. It was Sunday morning and another Islamic week of disciplining rich, apathetic students, was about to begin.
Traveling across the globe to work in an international school in Cairo, Egypt, was not exactly the glamorous lifestyle I thought it would be. I cherished my travels to the Red Sea, delighted in visiting the Pyramids, and appreciated the natural wonders of the Nile River. However, I also spent days without electricity or internet, was leered at by rude Egyptian men, breathed in Cairo's cancerous black smog, and coaxed school work from students.
04
The Devil's Playground by Alice J. Black
​
“A dark, twisting nightmarish horror that takes place in the mind of a man who can’t wake up.”
As Jake prepares for his wedding to the woman of his dreams,
he never suspects his last night as a single man
would lead to being locked up in Hell…
On his way home from his stag night, Jake is involved in a hit and run that leaves
him not only fighting for his life but for his sanity. As his fiancée stands
vigil by his hospital bed, Jake slips deeper into his unconscious.
While stuck in the coma, Jake is more aware of the unreality
he has faced since being a child. He is stuck in a nightmare.
One that has plagued him his whole life…
Welcome to The Devil’s Playground
05
Nocture of the Sea by Cameron Davis
​
Freya Solstice shares the world with mages who can call lightning, whisper across oceans, dragons who lurk in tunnels and atop mountains made of crystal, castles where students learn the arts of science and magic… but she has never seen any of it. As a yellow-skinned sun sprite, her culture requires her to stay with her clan. If she dares venture outside her seaside village, she will be exiled from the only family she has ever known, never to return. When chaos strikes in the form of a bloodthirsty chimera and Freya’s unbeknownst power is unleashed, she must leave her home forever and shove ahead into the unknown if she wishes to protect her people all while she discovers her true destiny. She is unaware that the legendary Baroness, a woman of great political and magical power, is only a few steps behind her and will stop at nothing to ensure that the future of Freya’s making will never come to pass. Freya Solstice shares the world with mages who can call lightning, whisper across oceans, dragons who lurk in tunnels and atop mountains made of crystal, castles where students learn the arts of science and magic… but she has never seen any of it. As a yellow-skinned sun sprite, her culture requires her to stay with her clan.
​
​
06
I'm a little Brain Dead by KD Basso
​
"Panicking never helps." Tuesday's breakfast was interrupted by a stroke, and the only available help is the author's second grader. Launched into a medical crisis, Kimberly Davis Basso (and her brain) respond with wit, wisdom, and wishful thinking. From surviving a stroke to surviving a zombie apocalypse, "I'm a Little Brain Dead" is alarmingly irreverent. No matter how critical or ridiculous the situation, Kimberly abides by their family rule "Panicking never helps." You'll get an inside look at being a middle aged stroke patient as she hosts a neurological event, juggles doctors, undergoes a heart procedure and asks the really big question - how tiny is tiny when it refers to dead tissue? What would you do? Are you prepared to have a medical crisis, unable to speak or walk? Would your kids know what to do? It's time to make an escape plan. Kimberly will walk (or rather shuffle) readers through her experience in an honest, hilarious look at the site of the world's smallest zombie apocalypse - her brain.
07
Something Wicked by Sarah Dale
It’s 1983. Angie, Jenny and David are riding bikes, watching MTV and looking forward to summer vacation before junior high. Lincoln, Nebraska is a pretty quiet place to grow up, and when the kids take off at 5:00 am to deliver the newspapers on Jenny’s route, they aren’t expecting trouble. So, when a creature straight out of a horror movie appears, the kids are forced to draw on their wits, their strength, and most of all their friendship to survive.
Something Wicked is the first of seven stories, drawn from Angie’s diaries. Kept safely hidden for decades, they tell how the kids spent their teenage years - working with their mentor, Mr. Rakow, and Jenny’s mom who dabbles in witchcraft, to uncover their powers and battle the forces of darkness that menace their hometown.
​
08
Where you Go by Claire Cain
​
When Alex Moore leaves New York in search of a slower pace, her life is turned upside down at the sight of her oldest friend and first love Luke Waterford. In Nashville, Alex is shocked by their instant attraction and the sense of home she feels with a man she hasn’t seen in ten years. Luke’s time in the Army has made him even more beautiful, even more interesting, even more appealing than ever. But the more they’re together, the more Alex fears she’ll have to sacrifice everything she thought she wanted.
​
09
Florida Gothic by Mitzi Szereto
​
Stuck in a twilight world between life and death…
A hit-and-run driver leaves Ernesto Martinez to die by a Miami canal. Then an alligator comes along to finish the job. Being dead gives Ernesto plenty of time to think. He thinks about his wife, taken from him too soon by illness. He thinks about his daughter, the victim of a drunk driver. He thinks about his death as he watches his body slowly decompose. Most of all, he thinks about injustice. The meth head ex-con living in the Everglades. The judge enjoying retirement on the Gulf Coast. The son of a Colombian drug kingpin partying in South Beach. These men care nothing for the pain they’ve caused. But they’ll soon know what it is to feel pain. Set against the sweltering bug-infested backdrop of South Florida, Florida Gothic weaves a darkly unnerving and visceral tale of sex, drugs, crime and vengeance.
10
Greyson Fox by TL Travis
Greyson Fox, the man, the myth, the legend. The highly sought after, self-proclaimed permanent bachelor. Or so the rumor mill goes. Sure, I’ve heard it all – but the one that stung the most was being called a heartless bastard. Love ‘em and leave ‘em, that one in particular I found to be the most humorous since only one man had ever shared my bed more than once, and he’d long since passed away.
I wasn’t the heartless bastard they all proclaimed me to be, but life had a way of kicking me in the teeth…Repeatedly, so I shut my heart off.
For years I thrived, building my empire and living by my own rules. Until one day, the walls came crashing down around me.
11
Fiction by Ryan Lieske
​
"Sometimes, a character is so strong, it refuses to be buried.” Caitlin Frost, a young, ambitious writer, begins to realize that these words, spoken by her overzealous mentor, Veronica, are more than a metaphor. The characters in her discarded and unfinished stories are coming to life, and one of them is a vicious killer, who photographs his victims as they die in the hopes of catching their fleeing spirits on camera. And his victims, now trapped between worlds, ache for vengeance... Caitlin pens a story about the death of her friend and lover, Orson, but quickly decides to "bury" it in a box she keeps for unwanted stories. Moments later, Orson wakes up in a nearby cemetery, struggling with memories of a life he can't remember. The killer's victims begin using him as a conduit to reach Caitlin, whom they blame for their deaths. As Caitlin's characters, and her forgotten past, begin to unravel her life, she discovers that she may not be the person she always believed she was, and her mentor, Veronica, may possess a terrible secret, as well...
​
​
12
The Curse of Ormshire by SL Perrine
​
Queen Karen finds herself in a precarious situation as Ourobus’ captive, while Ty and Renee fight to find a way to get back to Pylira.
Once the passage opens, Ty, Renee, and their friends are hunted by beasts in Pylira. The curse has been altered, but not cured…just yet.
Walk through what transpired, in the beginning, to make three clans band together to curse one of their own friends. See how Ourobus earned his fate.
Great friendships form, empowering love flourishes, followed by heartbreak and tragedy…fairy tales are real! Tragedy…fairy tales are real!
​
13
Rituals of the Dead by Jennifer S. Alderson
​
Stolen artifacts, a missing anthropologist and a tenacious amateur sleuth.
American art history student Zelda Richardson is back and embroiled in another exciting art-related mystery! This time she is working at an anthropology museum in Amsterdam on an exhibition of artifacts from the Asmat region of Papua – the same area where a famous American anthropologist disappeared in 1961. When the anthropologist’s journal is found inside an artifact’s crate, Zelda is tasked with finding out more about the man’s last days and his connection to these ritual objects.
Trouble is, she soon discovers disturbing links between his vanishing, the Dutch government and the Catholic Church. When her co-worker and housemate are murdered shortly after, Zelda finds herself pulled into a world of shady anthropologists, colonial officials, missionaries and smugglers – where the line between good and evil is blurry at best, and the only certainty is that sins of the past are never fully erased.
14
Open Book: Where the road to serendipity ends by RitaMarie Recine
​
A 2017 Poetry Collection - Feelings and Words
My life experiences and perseverance has to lead me to a pathway of other interests. My primary being writing poetry.
At the age of 38, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and fibromyalgia which affected my body and mind.
already had a lung condition I asked my self why?
The answer was clear, I was strong, had perseverance, and would win this battle till the bitter end. and was not ready to have anything let me down.
I turned it around, what may have torn me apart became my art
a lesson into a blessing.
After soul searching I have decided to write an open book where the road to serendipity ends, with feelings and words,
combining an intangible into tangible
my poems are divided into the section.
Speaking of love, sorrow, war, friendship, nature, family and more.
all poems are divided into sections.for you the reader
my book is about giving, true to life proses which could encompass a difference, nurturing the heart, feeling a sense of freedom, the soul speaks, with its whisper we listen as I did. reflecting on my own life, may you have a similar experience never looking back.
Appreciating all which surrounds with enlightenment and mystique.
I stopped dreaming of my life but lived my dream,
May my book gives you a sense of freedom in your lives
May you enjoy reading as I have enjoyed writing for you
regards
Rita Marie Recine
15
World War II in Antwerp, Belgium. Experiences of a Young Boy by William LeMaire
​
War is, of course, terrible. Any war. All the suffering, all the death, all the wounded, the destruction, homelessness, cruelty, hunger, fear, and panic. It may also bring out the best in some people: heroism, patriotism, compassion, and altruism. But one would never think that war might be seen as an adventure; in some ways for me it was.
In this short book I write about my memories of this period of time from the invasion of Belgium, through the German occupation, and to the immediate post war era. For most Belgians this was a hard and sad time full of suffering. While I experienced some of that suffering and the fear as well, many of my memories are about exciting events and experiences (to a young boy), to the point that I remember this time as an “adventure.”
16
The Tree of Rebels by Chantelle Atkins
​
'There will always be those who say no, Lissie. There will always be those who do not believe what they are told. There will always be those who rebel.' It's 2145. 13-year-old Lissie Turner lives in the peaceful community of Province 5. Everyone is provided for and everyone is grateful. Everyone obeys the rules. Lissie has never questioned her society until she falls into a daydream and wanders beyond the fence that keeps them safe. She finds an apple tree which changes her life and threatens to blow her world apart. Growing food has been forbidden since the last war ended 70 years ago. All food is raised under the Domes. With the discovery of the tree, Lissie finds herself breaking the rules. And if she believes what her dying Great-Grandmother has been trying to tell her, she must question everything she has ever been told. Who really started the Endless War? And is it really over? As she uncovers the shocking truth, Lissie must choose between conformity and rebellion, between living a lie and tearing her peaceful community apart... A YA dystopian adventure about a future disconnected from nature
​
17
Cinderelevant by P Mattern
​
A lonely and neglected peasant girl living in a small town will rise to unimaginable heights of feminine power.
A TWISTED TALE OF BEAUTY, POWER AND FATE
“You were nothing when you came here and if you don’t start paying attention you will be nothing when you leave here”
One by one the Prince’s brothers will fall in love with her and challenge their brother’s right to marry her in every way they know how.
18
The Pastor's Daughter by T K Ware
​
Ebony had a secret….
An ill-advised relationship with a married man in the church sent Ebony down a path of regret, which led to an unplanned pregnancy. When the pressure of being the pastor's daughter and carrying a married man's child weighs upon her, emotions flare. Shortly afterwards, she threatens to publicize the entire affair, deciding to bear the consequences of the matter.
After an untimely event, and unprecedented conviction, Ebony is forced to confess as she battles with thoughts of betrayal to God, the church, and herself.
19
Hyper by John Autero
​
“Evil doesn’t have a problem finding the middle of nowhere.”
Earth is ravaged by a Vermiculira epidemic which threatens every human life on the planet. The only way to save humanity and propagate the species is to restart civilization someplace else. That someplace else is Mars. The plan is to relocate humans that have not been contaminated by the disease to the red planet and leave the crazies back on Earth. To ensure that no infected are allowed to reach Mars, a network of decontamination depots has been placed in space, half way between the two planets. Passengers and cargo are sniffed for traces of the disease before they are allowed to proceed on their journey.
20
We will Bleed by Sarah Hall & Nicole Thorn
​
Something strange is happening around Seattle, and only the gods know what. Jasper, Kezia, and their family have been getting dragged into the gods’ disputes for a while, but now their issues are all personal ones. Argus, the giant who tried to kill them, is still on the loose. Furthermore, a primordial being has started showing up around them, and then there is still that pesky prophecy that has been hanging over their heads.
Their problems seem to get worse when the seers lose their visions and can’t figure out why. All their enemies and problems start closing in around them, and only one thing is perfectly clear… the gods are keeping secrets, and the seers and demigods are the ones going to suffer for it.
