Distilled Vestiges: A Liquor Shop Novella
Former Royal Navy diver Imogen Waide’s job thrusts her into people’s lives on their worst days. Called to Brandywine Lake to search for a missing child, she finds the idyllic resort town far from ordinary.
Diving lake, she discovers bones. Among the animal remains is a distinct human skull marred by a bizarre injury.
Maxwell Rue, a native hunter, aids in the rescue efforts. Rue has lived in the Appalachian Mountains his entire life,
trapping and relocating dangerous animals.His inability to identify the markings on the
skull is a bad sign.
A second child goes missing.
Waide and Rue are on the hunt for a creature moving unseen in Brandywine Lake. Will they find the children, or will the beast add two more skeletons to its collection?
The secrets of lace: A Flower Shop Novella
New York, 1843
Can one heart belong to two people?
Sisters Rella and Adeen are fortunate, cherished, and loved. In the cloistered whaling village of Secret Cliffs, the Lace family live on the outskirts, respected and somewhat misunderstood. The brood of women thrives with their traditions and ways, unbothered by the occasional wayward glance by the locals.
On womanhood’s cusp, Rella and Adeen discover traversing the edge is a perilous road. Emotion and reason do not always align, and temptation can test the strongest bonds, leaving ruinous ribbons in its wake.
A single man can tear apart a whole family—an entire legacy.
Say Cheese!: A Sandwich Shop Novella
Wedding photographer Aurelius Montanari captures flashes. Hidden behind his camera, he creates a fantasy world for the bride and groom, masking flaws for a high fee. A name among the wealthy in Lexington, Kentucky, he’d rather be anywhere else than in a bride’s dressing room.
Lydia Hest, a novice tattoo artist and full-time server for an elite caterer, loathes weddings. In the hot, Kentucky summer, she serves mint juleps and fashionable miniature hors d’oeuvre to racing royalty or bourbon barons.
A misunderstanding leaves Aurelius and Lydia stuck in a plantation’s outbuilding. As the reception’s music continues into the night, the two hungry artists have nothing but time.
Le Miel Street and Hope: A Soda Shop Novella
Ohio, USA 1945
The bombs of WWII are far away, but Florence Beaulieu-Wells lost it all. A widow before a bride, her secret fiancé Adam Sakurai died among the brave soldiers of D-Day.
To hide her bereaving heart, Florence puts all her sorrows into hard work. During the day, she tends to her beehives, and then at night serves drinks at her family soda shop. Months and then years pass by in her hometown of Canton, Ohio, without indication of change.
Until a telegram arrives, offering a glimpse of hope.
Sugared Florets & Bayonets: A Candy Shop Novella
Minerva, Ohio 1919
The mortar rounds and trenches of the Great War echo in Joe Conley’s head. Returned home a hero, he is a great thespian. Inside, an imposter lurks. His heart ripped from his ribcage by the savage gallantry of battle.
Sally Smith scrapes by out of necessity. The village’s curious introvert, she applies her gardening skills to her advantage, selling sugared flower petals to the local bakery, café, and mercantile to decorate cakes and teas.
School cohorts, Sally and Joe, despised each other. The war hero, a changeling by circumstance, discovers a friendship without demands from the distinctive woman. And Sally, finally, feels the comfort of companionship.
Tantalized and Tickled: A Sex Shop Novella
France, 1720
Among the lavish court of the young King Louis XV, members of the elite play games of delightful debauchery in the shadows. Marquis Eloy de Harelle survives on the libertine-lifestyle of his brethren.
Destitute, Lucrèce Beaurin turns to her godmother for assistance, the Dowager Marquise de Harelle. Far from her small country life, Lucrèce finds Paris a formidable den of heathens.
A ruinous secret: the Harelle’s are on the brink of financial collapse. Eloy takes on Lucrèce as his protégé, hoping she captures a rich suitor. The beguiling woman flourishes under his tutelage, winning over the court with a lover’s touch.
Jealousy and greed are perilous foes, because who could ever truly love a libertine?
Low in Blue Elm Hollow: A Perfectly Stated Novella
Ohio, 1875.
The bloody War of the Rebellion casts a lingering scar in America’s soul. A decade after the surrender at Appomattox Court House, society continues to claw back from the brink. Constance Levitt, exhausted from the unrelenting grind, needs an out. In rural Ohio, a woman from a tarnished family has no prospects. Constance, acting on impulse, replies to JT Bishop’s lackluster advertisement for a bride. Her boldness leads to a glorious opportunity in Kentucky. Trusting fate, she uproots her life for the unknown.
Orphaned by the war, JT Bishop spent his childhood secluded in Blue Elm Hollow, shunned for his family’s Northern ties. After inheriting his father’s legacy, he embraces the responsibility with pragmatism. If a man wants a family, he needs a wife, preferably one ignorant of the local rumors.
JT, overwhelmed by the success of his newspaper campaign and teetering on the cusp of defeat, finds hope in Miss Levitt’s humble letter. Will this woman be his much-needed helpmate? Willing to take the risk, he invites her to his home.
Can two strangers forge a lasting bond? Or will their choices bring new heartache?
The Last Rose of the Middle Atlas: A Cupcake Shop Novella
A life lived through a camera lens.
Rasmus Kanerva travels the world with a backpack of essentials, his cameras, and a sense of wonder. Morocco was not on his itinerary, but when a friend needs help, he heads to the sovereign kingdom.
When visiting an Amazigh village, Rasmus meets Nasrin. One of the last traditional tattooists, she invites him to photograph an intimate session. Needle and ink, incense in the darkened room, the secrets of the feminine world revealed. Nasrin’s sureness, her fortitude, leaves Rasmus longing.
Can a single glance steal a man’s heart?
Blue’s Night Out: A Donut Shop Novella
The year is 1927.
Davis Bakery has the best breads in Queens, New York City, and Blue Davis is proud to serve her customers. Helping her grandparents run the shop, Blue crosses paths with an old high school friend George Greyson, a musician, returned from a long absence in the neighborhood.
The problem?
Blue’s bookish nature and naiveté with the gentlemen blind her to what’s right in front of her. Gorgeous George invites her to an upscale speakeasy for dancing, sweet jazz, and drinks. Surprising even herself, Blue accepts but insists on bringing her best friend and socialite, Myra Post.
A skiff and lie to Blue’s grandparents, along with local gossip about that night, lands her black and blue, and shipped off to upstate New York to stay with another family member.
Will George seek out the love he most desires after Blue is sent away? Or will he let the music die along with her departure?
Apparitions of Elizabeth Robinson
A story born in the hollers of Eastern Kentucky.
Elizabeth Robinson.
An Elizabeth Robinson has lived in the hills of Eastern Kentucky as long as people have built permanent settlements in the lush, green forests. While the mountains recover from the War of Northern Aggression, the simple folk seek the healings of the Robinson women. Three generations, working the ways from the old country, live in isolation.
The youngest Elizabeth Robinson, a healer by happenstance, despises her role in the family. She longs for freedom, the wilderness of her youth, an escape from a dark secret. Alone in the forest, she stumbles upon the ghost of a Yankee soldier, Samuel Henry.
Determined to help Samuel pass beyond the veil, Elizabeth brings him back to her mountain home. Turning of the wheel of fortune, prosperity changes to misfortune for the Robinsons, and a menacing figure lingers like a thick fog. Generations, built on lies, force Elizabeth to face a bleak reality and make the ultimate sacrifice.
Drum Lessons with Diego
Back home in Argentina, Diego Videla can’t believe his luck. A drumming competition in Kentucky, USA turns his everyday hustles into real potential. With six younger siblings and an ailing Mamá, he feels the pressure.
The wheel turns, and with fortune follows disaster. Diego’s trust lies in ruins, wounded by the one he loves the most. Some lessons cost a man everything.
This book is part of the Twelve Drummers Drumming Series.
Jennie L. Morris 