Kelly Ames for the Stars

  QUEEN OF COTTON By Laurie Moore-Moore Historical Fiction Publisher: Goat Mountain Press Publication Date: September 9, 2025   SYNOPSIS 1861: The Civil War is raging. The men have gone to fight, leaving the women behind to cope.  Cotton is the lifeblood of the South. Sara, a young wife, risks her life and reputation to lead an official Confederate Camel Caravan hundreds of miles across Texas to Matamoros, Mexico. There, cotton can be sold and shipped to the buyer, avoiding the Union blockade and providing critical funds for the South and desperate Dallas cotton growers.  But . . .“It’s not a job for a woman.” The Texas frontier is fraught with danger. The caravan will face fierce Comanche, bandits, extreme weather, internal vandalism, and unforgiving desert. The Mexican cotton market is complex and full of fraudsters. The trail home, carrying gold and armaments, makes the caravan a rich target.   Joining Sara on the adventure are a fascinating mix of real ...

  HIGHER LOVE By JOANNE KUKANZA EASLEY Women’s Literary Fiction Publisher: Red Boots Press Pages: 380 Publication Date: May 12, 2025 SYNOPSIS Higher Love - the new release from Joanne Kukanza Easley, the multi-award-winning author of Sweet Jane , Just One Look , and I’ll Be Seeing You . In 1986 Austin, Texas, sixteen-year-old Stephanie steps into sixty-two-year-old Lauren’s life, her uncanny resemblance cracking open a buried past. Claiming to be the daughter of the child Lauren gave up for adoption forty-five years ago, Stephanie upends Lauren’s life—already complicated by her remarriage to Brett after thirty-three years apart. Stung by her adoptive grandmother’s deception, Stephanie stays, her past of tragedy and self-harm forging a fragile bond with Lauren and Brett. When Stephanie’s trust fund evaporates, crushing her college dreams, Lauren sacrifices all to give her a future—only to face a bittersweet twist that echoes the past and changes everything. This heart-wrenching ...

  MOONSET ON DESERT SANDS Murder, Tea, & Crystals, Book Two By Sherri L. Dodd Paranormal Thriller / Fantasy / Magical Realism / Witch-Lit Publisher: Black Rose Writing Pages: 360 Publication Date: March 27, 2025 SYNOPSIS With a traumatic year of fending off a serial killer behind her, Arista has settled contentedly into her temporary home with Auntie in Sedona, Arizona. She enjoys her new job selling all things metaphysical and even has her eye on the hot security guard, Dakota, after her recent breakup with Shane. But a series of new fainting spells has her worried, and when Auntie witnesses one, they decide the answer lies in her home of Boulder Creek. However, returning means not only dealing with her breakup and its heartache but also the possibility of drawing her bloodthirsty Uncle Fergus to her once safe haven in the redwoods. And this time he has recruited an even more dangerous alliance. Arista's closest bonds will be strengthened, but the mounting tension of a death i...

VANISHING INTO THE 100% DARK By Amber Royer Cozy Mystery Publisher: Golden Tip Press Pages: 288 Publication Date: March 4, 2025 SYNOPSIS Bean to chocolate maker Felicity Koerber has been invited to be part of a chocolate festival in Tokyo. It’s a big deal for a Texas gal with a chocolate shop on Galveston’s historic Strand, so a whole group of her friends come along to support her. It’s intimidating enough to be giving a class on chocolate making with the help of a translator – she also stumbles across the scene of a murder, where a quirky group of international actors and stunt performers are making a monster movie. Felicity has already solved half a dozen murders back in Texas, so at this point her friends basically expect her to get involved – even before the young media influencer in Felicity’s group becomes the main suspect. Felicity has taken on the role of chaperone for Chloe, so she can’t imagine how she could explain what went wrong to the girl’s mother. Which gives her even...

  THE TWO TERRORS OF TULELAKE By WM Gunn Historical Fiction / Science Fiction / Thriller Pages: 320 Publication Date: October 15, 2024 SYNOPSIS The horrors of World War II shocked the world. Americans believed it could never happen here in our own borders…until it did. Ichiro Hisakawa and his family were part of the American culture – living the American Dream – until February 19, 1942, when President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 that branded them “the others.” Taken from their homes and stripped of their citizenship due to their ancestry, they endured deplorable conditions in the “relocation camps.” Typhus ran rampant through the camp, and riots were a daily occurrence. And for the first time, America was scornful. Life was difficult, and the Hisakawa family did their best to endure it all. However, 16-year-old Ichiro wasn’t prepared for the betrayal, murder, and escape that was waiting for him. And how did Bobby King, a sixteen-year-old from 2017, find himself in 1942 an...