THE BULLS OF BASHAN

By Jodi Lea Stewart

Historical Fiction, Mystery Action and Adventure, Quest Fiction 

Publisher: Progressive Phoenix Rising

Publication Date: June 17, 2025

In a diner on the edge of a dusty Texas border town, a young waitress’s life takes an unexpected turn when she is swept into a high-stakes adventure. Recruited by a charismatic former World War II Army major, a glamorous New York socialite, and a charming daredevil who effortlessly flies planes and rides bulls, she embarks on a shadowy mission that promises both wealth and danger.

This unlikely team will plunge into the heart of the perilous Amazon rainforest, navigate the depths of the world’s most treacherous canyon, brave the open seas, and traverse the ruins of postwar Europe. Their quest? To retrieve a set of mysterious keys while evading a relentless pursuer who seems to be one step ahead at every turn. Who is this enigmatic figure stalking them, and what sinister agenda does he have planned in Budapest?

As they race against time, each member of the team must confront his or her own demons and hidden truths. With the fate of their mission hanging in the balance, they inch closer to the elusive head of operations—the only one who can unlock the secrets of The Bulls of Bashan. 

Prepare for a suspenseful journey filled with danger, intrigue, and self-discovery, a globetrotting historical thriller with evocative international settings, strong female arcs, and cross-generational themes.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jodi Lea Stewart is a multi-award-winning fiction author who believes in and writes about the triumph of the human spirit despite adversity through grit, humor, and stubborn tenacity. Her lifetime friendships with all nationalities, different social stratas, cowpunchers, the Southern gentry, the California crazies (she was once one, too … well, sort of, LOL!), not to mention outliers, allow Jodi to write comfortably about, oh … practically anything.

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Canyon of Deceit

By DiAnn Mills

Romantic Suspense

Publisher: Tyndale Fiction

Pages: 338

Publication Date: September 9, 2025

SYNOPSIS

A child. A deadly conspiracy. A race against time.

When survival expert Therese Palmer is called to find a kidnapped girl, she quickly realizes the truth is more dangerous than she imagined. Enlisting the help of Texas Ranger Blane Gardner, they track the girl’s last known location deep in the Guadalupe Mountains—where every clue leads to more deception. As Russian organized crime and a deadly assassination plot come to light, Therese and Blane must fight against ruthless enemies and their growing attraction. Will they find the girl before time runs out, or will she become a pawn in a much bigger game?

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Award-winning author DiAnn Mills is known for her gripping romantic suspense novels where readers can Expect An Adventure. With multiple Christy Awards and numerous bestsellers, her stories captivate readers with their depth and intensity. A passionate storyteller and dedicated mentor, DiAnn is also a coffee connoisseur and proud grandmother living in Houston, Texas.

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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 family drama delves into the enduring impact of secrets, the power of unconditional love, and the strength found in facing our pasts.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joanne Kukanza Easley, a retired registered nurse with experience in both the cold, clinical operating room and the highly charged world of psychiatric hospitals, lives in the Texas Hill Country, where she writes fiction about complicated, twentieth-century women. Her multi-award-winning debut, Sweet Jane, was named the adult fiction winner at the

Texas Author Project and shortlisted for the Sarton Award and Eric Hoffer Award, among others. Just One Look, Joanne’s second novel, was a May 2022 Pulpwood Queen Book Club Pick. I’ll Be Seeing You, her third novel, features characters from Sweet Jane. Look for her fourth novel, Higher Love, a sequel to her third book, in Spring 2025. Her prize-winning short stories and poetry have appeared in several anthologies.

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TOO MUCH THE LION:

A Novel of the Battle of Franklin

By PRESTON LEWIS

Historical Fiction / Civil War Fiction

Publisher: Bariso Press

Pages: 395 

Publication Date: May 13, 2025

SYNOPSIS

In the waning months of the American Civil War, a delusional Confederate commander makes a desperate attempt to change the course of the South’s dwindling hopes by invading middle Tennessee. The tragic result of Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood’s misplaced hubris devastates his Army of Tennessee and alters the lives of the citizens of Franklin, Tennessee.

In a historical novel reminiscent of The Killer Angels, Too Much the Lion follows a handful of Confederate generals, infantrymen and local residents through the five days leading up to the horrific Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864.  The lives of soldiers ranging from Major General Patrick Cleburne to Brigadier General Hiram Granbury and from Sergeant Major Sumner Cunningham and to Corporal Sam Watkins will be forever changed by Hood’s decisions and mistakes.

Franklin civilians like apprehensive and loving mother Mary Alice McPhail and teen Hardin Figuers, desperate to serve the Confederacy but too young to enlist, are ensnared in the events that will bring death and devastation to their very doorsteps.  Devout Confederate Chaplain Charles T. Quintard must reconcile his religious beliefs with his support of slavery.  Slaves like the elder Wiley Howard and the inquisitive young Henry B. Free are trapped on the fault line between what has been and what could be.

Too Much the Lion offers an unvarnished account of the dying days of the Confederacy in a powerful and moving narrative of honor and betrayal, bravery and cowardice, death and survival.  Told with poignancy and honesty by an accomplished novelist, Too Much the Lion achieves for the Battle of Franklin what The Killer Angels did for the Battle of Gettysburg, providing a classic fictional account of one of the Civil War’s pivotal encounters.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Preston Lewis is the award-winning author of some sixty western, historical, juvenile, and nonfiction works. In 2025 he was honored with the Will Rogers Medallion Awards’ Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the literature of the American West. The Texas Institute of Letters in 2021 elected him to

membership for his literary achievements. Western Writers of America (WWA) has honored Lewis with three Spur Awards, one for best article, the second for best western novel and the third in 2025 for juvenile nonfiction. He has received ten Will Rogers Medallion Awards—six gold, two silver and two bronze—for written western humor, short stories, short nonfiction, and traditional Western novel.

Lewis is a past president of WWA and the West Texas Historical Association, which named him a fellow in 2016.  He holds a bachelor’s degree from Baylor University and a master’s degree from Ohio State University, both in journalism.  Additionally, he has a second master’s degree in history from Angelo State University.

He lives in San Angelo, Texas, with wife Harriet Kocher Lewis.  

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THE CALENDAR

By WM Gunn

Science Fiction

Pages: 302

Publication Date: April 3, 2025

SYNOPSIS

Long-range monitors detect a massive rock plunging through space on a path toward Earth. Will it miss our planet, deliver a glancing blow, or destroy Mankind? And how will people react to an uncertain future? Or will they be told?

What if everything and everyone you cherish vanished in a heartbeat? What if you knew the very day your world would cease to exist? What if you could not save those you love?

What if all your dreams and hopes of a brighter tomorrow would never be realized? How would you react if there was nothing you could do to delay it or prevent it? What would you do?

Prepare yourself for the upcoming end of all that is right and wrong. Prepare yourself for the fear and uncertainty of the unknown. Prepare to feel the tension grow and grow.

Prepare to read The Calendar.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

WM Gunn is a native Texan who spent many years in the pharmaceutical industry in sales, sales management, and training and development. He is active in writing groups and volunteering with non-profit groups. He lives in his hometown in Texas with his high school sweetheart bride of many years. To date, he has written hundreds of short stories,

three novellas, and two novels. Holmes, Moriarty, and the Monkeys and Chasing the Sun are two novellas released earlier in 2024. His debut full-length novel The Two Terrors of Tulelake was released in October 2024, as an e-book and as a paperback. The Calendar is his newest novel available in April 2025 as an e-book and in paperback.

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