Success In the Press: Poinsettia Girl by Jennifer Wizbowski

Historical Fiction Company's Award of Excellence

★

Bronze Award from Yarde Book Reviews

★

Historical Fiction Company's Award of Excellence ★ Bronze Award from Yarde Book Reviews ★

Poinsettia Girl is based on the story of Agata de la Pieta, an orphan musician of the Ospedale de la Pieta. Ten-year-old Agata's world is shaken at the sudden death of her mother. Left only with her egregious father, a working musician in Venice, her ailing grandmother sends her to the well-known orphanage, hidden from everything she's ever known. Agata auditions for the conservatory style music school where music is both salvation and spectacle. Hidden behind ornate metal grates, adorned with poinsettias in their hair, the singers are veiled in mystery, their ethereal music drawing noble audiences, including gilded young men who see them as treasures-not only for their sound but as coveted marriage prizes. Just as she reaches the height of her musical journey, a marriage proposal from someone outside the audience tempts her with the promise of a new life-a return to the old neighborhood she's longed for and a home she barely remembers. Torn between the music that has defined her and the hope of belonging to a family, Agata must confront the most profound question of her life: is her purpose rooted in the music that shaped her, or in the love that might free her?

“It is a book that lingers. It is a book that, once opened, seems to breathe. And it is, without hesitation, a book one should read.”

— Historical Fiction Company

From BlueInk Review: “Through alternating character viewpoints and third-person narration, Wizbowski's novel thoughtfully explores the challenges of claiming autonomy as a woman in a traditional, male-dominated culture. Agata's steady transformation from a shy foundling to a 22-year-old musician illustrates how trauma can irrevocably shape personal identity. The writing shines when depicting Agata's growing artistry and how music serves as a source of inner strength. Overall, this is a quietly moving journey of rebuilding purpose after surviving personal tragedy. Readers who appreciate women's fiction will feel as protective of Agata as the fictional nuns charged with shepherding her into womanhood.”

From a Reader: “I found this story deeply moving and emotionally immersive. Agata’s inner conflict felt raw and authentic, especially her struggle between staying loyal to the music that saved her and the desire to belong to a family again. The author captures Venice with a soft, almost lyrical touch, and the atmosphere of the orphanage, the performances, and the social limitations placed on these girls felt vivid and heartbreaking. Knowing the story is rooted in real history added another layer of poignancy to every decision Agata faced.”

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Success In the Press: Babe In the Woods by Jude Hopkins

Five stars from Readers' Favorite and Reader Views

★

Five stars from Readers' Favorite and Reader Views ★

From the Author: It's September 1995, the first year of the rest of Hadley Todd's life. After living in Los Angeles, Hadley returns to her hometown in rural New York to write and be near her father. In addition to looking after him and teaching high school malcontents, Hadley hopes to channel her recent L.A. heartbreak into a play about the last moment of a woman's innocence. But she seeks inspiration.

Enter Trey Harding, a young, handsome reporter who covers sports at the high school. Trey reminds Hadley of her L.A. ex and is the perfect spark to fire up her imagination. The fact that Trey is an aspiring rock star and she has L.A. record biz connections makes the alliance perfect. She dangles promises of music biz glory while watching his moves. But the surprising twist that transpires when the two of them go to Hollywood is not something Hadley prepared for.

“gives food for thought to fans of romance, women’s fiction, and psychological drama [...] will also appeal to those who enjoy entertaining, character-driven morality tales.””

— Reader's Favorite

Our Take: With a dry wit and a sharply observant eye, Babe in the Woods captures the restless creative energy of a woman caught between reinvention and nostalgia. Hadley’s homecoming is anything but quiet—full of angsty teens, aging parents, and a maybe-muse who complicates everything. Hopkins balances literary introspection with page-turning momentum, letting the story surprise us as much as it surprises Hadley herself. This one’s for readers who love second acts, small towns with big feelings, and stories that ask what it means to come home changed.

From a Reader: “The writing is crisp, intelligent and keeps the reader captivated as we follow Hadley's life and the hurdles she faces”

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Success In the Press: An Indian Among Los Indígenas by Ursula Pike

Smithsonian Magazine’s “10 Best Books About Travel of 2021” ★ Winner of the 2019 Writers’ League of Texas Manuscript Contest

★

Smithsonian Magazine’s “10 Best Books About Travel of 2021” ★ Winner of the 2019 Writers’ League of Texas Manuscript Contest ★

From the Author: When she was twenty-five, Ursula Pike boarded a plane to Bolivia and began her term of service in the Peace Corps. A member of the Karuk Tribe, Pike sought to make meaningful connections with Indigenous people halfway around the world. But she arrived in La Paz with trepidation as well as excitement, 'knowing I followed in the footsteps of Western colonizers and missionaries who had also claimed they were there to help.' In the following two years, as a series of dramatic episodes brought that tension to boiling point, she began to ask: what does it mean to have experienced the effects of colonialism firsthand, and yet to risk becoming a colonizing force in turn?

An Indian Among los Indígenas, Pike’s memoir of this experience, upends a canon of travel memoirs that has historically been dominated by white writers. It is a sharp, honest, and unnerving examination of the shadows that colonial history casts over even the most well-intentioned attempts at cross-cultural aid. It is also the debut of an exceptionally astute writer with a mastery of deadpan wit. It signals a shift in travel writing that is long overdue.

Bragging Rights:

★ 2019 Winner Writers’ League of Texas Manuscript Contest for Memoir

★ Smithsonian Magazine’s “10 Best Books About Travel of 2021”

★ HipLATINA’s “11 Books to Understand the Indigenous History of LATAM”

Our Take: With piercing honesty and bone-dry wit, An Indian Among los Indígenas complicates the well-worn Peace Corps narrative in all the best ways. Ursula Pike turns the gaze inward, unpacking what it means to be an Indigenous woman offering “help” in a country still grappling with its own colonial past. Thoughtful, sharp, and often unsettling, this memoir doesn’t hand out easy answers—it asks better questions. A must-read for fans of travel writing that challenges rather than flatters, especially those interested in decolonization, identity, and nuance.

From a Reader: “[Pike] also gives great insight into what it means to be Native American and captures many of my own experiences and feeling.”

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Success In the Press: How to Bury Your Dog by Eva Silverfine

5-star review from Readers' Favorite

★

5-star review from Readers' Favorite ★

From the Author: Lizzy has largely retreated from the world: she tends her adopted strays and goes to work, but she has forsaken lifelong pastimes and declines invitations from old friends. On the day she buries Happy, the abandoned basset hound she adopted years before, she learns a real estate developer is threatening the heart of her rural community—a tranquil pond and a relict stand of hemlocks. For Lizzy this is a magical place, hidden from the modern world.

Coaxed by an old friend to join a group fighting the development, Lizzy is reluctant—she wants to avoid both hope and him. But she realizes she can no longer keep the outside world at bay. As the battle over the development unfolds, Lizzy opens herself to two young neighbors who share her love of the natural environment—an awkward sixteen-year-old and an inquisitive ten-year-old. And as Happy’s elements return to the earth, Lizzy experiences her own transformation as buried memories find their way to the surface in increasingly curious ways.

““An absorbing, restorative tale of community and nature.””

— Kirkus Reviews

Our Take: This quiet, beautifully observed novel reminds us that healing rarely looks heroic—it’s slow, grounded, and often begins with saying yes to the smallest of invitations. How to Bury Your Dog is a tender meditation on grief, memory, and our ties to the land we call home. With writing that honors both the pain of loss and the quiet joys of rediscovery, this is a story for anyone who has ever felt the ache of change—and found unexpected hope in community, memory, and a patch of wild green.

From a Reader: “I […] loved the gentle, big-hearted tone that this book takes; the author casts a loving eye on all of her characters, foibles and all. Silverfine’s heartfelt, thoughtful story will be an easy, pleasant read for anyone who enjoys literary fiction.”

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Success In the Press: The Cali Book of the Dead by Max V. Carp

"A story that readers will feel to their core." - Los Angeles Book Review

★

"A story that readers will feel to their core." - Los Angeles Book Review ★

From the Author: Landon Briggs is a small-time crook, gambling addict, Iraq war vet, and a dabbler in Buddhism amongst other things. He finds a new mission in trying to stop his ex-wife from marrying Ray, the trucking company con man who is about to become his son's "new dad".

When Landon steals one of Ray's cigarette-filled trucks one sunny day, all hell breaks loose. Landon finds himself navigating an increasingly dangerous cat-and-mouse game while, along the way, friends and foes share their unexpected insights into what Buddhists call the "luminous path of innate wisdom". As the long Cali days tick by, the question arises: which final path will Landon ultimately travel?

““Max V. Carp integrates spiritual concepts such as Buddhism, oracles, destiny, dream sequences, and bodily possession into a rough and ready story that readers will feel to their core.””

— Kyle Eaton, Los Angeles Book Review

Our Take: Fast-paced, darkly funny, and strangely meditative, The Cali Book of the Dead is a wild ride through the sun-baked chaos of modern California. With dry wit, sharp edges, and a surprising spiritual undercurrent, Max V. Carp delivers a gritty meditation on fatherhood, forgiveness and the clarity that comes from chaos; This one is perfect for readers who like their redemption stories weird, wise, and a little bit wild.

From a Reader: “[…] it blew my mind. Fantastic plot, characters, one memorable scene after another, I could go on and on. [The] ending is not for the squeamish […]”

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