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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Success in the Press: Precise Oaths by Paige E. Ewing

Literary Titan Silver ★ "A romp of a book." - Angela Knight, NYT bestselling paranormal romance author

★

Literary Titan Silver ★ "A romp of a book." - Angela Knight, NYT bestselling paranormal romance author ★

From the Author: Even though spider-kin Liliana sees the past, the future and into men's souls, she can still be surprised. After all, no one wakes up wondering if they'll be accused of murder by a werewolf. Wolf-kin Peter Teague of Fort Bragg's Criminal Investigation Division analyzes the venom in six dead soldiers. The victims were killed by a spider-kin, and Liliana is the only spider-kin in Fayetteville. Peter's handsome boss, the dangerous fae Colonel Bennet, watches Liliana with burning ember eyes, but refuses to call his investigator off. It's up to Liliana to keep Peter from executing her and convince the skeptical scientist she's not the murderer, all while keeping her new friend from getting eaten by the real killers. And if that's not enough, she might even have to socialize!

How will she survive the paranormal mystery that puts her as the prime suspect?

““Set in a richly imagined world populated by both endearing and intriguing characters””

— Literary Titan

Our Take: Precise Oaths is a smart, atmospheric mystery set in a world where military precision and magical politics collide. With a murder investigation that puts spider-kin Liliana at the center of suspicion, this story blends urban fantasy with suspense in a way that feels both grounded and imaginative. The pacing is tight, the dialogue sharp, and the world richly built—but what lingers is the sense of a heroine caught between power, perception, and survival. A great fit for readers who love character-driven fantasy with layered stakes.

From a Reader: “Brilliant, clever, and sympathetically written! Liliana is the cure to my arachnophobia.”

Bragging Rights:

Literary Titan Silver

Over 70 5-star reviews on Goodreads.

"Precise Oaths is tremendous fun. It's hard to write a thought-provoking book that's also fun to read, but Paige pulled it off in spades… A romp of a book." - Angela Knight, NYT Best Selling paranormal romance author

"Liliana is spider-kin—a neurodivergent loner who tells fortunes and longs for connection with others. I was rooting for her right from the start." - Patrice Sarath, fantasy and romance author

"Some unlikely alliances and Liliana's abilities give us a rollicking adventure and set the stage for more stories to come." - Nancy Jane Moore, author of The Weave

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