Carmel Niland A portal between modern day and Arthurian Britain has mysteriously opened bringing Merlin, a handsome young magician into the life of Emily Hughes a headstrong high school student. The teenagers share an intense and uncanny bond that sets in motion a chain of events that will change their lives.
The Hedgecock FriaskoHonorable Mention
2017 Los Angeles Book Festival
Rick Hussey A runner is shot by an unknown assailant in Fort Lauderdale. The injury interrupts his flight from the scandal he exposed linking a Ponzi scheme and dirty fracking operation in California. Chased by multiple parties with varied agendas, the runner must overcome more obstacles to the new life he craves.
Looking Glass FriendsWinner
2017 Los Angeles Book Festival
E. L. Neve Woven with poetry and philosophy, this is the story of two people who fell in love over email. Both were married already, and she had a five-year-old son. But in the span of a few letters each discovered his soul’s mirror-image. So how could they live apart?
Oh No, Charlie. Not Again!Winner
2016 Great Southeast Book Festival
Don Landy Made fun of and laughed at by competitors showing cats – called the wrong breed by a national judge, the little cat that couldn’t win grew into his little body and went on to place second in the South Western United States, missing first place by 5 point. They weren’t laughing now!
Mommy Haiku’d All Over the BabyHonorable Mention
2017 Los Angeles Book Festival
Chelle Landers In this funny, dark, fast-paced collection, author Chelle Landers commiserates on the tumult of new motherhood. From pregnancy and infant care, to the postpartum marriage, to mommy groups and siblings, Landers covers all. Mothers of every age can relate that having a baby is lonely, humbling, terrifying… and worth it.
The Evangelical’s DaughterHonorable Mention
2016 London Book Festival
Debra Roberts Torres-Reyes In this memoir, the author recounts her youthful struggles with religious fanaticism. Torres-Reyes describes how being raised in a fiercely religious household in which both parents were devout evangelicals caused her torment as a youth and panic attacks and depression as an adult. With extreme candor and wit, she details her childhood…
Motley Education Winner
2016 Book Festival
S.A. Larsen A class assignment sends a misfit medium and her legless-lizard totting best friend on a ghostly journey battling creatures of Norse Mythology to find a relic vital to saving the Underworld only to discover the true meaning of her quest has been inside her all along.
Natasha’s ConfessionsRunner-up
2017 Florida Book Festival
Sarah Melo Natasha’s Confessions takes readers on a young woman’s harrowing and sometimes painful journey from being a self-imposed hostage to fully embracing her triumphant reawakening – mentally, emotionally and sexually. After years of putting everyone else first, Natasha craved a change in her life. Her transformation, though, wasn’t easy.
MoscowLTD.comRunner-up
2016 Amsterdam Book Festival
Nina Guest When four American friends find an international bride company to discover true love, the sizzling idea leads to changing their destiny. With elevated testosterone levels and blessings of vodka, they fly high missing many red flags. Every situation they fall into creates air gasping suspense with simultaneous gut-wrenching laughter.
Feeding the EnemyHonorable Mention
2017 Florida Book Festival
J. R. Sharp “Feeding the Enemy is based on the true story of an Italian family’s determination to survive in the face of evil during WW II. It is a story of perseverance, ingenuity and love. This book captures the spirit of survivability against all odds and provides the reader with an appreciation of what…