Inside the Pages: Cinder Bella by Kathleen Shoop

 

Title: Cinder Bella
Author: Kathleen Shoop
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 228
Genre: Historical Fiction w/strong romance thread

She never had anything.

He lost everything.

Together they create a Christmas to remember.

December, 1893–Shadyside, Pennsylvania

Bella Darling lives in a cozy barn at Maple Grove, an estate owned by industrialist Archibald Westminster. The Westminster family is stranded overseas and have sent word to relieve all employees of their duties except Margaret, the pregnant maid, James the butler, and Bella. Content with borrowed books and a toasty home festooned with pine boughs and cinnamon sticks, she coaxes the old hens to lay eggs–extraordinary eggs. Bella yearns for just one thing—someone to share her life with. Always inventive, she has a plan for that. She just needs the right egg into the hands of the right man.

Bartholomew Baines, a Harvard-educated banker, is reeling in the aftermath of his bank’s collapse. With his friends and fiancé ostracizing him for what he thought was an act of generosity, he is penniless and alone. A kind woman welcomes him into her boarding house under conditions that he reluctantly accepts. Completely undone by his current, lowly position, and by the motley crew of fellow boarders who view him as one of them, Bartholomew wrestles with how to rebuild.

With the special eggs as the impetus, the first meeting between Bella and Bartholomew gives each the wrong idea about the other. And when the boarding house burns down a week before Christmas it’s Bella who is there to lend a hand. She, Margaret, and James invite the homeless group to stay at the estate through the holidays. But as Christmas draws closer, eviction papers arrive. Maple Grove is being foreclosed upon. Can Bella work her magic and save their Christmas? Is the growing attraction between Bella and Bartholomew enough for them to see past their differences? 

★★★★★ ORDER YOUR COPY BELOW★★★★★

 

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Chapter 4

Bartholomew

He didn’t know how long he’d been daydreaming before excited murmurs drew him back to the line he was standing in and his assigned errand. So distracted by his childhood memories, he hadn’t even noticed the egg girl arriving and fitting her bin into the table space the bread lady had cleared. But he did watch as the bread lady hugged the egg lady and though he could see her only from behind, he could tell the egg girl was much younger. A scuffle in the line drew his attention to two women in front of him, one shouldering ahead of another for the “best selection of the special eggs.”

The dustup died down when the bread lady huddled up to referee. The egg girl was prancing away looking like she had the world on a leash, like he used to feel every day. Imagine feeling like that in such dire times. He watched those ahead of him gently place eggs in their baskets, only permitted to select twelve at most. None of them picked up eggs and weighed them in their palm. Choosing in the hopes of winning a double yolk was apparently only the desire of Mrs. Tillman and as he inched closer to his turn he was growing more self-conscious about what he had been commissioned to do.

When it was his turn he followed his orders, picking up each egg, closing his eyes and feeling the weight or whatever in his palm before either placing the egg back in the box and selecting another or putting it into the basket.

When he’d gotten to egg number six the woman behind him pinched the back of his arm. Not that it hurt through layers of clothing, but it startled him. “What?”

“What is right, all right. Think I got all day and night to wait for you to court each egg like it’s the princess you’re taking to the Christmas ball?”

He flinched and stared at the woman. Sooty cheeks and raw hands gave her station in life away. And her treatment of him caused him to lose any chance of responding. How dare she?

“Cat got your tongue, fancy pants? Let’s go or I’ll butt right in front of you.”

“Yeah, get the lead out,” another voice came from farther down the line.

“Ain’t got all day, sailor,” a third heckler joined in.

He lifted his basket. “I’ve been issued specific instructions for—”

A snowball smacked into his back, shutting him up. He spun around and scanned the crowd for who’d thrown it.

“See, even people not in line with us are tired of your mouth. Move it.” The woman behind him held his gaze.

He’d never felt so… he didn’t even know how to describe how this treatment made him feel. He tried to stop himself from rattling off the specifics of his resume and instead went with the general query of, “Don’t you know who I am?”

Another snowball thwapped his back.

“A regular jackass,” someone said from down the line.

He turned again to see who’d hit him with the snowball and the woman behind him used the opening to slide in front. He turned back and stuck his hand into the box, blocking her out. “I’ll hurry. Just let me get the other six.”

She crossed her arms, the baskets resting in the crook of each bent elbow. “Six seconds for six eggs. Get on with it, moneybags.”

“Thank you,” he said. He reached for an egg and lifted it in his palm as he had the others.

The woman started counting one, two, three and the rest of the line joined in. They were serious about him moving quicker. Mrs. Tillman would just have to understand. He didn’t doubt they’d toss him out of line if he didn’t just pluck eggs from the box and move on. And so he did. The last thing he wanted was to break eggs and have to shovel coal or something to make up for it when he got back to Mrs. Tillman’s.

“I have things to do, too, you know,” Bartholomew said. “You folks aren’t the only ones with obligations and—”

“Yeah, whada you have to do today, change into other pairs of fancy pants another three times before burrowing into a bed laid with golden goose feathers?” the woman who’d pinched him asked.

His tongue tied, but he didn’t stop himself from responding. “Uh…”

“Uh? Smoke a pipe of the finest tobacco? Yeah, what else? Sit all day with the paper while someone shines your shoes?” another voice from down the line said.

He straightened, face burning hot, blindly plucking eggs from the pile and placing them into his sack. All of those things would have been fairly close to his daily life before. Before it all crashed around him. “No. Newspapers, yes, but for the market reports and…” Suddenly his studying the news of the day seemed like a luxury instead of the work it was when pronouncing the task to the particular crew waiting in line. Suddenly, he had no words at all. “Forget it.” It was as though none of them knew he was a nice guy. It was as though they assumed he’d done something awful—that it was written across his forehead. He hesitated before moving to pay, considering whether to give them an education in all his achievements and good works. But the woman muscling past him sapped the last bit of energy he had that morning.

He paid and stalked away having been saturated with enough degradation to last the day, to last a century.

– Excerpted from Cinder Bella by Kathleen Shoop, Independent, 2021. Reprinted with permission.

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Bestselling author Kathleen Shoop, PhD writes historical fiction, women’s fiction, and romance. Shoop’s novels have garnered awards in the Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY), Eric Hoffer Book Awards, Next Generation Indie Book Awards, and more. You can find Kathleen in person at various venues. She’s on the board of the Kerr Memorial Museum, teaches at writing/reader conferences, co-coordinates Mindful Writers Retreats and writing conferences, and gives talks at various book clubs, libraries, and historical societies.

Sign up for her newsletter at www.kshoop.com. 

Visit her website at www.kshoop.com or connect with her on X, Facebook, Instagram, BookBub, TikTok and Goodreads.

Cinder Bella is available at Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble & Kobo. 

Inside the Pages: Fighter Pilot's Daughter by Mary Lawlor

 

Title: Fighter Pilot's Daughter
Author: Mary Lawlor
Publisher: Rowman and Littlefield
Pages: 323
Genre: Memoir

Fighter Pilot’s Daughter: Growing Up in the Sixties and the Cold War tells the story of Mary Lawlor’s dramatic, roving life as a warrior’s child. A family biography and a young woman’s vision of the Cold War, Fighter Pilot’s Daughter narrates the more than many transfers the family made from Miami to California to Germany as the Cold War demanded. Each chapter describes the workings of this traveling household in a different place and time. The book’s climax takes us to Paris in May ’68, where Mary—until recently a dutiful military daughter—has joined the legendary student demonstrations against among other things, the Vietnam War. Meanwhile her father is flying missions out of Saigon for that very same war. Though they are on opposite sides of the political divide, a surprising reconciliation comes years later.

★★★★★ ORDER YOUR COPY ★★★★★

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The pilot’s house where I grew up was mostly a women’s world. There were five of us. We had the place to ourselves most of the time. My mother made the big decisions—where we went to school, which bank to keep our money in. She had to decide these things often because we moved every couple of years. The house is thus a figure of speech, a way of thinking about a long series of small, cement dwellings we occupied as one fictional home.

It was my father, however, who turned the wheel, his job that rotated us to so many different places. He was an aviator, first in the Marines, later in the Army. When he came home from his extended absences—missions, they were called—the rooms shrank around him. There wasn’t enough air. We didn’t breathe as freely as we did when he was gone, not because he was mean or demanding but because we worshipped him. Like satellites my sisters and I orbited him at a distance, waiting for the chance to come closer, to show him things we’d made, accept gifts, hear his stories. My mother wasn’t at the center of things anymore. She hovered, maneuvered, arranged, corrected. She was first lady, the dame in waiting. He was the center point of our circle, a flier, a winged sentry who spent most of his time far up over our heads. When he was home, the house was definitely his.

These were the early years of the Cold War. It was a time of vivid fears, pictured nowadays in photos of kids hunkered under their school desks. My sisters and I did that. The phrase “air raid drill” rang hard—the double-A sound a cold, metallic twang, ending with ill. It meant rehearsal for a time when you might get burnt by the air you breathed.

Every day we heard practice rounds of artillery fire and ordinance on the near horizon. We knew what all this training was for. It was to keep the world from ending. Our father was one of many dads who sweat at soldierly labor, part of an arsenal kept at the ready to scare off nuclear annihilation of life on earth. When we lived on post, my sisters and I saw uniformed men marching in straight lines everywhere. This was readiness, the soldiers rehearsing against Armageddon. The rectangular buildings where the commissary, the PX, the bowling alley, and beauty shop were housed had fallout shelters in the basements, marked with black and yellow wheels, the civil defense insignia. Our dad would often leave home for several days on maneuvers, readiness exercises in which he and other men played war games designed to match the visions of big generals and political men. Visions of how a Russian air and ground attack would happen. They had to be ready for it.

A clipped, nervous rhythm kept time on military bases. It was as if you needed to move efficiently to keep up with things, to be ready yourself, even if you were just a kid. We were chased by the feeling that life as we knew it could change in an hour.

This was the posture. On your mark, get set. But there was no go. It was a policy of meaningful waiting. Meaningful because it was the waiting itself that counted—where you did it, how many of the necessities you had, how long you could keep it up. Imagining long, sunless days with nothing to do but wait for an all-clear sign or for the threatening, consonant-heavy sounds of a foreign language overhead, I taught myself to pray hard.

– Excerpted from Fighter Pilot’s Daughter by Mary Lawlor, Rowman and Littlefield, 2013. Reprinted with permission.

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Mary Lawlor is author of Fighter Pilot’s Daughter (Rowman & Littlefield 2013, paper 2015), Public Native America (Rutgers Univ. Press 2006), and Recalling the Wild (Rutgers Univ. Press, 2000). Her short stories and essays have appeared in Big Bridge and Politics/Letters. She studied the American University in Paris and earned a Ph.D. from New York University. She divides her time between an old farmhouse in Easton, Pennsylvania, and a cabin in the mountains of southern Spain.

You can visit her website at https://www.marylawlor.net/ or connect with her on Twitter or Facebook.

 

❤Author Interview: Paranormal Romance Author Emily Astillberry: The Essence of Bliss #authorinterview

 

Emily Astillberry is an author and RSPCA Inspector from Norfolk, England. She has a degree in English Literature and Linguistics from York University and has been investigating animal cruelty and neglect and rescuing sick and injured animals for 20 years. In her day job, Emily deals with very difficult and often emotional situations and meets all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds. Her career provides some of the inspiration for themes and characters that can be found in her fictional work.

At home, in a very old cottage in the country, Emily has a husband, 5 children, a dog, a cat, an axolotl, 2 giant African land snails and a varying number of rescue hens, so finding time to write can be a challenge. She is happiest outdoors, growing fruit and vegetables in the garden, walking the dog and family holidays usually involve walking up mountains in summer, skiing down them in winter and sleeping in a tent whenever possible.

Emily loves spending time with her large, noisy, chaotic family, cooking meals for friends and playing board games. She always has at least one book on the go and has always dreamed of writing her own novel. She now dreams of writing more. 

Visit her website at https://emilyastillberry.com. 

You can also find her on Facebook and Instagram.

The Essence of Bliss is her latest book.

I am so excited about your book, The Voice I Couldn't Ignore. Why did you choose this particular story to write?

I was always going to write something emotional. The power and depth of human emotions and connections is unfathomable and it is the relationships between people that I believe really makes a good novel, great. I wanted to set my novel in the real world, enhanced by a subtle magic, otherworldly enough to offer escapism and yet relatable to my audience. I wanted to create a concept that was fresh and almost believable. I wanted my readers to wonder, to come away asking what if? 

The Essence of Bliss is an emotional rollercoaster, an exploration of human emotion wrapped up in a story that will make you examine those big questions, such as chance, choice and destiny and my leading lady, Isabel Bliss, became the focus of my concept. She is, for the most part, a normal person, leading a normal life. She has a family, a boyfriend, a best friend and a job that she loves and is great at. However, Isabel also has something that sets her apart from anyone she has ever met, she has an extraordinary relationship with human emotions. She can feel emotional energy, be impacted by it, experience and influence the emotions of the people around her. 

Once I had my concept and my protagonist, I needed a story. I wanted my readers to explore the potential of Isabel’s gift alongside her, which is why The Essence of Bliss became a first person narrative, a journey of discovery for Isabel, peppered with twists and turns that I hope will surprise,

upset and delight. I started to craft the story around her, following her as she deals with a pretty horrific situation involving a little boy in her class, and then discovers a huge betrayal in her life and a whole world of possibility that will change her forever.

Can you give us a blurb so others will know what it’s about?

 

“A warmth had settled into my being, ignited by that kiss and something had begun that could never be

undone. A pledge unspoken and yet no less consequential in its silence. A promise of hearts and minds: The Essence of Bliss.”

Isabel Bliss is a devoted reception class teacher with a remarkable sensitivity to the emotions of the people around her. She experiences other people's emotions as if they were her own, sometimes to an unsettling or even crippling degree. Her gift can be both a blessing and a curse. When a boy in her class experiences unspeakable suffering, she alone must find a way to rescue him from his torment. 

When a new affluent family moves to town, Isabel has instant and profound reactions to the two sons; recoiling from one and being inexorably drawn to the other. Propelled into a tangled web of love, passion and power underpinned by secrets, deceit and betrayal, she is set on an emotional journey of self discovery, challenging the very concepts of chance, choice and destiny.

 

Can you tell us a little about the main characters?

Isabel Bliss is a reception class teacher in her late twenties. She is an ordinary woman with an extraordinary sensitivity to the emotions of the people around her. Having been encouraged to keep her ability to herself, she has never spoken of it  to anyone except her mum, but when she helps a young boy in her class who is experiencing unspeakable suffering, and later meets a kindred spirit, Isabel begins to realise the potential of her gift. 

Isabel begins the story in a long-term relationship with childhood sweetheart, Jack, her parents are Beth and Max, and she has a younger sister, Stephanie. She also has a best friend called Donna. Isabel’s family are very close. Beth is eccentric and complicated but Isabel has always felt loved. As the story progresses, a new family moves to town. The Callahans take up residency in the Big House at the top of the hill and their family consists of Nicholas, an extremely successful barrister with an incredible professional record, his beautiful wife Georgina and their two sons, Scott and Daniel. 

 

Where and when does this book take place?

Ramsey Bridge is a fictional town, which exists only in my imagination and within the pages of The Essence of Bliss. I was deliberately vague about its location so that readers are free to use their own imagination. However, I couldn’t help picturing my local area when I was writing and the beach scenes are based very closely on one of my favourite local beaches, Burnham Overy Staithe on the North Norfolk Coast, which I believe is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

As for when, it is a contemporary novel. The exact year isn’t important. 

 

They say all books of fiction have at least one pivotal point where the reader just can’t put the book down. What is one of the pivotal points in The Essence of Bliss? 

In the first phase of the book, Isabel becomes aware of a problem in the life of one of the young boys in her class. Her ability allows her to recognise that there is something seriously wrong with Josh but she is unable to determine what is causing his anguish. As she tries to uncover the truth, Josh’s torment comes to a head and I hope that the reader will be hooked and unable to put the book down until they discover Josh’s secret, and beyond.

 

Does your book carry a message?

The Essence of Bliss explores human emotion and the power and responsibility that goes hand in hand with an unseen influence over others. I hope that my book makes people wonder, makes people think about the potential of human emotions and the complexity of human relationships.

 

What's your next project?

The Essence of Bliss explores human emotion and the power and responsibility that goes hand in hand with an unseen influence over others. I hope that my book makes people wonder, makes people think about the potential of human emotions and the complexity of human relationships.

 

Where can we pick up copies of The Voice I Couldn't Ignore?

The Essence of Bliss is available on kindle and in paperback from Amazon at

https://amzn.eu/d/c5kPzNH

 

Is there anything you’d like to tell your readers and fans?

I’d love to hear from my readers and invite them to learn more about me or make contact at: 

https://www.instagram.com/emily.astillberry

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567176741752

and

www.emilyastillberry.com

Inside the Pages: The House of Gold by Joni Parker

 

Title: The House of Gold
Author: Joni Parker
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 359
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy

She’s done playing by the rules.

Lady Alexin Dumwalt—Alex to those who know better—just got booted from her mortal-world job. Her response? Return to Eledon, reclaim her title as Keeper of the Keys, and dive headfirst into a mission that reeks of politics and secrets.

Her task: escort Lord Quasar of the Star Elves to Nimbus. Her reality: arrested at Moonbase, locked up by a power-hungry Lord Governor, and caught in a prison break that exposes a gold-smuggling operation buried beneath the surface.

The gold? Stolen from Eledon. The ship? Not what it seems. The Fire Elves? Gone—taken by someone who wasn’t supposed to be watching.

Now Alex is under guard, headed to Nimbus, and neck-deep in a conspiracy that could shatter the fragile balance between Elf factions. She’s got questions, she’s got enemies, and she’s got zero patience for anyone standing in her way.

Magic. Betrayal. One Elf with nothing left to lose.

Read sample.

★★★★★ ORDER YOUR COPY ★★★★★

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I tried to get some sleep, but the impact of getting fired made me think back to my arrival in the mortal world from Eledon. I had joined a rescue effort at home when five military vessels crashed into the Elf Seas, leaving more than six hundred mortal sailors stranded. The only way for them to get home was to use a ship owned by the Wizard Ecstasy. He took me and the first hundred sailors to London. Vice Admiral Teller was one of the first mortals I met when I got here. Although he believed me when I told him I was part Elf, the other authorities thought I was delusional and dangerous. They shot me, arrested me, and put me in prison. When I used my magical abilities to heal myself, they didn’t believe that either.

After a hearing, the charges were dismissed, and I was free to leave, but I had no way to get home since the Wizard Ecstasy had abandoned me. Luckily, I used my magic to get in touch with Lord Arethus, an Elf friend, who told me the rest of the sailors would be returned through a portal at the Portsmouth Naval Base on the fall solstice. When I told Admiral Teller, he was the only one who believed me and took me to Portsmouth. When the portal appeared, the leader of the Rock Elves, Lord Fissure, came through and told me I had to remain in the mortal world, or he would kill my grandfather, Lord Odin. So, I stayed, and my exile began. And that’s why I needed a job.

– Excerpted from The House of Gold: Book 4 in the Golden Harvest Series by Joni Parker, Joni Parker, 2025. Reprinted with permission.

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Joni Parker’s story reads like a cross-continental odyssey with grit at every turn. Born in the heart of Chicago, she was just eight when her family uprooted to Japan so her father could chase a dream most wouldn’t dare—becoming a professional golfer. He made it. And when the dust settled, they landed in Phoenix, Arizona, where Joni carved her own path.

After high school, she didn’t just serve—she committed. Twenty-two years in the U.S. Navy, followed by seven more in federal civil service, Joni built a career on discipline, resilience, and a no-nonsense drive to get things done.

Now retired in Tucson, Arizona, she’s traded uniforms for imagination, channeling her fire into writing, devouring books, and catching the sunrise like it’s a daily ritual of renewal. Her stories reflect the same edge she’s lived with—bold, unflinching, and full of heart.

Her most recent book is the science fantasy, The House of Gold (Book 4 in the Golden Harvest Series).

Visit her website at http://www.joni-parker.com or connect with her on Facebook, Goodreads and  Bluesky.

 

❤Author Interview: Christian Nonfiction Author Johanna Frank: The Voice I Couldn't Ignore #authorinterview

 

 

 

Johanna Frank is a Canadian author based in Southern Ontario, where she lives with her husband, and delights in time with her children and grandchildren. Her award-winning A Lifeline Fantasy Series includes The Gatekeeper’s Descendants (Readers’ Favorite 5-Star Medalist), Jophiel’s Secret (Winner of the 2023 General Market Suspense Fiction Award and the Christian Speculative Fiction Award), and Here Lyeth (finalist for The Word Guild’s 2025 Christian Speculative Award). 

In addition, Johanna has introduced a creative memoir, a deeply personal work that explores God’s abundant mystery and healing. 

Known for her lyrical, imaginative style rich in symbolism and spiritual depth, she invites readers into otherworldly adventures and real-life reflections that illuminate belonging, faith, and the unseen.

“Frank, one of Canada’s emerging authors in spiritual fantasy, walks a fine line between general fantasy and faith-based fiction. Her work aims to innovate and transcend traditional boundaries, catering to a hungry market of curious readers who don’t want to be preached to but are open to exploring spiritual themes through fantasy.” – Sheri Hoyte, Reader Views

Her latest book is the powerful Christian nonfiction, The Voice I Couldn’t Ignore.

Connect with Johanna at Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram and BookBub. 

I am so excited about your book, The Voice I Couldn't Ignore. Why did you choose this particular story to write?

Honestly, the story just felt too unique to keep to myself. I’m simply hoping it finds that special someone who might be in their own season of questioning—for whatever reason, not only the loss of a loved one.

Can you give us a blurb so others will know what it’s about?

 

This story is based on true events. The prologue shares knowledge that was passed down through generations—from mother to child—over a hundred years ago. Everything else that follows, all the coincidences, dreams, and visions, really did happen just as described. I hope you will read it! It flows

as a creative piece of nonfiction should.

 

They say all books have at least one pivotal point where the reader just can’t put the book down. What is one of the pivotal points in The Voice I Couldn’t Ignore?

It’s hard to choose just one, because The Voice I Couldn’t Ignore unfolds through several moments that completely shifted my life. Early on, there’s a ghostly encounter that uncovered a thread of generational trauma—something I never expected to face, but it opened the door to everything that followed.

 

Does your book carry a message?

Yes—that God is still communicating today in many different ways. We simply have to climb into that part of ourselves that is keen to seek him and be patient to listen, and watch.

 

What's your next project?

The audio version of this book is next on my ‘to-do’ list.

 

Where can we pick up copies of The Voice I Couldn't Ignore?

AMAZON.COM: The Voice I Couldn't Ignore: God told me he was taking my child. Seven years later, he did.: Frank, Johanna: 9781738290758: Amazon.com: Books

BARNES AND NOBLE: The Voice I Couldn't Ignore: God told me he was taking my child. Seven years later, he did. by Johanna Frank, Paperback | Barnes & Noble®

 

Is there anything you’d like to tell your readers and fans?

If you enjoy the topic of dreams and how God works mysteriously, you will like this story!

Visit me at my site anytime … Johanna Frank | Author | Combining everyday living with the whimsicalwww.JohannaFrankAuthor.com