Melanie Abed is here to tell us about Zombie Zoo, Adventures in Tub - Felix & Ninja Book 1 - Upper Middle Grade.
There's also a great giveaway.
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Adventures in Tub (Felix & Ninja, Book 1)
Upper Middle Grade
Date Published: 09-15-2026
Publisher: Oculus Print
Two orphan loners. One supernatural plague. When wood-eating zombies
threaten their island, mismatched investigators Felix and Ninja must combine
science and instinct to save Spinachi-before they're next.
ZOMBIE ZOO is Book 1 in a five-book middle grade adventure series for readers
ages 8-13, blending paranormal mystery, zombies, unlikely friendship, and
STEAM-powered problem-solving.
When 13-year-old aspiring naturalist Felix Fizzystyxx discovers that
orphans at Wayward Amok Orphanage are transforming into wood-eating zombies,
his quiet tree-fort observations are no longer enough. Someone has
deliberately unleashed a strange plague on Tub's island town of Spinachi-and
they're still out there.
To find a cure, Felix must team up with Ninja, a shadow-dwelling orphan who
trusts her instincts and never backs down. Intense and razor-sharp, she
notices what others overlook and lives up to her name as the island's most
mysterious sleuth. With their eccentric mentor Doc Brunne compromised and the
town's water supply contaminated by a glowing bioluminescent substance, the
two mismatched investigators must combine scientific observation with sharp
intuition to stop the outbreak before their island home is devoured.
Set on the fictional island of Tub, this fast-paced, humorous adventure
naturally weaves in STEAM concepts-biology, chemistry, bioluminescence, water
systems, pattern recognition, and the scientific method-within an
age-appropriate supernatural mystery. Themes include unlikely friendship,
identity, trust across differences, courage, and finding your voice when
adults won't listen.
Featuring diverse protagonists, quirky humor, spooky-but-fun scares, and
strong female and male leads. ZOMBIE ZOO is ideal for reluctant readers and
fans of Max Brallier's The Last Kids on Earth, B.B. Alston's Amari and the
Night Brothers, and Goosebumps. Comprehensive educator resources-including
discussion guides, vocabulary lists, STEAM extension activities, and printable
maps-support classroom use, library programming, book clubs, and make this
title ideal for cross-curricular lessons bridging ELA, STEAM, and SEL.
About the Author
Melanie Abed is a behavioral expert turned story weaver. She believes
dragons are real but hiding, and finds thunderstorms equally delightful and
terrifying. A tea-loving bookworm, she champions young minds and writes to
help kids discover their superpowers are real.
Sarah Branson is here to tell us about This is Halloween, A Blue Spruce Hills Novella, contemporary romance.
There's also a great giveaway.
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This is Halloween
Sarah Branson
(A Blue Spruce Hills Novella)
Publication date: September 17th 2026
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Midwife. Halloween. A Pennsylvania hill town. A ghost with an agenda. A historian with patient eyes.
Jules Lockwood, nurse-midwife and family nurse practitioner, wants two years of loan forgiveness and a one-way ticket to Australia. Her obstacle: a town that keeps finding reasons to need her.
Eli Matthews, Blue Spruce Hills town historian, is the kind of man who came back when it mattered and stayed. He brings coffee every morning without being asked.
Agnes Bell, midwife, 1856 to 1931, has been waiting in Blue Spruce Hills since her death for the right pair of hands to pass her work to. She has found them. She is not subtle about it.
On Halloween night, when the veil between past and present is at its thinnest, everything Jules came to Blue Spruce Hills to avoid arrives at once.
This Is Halloween delivers the satisfaction of a woman choosing herself and her work on her own terms, a slow-burn romance that earns every moment, and a ghost story that will make you wish you could have known Agnes Bell.
• small town romance
• ghost mentor
• found community
• slow burn
• woman finding home
• past and present collide
• reluctant to stay
• Halloween setting
• professional woman romance
• haunted by the past (literal)
• second chance at belonging
Heat level: closed door
Series: Blue Spruce Hills, Book 1 — standalone, complete story, no cliffhanger
POV: third person limited, Jules
Tense: past
Setting: small Pennsylvania town, October through May
Comp titles: The House in the Cerulean Sea; Beach Read; A Discovery of Witches
Content notes: pregnancy and birth depicted (clinical, not graphic); brief mention of historical pregnancy loss (off-page); deployment/absent spouse (minor character)
Juliet “Jules” Lockwood had sworn exactly six times since leaving the highway and crossing the Blue Spruce Hills town line. All six had been silent. All six had been necessary.
She pulled her Subaru into the gravel lot beside the Blue Spruce Hills Community Clinic and sat there longer than necessary, hands wrapped around the steering wheel like the car might attempt escape without her. Outside, the October sky was an intense blue with a few white clouds scudding across it. A carved pumpkin grinned from the clinic’s front step. Orange lights shaped like leaves were looped around the porch railing. Just up the street, a plastic skeleton swung from a telephone pole, rotating haphazardly in the wind.
Jules stared at the skeleton. The skeleton appeared to stare back.
She opened the car door, stepped out onto the gravel, closed her eyes, and took a deep inhale. Wood smoke and baked goods, harvest-sweet with cinnamon and nutmeg. It was, Jules thought grimly, aggressively charming. She took a step and nearly collided with a man holding a cardboard tray of coffee.
“Oh! Sorry!” he said, immediately steadying both the tray and her elbow with equal care. He was tall and laid back, with dark hair that the wind had done something unrequested to and kind brown eyes, soft and patient, the sort of eyes that suggested the person behind them listened when you talked. He wore a canvas jacket the color of cedar bark and was smiling with the easy confidence of someone who had nowhere to be and was fine with that. “You must be Jules.”
She froze. This was… unfortunate. Because those eyes were going to be a problem. She recognized his type immediately, the way one would recognize a load-bearing wall, structural and quiet, that the whole room organizes itself around without anyone quite noticing. Those eyes reflected the sort of steadiness that belonged to men who stayed. She had believed that about someone once. Believed it comprehensively and inconveniently, and at considerable personal expense. Never again.
“I’m Eli Matthews,” he said, and held out the coffee tray. “Town historian and unofficial town greeter. I brought options. Decaf, regular, and one with oat milk, because the clinic called ahead and…” he paused, reconsidering his own sentence, “okay, I asked Margaret at the post office, who asked Clara at the bakery, who said she had heard that you’d mentioned oat milk to someone at the gas station in Lehighton.”
Jules stared at the tray. “That’s a significant intelligence operation for a cup of coffee.”
He smiled, a little sheepishly. “Small town. We have patterns.” He glanced at the pumpkin on the porch. “Also, it’s October. We take hospitality seriously in October.”
She reached for the oat milk coffee. Behind her, someone cleared their throat very distinctly — the throat-clearing of someone who had been waiting a respectable amount of time and was now done waiting. Jules’s hand tightened around the cup.
She recognized that sound. She knew it the way she knew a change in barometric pressure, in her teeth, at the base of her skull, in the specific cold that moved along her spine when something was present that had no business being present.
Absolutely not. I am not doing ghosts again.
She turned slowly.
Author Bio:
Award-winning feminist speculative fiction author Sarah Branson spent close to thirty years as a midwife before turning to fiction, writing tales of action, adventure, revenge, and romance rooted in the strength and resiliency of the human spirit. Her New Earth universe imagines a future where diversity of identity is simply the texture of life, with honors including the 2022 Kindle Book Award for science fiction, the 2025 Wishing Shelf Book Award Gold Medal for A Pirates' Pact, and a Foreword Indie Award Honorable Mention for For the Love of Glitter. Her two newest releases expand beyond New Earth: This Is Halloween, a cozy women's fiction novella in the Blue Spruce Hills series (September 17, 2026), and Life Ends, Love Remains: A Revolutionary Ghost Story, a literary paranormal novel set in Ridgefield, Connecticut (early October 2026). Sarah lives with her husband in Connecticut.
CB Samet is here to tell us about Olympian Awakenings Trilogy, Greek mythology, urban fantasy romance.
There's also a great giveaway.
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Cursed as children.
Empowered as adults.
Now, they’ve been summoned to stop a force older than the
gods themselves.
Stone Hearts
Olympian Awakenings Trilogy Book 1
by CB Samet
Genre: Greek Mythology Urban Fantasy Romance
Madison was cursed to
destroy with a glance—until a prophecy calls her to fight beside the one man
who sees through her walls… and into her heart.
Cursed to turn the living to stone, Madison has spent her
life avoiding others—until a prophecy drags her to Greece to join a team of
strangers to help stop an ancient evil. Among them, she meets Rex, a
battle-scarred archaeologist with the power to heal and secrets of his own.
Together, they must survive deadly skirmishes, outwit
mythical creatures, and recover the Armor of Achilles from the heart of
Daedalus’ labyrinth.
The deeper they go, the more the maze twists not just the
path, but their minds.
Failure isn't an option. Succeeding might cost them
everything.
Magic. Monsters. A
love forged in fire. The battle is only beginning.
When a titan’s power
surges, mortals pay the price—and the Olympians must answer the call.
Layla, Tyler, and the other Olympians are thrust on a
perilous quest across the Mediterranean and into the sunken heart of Atlantis
to reclaim Poseidon’s trident. Their sea voyage is fraught with danger with
deadly monsters and diabolical magic at every turn. Only by learning to
trust—and love—each other can they hope to survive.
Layla’s storm powers are tied to her heart, and to master
them, she must first confront the emotions she’s spent years guarding. Tyler, a
shapeshifter whose might can rival the fiercest beasts, may be the key to her
control—but breaking through the walls around her heart won’t be easy. Their
past mistakes still linger, and some wounds run too deep for even the strongest
powers to heal.
Adventure, danger, and passion collide in this electrifying
continuation of the Olympian Awakens series.
A titan is rising. And this time, the world may not
survive.
Fire-wielder Zoey has spent her life afraid of her own
power. Ancient soldier Alexios has spent centuries believing he was nothing
more than a weapon. Together, they’ve survived monsters, gods, and impossible
quests—but nothing prepares them for Kronos’s final move.
As fractures tear open between worlds, monsters pour into
the mortal realm and the boundary between life and death begins to collapse.
When a desperate sacrifice strands Zoey in the Underworld itself, ancient
warrior Alexios must defy gods, fate, and death to bring her home—before she
loses her memories… and herself.
The final battle will demand everything from all six
champions who have fought side by side: fire and storm, stone and steel,
courage, sacrifice, and unbreakable trust.
Because defeating a Titan will take more than power.
It will take a family forged in battle—and two souls willing
to burn for each other and the world they refuse to lose.
The explosive
conclusion to the Olympian Awakenings trilogy delivers epic Greek mythology,
found family, and a sweeping romantic finale where love and legend collide.
Zoey has always felt the burn of something more beneath her
skin—an untamed fire that refuses to be extinguished. After years of hiding her
power, she’s finally found belonging and a chance to be normal… as a stunt
double on a Hollywood set.
Layla is the picture of grace and fame, a star with a global
following. But behind the camera, she’s hiding a dangerous secret: she can
control the weather.
When a monstrous creature straight from myth attacks during
filming, Zoey and Layla are forced to reveal their powers—and discover they’re
not alone. Chosen by ancient forces, bound by a forgotten legacy, the two women
must join forces to face a truth that will shatter everything they thought they
knew.
Because the world is on the brink of chaos.
And this is only the beginning.
Christina is a four-time award winning author in thriller,
romantic suspense, and fantasy. She is a mother of two energetic boys. She
is a lover of suspense, adventure, and happy endings. She writes action and
adventure in fantasy, thrillers, and romantic suspense genres. Her novels have
empowered women overcoming powerful obstacles and the strong men who support
them.
Favoritequote, ‘She needed a hero. So she became
one.’ --Robin Reed
Robert Milne is here to tell us about Turtle Lake, The Wild Card Syndrome, thriller-suspense.
There's also a great giveaway.
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Crime Thriller / Suspense
Date Published: 09-07-2026
Publisher: Mission Point Press
Turtle Lake is a gripping tale of revenge, survival, and the intricate
interplay between human nature and the natural world. The story follows Jim
Peters, the comptroller at Ramsey Motors, who uncovers a corrupt scheme by the
company and its insurer, U.S. Underwriters, to defraud employees of their
retirement and insurance benefits before moving operations overseas.
Infuriated, he devises an elaborate extortion plan to expose their corruption
and protect the employees through a spectacular plot that ends up achieving
national headlines. To accomplish his plan, Peters uses simple, everyday
methods and lessons learned from alpha predators in the natural world.
About the Author
Bob Milne has been hailed throughout his 60-year career as one of the
best ragtime/boogie-woogie piano players of all time. A solo concert
performer, he traveled all over the world playing for dignitaries and
celebrities as well as small town audiences. He was given the title of
National Treasure by the Library of Congress and deemed an Ambassador of Music
by the U.S. Department of State.
Bob’s extraordinary musical abilities were the subject of numerous brain
studies, which have inspired a popular RadioLab podcast.
Little did they know that Bob was also a talented writer.
For years he wrote articles about his saloon-playing days for music
publications. Many of these stories were compiled into a book called The
Journeyman Piano Player: Adventures in Gracious Dining. Bob has written reams
of poetry, some of which became lyrics to songs that he composed. The longest
piece of poetry he ever wrote was the lyric book for The Legend of Sleepy
Hollow, a grand opera he composed and orchestrated.
Mr. Milne has been fascinated by nature his entire life. At a young age he
realized that instincts are present in all species of birds, mammals
(including humans), and literally every living thing in nature. He has used
this information countless times over his lifetime to predict what the human
species will do in future situations.
Bob is now retired from the long piano tours and is enjoying his woodland
home. Today he spends his time studying nature in the woods. Signed copies of
his book may be purchased through his website.
Megan Linski is here to tell us about My Best Four Years, contemporary, new adult, young adult.
There's also a great giveaway.
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My Best Four Years
Megan Linski
Publication date: September 11th 2026
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Young Adult
USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR Megan Linski paints a hallmark to grief in this story of a heartbreaking best friend break up that’s emotionally unforgettable.
Aria and Lucky are two best friends who managed to survive high school, though not everyone did. They live in a small town that’s determined to destroy everyone’s dreams, but when they’re together, the two girls soar. The adults in their lives swear there’s no way out of their tiny hometown, but Aria and Lucky promise each other they’re going to run away together, believing the music they make is going to change the world.
Until one of them leaves, and the other stays. Aria finds herself looking back on her past, struggling to find where she belongs in a place that wishes to stomp out her light. Lucky’s rise and fall is brighter than a supernova, dazzling and destroying whatever it touches.
Then the unthinkable happens, and their friendship is left in the remnants of what comes after.
Lucky promised Aria forever. But forever turns out to be far shorter than either of them thought it could be.
An honest, endearing novel, My Best Four Years is a devastating portrayal of the power of unconditional friendship, and the loss that is felt when those we love are left behind.
“Are you ready for this?” Lucky asked. The rhinestones on her guitar glimmered as she slipped the strap over her shoulder. We were behind a curtain that led to the small stage of a local bar, where a dozen patrons clattered about. We’d been selected as the headlining act for a band that played regularly on Friday nights, and we were so nervous.
Lucky’s face was pale white. I was sure mine looked the same. Our first live show. I couldn’t believe this was happening.
“It’s our time,” I said confidently. “Let’s get out there.”
The curtain was pulled aside, and we strode on stage in unison as the announcer introduced us. I took my stance at the keyboard, took a deep breath, and began to sing.
We started off strong, and got an enthusiastic response from the crowd during the first song. The next song was a little shaky, but the longer we played, the more confident we became, until we’d nearly gone through every song we’d created. The crowd was really getting into the music.
As I played the keyboard, somebody caught my eye from the corner of the bar. The most handsome man I’d ever seen was leaning on the counter. He might’ve been a few years older than I was. I was absolutely captivated by his appearance, so much so that I nearly missed a note on the melody.
When I met his blue eyes, he gave me a smile. I bashfully looked down when we finished the song, and we went to take a bow as we wrapped up the show. The applause in the room was so loud, I could hardly hear myself think. The curtain was drawn, and I felt shaky on my feet as I realized we’d actually done it. We’d pulled off our first performance!
“That was amazing!” Lucky cheered. “I loved every minute! The lights, the stage! It made me feel so alive!”
“It was incredible,” I gushed. “I’m so proud of us, Lucky!”
I gave her a squealing hug. We cheerfully hopped off stage, then headed to the bar to get a drink. People clapped us on the back and congratulated us as we walked through the bar, thanking us for the performance.
While we were sipping on virgin cocktails, Lucky’s phone rang. She picked it up, a huge smile spread across her face. “Hello, Carla! Yeah, we just got done! It was amazing. I wish you were here to see it…”
Her words trailed off. The smile slid off Lucky’s face. After a few moments, she nodded, and hung up the phone with a vacant gaze.
“It’s Carla,” she said. “She’s in the parking lot waiting to pick me up. She says we have to talk.”
Author Bio:
Megan Linski is a USA TODAY Bestselling Author who lives in Michigan. She is the author of more than sixty fantasy and paranormal novels which feature themes of friendship, community, and healthy romantic relationships. She has over fifteen years of experience writing books alongside working as a journalist and editor. She graduated from the University of Iowa, where she studied Creative Writing.
Her passions include ice skating and horseback riding. In her free time she enjoys dancing in the snow and drinking fancy coffee while at her natural habitat, the mall.
Megan advocates for the rights of the disabled, and is an activist for mental health awareness.
Megan co-writes the Hidden Legends Universe with Alicia Rades. She also writes under the pen name of Natalie Erin for the Creatures of the Lands series, co-authored by Krisen Lison.
After a childhood shaped by trauma, she’s built a life
rooted in stability—a thriving career, a home filled with love, and a devoted
husband everyone envies.
But when Bella arrives as an au pair, the carefully
constructed world Claire depends on begins to unravel.
At first, it’s subtle. A shift in tone. A look held too
long. A moment that feels wrong—but not wrong enough.
Until it is.
As Grant’s behavior escalates, Claire begins to question
herself—her instincts, her memories, the quiet unease she can’t quite explain.
For the sake of her daughter, she holds on…even as something inside her starts
to fracture.
But Bella sees what Claire can’t. She recognizes the signs.
The patterns. The danger.
Because she’s lived it before.
As the tension inside the house builds toward something
neither woman can ignore, the line between endurance and survival begins to
blur—and the choice Claire makes next could cost her everything.
A layered
psychological thriller told through dual perspectives, The Au Pair’s
Deception explores what happens when two women—both shaped by their
pasts—are forced to confront the same danger from different sides. Combining
escalating suspense with emotional depth, it’s a character-driven story of
survival, resilience, and the cost of breaking free.
Trigger Warning: This
book contains depictions of domestic abuse and violence which may be triggering
to some readers. Please read with caution.
The
warmth of her home should've been comforting, but Claire couldn’t stop
trembling. Every breath scraped her throat. Outside, the storm raged through
the upscale suburban neighborhood of Wellesley, muffling the world in white.
The eerie silence was broken only by the wind's howl.
She
tried to sit up, but a wave of nausea forced her back into the blood-soaked
sheets. The air held the metallic tang of iron. Somewhere in the house—or was
it the wind?—something creaked. Her breathing grew labored, and something wet
and sticky clung to the back of her long blonde hair.
A
fresh surge of nausea swept over her as she attempted to sit up again.
Squeezing her eyes shut and reopening them didn't wake her from what felt like
a nightmare. Each failed attempt spiked her panic.
Rolling
onto her side made her wince in pain. How long had she been lying here? Her
mind was foggy. Who else was home? Why wasn’t anyone coming? Someone must’ve
broken in during the storm. She remembered a rattle at the downstairs door
earlier that night.
A
figure took shape in the shadows—tall, or maybe it seemed that way in the
flickering light. His face was hidden, and his slow, deliberate breathing
filled the room. A scream formed in her throat, but what escaped was a broken
whisper, swallowed by the darkness.
A
dull, persistent ache throbbed at the back of her skull. Dizziness and nausea
pinned her in place. Each pulse landed like a hammer.
She
fluttered her eyelids. The figure was gone. Where had it gone?
This has to be another nightmare,
she thought.
She
wished he were here. He always made her feel safe. Imagining his strong
arms wrapped around her and his deep, comforting voice brought a fleeting calm.
Her dry lips parted, but no name came out—just a hoarse whisper lost to the
wind pressing against the window.
Claire
propped herself up on one elbow and tried to gather her thoughts. She focused,
her vision adjusting to the darkness.
The
figure emerged again, and a familiar voice whispered, “It's me. I've been
looking for you.”
By day, C.J. Covino is an online fitness coach helping
people live healthier lives. By night, she channels her devious side into
writing psychological suspense, starting with her debut novel, The Au Pair's
Deception: When Love Turns to Lies. She resides in sunny Albuquerque with her
husband of 40 years, three grown kids who safely flew the coop, and a literal
zoo consisting of three dogs, a parrot, and a cat. She is powered almost
entirely by coffee, a passion for travel, and the thrill of a good plot twist.
Learn more at cjcovino.com and follow her writing journey on TikTok
@cjcovinoauthor.
