Even though Spelman-educated Riley Gammons had proven herself as a tough-as-nails leader in corporate America, the mortality of a sick child is more than she can handle. Fear fills her icy veins for the first time. The usually strong-willed woman questions every move she’s ever made as baby Kelly suffers in an incubator. Riley is forced to choose between her spouse, and maternal family as a child abuse investigation unfolds. Riley finds herself alone, pushed into a corner by paranoia and maligned loyalty. She’s faced with questions of fidelity, allegiance, and trust. Her husband Jody, fresh from the arms of another woman, has questions of his own.

Jody Gammons was a fallen hero. His past grievances were well-documented legends, but few thought he’d hurt a child, until doctors suggested otherwise. When questions of paternity swarm the Gammons household, Jody becomes the prime suspect in a case of infantile child abuse, until an unlikely suspect appears.

Like many men in his position, Jody claims innocence and fights the charges with every breath. As the story unfolds Jody discovers the true colors of people he claimed to know well, his wife, mother-in-law, favorite cousin, and his side-piece all have secrets he never imagined. One secret threatened his sanity, one challenged his manhood, and one forced him to choose between the law and family. Knowledge of each secret filled his mind with vengeance, guilt and sorrow. Each plagued his thoughts with anger, each compounded the stress of his primary concern, the health of his infant daughter, Kelly Gammons.

Maxx Kilbourne’s gripping, emotionally layered novel of family drama explores the seductive and damaging nature of loyalty. Love and honor, trust and deception, and mortality—all come to a head in this compelling drama of karma and Family Ties.

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Maxx Kilbourne is one of the most versatile young urban writers in America today. He’s the author of 5 critically acclaimed books, including the popular crime story, “Unraveled.” Maxx Kilbourne’s novels are as diverse as the man himself, spanning the genres of Drama, Historical Fiction, Street Fiction, and Erotica.

Maxx gained notoriety for his ability to write dramatic dialogue without profanity through the use of clever word play and realistic sequences. Although his latest novel, “Family Ties” incorporates four-letter words, it’s as cleverly written as his previous works.

Maxx has been featured in Rolling Out Magazine, The Source Magazine, the Detroit News, Conversations Magazine, in addition to several other print and broadcast outlets.

Maxx is a native Detroiter currently residing in Houston, Texas. Maxx is a husband, father of three and proud graduate of Western Governor’s University, where he earned an MBA of Business Management and Strategy. For more information visit www.maxxkilbourne.com

Author Q&A

1. Tell us the story behind the story. How did “Family Ties” come to be?

I was walking through the new Children’s Hospital in Birmingham Alabama and I saw a man crying like a baby, but he wasn’t childlike at all. His face held pain I’d never seen before, it was rage, but it wasn’t violent. It was hopeless and contagious. I only saw him for a few seconds but it really opened my mind to the prospect of a sick child. I sat in the lobby and wrote the outline ten minutes after seeing him.

2. What was the most challenging aspect of writing Family Ties?

Holding the pain I saw in that man’s eyes was a challenge. It was so real that it bothered me and kept me in a dark place while I wrote. That was tough. The image is virtually burned into my brain.

3. What is the message you want readers to take away from your book?

It takes time to destroy your life. It takes a conscious effort to ruin a marriage or throw your life away. The characters in “Family Ties” had many chances to fix their lives, but they constantly made mistakes. They consciously made bad decisions. I guess the most important message this story has is to TAKE YOUR TIME in life. Made good choices and stay away from impulsive decisions.

4. Black Lives Matter? Or All Lives Matter?

The politically correct answer is “All Lives Matter” but I’m all for the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Of course everyone is important in this world, but the lives of Black people has been discounted since slavery. We were 3/5 of a human back then, I’m not sure what we are now.  The general disrespect shown towards Black people in this country needs to change, so yes, I’m team #BlackLivesMatter

5. What books are on your nightstand? What are you currently reading?

On my shelf right now is “Animal” by K’wan, “Easier Said Than Done” By Nikki Woods, and “This Changes Everything” by Naomi Klein.

6. Favorite Authors?

Claude Mckay is my favorite, hands down. I also enjoy Walter Mosley and Nikki Giovanni.

 7. What are you working on now?

Television pilot. Trying to get a deal, keep ya’ fingers crossed for me!


Find the author/ buy the book

Novel Website

Amazon.com Author Page

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Instagram: @maxkbooks

Email address: Maxx@maxxkilbourne.com

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“Fading Memories and How It Came to Be”
By A.M. Willard
 
Fading Memories was once called Will I Ever Love Again. This changed quickly as I reached the halfway point of the manuscript. The more and more I would write, it became evident that this title wasn’t going to work. It all started to make sense as the main character Izzie was having flashbacks to memories that were fading away. It involved more around those memories, then finding love.
 
I sat around for about a week playing with titles on the white board. It was comical to witness what I’d came up with. As I went along crossing and drawing lines across to match, I came up with Fading Memories. Picture a crossword puzzle, and that’s what I was creating as I played with a million different words. In the end, Fading Memories is the perfect title to sum this standalone romance up.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
 
A.M. Willard is a true believer of soul mates, and happy ever afters. She enjoys reading, sailing, and of course writing contemporary romance with some saucy scenes. Releasing her first novella of the One Night Series on April 12, 2014 has sent her on a new journey in life. A.M.’s passion for writing started at a young age, but with the love and support from her husband of eighteen years pushed her to follow her dreams. Once she hit that first publish button, she hasn’t looked back.


Publications available from A.M. Willard include the Chances Series, Love on the Screen, and everyone’s favorite, the One Night Series. She’s also had an article published in the Writer’s Monthly Review Magazine and was just accepted into the Romance Writers of America organization in May of 2015.


A.M. Willard was born and raised in the Panhandle of Florida, but resides in Savannah GA with her husband, son, two cats, one rotten dog, and her six chickens. Yes, we said chickens…


You can connect with A.M. Willard on her website or subscribe to her newsletter for the latest releases, teasers, and sale alerts.
 
PURCHASE “FADING MEMORIES” ON AMAZON!
 
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*Media Kit by Susan Barton, My Book Tour

Gwen Smidt dreams of leaving Iowa for sunny Florida.
But her dream is derailed by Devon Smith, a dashing criminal attorney. While investigating the murder of her friend, Gwen discovers the truth about why Devon was transplanted into her life.
Jeremy Schroeder is a hopeless romantic who never gives up on the possibility Gwen. He is willing to do anything, pull any tricks, to convince her they are meant to be.
In a moment of sheer insanity, Gwen and Jeremy find themselves naked between the sheets. Their rendezvous now holds their friendship hostage, and while Jeremy wants more than friendship, Gwen is reluctant to give up on the notion of a perfect man.
Throughout the inevitable longing between Gwen and Jeremy, the reality Gwen believes in is a lie. Now, when reality comes crashing back down, Gwen must choose between choosing a man that she loves and the man that she wants to love...

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Shayla was your typical child from the affluent neighborhood of Copiague, NY. She just celebrated her 13th birthday and reveled in being a Daddy’s girl. All she wanted was a normal life where she could grow up to be a Psychologist.

Her mother suffers from a sexual addiction that ended up putting Shayla in a place that she should not have been in, just because she looks like her mom. Being the lookout for her mom; her father sneaks in the house, and all hell breaks loose. Hearing his wife have sex with someone else sends him into a rage that would draw Shayla into it. After snapping and killing his wife and lover, he turns his rage unto Shayla, rapes, and makes her clean up the dead bodies. He decides to make her into his sex slave and starts pimping her out to his fellow co-workers.

Shayla’s favorite client falls in love with her and decides that he is going to rescue her and eventually marry her. They formulate a plan and decide to make their escape before her 17th birthday. Shayla does research and they leave for Maryland. Shayla befriends the real estate agent that showed them their dream home and starts to work for her. Not knowing that Amy the agent was blackmailing Greg. Amy blackmails Greg to sell Shayla for fortune. He agrees and concocts a plan to lock Shayla away. He takes Shayla away for a long weekend, and marries her in a fake wedding. They go home to start their new lives together.

Arriving home, Shayla happens upon a man building a huge dog cage in her garage. She questions Greg and finds out that he wants to get her a dog and her puppies. Ecstatic Shayla goes and begins to make dinner for a celebration. Greg calls her to assist him to make sure that the cage was the right size. He locks her in the cage, and out walks Amy. Amy exposes her to Heroin to make her more compliant. Shayla spends the next decade of her life in sex slavery again. Once again, a new man walks into her life and promises to take her away from this. This time he came with a skill that Shayla could use. He teaches Shayla how to kill in a way that could not be traced back to her. They come up with a plan to get rid of Greg and Amy and she escapes eventually, being rescued by a cop. After spending time with Shayla and seeing past her experience, he falls in love with her childlike innocence and inner beauty. Shayla is attracted to him in turn. However, she cannot afford to fall in love just yet; she needs to cleanse her soul. In order for her to do that, she decides that she needs to rid the world of the evil men that had wronged her. Even though Marcus is a good man, Shayla cannot trust another man that she met in that lifestyle. Marcus becomes her victim, knowing that she cannot leave lose ends.

She leaves the state of Maryland and heads back up to New York to exact her revenge on everyone that raped her for money. Arriving at her dad’s house, she surprises him coming home from a long day patrolling the neighborhood for crime, where he is a Captain in the Amityville Police Department. She startles him as he tries to make himself comfortable. He tries to make up with Shayla, but only on one condition. She states that she wants to start up the family business again and to contact the former clients. He agrees believing her lies. When he finds out her true intentions, she makes him a heroin addict and her slave. He contacts all of the old clients and she kills them one by one. Shayla left the best for last. Her father, the one person that was supposed to protect and watch over her.

Carl the cop tries to get Shayla to come back to him, knowing that her trust is at 0%. He relentlessly tries to get her to let him love her. Not knowing of the activities Shayla is doing in New York. He goes back to the house of horrors to try to understand what she has been through, when he happens upon her diary. He then discovers that his love is not the sweet woman that he thought that she was. He learns that she is the one that killed Greg and Amy and went back to New York to get her revenge. His allegiance is now torn, the cop in him tells him that he must turn her in, but his heart is telling him that he must cover up her tracks. After weeks of begging her to come home, he heads out to New York and discovers what she has been up too. Agreeing to dispose of the bodies that she has racked up, they leave and he helps her further heal. He promises to protect her secret. They get married and the Department comes up with a plan to create a taskforce to help save other children that were sold into slavery.

She rescues a brother and sister and with their help, they form a Task Force overseas and rescue plenty of boys and girls, reuniting them with their families. With the help of a local politician, she transforms her home into a rehabilitation center. At her home, she welcomes the families, helps them get back their self-esteem, and works with them so that they can go back out into society.

Shayla eventually learns that the brother and sister are the secret family of Greg. How can she tell them that she was the one that killed him? Or will she ever tell them?

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About the Author:
Born on July 4, 1972, in North Charleston, South Carolina. Kateri grew up between NY and South Carolina. Graduating from the last all Black Boarding Schools in Laurinburg North Carolina. After that, she received a degree in Psychology, and later gave birth to a baby boy. She began writing short stories and poems, and then she decided to pursue writing a novel. When it was finished, she tried to get it published, receiving many rejections since the year 2000. She raised her son and attended Culinary School, where she received a degree in Culinary Arts, and has been a Chef ever since. Eventually she opened up Purple Diamond Caterer and caters events between writing. She eventually signed with True Glory, and put out several books and now has moved on. She is now signed with Mahogany Red Books, and finally feels at home. She is the Author of Demented Minds, Erotic Tales of Love, Lust, and Karma, Jamaica Mi Hungry and Killer Recipes by Kateri. She is due to release Shayla’s Revenge: Secrets of a Heroin Killer.


Author Q & A:

When did you begin writing?

I began at the age of 8, after my grandmother died. It was a way for me to talk to her privately.


Who is Kateri? Is Kateri your real name?

I am a simple person. I love to cook, take care of my family, and be an all-around rounded person. I am not flashy, shy, and a little introverted. Kateri is actually my middle name. My name is Cherise.


Where were you born? Where did you grow up?

I was born in North Charleston South Carolina. I grew up between New York and South Carolina. I spent the school year in NY and the summer in SC.


Do you have any kids? Are you married?

Yes, I have one son who is twenty. He is my heart and soul. I also have two stepsons that I love dearly. Yes I just got married in May to my heart, backbone, motivation, and soul.


What are your favorite genres and Authors?

I love Crime, Psychological Thrillers, and Poetry. I would have to say Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, and Joh Grisham to name a few.


When writing how do you come up with ideas for your stories? How do you come up with your characters?

My stories are actually taken from my life, the things I see, and how I have grown as a person. My characters are all me. They represent phases of my life, the things I have been through,  the things I felt, and the things I would have done, if I could have gotten away with it. Lol.


What is in the future for Kateri?

To compete on Hell’s Kitchen, write three more cookbooks, finish up ten more novels, make the New York Times bestseller’s list, and grow old gracefully with my family in Las Vegas.

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Contact the Author:

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Instagram: @author_kateri
Email: Kateri11575@gmail.com 
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