Author Archives: Staff

Book Excerpt

Her home had been tossed. This wasn’t like the other break-ins she had been to lately. Furniture was moved from where it usually sat. Cushions pulled off the sofa and chairs, tables uprooted. Naomi didn’t need a light to know that her usually comfortable home was in a state of utter disarray. She tried to pick her way quietly toward the bedrooms when she heard rustling in the kitchen again. She was trained for combat, but she could usually see her aggressors. Going into this battle blind was new to her and left her just a little uneasy. Her breath came in shallow gasps. She tried to control her breathing even as she felt her pulse start to spike. Pausing by where her end table usually sat, she took a moment to center herself and regain control.

Her eyes were now accustomed to the darkness. She looked around for anything she could use as a weapon. Naomi was confident in her martial arts abilities, but if the intruder was a man who was much bigger than she was, she’d want any advantage she could get. All of her weapons were in her room, and she didn’t think she could get there without the intruder seeing her. There was nothing lying on the floor that looked useful. She was considering taking a leg off a chair when she felt breath on her neck. She jumped and whirled around, ready to strike.

The Buzz

Staci Troilo is an excellent writer who is adept at creating multi-faceted characters that find themselves tangled in complicated situations. She writes a mystery that is interesting and compelling and keeps the reader guessing and scratching their heads, all the while carrying them to the end where she wraps it all up into a nice, neat bow. Mystery Heir, the fifth of the Mystery, Ink. books, follows Naomi Dotson – one of two in the series to do so. Each book follows one particular sleuth in a cursed town and stands on its own. A clean, suitable book for all ages. 5 -Star review by Arkansas Book Reviewer, Goodreads

Mystery Ink, Mystery heir is a fast paced mystery that i couldn’t put down. All the characters have such depth and are very easy to relate to, especially Naomi and Penelope Dotson. Staci Troilo captures the Dotson twin’s emotional side while allowing them to use their internal strengths and martial arts training to solve the murder of Joe Harbaugh. Her plot twists keep the reader engaged and guessing until the end. This is a must read for everyone who appreciates a good mystery. 5 -Star review by Icoachgirls, Amazon

Purchase the Book

You can purchase Mystery, Ink: Mystery Heir, Book 5 in the series through our bookstore.

About the Author:

Whether family bonds or romantic entanglements, Staci writes about love that engages readers from page one of her novels and short stories. Her fiction combines dark, dangerous heroes and strong, capable heroines woven together into a contemporary tapestry of tantalizing romance and compassionate relationships. Compelling villains and gripping mysteries feature ordinary characters conquering the odds in extraordinary situations. Staci married her high school sweetheart and they left their hometown and now live in Arkansas with their son, daughter, and two yellow Labradors.

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Book Excerpt:

Some cats are born on Earth and never know who they really are. Others are sent. They are undercover for their years on Earth. They know who they are. They know that they are not from Earth at all. And they are part of a bigger plan.

When Kimba and Hiro were just tiny babies, only a day or two old, a human found them abandoned in a box. He brought them home.He and his wife fed them from bottles and made a nest for them in a large, white bathtub. The humans became Mama and Daddy tothe kittens, and the sisters became part of a family that included two human children: Mindy and Leia. There were also three more cats
in the house: the pure-black sisters Miss Fatty Cat and Slinky, as well as the war-torn, outdoor, wild cat, Buddy. Guarding them all was
The Big Black Beast, who barked and nipped and followed Mama around.

When Kimba and Hiro were still just gangly kittens, they discovered that they were being watched by aliens. But more shocking, they learned that they are aliens too! Through the large mirror in their bathroom nursery, Regalus (their alien cat contact) communicated
with them. The sisters learned that all cats are really from another planet. It is the job of a house cat to cohabitate with humans and
report back on their actions to the Cats in the Mirror. These reports from cats on Earth to cats in space go on all over the world.

As Kimba and Hiro talked with Regalus through the bathroom mirror, he told them about their heritage of freedom and independence from humans. He gave them a series of missions to complete. The first simply involved rubbing their fur on the humans so that the agents could track them throughout the city using mirrors located all over town. Hiro lost interest in the missions, but Kimba loved them. She was excited to be a part of something big and important. It gave her a sense of adventure and freedom. But once she escaped the house to explore outside, she discovered that the world is a big and sometimes scary place.

Then Kimba was enlisted to steal the password to Mama’s Facebook page and use it to help coordinate a worldwide cat invasion. Feeling guilty, and knowing that she should be faithful and loyal to her cat heritage, Kimba obediently began the mission. But, in the end, she could not follow through. Her love for her human family, and her fears for their safety in a world run by alien cats, won out. She failed
to complete the assignment.

After that, Kimba and Hiro agreed to stop all communications with the Cats in the Mirror to keep their humans safe. But the sisters’ destiny is too large for them to remain cut off from their feline family forever.

The Buzz:

When I finished reading and reviewing Why Kimba Saved the World, I couldn’t imagine Meg Dendler surpassing that story or the personification of the animals in her first book in the Cats in the Mirror Series. I. Was. Wrong! Once again, Dendler has developed the cats and one dog in her story to be exactly as we see them day-to-day, those of us who are cat and dog lovers. Personally, I own a black-and-white tuxedo girl, and with each page turn she leaps out at me as Hiro does this or that. Dendler possesses a talent for character development. As before, Vacation Hiro does not lack for action, dialogue and enough suspense to keep any reader engaged. When I say “any reader,” this is a book not just for the middle reader, but also for animal lovers, those who love to read about animals, grandparents and parents to read to those younger than middle readers, and anyone who loves a touch of fantasy. Included in Vacation Hiro are illustrations (created by the author’s daughter) and images of Hiro, Kimba and another cat character in the book. They add a great deal to the book’s appeal. 5-star Review, Sherry, Goodreads

In Vacation Hiro our main character, Hiro, is thrown when the family packs up and leaves without returning that night… she misses her daddy and is worried how he will sleep without her curled up next to him. She is thrown into even more turmoil when she begins talking to the forbidden cats in the mirror in her parent’s bathroom and learns of her complicated background. She brings her sister Kimba into the exploration and mystery and encounters a whole new world. I enjoyed following the parents and children to their family trip and reading how there were cats monitoring the family movements so that the two kittens, Kimba and Hiro, had the opportunity to learn and understand why they were so important to the space cats. 4-star Review, The Styling Librarian, Goodreads  


Purchase the book:

All the books in the Cats in the Mirror series, including Vacation Hiro can be purchased through our bookstore.

About the Author:

Meg Welch Dendler is the award-winning author of over 100 articles in newspapers, magazines, and on web sites. She has interviewed interesting people from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Sylvester Stallone to the Archbishop of Capetown. Now alien cats and ghosts run her world. Her Moonbeam Children’s Book Award winning debut novel, “Why Kimba Saved The World,” was followed by the sequel, “Vacation Hiro,” in November of 2013, and her paranormal-style adult book “At The Corner of Magnetic and Main”–set in her very haunted city of Eureka Springs–is due out in 2015.

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Book Excerpt

The men moved in to finish the job of lowering the coffin into the ground and replacing the dirt.

“Are you sure we have to meet today?” Caroline asked as she and KC stepped away to give the gravediggers room to work. “Reading Uncle Angus’s will so soon after his funeral seems so…I don’t know…ghoulish.”

KC nodded. “That was his request, but it doesn’t have to be right this second. Take a break, go home and get some rest. You can come to my office later this afternoon if that works better for you.”

She shook her head. “No, let’s just get it done.”

“Okay then. I’ll meet you at the office.”

KC turned, her leather-tooled cowboy boots grinding in the loose gravel near the grave site, her long skirt whipping around her ankles as she marched toward her battered truck.

After blowing one last kiss toward the grave of her late great-uncle who’d welcomed her with open arms, Caroline left the cemetery. The entire Montgomery clan stood in a cluster in the parking lot. She returned their waves as she drove past. Her stomach clenched when Travis Montgomery removed his hat and dipped his head toward her.

The Buzz

I enjoyed this book so much. Cynthia D’Alba has woven a wonderful story about two characters that are meant to be together. Travis is one of the sexiest cowboys out there and very family oriented. Caroline is strong and prides herself on standing on her own two feet and not leaning on anyone. She will do anything to make dying a Grandmother happy and comes up with a outlandish scheme. That just might backfire on her. I loved everyone of the secondary characters and I can’t wait for the next book in this series. 4.5-Star Review, Lori Meehan, Goodreads

Purchase the Book:

All the books in the Texas Montgomery Mavericks series, including Texas Tango can be purchased through our bookstore.

About the Author:

Cynthia D’Alba was born and raised in a small Arkansas town. After being gone for a number of years, she’s thrilled to be making her home back in Arkansas living in a vine-covered cottage on the banks of an eight-thousand acre lake. When she’s not reading or writing or plotting, she’s doorman for her two dogs, cook, housekeeper and chief bottle washer for her husband and slave to a noisy, messy parrot. She loves to chat online with friends and fans.

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email her at cynthia@cynthiadalba.com

To send her snail mail, write to:

Cynthia D’Alba

PO Box 2116

Hot Springs, AR 71914

Book Trailer

The Buzz

Cats have a soft spot in my heart, and so does Why Kimba Saved the World, a book about cats. Well, not regular cats—though, they are amazing—but cats who have a collective secret mission. Kimba, an all-white cat with a rebellious streak, is enlisted into an agency of cats who can communicate through mirrors. They tell her of her real heritage, one where humans aren’t the loving caretakers of cats. This book captures cats with amazing accuracy, and the interactions between the cats and their owners are realistic. Who doesn’t grab their cats and hug and kiss them like their own children? (I know I do.) It’s an easy read, and it’s suitable for the whole family. Children will love Kimba’s desperate need to accomplish ridiculous missions outside and inside her home. Parents can relate to Kimba’s owners. Cats may find themselves in Kimba or Hiro or…er, that’s right. Cats can’t read! Why Kimba Saved the World will make any reader believe that cats aren’t from this world. 5-Star Review, Jeridel Banks, Goodreads

Purchase the book:

Why Kimba Saved the World and Vacation Hiro can be purchase through our bookstore.

About the Author:

Meg Welch Dendler is the award-winning author of over 100 articles in newspapers, magazines, and on web sites. She has interviewed interesting people from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Sylvester Stallone to the Archbishop of Capetown. Now alien cats and ghosts run her world. Her Moonbeam Children’s Book Award winning debut novel, “Why Kimba Saved The World,” will be followed by the sequel, “Vacation Hiro,” in November of 2013, and her YA/NA paranormal-style book “At The Corner of Magnetic and Main”–set in her very haunted city of Eureka Springs–is due out in the spring of 2014.

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