What's New?

It's release day at Astraea Press, and we have some great stories for you. So let's take a peek...

Price: $2.99

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Davey Devaney has hit rock bottom at Fort Gibson after losing most of his family during the forced Trail of Tears march and Indian Removals.  He decides to stop drinking and go in search of his sole remaining brother, Johnny, who left the fort months earlier.  He

travels what he hopes is the same route Johnny took and when he finds his brother, their reunion is all he hoped to find.  Still, his brother’s found a wife and happiness, two things Davey craves.  As he struggles to settle back into ordinary life along the rugged frontier, he finds he’s attracted to a lovely young Scotswoman, Jenny, the adopted daughter of the storekeeper at the nearby settlement.  What Fills The Heart follows the same family from The Marriage Cure with the unique blending of Cherokee and Irish culture.

Price: $2.99

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When Beth left suddenly, it broke two hearts ... but she’d had no choice.  Shane, a rugged, ex-Airborne biker, handled it badly ... but so had she.  Three years later and 2000 miles away, she desperately needs her ex-lover’s protection from a violent menace with ‘bad history’ who’ll do anything to reclaim a mysterious suitcase Beth possesses.

            Long before Shane acquired that overnighter, a ‘silent movie’ actress kept secrets there ... and now several lives are in jeopardy.  An ambitious female state senate candidate hires a ruthless investigator to eliminate potential campaign ‘problems’ like her dark family secret — a bizarre 1889 murder.

            Is Beth’s terrifying ordeal simply because she unwittingly possesses the overnighter’s secrets?  Or is it due to the meth-fueled dumpster-diver’s ‘unfinished business’?

            Shane will likely return to California after he resolves this Tennessee ‘situation’ ... so Beth struggles to resist her reawakened feelings.  But before she can sort out their renewed relationship ... Beth is kidnapped!  To rescue her Shane enters an obvious trap in a dilapidated hotel.  Only with Beth’s help can both survive the violent struggle against her kidnappers.

Off the Wall: Some Oddities about Astraea Press Writers - Part One

Gunnar Grey, mystery~adventure:

When my coffee mug is empty, I want to carry it with my left hand. When it's full, I want to carry it with my right.

AP titles: Deal withthe Devil

Kay Springsteen, contemporary and Regency romance:

I will cross the street rather than walk over a sewer grate of any sort.

AP titles: Heartsight, Heartsent, Operation: Christmas Hearts, Lifeline Echoes, Elusive Echoes, A LotLike a Lady

S.G. Rogers, children’s fantasy and fantasy romance:

I drink Tab for breakfast.

AP titles: The Last Great Wizard of Yden, Minna & the Valentine

Stephy Smith, historical and contemporary Western romance:

I take the back roads to avoid cities.

AP titles: Rescued from the River, Shawnee’s Creek, Sanders Cross, Lizzie and the Rebel, the Long Moon, Gentry’s Gallery of Angels, Swim the River

What's New?

We have some great books to offer you this week at Astraea Press. Check them out!

Price: $2.99

Buy it HERE.

A new boy in the district. Ronnie and her girlfriends Katie and Jasmine think Drake Demento is something special. It is odd that he is never around during the day and unfortunate that his family are so unpleasant. He seems to have found Jasmine’s missing cat, but now Jasmine is unconscious and in hospital.

No one is going to take any notice of a superstitious old grandmother who believes that the Demonto family are evil vampires. And if there are no such things as vampires, just people with odd dietary habits, Ronnie and Katies have to somehow manage to rescue the missing people and animals from a very dangerous place.

 Price: $2.99

Buy it HERE.


Love.  Desire.  A psycho bent on revenge.  But can Charlie Reynolds recognize the most dangerous of the three?

Since being out on her own at eighteen, Charlotte “Charlie” Reynolds is a street-smart “good” girl who hides her desire for love and security behind her feisty and independent personality.  She just never expected a more noxious hero than wealthy, self-consumed Evan Gardner, the CEO and founder of Valley Tech., a successful software company in Los Angeles.  From the moment Evan rescues her from an apparent random attack, their attraction for each other bubbles just below the surface of all-out passion.

Price: $2.99


Buy it HERE.


Allie and her cousin Jennie are shocked at having to spend their holidays at the boarding house Mon Repose. Especially when they discover it is the most boring old place in the middle of nowhere. Then they meet Marilyn who has lots of lively ideas to cope with boredom.  They discover an Ouija board and decide to have a séance and try to figure out how to make Mon Repose a more interesting place.


Suddenly life becomes exciting. There is a teenage genie who can’t grant wishes but brings his horses with him for them to ride. It's unfortunate that the horses are confiscated by the rangers for riding in the National forest, and their trying to figure out why their genie nearly vanishes on them. The three girls are now much too busy solving problems to even have time to be bored.

But by the time their holiday is over, will they realize their most secret wishes have been granted?

Price: $2.99

Buy it HERE. 

Jack Malone has one mission in Chicago—apprehend notorious gangster, Antonio Donnatelli. It shouldn't matter that Donnatelli is using his daughter, Maria, to get close to Jack, to find out his weakness. Jack knows the man's ways, and he can ignore the beautiful Italian lady with her mysterious brown eyes and soft voice. Until the gunfire starts. Then his need to protect her overcomes his duty.

Price: $2.99

Buy it HERE.

Jewl Dite has always struggled with her heritage. Being the daughter of the goddess of love, she questions everything about the emotion. Which is a bummer because she's head over heels for Anj Willam, and thinks the feelings are mutual. It's hard to be sure though when she has magic that has been known to bewitch men into devoting themselves to her. Somehow they're able to strike a balance in their dysfunctional on-again, off-again relationship however.

This balance is disrupted however when a strange boy named Teague enters her life and brings along with him a group of demons. Demons who want to make a deal with her in exchange for the safety of everyone she loves.

Now to protect those she holds most dear, Jewl must rely on the magic she's been trying so desperately to avoid. But at what cost? Will the boy she loves accept this dark secret, or will she lose him forever?

The Importance of Setting

Written by Iris Blobel

My latest book “Journey to Her Dreams” is set in Tasmania (Australia) and Ireland.

Tasmania is only 240 km across the Bass Strait and the most southerly state of Australia. I love Tasmania and on my recent journey to the little Apple Isle I re-discovered the beauty of this place, the hospitality of its people, yet fortunately did not encounter any of the infamous ghosts. J So hopefully  should you ever come to Australia you will also take the time to visit Tasmania.

But I also LOVE Ireland ... what’s not to love? Really. Fairies. Leprechauns. Shamrocks. My kind of place. So for the little bit of mystery and luck I needed in my story I used Ireland!

Tickled your fancy just a little bit ?? Here’s the blurb for “Journey to Her Dream”:

Would you travel around the world to uncover the reason for your dreams?

Hollie Anderson does.

A young woman from Tasmania who lives on a farm just outside Launceston, she has got good looks, likes her job and loves to hang out with her friends. She should be happy, right?

But it’s a recurrent dream that throws her daily life into chaos and takes her on a journey to Ireland. While on her quest for answers she meets Sam in Dublin under unusual circumstances and both women, so different in many ways, find out they have one thing in common - and it changes their lives forever

Price: $2.99 or paperback $11.99

You can buy it .... amongst so many other online stores .... HERE.

How to throw a benefit with Minnie Schultz (from Hauntings of the Heart)

Written by Joselyn Vaughn

I’ve had a lot of experience throwing benefit parties, you know the kind where you want people to have a lot of fun and open their wallets for whatever charity or project you are promoting. I’ve had a good mite of success with this in the community of Carterville, so I thought I’d share my tips with you.

1.       Have a good location. I often use my bed and breakfast. It has a lot of atmosphere and character, especially now that I can tell everyone that it is haunted. It draws people to the party just because they are curious.

2.       Have a good cause. Sponsor an event for a cause that the community truly cares about. One of my pet projects is our local library. The community really appreciates this resource and supports it in whatever way they can.

3.       My last tip and most important (and hardest to get). Have a rich, old guy you intend to fleece. Convince him to match all the donations. If he’s a real sucker (and he’s a bit sweet on you), he’ll match $2 for every one donated.  If he happens to be the fiancé who abandoned you without even a ‘dear Jane’ letter while you were serving your country, the revenge of emptying his pockets is even better.

With these three elements, you are sure to have a fantastic benefit and do great things for your organization.

~ ~ ~

Price: $2.99

Buy it here.

When lost love shows up on your doorstep, what do you do?  Minnie Schultz slams the door in his face.  She and Gordon Anderson have a history—close to ancient history, given the fifty years since their last encounter. After all that time, it might seem like water under the bridge. But the water pours from the plumbing in Minnie’s bed and breakfast, the Lilac Bower, uncovering all the secrets and heartache between them. With the help of some paranormal investigators, an Elvis impersonator and a couple of nosey friends, can Minnie and Gordon find the future they were meant to have?

Horse Happy

Written by Kim Bowman

My and Kay Springsteen’s newest release A LOT LIKE A LADY has my two favorite things – horses and dogs. I thought I’d share some fun pictures from our kids’ 4-H days. These first few photos are from the contesting class. I must admit, I was sad when the kids decided they were too old to dress up. But I have pictures to torture them with forever! MUAHAHAHA!

Starting at the top left we have Jaci and Billy dressed as ballerinas. Sadly we lost the old boy to a heart attack a year and half ago (he was 24). But he had a good life and spend the last five years as a pasture ornament just loving life and eating hay.

On the left are Tye and Sonny dressed as grim reapers. My husband rescued Sonny. He was trapped in a barbed wire fence (a HUGE scar ran down the right side of his body) and he would have died from exposure. We lost Sonny to old age about 5 years ago. He had gone blind, could only see shadows, so we kept him in our backyard where we could keep him safe from the other horses. He was spoiled and lived a long happy life, but we still miss him.

In the middle is Jaci riding Tuff. This is her first year in 4-H. HOW CUTE! The bottom left we have Jaci and Boomer. They did a lot of work on that costume! The bottom right is also Jaci on Boomer; this time as a dog catcher. My sister brought up her beagle, Molly to put in the cage. Why you asked? Because Molly is a HOOT and we knew she’d really put on a show. Which she did, in spades – especially when the judge walked by her eating an ice cream cone. She howled like she was dying. Everyone was in stitches. 

 Our kids loved participating in the contesting events like barrel racing, pole bending. I love the action in these pictures.

The top left picture is of Todd running poles on Luke and the right picture is of Jaci running barrels on Brooke. The picture below is of Jaci performing in the goat tying competition at the Junior Rodeo. Most of the time we missed her because the minute she jumped off Luke, he would make a trip around the arena bucking like a bronco! He loved it and did it every time! At least he waited til she was off. I hope you enjoyed the pictures of my babies! And I hope you’ll check out the A LOT LIKE A LADY!

~ ~ ~

Price: $2.99

Buy it here from Astraea Press, or you can buy it from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Ladies’ maid, Juliet Baines has gotten herself into a pickle by agreeing to go to London and taking the place of her mistress and best friend, Annabella Price, stepsister to the Duke of Wyndham. After all, what does a servant know about being a lady? But Juliet soon finds that pretending to be a lady isn’t nearly as hard as guarding her heart against the folly of wanting a man who’s completely out of reach.

Graeme "Grey" Roland Dominick Markwythe, Sixth Duke of Wyndham, approaches his duties as a nobleman with great dedication and meticulous care. And he’s a man who is not easily fooled...except when he tries to convince himself he's not utterly and madly in love with the beautiful imposter who has turned his life upside down. Will society and his responsibilities to his noble status keep him from opening his heart to the woman he loves?

Who’s Your Inspiration?

Written by Ruth Hartman

For “Better Than Catnip” my inspiration are my two cats, Maxwell and Roxy. Not only did I name the main characters after them, the book itself is about a cat shelter. I’ve loved cats my whole life, so this book was a labor of love for me. I couldn’t think of better character names than those of my own furry kids.

Every cat I’ve ever had has been a stray or a rescue. On top of the ones I’ve adopted and brought inside to live with us, I’ve live-trapped and had neutered/spayed at least a couple of dozen feral cats over the years. Yes, it’s costly, and time-consuming, but it’s so worth it. To know I’ve made a cat’s life easier and healthier is enough for me.

In this story, Roxy’s lifelong passion is, like mine, all about cats. When she meets a man she’s attracted to, things don’t go smoothly. Max, the hero, has to take into consideration Derek, his son. Derek just happens to be terrified of everything “cat”, so Max and Roxy have their work cut out for them.

It’s funny, sweet, and purrfectly romantic!

Blurb for “Better Than Catnip”:

Roxy Williams adores cats. Always has. That’s why she devotes her life to running her stray cat shelter. But is that enough? Isn’t there a man out there who will love her for who she is? A special man who won’t try to change her or ask her to choose between him and her cats?

Max Weller has a problem. His son, Derek, must complete community service for fighting at school. The only available place is the stray cat shelter. But Derek is terrified of cats from a frightening childhood experience. How will they get through this traumatic experience?

Roxy and Max feel the strong attraction pulling them together as Max volunteers at the shelter, too. Will they be able to keep the spark alive? Or will Derek’s fears come between them?

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