Today, we are joining the book release blitz for historical fiction novel Too Much the Lion! Check out the book, learn about author Preston Lewis and enter for a chance to win a prize in the book tour giveaway at the end of this post.

US Historical Fiction/Civil War

Date Published: 05-13-2025

Publisher: Bariso Press

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The soldiers did the fighting; the generals, the Infighting

In the waning months of the American Civil War, a delusional Confederate commander makes a desperate attempt to change the course of the South’s dwindling hopes by invading middle Tennessee. The tragic result of Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood’s misplaced hubris devastates his Army of Tennessee and alters the lives of the citizens of Franklin, Tennessee.

In a historical novel reminiscent of The Killer Angels, Too Much the Lion follows a handful of Confederate generals, infantrymen and local residents through the five days leading up to the horrific Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864. The lives of soldiers ranging from Major General Patrick Cleburne to Brigadier General Hiram Granbury and from Sergeant Major Sumner Cunningham to Corporal Sam Watkins will be forever changed by Hood’s decisions and mistakes.

Franklin civilians like apprehensive and loving mother Mary Alice McPhail and teen Hardin Figuers, desperate to serve the Confederacy but too young to enlist, are ensnared in the events that will bring death and devastation to their very doorsteps. Devout Confederate Chaplain Charles T. Quintard must reconcile his religious beliefs with his support of slavery. Slaves like the elder Wiley Howard and the inquisitive young Henry B. Free are trapped on the fault line between what has been and what could be.

Too Much the Lion offers an unvarnished account of the dying days of the Confederacy in a powerful and moving narrative of honor and betrayal, bravery and cowardice, death and survival. Told with poignancy and honesty by an accomplished novelist, Too Much the Lion achieves for the Battle of Franklin what The Killer Angels did for the Battle of Gettysburg, providing a classic fictional account of one of the Civil War’s pivotal encounters.

About the Author

Preston Lewis is the award-winning author of more than 50 western, historical, juvenile, and nonfiction works.  In 2021 he was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters for his literary achievements.

Western Writers of America (WWA) has honored Lewis with two Spur Awards, one for best article and the second for best western novel.  He has received ten Will Rogers Medallion Awards (six gold, two silver and two bronze) for written western humor, short stories, short nonfiction, and traditional Western novel.

Lewis is a past president of WWA and the West Texas Historical Association, which named him a fellow in 2016.  He holds a bachelor’s degree from Baylor University and a master’s degree from Ohio State University, both in journalism.  Additionally, he has a second master’s degree in history from Angelo State University.  He lives in San Angelo, Texas, with wife Harriet Kocher Lewis.

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Today, I have a nonfiction book in our book release spotlight! Check out Open Education and learn about authors Matt Bowman and Isaac Morehouse!

How to Reimagine Learning, Ignite Curiosity, and Prepare Kids for Success

Nonfiction (Education)

Date Published: May 13, 2025

Publisher: Elite Online Publishing

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The world is changing faster than ever before, and our education system is falling behind. As technology reshapes the way we live, work, and play, it's time to rethink how we educate our children for a future full of innovation and uncertainty. In Open Education, Matt Bowman and Isaac Morehouse challenge the outdated norms of traditional schooling and offer a bold vision for the future of learning—one that’s flexible, individualized, and designed to ignite a child’s natural curiosity.

For over a century, schools have been rigid in their approach:

- Grouping kids by age rather than ability

- Teaching at a standardized pace, ignoring individual needs

- Confining learning to strict schedules and physical classrooms

- Grading on an arbitrary A-F scale that doesn’t reflect real-world skills

But the future requires something different. Today’s job market values creativity, adaptability, and lifelong learning—qualities often stifled by conventional education. Matt and Isaac argue that children should be given more freedom and autonomy in their learning, allowing them to explore their interests, embrace failure as a stepping stone, and cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset that will serve them no matter where life takes them.

Open Education is your guide to reimagining the learning journey. If you're ready to break free from the one-size-fits-all approach, rekindle your child's love of learning, and prepare them for a rapidly changing world, this book will show you how.

Prepare your child for a future where thinking outside the box is the key to success.

STUDENTS AREN’T STANDARD

One evening, when our youngest daughter was about seven, she skipped into our bedroom just to tell us she was going to read a book. As she skipped back out, I turned to my husband, Matt, and asked, “At what point does life take that skip out of you? When do we lose that pure joy in learning?” That question has stuck with me ever since.

Too often, I have seen how our traditional education system slowly replaces that natural joy with rigid expectations and standardized measures. As we raised our five children—all in the same home environment and with the same routines, house rules, and opportunities—we noticed something that every parent before us already knew: each child is profoundly different. But what struck me wasn’t just their different personalities or interests, it was how differently each one learned and developed.

Like many parents, we started with traditional approaches. I volunteered at the local public school and ran the book fair. Matt coached every sport until our kids were teenagers. We did all the “right” things. But our perspective began to shift when our oldest son wanted to transfer to a brand-new charter school, something almost unheard of in our community at the time. Back then, leaving your assigned district school was seen as a rejection of public education. The pushback was immediate. “What are you doing?” people asked. “Do you even understand what you’re giving up?”

We were more concerned about our child feeling validated and successful than following the expected path. Each year we asked if he wanted to return to his district school. He chose to stay, and he thrived. Later, when our younger children reached the same age, they chose a different path entirely. Each choice was different, but each was right for that child.

During this time, we sat down with a calculator and made a startling discovery. Our children spent about seven hours a day in school for 180 days, roughly 1,260 hours per year. That left 2,390 hours of potential learning time at home. The math was undeniable. Time spent outside the classroom matters. Parents are ultimately their children’s primary educators, whether they plan for it or not. This realization led us to ask a bigger question. If our own children need more flexible, personalized education options, how many other families face the same challenge?

In 2009, we created My Tech High (now OpenEd) to help students access different classes, resources, and opportunities that spoke to their individual interests and learning styles. Years later, our conviction about personalized learning was reinforced in a deeply personal way. One of our sons was everything the public school system could want. He was a student body officer, a top varsity athlete in multiple sports, and he earned excellent grades. He was well-rounded, well-liked, and loved to learn.

Yet, when it came time to take the ACT, he consistently scored below what colleges expected, despite multiple attempts.

Watching him pour his heart and soul into studying, only to feel crushed by the results again and again, confirmed what we already knew. Standardized testing measurements can never capture a child’s true potential nor accurately reflect what they have learned.

During this journey, I felt God speaking to me, helping me understand something crucial: God is the author of diversity. A child’s learning style isn’t a flaw to be corrected by the system, it’s a divine design to be celebrated. Each child’s unique way of learning is beautiful, intentional, and worthy of honor. This understanding transformed how we saw education itself.

One year, we were excited to see several OpenEd students  earn their associate degree before they turned eighteen. Matt suggested we might want to host an event to celebrate this major accomplishment. I asked him, “Who decides which achievements are worthy of celebration? Why not host an event to celebrate  students who started their own business, or mastered a musical  instrument, or achieved their academic goals in their own personal way through art, dance, sports, or an industry certification?” 

We’ve been guided by this perspective ever since. Today, at various in-person OpenEd events, parents I have never met approach me with tears in their eyes, grateful that their children finally have the freedom to learn in ways that work for them. I’ll never forget one parent who shared with me that her eight-year-old son was deeply discouraged. He was profoundly gifted in science and was convinced he had learned everything there was to know. He believed his local school had no more challenges to offer him. When he was given the opportunity to attend a college physics class with his grandfather, the professor opened his eyes to ongoing discoveries in quantum mechanics and dark matter. His natural curiosity reignited, and he realized that human knowledge wasn’t finite. We’re all still learning, still discovering. This changed his life forever.

As a teenager, my father encouraged me to become an expert in something people would seek out. I struggled with that advice as I thought every field of expertise was already claimed. Now I see the irony. Through building OpenEd, I have been fortunate to become an expert in finding ways to help families trust their instincts about their children’s education. Today, even as two of our own children are public school teachers, we understand that education isn’t about choosing between traditional and alternative approaches, it’s about having the confidence to combine different learning opportunities in ways that work for your unique child. That’s Open Education.

This book offers a roadmap for that journey. Matt and Isaac break down the practical insights and systematic approach we’ve developed over fifteen years of working with families who want more for their children. The tools to build something better are already in your hands, and they’re simpler to adopt than you might think.

– Amy Bowman, Co-founder, OpenEd, mother of five children (all married), Grammy to four grandchildren

About Matt Bowman

Matt Bowman is an innovator in education and technology, and is deeply dedicated to transforming the way children learn. He and his wife, Amy founded OpenEd together, and the Bowmans have spent over three decades championing personalized education, combining cutting-edge technology with an entrepreneurial spirit to help students thrive in a rapidly changing world. Matt and Amy focus every day on empowering young learners by offering them the tools and flexibility to pursue their passions and develop the skills necessary for future success.

A former sixth-grade teacher and tech executive, Matt has been at the forefront of online education since the 1990s. He holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in education, and is an alumnus of Stanford’s Executive Business Management program. In addition to his professional accomplishments, Matt has been a speaker and panelist at numerous educational and technology conferences. His insights into the future of education have been sought after by educators and industry leaders alike.

The Bowmans’ unique approach to education has earned them recognition across the country, with OpenEd collectively serving more than 100,000 student enrollments over the years across multiple states, including many military families worldwide. Their work is driven by their core belief that “Learning happens inside learners, not inside classrooms.”

Matt and Amy live in the mountains of Utah, where they enjoy spending time with their five adult children and their spouses, plus four grandchildren (and counting). They continue to explore new ways to innovate within the educational landscape to help all children access the resources to help them be successful, today and in the future.

About Isaac Morehouse

Isaac Morehouse is the CEO of OpenEd, working to open up all education options to all learners. He has founded and built several companies, served as a CEO and CMO, and loves rallying people around a vision and building teams to do the things he can’t.

Isaac is dedicated to the relentless pursuit of freedom and is deeply passionate about education and entrepreneurship. He loves writing, music, his wife Heather and four kids, a good cigar, and getting angry about sports (especially the Detroit Lions).

He has given hundreds of talks and interviews, authored, co-authored, or ghostwritten over 3,000 articles and twelve books, helped thousands of people launch their careers, and dozens of businesses tell their stories. He is a firm believer in learning out loud and making a daily commitment to creation in all forms. He currently lives with his family in Bradenton, Florida.

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Today, I have a cozy mystery in our book release spotlight! Check out Music Box Mystery and learn about author Joanne Pence!

(The Cook and Inspector Mysteries Book 8)

Cozy Mystery

Date Published: April 8, 2025

A music box, a murder, and a message from the grave...

When would-be gourmet cook Angie Amalfi takes a seemingly ordinary music box to be repaired, a series of grisly murders begins, each one inching closer to her and her fiancé, San Francisco Homicide Inspector Paavo Smith. As she and Paavo race to uncover the truth, they discover the music box isn’t just a relic—it’s a key to unraveling secrets that someone is willing to kill to protect. The discovery leads to dark, emotional chapters from the past—chapters that everyone believed would be buried forever.

For readers of the Inspector Rebecca Mayfield mystery series, this story takes place soon after Rebecca and Angie's cousin Richie meet (in the novella, The Thirteenth Santa). Richie has a minor role in this story.

NOTE: The main characters in this story appear in an early mystery series by the author which is being completely reimagined and updated.

The Cook and Inspector Mysteries

Death on a Silver Platter, Book 1

A Quiche Before Dying, Book 2

The Marinara Murders, Book 3

Close Encounters of the Deadly Kind, Book 4

Death by Devil's Food, Book 5

Blind Date's Bitter End, Book 6

The Taverna Affair, Book 7

The Music Box Mystery, Book 8

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Meet the Author

Joanne Pence is an award-winning, USA Today best-selling author of the Inspector Rebecca Mayfield mysteries, The Cook and the Inspector mysteries, the Donnelly Cabin Inn series, and the Ancient Secrets supernatural suspense novels (writing as J.M. Pence), as well as contemporary romance, historical fiction, romantic suspense, and a fantasy. Her novels present a variety of times, places, and reading experiences from mysterious to thrilling, emotional to lightly humorous, as well as powerful tales of times long past. 

Her books have won or been nominated for a number of high honors, including the Willa Cather Literary Award for Historical Fiction; North American Book Award for Mystery; Idaho Top Fiction Award; The Golden Quill, RWA's Rita and Golden Heart Awards, Daphne du Maurier Award, Independent Bookseller's Golden Scroll, and Romantic Times Career Achievement Award and Best Amateur Sleuth Award.

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This morning, I have a Christian young adult fantasy novel in our our book release blitz spotlight! Check out Forever and learn about author Gina Detwiler.

YA Christian Fantasy

Date Published: April 1, 2025

The End Times have arrived…

Grace Fortune leads the rebellion against the United Earth, devastated by the belief that her husband, Jared Lorn, has joined the dark side as the son of the ruthless Supreme Lord Grigori Zazel.

But Jared, now known as the gladiator and demigod Baldyr, is locked in a desperate battle with his fallen angel father. His father's plan? To annihilate not just Israel but the entire world.

As the apocalypse looms, will Grace and Jared find a way to reunite before the world is destroyed? Can they survive the coming devastation? And what happens when a new, even more terrifying enemy emerges—one who will exploit their love and humanity to bring about their downfall?

All these questions and more will be answered in the thrilling conclusion of The Forlorn series.

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About the Author

Gina Detwiler is the author of the award-winning YA Supernatural series Forlorn and is co-author with Priscilla Shirer of the bestselling middle-grade fantasy series, The Prince Warriors. Her non-fiction books include The Ultimate Bible Character Guide and The Ultimate Bible Character Devotional.

She currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, her dog, several imaginary friends, and all of the characters from her books, even the dead ones. She is also the author of three beautiful daughters, for whom she shares credit with her husband, Steve.

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This morning, I have a young adult Christian dystopian novel in our book release spotlight! Check out The End: Alpha, learn about author Aaron Ryan and be sure to enter for a chance to win a prize in the book tour giveaway at the end of this post. 

YA Christian Sci-Fi/Dystopian

Date Published: 03-05-2025

When a man in power believes he's God, mankind doesn't have a prayer

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Award-winning and bestselling author Aaron Ryan lives in Washington with his wife and two sons, along with Macy the dog, Winston the cat, and Merry & Pippin, the finches.

He is the author of the bestselling "Dissonance" 6-book alien invasion saga, the post-apocalyptic Christian fiction saga "The End," the sci-fi thrillers "Forecast" and "The Slide," the children's picture books "The Ring of Truth," "The Sword of Joy" and "The Book of Power," the business reference business books "How to Successfully Self-Publish & Promote Your Self-Published Book" and "The Superhero Anomaly", 6 business books on voiceovers penned under his former stage name (Joshua Alexander), as well as a previous fictional novel, "The Omega Room."

When he was in second grade, he was tasked with writing a creative assignment: a fictional book.  And thus, "The Electric Boy" was born: a simple novella full of intrigue, fantasy, and 7-year-old wits that electrified Aaron's desire to write.  From that point forward, Aaron evolved into a creative soul that desired to create.

He enjoys the arts, media, music, performing, poetry, and being a daddy.  In his lifetime he has been an author, voiceover artist, wedding videographer, stage performer, musician, producer, rock/pop artist, executive assistant, service manager, paperboy, CSR, poet, tech support, worship leader, and more.  The diversity of his life experiences gives him a unique approach to business, life, ministry, faith, and entertainment.

Aaron's favorite author by far is J.R.R. Tolkien, but he also enjoys Suzanne Collins, James S.A. Corey, Michael Crichton, Marie Lu, Madeleine L'Engle, John Grisham, Tom Clancy, Tim Lebbon, Christopher Golden, C.S. Lewis, Stephen King and Dave Barry.

Aaron has always had a passion for storytelling. Visit the Dissonance saga website or The End saga website.

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This morning, I have a wholesome romance novel in our book release spotlight! Check out The Treasure of Loon Lake and learn about author Rachelle Paige Campbell!

Wholesome Romance

Publication Date: 02/11/2025

Publisher: Harbor Lane Books, LLC

In a few hours, MOLLY MAGUIRE’s life implodes. After her apartment burns down, a lawyer shows up at her office informing her that a distant relative left her a home in Loon Lake, Wisconsin. Then she’s fired. With nothing holding her back, and nowhere else to go, she heads to the small town.

Young retiree, GRANT REEM sold his tech start-up and was contacted by the owner of his family’s favorite vacation spot with an interesting next act: buy a tour boat company in Loon Lake. With nothing stopping him, and always putting his trust in the universe, Grant buys the business and moves across the country. When he bumps into the one who got away, his college girlfriend Molly, he’s thrilled, but she’s not the same go-getter who dumped him.

Molly’s new home floods the first night, and she escapes to the Inn with a few dry belongings. She bumps into Grant and learns of the local legend about her family’s curse. When she uncovers a treasure map, she decides to take a chance with Grant’s encouragement. As they search for the treasure, however, they met unexpected opposition, learn about local superstitions, and have to decide if fate—or some other force—wants them to win or lose.

About the Author

Rachelle Paige Campbell writes bestselling contemporary romances filled with heart and hope. She believes love and laughter can change lives. No matter the location—big city, small town, or European kingdom—her feel-good stories always end with a happily ever after. She’s grateful for the support of her family, her robot floor cleaner, and her reluctant writing partner (her dog).

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This morning, I have a historical mystery to share in our book release spotlight! Check out Ivory Bones, learn about author Sara Winokur and be sure to enter for a chance to win a prize in the book tour giveaway at the end of this post!

The Lewis Chessmen Murders

Historical Mystery

Date Published: February 4, 2025

Publisher: Briarstone Press (sarawinokur.com)

Ancient chess pieces. A centuries-old diary. And a modern killer closing in.

When Icelandic forensic geneticist Brynja Pálsdóttir, haunted by her family’s dark legacy, is drawn into the search for the missing Lewis Chessmen, she becomes a pawn in an assassin’s deadly game.

A centuries-old diary, written by a woman abducted during the brutal Barbary pirate raid on Iceland in 1627, lands on her desk. Brynja soon realizes the woman’s story may hold the key to finding the priceless medieval artifacts.

As Brynja digs deeper, she becomes the target, surrounded by deception and unsure of whom she can trust: the NYPD colleague hiding her own motives, the sculptor whose family lays claim to the chessmen, the lover she has spurned, even her own assistant.

As the past and present collide, betrayal, loss, and survival transcend time and place.

Ivory Bones: The Lewis Chessmen Murders is a gripping blend of Nordic noir, historical intrigue, and murder mystery, where ancient secrets and modern dangers force Brynja to face a dark, inner truth before the assassin makes their final move.

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