Contemporary
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Good Vibration by S M Mala
Sylvie works in an e-commerce company, ‘Good Vibration’, specializing in the distribution of adult toys. She’s surrounded by colorful people as well as interesting items she refuses to use.
The place has been her lifeline, even though it’s made out of silicone and plastic, for two and a half years as she still tries to come to terms with the devastation of losing of her husband while bringing up their daughter, alone.
Her world is turned upside down when her work partner collapses and his stepson, Finlay, comes in to sort out the business, which his family own.
The consummated snob isn’t impressed with it and wants it to shut it down. He finds the product and people distasteful … and it shows. And he has his own problems, as his beautiful French wife has just told him she’s pregnant but he might not be the father.
Determined to keep the place open, against someone fixed on closing it down, the pair fight tooth and nail to achieve what they want, both poles apart on how they see the world and why.
But could opposites really attract?
Or is it that they want to be with that person, but all for the wrong reasons?
It’s about finding unexpected love in the most extraordinary place when faced with every possible obstacle to stop having a ‘Good Vibration’.
Black & White by Erol Rashit
A young man, Igor, adopts as his mother a middle aged woman, Sylvia, after meeting her in a café, each having come from the nearby cemetery. He had been visiting his mother’s grave; she, her son’s. In taking it upon himself to investigate the death of Sylvia’s son, Igor soon finds himself confronting racists. Sylvia is black; Igor is white. The deeper he delves, the more intricately embroiled he becomes and the more he becomes the focus of a police investigation himself.
Alongside the surface interplay of the characters, Igor remains preoccupied with an inquiry into the nature of existence. Within the field of human activity, notions of ‘good and bad’ and ‘pleasure and pain’ are perhaps bound to prevail, but the essence of existence must precede such differentiation. The presence of suffering in the world should not be taken as proof that the world cannot be perfect. A photograph consisting only of black or only of white would probably seem pretty boring. A world consisting only of good or only of bad would perhaps be comparable to such a photograph. Each extreme acquires its significance by being in juxtaposition with its opposite. Happiness does not result from the elimination of suffering; rather, happiness may ensue when the realm of pleasure and pain has been transcended.
One aspect of the title, Black & White, relates to issues of race. Another aspect relates to Igor’s ability in violent situations to interpret matters in black and white terms. However, it is as a general phrase covering all dualities that the title derives its primary import. The use of the ampersand character in the title imitates its usage by photographers when referring to ‘black & white’ images, and is intended to denote a synthesis of the individual terms into a unitary whole.
The book includes some brief passages depicting scenes of polyamorous sex (pleasure) and homicidal violence (pain).
The Runaway Roommate by C.S. Mae
Casey Peters has a problem and that problem is the half-Korean hottie that moved in when her former roommate moved out.
Now her life has become like an episode from one of her favorite dramas, complete with: crazy exes, roommate shenanigans and confusing plot twists.
This story is a Naughty Niblet: the perfect amount of sexy to satisfy, but not make your hips big.
What’s Behind Your Belly Button? A Psychological Perspective of the Intelligence of Human Nature and Gut Instinct by Martha Char Love
“What’s Behind Your Belly Button?” explains what your gut feelings are actually capable of telling you about your inner instinctive needs, how to listen to the voice of your gut, and how to use both of your brains—head and gut—to work together for your optimal health and well-being. Although numerous books and articles have recently talked about the gut instincts as valuable in giving us useful hunches in the decision-making process, “What’s Behind Your Belly Button?” goes much further and explains how gut feelings not only have a psychological intelligence of their own, but are also understandably rational in their functioning and reflect in their own voice how well the two instinctive human needs of acceptance and of control of one’s own responses in our lives are being met.
Since Dr. Michael Gershon, M.D., published in 1999 his revolutionary medical findings that demonstrated that the gut has an intelligence of its own and called it the “Second Brain”, people have been examining their guts with growing interest in trying to understand their gut feelings. “What’s Behind YOur Belly Button?” answers the questions many people have of the second brain and the ENS in a new Gut Psychology, and explore how to use both your head and gut brains to work together for a healthy life. It is written in a narrative style that allows for the reader to understand the experience within themselves of having two brains and it makes thinking of the human being with these two brains become truly understandable for the first time.
While the authors make this material easy to understand, the psychological explanations of gut intelligence and instincts in this book are comprehensive, well-researched, and based upon clinical studies with hundreds people by the two authors. Utilizing the research of Dr. Gershon, the work of Dr. Lise Eliot who charts the development of children from conception through the first five years of life, recent research of their own in the Psychology Department at Sonoma State University, and their vast clinical experience in career counseling and psychometry, the two authors of What’s Behind Your Belly Button have presented an interpretation of recent medical research into a new revolutionary understanding of gut instincts and a more accurate behavioral understanding of the Self and human nature than has previously been available.
This book is recommended for anyone looking for a hopeful view of humankind and a method for getting in touch with gut instincts to reduce stress, cope with fear and anxiety, deal with health issues and make efforts to stay healthy, and to increase optimal problem-solving and life-decision making abilities. It is a book that would be useful for general audience readers as a self-help book, as well as for scholars of psychology, education, neurology, medicine, and business organizational leadership interested in the well-being of healthy decision-making and the human condition. It is also suggested for parents and teachers who would like to increase the intuitive intelligence of both themselves and their children .
Breathe for Me by Natalie Anderson
The last thing Chelsea Greene wants is to be rescued, but that’s exactly what happens when she’s caught wearing nothing but her swimsuit during a midnight emergency evacuation drill. Turns out her ‘hero’ is a former lifeguard who has no hesitation in offering the kiss of life. So not happening, right?
But for emotionally chastened Chelsea, one touch changes everything. She discovers a desire to satisfy this arrogant, demanding tease. Unable to express her own fantasies, she finds unspeakable pleasure in serving his.
Xander Lawson exudes easy charm. He likes a woman unafraid to match his appetite for unfettered fun. He doesn’t do complicated or emotional. But the raw need emanating from fragile Chelsea compels him closer. He can’t resist spinning a sensual fantasy world around them.
As passion spills outside their carefully selected boundaries, Xander learns Chelsea’s stronger than he first thought. But is she strong enough to handle the intensity he’s always kept hidden?
On the Fly by Katie Kenyhercz
Jacey Vaughn has a newly minted MBA when her father dies unexpectedly and leaves her his NHL team. Well-versed in business but not so much in hockey, Jacey navigates this new world with a few stumbles. She definitely doesn’t plan on falling for the team captain. At the first hint of scandal, a local Las Vegas reporter latches on, and Jacey finds herself in the newspaper with headlines that hurt instead of help. Jacey’s determined to keep her father’s legacy alive and make the team successful, but while she has no problem denying her feelings to the media, she can’t lie to herself.
Carter Phlynn has known nothing but hockey his entire life. Drafted into the NHL at age eighteen, winning the Stanley Cup is all he’s ever wanted. Nothing has ever disrupted his focus. Not until he meets his new boss. Jacey gets under his skin like no one else, and while dating the team owner would be a disaster for his career and reputation, he can’t get her out of his head. Carter has never had a relationship last more than a month, but the more he’s around Jacey, the more he can’t picture his future without her.
Thirty Something (Nothing’s how we dreamed it would be) by Filipa Fonseca Silva
Joana is a conservative, controlling woman who expected much more from marriage; Maria is trying to get back on her feet after being dumped just before her wedding; Filipe hides his broken heart in failed relationships. Is this as good as it gets when you’re thirty something? That’s what these three friends from college times will find out during a dysfunctional dinner party. Because life is not always how we dreamed it would be.
The Deception by Marina Martindale
A string of misfortunes has left photographer Carrie Daniels penniless and desperate. When her former mentor, Louise Dickenson, steps forward to offer her a job as an art model for a private commission, Carrie has no choice but to accept. Things seem to be looking up when she meets Scott Andrews, however her friends soon realize that Scott isn’t who he appears to be, and Carrie’s luck goes from bad to worse when Louise’s photos of her fall into the wrong hands. Can Alex Montoya, a long-lost friend from her past, save her from ruin?
The Reunion by Marina Martindale
Gillian Matthews is becoming famous in the art world. All her hard work has finally paid off and her paintings are being sold in several prestigious art galleries. Gillian expected her opening night at a Denver gallery to go flawlessly, but her perfect evening was disrupted when a man from her past suddenly appeared. Her long lost true love. The one man she never forgot, never got over, and never expected to ever see again. Has he come to wish her well? Or is his motive less than pure?
Dream Lover by Té Russ
Liz and John have been best friends for years. They’ve never thought about taking things past their platonic relationship. John was previous left at the altar, and Liz has relationship issues of her own stemming all the way back from childhood.
But at some point things begin to change for John. Once he embraces the feelings he is developing for Liz, he makes it his mission to make her see whether she realizes it or not she feels the same way.
