Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: chanti

The 2023 LITTLE PEEPS Book Awards Finalists for Early Readers & Picture Books
The Little Peeps Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Early Readers. The Little Peeps Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring stories of all shapes and sizes written to an audience for Early Readers. Story books, Beginning Chapter Books, Picture Books, Activity Books, and Educational Books. These books have advanced to the Semi-Finalists for the 2023 CIBAs. (For Young Adult Fiction see our Dante Rossetti Awards, for Middle Grade Readers see our Gertrude Warner Awards.)

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2023 Little Peeps Early Readers Short List to the 2023 Little Peeps Book Awards Semi-finalists. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are the FINALISTS of the 2023 Little Peeps Book Awards novel competition for Early Readers!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Beth Davis – Hanna the Hawk is a Super Youneek Beast
- Laura Teste – Book of Bad Manners
- Joshua Swank – Barry the Brave: A Flowerageous Journey to Courage
- Michael Michie – Pablo Avocado
- Adalgisa and David Nico – Fish in the Desert: The Untold Story of the Death Valley Pupfish
- Susan Sullivan – Bob Tales, Land of the Woody Warbles
- Beth Davis – Lacinda the Lion is a Super Youneek Beast
- Dave O’Hare – Quigley Lopez, A Friend For Life
- Julie G Fox – Katya’s Sunflowers
- K.R. King – Charlie the Champion
- Hillary Harper – Thankful FUR You
- Ruth Amanda – Geckos in the Garden
- Julie G Fox – The Dreamer: The Girl Who Dreamed The War Over
- David Horn – Eudora Space Kid: Do the Robot!
- Brooks Olbrys – The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob – A Secret in the Deep
- Jonna Laster – Nutshell Regatta
- Anna Casamento Arrigo – A Child’s Love
- Shaziya M. Jaffer, Brad W. Rudover , Jessica Alexanderson – The Girl Who Recycled 1 Million Cans
- Raven Howell – Friends Come in all Sizes
- Anthony Delauney – Rohan and Nyra and Big Sister’s Bet
- Katharine Mitropoulos – Ready… Set… Frog!
- T.K. Sheffield – The Night Icelandic Horses Saved Christmas Eve
- Katrina Johnson – Lily’s Song
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 LITTLE PEEPS Awards is:

Ravens Roost

by Maggie Bates

See the Full List of 2022 Winners here

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on the next rounds of judging.

Winners will be announced at the 2023 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

The Chanticleer Authors Conference

Featuring authors like D.D. Black, Kim Hornsby, book doctor Christine Fairchild, and Mark Berridge, our twelfth annual conference is shaping up to be excellent! You won’t want to miss out on the best tips around the business of being an author!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our 12th annual conference and discover why!
March 13, 2024
The 2023 CIBAs I&I Finalists for Instructional and Insightful Non-Fiction
The I & I Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Instruction and Insight Non-Fiction that are self-help, how-to, guides, or explanatory. In non-fiction works, the author assumes responsibility (in good faith) for the truth, accuracy, people, places, or information presented. The I & I Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best Instruction and Insight books featuring How-To, Guidance, Travel Guides, Cookbooks, Self-Help, and more. We will put books about true and inspiring stories to the test and choose the best among them.

Click here for the full list of the Non-Fiction Divisions.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2023 I&I Non-Fiction Semi-Finalists to the 2023 I&I Book Awards FINALISTS. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are the Finalists of the 2023 I&I Book Awards novel competition for Instruction and Insight Non-Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following Semi-finalist authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Julian C.E. Clauss-Ehlers and Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers – Eating Together Being Together: Recipes, Activities, and Advice from a Chef Dad and Psychologist Mom
- Annette Levesque – eLearning Gold – The Ultimate Guide for Leaders
- Wendela Whitcomb Marsh – Relating While Autistic: Fixed Signals for Neurodivergent Couples
- Mina Wasfi – Doubt to Certainty: A Practical Guide to Finding Confidence and Clarity in Making Complex Decisions
- Jill Schultz – Liberated
- Rachel Rider – Who You Are Is How You Lead
- Jennifer M Sukalo – Claim Your SWAGGER: Stop Surviving and Start Thriving
- Lynne M. Kolze – Please Write: Finding Joy and Meaning in the Soulful Art of Handwritten Letters
- Rachel Durchslag – While I Walk: Solo Adventuring In The Vast, Beautiful World
- Christopher R. Manske – Outsmart the Money Magicians: Maximize Your Net Worth by Seeing Through the Most Powerful Illusions Performed by Wall Street and the IRS
- Karen Stein – Be your own leadership coach (self coaching strategies to lead your way)
- Andy Chaleff – The Connection Playbook: A Practical Guide to Building Deep, Meaningful, Harmonious Relationships
- Judy Taylor – The New Joy of Hooking With Yarn!
- George T. Arnold – Media Writer’s Handbook, a Guide to Common Writing and Editing Problems, 7th edition
- Julie Jason – The Discerning Investor: Personal Portfolio Management in Retirement for Lawyers (and Their Clients)
- Rich Redmond with Jennifer Della’Zanna – Making it in Country Music: An Insider’s Look at the Industry
- Catherine DeMonte – Beep! Beep! Get Out of My Way!: Seven Tools for Powerful Creation and Living Your Unstoppable Life
- Dr. Kelly Rabenstein – Psychological Secrets for Emotional Success
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging!

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 I&I Awards is:

Emotional Magnetism

By Sandy Gerber

Click here to see the 2022 I&I Book Award Winners for Instruction and Insight Non-Fiction

We are now accepting submissions to the 2023 I&I Book Awards for Instruction and Insight Non-Fiction. The 2023 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2024.

Please click here for more information.

See our Full List of Non-Fiction Divisions here!

Winners will be announced at the 2023 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

The Chanticleer Authors Conference

Featuring authors like D.D. Black, Screenwriter Kim Hornsby, book doctor Christine Fairchild, and coach and inspiring Mark Berridge, with more to be announced. CAC is shaping up to be excellent! You won’t want to miss out on the best tips around the business of being an author and achieving your publishing goals.

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our 12th annual conference and discover why!
March 13, 2024
The 2023 SOMERSET Book Award FINALISTS for Literary and Contemporary Fiction
The SOMERSET Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The Somerset Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring contemporary stories, literary themes, adventure, magical realism, or women and family themes. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2023 Somerset Literary and Contemporary Fiction Semi-Finalists to the 2023 Somerset Book Awards FINALISTS. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are the FINALISTS of the 2023 Somerset Book Awards novel competition for Literary and Contemporary Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Judy Keeslar Santamaria – You Can’t Fool a Mermaid
- Leslie Tall Manning – Feral Maril and Her Little Brother Carol
- Deborah Hufford – Blood to Rubies
- Charlotte Beck – A Good Day To Die
- Nova Garcia – Not That Kind of Call Girl
- Linda Moore – Five Days in Bogota
- David Fitz-Gerald – If It’s the Last Thing I Do
- Jo Deniau – Hologram
- J.A. Wright – Eat and Get Gas
- B. Lynn Carter – Jus Breathe
- Jennifer Gold – Halfway to You
- Jacqueline Boulden – Her Past Can’t Wait
- Anne Moose – When You Read This I’ll Be Gone
- Leslie Liautaud – Black Bear Lake
- Chera Thompson – Dawned on the Danube
- Kevin Lavey – The Return of Jason Foxx
- Dennis Must – MacLeish Sq.
- Margaret Klaw – Every Other Weekend
- Julia Brewer Daily – No Names to Be Given
- Ann Curtin – Muldoon’s Walking
- Kamille Roach – A Matchbox Full of Pearls
- Linn Aspen – The Dreamtidings of a Disgruntled Starbeing: Life with a psychopathic brother
- James Gish, Jr. – When Blackbirds Dream
- Donna Norman-Carbone – All That is Sacred
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 SOMERSET Awards was:

Everything That Was

By Conon Parks

Click here to see the 2022 Somerset Book Award Winners for Literary and Contemporary Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2024 Somerset Book Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The 2024 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2025.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2023 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

The Chanticleer Authors Conference

Featuring authors like D.D. Black, Kim Hornsby, book doctor Christine Fairchild, and Mark Berridge, our twelfth annual conference is shaping up to be excellent! You won’t want to miss out on the best tips around the business of being an author!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our 12th annual conference and discover why!
March 13, 2024
THE ESMERALDA GOODBYE by Corey Lynn Fayman – Mystery, Crime Thriller, Police Procedural

In The Esmeralda Goodbye, Corey Lynn Fayman crafts a suspenseful crime story about a patrolman who becomes entangled in a criminal saga with stakes as high as his life.

The duty of investigating a suicide threat made by well-known author Raymond Chandler falls to Jake Stirling, one of the newest members of the San Diego Police Department. With a deft maneuver, Jake prevents Chandler from ending his life when he visits his apartment. This success fills Jake with excitement to make a name for himself in his new career as a police officer.

Months later, he’s called to investigate the theft of a diamond necklace from the Del Charro Hotel. Jake first questions a hopeful lead: J. Edgar, the FBI Director, who just so happened to be there during the raid. But though Jake plans to simply file a report so that detectives can be assigned to the case, he’s taken aback when the director encourages him to give up the case and concentrate his time elsewhere, such as assisting the decent, law-abiding citizens in the neighborhood. As he mulls over the director’s idea, a well-known name from the Creeper case— which had ruined his father, a police officer before his death— reappears.

Jake becomes engrossed in speculations about a piece of interest he took from Chandler’s house a few months earlier.

Moreover, he encounters a formidable investigative officer who is secretly working with a web of cartels. Jake’s life takes a drastic turn after a buddy passes away, and he quickly discovers that his independent demeanor has given his bosses cause for concern. Bearing down on him all the while, the Creeper case has turned its destructive attention from father to son.

Fayman has crafted a page-turner filled with drama, intrigue, and thrilling action that readers will find difficult to put down.

Starting with an unlikely sequence of events, the first chapters reveal unexpected motivations from unlikely individuals. A steady and regulated pace during the uncovering of the mystery keeps readers steeped in curiosity and ever-changing theories, with skillful distribution of clues. New information gradually comes to light through the interactions of real, multifaceted individuals, and a high degree of tension stretches from beginning to end.

“The Esmeralda Goodbye” is a masterpiece with excellent character development. Its remarkable tale and charming hero revel in the excess of 1950s Southern California atmospheres.

March 13, 2024
The 2023 HEMINGWAY Book Awards Finalists for 20th Century Wartime Fiction
The Hemingway Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works for 20th Century Wartime Fiction. The Hemingway Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

The Hemingway Book Awards competition is named for Ernest Hemingway who was born July 21, 1899.

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring 20th Century Wartime Fiction in Historical Fiction; Romance and Romantic Fiction; Mysteries, Thrillers, and Suspense Fiction of the time; Literary works and Satire and anything else that author imaginations can dream up for the HEMINGWAY Book Awards division. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

For Post-1750s Historical Fiction, see our Goethe Awards here. For other Historical Fiction categories, please see more details here.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2023 Semi-Finalists to the Hemingway FINALISTS. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA division Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are the FINALISTS of the 2023 Hemingway Book Awards novel competition for 20th Century Wartime Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Linda Joy Myers – The Forger of Marseille
- Elaine Aucoin Schroller – Dare Not Tell
- William McClain – Alice’s War
- J.L. Oakley – The Brisling Code
- Gary Baysinger – Margaret’s Last Prayer
- Kathryn Gauci – In the Shadow of the Pyrenees
- Michael J Cooper – Crossroads of Empire
- Kathryn Brown Ramsperger – A Thousand Flying Things
- Lou Dischler – The Last Newsreel
- J.A. Wright – Eat and Get Gas
- Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee – The Long March Home
- Linda Stewart Henley – Kate’s War
- Jodi Lea Stewart – The Gold Rose
- Richard LaMotte – Follow His Lead
- Ivan Luiz Hernandez – Isla Vulnerable
- Jerena Tobiasen – Tsarina’s Crown
- Suzanne Trauth – What Remains of Love
- Robert L. Decker – Not to Reason Why
- Kevin Miller – The Silver Waterfall: A Novel of the Battle of Midway
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 Hemingway Book Awards is:

Running with Cannibals

by Robert W. Smith

See the full list of 2022 Hemingway Winners here!

We are now accepting submissions into the 2024 Hemingway Book Awards for 20th c. Wartime Fiction. The 2024 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2025.

Please click here for more information.

For our other Historical Fiction Awards, please see the following:
Winners will be announced at the 2023 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

The Chanticleer Authors Conference

Featuring authors like D.D. Black, Kim Hornsby, book doctor Christine Fairchild, and Mark Berridge, our twelfth annual conference is shaping up to be excellent! You won’t want to miss out on the best tips around the business of being an author!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our 12th annual conference and discover why!
March 12, 2024
YOU CAN’T FOOL A MERMAID by Judy Keeslar Santamaria – Magical Realism, Family Saga, Self Discovery

You Can’t Fool a Mermaid by Judy Keeslar Santamaria is a glorious dance of well-intentioned ghosts. In the words of Violet, a twenty-one-year-old pianist, it’s “bewitching as hell.”

Santamaria opens with a tiny mermaid bodysurfing through the gutters of Seattle. College student and pianist Violet Bacon chalks up “gutter-mini-mermaid” to her wildly imaginative mind, but when she stumbles upon a magical theater-turned-piano-rescue with a retinue of shopkeeping cats, the separation between imagination and reality no longer seems as important as discovering her true self.

Violet has been living a lie: keeping up the pretense that she’s dating a woman to make her father angry. She reluctantly goes along with what other people want and pretends she doesn’t desperately need a cat. As she practices a complex Stravinsky concerto, her abiding love for music is all that sustains her.

But Hector Kouris, the proprietor of the theater-turned-rescue, reintroduces Violet to her childhood piano, Bossy.

The piano seems to speak to her through phantom notes in the days that follow. Santamaria deftly folds a menagerie of other companions into Violet’s life, living and inanimate: a friendly pigeon guide, a blue cat from the ocean, a mysterious and otherworldly busker who knows more than he should, and a patchwork-quilt tote bag that collects treasures leading to hidden truths.

With the help of this host of confidantes, Violet learns about not only her deceptive father, but the history of all those she loves. (Those who enjoyed Santamaria’s debut novel will be delighted to learn that the character Morgen from Jetty Cat Palace Café returns as Violet’s mentor.)

Motif after motif enters the story, first in ripples, then in rivers, until oceans of symbols haunt Violet’s life in a wild storm that sings, “to thine own self be true.” Santamaria’s expert handling of magical realism will leave you wondering what is real as she convinces you to just “go with the flow but be mindful.”

Santamaria guides readers to connect with the ghosts of their past just as Violet does, for people sometimes need to go backward before they can move forward.

At the center of Violet’s journey through family history lay a mysterious tragedy that occurred at the theater years ago. Violet learns secret after secret in a heart-wrenching crescendo until she finally discovers the spirit at the heart of this beautiful patchwork story. Readers will come away understanding that no one can escape their ancestry, but the way people respond determines whether the past is a prison cell or a key.

As part of Violet’s journey, Santamaria invites readers to explore many cultures and communities. Her handling of neurodivergence and disability is especially thoughtful.

This book is the perfect choice for anyone who enjoys cats, magical realism, a dash of romance, music, and characters who bravely face intergenerational trauma. It doesn’t allow any character to be singularly villainized, for all live in the shadow of their ancestors. If you were raised to doubt yourself but have since learned that you can’t fool your inner mermaid, this book might haunt you long after you finish reading it.

March 11, 2024
The 2023 SOMERSET Book Award Semi-Finalists for Literary and Contemporary Fiction
The SOMERSET Book Awards recognize emerging talent and outstanding works in the genre of Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The Somerset Book Awards is a genre division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring contemporary stories, literary themes, adventure, magical realism, or women and family themes. These books have advanced to the next judging rounds. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2023 Somerset Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction Short List to the 2023 Somerset Book Awards Semi-finalists. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running to be the FINALISTS of the 2023 Somerset Book Awards novel competition for Literary and Contemporary Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Judy Keeslar Santamaria – You Can’t Fool a Mermaid
- Leslie Tall Manning – Feral Maril and Her Little Brother Carol
- Deborah Hufford – Blood to Rubies
- Charlotte Beck – A Good Day To Die
- Nova Garcia – Not That Kind of Call Girl
- Ruth F. Stevens – My Year of Casual Acquaintances
- Linda Moore – Five Days in Bogota
- David Fitz-Gerald – If It’s the Last Thing I Do
- Dian Greenwood – About the Carleton Sisters
- Lou Dischler – Oracle to the Underworld
- A.J. Kohler and Susan Lynn Solomon – The Magician
- Jo Deniau – Hologram
- J.A. Wright – Eat and Get Gas
- B. Lynn Carter – Jus Breathe
- Terry Tierney – The Bridge on Beer River
- Jennifer Gold – Halfway to You
- Jacqueline Boulden – Her Past Can’t Wait
- Anne Moose – When You Read This I’ll Be Gone
- Leslie Liautaud – Black Bear Lake
- Victoria Costello – Orchid Child
- Barbara Francesca Murphy – Ever After
- Chera Thompson – Dawned on the Danube
- Kevin Lavey – The Return of Jason Foxx
- Dennis Must – MacLeish Sq.
- Margaret Klaw – Every Other Weekend
- D.R. Ransdell – Carillon Chase
- L.S Case – A Hundred Days Till Tomorrow
- Elayne Klasson – The Earthquake Child: A Novel
- Leslie A. Rasmussen – The Stories We Cannot Tell
- Debra Thomas – Josie and Vic, a novel
- Julia Brewer Daily – No Names to Be Given
- Ann Curtin – Muldoon’s Walking
- Kamille Roach – A Matchbox Full of Pearls
- Linn Aspen – The Dreamtidings of a Disgruntled Starbeing: Life with a psychopathic brother
- James Gish, Jr. – When Blackbirds Dream
- Donna Norman-Carbone – All That is Sacred
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

Good luck to all as your works move on the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 SOMERSET Awards was:

Everything That Was

By Conon Parks

Click here to see the 2022 Somerset Book Award Winners for Literary and Contemporary Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2024 Somerset Book Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The 2024 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2025.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2023 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

The Chanticleer Authors Conference

Featuring authors like D.D. Black, book doctor Christine Fairchild, and Mark Berridge, our twelfth annual conference is shaping up to be excellent! You won’t want to miss out on the best tips around the business of being an author!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our 12th annual conference and discover why!
March 8, 2024
A SKY Of INFINITE BLUE: A Japanese Immigrant’s Search for Home and Self by Kyomi O’Connor – Memoirs, Surviving Loss, Spirituality

“It’s my armor,” Kyomi O’Connor realizes, as she sees herself continuing life as normal after her husband dies of cancer.

Grief brings with it many companions: childhood trauma, memories of difficult seasons of life, triumphant moments of growth, epiphanies, healing, love. In A Sky of Infinite Blue, Japanese immigrant Kyomi O’Connor allows grief to open her heart to the lessons of her past.

In particular, she recognizes emotional armor that since childhood, she has built up, torn down, and built up again. Through her relationship with her husband, her devoted Buddhist practice, and her trust in her “Self,” Kyomi makes meaning of her life and redeems her darkest memories. Readers walk through these memories with her as the book shifts between past and present.

Kyomi is deeply guarded as a child.

She struggles to deal with her family’s dysfunction, gradually learning to distance herself emotionally as a means of protecting herself. She fashions her armor, wearing it for years. But, after immigrating to the US, she finds a reason to begin taking it off.

Kyomi falls in love with Patrick, as his warmth and care give her the strength to become truly vulnerable. His rich characterization invites readers to fall in love with him right alongside the author.

However, Kyomi’s vulnerability is tested when her father becomes ill and reignites old family tensions. By now, though, she’s strong enough to face this dysfunction head-on. Though her sisters have long since turned against their father, Kyomi guides them and their mother toward forgiveness and reconciliation. This redemptive arc cements the central guidance of the memoir: that emotional armor is a barrier to connection, but vulnerability can heal even what feels irrevocably broken.

Kyomi and Patrick explore Buddhism to honor her father’s last wish. The couple’s practice anchors them during the dark events to come.

Patrick’s career becomes brutally challenging, and Kyomi relies on Buddhism to handle the resulting complications in their relationship.

Then, when Patrick is diagnosed with cancer, Kyomi wrestles with the agony of watching her loved one decline. Only her spirituality and undying love for Patrick keep her sane.

However, Kyomi’s armor returns as she takes on the role of emotional caretaker at the expense of her own health.

Kyomi fades into the background and primarily reports on Patrick’s career and spiritual journey, leaving out her individual reflections and desires. The long nightmare of Patrick’s illness becomes all-consuming. These steps back show the natural struggle with emotional regression and re-healing that any daunting personal journey can stoke.

At times, the author rationalizes her overt caretaking as being rightfully supportive of Patrick, saying she is being called to be the foundation for them both. While she does occasionally acknowledge that her old, dysfunctional pattern of armor returned during those years, she turns to her spiritual practice and finds Buddhism serves as her own foundation.

Kyomi O’Connor will break your heart, heal it, and break it again, but she will keep reminding you to be vulnerable. Though she records many dark experiences, her message is ultimately one of “wisdom, loving kindness, and compassion.”

This book will appeal to readers in search of validation of grief or guidance in lowering emotional barriers. Those interested in the rich insights of Buddhism can also learn much about the spiritual practice through Kyomi’s journey, and those with complicated family histories will relate to Kyomi’s efforts to untangle her past.

March 8, 2024
THE GHOST In The GARDEN by Alisse Lee Goldenberg – Mystery, Young Adult, Paranormal

In Alisse Goldberg’s engaging young adult mystery, The Ghost in the Garden, a curious 11-year-old must face the challenges of moving to a new city, losing old friends, making new ones, and encountering historic specters in her new home.

Sophie Madison seems none too happy about her recent move from the bustling city of Calgary, Ablerta to the smaller, quieter landscape of Stratford, Ontario. But upon arrival with her parents, she begins noticing the charm of the place, appearing like a step back in time. Their new house in particular catches her interest, with its tall turret topped by stained glass window panes where Sophie’s bedroom will be. In addition, the wild beauty of the backyard garden draws her in.

Soon, a mysterious blonde-headed girl named Tabitha appears in the garden.

As she gets to know Tabitha and faces abnormal happenings with her closet door, Sophie’s left on edge, with nightmares riddling her sleeping hours.

But with the help of her parents, some newfound friends, and Tabitha’s haunting journal from the attic of Sophie’s closet, Sophie comes to terms with the spirits of the past and gains a positive outlook for her future.

Author Goldenberg’s story is artfully centered around giving new people and places a chance.

With clear familiarity and care, Goldenberg and illustrator Hannah Al-shaer paint a beautiful and detailed backdrop of Stratford, a place one could easily grow to love. From the artsy vibe of murals in an area laced with parks, shops, and restaurants, to a fairy gate in the center of town, the place oozes picturesque charm.

An engaging cast of characters fills this colorful place, from Sophie’s loving and concerned parents to a friendly but quirky vegetarian lady who happens to be the Mom of Sophie’s new friend, Fitz. These two pre-teens enjoy an easy camaraderie, as Fitz introduces Sophie to the area, and the two join forces to investigate the strange happenings in Sophie’s room. A hip, young teacher with an interest in the town’s paranormal history compliments the mysterious storyline.

Conversation throughout the narrative is realistic and genuine, and text messages between Sophie and Fitz lend a modern-day flair.

Here the haunting theme of apparitions and spirits continues in present-day terms when Sophie appears to be “ghost” texted by her best friend back in Calgary. Perhaps an indication that friendships may not always withstand the miles.

Goldenberg weaves a stirring plot with enough questions and scares to keep readers invested, but not cowering.

Shredded doorframes, decapitated teddy bears, and dark entities with clawing hands likened to a “zombie, hag monster”, offer up just the right amount of chills and thrills.

For audiences both young and old who enjoy a ghostly mystery featuring relatable issues about settling into a new place, dealing with new people, and discovering things that go bump in the night, The Ghost in the Garden proves a venturous and entertaining literary move.

March 8, 2024
The M&M 2023 Book Award Finalists for Cozy and Not-So-Cozy Mysteries
The M&M Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Cozy and not-so-Cozy Mystery & Mayhem. The M&M Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).

Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring “mystery and mayhem,” amateur sleuthing, light suspense, travel mystery, classic mystery, British cozy, hobby sleuths, senior sleuths, or historical mystery, perhaps with a touch of romance or humor. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them. (For suspense, thriller, detective, crime fiction see our Clue Awards.)

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2023 M&M Book Awards semi-finalists to the M&M Book Awards FINALISTS! The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBAs divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are the FINALISTS of the 2023 M&M Book Awards for Mystery & Mayhem

Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.
- Craig H. Bowlsby – The Cyrano Solution
- Ruud Richardson – The Girl Who Never Was
- B.T. Polcari – Against My Better Judgment
- Liese Sherwood-Fabre – The Adventure of the Purloined Portrait
- Gail Grant Park – We Are Shadows: An Irish Ghost Story
- Rebecca Olmstead – Dreams and Illusions
- Anna St. John – Doomed by Blooms
- Elizabeth Crowens – Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles
- Patrick E. Craig – The Quilt That Knew
- A.J. McCarthy – A Stranger in the Family
- E. W. Finke – Coyote’s Wail
- M.K. Dean – A Corpse in the Condo
- Cindy Sample – Birthdays Are Murder
- Michelle Cox – A Haunting at Linley
- Lori Roberts Herbst – Negative Reaction
- Lori Roberts Herbst – Photo Finished
- D.R. Ransdell – Party Wine
- Connie Berry – The Shadow of Memory
- Christine Knapp – Murder at the Wedding
- Erica Miner – Aria for Murder
- Matthew Cost – Velma Gone Awry
- Amy S. Peele – Hold
- Kim Davis – Buttercream Betrayal
- Lyn Squire – Immortalised to Death
- Brigitte Goldstein – Death of a Diva–From Berlin to Broadway
- Kim Davis – Muddled Matrimonial Murder
- Mary Seifert – Santa, Snowflakes & Strychnine
Good Luck to All as Your Works Compete to Advance to the Next Level of the Chanticleer International Book Awards.

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The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 Mystery & Mayhem Awards is:

A Spying Eye

A Henrietta and Inspector Howard Novel

by Michelle Cox

Here is the link to the 2022 M&M Book Award Winners!

We are now accepting submissions into the 2024 M&M Book Awards for Cozy-And-Not-So-Cozy Mysteries!.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2023 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

The Chanticleer Authors Conference

Featuring authors like D.D. Black, Kim Hornsby, book doctor Christine Fairchild, and Mark Berridge, our twelfth annual conference is shaping up to be excellent! You won’t want to miss out on the best tips around the business of being an author!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our 12th annual conference and discover why!
March 7, 2024