Chanticleer Book Reviews

Category: Contest News

The 2025 Fiction Cover Design Awards (CCDAs) Short List
The Chanticleer Cover Design Awards (The CCDAs) for Fiction recognizes artistic excellence across genre in great cover design. The CCDAs are a new Award Division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

Our design is inspired by books designed by the incomparable Coraline Bickford-Smith. Her simple, beautiful, and evocative designs do so much to make the book work as a visual ambassador, capturing the essence of story and compelling potential readers to pick it up, click on it, or share it with others. A well-designed cover signals professionalism, sets expectations for your genre, and serves as a powerful marketing tool to stand out in both digital and physical spaces.

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring clear genres, audience, time periods, typography, and longevity across genres of Historical Fiction, Romance, Literary, Satire, Speculative Fiction, and Youth Reads.

These titles have moved forward in the Long List of the 2025 CCDA Fiction entries to the 2025 CCDA Fiction SHORT LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 CCDA Fiction Semi-Finalists. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SEMI-FINALISTS of the 2025 Chanticleer Cover Design Awards novel competition for Fiction Books!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works:
- AJ Humphreys – Trip a Psychological Horror Novel
- Andrew D.H. Moore – Children of Solo
- Anne Polli – Mason the Magnificent
- Catherine M Mathis – Ines the Queens of Portugal Trilogy
- Charlie Robinson Cover by Ruth Noble – Bow Tie Sex
- Christine Knapp – Murder on the Green
- Debbie Black Cover by Kelly Black – Deetjen’s Closet a Quest for Magic
- Deborah Swenson – Till My Last Day Book Two in the Desert Hills Trilogy
- Ellis K. Popa – Dawn To Dusk
- Erika Lynn Adams – Allie’s Adventure on the Wonder
- George Petersen – The Summer of Haight
- Glen Dahlgren – The Wrath of Order
- Gregg Brandalise – The Death of Us All
- JL Spears – Daemon Protocol
- Julie Lomax – A Pawn’s Game
- KD Straus – To Be True
- Leslie Liautaud- Butterfly Pinned
- Margaret Porter – Sequins and Starlight
- Maria Giuseppa – R&R a Feast of Words
- Mark A. Gibson – Roses in December
- McKinley Aspen – Cogitatio Shadows in the Wind Book Two
- Michael Bailey – Sweet Hunger
- Miki Taylor – Bentley Makes a Dump Cake
- Once Upon a Dance – A Tail of Twirls
- Richard G Nixon – The Legend of Fingerless Will Nixon the Scottish Borderlands 1508-1509
- Sarah V Barnes – She Who Rides Horses a Saga of the Ancient Steppe Book One
- Sarah V. Barnes – A Clan Chief’s Daughter
- Sean Hagerty – Cabal
- Sue C. Dugan – Forever Ever Always
- Susan Rogers – Warrior Pose
- Sydney Roubian – Scarecrow Finds a Heart
- Tamar Anolic – The Keepers
- Theresa Janson – Reservations a Samantha Wright Crime Series
- T.O. Paine – The Crisis
- Travis Davis – War on the Porch
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.

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

We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

Congratulations to our very first Fiction Cover Design Grand Prize Winner!

Luna, Rhone & Stone Book Two

By Strider S.R. Klusman

Click here to see the rest of the 2024 Winners.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2026 Chanticleer Cover Design Awards for Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2025 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 17 – 19, 2026! Save the Date for Registration!

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 annual conference as we enter our second decade and discover why!
October 9, 2025
The 2025 Non-Fiction Cover Design Awards (CCDAs) Short List
The Chanticleer Cover Design Awards (The CCDAs) for Non-Fiction recognizes artistic excellence across genre in great cover design. The CCDAs are a new Award Division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

Our design is inspired by books designed by the incomparable Coraline Bickford-Smith. Her simple, beautiful, and evocative designs do so much to make the book work as a visual ambassador, capturing the essence of story and compelling potential readers to pick it up, click on it, or share it with others. A well-designed cover signals professionalism, sets expectations for your genre, and serves as a powerful marketing tool to stand out in both digital and physical spaces.

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring clear genres, audience, time periods, typography, and longevity across genres of Non-Fiction.

These titles have moved forward in the first look rounds from all 2025 CCDA Non-Fiction entries to the 2025 CCDA Non-Fiction SHORT LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 CCDA Non-Fiction FINALISTS. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Short List and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 19th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the FINALISTS of the 2025 Chanticleer Cover Design Awards novel competition for Non-Fiction Books!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
- Alan Sproles – Reforma-Therapy
- Alan Sproles – The Place of Regeneration in Salvation
- Elizabeth Jane Pryce – Untethered
- Heidi Yewman – Dumb Girl: A Journey From Childhood Abuse to Gun Control Advocacy
- Jeanne Basone – Hooray for Hollywood
- Lee Pepper – Never Outmatched: Military Strategies to Lead Innovate and Win in the Modern Marketing Battlefield
- Linda Lee Keenan – Dancing with Angels: True Stories of the Unexpected
- Margaret Enriquez – The Rebirth of a Phoenix
- Marie-Eve Dawood – Jesus Shrank My Dating Pool: Holding Out for a Godly Man When It Feels Like You’ve Missed the Boat
- Marizelle Arce N.D. – Germs Are Not Our Enemy
- Tony Jeton Selimi – Climb Greater Heights
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.

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

We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

Congratulations to Our First Grand Prize Non-Fiction Winner!

Teaching in the Dark

By Genet Simone

Click here to see the rest of the 2024 Winners List.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2026 Chanticleer Cover Design Awards for Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2025 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 17 – 19, 2026! Save the Date for Registration!

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 annual conference as we enter our second decade and discover why!
October 9, 2025
The 2024 Chatelaine First Place Round Up for Romance Fiction!

The Chatelaine Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Romantic Fiction. The Grand Prize Winner, Jo Morgan Sloan’s book, The Key will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Chatelaine contest page year ’round!

The best part about being a Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winner is the love and attention you get all year ‘round!

The 2024 Chatelaine Winners were announced at the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference in April, and you can see the official winners post here!

Join us in celebrating the 2024 First Place Chatelaine Winners!

Reenita M. Hora – Vermilion Harvest: Playtime at the Bagh

Chanticleers 2024 Overall Grand Prize Winner!

In a politically tense Amritsar, India, Aruna, an Anglo-Indian schoolteacher, and Ayaz, a feisty Muslim law student, fall in love only to discover that courting openly is easier said than done. Not only are they from different communities, but his political activism during the tumultuous year of 1919 comes at the cost of their romance.

Against the deadline of a military order, Aruna, who is only nineteen, must find her lover and warn him about Colonel Dyer’s impending attack on Jallianwala Bagh. An attack that is eventually heard around the world.

Playtime at the Bagh during Baishakhi is a metaphor for Colonel Dyer’s rain of bullets released upon thousands on the one fateful day of April 13th, 1919.

Love, hate, denial, and betrayal are wrapped inside a single love story capturing today’s hope with yesterday’s despair.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

John W. Feist – Edged in Purple

Heir to a crumbling Bronze Age kingdom, where power and conquest define a man’s worth, a young man struggles to forge his own path against the grim destiny scripted for him. A girl born in jail, but raised in a world where tranquility and duty reign, hesitates to abandon her sheltered life for a future filled with uncertainty.

Bound by expectations they did not choose, these two unlikely lovers—drawn from the pages of ancient myth and timeless drama—dare to challenge the fate assigned to them. Together, they must navigate the perilous world of royal ambition, rigid hierarchies, and a collapsing empire that leaves no room for rebellion.

Their journey into second chances is a daring dance between love and duty, fate and free will, survival and sacrifice. To be together, they must confront the full force of tradition and power—and decide whether love alone is enough to change the story history demands they follow.

From Chanticleer:

Edged in Purple by John W. Feist welcomes readers to a place outside of time and space, a liminal space where characters of myth wait to return to their fated stories.

The Fold is a beautiful land, a near-utopia shepherded– literally– by Thetis and Peleus of Greek mythology. They raise the heroine of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, Perdita, after her father had accused her mother of betraying him with another, the whole sad story a product of his own paranoia.

Perdita’s story is proceeding as it was written. She has already met Florizel, the man who should be the hero of her romance– when her story is intersected by another. Just as The Winter’s Tale features royal courts, doomed relationships, mistaken identities, and family murder, so too does an ancient Greek drama: the Oresteia of Aeschylus, the story of Agamemnon after the Trojan War.

Orestes, the hero of that ancient tale, joins Perdita in the fold, pulling both of them from the paved road of fate.

Read More Here

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Gail Noble-Sanderson – A Cup of Revenge

Swansea Station – 1947 The war is over, and with hopes of reconstruction beginning, rationing ending, and lives starting over, Drew awaits the decision regarding a new position with the railway. But mystery and mayhem arrive aboard an afternoon train carrying the new vicar, Liam O’Neill, and a cadre of visitors from Ireland. Drew’s attention is once again focused on unraveling the threads of revenge and solving another murder. The unfolding of an unexpected relationship with the young vicar proves another mystery for Drew to unravel. This is the second book in the award-winning Drew Davies Railway Mystery Series.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Nancy Herkness – Royal Caleva: Luis

A second chance romance, Cinderella story…but for the king, not the prince.

Luis, king of the exotic island country of Caleva, is stunned to discover that he has a daughter he never knew existed. He is determined to bring his newfound child into his life and that of the royal family. To do that, he knows he must win over her adoptive mother.

Eve, single-mom vet tech in the heartland of Iowa, is concerned when a mysterious stranger sets up a secret meeting. The shocking truth that is revealed upends her life, as she and her adopted daughter are swept off to Caleva and wrapped in the luxurious, privileged world of royalty.

But there’s an unexpected complication: passion flares between Eve and Luis.

She isn’t queen material, and he has sworn never to wed again, so their affair can have no happily-ever-after…or can it?

If you were rooting for Queen Clarisse to find her true love in The Princess Diaries, you’ll love Eve and Luis’s story. Read Royal Caleva: Luis to feel all the feels of two single parents trying to protect their shared daughter, while struggling to find their own happiness with each other.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

George T. Arnold – The Heart Beneath the Badge

When Sheriff Heath Royal seeks relief for his tormented conscience by attending church services for the first time since his youth, he is beckoned to an empty seat by the wealthy, recently widowed Rebekka Korhenen Brando, and both are immediately, although unwittingly, stirred by an unintentional rekindling of the feelings that almost led to a marriage between them twenty-five years earlier.

Gossipy church members and malicious tongue waggers from the small community of Shady Spring, Texas, watch in amusement and sometimes in horror as the former lovers struggle through a series of challenges and near-death experiences to determine whether the forces of evil or the roundabout intervention of God Himself will allow them a life together.

Standing in their way is a demented ranch foreman convinced that he and Rebekka are destined for each other. Heath’s dubious future as a lawman, and grudge-bearing outlaws who want to put the sheriff into his grave. The solutions may be divined under the sheltering limbs of a magnificent old oak tree where Heath and Rebekka seek solace and open their hearts to each other.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Sonja N. Griffing – Chasing Noelle

What would you do to get back to the person you love?

Noelle Montgomery is used to battle. As a kindergarten teacher, she fights germs, intrusive questions, and ‘the wiggles’ on a daily basis. She’s not afraid of anything…except asking her boyfriend, Griffin, what comes next.

When a visit to a friend forces the issue, Noelle takes a walk to clear her head and stumbles onto a gruesome scene. She’s the only person who can help convict rising drug lord, Luis Duque, of murder, and escaping his wrath is the one battle she knows she can’t win. When offered witness protection, Noelle gives up on her unknown future with Griffin and starts over with a brand-new life.

Griffin Daniels has a ring in his pocket the night he’s told his girlfriend is killed. After years of careful preparation, his dreams, and the woman he loves are gone in an instant. He forces a confrontation with Duque’s gang and learns that Noelle may still be alive. Using his tech savvy and the help of his best friend, Griffin finds Noelle as she races across the country to testify by Christmas. But…Duque’s been looking for her, too.

Reunited and still in danger, Noelle and Griffin must work together to survive Duque and find their way back to love.

Chasing Noelle is an emotionally-driven contemporary romance with elements of suspense and a touch of Christmas magic.

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Deborah Swenson – Till My Last Day

Rebecca Young Ackerman was raised to be a prominent lady in Boston society in the late 1800s. Being the dutiful daughter, albeit young and naive, she always did as her father said. When he marries her off to a man of his choosing, she realizes how fast dreams of marital bliss can fall apart. Fearing for her life, an unexpected telegram regarding her brother gives her the opportunity she needs to take her boys and flee from her narcissistic husband. Always looking over her shoulder, her fear is real. Traveling across the country, a chance encounter with a certain gentleman finds herself wishing for a better life.

Nathaniel ‘Nate’ Burns In 2016, Nathaniel Burns, a well-respected police officer serving the tough neighborhood of Roxbury in Boston, finds his partner and himself answering a domestic violence call one airless summer night. Events unfold quickly, and he suddenly finds life as he once knew it, coming to a tragic end. Due to his mother’s ‘Celtic Gift,’ Nathaniel is transported back to 1875 to begin life anew. What he didn’t expect was to fall in love with a lady in peril in the Yuma desert of 1880. Both long for a new life, but can they leave their past behind to find love?

Find it Locally and on Amazon!

Thank you for joining us to celebrate the 2024 Chatelaine First Place Winners!

Your book can join the Tiers of Achievement, but only if you submit to the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards!

Got a great Fiction Book? The 2025 Chatelaine Book Awards are open through the end of October!

Submit to the Chatelaine Awards Today!

October 8, 2025
The 2025 Hemingway Long List for Contemporary Wartime Fiction
The Hemingway Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of 20th and 21st Century Wartime Fiction. The Hemingway Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (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 first look rounds from all 2025 HEMINGWAY Wartime Fiction entries to the 2025 Hemingway Book Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 Hemingway Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2025 Hemingway Book Awards novel competition for Wartime Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
- Adam Frosh – The Ghetto
- Adrian Boas – A Gentle Empire
- Brad Huestis – The Big Bad
- Chris Karlsen & Jennifer Conner – Broken Faces
- David Tenenbaum – Eastward Bound
- Don Jacobson – Ghost Flight: A World War II Pride and Prejudice Variation
- Dorothea N. Buckingham – Code Name Rascal
- Elizabeth Crowens – Round Up the Unusual Suspects
- Florence Chien – Hollow Whispers of the Wind
- Hillary Tiefer – The Secret Ranch
- J.A. Nunn – The Stuff What Actually Is
- Jacek Waliszewski – Code Name Trifecta
- Jane Loeb Rubin – Over There
- Jay A. Cornils – The Cross of Lorraine
- Jerena Tobiasen – Tsarina’s Jewels
- John Winn Miller – Rescue Run Capt. Jake Rogers Daring Return To Occupied Europe
- Kate Birkin – Ava and Shalom
- Kim Dempster – The Color of Mourning
- Kit Sergeant – The Doctor of Auschwitz the Powerful True Story of One Woman’s Courage
- Kyle Palmer – The Last Rival a Time of Our Choosing
- Leslie R. Schover – Fission a Novel of Atomic Heartbreak
- M. G. Lamb – The Deserters
- Mike H. Mizrahi – The Weight of Loyalty
- Ralph R. Rick Steinke – Vital Mission: A Jake Fortina Series Love Story
- Sergio Bossi and Paolo Zanardi – Wellington HZ182 When a Little Girl Defused the Bomb
- Sharon Maas – Soldier’s Girl
- Shawn Hays and Stephen Hays – What Light Was
- Sherry Maysonave – Tatae’s Promise
- Steven Mayfield – Sixty Seconds
- Steven Schindler – Cover for Me
- Tim Rees – The Falklands Engagement
- Travis Davis – War on the Porch: A Doughboy’s Interview
- Wade Monk – The Imperfect Hand of Fate
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 Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.

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

We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

Congratulations once more to the 2024 Hemingway Grand Prize Winner

Of White Ashes

By Constance Hays Matsumoto and Kent Matsumoto

Click here to see the full list of 2024 HEMINGWAY Book Award Winners for Wartime Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2026 HEMINGWAY Book Awards for Wartime Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2025 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 17 – 19, 2026! Save the Date for Registration!

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 annual conference and discover why!
October 7, 2025
The 2025 Goethe Long List for Late Historical Fiction
The Goethe Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Post-1750s Historical Fiction. The Goethe Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring Victorian, Georgian, Regency, International History, 20th Century, and all the possible historical topics that an author’s imagination can dream up for the Goethe Book Awards division. Our judges from across North America and the U.K. will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the first look rounds from all 2025 Goethe Late Historical Fiction entries to the 2025 Goethe Book Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 Goethe Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2025 Goethe Book Awards novel competition for Late Historical Fiction!
- Alex Alvin – A Countess From Moscow
- Alice Mcveigh – Marianne: A Sense and Sensibility Sequel
- Alina Rubin – A Girl with a Knife
- Allie Cresswell – Tall Chimneys
- Apple An – Daughter of Blue City: A Novel of Coming-Of-Age Through Revolutionary China
- Art Young – Downeyoshun
- Barbara Southard – Unruly Human Hearts
- BL Smith – The Unpleasantness on Orchard
- Bonnie Suchman – What Remains Is Hope
- Carol Nickles – Thumb Fire Desire
- Carolyn Summer Quinn – Once Upon a Safehouse
- Charlotte Whitney – A Tiny Piece of Blue: A Novel
- Chris Bennett – The Road to Revolution
- Debra Lee – Pullman
- Domnica Radulescu – My Father’s Orchards
- Douglas A. Gosselin – Doctrine of Shadows
- Elise Keitz Harlow – When Bone Melts
- Florence Chien – Hollow Whispers of the Wind
- Gary Gabel – The Constitution Kids
- Jerena Tobiasen – Tsarina’s Jewels
- Jessica Levine – Three Cousins
- Jill G. Hall – On a Sundown Sea: A Novel of Madame Tingley and the Origins of Lomaland
- Joan Fernandez – Saving Vincent: A Novel of Jo Van Gogh
- Joanne Howard – Sleeping in the Sun
- Kathleen Williams Renk – No Coward Soul Have I
- Katie Churchill-King – Prince of Wales Fort 1770
- Kelly Scarborough – Butterfly Games
- Kirsten Mickelwait – The Ashtrays Are Full and the Glasses Are Empty
- Lew Paper – Legacy of Lies: An Historical Thriller
- Linda Cardillo – Paint the Wind
- M. E. Torrey – Fox Creek
- N.J. Mastro – Solitary Walker: A Novel of Mary Wollstonecraft
- Natalie Musgrave Dossett – Sarita
- Pat Black-Gould and Steve Hardiman – All the Broken Angels
- Radu Guiasu – The Faraway Mountains
- Raquel Y. Levitt – The Seer
- Richard Leslie Brock – The House of Ilya
- Robert Kehlmann – The Rabbi’s Suitcase
- Robert L Jones – The Unbroken Trail
- S. Scott Anderson – The Scott Boys: The Saga of the Scott Family in East Tennessee
- Sabrina Lund – Consequence of Power: Isabella’s Season
- Shawn Hays and Stephen Hays – What Light Was
- Suzanne Uttaro Samuels – Seeds of the Pomegranate
- Thomas M. Wing – In Harm’s Way
Congratulations once more to the 2024 Goethe Grand Prize Winner for Historical Fiction

Abigail’s Song

By Alina Rubin

Click here to see the full list of 2024 Goethe Book Award Winners for Late Historical Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2026 Goethe Book Awards for Post-1750s Historical Fiction!

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2025 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 17 – 19, 2026! Save the Date for Registration!

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 annual conference and discover why!
October 7, 2025
The 2025 Chatelaine Spotlight for Romance Fiction
Celebrating Love in All Its Forms

The Chatelaine Awards are looking for Romance this fall!

Romance and women’s fiction have the remarkable ability to capture the full spectrum of human emotion, from the exhilarating rush of first love to the complex dynamics of family relationships and personal growth. These genres celebrate the stories that matter most to readers seeking authentic representation, emotional depth, and the affirming power of love conquering obstacles. The Chatelaine Awards for Romance and Women’s Fiction honor authors who craft narratives that reflect the beautiful diversity of love stories, recognizing voices that speak to hearts across all backgrounds and experiences.

Celebrating Our Grand Prize Winner!

We’re delighted to celebrate our 2024 Chatelaine Division Grand Prize Winner, Jo Morgan Sloan for their compelling novel The Key. This extraordinary work explores a unique second-chance romance between two men who were high school sweethearts, who are separated at a young age. Years later, as adults in San Francisco, they reconnect through Tabby’s LGBT D&D group, but Jax doesn’t recognize Tabby due to his transition.

What makes The Key exceptional is its sensitive exploration of identity, love, and the courage required for authentic relationships. Sloan masterfully navigates the emotional complexity of Tabby’s situation as he becomes Jax’s confidant while hiding the truth that he is Jax’s missing first love. The novel addresses contemporary issues of LGBTQ+ representation with nuance and heart, showing how love can transcend identity while acknowledging the real fears and challenges faced by transgender individuals. This powerful story demonstrates the strength found in chosen family, authentic friendships, and the possibility of love finding a way back to itself. Sloan will receive a Chanticleer Editorial Review and be invited to participate in an Author Interview, offering deeper insights into their approach to inclusive romance storytelling.

The Chatelaine Awards celebrate the rich tapestry of romance and women’s fiction, honoring stories that speak to every heart:
- Contemporary Romance features modern love stories that navigate today’s world, from workplace romances to online dating adventures, capturing how love flourishes in our current cultural moment.
- Historical Romance transports readers to bygone eras where period details and historical context add richness to timeless love stories, from Regency ballrooms to Victorian drawing rooms and beyond.
- Romantic Adventure & Suspense proves that love and danger make an irresistible combination, featuring couples who fall in love while solving mysteries, escaping peril, or embarking on thrilling journeys together.
- Inspirational/Restorative/Clean showcases love stories that uplift and inspire, focusing on emotional intimacy, personal growth, and relationships that heal and transform without explicit content.
- Romantic Steamy/Sensual celebrates passion and desire, featuring love stories that embrace the full physical and emotional intensity of romantic relationships with heat and authenticity.
Broken Faces
By Chris Karlsen and Jennifer Conner

A towering achievement, Broken Faces: Historical Romance Based on True WWI Events by Chris Karlsen and Jennifer A Conner follows two young people who, for different reasons, embark on a journey to restore the self-esteem torn from wounded soldiers by bloody conflict.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 plunged Europe into one of the most horrific wars in history. Daily British papers featured articles about a bleak future. London quickly felt the effects of the war, with stores closing and basic goods in limited supply.

Abigail Belorman, a young American woman and talented sculptor, had relocated to Britain with her newlywed husband Theo, the US ambassador to England. Pained by Theo’s emotional neglect, Abigail finds comfort in visiting injured soldiers who had returned from the front to a nearby hospital. Each of the young men there has a story to tell and wounds to recover from. Some, however, suffered irreparable damage to their faces, along with any chance at a normal life taken from them, and they will be forced into isolation.

Read More Here

Summer Cyclone
By Alan B. Gibson

The citizens of the three fairy kingdoms clash, forced to live shoulder-to-shoulder alongside ungoverned Outliers. In Summer Cyclone, fourth book of Alan B. Gibson’s Magic at Myers Beach series, unassuming tea-shop manager Stefán tries to find love while keeping all of fairy society from fracturing.

The three fairy kings, Theos, Zsombor, and Christophe, evacuate their people to Myers Beach. It’s only here that they have any chance of recreating fairy dust after their old sources had been poisoned, and saving every fairy life. They take in the Outliers, remnants of a fallen kingdom, and at first find good will between the groups. But with thousands of fairies moving in, they have to keep everyone on a short leash or else risk humans catching wind of their new neighbors. Resentment of these strange Outliers builds.

Stefán, a close confidant to Theos, struggles to keep anti-Outlier sentiment at bay with the help of some enigmatic and knowledgeable new friends. Rumors of him giving the Outliers special treatment grow stronger as some fairies begin to suspect that he’s actually one of them.

Read More Here

Loving Beth
By Bonnie Rose Ward

A Chatelaine First Place Winner!

In Loving Beth, a Christian historical romance by Bonnie Rose Ward, a young woman finds herself in dire straits when her widowed mother dies unexpectedly.

Beth’s father had taken out loans to improve their property, but he was killed in the Civil War, leaving his wife and daughter to struggle to keep up with the payments. Now, Beth is alone without any means to keep her home—finding and taking in two young, abandoned children certainly doesn’t help. But even amidst her troubles, Beth’s thoughts keep going back to the mysterious and handsome stranger who found and brought home the body of her mother.

Life is not easy in her tiny settlement in West Virginia, and young, pretty Beth finds that it is not about to get any easier. The new banker holds a grudge toward her for having rejected his advances, and the man’s snobbish wife is determined to make Beth’s life even more miserable. The loans that Beth and her mother worked to pay each month are suddenly due in full— but the banker’s unwanted and ugly advances are foiled with the appearance of the mysterious stranger.

Read More Here

A Circle of Stars
By Erin Lark Maples

The 2024 Ozma Grand Prize Winner!

If you’re looking for a beach read with supernatural intrigue, A Circle of Stars by Erin Lark Maples will draw you in from page one. Ember “EJ” James, a newly-arrived stranger in the strange land of Prescott, AZ, immediately begins navigating unfamiliar territory, both physically and metaphysically.

Forty-something EJ doesn’t know it yet, but when she agreed to take over her deceased uncle Hollis’s shop in Prescott, she stumbled into a world of magical realism. The plant shop, as it turns out, is more than just that—it hides secret access to other realms, which supernatural beings will go to great lengths to access. Much like the plants in the shop, this tale is dark, tangled, and intriguing beyond belief.

Anyone else may have felt helpless. But EJ remains upbeat, charmingly self-deprecating, and resourceful to the end. There’s a great joy in seeing how she works through her new surroundings, unfazed by (almost) everything they throw her way.

Read More Here

Guarded Hearts
By T.K. Conklin

The 2022 Laramie Grand Prize Winner and a Chatelaine First Place Winner!

Guarded Hearts by T K Conklin is a sensual romance in the Wild West, with all the passion and excitement natural to the setting.

Sparks fly between a man with an outlaw past and a woman with a terrifying gift to heal or harm. Strykes is a man haunted both by a violent childhood and his time in an outlaw gang. But he has found a place in Rimrock, where he met LaRisa, an auburn-haired woman whom the townspeople have labeled a “witch” due to her healing herbs and rumors of her “powers”.

LaRisa has kept her distance from people, afraid of her gift of healing touch that can turn dangerous, even deadly. But, when she comes to town to deliver her medicinal herbs, she makes her way to the livery with tasks for Strykes such as shoeing her horse or fixing a spring in her wagon. He is only too happy to oblige the auburn-haired beauty. The attraction between them is instantaneous, yet they both are hesitant to act on it, fearing they would hurt the other– he from his violent past, and she from her “witch” power.

Read More Here

These reviews represent just a glimpse of the passionate storytelling and emotional depth waiting to be discovered in today’s romance and women’s fiction.

See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!

We’re excited about all the exceptional romance and women’s fiction we receive every year for both the CIBAs and for our Editorial Reviews. Throughout this year’s Chatelaine Book Awards, we had the pleasure of promoting numerous heartwarming stories as they advanced through our competition tiers. The Chanticleer International Book Awards offers an incredible $30,000 in cash, prizes, and promotion across all divisions!

This is the journey from beginning to end for the CIBAs! Every list you make means more promotion for you and your work as each advancement tier is posted right here on our website, on our social media, and also out in our newsletter! Your book deserves to be discovered.

Don’t Let Your Love Story Go Untold!

The romance and women’s fiction market continues to flourish as readers seek authentic, diverse love stories that reflect their own experiences and dreams. Whether your work features contemporary couples navigating modern relationships, historical lovers defying social conventions, adventurous partners facing danger together, or any other expression of love’s infinite possibilities, the Chatelaine Awards provide the recognition and promotional platform your storytelling deserves.

Romance has the unique power to affirm hope, celebrate diversity, and remind us that love truly can conquer all. From sweet, inspirational stories that warm the heart to passionate tales that ignite the imagination, every thoughtfully crafted romance has the potential to become a reader’s new favorite escape. Don’t let your love story remain untold. Submit to the Chatelaine Awards today and join the celebrated authors who’ve found their devoted readership through Chanticleer!

Submit to the Chatelaine Awards today! Deadline: October 31st

You know you want it…
October 6, 2025
The 2025 Laramie Long List for Americana Fiction
The Laramie Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Western, First Nations and Americana Fiction. The Laramie Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring Americana themes, First Nation stories, early North American History, cowboys & cowgirls in the Wild West, pioneering, and Civil War, and we will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward in the first look rounds from all 2025 LARAMIE entries to the 2025 Laramie Book Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 Laramie Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2025 Laramie Book Awards novel competition for Western and Americana Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
- Barbara Salvatore – Together To Gather Kí-Ku
- Bill Lynam – Sojourn To War
- Brett Shayler – Kickapoo Creek
- Chad Lester – House of Crimson Roses
- Charlie Steel – Two Women Conquer the West and Their Hearts
- Chuck Locklear – The Pines Know
- CK Van Dam – Iron Horse Claim
- David Fitz-Gerald – A Grave Every Mile: A Pioneer Western Adventure
- David Fitz-Gerald – Rathuun King of the Prairie
- Derek Wachter – Sons of the Promised Land
- Dwight Holing – The Broken Blood
- E. S. Raye – Gas Giant Gambit
- Erika Shepard – Molly’s Lament
- George T. Arnold – An Ounce of Death
- Imogen Martin – To the Wild Horizon
- J. E. Weiner – The Wretched and Undone
- Jeza Belle – The Freedom To Love
- Joan Koster – Prairie Cinderella
- John Hansen – The Medicine Line
- Julie Mcdonald Zander – The Reluctant Pioneer
- Karen Lynne Klink – War and Preservation
- Larry Boucher – The Scout
- M. B. Gibson – Pryor Knowledge Horse Racing Love and Slavery in the Antebellum South
- M. E. Torrey – Fox Creek
- Melora Fern – Whistling Women and Crowing Hens
- Robert L Jones – The Unbroken Trail
- Sally Rutledge Moore – Fever Season
- Suzanne Elizabeth Gillis – The Landlady of Maple Avenue
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.

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

We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

Congratulations once more to the 2024 Laramie Grand Prize Winner

Sarita

By Natalie Musgrave Dossett

Click here to see the full list of 2024 Laramie Book Award Winners for Western Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2026 Laramie Book Awards for Western Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2025 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 17 – 19, 2026! Save the Date for Registration!

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 annual conference as we enter our second decade and discover why!
October 2, 2025
The 2025 Chaucer Long List for Early Historical Fiction
The Chaucer Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Early Historical (Pre- 1750) Fiction. The Chaucer Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

The Chaucer Book Awards competition is named for Geoffrey Chaucer the author of the legendary Canterbury Tales. The work is considered to be one of the greatest works in the English language. It was among the first non-secular books written in Middle English to be printed in 1483.

Chanticleer International Book Awards is seeking the best books featuring Pre-1750s Historical Fiction, including pre-history, ancient history, Classical, world history (non-western culture), Dark Ages and Medieval Europe, Renaissance, Elizabethan, Tudor, 1600s, we will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

These titles have moved forward from all of the 2025 Chaucer entries to the 2025 Chaucer Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 Chaucer Award Short List. Short listers compete for the Semi-Finalist positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2025 Chaucer Book Awards novel competition for Pre-1750s Historical Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
- Adam Alexander Haviaras – A Dragon Among the Eagles a Novel of the Roman Empire
- Albert A. Bell Jr. – Archippos the Trembler a Novel of Ancient Sparta
- Anne M. Beggs – By Arrow and Sword Book Two Dahlquin Series
- Barbara Stark-Nemon – Isabela’s Way a Novel
- Bryce Gibby – Esta
- Chuck Locklear – The Pines Know
- Elizabeth Clifford Murphy – The Faithful Harlot
- Erryn Lee – What Remains
- Fawn Brokaw Doyle – Salt People of the Cloud Houses the Story of Sarah Rapalje and Dutch Manhattan
- Gregory Michael Nixon – Diomedes in Kyprios
- Gregory Michael Nixon – The Diomedeia: Diomedes, The Peoples of the Sea, and the Fall of the Hittite Empire
- Helena P. Schrader – The Tale of the English Templar
- J. M. Elliott – Of Wind and Wolves
- J. Susanne Wilson – The Death and Life of Iphigenia
- J.C. Corry – The Storyteller’s Reputation: Geoffrey Chaucer Reluctant Spy
- Jane Bitomsky – A Foundling’s Lot
- Janet Wertman – Nothing Proved
- Jay A. Cornils – A Litany of Angels
- Jean K. Dudek – The Scent of Bright Light
- K.M. Butler – The Raven and the Dove
- Keira Morgan – The Importance of Wives
- Kim Gottlieb-Walker – Caterina by Moonlight
- Lisa Llamrei – Quest for Ma’at
- Liz Sevchuk Armstrong – To Be Worthy in Honor Book II of the Epic of Hotspur
- Lizzie Jenks – Devil in Our Hearts
- Logan D. Irons – City of Wolves
- Marc Ladewig – The King of the Wood
- Marcia Maxwell – I, Christine a Novel
- Michael J. Cooper – The Rabbi’s Knight
- Michaela Riley – Labyrinth of Shadows the Witch’s Rebirth Part I
- Nina Wachsman – The Courtesan’s Pirate
- Rachel Elwiss Joyce – Lady of Lincoln
- Richard G Nixon – The Legend of Fingerless Will Nixon the Scottish Borderlands 1508-1509
- Sarah V. Barnes – She Who Rides Horses: A Saga of the Ancient Steppe Book One
- Sarah V. Barnes – A Clan Chief’s Daughter: She Who Rides Horses Book Two
- Sonya Van De Graaff – The Painter From Seville
Congratulations once more to the 2024 Chaucer Grand Prize Winner for Historical Fiction

Maid of Honor

Anne Boleyn at Margaret of Austria’s Court

By Rozsa Gaston

Click here to see the full list of 2024 Chaucer Book Award Winners for Early Historical Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2026 Chaucer Book Awards for Pre-1750s Historical Fiction!

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2025 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 17 – 19, 2026! Save the Date for Registration!

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 annual conference as we enter our second decade and discover why!
October 2, 2025
The 2025 Mind and Spirit Hall of Fame for Mindfulness and Enlightenment

Looking for Balance in your Life?

The Mind & Spirit Awards are here for you

***Enter your book today***

Mind and Spirit Non-Fiction

At the heart of the Mind & Spirit Awards is a celebration of transformation and enlightenment. It embraces the power of words to uplift, inspire, and guide, creating a ripple effect that resonates with readers on a soulful level. This division acknowledges the significance of the mind-spirit connection, delving into the realms of spirituality, mindfulness, well-being, and self-discovery.

Let’s celebrate the Grand Prize Winners of the Mind and Spirit Awards

Naked in the Now: Juicy Practices for Getting Present
By Marijke McCandless

Naked in the Now: Juicy Practices for Getting Present offers a playful yet impactful guide for those seeking vitality and inspiration. Through short, refreshing practices, readers explore vulnerability, authenticity, and self-compassion, fostering deeper connections with themselves and others. By committing to just minutes of daily practice, this book cultivates sustainable awareness and self-inquiry, rejuvenating one’s sense of vitality and joy. With an emphasis on mindfulness and emotional intelligence, it provides accessible tools to shift mindsets and embrace the present moment with curiosity and delight.

Buy it here!

Psychological Secrets for Emotional Success
By Dr. Kelly Rabenstein

Do you often feel that you sabotage your personal and work relationships? In Psychological Secrets for Emotional Success, Dr. Kelly Rabenstein teaches readers exactly what psychological techniques will help them strengthen and maintain their interpersonal connections.

Dr. Rabenstein is a licensed psychologist offering her extensive knowledge of how to make sound, conscious changes in mindset and perspective to help you thrive in relationships across the board. If a person can thrive, then they can be fully authentic to themselves and to those who surround them.

Psychological Secrets for Emotional Success follows the structure of thoughtful explanations and emotional explorations, followed by insightful exercises at the end of each chapter to help readers understand and improve both their workplace culture and personal interactions. These questions reveal where we stand and how to develop a more balanced life.

Dr. Rabenstein lays out the deceptively simple key to emotional success: a combination of awareness, education, and empathy.

Read More Here

A Sky of Infinite Blue
By Kyomi O’Connor

“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.

Read More Here

Enlighten Up
By Beth Gibbs

Beth Gibb’s Enlighten Up! Finding Clarity Contentment and Resilience in A Complicated World is not a simple how-to book, but rather an invitation to begin a journey of self-discovery.

This journey follows the “five-layer method,” based on the Upanishads, a 3,000-year-old East-Indian wisdom tradition. After a quick history lesson on the pursuit of self-awareness, Gibbs walks readers through the five layers of achieving it, for a happy and fulfilling life. Throughout the book, Gibbs includes breaks for mindfulness and grounding exercises to get the most out of each section.

Gibbs writes about the assumption that the goal of enlightenment is to, “suppress or eliminate their emotions, live everlasting bliss, and face every situation with equanimity,” and how that assumption is unrealistic.

Read More Here

Exit The Maze
By Dr. Donna Marks

Exit The Maze: One Addiction, One Cause, One Cure by Dr. Donna Marks is a welcoming and comprehensive enchiridion of untapped wisdom that offers a step-to-step guide to getting out of any form of addiction.

No one sets out to become an addict; it catches us off guard. An addiction can happen quickly or slowly and can affect anyone regardless of intelligence, social class, ethnic group, or religion. With pitch-perfect prose, Dr. Donna Marks invites readers into the root causes of different forms of addiction, while offering pragmatic and evidence-based solutions that are bound to yield results.

Buoyed by the personal experiences of the author along with numerous case studies, Dr. Marks further offers deep insights into the inadequacies of traditional treatment models. For example, she notes that most rehab centers lack adequate staffing and overstep the limits of their capabilities. Another example is the famous 12 steps of fighting addiction which she believes do help to stop a behavior and develop a solid support system, however, she also sees that the program falls short.

Read More Here

Now that you’re set on your next reads, what are you waiting for? The only way to join this amazing list of Mind & Spirit Winners is to submit today!

Those who submit and advance will have the chance to win the Overall Grand Prize of the CIBAs and $1000!

Be Part of the Legacy: Join the Illustrious Roster of Winners

As the deadline for the 2025 Mind & Spirit Awards arrives, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to all the exceptional achievers.

Seeking avenues for your non-fiction prowess? Explore all our Non-Fiction Divisions that provide platforms for various genres and styles.

September 26, 2025
The 2025 I&I Hall of Fame for Instruction & Insight

Seeking to spread wisdom and knowledge?

The Instruction & Insight Awards are here to help!

The Insight & Instruction Awards celebrate exceptional books that provide valuable knowledge, guidance, and enlightenment across a wide range of subjects. From alternative remedies to self-help, these awards acknowledge authors who have made significant contributions to the fields of education, self-improvement, and understanding the world around us. This diverse collection of books foster learning, personal development, and a deeper understanding of the world around us. Enrich lives and contribute to the non-fiction landscape by submitting today!

***Submit your Book Today***

You have until September 30th to Share your Book and Submit to the 2025 CIBAs!

Looking for something to learn? The I&I Awards have what your looking for! We’ve got categories for Travel, Crafts, Cooking, Motivation, Self-Help and More!

We’re always looking for reasons to celebrate our past winners. You can see the Grand Prize and First Place Winners from 2024 here, but let’s hope into our time machine and recognize our past I&I Grand Prize Winners!

Honoring the Grand Prize Winners of the Instruction & Insight Awards!

Success with Hydrangeas- A Gardener’s Guide
By Lorraine Ballato

Our review for the newest Grand Prize Winner is forthcoming. Here’s an excerpt from Amazon:

Finally, a Book with All the Secrets to Growing Great Hydrangeas!

This book reveals all the ins and outs to growing hydrangeas. If you’re at all confused about pruning this shrub – and who isn’t? – this book will clear things up. If you’re worried about how much water to give it especially when it droops in the sun, this book explains it all. And what about transplanting: when is the best time to do that? Chapter four has the answers to that one and covers it all.

How to get your plant to bloom

Let’s not forget the most common issue people have with this plant: how can I get it to flower reliably? You’ll get the scientific insight needed to better site your plant, and how to care for it. Then you can just sit back and watch it flower for you.

Read More Here

Eating Together, Being Together
By Julian C.E. Clauss-Ehlers and Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers

Eating Together, Being Together is a rare, enlightening book that teaches the importance of family dining, both on the culinary side and in its benefits for childhood and young adult development beyond the kitchen walls.

Co-authored by master Chef and Dad, Julian C.E. Clauss-Ehlers, and Ph.D. Psychologist and Mom, Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers, Eating Together, Being Together offers up their parental wisdom and expertise from the heart of the home—the kitchen.

With informative but relaxed conversations about food choices, preparation, and related activities, the two provide great insight into how family mealtime promotes well-being in a child’s life. As involved adults, they incorporate thoughtful discussions about spending quality time with their children, sharing and mitigating bad feelings, and making wonderful memories. Ultimately, they showcase family meals as nourishment for both the body and soul.

Within the pages of the book readers will find ways food can serve as a message of care and support, as well as a way to model kindness in the face of questions and concerns.

Read More Here

Emotional Magnetism
By Sandy Gerber

Emotional Magnetism: How to Communicate to Ignite Connection in Your Relationships is a self-help and marketing book in one—in fact, it’s a self-marketing book.

A seasoned marketing professional, author Sandy Gerber uses common elements in marketing theory to aid those who wish to enhance their communication skills and ability to get along with people around them. It’s easy to be misunderstood or unheard, and it’s even easier to be at cross-purposes, leading to frustration and animosity. But using Gerber’s SAVE technique, understanding what we mean and what we need becomes clear.

In this work, we learn what emotional magnetism is, and how well we can communicate when we learn how to harness it. We also learn about how emotional magnetism can be repelled when it’s not done right. But in order to use emotional magnetism, we must first learn what the emotional magnets are, using the acronym SAVE—short for safety (S), achievement (A), value (V), and experience (E)—and how they are reflected in our personalities.

Read More Here

The Black Foster Youth Handbook
By Ángela Quijada-Banks

The Black Foster Youth Handbook: 50+ Lessons I Learned to successfully Age-Out of Foster Care and Holistically Heal is a distinguished compilation of award-winning author Ángela Quijada-Banks’ insights, seeking to assist those in foster care to stay optimistic and triumph over traumatic experiences.

The text features the author’s candid revelations regarding the disarray she encountered in foster care and the overwhelming emotional roller coaster she underwent through family upheavals and a heart-breaking rift between her siblings.

Foster care had seen her forget her goals and aspirations, as traumas and emotional misfortunes spread their venom in her soul. Banks had found herself misplaced, perplexed, wounded, irate, and unloved. Her background, past wounds, and pessimistic beliefs ruled over her. In a painful recap, she reveals how she became accustomed to constant alarming incidents, creating in her a perpetual state of survival.

Read More Here

Independent Living with Autism
By Wendela Whitcomb Marsh

Author and autism counselor Wendela Whitcomb Marsh has created a specialized guide for those with autism, seen through the eyes of five characters of different ages, with differing needs and aspirations in her book, Independent Living with Autism: Your Roadmap to Success.

Boldly launching her work with the ambitious chapter, “Solutions,” Marsh depicts some of the possible departure points for her readers: those just out of school, those who were diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder or who self-diagnosed, and all who face the challenges of ASD, whether alone or with family or social supports.

Marsh relays her story, focusing on the lives of five individuals with ASD.

Read More Here

Now that you’re set on your next reads, what are you waiting for? The only way to join this amazing list of I&I Winners is to submit today!

Those who submit and advance will have the chance to win the Overall Grand Prize of the CIBAs and $1000!

Submit to the CIBAs Today!

Now is your chance to touch the hearts of readers everywhere. Your Non-fiction story deserves to be discovered, and you can submit to the 2025 Instruction and Insight Awards by the end of the September. Don’t miss this chance to give your book the recognition it deserves.

The I&I Awards is your chance to shine!

September 26, 2025