Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: CBR

The 2023 CIBA Series Award Short List for Genre Fiction
The CIBA FICTION SERIES Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in any of our 16 Fiction Divisions where the author has written a series. The Fiction Series Book Awards is a division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards (the CIBAs) is seeking for the best book series in all of its fifteen fiction divisions: Mysteries, Suspense Thrillers, Espionage/High Stakes, Young Adult, Middle-Grade Readers, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Supernatural and Paranormal, Romance, Historical Fiction. 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 Series Book Awards Entries to the 2022 Series Book Awards Short List. Entries below are now in competition for 2022 Series Semi-Finalists. Finalists are then chosen 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 luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the Semi-Finals of the 2023 Series Book Awards novel competition for Genre Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- David Fitz-Gerald – Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail
- Eric J. Gates – The Cull
- CK Van Dam – On the Dakota Frontier
- Michele L. Sayre – Darke Realms
- Chuck Morgan – Crime
- Jode Millman – The Queen City Crimes Series
- John J Spearman – Perseverance Andrews
- John J Spearman – Halberd
- Sharon Michalove – Global Security Unlimited
- McKinley Aspen – Shadows in the Wind
- James Hutson-Wiley – The Sugar Merchant
- Holly Brandon – Chastity Series
- Mary Seifert – Katie and Maverick Cozy Mysteries
- Jeannée Sacken – The Annie Hawkins Series
- Ralph R. “Rick” Steinke – Jake Fortina
- Laura Teste – Book of Bad Manners Series
- Jodi Lea Stewart – Silki, the Girl of Many Scarves
- Mark A. Gibson – Hamilton Place
- KD Sherrinford – Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler romantic mysteries
- Murray Pura & Patrick E. Craig – Islands Series
- C.K. Donnelly – The Kinderra Saga
- McKinley Aspen – Praesidium
- Alice McVeigh – Warleigh Hall Press Jane Austen Series
- Michele Kwasniewski – The Rise and Fall of Dani Truehart
- Elizabeth R. Jensen – The Three Brothers Trilogy
- Sophia Alexander – The Silk Trilogy
- Rae St. Clair Bridgman – The MiddleGate Books
- AG Flitcher – Boone and Jacque
- Brooks Olbrys – The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob
- Lucinda Brant – Roxton Foundation Series
- S. Lee Fisher – The Women of Campbell County
- Andrew Sweet – Reality Gradient
- Frank F. Weber – The Jon Frederick series
- E. Alan Fleischauer – How the West was Won then Lost Annihilation
- Elizabeth Woolsey – The Travels of Dr. Rebecca Harper
- Tom Burkhalter – No Merciful War
- E. Alan Fleischauer – Invisible Death
- Dave Lager – The Ro Delahanty Novels
- John J. Spearman – FitzDuncan
- Marieke Lexmond – The Madigan Chronicles
- Tony Johnson – The Story of Evil
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 Series Awards is:
The Curtis Jefferson Series
By Vince Bailey

Click here to see the 2022 Series Book Award Winners for Genre Fiction

We are now accepting submissions into the 2024 Series Book Awards for Genre 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!

April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

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!
February 11, 2024
VETERANS KEY by Richard Bareford – WWI, Mystery, Historical, Thriller, Florida Keys, Political Intrigue

Veterans Key opens in 1935 as hundreds of derelict vets of the Great War are working in ramshackle government relief camps bridging a gap in the Overseas Highway connecting Key West with the mainland.

One hot August morning, two striking co-eds, Cindy and Ella, step off a train in Islamorada to be greeted with the crude cat-calls of beery veterans. What happens next is unexpected. Cindy singles out Fred, a soft-spoken, muscular vet drinking a Coke. He offers her a sip. She accepts, flirts, and invites him to her hotel in Key West for an amorous rendezvous.

Dealing love and betrayal in equal measure, the protagonists of Veterans Key embark on a course of events that will keep readers guessing.

Eager to meet Cindy, Fred has no inkling that he has in fact been chosen to participate in a carefully planned bank robbery in Havana, the results of which will have enormous consequences for everyone involved. But this pivotal event is barely an introduction to the riveting mystery that is Veterans Key, a serio-comic novel with moments of pathos, terror, and more twists and turns than a cottonmouth snake.

With fate and family tied together and wrapped tight in a web, Richard Bareford ensnares readers in this original story where nobody is quite who they seem.

Cindy’s brother Emilio is a Cuban revolutionary intent on avenging his torture by deposed General Machado’s secret police. Cindy’s father is a former official of the target bank and his knowledge of the contents of a certain safe deposit box is critical for the heist. Fred’s role is to play the patsy in the robbery and the investigation that will surely follow.

If everything had gone to plan, Fred would take the fall, while Emilio and the girls escape with the money, but in this highly original, picaresque novel, nothing goes to plan.

As the story unfolds, the characters’ various involvements with good guys and thugs, including the Cuban police, American FBI agents, Communists, Nazi spies, and mobsters from the Meyer Lansky gang make for a rich mix of deceptions, lies and misdirection. Ultimately Ella may be the most complex figure of them all, a 17-year-old German Jew living an impossible balancing act.

Bareford creates a vivid and compelling adventure by weaving the historical with the plausible.

The disdain of camp officials for the men in their charge and the devastating aftermath of the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane adds gravitas to the deceptively light tone throughout much of the book.

Veterans Key evokes other distinctive novels including The Horse’s Mouth and A Confederacy of Dunces, not for their story lines but for the originality of their thinking. Readers may appreciate the nods to Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not. There is no “predictable” here, only the sheer joy of an original work that commands your attention on its own terms. Highly recommended!

February 7, 2024
TAX MYTHBUSTERS: Don’t Fall Prey to the Tax Misconceptions by Lily Tran – Money Management, Taxes, Essays

Tax MythBusters: Don’t Fall Prey to the Tax Misconceptions, compiled by tax professional Lily Tran with essays by other financial, tax, and accounting professionals, gives valuable insight into the myths of what can and cannot be claimed as a deduction for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

This work provides tips and strategies to optimize tax planning and make the most of available deductions. As the foreword reminds the reader, “Knowledge is power when it comes to taxes,” adding that gaining a better understanding of the tax rules and regulations will allow you to “make smart financial decisions and protect yourself from unnecessary risks.”

The essays that make up this work are short, succinct, and to the point about the pitfalls and challenges that face small business owners, framing these dangers as “myths.”

Some of them are old myths disguised as new enticements, and Tran and her authors keep the reader wary about how fast money online works, the truth about influencer deductions, tax write-offs, and vehicle deductions. Knowing how these popular myths have transformed for the modern age is a must.

The more intensive essays focus on complex and misleading parts of the tax code. Highlights include understanding the rules around reporting losses on the stock market (capital losses), issues around hiring contractors over employees, and even working to understand common myths found on TikTok. There are even myths discussing even including how to deal with cryptocurrency transactions. A better understanding of this collection will help anyone with questions get started on the right track.

The essays in Tax MythBusters are both clear and comprehensive, offering knowledge that small business owners can use and understand comfortably.

This collection avoids complex equations that might put off those who are less math-oriented, instead focusing on sage advice. Staying down to earth, all the advice and warnings that these professionals impart can be taken to heart. The information provided by Lily Tran’s Tax MythBusters: Don’t Fall Prey to the Tax Misconceptions will be invaluable for those seeking tax clarity.

December 20, 2023
Series Award 2023 Long List for Genre Fiction
The CIBA FICTION SERIES Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in any of our 16 Fiction Divisions where the author has written a series. The Fiction Series Book Awards is a division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs) is seeking for the best book series in all of its fifteen fiction divisions: Mysteries, Suspense Thrillers, Espionage/High Stakes, Young Adult, Middle-Grade Readers, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Supernatural and Paranormal, Romance, Historical Fiction. 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 Series Book Awards Entries to the 2022 Series Book Awards Long List. Entries below are now in competition for 2022 Series Short List. Semi-Finalists are chosen from the Short List. Finalists are then chosen 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 luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the Short List of the 2023 Series Book Awards novel competition for Genre Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- David Fitz-Gerald – Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail
- Eric J. Gates – The Cull
- CK Van Dam – On the Dakota Frontier
- Michele L. Sayre – Darke Realms
- Chuck Morgan – Crime
- Jode Millman – The Queen City Crimes Series
- John J Spearman – Perseverance Andrews
- John J Spearman – Halberd
- Sharon Michalove – Global Security Unlimited
- McKinley Aspen – Shadows in the Wind
- James Hutson-Wiley – The Sugar Merchant
- Holly Brandon – Chastity Series
- Mary Seifert – Katie and Maverick Cozy Mysteries
- Jeannée Sacken – The Annie Hawkins Series
- Ralph R. “Rick” Steinke – Jake Fortina
- Amy Wolf – The Spinners of Time
- Laura Teste – Book of Bad Manners Series
- Jodi Lea Stewart – Silki, the Girl of Many Scarves
- Mark A. Gibson – Hamilton Place
- KD Sherrinford – Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler romantic mysteries
- Murray Pura & Patrick E. Craig – Islands Series
- Tiffany Kahapea – Magic and Prophecies
- Vincent M. Miceli – The Last Triceracorn
- C.K. Donnelly – The Kinderra Saga
- McKinley Aspen – Praesidium
- Alice McVeigh – Warleigh Hall Press Jane Austen Series
- Michele Kwasniewski – The Rise and Fall of Dani Truehart
- Hari Hyde – The Honeygate Chronicles
- Elizabeth R. Jensen – The Three Brothers Trilogy
- Sophia Alexander – The Silk Trilogy
- Rae St. Clair Bridgman – The MiddleGate Books
- AG Flitcher – Boone and Jacque
- Brooks Olbrys – The Adventures of Blue Ocean Bob
- Lucinda Brant – Roxton Foundation Series
- S. Lee Fisher – The Women of Campbell County
- Andrew Sweet – Reality Gradient
- Frank F. Weber – The Jon Frederick series
- E. Alan Fleischauer – How the West was Won then Lost Annihilation
- Elizabeth Woolsey – The Travels of Dr. Rebecca Harper
- Tom Burkhalter – No Merciful War
- E. Alan Fleischauer – Invisible Death
- Dave Lager – The Ro Delahanty Novels
- John J. Spearman – FitzDuncan
- James T. Hogg – Girl with a Knife Books
- Marieke Lexmond – The Madigan Chronicles
- Tony Johnson – The Story of Evil
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 Series Awards is The Curtis Jefferson Series By Vince Bailey

Click here to see the 2022 Series Book Award Winners for Genre Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2024 Series Book Awards for Genre 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!

April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

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!
December 14, 2023
The 2023 CIBAs Short List for Military and Front Line Non-Fiction
The Military & Front Lines Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Narrative Non-Fiction and Memoir exploring the lives of those who serve their country and others. The Military & Front Lines Service Book Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring true stories about adventures, life events, unique experiences, travel, personal journeys, global enlightenment, and more. We will put books about true and inspiring stories to the test and choose the best among them. See our full list of Non-Fiction Divisions here.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2023 Military & Front Line Non-Fiction entries to the 2023 Military and Front Line Book Awards SHORT LIST. The Short Listers will compete for the Finalist positions. Finalists will be selected from the Short List. 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 for the FINALISTS of the 2023 Military & Front Lines Book Awards for Narrative Non-Fiction.

Please join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Daniel L Pinion – Chop That Sh*t Up! Leadership and Life Lessons Learned While in the Military
- David Huntley – The B-17 Tomahawk Warrior: A WWII Final Honor
- Pietro Emanuele Garbelli – The Doctor’s Voice – Empowering Solutions to Physicians’ Frustrations, Burnout and Healthcare Inefficiencies
- Matthew J. Louis – Hiring Veterans
- Benjamin Sledge – Where Cowards Go to Die
- Elizabeth Auld – Ma Chère Maman–Mon Cher Enfant: The Letters of Lucien and Louise Durosoir, 1914-1919
- Eric M. Liddick – All the Memories That Remain: War, Alzheimer’s, and the Search for a Way Home
- Adam Ankrum – Halloween Horror True E.R. Terror
- Suzanne M Elshult & Guy Mansfield – A Dog’s Devotion: True Adventures of a K9 Search and Rescue Team
- Trevor Greene – March Forth: The Inspiring True Story Of A Canadian Soldier’s Journey Of Love, Hope and Survival
- John Thomas Hoffman – The Saigon Guns
- Aurita Maldonado – The Zen of Dancing in the Rain: Becoming One with the Storm
- T.C. Fuller – Painting Over Rust: Stories From a 20-Year Odyssey in the FBI
- JoAnna Rakowski – Chasing the Daylight: One Woman’s Journey to Becoming a U.S. Army Intelligence Officer
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 Military & Front Line is:

Lost in Beirut: A True Story of Love, Loss, and War
By Ashe & Magdalena Stevens

Click here to see the 2022 Short List for Military and Front Line Non-Fiction Awards.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2024 Military & Front Line Book Awards. The 2024 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2025. 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 that is sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

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!
December 7, 2023
The 2023 SOMERSET CIBAs Long List 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 all 2023 Somerset Literary and Contemporary Fiction entries to the 2023 Somerset Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for the 2023 Somerset Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalist positions. 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 for the SHORT LIST 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.
- Mhani Alaoui – The House on Butterfly Street
- Khristin Wierman – This Time Could Be Different
- Judy Keeslar Santamaria – You Can’t Fool a Mermaid
- KP McCarthy – Mortal Weather
- Leslie Tall Manning – Feral Maril and Her Little Brother Carol
- Marcia Peck – Water Music: A Cape Cod Story
- Deborah Hufford – Blood to Rubies
- David Joseph – I Didn’t Know What to Say, so I Just Said Thanks
- Charlotte Beck – A Good Day To Die
- Kimberly Sullivan – Rome’s Last Noble Palace
- Scott Swanson – Sweet Tooth
- Ruth F. Stevens – My Year of Casual Acquaintances
- Ann Marie Jackson – The Broken Hummingbird
- George R. Wolfe – Into the River of Angels
- Arthur Byrd – Crossing Lake Pontchartrain
- Nova Garcia – Not That Kind of Call Girl
- McKinley Aspen – Cogitatio: Shadows in the Wind
- Carrie Simmons – Lovers’ Jewelry
- Linda Moore – Five Days in Bogota
- David Fitz-Gerald – If It’s the Last Thing I Do
- Pam Landen – If You Find Me Worthy
- Dian Greenwood – About the Carleton Sisters
- Lou Dischler – Oracle to the Underworld
- A.J. Kohler and Susan Lynn Solomon – The Magician
- Bob Holt – Firebird
- Jo Deniau – Hologram
- J.A. Wright – Eat and Get Gas
- B. Lynn Carter – Jus Breathe
- George Brown – Who Killed Jerusalem?
- Krishma Tuli Arora – From Ash to Ashes
- Terry Tierney – The Bridge on Beer River
- Jennifer Gold – Halfway to You
- Jacqueline Boulden – Her Past Can’t Wait
- Giselle Mehta – Vectors in the Void
- Mary Avery Kabrich – The Journal of Hidden Truths
- Ron Roman – Of Ashes and Dust
- Anne Moose – When You Read This I’ll Be Gone
- Leslie Liautaud – Black Bear Lake
- Victoria Costello – Orchid Child
- Nancy Joie Wilkie – Faraway and Forever: More Stories
- 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
- Patricia Sands – The Secrets We Hide
- Elayne Klasson – The Earthquake Child: A Novel
- Judy Lannon – Nine Days
- Michele Chynoweth – The Wise Man
- Karla Huebner – Too Early to Know Who’s Winning
- Leslie A. Rasmussen – The Stories We Cannot Tell
- Debra Thomas – Josie and Vic, a novel
- Julia Brewer Daily – No Names to Be Given
- Rick Shands – Frame 39
- Joe Pace – Moss
- Ann Curtin – Muldoon’s Walking
- Kathy Sechrist – Success Is The Best Revenge
- Kamille Roach – A Matchbox Full of Pearls
- Michele Kwasniewski – Falling Star Book Three of The Rise and Fall of Dani Truehart Series
- Linn Aspen – The Dreamtidings of a Disgruntled Starbeing: Life with a psychopathic brother
- James Gish, Jr. – When Blackbirds Dream
- Victoria Costello – Orchid Child
- Donna Norman-Carbone – All That is Sacred
- Laura Albu – The Undines
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 is:

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 2023 Somerset Book Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction. The 2023 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2024.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2023 Chanticleer In’tl Book Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

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 11th annual conference and discover why!
November 29, 2023
THINKING ABOUT THINKING: America’s Yeomanry and Cognoscenti by Thomas Christ – Comparative Politics, United States Politics, Social Theory

Thinking About Thinking is a literary endeavor by Thomas Christ to inform, educate, and bridge the clashing ideological trench in the United States.

Thomas Christ commits to a theoretical exploration that serves as both a political and social commentary – a mission to untangle the intricate web of ideologies that have driven American politics.

The twelve comprehensive sections of this work provide explicit responses to ideological polarization. Beginning with an exploration of interweaving technological, social, economic, and political constituents, Thinking About Thinking offers a theory of ideology in early twenty-first-century American politics. Drawing on Karl Marx’s core concepts, Christ offers an in-depth breakdown of how these constituents interact to have a substantial impact on society.

As the work further ventures into the intricate terrain of ideologies, a profound effort unfolds to discover their elusive origins. Demonstrating technology as a powerful catalyst for change, it explores the concept of “cultural lag” – the challenge cultural norms face in keeping up with technological advancements.

By disassembling the myriad forces that mold one’s convictions, Christ unveils the processes of belief generation, propagation, and assimilation. This leads to a profound quest into the realm of human psychology, to find the incentives that drive individuals to embrace broader ideas.

The next discussion focuses on ideologies as symbols of affiliation, examining two opposing worldviews in American culture: the Yeomanry (traditionalists) and the Cognoscenti (intellectuals). Following sections delve into the time of Donald Trump’s administration and its connection to the Yeomanry, revealing a nuanced view of the ideological shift in modern America.

Presenting a roadmap for overcoming ideological divides and promoting a reasonable, evidence-based approach to sensitive matters, the final section of this work is dedicated to discussing strategies to bridge this ideological rift.

In its presentation of ideas, Thinking About Thinking displays a graceful unity of coherence and clarity. The concepts it details are succinctly described, easily digestible despite their complexity.

A thoughtful perspective emerges, drawing from historical context and our own time’s challenges. Thinking About Thinking serves as a comprehensive resource for intellectual and sociopolitical dialogue. It encourages analytical thought and facilitates a thorough understanding of America’s ideological situation.

This venture into the convoluted realm of American political beliefs encourages empathy and understanding across ideological lines, empowering readers with a profound understanding of contemporary American politics. Thinking About Thinking is a call to action – a road map for a more united and peaceful America.

November 13, 2023
Discover your next great read with the 2023 Somerset Awards Hall of Fame

Contemporary tales of literary proportions?

Submit to the Somerset Awards by October 31st!

***Submit Your Novel Today!***

Are the pages of your book full of rich literary themes, captivating contemporary narratives, a touch of magical realism, or heartfelt explorations of family dynamics? If so, it’s time to put your work to the test by submitting it to the Somerset Awards! These awards seek to celebrate and honor books that shine with literary brilliance, offering a platform for those that delve into the complexities of human existence through the written word. Whether your work weaves enchanting tales of magical realism, delves into the intricacies of modern life, or delves deep into the bonds that tie families together, the Somerset Awards is your chance to gain recognition and acclaim for your extraordinary storytelling.

For Humor, Satire, or Allegorical works, we suggest that you consider the Mark Twain Book Awards division of the CIBAs.

Lets take a look at the Grand Prize Winners of the Somerset Awards!

Everything That Was
By Conon Parks, Chris Sempek, Mike MacNeil and Larry Knight

Everything That Was echoes myriad broken emotions born of the world in turmoil after 9/11, intricate and politically bold, and as disturbing in its brutal humanity as it is satisfying with witty jests.

The 9/11 terrorist attack has shattered the psyche of the American people. A volcanic eruption of questions demands the whys and hows of the attack. From this anger, a massive war on terror begins. This historical fiction reflects the chaos of 9/11 and its ensuing global chaos – resulting in a series of violent endeavors and events. Throughout Everything That Was, one can find a swarm of fragmented ideologies, mini memoirs of war veterans, and witness accounts – all screeching reasons for the attack, the ensuing war, and its consequences: political, ideological, and theological.

Read More Here

Lies In Bone
By Natalie Symons

From the first paragraph of Lies in Bone, Natalie Symons’ debut novel delves into human darkness.

Lies in Bone, set in a factory town in 1986 Pennsylvania after its industrial boom faded, is told from the point of view of a girl who struggles with more than usual teenage angst. Symons relentlessly reveals the fear, ignorance, and poverty which often suffuse a community left behind.

The residents of Slippery Elm, Pennsylvania, were bewildered and ill-equipped to deal with their new reality when the steel mill shut down seven years before, leaving many unemployed and discouraged.

Frances Coolidge, known as Frank, knows the struggle of being left behind.

Read More Here

A Season in Lights
By Gregory Erich Phillips

Gregory Erich Phillips’ A Season in Lights is a well-crafted, engaging exploration of creatives, each following their heart and trying to reach their dream.

Against backdrops of the 1980s AIDS crisis and the more recent COVID-19 pandemic, the story entwines the lives of a 30-something dancer and an older musician as they strive to make their artistic mark in the cultural capital of New York City.

Here in a two-fold unveiling, the story comes to life from the first-person perspective of Cammie, a starry-eyed aspiring dancer from Lancaster, PA, and the third-person reveal of Tom, a more seasoned black pianist. He longs for a classical career but is too often labeled a jazz musician. Cammie first encounters Tom in a studio dance class where he’s taken a job as the musical accompanist. Befriended by the gay dance instructor, Tom heeds the worldly advice offered about surviving in the Big Apple. “All you’ve got to do is convince people that you belong. You’ve got to tell them who you are before they tell you.”

Read More Here

Hard Cider
By Barbara Stark-Nemon

Abbie Rose Stone is a woman determined to follow her newly discovered dream of producing her own craft hard apple cider while navigating the ups and downs of family life with her grown sons and husband.

Abbie Rose knows how to deal with adversity, and dives headfirst into this new chapter of her life with energy and passion. She describes her early adulthood years of infertility struggles and the hardscrabble way she built her young family through invasive medical procedures, a surrogate attempt, and adoption barriers.

After finishing a successful career in education and raising her three sons, Abbie Rose now sees an opportunity to create a new segment of her life’s work in a blossoming business venture. She’s set to take on this new venture by herself, determined to succeed, with or without her husband’s support. Yet, while she lays out her meticulous plans for her cider business, life keeps happening around her, attempting to derail Abbie Rose at every turn.

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 Somerset 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 Contemporary story deserves to be discovered, and you can submit to the 2023 Somerset Awards by the end of the month. Don’t miss this chance to give your book the recognition it deserves.

The Somerset Awards is your chance to shine!

The 2022 Grand Prize Winners from CAC23!

And remember! Our 12th Anniversary Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24) will be April 18-21, 2024, where our 2023 CIBA winners will be announced. Space is limited and seats are already filling up. Sign up and see the latest updates here!

October 23, 2023
IF YOU FIND ME WORTHY By Pam Landen – Contemporary Romance, Women’s Fiction

If You Find Me Worthy introduces forty-six-year-old Kate Baker, a woman who knows her own mind. As the former owner of a million-dollar private jet charter service, Kate is well established in the world of aviation as well as the world of CEOs.

Having started her career in the technology field, Kate is returning to her roots when her friend and former business partner asks her to use her technical expertise to assess the disaster recovery plan of North American Bank. She negotiates to exchange her assistance for a look into the bank’s lending practices for her study on the prejudice against female business owners.

Kate is certainly not looking for love. Having lost her husband to ALS years previously, she is focused only on her work, her son Stuart, and golf. However, when she meets Curtis Michaels, the CEO of North American Bank for the last seven years, she immediately feels an unfamiliar, and unwelcome, attraction. So begins If you Find Me Worthy by Pam Landen.

Curtis finds Kate exceptionally intriguing. He can’t help but constantly challenge the beautiful blonde.

A widower himself, Curtis has raised his daughter Sarah alone and carries the scars of his former bad relationship. He knows he shouldn’t even think about approaching Kate since she is temporarily working for his bank, but he can’t help himself.

The more Kate learns about Curtis, the more she realizes their similarities in the business and personal worlds, but Curtis’s demons threaten their fledgling relationship before it has a chance to truly blossom. She questions her ability to maintain her distance from the man who so clearly needs her help, but will the two be able to defeat the memories of his former life?

This novel’s greatest strength is character development.

Both Kate and Curtis have extreme depth. The pain from their former spouses has created a pain simultaneously unique to the characters while bearing striking similarities. Kate’s husband, Sam, left Kate with extreme feelings of inadequacy despite her running a successful business and caring for him during his illness. Their story is one Kate is embarrassed to admit to Curtis.

Unbeknownst to Kate, Curtis has his own shameful secret concerning his dead wife Carol. His trauma is, perhaps, the most critical to the novel’s plot as it keeps him from seeking future happiness with Kate. Though perfect for each other, the two have a chasm of hurt between them. The strength Kate has found through therapy and self-actualization won’t allow her to settle for less than Curtis’s full heart, but finding the patience to help him get the counseling he needs proves difficult. Numerous times, their relationship stands on shaky ground, but the growth of their love is endearing.

A major theme of the novel revolves around Kate’s research project – the treatment of women in business.

Kate must repeatedly prove herself in this “man’s world.” She faces extreme sexism from Jake, the lead marketing representative for the bank. His constant berating, questioning, and name-calling push Kate to her limit, but she refuses to allow Curtis to step in on her behalf. With few women in positions of power within the bank, Kate’s journey is entirely uphill with Curtis often throwing roadblocks in her path as well to test her business acumen.

An interesting twist is Kate’s acceptance of Curtis’s behavior. She sees Curtis as a flirt rather than an opponent. Though Curtis has macho-man control issues, his treatment of Kate is chivalrous and giving. She willingly gives up power to him on occasion, and she seems mostly unbothered by that power release. His validation of her feminism makes her feel like a beautiful, treasured woman for the first time in her life, and, in some way, actually accentuates her feminine power.

Behind the details of business and technology lies a touching romance. Recommended!

October 13, 2023
Celebrating the Military & Front Line Awards 2023 for Service to Others
Stories of Service to Others

The Military and Front Line Awards are here!

***Submissions are Open until the end of October***

You have until October 31st to submit and Enter the 2023 CIBAs!

We have long wanted to hold a Book Award Division for Narrative Non-Fiction that highlights the Service to Others embodied by those in our Military and Front Line Workers. You can enter the 2022 Military and Front Line Book Awards today!

The new Division honors the following Non-Fiction Narratives:
- Military and Armed Forces Service Narratives
- Medical Stories focused on Nurses, Doctors, Health Care Workers, and other Essential Workers
- Stories of Community Service Workers such as Firefighters and Police
- CARE, Peace Corps, Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, and other service organizations
- Work in Agencies that serve their Community and Government
- Families of those who serve in these Community Roles
We’re honored to celebrate these Winners of the Military and Front Line Awards, as well as books that are in the spirit of this incredible genre.

Lost in Beirut
By Ashe and Magdalena Stevens

Seeking to “fill his vessel with the truth,” young Ashe Stevens joins his friends on a thrilling adventure beyond the safety of his comfortable American life to chase stardom in Beirut, Lebanon.

Leaving behind a raucous life of plenty in Hollywood – complete with hot dates, popularity, and financial success – to the unknown of the Middle East teaches Ashe to prioritize his values and beliefs. But nothing could prepare him for what’s coming next.

Journey with Ashe and his friends as they bring the rapper 50 Cent to Beirut, the “Paris of the Middle East.” Along the way, Ashe dates not one, but two drop-dead gorgeous billionaires and falls head over heels for a blonde beauty to whom he promises to devote his life. But just as business is booming and true love reaches the height of bliss, the Israeli military bombs their beautiful city, “weaving a tapestry of death all over the night sky.” The team barely makes it out with their lives in a harrowing escape, leaving their love and livelihoods behind.

Read More Here

Dear Bob: Bob Hope’s Wartime Correspondence with the G.I.s of World War II
By Martha Bolton with Linda Hope

During World War II, Bob Hope traveled almost ceaselessly to outposts large and small, entertaining US troops – and inspiring them; Martha Bolton brings the extent of this work to light in Dear Bob.

Writer Martha Bolton worked with and for comedian Bob Hope. Now, with Hope’s daughter Linda, she has gathered and organized the letters written to Bob by the soldiers he helped.

Hope, English born, and born to entertain, once said he could not retire and go fishing because “Fish don’t applaud.” Among his sizzling lines – and there are hundreds recorded here – he told one audience that he’d gotten a wonderful welcome when he arrived at their camp: “I received a 10-gun salute… They told me on the operating table.”

His performances could have been forgotten were it not for the letters from soldiers of every stripe, and those soldiers’ families – who did not forget him.

Read More Here

The Color of the Elephant
By Christine Herbert

“The toughest job you’ll ever love.” That was the original slogan for the Peace Corps, one that Christine Herbert found to be wholly true, as she shows in The Color of the Elephant, a journal of her time serving in Zambia from 2004 to 2006.

This is a story about the journey rather than the destination. After all, the destination of any posting with the Peace Corps is the place you first came from, hopefully leaving something positive behind, and having changed and been changed by the experience.

For the author, her experience was that of a muzungu, a word synonymous in southern, central, or eastern African countries with foreigners such as Peace Corps volunteers and Doctors without Borders.

Read More Here

General in Command- Hearten 1st Place 2020
By Michael M. Van Ness

Michael M. Van Ness, the grandson of “the general in command,” has created a remarkable biography chronicling the adventures of a farm boy who rose high rank in the US military and served with distinction in two world wars as a combatant, officer, and sage observer.

Born in 1891, John Benjamin Anderson must have had considerable intelligence as well as patriotism and grit, since he was accepted at West Point Military Academy at age 19, an honor conferred on only 130 applicants per year—and finished in the top third of his class. He would soon serve under General Pershing in the Mexican War, giving him the experience of combat and coincidentally, his first ride in an automobile. That deployment earned him inclusion in Pershing’s ranks in World War I. It was then his diaries began, and though he protested humorously that “I hate to write,” these personal recollections give readers an up-close picture of the devastation of warfare.

Read More Here

Fly Safe
By Vicki Cody

Not many people can capture the emotions that coincide with war, but Vicki Cody joins the ranks of those who do in her wartime memoir, Fly Safe: Letters from the Gulf War and Reflections from Back Home.

This powerful memoir shows us the behind-the-scenes lives of the women, children, and families left at home while their soldiers set off for war, bringing us close to their raw vulnerability. Fly Safe fascinates as it informs readers of what one wife experiences as her commander husband leads his battalion to the middle east.

Cody takes us back in time to the early 1990s when the first President Bush called up troops in an operation called “Desert Shield,” which turned into Desert Storm. She captures the events that led up to our first conflict in the middle east, but far from being strictly pedantic and historical, centers on the warmth, love, and fears that most of the wives were experiencing. Her letters from her husband – and her journal entries read like daily affirmations and blend well in telling this story.

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 Military and Front Line 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 Story deserves to be discovered, and you can submit to the 2023 Military and Front Line Awards by the end of the month. Don’t miss this chance to give your book the recognition it deserves.

The Military and Front Line Awards is your chance to shine!

The 2022 Grand Prize Winners from CAC23!

And remember! Our 12th Anniversary Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24) will be April 18-21, 2024, where our 2023 CIBA winners will be announced. Space is limited and seats are already filling up. Sign up and see the latest updates here!
October 11, 2023