Looking for a holiday gift for those who love fiction/literary fiction? #holidaygiftguide #fiction
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  • N. N. Light
    • Nov 9, 2023
    • 6 min read

Looking for a holiday gift for those who love fiction/literary fiction? #holidaygiftguide #fiction



Looking for a holiday gift for those who love fiction/literary fiction? Check out these featured books...


The Man in Cabin Number Three by Chrysteen Braun


When Annie Parker discovers her husband’s infidelity, she doesn’t let it destroy her. She packs her bags and heads to Lake Arrowhead, Ca, the mountainside town where her family used to summer. Immersing herself in the restoration of seven 1920s era cabins, Annie begins to put the pieces of her life back together. But starting over is never easy.


Alyce Murphy needs closure. When she discovers her father did not die from a heart attack, as she’s been led to believe for the last 30 years, but in a murder/suicide, she is determined to uncover the truth of his death. But when she visits the cabin where her father ended his life, Alyce has to accept she may never know the true story.


Annie is looking towards her future while Alyce needs to put the past to rest. In parallel stories, both women are drawn to the rustic mountainside cabins as they search for the missing pieces---but they soon discover that the cabins have their own stores to tell.





The Girls in Cabin Number Three by Chrysteen Braun


"With themes of love, family, friendship, new beginnings, and the complexity of life, readers will get hooked from the very beginning." —San Francisco Book Review


"[The Girls in Cabin Number Three]'s complex, interesting characters, and engrossing historical and geographical settings make it a must-read." —Readers' Favorite


“Braun’s a top-notch storyteller; The Girls in Cabin Number Three is well plotted with clearly defined and relatable characters. Her research is exemplary.”

—Kate Osborn, formerly with the Mountain News, Lake Arrowhead


“Annie meets Carrie Davis, a new guest who slowly begins to unravel secrets from her own family’s past in the second part of The Guest Book Trilogy: The Girls in Cabin Number Three… with plenty of intrigue in an idyllic mountain locale.”

—Susan Denley, former Associate Features Editor, Los Angeles Times.


In book two of the Guest Book Trilogy, eighty-one-year-old Annie Parker recounts taking on, against the wishes of her new love Noah, an out-of-town design project that leads her down a path that is more than she bargained for.


Back in Lake Arrowhead, California, a long-awaited mystery is buried in Cabin Number Three. Annie meets Carrie Davis who wants to update her childhood home on the lake and feels a tie to Annie’s cabins. Apparently, Carrie’s parents stayed here during the Roaring ‘20s when Bugsy Siegel ran an underground speakeasy and distillery. Unconvinced, Annie decides to investigate and finds their names in the old guest books—Elizabeth Davis and Thomas Meyer. As exciting as that sounds, it’s only the start of a winding tale that Carrie and the new man in her life uncover. The pair unravel a family history filled with gangsters, working girls, and a surprising twist to a family tree.


The Girls in Cabin Number Three combines women’s fiction with romance, cozy noir mystery, and suspense—all wrapped up in the majestic environs of this lovely lakeside haven.





The Starlet in Cabin Number Seven by Chrysteen Braun


Return to picturesque 1980s Lake Arrowhead, California where another cozy cabin sheltered amongst the sweeping pine-lined vistas holds a long-buried secret, waiting to be divulged.


In this third installment of The Guest Book Trilogy, a young Annie Parker is struggling to overcome her grief over the recent loss of her sister, when a childhood friend unexpectedly turns up seeking refuge from an ill-fated marriage. It would have been easy for Annie to sink deeper into sadness, but when she learns her newest design client, Hudson Fisher, is the son of the late film actress Celeste Williams, her curiosity is peaked. As it turns out, the Roaring 20s starlet was no stranger to the Lake Arrowhead cabins—and this revelation sparks the unraveling of a scandalous story from Hollywood’s bygone era. Did an illicit romance between this leading lady and her dashing costar take place in Cabin No. 7? What really went on behind-the-scenes during the filming of that silent picture? Will discovering a piece of the past bring closure to Annie’s present?


A heartwarming tale of friendships, forgiveness, and a touch of old Hollywood glamour, The Starlet in Cabin Number Seven will have readers captivated from beginning to end.


A Simple Matter of Hope and Joy by Nathan Menoian


Eric David Matthews can’t imagine why God would select him for anything. He’s a longtime business owner with no interest in the Creator of the Universe, and no remaining zest for life. Unexpectedly, he meets a woman of devout faith who tells him what Jesus has done in her life.


In quick order, Eric turns his middle-aged and mundane life over to God. He soon finds himself in a whirlwind of divinely-guided activity, discovering that the Lord will and can use anyone - young or old. Though the weeks and months ahead aren’t all smooth sailing, Eric remains ever-faithful as he experiences love, joy, sorrow, fear, and rejuvenation.


One demanding and persistent question keeps racing through his heart: Does God have a specific calling in mind for him? At just the right time, Eric receives the answer he’s been looking for, along with a brand new zest for life.




Maureen Tries Online Dating by Sherrill Wark


Retired ER nurse Maureen makes one stupid little decision about her latest online-dating-site prospect, and she ends up in a kettle of fish. "*Maureen Tries Online Dating* takes you on a roller coaster ride from one unexpected twist to another, paced to keep you on your toes and up all night. A memorable cast of characters both human and otherwise, with snappy and witty banter, explore the idea that there is so much about life that we don’t understand and don’t know, dismissing our foolishly human-centered point of view, while revealing a deep and imaginative world of what could be, frighteningly, possible. Set in an Ottawa both familiar and not, *Maureen Tries Online Dating* will horrify you while you laugh out loud, like Michael Crichton’s *Sphere* meets *Gremlins*. And—ultimately—that it’s never too late to start again and start living, no matter how old you might think you are."—Adam Jarvis, Sci-Fi writer and enthusiast "*Maureen Tries Online Dating* is a page turner. I read the entire book in one night. The reader is led to believe they know the direction the book is going; the truth is, you really don’t have a clue. Adventures constantly open up to swallow the reader whole. An eclectic book complete with mystery, curiosities, Sci Fi, a wonderful humor, and a cast of colorful and funky characters, *Maureen Tries Online Dating* keeps you guessing until the very end. This is Sherrill Wark’s best book to date. At times you will chuckle, furrow your eyebrows, or bite your bottom lip in anticipation of what exactly is at stake. Grab your favorite drink, a cozy blanket and hold on because you are in a for roller coaster of a ride!"—Catina Noble, author of Reader’s Favorite *Everest Base Camp: Close Call* and *El Camino on a Wrecked Ankle*




Vivie Goes to Hell in a Hatchback by Sherrill Wark


To her Guardian Angel’s absolute embarrassment, her “Charge,” teenage Vivie, dies while texting and driving. Susan, a film-noir fan and wannabe writer, who passed over in the early 1960s as a teenager herself, must get Vivie away from the accident site before she dissipates. But since Vivie recognized Susan’s existence only once when Vivie was 13, and only then thinking it was her recently deceased pet rabbit, Petunia, this will take some doing. As Susan and Vivie work their way through the many challenges facing them, the annoying George keeps popping up unannounced and very much unwelcome. An absolutely hilarious journey through the Afterlife. ****

Review #1

Review Rating: 5 Stars. Congratulations on your 5-star review! Reviewed by Rabia Tanveer for Readers’ Favorite In Vivie Goes to Hell in a Hatchback, Vivie was texting and driving in her mother’s car when she hit a cement pillar and died. Now that she is dead, her Guardian Angel Susan now has to make sure that Vivie travels safely beyond the Veil and gets there in time. The only issue is that Vivie is not being very cooperative as always and the danger is proving to be a little too much. They have to work as a team to get through some very weird obstacles and communities to make it happen. Now Vivie must learn to listen to Susan and Susan has to trust Vivie. Can they do it? Humorous and action-packed, Vivie Goes to Hell in a Hatchback by Sherrill Wark is a fun-filled young adult novel that I absolutely loved. There wasn’t a dull moment in the story. The author kept the momentum going and ensured that the reader was hooked. This could be a great TV series on Netflix; I can even imagine certain actresses playing Vivie and Susan. The duo is hilarious, they try to make things work the best way possible, but of course, things are tiring. The bickering between the two is just too much fun to ever stop. However, the love and affection between them are very evident. I enjoyed their dynamic, their relationship and how they worked as a team to get things done. Vivie’s character development was intense and immense. She stopped being a brat and started to grow up; she learned to be compassionate and patient. This is a true entertainer!



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