GREAT INDIE READS
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This month's recommendations
By the Hands of Men, Book One: The Old World: A Sweeping Saga of Courage, Love, and Redemption
A soldier fights for his soul in the trenches of France. A field hospital nurse battles death every day. When duty and honor are not enough of a reason to go on in the hell of a world at war, love gives purpose to their lives.
The Great Dane
After the sudden death of his only child, Liko Greenman is looking for any way to pass, waste or kill time. He becomes obsessed with a compelling mystery within his son's favorite video game, Three Hares, and is determined to solve it. The game travels along the Old Silk Road, following the triskelion motif of the Three Hares in art and architecture. The player's journey ends abruptly at Paderborn Cathedral in Germany, but fans are certain the game isn't over.
Liko receives a condolence letter from the gaming company, with a single clue that leads him to the rural town of Birch Island, New York and a farm called Schoenfeld's. There, Liko comes face-to-face with Danelaw Strong, who has one blue eye, one brown eye, and a compelling, dual personality.
For 22 years, Dane was intimately involved with Ethan Hasen, the creator of Three Hares, and Ethan's wife, Nomi. As three deeply bonded lovers, they made a life together at Schoenfeld's that defied convention. Now only Dane is left to work the farm, a single hare grieving the loss of soulmates and simply concentrating on doing the next thing.
Recognizing they're both killing time and each has something to give the other, Liko agrees to move to Schoenfeld's for the summer and Dane will guide him in solving the video game's mystery. So begins a journey of friendship, love and belonging that will show Liko there's more to the Three Hares game and more to Danelaw Strong than he could possibly imagine.
Suanne Laqueur's newest novel is a chimerical blend of romance, drama, identity, power and hope. Combining legend and folklore with her signature depth and understanding of the human experience, The Great Dane explores how we view the most profound human connection in pairs, when three is often love's most magical number.
To Keep Her From Harm
"A realistic, gripping portrayal of family, trust, and the value of self-improvement."-Kirkus
A single mother's desperate attempt to protect her daughter from potential danger draws them into a web of secrets and hidden identities-raising the haunting question: how far is too far when a parent is fighting to keep their child safe?
When Laura first fell for Steven, she believed she'd finally found the life she'd always longed for. But after an unexpected pregnancy, the distant, simmering anger she'd once brushed aside in him becomes impossible to ignore. The birth of their daughter Amanda is a dream come true for Laura-until a violent outburst sends her fleeing to the safety of her affluent parents' home.
As Laura navigates a tense and uneasy co-parenting arrangement, subtle changes in her daughter's behavior suggest that Steven's connection to Amanda may not only be strained, but sinister. Consumed with the need to protect her child, Laura flees across the border into Canada after a court disagrees with her suspicions-leaving the FBI and a grieving father in pursuit.
A mother's love and a father's anguish have left a trail of frayed lives and fractured hearts. But the devastating consequences of a young child's attempt to take matters into her own hands reunites her parents as they struggle to make their daughter whole again.
Recent Great Indie Reads Books
February, 2026
Goode Vibrations of the Wresting Place
The transformation of Penelope Brigid Goode begins after a near-death experience on her 30th birthday while skiing on a mountain in Maine. She wakes up in recovery and the world around her is more vibrant, vivid, and intense. Strange visions begin to creep up on her like a dream—the spirits of her recently deceased dog and the mother she hardly knew. Ghost owls cast shadows of premonition.
When the number three occurs and reoccurs, Pennie fears for her sanity, especially while she and her uncle survey a graveyard near the former Home for the Feeble-Minded. Here she senses her first vibrations—spirits of the Malaga Island settlement reinterred on these very grounds after a forced exile over a century ago by the State of Maine, a chapter of racism and eugenics in Maine’s history.
Despite warning signs and against her best instincts, she rushes headlong into a relationship with the developer who is excavating near the graves. She begins to realize the signs all around her, listen to her intuition, and awaken to her visions. Through a slow unearthing, Pennie uncovers the past and recognizes the power of her dreams, the haunting history of Malaga Island, and her fight for justice and the truth.
My Life in Dog Years: A Poodle Named Henry and Other Melodramas
When Candida Pugh fell in love with a friend's giant poodle, she decided to find one for herself. But the poodle she found at a Fremont, California, shelter resembled the other dog only in his keen intelligence and outgoing personality. In fact, she was advised not to adopt Henry because "he's a biter." If that had summed up his defects, it would've been bad enough, but his tendency to bite the hand that fed him proved merely the tip of the iceberg.
Her struggles with this maddening, adorable, astute animal foreshadowed a series of impulsive acquisitions of dogs with issues. In this memoir, she details how her love for difficult dogs resulted in frustration, determination, and ultimately jubilation. The unwavering devotion she won from each gave her the courage to overcome her own troubled past.
Operation Texas
In 1938, Congressman Lyndon Baines Johnson hires the 24-year-old, multi-lingual Rosalind Fisher to accompany his good friend, Jim Novy, on a hazardous trip to Poland. Rosalind is responsible for easing 40 visas for Novy’s family to leave Poland through the US Embassy—a nearly impossible job on its own.
During the trip on the Queen Mary, Rosalind encounters German spies just returning from New York with secreted documents, and a handsome British undercover agent, with consequences for American security. At the embassy, Rosalind finds no one willing to help and must use her own skills, make her own compromises, and risk her safe return to the US, to secure the signed visas. At the same time, can she help her own cousins, also trapped in Warsaw?
January, 2026
The Moments You Were Mine (Swift Rivers Series)
When she’s the only promise that matters…
PARKER
There are only two things I’ve ever wanted—a career as a Navy SEAL and Fallon.
When a promise prevents me from making her mine, I dedicate my life to the Teams and swear off all relationships. Until disaster flips my world.
Just as I inherit a little boy, Fallon’s life is threatened, and suddenly, the oaths I made seem inconsequential. The only things that matter are making her mine and keeping her and Theo safe.
FALLON
I once believed Parker and I were soulmates. But after a stinging rejection, I get the hint and move on.
When my new relationship blows up and brings trouble to the ranch, it’s Parker who arrives to protect me. Watching as he cuddles the child he brings with him has all my unrequited dreams rushing back.
Except offering myself to Parker now risks more than a broken heart. It could have deadly consequences… for all of us.
With “My Wife” swoon, this small-town, single-dad spin-off of the fan-favorite Hatley Family series is a chemistry-filled kiss to your heart. Get this broody bodyguard, standalone HEA today.
Beautiful color edition hardback available with printed edge design.
My Joy Journey with Amy: A Love Story Through Life, Loss, Grief and Healing
There is no manual for how to handle a cancer diagnosis or for the journey through treatments.
Neither for the grief many families experience when the outcome results in the loss of a loved one. Loss is a profound, life-changing event that has no end. I will not pretend to have any tidy answers for you on how to overcome grief or to provide a process for you to follow in your own grief journey. I simply do not have one, even for myself.
This book is about my joy journey with the love of my life, Amy. You probably are curious about the use of the word joy in describing this journey. Certainly, cancer is not a joyful event, but the word joy had special meaning and significance to Amy and, because of her example, to many others. After receiving her cancer diagnosis, Amy expressed very adamantly that she wanted to somehow find joy in our cancer journey as well. As you read this collection of reflections, I think you will come to understand the joy Amy sought. Throughout this book, I recall the many wonderful, joyful memories of my life with Amy as well as chronicle my own challenges and struggles through grief to healing.
While writing My Joy Journey with Amy was in many ways cathartic for me, my hope is that this book will inspire you to follow Amy’s example and find some way to seek joy each and every day.
“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.” —Henri J.M. Nouwen
Personality Intelligence: Master the Art of Being You (For Your Sake and Everyone Else’s)
For thousands of years, personality types have offered fixed descriptions of who we are. In Personality Intelligence, award-winning author and personality expert Merrick Rosenberg—also known as the Bird Guy—takes it further and shows us how we can develop our personalities to become our best selves.
Utilizing his memorable Eagle, Parrot, Dove, and Owl personality styles, Rosenberg provides an intriguing glimpse into the neuroscience behind personality and human behavior. He introduces the idea that we can all advance through the four levels of Personality Intelligence—from struggling to express our natural talents to becoming adaptable Chameleons who are wildly successful at everything they do.
Through humorous and relatable fables, celebrity stories, and four subtly-named characters—Dawn Eagleton, Ian Parrotti, Scarlett Doveridge, and Carter Barnowl—Personality Intelligence provides a lens through which readers can clearly view their past, present, and potential selves.
In this transformative book, you’ll learn how to:
- More effectively leverage your innate strengths
- Apply personality insights to build healthy, enduring relationships at home, work, and everywhere in between
- Master all four styles so you can fluidly adapt to any situation
Personality Intelligence is the guide to unlocking the full potential of who you can be.
December, 2025
Witch (Echoes in Time Book 4)
I curse th’ one who stops my heart, t’ burn in agony afore his time—that each generation suffer the flames lit here t’night. Only death can stop it!
Missing Pieces: a novel of the Balkans
At its core it is a story of survival, reminiscent of the novels of Eric Ambler where the protagonist, who appears at first to be relatively ordinary, is drawn into a mystery she only barely comprehends.
Boxes from the Attic—An Immigrant’s Story
Thea’s incredibly powerful and inspiring story is based on authentic personal diary entries, writings, newspaper clippings, and photos found by her daughter in boxes tucked away in the attic.
About the Books
The Great Indie Reads is a collaboration between Bookclubs and Dartfrog to expose book clubs to new, independent authors and books! Dartfrog books are the best in independently published literature. DartFrog uses professional editorial standards to curate book store and book club worthy books from self-publishers, hybrid publishers, and smaller traditional publishers. We're bringing recommended DartFrog books to you, each with a book club discussion guide. Enjoy!
