Apple Grove the Little City with a Big Core

Welcome to Apple Grove, Illinois!

The Little City with a Big Core

We are on the Founders River in western Illinois, approximately 200 miles west of Chicago and south of our state capital, Springfield. Apple Grove is the Hansen County seat of government and a fine family community. Population: 6,457

Main industry: agriculture, proud international home of Apple Delight, makers of fine juices, ciders, apple pie filling, jellies, and other exemplary apple products

Apple Grove welcomes new industry

Join us for Apple Fest, the last full weekend in September.

This website is undergoing continual upgrades. Check back for updated information.

History

Apple Grove was founded in 1837 rose and grew along Founders River, a stream that erupted from a natural spring about four miles north of town. At one time it had served its purpose by washing with enough force down an incline that it was deemed sufficiently powerful to operate the wheel of a gristmill. John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, visited the area on his missionary seed-planting journey when he traveled all the way to see the Mississippi River, and is believed to have planted the first apple grove that gave the city its name. Apple Delight, an international apple production company, maintains the orchards. At its height, Apple Grove had a population of over 10,000 with two shoemakers, four dress shops and milliners, a cigar factory, tinsmiths, two liveries, medical services, funeral parlors, as many as eight saloons, a very fine school, and ladies’ secretarial academy, besides the mill and orchard. As with many frontier communities, Apple Grove undertook a safety system to provide a shelter for businesses and its citizens in times of natural and man-made disaster by digging a system of tunnels beneath the main avenues of the city. They have since been deemed a danger and closed.

Welcome to Apple Grove, Illinois, the Apple of Illinois’s Eye.

Information, please!

Government

            Mayor – Donald Conklin

            Administrative Assistant – Marion Green

           

City Council

                        Meets first and third Mondays of the month at City Hall, 6 p.m.

                       

Ward 1 – Cal Stewart, Jeff Hanley

                        Ward 2 – Knute Granger, Tory Gold

                        Ward 3 – Arnie Cappler, Needa Jones

                        Ward 4 – Rupert Murphy, Gretchen Peterson

Clerk – Marion Green

Treasurer – Jeff Hanley

Legal – Call the switchboard for assistance

Offices of:

City Attorney

Court

Judge

           

            City Ordinances - see below

            Voting Information

 Municipal Services

Building and Grounds – Carey Robbins, director

Utilities, Water and Waste

Parks and Recreation

City Park

Apple Adventure Park

Founders River Walkway

Chapman Memorial Public Library

Planning and Zoning - Georgine Crosby, city engineer

Safety Commission

Fire – Captain Lorne Reed

111 Apple St.
Emergency: 9-1-1

The Apple Grove Fire Department is responsible for providing an efficient and effective delivery of fire, medical, rescue, and life safety emergency services within city limits. The Fire Department also strives to improve the quality of life for residents by providing public education, annual flushing and flow testing of the cities hydrant system, pre-fire inspections and conduction of fire drills.

The primary goals of the Fire Department are to:

Reduce and prevent the loss of life and property damage

Improve the outcome of patients

Quickly rescue trapped victims

Protect the environment from destruction

Police – Chief Gene Hackman, Cindy Evans – dispatch, Coroner – Ella Moon

510 Main St. 
Emergency: 9-1-1

Our mission is to serve and protect all residents and visitors. The best way to combat crime is to prevent it, Further, this department believes that effective crime prevention and law enforcement is based on mutual trust and respect between the members of this department and those we serve and protect. Our main goal is to contribute to the quality of life.                                            

Post Office

Businesses

The Apple Grove Chamber of Commerce is located at 212 Main Street. Quarterly meetings are held the last week of March, June, September, and December. A county guide to member businesses can be obtained at the office and at our very fine member establishments.

Apple Delight – Fine Apple Products, seasonal hiring, contact Central Office

Attorneys-at-Law

Auto Dealerships

Auto Repair  

Bank – State’s Bank, Apple Grove Branch  

Books - Mea Cuppa gourmet coffee, candies, books and gifts

           Coffee - Mea Cuppa gourmet coffee, candies, books and gifts        

Dining/Food

Ice Cream Shoppe

Lo Mah Chinese American Cuisine

Pizza Parlor

Tiny’s Buffet

Events – Ethereal Events

Exercise – Fit’r U

Drug Store – Apple Grove Pharmacy

Feli-Mix Pet Food Designers           

Florist

The Flower Shop

Funeral

Gas Station – Apple Grove Service, free air

Gifts

Apple Delight

Mea Cuppa Gourmet coffee, candies, books and gifts

The Flower Shop

Yours, Truly

Wagner's Rx

Grocers – Apple Mart

Hair Cutting and Styling

Barber Shop (next to Mea Cuppa Gourmet coffee, candies, books and

gifts)

Happy Hearts Bio-engineering – hiring, contact Personnel Dept.

Jewelers

Wyler’s Fine Jewelry and Repair; also buying old jewelry

Medical services

Apple Grove Medical Clinic

Solid Core Physical Therapists

DeLight Vision

General Dental Services

Wagner’s Rx

News – Apple Grove Gazette, Yolanda and Jim Toynsbee

Odds and Ends Antiques

The Print Shop

           Radio - WWAG

Technology – McTeague’s Tech Services, personal computers and service, website design and maintenance, business and marketing design

            Veterinary services

Apple Grove Veterinary Services, Adelle Bailey, DMV

 

Citizen Information

            Calendar of Events

Pets on Parade, Fourth of July

Apple Fest, Labor Day weekend

Community Read, first week of February

Community Opportunities

Chapman Memorial Library

Historical Society & Museum

Good Seeds Volunteers

Education

Apple Grove Public Elementary and Middle School

Memorial High School – home of the Trailblazers!

           

Media

Newspaper, the Apple Grove Gazette

Radio – WWAG

Computer services – McTeague Technical Services

Medical Services – hospital, dental and vision clinical services, veterinarian

Physical Fitness -- Fitr'U

Assisted Living – Trails End 

           Social Services – Good Seeds Volunteers

           Churches

New Horizons Church

Apple Grove Worship Center

St. John Catholic        

           

Guest Information

Attractions & Events – historical society and museum, underground tunnels tours by appointment; the Collins House and Museum is open Memorial Day to Labor Day, Thurs – Sun, 1-4 PM or by appointment; Apple Fest is held the first weekend of October, sponsored by Apple Delight. Pets on Parade is our annual Fourth of July event.

Banking – State’s Bank, Apple Grove Branch         

Dining –Ice Cream Shoppe

Lo Mah Chinese American Cuisine

Pizza Parlor

Tiny’s Buffet

            Lodging – Prairie Conference Center and Hotel, Guido’s Pizza Parlor and Inn

            Gifts – Apple Delight, Wagner’s Rx, Mea Cuppa, the Flower Shop, Yours, Truly

            Maps available at the visitor’s desk in City Hall, Prairie Conference Center

            Medical & Veterinary Services

 all photos from Pixabay or Morguefile and are free for use

********************************************

APPLE GROVE, ILLINOIS CITY CODE

____________

GENERAL ORDINANCES OF THE CITY

____________

Effective, April 1, 2000

____________

Published By Order of the City Council

____________

OFFICIALS

of the

CITY OF APPLE GROVE

____________

Donald Conklin
Mayor

____________

Cal Stewart, chair of Utilities Commission

Jeff Hanley, chair of Parks & Recreation

Knute Granger, chair of Library Board

Arnie Cappler, chair of Safety Commission

Needa Jones, chair of Building

Rupert Murphy, president

Tory Gold

Gretchen Peterson

Alderpersons

____________

City Clerk

____________

City Attorney

PREFACE

This Code is a codification of the ordinances of the City of Apple Grove of a general and permanent nature. As expressed in the Adopting Ordinance, the Code supersedes all such ordinances not included therein or recognized as continuing in force by reference thereto.

The chapters of the Code are arranged in alphabetical order and the sections within each chapter are catchlined to facilitate usage. Footnotes which tie related sections of the Code together and which refer to relevant provisions of the state law have been included. The source of each section is indicated by the history note appearing in parentheses at the end thereof. The absence of such a note indicates that the section is new and was adopted for the first time with the adoption of the Code.

Numbering System

The numbering system used in this Code is the same system used in many state and municipal codes. Each section number consists of two component parts separated by a dash, the figure before the dash representing the chapter number and the figure after the dash indicating the position of the section within the chapter. Thus, the first section of Chapter 1 is numbered 1-1 and the tenth section of Chapter 2 is 2-10. Under this system each section is identified with its chapter and, at the same time, new sections or even whole chapters can be inserted in their proper places, simply by using the decimal system for amendments.

Index

The index has been prepared with the greatest of care. Each particular item has been placed under several headings, some of the headings being couched in lay phraseology, others in legal terminology, and still others in language generally used by municipal officials and employees. There are numerous cross references within the index itself which stand as guideposts to direct the user to the particular item in which he is interested. The successful maintenance of this Code up-to-date, at all times will depend largely upon the holder of the volume. As revised sheets are received it will then become the responsibility of the holder to have the amendments inserted according to the attached instructions. It is strongly recommended by the publishers that all such amendments be inserted immediately upon receipt to avoid misplacing them and, in addition, that all deleted pages be saved and filed for historical reference purposes.

Be It Ordained by the City Council of the City of Apple Grove, Illinois:

Section 1.  That this ordinance is hereby adopted and enacted as the “Apple Grove City Code,” and shall be treated and considered as a new and original comprehensive ordinance which shall supersede all other general and permanent ordinances passed by the City Council.

Section 2.  That all provisions of such Code shall be in full force and effect.

Section 3.  That the repeal provided for in Section 2 hereof shall not affect the following:

Any offense or act committed or done or any penalty or forfeiture incurred or any contract or right established or accruing before the effective date of such Code;

(2) Any ordinance or resolution promising or guaranteeing the payment of money for the City, or authorizing the issuance of any bonds of the City or any evidence of the City's indebtedness, or any contract or obligations assumed by the City;

(3) Any administrative ordinances or resolutions of the City Council not in conflict or inconsistent with the provisions of such Code;

(4) Any right or franchise granted by any ordinances of the City;

(5) Any ordinance dedicating, naming, establishing, locating, relocating, opening, paving, widening, vacating, etc., any street or public way in the City;

(6) Any appropriation ordinances;

(7) Any ordinance levying or imposing taxes;

(8) Any ordinance establishing or prescribing grades in the City;

(9) Any ordinance providing for local improvements and making assessments therefor;

(10) Any ordinance dedicating or accepting any plat or subdivision in the City;

(11) Any ordinance extending or contracting the boundaries of the City;

(12) Any ordinance prescribing the number, classification or compensation of any city officers or employees, not inconsistent herewith;

(13) Any ordinance regulating or prohibiting traffic or parking on any particular streets or in any particular area, or specifying or designating off-street parking lots;

(14) Any or instance creating specific funds;

(15) Any ordinance relating to traffic or obstructions around road projects;

(16) Any subdivision or zoning ordinances or amendment or variance thereto;

(17) Any ordinance establishing wards or dealing with the size of the City Council.

Such repeal shall not be construed to revive any ordinance or part thereof that has been repealed by a subsequent ordinance which is repealed by this ordinance.

Section 4.  That any and all additions or amendments to such Code, when passed in such form as to indicate the intention of the City Council to make the same a part thereof, shall be deemed to be incorporated in such Code so that reference to the “Apple Grove City Code,” shall be understood and intended to include such additions and amendments.

Section 5.  That a copy of such Code shall be kept on file in the office of the City Clerk, preserved in looseleaf form. It shall be the express duty of the City Clerk or someone authorized to insert in their designated places all amendments or ordinances which indicate the intention of the City Council to make the same a part of such Code when the same have been printed or reprinted in page form, and to extract from such Code all provisions which may from time to time be repealed by the City Council. This copy of such Code shall be considered the official Apple Grove City Code.

Section 6.  That in case of the amendment of any section of such Code for which a penalty is not provided, the general penalty as provided in Section 1-9 of such Code shall apply to the section as amended.

Section 7.  That it shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation in the City to change or amend by additions or deletions, any section or portion of such Code, or to insert or delete pages or portions thereof, or to alter or tamper with such Code in any manner whatsoever which will cause the law of the City of Apple Grove to be misrepresented thereby.

Section 8.  That whenever in said Code or in any ordinance of the City, any act or omission is prohibited or is made or declared to be unlawful or a misdemeanor, or whenever in said Code or ordinance the doing of any act or the commission of any omission is declared to be unlawful or a misdemeanor and no specific penalty is provided therefor, and state law does not provide otherwise, the violation of any such provision of such Code or any ordinance shall be a misdemeanor punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to six (6) months or a fine of up to five hundred dollars ($500.00), or both. Unless specifically provided otherwise, or the content thereof so dictates, each day any violation of any provision of said Code or any ordinance shall continue shall constitute a separate offense.

Section 9.  That all ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are, to the extent of such conflict, hereby repealed.

Section 10.  That this ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage, approval and publication in book or pamphlet form according to law.

Signed Donald Conklin

  Mayor

ATTEST:

Signed 

  City Clerk 

January 25 is Special

via GIPHY

It's a special Day--January 25

Let's see - it's my grandson Micah's FIFTH Birthday - wow, great cause for celebration. He shares the date with Robert Burns and Virginia Woolf.

The Winter Olympics began in 1924 - cool. Pun intended.
Batman debuted on TV in 1966. Sorry, poor Robin.

It's Opposite Day...Yeah.

And...It's HAPPY RELEASE DAY for my latest mystery series, Fancy Cat, 

MEOW MAYHEM!

Released through Pelican Ventures LLC

Ebook - $5.99

Print - releasing February 1 in softcover and May 8 in Large Print, library binding

Amazon https://amzn.to/2APwhDp

BN https://bit.ly/2QxZKql

Publisher https://bit.ly/2FjuQRj

Kobo https://bit.ly/2Rj8WUF

After being left at the altar, Ivy Amanda McTeague Preston uproots herself and her cat, an Egyptian Mau named Memnet, from her boring and lonely life to start over at the urging of Mayor Conklin, a fellow pedigreed Mau owner.

Ready to move in a fresh direction, Adam Thompson, accepts the mayor’s invitation and uproots himself and his beloved Mau, Isis, to open a branch of his trendy bookstore and coffee shop in the small town.

When Ivy takes a mysterious message while the mayor is away on business, only her criminology professor mom and Adam believe there’s something rotten in Apple Grove. Then Ivy discovers the community grant money that Adam was allotted to start the store is mysteriously being siphoned off, a dead body surfaces, and the victim’s missing Mau becomes the primary suspect. . .just another day in Ivy’s far-from-boring new life.

In love with Apple Grove and with Adam, Ivy hopes to carry on their romance while saving the town from further mayhem.

Deadly Decision by Regina Smeltzer

Deadly Decision

Regina Smeltzer

Harbourlight Books, a division of Pelican Ventures LLC

c. 2014

Christian Supernatural

Contemporary Ghost stories

Paranormal Romance

$4.99 eBook

$16.99 Print

Buy on

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Publisher

About the Book

Bill Iver didn't expect anything more than hard work when he offered to help his daughter and son-in-law restore their rented historic South Carolina home, but then he sees two boys in the attic--and his hand passes through one of them. Bill has always believed that being absent from the body meant being present with the Lord, but if that is true, what did he see? And why does the boy dressed in 19th century clothing look familiar while the second boy, dressed in jeans and sweatshirt, look like the missing grandson of the house's owner? What is the connection between the two boys--and Bill? Hesitant to share his experience with his pastor, but consumed with the need to understand, Bill seeks a worldly explanation which leads him down a trail of decisions that are deadly to body and soul. Through the mire, he must undo the consequences of his choices, discover what his visions mean, and uncover an age-old mystery that will bring closure and reconciliation.

My Review

I confess I like scary stories, though the occult and demonology, not so much. While Smeltzer’s story contains elements of the above, those elements did not overwhelm the story. The driving force was supernatural. There is a difference. I also like being surprised, and while Smeltzer had me wondering which side of truth I might end up on, I enjoyed turning pages to follow the adventure.

I also confess Bill, the narrator and main character of this adventure, was not my favorite person. However, the author made him so real that I forgave him his foibles, even if I don’t want him for a close friend. It takes skill to weave a backstory into the present in a way that doesn’t feel like a report, and this Smeltzer did with aplomb. There is a reason for every character’s need to accept the challenge of a quest, and a familial, generational dream was an excellent prompt. On the other hand, using obvious secrets between characters to drive tension was uncomfortable. Other readers may certainly feel different and get a kick out of watching the interplay among family and friends, especially as Bill blunders along, trying to figure out how to be a heroic superdad, yet allow his heart to open.

This tale of misconceptions, age-old family history and a spooky house was fun. Told in first person through the main character’s eyes, readers who enjoy highly inspirational reading that explores some difficult truths behind Satan being alive and well on planet Earth will appreciate a good shiver from Deadly Decision.

About the Author

Regina Smeltzer writes Christian fiction that reflects God's love for us, his creations. A member of the SCWW and ACFW, she has won the Writer's Digest short story award and was named a semi-finalist in the Genesis Competition. She has served as a public health nurse and college professor for more40 years. She and her husband have four children, who have given her five grandchildren. www.ReginaSmeltzer.com

Closing Circles with CC Fuller

It is my honor and DELIGHT to introduce debut author Carolyn Cody-Fuller. Dr. Fuller dreamed of writing a novel and worked hard to make it come true.

Closing Circles

Carolyn Cody-Fuller

Fiction

c. 12-8-2018

Hardcover or E-book format

Buy the book on

Amazon 

Barnes and Noble 

About the Book

Years ago, life separated the sisters, Lavender, Hyacinth, and Oleander Sipp. Now, it seems that life has conspired to bring them back to the place where each of their stories began, their family farm in rural Georgia. After experiencing more than a few setbacks, Lavender, the youngest of the sisters has come home to do nothing . . . and that's just fine with her. She's soon joined by the oldest sister, Hyacinth, and all is right with the world. Just when Lavender and Hyacinth begin to settle into their peaceful routine, middle sister Oleander blows in with all the fury and bluster of a twister ready to lay claim on her part of the family land. Oleander brings with her old grudges, mainly against Lavender, and a boatload of big ideas as to what they should do with the farm.

As the Sipp sisters fight over the future of their family legacy, another battle from a distant relative is brewing and it may prove to be their biggest challenge yet.

My Review

I love family drama. I love being able to virtually plant myself in another part of the US to experience a different reality for a while. I love watching a story cycle around itself without absolute resolution, but also without cutting me off in the middle of a plan.

Closing Circles is anything but routine. Three sisters instinctively know that, despite rivalry between two younger siblings, home is their haven. The choices they made had both great joy and great despair, and when the despair side overwhelmed them, they came home, one by one. When middle sister, high-energy Oleander, decided she had spent enough time licking her wounds, she kicked an idea to revitalize the home farm into a relevant project. Lavender, the youngest sister who narrates the tale, has her own ideas. Together they soon learn their greatest challenge lies not in their own rivalry or current arguments, but in family. When the weave that holds their family together begins to unravel, they must choose whether to fight each other in the present or fight for the future.

Loaded with engaging characters in a setting the reader will want to call home, Closing Circles will stay with you, calling for you to examine your own choices and encourage you to rise above anything petty consuming your life.

While Closing Circles ends with the expectation of another adventure, I’m not left out of breath. I’m left wanting more, but in a good place while I’m waiting. I watched this novel come alive under the author’s dedicated fingertips. I am truly honored to share this wonderful story of family weathering life’s calamities and coming out stronger.

About the Author

Carolyn Cody-Fuller is a retired children’s librarian who enjoys writing, reading, and volunteering at her church, St. Philip’s Episcopal. Having spent her entire working career advocating for literacy and power of a good book, Cody is excited to publish her first novel, which is a reflection of her life growing up on a farm in small town in Georgia. She’s a member of the South Carolina Writers Association and has attended Novel-in-Progress Bookcamp for several years. In addition to writing, Cody believes in the power of community, and has served on numerous committees and advocacy boards for children and families.

New YA fantasy from R Chris Reeder

The Changeling’s Daughter

R. Chris Reeder

Young Adult Fantasy

Coming of Age/Quest

December 13, 2018

Black Rose Writing

Paperback $20.95

Buy on Amazon 

Buy on Barnes and Noble

About the book

Fourteen-year-old Brynn McAwber discovers a terrible truth about herself and her family and must undergo a perilous quest to another world, to save a friend and redeem her soul.

Unusual things have been happening to Brynn McAwber. A strange little man keeps showing up at her door. She's being watched by a mysterious woman with a sword strapped to her back. And her body keeps...disappearing.

When Brynn discovers the terrible truth about herself and her family, she embarks on a perilous quest, which takes her far from Indiana, far from the world she knows, into the Land of Annwfyn, home of brownies and bwbachods, xanas and zephyrs, goblins and gods.

This is the story of a girl who finds out she's supposed to be the villain, but decides to be the hero anyway.

My review

A most unusual and amazing anti-hero questing fantasy not just for young people has arrived.

Up front caution: although I could watch this story unfolding in epic technicolor and would recommend it to teens with an advanced reading level, I caution parents who care that a fair amount of profanity when a couple of shock value uses would have been enough, some gore, and a generous vocabulary boost this story into a tween/early teen caution level. Some parents may want to check it out first.

For the rest of us, Reeder’s maiden fantasy is a delight. I admit I intended to read enough for a good review, but didn’t look up except for touchdowns during the Packers-Bears football game until I was finished. Using an anti-hero, in this case a typically-misunderstood creature of folklore hiding in plain sight, as a champion certainly isn’t new, but the author’s ability to recombine fantasy elements into a true hero’s journey makes for a fresh, entertaining read.

Brynn’s family secret stems not simply from their traditionally accepted roles but also how they are perceived by others. When Brynn’s best friend Makayla suddenly turns against her, Brynn’s loyalty and character are tested in ways that help her understand and grow into the kind of person she’s meant to become. Makayla’s defection is not the only weird thing happening to Brynn these days. When faced with disaster, Brynn’s options are to do the right thing by her friend no matter the odds, or be the expected generic typecast of her kind. Knowing Makayla would never willingly abandon her gives Brynn the strength to fight not just for physical rescue, but for the decision to live a meaningful, positive family lifestyle.

Told through the eyes of Brynn, the fourteen-year-old main character, The Changeling’s Daughter is a lovely adventure for readers who enjoy a good old-fashioned questing tale with surprising heroes unafraid to challenge even themselves.

About the author

R. Chris Reeder grew up in the Pacific Northwest, attended college in Walla Walla, Washington, and has lived and worked across the country and around the world. 

He has had careers as a Shakespearean actor, an international courier, and a singing activist, but is now perfectly content in his current vocation of stay-at-home father. 

He currently resides in Madison, Wisconsin, with his wife, two children, and a cat named Monster Jack.

www.rchrisreeder.com
www.facebook.com/rchrisreederauthor

Helene Louiesa Mynhardt dissects apartheid in her memoirs

   

Memoirs of  Play-White
Autobiography/Memoir
Helene Louiesa Mynhardt

Released
Reach Publisher's Services, South Africa

Paperback $12.99
Kindle $2.99
Buy on Amazon
Buy $7.99 on Barnes and Noble

About the Story:

Louiesa, an impoverished child, was raised by her unemployed single mother. She was employed part time as a student, earning a lucrative salary. The reason was unclear to her until she was confronted by a furious co-worker. The author explains how siblings from the exact same parents were classified differently and gives details about how children with a darker complexion were abandoned by fair-skinned parents. The author further explains in great detail, deep rooted segregation not previously exposed to the world during apartheid: how racial classification destroyed family unity and friendships. Forceful resettlement according to race destroyed family life and friendships.

Apartheid was abolished for one day during 1985 and all races lived in harmony next to each other. For once in the history of apartheid blacks were given a privilege denied to whites. South Africa sent two contestants to the Miss World pageant representing whites and non-whites respectively. The outcome of the results stunned the National Party and the entire world. Blacks created their own entertainment with much success, attracting international stardom and subsequently departing from S.A. due to racial biases and political interference with irrational censorships. Journey with the author while experiencing her personal encounters: death penalty, gang violence, teenage pregnancies, alcoholism and starvation. She endured extreme weather conditions without proper clothing.

This is truly an inspirational story of hope and transformation. Readers are invited to journey through the remarkable life of the author who dreamt of freedom from poverty barriers, worked hard towards it with dogged determination and succeeded. During the first democratic elections the ANC party did not win an outright majority due to the coloured votes. The author takes the reader on a journey into the lives of the coloured race during apartheid, sparing no detail.

My Review

Mynhardt’s autobiographical memoir begins with the story of her grandmother and mother, women of Xhosa heritage who’d we’d call today victims of servitude in their small villages. To those of previous generations, life was hand-to-mouth, making and raising babies with little male support.

By the time Mynhardt’s mother Doris gave birth to her, Doris had been widowed and shunned by Muslim in-laws. Her successful food vendor shops had been taken and her first children eventually removed. Doris raised her daughter Elena in poverty. Elena was officially named Helene by a zealous administrator who registered the birth in order to potentially provide better opportunities with an Afrikaans-sounding name.

When it came time to Helene to decide how to take control of her own future, she chose to continue her education even if she didn’t like it all that much and it was expensive, and became a fair typist. Her self-confidence led her to step into the world of finances in the mid-seventies, applying for a job at a bank. She worked her way through several departments and promotions, too often fighting for her personal rights as well as rampant fraudulent practices.

Told in a jarring, journalistic and forthright manner, readers are taken on a journey of the dark underworld of abuse, apartheid, and social casting in South Africa, from the 1950s through the first democratically elected black president in 1994.

From Destitude to Plentitude 

Released June 2018

Reach, South Africa

$7.99 Nook 

Buy on Amazon 

$2.99 Kindle

$12.99 Print

About the Book:

In this book, author writes about her triumphant entrepreneurial victory from an impoverished background. As a self-made entrepreneur, she identified and successfully pursued a business opportunity with her employer who granted her a rare chance to be placed on their panel as an external vendor (debt collector) before BEE became law. Although Louiesa treated her business partners as equal she did not receive the same reciprocation from them. Find out how laws are altered and manipulated to benefit the rich at the expense of the poor. The possible reason why South Africa is unable to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor is scrutinized. Read about how the change in government policy on dividend taxation saved the day. 

Journey with the author, as she faced numerous business challenges on her own, ranging from fraud to sexual harassment, cultural barriers, and external auditors investigating fraudulent payments. Follow her story of how she witnessed firsthand racism towards fellow panel members. Without legal qualifications or any help, she became the legal representative in court cases representing their business. Her carefully planned strategies resulted in arrests and imprisonment. Numerous other interesting stories are included to analyse and explain the overall life challenges and constraints that ordinary, poor and struggling South Africans face. 

The reason why the South African white race could not be “pure” is also explored with ample examples. Find out how fair-skinned parents abandoned darker-skinned children and how a coloured child was born to white parents. South African legislation was intended to serve everybody. However, manipulation and alteration from its original meaning and intention resulted in benefiting the rich at the expense of the poor. Find out possible reasons why the author alleges poor people in South Africa became poorer due to the debt trap they found themselves in. The government is constantly changing the laws but finding it difficult to keep up with ongoing manipulation. The author identifies exploitation of the poor and the vulnerable by big businesses. 

This is truly a remarkable journey in the life of Louiesa who did not allow poverty barriers to curb her success. Her dogged determination made it possible for her to succeed despite many obstacles that she sees as prohibitive poverty barriers to many ordinary South Africans. She believes that South Africa is the world’s most unequal society and it is difficult to manage constant manipulation. The author further shares interesting information about how one thousand South Africans were reclassified under what is today known as the chameleon dance. 

My review:

Mynhardt's frank and critical autobiography challenges conceptions and misconceptions of world trade. Whatever you thought you understood about apartheid and progress, it's worse. Here's one example of the regulatory practices Louiesa fights: Some of South Africa’s laws were ambiguous and left open to interpretation. There were a few ambiguous rules that were not illegal but when raised as a defence, it would be illegal for someone to pursue that matter. One of the examples of these laws was the “in duplum rule” mentioned previously, which stated that no one was allowed to pay more than double the original loan amount, inclusive of interest and legal fees. Rich, educated debtors with legal representatives knew about this rule and could raise a defence that they were not willing to pay more than what the “in duplum rule” stipulated. And as soon as someone mentioned this rule, the vendors were not allowed to pursue the matter and the file had to be withdrawn and closed. This rule was a defence that was only applicable when mentioned. Since it was not a law but merely a defence, it was not illegal to disregard this rule - unless raised as a defence. However, big businesses had outdated computer systems that did not take this rule into account, which meant their systems continued to charge interest. Sometimes a person would pay 10 times the amount he was legally supposed to. Although EDS computer systems promised to introduce sophisticated to one of the South African banks, their system did not work in the South African market because it was unable to stop the interest when reaching the “in duplum” limit (pp 98-99).

The book is memoir, essay, deconstruction of a devastating socio-economic practice, yet a triumph to persistence. Mynhardt's story of dealing with today's business culture is teeth-rattling, annoying, absurd at times, and sometimes heart-wrenching, but provides an air of triumph.

Begin your journey with Mynhardt's Memoirs of  Play-White. You'll be able to answer a resounding yes the question Louiesa was asked, “Do you honestly think that you have lived such a fantastic life that readers would be interested in reading about it?”

About the Author

Louiesa Mynhardt is a self-made entrepreneur, founding member and Managing Director of Sterling Debt Recoveries that is a leading collection agency, founded in 1998. She has a 40% shareholding in this business. Sterling Debt Recoveries provides efficient, large scale services on a commission basis to large credit-granting institutions. She is a novice author who was born in Kliptown, Johannesburg in the late 1950s and is married to Harold. They have two daughters studying abroad.

Southern romantic charm with Victoria Pitts Caine

Cotton

by Victoria Pitts Caine

Released October, 2018

full length romance 

Ebook $2,99

Print $12.99

Buy on Amazon

 

About the Book

Running from a life of poverty, 16 year old Cotton Ramsey escapes the Savannah River bottomland to New York. Twenty years later, she has changed her name and runs a large pharmaceutical company, which belonged to the family of her late husband. When Beau Simpson, her first love, arrives to deliver the news of her daddy’s untimely death, the life she struggled to leave behind calls her home.

My review

A little different take on the rags to riches story, Caine has created a fanciful tale with all the thrills of New York glamour. The story begins with a glimpse of the home life of poor share croppers in the rural south. Cotton is one daughter in a very large, struggling family growing, you guessed it, cotton. By the time she steals her opportunity to make a better life for herself, the story switches to decades later and another glimpse of the life she has won.

Alone, widowed, and running a company which we see very little of on her own, we learn that Cotton has cut ties so completely with her southern family that she doesn’t know of their own turnabout story. In fact, her beloved daddy had done well for the family after Cotton left. When she is informed of his mysterious death by none other than a lost love who also escaped into a glitzy world of unseemly wealth, she is ready to return to leave cold New York for her warm southern roots, no matter how welcome or unwelcome her long-lost siblings make her feel. But Cotton is still so uncertain of herself that she’s willing to let a soaring leap of willful misunderstanding drag her into despair. Along the way, Cotton learns how to appreciate the people around her and see life with a fresh outlook.

Told through two points of view, the reader sees both sides of the story through Cotton, and her love interest, Beau. Readers who love Jackie Collins and other writers of rich and famous romantic heroes and heroines will enjoy this story of learning what really matters.

About the Author

Victoria Pitts Caine resides in Fresno, California. Her first passion is her family, followed closely by writing and exotic gem collecting. Victoria is also an award winning author who has published both fiction and nonfiction articles in Seekers, Short Stuff, HI Families, The Front Porch and The Manzanita Literary Journal. She has also received an honorable mention at the William Saroyan Writer's Conference, special recommendation in the Writer's Journal poetry contest and second place in the Writer's Journal 2004 romance contest.

Sweet romance with Zoe McCarthy

The Putting Green Whisperer

Zoe M McCarthy

White Rose Publishing

September, 2018

Ebook $5.99

Print $15.99

Buy on Amazon 

Buy on Barnes and Noble 

Suddenly unemployed, petite and peppery Allie Masterson returns home to Cary, North Carolina to caddy for her father on the PGA Seniors Tour. There, she encounters Shoo Leonard.

The easygoing caddy drives Allie insane, but Shoo's uncanny ability to read the contours of the greens and his determination to overcome a personal hand injury, fascinate Allie. She finds herself agreeing use her sport science degree to become his trainer... and then she falls for him.

Shoo Leonard is grateful to Allie for her singular determination to get him ready for the PGA tour, but he isn't ready for anything more. Still raw from a broken engagement and focused on his career, he's content to be her fist-bumping buddy...but then he falls for her. What seems like a happily-ever-after on the horizon takes a turn when Allie decides she's become a distraction to Shoo's career. Is it time for her to step away or can the putting green whisperer find the right words to make her stay?

My review:

McCarthy’s latest novel digs into the lives of professional golfers and their caddies. When teens reunite as adults, sparks fly all over the place, and not all from romance.

Allie has finished college but has a lot of growing up to do. She’s quick to leap to conclusions about her family and her friends, and especially her faith. Shoo Leonard, nicknamed by his friends as a sure contender in the world of professional golf, is a man of deep faith and commitment. He’s watched what professional golf has done to take apart his family, and doesn’t want the same fate.

Allie and Shoo meet again as caddies on the senior golf tour, and learn they have a mutual passion—Allie to help golfers as a trainer, and Shoo to recover from an accident which might prevent him from realizing his dream. But their personal baggage is a lot to stumble over as their friendship develops.

When Allie realizes that so much of the hurt she’s bottled since her mother’s death was based on false assumptions, she has decisions to make. When clueless Shoo is whapped upside the head with the truth about relationships, his own choices challenge his commitment to his career.

I appreciate learning new things. I’m not a golfer, but I am fascinated by certain aspects of the sport and the role it’s played in other books I’ve read. While I also love that the author doesn’t try to complicate the story by adding useless details other golfers understand, I admit that any technicalities were lost on me. That didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy the story—a romance is a romance. I liked the interplay between the characters, the camaraderie and rivalry, and learning that glamour doesn’t always trickle down.

The story is told in alternating voice between the main characters, showing their foibles and miscommunications. Recommended for those who enjoy contemporary clean romances, and especially those who are familiar with golf.

Merry Christmas!

Sunnys Dream with Mary Ball

Sunny’s Dream

Mary L. Ball

Contemporary Christian Romantic Suspense

Forget-Me-Not Romances, December 2017

Kindle: $2.99

Print: $7.47

Buy on Amazon

About the Book

“Sunny’s Dream,” Celestial Investigation, book one.

A Christian romantic suspense based on three sisters. Their P.I. skills come in handy in the quaint town of Mercy, North Carolina, a place where romance and mystery unite.

Sunny Kast spends her week fighting cyber-crime, and dreaming of her prince charming.

When a man walks into Celestial Investigations and introduces himself as Trouble, she’s sure he’s not her prince and positive that he lives up to his name.

After Max Trouble finds an important document, his life gets complicated with the know-it-all P.I. hired to track down its owner.

Sunny and Max’s relationship grows. She’s optimistic that he may be her prince charming, but after her car is sabotaged, and she’s almost killed Max’s chauvinist ideas of a female investigator surface.

Will she see God’s perfect plan, or a not-so-perfect relationship?

Mary, tell us what you love about this book.

This is my first series. I liked creating novellas about three feisty sisters who run an investigating firm. 

Share two things you learned while writing this book.

I learned a lot about poisonings, LOL and requirements needed to be an investigator in NC.

What can you tell us about the series?

It’s a Christian suspense about three sisters in a small town who deal with the same shortcomings all sisters do and ban together to solve crimes.  

What do you hope readers will tell others when they've finished the book?

That they enjoyed the series.         

What are you reading now?

Lessons from David- How to be a Giant Killer by Andrew Wommack. I have a whole shelf of fiction TBR’s I need to tackle.

About the Author

Mary L. Ball is a multi-published Christian author. She lives in North Carolina and enjoys fishing,

reading, and ministering in song with her hubby at functions. Her books are about small-town romance, suspense, and mystery, influenced by the grace of Jesus Christ.  

   

Readers can check out her titles at: https://www.amazon.com/Mary-L-Ball/e/B007O97Y0E

Connect on:

http://www.marylball.com

https://www.facebook.com/gracefulbooks

https://twitter.com/inspires4mary

Rose Colored Christmas with Mary Ball

Rose Colored Christmas

Mary L. Ball

Christian novelette, 107 pp

Contemporary romance

Forget-Me-Not Romances, August 2018

About the Book

Young widow Emilee Arnold enjoys her freelance web design, teaching Sunday school Christmas. She’s content until she rescues a pilot from a burning plane and is snowed in with her very own scrooge. 

Gabe King specializes in flying corporate groups. He claims to be an easy-going guy, until Emilee challenges his lifestyle and his heart.

Emilee can’t stop her attraction to Gabe but his dislike for Christmas is the one thing she can’t get passed.

Can Emilee help to make her very own Christmas miracle? 

Kindle: $2.99

Print: $5.97

Buy on Amazon   

Mary, tell us what you love about this book.

I enjoyed plotting the story around Christmas and bringing Gabe back to a place where he can enjoy holidays’ again.

      

Do you prefer novellas to full-length works or vice versa? Why?

Novellas. Life is busy, I just don’t have time to read a 300 page novel. I guess my passion for reading shorter works rubbed off into my writing, I like creating novellas too.

    

What was the easiest aspect of telling this story?

Christmas makes us excited for new possibilities. I enjoyed Emilee’s expectations for the holidays.

    

What did you learn during your research?

A lot about private planes. J

   

What's your favorite Christmas tradition in your family?

I enjoy watching movies where families have a tradition. Our family never had one. Each year seems to present a unique situation, which requires adjustments for us to get together, it’s been hard to carry any customs over to the next year.

  

About the Author

Mary L. Ball is a multi-published Christian author. She lives in North Carolina and enjoys fishing, reading, and ministering in song with her hubby at functions. Her books are about small-town romance, suspense, and mystery, influenced by the grace of Jesus Christ.    

  

Readers can check out her titles at: https://www.amazon.com/Mary-L-Ball/e/B007O97Y0E

Connect on:

http://www.marylball.com

https://www.facebook.com/gracefulbooks

https://twitter.com/inspires4mary

One day book shopping spree!

ONE DAY ONLY!

One day special promotion of Holiday Books for that last-minute shopping. Even E-books can be great stocking-stuffers! Visit http://robinsnest212.wordpress.com 

TODAY Wednesday December 19 

for a browsing experience of only the best in clean holiday fiction.

Forgetting the Scot New from Jennifer Trethewey

Forgetting the Scot

The Highlanders of Balforss Book 3

Jennifer Trethewey

Historical Romance, serial

Entangled

released October 22, 2018

$3.99 eBook

Buy on Amazon 

Buy on Barnes and Noble 

About the Book:

Virginia Whitebridge is trapped in a loveless, abusive marriage. The law says her husband can have whatever he wants from her—so he's taken her inheritance. And he tried to kill her. After a close escape, Virginia feels protected for the first time in forever, thanks to the Scottish Highlands and the Highlander Magnus Sinclair. But she must go back to England, regardless of the danger, to reclaim what's hers. Even if it means leaving her heart in Scotland.

It's just Magnus's luck that he's fallen for a woman he can't have. Virginia is rich and titled... and English. To keep her safe, he must follow her to the one place he loathes—England. Where the bowing, preening London Society has a secret language of manners unknown to him. Where he is too large, too uncivilized, too everything.

Despite omens that death awaits him there, Magnus vows to help Virginia go to London and restore her fortune. Get in. Get out. Or die trying.

My review:

The Sinclair clan Highland Scots save a pirate crew’s captured women, one of them Declan Sinclair’s bride. Another Sinclair is about to fall. Magnus, a cousin raised in part by clan patriarch, Laird John, respects his uncle, but when Magnus, the least tamed of the Sinclairs, does more than make passes at a lass in glasses, even Laird John can’t talk sense or manners into his nephew. Especially since the lass is so inviting.

In the most bawdy tale in the series, Magnus and Virginia, the much-abused wife of a truly evil English viscount and who has no support from her greedy father and equally despicable aunt, find true lust and impossible love. Magnus might have trouble keeping his kilt in check, but his heart and sense of nobility are truly in the right place as he vows to do anything, even disobeying his uncle, to ensure his soulmate’s safety and her heart’s desire to benefit the needy.

I enjoyed returning to this unruly but talented and dedicated clan with their high dreams, camaraderie and work ethic. A few loose ends with story elements introduced then left drifting kept me noodling over them after I’d finished the book. I don’t want to give anything away by mentioning them, and perhaps most readers won’t be bothered. Told from Magnus’s and Virginia’s perspectives, this highland adventure is full of chases, fellowship, angst, and charm. It also includes pretty hot sensuality which is a little different from the first two books.

About the Author:

Hi, I'm Jennifer Trethewey and I write about men in kilts because, hey, what's not to love about a man in a kilt? I was lucky enough to travel to Scotland twice. I'm planning a third trip next year. I have fallen in love with the Highlands and all things Scottish: the people, their language, cuisine, customs, idioms, humor, history, intense sense of pride, and, most of all, the land--the perfect setting for sweeping romantic tales of love, strife, and glory. As they say, Scotland is pure dead brilliant! 

As for more personal stuff, I'm an actress, former co-artistic director of a professional theater company, and my husband and I operate an improv comedy club. I live with my comedian husband in the Midwest where I've been ever since college. 

I write both contemporary and historical fiction full time. I like to read romance, mystery, fantasy, and paranormal, as well as literary fiction and non-fiction. As you can imagine, I'm a big fan of Outlander and Herself. I adore traveling to new places (but I hate flying). I love movies and music and dogs and good wine and I love to enjoy them all with my friends.

Keely Brooke Keith Uncharted Journey

Uncharted Journey

Book 6 in the Uncharted Land series

Keely Brooke Keith

Romantic sci fi fiction

Edenbrooke Press

released November 9, 2018

$12.99 print

$3.99 eBook

Buy on Amazon 

About the Book

Eva and Solo find love at The Inn at Falls Creek, while Bailey’s quest to reach the Land costs her everything.

Young widow Eva Vestal assumes loneliness is God’s permanent plan for her life. She keeps busy by raising her son and co-managing the Inn at Falls Creek with her elderly father, but her heart yearns for more.

Solomon “Solo” Cotter has spent his life working with horses, but he secretly wants to write a book of the children’s stories his grandfather told him as a boy. He barters with Eva’s father for a 40-night stay at the inn, a needed respite from work to get his stories on paper.

Once Eva discovers the barter, she believes Solo is taking advantage of her father’s failing memory. But when tragedy strikes and Solo works hard to save the inn, Eva sees his true nature. As her heart stirs with feelings for Solo, she wrestles with the guilt of loving someone new.

Meanwhile, outside the Land...

Bailey Colburn arrives at the coordinates of the Land on the autumn equinox and finds nothing but ocean. The sun sets, ending Bailey’s dream of a safe and simple life with the family she’s never known. Just when she decides Justin Mercer lied about visiting a hidden land in the South Atlantic Ocean and meeting Bailey’s distant relatives, the atmosphere around the boat changes and ushers her into an uncharted world, but her entrance into the Land comes at a devastating price.

Uncharted Journey weaves past and future in this inspirational story of life in a hidden land. There is always room for you at the Colburns’ house in the quaint village of Good Springs. Join the Colburn family as they discover their purpose, find love, and protect the Land. Read Uncharted Journey today.

My review

Uncharted Journey picks up the thread of post-apocalyptic Earth and one young woman’s desperation to find her roots and escape a violent and hopeless life. Trouble is…the family she seeks disappeared two hundred years ago and the only evidence is from a crazy man asking her to catalog a plant that can’t exist. Even worse…Bailey discovers this plant has properties worth killing for.

Bailey convinces her former professor to connect with his nephew who runs a charter boat service. The crazy man’s directions are even loonier—to find this place where the impossible plant exists is to head way south and wait on only one day of the year, the fall equinox, when this island appears like Brigadoon. Imagine her surprise when it works.

Arrival is a shock to both Bailey’s crewmates and the security team of Good Springs, who include a former pilot who had arrived at the Uncharted Land some years earlier and made it his home. One of the initial security party members is a young man in training named Revel who is new to the area.

The parallel Land story is that of Revel’s widowed sister, Eva, who is left as the oldest daughter to run the family business in a society whose traditions over seven generations decrees the son follow his father’s trade. In Revel and Eva’s case, that’s the Inn, a business out in the middle of nowhere, in which Revel has no interest, but a long-term guest, Solomon, discovers he’d rather be nowhere else. Eva has a way to go before she can corral her fears for her ailing family members, their livelihood which affects her ability to raise her young son, and her lonely heart.

It’s a brave new era in the Land Uncharted, when young people are breaking out of the customs of mid-nineteenth-century-era American colonialism and finding their own way. Women can become doctors, run businesses, even wear pants, and sons are choosing their own careers.

 

About the Author

Keely Brooke Keith writes inspirational frontier-style fiction with a slight Sci-Fi twist, including The Land Uncharted (Shelf Unbound Notable Romance 2015) and Aboard Providence (2017 INSPY Awards Longlist). Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, Keely was a tree-climbing, baseball-loving 80s kid. She grew up in a family who moved often, which fueled her dreams of faraway lands. When she isn't writing, Keely enjoys teaching home school lessons and playing bass guitar. Keely, her husband, and their daughter live on a hilltop south of Nashville, Tennessee.

Carol James Christmas novella Marys Christmas Surprise

Mary’s Christmas Surprise

Carol James

White Rose Publishing, a division of Pelican Ventures LLC

Holiday Christmas Extravaganza romantic novella

December 1, 2018

$2.99 ebook

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Barnes and Noble 

About the Book:

Mary Sherman’s Christmas is nothing like she’s planned. Her fiancé has called off the engagement just days before Christmas, and her parents have gone on an anniversary cruise around the world.

Suddenly alone for the holidays, Mary returns to the comfort of her childhood home to spend Christmas in her parents’ empty house.

There’s only one problem. The house is not empty. Unbeknownst to Mary, her parents have taken in a boarder, a handsome carpenter named Jake Wolesky.

​Mary’s Christmas surprise may make this the best holiday ever.

My review:

Carol James’s sweet holiday novella is a great bite-size escape from the busyness of the season. Take an hour or so to read the adventures of a young professional man and woman who meet by accident while on leave from their personal traumas.

Mary has spent years waiting for other people to make decisions that impact her future lifestyle and career. Joseph, aka Jake, needs a break from his mother’s bitterness in watching her ideal of a perfect family collapse around her. Jake and Mary meet accidentally when Mary calls the police on an intruder in her parent’s home, which she expected to be empty when she unexpectedly goes home to lick her wounds in private.

It’s a good thing the two grown single adults are on the same page regarding morals and high ground, and decide to refrain from sleeping in the same house. It also doesn’t take long for misconceptions, mayhem, and mistletoe to work its magic.

About the Author:

Carol James is an author of inspirational fiction. She lives in Lilburn, Georgia, a small town outside of Atlanta, with her husband, Jim, and a perky Jack Russell "Terrorist," Zoe.

Having always loved intriguing stories with happy endings, she was moved to begin writing to encourage others as she'd been encouraged by the works of other authors of inspirational fiction.

Retired from her "real" job, she enjoys spending time with her husband, children, and grandchildren, traveling with friends, volunteering at and serving on the board of a nearby Christian school, and serving in the production department at her church. 

She is also a soccer fan extraordinaire and keeps her DVR busy recording Atlanta United and English Premier League games. 

And, most days in the late hours of the night or the wee hours of the morning, she can be found bringing her newest novel to life. https://www.carol-james.com