Turning Toward Eden by Cate Touryan #spotlight #mysterybooks #comingofage #YA

Setting – California 1971
Publisher: ‎ Winged Publications
Publication date ‏: ‎ May 6, 2025
Print length : ‎ 350 pages

An evocative story laced with mystery, Turning Toward Eden weaves nostalgia with grit, sorrow with humor, and despair with faith, offering hope to anyone who has sought to belong in a world that rarely plays fair.

Audiobook Coming Soon!
The audiobook edition of Turning Toward Eden is in production and on its way to Audible, iTunes, and beyond. Stay tuned for a richly narrated experience, perfect for readers who love stories on the go.

About Cate Touryan

Cate Touryan writes fiction and creative nonfiction that reach for the story beyond the story and the beginning beyond “The End.” Her complex, realistic narratives often touch on themes of faith. While she avoids gratuitous violence and profanity, keeping any romance clean, she does not shy away from portraying the grit and beauty of real life, instead writing the truest story she can, infused with heart and humor. Her fiction will delight young adults and adults still young.

Cate invites you to journey with her into lives both real and imagined, wherein might lie glimpses of your own story beyond the story and an ending redeemed.

Author Links

Website https://catetouryan.com/

Purchase Link – Amazon 

Lawn Darts & Lemonade: Tackling the '80s by Steven Manchester #review #1980s #comingofage #bookseries

About the book:

It’s the summer of 1984, a season of dodging lawn darts and chugging lemonade—or at least the discolored tap water Ma tried to disguise as lemonade.

Growing up is never easy, no matter what era you do it in. For generations, teenagers have suffered peer pressure, bullying, fear of rejection, and a sadistic obstacle course of one unexpected challenge after the next. Three brothers, Wally, Herbie, and Cockroach, learn that the past can be filled with questions—even shame and regret—while the future might be shrouded in worry and fear. But staying in the moment, now that’s where the sweet spot is.

My review:

Steven Manchester has done it again! This book is a follow up standalone to this author's book, Bread Bags and Bullies. This book follows along the three brothers as they navigate their way through the early '80s Having fun, the pangs of growing up, getting new jobs, and enjoying Summer is where it is at.

As a GenXer, growing up in the '80s this book spoke to my heart. I was able to immerse myself in the many aspects that the brothers had and likely would have hung out with them. Drinking lemonade from my homemade stand, and adventures until the lights came on at night was all the rage. I enjoyed the humor as well but feel the tug of a time gone by.

Thank you to the author, Steven Manchester, who knows just how to spin a tale of life itself from someone who remembers. The memory lane was remarkable. 5 stars

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for review. The views expressed are 100% my own and may differ from your own opinions. ~Michelle, Reading Authors Network

Where to find the author:

Amazon

Goodreads

The Dawn Crusade by #Spotlight #Giveaway #Action/AdventureBooks #comingofage #YA

 

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Coming of Age

 

Thirteen years ago, a curious star fell to the island of Somerset. That night Ike Ryder met Alina, the little girl who fell from the heavens.

Now Ike Ryder is on the cusp of manhood and being called to join his father's decade-long war, a fight he vehemently opposes. Before Ike is forced to take up arms, a messenger from the island of Somerset's Great Spirit visits him. Ike is named the Great Spirit's new champion and called to make a perilous journey to the Spirit's sanctuary. While all of Somerset seems to doubt Ike's abilities as a warrior, he resolves to reach the Spirit and use her power to end the bloodshed plaguing the world of Dawn.

Miles from Somerset, Alina fights alongside the Knights of Tenshi, the legendary peacekeepers of Dawn. After most of their regiment is killed in an ambush, Alina and the few survivors race to warn Somerset of a coming invasion. Although she and the other Knights fear their enemies of war, the real danger may come from someone much more sinister...a foe with supernatural powers and a growing collection of faces.

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Dawn Crusade - A Tale from Somerset from Dawn Crusade on Vimeo.

Passionate about storytelling, E. Reed devotes much of his time to writing and producing. He studied Media Production at Pepperdine University graduating as valedictorian. A native of Southern California, Eric enjoys swimming in the ocean, exercising, and cooking.

Dawn Crusade is the first novel in a fantasy action and adventure series. Published at the age of 22, E. Reed is an author you will anticipate seeing a lot more of with a growing collection of great novels.

Website 

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#SPOTLIGHT: Soul Symphonies by Stephanie Ayers #giveaway #comingofage #YA #supernatural

 

Soul Symphonies

Children of Chaos Series

by Stephanie Ayers

Genre: YA Supernatural, Coming of Age

Rhyme has a secret. Something magical happens every time she plays her violin. But until she meets Cath, the newest student in her school, she thought the secret was hers to bear alone. Cath is a beautiful and talented boy she can’t help but fall in love with. Can she trust him with her secret?

Cath’s flighty parents decide it’s time for him to face the real world. When he meets the equally talented Rhyme in band class, his self-confidence is shaken, and his life is turned upside down. Questions play like a concerto on repeat through his mind. Who is she? Where did she come from? Why is she so different from everyone else? Outcast, bullied, and determined, Cath will stop at nothing to find the answers, even if it means tearing her apart.

Growing up is hard. Growing up fairy is even harder.

Goodreads * Amazon

Stephanie Ayers is the word whisperer where horror and fantasy collide. An international bestselling author with a trunk full of tricks thanks to a checkered past, she haunts Irish castles and snowy mountaintops in her dreams while living the unicorn life in Ohio disguised as a human. When she isn’t listening to the voices in her head, she spends her days as a mom, gramma, cat mom, avid flea market shopper, and Netflix binger, while avoiding housework and zombies at all costs.

To find out more about Stephanie's daily living and all about her books and writing, subscribe to her newsletter: https://www.subscribepage.com/o6e0l9

Her favorite quote is: "The blank page is a canvas on which the writer paints a story."-Stephanie Ayers

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