Birthday Girl, Aislynn’s Top 10 Fave Indies

Today is the birthday of the lovely and super sweet, Aislynn from Stitch-Read-Cook so we invited her to tell us a bit about her Top 10 Favorite Indie books.  We'll let Aislynn take over now :)

When Isalys and I found out we had birthdays back to back we knew we had to do something awesome & amazing to celebrate.  With the help of fellow birthday girls Vanessa and Ruby of Ruby's Reads we cooked up a pile of fun giveaways and guest posts. 

Isalys and Vanessa have an Indie event running throughout the month of April so today I thought I'd share some of my favorites! 

Here are my top ten favorites: 

10.  Between A Rock and A Mad Woman by Stephanie Queen

Not since JFK, has a political candidate used his wit and charm to such an advantage as Peter “the Rock”. On the other hand, there hasn’t been a woman so admired as a crusader against corrupt power since Joan of Arc… until “Mad” Madeline. Madeline is running for Governor of Massachusetts against Peter. Madeline and Peter were once in love—before she broke his heart.

In the midst of the campaign battle they reignite their volatile relationship, but on warring sides of the ticket, they can’t afford for the media to find out too. As they fight each other for office they find they have an enemy in common. When their enemy drives up the stakes, Peter must decide if he’ll risk his career and fight with Madeline to overcome the political crisis. Madeline has to decide if she trusts Peter—and whether she still loves him.

9.  A Touch of Greek by Tina Folsom
Selfish and gorgeous Greek God Triton is cast out of Olympus after seducing Zeus' mistress and can only gain reentry if he finds a woman who loves him for his kindness and selflessness, not his beauty. When the mortal Sophia - recovering from an eye operation and virtually blind - needs a home healthcare worker, he takes on the role, hoping she will be his ticket home.

While defending Sophia from an unknown adversary, Triton's protective instinct emerges. At the same time rival Gods do everything to doom him to failure. And even if Triton can win Sophia's love, will he throw it away to return home, or will he lose his own heart to the only woman who truly sees him?

A Touch of Greek is the first book in the humorous paranormal romance series Out of Olympus following the romantic adventures of four Gods: Triton, Dionysus, Eros, and Hermes.

8.  Jennifer's Garden by Dianne Venetta
In a race against time, cardiologist Jennifer Hamilton is caught between her mother's dying wish and taking the risk of a lifetime with Jackson Montgomery. He's the man hired to complete the landscaping for her new home; the venue for her upcoming wedding. He's everything she never wanted in a man, but his lure pulls strong, putting her career on the line...

7.  The Prescott Pioneer's by Karen Baney
A Dream Unfolding  Hannah Anderson had the life she always wanted, married to the man of her dreams.  When her husband’s brother gets in trouble with the law, the town turns against them, shattering her perfect life. Now they are left with only one choice—to head west to the Arizona Territory in the hopes of creating a new life.  Will the journey be worth the cost?

Will Colter, after burying his father, is forced to leave the ranch he has called home for nearly thirty years. The journey is dangerous, challenging him and his men.  Will he find the new life he was hoping for?

Or, is there a new dream quietly unfolding before their eyes?

A Heart Renewed  Julia Colter struggles to accept life under her controlling brother’s greed.  The suitors he selects would benefit him, but are far from the ideal husband for her.  When her rebellion against her brother puts her life at risk, she turns to her friend for help.

Adam Larson longs to train horses and plans to head west to the Arizona Territory to see his dreams fulfilled.  When his sister’s best friend shows up in the middle of the night, he agrees to help her flee. The decision changes his life, in more ways than he expected.

Can Julia forget the pain from her past and open her heart to love?

A Life Restored  Social butterfly, Caroline Larson, longs for adventure.  Since her best friend left Texas, she grows dissatisfied with her life.  A little lie to her parents sends her on the journey of her life.  Stranded in the Arizona desert, far from her final destination, she must rely on a stranger who gets under her skin.

Thomas Anderson has always struggled with making good decisions.  A twist of fate, or Providence, leads him to Arizona to take a job as an express rider.  Dealing with the ghosts of his past threatens to overshadow his future—until he meets a woman needing his help.  Sparks fly as she grates on his nerves.

As they both struggle to move beyond their past mistakes, will they find their lives restored?

6.  Whirl by Emma Raveling
Seventeen-year-old Kendra Irisavie is an ondine, a water elemental caught in the middle of an ancient war. The Aquidae are immortal dark demons who will stop at nothing to destroy the fragile balance of the Elemental world.

Fierce and independent, Kendra has always played by her own rules. Gifted with the powerful magic of Virtue and trained to be a deadly fighter, she has spent her life breaking hearts and getting into trouble.

When her life explodes one violent night in a northern California city, a dark stranger appears, promising answers to her mysterious past.
Alone and with no one to trust, she must now navigate through a dangerous new world, face the temptations of a forbidden romance, and remain true to her duty and destiny.

All while the Aquidae continue to hunt her down, in the hopes of eliminating her forever...

An edgy young adult urban fantasy/paranormal romance, Whirl is recommended for older teens and mature readers due to strong language and mild sexual situations.


5.  Heart of Glass by Christy Hayes
When magazine writer Kate Donovan is assigned to profile the building and architectural firm of her first and only love, she heads back to the South Carolina Low Country to face the demons she left behind. Nothing about Danny Flannery’s life is what Kate thought it would be, and as the truth is revealed she longs for a big fat do-over.

Danny’s made a success of his building firm but is hesitant to participate in a flashy magazine spread. He’s dead-set against it when he realizes the journalist sent to interview him is the only woman he’s ever loved and lost. Under pressure from his business partner, Danny agrees to sit down for an interview with the girl he once knew as Kat Fordham and realizes her name isn’t the only thing that’s changed. Everything he thought was true about the past is a lie.

When Danny discovers Kate still wears the heart-shaped, sea glass necklace he made for her years ago, they clear the air and their passion reignites. But Kate’s still keeping secrets to protect their fragile new relationship. With her family estranged and her career on the line, will she come clean before Danny finds out the truth, and can Danny risk his heart again for the only woman he’s ever loved?

4.  Kiss Me, I'm Irish by Bella Street
Emily Musgrave is heading a direction she never wanted to go in Regency England--namely a convent to turn her from her waywardness. But it's more loneliness than rebellion that motivates her to escape her certain fate.
Liam Jackson is going nowhere fast in modern-day Tennessee. Playing his Dobro in seedy bars and backward dives along with his fiddling sister, Tinker, is doing nothing for his music career--and even less for the dark places in his soul.

Pixie mischief can not only change time-lines, it can change hearts. Because sometimes a girl just needs a little magic in her life.

3.  Fall by Jennifer Hurst
Twenty one year old, Julia Dayle Halstead, or JD as she is known by on construction sites, longs for the opportunity to prove to her stern grandfather that she has what it takes to run her own construction project. When she is granted the opportunity of converting a turn-of-the-century schoolhouse into a B&B, she is more than thrilled. But enthusiasm, determination and being ultra-organized, isn't enough to prepare her for what she will find inside the hundred year old schoolhouse, nor how to deal with the attentions of a handsome contractor, or the mysterious security guard she hires to keep away vandals - of the unearthly sort. Will JD uncover the truth about the secrets of the schoolhouse before her very soul is destroyed in a battle between the demons that plague the town and the angel that secretly guards her?

2.  Blank Slate by Heather Justesen
Adrianna Mueller may be a world-renowned concert pianist, but when she wakes from her coma after a serious car accident, her ability to perform has disappeared as completely as her lost memory. As she recovers from her injuries, she struggles with the expectations of everyone—her family, friends, and fiancé, Brock—who all want everything to go back to the way it was.

Everyone except Gavin, Adrianna’s brother’s business partner, who finds himself drawn to the woman she is now. But he has his own problems. As he tries to get a handle on a former employee’s embezzlement, he fights his growing feelings for Adrianna.
And then a trip to the emergency room shakes everything up, leaving her to stumble as she tries to regain her footing all over again.

1.  The Stella Merryweather Series by Camilla Chafer
Illicit Magic More than three hundred years after the most terrifying witch hunts the world has ever known, it's happening again.
Racing from attack by the ruthless Brotherhood in London to the powerful witch council in New York, twenty-four-year-old witch Stella has to put her faith in strangers just to stay alive but she might not be any safer in their midst than from the danger she is running from.

Sent to an extraordinary safe house by the sea to learn her craft, Stella discovers there is more than one dark secret in her new family: Étoile’s sister is spoken of in fear and sadness; Marc is supposed to be a powerful witch but is missing his magic; where does the owner of their safe house vanish to every day and why does Evan have the eyes of someone not quite human? 

There is only one secret that someone will do anything to keep quiet, but whose secret is it and will Stella have to pay the price for her silence?

Unruly Magic  A witch on the run.
A quiet little town where everything is far from normal.
A fractured witch council threatening to tear the supernatural world apart.
Life hasn't been easy for novice witch Stella but small town life seems to be agreeing with her. When a seemingly innocent girl begs for her protection, Stella is pulled into a dangerous game of unruly magic.

With bewitching friends and two super-sexy mysterious men by her side, Stella is plunged into a mystery where she must uncover dangerous secrets before she ends up paying the ultimate price.

Devious Magic Witch hunters who will stop at nothing.  A deadly foe who wants to harness witches’ power.  A secret supernatural world that is in danger of revealing itself.
When the recent surge of supernatural activity in the secretive town of Wilding apparently draws the fearsome Brotherhood, Stella knows she could be risking her life to give in to their demand to return to England.

But defying them sees her world fall apart as her best friend is kidnapped. Lured home to her birthplace, Stella’s powers are tested to the limit as she battles magic and trickery at the heart of the Brotherhood’s operations. But flight across the world brings as many questions as it does answers, and Stella can never be sure who is on her side and who will betray her. 

We wish Aislynn a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY and hope she has a WONDERFUL day ♥