2022 Readers' Favorite Gold Medal Winner in Non-Fiction - Memoir Genre Award-Winning Memoir “Courageously exploratory, making for a truly enlightening read." (Kirkus Reviews) Raising Jess is the powerful story of one family’s survival when faced with adversity. Written with compassion, honesty, and humor, it tells of a family changed forever by the birth of a child with a rare chromosome deletion and their courageous decision to choose hope. Facing the challenges of caring for her daughter, marriage struggles, and the question of having more children, Vickie Rubin gives a glimpse into the world of her family and transformation while Raising Jess. This beautiful, gripping memoir will delight and leave you wanting more. "This is an inspiring story of tragedy and triumph, brilliantly and powerfully told. I highly recommend it." - Ashley Adams, Author “This is a triumphant tale.” - Cathy Shields, Author" "A heartwarming, compassionate story. This story will bring tears to the eyes of readers as they are educated and enraptured by one family’s journey with a child with special needs.” (5-Star Review by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite) “Couldn’t put it down! Raising Jess is an amazing book! Vickie Rubin’s writing is masterful! Highly recommend.” - Mike Steklof, Ed. D. “Beautiful Insightful Narrative That Resonates Deeply. I feel enlightened, inspired, hopeful and transformed by Vickie's story.” - Janet G. “Beautifully written and a must-read for anyone that knows someone with disabilities or wants to know a family’s perspective.” - Jill G. “I couldn’t put it down. Get a copy of this book—so pure, raw, and beautiful.” - Ashleigh Bussinger “Vickie reveals her Soul to the reader. A Must-Read for All” - Lori N. Vickie Schlanger Rubin, M.S Ed., three-time award-winning author, contributes essays to Newsweek, Buffalo News Opinion, and blogs worldwide. Vickie is an experienced public speaker and passionate advocate for families of children with disabilities. Her blog, Vickie's Views (www.vickierubin.com), gives a heartwarming and humorous view of everyday life.

One wish can change everything. This year when Jessica Martinson-Canton blows out eleven candles on her homemade vegan cake, she makes the same wish she’s made for as many birthdays as she can remember: she wants a mother. Jessica’s father Phil has worked his entire life to create a more stable childhood for his daughter than he had with his unwed teenaged mother. When his wife left him and their newborn daughter in their most vulnerable hour, Phil pledged to give his baby everything. His parents have reunited and are working hard to create a supportive extended family, but rainbow pancakes and princess murals can’t heal the dark void left in Phil’s heart which he won’t even admit is there. Mallory O’Connell leaves her dream job in a big city to return home to help her fiercely independent mother recover from tragedy. After forming a unique bond with Jessica—and a friendship with Jessica’s hot father—Mallory finds that in coming back to Stonehill she might just have found a way to make all of her dreams come true. But as their families push Phil and Mallory together, old insecurities and Phil’s worst fears threaten to break up the happy trio and catch Jessica in the emotional crossfire.

Two sisters. One wants in. One has a plan. But gang loyalty cuts family ties... Jess works, spends time with friends, and earns good grades in school. But she's also sole provider for her drug-addicted mother... And she hates it. Her sister Nova holds a high-profile position in the Dynamite Queens. Within her turf Nova enjoys fame, fortune, freedom, and respect – at a cost of family life. But Jess wants what Nova has and is willing to do anything to get it. After one explosive argument, Jess joins a rival gang, a decision that leads her down a path of brutal consequences. South Central L. A. erupts with violence as two gangs – two sisters – wage war on each other. For the winner, victory could be unforgiving... Tied is a fast-paced look at family, friendship, betrayal, and revenge through the lens of tough Los Angeles girl gangs. Note: This novel contains strong language and gang violence. Praise for Tied: A Street Gang Novel "...Fast moving, intriguing, humorless and upsetting with an ending that left me breathless, thoughtful and sad. I can thoroughly recommend it to all who enjoy a gritty crime novel and who have a strong constitution." "This violent world in which teenage girl gangs are menacing and dangerous is gripping. I really wanted to find out who would survive." "This story is very well thought out with believable characters and situations. Gabel does a great job drawing us into the life that many of us know nothing about." "Gabel's detail-rich world of gang culture was a fascinating read. The story will draw you in and the characters will keep you to the surprising end."

Jess used to be a man. Then he found himself in a female body. It wasn't funny. (Why would anyone even think it was?) * There's a scene in Tootsie (1982) that is surely one of the most unacclaimed scenes of all time: Dustin Hoffman's character, Michael, as 'Dorothy', makes a suggestion on the set, and the director dismisses it out of hand. As I remember it, Hoffman's face-conveying surprise, confusion, indignation-shows perfectly Michael's reaction to the absence of (and, just maybe, awareness of) male entitlement. The entire movie should've been about that. Just that. It wasn't. And so I wrote Jess. * "[Jess'] perspective on being a girl and woman while having memories of being a man offers an understanding I’d never thought of. Really interesting book." poolays, LibraryThing 4/5 stars "Very interesting book. ... Definitely worth reading." Dan, Goodreads 4/5 stars

When the battered and beaten dead body of a young Latin American woman washes up in a flooded creek on her father's three-thousand-acre three-bar D ranch in the sleepy village of Echo, Colorado, medical examiner Jess Doogan makes a horrifying discovery. The dead woman had been surgically implanted with heroin and, even more frightening, a GPS tracking device. That meant whoever was using her as a mule would be coming for her! When Las Vegas FBI field agent Harlan Meeks is called into the case, a major drug-smuggling operation is revealed. Jess's quiet world would change in an instant, and the FBI would change her life forever. Coyote Justice will keep you on the edge of your seat as it weaves the tale of murder, human trafficking, and drug smuggling.

The moon is full. And none other than the famous (or infamous) Howard Richard Deacon III has returned to Middleton Village. The Holy Seven senses magic at work. Wolves have returned to the woods. Creepy hunters are in town. And the heir is acting peculiar. Is it the witches up to their old tricks again? Or is it an old unresolved curse come back to town? As the former best friend of 'Howie' Deacon, it is up to Andrew Cartwright (the leader of the Holy Seven) to deal with it.

She’s looking for a second chance to reconnect with her daughter but finds so much more. Since her husband’s climbing death a year ago, Maureen Shannon’s relationship with her twelve-year-old daughter has spiraled out of control. Desperate, she resigns from her partnership at a legal firm and moves back to her hometown in Whitefish, Montana, with the hope that family and nature can heal their wounds. Her investment in a heli-skiing and lodge operation makes financial sense, but her attraction to the owner doesn’t. He’s everything she’s come to hate—a man who makes his living chasing adventure. Jake Hartman knows Maureen Shannon is off limits. She’s an investor in his company—a silent investor who's never silent. Worse, she’s a mom who’s beautiful, intelligent and makes him feel more alive than he’s ever known. A self-confirmed bachelor, he finds himself uneasily contemplating a very different partnership. But will Maureen be able to let go of her past and build a future with a man who never imagined becoming a husband or a father?

When eccentric millionaire John reunites with his long-lost lover, he thinks he's finally found happiness. But after surviving a deadly party, he begins to hear wedding bells in his future. Meanwhile, famous TV comedian Hellen G is trying to repair her career after a scandal threatens to ruin her reputation. As John plans his upcoming nuptials, newly engaged couple Smith and Jess are juggling running their hotel business and planning their own wedding at the same time. They're determined to make it work, but the stress of it all is starting to take its toll. Meanwhile, Cody, a professional Helen G impersonator, takes a job that turns out to be much deadlier than he anticipated. And when Jane Doe wakes up from a coma, she discovers that someone has stolen her entire life. As these characters' paths intersect and their lives become increasingly intertwined, they must navigate love, loss, and danger in order to find their own happy endings.

Do we need bodies for sex? Is gender in the head or in the body? In Second Skins Jay Prosser reveals the powerful drive that leads men and women literally to shed their skins and--in flesh and head--to cross the boundary of sex. Telling their story is not merely an act that comes after the fact, it's a force of its own that makes it impossible to forget that stories of identity inhabit autobiographical bodies. In this stunning first extensive study of transsexual autobiography, Jay Prosser examines the exchanges between body and narrative that constitute the phenomenon of transsexuality. Showing how transsexuality's somatic transitions are spurred and enabled by the formal transitions of narrative, Prosser uncovers a narrative tradition for transsexual bodies. Sex change is a plot--and thus appropriately transsexuals make for adept and absorbing authors. In reading the transssexual plot through transsexuals' own recounting, Prosser not only gives us a new and more accurate rendition of transsexuality. His book suggests transsexuality, with its extraordinary conjunctions of body and narrative, as an identity story that transitions across the body/language divide that currently stalls poststucturalist thought. The form and approach of Second Skins works to cross other important and parallel divides. In addition to analyzing transsexual textual accounts, the book includes some 30 photographic portraits of transsexuals-- poignant attempts by transsexuals to present themselves unmediated to the world except by the camera. And the author does not shy from exposure himself. Interjecting the personal into his theoretical discussion and close textual work throughout the book, Prosser reads and writes his own body, his purpose in that stylistic crossing to stake out transsexuality--and hence this very book--as his own body's narrative.

Finding old love letters in her father’s closet inspires a teen to play matchmaker. Jessica Shanahan is off to college next year, but she’s worried about leaving her father, Levi Shanahan, alone. He’s been a single dad since his wife died when Jessica was only a toddler. He reassures her that he’s too busy running his family general store, taking care of his aging parents and volunteering in the community to be lonely. But Jessica has her doubts—especially when she finds old love letters from his high school sweetheart. Travel photographer Grace Hamilton is promoting her latest book when a student from her hometown reaches out about a research project. Curious, Grace meets with her and when the teen invites her to the Woodland Foliage Arts Festival, Grace accepts. Though her career’s been successful and fulfilling, she’s never met a man who touched her heart the way Levi Shanahan once did. Maybe a trip home will finally help her to move on and find the one thing that’s eluded her throughout her years of travel—love.