Book Spotlight: Not Broken by Meka James #amreadingromance

Happy Thanksgiving! Please welcome my special guest, Meka James, author of Not Broken. It’s the release day for her new novel, and I’m very happy for her. Please check out her book spotlight.


They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger…



Calida must decide if she should risk the fragile facade she’s created and give Malcolm the chance he’s asking for.

They say love can heal all wounds…





Author Bio of Meka James:

I’m a southern gal. A born and raised Georgia Peach as it were. Most people find it somewhat amazing that I’m actually from Georgia. Not sure why, a lot of people live in the state they were born. I’m happily married to a man that is probably my polar opposite, but we work. We work well enough to have four kids. One girl, whom I affectionately call The Girl and 3 boys. The Boy a.k.a. Man Child these days (they got their names before the younger two came along), Curly Top, a.k.a. Thing 1, and Munchkin a.k.a. Thing 2. No they are not twins, but close in age.


Social Media of Meka James:

Hey, Meka, thanks for being a guest on my blog today. Good luck with sales, and I can’t wait to read your wonderful romance novel. I really loved Fiendish, and I’m sure I’ll love Not Broken too.

Keep smiling,

Yawatta Hosby

SIX PLUS ONE Available on Amazon!!!

I’m a proud mama. I’ve released my fifth baby,  SIX PLUS ONE, out into the world. Well Amazon 🙂



Sequel time–SIX PLUS ONE, Detective Brown can’t keep that promise. Alta and her group of friends leave Voy on a road trip to Green Bank, West Virginia. They’re filming footage for their alien-centric web series.


Here’s an excerpt for SIX PLUS ONE:

The local grocery store was empty except for Kendrick, his brother Eugene, and the wrinkle-faced cashier. The cashier stocked the dusty shelves. He had cans of beans to line up on display. Generic brand cereals, pancake mixes, and other foods were already on the shelves.

The brothers scanned the bulletin board of local events that hung on the puke green painted wall. A county fair. A coupon for the tourist attraction Green Bank Observatory. A book signing at the public library.

Kendrick wasn’t a believer. In fact, he didn’t think anyone in the Aliens R Us group was either, but aliens and UFOs were a popular market they wanted to tap into. It seemed like TV and movies focused on ghosts and paranormal activity. Doing something different would help them stand out. Busting out the acting skills and pretending enthusiasm was more Johanna and Alta’s responsibility, since they were in front of the camera as hosts.

Kendrick caught a glimpse of the rest of the crew through the window that hadn’t seen Windex in a century. Declan, who had a face full of freckles with ginger hair, was standing by Johanna and Alta in the parking lot.

Kendrick smiled when Johanna laughed and bumped hips with his girlfriend. Alta seemed to be in a better mood. He studied her vibrant face from a distance. She had a natural beauty. No makeup. Her long, straight black hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Her brown eyes always managed to pierce through him.

How could someone so wonderful be into him?

Kendrick’s heartbeat quickened as his eyes slowly shifted back to Johanna. She was more of an exotic beauty. Long wavy hair, tanned skin like she grew up on a beach, oval hazel eyes. He wondered what she saw in boring Declan, the sound guy for Aliens R Us.

Eugene, all neck and arms full of tattoos, continued scanning the board. “This bulletin seems so empty. Where’s all the 1-800-Missing signs?”

“Stop being disrespectful. How would you like it if someone came into Voy and made fun of it?”

His brother looked at him as if he had three heads, a tail, and an arm growing out of his stomach. “I wouldn’t give a fuck.”

Kendrick suppressed a laugh, not wanting Eugene to miss the point of “don’t be disrespectful to the locals.” You never knew whose help you may need. “We should get Johanna and Alta in here to interview the cashier. Maybe he can give us some insight into how the locals feel about their situation. Is there a division? Some hating the fact that they aren’t allowed to listen to music or use Wi-Fi on their cellphones because of the restrictions. Some hating because they think the UFO legend is bogus. This compared to some diehard believers, thinking strangers they meet could be pod people and agree with the no Wi-Fi restrictions. No questions asked.”

Eugene shrugged. “Or we can just wait until we meet Mike.” He stressed the name like it was more of a question instead of a firm statement.

“Grayson. The guy’s name is Grayson. Do you ever pay attention?”

Why ask a question I already know the answer to? Even though Eugene was the “research” guy for Aliens R Us, he never knew anything about their projects.

Eugene stared at Johanna through the dirty window. “Oh, I notice things.”

Kendrick followed his brother’s gaze. Now Johanna’s arm was interlocked with Declan’s.

Keeping quiet, Kendrick swallowed a knot in his throat. Last summer, Johanna had stopped by the apartment he shared with Eugene to drop something off. One thing led to another, and Kendrick had kissed her. She hadn’t stopped him−acquiescence was key. Did she like him? Was it a caught-in-the-moment situation? He never asked her. Not that it mattered.

Eugene had caught them that day. Kendrick hadn’t known his brother came home early from work because he was sick. Mouth agape, Eugene had stood in the doorway of Kendrick’s bedroom.

They had promised him it was a one-time thing. On the same day, Alta’s dad, Detective Brown, had been bombarded with an intense case in the woods. A group of friends had been massacred inside a cabin, and other mutilated bodies were found throughout miles of the woods near the lake.

Not ordinary friends−Kenan and Rae’s friends.

They were brother and sister surrounded by tragedy. Kenan was eighteen, and Rae was fifteen when they had vacationed in Voy with their parents. That summer some hillbillies broke into their cabin and tortured the family. They gutted their parents like fish as Kenan and Rae were tied up and forced to watch. Then, ten years later, which was last summer, Kenan and Rae’s friends were tortured, one by one, in that very same cabin.

Alta was already stressed during this road trip, so Kendrick had to keep his secrets by any means. It’d been thirteen months. He was confident Alta would never find out. He trusted Eugene, and he knew Johanna wouldn’t jeopardize her friendship with Alta.

Kendrick was in love with Alta, but he couldn’t fight his attraction toward her best friend. That’s why he often snuck moments with Johanna still.

The cashier coughed, grabbing the boys’ attentions. They spun around to face him. The cashier was standing with his hands in his pockets. “I hope you do this story justice. It’s not a joke to us in Green Bank.”

“It’s not a joke to us either, sir. We take our job very seriously.” Kendrick hoped his brother wouldn’t do anything stupid to contradict his promise.

“Well, I appreciate it. I hope you find my hometown to be resourceful.”

“Yes, sir.” Kendrick nodded and stared at the older gentleman, an understanding passing between them.

–If horror, thrillers, and slashers are up your alley, then give SIX PLUS ONE a chance to give you goosebumps. It’s available on Amazon. Even though it’s a sequel, the novella can definitely be read as a standalone.

Keep smiling,

Yawatta Hosby

Book Review: Kind Nepenthe by Matthew W. Brockmeyer

Rebecca thought she’d find a hippie paradise when she moved to the desolate back hills of Humboldt County. A place to commune with nature and teach her five-year-old daughter how to live off the land, instead she discovered a nightmare.

Coyote is a washed-up pot grower. Strung out on pills and dealing with dropping prices and looming legalization, he wonders if it’s even worth it anymore.

Diesel Dan abandoned his son for a life of methamphetamine and prison. Now he wants to make amends. He’s going to be a grandfather. But his son is on the same dark road of drugs and violence that once consumed him.

These characters will come together in an explosive ending that will leave you stunned and breathless. But more than just a gripping horror novel, Kind Nepenthe is a deep examination into the nature of love and greed, lost ideals, and the essence of evil in one of the last frontiers of the American West.


I liked this book, even though the horror didn’t really happen until the end. Diesel was a deadbeat dad, but he was trying to make it up to his son. Rebecca had a little girl who did strange things. They moved to Coyote’s compound with her boyfriend.

My favorite lines: 1) “Yes. But, Mommy, if there’s no such thing as ghosts, why do people say this place is haunted?” 2) Thinking about it left an emptiness in his chest, as if some inner part of him had grown hollow, like a rotten knot in a tree.

I enjoyed that the characters were not likable. It made the story feel more real that way. They were drug dealers, druggies, and/or pot growers. Drama had consumed their lives. But, I never quite understood why Rebecca couldn’t just leave. Why she couldn’t grow some balls and leave for her daughter’s safety? That was frustrating, but if Rebecca did the sensible thing, then there wouldn’t be a story. For me, the book didn’t pick up until Sunbeam disappeared. The mystery of did she leave on her own, or did something bad happen to her piqued my interest. The story got exciting for me when there were a lot of fights, arguing, and when ghosts were mentioned. Being labeled as horror, I was expecting to be scared while reading, but I definitely wasn’t.

I will say that the very end was chilling though.

Keep smiling,

Yawatta Hosby

Happy Birthday, A Writer’s Blog!!!

In November 2011, I got over my fear of no one would want to hear what I had to say. On the 17th of November, I wrote my first blog post called “Creative Writing for Beginners.” Years later and I’m still going strong 🙂

Happy Birthday, A Writer’s Blog!!! May there be many more.

Fun fact: On November 17, 2017, these are the countries that visited my blog:

  • United States
  • United Kingdom
  • Canada
  • India
  • New Zealand
  • Singapore
  • Malaysia
  • Thailand
  • Australia
  • Philippines

Keep smiling,

Yawatta Hosby