A most unexpected investigator recounts a strange but special case of true love.

During a normal training event, Army Officer Thomas Michaels’ future comes in direct contact with his past. He meets the hauntingly familiar Heather Irving, a newly assigned enlisted soldier to his unit. Even though they have never met, an unexplained part of them knows one another—intimately. They embark on a personal discovery that uncovers a love that has been looking for them. Thomas and Heather immediately question everything they ever knew about themselves and their lives. Matters are complicated by their illicit fraternization and Heather’s marriage. Thus a bittersweet, two week romance of discovery begins. It is something only a few will ever experience.

A most unexpected investigator recounts a strange but special case of true love.

During a normal training event, Army Officer Thomas Michaels’ future comes in direct contact with his past. He meets the hauntingly familiar Heather Irving, a newly assigned enlisted soldier to his unit. Even though they have never met, an unexplained part of them knows one another—intimately. They embark on a personal discovery that uncovers a love that has been looking for them. Thomas and Heather immediately question everything they ever knew about themselves and their lives. Matters are complicated by their illicit fraternization and Heather’s marriage. Thus a bittersweet, two week romance of discovery begins. It is something only a few will ever experience.

While struggling to hang on to the remnants of her marriage to Simon, Ellis Spencer Garrett is faced with her son’s anger and Simon’s latest betrayal. Weakened by repeated traumas in her life, Ellis draws within herself to escape the pain. She is admitted into Silver Leaf Institute of Mental Health where Dr. Patrick Dole has a strong desire to reach her and bring her back.

Having reached the pinnacle of his career and a new life almost within his grasp, Simon Garrett must deal with the restraints caused by his catatonic wife and her aunt, Agnes Spencer. Agnes is strong and unrelenting, and she finds ways to keep Simon cornered in her quest to protect her niece. Success, women, and a lack of control find Simon spiraling toward his own doom, and he reaches out to the only woman who ever loved him. Is it too late?

Dr. Patrick Dole is raising his daughter, Jamie, alone after the murder of his wife. As the time comes for the condemned man to be executed, Patrick and Jamie struggle with feelings of loss and justice, and each facing a strong need that only one woman can fulfill.

This is a tale of woe of Meenakshi, an orphan girl from southern India. Like the thousands of orphans in India, she lives a life in which others determine her every move. For her, every event is predestined.

Many of us are fortunate enough to be told and to believe that our destiny lies within our own hands. In the case of unfortunates like Meenakshi, that is not the case. All of their efforts to decide life for themselves are futile. Fate, for them, is the puppet master. No matter how hard they try there is no outwitting Destiny for Destiny always triumphs!

This is a tale of woe of Meenakshi, an orphan girl from southern India. Like the thousands of orphans in India, she lives a life in which others determine her every move. For her, every event is predestined.

Many of us are fortunate enough to be told and to believe that our destiny lies within our own hands. In the case of unfortunates like Meenakshi, that is not the case. All of their efforts to decide life for themselves are futile. Fate, for them, is the puppet master. No matter how hard they try there is no outwitting Destiny for Destiny always triumphs!

This is a tale of woe of Meenakshi, an orphan girl from southern India. Like the thousands of orphans in India, she lives a life in which others determine her every move. For her, every event is predestined.

Many of us are fortunate enough to be told and to believe that our destiny lies within our own hands. In the case of unfortunates like Meenakshi, that is not the case. All of their efforts to decide life for themselves are futile. Fate, for them, is the puppet master. No matter how hard they try there is no outwitting Destiny for Destiny always triumphs!

“Curse Among the Palms” is a story of how the Jeresi and Fentimiglia families came together for the sake of love and marriage.  Spanning decades, this is a saga beginning with young hopefuls migrating from the “old country”, harboring their very hopes and dreams of a new, abundant life in America.  They came with their strong wills, their hard-working ethics, and their fervent prayers for themselves and their unborn generations to create a better life with new opportunities.  These poor, but soulful people literally believed that the streets of America were lined with gold. 

 

& n b s p ; & nbsp;          This three part novel expresses, through decades, from the shattered post 1906 earthquaked docks and produce marts of San Francisco, where segregation and bigotry existed in its very underbelly; through the long, enduring nightmare of  World War II; to the rock-n-rollin Fifties in the South Bay, where everyone seemed to get a piece of the pie;  to the Silicon Valley boom, where everything seemed economically rosey; to the new millennium where the fickle mistress of heroin addiction strikes its ugly blow .

 

& n b s p ; & nbsp;          Granddaughters of immigrants, Ava and Maria live their lives through a dark, hidden secret that plagued them both in ways they could have never imagined.  Through their incredibly hardy wills and a zest for life in which they inherited from the “good stock“ of their ancesters, they finally reach the other side of a journey bombarded  by bigotry, hate, jealousy, and a deceit that floated through the palms when no one was looking.  Through the strife of one heartbreak after another, their boundless will to find happiness brought them to a place of forgiveness, and ultimately the redemption that was always theirs.

 

& n b s p ; & nbsp;          This is Josephine Teresi’s first novel, but certainly not her last. 

“Curse Among the Palms” is a story of how the Jeresi and Fentimiglia families came together for the sake of love and marriage.  Spanning decades, this is a saga beginning with young hopefuls migrating from the “old country”, harboring their very hopes and dreams of a new, abundant life in America.  They came with their strong wills, their hard-working ethics, and their fervent prayers for themselves and their unborn generations to create a better life with new opportunities.  These poor, but soulful people literally believed that the streets of America were lined with gold. 

 

& n b s p ; & nbsp;          This three part novel expresses, through decades, from the shattered post 1906 earthquaked docks and produce marts of San Francisco, where segregation and bigotry existed in its very underbelly; through the long, enduring nightmare of  World War II; to the rock-n-rollin Fifties in the South Bay, where everyone seemed to get a piece of the pie;  to the Silicon Valley boom, where everything seemed economically rosey; to the new millennium where the fickle mistress of heroin addiction strikes its ugly blow .

 

& n b s p ; & nbsp;          Granddaughters of immigrants, Ava and Maria live their lives through a dark, hidden secret that plagued them both in ways they could have never imagined.  Through their incredibly hardy wills and a zest for life in which they inherited from the “good stock“ of their ancesters, they finally reach the other side of a journey bombarded  by bigotry, hate, jealousy, and a deceit that floated through the palms when no one was looking.  Through the strife of one heartbreak after another, their boundless will to find happiness brought them to a place of forgiveness, and ultimately the redemption that was always theirs.

 

& n b s p ; & nbsp;          This is Josephine Teresi’s first novel, but certainly not her last. 

The drama begins when the siblings, Morag and David Seton, witness the murder of the parents by a renegade named Black Angus MacGougall. David, in trying to rescue his mother from rape, is beaten and tossed into the river, believed dead. But David survives and is rescued by a hermit called Peter of the River. This leads to David meeting the Chief of Clan MacNab, and after the discovery of a secret treasure room, is placed in the hands of the mysterious Knights Templar, where he is condemned as a galley slave, but eventually wins freedom in the Holy Land.

Morag is taken prisoner by Black Angus and is eventually sold to the Vikings, who, because of her developed mystical powers, view her as a Priestess, and as such she battles the Bishop of Orkney, and is able to save the son of the Jarl of Orkney from a related poisoner. Brother and sister are briefly united, only to be separated again as the saga continues.

In the continuing saga, Bruce and Wallace develop into powerful young men, with their lives touching briefly at intervals as each fight the demons within.

Wallace is forced by the father Bruce to fight under his flag at a tournament at Lochmaben Castle. Wallace's success brings angry words from Edward, King of England, but the tourmament introduces Wallace to Marion Braidfute, his future wife. Wallace further aggravates the English King as he attempts to stir rebellion against English oppression.

David Seton, in a strange chain of events, saves the King's life and is knighted fot it, and inherits Castle Kelk. It is this strange Yorkshire castle his relationship with Christina Bruce, now married to Gartnait of Mar, develops further.

Robert Bruce, the younger, runs foul of John "the Red" Comyn on several occasions in disputes over land and property, and the succession rights to the Throne of Scotland.

Morag spends time in distant Caithness and escapes capture with the aid of a giant eagle.

But all events are over-shadowed with English Edward's annihilation of the town and citizens of Berwick in a savage display of bestiality.

The saga continues as pirates attempt to drown Morag, but she is rescued by whales and is able to identify her attackers. This leads to an invasion of the Faroe Islands where Morag suffers the loss of a dear friend in a fight with a fire-breathing dragon.But it is the death of the young Maid of Norway that brings Morag the greatest anguish, and has her face the fires of heresy when she is condemned as a witch.

During this time David finds a crystal skull and the Dewar of Glendochart, a Druid Priest, is able to make the skull tell of future events. David and the young Robert the Bruce are sent on a mission to complete the task of two murdered monks. Assassins try for the life of the young heir to the throne.

Brother and sister Seton witness the death of Black Angus MacDougall at the Battle of Caskieben.

To the majority of America, the infamous State of Ohio is just made up of farm fi elds and politics, but in the quiet city of Columbus is a major money market in the criminal underworld where every drug from Mexican marijuana to Afgan heroin fl oods the economy on a monthly basis. And every small time hustler to every international dealer wants a piece of the pie.

For Sizalino and his notorious mentor Michael Pettway, they’re looking to control it all, forming an outfi t similar to the mythical mafi a’s ‘Commission’, called the West Side Firm; teaming up with the most powerful heads of the East and North Side, creating a conglomerate organization stretching all the way down to South Florida and into South America. With the connection to Emmanuelle Mendez, a close associate to the Columbian Godmother, they go on an unstoppable path to obtaining the ultimate American Dream of money, power, and respect. By any means necessary!

Overnight their success becomes legendary. Th ey quickly create a takeover like no one in Ohio has ever done or ever seen. But with success comes hate and envy, from everyone tojealous locals, to local State and Federal Law Enforcement Offi cials. And that envious attention comes crashing down right when the Commission hits the peak of its success. Everyone from the Law to bitter rivals begin to try and attack and penetrate their concrete wall of solid structure and silence.

Sizalino feels the heat, and tries to take his business mind and savvy in a diff erent direction for the benefi t of his related family and the foundation of their future. But his Mentor, Mike P., and the Commission, have other plans for him. And they’re not the only ones. Will Sizalino make it out? Will the Commission and its Firms survive the storm and the war against them, threatening to cripple and destroy their organization? Th ey say for hustlers that the American Dream has two faces; an American Dream and an American Nightmare! What will Sizalino’s American Fate be?

To the majority of America, the infamous State of Ohio is just made up of farm fi elds and politics, but in the quiet city of Columbus is a major money market in the criminal underworld where every drug from Mexican marijuana to Afgan heroin fl oods the economy on a monthly basis. And every small time hustler to every international dealer wants a piece of the pie.

For Sizalino and his notorious mentor Michael Pettway, they’re looking to control it all, forming an outfi t similar to the mythical mafi a’s ‘Commission’, called the West Side Firm; teaming up with the most powerful heads of the East and North Side, creating a conglomerate organization stretching all the way down to South Florida and into South America. With the connection to Emmanuelle Mendez, a close associate to the Columbian Godmother, they go on an unstoppable path to obtaining the ultimate American Dream of money, power, and respect. By any means necessary!

Overnight their success becomes legendary. Th ey quickly create a takeover like no one in Ohio has ever done or ever seen. But with success comes hate and envy, from everyone tojealous locals, to local State and Federal Law Enforcement Offi cials. And that envious attention comes crashing down right when the Commission hits the peak of its success. Everyone from the Law to bitter rivals begin to try and attack and penetrate their concrete wall of solid structure and silence.

Sizalino feels the heat, and tries to take his business mind and savvy in a diff erent direction for the benefi t of his related family and the foundation of their future. But his Mentor, Mike P., and the Commission, have other plans for him. And they’re not the only ones. Will Sizalino make it out? Will the Commission and its Firms survive the storm and the war against them, threatening to cripple and destroy their organization? Th ey say for hustlers that the American Dream has two faces; an American Dream and an American Nightmare! What will Sizalino’s American Fate be?