Discover exciting books in several romance genres, including contemporary, romantasy, paranormal, historical, and more, in C.L. Cannon’s Romance Book Fair!
Go to https://fictionatlas.com/romancefair/ and enter for your chance to win a Kindle Fire, a One More Chapter mug, and a one-month Audible gift card. The book fair is open from September 14 through November 3rd, 2025.
The Return
The highway finds me broken
and broken free from the mountain’s grip
bleeding from a fight with the clinging trees
Distance restarts my heart
Each mile is another beat
At the edge of the ocean
my breath and my dreams
return to me
I’m so excited for my steamy paranormal romance, Coyote’s Vow, to be a part of N. N. Light’s Book Heaven Beach Reads Bookish Event. Open Internationally. Runs July 17 – July 31, 2025. Winner will be drawn on August 1, 2025. Check out all the wonderful books by some fantastic authors and enter the giveaway for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card:
https://nnlightsbookheaven.substack.com/p/coyotes-vow-by-christina-lynn-lambert
No Kings
They came at night
and hollowed out the trees
then told us what our damaged forest needed
Messages broadcast through empty shells masquerading as
the heart of the land
polluted the water and some minds
But the wind, she collected
the outrage
the broken dreams
and the agony of every being
that the hollow shell of the wannabe king
tried to silence
The wind screamed
“We will not bow to kings”
Each of us a became a raindrop in the storm that tore down
the emperor’s gold-plated castle
I’m thrilled to have The Wind is the Only Thing (a collection of four poems) featured in the anthology, The Heart of Us. This anthology is a collection of poems and stories by women and mothers about the joys, pain, and revelations of love. To love takes strength and courage, and the journey makes us who we are.
Image description – image is a pale pink graphic. On the right is the book cover for The Heart of Us. It features the outline of a woman’s face. Her hair is created by love-related words and a rose graphic. On the left side are the words “as women, mothers, and storytellers, we live from the heart, and it shows in every word we share. These pages hold our joy and our sorrow, our victories and defeats, our laughter and our tears. Each piece is a reflection of what it means to live, feel, and grow with heart. This is the heart of us.”
The Heart of Us- a moms who write anthology is available on Amazon and all proceeds go to the American Heart Association.
https://www.amazon.com/heart-us-moms-who-write-ebook/dp/B0FCBT8SQ7
Song Behind the Trees
Beyond the tree line
music beckons
Keep reading for the two possible endings to this poem
Ending 1 –
Past the threshold
no trail awaits
The stars can’t breach the canopy of leaves
A chorus of vines wrap around me
I’m a present for everything that stings
Venom lessons leach into blood, muscle, and bone,
Wolves wait and rabbits
scream
Over the crickets’ wicked laugh
I hear the stream
whispering
that the forest doesn’t go on forever
The music is gone
so I write my own
Ending 2-
When I cross the threshold
leaves swallow me, doing their best to hide me
from things that steal and sting
Whisper of the stream
guides me
off the path
through briars that cut into my leaves
piercing muscle, clawing at hope
but the sound still calls
I hide from spiders and walk with snakes
through the rain
over places where the earth
split
Stars and fireflies stay true
And the night’s butterfly takes me through the last miles
to the heart
the symphony
the beginning
of everything
Image description – a photo of somewhat barren trees at the edge of a forest. The sky is overcast, and a layer of fog gives the trees a hazy appearance.
Why two endings for the poem?
After I wrote the beginning of the poem, I started thinking of two possible endings- one more sinister and one with a more joyous outcome. I remembered reading those Choose Your Own Adventure books when I was a kid and thought, why not have two endings to this poem?
A song, a promise, a path- hidden except for the first few steps- could be a trap, waiting to ensnare any who dare to enter. Will the price to move past the trees be cuts so deep that souls and bones need to be pulled back together with a needle and thread? Or is the hint of the hauntingly beautiful song a prelude to something wonderful?
The threads binding our souls and bones remember the agony of past lessons, yet the stitches come alive with curiosity. In stillness we dissolve. Beyond the tree line, we find reasons.
The Electric Doors Never Stop Eating
Earlier than necessary
electric doors open wide
ushering in employees who either
drank the corporate-issued devotion-to-policy brew
or chose a regular cup of coffee and steeled themselves to slog through
another day of being under the eye and thumb of
cameras and software packages designed to report
each word
each keystroke
to measure productivity, to predict loyalty
to the almighty company
Corporate mission statements decorate walls and computer screens
Remember:
Positive attitudes only
Daily emails politely warn
that questions come with a penalty
When bodies drop under the weight of unattainable goals
and crack like stones
No blood left to squeeze
The boss with the broom sweeps the old dust out
so the doors can welcome in
younger faces ready to bleed for a company
that will demand the impossible
then sweep away the broken pieces
with a broom
Image description – photograph of high-rise businesses overlooking a rocky section of the James River
About the poem:
As rights for workers and conditions for workplace safety continue to erode, the reality hits hard that lawmakers are not coming to help workers. Nobody in politics is coming to provide actually legislative help because their pockets are being lined for staying silent. Since nobody in power is coming to help, it’s up to us to set a precedent, to draw lines, to set limits, and to be loud and obnoxious when we can if subtle strategies and quiet subterfuge fails. Otherwise, the spineless, manipulative, ass-kissers who have sold their souls for the privilege of serving their corporate overlords will continue to perpetrate wage theft, require unattainable goals, tout unrealistic expectations, discriminate both overtly and covertly, and cause unsafe and/or inhumane working conditions.
Life in a Bottle
Plastic bottles inhale
breath from the river
Corporations sell
life
and take it
without regret
Image description – A photograph of a narrow, winding section of the James River surrounded by trees on a sunny, spring afternoon
About the poem – Corporations have been given the rights (for the right price, paid to hungry politicians) to bottle up water from waterbodies that people depend on, both in the United States and in other countries. These soulless corporations then sell the bottled water to the people whose streams and rivers the corporations have claimed. There are so many short-term profit tactics that involve destroying water and land for temporary gain. Politicians who allow the land to be polluted and destroyed are often working under the assumption that the aftereffects won’t catch up to them in their lifetime. They assume that they will always live in the protected, fortunate areas where such things don’t occur.
The earth can’t protect itself from shareholders and CEOs or from smiling lawmakers bent on getting kickbacks for passing along environmental destruction laws, all so they can send their kids to the good schools and have summer homes by the river (in the sections the corporations can’t touch, of course), so we have to respect and protect the earth.
Earth Day is a chance to remember and appreciate all the beautiful parks and natural landmarks, but it’s also a reminder that we need to be active in the fight to preserve them.
A snowstorm on New Year’s Eve brought bear shifters Ellie and AJ together but a secret threatens to tear them apart. When Ellie is in danger, will AJ find her in time?
#ParanormalRomance #RomanticSuspense #EnemiesToLovers #ShifterRomance #RomanceNovels #SteamyRomance
about the story:
Bear shifter Ellie Ortiz’s nightmare boss, Tabatha, stole Ellie’s clients then left her stranded at a hotel during a snowstorm. Ellie is tired, hungry, and mad beyond belief. The last person she wants to run into is AJ Shepherd, the man responsible for her brother’s death, but there he is, sitting right next to her in the hotel bar. Even worse, she discovers that AJ is not as cold and heartless as she once thought.
A new job puts Ellie in contact with AJ every day and things get… complicated. When Ellie ends up at the heart of a reporter’s plot to prove the existence of shifters, she and AJ must work together to fight their way to freedom. The survival of shifters everywhere depends on it.
Image description – a picnic table sits in the forest. On top of the table is a coffee cup on a saucer, and an e reader. Pictured on the e reader is the book cover for Bear’s Dream which features a man and a woman embracing. Below the couple is an image of a bear walking through the forest.
Excerpt:
“You’re pretty amazing. I hope you know that.”
Ellie’s cheeks got hot at the compliment. She popped the last bite of cherry pie into her mouth to keep from saying something stupid and gushy back to him.
The opening chords to R.E.M’s “It’s the End of the World As We Know It” played and spotlights hit the screen behind the stage. Colored lights all around the courtyard lit up in time with the music. She and AJ stood and cheered with the rest of the crowd. The drum beat and guitar notes of every song reached out to fire up the courtyard. The music washed over her and she forgot for a moment every other care she had as the light show dazzled her.
After the show ended, they both agreed it was time to call it a day and head back to the hotel room. AJ made some chamomile tea in the coffeepot and she sat down next to him on the sofa. They were halfway into an episode of The Twilight Zone when he turned to her. “Thanks for looking out for me today, and getting me into the woods so I could shift out my injuries. I would’ve hated to have passed out and been forced to go to a hospital by some well-meaning regular.”
“I wouldn’t have let that happen.”
He brushed a curl from her face. She didn’t back away. His lips brushed hers, softly, as if he just meant a sweet, gentle kiss, but his grip on her hips was anything but gentle. If only their circumstances were different, then she could kiss him all night long if she wanted to. Still, she couldn’t stop herself from leaning into the kiss. Guilt and desire went to war inside her mind and he drew back, as if he understood.
“Night, Ellie.” His hands were gone from her body but his voice rumbled around her, reaching for her.
“See you in the morning.” She stood up and walked down the hallway, refusing to look back.
What is wrong with me? Kissing him was not okay!
The quilt and soft sheets on the bed made a nice nest for her to hide inside while she forced herself to think about anything except for AJ and how he’d touched her with more tenderness than any man ever had. Including Darien.
More about the story: Inspiration for Bear’s Dream (Haven Forest Resort book 1):
Aiden “AJ” Shepherd and his brother Greg were both a small part of Bear’s Edge (Stranger Creatures book 2) and the characters stayed on my mind. Eventually I decided that the Shepherd brothers needed their own series, so I had the brothers open up a shifter resort in the Haven Forest Resort series.
One of my favorite parts to write in the story was when AJ and Ellie escape captivity and seek sanctuary in a small library. Libraries have always seemed to be so much more than just a place with books to borrow. Libraries are safe places. They are places to let the imagination run free. Within the buildings full of books and helpful librarians, there are computers, connections to jobs, lifelines to help, opportunities for learning, and endless wonderful possibilities.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US:
Amazon UK:
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bears-dream-christina-lynn-lambert/1143427363?ean=2940160979106
Apple iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/bears-dream/id6448857265?ign-itscg=30200&ign-itsct=books_box_link
Kobo Books:https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/bear-s-dream
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1388315
Google Books: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Christina_Lynn_Lambert_Bear_s_Dream?id=psu8EAAAQBAJ
What I’m working on now:
After a looong illness, I’m hard at work on Haven Forest Resort book 2. Each book in the series features a different couple on their journey to happily ever after. I’m also working on book 5 in my Stranger Creatures series as well as poetry, essays, and short stories for various magazines and anthologies.
You can also find me at:
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Christina-Lynn-Lambert/e/B01MCYK0K7
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/christina-lynn-lambert
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christinalynnlambert
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15900423.Christina_Lynn_Lambert
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christinalynnlambert
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/cllambauthor.bsky.social
Audience Participation
The billionaire showman
of the carnival his father bought
forces us into a ring where we fight for scraps
and betray our friends for the chance
to survive another night in the land of horrors
The showman gives us piles of bones for bedding
We eat the tendons and scraps for breakfast
until the bone shards in our bellies
hemorrhage
slowly and surely
The affluent audience laughs
at the display of our desperation
because they don’t realize that they’ve become
part of the show
Christina Lynn Lambert 