Fiction with a Purpose is what I write. I made a commitment to write novels that will address social issues and have a reader wondering if the stories are real when the last page is read. I also set a goal to have a new book released each year. These are the works - I hope you will enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them!
Skewered Halo
2012
Psst! She’s Got a Secret!
Novel Uncovers the Truth
Why would one sister have it in for the other? Sibling rivalry is taken to the extreme in the breathtaking novel Skewered Halo.
Diane Newsome is the middle child born into a middle-class family. Her older sister, Brittany, has resented her from the moment she was born. Brittany convinces Diane that she was placed on the doorstep as an unwanted child, and she dare not make a wrong move or she will lose her family.
Years later, when Diane finally tells her parents what Brittany has claimed, they are aghast, yet her mother still sides with Brittany.
Novel Uncovers the Truth
Why would one sister have it in for the other? Sibling rivalry is taken to the extreme in the breathtaking novel Skewered Halo. Diane Newsome is the middle child born into a middle-class family. Her older sister, Brittany, has resented her from the moment she was born. Brittany convinces Diane that she was placed on the doorstep as an unwanted child, and she dare not make a wrong move or she will lose her family.
Years later, when Diane finally tells her parents what Brittany has claimed, they are aghast, yet her mother still sides with Brittany.
Skewered Halo is a thriller exploring the lies and treachery that can exist in families.
Join Diane as she discovers that her entire life has been a lie, resulting in murder and mayhem. It all enfolds in the dramatically
enticing Skewered Halo.
Join Diane as she discovers that her entire life has been a lie, resulting in murder and mayhem. It all enfolds in the dramatically
enticing Skewered Halo.
Disrupted Lives
2011
A name does not make a person, a person makes a name. Such is the theme of Disrupted Lives, the story of how one adopted child touches and intersects with many lives, but ends up destroying one family name, while building another family’s legacy.Darren and Amelia Kane were high school sweethearts torn apart by war. They reunite and discover that they both must put their nightmares behind them to build a life together. Betrayed by her parents, Amelia was earlier forced to give up their child.
Fiona Porter and Sterling Lake are thrown together as part of a business proposition. They end up surprising both their families by enriching the Lake empire and family name. The Lakes become synonymous with society, power and money, and their children must carry that torch forward at all cost. When an adopted grandchild is brought into the family, he questions the definition of “family.”
From 1920 to present-day Georgia, this saga of family secrets and old Southern prejudices are explored in the explosive novel Disrupted Lives.
Restored Hope
2010
Even when the world throws everything at you, the human spirit is still capable of hope. In this shining new novel, two young people from dissimilar backgrounds come together to find meaning in their lives and Restored Hope.
Samantha Miller comes from a seemingly perfect family. She has two brothers, loving parents, and lives her life in a picture book California neighborhood. When her world is shattered within a short period of time, 10-year-old Samantha must survive the aftermath. When she leaves home at 18, she is ill-equipped emotionally. She learns to find solace in the ocean with her loving dog. Then she meets a young man who comes from a loving family background and discovers they are not that different.
Together, these two young people bond, and find that life’s challenges are easier to meet when you are not alone. Restored Hope is a heartfelt and loving story that will touch readers on many levels.
Sorrowed Souls
2009
2009
Author Brenda Youngerman’s Sorrowed Souls is an intimate glimpse into the lives of three very different people who learn to find their way back to what is most important in life.
The eyes are said to be the window to the soul.
Some eyes shine with joy, others reveal sadness. The worst is when eyes reflect nothing—a darkness—a hopelessness, a giving up on life.
Bryan Tines wakes up in a strange place with no memory of who he was or where he came from. In the blink of an instant, everything important to him was lost—gone. Hungry and dirty, Bryan must find his way back, and with the help of those considered the invisible layer of society, Bryan struggles to do so.
Gus Hill is a loner searching for a place to belong. Wealthy and with the curse of alcoholism, Gus survives day to day by living on the edge, living on the outside looking in. Gus heads quickly toward self destruction, when the harsh words of a well-meaning friend wake him from his self-induced sleepwalk through life. Then Gus learns what life really is.
Amy Pickens life is constant misery. She is forever struggling with the role her mother assigned to her from her youth—a difficult birth, a burden. In one instant life offers her a moment of pure joy, which seems to go awry. Will she find her happiness or was it just a fleeting instant?
Brenda Youngerman writes a tale of stunning clarity and insight into the lives of average people. Beautifully written, her novel explores the human condition, the ways in which our past torture and free us, and the risks we’re willing to take to realize the illusive dream of happiness.
Hidden Truths
2008
2008
The lives of four children are dramatically changed at the hands of their tormented parents in this gut-wrenching story of two families on a destructive journey of lies and secrets — HIDDEN TRUTHS, by bestselling author Brenda Youngerman.
The death of his wife Patricia and the suspicious disappearance of his six-year-old son, Billy, leave Stan a broken bitter man who neglects older son Wayne, and turns to alcohol for comfort. Wayne is left alone to struggle with the loneliness and pain of Billy’s disappearance.
Meanwhile, sisters Gwen and Grace are abruptly split apart when their father, Jack, takes Grace and leaves. The abandonment unravels their mother, Alice, who selfishly sinks deep into drugs and alcohol while she ignores Gwen, except to sell her virginity for a quick fix. Grace is spared this life but is traumatized by her father’s ease of leaving her sister and mother.
Follow these four children as they strive through the lies and secrets, and watch as their lives converge into one unexpected moment…
Public Lies
2007
Brenda Youngerman describes the struggles of a single mother in her newest release, Public Lies (Outskirts Press). Public Lies is the story of a woman who chooses to take her children and flee her marriage to start a brand new life. Reality sets in when her children begin to question their father’s whereabouts and she realizes she cannot continue to hide from her past. She decides to return home and face her problems, which include dealing with her abusive husband who wants nothing more than to avenge her for leaving him and disappearing with their children.
“This novel allows the reader an insider’s view of turmoil, a mother’s love and her struggle to do what she thinks is right,” says Youngerman. “It also delves into what the world perceives as healthy relationships, some of which are far from that.”
Fortunately for Nancy, the emotionally distressed mother, her family and a close friend keep her from losing her mind and possibly her children. Their support enables her to keep fighting for her children’s custody and to stand up to her demanding husband.
“Public Lies is about courage, the depth of love and the strength of a mother,” says Youngerman. “But most of all, it’s about the millions of victims who feel trapped, confused, hurt and alone. These men and women need to know they have options and that help is available.”
Private Scars
2006
Private Scars plainly tells an engrossing tale of Nancy Lewiston Cooper, her contemporary family and the realities that lie below the surface of their perfect lives. A woman is unable to admit to anyone, much less to herself, that her idyllic life is based on a lie. She struggles to free herself from a cycle of violence, remorse and more violence and finally emerges in triumph. Nancy shares the trauma involved in living with an abuser, and takes you with her during the gradual process that allowed her to escape from the nightmare and move toward true healing.
Writing a story from the point of view of a battered woman is a bit like getting a head start in a contest. Before you’ve even begun, you’ve practically got the entire audience already on your side, integrated and standing by this poor abused female. Nancy’s story is shockingly real. The detail and the feelings are so intense that if a reader didn’t know better, they would swear that this is genuinely the autobiographical story of a woman coming to the end of what she can take. And in the case of Private Scars, it is.
Painful at times, this story rings more than true. Many have known a woman just like Nancy and wondered how crazy someone has to be to stay in an abusive relationship. But, Nancy isn’t crazy, and neither is any other woman caught in the deadly game of domestic abuse. For the abuser, it is just that: a game of control. For the victim, however, it is a test of survival.
Youngerman delves deeper in Private Scars and looks into the effects abuse may be having on children. Are the victims of domestic abuse setting their children up to be either abused or to be an abuser? This question has been asked time and time again after a teenager kills her parents or an adult beats his wife, using childhood abuse as an alibi.
Private Scars is not a story to pass the time. Once in a while, a book comes along that essentially saves lives. Albeit fiction, this is one such book. Youngerman’s goal is to prompt her readers to act accordingly.
