Welcome to Our Literary Grove
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We are a small press located in Central Florida that publishes adult and children's books. Our focus is on stories about love, wellness, and humor, with a concentration on the female audience. Take a look at our books below.
We are deeply passionate about stories. We want to fall in love with unforgettable characters and intriguing places. We want to laugh, cry, and gasp at the unexpected. We want a story to stay with us after the reading is long finished.
We also offer a variety of services from editing to speaking events to ad design. |
New Releases
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Snoopers & Sneakersby Cristina Rouvalis and Lydia Wayman"A delightful cozy mystery with sprightly young investigators at the reins." -Kirkus Reviews
Jane is a wiz at facts and numbers, but she’s clueless when it comes to other kids. Her autism and all-consuming love of cats make her a target for bullies. She’s nothing like Ashley. Ashley is bubbly and excitable and has always been best friends with the queen bee of Monroe Elementary. When Ashley refuses to lie to keep her best friend out of serious trouble, she loses her seat at the popular table--and her whole identity along with it. The one thing Jane and Ashley have in common is the best teacher in the world, Miss DiMicco. When Miss DiMicco is arrested after being accused of stealing at a school fundraiser, and a miserable sub takes her place, the girls form an unlikely alliance to clear their teacher’s name. As they butt heads over cats, makeup, and the rules of sixth grade, the girls fight to get their teacher back and to keep their friendship from falling apart. As seen on the Kelly Clarkson show! |
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Covalence: The Bonded Series, Book Oneby Andie L. SmithSeventeen-year-old Mineral Vyotto always planned on running away from the City and its annual Covalence Ceremony–a tradition forcing her to Bond with another of her Kind. In a hidden cavern outside the City gates, she starts collecting parts and Building a plane so she can bolt before the Ceremony takes place.
But when Covalence is moved up and she's almost caught by the Officials, Mineral finds herself and her fate at the hands of Amory Thames–an arrogant, opinionated Orderly with powerful parents who could ruin her chance at freedom. With only four weeks to escape the City before the Ceremony, Mineral and Amory must work together to find a way out–even if it means keeping Society’s biggest secret to themselves and putting the lives of everyone they love at risk. |
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Ghosts & Games: Spooky Coloring and Activity Pages for Kidsby Dawn Bourdeau MilstreyGet ready for some spooky fun with Ghosts & Games: Spooky Coloring and Activity Pages for Kids! This activity book is packed with thrilling adventures, featuring a mix of cute and spooky ghosts, ghouls, pumpkins, and more! It's the perfect blend of creativity and excitement, designed to keep kids entertained for hours.
With Ghosts & Games, your little ones will enjoy:
Ideal for kids aged 4-11, Ghosts & Games encourages imagination, creativity, and problem-solving skills-all wrapped in spooky fun. It's perfect for road trips, quiet afternoons, or as a holiday gift! Make learning and play time a ghostly adventure with Ghosts & Games: Spooky Coloring and Activity Pages for Kids! |
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The Stone Angel Society: Journal Three, Heaven on Earthby Dawn Bourdeau MilstreyDISCOVER SOME SPIRITED FRIENDS LIVING THEIR BEST AFTERLIFE RIGHT HERE ON EARTH!
Delightfully spooky, these five ghost stories provide just the right amount of chills for young readers. Uncover the sweet secret behind Grammy's Goodies. Help Edwin search for the perfect home for a friend. Enjoy a good movie, until you realize that here isn't there. Play an old game of Ouija to help someone new. Discover the foul reason for the endless moons above Peaceful Acres Cemetery. Set an extra place at the table, keep a warm quilt on the guest bed, and leave the porch light on... You never know when someone SPOOKY might call your place home! |
News-Worthy
Alborada (Dawn): A Cross-Cultural Memoir in Poetry Is Finalist in International Latino Book Awards
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In Alborada (Dawn): A Cross-Cultural Memoir in Poetry, Nylda Dieppa sketches the formative and transformative experiences of her lifetime—from childhood on the island of Puerto Rico through maturity in the continental United States—as paralleled by the sun’s passage through the times of the day. This enhanced, newly retitled edition of Dieppa’s award-winning Alborada: A Poetic Memoir Across Cultures adds fourteen new and ten revised poems to inspire the joys of spiritual and emotional healing.
From the dawning innocence of a girl’s first crush alongside the rise of a young woman’s longing to belong and be loved, Dieppa shines daylight on the anguish and delights of both growing up and parenting at every age. Her lyrical and narrative poems highlight the shadows cast by culture shock, and they reveal the encroaching darkness of sorrow and betrayal as the sun sets on a thirty-eight-year marriage. Yet Alborada also illuminates the wonder of deliverance from midnight’s despair to the hope and wholeness of a new day’s dawn. |
Jaguars and Other Game Wins a National Indie Excellence Award
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1808 Rio de Janeiro. The Portuguese Court flees Napoleon to Brazil. For the first and only time in history, a European royal family transfers its capital to an American colony.
Maria Azevedo and her sister, Isabel, have spent years transporting gold through the jungle to Rio’s port. They can dispatch jaguars and smugglers with a crack of a whip, but the Prince Regent’s efforts to civilize the city have them looking over their shoulders. More soldiers. New laws. Full stocks. Then the sisters’ childhood friend is wrongly imprisoned for murder. Maria knows the only hope a Brazilian has for justice in the Court’s Rio is if someone drops the real murderer on the palace steps. The sisters recruit Victoria Cruz, a Portuguese refugee in service to Mad Queen Maria, and together they begin hunting a murderer through a city teeming with corruption. The women soon discover a conspiracy that reaches the heart of the Portuguese court. To save their friend from execution, they’ll have to decide what they’re willing to risk for justice, love and family. |
Song of the Chimney Sweep Wins a Florida Book Award
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Song of the Chimney Sweep by Tamatha Cain won a silver Florida Book Award in the category of Popular Fiction.
Love is a song played on repeat… A cryptic blog post leads cold case podcasters Melody and Dorian on a twisty journey back in time to uncover the mysterious story of a forgotten missing woman. In 1969 near the Florida/Georgia Line, idealistic young Betty Langdon and fast-rising R&B singer Dominicus Owens begin an irresistible but dangerous interracial romance that ends under mysterious, heartbreaking circumstances. Betty is forced to return to her rural home to care for her manipulative mother, while Dominicus goes on to mega-stardom with his band The Downtown Sound. She follows his skyrocketing career from behind the front desk of a dying highway motel--until one day decades later, she disappears. Now, a popular true crime podcast produced by college friends Melody Hinterson and Dorian Santos takes on the cold case of a missing local woman. The duo’s carefully-balanced workplace dynamic is weirdly off-kilter lately, but they can't take their eyes off the investigation as the intriguing new story suddenly boosts the show into the national spotlight. When the investigation uncovers the missing woman's diaries full of family secrets and the local legend of a fortune hidden in an old chimney somewhere in town, the truth behind the podcast's mystery becomes personal, and Melody must make life-changing choices before the final episode airs. But who owns the rights to a secret? |
Woven Wins a Book Fest Award
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Woven by Stephania Thompson won a bronze award from The BookFest in the category of New Adult Fiction.
Bound by a devastating secret, childhood friends David, Josh, and Kate take on home renovation as a means of healing from a dark, shared past. Their only promise? Friendship first—no hookups. Only several months after moving into their Baltimore fixer, the aptly nicknamed Canton Catastrophe, walls are crumbling, sparks are flying, and promises are getting ignored. Josh, a paramedic, is plagued with panic attacks, haunted by the past, and sharing a room with David, who he is definitely not attracted to. And then there's Kate. She's having a job crisis, popping pills, and pretending she doesn’t notice how distant the boys have grown. And David? The eternally calm, blue-eyed beauty’s health is deteriorating and he’s mysteriously blacking out. But when they learn someone may have discovered their darkest secret and is now stalking them--and blackmailing Josh's father, a conservative media personality with secrets of his own, renovation and relationship woes take a back seat. Suddenly, their past is unraveling, and the shocking truths unearthed will have them questioning everything from family ties and friendships to love, loss, and the lengths they’re willing to go for each other. |
Pling's Party Awarded Children's Book of the Year
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In the 2021 Royal Palm Literary Awards, presented by the Florida Writers Association, our picture book Pling's Party was awarded Gold in the Published Picture Book category. It was also given the highest honor for children's books, Children's Book of the Year.
Pling's Party previously won a Story Monster's award and received a five star seal from Reader's Favorite. It is our most-awarded book! What happens when an exuberant exclamation point keeps taking over a story? Things get pretty interesting... Pling is an exclamation point--he adds excitement to stories. He has one rule to follow: he can only appear twice in the story. As the tale of three goats unfolds, Pling has trouble staying out of the story until he's needed. Things get a bit out of hand and hilarity ensues. |
Mass Wins RPLA Gold for Young Adult Fiction
WINNER OF THE 2021 GOLD AWARD FOR YOUNG ADULT FICTION IN THE ROYAL PALM LITERARY AWARDS.
Sixteen-year-old Stevie Albie is a religious person, but nothing prepares her for meeting Mary. Like the Mary, mother of Jesus. Just as Stevie becomes convinced she has a special connection with God, doctors discover a brain tumor in her frontal lobe they claim is causing the hallucinations.
Her parents insist on removing the tumor as quickly as possible, but Stevie isn’t so sure. Feeling special for the first time in her life, she runs away to a religious cult that’s convinced her visions are their salvation and vow to protect her. But as time goes on she suspects they have their own agenda. Torn on who to trust, Stevie wonders if she'll have to choose: her visions or her future?
*There are two versions of this novel. The original version contains profanity and a reference to sex. The clean version is profanity-free and the sex reference has been removed.
Sixteen-year-old Stevie Albie is a religious person, but nothing prepares her for meeting Mary. Like the Mary, mother of Jesus. Just as Stevie becomes convinced she has a special connection with God, doctors discover a brain tumor in her frontal lobe they claim is causing the hallucinations.
Her parents insist on removing the tumor as quickly as possible, but Stevie isn’t so sure. Feeling special for the first time in her life, she runs away to a religious cult that’s convinced her visions are their salvation and vow to protect her. But as time goes on she suspects they have their own agenda. Torn on who to trust, Stevie wonders if she'll have to choose: her visions or her future?
*There are two versions of this novel. The original version contains profanity and a reference to sex. The clean version is profanity-free and the sex reference has been removed.
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Book Trailers
Award-Winning Books
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Our Involvement in the Literary Community
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Our Founder
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Arielle Haughee (Hoy) is a seven-time RPLA-winning author, editor, speaker, and publisher. She is the owner of the small press Orange Blossom Publishing and was previously the Executive Vice President and Marketing Chair for the Florida Writers Association. She was honored with the President’s Award from FWA in 2020, and in 2021 Pling’s Party was awarded Children’s Book of the Year. She is also the recipient of a Purple Dragonfly Award for Piper and a Moonbeam Children’s Book Award for Sixth Sunday.
She has a serious reading addiction, fantasy romance her absolute favorite, and loves nothing more than good conversation paired with a good wine. She is surrounded by males at home—a husband, two sons, and an energetic dog—and tries to integrate as much purple and flowers in the house as possible. Read her tip for a cozy reading nook on Apartment Guide. |
Listen to Podcast Interviews with Arielle
(c) 2022 Orange Blossom Publishing • 2020 Geronimo Trail, Maitland, FL 32751 • (407) 494-3721