Books published by publisher Platypress

A New Novel from #1 Bestselling Author R.M. ArceJaegerFirst cursed, then kidnapped, Princess Aurea is not your average heir to the throne. Nor is Prince Ari, who is turned into a beast by a wicked enchantment. They will need each other if they are to save their kingdoms, but there's a curse on Aurea even darker than the one on Ari, and a single finger prick could spell doom for the entire land.In this expertly crafted interweaving of Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast, readers will find well-developed characters and delightful worldbuilding guaranteed to captivate adults and children alike. True to both the heart and themes of the original tales, The Enchanted Rose strikes the perfect balance between light-hearted romance and the darkness intent on bringing its heroes down.Praise from Amazon Readers"If you love the classic story of Beauty and the Beast, this is a must read! Each chapter and section leaves you wanting more.""The Enchanted Rose is a fairy tale with a story, imagination, and vocabulary that will place it as a modern day classic.""R.M.ArceJaeger has created a true work of literary excellence that was filled with beauty, drama and compelling characters."Illustrations included at the start of every chapter!Read for YourselfAri crouched behind the half-open door, waiting for the voices in the corridor to pass. If the servants saw him, they would shepherd him back to his room without waiting to find out what he wanted, never mind that he was the prince and should be able to go where he willed."I am the prince," he said to himself, but it came out a low growl, barely comprehensible even to his own ears, and he began to whimper. What has happened to me? he silently cried, his six-year-old mind still struggling to comprehend. A curse, his mother had said, gently stroking his head while her tears fell upon his hair. Because he had tried to be brave like his father, the ghastly had cursed him. Ari stared at his hands—they used to be pink and smooth, with five long fingers that had once brandished a toy sword with ease. Now, those fingers were fused into paws and were covered with coarse, black fur. His fingernails were black claws that gripped the floor and left scratch marks there. Did looking this way mean he was not a prince anymore?

Robin Hood is not the man you thought she was...Bold archer. Popular defender. Heroic scoundrel. Cunning outlaw. The daughter of a nobleman, Robin of Locksley never imagines these terms will apply to her. She still can't imagine it, even after she flees her home to escape a cruel fate. With only her archery skills to sustain her, Robin resigns herself to a life of exile. But she is not the only fugitive hiding in Sherwood Forest. When the other outlaws begin robbing from the local poor after a cruel winter, Robin knows she has to find a way to make it stop. After all, these are her people, even if they don't know it. Even if she doesn't realize herself just what claiming them will mean.For the people of Nottinghamshire, honor and purpose are something that belongs to nobles, not to the commoners who till their lands. But Robin teaches them a different lesson, and as wrongs are righted and lives are reclaimed, a new legend is born in the process.But the Sheriff of Nottingham will stop at nothing to halt the valiant young outlaw harassing his domain. As traps close in around her and assassins seek to bring her down, Robin must risk losing love, leadership, and life if she is to save her people and fulfill her destiny as one of history's greatest heroes.Alive with adventure and danger, sword fights and heists, hatred and love, Robin: Lady of Legend is the never-before-told tale of the girl who became Robin Hood."I was reading this book before bed, and I was going 'Well, I'll read just one more minute!' thirty minutes in a row. When I finally got to bed, I couldn't wait to wake up and finish it. The writing was excellent with no errors... In short, this book was AWESOME and I would highly recommend it." — My Full BookshelfAwardsAmazon #1 Bestseller: YA Myths & Legends (2019), YA Fairy Tales & Folklore (2019), YA Action & Adventure (2015), YA Historical Fiction Europe (2015), YA Historical Fiction (2013), Children's Action & Adventure Historical (2019, 2015), Children's Historical Fiction Europe (2019, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2012), Children's Historical Fiction (2012)Top 5 Bestseller - All Kindle Books (2012)Top 50 Bestseller - All Kindle Books (2013, 2012)Top 100 Bestseller - All Kindle Books (2015, 2014, 2013, 2012)WINNER: Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award (2nd Prize)Praise from Amazon Readers"Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous retell . . . this Robin gives young girls a role model that isn't dressed as the beautiful helpless princess. Honestly, I couldn't put my Kindle down.""Robin is my new hero! This is one of the best books I've ever read. It looked entertaining so I thought I would have a look, but once I started I couldn't stop!""The Robin Hood legend gets an imaginative and lavishly detailed retelling here. Descriptive scenes evoke the very sounds and smells of Robin's beloved Sherwood, and the dialogue and rich characterization bring her and her companions to life. Add in a briskly plotted story, and a female hero to turn legend upside down, and you have a winner."Praise from Publishers Weekly"The storytelling is solid, the research is thorough, the details are spot-on, and the skill is undeniable.... As Robin Hood retellings go, it's pretty much a bullseye."More by this AuthorThe Enchanted Rose: A Fairy Tale Retelling of Beauty and the Beast & Sleeping Beauty (Novel)

Book Description: This book tells the true story of my addiction with drugs. From the age of three when my brother dies in a car accident to my first incarceration and beyond. It's gritty and brutally honest, and sometimes uncomfortable to read. Discover the events that lead me away from a promising future in football college to a prison cell. I walk a dangerous path but willingly risk losing the respect of friends and family to supply and take drugs. I sacrifice everything and care for nothing, including my mortality. I am brutally honest about how I treated people around me. If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, then this book will help enlighten you on the mindset of an addict.

It's simple, really. You take a small town in Indiana, make it an excruciatingly hot and humid Wednesday in late July, of 1937, add a young boy named Johnny Dawson; give him something he doesn't know he has; make it something the Nazis desperately need in order to conquer the World, and you'll have The Story: John Dawson's story. He'll be chased. He'll be captured. But, with the help of a witch, and the World's Greatest Knife Thrower, and her father, the World's Foremost Authority on Time Travel, Johnny will escape and use a Time Machine to send his Nazis pursuers into a time vacuum for fifty years. Now, those fifty years have come and gone. The Nazis are back. They want John Dawson and the Time Machine. They want to use it to turn back the clock to 1937 and then rewrite the course of History. Realizing the Nazis have discovered where he lives, John Dawson knows he needs to disappear. But before he does, he also knows he has to share The Story (his story) with his grandson, Tommy Dawson. He needs Tommy to know what happened back then, because Tommy is going to have to find that Time Machine and destroy it. Destroying it was something John Dawson could have done, should have done, but didn't do.

A stimulating short story that weaves the tale of Cinderella from an entirely fresh perspective — the stepmother's! Learn the truth behind the fairy tale at last.From the Author: Before Walt Disney ever made Snow White, he made the Alice shorts — brief videos that reimagined Alice's adventures in Wonderland. This is my Alice short. First written in the seventh grade, this tiny tale — like many old film reels — sat in a box for several years before finally being unearthed just prior to the publication of my first novel, Robin: Lady of Legend. What Alice was to Disney, A Stepmother's Story is to me — the first expression of my love for writing fairy tale retellings, now shared with all of you. Though I've remastered some of its formatting and grammar for better publication, the story itself (even down to its precocious vocabulary) is just as it ever was. I hope you enjoy reading my twist on this classic tale!

Bold archer. Popular defender. Heroic scoundrel. Cunning outlaw. The daughter of a nobleman, Robin of Locksley never imagines these terms will apply to her. She still can't imagine it, even after she flees her home to escape a cruel fate. With only her archery skills to sustain her, Robin resigns herself to a life of exile. But she is not the only fugitive hiding in Sherwood Forest. When the other outlaws begin robbing from the local poor after a cruel winter, Robin knows she has to find a way to make it stop. After all, these are her people, even if they don't know it. Even if she doesn't realize herself just what claiming them will mean.For the people of Nottinghamshire, honor and purpose are something that belongs to nobles, not to the commoners who till their lands. But Robin teaches them a different lesson, and as wrongs are righted and lives are reclaimed, a new legend is born in the process.But the Sheriff of Nottingham will stop at nothing to halt the valiant young outlaw harassing his domain. As traps close in around her and assassins seek to bring her down, Robin must risk losing love, leadership, and life if she is to save her people and fulfill her destiny as one of history's greatest heroes.Alive with adventure and danger, sword fights and heists, hatred and love, Robin: Lady of Legend is the never-before-told tale of the girl who became Robin Hood."I was reading this book before bed, and I was going 'Well, I'll read just one more minute!' thirty minutes in a row. When I finally got to bed, I couldn't wait to wake up and finish it. The writing was excellent with no errors... In short, this book was AWESOME and I would highly recommend it." — My Full BookshelfAwardsAmazon #1 Bestseller: YA Myths & Legends (2019), YA Fairy Tales & Folklore (2019), YA Action & Adventure (2015), YA Historical Fiction Europe (2015), YA Historical Fiction (2013), Children's Action & Adventure Historical (2019, 2015), Children's Historical Fiction Europe (2019, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2012), Children's Historical Fiction (2012)Top 5 Bestseller - All Kindle Books (2012)Top 50 Bestseller - All Kindle Books (2013, 2012)Top 100 Bestseller - All Kindle Books (2015, 2014, 2013, 2012)WINNER: Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award (2nd Prize)Praise from Amazon Readers"Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous retell . . . this Robin gives young girls a role model that isn't dressed as the beautiful helpless princess. Honestly, I couldn't put my Kindle down.""Robin is my new hero! This is one of the best books I've ever read. It looked entertaining so I thought I would have a look, but once I started I couldn't stop!""The Robin Hood legend gets an imaginative and lavishly detailed retelling here. Descriptive scenes evoke the very sounds and smells of Robin's beloved Sherwood, and the dialogue and rich characterization bring her and her companions to life. Add in a briskly plotted story, and a female hero to turn legend upside down, and you have a winner."Praise from Publishers Weekly"The storytelling is solid, the research is thorough, the details are spot-on, and the skill is undeniable.... As Robin Hood retellings go, it's pretty much a bullseye."More by this AuthorThe Enchanted Rose: A Fairy Tale Retelling of Beauty and the Beast & Sleeping Beauty (Novel)

Part 1 of The Enchanted Rose by #1 Bestselling Author R.M. ArceJaegerFirst cursed, then kidnapped, Princess Aurea is not your average heir to the throne. Nor is Prince Ari, who is turned into a beast by a wicked enchantment. They will need each other if they are to save their kingdoms, but there's a curse on Aurea even darker than the one on Ari, and a single finger prick could spell doom for the entire land.In this expertly crafted interweaving of Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast, readers will find well-developed characters and delightful worldbuilding guaranteed to captivate adults and children alike. True to both the heart and themes of the original tales, The Enchanted Rose strikes the perfect balance between light-hearted romance and the darkness intent on bringing its heroes down.Praise from Amazon Readers"Cursed" transported me to a fantasy realm where powerful magic and enchantments cannot always make things rightAt no point did I think that it was the same old story I already knew; instead, I kept reading, eager to see what else she inventedIt was heart-wrenching at times with the Ari and Lilliath storyline...but I loved how it brought Lilliath to him. It was a fast-paced fantasy that held a lot of depth and twists! Illustrations included at the start of every chapter!Read for YourselfAri crouched behind the half-open door, waiting for the voices in the corridor to pass. If the servants saw him, they would shepherd him back to his room without waiting to find out what he wanted, never mind that he was the prince and should be able to go where he willed."I am the prince," he said to himself, but it came out a low growl, barely comprehensible even to his own ears, and he began to whimper. What has happened to me? he silently cried, his six-year-old mind still struggling to comprehend. A curse, his mother had said, gently stroking his head while her tears fell upon his hair. Because he had tried to be brave like his father, the ghastly had cursed him. Ari stared at his hands—they used to be pink and smooth, with five long fingers that had once brandished a toy sword with ease. Now, those fingers were fused into paws and were covered with coarse, black fur. His fingernails were black claws that gripped the floor and left scratch marks there. Did looking this way mean he was not a prince anymore?

Part 2 of The Enchanted Rose by #1 Bestselling Author R.M. ArceJaegerTwisted by a wicked spell and exiled from his kingdom, Prince Ari doubts he will ever get to go home again. Lonely and jaded, he seizes an opportunity for companionship, not realizing that the girl he has imprisoned is the one person who can set him free. That is, if her own dark curse doesn't claim her first.In this expertly crafted interweaving of Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast, readers will find well-developed characters and delightful worldbuilding guaranteed to captivate adults and children alike. True to both the heart and themes of the original tales, The Enchanted Rose strikes the perfect balance between light-hearted romance and the darkness intent on bringing its heroes down.Read for Yourself"I will spare your life in exchange for your daughter’s."The man shook his head, tears streaming down his cheeks into his beard, but no words emerged, only half-choked sobs. As Ari listened to his wracked cries, shame began to heat his cheeks, its glow invisible beneath his dark fur. He growled softly, trying to dispel it.This might be the only chance I have to break my curse . . . or at the very least, to never be alone again, he reasoned. Yet it was hard to hold firm to that conviction as he watched the stranger shake even harder, still unable to speak."I will make a bargain with you, thief," Ari said at last, unable to bear the man’s grief any longer. "Return to your home. See your family. But in one month’s time, either you or your daughter must come back to me willingly. Swear it, and I will let you go!""I—I promise," the man choked."Then fetch your horse and begone from my land. Upon your return, a guide will be waiting at the crossroad to lead you the rest of the way."The stranger nodded and scrambled to his feet. With one last look at Ari, he dashed off toward the stable.For a moment, Ari watched him flee, then abruptly pivoted around toward the rosebush so he would not have to watch his guest leave. With his thick paw, he stroked the severed stem, feeling as broken as the branch he was caressing. The hope that had so briefly illuminated his future seemed to flicker and die within him. He had made his choice—he had let the man go. In spite of his promise, Ari knew he would never return.A whimper escaped his throat, but Ari bit back the sound as the pounding of hoof beats thundered past. At the very last second, he turned to look and caught a glimpse of the man and his mount racing for the trees, the cloak Ari had lent him—his father’s cloak, carelessly left at the lodge by King Tirell many years before—whipping through the air behind him as Ari was abandoned once more.With no one to see or hear him, he allowed his tears to fall.

Part 3 of The Enchanted Rose by #1 Bestselling Author R.M. ArceJaegerThough she refuses to admit it, the Beast is very close to winning Rose's heart...but how can she forgive the one who has kept her prisoner for so long? Even more terrible is the creature that haunts her dreams—a creature who has been waiting nearly twenty-one years for its curse to be fulfilled. All it will take is a single finger prick, and Rose can't defend against a curse she doesn't remember.In this expertly crafted interweaving of Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast, readers will find well-developed characters and delightful worldbuilding guaranteed to captivate adults and children alike. True to both the heart and themes of the original tales, The Enchanted Rose strikes the perfect balance between light-hearted romance and the darkness intent on bringing its heroes down.Read for YourselfRose paused and set down her book. She had been reading aloud for the last hour and had only stumbled on a word twice. She beamed at the Beast, proud to have done so well.He beamed back. "You have gotten very good.""Only because I had a good teacher," Rose returned.The Beast arched a heavy eyebrow. "Is that so? Merely a good teacher?""Yes, and a humble one, too," she replied, hiding her smirk behind another sip of wine. The vintage was rich and buttery, and she sighed with satisfaction as she offered the cup to the Beast. He took the goblet deftly from her hands, able to clasp it firmly in one paw thanks to the odd, thumb-like digit he possessed. Instead of sipping the liquid, however, the Beast took a deep draught from the cup, completely draining its contents."Purely medicinally," he said in response to Rose’s sharp look. "This cold I have is a nuisance.""You seem fit enough to me," she retorted.The Beast gave a grave sigh. "I know. I try not to speak of my suffering."Rose snorted in disbelief. "I doubt you are sick at all, other than having a stuffed nose—or perhaps I should say, a stuffed head. I am afraid it appears quite swollen.""Nonsense! My head is as big as it ever was, but the state of my nose is another matter. How am I supposed to hunt when I cannot smell?"Rose quirked a smile. "Surely a hunter as skilled as you are does not need to rely on scent alone to find its prey."The Beast shook his head, his expression serious. "It is a severe disadvantage.""Really?" Rose’s smile broadened as an idea occurred to her, and her eyes gleamed with mischievous glee. "Shall we see just how severe? There is a game we used to play in the village called Seek-and-Find. In it, you—""I know the game," the Beast interrupted, his tone amused."You do?" For a moment, Rose was distracted by this improbable revelation. How had a beast—however magical—become familiar with a children’s game? Had he read about it in a book?"I take it you want to play?" the Beast continued, reclaiming Rose’s attention.She nodded. "It would certainly prove what kind of a tracker you really are."The Beast winked at Rose. "Then prepare to be hunted, my lady."

Comprehensive and delightful, Jaguars masterfully blends artistry and education in a book that is guaranteed to dazzle your eyes and enrich your mind.Jaguars is an exceptional picture book featuring:Exquisite images in high resolution specifically designed for Kindle/Kindle appsSpecial captions featuring fun facts and recall-enhancing questionsEngaging content deliberately chosen to expand a child’s interest and vocabularyJaguars is the perfect book for a child reading on their own, a parent guiding a young reader, or anyone looking to appreciate the beauty of these astounding animals.This compelling book is also an excellent choice for those searching for high quality nonfiction literature that meets Common Core standards. Students are introduced to new vocabulary and are asked questions that challenge them to remember what they’ve read. Critical thinking and analytical skills are developed through this series—skills a child needs to succeed not only in school, but also in life.

Four boys embark on an adventure of a lifetime at Hurst Castle. They travel through incredible moments in history, befriending a King who is imprisoned in the castle’s tower and helping the World War Two home-guard to prevent a Nazi invasion. The boys need to draw on the King’s power to prevent the Kingdom he once reigned over from being taken by the enemy. But this is more than an adventure story. The quest takes the four boys across Dorset and Hampshire’s beautiful countryside educating the reader about some of Britain’s great history. All of this is achieved whilst Gareth, Gavin, Colin and Stuart face real life issues: grief at a Grandparent’s death, adjusting to life at secondary school, entering adolescence, and dealing with life after parents have separated.

Who knew Running Away Could Be So Hard? When a teenage boy, who thinks he knows it all, leaves home in search of a better life, he finds out the hard way what everyone must learn – growing up isn’t an easy thing to do. Leaving home at fifteen, Kyle Davis’ path to adulthood takes him on an eventful ride, and at times a dangerous one. His firsthand experiences with the cruel realities of a callous world drive home the point that he has a lot to learn and a long ways to go. Unwilling to admit his mistakes, he flounders a while before finally accepting life for what it is – hard work. It takes considerably more time for him to reach the point of going home and apologizing. That’s when he discovers the world didn’t stop to wait for him. Home isn’t quite the way he remembers it, and he sees how drastically things can change. Still, certain things remain the same; principles and values are a constant. It isn’t a persons age, location or where they are in life that determines when they’ve become an adult. Kyle realizes The Journey is more than merely miles traveled. The road to maturity, whether literal or figurative, takes a person only as fast as they are willing to go. Yet, at some point, everyone has to make The Journey. “Page turner! The authors ability to spin a tale so believable with twists and turns in the plot that have you turning the pages without realizing how much you have read.” Order your copy today!