The Novels:

Meet strong and colorful characters in Vee Garcia's historical and contemporary cozy suspense novels with jazz themes and great settings:  Paris, France; New York City, DC, and an island in southern Florida.  Discover Forbidden Circles, the story of an American artist  studying in Paris, France,  during the period of the Harlem Renaissance and Hot Jazz!  In The Jazz Flower, follow the evolution of a jazz singer from DC to New York City and to Paris, during the Swing and Bebop eras!  And in the novel Whatever It Takes, in which Smooth Jazz is a motif, thrill to the suspense of a writer caught up in romance and danger on an island in southern Florida. 

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It's 1925 and Nora Johnson, a Howard University instructor, travels to Paris to study art for a year.  In Paris she becomes friends with Douglas Stills, a hotel doorman; Dianne Essex, an Afro English student, and Vernon Cooper, a trumpet player who is full of secrets and lies.  Will Nora's "friends" destroy her?

                                      APPLAUSE FOR FORBIDDEN CIRCLES:

                      "Vee Garcia has unveiled a world of beauty, treachery,                              and deep-seated passion." 

                          ----Florida Sentinel Bulletin

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Mocha-hued beauty Rosa Johnson Stills evolves into a jazz singer in 1930s-'50s Washington, DC, and New York City, in spite of her grandmother Lilly's color prejudice; her own illicit love affairs with racketeer Jackson Parker and attorney Alan Covington; and a brutal murder .  

A riveting family saga and murder mystery, this novel moves at a nice pace and comes to a conclusion in Paris, France.

                                                    PRAISE FOR THE JAZZ FLOWER:   

"A captivating tale...The Characters of the Jazz Flower are well developed, heartfelt and are faced with circumstances that are very real.  Although this book is the sequel to Forbidden Circles...it is a stand alone book."

                                                                                    ---- Nedine Hunter                                                                      The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers  

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“ . . . The Jazz Flower chronicles the life of Rosa Johnson Stills, the eldest daughter of Nora and Douglas Stills.  … Garcia definitely does her research. . . Believe me, you will be reading this book well into the wee hours.” 

                                                                                 — Janice Sims, American Novelist                                                                         ________________________

   ". . .It's really a beautiful story.  Some of it I can relate to.  It's wonderful!"                           

                                                                                  --- Tamm E. Hunt, Jazz Singer                                                                                       CEO, The Global Jazz Network                                               

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Former journalist Carleena Treadwell travels to San Pluma Island in southern Florida to write a mystery novel against a deadline.   But on the island she meets gorgeous Omar Henderson, a vacationing doctor; and Gerald, her island landlady's strange-looking handyman.  She then spirals into romance and danger.

 

   KUDOS FOR WHATEVER IT TAKES:                                         

                                     "In Whatever It Takes, Garcia blends the mystery with the                                                                 love interests as she showcases the mystique of this quaint island." 

                                                                   ---- aNN Brown                                                                                                               The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers          

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BIOGRAPHY                

FROM DRUMS TO HARP:                                                                                         The Story of Drummer and Harpist Robert M. Garcia

 A professional drummer from the age of 17, Robert M. Garcia attended Florida A&M University (FAMU) in Tallahassee, Florida, and later studied at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Through the years, Garcia became widely known as a master drummer.  Late in his career, he switched to the grand harp as his preferred instrument. The reasons he switched, and why it was unusual and difficult, are in this book with other highlights from his life. The book contains photos plus quotes from musicians and music educators. 

  HIGH PRAISE FOR FROM DRUMS TO HARP:                                                                           "I thoroughly enjoyed reading the biography.  Thank you for                              sharing [Robert Garcia's] life story with us."                               ---- Ronnie Hampton                                         Educator                                 _____________                   "I read FROM DRUMS TO HARP, and I absolutely loved it."      ----  Vincent Sims                Musician (Guitarist)