

A quietly fierce secretary,
a brash young scientist, and
an entire region
under threat...
Based on true events, TANGLES is a homefront Cold War love story wrapped inside a suspense-filled environmental thriller
"TANGLES doesn't feel like the historical fiction I've been reading lately...
it feels like so much more." --The San Francisco Book Review
All Pre-orders supported Heart of America NW
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"Deftly blending a love story with a suspenseful thriller of a mystery, author Kay Smith-Blum presents TANGLES, a Cold War era novel that showcases the devastating costs to life and the environment with the emergence of the nuclear age. Featuring the Kay Smith-Blum distinctive narrative-driven storytelling style, TANGLES reveals the courage of wronged women, the fierce determination of fatherless sons, and the limitless power of the individual. Original, exceptional, emotionally engaging, memorable, and raised by its author to an impressive level of literary excellence, TANGLES is especially and unreservedly recommended for community and public library Contemporary Fiction collections." -- The MIdwest Book Review


Photo credit Marc Von Borstel
MEET THE AUTHOR
Redefining Historical Fiction
Kay Smith-Blum, a former fashionista and Seattle School Board President, spends her days debunking the tropes of the mid-20th-century history. An odd dream and the recent upheaval over leaking radioactive waste tanks at the Hanford Nuclear site compelled her to write, Recently named Best Regional Fiction in the West for 2025 by the National Indie Excellence Awards and Best Historical Mystery/Suspense by the American Fiction Awards at Book Fest 2025, TANGLES, was also named Book of the Year by the Literary Global Book Awards and Best Debut Fiction by the American Writing Awards. Smith-Blum, a sunrise writer, has lived in Seattle for four decades. She works out her writer’s block in her sons’ gardens (which she designed) and the nearest lap pool. (For full Bio, see CV)