Two KSO offers end today:
Page from a Tennessee Journal (
$1.99), by Francine Thomas Howard, is today's Kindle Deal of the Day (and is half the price I paid for it, some time ago).
Book Description
A family secret is the inspiration for Francine Thomas Howard's remarkable debut novel, set in 1913, that focuses on a white couple who own a rural Tennessee farm and an African-American husband and wife, sharecroppers who work their land.
In the novel, Annalaura Welles is forced to become the mistress of landowner Alex McNaughton after her husband, John, abandons her and her children. But trouble ensues when McNaughton develops genuine feelings for her. A sexual relationship is culturally acceptable, but love is not.
When John returns, Annalaura must make decisions that will preserve the lives of the main characters and a baby who's on the way. It's a story as suspenseful as it is rich in detail about the evolving relationships between blacks and whites and men and women in the rural south.
Confessions of a Teen Sleuth: A Parody (
$2.51), by Chelsea Cain and Lia Miternique (Illustrator)
Book Description
America's favorite girl detective is back to set the record straight. According to our titian-haired heroine, she was not in fact a fictional character, but an intrepid real-life sleuth who investigated some of the twentieth century's biggest mysteries. And the famous series she starred in was not cooked up by a team of writers, but plagiarized from her exploits by her nosy college roommate Carolyn-who, not surprisingly, got a whole lot wrong.
Here are the daring escapes, brilliant hunches, and dependable stock characters, including interlopers from numerous other beloved series, that have delighted generations of fans. And here, also, are the details of teen-sleuth life that you never saw: the secret romances, reckless driving, minor drinking problems, political action, and domestic drama that have, up till now, remained hidden from these brave detectives' adoring public.
The Luxe (
$2.99), by Anna Godbersen
Book Description
Pretty girls in pretty dresses, partying until dawn.
Irresistible boys with mischievous smiles and dangerous intentions.
White lies, dark secrets, and scandalous hookups.
This is Manhattan, 1899.
Beautiful sisters Elizabeth and Diana Holland rule Manhattan's social scene. Or so it appears. When the girls discover their status among New York City's elite is far from secure, suddenly everyone—from the backstabbing socialite Penelope Hayes, to the debonair bachelor Henry Schoonmaker, to the spiteful maid Lina Broud—threatens Elizabeth's and Diana's golden future.
With the fate of the Hollands resting on her shoulders, Elizabeth must choose between family duty and true love. But when her carriage overturns near the East River, the girl whose glittering life lit up the city's gossip pages is swallowed by the rough current. As all of New York grieves, some begin to wonder whether life at the top proved too much for this ethereal beauty, or if, perhaps, someone wanted to see Manhattan's most celebrated daughter disappear...
In a world of luxury and deception, where appearance matters above everything and breaking the social code means running the risk of being ostracized forever, five teenagers lead dangerously scandalous lives. This thrilling trip to the age of innocence is anything but innocent.
Museum of Thieves (The Keepers) (
$3.99), by Lian Tanner
Book Description
Welcome to the tyrannical city of Jewel, where impatience is a sin and boldness is a crime.
Goldie Roth has lived in Jewel all her life. Like every child in the city, she wears a silver guardchain and is forced to obey the dreaded Blessed Guardians. She has never done anything by herself and won’t be allowed out on the streets unchained until Separation Day.
When Separation Day is canceled, Goldie, who has always been both impatient and bold, runs away, risking not only her own life but also the lives of those she has left behind. In the chaos that follows, she is lured to the mysterious Museum of Dunt, where she meets the boy Toadspit and discovers terrible secrets. Only the cunning mind of a thief can understand the museum’s strange, shifting rooms. Fortunately, Goldie has a talent for thieving.
Which is just as well, because the leader of the Blessed Guardians has his own plans for the museum—plans that threaten the lives of everyone Goldie loves. And it will take a daring thief to stop him. . . .
Museum of Thieves is a thrilling tale of destiny and danger, and of a courageous girl who has never been allowed to grow up—until now.
Suspense and Sensibility or, First Impressions Revisited: A Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Mystery (Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Mysteries) (
$2.99), by Carrie Bebris
Book Description
Fresh from the curious and unsettling matter of Caroline Bingley (as related in Pride and Prescience), Mr. and Mrs. Darcy have every intention of enjoying their still newlywed status at Pemberly until they are confronted with another mysterious situation, ... one of
Suspense and Sensibility
Elizabeth Darcy and her beloved husband Fitzwilliam are taking on the responsibility of finding a suitable suitor for Elizabeth's younger sister Kitty, thereby assuring her a proper place in society.
The angels smile on the young and a perfect match is found, and wedding plans are soon under way. Suddenly a change in personality occurs in Kitty's soon to be model husband-a change so striking as to jeopardize not just the Darcys' social standing, but their lives as well.
A mysterious mirror, an insidious reprobate from the past, and matters far beyond the social circles around Pemberly all come into play in a dangerous puzzle, where the consequences may be the exchange of a soul for a soul.
Once again the Darcys take center stage as the Regency era's answer to The Thin Man's Nick and Nora, searching for truth between tea times, amid the social whirl of Jane Austen's England.
Dead Soul (Charlie Moon Mysteries) (
$2.99), by James D. Doss
Book Description
When tribal chairman Oscar Sweetwater asks Charlie Moon to look into the murder of a fellow Ute, Billy Smoke, Charlie agrees, but he doesn't expect to find anything. After all, Billy's boss, U.S. Senator Patch Davidson, nearly died in the ambush that night, too, so the FBI handled the investigation and it's still unsolved. The senator does happen to be Charlie's neighbor, though-their ranches share a fence line-so maybe the senator will be more forthcoming with him than he was with the FBI.
Meanwhile, Charlie's aunt Daisy, an elderly tribal shaman whose visions are looked upon by Charlie with skepticism even when they ring true, has seen a woman desperate for Charlie's help. Daisy begins to badger Charlie to look for her, even though she can't tell him her name, where to look, or why she's in trouble.
All in all, it's shaping up to be another season in which the gentleman rancher spends more time being a reluctant investigator than working on his ranch, helping with the cattle or in the hunt for Two-toes, the bobcat who's been sneaking up on his men at work. And truth be told, he'd rather go after the cat, who doesn't seem as dangerous as Senator Davidson's enemies or Billy Smoke's "business" connections.
James Doss's novels are consistently acclaimed for their combination of tight, suspenseful plotting and lyrical, authentic rendering of Native American themes and images, and Dead Soul is no exception.
Topkapi: The Light of Day (
$2.99), by Eric Ambler
Book Description
Arthur Simpson is a petty thief who is discovered stealing from a hotel room. His victim, however, turns out to be a criminal in a league well above his own and Simpson is blackmailed into smuggling arms into Turkey for use in a major jewel robbery. The Turkish police, however, discover the arms and he is further ‘blackmailed’ by them into spying on the ‘gang’ - or rot in a Turkish jail. However, agreeing to help brings even worse danger ....
Warlord Chronicles (
$5.26), by Bernard Cornwell, contains all three books of the Warlord Chronicles:
The Winter King,
Enemy of God, and
Excalibur, for the first time in ebook form. Very reasonable price, too, as St. Martin's Griffin has the paperbacks over $10 each.
Book Description
The Warlord Chronicles breathe new life to Arthurian legend, weaving together historical fact, intense battles and the old world magic of Merlin.
The Winter King
'Once upon a time, in a land that was called Britain, these things happened . . . . and I was there, and this is how it was.' The Winter King , like the rest of the trilogy, is narrated by Derfel (which is pronounced Dervel), one of Arthur's warriors. This first book tells how after the death of Uther, High King of Britain, the country falls into chaos. Uther's heir is a child, Mordred, and Arthur, his uncle, is named one of the boy's guardians. Arthur has to fight other British kingdoms and the dreadful "Sais" - the Saxons - who are invading Britain. Arthur is supposed to marry Ceinwyn, a princess of Powys, but falls disastrously in love with Guinevere - 'There have been many more beautiful women, and thousands who were better, but since the world was weaned I doubt there have been many so unforgettable as Guinevere . . . and it would have been better, Merlin always said, had she been drowned at birth.'
Enemy of God
At the end of The Winter King Arthur fought the battle that forces unity on the warring British kingdoms and now he sets out to face the real enemy - the English (it is one of the great ironies of the Arthur stories that he should have become an English hero when, if he existed at all, he was a great war-leader who opposed the invading Sais). First, though, Merlin leads a perilous expedition into the mysterious west to retrieve a cauldron, one of the treasures of Britain - this cauldron story is almost certainly the root of the holy grail strand in the Arthur tales. The treasures of Britain, Merlin believes, will bring the old Gods onto the side of the British in their struggle against the Saxons (and the Christians, whom Merlin hates). But the treasures will also set Briton against Briton - especially as Guinevere, now Arthur's wife, wants to make a magic of her own. 'Chaos was now thick across Britain, for someone had spilt the Cauldron's power and its horror threatened to engulf us all.'
Excalibur
If Arthur existed (and I am quite certain he did) then he was probably the great British war leader who won the battle of Mount Badon. No one knows where it was fought, or how it was fought, but we do know that the battle took place and it was the one great defeat inflicted on the English invaders of Britain. In Excalibur we follow Arthur and Derfel to that enormous struggle and incredible victory. It not only throws the Saxons back, but reunites Arthur and Guinevere. He might hope now to be left alone, to have a time of peace after gaining a great victory, but new enemies arise to destroy all he has achieved. First is Mordred himself, the crippled king who owes everything to Arthur and now tries to kill his benefactor. Mordred's ally is Nimue who has come to hate her mentor, Merlin. And so the story ends as it has always ended, at Camlann . . . 'and so my lord was gone. And no one has seen him since.'
