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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Bargain Book Roundup

Dead Shot ($2.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo), the second novel in the Sniper series by Jack Coughlin and Donald A. Davis
Book Description
In this follow-up to the highly successful Kill Zone, former Marine sniper Kyle Swanson faces his most deadly enemy yet, a legendary enemy sniper working with a fringe Islamic organization that has created a terrifying new weapon of mass destruction

In Baghdad’s Green Zone, an Iraqi scientist is murdered just before he is to reveal the monstrous secret that Saddam Hussein took to his grave: the Palace of Death, home to a chemical weapon that Islamic militants quietly have been developing and whose formula is nearly complete. The assassination is the work of a mysterious sniper called Juba, who was originally trained by the British but now works with a twisted mastermind determined to wrest leadership of the terrorist world from Al Qaeda.
Kyle Swanson, once the top sniper in the Marine Corps, has become the key member in a secret special operations team known as Task Force Trident. When Juba tests the new weapon by killing hundreds of people at a British royal wedding in London, Swanson is assigned to hunt down his old special ops rival.

The birth of a new reign of global terror can be stopped only by a confrontation between the two best snipers in the world, a duel in which the first shot wins. Usually.

10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget ($2.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo), by The Writers of Wise Bread [Skyhorse Publishing] - just in time for Tax Day (and what we have left over after paying them)!
Book Description
Filled with savvy tips on how to live, eat, shop, and have fun on a small budget, 10001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget is a compilation of the juiciest tips from the #1 personal finance blog WiseBread.com, including:
  • 9 Ways to See the World For Free
  • 12 Ways to Live Rent or Mortgage Free
  • 6 Steps to Eliminating Your Debt Painlessly
  • 7 Ways to Score Free Food
  • Bulk Buying 101
  • 10 Killer Ways to Feel Like a Million Bucks
  • 6 Horrible Financial Products to Avoid
  • 7 Beauty Secrets that Cost Almost Nothing
  • 50 Ways to Get the Most Out of Health Care
  • 12 Fabulous Frugal Party Ideas
Too many frugal living books focus on the negative, throwing around words such as "sacrifice" and "responsibility" like there was a fire sale at the Boring Store. But the writers at Wise Bread believe the key to financial wellness isn't a ramen-eating, vacation-skipping, fun-depriving life. Far from it. The best way to ensure that readers will stick to a budget is to help them create a lifestyle that is as much fun as it is practical.

Goldberg Variations: A Novel ($2.99 Kindle, Kobo) and After All These Years ($1.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo), two novels by Susan Isaacs [Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins, respectively]

Goldberg Variations
Imagine King Lear as a comedy . . .

Elegant, amusing, and profoundly nasty tycoon Gloria Garrison, née Goldberg, has a kingdom to bequeath to one of the grandchildren she barely knows. They’re all twentysomethings who foolishly believe money isn’t everything. Just shy of eighty, Gloria doesn’t wish to watch the minutes tick by while the three dither over the issues of their generation—love, meaning, identity. She has summoned them all from New York for a weekend at her palatial home in Santa Fe. She has a single question to ask them: “Which one of you most deserves to inherit my business?” Gloria never anticipates the answer will be “not interested” times three. She created a brilliant, booming beauty business, Glory, Inc., that not only does well, but does good. And they say “no”? What’s so grand about their lives that they would reject such a kingdom?

Daisy Goldberg is not only mad for movies, she’s part of the film industry: East Coast story editor for one of the biggest studios. Her brother, Matt, the über–sports buff, has a great job in public relations with Major League Baseball. And their cousin Raquel Goldberg, half-Latina, all Catholic, is a Legal Aid lawyer. They may like their work, but do they really like their lives? Would they be so foolish as to hold against their grandmother the pain she inflicted on every member of the family? As far as Gloria is concerned, this isn’t about tender feelings. It’s about millions of dollars; it’s about living a life the ninety-nine percent dream of and the one percent know.

The weekend is full of surprises, not only for Daisy, Matt, and Raquel but also for Gloria. Memories have a way of intruding at the most inopportune times. And is Gloria’s tough hide as impenetrable as she has always believed? Susan Isaacs is at her formidable best in Goldberg Variations, a novel that is both wickedly witty and a deeply moving tale of family and reconciliation.
After All These Years
The day after her lavish wedding anniversary bash, Rosie Meyers gets a big surprise: Her nouveau riche husbandRichie is leaving her for a sultry, sophisticated, size-six MBA. When he's found murdered in their exquisitely appointed kitchen, no one is surprised to find Rosie's prints all over the weapon.

The suburban English teacher is the prime suspect. The police's only suspect. And she knows she'll spend the rest of her life in the prison library unless she can unmask the real killer. Going on the lam into Manhattan, Rosie learns more about Richie than she ever wanted to know. And more about herself than she ever dreamed possible.

Tessa Dare's forthcoming novel in her Spindle Cove series, Any Duchess Will Do, is nearing release and HarperCollins has it and all the previous novels on sale ($7.99 list in print, usually around $5).

A Night to Surrender ($0.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo)
Welcome to Spindle Cove, where ladies with delicate constitutions come for the sea air, and men in their prime are . . . nowhere to be found.

Or are they?

Spindle Cove is the destination of choice for certain types of well-bred young ladies: the painfully shy, young wives disenchanted with matrimony, and young girls too enchanted with the wrong men; it is a haven for those who live there.

Victor Bramwell, the new Earl of Rycliff, knows he doesn't belong here. So far as he can tell, there's nothing in this place but spinsters . . .and sheep. But he has no choice, he has orders togather a militia. It's a simple mission, made complicated by the spirited, exquisite Susanna Finch--a woman who is determined to save her personal utopia from the invasion of Bram's makeshift army.

Susanna has no use for aggravating men; Bram has sworn off interfering women. The scene is set for an epic battle; but who can be named the winner when both have so much to lose?
Once Upon a Winter's Eve ($0.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo) - a novella
Some wallflowers bloom at night...

Violet Winterbottom is a quiet girl. She speaks six languages, but seldom raises her voice. She endured bitter heartbreak in perfect silence. The gentlemen aren't beating down her door.

Until the night of the Spindle Cove Christmas ball, when a mysterious stranger crashes into the ballroom and collapses at Violet's feet. His coarse attire and near-criminal good looks would put any sensible young lady on her guard. He's wet, chilled, bleeding, and speaking in an unfamiliar tongue.

Only Violet understands him. And she knows he's not what he seems.

She has one night to draw forth the secrets of this dangerously handsome rogue. Is he a smuggler? A fugitive? An enemy spy? She needs answers by sunrise, but her captive would rather seduce than confess. To learn his secrets, Violet must reveal hers—and open herself to adventure, passion, and the unthinkable... Love.

Warning: The heroine packs a pistol, the hero curses in multiple languages, and together they steam up a cold winter’s night.
A Week to Be Wicked ($0.99 Kindle, B&N)
Unexpected lovers find themselves together in Spindle Cove with A Week to be Wicked—the second book in Tessa Dare’s utterly delectable historical romance series. This Regency Era delight finds a restless British lord desperate to escape the quaint and too quiet small seaside resort he’s trapped in…and he gets much more than he expected when he eagerly agrees to escort a beautiful, brilliant, socially awkward lady scientist to Scotland. Concerning Tessa Dare and her irresistible romances, bestselling author Julia Quinn is spot on when she says, “Prepare to fall in love!” And anyone who loves the novels of Lisa Kleypas, Christina Dodd, and Liz Carlyle is going to adore having A Week to be Wicked.
A Lady by Midnight ($0.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo)
A temporary engagement, a lifetime in the making . . .

After years of fending for herself, Kate Taylor found friendship and acceptance in Spindle Cove—but she never stopped yearning for love. The very last place she'd look for it is in the arms of Corporal Thorne. The militia commander is as stone cold as he is brutally handsome. But when mysterious strangers come searching for Kate, Thorne steps forward as her fiancÉ. He claims to have only Kate's safety in mind. So why is there smoldering passion in his kiss?

Long ago, Samuel Thorne devoted his life to guarding Kate's happiness. He wants what's best for her, and he knows it's not marriage to a man like him. To outlast their temporary engagement, he must keep his hands off her tempting body and lock her warm smiles out of his withered heart. It's the toughest battle of this hardened warrior's life . . . and the first he seems destined to lose.
Any Duchess Will Do ($4.74 Kindle, $4.99 B&N)
What's a duke to do, when the girl who's perfectly wrong becomes the woman he can't live without?

Griffin York, the Duke of Halford, has no desire to wed this season--or any season--but his diabolical mother abducts him to "Spinster Cove" and insists he select a bride from the ladies in residence. Griff decides to teach her a lesson that will end the marriage debate forever. He chooses the serving girl.

Overworked and struggling, Pauline Simms doesn't dream about dukes. All she wants is to hang up her barmaid apron and open a bookshop. That dream becomes a possibility when an arrogant, sinfully attractive duke offers her a small fortune for a week's employment. Her duties are simple: submit to his mother's "duchess training"... and fail miserably.

But in London, Pauline isn't a miserable failure. She's a brave, quick-witted, beguiling failure--a woman who ignites Griff's desire and soothes the darkness in his soul. Keeping Pauline by his side won't be easy. Even if Society could accept a serving girl duchess--can a roguish duke convince a serving girl to trust him with her heart?
The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr. Wright ($0.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo) - a novella outside the series, also on sale
A sparkling, sexy Regency romance from New York Times bestselling author Tessa Dare!

When a girl meets a rake...
Miss Eliza Cade is a lady in waiting. And waiting. Because of a foolish mistake in her youth, she's not allowed "out" in Society until her three older sisters are wed. But while she's trying to be good, she keeps bumping elbows--and more distressingly, lips--with notorious rake Harry Wright. Every moment she spends with him, she risks complete ruin.

The sensual passions he stirs in her are so wrong...but Eliza just can't resist Mr. Wright.

Through My Eyes ($1.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo), by Tim Tebow with Nathan Whitaker [HarperCollins]
Book Description
Former University of Florida star quarterback, 2010 first-round draft pick for the Denver Broncos, and devout Christian Tim Tebow tells the story of his faith, his life, and his career in football in Through My Eyes. Written with Nathan Whitaker, the New York Times bestselling coauthor of Quiet Strength, with Tony Dungy, Through My Eyes gives fans a first look into the heart of an athlete whose talent and devotion have made him one of the most provocative figures in football.

Jennifer Ashley's novella The Untamed Mackenzie is now available to pre-order [Penguin] and you can also pick up several of her backlist novels and novellas at bargain prices, a few of which I've highlighted here. Note that some of these were published under her pseudonym, Ashley Gardner.

The Untamed Mackenzie ($1.99 Kindle, B&N) - Highland Pleasures
A WOMAN OF BREEDING MEETS A MAN OF NO STANDING…

To redeem her family’s disgraced name, Lady Louisa Scranton has decided to acquire a proper husband. He needs to be a man of fortune and highly respectable in order to restore both her family's lost wealth and reputation. She enters the Marriage Mart with all flags flying, determined to find the right bachelor.

But Louisa’s hopes are dashed when the Bishop of Hargate drops dead at her feet—and she is shockingly accused of murder! Soon, Louisa’s so-called friends begin shunning her, because the company of a suspected killer is never desirable in polite society.

The problem comes to the ears of Detective Inspector Lloyd Fellows, by-blow of the decadent Scottish Mackenzie family and an inspector for Scotland Yard. He has shared two passionate kisses with Lady Louisa–and vows to clear her name. For not only does he know she’s innocent, he recognizes he’s falling for the lovely lady.

Fellows is Louisa's only hope of restoring her family's honor—and it is he alone who intrigues Louisa in a way that may be even more scandalous than murder…

INCLUDES A PREVIEW OF THE UPCOMING NOVEL THE WICKED DEEDS OF DANIEL MACKENZIE
Lone Wolf ($1.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo) - Shifters Unbound
Book Description
Ellison Rowe is a wolf Shifter who has embraced all things Texas. He's a cowboy through and through, complete with a Texas drawl, cowboy hat, and well-worn cowboy boots. He's also lonely, though he feels obligated to look after his sister who is recovering from a hit-and-run accident that has left her striving to control her feral tendencies.

Enter Maria, a human woman taking refuge with the Shifters, who volunteers to look after the cubs and help Ellison’s sister. Maria too is recovering from a haunted past—she was kidnapped and held hostage by a rogue Shifter and then disowned by her family when she was set free. Now she’s on her own, but determined to put her life back together and leave Shiftertown for good.

But someone is attempting to abduct Shifter cubs, and Maria and Ellison know they must stop him. As Maria works with Ellison to track down the kidnapper, she finds her heart slowly awakening once more. And Ellison realizes that Maria may be just the one to bring light back into his life…
The Hanover Square Affair ($0.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo) - Captain Lacey
London, 1816
Cavalry captain Gabriel Lacey returns to Regency London from the Napoleonic wars, burned out, fighting melancholia, his career ended. His interest is piqued when he learns of a missing girl, possibly kidnapped by a prominent member of Parliament. Lacey's search for the girl leads to the discovery of murder, corruption, and dealings with a leader of the underworld. At the same time, he struggles with his own disorientation transitioning from a soldier's life to the civilian world, redefining his role with his former commanding officer, and making new friends--from the top of society to the street girls of Covent Garden.

Book 1 of the Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries. For fans of Kate Ross, Anne Perry, and C.S. Harris. This is a full-length novel.
Mackenzie Family Christmas: The Perfect Gift ($0.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo) - Highland Pleasures
Revisit the Mackenzies in this heartwarming Christmas tale. Book 4.5 of the New York Times bestselling Mackenzies / Highland Pleasures Series, this short novel has fifteen chapters, 43,000 words.

The Mackenzies gather for a clan Christmas and Hogmanay in Scotland. In the chaos of preparations for the celebration--the first of Hart and Eleanor's married life--one of Ian's Ming bowls gets broken, and the family scrambles to save the day. Daniel busily runs a betting ring for everything from the hour Eleanor's baby will arrive, to whether Mac's former-pugilist valet can win a boxing match. Ian begins a new obsession, and Beth fears that the loss of one of his precious bowls has made him withdraw once more into his private world.

Events take place after the close of The Duke's Perfect Wife (before the Epilogue).
Hard Mated ($1.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo) - Shifters Unbound
Spike, a wildcat Shifter and the champion fighter of Shiftertown, is stunned when Myka, the best friend of a dying human woman, announces that Spike has fathered a cub. What's more, the mother is giving the boy to Spike to protect and raise.

Myka, who'd been raised by an abusive stepfather, is not sure that a wild fighter named Spike is the best man to bring up the cute little jaguar cub. She goes to Shiftertown to check out Spike, and finds that the man behind the name is a lonely Shifter who's lost most of his family and is a fierce caretaker to those he has left.

Spike is torn between the cub and his duties as tracker to the Shiftertown leader, and begs Myka, the only person who understands, to help him. He starts to like the sassy Myka, a horse trainer who's not afraid of working with animals, even if they're wildcats who turn into humans.

When Spike's job puts his cub and Myka in danger, Spike is forced to choose between those to whom he's pledged his loyalty and his need to protect the woman and cub he's come to love.

A Carrion Death ($1.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo), the first Detective Kubu novel by Michael Stanley [HarperCollins], the nom de plume of the two-man writing team of native Africans Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. You may also want the short-story collection Detective Kubu Investigates (Kindle, Kobo), currently 99 cents.
Book Description
Smashed skull, snapped ribs, and a cloying smell of carrion. Leave the body for the hyenas to devour—no body, no case.

But Kalahari game rangers stumble on the human corpse mid-meal. The murder wasn't perfect after all. Enter Detective David "Kubu" Bengu of the Botswana Criminal Investigation Department, an investigator whose personality and physique match his moniker, the Setswana word for hippopotamus—which is a seemingly docile beast, but one of the deadliest, and most persistent, on the continent.

Beneath a mountain of lies and superstitions, Kubu uncovers a chain of crimes leading to the most powerful figures in the country—cold-bloodedly efficient and frighteningly influential enemies who can make anyone who gets in their way disappear.

Gayle Callen's newest novel, Surrender to the Earl, will be releasing late next month and in preparation, HarperCollins has her entire backlist is on sale for $1.99. There are too many to list them all, so I'm only going to highlight the series starting novels.

Surrender to the Earl ($7.59 Kindle, $7.99 B&N)
Surrender to the Earl, the latest historical romance from USA Today bestselling author Gayle Callen, is the passion-filled second novel in her Brides of Redemption series about battle-scarred soldiers and the women whose love heals them.

Audrey Blake, blind since a childhood fever stole her sight, is hidden away by her family and needs help to claim the property that is rightfully hers. But her plan to gain independence by asking the visiting Earl of Knighsbridge, Robert Henslow, for his help goes awry when he insists they fake an engagement. Though he thought the ruse was for Audrey’s benefit, Robert soon yearns to make the falsehood a fact and win the lady for himself.

A seductive Victorian romance filled with steamy excitement and spicy ardor, Surrender to the Earl is sure to cast a spell on Gayle Callen’s fans and new readers alike.
The Darkest Knight ($1.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo) - Welles Trilogy
Trained as a knight, yet sworn to the monastery, Reynold Welles had always lived by a strict code of honor. Yet the night he rescues beautiful Lady Katherine Berkeley from a treasonous kidnapper and an arranged marriage, he is captivated by the power of her enchanting loveliness. As she trembles within his protective embrace, he knows she is unaware of the fire she has ignited within him--a passion that burns with greater fury each day.

Though he is powerless against her innocent sensuality, Reynold is duty bound to bring the lady to the king, whose life may depend on the secret she holds. Yet when the dark knight discovers that Katherine is to be married, he is torn between doing his duty. . .or claiming Katherine as his won.
His Betrothed ($1.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo) - His Trilogy
She was a reluctant bride...

When Lady Roselyn Harrington discovers an injured sailor from the Spanish Armada washed up on shore, she's stunned to see he's the fiancé she abandoned at the altar two years before. When she'd first met Sir Spencer Thornton, he was far from the man of her dreams. But the Spencer she nurses back to health now is very different from the aloof nobleman who once scorned her. And in his strong embrace, Rose discovers passion...with the one man she can never trust.

He was a determined groom!

Spencer had jumped at the chance to escape London and serve Queen Elizabeth as a spy against Spain. And though he's now dependent on Rose's good graces to hide him from the traitor trying to kill him, Spencer decides to play an even more dangerous game: to make Rose fall in love with him so that he can reject her. But the impetuous girl has become a strong beauty, and Spencer's intended revenge turns into a wholesale wooing of the one woman he can't resist -- his betrothed.
No Ordinary Groom ($1.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo) - Spies and Lovers
No Ordinary Engagement

Miss Jane Whittington's hopes have been dashed. She'd always imagined herself marrying someone daring, adventurous, exciting. Instead, the man her father has betrothed her to is...a fop! Certainly William Chadwick is devastatingly handsome, but Jane could never love a dandy who cares for nothing save the latest fashions. So why does his heated gaze enflame a desire in her that she's never known?

No Ordinary Love

His work as a British spy has kept William apart from proper society for years -- and he has no idea that his latest “disguise” is anything less than appropriate. Now that he longs for a simpler, safer lot, he believes he's found his ideal bride in this irresistible beauty. But it will take a special sort of seduction to win Jane's heart. And when the Crown calls him back into service, how can William refuse -- even if it costs him the peace he covets...and the woman he can no longer live without?
The Lord Next Door ($1.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo) - Sisters of Willow Pond
Victoria must wed . . . and immediately!

To rescue her family from financial ruin, lovely Victoria Shelby has no choice but to marry. Her options for a bridegroom are limited . . . until she remembers the shy servant boy next door. Then she discovers that her childhood friend is actually Viscount Thurlow -- ruthless businessman, future earl, and a man whose family is shrouded in scandal!

After two rejected marriage proposals, David Thurlow needs a wife who will give him an heir, someone who will not only overlook his past but also be above reproach. Victoria is the ideal candidate -- quiet, unassuming, and in desperate need of funds. But even as she strives to be the perfect wife, her calm demeanor masks a shocking secret . . . one that is overshadowed by David's slow, heated lessons in the art of seduction that threaten to transform a “convenient” marriage into a torrid and passionate affair.
In Pursuit of a Scandalous Lady ($1.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo) - Scandalous Lady
In Pursuit of a Scandalous Lady is the first book in a delectable new series by fan favorite Gayle Callen in which three gentlemen wager that they will find and seduce an apparently shameless beauty who posed for a scandalous portrait. The USA Today bestselling, Holt Medallion and the Laurel Wreath Award-winning author offers readers the flip side of her popular Sons of Scandal trilogy, presenting the delightfully romantic stories of the aristocratic sisters of the heroes from Never Dare a Duke, Never Trust a Scoundrel, and Never Marry a Stranger.

Return of the Viscount ($1.99 Kindle, B&N, Kobo) - standalone
USA Today bestseller Gayle Callen is not only a longtime favorite among avid readers of historical romance the world over, she’s a multiple award-winner as well, having won both the Holt Medallion and the Laurel Wreath Award. With Return of the Viscount, she kicks off a wonderfully sexy series set in Victorian England, where the destinies of three battle-scarred soldiers lead them to the women fated to capture their hearts and heal them. Return of the Viscount once again showcases what Romantic Times calls Callen’s “forte,” her ability to “entangle readers in a tale that’s delightfully sexy, fast paced, and filled with engaging characters who hold your interest until the end.” Return of the Viscount is an unforgettable marriage of convenience tale that will enthrall fans of Samantha James and Loretta Chase—the story of a breathtaking love affair between a soldier with a debt to pay and a lady on a quest to unravel her family’s secrets.