I've moved!

I've moved!

Thanks for stopping by, but it appears you are using a (very) old address for my blog. I've moved to a Wordpress site and you'll need to update your bookmarks for Books on the Knob

I've moved!

Custom Search
Showing posts with label Holiday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holiday. Show all posts

Friday, December 9, 2011

Free Book (Kindle) - A Married Man's Guide To Christmas

A Married Man's Guide To Christmas, by Robert Henry, is free in the Kindle store.
Book Description
In the great tradition of guy-humor everywhere, here comes humorist Robert Henry’s growling, good-hearted rant about holiday madness, A MARRIED MAN’S GUIDE TO CHRISTMAS. Henry reveals the truth about Christmas through the eyes of a typical married man. “Remember, it’s not how you celebrate the joyous season. It’s whether you are still alive, married, sleeping indoors, with a healthy prostate, and without a rap sheet on January 4th that counts.”

Husbands will laugh out loud. Dads will slap their knees and keel over (have CPR ready). Wives, daughters, sisters, mothers, aunts, female co-workers and sales clerks who dread seeing men mumble and mutter their way through the Christmas section at BIG BOX DISCOUNT WAREHOUSE will nod in recognition at the syndrome best described as “CAN I SURVIVE UNTIL NEW YEAR’S?”

A Married Man’s Guide To Christmas is a must for every guy who wants the women in his life to understand why he’d rather buy them gift certificates than brave the treacherous online world of lingerie catalogs. Why have just a joyous season, when you can have a Christmas filled with laughs that don’t include finding pictures of Uncle Herbert in a teddy?

Irreverent, honest, and biodegradable, Robert Henry has captured the essence of the holiday season for all men in A Married Man’s Guide To Christmas. So grab it today for all the beleaguered males on your Xmas list and all the long-suffering females who just want the lights strung on the front porch by Christmas Eve, the honey-do list completed before Aunt Sookie arrives with her flatulent Pekinese, and that expensive bottle of Scotch left mostly full until the tinsel is hung, the presents are wrapped, and the home owner’s association has accepted your apology for spelling out a less-than-jolly greeting in solar-powered candy canes on your front lawn.

Free Book - Kiss of The Christmas Wind (K)

11/22/12 Update: companion audiobook now available for $4.86.

Kiss of The Christmas Wind, a holiday novella by Janelle Taylor, is free in the Kindle store.
Book Description
A classic Christmas novella by a beloved bestselling author, now in ebook for the first time! Janelle Taylor is the author of more than 50 romance novels, with nine New York Times bestsellers and sales in the millions.

The western frontier.

Deadly winter weather.


New bride Carrie Sue Jamison wonders if she will be widowed before spending even one Christmas with her husband Thad, a Texas Ranger. He’s left home to track a gang of murderous bank robbers through the wilderness.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Free Book (Kindle) - A Dixie Christmas

A Dixie Christmas, an anthology by Sandra Hill, is free in the Kindle store.
Book Description
Two magnolias-and-mistletoe-inspired holiday stories from the bestselling author of more than thirty romantic, humorous novels.

Laughter and love combine in Sandra Hill’s BLUE CHRISTMAS — with a touch of Elvis magic. Wealthy Wall Street businessman Clayton Jessup III has only one reason for arriving in Memphis a few days before Christmas — to sell off his inheritance, an embarrassingly kitschy hotel named The Blue Suede Suites. His feelings for the Land of Elvis are dark: his long-dead Memphis mother abandoned him and his dad when Clay was a baby, and now Clay wants nothing to do with a southern legacy that couldn’t be more different from his sophisticated big-city life.

But then he steps in trouble—literally—when he confronts the bizarre group of Elvis impersonators who’ve set up a living Nativity scene on his property. One slip of a wingtip in some sheep poop lands Clay in the care of gorgeous Annie Fallon, whose big-haired Elvis-girlfriend get-up can’t hide her wholesome, sexy appeal. Annie and her brothers have set up the Nativity scene to earn some badly needed money for their struggling dairy farm.

The last thing she needs is an angry Yankee with a concussion and a come-hither smile . . .

In JINX CHRISTMAS, sexy NASCAR star Lance Caslow makes a last-ditch effort to win back his ex-wife Brenda. Five years ago, his reckless pursuit of racetrack fame tore them apart and broke Brenda’s heart. Now Lance shows up in Louisiana determined to make things right this Christmas, not just for himself and Brenda, but for their young daughter, Patti.

He’s got his work cut out for him, and desperate measures are needed. Lance will do anything to prove he’s worthy of Brenda’s trust again — even join the Cajun Christmas show starring a raucous Cajun family whose menfolk dance for charity events in little more than a smile . . .

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Free Book - One Imperfect Christmas (K/N/E)

Update: 3/7/12 Repeat freebie in the Kindle store and from ChristianBook and Barnes & Noble.
Update: 2/7/12 No longer free in the Kindle store or from ChristianBook; free once again from Barnes & Noble.
Update: 12/7/11 Now free from ChristianBook.

One Imperfect Christmas, by Myra Johnson, is a repeat freebie in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble, courtesy of Christian publisher Abingdon Press.
Book Description
Graphic designer Natalie Pearce faces the most difficult Christmas of her life. For almost a year, her mother has lain in a nursing home, the victim of a massive stroke, and Natalie blames herself for not being there when it happened. Worse, she’s allowed the monstrous load of guilt to drive a wedge between her and everyone she loves—most of all her husband Daniel. Her marriage is on the verge of dissolving, her prayer life is suffering, and she’s one Christmas away from hitting rock bottom.

Junior-high basketball coach Daniel Pearce is at his wit’s end. Nothing he’s done has been able to break through the wall Natalie has erected between them. And their daughter Lissa’s adolescent rebellion isn’t helping matters. As Daniel’s hope reaches its lowest ebb, he wonders if this Christmas will spell the end of his marriage and the loss of everything he holds dear.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Five Free Pre-Orders for Australians (Kindle)

Five more free pre-orders for Australians in the Kindle store (at least, until Harper catches it and fixes the prices). All of these are also discounted for those in the US, so I'm including the US price for anyone that wants to grab them. I don't expect any of them to end up free in the US or for them to remain free for long for those Down Under.

Every Which Way But Dead with Bonus Material ($1.99 US), by Kim Harrison
Book Description
For a limited time and at a reduced price, catch up with Rachel Morgan and the Hollow Series with Every Which Way But Dead at a special price! Also included is an exclusive sneak peek at Kim Harrison's new novel, Perfect Blood, available February 21st.

In Every Which Way But Dead, witch and former bounty hunter Rachel Morgan's managed to escape her corrupt company, survive living with a vampire, start her own runner service, and face down a vampire master.

But her vampire roommate Ivy is off the wagon, her human boyfriend Nick is out of town indefinitely and doesn't sound like he's coming back while the far-too-seductive vampire Kisten is looking way too tempting, and there's a turf war erupting in Cincinnati's underworld.

And there's a greater evil still. To put the vampire master behind bars and save her family, Rachel made a desperate bargain and now there's hell to pay--literally. For if Rachel cannot stop him, the archdemon Algaliarept will pull her into the sorcerous ever-after to forfeit her soul as his slave. Forever.

A Dream of Stone & Shadow ($1.99 US), a novella by Marjorie M. Liu, 2006 Nominee for the PRISM award, originally published in the anthology Dark Dreamers.
Book Description
There are those who do terrible things in this world, and those who simply watch. Charlie would do neither. Imprisoned, his only release is through his own destruction—or through Aggie Durand. Sweet as a kiss or a rescued child, she is the one dream he does not dare desire. As an agent of Dirk & Steele, she could be his salvation. Today, Charlie's dream is waking.

Devil's Bride with Bonus Material ($0.99 US), by Stephanie Laurens
Book Description
Where it all began. . . The Cynsters!

When Devil, the most infamous member of the Cynster family, is caught in a compromising position with plucky governess Honoria Wetherby, he astonishes the entire town by offering his hand in marriage. No one dreamed this scandalous rake would ever take a bride. And as society mamas swooned at the loss of England's most eligible bachelor, Devil's infamous Cynster cousins began to place wagers on the wedding date.

But Honoria wasn't about to bend society's demands and marry a man "just" because they'd been found together virtually unchaperoned. No, she craved adventure, and while solving the murder of a young Cynster cousin fit the bill for a while, she decided that once the crime was solved she'd go off to see the world. But the scalding heat of her unsated desire for Devil soon had Honoria craving a very different sort of excitement. Could her passion for Devil cause her to embrace the enchanting peril of a lifelong adventure of the heart?

Now with special bonus material, including Q&As with the author and a sneak peek at other books by Stephanie Laurens!

Sharpe's Christmas (n/a US), by Bernard Cornwell
Book Description
A Richard Sharpe short story, featuring scenes of action and adventure at Christmas.

Christmas, 1813, towards the end of the Peninsular War…

‘You’ll like Irati,’ Colonel Hogan said. ‘It’s a nothing place, Richard. Hovels and misery, that’s all it is and all it ever will be, but that’s where you’re going for Christmas.

’Because maybe the French were going there. The garrison planned to march at Christmas in the hope that their enemies would be too bloated with beef and wine to fight, but Hogan had got wind of their plans and was now setting his snares on the only two routes that the escaping French could use. One, the eastern road, was by far the easier route, for it entered France through a low pass, and Hogan guessed it was that route that the French would choose. But there was a second road, a tight, hard, steep road, and that had to be blocked as well and so the Prince of Wales’s Own Volunteers, Sharpe’s regiment, would climb into the hills and spend their Christmas at a place of hovels and misery called Irati.

There would be no getting bloated with beef and wine for Sharpe and his regiment this Christmas.


Steve Jobs: American Genius ($4.99 US), by Amanda Ziller
Book Description
Book description to come.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Free Book (Kindle/nook/EPUB) - The Christmas Bus

Update: 12/6/11 No longer free on Kindle or from B&N
Update: 12/5/11 Now free from Sony and ChristianBook.
Update: 12/5/11 Now free for US Kindle customers and from Barnes & Noble.

The Christmas Bus (US/UK), by Melody Carlson, is a repeat freebie for UK customers in the Kindle store, courtesy of Christian publisher Revell. It should be free for those in the US by morning (but double check the price before one-clicking).
Book Description
The people of Christmas Valley always celebrate Christmas to the fullest extent. The mayor plays Santa, every business is holiday themed, and there's a nativity for the kids each Christmas Eve. This town knows Christmas.

But this year nothing goes according to plan. Shepherd's Inn is full of strangers, Mad Myrtle is causing problems, and a young couple with a baby due any minute rolls in to the middle of town in their Partridge Family-style bus. It's hardly the holiday Christmas Valley wanted--but it may be just what they need. This charming novella is sure to become a new Christmas tradition for readers who love a great holiday story.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.
Get the free ebook from Sony.

Free Book (Kindle/nook/EPUB) - A Victorian Christmas

Update: 12/5/11 Now free from Sony.
Update: 12/4/11 Now free for US Kindle customers and from Barnes & Noble and ChristianBook.

A Victorian Christmas (US/UK), an anthology by Catherine Palmer, is free for UK customer in the Kindle store, courtesy of Christian publisher Tyndale House. I expect this one to be free in the use by morning.
Book Description
A beautiful patchwork of four novellas about love and joy at Christmastime by best selling author Catherine Palmer. These four novellas were previously published in four anthologies—A Victorian Christmas Quilt, A Victorian Christmas Tea, A Victorian Christmas Cottage, and A Victorian Christmas Keepsake. Return to a time when life was uncomplicated, faith was sincere … and love was a gift to be cherished forever. Includes author’s favorite holiday recipes.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.
Get the free ebook from Sony.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Free Book (Kindle/nook/EPUB) - The Everything Healthy Cooking for Parties

Update: 12/5/11 Now free from Sony.
Update: 12/3/11 Now free from Barnes & Noble.

The Everything Healthy Cooking for Parties, by Linda Larsen, is free in the Kindle store.
Book Description
With a third of Americans on a diet at any given time, planning party menus can be a challenge for any hostess. Veteran cookbook author Linda Larsen has the solution! She offers you healthy cooking tips and delicious party-food recipes with your health in mind. Her recipes include lots of fruits and vegetables and low-fat ingredients like turkey bacon and tofu, so the foods are good for you and taste great! You will find many festive recipes: Cantaloupe Punch; High-Fiber Cashew Pear Bread; Low-Fat Turkey Swiss Sandwiches; Lemon Meringue Crunch Trifle; and more! With this book, you will discover that party food doesn't have to be bad for you. And that's reason enough to throw parties more often!
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from Sony.

Free Book (Kindle/nook/EPUB) - Great Wines Under $20

Update: 12/5/11 Now free from Sony.
Update: 12/3/11 Now free from Barnes & Noble.

Great Wines Under $20, by Elyse Luray, is free in the Kindle store.
Book Description
Great Wines Under $20 offers select wines (100 red, 100 white) from around the world and organized by type: Chardonnay, Riesling; Merlot, Shiraz, etc., with suggested food pairings. Elyse Luray writes in clear and simple language, avoiding the arcane "wine-speak" that many beginning wine buyers find intimidating. The handy and portable size makes it an essential reference, whether browsing the local wine shop or ordering online. A color-coded index provides handy icons that quickly identify food pairings — beef, chicken, fish, pasta, salad, etc., and the perfect wineglasses and tips from experts.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from Sony.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Nine Free Books for Australians (Kindle)

HarperCollins AU has entered another set of books with free prices for Australians. Several of these are relatively low-cost pre-orders for those in the US, so I'll add the US price out next to each one. There are some short stories and novellas included, but a few are full length novels.
  1. All the Pleasures of the Season, by Lecia Cornwall ($1.99 US)
  2. Hot Secrets: A Dangerous Lover Novella, by Lisa Marie Rice ($0.99 US)
  3. The Moonlit Mind, by Dean Koontz ($2.99 US)
  4. Sandman Slim, by Richard Kadrey ($7.99 US)
  5. Kill the Dead, by Richard Kadrey ($7.99 US)
  6. The Dead, the Damned, and the Forgotten: A Novella, by Jocelynn Drake ($0.99 US)
  7. Claws and Effect: A Diaries of an Urban Panther Novel, by Amanda Arista ($3.99 US)
  8. The Fall of Rogue Gerrard: From It Happened One Night, by Stephanie Laurens ($0.99 US)
  9. Chaotic: A Novella, by Kelley Armstrong ($0.99 US)

Monday, November 28, 2011

Bargain Books from Melody Carlson

There are several novels from Melody Carlson (whose Christmas at Harrington's is free today), are marked down this evening, including her entire young adult series, On the Runway, and several holiday titles.
Premiere (On the Runway) $1.99
In Carlson's (the Diary of a Teenage Girl series) latest, which launches the On the Runway series, 18-year old narrator Erin, who loves being behind the camera, and her 19-year old sister, Paige, who shines in front of one, land a contract to star in a fashion-focused TV show. Erin both admires her stunning, smooth-talking, fashion-expert sister, and cringes at Paige's manipulations and thoughtlessness, which Paige has ample opportunity to exhibit when the show's producers plug them into a popular teen reality show. While trying to maintain a critical distance from the glamour, staged intrigue, and cattiness of this new world, Erin seeks a moral compass as she wrestles with her ex-boyfriend's reappearance, and wonders how to reconcile her Christian values with her work and how to be a good sister. Fast-paced action, driven by the social media of cell phones, Facebook, and Twitter, highlights both the thrills and stressors of modern teenage life, where the private becomes instantly public, and the line between reality and acting is hard to find.

Catwalk (On the Runway) $1.99
Big Apple. Bigger Problems.

The success of the Forrester sisters' On the Runway TV show lands them a hot ticket to Fashion Week in New York City. Paige is determined to garner the attention of New York's top designers, but her newfound fame threatens to go to her head. Erin wants to help promote the work of some eco-minded designers, but struggles to be taken seriously. Can Paige keep her prima donna behavior in check? Will Erin's involvement hurt the people she's really trying to help? Success in the big city comes with even bigger challenges, and as the pressure grows, so does the drama.


Rendezvous (On the Runway) $1.99
Lost in translation?

Having learned some hard lessons about the costs of recklessness and fame, sisters Paige and Erin Forrester feel ready to take their fashion-focused TV show on location to Paris. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long for many of their good intentions to get lost in translation. An unplanned week of filming at runway model Eliza Wilton's family estate leads to romance, jealousy, and surprises. With cameras rolling, both girls have to be careful or the future of On the Runway could end up as wobbly as Paige's stiletto heels.


Spotlight (On the Runway) $1.99
Feeling the heat.

On the Runway has become a global phenomenon, and when Paige and Erin Forrester take their reality show to London, they get a reception to remember. Bombarded by crazed fans and the flashbulbs and interrogations of the infamous British paparazzi, the sisters know that their lives have changed---big time. Star treatment has its perks, but the girls quickly learn just how scorching life in the limelight can be. Before long, the sisters are stretched close to a breaking point. With zealous paparazzi poised to take advantage of even the slightest whiff of a scandal, the stakes have never been higher.


Glamour (On the Runway) $1.99
Sink or swim?

Paige's engagement to designer Dylan Marceau shocks the fashion world. Although Paige appears to be happy, Erin wonders if it's true love or just a desire for attention and publicity. As Paige's love life takes off, Erin is feeling pressure from Blake to take their friendship to a romantic level. But is she ready? These two very different sisters still have one thing in common---their fashion TV show and all the drama that comes along with it. As they prepare for a trip to film in the Bahamas, the Forrester sisters discover that paradise isn't all it's cracked up to be. Can they do the right thing in tough situations---and the right thing for each another---in a business that often encourages the worst?


Ciao (On the Runway) $1.99
In the last book of the On the Runway series by bestselling author Melody Carlson, Paige and Erin are headed to Milan, one of the European fashion meccas. Erin is excited by the art and culture around them, but Paige is distracted by other things.

River's Song, The Inn at Shining Waters $3.99
Sometimes when we look back, we are able to see ahead

Following her mother’s funeral, and on the verge of her own midlife crisis, widow Anna Larson returns to the home of her youth to sort out her parents’ belongings, as well as her own turbulent life.

For the first time since childhood, Anna embraces her native heritage, despite the disdain of her vicious mother-in-law.
By transforming her old family home on the banks of the Siuslaw River into The Inn at Shining Waters, Anna hopes to create a place of healing—a place where guests experience peace, grace, and new beginnings. Starting with her own family . . .


The Christmas Bus $4.61
The people of Christmas Valley always celebrate Christmas to the fullest extent. The mayor plays Santa, every business is holiday themed, and there's a nativity for the kids each Christmas Eve. This town knows Christmas.

But this year nothing goes according to plan. Shepherd's Inn is full of strangers, Mad Myrtle is causing problems, and a young couple with a baby due any minute rolls in to the middle of town in their Partridge Family-style bus. It's hardly the holiday Christmas Valley wanted--but it may be just what they need. This charming novella is sure to become a new Christmas tradition for readers who love a great holiday story.


An Irish Christmas $4.61
For Colleen, life is spinning out of control. She just lost her husband, and her relationship with her young adult son Jamie is crumbling. Should she confess to him the secret that has been haunting her for twenty years? Jamie has a few secrets of his own. When he announces his plans to join the military, Colleen decides it's time for the two of them to take a trip together--to Ireland. The truth they discover there could fulfill both their dreams in a way neither ever thought possible.

An Irish Christmas is a captivating story of love, deception, and secret passions, from popular and prolific author Melody Carlson.


The Christmas Dog $4.61
Betty Kowalski isn't looking forward to the holidays. She just can't seem to find Christmas in her heart. There's church, of course. But who can she bake for these days? And who would care whether or not she pulled out the Christmas decorations?

Her new neighbor just adds to the problem. He's doing home improvements that don't appear to be improving much of anything. These days when Betty looks out the window, she sees a beat-up truck, a pile of junk, lots of blue tarps, and--horror of horrors--an old pink toilet.

But when a mangy dog appears at her doorstep, the stage is set for Betty to learn a very important lesson about what Christmas is all about. This contemporary Christmas story is a timely yet gentle reminder that God can work miracles through something as seemingly insignificant as a little brown dog.

Free Book (Kindle/nook/EPUB) - Christmas at Harrington's

Update: 11/29/11 Now free from ChristianBook. May stay free there a day or so longer than other stores.
Update: Now also free from Sony. Don't delay getting this one - it looks like Revell is doing some one-day freebies (perhaps leading up to Advent?), as the last two only lasted a day (less in some stores).

Christmas at Harrington's, by Melody Carlson, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble, courtesy of Christian publisher Revell.
Book Description
Christmas is approaching, and Lena Markham finds herself penniless, friendless, and nearly hopeless. She is trying to restart her life after false accusations landed her in prison, but job opportunities are practically nonexistent. When a secondhand red coat unexpectedly lands her a job as Mrs. Santa at a department store, Lena finally thinks her luck is changing. But can she keep her past a secret?

This tender story about fresh starts will charm readers as all of Melody Carlson's Christmas offerings do. Full of redemption and true holiday spirit, Christmas at Harrington's will be readers' newest Christmas tradition.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from Sony.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Free Book (Kindle/nook/EPUB) - Finding Christmas

Update: Also free from Sony.

Finding Christmas: Stories of Startling Joy and Perfect Peace, by James Calvin Schaap, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble, courtesy of Christian publisher Revell.
Book Description
A gift. The baby. The pageant. The parties. The worship. The afterglow. The story. These are the elements of almost every Christmas. In Finding Christmas, award-winning author James Calvin Schaap takes a look at each of these elements through seven stories that show how imperfect people can find joy and grace in an imperfect world.

His eyes turn on an outgoing bus driver, a passionate mother, a daughter reluctant to return to church, and even his own assumed-mediocre performance at a Christmas pageant. Along the way, readers see how the amazing message of Christmas can be found in the oddest of places. This heartwarming read is both moving and magical and will help readers usher in a joyful Christmas season even amidst the howling winds of winter.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from Sony.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving


Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, hope you are having a good holiday. Once again, I'm including a few poems for the season today. If you get out in the Black Friday craziness tonight or tomorrow, stay safe.
Thanksgiving
by Edgar Guest

Gettin' together to smile an' rejoice,
An' eatin' an' laughin' with folks of your choice;
An' kissin' the girls an' declarin' that they
Are growin' more beautiful day after day;
Chattin' an' braggin' a bit with the men,
Buildin' the old family circle again;
Livin' the wholesome an' old-fashioned cheer,
Just for awhile at the end of the year.


Greetings fly fast as we crowd through the door
And under the old roof we gather once more
Just as we did when the youngsters were small;
Mother's a little bit grayer, that's all.
Father's a little bit older, but still
Ready to romp an' to laugh with a will.
Here we are back at the table again
Tellin' our stories as women an' men.


Bowed are our heads for a moment in prayer;
Oh, but we're grateful an' glad to be there.
Home from the east land an' home from the west,
Home with the folks that are dearest an' best.
Out of the sham of the cities afar
We've come for a time to be just what we are.
Here we can talk of ourselves an' be frank,
Forgettin' position an' station an' rank.


Give me the end of the year an' its fun
When most of the plannin' an' toilin' is done;
Bring all the wanderers home to the nest,
Let me sit down with the ones I love best,
Hear the old voices still ringin' with song,
See the old faces unblemished by wrong,
See the old table with all of its chairs
An' I'll put soul in my Thanksgivin' prayers.




One day is there of the series
by Emily Dickinson

One day is there of the series
Termed "Thanksgiving Day"
Celebrated part at table
Part in memory -
Neither Ancestor nor Urchin
I review the Play -
Seems it to my Hooded thinking
Reflex Holiday
Had There been no sharp subtraction
From the early Sum -
Not an acre or a Caption
Where was once a Room
Not a mention whose small Pebble
Wrinkled any Sea,
Unto such, were such Assembly,
'Twere "Thanksgiving day" -
For more, see last year's post, the prior year's or check out Poets.Org.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Free Book (Kindle) - Twas The Night

Twas The Night, an anthology by Sandra Hill, Kate Holmes and Trish Jensen, is free in the Kindle store.
Book Description
“Christmas or Bust!”

What do a Blue Angels pilot, a bounty hunter and an ex-NFL football player have in common? The three bad-boy bachelors of Snowdon, Maine have to make a friend’s Christmas Eve wedding on time or die trying! They’re willing to risk anything to make that happen—even dashing through the snow in the goofiest bus on Earth, bright red and filled with a bunch of merry, meddling senior citizens known as the Santa Brigade. All too soon, these men will have met their matches in three special women: a woman from their past, a forest ranger so hot she ought to be declared a fire hazard, and a woman on the run. Ho, ho, OH!

While serving up holiday cheer with the Santa Brigade, the guys will discover ‘tis the season for good will and folly. Wise men or not, they are well and truly caught, which means these roguish St. Nicks are willing to jingle a few bells along the way if that’s what it takes to find what they truly want for Christmas nestled in their beds after the stockings are stuffed and the gifts placed under the tree.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Free Book (EPUB) - X is for Xmas

X is for Xmas, a collection of stories that are more in the Black Friday spirit of Christmas, is free over on Copia. This is an Adobe-ADE DRM'd EPUB book, but can be loaded in their reader or downloaded for any Adobe compatible reading app (I'm using Aldiko on the Kindle Fire). Looks like there are 20 total titles free there right now, so you may want to check them out if you haven't before; I just noticed a few pulp scifi selections and two anthologies that I've missed, so I'm downloading them now.
Book Description
Christmas is a time for giving, for receiving...and for mysteries, murder, and mayhem. We've collected ten Christmas stories, old and new, that will spike your eggnog, trim your tree, and hopefully add a dash of spice to your Christmas Cheer.

In So sit back, grab a mug of hot chocolate or eggnog, and prepare yourself for events most sinister. These ten great holiday tales are sure to send a chill down your spine.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Free Book (Kindle) - Hurry Less, Worry Less at Christmastime

Update: 11/2/11 Now also free for US Kindlers.

Hurry Less, Worry Less at Christmastime: Having the Holiday Season You Long For (US/UK), by Judy Pace Christie, is free for UK customers in the Kindle store, courtesy of the Dimensions for Living imprint of Christian publisher Abingdon Press. I'll be looking for this one for US customers by morning.
Book Description
This useful book will help busy people learn to celebrate more joyfully, peacefully, and deeply during “the holiday season”—the days between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day—and on through the Christian celebration of Epiphany. Judy Pace Christie meets us where we are, in a frenzied, out-of-control frame of mind, and helps us begin to have a deeper understanding of the joy of the season and its deep meaning for our lives overall—and how that can be a starting point for a more abundant life in the new year.

Using the holiday season as an entry point, Christie guides us to a more helpful, Christian understanding of this time of year. Aspects of the liturgical calendar are introduced as part of this process, including the Christian understandings of Advent, Christmas, and Ephiphany. She gives us practical tools for coping with holiday pressures but above all stresses the need for transformation from a secular perspective to a Christian one.

Hurry Less Worry Less at Christmastime will assist in identifying what people love about the holiday season and what they want to change. The book can also be used as a study book for church small groups or Sunday school classes, leading up to the holidays.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Free Halloween Audiobooks

Two free Halloween audiobook downloads for you at Tantor Audio; both include an ebook edition with the download. I recommend you go ahead and log in at Tantor before adding them to your cart, as I had a bit of an issue with the 'temporary cart' transferring over after I logged in. Once you have both in your cart, confirm that your order total is $0.00 before clicking to place the order (only the audio downloads are free, not the CD or Audible versions). They are doing things a bit differently with the free download at Tantor this time around - you place a regular order and it ends up on your bookshelf. That way, you can grab it now and download it later if you have any issues (or want to listen to it again next year).

I've included a Kindle link for a free edition, as well, for those that prefer to have the ebook in your library there (but these are most likely scanned editions and may contain formatting or OCR errors).

Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus ($20.99 $10.49 Audible; free download at Tantor; free on Kindle), by Mary Shelley, narrated by Simon Vance
Book Description
Mary Shelley began writing Frankenstein when she was only eighteen. At once a Gothic thriller, a passionate romance, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of science, Frankenstein tells the story of committed science student Victor Frankenstein. Obsessed with discovering "the cause of generation and life" and "bestowing animation upon lifeless matter," Frankenstein assembles a human being from stolen body parts. However, upon bringing it to life, he recoils in horror at the creature's hideousness. Tormented by isolation and loneliness, the once-innocent creature turns to evil and unleashes a campaign of murderous revenge against his creator, Frankenstein.

Frankenstein, an instant bestseller and an important ancestor of both the horror and science fiction genres, not only tells a terrifying story but also raises profound, disturbing questions about the very nature of life and the place of humankind within the cosmos: What does it mean to be human? What responsibilities do we have to each other? And how far can we go in tampering with Nature?

Dracula ($25.19 $12.59 Audible; free download at Tantor; free on Kindle), by Bram Stoker, narrated by John Lee
Book Description
First published in 1897, Dracula by Bram Stoker has become the standard against which all other vampire stories are compared and the inspiration for countless film and stage adaptations. Indeed, the name "Dracula" has been synonymous with the undead for at least a century, and the original novel still has the power to chill.

Come then to Castle Dracula, hidden in the forbidding peaks of the Carpathian Mountains, where an undying creature of evil casts his sights on unsuspecting England. Voyage on the doomed ship Demeter as it carries a monster out of ancient superstition in search of new life and new blood. Tremble as first one woman, then another succumbs to the unholy thirst of the nosferatu, and as a small band of men and women, horrified by the supernatural forces arrayed against them, risk their lives and their very souls to oppose the evil known only as...Dracula.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Free Book (Kindle/EPUB/nook) - One Imperfect Christmas

Update: 10/27/11 Now free from ChristianBook.
Update: Now free for US Kindle customers and from Barnes & Noble.

One Imperfect Christmas (US/UK), by Myra Johnson, is free for UK customers in the Kindle store, courtesy of Christian publisher Abingdon Press. I expect it to be free for US customers by morning.
Book Description
Graphic designer Natalie Pearce faces the most difficult Christmas of her life. For almost a year, her mother has lain in a nursing home, the victim of a massive stroke, and Natalie blames herself for not being there when it happened. Worse, she’s allowed the monstrous load of guilt to drive a wedge between her and everyone she loves—most of all her husband Daniel. Her marriage is on the verge of dissolving, her prayer life is suffering, and she’s one Christmas away from hitting rock bottom.

Junior-high basketball coach Daniel Pearce is at his wit’s end. Nothing he’s done has been able to break through the wall Natalie has erected between them. And their daughter Lissa’s adolescent rebellion isn’t helping matters. As Daniel’s hope reaches its lowest ebb, he wonders if this Christmas will spell the end of his marriage and the loss of everything he holds dear.
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.
Get the free ebook from ChristianBook.

Free Book (Kindle/nook) - A Wee Christmas Homicide

A Wee Christmas Homicide, the third title in the Liss MacCrimmon Mystery series by Kaitlyn Dunnett, is free in the Kindle store and from Barnes & Noble (careful buying from the nook - there are two editions and one is over $10). I do wish that the first title in the series, Kilt Dead ($5.59), were offered free instead and they do seem to be rushing the shopping season a bit, but I'll still download this one for my TBR list.
Book Description
'Tis the season to be jolly, but in Moosetookalook, Maine, Christmas cheer is in short supply due to a snowless winter that's keeping skiers and shoppers at a distance. Fortunately, Liss MacCrimmon of the Scottish Emporium has a plan…

Liss’s brainstorm focuses on Tiny Teddies, the new “hot” toy of the season. Every store across the country is out of stock—except a few wee establishments in good ol' Moosetookalook.

The first sign of something amiss occurs when the last Tiny Teddy is summarily executed: shot through the heart in the display window of greedy toy store owner Gavin Thorne. But the Teddy’s demise is just a precursor to the eerily similar murder of Gavin himself…

Now, with the Twelve (or, in Scots terms, the Daft) Days of Christmas rapidly approaching, Liss has a plate full of things worse than haggis to contend with, starting with a stockroom packed with poultry (don’t ask), and ending with a killer who’d like to see Liss’s goose well and fully cooked…
Get the free ebook from Barnes & Noble.