UK Kindle Daily Deal 7/2

Harm's Way (£0.99 UK), by Celia Walden [Bloomsbury], is the Kindle Deal of the Day for those in the UK (the US edition is $9.99).

Book Description
I always think that if you walk around thinking you can have anything you want, you usually can.

For confident nineteen-year-old Anna, finding men is easy, holding on to them unnecessary. Moving to Paris brings her a new job, a new life and a new friend in the form of a woman twenty years her senior, Beth. As they fall in love with the city, Anna is irresistibly drawn to Beth's warmth and charm. When Beth falls in love with an attractive Frenchman, Christian, Anna struggles to overcome her increasing jealousy. But who is her real rival: Christian or Beth? A sultry tale of betrayal and regret, Harm's Way traces Anna's story as she learns one of life's hardest lessons: that if you believe you can have anything you want, you may end up with nothing but regret.

Shades of Gray (£0.99 UK), by Amanda Ashley [Montlake Romance], is the Kindle Deal of the Day for for Romance Fans in the UK (the US edition is $2.00).

Book Description
The fifth vampire romance by bestselling author Madeline Baker writing as Amanda Ashley! Lost in darkness, Grigori found new sustenance in the light of Marisa's love, and new purpose in his life. Only he could protect her from the evil that stalked the night. Now, hungering for her bittersweet caress, he vowed to show her that not all of the undead were monsters, and that somewhere between the black and white of damnation and desire lay infinite shades of gray.

Kindle Daily Deals 7/1

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Canada ($2.99), by Richard Ford [HarperCollins], with the companion audiobook for $5.99.

Book Description
The only writer ever to win both the Pulitzer Prize and Pen/Faulkner Award for a single novel (Independence Day), Richard Ford follows the completion of his acclaimed Bascombe trilogy with Canada. After a five-year hiatus, an undisputed American master delivers a haunting and elemental novel about the cataclysm that undoes one teenage boy’s family, and the stark and unforgiving landscape in which he attempts to find grace.

A powerful and unforgettable tale of the violence lurking at the heart of the world, Richard Ford’s Canada will resonate long and loud for readers of stark and sweeping novels of American life, from the novels of Cheever and Carver to the works of Philip Roth, Charles Frazier, Richard Russo, and Jonathan Franzen.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is For the Love of Jazz ($0.99), by Elke Feuer [Crimson Romance].

Book Description
Restoration architect Josie Fagan takes on a project with lawyer and senator’s son, Patrick Pullman. It’s the perfect match. She needs his endorsement to save her business and he wants to restore his ancestral Chicago home. Love wasn’t part of her plan. Neither was being asked to stay at his home, haunted by ghosts, or discovering she has a claim to his home - which she adores. When she finds out his family may be responsible for her aunt’s disappearance fifty years ago, it’s a race to unearth the truth before she loses not only her business and her heart, but also her life.

Patrick can’t deny his attraction to Josie and is willing to take a chance on love since his broken engagement a year earlier. Things become complicated when he learns of their family connection and her claim to the home he loves. He doesn’t believe in ghosts, or that his family is involved in her aunt’s disappearance, so insists they work together. But, when he starts seeing his uncle’s ghost, and threats are made on her life, he’s forced to confront the possibility his family could be responsible.

Sensuality Level: Behind Closed Doors

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is The Year of the Jackpot ($0.99), by Robert Heinlein [RosettaBooks].

Book Description
This novelette appeared in the March 1952 issue of GALAXY and is the only work which Heinlein wrote specifically for Horace Gold, the editor of GALAXY magazine. (Heinlein’s novel THE PUPPET MASTERS had been serialized in the September through November 1951 issues of GALAXY but Gold had merely acquired serial rights to a contract novel which had been written for Scribner’s.) Heinlein never again appeared in Gold’s GALAXY. This novelette, set in a near-future only subtly different from the McCarthyite and politically menacing present deals with social deterioration, cultural breakdown in a careful, documentary style which becomes terrifying. His romantically-linked leads are emotionally affecting but never sentimentalized, the background of chaos in which they enact their tragic, drowning love, is sparingly but furiously painted. Heinlein’s 1952 is clearly the apotheosis of those “Crazy Years” which he had noted in his famous chronological Future History, published a decade earlier in ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION as a precis of his intended career. Perhaps no story of this period limns its political and cultural dysfunction as accurately as this novelette. Overshadowed by Heinlein’s juveniles and his famous later novels, THE YEAR OF THE JACKPOT may be the purest version of his portfolio and his most memorable work of less than novel length. It is one of his most exemplary stories and perhaps his best.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) was the first great science fiction writer of the so-called “Modern” (post-Campbellian) period and still perhaps the best. His first story, “Life-Line” was published in the August 1939 issue of ASTOUNDING, within three years with novels and novelettes such as SIXTH COLUMN, BLOWUPS HAPPEN, UNIVERSE, THE ROADS MUST ROLL, METHUSALEH’S CHILDREN he had become the most dominant writer in the history of science fiction; this was a position he did not relinquish for the rest of his life nor has it yet been relinquished. A list of his novels is virtually a pocket history of science fiction--THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS, STARSHIP TROOPERS, STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND, DOUBLE STAR, I WILL FEAR NO EVIL--and all of them remain in print and controversial to this moment. He won the Hugo for Best Novel four times, was three time Guest of Honor at the World Science Fiction Convention and was the first Grand Master of the Science Fiction Writers of America. His history and that of modern science fiction cannot in any way be disentangled.

ABOUT THE SERIES
Horace Gold led GALAXY magazine from its first issue dated October 1950 to science fiction’s most admired, widely circulated and influential magazine throughout its initial decade. Its legendary importance came from publication of full length novels, novellas and novelettes. GALAXY published nearly every giant in the science fiction field.

The Galaxy Project is a selection of the best of GALAXY with new forewords by some of today’s best science fiction writers. The initial selections in alphabetical order include work by Ray Bradbury, Frederic Brown, Lester del Rey, Robert A. Heinlein, Damon Knight, C. M. Kornbluth, Walter M. Miller, Jr., Frederik Pohl, Robert Scheckley, Robert Silverberg, William Tenn (Phillip Klass) and Kurt Vonnegut with new Forewords by Paul di Filippo, David Drake, John Lutz, Barry Malzberg and Robert Silverberg. The Galaxy Project is committed to publishing new work in the spirit GALAXY magazine and its founding editor Horace Gold.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is The Timekeeper's Moon ($2.99), by Joni Sensel [Dream Factory Books], the sequel to The Farwalker's Quest in The Farwalker Trilogy and which is followed by The Skeleton's Knife, which is also on sale for $2.99.

The Timekeeper's Moon

When Ariel Farwalker hears the moon talking to her, she thinks she must be going crazy. Then she discovers an ancient map, and learns that the moon is part of a mysterious summons that's calling her on a new journey.

With her surly guardian Scarl by her side, Ariel sets out on an adventure that leads her to new friends-the beautiful Flame-Mage Sienna and the mute boy Nace, who captures Ariel's heart. As the four travel on, strange things start to happen-fragments of Ariel's past appear in the present, so that it seems that time itself is coming undone. At the end of the journey, Ariel will learn where her journey began, and have a chance to save her life as she knows it.

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

The Skeleton's Knife

Unable to choose between an old love and a new one, 14-year-old Ariel Farwalker sets out to escape the conflict and return a dead enemy's knife to its source. There, she meets a new friend with a smuggler's savvy and a talent for charming the wind. Yet Ariel's failure to let go of the past lends strength to an evil that soon threatens the life of someone she loves. To save him, she must travel to a place where few dare to walk. If she fails, neither she nor her most beloved friends will survive. Fantasy/adventure for readers of ages 9-14.

UK Kindle Daily Deal 7/1

Blank Slate (£0.99 UK), by Tiffany Snow [Montlake Romance], is the Kindle Deal of the Day for those in the UK (the US edition is $3.99). Originally released as a Kindle Serial, all episodes now download as a complete book.

Book Description
Special Agent Erik Langston has been tracking Clarissa O'Connell for nearly a year, always one step behind the cyber hacking thief. She's escaped his clutches often and easily.

Except tonight.

In the snow-covered switchbacks of the Colorado mountains in a worsening snowstorm, a car crash robs Clarissa of her memory and lands her as Erik's prisoner.

Riding out the storm in a cabin, Erik is forced to protect someone he knows to be a criminal, though O'Connell isn't anything like he'd imagined her to be.

In a race to stay one step ahead of those who'll do anything for what she knows, Clarissa and Erik must dig into her locked memories if they're going to survive. Can she trust his feelings even when he knows the truth?

Is it really possible to start over with a blank slate?

The M.C. Beaton Regency Collection (£0.99 UK), by M.C. Beaton [Canvas], is the Kindle Romance Deal of the Day for those in the UK (no US edition).

Book Description
The first titles from four delightful and charming Regency Romance series by bestselling author M.C. Beaton.

Emily Goes to Exeter (The Travelling Matchmaker Series)
A dead employer's legacy of five thousand pounds allows spinster Hannah Pym to resign from housekeeping and find adventure travelling the English countryside by stagecoach. But adventure soon finds Miss Pym in the form of Miss Emily Freemantle, a spoilt violet-eyed beauty fleeing an arranged marriage to a rake she has never met.

What the girl's darkly handsome betrothed boards their stage, Miss Pym is certain Emily was rash to bolt from this aristocratic catch! And so as soon as the travellers repair to an inn, Miss Pym begins her matchmaking... and although Lord Ranger Harley complains he'll not marry an ungrateful minx, Miss Pym suspects once she's marshalled the couple into sharing intimate household chores, all romantic knots will be untangled!

Minerva (The Six Sisters Series)
Raven-haired Minerva, eldest daughter of an impecunious vicar, When the Reverend Charles Armitage, an impecunious country vicar in Regency England, announces that raven-haired Minerva, the eldest of his six daughters, is to have her coming-out in London, the news is not well received by the rest of the family. Mrs. Armitage has one of her Spasms and has to be brought round by burning a quantity of feathers under her nose. Annabelle, the nearest in age to Minerva, is clearly jealous, the boys are all surly, and the other girls just start off crying.

Minerva is despatched to Town under the wing of the disreputable old Lady Godolphin. Her task - to find a rich husband and thereby restore the ailing family fortunes.

But the other five daughters will all get their chance, because Minerva is but the first volume in The Six Sisters series by M.C. Beaton.

Refining Felicity (The School for Manners Series)
'If you have a Wild, Unruly, or Undisciplined Daugher, two Ladies of Genteel Birth offer to Bring Out said Daughter and Refine what may have seemed Unrefinable. We can make the Best of the Worst'

When Amy and Effie Tribble, two charming but impoverished spinster sisters, lose out on an inheritance, they place this advertisement in The Morning Post and hire themselves out as professional chaperones. Vowing to prepare even the most difficult misses for marriage, the Tribble sisters will spend a London season on each client, educating them in their School for Manners.

Felicity Baronsheath, their first assignment, turns out to be more of a challenge than they could have ever imagined. Not only is Felicity indifferent to the idea of marriage, she is also a spoilt brat! And when, despite their best endeavours, Felicity insists on remaining unrefined and hoydenish, the Tribbles begin to fear that her season - and their new business venture - will end in disaster.

The Miser of Mayfair (A House for the Season Series)
Is Number 67 Clarges Steet the unluckiest house in Mayfair?

Every Season the beaux mondes of the Regency would hire a house in the heart of London's fashionable West End at disproportionately high rent for often inferior accommodation and yet No.67 Clarges Street, a town house complete with staff, remains vacant from year to year. Could it be that it is associated with ill luck and even death? Something must be done so that the servants of this house don't lose their livelihood...

Salvation seems to come in the form of Roderick Sinclair who confirms he wishes to rent the house for the current Season. The staff are overjoyed - until they find that Mr Sinclair is a terrible miser who is planning no parties. Furthermore, his ward, Fiona, though a dazzling Highland beauty, does not seem to possess one bright idea in her head. But it is Rainbird, No.67's clever and elegant butler, who sees through her façade and resolves to help his mysterious mistress in whatever way he can...

Kindle Daily Deals 6/30

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Farm 123 - StoryToys Jr., a counting game for kids.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The One I Left Behind ($1.99), by Jennifer McMahon [HarperCollins].

Book Description
The summer of 1985 changes Reggie’s life. An awkward thirteen-year-old, she finds herself mixed up with the school outcasts. That same summer, a serial killer called Neptune begins kidnapping women. He leaves their severed hands on the police department steps and, five days later, displays their bodies around town. Just when Reggie needs her mother, Vera, the most, Vera’s hand is found on the steps. But after five days, there’s no body and Neptune disappears.

Now, twenty-five years later, Reggie is a successful architect who has left her hometown and the horrific memories of that summer behind. But when she gets a call revealing that her mother has been found alive, Reggie must confront the ghosts of her past and find Neptune before he kills again.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Faerie ($0.99), by Delle Jacobs [Montlake Romance], with the companion audiobook for $1.99.

Book Description
Like her mother before her, Leonie of Bosewood carries Faerie blood in her veins, a secret she harbors to protect her own life. For although the people of eleventh-century England believe in magic, their ignorance and fear have made being different a very dangerous prospect. Caught between the human and Faerie worlds, yet belonging in neither, Leonie must guard her heart…no matter how strong the temptations.

As the king’s emissary, Philippe le Peregrine has watched Leonie mature from gangly girl to alluring woman. With each encounter, his attraction grows, but he knows a match between them can never be. For Philippe hides his own secret, one that has condemned him to a life of lonely celibacy for fear of harming the woman he loves. But when powerful forces prompt them to unite against a sorcerer intent on conquering the world, Leonie and Philippe realize that only together are they strong enough to combat the evil threatening to engulf them.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is three thrilling alternative history adventure stories in The Foreworld Saga by Greg Bear, Neal Stephenson, Mark Teppo and Erik Bear $0.99 apiece [47North].

The Mongoliad: Book One (companion audiobook $1.99)

With bonus material! This Kindle edition features extra content only found in the Collector’s Edition of The Mongoliad: Book One, including an illustrated character glossary, a Foreworld map, and Sinner, a prequel to the Mongoliad series.

The first novel to be released in The Foreworld Saga, The Mongoliad: Book One, is an epic-within-an-epic, taking place in 13th century. In it, a small band of warriors and mystics raise their swords to save Europe from a bloodthirsty Mongol invasion. Inspired by their leader (an elder of an order of warrior monks), they embark on a perilous journey and uncover the history of hidden knowledge and conflict among powerful secret societies that had been shaping world events for millennia.

But the saga reaches the modern world via a circuitous route. In the late 19th century, Sir Richard F. Burton, an expert on exotic languages and historical swordsmanship, is approached by a mysterious group of English martial arts aficionados about translating a collection of long-lost manuscripts. Burton dies before his work is finished, and his efforts were thought lost until recently rediscovered by a team of amateur archaeologists in the ruins of a mansion in Trieste, Italy. From this collection of arcana, the incredible tale of The Mongoliad was recreated.

Full of high adventure, unforgettable characters, and unflinching battle scenes, The Mongoliad ignites a dangerous quest where willpower and blades are tested and the scope of world-building is redefined.

A note on this edition: The Mongoliad began as a social media experiment, combining serial story-telling with a unique level of interaction between authors and audience during the creative process. Since its original iteration, The Mongoliad has been restructured, edited, and rewritten under the supervision of its authors to create a more cohesive reading experience and will be published as a trilogy of novels. This edition is the definitive edition and is the authors' preferred text.

The Mongoliad: Book Two (companion audiobook $1.99)

With bonus material! This Kindle edition features extra content only found in the Collector’s Edition of The Mongoliad: Book Two, including an illustrated character glossary, a Foreworld map, and Dreamer, a prequel to the Mongoliad series.

This riveting second installment in Stephenson and company’s epic tale focuses on the aftermath of the world-shattering Mongolian invasion of 1241 and the difficult paths undertaken by its most resilient survivors.

The Shield Brethren, an order of warrior monks, search for a way to overthrow the horde, even as the invaders take its members hostage. Forced to fight in the Mongols’ Circus of Swords, Haakon must prove his mettle or lose his life in the ring. His bravery may impress the enemy, but freedom remains a distant dream.

Father Rodrigo receives a prophecy from God and believes it’s his mission to deliver the message to Rome. Though a peaceful man, he resigns himself to take up arms in the name of his Lord. Joining his fight to save Christendom are the hunter Ferenc, orphan Ocyrhoe, healer Raphael, and alchemist Yasper, each searching for his place in history.

Deftly blending fact and fantasy, The Mongoliad: Book Two captures the indomitable will to survive against immense odds.

The Mongoliad: Book Three (companion audiobook $1.99)

With bonus material! This Kindle edition features extra content only found in the Collector’s Edition of The Mongoliad: Book Three, including an illustrated character glossary and a Foreworld map.

The final book of the Mongoliad trilogy from Neal Stephenson and company tells the gripping personal stories of medieval freedom fighters to form an epic, imaginative recounting of a moment in history when a world in peril relied solely on the courage of its people.

The shadow of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II hangs over the shattered Holy Roman Church as the cardinals remain deadlocked, unable to choose a new pope. Only the Binders and a mad priest have a hope of uniting the Church against the invading Mongol host. An untested band of young warriors stands against the dissolute Khan, fighting for glory and freedom in the Khan’s sadistic circus of swords, and the brave band of Shield-Brethren who set out to stop the Mongol threat single-handedly race against their nemesis before he can raise the entire empire against them. Veteran knight Feronantus, haunted by his life in exile, leads the dwindling company of Shield-Brethren to their final battle, molding them into a team that will outlast him. No good hero lives forever. Or fights alone.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is What If Your Best Friend Were Blue? ($1.99), by Vera Kochan [Two Lions].

Book Description
What if your best friend were blue? What if your doctor were yellow? Would it change things? A child imagines what the world would be like if people in his community each had a different skin color. Child-friendly acrylic illustrations and a strong read-aloud text gently teach colors while showing that it’s what’s on the inside that counts.

Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: Pre K and up

Bargain Book Duo and some Notes

Save up to 70% this weekend at Kobo (no coupon code). The Kobo Glo eInk ereader is marked down to $99 this weekend (USA only, use coupon code GL625), but the big news is a 1/2 price sale on the Kobo Mini at $39.99.

It's the last day for those with Amazon Prime to borrow a book that is Prime Lending Eligible.

Sony has a $1.99 sale going on; if you don't want EPUB, most are being price matched at Amazon (if you do want EPUB, you only get the $1.99 price if you add it to the cart from the sale page). I can't tell if the sale was supposed to end on Saturday or not, since it's still up and live early Sunday morning.

B&N has their top-selling ebooks marked at 50% off this weekend (in addition to their NOOK Book Two-for-One Weekends Offer in store sale). Even at that price, some are cheaper in the Kindle store all the time (or within a dollar or two), but there are quite a few that were dropped below the $5 mark. So, check out the sale and then double check with Amazon, if you prefer to read on your Kindle.

Kiss of Surrender ($0.89 Kindle), the second Deadly Angels novel by Sandra Hill [HarperCollins], looks to be a humorous urban fantasy. The just released Kiss of Temptation is the third in the series and also on sale, at $2.99. For those who prefer to start the series at the beginning, Kiss of Pride is under $5.

Kiss of Surrender

What romance reader can resist a hero who is both Viking…and vampire? In the second installment of New York Times bestselling author Sandra Hill's exciting Deadly Angels series, Nicole Tasso, Navy SEAL is powerless to resist the "vangel" in her midst… And the mystery surrounding her thousand-year-old suitor only makes him more desirable…and more dangerous! Filled with Sandra Hill's trademark combination of smoldering sensuality and laugh-out-loud humor, Kiss of Surrender: A Deadly Angels Book will leave paranormal and urban fantasy romance fans hungry for more from this award-winning author.

Kiss of Temptation

Kiss of Tempation is the third romance in New York Times bestselling author’s Sandra Hill’s beloved Deadly Angels series.

For centuries, Ivak Sigurdsson has served the archangel Michael as a vangel – a viking vampire angel. Ready to demonstrate that he is more than just a libidinous heartbreaker, he agrees to help lawyer Gabrielle Sonnier. But while her problems are in need of serious attention, so is their attraction for one another.

Sexy and sassy, Kiss of Temptation features plenty of witty innuendo, passion, and a hint of mystery. Fans of paranormal romance will enjoy this racy page-turner featuring a strong, smart heroine and a bad boy turned hero.

Fatal Error ($0.99 Kindle), by Colleen Thompson [Montlake Romance], is joined by a number her novels at $2.99, including her just released novel (from this week!), Head On.

Fatal Error

West Texas gossip paints every story a more interesting shade, especially when a married man goes missing with a small-town banker’s wife and a stolen fortune. Susan Maddox is tired of feeling like an abandoned woman, and even angrier when neighbors insist she’s the one getting away with murder. Maybe her handsome-as-sin, bad-boy brother-in-law isn’t the smartest choice of an ally, especially since she’s never been able to forget a star-studded night in his convertible back in high school. But who else can she trust to recover damning information from her husband’s crashed hard drive? Who else can pick up the pieces when intruders set fire to her home, a truck runs her off the road, and a trail of dead men stops her cold? Who else will help her uncover a fatal error?

Head On

Hell On Wheels...

The full moon brings out the crazies; anyone in emergency services knows that. But for hospice nurse Beth Ann Decker, the gruesome murder that rocks Hatcher County is shockingly unexpected. As is the return of the Texas community's most hated prodigal son -- Mark Jessup. Sixteen years before, the town's bad boy was behind the wheel of a pickup that left three cheerleaders dead and Beth Ann so badly injured that people whispered she'd have been better off in the grave with them. Jessup is all man now -- tough, uncompromising, rich -- and a possible suspect in this new killing. Beth Ann knows he's the last person she should be spending time with, especially when a nighttime intruder makes it clear that she herself is a target. But in Mark's heated gaze, Beth Ann sees something a lot more exciting than pity. No matter how dangerous the road ahead, she's dead set on meeting life, and love...Head On.

UK Kindle Daily Deal 6/30

While the Savage Sleeps (£0.99 UK), by Andrew E Kaufman [47North], is the Kindle Deal of the Day for those in the UK (the US edition is $3.99; the companion audiobook for $1.99). His earlier novel, The Lion, The Lamb, The Hunted [Thomas & Mercer] is also on sale for £0.99 and you can now pre-order Darkness & Shadows.

Book Description
TWO STRANGERS
Cameron Dawson's got a past he can't seem to shake, but he's hoping to change that. He's moved back home to Faith, New Mexico and taken a job as assistant sheriff. What he doesn't realize is that his newest nightmare's about to begin. Strange things are happening. People are disappearing, and for others, it's far worse …

DISTANCE SEPARATES THEM
Miles away in Albuquerque, Kyle Bancroft's life is spinning out of control. She's seeing, hearing, and dreaming things she can't explain: Flashbacks to World War II and an eerie hospital ward with locked doors, empty gurneys, and guttural screams. To make matters worse, a ghostly green-eyed girl is complicating her visions with an urgent message: Time is running out.

A DARK SECRET CONNECTS THEM
Kyle's otherworldly encounters are driving her straight toward Faith … and right into Cameron's life. The body count is rising, the pressure is mounting, and the clock is ticking as they rush to uncover a dangerous secret hiding just below the surface of this all-American town—one that's threatening to destroy Faith and everyone in it. A secret they must hunt down quickly … even if it costs them their own lives.

A VOICE FROM THE GRAVE WILL DRAW THEM TOGETHER

Virgin River (£0.99 UK), the first novel in the series by Robyn Carr [MIRA], is the Kindle Deal of the Day for for Romance Fans in the UK (the US edition is $5.99).

Book Description
When the recently widowed Melinda Monroe sees this ad she quickly decides that the remote mountain town of Virgin River might be the perfect place to escape her heartache, and to reenergize the nursing career she loves.

But her high hopes are dashed within an hour of arriving: the cabin is a dump, the roads are treacherous and the local doctor wants nothing to do with her. Realizing she's made a huge mistake, Mel decides to leave town the following morning. But a tiny baby, abandoned on a front porch, changes her plans…and a former marine cements them into place. Melinda Monroe may have come to Virgin River looking for escape, but instead she finds her home.

Kindle Daily Deals 6/29

Today on Amazon's Gold Box is 63% off V-MODA Crossfade LP Over-Ear Noise-Isolating Metal Headphones - we bought these as Christmas gifts last year and love them for listening when at home (they are a bit large for travel).

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Sudoku 4ever Plus

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Nadia Knows Best ($1.99), by Jill Mansell, as well as being today's Nook Daily Find.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Native Son ($1.99), Richard Wright's classic 1940 novel on race and poverty [HarperCollins].

Book Description
Right from the start, Bigger Thomas had been headed for jail. It could have been for assault or petty larceny; by chance, it was for murder and rape. Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic. Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Wright's powerful novel is an unsparing reflection on the poverty and feelings of hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and of what it means to be black in America.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Theft of Swords ($2.99), the first novel in the Riyria Revelations series by Michael J. Sullivan [Orbit/Hachette].

Book Description
They killed the king. They pinned it on two men. They chose poorly.
There's no ancient evil to defeat or orphan destined for greatness, just unlikely heroes and classic adventure. Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, are running for their lives when they're framed for the death of the king. Trapped in a conspiracy that goes beyond the overthrow of a tiny kingdom, their only hope is unraveling an ancient mystery before it's too late.

When author Michael J. Sullivan self-published the first books of his Riyria Revelations, they rapidly became ebook bestsellers. Now, Orbit is pleased to present the complete series for the first time in bookstores everywhere.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is When Thunder Comes ($1.99), by J. Patrick Lewis [Chronicle Books].

Book Description
In moving verse, Children’s Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis gives new voice to seventeen heroes of civil rights. Exquisitely illustrated by five extraordinary artists, this commanding collection of poems invites the reader to hear in each verse the thunder that lies in every voice, no matter how small. Featuring civil rights luminaries Coretta Scott King, Harvey Milk, Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Sylvia Mendez, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mamie Carthan Till, Helen Zia, Josh Gibson, Dennis James Banks, Mitsuye Endo, Ellison Onizuka, Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Yunus, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner.

Grade Level: P and up

UK Kindle Daily Deal 6/29

Exotic Affairs (£0.99 UK), by Michelle Reid [Mills & Boon Special Release], is the Kindle Romance Deal of the Day for those in the UK (no US edition). At 560 pages in print, you'll need more than an afternoon to read this one!

Book Description
Lover Sheikh

Raschid Al Kadah and Evie Delahaye’s high-profile affair had lasted for two ecstatic years, but soon the relationship would have to end; Raschid was expected to marry an Arabian princess. But then Evie discovered she was with child…

To Seven years ago Caroline had fallen in love – and into bed – with powerful Spaniard Luiz Vazquez. Believing he’d betrayed her, she’d fled. Now, she’s back – being forced to accept his proposal and trying to keep him at a distance!

Bride Marco feels bound to marry and produce an heir to the famous Bellini fortune. But Antonia, his delectable mistress, is the only woman he wants in his life and his bed. Will he take his unsuitable mistress for his wife?

The Kindle Deal of the Day for those in the UK is three crime novels for £0.99 each (~80% off).

The Messenger of Athens (Main/UK), by Anne Zouroudi (US edition $8.89)

When the battered body of a young woman is discovered on a remote Greek island, the local police are quick to dismiss her death as an accident. Then a stranger arrives, uninvited, from Athens, announcing his intention to investigate further. His methods are unorthodox, and he brings his own mystery into the web of dark secrets and lies. Who has sent him, on whose authority is he acting, and how does he know of dramas played out decades ago?

The Marseille Caper (Main/UK), by Peter Mayle (US edition $12.99)

Sam Levitt, former corporate lawyer, wine connoisseur and expert on cultivated crime, is back in Marseille, for both work and pleasure – the lure of excitement and the pleasures of the region proving too tempting to resist.

But surrounded by gangsters and cut-throat developers, Sam finds himself far closer to danger than he had planned...

Blink of an Eye (Main/UK), by Cath Staincliffe (no US edition)

In a heartbeat, life changes.

A sunny, Sunday afternoon, a family barbecue, and Naomi Baxter and her boyfriend Alex celebrate good news. Driving home, Naomi's recklessness causes a fatal accident, leaving nine-year-old Lily Vasey dead, Naomi fighting for her life, Alex bruised and bloody and the lives of three families torn apart.

Traumatised, Naomi has no clear memory of the crash and her mother Carmel is forced to break the shocking truth of the child's death to her. Naomi may well be prosecuted for causing death by dangerous driving. If convicted she will face a jail term of up to 14 years, especially if her sister's claim that Naomi was drunk-driving is proven. In the months before the trial, Carmel strives to help a haunted and remorseful Naomi cope with the consequences of her actions.

Blink of an Eye is a novel about the nightmare that could be just around the next bend for any one of us.

Bargain Book Roundup

For music lovers, be sure to check out the current $2.99 MP3 Album Sale at Amazon, which has everything from Jazz to R&B to Rock on it. Also, be sure to check in over at Noisetrade, where they have the Radiohead Live at Tramps June 1, 1995 album as a free downlaod, currently.

Blood Rights ($3.79 Kindle), the first novel in the House of Comarre series by Kristen Painter [Orbit], with the companion audiobook for $2.99.

Book Description
Gothic fantasy meets vampire fiction in this debut novel from Kristen Painter - full of politics, intrigue, and blood.

Born into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle's body bears the telltale marks of a comarré -- a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the mortal world...and into the arms of Malkolm, an outcast vampire cursed to kill every being from whom he drinks.

Now, Chrysabelle and Malkolm must work together to stop a plot to merge the mortal and supernatural worlds. If they fail, a chaos unlike anything anyone has ever seen will threaten to reign

Germline ($3.79 Kindle), the first novel in T.C. McCarthy's The Subterrene War series [Orbit], with the companion audiobook for $2.99.

Book Description
Germline (n.) the genetic material contained in a cellular lineage which can be passed to the next generation. Also: secret military program to develop genetically engineered super-soldiers (slang).

War is Oscar Wendell's ticket to greatness. A reporter for The Stars and Stripes, he has the only one way pass to the front lines of a brutal war over natural resources buried underneath the icy, mineral rich mountains of Kazakhstan.

But war is nothing like he expected. Heavily armored soldiers battle genetically engineered troops hundreds of meters below the surface. The genetics-the germline soldiers-are the key to winning this war, but some inventions can't be un-done. Some technologies can't be put back in the box.

Kaz will change everything, not least Oscar himself. Hooked on a dangerous cocktail of adrenaline and drugs, Oscar doesn't find the war, the war finds him.

Feed ($3.79 Kindle), the first novel in the Newsflesh Trilogy by Mira Grant [Orbit], with the companion audiobook for $5.49. We got hooked on this series when it was first up for a Hugo and have ordered each one as they came out, as a result.

Book Description
The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.

Now, twenty years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives-the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them.


FEED is the electrifying and critically acclaimed novel of a world a half-step from our own---a novel of geeks, zombies, politics and social media.

Faking It ($2.99 Kindle), the second novel in the Losing It series by Cora Carmack [HarperCollins]. If you missed Losing It when it was a Daily Deal, it's back down to $1.99, joined by Keeping Her ($0.99 novella) and Finding It ($4.74 pre-order).

Book Description
Mackenzie "Max" Miller has a problem. Her parents have arrived in town for a surprise visit, and if they see her dyed hair, tattoos, and piercings, they just might disown her. Even worse, they’re expecting to meet a nice wholesome boyfriend, not a guy named Mace who has a neck tattoo and plays in a band. All her lies are about to come crashing down around her, but then she meets Cade.

Cade moved to Philadelphia to act and to leave his problems behind in Texas. So far though, he’s kept the problems and had very little opportunity to take the stage. When Max approaches him in a coffee shop with a crazy request to pretend to be her boyfriend, he agrees to play the part. But when Cade plays the role a little too well, they’re forced to keep the ruse going. And the more they fake the relationship, the more real it begins to feel.

The hot new, New Adult title from New York Times bestselling author of Losing It, Cora Carmack.

Tempest Rising ($3.79 Kindle), the first Jane True novel by Nicole Peeler [Orbit], with the companion audiobook for $2.99.

Book Description
Living in small town Rockabill, Maine, Jane True always knew she didn't quite fit in with so-called normal society. During her nightly, clandestine swim in the freezing winter ocean, a grisly find leads Jane to startling revelations about her heritage: she is only half-human.

Now, Jane must enter a world filled with supernatural creatures alternatively terrifying, beautiful, and deadly- all of which perfectly describe her new "friend," Ryu, a gorgeous and powerful vampire.

It is a world where nothing can be taken for granted: a dog can heal with a lick; spirits bag your groceries; and whatever you do, never-ever-rub the genie's lamp.

If you love Sookie Stackhouse, then you'll want to dive into Nicole Peeler's enchanting debut novel.

One Crazy Summer ($1.99 Kindle; $2.99 companion audiobook), by Rita Williams-Garcia [HarperCollins]

Book Description
Eleven-year-old Delphine has it together. Even though her mother, Cecile, abandoned her and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, seven years ago. Even though her father and Big Ma will send them from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to stay with Cecile for the summer. And even though Delphine will have to take care of her sisters, as usual, and learn the truth about the missing pieces of the past.

When the girls arrive in Oakland in the summer of 1968, Cecile wants nothing to do with them. She makes them eat Chinese takeout dinners, forbids them to enter her kitchen, and never explains the strange visitors with Afros and black berets who knock on her door. Rather than spend time with them, Cecile sends Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern to a summer camp sponsored by a revolutionary group, the Black Panthers, where the girls get a radical new education.

Set during one of the most tumultuous years in recent American history, one crazy summer is the heartbreaking, funny tale of three girls in search of the mother who abandoned them—an unforgettable story told by a distinguished author of books for children and teens, Rita Williams-Garcia.

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Kindle Daily Deals 6/28

Can you believe it's Friday already and another week (and nearly the month!) is gone? I hope everyone has a great weekend; if you are in the Chattanooga area, be sure to drop by LibertyCon and say hello or bring something by to be signed by one of the authors attending (such as the guest of honor, Kevin J. Anderson).

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Shine Runner. Instead of driving a hot-rod down Thunder Road, though, you pilot an airboat thru the swamps (don't ask me why it has longhorn steer antlers in the front of the craft, tho, as I'm pretty sure that wasn't a tradition of the 'glades)

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Hush: A Novel ($1.99), by Kate White [HarperCollins].

Book Description
In this exciting thriller by Kate White, Cosmopolitan editor-in-chief and New York Times bestselling author of the Bailey Weggins mystery series (If Looks Could Kill, A Body to Die For, ’Til Death Do Us Part, Over Her Dead Body, Lethally Blond), a mother of two goes from ordinary New Yorker to victim and detective overnight. Readers of Laura Lippman and Iris Johansen are sure to find many page-turning thrills in Kate White's Hush.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Wild Horses ($0.99), by D'Ann Lindun [Crimson Romance].

Book Description
Her family ranch outside of Payson, Arizona, is the last place Castaña Castillo thought she’d ever see again. But when her mustang activist brother goes missing, Castaña returns home to lead the search. Years of bad blood between local law enforcement and the Castillo men lead Castaña to believe the local cops won’t put out much effort to locate her brother. Especially since they think he murdered two federal wildlife agents.

Disgraced FBI agent Jake Breton needs to bring in Martin Castillo to redeem himself and resurrect his career. Falling in love with someone related to the suspect is the last thing he can afford to do. The last time he followed his heart, and not his head, it nearly cost him his life.

Danger, adventure, and death push Jake and Castaña together. Will they learn to trust each other and leave their pasts behind?

Sensuality Level: Sensual

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Fates Worse Than Death: An Autobiographical Collage ($1.99), by Kurt Vonnegut [RosettaBooks].

Book Description
Kurt Vonnegut presents in Fates Worse than Deatha veritable cornucopia of Vonnegut's thought on what could best be summed up as perhaps "anti-theology", a manifesto for atheism that details Vonnegut's drift from conventional religion, even a tract evidencing belief in the divine held within each individual self; the Deity within each individual person present in a universe that otherwise lacks any real order.

Vonnegut was never a real optimist and with just cause: he had an incredibly difficult life (he had been a prisoner of war from which he drew the title for his book Slaughterhouse-Five) and suffered from failing health, which only showed him his own mortality even more than he already knew it. Still, most readers find that in the body of Vonnegut's work there is still a glimmer of desperate hope. Vonnegut's continued search for meaning surely counts for a great deal as he balances hope and despair.

Scholars and fans can read about Vonnegut's experiences during World War II and the after-effect he felt it had on him. His religious (or anti-religious) ramblings and notations are interesting and, by turns, funny and perceptive. The humor may be dark, but that does not make it any the less funny.

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is Nobody's Secret ($1.99), by Michaela MacColl [Chronicle Books].

Book Description
One day, fifteen-year-old Emily Dickinson meets a mysterious, handsome young man. Surprisingly, he doesn't seem to know who she or her family is. And even more surprisingly, he playfully refuses to divulge his name. Emily enjoys her secret flirtation with Mr. "Nobody" until he turns up dead in her family's pond. She's stricken with guilt. Only Emily can discover who this enigmatic stranger was before he's condemned to be buried in an anonymous grave. Her investigation takes her deep into town secrets, blossoming romance, and deadly danger. Exquisitely written and meticulously researched, this novel celebrates Emily Dickinson's intellect and spunk in a page-turner of a book that will excite fans of mystery, romance, and poetry alike.

Bargain Book Roundup

As we are approaching the July 4th holiday, I've been trolling thru the cookbooks at Amazon and a couple of my finds are below. I also ran across Smoke and Pickles: Recipes and Stories from a New Southern Kitchen ($9.18 Kindle), by Edward Lee [Artisan], which is on Amazon's Best Books of the Year So Far list for 2013. It may be a bit over my usual $5 limit, but it's a brand new release and looks pretty interesting (and his restaurant is "just up the road" from here).

Book Description
Chef Edward Lee's story and his food could only happen in America. Raised in Brooklyn by a family of Korean immigrants, he eventually settled down in his adopted hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, where he owns the acclaimed restaurant 610 Magnolia. A multiple James Beard Award nominee for his unique patchwork cuisine, Edward creates recipes--filled with pickling, fermenting, frying, curing, and smoking--that reflect the overlapping flavors and techniques that led this Korean-American boy to feel right at home in the South. Dishes like Chicken-Fried Pork Steak with Ramen Crust and Buttermilk Pepper Gravy; Collards and Kimchi; Braised Beef Kalbi with Soft Grits and Scallions; and Miso-Smothered Chicken all share a place on his table. Born with the storytelling gene of a true Southerner, Lee fills his debut cookbook with tales of the restaurant world, New York City, Kentucky, and his time competing on Top Chef, plus more than 130 exceptional recipes for food with Korean roots and Southern soul.

America's Best BBQ: 100 Recipes from America's Best Smokehouses, Pits, Shacks, Rib Joints, Roadhouses, and Restaurants ($2.99 Kindle), by Chef Paul Kirk and Ardie A. Davis [Andrews McMeel Publishing]. I snagged a review copy of this one and there is everything in there, from breakfast to dessert.

Book Description
Hungry for something different? Then try America's Best BBQ Here, two of the world's top barbecue experts present their favorite barbecue recipes from across America.Only Ardie and Paul, the go-to sources on barbecue, can earn the trust--and the secret recipes--from some of the nation's barbecue legends.Tasty sides include tips, tricks, techniques, fun memorabilia, full-color photos, and firsthand recollections of tales from the pits culled from over a century of combined barbecue experience.With more than 100 recipes for mouthwatering starters, moist and flavorful meats, classic side dishes, sauces and rubs, and decadent desserts, this book should come with its own wet-nap. Whether it's spicy or sweet, Texas or Memphis, this is the best collection of American barbecue recipes. Ardie's BBQ alter ego, Remus Powers, PhB, has earned profiles in many barbecue books, tons of magazines, and more than a few national newspapers. He's graced the Food Network and PBS, appearing in various documentaries on 'cue and great American cuisine. Paul has appeared on The Today Show, Discovery Channel, CBS This Morning, Talk Soup, and Anthony Bourdain's A Cook's Tour: In Search of the Perfect Meal. He was also featured in AARP's Modern Maturity Magazine, Saveur, and The Calgary Herald, and he has written articles for Food and Wine, Fine Cooking, and Chili Pepper magazine.

Our Favorite Grilling Recipes Cookbook ($0.49 Kindle), by Gooseberry Patch; the description is from the paper edition and there is a recipe for Blue Cheese Burgers on the product page.

Book Description
Over 60 of our favorite recipes, with handy tips. "Purse-friendly size" make meal-planning on the go easy.

Midnight Rider and Innocence Undone ($3.79 Kindle) are backlist re-issues by Kat Martin [Macmillan].

Innocence Undone

Jessica Fox wasn't always the beautiful, composed young woman who is the toast of the London ton. Born in poverty, Jessica wandered the streets until fate found her a guardian in the aging Marquess of Belmore. Now, it is fate she tempts with her longing for the Marquess's son, the arrogant and handsome Captain Mathew Seaton.

Upon his return from the sea, Matthew is forced to confront the sensuous beauty he believes has set her sights on the Belmore title. Though his mind tells him to beware, his blood boils with thoughts of luring her into his bed. To win his love, Jessica will do anything. But when desire flames and the dark shadow of her childhood lengthens, she risks everything she has dreamed of in a dangerous dance of denial.

Midnight Rider

She was his captive. He was the one man she was forbidden to have...

As soon as the tall, handsome Spaniard leaned down from his stallion to offer her a rose, Caralee McConnell know California held danger. But all too quickly she was forced to deny the heat Ramon de la Guerra had sparked. Determined to please her uncle who had saved her from poverty, she must resign herself to marrying a man he has chosen for her...and ignore what is in her heart.

Behind Ramon de la Guerra's dark eyes throbbed the memory of his lands, stolen by the beautiful Americana's uncle. He had sworn to reclaim them-riding by night as the ruthless outlaw, El Dragon. In a moment of rage and revenge, he stole Caralee away to his mountain lair...but there, in a passion as sweet as California wine, he would reveal a secret that could cost him his life-and his heart's freedom.

Faith of the Fallen ($2.99 Kindle), the sixth novel in the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind [Macmillan], with the companion audiobook for $3.49. I'll be picking this up to fill in my library (but at nearly 800 pages, it may be a while before I finish reading it).

Book Description
Terry Goodkind author of the enormously popular Sword of Truth novels, has forged perhaps his best novel yet, pitting Richard Rahl and Kahlan Amnell against threats to the freedom of the world that will take them to opposite ends of the world to defeat the forces of chaos and anarchy.

Emperor Jagang is rising once again in the Old World and Richard must face him, on his own turf. Richard heads into the Old World with Cara, the Mord-Sith, while his beloved Kahlan remains behind. Unwilling to heed an ancient prophecy, Kahlan raises an army and goes into battle against forces threatening armed insurrection in the Midlands.

Separated and fighting for their lives, Richard and Kahlan will be tested to the utmost.

At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

Three of Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole novels are on sale for $2.99 apiece [HarperCollins]. Besides the Starred Reviews from Publisher's Weekly (amongst others), these have the Mom stamp of approval - after I picked up the first one and she read it, I had to pick up all the rest that had been translated to English for her. She's currently reading my review copy The Bat, which was only recently translated and can now be pre-ordered in the Kindle store.

The Redbreast #3 ($3.95 companion audiobook)

No disrespect meant to Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson, but Jo Nesbø, the New York Times bestselling author of The Snowman, is the most exciting Scandinavian thriller writer in the crime fiction business. The Redbreast is a fabulous introduction to Nesbø’s tough-as-nails series protagonist, Oslo police detective Harry Hole. A brilliant and epic novel, breathtaking in its scope and design—winner of The Glass Key for best Nordic crime novel and selected as the best Norwegian crime novel ever written by members of Norway’s book clubs—The Redbreast is a chilling tale of murder and betrayal that ranges from the battlefields of World War Two to the streets of modern-day Oslo. Follow Hole as he races to stop a killer and disarm a ticking time-bomb from his nation’s shadowy past. Vogue magazine says that “nobody can delve into the dark, twisted mind of a murderer better than a Scandinavian thriller writer”…and nobody does it better than Jo Nesbø! James Patterson fans should also take note.

Nemesis #4

The #1 international bestseller from one of the most celebrated crime writers in Europe--the New York Times bestselling author of The Snowman--Jo Nesbø’s extraordinary thriller Nemesis features Norwegian homicide detective Harry Hole, “the next in the long line of great noir crime detectives,” (San Diego Union-Tribune) in a case as dark and chilling as an Oslo winter’s night. The second Harry Hole novel to be released in America—following the critically acclaimed publication of The Redbird—Nemesis is a superb and surprising nail-biter that places Jo Nesbø in the company of Lawrence Block, Ian Rankin, Michael Connelly, and other top masters of crime fiction. Nesbø has already received the Glass Key Award and the Booksellers’ Prize, Norway’s most prestigious literary awards. Nemesis is proof that there are certainly more honors in this extraordinary writer's future.

The Devil's Star #5

Oslo is sweltering in the summer heat when a young woman is murdered in her flat. One finger has been cut off and a tiny red diamond in the shape of a pentagram—a five-pointed star—is found under her eyelid. Detective Harry Hole is assigned the case with Tom Waaler, a colleague he neither likes nor trusts. He believes Tom is behind a gang of arms smugglers—and the murder of his partner. But Harry, an off-the-rails alcoholic, is barely holding on to his job and has little choice but to play nice.

Five days later, another woman is reported missing. When her severed finger is found adorned with a star-shaped red diamond ring, Harry fears a serial killer is on the loose. Determined to find the killer and expose the crooked Tom Waaler, Harry discovers the two investigations melding in unexpected ways. But pursuing the truth comes at a price, and soon Harry finds himself on the run and forced to make difficult decisions about a future he may not live to see.

One of the brightest stars of Scandinavian crime writing, Jo Nesbø has been compared to Ian Rankin, Michael Connelly, and Henning Mankell. His novels are bestsellers throughout Europe, acclaimed by critics and revered by aficionados of thrillers and mysteries. Brilliantly plotted and paced, The Devil's Star shows Nesbø at his absolute best, combining powerful emotional resonance with truly stunning suspense.

Sorcerer's Ring Bundle ($8.99 Kindle), by Morgan Rice; this contains the first three books in the series and apparently runs to around 800 pages in print (according to Google) or about 200,000 words.

Book Description
This bundle includes the first three books in Morgan Rice’s #1 Bestselling fantasy series THE SORCERER’S RING (A QUEST OF HEROES, A MARCH OF KINGS and A FEAST OF DRAGONS). These three bestselling novels are all here in one convenient file. It is a great introduction to the SORCERER’S RING series. Over 200,000 words of reading, all for an incredible price of just $8.99! It is a great deal, and it also makes the perfect gift!

The series tells the epic tale of the coming of age of Thorgrin, a special 14 year old boy, the least loved of his father, as he strives to become a warrior in the magical Kingdom of the Ring, and as he learns he has powers, and a destiny, he does not understand. An outsider, he must fight for acceptance as he strives to join the King’s elite Legion, and as he falls in love with the king’s 16 year old daughter. Most of all, he must learn who he really is, why his destiny is so important, and why the entire fate of The Ring depends on him.

With its sophisticated world-building and characterization, THE SORCERER’S RING is an epic tale of friends and lovers, of rivals and suitors, of knights and dragons, of intrigues and political machinations, of coming of age, of broken hearts, of deception, ambition and betrayal. It is a tale of honor and courage, of fate and destiny, of sorcery. It is a fantasy that brings us into a world we will never forget, and which will appeal to all ages and genders.

The Witness ($1.99 Kindle) and White Hot ($2.99 Kindle), by Sandra Brown

The Witness [Hachette]

The best public defender in Prosper, Kendall has stumbled upon the town's chilling secret - and her marriage to one of the town's most powerful men has become a living hell. Now Kendall is a terrified mother trying to save her child's life.

White Hot [Hachette]

When she hears that her younger brother Danny has committed suicide, Sayre Lynch relents from her vow never to return to Destiny, the small Louisiana town in which she grew up. She plans to leave immediately after the funeral, but instead soon finds herself drawn into the web cast by Huff Hoyle, her controlling and tyrannical father, the man who owns the town's sole industry, an iron foundry, and in effect runs the lives of everyone who lives there.

As she feared, Sayre learns that nothing has changed. Her father and older brother, Chris, are as devious as ever, and now they have a new partner-in-crime, a canny and disarming lawyer named Beck Merchant, who appears to be their equal in corruption.

Soon, Sayre is thrown in closer contact with Beck and becomes convinced that something more sinister is at play than her father's usual need to dominate people and events. As she sets out to learn just what did happen to Danny, she comes to realize that there are many secrets in Destiny -- secrets that hide decades of pain and anger, and that threaten at any moment to erupt and destroy not only her father and brother, but perhaps Sayre herself.

Underneath the rigid control that the Hoyles exert over the town, trouble is brewing. Old hatreds foster plans for revenge, past crimes resurface, and a maverick deputy sheriff determines that Danny Hoyle's death was not suicide, but murder.

As tensions mount, threatening to ignite a powder keg of long-held hostility, Sayre finds herself inextricably drawn into a struggle with striking laborers, her unscrupulous father, and her own emotions over the love/hate relationship that is growing with Beck, a man apparently with his own agenda, and mysteries of his own.

As she has shown in the dozens of bestselling novels in which she has combined hard-edged suspense with intense emotion, Sandra Brown is a master storyteller, and in her new novel she is at her very best.

Midst Toil and Tribulation ($2.99 Kindle), the sixth novel in the Safehold Military SciFi series by David Weber.

Book Description
David Weber's New York Times bestselling Safehold series of military Science Fiction adventure, which began with Off Armageddon Reef, continues with Midst Toil and Tribulation

WAR AND FAMINE

Once the Church of God Awaiting dominated all the kingdoms of Safehold. Then, after centuries of stasis, the island kingdom of Charis began to defy the edicts of Mother Church-egged on, some say, by the mysterious warrior-monk Merlin Athrawes, who enjoys the Charisian royal family's absolute trust.

What vanishingly few people know is that Merlin is the cybernetic avatar of a young woman a thousand years dead, felled in the war in which aliens destroyed Earth...and that since awakening, his task has been to restart the history of the long-hidden human race.

Now, reeling from the wars and intrigues that have cascaded from Charis's declaration of independence, the Republic of Siddermark slides into chaos. The Church has engineered a rebellion, and Siddermark's all-important harvest is at risk. King Cayleb and Queen Sharleyan struggle to stabilize their ally, which will mean sending troops-but, even more importantly, preventing famine. For mass starvation in Safehold's breadbasket is a threat even more ominous than civil war...

At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

UK Kindle Daily Deal 6/28

Harmattan (£0.99 UK), by Weston, Gavin [Myrmidon Books], is the Kindle Deal of the Day for those in the UK (the US edition is $5.99).

Book Description
Harmattan (from an Arabic word meaning destructive wind ) tells the story of Haoua, a young girl growing up in a remote village in the Republic of Niger. Spirited independent and intelligent, Haoua has benefitted from a stable home life and a loving and attentive mother. She enjoys working and playing with her siblings and friends. Haoua worships her elder brother, Abdelkrim, a serving soldier who sends money home to support the family. But, on his last home visit, Abdelkrim quarrels with their father accusing him of gambling away the money he sends and being the cause of their mother s worsening health. It also emerges that their father plans to take a second wife. Despite this Haoua finds contentment in her schoolwork, her dreams of becoming a teacher and in writing assiduously to the family in Ireland who act as her aid sponsors. But for Haoua, there are new storm clouds on the horizon. As civil strife mounts in Niger, Haoua begins to fear for Abdelkrim s safety. Haoua s mother s illness is much more serious and further advanced than anyone had recognised and her father s plans are turning out to be far more threatening than she could have ever imagined. Approaching her twelfth birthday, Haoua is alone and vulnerable for the very first time in her life.

The Kindle Romance Deal of the Day for those in the UK is three novels in Nicola Cornick's Scandalous Women of the Ton series [Harlequin MIRA] for £0.99 each (~80% off).

Whisper of Scandal (Main/UK; US edition $5.38)

London, May 1811

Widow Lady Joanna Ware has no desire to wed again but that doesn’t stop the flurry of suitors knocking on her door. Desperate to thwart another proposal, Joanna brazenly kisses Arctic adventurer Alex, Lord Grant. Joanna knows she’s just set the gossip mill turning. After suffering countless infidelities during her marriage, she’s accustomed to scandal. But nothing prepares her for the shocking news that her deceased husband has bequeathed his illegitimate child to her and his fellow explorer Alex.

As rumours run rampant in the ton, Joanna and Alex travel to the Arctic to claim the orphan. Battling blizzards, dangerous wild life, and a treacherous plot, Alex must protect Joanna but not before he wickedly seduces her…

Notorious (Main/UK; US edition $5.38)

London, June 1816

'Devlin squared his shoulders and prepared to be introduced to the wife he had thought was dead.'

Dangerously seductive and sinfully beautiful, Susanna Burney is society’s most sought-after matchbreaker. Paid by wealthy parents to part unsuitable couples, she’s never yet failed. Until her final assignment brings her face to face with the man who’d once taught her an intimate lesson in heartache…

James Devlin has everything he’s always wanted: a title, a rich fiancée and a place in society. But the woman who’s just met his eyes across a crowded ballroom threatens it all. Not because she’d once claimed his heart but because the secrets she carries could cost him everything. Dev just might have to play Susanna at her own wicked game.

Let the scandal of the season begin…

Forbidden (Main/UK; US edition $6.15)

Scandal isn't just for rogues, as the daring women in USA TODAY bestselling author Nicola Cornick's scintillating new series prove….

As maid to some of the most wanton ladies of the ton, Margery Mallon lives within the boundaries of any sensible servant. Entanglements with gentlemen are taboo. Wild adventures are for the Gothic novels she secretly reads. Then an intriguing stranger named Mr. Ward offers her a taste of passion, and suddenly the wicked possibilities are too tempting to resist....

Henry Atticus Richard Ward is no ordinary gentleman. He’s Lord Wardeaux and he is determined to unite Margery with her newfound inheritance by any means—including seduction and deception. But when the ton condemns the scandalous servant-turned-countess and an unknown danger prepares to strike, will Margery accept Henry's protection in exchange for her trust?

Kindle Daily Deals 6/27

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is The Seems: The Lost Train of Thought ($1.99), by Michael Wexler [Bloomsbury USA Childrens].

Book Description
Becker Drane's coolest job in The World-as a Fixer in The Seems-is in jeopardy. So when a trainload of Thought goes missing, Becker reluctantly agrees to join a veteran team of Fixers on a mission in The Middle of Nowhere. Turns out getting the train back on track is just a temporary Fix, and Becker's real mission just might end his Fixing days forever. This third book takes readers deeper into The Seems than ever before. It's a nail-biting thrill ride at every turn.

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Hillbilly Heart ($1.99), by Billy Ray Cyrus [Amazon Publishing], with the companion audiobook also $1.99. this was just released in mid-April, so I'm surprised to see it discounted so soon.

Book Description
Billy Ray Cyrus is an award-winning country music legend whose “Achy Breaky Heart” propelled his debut album, “Some Gave All,” to the top of the charts for a record-breaking seventeen weeks. He’s also father of Miley Cyrus, one of Hollywood’s most successful young stars, who grew up on stage and on screen, most famously as the lead on the Disney Channel’s “Hannah Montana,” where Billy Ray Cyrus played her father. But sometimes the truth is even better than fiction. Now, for the first time, fans can read about Cyrus’s tenacious and inspiring struggle to find his own way to faith, family, and the power of music.

Hillbilly Heart opens during Cyrus’s turbulent childhood in Kentucky, where he sought refuge in music and sports after his parents’ divorce. He was a troublemaker in training, known more for pulling pranks than for following in his preacher grandfather’s much-vaunted footsteps. But when he heard a voice telling him to get a left-handed guitar and start a band, this rebel found his cause. Ten years later, after tirelessly working the club circuit and knocking on the closed doors of music executives from Nashville to Los Angeles, Cyrus finally made a stratospheric breakthrough, becoming a multi-platinum selling artist and taking his rock-and-roll twist on country music to the world’s stage.

Cyrus fans have always been able to piece together the details of his life through his lyrics—the ups and downs, adventures and disappointments—but Hillbilly Heart gives them a front row seat for his most candid performance ever.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is A Hero Lies Within ($1.99), by Patrice Wilton [Montlake Romance]. Originally released as a Kindle Serial, all episodes now download as a complete book.

Book Description
A returning war hero and the woman who once loved him are brought together again – but will they be able to heal the wounds of their past?

Kari Winslow is a Palm Beach news reporter, fighting not only to keep her job, but take over the nightly anchor spot. Her boss has axed her special runaway series, and wants “feel good stories” instead. She has only two weeks to come up with something big, or the special series will be taken over by the new anchorman who seems determined to ruin her career.

Jake Harrington has returned from two tours in Iraq, and this wounded warrior is searching for peace – and a family friend who’s gone missing. He turns to his former love Kari for help. Though Jake hurt Kari badly once before, she agrees to help him under one condition: he must provide her with “feel good stories” about the everyday heroes he served with. But his memory is sketchy at best, and the only stories he remembers are the ones she doesn’t want to hear.

Fate, it seems, has brought them back together – but can Kari ever forget Jakes’ bitter betrayal, and will he forgive hers when to save her career she must betray his trust…?

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is A Kingdom Besieged ($1.99), the first novel in the Chaoswar Saga by Raymond E. Feist [HarperCollins]. If you missed this when it was on sale last December and are an epic fantasy fan, you should definitely grab it at this price.

Book Description
Midkemia’s fifth and final Riftwar—the devastating Chaoswar—explodes in the opening volume of Raymond E. Feist’s spectacular new epic fantasy trilogy of magic, conflict, and world-shattering peril. A Kingdom Besieged is a breathtaking adventure that brings back Pug—first introduced in Feist’s classic debut novel, Magician, and now Midkemia’s most powerful sorcerer—who faces a major magical cataclysm that forces him to question everything he’s ever held as true and dear…including the loyalty of his beloved son Magnus. The Chaoswar promises to be the crowning achievement in the three decades-long career of a New York Times bestselling master fantasist who rules the sword and sorcery universe along with Terry Goodkind, George R. R. Martin, and Terry Brooks.