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Showing posts with label Science Fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Science Fiction. Show all posts

Friday, May 31, 2013

Kindle Daily Deals 5/31

Today's Gold Box at Amazon saves 61% on "Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures" on Blu-ray. The current Lightning Deal is $200 off a Sony HDRPJ260V High Definition Handycam 8.9 MP Camcorder with 30x Optical Zoom, 16 GB Embedded Memory and Built-in Projector, which normally isn't discounted at all. It's a pretty neat idea, bypassing the need for anyone to figure out how to connect the camcorder to a television in order to view what you've recorded (and you can watch outside, where everyone can see). If you do want to connect to your computer, the USB cable is built-in, so you can't lose it or leave it behind.

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Genius Scan, which turns your phone or your Kindle Fire into a scanner.

Today is the last day to take advantage of these deals and it's also the last day for those on Prime to pick out and borrow a book thru Prime Lending.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Strong Poison ($1.99), the sixth novel in the Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries series by Dorothy L. Sayers [Open Road].
Book Description
She is lovely, smart, and talented—and only Lord Peter can save her from the gallows

Lord Peter Wimsey comes to the trial of Harriet Vane for a glimpse at one of the most engaging murder cases London has seen in years. Unfortunately for the detective, the crime’s details are distractingly salacious, and there is little doubt that the woman will be found guilty. A slightly popular mystery novelist, she stands accused of poisoning her fiancé, a literary author and well-known advocate of free love. Over the course of a few weeks, she bought strychnine, prussic acid, and arsenic, and when her lover died the police found enough poison in his veins to kill a horse. But as Lord Peter watches Harriet in the dock, he begins to doubt her guilt—and to fall in love.

As Harriet awaits the hangman, Lord Peter races to prove her innocence, hoping that for the first time in his life, love will triumph over death.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of Dorothy L. Sayers including rare images from the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is The Scandalous Marriage ($1.99), by M. C. Beaton, writing as Marion Chesney [RosettaBooks].
Book Description
As far as matrimonial prospects were concerned, Lucy Bliss was told she’d make an excellent clergyman’s wife.

Her mother, however, had loftier aspirations for her lovely younger sister Belinda. Belinda would marry a duke. More specifically, the Duke of Wardshire. Lucy was truly horrified. “Lucifer” Wardshire! Why, he was rumored to be as wicked as the devil, with orgies and mistresses—and worse!

As the London Season unfolded, Lucy couldn’t decide who was more abominable, her vulgar mama or the arrogant yet disconcertingly handsome duke. No matter, Lucy vowed to go to any lengths to protect her sister, even if her mission should take her into the very arms of the devilish duke himself….

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is The Bridge ($1.99), by bestselling author and screenwriter John Skipp & Craig Spector [47North]. This was originally issued in print by Spectra/Bantam, then Leisure, but is now under on of Amazon's imprints.
Book Description
When the great storm comes, the good life ends. And hell on Earth begins. For 100 years we’ve been tossing our toxic waste over our shoulders. No more. This morning, while we slept, something woke up. It’s virulent. Malign. Intelligent. Ambitious. It’s in our food, our water, our air. It’s inside our bodies themselves. And it’s not leaving. We are.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Throw Like a Girl: How to Dream Big and Believe in Yourself ($2.99), by two-time Olympian Jennie Finch and award-winning sportswriter Ann Killion [Triumph Books].
Book Description
Dream Big and Believe in Yourself

In a society that sends incredibly mixed identity messages, sports help preteen and teenage girls make the right choices. Athletic girls not only grow up to be healthier; they learn teamwork, gain self-confidence, and mature into society s leaders.

Throw Like a Girl inspires, motivates, and answers questions about issues specific to today s female athletes. NCAA softball champion, two-time Olympian, and sports icon Jennie Finch offers sound advice on how to translate the lessons she learned from sports into everyday life.

Topics including body image, femininity vs. sports, peer pressure, nutrition, and the balancing act today s young women construct between school, extra-curricular activities, family, and friends are addressed in an engaging and instantly relatable personal style. Fiercely competitive and fashionably cool, Jennie fills the role of girlfriend, big sister, team captain, and mentor as she offers candid observations from personal experience bound to resonate with young women everywhere and inspire them to dream big, work hard, and believe in themselves.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Kindle Daily Deals 5/30

Today is the last day to take advantage of this AmazonLocal deal:

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Song of Achilles ($1.99), by Madeline Miller [Ecco/HarperCollins], one of Amazon's Best Books of the Month, March 2012.
Book Description
“Mary Renault lives again!” declares Emma Donoghue, author of Room, referring to The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller’s thrilling, profoundly moving, and utterly unique retelling of the legend of Achilles and the Trojan War. A tale of gods, kings, immortal fame, and the human heart, The Song of Achilles is a dazzling literary feat that brilliantly reimagines Homer’s enduring masterwork, The Iliad. An action-packed adventure, an epic love story, a marvelously conceived and executed page-turner, Miller’s monumental debut novel has already earned resounding acclaim from some of contemporary fiction’s brightest lights—and fans of Mary Renault, Bernard Cornwell, Steven Pressfield, and Colleen McCullough’s Masters of Rome series will delight in this unforgettable journey back to ancient Greece in the Age of Heroes.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Her Restless Heart ($2.99), by Barbara Cameron [Abingdon Press]. Check your libraries on this one, as it was free more than once last year.
Book Description
Mary Katherine is caught between the traditions of her faith and the pull of a different life. When Daniel, an Amish man living in Florida, arrives and shares her restlessness, Mary Katherine feels drawn to him and curious about the life he leads away from Lancaster County. But her longtime friend Jacob has been in love with her for years. He’s discouraged that she’s never viewed him as anything but a friend and despairs that he is about to lose Mary Katherine to this outsider. Will the conflicted Mary Katherine be lost to the Englisch world, or to Daniel, who might take her away to Florida? Or will she embrace her Amish faith and recognize Jacob as the man she should marry and build a life with?

"You'll laugh and cry right alongside the characters in this story that tests a young woman's faith in Gods's plan for her life." - Loree Lough, best-selling author of more than 80 award-winning books, including From Ashes to Honor, #1 in the First Responders series.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Earth Strike ($0.99), the first novel in the Star Carrier series by Ian Douglas [HarperCollins], with the the companion audiobook for $3.49. The only thing stopping me from grabbing this (or anything of his at this price) is that it's already in my library (although I may get it anyway, to get access to the audiobook pricing); if you've already read the earlier novels in the series, be sure to grab Deep Space ($5.69), which was released at the end of last month.
Book Description
The first book in the epic saga of humankind's war of transcendence

There is a milestone in the evolution of every sentient race, a Tech Singularity Event, when the species achieves transcendence through its technological advances. Now the creatures known as humans are near this momentous turning point.

But an armed threat is approaching from deepest space, determined to prevent humankind from crossing over that boundary—by total annihilation if necessary.

To the Sh'daar, the driving technologies of transcendent change are anathema and must be obliterated from the universe—along with those who would employ them. As their great warships destroy everything in their path en route to the Sol system, the human Confederation government falls into dangerous disarray. There is but one hope, and it rests with a rogue Navy Admiral, commander of the kilometer-long star carrier America, as he leads his courageous fighters deep into enemy space towards humankind's greatest conflict—and quite possibly its last.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is The Dyno-Mite Dog Show ($0.99), by Louise Bonnett-Rampersaud and George O'Connor (Illustrator), is the first in a series of reasonably priced children's readers [Simon and Schuster].
Book Description
Bad guys beware! Eugene McGillicudy just happens to be the most awesome superhero of all time…Captain Awesome. MI-TEE!

Now readers between the ages of five and seven can read chapter books tailor-made for a younger level of reading comprehension. Heavily illustrated with large type, Little Simon's young chapter books let young readers feel like they are reading a “grown-up” format with subject, text, and illustrations geared specifically for their own age groups!

Eight-year-old Eugene McGillicudy is an imaginative boy who loves comic books and superheroes. Eugene also has his very own supersecret superhero alter ego named Captain Awesome. MI-TEE!

When the McGillicudy family relocates to a new town called Sunnyview, Eugene starts a new school, finds a best friend, and even finds time to defend his toys from his two-year-old little sister, Molly! Luckily for Sunnyview, Captain Awesome is there to protect the town (and the universe) from a hilarious cast of comical “bad guys.”

With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, the Captain Awesome chapter books are perfect for beginning readers.

Age Level: 5 and up

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Kindle Daily Deals 5/29

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Next Word.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Under the Lake ($1.99), a stand-alone thriller by Stuart Woods [Simon and Schuster], with the companion audiobook for $3.99.
Book Description
A mesmerizing psychological thriller about the dark underside of a Southern town and its inhabitants.

In the beautiful mountains of North Georgia lies a lake built by an obsessed man at a terrible price. This placid body of water has brought prosperity to an isolated community, and with it, two strangers who intermingle with the insular local folk, strangers probing into crimes against nature from generations past that cannot remain submerged beneath the waters' surface.

Under the Lake marks the eagerly awaited return to the South of his Edgar Award-winning novel Chiefs. John Howell, once a top investigative journalist, comes to this backcountry town on the run from a once promising personal and professional life that has somehow gone sour. What he finds is a mystery so deep, so complex, so bizarre, that he cannot concentrate on the book he has come here to write.

The story begins with his entanglement in a subtle, but relentless battle waged by the autocratic town father and the local sheriff against an outcast family, ravaged by its origins. Howell is further drawn in by his involvement with two women - an ambitious young reporter on the prowl for corruption, and a shy backwoods beauty, forsaken by the world because of her family's ill kept secret. Then, without warning, visits from an otherworldly young girl haunt Howell as his rustic cabin becomes a spectral theater offering strange and frightening images of a hideous event of long ago.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Anew ($0.99), the first novel in the YA Archers of Avalon series by Chelsea Fine [self-pub/"Firefall Publishing"]. Each of the books in this series has a hundred or more 5-star reviews (and nearly no negative reviews), plus continuing with the series is reasonably priced: Awry ($2.99) and Avow ($3.99).
Book Description
Three curses. Two brothers. One love triangle.

Sometimes love is meant to be. But sometimes...love is the death of you.

Fans of The Vampire Diaries and Once Upon A Time will fall head over heels for the desperate characters and endless mysteries in Anew!

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Seven Kinds of Hell ($1.99), the first novel in the brand-new Fangborn series by Dana Cameron [47North], with the companion audiobook also $1.99. This is the type of novel I'd pick up when browsing at the bookstore just on the strength of the cover and probably buy to take home after reading the blurb on the back or only a page or two from the front; I read more of the sample than that and it has joined my TBR pile.
Book Description
Archaeologist Zoe Miller has been running from a haunting secret her whole life. But when her cousin is abducted by a vicious Russian kidnapper, Zoe is left with only one option: to reveal herself.

Unknown to even her closest friends, Zoe is not entirely human. She’s a werewolf and a daughter of the “Fangborn,” a secretive race of werewolves, vampires, and oracles embroiled in an ancient war against evil.

To rescue her cousin, Zoe will be forced to renew family ties and pit her own supernatural abilities against the dark and nefarious foe. The hunt brings Zoe to the edge of her limits, and with the fate of humanity and the Fangborn in the balance, life will be decided by an artifact of world-ending power.

Zoe’s mission takes her and her friends across the globe on a frenetic quest for no less than Pandora’s Box.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is The Dyno-Mite Dog Show ($1.99), by Louise Bonnett-Rampersaud [Two Lions].
Book Description
Knock. Knock. Listen up! Agnes and The Secret Knock Club are doing a community service project at The Brookside Retirement Village. But will the dog show (and canine wedding) be a success? Or a dog-gone disaster? Especially after Principal Not-Such-a-Joy’s dog goes missing

The author of The Dyno-Mite Dog Show has donated this book to the Worldreader program.

Age Level: 6 and up; Grade Level: 1 and up

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Kindle Daily Deals 5/28

Amazon has finally matched today's Nook Daily Find: Graveminder ($10.96 $1.99), by Melissa Marr [HarperCollins]. Grab it before it goes back up!

Today's Gold Box at Amazon is 42% off "Injustice: Gods Among Us", a video game for all platforms and it's video games all day long in the Lightning Deals.

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Relax Melodies Premium: A White Noise Ambience For Sleep, Meditation & Yoga.

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is TimeRiders: Day of the Predator ($2.99), by Alex Scarrow [Walker Childrens]. This is the second novel in the TimeRiders series, which has been nominated by Puffin as BEST ADVENTURE FANTASY in their recent BEST SEVENTY CHILDREN'S BOOKS OF ALL TIME press release; if you haven't started it, the first in the series is also on sale for $2.99. This is a pretty good series (and not in any of the libraries I belong to, nor on sale often); this particular volume has only one review below 4 stars (excluding the one-star review said it was "awesome", which usually indicates someone that didn't understand the stars system).

If you like this series, be sure to check out his self-published (and new) Ellie Quin series, which has two novels at $1.99 and the third at $2.99 right now.
Book Description
Liam O'Connor, Maddy Carter, and Sal Vikram all should have died. But instead, they have been given a second chance-to work for an agency that no one knows exists. The TimeRiders' mission: to prevent time travel from destroying history-and the future. . . . When Maddy mistakenly opens a time window where and when she shouldn't, Liam is marooned sixty-five million years in the past, in the hunting ground of a deadly, and until now undiscovered, species of prehistoric predator. Can Liam make contact with Maddy and Sal before he's hunted down by dinosaurs, and without changing history so much that the world is overtaken by a terrifying new reality? The second book in the thrilling TimeRiders series is just as fast-paced, intelligent, and mind-bending as the first.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is all four books in the Righteous series by Michael Wallace for $0.99 apiece [Thomas & Mercer]; all have companion audiobooks for $1.99 apiece, as well. I have the first three in the series and will be grabbing the fourth today.

The Righteous (companion audiobook $1.99)
Deep in the Utah desert, the small polygamous community of Blister Creek has a history of protecting its own. Even when a young woman is brutally murdered just blocks from her home, the residents of the conservative enclave close ranks. But just because they don’t want outside law enforcement in their business doesn’t mean the murder will go unpunished. More than a thousand miles away, Jacob Christianson, a medical student and son of a devout church elder, learns of his cousin Amanda’s murder. Though Jacob is skeptical of many of the community’s fundamentalist beliefs, his sharply analytical mind and family connection to the victim earns him the assignment of investigator into Amanda’s death. Jacob heads to Blister Creek, accompanied by his inquisitive younger sister, Eliza, to probe the bizarre circumstances of their cousin’s violent death. It doesn’t take long for the pair to realize that Amanda’s murder was no random act; rather, it is part of a covert plot to overthrow the church’s leaders. Chilling and engrossing, The Righteous has been hailed as a “first rate suspense thriller,” a tightly plotted novel about the dark secrets hiding behind the veil of religion.
Mighty and Strong (companion audiobook $1.99)
For years Jacob Christianson struggled to reconcile his faith with his skepticism about the polygamous practices of his religious community. That doubt, combined with a sharp analytical mind, enabled him to solve the ritualistic murder of his cousin at the hands of bloodthirsty fundamentalists within their own church. Now, those experiences have captured the attention of the FBI, who come to Jacob with an unusual request: infiltrate a millennialist cult and extract the undercover agent who has fallen off the radar. Jacob reluctantly agrees, but it doesn’t take long to realize that his mission will be easier said than done. Impatient and unwilling to heed Jacob’s warnings, the FBI closes in, forcing a power play with the dangerous cultists—with Jacob and his family caught squarely in the middle. Tense and engaging, Mighty and Strong offers “an in-depth ride into a world few have entered,” a page-turning foray into the realm of religious extremists and the lengths to which they will go to defend their beliefs.
The Wicked (companion audiobook $1.99)
Growing up in a conservative polygamous community, Eliza Christianson was a young woman of faith who could never quite wrap her mind around the fundamentalist aspects of her religion. Thanks to her older brother Jacob, she managed to survive adolescence unmarried, even enrolling in classes at the University of Utah. Eliza always suspected God had more in store for her than just to be some man’s third or fourth wife; nonetheless, she is surprised when Allison Caliari seeks her out for help. Allison’s daughter Madeline has been recruited by a doomsday cult led by a cruel man known only as the Disciple, and she wants Eliza’s help to get the girl back. One of the few leads Allison can offer is a fateful one: Jacob and Eliza’s brother David, a “lost boy” shunned by the church. Eliza sets out to convince David to help her infiltrate the cult, and she ventures to an abandoned dumping ground in the Las Vegas desert to rescue Madeline. The third installment of Michael Wallace’s enthralling Righteous series, The Wicked tears off the veil of religious fanaticism as seen through the eyes of an extraordinary heroine.
The Blessed and the Damned (companion audiobook $1.99)
As the son of the prophet of Blister Creek, a polygamous enclave in Utah, Dr. Jacob Christianson has struggled for years to reconcile his faith with his skepticism about the fundamentalist practices of his community. Nevertheless, when his family and neighbors were threatened, Jacob stepped up time and again to lead the fight against those who would destroy them. Now Jacob and the residents of Blister Creek face a dangerous new challenge to their quiet existence. Taylor Kimball Jr. wants to take over as prophet of Blister Creek—and he wants Jacob’s sister Eliza by his side when he does it. With no room for personal reservations, Jacob forms a tenuous alliance with his father and the FBI. But Taylor Junior is as crafty as he is brutal, anticipating Jacob’s plan and drawing him out to leave Blister Creek vulnerable to attack. And this time Taylor has come prepared, with a horrific new weapon capable of annihilating Blister Creek. If he has any chance of winning this fight, Jacob will have to decide, once and for all, just how far he is willing to go to protect his community. The fourth in Michael Wallace’s riveting Righteous series, The Blessed and the Damned raises the stakes in Jacob’s world to dizzying new heights.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is The Last Cowboy ($1.99), the fourth novel in the Jackson Hole series by Lindsay McKenna [Harlequin Mira].
Book Description
City girl. It was written all over her like a sign warning him to keep off. Sure, Slade McPherson would train her horse…With his ranch one bad day away from foreclosure, he can't afford to turn away a paying customer. But no way is this cowboy getting involved with a woman like Jordana Lawton—no matter how pretty she looks in a saddle.

Yet everything can change in an instant. A terrifying run-in with an angry bull tilts Slade's world off its axis, leaving him wounded and unable to compete in a race that could change his future, for good. With Jordana by his side, he just might stand a chance. But what happens when this old-school cowboy finds himself falling for a modern city girl?

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Expedition to Earth ($1.99), a short story collection by Arthur C. Clarke [RosettaBooks].
Book Description
This collection of Clarke’s work was originally published in 1953, when it was selected as one of the best science fiction books of the year by Boucher and McComas. It contains many short stories that would later become classics, including “The Sentinel”—the basis for the later classic 2001: A Space Odyssey.

These stories present a brilliant showcase of Clarke’s many-layered approach to the moral dilemmas of scientific advancement—from the thrilling and brutal “Breaking Strain” to the more poetic and thoughtful “Second Dawn.” This collection represents a tour-de-force of science fiction storytelling sure to delight fans of Clarke’s work and the SF genre.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Daily Deal - Stripper: The Fringe (DF)

Stripper ($5.50 $4.24 Kindle), the fourth novel in The Fringe series by Anitra Lynn McLeod [Samhain Publishing], is today's Deal of the Day at at Diesel E-Books, where it's discounted to $1.10 (9 copies left).
Book Description
The woman he can’t forget…a betrayal that must be forgiven.

Duster Jennings loves his job as master-of-arms on Windmere, the only independent planet in the galaxy. Except he has no life. Not since his dream of a large, loving family was ripped to shreds by Diane Black. The woman who abandoned him.

Desperate to move on, Duster pays a fortune to board a courtesan ship and hire a “stripper”—a specialist in erasing unwanted memories. Except when he wakes up, his memories are intact, his money is gone…and the woman he vowed to forget is holding him captive.

When Diane Black discovers her mysterious client is Duster, she’s overjoyed to learn he’s still alive—and unsure what to do with him now. Seven years ago her mission was to kill him. Instead she fell in love. If the network finds out she let him go, it won’t be just her and Duster’s necks in the noose.

Duster’s fury knows no bounds…and damn it, neither does the lust that still burns for her. But when their ship is attacked, survival means trusting each other with their backs—even if they can no longer trust their hearts.

Warning: Contains a knife-wielding hero overcoming a crackleseed addiction, a heroine with a secret skill and a more secret past, bitter betrayals, burning lusts, and bulging canvas trousers.
Get the book from Diesel; be sure to check the sales price, as the Deal of the Day often sells out.

Kindle Daily Deals 5/27

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Ruzzle, a word game you can play with friends or strangers on the internet.

Today is the last day to take advantage of The Kindle Big Deal.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Charmed ($0.99), by Inés Saint [Crimson Romance].
Book Description
Jamie Sullivan is a widowed mother of twin five-year old boys. A creative goldsmith with her own line of designer charms, she is determined to forge her own unique brand of success. Jamie guards a painful secret that leads her to be emphatic about not letting a man into her life: on the day of her late husband's funeral, she found out he was cheating on her.

Nick Grey is the gorgeous, charming, and daydream-inducing headmaster of the private elementary school Jamie's children will attend. After single-handedly bringing up his daughter while earning his doctorate and proving himself to the school's board of directors and the community, he feels burned out. Come the end of the semester, Nick is taking a year off to travel the world. When they meet, an instant attraction blazes through both. But Nick's not sure he's interested in starting over and raising kids again and Jamie's not sure she can trust her heart. Will they be able to nurture their attraction into something that can last forever?

Sensuality Level: Behind Closed Doors

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Five James Patterson Thrillers for $2.99 apiece [Hachette]. Unless you are quite the avid collector of his books, there is probably at least one in this group that you are missing (two for me).

Honeymoon by James Patterson and Howard Roughan
How does it feel to be desired by every man and envied by every woman? Wonderful. This is the life Nora Sinclair has dreamed about, the life she's worked hard for, the life she will never give up. Meet Nora Sinclair.

When FBI agent John O'Hara first sees her, she seems perfect. She has the looks. The career. The clothes. The wit. The sophistication. The tantalizing sex appeal. The whole extraordinary package - and men fall in line to court her. She doesn't just attract men, she enthralls them. If you dare.

So why is the FBI so interested in Nora Sinclair? Mysterious things keep happening to people around her, especially the men. And there is something dangerous about Nora when Agent O'Hara looks closer - something that lures him at the same time that it fills him with fear. Is there something dark hidden among the unexplained gaps in her past? And as he spends more and more time getting to know her, is he pursuing justice? Or his own fatal obsession?

With the irresistible attraction of the greatest Hitchcock thrillers, Honeymoon is a sizzling, twisting tale of a woman with a deadly appetite and the men who dare to fall for her
The Beach House by James Patterson and Peter de Jonge
Jack Mullen is in law school in New York City when the shocking news comes that his brother Peter has drowned in the ocean off East Hampton. Jack knows his brother and knows this couldn't be an accident. Someone must have wanted his brother dead. But the powers that be say otherwise. As Jack tries to uncover details of his brothers last night, he confronts a barricade of lawyers, police, and paid protectors who separate the multi-billionaire summer residents from local workers like Peter. And he learns that his brother wasn't just parking cars at the summer parties of the rich. He was making serious money satisfying the sexual needs of the richest women and men in town. THE BEACH HOUSE reveals the secret lives of celebrities in a breathtaking drama of revenge - with a finale so shocking it could only have come from the mind of James Patterson.
Lifeguard by James Patterson and Andrew Gross
The danger isn't in the water.

Working as a lifeguard at a Florida resort, Ned Kelly meets a woman he is wild about, the woman of his dreams. It feels perfect in every way - except that she is used to caviar and Manolo Blahniks, and he is used to burgers and flip-flops. She is a guest at the luxurious hotel - he lives above a garage.

So when Ned's cousin offers to cut him in on a rich deal he's been commissioned to execute, Ned can't turn him down. The plan is simple, just a fast break-and-enter. The risk is high, and the reward is even greater--$5 million. But on the night of the heist, something goes devastatingly wrong. Who will save the lifeguard?

Ned walks away from his job, his town, and the woman he's fallen in love with. Runs away, actually, knowing that only velocity and secrecy can save his life. But who is pursuing him? The FBI? Whoever sabotaged the heist? Or is it all somehow tied into his new love - and his oldest enemies?
Beach Road by James Patterson and Peter de Jonge
Montauk lawyer Tom Dunleavy's client list is woefully small - occasional real estate closings barely keep him in paper clips. When he is hired to defend a local man accused in a triple murder that has the East Hampton world in an uproar, he knows that he has found the case of his lifetime.

The crime turns the glittering playground for the super-rich into a blazing inferno. Dunleavy's client is a local hero, but Dunleavy knows the case rests atop a volcano of money, deception, and forbidden desires. His client is the perfect fall guy - unless he can find the key that unlocks the secret rooms of the gilt-shrouded set.

When Dunleavy is joined by his former flame, the savvy and well-connected attorney, Kate Costello, he believes he has a chance. But payback is a bitch - especially from the rich. The violent retaliations of billionaires threatened by his investigation exceed anything Dunleavy has ever seen. With the entire nation's eyes on him in a new Trial of the Century, Dunleavy orchestrates a series of revelations that lead to a stunning outcome - only to find afterward that the truth is wilder than anything he ever imagined.
Sail by James Patterson and Howard Roughan
Since the death of her husband, Anne Dunne and her three children have struggled in every way. In a last ditch effort to save the family, Anne plans an elaborate sailing vacation to bring everyone together once again. But only an hour out of port, everything is going wrong. The teenage daughter, Carrie, is planning to drown herself. The teenage son, Mark, is high on drugs and ten-year-old Ernie is nearly catatonic. This is the worst vacation ever.
Anne manages to pull things together bit by bit, but just as they begin feeling like a family again, something catastrophic happens. Survival may be the least of their concerns.

Written with the blistering pace and shocking twists that only James Patterson can master, SAIL takes "Lost" and "Survivor" to a new level of terror.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is If I had a Little Boat ($0.99), by Calee Lee [Xist Publishing - join their newsletter and get a free book!].
Book Description
If you had a little red boat, what would you do with it?

Where would it go?

Who would it meet?

Great for bedtime or beginning readers, this rhyming picture book features mesmerizing images and simple, rhythmic text.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is The Black Knight Chronicles ($1.99), by John G. Hartness [Bell Bridge Books]. This is an omnibus edition that contains all three novels in the series and for less that what I paid to get just one in the series (and considerably less than the individual titles are selling for now). John is one of the authors I ran into at the last LibertyCon (and signed my nook tablet); hopefully he'll be there this year, as well (everyone else is welcome, too, of course!).
Book Description
The Black Knight Chronicles: Lots of Vampires. No Sparkles. Serious Snark.

BOOK ONE: HARD DAY’S KNIGHT
Children are missing.
The police are stumped.
Halloween is coming, and an ancient evil is on the horizon.
The vampires are the good guys.

This is not your ordinary fall weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina. Vampire private detectives Jimmy Black and Greg Knightwood have been hired to save a client from being cursed for all eternity, but end up in a bigger mess than they ever imagined.

Suddenly trapped in the middle of a serial kidnapping case, Jimmy and Greg uncover a plot to bring forth an ancient evil. Soon, they’ve enlisted the help of a police detective, a priest, a witch, a fallen angel and a strip club proprietor to save the world. This unlikely band of heroes battles zombies, witches, neuroses and sunburn while cracking jokes and looking for the perfect bag of O-negative.

BOOK TWO: BACK IN BLACK
Vampire detectives Jimmy Black and Greg Knightwood investigate a series of assaults plaguing the alleys of Charlotte, North Carolina. The string of hate crimes becomes personal when Jimmy’s just-maybe-main-squeeze Detective Sabrina Law’s cousin is attacked. Helping a lady out could get the boys killed when they end up in Faerie. Before long, they’re up to their butts in trolls, dark fae and a grand battle royale. The odds are against them, but to the boys, this is just another day on the night shift—if the night shift included a steel cage match of supernaturals.

BOOK THREE: KNIGHT MOVES
Et tu, Vampire? The boys discover they may be tied to a string of serial killings at the college and that they suddenly aren’t the only vampire game in town.

The vampire count in Charlotte is at least three. Or more. As far as the unhappy boys are concerned, anything more than two is a crowd not to be tolerated.

While tracking down the killer and the competition, they encounter coeds, booby traps (not related to the coeds) and a hirsute bounty hunter with a moon fetish and a bad attitude. To catch the killer, Jimmy will have to survive a dive headfirst into the great unwashed horde of Dorkdom (game night at the local comic shop).

What’s a red-blood-drinking vampire to do? His job. Again.

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Kindle Daily Deals 5/26

It's the next to last day to take advantage of the Kindle Big Deal, with more than 500 books up to 87% off.

The Die Hard: 25th Anniversary Collection [Blu-ray] is currently 58%; get all four movies for the price of one. Plus, this week only, get Arrested Development: Seasons 1-3 on DVD for only $24.99

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Hearts Unleashed ($2.99), the third novel in the Second Acts contemporary romance series by Julia Dumont [BroadLit].
Book Description
Cynthia Amas, matchmaking guru to everyone but herself, has just opened the new offices of her highly personalized boutique dating service in Hollywood, California. One of her new clients——a gorgeous, well-connected, uber-rich widow——comes in search of a new lease on life in the form of no less than a social and sexual reawakening. The story moves across the endlessly entertaining landscape of Los Angeles——from an astonishingly erotic art exhibit to a decidedly intoxicating voyage with a wildly attractive crew of love and lust seekers via a luxury yacht up the Southern California coast.

Colorful supporting characters in this sensuous and deliciously convoluted farce include Cynthia’s best friend Lolita and her ever-mystifying pack of talented dogs; Paloma, Cynthia’s beautiful young assistant; a passionate new import from Dublin named Seamus O’Brien; baddest-of-bad-boy ex-lovers Max; and superstar screen idol Jack Stone...all seemingly hell-bent on complicating the matters of the heart beyond belief. Meanwhile, Cynthia’s lovably eccentric mother has run off to Italy with one of the biggest philanderers in Hollywood.

Throughout it all, Cynthia attempts to maintain a long distance affair with her own possible once-in-a-lifetime true love match, but as she encounters the sensual on-the-job temptations of a life in the romance business, it all seems to be slipping through her fingers.

Love and lust stir up jealousies and romantic entanglements that come to a passionate and hilarious climax, leaving the reader breathless from laughter and pretty much every other emotion.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is 11 classic novels by Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Margaret Mitchell, John Irving, and more, for only $1.99 apiece. These are classic, but not public-domain classics, as they are generally still under copyright (at least in the US) and are published by Simon and Schuster and HarperCollins.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is The Body Departed ($0.99), by ex–private investigator J.R. Rain [Thomas & Mercer]. With dozens of his novels in my library, many in omnibus form, from before he was picked up by the Amazon imprint, it took me a while to determine that I did have this one in my library already (in the L.A. Rain omnibus). Now to decide, do I want the improved editing of the new edition....
Book Description
When a killer broke into James Blakely’s apartment and fired twelve bullets into his body, it was the end of James’s life—but just the beginning of his journey to redemption. Sentenced to burn in hell for a crime he cannot remember, James is given the choice to proceed immediately to the afterlife or haunt the world of the living in search of his killer. Electing to return to Earth as a ghost, he attempts to solve the mystery of his own murder, visits the living—starting with his daughter and ex-wife—and confronts the sins in his past that put him on the fast track to eternal damnation.

With the help of a world-class medium, James begins to make progress. Forgiveness is possible, it seems, for a good man who made some bad choices. But with the memories of his life on Earth fading out one by one and his ghost body rapidly disintegrating, James faces the very real prospect of vanishing completely before he learns the devastating secret that kept his soul from achieving its true potential.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Heidi Heckelbeck Has a Secret ($0.99), by Wanda Coven [Simon and Schuster].
Book Description
Introducing Heidi Heckelbeck—a brand-new young chapter-book series with witchy whimsy!

Now readers between the ages of five and seven can read chapter books tailor-made for a younger level of reading comprehension. Heavily illustrated with large type, Little Simon's young chapter books let young readers feel like they are reading a “grown-up” format with subject, text, and illustrations geared specifically for their own age groups!

Heidi Heckelbeck seems like any other eight-year-old, but she has a secret: She’s a witch in disguise. Careful to keep her powers hidden (but excited to use them all the same), Heidi’s learning to live like any other kid—who just happens to be witch. And with easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, Heidi Heckelbeck chapter books are perfect for beginning readers.

Heidi and her brother Henry have always been homeschooled—until now. But Heidi is not happy about attending Brewster Elementary, especially not when meanie Melanie Maplethorpe turns Heidi’s first day of school into a nightmare by announcing that Heidi is smelly and ruining her art project. Heidi feels horrible and never wants to go back to school—but while sulking in her room at home, she remembers her special medallion and Book of Spells. With a little bit of carefully concealed magic, Heidi might be able to give Melanie a taste of her own medicine….

Age Level: 5 and up

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Kindle Daily Deals 5/25

Today's Gold Box at Amazon is 45% Off Rosetta Stone Level 1-5 Sets.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Heaven's Prisoners ($0.99), the second novel in James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux Mysteries series [Pocket Books/Simon and Schuster].
Book Description
Vietnam vet Dave Robicheaux has turned in his detective's badge, is winning his battle against booze, and has left New Orleans with his wife for the tranquil beauty of Louisiana's bayous. But a plane crash on the Gulf brings a young girl into his life -- and with her comes a netherworld of murder, deception, and homegrown crime. Suddenly Robicheaux is confronting Bubba Rocque, a brutal hood he's known since childhood; Rocque's hungry Cajun wife; and a federal agent with more guts than sense. In a backwater world where a swagger and a gun go further than the law, Robicheaux and those he loves are caught on a tide of violence far bigger than them all....

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Along Came a Duke ($0.99), the first novel in the Rhymes With Love series by Elizabeth Boyle [HarperCollins].
Book Description
New York Times bestselling RITA® Award winner Elizabeth Boyle is a wonder, and with Along Came a Duke—the first book in her delectable Rhymes with Love series based on well-known nursery rhymes—she proves once more that no one writes wittier, more endearing and original historical romance.

Returning once more to England during the colorful Regency Era, Boyle transports readers to the small town of Kempton, where a local curse prevents the female residents from wedding—a fact that cannot deter a plucky young heiress who needs to marry to inherit her fortune, as she strikes out for London to wed a rakish and unsuspecting duke. Funny, touching, and wonderfully sensuous, Along Came a Duke is a prime example of the exceptional romantic magic that puts Elizabeth Boyle in the same master class as Lisa Kleypas and Christina Dodd.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Triplet ($1.99), by Timothy Zahn [Open Road], which is also today's Nook Daily Find.
Book Description
For one researcher, Triplet is a marvel promising both advanced technology and magic. But a world of sinister secrets lurks just below the surface . . .

Grad student Danae Panya’s dream assignment has been approved. She’ll study Triplet, the strange planetary system scarred by nuclear war and connected through portals. The most experienced Courier of Triplet, Ravagin, will lead her to its hidden worlds—Threshold, Shamsheer, and Karyx—and introduce her to their secrets, including their advanced technology, their dark magic, and the captivating demon culture of the innermost planet. But though they begin their journey with only scholarly research in mind, Danae and Ravagin quickly find themselves embroiled in the menacing dynamics roiling throughout Triplet. Will Ravagin be able to get them both out alive?

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Lucy Cousins' Maisy picture books for $1.99 each [Candlewick Press]. Age Level: 2 and up.

Maisy Goes to the Library
Maisy likes going to the library. She loves to read a book in a nice, quiet place. Today, Maisy wants to read a book about fish, but she can only find books about birds or tigers. So she explores some of the other things to do in the library, like using the computer, making copies, listening to music, or looking at fish in the aquarium. Aha! Finally Maisy finds a sparkly book all about fish. But just as she settles into a corner to read, along come Cyril, Tallulah, Eddie, and Ostrich — and they all have noisier activities on their minds!
Maisy Goes to Preschool

Preschool for Maisy means a day filled with friends and things to do, from the time she hangs her coat on a special peg to the time she says good-bye. There’s painting and snack time, stories and nap time (and a bathroom break in between). Soon everyone’s ready to haul out the instruments and make some noise, then head outside for a turn at the sandbox or slide. In a bright, full-size storybook full of familiar scenes, this child-friendly look at a day in the life of a preschooler is one that newcomers and seasoned pros alike will be happy to share.
Maisy Goes on Vacation
How exciting! Maisy has put her sun hat, pajamas, toothbrush, and camera into a bag, and she’s off to the train station with Panda and Cyril. They’re headed for the seashore, but getting there is only half the fun. Coloring and snacks help pass the time on the ride to the beach, where Maisy can’t wait to swim, collect seashells, build sandcastles, and lots more. At nighttime it feels special to go to bed in a hotel—knowing that tomorrow another vacation day awaits!

Nook Daily Find 5/25

Triplet ($7.99 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), by Timothy Zahn [Open Road], is the Nook Daily Find; it's likely to be price matched on Kindle later today. If you are a SciFi fan and don't have this one, you'll want to pick it up today.
Book Description
For one researcher, Triplet is a marvel promising both advanced technology and magic. But a world of sinister secrets lurks just below the surface . . .

Grad student Danae Panya’s dream assignment has been approved. She’ll study Triplet, the strange planetary system scarred by nuclear war and connected through portals. The most experienced Courier of Triplet, Ravagin, will lead her to its hidden worlds—Threshold, Shamsheer, and Karyx—and introduce her to their secrets, including their advanced technology, their dark magic, and the captivating demon culture of the innermost planet. But though they begin their journey with only scholarly research in mind, Danae and Ravagin quickly find themselves embroiled in the menacing dynamics roiling throughout Triplet. Will Ravagin be able to get them both out alive?

Friday, May 24, 2013

Kindle Daily Deals 5/24

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Cut the Rope: Experiments, another favorite game of mine. I haven't played it yet, but I also just spotted TETRIS® Blitz, by Electronic Arts, which released yesterday; it's also free, so I'll be giving it a try.

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is No and Me ($1.99), by Delphine de Vigan [Bloomsbury USA Childrens], with the companion audiobook for $2.99.
Book Description
Parisian teenager Lou has an IQ of 160, OCD tendencies, and a mother who has suffered from depression for years. But Lou is about to change her life-and that of her parents-all because of a school project about homeless teens. While doing research, Lou meets No, a teenage girl living on the streets. As their friendship grows, Lou bravely asks her parents if No can live with them, and is astonished when they agree. No's presence forces Lou's family to come to terms with a secret tragedy. But can this shaky, newfound family continue to live together when No's own past comes back to haunt her?Winner of the prestigious Booksellers' Prize in France, No and Me is a timely and thought-provoking novel about homelessness that has far-reaching appeal.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West ($2.99), by Dee Brown [Open Road], with the companion audiobook is $3.99.
Book Description
Dee Brown’s powerful and unforgettable classic that awakened the world to the nineteenth-century decimation of American Indian tribes

First published in 1970, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee generated shockwaves with its frank and heartbreaking depiction of the systematic annihilation of American Indian tribes across the western frontier. In this nonfiction account, Dee Brown focuses on the betrayals, battles, and massacres suffered by American Indians between 1860 and 1890. He tells of the many tribes and their renowned chiefs—from Geronimo to Red Cloud, Sitting Bull to Crazy Horse—who struggled to combat the destruction of their people and culture.

Forcefully written and meticulously researched, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee inspired a generation to take a second look at how the West was won.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of Dee Brown including rare photos from the author’s personal collection.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is When Sparks Fly ($0.99), by Autumn Dawn [Montlake Romance], which Romantic Times calls "a detective thriller heavily spiced with romance".
Book Description
Polaris just got a little hotter.

Perhaps it was his wild black hair and indigo eyes, or maybe it was his enigmatic aura, but there was something about Hyna Blue that drew Gem. The man had clearly done hard labor, his cybernetic implants gave him increased strength, but he was no longer whole...and now he was getting drunk in her tavern. Yes, Hyna Blue aroused instincts both carnal and nurturing. Gem's blood had been fiery to start with. Blue heated it even more.

Of course, since the planet of Polaris discovered its trainum mine, things were hot all over. Prosperity had blown in on a solar wind, along with many disreputable types, the least deceptive of which were the shape-shifting aliens. The ruined beauty of one patron and his drunken proposals were the least of Gem's worries--and perhaps her one solace. Like her father had named it long ago, this inn was The Spark. Gem had to survive the blaze.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Night Blade ($1.99), the second novel in the Colbana Files series by J.C. Daniels (aka Shiloh Walker). This just released in March, so check your libraries for the first in the series, Blade Song, which was a 99 cent deal in February.
Book Description
Kit Colbana is always biting off more than she can chew. She has a knack for finding trouble. This time, though, trouble finds her. Someone from her past drops a case into her lap that she just can’t refuse…literally.

People on the Council are dying left and right and she’s been requested to investigate the deaths. The number one suspect? Her lover, Damon. If she doesn’t clear his name, he gets a death sentence. Even if she succeeds? They still might try to execute him. Oh, and she’s not allowed to tell him about the case, either.

The stakes are high this time around, higher than they’ve ever been. Kit may be forced to pay the ultimate price to save her lover’s life…a price that could destroy her and everything she loves.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Kindle Daily Deals 5/23

The current Amazon Lightning Deal is for the pinkest external hard drive I've ever seen (and at a pretty decent price). Upcoming deals this morning are going to be for Pink and Blue versions of the VTech InnoTab 2S Wi-Fi Learning App Tablet, a tablet designed just for very young kids (including big bumper to protect it and the kids).

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Fruit Ninja, a long time favorite of mine.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Ricochet ($1.99), by New York Times Bestelling Author Sandra Brown [Simon and Schuster]. This has a starred review from Publishers Weekly and Booklist says it is a must read, so I imagine it'll be joining my TBR list sometime today.
Book Description
SANDRA BROWN IS BACK WITH A SPINE-TINGLING STORY OF MURDER AND BETRAYAL -- AND A HOMICIDE DETECTIVE'S STRUGGLE WITH HIS OWN RULES OF CONDUCT.

When Detective Sergeant Duncan Hatcher is summoned to the home of Judge Cato Laird in the middle of the night to investigate a fatal shooting, he knows that discretion and kid-glove treatment are the keys to staying in the judge's good graces and keeping his job.

At first glance, the case appears open-and-shut: Elise, the judge's trophy wife, interrupted a burglary in progress and killed the intruder in self-defense. But Duncan is immediately suspicious of Elise's innocent act. His gut feeling is that her account of the shooting is only partially true -- and it's the parts she's leaving out that bother him.

Determined to learn the dead man's connection to the Lairds and get at the truth, Duncan investigates further and quickly finds his career, as well as his integrity, in jeopardy -- because he can't deny his increasing attraction to Elise Laird, even if she is a married woman, a proven liar, and a murder suspect.

When Elise seeks Duncan out privately and makes an incredible allegation, he initially dismisses it as the manipulative lie of a guilty woman. But what if she's telling the truth? Then that single fatal gunshot at her home takes on even more sinister significance, possibly involving Duncan's nemesis, the brutal crime lord Robert Savich.

And then Elise goes missing . . .

Ricochet's plot twists -- as only Sandra Brown can write them -- and palpable suspense combine to create this gripping thriller, in which a decent cop's worst enemy may be his own conscience, and trusting the wrong person could mean the difference between life and death.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Kitty ($1.99), a Regency Romance by Marion Chesney aka M.C. Beaton [RosettaBooks].
Book Description
In any given glittering social season, Edwardian London’s dizzying whirl had its share of surprises. The latest was Kitty Harrison, once achingly poor, suddenly an heiress and now, thanks to her determined mother, she was about to become a Baroness. From the moment Kitty set eyes on Lord Chesworth, she found him to be the most exciting man she had ever laid eyes on. But Kitty was young, innocent, and easily dazzled. She did not even question the motives of the dashing bachelor who swore he loved her even as he courted the scandalously beautiful Mrs. Jackson. All too soon Kitty’s dream of marriage became a nightmare; someone was trying to kill her. Adrift in a sea of deception, Kitty soon realized that to save her life and win the only man she had ever loved, she would have to learn to play the game, only this time, her way: smarter… better… and for keeps.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Lud-in-the-Mist ($0.99), by Hope Mirrlees.
Book Description
The book that New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman considers "one of the finest [fantasy novels] in the English language"

Between the mountains and the sea, between the sea and Fairyland, lay the Free State of Dorimare and its picturesque capital, Lud-in-the-Mist. No Luddite ever had any truck with fairies or Fairyland. Bad business, those fairies. The people of Dorimare had run them out generations ago--and the Duke of Dorimare along with them.

Until the spring of his fiftieth year, Master Nathaniel Chanticleer, Mayor of Lud-in-the-Mist and High Seneschal of Dorimare, had lived a sleepy life with his only son, Ranulph. But as he grew, Ranulph was more and more fond of talking nonsense about golden cups, and snow-white ladies milking azure cows, and the sound of tinkling bridles at midnight. And when Ranulph was twelve, he got caught up with the fairies, and Nathaniel's life would never be the same.

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is Going Underground ($2.99), by Susan Vaught [Bloomsbury USA Childrens]. It looks like a must-read both for younger teens (before they get caught up in the same problem) and for those who don't understand why this particular law needs to be changed, all wrapped up in a novel package. The one negative review thinks that a teen conviction of sexting won't follow you into adulthood, but that is sadly mistaken; many (most?) states brand juveniles as sex offenders and require registration for life and it isn't unusual for teens to be tried as adults these days (even some pre-teens and I've read of one state trying it for a child as young as 9, although for a more violent offense).
Book Description
Del is a good kid who's been caught in horrible circumstances. When we meet him, he is 17, trying to put his life together after an incident in his past that made him a social outcast - and a felon. As a result, he can't get into college; the only job he can get is digging graves; and when he finally meets a girl he might fall in love with, there's a whole sea of complications that threaten to bring the world crashing down around him again.

But what has Del done? In flashbacks to Del's 14th year, we slowly learn the truth: his girlfriend texted him a revealing photo of herself, a teacher confiscated his phone, and soon the police were involved.

Basing her story on real-life cases of teens being charged with sex crimes for texting explicit photos, Susan Vaught has created a moving portrait of an immensely likable young character caught up in a highly controversial legal scenario.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Kindle Daily Deals 5/22

Today's Gold Box at Amazon is Up to 60% Off Select PetSafe, Drinkwell, Greenies, and Premier Summer Essentials and there are Pet Lightning Deals all day long.

Today is the last day to take advantage of this AmazonLocal deal:

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is The Anti-Prom ($1.99), by Abby McDonald [Candlewick].
Book Description
They’ve spent years at the same high school without speaking a word to one another, but that’s all about to change. Popular Bliss was having the perfect prom until she found her BFF and boyfriend making out in the back of a limo. Bad girl Jolene wouldn’t be caught dead at the prom, yet here she is, trussed up in pink ruffles, risking her reputation for some guy - some guy who is forty minutes late. And shy, studious, über-planner Meg never counted on her date’s standing her up and leaving her idling in the parking lot outside the prom. Get ready for The Anti-Prom, Abby McDonald’s hilarious, heart-tugging tale about three girls and one unforgettable prom night.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is an Amazon exclusive translation of Dust Angel ($1.99), by Jutta Profijt and Erik J. Macki (Translator) [AmazonCrossing], with the companion audiobook also $1.99.
Book Description
Losing her posh advertising job, her boyfriend, and her apartment all in the same morning has left Corinna Leyendecker with a massive mess where her life should be. She tries to get things back on track, but with a mountain of red tape between her and unemployment assistance and a string of disastrous job interviews under her belt, it’s clear that following the rules is getting her nowhere. So she decides to start doing things her way…

With the help of a quirky friend—and some unconventional branding—Corinna launches her own business: an elite cleaning service for wealthy men. And business is booming…until the day she finds a dead homeless man in the house of a fussy new client. As usual, Corinna’s instinct is to clean up, but body disposal isn’t easy, especially when you’re juggling work, friendships, media attention, and a nasty flu. It’s going to take more than a little elbow grease to finish this dirty job and come out clean.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Marked by Moonlight ($0.99), the first novel in the Moon Chasers series by Sharie Kohler [Simon and Schuster].
Book Description
She doesn't know what bit her...

Seemingly overnight, Claire Morgan has transformed: the normally mousy schoolteacher is now bold, and her behavior is truly wild. Her eyes gleam silver. Suddenly she's a self-confident femme fatale with a libido that just won't quit. After an impulsive makeover, she's even...dare she say it?...sexy. Is Claire going insane?

Then brutally handsome stranger Gideon March tells her she was bitten by a werewolf, and Claire figures he's the insane one. Sure, she was attacked by a nasty dog in a back alley, but this guy stalking her says he's a member of an underground society of lycan hunters -- and his mission is to kill her immediately.

When Claire finally realizes she really is a lycan, there's no turning back -- because by now Claire and Gideon are bound by a hungry passion. If they can't break the curse by the next full moon, Claire's soul will be lost forever and Gideon will be forced to terminate his prey -- a woman dangerously close to devouring him, heart and soul.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Kill the Dead ($0.99), the second Sandman Slim novel by Richard Kadrey [HarperCollins], with the companion audiobook for $3.99. Wouldn't you know, I bought this 8 days ago....
Book Description
Sandman Slim is back from Hell. After wreaking unholy havoc in author Richard Kadrey’s resoundingly acclaimed Sandman Slim, the demon-slaying anti-hero and half-angel fugitive from the underworld returns in a brutally funny, eye-poppingly inventive, and totally addicting follow-up, Kill the Dead. If you’re a fan of Buffy and Jim Butcher, Christopher Moore, Neil Gaiman, and Warren Ellis, or you dig the dark urban fantasy vibe of Charlaine Harris, Kim Harrison, and Simon Green, you’ll cheer Lucifer’s onetime personal assassin as he signs on as his ex-boss’ Hollywood bodyguard…and takes on the zombie apocalypse almost single-handedly.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Bargain Book Roundup

I mentioned before that I went to see Star Trek Into Darkness in 3D and really liked it. Since we wanted to grab it on Blu-ray when it was released, I signed up to be notified when it could be ordered and today, there it is! Even better, the prices are pretty reasonable, so I pre-ordered the 3D Combo Edition (with Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) for under $25. If you want to save a few bucks, the Blu-ray Combo is $19.99 and the DVD Only (no digital copy) is $16.99. If you really want to splurge, though, you can also get Star Trek Into Darkness Starfleet Phaser Limited Edition Gift Set, which adds a (non-weaponized, although with a spinning barrel) Phaser to the 3D Combo Edition.

And here's the best part for Kindle readers: You also get a Free Star Trek Comic Book: Pre-Order Star Trek Into Darkness on DVD, Blu-ray Combo,or 3D Blu-ray Combo and receive a promotional credit (valued at $2.99) for a free Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness #1 Comic Book, by Mike Johnson and David Messina (Illustrator). Now, I'll be waiting to order mine after I get the promo credit and the details page claims you can't get it at all unless you are an Into Darkness pre-order customer ... but, right this minute there is a one-click order button on the page (and a $2.99 price tag); I don't know if it will refuse your order if you didn't buy the movie first, but it's there to click, for those that want to try for it.

Boring details: Promotional credit will be sent upon ship date and must be used by September 30, 2013 in order to receive the free download. Download must be used with a Kindle device or through the Kindle app.

It took several days, but 1,001 Best Grilling Recipes: Delicious, Easy-to-Make Recipes from Around the World ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), by Rick Browne [Agate Surrey], finally dropped on Kindle to match the B&N price. If you were holding off on getting it, I'd do it now, as this price may not last long.
Book Description
This newest addition to Surrey's 1,001 line of cookbooks is the definitive book on grilling everything from appetizers and side dishes, to lamb, beef, hamburgers, sausages, fish & shellfish, wild game, chicken, game birds, turkey, pork, and desserts. Also included are dozens of recipes for sauces, marinades, and rubs to use when cooking on a barbecue grill.

Author Rick Browne is one of the country's best-known authorities on grilling. The creator and host of the PBS TV series "Barbecue America," he is the author of seven cookbooks, most dealing with barbecue and grilling. In this new collection, he's created an encyclopedic collection of recipes drawn from cuisines around the world.

Browne begins with a brief, introductory primer on basic grilling techniques, but the real substance of this book is the dazzling array of recipes--all manner of meat and fish, plus numerous vegetarian options, from every corner of the globe, with a particular focus on North American and Asian traditions.

Never before have this many great grilling recipes been collected between two covers. If you love to grill--or know someone else who does--this is a must-have resource. It's the only grilling recipe book you'll ever need.

Cain ($1.39 Kindle; >$10 elsewhere), by Jose Saramago and Margaret Jull Costa (Translator) [Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]; this is the one novel missing from The Collected Novels of Jose Saramago, as it was unfinished when the latter was published. The Audible companion audiobook is $3.99.
Book Description
In this, his last novel, José Saramago daringly reimagines the characters and narratives of the Old Testament, recalling his provocative The Gospel According to Jesus Christ. His tale runs from the Garden of Eden, when God realizes he has forgotten to give Adam and Eve the gift of speech, to the moment when Noah’s Ark lands on the dry peak of Ararat. Cain, the despised, the murderer, is Saramago’s protagonist.

Condemned to wander forever after he kills his brother Abel, Cain makes his way through the world in the company of a personable donkey. He is a witness to and participant in the stories of Isaac and Abraham, the destruction of the Tower of Babel, Moses and the golden calf, the trials of Job. The rapacious Queen Lilith takes him as her lover. An old man with two sheep on a rope crosses his path. And again and again, Cain encounters a God whose actions seem callous, cruel, and unjust. He confronts Him, he argues with Him. “And one thing we know for certain,” Saramago writes, “is that they continued to argue and are arguing still.”

A startling book—sensual, funny—and in all ways a fitting end to Saramago’s extraordinary career.

If you don't have a copy of The Great Gatsby ($4.99 Kindle, $10.93 B&N, $1.99-$7.99 Kobo), by F. Scott Fitzgerald [Simon and Schuster], now is the time to pick one up to read before seeing the latest movie version in the theaters. Those that prefer the the audiobook edition may want to grab this edition, as well, as the audiobook price drops to 99 cents once you have the Kindle edition in your libraries.

Note that the lower price editions at Kobo (and elsewhere) are public domain copies, for countries where the copyright has expired, which does not include the US.
Book Description
The exemplary novel of the Jazz Age, F. Scott Fitzgeralds' third book, The Great Gatsby (1925), stands as the supreme achievement of his career. T. S. Eliot read it three times and saw it as the "first step" American fiction had taken since Henry James; H. L. Mencken praised "the charm and beauty of the writing," as well as Fitzgerald's sharp social sense; and Thomas Wolfe hailed it as Fitzgerald's "best work" thus far. The story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when, The New York Times remarked, "gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession," it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s that resonates with the power of myth. A novel of lyrical beauty yet brutal realism, of magic, romance, and mysticism, The Great Gatsby is one of the great classics of twentieth-century literature.

Overdraft: The Orion Offensive ($1.99 Kindle), by John Jackson Miller [47North], is a new Kindle Serial from the author of Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith (now available as in a Collected Stories edition), as well as several Star Wars and Mass Effects novels. Half of the episodes have been released and you get the remaining episodes over time, at no extra charge (unlike many indie-published attempts at a serial); if you prefer, you can wait until it is finished and read it all at once (in a single book on your Kindle, no searching for chapters). Also unlike the indie serials I've seen lately, this has both editorial support and the length is known before your purchase (I've seen indie's priced at 99 cents/episode, with dozens of tiny episodes, which will break the bank quickly and is vastly overpriced for all but a huge name author, IMO).
Book Description
This book is a Kindle Serial. Kindle Serials are stories published in episodes, with future episodes delivered at no additional cost. This serial currently contains four episodes out of an estimated eight total episodes, and new episodes will be delivered every two weeks.

After an egotistical stock trader for one of the twenty-second century’s biggest corporations gets greedy and loses his employer a fortune, he has two options: go to jail or make the money back before anyone notices. Unfortunately, the only place such profits can be found is the galactic frontier, a region so dangerous it’ll take an uneasy alliance with a crew of rugged mercenaries to keep him alive and in the black.

You’d have to be insane to trade with the violent denizens of the Orion Arm, but with just one hundred days to recoup $100 billion, Jamie Sturm is feeling a little crazy. Standing between Jamie and a variety of agonizing deaths is Surge Team Sigma, the squad of power-armored mercenaries tasked with protecting him. Their last job ended in disaster thanks to Jamie’s scheming, and, led by the implacable Bridget Yang, the team is determined to keep the hapless Jamie alive long enough to fix their reputation. That is, assuming they can ignore their own growing desire to flush the annoying tagalong out of the nearest airlock.

A space opera fueled by today’s financial bravado, Overdraft: The Orion Offensive strikes a thrilling balance between desperate firefights and trenchant dark humor.

Truly Madly Deeply, A Carly Phillips Collection ($0.99 Kindle), by Carly Phillips [indie], contains three romance novels previously published in paper editions: Perfect Partners (Zebra/1999), Solitary Man (Kensington/2004) and The Right Choice (Kensington/2004).
Book Description
A collection of three full length novels by New York Times Bestselling Author Carly Phillips, originally written and published in 1999 and 2000, and published under her real name, Karen Drogin.

PERFECT PARTNERS
No sooner had Chelsie Russell and Griffin Stuart lost their siblings in a car crash than they find themselves fighting for custody of their two year old niece. Griff wins only to discover Chelsie is the only one who can soothe the child's night terrors and fears. Chelsie and Griff bond over the little girl and their growing sexual desire is mutual. But is it enough? Chelsie's been hurt before and Griff isn't sure he can trust the woman who once tried to take his
niece away. What will it take for them to realize they are ... perfect partners?

THE RIGHT CHOICE
Advice columnist Carly Wexler is planning the perfect wedding with the perfect fiancé. So what if he doesn't make her heart beat faster? He's the right choice. Until sexy photo journalist, Mike Novak, her fiance's adopted brother arrives and Carly experiences all the passion she's convinced herself she doesn't need. Mike is torn by loyalty and a yearning unlike any he's ever known. After spending time with Carly, he is sure the engaged couple are marrying for the wrong reasons. With one week to go before the wedding, can Mike convince Carly he's the only choice for her?

SOLITARY MAN
When tough Boston cop Kevin Manning promised to care for his fatally wounded partner's family, a one night stand with the man's grieving sister wasn't part of the plan. No matter how intense the night had been, a woman like Nikki Welles deserves much more than a broken man like Kevin can give, and he leaves the next day. When he returns months later, everything has changed. Nikki can't forgive Kevin for abandoning her nor can she regret the baby she's now carrying. And she can't stop wanting Kevin. But can this solitary man come to believe he's worthy of love?