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Friday, August 13, 2010

Free Book (nook) - Marked

Marked ($5.59 Kindle), by Elisabeth Naughton, is free in the Barnes and Noble ebookstore today.

Book Description
As unrest in the Underworld threatens, seven warriors descended from the greatest heroes in all of Ancient Greece may just be mankind's last hope.

THERON - Dark haired, duty bound and deceptively deadly. He's the leader of the Argonauts, an elite group of guardians that defends the immortal realm from threats of the Underworld.

From the moment he walked into the club, Casey knew this guy was different. Men like that just didn't exist in real life--silky shoulder-length hair, chest impossibly broad, and a predatory manner that just screamed dark and dangerous. He was looking for something. Her.

She was the one. She had the mark. Casey had to die so his kind could live, and it was Theron's duty to bring her in. But even as a 200-year-old descendent of Hercules, he wasn't strong enough to resist the pull in her fathomless eyes, to tear himself away from the heat of her body.

As war with the Underworld nears, someone will have to make the ultimate sacrifice.


Click HERE for the free book.

Bargain Book Roundup

Long Lost ($1.99), by David Morrel

Book Description
Brad Denning is a successful architect living a perfect life in Denver with his loving wife and son. Or so it would be, if not for the haunting memory of his brother Petey who disappeared while under Brad's supervision when they were kids. Now, a man claiming to be his sibling has mysteriously appeared and Brad is eager to take him in, despite the man's haggard appearance and reluctance to reveal anything about his past. "Petey" is a welcome addition to the family, until a camping trip goes terribly wrong and Brad returns home to find that his devoted wife and son have been abducted. Certain that Petey -- or whoever he may be -- is responsible for the horrible crime, Brad sets out to recover his family. Travelling alone through America's heartland, it's a race against time as Brad struggles to get to his family before the terrible secret of what really happened long ago destroys everything he cares about.

Roma: The Novel of Ancient Rome ($2.99), by Steven Saylor

Book Description
Spanning a thousand years, and following the shifting fortunes of two families though the ages, this is the epic saga of Rome, the city and its people.

Weaving history, legend, and new archaeological discoveries into a spellbinding narrative, critically acclaimed novelist Steven Saylor gives new life to the drama of the city's first thousand years -- from the founding of the city by the ill-fated twins Romulus and Remus, through Rome's astonishing ascent to become the capitol of the most powerful empire in history. Roma recounts the tragedy of the hero-traitor Coriolanus, the capture of the city by the Gauls, the invasion of Hannibal, the bitter political struggles of the patricians and plebeians, and the ultimate death of Rome's republic with the triumph, and assassination, of Julius Caesar.

Witnessing this history, and sometimes playing key roles, are the descendents of two of Rome's first families, the Potitius and Pinarius clans: One is the confidant of Romulus. One is born a slave and tempts a Vestal virgin to break her vows. One becomes a mass murderer. And one becomes the heir of Julius Caesar. Linking the generations is a mysterious talisman as ancient as the city itself.

Epic in every sense of the word, Roma is a panoramic historical saga and Saylor's finest achievement to date.


Beyond Good Intentions: A Biblical View of Politics ($2.99), by Doug Bandow

Book Description
Beyond Good Intentions brings a wealth of knowledge and insight to the question of how Christianity and politics interrelate. Author Doug Bandow believes the key lies in the correct use of the Bible in addressing public policy issues. Too often Christians either ignore or misapply the Bible in the political arena. Beyond Good Intentions is a much-needed corrective which takes the Bible seriously yet avoids proof-texting and questionable interpretive methods.

Run For It ($1.99), by Matt Christopher

Book Description
Theo Gordimer is a classic 13-year-old couch potato: he prefers video games and TV shows to playing sports. Then his favorite aunt is diagnosed with cancer. Theo wants to do something to help her, but what? Then his friend Paul tells him about a 5K road race coming up. The money collected from the race goes toward cancer research. Theo panics: running the race seems like the perfect way to help out his aunt, but 5K is more than three miles! Theo can barely run a quarter of one mile without having to stop. How will he be able to finish the race?

Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938 ($2.99), by R.A. Scotti, is another of those books with practically no description, but dozens of great reviews.

Book Description
The massive destruction wreaked by the Hurricane of 1938 dwarfed that of the Chicago Fire, the San Francisco Earthquake, and the Mississippi floods of 1927, making the storm the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. Now, R.A. Scotti tells the story.

On Becoming Fearless...in Love, Work, and Life ($2.99), by Arianna Huffington

Book Description
Observing that her own teenage daughters were beginning to experience some of the same fears that had once burdened her--how attractive am I? do people like me? do I dare speak up?--Arianna Huffington began to examine the ways in which fear affects all our lives. In stories drawn from her own experiences and from the lives of other women, she points toward the moments of extraordinary strength, courage, and resilience that result from confronting and overcoming fear. And she outlines the steps anyone can take to conquer fear. Her book shows us how to become bold from the inside out--from feeling comfortable in our own skin to getting what we want in love and at work to changing the world.

The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood: Ten Ways to Get Your Family on the Right Nutritional Track ($3.99), by William Sears, Martha Sears, Robert Sears & James Sears

Book Description
America's foremost childcare experts present a practical, appetizing, easy-to-follow eating plan for shaping children's tastes and metabolisms toward optimal health.

Numbers Game ($4.99), by Graham Perry

Book Description
Don't waste a minute. Get in on the biggest puzzle craze in the country. People all over the country are already sharing this game with each other via E-Mail, faxes, and computer networks. The Numbers Game is a compendium of 300 of these fun-filled puzzles.

Free Classics from B&N (nook)


Barnes and Noble is continuing their free Classics in the B&N Free Library this week, with a new set of free classics, ten of which have not be offered for free previously. This weeks theme is Tearjerkers:
  1. Maggie by Stephen Crane
  2. Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert
  3. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
  4. Wings of the Dove by Henry James
  5. Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
  6. The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskell
  7. Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  8. Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
  9. Les Miserables (abridged) by Victor Hugo
  10. Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson
  11. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  12. Ethan Frome & Selected Stories by Edith Wharton
These editions are not exactly the same as you would find at Gutenberg; Barnes and Noble Classic Series editions generally have been more carefully proofread and have introductions and scholarly notes inserted in the beginning to aid in understanding the text. If you are building a summer reading list for a student, stocking up for lit classes in college or just want to revisit the classics, these are a great (free) resource.These are DRM'd epubs, though, so will only be readable on a nook or one of the B&N reader apps.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Spotlight on AmazonEncore

Most of you know that Amazon picks up the occasional independent author and publishes their book both in paper and on Kindle. Often these books were released on Kindle first, but Amazon puts them thru editing and proofing (just like a "real" publisher) and when then come back in their new incarnations, the prices are often much higher. Today, I am focusing on a few sales amongst the AmazonEncore editions.

I'm cheating a bit with The Static of the Spheres ($0.00), by Eric Kraft, as this novella has been free for quite some time. If you picked it up and haven't read it, you might want to push it to the top of your TBR list.

Book Description
Peter Leroy recalls his maternal grandfather’s attempt to build a shortwave radio, a project that begins with an article in Impractical Craftsman magazine promising "hour after interminable hour of baffling precision work." After many, many hours spent watching his grandfather labor at his basement workbench, Peter at last gets to put the earphones on, flip the switch, and twiddle the dials. Through the crackling and sussurous static he detects the sounds of love and lust, joy and sorrow, hope and loss.

A King of Infinite Space ($9.99 $3.99), by Tyler Dilts

Book Description
Awake in the darkness, long after midnight, Long Beach Homicide Detective Danny Beckett is trying to keep his past at bay. Haunted by all the things he's lost--his wife, his family, his hope--he begins to investigate the brutal murder of Elizabeth Williams, a popular High School English teacher. Soon Danny begins to understand that apprehending the murderer is not just a case to solved, but an act of personal redemption.

A Cruel Harvest ($9.99 $3.99), by Paul Reid

Book Description
Set in 1790, A Cruel Harvest tells the epic tale of Orlaith and Brannon, young lovers whose futures are jeopardized when Moorish pirates raid their Irish fishing village. Orlaith and her infant son manage to escape the savage attack, but Brannon is captured. Thrown into the hold of the pirates’ ship, the young farmer is spirited away to the harsh confines of North Africa. There he is sold into slavery and forced to serve in the army of the sadistic Sultan of Morocco. Back in Ireland, a heartbroken Orlaith faces certain ruin unless she agrees to marry wealthy landowner Randall Whitely. But Whitely is a cruel man, and life with him quickly becomes a waking nightmare. Though separated by thousands of miles, Orlaith and Brannon draw on their great love to challenge the oppression of the tyrants keeping them apart. Stretching from the windswept coast of Ireland to the sun-baked hills of Morocco, A Cruel Harvest is a thrilling novel of adventure, survival, and once-in-a-lifetime love.

A Wish After Midnight ($9.99 $4.59), by Zetta Elliott

Book Description
Genna is a fifteen-year-old girl who wants out of her tough Brooklyn neighborhood. But she gets more than she bargained for when a wish gone awry transports her back in time. Facing the perilous realities of Civil War–era Brooklyn, Genna must use all her wits to survive. In the tradition of Octavia Butler’s Kindred and Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, A Wish After Midnight is the affecting and inspiring tale of a fearless young woman’s fight to hold on to her individuality and her humanity in two different worlds.

Shaken ($9.99 $2.99), by J.A. Konrath, is still a pre-order (Oct 26 release date), although an extended sample is available for free, if you need to read a bit to make up your mind.

Book Description
Chicago cop Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels has chased, and caught, dozens of dangerous criminals over the course of her career. But she's about to meet her match.

When Jack wakes up in a storage locker, bound and gagged, she knows with chilling certainty who her abductor is.

He's called "Mr. K." More than two hundred homicides have been attributed to him. His victims have died in the most horrible ways imaginable. He's the essence of evil. Some think he's just an urban legend. But he's real. Jack has tangled with him twice in the past, and both times he managed to slip away.

Now Jack will finally have a chance to confront the maniac she's been hunting for over twenty-five years. Unfortunately, it won't be on her terms. In less than two hours, Mr. K is going to do to Jack what he's done to countless others. And Jack is going to learn that sometimes the good guys don't win...


Perfect on Paper: The (Mis)Adventures of Waverly Bryson ($9.99 $3.99), by Maria Murnane, is a bit skimpy on the product description (so I added the back cover copy below), but has a 171 reviews and averages over 4 stars.

Book Description
A humorous tale of affection, rejection and the search for perfection.

Anything can look perfect...on paper. When her fiancé calls off their wedding at the last minute, Waverly Bryson wonders if her life will ever turn out the way she thought it would...or should. Her high-powered job in sports PR? Not so perfect. Her relationship with her dad? Far from it. Her perfect marriage? Enough said.

Perfect...on Paper is a humorous tale of Waverly's efforts to cobble the pieces of a broken yesterday into a brand new tomorrow. What does the future have in store for her? Will she finally find what she's looking for?

Her dates? Cringe-inducing at times, definitely entertaining. Her friends? Often amused, definitely supportive. Her new crush? Possibly intrigued, definitely a catch. The results? Hardly perfect, definitely just right.


Greyhound ($9.99 $3.99), by Steffan Piper

Book Description
12-year-old Sebastien Ranes is taking a trip. He doesn't exactly understand why, but he accepts it. His mother often seems too emotionally detached to care for him. Her latest boyfriend Dick takes cruel pleasure in mimicking the boy’s stuttering, and wants to live his life without "somebody else's kid" getting in the way. So it's no surprise when they pack his bags to send him away. It is a surprise when they send him alone.

Ushered from his Stockton, California home, Sebastien must fend for himself and travel two thousand miles across the country to live with his grandmother and sister in Pennsylvania. Along the way, he learns that sometimes caring, guidance and understanding can come from some unlikely people.

Marcus is a man who has been neglected more by society than his family. As a young black ex-con, he is not the epitome of the person most would pick as a chaperone for their child's cross country trip. Yet rather than be held apart by their differences, Marcus and Sebastien are drawn together by the things that make us all alike. As both guide and protector, Marcus imparts his own style of wisdom while showing Sebastien that, despite the darker side of the human condition, people can and do care for one another. Greyhound is the story of the journey taken by a young boy into manhood, and by the reader into his world. Like every trip, there are many stops along the way. But this journey differs in the way young Sebastien arrives at his destination.


They Never Die Quietly ($9.99 $3.99), by D.M. Annechino

Book Description
... tells the story of homicide Detective Sami Rizzo, who is assigned to head a task force investigating serial killings in San Diego. Simon, the highly intelligent, cunning, and deceptively charming villain, redefines the depths of human evil. He believes God has given him absolute authority to purify his unholy victims through a ritual that ends in a grisly crucifixion. Driven by warped religious beliefs and guided by his dead mother, very much alive in his subconscious, Simon abducts “chosen ones” and holds them captive in a Room of Redemption. There, the victims helplessly await their crucifixion. Detective Rizzo urgently yearns to solve the case and gain the respect of her male colleagues, but her obsession to apprehend the killer on her own clouds her thinking. When Simon outsmarts Rizzo and captures her, determined to make her his next victim, she must employ all her resources—both physical and intellectual—to outwit the villain at his own game.

Silent Tears: A Journey Of Hope In A Chinese Orphanage ($9.99 $3.99), by Kay Bratt

Book Description
Irrepressible memories. Vacant eyes. A child being dangled from a third story window. A boy tied to a chair. Children sleeping in layers of clothing to fight off the bitter cold. An infant dying from starvation. Some things your mind will never allow you to forget.

Silent Tears is the true story of the adversity and triumphs one woman faced as she fought against the Chinese bureaucracy to help that country’s orphaned children.

In 2003, Kay Bratt’s life changed dramatically. A wife and mother of two girls in South Carolina, Bratt relocated her family to rural China to support her husband as he took on a new management position for his American employer. Seeking a way to fill her days and overcome the isolation she experienced upon arriving in a foreign country, Bratt began volunteering at the local orphanage. Within months, her simple desire to make use of her time transformed into a heroic crusade to improve the living conditions and minimize the unnecessary deaths of Chinese orphans.

Silent Tears traces the emotional hurdles and daily frustrations faced by Ms. Bratt as she tried to change the social conditions for these marginalized children. The memoir vividly illustrates how she was able to pull from reservoirs of inner strength to pursue her mission day after day, leaving the reader with the resounding message that everyone really can make a difference.


Legacy ($13.99 $4.17), by Cayla Kluver, was free last August, which probably helps explain the 166 reviews it has garnered. Be sure to check the product page for detailed map images that go along with the book, if you haven't already.

Book Description
In an award-winning YA fantasy debut, 16-year-old novelist Cayla Kluver brings a magical touch to an unrelentingly suspenseful coming-of-age tale. Duty-bound to wed her father's choice in successor to the throne, Princess Alera of Hytanica believes that she is being forced into the worst of all possible fates' a marriage to the arrogant and hot-tempered suitor, Steldor. When a mysterious boy from enemy Cokyri appears bearing secrets and an entirely different view of what's appropriate behavior for a young lady, Alera learns that her private desires threaten to destroy the kingdom. When Narian's shocking past comes to light, Alera finds herself in a shadowy world of palace intrigue and ancient blood feuds, facing an uncertain future with dwindling options ... and must learn to decide between right and wrong all alone. Marked by witty, rapid-fire dialogue and dramatic complexity that belie the writer's age, Legacy brings a fresh, new sensibility to age-old questions of duty and inheritance and to a young's heroine's quest to find her true voice. Legacy was Bronze Medalist in Young Adult Fiction in the 2008 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards; Finalist in Young Adult Fiction in the National Best Books Awards 2008, sponsored by USA Book News.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Author Spotlight - Jennifer Crusie

A number of Jennifer Crusie's books are marked down this month, not only on Kindle, but also at Kobo (only one title) and B&N, it looks like to get you hooked on her books prior to the release of Maybe This Time ($11.99) at the end of this month. These are all stand-alone novels, so I'm just listing them in order of price. If you think you want several of these, be sure to double check the bundle at the end: it contains four titles for $10.

Bet Me ($2.99 Kindle, Kobo)

Book Description
Minerva Dobbs knows how to work the odds.
Calvin Morrisey always plays to win.

But when they face off, neither one is prepared.
Because when real life meets true love, all bets are off. . . .

Minerva Dobbs knows that happily-ever-after is a fairy tale, especially with a man who asked her to dinner to win a bet, even if he is gorgeous and successful Calvin Morrisey. Cal knows commitment is impossible, especially with a woman as cranky as Min Dobbs, even if she does wear great shoes and keep him on his toes. When they say good-bye at the end of their evening, they cut their losses and agree never to see each other again.

But fate has other plans, and it's not long before Min and Cal meet again. Soon they're dealing with a jealous ex-boyfriend, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, a determined psychologist, chaos theory, a freakishly intelligent cat, Chicken Marsala, and more risky propositions than either of them ever dreamed of. Including the biggest gamble of all---true love.


Strange Bedpersons ($3.60)

Book Description
Tess Newhart knows her ex-boyfriend Nick Jamieson isn't the right guy for her. He's caviar and champagne; she's take-out Chinese pot stickers. He's an uptight Republican lawyer; she was raised in a commune. He wants to get ahead in business; she just wants...him. But there's no way Tess will play second fiddle to his job.

Yet somehow she finds herself agreeing to play his fiancée on a weekend business trip that could make or break Nick's career. And while he's trying to convince Tess that he needs her in his respectable world, Tess is doing her best to keep her opinions to herself and her hands off Nick.


Anyone But You ($3.93)

Book Description
art basset, part beagle, all Cupid... For Nina Askew, turning forty means freedom-from the ex-husband, freedom from their stuffy suburban home, freedom to focus on what she wants for a change. And what she wants is something her ex always vetoed-a puppy. A bouncy, adorable puppy.

Instead she gets...Fred.

Overweight, middle-aged, a bit smelly and obviously depressed, Fred is light-years from perky. But he does manage to put Nina in the path of Alex Moore, her gorgeous, younger-by-a-decade neighbor.

Alex seems perfect-he's a sexy, seemingly sane, surprisingly single E.R. doctor-but the age gap convinces Nina that anyone but Alex would be better relationship material. But with every silver-haired stiff she dates, the more she suspects it's the young, dog-loving doc she wants to sit and stay!


Charlie All Night ($4.32)

Book Description
Dumped by her boyfriend and demoted from WBBB's prime-time spot, radio producer Allie McGuffey has nowhere to go but up. She plans to make her comeback by turning temporary DJ Charlie Tenniel into a household name. And if he's willing to help cure her breakup blues with a rebound fling, that's an added bonus.

Charlie just wants to kick back, play good tunes and eat Chinese food. He's not interested in becoming famous. But he is interested in Allie. And after all, what harm is a little chemistry between friends?

But suddenly their one-night stand has become a four-week addiction. Night after night on the airwaves, his voice seduces her and all the other women in town. He's a hit. It looks as if Charlie's solved all Allie's problems - except one. What is she going to do when he leaves?


Getting Rid of Bradley ($4.32)

Book Description
Lucy Savage is not having a good week. Her cheating husband, Bradley, lobbed the final insult when he stood her up in divorce court. A dye job gone wrong has left her hair green. And someone is trying to kill her. To top it off, sexy cop Zack Warren is certain that the very same man Lucy is trying to wash right out of her hair is the same Bradley he wants to arrest for embezzlement.

When someone shoots at her and then her car blows up, Zack decides she needs twenty-four-hour police protection. Next thing Lucy knows, Zack has moved in to her big Victorian house, making them both sleepless - and not just from things that go bump in the night!


Manhunting ($5.04)

Book Description
Kate Svenson may be a dynamite businesswoman--but after three failed engagements, she's decided she's hopeless at romance. What she needs is a Business Plan to help her find Mr. Right. The Cabins resort is ripe with eligible bachelors, all rich and ambitious just her type. But they're dropping like flies, and after fishing Kate's latest reject out of the swimming pool Jake Templeton is convinced that Kate is nothing but trouble. Especially for him. A man who's sworn off ambition and a woman hanging from the top of the corporate ladder don't have much in common. But in that unpredictable territory known as the heart, anything can happen...

What the Lady Wants ($5.40)

Book Description
Mitch Peabody was learning pretty fast that the life of a private detective was nothing like the movies. He'd envisioned a world of tough-talking detectives and smart-mouthed, stunning dames. Instead he saw case after case of cheating husbands, suspicious wives and unsuspecting mistresses... until she walked through the door.

Right down to her stilettos, Mae Sullivan was a knockout with a lethal body--and a lethal family to go with it. There was something not quite on the up-and-up about her, but she came with a case he couldn't afford to refuse...and left him with a case of lust he hadn't had since high school. It didn't take long for him to fall for her, hook, line and sinker. But was Mae interested only in catching the double-crossing crooks who murdered her uncle...or did the lady want to catch him?


Jennifer Crusie Bundle ($9.99)

Book Description
This bundle includes four ferociously funny, sexy romances, Getting Rid of Bradley, Strange Bedpersons, What the Lady Wants and Charlie All Night.

The last book today is a bit different. Blogger Bundle Volume VIII: SBTB's Harlequins That Hooked You ($9.99) contains books from several different authors (Jennifer Crusie, Suzanne Brockmann, Emilie Rose, Beverly Barton, Rachel Lee), which works out to $2.50 per book, if you read them all. The Brockmann selection is also in her anthology Tall, Dark, and Dangerous Part 1 ($6.30), which I mentioned last week (when it was a couple of bucks cheaper, yet).

Book Description
Blogger Sarah asked the readers of the SBTB blog which Harlequin books hooked them on romance. The list was epic, but was ultimately narrowed down to five SBTB readers' contemporary romance picks! So go on and get hooked with these books included in Blogger Bundle Volume VIII: SBTB's Harlequins That Hooked You: Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie, Prince Joe by Suzanne Brockmann, The Millionaire's Indecent Proposal by Emilie Rose, An Officer and a Gentleman by Rachel Lee and Keeping Annie Safe by Beverly Barton.

For those with a nook, you will want to check the list at B&N. I didn't see Bet Me on sale there, though.