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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Bargain Books - The Edge of Never & The Edge of Always

The Edge of Never ($0.99 Kindle, B&N, Sony), by J.A Redmerski [Forever (Hachette)], is currently being deeply discounted and the sequel, The Edge of Always ($3.99), is a discounted pre-order on Kindle.

The Edge of Never
This new ... edition includes exclusive bonus material - an all-new full chapter from Andrew's point of view during a crucial scene!

Sometimes life takes you off course . . .

Twenty-year-old Camryn Bennett thought she knew exactly where her life was going. But after a wild night at the hottest club in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, she shocks everyone-including herself-when she decides to leave the only life she's ever known and set out on her own. Grabbing her purse and her cell phone, Camryn boards a Greyhound bus ready to find herself. Instead, she finds Andrew Parrish.

Sexy and exciting, Andrew lives life like there is no tomorrow. He persuades Camryn to do things she never thought she would and shows her how to give in to her deepest, most forbidden desires. Soon he becomes the center of her daring new life, pulling love and lust and emotion out of her in ways she never imagined possible. But there is more to Andrew than Camryn realizes. Will his secret push them inseparably together-or destroy them forever?
The Edge of Always
Five months ago, Camryn and Andrew, both dealing with personal hardships, met on a Greyhound bus. They fell in love and proved that when two people are meant to be together, fate will find a way to make it happen.

Now, in the highly anticipated sequel to The Edge of Never, Camryn and Andrew are pursuing their love for music and living life to the fullest as they always swore to do. But when tragedy befalls them, their relationship is put to the ultimate test. As Camryn tries to numb her pain, Andrew makes a bold decision: To get their life back on track, they'll set out on another cross-country road trip. Together they find excitement, passion, adventure-and challenges they never could have anticipated.

Today's Deals 3/20

Today's Gold Box at Amazon: Save Up to 59% off Criterion Collection Favorites on Blu-ray. The first Lightning Deal of the Day is a nice looking emergency AM/FM/NOAA Weather radio and flashlight, that can be kept in the car or at your bedside for emergencies and cranked for power if the battery has discharged.

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Counting with the Very Hungry Caterpillar, an educational game for kids two and up.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Too Many Fairies: A Celtic Tale ($1.99), by master storyteller Margaret Read MacDonald, illustrated by Susan Mitchell [Amazon Children's Publishing]. This book features Kindle Text Pop-Up for reading text over vivid, full-color images when using Kindle Fire/HD or select Kindle Reading Apps (Kindle Cloud Reader, Kindle for iPad or Kindle for Android); unlike some other Text Popup books, this one won't work on any of the eInk Kindles.
Book Description
There was once an old woman who hated chores. "Work! Work! Work! How I hate it! Hate it! Hate it!" One day some fairies show up. They . . . clankety-clankety-clankety — clean all the dishes. Swishety-swishety-swishety —sweep the house. Flumpety-flumpety-flumpety — shake out the bedclothes. Clickety-clickety-clickety — work on all the knitting. But then there is nothing left to do. So, they tear everything apart and start again! Clankety-clankety-clankety, swishety-swishety-swishety . . . . The fairies are driving the old woman crazy! How will she get them to leave? Lively watercolor illustrations add to this Celtic retelling by master storyteller Margaret Read MacDonald. An author’s note is also included.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Slipping into Darkness ($1.99), by Peter Blauner [Open Road].
Book Description
When a twenty-year-old murder case comes back to life, a detective must race against his failing sight to unravel the mystery

When Allison Wallis was beaten to death, Detective Francis X. Loughlin found the killer—Julian Vega, a teenager with a crush on the murdered girl. Using his natural sense of empathy, he cozied up to young Julian, convincing him to give a confession that would put him away until he was thirty-six.

Twenty years later, Julian is finally out of jail, attempting to remember how to live in a world without bars, and Detective Loughlin is still on the job, his sight fading, though his instincts are still sharp. But when Allison’s blood appears at a new crime scene, everything he thought he knew about that long-ago murder is called into question. Was it really Allison they buried? Was Julian actually the killer? And if he wasn’t, who else is in danger now?

This ebook features an illustrated biography of Peter Blauner including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is all four volumes of Marie Force's Treading Water series for $1.99 apiece.

Treading Water
Love is the last thing on Jack Harrington’s mind when he sets out to meet Andi Walsh’s flight. Recently back to work after spending more than a year tending to his comatose wife, Jack is focused on getting through each day and caring for his three daughters. However, the moment he sets eyes on Andrea Walsh, the interior designer who has come to decorate the hotel his company is building in Newport, Rhode Island, Jack begins to wonder if Andi might be his second chance. After a disastrous marriage, Andi, single mom to a hearing-impaired son, isn’t exactly looking for love, either, but that’s what she finds with Jack. The two embark on a long-distance relationship fraught with challenges as they balance the needs of their children and dueling careers while Jack continues to care for his wife, Clare. Just when Jack thinks his life is once again settled, he is confronted with a new challenge that tests him in ways he never could've imagined, leaving him to wonder if "happily ever after" is in the cards for him.
Marking Time
“Marking Time” continues the story begun in “Treading Water” as Clare Harrington begins a new life. She’s considered a miracle, but everything that’s happened since she recovered from a three-year coma has been something less than miraculous. Now left to grapple with the aftermath of a selfless decision, she is home from the hospital and trying to figure out what the next chapter in her miraculous recovery has in store for her. Meanwhile, her eighteen-year-old daughter Kate, a talented singer and songwriter, sets out to pursue her musical dreams in Nashville. Her parents have agreed to allow Kate to spend a year there, but they couldn't have anticipated Kate falling in love with a much older man. Her newly divorced parents are forced back together to confront their wayward daughter. Spanning from Newport, Rhode Island, to Nashville, Tennessee, to Stowe, Vermont, "Marking Time" is the story of new beginnings and new loves.
Starting Over
In a drunken stupor, Brandon O'Malley frightens his brother Aidan's girlfriend, enraging his brother and the rest of his family. Aidan offers Brandon the choice of rehab or jail, and Brandon reluctantly enters treatment. While in rehab, he confronts the lifetime of secrets and resentments that fueled his spiral into alcoholism, and these revelations have a major effect on his entire family. When he returns home expecting to resume his supervisory role in the family’s construction business, Brandon learns his father has retired and put his younger brothe, Colin,r in charge. Brandon is unhappy to be given the job of renovating an apartment building where he loses his heart to an adorable five-year-old tenant named “Mike.” After he falls hard for Michaela, Brandon becomes involved with her mother Daphne, who is running from a past that will later test his sobriety and his mettle as a man.
Coming Home
Ten years ago, their relationship was a scandal. Now it's forever.

Readers who loved Reid and Kate in Marking Time wanted their happy ending. Here it is...

The story left unfinished at the end of Marking Time picks up ten years later when Kate Harrington goes after the man she left behind when she set out to chase her dream of music superstardom. Now she has everything she ever wanted, except for the one thing she can't live without. What will Reid say when she shows up unannounced in St. Kitts, looking to reclaim their lost love? And what will Jack, Kate's father, say when he hears she's gone back to her first love, a man Jack once considered a friend? And what do you think will happen when Jill Harrington, Kate's sister, attorney and manager, faces off with Ashton Matthews, Reid's son, the same man who made life miserable for Kate many years ago? The sparks will fly when the Harrington, Matthews and O'Malley families gather in Nashville for a Christmas none of them will ever forget!

While Coming Home is a stand-alone story, you will enjoy it more if you read Treading Water, Marking Time first and Starting Over first.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Cursed ($1.99), by Jennifer Armentrout.
Book Description
Dying sucks--and high school senior Ember McWilliams knows firsthand. After a fatal car accident, her gifted little sister brought her back. Now anything Ember touches dies. And that, well, really blows.Ember operates on a no-touch policy with all living things--including boys. When Hayden Cromwell shows up, quoting Oscar Wilde and claiming her curse is a gift, she thinks he's a crazed cutie. But when he tells her he can help control it, she's more than interested. There's just one catch: Ember has to trust Hayden's adopted father, a man she's sure has sinister reasons for collecting children whose abilities even weird her out. However, she's willing to do anything to hold her sister's hand again. And hell, she'd also like to be able to kiss Hayden. Who wouldn't?But when Ember learns the accident that turned her into a freak may not've been an accident at all, she's not sure who to trust. Someone wanted her dead, and the closer she gets to the truth, the closer she is to losing not only her heart, but her life. For real this time.

To Dream of the Dead (£0.99 UK), the eleventh novel in Phil Rickman's Merrily Watkins Mystery series, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $8.50). It looks like the eighth in the series, The Remains of an Altar, is also on sale, at £1.80, while several others are under £4.
Book Description
A rainy night in the cathedral city of Hereford. A grisly murder is linked by DI Francis Bliss with the campaign to preserve an ancient ritual site. And then Bliss is sidelined by his boss. What's going on?

In the village of Ledwardine, Merrily Watkins stands between an extreme fundamentalist Christian and an atheist writer known as 'The Devil's Spin Doctor'.

Tensions are rising ... and so is the river. Soon Ledwardine will be isolated by floods, cut off with a killer inside – a new kind of killer for a cold new age.

To Walk the Night ($5.38 $1.99 Kindle, B&N), the first novel in the Kat Redding series by E.S. Moore, is the Nook Daily Find. Update: Now price matched on Kindle.
Book Description
Even a vampire has to face her inner demons. . .

Kat Redding is the very thing she hunts: a vampire, thirsting for blood, capable of killing any creature unlucky enough to get in her path. The difference is, Kat kills her own kind in order to protect human Purebloods. She's good at what she does. Good enough to earn the nickname Lady Death--and the enmity of every bloodthirsty being around. But now a vampire Count is intent on merging his House with a werewolf cult to create a force of terrifying power.

Kat can't allow that to happen. Even if it means taking on a den of weres and a vampire more ruthless than any she's encountered before. She has the weapons, the skill, and a few allies. But that may not be enough to eliminate the Count before her own dark nature rises to the surface--and costs her whatever is left of her humanity. . .

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Today's Deals 3/19

It's the AppStore's birthday and all week Amazon has a number of apps at 50% or better off. Included are favorites such as Scrabble (which only works on the Kindle Fire and Fire HD, but not generic tablets/phones or the HD 8.9"), Angry Birds Space, Angry Birds Star Wars, The Game of Life, a Sesame Street App, Goodnight Moon (an interactive book), OfficeSuite Professional 7 and more.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Everyone Leaves ($1.99), by Wendy Guerra and Achy Obejas (Translator), with the companion audiobook for $1.99 [AmazonCrossing].
Book Description
Nieve Guerra finds herself caught between the tides of her parents’ rocky relationship and a country in the midst of a revolution. Recording her daily thoughts and accounts of living with her abusive father, an alcoholic theater actor, Nieve uses her diary to express herself. From being sent away from her mother, her mother’s free-spirited and loving boyfriend, and her childhood city of Cienfuegos to being forced to call herself a Cuban “revolutionary Pioneer,” Nieve records in honest detail a life in which she loses those she loves the most—and can do nothing about it.

Through her diary entries, Nieve reveals the intimate details of a turbulent family life while painting an authentic portrait of the social and political unrest in Cuba under the rule of Castro.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is The Privateer ($0.99), by Dawn Mactavish [Montlake].
Book Description
Lark at first hoped it was a simple nightmare: If she closed her eyes, she would be back in the mahogany bed of her spacious boudoir at Eddington Hall, and all would be well. Her father, the earl of Roxburgh, would not be dead by his own hand, and she would not be in Marshalsea debtor's prison.

Such was not to be. Ere the Marshalsea could do its worst, the earl of Grayshire intervened. Lark shivered, considering the mysterious stone-faced noble. He'd paid her bond while the rest of London turned an eye as blind as the one beneath his eye patch. But while his touch was electric and his gaze piercing, for what purpose had he bought her freedom? A plan including Cornwall, return to the world of the haute ton, and embroilment in a struggle against both England's own Admiralty and the French. But even more perilous, the ex-sea captain might plunder her heart. No, this was not a dream. As Lark would soon learn, her dreams had never ended so well.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Extinction ($1.99), the second novel in the Star Force series by B. V. Larson, with the companion audiobook also $1.99.
Book Description
Earth's Star Force Marines invade an alien world!

In the second book of the Star Force series, Kyle Riggs has another bad year. The Nano ships have a new mission--one that sentences their pilots to death. Meanwhile, the governments of Earth want to steal Star Force's Nano technology for their own. Worst of all, Earth has made a promise to the Macros, and the machines are coming to collect.

EXTINCTION is the story of Earth's entry into an interstellar war between living creatures and machines. To buy the peace, we've signed up with the machines.... EXTINCTION is an 111,000 word novel of science fiction by bestselling author B. V. Larson.

Good Strategy/Bad Strategy (£1.09 UK), by Richard Rumelt, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $4.99).
Book Description
Even though everyone is talking about it, there is no concept in business today more muddled than 'strategy'. Richard Rumelt, described by McKinsey Quarterly as 'a giant in the field of strategy' and 'strategy's strategist', tackles this problem head-on in a jargon-free explanation of how to develop and take action on strategy, in business, politics and beyond. Rumelt dispels popular misconceptions about strategy - such as confusing it with ambitions, visions or financial goals - by very practically showing that a good strategy focuses on the challenges a business faces, and providing an insightful new approach for overcoming them. His sharp analysis and his brilliant, bold style make his book stand out from its competitors (something that Rumelt himself says is crucial). Rumelt has always challenged dominant thinking, ever since, in 1972, he was the first person to uncover a statistical link between corporate strategy and profitability - and this is his long-awaited tour de force.

Kiss Me Deadly ($9.85 $1.99 Kindle, B&N), by Susan Kearney, is the Nook Daily Find. Update: Now price matched on Kindle.
Book Description
Her luck may have just run out . . .

Dedicated family attorney Amanda "Mandy" Newman may have survived an attempted drowning and, along with co-workers, just won the biggest lottery in history, but before she can collect, the ticket is stolen. Now, her co-workers are being murdered one by one.

She needs help, and that puts her between a rock and a hard man—the brother of a co-worker.

DEA officer Zack Taylor was a one-night stand who'd turned into so much more. Now that his family and Mandy are in danger, he is back in the picture. The attraction between them still simmers; Zack can feel it. But can he resist his desire for her long enough to discover her secret?

With her life on the line, the attraction between them should be kept on ice. After all, under the circumstances, a kiss could be deadly.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is No Other Story ($1.99), a part of the Whole Nother Story series by Dr. Cuthbert Soup [Bloomsbury USA Childrens].
Book Description
The Cheeseman family is back from back in time. In other words, they're in the present time. Well, presently, at least. They're soon to journey back again -- only just a few years this time -- to save the life of their beloved mother. But when they get to the not-so-distant-past, they meet something utterly surprising. Something wilder than anything they've seen before -- including cowboy poets and good-natured pirates. They are about to meet... The alternate versions of themselves!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Diesel Daily Deal - His Compromised Countess (E)

His Compromised Countess ($5.99 $4.61 Kindle), a novel by Deborah Hale [Harlequin Historical], is today's Deal of the "Day" at Diesel E-Books, where it's discounted to $0.90. (8 copies left).

Book Description
When his beautiful, flirtatious wife scandalizes Almack's by being caught in the arms of his enemy, Bennett Maitland, Earl of Sterling, finally ends his unsuitable marriage. He banishes Caroline to his remote childhood home—only to end up trapped there with her!

Having lost the love of her cold husband, Caroline is outwardly defiant—yet her wounded heart aches for what they once shared. If she dares, she has one last chance to break through Bennett's icy reserve and rekindle the fiery passion that once consumed them!
Get the book from Diesel; be sure to check the sales price, as the Deal of the Day often sells out.

Today's Deals 3/18

Today is the last day of Audible's 25% Off Spring Cleaning Sale (for members only) and to take advantage of this AmazonLocal deal:

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Not Norman ($1.99), by Kelly Bennett and Noah Z. Jones (Illustrator) [Candlewick]. This book features Kindle Text Pop-Up for reading text over vivid, full-color images when using Kindle Fire/HD or select Kindle Reading Apps (Kindle Cloud Reader, Kindle for iPad or Kindle for Android); unlike some other Text Popup books, this one won't work on any of the eInk Kindles.
Book Description
Norman the goldfish isn’t what this little boy had in mind. He wanted a different kind of pet — one that could run and catch, or chase string and climb trees, a soft furry pet to sleep on his bed at night. Definitely not Norman. But when he tries to trade Norman for a "good pet," things don’t go as he planned. Could it be that Norman is a better pet than he thought? With wry humor and lighthearted affection, author Kelly Bennett and illustrator Noah Z. Jones tell an unexpected — and positively fishy — tale about finding the good in something you didn’t know you wanted.

Age Range: 4 - 8 years

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Hot Rock ($1.99), the first novel in Donald E Westlake's Dortmunder series [Open Road], with the companion audiobook for $3.95.
Book Description
Fresh out of prison, Dortmunder plans a heist that could mean war

John Dortmunder leaves jail with ten dollars, a train ticket, and nothing to make money on but his good name. Thankfully, his reputation goes far. No one plans a caper better than Dortmunder. His friend Kelp picks him up in a stolen Cadillac and drives him away from Sing-Sing, telling a story of a $500,000 emerald that they just have to steal. Dortmunder doesn’t hesitate to agree.

The emerald is the crown jewel of a former British colony, lately granted independence and split into two nations: one for the Talabwo people, one for the Akinzi. The Akinzi have the stone, the Talabwo want it back, and their UN representative offers a fine payday to the men who can get it. It’s not a simple heist, but after a few years in stir, Dortmunder could use the challenge.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is When Strawberries Bloom ($1.99), by Linda Byler [Good Books].
Book Description
New love and even more questions enter Lizzie Glick’s life in When Strawberries Bloom, the second novel in a series by an Amish writer and based on life experiences.

Lizzie’s dream of teaching school has finally come true. She loves the brand-new school building, the sound of the children singing, and the independence she has in the classroom. Even the occasionally unruly boys can’t ruin the excitement she feels each morning when she starts the school day.

But at home things are in turmoil again. What do Dat’s sudden health problems mean for the future of their farm? And what about Lizzie’s future? Emma and Mandy are so certain that Joshua and John are their perfect matches, but Lizzie doesn’t know what to think about Stephen and how he might fit into her life.

What will Lizzie decide? Will she continue to teach school? Or will she give up that dream so that her wish for marriage and a family can come true?

Stephen says he loves her, but Lizzie isn’t sure he really understands her. Can she hope to find anyone within her Amish community who loves her bright mind, her ever-active imagination, her competitive spirit, and her stormy humor?

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Robert Kroese’s Disenchanted ($0.99), which was initially released as a Kindle Serial.
Book Description
Robert Kroese’s Disenchanted comes fully loaded with the wit and charm of The Princess Bride and a sense of humor all its own. This clever take on the traditional fantasy includes footnotes that keep the narrator honest, a cast of characters that resembles something out of the Island of Misfit Toys, and a fantastic setting filled with words and names that test pronunciation skills.

Being assassinated doesn't have many upsides, so when King Boric is felled by a traitor, the king comforts himself with the knowledge that, like all great warriors, he will spend eternity carousing in the Hall of Avandoor. There's just one problem: to claim his heavenly reward, Boric must release the enchanted sword of Brakslaagt.

Now, to avoid being cursed to walk the land of Dis forever as an undead wraith, he must hunt down the mysterious Lord Brand who gave him the sword twenty years ago. So begins Boric's extraordinary journey across the Six Kingdoms of Dis, a walking corpse who wants nothing more than to be disenchanted and left in peace. Along the way he's advised by the Witch of Twyllic, mocked by the threfelings of New Threfelton, burned, shot at, and nearly blown to bits. But nothing can prepare him for coming face-to-face with Lord Brand. For in that moment, Boric discovers that nothing—in life, in death, or in between—is exactly what it seems.

The Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK is three books by Damon Galgut for £0.99 each (at least 80% off): The Good Doctor, The Imposter and The Quarry. The Good Doctor won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was shortlisted for both the Man Booker Prize and the Dublin/IMPAC Award. His most recent novel, In a Strange Room was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2010.

The Good Doctor (Main/UK; no US edition)
A powerful, taut and intense tale of a friendship overshadowed by betrayal, set against the tawdry hopes and disappointments of a post-apartheid South Africa. When Laurence Waters arrives at his new post at a deserted rural hospital, staff physician Frank Eloff is instantly suspicious. Laurence is everything Frank is not-young, optimistic, and full of big ideas. The whole town is beset with new arrivals and the return of old faces. Frank reestablishes a liaison with a woman, one that will have unexpected consequences. A self-made dictator from apartheid days is rumored to be active in cross-border smuggling, and a group of soldiers has moved in to track him, led by a man from Frank's own dark past. Laurence sees only possibilities-but in a world where the past is demanding restitution from the present, his ill-starred idealism cannot last.
The Imposter (Main/UK; US edition $8.80)
When Adam moves into an abandoned house on the dusty edge of town, he is hoping to recover from the loss of his job and his home in the city. But when he meets Canning - a shadowy figure from his childhooh - and Canning's enigmatic and beautiful wife, a sinister new chapter in his life begins. Canning has inherited a vast fortune and built for himself a giant folly in the veld, a magical place of fantasy and dreams that seduces Adam and transforms him absolutely, violently - and perhaps forever. Damon Galgut's magnificent novel evokes a hot and cruel and claustrophobic world, in which sex and death are never far from the surface. It is his most powerful and unforgettable novel yet.
The Quarry (Main/UK; US edition $8.69)
Damon Galgut established himself as a writer of international caliber with the publication of The Good Doctor, which was sold in sixteen countries and was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize and the winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize for the African region. The Quarry, written ten years ago but never published outside of South Africa, is another stark, intense, and crystalline novel in which human nature betrays itself against the desolate backdrop of rural South Africa. On a lonely stretch of road a man picks up a hitchhiker. The driver is a minister on his way to a new rural congregation; the passenger is a fugitive. When the minister realizes this, the fugitive kills him. He assumes his vestments and identity, only to discover that one of his first duties as the new minister is to preside over his victim's funeral. As the fugitive and the local police chief play a tense game of cat and mouse, culminating in a pursuit across the desolate veldt, Damon Galgut gives us a spare, devastating combat for man's most prized attribute: freedom.

My Brilliant Friend ($9.99 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein [Penguin], is the Nook Daily Find. This should have already dropped to match prices at Amazon, since it is an Agency model publisher, so be sure to check back later if it hasn't dropped yet when you read this post.
Book Description
A modern masterpiece from one of Italy’s most acclaimed authors, My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense, and generous-hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila. Ferrante’s inimitable style lends itself perfectly to a meticulous portrait of these two women that is also the story of a nation and a touching meditation on the nature of friendship.

The story begins in the 1950s, in a poor but vibrant neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples. Growing up on these tough streets the two girls learn to rely on each other ahead of anyone or anything else. As they grow, as their paths repeatedly diverge and converge, Elena and Lila remain best friends whose respective destinies are reflected and refracted in the other. They are likewise the embodiments of a nation undergoing momentous change. Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighborhood, a city, and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between her protagonists, the unforgettable Elena and Lila.

Ferrante is the author of three previous works of critically acclaimed fiction: The Days of Abandonment, Troubling Love, and The Lost Daughter. With this novel, the first in a trilogy, she proves herself to be one of Italy’s great storytellers. She has given her readers a masterfully plotted page-turner, abundant and generous in its narrative details and characterizations, that is also a stylish work of literary fiction destined to delight her many fans and win new readers to her fiction.