Kindle Daily Deals 6/6

If you are looking for a few print books for the summer, either as gifts or to take to the beach (or let the kids read when at the pool), you may want to check out some of the new sales that Amazon has going on for Beach Reads, Books under $10, Kids Books, Children's Books and Gifts for Dad; the latter is joined by the Up to 53% off James Bond sale and Instructional Books From $5 sale.

If audiobook are more your idea of a great beach read (and one that is easier to carry around), then be sure to check out Audible's $7.95 Customer Favorites Sale (it is most likely limited to those with a subscription), with over 250 books to choose from, all of which are listed on the sale page. It's a 48 hour sale (well, sort of) and ends June 8 at midnight (Eastern, US). By my calculations, that's three days on the sale, not two, so I would not be surprised if it ended early.

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Pudding Monsters HD, by ZeptoLab, the developers of Cut the Rope.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is The Third Coincidence ($1.99), by David Bishop [Oceanview Publishing], with the companion audiobook for $3.49. You may already have this one in your library, as it was on a free promotion last summer.

Book Description
Headlines scream across the nation as a country in near panic pleads for the capture of the killers. With little progress, U.S. President Samuel Schroeder asks Jack McCall, a veteran of the CIA and Defense Intelligence, to head up a special multi-agency task force to find the killers. A frustrated and unhappy FBI designates, as its representative, Rachel Johnstone, an agent with whom Jack has had some personal history. The Third Coincidence unfolds amidst continued assassinations, accusations that the president is attempting to form his own secret police, and confirmation hearings for reluctant nominees to fill the vacant positions while the Supreme Court struggles to sustain a quorum. Will a terrorist group or a mad assassin succeed in destroying these revered intuitions? In the spirit of The Day of the Jackal and The Manchurian Candidate, this story is juxta-posed through the eyes of both the hunter and the hunted as the devious plot to change America hurdles forward.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Barefoot in the Sand ($1.99), the first novel in the Barefoot Bay series by Roxanne St. Claire [Hachette], with the companion audiobook for $2.99. That's a great beach read and listen, even at the combined price.

Book Description
When all you hold dear is taken away . . .

When a hurricane roars through Lacey Armstrong's home on the coast of Barefoot Bay, she decides all that remains in the rubble is opportunity. A new hotel is just what Mimosa Key needs, and Lacey and her teenage daughter are due for a fresh start. And nothing, especially not a hot, younger architect, is going to distract Lacey from finally making her dreams a reality.

A second chance is the only thing you have left.

Love has already cost Clay Walker everything. And if he's going to have any chance of picking up the pieces of his life, he needs the job as Lacey Armstrong's architect. What's not in the plans is falling for the headstrong beauty. Her vision of the future is more appealing than anything he could have ever drafted for himself. Will Clay's designs on Lacey's heart be more than she can handle, or will she trust him to build something that will last forever?

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Sandcats of Rhyl ($0.99), by Robert E. Vardeman [Prologue Books], with the companion audiobook for $2.99. If you missed this when it was briefly free last summer, you should pick it up now; it's a fun read and even worth a re-read for those who read it in their youth. Written in the late 70's, this is Vardeman's first novel (although he was nominated for the 1972 Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer and had a number of short stories published in between) and stands alone; many of his later books are in series, like so many these days, with his latest title, God of War II, just released last year and you can catch him in person at a number of events this year.

Book Description
Spacepedition!

Nightwind and his cyborg companion were an unlikely team by galactic standards, but they shared a fierce drive for independence and adventure. When they heard about the lost civilization, and its untapped treasures, they wasted no time to search for it.

But Rhyl was a barren, unrelenting planet; covered with endless deserts, and deadly sciroccos. They were prepared for that hardship, but not for the beasts—sandcats of Hell!

Today's Kindle Teen Daily Deal is Burn for Burn ($1.99), by Jenny Han [Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers].

Book Description
Payback is paradise in this start to a trilogy from New York Times bestselling author Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian.

Postcard-perfect Jar Island is home to charming tourist shops, pristine beaches, amazing oceanfront homes—and three girls secretly plotting revenge.

KAT is sick and tired of being bullied by her former best friend.

LILLIA has always looked out for her little sister, so when she discovers that one of her guy friends has been secretly hooking up with her, she’s going to put a stop to it.

MARY is perpetually haunted by a traumatic event from years past, and the boy who’s responsible has yet to get what’s coming to him.

None of the girls can act on their revenge fantasies alone without being suspected. But together…anything is possible.

With an unlikely alliance in place, there will be no more “I wish I’d said…” or “If I could go back and do things differently...” These girls will show Jar Island that revenge is a dish best enjoyed together.

Nook Daily Find 6/6

Building Better Business Teams ($49.58 Kindle, $2.99 B&N), a collection titles by world-renowned leaders and performance experts Ken Blanchard, Colleen Barrett, David Russo, David Ross, and Richard Templar [FT Press], is the Nook Daily Find; this title was free in both stores in January of this year. Be careful in the Nook store for the next little while, as the price keeps bouncing up and down between the sale price and the near $50 regular price.

Book Description
4 remarkable eBooks help you create and inspire great teams to unprecedented levels of performance

Your success is crucially dependent on your ability to create, lead, and inspire teams to achieve extraordinary results. The comprehensive resources in this 4 eBook package will help you do precisely that. In Lead with LUV: A Different Way to Create Real Success, the legendary Ken Blanchard ("The One Minute Manager") and former Southwest Airlines CEO Colleen Barrett help you achieve breakthrough performance by leading with love. They explain what "love" really means in the organizational context, why leading with love is not "soft" management, how to handle inappropriate behavior, how to make "servant leadership" work, and how to sustain leadership with love. Next, in 17 Rules Successful Companies Use to Attract and Keep Top Talent: Why Engaged Employees Are Your Greatest Sustainable Advantage, David Russo top workforce optimization consultant David Russo identifies exactly what great organizations do differently when it comes to managing people. Russo distills these differences into actionable rules covering everything from resourcing and compensation to leadership development, risk-taking to change management. You'll learn how to build genuine esprit de corps in any environment, ensuring that your employees' efforts, minds, and hearts stay focused on your mission, and stay committed to results and competitive advantage. In Managing People and Performance: Fast Track to Success, David Ross reveals how to get the best possible performance out of every member of your team, whatever their personality or skill set. Using Ross's breakthrough tools, techniques, checklists, and guidance, you'll master indispensable skills for creating, developing, and managing high performance teams--and, at the same time, accelerating your own career development. Finally, in How to Get What You Want...Without Having to Ask, international best-selling author Richard Templar brings his inimitable blend of originality, imagination, wisdom, and straight talk to the challenges of negotiation, persuasion, and influence. The world-renowned author of best-sellers like The Rules of Life, Templar offers up 100 clever, simple, pain-free ways to get people throughout your organization to happily say "yes" to you, and smooth your team's path to success!

UK Kindle Daily Deal 6/6

Ralph's Party (£0.99 UK), by Lisa Jewell [Penguin], is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $10.12).

Book Description
Meet the residents of 31 Almanac Road ...

Ralph and Smith are flatmates and best mates - until, that is, the gorgeous Jemima moves in. And suddenly they're bickering about a lot more than who drank the last beer. Of course, Jem knows that one of them is the man for her - but is it Ralph or Smith?

Upstairs, Karl and Siobhan have been happily unmarried for fifteen years - until, that is, Cheri moves into the flat above theirs. Cheri's got her eye on Karl and doesn't see why she should let a little thing like his girlfriend stand in her way ...

Sooner or later its all got to come to a head - and what better place for tears and laughter, break ups and make ups than Ralph's party

Kindle Daily Deals 6/5

Today's Gold Box at Amazon is "Up to 66% Off Mel Brooks Collections on DVD and Blu-ray."

Today's free MP3 is Nobody by Cecile McLorin Salvant, a Jazz vocalist.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence ($1.99), by John E. Ferling [Oxford University Press]. You don't often see a history book with a starred review, but this is one of them.

Book Description
In this gripping chronicle of America's struggle for independence, award-winning historian John Ferling transports readers to the grim realities of that war, capturing an eight-year conflict filled with heroism, suffering, cowardice, betrayal, and fierce dedication. As Ferling demonstrates, it was a war that America came much closer to losing than is now usually remembered. General George Washington put it best when he said that the American victory was "little short of a standing miracle."

Almost a Miracle offers an illuminating portrait of America's triumph, offering vivid descriptions of all the major engagements, from the first shots fired on Lexington Green to the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown, revealing how these battles often hinged on intangibles such as leadership under fire, heroism, good fortune, blunders, tenacity, and surprise. The author paints sharp-eyed portraits of the key figures in the war, including General Washington and other American officers and civilian leaders. Some do not always measure up to their iconic reputations, including Washington himself. Others, such as the quirky, acerbic Charles Lee, are seen in a much better light than usual. The book also examines the many faceless men who soldiered, often for years on end, braving untold dangers and enduring abounding miseries. The author explains why they served and sacrificed, and sees them as the forgotten heroes who won American independence. Ferling's narrative is also filled with compassion for the men who comprised the British army and who, like their American counterparts, struggled and died at an astonishing rate in this harsh war. Nor does Ferling ignore the naval war, describing dangerous patrols and grand and dazzling naval actions.

Finally, Almost a Miracle takes readers inside the legislative chambers and plush offices of diplomats to reveal countless decisions that altered the course of this war. The story that unfolds is at times a tale of folly, at times one of appalling misinformation and confusion, and now and then one of insightful and dauntless statesmanship.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Once a Duchess ($0.99), by Elizabeth Boyce [Crimson Romance].

Book Description
Isabelle Lockwood was a duchess, until her husband of only a few months wrongfully divorced her for adultery. Since then she’s been a pariah, living in anonymous exile to escape the prying eyes and wagging tongues of the town. More than anything, Isabelle longs for a family of her own, and so has to marry again. But society is ruthlessly unforgiving. To clear her name, Isabelle must face down her past - and the man who broke her heart and ruined her completely.

Marshall Lockwood, Duke of Monthwaite, was blindsided by his young bride’s infidelity. After the divorce Marshall licked his wounds, throwing himself into his botanical studies to forget his disastrous marriage. Now his former wife is back in Town, as beautiful and enticing as he remembers. As the Season throws them together again, Marshall can’t shake the feeling that Isabelle might not be the adulteress he took her for.

Sensuality Level: Sensual

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is The Curse of the Wendigo ($1.99), the second novel in the Monstrumologist YA series by Richard Yancey [Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers]. This one also has a starred review to recommend it.

Book Description
While attempting to disprove that Homo vampiris, the vampire, could exist, Dr. Warthrop is asked by his former fiancé to rescue her husband from the Wendigo, a creature that starves even as it gorges itself on human flesh, which has snatched him in the Canadian wilderness. Although Warthrop also considers the Wendigo to be fictitious, he relents and rescues her husband from death and starvation, and then sees the man transform into a Wendigo. Can the doctor and Will Henry hunt down the ultimate predator, who, like the legendary vampire, is neither living nor dead, whose hunger for human flesh is never satisfied? This second book in The Monstrumologist series explores the line between myth and reality, love and hate, genius and madness.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is The Very Fairy Princess ($1.99), by Julie Edwards [Hachette]. NOTE: This book requires Kindle Fire/HD or select Kindle Reading Apps (Kindle Cloud Reader, Kindle for iPad or Kindle for Android).

Book Description
While her friends and family may not believe in fairies, Geraldine knows, deep down, that she is a VERY fairy princess. From morning to night, Gerry does everything that fairy princesses do: she dresses in her royal attire, practices her flying skills, and she is always on the lookout for problems to solve. But it isn't all twirls and tiaras - as every fairy princess knows, dirty fingernails and scabby knees are just the price you pay for a perfect day!

This new picture book addition to the Julie Andrews Collection features the joyful illustrations of Christine Davenier, and is sure to inspire that sparkly feeling within the hearts of readers young and old.

Nook Daily Find 6/5

Seduce Me ($5.69 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), the first novel in Robyn DeHart's Legend Hunters series [Hachette], is the Nook Daily Find.

Book Description
Fielding Grey is the second son of the Marquess of Eldon and fortune hunter by night. He's on a mission for the Legend Hunters--a group of wealthy, titled, and heart-breakingly gorgeous men, each of whom are after the find of the century--he has his eyes set on obtaining the illustrious Pandora's Box. But before he finds it, he encounters an equally alluring treasure--the woman bold enough to look inside.

Esme Worthington can't resist taking the tiniest peek inside when fate drops the real Pandora's Box in her lap. Thus, she unleashes one of Pandora's irresistible curses: the curse of lust. Now, both Esme and Fielding must deal with this passionate curse--or blessing?--before unknown implications of Pandora's Box overpower them both.

UK Kindle Daily Deal 6/5

The Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK is three titles for £0.99 each (75%-87% off): The Heart Specialist by Claire Rothman, The Villa by Rosanna Ley and The Real McCoy by Sheryl Leonard.

The Heart Specialist (Main/UK), by Claire Rothman (US edition $9.39) [Oneworld Publications]

Fleeing accusations of a hideous crime, Agnes White's father left her with precious little: an old pipe, half-recollections of a bristling moustach, and jars upon jars of preserved medical specimens. What began as the only way to remember her absent father soon develops into a passion to understand, and to marvel at, the workings of life. Following her vocation into the medical profession, it takes all her intelligence and determination to defy the establishment and win the right for women to hold medical degrees. Yet despite a rapid rise to stardom, she continues to find herself up against a wall of prejudice and exclusion. Set against the conflicts and upheaval that permeated the early 1900s, The Heart Specialist charts one woman's struggle for the freedom to do what she loves.

The Villa (Main/UK), by Rosanna Ley (no US edition) [Quercus]

When Tess Angel receives a solicitor's letter inviting her to claim her inheritance - the Villa Sirena, perched on a clifftop in Sicily - she is stunned. Her only link to the island is through her mother, Flavia, who left Sicily during World War II and cut all contact with her family. Initially resistant to Tess going back to her roots, Flavia realises the secrets from her past are about to be revealed and decides to try to explain her actions. Meanwhile, Tess' teenage daughter Ginny is stressed by college, by her blooming sexuality and filled with questions that she longs to ask her father, if only she knew where he was.

Three women, all seeking answers. Will Villa Sirena bring them together - or drive them apart?

The Real McCoy (Main/UK), by Sheryl Leonard (US edition $2.99) [Montlake Romance]

Stephanie Hays, RN, has been infatuated with the handsome, well-respected Dr. Peter Granville since her days in nursing school. And now she has the good fortune of working alongside the “Great Granville” in his hospital unit. There, she spends her days longing for precious scraps of his attention, even if they’re won only by her legendary clumsiness.

Dr. Luke Carter is Granville’s senior resident—and a man who attracts women like ants to a picnic. But the only woman he wants is Stephanie, and she’s blinded by her attraction to Granville. She fails to see him through Luke’s eyes: as a cold, egocentric bully who’ll do anything to get to the top.

Determined to make Stephanie realize the unsettling truth about her idol, Luke conceives a plot to reveal Granville for who he really is. Is this the ticket to winning Stephanie’s heart at last…or will it drive her straight into Granville’s arms?

Kindle DX Returns, Keyboard Exits

I think we all knew that the Kindle Keyboard 3G's days were limited and apparently they are now over, as this model has been removed from the current Kindle Family lineup at Amazon. Amazon is no longer taking orders on any of the Keyboard models, both are showing as out of stock and no known time when they will come back in (there are a few used ones that can be ordered).

In the meantime, though, a model we all thought was gone for good has come back: the graphite Kindle DX, complete with free 3G and global coverage. From the specs and images I can see, this is identical to the 2nd generation Kindle DX that disappeared from their lineup earlier. For those who read a lot of PDF's, the DX's size is ideal; it can be a bit slow loading PDF's and those that are image only can be slow turning pages, but those are the same files that can be impossible to read on the smaller Kindles that are out there. If your eyesight isn't as good as it used to be, the DX lets you enlarge the print much more (and you get more words on the page when you do), plus it has sound support (which is lacking in the rest of the eInk Kindle line-up, at this point). That means you can use the Read-to-Me feature on your books and newspapers, as well as load up on audiobooks for the times when reading isn't as convenient. And, of course, you can listen to music and podcasts and there is a basic web browser for checking your email or shopping on the web.

I will say, I was hoping that the DX would return with a lit screen (essentially, a Paperwhite DX), preferably without losing features and memory, as has been the recent direction Amazon has taken with their devices. One by one, we've lost the ability to add books and music via SD card, then the keyboard, then sound entirely. Sure, some of those features are on the tablets, but none of those will give us 2-3 weeks of battery life (or even 3 days, for mine) and it is a lot easier (and faster) to transfer music and audiobook via an SD card than it is to try to reload them via the slow internet connection we have here (or find in most hotspots).

Kindle Daily Deals 6/4

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Dog Lived (and So Will I) ($1.99), by Teresa Rhyne [Sourcebooks], which is also the Nook Daily Find today.

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is Lulu in the Amazon, an interactive storybook for kids.

If you are one of those that bought Scrabble for their Kindle Fire (1st Gen) and was disappointed when it would not work on your new Kindle Fire HD, you need to go to your library and check for the newest update. If you've held off on buying Scrabble because it wasn't compatible, you'll want to visit the Amazon store and get it now. All new HD graphics, it's compatible with all the current (and the original) Kindle Fire/HD models and the Single User mode is also back (it apparently disappeared in an interim version that I didn't upgrade to).

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is A Cowboy's Touch ($1.99), the first novel in Denise Hunter's Big Sky Romance series [Thomas Nelson].

Book Description
Abigail is just in Moose Creek, Montana for the summer to temporarily care for her great aunt. But a tender-hearted cowboy beckons her to stay.

Abigail Jones intends to spend just one summer in middle-of-nowhere Montana with her Aunt Lucy. Time away from her job is just what Abigail needs to reassess her life. The slow pace has her breathing deeply for the first time in years. And the majestic scenery encourages her to get reacquainted with herself . . . and God.

What she didn't count on was the handsome widowed cowboy who owns the ranch where her aunt lives. When the rancher loses his daughter's nanny, Abigail decides to lend a hand for the summer.

Wade Ryan can't help being attracted to Abigail. But he's given up everything to protect his daughter, and he's not about to risk it all on a pretty face.

Under Abigail's care, Wade's home and daughter thrive. And with Wade's touch, Abigail's heart feels at home at last. But Abigail knows this elusive rancher is hiding something. Will her own secrets separate her from the cowboy who finally captured her heart?

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is White Raven: The Sword of Northern Ancestors ($1.99), by Siberian author Irina Lopatina [Light Messages Publishing].

Book Description
In the kingdom of Areya, humans, animals, and the magical creatures that inhabit the Eternal Forest have long coexisted peacefully, but now something is horribly wrong. A terrifying stream of monstrous creatures has begun to emerge from the secret depths of the earth, terrorizing all of Areya's native inhabitants. From the tiny, wise drevalyankas to the bellicose cave-dwelling gnomes to the devious kikimoras who gather roots and herbs in the marsh, everyone is in danger. With the aid of Urart, the magical sword that has been passed down from the time of the ancient northern ancestors, Grand Duke Vlady can offer temporary protection to his people. But Prince Vraigo, Vlady's nephew, who is endowed with magical power himself, understands that the source of the evil monsters must be found if there's any hope of survival. Along with a motley crew of his forest-dwelling friends, Vraigo sets off on a perilous quest in search of the koschei, the powerful, corrupt Archmagus whose mission is the destruction not just of Areya, but of the entire world. As if this weren't bad enough, Urart disappears from the duke's stronghold. Without it, Areya is doomed, and only Vraigo, the White Raven, can possibly get the sword back. This journey requires Vraigo to use all of his keen wits and magical abilities, as well as to ally himself to dangerous creatures like yagas and werewolves, natural enemies of man, and precipitates the young prince into the most bewildering, complex challenge he has faced yet: life in the twenty-first century.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is The Boy at the End of the World ($1.99), by Greg Van Eekhout [Bloomsbury USA Childrens].

Book Description
This is what he knew:

His name was Fisher.

The world was dangerous.

And he was alone.

Fisher is the last boy on Earth - and things are not looking good for the human race. The carefully crafted survival dome where Fisher and dozens of other humans have been sleeping for millenia has been destroyed. Through a lucky accident, only Fisher survived.

The world Fisher wakes up in is a lot like ours - but it's changed, too. After the human race wiped itself out, nature took over, and wild creatures evolved into barely familiar beasts. Fisher must face them all as they set off on a journey that seems hopeless - at first. Then Fisher uncovers evidence that there may be a second survival dome far to the west. What was once a struggle for one boy's survival becomes a journey of hope.

With a broken robot and a friendly mammoth as his only companions, Fisher heads West. But something is watching them... something that wants to find the second survival dome just as badly as they do.

Age Level: 10 and up

Nook Daily Find 6/4

Dog Lived (and So Will I) ($10.09 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), by Teresa Rhyne [Sourcebooks], is the Nook Daily Find.

Book Description
The tale of a dog who wouldn't let go and the woman who followed his lead.

Teresa Rhyne vowed to get things right this time around: new boyfriend, new house, new dog, maybe even new job. But shortly after she adopted Seamus, a totally incorrigible beagle, vets told Teresa that he had a malignant tumor and less than a year to live. The diagnosis devastated her, but she decided to fight it, learning everything she could about the best treatment for Seamus. Teresa couldn't possibly have known then that she was preparing herself for life's next hurdle - a cancer diagnosis of her own.

She forged ahead with survival, battling a deadly disease, fighting for doctors she needed, and baring her heart for a seemingly star–crossed relationship. The Dog Lived (and so Will I) is an uplifting and heartwarming story about how dogs steal our hearts, show us how to live, and teach us how to love.

UK Kindle Daily Deal 6/4

The Gilded Edge (£0.99 UK), the second Vince Treadwell novel by Danny Miller [Robinson], is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (no US edition).

Book Description
London 1965, and Vince Treadwell investigates the seemingly unrelated murders of a playboy aristocrat from Belgravia and a young black nurse from the wrong side of town. It takes the detective to the illegal drinking dens of Notting Hill run by the self-styled Black Power leader, Michael X; the nightclubs of Soho owned by the legendary gangster, Billy Hill; and the exclusive gaming tables of the Montcler Club in Berkeley Square, where the blue bloods and power players of England gamble thousands on the turn of a card.

But as Vince Treadwell digs deeper he finds himself not only embroiled with a beautiful society girl, Isabel Saxmore-Blaine, but a world of espionage and corruption where the underworld mixes easily with the aristocracy, and no one is innocent.

Bargain Book Roundup

Grub Line Rider ($1.99 Kindle), by Louis L'Amour [AmazonEncore], is just one of over 200 Western Books on sale for $2.99 or less (almost all are $1.99 are less).

Book Description
The fury of the Wild West explodes in this thrilling dramatization of the Louis L'Amour classic Grub Line Rider. Most folks would call Kim Sartain an easygoing, peace-loving man. But the few who crossed the young drifter knew there was nothing he liked better than a good fight. When cattleman Jim Targ challenges Sartain's right to ride across an unclaimed stretch of meadow, Sartain decides he'll do better than ride through: He'll put down stakes there and homestead the land. Soon there's more at risk than land and pride when Targ hires a gunman to teach Sartain a permanent--and deadly--lesson.

Barbecue! Bible Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades, Bastes, Butters, and Glazes ($2.99 Kindle), by Steven Raichlen [Workman Publishing], has over 300 pages of both traditional and new ideas for this summer's BBQ season. For those that don't have his Barbecue! Bible (now in it's 10th Edition), the first part of the book goes over both the basics and the steps for creating a great barbecue.

Book Description
Marinate skewers of beef tips in Tex-Mex Tequila-Jalapeno Wet Rub before putting them on the grill. Or slather pork chops with B.B. Lawnside Spicy Apple Barbecue Sauce. Or coax a chicken breast to perfection with a Coconut Curry Baste. From Steven Raichlen, author of the big, bad, definitive BARBECUE! BIBLE, comes BARBECUE! BIBLE SAUCES, RUBS, AND MARINADES, BASTES, BUTTERS & GLAZES, an in-depth celebration of those cornerstones on which unforgettable live-fire flavors are built.

Here are fiery spice mixtures for massaging into food, sensuous bastes to be brushed on like lacquer, killer marinades, sugary glazes, tangy mops from award-winning barbecue teams, and dozens of sauces, from the classic tomato-based American Sweet and Smoky to a bold Moroccan Charmoula with its medley of fresh herbs and spices.

In all, 200 recipes cover the gamut. But BARBECUE! BIBLE SAUCES aims even higher - offering a serious education in flavor. Big flavor. It tells how to use a mortar and pestle to maximize fresh garlic and onions. How to create a failproof fish cure and radically improve home-smoked fish. The best way to handle a Scotch bonnet chili to reap its heat and savor without scorching skin or eyes. How to balance acid, oil, and aromatics in a marinade so that it tenderizes meat, coats the exterior to keep it from drying out during cooking, and adds cannon blasts of flavor. And how to confidently incorporate ingredients like tamarind, lemon grass, star anise, wasabi, marjoram, kaffir lime leaf, and tarragon.

Put it all together, and you'll really have your barbecue mojo working.

The Cost of Victory ($0.99 Kindle), the second novel in the Crimson Worlds series by Jay Allan [self-pub], with the companion audiobook for $1.99, looks pretty interesting and has even better reviews than the first in the series, Marines ($2.99).

Book Description
The Third Frontier War is raging, and all across human-occupied space worlds are burning. Massive fleets struggle for dominance and kilometer-long war ships exchange thermonuclear barrages.

Battered in the early years of the war, the Western Alliance is resurgent. The brilliant Admiral Augustus Garret leads the Alliance fleet from victory to victory, taking the war to the very heart of the enemy empires. And on the ground, Colonel Erik Cain, hero of the Marine Corps, leads his crack troops again into combat, seeking the final battle.

In the background, the secretive intelligence agencies of the despotic Superpowers plot and scheme, using their own soldiers as pawns in the great game for control of space.

But the final battle will be fought in the reddish sands of a backwater world, and the prize will be the staggering secret that has lain hidden in a remote cave for untold centuries.

All the Powers struggle for the ultimate victory, but at what cost?

Forever, Erma: Best-Loved Writing From America's Favorite Humorist ($2.99 Kindle), by Erma Bombeck [Open Road]

Book Description
An anthology of Erma Bombeck’s best writing, and a tribute to one of America’s sharpest wits

When she began writing her regular newspaper column in 1965, Erma Bombeck’s goal was to make housewives laugh. Thirty years later, she had published more than four thousand columns, and earned countless laughs—from housewives, presidents, and everyone in between. With grace, good humor, and razor-sharp prose, she gently skewered every aspect of the American family. This collection holds the best of her columns—not just her famous quips, but also the heartbreaking observations that gave her writing such weight.

In 1969, Erma wrote: “screaming kids, unpaid bills, green leftovers, husbands behind newspapers, basketballs in the bathroom. They’re real . . . they’re warm . . . they’re the only bit of normalcy left in this cockeyed world, and I’m going to cling to it like life itself.” Three decades later, Bombeck’s writing remains a timeless examination of the still-cockeyed world.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of Erma Bombeck including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s estate.

Strangers in the Land ($1.99 Kindle), the third Zombie Bible novel by Stant Litore [47North], with the companion audiobook also $1.99.

Book Description
Stant Litore’s The Zombie Bible retells biblical tales and ancient history as episodes in humanity’s long struggle with hunger … and with the hungry dead.

Four must stand against the dead. The aging prophetess Devora. Hurriya, the slave girl. Zadok, a legend among warriors. And the widower Barak, who has sworn to defend his homeland from a migration of walking corpses greater than has ever been seen.

Devora is all too familiar with the unclean dead. She was there when her mother was pulled screaming from her tent by zombies. And when her mother rose, famished for flesh, it was Devora's hand that ended her hunger. Now Devora has struck an uneasy alliance with those she fears most among the living. Yet the strangers in the land must stand together if they are to rid the land of its curse.

One Week Girlfriend ($0.99 Kindle), by Monica Murphy [Bantam/Random House]

Book Description
Breakout sensation Monica Murphy takes the New Adult genre by storm with the deeply emotional, completely addicting story of Drew and Fable.

Temporary. That’s the word I’d use to describe my life right now. I’m temporarily working double shifts—at least until I can break free. I’m temporarily raising my little brother—since apparently our actual mother doesn’t give a crap about either of us. And I always end up as nothing but the temporary girlfriend—the flavor of the week for every guy who’s heard the rumor that I give it up so easily.

At least Drew Callahan, college football legend and local golden boy, is upfront about it. He needs someone to play the part of his girlfriend for one week. In exchange for cash. As if that’s not weird enough, ever since he brought me into his world, nothing really makes sense. Everyone hates me. Everyone wants something from him. And yet the only thing Drew seems to want is . . . me.

I don’t know what to believe anymore. Drew is sweet, sexy, and hiding way more secrets than I am. All I know is, I want to be there for him—permanently.

Free Audiobook - Pride and Prejudice

Get a free audiobook download of Pride and Prejudice ($13.96 Audible or $2.99 companion priced with this Kindle edition at $2.56), by Jane Austen, narrated by Carolyn Seymour, from Downpour (Blackstone Audio's retail site), to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the original publication date.

Book Description
The provincial Bennet family, home to five unmarried daughters, is turned upside down when a wealthy bachelor takes up a house nearby. Mr. Bingley enhances his instant popularity by hosting a ball and taking an interest in the eldest Bennet daughter, Jane. Meanwhile, Mr. Darcy, Bingley’s even wealthier friend, makes himself equally unpopular by his aloof disdain of country manners. Yet he is drawn in spite of himself to the spirited and intelligent Elizabeth Bennet, who proves to be his match in both wit and pride. Their sparkling repartee is a splendid performance of civilized sparring infused with unacknowledged romantic tension.

Pride and Prejudice delightfully captures the affectations and rivalries of class-conscious English families in an age when status and security for women hung entirely on matrimonial ambitions. Austen’s characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England. It is also the source of some of the most memorable characters ever written, from the fatuous Mr. Collins, whose proposal to Elizabeth is one of the finest comic passages in English literature, to the beloved heroine Elizabeth, whom the author herself deemed “as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print.”

Get the free audiobook from Downpour. Use Promo code pridefree during checkout (and make sure you see a $0.00 total before continuing). If you are a member there, be sure to log in first - otherwise, the code gets stripped during checkout and you may end up using one of your credits (if you do, contact support and they'll put the credit back on your acct).

Daily Deal - A Patch of Darkness (DF)

A Patch of Darkness ($5.50 $4.24 Kindle), the first title in the Sierra Fox urban fantasy series by Yolanda Sfetsos [Samhain Publishing], is today's Deal of the Day at at Diesel E-Books, where it's discounted to $1.10 (8 copies left).

Book Description
All it takes is one weak seam for everything to fall apart.

In a perfect world, Sierra Fox would have stayed away from the Council she left years ago. But in this world—where spirits have the right to walk among the living—it’s her job to round up troublesome spooks and bring them before that very same Council.

Though her desk is piled high with open cases, she can’t resist an anonymous summons to a mysterious late-night meeting with a bunch of other hunters, each of whom seems to have a unique specialty. The news is dire: something is tearing at the fabric of the universe. If the hunters can’t find who or why in time, something’s going to give in a very messy way.

As current cases, family secrets, new clues and her tangled love life slowly wind themselves into an impossible knot, Sierra finds herself the target of a power-sucking duo intent on stealing her mojo. And realizing she holds the key to the last hope of sealing the widening rift.

Warning: Spook catching: may contain traces of ectoplasm and otherworldly nasties. Not recommended for those with allergies to ghosts, demons, and with boyfriends who think your power is theirs. While reading, avoid dark patches and stay to the light.

Get the book from Diesel; be sure to check the sales price, as the Deal of the Day often sells out. Deals change at 11AM Eastern Time, USA.

Bella Andre Contest Winners

Congratulations to MADD, winner of the Bella Andre Summer of Love Contest. I'm sending an email your way, so we'll know where to send your goodie bag! I've picked a second winner, Shelby Carmichael, and I'll be needing your address too, as I have an extra Advanced Reader Copy of the print edition that I will be sending you.

Congratulations to you both!

Save $20 on Kindle Fire HD!

Update: Offer extended until June 15 (or while supplies last).

As a Father's Day promotion, you can save $20 on a Kindle Fire HD 7" (now from $179 with promo), the Kindle Fire HD 8.9" or Kindle Fire HD 8.9" 4G, by entering promotional code DADSFIRE at checkout. The deals page shows both the base models and the memory upgraded models, as well as those with and without Special Offers (if you don't want Dad to have to pay to dump the advertising himself). If you play a lot of games, like to download the full content on those Audubon apps or want to stick a few movies on there for a quick trip, you should probably consider upgrading to the 32GB model, for only $30 extra (on the 4G model, that's where you start and the upgrade to 64G is $100).

There are some restrictions, which work out to basically one per customer (account), only those sold by Amazon (no third party sellers or used), and only until the number they've set aside for the promotion sell out (the final end date is June 8th, but there is also a "while supplies last" clause). Be sure not to use one-click, though - you need to go thru the full checkout process, so that you can apply the promo code above (and double check your total) before ordering, in order to get the sale price. If you are buying as a gift, be sure to click the box on the summary page for that, as well, so that the device isn't auto-registered to your account.

Kindle Daily Deals 6/3

Today's Gold Box at Amazon saves up to 60% on select solid-state drives, microSD cards, SD cards, and USB flash drives from SanDisk.

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

• 10 Kindle Books for $1 Each

Today's Kindle Teens Daily Deal is Changeling ($1.99), the first novel in the Order of Darkness series by Philippa Gregory [Simon and Schuster].

Book Description
Dark myths, medieval secrets, intrigue, and romance populate the pages of this first in a four-book teen series from the #1 bestselling author of The Other Boleyn Girl.

The year is 1453 and all signs point to it being the end of the world. Accused of heresy and expelled from his monastery, handsome seventeen-year-old Luca Vero is recruited by a mysterious stranger to record the end of times across Europe. Commanded by sealed orders, Luca is sent to map the fears of Christendom and travel to the very frontier of good and evil.

Seventeen-year-old Isolde, a Lady Abbess, is trapped in a nunnery to prevent her from claiming her rich inheritance. As the nuns in her care are driven mad by strange visions, walking in their sleep, and showing bleeding wounds, Luca is sent to investigate and driven to accuse her.

Forced to face the greatest fears of the dark ages—witchcraft, werewolves, madness—Luca and Isolde embark on a search for truth, their own destinies, and even love as they take the unknown ways to the real historical figure who defends the boundaries of Christendom and holds the secrets of the Order of Darkness.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead ($1.99), by Sara Gran [Houghton Mifflin Harcourt], with the companion audiobook for $3.99.

Book Description
Claire DeWitt believes she is the world’s greatest PI, even if few agree with her. A one-time teen detective in Brooklyn, she is a follower of the esoteric French detective Jacques Silette, whose mysterious handbook Détection inspired Claire’s unusual practices.

Claire also has deep roots in New Orleans, where she was mentored by Silette’s student the brilliant Constance Darling—until Darling was murdered. When a respected DA goes missing she returns to the hurricane-ravaged city to find out why.Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead is a knockout start to a bracingly original new series.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Glitter Baby ($1.99), by Susan Elizabeth Phillips [HarperCollins].

Book Description
Welcome to the world of the Glitter Baby

Fleur Savagar is the most beautiful woman in the world . . . to everyone but herself. With her oversized hands and paddle-boat feet, her streaky blond hair and funny green eyes, she lives a life filled with secrets that began before she was born. That was when her bewitching mother left home to find James Dean and met Errol Flynn instead. Now Fleur has to grow up quickly, and life won't make that easy.

Jake Koranda is both New York's most brilliant playwright and Hollywood's hottest actor. Difficult, talented, and tormented, he has no patience for international glamour girls, not even ones with beautiful bodies and smart-aleck mouths. But there's more to the Glitter Baby than shine, and Fleur's tougher than Jake expects. Even with the odds stacked against her, she's fiercely determined to discover the woman she's destined to be.

An ugly duckling who can't believe she's turned into a swan . . . A tough-guy movie star with a haunted past . . . In a land of broken dreams, can two unlikely lovers trust their hearts?

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is The Darkening ($0.99), the second novel in Robin T. Popp's Immortals series [Montlake Romance], with the companion audiobook for $2.99.

Book Description
Created at the dawn of time to protect humanity, the ancient warriors have been nearly forgotten, though magic lives on--in vampires, werewolves, the Celtic Sidhe, and other beings. But now one of their own has turned rogue, and the world is again in desperate need of the IMMORTALS.

A werewolf and bounty hunter, Lexi was badass to the bone. She had no problem protecting herself in the seedy underground vampire clubs of New York City. Until the Immortal she had tried to summon actually appeared. It wasn't the intricate tattoos around his well-defined muscles that intimidated her; it was the raw power she saw shimmering in his golden brown eyes, power mingled with lust. Though she longed to give in to the passion and pleasure he promised, they first had a curse to break, a brother to find, and a whole legion of vampires to prevent from joining ...THE DARKENING.

UK Kindle Daily Deal 6/3

Learning to Lose (£0.99 UK), by David Trueba [Portobello Books], is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $9.99).

Book Description
It is the day of Sylvia's 16th birthday and her life as an adult is about to begin - not with the party she had been planning, but with a car-crash. At the wheel is a talented young footballer, just arrived from Buenos Aires, and set for stardom on and off the pitch.

As their destinies collide, elsewhere in the city Sylvie's father and grandfather are finding their own lives suddenly derailed by a violent murder and a secret affair. Set against the maze of Madrid's congested and contested streets, Learning to Lose follows four individuals as they swerve off course in unexpected directions.

Each of them is dodging guilt and the fear of failure, but their shared search for happiness, love, purity, and - above all - a way to survive, forms a taut narrative web that binds the characters together, and holds the reader fast.

Nook Daily Find 6/3

Clarity ($2.99 Kindle, B&N), the first novel in the Clarity Teen/YA series by Kim Harrington [Scholastic/Point], is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle. Be careful at B&N, as the price keeps bouncing up and down.

Book Description
When you can see things others can't, where do you look for the truth?
This paranormal murder mystery will have teens reading on the edge of their seats.

Clarity "Clare" Fern sees things. Things no one else can see. Things like stolen kisses and long-buried secrets. All she has to do is touch a certain object, and the visions come to her. It's a gift.

And a curse.

When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare's ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case--but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare's brother--who has supernatural gifts of his own--becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most?

Free Voucher for $10 from Audible.com (AL)

This deal is for NEW Audible customers only: Get a Free Voucher for $10 to Spend on Audiobooks from Audible.com

Click on Apply, then complete the purchase on the page after that. Yes, it now says "Apply" instead of "purchase" on these free offers, but nearly the same process: you must be in the US and have a credit card on file, make a "purchase" at zero cost, then the promo code is automatically applied to your account (no waiting for an email and dealing with a promo code). Sign-up for this offer expires June 2, 2013 or when the number of vouchers set aside by Amazon have been exhausted.

Grab a voucher today (before they 'sell out' or the offer expires) and you'll have a week to apply the voucher to your account and then 30 days to browse thru Audible and decide where to spend your $10. If you use it on some of the reasonably priced companion editions, you could get up to 5 audiobooks free from this deal.

Edited to add: I played with this a bit, to see what a "new" customer might be. It seems that not only those with a subscription, but anyone who has ever even logged into Audible with their Amazon account ID (or perhaps even if you just have an Amazon account) are considered "not new" customers. I know that an Amazon account that has no audiobooks and I don't think has ever logged into Audible was rejected as "not new", so suspect you'll need to create a new account at Audible (one with an email address not linked to an Amazon account) in order to use this voucher.

Deal Description
Get carried away by a great story with an audiobook from Audible.com. From classics to humor, thrillers to romance, and everything in between, it’s all here. Listen on your Kindle, iPhone, Android phone, Windows phone or tablet -- and turn your commute, your workout, even doing the laundry, into the most anticipated moments of your day. And now thanks to Whispersync for Voice, Kindle readers can switch seamlessly between a Kindle eBook and the Audible audiobook, picking up in one where you left off in the other.

• Valid for new Audible.com customers only
• Voucher will expire if not redeemed on Audible.com by 11:59 P.M. EDT June 9, 2013
• $10 balance will expire if not used toward the purchase of an item or items on Audible.com after 30 days from date of redemption
• Limit 1 voucher per customer
• Available only to U.S. customers

Kindle Daily Deals 6/2

I see a neat gift idea over at AmazonLocal today: a Custom Stainless Steel Water Bottle. You can upload the photo or image of your choice and make sure your bottle never gets mixed up with all the others at the gym or office; it's also a pretty decent price ($11) and would make a great Father's Day gift with a picture of the kids (one he might use, instead of the ties hanging in the back of the closet).

Amazon's Android Free App of the Day is the SAS Survival Guide! This is the full text of the classic book, plus you can download 16 videos of survival tips. In addition to photo galleries of edible, medicinal and poisonous plants, you can also use the app as a Morse Code signalling device and as a Sun Compass. I'm definitely loading this one on my phone (and on my Kindle Fire, to read on a bigger screen).

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Discretion ($1.99), by former federal sex-crimes prosecutor and critically acclaimed author Allison Leotta [Simon and Schuster], with the companion audiobook for $4.49.

Book Description
A new thriller exploring the intersection of sex and power in Washington, D.C.’s most secretive worlds

When a beautiful young woman plummets to her death from the balcony of the U.S. Capitol, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Curtis is summoned to the scene. The evidence points to a sexual assault and murder. The victim is one of the city’s highest-paid escorts. And the balcony belongs to Washington, D.C.’s sole representative to Congress, the most powerful figure in city politics.

The Congressman proclaims his innocence, but he’s in the middle of a tough primary fight, and the scandal could cost him the election. For Anna, the high-profile case is an opportunity. But as the political stakes rise, she realizes that a single mistake could end her career.

At the same time, her budding romance with Jack Bailey, the chief homicide prosecutor, is at a crossroads. Determined to gain respect in the office, Anna wants to keep their relationship under wraps. But the mounting pressure and media attention that come with the office’s most important case will inevitably expose their relationship—if it doesn’t destroy it first.

The investigation leads Anna to Discretion, a high-end escort service that caters to D.C.’s elite. But with each break in the case, the mystery deepens. And the further Anna ventures into D.C.’s red-light underworld, the larger the target on her own back.

From the secret social clubs where Washington’s most powerful men escape from public view to the asphalt “track” where the city’s most vulnerable women work the streets, Discretion is a gripping exploration of sex, power, and the secrets we all keep.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is Tumbleweeds ($1.99), a coming of age novel by Leila Meacham [Hachette].

Book Description
Recently orphaned, eleven-year-old Cathy Benson feels she has been dropped into a cultural and intellectual wasteland when she is forced to move from her academically privileged life in California to the small town of Kersey in the Texas Panhandle where the sport of football reigns supreme. She is quickly taken under the unlikely wings of up-and-coming gridiron stars and classmates John Caldwell and Trey Don Hall, orphans like herself, with whom she forms a friendship and eventual love triangle that will determine the course of the rest of their lives. Taking the three friends through their growing up years until their high school graduations when several tragic events uproot and break them apart, the novel expands to follow their careers and futures until they reunite in Kersey at forty years of age. Told with all of Meacham's signature drama, unforgettable characters, and plot twists, readers will be turning the pages, desperate to learn how it all plays out.

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is A Hunger Like No Other ($1.99), by Kresley Cole [Simon and Schuster]. This is the first novel in the Immortals After Dark series, one of the best werewolf/vampire romances I've read; since I started this series on paper, then switched to the ereaders sometime later, I'll be replacing my paper copy with this edition, today.

Book Description
Acclaimed author Kresley Cole introduces a sizzling new series with this tale of a fierce werewolf and a bewitching vampire -- unlikely soul mates whose passion will test the boundaries of life and death.

A mythic warrior who'll stop at nothing to possess her . . .

After enduring years of torture from the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he's waited millennia for is a vampire. Or partly one. This Emmaline is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him.

A vampire captured by her wildest fantasy . . .

Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents -- until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle. There, her fear of the Lykae -- and their notorious dark desires -- ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings.

An all-consuming desire . . .

Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be?

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Judy Moody, M.D. ($0.99), by Megan McDonald and Peter H. Reynolds (Illustrator), with the companion audiobook for $1.99.

Book Description
She took her own temperature. With the fancy thermometer that beeped. It was not normal. It was not 98.6. Judy's temperature was 188.8! Judy's temperature was 00.0! Judy's temperature was beep-beep-beep-beep-beep. She, Judy Moody, had the temperature of an outer-space alien!

Judy Moody has a mood for every occasion, and now, she is in a medical mood! It's no secret that Judy wants to be like Elizabeth Blackwell, first woman doctor, when she grows up. So when Class 3T starts to study the Amazing Human Body, Judy can hardly wait to begin her better-than-best-ever third-grade projects: show-and-tell with something way rarer than a scab, a real-live ooey-gooey operation, and a cloning experiment that may create double trouble for Judy and her friends!

Judy's latest adventures are sure to tickle your humerus (AKA funny bone) and put you in a very Judy Moody mood!

Age Range: 7 and up

Nook Daily Find 6/2

The Real Housewives Tell It Like It Is ($8.49 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), by The Creators of The Real House [Chronicle Books], is the Nook Daily Find.

Book Description
Bravo's The Real Housewives franchise has taken the country by storm with over 13 million fans and record-breaking new seasons. The Real Housewives Tell It Like It Is captures the best, most outlandish quotes from the ladies of the O.C., New York, Atlanta, New Jersey, D.C., Beverly Hills, and Miami in one deluxe volume so fans can refer to their unique brand of wisdom again and again. Organized by topic and brimming with color photographs, The Real Housewives Tell It Like It Is is a must-have for fans everywhere!

UK Kindle Daily Deal 6/2

Bolero (£0.99 UK), by Joanie McDonell [Thomas & Mercer], is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $4.99; companion audiobook $1.99).

Book Description
Bolero is one of those rare thrillers you truly can’t put down. Introducing noir detective, Nick Sayler, it is a nonstop ride to an unexpected twist ending.

Despite his bronze star with its prized V for valor, Nick Sayler was once a thief, junkie, and prime suspect in a murder case. Now he’s a mostly changed man, a private investigator with a long list of rich clients and a good life. But even after ten years there’s not enough whiskey in the world to wash away acid-etched memories of Julia Carteret, the beautiful woman who took a bullet meant for him.

He never expected a second chance to make things right until he got a midnight call from a distraught young doctor and a plea from a fragile dancer with no money, no memory, nothing in her pocket except Sayler’s card, and the number 44 carved across her back. With bewitching violet eyes she looks so much like Julia, Sayler thinks keeping her safe could put him back on the road to redemption. But not long after he takes her home to his Hudson River barge, he learns that she has a past as dark as his own, and soon he’s protecting her from a patient sociopath with seemingly preternatural power to be in two places at once.

Sayler needs his wingman Meriwether, the brilliant savant, and his restless backup, Tommy Fallon NYPD homicide, whose dicey investigative methods keep them under the radar, which is the only place to be when Sayler taunts danger. As he nears old secrets linking the dancer to a strange group: a voluptuous redhead, a concert pianist, a skateboarder, and a Polish nanny, he starts to learn why the murderer’s sex-stoked obsession can’t end until the girl is dead. When the killer who never sleeps gets the best of an exhausted Sayler on an isolated island off the coast of Connecticut, in Manhattan’s meatpacking district, and on the streets of Harlem, smart money might bet both ways, except for one sure thing: in spite of his bad leg and worse habits, no matter what the cost, Nick Sayler will not let another woman die.

99 Cent Sale from Prologue Books

Prologue Books is having a 99 cent sale on their ebooks, with nearly 500 titles on sale. Genres include Science Fiction and Fantasy, Mystery/Thriller/Suspense and Literary Fiction. Those in the UK are included, too, at a price of £0.99.

There are way too many books in the sale to list here, so click the link and then pick the genre that interests you the most. You should be able to find at least a few titles that pique your interest.

Kindle Daily Deals 6/1

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Red Moon ($2.99), by Benjamin Percy [Grand Central Publishing/Hachette], with the companion audiobook for $4.99. An Amazon Best Book of the Month, May 2013.

Book Description
Award -winning author Benjamin Percy presents an explosive and deeply layered literary thriller set in the American West.

They live among us.

They are our neighbors, our mothers, our lovers.

They change.

When government agents kick down Claire Forrester's front door and murder her parents, Claire realizes just how different she is.

Patrick Gamble was nothing special until the day he got on a plane and hours later stepped off it, the only passenger left alive, a hero.

Chase Williams has sworn to protect the people of the United States from the menace in their midst, but he is becoming the very thing he has promised to destroy.

So far, the threat has been controlled by laws and violence and drugs. But the night of the red moon is coming, when an unrecognizable world will emerge...and the battle for humanity will begin.

Today's Kindle Romance Daily Deal is You Can't Plan Love ($0.99), by Synithia Williams [Crimson Romance].

Book Description
Knowing firsthand the heartbreak that comes when desire and emotion rule a relationship, Kenyatta Copeland assumes marrying Brad Johnson will lead to a safe and secure life. But as much as she believes she can plan her future, it’s hard to ignore the way her boss, Malcolm Patterson, ignites her passions with just one look.

After Malcolm learns of her engagement, he makes a play for her heart and reminds her that passion between a man and a woman has its perks… but also its costs. When Brad confirms his suspicion that there’s more than work between Kenyatta and Malcolm, he devises a sinister plan to keep Kenyatta by his side.

Torn between her promise to marry Brad and her irrepressible longing for Malcolm, Kenyatta must decide if she can live her life in a passionless marriage of convenience or once again trust her heart. Yet Brad does not intend to let her go easily, and by the time she realizes the depths of his treachery, it may be too late.

Sensuality Level: Sensual

Today's Kindle SciFi/Fantasy Daily Deal is Bluebeard: The Autobiography of Rabo Karabekian (1916-1988) ($1.99), by Kurt Vonnegut [Dial Press/RosettaBooks].

Book Description
Bluebeard, published in 1987, is Vonnegut's meditation on art, artists, surrealism, and disaster. Meet Rabo Karabekian, a moderately successful surrealist painter, who we meet late in life and see struggling (like all of Vonnegut's key characters), with the dregs of unresolved pain and the consequences of brutality. Loosely based on the legend of Bluebeard (best realized in Bela Bartok's one-act opera), the novel follows Karabekian through the last events in his life that is heavy with women, painting, artistic ambition, artistic fraudulence, and as of yet unknown consequence.

Vonnegut's intention here is not so much satirical (although the contemporary art scene would be easy enough to deconstruct), nor is it documentary (although Karabekian does carry elements of Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko). Instead, Vonnegut is using art for the same purpose he used science fiction cliches in Slaughterhouse-Five; as a filter through which he can illuminate the savagery, cruelty, and the essentially comic misdirection of human existence.

Readers will recognize familiar Vonnegut character types and archetypes as they drift in and out through the background; meanwhile, Karabekian, betrayed and betrayer, sinks through a bottomless haze of recollection. Like most of Vonnegut's late works, this is both science fiction and cruel contemporary realism at once, using science fiction as metaphor for human damage as well as failure to perceive. Readers will find that Vonnegut's protagonists can never really clarify for us whether they are ultimately unwitting victims or simple barbarians, leaving it up to the reader to determine in which genre this book really fits, if any at all.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is The Truth About Horses, Friends & My Life As A Coward ($1.99), by Sarah P. Gibson.

Book Description
So you think you love horses? That’s what Sophie Groves thought too. But she found out that horses are a heap of trouble. Her trials began at five years old when her mom brought home Really (a.k.a. Really Mean), the nastiest pony in Maine. Two horses later, Sophie is still learning to deal with these crafty creatures, while trying to find friends who will like her for who she is—not for her horses. Filled with hilarious horse capers and the real truth about life as a weenie, this laugh-out-loud story shows why a horse isn’t always a girl’s best friend.

Age Range: 9 and up

Nook Daily Find 6/1

Bloodline ($8.19 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), the eighth novel in the Sigma Force series by James Rollins [William Morrow/HarperCollins], is the Nook Daily Find; it should be price matched on Kindle later this morning.

Book Description
In a thrilling masterwork that will make you rethink your perceptions of life and death, New York Times bestselling author James Rollins takes you to the edge of medicine, genetics, and technology, revealing the next evolutionary leap forward: immortality.

Galilee, 1025. Infiltrating an ancient citadel, a Templar knight uncovers a holy treasure long hidden within the fortress's labyrinth: the Bachal Isu -- the staff of Jesus Christ -- a priceless icon that holds a mysterious and terrifying power that promises to change humankind forever.

A millennium later, Somali pirates hijack a yacht off the coast of the Horn of Africa, kidnapping a young pregnant American woman. Commander Gray Pierce is enlisted for a covert rescue mission into the African jungle. The woman is no rich tourist: she's Amanda Gant-Bennett, daughter of the U.S. president.

Suspicious that the kidnapping masks a far more nefarious plot, Gray must confront a shadowy cabal which has been manipulating events throughout history...and now challenges the current presidency.

For this unique mission, SIGMA is aided by a pair of special operatives with unique talents: former Army Ranger Captain Tucker Wayne and his military war dog, Kane. But what should be a straightforward rescue turns into a fiery ambush and a deadly act of betrayal, as Gray and his team discover that the hostage is a pawn in a shattering act of terrorism with dark repercussions. And the danger is only beginning...

Halfway around the world, a firebombing at a fertility clinic in South Carolina exposes a conspiracy that goes back centuries...a scheme that lies within our genetic code. With time against them, SIGMA must race to save an innocent unborn baby whose very existence raises questions about the nature of humanity, asking:

Could you live forever?

Would you live forever?

UK Kindle Daily Deal 6/1

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

The Traitor Game (Main/UK; US edition $10.49), a YA novel by BR Collins [Bloomsbury Childrens]

There was a folded bit of A4 paper wedged into the locker. It said MICHAEL THOMPSON. Michael slid it out, and flipped it open. It said I KNOW WHERE ARCASTER IS.

That was when the bottom dropped out of everything.

Michael and Francis are best friends at school, drawn together by their common secret - a complete obsession with creating, crafting, adding to and poring over their joint fantasy world, Evgard. Their friendship is put to the severest test when Michael, thinking that Francis has betrayed their world, takes the cold, deliberate decision not to help Francis when Francis is the victim of a brutal attack. Michael then has to see the consequences of his mistake, and confront his own weaknesses. This absolutely compelling charting of the boys' friendship is reflected in the fantasy world, as the fantasy characters and their actions are a clear mirror of the boys' own actions in the real world. With one difference. In the fantasy world, one of the characters does not survive.

Each world, both real and fantasy, is just as gripping as the other. The twofold narrative with alternate chapters is incredibly complex to construct, yet the talent of this writer is to create a fluid, completely unputdownable read.

An extraordinarily and compelling novel that will attract many readers at many levels and within many genres.

Faerie Wars (Main/UK; no US edition), the first novel in the series by Herbie Brennan [Bloomsbury Childrens]

Henry thinks he is simply saving a butterfly from being eaten by Mr Fogarty's cat - but he is in fact saving the life of a misdirected exiled fairy prince. A prince who has to get back to his own land in order to thwart a threatened attack by the Faeries of the Night. But time is against Pyrgus Malvae and soon he is relying on Henry and Mr Fogarty not just to get him home but also to solve the puzzle that surrounds his exile.

A wonderful, gripping, page-turning read full of the kind of detail that will ensure that this fabulous fantastic novel will have readers young and old holding their breath as the story unfolds.

The City's Son (Main/UK; US edition $7.69), the first novel in the The Skyscraper Throne series by Tom Pollock [Jo Fletcher Books]

Expelled from school, betrayed by her best friend and virtually ignored by her dad, who's never recovered from the death of her mum, Beth Bradley retreats to the sanctuary of the streets, looking for a new home. What she finds is Filius Viae, the ragged and cocky crown prince of London, who opens her eyes to the place she's never truly seen. But the hidden London is on the brink of destruction. Reach, the King of the Cranes, is a malign god of demolition, and he wants Filius dead. In the absence of the Lady of the Streets, Filius' goddess mother, Beth rouses Filius to raise an alleyway army, to reclaim London's skyscraper throne for the mother he's never known. Beth has almost forgotten her old life - until her best friend and her father come searching for her, and she must choose between the streets and the life she left behind.

This is the first of a series, an urban fable about friends, family and monsters, and how you can't always tell which is which.