Bargain Book Roundup, Part II

More bundles and bargain books. Those with publisher set prices should be the same at Kobobooks.com or Barnes and Noble. New Kobo coupon codes (non-Agency books) are feb18ww20 (20% off, unlimited),feb18us25, feb18ca25(20% off, unlimited; had one person say it worked for 25%), while these may also still be valid: thirtyoff (30% one use), 35%offbook (one use), save25kobo (25% off, unlimited), FirstRead and fbreading (35% one use). Fictionwise is having a 25% off sale, using coupon code 021811 (no Samhain titles, get Multiformat for Kindle, not Mobi, which is DRM-protected).

Werewolf Upstairs ($2.39 Kindle, $2.99 B&N, Sourcebooks), by Ashlyn Chase, is described by Publisher's Weekly as a "stand-alone sequel to 2010's Strange Neighbors", which is currently $4.61.

Book Description
Petty crime never looked so good...

Alpha werewolf Konrad Wolfensen sees it as his duty to protect the citizens of Boston, even if it means breaking into their businesses just to prove their security systems don't work. But when his unsolicited services land him in trouble with the law, he'll have to turn to his sexy new neighbor for help.

She should know better...

Attorney Roz Wells is bored. She used to have such a knack for attracting the weird and unexpected, but ever since she took a job as a Boston public defender, the quirky quotient in her life has taken a serious hit. Until her sexy werewolf neighbor starts coming around...

Double Dating With The Dead ($4.09), by Karen Kelley

Book Description
Hands Off My Astral Plane!

Psychic Selena James is having the kind of week that makes her happy to talk to the dead. First, famously skeptical (and sinfully sexy) writer, Trent Sanders, called her delusional on TV. Next, her outraged mother publicly challenged him to spend two weeks with Selena at the haunted Garvey Hotel. Now, if Selena can't prove ghosts exist, she'll answer to Trent's private wager: one night in his bed. . .

Trent Sanders doesn't believe in anything he can't see, taste, or touch, and what he sees right now he would definitely enjoy tasting and touching. Selena James might be a bit kooky, but she's also blessed with a wicked sense of humor, like when she pinched his butt and insisted it wasn't her, but one of the hotel's resident "ghosts." Riiiiiight. But as things move from "haunted" to extremely hot, Trent's starting to believe some things in life just can't be explained. . .

An over-the-top, spunky romance. . . Fans will not be disappointed with the witty humor, wacky characters and sexual tension, and new readers will be hooked."--Romantic Times

Carolina Pearl ($2.66), by Sela Carsen

Book Description
A family legend could lead to a treasure more precious than pearls…or get them killed.

Between babysitting her very pregnant sister-in-law and fending off her mother’s nagging about her marital status, Blair Moreau is going insane. Her only hold on sanity is her daily walk for a guilty peek at her crush, the sexy neighbor who’s fixing up the old Cotesworth place.

Conn Lucas, the bastard son of Culford’s leading family, got way out of town a long time ago. When the only relative who didn’t despise him leaves him her 250-year-old house, Conn plans to refurbish it, flip it, and get back to Connecticut as soon as possible. Until a local beauty with a rare talent for DIY gives him a hand with some stubborn siding.

When he makes her mad enough to swing a two-by-four at his head, he realizes Blair is better than perfect. Especially when his efforts to keep her from killing him explode into an erotic rush of adrenaline that unleashes desires they’ve both kept hidden.

Breaking through Conn’s tough shell isn’t as difficult Blair’s next hurdle—telling him she’s a werewolf. First, though, they’ve got to deal with meddling ghosts and a bad ol’ boy cousin who isn’t above taking what he wants at nail-gun point…

Warning: This book contains a smokin’ hot werewolf chick with serious DIY know-how and a man who thinks that’s sexy; illegal use of nail guns; things to do in a claw-foot tub; pirate references; piddling Dobermans and meddling ghosts. Which is better than meddling Dobermans and piddling ghosts.

The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ($9.99), by Douglas Adams, has some very old reviews that mention formatting issues that have long since been fixed (and a new version sent to those who purchased early). The first book alone would be $6.29, but you get all five for under $2 each.

Book Description
At last in paperback in one complete volume, here are the five classic novels from Douglas Adams’s beloved Hitchiker series.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Seconds before the Earth is demolished for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is saved by Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised Guide. Together they stick out their thumbs to the stars and begin a wild journey through time and space.

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Facing annihilation at the hands of warmongers is a curious time to crave tea. It could only happen to the cosmically displaced Arthur Dent and his comrades as they hurtle across the galaxy in a desperate search for a place to eat.

Life, the Universe and Everything
The unhappy inhabitants of planet Krikkit are sick of looking at the night sky– so they plan to destroy it. The universe, that is. Now only five individuals can avert Armageddon: mild-mannered Arthur Dent and his stalwart crew.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
Back on Earth, Arthur Dent is ready to believe that the past eight years were all just a figment of his stressed-out imagination. But a gift-wrapped fishbowl with a cryptic inscription conspires to thrust him back to reality. So to speak.

Mostly Harmless
Just when Arthur Dent makes the terrible mistake of starting to enjoy life, all hell breaks loose. Can he save the Earth from total obliteration? Can he save the Guide from a hostile alien takeover? Can he save his daughter from herself?

Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed 8-Book Bundle ($34.61), by Lara Adrian, looks a bit steep at first, but works out to $4.23 per title in the series. If you start on it now, you should be done in time for the next one in this series: Deeper Than Midnight ($6.39).

Book Description
Contains the first eight books in Lara Adrian’s bestselling Midnight Breed series:

• Kiss of Midnight
• Kiss of Crimson
• Midnight Awakening
• Midnight Rising
• Veil of Midnight
• Ashes of Midnight
• Shades of Midnight
• Taken by Midnight

Prepare for seduction as Lara Adrian unleashes a dark new breed of vampire . . .

Part human, part otherworldly, the Breed has lived among humankind for thousands of years, maintaining a tentative peace built on secrecy, power, and the dark justice carried out by the formidable warriors of the Order.

But now, a blood war within the race is set to ignite. Vampires are going Rogue in startling numbers, feeding without discretion, killing humans in the streets. It is up to the Order to stop the spreading threat of Rogue domination -- and in so doing, each of the warriors will be forced to confront private demons, darkest secrets, deepest fears. Some will know triumph, some will know loss, but each warrior can count on one thing: Love, when it finds him, will often come at the worst possible moment, with the least likely woman . . . and it will bring each of these powerful males to his knees.

Terry Spears Wolf Bundle ($7.99), by Terry Spear

Book Description
The Heart of the Wolf
Bella is a red werewolf, sole survivor of the fire that killed her entire pack. Forced to flee her adopted gray pack when the alpha male becomes a vicious threat, she struggles to live as a lone wolf, until Devlyn, the gray male who rescued her as a pup, comes to bring her home.

When a local red werewolf goes on a killing spree, Bella and Devlyn must flee the murderer, the police and their vengeful pack leader. With the full moon rising, and her heat upon her, Bella can’t resist the pull to her destined mate, even if means Devlyn will have to face the wicked alpha male in a fight to the death...

A sizzling paranormal romance based on extensive research on how wolves live and behave in the wild, The Heart of the Wolf creates a fascinating world of nature and fantasy.

Destiny of the Wolf
Lelandi Wildhaven is determined to discover the truth about her beloved sister's mysterious death. But everyone thinks she's out to make a bid for her sister's widowed mate…

Darien Silver blames himself for his mate's death. When her twin arrives in his town, he finds himself bewitched, and when someone attempts to silence her, he realizes that protecting the beautiful stranger might be the only way to protect his pack—and himself…

To Tempt the Wolf
Wildlife photographer Tessa Anderson must prove her brother innocent of murder charges. But when she discovers a gorgeous naked man barely alive on her beach, she's got a new world of troubles to deal with, not least of which is how he affects her with just a look, a touch, or a whispered word.

Hunter Greymore is a lupus garou, a grey werewolf. Hoping to keep a low profile at Tessa's cabin on the coast, he's drawn into her life—and into her bed. His animal instincts war with his human half, but in the end, the only thing he can do about this fascinating, adorable woman is to leave her forever —unless she becomes one of them.

Knight of Desire ($1.99), by Margaret Mallory, was previously marked down in '09, but there are a lot of new Kindles out there now.

Book Description
FEARLESS IN BATTLE
His surcoat still bloody from battle, William FitzAlan comes to claim the strategic borderlands granted to him by the king. One last prize awaits him at the castle gates: the lovely Lady Catherine Rayburn.

TENDER IN BED
Catherine risked everything to spy for the crown. Her reward? Her lands are declared forfeit and she is given this choice: marry FitzAlan or be taken to the Tower. Catherine agrees to give her handsome new husband her body, but she's keeping secrets, and dare not give him her heart. As passion ignites and danger closes in, Catherine and William must learn to trust in each other to save their marriage, their land, and their very lives.

Mister Boots ($3.99), by Carol Emshwiller

Book Description
Bobby Lassiter has some important secrets—but it’s not as if anyone’s paying attention. It’s the middle of the Depression, and while Bobby’s mother and older sister knit all day to make money, Bobby explores the California desert around their home. That’s how Bobby finds Boots. He’s under their one half-dead tree, halfdead himself. Right away he’s a secret, too—a secret to be fed and clothed and taken care of, and even more of a secret because of what he can do. Sometimes Boots is a man. Sometimes he’s (really, truly) a horse. He and Bobby both know something about magic—and those who read this book will, too.

Jane's Warlord ($3.99), by Angela Knight

Book Description
A sexy paranormal debut--from a fresh new voice in erotic romance. The next target of a time traveling killer, crime reporter Jane Colby finds herself in the hands of a warlord from the future sent to protect her--and in his hands is just where she wants to be.

The Star Tablet ($3.99), by Jay Caselberg

Book Description
Jack's sixteen-year-old ward Billie has vanished somewhere in the metropolis of Balance City. His search for her brings him to the attention of a corrupt millionaire, the fanatical Sons of Utrecht, and an alien conspiracy that may alter the future of humanity.

The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Surviving an Audit ($3.99), by Alan Friedfel and Rich Mintzer

Book Description
An essential resource for coping with the taxing ordeal of being audited.

The Pocket Idiot's Guide(tm) to Surviving an Audit presents all of the information a taxpayer needs to get through an audit in one piece, including:

• What is an audit?
• The summons
• The interview
• Rights as a taxpayer
• What to bring and how to prepare your presentation
• What the auditor will bring and how he or she will prepare
• Finding a tax pro

Bargain Book Roundup - Under Three Bucks

All the books in this post are $2.99, with prices set by the publisher. Prices should be the same at Kobobooks.com or Barnes and Noble, but they do sometimes vary (A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness, for example, is $14.99 on Kindle, but $12.99 from Kobo).

Kill Zone, by Jack Coughlin and Donald A. Davis, is the first in their Sniper series, a fictional series based upon the type of real-life action Jack Coughlin retold in Shooter: The Autobiography of the Top-Ranked Marine Sniper ($8.99).

Book Description
An American general is captured in the Middle East by terrorists who threaten to behead him within days. One strange fact: moments before he is rendered unconscious during the attack, the general notices that his captors speak American English. What’s going on?

Gunnery Sgt. Kyle Swanson, a top Marine sniper, is vacationing on a yacht in the Mediterranean when he receives orders to mount a top secret mission to rescue the general. But as the Marines prepare to land in the Syrian desert, they fall victim to a terrible accident. Swanson, the only survivor, then discovers they were also flying into an ambush. How did the enemy have details of a mission known only to a few top American government officials?

Swanson takes off across the desert alone to find the captured general and realizes he is fighting a particularly ruthless and dangerous enemy: American mercenaries working for a very-high-level group of U.S. officials with ties to the White House itself, part of a clandestine conspiracy whose hidden goal is nothing less than total control of the American military. Their sworn enemy is the captured general whose fate now rests in Swanson’s hands.

The Devil in the Junior League, by Linda Francis Lee

Book Description
The Junior League of Willow Creek, Texas, is tres exclusive. Undesirables need not apply. Fredericka Mercedes Hildebrand Ware (Frede to her friends) is a member beyond reproach...until her life begins to unravel. When her husband betrays her, steals her money, and runs off to places unknown, it's something Frede would rather keep under wraps. The last thing she needs is to become fodder for the JLWC gossip mill. And to make matters worse, there's only one person in town who stands a chance at helping her get revenge: Howard Grout, a tasteless, gold-chain-wearing lawyer who has bought his way into Frede's tony neighborhood. But htere's a price: She has to get his tacky, four-inch-stiletto-and-pink-spandex-wearing wife Nikki into the Junior League.
Linda Francis Lee has written an hysterical novel about the creme de la creme of Texas society, the lengths to which one woman goes to bring her cheating husband to justice, and how taking on what seems like a "Mission Impossible" can change you in ways you could never have imagined.

Seducing the Heiress, by Olivia Drake

Book Description
Her wealth and beauty have made Miss Portia Crompton the catch of the season. Secretly determined to wed the maharajah’s son she left behind in India, Portia ignores the money-hungry bucks who ply her with bouquets and bonbons. But one suitor will not be deterred: Colin Byrd, Viscount Ratcliffe. He is persistent and presumptuous—and wickedly tempting.

Colin has no delusions about romance. He’s a rogue, a womanizer, and a murderer, and seduction comes as easily to him as breathing. Portia’s fortune is an irresistible lure until Colin’s mercenary scheme hits a snag. Winning her dowry is no longer enough—he wants her heart and her passion. The more adamant she is in her refusal, the more determined he is to seduce her…

Beginner's Greek: A Novel , by James Collins

Book Description
When Peter Russell finally meets the woman of his dreams he falls as madly in love as you can on a flight from New York to LA. Her name is Holly. She's achingly pretty with strawberry-blonde hair, and reads Thomas Mann for pleasure. She gives Peter her phone number on a page of The Magic Mountain, but in his room that night Peter finds the page is inexplicably, impossibly, enragingly...gone.

So begins the immensely entertaining story of Peter and his unrequited love for his best friend's girl; of Charlotte and her less-than-perfect marriage to a man in love with someone else; of Jonathan and his wicked and fateful debauchery; and of Holly, the impetus for it all. Along the way, there's the evil boss, the desirable temptress, miscommunications, misrepresentations, fiendish behavior, letters gone astray, and ultimately, an ending in which every character gets his due.

Both incisive and wonderfully funny, this is a brilliantly understated comedy of manners in which love lost is found again.

Girls in Trucks, by Katie Crouch

Book Description
Sarah Walters is a less-than-perfect debutante. She tries hard to follow the time-honored customs of the Charleston Camellia Society, as her mother and grandmother did, standing up straight in cotillion class and attending lectures about all the things that Camellias don't do. (Like ride with boys in pickup trucks.)

But Sarah can't quite ignore the barbarism just beneath all that propriety, and as soon as she can she decamps South Carolina for a life in New York City. There, she and her fellow displaced Southern friends try to make sense of city sophistication, to understand how much of their training applies to real life, and how much to the strange and rarefied world they've left behind.

When life's complications become overwhelming, Sarah returns home to confront with matured eyes the motto "Once a Camellia, always a Camellia"- and to see how much fuller life can be, for good and for ill, among those who know you best.

One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life--A Story of Race and Family Secrets, by Bliss Broyard

Book Description
Two months before he died of cancer, renowned literary critic Anatole Broyard called his grown son and daughter to his side, intending to reveal a secret he had kept all their lives and most of his own: he was black. But even as he lay dying, the truth was too difficult for him to share, and it was his wife who told Bliss that her WASPy, privileged Connecticut childhood had come at a price. Ever since his own parents, New Orleans Creoles, had moved to Brooklyn and began to "pass" in order to get work, Anatole had learned to conceal his racial identity. As he grew older and entered the ranks of the New York literary elite, he maintained the façade. Now his daughter Bliss tries to make sense of his choices and the impact of this revelation on her own life. She searches out the family she never knew in New York and New Orleans, and considers the profound consequences of racial identity. With unsparing candor and nuanced insight, Broyard chronicles her evolution from sheltered WASP to a woman of mixed race ancestry.

Stand the Storm, by Breena Clarke

Book Description
Even though Sewing Annie Coats and her son, Gabriel, have managed to buy their freedom, their lives are still marked by constant struggle and sacrifice. Washington's Georgetown neighborhood, where the Coatses operate a tailor's shop and laundry, is supposed to be a "promised land" for former slaves but is effectively a frontier town, gritty and dangerous, with no laws protecting black people.
The remarkable emotional energy with which the Coatses wage their daily battles-as they negotiate with their former owner, as they assist escaped slaves en route to freedom, as they prepare for the encroaching war, and as they strive to love each other enough-is what propels STAND THE STORM and makes the novel's tragic denouement so devastating.

The Inheritance, by Simon Tolkien, is the second novel (the first was Final Witness, $6.15) from the equally talented grandson of J. R. R. Tolkien, with a third soon to follow: The King of Diamonds ($11.99 pre-order).

Book Description
A complex mystery of deception and betrayal that follows the court case of a young man set to hang for the murder of his father

When a famed Oxford historian is found dead in his study one night, all evidence points to his son, Stephen. About to be disinherited from the family fortune, Stephen returns to home after a long estrangement—and it happens to be the night his father is shot to death. When his fingerprints are found on the murder weapon, Stephen’s guilt seems undeniable. But there were five other people in the manor house at the time, and as their stories slowly emerge—along with the revelation that the deceased man was involved in a deadly hunt for a priceless relic in Northern France at the end of World War II—the race is on to save Stephen from a death sentence.

Everyone has a motive, and no one is telling the truth.

Unwilling to sit by and watch the biased judge condemn Stephen to death, an ageing police inspector decides to travel from England to France to find out what really happened in that small French village in 1945—and what artifact could be so valuable it would be worth killing for.

Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon, by Mark Di Vincenzo

Book Description
Have you ever wanted to know the best day of the week to buy groceries or go out to dinner?

Have you ever wondered about the best time of day to ask someone out on a date—or for a raise?

Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon tells you the best time—of the day, of the week, of the month or of the year—to do almost anything. Do you know:

• The best time of day to be operated on?
• The best month to buy an iPod?
• The best day of the week to avoid lines at the Louvre?
• The best day of the month to make an offer on a house?

Get more for your money, maximize your time, take better care of your health and be savvier about your career—all by doing certain things at the right time.

Remember: Timing is everything!

Halcyon Drift, by Brian Stableford, is the re-release of the first title in his Hooded Swan series.

Book Description
In a galactic culture that extends from quasi-Utopian worlds like New Alexandria to vermin-infested slums like Old Earth, starship pilots have become the great romantic heroes of the day. When Star-Pilot Grainger is rescued from a shipwreck, he finds himself pressed into reluctant service to fly the Hooded Swan, the prototype of a new kind of interstellar ship. He's also picked up an alien parasite that's determined to share his brain. Under these dire circumstances, can Grainger possibly stay out of trouble? Not a chance!

The cover of Poseur #1, by Rachel Maude, looks like a teenage Sex in the City. Here, the setting is a private girl's school on West Coast, but fashion still plays a big role. From the same publisher that recently discounted every book in The Clique series to $1.99 over a period of several months.

Book Description
po·seur (noun): a person who pretends to be what he or she is not.

Charlotte Beverwil, Janie Farrish, Melissa Moon, and Petra Greene attend exclusive Winston Prep in the Hollywood Hills. And that's all they have in common. But hang out together? They'd rather be hanged. Borrow one another's clothes? They'd sooner borrow a zit. So when these four sophomores are forced into a class to create their own fashion label, they Clash with a capital C. Janie thinks Melissa and Charlotte are Beverly Hills brats. They dismiss Janie as a Valley rat in sheep's clothing. And Petra, well . . . Petra couldn't care less. Can a cool coquette, a shy punk, a hippie goddess, and a ghettoglam egomaniac make beautiful couture together? At Winston Prep, survival of the fittest comes down to who fits in-and what fits.

Introducing a juicy new series from the publisher of the national bestselling series Gossip Girl, The Clique, The It Girl, and The A-List.

Includes Do-It-Yourself instructions by NYC fashion label Compai and fashion sketches throughout by the author

Two Free Books from Rainbow EBooks

This weekend's the free gay-themed downloads from Rainbow EBooks are two short stories, both available in DRM-free formats.

Secret Santa, by Deanna Wadsworth, is free this weekend only.

Book Description
It's Christmas Eve and Adam has a special gift for Paul--himself, wrapped in a big red bow.

Blindfolded and ready for a magical holiday, Adam anxiously waits for his boyfriend to come and unwrap him. Just when he thinks their date has been forgotten, the door bursts open and his lover arrives. They have the best sex of Adam’s life, but afterward Paul disappears before Adam can catch his breath or remove the blindfold.

Left with only the memory of a tender kiss, a mysterious Santa hat, and a tray of half-eaten cookies, Adam soon discovers his lover was not who he thought it was...

The Zagzagel Diaries: Forsaken, by Bryl R. Tyne, is free all month.

Book Description
An unconventional guardian angel attempts to keep his gay charge from committing suicide, while wrestling with his own personal issues. This is the first in the Zagzagel Diaries series.

Books for a Buck

Every book in today's roundup is 99 cents. Most are independently published authors, either new or with backlist books, while the first is considered the best translation of a Russian volume that one person described as his favorite book for the past seven years. Several of these indie authors have provided me with review copies, but, so far, I've not had a chance to do more than glance thru them a bit.

The Master And Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. If you are in the UK, this one is $11.05, but there is a different translation for $3.02.

Book Description
The devil comes to Moscow wearing a fancy suit. With his disorderly band of accomplices - including a demonic, gun-toting tomcat - he immediately begins to create havoc.Disappearances, destruction and death spread through the city like wildfire and Margarita discovers that her lover has vanished in the chaos. Making a bargain with the devil, she decides to try a little black magic of her own to save the man she loves ...

About the Author
Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940) was described in the official Big Soviet Encyclopedia as a slanderer of Soviet reality. A medical doctor, he gave up his practice to pursue his writing. Stalin named Bulgakov the assistant director of the Moscow Arts Theater, where his actions were monitored. He died in disgrace.

Richard Pevear, born in Waltham, Massachusetts, and his wife, Larissa Volokhonsky, born in Leningrad, have translated from the Russian many works including Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, for which they won the PEN/Book of the Month Club Translation prize.

Julius Katz Mysteries, by Dave Zeltserman

Book Description
These award-winning Julius Katz mysteries have delighted thousands of mystery fans since first appearing on the pages of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine in 2009. 'Julius Katz' introduced readers to Boston's most brilliant, eccentric and possibly laziest detective, Julius Katz, as well as his sidekick, Archie, a tiny marvel of whizbang computer technology with the heart and soul of a hard-boiled PI. In Julius and Archie's second adventure, 'Archie's Been Framed', the little guy is framed for murder and Julius needs to use all his wits to keep his inimitable assistant out of the slammer.

'Julius Katz' attracted a devoted following from mystery readers when it first came out, and has since won the Shamus Award for best story from the Private Eye Writers of America, as well as the Derringer Award for best novelette from the Short Mystery Fiction Society. 'Archie's Been Framed' won 1st place in Ellery Queen's Readers Choice Award, with their readers choosing it as their favorite story published by the magazine in 2010. If you haven't had a chance to meet Julius and Archie yet, now's your chance to get caught up in these charming, delightful and very unusual mystery stories.

Milrose Munce and the Plague of Toxic Fungus is Douglas Anthony Cooper's sequel to Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help (also $0.99).

Book Description
This is the second gruesome volume in the Milrose Munce saga. The first, Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help, was #1 on both the Children's and Teen bestseller lists on Amazon, and received all sorts of pleasant reviews from newspapers and magazines around the world.

All schools have ghosts, of course, but the school attended by Milrose Munce, our sarcastic hero, is unusual by virtue of the sheer number of disgusting ghouls that waft cheerfully through its halls. These phantoms -- most of them Milrose's close friends -- have thus far been assaulted by a world-class exorcist, and it is difficult to imagine things getting much worse. After all, the new Home Economics teacher is a benevolent warlock of no little renown, and he specializes in humiliating world-class exorcists.

Unfortunately, his skills are not well suited to the latest assault on the school: a conspiracy of shady students bent on creating loathsome and voracious forms of magical plant life rarely witnessed in even the scariest gardens.

These plants -- which are reasonably intelligent and repulsively large -- tend to separate happy couples, either by devouring one party, or by turning the other party into something mossy and indigestible. Milrose and his beloved, the exquisitely pretentious Arabella, are chief among the couples threatened in this way.

As if this isn't vile enough, rumors of something even more powerful and grotesque begin to filter down into the unhappy school: somebody, or something, is determined to resurrect the monstrous Corpse Flower.

Season Of The Harvest is the latest from Michael R. Hicks, who I started reading with his In Her Name series, one of the first series I bought for my first Kindle. The first in the series is also priced at 99 cents currently: In Her Name: Empire.

Book Description
What if the genetically modified crops that we’re being forced to depend on for food weren’t really created by man? What if they had a far more sinister purpose?

FBI Special Agent Jack Dawson investigates the gruesome murder of his best friend and fellow agent who had been pursuing a group of eco-terrorists. The group’s leader, Naomi Perrault, is a beautiful geneticist who Jack believes conspired to kill his friend, and is claiming that a major international conglomerate developing genetically engineered crops is plotting a sinister transformation of our world that will lead humanity to extinction. As Jack is drawn into a quietly raging war that suddenly explodes onto the front pages of the news, he discovers that her claims may not be so outrageous after all. Together, the two of them must battle a horror Jack could never have imagined, with the fate of all life on Earth hanging in the balance…

Three Sisters, by Helen Smith, is a short entry in her Emily Castles Mysteries series.

Book Description
It's bonfire night in London. Emily has been invited to a party in the big house at the end of her street by the new owners, whom she has never met. Emily's dog Jessie has recently died so Emily is feeling a little raw and emotional. How could she know, as she left her house that evening, that she was making an appointment with death?

Three Sisters is short fiction - approximately 17,000 words, equivalent to around 70 printed pages. It is the first story in a new comic mystery series by award-winning novelist Helen Smith, featuring amateur sleuth, Emily Castles.

It contains no swear words or sexual content.

Brittle Shadow, by Vicki Tyley

Book Description
When soon-to-be-wed Tanya Clark is confronted with her fiancé's naked corpse hanging from a wardrobe rail in the upmarket Melbourne apartment they share, her life is torn apart. Two months later, distraught and unable to cope, she drowns her sorrows in a lethal cocktail of alcohol and prescription drugs.

On the other side of Australia, a grieving Jemma Dalton struggles to come to terms with the suicide of her only sibling. Despite there being no evidence to the contrary, Jemma refuses to accept Tanya had intended to kill herself. Not her sister. Then the coroner's report reveals that at the time of her death she had been six weeks pregnant. The will, too, raises more questions than it answers. How did a young woman on a personal assistant's wage amass shares worth in excess of $1,000,000?

In a desperate bid to uncover the truth, Jemma puts her own life at risk and starts to probe the shadows of her sister's life. But shadows, like bones, grow brittle with age. The consequences can be deadly.

Parallax, by Jon F. Merz. I bought this one a couple of years ago, when I thought $1.59 was a great deal on it.

Book Description
What happens when two professional assassins - one a Mafia hitman and the other a former German terrorist - kill at exactly the same moment in time? For Ernst Stahl and Frank Jolino the result is a psychic bond that slowly blossoms in each man's mind, enabling them to see into the other's world. Frank Jolino doesn't like what he sees, especially when he realizes that Stahl is headed to his home turf of Boston to kill a scientist who may hold the key to solving the world's deadliest diseases. But for Stahl, there's no other option. Virtually bankrupt and with his son in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant, he's got little choice but to take the assignment. Jolino has other ideas. On the run from his crime syndicate for refusing to kill his ex-girlfriend-turned-government-informant, Jolino sets a plan in motion that will bring the two men face-to-face and gun-to-gun...with no guarantees either will survive.

The Suicide Effect, by L.J. Sellers

Book Description
When Sula overhears a shocking revelation about a drug being developed by her employer, she’s paralyzed with indecision. She desperately needs her job to gain the judge’s favor in a custody hearing for her son. Yet hundreds of patient lives could be at stake.

Two days later when the drug’s lead scientist disappears, Sula is compelled to search for the incriminating data. But Prolabs’ CEO is a desperate man determined to stop her. Can Sula get the proof and expose the drug’s fatal flaw before the CEO risks everything to silence her?

The Sex Club, by L.J. Sellers, is the first in her Detective Jackson Mystery series.

Book Description
When a bomb explodes at a birth-control clinic and a young client turns up dead, Detective Jackson is assigned both cases. But are they connected? Kera, the clinic nurse who discovers that the girl's Bible group is really a sexual free-for-all, thinks they are. But confidentiality keeps her from telling the police, so she digs for the truth on her own and becomes the bomber's new target. Soon another girl is murdered. Can Jackson uncover the killer's shocking identity in time to stop the slaughter?

No Good Deed, by Mary McDonald, the first in her Mark Taylor series.

Book Description
Mark Taylor discovers first hand that no good deed goes unpunished when the old camera he found during a freelance job in an Afghanistan bazaar gives him more than great photos. It triggers dreams of disasters. Tragedies that happen exactly as he envisions them. He learns that not only can he see the future, he can change it. Then the unthinkable happened and everyone ignored his frantic warnings. Thousands die. Suddenly, the Feds are pounding on his door and the name they have for Taylor isn't urban hero. It's enemy combatant. And, it means they can do anything they want to him. Anything at all.

Wind to Water, by David Hamershock

Book Description
A military plane is shot down over the Iraqi countryside; its young pilot is presumed dead.

A decade later, his fiancée, Maryn, takes a trip to Australia to finally say goodbye to her airman who never came home. The Seattle school teacher meets a divorced marine biologist named Grant on a tour. Grant soon discovers he's attracted as much to Maryn's wit as to her looks. But occasionally, a melancholy creeps into her eyes.

Eventually, she allows Grant to read a letter from her fiancé--the kind soldiers write "just in case." Grant halts his romantic feelings and their friendship blossoms. Later, they reunite in California, but Grant wonders if Maryn's past is truly behind her.

From the author

Wind to Water is a love story, travel adventure and romantic comedy. It chronicles an ordinary man's search for an extraordinary love in a world mostly unfit for such a venture.

This novel seeps over the edges of standard book categories. It's a contemporary love story, deepened by explorations into real geography and history, splashed with comedy and sprinkled with spirituality. I hope you find joy in its complexity, as well as in its desire not to take itself too seriously.

It offers a glimpse into the love that many people hope one day to savor--a love that encourages them to be themselves. I hope it will be a book that lovers buy for lovers and friends buy for friends. I would be honored if you would share this story with someone you care about.

Saving Rachel is just one of five book in John Locke's Donovan Creed series, each of which is 99 cents.

Book Description
What if the best morning of your life suddenly turned into your worst nightmare? Sam Case is about to find out. Saving Rachel is the story of what happens when killers force a man to choose between his wife and his mistress...and the one he rejects must die. But wait--all is not as it appears to be. In fact, nothing is what it appears to be!

Saving Rachel is a scary, funny, roller coaster ride through hell, with twists, and turns that will slap your face and suck you in!

We Interrupt This Date , by L.C. Evans

Book Description
Since her divorce a year ago, Susan Caraway has gone through the motions of life. Now she is finally coming out of her shell. Just when she decides on a makeover and a new career, her family members decide she's crisis central. First there’s her sister DeLorean who has come back from California with a baby, a designer dog, and no prospects for child support or a job. As soon as DeLorean settles in at Susan’s home, Susan’s son Christian returns from college trailing what Susan’s mama refers to as “an androgynous little tart.” Then there’s Mama herself, a southern lady who wrote the book on bossy. A secret from Mama’s past threatens to unravel her own peace. But not before Mama hurts her ankle and has to move into Susan’s home with her babies—two Chihuahuas with attitude.

The Witness Wore Blood Bay, by L.C. Evans

Book Description
In Talented Horsewoman, the first book of the Leigh McRae horse mystery series, main character Leigh McRae discovers a body. She also ends up solving a murder. Along the way she helps her cousin Sammi, who is dating a burglar, and she manages to get out from under the control of her overbearing ex-husband.

Now Leigh's friend Candy, a fellow horsewoman, finds herself accused of murder. Who else would she turn to for help except Leigh? After all, everyone in small town Del Canto knows Leigh has body-discovering experience. Never mind that Leigh is busy finding out who's poisoning dogs in Sammi's neighborhood and she's trying to renovate her home without going broke. Or that her ex-husband Kenneth and former ranchhand Doug Reilly have become roommates in Leigh's guest house.

There's a murder to solve. And her friend won't take no for an answer.

Brittle Shadows, by Vicki Tyley

Book Description
When soon-to-be-wed Tanya Clark is confronted with her fiancé's naked corpse hanging from a wardrobe rail in the upmarket Melbourne apartment they share, her life is torn apart. Two months later, distraught and unable to cope, she drowns her sorrows in a lethal cocktail of alcohol and prescription drugs.

On the other side of Australia, a grieving Jemma Dalton struggles to come to terms with the suicide of her only sibling. Despite there being no evidence to the contrary, Jemma refuses to accept Tanya had intended to kill herself. Not her sister. Then the coroner's report reveals that at the time of her death she had been six weeks pregnant. The will, too, raises more questions than it answers. How did a young woman on a personal assistant's wage amass shares worth in excess of $1,000,000?

In a desperate bid to uncover the truth, Jemma puts her own life at risk and starts to probe the shadows of her sister's life. But shadows, like bones, grow brittle with age. The consequences can be deadly.

Free Audiobook - Brighton Rock [non-US mainland]

AudioGo is giving away a free download of the unabridged recording of Brighton Rock (Radio Collection), by Graham Greene, read by Samuel West. The only restriction seems to be that those in the United States cannot get this one... on the check out page, you tell them which region you are in and I played with the selector quite a bit. Mexico, Canada, Palistine and countries and islands I've never heard of all could get it, but not if you pick United States. Even Guam, Puerto Rico and "United States Minor Outlying Islands" are valid regions to get this one for free.

Book Description
Originally published in 1938, Graham Greene's chilling expose of violence and gang warfare is a masterpiece of psychological realism and often considered Graham Greene's best novel. It is a fascinating study of evil, sin, and the "appalling strangeness of the mercy of God," a classic of its kind.

Set in Brighton, England, among the criminal rabble, the book depicts the tragic career of a seventeen-year-old boy named Pinkie whose primary ambition is to lead a gang to rival that of the wealthy and established Colleoni. Pinkie is devoid of compassion or human feeling, despising weakness of the spirit or of the flesh. Responsible for the razor slashes that killed Kite and also for the death of Hale, he is the embodiment of calculated evil. As a Catholic, however, he is convinced that his retribution does not lie in human hands.

He is therefore not prepared for Ida Arnold, Hale's avenging angel. Ida, whose allegiance is with life, the here and now, has her own ideas about the circumstances surrounding Hale's death. For the sheer joy of it she takes up the challenge of bringing the infernal Pinkie to an earthly kind of justice.

When finished, the listener is sure to ponder some lofty moral issues to which Greene, a Catholic writer, withholds easy judgments.

Samuel West reads Graham Greene's classic gang war thriller - complete and unabridged. "Hale knew, before he had been in Brighton three hours, that they meant to murder him..." So begins Brighton Rock, in which a gang war rages through the dark underworld of 1930s Brighton. Seventeen-year-old Pinkie Brown, malign and ruthless, has killed a man. Believing he can escape retribution, he is unprepared for the courageous, life-embracing Ida Arnold. Greene's gripping thriller exposes a world of loneliness and fear, of life lived on the "dangerous edge of things". "Brighton Rock" has twice been adapted for film. Richard Attenborough starred as Pinkie in the 1947 version, with Sam Riley and Helen Mirren starring in the 2010 release. "The most ingenious, inventive and exciting of our novelists...A master of storytelling". ("Times"). "I read "Brighton Rock" when I was about thirteen. One of the first lessons I took from it was that a serious novel could be an exciting novel...". (Ian McEwan). "A superb storyteller with a gift for provoking controversy". ("New York Times").

Click HERE to get the free download.