Today's Deals

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

• $5 Instant Amazon MP3 Credit

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Mockingbird ($2.99), by Kathryn Erskine.

Book Description
Caitlin has Asperger's. The world according to her is black and white; anything in between is confusing. Before, when things got confusing, Caitlin went to her older brother, Devon, for help. But Devon has died, and Caitlin's dad is so distraught that he is just not helpful. Caitlin wants everything to go back to the way things were, but she doesn't know how to do that. Then she comes across the word closure- and she realizes this is what she needs. And in her search for it, Caitlin discovers that the world may not be black and white after all.

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Bewitching ($1.99), by Jill Barnett. Over the summer, the publisher gave those in the UK three of the author's books for free, while the summer before there were three other titles free in various formats. If you enjoyed any of those, you probably will want to scoop up this backlist title, also published by Bell Bridge Books.

Book Description
What's a Duke to do when a carefully selected bride rejects him rather than marry without love? He salvages his pride by marrying the next woman who falls into his arms! Joyous Fiona MacQuarrie bewitched Alec, the Duke of Belmore, the moment she appeared from nowhere and tumbled into his lap. Joy, a witch whose powers of white magic are not always well controlled, turns the life of the most serious and snobbish Duke in England upside down when he decides to marry the beautiful Scottish pixie who has aroused his desire. Even though he knows next to nothing about her or her background. Alec could have forgiven Joy for upending his life and the lives of all at Belmore Park if not for the truth she hid from him. He'd married a witch, who turns him to fire when he kisses her, charms everyone around her, and threatens to destroy both their lives as scandal looms over her. Too late, Joy discovers she's desperately in love and has no idea how to be a proper duchess, control her magic or change what may come. Passion holds them spellbound in an irresistible tale of two enchanted hearts.

The Secret Life of Bletchley Park: The WWII Codebreaking Centre and the Men and Women Who Worked There ($1.61 / £0.99 UK), by Sinclair McKay, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $9.99 pre-order). Those in the UK can now pre-order his new book, The Secret Listeners: How the Wartime Y Service Intercepted the Secret German Codes for Bletchley Park (Main/ UK).

Book Description
Bletchley Park was where one of the war’s most famous – and crucial – achievements was made: the cracking of Germany’s “Enigma” code in which its most important military communications were couched.

This country house in the Buckinghamshire countryside was home to Britain’s most brilliant mathematical brains, like Alan Turing, and the scene of immense advances in technology – indeed, the birth of modern computing. The military codes deciphered there were instrumental in turning both the Battle of the Atlantic and the war in North Africa.

But, though plenty has been written about the boffins, and the codebreaking, fictional and non-fiction – from Robert Harris and Ian McEwan to Andrew Hodges’ biography of Turing – what of the thousands of men and women who lived and worked there during the war? What was life like for them – an odd, secret territory between the civilian and the military?

Sinclair McKay’s book is the first history for the general reader of life at Bletchley Park, and an amazing compendium of memories from people now in their eighties – of skating on the frozen lake in the grounds (a depressed Angus Wilson, the novelist, once threw himself in) – of a youthful Roy Jenkins, useless at codebreaking, of the high jinks at nearby accommodation hostels – and of the implacable secrecy that meant girlfriend and boyfriend working in adjacent huts knew nothing about each other’s work.

The Delta Solution ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), by Patrick Robinson, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle. The story is right out of recent headlines and I'd grab it in a second, if it weren't already in my library.

Book Description
The Delta Solution is an action-packed novel dealing with the Somali pirates operating off the southerly reaches of the lawless East African republic on the Indian Ocean.

For the past three years, these heavily armed tribal brigands have been capturing and holding for ransom massive cargo ships, especially oil tankers, and violently demanding millions of dollars for their return. Pirating out of the tiny Somalian village of Haradheere has become a very lucrative, dangerous business, so much so that the village has its own Stock Exchange with a reputed $78 million cash, all in crisp $100 bills, in the town vault. And each time an owner pays big for the return of their ship, the pirates immediately do it again, enraging the Pentagon more and more by the day.

That is, until the "Somali Marines" make a big mistake, seizing at gun point two United States ships and demanding a $15 million ransom for their return.

Hero Mack Bedford, previously encountered in Diamondhead and Intercept, is deployed to SEAL Team 10 to form The Delta Platoon. His objective: obliterate the Somali Marines in the middle of the Indian Ocean, at all costs, once and for all.

The Great Crash of 1929 ($9.52 Kindle, $1.99 B&N), by John Kenneth Galbraith, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012.

Book Description
Of Galbraith's classic examination of the 1929 financial collapse, the Atlantic Monthly said:"Economic writings are seldom notable for their entertainment value, but this book is. Galbraith's prose has grace and wit, and he distills a good deal of sardonic fun from the whopping errors of the nation's oracles and the wondrous antics of the financial community." Now, with the stock market riding historic highs, the celebrated economist returns with new insights on the legacy of our past and the consequences of blind optimism and power plays within the financial community.

Widely and admiringly reviewed as a bestseller in 1955, John Galbraith's "skilled chronicle and analysis of the causes of that most memorable year in our economic history, 1929, " (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) put the past in perspective. Now with a new introduction, it has become even more timely in the aftermath of the 1987 stock market crash.

Today's Deals

The Fictionwise code for this weekend is good for 55% off non-Samhain titles: 092112

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is ten books from the long-running Nathan Heller historical mystery series by award-winning author Max Allan Collins for just $1.99 each (there goes my gift card balance!). In addition, several of these have a companion audiobook available for $1.99. Although the first two titles in the series are not in this sale, both (True Detective and True Crime) can be borrowed thru the Kindle Lending Library.

Previously published by a number of the big-6 publishers' imprints (NAL, St. Martin's, Signet, Dutton), the author has apparently recovered his publishing rights and these have now been republished by AmazonEncore. Although these are all set in the 1940's, they are not the thin pulp-fiction volumes you might associate with detective stories of the genre; checking several shows that these weigh in at 300-400+ pages in print, so you should be able to get several days (or weeks) reading out of this sale (I wonder if you could gift them to someone, with each one timed to show up a week or two apart?).

The Million-Dollar Wound (Nathan Heller #3)

Chicago P.I. Nate Heller returns home from duty in Guadalcanal a decorated, damaged, and dangerous hero—and drops directly from one war into another: the gangland coup to topple Frank Nitti as he tries to strong-arm the Hollywood unions.

Neon Mirage (Nathan Heller #4)

When Nate Heller clears Bugsy Siegel of murder, the Chicago P.I. and brash, handsome gangster become unlikely friends...and rivals in love. Bugsy invents modern Vegas, but receives bullets as his reward and Heller becomes his avenger.

Stolen Away (Nathan Heller #6)

When an incarcerated Al Capone claims he can help find the Lindbergh baby, detective Nate Heller is sent to the scene as a Chicago liaison, never dreaming that the fate of accused kidnapper Bruno Hauptmann would one day be in his hands.

Carnal Hours (Nathan Heller #7)

When the richest man in the Bahamas is murdered by fire, Chicago P.I. Nate Heller races to clear the dead man’s playboy son-in-law—despite stray bullets, Nazi spies, and carnal distractions.

Blood and Thunder (Nathan Heller #8)

Private detective Nate Heller finds himself in the dangerous swamp of Louisiana’s mob-infested political machine when former governor-turned-presidential candidate Huey Long is assassinated.

Flying Blind (Nathan Heller #10)

For Chicago P.I. Nate Heller, guarding Amelia Earhart against death threats has its side benefits. But when Amelia goes missing in the South Pacific, Heller mounts a one-man search that will lead to success, heartbreak…and revenge.

Majic Man (Nathan Heller #11)

Chicago P.I. Nate Heller heads to D.C. to protect Secretary of Defense James Forrestal from a murder threat...but is the statesman’s worst enemy his own mental illness? The surprising, UFO-tinged truth is in Roswell, New Mexico.

Angel in Black (Nathan Heller #12)

Honeymooning in LA, private detective Nate Heller is a suspect in the LAPD’s Black Dahlia murder investigation and must rely on old friend Eliot Ness to help solve the crime before it’s too late.

Chicago Confidential (Nathan Heller #14)

Caught between the Kefauver Organized Crime investigation and his reluctant ties to the mafia, Chicago P.I. Nate Heller keeps his head down—until an honest cop and a lovely drug addict are murdered, and he decides it’s time for some rough justice.

Chicago Lightning: The Collected Nathan Heller Short Stories

Tough, cynical, and clever, Nathan Heller has been called "the perfect private eye", the best investigator that Chicago (where 'lightning' means gunfire) has to offer. In this engaging collection of thirteen stories, Heller encounters gangsters and petty crooks, noble doctors and quacks, loving wives and wanton women, and even the occasional honest cop. All of the stories are based on real cases of the 1930s and '40s, meticulously researched by award-winning writer and Road to Perdition creator Max Allan Collins. Heller's adventures feature some of the biggest names in twentieth-century American crime history: Eliot Ness, Frank Nitti, Mickey Cohen, and Jack Ruby, just to name a few. Whether he is investigating a union shooting, going toe-to-toe with the female leader of a vicious hold-up crew, or playing a homeless man to pose as bait for an insurance racket, Heller's humorous, wryly cynical tone, and knack for keen social observation make for a cracking good read.

Another Alice: An Inspiring True Story of a Young Woman's Battle to Overcome Rheumatoid Arthritis ($1.61 / £0.99 UK), by Alice Peterson, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $8.39).

Book Description
Love, lust, boys and shopping - the main worries of a teenage girl? Not for eighteen-year-old Alice Peterson, who, at the height of her youth and an extremely promising tennis career, was diagnoses with rheumatoid arthiritis. In the midst of shock and denial, and the enduring question, 'Isn't it what old people who get arthiritis?', Alice had to learn to live with what quickly turned from the odd ache and pain to a very aggressive form of the illness, and rediscover a new path in life.

The Power of Purpose ($1.99 Kindle, B&N), by Richard Leider, is the Nook Daily Find, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
Your reason for getting up in the morning. Every one of us needs a reason to get up in the morning. This book is about that reason. Its purpose is to help you discover the purpose for your life. Each life has a natural reason for being. Purpose is the reason a person was born. From birth to death, each of us is on a quest to discover that reason. Many never do. Yet, our world is incomplete until each one of us discovers our purpose. Purpose is that deepest dimension within us—our central core or essence—where we have a profound sense of who we are, where we came from, and where we're going. Purpose is the quality we choose to shape our lives around. Purpose is a source of energy and direction.

Outward Bound board member and training firm founder Richard J. Leider (Repacking Your Bags) makes it his business to help people find purpose in the work they do, and to find work that gives them purpose. His dynamic and useful new book, The Power of Purpose: Creating Meaning in Your Life and Work, tells the stories of those who have had to struggle for personal satisfaction on the job, and poses the practical and spiritual questions to ask oneself in the pursuit of "Esprit de Core."

Time for Outrage: Indignez-vous! ($5.99 Kindle, B&N), by Stéphane Hessel, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012, price matched on Kindle.

Book Description
This controversial, impassioned call-to-arms for a return to the ideals that fueled the French Resistance has sold millions of copies worldwide since its publication in France in October 2010. Rejecting the dictatorship of world financial markets and defending the social values of modern democracy, 93-old Stéphane Hessel -- Resistance leader, concentration camp survivor, and former UN speechwriter -- reminds us that life and liberty must still be fought for, and urges us to reclaim those essential rights we have permitted our governments to erode since the end of World War II.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is Cool Dog, School Dog ($1.99), by Deborah Heiligman and Tim Bowers (Illustrator).

Book Description
Tinka is a cool dog, a school dog, a breaking all the rules dog.A hall dog, a ball dog, a crash-into-the-wall dog.

Join Tinka, a dandy, sandy Golden Retriever, as she unexpectedly visits her owner at school and helps his class learn to read. Bright illustrations rendered in acrylic paint add to the excitement in this playful back-to-school story about a boy and his "loves-to-hear-a-book" dog.

Grade Level: Pre K and up

Today's Deals

Today is Hobbit Day - Frodo and Bilbo’s birthday in Tolkien's Lord of the Ring series. Make sure you grab your free copy of the Reader and Educator Guide to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (K/N).

Today's Kindle Daily Deal is Minerva ($1.99), the first title in the Six Sisters series by M C Beaton/Marion Chesney.

Book Description
Prudish, self-righteous, and incredibly beautiful, Minerva is sent to London to capture a wealthy husband....The London dandies despise her moralizing and plan a scandalizing assualt on her virtue....Minerva stumbles headlong into the trap, but the plotters have reckoned without Lord Sylvester Comfrey...

The Dummy Line ($1.61 / £0.99 UK), by Bobby Cole, is the Kindle Deal of the day for those in the UK (the US edition is $2.99).

Book Description
Avid hunter Jake Crosby is thrilled that his nine-year-old daughter Katy shares his love of the outdoors. His wife, Morgan, on the other hand, does not, which means Jake and Katy enjoy an abundance of hunting, fishing, and camping trips together. So when they head off into the Alabama woods for a spring turkey hunt, Jake expects nothing out of the ordinary. But even his worst nightmares could not prepare him for what befalls them that evening, when a band of drug dealers attempts to break into their remote camp. Desperate to protect his daughter and himself, Jake makes a gut-wrenching decision. His quick thinking enables him and Katy to escape…but brings the gang of vengeful criminals hot on their trail. Gambling on his knowledge of the land and hunting skills, he leads their bloodthirsty pursuers on a perilous cat-and-mouse game deep within the Noxubee River swamp. Jake knows they all won’t come out alive—but he will do whatever is necessary to make sure Katy does. Taut and engrossing, The Dummy Line explores what happens when an ordinary man is pushed to extraordinary lengths to protect the one he loves most and those for whom he feels responsible.

Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" ($11.99 Kindle, $3.99 B&N), by Corey Olsen, is the Nook Daily Find.

Book Description
The Hobbit is one of the most widely read and best-loved books of the twentieth century. Now Corey Olsen takes readers deep within the text to uncover its secrets and delights.

Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” is a fun, thoughtful, and insightful companion volume, designed to bring a thorough and original new reading of this great work to a general audience. Professor Corey Olsen takes readers on an in-depth journey through The Hobbit chapter by chapter, revealing the stories within the story: the dark desires of dwarves and the sublime laughter of elves, the nature of evil and its hopelessness, the mystery of divine providence and human choice, and, most of all, the transformation within the life of Bilbo Baggins. Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” is a book that will make The Hobbit come alive for readers as never before.

Capitol Men: The Epic Story of Reconstruction Through the Lives of the First Black Congressmen ($8.77 Kindle, $10.84 B&N), by Philip Dray, is the Nook Daily Find: Election 2012, better than price matched on Kindle (it doesn't really look like this is more than the usual discount at B&N on this one).

Book Description
In this grand and compelling new history of Reconstruction, Philip Dray shines a light on a little known group of men: the nation's first black members of Congress. Neglected by most historians, these individuals—some of whom were former slaves—played a critical role in pushing for much-needed reforms in the wake of a traumatic civil war, including equal rights, public education, and protection from Klan violence. Most important, their example laid the foundation for future black political leaders.

Drawing on archival documents, newspaper coverage, and congressional records, he shows that P.B.S. Pinchback (who started out as a riverboat gambler), Robert Smalls (who hijacked a Confederate steamer and delivered it to Union troops), and Robert Brown Elliot (who bested the former vice president of the Confederacy in a stormy debate on the House floor) were eloquent, creative, and often quite effective—they were simply overwhelmed by the forces of Southern reaction and Northern indifference. Covering the fraught period between the Emancipation Proclamation and Jim Crow, Dray reclaims the reputations of men who, though flawed, led a valiant struggle for social justice.

Today's Kindle Kids Daily Deal is all seven volumes of Daisy Meadows's popular Rainbow Magic: The Rainbow Fairies children's chapter-book series for only $1.99 each. All are written for ages 4 and up.

Ruby the Red Fairy

Fairyland is home to seven colorful sisters. Together, they are the Rainbow Fairies! They keep Fairyland dazzling and bright. But when evil Jack Frost sends them far away, the sisters are in big trouble. If they don't return soon, Fairyland is doomed to be gray forever!

Rachel and Kirsty discover Ruby the Red Fairy in the pot at the end of the rainbow. Can they help find the rest of her Rainbow sisters...before it's too late?

Amber the Orange Fairy

Rachel & Kirsty have already found one Rainbow Fairy, but now Amber the Orange Fairy is trapped in a seashell! Can they rescue her, too?

Sunny the Yellow Fairy

A trail of sparkly yellow dust lands Rachel and Kirsty in a very sticky situation! Could Sunny the Yellow Fairy be at the bottom of it?

Fern the Green Fairy

Rachel & Kirsty are sure that the garden maze holds a special secret. If they make all the right turns, could it lead them to Fern the Green Fairy?

Sky the Blue Fairy

The beach means bubble trouble for Sky the Blue Fairy. Can a special friend help Rachel and Kirsty track her down?

Inky the Indigo Fairy

A magical book sweeps Rachel and Kirsty away to the Land of Sweets. Could Inky the Indigo Fairy be waiting there for them?

Heather the Violet Fairy

At the summer fair, a merry-go-round whisks Rachel and Kirsty away to a magical world. Could Heather the Violet Fairy have something to do with it?

Bargain Book Roundup

Another big publisher classic with free companion audiobook: Jane Eyre ($1.99 Harper Perennial Classics), by Charlotte Bronte (also linked to free edition).

Amazon has a Kid-Friendly, Parent-Approved, Fun for the Entire Family sale with 39 Kindle books at $3.99 or less (there are 44 print books in the sale, too).

Cool Dog, School Dog ($3.99), by Deborah Heiligman and Tim Bowers (Illustrator)

Book Description
Tinka is a cool dog, a school dog, a breaking all the rules dog.A hall dog, a ball dog, a crash-into-the-wall dog.

Join Tinka, a dandy, sandy Golden Retriever, as she unexpectedly visits her owner at school and helps his class learn to read. Bright illustrations rendered in acrylic paint add to the excitement in this playful back-to-school story about a boy and his "loves-to-hear-a-book" dog.

Grade Level: Pre K and up

The Thorn Birds ($2.99 Kindle; $4.99 companion audiobook), by Colleen McCullough

Book Description
Now, 25 years after it first took the world by storm, Colleen McCullough's sweeping family saga of dreams, titanic struggles, dark passions, and forbidden love in the Australian Outback returns to enthrall a new generation. As powerful, moving, and unforgettable as when it originally appeared, it remains a monumental literary achievement—a landmark novel to be read . . . and read again!

I ran across Basic Fishing ($0.99), by Wade Bourne, when writing up the free listing for Basic Freshwater Fishing earlier today. This volume is from Skyhorse Publishing, who have also given us several free books in the past (and whose books I've bought in print over the years).

Book Description
New to fishing and have no idea how to start? With Basic Fishing, you’ll be an accomplished angler in no time at all. Expert fisherman and award winning outdoor writer Wade Bourne has created a step–by–step guide that masterfully breaks down the art of fishing with diagrams, vivid photographs, and lessons on:· Different types of fishing equipment and how to select the best tackle· Baiting techniques for artificial and natural baits· Tips for selecting the best fishing spot· Handy methods for cooking and cleaning fish· And more!

Driving Mr. Dead ($1.99 Kindle; $4.99 companion audiobook), by Molly Harper, claims to be a novella, but at 166 pages it is a fairly long one (and not much shorter than novels often were not too many years ago).

Book Description

A standalone novella introducing a new side of Half Moon Hollow—featuring a freewheeling courier and the stuffy vampire she has to transport.

Miranda Puckett has failed at every job she’s ever had. Her mother just wants her to come home, join the family law firm, and settle down with Jason, the perfect lawyer boyfriend. But when Jason turns out to be a lying cheater, Miranda seizes on a job that gets her out of town: long-distance vampire transportation. Her first assignment is to drive vampire Collin Sutherland from Washington to sleepy Half Moon Hollow without incident—no small feat for a woman whom trouble seems to follow like a faithful hound dog! And she has to do it without letting her passenger—the most persnickety, stuffy, devastatingly handsome vamp she’s ever met—drive her crazy. As she and Collin find disaster on the roads, they also find an undeniable spark between them.

Could Miranda have found the perfect job and the perfect guy for her?

Eat Free: No Gluten. No Sugar. No Guilt. ($3.93), by Rhiannon Lawrence (Cedar Fort)

Book Description
Created with the gluten-intolerant and diabetic in mind, this collection of gluten- and sugar-free recipes will leave you with delicious meals, desserts, and snacks - all made with fresh, organic, and whole ingredients - that are guaranteed to please your family's pickiest food critic. And the next time someone says, "You are what you eat," you'll take it as a compliment.

The God Engines ($2.99 Kindle; $1.99 companion audiobook), by John Scalzi and Vincent Chong (Illustrator)

Book Description
Captain Ean Tephe is a man of faith, whose allegiance to his lord and to his ship is uncontested. The Bishopry Militant knows this -- and so, when it needs a ship and crew to undertake a secret, sacred mission to a hidden land, Tephe is the captain to whom the task is given.

Tephe knows from that the start that his mission will be a test of his skill as a leader of men and as a devout follower of his god. It’s what he doesn’t know that matters: to what ends his faith and his ship will ultimately be put -- and that the tests he will face will come not only from his god and the Bishopry Militant, but from another, more malevolent source entirely...

Author John Scalzi has ascended to the top ranks of modern science fiction with the best-selling, Hugo-nominated novels Old Man’s War and Zoe’s Tale. Now he tries his hand at fantasy, with a dark and different novella that takes your expectations of what fantasy is and does, and sends them tumbling.

Say your prayers... and behold The God Engines

The Rancher and the Rock Star ($0.99), by Lizbeth Selvig

Book Description
To the world, Gray Covey is a rock superstar. But to his runaway son, he's simply the father who never has any time for him. To prove that he's more than his rock star lifestyle, for the next few weeks Gray must put aside his fame and become...a farmhand?

Abby Stadtler has built the perfect, quiet life for herself. Neat and orderly is the name of the game for her and her beloved farm. When Gray shows up on her doorstep, looking like he stepped straight off the front cover of a magazine, she is determined that he won't upset her routine.

But what neither counts on is the love that springs up between them. Abby knows that life on a ranch in Minnesota can never compete with an exciting world tour. But for Gray, it's time to decide what's really important. With Abby's help, will he be able to decide, once and for all, that love and family are the answer?

Any Given Christmas: A Sugar Shack Novel ($0.99), by Candis Terry

Book Description
Dean Silverthorne’s mother may be dead, but she still has matchmaking to do.

When an injury dashes NFL Quarterback Dean Silverthorne's Super Bowl dreams, he heads back to Deer Lick, Montana with a chip on his wounded shoulder, more determined than ever to get back in the game. He loves his kooky family, but this trip home is going to be a very brief Christmas visit.

His game plan doesn't include an instant attraction to Emma Hart, a feisty kindergarten teacher who seems to be the only person in Deer Lick not interested in the hometown hero. Or his dearly departed mom popping up with mistletoe in hand and meddling on the mind. Now Dean can't help but wonder if there’s more to love than life between the goal posts.

Flat-Out Love ($3.19), by Jessica Park (Amazon Children's Publishing)

Book Description
He was tall, at least six feet, with dirty blond hair that hung over his eyes. His T-shirt read Nietzsche Is My Homeboy.

So, that was Matt. Who Julie Seagle likes. A lot. But there is also Finn. Who she flat out loves.

Complicated? Awkward? Completely.

But really, how was this freshly-minted Boston transplant and newbie college freshman supposed to know that she would end up living with the family of an old friend of her mother's? This was all supposed to be temporary. Julie wasn't supposed to be important to the Watkins family, or to fall in love with one of the brothers. Especially the one she's never quite met. But what does that really matter? Finn gets her, like no one ever has before. They have connection.

But here's the thing about love, in all its twisty, bumpy permutations—it always throws you a few curves. And no one ever escapes unscathed.

New York Times Best-selling author Jessica Park mines the territory of love’s growing pains with wit, sharp insights, and a discernible heat and heartbeat. Her previous novels include Relatively Famous and she authored the e-shorts What the Kid Says (Parts 1 and 2) and Facebooking Rick Springfield.

Bedbugs ($2.79), by Ben H. Winters

Book Description
FOR RENT: Top two floors of beautifully renovated brownstone, 1300 sq. ft., 2BR 2BA, eat-in kitchen, one block to parks and playgrounds. No broker’s fee.

Susan and Alex Wendt have found their dream apartment.

Sure, the landlady is a little eccentric. And the elderly handyman drops some cryptic remarks about the basement. But the rent is so low, it’s too good to pass up.

Big mistake. Susan soon discovers that her new home is crawling with bedbugs . . . or is it? She awakens every morning with fresh bites, but neither Alex nor their daughter Emma has a single welt. An exterminator searches the property and turns up nothing. The landlady insists her building is clean. Susan fears she’s going mad—until a more sinister explanation presents itself: she may literally be confronting the bedbug problem from Hell.

Susanna's Choice and Claiming the Heart, by Sara Luck, $2.99 apiece (Simon and Schuster).

Susanna's Choice

Set in the tumultuous frontier days of the American West, this thrillingly authentic debut novel illuminates the passionate choices of one woman’s heart.

A chance encounter . . .

Wealthy entrepreneur Rab Trudeau is seething mad. A Nevada newspaper is printing fraudulent stock prices that could force his silver mine to close. Posing as an investigator from San Francisco’s Great Western Detective Agency, which he happens to own, Rab travels to Nevada to uncover who’s behind the false claims. Soon after stepping off the train, he rescues a beautiful woman from an oncoming carriage—and in one blinding moment, both are consumed by the powerful strength and seduction of their embrace.

An uncertain destiny . . .

An aspiring writer for The Pioneer, Susanna agrees to interview the stranger whom everyone is talking about, and is shocked to discover he’s Rab Trudeau—the gentleman who saved her life. Promised in marriage to the wayward son of the couple who raised her after her parents died on a westward-bound wagon train, Susanna fights her overwhelming desire for Rab. But as the mine scandal heats up and turns violent, Susanna must make an impossible choice—one that could bind her to Rab forever or destroy any hope of their future happiness.

Claiming the Heart

As the Texas and Pacific Railroad expands across the wide-open frontier, a spirited young woman finds a triumphant love amidst the tracks and tumult.

History in the making . . .

July 1876: Building a railroad that reaches Fort Worth city limits by a midnight deadline is an all-consuming obsession for track supervisor Gabriel Corrigan—while his socialite wife, Marthalee, daughter of a powerful Louisiana politician, heads home to arrange a marriage annulment. But when Gabe crosses paths with Josie Laclede, a vivacious businesswoman from St. Louis, he sees a sassy lady bold enough to stake her claim in the wild Texas plains—yet soft and sweet enough to win his heart.

Love for the keeping . . .

Though her past is a mystery—Josie was a foundling, raised by a kind widower who now runs a shop and hotel with her—Gabe dreams of a bright future with Josie by his side. Tantalized by his gentle kisses, and swept up in the thrilling track-laying race that has all of Fort Worth pitching in, Josie is tempted to fall hard for Gabe. But Marthalee returns, vying for the T&P fortune he stands to make. And when her father offers Gabe a senate seat and a chance to get back into his well-connected family, a heartbroken Josie vanishes with the prairie breeze. Will their dream of a once-in-a-lifetime love go up in smoke?

Free Audiobook & Ebook - Varieties of Religious Experience

The ebook and audiobook edition of Varieties of Religious Experience, a Study in Human Nature (free to $12.99 Kindle; $27.99 Audible), by William James, narrated by John Pruden, is free direct from Tantor Media, thru the end of September.

Book Description
Using the language of psychology, William James explains religious phenomena—including conversion, repentance, mysticism, and saintliness—as psychic energy that arises from the unconscious mind in times of trouble.

First published in 1905, The Varieties of Religious Experience is a collection of lectures given at the University of Edinburgh in 1901 and 1902. William James was a psychologist and, as such, his interest in religion was not that of a theologian but of a scientist. In these twenty lectures, he discusses the nature and origin of religious belief.

The average believer is one who has inherited his religion, but this will not do for James's inquiry. He must find those believers who have a voracious religious faith because these people have also often experienced a number of peculiar psychological episodes, including having visions, hearing voices, and falling into trances.

Students of psychology and those interested in the mental process of belief will find these lectures informative.

Get the free ebook from Tantor Media. This audiobook edition is in MP3 format, so will work on most Kindles and MP3 players. You'll also get the PDF edition of the ebook (download the complete ZIP file).