Why should I provide my email address?

Start saving money today with our FREE daily newsletter packed with the best FREE and bargain Kindle book deals. We will never share your email address!
Sign Up Now!

Five-Star Fiction, December 13, 2012

a Special Bi-Weekly Newsletter from Kindle Nation Daily

December 13, 2012 
Five-Star Fiction
A Monthly Special from Kindle Nation & BookLending.com 
from world-class authors to world-class readers
Greetings from Kindle Nation and BookLending.com!

Just a little over a week before the holidays, and Santa’s elves have nothing on our Five-Star Fiction team!

Our partner and bestselling novelist M.J. Rose has been hard at work creating this week’s list of nice (and occasionally naughty) reads that will make great gifts for everyone on your list, including you!

So I hope you’ll check them out, and remember that in every case, once you click to check them out in the Kindle store, you’ll see buttons on the right not only to buy the book for yourself but also to download a free sample or send the book as a gift to someone you love!
 
Enjoy, and we’ll see you again soon.

 

Steve Windwalker of Kindle Nation and 
Catherine MacDonald of BookLending.com


ASK FOR ITby Sylvia Day

  

“ASK FOR IT is on fire! This book is hot! A super sexy read with an intriguing plot.”

—Romance Reader at Heart, TOP PICK!
     

A Note to Readers from the Author

Dear Reader:

I was twelve when I wrote a school essay about my desire to become a romance novelist. Years later my first manuscript, ASK FOR IT was the result. I didn’t realize at the time I was already establishing some of the hallmarks of my later works in that first book—the confident, arrogant, experienced hero who falls in love fast and hard, and the independent, courageous, tormented heroine struggling to overcome personal demons. As with most firsts, ASK FOR IT holds a special place in my heart. I hope readers discovering it now will enjoy reading it as much as I loved writing it.
Sylvia Day
 

 *     *     *

Excerpt from the Book 
Nothing incites Marcus more than the primal hunger roused by his former fiancée, Elizabeth. It’s been years since she jilted him for another man, but that only means there’s a lot to catch up on, a lot to make up for, and that he’s going to enjoy every sweet moment… The same drive and passion that sent her into another man’s arms is what brings Elizabeth back to Marcus. Her attraction to him is the one thing she fears, but she’s run out of options. Resisting is impossible, but does she have the courage to surrender everything?

*     *     *

One Reviewer Notes: 
“Plenty of sizzling passion and dangerous drama.”
—Booklist


RISKby Jamie Freveletti

  
“Emma Caldridge’s history of winding up in the wrong place at the wrong time denies her bid for kidnapping insurance.”

     
Emma Caldridge is the epitome of a heroine. Putting her in a situation she has to fight her way out of is what all of these books, and this e-original trilogy, is all about. But now she faces the challenge of protecting someone who was unwilling to protect her.
Jamie Freveletti
 

 *     *     *

Excerpt from the Book 
Sebastian Ryan Never saw the drug that was slipped into his drink, so as he heaved into the bushes behind the Miami Beach nightclub, he blamed himself for mixing alcohol with the medication that he took daily. His stomach emptied and he remained still, taking deep breaths and hoping that the moment was past.

Under normal circumstances Ryan would have never risked fighting the crowds and going to a club on this weekend, nor would he have risked mixing alcohol
and medication, but in the past four months not much was normal in his life.

*     *     *

One Reviewer Notes: 
“But the analyst who called her a statistical nightmare will need her help … to stay alive.”


ETERNALby H.G. Nadel

  
“If you liked Twilight, you will adore Eternal.” 

–-Julz

A Note to Readers from the Author

Dear Reader:

I was inspired to write Eternal after my father, a well-respected scholar, died. He and my mother loved each other dearly, and she felt his love from beyond the grave. When I came across the historical tragedy of Abelard and Heloise, I started thinking . . . what if. I am a hopeless romantic, and this thousand-year-old love story spoke to my belief that love is eternal and my hope that true love could transcend death.
Hope you do, too.
HG Nadel
 

 *     *     *

Excerpt from the Book 
Julia sprang from the headstone and darted through the thick black of night, her heart piercing her chest with repeated blows. The footsteps accelerated, echoing loudly in the silence of the graveyard. She risked a glance over her shoulder and tripped over a gravestone that sent her sprawling onto her stomach. She felt something wet dripping down her forehead and reach up to feel a deep gash along her hairline. She began crawling on her hands and knees, blinking away the blood that was now spilling profusely onto the ground. The shadow grabbed onto one of her legs, and a hoarse scream escaped from her lips.

*     *     *

One Reviewer Notes: 
“Was sucked in from the very beginning and could not put it down!”
Lindsay


CATALYSTby Laurie Halse Anderson

  

“Anderson earns an A plus for this revealing and realistic take on life, death, and GPAs.”

 

 –Jennifer Hubert, Amazon.com review
     

A Note to Readers from the Author

Dear Reader:

Teens who are academically successful often fly under the radar; people have a hard time believing they have any problems because their grades are great and their prospects bright.  But they have just as many problems as other kids, maybe more, because they feel they to wear the “perfect” mask, live up to expectations, and get into the “right” college. I wanted to write about a teen like that, Kate, and have her cross paths with the school outcast, Teri, to see what sparks would fly. I wound up writing a death scene that still makes me cry – that was completely unexpected. The ending was, too!
Laurie Halse Anderson
 

 *     *     *

Excerpt from the Book 
If I could run all the time, life would be fine. As long as I keep moving, I’m in control. She wasn’t in the parking lot. I haven’t passed her walking o the road, either. There’s no way she’s running, too. Not Teri. She could have hot-wired a car, I guess, but it’s more likely she hitchhiked. Somebody must have picked her up. No matter. I know where she’s headed.

*     *     *

One Reviewer Notes: 
“If you liked Speak, you’ll be completely enthralled with this powerful tour de force that’s just as tense and gut-wrenching.”
Barnes & Noble


THE GUILTY ONESby Joanna Crispi

  
“The Guilty Ones unfolds into a devastating psychological thriller. Suspenseful and hypnotic, this is gripping literary fiction that maintains restraint on the surface, revealing secrets and shock below.. . ”

–Luanne Rice, New York Times best-selling author
     

A Note to Readers from the Author

Dear Reader:

At the outset of my legal career, I represented Claus von Bulow in the case immortalized by the movie Reversal of Fortune. I learned an important lesson from von Bulow’s appeal and the second trial that acquitted him: Innocent people are sometimes convicted of crimes they did not commit. I saw firsthand that “lawyering” makes a difference. Rather than a contest between guilt and innocence, a trial is about what can be proven in court. The Guilty Ones draws from both sides of the line that defense lawyers walk, the line between what constitutes a crime and guilt.
Joanna Crispi
 

 *     *     *

Excerpt from the Book 
She was anxious, annoyed by the delay, concerned, even frightened, but her emotions were kept in check by the thought that whatever was going on behind those doors was the result of some bureaucratic stupidity which at worst might ruin their stay in Rome. On the way to the hotel François would give his own amusing rendition of the incident, she thought, filled with the contempt that French people have for police. The door to the office opened. She heard voices speak- ing in Italian. The man in the suit came out holding François’s suitcase. Then she saw François.

*     *     *

One Reviewer Notes: 
“This is an exciting, beautifully written novel of love, desire, loyalty and betrayal. The international settings lend a flavor of romance, the legal and financial twists are intricately woven into the plot. Ms. Crispi writes with an assurance and style that combines passion with self confidence, which is also a good description of her heroine, very much a woman for our times. But the main thread of this book is love, romantic love between a man and a woman, and all the complexities of relationships. One is both educated and entertained by this book, and it will keep you turning pages until you have finished.”
Seymour Garte


NHAKIRAby Jeanine Henning

  
“A story of magic, power, and escapism…”

 –-The Indie Author News
     
by Jeanine Henning
5.0 stars – 1 Reviews
Or currently FREE for Amazon Prime Members Via the Kindle Lending Library
Text-to-Speech and Lending: Enabled

A Note to Readers from the Author

Dear Reader:

“Nhakira” is a book about power, unlocking ancient mysteries, adventure – and good vs. evil. Barriers and challenges I had to overcome in my own personal life was major inspiration behind the conception of Nhakira as a character. She lives in a fantasy realm with magic, evil rulers and now a prophecy to save a whole world. But, her problems are the same as ours (if not bigger!). Her story shows that the biggest obstacles in life CAN be overcome, and how the most unlikely warriors can rise to fight – and take back freedom.

Jeanine Henning
 

 *     *     *

Excerpt from the Book 
Sal held up his hand. “Nhakira calm down. Yes, you’re right, you did not ask for any of this. But you were chosen for a reason. When that sphere hit you, it sent out a ripple of chain reactions that cannot be stopped. “Now, you stand before the choices of either remaining on the cause side of life, where you’ll always be the victim, the slave abused by drunkards, a trouble-maker and petty thief to whom bad things happen. Or, you can embrace the effect side of life, where you take responsibility for all your actions and actively make choices.”

*     *     *

One Reviewer Notes: 
“Become immersed in this one-of-a-kind Young Adult fantasy that won’t be soon forgotten.”
The Kindle Book Review


THE PHILOSOPHICAL PRACTITIONERby Larry Abrams

  
“A psychological thriller and thought-provoking discussion about the meaning of life. I read the majority of this book in one sitting because I could not put it down.”

 –-Kathy Schneider, NetGalley
     

A Note to Readers from the Author

Dear Reader:

I’ve wanted to write since early childhood, but life kept getting in the way. Finally there came a time when Hillel’s words began to haunt me: If not now, when? So for two and a half years of weekends I applied the seat of my pants to the same chair and did it. The final book is heavy on romance, mystery, humor, and conflicting ideas about how to spend one’s limited time on this earth. I had a lot of fun writing it, as I think you will easily see.

 

Larry Abrams

 

 

 *     *     *

Excerpt from the Book 
She shot me. Burning lava spurted through my body. I couldn’t see. I dropped to my hands and knees, my gun gone, my head hanging, blind, jaw muscles clamped against the pain. The lava melted the wires of my veins. I couldn’t think. My lungs squeezed shut. I couldn’t breathe.
Then she shot me again.

*     *     *

One Reviewer Notes: 
“Original, witty, thought-provoking…dialogue is razor-sharp… hilarious… incisive observations about all things great and small.”
Robert Bidinotto, author of #1 Kindle Mystery/Thriller HUNTER

spacer.gifBack by popular demand! 
spacer.gif


Our parting treat!

Amazon has been offering some enticing deals on various Kindles, and here’s the latest.  Let’s be clear about the fact that Amazon’s goal here is not only to sell some Kindles but also to get you to sample two of its very popular services, but we use both services and we think they’re very useful, so we don’t mind sharing them with you:

Exclusive for Amazon Mom members with Amazon Prime

Save $20 on Kindle Fire …

$25 on Kindle Fire HD … 

or $50 on Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ or Kindle Fire HD 8.9″ 4G LTE Wireless

And just in case you were wondering, Amazon Mom is free and is also open to dads and grandparents and just about everyone who has ever known a Mom! What a country!

spacer.gif
spacer.gif

Happy Reading from Five-Star Fiction!
Thanks for taking the time to let us share a few good books with you, and please drop us a line at KindleNation@gmail.com to let us know what you think of them!
Cheers, Steve Windwalker and Catherine MacDonald

All rights reserved. No part of any excerpt included here may be reproduced or reprinted without the publisher’s permission.  
This is a sponsored message from world-class authors to world-class readers.  

Must-Read Fiction for April — and a Free Book! — in Five-Star Fiction: A Monthly Special from Kindle Nation

April 2011 Five-Star Fiction
A Monthly Special from Kindle Nation & BookLending.com

from world-class authors to world-class readers

Kindle outdoors
The Kindle – Now just $114
Greetings from Kindle Nation and BookLending.com!

 

This is just the third issue of what has become a monthly feature for (mainly) Kindle fiction lovers, and we have to say that our 5-Star Fiction partner, bestselling novelist M.J. Rose, has absolutely floored us with the exciting range of sponsored work she has brought to share with us.

And it keeps getting better, with this month’s featured titles including:

  • Gillian Bagwell’s The Darling Strumpet, a dazzling debut in historical fiction that brings the remarkable character of Nell Gwynn to life right on your Kindle;
  • Robin Slick’s Daddy Left Me Alone with God, a true rock and roll memoir in every sense and for all of your senses;
  • The Restorer, an Amanda Stevens novel that may make it difficult for you to ever walk by a graveyard again;
  • Dean M. DeLuke’s Shedrow, a page-turner at that special place where the worlds of Dick Francis and Robin Cook meet;
  • Jonathan Maberry’s latest Joe Ledger bestseller, The King of Plagues; and
  • Lisa Jackson’s Devious, which brings back her enormously appealing detective duo of Rick Bentz and Reuben Montoya.

All great reads, all nicely priced between $2.99 and $9.99 on Kindle this month, and each one introduced to you with an excerpt below and a note written by the author to all of us here in the Kindlesphere.

But that’s not all.

We’re also very excited to be able to announce that the new Kindle The Hypnotistrelease of M.J. Rose’s own novel The Hypnotist, Book Three in her Reincarnationist series, is just days away. The novel is already available for pre-order on Kindle right here.

Here’s what the discerning folks at BookReporter.com say about this latest triumph:

“If you haven’t been reading M.J. Rose’s Reincarnationist series, then THE HYPNOTIST will blow away any excuse you may have had… A memorable, engrossing read, a story that sets a new bar for Rose. Something for everyone: murder, suspense, history, romance, the supernatural, mystery and erotica. These elements are woven together so skillfully that the whole becomes something new and different…. Rose, who never disappoints either her die-hard fans or the casual reader, has surpassed herself.”

We couldn’t have said it any better ourselves. If you love to read, and you have yet to read M.J. Rose, the time is now and the book is The Hypnotist. Pre-order it now and it will arrive automatically on your Kindle no later than May 1.

Which leaves you plenty of time to read each of this month’s features below, along with Books 1 and 2 in M.J. Rose’s series,  The Reincarnationist and The Memorist, before The Hypnotist arrives! Ain’t life grand?

And finally … not to be a tease … there’s a free book waiting for you in the last panel of this post, but we’re not going to tell you to scroll down because we don’t want you to miss out on anything twixt here and there!
Cheers!

Steve Windwalker of Kindle Nation and

Catherine MacDonald of BookLending.com

BAGWELLThe Darling Strumpet by Gillian Bagwell
The Darling Strumpet
THE DARLING STRUMPET by Gillian Bagwell, just $9.99 on Kindle: Click here to download a free sample or the entire book

“An absolutely brilliant addition to the historical fiction genre and might be the best novel on Nell Gwynn ever…. Nell would have applauded in approval and probably done a little jig to celebrate her tribute….”

 

Dear Reader,

 

Gillian Bagwell
Gillian Bagwell

I fell in love with Nell Gwynn more than 25 years ago, and she stayed in my mind and heart until life presented the perfect time to tell her story.  Born into poverty in 1650, she rose to become a beloved comic actress and the mistress of Charles II by using what she had: smarts, determination, charm, humor, and a very likeable sex appeal. Her rags-to-riches odyssey takes the reader through the newly-opened London theatres, the last plague epidemic, the Great Fire of 1666, and the licentious court.

Thanks for reading,

Gillian Bagwell

 

 

 
An Excerpt from the Novel

 

The interval came, and the musicians struck up.  Nell gazed at the empty stage and longed to know what it felt like to stand there.  Did she dare to try it?  Moll had given her permission, so Nell clutched her basket, climbed the steps to the stage, and surveyed the scene before her.  She felt as if she were at the center of the universe. The galleries rose to the ceiling, enwreathing the space, and the sloped floor of the pit made it seem as if its benches were marching toward her.  The theatre was a swirling sea of movement.  The king in his box was not ten paces away.  She took a breath and sang out “Oranges!  Fine oranges!  Who will buy my oranges, fine Seville oranges?”

 

The king smiled and beckoned.  Nell went to him, her heart in her throat.

“Will you have an orange, Your Majesty?  They’re very sweet.”

 

“How could they be otherwise, with such a peddler?  I’ll take two.”  She held out two oranges, but the king took only one.

 

“One for you and one for me,” he said with a wink.

 

Nell’s scene with the king had been observed, and as she turned from him and sang her cry again, gentlemen pressed to the foot of the stage.  By the end of the interval she had sold almost all that was in her basket.

*     *     *

 

“[A] richly engaging portrait of the life and times of one of history’s most appealing characters!”

 

– Diana Gabaldon, author of the best-selling Outlander series

 

“Nell Gwynn is one of the most likable figures in British history.  ‘Pretty witty Nell’ went from poverty and prostitution to the grand stages of London theatre, and then to a king’s bed and his heart….  The Darling Strumpet is an absolute triumph as a debut novel…. Bagwell’s story truly captivates as she makes Nell’s story come to life…. [She] shows such expert knowledge, research, and passion of the time period…. Bagwell has a background in acting and theater and it shows with her knowledge of Nell’s days on stage…. an absolutely brilliant addition to the historical fiction genre and might be the best novel on Nell Gwynn ever…. Nell would have applauded in approval and probably done a little jig to celebrate her tribute.”

Kayla Posney,  Pittsburgh Historical Fiction Examiner

 

SLICKDaddy Left Me Alone with God by Robin Slick
Daddy Left Me Alone with God
DADDY LEFT ME ALONE WITH GOD by Robin Slick, just $2.99 on Kindle:  Click here to download a free sample or the entire book
From bestselling author Robin Slick comes a funny, engaging novel of second chances and rock and roll.

Annie loathes middle age because in her mind, as long as she avoids mirrors in brightly lit rooms, she is still a cool, cutting edge hipster with a scandalous secret she has kept for almost three decades.

At age seventeen, Annie had a love affair with a man ten years her senior — legendary British rock guitarist Mick Saunders. Now, feeling stuck in a boring, faltering marriage and desperate to change her life, she is unexpectedly given the chance to reconnect with Mick while chaperoning her fledgling rock star teenagers on a tour across America.

To Annie, this opportunity to recapture her past is a dream come true. But will she and Mick be able to pick up where they left off?

If you like this book, be sure to check out Robin’s New York trilogy – Three Days in New York City, Another Bite of the Apple, and Bitten to the Core. Visit Robin on line at http://www.robinslick.com.

 

Robin Slick
Robin Slick

Dear Reader,

 

Daddy Left Me Alone with God is a creative non-fiction version flashbacks of my own childhood growing up with a jazz musician father and an affair with an internationally famous rock musician at age seventeen intertwined with my own experience as a parent of two teenaged fledgling rock stars as I chaperone them on tour across the country and have a chance meeting with my former lover who, much to my joy and confusion because I am having doubts about my own marriage, has never forgotten me.

Robin

 

 

Daddy Left Me Alone With God

by Robin Slick
DLP Books
Kindle Edition ~ Release Date: 2011-02-17

Paperback Price: $13.99
Kindle Price: $2.99

Download a Free Sample or Buy Now

An Excerpt from the Book

 

I sat on the edge of a bed in a cheap Los Angeles hotel, two thousand seven hundred miles away from my home in Philadelphia, armed with the uneasy realization that in a couple of hours my life might be changed forever.

 

And what was my biggest concern?

 

How did I look and what should I wear.

 

*     *     *

 

“…a funny, sexy, and scathingly honest look at what it means to be an aging baby boomer in a world changing faster than a phone number on speed dial.   With a fresh voice, a fast plot and a unique perspective on the new generation of sex, drugs, and rock and roll…a delight from start to finish.”

Ellen Meister, author of THE OTHER LIFE

 

“Ms. Slick is a serious and enthralling storyteller”

Blurb from e-cata romance

 

About the Author

Robin Slick is a rock music obsessed fiction writer living in downtown Philadelphia with a strong desire to jump into a time machine and land in London during the 1960s. She is the author of Three Days in New York City,   Another Bite of the Apple, and Bitten to the Core, light-hearted erotic novels published by Mundania/Phaze Press. She is editor and contributor of a short story collection, Thirty Nine and Holding…Him and its sequel 39 and Still Holding. Her short story “Daddy Left Me Alone with God” appears in the new anthology, Rebellion – New Voices of Fiction, published by Rebel Press in July 2006. You can find Robin’s work in print and on the web everywhere from heady places like In Posse Review and Slow Trains Literary Journal to give-heady places like Clean Sheets and Playgirl Magazine. She lives vicariously through her rock star daughter — bass player extraordinaire, Julie Slick, and her amazing drummer son, Eric Slick — who were featured in the Picturehouse Films documentary, Rock School.www.amazon.com/Daddy-Left-Alone-God-ebook/dp/B004OA6L0U

STEVENSThe Restorer by Amanda Stevens (Pre-Order Now for May 1 Release!)
The Restorer
THE RESTORER by Amanda Stevens, just $8.79 on Kindle:
Click here to download a free sample or the entire book
“Every cemetery has a story; every grave, its secrets. The cemetery was her sanctuary…. “

 

Dear Reader:

Amanda Stevens
Amanda Stevens

 

I grew up near an abandoned cemetery in rural Arkansas. Some of the graves dated back to the Civil War and I still remember how awed I was by the history. Time and again I was drawn back to that crumbling necropolis, captivated by the poetic inscriptions and artistic motifs on the old headstones.  I didn’t know it at the time, but the discovery of that graveyard-sequestered as it was in a thicket of dogwood trees-ignited a lifelong fascination.

 

Amelia Gray is a cemetery restorer who sees ghosts-greedy, grasping, ravenous entities that prey on human emotions.  In order to protect herself, Amelia has always held fast to her father’s rules. But a haunted police detective has entered her world and now everything is changing…including the rules that have always kept her safe.

 

For more information, please visit my website.

 

Amanda

The Restorer

by Amanda Stevens by Mira
Kindle Edition ~ Release Date: 2011-05-01

List Price: $10.99

Kindle Pre-Order Price:$8.79

Download a Free Sample or Buy Now

 

 

An Excerpt from the Novel

And then I saw it.  A nebulous, dream-like form hovering just beyond the fall of pale moonlight. Devlin’s ghost child. I thought at first I must be seeing things.  Prayed that my overwrought imagination had conjured her from my deepest fear.  But she was there.  I felt the cold fire of her eyes through the darkness.

 

How was it possible?  This house was a haven, a hallowed refuge that protected me from ghostly invasions.  I was safe here.  Or had been until I met Devlin.

 

p://www.hbo.com/documentaries/triangle-remembering-the-fire/synopsis.html

 

MABERRYThe King of Plagues by Jonathan Maberry
The King of Plagues

THE KING OF PLAGUES by Jonathan Maberry, just$9.99 on Kindle:

Click here to download a free sample or the entire book

“Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you….”

Dear Reader,

 

Jonathan Maberry
Jonathan Maberry

We live in an age of conspiracy theories, and at the same time we’re constantly learning that there are shadow governments, secret societies, and genuine conspiracies.  Where does paranoia end and the real world begin?

 

That’s the crooked line of thought that resulted in the latest Joe Ledger novel, THE KING OF PLAGUES (St. Martin’s Griffin, March 29).

 

Joe squares off against the Seven Kings, a secret society that uses misinformation, disinformation, and social media to allow them to profit from public reaction to terrorist attacks.  Their plan is a workable one…which gives KING OF PLAGUES a disturbingly plausible back-story; and it kind of creeped me out when writing it.  I think it’ll do the same for readers.

 

What’s really disturbing?  No matter how far out I go when plotting the Joe Ledger thrillers, the real world always catches up…and zooms right past into the Bizarro Zone!

 

Jonathan

 

The King of Plagues: A Joe Ledger Novel

by Jonathan Maberry

St. Martin’s Griffin

Kindle Edition ~ Release Date: 2011-03-29

List Price: $14.99
Kindle Price: $9.99

Download a Free Sample or Buy Now

 

 

An Excerpt from the Novel
Prologue

Harley Street, London

Seven Weeks Ago

 

“Unless you do exactly what you’re told,” whispered a voice, “we’ll kill your wife and daughter.”

The words dug into Trevor Plympton’s brain like railroad spikes.  He sat on the chair, wrists bound to the arm rests with plastic pipe ties, ankles tied to the wheeled feet of the chair.  A hood over his head that let in no light.  He was lost in a world of darkness and fear.  And those words.

He could barely remember what happened.  He’d taken the elevator to the basement parking garage, clicked open the locks on his Vauxhall Astra, felt a sharp burn against the back of his neck and then nothing.  When he finally woke up he was already lashed to the chair.  He’d cried out in alarm, tried yelling for help.

A heavy had belted him across the face.  A savage blow, made worse by the absolute surprise of it.  He couldn’t see it coming, could not even brace against it or turn away.

Then the whispering voice.

“W…what…?”  It was the best response he could muster.  Nothing made sense; the world was a confusion of disorientation, fear and pain.

“Did you understand what I said?” asked the voice.  A male voice.  Was there an accent?  It was hard to tell with the whisper.

“Yes,” Plympton gasped.

“Tell me what I said.”

“T-that you’d k-kill my family–.”

A hand clamped onto Plympton’s crotch and squeezed with sudden and terrible strength.  The pain was white hot and immense.  The grip was there and gone, as abrupt as the snap of a steel trap.

 

*     *     *

 

“A fast-paced, brilliantly written novel.  The hottest thriller of the New Year!  In The King of Plagues, Jonathan Maberry reigns supreme.”

–Brad Thor, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Athena Project

 

“Headlong action, up-to-the-minute science, and intriguingly conflicted characters — do not miss The King of Plagues.”

–F. Paul Wilson, NY Times bestselling author of the Repairman Jack series

DELUKEShedrow by Dean M. DeLuke
Shedrow
SHEDROW by Dean M. DeLuke, $9.99 on Kindle: Click here to download a free sample or the entire book

Dick Francis meets Robin Cook in a tale of “murder, sabotage, infidelity, and a whole lot more….”

Dean M. DeLuke
Dean M. DeLuke

Dear Reader,

 

Shedrow has been dubbed a cross between Dick Francis and Robin Cook, because it is a racetrack thriller in the spirit of Dick Francis, but there is a medical mystery at the heart of the story-surrounding the mysterious death of a multimillion dollar stallion on a supposedly secure farm in Lexington KY. And because the principal character happens to be a surgeon, there is a good deal of medical drama throughout the book.

 

I came up with the story concept by drawing on both my medical background as well as my longstanding interest in thoroughbred racing. The “what if” concept behind Shedrow was simply: what if a multimillion dollar stallion dies under very mysterious conditions on a supposedly secure farm near Lexington, KY? From that starting point comes a compelling story of “murder, sabotage, infidelity, and a whole lot more,” as one recent reviewer commented.

 

Dean

 

 

Shedrow: A Novel

by Dean DeLuke
Kindle Edition ~ Release Date: 2010-08-09

Print List Price: $28.95
Digital List Price: $12.99
Kindle Price: $9.99

Download a Free Sample or Buy Now

 

An Excerpt from the Novel

 

The blindfold was torn off Dr. Gianni’s eyes, and he squinted at the light, trying to focus on the two men who had dragged him from his office at gunpoint, thrown him into the back seat of a car, and transported him to the small room where he now sat. There were no windows, the only light coming from a bare bulb in a ceiling fixture. The walls were all cinder block, except for a metal garage door that had been closed behind them. The room seemed like part of a warehouse, or one of those self-storage units. With the blindfold off, Gianni could see a hint of sunlight where the cinder blocks abutted a tin roof.

 

Gianni was seated at a metal table, his hands bound behind his back. At one end of the table stood Sal Catroni. Unlike the other man, he wore no disguise. His longish hair was slicked back neatly, white at the sides, darker on top. His brow was furrowed in a scowl, amplifying the deep frown lines between his black-looking eyes.

 

Catroni spoke first. “You know who I am?” he said.

 

Gianni shook his head.

 

“I’m Sal Catroni, of the Catroni family, and this here is Hector. Hector was a medic in the marines. He’s here to help you with some medical treatment.”

 

Hector stood at least six-two, all of it solid muscle. He wore a tight white dress shirt, its silk sleeves rolled neatly to the middle of his massive forearms. A ski mask, open at the forehead, concealed his face, and his closely cropped black hair stood mostly on end. It reminded Gianni of a 1960s style flat-top cut, only not as stiff.

 

“Hector has some tools for you, Doc,” Catroni said.

 

Hector opened a clean white linen cloth, the texture of a dishrag but with a starched white appearance. Inside were surgical instruments. Dr. Gianni instantly recognized them-there was a blade handle and several large #10 blades, the kind a surgeon would use to make a long incision. It was not a delicate blade, but one meant to cut hard and fast through a lot of tissue with a single swipe. Next to the blades was a bone cutting forceps, which Gianni knew to be a Rongeurs forceps. Then there was a large pile of neatly folded gauze pads.

 

“Recognize those tools?” Catroni asked.

 

Gianni nodded.

 

“Well, Hector here is prepared to do a little surgery today.”

 

*     *     *

 

“I know nothing about thoroughbred racing, but Shedrow held me from beginning to end and made me want to learn more. Dean DeLuke is a wonderful talent, with a physician’s sensitivity and knowledge, and a writer’s deft touch with story and language. I am pleased and proud to welcome Dean DeLuke to the family of doctor-writers, and Shedrow to the ranks of razor sharp, fast-paced new novels. Shedrow is a great read–intriguing and exciting…this book moves!”

 

-Michael Palmer, NY Times best-selling author of The Last Surgeon and 15 other medical thrillers

 

“DeLuke’s out-of-the gate, spare-no-prisoners portrayal of horse racing, vets, racing elite and slimy underworld mafia types leaps beyond anything being published in the genre today. From its opening pages you’ll be shivering on the edge of your seat while this thrill-ride of a debut has you chomping at the bit for more. I’m willing to bet the mortgage on a trifecta that DeLuke’s next two efforts will be just a masterful as the first. Not a win, place and show. But a win, win, win!”

 

-Vincent Zandri, best-selling author of The Remains, The Innocent, Moonlight Falls and As Catch Can and International Thriller Awards panel judge for 2010

DEVIOUSDevious by Lisa Jackson
Devious

DEVIOUS by Lisa Jackson, just $9.99 on Kindle: Click here to download a free sample or the entire book

“Lisa Jackson brings back her detecting duo of Bentz and Montoya for a nail-biting tale of dangerous secrets and deadly passions….”

Lisa Jackson
Lisa Jackson

Dear Reader,

 

DEVIOUS will tie into Lisa’s Det. Rick Bentz & Det. Reuben Montaya thriller, HOT BLOODED!  Is Father John, the serial killer whose body was never found at the end of HOT BLOODED back…or is there a new killer echoing his killing pattern from ten years ago?

 

Lisa

 

 

 

 

Devious

by Lisa Jackson
Kensington Books
Kindle Edition
Release Date: 2011-03-29

List Price: $25.00
Kindle Price: $9.99

Download a Free Sample or Buy Now

 

 

Excerpts from the Book

The crime scene at St. Marguerite’s cathedral in New Orleans is shocking, even to seasoned detectives like Rick Bentz and Reuben Montoya. A novice nun named Sister Camille has been found dressed in a yellowed bridal gown and viciously garroted, her body covered with an altar cloth.

Valerie Houston is devastated by her sister’s death. For weeks, she’d begged Camille to leave St. Marguerite’s, where she seemed determined to live as some kind of martyr. But Camille had a knack for making bad choices-she joined the convent in part because she’d fallen for Val’s soon-to-be ex-husband, Slade.

Convinced the police aren’t doing enough, Val begins to investigate. Slade, on a mission to repair their marriage, is determined to help her. But the deeper Val’s inquiries go, the more twisted the case becomes. St. Marguerite’s is far from the tranquil retreat many believe, and everyone, from handsome Father Frank O’Toole to the mysterious Mother Superior, has their own agenda. Despite their closeness, even Camille had a hidden life Val never suspected. But someone knew about Camille’s past-and Val’s, too. Now she has no choice but to catch a devious, depraved killer intent on purging St. Marguerite’s of all its sins-before she becomes the next victim…
 

*

 

“Jackson brings back her detecting duo of Bentz and Montoya for a nail-biting tale of dangerous secrets and deadly passions.” 

 

-Booklist
“Jackson’s the queen of the modern-day suspense thriller.” 

–The Providence Journal

And we’ll never say good-bye without sharing a parting treat….
Kindle Nation Quarterly

Click on the image to check out our latest book on all things Kindle! You can buy it in the Kindle Store, or follow the steps at right and we’ll send you a free copy!

We haven’t breathed a word to anyone about this until now, but we’ve got a new book out, and we’d like to send you a free copy!

The book is called Kindle Nation Quarterly, Winter 2011: Dispatches from the Kindle Revolution, and it makes it easy to read the most important news and commentary in the Kindlesphere in the past few months, right on your Kindle or free Kindle App. Of course you can buy it in the Kindle Store, but all you have to do is help us spread the word and stay connected with you and we’ll send a free Kindle-compatible copy via email. Just follow these steps anytime between now and Monday, April 25:

1. Go to our Kindle Nation Facebook page at

http://www.facebook.com/KindleNation

and click on the “Like” button near the top of the page

 

 

and

 

2. Go to our BookLending Facebook page at

http://www.facebook.com/BookLending

and click on the “Like” button near the top of the page

 

Wasn’t that easy? Thanks! We like you, too, and now you’re almost done!

 

3. The only other thing you’ll need to do is to send an email to

kindlenation+KNQFREE@gmail.com — make sure you copy and paste that into your “to” field so that you get it exactly right! Type your Facebook name into the subject line, click send, and you’re done!
We’ll send your free copy of Kindle Nation Quarterly, Winter 2011: Dispatches from the Kindle Revolution by May 1. We’ll send it right along to the same email address that you used to request the free book, as an attachment in .PRC format, and then all you have to do is send it to on your appropriate you@free.kindle.com email address. Amazon will then convert it and send it on to your Kindle or other Kindle-compatible device in Kindle-compatible format.

Easy Pizzi!

Happy reading with all of this month’s great selections, and we’ll see you in about a month for another issue of 5-Star Fiction.
 

Subscribe to Kindle Nation on Kindle

 

Click here for a comprehensive list of over 200 free contemporary titles in the Kindle Store

Click here to lend and borrow Kindle books at BookLending.com

Thanks for taking the time to let us share a few good books with you, and please drop us a line at

KindleNation@gmail.com to let us know what you think of them!

Cheers, Steve Windwalker and Catherine MacDonald

Five-Star Fiction, March 2011: A Special Monthly Feature from Kindle Nation

 

Five-Star Fiction, March 2011A Special Monthly Feature from Kindle Nation
 
Greetings from Kindle Nation!

 

Betty and I have a friend named Smokey who has a great expression of which I have grown fond. You finish a project, accomplish something worthwhile, or do the right thing in any way significant or small, and Smokey will say, “Give yourself a biscuit!”

The fact that the expression may derive from the rigors of canine training doesn’t mean it isn’t nice to hear. And so, readers of Kindle Nation, if you were here and I perhaps knew you just a bit better, I’d be inclined to look at the great response with which you greeted last month’s first issue of our 5-Star Fiction feature and say, “Give yourself a biscuit!”

Our readers responded very enthusiastically to several of the books that we selected last month with the help of our 5-Star Fiction partner, bestselling novelist M.J. Rose. So this month, instead of a biscuit, we’re back with another mix of terrific new Kindle reads.

Once again we’re flirting with the boundaries between fiction and fact with selections such as Katharine Weber’s novel Triangle, a great potential book club selection based on the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire of March 25, 1911 …

or Amelia Grey’s fun frolic through the romantic lives of some of the world’s great romantic writers …

or a fascinating new novel by from the real-life star behind an only slightly fictionalized eponymous film, the Erin Brockovich.

Which one will be your favorite? All of them, we hope, but whether you choose one of the above or a Julia London romance, a Diana Orgain mystery, or a James Lepore thriller, all we ask is that you give yourself a biscuit, and …

Enjoy….

Cheers!
Steve Windwalker

Triangle: A Novel by Katharine Weber
Triangle
TRIANGLE: A NOVEL by Katharine Weber, just $9.99 on Kindle:
Click here to download a free sample or the entire book
“… a crackerjack historical mystery!” 

Dear Reader:

Katharine Weber
Katharine Weber

 

The Triangle shirtwaist factory fire of 1911 fascinated me as a child growing up inNew York City, because my father”s mother worked at the Triangle Waist Company in 1909, finishing buttonholes. It was her last sweatshop shop, before she married and gave birth to my father in the back of a grocery store in Brooklyn, and so she wasn”t there on the day of the fire. But the Triangle fire has always felt like an event in my family history. I was further inspired when the last living survivor of the Triangle fire died at the age of 107. What had it been like for her, telling her story about the day you didn”t die, for ninety years? The novelist in me took over. What would it be like to explain the events of that day for ninety years, if your story was a lie?

Katharine Weber

Triangle: A Novel

by Katharine Weber
Picador
Kindle Edition ~ Release Date: 2011-02-22


 

An Excerpt from the Novel

This is what happened. I was working at my machine, with only a few minutes left before the end of the day. I had only two right sleeves remaining in my pile — my sister Pauline, she did the left sleeves and I did the right sleeves and between us we could finish sometimes as many as twenty-four shirtwaists in an hour, three hundred shirtwaists on a good day, if the machines didn”t break down and if the thread didn”t break too often. My sister was a little faster than I was, and sometimes her finished pile would be high because she did her sleeve first and then I would take from her pile to do the right sleeve, but I have to say my seams were the ones always perfectly straight.

*     *     *

“Katharine Weber’s crackerjack historical mystery may be the most effective 9/11 novel yet written — and it isn’t even about 9/11.”

— Entertainment Weekly

*     *     *

Many book groups are reading TRIANGLE to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the fire, which will occur on March 25th, 2011. Katharine appears in the HBO documentary, “Triangle: Remembering the Fire,” which will air on HBO several times in March, starting March 21st at 9 p.m. Eastern time.

http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/triangle-remembering-the-fire/synopsis.html

Blood of My Brother by James Lepore
Blood of My Brother
BLOOD OF MY BROTHER by James Lepore, just $6.39 on Kindle:  Click here to download a free sample or the entire book
… a fast-paced thriller … full of passion both of hate and love … 

James Lepore

Dear Reader,

If I was asked why I write novels, I think the answer I would be most comfortable giving would be: to explore the human heart, to try to understand why it makes the choices it does. Choice was the echo I kept hearing as I was writing Blood of My Brother. When we don’t have to choose, life is easy, or seems to be; when we do, it can become very difficult. Dan Del Colliano, Jay Cassio and Isabel Perez, the central characters in Blood of My Brother, make choices. Danny’s leads to his death, Jay and Isabel’s to a confrontation with evil that they may not survive, but which they both know is the only chance they have to live the lives they were meant to live.

James Lepore

Blood of My Brother
by James Lepore
The Story Plant
Kindle Edition ~ Release Date: 2010-12-07

List Price: $7.99

Kindle Price $6.39
Download a Free Sample or Buy Now

 

An Excerpt from the Novel

“Do you know Juan Paredes?” Herman asked Isabel.

“No.”

“You never met him, not even once? He considered himself quite attractive to woman.”

“I would tell you if I did.”

“He’s dead,” Herman said. “His head is in the suitcase.”

Isabel gave Herman one of her nothing looks, and then glanced over at Jose, who was smiling. She had heard that Jose beheaded his victims, but had been reluctant to believe it, even of him. She looked back at Herman, remaining silent, her face a blank.

“Would you like to see it?”

“No.”

“We’ll show you anyway.” Herman nodded at Jose, who deftly flipped up the suitcase’s clasps and lifted it open. There, laying on a creamy white towel, was indeed a human head, the face pallid and ghostly, the long dark hair greasy, the raw, jagged flesh of the neck, where Jose’s machete had done its work, ringed with dried blood.

*     *     *

Blood of my Brother is exciting, full of passion both of hate and love. It is a story that will captivate and keep you in your easy chair reading until you reach the satisfying conclusion. It is a great book deserving of a 9 out of 10 rating.”

– Mainly Mysteries

Blood of My Brother is a fast-paced thriller with twists and turns that defy reason. James LePore has again written a novel of suspense showing his maturing style is in even better form. A best seller for sure for those who love thrillers and a good mystery!”

– Crystal Book Reviews

 
Rock Bottom by Erin Brockovich
Rock Bottom
ROCK BOTTOM by Erin Brockovich, just $12.99 on Kindle: Click here to download a free sample or the entire book

” … Erin Brockovich continues to fight the good fight, now as a writer of fiction … in a story Erin Brockovich lived …”  

Dear Reader,

I noticed something happening in courts of law when juries deal with environmental issues like groundwater contamination. The repercussions of a case might be riveting but the scientific jargon is dry and becomes overwh

Erin Brockovich
Erin Brockovich

elming. In fiction, that same story can be told in a way that maintains its dangerous and heroic elements, enabling people to become aware, to believe that they can make a difference, and to become their own hero.

Rock Bottom is not only entertaining and suspenseful, but also informative about the environmental crises that affect us all as individuals, as a country, and as a global society. If a few people close the book with a renewed sense of what can be accomplished, and become proactive in taking on accountability and responsibility for spreading the word about environmental issues and clean up, the A.J. in all of us will be here for a good long time.

Erin Brockovich

 

Rock Bottom

Rock Bottom

by Erin Brockovich with CJ Lyons

Vanguard Press

Kindle Edition
Release Date: 2011-03-01

 

 

List Price: $25.99

Kindle Price: $12.99

Download a Free Sample or Buy Now

 

An Excerpt from the Novel

 

Once we’d left the concrete tangle of highways surrounding D.C. and made it over the West Virginia border we were on two-lane switchbacked highways crossing through the Appalachians. Home. The word filled me with dread-and yet also offered a tantalizing feeling of anticipation. Maybe this time. . . .

When we were kids, we used to whine that Scotia, West Virginia, was the town where dreams went to die.

But I’d escaped.

I’d lived my dreams. Lost most of them. Except the most important one, David. Almost ten years old and going to meet his grandparents for the first time. His first time leaving D.C. since he was an infant in my arms.

Was I crawling back, a failure, a fool for returning to the town that had tried so hard to assassinate my dreams? Or was I really still just a kid myself, coming home at twenty-seven to be healed?
*     *     *

“Everything a great thriller should be-action-packed, authentic, and intense.”

-New York Times bestselling author Lee Child

“A compelling new voice in thriller writing, Rock Bottom will keep you in its spell from beginning to end. I love how the characters come alive on every page.”

-New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver

“Erin Brockovich continues to fight the good fight, now as a writer of fiction. Rock Bottom is a story Erin Brockovich lived. The heroine is brilliant and feisty. Tension and turmoil mount in a high stakes adventure with dire consequences. Nobody could tell this story better.”

-New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry

 

 

A Light at Winter’s End by Julia London
LightA LIGHT AT WINTER’S END by Julia London, just$7.99 on Kindle:

Click here to download a free sample or the entire book

” … As a writer, I am fascinated how ordinary people are thrust into extraordinary circumstances that forever alter their lives and their souls … “ 

Julia London
Julia London

I am delighted to announce the release of another Cedar Springs, TX book:  A Light at Winter’s End.

Hannah has always done everything right:  getting married, having a baby, and caring for her dying mother, all while performing impeccably in a high-level job.  Her sister Holly is the college dropout, the one who works at a coffee shop and wants to be a songwriter.  One day, Hannah suddenly-without explanation-leaves her baby with Holly and disappears.  While Holly struggles with the sudden upheaval, Wyatt Clark (Summer of Two Wishes), a mysterious cowboy who knows a lot about life-changing events, wanders into her life.

As a writer, I am fascinated how ordinary people are thrust into extraordinary circumstances that forever alter their lives and their souls.  This book is for everyone who believes that no matter how dark the journey, there is always a light at the end.

Follow me on www.facebook.com/julialondon or visit http://www.julialondon.com.

Julia London

A Light at Winter’s End
by Julia London
Pocket
Kindle Edition
Release Date: 2011-02-22

List Price: $7.99

Kindle Price: $7.99
Download a Free Sample or Buy Now

 

An Excerpt from the Novel
The cowboy rose at dawn’s first light and pulled on a pair of worn, dirty denims. “Come,” he said to his dog and, scratching his bare abdomen, he padded down the hall of the nondescript red brick ranch house and into the kitchen.

 

There was something sticky underfoot on the linoleum, but he couldn’t really see. He sleepily made a note of it and thought Sunday, when he washed his clothes in that old harvest yellow washer, he might wash a few things around the house, as well.  He couldn’t remember ever mopping the floor here, and figured, after a year, it was as good a time as any.

He studied the row of buttons on the trendy contraption that some would call a coffee machine, and he called a pretentious piece of pain-in-the-ass machinery. It was one of the few things he’d kept from his marriage.  He’d bought it for her, of course, and she’d been ridiculously pleased with it.  He’d never quite figured out how to operate it correctly.  Why had he kept it?  He didn’t know anymore.  The only thing he did know was that Wyatt and Macy Clark were no more.
 

*     *     *

“A passionate, arresting story that you wish would never end.”

– Robyn Carr, New York Times bestselling author of Paradise Valley

“A fine story…London’s ability to draw real-life characters and settings is superb. The way her characters cope with life’s curve balls and keep on trucking is inspiring.”

RT Bookclub

“London’s effective wordcraft and plotting keeps readers engages as she draws drama from her charaters’ inner strife, breathing life into the journey from quiet desperation and loneliness to happiness and self-discovery.”

Publisher’s Weekly

Dear Reader,

Formula for Murder by Diana Orgain
Formula
FORMULA FOR MURDER by Diana Orgain, $7.99 on Kindle: Click here to download a free sample or the entire book
 

” … New mom starts her own business as PI in order to stay at home with her baby … only it’s not as easy as she thinks … “

Diana Orgain
Diana Orgain

Dear Reader,

I am proud to introduce The Maternal Instinct Mystery Series to you. I was inspired to write the series because when I was pregnant with my first child I was addicted to non-fiction baby developments books.  I read nightly how my little sprout was progressing, week 14 fingernails are well formed, week 26 eyelashes are present. Eyelashes? Really? I was fascinated.

Around week 35 I longed to escape into fiction. But every time I cracked open a mystery my mind drifted back to baby – how were the lungs developing?

After my baby was born, I hated the idea of returning to the corporate world and leaving her for a minimum of 40 hours a week. I had to be a work from home mom.

The idea for The Maternal Instinct Mystery Series was formed: New mom starts her own business as PI in order to stay at home with her baby … only it’s not as easy as she thinks.

Diana Orgain

 

Formula for Murder

by Diana Orgain
Berkley
Kindle Edition ~ Release Date: 2011-03-01

List Price: $7.99

Kindle Price: $7.99
Download a Free Sample or Buy Now

An Excerpt from the Novel

I checked Laurie in the rearview mirror. She was sound asleep; as usual, the motion of the car had lulled her into slumber.

She looked adorable, wearing a tiny red satin dress with matching red booties. We were on our way to get her first holiday photos taken. I couldn’t believe three months had evaporated; it seemed like she was born just yesterday.

I cruised down the hill to the stoplight and stepped on the brake. Out of habit, I glanced in the rearview again and saw a silver SUV barreling down the hill.

Was the car out of control? It continued to speed and there was no telltale sign of the nose dipping as it would if the driver were braking.

They were getting closer! Almost on top of us.

My eyes were transfixed on the rearview mirror. I held my breath, bracing myself for the crash at the same time my brain screamed for a miracle.

Please stop in time. Please don’t hit me and my baby!

*     *     *

“If you were expecting warm and cute you’ll be mistaken. Fast paced and fun, this book gives a true feel of the modern mom, trying to juggle motherhood and career (when that career happens to be solving crimes). ”

Rhys Bowen – award-winner author of the Molly Murphy Series

“Skip your afternoon nap and cozy up to Diana Orgain’s Maternal Instincts Mysteries.  The series’ plucky protagonist gives ‘working mom’ a whole new meaning as she endearingly juggles bad guys and binkies.”

-Susan McBride, author of the Debutante Dropout Mysteries

 

Fall in Love Like a Romance Writer: Your Favorite Novelists Share Their Secret Keys to a Long and Lasting Love, by Amelia Grey
Fall
FALL IN LOVE LIKE A ROMANCE WRITER by Amelia Grey, just $9.99 on Kindle: Click here to download a free sample or the entire book

“… 67 amazing stories from some of the most famous names in romantic fiction …”

Amelia Grey
Amelia Grey

Dear Reader,

The publication of Fall In Love Like A Romance Writer has been a wild and crazy ride but worth every twist, turn, and roadblock that I’ve encountered.  I have collected 67 amazing stories from some of the most famous names in romantic fiction.  It all started with, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if…”

Imagine emailing an author out of the blue and asking her to write about her own true romance.  I was nervous, but I did it! What could be more exciting than to have a peek into the love life of the authors who write your favorite fictional love stories?

I was eager to find out how the masters of the fictional romance world were doing in their very own love life.  Were they all living the happily-ever-after life that they wrote about in their books?  Now is your chance to find out.

Please visit my website at ameliagrey.com to see a complete list of the fabulous sixty-seven authors featured in Fall In Love Like A Romance Writer.

Amelia Grey

Fall in Love Like a Romance Writer:
Your Favorite Novelists Share Their Secret Keys to a Long and Lasting Love
by Amelia Grey
HCI
Kindle Edition ~ Release Date: 2011-02-01

List Price: $14.95

Download a Free Sample or Buy now

 

Excerpts from the Book

 

Victoria Alexander writes: As for a sense of humor, you have to have one to live with me. But then I need one to live with him, too. He’s never read one of my books. He’s a nonfiction rather than a fiction reader. But since he doesn’t read my books, I started naming dead husbands after him in about my third book. It’s become a tradition. When I have a dead husband in a book and he wasn’t evil or a bad guy, I named him Charles. I have a dead Charles now in most of my books. At first, when he realized I named heroes after old boyfriends and dead husbands after him, he was a little annoyed. Now, he’s annoyed if I don’t name dead husbands after him. I think that keeps our marriage fresh. He thinks it keeps him safe. He’s mentioned that if anything ever happens to him I’d be the first suspect. He takes a great deal of comfort from that. And I like keeping him on his toes.

Heather Graham writes: Is my life, my romance, perfect? Never! His family is very Italian. My dad was Scottish and my mother fresh off the boat Irish. I like to say that Dennis has given me lots of conflict to write about. Do we get along now? Nope. He likes mountains. I love the sea. And it is such with many things. Dennis has learned to work around me and make sure he has my total attention when something is really important. We’ve weathered tragedy, we’ve had tremendous happiness. My husband and I have not traveled the path that we intended; we probably missed a few important forks in the road. But I am going to grow old with him. When the mind slips and the flesh fades, when beauty is memory, when passion is warmth, the love remains.

And more….

Teresa Medeiros: My husband and I met in a mental institution. Wait! Perhaps I should clarify that. My husband asked me out for the first time in a mental institution. But neither of us were patients. We were both nursing students.

Gayle Callen: I received my marriage proposal in a cemetery. This might seem very unromantic, but let me explain.

Eloisa James: I met the very man in my first year at Harvard: a would-be banker who drove a convertible and knew a lot about oriental rugs. His mother was horrified by my braless state; we were perfect for each other.

Elizabeth Grayson: I could tell they were watching me. I was stopped at a red light on a blustery Saturday night in downtown Rochester, N.Y. I was headed for an upscale bar called Shakespeare’s to meet a guy I’d been dating for a couple of weeks. While I sat waiting for the light to change, two guys in a Mustang pulled up beside me.

Every woman with a pulse knows when a guy notices her. These two had and were obviously talking about me. Of course, I pretended to ignore them. When the light changed, I peeled out and left them eating my dust – the automotive equivalent of flipping my hair.

And we’ll never say good-bye without sharing a parting treat….
Kindle Free for AllClick on the image to check out our guide to free content for your Kindle, Kindle Free for All! We’ve been working on some nice changes for our readers, so we’re especially excited to announce the launch of two new websites for Kindle readers! Well, almost new.First, here — http://www.kindlenationdaily.com — is a link to our totally revamped Kindle Nation Daily website, a much more stylish and easier-to-navigate site with all the same great daily and weekly posts including free book alerts, tips, news, excerpts, mailbag correspondence, and more.

Second, if there are kids of any age in, near, or otherwise appended to your personal Kindlesphere, you’re going to want to make sure to hook them up (can I say that here?) with the Kindle Kids’ Corner website that we launched just last week in collaboration with teachers and students at the Westwood Schools in Camilla, Georgia. We’ll be starting out with two kids’ ebook reviews for kids and by kids each week, in addition to tips and other content. You can read it free on the web here — http://kids.kindlenationdaily.com — or subscribe here to have each post sent directly to your Kindle in real time.

Finally, here’s a question for you: what do you when you finish reading a book on Kindle? The laundry? Read another book? We’ve heard from a few Kindle readers that they like to clear their heads by playing a game on Kindle. If you’d like to try that, but you’d rather not set yourself back more than a dollar or so, we’re here to be helpful: at the bottom of this issue we’ll provide links to 5 Kindle games that are available now for just 99 cents each!

So, check them out, and we’ll see you soon for our regular weekly blast of Kindle Nation and, in about a month, another issue of 5-Star Fiction.
 

Subscribe to Kindle Nation on Kindle

Click here for a comprehensive list of over 200 free contemporary titles in the Kindle Store

1.
Product Details
Flip It! (A Game for Kindle) by 7 Dragons (Kindle Edition – Jan. 31, 2011) – Kindle Active Content
$0.99
2.
Product Details
Tic Tac Toe  (A Classic Game for Kindle) by 7 Dragons (Kindle Edition – Feb. 3, 2011) – Kindle Active Content
$0.99

 

3.
Product Details
NY Times Crosswords Vol. 5 (30 World Famous Easy Puzzles) by The New York Times (Kindle Edition – Jan. 27, 2011) – Kindle Active Content
$0.99
4.
SCRABBLE (Play the Popular Word Game on Kindle) by Electronic Arts Inc. (Kindle Edition – Mar. 13, 2011) – Kindle Active Content
$0.99
5.
Chess  (A Classic Game for Kindle) by Oak Systems Leisure Software (Kindle Edition – Feb. 9, 2011) – Kindle Active Content
$0.99
Thanks for taking the time to let us share a few books with you, and please drop us a line atKindleNation@gmail.com to let us know what you think of them!  Cheers, Steve Windwalker
 
 
 

84 Five-Star Reviews for Our EBook of the Day, a Unique Vampire Novel About a Vampire Novelist! Read a free sample of “Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider” without leaving your browser!

Rated over 4.6 stars with 84 Five-Star reviews out of 98 total, our Kindle Nation eBook of the Day is definitely worth a look for readers seeking an adventurous new take — one that will entertain you and make you think — on Vamp-Lit!

 What if your novel attracts the wrong kind of attention and an age-old evil turns out to be all too real?

Author Beth Rider’s second vampire novel has hit number one and she is flying high on her new-found fame. But at a fated book signing that runs late into the night, Beth is confronted by an evil she’d only experienced in nightmares. Jack Dawn, a supernatural monster belonging to an ancient race of bloodthirsty immortals known as the Rakum, vows to track down and kill the young writer because of the vile redemptive message her book is bringing his people.

The Rakum have spread evil among mankind since the Beginning, growing in strength and influence with every passing century. A respected Elder among his brethren, Jack recognizes the novel’s destructive potential and his duty to destroy her before the book’s promises annihilate his Kind. His method of subduing the novelist is an ancient punishment perpetrated against humans who bring them the ultimate displeasure; Jack marks her as a Rabbit. By forcing her to ingest his poisonous blood, Beth’s body now regenerates endlessly and she is set free to be tracked by his hungry brethren. The plan? His people will torture her, slowly, night after night, until she goes insane. Marking her was easy – now Jack only has to sit back and wait for the Rakum to do their worst.

Jack’s proselyte Michael Stone was brought up from his youth to be strong, sensible and oftentimes, brutal. But at one 130, Michael is old enough to appreciate the quiet and ordered life he’d carved out for himself over the years. Aware that his Elder has marked a human for death, Michael is on the lookout as he leaves work late one night. When he stumbles upon the beautiful and apparently innocent Beth Rider, he is instantly smitten, despite the fact that a few seconds later he realizes that she is the target of his Elder’s fury. Puzzled by Jack’s unreasonable condemnation, Michael takes it upon himself to protect the lovely author from the limitless lust of his brethren.

Facing the most terrifying trial of her life against creatures known only in fables, one simple woman will unintentionally threaten the very existence of a powerful and accursed people. In the climactic mêlée, it is a race to the death, or if Beth has her way, a race to the life-of every Rakum who makes the choice.

Reviewers say:

“Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider” is one of the most original and courageous novels I’ve read in a long time. There’s no way around it, so I might as well just spit it out: this is a Christian story about vampires. Or possibly it’s a vampire story about Christians.

If that offends thee, you might as well stop right here!

I was rather blown away by the book and the way the author intertwined scripture and Biblical teachings with the horrors facing Beth Rider and those she became involved with at the hands of a supposed mystical race (or would that be mythical?)


Ellen’s subjects range from vampires to angels to demonic powers in dark places; but her goal is to entertain the reader while sending a message of redemption that is only apparent between the lines. Pitching faith and bloodlust into a battle to the death, or oftentimes, to the life; Ellen always finds a way to balance the two in a fascinating and intriguing way.

A recovering vampire/horror fanatic, Ellen uses her experience in that subculture to bring the Light into the vampire genre. Addicting and delicious, Ellen’s brand of story-telling is rife with deep character study and honest emotion. Building characters that she loves deeply, that sentiment carries to the reader as well. Many readers feel that her writing reads ‘like a movie in their heads’.

Ellen graduated cum laude from Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and a minor in Sociology. She has been a licensed non-denominational minister and still teaches Scripture to teens and adults. She has also been a professional artist, specializing in custom pet portraits and equine art.

Ellen’s faith plays an important role in her life and although her novels are written for all people, they are often carried in Christian Markets. She lives in Historic Montgomery, Alabama with her husband, daughter, four cats and one spoiled dog.

And here, in the comfort of your own browser, is your free sample:
 
IF YOU ARE READING THIS POST ON YOUR KINDLE, JUST ENTER
INTO YOUR COMPUTER BROWSER TO READ YOUR FREE SAMPLE

Kindle Nation Daily Free Book Alert, Monday, February 28: 7 Brand New Additions to Our 200+ Free Contemporary Titles on Kindle! plus … Steve Silkin’s The Forbidden Stories Provide 5-Star Reading for Just $1.99 (Today’s Sponsor)

This morning’s latest additions to our 200+ Free Book Alert listings cover a wide range of interests from crockpot recipes to social media and marketing innovations….

But first, a word from … Today’s Sponsor

A straight 5-star rating for this short story collection the author calls, “Eros and Thanatos. Stories of sex and death“…

“These are great stories. Really enjoyed them. Transgressive, odd, some straight ahead, some dreamlike and surreal. Highly unusual and original.”
–Daniel Loeb


The Forbidden Stories
by Steve Silkin
5.0 out of 5 stars 5 Reviews
Kindle Price: $1.99
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
Don’t have a Kindle? Get yours here.

Forbidden, yes, but read it anyway!”


Here’s the set-up via reviewer Gabriela Popa
Forbidden Stories is a collection of vivid, expertly crafted fiction stories spanning a wide range of events (growing up as a kid in Los Angeles, traveling to Europe, living in France) told with passion, nostalgia and – some of them – a relaxed wisdom that borders a zen-like attitude… Anyone who wants to explore the human condition will appreciate the multilayered “Green Parrot at My Window” – a complex story about death and the inextricable EXIT sign that awaits us all. A tangled criss-cross of relationships develops in “The Cake Girl”, “Euro-Looting” and “La Hongroise”- stories in which the author, part mastermind and part subject, keeps a keen eye on what’s happening around him while himself progressing as a character along the story.

Yet for all their significant metaphorical content and multidimensional messages, these stories are charmingly accessible and captivating and speak about the universal value of human relationships. This is a great collection of stories – and a must for literature lovers.”

And don’t miss Steve Silkin’s novel….

Did you love L.A. Confidential? Boogie Nights? The Candidate? Pulp Fiction? Weave them all together into a smart, edgy, fast-paced political thriller that you can read right on your Kindle for less than two bucks, and you’ve got Steven Silkin’s The Cemetery Vote.

by Steve Silkin
5.0 out of 5 stars – 4 Reviews
Text-to-Speech: Enabled

Jace Kingman, a drug dealer, is recruited to round up Latino day laborers and take them to the polls on Election Day. Dan Vienna, a fired police officer on the road to become an Internet porn producer, tries to extort a million dollars from a losing candidate for U.S. Senate by claiming he can prove the election was stolen. Jace and Dan will cross paths as both schemes go awry. Can they save themselves? Or will they destroy each other?
The Cemetery Vote takes you on a roller-coaster ride over a landscape of ballot-box stuffing, Internet porn production and drug trafficking, plus a love story – or rather two or three or four of them. Featuring iconoclastic twins, an ex-con philosopher and an X-rated actress who’s more than she appears. It’s a political thriller with philosophical underpinnings….


What the Reviewers Say
“These stories, forbidden or not, are written in prose so clear it’s nearly transparent, allowing you to see all the way to the deep sense of loss that lies like muck at the bottom. Maybe that’s why they’re forbidden; the current’s strong, and you can’t tell how deep the water is. Still, each piece is laced with enough humor and insight to keep them from feeling like they’re going to pull you under. I’ve enjoyed Silkin’s other books but this one’s my favorite, and not just because I have a crush on Cake Girl.”
–R. Toady

“After reading Silkin’s “The Cemetery Vote” I couldn’t wait to sample more from this perceptive talent. I’ve read all his books now, but this one was my favorite. With “Forbidden Stories” Silkin has taken that forbidden step into the dark recesses of human relationships, and this is something that most of us dare not do. What makes this collection of stories so disconcerting is that they resound with the clear ring of truth.
–Gregory J. Barina

“Steve Silkin’s growing list of titles–which also includes Telescope Builder and Cemetery Vote–is bolstered by this latest collection of stories, some autobiographical, some semi-autobiographical, and a few completely imagined, set mostly in Europe and the far reaches of the LA suburbs in the days before the freeways were even finished. Written without any pretense (think of Hemingway or Fitzgerald wandering the San Fernando Valley), the tales exhibit Silkin’s overriding desire to communicate many things–among them feelings of sadness and loss, with some youthful jubilation occasionally peeking through. If you’re looking for a well-written title with pathos, humor and other actual, human emotions, step away from the James Franco…and buy or download Forbidden Stories instead.”
–Book Guy

Click here to download The Forbidden Stories (or a free sample) to your Kindle, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, BlackBerry, Android-compatible, PC or Mac and start reading within 60 seconds!

UK CUSTOMERS: Click on the title below to download
Each day’s list is sponsored by one paid title. We encourage you to support our sponsors and thank you for considering them.
Authors, Publishers, iPad Accessory Manufacturers:
Interested in learning more about sponsorship? Just click on this link for more information.

Free Contemporary Titles in the Kindle Store
HOW TO USE OUR NEW FREE BOOK TOOL:

Just use the slider at right of your screen below to scroll through a complete, updated list of free contemporary Kindle titles, and click on an icon like this one (at right) to read a free sample right here in your browser! Titles are sorted in reverse chronological order so you can easily see new freebies.

The Best “Book Group” Novel Ever

Most afternoons I try to spend 20 to 30 minutes on the elliptical trying to do what I can to forestall implementation of the Kindle Nation corporate succession plan. I don’t get to it every day, but I would be nowhere if it weren’t for the accompaniment provided by my Kindle’s text-to-speech.

But yesterday afternoon I did 29 minutes and it was bliss. It wasn’t that I was in any better shape than any other day. It was that I was accompanied by my Kindle’s text-to-speech reading me the first chapter of The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady, a new novel by Elizabeth Stuckey-French.

It is a very funny novel about the very private, quirky lives of its characters, but it is also a public novel about America. It is a women’s novel, but it is also a must-read for men, or at least for those men who read. It is a Southern novel, yet there’s nothing parochial about its sense of place and people. Elizabeth Stuckey-French is a highly regarded author of literary fiction whose short stories have been shortlisted for PEN/O’Henry Prize and Narrative honors, but she’s written a darkly funny, deeply ironic book that deserves to become a wildly popular novel (and will become that if Amazon figures out the book’s potential and prices it to sell.)

And on the off-chance you want a second opinion, check out Jincy Willett’s February 13 rave review in the New York Times Book Review.

But my take? In the same way that it has been said many times that the late great Steve Goodman wrote the perfect “country and western” song, let me be the first to say that — for all the reasons just enumerated and many more — I believe Elizabeth Stuckey-French has written the best “book group” novel ever, and I mean that as the warmest of praise.

For most of the last few decades it has been my unmerited luck to have been personally involved with book group members, and I have conned myself into believing that I know something about book groups. I listen attentively to learn what the selections have been and how they have gone over. And I am going to go out on a limb and say that if you are in a book group, you should lobby hard next Wednesday evening (or whenever) to get your group to select The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady as its next pick.

Your fellow book group members will love it, and they will love you: for discovering it, bringing it to their attention, introducing them to a talented fiction writer, and getting them laughing and thinking and talking as they haven’t laughed and thought and talked in months.

Don’t choose Virginia Woolf or Jodi Picoult or Stieg Larsson or Laura Hillenbrand or Kathryn Stockett or Mary Wollstonecraft or Francine Prose. They’re all great, but they will keep.

And none of them will Skype live right into your living room to participate in your book group discussion! Elizabeth Stuckey-French will do that. Just email her at esf@elizabethstuckeyfrench.com. Really.

So, this month, choose Elizabeth Stuckey-French. I promise you’ll be glad you did. Her book is available both in a Kindle edition and in a hardcover that Amazon has marked down to just over $15. And there a great set of book group discussion questions on her author website.

Full Disclosure: Elizabeth first appeared on Kindle Nation with her short story “Interview with a Moron” in the very first issue of our Free Kindle Nation Shorts feature back on May 22, 2009. She is not and never has been a Kindle Nation sponsor, and her money’s no good here anyway, because she’s like family to me. She’s not actually family, and I’ve never met her face-to-face, but she’s married to a guy who’s been one of my dearest friends since I was 20, and we’re also connected by virtue of each of us having “studied with” one of my favorite writers, Francine Prose: Elizabeth at the prestigious Iowa Writers Workshop and me in Monroe Engel‘s life-changing English Mb undergraduate fiction workshop back around the time that I met Ned French.

Five-Star Fiction: A Special New Monthly Feature from Kindle Nation

Five-Star Fiction
A Special New Monthly Feature from Kindle Nation
Greetings from Kindle Nation! 
We’re been lucky enough, during the time we’ve been building and publishing Kindle Nation, to have been able to help a great many talented authors connect with thousands of you, our readers, the greatest readers in the world.

In our most recent Kindle Nation Citizen Survey, you made it clear that you value the role we play in helping you find great reads by undiscovered indie authors. But more and more great books by traditionally published authors are also finding their way into the Kindle Store, so we’re especially excited about our new partnership with novelist M.J. Rose — author of The ReincarnationistThe Memorist, and The Hypnotist — to curate and call your attention to some of the best 5-Star Fiction available each month for Kindle reading.

We’ve worked hard to make 5-Star Fiction an enjoyable way to check out a mix of interesting books each month, and we promise to close each month’s issue with a fun parting treat from an inexpensive reading suggestion to, in some future months, some giveaway specials! And we’ll always include a link to free contemporary Kindle titles at the end!

But we begin, here and now, with a February offering in which we break our own rules implicit in the title of this new Kindle Nation 5-Star Fiction feature:  while the first of our six selections is certainly one of the most distinctive narrative works of the second half of the 20th century, it is not, strictly speaking, a work of fiction.

Enjoy….

 Roots: The Saga of an American Family (30th Anniversary Edition)
“Early in the spring of 1750, in the village of Juffure, four days upriver from
Alex Haley
the coast of The Gambia, West Africa, a manchild was born to Omoro and Binta Kinte.”
So begins ROOTS, one of the most important and influential books of our time, which has lost none of its emotional power and drama. And its message for today’s generation is even more vital and relevant than it was 30 years ago.
“In all of us there is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage….Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning no matter what our attainments in life.”
-Alex Haley   

Roots: The Saga of an American Family (30th Anniversary Edition)
by Alex Haley
Vanguard (Perseus Books)
Kindle Edition

 

List Price: $15.95
Kindle Price: $8.98

Download a Free Sample or Buy Now

” … a classic of American ambition … ”

–A Note From Bestselling author Michael Eric Dyson:

Roots is unquestionably one of the nation’s seminal texts. It affected events far beyond its pages and was a literary North Star that guided us through the long midnight of slavery’s haunting presence. Roots is an exercise in the skillful telling of a people’s pilgrimage through the quagmire of lost racial links to the solid ground of recovered connections. For that reason alone, it is to be celebrated as a classic of American ambition and black striving. Each generation must make up its own mind about how it will navigate the treacherous waters of our nation’s racial sin. And each generation must overcome our social ills through greater knowledge and decisive action. Roots is a stirring reminder that we can achieve these goals only if we look history squarely in the face.
 Island Girl by Lynda Simmons

” … is Alzheimer’s a moral get-out-of-jail free card? …”
–A Note from Author Lynda Simmons

Lynda Simmons
Dear Reader,
My family has been dealing with Alzheimer’s for fifteen years and I am fascinated by the differences in the ways the generations approach this devastating illness. Those who endured the Depression and World War II tend to be fatalistic about the curves life throws at them, trusting their doctors and viewing Alzheimer’s as just one more cross to bear.
My generation, on the other hand, mistrusts authority, demanding control of everything that touches our lives and thumbing our noses at Alzheimer’s long goodbye.
In writing Island Girl, I wanted to explore not only what happens when one of these strong-willed individuals is diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer’s, I also wanted to ask the question: Do you have to forgive someone a lifetime of sins just because they’re sick? Does Alzheimer’s grant them instant immunity? A moral get-out-of-jail free card? Because as we all know, not everyone who is sick was a saint.
Lynda 

Island Girl
by Lynda Simmons
Berkley
Kindle Edition ~ Release Date: 2010-12-07

 

List Price: $15.00
Kindle Price $9.99

Download a Free Sample or Buy Now

An Excerpt from the Novel
“Ruby, put the scissors down.”
I turned, saw Mark in the doorway. “I can’t,” I told him. “I have work to do.”
“No, you don’t. We’re going canoeing, remember?”
“I can’t go anywhere now. I have clients. Grace can’t handle this alone.” I looked around. “Where’s my notebook? I need my notebook.”
“I don’t know about the notebook,” Mark said. “But I do know that Grace is doing okay on her own.”
“Okay? Okay? Mark, look around. She’s made a mockery of everything.” I turned to the woman in the chair. “What’s your name?”
“Ruby, it’s me,” she said. “Joanne from Algonquin Island.”
“Of course you are.” I swung around to the other women on the couch. “The rest of you. . . I don’t know. I’ll figure something out. But right now, I need my goddamn notebook.”
Mark put his hands on my shoulders. “Ruby, give me the scissors.”
*     *     * 
“Simmons exhibits an exquisitely deft understanding of the extraordinary difficulties that unite a family, and her portrayals of the three women, told in alternating first-person chapters, enable satisfying connections with each.” Publisher’s Weekly
“…an engaging book about mental acuity as well as incapability,
emotional strength as well as frailty . . . a page-turner that will both
satisfy and enchant its readers.” Winnipeg Free Press
“Simmons wields her pen with grace and aplomb. . .a carefully drawn story
mixed with island history of the best sort.” A Worn Path
 The Tudor Secret by C.W. Gortner
” … the spy who becomes the protector of a future queen …” 
–A Note from Author C.W. Gortner  
Dear Reader,
Everyone has a secret. And secrets can be deadly. Welcome to the dangers of THE TUDOR SECRET, where a squire to the powerful Dudley family becomes a d
C.W. Gortner
ouble agent to save Princess Elizabeth from a dark conspiracy- one in which the secret of his mysterious past may be revealed. Filled with the intrigue and suspense that make the Tudors one of history’s most fascinating royal dynasties, this thrilling novel brings their world to life from a new perspective, introducing the spy who becomes the protector of a future queen. This is Book I of The Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles.
C.W. Gortner

The Tudor Secret
by C. W. Gortner
St. Martin’s Griffin
Kindle Edition
Release Date: 2011-02-01

 

List Price: $14.99
Kindle Price: $9.99

Download a Free Sample or Buy Now

An Excerpt from the Novel
To the hound’s blood-curdling bark, I stood and shifted through an opening in the hedge. I swiftly knelt, removed my cap. The moonlight sliced across my face. She went still. The dog snarled again. Cecil snapped his fingers. The guards were at me, swords scything in release. In a second, I was surrounded by blades. If I so much as moved a muscle, I would impale myself.
The dog strained at its chain, snout drawn back and fangs bared. She patted its sleek head. “Hush, Urian,” I heard her say. “Be still.” The hound sat on its haunches, its strange green-toned eyes fixed on me.
Cecil said, “I believe I know this youth, Your Grace. I assure you, he is quite harmless.”
One of her thin red-gold brows arched. “I don’t doubt it, seeing as he thought to hide from us in the yew, of all places. Who is he?”
“Robert Dudley’s squire.”
I glanced up in time to catch the quick look Cecil cast in my direction. I couldn’t tell whether he was displeased or amused.
The princess motioned. The guards shifted back. I stayed on one knee.
There are moments that define our existence, moments that, if we recognize them, become pivotal turning points in our life. Like pearls on a strand, the accumulation of such moments will in time become the essence of our life, providing solace when our end draws near.
For me, meeting Elizabeth Tudor was one of those moments.
*     *     * 
Gortner handles action with aplomb, adding a riveting, fast-paced thriller to the crowded genre of Tudor fiction. Publisher’s Weekly
Even Tudor fans who know the main players and historical backdrop will be captivated by Gortner’s storytelling and his engaging hero.  Romantic Times
The Collectibles by James J. Kaufman
” … we are all in need of help one way or another … ” 

–A Note from Author James J. Kaufman


Dear Reader,
James J. Kaufman
The core of The Collectibles is a way of approaching
life. For years, I have watched people collect and proudly display all kinds of things-watches, clocks, figurines, furniture, cars, dolls. My idea for The Collectibles was to suggest the same level of intensity could be employed to help one another. When their inherently good qualities are recognized, the characters in my story are not only enriched, but so are the lives of those who reach out to them. This is the investment we should be making. We are all in need of help in one way or another. It’s not about control or money; it’s about heart and reaching out.
James

The Collectibles

by James J. Kaufman
Downstream Publishing
Kindle Edition

 

List Price: $9.99
Kindle Price: $9.99

Download a Free Sample or Buy Now

An Excerpt from the Novel
Neither spoke for a few moments. Then Missy looked at Joe, and breaking the silence, asked, “Why me?”
“Why me, what?”
“I mean, why have you taken such an interest in me? I know you’re a good guy and that you believe in helping people, not just your clients, but others, too. I know you and Ashley supported the Domestic Violence Shelter. I remember all my conversations with you back then. You helped me a lot. Don’t get me wrong, Joe. I love you for it. The part that blows me away is that you’ve stayed in touch so long to make sure I’m all right and see what you can do to help. And the others, too. Why, Joe? How do we get to be the lucky ones?”
 *     *     *  
“The Collectibles is a poignant and thoughtful read, highly recommended.” Midwest Book Review
“For a debut novel, Mr. Kaufman has outdone himself. This book is nothing short of incredible and extremely heartwarming.” Night Owl Reviews
Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland
” … to capture the heart of … the rock star of kings … ” 
–A Note from Author Sandra Gulland
Sandra Gulland
Dear Reader,
Mistress of the Sun was 8 years in the making, but my passion for the story of Louise de la Vallière, mistress to the Sun King, began longbefore. Louise was unsophisticated, a tomboy from the lower nobility-an unlikely young woman to capture the heart of such a powerful, handsome and charismatic young man (the rock star of kings).
I was horse-crazy in those years, and Louise was an extraordiary horsewoman; she could out-ride the King! While researching her life, a friend told me the story of taming a horse nobody else could come near.
Shortly after, I bought a postcard of the painting “Head of a White Horse” (by Gericault), which I pinned on the wall above my computer. This, then, became Diablo, a wild horse nobody could come near. Nobody, of course, except Louise.
What does Diablo represent to her? A free spirit: her own free spirit.
Sandra

Mistress of the Sun
by Sandra Gulland
Touchstone
Kindle Edition
Release Date: 2008-06-03

 

List Price: $16.00
Kindle Price: $9.99

Download a Free Sample or Buy Now

 An Excerpt from the Novel
   
Petite succumbed in the first hot week of autumn. She no longer had the strength to say no, no longer the will to deny fate.  
            “Don’t let me go,” she begged as Louis embraced her. The linens had been newly washed and smelled of sunlight.    
        
            “I love you,” he whispered with stuttering helplessness. “I love you.”
            Passages from the Bible came to her, inexplicably and unbidden, as from a song that would not leave, the words not quite known: And the mountain was altogether in smoke, and the mount quaked greatly, and all was thunderings and lightnings, and the noise of trumpets, and Fear not, for the Lord is come to prove you.  
            Prove you.  
            “I love you,” she wept, for the pain, and for the pleasure, and for the very great sin she was committing. She was ruined now, truly-and yet made whole. She wept, for she had found her one true love, but he was the King, and forbidden to her.
*     *     *  
“Here’s a warning: Mistress of the Sun is dangerously seductive. It’s one of those books that will grab you and hold you captive till the last page is turned.” 
-Geeta Nadkarni, for the Calgary Herald
“Exquisite and fantastic detail . . . to be savored and enjoyed. Take your time with this one; you will not want it to end.” 
Romantic Reviews Today, Perfect 10 Rating
The Murderer’s Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers

” … remember when I let Daddy in the house and he tried to kill Mom … ?
–A Note from Author Randy Susan Meyers

Randy Susan Meyers
Dear Reader,
Why did I write The Murderer’s Daughters?
“Remember when I let Daddy in the house and he tried to kill Mom?”
My sister swears I was there, but I didn’t remember. As she fed me details, the scene rooted and became my memory also. I heard Daddy sweet-talk his way in. My mother’s screams echoed.
Years later I worked with violent men, men who punched, and broke bones; some murdered. When asked where their children had been, they swore the children slept.
Children don’t sleep through traumatic moments. Some freeze. Some bury the horror. Some become stuck re-creating the incident. I asked myself, what if? What if the neighbors hadn’t pounded upstairs? What if the police never came?
The Murderer’s Daughters is from my childhood shelf of worry, and my adult experience of working with men who killed.
Randy Susan Meyers

The Murderer’s Daughters

by Randy Susan Meyers
St. Martin’s Press
Kindle Edition
Release Date: 2010-01-19

 

List Price: $14.99
Kindle Price: $9.99 

Categories five-star fiction Tags