Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Ashley Cleveland tops today’s Buffet with her memoir Little Black Sheep. Her inspiring story shows that even in the lowest times of our lives, beauty can shine through.
Best known as a background vocalist and gospel singer, Ashley was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. Since her debut on Atlantic Records in 1991, she has released eight critically acclaimed albums, which have earned her two Dove Awards and three Grammy Awards. She was the first woman to be nominated for a Grammy for the Best Rock Gospel Album and the only woman to ever win the award three times.
Ashley is also a writer and essayist who has contributed to books including The Dance of Heaven and The Art of Being. She lives in Nashville with her husband, Kenny Greenberg, and has three children.
As part of John Hiatt’s band, she has also made several TV appearances, including Austin City Limits, Late Night with David Letterman, The Arsenio Hall Show and Saturday Night Live.
As usual, each book here has gone FREE within the past 24 hours, except for the Bargain books in the yellow section below. Warning: Kindle book promotions can end without notice, so before downloading click the link “See Kindle price at Amazon” to verify that the book is still free. (Prices and availability may differ outside USA.)
Little Black Sheep: A Memoir
Biographies & Memoirs > Entertainers > Religion & Spirituality
Author: Ashley Cleveland
“This is the story of the groundwork that paved the way to my faith. It is not an easy story to tell….”
As a young woman from a deeply flawed family, Ashley had little hope she would amount to anything. If there was trouble, near or far, she found it. Yet, in her destructive days of drugs, alcohol, and sex, she encountered a forgiving God who was relentlessly faithful.
Change did not come quickly. The brokenness did not disappear. But little by little, Ashley allowed God to heal her, to transform her desires, to bring courage to others through her journey. Little by little, she saw that it was her brokenness itself that God wanted to use.
This beautifully told story will take you from the back rooms of Nashville to the churches of the San Francisco Bay area to a tender new life where one woman discovers that God can work in broken places.
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Secrets Of The Heart (Heart Romance Series, Book 1)
Romance > Contemporary
Author: Laurie LeClair
For years, Bree Hansen has fought to keep two things safe: Her daughter and her secret. Both are in jeopardy now that sexy cop Nick Carletti wants his family back. She’ll do anything to protect her secret. She has for years along with her forbidden feelings for Nick. He knows she’s hiding something and wants the truth. Getting to the bottom of it will give him what he wants, but at what price?
How can Nick and Bree make a life together when he feels as if he’s betraying his dead son, can’t trust Bree, and has lost faith in everything, especially himself?
Can Bree and Nick get what they want or will their forbidden past and growing feelings for each other expose too many secrets to heal their hearts?
Mama B – (A Time to Dance, Book 2)
Literature & Fiction > African American
Author: Michelle Stimpson
Mama B thought her life would return to normal, but when her nephew, Derrick, comes knocking on her door, she has to reconsider. Though she’s not known for housing marital fugitives, she realizes Derrick is looking for more than a place to stay; he needs help finding his way back to God.
Of course, help is almost Mama B’s middle name until Henrietta crosses the line with her accusations about Mama B’s intentions with the recently widowed pastor. Mama B isn’t looking for romance with either the pastor or her suitor, Dr. Wilson–but will love come looking for her?
The Hawks of Kamalon
Action & Adventure > Fantasy
Author: Michael Reisig
A small squadron of British and American aircraft depart at dawn on a top secret, long-range strike into the heart of Germany, but as theycross the English Channel, the squadron vanishes….
You’re about to be introduced to a band of reluctant heroes: a motley group of brawlers, rovers, and pretenders — British and Americanfighter pilots — champions, one and all, for a group of people on a small planet somewhere on the other side of the Milky Way.
You’re in for galloping, interplanetary ride with “Hawks” as a handful of men are drawn light years across the universe and faced with the nearly impossible task of saving a relatively peaceful society (the Azrans), from their highly aggressive, technologically advanced neighbors, the Kretes.
The Foot Soldier
Thrillers > Military
Author: Mark Rubinstein
Right after college graduation, Costa, a lower-middle-class kid from Buffalo, New York, is drafted into the US army and plunged into the Vietnam War. The Foot Solder catapults the reader back to the conflict that changed America.
This is a compelling novella of morality—right or wrong in a split second in the hell of the jungle—when it really matters, regardless of rank, military orders, or rule books. It asks how a soldier survives, how he deals with dislocation, and how he reacts when given an order that defies everything he’s ever believed about the human soul.
Into the Dark
Romantic Suspense
Author: Stacy Green
A two-hundred-mile labyrinth of dark storm drains serves as refuge for the delusional stalker who will go to any lengths to possess fragile, emotionally isolated Emilie Davis. To survive, Emilie will have to confront the secrets of her past she has kept locked away from everyone, including herself.
Emilie is a master escape artist—she’s fled a manipulative mother and a controlling ex-husband. But it’s impossible to evade a stalker who uses a bank robbery as a ruse to kidnap her. He’s still out there, hiding in the Las Vegas tunnels and dodging police. Emilie’s life careens out of control as her assailant continues his pursuit. She has nowhere to turn but to Nathan Madigan, the hostage negotiator who worked the robbery.
Nathan is haunted by his failure to protect a loved one fourteen years ago and has dedicated his life to saving others. Determined to catch the lunatic hunting Emilie, he finds himself losing his professional detachment. He fears history is about to repeat itself if he cannot protect Emilie from the Taker’s obsession.
The police close in on the Taker’s identity as Nathan and Emilie grow closer to each other and to resolving the misery of their own pasts. At the height of The Taker’s madness, his attempt to replace someone he’s lost will either kill them all or set them free.
Held Hostage: A Serial Bank Robber’s Road to Redemption
Biographies & Memoirs > Religious
Author: Ken Cooper, Robert Schuller
While Ken Cooper lived with his wife and two children and worked as publicity director for a Christian college, he was leading a double life–as a felon.
With a vivid, you-are-there style, this former gentleman bank robber takes readers on a journey through years of armed robberies, the dramatic shooting that ended his career, the horrors of prison, and a soul ultimately finding peace. Without fear or embellishment, Cooper openly shares the darkest moments in his life. Yet in these moments he finally meets God and ends up becoming a bright light in a horrendous prison system. From adrenaline-pumping true-life crime to an experience of God’s gentle love, readers won’t be able to put down this gripping memoir of transformation and God’s grace.
One Crazy Summer
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Author: Scott McElhaney
It’s the summer of 1999 and the price of gas is $1.09 per gallon, J-Lo is releasing her first album, and in the small town of Riverton, Bradley Brock is searching for 1.3 million dollars.
With the whole summer ahead of him, Bradley stumbles unwittingly into his first summer job. While it appears to be an opportunity to learn responsibility and make a few bucks in the process, it is anything but! With a manager that likes to play pranks and sports in the store, a cashier that is encouraged to harass customers, and a crazy guy who knocks holes in the walls, Brad finds himself almost alone in his sanity.
Then Brad discovers a journal that documents a fellow employee’s search for a large bag of money that was lost many years ago. With the assistance of two of his friends, he embarks on a journey to follow the trail of the money and ultimately to nab it for themselves.
The only problem – someone else is searching for the same bag of money and he’s willing to kill for it.
TODAY’S BARGAINS……………What’s this?
1913: The Eve of War
History > Military > World War I
Author: Paul Ham
Regularly $2.99, Today $0.99
Christmas 1913. In Britain, people are debating a new dance called ‘the tango’. In Germany, they are fascinated by the wedding of the Kaiser’s daughter to the Duke of Brunswick. Little did they know that their world was on ‘The Eve of War’, a catastrophe that was to engulf the continent, cost millions of lives, and change the course of the century.
And yet behind the scenes, the Great Powers were marching towards what they thought was an inevitable conflict.
In this controversial and concise essay, the military historian Paul Ham argues that the First World War was not an historical mistake, a conflict into which the Great Powers stumbled by accident. Nor was it a justified war, in which uncontained German aggression had to be defeated. Instead the politicians and generals of the day willed the war, and prepared for it – but eventually found themselves caught up in an inferno they could no longer control.
‘The Eve of War’ is a brilliant re-examination of the causes of the First World War that is both an introduction to one of the most complex subjects in history and an original and thought-provoking contribution to the debate over the origins of the conflict.
Reclaimed (The MacKay Banshees 1-3)
Historical Romance > Scottish
Author: Kerrigan Byrne
Regularly $5.99, Today $0.99
Meet the MacKay Banshees…
Katriona – Her last memory is of her violent death, and now she’s screaming for vengeance.
He’s a Laird with enough sins to stain his soul, but he’s cursed for the crimes of another.
With a clan divided, an impending marriage, and whispers of dark magic threatening the Highlands, a tempting Banshee is the last thing he needs in his chambers.
Kylah – She was brutalized and burned alive, but denied her vengeance by a cruel twist of fate.
He’s a ruthless and brilliant Druid driven mad by his quest for retribution.
Two Souls have lost themselves in the tormented secrets of the past and can only find redemption in the dangerous desires they thought long dead.
Kamdyn – She’s a Banshee assassin who’s not yet killed a man, and her first mark had a carnal proposition too seductive to resist.
He’s the notorious Laird of Shadows, a rogue Berserker terrorizing the Highlands in search of a warrior’s death.
When a mistaken kiss binds their souls together, she must prove that love, not fear, changes the course of destiny. Because if she doesn’t, she’ll have to slay him or face unthinkable consequences.
The Shift: How I Finally Lost Weight and Discovered a Happier Life
Self-Help > Motivational > Diets & Weight Loss
Author: Tory Johnson
Regularly $9.99, Today $2.87
Good Morning America contributor Tory Johnson is all about helping women make great things happen. Tory made the shift from employee to entrepreneur and built two multi-million-dollar businesses after a painful firing. Now, after a second major shift–losing more than sixty pounds in a year–Tory is on a mission to help others change their thinking and achieve a better life. A New York Times bestselling author and contributing editor to SUCCESS, Tory lives in New York with her husband and their teenage twins.
For Tory Johnson, weight was always an issue; although she felt ashamed of how she looked, Tory could never find the will to change. When a network executive warned her that if she didn’t lose weight her television career could be in jeopardy, Tory experienced something profound: A Shift. She knew she didn’t just want to change, she needed to change.
The Shift begins with this eye-opening incident and follows Tory on her weight-loss journey. Tory creates a plan, makes a list of things she is willing to sacrifice, and teaches herself the realities of self-discipline. With disarming honesty, she shares her experience of overcoming the inevitable challenges along the way. In the process, she becomes not just healthier but happier–a shift that impacts every facet of her life.
For anyone who has struggled to make a big life change, The Shift offers valuable lessons and inspiration for taking charge once and for all.
When Will There Be Good News? (Jackson Brodie)
Mystery > Women Sleuths
Author: Kate Atkinson
Regularly $9.99, Today $2.99
On a hot summer day, Joanna Mason’s family slowly wanders home along a country lane. A moment later, Joanna’s life is changed forever…
On a dark night thirty years later, ex-detective Jackson Brodie finds himself on a train that is both crowded and late. Lost in his thoughts, he suddenly hears a shocking sound…
At the end of a long day, 16-year-old Reggie is looking forward to watching a little TV. Then a terrifying noise shatters her peaceful evening. Luckily, Reggie makes it a point to be prepared for an emergency…
These three lives come together in unexpected and deeply thrilling ways in the latest novel from Kate Atkinson, the critically acclaimed author who Harlan Coben calls “an absolute must-read.”
Cascade (River of Time Series)
Teen & Young Adult > Science Fiction & Fantasy
Author: Lisa T. Bergren
Regularly $9.99, Today $1.99
Mom touched my underdress—a gown made six hundred years before—and her eyes widened as she rubbed the raw silk between thumb and forefinger. She turned and touched Lia’s gown. “Where did you get these clothes?”
In Cascade, the second book in the River of Time Series, Gabi knows she’s left her heart in the fourteenth century and she persuades Lia to help her to return, even though they know doing so will risk their very lives. When they arrive, weeks have passed and all of Siena longs to celebrate the heroines who turned the tide in the battle against Florence—while the Florentines will go to great lengths to see them dead.
But Marcello patiently awaits, and Gabi must decide if she’s willing to leave her family behind for good in order to give her heart to him forever.
… See the rest of today’s Editor’s Picks here on page 2