Happy New Year! Here’s something to get it started with: another generous helping of great new Kindle freebies. Each book listed here has gone FREE within the past 24 hours (except for the “Kindle Daily Deal” on page 3). 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.)

Elephant Girl: A Human Story

> Biographies & Memoirs > Women > Family Relationships > Child Abuse

Author: Jane Devin

Elephant Girl: A Human Story

Written in three distinct voices — child, teen and adult — Jane Devin takes readers on an intimate, imaginative and often harrowing life journey. Born unwanted and raised without love, the child-author invents a rich inner life to see her through years of trauma. Leaving home at 16, the teen-author struggles to find happiness and a sense of place in a world that feels confusing and unfamiliar. Then, years after stumbling into an adulthood mired in tragedy and broken dreams, the woman-author finds herself at a crossroads. The choice she ultimately makes is as stunning as it is brave.

No Good Deed: Book One of the Mark Taylor Series (A Psychological Thriller)

> Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Author: M.P. McDonald

No Good Deed: Book One of the Mark Taylor Series (A Psychological Thriller)

Mark Taylor discovers first hand that no good deed goes unpunished when the old camera he found during a freelance job in an Afghanistan bazaar gives him more than great photos. It triggers dreams of disasters. Tragedies that happen exactly as he envisions them. He learns that not only can he see the future, he can change it. Then the unthinkable happened and everyone ignored his frantic warnings.

Whale Song

> Genre Fiction > Action & Adventure > Coming of Age

Author: Cheryl Kaye Tardif

Whale Song

Thirteen years ago, Sarah Richardson’s life was shattered after the tragic death of her mother. The shocking event left a grief-stricken teen-aged Sarah with partial amnesia.

Some things are easier to forget.

But now a familiar voice from her childhood sends Sarah, a talented mid-twenties ad exec, back to her past. A past that she had thought was long buried.

The Binding (The Velesi Trilogy)

> Genre Fiction > Action & Adventure > Fantasy

Author: L. Filloon

The Binding (The Velesi Trilogy)

Two nights after her eighteenth birthday, Lily is attacked while out jogging, but is saved by Tharin Lunar, a Sidhe prince. When she discovers that her attacker is her own brother, Lucas, who disappeared four years ago, Lily refuses to believe that her brother would truly hurt her and becomes determined to find Lucas and bring him home.

The Vanishings: 1 (Left Behind: The Kids)

> Christian Fiction > Science Fiction & Fantasy

Author: Jerry B. Jenkins, Tim LaHaye

The Vanishings: 1 (Left Behind: The Kids)

This series is based on the best-selling adult Left Behind series. Readers will see the Rapture and Tribulation through the eyes of four kids who have been left behind.

This book introduces us to Judd (“The Runaway”) and his three imperfect companions: Vicki (“The Rebel”), Lionel (“The Liar”), and Ryan (“The Skeptic”). These four teens, for one reason or another, all failed to submit to the power of the living Lord, despite their friends’ and parents’ best efforts. And when Pastor Billings’s Rapture actually happens–sending Christian-piloted trains, planes, and automobiles crashing as millions of true believers literally vanish in the blink of an eye, leaving behind nothing but their skivvies and their W.W.J.D. necklaces–the four wayward teenagers get religion and fast.

Memoirs Of An Antihero

> Comics & Graphic Novels > Humor

Author: Drew Blank, Tammy Kennedy, Anders Backlund

Memoirs Of An Antihero

Memoirs of an Antihero tells the violent, emotional & darkly comedic tale of a single father fighting to keep his daughter alive at any cost. When Drew Blank learns his daughter, Moxie, may be dying from a terminal illness, he is overwhelmed by the enormity of the situation and the hospital bills to follow. Living in the forgotten city of Cross, Drew’s desperation drives him to get the money from the only people in town that have it: the criminals.

Exposed: A Novel

> Health, Fitness & Dieting > Recovery > Sexual

Author: Ashley Weis

Exposed: A Novel

Allyson Graham, marriage counselor and lover of love, lived a life of romance few could imagine. Until her husband’s secret addiction stared at her from the computer screen. Will she be able to forgive the man who lied to her all of those precious years?

Follow her painful story alongside the heartbreaking story of Taylor Adams, a young girl searching for her worth in the world.


Don’t Tell Your Cousin

> Literature & Fiction > African American > Erotica

Author: Veronica E. Kelly

Don't Tell Your Cousin

A tale of a twisted and steamy love triangle involving two cousins and a married man, a grisly love affair full of deceit, mayhem, and shameful women. As the mountain of lies come tumbling down and the drama unfolds, Amanda is forced to hold a mirror to herself and come to terms with a reflection she struggles to accept.

Down Aisle Ten

> Comic Fiction > Contemporary

Author: Daniel Friedland

Down Aisle Ten

DOWN AISLE TEN is a fictional history of Universal Simultaneous Anxiety Collapse Disorder, an incapacitating disease that arises from the abundant fears that surround us in the modern world. The first sufferer is Harold Greensmeyer, who contracts USAC while at the supermarket. He is soon confined to a mental hospital, where he encounters a cast of curious characters.

Cool Shade

> Romance > Contemporary > Romantic Suspense

Author: Theresa Weir

Cool Shade

 

Jobless, broke and anxious for a change of scenery, disc jockey Maddie Smith decides to visit her flaky, estranged sister in Nebraska. But she finds that after a brief encounter with reclusive Eddie Berlin, her baby sister has vanished without a trace. Now it’s going to take every last one of Maddie’s wiles, feminine and otherwise, to get close enough to Eddie to discover what has happened, and to resist his mesmerizing allure, which may be just as dangerous as it is enticing.

Nolander (Emanations)

> Fantasy > Contemporary

Author: Becca Mills

Nolander (Emanations)

Amateur photographer Beth Ryder is in trouble. She’s taking pictures of things she can’t see, things that aren’t human. Beth has her own dreams, but people like her don’t get to go free. She’s seized by a dangerous organization dedicated to keeping Earth’s shadow world — and its frightening inhabitants — a secret. Forced into otherworldly politics and uncertain whom to trust, Beth must come to terms with a radically altered future — one in which her own humanity seems to be slipping away.

Allerednic: A Regency Cinderella Tale–In Reverse

> Christian Fiction > Historical

Author: Chautona Havig

Allerednic: A Regency Cinderella Tale--In Reverse

Lady Charlotte Eversley, heir of the Earl of Everston, has lived a charmed life. Wealthy, beautiful, and one day she will be a Countess in her own right. No mother has ever loved a daughter more. Her sisters admire and adore her, and of course, her father dotes on her. She is one of the most eligible ladies of the Season.

The Judging (The Corescu Chronicles Book One)

> Genre Fiction > Horror > Science Fiction & Fantasy

Author: Ellen C. Maze

The Judging (The Corescu Chronicles Book One)

Hungary, 1640. A village priest, enamored with his God and loyal to his sheep, awakens to find the village on fire. Searching for survivors, he is confronted by a dark creature with sharp teeth and red eyes. With the stab of the demon’s fangs, the priest is transformed from a servant of good to an unwilling agent of evil.

A Game of Proof (The trials of Sarah Newby)

> Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Legal

Author: Tim Vicary

A Game of Proof (The trials of Sarah Newby)

Sarah Newby, who left school at 15, and was living as a teenage single parent on an inner-city estate, has worked her way up to begin a career as a criminal barrister. But what should she do when her own son, Simon, is arrested and charged with a series of brutal rapes and murders?

Human Sister

> Science Fiction & Fantasy

Author: Jim Bainbridge

Human Sister

The ancient moralities and worldviews of established religions and the ruling majorities of Earth’s most powerful nation-states have been fighting a rearguard action against the encroachment of science on what they consider to be the core of the human self: its mind and consciousness.

Dust

> Science Fiction & Fantasy > Short Stories > Single Author

Author: Allison M. Dickson

Dust

A hungry alien substance has traveled to Earth following a doomed Lunar mission, and it’s consuming everything it touches, leaving behind drifts of gray death. No life form stands a chance, but Clyde Jackson is tougher than most. He’s seen war and he’s been in plenty of foxholes. Now he’s living through the end of the world one day at a time in a panic room that has become his only refuge.

Once We Were Kings (Young Adult Fantasy/Epic Fantasy) (The Sojourner Saga)

> Science Fiction & Fantasy > Epic

Author: Ian Alexander, Joshua Graham

Once We Were Kings (Young Adult Fantasy/Epic Fantasy) (The Sojourner Saga)

In a world where the Sojourners, a nearly extinct race with preternatural abilities struggle to preserve their faith and heritage, destiny thrusts two youths from opposing nations into the heart of a centuries-old conflict.

Guided by shape-shifting spirits, their fates collide when first they meet as mortal enemies. However, to save their people from annihilation, they must unite both kingdoms against a terrifying enemy that threatens to destroy both realms.

Born Without a Tail

> Biographies & Memoirs  > Animal Care & Pets > Essays
Author: Cayr Ariel Wulff

Born Without a Tail

When your home has a revolving door for abused and abandoned animals, keeping pets takes on a whole new dimension! Sometimes hilarious, sometimes heart-rending, Born Without a Tail chronicles the true-life adventures of two animal rescuers living with an ever-changing house full of pets. The author takes us on a journey from childhood through adulthood, sharing tales, (mis)adventures and insights garnered from a lifetime of encounters with a menagerie of twenty remarkable animals.

Maui Widow Waltz (Islands of Aloha Mystery Series)

> Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Women Sleuths
Author: JoAnn Bassett

Maui Widow Waltz (Islands of Aloha Mystery Series)

Cash-strapped Maui wedding planner Pali Moon can’t believe her luck when a prospective bride flashing a five-carat dazzler pops into her shop, “Let’s Get Maui’d,” to request a glitzy beachside wedding. But then Pali learns the lavish wedding must take place on Valentine’s Day—only nine days away. Oh, and one other little hitch—the groom’s been missing at sea for more than a week.

Vermin

> Genre Fiction > Horror > Short Stories
Author: Allison M. Dickson

Vermin

Someone has purchased the infamous Martindale mansion, long abandoned following an unspeakable murder. And it has a pest problem. A very big pest problem.

Dominion (Book 1 of The Dominion Series)

> Romance > Fantasy & Futuristic

Author: S. E. Lund

Dominion (Book 1 of The Dominion Series)

When pre-med student Eve Hayden searches for a translator for an ancient French illuminated manuscript she found in her dead mother’s research files, she gets more than she bargained for: Michel de Cernay, an eight hundred year old vampire and his identical twin brother Julien. The manuscript details their death and rebirth as vampires in 1224 during the Cathar Crusade at the hands of an ancient vampire.

Mississippi Cotton (A Southern Novel)

Children’s Books > Social Situations > Prejudice & Racism

Author: Paul H. Yarbrough

Mississippi Cotton (A Southern Novel)

Brings to light the complex history of rural Mississippi in the 1950’s. It is 1951. Young Jake Conner gets on a bus to visit his cousins in the Mississippi Delta. But when the body of an unknown man is found in the Mississippi River, Jake’s summer vacation gets a little more adventurous as he and his cousins snoop around in a mystery that is better left to the grown ups.

Under the Scotch Broom

>  Science Fiction & Fantasy > Anthologies

Author: Allison M. Dickson

Under the Scotch Broom

It’s business as usual for Dr. Victor Barnes, lead researcher at Whitacre Pharms, until a strange little boy named Elvis walks into his life. The kid strikes him as familiar, but the doctor’s memory is fading fast, a side effect of the serum he tested on himself to become immortal.

Dr. Barnes soon learns how much his desire to live forever has endangered billions, and that he must go to extreme measures to keep mankind from forgetting itself.

Through Smoke: The Troubled Heroes Series

> Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Romantic Suspense

Author: J.R. Tate

Through Smoke: The Troubled Heroes Series

Firefighter Michael McGinnis is no stranger to intense situations. Veteran of New York’s Ladder Twenty-One Company as a search and rescue man, he has seen his share of burning infernos, high-rise saves, and intense emergency situations. Despite McGinnis’ years on the job, nothing can prepare him for getting tangled in his brother’s mistakes as a drug addict and gambler, especially when a blood thirsty bookie gets involved. A romance sparks between him and fellow paramedic, Eva Crisante, catching him even more off guard.

What Wild Moonlight

> Genre Fiction > Historical > Romance

Author: Victoria Lynne

What Wild Moonlight

On a bet, Nicholas Duvall, rakehell Earl of Barrington, assumes the role of a coach driver. When he witnesses Katya Alexander picking the pocket of a fellow passenger, her beauty, skill, and audacity captivate him.

Katya is exactly what he needs to retrieve an ancient family scroll that has been stolen from him. He makes her an ungentlemanly offer: pose as his mistress and help him retrieve a priceless family scroll. In return, he would offer her his protection.

Cancelled (Love story from a male POV)

> Women’s Fiction > Contemporary Women

Author: Elizabeth Ann West, Melissa Oyler

Cancelled (Love story from a male POV)

Robotics engineer Johnathan Michaels knows all about biding his time. For three years he’s worked next to his best friend and idea of a perfect woman, Alexis Rodriguez. Their friendship sparks into a heated attraction while saving the company’s first multi-milion dollar contract. Johnathan’s life appears to be on track.

Accelerate! Move Your Business Forward through the Convergence of Search, Social & Content Marketing

> Marketing > Web 2.0

Author: Arnie Kuenn

Accelerate! Move Your Business Forward through the Convergence of Search, Social & Content Marketing

Interruption marketing is a thing of the past. We can no longer only talk to our audience. We must join the conversation that’s already happening.

The world of marketing has been radically changing in the last couple of years to a new kind of marketing. Businesses that have been spending their marketing budgets on print, TV, banner ads, and even PPC are realizing that there is a better way. A better way to attract leads, to nurture those leads, to lower your cost per sale and to speed up the buying process. That way is content marketing.

… See the rest of today’s Editor’s Picks and the Kindle Daily Deal here on page 2