Selecting today’s top Buffet pick was a no-brainer. Amazon itself declared it one of its “Best Books of 2011” in the United Kingdom. In the Blood is a hugely satisfying action-adventure read that appeals to fiction and nonfiction fans alike, mystery and crime lovers, just about anyone. And it just happens to be the first self-published book to make it to the top of the Buffet. Author Steve Robinson even designed the cover himself, based on a photograph he took in Cornwall at a site featured in the story, Gillan Harbour. The book is a favorite on both sides of the Atlantic, and one of the most successful do-it-yourself presentations I’ve seen in years.

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The story follows Jefferson Tayte, an American genealogist. He’s an orphan who has no clue who his parents were. Yet he’s become one of America’s best known genealogists. When a wealthy client demands he travel to England and Cornwall to resolve a question about his family tree, Tayte does it, in spite of his terror of flying. When he arrives, things unravel fast. A murder and a kidnapping…

After Steve finished the manuscript in 2006, he found an agent interested in the book, but several publishers rejected it.  During a years-long ordeal of shopping the book to various British publishing houses, most of them admitted it was a fine book, but given the shaky economic climate at the time, they didn’t want to gamble on it. After publishing the story as an eBook in 2011, the book’s success has been fueled by enthusiastic word of mouth. Now Steve has a new book ready for publication. And he’s looking for a publisher 😉 To learn more about Steve, click on the image above.

As usual, each book listed here has gone FREE within the past 24 hours (except for the “Kindle Daily Deals” 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.)

In the Blood: A Genealogical Crime Mystery #1 (Jefferson Tayte)

Action & Adventure

Author: Steve Robinson

In the Blood: A Genealogical Crime Mystery #1 (Jefferson Tayte)

When American genealogist Jefferson Tayte accepted his latest assignment, he had no idea it might kill him. But while murder was never part of the curriculum, he is kidding himself if he thinks he can walk away from this one.

Why can’t I trace them?  What happened to them?

Driven by the irony of being a genealogist who doesn’t know who his own parents are, Tayte soon finds that the assignment shares a stark similarity to his own struggle. Someone has gone to great lengths to erase an entire family bloodline from recorded history and he’s not going home until he’s found out why. After all, if he’s not good enough to find this family, how can he ever expect to be good enough to someday find his own?

Set in Cornwall, England, past and present, Tayte’s research centres around the tragic life of a young Cornish girl, a writing box, and the discovery of a dark family secret that he believes will lead him to the family he is looking for. Trouble is, someone else is looking for the same answers, and they will stop at nothing to find them.

With This Kiss

Contemporary Fiction

Author: Victoria Lynne

With This Kiss

All eyes feasted on the beautiful flame-haired gambler in London’s most infamous club. But Julia Prentisse was interested only in the rake-turned-recluse whom they now called “The Beast.” She lured him out of the crowded gaming hell to a deserted warehouse, where she made her scandalous offer: If he married her and protected her from her uncle, she would help him capture the arsonist who had ruined his life.

An act of heroism had left Morgan St.James burned, scarred for life, but Julia’s bold gaze lit other fires he had long suppressed. And now this glorious stranger was his bride. But when he tried to claim his husbandly rights, she demanded three months grace—three months to know a stranger’s mind, to touch a stranger’s soul, to go where no woman had ever gone before. Into his heart…

Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road: Humorous Views On Love, Lust, & Lawncare

Humor

Author: Diana Estill

Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road: Humorous Views On Love, Lust, & Lawncare

Hilarious explanations for “why men grill”, “women want denim”, “your bedmate won’t stop snoring”, and other socially intriguing questions from the award-winning author of Deedee Divine’s Totally Skewed Guide to Life.

Personal slices of life served in the spirit of Erma Bombeck. The tales in Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road will make you want to keep your partner, claim your kin, and hug your dog.

Armed Gunmen, True Facts, and Other Ridiculous Nonsense: A Compiled Compendium of Repetitive Redundancies

Humor

Author: Richard A. Kallan, George Cruikshank

Armed Gunmen, True Facts, and Other Ridiculous Nonsense: A Compiled Compendium of Repetitive Redundancies

When was the last time you entered your PIN NUMBER into the ATM MACHINE? Or longed for the PERFECT UTOPIA? Using unnecessary words can make written and spoken language a DISORGANIZED MESS, but it’s not just STUPID IDIOTS who do so. We’re all guilty, and this irreverent collection of tautologies catalogs our most common redundancies and wittily defines them. A FUNNY COMIC, for instance is “one who’s employed”; a BLACK CROW is “the outcast in those large albino flocks”; and a SURVIVING WIDOW is “the last one standing in an all-widow game of Russian roulette.”

Illustrated with comically apt reproductions by the nineteenth-century artist George Cruikshank, Armed Gunmen, True Facts, and Other Ridiculous Nonsense is a welcome antidote to a growing tendency in contemporary usage–and the perfect book for grammarphobes, word geeks, and language lovers alike.

Medicine Men: Extreme Appalachian Doctoring

Biographies & Memoirs

Author: Carolyn Jourdan

Medicine Men: Extreme Appalachian Doctoring

A collection of the most memorable moments from old-school rural physicians who each practiced medicine for more than 50 years in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Hilarious, heroic, heartwarming true stories of miracle cures, ghost dogs, and much madcap medical mayhem.

Eternal Seduction (A Darkness Within #1)

Romance

Author: Jennifer Turner

Eternal Seduction (A Darkness Within #1)

After living on the streets of New York City for over a decade, Logan Ellis admits her perceptions might be a little skewed. But twisted or not, there’s a satisfying irony in watching a well dressed vampire stand in the middle of a ghetto alley, windblown trash scraping small circles near his feet. What she finds even more intriguing, is waiting for him to decide whether or not he’s going to kill her.

Kerestyan Nelek hasn’t quite made up his mind. As the Lord of New York, he can’t allow a homeless drug addict, whose memories are packed with knowledge of vampiric existence, to run free in his city. It’s not the first time he’s been in this situation with a human, it’s just the first time in thousands of years he’s come face to face with one who doesn’t seem to care. And that’s what makes the decision so damn difficult.

Fifty Shades of Jungle Fever (The Ghetto Girl Romance Quadrilogy)

Parody

Author: L. V. Lewis

Fifty Shades of Jungle Fever (The Ghetto Girl Romance Quadrilogy)

Aspiring recording studio owners Keisha Beale and Jada Jameson score a rare meeting with venture capitalist Tristan White, and are thrust into a world beyond their wildest imaginations.

Street-wise Keisha is startled to realize she wants this rich white man, despite the certainty that he is out of her league. Unable to resist Keisha’s sassy, irreverent, and fiercely independent spirit, Tristan knew from day one he wanted her, too–as his first African American submissive.

Newborn Photography Made Easy

Arts & Entertainment

Author: Scott Voelker, Lisa Voelker

Newborn Photography Made Easy

Do you want to learn how to become a professional newborn photographer? Well…now it’s easier than ever and this book will explain exactly how to get started…step by step!

Lisa Voelker who has been photographing Newborns for over 12 years now, has written a book to explain everything you’ll need to know to get started. This is her personal handbook which includes everything she has learned from photographing newborns over the years.

This book is aimed at the beginner who wants to get started photographing newborns. Although, it can also be very helpful to novice photographers who want to add some new tricks and techniques to their Newborn sessions.

As Bright as the Sun

Biographies & Memoirs

Author: Cynthia Schlichting

As Bright as the Sun

Follows the journey of a dog named Bella. It chronicles the path that led her family to her, and the unimaginable circumstances she had to endure as a victim of dog fighting in order to make her way home. A story of love and loss, filled with both laughter and tears. It is a story for every person who has ever advocated for and loved an animal.

The Accidental Anarchist

Teens

Author: Bryna Kranzler, Shimon Wincelberg, Anita Marateck Wincelberg

The Accidental Anarchist

By the time he was 25 years old, Jacob Marateck had been a Jewish officer in the notoriously anti-Semitic Russian army during the Russo-Japanese War, a revolutionary who sought to overthrow the Czar, and sentenced to death three times. After avoiding the firing squad for the final, unlikely time, he escaped from a Siberian forced labor camp with Warsaw’s colorful “King of Thieves.” Together, the two struggled to survive and obtain false papers to travel home while avoiding the Secret Police.

Practice Cake (Romantic Comedy) (Life in Saltwater City)

Romance

Author: Dalya Moon

Practice Cake (Romantic Comedy) (Life in Saltwater City)

Maddie Bird is out of high school. Whoopee. This summer is turning out to be, in blogger Chloe’s words, “hashtag, the worst.” The weather’s cold, the economy sucks, and the city is overrun with hockey playoff bandwagoners.
At least Maddie has a bakery job she loves. She’s never had much money, but she is a hard worker. There’s just one problem: her flirty co-worker, Drew. All it takes is one of his sly winks, and she’s incinerating the cookies.

 

Cold Lonely Courage

History

Author: Soren Petrek

Cold Lonely Courage

Madeleine Toche races to the front only to find her brother mortally wounded during the German Blitzkrieg attack on France at the outset of World War II. His death and her rape at the hands of an SS Stormtrooper cast Madeleine down a path of death and violence as her desire for revenge reaches a crescendo.

When You Come Home: The True Love Story Of A Soldier’s Heroism, His Wife’s Sacrifice and the Resilience of America’s Greatest Generation (Historical Romance)

Biographies & Memoirs

Author: Nancy Pitts, Tom Brokaw

When You Come Home: The True Love Story Of A Soldier's Heroism, His Wife's Sacrifice and the Resilience of America's Greatest Generation (Historical Romance)

The war claimed Daphne Kelley’s young husband’s life, but it couldn’t keep Raymond – and his abiding love – from being with her when she needed him most.

Taking its title from a poem newlywed Daphne sent her soldier husband during World War II, this book tells of their young love in the heartland at the brink of war, and of the crushing uncertainty and fear as they find themselves a world apart. And when the poem comes back to Daphne – blood-stained by Raymond’s mortal wounds – When You Come Home shares the extraordinary event that restores the grieving young widow’s faith in the transcendent power of love.

Good and Perfect Gift, A: Faith, Expectations, and a Little Girl Named Penny

Children’s eBooks

Author: Amy Julia Becker

Good and Perfect Gift, A: Faith, Expectations, and a Little Girl Named Penny

Amy Julia opens eyes and softens hearts as she brings readers into her own story of disappointment turned to blessing. This is a journey of discovering strength through weakness, and the author learns to embrace the face that we are all dependent on God and one another. Whether you are a parent or not, whether the children in your life are ‘typical’ or not, this story will shake you, change you, and encourage you.

The Twelfth Child

Women’s Fiction

Author: Bette Lee Crosby

The Twelfth Child

Trust, love and friendship–Abigail Anne Lannigan searched for these things all her life. Now, when she is at the tail end of her years, she teams up with a free-spirited young woman. A nobody from nowhere, who suddenly moves in across the street. Their unusual friendship comes under suspicion when a million dollars goes missing and a distant relative, claims embezzlement. Abigail knows the truth of what happened but, unfortunately, she’ll never get the chance to tell.

50 Keys To Better Photography! (On Target Photo Training)

Arts & Entertainment

Author: Dan Eitreim

50 Keys To Better Photography! (On Target Photo Training)

Over 160 pages of easy to read, easy to understand, and easy to do tips that will make you a better photographer. If you are tired of being the runner-up in all the local photography contests and want to start hearing “Ooohs” and “Aaahs” when people look at your photos, this one is for you.

Get Bunny Love

Humor

Author: Kathleen Long

Get Bunny Love

Yin… Beatrice Love has a problem. When her apartment building turns condo, she’s forced to land a “real” job to secure financing – and fast. Accustomed to freelancing as a graphic designer, she has a propensity for creative distraction. From fuzzy bunny slippers to feng shui, she believes in surrounding herself with whatever it takes to increase positive energy flow.

Yang… Nate McNulty craves order. When his Aunt Martha, owner of McNulty Events, announces she’s selling, he’ll do whatever it takes to save the family firm. Her first demand is to successfully produce the prestigious Worthington Cup, a regional kennel club show. One event coordinator short, Nate hires Bunny, and the two agree to a mentor/apprentice relationship.

Unforgettable Fall Recipes with Coffee – A Seasonal Collection of Gourmet Recipes for Coffee Cakes, Sweets, Warming Coffee Drinks and Coffee-Based Cocktails.

Cooking, Food & Wine

Author: Billy Taylor

Unforgettable Fall Recipes with Coffee - A Seasonal Collection of Gourmet Recipes for Coffee Cakes, Sweets, Warming Coffee Drinks and Coffee-Based Cocktails.

A seasonal collection of gourmet recipes for coffee cakes, sweets, warming coffee drinks and coffee-based cocktails.

In this unique recipe book, Billy Taylor shares a selection of hand-chosen recipes with coffee that really show the true essence of fall. Using pumpkin, spices and nuts, plus amazing fall fruits like pomegranates and persimmons — these recipes will fill your kitchen with sensational aromas; and probably a guest or two.

The Prospect of My Arrival

Contemporary Fiction

Author: Dwight Okita, Creae Space, Create Space

The Prospect of My Arrival

A human embryo is allowed to preview the world before deciding whether to be born. The embryo, named Prospect, is given a starter kit of human knowledge, and his consciousness is inserted into a synthetic twenty-year-old body. To help him make up his mind, he will meet a range of people. Among them, a greeting card writer who excels at sympathy cards, and Prospect’s very own inscrutable parents. Trish Mesmer is the scientist charged with counseling Prospect, though she has more hidden agendas than a centipede has legs.

Dark Passage (A Terrifying Horror Thriller)

Horror

Author: Griffin Hayes

Dark Passage (A Terrifying Horror Thriller)

Tyson Barrett used to be happy. Used to have a wife, a son, a thriving business. Now he has nothing. Just long, sleepless nights broken only by nightmares so terrifying they threaten his sanity. So when he discovers an underground drug trial that will “cure” him, he jumps at the chance.

Everything seems great until things from Tyson’s dreams start showing up in his waking life. Items from a dark past he thought he left buried at Sunnybrook Asylum. And when the nightmares threaten to return in full force, eerie trinkets aren’t the only things waiting to come through. Now Tyson must face a terror that has stalked him since childhood or risk losing everything he holds dear.

Within: A Medical Suspense Novel

Mystery & Thrillers

Author: Ben Scott Craig

Within: A Medical Suspense Novel

A movement is happening in cancer care, far from the sterile halls of conventional hospitals and the one-shot-fits-all drugs of pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Richard Blake and his synergistic, personalized treatment stand at the forefront of this revolution. But Plaxin Pharmaceuticals will stop at nothing to suppress the doctor’s groundbreaking discoveries.

The House on the Shore

Romance

Author: Victoria Howard

The House on the Shore

When Anna MacDonald leaves Edinburgh to find peace in the Scottish Highlands, she gets a twofold surprise: a lost sailor teaches her to love again…while a mysterious stranger has plans to kill her.

Passed over for promotion by her boss—and boyfriend, Anna walks off the job in anger. But being reactionary has its price. Now she can no longer afford the rent on her Edinburgh apartment. So she retreats to the only place she has ever felt happy – her grandmother’s croft on the edge of a Highland loch. With no phone or neighbours, and only two border collies for company, Anna sets out to finally achieve her lifelong dream; to write—and sell—the novel that has burned within her for years.

Winds of Wyoming (A Kate Neilson Novel)

Religious Fiction

Author: Rebecca Carey Lyles

Winds of Wyoming (A Kate Neilson Novel)

Fresh out of a Pennsylvania penitentiary armed with a marketing degree, Kate Neilson heads to Wyoming anticipating an anonymous new beginning as a guest-ranch employee. A typical twenty-five-year-old woman might be looking to lasso a cowboy, but her only desire is to get on with life on the outside—despite her growing interest in the ranch owner. When she discovers a violent ex-lover followed her west, she fears the past she hoped to hide will imprison her once again.

DYING TO BE LOVED

Contemporary Fiction

Author: ERICA COLEMAN

DYING TO BE LOVED

Meet Kent, Kyndal and Gabrielle, three characters living totally separate lives all on a quest to find real love. Follow them as they struggle to survive and break away from their destructive past experiences with love, making many sacrifices along the way. As pain leads them in different directions, one thing is consistent, love hurts.

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