Lexi Ryan is a former college English professor who now writes full-time from her home in rural Indiana. She tops today’s Buffet with her steamy, adults-only romance novella Just the Way You Are.
This Kindle edition also includes a sneak peek at Lexi’s full-length novel, Unbreak Me, another captivating romance that happens to be discounted to 99 cents today. Technically these books are in the “New Adult” category but Lexi’s stories are popular among a wide swath of readers.
When she’s not busy writing or tending to her family, Lexi enjoys going running (very slowly) or doing yoga. She’s careful to balance out these strenuous activities with a hearty serving of ice cream or a chocolate martini.
As usual, each book listed 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.)
Just the Way You Are (Decadence Creek)
Romance > Contemporary >
Author: Lexi Ryan
One year of marriage. No sex. No complications. No messy emotions.
Stacey Parker has laid out the rules for her temporary marriage to Harrison Duval, and Harrison plans to break every one. Ten years ago, Stacey disappeared from his life, and he’s not about to let it happen again.
Stacey has wanted Harrison for years, but giving in to the heat between them could mean exposing her secrets, secrets about family scars and choices young women shouldn’t have to make alone. Secrets that could tear his world apart.
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My Cheeky Angel
Romantic Comedy > Fantasy
Author: Mimi Barbour
Woman-hater, tomboy and a Cheeky Angel.
Sparks fly when the tomboy grows up and decides to make drastic changes to her boring life, and thanks to her helpful angel she’s goes all out. Instead of being a playmate for her bachelor buddy, she’s turned into a real dazzler. Now what’s a guy to do?
Sunlight on My Shadow
Teen & Young Adult > Biography
Author: Judy Liautaud
In 1966, when Judy became pregnant at the age of 16, her family kept her plight a secret. She was sent from her all-girls Catholic school to hide in a home for unwed mothers, give birth, and relinquish her baby girl to adoption. The fabricated story of her kidney disease was supposed to undo the impending damage to her reputation. Judy’s father instructed her to never look back.
Judy felt the grief and shame within her body and fought to keep it contained within the shadows of silence. But as an adult, she felt compelled to address the loss by searching for her birth daughter and bringing her story to light. Judy experiences firsthand that secrets keep your soul hidden in shame and stifle the clarity of your true being. In the end, Judy sails free from the shadows of silence and experiences a deeper, more compassionate connection with herself and others.
Dead Drunk: Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse… One Beer at a Time
Science Fiction > Post-Apocalyptic > Humor
Author: Richard Johnson
Charlie Campbell was your average, balding, thirty-year-old alcoholic with a dead-end job and a penchant for shambling through life one mistake after another. However, none of that mattered following the sudden arrival of a mysterious sickness that brought with it infected mobs of zombie-like creatures thirsting for the flesh of the living.
Trapped in a Chicago apartment the morning after a raucous bachelor party, Charlie and his old fraternity buddies must battle for survival against the cannibalistic horde, a military invasion and their own rampant stupidity.
With supplies, common sense and brain cells dwindling by the hour, the motley crew — including a racist cop, a Sri Lankan used car salesman, a stoner landlord and a pet raccoon — must pull out all the stops to avoid joining the ranks of the dead.
Meesh, Myself, and I
Literature & Fiction > African American > Urban
Author: Shelli Marie
Me’Shellay Lopez is born into a loving stable home that winds up being broken when she is just a small child. She is raised by her mother in an urban neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. Although it is known as the City of Roses, Me’Shellay manages to get stuck by many thorns of tragedy.
Once Me’Shellay becomes of age and is able to get some sort of grip on life, she begins her quest to seek out what she has been hungering for her whole life… love.
This is when she meets the handsome and talented Kerron Suarez. What begins as a fairytale romance turns out to be less than what Me’Shellay expects. But when Kerron’s close friend Sanders Torres is added to the equation, she finds herself in a crazy love triangle that lands her with an unexpected surprise.
Heart’s Ransom
Historical Romance > Medieval
Author: Kathryn Loch
The Magna Carta was only the beginning. After King Henry forgets his promise to uphold the Provisions of Oxford, a young, powerful Marcher Earl, Talon Montgomery joins forces with Simon de Montfort leading an all out rebellion. Thanks to Montgomery’s strategies, Montfort wins the day and takes Henry and his son, Edward Longshanks, hostage to ensure the Provisions are followed. Montgomery rejoices, knowing the Provisions will bring justice and law to a nation. It is only after the battle does Montgomery learn his precious eight year old daughter, Rose, has been abducted. Talon Montgomery now faces a terrible choice, turn against his allies and against everything he believes in or face the murder of his daughter.
A widower, Talon’s daughter is all he has. Desperate to counter their hold over him and certain his dead wife’s curse is exacting her vengeance, Talon abducts the daughter of his Welsh enemy, Gwenillian ap Powys, only to discover he has brought into his home a fiery spirit of a young, beautiful woman who refuses to be cowed.
How to cook authentic Valencian Paella
Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Spanish
Author: Maria Brull, Eduard Lopez
Have you wanted to venture into the kitchen and create an authentic and traditional Paella, but not quite known where to turn for real guidance? This step-by-step guide will teach you how to make authentic Valencian Paella.
You’ll learn to create this amazing dish from scratch, using traditional tools, methods and ingredients. Apart from this, you will find a collection of tips and suggestions that will dramatically improve your final result. These are tricks that help to shorten your learning curve and cook the best traditional and authentic valencian paella from almost day one.
BLACKDOWN
Thrillers > Crime
Author: D. M. Mitchell
It is 1817, Regency England. Thomas Blackdown, a thieftaker and ex-soldier, receives word that his brother and father are in deep trouble and need his help. But Blackdown is a man that harbours bitter memories; a man banished from his homeland because of a terrible accident, and so is reluctant to return to his ancestral home in Somerset.
However, once there he discovers that his brother has been savagely murdered – torn to shreds, some say by a mythical creature the locals call the Blackdown Beast. Thomas Blackdown does not believe in any creature of fantasy, and is determined to bring to justice his brother’s murderer, encouraged by his brother’s fiancé, Julianne Tresham, and aided by the faithful servant Addison.
But Blackdown is quickly drawn deep into a complicated web of deceit, power, greed and murder involving Lord Tresham – Julianne’s father – and the cold Sir Peter Lansdowne. What is the mysterious Lupercal Club? Why do ex-soldiers go missing from Commodore Pettigrew’s travelling theatre? What strange thing is happening in Devilbowl Wood where Blackdown’s brother was found mutilated? And does a savage, hellish creature really prowl the night?
The Devil’s Grin
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Historical
Author: Annelie Wendeberg
At the turn of the 19th century, bacteriological research has made a tremendous leap. When epidemics were still untamed and claimed thousands of lives, Pasteur and Koch isolated deadly bacteria to develop vaccines. Biological warfare was but a small step away…
In Victorian London’s cesspool of crime and disease, a series of murders remains undiscovered until a cholera victim is found floating in the city’s drinking water supply. Dr Anton Kronberg, England’s best bacteriologist, is called upon to investigate and finds evidence of abduction and medical maltreatment. While Scotland Yard has little interest in pursuing the case, Kronberg pushes on and crosses paths with Sherlock Holmes. The detective immediately discovers Kronberg’s secret – a woman masquerading as a man in order to practice medicine – a criminal deed that could land her in prison for years to come. But both must join forces to stop a crime so monstrous, it outshines Jack the Ripper’s deeds in brutality and cold-bloodedness.
The Book Waitress
Science Fiction & Fantasy > Paranormal & Urban
Author: Deena Remiel
Derek Galloway’s inquisitive nature has led him to be an award-winning investigative reporter and straight into the path of pure evil.
When a child vanishes from a sleepy island town, Camille, its subdued librarian, becomes embroiled in Derek’s investigation. A satanic cult has plans for the child, while Satan has plans for Camille and the rest of the world. Amidst evil of the most supernatural and human kind, Derek and Camille find a shred of light and goodness in the form of their budding relationship.
First in the Book Waitress NOVELLA Series, the portal between Hell and Earth will be torn asunder, and it will take everything Camille and Derek have and then some to close it. Satan won’t go down easy, but nothing worth everything comes without a price.
The Ophelia Cut
Thrillers > Legal
Author: John Lescroart
Regular Price $9.99, Today $2.99
Moses McGuire has good reason to be concerned about his beautiful twenty-three-year-old daughter, Brittany. She moves quickly from one boyfriend to the next, and always seems to prefer a new and mysterious stranger to a man she knows something about. But her most recent ex, Rick Jessup, isn’t willing to let her go, culminating in a terrible night when Brittany is raped.
Within twenty-four hours, Rick Jessup is dead, Moses McGuire is the prime suspect in the investigation, and Dismas Hardy has been hired to defend his brother-in-law. Making things even more complicated, McGuire has fallen off the wagon, and his stay in prison could bring to light old secrets that would destroy Hardy and his closest colleagues’ careers.
As the overwhelming evidence against McGuire piles up, Dismas Hardy focuses on planting doubt in the minds of the jurors—until, in a feat of legal ingenuity that is staggering in both its implications and its simplicity, Hardy sees a new way forward that might just save them all. But at what price?
A Fine Romance
Romance > Contemporary
Author: Christi Barth
Regular Price $3.99, Today $0.99
Book Two in the Aisle Bound Series
They say you form your first impression of someone within thirty seconds of meeting them. Or, in Mira Parrish’s case, within thirty minutes of not meeting them, when said person is supposed to pick you up from the airport and never shows. This is not a perfect start to her new life. Her friend Ivy is depending on her to run a new romance store, and Mira can’t afford to let her down.
Sam Lyons should probably apologize. But every time he sees Mira–which is often, since his family owns the bakery next to her shop–he can’t resist antagonizing her. There’s something about the sexy, straight-laced woman that drives him crazy. He can’t get involved, though. He has too much baggage to be any good in a serious relationship.
Despite his teasing attitude, Mira finds Sam too sweet to resist. (His hot body may be a factor.) But if there’s going to be anything permanent between them, they’ll need to let go of their pasts and look to the future…
Self-Reliance
Philosophy > Free Will & Determinism
Author: Ralph Waldo Emerson
Regular Price $9.99, Today $1.99
Redefining the classic essay, this modern edition of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s most famous work, Self-Reliance, includes self-reflections from both historical and contemporary luminaries. With quotes from the likes of Henry Ford and Helen Keller to modern-day thought leaders like Jesse Dylan, Steve Pressfield, and Milton Glaser, we’re reminded of the relevance of Emerson’s powerful words today.
Emerson’s words are timeless. Persuasive and convincing, he challenges readers to define their own sense of accomplishment and asks them to measure themselves against their own standards, not those of society. This famous orator has utter faith in individualism and doesn’t invoke beyond what is humanly possible, he just believes deeply that each of us is capable of greatness. He asks us to define that greatness for ourselves and to be true to ourselves. At times harsh, at times comforting, Emerson’s words guide the reader to challenge their own beliefs and sense of self.
This modern edition of Self-Reliance is ideal for graduates or those who are in the midst of a career or lifestyle change. Emerson’s sage guidance wrapped in modern-day reflections is a great reminder about the potential within us all and that life is what you make of it.
Nearing Home: Life, Faith, and Finishing Well
Spirituality > Inspirational
Author: Billy Graham
Regular Price $9.99, Today $2.99
Growing old has been the greatest surprise of my life,” says Billy Graham, known by many as God’s Ambassador. “I would have never guessed what God had in store for me, and I know that as I am nearing home, He will not forsake me the last mile of the way.”
In Nearing Home this man of faith—now in his nineties—explores the challenges of aging while gleaning foundational truths from Scripture. Billy Graham invites us to journey with him as he considers the golden years while anticipating the hope of being reunited with his wife, Ruth, in his heavenly home that eclipses this world. “When granted many years of life, growing old in age is natural, but growing old with grace is a choice,” says the author. “Growing older with grace is possible for all who will set their hearts and minds on the Giver of grace, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Join Billy Graham as he shares the challenges of fading strength but still standing strong in his commitment to finishing life well.
The Accidental Vampire
Romance > Paranormal > Vampires
Author: Lynsay Sands
Regular Price $7.99, Today $1.99
Ever since an accident turned her into a knockout vamp, Elvi Black’s been catching her z’s in a coffin, staying out of the sun, and giving up garlic. She knows there’s more to being undead than what she saw in Dracula, but she can’t very well ask her mortal friends about proper biting etiquette. But when her neighbors placed a personal ad for her in the local paper, she never imagined she’d meet Victor Argeneau, a vampire who could have his pick of any woman—dead or alive.
Rich, powerful, and drop—dead gorgeous, Victor’s the perfect man for a novice neck—biter like Elvi. He’s willing to teach her everything he knows, but he’ll have to do it fast. Someone’s out to put a stake through her new vamp life, and only Victor can keep her safe—and satisfied—for all eternity.
In the Sanctuary of Outcasts
Memoirs > Journalists
Author: Neil White
Regular Price $9.99, Today $2.99
The emotional, incredible true story of Neil White, a man who discovers the secret to happiness, leading a fulfilling life, and the importance of fatherhood in the most unlikely of places—the last leper colony in the continental United States.
Daddy is going to camp. That’s what I told my children. A child psychologist suggested it. “Words like prison and jail conjure up dangerous images for children,” she explained. But it wasn’t camp….
Neil White, a journalist and magazine publisher, wanted the best for those he loved – nice cars, beautiful homes, luxurious clothes. He loaned money to family and friends, gave generously to his church, and invested in his community – but his bank account couldn’t keep up. Soon White began moving money from one account to another to avoid bouncing checks. His world fell apart when the FBI discovered his scheme and a judge sentenced him to serve 18 months in a federal prison.
But it was no ordinary prison. The beautiful, isolated colony in Carville, Louisiana, was also home to the last people in the continental United States disfigured by leprosy. Hidden away for decades, this small circle of outcasts had forged a tenacious, clandestine community, a fortress to repel the cruelty of the outside world. It is here, in a place rich with history, where the Mississippi River briefly runs north, amid an unlikely mix of leprosy patients, nuns, and criminals, that White’s strange and compelling journey begins. He finds a new best friend in Ella Bounds, an 80-year-old African American double amputee who had contracted leprosy as a child. She and the other secret people, along with a wacky troop of inmates, help White rediscover the value of simplicity, friendship, and gratitude.
… See the rest of today’s Editor’s Picks here on page 2