USA Today bestselling author Patricia Kay tops today’s Buffet with With This Ring, an intriguing story of love at first sight that is hard to put down.
Pat (also known as Trisha Alexander and Ann Patrick) has written more than 50 novels of romance and women’s fiction. She sold her first novel to Silhouette/Harlequin in 1990, and today has more than 4 million copies published in 18 countries.
Pat was born and raised in northeastern Ohio with her three younger sisters. She has lived in New York, California, Alabama and Stockholm, Sweden and, since 1969, has lived in Houston, Texas. She was a finalist for a Romance Writers of America RITA Award, the highest honor bestowed on a romance novelist, in 2000 in the category Contemporary Single Title, for her novel The Wrong Child.
Pat is also an acclaimed teacher of writing. She teaches a variety of online writing classes including a series of novel writing classes, which are all listed on her website.
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.)
With This Ring
Romance > Contemporary
Author: Patricia Kay
They came from different worlds. She was a Texas beauty who’d known privilege and luxury all her life. He was a photo-journalist who’d spent a lonely childhood in foster homes, battling for his very survival. Yet from the moment Amy Carpenter and Sam Robbins met, they knew they were meant to be together. Nothing could come between them, not even Sam’s doubts that he wasn’t good enough for Amy . . . until Sam’s job takes him away from her — to far-off Nepal . . . .
Desperately lonely without the man she loves, Amy is devastated when news arrives that Sam has had a fatal accident. Then Sam’s best friend Justin Malone enters the picture. Rocked by grief and loss, Amy and Justin turn to each other for comfort and companionship. As their friendship flames into something more, Amy must decide whether to accept the quiet happiness that Justin offers — even though she can’t forget the man whose passion still burns in her heart . . . .
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Home Run: A Novel
Christian Fiction > Sports > Movie Tie-Ins
Author: Travis Thrasher
A novel based on the major motion picture starring Vivica A. Fox and Scott Elrod.
Baseball star Cory Brand knows how to win. But off the field, he’s spiraling out of control. Haunted by old wounds and regrets, his future seems as hopeless as his past.
Until one moment—one mistake—changes everything. To save his career, Cory must go back to the town where it all began. His plan is simple: coach the local baseball team, complete a recovery program, and get out as fast as possible. Instead, he runs headfirst into memories he can’t escape … and the love he left behind.
Faced with a second chance he never expected, Cory embarks on a journey of faith, transformation and redemption. And along the way, he discovers a powerful truth: no one is beyond the healing of God.
Sundial
Teen & Young Adult > Suspense > Paranormal
Author: C.F. Fruzzetti, M.I. Pearsall
It is 1988 and teenager Whitney Forbes thought her biggest problem was surviving high school and determining if there was more to handsome Reid Wallace than just his looks and popularity. She was wrong. Her problems were about to get a lot more complicated.
Whitney always knew she was special. But when she discovers she is more “special” than she ever imagined, surviving another school day outside her posh D.C. suburb takes on a whole new meaning. Caught in the middle of a CIA plot and her undeniable magnetic attraction to Reid, she will need to decide who she can trust and what it means to become the Sundial…before she risks her heart and an alarming plan goes into motion.
Angelfire: Dark Angel
Children’s eBooks > Science Fiction, Fantasy & Scary Stories
Author: Hanna Peach
They walk among us. With blades and blood magic, they have kept us safe and ignorant − so far.
Earthbound for centuries and ruled by the Elders, these dark angels hunt at night, disappearing to their hidden cities before dawn. Alyxandria is a young angel warrior with a fondness for customized knives and illegal night-races. If only she could overcome the taint of her parents, who abandoned her to become Rogues.
When Alyx saves Israel, a gifted mortal with a past, she is forbidden to see him again. But she can’t help herself, drawn to him through their Guardian-bond, an ancient and long-forgotten bond − if he dies, she dies. But why does he need protecting? And from who?
Alyx begins to dig into the Elders’ secrets − two thousand years of secrets, which begin with the death of the Archangel Raphael. She is not prepared for what she uncovers. Who can Alyx trust when Good and Evil are no longer clear?
The war for Earth begins.
The Death Series, Books 1-3
Horror > Dark Fantasy > Collections
Author: Tamara Rose Blodgett
Almost fifteen-year-old Caleb Hart is a Cadaver-Manipulator in the year 2025. When teens receive a government-sanctioned pharmaceutical cocktail during school, paranormal abilities begin manifesting… making the teens more powerful than the adults.
After Caleb discovers he has the rare, Affinity for the Dead, he must do whatever it takes to hide it from a super-secret government agency whose goal is exploitation.
Caleb seeks refuge in his new girlfriend, Jade, until he realizes that she needs as much protection from her family, as he does from the government.
Suddenly, Caleb finds that hiding his ability while protecting Jade and his friends is a full time job; can he escape the government, protect Jade and lose the bullies that are making him miserable?
So Say the Waiters
Contemporary Fiction
Author: Justin Sirois
White-collar Henry is hired by a successful software developer and college friend who has created kidnApp, a cell phone app and social network that allows people to kidnap each other for fun. The app is growing faster than they can handle. His friend wants to groom Henry as the Mid-Atlantic regional manager with part ownership of the company, but he will need to become a seasoned kidnApper first. The problem is, Henry is stuck in his conservative job, suffering from post-fiancée breakup depression, and he definitely sucks at kidnApping. But this is an opportunity he cannot refuse.
Danielle (Dani) Hardly is an aimless bartender at a rundown nightclub. She is barely scraping by, but she is one of the first users of kidnApp in Baltimore. She uses the app as an escape from the increasingly difficult world around her, often time pushing the limits of the experience. During a botched kidnApping, she is rescued by newly recruited Henry – someone she has nothing in common with until Henry opens up to her about his less than mediocre kidnapping skills.
Skidboot ‘The Smartest Dog In The World’
Pets & Animal Care > Dogs > Training
Author: Cathy Luchetti
‘Skidboot’ is the gripping story of a Texas cattle dog who captures the minds and hearts of the world as he evolves from an unleashed dervish to the most highly responsive, intuitive dog on the rodeo and media circuit. From Oprah to Letterman to Leno, Skidboot parades his startling skills to fans worldwide.
From his birth in a barn to riding herd over thousands of admiring fans, Skidboot learns from his cowboy owner, David Hartwig, how to encourage the sick, shock rodeo fans, surprise TV audiences and turn the financial tide.
Rushed
Horror > Dark Fantasy
Author: Brian Harmon
Eric can’t remember the recurring dream that keeps waking him in the middle of the night with an overwhelming urge to leave, yet he spends each day feeling as if he desperately needs to be somewhere. With no idea how to cure himself of this odd new compulsion, he decides to let it take its course and go for a drive, hoping that once he proves to himself that there is nowhere to go, he can return to his normal life. Instead, he finds himself hurled headlong into a nightmare adventure across a fractured Wisconsin as the dream reveals itself one heart-pounding detail at a time.
Liberty Begins
Romance > New Adult & College
Author: Leigh James
Liberty Davis has moved to Las Vegas for a fresh start — and to get away from some seriously bad memories. Liberty is a good girl, but Vegas is starting to break her down. The only way she can make rent is by stripping, and her boss is trying to convince her that she needs to do more than just take her clothes off to make ends meet…
Enter John Quinn. He’s a handsome, seriously sexy business man who makes Liberty’s heart stop. She’s afraid of her attraction, afraid to lose control… and she’s petrified when she finds out what type of business John’s actually in.
Hint: he doesn’t sit at a desk, he employs ex-Navy SEALS, and it’s absolutely lethal to be on his bad side. John has his share of secrets, and one of them involves Liberty’s past. When he takes her to his compound and asks her to join him on assignment, Liberty finds herself drawn into his world, and it opens up a backlist of dark secrets for the both of them…
Nightstalkers (Area 51: The Nightstalkers, Book One)
Science Fiction > Adventure > Military
Author: Bob Mayer
Regular Price $9.99, Today $1.99
Staff Sergeant Winthrop Carter has just been drafted into the Nightstalkers—an elite group of soldiers that…
Actually, he’s not quite sure what they do.
Born from the Area 51 initiative, the Nightstalkers defy sanity and decorum and include among their ranks Moms, a Black Ops trainee too extreme for Special Forces; Doc, a scientific crackpot; Roland, the weapons enthusiast; and Mac, a contemporary MacGyver. All of them take their orders from the elusive Ms. Jones, who everyone claims is just a hologram.
Those orders include tracking down and sealing tears in our reality that are releasing interdimensional beings known only as Fireflies—creatures that take control of both living and inanimate matter in order to unleash wanton destruction.
Just as Carter is settling in, a rogue scientist triggers a fresh invasion of Fireflies that swarm a swanky gated community. Now it’s up to Carter and his new teammates to neutralize the threat while figuring out who’s behind the breach.
The Rum Diary: A Novel
Literary Fiction > Classics > Action & Adventure
Author: Hunter S. Thompson
Regular Price $15.00, Today $1.99
Begun in 1959 by a twenty-two-year-old Hunter S. Thompson, The Rum Diary is a brilliantly tangled love story of jealousy, treachery, and violent alcoholic lust in the Caribbean boomtown that was San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the late 1950s. The narrator, freelance journalist Paul Kemp, irresistibly drawn to a sexy, mysterious woman, is soon thrust into a world where corruption and get-rich-quick schemes rule and anything (including murder) is permissible. Exuberant and mad, youthful and energetic, this dazzling comedic romp provides a fictional excursion as riveting and outrageous as Thompson’s Fear and Loathing books.
The Night Is Watching (Krewe of Hunters)
Romance > Paranormal > Ghosts
Author: Heather Graham
Regular Price $7.99, Today $1.99
The dead of night
The Old West town of Lily, Arizona, is home to the Gilded Lily, a former theater…and bawdy house. These days, it offers theatrical productions geared to tourists, but the recent discovery of a skull, a realskull, among the props and costumes shakes everyone up.
So, who do you call? The Krewe of Hunters, a special FBI unit of paranormal investigators. In this case, it’s agent Jane Everett. Jane’s also a talented artist who creates images of the dead as they once were. But the Krewe always works with local law enforcement, and here that means Sloan Trent, former Houston cop and now sheriff. His great-great-grandmother was an actress at the Gilded Lily…and she’s not resting in peace.
Then more remains appear in the nearby desert. As they search for answers, using all the skills at their disposal, Jane and Sloan find themselves falling into danger—and into love.
Hit Me!: Fighting the Las Vegas Mob by the Numbers
True Accounts > Organized Crime
Author: Danielle Gomes, Jay Bonansinga
Regular Price $21.50, Today $1.99
Las Vegas, 1970s—a golden age of Glitter Gulch corruption. Dennis Gomes–the youngest division chief in Gaming Control Board history–whipped a ragtag group of auditors into hardened, gun-slinging investigators, and shattered clichés about milquetoast accountant cops.
Coming within a hair’s breadth of death more than once, Gomes capped off his tenure with the famous bust of the Stardust skim, portrayed in the book and movie Casino. In Hit Me!, there’s action to fill a dozen Scorsese films—midnight raids, heart-rending showgirl romances, and deadly double-crosses. And the cast of characters reads like a roll call of gangster lore. But no matter how much evidence Gomes uncovered, or how many witnesses and informants were bloodied, Gomes was swept aside by a political system that was dirty to its core.
Better Nate Than Ever
Children’s Books > Performing Arts
Author: Tim Federle
Regular Price $9.99, Today $1.99
A small-town boy hops a bus to New York City to crash an audition for E.T.: The Musical.
Nate Foster has big dreams. His whole life, he’s wanted to star in a Broadway show. (Heck, he’d settle for seeing a Broadway show.) But how is Nate supposed to make his dreams come true when he’s stuck in Jankburg, Pennsylvania, where no one (except his best pal Libby) appreciates a good show tune? With Libby’s help, Nate plans a daring overnight escape to New York. There’s an open casting call for E.T.: The Musical, and Nate knows this could be the difference between small-town blues and big-time stardom.
Tim Federle writes a warm and witty debut that’s full of broken curfews, second chances, and the adventure of growing up—because sometimes you have to get four hundred miles from your backyard to finally feel at home.
Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse
Biographies & Memoirs > Medical
Author: Jennifer Worth
Regular Price $9.99, Today $1.99
The sequel to Jennifer Worth’s New York Times bestselling memoir and the basis for the PBS series Call the Midwife.
When twenty-two-year-old Jennifer Worth, from a comfortable middle-class upbringing, went to work as a midwife in the direst section of postwar London, she not only delivered hundreds of babies and touched many lives, she also became the neighborhood’s most vivid chronicler. Woven into the ongoing tales of her life in the East End are the true stories of the people Worth met who grew up in the dreaded workhouse, a Dickensian institution that limped on into the middle of the twentieth century.
Orphaned brother and sister Peggy and Frank lived in the workhouse until Frank got free and returned to rescue his sister. Bubbly Jane’s spirit was broken by the cruelty of the workhouse master until she found kindness and romance years later at Nonnatus House. Mr. Collett, a Boer War veteran, lost his family in the two world wars and died in the workhouse.
Though these are stories of unimaginable hardship, what shines through each is the resilience of the human spirit and the strength, courage, and humor of people determined to build a future for themselves against the odds. This is an enduring work of literary nonfiction, at once a warmhearted coming-of-age story and a startling look at people’s lives in the poorest section of postwar London.
Call the Midwife: Farewell to the East End
Biographies & Memoirs > Medical
Author: Jennifer Worth
Regular Price $9.99, Today $1.99
The last book in the trilogy begun by Jennifer Worth’s New York Times bestseller and the basis for the PBS series Call the Midwife.
When twenty-two-year-old Jennifer Worth, from a comfortable middle-class upbringing, went to work as a midwife in the poorest section of postwar London, she not only delivered hundreds of babies and touched many lives, she also became the neighborhood’s most vivid chronicler. Call the Midwife: Farewell to the East End is the last book in Worth’s memoir trilogy, which the Times Literary Supplement described as “powerful stories with sweet charm and controlled outrage” in the face of dire circumstances.
Here, at last, is the full story of Chummy’s delightful courtship and wedding. We also meet Megan’mave, identical twins who share a browbeaten husband, and return to Sister Monica Joan, who is in top eccentric form. As in Worth’s first two books, Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times and Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse, the vividly portrayed denizens of a postwar East End contend with the trials of extreme poverty—unsanitary conditions, hunger, and disease—and find surprising ways to thrive in their tightly knit community.
… See the rest of today’s Editor’s Picks here on page 2