Bestselling author Lauren Royal tops today’s Buffet with her humorous historical-romance Amethyst, the first book in the “Jewel” trilogy, though it can also be read as a standalone novel. It’s an enchanting tale that captures all the pageantry, excitement, and color that was Restoration England. As one reviewer put it, the book will “keep you up long after bedtime, laughing one minute and crying the next.”
Lauren’s stories are mostly set in England and Scotland in the 17th and 19th centuries, the Restoration and Regency periods. Her books have hit the bestseller lists all over the globe, and she’s won the Golden Quill and Booklist’s Top 10 Romance of the Year awards.
Lauren lives in Southern California with her husband, their three young adult children, and one constantly shedding cat.
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.)
Amethyst (Jewel Trilogy, Book 1)
Historical Romance > Romantic Comedy
Author: Lauren Royal
Her hand was pledged to one man…
Her heart belonged to another…
London, 1666
Amethyst Goldsmith makes dazzling jewelry, but her future isn’t nearly as bright as the pieces she creates. Though custom dictates she wed her father’s apprentice, her heart rebels against the match. In mere days Amy will be condemned to a stifling, loveless marriage, and she sees no way out–until the devastating fire of 1666 sweeps through London, and tragedy lands her in the arms of a dashing nobleman who knows a diamond in the rough when he sees it…
Colin Chase, the Earl of Greystone, has his future all figured out. He’s restoring his crumbling castle and estate to its former glory, and the key to its completion is his rich bride-to-be. But the Great Fire lays waste to his plans, saddling him with trouble–in the form of a lowly shopkeeper’s daughter with whom he’s most inconveniently falling in love…
A Dyeing Shame
Mystery > Women Sleuths
Author: Elizabeth Spann Craig
When Beauty Box beautician Tammy Smith is discovered with a pair of hair shears in her back, there are suspects and secrets aplenty in her small Southern town.
Octogenarian Myrtle Clover, bored by bingo and bridge, is intrigued by the crime…and her neighbors’ secrets. But discovering, and blabbing, secrets got Tammy killed and Myrtle soon learns her sleuthing isn’t just dangerous…it’s deadly.
Private Sins
Fiction > African American > Women’s Fiction
Author: Brenda Barrett
Kelly was in deep trouble; her husband was a pastor and she his loyal first lady. Well she was…until she had an affair with Chris; the first elder of their church. And now she was pregnant with his child. Could she keep the secret from her husband and pretend that all was well? Or should she confess her private sin and let the chips fall where they may?
The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, and the History of Comic Book Heroines
Graphic Novels > Female Superheroes > Criticism & Theory
Author: Mike Madrid
Regular Price $16.95, Today $1.99
Has Wonder Woman hit the comic book glass ceiling? Is that the one opposition that even her Amazonian strength can’t defeat? Entertaining and informative, The Supergirls explores iconic superheroines and what it means for the culture when they do everything the superhero does, only in thongs and high heels.
This much-needed alternative history of American comic book iconsfrom Wonder Woman to Supergirl and beyonddelves into where these crime-fighting females fit in popular culture and why, and what their stories say about the role of women in society from their creation to now, and into the future.
I Shall Live
Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Holocaust
Author: Henry Orenstein
Regular Price $15.95, Today $1.99
- $15.99 List Price
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Tells the gripping true story of the Orensteins, a Jewish family living in Poland during the Second World War. When Henry Orenstein and his siblings end up in a series of concentrations camps, Orenstein’s bravery and quick thinking help him to save himself and his brothers from execution by playing a role in the greatest hoax ever pulled on the upper echelons of Nazi command, including Heinrich Himmler.
Orenstein’s lucid prose recreates this horrific time in history and his constant struggle for survival as the Nazis move him and his brothers through five concentration camps. His description of their roles in the fake Chemical Commando sheds new light on an incredible and generally unknown event in the history of the Holocaust. This edition of I Shall Live contains new evidence about this fake Commando, including letters to and from Himmler himself.
Istanbul Passage: A Novel
Thrillers > Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue
Author: Joseph Kanon
Regular Price $9.99, Today $1.99
A neutral capital straddling Europe and Asia, Istanbul survived the Second World War as a magnet for refugees and spies, trafficking in secrets and lies rather than soldiers. Expatriate American businessman Leon Bauer was drawn into this shadow world, doing undercover odd jobs and courier runs in support of the Allied war effort.
Now, as the espionage community begins to pack up and an apprehensive city prepares for the grim realities of postwar life, Leon is given one last routine assignment. But when the job goes fatally wrong—an exchange of gunfire, a body left in the street, a potential war criminal on his hands—Leon is plunged into a tangle of intrigue, shifting loyalties, and moral uncertainty.
Played out against the bazaars and mosques and faded mansions of this knowing, ancient Ottoman city, Leon’s conflicted attempt to save one life leads to a desperate manhunt that ultimately threatens his own survival. How do you do the right thing when there are only bad choices to be made?
Rich with atmosphere and period detail, Istanbul Passage is the haunting story of a man swept up in the dawn of the Cold War, of an unexpected love affair, and of a city as deceptive as the calm surface waters of the Bosphorus that divides it.
A Race to Splendor
Historical Romance
Author: Ciji Ware
Regular Price $16.99, Today $2.99
- $16.99 List Price
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Early in 1906, the ground in San Francisco shook buildings and lives from their comfortable foundations.
Amidst rubble, corruption, and deceit, two women-young architects in a city and field ruled by men-find themselves racing the clock and each other during the rebuilding of competing hotels in the City by the Bay.
Based on meticulous research, A Race to Splendor tells the story of the audacious people of one of the world’s great cities rebuilding and reinventing themselves after immense human tragedy. Filled with courage, passion, and conflict, Amelia Bradshaw’s spirit will capture your imagination as she strives to redraft her life amidst the ruins with both help and hindrance from a wayward son of privilege who pulls her into worlds she’d never have known.
Babe: The Legend Comes to Life
Sports & Outdoors > Biographies > Baseball
Author: Robert W. Creamer
Regular Price $14.99, Today $1.99
- $14.99 List Price
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The life of baseball’s grandest figure, told in extraordinary detail.
Nearly a century has passed since George Herman Ruth made his major league debut, and in that time millions of words have been used to describe baseball’s greatest hero. But for a man like the Babe, for whom the phrase “larger than life” seems to have been coined, those millions of words have created a mythologized legacy. Who was the real Babe Ruth?
Relying on exhaustive research and interviews with teammates, family members, and friends, historian Robert W. Creamer separates fact from fiction and paints an honest and fascinating portrait of the slugger. This is the definitive biography of a man who was, in legend and in truth, the best who ever lived.
Resurrection
Science Fiction > Adventure
Author: Arwen Elys Dayton
Regular Price $9.99, Today $1.99
The Kinley built a ship capable of traveling faster than light. It carried a group of scientists to a small, distant planet—a primitive place called Earth. It’s mission was peaceful observation. But when the ship was destroyed, the Kinley crew found themselves stranded in ancient Egypt, participants in the pageant of life in the time of the Pharaohs. They buried remnants of their technology deep beneath the desert and sent a last desperate message home…
Five thousand years later, the Kinley homeworld hovers on the brink of extinction. An enemy that nearly obliterated their race has risen again—now with the ability to destroy them for good. A lone Kinley soldier named Pruit is sent on a desperate mission: to follow the ancient beacon back to Earth and recover the secrets to faster than light travel. It is their last hope. Technology that once allowed them to cross vast reaches of space might allow them to outrun their enemies and find a safe world to call their own. But Pruit’s mission will be harder than she can imagine. Her quest will draw her enemies after her and will awaken ancient foes on Earth.
The Insanity of God: A True Story of Faith Resurrected
Ministry & Evangelism > Missions & Missionary Work
Author: Nik Ripken, Gregg Lewis
The Insanity of God is the personal and lifelong journey of an ordinary couple from rural Kentucky who thought they were going on just your ordinary missionary pilgrimage, but discovered it would be anything but. After spending over six hard years doing relief work in Somalia, and experiencing life where it looked like God had turned away completely and He was clueless about the tragedies of life, the couple had a crisis of faith and left Africa asking God, “Does the gospel work anywhere when it is really a hard place? It sure didn’t work in Somalia.
The Insanity of God tells a story—a remarkable and unique story to be sure, yet at heart a very human story—of the Ripkens’ own spiritual and emotional odyssey. The gripping, narrative account of a personal pilgrimage into some of the toughest places on earth, combined with sobering and insightful stories of the remarkable people of faith Nik and Ruth encountered on their journeys, will serve as a powerful course of revelation, growth, and challenge for anyone who wants to know whether God truly is enough.
Dixie Rebel
Contemporary Fiction > Women’s Fiction
Author: Patricia Rice
Maya Alyssum has a rebel’s dream: to open a school where kids can find unconditional acceptance—an acceptance she and her sister had never experienced while growing up in foster homes.
But Axell Holm, the town council’s representative, holds Maya’s unconventional dream in his hands.
Axell is the kind of uptight authority figure Maya loves to hate. So how is it that he’s ringing all her chimes, even as her rebellious plans turn his ordered life upside down?
Lady’s Revenge
Historical Romance > Regency
Author: Tracey Devlyn
A British agent flees her French captor’s torturous dungeon and falls in love with the decoder responsible for her imprisonment.
Nothing Gets Between a Lady and Her Vengence…
In a daring rescue, beautiful and wily secret operative Cora deBeau is reunited with her childhood friend Guy Trevelyan, who wants so much more from her now than friendship …
He’ll Stoke the Fire Until They Both Go Up In Flames…
But Cora’s mission against the French has become personal, and even the fire between her and Guy won’t deter her. When it comes to getting sweet, cruel revenge, nothing will stand in a lady’s way …
Shadow on the Moon
Genre Fiction > Horror > Occult
Author: Connie Flynn
- $0.99 List Price
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A woman bent on saving a pack of wild wolves crashes during a deadly snowstorm. A man tormented by a secret he dare not reveal desperately needs her to free him. Only a ceremony grounded in love can save them both . . .
And it must happen during the SHADOW OF THE MOON.
132+ Delicious Salads, Dressings And Dips
Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Salads
Author: Gabrielle Raiz
Transform Simple Salads Into Stunningly Scrumptious Healthy Meals!
Whether your mission is weight loss, finding a wealth of new plant-based healthy meals, well-being through raw food, or tempting your taste buds with nourishing snacks, you’ll discover over 132 healthy salad recipes, delectable dressings, creamy yummy dips and satisfying healthy dinners.
Let Gabrielle lead you on your own personal healthy super-salad revolution, expand your repertoire of healthy and raw food and delight your taste buds. These health-giving creations, using easy to find ingredients, have been convincing even the most salad-phobic of folk.
Easily make the transition away from ‘packaged and processed foods’ and enjoy eating fresh, (mostly) raw vegetables and superfoods – the key ingredients to vibrant health, weight loss and energy.
The Daily Walk Bible NLT: 31 Days with Jesus
Christianity > Bibles > Translations
Author: Walk Thru the Bible
Most people agree that Jesus was an amazing teacher and someone we could all learn from. At the same time, most of us have spent little time actually reading his story. The Daily Walk Bible NLT: 31 Days with Jesus is an open invitation to do just that. In just one month you will read through all four gospels, seeing Jesus and gaining insight into his purpose and message for us.
This special eBook, taken from the pages of The Daily Walk Bible, includes a simple reading plan to help you through. Each day includes an Overview that provides a bird’s-eye view of that day’s reading, an inspirational and practical My Daily Walk devotion, and an Insight that offers an interesting fact about the passage. Every seventh day you will be invited to pause and reflect—looking back over what you have read, looking forward to what is coming, and most importantly looking up to God.
It’s that simple, but be warned, Jesus has been changing lives for two thousand years—31 days and yours won’t be the same either.
… See the rest of today’s Editor’s Picks here on page 2