Susan King tops today’s Buffet with her debut novel, The Black Thorne’s Rose, a powerful story filled with mythical legends, mystery and mayhem.
Susan is the bestselling, award-winning author of over 20 historical novels and novellas, each one praised for historical accuracy, storytelling quality and lyricism. The Black Thorne’s Rose was published in 1994 after Susan took time off from her dissertation to write it. That book was followed by many historical romances written as Susan King and as Sarah Gabriel. As Susan Fraser King, she is the author of Lady Macbeth: A Novel, and Queen Hereafter: A Novel of Margaret of Scotland, published in hardcover and trade paperback from Random House.
A founding member of the successful author blog, “Word Wenches,” Susan holds a graduate degree in medieval art history and lives in Maryland with her family.
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The Black Thorne’s Rose
Stripped of her castle and lands, gently bred Lady Emlyn refuses marriage to a cruel lord and flees to the safety of the greenwood—where she soon falls for a bold forest outlaw, the Black Thorne, who courts danger in King John’s England.
Swept up in a game of passion and daring deception, Emlyn learns too late that the mysterious outlaw and the ruthless lord she despises are one and the same man.
Now, for both Thorne and Emlyn, the greatest risk of all exists in the truth…and love.
Rodeo Sweethearts
Melinda and Rob MacCreadie have been married for nearly thirty years, but she is the worst wife for a hard-working Montana rancher and she knows it.
With their five children grown and finding love, Melinda is daunted by the idea of accepting newcomers into the family. She and Rob still hold a secret that dates from before the birth of their triplets all those years ago.
Rob is such a fine man, strong and good-looking and endlessly patient. He’s wise, too, but is he right to insist that it’s time to tell people what happened? Does he really understand how she feels?
Divine and Dateless (Eternally Yours Book 1)
Good girls go to Heaven. Bad girls go all the way…
What can be worse than electrocuting yourself while getting ready for your Internet date? Realizing the hot stud you’ve been fondling is the Grim Reaper? Being chased by a sex-crazed bloated, naked corpse?
How about an eternity of more bad hair days and horrific dates? Or lusting after the one guy in all the afterlife whose hydrophobia rivals his fear of commitment?
Yeah, that’s a whole lot worse.
Vital Force (Jake Adams International Thriller series Book 4)
Jake Adams is back with his fourth thrilling adventure. When an old Cold Warrior from Russia asks Jake to observe the launch of their newest ICBM, Jake finds himself in the taiga of the Russian Far East. But something goes terribly wrong with the missile, and the Russians discover an American plane has shot down the missile with their new Airborne Laser system. This event sets into motion a chain of events that span from the U.S. capitol, California, the Pacific Northwest, a remote Aleutian Island, and across the Pacific to China and South Korea.
Jake is recruited back into Network service undercover in China, where he battles with double agents, the Chinese Army, and even the elements, as he struggles to discover his enemies. Everyone wants this new laser system, but Jake must ensure it doesn’t get into the wrong hands. In a harrowing finale, only one man can keep the laser system away from the other factions. . . Jake Adams!
To Protect & Serve (The Courage Series, Book 1)
Houston firefighter, Jeff Taylor is a fireman’s fireman. He’s not afraid of anything, and no situation is too dangerous to keep him on the sideline if lives are at stake.
Lisa Matheson runs a semi-successful ad agency that’s on the brink of falling apart. Her employees are incompetent, and her schedule has become exhausting. When she takes on a client with a brilliant idea for a big conference, she thinks that maybe, finally this is her lucky break. However, the fire station wasn’t what she had in mind for finding conference speakers. When she falls for a handsome but shy firefighter, it’s possible that life might just be going her way for a change. The only problem is she can’t control Jeff and the death wish he seems to have…
Black Sunshine
Will and his best friend, Lloyd, were the only 2 survivors… of the 1980 explosion that killed 27 Eastern Kentucky miners in the Harlan #7 coal mine and shattered countless other lives in the close-knit small town of Aintree Hollow. But the 2 young men escaped the mine that day with more than just their lives. Each carried secrets about another tragedy that occurred deep in the guts of the mountains after the explosion. Those secrets decimate the next 2 decades of their lives.
Will returns to the hollow for the first time in 20 years for the memorial service on the anniversary of the disaster–determined to confess what he did. The mountains are just as he left them; the people who live there are not.
Granny Sparrow’s grief has imprisoned her.
JoJo bears the invisible stamp of a family heritage that will kill her.
Jamey is … is what? How can Will explain the boy’s psychic ability? The magical statues he carves out of lumps of coal?
The Execution
Parallel lives are fated to collide in The Execution, a medieval, fantasy thriller, dark adventure, and tragic love story set in fourteenth century France.
A young priest enters the prison cell of a condemned mercenary and is shocked to see the face of this murderer is his own—a mirror image of himself. Unknown to each other until now, the twins form a bond of brotherhood, sealed with their darkest secrets. But with only hours until the execution, the priest begins to question which man should truly be condemned. Should it be the ruthless killer—a boy from an orphanage who suffered the unimaginable—or himself, the man of God whose own tormented desires ended in tragedy? As the sun rises, the young priest knows what he must do. Only one man will die…but two men will be free.
Rogue (Exceptional Book 2)
Ally lowered her hands and stared at the pile of ash in front of her. They made it four hours into their morning travels before they ran into another pair of Exceptional Guards. The Guards had approached Ally and her group with ease, expecting an easy catch. Once again, Ally had raised her hands and eliminated the Guards before they took another step toward her or the others. She stood over the pile, breathing heavily. She felt Stosh come up beside her, his arm brushing against hers.
“Seven,” she said in almost a whisper.
“I know,” he responded, taking her hand in his.
Ally is finally outside the City walls, with her brother and her best friends.
Luke is still inside the City walls, with no memory of the girl he once loved.
Life in the Wilderness is dangerous, and they soon find out that they are not alone. Will Ally continue her journey to the Southern City, or will she risk it all to help the boy she loves?
The Disposables
Bruno Johnson, a tough street cop, member of the elite violent crime task force, feared by the bad guys, admired by the good, finds his life derailed when a personal tragedy forces him to break the law. Now he’s an ex-con and his life on parole is not going well. He is hassled by the police at every opportunity and to make matters even more difficult, his former partner, Robby Wicks, now a high-ranking detective, bullies him into helping solve a high profile crime – unofficially, of course.
Meantime, Bruno’s girlfriend, Marie, brings out the good, the real Bruno, and even though they veer totally outside the law, he and Marie dedicate themselves to saving abused children, creating a type of underground railroad for neglected kids at risk, disposable kids. What they must do is perilous they step far outside the law, battling a warped justice system and Bruno’s former partner, with his own evil agenda.
Gracie’s Touch (Zion Warriors Book 1)
Gracie Jones was little more than a child when the Earth was invaded by an alien species. Escaping into the subway tunnels of New York City, she hid in fear of being captured. Discovered by four men who became her protectors, she fought alongside them and they became known as the Freedom Five. At seventeen, she made a decision that turned the tide on the war between Earth and the Alluthans but in exchange she gave up all that she knew.
Kordon Jefe is a Zion Warrior and commanding officer in charge of the Confederation of Planets military. When an unknown species begins attacking some of their outer settlements, he is assigned to discover who they are and stop them…at any cost.
Gracie unknowingly finds herself stranded millions of light years and hundreds of years in the future in a distant galaxy on an undeveloped moon. When an old enemy threatens once more, she does not hesitant to use her knowledge to try to stop them once again. Only this time, it is not just Earth she will be saving but the Confederation itself.
The Cipher: 1 (A Crosspointe Novel)
Lucy Trenton’s ability to sense majick is one of her most dangerous secrets. But only one.
A blackmailer knows the other.
Suddenly, Lucy is caught in a treasonous plot to destroy the crown, and she’s trapped in the tentacles of a desperate, destructive majick. Her only hope is ship captain Marten Thorpe, who–by every account–cannot be trusted. With time running out, Lucy must find a way to win a dangerous game or lose everything she holds dear.
Edward III: The Perfect King
Holding power for over fifty years starting in 1327, Edward III was one of England’s most influential kings—and one who shaped the course of English history. Revered as one of the country’s most illustrious leaders for centuries, he was also a usurper and a warmonger who ordered his uncle beheaded. A brutal man, to be sure, but also a brilliant one.
Noted historian Ian Mortimer offers us the first comprehensive look at the life of Edward III. The Perfect King was often the instigator of his own drama, but also overthrew tyrannous guardians as a teenager and ushered in a period of chivalric ideals. Mortimer traces how Edward’s reforms made feudal England a thriving, sophisticated country and one of Europe’s major military powers. Ideal for anyone fascinated by medieval history, this book provides new insight into Edward III’s lasting influence on the justice system, artistic traditions, language, and architecture of the country.
Fluency (Confluence Book 1)
NASA discovered the alien ship lurking in the asteroid belt in the 1960s. They kept the Target under intense surveillance for decades, letting the public believe they were exploring the solar system, while they worked feverishly to refine the technology needed to reach it.
The ship itself remained silent, drifting.
Dr. Jane Holloway is content documenting nearly-extinct languages and had never contemplated becoming an astronaut. But when NASA recruits her to join a team of military scientists for an expedition to the Target, it’s an adventure she can’t refuse.
The ship isn’t vacant, as they presumed.
A disembodied voice rumbles inside Jane’s head, “You are home.”
… See the rest of today’s Editor’s Picks here on page 2