Dana Stabenow tops today’s Buffet with Fire and Ice, the first installment in her “Liam Campbell” mystery series.

danaDana won an Edgar Award for her books about Kate Shugak, a resourceful Indian woman living in Alaska. The series is full of respect for the landscape and the hard work it takes to survive in the far north. Now she starts a new series starring Liam Campbell, an Alaskan State Trooper with a troubled past and an uncertain future; the environmental issues of the 1980s appear to have been back-burnered in favor of the personal needs and feelings of the 1990s.You might think there are one too many colorful eccentrics or jaunty drunks in the town of Newenham, where former Sergeant Campbell has been demoted after his own bout with booze and self-doubt. But you’ll definitely admire the way Stabenow jumpstarts her story: within a few minutes of his arrival from Anchorage, Campbell has to deal with one murder (a pilot almost decapitated by his propeller), one old girlfriend (the exotic and possibly dangerous Wy Chouinard), and a man held hostage in the town’s only decent burger joint–held for shooting out a jukebox that was playing Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville.

As usual, each book listed here has gone FREE within the past 24 hours (except for the “Bargain Books” at the bottom of this page). 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.)

Fire and Ice (Liam Campbell Book 1)

 Mystery > Police Procedurals

Fire and Ice (Liam Campbell Book 1)

Alaska State Trooper Liam Campbell, demoted and reassigned to the remote bush town of Newenham, literally steps off the plane into a murder scene. Dealing with death is never simple, but when the woman leaning over the body proves to be Liam’s old flame, it’s evident that his new job is about to become much more complicated. Of course, small town tensions tend to simmer just beneath the surface, and murder, once done, has a tendency to happen again.

“What were you intending to do with Mr. Engebretsen, Bill?”

They both regarded the bound man for a moment. The bar watched and waited in silence. “Well,” Bill said finally, “I was thinking about supergluing his shooting hand to one cheek of his ass and his other hand around a beer bottle.”

Liam stared. She appeared to be absolutely serious. He opened his mouth, and she said, “He drinks too much, does Teddy. I’m not totally unfeeling—the bottle of beer will be a full one, but after it’s gone, that’s it.”

“I like it,” the Old Fart said, and grinned evilly when Teddy’s eyes bulged over the edge of the gag.

“Or we could just shoot him,” she said, and raised the .30-06 to work the action. She gave a satisfied nod. “Plenty of ammunition. Course at this distance I really only need one.”

Falling Into Infinity: Book One In the Infinity Series

 Erotica > Romantic

Falling Into Infinity: Book One In the Infinity Series

Pre-med student Caroline “Charlie” Collins, a sophomore at Texas A&M, knows exactly what she wants in life and the order that it will happen: finish college, complete medical school, and then fall in love. A chance meeting with A&M’s star quarterback Colin McKinney changes everything. A friendship between the two grows over time and blossoms into a powerful love affair. Charlie and Colin must learn to cope with his transition to playing professional football, the crushing attention of the media, and constant demands of his fans. At the same time, she’s struggling with how her dream of attending medical school will fit into their already stressed relationship and Colin’s new life. Falling Into Infinity asks the question is just loving someone enough to make a relationship work?

Rock the Heart (Black Falcon Book 1)

 Romance > New Adult

Rock the Heart (Black Falcon Book 1)

For the last four years, good girl Lane has regretted breaking up with Noel Falcon. She thought she was sensible when she told him his dreams of being a rock star would get him nowhere, but now that he’s a rock god and her career is stagnant, she realizes just how wrong she was. When Noel hires the marketing company where Lane is an intern, she’s forced to see him again. If she wants to land her dream job as executive within the company, she has to win him over and secure his account. Too bad Noel is still pissed at her for breaking his heart.

When Lane’s company flies her to a Black Falcon concert to gain Noel’s attention, emotions run high the moment she sees him and realizes she’s far from over him. But Noel’s countless trysts with groupies and his cocky attitude make Lane believe he isn’t the same guy she once loved—now he seems to only want her body. Then after Lane discloses she needs him to procure a job, Noel proves he’s a changed man by forcing her to go on the road with him in order to get it.

After Lane reluctantly takes Noel up on his offer, she becomes willing to do whatever it takes to keep him satisfied, even if it means succumbing to his seductive ways. Lane soon finds deception is a dangerous game and she’s not the only one playing.

Good Eating’s Classic Home Recipes: Traditional comfort foods and heirloom family recipes for every occasion

 Cookbooks, Food & Wine

Good Eating's Classic Home Recipes: Traditional comfort foods and heirloom family recipes for every occasion

Good Eating’s Classic Home Recipes offers a comprehensive collection of side dishes, meals, and desserts that were compiled from over 25 years of food reporting by the Chicago Tribune. It includes many heirloom family recipes submitted directly by Tribune readers, from comforting classics and gourmet twists on popular recipes, to culturally unique dishes as diverse as Chicago itself.

With helpful recipe introductions and tips from food editors, Good Eating’s Classic Home Recipes is perfect for anyone searching for old favorites and new standards alike. This book features a rich array of breakfast and brunch dishes, soups and salads, pastas, poultry, beef, breads, as well as cakes and pies—plenty of choices for any home cook looking for inspiration in the kitchen. Sweet and savory options for every meal makes Good Eating’s Classic Home Recipes a must-have resource for holiday cooking, and dishes such as “Cheesy Grits” or “Slow-Cooker Beef and Guinness Stew” are perfect to be shared with family and friends for holidays, parties, and gatherings of any kind.

Our Totally, Ridiculous, Made-Up Christmas Relationship (A Novella)

 Romance > New Adult

Our Totally, Ridiculous, Made-Up Christmas Relationship (A Novella)

All families have secrets, and Jules Stone’s is no exception. Deciding not to follow in her family’s Oscar-winning footsteps, Jules chooses to take a more behind-the-scenes career in one of the Top 10 Talent Agencies in Chicago. After being dumped five hours before spending Christmas with her dysfunctional family, she needs a plan to avoid their judgmental eyes.

Enter: Kayden Reece.

Kayden is the black sheep of his family, being the one actor drowning in a world of doctors and lawyers. Never really getting a jumpstart at his acting career or landing a big time role, he can feel his dad’s disappointment soaking into his spirit.

When Kayden gets a chance to meet and sign with a big name agent at Walter and Jacks Talent Agency, he’s ready to prove everyone wrong. Jules stumbles into the building in shambles, ugly crying, and begging to pay an actor a big sum of money to be her made-up boyfriend for five days, Kayden jumps at the opportunity—finally able to say he landed a role.

Zombie Games (Origins)

 Horror

Zombie Games (Origins)

Seventeen-year-old Cassandra Wild thought that living in the chaos of her mother’s home daycare and dealing with new feelings for Bryce, her martial arts instructor, was a struggle until her world turned upside down. When an untested vaccine kills more than just a rampant flu virus, Cassie learns how to survive in a world where the dead walk and the living… run!

A Bride for Christmas

 Romance > Regency

A Bride for Christmas (Sweet Regency Novella)

The Christmas season has always been important to Nash Sinclair. Home from the war and surrounded by his large, loving family, he realizes what is missing from his life: a wife. Not too surprisingly, he is looking at his sister-in-law’s rather becoming (and unmarried) sister when he makes the decision.

Lady Julianna intends to remain unmarried, having no need for a husband to live the life of her dreams. Rather than explain her unusual choice, she insists only a man who slays dragons would suit her, and since dragons don’t exist, neither does her ideal beau.

Not one to turn away from a challenge, Nash enlists the aid of his nieces and nephews in a scheme sure to win Lady Julianna’s affection. But as he comes to know the lady better, he realizes he’s risking his own heart. When did his silly idea become a crucial quest?

Shades of Gray (Amaranthine Book 1)

 Romance > Paranormal

Shades of Gray (Amaranthine Book 1)

When Patrick is found dead in his apartment, Katelina is left in a vacuum of uncertainty with no leads. Then the enigmatic Jorick appears. In a single sweep he turns over the rocks of reality to reveal what hides underneath in the shadows; monsters that she thought only existed in horror movies.

Trapped in a nightmare, Katelina is forced to accept the truth of vampires; vampires who want her dead for her association with Patrick. Jorick saves the day, but what should she do when her hero turns out to be one of the monsters? Can she really trust – and even love – someone who isn’t human?

Caught between light and dark, Katelina and Jorick must travel down a path of mystery and terror as their pasts are slowly revealed and their passions ignite, in a world that smells like blood and tastes like fear.

TODAY’S BARGAINS……………What’s this?

The Rendition

 Thrillers & Suspense > Historical

The Rendition

The brutal secret war to win Kosovo’s freedom from Serbia is in full swing when The Rendition takes readers behind the headlines for an inside look at the United States’ involvement. Alex Klear, a veteran intelligence officer, is sent to the Balkans on a hastily planned rendition which goes terribly bad. Alex decides it’s time to retire. However, when he is persuaded to go to Germany as part of an operation connected to the rendition, he finds himself caught between two dynamic women, an old girlfriend and the female colonel running the ‘op.’

While there, he becomes a target of the Kosovo Liberation Army, a murder suspect to the German police, and for his superiors the perfect fall guy to take the heat for a badly botched secret operation. With Kosovo’s independence declaration coming closer by the day, the secret war heats up and Alex comes to realize that he is at the center of a murky conspiracy aimed at making the United States an international pariah.

All I Need Is You (An Over the Edge Novel)

 Contemporary Fiction > Women’s Fiction

All I Need Is You (An Over the Edge Novel)

When a wedding planner’s first gig teams her up with a sexy stuntman, will she crash and burn…or be airlifted to love?

Tall, lithe ex-stuntman Eli McCain may speak with a Texas drawl, but this modern-day cowboy prefers hurricane windsurfing to herding cattle. Along with three friends, he cofounded Thrillseekers Anonymous, an extreme sports club that caters to the ultrarich and superfamous. But when the club agrees to stage a huge—and hugely profitable—extreme sports–themed celebrity wedding, Eli gets furious; he’s still bitter about getting jilted at the altar and wants nothing to do with veils or vows.

Copper-haired chatterbox Marnie Banks dove headfirst into wedding planning after she was laid off from a dot-com start-up. The union of megawatt stars Olivia Dagwood and Vincent Vittorio may be her first solo wedding job, but it could make all her dreams come true: She’ll make Hollywood connections. She’ll finally move out of her parents’ house. And she’ll meet a decent guy, for once.

But when the wedding turns from extreme to extremely disastrous, Eli and Marnie must work together against the elements, their bickering clients, and their own smoldering attraction to save the day. Will the sparks flying between them ignite into something real and passionate…or will they both end up burned?

Jack and the Giants

 Fiction > Mythology & Folk Tales

Jack and the Giants

In a unique retelling to the classic fairy tale “Jack and the Beanstalk,” Piers Anthony and J.R. Rain take you back to the magical land beyond the clouds. Back to the land of the Giants. Back to adventure and sorcery and awe-inspiring wonder.

In the real world, Jack works for a jerk. Luckily, the pretty receptionist makes his days bearable. But when Jack discovers he’s been fired, his simple life crumbles around him; that is, until he comes across the magic beans.

Now with a giant beanstalk growing outside his downtown New York apartment, Jack has a choice to make: follow the beanstalk up or pretend it’s not there. After all, he does seem to be the only one who can see it. Moreover, the beanstalk almost beckons him…

Putting aside his fears, Jack climbs out from his apartment window and onto the beanstalk, where climbs up and up and up…finally emerging through the clouds and into a land of dreams. Literally.

Edible: An Adventure into the World of Eating Insects and the Last Great Hope to Save the Planet

 Agricultural Sciences

Edible: An Adventure into the World of Eating Insects and the Last Great Hope to Save the Planet

Insects. They’re what’s for dinner. Can you imagine a world in which that simple statement is not only true but in fact an unremarkable part of daily life? Daniella Martin, entomophagist and blogger, can.In this rollicking excursion into the world of edible insects, Martin takes us to the front lines of the next big trend in the global food movement and shows us how insects just might be the key to solving world hunger. Along the way, we sample moth larvae tacos at the Don Bugito food cart in San Francisco, travel to Copenhagen to meet the experimental tasters at Noma’s Nordic Food Lab, gawk at the insects stocked in the frozen food aisle at Thailand’s Costco, and even crash an underground bug-eating club in Tokyo.

Martin argues that bugs have long been an important part of indigenous diets and cuisines around the world, and investigates our own culture’s bias against their use as a food source. She shines a light on the cutting-edge research of Marcel Dicke and other scientists who are only now beginning to determine the nutritional makeup of insects and champion them as an efficient and sustainable food source.

Whether you love or hate bugs, Edible will radically change the way you think about the global food crisis and perhaps persuade you that insects are much more than a common pest. For the adventurous, the book includes an illustrated list of edible insects, recipes, and instructions on how to raise bugs at home.

Assault Troopers (Extinction Wars Book 1)

 Science Fiction > Colonization

Assault Troopers (Extinction Wars Book 1)

The Earth died when aliens rained thermonuclear warheads on her cities and sprayed the surface with a bio-terminator. A deadly poison drifted to every corner of the planet, threatening the last survivors with annihilation.

For a soldier in Antarctica like Creed, there is only one way to keep breathing untainted air. He must join the Jelk Corporation as an assault trooper, leaving the planet for outer space. In return for his and other people’s services, the Jelk will house the last humans for as long as the assault troopers keep winning.

For the price of living and the chance to save humanity, Creed has to wear a shock chip in his neck—Jelk discipline is harsh—and he has to don a symbiotic battlesuit that feeds off his sweat. Human life is cheap in the vast alien war. The assault troopers are little more than suicide soldiers, but for humanity to escape extinction, they must survive. But Creed didn’t agree to the bargain in order to remain a dog to the aliens. He has a plan, and he’ll need all his cunning to beat the extraterrestrials and begin the road to freedom for the human race.

… See the rest of today’s Editor’s Picks here on page 2

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