Author: Rachael Lucas
FREE
Small Town Romance
Escape with this delightful small town tale full of friendship, love and self-discovery… 🌹✨
Starting again is never easy, especially when you’re nursing a broken heart. Escaping to a cute little English village, gardener Daisy finds two close girlfriends who take her mind off her own problems. Jo’s hiding a secret, and Elaine’s social-media-perfect lifestyle isn’t everything it looks online. 📱💔
Cheered on by lonely octogenarian Thomas, she sets about renovating her parents’ cottage garden – and the attentions of handsome construction boss George aren’t unwelcome. 👷♂️💕 Oh, and there’s handsome veterinarian, Ned, who seems to pop up whenever she turns around. 🐾
Daisy’s life seems to be coming up roses – until she discovers that the garden she’s worked so hard on is under threat and she starts to wonder about George’s real motives. 😰🌺
Packed with charm and a cast of characters you’ll fall in love with – Coming Up Roses is a standalone novel from the bestselling author of the much-loved Auchenmor and Applemore series. 💐
Why this one stands out: Rachael Lucas is a bestselling British author known for her warm, character-driven contemporary romances set in charming villages, and Coming Up Roses delivers everything her fans love. 🇬🇧 The gardening theme provides metaphors for growth and renewal throughout, while Daisy’s journey from heartbreak to fresh start resonates with anyone who’s ever needed to rebuild their life. Lucas populates her village with a rich ensemble: two girlfriends with their own struggles (reminding us everyone’s fighting hidden battles), a lonely octogenarian mentor, and TWO handsome potential love interests creating love triangle tension. The social media commentary (Elaine’s “perfect” Instagram life hiding problems) adds contemporary relevance. The garden-under-threat subplot and George’s questionable motives ensure this isn’t just fluffy romance—there’s genuine conflict and stakes. Perfect for readers who devoured The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, Lucy Diamond’s British cozies, or anyone who finds gardening therapeutic and small English villages irresistible. This is hygge in book form, perfect for escaping into when life feels overwhelming. 🌸📖
Author: Mark Twain
FREE
Classic Action & Adventure Literary Fiction
“All right, then, I’ll go to hell.” 🌊⚡
Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is one of the most important and enduring novels in American literature—a daring, humorous, and deeply human story that explores freedom, conscience, and the journey toward moral truth. 📚✨
Set along the mighty Mississippi River, the novel follows Huck Finn, a rebellious boy escaping the constraints of civilization, and Jim, a runaway enslaved man seeking freedom. Together, they embark on a raft journey through the American South, encountering adventure, danger, and discovery. 🛶
As Huck struggles between the prejudices of his upbringing and the call of his heart, Twain masterfully exposes the hypocrisy of society, the evil of slavery, and the universal longing for liberty and integrity. Written in Twain’s brilliant vernacular style, the novel’s humor and vivid realism bring to life an unforgettable panorama of American life in the 19th century. 🎭
Often hailed as “the first Great American Novel,” Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is both a thrilling adventure and a profound moral exploration—a timeless testament to friendship, courage, and the fight for what is right. 💪💙
Bottom line: This isn’t just a classic—it’s THE classic that Ernest Hemingway claimed all American literature comes from. 🏆 Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) wrote what many consider the most important novel in American canon, a book that’s simultaneously a rollicking adventure story and a devastating critique of racism and slavery. Published in 1884, it was controversial then and remains so now, frequently challenged for its use of racial slurs—yet its message is profoundly anti-racist, showing a white boy choosing to “go to hell” rather than betray his Black friend Jim. That quoted line is one of literature’s most powerful moral declarations: Huck would rather face damnation than do what society calls “right” (returning Jim to slavery). Twain’s use of vernacular dialect was revolutionary, giving voice to characters society dismissed. This influenced everyone from Faulkner to Toni Morrison. Yes, it requires historical context and thoughtful reading, but its themes—questioning authority, moral courage, the bonds of friendship across racial lines—remain urgently relevant. Essential reading for understanding American literature, history, and the ongoing struggle with our racist past. 📖💎
Author: Janet Dawson
FREE
Amateur Sleuth Mysteries
ALL FOUR JILL McLEOD CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR MYSTERIES IN A BOX SET. 🚂🔍
Zephyrette Jill McLeod is armed with good instincts and her knowledge of human nature, skills that serve her well when murder rides the train. 💼✨
DEATH RIDES THE ZEPHYR
A COLD-BLOODED KILLER. A COLD, REMOTE CANYON. A MURDERED PASSENGER. 💀❄️
Zephyrette Jill McLeod spends her working days answering questions, taking dinner reservations, or providing first aid. She can usually solve any problem. But she wasn’t counting on a missing passenger—and a body in a sleeper car. 🛏️⚡
What pulled me in: Janet Dawson (remember her excellent Jeri Howard PI series?) delivers something wonderfully nostalgic and unique: mysteries set on 1950s passenger trains featuring a “Zephyrette”—the specially trained women who served as hostesses on the famous California Zephyr. 🎩 This is a brilliant setting for cozy-ish mysteries: confined space (locked room potential!), diverse passengers from all walks of life, stunning scenery from Chicago to San Francisco, and the golden age of rail travel glamour. Jill McLeod is observant, capable, and has access to every passenger car, making her perfectly positioned to notice what’s wrong. You’re getting FOUR complete novels in this boxset—exceptional value for readers who love historical mysteries with strong female sleuths. The 1950s setting provides period detail without the darker elements of earlier eras, offering both nostalgia and social history. Perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen’s historical mysteries, Agatha Christie’s train-set mysteries like Murder on the Orient Express, or anyone fascinated by the romance of vintage rail travel. This is Murder, She Wrote meets The Polar Express for grown-ups. All aboard! 🚂📚
A Pinch of Salt (Three Sisters Catering Book 1)
Author: Bethany Lopez
Regularly $3.99, Today $1.99
Contemporary Romance
For the past year, talented chef Millie has been consumed with running her new catering business with her sisters, Dru and Tasha. It isn’t until Jackson walks through their door that she realizes something may be missing in the recipe of her life. 👩🍳💕
For the past year, Jackson has been dealing with the fallout of his wife’s abandonment. He’s had to learn how to be a single father to their eight-year-old daughter, and will do anything to fill the void her mother left. 👨👧💔 It isn’t until he commissions Millie for his daughter’s birthday party that he realizes he’s forgotten that he’s not only a father, but a man.
They both think they’re content in their lives, but sometimes the right amount of spice can turn an okay dish into a magnificent one. A Pinch of Salt may be all that’s needed to bring Millie and Jackson the flavor they’ve been missing. ✨🧂
Why this one stands out: Bethany Lopez launches a series about three sisters running a catering business together, immediately establishing found family dynamics and a built-in supporting cast for future books. 💪 The culinary theme runs throughout (that title! that metaphor!), appealing to foodies and anyone who finds cooking romantic. Both leads are in healing phases—Millie focused on business after implied heartbreak, Jackson learning single parenthood after his wife’s abandonment—making this about two wounded people finding each other rather than desperate singles. The daughter adds layers; any romance must work for her too, raising stakes beyond just the couple. Lopez writes sweet contemporary romance with emotional depth, avoiding the trap of making food the only personality trait. The “Three Sisters Catering” series title promises family dynamics, sibling support, and hopefully each sister gets her own book. Perfect for readers who loved The Coincidence of Coconut Cake, Susan Mallery’s family sagas, or anyone seeking contemporary romance where the heroine’s ambitions matter as much as the romance. The cooking metaphors might be on-the-nose, but sometimes that’s exactly what comfort romance should be. 🥘📚
Author: Elaine Manders
Regularly $3.99, Today $1.99
Western & Frontier Romance
A sweet historical western love story with heart-pounding danger. 🤠💕
Ethan Wilkes plans to go west to start a horse ranch, but he sure isn’t ready for a wife, especially a grieving widow, great with child. But his Aunt Milly, proprietress of the Western Home and Hearts Matrimonial Agency, disagrees. 💌 She believes Lacy Avant is perfect for him, and after she explains Lacy’s plight, he heads to Montana Territory. When he arrives in Buffalo Run to claim his mail-order bride, he finds Lacy fighting a ruthless rancher who’s taken over the town, run off half the farmers, and murdered her husband. 🔫💀
Can he win Lacy’s heart while hunting down the killer before he strikes again? Can Lacy trust Ethan with her life and her heart? And is the land really worth the risk of losing another husband? 💔⚡
The bullets will fly and faith and love will be tested in this fast-paced Christian romance set in untamed Montana Territory, the first in a new multi-author series taken from case files of the eccentric matchmaker who runs the Westward Home and Hearts Matrimonial Agency. 🌾✨
The appeal: Elaine Manders kicks off a multi-author historical romance series with a matchmaking premise that guarantees variety and interconnected stories. 💑 The mail-order bride trope is enduringly popular in western romance, and Manders adds excellent twists: the bride is pregnant with another man’s child (testing Ethan’s honor), grieving her murdered husband (emotional complexity), and fighting a land-grabbing villain (external conflict beyond just romance). This isn’t fluffy courtship—there’s a killer to catch, a corrupt rancher to defeat, and a pregnant widow who’s understandably wary of trusting another man. The Christian element keeps content clean while exploring faith under pressure. “Aunt Milly” as eccentric matchmaker suggests humor alongside drama, and the multi-author series means if you love this world, there are more stories coming from different writers. Perfect for fans of Tracie Peterson, Jody Hedlund, or anyone seeking inspirational western romance with adventure, danger, and guaranteed happy endings. This is Lonesome Dove meets Christian romance. 🐴📖
Author: Kaitlyn Rivers
Regularly $2.99, Today $1.49
Lesbian/Sapphic Bodyguard Romance
Reclusive author Darian Sanderson is being stalked, and there’s only one security expert she trusts to keep her alive.
Brooke Ryder swore she’d never again allow Darian to shatter her heart. 💔🔒 But when chilling photos and escalating threats make it clear someone is dangerously obsessed with the famous author, professional obligation overrides their painful history.
As security breaches intensify and the stalker’s methods turn alarmingly sophisticated, Brooke realizes this is far from an ordinary case. 🕵️♀️⚡
Forced into close quarters, old flames reignite, and hidden desires resurface, but trusting each other again could be their biggest risk yet. 🔥💕
A hot and spicy second-chance bodyguard romance thriller where passion might prove even deadlier than the threat itself. 😈📖
What makes this special: Kaitlyn Rivers delivers sapphic romantic suspense that combines three beloved tropes: second-chance romance (they have painful history!), bodyguard protection (forced proximity! competent professional!), and celebrity in danger (stalker escalation!). 🌈 The reclusive author detail adds vulnerability—Darian’s already isolated, making the stalking more terrifying and Brooke’s protection more intimate. The “sophisticated” stalker methods suggest this isn’t some amateur fan but someone with skills, raising genuine threat levels. Rivers promises “hot and spicy,” signaling this delivers steam alongside suspense, catering to readers seeking LGBTQ+ romantic thrillers with explicit content. The emotional core—can they trust each other again?—provides internal conflict matching the external danger. Perfect for fans of The Bodyguard reimagined as sapphic romance, readers who loved One Last Stop, or anyone seeking LGBTQ+ representation in romantic suspense with genuine heat and genuine danger. This is Lucy Score’s Things We Never Got Over meets a Tess Gerritsen thriller with queer leads. Rivers proves sapphic romance can be just as thrilling and steamy as any het romance. 🔥📚
… See the rest of today ‘s Book Picks here on page 3Page 3