Most authors will tell you they had a burning desire to write since the age of three. But not Julie Ortolon. She hated reading, and never imagined she’d someday be a writer. The fact that she has dyslexia had a lot to do with her aversion to books.
Nevertheless, Julie was blessed with an active imagination, and spent most of her school years staring out the window dreaming up stories. When she finally escaped the “torture” of public school, she attended Schreiner University in Kerrville, Texas, which specializes in programs for students with learning disabilities. With the help of a school administrator who typed out one of her short stories, Julie entered a writing contest and won first place. Today she has three popular romance series to her name.
Julie tops today’s Buffet with Book 1 of her “Perfect Trilogy” series, Almost Perfect, a sensual contemporary romance.
As a native Texan, Julie divides her time between her home on Lake Travis outside Austin, Texas, and the mountains of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
As usual, each book listed here has gone FREE within the past 24 hours (except for the “Kindle Daily Deals” on page 3). 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.)
Almost Perfect (Perfect Trilogy)
Romance > Contemporary
Author: Julie Ortolon
- $3.99 List Price
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A free spirit and a reformed bad boy — a perfect match?
Maddy was always the artistic one of the group, alive with color and mischief from her saucy red curls to her vintage hippie skirts. Her challenge, the friends decide, is to get her artwork accepted at a gallery. A job as arts director at a summer camp near Santa Fe—with its multitude of galleries—seems like a start in the right direction.
There’s just one catch: The camp is run by Maddy’s high school flame, Joe, whose heart she broke—okay, smashed—and his anger towards Maddy hasn’t cooled one bit. But neither has their attraction.
Old desires burn hotter than ever as Joe makes it clear there’s only one way back to his heart: She has to get serious about her art. But will falling in love help or hinder Maddy as she struggles to meet her challenge?
Created, The Destroyer
Genre Fiction > Men’s Adventure
Author: Richard Sapir, Warren Murphy
When you’re on death row, minutes from the electric chair, and a hook-handed monk offers to save your life if you’ll just swallow a simple little pill… what’ve you got to lose? You take the pill. Then you wake up, officially “dead,” in the back of an ambulance, headed for an undisclosed location. Welcome to your new life, working for CURE, the most secret, most deniable, most extra-judicial government agency ever to exist. Only the President knows about it, and even he doesn’t control it.
That’s what happened to Remo Williams, a New Jersey cop framed for a murder he didn’t commit. Framed by the very people who saved him, in fact. And now, trained in esoteric martial arts by Chiun, master of Sinanju, he’s going to become the ultimate killing machine. Remo will be America’s last line of defense against mad scientists, organized crime, ancient undead gods, and anything else that threatens the Constitution. Remo Williams is the Destroyer.
An action-adventure series leavened with social and political satire, the Destroyer novels have been thrilling readers worldwide for decades.
Blood Ties (Little Town)
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Police Procedurals
Author: JD Nixon
Police officer Tess Fuller has her hands full trying to maintain order in a poorly-resourced small mountain town overrun by the beautiful, arrogant and lawless Bycraft family. And nobody in town has suffered at their hands as much as the Fuller family. But what will her new sergeant, Finn Maguire, a serious by-the-books city cop, think of her renegade policing style? And will they be able to work together to save Tess’ life when her feud with the Bycrafts escalates dangerously, while also trying to solve the intersecting mysteries of possible land fraud, an abandoned suitcase of money and a peeping tom with a preference for older women?
The Cure
Christian Fiction > Suspense
Author: Athol Dickson
Riley Keep, former missionary, now a drunk, is begging on the streets and desperate to forget a past he lost in one far-flung act of wickedness. Then he hears the rumors. Miracles are happening in the picture postcard village of Dublin, Maine.
Riley isn’t the only Pilgrim searching for deliverance. There’s the old woman fleeing a horrific monster, the lonely wife tempted by forbidden desire, the impoverished lobsterman lured by tainted wealth, the young girl weighing life and death decisions, and the small town cop with a murder on his hands. But only Riley keep will learn if it’s true what people say: sometimes The Cure is much worse than the disease.
Afraid – A Novel of Terror
Horror > Occult
Author: J.A. Konrath, Jack Kilborn
Welcome to Safe Haven, population 907…
Nestled in the woods of Wisconsin, Safe Haven is miles from everything. With one road in and out, this is a town so peaceful it has never needed a full-time police force. Until now…
A helicopter has crashed on the outskirts of town and something terrible has been unleashed. A classified secret weapon programmed to kill anything that stands in its way. Now it’s headed for the nearest lights to do what it does best. Isolate. Terrorize. Annihilate.
Soon all phone lines are dead and the road is blocked. Safe Haven’s only chance for survival rests on the shoulders of an aging county sheriff. And as the body count rises, the sheriff realizes something even more terrifying — maybe death hasn’t come to his little town by accident…
Moon Wreck: First Contact
Science Fiction > Adventure > Short Stories
Author: Raymond L. Weil
Disaster has struck the first moon landing to be attempted in years. Commander Jason Strong and his fellow lunar explorer Greg Johnson have become stranded with no way home. In desperation, they set off in their lunar rover to check out an anomaly they discovered on their descent. What they find will shake their beliefs and what they know of human history.
Amelia’s story
Biographies & Memoirs
Author: D.G Torrens
- $2.50 List Price
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Amelia has just one wish, to make it to adulthood, to hold her destiny in her own hands. Amelia has been separated from all her siblings never to see them again for many years, she is moved from one children’s home to another, until finally it’s just too much for her to bear. Amelia starts to wonder about the peace and finality of her own death.
Dire Means
Thrillers > Technothrillers
Author: Geoffrey Neil
- $2.99 List Price
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Can terror breed love? What if a ruthless vigilante ended homelessness in one of America’s most affluent, coveted beach-side cities in a matter of days? In Dire Means this phenomenon occurs in an unforgettable way. The ambitious mission isn’t accomplished by any persuasive appeal to public benevolence or by relocating the homeless. The ingenious method aims carefully-targeted fear at the public’s apathy toward the impoverished. The bodies of people from all walks of life begin to show up in random places, one per day. Each victim has suffered a common, horrific fate that makes the vigilante’s demands clear. Citizens quickly learn that engaging in flagrant public displays of kindness is the only way to feel safe outside their homes.
The Indie Author’s Guide to the Universe
Writing, Research & Publishing Guides
Author: Jeff Bennington
This book is designed to encourage and inspire authors in their craft, and give creative ideas that can improve sales and grow an author platform.If you bought a book about self-publishing 6 months ago, it is ancient history. This guide Includes Helpful Information Like:
- Encouraging Stories
- How to Build a Blog Tour
- Your Role as Marketer
- Marketing Strategies
- Your Role as Publisher
- Author Blogging
- How to Build an Author Platform
- Selling and Price-point Strategies
- Strategies for Navigating Amazon’s KDP Select Program
- Understanding the Indie Author Movement
Killer in Sight (A Tom Lackey Mystery)
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Author: Sandra Carrington-Smith
When a young woman is found murdered in a public park, it is up to RPD detective Lt. Tom Lackey to locate her killer. With the help of his longtime girlfriend and professional photographer, Kathy Spencer, Lackey unravels a mystery laden with psychosis and unexpected revelations. While Tom is busy following the multiple clues pouring in from different directions, Kathy gets to work to prove her own theory: The last image viewed by the dying person can be lifted from the eyes of the victim to identify the murderer.
Using her background in photography and her passion for iridology, Kathy enlists the help of Dr. Greer, a snow-haired medical examiner who allows her to take shots of Tracey Newman’s eyes. Her findings are puzzling, but they are supported by Alexis Howard, the dead girl’s ten-year-old half sister who volunteers information she claims was delivered to her by her imaginary friend Lily.
Touched (The Marnie Baranuik Files)
Romance > Fantasy & Futuristic
Author: A.J. Aalto
The media has a nickname for Marnie Baranuik, though she’d rather they didn’t; they call her the Great White Shark, a rare dual-talented forensic psychic. Twice-Touched by the Blue Sense–which gives her the ability to feel the emotions of others, and read impressions left behind on objects–Marnie also has a doctorate in preternatural biology and a working knowledge of the dark arts. She is considered without peer in the psychic community.
Then her first big FBI case ended with a bullet in one shoulder and a chip on the other, a queasy heart and a serial killer in the wind, leaving her a public flop and a private wreck. When the FBI’s preternatural crimes unit tracks her down at a remote mountain lodge for her insight on a local case, her quiet retirement is promptly besieged by a stab-happy starlet, a rampaging ghoul, and a vampire-hunting jackass in tight Wranglers. Marnie figures the only real mystery is which one will kill her first.
Too mean to die young, backed up by friends in cold places, and running with a mouth as demure as a cannon’s blast, Marnie Baranuik is about to discover that there’s no such thing as quitting time when you’re Touched.
No Such Thing as a Secret: A Brandy Alexander Mystery
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Author: Shelly Fredman
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Meet Brandy Alexander, a young woman from South Philadelphia with a big mouth, an even bigger heart and a little problem with impulse control. It’s not her fault trouble seems to follow her around. Okay, it is her fault, but why quibble over details?
When Brandy (a puff piece reporter for a local Los Angeles TV news station) returns to her hometown after a four year absence, she is thrilled to be reunited with friends and family. But her joy is short-lived when her best friend, John, becomes the victim of a tragic accident. Brandy is alone in thinking that the death is “no accident” and as she sets out to prove her theory, she stumbles upon a political scandal of major proportions.
The Weight of Glass
Thrillers > Suspense
Author: Stuart Heatherington
- $2.99 List Price
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Hidden in Amy Macon’s memoir, as much a mystery as a survival guide for a torturous childhood, is the need to stitch together the fabric of a family’s dark history.
Her brother, Lee Macon, can’t forget waking up inside his mother’s coffin or the memory of the man who put him there. That’s a secret he’s kept from Amy for 30 years. But if there’s one thing they understand, it’s out of a houseful of children, only two of them remain alive. Now, in the wake of their youngest sister’s murder, Amy must have the truth, knowing it will ease the scars brought on by time, if not the ones carved in her wrists.
Miss America By Day: Lessons Learned from Ultimate Betrayals and Unconditional Love
Mental Health > Sexual Abuse
Author: Marilyn Van Derbur
- $9.95 List Price
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Van Derbur, a former Miss America, tells the story of how she was sexually violated by her father from age 5 to age 18. She was 53 years old before she was able to speak the words in public: “I am an incest survivor.” She opened the door for tens of thousands of sexual abuse survivors to speak the words, many for the first time, within their own families and communities.Van Derbur describes in detail what specific “work” she did on her successful journey from victim to survivor. Using her story as the scaffolding, she shares knowledge and insights she has gained after talking personally with adult survivors in 225 cities in which she has spoken. With her extensive research on the long-term impact of trauma and her belief that prevention is the best weapon for keeping our children safe, Van Derbur urges parents to talk to children, as young as five. Suggesting specific words, she helps set the stage for conversations that can evolve into positive continuous dialogues.
Restorations (Oregon In Love)
Religious Fiction > Romance
Author: Bonnie Blythe
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In a small Oregon community, Sara Andersen finds herself in possession of an old farmhouse in desperate need of renovations. Brian Farris is a builder who is new in town, but intimately acquainted with Sara. His purpose is not to restore only the house, but his relationship with her. The only problem is that Sara doesn’t believe Brian has undergone any soulful renovations of his own.
A Horse Called September
Children’s eBooks > Literature > Classics
Author: Anne Digby
The moving story of a passionate friendship between two girls growing up together on an isolated Devon farm in the 1970s, the break-up of that friendship — and the horse that changed their lives forever.
Now available as an eBook for the first time, Anne Digby’s debut novel is a childhood favourite both with English-speaking readers and with readers of various editions in translation.
The Abigail Affair
Thrillers > Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue
Author: Timothy Frost
Toby Robinson, twenty-two and broke, lands a job as deckhand on a Russian billionaire’s yacht. On his first night aboard he is framed for the murder of a guest. And that’s just the start of his problems. His attractive crewmate Julia seems to be the only one on his side – but can he trust her? With his mobile phone confiscated, armed only with a winning smile and a flair for mixing cocktails, can Toby foil the sinister international conspiracy that threatens to entangle him? It’s New Year’s Eve and something terrible will happen at midnight. Time is running out, and so are Toby’s options …
The Old Man & The Monkey
Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths
Author: George Polley
- $1.99 List Price
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A stunningly beautiful story of a relationship which develops between an old man and a creature which is regarded as a dangerous pest in Japan, a snow monkey, in George Polley’s moving allegory of dignity in the face of racism.
Cry Baby Hollow
Fantasy > Contemporary
Author: Aimee Love
When Aubrey Guinn comes to Eastern Tennessee to help Vina, an aging family friend, werewolves are the furthest things from her mind. She is preoccupied with more mundane concerns, like keeping Vina’s ingrate step-children from putting her in a nursing home, avoiding the advances of her handsome but dim witted neighbor, and keeping her mailbox away from the good old boys baseball bats. It isn’t until Aubrey finds the body of a local boy, gruesomely murdered, that she begins to see that life in the country is anything but slow, and werewolves are far from what Hollywood had led her to expect.
If It Ain’t Love
Romance > Gay & Lesbian
Author: Tamara Allen
- $0.99 List Price
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In the darkest days of the Great Depression, New York Times reporter Whit Stoddard has lost the heart to do his job and lives a lonely hand-to-mouth existence with little hope of recovery, until he meets Peter, a man in even greater need of new hope.
Noble Intentions: Season One (Episodes 1-5)
Thrillers > Suspense
Author: L.T. Ryan
Jack Noble. Assassin for hire. Spy. Thief. He makes no mistakes. Passes no judgement. Feels no remorse. So why does he stop to help a lost child moments before he’s supposed to complete a deal with one of the east coast’s top crime bosses?
A simple decision that places Jack in unfamiliar territory. He’s become the hunted and finds himself in a race against time to save those closest to him.
Verity
Teens > Romance
Author: Claire Farrell
- $2.99 List Price
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Sixteen-year-old Perdita Rivers has spent her entire sheltered life being told what to do. Lately, she’s felt ready for a change, and the universe seems to agree. Her new best friend’s brother is the boy of Perdita’s dreams. Literally.
Even though he plays hot and cold, she’s sure there’s more to it, but she’s kind of distracted by the sense she’s being followed – not to mention the rumours of wild animal sightings that seem to mean more to her new crush’s family than they should. Perdy’s on a mission to find the truth, but maybe the truth is the danger she should hide from, after all.
… See the rest of today’s Editor’s Picks and the Kindle Daily Deal here on page 2
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