Denise Grover Swank tops today’s Buffet with her humorous southern mystery, Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes, the first book in her “Rose Gardner” series. As one reviewer put it, “Though much of the book is light-hearted and occasionally outright hilarious, the author sneaks in a few home truths along the way that will hit you where it counts.”
Denise is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author who writes a wide range of fiction — urban fantasies (without vampires and werewolves), romantic comedy mysteries set in the south, and sexy new-adult contemporary romances.
Denise has been writing since the fourth grade. In the fall of 2009, she began participating in NaNoWriMo, and the rest, as they say, is history. She has six children, three dogs, and an overactive imagination.
As usual, each book listed here has gone FREE within the past 24 hours, except for the Bargain books in the yellow section. 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.)
Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes
Romantic Comedy > Mystery & Suspense
Author: Denise Grover Swank
- $0.99 List Price
- See Kindle Price at Amazon.com
For Rose Gardner, working at the DMV on a Friday afternoon is bad even before she sees a vision of herself dead. She’s had plenty of visions, usually boring ones like someone’s toilet’s overflowed, but she’s never seen one of herself before. When her overbearing momma winds up murdered on her sofa instead, two things are certain: There isn’t enough hydrogen peroxide in the state of Arkansas to get that stain out, and Rose is the prime suspect.
Rose realizes she’s wasted twenty-four years of living and makes a list on the back of a Wal-Mart receipt: twenty-eight things she wants to accomplish before her vision comes true. She’s well on her way with the help of her next door neighbor Joe, who has no trouble teaching Rose the rules of drinking, but won’t help with number fifteen– do more with a man. Joe’s new to town, but it doesn’t take a vision for Rose to realize he’s got plenty secrets of his own.
Somebody thinks Rose has something they want and they’ll do anything to get it. Her house is broken into, someone else she knows is murdered, and suddenly, dying a virgin in the Fenton County jail isn’t her biggest worry after all.
Dead Center
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Author: Danielle Girard
Fifteen years ago, the Rookie Club began as a tight-knit band of female cops struggling for respect from their male peers. Jamie Vail was one of them. So was Natasha Devlin, the woman Jamie caught in bed with her husband.
When Natasha Devlin turns up dead, Jamie wants nothing to do with the investigation. As a seasoned inspector in the sex crimes department, Jamie is facing her own terrifying case—female officers are being brutalized by a stranger leaving no clues. The Rookie Club is under attack, possibly by one of their own.
Now, Jamie must confront her past and solve the murder of her ex-husband’s lover before she becomes the killer’s ultimate prize.
Fortune’s Mistress
Historical Romance > Regency
Author: Mary Chase Comstock
In London society, girls are warned about the perils of hoydenish behavior. Their reputation once lost can never be retrieved. This is the story of Marianne Gardiner, one who fell from grace and into a world the ton never mentions. Is she lost forever, or will love save her from the fate of being Fortune’s Mistress?
Pregnant with the child of a man betrothed to another woman, London beauty Marianne Gardiner seeks refuge and anonymity in a remote English village, where she encounters the charming Dr. Alden Venables, a physician who harbors his own shocking secret.
College Unbound: The Future of Higher Education and What It Means for Students
Education & Reference > College & University
Author: Jeffrey J. Selingo
Regular Price $12.99, Today $1.99
What is the value of a college degree?
The four-year college experience is as American as apple pie. So is the belief that higher education offers a ticket to a better life. But with student-loan debt surpassing the $1 trillion mark and unemployment of college graduates at historic highs, people are beginning to question that value.
Selingo argues that America’s higher education system is broken. The great credential race has turned universities into big business and fostered an environment where middle-tier colleges can command elite university-level tuition while concealing staggeringly low graduation rates, churning out graduates with few of the skills needed for a rapidly evolving job market.
Selingo not only turns a critical eye on the current state of higher education but also predicts how technology will transform it for the better. Free massive online open courses (MOOCs) and hybrid classes, adaptive learning software, and the unbundling of traditional degree credits will increase access to high-quality education regardless of budget or location and tailor lesson plans to individual needs. One thing is certain—the Class of 2020 will have a radically different college experience than their parents.
Incisive, urgent, and controversial, College (Un)bound is a must-read for prospective students, parents, and anyone concerned with the future of American higher education.
101 Stovetop Suppers (Gooseberry Patch)
Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Quick & Easy
Author: Gooseberry Patch
Regular Price: $11.99, Today $1.99
When schedules are busy, the time to make good, wholesome dinners often can be cut short…until now! We’ve gathered our best single-skillet meals and paired each with a full-color photo for 101 Stovetop Suppers. Not only is each one super-simple, but one pan, pot or skillet means less clean-up and more time to spend with family & friends.
Starting things off is a whole chapter dedicated to quick & simple recipes that are short on time but big on taste. Whip up a pan of Pepperoni Tortellini, Kickin’ Cajun Tilapia or Honey Chicken & Carrots in the blink of an eye. When you find yourself with a little more time to spare, try one of the slowly-simmered dishes like Low Country Shrimp Boil, Buttermilk Fried Chicken and Family-Favorite Pork Tacos…sure to be a hit with everyone.
There’s also an entire chapter dedicated to recipes that make enough to feed a crowd. They’ll come in handy when entertaining or even at the holidays! When family & friends gather, you’ll love treating them to Mom’s Chicken Riggies, Hunting Cabin Chili or some Seafood Linguini with a Kick. To top it all off, each chapter has a perfect pair of dessert recipes to put the cherry on top! Dark Chocolate & Hazelnut Blondies, Simple Skillet Peaches and Pineapple Pudding are all deliciously sweet & simple endings to a perfect dinner.
So forget the oven and toss together dinner on the stovetop…just a skillet, pot or pan are all you need to whip up a tasty, memorable meal.
Changing Lanes: A Novel
Women’s Fiction > Domestic Life
Author: Kathleen Long
Regular Price: $9.99, Today $1.99
Abby Halladay has the perfect life. Or, rather, she will…as long as everything goes exactly according to plan. Abby never leaves anything to chance—not her job as a syndicated columnist, not her engagement to her fiancé, Fred, and certainly not her impending wedding in Paris (New Jersey, that is).
Unfortunately for Abby, even the best-laid plans often go awry—like when Fred runs away to Paris (France, that is), her column is canned, and her dream home is diagnosed with termites. Forced to move back in with her parents and drive her dad’s cab, Abby’s perfect life has now officially become the perfect disaster.
Then a funny thing happens. Slowly but surely, Abby begins letting go of her dreams of perfection. As she does, the messy, imperfect life she thought she never wanted starts to feel exactly like the one she needs.
Poignant and heartfelt, Changing Lanes celebrates the unexpected joys of everyday life—and the enduring promise of second chances.
Getting Abs: Four Weeks to a Flat, Ripped Stomach
Exercise & Fitness > Ab Workouts
Author: Adam Bornstein
Regular Price: $26.99, Today $3.99
The essential diet and fitness guide to lean, ripped abs—including a results-driven 4-week program to lose weight, strengthen your core, and chisel your entire body.
Call it a spare tire, muffin top, or paunch. Men consistently cite their belly as their biggest problem area—and it is often the toughest final pounds to lose. Not anymore!Whether your eating habits have been affected by stress, your body has changed with age, or you’re constantly doing crunches without results, it’s time to blast belly fat the right way. Using the comprehensive, week-by-week eating and exercise plan, you can lose up to 20 pounds in 6 weeks—and keep it off, forever.
The Men’s Health Big Book: Getting Abs special features include:
- Quick effective routines that replace boring, painful crunches
- Manly (and healthy) recipes that take less than 15 minutes to prepare!
- Hundreds of tips on how to emphasize muscle definition and six-pack abs!
Including a step-by-step, 4-week eating and exercise plan, easy-to-prepare recipes, and hundreds of exercises, The Men’s Health Big Book: Getting Abs is the ultimate guide to a leaner, fitter, sexier body.
Orphan Train: A Novel
Women’s Fiction > Friendship
Author: Christina Baker Kline
Regular Price: $9.99, Today $1.99.
Orphan Train is a gripping story of friendship and second chances from Christina Baker Kline, author of Bird in Hand and The Way Life Should Be.
Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to “aging out” out of the foster care system. A community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse…
As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance.
Molly discovers that she has the power to help Vivian find answers to mysteries that have haunted her for her entire life – answers that will ultimately free them both.
Curious George
Children’s Books > Humor
Author: H. A. Rey, Margret Rey
Regular Price: $6.99, Today $0.99
In this, the original book about the curious monkey, George is taken from the jungle by the man in the yellow hat to live in a new home, but—oh, what happened! Though trying to be good, George is still very curious and takes a swim in the ocean, escapes from jail, and goes for a flying ride on a bunch of balloons. This treasured classic is where it all began for the curious, loveable monkey and is a must have for any children’s book collection.
Conflict of Interest
Thrillers > Legal
Author: Scott Pratt
A six-year-old girl is kidnapped from her bed in Tennessee’s oldest town.
The ransom note demands millions.
In this fifth installment of the highly-acclaimed and bestselling Joe Dillard series, Dillard is hired to represent the parents of a child who has gone missing. As the clock ticks, Dillard desperately tries to find the little girl, but the return of his wife’s dreaded disease and the stunning appearance of his father combine to push Dillard to his emotional limit.
ALTDORF, a Historical Novel of Switzerland
Fantasy > Historical
Author: J. K. Swift
- $4.95 List Price
- See Kindle Price at Amazon.com
At the end of the thirteenth century, five hundred orphans and second sons are rounded up from villages in the Alpine countryside and sold to the Hospitaller Knights of St John. Trained to serve as Soldiers of Christ, they fight in eastern lands they know nothing about, for a cause they do not understand.
Thomas Schwyzer, released from his vows by the Grandmaster of the Hospitallers, returns to the land of his birth a stranger. Once a leader of men, and captain of the Order’s most famous war galley, he now settles into the simple life of a ferryman. He believes this new role to be God’s reward for years of faithful service fighting the Infidel in Outremer.
Seraina, considered a witch by most, a healer by some, is a young woman with a purpose. A Priestess of the Old Religion, and the last Druid disciple of the Helvetii Celts, she has been gifted by the Great Weave to see what others cannot. Her people need her guidance and protection now more than ever. For Duke Leopold of Habsburg, in his efforts to control the St. Gotthard Pass, builds a great Austrian fortress in Altdorf. Once finished, the Habsburg occupation will be complete, but the atrocities visited upon her people will have just begun.
Joe
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Crime Fiction
Author: H. D. Gordon
A story that will take you into the mind of a genuine psychopath, the lives of six ordinary people, and the world of a very special girl named Joe.
Joe is seemingly an ordinary college student. She works, studies and reads. But in between these activities, Joe has a gift that promises to add a dose of color to her life at any given moment. Joe sees things before they happen. Bad things, and the worst thing she has ever faced is just around the corner. Someone is planning a massacre at the college university Joe attends, and the only person with a hope of stopping the psychopath is her. Oh, the beauty of foresight. More like a curse. Joe has four days to figure out the mystery, make plans to take down the psycho, and save the lives of people. People like you and me. Ordinary people.
Going Out in Style
Short Stories > Single Author
Author: Daniel Kelley
The phrase ‘Going Out’ can be defined in so many ways: an exit, an ending, a single date, or a description of an entire relationship! Add ‘In Style’ to this, and the possibilities within the world of fiction become extraordinary.
“Going Out in Style” is a 28,000-word collection of six stories from the master of the short story, Daniel Kelley.
In “Performer,” it’s Thomas L. Blatten’s final day at work. After 42 years of playing the same chair in a symphony orchestra, he has concocted his own special way to say goodbye and thank you. During a concert! And he isn’t entirely sure what to expect from the audience or his fellow musicians as the performance unfolds…
“Bathtub Ripples” is Andie’s tale. Abused years before by an uncle, she’s found that everything in her life has a bit of a sour taste, and nothing ever quite jells with the opposite sex. Exploring her past with both solemnity and humor, Andie reflects on how she ended up where she is, and why she’s been unable to change.
Selling Scarlett
Romance > New Adult & College > Suspense
Author: Ella James
Elizabeth DeVille doesn’t belong at a party like this – one where the gowns cost more than her Camry and cigars run higher than her grad school utility bills. Dragged out of seclusion by her best friend Suri, Elizabeth is merely playing dress-up, rubbing elbows with a crowd that banished her troubled family years ago.
Hunter West is tired. Tired of parties, tired of pretending, and tired of trying to right a wrong that haunts him every day. Bourbon heir and professional poker player by day, by night Hunter is gambling with his life in a high-stakes game of crime and blackmail.
When Elizabeth stumbles into Hunter’s den of vices, she’s a light in the darkness, a flame in the void. And, just like everything he touches, Hunter mars her in a record time. To rectify the damage done, Elizabeth needs money she doesn’t have, and she’s come up with a foolproof way to get it.
One Life to Ride – A Motorcycle Journey to the High Himalayas
Memoirs > Road Travel > Motorcycles
Author: Ajit Harisinghani
Travelling across India on a motorcycle is an intimate way to get acquainted with its myriad cultures, each with their unique beliefs and lifestyle.
One Life to Ride takes you across the hot and dusty plains of India to the highest motorable road in the world — the fabled Khardung-La in Ladakh.
Along the way you’ll meet Sufi saints, fake fakirs and homesick soldiers.
You’ll get stuck in an icy road river and be miraculously rescued.
You’ll feel the stress an average Kashmiri experiences everyday. You’ll see how blind and dangerous religion can be if it is only followed in rituals and illogical beliefs.
Grandma’s natural cleaning and stain removal secrets
Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Green Housecleaning
Author: Anton Smithers
Save thousands of dollars by making all your own cleaning an stain removal products from home.
With just a few simple ingredients you can economically and sustainably clean you home naturally without any hard to the environment. Also virtually all of these ingredients are safe to use around children and will prevent any allergies caused by harsh chemicals. After picking Grandma’s brains I managed to get down on paper all her cleaning secrets and share them here with you. In this book we tell you how to make your own natural purpose cleaners, dishwasher tablets, and dishwasher cleanser.
Intuition & Psychic Ability: Your Spiritual GPS
Religion & Spirituality > Occult > ESP
Author: Jennifer O’Neill
Discover something Scientists have been trying to understand for years…the “true reason” behind intuition and psychic ability. Whether you consider yourself a beginner or advanced, “Intuition & Psychic Ability: Your Spiritual GPS” will answer questions you probably didn’t even know you had.
In The Book You Will Learn:
- What is Intuition?
- Psychic development
- How your psychic senses are most likely already affecting you and your life.
- Find out how to harness and develop your own intuition & psychic ability.
… See the rest of today’s Editor’s Picks here on page 2