A native New Englander, Lisa Norato lives in a historic village with homes and churches dating as far back as the eighteenth century. Lisa writes Christian seafaring romance of suspense and adventure set during New England’s federal era. She also enjoys exploring early American daily life with her fellow bloggers on the Colonial Quills blog.
Lisa tops today’s Buffet with Prize of My Heart, a historical romance which takes place in 1815 Boston and on the high seas.
Lisa has received critical praise for her romantic fiction from reviewers such as Publishers Weekly, Booklist and RT Book Reviews. Her previous novels include a western time travel and a contemporary romantic comedy.
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.
Prize of My Heart
Romance > Historical > Christian Fiction
Author: Lisa Norato
An unsolved mystery separates ex-privateersman Captain Brogan Talvis from his lost son–his only living relation, his only family.
Shortly before her tragic demise, his wife abandoned their infant to strangers, refusing to reveal the child’s whereabouts. Now, three years later, Brogan has discovered the boy at the home of a shipbuilder’s daughter, Lorena Huntley.
Lorena guards a dark secret about her young charge. She finds herself falling for the heroic captain who has come to claim his newly built ship, unaware his motive for wooing her is to befriend the boy he plans on reclaiming as his own–until the day another’s evil deceit leaves her helplessly shipbound, heading toward England.
As the perfect opportunity to reclaim his son unfolds, Brogan is haunted by thoughts of Lorena in her dire circumstance, and he is forced to make a heartrending choice between his child and the woman who has begun to capture his heart. But only his unselfish sacrifice can win him the greatest prize of all–love.
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FAKE! The Life of the Premier Art Forger of Our Time
Arts & Literature > Artists, Architects & Photographers
Author: Clifford Irving
The Chicago Tribune called this book “The wild, true story of three men who raped the art world . . . one of the most sophisticated suspense sagas of our time.” It’s an incredible tale of three rogues who swindled oil tycoons, movie stars, top art galleries and great museums, and almost caused the collapse of the international art world.
It was the inspiration for filmmaker Orson Welles’ last major movie, “F For Fake,” now a cult classic.
Where? – London, Paris, New York, Texas, Tokyo, and the decadent, sunny Mediterranean island of Ibiza, now the disco capital of Europe.
Who? — Elmyr de Hory: an elegant Jewish aristocrat whom World War II had stripped of everything but his genius at imitating Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, Renoir, and other great painters of the 20th century.
Fernand Legros: a ruthless Egyptian who decreed that museums, art galleries and millionaire collectors should finance his love of luxury and pretty boys.
Reál Lessard: an Adonis-like Canadian youth who began as Fernand’s protegé and in the end out-dueled the master in cunning.
The Case of the Not-So-Fair Trader (A Richard Sherlock Whodunit)
Humor & Entertainment
Author: Jim Stevens
A despicable stock trader is found buried under an avalanche of his own garden rocks, causing fired-from-the force- Richard Sherlock to be yanked off the bowling alley and whisked to the crime scene by his pampered protegee Tiffany Richmond. He must prove murder and stop payment of the twelve-million-dollar Richmond Insurance policy.
Nothing makes sense. Crime scene is a mess. There is no money trail. There are too many motives from too many suspects who have too many alibis.
Worst of all Sherlock’s bad back is acting up, his ex-wife wants more money and the murder investigation is putting a serious dent in his parenting schedule of his two daughters.
Richard Sherlock hates his job, and may be a reluctant dick, but he is better at finding the WHO in WHODUNIT than anyone else.
Deadman’s Lament
Genre Fiction > Westerns
Author: Linell Jeppsen
The year is 1872. Twelve-year-old Matthew Wilcox leads a charmed life on his family’s sprawling ranch in Washington Territory until a series of tragic events leave him orphaned and in the clutches of a vicious band of outlaws. Threatened by the gang leader’s perverted cousin, Top Hat, Matthew also faces Indian attacks, dangerous wildlife, and a deadly snowstorm. He survives but burns with an overwhelming hunger for revenge.
Thirteen years later, Matthew – now a Spokane County sheriff – realizes that Top Hat is riding again with a new gang called the Mad Hatters. It means risking his friends, his family and the love of a good woman, but Matthew must find the man who destroyed what he once loved most in the world. To that end, he and his posse venture into Idaho gold country to capture the Mad Hatters.
Top Hat, however, has a different idea. He turns the tables, heading to the sheriff’s hometown of Granville and going after everyone Matthew holds dear.
A Cat Called Cupid
Romantic Comedy
Author: Mazy Morris
Cupid the Cat is fed up with his Lady, Ann. She has no taste in men. Her current boyfriend reeks of cologne, is deliberately careless with his feet, and openly states that dogs are fundamentally superior to cats. However, Craig, Cupid and Ann’s human neighbor, is practically perfect. He’s handy with a can opener, he politely steps around napping felines, and he never ever turns up the stereo to earsplitting decibels. It also doesn’t hurt that Craig and his cute Siamese lady-cat come as a package deal.
The way to a cat’s heart may be a can of tuna, but Cupid’s having a little trouble figuring out the key to human relationships. Helping Craig win Ann’s heart proves to be an unexpected challenge. Cupid will have to employ all of his feline wiles to purge the place of the odious cat-hating boyfriend and ensure a happily-ever-after for Craig and Ann.
This sweet PG-rated romantic comedy is standard novella length (27,000 words) and will take an adult reader of average speed about an hour and a half to finish. Contains inexplicit sexual references, mature themes and implied strong language.
Praying God’s Word for Your Life
Christian Living > Marriage
Author: Kathi Lipp, Jen Hatmaker
Many women find it easy to pray for the concerns and well-being of others. But when it comes to praying for themselves, they may wonder, Should I pray for my own needs? Are any prayers too big or too small? Are my prayers effective? Are they selfish? Does praying really make a difference?
Praying God’s Word for Your Life gives women the direction and Scripture they need to bring purpose and power to their prayers. The simple strategies Kathi Lipp shares will create in women the habit of praying with renewed boldness, consistency, and expectation. And Kathi’s warm, approachable style will make praying Scripture accessible to new believers and lifelong Christians alike.
First Do No Harm (Benjamin Davis Book Series)
Thrillers > Legal > Medical
Author: A. Turk
Recently retired, A. Turk has embarked on a second career, writing fiction inspired by the remarkable stories and events from his personal and legal experiences. This first novel in the book series features A. Turk’s fictitious alter ego Attorney Benjamin Davis, a young New York transplant seeking to make a name for himself in the Nashville legal community.
After miscalculating the huge risks involved in accepting ten medical malpractice cases at one time, Davis discovers that a hospital and several of its personnel, including doctors, had conspired to provide unnecessary tests and surgeries on innocent patients…for years. With small town physicians pushing all the ethical and legal boundaries, Davis decides he has no alternative but to protect an entire community and quickly finds himself caught up in a high-stakes courtroom drama. Davis could never have anticipated his decision to right a wrong could risk his legal career, marriage, financial security, and personal safety.
Bright Lines: A Life in Search of the Beautiful Ordinary
Romance > Contemporary
Author: Jane Devin
After a childhood spent drifting between foster homes and the care of his criminally inept father, Easton McNeil embarks on a search for all the ‘beautifully ordinary’ things he’s never had. Along the way, he’s confronted by several unexpected curves. He’s a single man who becomes a father. A humanistic dreamer who becomes a business journalist. A practical man who ends up leaving his stable career for a humiliating gig as a sidekick to the notorious shock jock, Cooper Ross. Encouraged by Ross’s oddball fans, Easton plans a cross-country road trip to interview them. Now an empty-nester, the man who’s always loved the idea of home sells his and embarks on a wholehearted mission to say yes.
TODAY’S BARGAINS……………What’s this?
In the Blood (Jefferson Tayte Genealogical Mystery)
International Mystery & Crime
Author: Steve Robinson
Regularly $3.99, Today $1.99
Two hundred years ago a loyalist family fled to England to escape the American War of Independence and seemingly vanished into thin air. American genealogist Jefferson Tayte is hired to find out what happened, but it soon becomes apparent that a calculated killer is out to stop him.
In the Blood combines a centuries-old mystery with a present-day thriller that brings two people from opposite sides of the Atlantic together to uncover a series of carefully hidden crimes. Tayte’s research centres around the tragic life of a young Cornish girl, a writing box, and the discovery of a dark secret that he believes will lead him to the family he is looking for. Trouble is, someone else is looking for the same answers and will stop at nothing to find them.
The Apple Orchard (Bella Vista Chronicles Book 1)
Women’s Fiction > Romance
Author: Susan Wiggs
Regularly $10.99, Today $2.99
#1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs brings readers into the lush abundance of Sonoma County, in a story of sisters, friendship and the invisible bonds of history that are woven like a spell around us.
Tess Delaney makes a living returning stolen treasures to their rightful owners. She loves illuminating history, filling the spaces in people’s hearts with stories of their family legacies.
But Tess’s own history is filled with gaps: a father she never met, and a mother who spent more time traveling than with her daughter.
Then Dominic Rossi arrives on the doorstep of the San Francisco shop Tess hopes to buy, and he tells her that the grandfather she never knew is in a coma. Tess has been named in his will to inherit half of Bella Vista, a hundred-acre apple orchard in the magical Sonoma town called Archangel.
The rest is willed to Isabel Johansen. A half sister she hadn’t heard of.
Longitude
Biographies & Memoirs > Scientists
Author: Dava Sobel
Regularly $13.99, Today $1.99
Anyone alive in the eighteenth century would have known that “the longitude problem” was the thorniest scientific dilemma of the day-and had been for centuries. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, sailors throughout the great ages of exploration had been literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land.
Thousands of lives, and the increasing fortunes of nations, hung on a resolution. The scientific establishment of Europe-from Galileo to Sir Isaac Newton-had mapped the heavens in both hemispheres in its certain pursuit of a celestial answer. In stark contrast, one man, John Harrison, dared to imagine a mechanical solution-a clock that would keep precise time at sea, something no clock had ever been able to do on land.
Longitude is the dramatic human story of an epic scientific quest, and of Harrison’s forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. Full of heroism and chicanery, it is also a fascinating brief history of astronomy, navigation, and clockmaking, and opens a new window on our world.
Rowan’s Lady: The Clan Graham Series
Historical Fiction > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Author: Suzan Tisdale
Regularly $4.99, Today $0.99
Scotland, 1354
He built impenetrable walls around his heart….
The Black Death showed no mercy when it took Rowan Graham’s beautiful, young wife. With his clan nearly decimated, his heart torn to shreds, he is left to raise his newborn daughter alone. Rowan tries to keep the promises he made to Kate on her deathbed, save for one: He is unable to give his heart to another.
She has built walls around her own…
Lady Arline is forced into yet another arranged marriage — loveless and lonely. Behind Garrick Blackthorn’s good looks lies a cruel, vindictive man. She wants nothing more than her marriage to end so that she might gain the freedom she has longed for.
Fate will bring those walls tumbling down….
Witch for Hire (A Witch’s Path Book 1)
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Author: N. E. Conneely
Regularly $2.99, Today $0.99
Most witches don’t work for police departments, but Michelle isn’t your average witch. She’s clanless, looking for a warlock who isn’t offended by her lack of family connections, and in danger of losing her job if she can’t find the escaped trolls before they start eating the local residents.
Trolls, angry police, and misbehaving spells are the least of her problems. Statues attacking homeowners might be problematic for your average witch, but to Michelle it’s another day at the office. Her real concern is the wizard suddenly interested in dating her and an old elf set on pestering her. When her happy family is rocked by a long kept secret her stable life falls apart faster than she can pick up the pieces.
And she still hasn’t found those trolls.
… See the rest of today’s Editor’s Picks here on page 2