Nancy Tesler tops today’s Buffet with Pink Balloons, the first installment in her bestselling “Carrie Carlin” mystery series. This book first appeared as a Dell paperback in 1997.

nancyBorn and raised in Massachusetts, Nancy received a BFA from the renowned theater department at Carnegie Mellon University. A career that included off-Broadway, summer stock, TV, films, and a road company tour of some military bases in France, sadly failed to put her name in lights, but did turn out to be excellent training for the writing career that was to come.

Nancy’s initial publishing success was the “Other Deadly Things” mystery series, originally published by Dell.

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Pink Balloons and Other Deadly Things (Carrie Carlin Mysteries – Book One 1)

Mystery > Cozy

Pink Balloons and Other Deadly Things (Carrie Carlin Mysteries - Book One 1)

Two things the suburban mom and biofeedback stress reduction therapist knows:

1) your body believes everything you tell it, and
2) she is telling hers that her life isn’t worth living…

…because on Christmas Eve, the day after her fortieth birthday, her husband of eighteen years takes off with his young, drop-dead gorgeous marketing director.

Carrie can’t eat. She hardly sleeps. When she does, her dreams are nightmares fraught with deadly specters. Her waking fantasies are equally lethal. When the bimbo is found conked over the head and tossed in the family’s half-filled pool on the very afternoon Carrie has been spying on her, Carrie’s fight-or-flight response goes into orbit as she finds herself topping Detective Ted Brodsky’s suspect list.

He shows up at her office asking questions…about her impending divorce… about her emotional state…about her financial situation. All of Carrie’s biofeedback training deserts her. Her personal mantra–“I’m ca-a-lm, I’m ca-alm, this is not a life-threatening situation,” doesn’t work.

The Prayer Box

Contemporary Fiction > Christian

The Prayer Box

When Iola Anne Poole, an old-timer on Hatteras Island, passes away in her bed at ninety-one, the struggling young mother in her rental cottage, Tandi Jo Reese, finds herself charged with the task of cleaning out Iola’s rambling Victorian house.

Running from a messy, dangerous past, Tandi never expects to find more than a temporary hiding place within Iola’s walls, but everything changes with the discovery of eighty-one carefully decorated prayer boxes, one for each year, spanning from Iola’s youth to her last days. Hidden in the boxes is the story of a lifetime, written on random bits of paper–the hopes and wishes, fears and thoughts of an unassuming but complex woman passing through the seasons of an extraordinary, unsung life filled with journeys of faith, observations on love, and one final lesson that could change everything for Tandi.

Deadly Arrangements (Book Two in the Cozy Flower Shop Mystery Series) (The Flower Shop Mystery Series 2)

Romantic Comedy

Deadly Arrangements (Book Two in the Cozy Flower Shop Mystery Series) (The Flower Shop Mystery Series 2)

All florist Quincy McKay wants is success in business, a happy family and the perfect romance with Alex Cooper, the hottest cop in the state. Not necessarily in that order, of course. Is that so much to ask?

The trouble is, between Alex’s job and planning weddings, it’s getting harder and harder for Quincy and Alex to find any time to themselves. Every time the flames of passion ignite between them, someone or something shows up to fizzle the fire, including her meddling mother, her formerly absent father and even Elma, the handsiest waitress in the West.

Wedded bliss is contagious in small town Hillside. Should be great news for Quincy, except that one groom is missing and another is the prime suspect. Hard for a florist to make a living that way, and even harder for her to stay out of the investigation, especially when the suspect is her sidekick, K.C.’s fiancé.

Just when she thinks nothing else could go wrong, a ghost from Alex’s past comes back to haunt them both, which could keep them apart forever, if someone doesn’t kill Quincy first. She’s stumbled into the clues to solve the case of the missing groom and finds a corpse as well, proving that planning a wedding can literally be murder.

About Face

Women’s Fiction > Humor

About Face

From the outside, Ruth seems to have it all: a high-powered career, happy marriage and family. But her inner Peace-Corps-Volunteer is hollering to be let out.

When she bumps into Vivian, her long-lost friend and former hut-mate, she realizes how different she is from the person she used to be and wonders if she’s lost part of herself—the best part—in her quest for “the perfect life.” Her internal tug of war gathers steam and knocks her seemingly perfect urban life out of kilter.

As they struggle with their differences and try to resurrect their friendship, the two women realize—with humor and a growing respect—that they each have strengths to contribute to a venture neither would have discovered on her own, one that melds past and present to shape an exciting and surprising future.

Traces of Mercy: A Novel (Mercy Medallion Trilogy)

Christian Fiction > Historical

Traces of Mercy: A Novel (Mercy Medallion Trilogy)

From Michael Landon Jr. and Cindy Kelley, authors of The Silent Gift and creators of the hit television film Love Comes Softly, comes an exciting historical romance set in post-Civil War, and filled with suspense and faith-building values.
At the war’s end, a young woman suffers an accident that leaves her unconscious and alone. Waking with amnesia, she takes the name Mercy and wants more than anything to find out the truth of her past. But then a handsome stranger arrives, who may hold the key to everything she has forgotten. What he knows could devastate her future, and even end her life.
Written by two proven storytellers, Traces of Mercy is perfect for anyone who loves historical fiction, prairie-based tales, or just a good romance.

Book of Shadows (a thriller)

Suspense > Paranormal

Book of Shadows (a thriller)

Homicide detective Adam Garrett is already a rising star in the Boston police department when he and his cynical partner, Carl Landauer, catch a horrifying case that could make their careers: the ritualistic murder of a wealthy college girl that appears to have Satanic elements.

The partners make a quick arrest when all evidence points to another student, a troubled musician in a Goth band who was either dating or stalking the murdered girl. But Garrett’s case is turned upside down when beautiful, mysterious Tanith Cabarrus, a practicing witch from nearby Salem, walks into the homicide bureau and insists that the real perpetrator is still at large. Tanith claims to have had psychic visions that the killer has ritually sacrificed other teenagers in his attempts to summon a powerful, ancient demon.

All Garrett’s beliefs about the nature of reality will be tested as he is forced to team up with a woman he is fiercely attracted to but cannot trust, in a race to uncover a psychotic killer before he strikes again.

Marry Me, Maddie (The Bachelor Pact Book 1)

Romantic Comedy

Marry Me, Maddie (The Bachelor Pact Book 1)

One sassy southern girl looking for the right man…
Two sexy men after her heart:

Bachelor # 1 – the long term boyfriend she just dumped

Bachelor # 2 – her overprotective brothers’ best friend

When the competition heats up, who will win her heart and her hand?

Make Me A Match (The Matchmaker Book 1)

Young Adult > Romance > Paranormal & Fantasy

Make Me A Match (The Matchmaker Book 1)

Teenager Emma Watts doesn’t believe in true love. After all, she’s worked for two years in her family’s PI business catching cheating husbands in the act. Then Owen Emerson arrives (while she’s in the middle of a stakeout, no less), claiming Emma has inherited a deceased aunt’s ability to supernaturally match soul mates. Emma wants nothing to do with her aunt’s powers, nor with the frustrating and perfectly handsome Owen Emerson. Too bad she’s stuck with both for the rest of her life.

Owen Emerson is a Protector, a person fated to protect Matchmakers for eternity. A guy who does things by the book, Owen figures he’ll rationally explain to Emma her newfound abilities and they can have the professional relationship he had with her much older aunt. But as he soon finds out, Emma Watts is anything but professional. Fortunately, when she has her first vision matching two friends, she has no alternative but to believe Owen’s claims. But Owen isn’t the only one interested in Emma. When the supernatural world discovers how to exploit Emma’s matchmaking abilities for their own, she has no choice but to trust the man who holds her life, and her heart, in his hands.

Designed for Devotion: A 365-Day Journey from Genesis to Revelation

Christian Living > Devotionals

Designed for Devotion: A 365-Day Journey from Genesis to Revelation

Devotionals are designed to bring the reader into a more intimate relationship with God. Dianne Neal Matthews knows no better way for believers to know God more intimately than to immerse themselves in his Word. To that end, her new daily devotional combines fascinating historical background information about the Bible with practical application that readers can implement in their lives each day. She guides readers on a journey through the Bible from beginning to end, highlighting major events, characters, and stories, as well as difficult issues and topics (such as the concept of theophany, God’s instructions to the Israelites to show no mercy as they entered the Promised Land, and what seems at first glance to be discrepancies between the Gospels).

TODAY’S BARGAINS……………What’s this?

Let Me Call You Sweetheart

Psychological Thrillers

Let Me Call You Sweetheart

It’s a minor accident that brings prosecutor Kerry McGrath to the plastic surgeon’s office with her beloved daughter, Robin. But even as the doctor assures Kerry that her daughter’s scars will heal, she spies a familiar-looking beautiful woman in the waiting room and is seized by an overpowering sense of deja vu. When, on a return visit, she sees the same haunting face — on another woman — she has an intense flash of recognition: it’s the face of Suzanne Reardon, the “Sweetheart Murder” victim, killed more than ten years ago! The case resulted in a guilty verdict and life sentence for Suzanne’s husband, Skip. But for what possible reason would Dr. Smith be giving his patients the face of a dead woman?

As Kerry immerses herself in a fresh investigation, she is catapulted into the strange and ominous territory of those so obsessed with beauty they’ll kill for it. Each new piece of evidence she unearths reveals a disturbing cache of questions. Not only does everyone involved want to keep the case closed, it’s clear somebody will stop at nothing to keep it sealed forever. As she delves deeper she finds she’s wrestling with a force so sinister that her own life — and her daughter’s — is threatened with increasing peril….

Easier Said Than Done

Fiction > African American > Romance

Easier Said Than Done

Easier Said Than Done is a touching new novel of love and risk, featuring a sassy and skillfully created cast of characters that are so full of life, they breathe, dream, and shout right off the page. Kingston Phillips, a beautiful entertainment executive in the fast-paced city of Chicago, has finally grasped the brass ring. But just as her friends and colleagues are buzzing with her success, Kingston must return to Jamaica for her grandmother’s funeral.

While there, childhood tragedies, heartbreak, and family jealousies come back to haunt her, threatening to shatter her dreams. Not only does Kingston come face to face with the college sweetheart who left her heartbroken, but her grandmother names her executor of her will and forces her to make a life-altering decision.

Does Kingston continue to reap her success in Chicago or stay in Jamaica to fulfill her grandmother’s dream—possibly risking another broken heart? Can a modern woman find the balance between a successful career and the responsibilities of family and love while enduring the bumps along the way? Or is life really … Easier Said Than Done?

I Am Hutterite: The Fascinating True Story of a Young Woman’s Journey to Reclaim Her Heritage

Biographies & Memoirs > Religious

I Am Hutterite: The Fascinating True Story of a Young Woman's Journey to reclaim Her Heritage

A Fascinating journey into the heart and culture of a reclusive religious community.

I Am Hutterite takes readers into the hidden heart of the little-known Hutterite colony in southern Manitoba where author Mary-Ann Kirkby spent her childhood. When she was ten years old her parents packed up their seven children and a handful of possessions and left the security of the colony to start a new life. Overnight they were thrust into a world they didn’t understand, a world that did not understand them.

Before she left the colony Mary-Ann had never tasted macaroni and cheese or ridden a bike. She had never heard of Walt Disney or rock-and-roll. She was forced to reinvent herself, denying her heritage to fit in with her peers. With great humor, Kirkby describes how she adapted to popular culture; and with raw honesty her family’s deep sense of loss for their community. More than a history lesson, I Am Hutterite is a powerful tale of retracing steps and understanding how our beginnings often define us.

Controversial and acclaimed by the Hutterite community, Kirkby’s book unveils the rich history and traditions of her people, giving us a rare and intimate portrait of an extraordinary way of life.

Mark of Evil (The End Series Book 4)

Christian Fiction > Mystery & Suspense

Mark of Evil (The End Series Book 4)

Mark of Evil is the final chapter in The End Series, with high-tech thrills told against a background of fulfilled prophecy, bringing us one step closer to the reign of the Antichrist and Christ’s return. Ethan March, Jimmy Louder, and Rivka Reuban have been left behind in a world that is rapidly coming under the influence of the Antichrist. Technology is being used to control and dominate those who resist the Antichrist’s reign of evil, with BID-Tag implants, robotic police units, and drone-bots flying overhead.

Each day, as more and more biblical prophecies are fulfilled, Ethan and the others in the Remnant struggle to survive in a world of ever-increasing chaos and desperation. When the forces of evil attempt to use the world’s most powerful information system for increasingly sinister purposes and eliminate everyone who gets in their way, it’s up to Ethan and the Remnant to subvert their purposes and instead use them for the glory of God.

Tall Man in Ray-Bans (A John Tall Wolf Novel Book 1)

Crime Fiction > Murder

Tall Man in Ray-Bans (A John Tall Wolf Novel Book 1)

Out for a day’s adventure exploring the dry bed of Lake Travis in Austin, Texas, two young boys stumble upon a skeleton. It might be all that remains of a fugitive named Randy Bear Heart. Wanted for robbing three banks and killing three cops, Bear Heart was never brought to justice.

The FBI is called on to determine how the outlaw avoided arrest for twenty-five years and who put him in the lake wearing chains. The BIA — Bureau of Indian Affairs — gets the very same job. Special Agent John Tall Wolf is put on the case because one of the dead cops was a Native American who worked at the Mercy Ridge Reservation.

The FBI wants John to “coordinate all your efforts” through SAC Gilbert Melvin. John is having none of that, saying, “I’ll conduct my investigation as I see fit.” He doesn’t even get along with his own boss, Marlene Flower Moon, head of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services.

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

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