Olivia Newport tops today’s Buffet with the Amish novel Wonderful Lonesome. 

As one reviewer put it: “This is not just an Amish fiction book. This is also a historical fiction novel. This is not a fluffy, feel-good book that is typical to the Amish fiction genre. There is a lot of depth to it.”

Olivia lives in Colorado. Her husband and two twenty-something children provide welcome distraction from the people stomping through her head on their way into her books.

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.)

Wonderful Lonesome (Amish Turns of Time Book 1)

 Christian Fiction > Romance > Historical > Amish

Wonderful Lonesome (Amish Turns of Time Book 1)

In a struggling Amish settlement on the harsh Colorado plain, Abbie Weaver refuses to concede defeat to hail, drought, and coyotes, even as families begin to give up and return east. The biggest challenge of all is the lack of a spiritual shepherd and regular worship.
When Abbie discovers the root of a spiritual divide that runs through the settlement, she faces her own decisions about what she believes. She must choose between a quiet love in her cherished church, passion with a man determined to leave the church, or imagining her life with neither.

The Love Trials

 Romance > Coming of Age

The Love Trials

She thought she knew what was between the sheets, but she really had no idea.

I thought I knew what I was getting into when I received the invitation from the lovers academy. I thought I was going for love. I had no idea that the lovers academy cared more about what happened between the sheets than it did a meeting of the minds and souls.

This isn’t your regular love story. My Prince Charming didn’t ride up on a white horse and come and save me. In fact, he warned me to stay away from him. Of course, I didn’t listen. Why would I? There’s something so exciting about going after someone you shouldn’t have.

However, I never thought it would be like this. I’ve never felt so conflicted in my life. No one told me that being bad could feel so good. No one told me that when the big bad wolf tells you to run away and hide, you should listen.

If I’d only known just how far from charming my prince was, I would have ignored the invitation.

The Awakening (The Awakening Series Book 1)

 Science Fiction > Post-Apocalyptic

The Awakening (The Awakening Series Book 1)

Tara Spencer’s mysterious pregnancy causes her family and fiancé to turn against her and sidetracks her plans for medical school. Only a stranger, Cyril Woods, believes her claim that she’s still a virgin. The religious order that Cyril belongs to thinks Tara’s child may be a new messiah. But when Tara discovers the baby will be a girl, the order sees her as the mother of the anti-Christ who must be destroyed before she triggers the first stage of the Apocalypse. Tara fights for her life, seeking a safe place to give birth, and the answer to whether she and her child are meant to save the world or destroy it.

The Fall of Society

 Horror

The Fall of Society

THE FALL OF SOCIETY is written in SURVIVAL MODE — there is little character development, which is intentional. In the beginning days and weeks of the undead apocalypse, people are desperate to survive. They just want to live another day from the dark horrors outside their barricaded doors. Run, hide, and if we live; we’ll get to know each other later.

The end of the world has come, not with a whimper but in a bellowing roar. In an outbreak that spreads faster than any government can deal with, civilization is wiped out and chaos reigns true. The dead have risen and rule across the land, killing anyone or anything with a heartbeat.

Random groups have managed to survive among the living six months after the infection hit, but supplies are limited, exhaustion is constant, and places to hide are dwindling. When three groups of wayward people come together by chance, they must overcome their differences if they are going to beat the odds as they face tens of thousands of ravenous undead.

Everything we know will end…
Everyone we love will die…
Fight with everything to survive…

After the Sky Fell Down

 Romance > Contemporary

After the Sky Fell Down

Kathryn Lane thinks she has life figured out: finish college, get a great job, marry her high school sweetheart, Ben, and have a family. But when tragedy strikes, she is left to pick up the pieces of her now shattered life. As she tries to make sense of her new reality, life takes another startling turn, leading her down a path she never imagined. Through it all she finds comfort in a surprising companion who becomes her best friend and rock as she tries to rebuild her life. But when she unexpectedly meets someone, whose kindness and understanding offers her a chance at a fresh start, she struggles to move forward, afraid to leave her past behind. Will she be able to move on and find peace with her past in order to discover her future or will she let her past condemn her to a life of loneliness, unable to let go of a life that can never be?

The Scorpion’s Tale

 International Mystery & Crime

The Scorpion's Tale

Thanks to the killer’s handiwork, Tony’s partners were also dead in Manhattan. The killer needed to finish his business in Westhampton tonight, so he could make his flight to Italy before any of the bodies were discovered. From his neck down he dressed like a surgeon with cotton coverings over his clothes and shoes that were specially made to fit although they were two sizes too large. He also wore latex gloves and a ski-mask to ensure that his entire body was protected against leaving even a cell of his DNA behind.

Looking into the eyes of his victims in their final moment of life did not faze him. In fact, it gave him pleasure. The sound of Tony’s head smashing into the door disturbed him only because the success or failure of an assignment might hinge upon an unknown factor – variables that were his job to minimize. He never left anything to chance, carefully tending to the crime scene, making sure there was no evidence to assist law enforcement. Satisfied all was in order, he silently exited the master bedroom, gun in hand.

Amanda tried the light switch in the kitchen, but it didn’t work. She opened the refrigerator door, found a pitcher of water, and poured a tall glass for her and Catarina to share. She replaced the pitcher, closed the refrigerator, took a step into the hallway and immediately noticed a large shadow of a person, obviously much taller than Tony. She shrieked in surprise and dropped the glass, which shattered. The killer reacted without conscious thought.

A Distant Sun

 Science Fiction > Space Opera

A Distant Sun: A Space Opera Novella

As their sun slowly dies the future of the Emarian race hangs in the balance. Alynna, the last princess to a doomed people, crosses the galaxy in pursuit of their one remaining hope: the fabled dark matter from their star’s twin. It’s a mission of low odds and high risk.

Making the long journey home hidden aboard the intra-galactic luxury liner Hyperion she must steel herself against unseen forces rallying against her. As a deadly assassin closes in she finds solace in an unexpected place – a love that just might bolster her for the task ahead. But things on the Hyperion are not always as they seem.

1,000 Awesome Writing Prompts

 Writing, Research & Publishing Guides

1,000 Awesome Writing Prompts

Have you ever wanted to write a story, but you didn’t know how? Or are you good at writing stories, but stuck for ideas? Are you currently writing a story, but you have writers block? Well, have I got the book for you friend. I can call you friend because we’ve just built up a rapport with my rhetorical questions. This is a book chock full of writing prompts. These are little things that will help you along to writing some amazing stuff that spills out of your mind.

You’re wondering: “But what kind of prompts are they? I’ve seen writing prompts before, but they’re all lame.” That’s a good thing to be wondering, friend. I’ve crafted and homebrewed only the finest of prompts for your pleasure. You won’t be confined to any one genre, you’ll find a limitless amount of prompts ranging from comedy to serious to horror. I say limitless, but I meant 1,000 prompts precisely. I said 1,000 precisely, but there’s slightly more if you count the introduction. Listen, friend, I promise not to fib from this point on.

The book is split into a few sections: Beginners Writing Prompts (it’s a super short section, don’t worry); Constrained Writing (that’s where you are forced into absolutely specific criteria for the prompt); Flash Fiction (either a word count or a time count is imposed upon you); Ripper Prompts (you are given a list of items for “Random Item Prompts”); and the bulk of the book ends with basic writing prompts with which you can write as much as you please with no tricks!

TODAY’S BARGAINS……………What’s this?

Plum Island (John Corey Book 1)

 Thrillers & Suspense > Medical

Plum Island (John Corey Book 1)

Taking the best elements from two of his most outstanding bestsellers, The Gold Coast and The General’s Daughter, Nelson DeMille combines the breathless suspense of an expertly wrought murder mystery with his wry perspective on a peculiarly American social scene to deliver an enthralling and compelling story.

Wounded in the line of duty, NYPD homicide detective John Corey convalesces in the Long Island township of Southold, home to farmers, fishermen — and at least one killer. Tom and Judy Gordon, a young, attractive couple Corey knows, have been found on their patio, each with a bullet in the head. The local police chief, Sylvester Maxwell, wants Corey’s big-city expertise, but Maxwell gets more than he bargained for.

The early signs point to a burglary gone wrong. But because the Gordons were biologists at Plum Island, the offshore animal disease research site rumored to be involved in germ warfare, it isn’t long before the media is suggesting that the Gordons stole something very deadly. Suddenly a local double murder becomes a crime with national and worldwide implications.

John Corey doesn’t like mysteries, which is why he likes to solve them. His investigations lead him into the lore, legends, and ancient secrets of northern Long Island — more deadly and more dangerous than he could ever have imagined. During his journey of discovery, he meets two remarkable women, Detective Beth Penrose and Mayflower descendant Emma Whitestone, both of whom change his life irrevocably. Ultimately, through his understanding of the murders, John Corey comes to understand himself.

Q-Squared (Star Trek)

 Science Fiction > Adventure

Q-Squared (Star Trek)

In all of his travels Captain Jean-Luc Picard has never faced an opponent more powerful that Q, a being from another continuum that Picard encountered on his very first mission as Captain of the Starship Enterprise™. In the years since, Q has returned again and again to harass Picard and his crew. Sometimes dangerous, sometimes merely obnoxious, Q has always been mysterious and seemingly all-powerful.

But this time, when Q appears, he comes to Picard for help. Apparently another member of the Q continuum has tapped into an awesome power source that makes this being more powerful than the combined might of the entire Q continuum. This renegade Q is named Trelane — also known as the Squire of Gothos, who Captain Kirk and his crew first encountered over one hundred years ago. Q explains that, armed with this incredible power, Trelane has become unspeakably dangerous.

Now Picard must get involved in an awesome struggle between super beings. And this time the stakes are not just Picard’s ship, or the galaxy, or even the universe — this time the stakes are all of creation…

Once a Runner: A Novel

 Fiction > Sports

Once a Runner: A Novel

Once a Runner captures the essence of what it means to be a competitive runner; to devote your entire existence to a single-minded pursuit of excellence. It has become one of the most beloved sports novels ever written.

Originally self-published in 1978 and sold at road races out of the trunk of the author’s car, the book eventually found its way into the hands of high school, college, and postgraduate athletes all over the country. Reading it became a rite of passage on many teams, and tattered copies were handed down like sacred texts from generation to generation. It ranked as the number one most sought-after out-of-print book in the United States in 2007.

Once a Runner is the story of Quenton Cassidy, a collegiate runner at fictional Southeastern University whose lifelong dream is to run a four-minute mile. He is less than a second away when the political and cultural turmoil of the Vietnam War era intrudes into the staid recesses of his school’s athletic department. After he becomes involved in an athletes’ protest, Cassidy is suspended from his track team.

Under the tutelage of his friend and mentor, Bruce Denton, a graduate student and former Olympic gold medalist, Cassidy gives up his scholarship, his girlfriend, and possibly his future to withdraw to a monastic retreat in the countryside and begin training for the race of his life: a head-to-head match with the greatest miler in history. This book is a rare insider’s account of the incredibly intense lives of elite distance runners; an inspiring, funny, and spot-on tale of one man’s quest to become a champion.

If He’s Daring (Wherlocke Book 6)

If He's Daring (Wherlocke Book 6)

In a dazzling new novel in the Wherlocke family saga, New York Times bestselling author Hannah Howell creates an unforgettable story of intrigue, jeopardy, and desire. . .Stealing a stranger’s carriage is the second most reckless thing Lady Catrin Gryffin de Warrene has ever done. The first is succumbing to her powerful attraction to the carriage’s owner. Catrin has heard the rumors about Sir Orion Wherlocke’s family and their otherworldly gifts. He’s the one person who can keep her son and his inheritance safe from her late husband’s ruthless brother. As for how to protect herself. . .it may be too late for that.

Orion is facing the worst danger a man of his ilk can find: a woman he can’t walk away from. Catrin is an intoxicating blend of innocence and sensuality, and for the first time, seduction is far more than a game. But her beauty and fortune have made her a target–one that will dare him to risk everything he’s known–in pursuit of everything he’s ever longed for. . .

Three Little Words: A Memoir

 Young Adult > Biographies > Social Activists

Three Little Words: A Memoir

“Sunshine, you’re my baby and I’m your only mother. You must mind the one taking care of you, but she’s not your mama.” Ashley Rhodes-Courter spent nine years of her life in fourteen different foster homes, living by those words. As her mother spirals out of control, Ashley is left clinging to an unpredictable, dissolving relationship, all the while getting pulled deeper and deeper into the foster care system.

Painful memories of being taken away from her home quickly become consumed by real-life horrors, where Ashley is juggled between caseworkers, shuffled from school to school, and forced to endure manipulative,humiliating treatment from a very abusive foster family. In this inspiring, unforgettable memoir, Ashley finds the courage to succeed – and in doing so, discovers the power of her own voice.

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

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