Free Kindle book editor’s picks: Elizabeth Cole edition |

Free Kindle book editor’s picks: Elizabeth Cole edition

by Steve Weber on January 6, 2015

Elizabeth Cole tops today’s Buffet with A Heartless Design, the first installment in her “Secrets of the Zodiac” a series of full-length historical romance novels. These books feature dark, sexy storylines, complex characters, and international intrigue set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars.

Elizabeth is a romance author with a penchant for history, which is why she lives in an old house in an old city. She can be found hanging around libraries and archives, or curled in a corner reading, cat on lap.

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.)

A Heartless Design (Secrets of the Zodiac Book 1)

Author: Elizabeth Cole

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An enigmatic woman, a determined spy, and a design that could shake the foundations of Europe…

“Heartless” Cordelia Bering refuses every marriage offer she receives. Yet men still try to win her, drawn by her sharp wit and intoxicating green eyes. But Cordelia knows a marriage could reveal her deepest secret and truly endanger her life. Besides, she hasn’t met a man worth considering, until…

Sebastien Thorne, a spy in the service of the Crown. One of the elite agents in the group known as the Zodiac, he comes to London determined to solve a mystery with roots on the Continent. He won’t let anything distract him. But is Cordelia a distraction, or the key to the mystery? As he learns more about the “heartless” woman, he becomes embroiled in secrets, plots, and a design that could change the future…and Cordelia is at the center of it all.

Forbidden Forest (The Legends of Regia Book 1)

Romance > Paranormal > Vampires

Author: Tenaya Jayne

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Born in shame. Cast from society. Shape Shifter/Elf hybrid, Forest must fight for any respect she can get. Targeted in her youth by a vampire noble who placed an illegal slave mark on her, she is forced to obey him, no matter what.

Slipping the grip of her master and abandoning the prejudice of Regia, her native world, Forest takes a job on Earth, guarding the portal, using her skills as a warrior to enforce Regia’s laws. Now, called home for a black ops mission, Forest must put aside her own prejudice to transport the vampire prince, Syrus, through enemy territory in a time of war.

Prince Syrus, mage and master of the Blood Kata, wants Forest more than he’s ever wanted anything. In spite of their mutual mistrust, their attraction cannot be denied. Through the danger of their mission, and the secrets they both keep, it doesn’t matter what they feel. Forest is forbidden.

Blood Song (#2): Alpha Warriors of the Blood (The Blood Series)

Horror > Dark Fantasy

Author: Tamara Rose Blodgett

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Julia has been ripped from the escape she’d planned for herself. When she awakens to discover that her reality has shifted to include a supposed soul-meld with a man she hates, and who hates her… she rebels. Julia doesn’t want to be captive in a gilded cage.

Broken from the horrific events surrounding her friends, Cynthia migrates to the very city that Julia resides, determining to find her as the police follow the bread crumbs she’s left in her wake.

The Feral has come full circle and must begin a new life from the shadow of the old. His placement in the hierarchy of the pack is uncertain when he finds that he has an integral enemy and a pack member to protect.

Can the vestiges of Julia’s former life be restored so she might reunite with her one true love or has that door closed forever because of supernatural circumstances beyond their control?

Elsker (Elsker Saga Book 1)

Young Adult > Science Fiction & Fantasy

Author: S.T. Bende

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Kristia Tostenson prefers Earl Grey to Grey Goose and book clubs to nightclubs. But when she transfers from her one-stoplight Oregon town to Cardiff University in Wales, she falls in love with Ull Myhr. Her new boyfriend isn’t exactly what she was expecting. His cashmere sweaters and old world charm mask a warrior who’s spent an eternity fighting for his very existence. Ull is an honest-to-goodness Norse god — an immortal assassin fated to die at Ragnarok, the battle destined to destroy Asgard and Earth. On top of being marked for death, Asgardian law prohibits Ull from tying his fate to a mortal. No matter what she feels for Ull, Kristia knows she’s the one thing he can never have.

With Ragnarok on the horizon and a lunatic haunting her dreams, Kristia has to find a way to convince Ull that breaking the rules is the only way to survive; that defying the order he’s sworn to uphold is their only chance to be together. And when someone starts asking the wrong questions, Kristia realizes the crazy visions she’s had all her life might be the key to saving their realms… even if they end up costing her her life.

The Liberation of Ravenna Morton

Women’s Fiction > Romance

Author: Suzanne Jenkins

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Ravenna Morton is an American Indian woman living a very old-fashioned life in a primitive cabin at the edge of the Kalamazoo River. Facing modern problems when her lifelong affair with a Greek artist is closely examined by their children after a child she gave up for adoption dies, The Liberation of Ravenna Morton captures the small-town dynamic of a family’s private secrets being exposed to the world. A poignant look at the melding of two Americanized cultures observed under a microscope.

Snowballs and Scotch Mist (The Belchester Chronicles – 3)

Mystery > Cozy

Author: Andrea Frazer

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The batty old biddies are at it again…

In this third ‘cocktail’ mystery, Lady Amanda Golightly receives an invitation to spend Burns’ Night in Castle Rumdrummond in Scotland.

Although she is dismissive of the idea, her old chum Hugo is thrilled at the thought and, beguiled by the idea of wearing tartan, he uses his own brand of childish pleading to win her agreement to the trip.

Along with Beauchamp, her long-suffering manservant, and her friend, Enid Tweedie, acting as personal servants, the four head north of the border for a ‘wee break’.

It is not too long, however, before murder enters their lives once more, and they begin to suspect some very dirty dealing under the social veneer of castle life.

Bagpipes, haggis, tartan and kilts all make their appearance, as dastardly deeds continue through the snowy landscape. But Death has not yet finished with the houseparty.

STATUS

African American > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Author: Jordan Belcher

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In social media, nothing is what it seems …

Tyesha Fenty is a beautiful 22-year-old mother of one very precocious little girl—and an unashamed internet addict. Between taking care of her daughter and posting updates about her life via the Web, Tyesha stresses over love and family. The father of her child is a spiritually devout drug dealer named Rodrick Al-Bashir who has a thing for other women. And her mother, Velma Fenty, is a widowed hoarder on the verge of losing her house.

Stalking is the least of Tyesha’s worries, until one of her social media “friends” starts showing up at her gym, at her job, and at her home. Soon tragedy strikes, and when detectives catch her stalker—and just as quickly release him—Tyesha is forced to take matters into her own hands.

Be careful what you post … he’s watching …

The Protocol (A James Acton Thriller, Book #1)

Thrillers & Suspense > Spies & Politics > Espionage

Author: J. Robert Kennedy

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For two thousand years the Triarii have protected us, influencing history from the crusades to the discovery of America. Descendant from the Roman Empire, they pervade every level of society, and are now in a race with our own government to retrieve an ancient artifact thought to have been lost forever.

Caught in the middle is archeology professor James Acton, relentlessly hunted by the elite Delta Force, under orders to stop at nothing to possess what he has found, and the Triarii, equally determined to prevent the discovery from falling into the wrong hands.

With his students and friends dying around him, Acton flees to find the one person who might be able to help him, but little does he know he may actually be racing directly into the hands of an organization he knows nothing about…

TODAY’S BARGAINS……………What’s this?

Archie Meets Nero Wolfe: A Prequel to Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe Mysteries (The Nero Wolfe Mysteries)

Mystery > Hard-Boiled > Historical

Author: Robert Goldsborough

Regularly $9.99, Today $1.99

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Winner of the Lovey Award for Best Historical Novel.

To become part of the Nero Wolfe legend, Archie Goodwin must prove his worth

Archie Goodwin comes to New York City hoping for a bit of excitement. In his third week working as a night watchman, he stops two burglars in their tracks—with a pair of hot lead slugs. Dismissed from his job for being “trigger-happy,” he parlays his newfound notoriety into a job as a detective’s assistant, helping honest sleuth Del Bascom solve cases like the Morningside Piano Heist, the Rive Gauche Art Gallery Swindle, and the Sumner-Hayes Burglary. But it’s the kidnapping of Tommie Williamson, the son of a New York hotel magnate, that introduces Goodwin to the man who will change his life.

Young Tommie has gone missing, and only one detective is built for the job: Nero Wolfe, the heavyset genius of West Thirty-Fifth Street. Together they will form one of the most unlikely crime fighting duos in history—but first Goodwin must find Tommie Williamson, and prove to Wolfe that he deserves a place by his side.

McNally’s Secret (The Archy McNally Series Book 1)

Thrillers & Suspense > Crime

Author: Lawrence Sanders

Regularly $7.99, Today $1.99

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New York Times bestselling author Lawrence Sanders introduces his most disarming detective in this powerhouse novel of passion, murder, and unabashed greed.

Inveterate playboy Archy McNally gets paid to make discreet inquiries for Palm Beach’s power elite. But keeping their dirty little secrets buried will take some fancy footwork in McNally’s latest case.

A block of priceless 1918 US airmail stamps has gone missing from a high-society matron’s wall safe. Lady Cynthia Horowitz, now on her sixth husband, is a nasty piece of work who lives in a mansion that looks like Gone With the Wind’s Tara transplanted to southern Florida. McNally’s search takes him into a thickening maze of sex, lies, scandal, and blackmail. When passion erupts into murder and McNally must dig even deeper to uncover the truth, he unearths a shocking secret that could expose his own family’s skeletons.

Trace of Magic (The Diamond City Magic Novels Book 1)

Fantasy > Paranormal & Urban

Author: Diana Pharaoh Francis

Regularly $7.99, Today $1.99

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Even the most powerful tracers can’t track you if the magical trace you leave behind is too old. But I can track almost anything, even dead trace. That makes me a unicorn, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and the Loch Ness Monster all rolled into one. In a word, I am unique. A very special snowflake. And if anyone ever finds out, I’ll be dead or a slave to one of the Tyet criminal factions.

Riley Hollis has quietly traced kidnapped children and quietly tipped the cops to their whereabouts one too many times. Now she’s on the radar of Detective Clay Price, a cop in the pocket of a powerful magic Tyet faction. When he blackmails her into doing a dangerous trace for him, Riley will have to break every rule that keeps her safe. Or become a Tyet pawn in a deadly, magical war.

On Two Feet and Wings

Biographies & Memoirs

Author: Abbas Kazerooni

Regularly $3.99, Today $1.99

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He is in a foreign country, he is alone, and he is just a boy…Abbas Kazerooni is not yet ten, but he’s suddenly forced to leave his parents, his friends—his entire world—and flee Tehran. The Iran-Iraq war is at its bloodiest, and the Ayatollahs who rule Iran have reduced the recruitment age for the army. If Abbas doesn’t escape, it’s almost certain that he will be drafted and die fighting for a regime that has stripped his family of all they have.

On his own in the strange, often frightening city of Istanbul, Abbas grows up fast—with little more than his wits to guide him. He must conquer difficult things: how to live on his own, how to navigate a foreign city and culture when he doesn’t speak the language, and, most importantly, how to judge who is a friend and who is an enemy. Facing the unexpected as well as the everyday challenges of life on his own, Abbas walks a tightrope of survival—yearning to please the demanding father he has left behind, yet relishing his new found independence.

His quick thinking, entrepreneurial spirit, and the kindness of strangers allow him to make the best of his dire situation in surprising ways. Does he have what it takes to not only survive against these challenging odds but achieve his parents’ ultimate dream for him: a visa to England, and the safety it represents?

Cinder & Ella

Young Adult > Romance > Contemporary

Author: Kelly Oram

Regularly $4.99, Today $1.99

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What would you do if your anonymous Internet best friend turned out to be Hollywood’s hottest celebrity?

It’s been almost a year since eighteen-year-old Ella Rodriguez was in a car accident that left her crippled, scarred, and without a mother. After a very difficult recovery, she’s been uprooted across the country and forced into the custody of a father that abandoned her when she was a young child. If Ella wants to escape her father’s home and her awful new stepfamily, she must convince her doctors that she’s capable, both physically and emotionally, of living on her own. The problem is, she’s not ready yet. The only way she can think of to start healing is by reconnecting with the one person left in the world who’s ever meant anything to her—her anonymous Internet best friend, Cinder.

Hollywood sensation Brian Oliver has a reputation for being trouble. There’s major buzz around his performance in his upcoming film The Druid Prince, but his management team says he won’t make the transition from teen heartthrob to serious A-list actor unless he can prove he’s left his wild days behind and become a mature adult. In order to douse the flames on Brian’s bad-boy reputation, his management stages a fake engagement for him to his co-star Kaylee. Brian isn’t thrilled with the arrangement—or his fake fiancée—but decides he’ll suffer through it if it means he’ll get an Oscar nomination. Then a surprise email from an old Internet friend changes everything.

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

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