P.D. Workman's Blog, page 118

Goodreads Giveaway for Chloe, Between the Cracks #4

I am changing things up a little bit and running a Goodreads Giveaway for a paperback copy of Chloe, Between the Cracks #4 before release rather than after. So here is your chance to be one of the first to read Chloe!

While Chloe is the fourth in the Between the Cracks series, it can be read as a standalone. And in my opinion, it is the best in the series. I just love Chloe and wish I could give her a big hug! (Okay, I know she is a character that I created, but I want to give everyone who has gone through anything like Chloe did a big hug.)

You can read a sample of Chloe or click straight to the giveaway! Chloe is slated for release on January 13, 2017.

About Chloe

Chloe had always been the perfect daughter. Diligent, obedient, good at caring for the other children when Mom wasn’t home. She always worked hard and did everything she was asked.

But she couldn’t please her mother and the parade of stepfathers. It seemed like the harder she tried, the worse the abuse got.

Chloe had known for a long time that she was two people. The Chloe who watched and the Chloe who experienced. She had been watching for so long, she wasn’t sure she could feel anything anymore. But if she can’t overcome her past and start living in the real world, she knows she will lose herself forever.

Praise for Chloe

— I love that P.D. Workman takes you into the darker sides of life and makes you realize after reading one of her books that you shouldn’t judge someone by how they act or look because you don’t know all that they have been through. Chloe is a very shocking and riveting story about all the risks one girl will take just to try and keep a part of her family together, no matter what it costs her. This book will have you not wanting to put it down until the end because you can’t bear to not know what is going to happen next.

—This is one of the more disturbing stories I have ever read… I don’t think I will ever forget Chloe’s story.

—It feels like I’m reading about my best friend or a family member. I’m thinking about the characters even when I’m not reading the book. [P.D. Workman’s] writing style captivates me like no other.

—I could never be as strong as Chloe, the way she grows throughout the book with her strength and learning how to overcome the tragic things that took place in her life. I kept wanting to know more… [it] made my heart happy. Thank you so much for another great read!

Praise for P.D. Workman

“Every single one of [P.D. Workman’s] books has spoken to me in ways no one or almost anything else has. And I have found strength in the books I’ve read.”

“The way that P.D. Workman writes just flows amazingly and allows the reader to get really invested in a book.”

“This is one author I certainly will be looking out for, I can’t recommend it enough. A fantastic book.”

Excerpt from Loose Ends

It’s been a very busy week over here! I hope you have had a happy holiday season. If you got a new ebook reader, are looking for new books for your current device (ereader, tablet, phone, or computer,) be sure to check out the promos in the sidebar—or bottom if you are browsing from your phone—to scoop up some good deals. And today is your last chance to get in on the Goodreads Giveaway for the three paperbacks in my Medical Kidnap Files series.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.

I am currently reading through D.D. Van Dyke’s Cal Corwin series. This week’s teaser is from Loose Ends, the first in the series (and currently free on Kindle.) California Corwin is a tough female P.I. in San Francisco, an ex-cop who likes gambling and fast cars:

Mira shuddered and breathed deeply in, and then out. Her exhalation sent the sharp sour smell of alcohol wafting under my nose. “My daughter was kidnapped two days ago.”

D.D. Van Dyke, Loose Ends

When a young girl is kidnapped, street-smart but damaged San Francisco ex-cop California “Cal” Corwin is engaged to find and rescue her before murder raises the stakes. As a straightforward case takes unexpected twists, Cal must quell a growing fear that an anguished mother may never see her child again. With a shadowy crime lord lurking behind every unexpected clue, Cal struggles to tie up loose ends before evil claims its next victim.

 

Let it snow! Christmas freebies!

If you’re stuck in a heavy snowfall, like me, you might be looking to fill up your new Kindle! In addition to the $0.99 deals I previously listed, I have rounded up some freebies for you!

Don’t forget that you don’t need a Kindle to read them, either. Download the Kindle app onto your phone, tablet, or computer. You can read them right in your browser with the Kindle Cloud Reader.

Proxy, Medical Kidnap Files #3, by P.D. Workman

Fourteen-year-old Seth Wilcox has been admitted to the hospital forty-eight times, according to his mother’s latest social media posts, when Social Services steps in and takes Seth into care, believing his mother suffers from Munchausen by Proxy and Seth is not safe in her care.

Gabriel Tate is now a veteran in dealing with medical kidnap and reuniting children with their families. He knows Seth and his mom, Leva, a tireless mitochondrial disorder advocate. He knows he needs to get Seth back to Leva as soon as he can.

With the authorities hot on their trails, Gabriel and Renata face increasingly difficult challenges. Can they stay one step ahead of the authorities? Can they finally get Seth somewhere he will be safe?

Cocoa and Chanel, by Donna Joy Usher

Faced with the unattractive options of an affair with her boss’s husband or the unknown, Chanel Smith chooses the unknown and unwittingly traps herself into joining the New South Wales’ Police Force. More interested in fashion than felony, Chanel staggers through training and finds herself posted to the forces most notorious crime hot spot – King’s Cross, where she becomes entangled in a case of the worst kind. A serial killer targeting young women.

As she is drawn further into the seedy underworld in her attempt to unravel the truth, Chanel makes new friends, new enemies and draws the attention of the killer. Can she solve the case in time, or will she become the killer’s next victim?

R.E. Birth, by Thomas W. Everson

A man faces death after an attack, but his life is spared when time travelers Ami and Agatha nurse him back to life. When he awakes in their home he’s disoriented and can’t remember who he is or what happened. Fearing the unknown attacker, he adventures through time as an escape, but doesn’t realize the bigger dangers he’s soon to face.

Fixed on You, by Laurelin Paige

Stalking and restraining orders are a thing of Alayna Wither’s past. With her MBA newly in hand, she has her future figured out–move up at the nightclub she works at and stay away from any guy who might trigger her obsessive love disorder. A perfect plan.

But what Alayna didn’t figure on is Hudson Pierce, the new owner of the nightclub. He’s smart, rich, and gorgeous–the kind of guy Alayna knows to stay away from if she wants to keep her past tendencies in check.

Snowberry Blossom, by Missy Sheldrake

Follow the knight Azaeli and her best friend Rian the Mage on a quick adventure to seek the Snowberry Blossom, a bloom that holds magic only if picked at midnight on Midwinter’s Eve.

Grab a cup of cider and sit back to read this tale of romance, adventure, and fantasy told Mya, Bard of His Majesty’s Elite of Cerion.

Ruby, Between the Cracks, by P.D. Workman

Award-winner! If you asked Ruby, she’d tell you she’s happy with her life. She’s tough and independent and doesn’t depend on anyone else. The road that has led her here has not been easy, and she’s blocked a lot of it from her memory.

But things aren’t as rosy as she would have everyone believe, and the road ahead of her is filled not only with gangs, drugs, and depression, but other challenges that Ruby hasn’t even imagined.

Beautiful Storm, by Barbara Freethy

When her father’s plane mysteriously disappeared in the middle of an electrical storm, Alicia Monroe became obsessed with lightning. Now a news photographer in Miami, Alicia covers local stories by day and chases storms at night. In a flash of lightning, she sees what appears to be a murder, but when she gets to the scene, there is no body, only a military tag belonging to Liliana Valdez, a woman who has been missing for two months.

While the police use the tag to jump-start their stalled investigation, Alicia sets off on her own to find the missing woman. Her search takes her into the heart of Miami’s Cuban-American community, where she meets the attractive but brooding Michael Cordero, who has his own demons to vanquish.

Shades of Valhalla, by Ellis Logan

Magic. Mayhem. One girl to save the world, or end it…

Siri Alvarsson just moved to a new town with her mom, she’s met a gorgeous guy she’d like to trust, and she’s having strange visions. Suddenly, she’s thrust into an unseen war going on between the Light and the Dark and a world she never even knew existed.

The pressure is on to choose who she will serve. Both sides need her if they want to win.

Death by Inferior Design, by Leslie Caine

Interior decorator, Erin Gilbert heads to picturesque Crestview, Colorado for a friendly (if sharks are friendly) competition: She’ll design a room in one home; and the impossibly handsome Steve Sullivan—her main rival—will do a room in another. The prize? A big feature in Denver Magazine, showcasing their interior design business.

Who could have dreamed the uproar to ensue in a neighborhood full of eccentric homeowners, jealously hidden secrets and a few marriages in need of total makeovers. Trapped together in the midst of chaos, could the charming Steve turn out to be a…friend?

Reaching Kylee, by Tamara Hart Heiner

It was Price Hudson’s mother who died, but Price feels like it was him. Everything that he used to enjoy–baseball, comics, even girls–seems petty and pointless now. He wants nothing more than to forget his old life and start over somewhere new, where no one knows him and no one expects anything from him.

Deviation, by P.D. Workman

“You’re a good kid, Henry.”

Everyone knew that he was a good guy; geeky, responsible, hard-working. Henry has had a lot to deal with in the past. Now, as he should be focusing on his schooling and preparing himself for the future, he is hindered by abuse, the challenge of raising his baby brother while dealing with his mother’s deep depressions, and the return of a ghost from the past Henry has tried his best to forget.

But it seems that Henry can’t avoid the nastiness of life. As hard as he tries, it’s one more disaster after another as his life spirals out of control. Can Henry escape the darkness, or is he doomed to be consumed by it?

Snow Angel, by Melanie Shawn

He is looking towards the future…Newly appointed Chief of Police Eric Maguire is sexy, single, and not ready to mingle. Tired of casual hook-ups and meaningless affairs, Eric is ready for something real. When a mysterious dark-haired beauty moves in next door, Eric knows he’s found exactly what he’s been missing.

Newly appointed Chief of Police Eric Maguire is sexy, single, and not ready to mingle. Tired of casual hook-ups and meaningless affairs, Eric is ready for something real. When a mysterious dark-haired beauty moves in next door, Eric knows he’s found exactly what he’s been missing.

Magick, by Mira Monroe

Willow and her best friends, Emily and Lucy, are making plans for a great senior year and daydreaming about life away from sleepy Chepstow, Massachusetts. Willow tries for a life under the radar, where her biggest adventure is dating Daniel – voted best all-around guy.

Her life is perfect, until a long-lost grandmother reveals that not only does she come from a long line of Wiccans, but she’s also part of the royal family – and next in line for the crown! Not everyone is happy to discover this outsider is about to take the throne, and Willow’s life is in danger – along with those around her.

Mistletoe at Moonglow, by Deborah Garner

A Christmas novella with cookie recipes included!

The Timberton Hotel has always provided a perfect Christmas retreat for regular guests, as well as newcomers. But the small town of Timberton, Montana, hasn’t been the same since resident chef and artist, Mist, arrived, bringing a unique new age flavor to the old western town. When guests check in for the holidays, they bring along worries, fears and broken hearts, unaware that Mist has a way of working magic in people’s lives.

Goodreads Giveaway for THREE Medical Kidnap Files Books

I am running a Goodreads Giveaway for not one, but three paperbacks! The winner will get all three of the Medical Kidnap Files. So click now for your opportunity to follow Gabriel’s and Renata’s journey through the first three books of the series!

Mito, Medical Kidnap Files #1

Gabriel has dealt with mysterious medical issues his whole life. Just when he finally thought that they had all of the answers and he was on the road to good health, he is apprehended by DFS on the grounds of medical neglect.

At first, he thought that he would be back home in a few days, once the misunderstanding was cleared up. But when Renata tells Gabriel her crazy conspiracy theories, Gabriel feels the first pangs of doubt. Is there really a conspiracy? Will he ever be able to get well and go back to his mother, or is he doomed to be another guinea pig for Doctor De Klerk?

EDS, Medical Kidnap Files #2

With a long string of unbelievable stories to explain her frequent injuries, Social Services sees Katt is the stereotypical abused child. When she is admitted to hospital with yet another broken bone, they do the only logical thing to protect her, removing Katt from her mother’s custody.

But Katt and her mother know that something is wrong, and it has nothing to do with abuse, and the longer Katt stays in foster care, the worse her health gets. Can they get the answers they need before it is too late? Can they get the answers and get Katt back home?

Proxy, Medical Kidnap Files #3

Fourteen-year-old Seth Wilcox has been admitted to the hospital forty-eight times, according to his mother’s latest social media posts, when Social Services steps in and takes Seth into care, believing his mother suffers from Munchausen by Proxy and Seth is not safe in her care.

Gabriel Tate is now a veteran in dealing with medical kidnap and reuniting children with their families. He knows Seth and his mom, Leva, a tireless mitochondrial disorder advocate. He knows he needs to get Seth back to Leva as soon as he can.

With the authorities hot on their trails, Gabriel and Renata face increasingly difficult challenges. Can they stay one step ahead of the authorities? Can they finally get Seth somewhere he will be safe?

Excerpt from Worth Dying For by Lee Child

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules and more teasers at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.

I am reading another Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child, Worth Dying For. As always, fast-paced, hard-hitting and intriguing. Everything you expect from Lee Child.

“Strength and brains. A dangerous mixture. Reacher preferred the old days, when muscle was dumb. He blamed education. The end of social promotion. There was a genetic price to be paid for making athletes attend class.”

Lee Child, Worthy Dying For

There’s deadly trouble in the corn country of Nebraska . . . and Jack Reacher walks right into it. First he falls foul of the Duncans, a local clan that has terrified an entire county into submission. But it’s the unsolved, decades-old case of a missing child that Reacher can’t let go.

The Duncans want Reacher gone—and it’s not just past secrets they’re trying to hide. For as dangerous as the Duncans are, they’re just the bottom of a criminal food chain stretching halfway around the world. For Reacher, it would have made much more sense to put some distance between himself and the hard-core trouble that’s bearing down on him. For Reacher, that was also impossible.

Brain to Books Holiday Event

In addition to my $0.99 Christmas sale and the Young Adult Instafreebie Giveaway, I am also participating in the Brain to Books Holiday Event, which brings you another sack full of great books for your Kindle device or app. I have Cynthia has a Secret on for $0.99, and there are a ton of other books on as well.

One day, fifteen-year-old Carmina Knight’s life was perfect, and the next, she’d lost everything. Her family, her home, almost everything that she knew. Alone on the streets, she can’t trust anyone, but she also can’t make it by herself.

Neil Crowther is the investigator on the Knight case. He knows that he has to unravel the web of deceit and track Carmina down quickly, or there will be no one left to save.

Cynthia Has a Secret is also available on other platforms:

   Amazon in Your Country                       

Young Adult Instafreebie Giveaway!

Looking for some freebie fun for your ereader?

Tattooed Teardrops is included in this mega giveaway of 20 Free Hot Young Adult Novels.

I don’t plan on getting in any trouble.

Tamara had thought that when she got out of juvie, things would be easier. But before long, it seems like her life is spiraling into chaos.

If she can’t prove to her probation officer that she is innocent of the allegations against her, she’s going back to prison, and Tamara just can’t let that happen.

Tattooed Teardrops is also available on other platforms:

   Amazon in Your Country                 
Wattpad   
 

$0.99 Books for Christmas!

Are you fully stocked up with reading for your Christmas break? Are you giving a Kindle or mobile device that you want to preload before giving it away? Or maybe you know that one of those flat little packages under the tree is a new Kindle for you (maybe you even bought it yourself!) Start adding books to your Kindle account now so you’ll be all ready Christmas Day! There is something for everyone here.

I have put Cynthia Has a Secret on for $0.99 a limited time and I have gathered together a Santa Sack full of other $0.99 Kindle reads that may strike your fancy below!

One day, fifteen-year-old Carmina Knight’s life was perfect, and the next, she’d lost everything. Her family, her home, almost everything that she knew. Alone on the streets, she can’t trust anyone, but she also can’t make it alone.

Neil Crowther is the investigator on the Knight case. He knows that he has to unravel the web of deceit and track Carmina down quickly, or there will be no one left to save.

—Cynthia has a Secret hooked me at the beginning and kept me interested right to the last page. Filled with intriguing characters you won’t soon forget.

Cynthia Has a Secret is available at all major online book retailers, including these:

 Amazon in Your Country         

Open Santa’s Sack for more $0.99 Deals:

A Shade of a Vampire, by Bella Forrest

On the evening of Sofia Claremont’s seventeenth birthday, she is sucked into a nightmare from which she cannot wake. A quiet evening walk along a beach brings her face to face with a dangerous pale creature that craves much more than her blood.

She is kidnapped to The Shade, an enchanted island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine – an island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains.

Sofia’s life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is selected out of hundreds of girls to take up residence in the tree-top harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal prince.

Flying Away, by Caroline A. Gill

When Iolani Bearse was five years old, she lost her father to war. When she was nine, her mother died in a freak car accident. When Lani was fourteen, eerie green lights invaded, tearing her from the only home she had left.

Living as a runaway, dragging a horse and her cousin Eleanor across the countryside, Lani must learn to survive. Now Lani is the only person between the horrible, greedy lights and the last bit of family she has left. Her own heart is barely beating, but powerful memories pull her to Malcolm St. John. She fights what she feels, buried deep within her shattered soul.

St. Nick, by Alan Russell

When Santa Claus is a cop, you better watch out.

It’s not looking like a very merry Christmas for San Diego cop Nick Pappas. Suspended from his job, alienated from his family, and persecuted by the press, he’s sorely tempted to turn his gun on himself. Except for his first name, he couldn’t possibly have less in common with jolly old St. Nicholas. But when a local mall decides it needs a secret Santa to help collar some vicious muggers preying on its holiday shoppers, Nick’s persuaded to red-suit up so as to take the naughty punks down and avert a ho-ho homicide. For a chance to bust bad guys, Nick’s willing to deal with crying kids, pushy parents, and a chronically cheerful “elf” sidekick. But the biggest challenge for this cop-turned-Claus is one that would confound even the real Kris Kringle: making a pair of next-to-impossible Christmas wishes come true for two children in need…before it’s too late.

The Marble Masquerade, by Miriam Rosenbaum

A marble army. An abandoned mansion. A magical garden. The townsfolk steer clear, but for Clara, it’s a home away from home – a personal playground that helps her endure a mundane life filled with problems. She never expected anyone to lay claim to the place, which is exactly what happens when a family of wealthy aristocrats arrive in town… and take over her sanctuary.

Now, Clara will have to fight if she wants to save the Mansion… and the one that hides at its center.

The Billionaire’s Christmas, by J.S. Scott

Called an eccentric beast by the citizens of Amesport, Maine, handsome, sensual billionaire Grady Sinclair stays isolated in his mansion on a private peninsula. The arrangement suits Grady just fine—until an unassuming woman rings his doorbell, awaking his long dormant passion with her fearlessness. All he wants is to make the fiery blonde his forever. But will he have to become the monster everyone thinks he is to get his Christmas wish?

Emily Ashworth is desperate. The Youth Center has been robbed of all its money, and as the director, she has to find a way to give the town’s needy children the Christmas they deserve. With nowhere else to turn, she ventures to the mansion of a mysterious billionaire to ask for help. Warned to expect a beast, Emily is shocked to find Grady Sinclair a handsome and verysensual man. With steamy kisses under the mistletoe and seductive whispers while hanging the wreath, Emily finds there’s more to Grady than meets the eye. Is this misunderstood billionaire just a lonely soul who needs the gift of love for Christmas?

Wow Your Clients, by Bob Abramson

In WOW YOUR CLIENTS, million-dollar business producer Bob Abramson shares actionable tips for both acquiring new clients and building long-lasting relationships with them. By the time you get done with this entertaining read, you will be equipped with the knowledge and playbook to land any client, and keep them for years to come.

A Cliche Christmas, by Nicole Deese

Georgia Cole—known in Hollywood as the “Holiday Goddess”—has made a name for herself writing heartwarming screenplays chock-full of Christmas clichés, but she has yet to experience the true magic of the season. So, when her eccentric grandmother volunteers her to direct a pageant at Georgia’s hometown community theater, she is less than thrilled. To make matters worse, she’ll be working alongside Weston James, her childhood crush and the one man she has tried desperately to forget.

Now, facing memories of a lonely childhood and the humiliation of her last onstage performance, seven years earlier, Georgia is on the verge of a complete mistletoe meltdown. As Weston attempts to thaw the frozen walls around her heart, Georgia endeavors to let go of her fears and give love a second chance. If she does, will she finally believe that Christmas can be more than a cliché?

Dragon, by Amanda Linehan

Silver has it all figured out. She’ll finish high school with fantastic grades, more popularity than most, a resume to impress the most stringent college admissions officer, and a rock-solid plan for her future. There’s only one thing standing in her way – an A in Advanced English. When she teams up with an unlikely ally – the outcast with the hand-drawn dragon on the back of his jacket – her path becomes clear and she devises a plan to steal the final exam and guarantee that she gets an A in English. If she fails, it will cost her everything. But if she succeeds, she’ll only have to do one thing. Decide just how far she’s willing to go for perfection.

Christmas in Cupid Falls, by Holly Jacobs

Kennedy Anderson loves Cupid Falls, Pennsylvania. Ever since moving there as an orphaned teenager, she’s worked hard to carve out a place for herself in the tight-knit community. Now she’s mayor and owner of the town’s flower shop. But she also has a big secret…and nine months to figure out how to break the news to the father.

Lawyer Malcolm Carter has always been the golden boy of Cupid Falls—until he discovers the one night he spent with the girl-next-door turned out to have a lifetime of consequences. Now, the mother of his child wants nothing to do with him, and he’s gone from someone who is admired to persona non grata as the town rallies behind its mayor.

Malcom has always known what he wants. But now as Christmas approaches, he’ll have to discover a way to show Kennedy that she could find the only thing she’s ever really wanted—a true home—with him. Convincing her will take the help of Cupid Falls’ quirky residents…and a bit of holiday magic.

Pulling the Rug, by  Jane Jago

Life isn’t always bitter, but it isn’t always sweet and it has an uncanny knack of biting your backside when you least expect it. This little collection of stories and verse is the author’s response to the banana skins we all have to negotiate and to the unexpected bonuses that balance the scales.

Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe, by Debbie Johnson

Becca Fletcher has always hated Christmas but she has her reasons for being Little Miss Grinch. Now, though, she can’t avoid her version of ho-ho-hell – because she’s travelling to the Comfort Food Cafe to spend the festive season with her sister Laura and her family. She’s expecting mulled wine, 24-hour Christmas movie marathons and all kinds of very merry torture.

Little does Becca know that the Comfort Food Cafe is like no other place on earth. Perched on a snow-covered hill, it’s a place full of friendship where broken hearts can heal, new love can blossom and where Becca’s Christmas miracle really could happen – if only she can let it…

A Step Outside of Normal, by RS Leergard Laurie Gienapp

A Step Outside of Normal presents seven situations which are almost, but not quite, normal. Not really supernatural, not really fantasy, not really general fiction. Instead, they’re each a little bit “off”. And short, to suit your busy lifestyle.

Hell of a Day is about a young man who has to deal with divorced parents who don’t like each other… but with an unusual setting. Sunnybrook Acres is a story of a retirement home, with an unexpected cadre of residents. Pirates looks at the world out of the eyes of a young child. Always is a tender story about loss, except that maybe it’s not so tender. Xyxyx examines the beginning of the world, but perhaps not our world. The Double presents a young woman who appears to have a doppelganger. And Rage—well, you’ll just have to read that one.

A Royal Christmas Princess, by Scarlet Wilson

After a tough year losing her mom and bills mounting, Holly Yates is in for a lonely Christmas. But when she hears a news report that the small principality of Coronia is looking for their lost princess, Holly is astounded to recognize the baby photo. It’s her!

Felix, also a Coronia royal, whisks Holly into her very own fairy-tale including a castle nestled within the quaint snow-covered Coronia capitol and her biological father, eager to meet his daughter. With Felix by her side as she meets the people of her would-be kingdom and prepares to attend a ball in her honor, Holly begins to fall in love, not just with Coronia, but also with the would-be prince.

Will the handsome prince still be at the side of this unexpected fairy-tale princess when the clock strikes midnight?

The Ancient, by Catherine Valenti

The Ancient is an anthology of short stories, all revolving around the notion of Aladdin’s Lamp. Some of these stories use an actual lamp, some of them use a different object. But in each story, the object has some unusual magical aspect that stays with it from one person to the next. Be careful what you wish for…

Stealing Christmas, by Alexa Riley

Christmas Winter is lucky she loves this time of year, because her name didn’t give her much of a choice. She’s always bubbly and happy. So when she takes a job as an elf in the mall, she’s excited to spread some cheer. But Christmas could never expect what happens when she catches the eye of a stranger.

Nicholas Light owns everything he sees, and when his eyes land on the new elf in his mall’s Santa exhibit, he knows she’s no different. There’s something about her sweet innocence that he has to have, and he’ll concoct a plan to make that happen.

Leftover Girl, by C.C. Bolick

Jes Delaney can’t remember anything before she was found at four, barefoot in the headlights of an old Ford. At fifteen, she has adjusted to moving without notice and never fitting in, but everything changes with her adoptive mom’s hometown. There Jes falls for her mom’s nephew, a love she hides when his betrayal leaves her isolated and driven to unravel the past.

After Jes befriends a strange new student, she discovers an unbelievable secret: he’s from another planet and searching for a missing girl that just might be her. As Jes will learn, truth comes at a cost, but will she give up love to find out?

Christmas Mysteries, by Arthur Conan Doyle and others

This carefully crafted ebook: “Christmas Mysteries – 20 Thriller Classics in One Volume” is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents.

Christmas holidays are the best time to enjoy some good mystery tales in the snuggling comfort of your home and family. This edition hence brings to you some of the finest literary gems together in one place to satisfy your cravings for some suspense

Cookie Encounter, by Michelle Connell

Where does the power to forgive come from? Natalie Alexander believes she is unworthy of a romantic relationship after a traumatic event back in college. After moving to southern Illinois, she can finally put the past behind her. When she meets handsome Nick Norton, over a platter of cookies, she isn’t looking for love. Or is she? Can Natalie overcome her insecurities and can Nick help her see her inner beauty?

We Witch You a Merry Christmas, by Adele Abbott

A short Christmas story featuring all of your favourite characters from the Witch P.I. Mystery series.

Jingle bells, jingle bells … Jill and Mrs V are both in big trouble until salvation comes from the most unlikely quarter … custard creams all the way.

Recoil, by Joanne Macgregor

Sixteen year-old Jinxy James spends her days trapped at home – immersed in virtual reality, worrying about the plague and longing for freedom. Then she wins a war simulation game and is recruited into a top-secret organisation where talented teenagers are trained to become agents in the war on terror. Eager to escape her mother’s over-protectiveness and to serve her country, Jinxy enlists and becomes an expert sniper of infected mutant rats.

She’s immediately drawn to Quinn O’Riley, a charming and subversive intelligence analyst who knows more about the new order of government and society than he is telling. Then a shocking revelation forces Jinxy to make an impossible decision, and she risks losing everything.

Christmas in the Valley, by Juliette Harper

Join Jinx and company for the first Jinx Hamilton / Shevington novella. In this short read of approximately 75 pages, Jinx, Tori, and the gang head out to spend their first Christmas in the magical Valley of Shevington, a place where anything is possible. Everything seems perfect, but on Christmas night, Jinx finds herself at the base of the Mother Tree thinking about the one thing she can’t have . . . or can she?

Wilder, by G.K. DeRosa

All that Celeste Wilder ever wanted was to find someone who would sweep her off her feet like she had seen in countless romantic movies. When she meets the gorgeous and mysterious Constantin brothers her senior year of high school, she gets much more than what she had bargained for. As they introduce her to an exciting supernatural world that she never imagined existed, she makes a startling discovery about her own family legacy and is forced to make a decision that will change her life forever.

The 12 Days of Xmas, by Cathryn Grant

Christmas can be a time of joy and love, sometimes Xmas can be bizarre and twisted.

This is a collection of vignettes exposing the dark and eerie side of the holidays. The selections, based on the Christmas carol written in 1780, offer an unnerving look into the twelve days of Xmas.

Curse of the Sphinx, by Raye Wagner

In a modern realm ruled by the Greek gods, seventeen year-old Hope Nicholas is considered a monster. Cursed by Apollo for her ancestor’s offence, she and her mother scramble and hide from the demigods and shadow-monsters of the Underworld who hunt them.

Tragedy strikes, and Hope flees, desperate to disappear among the mortals of a small town. But learning to navigate the riddles she finds is more than she can manage alone. When a mysterious stranger moves into town, Hope’s plan to stay overlooked and detached unravels.

 

 

Excerpt from The Help

Today is your last chance to enter the YA Paperback Blitz and get 52 young adult paperback books! If you haven’t already entered, you’d better do it before it is too late.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules at The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along.

Here is one that has been on my reading list for some time, but I didn’t get to it until this month: The Help by Kathryn Stockett. The Help has been made into a successful motion picture. I haven’t yet seen it, but the book is always better than the movie and should be read first! The Help is about the black maids in Jackson Mississippi at the time of Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights movement. It is a light but insightful read, with plenty of emotion and good humour.

“I always order the banned books from a black market dealer in California, figuring if the State of Mississippi banned them, they must be good.”

Kathryn Stockett, The Help

Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, who’s always taken orders quietly, but lately she’s unable to hold her bitterness back. Her friend Minny has never held her tongue but now must somehow keep secrets about her employer that leave her speechless. White socialite Skeeter just graduated college. She’s full of ambition, but without a husband, she’s considered a failure. Together, these seemingly different women join together to write a tell-all book about work as a black maid in the South, that could forever alter their destinies and the life of a small town…

Excerpt from The Inventor’s Secret

Check out the features in the sidebar! I’d love to get some donations to our local youth shelter, and you can find lots of good reads and deals.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme. Read the rules at Books and a Beat. Anyone can play along.

I don’t think I’ve featured any steampunk here before. I don’t read very much of it, but it can certainly be a lot of fun. I am currently in the third book of The Inventor’s Secret series, but I’ll post a quote from the first book. While the girls on the front covers of these books appear to be in their twenties, the protagonist is actually sixteen. One warning about this series: it is really a serial, with the plot arc extending across all three books, rather than resolved in one. Both the first and second books end at plot climaxes. Make sure you have all thee handy before you start.

This is why I keep telling Ash to get you a cat or a bird. Guns aren’t proper pets.

The Inventor’s Secret, Andrea Cremer

In this world, sixteen-year-old Charlotte and her fellow refugees have scraped out an existence on the edge of Britain’s industrial empire. Though they live by the skin of their teeth, they have their health (at least when they can find enough food and avoid the Imperial Labor Gatherers) and each other. When a new exile with no memory of his escape  or even his own name seeks shelter in their camp he brings new dangers with him and secrets about the terrible future that awaits all those who have struggled has to live free of the bonds of the empire’s Machineworks.