I'm going to nominate
Balance of Trade, a standalone book in the Liaden Universe® of Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.
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Originally Posted by BaenEbooks.com
Assistant Trader Jethri Gobelyn is an honest, hardworking young Terran who knows a lot about living onboard his family's space going trade ship 'Gobelyn's Market', something about trade, finance, and risk taking and a little bit about Liadens.
Oddly enough, it's the little bit he knows about Liadens that seems likely to make his family's fortune—and his own. In short order, however, Jethri Gobelyn is about to learn a lot more about Liadens . . . like how far they might go to protect their name and reputation. Like the myriad of things one might say—intentionally or not—with a single bow. Like how hard it is to say "I'm sorry!" in Liaden. Like how difficult it is to deal with a beguiling set of Liaden twins who may very well know exactly what he's thinking . . . . Soon it became clear that as little as he knew about Liadens, he knew far less about himself. With his very existence a threat to the balance of trade, Jethri needs to learn fast, or become a pawn in a game that will destroy all he has come to hold dear.
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Lee and Miller's award-winning Liaden Universe® series has garnered high praise for master level world building, deft characterization, and action-packed plots. These are not characters. They are real people, whose lives we have been privileged to share.
—Jennifer Dunne, SFRomance
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This is a favourite book in a favourite series and the book I had in mind when I suggested this theme. Even if we opt to read a different book next month, I highly commend this book to you. It's of reasonable length (~400 pages), and reasonable cost ($5.38 or $6.28 at Amazon, depending on how I log in), has a killer WhisperSync price of $1.99 for the Audible book, and is an excellent way to "taste" the Liaden Universe without committing to a lengthy story arc.
Amazon: $5.38
AmazonCA: $8.56 (CAD)
Baen Ebooks: $6.99
AmazonUK: £4.67
Audible: 1 credit, or $1.99 WhisperSync
Goodreads
Note: This book is sold DRM-Free on Amazon in Kindle format, and on Baen Ebooks site in all formats. It does not appear to currently be available from Kobo, but Baen has it in ePub without DRM so that's not an issue.