Affiliate Links for "arcadata"- July 2015

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Blood Sisters (Katie Maguire Book 5) by Graham Masterton from Head of Zeus (£0.99) is the Amazon UK Kindle Daily Deal (July 5) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

Product Description

Katie Maguire hunts a serial killer targeting nuns in the gruesome new thriller from Graham Masterton.

In a nursing home on the outskirts of Cork, an elderly nun lies dead. She has been suffocated. It looks like a mercy-killing - until another sister from the same convent is found viciously murdered, floating in the Glashaboy river.

The nuns were good women, doing God's work. Why would anyone want to kill them? But then a child's skull is unearthed in the garden of the nuns' convent, and DS Katie Maguire discovers a fifty year old secret that just might lead her to the killer... if the killer doesn't find her first.

The Dancer (The Carnivia Trilogy Book 2) by Jonathan Holt from Head of Zeus (£0.99) is the Amazon UK Kindle Daily Deal (July 5) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

Product Description

This is book 2 in The Carnivia Trilogy and was previously published as The Abduction.

The girl in the feathered mask was just another Carnival reveller, escaping the Venice crowds. When she was bundled into a van and driven high into the hills, nobody heard her scream.

Kat Tapo's bosses in the Venice police say she is too headstrong to lead a high profile kidnap case. But Kat has reasons of her own to mount a secret investigation - and what she discovers will rewrite the past… and send shockwaves into the present.

Want to catch the kidnappers?
Join the hunt at Carnivia.com

The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris from Sandstone Press (£1.09) is the Amazon UK Kindle Daily Deal (July 5) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

Product Description

19 year-old Chani lives in the ultra-orthodox Jewish community of North West London. She has never had physical contact with a man, but is bound to marry a stranger. The rabbi’s wife teaches her what it means to be a Jewish wife, but Rivka has her own questions to answer.

Soon buried secrets, fear and sexual desire bubble to the surface in a story of liberation and choice; not to mention what happens on the wedding night…

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Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts from Berkley/Penguin Group ($1.99) is the Kindle Deal of the Day (July 5) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

* Also on Amazon CA

Add Audible narration to your purchase for just $1.99

Product Description

Customer Review: "I love Nora Roberts, and she never fails to deliver a good story. This was no exception. It's a page turner."

#1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts weaves together passion and obsession, humor and heart, in a novel of two people opening themselves up to the truth—and to each other.

For more than three hundred years, Bluff House has sat above Whiskey Beach, guarding its shore—and its secrets. But to Eli Landon, it’s home.

A Boston lawyer, Eli has weathered an intense year of public scrutiny and police investigations after being accused of—but never arrested for—the murder of his soon-to-be ex-wife.

He finds sanctuary at Bluff House, even though his beloved grandmother is in Boston recuperating from a nasty fall. Abra Walsh is always there, though. Whiskey Beach’s resident housekeeper, yoga instructor, jewelry maker and massage therapist, Abra is a woman of many talents—including helping Eli take control of his life and clear his name. But as they become entangled in each other, they find themselves caught in a net that stretches back for centuries—one that has ensnared a man intent on reaping the rewards of destroying Eli Landon once and for all.

Kaleb (Alluring Indulgence Book 1) by Nicole Edwards from Pocket Star/Simon and Schuster ($1.99) is the Kindle Romance Deal of the Day (July 5) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

* Also on Amazon CA

Product Description

Customer Review: "A fun and sexy romance, I absolutely loved this."

Two neighbors and long-time friends come face-to-face with their forbidden fantasies in this sizzling ebook from New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Nicole Edwards.

Zoey Stranford might’ve had a crush on the sexy boy next door since middle school, but she’s a woman now, and that crush has turned into a full-blown case of lust. So why is it that at twenty-nine, her libido decides to ramp into high gear and the only thing she can focus on is the intensely sexy, scorching hot boy next door who is definitely not a boy anymore?

The only problem is that Zoey and Kaleb have been best friends for as long as she can remember. Not to mention, Kaleb and his brothers are working on buying Stranford land to build a new resort, and she’s more than a little hesitant about his intentions.

Kaleb Walker has had his eye on Zoey for close to twenty years, but never before has he considered taking their friendship to the next level, no matter how many fantasies he’s had about her over the years. That doesn’t explain why Kaleb is hell bent on having her—in as many ways as possible.

Kaleb finds himself in a precarious situation. His brothers have nominated him to pursue Zoey’s father about purchasing the land needed to get their new resort off the ground. Finding out that Carl Stranford is on the brink of foreclosure and Zoey might just lose her house and the land, Kaleb now has to convince her to put aside her pride and let him help her.

It doesn’t take long before the flames start burning bright and hot, and the two of them burn up the nights and the days as they explore each other’s forbidden fantasies. But can their friendship survive a business transaction or the new friends with benefits clause? Or will they realize that they’ve been overlooking something much deeper that’s been right in front of them all along?

Black Dog: Hellhound Chronicles by Caitlin Kittredge from Harper Voyager ($1.99) is the Kindle Sci-Fi / Fantasy Deal of the Day (July 5) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

* Also on Amazon CA

Product Description

Customer review: "If you want a dark urban fantasy book, then this is definitely one that will capture your interest."

The first installment in a fabulous dark urban fantasy series—think Kill Bill with demons and gangsters instead of martial arts—from the award-winning author of the Iron Codex trilogy and Vertigo comic Coffin Hill.

Ava has spent the last hundred years as a hellhound, the indentured servant of a reaper who hunts errant souls and sends them to Hell. When a human necromancer convinces her to steal her reaper’s scythe, Ava incurs the wrath of the demon Lilith, her reaper’s boss.

As punishment for her transgression, Lilith orders Ava to track down the last soul in her reaper’s ledger . . . or die trying.

But after a hundred years of servitude, it’s time for payback. And Hell hath no fury like an avenging Ava. . . .

Tomorrowland: Our Journey from Science Fiction to Science Fact by Steven Kotler from Amazon ($1.99) is the Kindle Science Deal of the Day (July 5) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

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Add Audible narration to your purchase for just $0.99

Product Description

Customer Review: "This is a fascinating collection of articles about new technologies and scientific discoveries and how they are going to be shaping our lives."

New York Times, Wired, Atlantic Monthly, Discover bestselling author Steven Kotler has written extensively about those pivotal moments when science fiction became science fact…and fundamentally reshaped the world. Now he gathers the best of his best, updated and expanded upon, to guide readers on a mind-bending tour of the far frontier, and how these advances are radically transforming our lives. From the ways science and technology are fundamentally altering our bodies and our world (the world’s first bionic soldier, the future of evolution) to those explosive collisions between science and culture (life extension and bioweapons), we’re crossing moral and ethical lines we’ve never faced before.

As Kotler writes, “Life is tricky sport—and that's the emotional core of this story, the real reason we can’t put Pandora back in the box. When you strip everything else away, technology is nothing more than the promise of an easier tomorrow. It’s the promise of hope. And how do you stop hope?”

Join Kotler in this fascinating exploration of our incredible next: a deep dive into those future technologies happening now—and what it means to be a part of this brave new world.

Stone Cold Touch (The Dark Elements Book 2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout from Harlequin Teen ($0.99) is the Kindle Teens Deal of the Day (July 5) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

* Also on Amazon CA

Product Description

Customer review: "This is exactly what the YA shelves need! It has romance, suspense, gargoyles, demons, and well, everything!"

#1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout draws readers into the extraordinary, irresistible world of Wardens and demons in the second book of The Dark Elements series.

Every touch has its price

Layla Shaw is trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life—no easy task for a seventeen-year-old who's pretty sure things can't get worse. Her impossibly gorgeous best friend, Zayne, is forever off-limits thanks to the mysterious powers of her soul-stealing kiss. The Warden clan that has always protected her is suddenly keeping dangerous secrets. And she can barely think about Roth, the wickedly hot demon prince who understood her in ways no one else could.

But sometimes rock bottom is only the beginning. Because suddenly Layla's powers begin to evolve, and she's offered a tantalizing taste of what has always been forbidden. Then, when she least expects it, Roth returns, bringing news that could change her world forever. She's finally getting what she always wanted, but with hell literally breaking loose and the body count adding up, the price may be higher than Layla is willing to pay….

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Dirty Magic (Prospero's War Book 1) by Jaye Wells from Orbit/ Hachette Book Group ($2.99) is the NOOK Daily Find (July 5)

* Price matched on Amazon US

Add Audible narration to your purchase for just $2.99

Product Description

MAGIC IS A DRUG. CAREFUL HOW YOU USE IT.

The Magical Enforcement Agency keeps dirty magic off the streets, but there's a new blend out there that's as deadly as it is elusive. When patrol cop Kate Prospero shoots the lead snitch in this crucial case, she's brought in to explain herself. But the more she learns about the investigation, the more she realizes she must secure a spot on the MEA task force.

Especially when she discovers that their lead suspect is the man she walked away from ten years earlier - on the same day she swore she'd given up dirty magic for good. Kate Prospero's about to learn the hard way that crossing a wizard will always get you burned, and that when it comes to magic, you should never say never.

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Audible Daily Deal - A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, George Newbern (Narrator) for $3.95

Publisher's Summary

Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon - the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him "the bitter neighbor from hell". But behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness.

So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove's mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents' association to their very foundations.

©2014 Fredrik Backman; (P)2014 Dreamscape Media, LLC

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Half a King (Shattered Sea Book 1) by Joe Abercrombie from Del Rey/Random House is $1.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY TIME AND THE WASHINGTON POST • LOCUS AWARD WINNER

“I swore an oath to avenge the death of my father. I may be half a man, but I swore a whole oath.”

Prince Yarvi has vowed to regain a throne he never wanted. But first he must survive cruelty, chains, and the bitter waters of the Shattered Sea. And he must do it all with only one good hand.

The deceived will become the deceiver.

Born a weakling in the eyes of his father, Yarvi is alone in a world where a strong arm and a cold heart rule. He cannot grip a shield or swing an axe, so he must sharpen his mind to a deadly edge.

The betrayed will become the betrayer.

Gathering a strange fellowship of the outcast and the lost, he finds they can do more to help him become the man he needs to be than any court of nobles could.

Will the usurped become the usurper?

But even with loyal friends at his side, Yarvi finds that his path may end as it began—in twists, and traps, and tragedy.

BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Joe Abercrombie's Half the World.

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A Court of Thorns and Roses (Court of Thorns & Roses Trilogy 1) by Sarah J. Maas from Bloomsbury Childrens (£0.99) is the Amazon UK Kindle Daily Deal (July 6) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

Product Description

Feyre's survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price ...

Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre's presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

The start of a sensational romantic fantasy trilogy by the bestselling author of the Throne of Glass series.

The Badge by Ashley Topham from Amazon (£0.99) is the Amazon UK Kindle Daily Deal (July 6) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

Product Description

This hilarious and heart-breaking tale of life in the British Army charts soldier Ashley Topham's progress from scrawny troublemaker to Regimental Sergeant Major, wearer of The Badge, feared and respected by all.

From a comedy of errors resulting in his capture and interrogation by the KGB, to the triumph of his first operational combat, this absorbing story tells a soldier's life as it is, with all the unsavoury parts left in.

Intimate Deception by Laura Landon from Montlake Romance (£0.99) is the Amazon UK Kindle Daily Deal (July 6) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

Product Description

When Lady Grace Warren’s father sells her in marriage to the depraved Lord Fentington, she knows only the most drastic action will save her from a life of misery. In Victorian England, a woman possesses only one item of value: her virtue. Without it, Fentington will not want her—nor will any other man. But at least she will be free. Now she must find a man with whom to pass the fateful night, a man who will ask no questions, make no other demands. Because for a woman preparing to risk everything, no ordinary man will do…

After losing two wives in childbirth, Vincent Germaine, Duke of Raeburn, vows never to marry again. Racked with guilt over the lives lost in his quest for an heir, he is careful now to take his pleasure only with London’s most discreet courtesans. Yet when he learns that a passionate encounter with a bewitching stranger may have put yet another life at risk, Vincent sets out to find the unsuspecting girl—and discovers a woman of incomparable courage, beauty, and strength. But can two strangers brought together by desperation find true love against all odds?

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Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa from Bloomsbury USA ($1.99) is the Kindle Deal of the Day (July 6) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

* Also on Amazon CA

Product Description

Customer Review: "This novel is a must read. It is sure to be an eye opening experience for those who know little about Palestine and an eye-watering experience for those who do."

Mornings in Jenin is a multi-generational story about a Palestinian family. Forcibly removed from the olive-farming village of Ein Hod by the newly formed state of Israel in 1948, the Abulhejos are displaced to live in canvas tents in the Jenin refugee camp. We follow the Abulhejo family as they live through a half century of violent history. Amidst the loss and fear, hatred and pain, as their tents are replaced by more forebodingly permanent cinderblock huts, there is always the waiting, waiting to return to a lost home.

The novel's voice is that of Amal, the granddaughter of the old village patriarch, a bright, sensitive girl who makes it out of the camps, only to return years later, to marry and bear a child. Through her eyes, with her evolving vision, we get the story of her brothers, one who is kidnapped to be raised Jewish, one who will end with bombs strapped to his middle. But of the many interwoven stories, stretching backward and forward in time, none is more important than Amal's own. Her story is one of love and loss, of childhood and marriage and parenthood, and finally the need to share her history with her daughter, to preserve the greatest love she has.

Set against one of the twentieth century's most intractable political conflicts, Mornings in Jenin is a deeply human novel - a novel of history, identity, friendship, love, terrorism, surrender, courage, and hope. Its power forces us to take a fresh look at one of the defining conflicts of our lifetimes.

His First and Last (Ardent Springs Book 1) by Terri Osburn from Montlake Romance ($1.99) is the Kindle Romance Deal of the Day (July 6) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

* Also on Amazon CA

Product Description

Lorelei returns to the town she couldn't wait to leave... and the boy who never forgot her.

At eighteen, Lorelei Pratchett couldn’t wait to get out of her hometown. Twelve years later, her Hollywood dreams have fizzled and she’s back—temporarily, she thinks. Though she throws herself into saving the old theater and starting a baking business, small towns have long memories, and Lorelei’s wild past still haunts her. It doesn’t help that her ex-boyfriend, Spencer Boyd, is even hotter, smarter, and more distracting than before.

The fiery Lorelei that Spencer knew years ago may have become closed off and cautious, but their chemistry hasn’t faded one bit. Losing her a second time is unthinkable to him, yet Lorelei is convinced she doesn’t belong in Ardent Springs. Somehow, Spencer needs to show her that everything she needs is right here: family, friendship, new beginnings…and a man who’s never stopped loving her.

Warm, sexy, and laugh-out-loud funny, His First and Last is an irresistible story of first love and second chances.

Maxon (Angelbound Origins Book 1) by Christina Bauer from Ink Monster ($0.99) is the Kindle Sci-Fi / Fantasy Deal of the Day (July 6) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

* Also on Amazon CA

Product Description

Customer review: "This is highly recommended if you enjoy romance, fantasy, and action all rolled into one well-written, gripping read."

Prince Maxon may be twenty-two years old now, but he’s still haunted by his boyhood abduction and torture in Hell. To deal with his past, Maxon limits his present-day activities to killing demons and seducing women. No long-term relationships. No combat too dangerous. No problem, right?

Wrong.

Maxon’s life has stalled out. The old thrills aren't there anymore, either on the battlefield or in the bedroom. While staking out his next fight, Maxon meets what seems like just another girl after a good time. What he gets is a close encounter with Lianna, a lady warrior with ties to the mysterious elemental rulers called the monarkki. It’s love at first fight. Trouble is, Lianna’s running from a dark history of her own, and her elemental enemies are closing in. When Lianna gets taken, Maxon realizes that after years of wrong choices and dead ends, the right woman is worth risking it all.

Book contains adult language and sexuality. May be read as a stand-alone or after the Angelbound Origins series.

Toyota Kata: Managing People for Improvement, Adaptiveness and Superior Results by Mike Rother from McGraw-Hill Education ($1.99) is the Kindle Business & Money Deal of the Day (July 6) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

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Product Description

Customer Review: "This is not only one of the most noteworthy books on lean management, but an insightful and practical guide for any manager or leader."

This game-changing book puts you behind the curtain at Toyota, providing new insight into the legendary automaker's management practices and offering practical guidance for leading and developing people in a way that makes the best use of their brainpower.

Drawing on six years of research into Toyota's employee-management routines, Toyota Kataexamines and elucidates, for the first time, the company's organizational routines--called kata--that power its success with continuous improvement and adaptation. The book also reaches beyond Toyota to explain issues of human behavior in organizations and provide specific answers to questions such as:

How can we make improvement and adaptation part of everyday work throughout the organization?
How can we develop and utilize the capability of everyone in the organization to repeatedly work toward and achieve new levels of performance?
How can we give an organization the power to handle dynamic, unpredictable situations and keep satisfying customers?

Mike Rother explains how to improve our prevailing management approach through the use of two kata: Improvement Kata--a repeating routine of establishing challenging target conditions, working step-by-step through obstacles, and always learning from the problems we encounter; and Coaching Kata: a pattern of teaching the improvement kata to employees at every level to ensure it motivates their ways of thinking and acting.

With clear detail, an abundance of practical examples, and a cohesive explanation from start to finish,Toyota Kata gives executives and managers at any level actionable routines of thought and behavior that produce superior results and sustained competitive advantage.

Wringer by Jerry Spinelli from HarperCollins ($1.99) is the Kindle Kids Deal of the Day (July 6) *Wait for price to reflect discount before 1-clicking

* Also on Amazon CA

Product Description

Customer review: "This is a powerful and hauntingly beautiful coming-of-age story and a great book for the upper elementary student."

Palmer LaRue is running out of birthdays. For as long as he can remember, he's dreaded the day he turns ten -- the day he'll take his place beside all the other ten-year-old boys in town, the day he'll be a wringer. But Palmer doesn't want to be a wringer. It's one of the first things he learned about himself and it's one of the biggest things he has to hide. In Palmer's town being a wringer is an honor, a tradition passed down from father to son. Palmer can't stop himself from being a wringer just like he can't stop himself from growing one year older, just like he can't stand up to a whole town -- right?

Newbery Medal winner Jerry Spinelli's most powerful novel yet is a gripping tale of how one boy learns how not to be afraid.

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The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu from Angry Robot is $1.99 (US Kindle, Amazon CA)

Book Description

Winner of the Alex Award for the American Library Association's 2014 Youth Media Awards

When out-of-shape IT technician Roen woke up and started hearing voices in his head, he naturally assumed he was losing it.

He wasn't.

He now has a passenger in his brain - an ancient alien life-form called Tao, whose race crash-landed on Earth before the first fish crawled out of the oceans. Now split into two opposing factions - the peace-loving, but under-represented Prophus, and the savage, powerful Genjix - the aliens have been in a state of civil war for centuries. Both sides are searching for a way off-planet, and the Genjix will sacrifice the entire human race, if that's what it takes.

Meanwhile, Roen is having to train to be the ultimate secret agent. Like that's going to end up well.

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Blindsighted: The First Grant County Thriller by Karin Slaughter from HarperCollins ($1.99) is the KOBO Daily Deal (July 6)

* Price matched on Amazon US

Product Description

A small Georgia town erupts in panic when a young college professor is found brutally mutilated in the local diner. But it's only when town pediatrician and coroner Sara Linton does the autopsy that the full extent of the killer's twisted work becomes clear.

Sara's ex-husband, police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, leads the investigation—a trail of terror that grows increasingly macabre when another local woman is found crucified a few days later. But he's got more than a sadistic serial killer on his hands, for the county's sole female detective, Lena Adams—the first victim's sister—want to serve her own justice.

But it is Sara who holds the key to finding the killer. A secret from her past could unmask the brilliantly malevolent psychopath .. or mean her death.

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Let's Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship by Gail Caldwell from Random House is $1.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Amazon Best Books of the Month, August 2010

They met over their dogs. Gail Caldwell and Caroline Knapp (author of Drinking: A Love Story) became best friends, talking about everything from their love of books and their shared history of a struggle with alcohol to their relationships with men. Walking the woods of New England and rowing on the Charles River, these two private, self-reliant women created an attachment more profound than either of them could ever have foreseen. Then, several years into this remarkable connection, Knapp was diagnosed with cancer. With her signature exquisite prose, Caldwell mines the deepest levels of devotion, and courage in this gorgeous memoir about treasuring a best friend, and coming of age in midlife. Let’s Take the Long Way Home is a celebration of the profound transformations that come from intimate connection—and it affirms, once again, why Gail Caldwell is recognized as one of our bravest and most honest literary voices.

BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Gail Caldwell's New Life, No Instructions.

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The Coffee Trader: A Novel by David Liss from Random House is $1.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description

The Edgar Award–winning novel A Conspiracy of Paper was one of the most acclaimed debuts of 2000. In his richly suspenseful second novel, author David Liss once again travels back in time to a crucial moment in cultural and financial history. His destination: Amsterdam, 1659—a mysterious world of trade populated by schemers and rogues, where deception rules the day.

On the world’s first commodities exchange, fortunes are won and lost in an instant. Miguel Lienzo, a sharp-witted trader in the city’s close-knit community of Portuguese Jews, knows this only too well. Once among the city’s most envied merchants, Miguel has lost everything in a sudden shift in the sugar markets. Now, impoverished and humiliated, living on the charity of his petty younger brother, Miguel must find a way to restore his wealth and reputation.

Miguel enters into a partnership with a seduc-tive Dutchwoman who offers him one last chance at success—a daring plot to corner the market of an astonishing new commodity called “coffee.” To succeed, Miguel must risk everything he values and test the limits of his commercial guile, facing not only the chaos of the markets and the greed of his competitors, but also a powerful enemy who will stop at nothing to see him ruined. Miguel will learn that among Amsterdam’s ruthless businessmen, betrayal lurks everywhere, and even friends hide secret agendas.

With humor, imagination, and mystery, David Liss depicts a world of subterfuge, danger, and repressed longing, where religious and cultural traditions clash with the demands of a new and exciting way of doing business. Readers of historical suspense and lovers of coffee (even decaf) will be up all night with this beguiling novel.

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Swordspoint (The World of Riverside Book 1) by Ellen Kushner from Spectra/Random House is $1.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description

The classic forerunner to The Fall of the Kings now with three bonus stories.

Hailed by critics as “a bravura performance” (Locus) and “witty, sharp-eyed, [and] full of interesting people” (Newsday), this classic melodrama of manners, filled with remarkable plot twists and unexpected humor, takes fantasy to an unprecedented level of elegant writing and scintillating wit. Award-winning author Ellen Kushner has created a world of unforgettable characters whose political ambitions, passionate love affairs, and age-old rivalries collide with deadly results.

Swordspoint

On the treacherous streets of Riverside, a man lives and dies by the sword. Even the nobles on the Hill turn to duels to settle their disputes. Within this elite, dangerous world, Richard St. Vier is the undisputed master, as skilled as he is ruthless--until a death by the sword is met with outrage instead of awe, and the city discovers that the line between hero and villain can be altered in the blink of an eye.

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The Paris Architect: A Novel by Charles Belfoure from Sourcebooks Landmark is $1.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description

In 1942 Paris, gifted architect Lucien Bernard accepts a commission that will bring him a great deal of money - and maybe get him killed. But if he's clever enough, he'll avoid any trouble. All he has to do is design a secret hiding place for a wealthy Jewish man, a space so invisible that even the most determined German officer won't find it. He sorely needs the money, and outwitting the Nazis who have occupied his beloved city is a challenge he can't resist.

But when one of his hiding spaces fails horribly, and the problem of where to hide a Jew becomes terribly personal, Lucien can no longer ignore what's at stake. The Paris Architect asks us to consider what we owe each other, and just how far we'll go to make things right.

Written by an architect whose knowledge imbues every page, this story becomes more gripping with every soul hidden and every life saved.

Now includes a bonus excerpt from House of Thieves, the next book from Charles Belfoure.

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Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott from HarperCollins is $2.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description

Karen Abbott, the New York Times bestselling author of Sin in the Second City and “pioneer of sizzle history” (USA Today), tells the spellbinding true story of four women who risked everything to become spies during the Civil War.

Karen Abbott illuminates one of the most fascinating yet little known aspects of the Civil War: the stories of four courageous women—a socialite, a farmgirl, an abolitionist, and a widow—who were spies.

After shooting a Union soldier in her front hall with a pocket pistol, Belle Boyd became a courier and spy for the Confederate army, using her charms to seduce men on both sides. Emma Edmonds cut off her hair and assumed the identity of a man to enlist as a Union private, witnessing the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. The beautiful widow, Rose O’Neale Greenhow, engaged in affairs with powerful Northern politicians to gather intelligence for the Confederacy, and used her young daughter to send information to Southern generals. Elizabeth Van Lew, a wealthy Richmond abolitionist, hid behind her proper Southern manners as she orchestrated a far-reaching espionage ring, right under the noses of suspicious rebel detectives.

Using a wealth of primary source material and interviews with the spies’ descendants, Abbott seamlessly weaves the adventures of these four heroines throughout the tumultuous years of the war. With a cast of real-life characters including Walt Whitman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, General Stonewall Jackson, detective Allan Pinkerton, Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, and Emperor Napoleon III, Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy draws you into the war as these daring women lived it.

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy contains 39 black & photos and 3 maps.

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The Confessions of Catherine de Medici: A Novel by C.W. Gortner from Ballantine Books/Random House is $1.99 (US Kindle)

Book Description

BONUS: This edition contains a The Confessions of Catherine de Medici discussion guide and an excerpt from C.W. Gortner's The Queen's Vow.

The truth is, not one of us is innocent. We all have sins to confess. So reveals Catherine de Medici, the last legitimate descendant of her family’s illustrious line.

Expelled from her native Florence, Catherine is betrothed to Henri, son of François I of France. In an unfamiliar realm, Catherine strives to create a role for herself through her patronage of the famous clairvoyant Nostradamus and her own innate gift as a seer. But in her fortieth year, Catherine is widowed, left alone with six young children in a kingdom torn apart by the ambitions of a treacherous nobility. Relying on her tenacity, wit, and uncanny gift for compromise, Catherine seizes power, intent on securing the throne for her sons, unaware that if she is to save France, she may have to sacrifice her ideals, her reputation, and the secret of her embattled heart.