Deadly Sting by Jennifer Estep is book 8 in the Gin Blanco Elemental Assassin series, and it's $2.99. Different books in this series have been on sale, but this and book 9 are on sale right now, just in time for the 10th book to come out. (Wow, 10 books!)
Most people shy away from blood, but for an assassin like me— Gin Blanco, aka the Spider—it’s just part of the job. Still, it would be nice to get a night off, especially when I’m attending the biggest gala event of the summer at Briartop, Ashland’s fanciest art museum. But it’s just not meant to be. For this exhibition of my late nemesis’s priceless possessions is not only the place to be seen, but the place to be robbed and taken hostage at gunpoint as well. No sooner did I get my champagne than a bunch of the unluckiest thieves ever burst into the museum and started looting the place.
Unlucky why? Because I brought along a couple of knives in addition to my killer dress. Add these to my Ice and Stone magic, and nothing makes me happier than showing the bad guys why red really is my color.
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Heart of Venom is book 9 in the Gin Blanco series, and is also $2.99. This book came out in August 2013, and the next in the series, The Spider, comes out on December 24. If you know a Urban Fantasy fan who likes kickass female characters, they should definitely know about this series if they don't already.
When I say you’re a dead man, take that literally.
To me, killing people is like a day at the salon: cut and dry. Well, more like rinse and repeat when you moonlight as the assassin the Spider. But my last spa day ended redder than my freshly painted nails after a twisted Fire elemental and his goons kidnapped my close friend Sophia Deveraux and nearly killed her sister Jo-Jo in the process.
Up Ashland’s most dangerous mountains, and deep into the heart of its blackest woods—I’ll track these thugs no matter where they take Sophia. It doesn’t matter what kinds of elemental magic they try to throw at me, my Ice and Stone powers can take the heat and then some. I will get Sophia back, over their dead bodies.
Because anybody that hurts Gin Blanco’s family becomes a body.
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Victoria Holt's The Indian Fan is a KDD today at $1.99. This is a gothic romance originally published in 1988. Victoria Holt is one of the more frequently cited names when folks talk about which romance brought them into the genre.
Blackmail. Arson. Murder. Obsession.
Beautiful as its peacock feathers may be, the priceless fan hidden deep within the Framling mansion has a legacy of death and destruction. And Drusilla Delany has no idea she's been marked by its curse…
But the fan's dark past might prove less of a danger than Fabian Framling himself. Dark, brooding, and dominating, will he be the one to save her from the fan's cruel fate…or cause her demise?
Untraceable by Laura Griffin, the first book in her series, is the Nook Daily Find today at $1.99. This price hasn't been matched elsewhere but it may be later today. If you like romantic suspense thrillers with smart characters, you'll probably love these.
Private investigator Alexandra Lovell uses computer skills and cunning to help clients drop off the radar and begin new lives in safety. Melanie Bess, desperate to escape her abusive cop husband, was one of those clients. But when Melanie vanishes for real, Alex fears the worst, and sets out to discover what happened. Using every resource she can get her hands on — including an elite team of forensic scientists known as the Tracers, and a jaded, sexy Austin PD detective — Alex embarks on a mission to uncover the truth.
As far as homicide cop Nathan Deveraux is concerned, no body means no case. But as much as he wants to believe that Alex's hunch about Melanie's murder is wrong, his instincts — and their visceral attraction — won't let him walk away. As a grim picture of what really happened begins to emerge, Nathan realizes this investigation runs deeper than they could ever have guessed. And each step nearer the truth puts Alex in danger of being the next to disappear….
Altered by Jennifer Rush is a KDD today and is priced at $2.99. This is a YA romance/thriller with genetically altered kids on the run from a giant nemesis, which may or may not be the nemesis they've identified. Readers really liked the action, the fast pace, and the puzzle of figuring out who and what was the truth in the story.
They were made to forget. But they'll never forgive.
Everything about Anna's life is a secret. Her father works for the Branch, at the helm of its latest project: monitoring and administering treatments to the four genetically altered boys in the lab below their farmhouse. There's Nick, solemn and brooding; Cas, light-hearted and playful; Trev, smart and caring; and Sam . . . who's stolen Anna's heart.
When the Branch decides it's time to take the boys, Sam stages an escape. Anna's father pushes her to go with them, making Sam promise to keep her away from the Branch, at all costs.
On the run, with her father's warning in her head, Anna begins to doubt everything she thought she knew about herself. She soon discovers that she and Sam are connected in more ways than either of them expected. And if they're both going to survive, they must piece together the clues of their past before the Branch catches up to them and steals it all away.
My piano teacher in Port of Spain in the 60s, Miss Roberts, loved Victoria Holt. She would sit and read while listening to two students on two pianos. But if you missed a note, she would be all over it. I loved to read so she started sharing her books with me. I was not supposed to read fiction so I would sneak them home with my piano books. Oh, Bride of Pendorric. Oh, Mistress of Mellyn and Kirkland Revels. When I was no longer at home, I searched out her books. Yes, Victoria Holt, the gateway drug.
My great-grandmother had so many Victoria Holts. I read my way through her rather extensive collection of novels. I still haven’t forgiven my mother for not letting me keep any when Grandma passed.
The one I loved most was Demon Lover, the one about the daughter of the miniature painter. I read them all, I think, but that’s the one I can’t forget. A tower. A carriage. The French countryside. The paintings. Was the lord good or bad? Should she stay or flee? Who was really in charge, her or her parent – it was that transition to adulthood for Kate too. I was 14 in a small town and the choices and the angst, it was everything I knew was out there but hadn’t yet been able to identify, wrapped up in a book.
I’m afraid to reread it though.
My mom had every Victoria holt in hardback. They looked so fancy and sophisticated on the book shelf. I still remember the vacation when she let me read my first Victoria Holt book (The Black Opal). She has since purchased me my own collection of VH hardbacks. I love them all (except for My Enemy the Queen, Road to Paradise Island, and the one where she doesn’t get married). I even hate myself for loving the rapey one (The Demon Lover). The Pride of the Peacock has been my favorite book for over a decade now. I could talk about VH for DAYS.
Aiee! I could not even tell you how many times I read Demon Lover. And I KNOW my mother would have been furious to find me reading it.
I am also afraid to reread it, even though parts of it are so clear in my mind. Looking at herself in the mirror after their first night together? That image comes to me so often. I must reread!