Novels Today

Download Love Unscripted [Kindle Edition] by Tina Reber


Love Unscripted
Ryan Christensen just wanted to be an actor. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think he'd become the most sought after film star on the planet. Taryn Mitchell has been feigning contentment while running the family pub in Seaport, Rhode Island. Her peaceful life is tossed upside down when Ryan tries to outrun a group of fans by taking a shortcut through Mitchell's Pub. 


Please be advised that Love Unscripted contains adult language and adult situations and is not appropriate for young readers.


It started out wordy and insecure; given that it's 659 pages and a brick, I was a little worried at first.


Fortunately, once Taryn (our narrator and main character) gets comfortable, the pace smooths out beautifully, and the novel is a delight of strong, intelligent characters, believable plot, and sultry romance.


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Download Sinfandel [Kindle Edition] by Gina Cresse


Sinfandel
When the body of a young winemaker is discovered during the grape harvest, Kate Cimaglia has no idea there’s a connection between the dead girl and her latest assignment to straighten out the California wine grape harvest database. The last thing Kate needs is a corpse to deal with. She already has narcotics Detective Obermeyer hounding her after a stand of marijuana plants is discovered near her vineyard, and she’s sure her low-life neighbor is the culprit. 


On top of that, her lying, cheating ex, Roger, shows up after ten years and wants to pick up where things left off… yeah, like that’s going to happen, especially now that Kate is convinced Roger is the Grass Valley sniper taking potshots at passing cars in the middle of the night. 



To make matters worse, she can’t balance the records she’s been hired to fix and it turns out she’s uncovered a massive case of fraud.



And then there’s Kate’s vineyard manager, Andy Carmichael, who must have been in the chiseled-jaw line when God was handing out charm. The two of them didn’t hit it off from the start, and Kate’s not sure they ever will.



When Kate finally unravels the mystery of who forged millions of dollars worth of Zinfandel grapes, she discovers that the dead winemaker figured it out, too. If Kate doesn’t want to suffer the same fate, she has to act fast to save herself.



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Download Follow the Money [Kindle Edition] by Fingers Murphy


Follow the Money

"MOVE OVER JOHN GRISHAM!" -- Debbi Mack, NY Times Bestselling Author of Identity Crisis and Least Wanted


FOR FANS OF JOHN GRISHAM, STEVE MARTINI, JOHN LESCROART, AND JAMES GRIPPANDO COMES A GRIPPING AND GRITTY NEW VOICE IN LEGAL THRILLERS. GET READY TO LOSE SOME SLEEP!




"ALWAYS ASSUME PEOPLE ARE LYING, BUT NEVER ASSUME YOU KNOW WHY."



Oliver Olson went to law school to help people.



But when one of the world’s most prominent law firms offers him a high paying summer job, he thinks he’d be crazy not to take it. He soon finds himself enthralled by a world of wealth, privilege, and power. 



Blinded by his gilded new world, Ollie is slow to see that something is not right with the case he is assigned to work on - a case with no chance of winning, given to a "summer associate" merely to keep him busy. 



Are people following him? Is he imagining things? Are they listening to his conversations? Why are people coming out of the woodwork with a sudden interest in a twelve year old murder case? And is it really possible that the wrong man went to prison?



Ollie wants to succeed, but when he sacrifices his own moral standards for a shot at the big time, he winds up staring down the barrel of a gun.



When you’ve sold out and can no longer follow your heart, you can only FOLLOW THE MONEY.



This novel is 75,000 fast-paced words.



About the Author: Fingers Murphy is the pen name of a well known international criminal defense attorney.



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Download Bound by Blood (Paranormal Romantic Suspense) [Kindle Edition] by Tara Manderino


Bound by Blood

In his two-hundred and fifty years as a vampire, Alex only observed, never intervened with any of his progeny, yet what else can he do when a little girl of his lineage is kidnapped? When he meets Lisa, the child’s nanny, his protective instincts kick into gear, yet he finds he must expose her to ever increasing danger as they search for the missing child. To protect Lisa from perils she is unaware of, he harbors her in his own home.

With Lisa’s help, Alex is able to determine who has the child. Learning why she was abducted rocks him on his heels and sets off a transcontinental search that leads to ancient myths of the Cardinal’s Ruby; the stone in Alex’s ring.
Alex and Lisa have one shot to save the child, but will they be able to stop the impending destruction raining down?


Author Tara Manderino loves to create stories and situations for the people running around in her head. She first began writing in third grade when she realized she couldn't afford her reading habit. She writes and is published in a variety of genres and finds that each one is her favorite at the time. Her books are available at a variety of online retailers. Tara resides in her native town in southwestern Pennsylvania. When she’s not chasing Lydia, the boxer, she’s writing her own stories, or reading. Tara likes to bake, watch old movies, and do a variety of crafts. Find Tara on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/taramanderino Author Page FB-- 
https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Tara-Manderino-Author/125470584194435 Twitter: http://twitter.com/TManderino Linked In http://www.linkedin.com/in/taramanderino



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Download The Search: A Thriller [Kindle Edition] by William Casey Moreton


The Search: A Thriller

* * * NEW EDITION APRIL 2012 * * *


Praise for the books of William Casey Moreton:



"...Moreton keeps readers hooked." -- Kirkus Reviews



"....Moreton is a superb and inspired storyteller and with so many mediocre books being published, this is a relatively rare feat." -- Deadly Pleasures



For fans of Harlan Coben, David Baldacci, and John Grisham, here is white-knuckle suspense at its finest: 



John Mabry is a wealthy, self-made man whose life takes a tragic turn when his wife's flight to Brazil vanishes over international waters. His world suddenly upside-down, he embarks on a desperate search for answers as the official rescue effort begins. As he races to find his wife, John is pursued by a cold-blooded killer when he becomes entangled in a scheme to steal millions of dollars from a New York Mafia boss. In the rush of action as the search intensifies, John’s life becomes a high-stakes guessing game of learning who to trust and who to fear.



WILLIAM CASEY MORETON grew up in the South and graduated college in 1993 with a degree in Religious Studies. He is the author of seven novels, including THE STRANGER BESIDE YOU, NEVER BACK DOWN, and 72 HOURS. Moreton is a member of International Thriller Writers, and lives with his wife and children in the Midwest where he is at work on his next book.



The author can be contacted at wcmbooks@gmail.com



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Download On Ice (Contemporary Romantic Thriller) [Kindle Edition] by J.D. Faver

On Ice
A terrified woman erases her past to escape her abusive husband. Taking her children, she disappears from Texas only to reinvent herself as a teacher in a remote Alaskan village. She fights to survive the harsh environment, while ever mindful of the danger stalking her. A complication emerges in the form of her new boss who is unaware of her entanglement and pursues her with a passion. Hungry for a father figure, her young children immediately take to him, but she is haunted by the cruel man who battered her. Can a good man heal her scars and gain her trust? As she evolves in her new role, she becomes stronger as a person. Back in Texas, her sister draws the abuser's fury and becomes his new victim. When her past catches up with her, she is not the same woman who ran away. She puts her life on the line to protect her children, but will she survive the wrath of a sociopath bent on revenge?


Rene Desmond is on the run! Deathly scared of her abusive husband Mark, Rene and her sister Maddy concocted an elaborate escape plan from Houston, TX to Sad Horse, Alaska. The temperature might be cold inside the Arctic Circle, but Rene and her two children Seth and Sara found warmth from the very caring townspeople of Sad Horse. And Rene also found herself very attracted to Brett, the town's patriarch and Rene's boss. The attraction was mutual.


Unknown to Rene, Mark was hell bent on finding her, following Rene's false trail to Europe. Finding only Maddy, Mark walked a destructive path of lies and deceit plus assault and battery. To Mark, Rene had to be punished for leaving him and he would not stop until his wife got what she deserved.

Alternating scenes between Houston and Sad Horse and the story being told in several points of view, the readers are treated to a romantic suspense that is worthy of Tom Clancy and John LeCarre. All the characters, including teh supporting ones are fleshed out and thus readers can find themselves living Rene's nightmare while wondering what is going on with Mark's convoluted mind.


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Download The Devil's Deep [Kindle Edition] by Michael Wallace


The Devil's Deep

A man in law school, a social worker, a home for people with no hope of being rehabilitated, a family torn apart by money and a devious doctor with hopes of regaining his past glory, give the author a great palette upon which to paint an awesome page turner.


Wes Pilson has a twin brother, Eric, who is retarded due to lack of oxygen at birth. Eric had some bruises and Wes, a law student specializing in medical law, signs on to work at the Riverwood Institution to check on the conditions there. Wes is confronted by two workers concerned over the disappearance of one of their friends and enlist Wes to help them find out what happened. Wes enlists the help of Becca, a hospital administrator/social worker. Soon they are embroiled in a life or death match that begins to uncover family secrets long buried but never forgotten and takes them to Costa Rica and back.

This is a well written book with marvelous characters - some good/some really bad - and they tell a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat with each additional page. This is one of those rare books where you want to tell the world you can't do anything until you finish it.

If you enjoy a pure adventure, I highly recommend this book.


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Download The Black Stiletto [Kindle Edition] by Raymond Benson

The Black Stiletto
Could Martin Talbot's elderly, Alzheimer-stricken mother, Judy, really have been the Black Stiletto? When Martin discovers several volumes of her diaries hidden by his mother, he is stunned beyond all imagination. His mother, the underground heroine of yesteryear? The famed ,still unidentified woman who battled Communist spies, took on the Mafia, and preyed on common crooks? The woman who exacted punishment on evildoers without mercy?But it is all described, in great detail, in the diaries. 


What caused her to begin her quest for justice. Her decision to act outside the law. Her feats as the famed and feared vigilante. How her reputation exploded. In short, how it all played out. Could it be true? Talbot is filled with doubt and disbelief. But the reappearance of one of the Stiletto's old enemies with a thirst for merciless revenge makes the story more than real and could imperil the life of not only the Stiletto, but her son and granddaughter as well.



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Download Murder Half Baked [Kindle Edition] by Kathleen Delaney


Murder Half Baked

In Santa Louisa, realtor Ellen McKenzie's Aunt Mary finds her a new client, Grace House, the half-way house for women in trouble, who seeks a larger facility. Ellen vows to find Grace House what they need even while her and her Aunt Mary plan her wedding to Chief of Police Dan Dunham.


However, as December counts down to their New Year's Eve nuptials, the size of the wedding attendees dramatically grows exponentially to Ellen's chagrin. Meanwhile at the cemetery someone bashes in the head of Dr. Sadler with a cherubic statue; Ellen finds the body. Soon afterward Grace House is destroyed in an inferno. As Dan investigates the homicide and the fire, Ellen does too linking both to those at Grace House.



The latest McKenzie amateur sleuth tale (see And Murder for Desert and Dying for a Change) is a fun tale that should carry the warning of visiting bakeries at your own risk. The story line is fast-paced from the moment Ellen finds the corpse and never slows down until case solved and back to the wedding blues. Although Ellen's rational for investigating is a sub-genre hazard, fans will enjoy the entertaining Murder Half-baked due to the heroine who believes solving a murder and an arson are easier mentally than arranging a wedding even with her having experienced one failed marriage on her résumé.



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Download Beautiful Disaster [Kindle Edition] by Jamie McGuire


Beautiful Disaster

This book centers on a new college student with a hope to stay out of trouble. Of course the first thing that happens is that she catches the eye of the school "bad boy".


I enjoyed the dynamics within the first half of the book, even how the sexual tension between Maddox and Abby was sometimes unbearable.

This is not a book about perfect love, and happily ever after. Don't get me wrong, the ending wrapped everything up with a pretty little bow. However, the relationship was so raw and emotional that the rollercoaster that was their relationship became quite stressful. By the end of the book I just wanted them to stop fighting! I believe the ending was a bit hasty, and the epilogue a bit silly.

However, the plot about Abby's past is truly creative and unexpected. I am not used to books about dysfunctional and unhealthy relationships. If you are sick of Twilight harmony and love, this book encapsulates everything human about a relationship. The love, tears, sex and fights. There is a relatively good understanding of reality, with some strands of a life that most of us are unaware of.


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Download A Gentle Rain [Kindle Edition] by Deborah Smith

A Gentle Rain
Kara Whittenbrook is an unlikely heiress. Down-to-earth and lovably quirky, she's never fit in with the stogy Whittenbrook clan of Connecticut. Growing up at her parents' rainforest preserve in Brazil, she has a quaintly off-beat view of life. Now her beloved parents have died in a plane crash, and Kara's learned a stunning truth. She was adopted. Her birth parents are Mac and Lily Tolbert. They live and work on a backwoods cattle ranch in northern Florida. Ranch owner Ben Thocco is running out of time and money. He's going to need a miracle in order to save the ranch and care for the likable crew of unusual hands he employs, including Kara's parents and his own fragile brother Joey. Kara, using a fake identity on the advice of her lawyer, gets a job at Ben's ranch in Fountain Springs, Florida, where her adventures include entering an unpredictable mare in a local horse show. 


Kara Whittenbrook is an heiress, her mother and father are dead and as she grieves she finds hidden in an old chest, her adoption papers. All her life she has felt that she did not measure up, but her parents have always told her she exceeds their hopes and love. Now she goes to her Uncle who explains what had happened and why her parents had adopted a child. He also tells her that he knows who her birth parents are and that her adopted parents had wanted to tell her but they had died before they felt she was secure in herself to handle it.


Ben Thocco is a rancher in Northern Florida. Kara's real parents are Mac and Lily, they work for Ben. Ben's brother Joey has Downs Syndrome, his prognosis is not good. Mac and Lily are retarded, Mac's mother drank during pregnancy and Lily was severely shaken by a man friend of her grandmother. They have never mentioned having a child and Ben does not know about Kara. As a matter of fact most of Ben's hands have special needs, as well as some of his animals.



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The Trunk Key (Kindle Single) [Kindle Edition] by Carolyn Nash

The Trunk Key (Kindle Single)
Sometimes our fate hinges on a single moment, a split-second decision that changes the course of our life irrevocably. In her debut novella The Trunk Key, Carolyn Nash pinpoints such a moment and weaves the fast-moving story of suspense that follows. It opens on a scene of quotidian suburban life: middle-aged Jennifer Canfield's harried morning visit to "Donut World." But on her drive, Jennifer's day ends up swerving in an unforeseen direction, and ends up on a terrifying chase that leads from the wide boulevards of town to the dusty, empty outskirts of the Central Valley. Along the highways and dirt roads, California's sloping, sun-drenched hills form such a vivid and persistent presence they seem a protective force against the enemies that Jennifer will be forced to battle--both outside of and inside of herself--before the day is out. It's rare that a newcomer to the suspense genre appears so fully formed, showcasing characters so rich and complex. At heart, the real journey Jennifer takes here is psychological, and her quiet yet significant triumphs will keep readers with her until the very last word.

I read this book in one sitting. While it's a fast read, it is not an easy one. There is a depth to the story that, while unspoken in words, is breathed into the spirit as the layers of the story fold back. The main characters are all likeable people, except, of course, the bad guy. One thing that stood out to me was the author's handling of the bad guy. Although he is present, not much time is wasted in delving into who he is, which in the end seems to make him that much more evil.


The story is one of a kidnapping, the chase, the wounded soul of the protagonist, and her unlikely partner in rescue. I fully enjoyed the book. It made for a great Sunday afternoon read.

Thanks go out to the author, Carolyn Nash, for such a good story. She has written another book, Raising Abel, which I also intend to read.


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Download Through a Window: My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe by Jane Goodall

Through a Window
Her first 10 years at Gombe (Tanzania) on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika produced the classic In the Shadow of Man. A fitting successor to that work, Goodall's newest continues the saga of the chimpanzee families with an engrossing account of animal behavior. She examines the mother-child relationship, noting that young males must sever the ties in order to learn male responsibiities (patrolling, repelling intruders, searching for food). There are profiles of special individuals: Goblin, who was determined to rise to the top and stay there; Jomeo, without social ambition; Gigi, a sterile female; Melissa, mother of successful offspring. Other stories of the chimpanzees include a brutal war between troops; a gruesome affair of cannibalism; incidents of injury, death and grief. The reader gets promptly involved with the characters--they have distinct personalities. In the final chapters, Goodall turns to the plight of wild chimpanzees today (loss of habitat) and the appalling living conditions of those in captivity (including laboratory animals). An important book for students of behavior. Photos. 




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Download Never Say Never: Finding a Life That Fits by Ricki Lake

Never Say Never
The world first met Ricki Lake in 1988 as Tracy Turnblad in the film Hairspray. Weighing in at just over 200 pounds, the 5'3" teenager challenged what it meant to be an overweight woman in America: this fat girl got the guy, was part of the in crowd, and could sing and dance like nobody was watching. When she got her own talk show at twenty-four, Ricki had been transformed. She was a slender, mature woman whose long-running show changed daytime television forever. And when Ricki left it all behind to follow her heart and produce The Business of Being Born, we once again saw her in a new light, as a passionate advocate who wasn’t afraid to stand up for her beliefs and work for change.

Ricki Lake’s life has been a series of rebirths—from fat to skinny, married to divorced, rich to poor, and more. In her intimate, bold, and relatable book, Ricki shows us how her unique life in the spotlight offers wisdom to anyone who has ever struggled in her own skin. She takes us behind the scenes of her troubled childhood—filled with food issues, abuse, and an unabashed yearning for a better life outside of her suburban home. She pulls back the curtain on her talk show and her early days as a “fat actress,” and she shows how she reinvented herself as an author, filmmaker, and much beloved finalist on Dancing with the Stars. Ricki weathered near-bankruptcy and an extremely difficult divorce, but, as she writes, life always hands you the unexpected—so you should never say never. Much to her surprise, Ricki has dated some of Hollywood’s most eligible bachelors, appeared on the cover of Us Weekly magazine in a swimsuit, and fell in love when she least expected it. And now she’s ready to talk about it all.

Never Say Never is an inspiring, entertaining, and down-to-earth account of one woman who defied the odds and refused to give up. By trusting her gut and following her heart, Ricki Lake turned an unconventional life into an unparalleled triumph, and this memoir stands as a hopeful, hilarious, and honest exploration of how any woman can do the same.


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Download Will and a Way (Language of Love #34) by Nora Roberts

Will and a Way (Language of Love #34)
I liked the hero, but the heroine was . . . puzzling. I found a disconnect between her personality, her lifestyle and her history. Obviously, characterizations in books this short tend more to thumbnail sketches, but it still didn't make sense to me. She has nothing but good to say about her parents (she "adores" them), but there is no mention in six months that she even talked to them. Didn't tell them about inheriting millions, didn't tell them that she moved, or even called them at Christmas. As a matter of fact, there is no mention that she told ANYBODY in her personal life ANYTHING. There are several minor comments regarding the other people in the hero's life, but nada for the heroine. Why? Also, where did all her excessive caution come from? It doesn't fit for a character that is described as always getting her way, and expecting to do so.

One thing struck me as funny: twenty years ago, I rememember the $150 million as unimaginable. If Roberts were writing this book today, she probably would have made it a billion dollar inheritance!



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Download Crystal Gardens [Kindle Edition] by Amanda Quick

Crystal Gardens
Evangeline Ames has powerful psychic talents and works for an exclusive firm, Flint and Marsh, on Lantern Street, where she is hired out as a private investigator under the ruse of being a paid companion. She also dabbles on the side as an author writing serial romantic suspense stories. Many of the ton hire out her services to ensure their daughters are not being courted by fortune hunters and Evie is very good at her job, except her last assignment almost got her killed. Taking a break to spend more time on her writing, Evie rents a cottage in the country to get away from all the stress, only to find herself the target of another attempt on her life. As she flees from a killer, she runs to the mystical Crystal Gardens neighboring her cottage and straight into the enigmatic Lucas Sebastian.

Lucas Sebastian is a very misunderstood gentleman of the ton who carries a deep dark power. He's recently inherited his uncle's country estate and the enchanted gardens that go with it. Suspecting that his uncle's death was not merely a heart attack, Lucas moves to the Crystal Gardens to try and catch a killer, but he gets more than he bargained for when he meets Evangeline and realizes her life is in danger.



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Download Perla [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover] by Carolina De Robertis

Perla
A coming-of-age story, based on a recent shocking chapter of Argentine history, about a young woman who makes a devastating discovery about her origins with the help of an enigmatic houseguest.

Perla Correa grew up a privileged only child in Buenos Aires, with a cold, polished mother and a straitlaced naval officer father, whose profession she learned early on not to disclose in a country still reeling from the abuses perpetrated by the deposed military dictatorship. Perla understands that her parents were on the wrong side of the conflict, but her love for her papá is unconditional. But when Perla is startled by an uninvited visitor, she begins a journey that will force her to confront the unease she has suppressed all her life, and to make a wrenching decision about who she is, and who she will become.




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