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Free mysteries and romances featuring missing boys, moors murders, Regency revenge, and Bahamian noir.
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On the Rocks (A Ruby Steele Mystery Book 1)
Author: Mia Gold
FREE
Mystery
Ruby Steele tends bar at a seedy Bahamas dive and keeps a very low profileâwhich suits her just fine, because Ruby has reasons to stay invisible. Sheâs a mixed-martial-arts pro who walked away from a championship career knowing too much about the wrong people, and the Bahamas felt like a good place to disappear. Then a dead tourist turns up in the dumpster behind her bar at three in the morning, and Rubyâs carefully constructed quiet life evaporates. đď¸
Mia Gold builds her series opener around a protagonist who is simultaneously overqualified for her circumstances and completely ill-equipped for the particular mess sheâs landed in. Ruby can handle herself physicallyâthe barâs unruly patrons have learned this the hard wayâbut a murder investigation with local cops already pointing in her direction is a different kind of problem entirely. The victim had a fiancĂŠe waiting in a hotel room. Nobody can explain what he was doing out at three a.m. And Ruby is running out of time to find answers before someone makes the decision for her. đ
The Bahamas setting gives the series a sun-drenched noir atmosphere that sets it apart from the usual gritty urban thriller, and Ruby herself is the kind of heroine who makes bad choices with her eyes open and just keeps moving. Goldâs pacing is relentless from the first page. đ
Why this grips from page one: A sharp, propulsive series opener with a heroine who is equal parts vulnerable and dangerous, set against a Caribbean backdrop that makes the darkness feel even more vivid. Perfect for fans of strong female protagonists who solve mysteries the hard wayâand donât always make it easy on themselves.
Steal Away (Adam Dutton & Beverly Laborde Book 1)
Author: BV Lawson
FREE
Traditional Detective Mystery
Beverly Laborde has a very specific grievance and a very particular set of skills. When a ruthless businessman destroyed her grandmotherâs antiques shop and sent the old woman to an early grave, Beverly didnât file a complaintâshe became a con artist and went after him directly. Her method of revenge: scamming him out of a valuable Paul Revere heirloom. Her complication: running straight into Vermont detective Adam Dutton, who isnât entirely sure whether to arrest her or ask her out. đş
BV Lawson has a gift for the kind of mismatched-partners dynamic that earns its chemistry gradually rather than announcing it upfront, and the Beverly-Adam pairing works precisely because both of them have good reasons to keep their guard up. Their inconvenient attraction takes a back seat almost immediately when they discover a shared enemy: the wealthy and very dangerous Reginald Forsythe, whose reach extends through Vermont politics and the Northeastern Antiquities League, and who does not appreciate being outsmarted. đľď¸
The antiques world setting gives the series a distinctive textureâelegant on the surface, cutthroat underneathâand the supporting cast, including a sympathetic dealer and the wonderfully named âMr. X,â adds color without cluttering the central mystery. The pacing moves efficiently from con-job caper to genuine thriller. đď¸
What makes this irresistible: A clever, character-driven mystery that combines the pleasures of a revenge caper with a proper murder investigation and a slow-burn partnership worth following for many books. Perfect for fans of traditional mysteries with sharp heroines, complicated heroes, and villains who actually feel dangerous.
The Detective Game (Dark Peak Detectives Book 1)
Author: Adam J. Wright
FREE
Traditional Detective Mystery
Detective Inspector Tom Brand left London for his childhood village of Relby to take life at a slower paceâcare for his elderly father, settle into a quiet posting, breathe some country air. He gets approximately no time to enjoy any of this before two twelve-year-old boys vanish without explanation. Theyâd been playing a game of their own invention, pretending to be detectives. Now the real detective has to find them. đĄ
Adam J. Wright understands the particular dread of missing children cases in small communitiesâthe way silence descends, the way everyone becomes a suspect simply by virtue of knowing everyone else. The English village setting amplifies every tension: thereâs nowhere to hide in Relby, and yet somehow a deadly secret has been hiding there for years, waiting for exactly this moment to surface. đ˛
Tom Brand is a quietly compelling protagonistâcompetent without being infallible, carrying his London past without being defined by it. The caseâs clues are genuinely frustrating in the way real investigations are: partial, contradictory, and resistant to the neat solutions that two imaginative boys playing detective might have expected. đŚ
What makes this essential: A taut, atmospheric British detective novel that takes a straightforward missing-persons premise and builds it into something considerably darker and more complex. Perfect for fans of Peter James and M.C. Beaton who want their English village mysteries with real stakes and a detective worth following into the next book.
Confection Connection (Mina Kitchen Book 3)
Author: Lizz Lund
FREE
Romantic Comedy Mystery
Valentineâs Day is approaching and Mina Kitchenâforty-something, single, perpetually covered in someone elseâs marinaraâis facing the romance holiday with her usual combination of good intentions and spectacular bad luck. Her neighbor has a significant other. Her best friend Trixie has a boyfriend, a full-time job, and has quit smoking, though sheâs replaced cigarettes with an alarming jelly dependency. Mina, meanwhile, has a catering disorder, a ghost problem, and a mini mountain lion-sized cat named Vinnie who keeps assuring her everything will be fine. đŹ
Lizz Lund writes cozy comedy mysteries with the gleeful energy of someone who genuinely enjoys chaos, and the Mina Kitchen series is the purest expression of that sensibility. The humor is warm and slightly unhingedâa tone thatâs harder to pull off than it looksâand Mina herself is the kind of protagonist whose disasters feel earned rather than contrived. Lancaster, Pennsylvania has never seemed like a more bewildering place to live. đ
The romantic subplotâhandsome Chef versus juicy James, with Mina too busy solving a theft ring to properly pursue eitherâruns alongside a mystery involving a series of shop burglaries that manages to be genuinely engaging despite competing with a haunting, a jelly addiction, and a GumBuster side job. đ
Why this touches the heart: Fizzy, funny, and completely impossible to read without smiling, the Mina Kitchen series is comfort reading with a mystery backbone and enough absurdist humor to make it genuinely distinctive. Perfect for readers who want their cozies with extra comedy and zero po-faced earnestness.
If Only: Living in the Shadows of the Moors Murders
Author: Terry West
FREE
True Crime Memoir
On Boxing Day 1964, ten-year-old Lesley Ann Downey left home to visit the fair. Her brother Terry didnât go with her â he was ill with flu. That decision, made for the most ordinary of reasons, would haunt him for the rest of his life. Lesley was abducted that day by Moors murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, and she never came home. đ
The Moors Murders are among the most notorious crimes in British history, endlessly documented from the perspective of investigators, journalists, and criminologists. What has rarely been told is the story of the families left behind â the siblings, parents, and loved ones who spent decades carrying the weight of an unimaginable loss compounded by relentless public attention. Terry Westâs account fills that gap with painful honesty. đŻď¸
This is not a book about the killers. It is a book about what it means to survive them â to live for sixty years with a moment you can never change, a decision that wasnât even a decision, just the ordinary circumstance of being ill on the wrong day. The inclusion of family photographs and letters from Brady and Hindley gives the account a documentary intimacy that sets it apart from conventional true crime. đ
Why this deserves your attention: A devastating, deeply personal memoir that reframes one of Britainâs most infamous crimes through the eyes of a surviving family member. Essential reading for anyone interested in true crime that centers the human cost rather than the perpetrators â and a profoundly moving tribute to a sister lost too soon.
Lady Beastâs Bridegroom (A Twist Upon a Regency Tale Book 1)
Author: Jude Knight
FREE
Regency Historical Romance
Lady Ariel has been hiding from Society since a fire left her badly scarred, living quietly in the country behind a literal mask that has only amplified the gossipâSociety has taken to calling her âLady Beast.â Now her scheming second cousin, who inherited her fatherâs title but not his fortune, wants her committed so he can help himself to her money. Her only protection is a husband, which means re-entering a world that has been whispering about her for years. đš
Enter Peter, Lord RansomeââBeauâ to Society, inheritor of his fatherâs debts and a household of expensive dependents, including a stepmother who despises him and a collection of half-sisters who spend with cheerful disregard for the estateâs finances. He needs a wealthy bride. She needs a protective husband. It should be straightforward. It is, of course, not straightforward at all. đ
Jude Knight puts a knowing spin on the Beauty and the Beast template by reversing the expected roles, and the result is a romance that earns its emotional beats rather than assuming them. The growing warmth between Ariel and Peter is rendered with patience and care, and the villainâthe scheming cousin with his eye on the fortuneâgives the story genuine stakes beyond the romantic central question. đŻď¸
What makes this special: A beautifully constructed Regency romance that flips a classic fairy tale premise with wit and emotional intelligence. Perfect for fans of Eloisa James and Julia Quinn who want their historical romance with a heroine worth championing and a hero who discovers, slowly and sincerely, that he married better than he knew.
Dared to Run (Kate Anderson Book 1)
Author: J.J. Clarke
FREE
Crime Thriller
Kate Anderson is a young bond investigator who trusts her instincts â which is why, when she meets a charming stranger at a firearms training session, something tells her to walk away. She doesnât walk away. The stranger turns violent, and Kate finds herself with a stalker whose obsession is methodical, escalating, and very difficult to explain to people who havenât seen it up close. đ¨
J.J. Clarke builds her thriller around a particularly insidious kind of danger: the kind thatâs hard to prove, that isolates its target, and that gets worse the more you push back against it. Kate is not a passive victim â she builds a saferoom, adopts a dog, documents everything â but the novel is honest about the terrifying reality that none of these measures guarantee safety when someone is truly fixated. The corrupt deputy adds an institutional dimension that makes escape feel genuinely impossible. đ
The pacing is relentless in the best sense, with Clarke ratcheting tension through accumulation rather than dramatic set pieces. Kateâs growing panic feels earned and real, and the novelâs central question â whether there is any safe way out â keeps the pages turning. đ
Why this grips from page one: A taut, psychologically astute thriller about stalking, institutional failure, and a young woman fighting to stay one step ahead of someone who has made her destruction his full-time occupation. Perfect for fans of Lisa Gardner and Karen Rose who want their crime fiction grounded in uncomfortable reality.
Final Breath (DCI Jamie Carver Book 2)
Author: Robert F. Barker
FREE
Police Procedural Thriller
The Worshipper Killer is behind bars. DCI Jamie Carver knows better than to feel relieved. Because Carver is the only one who understands the full scope of the killerâs network â a web of depravity that reaches into Whitehall, possibly into the Police Service itself, and involves people with serious motivation to keep their involvement permanently buried. When former network members start turning up dead, Carver realizes someone is doing exactly that. đď¸
Robert F. Barkerâs Jamie Carver series operates in the darker corners of the British police procedural â the places where institutional corruption and personal history make the job considerably more complicated than solving the case in front of you. Carver is chained to a desk, running out of time, and left with only one viable source of intelligence: Megan Crane, the extraordinary and dangerous dominatrix he vowed never to contact again. Naturally, he contacts her. đ
The novelâs strength is in its layered moral complexity â Carver isnât simply chasing a killer, heâs navigating a situation where the wrong exposure could destroy innocent lives along with guilty ones. Barker handles this tension with considerable skill, keeping the thriller mechanics humming while the ethical questions accumulate. đ
What makes this essential: A sophisticated, morally layered British police thriller that delivers genuine conspiracy alongside its procedural pleasures. Readers new to the series can follow the story easily, but fans of the first Carver novel will find the stakes here considerably higher â and the resolution considerably harder to predict.
Montana Baby (Calhouns of Montana Book 1)
Author: Juanita Kees
FREE
Contemporary Romance
Chase Calhoun built Calhoun Customs into a worldwide sensation on his fatherâs dream and his own relentless work ethic â which left precisely zero time for anything resembling a personal life. Charlotte Jackson arrives at his garage with a three-month-old baby, a custom design portfolio, and a past that keeps finding her no matter how far she runs. Neither of them is looking for complications. Both of them are about to get them. đ¤
Juanita Kees roots her romance in the particular texture of the custom car world â the craft, the legacy, the family mythology that accumulates around a successful shop â and the NASCAR background Charlotte brings adds a vivid secondary world that gives the story genuine depth. The baby is not just a plot device; Zoeâs presence shapes every decision Charlotte makes and gives the romance its emotional core. đď¸
The threat from Charlotteâs past gives the novel enough external tension to keep the story moving between romantic beats, and Chaseâs gradual heart-loss is rendered with the kind of unhurried authenticity that makes small-town romance satisfying rather than predictable. The theme of chosen family versus blood family lands with real weight by the final act. đ
Why this touches the heart: A warm, well-crafted contemporary romance set against an irresistible backdrop of custom cars, Montana landscapes, and family legacy. Perfect for readers who want their love stories grounded in real work, real stakes, and heroines who are building something â not just waiting to be rescued.
Tomboy of the Ton (Misfits of the Ton Book 1)
Author: Emily Royal
FREE
Regency Historical Romance
Henrietta Redford has always known she was born the wrong gender. Boys get to climb trees, fight with swords, and run their own lives. Girls get come-outs, drawing rooms, and husbands chosen for them by people whoâve never met them. Henrietta has agreed to the come-out and the eventual husbandâanyone will do, really, as long as it isnât Giles Thorpe, the arrogant, insufferable neighborâs son who has spent years looking down his nose at her tomboyish ways. đż
Emily Royal writes Regency romance with genuine wit and a sharp eye for the social constraints that made Georgian England simultaneously glittering and suffocating for women of Henriettaâs temperament. The enemies-to-lovers dynamic here is built on a foundation of real history â Giles has watched Henrietta grow up, has formed opinions, has been very wrong about most of them â which gives their eventual pivot considerably more weight than the usual manufactured antagonism. đŤ
The passionate kiss that disrupts both their certainties arrives at exactly the right moment, and Royal handles the aftermath with the kind of slow, reluctant reckoning that makes this subgenre so compelling when itâs done well. Gilesâs internal conflict between prudence and feeling is rendered with particular care. đˇ
What makes this irresistible: A sparkling Regency romance with a heroine who refuses to be diminished and a hero who has to unlearn everything he thought he knew about the woman next door. Perfect for fans of Georgette Heyer and Eloisa James who want their historical heroines spirited, their heroes worthy of the effort, and their happy endings properly earned.
Lady Maryâs Dangerous Encounter (The Beresford Adventures Book 1)
Author: Cheryl Bolen
FREE
Regency Historical Romance
Lady Mary Beresford has set off alone for the Congress of Vienna â impulsively, independently, and to the considerable exasperation of Lord Stephen Stanhope, a dukeâs diplomat son tasked with escorting his friendâs wayward sister. He hasnât even met her yet and heâs already exhausted by her. By the time he catches up with her at an Alpine inn, snowbound and surrounded by guests who are all insisting her traveling companion never existed, heâs both furious and, reluctantly, intrigued. đď¸
Cheryl Bolen is a USA Today bestselling author with a gift for adventure-forward Regency romance â stories where the heroine is in actual danger rather than merely social peril, and where the heroâs protective instincts have genuine stakes to attach themselves to. The mystery of the vanishing traveling companion gives Lady Maryâs Dangerous Encounter a Hitchcockian undertone that lifts it well above the standard drawing-room romance. đľď¸
The Alpine setting is beautifully deployed â the blizzard trapping everyone together, the conspiracy of silence among the innâs guests, and Stephen arriving as the one person willing to take Maryâs side. The enemies-to-allies dynamic develops with satisfying speed once the danger becomes undeniable. âď¸
Why this grips from page one: A wonderfully atmospheric Regency adventure romance that combines a genuine mystery, a headstrong heroine, and a hero who comes around at exactly the right moment. Perfect for fans of Bolenâs previous series and anyone who wants their historical romance with a proper plot and a European setting to get lost in.
Forgetting the Earl (The Arrogant Earls Book 1)
Author: Kathleen Ayers
FREE
Regency Historical Romance
Honora Drevenport fell hopelessly in love with the Earl of Southwell when she was young, awkward, and barely acceptable by Societyâs standards. Then came the humiliation â engineered by Southwellâs friends, searing enough to shape the rest of her life. She married. She endured. She emerged on the other side as a stunning widow and the toast of London, with a plan so elegant it almost qualifies as art: make Southwell fall in love with her, then destroy him. đ
Kathleen Ayers builds her revenge romance on a foundation of genuine emotional history, which is what separates it from the typical enemies-to-lovers setup. Honora isnât simply prickly â she has specific reasons for every wall sheâs built, and watching Southwell encounter those walls without understanding why they exist gives the story a dramatic irony that sustains considerable tension. đš
The ton setting is rendered with sharp social detail, and Ayers has a gift for secondary characters who feel like they have their own stories rather than simply providing comic relief. The central question â at what point does revenge become self-sabotage? â gives the romance its moral spine. đŻď¸
What makes this irresistible: A compulsively readable Regency revenge romance with a heroine whose plan is flawless right up until her heart starts undermining it. Perfect for fans of Lisa Kleypas and Lorraine Heath who want their historical romance with genuine emotional stakes, a properly humbled hero, and a resolution that feels completely earned.
One Summer in Paris
Author: Sarah Morgan
Regularly $14.99, Today $2.99
Contemporary Womenâs Fiction
Grace had been planning the perfect anniversary surprise for months â a trip to Paris for her and her husband of twenty-five years. Then he delivered a surprise of his own: he wants a divorce. Reeling but refusing to collapse, Grace makes the most defiant decision of her life â she goes to Paris anyway, alone, with nothing but a suitcase and the ruins of her plans. đź
Audrey arrived in Paris from London carrying her own heartbreak, armed with romantic notions and almost no money or French. A job in a bookshop keeps her afloat, but the city she imagined and the city sheâs actually living in are very different places â until she meets Grace, and suddenly both their summers shift entirely. đ
Sarah Morgan is one of the most reliable writers working in contemporary womenâs fiction, and One Summer in Paris showcases her greatest strength: the unlikely friendship that becomes the emotional center of the story. Grace and Audrey have almost nothing in common except honesty and need, and watching them figure each other out against the backdrop of Paris is genuinely warm and funny. đĽ
What makes this special: A beautifully observed novel about reinvention, unlikely connection, and the particular freedom of being a stranger in a beautiful city. Perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes and Elin Hilderbrand â and essential reading for anyone who has ever needed to go somewhere new to figure out who they actually are.
The Other Womanâs Secret
Author: Cole Baxter
Regularly $2.99, Today $1.49
Psychological Thriller
Detective Kyle Wallace thought his past was exactly that â past. Then his ex-girlfriend Mindy calls out of nowhere, frightened and desperate. Sheâs married now to a powerful, controlling man, and sheâs afraid of what he might do. She needs help. Off the record. No questions asked. Kyle agrees, which is the first mistake. đą
The deeper Kyle digs into Mindyâs world, the more complicated it gets â secrets layered under secrets, a marriage built on manipulation, and a city murder that keeps pulling his attention back to her. Cole Baxter builds his psychological thrillers around the particular tension of a protagonist who knows heâs too close to the situation to be objective and goes in anyway. đ
The novelâs central question â how far would you go for someone you once loved? â is the kind that gets more interesting the further the story progresses. Kyle isnât naive, but heâs not immune either, and that vulnerability gives the thriller its real engine. đ
Why this grips from page one: A taut psychological thriller built around an ex-flame, a dangerous husband, and a detective who knows better but canât walk away. Perfect for fans of fast-moving domestic suspense with a protagonist whose instincts are good but whose heart keeps overruling them.
Confederates
Author: Thomas Keneally
Regularly $17.99, Today $3.99
Military Historical Fiction
The summer of 1862. A ragtag Confederate army â farmers, storekeepers, old men, and frightened boys â gathers in Virginia under Stonewall Jackson, ready to march north toward a destiny none of them can fully imagine. Among them is Usaph Bumpass, who left his wife Ephie behind to join the Shenandoah Volunteers, only to discover that Ephieâs lover is marching right alongside him. âď¸
Thomas Keneally â the Booker Prize-winning author of Schindlerâs Ark â brings his extraordinary gift for historical intimacy to the Civil War, telling the story of Antietam from the ground up rather than from the command tent. These are not generals making history; they are ordinary men being ground up by it, carrying their domestic griefs and private loyalties into slaughter. đď¸
Stonewall Jackson looms over the narrative as both military genius and tragic figure â brilliant, devout, and leading men who follow him out of something closer to reverence than patriotism. Keneally renders him with complexity and care, neither hero nor villain but a man utterly consumed by a cause history has rendered indefensible. đž
What makes this essential: One of the finest Civil War novels ever written, told with the ground-level humanity and moral seriousness that defines Keneally at his best. Essential reading for fans of historical fiction who want the war as it was actually experienced â brutal, confused, and heartbreakingly human.
Booked for the Holidays (Park Cove Series Book 1)
Author: Chelsea Curto
Regularly $3.99, Today $1.99
Romantic Comedy
A magazine is offering $100,000 to the most festively decorated store on Park Coveâs main avenue, and bookstore owner Bridget Boylston is absolutely in. Thereâs just one problem: the competition requires her to team up with her next-door neighbor, Theo Gardner â grumpy, guarded, and the last person sheâd choose for a cheerful holiday partnership. đ
Chelsea Curto writes enemies-to-lovers romance with genuine wit and warmth, and Booked for the Holidays is the kind of story where the slow thaw of a grumpy hero is executed with enough patience and care that it actually earns the ending. Theo doesnât just smile and transform â he inches toward Bridget in ways that feel real, one Christmas tree and string of lights at a time. đŽ
The small-town Florida holiday setting is a delightful twist on the snow-and-mistletoe formula, and the bookstore backdrop gives the romance an extra layer of cozy charm. The introduction of Theoâs daughter adds emotional depth without tipping the story into melodrama. âď¸
Why this touches the heart: A warmhearted holiday romance that understands the best grumpy heroes arenât transformed by love â theyâre revealed by it. Perfect for readers who want their Christmas reads funny, swoony, and set somewhere the sun actually shines.
Delish Insane Sweets: Bake Yourself a Little Crazy
Author: Joanna Saltz, Editors of Delish
Regularly $25.99, Today $4.99
Dessert & Sweets Cooking
The editors of Delish.com have built one of the internetâs most enthusiastically shared recipe empires on a simple premise: dessert should be fun, a little ridiculous, and absolutely worth making. Their second cookbook delivers 100 recipes that range from the classics done perfectly to the kind of inspired combinations that make you wonder why nobody thought of them sooner. đŞ
The essentials are all here â Snickerdoodles, Death By Chocolate Brownies, Extra-Fluffy Vanilla Cupcakes â but the real Delish DNA shows up in the twists: Crème BrĂťlĂŠe Cookies, Samoa Cheesecake Bars, Moscow Mule Cupcakes. Thereâs an entire chapter devoted to cookie cakes and skillet desserts for when a standard pan just isnât going to cut it. đ°
What makes this cookbook feel so usable is its honesty about how people actually bake â sometimes from scratch, sometimes with a boxed mix, sometimes because a bad day demands brownies and you need them in forty minutes. The recipes are written accordingly: accessible without being dumbed down, indulgent without being intimidating. đ
What makes this irresistible: A joyful, beautifully photographed dessert bible from the brand that understands the internetâs appetite for treats that are both impressive and actually achievable. At this price, itâs a steal for anyone who has ever stress-baked their way through a difficult week.
Stripes
Author: George vonHilsheimer
Regularly $2.99, Today $1.49
Military Memoir
George vonHilsheimer was a failing, aimless teenager with no obvious future. The Army changed that. The paratrooperâs discipline changed that. And a long, improbable journey through some of the most consequential moments of recent American military history â Desert Storm, 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq â completed the transformation from lost kid to Army flight surgeon. đŞ
The arc of Stripes is remarkable on its face: from jumping out of planes with the 82nd Airborne to flying attack helicopters against Saddam Husseinâs armor to medical school and Walter Reed â and then, on September 11, 2001, being present at the Pentagon when the world changed again. vonHilsheimer was there, and he was trained for exactly that moment. đ
What elevates this beyond standard military memoir is vonHilsheimerâs willingness to start with honest self-assessment. He doesnât begin as a hero â he begins as someone who needed the military to become one, and the candor of that admission gives the later achievements their real weight. The writing is fast-paced and direct, with the no-nonsense voice of someone who spent decades in uniform. đď¸
Why this deserves your attention: A genuinely inspiring military memoir that spans three decades and multiple theaters of war, written by someone who earned every stripe the hard way. Perfect for readers who love firsthand military history with a strong personal transformation at its core.
Murder With a Side of Bacon (Ivy Clark Mysteries Book 1)
Author: Kristy T. Dixon
Regularly $3.99, Today $1.99
Cozy Culinary Mystery
Ivy Clark came to the tiny town of Muddy Creek to help her injured aunt run the diner â nothing more complicated than that. A quiet life, simple work, small-town rhythms. Then her uncle turns up murdered and evidence is found in Ivyâs own purse, and suddenly the quiet life is very much off the table. đĽ
What makes the setup particularly uncomfortable is that Ivyâs own family isnât sure sheâs innocent. With her aunt and cousin doubting her, she has no choice but to investigate on her own terms â which means assembling the least likely investigative team imaginable: a fifty-year-old cook and a seventy-year-old regular customer with strong opinions and plenty of time. đł
Kristy T. Dixon writes cozy mysteries with a warm, easy charm that makes Muddy Creek feel like exactly the kind of small town youâd want to visit â if someone wasnât getting murdered there. The diner setting gives the series a satisfying culinary backbone, and the ensemble of helpers gives Ivy an instantly likable support network. đą
What makes this irresistible: A delightfully cozy series opener with a heroine who has to prove her innocence while running a diner and managing a skeptical family. Perfect for fans of Diane Mott Davidson and Joanne Fluke who want their mysteries warm, funny, and generously seasoned.
In the Hour Before Midnight
Author: Jack Higgins
Regularly $14.99, Today $2.99
International Crime Thriller
Stacey Wyatt grew up in two Sicilies. Thereâs the one tourists see â golden beaches, charming villages, friendly locals. And thereâs the one his grandfather raised him in: the Mafiaâs Sicily, governed by codes of honor, violence, and loyalty that donât bend for anyone. Stacey never wanted that world. Trying to leave it landed him in an Egyptian prison. đŽđš
Broken out by parties with their own agenda, Stacey is brought back to Sicily and handed a job: rescue the daughter of a corrupt businessman from the clutches of an infamous bandit. Complete the mission and he gets a payout and his freedom. It sounds straightforward. It is absolutely not straightforward. đ
Jack Higgins was one of the great architects of the international thriller â taut, atmospheric, propulsive â and In the Hour Before Midnight showcases his particular gift for Mediterranean intrigue. The Sicilian setting is rendered with genuine menace, and Stacey is the kind of morally complicated protagonist Higgins excelled at: a man who knows exactly how dark the world is because he was raised inside it. đŤ
Why this grips from page one: A classic international thriller from a master of the genre, set against a Sicily that is as dangerous as it is beautiful. Perfect for fans of Higginsâ Eddie Logue series or anyone who loves their crime fiction with old-world atmosphere and a plot that never stops moving.
Dirty Blonde
Author: Lisa Scottoline
Regularly $3.99, Today $1.99
Legal Thriller
Cate Fante has just been appointed to the federal bench in Philadelphia â a hard-charging woman with working-class roots who never quite feels at home among the elite meritocracy of the federal judiciary. On the bench sheâs disciplined and sharp. Off it, she privately indulges a taste for bad boys and anonymous encounters that would horrify her colleagues. đŠââď¸
After presiding over a high-profile lawsuit where the law forces her hand against her conscience, Cate goes looking for a night she can forget everything. The stranger she picks up turns aggressive, and she barely escapes. Then the TV producer from her courtroom turns up murdered. Then the body of her failed one-night stand is discovered. Suddenly Judge Cate Fante is tangled in a homicide investigation she canât adjudicate her way out of. đŞ
Lisa Scottoline has been one of Philadelphiaâs great legal thriller writers for decades, and Dirty Blonde showcases everything that makes her compelling: a morally complex female protagonist, a legal world rendered with insider authenticity, and a plot that keeps layering complications until the whole thing becomes genuinely hard to put down. âď¸
What makes this essential: A smart, propulsive legal thriller with a heroine whose public and private lives are on a collision course with catastrophic results. Perfect for fans of Scottolineâs Rosato & Associates series and anyone who likes their courtroom fiction with a dark personal edge.
Americaâs Comfort Foods
Author: Gooseberry Patch
NEW RELEASE
Quick & Easy Cooking
Gooseberry Patch has built its entire brand on the kind of cooking that feels like a hug â recipes shared by real home cooks, rooted in community and tradition, built for tables where people actually gather. Americaâs Comfort Foods is that philosophy at its most expansive, pulling recipes from across the country that all share the same quality: they taste like home. đĄ
The range here is genuinely satisfying. Breakfast brings Amish Breakfast Casserole and Irresistible Crumb Buns. Lunch offers Fried Green Tomato Sandwiches and Slow-Cooker Cincinnati Chili. Dinner runs from Southern Fried Chicken to Deep-Dish Pizza to Salsa Verde Enchiladas â regional favorites that reflect how wonderfully varied American comfort food actually is. đ˝ď¸
The Gooseberry Patch approach has always been democratic and unpretentious, and this collection reflects that. These are recipes designed to be made on a Tuesday night or brought to a potluck, not performed for a dinner party. The instructions are clear, the ingredient lists are manageable, and the results are reliably the kind of thing people ask for the recipe afterward. đĽ§
What makes this irresistible: A warm, generous cookbook that reads like a cross-country road trip through Americaâs best home kitchens. Perfect for anyone who believes the best meals are the ones that remind you of somewhere you love â and wants a reliable collection to cook from for years.
Devout: Losing My Faith to Find Myself
Author: David Archuleta
NEW RELEASE
Religious Memoir
At seventeen, David Archuleta became a household name as the runner-up on American Idol Season 7, his voice captivating millions. Behind the warmth and the talent was a young man carrying a secret he feared would cost him everything: he was attracted to men, and a deeply committed member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. đ¤
Devout traces the full arc of that impossible position â from a childhood shaped by a controlling father who was eventually banned from the American Idol set, through the pressures of sudden fame, a two-year missionary sabbatical in South America, three engagements, and a private reckoning with thoughts of suicide. It is, in every sense, a story about survival. â¨
What makes the memoir remarkable is Archuletaâs refusal to cast himself as simply a victim or a hero. The faith was real. The struggle was real. The eventual decision to leave the Mormon Church and live authentically as a queer man is rendered not as triumph but as the hardest, most necessary thing he ever did. đď¸
Why this deserves your attention: A searing, deeply honest memoir about fame, faith, identity, and the cost of living in contradiction with yourself. Essential reading for anyone navigating the intersection of religion and LGBTQ+ identity â and a remarkably brave book from someone with a great deal to lose by writing it.
Pretty Little Wolf (Fated Mate Bonds Book 1)
Author: Lola Glass
NEW RELEASE
Paranormal Romance
Five years ago she made a bargain with the fae king. Now heâs come to collect â and the price is marriage. Sheâll share his home, his bed, his immortal life. He expects a pretty, compliant werewolf he can use to dull the constant pain that plagues him. What heâs going to get is considerably more complicated. đş
Lola Glass has built a devoted following in paranormal romance with her fated mate series, and Pretty Little Wolf delivers the formula sheâs refined to a high shine: a heroine who refuses to be diminished by a powerful, difficult hero, and a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers dynamic that earns every degree of warmth it generates. The immortal stakes give the romance genuine weight. đ
The voice here is sharp and fun â our heroine is playing along with the fae kingâs expectations while quietly plotting her own agenda, which gives the novel a delicious dramatic irony that keeps the pages turning. Sheâs pretending to be his pretty little wolf. Sheâs actually the most dangerous person in the room. â¨
What makes this irresistible: A propulsive paranormal romance with a heroine whose bite is very much as good as her bark, and a brooding fae king who has absolutely no idea what heâs gotten himself into. Perfect for fans of fated mate romance who want their heroines with teeth and their heroes worth the trouble.