Celebrate Mardi Gras with a free New Orleans mystery! Absolution will be free on February 11, 12,13, 14. A serial killer preys on young women in New Orleans.
Best Mystery/Suspense/Thriller of 2009
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ABSOLUTION
BY
SUSAN FLEET
A Big Easy heatwave, religious controversy, racial tensions and a twisted killer on the loose. An NOPD detective teams up with an African-American woman journalist to catch a creepy killer.e Premier Book Awards.
You’ve probably noticed independent authors setting the price on at least one of their books as free from time to time. And if you’re traditionally published, or not yet published, you may wonder why in the world they would do such a thing. An indie author friend of mine recently discussed using Kindle Select with me and she couldn’t understand why someone would set their book to free. It’s contradictory, she said. And she’s right, in a way. However, there is a method to this madness.
When you download a book from Amazon, B&N or any other online retailer~regardless of whether or not it’s free or costs money~that novel goes up in the sales ranks. With each download, it goes farther up the ranks with the optimum rise occurring when there are many sales in one day (the entire system starts over day by day so if a book sells one a day for a month it won’t rise in the ranks nearly as high as it would if it sold thirty in one day of that month. VERY important key to remember!). Sales ranks are what determines the order that a book shows up in searches. Let’s say you’re looking for a YA fantasy novel. On Amazon’s book page you click on Teens. Everything that shows up on the next page, and any more specific pages you click on (sub-genres and such) is determined by sales rank. The books that are on the main pages (getting there with the best sales ranks) get noticed and sell even more.
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For each download of a free book, that book goes up in ranks too, getting it farther up the lists and onto the main pages where it will get noticed. When this happens people see not only the free book and are more likely to download it (helping raise it’s rank and supporting the whole process) but they also notice an author’s name and are more likely to check out there other books. That’s one way a free book can get an author more sales. Another is, of course, if the readers enjoyed the book and come back to buy the author’s other titles. So, crazy as it sounds, now you know there is a method to the madness.
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That said, all this week for Valentine’s Day week (and to help it’s sales ranking 😉 the eBook of The Secret of Spruce Knoll is free on Amazon! I hope you’ll download it and
spread the word. And a huge thank you to each of you that does. 🙂
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Heather also has a Giveaway going on her blog, click HEATHER’S to enter.
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To check out any of Heather’s books, simply click on the cover below:
Liddy was ready to leave for Paris when she received a call from the hospital in Infinity, Georgia. Her mother had taken a bad fall and now Liddy was on her way to her. She knew her mother wouldn’t leave Infinity and she wouldn’t leave her mother. Only one thing was left, she would be moving to Infinity.
Her husband had died after 20 years and her son went off to school. She had to sell the house because she could not afford it. She had no reason to stay in Atlanta.
Her first stop, when she stopped reached Infinity, was the gas station. That was when she met Tucker Jones. At the time, she had no idea how big a part he would come to play in her life.
As she drove down the road, she saw a vacant shop. She didn’t know why, but she stopped the car and went to look through the dirty window. What was she thinking? She wasn’t. Was it fate?
A month later, Liddy had her cupcake shop and an apartment above it. It made her think of Paris. Maybe living in a small town like Infinity wouldn’t be so bad. On an impulse, she also bought a horse. It might be foolish, but she wanted one.
Meryl was her first friend in Inifinity. She was a real estate agent and was helping Liddy deal with her mother’s house. As they talked over coffee, they named the cupcake shop – Le Cupcake Shop.
She was busy cleaning the shop when Tucker came in with coffee. She wasn’t one to turn down coffee. He knew she bought Old Sugar and proceeded to tell her she had paid too much. Then he went on to question her choice of ovens she was looking at on Ebay. He hated seeing people being cheated. When she said he probably knew her rent, he saw she was angry. Did she forget or not know how small towns are?
When she decided to check on her horse, she found Tucker had waited for her so they could ride together. Once she was on Sugar’s back, she knew she had made the right choice in getting the horse. All her troubles seemed to melt away.
She arrived home, but entered her shop with trepidation. The lights were off even though she had not left it that way. Someone had broken a window and her new mixer. She managed to opened the store anyway. Six hours and not one person had come in. She was proud of all her hard work even though she didn’t know how long she would be able to keep the shop open before she ran out of money.
When Meryl came in, she was surprised no one had been in. She took a box of cupcakes with her to her church meeting and said she would have someone pick up some for a donation. Liddy had no idea of what she was really up to.
Liddy’s mom had a knack for pissing her off and then making her laugh. They were having a picnic of coffee and cupcakes, when she told her about someone opening the front door and throwing a rock with a note telling her to take her cupcakes and go back to Hotlanta. Her mom suggested going to the Infinity Business Bureau, maybe they could help. When she hugged her mother and thanked her, she felt needed.
The girl at the business bureau told her don’t bother to fill out any paperwork and to take her cupcakes and leave. She was so stunned, she picked up the cupcakes and walked out.
Liddy didn’t know Tucker was once a cop but he really did seem out-of-place in Infinity. She really had no idea of what was going on, but she was caught up in it all the same.
3 STARS – WOULD RECOMMEND TO OTHERS
It was pretty easy to know where this was going, but it was a fun ride getting there. The book is well written and flowed smoothly making it a good and easy read.
The plot had some twists and turns that kept me interested and on my toes looking for the bad guy (?), guys (?). Most of us know of the peccadilloes of small town life. No one has any secrets, at least not for long.
The pettiness and meanness of some of the characters, down right ticked me off. The saying, “What goes around, comes around”, definitely applies. I liked the fact that the characters evolved throughout the book, just as in real life.
The interaction between Liddy and her mother seemed realistic and believable. It was nice to see how the relationship grew and changed between them. I think, as children of our parents, we sometimes forget that they are people too.
I received this book in return for an honest and unbiased review.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Susan Kiernan-Lewis is an Air Force Brat who has traveled the world and racked up over 40 addresses in her life (and she’s not finished yet.) Presently living in Atlanta, Georgia she writes in several genres including mystery, romance and women’s lit. Professionally, Susan is a freelance advertising copywriter and video editor. Connect with her at suekier27@me.com and follow her at her website: susankiernanlewis.wordpress.com.
Susan Kiernan-Lewis has more than twenty books to her name. To order one of those below or see what else is available, simply click on a cover and you will be taken to Amazon.
My Review of Murder inProvenceby Susan Kiernan-Lewis – HERE.
TO GET YOUR COPY OF FINDING INFINITY FOR .99, SIMPLY CLICK ON THE COVER, FOR TWO DAYS ONLY starting Wednesday, Nov. 28
Not sure what I expected, but it was so much more. Good things do come in small packages.
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In the 20’s it was unusual for a woman to be unmarried, work and live on her own. Olivia had never considered herself a spinster, she just liked her life. She didn’t want to be one of the herd or do what was expected of her. She was terrified of kids. Her father had disowned her at 26 and her mother told her that no one would want an old woman.
It was totally unexpected when she met Charles Doyle. They fell for each other at first glance. When he proposed, she choked on the chocolate truffle she was eating. She told him no and it broke her heart. He told her he didn’t want kids. And if she didn’t want to clean or cook, no problem. Those things weren’t important to him. He had a son he hadn’t seen in fifteen years and a grandson he had never met.
She was very superstitious. During the wedding ceremony, a hail storm broke out. Charlie blew it off, so she did too. She was afraid of the number eleven. On the tenth day of marriage they arrived in Miami for their honeymoon. On the eleventh day, she talked him into staying low-key, taking no chances. They went shopping, she was thinking that nothing could go wrong shopping. He snuck off and bought her a surprise. Back in the room, he told her to close her eyes and he put the necklace around her neck. When she what it was, her heart fell. Opals were bad luck. He died that night.
Susanna Doyle told her husband she had to be in New York City for her singing career. Benjamin knew he would lose her if they went anywhere near there, so he’d played a stalling game with her. He would promise her they would go, then find an excuse not to.
When she became pregnant, life got even worse. To get even, when the baby was born, she named him Ethan Allen, after the furniture store she worked at. As Ethan grew older, their fights became so vicious that he built a fort out back to get away from them.
One day at the diner, he noticed Mister Scooter, the owner, touching his mom’s butt. He asked her about it and she said if he kept quiet, she would make sure she always had enough spare change for him to go to the movies.
Susanna was very excited because Benjamin had promised they would go to New York City in September. When September rolled around, he found another excuse not to go. She had been working and saving the money, so she told Ethan they were going without him, but not to say anything so he wouldn’t find out and try to stop them. She went to the bank for her money, but Benjamin had already closed the account.
Susanna immediately went to Scooter, telling him she wanted to run away with him and Ethan to New York City. He thought about his own kid, for only a moment, and said okay.
Ethan was eleven years old and his mom had always promised him she would never run off without him. But that night, Ethan’s whole world changed.
I don’t know why I was drawn to the cover, title, then the blurb. Something tugged at me.The cover conveyed such a sense of sorrow from the boy. I loved the second reference to spare change, but you will have to read the book to find out what it is, and why the title is so very appropriate.
I am not much for a story without some murder, killing, death, blood, gore, mystery, magic; in other words, some kind of action or adventure. This was a different kind of murder story, more a story of a woman alone, and a boy with no home and no one to love him. The murder was just a small piece.
For a short book, Bette made me feel like the story covered a lifetime. I kept reading faster and faster. I was afraid for Ethan and then both him and Olivia. She put so much story into a small book. Plot was detailed and suspenseful. I kept waiting for…..
The characters were amazing. Her descriptions left me feeling like they were my neighbors. I felt like I knew them. They were realistic and reminiscent of a time when we knew our neighbors. Such a feel good book. Made me tear up and cry because of its sweetness. I know my neighbors and speak to them, but I am a solitary creature, so it really surprised me that I felt such strong emotions while reading the story.
How do you get an eleven year old boy to trust you? I felt Ethan’s fear and panic. To win him over, it took much empathy, patience and compassion. So much, packed into its 280 pages. I know I keep repeating myself, but I still can’t get over how much this book affected me.
I received this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Not only was the author gracious enough to send me a paperback, she also autographed it for me. I love to add another book to my collection.
Giveaway – Bette Lee Crosby is offering for the giveaway:
International – ebook of Spare Change – OR – US and Canada a signed paperback. As always the entry is easy. Leave a comment telling us what you do with your spare change and an email address.
GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. The Winners Are:
Kimba – won the signed paperback Alana – won the ebook
Thanks to all of you for the wonderful, warm and touching comments. I hope you will continue to follow fundinmental.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bette Lee Crosby’s work was first recognized in 2006, when she won the National League of American Pen Women Award for unpublished fiction with What Matters Most. Her novel, Cracks in the Sidewalk, received the 2009 Royal Palm Literary Award and then went on to win the 2011 FPA President’s Book Award Gold Medal. In 2011 Spare Change received the Reviewer’s Choice Awards and it garnered a second Royal Palm Literary Award. Her books have earned numerous five-star ratings with readers acclaiming them as heartwarming and captivating.
Most recently, Bette completed a memoir written for Lani Deauville, a woman the Guinness Book of Records lists as The World’s Longest Living Quadriplegic.
3 STARS – WOULD RECOMMEND TO OTHERS
Susan Kiernan-Lewis is an 
Bette Lee Crosby’s work was first recognized in 2006, when she won the 
