With 31 reviews on Amazon and an average rating of 4.7 stars, the Detective Rachel Storme series is a mystery story that you should include in your Kindle library while it’s free on Amazon.

A Penny For Her Heart (Detective Rachel Storme Book 3) by Alretha Thomas

Vanessa Johnson Rossi’s dream is to work at the White House. Not as the leader of the free world, but as chief of staff, overseeing the executive office of the president. As an assistant working at Buderwood Hills City Hall, she finds herself getting closer to realizing her dream when a plum position becomes available that would put her a step closer working directly for the mayor who has personal connections to the White House.

But Vanessa’s hopes are dashed when her best friend, Penelope Newhouse, lands the coveted job. However, when Vanessa discovers Penelope murdered less than a hundred feet from the office she dreamed of occupying, her disappointment turns into devastation.

Detective Rachel Storme and her team are put on the case and she soon finds herself delving into the underbelly of politics in search of the killer. The clues point to a litany of suspects, including the mayor. As usual, Detective Storme is determined to solve this case—a case so chock-full of dark and sinister twists and turns, it has her questioning her own competence.

About the author of the Detective Rachel Storme series, Alretha Thomas:

An award winning author, playwright, director, and producer, Alretha Thomas is making her name through her pen. Award winning plays and wanting to help her community, Alretha’s background is as diverse as her personality. She started at the age of ten, when her 5th grade teacher picked and read her short story assignment in front of the class–that simple, loving act empowered a new writer. Continuing in high school, her numerous original oratorical conquests on the Speech Team led her to a journalism concentration at USC.

Upon graduating, Alretha soon realized that her interest in journalism was not heartfelt. While at the taping of a live sitcom, the producer noticed her and encouraged her hand at modeling. Modeling didn’t mean much to her, but it did lead her to acting and a NAACP Theatre Award Nomination (1993) for BEST ACTRESS. Alretha left acting and began to write full time. Her church gave her an outlet to fulfill her writing desires through their Liturgical Fine Arts Department wherein Alretha penned twelve theatre pieces, six of which she directed–the community response was overwhelming.

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With 46 reviews on Amazon and an average rating of 4.5 stars, you should download this contemporary romance by Susie Tate while it’s free.

Beg, Borrow or Steal by Susie Tate

Jamie is proud of everything he’s achieved. A consultant anaesthetist and the Medical Education Director – he’s a pretty big deal. So when one of his medical students falls asleep, right in the middle of a tutorial, he is furious. He’s a bloody good teacher, damn it!

Maybe he could have been a little more understanding. Maybe he didn’t have to try and humiliate her. But the shock of how beautiful this particular student was when she finally opened her eyes, and his inappropriate reaction, only fuelled his anger. He’s tired of lame excuses from wild party animals burning the candle at both ends, and he’s going to make an example of this one.

For Libby, pride is a luxury and beauty is currency. Pregnant at seventeen and an aspiring doctor, she couldn’t afford to be proud, so she cashed in on her looks instead. She will beg, borrow or steal to achieve her dreams and give her daughter the life she deserves, even if she has to forgo sleep – even if she has to leave her dignity behind.

But there’s only so far you can push yourself, only so much pressure you can be under until you break. Libby’s been on that cliff edge for a while; her health and the gorgeous, judgmental Education Director may just tip her over.

A kick in the shin from an adorable (if slightly scary) four-year-old and a confrontation with her tearful, exhausted mother soon forces Jamie to see what a bastard he’s been. Libby may not accept his help, but he’s relentless when he wants something, and it’s not long before he realizes that this mother and daughter belong with him …

This book is a full-length contemporary romance of approximately 90,000 words with no cliffhanger and its own HEA.

More about the author, Susie Tate:

Susie Tate is a General Practitioner and, when she’s not working or writing, she’s looking after her four yummy boys under nine (okay, well one is actually over thirty-nine but it’s the mental age that counts!).

Maybe it’s a bit unusual for a doctor to be writing contemporary romance. But she’s worked with and treated some real characters in her time, and she wanted to use her experience to write what she hopes are funny, occasionally heartbreaking stories with a real insight into what goes on behind the scenes in hospital medicine.

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With 69 reviews on Amazon and an average star rating of 4.5, book 1 of the Troop of Shadows Chronicles is a must read for post-apocalyptic science fiction fans.

Troop of Shadows: Book One in the Troop of Shadows Chronicles by Nicki Huntsman Smith

A catastrophic pandemic ravages the globe, reducing the human population to extinction levels and cleansing the world of mediocrity.

A doomsday prepper, a molecular geneticist, a journal-keeping loner, and a martial arts-trained nerd survive the disease that annihilated almost everyone else on the planet. Despite the miles between Kansas and California, Texas and Arizona, the four share a connection.

They realize that not dying was the easy part.

Now a year later, they navigate a bleak world…one without technology, without modern medicine, and without law and order. They must unify their diverse strengths not only to rebuild civilization, but to battle those who would forge empires through brutality and oppression.

“There is one who would rule the world or see it burn.”

Fans of Stephen King’s “The Stand” will love this novel. Intricately plotted, superbly paced, and brought to life by fully-developed protagonists, quirky supporting characters, and charming villains, the Troop of Shadows Chronicles is a tour de force. It is the unfolding story of the greatest threat humanity has ever faced, and is populated with some of the most entertaining people you will ever meet.

About the author of the Troop of Shadows Chronicles, Nicki Huntsman Smith:

If you want to be a writer, you must begin by falling in love with reading. My love affair began when my mother and grandmother captivated and enthralled a preschool girl with Dr. Seuss books and fairy tales. When I learned to read on my own, my first “big” book was Charlotte’s Web and then Stuart Little. The hook was set; I was a bibliophile for life. I read everything I could get my hands on, age-appropriate or not. In our home, nestled in a bookcase that had been painted and repainted, as was most of our repurposed furniture, a collection of Reader’s Digest Condensed Books took up space next to an old set of Encyclopaedia Britannica.

I consumed abridged versions of The Good Earth, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, and countless others. It was around this time when my aunt (a school teacher) gave me The Chronicles of Narnia; they will always remain among my lifetime favorites. Then came Nancy Drew, the Little House on the Prairie series, and any works of horror or science fiction I could find at the library. When I was twelve, I read a post-apocalyptic novel called No Blade of Grass and shortly after, The Omega Man, and thus my lifetime love of the genre was cemented. (I remember calling in sick to work so I could finish The Stand.)

I don’t have the credentials one sees in the bios of many authors. I don’t have advanced degrees in literature, nor any ‘professional’ writing experience. Everything I’ve learned about writing has grown from my love of reading. I began my writing career at the tender age of seven, when I wrote a play for my third-grade class. It was not an assignment; I did it because I had discovered I loved creative writing as much as I loved reading. I received a children’s typewriter the next year, and countless short stories followed: romance yarns about my sister’s fictional trysts with Donny Osmond (our bedroom was wall-papered with his posters), a work of horror about murdering my brother (who tormented me by sitting on my head and passing gas), and many others I don’t remember.

In my teen years, I wrote some really awful poetry, then a number of short stories over the next decades, some of which weren’t even awful. I finally got serious about writing several years ago. The timing felt perfect, and I was able to slip into the habit of sitting down at my keyboard every day and cranking out some not-too-shabby prose.

My first published novel, Secrets Under the Mesa, began as a short story. I decided it had some legs and went with it. The inspiration for The Troop of Shadows Chronicles emerged from two directions: my love of post-apocalyptic fiction, and a recent interest in disaster preparedness.

Stephen King says, “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” I love this quote and I agree with it, but I would add that writers are born – you either have it or you don’t. If you do have it, it takes a lot of work to become good at it, and even more work to finish what you begin.

I hope you’ll enjoy my novels. I wrote them for fellow book lovers just like you.

(I live in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas, with my husband and two spoiled rotten dogs.)

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