Free and bargain romances in July

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by library addict

I bought Boomerang Bride when it was first released. Even though I had some major issues with the book, I was glad that it won. Also that JD Robb's New York to Dallas won. I have some of the other winning books as well as nominated ones in my TBR pile.

What major issues did you have with the book?

I also just got two weeks ago Dragon Bound through Audible which everyone is saying is so good! It also won a RITA so it will be the next paranormal I read..uh listen to.

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Jeez, and I forgot all about them!

If I find a book I want from Sourcebooks, I always check the DANL page. I want to support this experiment in DRM-free ebooks that are reasonably priced.

Me too. I love the idea of a club. In the past I have been a member of Harlequin, HeartSong and LoveSpell so it's really nice to see this mode of club brought back and I love, love that we get a free book each month.

Originally Posted by copyrite

I was following #ritagh #rwa12 from Sarah @ SBTB over the weekend. She had a couple good podcasts, even interviewed a guide dog *snicker*.

I'm not really Twitter savvy so it was crazy trying to keep up on my little netbook. I am slowly catching up on the podcasts. Almost at Christmas of last year.

[library addict]

Originally Posted by Blossom

What major issues did you have with the book?

Hope not too many spoilers for those who haven't read it yet.

From the blurb I expected a romantic comedy. But after a zany, mad-cap beginning, the book abruptly shifts to high drama. Plus, I had a hard time warming up to the hero who seemed to think his family was a burden and was very condescending to the heroine. I get why having the heroine stranded in the small town was necessary for the plot, the way in which it’s handled was cumbrous to me.

The second half does improve with the introduction of a secondary romance. Maybe it comes from having lived in England, but I thought the author spent too much time comparing Australian words/phases to American. Sadly, much of the humor missed the mark for me. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I'd been in a different mood. But I remember it took me over a week to finish as I kept getting fed up with the characters and setting it aside.

While I didn't like it, I didn't hate it and I would try the author again.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by library addict

Hope not too many spoilers for those who haven't read it yet.

Spoiler:

From the blurb I expected a romantic comedy. But after a zany, mad-cap beginning, the book abruptly shifts to high drama. Plus, I had a hard time warming up to the hero who seemed to think his family was a burden and was very condescending to the heroine. I get why having the heroine stranded in the small town was necessary for the plot, the way in which it’s handled was cumbrous to me.

The second half does improve with the introduction of a secondary romance. Maybe it comes from having lived in England, but I thought the author spent too much time comparing Australian words/phases to American. Sadly, much of the humor missed the mark for me. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I'd been in a different mood. But I remember it took me over a week to finish as I kept getting fed up with the characters and setting it aside.

While I didn't like it, I didn't hate it and I would try the author again.

Okay. Thanks. She is from Australia so she had a friend translate the Aussie words to American English. If you see her dedication you can see she took a risk in the place setting of her book not being an American. When you said major issues I thought something more controversial. *phew* Hopefully I didn't waste my money. I can deal with a jerk Hero more so than a heroine who is whiny or mean.

[spindlegirl]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Jeez, and I forgot all about them!

If I find a book I want from Sourcebooks, I always check the DANL page. I want to support this experiment in DRM-free ebooks that are reasonably priced.

I'm finding I love these DRM-free models. I'm so glad that this thread introduced me to DANL and Carina Press.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by spindlegirl

I'm finding I love these DRM-free models. I'm so glad that this thread introduced me to DANL and Carina Press.

Samhain is another DRM Free publisher. All their new releases are automatically 30% off the first week they are out. Now and then they have coupons. Their Retro Romance line is pure mainstream romance backtitles.

I try to support all these places. Samhain was the pioneer well actually Ellora Cave was but they are mainly Erotic Romance although their newer Blush line is suppose to be normal romance.
EC is also DRM free when bought from the publisher's site.

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I try to support all these places. Samhain was the pioneer well actually Ellora Cave was but they are mainly Erotic Romance although their newer Blush line is suppose to be normal romance.
EC is also DRM free when bought from the publisher's site.

Wait, EC sells direct? I knew Samhain does, I buy from them a lot, but now I'm going to have to go check out EC s well. Thanks for the tip! You get karma

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by ScalyFreak

Wait, EC sells direct? I knew Samhain does, I buy from them a lot, but now I'm going to have to go check out EC s well. Thanks for the tip! You get karma

Oh my Yes! They are the pioneers of this type of digital publishing. I was reading EC ebooks back in the days Lora Leigh & Cheyenne McCray published with them. The quality of Erotic Romance back then to what they put on now varies alot. Their blush line started out under their now defunct line Cerridwen Press.

My first ebook was an Ellora Cave title.

[worktolive]

Regarding Boomerang Bride, I read it and really liked it. The hero was a bit of an arse, but the heroine was pitch perfect in my opinion. Two of my closest girlfriends are Aussie and I could totally see them doing exactly as the heroine did if they found themselves in a similar situation. Also, I found the humor with the Aussie vs. US phrases to be very funny and not at all too much. I liked it enough to go looking for the author's backlist and I don't do that very frequently.

[Tattncat]

Whenever possible I get the drm free version from DANL, EC, Samhain and Smashwords. I do not consider drm my friend.

[JNCalif]

Regarding Ellora's Cave - their books are considerably cheaper when you buy them directly from their website. My only quibble is that you can't send them directly to your Kindle or other e-reader; you have to download and add them to your e-reader that way.

They also have something like 90 pages of "Values from the Vault," which are almost all either 99 cents or 1.99.

Their website is jasminejade.com.

[JNCalif]

And, I should add, you can download the titles, which are all DRM-free, as many times as you want and in as many formats as you want. :-)

[spindlegirl]

Originally Posted by Tattncat

Whenever possible I get the drm free version from DANL, EC, Samhain and Smashwords. I do not consider drm my friend.

Well, I just paid our bills so was able to nab 9.99 for the six month membership to DANL.
I totally agree about DRM-free. I hope more and more publishers catch on to the idea that there are people who will happily pay for a book that allows customers to read it in their own way. (I am one of them)

They seem to have enough of the style of 'Romance Novels' that I prefer. So this is cool.

[booklover6]

Oh speaking of Ellora's Cave they have a copy of Skye's Trail for free right now. And Let Them Eat Cake.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Tattncat

Whenever possible I get the drm free version from DANL, EC, Samhain and Smashwords. I do not consider drm my friend.

Fictionwise Multiformat is another DRM free store. You can also get them directly from the publisher. Some of the publishers I buy from at FW is Belgrave House and Wild Rose Press. You can use a coupon to get a great deal when buying from FW instead of directly the publisher. Sometimes Fictionwise has up to 60% off. This week it's only 20% off but each week there is a new coupon to use and new releases gets 15% off for the first week on top of the coupon used.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by JNCalif

My only quibble is that you can't send them directly to your Kindle or other e-reader; you have to download and add them to your e-reader that way.

I just email or upload the book to my Kindle as a personal document. It only takes a few seconds to do that.