Read any great Smashwords books lately?

[ficbot]

I got $100 rebate from Fictionwise to dispense with my buywise membership and some remaining subscriptions. I spent about $85 of it on some needful things from ebay, and currently have about $16 left. Kobo does not allow payment by Paypal and I don't want the fees of transferring the balance back to my bank account. So---anyone want to recommend some good Smashwords stuff? No fantasy or hard sci-fi plase, but paranormal is fine, as are mystery, general fiction or non-fiction.

Some stuff from Smashwords which I have either enjoyed in the past, or have downloaded already and expect to enjoy based on the sample:

- The Connie Shelton mysteries
- Shayne Parkinson's novel about New Zealand
- Nearly all of the BeWrite books
- 100 Stories for Haiti
- Learn me Good by John Pearson (stories from a teacher)
- Life, with No Breaks (it seems a little too 'guy' for me so far though...)
- The Purification Ceremony by Mark Sullivan
- That new one about writing media tie-in novels
- Vampire Shrink by Linda Hillburn

I am not interested in spending money on something forgettable---genre stuff only if it's very good and comes personally recommended by you, please

Ideally, I'd like another like a) the Shelton books where it's a series and if I like the first one, there are several more that I can buy or b) some really interesting non-fiction or historical fiction where I can get immersed in a world and maybe learn something (Shayne, your book is next on my list and if I like it, I plan to promote the heck out of it on Teleread and on my own blog!).

I figure I can do pretty well with my $16-18 compared to what I could buy at Fictionwise these days I am avoiding Big Publishing right now because I am mad about the agency issues and the HST so I would *love* to discover some cool new indie authors.

[FizzyWater]

Well, this is not just genre, but sort of a hybrid genre.

Patricia Ryan just added her "A Gilded Age Mystery" series (originally published under the P.B. Ryan pseudonym). There as six books - a mystery series set in 1860s Boston. The stories center around a young Irish governess, Nell Sweeney, who gets pulled into various murder investigations.

There's a romantic interest, but it's very slow going and doesn't overtake the mystery stories. He is the opium-addicted son of the people Nell works for (and the father of the child she takes care of).

I very much enjoyed these books.

If you're at all interested, the first book in the series was just reviewed at a blog I like to visit (it's how I found out the books were released at Smashwords). I'd read them in DT format, but am gladly replacing those with nicely priced ebook copies.

[DixieGal]

See my sig for a suggestion.

[ficbot]

Originally Posted by DixieGal

See my sig for a suggestion.

Okay, but that's YOUR book, isn't it? So that's not really an objective review

[Marcy]

I recently enjoyed Laura Belgrave's Claudia Hershey series. Lee Goldberg has some interesting sounding books that I purchased but haven't read yet. Ruth Francisco also has some books that sounded good—again I haven't gotten to read them yet.

Alternatively, if you like sci-fi at all, Baen webscriptions accepts paypal. You can't beat 4 books for $15.

However, Paypal doesn't charge a fee to transfer to your bank account electronically. Only if you request a check. I transfer refunds back to my bank account all the time.

-Marcy

[ficbot]

Okay, bought the first Patricia Ryan. Loved the sample. Looked at the Laura Belgrave books but it is not clear to me which book is #1 in the series, and her website seems to be about her corporate work. Which one should I look at first?

[Marcy]

Originally Posted by ficbot

Okay, bought the first Patricia Ryan. Loved the sample. Looked at the Laura Belgrave books but it is not clear to me which book is #1 in the series, and her website seems to be about her corporate work. Which one should I look at first?

In the Spirit of Murder is the first. It was clever but had some weaknesses. I thought the second book, Quietly Dead, was much better. I didn't get to the third one yet, because my recent Baen webscription purchases were finally put up in full and I'd been eagerly waiting to read the newest Michael Z. Williamson and Mark L. Van Name books.

-Marcy

[neilmarr]

I just read MR member Jan Strnad's *Risen* from Smashwords, Ficbot. A superb piece of work. Cheers. Neil

[roger the rabbit]

Originally Posted by neilmarr

I just read MR member Jan Strnad's *Risen* from Smashwords, Ficbot. A superb piece of work. Cheers. Neil

I'll second that, and also suggest "To speak for the dead" by Paul Lavine, a recent MR member.

Have just read the sample and gone back to buy the book. an excellent read so far
From the smashwords blurb:-

A doctor in love with his patient’s wife... A fatal mistake during surgery... Accident? Malpractice? Or murder? Jake Lassiter, the linebacker-turned-lawyer, is on the case. The bestselling novel was named by the L.A. Times as one of the best thrillers of the year. “Move over Scott Turow. ‘To Speak for the Dead’ is courtroom drama at its very best.” – Larry King, USA Today

[SensualPoet]

I heartily recommend Debbi Mack's Identity Crisis.

A simple domestic abuse case turns deadly when the alleged abuser is killed and Stephanie Ann "Sam" McRae’s client disappears. When a friend asks Sam to find Melanie Hayes, the Maryland attorney is drawn into a complex case of murder and identity theft that has her running from the Mob, breaking into a strip club and forming a shaky alliance with a private investigator to discover the truth.

A very fine first novel in the amateur PI line (the author, and the lead character, is actually a lawyer). Not literary fiction but an entertaining read.

[neilmarr]

*To Speak for the Dead* sounds interesting Roger (I'd be even more interested if it was written by one of my wild kids and was called *Speak for the Dad*. On your recommendation, though, I'll give it a whirl. You come up with some great ideas from the blue. Hoots. Neil

[neilmarr]

An aside: As a buyer, I'm getting pissed off with Smashwords because this keeps happening: I'm not one for free tasters, so on Roger's recommendation, I bought the full version of *To Speak for the Dead*. First thing was finding it (tough). Then, when I did, Smashwords said my PayPal didn't word. I started over -- only to find 'You Have Already Bought This Book'. So I went to download the ePub. Turns out I bought it twice. That's cool, but Smashwords appears to have some major problems. Sheeit ... it doesn't move half the time (and this from someone who has more than eighty titles running with them). I really believe Mark should expend more effort on making the site work properly than on promo. Promo's useless if it leads you to something that's busted. Neil

[sabredog]

Just purchased book 6 in the Spinward Fringe series by Randolph Lalonde.

Looks a good read as per the other books.

[roger the rabbit]

Originally Posted by neilmarr

An aside: As a buyer, I'm getting pissed off with Smashwords because this keeps happening: I'm not one for free tasters, so on Roger's recommendation, I bought the full version of *To Speak for the Dead*. First thing was finding it (tough). Then, when I did, Smashwords said my PayPal didn't word. I started over -- only to find 'You Have Already Bought This Book'. So I went to download the ePub. Turns out I bought it twice. That's cool, but Smashwords appears to have some major problems. Sheeit ... it doesn't move half the time (and this from someone who has more than eighty titles running with them). I really believe Mark should expend more effort on making the site work properly than on promo. Promo's useless if it leads you to something that's busted. Neil

I did put the link in my post to save people looking.





My TBR is so long I generally never now buy a book from smashwords without reading the sample first. If you read that far you will sure as hell buy the book to see how it ends. A great system! saves me buying dross I will never read

Personally I find the samples very useful, providing the author has made it a sensible size, at least 25-30%. Less than that I don't bother to consider the book unless highly recommended.

I did on only one occasion have problems downloading a sample but that was fixed quickly after one email.

I have a few times gone to look at a book I did not remember I had already bought, each time a message that I have already purchased this book pops up. (Unless they have recently changed this).
This is a pain where you have downloaded a "pay what you think it's worth" and then go back to try to pay a fair price for what has turned out to be a good book - it won't let you unless you delete it from your library first.

[banjobama]

The Promises to Keep series from Shayne Parkinson is AWESOME

If you like fantasy, I recommend The Resurrection of Deacon Shader. I don't hear much about it here but I loved it.

And I've never read a dud from BeWrite.