Prey, 1st in the
Infected series of paranormal investigative urban fantasy/mystery/thrillers by Andrea Speed in a world full of virus-induced werecat shapeshifters, is free courtesy of m/m specialty publisher Dreamspinner Press, who are themselves doing a holiday countdown until the New Year.
This is actually not a dedicated romance, according to the reviews over at AllRomance, although it does carry 4-flames on the heat index, so perhaps expect sex scenes and some relationship drama. However, one of the reader comments complains that the index level should actually be a 0 and the characters only kiss, though that may be a downplaying exaggeration;
caveat 1-clicker.
Free in MultiFormat without DRM throughout Wednesday the 21st (probably until 9 PM PST) @
Dreamspinner Press's website, which requires an account signup but no credit card info.
On the 22nd, Dreamspinner will be having a 30% off sale on all items in the Western genre on their website, no coupon required, and they are planning to intersperse more free books among the daily discounts.
Description
In a world where a werecat virus has changed society, Roan McKichan, a born infected and ex-cop, works as a private detective trying to solve crimes involving other infecteds.
The murder of a former cop draws Roan into an odd case where an unidentifiable species of cat appears to be showing an unusual level of intelligence. He juggles that with trying to find a missing teenage boy, who, unbeknownst to his parents, was “cat” obsessed. And when someone is brutally murdering infecteds, Eli Winters, leader of the Church of the Divine Transformation, hires Roan to find the killer before he closes in on Eli.
Working the crimes will lead Roan through a maze of hate, personal grudges, and mortal danger. With help from his tiger-strain infected partner, Paris Lehane, he does his best to survive in a world that hates and fears their kind… and occasionally worships them.