FREE/BARGAIN — Romance & Discussion

[sufue]

And now at £0.99 at Kindle UK. Link below is still good.

Originally Posted by sufue

Sapphire Flames is the most recent in the Hidden Legacy series by Ilona Andrews, just published a month or two ago. It is on sale now for £2.99. It has been sitting at £4.99 for the last few months (although it was briefly at £2.99 during its pre-order as well), so this is a nice drop.

link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07G141J8W

[sufue]

Ilona Andrews is (are?) doing a serialization of their upcoming novella (short book?), Sweep with Me, prior to its publication on Jan 14. It's also available for pre-order at $3.99 or £2.99 if you prefer to just read straight through.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Sweep-Me-Innk...dp/B082TVGFPW/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/sweep-with-me
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sweep-Me-In...dp/B082TVGFPW/

So far they have posted through Chapter 2, Part 2.

Innkeepers is my favorite series of theirs, so this is a nice little Christmas treat!

You can find the posts here: https://ilona-andrews.com/category/i...sweep-with-me/

[library addict]

Weekly Report:

Read:

• A Conspiracy of Whispers (Quillian Empire #1) by Ada Harper (A/5 stars)

Purchased:
None


I did a much better job in 2019 of only buying books I actually read soon after purchasing (okay, soonish) unless they were on sale. Not 100%, but better.

[disconnected]

It's not quite my genre but I just happened to see this.

All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness is 1.99. I think I might try it.

https://www.amazon.com/All-Souls-Tri.../dp/B00PGMRAC8

[Terisa de morgan]

Happy New Year to everybody! Even if I don't read a lot now (or write), I still I'm here. I hope 2020 is full of good books and memories.

[bluesapphires2k]

Phoenix Unbound (The Fallen Empire #1) by Grace Draven is $1.99

Spoiler:

In this USA Today bestselling novel, a woman with power over fire and illusion and the enslaved son of a chieftain battle a corrupt empire in this powerful and deeply emotional romantic fantasy.

Every year, each village is required to send a young woman to the Empire's capital--her fate to be burned alive for the entertainment of the masses. For the last five years, one small village's tithe has been the same woman. Gilene's sacrifice protects all the other young women of her village, and her secret to staying alive lies with the magic only she possesses.

But this year is different.

Azarion, the Empire's most famous gladiator, has somehow seen through her illusion--and is set on blackmailing Gilene into using her abilities to help him escape his life of slavery. Unknown to Gilene, he also wants to reclaim the birthright of his clan.

To protect her family and village, she will abandon everything to return to the Empire--and burn once more.

Amz US
B&N
Google
Kobo

[library addict]

After a push in December I managed, barely, to meet my personal reading goals again for 2019. It’s not the books’ fault, I hit a “slump” for much of the summer and autumn. Well, not really a slump as I wanted to read, I just often didn’t have enough mental energy.

I had picked Carla Neggers as my auto-buy author I was woefully behind on. So I read all 24 of the books of hers from her backlist I hadn’t yet read as well as the two new releases she had. The main reason I’d picked her is that I thought I would be able to accomplish the big goal of completely finishing up my print TBR pile.

Alas, I forgot I had already shelved the big stack of old Jayne Castle/Jayne Ann Krentz/Stephanie James category romances back when I first moved here. They are in the “back row” behind some other books and I had them listed in a special section of my TBR in Word…and well, honestly they slipped my mind. So my goal this year is to truly make it through my print TBR. I have 27 of her books to go. I should note that I still won’t have read everything by her as there are 7 of her rare books, including the titles she wrote as Jayne Bentley, that I do not own. Plus she has two new books coming out this year as well.

I went "shopping" again in Calibre (via cover view) and picked ten “must read” books for 2020. I’ve done this the past few years and it’s a fun way to get to some books which I was eager to read when purchased but have languished on Mount TBR.

I picked a mix of other books from my TBR for various reading challenges I made up. I like setting goals in conjunction with these challenges because it offers me a wide variety of books to suit whatever mood I'm in and I can easily switch out a book if I decide to DNF something. Having goal books/authors and loosely “scheduling” books to read has helped me to read more from my TBR. And since I don't add nearly as much it these days I'm actually seeing some progress

I did well with only buying books I planned to read right away this past year unless they were on sale. I really missed being able to use the free codes to get Harlequin and Carina books directly from Harlequin. I’m still waiting on them to apply the books I sent a receipt for in October to my account there (even if I haven’t been able to use any of my points I am still accumulating them). They’ve been really slow about applying points this year and it won’t surprise me at all if they discontinue their reader rewards program in the near furture.

I dropped several more of my autobuy authors. For Christine Feehan I am going to wait to get her next GhostWalker book from the library. I haven’t read her Leopard series since book #4 IIRC (though I have them all in Mount TBR) and have zero interest in the motorcycle club spin-off of the Drake Sisters. She was one of the first paranormal authors I ever read, so the “breakup” with her has taken longer than it would have for many other authors. I was excited to see Cindy Gerard will finally have a new release after nearly four years. Sadly, It’s a KU book so I will wait until when (and if) it gets a wide release before I buy it.


My most eagerly anticipated books for 2020 are

• The Fate of the Tala by Jeffe Kennedy (Uncharted Realms #5)
• Forever Strong by Piper J Drake (True Heroes #6)
• Chaos Reigning by Jessie Mihalik (The Consortium Rebellion #3)
• Deal with the Devil by Kit Rocha (Mercenary Librarians #1)
• More Than Neighbors by Shannon Stacey (Blackberry Bay #1)

Plus the usual JD Robb In Death and Nalini Singh Psy/Changeling Trinity books. I’m also hoping Reese Ryan will have a new Bourbon Brothers book out this year or the start of her Holly Grove Island series, but couldn’t find any info.


What are you all looking forward to this year?

[Terisa de morgan]

Mercenary Librarians? It sounds quite good to me. Your goals are much more defined than mine. Mine is simple: to read more, last year I've been in a slump and I want to leave it. My most expected books are the usual: JD Robb, Nalini Singh Psy/Changeling, JAK (not Amanda Quick even if I like it), Bianca D'Arc, and Shelly Laurenston (ah, and Alanea Alder and Montana Ash finishing her Paladin series).

[bluesapphires2k]

Kiss of Steel (London Steampunk Book 1) by Bec McMaster is $.99

Spoiler:

Most people avoid the dreaded Whitechapel district. For Honoria Todd, it's the last safe haven as she hides from the Blue Blood aristocracy that rules London through power and fear.

Blade rules the rookeries-no one dares cross him. It's been said he faced down the Echelon's army single–handedly, that ever since being infected by the blood–craving he's been quicker, stronger, and almost immortal.

When Honoria shows up at his door, his tenuous control comes close to snapping. She's so...innocent. He doesn't see her backbone of steel-or that she could be the very salvation he's been seeking.

A unique, sexy paranormal romance, Bec McMaster's London Steampunk novels will appeal to fans of Gail Carriger, Kristen Callihan's Darkest London series, and the Blud series by Delilah Dawson.

Amz US
B&N
Google

[library addict]

The Orchid Throne by Jeffe Kennedy (Forgotten Empires #1) on sale for $2.99

Spoiler:

In the Forgotten Empires magic is forbidden, dreams are destiny, and love is the greatest power of all…

A PRISONER OF FATE
As Queen of the island kingdom of Calanthe, Lia will do anything to keep her people free—and her secrets safe—from the mad tyrant who rules the mainland. Guided by a magic ring of her father’s, Lia plays the political game with the cronies the emperor sends to her island. In her heart, she knows that it’s up to her to save herself from her fate as the emperor’s bride. But in her dreams, she sees a man, one with the power to build a better world—a man whose spirit is as strong, and whose passion is as fierce as her own…

A PRINCE AMONG MEN
Conrí, former Crown Prince of Oriel, has built an army to overthrow the emperor. But he needs the fabled Abiding Ring to succeed. The ring that Lia holds so dear to her heart. When the two banished rulers meet face to face, neither can deny the flames of rebellion that flicker in their eyes—nor the fires of desire that draw them together. But in this broken world of shattered kingdoms, can they ever really trust each other? Can their fiery alliance defeat the shadows of evil that threaten to engulf their hearts and souls?

Kobo

Google Play

Apple Books

Amazon


FWIW, a number of reviewers have said it has a slow start. Personally, I liked the fact we got to know both main characters before they met on page.

[library addict]

Weekly Report:

Read:
Just rereads this week.

Purchased:
none

[sufue]

Magic Burns is the second in the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews. It has dropped to $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000WJS9JI
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/magic-burns-1

Spoiler:

Mercenary Kate Daniels tries to save her city from divine intervention in this novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling urban fantasy series.

As a mercenary who cleans up after magic gone wrong, Kate Daniels has seen her share of occupational hazards. Normally, waves of paranormal energy ebb and flow across Atlanta like a tide. But once every seven years, a flare comes, a time when magic runs rampant. Now Kate’s going to have to deal with problems on a much bigger scale: a divine one.

When Kate sets out to retrieve a set of stolen maps for the Pack—Atlanta’s paramilitary clan of shape shifters—she quickly realizes much more is at stake. During a flare, gods and goddesses can manifest and battle for power. The stolen maps are only the opening gambit in an epic tug of war between two

[worktolive]

FYI for those of you that are fans of Ilona Andrews but don’t follow their blog, they have written a new Innkeepers novella and posted the installments over the last couple of weeks. I believe it will still be up this weekend, then they are taking it down and releasing it for sale next week. It’s amazing how much action and emotion they manage to pack into a relatively short novella.

If you haven’t read the previous installments, you’d be missing lots of back story and in jokes but you’d probably enjoy it anyway and it’s a good way to try out their writing if you are curious.

Here’s the link: https://Sweep With Me/

[icedtea]

Here's the direct link to the first installment, to save some clicking - https://innkeeper.ilona-andrews.com/...er-1-part-1-2/

Read this one while it's free, as the pre-order price in my currency/country is out of my budget for the length of story. It will be taken down on January 13th.

[Fbone]

Echoes in Death (In Death, Book 44) by J.D. Robb is $2.99

https://smile.amazon.com/Echoes-Deat...t%2C162&sr=1-1