FREE/BARGAIN — Romance & Discussion

[apesmom]

This week . . .

BDB by J.R. Ward

#29 - Lover Arisen - 3.5
Listened, same narration. This one had too much "poof, everything's OK now". I think some of it has to do with saving details for Lassiter's book. One more to go.

Cainsville by Kelley Armstrong

#5 - Rituals - 4
Listened, narration is good. Unique, twisted series, glad I circled back to finish it. Now I need to finish the last 2 WotW novels and bunch of novellas.

Supernatural London by Helen Harper

#8 - A Killer's Kiss (Firebrand #6) - 4
KU. Consistent series. Didn't care for the mystrey in this one as much as previous titles but still like the characters and the world. Based on the ending there will be another one.

Buchanan-Renard by Julie Garwood

#5 - Slow Burn - 3.5
#6 - Shadow Dance - 3.5
Listened, narration meh and stupid tinny phone call effect in both of these. The plots in these do not follow my recent Karen Rose binge very well. I'm thinking I like her historicals much better.

Strangers in Love by Ilsa Madden-Mills

#2 - Princess and the Player - 4.5
KU, listened for free. Narration good for both male and female narrators. New release this past week that I was waiting for. No idea if there will be another in the series but Jasper would make an interesting hero if the author matured him a bit.

Hard Play by Nalini Singh

#2 - Rebel Hard - 4
Listened, narration OK. I liked this couple much better than book #1 couple.

No purchases

[library addict]

Weekly Report:

Read:

• Spellcloaked (Harwood Spellbook #2.9) by Stephanie Burgis (B-/3 stars)
• Temporarily Yours (Shillings Agency #1) by Diane Alberts (B-/3 stars)

Purchased:
none

[library addict]

The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope is on sale for $2.99

Spoiler:

A woman able to communicate with spirits must assemble a ragtag crew to pull off a daring heist to save her community in this timely and dazzling historical fantasy that weaves together African American folk magic, history, and romance.

"Never make a deal with shadows at night, especially ones that know your name.”

Washington D. C., 1925: Clara Johnson can talk to spirits—a gift that saved her during her darkest moments, now a curse that’s left her indebted to the cunning spirit world. So when a powerful spirit offers her an opportunity to gain her freedom, Clara seizes the chance, no questions asked. The task: steal a magical ring from the wealthiest woman in the District.

Clara can’t pull off this daring heist alone. She’ll need the help of an unlikely team, from a handsome jazz musician able to hypnotize with a melody to an aging actor who can change his face, to pull off the impossible. But as they race along DC’s legendary Black Broadway, conflict in the spirit world begins to leak into the human one—an insidious mystery is unfolding, one that could cost Clara her life and change the fate of an entire city.

The romance is not the focus of the story but there is a HEA.


Kobo

Google Play

Apple Books

Amazon

[apesmom]

Freebie. If you've been collecting these, #1 & #4 have been recently free.

Shadow Web (Moonshadow Bay #5) by Yasmine Galenorn

Spoiler:

The holidays are here, and this year, they’re deadly…

It’s my first Thanksgiving back in Moonshadow Bay, and everything is hunky-dory until the Witches Guild assigns me a research project for the upcoming Winter Solstice Festival. Not only do I melt down my computer, but I download a demon who ends up stuck in my house.

But Tarvish the Funtime demon is the least of my worries when my grandmother asks my BFF and me to go undercover. A magical pyramid scheme has moved into town and it’s siphoning more than money off its recruits. Will we be able to take it down, or will the leader of the cult manage to silence us for good?

Reading Order of Series:
1. Starlight Web
2. Midnight Web
3. Conjure Web
4. Harvest Web
5. Shadow Web

[library addict]

Mostly rereads and non-romance stuff for me this week.

Weekly Report:

Read:

• Betrayed (Legacy of Magic #2) by Lindsay Buroker (B+/4 stars)

Purchased:

[apesmom]

This week . . .

BDB by J.R. Ward

#30 - The Viper (Prison Camp #3) - 4
Listened, same narrator as always. This one went deeper into the Wolven series than Wolven book #1 did. The Prison Camp series is better than main series or the Wolven series at this point. Next one 3-28 (Wolven) and then 4-11 Lassiter (main series), nothing scheduled for next Prison Camp and I don't know that the unresolved part of this story can't be resolved in a Wolven story.

Death Before Dragons by Lindsey Buroker

#0.5 - Mist and Magic - 4
KU, recent freebie that I missed while I listened to the rest of the series. Worthwhile read, covers the start of Val's relationships with Willard and Sindari. I probably enjoyed it more circling back than I would have in timeline order.

Kate Daniels World by Ilona Andrews

#2 - Magic Burns (Kate Daniels #2) - 4
#3 - Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels #3) - 4
#3.5 - Magic Mourns (Andrea Nash #0.5) - 4
Listened, I like this narrator (Renee Raudman). I like this series but there's a lot going on. Loved the very very end of #2. So far the slow burn romance has been fun.

Hard Play by Nalini Singh

#3 - Love Hard - 4
Listened, narration OK.

Valkyrie Beastiary by Kim McDougall

#6.5 - Oh Come All Ye Dragons - 4
KU. Nice Christmas novella.

Buchanan-Renard by Julie Garwood

#7 - Fire and Ice - 3.5
#8 - Sizzle - 3.5
Narration better, new narrator and phone call effect is gone now. Overly convaluted plots but I'm determined to finish the series.

Guild Hunter by Nalini Singh

#15 - Archangel's Resurrection - 4
Listened, narration very good. I like the stories around Raphael and Elena better. I don't think she did a great job dealing with the vastness of time in this story and the changes in the world around them.

Purchased: none

[cfrizz]

Lynsay Sand's Immortal Rising, Book #34 is on sale for $2.99 at Kobo.

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/immortal-rising-1

[sufue]

I still haven't read any of Jennifer Estep's Elemental Assassin series, even though I've read and really liked her Crown of Shards and Gargoyle Queen books, and also the first (and so far, the only) book in her new Galactic Bonds series. But I have been picking the Elemental Assassin books up when they go on sale, which is not very often!

And right now the second book in the series, Web of Lies, is on sale for $1.99 in the US...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003KN3M6S
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B003KN3M6S
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/web-of-lies-2

Spoiler:

Following up the first book in her new "Elemental Assassin" series, Jennifer Estep's Web of Lies once again brings readers into sexy assassin Gin Blanco's world, which is populated with giants, goth dwarves, elementals, and some kick-butt BBQ.

Curiosity is definitely going to get me dead one of these days. Probably real soon.

I’m Gin Blanco. You might know me as the Spider, the most feared assassin in the South. I’m retired now, but trouble still has a way of finding me. Like the other day when two punks tried to rob my popular barbecue joint, the Pork Pit. Then there was the barrage of gunfire on the restaurant. Only, for once, those kill shots weren’t aimed at me. They were meant for Violet Fox. Ever since I agreed to help Violet and her grandfather protect their property from an evil coal-mining tycoon, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m really retired. So is Detective Donovan Caine. The only honest cop in Ashland is having a real hard time reconciling his attraction to me with his Boy Scout mentality. And I can barely keep my hands off his sexy body. What can I say? I’m a Stone elemental with a little Ice magic thrown in, but my heart isn’t made of solid rock. Luckily, Gin Blanco always gets her man...dead or alive.

[library addict]

Have my list of books I want to read in 2023 all planned out into various reading challenges.

I will add new releases by my remaining autobuy authors as I learn of them. Much easier to do now that I have pruned my list multiple times over the past decade or so.

I picked one new-to-me author series to read as well as some new-to-me books from the great Harlequin 5￠sale years ago (I bought so many books and haven't read more than 10% of them it seems like).

My big goal is to finish up all of Lindsay Buroker's backlist. I made a big dent this year, but still have a few series yet to go.

[sufue]

Agent of Enchantment is the first in CN Crawford's Dark Fae FBI series. It's free right now at Kindle US and UK. Crawford has been mentioned a couple of times upthread as having a different highly rated series, so I'm posting this one too...free is good!

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y5L2XL8
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06Y5L2XL8

Spoiler:

The fae live among us. And one of them is a serial killer.

I thought this would be a simple profiling case. Just another Jack-the-Ripper wannabe, prowling London’s streets, searching for easy kills. I was wrong. This killer is fae, and he’s as elusive as smoke on the wind. But I’m an FBI profiler, and it’s my job to track him down.

It doesn’t matter that one of the main suspects--a lethally alluring fae--is trying to seduce me… or kill me, I’m not sure which. I won’t be stopped, not even when panic roils through the streets of London, or when the police start to suspect me.

As I close in on the killer, I follow him to a magical shadow realm that’s like nothing I ever expected, where I’m hunted like prey. Fine. Bring it on. I’m an FBI Agent. And it turns out I have magical powers of my own.

[sufue]

Fire Touched is the ninth in Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series. It has dropped to £2.99 at Kindle UK.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B012E81MNY
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B012E81MNY

Spoiler:

MERCY THOMPSON: MECHANIC, SHAPESHIFTER, FIGHTER

Mercy Thompson is back, and she'll soon discover that when the fae stalk the human world, it's the children who suffer . . .

Tensions between the fae and humans are coming to a head. And when coyote shapeshifter Mercy and her Alpha werewolf mate, Adam, are called upon to stop a rampaging troll, they find themselves with something that could avert an out-and-out war: a human child stolen long ago by the fae.

Defying the most powerful werewolf in the country, the humans and the fae, Mercy, Adam and their pack choose to protect the boy no matter what the cost. But who will protect them from a boy who is fire touched?

[apesmom]

Freebie! Recommended! I gave this a 4.5 and I'm still following the series. There is romance in this UF. So far just free at Amazon.

The Slaughtered Lamb Bookstore and Bar (Sam Quinn #1) by Seana Kelly

Spoiler:

Welcome to The Slaughtered Lamb Bookstore and Bar. I’m Sam Quinn, the werewolf book nerd in charge. I run my business by one simple rule: Everyone needs a good book and a stiff drink, be they vampire, wicche, demon, or fae. No wolves, though. Ever. I have my reasons.

I serve the supernatural community of San Francisco. We’ve been having some problems lately. Okay, I’m the one with the problems. The broken body of a female werewolf washed up on my doorstep. What makes sweat pool at the base of my spine, though, is realizing the scars she bears are identical to the ones I conceal. After hiding for years, I’ve been found.

A protection I’ve been relying on is gone. While my wolf traits are
strengthening steadily, the loss also left my mind vulnerable to attack. Someone is ensnaring me in horrifying visions intended to kill. Clive, the sexy vampire Master of the City, has figured out how to pull me out, designating himself my personal bodyguard. He’s grumpy about it, but that kiss is telling a different story. A change is taking place. It has to. The bookish bartender must become the fledgling badass.

I’m a survivor. I’ll fight fang and claw to protect myself and the ones I love. And let’s face it, they have it coming.

Kindle

[apesmom]

Freebie! Still haven't tried this author but she's on my list.

Broken Make (Shadow City: Silver Wolf #1) by Jen L. Grey

Spoiler:

I'm the last surviving member of my pack, and I'm running for my life.

As the future pack leader of the Silver Wolves, my life was carefully planned: stay hidden, and learn to fight. In an instant, everything changes.

My pack was slaughtered by an unknown enemy. Alone and unsure who to trust, I search for safety.

Now, there's a pack leader who offers me something that no one else can--protection.

He’s sexy, an absolute jerk, and my fated mate.

The more I try to fight our bond, the more fate pushes us together. But the price may be too much for both of us.

I’m being hunted, and the choices I'm forced to make could destroy me.

[sufue]

Three Dog Knight is the second in Annabel Chase's Midnight Empire: The Tower series. It has dropped to $1.49 at Kindle US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09K2FTXXR
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B09K2FTXXR

Spoiler:

I survived a job for royal vampires with my life and identity intact. That means I can return to my normal life as a knight, right?

Wrong.

When a group of werewolves goes berserk in our local pub, there’s a new threat in the city and the local pack hires me to find out what it is. Unfortunately that decision draws the attention of a certain vampire prince who likes to keep tabs on the most powerful pack in the city. Just when I thought I was free of the Demon of House Duncan, we’re embarking on a road trip together to investigate.

And what we discover changes everything—as well as each other.

[apesmom]

Freebie! This series is set in the same town as the Winston Brothers series. I haven't gotten to this one yet but I definitely will.

Totally Folked (Good Folk #1) by Penny Reid

Spoiler:

One unforgettable night leads to an unlikely shared connection, and unlikely connections never go unnoticed by the good folks in Green Valley, Tennessee. . .

Jackson James follows the rules. He has to. He’s a sheriff’s deputy in a super small town with a super big personality. However, strict adherence to the law during the day has been enjoyably balanced by rakish rules at night. Jackson, typically happy to protect and serve (and serve, and serve), starts questioning the value of wayward evenings when getting laid starts to feel more like being waylaid. Could it be that Green Valley’s most eligible—and notorious—bachelor longs for something (and someone) real?

Mega movie star Raquel Ezra follows only one rule: always leave them wanting more. Studio execs, reporters, audiences, fans, lovers—no one can get enough of the smart, savvy, and sexy bombshell. But when “generous offers” begin to feel more like excessive demands, years of always leaving has the elusive starlet longing for something (and perhaps someone) lasting.

When Raquel abruptly returns to the quirky Tennessee hamlet, her path crosses with the delectable deputy with whom she spent one unforgettable night. Unfortunately, scandal and intrigue soon follow. Raquel and Jackson must decide which is more important: following their rules? Or, at long last, finding something real.

Kindle | Kobo | Google