FREE/BARGAIN — Romance & Discussion

[sufue]

I've really liked Barbara Dunlop's Match series, which has some oldsters developing/using a computer program (better than the commercial ones!) to figure out good matches for their younger relatives. I'm probably a little bit biased, since the first book in the series is set at Caltech, which I went to many many years ago. (And although it's spelled wrong as CalTech in the blurb, she gets it right as Caltech in the book, so that helps too...) But I liked the later ones too - I thought they were all kind of fun.

Anyway, I noticed on the way to other things that there is an omnibus of the first three titles in the series available for only $0.99/£0.99 at Kindle US/UK...

The Match Series: Books 1 - 3, contains: An Unlikely Match, An Impractical Match, and An Extraordinary Match

Kindle US: https://smile.amazon.com/Match-Books...dp/B07VGJ57QV/
Kindle UK: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Match-Boo...dp/B07VGJ57QV/

Spoiler:

Three full-length romances!

An Unlikely Match
Book #1 in The Match Series - from USA Today Bestselling Author Barbara Dunlop, a comedic, contemporary romance series featuring the high-tech antics of matchmaking senior citizens unleashed on their unsuspecting heirs.

Morgan Holbrook has a PhD in jet propulsion, a plum research position at CalTech and a sexy, new neighbor who is way out of his league. He’s got all the confidence in the world where it comes to applied physics, but he’s never been the guy who gets the girl.

Cheerleader Amelia Camden has sworn off boyfriends, focusing instead on her budding acting career. But when her nerdy, next door neighbor passes up his high school reunion, party enthusiast Amelia is determined to change his mind.

Wanting his former classmates to appreciate Morgan the way she does, as a brilliant, compassionate, engaging man, she goads him into a haircut, a great suit and a pair of contact lenses. Morgan plays along with the sexy Amelia. Who wouldn’t? But when her flattery turns to flirtation, he knows it’s all part of the act.

An Impractical Match
High end event planner Jillian Korrigan is very publicly left at the altar by the favored son of a prominent DC family. Determined to discretely weather the storm, she finds herself with an unlikely assignment planning a motocross race at the Desert Heat track near Phoenix, Arizona.

Vintage car restoration artist Devlin Camden is at home on the motocross track, dust in his eyes and dirt in his hair. He’s met women like Jillian before, eye-candy on the arms of multi-millionaires. They peer down their aristocratic noses at the guy who customizes their extravagant cars.

But Devlin is loyal to Desert Heat, and making nice with the woman means upgrades to the track and a windfall to the owner. So, he’ll put up with the sexy, snooty Jillian, and maybe even talk her into his uncivilized bed.

An Extraordinary Match
For float plane pilot Logan Edwards, life is laidback and predictable in Mirror Falls, Colorado, the mountain resort town founded by his bootlegging ancestors. Flirtatious tourists, a close-knit family, and the occasional adrenalin-filled search and rescue call-out are all a man could possibly want.

When workaholic, computer security specialist Jade Korrigan is forced on a holiday in Mirror Falls, within hours, she’s antsy and uptight and looking for a way back to New York City.

Jade’s holiday goes from bad to worse, when she finds herself mysteriously framed, accused of stealing from the Edwards family and tossed into the Mirror Falls jail. Her only possible salvation is rough and ready Logan Edwards, his float plane and his remote cabin getaway. But Logan’s loyalty to his family is ironclad, and he’s not about to let the devious, sexy Jade get under his skin.

[worktolive]

If anyone is in the mood for some SF Romance, I recently discovered Elizabeth Stephens' Xiveri Mates series and fell into a binge. The first two books are FREE this weekend and the whole series is in KU. This series features typical SFR fated mates, but the world building is a cut above the usual SFR. Also, the trigger warnings included in the descriptions are pretty spot on.

Taken to Voraxia

Spoiler:

Miari
Blue skin. Seven feet. Strapped with corded muscle, the aliens have come again but this time, their king is here and he's watching me with hunger.

A hybrid with red alien skin and brown human eyes, I've got no family and am not desired by colony men. I'm an inventor, a mechanic, a tinkerer. The alien king seeks to claim me, but he'll have to find me first.

Our little colony is a scary, desperate place and I'm willing to meet it head on if it means escaping him and the alien sensations he stirs deep in my gut, where light and truth cannot touch them.

Raku
She is my Xiveri mate, yet she runs from me – straight into the horrors of her savage moon colony. Does she not know that I would slaughter in her defense? Nox, she does not.

My brilliant hybrid thinks herself a slave – my slave – and in place of acceptance, offers me only pacts and bargains. Shamed by her pacts, I still take them all gluttonously, because she is mine – my hybrid, my Xiveri mate, Voraxia's queen and mine to worship.

Taken to Voraxia is a full-length (95k words) SciFi alien romance and book 1 in a 6+ book series. Xiveri Mates books come with a guaranteed HEA. Books 3 and 6 feature Xiveri Mates from outside of the Voraxian constellation, while the rest are best read in sequential order. YES for alpha alien overlords, warrior heroines, fated mates who are also enemies-to-lovers, action and sometimes violence, world-building and extra steamy bits. NO for abuse, dubcon, noncon, cheating, menage, harem or love triangles. Subjugation of human women is an early theme in book 1 and, while it ends spectacularly, may be a trigger for sensitive readers.

Taken to Nobu

Spoiler:

Kiki
There's no way I'm letting this alien who calls me his Xiveri mate claim me as his. He may say the right things and stir emotions in me I never expected to feel again for any male, but his kind has already taken too much from me as is.

Trapped now on his harsh, snow-consumed planet waiting to be hunted, with no way of escape, I'll do the only thing I can. The one thing I've been training for since the aliens first came to the human moon colony to hurt us. I'll fight.

Va'Raku
Nobu has never seen a queen before who is able to wield sword and staff, fist and tongue. A warrior queen, and mine to claim. But when her hate puts the entire village at risk, I finally come to understand the provenance of her pain.

While she is the only one who can unravel it, I can teach her control, acceptance, release. But first I will need her trust. And only then can we fight together against our shared enemy and bring him to his knees.

Taken to Nobu is a full-length (90k words), standalone, SciFi romance complete with an alpha alien overlord, proud warrior heroine of color, fated mates who are also enemies-to-lovers, world building and extra steamy bits. Trigger warning: this book is about a woman overcoming a past sexual trauma (neither described nor depicted) and the gentle, but firm male who helps her get there. All Xiveri Mates books can be read as standalones, each one with a guaranteed HEA, however I recommend reading book 1 first as this helps sets the stage.

[rgeorg]

Christi Caldwell Lost Lords 1-3 series is on KU with Audio free as well for all 3 books.

[kg3]

Thanks!

Originally Posted by worktolive

If anyone is in the mood for some SF Romance, I recently discovered Elizabeth Stephens' Xiveri Mates series and fell into a binge. The first two books are FREE this weekend and the whole series is in KU. This series features typical SFR fated mates, but the world building is a cut above the usual SFR. Also, the trigger warnings included in the descriptions are pretty spot on.

Taken to Voraxia

Spoiler:

Miari
Blue skin. Seven feet. Strapped with corded muscle, the aliens have come again but this time, their king is here and he's watching me with hunger.

A hybrid with red alien skin and brown human eyes, I've got no family and am not desired by colony men. I'm an inventor, a mechanic, a tinkerer. The alien king seeks to claim me, but he'll have to find me first.

Our little colony is a scary, desperate place and I'm willing to meet it head on if it means escaping him and the alien sensations he stirs deep in my gut, where light and truth cannot touch them.

Raku
She is my Xiveri mate, yet she runs from me – straight into the horrors of her savage moon colony. Does she not know that I would slaughter in her defense? Nox, she does not.

My brilliant hybrid thinks herself a slave – my slave – and in place of acceptance, offers me only pacts and bargains. Shamed by her pacts, I still take them all gluttonously, because she is mine – my hybrid, my Xiveri mate, Voraxia's queen and mine to worship.

Taken to Voraxia is a full-length (95k words) SciFi alien romance and book 1 in a 6+ book series. Xiveri Mates books come with a guaranteed HEA. Books 3 and 6 feature Xiveri Mates from outside of the Voraxian constellation, while the rest are best read in sequential order. YES for alpha alien overlords, warrior heroines, fated mates who are also enemies-to-lovers, action and sometimes violence, world-building and extra steamy bits. NO for abuse, dubcon, noncon, cheating, menage, harem or love triangles. Subjugation of human women is an early theme in book 1 and, while it ends spectacularly, may be a trigger for sensitive readers.

Taken to Nobu

Spoiler:

Kiki
There's no way I'm letting this alien who calls me his Xiveri mate claim me as his. He may say the right things and stir emotions in me I never expected to feel again for any male, but his kind has already taken too much from me as is.

Trapped now on his harsh, snow-consumed planet waiting to be hunted, with no way of escape, I'll do the only thing I can. The one thing I've been training for since the aliens first came to the human moon colony to hurt us. I'll fight.

Va'Raku
Nobu has never seen a queen before who is able to wield sword and staff, fist and tongue. A warrior queen, and mine to claim. But when her hate puts the entire village at risk, I finally come to understand the provenance of her pain.

While she is the only one who can unravel it, I can teach her control, acceptance, release. But first I will need her trust. And only then can we fight together against our shared enemy and bring him to his knees.

Taken to Nobu is a full-length (90k words), standalone, SciFi romance complete with an alpha alien overlord, proud warrior heroine of color, fated mates who are also enemies-to-lovers, world building and extra steamy bits. Trigger warning: this book is about a woman overcoming a past sexual trauma (neither described nor depicted) and the gentle, but firm male who helps her get there. All Xiveri Mates books can be read as standalones, each one with a guaranteed HEA, however I recommend reading book 1 first as this helps sets the stage.

[library addict]

Weekly Report:

Read:

• Falling for Anthony (The Guardians #0.5) by Meljean Brook (B-/3 stars)
• Kingdoms at War (Dragon Gate #1) by Lindsay Buroker (A/5 stars)

Also up to Partners in Persuasion in my complete Psy/Changeling series reread. Taking a break to try and read more new-to-me stuff, but we'll see how long that lasts.

Purchased:
none

[sufue]

Per the list at the bottom of its webpage, Just To Be With You is the fourth in the spin-off Seattle Sullivans series by Bella Andre. It's free right now at Kindle US and UK.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IJI2RH4
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IJI2RH4

ADD: also at Kobo US (https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/jus...le-sullivans-3), so probably also at Kobo UK, but I don't check there

Spoiler:

JUST TO BE WITH YOU

"I loved Ian and Tatiana, and I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a great romance to warm your heart! I wish I could be part of the Sullivan family. This series is awesome and so full of heartwarming moments." 5 stars

Ian Sullivan, the powerful and wealthy CEO of Sullivan Investments, has never failed at anything in his life...apart from love and marriage. Certain that he'll never take the plunge again, the last thing he expects is for a beautiful actress to turn his perfectly organized world completely upside down.

Tatiana Landon, one of the hottest talents in Hollywood, has been waiting for true love her whole life. When she meets Ian, she's certain she's finally found it...along with a passion that sizzles hotter than anything in her wildest dreams. All she needs to do now is find a way to convince him to take the risk of loving again.

Ian soon realizes that Tatiana is just as focused on winning his heart as he is on locking it away. But when unexpected circumstances thrust them into a world where real-life rules don't apply, will Ian finally recognize Tatiana as his one true love?

JUST TO BE WITH YOU is part of Bella Andre's USA Today and New York Times #1 bestselling series about The Sullivans. While it can easily be read as a stand-alone story, you'll likely enjoy reading the other books too.

[library addict]

Milla Vane's A Heart of Blood and Ashes (A Gathering of Dragons #1) is on sale for $1.99

Spoiler:

A generation past, the western realms were embroiled in endless war. Then the Destroyer came. From the blood and ashes he left behind, a tenuous alliance rose between the barbarian riders of Parsathe and the walled kingdoms of the south. That alliance is all that stands against the return of an ancient evil—until the barbarian king and queen are slain in an act of bloody betrayal.

Though forbidden by the alliance council to kill the corrupt king responsible for his parents’ murders, Maddek vows to avenge them, even if it costs him the Parsathean crown. But when he learns it was the king’s daughter who lured his parents to their deaths, the barbarian warrior is determined to make her pay.

Yet the woman Maddek captures is not what he expected. Though the last in a line of legendary warrior-queens, Yvenne is small and weak, and the sharpest weapons she wields are her mind and her tongue. Even more surprising is the marriage she proposes to unite them in their goals and to claim their thrones—because her desire for vengeance against her father burns even hotter than his own…

Kobo

Google Play

Apple Books

Amazon Kindle


FWIW, this is one of my favorite books of 2020.

For anyone who doesn't know Milla Vane is a pseudonym for Meljean Brook.

[sufue]

Faro's Daughter by Georgette Heyer is $1.99 at Kindle and Kobo US right now, and it's discountable at Kobo.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Faros-Daughte...dp/B001P5043M/
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/Faros-Daugh...dp/B001P5043M/
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/faro-s-daughter-1

Spoiler:

An enemies-to-lovers sparkling Regency romance from bestselling author Georgette Heyer, the queen of the genre

Beautiful Deborah Grantham, mistress of her aunt's elegant gaming house, must find a way to restore herself and her aunt to respectability, preferably without accepting either of two repugnant offers. One is from an older, very rich and rather corpulent lord whose reputation for licentious behavior disgusts her; the other from the young, puppyish scion of a noble family whose relatives are convinced she is a fortune hunter.

Max Ravenscar, uncle to her young suitor, comes to buy her off, an insult so scathing that it leads to a volley of passionate reprisals, escalating between them to a level of flair and fury that can only have one conclusion...

[library addict]

Weekly Report:

Read:

• Unplanned Love (Jenkins & Sons Construction #4) by Sharon C Cooper (C+/3 stars)

Also up to Silver Silence in my complete Psy/Changeling series reread.

Purchased:

[sufue]

I'm on Rosalind James's mailing list, and she announced via email yesterday that her new book in her Escape to New Zealand series, Just One Look, will be on pre-order sale for two days only. Not sure if that means yesterday and today, or 48 hours starting yesterday afternoon when the email came out, but if you like the series and want the new book, which is coming in September, just grab it now. Hmmmm...maybe that could be a future title for her: Just Grab It Now

Anyway, here are links for the US ($2.99) and UK (£2.99), and her email also indicates it'll be on sale at Amazon Germany, Canada and Australia.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/Just-One-Look...dp/B093FZBBTP/
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Just-One-Lo...dp/B093FZBBTP/

Spoiler:

A neurosurgeon with baggage meets a rugby star who lives life unencumbered. What could go wrong?

Luka Darkovic has some tackling skills. He hadn’t planned on using them to bring down a runaway dog the size of a Shetland pony, especially not when his neck is already buggered. At 33, a rugby forward protects his vertebrae.. He’s even less happy when the dog’s incompetent owner turns up in his hospital cubicle the next day with a plan to fix those vertebrae. He prefers his life simple and his neurosurgeons drama-free. And definitely less distracting.

Dr. Elizabeth Wolcott just needs a reboot. Or possibly a life. The last place she intended to look for it was New Zealand, site of her most humiliating adolescent moments, yet here she is. As for adding more humiliating moments? No, thank you. She’s already responsible for the world’s biggest, hairiest, and least obedient dog. She’s not even going to think about a rugby star with a broken nose and a face that crumples when he smiles, not to mention too many supermodels in his past. She is disciplined. She is professional.

Also, she is realistic.

Did she mention that he was the love of her adorable blonde stepsister’s life?

[sufue]

Another Bella Andre/Sullivans freebie...

This time it's the seventh in the NY Sullivans series, or per the web page, the seventeenth overall: You Do Something To Me

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073YFRXYK
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/you...rk-sullivans-3
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B073YFRXYK

Probably also free at Kobo UK, but I don't check there routinely...

Spoiler:

Alec Sullivan has always believed he has it all. A billion-dollar private aviation business. A penthouse apartment in New York City. Beautiful women who know better than to expect him ever to fall in love. And great siblings for whom he'd do anything. But when Alec's business partner passes away and leaves everything to a daughter Alec never knew about, in an instant everything in his life turns upside down...all because of Cordelia.

Cordelia always thought she was perfectly happy with her life. She owns a garden store she loves, lives in a pretty little cottage in the same town as her adoptive parents, and figures there's plenty of time to meet Mr. Right. But she never counted on becoming the surprise heir to a fortune...or on meeting a man like Alec Sullivan. A shockingly sexy billionaire who makes her heart race and melt all at the same time.

Neither Alec nor Cordelia plans on getting any closer than they have to. Only, how can either of them fight this kind of heat, this depth of desire? And when Cordelia needs Alec's support, it's pure instinct for him to be there for her. But when it's her turn to help him confront his deepest pain, will Alec let her in? Or will he push her away, just as he's pushed away everyone who's loved him for the past thirty years...

YOU DO SOMETHING TO ME is part of Bella Andre's USA Today and New York Times #1 bestselling series about The Sullivans. While it can easily be read as a stand-alone story, you'll likely enjoy reading the other books too.

[sufue]

Now £0.99 at Kindle UK...

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B082TVGFPW
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B082TVGFPW

Originally Posted by sufue

Sweep with Me is the most recent title in the Innkeeper Chronicles by Ilona Andrews. (My favorite series of theirs...)

It's a novella that IA serialized about a year ago (??? time flies ???) and then published. I followed the serial and enjoyed it a lot, and will enjoy reading the final version, which has now dropped to $0.99 at Kindle US, although not at Kobo US or Kindle UK, at least as of now.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082TVGFPW
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B082TVGFPW

[sufue]

Again at £0.99 at Kindle UK, about two years later...

Originally Posted by sufue

{edited other books by Ilona Andrews}

Oh yeah, and White Hot (also a Hidden Legacy title) dropped to £0.99 at Kindle UK a couple of days ago, and is still there as of now.
link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00T3C2ZMC

[salty-horse]

The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by KJ Charles is $0.99 / £0.99 on Gumroad and Amazon UK.

Robin Loxleigh and his sister Marianne are the hit of the Season, so attractive and delightful that nobody looks behind their pretty faces.

Until Robin sets his sights on Sir John Hartlebury’s heiress niece. The notoriously graceless baronet isn’t impressed by good looks, or fooled by false charm. He’s sure Robin is a liar—a fortune hunter, a card sharp, and a heartless, greedy fraud—and he’ll protect his niece, whatever it takes.

Then, just when Hart thinks he has Robin at his mercy, things take a sharp left turn. And as the grumpy baronet and the glib fortune hunter start to understand each other, they also find themselves starting to care—more than either of them thought possible.

But Robin's cheated and lied and let people down for money. Can a professional rogue earn an honest happy ever after?

[library addict]

Weekly Report:

Read:

• Demon Angel (The Guardians #1) by Meljean Brook (A-/5 stars)
• Paradise (The Guardians #1.5) by Meljean Brook (B+/4 stars)

Still on Silver Silence in my complete Psy/Changeling series reread since I didn't actually do any rereading this week.

Purchased:
none