Free and bargain romances in August 2013

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by koland

Mine is fixed, as well (both accounts). Which is good, as I got a clueless form letter as my reply, asking me to call them on the phone...

I hate when they do that. I got a email from someone who said she would follow up but never did. It's fixed though! Oh man the weird people over at Amazon's forum told me not to report it as it would only cause the tech support more grief. One person claimed to work on large software systems. They just don't get if you don't report something it can't be fixed and if not enough report it that it wont get top priority status. That persons posts got like 15 helpful likes. People over there are gullible!

[Blossom]

Free @ Amazon

Colorado Woman by C.C. Coburn
(The Hansen Women)
Harlequin Author

When Love is Enough by Laura Landon
Montlake Romance author

Wow the freebies this month have been really nonexistent!

[Atunah]

Here is a .99 cent sale. Its a recent release, I read it and I really liked it a lot.

http://www.amazon.com/What-Happens-S.../dp/B0089LOE6I

Jennifer McQuiston’s debut historical romance, What Happens in Scotland, is a lively, romantic adventure about a wedding that neither the bride or the groom remembers.

Lady Georgette Thorold has always been wary of marriage, so when she wakes up next to an attractive Scotsman with a wedding ring on her finger, it’s easy to understand why she panics and flees. Convinced that Georgette is a thief, her may-be husband, James McKenzie, searches for her. As both try to recall what happened that fateful night, they begin to realize that their attraction and desire for each other is undeniable. But is it enough?

Fans of Sarah MacLean and Mary Balogh will enjoy this utterly charming historical romance from award-winning author Jennifer McQuiston that features unforgettable characters and a satisfying mix of adventure and passion.

[Blossom]

I bought that one when it came out. It was before I realized the whole contemporary in long dresses was now happening in recent historicals. That's why I haven't read it yet.

[BelleZora]

Originally Posted by Blossom

It was before I realized the whole contemporary in long dresses was now happening in recent historicals. That's why I haven't read it yet.

Would you explain "the whole contemporary in long dresses"? I'm a bit dense. It sounds charming so I just bought it. (Thanks, Atunah!)

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by BelleZora

Would you explain "the whole contemporary in long dresses"? I'm a bit dense. It sounds charming so I just bought it. (Thanks, Atunah!)

She means Historicals where characters act and talk modern making them feel more like contemporaries, or I assume that's what she's talking about.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by Blossom

So I have to ask how do we feel about writers writing stories in parts instead of one book? Myself I don't mind if the total story doesn't cost more then an actually book that is complete but when you charge outrageous prices for novellas then yes I have issues.

I don't like the concept at all. I did buy one serial, but I don't plan to buy any more, ever. Just sell me the whole book. I don't want to buy a few chapters at a time. That is ridiculous.

[Atunah]

I hate books in chunks. I also though hate cliffhangers in full sized books, especially if they are filed under romance. I just despise cliffhangers. I read plenty of series where there is some story arc that goes on over several books, but in general, they have a complete story in that book.

I now have to check every book to make sure it isn't a cliffhanger or unfinished book. There have been several lately that sounded good, I see them posted here and elsewhere and then I check and find out its book 1 of something with a cliffhanger and no clue when the next one is out, or how many books there will be.

But these serials that are flooded all over the top sellers right now, especially in romance really bug me. And some of those authors stretch them out so much that even their loyal fans are getting peeved. Seems really greedy to sell a book by the chapter like that. Some of then have so many 30 page "books" now, that by the time the reader gets caught up, they paid $20 for an ebook. Ridiculous.

Now I have read series with cliffhangers in the middle in urban fantasy, but I did not start reading until the books past that cliffhanger were out.

[koland]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I hate when they do that. I got a email from someone who said she would follow up but never did. It's fixed though! Oh man the weird people over at Amazon's forum told me not to report it as it would only cause the tech support more grief. One person claimed to work on large software systems. They just don't get if you don't report something it can't be fixed and if not enough report it that it wont get top priority status. That persons posts got like 15 helpful likes. People over there are gullible!

Yeah. It doesn't help with one guy posting daily problem reports on his 66K+ library (it times out trying to load the MYK page and at that size, you hit limits on your PC for memory). I agree with him that they need to fix things, but daily whines don't help.

So, everyone there (that hasn't run away, from what I can tell) thinks all complaints about MYK are due to massive library sizes and are just going to "make things worse" in some way.

I keep hearing rumors of an improved MYK page (hopefully what we got over the weekend wasn't it), but it really seems as if the people working on it (a) don't have Kindles and (b) don't read. I'm not sure anyone there even has any computer science training (other than teaching themselves programming in high school) - there are now three separate areas to manage your Kindle library, which don't communicate (and the very oldest one could have killed anything out there, eliminating the use of Calibre by many who only use it for library management ... but they kept killing off features and breaking it more and more). On the affiliate forums, we see bad data in reports at least once a month, it seems, as they 'test' code on the live site, then have to go back and both fix the new code and recompile the reports with correct info (at least they seem to not allow such foolishness on their billing servers, as that would probably get them into trouble with the IRS and their stockholders).

I'm just glad they fixed the issue quickly (even if the support people seemed clueless that there was a problem).

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

She means Historicals where characters act and talk modern making them feel more like contemporaries, or I assume that's what she's talking about.

Correct. I'm not saying this book is one of those though a review I read pointed it more toward that. I don't need it to be a deep historical lesson but I just have a hard time accepting characters acting or talking out of their time period. It has to be somewhat believable. I could care less if they say an author invents sexy nighties for the heroine or in this case the h/h wake up married and don't remember a thing but I have a problem when say a heroine or hero acts outside of society rules and does not face the consequences that were in place back then. This is a big no no for me. I just can't accept it even though I've tried to overlook it.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by booklover6

I don't like the concept at all. I did buy one serial, but I don't plan to buy any more, ever. Just sell me the whole book. I don't want to buy a few chapters at a time. That is ridiculous.

I have a hard time with it but there is some books I've read and love and waiting for a sequel!

Originally Posted by Atunah

I hate books in chunks. I also though hate cliffhangers in full sized books, especially if they are filed under romance. I just despise cliffhangers. I read plenty of series where there is some story arc that goes on over several books, but in general, they have a complete story in that book.

I now have to check every book to make sure it isn't a cliffhanger or unfinished book. There have been several lately that sounded good, I see them posted here and elsewhere and then I check and find out its book 1 of something with a cliffhanger and no clue when the next one is out, or how many books there will be.

But these serials that are flooded all over the top sellers right now, especially in romance really bug me. And some of those authors stretch them out so much that even their loyal fans are getting peeved. Seems really greedy to sell a book by the chapter like that. Some of then have so many 30 page "books" now, that by the time the reader gets caught up, they paid $20 for an ebook. Ridiculous.

Now I have read series with cliffhangers in the middle in urban fantasy, but I did not start reading until the books past that cliffhanger were out.

I don't like cliffhangers but I will tolerate them if the story is something I love. 30 books?!? Whoa! Crazy!

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by koland

Yeah. It doesn't help with one guy posting daily problem reports on his 66K+ library (it times out trying to load the MYK page and at that size, you hit limits on your PC for memory). I agree with him that they need to fix things, but daily whines don't help.

So, everyone there (that hasn't run away, from what I can tell) thinks all complaints about MYK are due to massive library sizes and are just going to "make things worse" in some way.

I keep hearing rumors of an improved MYK page (hopefully what we got over the weekend wasn't it), but it really seems as if the people working on it (a) don't have Kindles and (b) don't read. I'm not sure anyone there even has any computer science training (other than teaching themselves programming in high school) - there are now three separate areas to manage your Kindle library, which don't communicate (and the very oldest one could have killed anything out there, eliminating the use of Calibre by many who only use it for library management ... but they kept killing off features and breaking it more and more). On the affiliate forums, we see bad data in reports at least once a month, it seems, as they 'test' code on the live site, then have to go back and both fix the new code and recompile the reports with correct info (at least they seem to not allow such foolishness on their billing servers, as that would probably get them into trouble with the IRS and their stockholders).

I'm just glad they fixed the issue quickly (even if the support people seemed clueless that there was a problem).

Oh I know it seems they all make a joke out of that guy but hey if things keep going one day you and I will have that much books! I keep hoping by them we will have a new content manager! The one used now is a nightmare!

[BelleZora]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Correct. I'm not saying this book is one of those though a review I read pointed it more toward that. I don't need it to be a deep historical lesson but I just have a hard time accepting characters acting or talking out of their time period. It has to be somewhat believable. I could care less if they say an author invents sexy nighties for the heroine or in this case the h/h wake up married and don't remember a thing but I have a problem when say a heroine or hero acts outside of society rules and does not face the consequences that were in place back then. This is a big no no for me. I just can't accept it even though I've tried to overlook it.

I can't accept it, either. Thanks, Blossom and Brian.

[koland]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Oh I know it seems they all make a joke out of that guy but hey if things keep going one day you and I will have that much books! I keep hoping by them we will have a new content manager! The one used now is a nightmare!

LOL! Probably true.

I split my two accounts and started getting only freebies in the second (but should have set up three and now am too lazy to do so). For a while, I was deleting from my primary any freebies now in the 2nd (except a very few topaz books that I though others on the primary might want to read). So, I have two large accounts now (by the naive amazon support rep's standards), but nothing like the 66K guy (he added, what, another 20K items in the last few months?).

People making fun of him, though, should keep in mind that the # of items in the library now includes videos and games, I believe, as well as personal docs. I can see students sending dozens of items a day, for a class, if they try to use a Kindle for it, instead of some other service with better management tools. If you like recipes, you could easily send them to your kindle acct and then use it to search and read them ... if it actually worked as well as they claimed (back in the old kindle days) and I'm sure some people do, still.

I'm seeing people post on the forums that they have been told by Kindle service reps not to put any Mobi books on their kindles, as it causes problems (entirely untrue, although you can't easily read DRM'd ones .. even that was possible with older Kindles, although it took a bit of doing).

Anyway, I keep the MYK page open (with all books loaded). When I want to look something up, I open a second one (to trigger a log-in, if required), then swap to the open tab with all the books listed (and close the newly opened tab - it isn't needed after you log in). that way, I only have to wait for it to load now and then (or after a browser crash). Use Hibernate instead of shutdown and you don't have to load it every day, even.

[Grace Elliot]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Correct. I'm not saying this book is one of those though a review I read pointed it more toward that. I don't need it to be a deep historical lesson but I just have a hard time accepting characters acting or talking out of their time period. It has to be somewhat believable. I could care less if they say an author invents sexy nighties for the heroine or in this case the h/h wake up married and don't remember a thing but I have a problem when say a heroine or hero acts outside of society rules and does not face the consequences that were in place back then. This is a big no no for me. I just can't accept it even though I've tried to overlook it.

I read historical romance for the escapism and find it totally jarring if the characters don't act according to the time period. It pulls me out of the story. I hadn't heard the expression 'contemporaries in long dresses' but it's very apt - perhaps you should copyright it!

PS Does anyone know why some Amazon special offers are available in the US but not the UK? I thought the prices were set centrally.