FREE/BARGAIN — Romance & Discussion

[sufue]

Noticed on the way to other things...

I've not read this author, but someone mentioned her a while back, and this is a freebie, so I thought I'd post...YMMV...

The Playmaker is the first book in the Players on Ice series by Cathryn Fox. And it's free right now at Kindle US and UK.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GSC9KML
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GSC9KML

Spoiler:

I didn’t want to ask him for a favor. He was the cockiest hockey player I knew. And my brother’s best friend. But I needed to learn about the game, and he was down with a concussion. I didn’t realize he had an agenda of his own. One that involved showing me his off-ice plays. I should have said no. Should have kept things in the central zone. But one sweet taste was a game changer, and the only words on my lips were yes. Until a lifetime of secrets spilled out…

[sufue]

Luck of the Draw is the fifth in Denise Grover Swank/Angela Casella's Asheville Brewing series. I've read a couple of the earlier ones and enjoyed them. It's free right now at Kinde and Kobo US. The webpage says it's a novella, but also says it's 166 pages (however you figure that out in an e-book), which is kind of long for a novella, IMO...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0976SPCK9
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/luck-of-the-draw-33

Spoiler:

A standalone, HEA novella in the Asheville Brewing world

Life’s not a fairytale for women like me, divorced and creeping up on middle age. Until a hot younger man finds my lost shoes.

Crashing weddings is so not my thing. I’d much rather stay home and watch HGTV . . . and ignore the fact that my life is messier than those fixer-upper houses. Because my jerk ex left, and the only thing keeping a roof over my sons’ heads is my crappy telemarketing job.

But then I get a challenge from the Bad Luck Club, the group I joined to turn my luck around: Do something that breaks the rules. One ill-advised confession to my best friend later, I’m strapping on a pair of heels and crashing the wedding of two of the owners of Buchanan Brewery.

The last thing I expect is to meet someone, let alone the sexy younger bartender who calls me out and finds my lost shoes, something straight out of Cinderella. And the very last thing I expect is to fall for him.

It feels like I’m in a dream come true, a fairy tale, but the crap part about dreams is that they have to end. Or do they?

[library addict]

A Heart of Blood and Ashes ny Milla Vane (A Gathering of Dragons #1) on sale again 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

[apesmom]

This week . . .

Buchanan by Julie Garwood

#1 - Heartbreaker - 3.5
Listened, don't really care for this narrator (she also did the Slouch Witch series and didn't particularly like her there either). First book in the series and a bit dated but I've got a dozen of these so I'll work through the early ones. Different narrators in the next books, maybe I'll like them better.

Lady Trent by Marie Brennan

#1 - A Natural History of Dragons - 4
Listened, narration is excellent. Historical fantasy that evolved into an unexpected mystery. I may go deeper into the series if the mood strikes.

Texas Murder Files by Laura Griffin

#1 - Hidden - 4
Listened, narration is good. Story is good enough just not in the same class as Karen Rose.

BDB by J.R. Ward

#26 - Lover Unveiled - 3.5
#27 - Claimed (Lair of the Wolven) - 2.5
Listened, same on narration as always. #26 This one starts 3 new story lines, the main romance in this book is kind of meh. #27 First of a new spin off, the wolven aspect is extremely slow to start. Also some flashes to Hex and John Matthew that are seemingly unrelated for a very long time. Seems like this should have been a normal length novella, ended up like disjointed fever dream.

Cainsville by Kelley Armstrong

#3 - Deceptions - 3.5
Listened, narration good. It's been many years since I finished #2 and only vaguely remembered but there was enough backstory provided to help me move forward.

Psy-Changelings by Nalini Singh

#21 - Storm Echo - 4.5
Listened, narration very good. I like the psy x changling pairings best. All caught up again . . . for now.

Purchased: none

[library addict]

Weekly Report:

Read:

• The Elf Tangent (#1) by Lindsay Buroker (A-/5 stars) (she's not making officially a series until when and if she writes a third book, so left series name off for now)
• The Princess Paradigm (#2) by Lindsay Buroker (A/5 stars)

Purchased:
none

[apesmom]

Freebie!

Man Hands (Man Hands #1) by Sarina Bowen and Tanya Eby

Spoiler:

BRYNN
At thirty-four, I’m reeling from a divorce. I don’t want to party or try to move on. I just want to stay home and post a new recipe on my blog: Brynn’s Dips and Balls.
But my friends aren’t having it. Get out there again, they say. It will be fun, they say. I’m still taking a hard pass.
Free designer cocktails, they say. And that’s a game-changer.
Too bad my ex shows up with his new arm candy. That’s when I lose my mind. But when my besties dare me to leap on the first single man I see, they don't expect me to actually go through with it.

TOM
All I need right now is some peace and quiet while my home renovation TV show is on hiatus. But when a curvy woman in a red wrap dress charges me like she’s a gymnast about to mount my high bar, all I can do is brace myself and catch her. What follows is the hottest experience of my adult life.
I want a repeat, but my flying Cinderella disappears immediately afterward. She doesn’t leave a glass slipper, either—just a pair of panties with chocolate bunnies printed on them.
But I will find her.

My face literally hurts from smiling. About That Story

Kindle | Kobo | Google

[apesmom]

If you like romantic suspense and haven't tried her yet, several of Karen Rose's backlist is on sale for $1.99. They are from an agency publisher so check your favorite outlet. Here's the Amazon list (watch the price before 1-clicking, it's just sorted low to high price.)

[apesmom]

Freebie! This is only free on Kindle so far. Was originally published on Vella

Wolf (Stope Packs #1) by Rebecca Zanetti

Spoiler:

When Mia Stone is asked to consult on a case in the middle of nowhere, she leaps at the chance to escape the disaster that has become her FBI career, while ignoring the threat still pursuing her. Her instincts tell her that the small mining town of Lost Lake is out of the norm, and that’s before she meets the strongest suspect, a sexy and dangerous Seth Volk who draws her in a way she can’t fight.

Seth Volk has enough on his plate without worrying about a sweet and brilliant investigator on his tail. At his heart, he’s a predator, which comes in handy as the enforcer for his family and also his pack. His secret is barely beneath the surface, and if he allows Mia too close, she’ll see the wolf he tries to hide. When an unknown threat comes out of the forest, their only path to survive is with each other, no matter how sharp his bite or how deadly her wit.

Kindle

[apesmom]

These 2 are perma freebies but I did not know this is a K.F. Breene pen name. Based on pub dates they appear to be earlier works.

Lost and Found (Growing Pains #1) by Willow Summers

Spoiler:

On the tail-end of her ex-boyfriend crashing through a restraining order and putting her in the hospital, Krista realizes that the only way to effectively escape her past is to put distance between it. She gets her life back on track in San Francisco with a job that has limitless potential.

Unfortunately, to achieve her dreams, she must brave her boss.

Incredibly handsome and sinfully charming, Sean has a line of women waiting for his call. But when he sets his sights on the intelligent new hire, he finally meets his match.

It’s a struggle against a blazing attraction neither of them know how to resist.

Love and Chaos (Growing Pains #4) by Willow Summers

Spoiler:

It was supposed to be easy. Just a quick trip to the wine country to help her good friend, Peter.

She never expected to meet his bad boy brother...

Muscled, tattooed, and riding a Harley, Jace has Cassie’s heart racing and blood boiling. Struggling to keep her desire on a tight leash, she must do everything she can to keep Peter’s secret. But resisting that dimpled smile is harder than she could’ve ever imagined…

A standalone book based on the bestselling Growing Pains series. HEA. No cliffhanger!

[library addict]

Read:

• Archangel's Resurrection (Guild Hunter #15) by Nalini Singh (B+/4 stars)
• Small Town Vanishing (Covert Cowboy Soldiers #2) by Nicole Helm (B+/4 stars)
• Talinn [new version] (Badari Gladiators #3.1) by Veronica Scott (B-/3 stars)

Purchased:

[apesmom]

This week . . .

Hell's Library by A.J. Hackwith

#2 - The Archive of the Forgotten - 3.5
Listened, narration is good but not as good as previous narrator.

Buchanan-Renard by Julie Garwood

#2 - Mercy - 4
#3 - Killjoy - 4
Listened, different narrators from #1, much better. Enjoyed these much more than #1.

BDB by J.R. Ward

#28 - The Wolf (Prison Camp #2) - 4
Listened, same. So far the prison camp spin off isn't too bad. At some point I would expect the spin off characters to be rolled into the mainline stories but the Legacy crew seems to have disappeared. Almost caught up!

Texas Murder Files by Laura Griffin

#2 - Flight - 3.5
Listened, narration very good.

Kate Daniels World by Ilona Andrews

#1 - Magic Bites - 4
Listened, same narrator as Edge series. I like her (Renee Raudman). I waited months for this one on BPL, a couple weeks to get #2 then hopefully they'll be more freely available. It's a big world.

Purchased: none

[library addict]

Connections in Death by JD Robb (In Death #48/59) on sale for $1.99

Spoiler:

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER (February 2019)

Lieutenant Eve Dallas fights to save the innocent—and serve justice to the guilty—on the streets of New York in Connections in Death, the gritty and gripping new In Death novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author J.D. Robb.

Homicide cop Eve Dallas and her billionaire husband, Roarke, are building a brand-new school and youth shelter. They know that the hard life can lead kids toward dangerous crossroads—and with this new project, they hope to nudge a few more of them onto the right path. For expert help, they hire child psychologist Dr. Rochelle Pickering—whose own brother pulled himself out of a spiral of addiction and crime with Rochelle’s support.

Lyle is living with Rochelle while he gets his life together, and he’s thrilled to hear about his sister’s new job offer. But within hours, triumph is followed by tragedy. Returning from a celebratory dinner with her boyfriend, she finds Lyle dead with a syringe in his lap, and Eve’s investigation confirms that this wasn’t just another OD. After all his work to get clean, Lyle’s been pumped full of poison—and a neighbor with a peephole reports seeing a scruffy, pink-haired girl fleeing the scene.

Now Eve and Roarke must venture into the gang territory where Lyle used to run, and the ugly underground world of tattoo parlors and strip joints where everyone has taken a wrong turn somewhere. They both believe in giving people a second chance. Maybe even a third or fourth. But as far as they’re concerned, whoever gave the order on Lyle Pickering’s murder has run out of chances…

Kobo

Google Play

Apple Books

Amazon Kindle

[Critteranne]

SourceBooks has nine paranormal romances on sale for Halloween!

[library addict]

A Curse of Queens just came out this month!

[library addict]

Important news for Harlequin My Rewards members! The program will be discontinued effective January 1, 2023.

For sure I haven't been buying as many books since they stopped allowing epub downloads, but sad to see the program end as I still used it to get the occasional print book.

I only have 3500 points left and they've stopped issuing points as of yesterday (October 31, 2022).

Did anyone get an email about this? I only discovered it as I went to look up a book on the site and saw it.