FREE/BARGAIN - Romance + Discussion - 2014

[worktolive]

The first of Lauren Dane's newest Hurley Brothers series is on sale today for $1.99:

The Best Kind of Trouble

Spoiler:

She has complete control…and he's determined to take it away

A librarian in the small town of Hood River, Natalie Clayton's world is very nearly perfect. After a turbulent childhood and her once-wild ways, life is now under control. But trouble has a way of turning up unexpectedly—especially in the tall, charismatically sexy form of Paddy Hurley….

And Paddy is the kind of trouble that Natalie has a taste for.

Even after years of the rock-and-roll lifestyle, Paddy never forgot the two wickedly hot weeks he once shared with Natalie. Now he wants more…even if it means tempting Natalie and her iron-grip control. But there's a fine line between well-behaved and misbehaved—and the only compromise is between the sheets!

[Blue2u]

2 boxsets from Jennifer Foor, both free;

The Mitchell Family Series Box Set books 1-4.5

The Mitchell Family Boxset books 5-9

[ATDrake]

Bargain @ 99 cents each (regularly $6.99) from Dreamspinner Press in their direct-buy webstore (DRM-free), probably for the rest of today only (Dec 7th), since the announcement (which they made on Twitter only {it turns out they promoted one sale book on Twitter, and then the other on Facebook; is this some kind of social experiment to see what drives sales? besides actually telling people straight up that sale books are available??}, and didn't bother to include the actual title of the book or a working link, just a cover image; it's like they don't really want to sell people their books ) said "until Monday AM", which might include the actual Monday, or might not:

The Guy from Glamour by Skylar M. Cates, an m/m contemporary romance novel in The Guy series.

Anthony Carrino loves his big, gregarious Italian-American family, even if his sisters are interfering, and his dad, the local sheriff, knows everything going on in town. He’s happy as a middle school guidance counselor. Despite helping kids and their parents fix their problems, Anthony can’t manage to get his own love life right. If only everyone would stop calling him the “nice” guy.

Dean Pierce doesn’t do relationships. A tough-minded military man, he is dedicated to his job as a Night Stalker, flying Chinook helicopters and not speaking much to anybody. He certainly doesn’t want to deal with a mess of emotions. But when tragedy strikes, Dean finds his hands full with his troubled niece, her irresistible guidance counselor, and a meddlesome family, which includes a rather large puppy.

The Only Guy by Skylar M. Cates, an m/m contemporary romance novel, also in The Guy series, which the blurb says is a direct spin-off from The Guy from Glamour

Aaron Weiss knows how to escape. Years ago, he ran from a romantic disappointment and impulsively joined the Army. Now, he’s forced to take a medical discharge and readjusting to life at home proves a challenge.

Jesse Ross knows how to hide. He realizes he’s an oddball, and that he’s an outsider within his own family. He also knows his secret love since childhood, Aaron, only wants his good-looking, favored older brother. Yet Jesse could never completely abandon his intense feelings for Aaron. Over the years, Jesse was a faithful pen pal to him. Still, he's shocked to his core to find Aaron on his doorstep.

As long-buried secrets and past hurts take center stage, the two are overwhelmingly drawn to each other. But it’s their future that may force them to risk everything.

[library addict]

Weekly Report:

Read:

• Christmas at Carriage Hill (Swift River Valley #3.5) by Carla Neggers (B-/3 stars)
• A Taste of Love (Spring River Valley #13) by Clarice Wynter (B-/3 stars)
• Merry Christmas, Baby (Lucky Harbor #12.5) by Jill Shalvis (B+/4 stars)
• Mistletoe Magic (Romancing Wisconsin #2) by Stacey Joy Netzel (B/4 stars)
• Mistletoe Match-Up (Romancing Wisconsin #3) by Stacey Joy Netzel (C/2 stars)
• Mistletoe Rules (Romancing Wisconsin #4) by Stacey Joy Netzel (B/4 stars)
• This Perfect Kiss (Bliss Harber #0.5) by Blake Sheridan [now as Juliet Spenser] (B/4 stars)
• We'll Be Home for Christmas (Holloway #3) by HelenKay Dimon (B-/3 stars)
• His Trouble in Tallulah (In the Line of Duty #2) by Cathryn Fox (B/4 stars)
• His Strings to Pull (In the Line of Duty #2.5) by Cathryn Fox (C/2 stars)

Purchased:
I deleted a number of the books from the various anthologies/bundles I bought at the ARe sale as they weren't my cup of tea. (Kept about 20, all went into my TBR pile). There were also a few indie single titles I deleted because the formatting was so awful and I didn't want to take the large amount of time it would require to manually fix them. Most were only 99¢ so it's more time wasted than money. Oh well.

[mikaelalind]

I haven't done one of these in ages.

I bought a Kindle Touch 2 yesterday for birthday money. I discovered a swedish retailer that sold them for 150 dollar, so I ordered one and could pick it up 2 hours later. I have been Reading like crazy .
Bought:
The first 9 Fool's Gold novels by Susan Mallery
Wizard's Chance by Eve Langlais
(Plus some fantasy Books)
Read:
Blackberry Summer by RaeAnne Thayne
Taken with You by Shannon Stacey
Single Wolf Female by Jessica Sims
And. 2 science Fiction novels.

[Blue2u]

Originally Posted by mikaelalind

I haven't done one of these in ages.

I bought a Kindle Touch 2 yesterday for birthday money. I discovered a swedish retailer that sold them for 150 dollar, so I ordered one and could pick it up 2 hours later. I have been Reading like crazy .
Bought:
The first 9 Fool's Gold novels by Susan Mallery
Wizard's Chance by Eve Langlais
(Plus some fantasy Books)
Read:
Blackberry Summer by RaeAnne Thayne
Taken with You by Shannon Stacey
Single Wolf Female by Jessica Sims
And. 2 science Fiction novels.

Belated Happy Birthday! Glad you're enjoying your gift!

[library addict]

Happy belated birthday, mikaelalind Sounds like a good haul of books

[ATDrake]

Gratulerer med (forsinket) dagen*, mikaelalind!

Glad you got an enjoyable gift and some nice books to enjoy upon it.

* Sorry, jeg kan bare norsk, not Swedish.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by mikaelalind

I haven't done one of these in ages.

I bought a Kindle Touch 2 yesterday for birthday money. I discovered a swedish retailer that sold them for 150 dollar, so I ordered one and could pick it up 2 hours later. I have been Reading like crazy .
Bought:
The first 9 Fool's Gold novels by Susan Mallery
Wizard's Chance by Eve Langlais
(Plus some fantasy Books)
Read:
Blackberry Summer by RaeAnne Thayne
Taken with You by Shannon Stacey
Single Wolf Female by Jessica Sims
And. 2 science Fiction novels.

A bunch of goodies you got there. Happy Birthday!

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by mikaelalind

I haven't done one of these in ages.

I bought a Kindle Touch 2 yesterday for birthday money.

Grattis på födelsedagen!

[Blossom]

Checking in:

I finished very early this morning A Season of Miracles by Marlyn Pappano. (5 Stars) I have to say the book and movie are very much the same with some exceptions. I cried through much of it I'm just a sucker for down on your luck Christmas miracle stories so this was a perfect read for me. I didn't buy any books this week.

Twenty Minutes after finishing the book I realized I felt off as I was trying to get some sleep and I felt my forehead and it felt like you could cook an egg on it. It turns out I was running a fever that an hour later spiked. It's been a very rough day but the fever finally broke about an hour ago so going to try and get some sleep finally. I read that this year's predominant flu strain is a mutated version of H3N2 so the shot isn't effective against it although a few articles says it may provide some protection against it. What scared me is all I have is a high fever with aches and pains no other symptoms. Head feels fine, throat feels fine, Stomach feels fine. Last flu it started with a tickle in my throat then 24 hours later I was really sick this started with a sudden change in temp. I mean I felt perfectly fine all day then early morning it hit me so suddenly.

I plan to read the next book An Enchanted Season next. It turns out I already have it but first some sleep I hope.

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Free from the author via KDP Select @ Amazon:

A Pony for Christmas: A Montana Holiday novella by Alberta-raised Nova Scotia-resident author Bev Pettersen, a heartwarming contemporary Exactly What It Says In The Title out from Westerhall, which may be a self-pub house name, but her books have previously been mentioned in prior Romance megathreads, and her blurb says that she's been a finalist for that RWA Golden Heart Award thing that they give to promising newbies.

NB: this may not actually be a romance itself, but just a heartwarming holiday tale that kind of ties into the author's dedicated horse-ranching romances. OTOH, it has this heart-shaped Xmas ornament dangling from the author's name on the cover, so I guess that kind of bodes well for the possibility of finding inside?

Definitely a romance. The story is told entirely from the point of view of a 6 year-old girl, so the romantic details are hinted at here and there rather than spelled out the way we're used to in romance novels. Children are perceptive, so when speaking to a specific individual always makes her mother sparkle and smile for hours afterward, the girl notices...

So yes, definitely a romance of sorts. It's just telling the story in a very unusual way. If this had been written from an adult perspective it could very easily have turned into a long novel, but it's almost more touching this way.

This short review brought to you by a cynical smart-aleck who doesn't typically like children...

[worktolive]

Free -

In the Clear by Tamara Morgan

Spoiler:

Fletcher Owens is full of secrets.

Few people know he spends his nights volunteering for a Search and Rescue team, saving lives while risking his own. Even fewer know he’s in love with his best friend’s sister. And since he’s not willing to give up their friendship for a chance at something more, that’s exactly how things will stay.

Lexie Sinclair has nothing to hide.

The zany daughter, the wacky sister, the quirky fundraiser for a children’s charity — Lexie couldn’t hide her true self even if she wanted to. So when her brother’s best friend is revealed to be a local hero, she’s determined to stand up and prove she’s ready to be more than just friends.

I loved this novella. The hero is an adorable, shy beta type, completely in love with the heroine, but absolutely petrified to let her know because he's afraid it will ruin their friendship.

[library addict]

Feel better, Blossom.

I found the book and movie of A Season of Miracles to be quite different. The same premise, but the emphasis was different and

Spoiler:

I didn't like the way they beefed up the sister's part just because she was played by Laura Dern and made her into a recovering addict and lessoned what she had put her children through. Patty Duke's part was also enlarged but that worked better for me.

But as I said earlier I like them both for different reasons. A shame Hallmark never adapted any further books in the series.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by library addict

Feel better, Blossom.

I found the book and movie of A Season of Miracles to be quite different. The same premise, but the emphasis was different and
But as I said earlier I like them both for different reasons. A shame Hallmark never adapted any further books in the series.

Thanks. I can only sleep for small amounts of time. I thought Patty Duke , who I am a huge fan helped made the movie. In fact it's in the reason I first watched it. I saw she was in it. It's a yearly watch for us now. We found it on the Feeln channel on our Roku so we sub to it for the month so we can watch it and Silver Bells.

The book Nathan is so much interesting than the movie Nathan. The movie is wholesome but the book is full of raw emotion and hot lovin' lol