FREE/BARGAIN — Romance & Discussion

[apesmom]

Originally Posted by sufue

Oh, and she has a new book out, as of a week or so ago. When Gracie Met The Grump is a paranormal romance, which is, I think, a new thing for her. It's KU as well, or you can buy for $5.99 right now: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFGWN8WJ

Well that one came out of the blue. I remember checking her website and her amazon page just a few weeks ago with no publication dates for new books anywhere.

[apesmom]

This week . . .

Romantic Suspense Series by Karen Rose

#21 - Death is Not Enough (Baltimore #6) - 4
Listened, narration is very good. Will have to wait a couple weeks for the next one.

Midnight Breed by Lara Aidrian

#15 - Claimed in Shadows - 3
Listened to #13, narration is very good. That's the last one I own. Dropping the series for awhile to work off Mount TBR.

Magic Side by Veronica Douglas

#4 - Shadow Kissed (Wolf Bound #4) - 2.5
KU. Earlier books in the series were better. On the positive side, the few cartoony aspects that appeared in earlier books are gone in the later books. There's another one in the same world due out later this year starting a new story arc. It's gotten too dreamworlds/evil gods-ish for me. It's getting moved to my "nothing better to read" pile.

BDB by J.R. Ward

#21 - Blood Truth (BDB: Legacy #4) - 3.5
Narration still OK. Last of the Legacy spin-off. Hopefully the trainees get fully pulled into the main series now.

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren - 4

Listened, narration is very good. A little slow moving. Has Colleen Hoover kind of feel.

Something Wilder by Christina Lauren - 4

Listened, narration is good. The romance/relationship takes a backseat to the adventure in this one. Second chance romance x "Romancing the Stone" kind of mash up.

Purchased: none

[library addict]

Weekly Report:

Read:

• Orbs of Wisdom (Dragon Gate #6) by Lindsay Buroker (A/5 stars)
• Sweetwater and the Witch (World of Harmony/Arcane #22) by Jayne Castle (B+/4 stars)
• Coming Home to You (Orchard Hill #3) by Rebecca Crowley (B-/3 stars)

Purchased:

[sufue]

I need to get organized on my romance reading. I'm quite organized on my mystery reading, but have never quite managed to start in on the romances. So I never have much idea what is coming and what is new, without just looking at a few really favorite authors. (But I do very much appreciate the folks on here, who do a pretty good job of pointing stuff out .)

Originally Posted by apesmom

Well that one came out of the blue. I remember checking her website and her amazon page just a few weeks ago with no publication dates for new books anywhere.

[sufue]

Anne Bishop's Crowbones, which is the most recent (Mar, 2022) in her spin-off World of the Others series, has dropped to $5.99 at Kindle US. That's not a great sale price, and I kind of can't believe I'm posting it. But it is better than the $14.99 it has been until now. Me, I've read it from the library, and I'll be waiting for a better sale price, but some might not have the library option, or might not be as patient , so here's the info...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096WYLSW2
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B096WYLSW2

Spoiler:

In this engrossing and gripping fantasy set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Others series, an inn owner and her friends must find a killer—before it’s too late.…

Crowbones will gitcha if you don’t watch out!

Deep in the territory controlled by the Others—shape-shifters, vampires, and even deadlier paranormal beings—Vicki DeVine has made a new life for herself running The Jumble, a rustic resort. When she decides to host a gathering of friends and guests for Trickster Night, at first everything is going well between the humans and the Others.

But then someone arrives dressed as Crowbones, the Crowgard bogeyman. When the impostor is killed along with a shape-shifting Crow, and the deaths are clearly connected, everyone fears that the real Crowbones may have come to The Jumble—and that could mean serious trouble.

To “encourage” humans to help them find some answers, the Elders and Elementals close all the roads, locking in suspects and victims alike. Now Vicki, human police chief Grimshaw, vampire lawyer Ilya Sanguinati, and the rest of their friends have to figure out who is manipulating events designed to pit humans against Others—and who may have put Vicki DeVine in the crosshairs of a powerful hunter.

[sufue]

Almost nine months later, the final chapter of Sweep of the Heart just went up, so if you want to read the web serial version, you don't have very long - all the chapters usually come down fairly quickly after the final one is done. Oh, and there is apparently an epilogue that will only be available via the final book version. Which is good, because, for those who are following along, we didn't get to find out yet what is going on with Wilmos...or with the corrupted ad-hals, although it seems pretty clear that the ad-hals, at least, will be for the next (and supposedly final) book in the series, whenever IA get to it. But hopefully we get resolution on Wilmos! The link to the Ilona Andrews blog is still good for now...

Originally Posted by sufue

Oh, and IA have also just started an Innkeepers serial, Sweep of the Heart, on their blog - they're two chapters in so far: https://ilona-andrews.com/sweep-of-the-heart/

[sufue]

A big batch of books (eighteen at the moment) by Molly Harper have dropped to £0.99 at Kindle UK, but not on sale at Kindle US, at least as of now. These are mostly in her Half-Moon Hollow series, but a few in other series as well. I've read and enjoyed her Sorcery and Society books, and a couple of Mystic Bayou ones, but not any in the Half-Moon Hollow series, so can't comment on them.

Here's a search link for her books between £0.98 and £1.01...

Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search/?s...price-asc-rank

[sufue]

Capture the Crown is now £0.99 at Kindle UK.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08KQCZ4FY
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08KQCZ4FY

Originally Posted by sufue

Capture the Crown is the first title in Jennifer Estep's Gargoyle Queen series, which is a spin-off from her Crown of Shards series - which I quite liked (and some other folks upthread did too). Capture has dropped to $2.99 at Kindle and Kobo US.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KQCZ4FY
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B08KQCZ4FY
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/capture-the-crown

[library addict]

Just a heads up, if any of you are in KU and want to try Lindsay Buroker's books she plans to take more of her completed series wide in 2023.

I think the ones currently in KU are Dragon Gate, Star Kingdom, and A Witch in Wolf Wood.

Not sure if she plans to take Death Before Dragons out yet as she's writing a spin-off series. But she mentioned the other three series in her newsletter today.

[sufue]

If you didn't like $5.99 in the US very much, Crowbones is now £3.99 in the UK, which is not totally unreasonable for a most-recent-in-series book.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B096WYLSW2
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B096WYLSW2

Originally Posted by sufue

Anne Bishop's Crowbones, which is the most recent (Mar, 2022) in her spin-off World of the Others series, has dropped to $5.99 at Kindle US. That's not a great sale price, and I kind of can't believe I'm posting it. But it is better than the $14.99 it has been until now. Me, I've read it from the library, and I'll be waiting for a better sale price, but some might not have the library option, or might not be as patient , so here's the info...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096WYLSW2
Kindle US/Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B096WYLSW2

[library addict]

Weekly Report:

Read:

• Return to Cherry Blossom Way (Blue Cedar Falls #2) by Jeannie Chin (A/5 stars)
• The Lost Hart Triplet (Covert Cowboy Soldiers #1) by Nicole Helm (B-/3 stars)

Purchased:
none

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by library addict

Just a heads up, if any of you are in KU and want to try Lindsay Buroker's books she plans to take more of her completed series wide in 2023.

I think the ones currently in KU are Dragon Gate, Star Kingdom, and A Witch in Wolf Wood.

Not sure if she plans to take Death Before Dragons out yet as she's writing a spin-off series. But she mentioned the other three series in her newsletter today.

Thank you for the heads up, I think I'm up to date but I'll check it.

[sufue]

A Promise of Fire is £0.99 at Kindle UK right now.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01D9011LO
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01D9011LO

Originally Posted by ferrywoman

The first two books in Amanda Bouchet's The Kingmaker Chronicles trilogy are $0.99 each.

A Promise of Fire

Spoiler:

Kingdoms will rise and fall for her...

"Cat" Catalia Fisa lives disguised as a soothsayer in a traveling circus. She is perfectly content avoiding the danger and destiny the Gods—and her homicidal mother—have saddled her with. That is, until Griffin, an ambitious warlord from the magic-deprived south, fixes her with his steely gaze and upsets her illusion of safety forever.

But not if she can help it

Griffin knows Cat is the Kingmaker, the woman who divines the truth through lies. He wants her as a powerful weapon for his newly conquered realm—until he realizes he wants her for much more than her magic. Cat fights him at every turn, but Griffin's fairness, loyalty, and smoldering advances make him increasingly hard to resist and leave her wondering if life really does have to be short, and lived alone.

• Amazon
• Google Play
• Nook
• Kobo
• iBooks

{edited other book}

[apesmom]

This week . . .

Call of Crows by Shelly Laurenston

#3 - The Unyielding - 3.5
Listened, I don't like this narrator (Johanna Parker), luckily she's not on the remaining 3 Aiken/Laurenston series I have left. I don't know if Laurenston's usual humor is lost in the narration or if this series just fell flat with me. Published in 2017, doesn't feel like the series is over but if she doesn't pick it up again, OK with me.

Mercy Thompson Universe by Patricia Briggs

#19 - Soul Taken (Mercy Thompson #13) - 5
Read this one. I don't get tired of the intricacies of pack hierarchy or political implications in the Tri-Cities but poor Mercy must be so tired of the beatings.

BDB by J.R. Ward

#22 - Where Winter Finds You - 3
#23 - The Sinner - 4
Same old narrator, OK. #22 Resolves outstanding issues with "The Shadows". She's clearly laid out the tie-ins with the Fallen Angel series, of which I still have 2 books to go in the series. It's been 8 years since I read book 4 but I'm going to finish it off before proceeding with the rest of BDB. It's actually a good spot to pause, major arc ends in #23 and now there are 2 spinoffs starting up in the next few books.

Shifters Unbound by Jennifer Ashley

#7 - Mate Bond - 3.5
Listened, narration OK. I have several more of these but need to read the next 3 novellas before picking up with the audio again. Could be a while.

Scarred Earth by G.A. Aiken

#1 - The Blacksmith Queen - 4
Listened, narration good. Same world as Dragonkin but very far away from that territory, maybe they'll meet up in later books. New cast of characters, very likable bad-ass heroine in this first book.

Purchased: none

[apesmom]

Freebie! Psyched, I need all 3 of these.

Cold Justice Box Set Set: Volume III (Books #7-9) by Toni Anderson

Spoiler:

Set contains:
COLD SECRETS. Finalist in the Book Buyer’s Best contest.
COLD MALICE. Finalist in the Daphne du Maurier Award For Excellence In Mystery/Romantic Suspense.
A COLD DARK PROMISE (An Oversized Wedding Novella)

COLD SECRETS
When an international ring of traffickers kidnaps an eight-year-old girl in Boston, FBI Agent Lucas Randall heads undercover. But his rescue operation goes disastrously wrong and Lucas barely escapes with his life. Now the ruthless traffickers are hunting him down, along with everyone else who threatens their operation.

Computer expert Ashley Chen joined the FBI to fight against evil in the world—evil she experienced firsthand. She has mad skills, and deadly secrets, and once she starts working with Lucas, she also has big trouble, because after years of pushing people away, she’s falling for the guy. The feeling is more than mutual, but as Ashley intensifies her online pursuit of the trafficking ring, her traumatic past collides with her present and suddenly Lucas can’t tell which side she’s on. And as the case escalates into a high-stakes game of cat and mouse, it turns out Ashley isn’t the only one with something to hide.

COLD MALICE
ASAC Steve (Mac) McKenzie is out to prove himself by leading a task force investigating a series of murders in the heart of Washington, DC. His undercover work in an antigovernment compound twenty years earlier is related—as is the sweet, innocent girl he befriended back then. Now that girl is a beautiful woman, and she has something to hide.

Tess Fallon spent a lifetime trying to outrun her family’s brand of bigotry, but someone is threatening her anonymity by using the anniversary of her father’s death to carry out evil crimes and she’s terrified her younger brother is involved. She sets out to find the truth and comes face-to-face with a man she once idolized, a man she thought long dead. As the crimes escalate it becomes obvious the killer has an agenda, and Tess and Mac are running out of time to stop him.

A COLD DARK PROMISE
In the midst of wedding preparations, a shadowy figure from Alex Parker's past reappears and threatens the joy he’s found with Mallory Rooney.

Four years ago, Jane Sanders’s rich and powerful ex-husband kidnapped their young daughter and Jane hasn’t seen her since. Now she finally has a lead on her location and she knows just the man to help her get her daughter back. Trouble is, he’s an assassin. And he terrifies her.

Despite his upcoming nuptials, Alex agrees to help, but it doesn’t take long for the routine operation to turn complicated—and deadly. Can the former CIA operative make it home in time to marry the woman he loves, or will his dark past destroy all hope for their future?

The Cold Justice® series books are interconnected, but standalone Romantic Thrillers, whose stories center around agents from the FBI's BAU-4, and other spin-off characters from the books.

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