FREE/BARGAIN — Romance & Discussion

[apesmom]

One of my wish list books dropped (not in KU). Fantasy

Phoenix Unbound (Fallen Empire #1) by Grace Draven - $1.99

Spoiler:

Every year, each village is required to send a young woman to the Empire's capital--her fate to be burned alive for the entertainment of the masses. For the last five years, one small village's tithe has been the same woman. Gilene's sacrifice protects all the other young women of her village, and her secret to staying alive lies with the magic only she possesses.

But this year is different.

Azarion, the Empire's most famous gladiator, has somehow seen through her illusion--and is set on blackmailing Gilene into using her abilities to help him escape his life of slavery. Unknown to Gilene, he also wants to reclaim the birthright of his clan.

To protect her family and village, she will abandon everything to return to the Empire--and burn once more.

Kindle | Kobo | Google

[apesmom]

Is this new? I just noticed that Entangled Amara put a bunch of first in series into KU.

[apesmom]

Freebie from an author I've been meaning to try. . .

Hot Heir (The Royals #3) by Pippa Grant

Spoiler:

I was not meant to be a queen.
But to save my sister, I had to make a bargain with the devil, and that deal comes with a real crown.

I always thought Mr. Tall, Dark, and Grumpy was one more pompous, arrogant man who loved to use his fancy accent and posh manners to remind me just how many stations above me he is in life.

But he’s secret royalty, the new heir to a kingdom, in need of an immediate wife to claim his throne. I need a husband to get custody of my sister. We’re both in a bad spot, with an even worse solution.

But the biggest problem? Bigger than living halfway around the world from my home, bigger than being away from my best friend, and bigger than having to put my own career on hold?

The biggest problem might be that once I get to know what makes his heart beat, he might not be such a devil after all.

And when he’s changed the laws of his country so that I don’t have to stay, he’ll have no reason to keep me.

Hot Heir is a romping fun marriage of convenience between a surprise heir and a professional hot mess, complete with the bedroom to end all bedrooms, a run-down alpaca, and that thing with the hot air balloons. This romantic comedy stands alone with no cheating or cliffhangers and ends with a royally awesome happily ever after.

[apesmom]

Freebie - UF/Reverse Harem boxed set. Full 6 book series that has solid Goodreads ratings. RH not really my thing at this time so it will just get tucked away for now.

Academy of Unpredictable Magic boxed set by Sadie Moss

Spoiler:

Magic exists. I know—it’s in my blood.

Unfortunately, not all people from magical bloodlines have powers, and at 22, I’m several years past the age they usually appear. So I’ve resigned myself to a boring, magic-less life.

Then something strange happens…

I get stuck in the middle of a bar fight, and instead of just punching the guy back, I blow a hole in the wall.

So… I guess I do have powers. But they’re unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. This is definitely not normal.

And it seems the magical authorities agree, because they give me a choice: either I go to school to learn to control my crazy new magic, or they’ll take it away. Permanently.

Now if I can just survive the witchy mean girls determined to take me down a peg, the mysterious attacks on students, the three hot-as-hell guys who don’t seem turned off by my prickly exterior, and the professor who makes me long for detention, maybe I’ll get out of here in one piece.

Wouldn’t bet on it though.

Welcome to the Academy of Unpredictable Magic.

This boxed set contains the COMPLETE Academy of Unpredictable Magic series, a steamy reverse harem story featuring a tough-as-nails chick and the four gorgeous men who fall in love with her.

[apesmom]

Freebie

Diaries of an Urban Panther (Diaries of an Urban Panther #1) by Amanda Arista, previously published by Avon 2012

Spoiler:

Violet Jordan thought the fairy tales her mother wove were just a way to get Violet to sleep, not a way to prepare her for the apocalypse she is the key to preventing. When she becomes a midnight snack for werepanther Spencer Haverty, his infectious bite invokes the first element of her destiny. When Violet’s budding instincts allow her to save a boy’s life, she realizes this new gig may come with perks: a slimmer figure, the attention of a handsome Guardian, and insights into her future embedded in her mother’s stories. But as push comes to claws, can Violet make the fatal strike against the men threatening her new family, her new home and her first boyfriend in ages?

Kindle | Kobo

[library addict]

Weekly Report:

Read:

• Holiday Home Run (Matched to Perfection #2.5) by Priscilla Oliveras (C+/3 stars)
• Hunting a Killer (Tactical Crime Division: Traverse City #4) by Nicole Helm (D/1 star)
• Untamed by Nora Roberts (D/1 star)
• Light My Fire (Rock Royalty #1) by Christie Ridgeway (A/5 stars)
• Love Me Two Times (Rock Royalty #8) by Christie Ridgeway (C+/3 stars)

Purchased:
none

[apesmom]

This week in KU . . .

• Dervishes Don't Dance (Valkyrie Beastiary #2) by Kim McDougall - 4
• Hell Hounds Don't Heel (Valkyrie Beastiary #3) - 4.5

• Licence to Howl (Supernatural London #6/Wolfbrand #2) by Helen Harper - 4

This was the last book in the series so far.

Purchased just one off my non-KU wishlist

[apesmom]

Another wish list price drop

Deal with the Devil (Mercenary Librarians #1) by Kit Rocha - $2.99

Spoiler:

Nina is an information broker with a mission—she and her team of mercenary librarians use their knowledge to save the hopeless in a crumbling America.

Knox is the bitter, battle-weary captain of the Silver Devils. His squad of supersoldiers went AWOL to avoid slaughtering innocents, and now he's fighting to survive.

They’re on a deadly collision course, and the passion that flares between them only makes it more dangerous. They could burn down the world, destroying each other in the process…

Or they could do the impossible: team up.

This is the first book in a near-future science fiction series with elements of romance.

Kindle | Kobo | Google

[sufue]

Dreams Made Flesh is the fifth in Anne Bishop's Black Jewels series. It's on sale today in both the US ($1.99) and UK (£1.49).

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0023SDPQS
Kobo US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dreams-made-flesh-1
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0023SDPQS

Spoiler:

The Black Jewels Trilogy established Anne Bishop as an author whose “sublime skill...blend[s] the darkly macabre with spine-tingling emotional intensity”(SF Site). Now, the saga continues in this collection that includes four more adventures of Jaenelle and her kindred…

Jaenelle is the most powerful Witch ever known, centuries of hopes and dreams made flesh at last. She has forged ties with three of the realm’s mightiest Blood warriors: Saetan, the High Lord of Hell, who trains Jaenelle in magic and adopts her as his daughter; Lucivar, the winged Eyrien warlord who becomes her protector; and the near-immortal Daemon, born to be Witch’s lover. Jaenelle has assumed her rightful place as Queen of the Darkness and restored order and peace to the realms, but at a terrible cost.

Collected here are the beguiling stories about the origin of the mystical Jewels, the forbidden passion between Lucivar and a simple hearth witch, the clash between Saetan and a Priestess, and the choice Jaenelle must make, between her magic and happiness with Daemon...

[apesmom]

Romantic Suspense freebie

Tinderbox (Flashpoint #1) by Rachel Grant

Spoiler:

While working on the Horn of Africa, archaeologist Morgan Adler's work and life are threatened, forcing her to make a desperate dash to a nearby US military base to beg for protection. Green Beret Pax Blanchard has orders to intercept Dr. Adler before she reaches the base, and in so doing saves her life, but his responsibilities toward protecting the woman have only just begun.

Morgan and Pax are forced to work together in the scorching desert heat, but it is the fire that ignites between them that threatens to consume them both. He protects her by day, but can he keep his hands off her when the sun goes down? One thing is certain, his job is no longer a matter of following orders, and he will risk everything to keep her safe.

[sufue]

Burn Bright is the fifth in Patricia Briggs' Alpha and Omega series. It's on sale right now at Kindle UK for £2.99.

Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B010PIFOF2
Kindle UK/Smile: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B010PIFOF2

Spoiler:

Mated werewolves Charles Cornick and Anna Latham face a threat like no other - one that lurks too close to home . . .

They are the wild and the broken. The werewolves too damaged to live safely among their own kind. For their own good, they have been exiled to the outskirts of Aspen Creek, Montana. Close enough to the Marrok's pack to have its support; far enough away to not cause any harm.

With their Alpha out of the country, Charles and Anna are on call when an SOS comes in from the fae mate of one such wildling. Heading into the mountainous wilderness, they interrupt the abduction of the wolf - but can't stop blood from being shed. Now Charles and Anna must use their skills - his as enforcer, hers as peacemaker - to track down the attackers, reopening a painful chapter in the past that springs from the darkest magic of the witchborn...

Discover this page-turning Alpha and Omega novel, from the queen of urban fantasy Patricia Briggs.

[apesmom]

Time travel/romance/mystery deal

A Stitch in Time (A Stitch in Time #1) by Kelley Armstrong - $0.99

Spoiler:

Thorne Manor has always been haunted…and it has always haunted Bronwyn Dale. As a young girl, Bronwyn could pass through a time slip in her great-aunt's house, where she visited William Thorne, a boy her own age, born two centuries earlier. After a family tragedy, the house was shuttered and Bronwyn was convinced that William existed only in her imagination.
Now, twenty years later Bronwyn inherits Thorne Manor. And when she returns, William is waiting.
William Thorne is no longer the boy she remembers. He’s a difficult and tempestuous man, his own life marred by tragedy and a scandal that had him retreating to self-imposed exile in his beloved moors. He’s also none too pleased with Bronwyn for abandoning him all those years ago.
As their friendship rekindles and sparks into something more, Bronwyn must also deal with ghosts in the present version of the house. Soon she realizes they are linked to William and the secret scandal that drove him back to Thorne Manor. To build a future, Bronwyn must confront the past.

Kindle | Kobo | Google

Kelley Armstrong . . . SOLD!

[apesmom]

From KU this week . . .

• Grimalkins Don't Purr (Valkyrie Beastary #4) by Kim McDougall - 4

That's the last of them for now, there's supposed to be another coming but this one ends with no cliffhangers so it's a good place to pause. Really like this series, I was expecting something more light-hearted, that definately was not the case. Great characters, realistic couple issues and a unique world.

• Sinister Magic (Death Before Dragons #1) by Linsay Buroker - 4

I like this so much better than the Wolf in the Woods series, it seems like a completely different writer. I listened to the free youtube audiobook while multi-tasking.

• Vampire's Kiss (Legion of Angels #1) by Ella Summers - 3

World has a faint similarity to Singh's Guild Hunter series. The start of the book was great and I was very optimistic about the next 9 books to come but in the last few chapters the writing fell off a cliff. I will try the next book and hope that the flaws were a fluke since the world and the greater arc is promising.

• Fused in Fire (DDVN #3) by K.F. Breene - 4
• Natural Witch (DDVN #4) - 4

Keeps getting better and better deeper into the series.

One purchase this week

[library addict]

Read:

• How to Love Him (Jasper Creek #2.4) by Nicole Helm (A/5 stars)
• Feels Like Christmas (Kowalski Family #10.5) by Shannon Stacey (A-/5 stars)
• Dead Man District (The Taylor Clan #10/Firehouse 13) by Julie Miller (B+/4 stars)
• Stranger on Her Doorstep by Julie Miller (B-/3 stars)
• The Traitor (Fire’s Edge #5) by Abigail Owen (B/4 stars)
• Mind Over Magic (A Witch in Wolf Wood #1) by Lindsay Buroker (B-/3 stars)
• Spell Hound (A Witch in Wolf Wood #2) by Lindsay Buroker (B/4 stars)
• Any Witch Way (A Witch in Wolf Wood #3) by Lindsay Buroker (B+/4 stars)

Purchased:

[library addict]

Originally Posted by apesmom

• Sinister Magic (Death Before Dragons #1) by Linsay Buroker - 4

I like this so much better than the Wolf in the Woods series, it seems like a completely different writer. I listened to the free youtube audiobook while multi-tasking.

I think the pacing in the first A Witch in Wolf Wood book was off. But I enjoyed the town and the main POV character. I think the plot improved as the series went, but concede my opinion is probably colored by the fact I read the three books back-to-back and that I've read multiple series by the author so gave her more points for the potential I suppose. Plus I am enjoying the series for the supporting characters as well as the romance (which is still a work in progress at the end of book 3).

For those not on her mailing list, she will be sending a free Amar POV short story with her newsletter when Any Witch Way releases on the 28th.


I haven't read her Death before Dragons series yet. My big 2022 goal is to read that plus her Agents of the Crown series and the Dragon Blood series and its spin-off Heritage of Power series. Then I will have made a dent at least. Currently I have no plans to read her Fallen Empire series which is the only one I don't own (well I have the first book and assorted others as they were freebies at some point). I also have about half of her Ruby Lionsdrake books still to read.

I am enjoying her Emperor's Edge series and assorted spinoffs which I tackled this year and need to get back to. But my absolute favorite so far is the Dragon Gate series.