Kindle freebie Regency romance, March 3, 2020. Indie author, but if you like old-fashioned Regency romances it's worth a look. I've read about 4 of heKindle freebie Regency romance, March 3, 2020. Indie author, but if you like old-fashioned Regency romances it's worth a look. I've read about 4 of her other books over the years and thought they were pretty decent. ...more
Update: I read about half of this collection of semi-but-mostly-not-dark fairy tale-inspired fantasy short stories last night. Of the first five storiUpdate: I read about half of this collection of semi-but-mostly-not-dark fairy tale-inspired fantasy short stories last night. Of the first five stories, four were noticeably amateurish, in a couple of cases almost painfully so; definitely not professional quality stories. "The Queen of Frost and Darkness" (inspired by "The Snow Queen," with a thin Russian setting) was a cut above the rest, but still rough around the edges and with an overly abrupt ending. "Magic After Midnight" - kind of an urban fantasy take on Cinderella, with vampires, excuse me, bloodsucking Dark Elves with fangs - had an interesting underlying concept but was almost incoherently written in parts.
After this very rough start, I jumped ahead to a couple of stories that other reviewers recommended. "Dance with the Devil," about a would-be professional ballerina who literally makes a deal with the devil, is fun if you don't take the underlying concept seriously, and it has a twist that caught me by surprise. I haven't finished "Beauty Inside Beast" but so far it seems like a pretty good short story. "No Gift of Words," an African fairy tale, is decent as well.
The definite winner is "The Unicorn Hunter," the very last story in the collection, a sort of Snow White Goes Unicorn Hunting with a Demon tale. Though it's still a bit rough around the edges, this one I could see being published in a respectable collection. As long as the collection is free, I'd say download it if only for this one story.
I may check out the rest sometime but I'm not in any hurry to do that. For now I'm going to call it good and go read The Language of Thorns for my fantasy short story fix instead.
Initial post: This collection of 17 dark fairy tale retellings is a Kindle freebie, Aug. 14, 2018. GR friends' reviews say these fantasy short stories are a mixed bag but that there are a few good ones mixed in, so maybe worth downloading and checking out if you like the genre....more
Kindle freebie, Jan. 9, 2018, for this collection of the first three books in this series. Dragons! Lindsay Burokar is one of the better self-publisheKindle freebie, Jan. 9, 2018, for this collection of the first three books in this series. Dragons! Lindsay Burokar is one of the better self-published authors of adult fantasy, from what I've read of hers before. It's worth a shot.
ETA: Hah, turns out I downloaded this the last time it was a freebie in 2017 and promptly forgot all about it. What can I say? My Kindle is overstuffed....more
2.5 stars. Handsome but uptight and straitlaced Lord Vandover suddenly decides he needs to get married, because of Grandmama's pleas, and maybe becaus2.5 stars. Handsome but uptight and straitlaced Lord Vandover suddenly decides he needs to get married, because of Grandmama's pleas, and maybe because his brother isn't such a great heir to the estate. Holly Paxton is having a belated first season in London. His stepmother tries to turf his plans. Her sister is jealous and tries to get in the way of her prospects. Do either of these nasty women succeed in their plans? (view spoiler)[Not even to the SLIGHTEST degree. (hide spoiler)]
While I'm not a fan of unnecessary drama, this whole story needed a little more spice to it. The novella (how the couple meets and weds) is as bland as pudding, and by the time I got to the end of it and read the first couple of chapters of the novel that followed, I was utterly unable to drum up any interest in the spying/misunderstanding plot of the novel. I skipped to the end just to see how it all would work out, so it's a dnf for me.
Regency romances either need a strong romance with lots of sexual tension or (if they're of the more traditional sort) lots of witty dialogue. Or both. :) This one had neither.
Not recommended unless you're a diehard Regency fan ... even if it's free.
Initial post: Kindle freebie, November 20, 2017. Regency romantic suspense Christmas fluff, YAY! This is a twofer: a novella and a novel about the same couple....more
Kindle freebie, Oct. 10, 2017, for clean contemporary romance fans, three interrelated novellas by three authors, with a touch of fantasy: fortune cooKindle freebie, Oct. 10, 2017, for clean contemporary romance fans, three interrelated novellas by three authors, with a touch of fantasy: fortune cookies with individualized, true fortunes.
I was on the fence about whether to download this or not (my Kindle account seriously needs some dejunking) until I noticed that one of the three authors is Melanie Jacobson, who writes funny, delightful, articulate contemporary romances. Sold!...more
This P&P variation is a Kindle freebie as of June 13, 2017. I have a hard time resisting these kinds of freebies, and most of the time I chastise myseThis P&P variation is a Kindle freebie as of June 13, 2017. I have a hard time resisting these kinds of freebies, and most of the time I chastise myself later for wasting my time. But yes, I've downloaded it. Because I need a little extra Mr Darcy in my life!
[Later] 2.5 stars. One more for the "marshmallows are less fluffy" shelf.
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Read this if: 1. A story where Darcy spends the whole book pining after Elizabeth and wanting to kiss her face off and run his hands all over her body sounds like a good use of your reading time. 2. You aren't a stickler for historical accuracy. At all. 3. You like shallow romantic fluff. 4. The idea of reading about Darcy and Elizabeth kissing with tongue action doesn't squick you out. 5. You don't mind if characters from the original P&P have had a personality transplant. Or maybe a partial lobotomy?
Kindle freebies, May 16, 2017, for the first three books in this fantasy series. They sound interesting. I have no idea when I'll actually read them, Kindle freebies, May 16, 2017, for the first three books in this fantasy series. They sound interesting. I have no idea when I'll actually read them, but into the Kindle freebie black hole they go.
I'm not sure why I went into this thinking that a combination of werewolf PNR + Kindle freebie could possibly amount to anything really praiseworthy, I'm not sure why I went into this thinking that a combination of werewolf PNR + Kindle freebie could possibly amount to anything really praiseworthy, but with free ebooks I'm always thinking there's nothing to lose. Except time. And maybe some self-respect. But I was sucked in by the idea that one GR friend, Jessica, thought this was pretty good, even though another friend, Jacob, gave it one star, and I was all, hey, I could be the Great Tiebreaker!
So here's the setup: MacKenzie is a human girl living with a pack of weres (wolves, bears, and other animal weres). As a human, she's not supposed to be with them or even know they exist, but her mother put some kind of witchy geas on the pack so they would protect her and not blab about her to the Brethren, the ruling pack, who might kill them all for breaking this rule.
When her pack leader dies and a new one needs to be appointed, a delegation of Brethren shows up to stay for three days. Mack can't leave because the Brethren know how many weres are supposed to be in the pack, but there's a lotion she can put on that makes her smell like a were, and ALL SHE HAS TO DO is keep a low profile for three days until the Brethren leave. And remember, everyone in her pack thinks their lives depend on her ability to not attract attention.
So far so good, but here's where things kind of went off the rails for me. Mack is redheaded and, literally, hotblooded. [image]
She dyes her hair to look more nondescript, but apparently there ain't nothing she can do about her fiery temper. Time after time after time she mouths off or does other stupid things that attract the attention of the Brethren, especially their (of course) hunky and incredibly good-looking leader, Corrigan, or that put herself and others in danger. Even up to the very last scenes in the book.
[image] "Gurl, your ego is writing checks that your body can't cash."
I just have a hard time dredging up any respect for a main character who has no self-control. I get that in the context of the story there are Reasons for this, but I'd rather read about someone who's more smart and less rash.
Add to this mix: (a) a romantic interest that was stereotypical but, at the same time, went absolutely nowhere (gotta read the sequels for that); (b) an unresolved, cliffhanger ending; and (c) superficial writing, awkward wording and grammar issues (not too terrible considering this is a self-pub book, but still). Put that all together, top it off with a large dollop of Special Snowflake-ism, and the result is that I'm just not interested in reading any more about Mack and her Issues. Even though it was 1:00 a.m. when I finished this book, I had to immediately go read the first couple of chapters of Burn for Me so I could get the taste of sub-par urban fantasy out of my mouth.
Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽
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