Free and bargain romances in May

[ATDrake]

I'd have said that there was nothing Relevant To My Interests in the June DANL selections, but then I noticed the Mason historical is apparently set during Viking times, which is one of my favourite eras which I may be willing to chance out of sheer morbid curiosity even though a sample skim suggests I've done far more research (or even casual reading) into the subject area than the author has.

On the other hand, the last two Viking category romances I encountered in even vague detail on the internet came with a) completely out-of-period cover art which was 5 centuries off for a book that apparently did not involve time travel, which I can't blame the author for, really, or b) described a sex scene with the immortal line "Torolf entered her like she was a lottery.", which is something I can blame the author for, I think. Sure, that was comedy gold, but thoroughly out-of-period comedy gold of the sort I wouldn't want to use a free book credit worth $6.99-$7.99 list price retail to experience the inadvertent hilarity of.

Maybe I need to lower my expectations. Or start drinking before reading.

Anyway, still need to pick a May book, since those ones are actually closer to something I'll be reasonably entertained by, and if I start hoarding credits they're going to take forever to use up if the pattern of "stuff that mostly doesn't interest me" continues for the next four months of my membership.

[koland]

Originally Posted by Blossom

It's so hard now to trust any Amazon reviews. You can buy a 5 star review now. There are sites that you pay $5 per 5 star review. You don't need to be a sock puppet or publisher using multiple accounts. The whole system is corrupted.

I only use reviews for info. Like is it part of the series or stand alone and does it have anything in it I should be aware of. Gone are the days where you can trust review sites to tell if a book is worth reading or not. The best thing you can do is read the sample and go from there.

I find the reviews useful -- however, I only read the one and two star ones!

Until someone gets well over a few hundred reviews, it's too often only those who feel obligated (or, are getting paid) to give a good review.

[Wald07]

I think the poorest reviews are indeed the most revealing!

[bookratt]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Maybe I need to lower my expectations. Or start drinking before reading. .

I'm not much of a drinker, but yes, some of those books probably read better with alcohol...

[Wald07]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Maybe I need to lower my expectations. Or start drinking before reading.

Originally Posted by bookratt

I'm not much of a drinker, but yes, some of those books probably read better with alcohol...

Hard to read the lines whilst they're wEaViNg about.
and alkie-hol gives me brain busting thumpers...

[copyrite]

SEP's This Heart of Mine is available for a $1.99 preorder at Amazon.

[Britomart]

Free at Amazon:

Free Fall US DE, a paranormal novella by Carolyn Jewel.

Attorney Lys Fensic has spent her life controlling a psychic power that kills. Her ability to lock herself down falls apart when her ex, a mage, sends enslaved demons to kill her. In a psychic free fall, she turns to tough guy Telos Khunbish for help. But is he a mage as she’s always suspected or is he something far more dangerous?

Free Fall is set in the My Immortals series world where demons and magic-using humans called the magekind are not quite getting along. Most people have no idea they’re living in what amounts to a magical war-zone. Free Fall is based on the short story Future Tense but is considerably expanded and includes scenes that were censored from the short story. This novella is about 35,000 words (130 pages).

A repeat freebie: Mind Reader by Vicki Hinze.

[ATDrake]

So, could people who've read either/both the DANL May Shana Galen or Kathryne Kennedy selections please help me pick which one to get? Okay, this is actually more like "could people who've read either/both please help me validate the decision for the one I'm pretty sure I'm going to get if no one speaks up with a reason why I shouldn't".

I've now read the 1st book in Kennedy's series, which was a freebie some time ago, and while it's not great, I liked the reasonably interesting-seeming worldbuilding and the relationship was decent enough that I think I'd like to read the rest of the series. 1st book wasn't exactly a cliffhanger ending, but definitely a To Be Continued.

However, this would seem to require buying at least one other book (currently 50% off at DANL with extra discover15 coupon discount) and I've read upthread or in last month's thread that Kennedy's later books aren't as good as her earlier books.

Wording on the currently DANL-selected 3rd book implies that it's the conclusion of a trilogy. I'm willing to shell out ~4 for one more book to complete the core story, considering that we've gotten 4 freebies from Kennedy over the years (2 Sourcebooks, 2 now-defunct Dorchester) and it would be nice to give her a bit of a sales payback for them, but I don't think I'm willing to go to more if it's an open-ended series or there are tie-in books which would be considered important to the overarching plot to also read.

Lord of Illusion does cost more retail than Lord and Lady Spy, so technically I'd get better savings by using my credit on it.

On the other hand, Galen's standalone historical AU Mr & Mrs Smith fanfic-looking thing does sound pretty nifty and I like action/adventure/intrigue with a sense of humour and the sample reads fairly promisingly.

But we've gotten no freebies from Galen and she also seems to think that "Raeven" is something that gentry-level 18th century Englishpersons would have named their presumably non-illegitimate daughter, which I can tell you straight up is just about as likely as, Lady Zara Phillips aside, descendents of the British Royal Family deciding to pick what to call the Queen's great-grandkids off the listings at Baby's Got a Bad, Bad Name, even if the girl is destined to be a pirate wench in some kind of baroque revenge for her father which it probably doesn't pay to think about too much.

So with that in mind, really just two questions:

1) Is the Kennedy Elven series really contained to just the 3 books and do they wrap up well with a decent conclusion (no "elvenlords suddenly appear from the real Elfhame and say ahahaha, those guys you thought were the destined conquerors from our land are actually escaped criminals, oops, sorry, we'll take them back now, now you can live the rest of your pitifully short unenslaved lives in peace" or other such "what was the point of reading this?!" types of developments)?

2) Does the Galen have a lot of Slap Slap Kiss pointless relationship drama and plot contrivance (allowing for the fact that these are intimately-associated and presumably above-average intelligent and observant married people who don't seem to be able to recognize each other wearing what seem like fairly minor physical disguises) and are the historical bits more decoratively wallpaper than functional (and possibly more wallbanger than wallpaper) and/or is the storytelling entertainingly cracktastic enough to make up for it if it is?

I'm really leaning much more towards the Kennedy, especially since the author has put up a lot of background notes on the series up on her website (I'm a sucker for worldbuilding extras) and has had a few things published in minor sf/fantasy outlets and seems to appreciate the genre, and the aforementioned freebie offerings. And the Galen book has been on sale for $1.99 before and might get dropped to that again in the future.

But if Kennedy's writing does go from a magical mystery tour of Romancelandia into a sharp swerve into WTFville, I may be better served by the Galen, provided it doesn't follow the same course.

Any input you have would be much appreciated, thanks.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

So, could people who've read either/both the DANL May Shana Galen or Kathryne Kennedy selections please help me pick which one to get?

Why not just save the credit for another month? Maybe July will have better selections. They do roll over for as long as you're a member then you can get two instead of one.

I too love world building! I'm currently reading Jennifer Estep's Urban Fantasy Elemental Assassin series. Not my usually cup of tea because I need my HEA fix but when I read the city takes place at the border of Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina where I am less than an hour from either or. I had to read this! Imagine a metropolis in the middle of nowhere. It's laughable if you've seen the area but in a fictional world anything could happen. She does a great job at world building so far although I find the story depressing and dark at times.

[mayoi]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

On the other hand, the last two Viking category romances I encountered in even vague detail on the internet came with a) completely out-of-period cover art which was 5 centuries off for a book that apparently did not involve time travel, which I can't blame the author for, really, or b) described a sex scene with the immortal line "Torolf entered her like she was a lottery.", which is something I can blame the author for, I think. Sure, that was comedy gold, but thoroughly out-of-period comedy gold of the sort I wouldn't want to use a free book credit worth $6.99-$7.99 list price retail to experience the inadvertent hilarity of.

OMG, I read the post in your link and that was possibly the worst AND the funniest thing I've ever read.Karma to you for that!

[pisceschick]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

On the other hand, Galen's standalone historical AU Mr & Mrs Smith fanfic-looking thing does sound pretty nifty and I like action/adventure/intrigue with a sense of humour and the sample reads fairly promisingly.

...

2) Does the Galen have a lot of Slap Slap Kiss pointless relationship drama and plot contrivance (allowing for the fact that these are intimately-associated and presumably above-average intelligent and observant married people who don't seem to be able to recognize each other wearing what seem like fairly minor physical disguises) and are the historical bits more decoratively wallpaper than functional (and possibly more wallbanger than wallpaper) and/or is the storytelling entertainingly cracktastic enough to make up for it if it is?

I have read the Galen, and can remember that I thought it was much like the "Mr and Mrs Smith" movie. You do have to suspend disbelief some to allow for a female spy during the time period, and there is some relationship angst. The couple had been essentially living separately due to difficulty with conceiving that all-important heir. They used that as an excuse to dive into their independent spy activities.

I enjoyed it, but the typical romancelandia plot contrivances don't tend to bother me like you have indicated before they bother you. This was my first read by Galen, and I have purchased another and would not hesitate to purchase future books. I wish I could lend it to you; I have it on my B&n account but it is not lending enabled.

The Kennedy, I can't help you with. I picked up the same freebie last year (and have not read it) but the author's involvement in some review shenanigans kept me from buying the second book when it was on sale recently.

[pisceschick]

Amazon price matched an iTunes freebie:

Secrets of Midnight

I have not read this particular book, but have enjoyed several of Miriam Minger's other titles.

[Loosheesh]

Originally Posted by pisceschick

The Kennedy, I can't help you with. I picked up the same freebie last year (and have not read it) but the author's involvement in some review shenanigans kept me from buying the second book when it was on sale recently.

IIRC, the review shenanigans were attributed to her husband. I think she claimed he did whatever he did without her knowledge. This to be taken with the requisite grain of salt, of course ...

[ATDrake]

Firstly, thanks all for your comments. Still not quite narrowed down, but I've got a better idea of what I might want to get now.

Originally Posted by Blossom

Why not just save the credit for another month? Maybe July will have better selections. They do roll over for as long as you're a member then you can get two instead of one.

If this were the Discover a New SF/Fantasy or even the Discover a New Mystery club I would, but I confess that all the selections so far have been pretty marginal at best as far as my personal tastes go.

I picked the Grace Burrowes thing last month after reading the 1st in series, The Heir, which had some annoying moments but was otherwise pretty promising for the first 95%, and then there was this sharp detour into scenic WTFville when they went and did something really contrived which basically undermined what the first 95% of the book was trying to emphasize in terms of relationships maturing naturally in their own time as the partners become ready for it and trust and consent and respecting boundaries (though the latter bit was a bit iffy; mind you, I think half of Romancelandia needs not only couples counseling, but also treatment for sex addiction as well). It was still good enough otherwise and I liked the secondary characters sufficiently that I was willing to get Lady Maggie's Secret Scandal and buy the Duke's Obsession Bundle when it was $2.99.

And Burrowes, frankly, has been the most promising author with the titles/level of historicity/shippiness best suited to my tastes for these first three months' worth of selections. Somehow I don't think DANL is going to magically add more authors/books more to my preferably-historically-accurate-ish no-romo liking so I think I may end up with a backlog of credits and no books I even vaguely want to get due to diminishing returns in the interest area.

And I am interested in seeing how the elven/human conflict gets dealt with in Kennedy's series, if it really does get dealt with at all, and I do kind of like her worldbuilding setup, which is maybe a bit derivative (reminded me a bit of Mercedes Lackey/Andre Norton's Elvenbane/Halfblood Chronicles series), but still fun.

Originally Posted by pisceschick

You do have to suspend disbelief some to allow for a female spy during the time period, and there is some relationship angst. The couple had been essentially living separately due to difficulty with conceiving that all-important heir. They used that as an excuse to dive into their independent spy activities.

As long as there's reasonable explanation or well-okay-I'm-willing-to-go-along-with-that attempt thereof I'm fine with suspending disbelief (just not hanging it until the neck until very dead and then whacking it like a pinata to see what goodies burst forth, like a lot of authors seem to think the Gentle Reader should be willing to do without question).

I'm even okay with a bit of shippy drama as long as it doesn't dominate the plot or make the characters act stupid in order to drag things out. I'll give the Galen sample chapters another look. Even if I don't end up choosing it, it does seem promising enough that I'm willing to pick it up during future deep-discount sale if it reads well and nothing would seem to indicated that it, too, takes its second honeymoon in scenic WTFville.

Originally Posted by pisceschick

The Kennedy, I can't help you with. I picked up the same freebie last year (and have not read it) but the author's involvement in some review shenanigans kept me from buying the second book when it was on sale recently.

Originally Posted by Loosheesh

IIRC, the review shenanigans were attributed to her husband. I think she claimed he did whatever he did without her knowledge. This to be taken with the requisite grain of salt, of course ...

I'll have to google and see how bad this got. I'm willing to give a small amount of leeway for bad author behaviour and/or unwillingness/inability to rein in their nearest and dearest when it comes to the rabid fan attacks, provided it's not too egregious and the authors can actually write well enough that they get a few milliHarlanEllisons of justifiable overlooking.

And since the 2nd book in Kennedy's Elven series apparently went on discount sale a while ago, I guess my new question is for anyone who's read either the 3rd or the 2nd: Does it seem like I can I read the 3rd book standalone and not miss out on any truly important plot-advancing developments re: elven/human revolution or whatever's going on?

Because if turns out there really have been serious author shenanigans, I might as well get the more expensive 3rd book which wraps the series which I want to see how it turns out for "free", and wait and pay for the Galen book when it goes on deep discount sale again, and read the 2nd Kennedy from the library or whatever if I'm morbidly curious, which would overall seem to be the best allocation of my money --> deserving authors' pockets.

[Blossom]

I remember the Kennedy husband incident. I myself can't blame an author's husband's for wanting to stick up for his wife. The author apologized and was deeply embarrassed. The way I look at it is we read romance stories about heroes who stick up for their heroines all the time. If we can't look past that we shouldn't be reading this genre because it full of men who do things like that.

I say take a chance on Elves books. I do have them all but haven't read them yet. They do look interesting which is why I grabbed them.

Forgot to say check your library for the missing books in the series. My libraries buys Sourcebook and has some of her books. Most of her books I got for free when they were given away.