The winners of Dicie Rebel are:
Sudha
Na
Congrats! Your books should be waiting for you in your amazon accounts :).
Month: April 2013
Random food related curiosa
* If you write European set Epic fantasy, it is more likely that the food your heroes eat is flavored using herbs rather than spices, since spices were expensive, and had to be imported.
* In Sweden, mushrooms were viewed to be cattle food, until the 20th century. Which meant that they did not eat them ,even if it was a famine.
* The eggs used in baking during the winter was conserved (!), which was unsuitable to eating, but fine in baking.
* It is easy to forget but all the farm animals were much smaller before 1900’s, than they are today. So if you describe a cow based on modern day cows? They wouldn’t have fit inside the barn.
* If you want a colder climate growing sugar? Use sugar beets, not sugar canes. Or honey, since Sugar beets wasn’t in use until the 1700’s.
* Beer get’s the taste from hops, which wasn’t in use in Sweden until the 12th century.
* Hop growing etc was covered buy the law. And theft was punished severly.
Friday Bargain: Sinfully Sweet only
I am feeling lazy today, so I just have one deal for you. But it is a good one.
Sinfully Sweet is a bundle with 6 novels, and it is for sale for 0.99 at Amazon and BN. I cannot find it at Kobo. Which is a shame, since I would love to read it.
Bestselling Authors . . . one delicious boxed set of 6 full-length, “SINFULLY SWEET” romance novels!Romance novels are like chocolates. You can’t stop with just one . . .
BORN TO BE WILDE by Janelle Denison
SAVIN’ ME by Alannah Lynne
DRIVE ME CRAZY by Marquita Valentine
BABY LOVE by Leslie Kelly
THE PERFECT PROPOSAL by Rhonda Nelson
THE RIGHT CHOICE by Carly PhillipsBORN TO BE WILDE by Janelle Denison
Ex-Marine turned security specialist Joel Wilde thrives on the high-wire thrills that come with his job. And he isn’t about to give all that up to settle down – – not even with a sexy woman like Lora Marshall. Which means that while he’s protecting her from a violent mobster, he’ll need to set a few ground rules to keep things professional. Good thing he’s always been a rule-breaker at heart.SAVIN’ ME by Alannah Lynne
One step away from the coveted Vice Presidency of her firm, the last thing Kat Owens needs is the distraction of a man. Her client, Erik Monteague, disagrees. He’s charming, sexy, seductive, and impossible to ignore. Erik’s perfectly executed seduction gets Kat into his bed, but her passionate, loving nature is more than he bargained for. As the carefully constructed walls guarding his heart dissolve, he’s forced to make a decision… spend the rest of his life running, or risk being devastated by love again.DRIVE ME CRAZY by Marquita Valentine
NASCAR racer, Carter Ambrose, has decided to take his doctor’s advice and find a new occupation before another wreck on the track kills him. Only his doctor hadn’t counted on his little sister’s best friend, Melanie Ann Smith, crashing his weeks of solitude with her short skirts and platform heels. Will Carter risk it all for love, or will Melanie be left holding the trophy for second place?BABY LOVE by Leslie Kelly
When Claudia Warren goes into premature labor in the worst possible place, a handsome stranger comes to her aid, saving her life her daughter. Former rebel Chase Paxton is a loner, and he likes it that way, so delivering a stranger’s baby shocks him to his core. Even more shocking is that the beautiful young mother disappears before he can even learn her last name. Now, fate has brought the very sexy, available Claudia back into Chase’s life. And while the physical attraction between them sizzles, neither wants any emotional tangles. Can two people who’ve sworn off love for good ever move beyond the past to trust in a future together?THE PERFECT PROPOSAL by Rhonda Nelson
Annie Witherspoon has spent the last five years working toward obtaining the CEO position at Hightower Advertising. She’s worked nights and weekends, has sacrificed her practically non-existent social life and kept her eyes on the prize, as it were. Now, thanks to some inconvenient, ill-timed bout of nostalgia, her boss is giving his global playboy nephew a shot at her job.
Mitch Hightower isn’t nearly the playboy the papers make him out to be and, after the sudden death of his business partner, Mitch feels to need to be closer to his family, to his heritage. But when pitted against Annie Witherspoon to win an important account, Mitch finds himself less concerned with pitching his campaign strategy and more interested in marketing himself…to her.THE RIGHT CHOICE by Carly Phillips
Advice columnist Carly Wexler is planning the perfect wedding with the perfect fiancé. So what if he doesn’t make her heart beat faster? He’s the right choice. Until sexy photo journalist, Mike Novak, her fiance’s adopted brother arrives and Carly experiences all the passion she’s convinced herself she doesn’t need. Mike is torn by loyalty and a yearning unlike any he’s ever known. After spending time with Carly, he is sure the engaged couple are marrying for the wrong reasons. With one week to go before the wedding, can Mike convince Carly he’s the only choice for her?
The Source of Magic by Cate Rowan
The Particulars: Fantasy Romance, indie, avaialble as e-book and in print The Source: Allromance
The Grade: B-
The Blurb:
When a gorgeous man clasps Jilian Stewart to his chest and yanks her from Scotland into a magical battle, she thinks it must be another of her bizarre dreams. Plagued by unnerving visions of this man, she’s sure they’re brought on by the stress of her mother’s deadly paralysis. Instead, Jilian finds herself ensnared in a world of fantasy, treachery, and family secrets, opposing the one man who can make everything right.
Prince Alvarr, her sexy abductor, offers a cure for her dying mother, but won’t send Jilian home with it until she helps him destroy the evil mage threatening his people—with mystical powers she never knew she had.
The Review:
This book has been on my wishlist since I bought Kismet’s Kiss. I never got around to buy it, until now. I am glad I bought it.
Teganne was an intriguing contrast to Kad, and it felt very believable. From the way the castle was described to the customs and traditions they had. I also liked the magic, and the fact that the Kyrra was limited. Once you burned it out, it was gone forever.
I liked Jillian and Alvarr. Jillian’s reaction to suddenly being in Teganne, and the struggle to adapt to it, and what it meant felt believable. Alvarr was honorable warrior, but I also liked that he struggled with keeping his country independent.
It was intriguing to follow Jillian’s and Alvarr’s romance. From the way they clash in the beginning, to how they gradually start to get to know each other. I liked how both of them had their own issues to work through, and how that caused additional problems between them. I also liked that they were ready to compromise with each other. The plot twists were unexpected, yet logical when they happened.
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Despite all the things I liked with this novel, I never felt the desperation that Alvarr and Jillian felt.
An Writing update
The writing is chugging along pretty nicely. Or well my Scrivener trial expired, so right now I am revising the Brownie Liason. 🙂 So far I have edited 10 of 64 pages. So, progress! I am aiming at getting 5 pages edited per day, so this draft should take me a couple of weeks to finish up. Hopefully by then I’ll have the money to buy Scrivener :). After that, the Brownie Liason is off to Lillian, so she can read it for me and come with useful comments, that I’ll hopefully know how to implement.
( I still haven’t revised the Wild Hunt after Kari read it, because I am not sure how to implement her suggestions. They are excellent suggestions, though 🙂 )
In non writing news, Mom nagged convinced me that it might be a good idea to get my degree. So I am working on that right now.
I have also decided to skip all the fancy things, and do Ecology for writers as a blog serial, then gather them up and offer them in bundles. The problem is the images and stuff. I think most of the graphs and maps is covered by Creative Commons license, which means I can use them if it is for non profit but not if I decide to make it into a book :/.
WWW Wednesday April 17th
To join just answer the following questions:
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?
Recently finished:
Goddess with a blade by Lauren Dane. Normally I like Lauren Dane’s novels, but this one didn’t work for me. I think part of it was because it was UF, but it had a romance subplot that felt tacked on. I think it would have worked better if it had been Paranormal Romance.
Currently reading:
Diana’s Hound by Moira Rogers. I like the Bloodhound novels, so I requested this for review. So far I enjoy it :). Reading next: I am not sure, honestly. I am thinking about re-reading The Hurog Duology by Patricia Briggs, but I am feeling a bit burned out on fantasy, Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance right now. So I think I’ll read something else. Maybe a mystery or two.
4 things e-book stores can do to survive
The e-book market is competitive right now, and I have been thinking about what I wish e-bookstores* would do to survive, because I would hate for Amazon to be the only store to buy e-books from. So here is my wish list, but hey, maybe someone reads this and decides to implement part of it.
( And, yes, I would love for DRM to go away, but that is up to publishers, not e-bookstores.)
1. Offer subscriptions
I know that several publishers offers subscriptions, but what I am missing is a bookstore doing it. Offer say… a subscription for 3 trades or Hardcovers in a genre the reader choose, every month for 15-20 dollars. I personally would jump on a chance like that.
2. Reward loyal customers
Offering a steep discount is a common way to lure new customers,but what I am missing is sales specifically tailored at loyal customers. Have a standard discount at 20 percent, or maybe 25, and then regularly offer multi use ( 5 times maybe), account specific coupons at an additional 10-20 %, depending on how long you have been a customer ( The account specific part might be hard, but I suspect that for example Kobo already has the technique to implement it). And yes, I know that Allromance has their Buy 10 Get One free coupon, which I love. I am just waiting for Penguin books to get eligible….
3. Customize their frontpage
E-book stores have a lot of information about what their readers like, and doesn’t like. Both Amazon and Kobo offers reading recommendations. What amaze me though, is that none of them have taken it another step and written a script that customize the homepage so that if I am logged in, books from genres I read are highlighted, along with similar genres. If I read a lot of Urban Fantasy/PNR, there is a chance I might like Paranormal mysteries/ suspense. This would benefit me, the stores, and the publishers( or author if it is self published).
4. Offer good customer service
One reason that Amazon is so successful is because of their customer service. They offer returns on e-books, answers rapidly on e-mails etc. Both BN and Kobo need to improve their customer service, or they will continue to lose market shares to Amazon and Apple.
One reason that Amazon is so successful is because of their customer service. They offer returns on e-books, answers rapidly on e-mails etc. Both BN and Kobo need to improve their customer service, or they will continue to lose market shares to Amazon and Apple.
* I plan to do another list what I think brick and mortar bookstores should do next month or so.
Kobo announces Kobo Aura HD
From Kobo’s webpage:
The eReader, Re-Imagined.
Kobo Aura HD is the only premium eReader, offering an unprecedented immersive reading experience for the book lover. Unlike other eReaders, Kobo Aura HD elevates the reading experience by combining the most advanced, highest resolution, extra-large screen with a book-inspired design that feels natural and comfortable to hold.
Kobo announced this yesterday, and I am drooling. Frontlit, great screen, a lot of internal storage. I am tempted, really tempted. And this is despite the fact that I don’t need a new e-reader. I love my old one, it isn’t even a year old..
Some other thoughts: I am not surprised that Kobo decides to revive the premium e-reader market, since I don’t think that e-reader’s can get much cheaper. I love to be a fly on the wall when Sony finds out about this, since they have viewed themselves as the premium e-reader company. And then there is Amazon’s response to this..
It will be an intresting spring but then it always is.
Review: Lost in You by Lauren Dane
The Particulars: Contemporary Romance, Samhain Publishing, available as e-book
The Source: Books on boards
The Grade: B
The Blurb:
It hasn’t been easy for Joe Harris to live down his not-so-honorable past, but the military made him a better man. He’s determined to make up for past mistakes, starting with coming home to care for his ailing father.
Things are going as planned until his best friend’s little sister comes barreling into his life. Funny, quick talking, smart, beautiful, she’s a temptation he tries—and fails—to resist.
When Beth Murphy hears Joe is back in town, she makes sure she’s the first on his welcoming committee. Though he tries to pretend he’s gruff and unworthy of her, she sees the man who spoils his dog, who touches her like she’s precious. Cherished. But there’s one wall she can’t break down—the truth about what’s happening at home.
On the night the nature of his father’s illness becomes painfully, publicly apparent, Joe does the right thing—push Beth as far away as possible. But if he thought she’d go away quietly, he’s about to learn she’s made of sterner stuff.
Tbe Review:
Lauren Dane is slowly becoming an autobuy author for me, at least when it comes to contemporary romance.
It was nice to revisit Petal, and the Murphy-Chase family. I loved how the Murphys have fought hard to crawl up from the hell hole they were born in. They have created a new, better life for themselves.
Beth and Joe was a touching couple. I liked that their romance wasn’t easy, and that they had their bumps. I loved that Beth knew exactly what she wanted, and didn’t hesitate in pursuing Joe. I liked Joe as well,even though he occasionally was a jerk.
I also appreciated how their romance wasn’t easy. They had their bumps, created by misunderstandings and Joe’s reluctance to reveal his father’s health issues. How Joe and his family struggled to keep it within the family, made sense. Often psychological problems are viewed as something to be ashamed of. But all their obstacles made their HEA so much sweeter, since they had fought hard for it.
Despite the many things that I liked with this book, the grade is pulled down by the headhopping. Most of the time I was able to ignore it, but there were times when it confused me.
Friday Finds April 12
These are my finds this week 🙂
Dark Mercy by Zoe Winters.
I have read book 1, 2 and book 3 in this series. They are quite good, in fact. This was an Amazon freebie that I stumbled upon today.
I cannot wait to read this, I really enjoyed The Enchantment Emporium when I read it last year. That said, why does her publisher insist on removing the covers?
I love Patricia Rice novels, but she isn’t on my autobuy list. Why? Since it feels like she is re-issuing new novels from her backlist all the time. I simply cannot keep up.
That said, this sounds right up my alley.