Romance Lovers for the Challenge-Impaired discussion

I’m sure most of you check the “Free Reads” thread regularly to get the freebies.

We all get the freebies but do we read them? How many do you have? Are they worth reading?

I’m going to read two (2) of my freebies each month and review them here to give you an idea what you are getting into, if you decide to read that book.

Everyone is welcome to participate and add their reviews of the freebies they’ve grabbed.

Special Note to Authors: please use the Author’s Announcement for your books.

Reviews



1.Playing With Poison    5 stars ShoSho's Review
2.The Girl With the Cat Tattoo   4.5 starsOleander's Review
3.Angel Be Good    4.5 stars Oleander's Review
4.Outta the Bag     5 stars Oleander's Review
5.Out of the Blue        1 star ♥Robin ♥ 's Review
6.Savin' Me     3 star ShoSho's Review
7.The Man Who Came Too Much     4 star ShoSho's Review
8.Veiled Eyes     4.5 star Oleander's review
9.Rush of Love     1.5 stars ♥Robin ♥'s review
10.Unleashed - The Highland Historical Trilogy (Highland Historical, #1 To #3) 4 stars Kari's review
11.Believe In the Magic 3 stars Lara's Review
12.Her Favorite Temptation    4 stars ShoSho's Review
13.Blind Impulse    5 stars Kari's Review
14.Tarnished Knight    4 stars Jenny's Review
15.That Voodoo You Do    4 stars Jenny's Review
16.Stolen Fury    3.5 stars ShoSho's Review
17.Forever's Not Enough    3 stars ShoSho's Review
18.The Measure of Katie Calloway    5 stars Gisela's Review
19.Handle with Care     3.5 stars Shosho's Review
20.Never a Mistress, No Longer a Maid     4 stars Lisa Kay's Review
21.Wickedest Witch     4 stars ShoSho's Review
22.Father Found     2 stars Gisela's Review
23.Gotcha!     4 stars ShoSho's Review
24.twelve-days     4.5 stars ShoSho's Review
25.The Christmas Honeymoon     3.5 stars ShoSho's Review
26.Misplaced Princess     4.5 stars Lisa Kay's Review
27.Ice Gods    3 stars ShoSho's Review
28.The Christmas Catch    2 stars ShoSho's Review
29.The Locker Room    2 stars ShoSho's Review
30.The Shy Bride    4 stars ShoSho's Review
31.Slow Hands    3.5 stars ShoSho's Review
32.Honey    1 stars ShoSho's Review
33.Loup Garou    1 stars Gisela's Review
34.The Husband School    4 stars Gisela's Review
35.Tangled Extra Scenes    5 stars Lisa Kay's Review
36.Have Gown, Will Wed    2.5 stars ShoSho's Review
37.Bad Blood: A Vampire Thriller    5 stars Oleander's review
38.Silken Promises    5 stars Becky's Review
39. Multiple books ,Shosho's review
40.Love in the Afternoon     2 stars ShoSho's Review
41.Take the Bait    4 stars Lisa Kay's review
42.Pure & Sinful     4 stars Lara's review
43. An Intrepid Trip to Love     3.5 stars ShoSho's review
44. The Legend of Drizzt: The Collected Stories     4 starsShoSho's review

Reserved

It was free on Amazon a while back.


by Cindy Blackburn

Ratings: 5 stars
Review:
This book was my first ever cozy mystery . I was trying to choose a book for a challenge . I had a few option and decided to read the book with the most interesting first sentence.

And this was it :“Going bra shopping at age fifty-two gives new meaning to the phrase fallen woman,”I announced as I gazed at my reflection.
(p. 1). Kindle Edition.

The mystery was really good ,I couldn't tell who was the killer so I had to finish it in one sitting to find out who the killer was . I liked the humor I laughed and smiled a lot .
I enjoyed this book so much that I have already put #2 in the series on my wishlist.

Verdict : Worth reading

Great idea!

Neat idea, ShoSho! Thanks for the review. It is still free on Kindle-Prime, so I 'tagged' it.

Awesome idea Shosho!

ditto Jenny!

Jenny wrote: "Love this idea, ShoSho! I will admit I read WAY less than I download."

I think we're all guilty of that :)

Me too. I think I am addicted to that one click button. Looking back I've reviewed quite a number of them. There are many more that I didn't review because if it doesn't grab me I quit and delete. I try to read at least one freebie a month (even though I buy a dozen). It is just often hard to prioritize reading them over something I paid for. I could post some of my reviews here is anyone is interested. I have reviewed:

Oleander, I'm trying to follow you are become your friend and GRs is giving me ERROR messages. Still, I can get to your reviews through your bookshelves.

Great Oleander ! Feel free to add any of the reviews to this thread

i image the computer just jammed. it does that to me every now and again but usually corrects itself. anyway, i sent you a friend request :)

Thanks, Oleander! I accepted. ☺

Absolutely delightful and refreshing. The first romance I have read written from a cat's pov. A nice story with lots of personality. I had expected the cat to be somewhat more than a typical cat, but he was 100% domesticated cat. If you have cats, you'll recognize Max's attitudes. Definitely up for more of this series.
4 1/2
WORTH READING

What do you get when you cross “A Christmas Carol” with “Heaven Can Wait”? Answer: Angel Be Good by Kathy Carmichael. Daphne is a war correspondent that dies before her time. She is asked to help reform a modern-day, Scrooge-type character while a search is made for a suitable new body for her to inhabit. She spends the evening visiting Nathaniel with visions of Christmas past, present, and future. In between, the two fall in love.

The characters interact well together. Leonard, the angel assigned to assist Daphne, reminded me of the kindly angel, Clarence, in “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Readers will recognize other characters from “A Christmas Carol” also, but reimagined in fresh and updated roles.

This is a charming story. It could have been super sappy, but the author strikes the right balance between heartwarming and romantic. She even works in the famous closing line from “A Christmas Carol” at just the right spot.

There is an explicit sex scene in the book that had me rolling my eyes with its over-the-top prose, but the second such scene was done extremely well. It was breath taking with its über romantic quality.

“Angel Be Good” was my favorite of the Christmas romance books I read this year. I will be recommending this one in the future when people ask me to suggest a good holiday romance.
4 1/2 stars
WORTH READING

Oleander wrote: "
"

I've read that one too . It definitely worths reading !

Oleander can you can add your rating and in bold add worth reading or not ?

Very short, very creative, very funny.
Clive Better, a plumber, goes to a speed dating event where he relates his encounter with a psycho blonde and a terrified cat
5 stars
WORTH READING

no problem ShoSho (well it was kinda a problem because bold didn't work. Gotta get this virus fixed - but i improvised) :-)

We'll have to buddy read book 2 of the cat book when it comes out :)

Oleander wrote: "no problem ShoSho (well it was kinda a problem because bold didn't work. Gotta get this virus fixed - but i improvised) :-)

We'll have to buddy read book 2 of the cat book when it comes out :)"

Thanks:) It's good

Yes we should , I checked and it's not out yet!

Out of the Blue by Mary H. Collins



Rating: ★
Recommended: NO

I am glad this was a kindle freebie because it definitely is not worth paying for. LOTS of typos and grammatical errors. The characters were very underdeveloped and one dimensional. I couldn't relate to any of the characters nor did I care about any of them. The writing is really disjointed and the plot,if there really was one,went no where. Besides the typos and the grammatical errors the other thing that annoyed me was the writing style. The reader would be reading about what was taking place today(NOW) and then all of a sudden 2 weeks or 3 months had passed. Well damn, what happened to tomorrow or what happened in that 3 month time span that was just skipped over???? Overall is was a horrible read and not something I would recommend.

Thanks ♥Robin ♥ ! Added it !

You're welcome ShoSho :)

I got this for free from allromanceebooks last year.


by Alannah Lynne

Rating:3 stars

This was a nice romantic read. Nothing earth shattering about it or anything bad or annoying .
I enjoyed while reading it .So if you are after an easy read this is a good choice.

Verdict : Worth reading if you don't have anything better to read!

ShoSho wrote: "Verdict : Worth reading if you don't have anything better to read!"

I like your rating system, ShoSho. ☺

Heehee, I hope it helps!

That would throw it into the no arena for me, ShoSho. There's always something better out there

I'm reading and lovin it. gonna be a 5 star. Will write a review when I'm done. It's still free on kindle and nook

This book is still free on Smashwords and Allromance (not Amazon anymore)

by Ellie Saxx

Rating:4 stars

Review:
What a great short story!
This was a hilarious crazy and disgusting short M/M story.
It's from first POV and the title says it all , it's about a man who comes too much ,he can fill jars .
With only 20 pages or so it was the perfect read for a late night entertainment !

Verdict : Worth reading

I'm laughing and gagging at the same time. Ugh what a problem!

**shakes head** Not my cuppa tea - or anything else! LOL!

Lisa Kay wrote: "**shakes head** Not my cuppa tea - or anything else! LOL!"

You should give it a try ,LK ;)

**still shaking head and laughing with scrunched up facial expression** Nope.

While hitchhiking, Anna is taken captive by a serial killer. She hears a man's voice inside her head. The story is set in a Louisiana small town on the banks of a dark, mysterious lake supposedly inhabited by a giant catfish. The people there have dark hair, golden eyes, speak Cajun, and are telepathic. The book develops into a wonderful paranormal mystery and suspense. There is a great deal of mistrust, riddles, secrets, and ancient murders. I was sucked right in.
Some readers may be thrown by the French words but I enjoyed them. It was easy to decipher the meanings and it gave the book an authentic flavor. For example, the name of the hero's dog's is Phideaux (Fido).
I was not overly thrilled with the hero; he was a bonehead. When there was finally a sex scene, it was lame. However, the overall story telling made up for those weaknesses. The ending was very dramatic.

Worth Reading 4 1/2 STARS

Which book, Oleander?

oops...it would help if I gave the book and author wouldn't it?

**hee hee** A little.

Rush of Love by Jennifer Conner



Rating:★1/2
Recommended: Probably not unless you are just really really bored with nothing to read. It's really short, as in 25 pages.Spend your time on 25 pages of something that's really good :)

HMMMMMM......not sure what to say about this one. I liked the premise of this and it really could make a great book. It's needs a good editor to check for grammar and spelling mistakes. I also thought the order of some of the sentences was a off and a bit confusing. I felt like I was reading the after thought before the thought :( Overall, it had a lot of potential but the author failed miserably with the delivery. With a lot of editing and organizing this could really be a good beginning of a full length novel. My true rating would be 1.5 stars.

Thanks Oleander and ♥Robin ♥ !

Everything I've read by Noelle Adams/ Claire Kent has been enjoyable, though not always with the best editing. I'm reading right now, looking forward to finishing it.

She writes books like old categories, where you only see the heroine's POV, and the hero always falls in love first, but the heroine can't tell.

Is it freebie, Willaful?

It's not currently free, but it has been in the past.

willaful wrote: "It's not currently free, but it has been in the past."

It would be great if you add a review for it here when you're done:)

Unleashed - The Highland Historical Trilogy (Highland Historical, #1 To #3)
Rating: 4★
Review: These are actually 3 novellas that must be read in order because we get updates about the previous one, so it actually feels like you're reading one full-length book. It's a very steamy romance with paranormal. I wasn't too excited until I started reading them and then I was hooked. The 3 berserker warriors are brothers who find their different mates. The 3 stories are completely different (as are the heroines), the concepts are unusual and original and it had a sort of magical feel. I got them as a freebie pack in December.
Verdict: Worth reading if you have the three on hand cause they're really short. I don't remember any grammatical mistakes.

Oh, yes. I've heard of that one, Kari. Good to know you liked it.

Yeah I want to read that one too Kari. Glad you liked it.

Thanks, guys! I'll look around my shelves and post more freebie reviews soon.

Kari wrote: "
Unleashed - The Highland Historical Trilogy (Highland Historical, #1 To #3)
Rating: 4★
"

I got 2 of them as freebies but bought the other one.I read only one so far and loved it!

This is typical Adams relationship + lots of baby, and since I get enough kid in real life, I almost gave up on it. Then it went to kind of an unusual place and I decided to stick it out.

College student Zoe thinks her lunch buddy Adam is pretty cute, but she's gotten used to the idea that he only thinks of her as a friend. Then he introduces her to his gorgeous cousin Josh -- and that's all she wrote.

Except that five years later, Josh has died, leaving Zoe the heartbroken single mother of a 6 month old baby. Adam had drifted out of their lives, but under instructions from the dying Josh to take care of her and Logan, he now slips into the role of comfortable family friend. But as time goes on, Zoe's feelings towards Adam start to feel less and less just-friendly, leaving her guilty and conflicted.

This was reminiscent of an old category novel, in that it's told from Zoe's perspective, but things keep happening that reveal Adam's unexpressed feelings to us, if not to Zoe. It's all kind of predictable, but well executed and enjoyable. The gradual change in Zoe's feelings, as she begins to recover from her grief, is also well done.

The aspect of the book that really caught my attention is that Adam is highly intelligent, and has a passion for history. Usually in second love stories, the new love is shown as more of a laid back, regular guy than the first. This isn't a huge part of the story, but I liked it.

I'm rating this down because it really needed more editing, but my enjoyment level was closer to 4 stars.

Thanks ,willaful ! So worth reading even with the editing problems ?