Hi everyone! As you can see HelenKay Dimon was unable to guest with us on Thursday – she’s had a lot on her plate, and spent a lot of time at the vet with her 14 year old dog : – but all should be better now, thankfully, and she’ll be here next week! Yay! BUT! Now, we have my good friend Cathie visiting with us! Some of you “know” her because she’s written some reviews, as Cathie M, but here she is again! (Oh and yes, I know I didn’t match up the covers – but that’s because I’m crazy and I like them evenly distributed throughout. Or, images at least. Also, typos, if they are any, sorry! I just did a strict copy and paste. :X)
Its a joy to be able to post here on Lime’s blog! As reading is a favorite of mine, especially traditional regency romances lately, I wanted to talk a bit about finding Indie re-released books. I use the term, “Indie” to mean eBooks that authors independently publish, that are not with an established eBook publisher that has a site online that publishes multiple authors. (Some Indie authors do name their own publisher name for their books but there is no site, or its basically a link to their site and only their books). As a rule, just look up the name of the publisher the author gives and you can usually determine that way. There’s so many small publishers that its hard for me to keep track to know whats out there so most of these I found from recommendations from readers letting me know about them or discovering them from searches, reviews and just them popping up when I am looking at a genre of romance in general on Amazon.
I’ve also read quite a few of those who released their books for the first time and some awesome. I could write for hours about those! So I thought I’d stick with the re-releases for this post. Know that my likes may so vary than others. Lime and I tease each other because one book for her can be a fab read and me not so! (and I’m so not a picky reader so we laugh about that!). I for one, am not expert in this, but wanted to share my experiences since for me lately, its been harder for me to spend $8 on just one eBook when I have discovered quite a few great reads for much cheaper! I love the re-releases that I missed of authors earlier books! Remember traditional regency line? Those were the category size prints of sweet to warm regency romances from Zebra and Signet regency romances (no longer have those lines). I find them so much a comfort lately and had missed them when they were out in print. Too those earlier historical romances of authors we read now that we missed?! Some authors are re-releasing them as well. I’ll give some examples below but the prices can be awesome, often as .99 cents! to $2.99. As a general rule for me, I stick to $2.99 and less for the eBook re-releases. That’s just me but some have re-releases at $6.99 and higher of their re-releases which for me is tough since I like to read lots!
I suggest you download a sample of the eBook you may want to read from Amazon or Smashwords. I do mostly because I hate when no covers are included. Its a huge pet peeve with me! I figured if I was in the store buying a print, there be no way I’d buy a book without a cover and same goes with eBooks. I have bought them before without a cover and requested a refund because of that, so now I always download a sample from Amazon or Smashwords first. (If you use BN, I believe they have samples too but I’m more familiar with the Kindle program than the Nook program. Many in the beginning have seem not to have their covers, it but I seen more improvement lately with them having them. When I get the sample, I can check if the cover is included. If its not, I look to Smashwords to see if its available there and I can always add the cover if they left it off. The samples there seem longer at Smashwords and I get a real feel for the story. There are quite a few authors tho, that publish their Indie books on Amazon only and no covers and I’ve sampled them and started out so good but they haven’t put on Smashwords or other non-DRM sites for me to get so I sadly haven’t bought them and missing out on some good reads. I’ve too found some of the Indie books over on All Romance eBooks (ARe). I’m not sure if there are more places that sell them non-DRM.
So here are some .99 cents re-released earlier historical romance reads that I loved with short descriptions and longer descriptions are at the links! (no particular order and I limited myself to 5 or this post would never get done, there’s lots I loved out there!) I’m not sure how to figure out length of books on Amazon so I check word count over at Smashwords and seem to category lengths except for one that is full length novel. So a couple questions for you, what have you found in regency, historical or anything in romance as a bargain price that you recommend? And too any other places you know to go for Indie books?
Lady Silence by Blair Bancroft
After more than six years of war, Colonel Damon Farr wants only to retreat into his library and forget the world. Instead, he is confronted daily by the mystery of a young woman with a secret past and no voice. He calls her Lady Silence. Is she a fraud who has wormed her way into his life? Or is she the spark to resurrect a soul lost in battle and teach him the meaning of love?
Lady Dearing’s Masquerade by Elena Greene
Lady Dearing became society’s most notorious widow after kissing a stranger at a masquerade but his seductive voice still haunts her dreams. Sir Jeremy Fairhill has given up hope of finding her, but when he investigates the infamous widow who’s taking in children from London’s Foundling Hospital, his sense of duty clashes with a dangerous passion for the elusive, alluring Lady Dearing.
A Proper Companion by Candice Hern
Robert is a rakish earl recently betrothed to a beautiful young girl in her first Season. Emily is an impoverished spinster hired as a companion to his grandmother, the dowager countess. Robert agrees to help his grandmother find a husband for Emily, but how is he to bear the thought of her in another man’s arms?
Conor’s Way by Laura Lee Guhrke
To save her farm, Olivia needs a man who’s not afraid of hard work. But after the Civil War, men like that are rare, and she has to hire ex-boxer Conor Branigan for help. The hard Irishman doesn’t plan to stick around, but Olivia sparks dreams of what he’d lost long ago. When her farm is at risk, he has to stay to save it, but can he let go of the past and make a new life, or is it too late?
The Hanover Square Affair by Ashley Gardner (aka Jennifer Ashley)
(Note, this is a historical mystery series, first book in the series. I love her historical romances and got hooked on these too!)
London, 1816 Cavalry captain Gabriel Lacey returns to Regency London from the Napoleonic wars, his career ignominiously over. He stumbles onto the case of a kidnapping, the accused a prominent MP. Lacey’s search for the girl leads to the discovery of murder, corruption, and dealings with a leader of the underworld. At the same time, Lacey must face the everyday troubles of his own life.
Too, doing a search today, I found Nicole Jordan’s Velvet Embrace at .99! I’ll stop now, so its your turn now!
Cathie – thanks so much for guesting today! And… actually, I don’t know how much I want to thank you because you’re positively evil! Oh my gosh listing so many books! I actually have a few of them… it’s so tempting to get the rest since they’re only 99 cents!
Although I don’t know if I should trust you with anything after you “ruined” how I look at Lord Ruin ;D
Hey Lime! I’m just getting on since I’ve been blind all day without reading glasses! Apparently they fell off the table last night and someone stepped on, (but no one is saying who, LOL) so had to wait til hubby home to go and get some from the store. Gosh I couldn’t do a thing without them, and got no reading done today, LOL. But isn’t this great finding these .99 cents deals! I did ruin you for LORD RUIN huh? That is an absolute favorite of mine! I too saw more when looking up blurbs to add and that includes re-releases and new Indies that I loved and that they have more of. I think its time to treat ourselves too with the holidays! There’s so much there for .99! Have fun reading!