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In LK Rigel’s “Give Me, An Adult Fairy Tale” the journey IS  the story and the happily-ever-after…well, it’s just a fact.

“A young witch with a good heart. Two lovers in mortal danger. A spell that ends in disaster. 

Lilith Evergreen lives in the California desert, an ordinary woman until her fiancé returns from London with a ring he bought from a street vendor. When Lilith puts it on she dreams of a green land that’s anything but desert, a tree at cliff’s edge, a ruined castle, and a handsome prince.

Then she discovers that it’s all real.

When Lilith visits the ruins of Tintagos Castle, she discovers a world of magic and love – and its dark side when she’s entangled in the remnants of an ancient spell gone bad. From the moment Lilith sees Cade Bausiney, she’s overwhelmed with desire for him. Cade is drawn to Lilith too – but their feelings might only be sparked by dark and dangerous magic.
Lilith and Cade must break the old spell or be forever possessed by spirits who’ve waited a millennium to consummate their love.”

Ok, so first let’s talk about the synopsis. It’s…a little misleading. Yes, the story is about Lilith and Cade, but not in that “all encompassing” way the description implies. As a matter of fact, they are only about 1/3 of the story.  The “human embodiments” if you will.  In truth the story is about Galen and Diantha, two people who were ripped away from each other hundreds of years ago by a really pissed off witch, who… (wait for it) …holds their souls captive because of a beef she had with her sister. (See… mayhem!)

Anyways, as far as stories go, this one was a pretty interesting. Not only did LK (whom I adore by the way, and whose novel “Space Junque” happens to be free right now) manage to embody all of the elements necessary to make a fairy-tale succesful, but she managed to do it in a very unique way.

How was it unique exactly? Well…for starter, we are first introduced to Galen and Diantha through Lilith’s dreams, (as in: I’m-a-ghost-and-I’m-going-to-take-control-of-your-subconsious-but-don’t-worry-all-I-really-wanna-do-is-have-sex-with-my-fiance-so-this-will-be-a-hot-dream type unique)  Rigel then went on to masterfully infuse a very intricate magical history (aka back story) with today’s inclination to disbelieve anything that can’t be logically explained. (wow…that was really wordy way to say “she makes you believe in magic.)

The characters were interesting, though some could have used a touch more embellishment when it came to their “nature” (*cough* Galen) and for the most part the plot was very well thought out.  My only complaint would be with Rigel’s choice of narrative formating. (Huh?) Instead of alternating chapters between present and past, or even using * marks to transition, Rigel chose to plot hop. What does this mean exactly? It means that one second I would be reading about Lilith and then WHAM! the next thing I knew I was 500 years in the past learning about looking glasses.  This didn’t damage the plot (or the way the story was told) but it was mildly frustrating. In short…it could have used some separation.

Overall however, very enjoyable little ditty that does well to remind us all why we love a good fairy-tale.

Happy Reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: Even Glenda the good witch had her moments of PMS.

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****~ (4/5)

State of Wonder a Guest Review by Lilla Friend

There are a few books that I consider “favorites of 2011” and “State of Wonder” by Ann Patchett is undoubtely one of the best. Marina Singh is a pharmacologist working for a major pharmaceutical company when her colleague, Anders Eckman, dies under mysterious circumstances in the Amazon. She is sent to investigate his death, but more importantly to determine the progress of an important research project which is why Anders was sent there in the first place.

The research project concerns the preservation of fertility – a guaranteed money-maker for the company. Imagine being able to postpone having children indefinitely, to never having menopause, to be able to restore fertility in a woman thought to be unable to have children. The possibilities are endless. But the timeline isn’t. Yes, the death of Anders Eckman is important, but the research project is paramount. The project is under the leadership of an ex-professor of Marina’s, an eccentric gynaecology professor called Annick Swenson, a charismatic and mysterious, yet utterly brilliant mind.

The novel centers around Marina’s travel to Manaus and then into the heart of the Amazon. It is beautifully written and utterly hypnotic. Patchett draws the reader into a world of green jungle, a primitive tribe and into a state of wonder. But always she reminds us of the harsh reality – tropical illnesses, multiple insect bites, humidity, a river inhabited by danger and a total lack of even basic medical care.

One of the most interesting aspects of the book was the description of the Lariam side-effects as experienced by Marina. Since it is a weekly dose, patients often want Lariam as Malaria prophylaxis instead of Malarone (very expensive) or doxycycline (daily dose for a few weeks), but the side-effects are horrible. These include nightmares, suicidal thoughts, major depression and acute psychosis. I was highly impressed with the depth of research that the author did for this brilliant work of fiction. It was one of those books where you can’t wait to find out what happens next, but you don’t want it to end either. It can also be compared to a delicious meal where every bite has to be savored – you cannot skip a single word for fear of missing something.

I adored “State of Wonder” and all my Kindle owning friends were told to buy it as soon as possible.  I have since (of course) bought all of Ann Patchett’s other novels as well.

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If you would to learn more about Carmen and her work you can visit her at www.carmenspage.blogspot.com or follow her on Twitter at @CarmenWBuxton

Why are there so damn many errors in ebooks?

(Please note that this post refers to errors in ebooks published by traditional print publishers, not self-published ebooks, which can have their own set of problems stemming from other causes)

If you are a reader who prefers digital reading, you will have noticed that some ebooks have errors in them, either formatting errors or actual incorrect words. Some errors are minor—the occasional word with a hyphen where it shouldn’t be, or a paragraph that block indents when it shouldn’t. Some are more annoying because they make the story hard to read and understand, as when paragraphs of dialog that should be separate all run together. Every now and then you will see truly awful errors, like a paragraph of text that repeats, or letters with diacritical marks that convert into gibberish.

Print books might have a typo or two get past the proofer, but they don’t suffer from as many errors as ebooks. Which is interesting, because print books are mostly to blame for ebooks errors, or rather the workflow for print books is to blame.

Most authors write in MS Word or something like it, and send their manuscript to the editor in that format. Some editors even rely on the Word “Track Changes” feature to convey suggested edits. Once substantive edits are final, the Word document is converted to something that allows for easier and more sophisticated page layout, like InDesign. It could be other software, but I’m going to say InDesign just for simplicity’s sake. Note that this workflow is all driven by the need to get a manuscript into printed pages quickly. Print books have been the main event for so long, they are still very much at the core of what publishers do.

Once the document is in InDesign, the Word file is no longer edited, and thus, last minute changes and corrections are not in that file. On the other hand, the file in InDesign is often tweaked to make the pages look good. If the composition person wants a word to hyphenate, and InDesign isn’t breaking the word, or is breaking it in a bad place, the compositor will often type in a hard hyphen. If a line is breaking in a bad place, they might use a nonstandard character like a non-breaking space to control where the line breaks. Whatever it takes to make the pages look pretty, the composition staff will do it. Using software like InDesign, composition staff will produce a PDF that is then sent to the printer to produce the printed book.

That’s a total of three file formats for each book: MS Word, InDesign, and PDF. Now that ebooks are part of the picture, publishers have to decide which file to use to convert to ebook format. They can use the MS Word file; it converts easily, but doesn’t have the latest corrections. Also, it’s hard to make Word convert reliably in a way that identifies things like chapter breaks. They can use the InDesign file; Indesign even offers a conversion to ePub. But anything that has been done to the file to make pages look good is going to be hard for a conversion to give good results. The PDF file will have absolutely every correction, but PDF has the same page layout constraints. That’s how you get words like “hyphen- ation” in an ebook. Besides, PDF is notoriously difficult to convert to text in a way that yields reliable, readable paragraphs 100% of the time.

In addition to new books, a lot of publishers are now looking at converting their backlist books. If the book is old enough, there might not even be a file to convert. Instead, they have to scan the printed book (or possibly the “boards”) with OCR (optical character recognition) software. But OCR can make a lot of mistakes. “Freddie” could become “Freclclio.” Because backlist books are so often OCR’d, I always recommend getting the free sample before you buy the book, just to see if the publisher has corrected the formatting and other errors that creep in.

Right now publishers are scrambling to adjust to the digital world. They haven’t yet figured out that they can take advantage of the fact that ebooks can be corrected much more easily than print books. Books are now data, and publishers need to know that. In the long run, the most likely solution will be that book publishers will follow information providers’ lead and begin to convert their data to a neutral format like SGML (standard generalized markup language) or XML (extensible markup language). Instead of marking up the text in a typesetting system according to how it should look (e.g., 14 point Bodoni bold, 11 point Helvetica italic), mark it up to show what it is (e.g., chapter, chapter title, paragraph, etc.). Once you have data in this kind of structured format, you can more reliably convert it to whatever output format is needed: print, web, or ebook. You can impose rules to make the data valid (e.g., every chapter has to have a chapter title). If you make the SGML or XML text the source for all outputs, you can proof and correct it once without having downstream effects on other formats. You can even load it into a database and control who edits it.

Basically, it’s getting better, but ebook workflow still has a ways to go.

Today’s post is an exciting one brought to you by the talented Amanda Brice. Amanda lives outside of Washington, DC with her husband and toddler daughter. An intellectual property attorney for a large federal government agency, she combines her love of writing with her legal career by speaking on basic copyright and trademark law on the writers’ conference circuit. A two-time Golden Heart Award finalist, Amanda’s debut novel, Codename: Dancer, was released for the Kindle in April, and in paperback last week. You can learn more about Amanda and her books at her website: www.amandabrice.net.

Congrats to Suzanne Collins, the first children’s author in the Kindle Million Club (1 million Kindle books sold)! The author of the hugely popular Hunger Games joins Stieg Larrson, James Patterson, Nora Roberts, Charlaine Harris, and Lee Child in the Club. She may be the first writing specifically for children and teens, but I’m sure it won’t be long before others join her.

I sort of feel like I’m preaching to the choir here today, since this is the “Kindle Obsessed” blog. I’m not going to run through the benefits of e-books, how readers can finish one book and start reading the next within 60 seconds, or how you can tote thousands of books with you along to the beach, or how it’s environmentally friendly. Readers of this blog already know how awesome e-readers and e-books are. According to Bowker/PubTrack and the Association of Booksellers for Children, more than 80% of teens don’t read e-books at all, but you fall in that 20% who does. So I don’t need to sell you on them.

Instead, I’m here to tell you about a fabulous contest (if I do say so myself!). Are you a teen who likes to borrow your parents’ Kindle? Or are you a parent who is ready to send out a search party for your Kindle because your teen won’t give it back?

Wouldn’t it be great to have your own Kindle? But who wants to spend the money in this economy? (I know when I was a teen, I didn’t make enough babysitting to afford a Kindle, and my parents wouldn’t have bought it for me since paperbacks are readily available.)

If this describes you, then July 4, 2011 could be your lucky day! Enter the Kindle INDIEpendence contest between now and July 3, and you could win a brand-new Kindle, preloaded with 17 of the hottest indie YA and MG titles. Runners-up will win e-books.

So how do you enter? SIMPLE. Just go to http://http://www.kindleindiependence.webs.com/ and register.

But don’t stop there! The website also lists all the various ways to earn additional entries, such as by sending Twitter messages, liking us on Facebook, or submitting honest reviews of any (or all) of the books involved in the promotion. There’s no limit to the number of times you can enter, so start sending tweets today!

What types of tweets count? Well, I’m glad you asked. Here’s some sample tweets you can send:

Want a free Kindle? #KindleINDIEpendence http://bit.ly/l3yXeE

Visit the #KindleINDIEpendence day blog to learn more ways to win a free Kindle. http://kindleindiependence.blogspot.com

I just put Codename: Dancer by Amanda Brice on my TBR pile! #kindleINDIEpendence

Love the cover of Queen Bee of Bridgeton by Leslie DuBois! #kindleINDIEpendence

Those are just some examples. Use your imagination, but be sure to use the #kindleINDIEpendence hashtag so we can count it.

So come join us and earn your Kindle INDIEpendence! Deadline July 3, 2011!

Will Competition from iPad and Tablet PC’s Drive Kindle to Go Free?

Certainly we are on the verge of a tablet PC revolution, and it’s already threatening the bustling Kindle market. New screen technologies that bridge the gap between E-paper and LCD displays, along with the inherent multi-functionality of these devices threaten to dethrone the Kindle as current king of e-readers. Amazon’s recent announcement of a discounted Kindle model, although with advertisements splashing the home page, is a direct response to the tablet PC market. We’ve seen this kind of trend before, both in conventional publications and on the internet, so is this a good move on Amazon’s part, or evidence of a dying market?

Ad revenues drive a lot of the publishing world, both online and in print. A major difference between an embedded device like Kindle and these other markets is that people are used to seeing advertisements on web pages and in magazines. They are not however, used to seeing advertisements in books. I can already see the shocked looks on peoples’ faces as they are presented with Viagra ads while reading a romance novel. Well, it’ll probably never get that out of hand, but still, you’re already paying for the book, whose really going to want advertisements to come with it? Of course they aren’t taking it quite that far yet, but the small amount of advertising they are doing also reflects in the price savings, a mere $25.

Considering the hard sell of advertisements, we might see Kindle take another route, the loss leader. Like printers and video game consoles we might see reductions in price in the Kindle hardware to the point where they’re actually losing money selling it, and then make up for it with a rise in the price of the e-books. There is a flaw in this strategy as well, Amazon currently dominates the e-book market, but that might not be the case for long if they increase the cost of their e-books.

More likely than not Amazon will utilize a combination of these two strategies, since going overboard with either one will likely hurt their business. Another mistake a lot of people seem to be making is underestimating why people by a Kindle to begin with. E-books are hardly a new concept, and there are plenty of public domain books you can even download to your computer for free, so why are people willing to dish out money for these? Because they’re simple to use and convenient.

They’re meant to cater to a relatively less technical crowd that doesn’t want the hassle of dealing with a laptop or other multifunction system. Reading through criticisms of Kindle, I constantly run across people denouncing it for its lack of features, such as availability of apps, multiple fonts, etc. I doubt we’ll see Amazon take this direction in Kindle’s development for 2 reasons, because adding complexity to the device will distance it from its core demographic, and second because they want to make it cheaper, not more expensive.

So is Amazon ready to start handing out these babies for free? I don’t think so. They might hand them out for free to certain customers, but I don’t see it happening en masse. More likely what we’ll see are incremental reductions in price along with more advertisements and higher prices on e-books. Likely, most of the back catalogue of e-books will remain unchanged, with the newest best sellers coming up just a tad. Although the iPads will take away some of Kindle’s business, it will be the technologically savvy early adaptation crowd that they grab, and not the people solely interested in convenience and ease of use. I think the Kindle has a lot of life left in it, and not only will it continue to dominate the e-reader market, but it won’t go for free either.

Alexis Bonari is a freelance writer and researcher for College Scholarships, where recently she’s been researching graphics design scholarships as well as gymnastic scholarships. Whenever she gets some free time, she enjoys watching a funny movie or curling up with a good book.

So, here is the run down. Each Sunday I will list 10-20 eBook samples for you to enjoy.  The majority of them will be for indie books, but if I happen to run across any trade pubs samples I’ll link to those as well. Hope you see something that tickles your fancy. Happy Reading!

Guardian by Elita Daniels (Vampire/Adult Romance) Click Here To Enjoy

A Blade Away by Jack Wallen (Thriller) Click Here To Enjoy

Sunlight Like Honey by Marian Ellen (YA Grief) Click Here To Enjoy

Gifted Apprentice by Nicholas Rose (Fantasy) Click Here To Enjoy

Tell Me You Want Me by Amelia James (Contemporary Romance) Click Here To Enjoy

The Gift by Sidney Williams (Supernatural Suspense) Click Here To Enjoy

The River and the Roses by Sophia Martin (Paranormal Mystery) Click Here To Enjoy

The Converted by C.R. Hindmarsh (Steampunk/Fantasy) Click Here To Enjoy

Ariana’s Pride by Margaret Lake (Medieval Romance) Click Here To Enjoy

Healing Touch by JA Scribbles (Romance) Click Here To Enjoy

Hearts In Darkness by Laura Kay (Contemporary Romance) Click Here To Enjoy

The Gift of Joy by Valerie Maarten (Romance) Click Here To Enjoy

Changeling by Morgan Gallagher (Psychological/Horror) Click Here To Enjoy

The Necromancer’s Apprentice by RM Prioleau (Gothic Fantasy)  Click Here To Enjoy

The House Eaters by Aaron Polson (Horror)  Click Here To Enjoy

Seed by Ania Ahiborn (Horror) Click Here To Enjoy

Jaguar Sees: The Lacquer Box by Ann Simon (Supernatural/Animal) Click Here To Enjoy

Distracted By Phillip Thomas Duck (Thriller) Click Here To Enjoy

i by Kipp Speicher (Flash Fiction) Click Here To Enjoy

An Empty Sky by Frank Dury (Psychological) Click Here To Enjoy

As children we rely on our imaginations to entertain us. We build pillow forts and wage wars against our siblings. We pretend to be the Lone Ranger or Cinderella, anything to help pass the time. As we get older our need to play “Cops and Robbers” fades into the background, but a whole new culture of imagination and fiction take its place. We are introduced to movies, books, Broadway plays, all in an effort to be a part of an unrealistic moment. To get lost in someone else’s imagination.

My son, (who recently turned 6,) has finally discovered his love of reading. Yes, he has always enjoyed picture books, but I’m referring to the good stuff. The alien-invasion-wimpy-kid-there’s-a-monster-under-my-bed type reading, otherwise known as chapter books. Naturally this sudden shift in interest thrilled me. Goodbye “Goodnight Dinosaur” hello “15 chapters of gloriously strung together words.”

Why am I telling you all of this? Well… other than the fact that I think it’s important for parents to encourage their bitty bots to read, “Lafitte’s Black Box” by Jake Webber just might be the book to get your little one’s imaginative juices flowing.

Deveraux Parker hates the “Big Easy” or at least he did until he met Sam. See…Sam is a nosey little chap, always sticking his fingers where they don’t belong and (in this particular case) trotting into an abandoned house he has no business being in. None of that, however, matters much to Deveraux. Why? Because Sam just found the coolest thing on the planet. A treasure chest. Quickly noticing that their little find is only a precursor to something much bigger, Deveraux and Sam set off on the treasure hunt of a lifetime, scouring the French Quarter for clues to the bigger prize. Unfortunately there’s a bit of a problem. Deveraux keeps getting sucked into his dreams. Suddenly finding it difficult to distinguish between his Dream state (of being a pirate) and his Reality (of being just another boy) he does the only thing he can think to do. He follows the clues in BOTH worlds. Will a wrong turn in his dream state leave him gasping for air back in the real world? Why is Sam suddenly acting so strange, and more importantly…what is Lafitte’s little black box?

Now…I could sit here and drag this book through the dirt; tell you that there were a few questionable plot choices throughout the read, that the beginning was a bit of a mess, or that it took about 3 full chapters for the author to really find his groove, but all of that would be pointless. Why? Because the intended audience for this book could care less. This book was not about how well the characters were developed, or how clean the plot was. This book was just that…a book, written for a younger audience in the hopes that they will get lost in a fun pirate filled adventure. This book was about imagination and entertainment, and in those regards, it fit the bill. Why destroy simplicity, when simplicity is all a child requires.

My suggestion to you would be this. If you have a “newbie” reader at home, someone who you can spend an extra 15 minutes with before scrambling them off to bed, give this one a shot. It just might be the thing you need to connect with your child and develop a lifelong love of literature.

Happy reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: feeding your imagination feeds your soul.

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****~ (4/5)

Book Trailer

I know this is a day late, but hey… better late than never.  Today’s picks scale a pretty wide range from dragons to heroine addicts to 19th Century New Zealand.  Hope you find something that strikes your fancy. Happy Reading!

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Jason is an excellent swordsman who grew up pretending to slay dragons with his older brother. There have long been rumors of dragons stealing people to another realm and enslaving them, but Jason did not believe the myths. Now, both his brothers are missing, and it turns out that dragons really exist. Jason journeys to find the portal to this mysterious realm in order to rescue his brothers and free the slaves. Meanwhile, a slave girl named Koren has long thought that the myths about a planet where humans are free was a myth. She dreams of freedom but because she is a Starlighter, a powerful visionary, the dragons will never set her free. Told in alternating chapters, Koren’s and Jason’s stories merge as both use their gifts to battle the dragons and liberate the captives. Both are strong characters who readers will root for from the very beginning. The first in a planned four-book series, there is just enough of a resolution to satisfy readers, yet leave them eager for book two.

After losing everything, Abigail Stanton seeks respite as a housekeeper for rugged Conor MacKay. Will this new journey move her from grief to joy?

Set in the late nineteenth century outside Colorado Springs, Colorado, Daughter of Joy tells a compelling, perceptive tale of one woman’s faith journey. In the wake of losing both her husband and young son, Abigail Stanton is searching for a way to make sense of her losses.

She takes a job as housekeeper for Conor MacKay, the owner of Culdee Creek ranch. Conor, a confusing, often volatile man, carries deep pain-and secrets-in his inscrutable heart. Though they are wary of each other at first and protective of their bruised hearts, Abby and Conor challenge each other to take off their masks.

Winner of the “2000 Golden Quill” award for inspirational romance, Desert Rose chapter of RWA.

Two is trapped: hooked on heroin, held as property, forced to sell her body to feed the addiction. Time brings her ever closer to what seems an inevitable death and Two waits, uncaring, longing only for the next fix.

That’s when Theroen arrives, beckoning to his Ferrari and grinning his inscrutable grin. He is handsome. Confident. Eager to help lift her out of the life that’s grinding her down.

The only problem? Theroen is a vampire.

His blood can cure her addiction, grant her powers she has never had, change her forever into something greater than she was. But when he sinks his teeth into her neck, Theroen also thrusts Two into a world of danger, violence, madness and despair. The powerful, twisted elder Abraham will use her arrival to shatter the uneasy peace that exists in his mansion, bringing an end to the dark game he has been playing for centuries.

On the surface, the story is about a pair of teenagers, trapped in a parallel world. They must retrieve information from their past lifetimes before they can return to their own world. Yet underlying the story is a message so powerful, so life-changing and controversial, it has been concealed for thousands of years – because these truths are capable of changing our current world forever.

Liesel Bonner never questioned her devotion to her country. But because of her heritage, her country questions her. Despite the fact that no one has any proof of her disloyalty, Liesel is fired from her stenographer’s position and has great difficulty finding another job because few people trust those with a name as German as her own. When she begins to suspect that the man she loves is involved in espionage against America, Liesel knows she has to do something. As her trust for others crumbles, Liesel finds that only God’s loving protection—and the enigmatic agent who is tearing her world apart—can save her.

In 19th Century New Zealand, there are few choices for a farm girl like Amy. Her life seems mapped out for her by the time she is twelve. Amy dreams of an exciting life in the world beyond her narrow boundaries. But it is the two people who come to the farm from outside the valley who change her life forever, and Amy learns the high cost of making the wrong choice. Book 1 of “Promises to Keep”.

Bert Ingram, a former music industry rep, has lost his way. Desperate for redemption, he puts together a band, recruiting musicians each with the need to overcome a significant obstacle in his life. The mix of personalities and backgrounds threatens to derail the band at every opportunity, but in time, the Redeemers realize they have more to gain from one another than they could have imagined.

Night is a cop who believes in what he does. Twenty years in undercover narcotics have cost him a wife and a daughter. Assigned to buy from a professor who sells to her students, he finds her unlike anyone he’s ever investigated. What is it about her that makes him break the rules he’s lived by? Night must decide if the enforcement of marijuana laws is worth a life.

Supernatural fantasy has a new antihero.

Life sucks, and then you die. Or, if you’re James Stark, you spend eleven years in Hell as a hitman before finally escaping, only to land back in the hell-on-earth that is Los Angeles.

Now Stark’s back, and ready for revenge. And absolution, and maybe even love. But Stark discovers that the road to absolution and revenge is much longer than you’d expect, and both Heaven and Hell have their own ideas for his future. Resurrection sucks. Saving the world is worse.

At the start of Chang’s promising debut, NYPD detective Jack Yu must cope with his father’s recent death and investigate the rape of a grade-school girl on the fringes of Chinatown, where he grew up and has just been stationed. Meanwhile, would-be gangster Johnny Wong is carrying on with Mona, the gorgeous mistress of his employer, Uncle Four, head of the local branch of the Hip Ching tong and a powerful underworld figure in both New York and Hong Kong. As Yu digs deeper into his case, suspecting that an illegal Chinese immigrant may be the serial rapist he is seeking, he finds evidence of a connection between the rapist and the local gangsters. Though Chang builds less suspense than more seasoned police procedural authors, he presents a fascinating look at New York’s Chinese-American urban community and its subcultures.

Parrish’s latest opens upon a world so tilted–people are “shifted” into new bodies, while their old bodies and personalities proceed–that it brings Philip K. Dick to mind. Gradually, the Dick-like paranoia itself shifts into flourishes of sword-and-sorcery and a cast of characters rather like X-Men. Psychokinesis is the theme, and Parrish makes it seem plausible, as his reluctant hero, Collin Boyd/Grant Borrows, discovers his powers in a kind of spiritual journey. The cliff-hanging plot mostly holds up, and the pace is, well, relentless. It’s almost as though Parrish has too much talent and can’t quite bring it under control. Nonetheless, another of Bethany’s sf writers, Randall Ingermanson comes to mind, and Parrish is every bit as skilled

Kelly pens a novel with a medieval setting, writing under her initials to distinguish it from her historical Depression-era inspirational fiction under the name Leisha Kelly (Julia’s Hope; Katie’s Dream; Emma’s Gift). The lovely Lady Netta Trilett is kidnapped by a cold-blooded killer, Tahn Dorn, who slew her husband several years before. This time, however, Dorn is acting out of a somewhat unexplained newfound desire to turn over a new leaf. After Dorn stashes Netta in a cave for her safety, the evil Samis, Dorn’s former leader, burns her family’s home. Dorn rounds up eight children Samis had tutored in villainy and spirits them away to the cave, where he and Netta care for them and Netta wrestles with forgiving Dorn—and understanding her newfound feelings for him. Kelly develops her story well in the first half, and her characters, especially the children, are sweet and vulnerable. Some light sexual tension and violence mark Kelly’s change of genre. The pace slows in the second half, and readers may struggle with the idea of a woman romantically interested in her husband’s killer, no matter how much Christians believe in forgiveness. Yet Kelly’s tender touch will endear her to those CBA market readers who like their historicals heavily salted with salvation themes.

Joining a growing field of Austeniana—and, particularly, Darcyiana—Grange retells Austen’s Pride & Prejudice from Fitzwilliam Darcy’s point of view. Her device for doing so is an imagined diary of a clever sort: Grange reproduces, word for word and comma for comma, conversations from the original novel, but shifts the perspective to reported speech in Darcy’s first-person, with his commentary on the encounters. Between the reconstituted passages, the reader is treated to Darcy’s ongoing reflections on Hertfordshire society, his family obligations, his sister and, most crucially, Elizabeth Bennet and her family. There are also wholly invented conversations, most engagingly between Bingley and Darcy as they try to resist the pull of Netherfield Hall. On the whole, however, the diary is awkward in tone and lacks the polish and poise of Austen’s creation (which some of the sequels have managed to approximate). There’s a decidedly introspective quality to the observations not befitting the very unmodern, unintrospective nobleman. It simply doesn’t sound like Darcy.

For those of you that are wanting to win an autographed copy of Vince Flynn’s new novel “American Assassin”… The first person to email me (misty@kindleobsessed.com) with the the correct answer to this question wins.

QUESTION:  After college Flynn went to work for what what major FOOD company,  where he was an account and sales marketing specialist?

Disclaimer: A great big sorry to my subscription holders… I know you can’t view this on your Kindle, but please drop by the site and check it out when you get a free chance. Cheers!

Happy Reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: When the sun shines, soak it up, chances are tomorrow it will rain.

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Absorbing and heartwarming, this first novel lavishly evokes the land and lore of Scotland, quickening both with realistic characters and a feisty, likable heroine. English nurse Claire Beauchamp Randall and husband Frank take a second honeymoon in the Scottish Highlands in 1945. When Claire walks through a cleft stone in an ancient henge, she’s somehow transported to 1743. She encounters Frank’s evil ancestor, British captain Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall, and is adopted by another clan. Claire nurses young soldier James Fraser, a gallant, merry redhead, and the two begin a romance, seeing each other through many perilous, swashbuckling adventures involving Black Jack. Scenes of the Highlanders’ daily life blend poignant emotions with Scottish wit and humor. Eventually Sassenach (outlander) Claire finds a chance to return to 1945, and must choose between distant memories of Frnak and her happy, uncomplicated existence with Jamie. Claire’s resourcefulness and intelligent sensitivity make the love-conquers-all, happily-ever-after ending seem a just reward. Doubleday Book Club main selection, Literary Guild alternate.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Jacobson’s third novel (after False Accusations and The Hunted) has all the ingredients for a best-selling psychological thriller: strong female lead, multifaceted serial killer, compelling plot, and just enough secrets and surprises to keep the adrenaline racing. The hunt is on for the notorious Dead Eyes killer who is preying on young women. Karen Vail is a gritty yet vulnerable FBI profiler with a precarious personal life. As Vail and the task force pursue the serial killer, readers are drawn into the inner sanctum of a profiler while simultaneously privy to the killer’s crazed thoughts. The murders rapidly escalate, and Vail’s personal life is careening out of control, threatening to derail her investigation. When the killer strikes a seventh time, surprising revelations provide a shocking finale. The author’s seven years of study with the FBI’s profiling unit have helped him craft a riveting, authentically detailed thriller that will ensnare readers. Strongly recommended for all popular fiction collections.

In Marilyn Brant’s smart, wildly inventive debut, one woman in search of herself receives advice from the ultimate expert in matters of the heart. . .

It begins one day in sophomore English class, just as Ellie Barnett’s teacher is assigning Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. From nowhere comes a quiet “tsk” of displeasure. The target: Sam Blaine, the cute bad boy who’s teasing Ellie mercilessly, just as he has since kindergarten. Entirely unbidden, as Jane might say, the author’s ghost has taken up residence in Ellie’s mind, and seems determined to stay there.

Jane’s wise and witty advice guides Ellie through the hell of adolescence and beyond, serving as the voice she trusts, usually far more than her own. Years and boyfriends come and go–sometimes a little too quickly, sometimes not nearly fast enough. But Jane’s counsel is constant, and on the subject of Sam, quite insistent. Stay away, Jane demands. He is your Mr. Wickham.

Still, everyone has something to learn about love–perhaps even Jane herself. And lately, the voice in Ellie’s head is being drowned out by another, urging her to look beyond everything she thought she knew and seek out her very own, very unexpected, happy ending. . .

Little-noticed Felicity Seymour is a woman with a problem: she can’t take control of her parents’ lands until she can prove her magical abilities, of which she’s never had the slightest hint. When she meets a handsome were-lion baronet, Terence Blackwell, she’s surprised at his interest; what she doesn’t know is that Terence smells the taint of relic-magic on her, the same magic that killed his brother. Resolving to learn her secrets, Terence courts the worried wallflower and is as surprised as anyone when he falls head over heels. Soon after they marry in secret, Felicity discovers that people she’s trusted all her life are conspiring to steal her magic, her title and her land. Now she’s got to stop them with the help of her new husband—but how much does she really know about her mysterious mate? The latest from Kennedy (Beneath the Thirteen Moons) is simply delightful, set in a fantasy-touched Victorian England that’s imaginative, historically vigorous and ripe for further adventures. Felicity is a pleasantly unassuming heroine and is well matched in Terence, while the identity of the villain will keep readers guessing until the very end. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

In Charlie Carillo’s funny, insightful novel, a divorced man gets to know his seventeen-year-old son in a tale that rewrites the book on quality time together. . .

Sammy Sullivan is working his way down the ladder of success. Divorced and pushing fifty, his relationships have the longevity of a fruit fly. But how many men can get themselves fired and have their only son expelled from prep school all in one day? Now, after almost eighteen years, he and Jake may finally get to know each other. (That’s if his ex-wife–the super-achiever Sammy can only dream of being–doesn’t find out.) Jake knows virtually nothing about his roots. So, Sammy shows him the old neighborhood in the far reaches of Queens. But it’s been thirty years. The older woman Sammy lost his virginity to now uses a walker to get around. Most of his hangouts are long gone. It’s dreary, born-to-lose stuff. But Jake is on a mission. Wise beyond his (and his dad’s) years, he doesn’t want his father to miss out the second time around on the good things he blew the first time. And they’ve got a whole weekend together–a journey where Sammy will confront his, dysfunctional childhood and Jake will face a past he never knew he had.

This isn’t your typical father-son story–one is still growing up. The other is his son.

Linda’s had a bad day. First her boyfriend killed her. Then she woke up, still on this boring plane of existence, and with an odd obsession about her missing body. Mike won’t tell her what he did with her body, and she can’t find the stupid thing herself. There’s only one thing she can do – torment the bastard until he coughs up the information.

They say you can’t get to Heaven without passing through the Eternal Rest Funeral Home. And no one gets into Eternal Rest without passing muster with Elvis-the basset hound who’s convinced he’s the reincarnation of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Brewing up a big ol’ pitcher of Mississippi mystery, Peggy Webb’s delightful new series is as intoxicating as the Delta breeze.

Normally, Callie Valentine Jones spends her days fixing up the hairdos of the dead, but when the corpse of local, prominent physician Dr. Leonard Laton goes missing, it’s bad for business. So Callie and her cousin Lovie (Eternal Rest’s resident wake caterer) have no choice but to go in hot pursuit of the recently embalmed, last seen bound for Vegas by way of downtown Tupelo.

In Vegas, Callie and Lovie hit the jackpot when they find the dearly departed inside a freezer owned by his showgirl mistress, Bubble Malone. But their luck runs out when Bubble decides to join her man in the afterlife. With the poisonous Laton family tree providing plenty of rotten suspects, Callie, along with some help from her basset hound, Elvis, is determined to crack this case-and have a killer singing “Jailhouse Rock” in time for her next haircutting appointment. . .

Kurt Warner is the two-time NFL MVP–winning quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals. Brenda Warner is an ex-Marine turned stay-at-home mom who collects coats for low-income kids and rocks babies to sleep at a hospital for chronically-ill infants. Together they’re the parents of seven, going into their 12th year of marriage, and founders of a foundation that helps disadvantaged children and families. Their formula for success? They put First Things First—family, faith, and giving to others—it’s their family motto, and it drives everything they do. First Things First is an honest, insightful, and entertaining look at life inside the Warner household. Kurt and Brenda speak candidly about their marriage, the values they are working to instill in their kids, things they’ve done right, mistakes they’ve made, the importance of giving back, and the legacy they hope to leave behind.

THERE IS A SECRET WAR GROWING BENEATH THE STREETS OF LONDON.

A dark magic will be unleashed by the Untainted…Unless a new hero can be found. The smarter, faster brother to Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere has arrived.

The immense Sixty-One Nails follows Niall Petersen, victim of a suspected heart attack on the London Underground, into the hidden world of the Feyre, an uncanny place of legend that lurks just beyond the surface of everyday life. The Untainted, the darkest of the Seven Courts, have made their play for power, and unless Niall can recreate the ritual of the Sixty-One Nails, their dark dominion will enslave all of the Feyre, and all of humankind too.

I should have posted this yesterday, and I wish I had a good excuse (I watched the entire first season of Friday Night Lights) but alas, I do not.  But… have no fear, I will never leave you hanging on the free reads, so here it is… this weeks free Amazon reads, and to make it up to you (for being the laziest person on the planet yesterday) a few free Kindle GAMES!  Enjoy and happy reading!

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Underwater archeologist Shiloh Blake is consumed with passion for the water and inflamed at the injustices of life. When her first large-scale dig traps her in the middle of an international nuclear arms clash, she flees for her life. When she spots a man trailing her, the questions are, Who is he? and How is he always one step ahead? Reece Jaxon is a former Navy SEAL and now serves his country as a spy. His life is entangled by the beguiling Shiloh Blake as he hunts down the sources to a nuclear dead drop in the Arabian Sea near Mumbai, India. The only way to end this nightmare and prevent a nuclear meltdown is to join forces with Reece. Will Shiloh violate her vow to never become a spy?

When Claudia, a 40-something Texas widow, holds a garage sale to offload some of her late husband’s belongings, she discovers a note he scribbled in the last days of his illness, asking her to return a bizarre three-foot bust of Elvis Presley to Memphis. Reluctantly, Claudia embarks on a return to sender road trip to Tennessee with her 60ish aunt, who knew Elvis personally, and a caustic teenage girl who is harboring a secret. Ellis (who has built a career in romance writing under the name Leanna Wilson) has some strong moments scattered throughout the story, which is laced with over-the-top Elvis humor and interesting reflections on Claudia’s cautious return to faith in God. The first half of the novel is an awkward mix of road trip sitcom and overwrought melodrama before jettisoning the humor somewhere after a tour of Graceland. Elvis fans will likely enjoy the homage paid to the King—in addition to the travelogue of sites around Memphis, each chapter is named after an Elvis song—but others will find the gimmicks distracting. Moreover, the writing is marred by theatrical clichés (sudden tears threaten like the storm clouds popping up on the horizon). Despite some entertaining scenes in this faith fiction offering, it lacks cohesiveness

Lieutenant Magdalena Cruz had come home-And though all she wanted was to be alone, infuriatingly handsome Dr. Jake Dalton-of the enemy Daltons-wouldn’t cooperate. And she needed him to, because the walls around her heart were dangerously close to crumbling every time he came near.-

Jake had spent most of his life trying to get closer to Maggie, with little to show for it. But she was the woman he’d always wanted, and no injury in the world could change that. Now if only he could convince her that the woman who stood before him was beautiful, desirable, whole-and meant to be his.-

A hodgepodge hardcover debut in which two Native American medicine men, an Arizona lawman, a young widow and her son, and a Papago basket-weaver/wise woman are inexorably drawn into confrontation with the evil ohb, a university professor-turned- serial-killer, who upended their lives six years before when he tortured and murdered the basket-weaver’s granddaughter and then stage-managed a suicide/frame-up for his distraught accomplice Garrison Ladd. Now he’s stalking Ladd’s widow Diana and son Davy, but his old MO (biting off nipples) used on a new victim has set the sheriff’s department on his trail, while his malevolent spirit has energized the Papagos. There will be another murder, an attempted murder, dreams, emanations, and a near-fatal dog- poisoning before everyone converges on the Ladd house for a gruesome resolution. Disconcerting time shifts and a plethora of Papago parables (can anyone outdo Tony Hillerman?) fail to disguise the fact that this is nothing more than potboiler melodrama, with the hapless reader bombarded first by the lurid, then by the mystical.

It is 1945 and a group of American soldiers liberate a Nazi concentration camp. Helene is the abandoned wife of an SS guard who has fled to avoid arrest. Overcome by guilt, she begins to help meet the needs of survivors. Throughout the process, she finds

Games

If you like word scrambles then Every Word is the game for you. Test your vocabulary as you try to find as many words from the scrambled letters in this fun and fast-paced word game.

You are given six or seven scrambled letters with the goal of finding as many words as you can. You score points by filling out the words in each empty spot on the board using only the letters that appear at the top of the game board. Keep at it until time runs out or until you fill up the board. The more words you make, the higher your score!

Your score is comprised of two components: first make a lot of words, second try to make the longest word possible. The best way to increase your score is to do both. Why? Because when you do, you earn the right to play a new level with a brand new set of letters. As long as you keep finding the longest word, you can move on to a new level and push your score higher and higher.

Can you keep up with Shuffled Row? See how many words you can make from 60 lettered tiles.

Happy reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: if your 2 year old is quiet for more than 2 minutes 9 times out of 10 bad things are happening. I advise checking. Which for me means right now.

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Thompson (The Salt Maiden) packs this well-paced thriller full of twists and the local color of a small Texas town. Photographer Rachel Copeland has been formally acquitted of the murder of Kyle Underwood, a young man who stalked her, but she remains disgraced in her adopted Philadelphia community, where many still believe she seduced and killed him. Rumors and harassment follow Rachel as she flees to her hometown of Marfa, Texas, where she butts heads with her stepmother, Patsy, and other locals. One of the few people willing to support Rachel is Zeke Pike, a woodcarver with a secret of his own, and they soon wrestle with romantic feelings for each other as mysterious stalkers threaten and try to separate them. Thompson’s supporting characters and their tensions are believable, especially Patsy with her multilayered jealousy and unhappiness. The red herrings are exquisitely placed, and the climax will surprise even the most jaded of suspense readers. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

One morning the residents of Walden, Virginia, woke to find themselves cut off from the rest of the world by an impenetrable wall of darkness.

Prim and proper preschool teacher Lizzie Brown is on the verge of her thirtieth birthday when her hitherto unknown grandmother shows up, quickly followed by a demon erupting out of her toilet who Lizzie surprisingly manages to blast into “a million flecks of light.” Raised by distant adoptive parents, Lizzie had no idea that she was born to be a demon slayer. Her granny, a biker who communes with spirits in a metal lawn shed, then takes her to join her coven of senior biker witches who will help her defeat the demons who want to kill Lizzie before she can go after them. Along the way, Lizzie meets sexy shape-shifter Dimitri Kallinkikos, a sometime griffin who claims to be her protector but may have a hidden agenda that will take her straight to hell. This rollicking paranormal comedy will appeal to fans of Dakota Cassidy, MaryJanice Davidson, and Tate Hallaway. –Diana Tixier Herald

‘How I survived beauty pageants, Elvis, sex, Bruce Willis, lies, marriage, motherhood, Hollywood, and the irrepressible urge to say what you think.’

From wholesome beauty queen to saucy cover girl, from heartbreaking movie star (THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, TAXI DRIVER) to one of television’s most loved comediennes (MOONLIGHTING, CYBILL), Cybill Shepherd is renowned as sassy, shocking and sexy. In CYBILL DISOBEDIENCE, she opens her heart with the wit and honesty of a star who’s seen and knows it all.

Once, this was the City of Angels. The angels are no longer in charge. From the extravagant appetites of the vampire world above, to the gritty defiance of the werewolves below, the specter of darkness lives around every corner, the hope of paradise in every heart. All walk freely with humans in a tentative peace, but to live in Los Angeles is to balance on the edge of a knife. One woman knows better than most that death lurks here in nights of bliss or hails of UV bullets. She’s about to be tested, to taste true thirst. She’s about to regain the power she’s long been denied. And Fleur Dumont is about to meet the one man who may understand her: a tormented protector who’s lost his way and all he loved. 9.36 hours Read by Rebecca Rogers

A mystery writer is forced to reconsider her policy against dating when she is protected from death threats by the sexiest cop she’s ever seen.

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Brown, author of the Navy Justice Series and a former U.S. Navy lawyer, has written a book destined to top Christian fiction lists. A rogue Indonesian general and his army of terrorists attack oil tankers in the Strait of Malacca in order to profit from oil futures and buy nuclear weapons to establish an Islamic superpower. Navy JAG officers Zack Brewer and Diane Colcernian race against the odds and a 24-hour deadline before nuclear attacks hit the United States. Departing from the sea of books barely better than soap opera romance and using the frantic pacing of suspense fiction, Brown glides flawlessly among global hotspots of terrorism–including the United States–and the book’s principal settings in Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The plot surges headlong with energy; characters–from various cultures–are both believable and accessible; rich dialogue flows. A Bible-quoting evangelical Christian president in the war room is over the top, and while evangelical hot-button issues may please some readers and turn others off, Brown has penned another winner.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From an extraordinary new voice in fiction comes a haunting, powerful novel about mothers and daughters, choice and regret, the mistakes we make and the ones we hope we can correct before it’s too late.

Nothing much ever happens in Falling Rock, Kentucky. So when Virginia Lemmons’ husband takes off in his Trans Am to take up with a beautician, there’s not much to