Tag: ebooks

Ebook Review Central for Amber Quill, Astraea, Liquid Silver and Riptide for October 2011

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Ebook Review Central

This multi-publisher issue needs a shorter title!  This issue covers Amber Quill, Astraea Publishing, Liquid Silver Books and Riptide Publishing for October 2011. That’s a lot to swallow in a single post, but we’ll get to that later. Also, this is the last issue that covers October, next week cycles back to Carina Press, but we’ll move along to November books.

Riptide Publishing made a huge, huge splash in October. Their multi-blog launch parties created major buzz for this new ebook-only publishing house devoted to M/M romance. In spite of their launch date being the very end of the month, their books generated tremendous interest. Every title received multiple reviews. Almost all were positive, but not 100%. And that’s not the point. Readers will always have different opinions about what they read. The point is that people cared enough about this new venture to post all those opinions. Keeping the conversation going can only be good for the company. Because of all the buzz and all the reviews their new titles generated, Riptide books nabbed two of the three featured slots this month.

On the other hand, there were a significant number of Astraea Press books that were not reviewed anywhere that I could find, not even on Goodreads or Amazon. (The Amazon links are to the book in that case) One of the purposes of Ebook Review Central is to provide a guide to where reviews of ebooks can be found. If there are no reviews to find, that purpose is just not served. Unless readers of this post indicate strong interest in seeing me continue to cover it, this will be the last time that Astraea Press is covered by Ebook Review Central.

As promised two of this week’s featured titles are from Riptide Publishing’s debut list.

Grown Men by Damon Suede is book one in Suede’s HardCell series. This is science fiction romance, with emphasis very much on the science fiction side of the equation according to most of the reviewers. In fact, the two men don’t seem to reach the romance part of the book until very near to the end of the story. On the other hand, every reviewer was very positive that any reader who likes a lot of science fiction in their SFR is going to love this book, and that the world-building is particularly good. There is also a free short story, titled Seedy Business, available from the author. I love the tagline for this series, “Every future has dirty roots”. Sounds like good, gritty science fiction to me.

Cat Grant’s Once a Marine received the highest and the lowest reviews, but everyone had a very strong opinion. The two heroes of this romance are a former marine with PTSD and a writer of male/male romance who is making ends meet by waiting tables. The writer is also a military brat who happens to have a thing for men in uniform, even men formerly in uniform. Most of the reviewers thought that the story of these two working through their issues and towards each other made for a powerful romance.  Try it for yourself and see.

The final featured title is another trip to hell. We went there last week and we’re back. The third book in Eve Langlais’ Princess of Hell trilogy is Hell’s Revenge. Published by Liquid Silver Books, this book, following Lucifer’s Daughter and Snowballs in Hell, sounds like a really fun, and funny book! Muriel is the Princess of Hell. She’s Lucifer’s daughter, and she’s actually a good girl. So good, that she makes Lucifer a laughingstock in Hell because she’s not bad enough. Take this concept to it’s nth degree, and you’ve got a series. I think I’m in! This sounds like it might be a good one for fans of MaryJanice Davidson’s Undead series.

Tune in next week for the Carina Press November titles!

What’s on my (mostly virtual) nightstand? 12-11-11

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Virtual Nightstand

I realized something important this week. Ebooks allow someone like me to be a book hoarder without all the unsightly piles that normally betray one’s terrible addiction to accumulating one’s drug of choice. NetGalley may even be enabling this, I can acquire even more reading material without spending money. A book looks interesting and ZAP! another book in the queue.

The whole ebook thing helps an awful lot in one dimension though. Literal dimensions. The movers are coming on Friday to pack. Ebooks don’t have to be packed, because I never let my iPad out of my sight. The 2,300 print books we have on IKEA Billy Bookcases (and yes, the Library Thing measurements are accurate!) do require real packing, real moving, and real unpacking.

My virtual nightstand may not have much drop off of it this week. Or maybe lots. It all depends upon the stress level.

One thing will get read this week. Absolutely. I am hosting the Unacceptable Risk blog tour on December 18, so Jeanette Grey will be guest posting on the 18th, and I will also have a review of her science fiction romance Unacceptable Risk. There will also be a giveaway.

What new gems are piling onto the reading queue? Just two. And both look like sex dreams. Or sex steams. Something along that line.

I have two Carina Press titles listed for December 19.  Lady Seductress’ Ball by Eliza Night and One Perfect Night by Rachel Johns. Lady Seductress is historically steamy, and Perfect Night is contemporary, but they both look like very fun, and very hot stories of the “mind candy” persuasion. Probably just perfect for a week when my real life is turning topsy-turvy.

Looking back at my last week’s “to be read” list, I’m not sure whether Santa would put me on his “naughty” or his “nice” list.

Hellsbane, Deadly Pursuit and A Clockwork Christmas all got checked off the list. After writing a complete review off all the stories in A Clockwork Christmas, I couldn’t resist the impulse to write the same kind of review for Holiday Kisses, so I did.

But, then my impulses led me astray. I liked the format of Carina’s holiday anthologies so much, I got Men Under the Mistletoe from NetGalley, and finished it last night. I’ll be posting my review this week.

And I bought Robin D. Owens Hearts and Swords and immediately inhaled it, so I reviewed it too. I love Celta. I think it is one of the science fiction/fantasy words that I would actually like to live on.

I read a lot. We also watched the entire sixth season of Bones this week. I sleep sometimes. Did I mention we’re moving again? What didn’t happen was reading any of the fantasies. My reading “palate” wasn’t set for them this week. Which is going to be a problem if I don’t get them read soon.

Tomorrow is another day. And tomorrow is Ebook Review Central. This week is the miscellany week. Which means the Review covers Amber Quill, Astraea Press, Liquid Silver, and the debut of Riptide Publishing!

 

Ebook Review Central Samhain Publishing October 2011

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Ebook Review Central> ebooks

It’s time for Ebook Review Central to return to Samhain Publishing to look at their October 2011 titles.

And there are some hellish surprises in store, but they are all the good kind. Contradictory? Not really when you look at this month’s featured titles.

Samhain Publishing released 30 ebooks in October, including the start of their new Samhain Horror line which launched in October 2011. But the hottest books this month all featured some link with the “fires down below” and I’m not necessarily referring to sex.

The first featured title is Alisha Rai’s Hot as Hades, and it’s a re-telling of the Persephone myth. So the Hades in the title is exactly who it refers to, the Greek deity himself, Hades. This re-imagining of the classic tale has Hades as the ultimate ‘bad boy’ and Persephone turning to him to protect her from something even worse. This book was reviewed pretty much everywhere, and the reviews were not just positive, but they all agreed that the book was just plain “fun”. This one sounds like a winner.

Mummy Dearest by Josh Lanyon is the second featured title for this month. Yes, I typed ‘Mummy’, this is a paranormal, and it takes place at an Egyptian mummy exhibit in a very small museum.  This is  a Halloween romp where a low-budget cable TV show meets an Egyptology professor at a low-budget museum and tries to get the professor involved in saying there’s a curse on the mummy. Instead, the two men get involved with each other. All of the reviewers, including USA Today and Library Journal, had a terrific time with this one, the start of the XOXO Series. The tag line for this new series, “The truth is out there, Way, way, way out there!”

And last, one of Samhain’s new horror line generated a ton of reviews. Dead of Winter by Brian Moreland is a mixture of horror and western, using Native American myths and folklore to generate its chills. One reviewer said it would be hard to beat as “one of the best books of the year”. Another reviewer compared the work to M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village. Certainly Samhain’s Horror publishing has brought them a whole new audience and this work in particular was reviewed by a large and completely different audience than their previous output. If you’re interested in trying one of their horror books, this definitely looks like the one to pick!

And that chillingly concludes the Samhain Publishing feature for this month. We’ll be back next week with Amber Quill Press, Astraea Press and Liquid Silver Books.

What’s on my (mostly virtual) nightstand? 12-4-11

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Virtual Nightstand

We’re back again for another edition of Marlene’s weekly reading diary. Or is that weekly reading planning session? I can never decide…

I just looked at my upcoming review schedule and discovered that my long-anticipated reviewing break is here. I think I hear a rousing Hallelujah Chorus somewhere off in the distance. I may finally get a chance to catch up with myself.

But maybe not. We will be moving house and home the weekend of December 15-18. So things will be slightly disrupted. Or, as they used to say, “at sixes and sevens”. I always liked that phrase.

Reading Reality will be hosting the Unacceptable Risks blog tour on December 18. So one of the books I will be reading in the next two weeks is Jeanette Grey’s Unacceptable Risk. I love science fiction romance, so I’m really looking forward to this one. Jeanette will be writing a guest post on December 18 for the blog tour and she has graciously agreed to give away a copy of her book as part of her stop here for the tour. This is a real wow for me, so I’m really looking forward to it.

I’m also hoping that my connectivity that weekend will not be in the Barnes and Noble in the mall down the street. And I’m trying to figure out whether having a B&N within easy walking distance of our new digs is a bug or a feature of the new place. Browsing in bookstores used to be a serious addiction. “See all the pretty covers…”

The next new book on my list is Rise of Empire, by Michael J. Sullivan. And, if anyone is keeping track, I still need to review Theft of Swords, since it comes first in the Riyria Revelations, and I skipped over that 500 page monster before Thanksgiving. Well, it’s back. Now I need to read it and Empire before December 14. The third book, Heir of Novron, so far has not shown up on NetGalley, unlike the first two. Since it’s not due out until January 31, there’s time yet, but it would be really annoying to have to buy it to find out what happens!

Even before Riyria, I have to go to Hell. (Got your attention, didn’t I?) Last week I picked up Hellsbane, by Paige Cuccaro, from NetGalley. Unfortunately, I picked it up on Tuesday, and it came out on Thursday, and I was already up to my eyeballs in reviews. So I’ll be reading it this week. Hellsbane is the main character’s name, Jane Hellsbane, and this looks like the start of an interesting paranormal series. We’ll see.

Since last week I was already a week behind, this re-cap may be more like a re-top-hat. It needs more capacity than normal.

I did send out my review to Library Journal for Holiday Kisses. I really liked the book–it’s a great collection of holiday love stories. One thing I found interesting, all the stories had an underlying theme of second chances. I don’t know if that was intentional or not. I wish I had more space for the reviews in LJ, I could easily have written a 250-word review for each novella, instead of trying to squish.

Out of the other stuff due for this week, A Clockwork Christmas is done, I just need to write it up. Deadly Pursuit is next.  I just did my ‘mea culpa’ about Theft of Swords, so I won’t go there again, except to read it.

I will probably read Honor Among Thieves first, if only because it finishes the Ancient Blades trilogy, and I get to find out how everything turns out. I like ticking things off the ‘to do’ list. Then it’s on to Laura Anne Gilman’s Paranormal Scene Investigations Series, Hard Magic and Pack of Lies, just so I can review Tricks of the Trade and click that off my NetGalley queue.

Six or seven books will get read this week. Six or seven books will drop out of my queues. The only question is, which six or seven? (Now you know why I like that phrase so much!)

Don’t forget–Samhain Publishing is the featured publisher in tomorrow’s edition of Ebook Review Central.

 

 

 

March of the Penguins

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | ebooks> libraries> OverDrive

This story may sound slightly familiar. Penguin Books has decided to opt out of the Library ebook market. The company is citing “security concerns“, much in the same way that Harper Collins cited the “need to protect their authors” when they imposed the 26-circulation cap on library ebook lending back in February 2011.

The same rules are applying in both cases, Harper Collins picked a date, and any item purchased before that date had unlimited loans–anything after that date was subject to the “Rule of 26”. Penguin is doing the same thing: anything purchased before a specific date, the libraries get to keep (without Kindle lending options). Anything after that date, well there is no after. Any library who has a lot of fans of Penguin authors is going to have a lot of unhappy patrons.

Although most of the focus is on OverDrive, because that’s the way most public libraries get their ebook content and deliver it to patrons, a Penguin statement refers to all library lending, not just OverDrive — and not just the Kindle Lending Library, either.

Random House is now the librarian’s best friend in the ebook marketplace. They are the only one of the “Big 6” publishers that provides new titles and doesn’t cap lending. Hachette Group still allows unfettered access, but they hang on to their new ebooks for a while before libraries get access. That still makes them way friendlier than everyone else in this increasingly cold marketplace.

The irony in this news comes from the survey released last month from Library Journal‘s Patron Profiles. According to the survey data, library users are a publisher’s best customers. Not just because the libraries themselves provide a steady market, but because people who check out books from the library buy more books. And the data says this is just as true for ebooks as it is for print books. This is one of those things that librarians always knew, but it is excellent to see it backed up with statistics.

So, instead of library borrowing cutting into sales, what really happens is that library usage allows readers to find authors they really like. When they find an author they like, they go out and buy more books from that author, whether they are print books or ebooks. Penguin Books has just cut themselves out of that channel for introducing readers to their authors.

Penguin Book Group is the publisher of the Complete Idiot’s Guides. How appropriate.

 

Ebook Review Central for Carina Press for October 2011

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Ebook Review Central

We’re back! It’s November, and it’s time to take a look at the Carina Press titles for October 2011.

And let’s not forget those September titles! As promised, the September list has been updated to add new reviews since the first issue was published.  For the books that came out late in the month, or had big blog tours in October, like Elyse Mady’s Something so Right, there were lots of reviews added.

But we’re here for the October titles. And October had some big hits among the 19 titles that Carina Press published during the month.

There were way more contenders for the featured title slots this month. There was significantly more reviewing activity to evaluate, for which I want to give a hearty thank you to my fellow book reviewers.  Now on to the featured titles!

Falke’s Captive, part of the Puma Nights series by Anna Leigh Keaton and Madison Layle, was one of three erotica titles from Carina that received 10 or more reviews this month. What sets this story of a female graduate student finding fulfillment with two mountain lion shapeshifter brothers apart from the others was the consistently positive tone to all of the reviews for this book. To quote the Library Journal review, “authors Layle and Keaton craft a balanced tale rife with the requisite romance, eroticism, and fantastical.” This one sounds like not just good erotica, but also a darn good story.

Val’s Rancher by Debra Kayn is the second featured book. This is part of her Sisters of MacDougal Ranch series, and if the first book, Chantilly’s Cowboy, is as good as this one, she’ll win some fans. Val’s Rancher is a story about learning to live with heartbreak, and about finding ways to trust again when your world is falling apart. This is a “coming back to your first love” story, and there are never enough good ones of those. The review at A Snarky Space, which in this case is not snarky at all, is enough to make anyone fall in love with this one.

My last featured book is a biggie. Because it’s four books in one. Carina and C.J. Barry have brought back her incredible science fiction romance series, Unforgettable, and made them available in ebooks. They were well-reviewed when they were originally published and are getting a whole new crop of great reviews now that they are back. If you like science fiction romance, these look like a must read. In order, the Unforgettable series is: 1)Unearthed, 2)Unraveled, 3)Unleashed and 4)Unmasked. Drea at Judging the Book by its Pages has written excellent reviews for the entire series.

Next week, after we’ve all slept off our post-Thanksgiving turkey comas, Ebook Review Central will return with a look at Dreamspinner Press’ October titles.

What’s on my (mostly virtual) nightstand 11-20-11

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Virtual Nightstand

Thanksgiving is this Thursday. We’re driving to my mom’s in Cincinnati on Wednesday. I’ll either get a lot read this weekend, or not much. Also, since it’s an 8-ish hour drive from Atlanta, we need to pick something to listen to while Audible is still having their sale.

But somehow this week I still need to get stuff read for reviews. Next Monday will come all too soon. But this Wednesday will come even sooner!

The first thing on my “to be read” list for this week is for this Wednesday. Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan is due out on Wednesday, November 23, and so is my review. Theft of Swords is the first book in Sullivan’s Riyria Revelations, and is a re-release of the first two books (The Crown Conspiracy, Avempartha) of his series in a single volume. I also have the second volume of the re-release, Rise of Empire, and I’ll be reviewing that in December. I’ve seen a lot of good reviews of the original release of the Riyria Revelations, so I’m looking forward to this. I really hope that the third volume, Heir of Novron, goes up on NetGalley soon, otherwise I’m going to end up buying it just to find out how everything turns out.

If Theft of Swords looks like a traditional epic fantasy, my second book is a different kind of fantasy entirely. Her Christmas Pleasure by Karen Erickson is a romantic fantasy of the historic, hot and steamy variety. This book is short, but probably more spicy than sweet. I have a soft spot in my heart for this author, as one of her other books, Lessons in Indiscretion, was the first title I reviewed for NetGalley.

Two other historic romances are part of my week’s reading; A Midsummer Night’s Sin by Kasey Michaels, and Desired by Nicola Cornick. Both books are part of series, and I have read and reviewed previous titles in each series. Nicola Cornick’s Desired is part of her Scandalous Women of the Ton series. I reviewed Notorious this summer. And I also reviewed The Taming of the Rake, the previous entry to Kasey Michaels Blackthorn Brothers‘ series, on the very same day.

The final book in the Royal House of Shadows series is due out next week. Nalini Singh’s Lord of the Abyss is on my list. I’m looking forward to seeing how this series finishes out. I’ve seen a few ARC reviews for this book, but I’ve tried to avert my eyes. I don’t want to judge the book before I read it.

And last, but not least, one of those things that makes me glad I go through this exercise a week in advance, even when it causes a major “eek” moment. I have Tricks of the Trade by Laura Anne Gilman on my list. I loved her Retrievers series, so I thought I would also like her Paranormal Scene Investigators series too. Tricks is the third book in the series, and I figured that by picking up book 3 from NetGalley, I would finally read books 1 and 2, Hard Magic and Pack of Lies, which I have in print. So now I have to read those first before I start Tricks of the Trade. They’ll be something to read in the car if the iPad runs out of juice (not that we don’t have two Apple device car chargers, but it’s always good to be prepared!) Hard Magic and Pack of Lies are also the only two books for next week that are not from NetGalley. Not only do I own those, they are print copies I moved from Florida to Georgia. It’s high time they got read!


 

 

 

 

Looking back at last week’s post, I didn’t do half bad. A had some help from a couple of sleepless nights, and my husband spent way too much time working, but hey, it all counts, right?

I got everything read for this week, almost. I still have about 2/3rds of Edge of Survival to go, but it’s really good so far. I still need to read Fallen Embers and Burning Embers for Lauri. And that library book, I just bought the thing from Amazon. Since the local library doesn’t even own Charles Todd’s Wings of Fire, I either needed to finish or spend another $2 to borrow it again from some other library. The Kindle version was only $7.99. I did the math, factored in the worry, and gave in.

I have a lot of writing to do to get all these books out of my head. At least the reviews for Frost Moon and Blood Rock are out of my head. Those books were absolutely awesome.

Just a reminder, Ebook Review Central tomorrow will be the Carina Press titles from October.

And tune in next week for another exciting edition of “As the iPad turns”!

 

 

Ebook Review Central for Amber Quill, Astraea Press and Liquid Silver for September 2011

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | book reviews> Ebook Review Central> ebooks

Whew! This is the fourth installment of Ebook Review Central. It covers the last September 2011 titles I’m going to highlight. It also covers three different publishing houses; Amber Quill, Astraea Press and Liquid Silver Books. Like I said: Whew!

I had asked for suggestions for which ebook publishers to cover in this fourth week. I would like to thank everyone for their suggestions. I was looking for publishers, or a mixed of publishers, that covered a lot of genres, where at least some of the titles would be available to libraries on OverDrive, and where I wouldn’t end up with more than 25 titles to hunt for during the week.

I chose Amber Quill, Astraea Press, and Liquid Silver Books. I know there’s been a lot of interest in Riptide Publishing, and I’m interested in featuring their books. But since their launch was October 31, I’ll be looking at including them when I look at November books.

Amber Quill, when all three of its imprints are publishing, does cover pretty much all the genres between Amber Quill, Amber Heat and Amber Allure. In September (and October), only Amber Allure, their GLBT imprint, actually published any titles. It will be interesting to see their future publishing pattern.

Astraea Press is totally different. They only publish what they consider “wholesome reads”. They’re not an inspirational romance publisher. They’re following a trend that has been noticed in romance publishing, for a need for sweet romances in addition to the spicy and spicier romances. Because Astraea Press only published 3 titles in September, it was difficult for me to pick a featured title. They have more to choose from in October.

Liquid Silver Books, on the other hand, publishes much hotter romances. In every type, setting and variation.

Both Astraea and Liquid Silver titles are available to libraries through OverDrive. Amber Quill isn’t, but I wanted a mix.

Having gone “once around the block” with a variety of publishers, I will say that this issue was the most difficult to do. Not because of the three different publishers, the number of titles isn’t larger than any other week, although I worry about this time next month.  It was the subtle variations that gave me the most trouble.

Astraea does not assign ISBNs to their books, so creating the database with book covers was an issue. Neither Astraea nor Liquid Silver easily provides categories for each title, do deriving that data was difficult and required more than a little guess-work on my part.

And now for the featured titles!

The featured title from Amber Quill is Ex Equals by L.A. Witt. This was clearly the standout title for the month, with three very positive reviews. Although the story is specifically a military story (Dear Author reviewed it in honor of the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”) the substance of the tale is universal. In a couple, if one person does something seemingly unforgivable, can the other person give them a second chance? Is it possible to earn forgiveness?

From Liquid Silver, the first featured title is Marking Time by Sandra Sookoo. This is a time travel story with a shape-shifter twist. A woman with a faulty GPS goes to a town named Strange Hollow, and travels back in time to 1900. The twist is that she is a wolf-shifter, and the man she falls in love with after she goes through the “way back machine” is a dying phoenix. Good reviews and a very interesting premise make this title worth checking out.

And, the one I couldn’t resist featuring, Ragnar and Juliet by Lucy Woodhull. There is the obvious play on Shakespeare, but this one is strictly science fiction romance on the comic-relief side. According to the reviews, if you’re looking for something short and funny, with a little science fictional bounty-hunting and romance on the side, this is your book.

See you next week for Carina Press’ October books.

What’s on my (mostly virtual) nightstand? 11-13-11

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | ebooks> Virtual Nightstand

The exercise of looking at what I’m planning to read in the upcoming week is fascinating, sort of like watching a train wreck. You know there’s a crash coming, but you just can’t make yourself turn your eyes away!

Thanksgiving is 11 days away. Yikes! We’re driving to Cincinnati to see my mom for the holiday weekend. I will either get a LOT of reading done, or not much at all.

I finished White Hot Christmas for Library Journal Xpress Reviews. It will be the first starred review for their ebook review program. This is a pretty big deal. I know what I wrote in the review, but I wonder what they’ll say about it being the first actual starred review?

Next week’s contenders come from three completely different sources. I received When a Man Loves a Woman from the author Alina Adams in return for an honest review. What’s unusual about this book is that it’s an enhanced ebook, with music included in order to add to the reading experience. I’ve never read an enhanced ebook, so this should be interesting. I’m looking forward to the experience.

Edge of Survival was also an author request, but it was one that came about because the Toni Anderson had seen Ebook Review Central and asked if I would review her November title through NetGalley. This is a romantic suspense title, and I’d looked at it longingly a couple of times anyway, so I requested it through NetGalley. Reading Reality is already listed as a Reviewing Organization with NetGalley.

Last, but most definitely and absolutely not least for this week, Three-Day Town by Margaret Maron, also something I requested from NetGalley.  This is the latest book in her continuing Judge Deborah Knott series. I love the series, and have read all the books from the very first, Bootlegger’s Daughter. I’ve been looking forward to this book because she ties this series in with her earlier, Lt. Sigrid Harald series.  It’s been a long time since she’s written anything in that particular series, and I’ve missed it.

Recapping from last week I finished SEAL of my Dreams (B+) in time for Veterans Day. And I’ve got Knight of Runes read, I just need to write it up.

I’m unfortunately in the middle of Dark Vow, and I haven’t started Hollow House. Hence my reference to the train wreck at the beginning. I finished Snuff (my husband wanted to borrow my iPad this week).

I started Fallen Embers. The author, Lauri J. Owen, says that I can get the review up when it’s ready. I appreciate her understanding.

And I have three books with due dates. Blood Rock and Frost Moon will still timebomb on my iPad, and Wings of Fire by Charles Todd is due back at the library, all on 11/26/11.

I don’t think I can let myself add anything new to the pile until I get something on the pile off the pile. What’s that game where you pull the blocks out of the tower? Jenga? I think this is book jenga. Only with ebooks.