Books, Out of the Box Blogs, Reviews

Ebooks Part II

debra

This is Part II of “My Love/Hate of Ebooks” blog.  I enjoyed the other discussion and I hope to get your thoughts on this part of the “rant” as well.

I love my ebooks.  I like being able to take my reader with me and have a lot of books available.  I am sometimes a mood reader or I want to re-read a favorite book so the reader solves that problem for me.

My problem with ebooks besides the ones outlined in Part I of this article is the pricing of them.  Why are ebooks priced similarly to printed books?  I have even seen on the site I buy ebooks from that some books I have been interested in are a  few pennies higher than the printed book.  This is illogical to me.  I have had someone explain the mechanics of ebooks to me (this person is in the know on this subject).  I also have my own common sense to base this on.  If all that is needed is the master copy of the book, and there are not the customary costs of a printed book (paper, ink, shipping, etc.), then why are they the same or more than a printed book?  I certainly want the author to make what they deserve for the enjoyment they give to us with their stories.  I also want the companies selling the books to make the profits due them.  They keep people employed and this is critical.  It just seems that ebook pricing is out of line with production.

My other problem with ebooks is that for many of them, especially new books or books by well-known authors, they cannot be loaned.  My mother and I would loan books to each other of authors we enjoyed in common.  One of us would buy the book and the other read it also.  I also do this with my aunt and a friend who is reading the same series that I am.  Now, everybody does this.  It is also a way of introducing friends/family to new authors that they have not yet read.  You simply cannot do this with a lot of ebooks.  My question is why not?  What is the difference in doing this and checking out a book at a public library (which I support whole-heartedly).  I will often go to our public library and check out books and place a hold on new releases especially.  I have also oftentimes gotten an ebook downloaded from our public library.  Why is this different from me wanting to share an ebook with a friend.  I realize it is so the publisher can get more sales, but again loaning a book can often open up more sales in the long run if we convert a reader to a new author.

Again, I love ebooks and I realize the industry is forming and some of this may be “growing pains” with a new industry—I just feel the ebook industry has some work to do to improve itself.  These are just a few ramblings about problems I see.

Happy Reading,

Debra

Books, great reads, Reviews

Fighting Dirty by Lori Foster

debra

Ms. Foster is one of my favorite go-to authors.  I love her writing.  You see her characters as real people that you just can’t help but grow to care about.

We finally have the story for Armie and Rissy and Ms. Foster does not disappoint! Fighting Dirty is the fourth and final installment of her Ultimate Series.  This series follows the lives of several fighters in the SBC, a fictional ultimate fighting company. In many series, I think there is one character that seems to capture the imagination and affection of the readers and all of us wait for that character’s book.  In Ms. Foster’s Ultimate Series that character is Armie.   I, along with a lot of her readers, have been fascinated by Armie from the very beginning. We have seen small snippets of their story throughout the prior books in this series.  He is a character with a dark secret in his past, an uninhibited outlook on physical relationships and he absolutely has a heart of gold towards people he cares about.  He has been in love with Rissy for years, yet he never admitted it and never pursued her due to his belief that he wasn’t the right man for her.  Rissy is the little sister of Cannon Colter (the hero from No Limits), Armie’s best friend who has stood by him through everything—including Armie’s past.  That alone made Rissy off limits for him.  Coupled with the fact that Rissy is a “good girl” in Armie’s book, he knows that they will never have a future.  What he did not count on was Rissy herself and her views on things.  Rissy loves Armie just as he is and accepts him for who he is.  I was glad that Armie shared his secret with Rissy early on and I thought her acceptance of Armie was a well-written scene.  Rissy is a strong female lead and a great match for Armie.  There is also a suspense plotline ranging from a bank robbery where Armie saves everyone to an attack on one of the characters just to keep things  interesting.

I loved this story.  Both Armie and Rissy are great characters and the chemistry between them is smokin’ hot yet there is also a sense of sweetness about them.  You actually root for these characters to make it.  This story also has some nice humor in it.  I also enjoyed seeing the characters from the previous books  in this book. I have always enjoyed Ms. Foster’s dialogue in her stories.  The dialogue is believable and well-written.  I hate to see this series end but am always looking forward to the next series she writes.

I received an ARC of Fighting Dirty in exchange for an honest review.

Happy Reading,

Debra

 

 

Books, great reads, Reviews, scifi, Urban Fantasy

Magic Stars by Ilona Andrews

Karen

magic stars 2

I received an ARC of this book from the author…and all I can say is wow! I loved it! I am a fan of the Kate Daniels series so I was actually excited to buy this book come the end of December, but thanks to the Andrews team I got to read it early. So lets talk about it.

Blurb: Derek Gaunt has no family and few friends. Scarred, solitary, he is the lone wolf who separated from his pack. When those close to him are murdered, he’ll stop at nothing to hunt their killer through magic-drenched Atlanta.

Soon Julie Olsen joins him and what begins as revenge turns into the race to save the city. Their search puts them against powers they never imagined and magic so old, it predates history. It may cost Derek his life, but there are things for which even he would risk everything.

Review: I love this world, so for me this was icing on the cake. The awesome part is that it doesn’t have the throw away feel like most novellas do. This had solid world building, so if you’re not familiar with Kate Daniels (If you love UF this series is a must read) then you could still picture the post-shift Atlanta. Also being it Derek’s mind was a refreshing twist, one I didn’t expect, and the moments when he was talking to Julie were right on point for both of their characters. The story was interesting too, not too complicated with the shortness of the book, yet not immediately revealing, making you want to read more. If I could give future writers advice (and I really shouldn’t since I’m not one myself, but think of this purely from a readers standpoint) this is a great example of how, no matter how long your story is, fundamentals are key. This story had a clear beginning, middle and end but still left me with questions, making me hungry for the next book.

Great read and I highly recommend it, though it’s not available yet, mark your calendars for this book. Remember end of December, grab a copy you won’t regret it.

Books, Out of the Box Blogs

Do You Reread Past Books/Series?

Karen

I just finished the new JR Ward book as you all know and it inspired me to reread some of the older BDB books. The more I thought about it the more I realized that when I’m in a reading slump or before one of my favorites puts out a new book, I’ll reread some if not all of their series. Is this odd? Do you have favorites you continually go back to? Are there certain series that you have to reread past books before the new one is released? I’m curious to see where I stand..