Tag: Paranormal romance

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, 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..

Books, great reads, Reviews

Blood Kiss by JR Ward

Karen

Oh hello there stranger…its been awhile. When Les and I started this blog the conversation literally went like this. Les: “Wanna start a blog?”  Me:”OK” not any real planning. So when we both hit our busy season at work, you all got neglected. Sorry about that, but lets talk books okay?

blood kiss

Whoa. Okay let’s do this properly, blurb, review, and then some randomness. But before we start I have a confession, I love the Warden (not thinking about the Bourbon Kings) and have been a fan for a while. So when she announced a spin off of the BDB I was naturally curious (or excitingly counting down, you decide). Okay now you know mentally how I went into this we can start.

Blurb: Paradise, blooded daughter of the king’s First Advisor, is ready to break free from the restrictive life of an aristocratic female. Her strategy? Join the Black Dagger Brotherhood’s training center program and learn to fight for herself, think for herself…be herself. It’s a good plan, until everything goes wrong. The schooling is unfathomably difficult, the other recruits feel more like enemies than allies, and it’s very clear that the Brother in charge, Butch O’Neal, a.k.a. the Dhestroyer, is having serious problems in his own life.

And that’s before she falls in love with a fellow classmate. Craeg, a common civilian, is nothing her father would ever want for her, but everything she could ask for in a male. As an act of violence threatens to tear apart the entire program, and the erotic pull between them grows irresistible, Paradise is tested in ways she never anticipated—and left wondering whether she’s strong enough to claim her own power…on the field, and off.

The Review: I really liked this book. I didn’t fall over dead because of its awesomeness, but part of that I think was me. It’s important to understand that only half of the book is about Craeg and Paradise, the other half is a revisit on Butch and Marissa’s relationship. I devoured every page that Craeg, Paradise or any of the recruit were on. I found their relationship well crafted, interesting, and frankly hot, hot, hot. And the whole training aspect of this book, awesome. I’m eager to hear more from Peyton, Axe, Novo and Boone. It’s nice to get a little fresh blood in this series.

My favorite part is that this book reminded me why I love JR Ward. It was scorching right from go, the story didn’t feel one dimensional, and I laughed out loud more than once. I was reading at stop lights at one point I was so engaged. So why not a 5 star review? I think this was because I never really fell in love with the Butch and Marissa thing making me wish sometimes that the book was just about Craeg and Paradise. I didn’t want them to have to share a book. It’s not necessarily that I have anything against revisits, I love The King and can’t wait for The Beast, I just found them a bit boring compared to the rest of the book. This is why I feel like that’s just my problem, I tried to originally skip Butch’s book and go straight to V’s (which you can’t, you really have to read Butch’s book first) so I’ve always been a little rushed with them. If you like Butch and Marissa, then you’ll love this book. Even if you don’t, like me, you’ll still find the rest of the story engaging.

Overall I have to say this was a blow out of the water bounce back for Ward, it reminded me why I love her so. I have stopped buying the books after #9 but this is a purchase for me. And it makes me want to reread the series, which is always a good thing. This is a must read for any Warden fan but even if you don’t know JR Ward (sorry what rock have you been sleeping under?) you should still give this read a go.

Books, great reads, Reviews

Shifter Planet by D.B. Reynolds

debra

Hey everyone,

Blurb:

Specialist Amanda Sumner is one of the first to make contact on the Earth-like planet Harp and discovers she’s the only Earthling, who can hear the trees sing in the strange forest. Determined to remain and learn more of the planet’s secrets, Amanda sets out to become part of the elite Guild there…

But there is a secret involving some Guild members–one that could get her killed.

Shifter Rhodry de Mendoza wants the Earthlings off his planet before they destroy it—even if that means denying what he feels for the fierce and lovely Amanda. The pair is thrown together in what becomes a fight for their lives. And they might just lose everything–including each other–in their battle for the right to live in peace.

I really enjoyed this book.  I have been a long time fan of Ms. Reynolds since I found her Vampires in America series several years ago which is still on-going.  She writes very well and is wonderful at the craft of world building. Both characters of Amanda and Rhodry are well-developed.  Their motivations are understood throughout the book.  I think Amanda is especially strong and she shows it especially as what happens to her and then Rhodry unfolds.   She also did a good job of describing the antagonists in the story and what they wanted as well. One thing that I really liked about this book was that the relationship between Rhodry and Amanda was a slow build.  The author did not rush and it worked.  Honestly, once Amanda entered the trial to pursue entry into the Guild, she and then Rhodry were so busy trying to survive, they didn’t have time for a whole lot to happen fast.  Anyway, this really involved learning more about the planet of Harp, some of the history of Harp’s genetically altered shifters, Amanda’s ability to  “hear the trees” and get back to the City.

This was a great combination of some fantasy, some space travel, and paranormal. I am looking forward to more books in this series.  There are several very interesting characters that hopefully will have their stories told as well.

Happy Reading,

debra