Free On Kindle 1-16-20

The Trilisk Ruins (Parker Interstellar Travels Book 1)

Author: Michael McCloskey

Goodreads Synopsis: Telisa Relachik studied to be a xenoarchaeologist in a future where humans have found alien artifacts but haven't ever encountered live aliens. Of all the aliens whose extinct civilizations are investigated, the Trilisks are the most advanced and the most mysterious.

Telisa refuses to join the government because of her opposition to its hard-handed policies restricting civilian investigation and trade of alien artifacts, despite the fact that her estranged father is a captain in the United Nations Space Force.

When a group of artifact smugglers recruits her, she can't pass up the chance at getting her hands on objects that could advance her life's work. But she soon learns her expectations of excitement and riches come with serious drawbacks as she ends up fighting for her life on a mysterious alien planet. 

If it so pleases you to, you can get a free kindle copy here while it lasts.

The Forgotten

Author: D.L. Cross

Amazon Synopsis:

The Forgotten is a taut, fast-paced Indiana Jones meets Falling Skies style stand-alone thriller that spans the globe and digs deep into humanity's past, unearthing clues to the aliens' motives for invading our world. One’s out of his element. The other’s out of allies. Both are out of time.

Colonel Jack Morley investigates anomalies for the US government. He’s less than thrilled to give up his long holiday weekend at the beach to travel to the middle of the Nevada desert for his fifty-first mission because he assumes it will be another wasted trip. 

He couldn’t be more wrong.

CORE Director Victor Cannon is in charge of a secret facility in Nevada, and he hopes bringing in Morley will keep the government off his back long enough to accomplish both his agency’s mission and his personal goal. 

It only makes the target on his back a brighter beacon.

Now Morley and Cannon are in a race against their own agencies and the clock if they hope to save the world. They’ve discovered the location of the Forgotten, but not everyone wants him found. And those who want him to stay lost in time will go to any lengths to make sure he stays that way.

You may get a copy here, if it sounds of interest, while offer lasts.

ELE boxed set one

Author: Rebecca Gober and Courney Nuckels

Amazon Synopsis:  

BOOK ONE

Project ELE (The ELE Series Book 1)
When the government enacts Project ELE to preserve the human race after a devastating epidemic, survivors like Willow must adapt to new lives in shelters. But soon, Willow and her friends acquire unusual abilities that have far-reaching consequences.

BOOK TWO
Finding ELE (The ELE Series Book 2)
The forces of good and evil collide and Willow has no choice but to choose a side. When her rare abilities become a liability, an unlikely protector must step up to help her. 

BOOK THREE
Exposing ELE (The ELE Series Book 3)
All thoughts of a safe haven go out the window when Willow’s parents and Tony are ruthlessly abducted. In an effort to save them, Willow has to take a stand against the darkness brought forth by the masterminds of Project ELE.

You can get a copy of it here, for free, while it exists.

Valkyrie Reborn: A Reverse Harem Urban Fantasy

Author: Allyson Lindt

Amazon Synopsis: 

She Loves. She Dies. She is Reborn.

The gods raised Kirby as an assassin. A weapon to wield against those who threatened their power.

The soldiers she grew up and trained with are the only family she knows. When her partner—her lover—betrays her, and The Order shuns her, Kirby’s world shatters. She spirals into a darkness that threatens to destroy her.

The combat instructor Kirby lusts after from a distance, pulls her from pit and offers her a new path forward. A new place to belong, vengeance, and a chance to do right by the people she once hunted.

But he and his two sexy friends are keeping a secret, and she's forced to decide if facing the threat alone is a bigger risk than giving her trust to more people who could betray her.

Author's Note: Valkyrie Reborn was previously titled Blood in the Shadows, and has been republished. The content has not changed. The heroine doesn’t choose in this urban fantasy with dark themes, and some scorching FF action mixed in. The book contains mention of self-harm, thoughts of suicide, and physical assault

If you desire to get a copy of this book, you may do so here, while it's available.

Justice First Book One

Author:  Odette C. Bell

Amazon Synopsis:

All seek justice. But justice is a fool’s game.

When Melanie finds out she’s magical, she runs. Her powers won’t let her sit still. As they rise, they seek justice. And the city she lives in – Erebus – is home to the worst criminals out there. As her mind unravels, she’s forced to mete out holy punishment.

Nothing can stop her save for one man.

But Tyr isn’t human; he’s the immortal sent to stop her. A practitioner unmatched in all the realms, he seeks one thing – justice. To all those who break the law, he brings punishment. Until he meets Melanie. As he searches for her through the crime-infested streets of this hell-hole, they’re drawn together.

What starts as a game of cat-and-mouse changes as old, hidden feelings arise. They might wish to punish one another, but destiny has another plan.

If this story sounds interesting to you, you may get a copy here, while its free.

Try me Again

Author: Clare Lydon

Amazon Synopsis:

What if lockdown means your ex moving back in?

Dot is still bristling over Caitlin leaving when she turns up at her door, asking to stay.

It's just until Caitlin can get a flight to New York, to the glittering new life she dumped them for.

But when the job falls through, Caitlin has to confront some home truths.

Now she knows what she really wants, can she convince Dot to try her again?

If lesbian romance interests you, you can get a free copy here while its available.

Narrow Escape

Author: Anna Cove

Amazon Synopsis:

There's life... then there's living.

When Julia Knowles hits it big with her first book, she can’t help but see the perks of fame. All the ladies she wants? Bring ‘em on! Her confidence soars. That is, until a chance encounter with an old friend throws her off her game.

Susan Mayer’s life is full of bad news, until she happens to meet Julia again. With Julia, her husband isn’t dying, her kids aren’t furious with her. With Julia, she has no responsibilities. She feels twenty years younger. With Julia, she can smile.

The temptation to leave is strong, but the timing couldn’t be worse.

If she leaves, she’s a horrible person.

If she stays, she might lose herself to sorrow.

Can Susan resist the temptation of Julia? Should she?

This 10,000 word short is a prequel to SWEET SURRENDER, the first novel from Anna Cove. Buy now for a passionate, steamy, and sometimes heartbreaking ride.

You can get a copy of this prequel of a lesbian romance here, for free for a time.

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During these difficult times, I know it helps to find something to do.  I've created this short little list of books that sounded interesting to me, that are currently free on Amazon kindle.  Don't have a kindle? No problem, you can get free apps on android and also on PC.  Not everyone has the money right now to enjoy a good book, so I hope this helps those of you out who are dirt broke and need a distraction.  Let your love of books guide the way.  Enjoy!

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

 

Genre: Scifi / Aliens / Romance

Whether or not you liked Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series or not, if you're into science fiction including aliens, this might be a good read for you.  This story is much better, in my opinion, than her twilight series.  If you enjoyed the movie adaptation but have yet to read the book, it's definitely time.  If you're anything like me, you usually assume the book is better than the actual movie.  However, I have cheated once or twice and watched a movie before I read the book.  If the movie ended up being good, I definitely dive into the book to make sure it's truly worth my while.

The Host takes you through the eyes of both a human girl and an alien species from off world.  It takes place on Earth, and if you're into aliens that are host requiring species, this is definitely the book for you.  I would definitely say the alien is our lead in this book.  I'm not sure how many of you have read the childhood books called Animorphs, or the Andalite Chronicles, but I can definitely say the aliens are definitely a different breed.  Before I get too deep into this, let me share with you the Goodreads synopsis.

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Goodreads Synopsis:

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that takes over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, didn't expect to find its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Reluctant allies, Wanderer and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love.

Back when I was reading the Twilight series I can't tell how many years ago at this point, a friend of mine had told me to give The Host a read. I told her I felt like the Twilight series could have been better had I been a 16 year old girl reading it, and she told me I'd probably enjoy The Host far more.  I can't tell you how right she was.

Fast forward to 6 years ago when I finally picked this book up.  I was in college and didn't have a lot of time to read, so I ended up reading the first few chapters of this book with intrigue.  I just picked it up and read the rest of it recently and I was glad that I did.  In between the beginning of my read and the end, I'd watched the movie and my interest was piqued further. 

Had I not been working at the time I'd probably have read this book far sooner, but alas, it brings a pandemic for me to find the time for the things I enjoy.  What a sad world we live in, when we can't even enjoy our hobbies, but I digress...

If you've seen the movie and you start reading this book you will see how true to the book they stayed.  I wouldn't say they were 100% accurate to the story, but I'd say they did a pretty damn good job of keeping with it.  Throughout this book I found myself feeling a tightness in the pit of my stomach, and sad for our lead, Wanderer.  She learns of the emotions of the human species and feels guilt for being what she is, a body snatcher in a sense.  It's almost as if she learns to become a human as well.  Human emotions are far more complicated than any species she's ever come across in all of her years as a parasitic alien.  It's as if she herself wants to be perfect, kind, loving, generous.  I absolutely fell in love with her character.  Wanderer made this story what it was, though through the interactions of other characters, the story becomes whole and complete.  I felt like the details could have been a little better as far as landscape descriptions, but it wasn't too bad.  Having watched the movie I was able to use that as a guide.  Perhaps the two go hand in hand in that sense.  This is definitely a character driven story more than anything else, and I'd never say that's a bad thing.  I enjoy character driven stories.

Pick up your own copy of The Host on Amazon if it so pleases you to do so.

So as you can guess, I give this story 5 out of 5 pinwheels.

Shame to those who think evil of this.

Speaker for the Dead

Date Finished: July 6, 2012                                                          

Genre: Sci-fi / Aliens

Ender finds himself in a place called Trondheim where he finds a new friend named Jane.  Jane is special in the way that she has nearly no limitations to her existence.  She helps guide Ender into a new world where he plans to uncover mysteries as well as possibly start a new life for the Hive Queen in order to resurrect the buggers he once nearly eliminated in the xenocide.  The one thing that Ender must lose on his journey is time with his sister and her children. 

Back Cover:

In the aftermath of his terrible war, Ender Wiggin disappeared, and a powerful voice arose: the Speaker for the Dead, who told the true story of the Bugger War. Now, long years later, a second alien race has been discovered, but again the aliens ways are strange and frightening…again, humans die. And it is only the Speaker for the dead who is also Ender Wiggin the Xenocide, who has the courage to confront the mystery…and the truth.

Let me start off by saying I was really excited to read this book after having read Ender’s Game twice in the course of the past 10 years.  Why did it take me so long to read this?  I simply didn’t come across a copy of it until I went to the bookstore back in March of 2012.

This book started out kind of slow and didn’t feel much at all like an Ender book.  This isn’t anywhere close to being anything that Ender’s Game was, in my heart.  After reading the reviews on the back of the book I was pretty intrigued.  They were saying this book was better than Ender’s Game; I have to strongly disagree.  A friend of mind also said this is one of her favorite Ender’s books.  After having read this I can see why she enjoyed it more than I did.  Before you jump to conclusions and think I hated this book, allow me to tell you that I didn’t.

This book brings a few new characters into play, as well as a new species of aliens that is more interesting toward the end of the book.  The problem with this was getting me interested enough to keep reading.  I started this book back in May 2012, and I didn’t finish it until July 2012, mostly because I had nothing else to do but read, so I just decided to finish it.

I did enjoy some of the new characters that came from this, for instance Jane.  Jane’s got a personality that I can instantly connect with, for what reason I can’t explain, nor would I want to give anything away.

So why did my friend find this book so intriguing?  My only guess is that it’s got many elements that base themselves in Biology, which is part of her major.  It deals with diseases and evolution of species.  It was interesting enough, but given my lack of interest in that particular science, it just didn’t capture me as much as it would with anyone who might enjoy the concepts it brings into play.

With all of that being said, read this for no other reason than to continue Ender’s Saga.  You might find that this one meets your interests more than Ender’s Game did.  It also might be interesting enough if you enjoyed the first book.  Just don’t do what I did and expect it to be a repeat of what went on in Ender’s Game because you will be severely disappointed.

Shame on anyone who thinks evil of this.

War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells

Genre: Sci-fi/Classic/Survival

This is a book about a man who witnesses the coming of aliens, becomes separated from his wife and struggles to survive in a world where aliens are taking over.

Back Cover:
"They came from outerspace -- Mars, to be exact. With deadly heat-rays and giant fighting machines they want to conquer Earth and keep humans as their slaves. Nothing seems to stop them as they spread terror and death across the planet. It is the start of the most important war in Earth's History. And Earth will never be the same."



I was expecting this book to be far more exciting. At first I felt intrigued by the descriptions of the aliens space ship when they arrive, but during the majority of the book I felt rather bored, and it felt like not a lot happened. If I got nothing else from this book, I added a few more words to my vocabulary. If you're interested in Sci-fi classics, it's worth a read, especially if you don't mind expanding your vocabulary. Other than that, it's not much of a read in my opinion. Don't expect it to be anything like the movie, because it's far different. I preferred the movie version.

Shame on anyone who thinks evil of this.

Halo: The Flood

Genre: Aliens/Fantasy/Sci-fi/Military/Survival/War

If you haven't yet, check out my review of the first Halo novel, The Fall of Reach.

If you've read Halo: The Fall of Reach you might find yourself wanting to read the rest of the series, this would be book #2 in that series. This book is based off of the first Halo game, but don't let that stop you from giving this book a read even if you're not a Halo fan. This book gives far more details of the war that Master Chief must battle. Yes, it has similarities to the game, but we also get to see perspectives from some of the Covenant, as well as some of the military faction. It does however do a pretty close following with the game for those of you who loved playing it. This book just gives extra added bonus material that the game doesn't have.

Back Cover:
"Having barley escaped the battle for Reach, the crew of the Pillar of Autumn is forced to make a jump into slipspace in hopes of evading the vast alien alliance hell-bent on wiping out humanity. But their destination brings them to an ancient mystery and an even greater struggle. In this far-flung corner of the universe floats a magnificently massive, artificial ringworld . . . a construct from a longlost race. The humans' only hope of survival is to crashland on this surface and take the battle against the Covenant to the ground. But they soon discover that this enigmatic ring-world is much more than it seems. Built one hundred thousand years ago by a civilization known as the Forerunners, this 'Halo' is worshipped by the Covenant--a sacred artifact they hope will complete their religious quest for supposed transcendence. They will stop at nothing to control it. Engaged in a fierce ground battle, Master Chief and Cortana go deep into the Halo construct and uncover a dark secret; this enigmatic ring-world is also the universe's most dangerous weapon. Its purpose: the destruction of all sentient life. For the Forerunners built the Halo to battle the universe's most vicious enemy--a virtually unstoppable and suddenly reawakened force known as The Flood."

I just finished reading this book about maybe 30 minutes ago after having started it months ago and not having had time to finish reading it. That's not to say it's a book that I didn't find myself wanting to finish, I just lacked the time to do so. It was written well, though I'd have to say I preferred Halo: The Fall of Reach. It could be the fact that this was written by a different author. I'm not saying William C. Dietz isn't an awesome author, he is of course, but he's no Eric Nylund. I liked the fact that it tells us more of the story that the games leave out. Plus it changes a few things up creativity-wise. We get to learn more about Covenant forces, and we even get to see perspectives from some of the military faction. It does a lot of jumping around, but I never once found myself getting lost as I usually would when reading a book that jumps around frequently. Overall this book is worth at least a read, especially but not limited to, fans of the Halo games.

Shame on anyone who thinks evil of this.

Halo: The Fall of Reach

Genre: Sci-Fi

Halo: The Fall of Reach is just that, a book about the Fall of Reach. What is Reach you ask? Read the book to find out. ;) In this book we learn that Master Chief isn't the only Spartan, and we learn how he becomes a Spartan and a hero. We get to see him as he trains and grows up in the harsh reality that is war. It allows us to view perspectives from the views of Master Chief himself, and even from some of the covenant.

Back Cover:
"Humanity has expanded beyond the Sol System. There are hundreds of planets we now call 'home.' The United Nations Space Command Now Struggles to control this vast empire. After exhausting all strategies to keep seething insurrections from exploding into interplanetary civil war, the UNSC has one last hope. At the Office of Naval Intelligence, Dr. Catherine Halsey has been hard at work on a top secret program that could bring an end to all this conflict . . . and it starts with seventy-five children, among them a six-year-old boy named John. Halsey never guessed that this little boy would become humanity's final hope against a vast alien force hell-bent on wiping us out. This is the story of John, Spartan 117 . . . the Master Chief, and of the battles that brought humanity face-to-face with its possible extinction."

I read this book a while back before I started this blog, but I just thought I should mention it as it's still pretty fresh in my memory. The story was written well, though I have to say it reminds me a little bit of Ender's Game, (some might even say it's a rip off of Ender's Game.) I can see the similarities, and at the same time, the differences. We get to learn so much more about so many new characters that we didn't get to learn about in the first couple of Halo games. I felt myself becoming quite connected with some of them. We get to learn about who Master Chief really is, and how he became to be what he is. We even get to see the perspective of the Covenant, and learn more of the story than we could through a game. I really enjoyed reading this book and I thought it was fantastic. If you've read and enjoyed Ender's Game, I suggest reading this book, even if you're NOT a fan of the Halo games. This book was a fantastic read, and I don't know if there's anything that could have made this a better read.

Shame on anyone who thinks evil of this.

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card

Genre: Sci-Fi

Where's a better place to start blogging about books, than Ender's Game? There isn't one, that I know of.

Ender's game is a Sci-fi novel about a boy taken by the government and trained in battle. It's the first of a saga of books by Orson Scott Card. It's a futuristic war-space novel. I don't know if any of you have read the Halo series of novels, but you'll notice how similar Halo is to this novel. The first time I read this book I thought the beginning felt slow, but the second time around I felt I understood why it was written as it was. It starts with his home life before they come to take him away. Through all of his training you learn how intelligent Ender is and you may find yourself becoming attached to his character and who he is and can become, at least I did. You get to learn a whole lot about his character, seeing the events he goes through, who he thinks he is versus who he truly is. I really like the character development. He does what needs to get done. He even has some really good supporting characters, like his sister. In the end I feel he truly knows what it is he must do, and maybe understands a little bit more about himself than he did throughout the entire novel.

This book was incredibly intriguing and I have read it more than once. In fact I suggested it for a book group of mine, and we read it together, well...those of us who opted to give it a chance instead of opting out. It's not usually a book that females might find themselves wanting to read and even if it doesn't sound like your thing you should definitely give it a shot. I think anyone whose interested in sci-fi novels should pick this one up if they have yet to read it.

Back cover:
"Intense is the word for Ender's Game. Aliens have attacked earth twice and almost destroyed the human species. To make sure humans win the next encounter, the world government has taken to breeding military geniuses--and then training them in the arts of war....The early training, not surprisingly, takes the form of 'games.'...Ender Wiggin is a genius among geniuses; he wins all the games...He is smart enough to know that time is running out. But is he smart enough to save the planet?"

I think this book is freaking amazing. The plot is great, the story carries well, the characters are intense, and the outcome is stupendous. If you don't read this book, you are seriously missing out. It's a must read in my books.

Shame on anyone who thinks evil of this.