Free books can be a crap shoot

Free Books may be a good read or a waste of time

Here are three books that I got for free and had three different reactions. Just because a book is free does not mean it is going to be cheesy, but it is definitely a chance. I have found that some books are free for the author to introduce you to their characters and sample their writing style. Other books are free because the author just decided to publish a book. They might not have edited their book or have a decent story line. But at least they can say that they have published a book!

GOOD (not really to me but you might like it): Love Me (Contemporary Romance) (Take Me) – Bella Andre

When I read this, I was not very impressed with the story. The romance seemed too contrived and I did not find the characters likable. I know that I am the first to admit that romance novels should be viewed as “contemporary fairy tales”, but even with that being said, I still cannot figure out how these characters found love. The emphasis of a romance novel should be on the fact that the characters are able to fall in love or profess their love for one another. In this book, it seems that there was too much lust confused with love. Maybe if the author developed the characters some more, it would be involve the reader more emotionally in order to understand how the characters fall in love with each other.

BETTER: The St James Sisters – Leen Elle (downloaded from Smashwords not Amazon)

There are too many sisters and not enough time to develop the story for each one of them. This book would have you believe that if a young girl spends a considerable time with any one guy, they will fall for each other. And they will be so in love that they will be willing to overcome all odds to be together.

When I chose this book, I thought the story was going to focus on one sister’s story. As you probably know from my post about Dakota Home, I don’t like it when an author tries to cram too many stories into one book.

The book was mediocre to me, but not terrible. If you are looking for something for free, check it out.

BEST: The Billionaire Wins the Game (Billionaire Bachelors – Book One)– Melody Anne

When it comes to romance novels, it is always great when there is limitless amounts of money involved. That being said, this was a sweet story even if it followed a very predictable storyline.

Super rich man and his secretary fall for each other. Sparks are ignited, but her insecurities make her think that he would not seriously consider loving her. Plus, she feels that this is a good job and she does not want mess it up by sleeping with her boss. She could put behind her the fact that she had one indiscretion, if it was not for the fact that she got pregnant. That led to a whole another set of problems. He is the consummate bachelor but knows how to face up to his responsibility. Each person had to confront their reservations about what will make the relationship work. In the end, I was rooting for both of them.

This story was fun and the characters provided me with some laugh-out-loud moments.

I am going to find the rest of Melody Anne’s books and read them. I loved this story so much. I have re-read parts of it just when I wanted to feel warm and fuzzy.

The title should be “Convincing Clay to learn how to trust”

Aug15

Hailey Lambert needs a job so she can settle down. She does not know what she is getting into when she goes to the job interview for the business manager position at Clay Cardell’s ranch. Her mouthiness gets the best of her on more than one occasion, but that is not necessarily a bad thing considering Clay Cardell orneriness.

Clay does a good job trying to keep up his guard around Hailey because he has learned from experience that the people who are supposed to love you most often leave with a great deal of hurt and pain. Plus most women have an agenda to get what they want. Once the get it, they are done. No matter what Hailey did, he had to be put it all into context since she was foremost a woman.

As the reader finds out, the book gives some of the history that made Clay into the sad, lonely person he is the way he is. Constant emotional abuse is bound to leave lasting scars. Trouble is that those scars make it difficult for the person coming with true love to be accepted. So many times when Hailey would make progress, something would happen to plant another seed of doubt in Clay’s mind and have him questioning her motives all over again.

This story is about trust, patience, and the ability of love to heal invisible wounds. These are two imperfect, dysfunctional people who have enough in common with their core beliefs to make the relationship work. In the end, it is good for the both of them that Hailey did not give up on Clay because that would have made them both miserable. They were two of kind that were meant to be together.

That being said, this book is SUPER long. I read on my Kindle so I have no concept of book lengths these days. When I read a regular book, I average 100 pages a hour. I don’t know if that is speed reading but that is my average. When I started reading, Amazon said this book is about 400 pages. So I am thinking this would be about 4 hours of reading time. I ended up finishing 6+ hours later so I would estimate that the page count would be close to 600 pages. Unfortunately for me, I was reading this book on a work night and by the time the book got really interesting I should have been going to bed. It has always been hard for me to put a book down so close to the end, so I kept reading until I finished (late nights and early morning don’t mix well). So keep this in mind! It is best to read this on a Saturday afternoon if you are like me and want to read the whole book in one sitting.

If you like Western romances, I suggest reserving the afternoon to read Taming Clay

***Additional side note*** there are quite a few f-b0mbs in this book, if strong language offends you. These are cowboys and cowgirls whose language can be coarse. Not everything will be “Aw shucks” and “Darn it”

He is a cutie in a coma

Aug6

Sleeping Handsome – Jean Haus

This the story of a young, rich girl (Paige) with so many insecurities regarding her social status that she uses her money to keep fake friends. But when her supposed friend throws her under the bus metaphorically for cheating at school, she is forced to deal with the duplicitous nature of her friend.

As part of her punishment, she has to read to a young boy who is in a coma. This task becomes more interesting when she finds his journal.His journal of unfettered thoughts provide a window into his view of life and the issues that affect him.

Her conversation with him, through responses to his journal entries, is equally uncensored because he cannot hear her since he is in a coma. While the reading is thought to be therapeutic for him because it stimulates his brain activity, it helps her to develop and mature emotionally to have healthier relationships with the people who are most important in her life.

The story was short and sweet. I liked the way that it ended. This is a good read for a young adult because it emphasizes the importance of being true to oneself. Only then will a person be able to be happy.

He loves her but does she really love him?

Aug6

Convincing Alex – Nora Roberts

Main characters:

Alex – detective investigating the murders of prostitutes by a serial killer
Bess – story writer for a soap opera

Alex meets Bess when he arrests her for prostitution. She is not really a prostitute, but she is trying to do some research to help with character development for the soap opera. In the course of the story, we come to know that Bess is a big hearted, generous person always looking out for her friend’s happiness, even when her latest friend happens to be a prostitute she met during her brief time on the streets.

The attraction between Alex and Bess is very apparent to both of them. What is not helping things is the fact that they have to spend a lot of time in each other’s company because she still needs to do her character research. Alex is a born skeptic when it comes to how Bess feels about him because of what he has read in the weekly tabloids about her romantic history. Plus, he feels like she is from another world and does not see how they could have a normal relationship.

Nevertheless, Alex falls head over heels in love for Bess. It is frustrating for her because she does not know what to do to convince him that she feels the same way. After all, how many broken engagements has she had?

This was an interesting twist to the romance novels that I am used to reading. I cannot remember another novel where the man was the first to declare his love and refused to want the woman to do the same. While I was reading, I was wondering what could Bess do and what her options would be if she is trying to declare her love to someone who is so emotionally involved but distanced at the same time.

Adding the stress of a serial killer to the mix, and this book belongs in the suspense romance category!

Buy Convincing Alex (The Stanislaskis)today!

Ella tiene razon para aceptar la propuesta

Aug1

La Propuesta– Brenda Jackson
La Propuesta: (The Proposal) (Harlequin Deseo) (Spanish Edition)

Jason Westmoreland es un caballero muy muy guapo. Es un hombre en todo sentido. El sabe que quiere y como procurarla.

Elizabeth “Bella” es una mujer fina nacido en Savannah Georgia. Tiene un rancho que recibio como un herencia de su abuelo desconocido. Ella quiere la libertad hacer sus propias decisiones porque sus padres estuvieron muy estrictos. Después de mudarse al rancho, sus padres la manda a regresar y casar a un hombre que les gusta. Ella no tiene muchas opciones menos una propuesta de Jason. ¿Vale la pena?

Jason desea tener 3 cosas (1) Bella (2) su rancho (3) su caballo Hercules

Cuando Jason realiza que Bella es la mujer para él, emplee poquito de manipulación para conseguirla. A mí, era chistoso. Bella sabe lo que ella se siente en su corazón pero no sabe si Jason es genuino o si solamente está diciendo todas las cosas correctas para vencer su corazón y adquirir su rancho (como su tio acusó). Considerando su experiencia limitada con los hombres, podemos entender porque ella tiene mucha cautela.

Al fin, todo cae bien con esta pareja en su camino al amor.

¡Sra Jackson ha hecho otra vez! Este libro tiene todo- caracteres simpáticos y una historia divertida. Cómpralo y léelo hoy La Propuesta: (The Proposal) (Harlequin Deseo) (Spanish Edition)

If you want the English review click here and if you want this book in English –> The Proposal (Harlequin Desire)