Kindle Freebie: Just Joe

Just Joe (Harlequin More Than Words)

About the Book:

Each year, the Harlequin More Than Words award is given to three women who have worked hard to change people's lives for the better. Inspired by their accomplishments, three bestselling authors have written stories to honor these real-life heroines.

In Just Joe, Stacy Donovan is willing to do whatever it takes to save her charity, Bounties from the Gardens. Families in need are counting on her organization for fresh fruits and vegetables. Running the charity has always been Stacy's dream, and if winning a local dance competition will keep her dream alive, that's what she'll do.

After years of being consumed by work, Joe Carpenter has discovered a new passion: giving back to the community. He's started to volunteer at Bounties from the Gardens, and he's falling for the beautiful, dedicated Stacy. But Stacy is so focused on looking after her charity, she might miss the fact that Joe is just the person to watch over her heart.

Look for all three ebooks inspired by real-life heroines: Good Neighbors by Sheila Roberts, Just Joe by Carla Cassidy and Light This Candle by Cindy Dees. Visit the Harlequin More Than Words website at www.HarlequinMoreThanWords.com or your favorite ebook retailer to download these free novellas today.

My Comments:

I enjoyed this quick sweet read. As noted above the setting includes a garden for charity and that's what brings the characters together. This book is part of a series, and each book in the series features a charity and the woman who started it.  In this case, the charity is the Emergency Food Network.

Grade:  B- (about the best I give this kind of story)

Kindle Freebie: Twice the Trouble

Twice the Trouble

About the Book:

Lacey Carlyle has worked for years to create the perfect blend of home, business and family. Now she risks losing everything when the land she farms is bought by the man who abandoned her thirteen years ago.

Alex has never understood why Lacey walked away from him. Now, he holds the deed to her farm and intends to make her pay. The only problem - two kids weren't part of the plan. 

Jenna and Jarrod may not see eye-to-eye but they are both determined to find happiness for their mom and keep their home safe. Can Lacey and Alex put their pasts behind them and embrace a future together?

My Comments:

I read (or at least start) a lot of Amazon freebies; most of them don't show up there.  That should tell you something.  This one grabbed me and held me.  Yes, it's self-published, and yes, there were a few editing errors.  No, the plot isn't the most original in the world but I liked Lacey and Alex, as well as Jarrod and Jenna.  Though there was some non-marital intimacy, it was not described in great detail.  Yes, it was happily ever after, probably too much so, but that's what I like.  Grade:  B-.  

Worth the Weight: A Kindle Freebie That Was Worth It

Worth The Weight (The Worth Series Book 1:The Nice One)

About the Book:

Lizzie Hampton is literally a shadow of her former self. Having lost half her body weight, she's headed to her small hometown to test out her new body on an old flame.  Just a harmless fling to get her self confidence back before she returns to the city and the new man in her life.

But Lizzie's plan has a few bumps in the road.

Finn Robbins can't believe Liz is back in town. Desperate to be the holder of her innocence eighteen years ago, he never got the chance.  Now she's back and he can finally check her off his to do list.

But her friends, his son, and the mysterious Annie may have something to say about that.

The first book in a contemporary romance series which takes place in Michigan's Copper Country.

Includes a sneak peek at Worth The Drive, The Worth Series Book 2: The Pretty One

My Comments:

As my regular readers know, I'm a fan of sophisticated, highly complicated, classic literature (ok maybe not).  However, my reading for the last few weeks has been even lighter that normal.  I've been reading a bunch of dreadful Kindle freebies which are absolutely not worth the trouble of reviewing.  Suffice to say, that they were worth what I paid for them, except that I kept reading them, probably because they were so predictable, so easy, and nothing I'd want to put here.  Yea, I'm a little burned out on reviewing.  

Worth the Weight held my interest for more than a quick skim.  I found myself engrossed in this reunion of first loves.  She lives in the city now, and owns a successful business.  As noted above, she's just lost a lot of weight and now wants a "normal" romantic life. He lives in the small town in which they grew  up, is a farmer and single father to two kids.  Both had to learn to accept themselves and the  choices they had made in life. Both had close friends and families in their corner.  All in all, a really good story.  Like many Amazon cheapies  (still free as of this writing, $0.99 normal price) it has a few typos, but writing is better than I expected.  There are quite a few intimate scenes, they happen outside of marriage and they are on the explict side.  Grade:  B.  

Where to Find Free E-Books

One of the advantages of having an e-reader, whether a Kindle, a Nook, a Kobo Reader or even an I-Pad is being able to amass a free library that takes up less room than a computer.

If you are looking for classics or other works with expired copyrights, Project Gutenburg is a good place to start.  They have over 36,000 books hosted on their site, all of which were, as they say, originally published by bona fide publishers.  They also link to sites that provide over 100,000 more free reads (some of which are self-published).

The major on-line bookstores offer free copies of the classics as well, but even more interesting, they offer free copies current books as well.  Generally speaking, the offers of current books are of limited duration, and often coincide with the author's release of another work.  In other words, as of this writing MaryLu Tyndall's Surrender the Heart is a freebie.  It was originally published in August, 2010 and is the first book in a series of three set during the war of 1812.  The third, Surrender the Dawn (Surrender to Destiny) will be published this August.  It does't take a genius to figure out that the publisher is hoping that after you read the first book, you'll purchase the next two.  Other limited-time freebies are self-published books whose authors, I would assume, hope you will purchase more of their works after trying one.

The problem with those limited-time offers is being able to grab what you want when it is available.  You could just search for free book when you are in the mood to read, but who knows what you will find, or whether there is anything you want to read available that day.  You could make a habit of checking your favorite bookstore's site daily for free reads, but that gets time-consuming.  Luckily, there are folks out there who have tried to make the task easier for most of us.

If you are a regular on facebook, search for facebook groups for free books for your chosen reader.  Free Books For Kindle offered twenty books today.  I don't want any of this batch, but if you check my Mailbox Monday posts, you'll note that I do find my share of books that catch my eye long enough to download them. If they interest me at all, I go ahead and "buy" them; I don't have to read them and that way they are mine forever.  Free Nook Books Etc. had even more.

Some people have set up blogs dedicated to free e-books.  I subscribed to Free Kindle Books and Tips on my Kindle when I first got it, and it was convenient to read it there.  However, I found buying directly from the Kindle to be clumsy and decided it wasn't worth 99 cents a month to read it on the Kindle when I could read it on-line for nothing.

Finally, if you are a book blogger, check out NetGalley.  They offer review copies of just about any genre you like and while different publishers require different things from bloggers, in general, most people who blog regularly are able to access a variety of books.

What's your favorite way to find free e-books?

My New Toy

Kindle Wireless Reading Device, Wi-Fi, Graphite, 6" Display with New E Ink Pearl Technology

Yup, now I'm one of them--one of the folks with a Kindle.  Two of the attorneys for whom I worked decided I needed one for Christmas.  In a lot of ways it is the best kind of gift--something I had been wanting, but thought I really couldn't justify the cost of, since I have review books showing up here every week, and a good library system at my disposal.  Still, I'd see the Kindle advertised, and I'd want one...and then on the day of our office party, what showed up in my office but this beauty.  

I've bought a couple of books, and downloaded some freebies and I have to say I'm impressed.  The Kindle is easy to read, easy to carry and easy to operate.  I will say that the navigation system is a bit clunky, but it does work.  I've always been a one book at a time person but I find myself flipping between several on this devise, but its not like more books are cluttering up my room, or that I have a lot to carry, and the Kindle remembers what page I'm on.  

In order to hook new owners on these toys, Amazon provides some free books.  There are free versions of most classics and even some new books are available free (though my understanding is that they don't remain that way for long).  As a book reviewer I have access to Net Galleys which provides digital review copies, and I've already got quite a backlog on my new toy.  

Grade:  A.

Click here  to purchase your own Kindle and give me a commission that I can use to buy more Kindle books!