Kindle Bargain Bundles

One of the major advantages of ebooks is that you don't have to try to hold those huge volumes that are produced when authors release omnibus editions. With an ebook, the only difference between a three (or six) volume book is that the progress bar moves slower. And in ebook form, these multi-volume bundles are often a bargain, so long as you want all the volumes bundled together. With trilogies and series, the most often encountered bundles, this is usually not an issue, unlike movie bundles, where the genre (action, thriller) may be all that ties the bundle together.

The Alex Kava Bundle is one of the largest bundles I've seen offered at Amazon. This bundle contains A Perfect Evil, Split Second, The Soul Catcher, At the Stroke of Madness, A Necessary Evil, the first five novels in her popular Maggie O'Dell series and One False Move, a stand-alone novel, all for the price of $18.12. That's $3.02 per book and purchased separately they would cost $30.12 (at today's prices/discounts). Exposed, currently the last in the series, is available, but at $13.47, while Black Friday is scheduled to be released in October of this year.

The Study Series by Maria V. Snyder is one that I read in paperback and really enjoyed. This bundle includes Poison Study (not available otherwise on Kindle), Magic Study and Fire Study, and also includes as a special bonus, the online read written exclusively for eHarlequin.com, Assassin Study! The Heather Graham Bundle combines romance, suspense and a dash of paranormal and contains four titles (The Island, Ghost Walk, Killing Kelly and The Vision) for $14.37 (under $3.60 each).

In Her Name by Michael R. Hicks is somewhat unusual in the trilogy/bundle category. This volume, a bargain $5.59 (versus the $19.75 print price), was released as a single book. But the author has had numerous reviewers and book clubs tell him that it is more suited to be published as a trilogy. Some were reading it in print and it is large and heavy to hold open, while book clubs like to tackle books of smaller length. At 684 (9"x6") pages and 2.1 pounds, it's definitely a long book. So, it's being broken up into three volumes and will be published as single volumes. I've no idea if the price will rise once this occurs (and the cool blue swordswoman won't be on the cover of the first volume; no word yet on the last two covers), but the original bundled volume will still be available.

Almost Human - paranormal vampire series - volumes 1, 2 & 3, by Melanie Nowak, is $9.99 as a bundle, while the separate volumes (Fatal Infatuation, Lost Reflections and Evolving Ecstasy) are $4.79 each, saving you $4.38 when purchased together. This is the beginning of an ambitious series - there will be four trilogies, a total of 12 volumes when complete. This author hasn't hit the bestsellers lists (most self-published authors never will), but has great reviews at Amazon and on several forums, some of which she stops in, from time to time, and answers questions directly. The series is in the vampire/romance genre and has a somewhat controversial relationship, which an older vampire and a young girl/woman (it's unclear from the description exactly how old she is and I haven't read this one ... yet). Then again, just because the vampire in Twilight looks physically young, he's also much, much older than the teen heroine.

Jennifer Armintrout's Blood Ties Bundle ($13.47) is another vampire themed series and this bundle contains four volumes (The Turning, Possession, Ashes to Ashes and All Souls' Night). There is only one review of the bundle so far and it is only one star - but the individual books have a number of reviews and tend to be 4 and 5 stars. I've started this series and I like what I've read, so far. If you prefer a more steamy vampire romance, check out Kimberly Raye's Love at First Bite Bundle. Four volumes of vampire cowboys for $9.99.

For those that prefer their romance to be vampire free, Harlequin has dozens of bundles available, mostly in the $7.96 to $9.99 price range. One noticeable exception is the Men Made in America Mega-Bundle, which contains 11 volumes for $31.68 ($2.88 each) and "features stories from all fifty states starring all-American cowboys, sailors, policemen, businessmen, ranchers and more! The first Men Made in America Mega-Bundle includes The Redemption of Deke Summers by Gayle Wilson, Found: His Perfect Wife by Marie Ferrarella, Arizona Heat by Jennifer Greene, Deceptions by Annette Broadrick, Dr. Dad by Judith Arnold, Send Me a Hero by Rita Herron, Tangled Lies by Anne Stuart, Love by Proxy by Diana Palmer, The Temptation of Rory Monahan by Elizabeth Bevarly, Mysterious Stranger by Patricia Rosemoor, and Bayou Midnight by Emilie Richards." Once you've made your way thru this one, you may also want to pick up Men Made In America Mega-Bundle 2 and Men Made in America Mega-Bundle 3, each containing eleven more volumes at the same $31.68 price. For 95 dollars, you get 33 book in all, enough to satisfy even a voracious reader (at least for a few weeks!).

Another sure bet is the Jennifer Crusie Bundle at $9.99. Crusie blends humor and romance and the four in this series are no exception: Getting Rid of Bradley, Strange Bedpersons, What the Lady Wants and Charlie All Night.

Not all bundles are bargains though. Check out Blossom Street Bundle by Debbie Macomber. At $18.01, it contains three volumes (The Shop on Blossom Street, A Good Yarn and Back on Blossom Street) and costs more than those three titles purchased separately ($16.92). Had they tossed in Twenty Wishes, currently at $13.47, that would have been a bundle I could go for.

The Chronicles of Elantra Bundle by Michelle Sagara is described as high fantasy meets police procedural. Containing the first three volumes in the series, Cast in Shadow, Cast in Courtlight and Cast in Secret, the current price of $16.42 is also slightly above the sale prices of $5.04 for the individual volumes ($15.12 total). The list price of the bundle is also higher than the list prices for each volume separately, so it may always make more sense to buy these separately. Here again, had they included the fourth in the series, Cast in Fury, the bundle would have been incredibly tempting (and I've already sent samples of these individual titles to my Kindle).