Free Ebook Roundup

The heat of summer is settling in and it looks like Amazon is taking a short break from introducing new free titles. Perhaps they just want to give us time to get caught up in our reading? Currently, I count 40 full books, a tv script, one graphic novel, 10 business book chapters and 4 rather odd entries marked "Test: Please do not purchase" (from their bestselling ratings, though, some of them have been making more sales than some of the free business chapters, on and off), all currently free in the Kindle store.

Just because they are taking a break, however, doesn't mean that there are not free reads to be found. This one isn't for Kindle, as it has DRM, but Books on Board has Lessons in Love by Kate Davies for free in several formats (Adobe Epub is the only one they are charging for) and the DRM free version Mobipocket works just fine in Calibre or on your Kindle. This one is a Samhain title and their previous freebies have been Kindle exclusives, but this one doesn't appear to be available in the Kindle store (at least, not yet).

St. Bride's College, Cambridge, England, 1905. When Jonty Stewart takes up a teaching post at the college where he studied, the handsome and outgoing young man acts as a catalyst for change within the archaic institution. He also has a catalytic effect on

Ruth Ann Nordin recently made available two new novels, Meant To Be, a time travel romantic comedy, and Eye of the Beholder, a historical romance. These join the other free novels on her web site, bringing the total to five (plus a link to another free book on the same page).

Meant To Be
While on a train heading west, Ted Jacob and Megan Crane are thrown back into the past, with no idea of why or how they got there. They get off the train at Fargo, North Dakota. To their dismay, they are in April 1898.

To their horror, the people insist that Ted and Megan marry at once! But Ted and Megan don't even know each other, and despite their protests, the preacher declares them man and wife.

Eye of the Beholder
Mary Peters despairs that she will never get married. At nineteen, she has no prospects of finding a husband, so she takes matters into her own hands and becomes a mail-order bride. When she arrives in Omaha, Nebraska to meet the man she's due to marry, he takes one look at her homely appearance and rejects her.

But fate has other plans for Mary.

At the bottom of the page, there is a link to a free novel from Melanie Nilles, A Turn of Curses ($0.99 Kindle). You can download it there, or follow the link to Melanie's web site - there you'll find not only the free book, but a description of another novel she has out on Kindle, Starfire Angels ($3.99), as well as a serialized novel Legend of the White Dragon, currently up to chapter 43.

Nineteen year old Selina has a life many would love–praised, served, and spoiled. The only problem is she didn't choose that life, because it comes with a heavy price. She will soon die, like all Healers, when the mark of Y'dom completes its pattern around her neck, and hers is nearly complete. Her gift of healing powers are sought after by all, including the ruling prince of a neighboring kingdom to heal his ailing father. Seeing this as her last chance for adventure, she makes the journey to Vastorn.

En route she encounters Faldon, the fallen leader of the feyquin, and his band of rogues. Cursed by a demon and swearing vengeance on the human who shares his curse, Faldon does all he can to stop Selina from completing her journey. But he also knows how to save Selina, if she survives the night mares.

Wesley Allison is offering a free download of his book on Smashwords, Princess of Amathar. You have to use a coupon code after adding the book to your cart, RE32Y, which is valid until August 30. One nice thing about Smashwords - once you purchase a book, almost all of them are downloadable in multiple formats and none have DRM, making it easy to get a version for your e-reader.

Transported to the artificial world of Ecos, Earth man Alexander Ashton struggles to understand the society of his new friends the Amatharians. As he does so, he finds himself falling in love with their princess and being thrust into a millennium-long war with their mortal foes the reptilian Zoasians. Princess of Amathar is a sword-swinging novel of high adventure.

Another one free on Smashwords is The Life & Times of a Boomer Baby, by L.K. Campbell, who recently had her book A Soldier's Love as a free download to celebrate her birthday (it's now $1.99).

Personal anecdotes about growing up on a farm in the rural south during the 1960s. These sometimes humorous and sometimes poignant stories give a picture of life before cell phones, home computers, satellite T.V. and all those other things we think we can't live without.

Closing out today's roundup is Raising Atlantis ($6.39 Kindle) by Thomas Greanias. The publisher is having a sweepstakes to promote his newest novel, Atlantis Revelation ($9.99), giving you a chance on a special issue Ipod Touch in addition to the book in PDF form.

" BURIED UNDER TWO MILES OF ICE. In Antarctica, a glacial earthquake swallows up a team of scientists...and exposes a mysterious monument older than the Earth itself. In Peru, archaeologist Dr. Conrad Yeats is apprehended by U.S. Special Forces...to unlock the final key to the origins of the human race. In Rome, the pope summons environmental activist Dr. Serena Serghetti to the Vatican...and reveals a terrifying vision of apocalyptic disaster. In space, a weather satellite reveals four massive storms forming around the South Pole...and three U.S. spy satellites disappear from orbit. These are the end times, when the legends of a lost civilization and the prophecies of the world's great religions lead a man and a woman to a shattering discovery that will change the fate of humankind. This is the ultimate voyage, a journey to the center of time, as awe-inspiring as the dawn of man--and as inevitable as doomsday. This is RAISING ATLANTIS.... "

Click HERE for the sweepstakes and PDF download. The link for the book is on the right part of the sweepstakes page, so be sure to grab it first, then enter the contest.