$1.99 Romances from Warner Forever

Warner Forever is bringing you four sizzlin' summer reads for $1.99 each (they are already marked down on Kindle, but not at other e-tailers, some of which don't even have all of them listed yet). I don't know how long they will be marked down, but you might want to stock up on your beach reads now.

A Hint of Wicked by Jennifer Haymore is a new release (June 1, 2009).

CAUGHT BETWEEN DUTY AND DESIRE . . .

Sophie, the Duchess of Calton, has finally moved on. After seven years mourning the loss of her husband, Garrett, at Waterloo, she has married his cousin and heir, Tristan. Sophie gives herself to him body and soul. . . until the day Garrett returns from the Continent, demanding his title, his lands-and his wife.

TORN BETWEEN TWO HUSBANDS . . .

Now Sophie must choose between her first love and her new love, knowing that no matter what, her choice will destroy one of the men she adores. Will it be Garrett, her childhood sweetheart, whose loss nearly destroyed her once already? Or will it be Tristan, beloved friend turned lover, who supported her through the last, dark years and introduced her to a passion she had never known? As her two husbands battle for her heart, Sophie finds herself immersed in a dangerous game-where the stakes are not only love . . . but life and death.

My Wicked Enemy by Carolyn Jewel

A desire that can't be controlled...Carson Philips is a witch on the run. For years, the notorious mage, Alvaro Magellan, has held her as his psychological prisoner. But once Carson gets a glimpse of the true extent of his evil, she flees Magellan's mansion--stealing a stone talisman of unimaginable power on the way. Her only hope for survival is a demon who ignites a voracious hunger in her she can't deny, a longing she can't resist...

A hunger that can't be sated...Nikodemus is a warlord with a mission: Kill Magellan and his green-eyed witch at any cost. But when he meets the desperate Carson, the pull of her magic takes his breathe away. He's not sure he can trust this tantalizing woman--she is his enemy--and less sure he can keep his hands off her. But Magellan will stop at nothing to reclaim what belongs to him. Can Nikodemus stop him before his desire for Carson destroys them both?

Between the Sheets by Robin Wells looks to be a fairly funny story, in addition to everything else.

How do you have a life when everyone in America thinks you gave the president-elect a fatal heart attack during an illicit sex romp?
Emma Jamison never thought she'd have to answer that question, but here she is, smack dab in the middle of a political scandal that would make Monica Lewinsky blush. Trouble is, nobody believes that Emma wasn't the call-girl who killed the president-to-be with her, uh, carnal skills.
So Emma packs up and moves to small-town Chartreuse, LA, to escape her infamy and to start over. But when her grandmother starts dating the grandfather of district attorney Max Duval, the quiet life she was seeking blows up in smoke.

Too Far Gone by Marliss Melton is the sixth in her Navy Seals series.

Ellie Stuart's life ended the day her children were stolen from her. Driving on a Virginia backroad, Ellie was ambushed by two men who violently pulled her from her car and drove off with her three sons inside. Devastated, Ellie begs the police to bring her babies home. But the authorities wonder if this stressed-out single mom may not be telling the whole truth about what happened that day...


Navy SEAL Sean Harlan agrees to help Ellie find her children, but vows to keep their relationship professional. He's got no room in his life for a woman and her kids--no matter how beautiful she is, or how desperate their situation. But when a sinister organization begins pulling strings behind the scenes, the investigation suddenly targets Sean. Can he and Ellie rescue her children and save themselves? Or are they already...

June Orbit Dollar Book: Midnight Never Come

Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan

Book Description
England flourishes under the hand of its Virgin Queen: Elizabeth, Gloriana, last and most powerful of the Tudor monarchs.

But a great light casts a great shadow.

In hidden catacombs beneath London, a second Queen holds court: Invidiana, ruler of faerie England, and a dark mirror to the glory above. In the thirty years since Elizabeth ascended her throne, fae and mortal politics have become inextricably entwined, in secret alliances and ruthless betrayals whose existence is suspected only by a few.

Two courtiers, both struggling for royal favor, are about to uncover the secrets that lie behind these two thrones. When the faerie lady Lune is sent to monitor and manipulate Elizabeth's spymaster, Walsingham, her path crosses that of Michael Deven, a mortal gentleman and agent of Walsingham's. His discovery of the "hidden player" in English politics will test Lune's loyalty and Deven's courage alike. Will she betray her Queen for the sake of a world that is not hers? And can he survive in the alien and Machiavellian world of the fae? For only together will they be able to find the source of Invidiana's power -- find it, and break it . . . .

A breathtaking novel of intrigue and betrayal set in Elizabethan England; Midnight Never Come seamlessly weaves together history and the fantastic to dazzling effect.

So far, the pricing has come down at Booksonboard (MS Reader and EReader formats only; you actually get paid 67 cents to buy the book) and Sony and Amazon. So far, Fictionwise doesn't even list the book for sale, but they may get caught up when they post new books later today or tomorrow. If not, it may be next week, as they seldom post new books except Monday evenings/Tuesday mornings.

SciFi Friday, Part 3: The Rest of the Universe

It's not really fair to all the other authors out there. After all, they outnumber the Star Wars and Star Trek authors by a large majority (although most of the series authors also write other science fiction titles that are unrelated to their series titles) and the rest of the SciFi universe is large indeed. But for most people, Star Wars and Star Trek define the category of Science Fiction. For those that haven't ventured outside that realm (and I'll include Stargate in that grouping), here are a few bargain titles to get you started.

James Somers has several bargain books in this category. First up is The Chronicles of Soone - Rise of Lucin, ($0.80) the sequel to The Chronicles of Soone--Heir to the King ($7.99). I'd prefer the first in the series be discounted and you would think authors would prefer it as well - get more readers hooked, while extending the income stream from the author's backlist.

WAR RAGES
Lucin, the Fallen One, is victorious on planet Castai and the reign of the king has ended in a savage coup. The final days of mankind's hope are fading with the rise of a sinister foe.

THE MIGHTY FALL
King Tiet Soone and a small band of warriors have barely escaped planet Castai with their lives. No place is safe for them with Lucin on the hunt.

A FINAL PROPHECY
A mysterious prophet has come to direct the king towards his destiny—a second confrontation with Lucin and his army of assimilated humans. But with the reconciliation of Lucin's Mithrial brethren, the Agonotti, the odds for success are worse than ever. Outnumbered and outmatched, the king must risk all he has left or witness the end of mankind.

Two other titles are on Kindle: PERDITION'S GATE and HALLOWED BE THY NAME, both listed at the bargain basement price of $0.80. Both in the SciFi realm, they are stand-alone titles.

If you prefer more classic SciFi, then many of the SciFi pulp magazines of the past have fallen out of copyright and the short stories, novellas and serials they contained are now being republished on the Kindle, often at bargain prices. One collection that has a great cover is Planet of the Damned and Other Stories: A Science Fiction Anthology (Five Books in One Volume!) by ($0.80) Harry Harrison. Of course, you can pick up free copies of the individual stories from Feedbooks or ManyBooks.

If you want more contemporary authors, there is a wealth of free material to choose from, with more posted each week than most of us can hope to keep up with. Some of it gets posted at ManyBooks (Deviations: Appetite by Elissa Malcohn) or Feedbooks (several by Peter Watts). Others are posted on authors blogs and websites all over the world. Jeffrey Carver has listed Eternity's End as a free download (and Sunborn is still free, although I don't know for how long). In addition, he has listed the StarRigger series and several stand-alone novels at Fictionwise as a DRM-free multiformat downloads. All of his books can be read on the Kindle or most other readers. Best of all, they are all in the Anniversary Sale currently going on at Fictionwise (they also sell secure mobipocket books, which do not work with the Kindle, but everything in the store is on sale right now, for those who read on their PC or other readers; multiformat books are a straight discount, while secure DRM'd books require up-front purchase by CC/Paypal and do a store credit rebate). If you are a member of the FW club, it works out to about 57% off Carver's titles (and about 1/2 off if not a member).

There are also several free SF magazines online. Arkham Tales has just released a new issue and you can still download the first two. Frankly, I'm not sure that this magazine fits the SciFi category or even fully into Fantasy. It describes itself as Weird Fiction, so I'll leave it at that, but include it here, since I found out about it on a SF site. Plots with Ray Guns is also out and you can be amongst the first to read the Spring 2509 issue!

In fact, there are numerous SF sites that try to post just the free content each week. Two of the best are Futurismic and SF Signal. Both post a new list of free fiction on Fridays, so you'll always have something to read on the weekends. Just search for "free fiction" in their archives and you'll find more to read than you can keep up with.

Finally, for those that prefer Science Fact (or in this case, history) to Fiction, be sure to check out the history of the Apollo Space Program at NASA over at mobileread. Where No Man Has Gone Before, by W. David Compton is now available in mobi/prc format and is entirely free.

SciFi Friday, Part 2: Star Trek

Just like with Star Wars, if you want to keep up with Star Trek, you have a lot of reading to do, some old and some quite new. Rather than try to list the book description of each, for this post I'll just show the covers, grouped together by price.

First up, a series of graphic novels that tie into the new Star Trek movie, Star Trek: Countdown (1-4). Each of these is $1.59 and in black and white (yes, even on the iphone). Viewing it on the iphone is pretty cool, though, as you can now resize the page with a single gesture, blowing it up as large as needed to be able to read the text attached to each comic page. Since it is meant to be used on all the Kindles, though, the pages don't autmoatically start out in landscape mode (they should) and taking up the full screen (again, they should). Fair warning for those who don't have much room available: each of these is quite large, around 2.5M to 3.5MB in size

Next, there are a number of StarTrek novels, novellas and short stories on Kindle now. Several of these are bargain priced (under $5). I'll include more another week, as this should keep you busy for now.

$2.79/$2.80

$3.16

SciFi Friday, Part 1: Star Wars

As you know from reading this blog, there is a new, nine book, Star Wars series starting up, with Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Outcast ($9.99) the first of the new titles and Star Wars Fate of the Jedi: Dramatis Personae is a short story prequel offered for free from Suvudu. But if you want to get caught up on the Star Wars series, you have a lot of reading to do. The good news is that some of the earlier stories are available at bargain prices, including another free short story (Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith #1: Precipice) that I found this morning as I started to write this post. Many of the titles in the Star Wars series are novellas, rather than saga-length novels and that is true of most of the bargains I uncovered for today's post.

Star Wars: Darth Maul: Saboteur ($1.59) by James Luceno is a short story, apparently only ever in print in the UK (now only available as an ebook) and definitely a better deal than the over $20 print price would have been.

On the distant planet Dorvalla, precious ore is mined by two competing companies: InterGalactic Ore and Lommite Limited. Neither rival suspects that they are central to a sinister plot masterminded by Darth Sidious, Lord of the Sith, himself.

Dispatched by Sidious on his very first solo mission, Darth Maul infiltrates Lommite Limited. There, his unique gifts of deception and subterfuge will set off an explosive chain of events that could destroy both companies, leaving them ripe for takeover by the Trade Federation. But a vengeful Lommite Limited Manager with his own thirst for retaliation against InterGal could blow Maul's cover--and all of Sidious's fiendishly layed plans . . .

Star Wars: A Forest Apart ($2.80) by Troy Denning is a novella (as are all the rest in this post), also only available in ebook form.

Growing up in the shadow of his heroic father, Lumpawarrump, son of Chewbacca, feels tremendous pressure to match his father’s daring exploits. Chewie’s life-debt to Han Solo keeps him from returning home, and without the steadying influence of his father, Lumpy is unfocused and out of control. So Chewie’s wife decides that a visit to Coruscant is in order. It’s the perfect opportunity for the family to bond–and for Chewbacca to teach his son some much-needed life-lessons.

But when Lumpy’s eagerness to impress his father leads to direct disobedience, Chewie is forced into an extreme pursuit that will lead him into Coruscant’s dangerous underlevels–and to a secret as shocking as it is deadly. . . .

Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Recovery ($2.39) is a second novella from Troy Denning.

As the forces of darkness threaten to engulf the galaxy, one last defiant spark remains.... Though the Yuuzhan Vong were victorious in their savage conquest of the planet Duro, they failed to extract sensitive information from Leia Organa Solo, who now barely clings to life after enduring the enemies' torture. Unless she receives medical attention soon, the badly wounded Princess and former head of the New Republic will surely die. Pursued by bounty hunters, Han Solo begins a race against time, only to find his urgent pleas for help rejected by planet after planet, as the Jedi are blamed for the continuing fight against the seemingly invincible aliens. Desperate, the Solos decide on a suicide mission. They must reach Coruscant, the New Republic's strife-ridden capital where traitors, appeasers, and assassins now share the same goal as the fierce Yuuzhan Vong: kill all Jedi...

Star Wars: Boba Fett: A Practical Man ($2.80) by Karen Traviss takes place during the very beginning of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion.

On the surface, it seems like just another routine contract for Boba Fett and his Mandalorian commandos, but the mystery client who hires them to start a small war is more dangerous than any of them can possibly imagine. When the Yuuzhan Vong invasion force sweeps into the galaxy, the Mandalorians find they’re on the wrong side–fighting for an alien culture that will bring about the end of their own.

Now Fett has to choose between his honor and the survival of his people. Since he’s a practical man, he’s determined help the resistance beat the Yuuzhan Vong–even if it means working with a Jedi agent. Trouble is, no one trusts a man with Fett’s reputation. So convincing the New Republic that they’re fighting on the same side is a tall order. Denounced as traitors, Fett’s Mandalorians need to stay one step ahead of their Yuuzhan Vong paymasters–and the Republic who sees them as collaborators with the most destructive enemy the galaxy has ever faced. . . .

Star Wars: Fool's Bargain ($2.80) by Timothy Zahn rounds out the bargains in the series for today.

The history of the planet Kariek has been one of seemingly endless violence— thanks to the constantly erupting revolutions among the many divided tribes of the native Eickarie race battling for dominance. Yet none of these tribes has held sway since a mysterious Warlord and his legion of alien mercenaries seized power and began a fifty-year reign of terror.

Now, at last, the tide may be turning: the leaders of the warring Eickarie factions have forged an alliance—strong enough to capture a city and corner the Warlord and his minions in their fortress. And the post-Palpatine Empire of the Hand is lending support to this revolt against tyranny by deploying no less a fighting force than the Imperial 501st Legion of stormtroopers.

Once infamously known as “Vader’s Fist,” the legendary 501st are the best men for the dangerous objective at hand—capturing the Warlord alive. It’s a risky mission that might be jeopardized when Imperial unit commander Twister and his comrades, Shadow, Cloud, and Watchman, are waylaid by a band of zealous freedom fighters, armed with their own agenda . . . and plenty of firepower. The Eickarie renegades—determined to free hundreds of their people from the Warlord’s dungeons—have an offer to make, and a strategy that could give the Imperials the edge in the bloody showdown to come. But can Twister and his men trust their new allies? Or will they get more than they bargain for?