Happy Fourth of July - Free Music!

Amazon has a special offer for today's holiday - a free download of any (one) version of The Star Spangled Banner and a free album, Documentary Recordings Presents- Patriotic Music - Amazon Sampler. In addition, today's $1.99 album is the Steve Miller Band's Living In The U.S.A..

If you haven't purchased any music from Amazon before, you'll probably want their MP3 loader software (free and buying anything walks you thru it) and to be aware that MP3's are a download once item. I always leave the confirmation page on screen until I see that the file downloaded correctly and is loaded into iTunes (these are DRM-free MP3's, so will work in iTunes or any MP3 player, including the Kindle - use the MP3 loader to open the download directory, the drag the files into the MUSIC folder on your Kindle). There is a link on the confirmation page to restart your download (as well as to view your order to make sure you weren't overcharged) and once you leave that page, you'll have to call customer service if you need to re-download an item. One interesting bit of info on the Kindle family - the speakers have greatly improved with each version, from a single speaker of the Kindle to dual speakers on the Kindle2 to a blasting volume achievable on the KindleDX (we tried out the same book on a K2 and the DX, going at the same time and the DX was so loud you could not tell the K2 was even reading aloud).

Have a safe 4th of July! I'm off to start a BBQ, swim and maybe see a few fireworks.

Three Free Audiobooks from RandomHouse

If you sign up for their newsletter, RandomHouse will give you three free audiobooks. Give them your email address, confirm your subscription and you'll get a link to download all three in MP3 format that will work on the Kindle or any other MP3 player. You can use a throw-away address, just so long as it's one you can check (although I suspect they will honor a request to stop the newsletter). What you get:


Merrano of the Dry Country ($10.49 Audible) by Louis L'amour
Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House, No. 1) ($3.99 Paperback) by Mary Pope Osborne
Percy Jackson and the Sword of Hades by Rick Riordan (UK Only paperback release)

Click HERE to sign up for the free downloads.

Buy One, Get One Free

From July 1st to July 31st, when you buy The Secret Speech ($9.99), by Tom Rob Smith, you'll automatically get the first book in the Leo Demidov series, Child 44, for free. Both will download to you Kindle at the same time and you'll see both in your Kindle Library (just don't one-click on Child 44, by mistake).

Book Description

Soviet Union, 1956. Stalin is dead, and a violent regime is beginning to fracture-leaving behind a society where the police are the criminals, and the criminals are innocent. A secret speech composed by Stalin's successor Khrushchev is distributed to the entire nation. Its message: Stalin was a tyrant. Its promise: The Soviet Union will change.

Facing his own personal turmoil, former state security officer Leo Demidov is also struggling to change. The two young girls he and his wife Raisa adopted have yet to forgive him for his part in the death of their parents. They are not alone. Now that the truth is out, Leo, Raisa, and their family are in grave danger from someone consumed by the dark legacy of Leo's past career. Someone transformed beyond recognition into the perfect model of vengeance.
From the streets of Moscow in the throes of political upheaval, to the Siberian gulags, and to the center of the Hungarian uprising in Budapest, THE SECRET SPEECH is a breathtaking, epic novel that confirms Tom Rob Smith as one of the most exciting new authors writing today.

For those with a Sony Reader, you can get the same deal (but at a higher price) HERE.

Free Romance and Erotica

My Soul to Lose ($2.39 Kindle), by Rachel Vincent, is currently free in the eHarlequin store. This one has DRM, so won't work on the Kindle. There are three different formats, the Mobipocket version will work on other mobi devices that support DRM, including Mobipocket Reader on your PC. You'll have to create an account and register the PID before you download the book.

Book Description
It was supposed to be a fun day, shopping at the mall with her best friend. Then the panic attack started and Kaylee Cavanaugh finds herself screaming, unable to stop. Her secret fears are exposed and it's the worst day of her life.

Until she wakes up in the psychiatric unit.

She tries to convince everyone she's fine--despite the shadows she sees forming around another patient and the urge to scream which comes burbling up again and again. Everyone thinks she's crazy. Everyone except Lydia, that is. Another patient with some special abilities....

An eBook exclusive prequel to Rachel Vincent's SOUL SCREAMERS series.

Get a free copy of the book HERE.


The next two of these are short reads or novellas and in the PDF format. Ericka Scott's Mail Order Mama is set in the 1800's and is a Christmas story, of sorts.

The Hustler is a group effort by a group of authors on the Slash & Burn blog (which probably isn't safe for work viewing). This is definitely in the erotica category (gay, M/M), so not for everyone. Get the PDF HERE.

Summer Romance under $2

Hatchette Books is giving us five new romances for July at the discounted price of $1.99. The first of these, One Scream Away, by Kate Brady, is romantic suspense, although the title would fit erotica or horror, and the longest at 464 pages for the print version.

Killer Chevy Bankes is a master of disguise, and just paroled, he's coming after the woman who sent him to jail, the beautiful antiques expert Beth Denison. A set of antique dolls brings Beth into his sight, and inspire Chevy's disturbing crimes as he draws closer to Beth and her young daughter. Chevy sends the dolls to Beth one-by-one and she soon realizes that these antiques carry the same marks as his victims, signaling that the final piece in his collection will be for her.

Neil Sheridan gave up his FBI shield five years ago, but his best friend Rick, a cop, pulls him in as a consultant on a case involving a serial killer who is eerily similar to a murderer Neil encountered in the past. The investigation leads Neil to Beth's doorstep, and he is certain she isn't telling him the truth. Neil is the only one who can get through Beth's defenses and, as they grow closer, discover the secrets that Beth is hiding about her fateful night with Chevy.

Border Moonlight, by Amanda Scott, is also a substantial read, at 432 pages.

Lady Sibylla Cavers is ripe for marriage, yet she's rejected the first three suitors her father brought. When one of these suitors, the dashing Lord Simon Murray, rescues both Lady Sibylla and the small child she was trying to pull from the churning River Tweed, Sibylla begins to see Lord Simon in a new light. As he cares for her and the child until both are recovered from their near-deaths, she finds admirable - even lovable - qualities in Lord Simon. But political intrigue surrounding the powerful governor of Scotland will throw obstacles in the path if Simon's and Sibylla's budding love. Simon will fight for his inherited estate, while Sibylla will use all of her wits to protect their future together.

Love Is in the Heir, by Kathryn Caskie, is the lightweight of the crowd, but still has 304 pages.

"Fiddlesticks! I am sure the ladies Letitia and Viola Featherton are wrong when it comes to matchmaking. They insist that it has all to do with love. I, Miss Hannah Chillton, believe one has only to bring a couple together and let nature take its true course. To prove my point, I secretly plan to match the ladies themselves. Lud, what a challenge! They are practically in their dotage. And love certainly does not signify in the match the Featherton sisters are making for me. True, when Lord St. Albans and I first met, he fair took my breath away. But after we accidentally ran him down with our carriage, I became convinced he belongs to that most despicable class of men: rakes. His arrogance is insufferable-except when he appears so shy and considerate that I almost think St. Albans is two different men. But that cannot be possible. Or can it?"

Knight of Desire by Margaret Mallory

His surcoat still bloody from battle, William FitzAlan comes to claim the strategic borderlands granted to him by the king. One last prize awaits him at the castle gates: the lovely Lady Catherine Rayburn.

Catherine risked everything to spy for the crown. Her reward? Her lands are declared forfeit and she is given this choice: marry FitzAlan or be taken to the Tower. Catherine agrees to give her handsome new husband her body, but she's keeping secrets, and dare not give him her heart. As passion ignites and danger closes in, Catherine and William must learn to trust in each other to save their marriage, their land, and their very lives.

Seducing a Scottish Bride by Sue-Ellen Welfonder is the only one of the five that is shown on the Amazon Big Deals page - they must be hiding the rest until later in the month.

Gelis MacKenzie is one of the most desirable heiresses in all the Western Highlands. She is the youngest and much adored daughter of the indomitable Black Stag of Kintail, Duncan MacKenzie, who was the hero of Welfonder's novel DEVIL IN A KILT. Unfortunately, Gelis has been branded unmarriageable, but not for lack of masculine interest. No matter how lofty the ancestry, how deep the purse, or how mighty the sword arm, nary a one of her suitors is good enough for her father. Although he loves Gelis fiercely and knows he must someday see her settled and wed, Duncan isn't quite ready to let her go.

But now Duncan has received an offer for Gelis's hand in marriage that he is honor-bound to accept-and it comes from the worst possible quarter. The suitor, Ronan MacRuari of Castle Dare, is the last man Duncan MacKenzie would wish for a son-in-law. Known as the Raven, Ronan is the scion of a dark clan that has been marked by a deadly curse.

Ronan and Gelis are instantly attracted to one another, but they are immediately estranged. Ronan's last two wives have died abruptly and he doesn't want to see his vivacious newly-wed Gelis suffer the same fate, so he distances himself from her as much as possible. In the meantime, Ronan searches for the Raven Stone, a fabled treasure that he believes holds the power of the curse over his clan. But Gelis has fallen in love with her new husband, and she's determined to help him. Though Ronan doesn't know it, Gelis also has the gift of second-sight, and she has seen a future in which she is destined to help redeem her cursed husband.


These same titles can be found in the Sony Store, HERE.