20 Free Books from Dorchester Publishing

Dorchester Publishing has a late night gift for those who read EPUB format books in the US and Canada: 20 free books in the Kobo store. Genres include romance (contemporary, historical, paranormal, humor) & mystery/suspense/thrillers. Two of these were free earlier this month on Kindle, but the rest are new freebies. I checked a couple and they are generally selling for $4.79 to $5.59 each in the Kindle store. I don't know how long they'll last, so grab them while you can. Don't forget, click on Add to Library under the cover on each book, so you can re-download them later, if you need to.

Hunt At The Well Of Eternity, by Gabriel Hunt

Book Description
A blood-stained Confederate flag and the beautiful woman carrying it put Gabriel Hunt on the trail of a secret hidden deep in the Central American jungle a secret that might just be the legendary Fountain of Youth…

What Burns Within, by Sandra Ruttan

Book Description
One year ago, a brutal case almost destroyed three cops. Since then they've lost touch with one another, avoiding painful memories, content to go their own ways. Now Nolan is after a serial rapist. Hart is working on a string of arsons. And Tain has been assigned a series of child abductions, a case all too similar to that one. But when the body of one of the abduction victims is found at the site of one of the arsons, it starts to look like maybe these cases are connected after all....

The Cellar, by Richard Laymon

Book Description
Visitors flock to see the Beast House with its blood-soaked corridors and creaky doors. Armed with video camcorders, these poor sould enter the forbidden house, never to return. The deeper they go into the house, the darker their nightmares become. Don't even think about going into the cellar.

Seven Brides: Rose, by Leigh Greenwood

Book Description
Hired to keep house for George Randolph and his three unruly brothers at their ramshackle ranch, penniless and friendless Rose Thornton soon finds herself the object of affection for George.

Squeeze Play, by Kate Angell

Book Description
The first in a steamy new series of romances featuring a hunky baseball team and the sirens who challenge the players in the game of love.

Pandora's Box, by Natale Stenzel

Book Description

Hope remains . . .

All Pandemina Dorothy Avery ever wanted was to be beautifully, blessedly normal, with a stable career and a love life leading to a white picket fence and a happily-ever-after. That seems impossible now. Penniless and parted from her unfaithful boyfriend, unfairly shunned by her coworkers, not even Mina's recent inheritance can help -- especially not when it amounts to a ten-pound rock box and guardianship of the horny, devious puca she released from inside. His name's Riordan, and he ain't no Harvey.

What's a puca, you ask? A tricky faery-type, whose magic not only includes shape-shifting into a magnificent black stallion and a snarky mutt, but the ability to manipulate human perceptions. And Riordan is hardly shy of manipulations: Wasn't that why he was imprisoned in the first place? He seems set upon making Mina's life harder than ever, whether it be with Jonathon Teague, the handsome contractor who wants to work on more than her house, or Mina's penitent ex-boyfriend. But as Riordan's very existence proves, things are not always what they seem, and what stepped out of that box might be the key to her dreams.

The Star King, by Susan Grant

Book Description
A beautiful fighter pilot is shot down over Saudi Arabia, and ends up in the arms of the king of a distant galaxy.

Celtic Fire, by Joy Nash

Book Description
When a Roman commander travels through Britannia to investigate a haunting vision, an ambush by hostile Celts leaves him with an unexpected prize--a beautifully enchanting witch.

Savage Autumn, by Constance O'Banyon

Book Description
Joanna escapes the lustful clutches of her lecherous uncle only to be taken captive by a powerful Blackfoot warrior. But Joanna will soon learn that beneath Windhawk's proud exterior beats a heart that belongs only to her.

Noble Intentions, by Katie MacAlister

Book Description
Unconventional to the tips of her half-American toes, Gillian sparks scandal among the townspeople and a burning desire in Noble's heart.

Sweet Release, by Pamela Clare

Book Description
When a woman buys a dying convict to save his life, she little suspects he is truly an English aristocrat who will soon steal her heart.

Immortals: The Calling, by Jennifer Ashley

Book Description
While investigating her sister's murder, Amber Silverthorne accidentally summons an Immortal warrior whose wicked charm and sinful touch could prove just as dangerous as the demon they're chasing.

Divine Fire, by Melanie Jackson

Book Description
When a biographer proves to know more about his life than the now-immortal Lord Byron expects, he draws her into a dangerous game and his passionate arms.

A Taste Of Magic, by Tracy Madison

Book Description
A young, divorced bakery owner discovers she's inherited her gypsy ancestress's fabulous magical powers, but learns that when seeking true love with her hunky new neighbor, a person has to be careful what she cooks up.

Crimson & Steam, by Liz Maverick

Book Description
A new plot is developing in Crimson City one meant to destroy all vampires and werewolves and only it can bring together those ill-fated lovers from different species, Jill and Marius.

Stolen Fury, by Elisabeth Naughton

Book Description
The heroine is an archaeologist looking for three ancient Greek artifacts called the Furies, and the hero is a thief who tried to seduce her to get the Furies for himself.

Trouble In Mudbug, by Jana DeLeon

Book Description
With the wise-cracking ghost of her mother-in-law hounding her, a sexy half-Creole investigator ready to seduce her, and a killer on the loose, Maryse Robicheaux is feeling the heat on the Louisiana bayou.

Spying In High Heels, by Gemma Halliday

Book Description
L.A. shoe designer, Maddie Springer, lives her life by three rules: Fashion. Fashion. Fashion. But when she stumbles upon the work of a brutal killer, her life takes an unexpected turn from Manolos to murder. And things only get worse when her boyfriend disappears—along with $20 million in embezzled funds—and her every move is suddenly under scrutiny by LAPD's sexiest cop. With the help of her post-menopausal bridezilla of a mother, a 300-pound psychic and one seriously oversexed best friend, Maddie finds herself stepping out of her stilettos and onto the trail of a murderer. But can she catch a killer before the killer catches up to her?

The Accidental Demon Slayer, by Angie Fox; this title has previously been free in the Kindle store.

Book Description
It's never a good day when an ancient demon shows up on your toilet bowl. For Lizzie Brown, that's just the beginning. Soon her hyperactive terrier starts talking, and her long-lost biker witch Grandma is hurling Smuckers jars filled with magic. Just when she thinks she's seen it all, Lizzie learns she's a demon slayer-and all hell is after her.

Of course, that's not the only thing after her. Dimitri Kallinikos, a devastatingly handsome shape-shifting griffin needs Lizzie to slay a demon of his own. But how do you talk a girl you've never met into going straight to the underworld? Lie. And if that doesn't work, how dangerous could a little seduction be...?

Divorced, Desperate And Dating, by Christie Craig; this title has previously been free in the Kindle store.

Book Description
A mystery writer is forced to reconsider her policy against dating when she is protected from death threats by the sexiest cop she's ever seen.

Arrrrgh! It's Talk Like a Pirate Day!

In honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day, all of this posts bargain books will deal with pirates in one way or another. I'm even tossing in a few public domain titles you might want to try -- I wonder how the pirates sound using TTS?

Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC ($4.79), by Henry Cole & June Sobel, looks like a cute title for the youngest pirates in your house. Like most books aimed at the kindergarten crowd, it's only a few dozen pages in length, but is meant to be read over and over again.

Book Description
The captain of this brave and bumbling pirate crew has ordered them to capture the entire alphabet--and they'll walk the plank if they're missing a single letter! Now these swashbuckling mateys are embarking on an alphabet adventure unlike any other, and they won't (ahem, can't) rest until they've found an A, a Z, and everything in between.

June Sobel's hilarious text and Henry Cole's adventurous animal pirates harmonize in an irresistible book for alphabet-learning, pirate-loving kids everywhere.

For the slightly older pirates underfoot, consider Prince of Pirates ($6.39), by Philip Caveney, the second in his Sebastian Darke series. It may be a bit over the usual $5 limit at Amazon, but combined with the twodollar coupon at Kobo, it's only $4.29 today, HERE. If you want to start with the first in the series, Prince Of Fools is $3.49 with that same coupon.

Book Description
Sebastian Darke, his opinionated buffalope, Max, and the fierce fighter Cornelius are heading to the bustling port of Ramalat to embark on a perilous sea journey. They are ready to risk their lives in search of the fabled lost treasure of the pirate King, Captain Callinestra. But first, they must make it through the dark and mysterious forest of Geltane and
survive an encounter with the beautiful and bewitching Leonora, a powerful enchantress with a magical hold over Sebastian’s senses. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, little do they know that, when they finally reach Ramalat, a feisty female sea captain, an infamous young pirate, ravenous sea creatures, and furious sea battles await them.

But there’s no turning back. Will they discover the lost treasure? Will Sebastian live to tell the tale? Will Max ever stop moaning?

No list of pirate books is complete without Treasure Island (free), by Robert Louis Stevenson

Book Description
Masterfully crafted, Treasure Island is a stunning yarn of piracy on the fiery tropic seas -- an unforgettable tale of treachery that embroils a host of legendary swashbucklers, from honest young Jim Hawkins to sinister, two-timing Israel Hands, to evil incarnate, blind Pew. But above all, Treasure Island is a complex study of good and evil, as embodied by that hero-villain, Long John Silver: the merry unscrupulous buccaneer-rogue whose greedy quest for gold cannot help but win the heart of every soul who ever longed for romance, treasure, and adventure. Since its publication in 1883, Treasure Island has provided an enduring literary model for such eminent writers as Anthony Hope, Graham Greene, and Jorge Luis Borges. As David Daiches wrote: "Robert Louis Stevenson transformed the Victorian boys' adventure into a classic of its kind."

I'm really not sure where Booty: Girl Pirates on the High Seas ($0.99), by Sara Lorimer (Author) & Susan Synarski (Illustrator), fits in age-wise, as one review mentions it being for adults and children, while another objected to the mature concepts and didn't give it to her grandchildren and a third review mentions a movie of the same name, where unbuckling, rather than swashbuckling seems to be the theme. It's also fairly small (85KB and just over a hundred pages, which doesn't seem to leave much space for the illustrations), but then again, it's only a buck. I'd sample first, though, before one-clicking.

Book Description
A treasure trove of high adventure and bad behavior, Booty tells the all-true tales of real women pirates who prowled the seas from the 9th to early-20th centuries in search of easy prey and easy profit.

Raiding ships, boozing, brawling, and looting, they struck terror in the hearts of men from the Mediterranean to the South China Sea to the rivers of New York. Meet Rachel Wall, who traded her devout religious upbringing for “lewd and wicked company”; Cheng I Sao, who led a fleet of 2,000 ships and made her men drink cocktails of wine and gunpowder; Mary Read, who killed one pirate for the love of another; and Sadie the Goat, who headbutted her victims before fleecing them of cash.

Their exploits and those of many more swashbuckling women fill these pages, along with an informative look at the finer points of pirate life (grog, flogging, fashion, and more). Arrrrr.

Moving up to the adults in your ship, there are a number of pirate themed romances out there. This one's cover caught my eye: Pleasuring the Pirate ($4.79), by Emily Bryan.

Book Description
When a notorious pirate comes home to England to claim his inheritance, he finds a courtesan's daughter and a group of orphans have taken over the estate...and soon capture his heart as well.

You might also take a look at these mainstream and indie titles

• My Wicked Pirate ($2.55), by Rona Sharon
• Captain Devlin's Captive ($2.99), by Susanne Saville
• The Pirate And The Puritan ($4.80), by Mary Clayton
• or even this trio of titles about pirate threesomes.

The Ghost Pirates (free), by William Hope Hodgson, fits not only today's theme, but is an early entry for Halloween, just in case you don't finish it quickly.

Book Description
'The Ghost Pirates . . . is a powerful account of a doomed and haunted ship on its last voyage, and of the terrible sea-devils (of quasi-human aspect, and perhaps the spirits of bygone buccaneers) that besiege it and finally drag it down to an unknown fate. With its command of maritime knowledge, and its clever selection of hints and incidents suggestive of latent horrors in nature, this book at times reaches enviable peaks of power.' -- H.P. Lovecraft

Wolves of the Sea (free), by Randall Parrish, is one I bought a while back, on a forum recommendation and it's 5-star reader review. Guess I need to move it to the top of my TBR stack.

Book Description
Full title: Wolves of the Sea Being a Tale of the Colonies From the Manuscript of One Geoffry Carlyle, Seaman, Narrating Certain Strange Adventures Which Befell Him Aboard the Pirate Craft "Namur"

The Frozen Pirate (free), by W. Clark (William Clark) Russell, is another public domain title that has a 5-star reader rating.

Book Description
William Clark Russell was a writer of nautical novels, born in New York. He spent eight years at sea as a sailor, gaining the experience he would use in his fiction. After his years at sea, he turned to journalism, and was on the staff of New York's Daily Chronicle before he took to writing novels.

The Frozen Pirate is the story of Paul Rodney, a sailor who narrowly escapes death by shipwreck and exposure in the Straits of Magellan. Surmounting that peril, he faces another: Embedded in the Antarctic ice is an ancient vessel, filled with what seem to be frozen, contorted corpses. But the ship is a pirate ship, and the corpses aren't dead. When one of them revives, Rodney must fend off (and cooperate with, if he hopes to survive) one of the most bloodthirsty and black-hearted scoundrels ever to sail the seven seas!

There are a number of other good books with a pirate theme, if you are willing to look beyond the $5 bargain limit, as well. I've picked out my book for the day; what about you? Which one are you reading?

$2.00 Coupon Plus Sale Prices at Kobo

It's another $2 off sale at Kobo this weekend, with two coupons, one valid on a single book and pretty much from a single list of titles, while the other is good for any non-Agency book and can be used multiple times. Kobo's books are in EPUB format and generally don't work on the Kindle, but this is a great sale for those who have another ebook reader or use one of the phone, pad or desktop apps.

First, to promote their new Desktop reading app, you can use coupon code kobodesktop to get $2 off any of the titles on the list of 202 books. This one can only be used once, but I'm not sure when it expires. If you don't get to it today, it's worth trying anytime in the next few days.

The second code is twodollars and it can be used on ANY non-agency book; one good place to start searching is the Can't get these in iBooks list. Even better, it can be used multiple times and on books that sell for less than two bucks, you get the book for free. A number of the titles on the Cheap Reads list will qualify, but many of those are Agency publishers. Also, I've found that their indie-writers don't end up on that list at all. I searched for The Invasion, by William Meikle, after reading a recommendation for it one one of the ebook forums I frequent and found it for $1.79 (it's the same on Kindle), which means it was free after the coupon was applied.

If you've never used Kobo, you'll have to set up an account. Once you click on the Buy Now button on any book page, you'll see a confirmation page with your payment info. In the middle of the lower portion of the page, there is a link that reads

Have a promo code?
Click here >

Click, enter the coupon code and then click on Apply >. Check the Total: shown at the right before clicking on $ Buy Now, as what is shown is what you'll be charged. It is possible to get a refund from Kobo, but like most ebookstores, the process isn't as automatic as it is with Amazon. Also, as far as I can tell, you cannot buy a gift card and use it for purchases (although you could get a prepaid visa/master card and use that, I suspect, if it has an address registered). So, if you buy some of the lower priced books, your credit card company may hold the payments until you OK them, as under $1 charges are sometimes flagged for possible fraud. Also, even though the site caters towards those in the US, it is a Canadian registered company. If your credit card bars out of country purchases, you'll have to either try another card or call them and get Kobobooks.com placed on an exemption list (which most card companies can do) to allow the charges to go thru.

Free Book (PDF) - Being Young

Being Young ($9.99 Kindle), by Astrid Young, is a free download from Wowio this month.

Book Description
Neil Young is known as one of rock’s great artists, his influence extending far beyond his own generation. Being Young looks at a lifetime of love, humor, disappointment, and proud moments, picking up where Scott Young’s book Neil and Me left off in 1984. The book is a testament to a Woodstock-generation rocker whose independence and determination have seen him through his life as a prolific musician who is still producing to this day.

Being Young by Neil Young’s sister, Astrid Young, offers a fresh perspective on one of rock’s most recognized cultural icons. Astrid goes deep inside the motivations that shaped their family unit, exploring all the ways it came apart and how, in the end, a tenacious and undeniable kindred spirit was able to pull it back together. The story is in part a celebration of the legacy of a family that many of us grew up feeling we knew and in part the meaningful and intimate reflection of one who experienced it all.

Astrid Young started writing creatively at an early age. A musician by trade, her career has taken her around the world, both on her own and singing backup for her brother Neil Young. Astrid lives in Toronto.

This PDF eBook includes a new chapter from the updated print edition plus a bonus, WOWIO-exclusive video interview with Astrid Young (you’ll need recent versions of Adobe Reader and QuickTime to view the video within the eBook).

Click HERE for the free download. There are about three different places you can click to get the book once there; it'll be a Secured PDF, but loads in Adobe Reader (ADE isn't required).

Game of the Day - Simplz: Zoo

Today's game download pick is Simplz: Zoo, which Amazon has marked down to $2.99 for today only. There are two reviews so far, both of which rave about this match-3 style game, and there is a trial version so you can test it out for half an hour before committing to buy.

Game Description
A new type of simulation game, Simplz: Zoo takes the task of getting resources and turns it into a game inside a game, creating two games in one. In the simulation part, you'll build your zoo. In the puzzle part, you'll match tokens to gather resources such as money and building materials so that you can further expand your zoo. Each exhibit you add to your zoo will also directly impact the puzzle part of the game as every exhibit comes with a power-up or other item that will change the puzzle game play, keeping things continually fresh and fun!

Gameplay

Simplz: Zoo is played in two different game boards. The Zoo gives players an overhead view where they will control every aspect of layout, positioning paths, trees, bushes, flowers, and of course the large animal exhibits, anywhere they choose. The Puzzle game board takes the popular match-3 mechanic to the next level by adding in diagonal swaps, and including more power-ups and power-up types than any other game of its type.

Key Game Features

• A combination of two types of games: Simulation and Puzzle.
• Over 90 different animals to add to the zoo and more than 50 different building types.
• Diagonal movement in the match-3 game opens up the board with play that is easy to pick-up, but provides exciting new possibilities that are difficult to master.
• Hidden secret codes can be used to obtain additional decorations, resources, and amazing animal exhibits such as the Yeti.
• Fun friendly animals full of comical character and whimsical charm.
• Multiple types of match-3 gameplay including resource gathering, tile clearing, object collection, and clearing a path to lead animals home.
• Zoo visitors react to the zoo and will also speak their mind, sharing bits of interesting trivia and zoological facts as they wander the zoo.
• The Puzzle game play is always evolving. Every building you place in the zoo simulation will change some aspect of the puzzle game, making for a fun game that is continually fresh.

Also note that there is an in-game bonus:

Order Simplz: Zoo, and unlock an in-game Yeti. Enter "AMAZON" in the unlock box, when prompted in the game.