Daily Deals: Historical, short stories, and a YA told from a boy’s POV
Welcome to Normal by Nick Earls. $ Free
From the Jacket Copy:
When Craig accompanies his supervisor Martin to the Midwest on a business trip scouting big yellow trucks, he doesn’t expect much–the roadside diners and strange currency seem straight out of an old black-and-white movie–but their visit to Martin’s former classmate shows Craig a side of Normal he never anticipated. It’s full of foam fingers and old movie theaters, not-so-good beer and vintage cars with fins, and most of all an attractive woman and her pet-project old-time theater. What Craig finds is that Normal is more intriguing than he’d imagined.
“What all of these tales have in common is masterfully crafted prose, dry but sympathetic observation, and an engrossing allusion to a larger, unseen world.” -Sydney Morning Herald on “Welcome to Normal”
It was originally published by Random House Australia and looks to be self published in the US or territories beyond Australia.
Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend by Becca Ann . $ $1.23 / $2.99
From the Jacket Copy:
It’s stupid to fall for your brother’s ex. It’s even worse to enlist another’s help to win the ex over. But Brody is desperate and Hayley, his partner in American Sign Language, is more than willing to lend him a few tips. She’s the school’s ‘matchmaker’, and with her bizarre and positive personality, Brody finds her easy to talk too, even about the most awkward situations. Hayley’s tips seem to be working, but as Brody learns more about his matchmaker, he starts finding reasons to spend time with her, and not the girl he thought he was in love with.
But Hayley isn’t ready to fall for anyone. Labeled the “Funny Fat Friend” within her group, her self image makes it impossible for Brody to share his feelings without Hayley shrugging it off as a joke.
Convincing her Brody can, and did, fall for the “Funny Fat Friend” turns out to be a lot harder than simply falling in love.
The negative reviews called Brody too perfect (one of them said he was Bella Swan) and dumb and boring. Another reviewer didn’t like that Hayley used the word “fart” as a curse word.
The positive reviews said that the book was cute and sweet. Maybe you might be better off reading DUFF by Kody Keplinger but that book isn’t $1.23.
Scandalous Virtue by Brenda Hiatt. $ .99
From the Jacket Copy:
First impressions can be most deceiving!
Under the tutelage of her strict father, then that of an equally strict husband twice her age, Nessa, Lady Haughton, has been trained all her life to be a model of English propriety and virtue. But beneath the inexperienced young widow’s oh-so-prim exterior, she craves a taste of the wickedness she has always been denied. Now that she is finally free, she intends to satisfy that craving!
Notorious rakehell and war hero Jack Ashecroft finds himself unexpectedly elevated to Marquis of Foxhaven. But to claim the fortune that goes with the title, Jack must renounce his wild ways and establish himself as a respectable member of Society. The surest, quickest path, he is certain, will be to find and wed a woman beyond reproach—if one will have him.
When Jack and Nessa meet, each thinks the other is exactly the ticket to the changes they are seeking. Sparks will fly when they discover each other’s true goals—especially if it’s already too late to turn back!
AmazonBNSonyKoboBook DepositoryAppleGoogle
Potent Pleasures by Eloisa James. $ .99.
From the Jacket Copy:
Eloisa James breathes new life into one of the most popular fiction genres with her highly original debut novel Potent Pleasures, a charming, vividly peopled Regency romance. With an uncanny wit and an eye for the whimsical, she unravels a complex–and often hilarious–chain of events inadvertently set in motion by a young woman’s first taste of forbidden pleasure.
About to make her debut in London society, Charlotte Calverstill, beneath the lavish gowns and manners of a well-brought-up young lady, yearns for a taste of freedom. Pushing propriety aside, one evening she sneaks out with a friend to attend a masked ball, and there meets a devastatingly handsome stranger who relieves her–not against her wishes–of her virtue, then vanishes.
Years later, when they meet again, the rogue does not remember Charlotte. But she certainly remembers him; she has since learned not only his identity, but also a titillating piece of gossip about him that is sure to set society abuzz. The intricate web that a now-wiser Charlotte weaves to exact her due ensures justice for some and great merriment for all.
Taking the Regency historical to fresh new places, with artful smoothness and irrepressible humor, Eloisa James delivers a winsome tale of first love and life’s unexpected surprises.
BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Eloisa James’s Paris in Love.
AmazonBNSonyKoboBook DepositoryAREAppleGoogle
If I Were You by Lisa Renee Jones. $ 3.99
From the Jacket Copy:
He is rich and famous, and dark in ways I shouldn’t find intriguing but I do. I so do. I don’t understand why his dark side appeals to me, but the attraction between us is rich with velvety promises of satisfaction. . . .
In the bestselling style of Fifty Shades of Grey, Lisa Renee Jones delivers sexy thrills and heart-pounding sensuality with a tantalizing page-turner in which the eyes of a high school English teacher are opened to a world she never knew existed, and she finds a passionate craving within that she never knew she possessed.
The journal comes to Sara McMillan by chance, when she inherits the key to an abandoned storage locker belonging to a woman named Rebecca. Sara can’t resist peeking at the entries in the journal . . . and she finds a scintillating account of Rebecca’s affair with an unnamed lover, a relationship drenched in ecstasy and wrapped in dark secrets.
Obsessed with discovering Rebecca’s destiny after the entries come to an abrupt end, Sara does more than observe the players in the woman’s life; she immerses herself in the high-stakes art gallery world Rebecca inhabited—and is magnetically drawn to two men. Which one seduced Rebecca with his masterful and commanding touch and brought her fantasies to exquisite life? On a daringly erotic escapade, Sara follows Rebecca’s path to fulfill her own hidden longings. But after she tastes the forbidden pleasures Rebecca savored, will Sara be helpless to escape the same submissive fate?
Next in this thrilling new trilogy: look for Being Me and Revealing Us.
This book is one that was originally self published and then crept into the Kindle top 100 and snagged the attention of Simon & Schuster. It is billed as Storage Wars + Basic Instinct + 50 Shades. Ends in a cliffhanger.
AmazonBNSonyKoboBook DepositoryAREAppleGoogle
The early Eloisa James really didn’t work for me (there are three ‘Pleasure’ books – Potent Pleasures, Enchanting Pleasures, and Midnight Pleasures and I didn’t care for any of them). I don’t remember exactly why I disliked this one, but in general, imo anyways, her first three books are not as good as her later, more characteristic books – her voice isn’t well developed and the characters are not as interesting.
@cleo: Good to know about James. I tried one of the pleasures books, didn’t like it and never tried her again – her later books are better?
I bought the Becca Ann book – at $1.23 it’s hardly a great risk :)
If I read, hear, see, or even infer that a book is based on or in any way like – FSoG, I run the other freakin’ way!!! I am so, so tired of the the hullabaloo over this crap! I know there is no answer to this question and don’t even expect one, but why, oh why must we continue to be subjected to the scads of knock-offs and and Twit-light fanfic?
What kills me is this is a trope that’s been used for decades, if not centuries, in fiction and especially romance fiction (older, dominant male gets with younger, naive female, tells her how it’s gonna be and she lets him cuz she’s young and stupid). Hey I inhaled Harlequin Romances and Barbara Cartland books as a teenager and this is basically what it was – nothing more, nothing less. The basic plot is really nothing new and yes, ELJ has made ginormous amounts of money selling her fanfic version of Twit-light. I don’t necessarily have an issue with that per se (hey if Stephanie Meyer doesn’t, why should I?) BUT it messes me up because when some of my favorite authors put out books with a similar plot line, I almost automatically shy away from it because this is how it’s marketed: If you liked, loved, blah, blah, blah…FSoG, you’re gonna love _________. No! No! and No! I guess this most irritated me regarding Sylvia Day’s Crossfire novels. She’s one of my favorite authors and I actually have the first book but haven’t read it because of the constant comparison to FS ad nauseam. I figured it would eventually settle down and I could sit back and enjoy but alas, that has yet to happen. Now we have the blurb from Lisa Renee Jones’ book actually comparing itself to FS. She’s not my favorite author, and this seems like a very lazy and sloppy way to sell the book especially by someone who’s been around as long as she has and has been successful in her own right. Me? I quit reading her when I downloaded her silly vampire and werewolf books from Amazon and was subjected to some seriously unedited reading material. Wow! Big disappointment.
Authors! Please stop cranking out this crap and comparing it to FS! You’re better than that. Right? Right??
Whew! Ok. I’m better now.
@Kaetrin: I think her post-Pleasure books are much better – she’s still hit or miss for me, and she’s still not for everyone (her plots tend to be ott and filled with sequel bait). But I really love some of her books – my favorites are Your Wicked Ways, Kiss Me Annabel, An Affair Before Midnight, and Duchess by Night.