My Freebie Challenge List

#FreebieChallenge & #FreebieRead List: As of 7/6/2012

7 - Fifty Shades of Grey (Fifty Shades #1) by E.L. James

Started 6/29  |  Finished 7/1  4 FLOOZIES

WOW, this is what the hype is all about!  First and foremost Fifty Shades of Grey was not the most erotic nor well written book I've read.  At the end all I could think is "This is what gets suburban wives all hot and bothered?  Boy, do I have library worth of books for you to drool over!"  But it was a lot of fun!  A different spin on an overdone story. Check out my full review here.

6 - Chasing Rainbows by Victoria Lynne
Started 6/19  |  Finished 6/21  5 FLOOZIES

What a wonderful surprise!  I loved every minute of it!  Synopsis to come.

5 - Wild Wild Widow by Emma Jay

Started 6/17  |  Finished 6/18   4 FLOOZIES

Notes:  Oh, boy!  This is going to be a hot one.  Already a few pages in and we've already gotten a boob and a handsome cowboy!  Synopsis to come

4 - Whole Lotta Trouble by Stephanie Bond

Started 6/13  |  Finished 6/16   3 FLOOZIES

I was slightly disappointed with this book.  Tallie was a crazy "oh, no you can't eat my leftovers" kinda swinging single.  Felicia was afraid if anyone found out she was secretly domestic they'd laugh her out of Park Ave. and Jane was . . . I don't know but most parts with Jane could have been cut and the story would have continued just fine.   The Sounthern Roads series was much better, maybe I was expecting a fun chick-lit like that.  Whole Lotta Trouble was fun and a great plot idea, some parts and people were lacking in flow and structure.   Regardless, it was a fun read, which is why I am giving it 3 Floozies.

3 - Copping Attitude by Ava Meyers

Started 6/12  |  Finished 6/13  4 FLOOZIES

I loved this short, sexy read.   The idea of Noah "helping" Jenna overcome her recent sexual assault was a new twist.  I'm sure that premise has been penned before, Copping Attitude made it seem natural.  The only complaint was it was not long enough and a few areas seemed rushed.  I await for the day that Ava Meyers will right a full length novel and as naughty as the Red-Hot Series!

2 - Divorced, Desperate, and Delicious by Christie Craig

Started 6/11  |  Finished 6/12  3.5 FLOOZIES

Notes:

My first thought from the cover is this is going to be some unrealistic chick-lit bore.  I mean who would divorce a rack like that?  Heroine's going to be a whack job, watch!  A few of my Goodreads.com friends give this book 4+ stars so we shall see if my taste follow theirs once again.  A little skeptic to start though.

Edited 6/17

Way better than expected.  The plot was cheeky and "chit-lit"y but fun and engaging.  It reminded me of a play I was in in high school, Rumors.  Chaotic and fast paced but justice was served and HEA's doled out.  Good light read for the beach.

1 - Love Me by Bella Andre

Started 6/9  |  Finished 6/10   4 FLOOZIES

Notes:

I've read MANY books by this author and I expect this to be another great amongst many!   I am actually HAPPY to find a FREE one by Bella.  This is the perfect book to start my daunting task because I know this author, I've read her before, and I've loved everything.  There is another author on my list that I have read before but I am leaving her for my finale *wink*.  Can't wait to start!!

Edited 6/9

Bella Andre retweeted my challenge update!  I know authors are regular people but where someone might get girlie over sports figures, authors direct contact gets me so excited!!

Edited 6/11

Final Thoughts: Up, downs, good and not so good, I really enjoyed Love Me. I remember wanting to read this book at the end of Take Me because I wanted to see how Janica and Luke's HEA would transpire. Although, the journey was not exactly what I like/expected, I still enjoyed the ride and continue to enjoy Bella Andre's characters and their development.  Check out my full review here.

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Up Next:
8 - She's Gotta Be Mine by Jasmine Haynes & Jennifer Skully

9 - Irresisible Forces by Brenda Jackson

10 - Return to You by Kate Perry

11 - Taken by Selena Kitt
12 - Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes (Rose Gardner Mysteries #1) by Denise Grover Swank
13 - A Little Bit of Deja Vu by Laurie Kellogg
14 - What WIld Moonlight by Victoria Lynne
15 - Bridesmaid Lotto by Rachel Astor
16 - The Grandmaster's Legacy Box Set by Taylor Lee
- Struck by Thunder
- Race for Redemption
- The Frenchman's Woman
- The Frenchman's Revenge
17 - Yearning: A Paranormal Box Set (compilation)
- Fierce Dawn by Amber Scott
- Heartsblood by Carolyn McCray
- Soul Search bu Amber Scott
- Fated by Carolyn McCray
18 - Under the Covers by Rita Herron
19 - The Winds of Heavens (Sons of Rhodri #3) by Anna Markland
20 - Warrior's Bride (The Stone of Destiny #2) by Gerri Russell
21 - Wanted-Dead or Alive by Amber Scott
22 - He's Her (Vicarage Bench #2)
23- The Huntress by Dorothy McFalls
24 - Smooth Irish (Weldon #2) by Jennifer Saints
25 - Oceans Between Us by Helen Scott Taylor
26 - Too Close for Comfort by Eve Gaddy
27 - Thoroughbreds and Trailer Trash by Bev Pettersen
28 - In the Midnight Rain by Ruth Wind

Eck!!  Just had a twitter convo with Ms. DePaul.

*clapping hands like a toddler*

 I know, I know . . . authors are just people.  IDC, I still get girlie :D

PICK THIS UP NOW!!  Copping To It was so sinful, my floozies were running wild!!  I KNOW this book will not disappoint.  Copping Attitude is next up on my Freebie Challenge and I CAN'T WAIT!!!


According to the twitter convo between me and *clears throat* Virna DePaul herself, these books do not need to be read in order.   My OCD is rearing it's ugly head but I will trust the pro!  DWLD it and check back for my review if you are still sketchy.

File this under "Can't wait till my Freebie Challenge is over"

What romance blogger blogs about another romance blog?
(got that?)


*thumbs pointed at chest*
THIS ONE!


Holy Acronym, Batman!  I will NEVER look at a cowboy the same way.  If this blog was giving away kindle copies of Kissin' Tell you would not see it here on FTF.
Bloozies gotsta stay floozy, na mean!
Since author signed books are not my thing, esp older releases, have at #Loreleitte's!


UTC has it on lock down!

Freebie Alert!

Too bad I have already read this because it would be added to my Freebie Challenge List immediately!  Hurry and grab your copy of Maid for Love (McCarthys of Gansett Island #1) by Marie Force.  It is a fun read and a great start to a wonderful series!  Here is a link to Amazon and some great reviews on Goodreads.

REVIEW: Love Me (Take Me #2) by Bella Andre

Love Me (Take Me #2) by Bella Andra

4 Floozies

Goodreads.com  |  Buy on Amazon  |  Author's Website

Love Me is the sequel of Take Me. After reading Love Me I find it is not necessary to read Take Me first but if you have then you will have a slightly better understanding of the main characters history. I did read Take Me but did not realize until Janica started talking about the Italian wedding festival, then I had one of those lesser "Ah, ha" moments.

Janica Ellis is the younger sister of the heroine in Take Me. She is a clothing designer and is unjustly foisted the role of careless baby sibling. Boys and girls, this is why it is important to write a thorough review, because if I remember correctly I did not care too much for Janica in the prequel. However, she proves me and the other nay-sayers wrong by showing a great deal of maturity and personal growth. Her business is thriving and she is trying everything in her power to keep her feelings for Luke at bay. Our first interaction with her is the start of possible threesome with two randoms she picked up at a bar. Ok, well, that does not show the most maturity but it does tell me that she is at least taking her life, and her pleasure, by the balls. Then Luke shows up and crashes the party.

Luke Carson, surgeon, twin brother to hero in Take Me, and all around dumbass. Just kidding about that last one. He did have a bit of "stupid boy syndrome," but obviously got smart eventually. He is forced to leave the hospital because of fatigue and decides to release some tension with his sister-in-law. Well, there were quiet a few releases and bonds that were forged. He is then forced to take an extended vacation and finds himself with said sister-in-law, Janica, in Big Sur. Luke is the typical romance novel hero. Never going to fall in love, never going to commit to one person, runs away from said love and spends a majority of the book squandering precious time with the person, all so in the last 5 or so pages he finally grows a pair and declares his never-dying, all-comsuming love and adoration. Did I get all the character points? He's taken aback by his burgeoning feelings for Janica and it takes him awhile to finally realize that he is a romance novel hero and there is no escaping fates (or Bella Andre's) decree. 

This was a very sweet book. Don't get me wrong, it had that heat and passion that almost every Bella Andre book has but this had just the right amount of sweetness. Love Me has one of the most enchanting passages about love and making love I've read in a long time:

"'I'm so damn lucky you're here.' His statement was out there before he could think better of saying it. She blinked up at him, her big brown eyes warm with arousal-and love. 'You are?' Her response took him by surprise, the fact that she didn't know it already. And it made him want her even more. It made him want to show her how lucky he was, rather than just tell her with words. The surf crashed around them as her slowly stripped off her clothes. The moon shined down over them as he ran kisses over her skin. The fire flickered as she cried out with pleasure in his arms. As he made love to Janica Ellis, the warning bells and lights clanged and chimmed and shined as loudly as they could, trying to remind him that the higher the heights, the bigger the fall. But with Janica moving beneath him and the stars up above in a cloudless sky, he couldn't stop himself from feeling greater pleasure-and deeper peace-than he ever had before."

Sweet, right? I was Janica's champion throughout the book. I was rooting her on, cringing every so often at her if-only-I-can-make-him-love-me-a-little shtick, but, nevertheless, hoping she got her HEA. Her humor and her sticktoitiveness were great. Then she got her guy and she was still holding out. Wait, what? Luke announces to all and sundry that he loves her and she refuses to ride off into the sunset. Janica lost a little of my support at that point. Then she got whiny about how if only he wanted to love her "not just someone who can't help himself."

My disappointment did not last long, the books climax came along and had me enthralled again. Up, downs, good and not so good, I really enjoyed Love Me. I remember wanting to read this book at the end of Take Me because I wanted to see how Janica and Luke's HEA would transpire. Although, the journey was not exactly what I like/expected, I still enjoyed the ride and continue to enjoy Bella Andre's characters and their development.

Love Me was a wonderful way to kick off my Freebie Challenge!

FREEBIE CHALLENGE!

Digital books are getting so expensive, it is so unfathomable to me.   Most authors write digitally, ergo pdfs, ergo easily converted .pub files.  I despise author/publishers who charge $14+ for digital books.  Sometimes the digital copy is MORE than the print.  Really?  Emailing a file is more than printing the book and buying shelving space?  If the author/publisher is pissed because their print sales are down, charge more for PRINT!  Sorry Chronicle, Times, Dispatch . . . figure it out, shits going digital!

Those author/publishers who overcharge, can suck big balls!  I call them the 1%ers of the romance novel industry.  I have a special Goodreads.com shelf for those authors, it's called the "to-read-if-I-won-the-lottery" shelf.  When one of my favorites defects to the 1%, I am so disappointed.  I read on average 1 book every other day, so if all of my favs defect I'm broke with Amazon purchases.  According to the 1%ers price, that is $7.50 per day!  Really?!?  And I know it's because of demand.  I watched the 50Shades series go from $5+ to $10+ just because of GMA and other national programs.

The Buggles should not have stopped their video/radio rant, digital IS going to kill the print star.  Sorry, but that's how the ball rolls.  I really hope my kids text books are digital when the get to HS!  I'll have all the accounts and devices for them stockpiled over the years.

I really want to ring the publisher's necks, but can't :(  Instead I am committing to a month-long boycott!

That means I will only read:

- "Purchased" $0.00 books from Amazon (at the time of purchase)
-  Library requests
-  Netgalley.com requests

I will also utilize the services of the following sites (new sources might be added throughout the month) to search for free books:

- Bookbub.com
- Jungle-Search.com


Please check out my #FreebieChallange/# FreebieRead progress here!

Please feel free to recommend FREE books.  If you are an author that would like to be included in my month-long challenge, please submit your .pdf to britainyblog@gmail.com.  I will provide a honesty review which will be posted here and on Goodreads.com.

Edited 7/9/2012:

I just wanted to clarify, while I get super irked at overpriced books I will still read them.  It is a drug and I must get my fix.  I don't like it, things would be easier if it were different, but I am a fan for a reason.