Wicked Thing by Kim Cormack

Calling all lovers of paranormal fiction!



My review:

What a wicked thing she is! Lexy the dangerous immortal dragon is slicing and dicing and a bit out of sorts over love interest and handler Grey. The two are in love when he remembers. One of the flaws in a handler/dragon relationship and it has Lexy frustrated. So much so she seeks and enjoys a tryst with well I won't give that away.

Like all the COA books it's filled with suspense and surprise as Lexy and the other Ankh battle demons and Lampir (Vampires) only the Lampir are some type of hybrid. The story is rich in adventure and toe-curling intrigue. The characters are the same, as a reader I enjoy seeing their development through the series. They may be immortal but they change and grow, love interests wane and new ones begin. The world they live in continues to develop and with each book I learn more about it and how it works. It's complex and the world building blows my mind.


This book is for anyone who enjoys a good thriller with a bit of paranormal romance!

Amazon

Free Book Promos

Have you ever downloaded a free book or discovered a new author from downloading one of their books free?

I believe in the power of promoting free books. I also know a ton of authors who disagree with this strategy and have never and may never price their book free for any period time. Their argument is their time and financial investment. Every book has a cost to the authors including the blood, sweat and tears to write it. Even an author working on a very tight budget will have a couple hundred invested into their book and they want return on their investment. 

Doing a free book promotion is really tough to swallow. After all there's no money to be paid only money to be spent especially if the author then pays for advertising.

I started my working career in retail and did just about every job except management. One of the things I did at Kmart many years ago was set ad signs according to the flyer. Flyers are still popular for grocery stores and retailers. It's their weekly sales. So I'm going to propose a simple scenario.

You've been saving money to buy a new TV. It goes on sale at Walmart marked down from $249 to $189. It's a bargain so you head to Walmart with your five year old daughter. You put the brand new TV in your basket, proud of the deal you got that you'll be telling all your friends about and you wheel towards the isle but a flashy phone case catches your eye. You glance at the broken one hanging off your phone and grab the new one. It's only 9.99 so you say what the heck I just saved $60 with my new TV. You place the phone cover in the basket and head towards the front, passing the toy aisles. Your daughter screams "Moana!" You look at the doll, she's on sale for $5.99. You rarely splurge and buy her toys outside birthday and Christmas and the smile in her eyes and sparkle on her face is so adorable as she stares at the doll. You give in and hand her the Moana doll. Her face lights up as she takes the toy. You finally get to the cashier and see Finding Dory at the checkout counter. You've been wanting to see it and by buying it, it's an investment and you and your daughter can watch it together. It's only $19.99 and you saved money with the TV right? 
The cashier rings up your items to the tune of $224.97 plus tax. You just saved nothing.

Now I hear you laughing at my story because we've all done it and retail stores count on you doing it. Sales and flyers are retailers way of getting you into their store.

Promoting a free books works the same way. Really, is a reader going pay $2.99 for your book or one of their favorite authors' new release? Yup, they're going to go for their favorite author's new release and leave your unknown book sitting on the shelf even though the blurb and cover intrigued them.

Offering a free book encourages readers to test the waters risk free. It's your way of getting them into your store. Once they read it and love it they check out your other books and slowly start buying them. 

I know that's a gross exaggeration. It works more like this. You put your book free for a few days and in that time get 1,000 downloads. Out of that 1,000 downloads 10% or 100 people read your book soon after buying it. Another 10% or 10 people fall in love with it and seek your other books and tell their friends. 10 people, that's about it so why go free again? 

Simple 1,000 people now have your book on their kindle. The other 900 may at some point read it, enjoy it and tell their all friends about how awesome it was. Even if they don't read it they may see your name again on another book and remember seeing it somewhere before so they become interested. 

Another reason to go free at least for a few days is with book 1 in a series. If the reader enjoys, you just made monetary sales on the other books in the series. 

Something else to consider is if the book that your putting free is on kindle and in audio through Audible. If so you may get audio sales through the time the book is free meaning you just made monetary sales.

The end product you just got 1,000 people in your store.

Here's the results from a 5 day free promo I just did. Keep in mind advertising doesn't have to be expensive but it does take shopping around and experimenting. My book is a stand alone available in kindle, paperback and audio.

Day One - Price Dropped Books for $13.50. (advertise ebooks)
Day Two - AudaVoxx $11.00 (advertise audio)
Day Three - eBook Daily - $5.00 (advertise ebooks)
Days 4 & 5 - Facebook Ad - $10.00 (advertise anything)

Spent a grand total of $39.50. Not bad. My goal was 1,000 free downloads and 10 audio sales.

My results were
929 international downloads
7 audiobook sales
953 KENP pages read
1 sold at regular price

I didn't quite meet the goal but came very close. I consider the promo a success. If I stick with my 10% rule 92 people read the book and 9.2 really enjoyed it and will buy more of my books in the future.

Week 3 Whispersync Deals!

I'm bringing you a trilogy of suspense, mystery and thrills this week.

D.B. Martin's Patchwork People Series!

The Patchwork Man Book 1. Grab the Kindle for .99 all summer and upgrade to the audio!




Patchwork People Book 2 is available through Kindle Unlimited all summer.




Patchwork Pieces Book 3 is also Kindle Unlimited all summer.




Prefer romance? Try Chained Melodies by Debrah Martin for .99 and available through Kindle Unlimited all summer.




If your an author and would like your kindle/audio whispersync titles advertised this summer complete the form.

Matanzas Moon by Elizabeth Raven

One of my top reads this year!



My Review:

Loved it! Where do I start? Each page is filled with mystery, suspense and a growing romance that has it's up and downs. Bridget moved to St. Augustine when she didn't get into Vet School and after suffering vivid dreams about the animals she helped at the vet clinic she worked in. In the historic streets of St. Augustine she opens a mystic shop called Lunatique. I live close to the city and spend as much time there as possible and her shop is perfect for this city. It's shrouded in mystery, pirates and ghosts. The author couldn't have chosen a better location for this story and for locals it's perfection.

Bridget meets Nick when a brawl erupts in a local bar. Nick is the police officer to the rescue and Bridget literally runs into him trying to escape the bar. A night or so later a mysterious woman visits Lunatique, crying and upset, Bridget tries to calm her and sends her home with a bag of goods to vanquish her misery and refresh her life. Not long after Bridget is awoke by a girl running down the street, her clothes tattered and in tears Bridget lets her in Lunatique and the police are called. Nick shows up and they find the goods sent home with the mysterious women are found at the crime scene where the girl was attacked. So how are the incidents related? It gets better when Bridget realizes she's clairvoyant and sees ghosts. Somehow the attacks are related to an unsettled spirit.

Nick and Bridget didn't start out on the right foot and every step forward ends with two steps backwards. To make their relationship even more complicated Bridget makes friends with RIP, a local ghost tour guide. He's outgoing and charming. Nick is the protective, brooding type and RIP causes ripples in their developing relationship.

The story moves easily and flawlessly from one scene to the next and the mystery is cleverly woven into the story with a few plot twists that took me by surprise. I've been to all the locations mentioned in the book and easily imagined all this happening. Elizabeth Raven didn't leave anything out when describing the city and it's hot spots.

Amazing story!

Amazon

This is a goodie I brought home from Space Coast Book Lovers in 
Cocoa Beach,Florida.

Ryker by Rachelle Ayala

It takes a special romance book for me to like it. Usually it requires a twisted plot filled with suspense. In this case it was humor. 



My Review:

Injured, Ryker is out of the Marines and home again. He meets Terri while Panhandling. She offers him a job at her Flower shop and desperate he accepts. Instant flames ignite between them but Terri is a tad insecure. She feels there's too much meat on her bones for a man to take her seriously. The story progresses and they discover it's their own families who have the death vendetta against each other. Ryker joined the Marines to escape the vendetta his family (biker gang) has for the other gang who changed their names for protection.

The story flows quickly without stalling anywhere. The writing is solid and had me rolling in laughter. The banter between Terri and her friends was absolutely hilarious to me. The author really tagged what could be true conversations between women. Terri's private thoughts are just as ridiculous and true. And there are a few other parts that are just silly and light-hearted even through the drama. I enjoyed that. 

I've lived in a military city for two decades, my friends are military or were military and a medical discharge isn't quite what's explained in the book. It depends on the severity of the injury. I can understand the author simplifying it for sake of the story but Ryker panhandling and penniless was too much. He wouldn't be rich by any means with an injury to the thigh but should have some type of monthly compensation. I also wondered about his medical care and therapy. I overthought this part of the story but do think the author could have made this part more realistic.

Chris Abell was fantastic. He really nailed it. I'm not always fond a male narrators, depends on the story. I cringe when they attempt to do female voices but a few men can pull off female voices and he did.

Overall, it's a cute story and had me laughing from one scene to the next.

Amazon/Audible

Another Whispersync Deal

More deals you don't want to miss!

As Snow Falls is currently FREE today through Monday June 19th. Download it free and whispersync the audio for 1.99!

If you miss this deal it's available through KU.

Buy link - Amazon

Kane's Cross




A thriller that will make your teeth shatter and keep you on the edge of your seat!
The kindle regular priced at .99! Whispersync the audio!
Buy link - Amazon
Grab your copies now and keep watching for more deals.

If you're an author, narrator or publisher and want a free ad, sign up here.

Outcast by Jennifer Reynolds

The combination of Jennifer Reynolds and Margi Stephens is always a pleasure!




My Review:

Ryan and Lee are the main characters and the story switches back and forth between them. Lee is the outcast, adopted by a shiftier family. She's the oldest child and her family leaves the pack town moving outside it. The pack are elitists who believe shiftier can only be with shifters. They don't accept others into their pack. Lee doesn't know what her family is and equates being an outcast to her full figure.Ryan is a shiftier in the same pack as Lee's family. When he meets Lee he feels an instant connection with her and he's not afraid to drop the pack and follow her.

The character development is strong as the reader gets into both Ryan and Lee's minds. Lee even though insecure has backbone and wits. Ryan is kind of an alpha type but he's also gentle and caring. They meet when Lee's sister marries Ryan's best friend and neither can deny the connection they feel towards each other. After the wedding Lee goes back home to Washington. Upon her arrival strange events start happening to her. When Ryan follows and they pick up where they left off the events become threats and they are forced to seek pack protection but not the pack they're associated with.

There is plenty of suspense woven into the story that builds for an exciting climax. There's also a couple messages in the story. I'm not sure if the author meant for them but they're there. Acceptance of those different than us and a full figure can be sexy. I loved that and found myself rooting for their love throughout the story.


This isn't the first book I've listened to by Jennifer Reynolds or Margie Stephens. They make a good combination and compliment each other.

Amazon/Audible

The Girl: Guardians Book 1 by Lola StVil

This story was different and I really enjoyed that it had two narrators.



My Review:

I listened to this a while back but wasn't sure what I thought of it. I'm still not. It wasn't my favorite but is worth giving it some credit. There's a few chapters I thought were odd and not sure why they were part of the story. That's what really threw me. Other than that the story has a good, unique plot and a smooth flow. I listened to it a second time, skipping the weird chapters and it was pretty good.

It's a love story using angels who aren't very angelic. The main character is an ordinary kid except her purple eyes and a bit of a wall flower but she's got guts. Marcus is the angel she's drools over but he's taken. The story gets far more involved but it's worth listening to.

I loved having the two narrators because it gave the story more character. The sound quality was also great.

Amazon/Audible

Get Your Audio On!

Being a huge audiobook whore, I'm going to be sharing Whispersync deals with you this summer. What is Whispersync? It's when you buy the kindle and get the audio at a discounted price. I use it all the time to get audio books and want to share the great deals and steals.

To start off  this week, actually today, you can get either or both of these fantastic deals by Rachelle Ayala.





.99 on Kindle also available through Kindle Unlimited so you can take advantage of the whispersync deal all summer!





.99 on Kindle

If you're an author or narrator and want to get it on this, simply complete this form.