My (almost) free e-book haul!

Due to lack of a date, I spend most of my Valentine on the internet.

Correction: I spend most of my Valentine being immersed in the world of book blogging.

I followed a great amount of new twitter accounts/blogs/facebook pages etc. (and being followed in return).

Over Valentine several of these pages tweeted about several books that were free on kindle (most in spirits of Valentine's Day). So, even though I do not have an e-reader, I dived in the world of e-books and downloaded following books on my computer with the Amazon Kindle for PC app.

Book covers and descriptions are taken straight from Amazon.com

1. Tied Up With Love - Holly Martin (writing as Amelia Thorne) ($0,99)
This book was only just released (14 February '15) and has been getting amazing reviews and is doing very good in the charts. I can't wait to start reading it.

‘We’re from KMW. Do exactly as you’re told and you won’t get hurt...'

Being grabbed off the street, blind folded, tied up and thrown into a van was not what Izzy expected to happen when she stepped out the door that morning. But when an accidental kidnapping at the hands of the sexy Ethan Chase and his 'Kidnap My Wife' sexual fantasy business leads to just that, Izzy seizes the chance to turn her misfortune into a brilliant new job opportunity…
Since then, life has been one big tangle of new client meetings, fake kidnapping pick-ups, and handling the temperamental, but drop dead gorgeous 'bad boy' Mr Chase. But, as liberating as being tied up in Ethan's life is, Izzy knows the time is fast approaching when she must make some decisions and take charge of her future. The only question is: will Ethan allow himself to be a part of it?

2. The Blue Room Café - Arcadia Page (Free)
I like the description of this book. I like the idea of reading about a world of creativity, art and coffee. Who doesn't?

Welcome to life outside of the glass case. 

Danielle is a high school grad from a perfect suburban neighborhood being fast-tracked to college by her parents. Desperate to blaze her own trail, but lacking any real direction of her own, she jumps the rails and plunges headlong into a world of creativity, art, and coffee. 

What truths will she find at The Blue Room Café?

3. Kisses & Cupcakes - Choc Lit Authors 

(Juliet Archer, Rhoda Baxter, Clare Chase, Kathryn Freeman, Janet Gover, Henriette Gyland, Liz Harris, Melanie Hudson, Laura E. James, Margaret James, Jane Lovering, Alison May, Linda Mitchelmore, Berni Stevens, Christine Stovell, Sarah Tranter, Sarah Waights & Evonne Wareham)

Did someone say cupcakes? *pops head out of the kitchen*
Who doesn't love a book with a collection of romantic short stories AND a bunch of recipes to go with it? You find it all in this book.

4. The Venice Bucket List - Ella Fairlie (Free)
I'm curious to find out about Tess' love story and secretly hope to read some mayhem caused by her child(ren).

Single mum Tess has enough on her plate without being forced to tag along on her brother and his girlfriend’s romantic winter holiday to Venice, and she certainly isn’t looking for a Valentine love affair of her own. But with the annual Carnival afoot, Venice has some magic and mayhem in store for her, in the form of a handsome masked stranger with a surprising secret. Will the city of glass and gondolas be able to work its charm, or is this one amore that’s lost in translation?

‘The Venice Bucket List’ is a deliciously escapist destination romcom novella about how love can surprise you when you least expect it.

5. The Douchebag Chronicles - Kageni Wilson (Free)
The cover (chocolate!!!!!!!!) and its title. The title is just brilliant!
Crime drama is a genre that I don't read all that much but I am definitely intrigued.

A billionaire walks into a bar. It’s 3:00 pm on an uncomfortably warm Friday afternoon and a wave of heat wafts in with him. The thick Plexiglas door rings a small bell above him as it slowly swings shut. 

“We’re not yet open,” shouts a weary voice. “Come back in an hour.” 

His eyes take a moment to adjust to the dim light. Despite the smell of freshly mopped floors the malty scent of stale beer lingers. Sparse rays of glowing sunlight force their way in through a few small holes chipped in the tint on large, blacked-out windows to his left. A fine dust dances through them. 

Even in its empty semi-darkness, the room's appearance strikes a delicate balance between dingy and homely. It seems like the kind of place he might have frequented in his youth. To one end sits a wall-size shelf holding what must be at least sixty different bottles of liquor. He walks towards it through wooden tables with their chairs still on them, his footsteps on the linoleum floor clearly audible. They echo. The place is clearly a lot larger than it looks. He doesn’t see the shouter until he reaches the counter. There he finds a man –presumably the bartender- cleaning up in preparation for a busy night. 

“I’m not here to drink.” He replies. “I’m actually looking for someone.” 

After another thirty seconds or so of conversation he extracts a small revolver from his jacket pocket and fires six rounds into the bartender. 

This is where our story begins. 

~ ~ ~ 

'The Douchebag Chronicles' is a gripping crime drama exploring the seemingly unconnected events that come to change the lives of six strangers forever.

6. Stairlift to heaven: Growing old disgracefully - Terry Ravenscroft (Free)
I can't wait for the adventures of what sounds to be a very quirky character.
The illustration on the cover somehow reminds me a bit of Roald Dahl's BFG.

The 2012 Paralympic Games are still six years away but already the sixty-five year old Terry Ravenscroft is putting together a team for the Throwing the Zimmer (Walking) Frame competition - should such an event be included. And when he has time to fit it in, of course. For this is a man who has many other things that fill his waking hours (of which he has more to fill than most people, thanks to the troublesome prostate gland which wakes him up for a pee a least six times every night). 

Stairlift to Heaven, the journal of an old age pensioner, is an irreverent, hilarious look at one man’s life after retirement. Although written by an old age pensioner, non-coffin dodgers should not be put off by this. Everyone will be old someday, and there are valuable lessons in coping with old age to be learned here. Stairlift to Heaven ill advise you on how to cope with the multitude of maladies that accompany advancing years (including the aforementioned prostate gland problem and the countless bladder examinations it brings with it); learn how to cope with increasing forgetfulness; how to become adept at dealing with junk mail; how not to go about capturing a Christmas goose; how to cope with increasing forgetfulness....sorry, I forgot I already mentioned that: discover why you might be well advised to avoid swimming lessons; why you might like to give faith healers the widest of a wide berths; and how to deal with the neighbours from hell. But most of all learn how you can have lots of FUN whilst you’re doing it. 

7. The Air Singer - K. Huber (Free)
I like supernatural/paranormal gifts and outsiders that find each other. This story sounds like it'll be a gripping read and I can't wait to start on this!

She must learn to control her element. He must learn to control his desire. 

A paranormal romance unlike any other... 

Tally Chambers is content with her quiet, undemanding life. She works as a tarot reader during the day and plays open mics at night. Her simple utopia is shattered when the attractive Roland Stokes sits at her table. She is elated at his sudden interest in her, but soon discovers his true motivation. 

Roland reveals that she is the Air Singer, one of four people in this generation who can control the elements. He is her paladin, sent to protect her from those who would cause her harm. 

Tally is quickly thrown into a battle between two ancient societies. The Cadence want to protect her. The Spina want to kill her. All over a power she never asked for.

8. Runes - Ednah Walters (Free)

Oh, I'm immediately intrigued by the character of Torin. I have a sneaky suspicion that I'll come to crush over him.
Runes is the first book in the Runes Series and I really hope I'll like it so that I can dig into the rest of the books.

Seventeen-year-old Raine Cooper has enough on her plate dealing with her father’s disappearance, her mother’s erratic behavior and the possibility of her boyfriend relocating. The last thing she needs is Torin St. James—a mysterious new neighbor with a wicked smile and uncanny way of reading her. 

Raine is drawn to Torin’s dark sexiness against her better judgment, until he saves her life with weird marks and she realizes he is different. But by healing her, Torin changes something inside Raine. Now she can’t stop thinking about him. Half the time, she’s not sure whether to fall into his arms or run. 

Scared, she sets out to find out what Torin is. But the closer she gets to the truth the more she uncovers something sinister about him. What Torin is goes back to an ancient mythology and Raine is somehow part of it. Not only is she and her friends in danger, she must choose a side, but the wrong choice will cost Raine her life

9. Freak of Nature - Julia Crane (Free)
This book reminds me in a way of The Host (which I looooooved). It doesn't sound like a genre I would usually read but something about the description pulls me in!

Donate Body to Science. Check. 

When seventeen-year-old Kaitlyn checked the box, she never suspected she’d have her life–and her body–stolen from her. She awakens one day in a secret laboratory to discover that her body is now half-robot and is forced to hide her own secret: that she still has human emotions and a human mind. If the scientists who made her find out, they’ll erase what remains of who she was. 

Kaitlyn finds an unlikely ally in Lucas, a handsome, brilliant scientist who can’t get over the guilt he feels knowing she was once a vibrant, beautiful young woman. He never expected a science project to affect him the way she does. As he tries to help her rediscover her past, he finds himself falling for the brave girl struggling to find her place and acceptance between the human and computer worlds.