E.G. Manetti's Blog, page 33

Serengeti Valor - Available for Pre-Order! Now on Apple!

Release date: January 16, 2018.

Until then it can be pre-ordered at Amazon, Apple, and Kobo. Barnes & Noble gets the Grinch award - no pre-order feature.

Here are some major links. If you are looking for it in your local amazon store and can't find it, leave a comment.

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078KTXD1M
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B078KTXD1M
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B078KTXD1M
Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B078KTXD1M
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/sere...
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sere...

Ruthless, devious, and ambitious, Lucius Mercio has elevated the Serengeti Group to the third wealthiest cartel in the Twelve Systems, cementing his place among the twelve most powerful members of the ruling warrior class. With Lucius’ rise, his enemies increase in both number and subtlety. Few will dare to attack Lucius directly, instead they will move in secret, targeting the most vulnerable aspects of his empire including his disgraced and reviled apprentice, Lilian.

As Lilian begins the third and final year of her trial by ordeal, she is more determined than ever to survive and repay Lucius’ protection and trust with loyalty and diligence. Expecting only the meager assignments reserved for apprentices, Lilian was stunned to receive the conservatorship of a valuable Vistrite Crevasse—an honor reserved for proven and trusted warriors. When a lethal disaster strikes Desperation Mine and Refinery and imperils Lilian’s conservatorship, hidden adversaries seize the opportunity to plot the downfall of Serengeti.

Indie Spotlight on Romance: 2017 Round Up

Reposted from Some Like it Hot Indie Spotlight.

My top picks for 2017

J.T. Geissingerand her Wicked Games series. Volume 2, Wicked Sexy has a to-die-for alpha hero, the heroine is a kick-a hacker with mad Krav Maga skills. The villain is super evil and the action and steam are non-stop.

A badass ex-Special Ops officer and a smartass hacker fight a dangerous enemy…and a blistering attraction to each other.*Bad things. Dear God, were any two sexier words ever spoken?* Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Sexy-Ga...
Kobo:https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/wick...
Nook:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wicke...
Apple:https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/wick...

Sam Cheever doesn't classify her novels as rom-com. In her words, they are "romantic paranormal/fantasy and mystery/suspense" with "great characters, snappy dialogue, and unique and exhilarating stories." All true, but any series that features a clan of studly males with names like Alistair Honeybun, Alfric Honeybun, Godric Honeybun, etc. is going to include a lot of 'made me smile' if not 'laugh out loud' moments.

Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...
Nook:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-hon...
Apple:https://itun.es/us/sFrC-.l

Mina Carter's shorts are fun and fairly priced at 99c (those that aren't free). The freebies are teasers running ~25 pages, but they are complete stories without cliffhangers. The longer works don't exceed 90 pages, and a few do price out at $2.99. But for the budget constrained, there is plenty to enjoy at the 99c.

Of the three I have read, all have been well written, intriguing riffs on common tropes and steamy enough for those who like their romances with adult content.

https://www.amazon.com/Seduced-Santa-...
https://www.amazon.com/Reaper-Cop-Par...

In her Sigma Menance series, Marie Johnston achieves entertaining with sufficient suspense and plot twists to keep the reader turning pages, and a strong romance to keep the reader invested the main characters. This first volume is free

Freebie links
Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...
Apple:https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/feve...
Nook:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fever...
Kobo:https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/feve...

Veronica Scott does a fantastic job of world building, page-turning action, and romance writing complete with the requisite HEA. One of many standalones in her Sectors , this volume is free.

Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Escape-Zulaire...
Nook:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/escap...
Apple:https://itun.es/us/XAjzP.l
Kobo:https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Que...

Rachel Chanticleer's Crescent City Arcana series features a 2,000 year old gladiator. Super-hot, of course. This is a romance blog. It is also a slow-burn. The sexual tension between the main characters is steaming hot, but no adult content for those who prefer it. Although, the author hints that future volumes may not be so restrained.

The first volume, is a free short that introduces Lucius and Beth. The newly released full length novel is a first rate UF read.

Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Hunter-Witch-C...
Kobo:https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-...
Smashwords:https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Nook:https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-...

Laurie Olerich Demon's After Dark series gets off to a great start with Vanek. Not all demons are evil in Ms. Olerich's universe. Some are even super-hot warriors with a strong sense of honor. Not theologically sound in this universe, but it works in this alternate version.

Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M...
Apple:http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/vanek...
Kobo:http://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/vanek...
Nook:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/vanek...

Finally, no year is complete with a plug for my Twelve Systems Chronicles where duty and passion collide in smoking hot sci-fi set in an alternate universe.


FREEBIE LINKS The Cartel: The Apprentice, Volume 1
Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AGNFHJA
I-books: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-c...
Nook:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-c...
Kobo:http://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-c...

UPDATE: Serengeti Valor - Cover Concept

Revised photo based on comments. Thank you all. :)

Opinions sought.

Serengeti Valor is the final stages for release January 16, 2018. Follow the link to the cover concept and let me know your thoughts and reactions.

egmanetti.com/2017/12/07/serengeti-va...

Indie Spotlight on Romance: Space Aliens

* Reposted from Some Like it Hot group's Indie Spotlight



Alien seeks bride is a popular sub-genre of Sci-fi Romance bringing new meaning to the phrase, star-crossed lovers. In an engaging mashup, Elsa Jade weaves in shifters, and cyborgs, two other hugely popular tropes. The result is the LOL antics of the couples paired by the Intergalactic Dating Agency -- where Tinder and Match.Com meet spaceships and blasters.

With space opera-esque good vs evil to leaven the romance, these books are fast paced, and relatively short at ~ 150-170 pages. To borrow from fellow author Rachel Chanticleer, these types of books are 'cotton-candy reads'. Sweet and satisfying but not particularly substantial. All the more fun for being a guilty pleasure.

He will be lord of his own solar system, but he can’t claim the homeworld until he takes a bride. He needs the right mate to win his mating rings, but choosing one female from among the neighboring systems while slighting the others could start an interstellar incident—and this ex-mercenary starship captain has finally had enough of war. Where in the universe can a runaway cyborg prince find a naïve female willing to risk her life on the dangerous frontiers of space?

Freebie links
Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Alpha-Star-Bri...
Nook:https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/alph...
Kobo:https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/alph...
Apple:https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/alph...

Indie Spotlight One Romance: Demons

* Reposted from Some Like it Hot group's Indie Spotlight

Rounding out my Halloween reading, new to me author Laurie Olerich Demon's After Dark series gets off to a great start with Vanek. Not all demons are evil in Ms. Olerich's universe. Some are even super-hot warriors with a strong sense of honor. Not theologically sound in this universe, but it works in this alternate version.

An offshoot of her Primani series, I am glad I read Vanek first. The heroine of Primani is college age and new adult does not usually appeal to me. Having enjoyed Vanek, I will check out the originating series when I might not have otherwise.

Known only as Trinity demons, this band of brothers was stripped of their powers and violently exiled from Hell. Wrongly accused of an unthinkable crime, they’re left to survive with no memories and no weapons while a secret society quietly plots Lucifer’s demise.

Thanks to her family’s curse, Dylan has been promised to a sadistic soul broker demon and she’s desperate to escape a terrifying future. After an impulsive act leads her to Morningstar Sanitarium, she’s inexplicably drawn to the sad and mysterious Vanek.

Formerly one of Hell’s most renowned Painkillers, Vanek is horrified with being human until he discovers he’s been thrown into the body of a badass mercenary with a definite kinky streak and a box of sex toys. Wondering how he got so lucky, he jumps into his new role as second in command in Trinity’s ops center--Expat Security. When Dylan comes to them for help, he knows he's got to handle her case personally. As his attraction to her grows, so does the conspiracy that landed him in Brooklyn.

Purchase Links
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M...
Apple:http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/vanek...
Kobo:http://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/vanek...
Nook:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/vanek...

Indie Spotlight on Romance: Paranormal Urban Fantasy

* Reposted from Some Like it Hot group's Indie Spotlight

Urban Fantasy is a subgenre of Fantasy that takes place in the modern day, in recognizable urban settings. Except - magic is real. To qualify as 'Parnormal' urban fantasy there also needs to be a significant number of paranormal or supernatural characters such as shifters, fae, and in the case of Heather R. Blair's Toil and Trouble series -- demi-gods and elementals.



Typically, I don't feature e-books that are only available on one platform (aka, Amazon). However, I won a gift card recently and the Toil & Trouble series is so well liked my Goodreads friends that I decided to check it out. I'm glad I did.

Typical of the genre, Ms. Blair's series is driven by an action/adventure plot -- in this series featuring assassins, doomsday prophecies, and the threat of war. Seamlessly merged into the action is the star-crossed romance of feisty witch, Seph (Persephone) and bad-boy Jack (as in Frost) . The world-building is solid, but not super complex, plot movement page-turning, and a score of secondary characters add dimension and humor.

From a romance perspective, the trilogy is a bit of slow burn, getting progressively hotter and more explicit as the series moves forward. Don't be put off by the three volume serial that is Jack and Seph's tale. The first volume is 99c and the other two a reasonable $2.99 each.

It's not easy being a witch. Especially when you're the youngest and least talented of four sisters. But Persephone Gosse manages the same way she manages her Duluth bar, Toil & Trouble.

With hard work, a smart mouth—and a lot of whiskey.

Seph likes her quiet life...as quiet as it can be when the king of the bears wants her as his queen, a werewolf (or three) wants her dead, and her cold-as-ice ex, Jack Frost, wants...

Well, she hasn't quite figured that out yet.

But with a bounty on her head and time running out on a half-forgotten prophecy, Seph better get a clue before this witch's brew blows up in her face.

Purchase/KU Link
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sixpence-Whisk...

Wrestling the all-powerful Amazon

The saga of getting The Cartel: The Apprentice, Volume 1 perma-free on Amazon continues.

First battle won: It is now free on Amazon.com.

To come: All the other markets.

Why you may ask? No reason given by the 'Zon except:

Thank you for contacting KDP. I am happy to assist you with matching the price of your book.

The price for your book, "The Cartel: The Apprentice, Volume 1 (The Twelve Systems Chronicles)," is now $0.00. You can see the price here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AGNFHJA

We retain discretion over determining our retail prices.

In the 'Zon pricing guidelines, the lowest allowable price is 99c. The only way to get a 'free listing is 1) be KDP exclusive and then you can do a free promo for a short period every 6 months; 2) List it free everywhere else and get a 'price match'.

Option 2 is how I've managed to get The Cartel: The Apprentice, Volume 1 listed Free on Amazon.com. I did provide price lists from Apple and Kobo to prove it's also free in international markets -- but so far, nada.

In the meantime, here are the US freebie links. For non-US folks who have access to Kobo, Nook, or Apple, it is free in all markets they serve. If you get your ebooks from yet a different source, drop a comment below and I'll see what I can do.

Freebie Links

I-books: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-c...
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-c...
Kobo: http://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-c...

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AGNFHJA

Indie Spotlight on Romance: Historical

*reposted from Some Like Hot group's Indie Spotlight thread.

Continuing my series on InD'Tale 2017 Rone Finalists in the run up to the InD'Scribe October conference where winners will be announced, this post features the last in the historical romance category Victorian through 20th Century.

In an interesting twist, I can no longer claim to have no ties to InD'Tale. As it happens, an upcoming edition (probably December) will feature me and The Twelve Systems Chronicles. Not due to my support -- via another channel -- the publisher read and liked the novels. *Happy Dance*

Still true - I like the ezine and usually agree with the reviewers. Of course, Transgressions: The Apprentice, Volume 3 is a 2017 Finalist, so we know they have it together.

The Renegade Wife

Betrayal by his cousin and the woman he loved may have made Rand Wheatly crave solitude, but his heart isn’t as hard as he likes to pretend. When he discovers that the squatters in his house include sick and injured children, he lets them stay.

Meggy Campeau is harboring a secret, but she’ll do whatever it takes to keep her children safe. It doesn’t take long for Rand to see why Meggy is on the run; it takes longer for him to trust. Now she’s gone again. And time is running out for him to save them all.





US$3.99 or KU Links
Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...

Surrender the Wind

When fate throws a Confederate soldier and a Yankee heiress together, they’ll uncover a fierce love worth fighting for…even if it means crossing enemy lines.

When Confederate General John Daniel Rourke is severely wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness, he’s captured and sent to a prison camp. On his way there, Union soldiers mistake him for dead and toss him from the train into the New York countryside, where he lands at the feet of Catherine Fitzgerald, a schoolmistress.

Rourke wakes to find the mysterious and strong-spirited beauty nursing him back to health. He’s intrigued but unaware of her true identity as the heiress to the Union’s ammunitions manufacturer, and their fiery battle of wits and wills commences.

Yet when outside forces begin to envelop them in a larger conspiracy, their own war begins. Torn between family loyalties and manipulated by a powerful leader from the Irish underworld, Catherine and Rourke will have to fight on both sides of the secession line to win the most significant battle of all: the fight for their love.

US$4.99 Purchase links
Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...
Nook:https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/surr...
Kobo:https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/surr...
Apple:https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/surr...

Solitary Horseman

Hatred is Easy. Love Takes Courage.
He’s known her his whole life, but he never really knew her until she revived in him emotions he thought had died on the Civil War battle fields.

The Civil War is over, but the battles continue.
Callum Latimer returned from the war to a life he didn’t want and with inner battle scars he can’t heal.
Banner Payne clutched desperately to the remaining shreds of the life she’d known, but she is losing her grip.
Brought together by bad luck and cruel twists of fate, Callum and Banner forge a partnership they hope will keep them afloat even as neighboring Texas ranchers go under and their land is snapped up by opportunists.
Fate smiles on them and Callum and Banner find the missing pieces of themselves in each other.
Healing begins as their hearts are awakened. Now they must remain strong in their determination to forge a more peaceful existence and not be poisoned by the bitterness of a country still divided.

US$2.99 or KU link
Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...

A Splendid Boy

In the summer of 1914, Daniel Beresford’s innocent love affair with the merchant’s daughter is discovered, forcing him to make an impossible decision to save his family from financial ruin. When news of the First World War reaches Middle Tickle, Daniel, who is torn between his love for Emma Tavenor and his responsibility to his family, enlists in the Newfoundland Regiment and departs for training.

When Emma learns her father is to blame for Daniel’s unexplained departure, she follows him to England, hoping they’ll be reunited. Yet on the voyage, she discovers the regiment has been called up and is already engaged in battle. She realizes her only hope of finding Daniel is to join the Voluntary Aid Detachment and make her way to the Western Front.

In 1916, on the eve of the Battle of the Somme, Emma and Daniel are reunited for a single, impassioned night near Beaumont-Hamel. Can the love they share survive the barriers of class and the horrors of battle? Or are their lives fated to join what would later be called a lost generation?

US$9.49 Purchase Links
Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...
Kobo:https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-sp...

His Tempting Bride

Miriam Long has been running for her whole life—running from her sinful past, running from her shameful mistakes, and running from the guilt of chickening out of her one chance to start over. But now, several hard months after refusing to get off the train and marry the man who sent for her as a mail-order bride, Miriam finds herself in Haskell, Wyoming once more. Only this time, more lives than just hers are at stake.

Cody Montrose is instantly smitten with the fun and flirty woman he meets by chance at Haskell’s train station…until he learns that the object of his temptation is the very bride who stood him up. Anger battles with desire as the two of them struggle with the disaster that should have been their union months ago.

US$2.99 Purchase Links
Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...
Nook:https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/his-...
Kobo:https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/his-...
Apple:https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/his-...

Making The Cartel Perma Free!

I need a little help from my GR friends and followers. Unlike Apple, Nook, and Kobo, -- Amazon won't let me price my book below 99c. To make that happen, they have to receive multiple notices of a 'lower price'.

It's not hard, just go to the book page on amazon and paste a link to one of the other sites. On the US site, the place to do it is at the bottom of product details (see image below).

FREEBIE LINKS:

I-books: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-...
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-c...
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-...

AMAZON LINKS:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AGNFHJA
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00AGNFHJA
Amazon FR: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00AGNFHJA
Amazon DE: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B00AGNFHJA
Amazon ES: http://www.amazon.es/dp/B00AGNFHJA
Amazon IT: http://www.amazon.it/dp/B00AGNFHJA
Amazon NL: http://www.amazon.nl/dp/B00AGNFHJA
Amazon AU: http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00AGNFHJA
Amazon CA: http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00AGNFHJA



Thank you all. I'd love to get the freebie going on Amazon before December.

It's Nail-biting time, again.

Yesterday I submitted Serengeti Valor: The Apprentice, Volume 5 for round 1 of development editing certain that it would a matter of few minor plot-holes and inconsistences and then a smooth glide to January 2018 release. This morning I'm certain its dreck and will need a major rewrite. And... there goes another nail.

I'll know in a week. In the meantime, here is a little snippet. It has not been copy-edited, so all typos and grammar mistakes are my own.

*****
Warmed by the shower, Lilian’s muscle aches have diminished. Prone on the bed, pillows wedged under her torso, Lilian enjoys the pleasant cooling of the Master Medic’s lotion. It occurs to Lilian that should Katleen wish a life as a shrine healer, she has begun her training tending to Lilian’s ills over the past two years.

“You did not answer me,” Katleen accuses.

“Answer what?” Lilian replies, confused. They have said little since Katleen followed her to the chamber.

“You said our survival,” Katleen enunciates. “Not your survival.”

“Semantics, sweetling.” Lilian huffs what she hopes is a dismissive laugh.

“Do not,” Katleen’s gentle fingers stop on Lilian’s waist. “I am not a child. There is a huge hole in the music of your voice and it is surrounded with purple and metallic gray.”

“What say you?” Lilian’s fingers convulse on the sheet. She has known for over a year that her sister has her own version of insight, able to discern truth from falsehood in the tone of a person’s voice. As Katleen describes it, she hears music and sees color. Truth is melodious and bright. Falsehood is discordant and dark. Holes are new.

“You do not lie,” Katleen explains, her fingers applying lotion. “But you are excellent at not speaking. It is blankness in the music – a skipped beat or phrase. When you are angry, your voice is glittery gray like ice or blade. It is purple when you are distressed. Whatever you will not speak, it makes you angry and sad. It is all in that line between our and your.”

“Mulan’s mercy,” Lilian sighs in frustration. “Can my thoughts and secrets not be my own?”

“You could have run.” Katleen’s voice fills with revelation. “If not for Maman and me, you could have fallen into a Crevasse. Disappeared, and reemerged with a new identity. Free of all of this.”

Five Warriors take it. Lilian has no desire for this conversation, but lying is pointless and withholding will no longer serve in light of this latest development in Katleen’s odd perception. “They were already coming for me before Gariten was indicted. Once I knew he was taken, I had but two, mayhap three periods when I could have run.”

“It would have been enough,” Katleen retorts, her fingers moving over Lilian’s buttocks. “You are clever enough and Dean Joseph would have helped.”

“I would not risk implicating the dean,” Lilian denies. With shake of her head she adds, “It matters naught. I could not leave you. Maman would have fallen deeper into madness and you would not have lived to see majority. What value would there have been in my life?”

“But you might yet die!” Katleen laments. “And you have suffered so much.”

“I pay the price for the life I would have,” Lilian contradicts, rolling from the pillows. “When my bond is proved, I will have a life of legitimate commerce serving Serengeti.”Pushing to her feet, she reaches for Katleen’s shoulders. “I will have my family, my honor, and my future.”

Tightening her gripe, Lilian locks her gaze with Katleen’s. “Only this path offers all that. I far prefer it to a life in the shadows as a gray commerce raider. Or worse.”

“Worse?” Katleen stumbles.

“I am Gariten’s get,” Lilian swallows against the taste of the words. “It is a short step from gray to black. The only way to avoid it is to never to get on that path.”

Grabbing the hands on her shoulders, Katleen whispers, “But you were tempted. That is the hole and the darkness.”

“Yes, I was tempted,” Lilian presses her lips together and closes her eyes. “It pleases me not.”

Leaning into Lilian, Katleen’s hands slide around Lilian’s waist. “I am sorry. Sorry that you are hurt, not that you saved us.”

Resting her chin on the red-gold curls, Lilian murmurs, “It will be well. Monsignor will not let me fall.”