E.G. Manetti's Blog, page 35

Indie Spotlight on Romance: Fantasy/Sci Fi

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

I came up short on a spotlight candidate this week. It is not that I haven't read several new-to-me indies in the past two weeks, but in an usual turn of events, none that hit the 'Spotlight' standard. Fortunately, I have a group of experts to help out. InD'tale announced the Rone 2017 Finalists this week. Every book on the list received either a 4.5 or 5 star review. Transgressions: The Apprentice, Volume 3 is a finalist. So their judgment is excellent overall.

Note that while all of these include romance, in some instances it is a subplot.

Finalists in the 2017 Fantasy Sci/Fi Category (beginning with mine)

Transgressions: The Apprentice, Volume 3

Life within the Serengeti Cartel is perilous, riddled with malice and intrigue that can threaten the mightiest of warriors. For Lilian – brilliant, despised and one misstep away from execution for her father’s crimes – all that stands between her and destruction is the powerful warrior Lucius Mercio. In return for his protection, Lilian became Lucius' apprentice, yielding control of her body, will, and intellect. The desperate gamble has paid off. In defiance of all expectation, Lilian has survived nearly a third of her trial by ordeal, but it is far from over.

Determined to raise Serengeti to the pinnacle of power in the Twelve Systems, Lucius has ruthlessly exploited Lilian’s brilliance to achieve his ambitions. Within seasons, he will lead Serengeti to new heights with the launch of Bright Star, the first stellar exploration venture in over two centuries. With each new success, Lucius’ rivals multiply while a traitor stalks the halls of Serengeti, determined to thwart Lucius by any means. As the viciousness of her enemies escalates, Lilian is forced to confront the past and choose between betraying her oath of loyalty to Lucius and protecting the deadly secrets of her father's dark acts.
***$4.99***
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Transgressions-...
Nook:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/trans...
Apple:http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/trans...
Kobo:http://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/trans...

Beloved Enemy

Cat Kincaid is obsessed with killing the man she believes is responsible for the torture and death of her sister, but when she eventually catches up with him, survival becomes a greater priority than revenge.

Kerry Marchant, haunted by memories, regret, and self-blame, shields himself from the pain of the past by committing himself totally to the starship, Destiny, of which he is part owner. However, the beautiful, red-haired woman who reminds him of his lost love, and who he suspects is working for a corrupt regime, represents a possible threat not only to the ship, but to his heart.

Marooned on an inhospitable planet, they need to work together to stay alive, fighting not only unknown assailants, but their growing attraction. But how can they learn to trust each other when he has vowed never to get close to a woman again, and she made a solemn pledge to destroy him?
*** $4.99 ***
Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B...
Nook:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/belov...
Apple: http://itun.es/us/WYiGab.l

Annihilation

Death is the easy way out.
Still clinging rabidly to power, the Elites spin lies of prejudice and hatred, stoking the flames of war.
The sole driving force toward peace, Mira, had sacrificed everything. But her strength alone was not enough.
It will take the strength of many to finish what she started. As the world lurches toward war, each party has much to lose. Human. Vampire. Otherkin. The only outcomes are peace… or death.
***$2.99/Kindle Unlimited*** http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019...

Tempting the Dryad: A Fada Novel, Book 3

Book 3 in a sexy paranormal romance series by Rebecca Rivard, an EPIC Awards Finalist for Best Fantasy/Paranormal Romance His dark Gift... Rock Run warrior Tiago do Rio is hiding a powerful Gift, one so easily misused it could make him a pariah in his own clan. The temptation to use his Gift to make his darkest fantasies come true is almost irresistible. The only good thing in his life is his friendship with the dryad Alesia. Her shifter mate... Wild, solitary fae Alesia lives on an uninhabited island in Rock Run territory. Her Gift is to make things grow. She spends her days tending to her woodland home, but her nights are lonely-until she meets the sexy Latino shifter. Now she and Tiago are best friends, but she longs for more. A clan's fate at stake... Then just as Tiago and Alesia realize they may be mates, a den of rogue shifters threatens to bring war down on the Rock Run clan-and the two are caught in the middle. Can Tiago master his terrifying Gift in time? Or will he lose his mate as well as his soul?
*** $3.99 ***
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016...
Nook:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tempt...
Apple: http://itun.es/us/6hHJdb.l
Kobo:http://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/tempt...

Lament of the Fallen

The Hunter of Voramis is no more.

Alone with the bloodthirsty voices in his head, fleeing the pain of loss, he has one objective; travel North to find her, the mystery woman who plagues his dreams and haunts his memories.

When he stumbles upon a bandit attack, something within urges him to help. His actions set him at odds with the warrior priests commanded to hunt down the Bucelarii.

Left for dead, the Hunter must travel to Malandria to recover his stolen birthright. There, he is inexorably drawn into direct conflict with the Order of Midas, the faceless, nameless group of magicians that holds the city in a grip of terror. All while struggling to silence the ever-louder voice in his mind that drives him to kill.
***$3.99/Kindle Unlimited***
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01J...

Escapee: Repelling the Invasion

A Disillusioned Soldier

Hector Dukelsky, an upper-class career officer, yearns to fight a righteous war instead of defending corporate interests on Banff, an isolated mining moon. That dream seems dead when his entire command is slaughtered while he’s away, leaving him alone in smouldering rubble with no chance to survive, let alone strike back at the enemy.

A Pilot with a Chip on Her Shoulder

Catt Sayer, a working-class fugitive from the law, earns a meagre income carrying supplies on a decrepit airship, but her hard-won life vanishes when invaders capture Banff. While searching for survivors, she rescues Hector and flies him to safety. But he doesn’t want safety. He wants her to risk her life on a hopeless journey to attack the enemy headquarters.

A Dying Moon

Catt is sure Banff will kill them long before the enemy can … yet she agree s to Hector’s scheme, certain he’ll quit after experiencing one of the moon’s eruptions or ferocious storms. But he doesn’t quit, and slowly his noble dream—and his love—conquer her heart. She pits her life and love against Banff’s lethal environment, even though the only reward for success will be the opportunity to face ten thousand enemy warriors.
*** $2.99***
Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B...
Nook:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/escap...
Apple:http://itun.es/us/rLuIcb.l
Kobo:http://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?quer...

Dating an Alien Popstar

Daisy Kirkwood has only just escaped her small-town life and run away to New York City, the land of last-minute secret gigs at famous musical venues, when she's kidnapped by aliens. Unfortunately, no one ever writes about how to handle alien abduction in those fancy NYC guidebooks.

Griffin and Dev are supermassively sexy aliens from a politically and environmentally troubled planet who arrive on Earth with very little knowledge about human ways other than what they learned from a wayward E! News signal. Their mission is to pretend to be the most influential people on the planet—English pop stars, of course!—and gain the help of a powerful secret society. Upon arriving, they abduct Daisy Kirkwood, a nerdy young woman who loves music but could seriously use a bit of help in the love-life department. Though Griffin and Daisy initially squabble, neither can deny the intergalactic sparks whenever they're too close to each other. Together, they must face murderous aliens, cultural misunderstandings, bad backup musicians, and the dark side of fame and the media, all set against a tight deadline…
*** Freebie ***
Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C...
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/datin...
Apple:http://itun.es/us/eCAZbb.l
Kobo:http://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/datin...

Trangressions is a 2017 Rone Finalist!

Thank you to everyone who voted! *Big Hugs*

Transgressions: The Apprentice, Volume 3 is a 2017 Rone Finalist. Over the summer, a panel of judges will review/rate all 7 finalists in the Fantasy/Scifi category. Results will be available in the fall.

http://indtale.com/2017-rone-awards

InD'tale Crowned Heart for Fortuna!

Fortuna: The Apprentice, Volume 4 is the second volume in the Twelve Systems Chronicles to receive a coveted 'crowned heart' review from InD'tale magazine. If you aren't subscribing to this free ezine dedicated to indie fiction, you should definitely check it out.



http://magazine.indtale.com/magazine/...

Indie Spotlight: Sci-fi Romance

*Reposted from Some Like it Hot Group's Indie Spotlight Thread

In many cases, romances categorized as sci-fi romance are only very loosely 'sci-fi', focused more on hunky aliens and cyborgs than future technology, societies, and the adventure we commonly associate with science-fiction. Of course, as one of my readers and friends pointed out, I tend to be a harsher critic of books written in my own genre than I am of other romance sub-genres.

Happliy, Veronica Scott does a fantastic job of world building, page-turning action, and romance writing. I discovered her work in the anthology Pets in Space


Her novella Star Cruise Stowaway was my favorite of the series. The heroine is a alien of unknown origin with paranormal powers that are coveted by criminals and the authorities. The hero is a cargo master (regular guy, regular job) who refuses to give up the woman he loves.

I have since discovered that Veronica Scott is an awarding winning Indie Author who also did some time at NASA where she won an award for non-fiction related activities.

Currently free -

Andi Markriss hasn’t exactly enjoyed being the houseguest of the planetary high-lord, but her company sent her to represent them at a political wedding. When hotshot Sectors Special Forces Captain Tom Deverane barges in on the night of the biggest social event of the summer, Andi isn’t about to offend her high-ranking host on Deverane’s say-so—no matter how sexy he is, or how much he believes they need to leave now.

Deverane was thinking about how to spend his retirement bonus when HQ assigned him one last mission: rescue a civilian woman stranded on a planet on the verge of civil war. Someone has pulled some serious strings to get her plucked out of the hot zone. Deverane’s never met anyone so hard-headed—or so appealing. Suddenly his mission to protect this one woman has become more than just mere orders.

Freebie links:

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...

More about Veronica Scott: https://veronicascott.wordpress.com/

Fiction Doodles: Rabid Kanga

Romantic, scenic outback my blistered heels. My rental four-wheeler broke down five miles back and my new hiking boots are nowhere near broken in. Dropping onto a rock, I tilt the brim of my hat to help my sunglasses fight the glare. Nothing. A whole lot of nothing including cell reception.

I reach into my pack for a bottle of tepid water. Supposedly, there's something like a town three miles up. I don't need to horde the water.

Some of the nothing moves. A kangaroo. I was hoping to see one, but now I can't really work up the enthusiasm. It makes weird growling noises. Is that a snarl? Kangaroos snarl?

I clamber up the rock. How high can that thing jump? Can it climb? Is it rabid? Oh. My. God. It's rabid.

I hurl my water in a futile attempt to drive it away. It leaps up and snags the bottle. Biting into the plastic it shakes the bottle like a terrier shakes a mouse, splashing water across the dry road.

Dropping the bottle, it stomps it madly. When nothing is left but flattened plastic it snarls again. With a mad - make that rabid - snuffling, it begins to circle my rock.

Spotlight on Indie Romance: Fated Mates

*reposted from Some Like It Hot group's Indie Spotlight Thread

The 'fated mates' trope blends the 'one true love/soul mate' trope with the 'instant love' or 'insta-love' convention. Prevalent in shifter and alien romance, fated mates can be eye-roll inducing or super entertaining. 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.

After being ditched only weeks before her wedding, Cassie Stockwell wasn’t out looking for a hookup. Then the devastatingly handsome bartender she’d been trying not to obsess over for months offered to give her a ride home. What could one night hurt?

When his future was almost taken away after one impulsive decision, wolf-shifter Jace Miller waited patiently for months before making a move on the woman he knew to be his destined mate. But will one night of passion keep his little human by his side once she learns of his world and the danger it brings to her doorstep?



This first volume in the series 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...

Transgressions needs votes!

Transgressions: The Apprentice, Volume 3 is a Rone Award nominee. Sponsored by InD'Tale ezine, Rones recognize the best in Indie fiction. To be nominated is great! To make it to the finals and the judging would be even better.

For that, Transgressions needs your votes! Please.

Follow this link to vote: http://www.indtale.com/2017-rone-awar...

*** You will need an account for the free Indie Magazine, InD'Tale: www.indtale.com. But hey, it's a good magazine, and if you don't like it you an unsubscribe later.

Indie Spotlight: Shifter Romance

*Reposted from Some Like Hot Group's Indie Spotlight thread.

Shifter romance is a catchall for paranormal romance that features characters that can turn from human - or human appearing - into animals of some type. Wolves, bears, birds, even dragons.

K.C. Stewart likes wolves and dragons, having a series featuring each type. The easily readable Adirondack Pack series features wolves and follows many of the classic tropes with a freshness of voice and crispness of prose that sets it a part in a crowded field. By accident, I scored several of the novellas as freebies or 99c deals and read them out of order. Although each intrigued me to read on in the series, they are all well enough crafted that they can be read alone and out of order without mental whiplash.

The first installment, for those who must read in order, doesn't include the romance that marks the rest of the novels. The romances, when they arrive, have super chemistry as well as love. The three I have read do not contain explicit content, the really hot parts taking place off page.

The truth is in the evidence. Follow your nose, keep an ear to the ground and don’t believe everything you hear. Tyson Cartwright has always known who he was and becoming the Adirondack Pack’s Enforcer was the goal from the very start. He loves his job, but not today. Someone in the pack isn’t who they say they are. It isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last that Tyson has to rid the pack of a spy. These are the people he calls his friends and family and one of them is lying to him. His gut has an idea but is it just because he doesn’t like the man his sister has taken up with or is there something more to Jack Naughton? For Jenny’s sake he better know for sure it’s Jack before dispensing justice because once a wolf goes over the line, there is no coming back.

To find out more about KC Stewart and her stories, visit her website:http://www.authorkcstewart.com/

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

Indie Spotlight: Gothic Romance

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

R.C. Matthews has authored erotic romance, contemporary romance, and most recently -- Gothic Romance . Popularized in the Victorian era, gothic romances feature supernatural events, dangerous and broody heroes, and intrepid heroines. R.C.'s Tortured Souls series adds in elements of true horror. So prepared for a bit of gruesome mixed in with the well crafted plots, steamy romance, and ultimate HEA.

Shrouded in unspeakable horror and spoken of only in whispers, the abandoned Devil's Cove Manor lures Captain Devlin Limmerick and his unquenchable thirst for revenge to its doors. Feared as the Devil on the high seas, the pirate’s desire to avenge his past is matched only by his hunger for the powerful young medium he has coerced to aid him in his nefarious quest.

Blinded from youth and touched with an ability to communicate beyond the grave, Grace is both feared and revered by the uneasy town folk. Yet she is powerless against the unrest brewing within the manor walls and finds herself drawn to the Devil's darkness. Still, she refuses to sacrifice her soul to set Devlin’s unspeakable plans in motion.

But an evil lurks within these walls, and their very souls are in jeopardy. Grace’s presence at the manor spurs inexplicable happenings, forcing Devlin to believe nothing is as dead as it seems—not even his heart. Plunged into the throes of passion and danger, they discover the only way out is to search deep within and summon the courage to believe in true love.

To learn more about R.C. Matthews work, visit her website: http://www.rcmatthews.com/

Purchase Links

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/devil...

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/devi...

ipad: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/devi...

Indie Spotlight: Billionaire Rom-Com

*Reposted from Some Like Hot group's Indie Spotlight

Looking for a light, romantic comedy? Loving the premise of the suave, alpha-male billionaire descending into the every day madness the rest of us enjoy? Check out Julia Kent's Shopping series. Ms. Kent is one of the more successful indies, four times on the NY Times best seller list. I can understand why. I picked up Shopping for a Billionaire's Fiancee (volume 6) as a freebie and found it laugh-out-loud funny with the goofiness and occasionally over-the-top sweetness nicely offset with a bit a steam.

The first book in the series is currently free on multiple platforms.

When mystery shopper Shannon Jacoby meets billionaire Declan McCormick with her hand down a toilet in the men's room of one of his stores, it's love at first flush in this hilarious new romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Julia Kent.

To learn more about Julia Kent and her books, check out her website: http://jkentauthor.com

Freebie Links

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Shopping-Billi...
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shopp...
iPad: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/shop...
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/shop...