Raise Your Hand if You’re a Kindle Unlimited Subsciber

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Are any of you KU members?

Maybe we can share info when we find old bodice rippers or vintage HR in KU?

[Blondie]

I am

[Caroline]

I am and a bunch of other services as well. I have Playster, Audible, Scribd and 24Symbols. I can't stand not being able to find a book I want.

[Mel]

Which is the best for the old BR books?

[Caroline]

Oddly, I find a lot of them on Scribd, but they are scanned in. However, they are usually the originals and not the PC versions. I have a website that I use to find free copies of books that I check first, then I resort to all the other sites and after that I try Open Library. If I have no joy there, then it's Ebay or Amazon. I try not to Ebay though, because I can get lost in there and end up buying big boxes of books. My husband gets a little nervous at that point.

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Caroline wrote: "Oddly, I find a lot of them on Scribd, but they are scanned in. However, they are usually the originals and not the PC versions. I have a website that I use to find free copies of books that I chec..."

Caroline,

Do the old books have the original covers on Scrbid? In KU old HR have new covers making it hard to spot them, unless you already know their names. Also, some titles have been changed in kindle edition vintage HR.

Maybe I should look into Scribid.


Also, I’m an audible subscriber.

[Caroline]

It depends. Some of them have no cover at all and others have the cover scanned in. It depends on the book.

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Caroline wrote: "It depends. Some of them have no cover at all and others have the cover scanned in. It depends on the book."

Do you have a scribid shelf in yr GR profile?

[Caroline]

No, I've never thought of making one. I just hunt all the sites and then start reading. My big problem is having too many books going at once. I have like six or seven right now and none of them is really making any magic happen.

What are we going to do when there are no more bodice rippers? They are out of fashion, not PC and are scorned by more "enlightened" readers. Seriously, all that will be left are the crappy romances where none of the men cheat and the vikings are nice. Ick.

[Blondie]

Scribd also has audible books ... I only had for the free trial though I will probably go back to it again someday

[Love love]

🙋 I am too!

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Noelle wrote: "🙋 I am too!"

KU subbie?

[Love love]

Yup, a KU subbie and a bodice ripper lover

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Daughters of the Flame by Julia Grice, orig pub in 1979 is in KU.

What we don’t know is if this migration to eEdition saw “updates” to the original text.

[Hot Mess Sommelière ~ Caro]

Me, but only until mid-march. There was a three months for 1,99€ offer back in December!

[Mel]

There is an original edition on OL

[Eliza]

Caroline wrote: "No, I've never thought of making one. I just hunt all the sites and then start reading. My big problem is having too many books going at once. I have like six or seven right now and none of them is..."

If I had an ounce of talent I would totally write classic BR! We are a dying breed, ladies and eventually we are going to run out of our BR classics :(

[Love love]

That will be a sad day when that happens. I'm constantly searching for ones I haven't read....

[Gurl]

Pinterest has old BR coverboards and i get books/authors from that occassionally

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Gurl wrote: "Pinterest has old BR coverboards and i get books/authors from that occassionally"

Do you use the phrase “Bodice Ripper Book Covers” to find those boards?

[Gurl]

70s bodice ripper covers, i get author names as there is no synopsis, possibly on other related boards.

[Michelle]

KU and Audible. I also get books on Overdrive using my library card.

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

There are some Bertrice Small that are in KU and in Audible. As far as I can tell, the Audible editions are a mix of some of her old bodice rippers and more recent titles (that most likely conform more to modern tastes).

Also, I read Adora by Bertrice Small via KU and it had stuff in the kindle edition that would definitely NOT conform to modern sensibilities in a big, big way. My conclusion is that Bertrice Small’s kindle editions are “safe” for bodice ripper-lovers.

I prefer eBooks to dead tree edition, but as you all undoubtedly know, the process for migrating old un-pc rippers can involve rewriting to excise stuff that might offend HR readers of today, so in those cases, I stick with used hard copies of offending titles.

Karen Robards and Jennifer Blake both have books in KU and in Audible.

My memory of Karen Robards’s kindle/Audible Island Flame are a little hazy. I’m pretty sure the hero rapes the heroine and is a major prick. My conclusion is that Karen Robards’s books are unaltered.

Jennifer Blake’s books are not all bodice rippers, but her old titles in kindle and Audible are (I believe) unaltered. Also, Jennifer Blake has old titles in KU too.

I’m going to cut/paste this into the thread that is focused on identifying whether or not old rippers have been modified.

[Meredith]

I just noticed a book I've seen recommended in this group, Bond of Blood by Roberta Gellis is now available via Kindle Unlimited. Previously it was out of print.

Other titles available in KU by Roberta Gellis:
Roselynde
The Sword & the Swan
Gilliane
The Dragon and the Rose
Joanna
Winter Song
Fire Song
Desiree
A Silver Mirror
The Cornish Heiress
The Kent Heiress
Fortune's Bride
Bull God
+More not available in KU, but available via Kindle. Here's the Amazon link for Roberta Gellis:

https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/ent...

**I do not know if these have been neutered. I have the original copy of a couple (Bond of Blood, Joanna) when I have time I'll check both the KU version & the original copy. Roberta Gellis passed away in 2006, and to my knowledge she never rewrote her own work to be more PC. I have no idea who owns the rights--but if the books are neutered it would have to be whoever owns the rights who did it (and I'm not sure if that's even legal? idk). If anyone in this group knows who owns the rights, let me know. I'm not seeing a publisher listed on Amazon, and wondering if its her son. I'm hoping the content has not been neutered. I'm happy to see the ebook versions kept the original cover too.

[Eliza]

Awesome! Thank you!

[Meredith]

Eliza wrote: "Awesome! Thank you!"

I was excited to see so many by Roberta Gellis in KU! She's been out of print for ages it seems. It makes me wonder if a family member recently got the rights back from a publisher who was previously doing nothing with the books, and the family member decided to make Gellis' books more accessible. Idk. I remember reading that's what Marilyn Harris' family did after Harris passed away. Most of the Eden Sage is in KU & they often run sales as well.

[Eliza]

I'll take it either way!

[daemyra, the realm's delight]

Andrea AKA Catsos Person wrote: "There are some Bertrice Small that are in KU and in Audible. As far as I can tell, the Audible editions are a mix of some of her old bodice rippers and more recent titles (that most ..."

Thank you!!

[Meredith]

I'm over 60% into Bond of Blood on KU and it has the same marital rape, domestic violence, & cheating that's in the original. I think it's safe to say it hasn't been neutered.

Another author that's in KU is Follow the Shadows by Jocelyn Carrew

[Debby *BabyDee*]

Irene wrote: "Andrea AKA Catsos Person wrote: "There are some Bertrice Small that are in KU and in Audible. As far as I can tell, the Audible editions are a mix of some of her old bodice rippers a..."

Thanks Irene, I was going to recommend Bertrice Small also.