As acquisitions editor for a literary agency, I was known to be tough...so quality vs. quantity is the emphasis in my select-few picks here. Stock up on these COMPLETE BOOKS FOR FREE in all genres, designed to provide you with a delightful escape to The Land of Somewhere Else, even if you are stuck at home.
The Humid
Gun violence may be out of control, but it’s nothing compared to the wrath of Mother Nature.
Jack...
Read More
Jack...
The Humid Russell Cordner
Gun violence may be out of control, but it’s nothing compared to the wrath of Mother Nature.
Jack just wants to raise kids without fear and give them a comfortable life, and the move from Chicago to Tokyo was meant to achieve that. But with 40 million neighbours, tensions at home, and a rising thermometer, expat life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
The first day of summer is city’s hottest on record, and the sweltering metropolis is only getting hotter. With hospitals overflowing and a power grid on the brink of collapse, he’ll do whatever it takes to get his family to safety.
(WARNING: this story contains strong language and graphic situations that may not be suitable for all readers.)
Jack just wants to raise kids without fear and give them a comfortable life, and the move from Chicago to Tokyo was meant to achieve that. But with 40 million neighbours, tensions at home, and a rising thermometer, expat life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
The first day of summer is city’s hottest on record, and the sweltering metropolis is only getting hotter. With hospitals overflowing and a power grid on the brink of collapse, he’ll do whatever it takes to get his family to safety.
(WARNING: this story contains strong language and graphic situations that may not be suitable for all readers.)
Tipple is presenting a new product: glasses that will protect people from having their faces exposed to cameras. Every day, some camera, somewhere is taking your picture, and his product prevents that.
This short story is gripping, engaging, and thought provoking. You feel for the character Tipple and root for his success. But what would that success look like? What would it bring if everyone could keep their faces blurred out?
Claim your copy to find out. It's worth the read.
Russell Cordner's The Humid provides a comfortable, easy, well-crafted read.
I love the way Cordner uses the temperature as the heading for each chapter of this novella. The characters are well defined from the outset. I particularly like Houston.
An Unconditional Surrender
How much would you risk to save the one you love? Special Agent Jack Gage is willing to risk everyth...
Read More
An Unconditional Surrender Candace Irvin
How much would you risk to save the one you love? Special Agent Jack Gage is willing to risk everything. He may have to. When Jack left Delta Force, he knew he'd be leaving Capt. Dani Stanton and their tumultuous relationship behind too. But fate isn't finished with them. On a mission to take down a terror cell, Jack is sucked into the heinous world of human trafficking. When Jack sees Dani clothed in little more than bruises and shackles, he'll do anything to save her. He may not be able to. Jack still has his mission. What's in that war-torn barn? The rest of Rurik's slaves? Or something that'll take out the entire city of Sarajevo and its half-million inhabitants? Jack will need Dani's help to get past the guard and the lock on that barn door...along with the ones protecting her heart.
Deception
Falcon - humanity’s first manned mission to Mars. Four courageous astronauts are putting their lives...
Read More
Deception Paul Rix
Falcon - humanity’s first manned mission to Mars. Four courageous astronauts are putting their lives on the line as the world watches eagerly. As the astronauts struggle to survive isolation, insecurities, and each other, can they set mankind on the path to the stars?
But for Flight Director Douglas Schmidt, something doesn’t feel right. He’s been in NASA long enough to know when critical information is being withheld. Can he lay his fears to rest before the crew reach Mars? Little does he know that the NASA Administrator is hiding a secret. A secret that began when Falcon was built. A secret that could ultimately doom Falcon and its crew.
Deception is the prequel to the highly anticipated sci-fi human colonization series, Mars Frontier.
But for Flight Director Douglas Schmidt, something doesn’t feel right. He’s been in NASA long enough to know when critical information is being withheld. Can he lay his fears to rest before the crew reach Mars? Little does he know that the NASA Administrator is hiding a secret. A secret that began when Falcon was built. A secret that could ultimately doom Falcon and its crew.
Deception is the prequel to the highly anticipated sci-fi human colonization series, Mars Frontier.
Recalibration
The world is burning and Nelson Miles is the only man alive who can stop it.
Nelson Miles is a so...
Read More
Nelson Miles is a so...
Recalibration J.W. Elliot
The world is burning and Nelson Miles is the only man alive who can stop it.
Nelson Miles is a software engineer who confronts a rogue AI he designed that is bent on saving the biosphere by reducing the human population to sustainable limits. When the AI sends a little girl to Nelson demanding assistance in its designs, Nelson has to decide between saving himself and the girl or sacrificing the girl so he can destroy the monster he created.
Nelson Miles is a software engineer who confronts a rogue AI he designed that is bent on saving the biosphere by reducing the human population to sustainable limits. When the AI sends a little girl to Nelson demanding assistance in its designs, Nelson has to decide between saving himself and the girl or sacrificing the girl so he can destroy the monster he created.
Lake Of Sins: Escape
Trinity has one week to find her friend, or she’ll be the next to go.
When the harvest is over, t...
Read More
When the harvest is over, t...
Lake Of Sins: Escape L. S. ODea
Trinity has one week to find her friend, or she’ll be the next to go.
When the harvest is over, the weakest teens be culled from the camp. None of them are ever seen again.
Last year, they took Trinity’s only friend. She’s spent every spare moment scouring the woods, searching for him. She’s close to finding him, but the year is over. The harvest is done.
She sneaks into the forest for one last attempt to locate her friend but she’s barely left camp when the first call of Guards on hunt shatters the air.
She can’t let them catch her but she has nowhere to hide. A strange creature lurks in the water, following her down the river and something stalks her from the woods. Every minute brings the Guards closer. Soon, she’ll be surrounded. Forest or river. Which enemy should she choose?
When the harvest is over, the weakest teens be culled from the camp. None of them are ever seen again.
Last year, they took Trinity’s only friend. She’s spent every spare moment scouring the woods, searching for him. She’s close to finding him, but the year is over. The harvest is done.
She sneaks into the forest for one last attempt to locate her friend but she’s barely left camp when the first call of Guards on hunt shatters the air.
She can’t let them catch her but she has nowhere to hide. A strange creature lurks in the water, following her down the river and something stalks her from the woods. Every minute brings the Guards closer. Soon, she’ll be surrounded. Forest or river. Which enemy should she choose?
A book filled with vivid storytelling and interesting characters.
The sort of story I fall for every time. A strong female central character, a mystical plot and a really compelling tale. Love it!
Jump right into a complex, well-thought-out world with this suberbly suspensed, dystopian YA.
The UnPinkable
A Suburban Suspense Short Sweet Fiction!
Mimi and Sean Longstreet are building a life together, ris...
Read More
Mimi and Sean Longstreet are building a life together, ris...
The UnPinkable Butterfly Brooks
A Suburban Suspense Short Sweet Fiction!
Mimi and Sean Longstreet are building a life together, rising from the urban streets of the big city, amassing a technology fortune, and raising their two delightful daughters. Sean insists the family move to the affluent suburb of Cedartown, much to Mimi's chagrin. Mimi decides to make the best of her new suburban life, taking up the tall task of gardening her small acreage. Her uppity neighbors are flabbergasted by the unorthodox earthy lifestyle Mimi brings to their idyllic hamlet. See what happens when they wage war against Mimi-don't let the pink chiffon fool you!
Mimi and Sean Longstreet are building a life together, rising from the urban streets of the big city, amassing a technology fortune, and raising their two delightful daughters. Sean insists the family move to the affluent suburb of Cedartown, much to Mimi's chagrin. Mimi decides to make the best of her new suburban life, taking up the tall task of gardening her small acreage. Her uppity neighbors are flabbergasted by the unorthodox earthy lifestyle Mimi brings to their idyllic hamlet. See what happens when they wage war against Mimi-don't let the pink chiffon fool you!
The immortal W.C. Fields once said, "Anyone who hates dogs and kids can't be all bad." In the case of Butterfly Brooks' The Un-Pinkable, the protagonist hates suburbia...so what's not to love?
Butterfly Brooks has it all in this short, sweet read! A balanced mix of a drama, romance, mystery and suspense keeps readers intrigued.
Divison
Could you live on a planet separated by sexes?
In the year 2100, Earth is overran by The Disturbe...
Read More
In the year 2100, Earth is overran by The Disturbe...
Divison Desy Smith
Could you live on a planet separated by sexes?
In the year 2100, Earth is overran by The Disturbed – Zombie - like creatures who can infect you with their spit or blood. Fearing for their life, a group of men and women make a hasty escape from planet Earth. For days they find themselves stuck in space and eventually develop powers. The women become telepathic, whereas the men become telekinetic.
When things seem hopeless, they finally find refuge on a planet called Gaia.
500 years later
A young Essence and Horatio are snatched from their current lives by the very people Highness and Emperor trust with their lives, for a fight that no one is aware of. They’re both special, but neither one of them knows it yet.
In the year 2100, Earth is overran by The Disturbed – Zombie - like creatures who can infect you with their spit or blood. Fearing for their life, a group of men and women make a hasty escape from planet Earth. For days they find themselves stuck in space and eventually develop powers. The women become telepathic, whereas the men become telekinetic.
When things seem hopeless, they finally find refuge on a planet called Gaia.
500 years later
A young Essence and Horatio are snatched from their current lives by the very people Highness and Emperor trust with their lives, for a fight that no one is aware of. They’re both special, but neither one of them knows it yet.
A witty yet convincing presentation of telepathy is just one of the indicators that Desy Smith's DIVISION will be a fun read for lovers of fantasy and romance.
"Division" is an amazing rhyme between unity and necessity. I love the mutal "special" concept both genders share, as well as the philosophy of both being eventually better together. Excellent!
On the money!
This is great
The Last Run
Sera is the last runner from Earth, bringing badly needed supplies to the Tharassas Colony across a...
Read More
The Last Run J. Scott Coatsworth
Sera is the last runner from Earth, bringing badly needed supplies to the Tharassas Colony across a twenty-five year gulf between the planets. Jas works on a hencha farm to make ends meet, harvesting berries from the semi-sentient plants.
Neither one that knows their lives—and worlds—are about to change forever.
Neither one that knows their lives—and worlds—are about to change forever.
Rococo (COMPLETE novella)
It's the year 2100. Nan has had to leave her peaceful home above what used to be the Arctic Circle f...
Read More
Rococo (COMPLETE novella) Sue Hollister Barr
It's the year 2100. Nan has had to leave her peaceful home above what used to be the Arctic Circle for something extraordinarily old-fashioned: a physical meeting in, of all places, a city. If she doesn't contract a fatal disease first, she might just choke to death on the Rococo holography currently choking Manhattan. And why hasn't she heard anything from her best friend, Trix? Must she have dinner with the elusive boss who hired her to get those annoying aliens off welfare and back to their home planet? Tiresome. Especially when she could print up a better meal back home. But things are about to get a whole lot worse... "Sue Hollister Barr's characters will draw you into this tale, leading you through fantastic settings and swirling twists." Amanda Coffin, Editor.
A fun and quirky science fiction read!
Baby boomers dreaming of higher things? Oh yes, count me in. The real innovation in science fiction is a lot closer to home than we realize - among us. Sue Hollister Barr's Boomers of the Stars is just a small slice of a much large pie of magnificence we need right now. Don't miss it.
An unusual futuristic setting in an old people's home. To begin with I was as confused as the Altzheimer residents who are the central characters of the story. This was mainly because of the Japanese slang. But the story kept me on track. It held my attention because the action was from the point of view of 2 residents and the rather dodgy manager of the home. I liked that it focused on attitudes to an aging populus and the illnesses which often go alongside this. It's easy to read once you get over the Japanese slang. The characters are engaging and believable as is the futuristic world it's set in.
Sharp, layered and a rollicking ride from the first chapter, SHIPS by Sue Hollister Barr put me squarely in this unlikely heroine's shoes and left me wanting more.
Independence
In the aftermath of a battle a ship drifts helplessly in space. Is the strange new warship they were...
Read More
Independence Alasdair Shaw
In the aftermath of a battle a ship drifts helplessly in space. Is the strange new warship they were fighting still out there? Will it come back for them? Commander Johnson faces a desperate race to get her destroyer back into action and save her crew.
"If you liked Alien, you'll love Independence."
"This is an incredible work ... suspense, mystery and intrigue."
"Loved every word of it."
"There's more action and intrigue packed into this story than there is in many full length novels."
"Shaw's world is engaging and clearly has depth, even from this brief encounter."
This bonus edition, exclusive to instaFreebie, contains the P-file of one of the main characters and a few other little goodies.
"If you liked Alien, you'll love Independence."
"This is an incredible work ... suspense, mystery and intrigue."
"Loved every word of it."
"There's more action and intrigue packed into this story than there is in many full length novels."
"Shaw's world is engaging and clearly has depth, even from this brief encounter."
This bonus edition, exclusive to instaFreebie, contains the P-file of one of the main characters and a few other little goodies.
Love stories about emerging AI!
For Alasdair Shaw's Independence, fasten your seatbelts...assuming they're still there and you can still scarf up enough of the remaining oxygen to power your muscles.
This is one great space series. I read all four of the books in a matter of one weekend. Hope more is to come...
I love a good space battle and this author did not disappoint. And so many twists and turns you almost need a road map to finish this engrossing read.
Cover is fabulous! Can’t wait to read this one!
Obscura Book 1: The boy, the Girl and the Woo...
Our story begins in complete darkness with a death and a vanishing. A man mysteriously drowns in the...
Read More
Obscura Book 1: The boy, the Girl and the Wooden Box Shane Emmett
Our story begins in complete darkness with a death and a vanishing. A man mysteriously drowns in the River Seine and two children enter a dingy sideshow but never come out. In the shadowed world of the Obscura, everything that was once light is now dark and nothing is as it seems. The Gaslampers enforce brutal laws and terrorise the city with their wolves. The Calibrators attempt to resist the evil while they await the return of their hero, the Aigle. And the children desperately search for a way home. But Phillipe and Angelique didn’t arrive here by accident. The Maire of the Obscura sought them out for a dark purpose. With no way of getting out, the only man who may be able to save them is their father. A simple man whose gentle ways could not possibly triumph in this dark, violent world
Monsters Inside: A Twisted Sci-Fi Tale
“The most bizarre scenario I think I've ever read in a book… The ending was perfect; kudos to the au...
Read More
Monsters Inside: A Twisted Sci-Fi Tale Ric Rae
“The most bizarre scenario I think I've ever read in a book… The ending was perfect; kudos to the author on that.”
REEDSY REVIEW BY VELVET SPICER
Have you ever looked at an orange and it looked back at you?
Pepper Anderson spends her time partying with friends trying to forget about all the A-holes she has to deal with. One weekend Pepper is attacked and something inside her switches.
After she decides to kill her attacker she’s plunged into a world of bizarre technology, and weird and wonderful characters. As Pepper fights for her survival to its climactic end, she uncovers a dark secret Bright City doesn’t want revealed.
Do we all have monsters inside us?
Pepper is about to find out, and so are you.
REEDSY REVIEW BY VELVET SPICER
Have you ever looked at an orange and it looked back at you?
Pepper Anderson spends her time partying with friends trying to forget about all the A-holes she has to deal with. One weekend Pepper is attacked and something inside her switches.
After she decides to kill her attacker she’s plunged into a world of bizarre technology, and weird and wonderful characters. As Pepper fights for her survival to its climactic end, she uncovers a dark secret Bright City doesn’t want revealed.
Do we all have monsters inside us?
Pepper is about to find out, and so are you.
Snow Blood: Season 1
Snow Blood Season 1 by Carol McKibben is the first in a series of short novels (240 pages) retelling...
Read More
Snow Blood: Season 1 Carol McKibben
Snow Blood Season 1 by Carol McKibben is the first in a series of short novels (240 pages) retelling the modern day adventures of the first vampire.
When Brogio must turn Snow, a beautiful white husky, in order to save the dog, a series of events are unleashed that reveal a sinister plot against the father of all vampires. As life and true death experiences bond the master vampire and his newly transformed vampire canine together, they unravel a conspiracy that when resolved may return Selene, the love of Brogio’s life, back to him and set him free from the lonely existence that has plagued him for thousands of years! From the author of Luke’s Tale, follow Snow Blood, an epic story of the first vampire as told through the eyes of his kindred dog.
When Brogio must turn Snow, a beautiful white husky, in order to save the dog, a series of events are unleashed that reveal a sinister plot against the father of all vampires. As life and true death experiences bond the master vampire and his newly transformed vampire canine together, they unravel a conspiracy that when resolved may return Selene, the love of Brogio’s life, back to him and set him free from the lonely existence that has plagued him for thousands of years! From the author of Luke’s Tale, follow Snow Blood, an epic story of the first vampire as told through the eyes of his kindred dog.
Dark Paradise
Boise Montague’s life in Los Angeles has fallen apart. After his wife dies, he returns to the tiny i...
Read More
Dark Paradise Gene Desrochers
Boise Montague’s life in Los Angeles has fallen apart. After his wife dies, he returns to the tiny island where he grew up. Unfortunately, coming home doesn’t bring him the peace he’s looking for.
Things have changed drastically since his last visit. The island has moved on and so have the people he once knew. When Boise tries to find the one friend he thinks he can count on to be there for him, he’s confronted with another death. A murder. A murder that the police did not think important enough to investigate thoroughly.
Boise wants answers. He enlists a local reporter who has theories of her own to help him dig deeper.
With not much left to lose, a bone to pick with the justice system, and a relentless partner, Boise sets out to do what the police would not: solve the mu
Things have changed drastically since his last visit. The island has moved on and so have the people he once knew. When Boise tries to find the one friend he thinks he can count on to be there for him, he’s confronted with another death. A murder. A murder that the police did not think important enough to investigate thoroughly.
Boise wants answers. He enlists a local reporter who has theories of her own to help him dig deeper.
With not much left to lose, a bone to pick with the justice system, and a relentless partner, Boise sets out to do what the police would not: solve the mu
Beneath Stained Glass Wings
Dragons are gods to Ava—until she murders one. Thrust into a dragons-human civil war, she must choos...
Read More
Beneath Stained Glass Wings K. Kazul Wolf
Dragons are gods to Ava—until she murders one. Thrust into a dragons-human civil war, she must choose between being hunted or saving herself, even if it kills her dragon best friend.
K. Kazul Wolf's "Beneath Stained Glass Wings" is no lightweight fantasy; it features a tough, wonderfully complex world, dangerously navigated by two compelling friends.
Silicon Love
As the biological clock ticks for Bella Norm, Eddie Norm has an obsession – for a child with the gif...
Read More
Silicon Love Trevor Morris
As the biological clock ticks for Bella Norm, Eddie Norm has an obsession – for a child with the gifts that eluded him. GeneTech seems to have the perfect solution: avoid the lottery of sex for the certainty of science.
But behind the sheen of corporate excellence lies a horrific truth. And, when ROBIN, the rebellious robot, saves their baby from a fate worse than death, Eddie and Bella’s dream turns into a nightmare.
If you like fast-paced, thought-provoking futurism, with a touch of dark humour, then you’ll love this short story.
But behind the sheen of corporate excellence lies a horrific truth. And, when ROBIN, the rebellious robot, saves their baby from a fate worse than death, Eddie and Bella’s dream turns into a nightmare.
If you like fast-paced, thought-provoking futurism, with a touch of dark humour, then you’ll love this short story.
Hunger Is the Best Sauce
After 15-year-old Michelle’s older brother Damien throws her into a bookcase, she realizes it’s time...
Read More
Hunger Is the Best Sauce Z. A. Coe
After 15-year-old Michelle’s older brother Damien throws her into a bookcase, she realizes it’s time to leave. With both parents dead and all of Damien’s money filling the fridge with alcohol instead of food, there’s no reason to come back. She sets out to live permanently in a field away from Damien and his drunken friends in hopes that stolen candy bars are sustenance enough.
When she arrives, however, she finds she’s not the only one who needs the land. Sixteen-year-old J is both tender and strong, but when he sees her plight and starts protecting her, flashes of his own harrowing past begin to surface. Just how deep do his scars run? Are some things impossible to heal from?
When she arrives, however, she finds she’s not the only one who needs the land. Sixteen-year-old J is both tender and strong, but when he sees her plight and starts protecting her, flashes of his own harrowing past begin to surface. Just how deep do his scars run? Are some things impossible to heal from?
Weakness is the first of the Nine Lies Books. The first chapter opens with a recurring nightmare until the reader is launched into Felix Black's reality: A grim life living in a shack beneath a railway bridge. Coe uses sparse, declarative sentences, a style to match Felix's austere life. Felix is disciplined. He exercises to the point of exhaustion almost as a punishment for self-loathing. Repeated throughout is the mantra, 'If you're too weak to live, then you deserve to die'. The twenty-eight-year-old lives a miserable existence, scrounging for food and stealing whatever he can. He is burned with a metal collar, the reason made clearer as the story unfolds. Underpinning this Spartan lifestyle is a yearning for normal relationships. He finds a romance novel and reads it even though he doesn't think much of the plot or characters. Coe includes a tongue-in-cheek bio of Dawn Starlite the books author. As funny as it is, I found it a little distracting in this otherwise taught narrative. Avery's hold and manipulation of Felix, along with others of the Wold Fang Club is revealed in this enthralling, and at time gruesome, book.
Great cover, great blurb
You think your family life is bad? Z.A. Coe's "Hunger is the Best Sauce" follows a teenage girl's horrors and triumphs, with ruthlessly accurate attention to their nuances, in a a compelling story of small-town life.
Derelict
Eva Dawson is lost.
Working as a photographer, she stumbles upon the world of urban exploration,...
Read More
Working as a photographer, she stumbles upon the world of urban exploration,...
Derelict JE Rowney
Eva Dawson is lost.
Working as a photographer, she stumbles upon the world of urban exploration, and starts to find beauty in broken things.
Meanwhile, her marriage is just as broken as the buildings she sets out to explore. Can she find a way to create a future, or is happiness a relic of the past?
This book is an exploration in its own right, a fascinating journey through one woman’s attempts to change her life for the better.
Working as a photographer, she stumbles upon the world of urban exploration, and starts to find beauty in broken things.
Meanwhile, her marriage is just as broken as the buildings she sets out to explore. Can she find a way to create a future, or is happiness a relic of the past?
This book is an exploration in its own right, a fascinating journey through one woman’s attempts to change her life for the better.
JE Rowney's "Derelict" is refreshlingly original, intelligent, and un-cliched. The discerning reader, bored with the usual limited choices, would do well to read this one.
Leashed Zoe Dawson
GENRE: Steamy Rom Com
Jack has some 'splainin' to do!
That's right! Callie Lassiter's normally well-behaved Great Dane Jack has run off and done the wild thing with the neighbor's dog. It's doubly embarrassing since she's a professional dog trainer. Of course, the neighbor would have to be hot, hot nightclub owner bad boy Owen McKay, just the kind of man Callie is determined to avoid.
Owen’s comfortable with his playboy status and the hype in the media. But the ground moves beneath his feet when he gets an eyeful of the girl next door. The Dog Whisperer never looked this good! How can he convince this wholesome honey that his player days are behind him? Maybe Jill, his Great Dane can help him with this dilemma now that she’s pregnant and Callie’s dog is to blame.
Is this bad boy a bad
Jack has some 'splainin' to do!
That's right! Callie Lassiter's normally well-behaved Great Dane Jack has run off and done the wild thing with the neighbor's dog. It's doubly embarrassing since she's a professional dog trainer. Of course, the neighbor would have to be hot, hot nightclub owner bad boy Owen McKay, just the kind of man Callie is determined to avoid.
Owen’s comfortable with his playboy status and the hype in the media. But the ground moves beneath his feet when he gets an eyeful of the girl next door. The Dog Whisperer never looked this good! How can he convince this wholesome honey that his player days are behind him? Maybe Jill, his Great Dane can help him with this dilemma now that she’s pregnant and Callie’s dog is to blame.
Is this bad boy a bad