Friday Freebies: July 4, 2014

Happy 4th of July, fellow bookworms! :)
Click on each title to go to the Amazon Kindle edition listing. Be sure to double-check the price before you download!



The Case of the Chocolate Snatcher (Free Sample Story)
by Bruce Lansky

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 112 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Meadowbrook
Publication date: March 11, 2014
Suggested tags: middle grade, mystery, short stories



Second in the Can You Solve the Mystery? series. (A sample of the first book in the series, The Secret of the Long-Lost Cousin, is currently available for free on Amazon also.) From Amazon:

"Twelve-year-old amateur sleuths, and best friends, Hawkeye Collins and Amy Adams love to solve cases. They invite readers to follow the clues and sketches to solve crimes in their hometown of Lakewood Hills. All of the books in the “Can You Solve the Mystery” series contain 9-10 short mysteries. Readers are given written clues as well as visual clues to help them solve the crime. The answers and a brief wrap-up are given in the back of the book."

Clicks
by Amy Evans

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 208 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Publication date: December 22, 2013
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal



First in The Dolphin Prophecy series. From Amazon:

"Clicks - When you just know.

Clicks are the sounds the universe makes to tell you what will happen next. Truths you hear in your heart that you can't explain.

For sixteen year old Cami, the clicks won’t stop. They’re telling her to fall in love with the wrong twin, that her family is hiding something, and that Pinhold, her pristine Island home, is in danger. It's hard to trust them when they go against everything she knows.

But then an ocean mystery makes people sick, sinking the best swimmers to the seafloor and, while they're not dead, they're barely alive.

Modern medicine and island legends have no answers for Cami. Can she trust her instincts to find a cure, or will she lose the most important people in her life forever?"

Kissed
by Kimberly Loth

Available as: Kindle edition
Pages: 251
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Publication date: April 21, 2014
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, romance



First in The Thorn Chronicles. From Amazon:

"Trapped in a dark cult, sixteen-year-old Naomi Aren has lived a quiet, albeit unhappy, life nestled deep in the hills of the Ozarks. With uncut hair, denim skirts, and only roses for friends, Naomi seldom questions why her life is different from other kids at school. Until the day her abusive father, who is also the cult’s leader, announces her wedding. Naomi must marry Dwayne Yerdin, a bully who reeks of sweat and manure and is the only one person who scares her worse than her father.

Then she meets Kai, the mysterious boy who brings her exotic new roses and stolen midnight kisses. Kisses that bring her a supernatural strength she never knew she had. As the big day approaches, Naomi unearths more secrets of about her father’s cult. She learns she has power of her own and while Kai may have awakened that power, Naomi must find a way to use it to escape Dwayne and her father—without destroying herself."

The Mind's Eye
by K.C. Finn

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 247 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Clean Teen Publishing
Publication date: March 30, 2014
Suggested tags: young adult, historical fiction, paranormal



First in the SYNSK series. From Amazon:

"A girl with a telepathic gift finds a boy clinging to his last hope during the war-torn climate of Europe, 1940.

At fifteen, Kit Cavendish is one the oldest evacuees to escape London at the start of the Second World War due to a long term illness that sees her stuck in a wheelchair most of the time. But Kit has an extraordinary psychic power: she can put herself into the minds of others, see through their eyes, feel their emotions, even talk to them – though she dares not speak out for fear of her secret ability being exposed.

As Kit settles into her new life in the North Wales village of Bryn Eira Bach, solitude and curiosity encourage her to gain better control of her gift. Until one day her search for information on the developing war leads her to the mind of Henri, a seventeen-year-old Norwegian boy witnessing the German occupation of his beloved city, Oslo. As Henri discovers more about the English girl occupying his mind, the psychic and emotional bonds between them strengthen and Kit guides him through an oppressive and dangerous time.

There are secrets to be uncovered, both at home and abroad, and it’s up to Kit and Henri to come together and fight their own battles in the depths of the world’s greatest war."

Friday Freebies: June 20, 2014

Click on each title to go to the Amazon Kindle edition listing. Be sure to double-check the price before you download!



The Island
Jen Minkman

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 138 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Dutch Venture Publishing
Publication date: January 10, 2014
Suggested tags: young adult, dystopia



First in The Island Series. From Amazon:

" ‘I walk toward the sea. The endless surface of the water extends to the horizon, whichever way I look.

Our world is small. We are on our own, and we only have ourselves to depend on. We rely on the Force deep within us, as taught to us by our forefathers.

If I were to walk westward from here, I would come across a barrier – the Wall. Behind it, there are Fools. At least, that’s what everyone says.

I have never seen one.’

Leia lives on the Island, a world in which children leave their parents to take care of themselves when they are ten years old. Across this Island runs a wall that no one has ever crossed. The Fools living behind it are not amenable to reason – they believe in illusions. That’s what The Book says, the only thing left to the Eastern Islanders by their ancestors.
But when a strange man washes ashore and Leia meets a Fool face to face, her life will never be the same. Is what she and her friends believe about the Island really true?

Or is everyone in their world, in fact, a Fool?"

Leopard Moon
by Jeanette Battista

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 204 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Publication date: March 4, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, shapeshifters



First in the Moon series. From Amazon:

"How do you disappear when you come from a family of predators?

A wereleopard, Kess is forced to flee her home and family in Miami once her brother's obsession with her turns violent. She runs from city to city, trying to stay one step ahead of the investigators her family has dispatched to bring her home. Kess ends up in the mountains of North Carolina and attracts the attention of Cormac, a young man with a secret of his own. As she attempts to live as normal a life as her were-nature allows, her brother Sek continues to hunt for her. He believes she is the key to revitalizing their weakened clan and is driven to extreme measures to ensure their continued existence. As Kess' relationship with Cormac deepens, Sek closes in, threatening Cormac's life and Kess' freedom.

When the moon rises, the hunt is on..."

The Park Service
by Ryan Winfield

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook, audiobook
Pages: 337 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Birch Paper Press
Publication date: November 22, 2013
Suggested tags: young adult, dystopia



First in the Park Service Trilogy. From Amazon:

"What if the plan to save Earth includes the extinction of humankind?

Sometimes the best intentions ultimately lead to evil ends. That's what fifteen-year-old Aubrey VanHouten learns when he stumbles onto a post-apocalyptic paradise where the few remaining humans live on the run from deadly drones controlled by a mysterious Park Service. Beautifully written with challenging moral dilemmas and heart-melting friendships, The Park Service trilogy is an epic coming-of-age-story that will inspire and delight readers young and old."

The Wrong Girl
by C.J. Archer

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 219 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Publication date: May 27, 2013
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, romance



First in the Freak House series. From Amazon:

"It's customary for Gothic romance novels to include a mysterious girl locked in the attic. Hannah Smith just wishes she wasn't that girl. As a narcoleptic and the companion to an earl's daughter with a strange affliction of her own, Hannah knows she's lucky to have a roof over her head and food in her belly when so many orphans starve on the streets. Yet freedom is something Hannah longs for. She did not, however, want her freedom to arrive in the form of kidnapping.

Taken by handsome Jack Langley to a place known as Freak House, she finds herself under the same roof as a mad scientist, his niece, a mute servant and Jack, a fire starter with a mysterious past. They assure Hannah she is not a prisoner and that they want to help her. The problem is, they think she's the earl's daughter. What will they do when they discover they took the wrong girl?"

Friday Freebies: April 11, 2014

Click on each title to go to the Amazon Kindle edition listing. Be sure to double-check the price before you download!



Deadly Delicious
by K.L. Kincy

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 270 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: unknown
Publication date: April 3, 2014
Suggested tags: middle grade, historical fiction, paranormal



From Amazon:

"Twelve-year-old Josephine DeLune can't take the heat this sweltering summer of 1955, and she was out of the kitchen long ago.

An awful cook, she ruins recipes left and right, and she certainly can't compete with her family's reputation for extraordinary food. Her daddy's parents ran one of the best restaurants in all of Paris, but Josephine lives in Paris, Missouri. On her mama's side, she's up against a long tradition of sinfully delicious soul food. Rumor has it, her Creole ancestors cooked up some voodoo to make tasty even tastier. Josephine knows the secret ingredient: she comes from a long line of conjure witches with spellbinding culinary skills.

Disenchanted, Josephine works as a carhop at Carl and Earl's Drive-In. Just plain old hamburgers, hot dogs, and curly fries, nothing magical about them. She's got bigger fish to fry, though, when a grease fire erupts into a devilish creature who hisses her name with desire. Turns out he's the Ravenous One, the granddaddy of all voodoo spirits, and he's hungry for her soul. Josephine thinks he's got the wrong girl--she's no witch--but a gorgeous, dangerous night-skinned lady named Shaula sets her straight. Josephine is one of the most powerful witches alive, so overflowing with conjure that her out-of-control cooking simply catches fire.

Josephine would love to laugh this off, but Shaula warns her that she must learn to master her magic before the Ravenous One devours her soul. Spurred into action, Josephine breaks out her grandma's old conjure cookbook and starts cooking. Nothing grand, just the usual recipes for undying friendship and revenge. But soon Josephine can't escape the consequences of her conjure. When the people of Paris start turning into zombies with a strange fondness for cake, Josephine looks pretty responsible for their undead reawakening..."

In the Magician's House
by D M Potter

Available as: Kindle edition
Pages: 89
Publisher: Fairytale Factory Ltd
Publication date: December 22, 2013
Suggested tags: middle grade, fantasy



From Amazon:

"The magician's house is steeped in magic. There are many rooms inside, but you have to find them first. Things change.
Dreams swirl around in the Magician’s house just like dust in the corners of other houses. Little stories get stuck in the crannies. Just for a moment, while you are sweeping a corner, you can find yourself running across a green field, steering an iron horse through twisty roads, or picking ripe strawberries in a bright warm field. Other times you are transported to different places. So you watch where you step.

Sometimes just getting to breakfast is an adventure.

This is an interactive set of stories where the reader drives the action. Suitable for ages nine years and above."

Island of Fog
by Keith Robinson

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 222 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Unearthly Tales
Publication date: April 24, 2009
Suggested tags: middle grade, fantasy



First in the Island of Fog series. From Amazon:

"A lonely, foggy island is home to eight families. Twelve-year-old Hal and his friends have always wondered what happened all those years ago on the mainland, that unseen place Out There beyond the fog, and after an astonishing discovery in the woods the children are more determined than ever to find out what their parents are hiding. But their lives are turned upside down when Abigail reveals her closely guarded secret. According to her, the children are slowly changing into monsters! Are they freaks of nature, or subjects of a sinister experiment?

Each child reacts differently to his or her unique monstrous transformation; after all, one may feel proud to be a dragon, faerie, or centaur, but who in their right mind wants to be a sadistic manticore or cowardly harpy?"

Light as a Feather, Stiff As a Board
by Zoe Aarsen

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 403 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Lovestruck Literary
Publication date: December 10, 2013
Suggested tags: young adult, mystery, paranormal



From Amazon:

"McKenna Brady thinks her junior year of high school is going to be the best ever when she’s welcomed into the elite group of popular girls at Weeping Willow High School led by blond, gorgeous Olivia Richmond. Prior to junior year, McKenna was known in her small town as the girl whose twin sister died in a tragic house fire, and she’s overjoyed at the prospect of redefining her identity. She has a date to the Homecoming dance with Olivia’s handsome older brother, and a good chance of being elected to student council. For the first time since McKenna’s parents divorced, things are looking up.

But everything changes the night of Olivia’s Sweet Sixteen sleepover birthday party. Violet, the shy, mysterious new girl in town, suggests that the girls play a scary game called Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board, during which Violet makes up elaborate stories about the future ways in which beautiful Olivia, brassy Candace, and athletic Mischa will die. The game unsettles McKenna because she’s already escaped death once in her life, but she doesn’t want to ruin her friends’ fun. It’s only a game, she reminds herself.

But it doesn’t seem like a harmless game a week later when Olivia dies unexpectedly in a violent car crash, exactly as Violet predicted. And something begins haunting McKenna’s bedroom at night, leaving her clues that all seem to point to Violet. McKenna enlists the help of her cute next-door neighbor Trey in finding out exactly what kind of curse Violet has put on all of the popular girls in the junior class. As Violet rises to popularity and seemingly steps into the life Olivia left unfinished, McKenna and Trey know they only have a limited amount of time to bring an end to Violet’s game before more lives are lost. "

Friday Freebies: April 4, 2014

It's a paranormal freebie fest! Click on each title to go to the Amazon Kindle edition listing. Be sure to double-check the price before you download!




Anathema
by K.A. Tucker

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 284 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Papoti Books
Publication date: May 27, 2011
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, vampires



First in the Causal Enchantment series. From Amazon:

"Evangeline has spent her teenage years in obscurity. Her foster parents have the emotional aptitude of robots and her classmates barely acknowledge her existence. About to turn eighteen and feeling like a social pariah, she is desperate to connect with someone. Anyone.

When Evangeline meets Sophie after literally stumbling upon her café, she believes she’s found that connection. Willing to do anything to keep it, she accepts a job as Sofie’s assistant and drops everything to fly to Manhattan, where she is thrust into a luxurious world of Prada, diamonds, and limitless cash.

With such generosity and kindness, it’s easy for Evangeline to dismiss certain oddities . . . like Sofie’s erratic and sometimes violent behavior, and the monstrous guard dogs. She’s even willing to dismiss her vivid dreams of mob-style murders, beautiful homeless people living in caves, and white-eyed demons that haunt her each night as figments of her imagination—especially when one of those figments is the gorgeous Caden. When she wakes up with bite marks on her neck, the fairy tale quickly turns into a nightmare. She slowly unravels the mystery surrounding Sofie and friends, and the reality of the bites and the “dreams.” What she discovers is far more mysterious and terrible than anything she could have imagined.

In a world where everyone has motive to lie for personal gain, Evangeline must decide which deception is least likely to get her killed."

Psyched
by Juli Caldwell

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 225 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Firefly Publishing
Publication date: May 30, 2013
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, ghosts



From Amazon:

"Aisi Turay has it all under control.

At least, she thinks she does. Forget that the most popular girl in school hates her guts and will stop at nothing to embarrass her. Forget that her little brother is tormented by the ghosts and demons she sees all the time. Forget that her mom is a con artist who pretends to be psychic to make some cash. Forget that her dad is hiding a secret than can destroy everything she knows about herself. Nope, she's got this one...until that one awful day when she nearly loses it all.

With ghost-hunting hottie Vance, a guy who stumbled into her life at the worst possible moment, Aisi must search for the messages hidden in visions and memories to protect her family. Maybe, just maybe, they can reclaim what she thought was lost forever."

WANTED: Dead or Undead
by Angela Scott

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 210 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Evolved Publishing LLC
Publication date: March 18, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, zombies



First in The Zombie West series. From Amazon:

"Trace Monroe doesn't believe in luck. He never has. But when a fiery-headed cowgirl saunters through the saloon doors, wielding shotguns and a know-how for killing the living dead, he believes he just may be the luckiest man alive.

Trace wants to join Red's posse, but she prefers to work alone--less messy that way. In order to become her traveling companion, Trace has to agree to her terms: no names, no questions, and if he gets bit, he can't beg for mercy when she severs his brain stem.

He agrees, knowing only that Red is the sharpest shooter he's ever encountered. The fact she's stunning hasn't escaped his attention either.

What he doesn't know, is that Red has a very good reason to be on top of her game. She not only has the answer for how they can all outlive the plague taking over the wild, wild west, she IS the answer."

Waterborn
by Kimberly James

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 374 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Createspace
Publication date: August 29, 2013
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, mermaids



From Amazon:

"Charms fade... "You don't have to choose. You can be both. The girl with the charm, the girl without. They both suit you."

Caris Harper lives a charmed life. Literally.

When her dad offers to take her to the Emerald coast of Florida for summer vacation, Caris jumps at the chance. The chance to get answers to questions she's always been too afraid to ask. The chance to be normal. Isn't that what her dreams have been telling her, that here in the place of her birth she can be normal? But from the first moment the wind caresses her face and the sun touches her skin, the charm begins to fade, revealing a girl Caris never knew existed, one that is anything but normal. The long-buried Song that awakens is only the beginning of a transformation that will challenge her ideas about loyalty and family.

Noah Jacobs is a waterbreather--a species of human fully adaptable to life in the water. Like his older brother Jamie, Noah wants to prove they can use their abilities and be heroes in service to their country. When a simple mission goes wrong and Jamie goes missing, Noah exiles himself to the Deep in a desperate search. MIA is a classification Noah is not ready to accept. But instinct can't be ignored. Not when he hears her Song. Caris is not what he expects and Noah is determined to get her out of his head. Instead he finds himself acting as her mentor and the more time they spend together, the more Noah realizes he just wants Caris.

When a startling truth threatens their newly formed trust, Noah straddles the line between love and obsession while Caris struggles to find a balance between the girl she thought she was and the young woman she wants to be."

Friday Freebies: January 31, 2014

Click on each title to go to the Amazon Kindle edition listing. Be sure to double-check the price before you download!




Betrothal
by Mande Matthews

Available as: Kindle edition
Pages: 73
Publisher: Guardian Tree Press
Publication date: December 24, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, fantasy, romance



First in the Queen's Honor series. From Amazon:

"Seventeen year old Lady Guinevere holds the crown to an ancient kingdom. Without brothers to ascend the throne, marriage to her will assure any man the right to rule.

Arthur Pendragon has won his power through battle. His legions have elected him their king and protector but he seeks to legitimize his claim to High King through marrying Guinevere.

Lancelot, a valiant knight with a broken past, is driven by his desire to protect those in need. He's joined Arthur's forces because he believes in Arthur's dream of peace for a war-torn country.

But Lancelot possesses something that Arthur can never win...Guinevere's heart.

QUEEN'S HONOR is told from the point of view of a young Guinevere as she is caught between the responsibility of her crown and the desires of her heart. This fantasy romance is imbued with Celtic lore and magic, as Guinevere discovers she holds an ancient power--a power of the old ones, the Druids. But without a reliable guide to develop her power, she finds herself caught in a dangerous web of ambition and manipulation. Queen's Honor puts a fresh spin on an age-old tale of love and honor."

In Your Dreams
by Amy Martin

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 252 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: unknown
Publication date: August 5, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, romance



First in the In Your Dreams series. From Amazon:

"Sixteen-year-old Zara "Zip" McKee lives for three things: basketball, books, and bailing out of tiny Titusville, Illinois, where the junior high and high school are in the same building and everyone's known everyone else since birth. But when Kieran Lanier moves to town and passes out on her desk on his first day at school, Zip's life gets complicated in a way she never dreamed.

Kieran has narcolepsy, and although he sometimes struggles to stay awake, he has no trouble capturing Zip's heart and trusting her with his most guarded secret--he sees bits and pieces of the future in his dreams.

But just when Zip thinks that maybe she can handle having a boyfriend who sees things before they happen, her budding relationship with Kieran gets a jolt when Kieran's parents reveal that his sleeping disorder is not what it seems and may be putting them in harm's way. And when Zip begins to have unsettling dreams, she must decide if she can live with knowing the future in advance when she's afraid of what might happen.

*Recommended for Young Adult readers 13 and up (mild cursing, some adult situations)"

Introductions
by C.L. Stone

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 276 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Arcato Publishing
Publication date: December 23, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, mystery, romance



First in The Academy series. From Amazon:

"With an agoraphobic mother and a barely-there father, Sang abhors the isolation keeping her in the shadows. The only thing Sang craves is a fresh start and to be accepted as ordinary by her peers, because for her being different meant being cast out alone.

When her family moves to a new school district, Sang infiltrates a group of boys nearly perfect in every way. Grateful for an influence outside of her parents’ negativity, she quickly bonds with the boys, hoping to blend in and learn from them what it means to have a natural relationship with friends.

Only the boys have secrets of their own and they’ll do anything to keep her safe from the knowledge of the mysterious Academy that they've sworn allegiance to. Bit by bit, Sang discovers that her friends are far from the normalcy she expected. Will her loyalty change when she's forced to remain in the dark, or will she accept that she's traded one house of secrets for another?

Meet Kota, Victor, Silas, Nathan, Gabriel, Luke and North in a story about differences and loyalty, truth and mystery, friendships and heart-throbbing intimacy.

The Academy, ever vigilant."

Phantoms In Philadelphia
by Amalie Vantana

Available as: Kindle edition
Pages: 322
Publisher: TVAAW
Publication date: December 1, 2013
Suggested tags: young adult, historical fiction, mystery



First in the Phantom Knights series. From Amazon:

"When you live a life of secrets, you trust no one and question everything

Nineteen-year-old Bess Martin has many secrets. She can outride, outshoot, and outsmart most people, but her greatest secret...she is the leader of the Phantoms, a spy organization.

After spending three years fighting in a war, eighteen-year-old Jack Martin returns home to Philadelphia with his sister Bess, ready to live a life of ease, but what is waiting for them is a task more difficult than any other battle they have fought.

When people start disappearing and the weather turns unusually cold, the city is in a panic. They believe the war angered a deity and that the disappearances are the sacrifices, but who will be next? When presidential hopeful James Monroe is targeted, all clues lead to the mysterious secret society known as Levitas. It is up to Bess, Jack, and their team of Phantoms to uncover a dark and winding plot that reaches further than they could have ever imagined. As their journey draws them deep into secrets of the past, Bess and Jack may come to find that a normal life is not possible when you are a spy. "

Friday Freebies: June 7, 2013

Click on each title to go to the Amazon Kindle edition listing. Be sure to double-check the price before you download!



Everblue
by Brenda Pandos

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 322 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Obsidian Mountain Publishing
Publication date: July 29, 2011
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, mermaids



First in the Mer Tales series. From Amazon:

"She wanted her life to change ... he wanted his to stay the same.

Seventeen-year-old Ashlyn Lanski is tired of her boring, single life. Swimming and spending time with Tatiana, her best friend, are her only sanctuary. The girls plan to leave their drab lakeside town far behind for college, and Ash hopes to finally ditch her longtime crush for Finley, Tatiana's twin brother. But when Tatiana and her family fail to return home after a family emergency, Ashlyn chooses to do something drastic to find them.

Finley Helton and his family are good at blending in as they run their sailing charter business in Lake Tahoe. But together, they guard an ancient secret. When a not so routine meeting forces Finley, Tatiana and their mother to return to Natatoria and Fin's father on a dangerous mission, Fin can't stay caged up for long.

Secrets lurk beneath the deep blue waters of Lake Tahoe, and a simple lifesaving kiss could change their lives forever."

Marking Time
by April White

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 442 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Corazon Entertainment
Publication date: October 30, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, time travel



First in The Immortal Descendants series. From Amazon:

"Seventeen-year-old tagger Saira Elian can handle anything... a mother who mysteriously disappears, a stranger who stalks her around London, and even the noble English Grandmother who kicked Saira and her mother out of the family. But when an old graffiti tag in a tube station transports Saira to the 19th Century and she comes face-to-face with Jack the Ripper, she realizes she needs help after all.

Saira meets Archer, a charming student who helps her blend in as much as a tall, modern American teen can in Victorian England. He reveals the existence of the Immortals: Time, Nature, Fate, War and Death, and explains to Saira that it is possible to move between centuries – if you are a Descendant of Time.

Saira finds unexpected friendships at a boarding school for Immortal Descendants and a complicated love with a young man from the past. But time is running out for her mother, and Saira must embrace her new identity as she hides from Archer a devastating secret about his future that may cost him his life."

Open Minds
by Susan Kaye Quinn

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 340 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: CreateSpace
Publication date: October 23, 2011
Suggested tags: young adult, dystopia, paranormal



First in the Mindjack Trilogy. From Amazon:

"When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.

Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someone who can't read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can't be trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the best friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf's mind and nearly kills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family and an increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she's dragged deep into a hidden underworld of mindjackers, where having to mind control everyone she loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her."

Prime
by Jessica Barksdale Inclan

Available as: Kindle edition
Pages: 319
Publisher: unknown
Publication date: May 17, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, dystopia



From Amazon:

"PRIME is set in a flooded world where global warming and other natural disasters have forever shifted the balance in society. It is up to a reluctant heroine to help right it. Lia Meloy is learning to swim, even though it’s outlawed for her kind. Lia is a Homesteader (nicknamed a “Norm”), meaning her ancestors stayed on dry land when the floods hit, but eventually had to seek help and shelter from the Aqua Primes, who had developed better biology and technology for an oceanic world.

When Lia’s family moves to Prime land, she knows she should feel lucky, but life amongst the privileged set isn't easy, especially at Berkmont High, where the students are constantly reminded that one wrong move could get them deported. Lia seems to be making wrong moves all the time. Training with her father to swim, for instance. Or falling for Trey Schaeffer, the son of the Property owner, whose sister Molly despises everything Norm.

But things are not always as they seem on the outside. When Lia’s father passes away, Lia discovers he was part of something bigger, something mysterious, and that there is much more at stake than she previously thought. Closely guarding her father’s greatest secret, Lia will have to reevaluate her worldview and make tough choices to keep her family, friends, and all of her people safe."

Friday Freebies: May 31, 2013

Click on each title to go to the Amazon Kindle edition listing. Be sure to double-check the price before you download!



BeSwitched
by Molly Snow

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 145 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Breezy Reads
Publication date: September 13, 2011
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, romance



First in the BeSwitched series. From Amazon:

"Surla and Cathy have a HUGE secret!

After spending hundreds of years as a familiar to an abusive witch, Surla runs away to find freedom. But there's one catch! The Black Cats' Curse states she will have to switch bodies with the first lonesome soul to cross her path.

Painfully shy Cathy Phillips can't muster the courage to ask hot water polo player, Craig Nelson, on a date. Neither can she stand up to the three biggest snobs at Washington High. What's a girl to do? Could switching lives with a sassy cat be the answer to her wishes?

The curse of being "BeSwitched" may just be the most purr-fect secret these new best friends could ever have!"

The Curse of Yama
by K.F. Ridley

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 167 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Little Roni Publishers
Publication date: November 23, 2011
Suggested tags: middle grade, adventure



First in the C. Walker Adventures series. From Amazon:

"Dumb old curse... When Dad unwittingly unleashes upon himself a deadly and ancient curse, it’s up to 12-year-old Chloe Walker to come to the rescue. Once the entire family is deep within the Indian rainforest, Chloe and her local friend, Sotol, head out to find a cure for the illness that threatens her father’s life. To find the Golden Seed, Chloe and Sotol risk life and limb, facing ruthless poachers, desolate elephant burial grounds, and the fantastical wilds of nature. With a magical amulet, arguing gibbons, a mama tiger on the run, and an impossible rope bridge that only a nut would try to cross—Chloe is on the adventure of a lifetime. Decode the map, find the seed, and defeat Yama. No problem... Yeah Right!"

Diary of a Nerd King
by Matt Ballard

Available as: Kindle edition
Pages: 96
Publisher: unknown
Publication date: November 22, 2011
Suggested tags: middle grade, realistic fiction



From Amazon:

"My name is Max Ridgemont. My sister says I'm the Nerd King. I resent that. She says I resemble that. She thinks she's so smart. Wait til I'm famous from inventing a burping machine.

This is my diary, except it's not a diary. It's a journal, or a blog, or a log... just not a diary 'cause diaries are for girls and wimpy kids. There's also a lot of wicked awesome pictures I drew in here too. Don't feel bad if you can't draw as well as I can. Most people can't.

Oh yeah, my best friend Boogie and I are going to make millions with our new YouTube channel, and our plan is in here too. DON'T try and copy us. You'll just get upset when you don't make a million dollars and find out you're not as awesome as us."

Dog Daze
by Lauraine Snelling, Kathleen Damp Wright

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 162 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Barbour Books
Publication date: March 1, 2012
Suggested tags: middle grade, realistic fiction



First in the S.A.V.E Squad series. From Amazon:

"Join the S.A.V.E. Squad—Sunny, Aneta, Vee, and Esther—as the four sixth-grade girls, with nothing in common but their differences, come together through the rescue of a Basset Hound they dub Wink and form a plan to benefit stray dogs and place them in “forever homes.” "

Friday Freebies: May 17, 2013

Click on each title to go to the Amazon Kindle edition listing. Be sure to double-check the price before you download!



Brightest Kind of Darkness
by P.T. Michelle

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 357 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: CreateSpace
Publication date: June 27, 2011
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, romance



First in the Brightest Kind of Darkness series. From Amazon:

"Nara Collins is an average sixteen-year-old, with one exception: every night she dreams the events of the following day. Due to an incident in her past, Nara avoids using her special gift to change fate...until she dreams a future she can't ignore.

After Nara prevents a bombing at Blue Ridge High, her ability to see the future starts to fade, while people at school are suddenly being injured at an unusually high rate.

Grappling with her diminishing powers and the need to prevent another disaster, Nara meets Ethan Harris, a mysterious loner who seems to understand her better than anyone. Ethan and Nara forge an irresistible connection, but as their relationship heats up, so do her questions about his dark past."

Dollhouse
by Anya Allyn

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 294 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: CreateSpace
Publication date: September 30, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, horror, gothic



First in the Dollhouse series. From Amazon:

"Six months ago, fifteen-year-old Cassie Claiborne reluctantly moved from her home in Florida with her social worker mom. In her new home--a remote, mountainous Australian town, Cassie meets new friends--Aisha Dumaj, Ethan McAllister and Lacey Dougherty.

For the first time, Cassie falls in love. The only problem is that the boy she falls for is her friend, Ethan--and he and Aisha are already an item. When Cassie goes on a school hike to Devils Hole with her new friends, she tries desperately to keep her feelings for Ethan secret.

Aisha disappears on the hike without a trace--with the police believing she was murdered.

When Cassie, Ethan and Lacey return to the mountains to search for Aisha--Cassie begins to realize she never really knew any of her friends. Everyone has their own secrets. She discovers the stranger lurking inside everyone she thought she knew.

The darkest secret of all waits beneath the old mansion in the mountains--a secret from which there is no escape...."

Invisible
by Cecily Paterson

Available as: Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 272 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: unknown
Publication date: February 11, 2013
Suggested tags: young adult, realistic fiction, contemporary



From Amazon:

"Jazmine Crawford doesn’t make decisions. She doesn’t make choices. She doesn’t make friends. Jazmine Crawford only wants one thing: to be invisible. For Jazmine, it’s a lot easier to take out her hearing aid and drift along pretending that nothing’s wrong than it is to admit that she’s heartbroken about her dad dying. She’s been drifting and ignoring her over-worried mum for four years now.

When bad girl Shalini and her mates adopt Jazmine, she quickly finds herself involved in more than she can handle. Sitting in disgrace in the principal’s office, Jazmine is offered a choice: help drama teacher Miss Fraser in the upcoming production of The Secret Garden or face a four week suspension.

It’s Miss Fraser who clinches the decision. “I believe in you Jazmine,” she says. “I know you can do this.” And Jazmine, terrified, disbelieving and elated all at the same time, joins the play.

For a while it’s all good. Drama star and chocolate lover Liam is friendly and Jazmine realises that making friends, talking to her mother and feeling her emotions isn’t as scary as she thought. In a final happy twist of fate, acting diva Angela quits the play and with only a week to go, Miss Fraser asks Jazmine to take on the main role of Mary.

But then Shalini returns from her suspension. She’s out for payback, and she has just the ammunition she needs to force Jazmine to quit the play and go back to her old ways.

Will Jazmine be confident enough to stand up for herself against Shalini? Will Liam still like her if he finds out who she really is? And does she have the strength to face the truth about her father’s suicide?"

Priscilla the Great
by Sybil Nelson

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 314 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Little Prince Publishing
Publication date: April 15, 2011
Suggested tags: middle grade, paranormal



First in the Priscilla the Great series. From Amazon:

"Hi, I’m Priscilla, an ordinary seventh grader with some extraordinary gifts. As if middle school isn’t hard enough, not only do I have to fight pimples and bullies, but genetically enhanced assassins trying to kill my family and me! But with the help of my genius best friend, Tai, we’re gonna bring down the evil Selliwood Institute, an organization dead set on turning children into killing machines. "

Friday Freebies: April 5, 2013

Click on each title to go to the Amazon Kindle edition listing. Be sure to double-check the price before you download!



Always and Forever
by Karla J. Nellenbach

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 265 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Booktrope Editions
Publication date: September 18, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, realistic fiction, contemporary



From Amazon:

"Mia's first reaction is outright disbelief. Obviously, a mistake has been made. Sixteen-year-old girls don't die. But, when the diagnosis is confirmed, she dives headlong into anger. If she has to die, why should it be of cancer? In fact, anything would be preferable to cancer. Better for her to say when, where, and especially how.

Determined to meet death on her own terms, Mia devises scheme after scheme to get the job done. A “fall” down the basement stairs, driving her car off a bridge, and even a dance with a train all end in her survival.

And through it all, Mia keeps her family and friends at arms' length with her destructive and hurtful behavior. With each failed suicide attempt and burned relationship, she slowly realizes that it’s not the dying that she’s afraid of, but the life she’ll be leaving behind. Now, that life is in a shambles. As time begins to slip through her fingers and death is upon her, Mia fights to rebuild the bridges she has destroyed, but can she do it before the clock runs out?"

Read my review of Always and Forever.


The Cloud Seeders
by James Zerndt

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 268 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: CreateSpace
Publication date: July 1, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, dystopia



From Amazon:

"Serve Your Country, Conserve Your Water, Observe Your Neighbor

This is the slogan of the Sustainability Unit and of a country gone eco-hysterical. After nearly twelve months without rain and the hinges of the world barely still oiled, Thomas and his younger brother, Dustin, set out across a drought-ridden landscape in search of answers. What they discover along the way will change their lives, and their country, forever.

The Cloud Seeders weaves humor and heartache, action and romance, as well as poetry and science, into a unique novel that defies categorization.

Intended for adults/teens. Contains some sex and foul language. May not be suitable for younger, middle grade readers."

Feathermore
by Lucy Swing

Available as: paperback, Kindle edition
Pages: 290 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Lucy Swing
Publication date: March 1, 2012
Suggested tags: young adult, paranormal, romance



First in the Feathermore series. From Amazon:

"When the one thing you live for is denied to you, do you let it go or do you fall?

Jade, like any other student at Brushwood High, awaits the start of the school year with a certain measure of dread. Worse, she is being threatened by a voice that only she can hear—a voice that lurks at the edges of her awareness, haunting her and warning her of something unknown. She has always been able to count on her two best friends, Claire and Nate, but can she confide in them now? About this? Would they even believe her?

Life takes a turn for the better when she meets Avan, a darkly handsome new student who, somehow, seems to drown out the voice and make her feel at ease.

But Jade soon comes to realize that good things don’t last forever. When everything spirals out of control, she is shattered by something she never saw coming. Dazed and despairing, she must now overcome tragedy and embrace her true existence and a new but dangerous love. Will she be able to save herself and those she loves, before it’s too late? Or will she let the surrounding darkness consume her?"

Storybound
by Marissa Burt

Available as: hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 416 (Kindle edition)
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication date: April 3, 2012
Suggested tags: middle grade, fantasy



First in the Storybound series. From Amazon:

"When Una Fairchild stumbles upon a mysterious book buried deep in the basement of her school library, she thinks nothing of opening the cover and diving in. But instead of paging through a regular novel, Una suddenly finds herself Written In to the land of Story—a world filled with Heroes and Villains and fairy-tale characters.

But not everything in Story is as magical as it seems. Una must figure out why she has been Written In—and fast—before anyone else discovers her secret. Together with her new friend Peter and a talking cat named Sam, Una digs deep into Story's shadowy past. She quickly realizes that she is tied to the world in ways she never could have imagined—and it might be up to her to save it."