free book: "unclaimed legacy" by deborah heal

Last week, I reviewed the wonderful Young Adult/time travel/historical novel Unclaimed Legacy. Now, you can get your own copy free!

The Kindle version of Unclaimed Legacy is free on Amazon today through Friday (10-29 to 11-2). Get yours today!

Get Unclaimed Legacy free. 
See my 5-star review of Unclaimed Legacy.
See my 4-star review of book one of the series, Time and Again.

kindle book sale!

If you love Karen Kingsbury's books or have always wanted to check them out, today's your lucky day: Amazon is having a one day sale on Karen Kingsbury books! Today, October 27, you can get the Kindle version of any (or all) of the books featuring the Baxters and Flanigans (except for the final book, Coming Home) for $1.99 each!

And remember, you don't need a Kindle to read a Kindle book—you can get free Kindle reading apps for your computer, tablet, or smart phone.

Happy reading!

free book: "city of prophecy" by peter dudek

I am thrilled to report that my friend Peter's book City of Prophecy, is free on Amazon today through Sunday (9-21 to 9-23)!

I read and reviewed this book last year, and I loved it! If you're a fan of fantasy, you'll love this book ... and if you're not, it's free, so why not give it a chance? I wouldn't be at all surprised to find you love it.

Get it here !

free book: "heiress" by susan may warren

I was thrilled this morning to discover Susan May Warren's excellent book Heiress is free for Kindle. These deals are usually just for a day or two, so get your copy right away!

I read and reviewed this book last year, and here's some of what I had to say:

I simply could not put this book down. And when I had to (you know, for things like work), I found myself thinking about it. Susan May Warren has long been one of my favorite authors, and I especially love her historical fiction. I thought it couldn't get any better than Sons of Thunder (which just won a Carol Award), but she really outdid herself with Heiress. You know what I love most about it? The characters are real – human. Their humanity, in all its messy imperfection, jumps off the pages. They lie, have affairs, run away from responsibility, and treat each other horribly – just like real people do. And when the book wraps up, not everyone is living out their "happily ever after" – again, just like in real life! 

I also named it my favorite historical fiction of 2011 in my "Best Books" post. You really don't want to miss this one—get it here!

free book: "glamorous illusions" by lisa t. bergren

Lisa T. Bergren's new release, Glamorous Illusions, is free for Kindle through Friday! I'm currently reading it for the Litfuse tour, and I'm greatly enjoying it. It's the story of a young woman who suddenly learns she's not who she always thought she was, and she gets swept off on a Grand Tour of Europe with relatives who can barely stand her.

Get your copy here! Following the promotional free period, the book will be on sale for two weeks—$2.99 from June 9-15, and $4.99 from June 16-22. So be sure to grab your copy soon!

"the apothecary's daughter" by julie klassen

The Apothecary's Daughter was a free Kindle download in January 2011. At the time, I'd never heard of author Julie Klassen before (I didn't even have a Kindle yet; I was using the Kindle for PC reading app), so it was just one more book that I downloaded and forgot. Flash forward a year: I'm reading another Klassen book, The Maid of Fairbourne Hall, into the wee hours of the morning, when I suddenly think, "I have a Julie Klassen book on my Kindle!" I finished The Maid of Fairbourne Hall, reviewed it, and then promptly forgot about the other Klassen book ... until last week, when I didn't feel like reading any of my review books, but I wanted to read something. I searched my Kindle, and there it was: The Apothecary's Daughter.

About the book: Lilly Haswell helps her father run his apothecary shop, but she dreams of a bigger life, full of adventure. She gets a taste of that life when her estranged aunt and uncle suddenly appear, offering to host her in London for the upcoming season. Just as she's fitting in—and perhaps making a suitable match—tragedy calls her back to her village. Women are not allowed to work as apothecaries, but in order to save her father from financial ruin, Lilly must keep the shop going while her father is incapacitated. She also must decide which of her suitors—the doctor from London, her father's former apprentice, or the lord of the manor—she will allow to claim her heart.

My take: I enjoyed The Apothecary's Daughter. It wasn't a gripping read by any means, but it was a nice way to spend a few hours. It's not as much of a romance as I expected—when I was 3/4 of the way through the book, I had no idea which of her three (or possibly four) suitors Lilly would end up choosing, and I didn't particularly care. I wasn't invested in any of the romantic relationships; rather, I was more interested in Lilly's relationship with her best friend (who was part of a delicious twist in the story), and in Lilly's search for her mother (a plotline that was largely ignored for most of the book, only to be quickly tied up at the end).

This book was one of Klassen's earliest, and while it's good, The Maid of Fairbourne Hall is far superior. If you happened to get The Apothecary's Daughter as a free Kindle download, as I did, then by all means read it. But if you've never read anything by Klassen before, I'd recommend going right for The Maid of Fairbourne Hall! 3-1/2 stars.

About the author: Julie Klassen loves all things Jane—Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. A graduate of the University of Illinois, Julie worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full time. She has won the Christy Award: Historical Romance for The Silent Governess (2010) and The Girl in the Gatehouse (2011), which also won the 2010 Midwest Book Award for Genre Fiction. Julie and her husband have two sons and live in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota. For more information, visit www.julieklassen.com.

free fiction: "unleavened"

Last fall, I had the privilege of being one of the first people to read a draft of Peter Dudek's new novel, Unleavened. Peter has just released it as an eBook via Amazon, and you can get it free through tomorrow, April 22. After that, it will be $3.99—still a pretty good deal for a book!

Here's the synopsis of the book from Peter's website:

A widowed father. 

A homosexual son. 

Brad Miller, small-town newspaper writer, is numb to the sensation of love. Since his wife died, his once thriving relationship with God has degraded to a distant acquaintance. The only solace he finds is writing anonymously at his blog, a place where invisible readers offer him a safe sounding board to express his detached emotions. 

But after he finds out his son is homosexual, he is forced to ask himself, and his readers, how can homosexuality be reconciled within the Christian faith? Mixed advice from two very distinct church cultures makes him a central point for division among his Christian brothers and sisters. Confusion and distrust abound. 

To save his relationship with his son, Brad must surface his long hidden wounds and emotions and make himself vulnerable to both his church family, and to God.

Here's a bit of what Dudek has to say about his subject matter (for more, see his blog):

Homosexuality is one of the primary “sins” preached against in the Christian church. It is a very taboo topic, but it is not one that should be considered through one-dimensional glasses. Any issue of sexuality is deeply complex and emotional. Christians should realize that even people with whom they hold disagreements are still real people with real hurts, wounds, fears, needs and joys.

I think we can agree that those of us who claim to be Christ followers are often adept at "hating the sin" but struggle with "loving the sinner," and Dudek does a great job of addressing this topic through fiction.

Unleavened will push some buttons. You probably won't agree with every point Dudek makes. (I didn't.) You might even squirm a little. (I did.) This is not an easy, fun read like most of the books I talk about on this blog. But one thing this book will do is force you to think—I finished the book four months ago, and I still find myself thinking about it from time to time.

If you'd like to read it, you can get it here. (And remember, you can also get Dudek's fantasy novel City of Prophecy—which I loved—for just $2.99.)

free books from francis chan!

Three books by pastor, author, and speaker Francis Chan are currently free for your Kindle! This is a deal you won't want to miss—so hurry; these deals don't usually last very long!

Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God

Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit

Erasing Hell: What God Said about Eternity, and the Things We've Made Up

free christian fiction for your kindle

Every day, I get two newsletters informing me of free or discounted Kindle books. The first, from eReaderIQ.com, lists the top 25 free Kindle books of the day. (I talked about this newsletter in August, so I won't rehash it here. I have some concerns about the service, which I mentioned in my post.) The second newsletter has proven to be the more helpful of the two. It's from inspiredreads.com, and it lists both free and discounted Christian titles. (You can sign up for the newsletter by following this link.)

Today, I was very excited to find the book Sixty Acres and a Bride on the list of free books. I'm on the Litfuse tour for the book, so I'll be posting about it in a few weeks. In the meantime, though, you can read the book, too! Here's the summary from the publisher:

With nothing to their names, young widow Rosa Garner and her mother-in-law return to their Texas family ranch. Only now the county is demanding back taxes and the women have just three months to pay. 

Though facing eviction, Rosa falls in love with the countryside. She can’t help but stand out, though, and her beauty captures attention. Where some offer help with dangerous strings attached, only one man seems honorable, and Rosa must decide to what lengths she will go to save her future.

It looks like a great book, and I'm excited to read it. I hope you enjoy it, too ... but hurry—sometimes books will be free one day and full price the next. Here's the link to the book on Amazon. And remember: you don't need a Kindle—you can read the book on your computer.

november kindle book deals

Amazon has started offering monthly Kindle book deals (similar to the $5 mp3 deals that I'm such a sucker for!). This month, they have 100 books for $3.99 or less. I just glanced through the list, and there are many Christian books there—including The Art of Romance (which I loved) for $1.99, A Heart Most Worthy (which I liked) for $2.99, and Learning and Shades of Blue by Karen Kingsbury for $2.99 each. Also, several other books by Kingsbury are on sale for $2.99, but they're not on the monthly list, so I don't know how long the prices will last. You can see those books here. (Can you go wrong with Kingsbury? I don't think so! Though if you're caught up in the Bailey Flanigan saga—of which Learning is book two—you're probably ready to bash some heads together by now!)

You can check out the full list of discounted titles here. Happy reading!

a deal for your kindle

You know I love telling you about books. (Eighty-three book reviews and counting!) You know I love Amazon.You may or may not know that Karen Kingsbury is my favorite author. So I'm especially excited to tell you about this deal: Right now, the Cody Gunner series--A Thousand Tomorrows and Just Beyond The Clouds--is currently available for your Kindle (or free Kindle app) for $1.99!

Admittedly, A Thousand Tomorrows isn't my favorite Karen Kingsbury book (it may even be my least favorite), but a "bad" Kingsbury book is still better than most other books I've read! A Thousand Tomorrows is Cody and Ali's story. They meet and fall in love on the pro rodeo circuit, but tragedy awaits. Because it's been several years since I read the book, I can't remember what exactly I didn't like--except I do know I didn't like Ali very much. I also remember bawling like a baby at a pivotal moment, so Kingsbury still gets to my emotions even when I'm not enjoying the plot!

Just Beyond the Clouds, though, is a different story. I really enjoyed this book, although I was hesitant to read it due to my negative reaction to its predecessor. This book picks up after (GIANT SPOILER ALERT!) Ali's death. It centers around Cody's brother, Carl Joseph. Carl Joseph has Down's Syndrome, and in the wake of Ali's death, Cody becomes incredibly overprotective. (Apparently Carl Joseph was also in A Thousand Tomorrows, but as I blocked nearly everything about the book, I didn't remember that when I read Just Beyond the Clouds.) Carl Joseph's teacher, Ellie, believes he should be independent, putting her at odds with Cody. There's also a wonderful subplot involving Carl Joseph's love life. This is a book that I highly recommend!

Here's the deal: $1.99 for a Karen Kingsbury book is amazing. $1.99 for two? Fantastic! If I didn't already own Just Beyond the Clouds (and have this thing about owning physical copies of Kingsbury's books), I would buy these books in an instant! Even if you find that you, like me, don't really enjoy A Thousand Tomorrows, Just Beyond the Clouds will more than make up for it. Enjoy!

kindle freebies!

As you may know, publishers often offer ebooks for free through Amazon and other sites. (Since I have a Kindle, I just use Amazon--check out bn.com if you have a Nook.) I check out the top 100 free Kindle books here a few times a week. I also signed up through ereaderiq.com to be alerted whenever new free ebooks are added (Thanks, Karen!). You have to wade through a lot of junk, but sometimes you'll find a real treasure. (Did you hear me? A.LOT.OF.JUNK. Don't say I didn't warn you!) When I'm going through ereaderiq emails, I usually just scan through the publishers; if I'm on Amazon, I click on the books that look like they come from Christian publishers. (I can almost always spot a Christian book by its cover. Strange, maybe, but when you've read as many books as I have ...) I've noticed that many of the Christian publishers will add new free ebooks around the first of the month ... and today was no exception! Here are a few that especially interested me:

Miss Match by Erynn Mangum is the first ebook I ever read ... and I read it in one sitting! I'd just downloaded Kindle for PC, and Miss Match was one of the freebies available. It has a bit of an Emma vibe to it, and it's witty and fun with lots of pop culture references. As soon as I finished Miss Match, I ordered books two and three in the series. Also, Mangum surprised me with where things ended up, something that's difficult to do when you've read as many Christian romances as I have! If you like chick lit, you should give this one a chance.


As soon as I learned Ransome's Honor by Kaye Dacus was free, I hit "buy." Dacus is an author I've just discovered, and so far, I love what I've read! (According to Dacus, this one's only free through the 15th, so get it now!)



Full disclosure: I've never read anything by Stephanie Grace Whitson. However, I have heard her speak--she put on a writing workshop at the school I work at a few years ago. Plus, she's from Nebraska (you know I'm all about the Husker connection!), so I'm very excited to read Sixteen Brides!

In addition to these three, there are many other quality books for free right now. You just have to know where to look. And remember, you can read ebooks without a Kindle, Nook, or other ereader ... you can download Kindle for PC here (for free, of course).

reading is fun!

It's a good thing I like reading! These are the nine (yes, nine!) books currently awaiting my review. (And another book is on its way from Amazon Vine.) The top three all have to be reviewed in the next two weeks. My goal was to have all my book review books read prior to family vacation at the beginning of June and only take my Kindle with me. Now, it looks like I'll be carting the books along and leaving the Kindle behind!

free book! (it's a good one)

A few months ago, I reviewed Maureen Lang's Whisper on the Wind for Tyndale House Publishers. I gave it a positive review, and I can still remember the plot six months later. (Trust me, with all the reading I do, I very quickly forget some of the books I've reviewed--even books that I enjoyed at the time!) I found out today that Tyndale is offering a free Kindle download of this book during the month of March. Remember, you don't have to have a Kindle or other portable reader to read ebooks; you can download them to your computer. (I don't have a Kindle ... yet ... but I have around 50 ebooks on my computer.) I still highly recommend Whisper on the Wind. Click here to get it free!

free karen kingsbury book. for real!

Please note: This book is no longer free for Kindle. 

Right now, Karen Kingsbury's Redemption is a Kindle freebie. Redemption is the book that first introduced the Baxter family, and it's one of the first Kingsbury books I read. You don't need to own a Kindle to get this book; there's a Kindle for PC/Mac or Kindle for Mobile Devices app you can download for free. I currently have 42 books that I've downloaded to my laptop, including the first book in Candace Calvert's Mercy Hospital series! All the books I've downloaded have been Kindle freebies. If you love reading, you should definitely check it out!