The purpose of Thrifty Thursday is to read a book which was free (at some point).
Author newsletter audio freebie, ebook freebie on March 22, 2021 (currently ebook is $5.99 and in Kindle Unlimited as of writing this post)
Overall rating 4.41 with 4,705 ratings and 399 reviews
Eagle by Janie Crouch Narrator: Tom Campbell
Series: Linear Tactical #2
on April 20, 2020
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Length: 6 hours, 53 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Author
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm
Finn Bollinger’s time in the special forces taught him how to thrive in the most dangerous situations. So when a former commanding officer needs help preventing the sale of government secrets, Finn and his Linear Tactical brothers are more than up for the task. They may now teach survival skills to civilians, but that doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten how to handle themselves in the field.
But the army damn well didn’t teach Finn how to handle Charlotte Devereux. Oak Creek’s princess is back and she’s all sorts of bad news. Fighting just to survive…
Charlotte can’t change the past. Can’t change the choices she made or the fact that they cost her everything. All she can hope is to endure the fallout, doing whatever’s necessary to survive. Even if that means putting her future in the hands of Finn Bollinger, the man who has every right to want to destroy her.
I got the ebook through an author newsletter. The first two books Cyclone and Eagle are in a duo. At some point which I didn’t note, I got Eagle as an audio freebie through a group newsletter. I was happy to read more in this Linear Tactical series.
The second chance romance here between Charlie (Charlotte) and Finn is complicated. They were high school sweethearts from different social classes. She chose to marry a guy from her upper class while Finn was in the military. Her marriage ended in divorce and her situation is now desperate. She’s homeless working 3 jobs due to her ex. I don’t usually enjoy a situation with a big power imbalance between the man and woman. Charlie was strong despite her problems.
Finn has a son from a one night stand who is dyslexic and needs some help which is Charlie’s area of expertise. They don’t trust each other and it’s closer to enemies to lovers at the start. The son, Ethan, brightens the story for me. Given a chance, Charlie is very effective for him.
Charlie’s other job and Finn’s work collide in a dangerous situation. I enjoyed the slow build of trust and romance. Charlie was really wonderful in her work and her strength. I was happy to see things turn around for them all eventually. But the suspense and mystery was also good.
Narration:
Tom Campbell was a new narrator to me. I felt the voices were appropriate and kept me in the story. The male voices were deeper and stronger. The female voices were softer and a bit husky. It would seem odd having a male narrator with a female character having at least equal time if not more but it worked somehow. I listened at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
Author newsletter freebie (ebook is currently $5.99 and in Kindle Unlimited as of writing this post)
Overall rating 4.43 with 4,189 ratings and 319 reviews
Shamrock by Janie Crouch Narrator: Tom Campbell
Series: Linear Tactical #3
on April 1, 2020
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Length: 7 hours, 3 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Author
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm
All luck runs out eventually. Violet Collingwood thought the windowless room where her kidnappers have held her for the past three days was the worst possible place she could be.
She'd been so very wrong. She's now arrived in hell.Aiden Teague left covert ops behind with the Special Forces, but he's doing one last mission as a favor to a friend. He's undercover with the worst kind of scum to help stop the sale of classified documents. But there's another kind of sale going on - and as soon as Aiden sees her terrified green eyes, he knows this mission just got a hell of a lot more complicated. His code name has always been Shamrock. The lucky one.
Shamrock began right after the events of Eagle. Now instead of government secrets, some of the bad guys are after scientific discoveries. They are also enjoying some human trafficking on the side. Aiden sees a woman who is obviously uncomfortable with what she is having to do at the club. Violet turns out to have been kidnapped to try to get her brother’s company to complete a technically advanced weapon. Violet is actually the scientist able to do it.
Aidan goes in to connect with them to stop them from the government side but also to protect Violet at their parties and figure out where she is being kept. After Aiden frees her, she works hard to build her own skills in self defense. She also wants a relationship with Aiden. Charlie is a good friend to her because they have both been kidnapped by this group of bad guys and suffered with them.
When the bad guys come after her again, she is in better shape to protect herself. A key part is she is mentally more prepared for the bad situations. It’s exciting race to see if she finishes the weapon and they kill her before help arrives.
Narration:
This was the same narrator as the first book, so I was familiar with the character voices and distinctions. I listened at my normal 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
Author newsletter audio freebie (ebook currently $5.99 at Amazon and Barnes & Noble as of writing this post)
Overall rating 4.26 with 943 ratings and 182 reviews
Defending Keirnan by PJ Fiala Narrator: Troy Duran, Rose Dioro
Series: Ghost #1
on June 1, 2022
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Length: 5 hours, 48 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Author
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Apple
All Keirnan Vickers ever wanted was to be a teacher. Having realized that dream, she’s focusing on helping the local library with desperately needed repairs so she has a place to host her growing reading program. Just when her life is beginning to look like a storybook, an enemy of her father's threatens her very existence.
Single father Dane Copeland has known his share of heartaches. He put love on the back burner to finish his career as a special operative with the Army and raise his daughter. Fate intervenes when he meets Keirnan, who brings a new zest for life and the promise of a new start. But it all comes crashing down when she is kidnapped and local law enforcement is unable, or unwilling, to mount a rescue.
Partnering with Auggie Vickers, GHOST is born, and all of their lives are irreparably changed as the details behind Keirnan's abduction are revealed and time becomes their enemy.
Keirnan is a kindergarten teacher and a girl in her class, has been raised mostly by her grandmother. But now her father, Dane is back from the military. Keirnan loves teaching and is running a fund-raiser to update the main library where she does story times with young children. She comes from a military family with her father and brother both in the military.
Dane is just settling into raising his daughter and deciding what to do with his life. He is attracted to Keirnan and they start dating. Keirnan sees a weird man at the library and then someone tries to burn down her house. She ends up staying with Dane for protection. They try to figure out who would have something against her or her family.
When Keirnan is kidnapped, Dane and and Auggie, Keirnan’s father work as team along with some of Dane’s old team and Auggie’s current one to save her. The situation is suspenseful and exciting with good strategy and tactical work by the teams. In the end, Dane and Auggie, who is retiring from the military, form a new company GHOST for security and protection.
I really appreciated how the characters and their interests were developed, along with their families, co-workers and friends. The couple took his daughter in consideration when they began dating. The work they do has good details and the mystery was interesting. Their personal relationship was grown steadily. The sex scenes seemed well balanced with their talking and other activities.
Narration:
I am not sure I have heard these narrators previously. I felt very comfortable with their performance at 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
Author newsletter freebie on September 13, 2020 (currently $4.99 at Amazon and Barnes & Noble as of writing this post)
Overall rating 4.12 with 2,619 ratings and 159 reviews
Singed by Kaylea Cross Series: Titanium Security #2
Published by Self-Published on July 2, 2013
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 213
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Goodreads
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple
Struggling to live with her decision to walk away from the only man she ever loved and watching helplessly while her brother succumbs to his battle with severe PTSD, NSA analyst Claire Tierney’s life is at an all time low. The final hit comes when she accesses classified information at work that might get her fired. Instead, she’s assigned to a joint taskforce charged with hunting down a Taliban assassin planning an attack on American soil, and finally has something productive to focus on. Until she meets the rest of the team and learns she’ll be working with the last person on earth she wants further contact with; her ex. She knows letting him go was the biggest mistake of her life, but just when she thinks things can’t get any worse, new intel points to the assassin’s intended target. Her.
As a former Special Forces Master Sergeant and second-in-command of his Titanium Security team, Gage Wallace can handle anything, except being forced to go through life without Claire. When she abruptly walked out on him six months ago, his whole world caved in. It’s clear she’s still determined to keep her distance, but when she’s named a possible target of the very cell they’re trying to dismantle, Gage will stop at nothing to ensure she’s safe. When tragedy destroys Claire’s defenses and the explosive desire between them ignites once more, this time he’s not letting her go. Too late they discover that the danger confronting them is far greater than anyone ever realized, and it’s a race against time to stop a terrorist from unleashing hell on them all.
Kaylea Cross is one of my favorite romantic suspense authors. I’ve read some of many of her series. Singed is the second in the Titanium Security series. I have read the first book Ignited. Often the first books in her series are free. Singed was available in a romantic suspense anthology, Danger & Desire.
Apparently I read this in 2016 also but took no notes, not even a sentence or two on Goodreads. The story is shorter than an average book and it’s not my favorite. I think this is because it feels like the romance is almost the whole focus. The mystery / action portion is more of a sideline and is not developed very well and is not concluded but left, perhaps to continue in the next book.
The couple, Claire and Gage, broke up about 6 months ago. Claire works for the government and Gage is with Titanium Security. Now they are on a task force to find a terrorist group who is planning an assassination. Gage feels Claire might be in danger and unlike the Titanium folks, not as able to protect herself. He ends up making sure she is protected even doing a lot himself until it is clear she is a target.
Gage is careful to have her make the first move since she is the one who broke up their relationship. When they do start back into a relationship, there are a lot of sexy times. I enjoy it but I also wanted to see them talk to each other more to solve the issues of why the ended the first time.
Anyway, I wanted more development of the task force and their strategy, as well as the relationship other than the sex. If the book had been a bit longer, maybe it would have had time to balance better and conclude better, even if the terrorist threat is still in the next book.
These are only Kindle freebies I get, or ones through author newsletters which anyone can sign up and get for free. I don’t include things like Kindle Unlimited or Prime Free Reading (I do have it). Both Tantor and Audible have occasional free audios (to anyone) and I do include those. Since I one-click on 1-2 freebies a day or probably at least 5 a week, I came up with this feature to make sure I start reading them.
FYI – My Thrifty Thursday post with my reviews and the linkups and giveaway will normally post on the 3rd Thursday of the month. Sometimes though, due to blog tours, mood reading, and other personal problems, it will be moved around. There WILL be one each month on some Thursday. You can post your reviews any Thursday though on your own site. The linkup will be open until the next month’s post is published. You can easily find all the Thrifty Thursday posts under the Features tab on my top menu.
(Reminder – If I get more than 10 linkups in a month, I will randomly pick one to select a prize from a list I send them which may include gift cards or giveaway books I have. (Open International))
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Giveaway:
The prize will be an Amazon Gift card of $25 or $25 worth of Books on Book Depository. Open International. Runs January 1, 2023 to January 7, 2024.
You can sign up for the 2023 Thrifty Thursday Challenge HERE
About Kaylea Cross
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Kaylea Cross writes edge-of-your-seat military romantic suspense. Her work has won many awards and has been nominated for both the Daphne du Maurier and the National Readers’ Choice Awards. A Registered Massage Therapist by trade, Kaylea is also an avid gardener, artist, Civil War buff, Special Ops aficionado, belly dance enthusiast and former nationally-carded softball pitcher. She lives in Vancouver, BC with her husband and sons.
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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I love signing up for author newsletters to keep up with what they’ve got coming out, but its also fun to score some great reads like you did here. I’ve not read Janie Crouch and PJ Fiala and both look good.
Oh and I somehow missed linking up Dragons of Kellynch when I read it so I’m adding it this month. 🙂
No problem Sophia. You can link up any month. It all ends up on the same rafflecopter. Thanks for being a faithful freebie reader with me. I’m surprised how many good ones I have gotten.
I did review this and my comments are very similar to yours. I linked it above. The first book and the ones that follow were excellent!
The book was Singed.
I noticed that. I normally love Kaylea Cross books but felt this one was a bit weaker in the plot than most.
I have not read any of these authors before but I think that I might have some of these books hiding in my Kindle archive. They all sound like worthwhile reads!
I was pretty happy with them overall.
Both audiobooks look good. I’ve enjoyed Tim Campbell before.
yes I thought they were. These are the kind of freebies you get if you sign up for a million newsletters, but at least I try to stick to certain genres now.
Looks like you have a nice selection of freebies here. I like the sound of the Janie Crouch books.
yes I liked them pretty well. I have trouble with believability on a lot of romance books, and that includes romantic suspense but I enjoyed these.
I used to be more into newsletters. Now I just get surprised when something comes out. LOL
I read a lot of stuff on social media or newsletters and still get surprised sometimes.