Friday, January 10, 2014

Friday Five: FREE Edition

I don't know about you fun folks, but I love trolling the #FREE lists on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  A free book is a great way to discover new authors that you might have overlooked, otherwise.  So, I figured that my first Friday Five of 2014 should be all about the F-word.

FREE, that is.

You're welcome :)

In the Young Adult section: SILENCE by Natasha Preston.  It has 280 reviews with an average rating of 4.3 stars out of 5.  Blurb: For eleven years, Oakley Farrell has been silent. At the age of five, she stopped talking, and no one seems to know why. Refusing to communicate beyond a few physical actions, Oakley remains in her own little world. 

Bullied at school, she has just one friend, Cole Benson. Cole stands by her, refusing to believe that she is not perfect the way she is. Over the years, they have developed their own version of a normal friendship. However, will it still work as they start to grow even closer? 

When Oakley is forced to face someone from her past, can she hold her secret in any longer?

In the Romantic Comedy section: BEAUTY AND THE FEAST by Julia Barrett.  With 144 reviews list, it has an average rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars.  Blurb: Eva Raines is an uncomplicated country girl who’s all about food. Eva moves to the Napa Valley where her culinary skills come to the attention of the owners of a start-up and Eva finds her niche as a personal chef. Now all she needs is a man as perfect as her cooking, but she has serious doubts such a creature exists.

When wealthy entrepreneur, winery owner, and noted lothario, Gabriel Abbott, makes plans to seduce his flavor of the month, his assistant hires All Things to All People to cater a gourmet dinner. Eva expects to use her way with food to showcase the startup. What she unexpectedly discovers is that her culinary skills showcase far more. Gabriel Abbott finds himself seduced by her voice and the sensual flavors and textures of her food and his previous plans are quickly forgotten. He begins to obsess about meeting his little chef in person. He’s not alone. Once Eva hears Gabe’s voice and spends time in his home in the Napa Valley, she begins to wonder about the real man and her dreams of him are so hot they could ignite a barbecue.

When Eva and Gabe finally come face to face, the question is, how hot will their fire burn?

New Adult brings us DEEPER by Blue Ashcroft.  45 reviews net this story a 3.8 average.  Blurb: Lifeguard Rain Wilson can’t afford to get distracted. After a horrible accident at her last park left her emotionally scarred, she’s determined to use her status as supervisor to keep everyone at her new water park safe. 

Her co-supervisor Knight McAllister is the worst kind of distraction. Knight’s as gorgeous as he is stubborn, with electric blue eyes, a tall, muscled swimmer’s body, and the opinion that he doesn’t need a co-supervisor at all. 

But as the season heats up, so does the temperature between the two head lifeguards. But as they find themselves drawn closer together, and their pasts start to surface, Rain and Knight are realizing that maybe too much broken can make a relationship impossible. 

Then again, sometimes it’s the broken parts of us that fit together best. 

Mystery gives us FRY by Lorna Dounaeva.  4.5 star average from a total of 41 reviews. Blurb: When Isabel Anderson nearly runs over mysterious Alicia McBride, she is ridden with guilt. She helps Alicia get a job at the supermarket where she works, and soon, Alicia is acting like her new best friend. But then strange fires start to break out all over the small seaside town of Queensbeach, including at the caravan park where Alicia is staying. Isabel suspects Alicia knows more than she's letting on and grows increasingly nervous when her friend Deacon invites Alicia to stay with him. But it's Isabel the police suspect. 

Determined to confront Alicia, Isabel bursts into her room and sees the word 'FRY' branded across her back in capital letters. From then on, she sees the word "FRY' everywhere she goes: in graffiti, on toilet walls, even on car registration plates. Then her beloved cat, Fluffy, disappears and Isabel is convinced Alicia is behind it. She puts up posters all over her neighbourhood, but as fast as she puts them up, someone takes them down. Soon, a whole spate of fires is breaking out and Isabel must stay one step ahead of the flames and the police. In order to survive, she must question her own innocence, her sanity and the very fabric of her morality. Can she win back Deacon? And will she ever find Fluffy? 

Another from the Young Adult category: INVISIBLE by Cecily Anne Paterson.  462 reviews giving us an average of 4.5.  Blurb: 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?



Now, I haven't read any of these books myself...YET.  How about you fun folks? Have you enjoyed these reads?  How would you rate them?  Do share :)

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