Tag Archives: Free eBooks

Book Review: Marvin the Very Tall Bear Kindle Edition by T.A. Unwin

This little story is about a Bear named Marvin who wishes he wasn’t as tall as he is so that he could do what other bears could do—fit through doorways, sit at the dinner table, and play on the slide in the park. One night, he wishes he wouldn’t be so tall until he wakes up to find out that his wish just came true! It reminds me of the saying, “be careful what you wish for because you might just get it…”

This is an excellent short story to tell kids that it’s okay to be different and that they are unique and remarkable just the way they are. I’d love for the drawing to be more prominent, and colorful but overall, I thought it’s a great bedtime story.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Kindle Edition, 16 pages
Published October 19th 2015

You can download it for FREE via Kindle on Amazon.

About the Author
T.A. Unwin is a writer and artist from London, now living on the Hampshire coast in England. Her childhood revolved around animals; looking after pets and writing stories about them. A passion for the natural world led to a Zoology degree followed by a Masters in Animal Welfare. Writing then took a back seat as the young adventurer set off to gain experience of working with different animals around the world. She trailed after the macaque monkeys in Gibraltar, as well as their monkey cousins in India, studied birds in Scotland, researched vultures in Namibia and spent ten weeks monitoring marine mammals from a boat in the Mozambique Channel. Currently she works part-time in a zoo and has finally returned to her favourite hobby – writing stories about animals. She has two noisy budgies who do their best to put a stop to this.

Book Review: The Missing Rainbow (Lil Bub and Friends Presents Book 1) Kindle Edition by C. Hagerman

These past few days, during my break time at my day job, I’ve been reading these little short stories intended for the younger audience, which I find therapeutic because they’re just all so full of positivity talks about friendships, rainbows, butterflies, and whatnot. I thought it would keep me from stressing about this pandemic, politics, job-related incidents, and more. Some were cute, and some were nice. Others, I’m thinking of reading to my little nephews and nieces the next time I visit them—anyway, enough of my rambling. 

The Missing Rainbow by C. Hagerman, the first in the Lil Bub and Friends PresentsThe Missing Rainbow is about the friendship of a whale, a frog, and a bunny. They all loved watching the rainbow up in the sky until it went missing. I really like this book. It has colorful and cute illustrations; the words were simple but a bit repetitive. It is very engaging, and it teaches children a great lesson on conflict resolution. It’s 19 pages and is great for kids to learn about colors and those who are learning English as a second language. 

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

You can download it for free on Amazon.

Book Review: Not A Word – Dawn Sister

Not A WordDear Author,
Don’t let this sweet, peaceful repose fool you. From the day he moved in next door, he has been a whirlwind in my formerly tranquil life. My dog adores my new neighbor and keeps going over to his place.
People often complain that I am hard to get to know because I am uncommunicative. He doesn’t seem to mind that I don’t talk much. In fact, he does most of the talking when we are together.
My dog has defected, and now I have this young man asleep on my couch.
Tell me how it came to this point.

Photo Description:
A black-and-white photo shows a young man, possibly in his late teens/early twenties, lying asleep on a sofa. The hood of his plaid, cotton jacket is pulled over his head. His face is peaceful, his hair a little messy and swept across his forehead. Lying at his side, leaning into him and half across his chest, is a white and tan Jack Russell terrier, sporting a nice new collar. The terrier’s ears are alert, and he looks as if he is on guard duty. Do not disturb my master, his expression seems to say. The young man’s arm is draped around the dog’s back, holding him close.

This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group’sLove is an Open Road” event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

This story may contain sexually explicit content and is intended for adult readers. It may contain content that is disagreeable or distressing to some readers. The M/M Romance Group strongly recommends that each reader review the General Information section before each story for story tags as well as for content warnings. – via Goodreads

This is a cutesie story I immensely enjoyed reading because I just love me some May-December affair and add the cutest dog ever and I’m hooked. I loved the fact that the main characters are so different from each other. Niall keeps to himself and stutter so bad whilst Zak can’t seem to stop talking! They have their issue but they get past it.

My favorite part was Zak’s ninja moves! (Haha!) – Stealthily moving in with Niall without the latter knowing it! So cute! I loved the apologies from Zak and the assistance from the dog! Ugh. So freaking adorable!

I’m docking off a star because of the super slow – slow burn. It was like, are they ever going to kiss or do it or what? It was a long wait before they realized they belong together. But hey, minor issues for me. I still enjoyed it and I’m pretty sure you will too. Plus, it’s freaking free so whaaaaaa…?

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars   

Published September 3rd 2015 by MMRomanceGroup.com (first published August 28th 2015)

About The Author
I like chocolate, coffee and donuts, sometimes all at the same time.

I love evenings around a campfire singing in the company of good friends.

I like listening to the dawn chorus even if I’ve been awake all night.

I like reading stories with characters that are filled with hope even in their darkest hours.

I like happy endings.

I like writing M/M romance (with happy endings of course).

Find me on Goodreads, follow me on Twitter and on Facebook.

Book Review: Best Man – Aris Santos

Best ManI had a hard time composing myself. “Alam ko na kahit noong tayo pa, mas nangingibabaw ang pagiging lalaki mo. Pero hindi ka 100% straight!” “Nakapagdesisyon na ako. Pakakasalan ko si Romina,” ang sagot niya. Parang saglit na tumigil ang mundo ko. “May hihilingin sana ako sa’yo,” ang sabi niya. “Ano yun?” ang tanong ko. Inapuhap niya muna ang mga mata ko bago nagsalita. “Will you be my best man?”

Napaka-usual ng kwentong ito at napakawabe rin ng narrative. Makatotohanan din. Bakit nga ba may mga tao sa buhay natin tinatawag natin na “The One That Got Away?” – tapos naisip ko, eh anong tawag natin sa mga nakatuluyan natin in the end? Second choice?

Malungkot ang kwento and I’m sure maraming makakarelate sa mga kaganapan dito. Maganda ang estilo ng pagsusulat ni Aris Santos dahil tumatagos talaga sa puso, malinaw at makatotohanan ang pagkukwento niya.

Isa itong maikling kwento na sumasalamin sa mga karanasan ng hindi lamang ng mga taong nabibilang sa ikatlong kasarian kung hindi narin sa kahit sinong taong umiibig ngunit dala ng mapanghusgang lipunan o dala marahil ng pressure, napipilitan tayo/silang piliin ang desisyon na sumasalamin sa kagustuhan ng nakararami.

Bravo Aris! Keep on writing good stories!!!

Maari niyong i-download ang maikling kwento na ito sa link sa ibaba.
Free download at: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/..

Connect with ARIS SANTOS online:
http://www.akosiaris.blogspot.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/akosiaris
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6150416.Aris_Santos

Book Review: Eagle Man and Mr Hawk – Dawn Sister

Eagle Man and Mr HawkThis story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group’sLove is an Open Road” event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

Dear Author,
I have never been good at first impressions. This fact has not been much of a problem until the neighboring farm house was purchased by a beautiful, bookish man and all of a sudden I found myself with someone I wanted to impress.

The first time he wandered from his house to mine he found me in a terribly unflattering padded suit, being attacked by a German Shepherd, and today he stumbled across me half naked while training Rupert, a hawk needed for a new adventure film, with either a dislike of me, or of my clothing. It wasn’t my most shining moment.

See, I train animals for use in movies and commercials, and while I am good at my job, this lovely man seems to just think I am a lunatic. And unlike everyone else I have ever met, I can’t change his mind by impressing him with my credentials. He thinks movies and television will be the downfall of society. But still, everything about him draws me to him, even has he wants nothing more than to push me away.

§§§

Okay, so I’m kinda on the fence with this one. I super loved both MCs and the story was real cute but I’m really not sure about the latter part.

It felt that the Kelly angle came out of nowhere and didn’t get resolved in any way or maybe I was just waiting for Ethan to smack her into oblivion.

Alex was adorable and so as Ethan. Gah, they’re perfect book boyfriends but seriously, second guessing themselves almost all throughout the story like it was a tennis match between them was a bit too much for me.
But like I’ve said, I really adore this couple and wished the ending was far stronger or perhaps a bit more than that.

Thank you Dawn Sister for this wonderful story with such wonderful characters and gaaahhh Ethan’s crew = just too adorbs!!!

Cover Art: Phil Rose (the author’s hubby) ^_^

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Published July 11th 2015 by M/M Romance Group @ Goodreads

About The Author
Dawn is from the North East of England. Her life is spent juggling: the juggling balls are: children, husband, work (occasionally), voluntary work, professional knitting (notice she doesn’t class this as work), and writing. When she has time she actually sleeps.

For a long time nothing she wrote was shared, even with her husband. Nothing seemed to be right. Then she discovered M/M through a very dramatic encounter with the movie Brokeback Mountain. She became desperate for those characters to have a happy ending, and through this desperation (ie frantically searching the internet for happier ending fan fiction) she discovered a wealth of original M/M fiction. She’s never looked back since.

Her favourite quote is by Philip Pullman of “His Dark Materials” fame, who said: ““If you want to write anything that works, you have to go with the grain of your talent, not against it.” This is the quote she churns out every time someone asks her “Why gay romance?” The other quote she gives is her own (or maybe she might have heard it somewhere else as well) and that is “Why the hell not?”

The whole point of writing for Dawn is not to publish and be read but just to get it all off her chest and out of her head. If she doesn’t write it down then she ends up having long conversations with the characters out loud and her husband thinks she’s nuts.

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DawnSister1

Free Download: Sapatos (A Short Story) – epub, text and pdf.

Cover - Sapatos

Hi guys!

Here’s one of my short stories again which I just published via Smashwords called “Sapatos.” It’s a really short story about a boy named Murray whose only wish on his birthday is to receive a pair of shoes. Nothing else. I shall warn you that it was a bit odd according to some of my friends who have first read it and finds it too bizarre but it’s just a short story and it’s free so I encourage you all to download it. And it’s in Tagalog. ^^ Google translate may work though. I’m still working on transferring them in English. Thanks!

CLICK THE COVER IMAGE TO DOWNLOAD NOW. THANKS!

Book Review: You Can See Me – A.E. Via

You Can See MeI’ve mentioned it before that I’m not a big fan ménage stories  but I indulge every now and then because there are some good ones out there that are definitely worth reading. This one is one of them. A.E. Via’s a new author for me so I wasn’t really expecting much from this book. Little did I know though that this would leave me combusting midway to finish! It’s so hawt I’m afraid to tap my reader after finishing it! *wink* *wink*

Prescott Vaughan has everything mapped out in his world. He’s about to go to Paris to work with his idol, he’s got a loving fiancé and he’s a multi-awarded chef at only 27. Everything ended one night in an accident that left him alone the dark…

I loved Prescott’s character here – I’ve met blind people and they always tell me that they hate it when people treat them differently because of their disability. I guess that’s natural instinct for people though. They want to be treated like any normal people – because they are and they simply lost their sight. This is what Prescott simply wanted for people to do around him. He’s still very capable though, I hate that he was so needy for physical contact because he feels so alone. I so feel for him during those times when he was almost begging his girlfriend for sex! Yes, he’s still not sure about his sexuality folks! Closet case? Nope. Just mainly confused if I may say.

When he meets Dr. Rickson Edwards, it was like a ray of sunshine for Prescott. Ric made Prescott feel loved and the latter reciprocated the feelings. But because of a prank, Ric doesn’t think that he could handle Prescott’s carelessness so he kept himself away from the blind guy. WTF?! Yes, a traumatic prank for Ric. He should’ve let Prescott explain first!

Alone and still reeling from their break-up, Prescott finds himself hiring an escort and didn’t expect to hit it off with Blair McKenzie – a sexy Texan culinary student who works part-time as an escort to help pay the bills.

When Ric finally decided to get back with Prescott, things got a little sticky when he realized that Prescott won’t let go of Blair even though they still love each other.

So yes – it’s a bit complicated indeed but I feel like the story is more focused on Prescott and Ric. Blair simply became the third wheel in the relationship. I guess, there weren’t enough scenes for Blair to figure much into the relationship so their whole declaration at the end counted a lot, I guess.

In a ménage story, it’s always the sex that really has to count half the time. This one has it in spades. Oh man, it was hotness overload! The story was well written and I loved all three characters especially the big, bad Ric and if it was just a normal couple story – I guess it would’ve worked as well. I’ve got to say though, this is a really good read for anyone looking for a ménage in a book.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Download you free copy HERE

Book Review: Billy Jean – Al Stewart & Claire Davis

23198869Billy Jean is a product of the Love’s Landscapes promotion offered by the Goodreads MM Romance Group. I love the quirky fetish involved here that was supposed to be the secret of the dance student Niall to his very butch cop boyfriend Dan. ‘twas a cute story to say the least. I thought Niall reminded me of Eli (from Bad in Baltimore series by K A Mitchell) who’s been keeping a secret from his boyfriend and has a very low self-esteem. It was short so the story was rather condensed in a good way but it felt really rushed. I was hoping the story would offer more about the Dan as a regular gay guy other than being a bad-ass cop. But het, there’s not much to complain here, it was a short read and I’d enjoy passing the time reading it.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Download the story HERE.

Book Review: Fighting Dirty – Olley White

21955382I haven’t read anything written by Olley White until I saw this on MM Romance Group’s Love’s Landscapes event and I’m sure glad that I downloaded it [for free! yay!]

With less than twenty-five page to tell this story, the author was able to deliver vibrancy with her characters. Ethan Reed is fighting for a chance to better his life – by winning a “fighting” tournament to become part of the King’s Army. For his final opponent, he was fitted against Charlie Fitzwilliam who came from a ruling class and whom he’d been pining since he was a young boy. With him winning said tournament, he wondered if there’ll be a chance for them now that they’re almost equal.

Coverwise – the book is probably one of the best I’ve seen this year. I love an enticing cover paired with an equally stunning story! I really wished though that this was a full on novel. I could very well imagine some really good plot lines for this couple. With a longer version, the author would be able to tell more about the two – although given the length of her story, I thought she did extremely well in providing some backstory for both Ethan and Charlie. This short story without question is a gem and people should go ahead and download it right now! Hello people! It’s free!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Download the story HERE

Book Review: See You Smile – Dawn Sister

Fan Art by Arch BalaThis is probably my favorite out of a hundred stories featured in Love’s Landscapes sponsored by the Goodreads MM Romance Group. It’s a May – December love story between a fifty year old bestselling author living in a small community and his 21 year-old deaf neighbor who apparently lives on his own. It was cute how Jake started “stalking” the young Cal – it was cute and funny. I loved how the story developed from the time Jake tried to introduce him and second-guessing how his attraction to his young neighbor wasn’t a good idea at all. The only critique I have about it, though not necessarily a bad critique is that it was all too perfect and ideal. I thought Cal’s inner struggle to fit in and being independent was a very nice addition to the “major conflict” and I just loved the sexual tension between him and Jake. I’ve totally no problem with this kind of theme [May-December relationship], I just had this random thought about their age difference physically after 10 or 15 years. It was just a thought, though, really. So there people, do download the free copy now cuz’ you won’t wanna miss this!

Download the story HERE.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars