To celebrate and honor our friend, indie author, L.C. Evans, and her contribution to the Indie eBook revolution, The IndieView is giving away a whole bunch of free books. Linda lost her fight with cancer earlier this month. We lost a friend and a compatriot.

We’d like you to buy her her books, read her books, and make her words live.

In Linda’s own words, from her indieview a year ago…

“I want my books to appeal to everyone, though I understand that men in general aren’t fond of reading chick lit or romantic comedy.”

If chick lit or romantic comedy is not your thing, authors who have been interviewed on The IndieView, will give you one of their books for every one of Linda’s books that you buy. For every receipt you send through, you will also get a lucky draw entry. The winners of the lucky draw will get a bundle of ALL the books – free.

The list of contributing authors and the books they’ve included is below.

All you have to do to claim your free book/s is visit The IndieView.

Indie Book reviewers have graciously lent their time by reviewing L.C.’s books; you can find links to those reviews here.

My book club always chooses a Christmas themed book for December. It’s what we do. We’ve read everything from warm and heartwarming books like Christmas Jars to the weird and raunchy like Holiday with a Vampire. Someone chose to read this book this year and I was excited as I’m a big Burroughs fan.

This book is, of course, Christmas themed. More importantly, it doesn’t disappoint from his previous work. There’s the complete laugh-out-loud pee-your-pants stories. But there’s also a lot of introspective and real-life stories that show a side of Augusten that warms my heart.

This was actually my second favorite book from this author, my favorite being Dry. Both because of how he opens his heart and life to the readers but also because he truly knows how to make me laugh. His humor is not for everyone (a few of members disliked it – a lot), it’s very wry and more than a little dark.

The stories all wonderful in their own way.

Highly recommended for fans of humorous memoirs or those that can “get” that humor that is Augusten Burroughs.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2011: 65

My 8-year-old and I read this book on our Kindles separately. Much like Celia and the Fairies, we talked about it after we finished. There are very few books that I enjoy as much as my children so it’s always a special book when we are able to do that. To watch her little eyes light up while she tells me about her favorite parts of the book and to watch her try (and succeed) to talk her older brother into reading it too just warms this mom’s heart.

I will say that we did decide that we enjoyed Celia a little bit more. I think it was perhaps because we felt more connected to the main character a bit more. Having said that, this book can completely hold it’s own in that respect and I don’t know that it’s fair to compare the two (but hard not to!).

The story line is magical, fun and makes you smile. The characters are well-developed and the writing is so beautifully done that you can completely lose yourself in Paul’s world.

Highly recommended for children… and for the young at heart that are looking for just a little magic.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2011: 64

I’m a fan of a few authors in this collection so I was really looking forward to reading it. When one of them contacted me with a copy of the book to ask if I would give it a read and review, I, of course, said “Yes!”.

Short stories are always a hard read for me. I either love them and they are able to come together to be a good, strong cohesive story… or they miss the mark. Unfortunately, many of these stories missed the mark for me. They were either too short to really give a good grasp of the author’s style and ability and short-changed the plot or the story just never seemed to get a foothold.

That’s not to say there’s not a few really good standout stories in here. There were a couple that I really did enjoy, but overall, I must admit that I was a little disappointed. It is actually painful to admit that because I do really enjoy their other work so much.

I look forward to other work by these authors because their writing is phenomenal but I just didn’t enjoy the collection.

I would still recommend this for horror fans. Just because it wasn’t fully my cup of tea doesn’t mean others won’t enjoy it.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2011: 63

I have three children: daughter (8), son (11), and husband (39). When I joined them the other day for a game of Quelf Jr. I really didn’t expect it to be much fun for me as an adult. Well, I was wrong! This game had us all laughing and giggling nearly the entire time.

The game itself is really easy to play: You perform actions and move either forward or backward on the board. Sometimes you’ll get a “Mr. Sour Face” card, which happened a lot near the end of the game for us, and you’ll have to go back several spaces.

My daughter was the perfect age to enjoy this game, my son maybe a little too old. However, we all had a great time as a family! What other game has you making your toes have a conversation or swimming the backstroke in the middle of the floor?

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I love the Dear America series. It is such a great way for older children to learn about history in a way that doesn’t feel like learning. Dear America: Voyage on The Great Titanic continues in this vein, covering the tragic maiden (and final) voyage of the “unsinkable” Titanic.

The main character is a young girl. She is poor and has no family except a brother in America. When the opportunity comes to take a trip to join him, she jumps on it. Told from the girls point of view, the reader gets a great feeling for the awe inspiring splendor of the Titanic.

I highly recommend this book for children age 10 and up. Due to the tragic material covered, I wouldn’t feel comfortable with anyone younger reading this title.

A great book, a tragic story, a wonderful read.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I’ve read both of these stories separately and I think putting them together in one book is absolutely fabulous! They both have similar settings and the seclusion factor is definitely there in both.

I’ll start with Dismember. I read this book about a year ago and I STILL cannot get it out of my head. I can’t remember what book I read last week, but this one pops back into my head from time to time. I think that’s probably the biggest plus mark for this book. I’ve read probably 70 books since reading this one and it still haunts my nightmares. It will make you hold your breath, gross you out, creep you out and hold tight to your kids. Pyle has a way with words – living in his head must be a scary thing for sure! This is probably the best horror book I’ve read in years. It screws with your head, but the good ones do.

Then there’s Freeze, which is a little different. It doesn’t have the realism that Dismember had, but is an absolutely fabulous monster story. It’s short enough to get you in and out quickly but long enough to develop the characters and their lives. This one haunts my nightmares, but not as much.

Overall, I’d give the pairing of these two four stars. HIGHLY recommended for horror and suspense fans. Note: There are quite a few gory parts, but those are secondary to the tension.

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My previous review of Dismember:
I don’t think I scare easily. I do, however, get creeped out easily. My nightmares have nothing to do with Freddy Kruguer and everything to do with some guy breaking into my house and killing my husband and stealing my child or some lady snatching my kid from the grocery store. I’m not all that anxious about it, but that’s what wakes me up at 3am in a cold sweat. THOSE kind of nightmares.

… which would explain why, at 2am, I was sitting up in bed, reading this book, wide awake, listening to every groan of the house, every branch scratching the window, completely unable to breathe. One might wonder why I do this to myself, but the fact of the matter is that I love it! There’s something about what reading these kinds of books does to my head that is both disturbing and exhilarating. I’m sure some scientist will come up with a reason that I’m completely twisted, but well… who cares.

The author has a knack for this kind of writing. He kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen. Sometimes, it was nothing and sometimes it was definitely something. There was some serious gore int his book *shudder* but it wasn’t all gore all the time, there were actual hardcore story lines with actual developed characters. It made me care about them, even care about the murderer at times. Really superbly done.

Now for the bad… I’m taking away only one star for it, but… he messed with my bow. What bow? The bow that ties up the end of my books with a pretty nice package, that’s the one. I hated the ending. I need to KNOW what happens. I need it spelled out for me. If there’s a book two, okay, but don’t leave me hanging on a stand alone book. I know, I know, it’s a split of how you should do it… sometimes it’s best left to the reader’s imagination. Blah blah blah. But, dude, Mr. Author… you left me hanging. Sigh.

This book is recommended for horror/suspense fans that like a good solid story line.

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My previous review of Freeze:

I’m definitely a fan of this author’s work. He sent me this book shortly after it was released and I snatched it up to read right away hoping to find something to grab me while I was traveling. I won’t say that it kept me up at night. It’s a pretty typical monster story with a very atypical monster. Very smart on his part for sure. I definitely had little to no idea what I was in for!

The writing is what we’ve come to expect from Pyle, very well done and very clean. Descriptive, yet not so much so that I want to take a chainsaw to the book when I done. (what? you don’t do that?) I didn’t notice any glaring errors or anything like that.

And this is where it probably isn’t very fair to the author. It’s like comparing children, right? But my problem with the story is that I was expecting more. I STILL get a little bit of a chill at times when I think about his book, Dismember, which was phenomenal (Really, go buy it. Now!). So, perhaps knowing what he’s done in the past and knowing how amazing that book was has jaded me a little. I find it hard to not compare. I know. I know. But for me, I don’t actually care about the characters when it’s a story that absolutely cannot be true (and my ability to suspend belief can be pretty strong here). So, I found myself not really caring what happened to the people in the story. That’s a rough one for me.

However, I must remember that while the previous book was a “this could maybe possibly happen and OMG!” that this book is a monster book. Totally different sub-genre of horror, I realize. No one can deny that this is an excellent monster book, that’s for sure. The story line is well developed (if a little rushed at the end) and it was a great ride. His ability to bring the monster to life and to leave me rooting for the good guys made it highly worth reading. Ultimately, it’s a monster story and ultimately it’s a well done book so I’m still rating this one high.

This is recommended for those horror readers out there that like a good monster story. I’m looking forward to see what he puts out next… this dude is seriously twisted.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Let me lay it out for you. This is a five star book. Period. Heck, I think nearly all of Imogen Rose’s books are five stars in my eyes so far. It’s kind of crazy. Did the author make a deal with the devil or something to get this level of pure talent or what? Or maybe one of these demons from this book? Hmmm…

So. I’m conflicted, confounded, confused… I’m something… about this book. I really liked Faustine, the first “book” in the series. I’ll admit when I got this request for review (and then bought it because I loved it so much and wanted to share with others), I was really a little disappointed that she was putting out a prequel already. It seemed odd. I’m so used to those coming 2-3 books after a series is going.

My confliction (is that a word? No? I just made it up! YES!) comes from the fact that I think I liked Cordelia a whole heck of a lot more than Faustine (the character). I mean A LOT more. In fact, I’ll say that there were a few times when I thought Faustine was just downright annoying in this particular book. I think that was because Cordelia comes off as such an amazing strong and deep character that she completely overshadowed everyone else she came into contact with – the good news is that this covers up those few times that I was on the Faustine-hate-train.

So, book 2 (errr… 3… err.. whatever) will be out eventually. Who do I want to read more of? Faustine or Cordelia? It’s very confusing – you see my problem right? I SHOULD want to read more about Faustine, but right at this moment, two days after reading it, I could care less about that brat. Bring more Cordelia, baby!

Having said that, you absolutely do not have to have read Faustine to read this book. It will help because you’ll have some clues, but it’s not necessary. The writing is amazing, it flows off of the page easily. I read this on my Kindle and the formatting was absolutely gorgeous and the editing was amazing, impeccable even – so unheard of in the independent realm of publishing.

There’s a bit of a warning written into the description and it’s true, this is for the older set of YA, but ya know… I’d let my kids read it probably at the age of thirteen (I’m a very lenient parent, so maybe even earlier) – BUT it is a bit edgier. There’s some sex (barely worth mentioning, if I’m being honest) and some cursing. But ya know… these kids had to grow up eventually, right?

I’ll be honest, folks. I keep waiting for Imogen to write a bad book. I mean, it happens, right? I have yet to read an author that has written more than five or six books that I didn’t dislike one of them. She is one of the YA authors to watch and I’m glad to have gotten to know her work before she gets all famous and writes that really bad book

I wish I could say more… but really, just go buy it.

I recommend this for her fans, of course, but also for those of us that enjoy some good Young Adult fiction. This is well done YA. I’m considering making my book club read one of her books, actually.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2011: 62

Let me first say that I really do enjoy this author’s work. He’s sent me a few books for review, including this one, and I always end up buying them so I can share his books with others. This book was no different, I purchased it after reading the review copy provided by the author.

Let me start by saying that I’m a book cover snob. This one doesn’t do the content any favors. It’s uninspired and looks a bit homebrewed, especially when compared to the fabulous cover art of his last book. I can say that if I didn’t already know who Dave Conifer was, I probably wouldn’t have picked it up and read it. I’m certainly glad that I did, though!

This book, like others I’ve read from this author, was very well written. The author has a knack for bringing some serious suspension of belief into great characters and locations. It’s okay, it’s a thriller/suspense/mystery book. We’re supposed to just go with it a lot. I think I was most impressed with how easily he made me believe that this was a real location… and then I googled and realized that the bridge does exist! After looking at the photos, I must say that he did a really great job because it’s nearly exactly as I pictured it.

The story line is well laid out, if a bit slow to get going. I think we could have jumped into the action a little sooner, but it also allowed for some really nice information about his characters. Billy, the main character, is really well fleshed out. I felt like we were able to learn about it without being “told about him”, if that makes sense. It was all woven into the book so very well.

The story is engaging, you want to keep reading to find out what happens with Billy and what is going on around him. You want to know the “why” and “how”. You know something isn’t adding up, but I (at least) didn’t figure it out until he told me, to be honest. That’s usually the makings of a good novel. It’s tied up with nice bow, but it ended too soon for me. I think maybe it felt a little too pat, too rushed. It doesn’t hurt the story and it’s the journey that makes this such a great ride of a book, but it did feel as though it were missing some elements.

Overall, a very worthy read for those that enjoy suspense books and fans of this author’s work.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2011: 61

I asked Mandy a little bit about being a self-published author.

How does being self-published differ from being traditionally published?
Being self-published means most of the work is done on your own. That means writing the novel, editing the novel, proof-reading the novel, getting a cover designed, uploading to publisher/Amazon, marketing and promotion. I was really lucky with Strings Attached to have the support of all the members of Loveahappyending.com especially my associate readers, Team Baggot. Some of Team Baggot helped to proof read Strings Attached, helped with choosing the cover design and all of the team and some fantastic other book bloggers helped me create a two week blog tour. This is the first book that has had that much support from people and I think it really shows.

Covers are often criticised in self-published work – tell us about yours.
I have been very lucky to find an illustrator who ‘gets’ me and the style I want to create. I have to say it was inspired by Tilly Bagshawe and Jilly Cooper books where the author name is big and bold above everything else and, having written four books now, I need to familiarise the reader with me as a writer rather than just introducing the story. Even if you just publish your work as an e-book, the cover really can be the difference between someone clicking to buy or moving on to the next author. I would say the cover is probably more important that the blurb when shopping on-line. If the visual doesn’t pull you in you’re not even going to read the description, rightly or wrongly.

What are the downsides to being self-published?
No large advances, no team of professionals getting your books into the bookstores and no professional editors making sure you’ve got a semi-colon instead of a comma. Every piece of publicity, every book that makes it into a bookstore has been fought for. All my books are available on-line but physical copies in stores is still the best way to get your work in front of readers and make you a familiar name. I have some store signings at Waterstones lined up for December and into 2012 but most stores haven’t got the funds or resources to welcome self-published novelists very often. For me, every sale really does count if I want to carry on being a full-time author, so I am really, really grateful to everyone who buys my books and supports me! If I could hug you all I would!

Are you working on another book at the moment?
I am in the editing stage for my Summer 2012 release Taking Charge. And here is the blurb and a link to the You Tube trailer!

Is going back Robyn’s only way forward?
American-born Robyn Matthers is going home. With her dad in hospital, his roadhouse in ruins and the ice hockey team slipping down the league, she needs to take charge. But does she have the strength to do it?

Cole Ryan is a hockey player with a personal mission. He’s tall, dark and hot and Robyn’s noticed! But can she trust her feelings – or his? And what will Cole do when he finds out the truth about her?

With her ill father, a trailer trash step-mom, two cousins giving Satan a run for his money and an ex-boyfriend desperate for another chance, does Robyn have time to contemplate a relationship? Especially when she doesn’t do dating! Can she start again? Does she really want to? And can two people really fall in love in three days?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QygMK9Gz_lA