The Cestus Concern by Mat Nastos

Link to The Cestus Concern  on Amazon

Malcom Weir wakes up on an operating table. The last thing the army ranger can remember is going down in a helicopter in Afghanistan. He immediately realizes that he has been turned into a cyborg, full of self-repairing nanites, with  super-human strength and speed and metal arms that can transform into any configuration of blades. He escapes the secret government facility that created him, but the government considers him their property and would rather see him killed than go free.

You might feel like you’re heard this story before. The whole thing is pretty Hollywood movie. There weren’t any particularly original characters or plot twists. But it’s very well written, so it was a fun adventure.

This book is currently $3.99.

Haven by A.R. Ivanovich

Link to Haven on Amazon

Wow. So I’ve been reading countless eBook samples, trying to find a book that had that certain spark, and I finally found it. The first thing that caught my interest was the beautiful cover, but there is a great story behind it as well.

Katelyn Kestrel can find anything. All she has to do is want it, and she walks straight to it. She lives in isolated Haven Valley, where everybody has silvery eyes and first and last names that start with the same letter. The people of Haven have hidden from the outside world, but why? What is out there? Nobody will answer her question, so she sets out to find the forbidden path that will lead her out. Not even threats that looking for it will get her arrested can change her mind.  On the other side she finds a young man, Rune, who is dying alone from his wounds. Rune is a Dragoon, a person with magical Ability who was drafted into the War of the Princes. Katelyn can save him, but does she dare bring him into Haven? Or should she venture into the outside world for help?

This book reminds me of several best-sellers, for instance Graceling, by Kristin Cashore (which I absolutely love), and even The Hunger Games. My only complaint is that we don’t get to see more of the world than we do, but I love the ending.

This eBook is currently only 99 cents.

Enrcypted by Lindsay Buroker

Link to Encrypted on Amazon

So I mentioned in my last post that Lindsay Buroker has another series I like, and I thought I should make a separate review for the first book Encrypted. I’m not as manic about it as am I am about the Emperor’s Edge books, it is still awesome. Set in the same world as The Emperor’s Edge, it shows the same Empire, but from an outsider’s point of view. Tikaya is a code-breaker that turned the tide during the war between the Turgonian Empire and her own country. The Turgonians eventually show up and kidnap her to use her intellect to solve their own problems. The romance is strong in this book, between Tikaya and another prisoner, a disgraced Turgonian officer,  but I actually like it.

By the way, I love female authors that leave put their full name on their books, and don’t hide their gender. What’s that all about, J.K. Rowling?

Lindsay Buroker wrote a short story that comes right after the book, called Enigma. I also read that she’s working on the sequel, and that it will come out before the next Emperor’s Edge book.

This eBook is currently available for $3.95.

Lady of Devices by Adina Shelley, and the Magnificent Devices Series

Link to Lady of Devices on Amazon

Steam-punk! Steam-punk, steam-punk, steam-punk! Super rad Claire Trevelyan is from a “blood” family, who are aristocrats, She’s supposed to get married but she wants to study engineering instead. When her family loses all their money and moves to the country, she stays behind to try and find a job to pay for school. Instead she gets mugged, and when she gets revenge on the kids that stole from her, she ends up taking over their street gang and becoming the infamous Lady of Devices. There are more books in the series, Her Own Devices and Magnificent Devices, which are just as cool as the first book, and more coming!

This eBook is currently free to download!