I have a UK reader who is wondering about e-book availability for the Guardian series (obviously not Demon Angel, but that’s coming!) I’m trying to help her out, but I’m never certain when I’m looking at bookstores whether the ebook is unavailable, full stop, or whether it just appears unavailable to me because of my geographical location (which is also why I can never tell whether a Kindle edition is available in Canada, sigh).

So as a general question: If you are a UK reader, where is the best place to find mobi/epub books?

And more specifically: Has anyone been able to buy Guardian books through them?

Any help is much appreciated!

You might have noticed the audio version of Angels of Darkness is up at Audible.com, and it’s missing a name on the cover — mine! This is a heads-up for that audiobook:

“Ascension” is not included in this audiobook.

Penguin Audio has the rights to the novella and will be releasing it later. I don’t have a date for it yet, sorry! I just don’t want anyone to be surprised that it’s not in there, because you probably wouldn’t expect it to only have three of the four stories in the text version.

In the haiku thread that led to my new Bad Limerick Saturdays, there was a quick discussion of whether or not authors should respond to review. In general, my answer is “No” — unless there is an egregious error that needs to be pointed out, or one that leads to false expectations that would seriously disappoint a reader (suggesting that a book has a HEA when it doesn’t, for example).

Today, I ran across Harriet Klausner’s review of Heart of Steel. Now, I know Klausner doesn’t have much credibility and many readers ignore her reviews, but I also have heard that others find them handy for giving a quick overview of the story — and that is true. Her reviews often read like plot summaries or cover copy, and that can be useful at times.

That said, I suggest that you do not build expectations for Heart of Steel upon her final paragraph of this review (found at B&N). I’ve bolded the relevant bits:

Mercenary Lady Corsair airship Captain Yasmeen leads her crew to Fladstrand, Denmark. Their arrival frightens much of the townsfolk as the lady Corsair has a merciless reputation. She is here to meet with author Zenobia Fox to inform her she killed her brother treasure hunter Archimedes Fox by dumping him into a Venice canal amidst zombies for his concealing who his late sire was. Having killed his father before him, she has no qualms of number three, especially since [spoilers removed by Meljean ... especially since they were totally inaccurate spoilers, in their own way].

[...]

The latest Iron Seas steampunk thriller (see The Iron Duke) is a great tale starring two fascinating protagonists in what may be the strangest courtship in years. The story line is filled with action as the Heart of Steel and the roguish treasure hunter make for an endearing couple. Fans who relish something different in their novels will want to read Meljean Brooks’ Yasmeen and Zenobia’s excellent adventure.

Harriet Klausner

As awesome as that story might be, Zenobia doesn’t go on an adventure with Yasmeen. She doesn’t even really appear in the story after Chapter 2. They don’t end up together, as is obviously suggested by this paragraph. That would be totally hot, I agree, but I’m sorry — Yasmeen doesn’t end up with Archimedes’ sister. You end up with The Adventures of Archimedes Fox and Lady Corsair, instead.

Look for the giveaway beginning on Monday — and combined with the Goodreads chat giveaway, will be a total of eleven Heart of Steel ARCs that we’ll be giving away next week. The picture also includes cover flats for the mass market edition of The Iron Duke; I’ll be giving those away on Monday, too.

You don’t have to wait that long to enter to win an ARC, however. The Book Binge is having a giveaway of their own.

In other news, Demon Marked got an awesome review at AAR this morning. If you want to give the book a try but are worried you’ll be lost, don’t forget that I have a Guardian primer that can catch you up on everything you need to know before starting Demon Marked.

Just a reminder that my chat with Executive Editor at Berkley Publishing, Cindy Hwang, will begin on Monday, September 19 and continue through Wednesday, September 21.

We will also be giving away five HEART OF STEEL advance copies, two copies of ANGELS OF DARKNESS, and five sets of my Guardian backlist: DEMON ANGEL, DEMON MOON, DEMON NIGHT, DEMON BOUND, DEMON FORGED, and DEMON BLOOD — thirty-seven books! That giveaway will begin on the first day of the chat and continue through Wednesday; I’ll post links again on Monday.

How it works: If you are a member of Goodreads, you simply go here and join the group (there’s a little join button under my picture). You’ll see that a few topics have been started, and you can ask questions on those topics or start your own topic for discussion (or you can wait until the chat begins and ask your questions then.) We will be there to answer all of your questions beginning Monday.

If you’re not a member of Goodreads, joining is easy and free!

I can’t wait to see you there!

My newsletter went out today. Mostly, it just said — DEMON MARKED IS OUT! — but there was also an update regarding a few Iron Seas novellas coming next year (one with Mina and Rhys, the other featuring Scarsdale) and a link to a Goodreads group where, on September 19-21, my editor Cindy Hwang and I will be participating in a Q&A. You can join now and begin your topics/questions — on September 19th, we’ll show up and begin answering them. We also plan to give away ARCs for Heart of Steel, which is super-awesome.

Also, a few reviews of DEMON MARKED have been popping up around the web. I’ve had my head down and so I haven’t had a chance to read a lot of blogs, but I have seen Rosario’s review, Catherine’s at Fiction Vixen, and Twimom227′s at That’s What I’m Talking About.

Lovin’ Me Some Romance is also hosting a fantastic release giveaway, including a $50 GC to Amazon or B&N.

If you have a review that you want me to link to, please feel free to enter it in the comments! I always try to compile them for my press-kit page, too, so if you have a pull-quote that you think sums up the review, please feel free to add that, too!

Oh, I said “more” in the subject line, didn’t I? I don’t know how you can have any time for more … have you seen the number of awesome books that released yesterday? Look at those names: fellow Odd Shot and the super-awesome Nalini Singh just released ARCHANGEL’S BLADE. There’s also Ellen Connor, Lauren Dane — and last week Gena Showalter, Tessa Dare, Jo Goodman… so many! What are you reading today?

Me, I’m not reading any of them. Instead I am doing the research for my next steampunk. Virgin cults, ice, and giant machines — and two characters I’m already in love with. Whee!

I’ve had a couple of readers mention that they’ve had a hard time finding new, readily available print copies of Demon Moon from online stores — it’s unavailable at Barnes & Noble, has a ship date of 6-9 days at Amazon, is unavailable at The Book Depository, and out of stock at my publisher’s site.

A few places to find it are at Powell’s Books, Jan’s Paperbacks (I think all of the copies there are signed, too), and Indiebound.

There are also used and new copies still at Amazon and B&N, shipped from third-party bookstores — you just have to click on those links.

I’m not sure if it is out of print, or just between printings and out of stock. I’ll find out and post an update.

I’m always forget to share these, but I’ll try to do better — they are so fun! Anastasia Tychkova posted this on my Facebook page, and gave permission to share it. I love it!

Here There Be Monsters by Anastasia Tychkova - Click to Enlarge

A few months ago on Facebook, I promised readers that as the release date for DEMON MARKED approached, I’d post a little bit from the book about Taylor and Michael. So this is the scene where we first see Taylor again. I’ve put it after the cut to avoid spoiling anyone who doesn’t want to see it, but if you are on Goodreads or a feed reader, you might want to close your eyes now.

Yay! After that small delay (thank you all for your patience!) Wild & Steamy is finally available on Kindle, at Smashwords, and All Romance Ebooks (we are still waiting on Nook and a few other distribution channels). I had such a fantastic time writing Newberry’s story — I hope you all love it, too!

$2.99 on Kindle | Nook | Smashwords | All Romance Ebooks

Three all-new short stories of the supernatural and steampunk kind…

“The Blushing Bounder” by Meljean Brook

While the search for a killer puts Constable Newberry’s life in danger, he faces a danger of another kind: to his heart, by the woman forced to marry him. What will it take for this prudish bounder to convince his wife to stay? (13K words) Read an excerpt–>

“Vixen” by Jill Myles

Miko’s denied her were-fox nature for far too long and turned her back on her vixen heritage. But when she meets two very sexy cat-shifters, she has to decide if she truly wants to give up on her frisky side, or embrace it. Because the were-fox in her doesn’t want to choose between both men…it wants them both. (15K words)

Kitten-tiger & the Monk” by Carolyn Crane

Sophia Sidway, Midcity’s most dangerous memory revisionist, seeks out the mysterious Monk in the wasteland beneath the Tangle turnpike, hoping for redemption…but it turns out that the Monk is not all that pious, and the turnpike is no turnpike at all. (20K words)

Go to next book in the series –>

Also — I got the cover for my very first audiobook! Wheeeeee! This is for the upcoming Here There Be Monsters audio book, which will be releasing later this fall.