Last year, I stumbled upon this rad service called Voracious Readers Only and I have been enjoying being introduced to books/genres that I would not normally read and at the same time being able to help authors get the word out about their books! Signing up for Voracious Readers Only is easy. All you do is select the genres you like or are interested in and provide your email. You will then start to receive emails about book giveaways in the genres you selected. You can read the synopsis and if any of the books sound like something you would want to read, you can request a free copy! Voracious Readers will give your email address to the author so they can send you a free ebook! Having a Kindle is helpful when receiving books from Voracious Readers Only and note that you will end up on some authors’ email lists, but you can easily unsubscribe.

I think this is a really cool way to engage authors with readers and I wanted to share about 11 books I have read through this service so far.

  1. Deadly Blood by William Manchee.This fast-paced legal thriller is a must read for any John Grisham fan. Relatable characters, interesting and believable plot and all the excitement of a courtroom drama. I am anxious to read more of Manchee’s work.

  2. The 13 by M.M. Perry. The first book in a Science Fiction thriller series and it reads kind of similar to Hunger Games or the Divergent series. Not sure Sci-Fi is my thing, but this was a fast-paced, interesting novel by this up-and- coming author.

  3. Kara’s Quest by Pam Funke. I loved the concept and how fast-paced it was. Cross between Dystopian/SciFi/Fantasy with biblical undertones. I did feel the flow was off a bit, but I can appreciate how difficult it is to write this type of fiction as I recently attempted a dystopian style short story myself.

  4. Winston Churchill’s Renegade Spy by Steve Haberman. Whenever I read historical fiction, I always wonder how much of the story is historical and how much is fiction. For example, I am sure Jonas Shaw is a fictional character, but did Churchill really rehire a fired bodyguard to secretly help discover the German spy in his administration during WW2? I am sure there were really German sleeper agents and that the Swiss police could be just as dangerous to anyone who chose sides and was a threat to their neutrality, but was the person who turned out to be the spy really the spy? Was there even a spy? So many questions but this was a riveting espionage novel.

  5. Tardy Bells and Witches Spells by Sarina Dorie. This is a great book to read around Halloween! After scoring the first book in Sarina Dorey’s Womby’s School for Wayward Witches series through Voracious Readers Only, I loved it so much I bought the next four! However, while the first book was more of a young adult/teen novel, the remaining books in the series should definitely be classified as adult. The theme of sexuality was much more prevalent than I would have liked and I am not sure it added much to the story. I did love all the Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, LOTR, Star Wars, etc references though!

  6. Red Earth Diaries by Jason Rebello. Newly Weds Jason and Ambika decide to migrate to Australia less than a year after tying the knot. (And I thought buying a house and moving to a new state two weeks before getting married was crazy). This is not the type of book I typically read, but I enjoyed their backpacking adventure travel diary as well as learning Australian and Indian history!

  7. A Beautiful Glittering Lie by JDR Hawkins. This was another that I enjoyed so much, I bought the next two books in the series: A Beckoning Hellfire and A Rebel Among Us. Hawkins writes a beautiful historical fiction account of the Civil War through the eyes of the Confederacy. Many people don’t understand that the Civil War was not all about slavery. That was a big part of it, of course, but there were many more layers. Some people who fought for the Confederacy were not pro slavery, but their homes were being invaded and they fought to protect their families and land. Very interesting stuff.

  8. Double Edged by Jessie Kwak. Again, SciFi is not my favorite genre so when I requested this book from Voracious Readers Only and started reading, I was, at first, annoyed at myself for picking up another SciFi book. However, it ended up being pretty interesting! It was fast-paced with lots of action, so if SciFi is your thing, I would recommend this book and the rest of the Bulari Saga.

  9. Ghost Walk by Melissa Bowersock. An ex LAPD detective and a medium team up to solve cold cases in this fun and quick read. It is the first book in a 32 book mystery series that will keep you engaged, but won’t keep you up at night.

  10. Double Trouble by Mike Clayton. G.E.E.K.S. Inc is a group of vigilantes who find themselves running from some extremely dangerous criminals during a crazy dust storm in Phoenix. They end up kidnapping twin girls to save them from the real kidnappers, but will they be able to return the girls safely to their mother, clear their own names and catch the actual bad guys? You will have to read it to find out!

  11. The Weight of Water by W.A. Schwartz was a heart-wrenching story of two sisters separated in their preteen/teen years as a result of a series of dyer circumstances. 40 years later, a conspiracy surrounding the tragic events of Hurricane Katrina thrusts them back in each other’s paths. Each of them must face their pasts and each other to try and uncover the truth of what happened.

My favorites from this list are Winston Churchill’s Renegade Spy, A Beautiful Glittering Lie and Tardy Bells and Witches Spells. I have 30+ more books I want to request free copies of from Voracious Readers Only and next on the list is the Weight of Water by W.A. Schwartz. I typically request only two books at a time because the expectation is that once you read your free copy, you review it on Social Media, Goodreads, Amazon or your personal blog and I definitely do not want to get backlogged!

If you like reviewing books, can’t decide what to read next, are looking to branch out from your normal genres or just don’t want to spend money on books right now, Voracious Readers Only is for you!