Review: Warning! You'll be paying out the nose just to reach a conclusion!
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 12 14, 2013
I would have given this story a better review and rating if I didn't feel like I was being taken. The first book lures you in with a really low price of $0.99, but it's only 68 pages long and leaves off in the most unusual and frustrating part of the story. The whole book is highly fragmented. It's broken down into 7 parts. The first part is the cheapest while every additional part is $2.99 just to get an additional 70 to 100 pages more of the book. This wouldn't be too much of a problem for me if one) it weren't such a nuisance, and two) it didn't feel like an extravagant rip off because the price to page ratio was over the top. In the end you wind up paying $18.93 (over $20 when you add taxes) just to reach the conclusion of this story. This is something I've seen happen with several erotica titles. I don't mind this tactic so much when the prices are reasonable and I'm not paying out the nose.Confused? Then lets break this down a little and do some comparisons, shall we? There are (so far) exactly 613 pages to this story. Granted If it were combined all into one book, this would be a decent sized story. So breaking it up into two, possibly even three parts wouldn't be unheard of or unreasonable. But lets look at how the cost breaks down per page for this series and compare it to what you'd pay for some other really popular, well known authors who write rather lengthy novels as well. I chose these authors BECAUSE they tend to write LONG novels and compared this combined series to ONE of these authors books.(Prices are based on kindle format at the time this review was posted)Cerys du Lys -His Absolute Obsession: The Billionaire's Paradigm (#1) (A Contemporary Erotic Romance) (The Billionaire's Ultimatum, Book Two)(Billionaire's Paradigm series combined)613 pages / kindle price: $18.93 / $0.03 per pageKaren Marie Moning -Iced: A Fever Novel512 pages / kindle price: $11.75 / $0.02 per pageKim Harrison -Ever After (Hollows)450 pages / kindle price: $6.15 / $0.01 per pageGeorge R.R. Martin -A Dance with Dragons: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Five1154 pages / kindle price: $2.99 / Seriously? I think this speaks for itself...(Okay, to be fair, lets use one of Mr. Martin's most expensive titles from this same series)George R.R. Martin -A Clash of Kings: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Two770 pages / kindle price: $5.99 / still... seriously?I'd also like to add that this is also being done to the audiobook format of this series as well. I just purchased the second part of this series in audiobook format  for $3.61 and will be leaving a similar review there as well. If the pricing format stays the same, you can expect to pay $23.65 to reach the conclusion by audiobook.Do you see the point I'm trying to make? This book is digital content, not the printed version. It's not hardcover or paperback, which by the way isn't even available as an option unlike some of the author's other stories. I'd be more inclined to pay these prices for something REAL and TANGIBLE. But that isn't the case here.This is obviously a talented author and it's too bad I can't give this book a better rating. But I'm thoroughly put out by sneaky marketing schemes like this one. It's deceptive and laid out in such a way that you THINK you're getting a good deal. When in actuality, you are paying more to read this series than you would most other stories.I already have a hard time stomaching the price Miss Moning charges for her newly released digital content because it's almost always nearly the same price as the printed versions. I don't think digital content should be priced in such a way. But right now, pricing seems highly erratic and without standards. If there are some, I have not been able to figure them out.In closing, for what it's worth, I DID enjoy this small 68 page "excerpt" out of the entire story, but I DID NOT FINISH the story. I won't be finishing it either, because I can't stomach paying over $20 just to reach its conclusion. And it's also the reason I cannot give this book a rating based on the writers talents alone. Which is highly unfortunate.