Everyone knows about Kindle Unlimited, but Kobo now has its own "library subscription" service called Kobo Plus, which I recently subscribed to. Like Kindle Unlimited it's a platform for indie authors so you won't find traditionally published novels here. Unlike Kindle, it doesn't demand exclusivity on the part of the author.
So far, I'm mostly using it like a library. Which is to say that I still purchase outright my tried-and-true authors and series I'm invested in. Instead I've been using Kobo Plus for new authors to try, to catch up on author backlists, to read novellas and to give a second chance to authors with some good books and some that I personally found a little lackluster.
Here are some gems I've found, that deserve more love:
1/ The Amsterdam Institute series by R.Z. Held.
These are SF novellas set in a future galaxy of populated worlds with Pax Romana on one side and Libertad Fransa on the other and the characters caught in the middle. High stakes, quick beginnings, new tech and its consequences. There are six novellas out so far and they come in pairs. The first two feature Genevieve Amsterdam, who has been infected with super-soldier nanites on the battlefield, then we jump forward along the timeline and switch to Sienna, who has an AI personality dumped in her head as part of a hostage exchange, for novellas three and four. Then another time jump forward to Chloe for novellas five and six.
2/ Star Cruise series by Veronica Scott
Some (but not all) of Veronica's series are available on Kobo Plus. I had previously bought and read both Wreck of the Nebula Dream (the Titanic in space) and Star Cruise Marooned, but fell way behind. I recently read Star Cruise Time Loop on Kobo Plus and found it a lot of fun.
3/ Demons of Oblivion and Livi Talbot urban fantasy series by Skyla Dawn Cameron
I've raved about the Livi Talbot books before (Tagline: ex-debutante, single mother, treasure hunter) so I urge you to try them out. The first book is Solomon's Seal.
4/ Death's Lady series and House of Shadows by Rachel Neumeier
Most of Rachel's books are only on Kindle Unlimited, but both of these fantasy series are available on Kobo Plus and they are very good. Death's Lady is quite interesting, being a reverse portal fantasy in which a woman from a fantasy world comes to ours--and ends up in an insane asylum. The very nice pyschiatrist thinks her story is an allegory but he nevertheless helps her deal with her all-consuming rage, and of course in later books it's the psychiatrist and his daughter who end up in the fantasy world and have to adjust.
5/ Nine Worlds series by Victoria Goddard
Most of Goddard's books fall into her Nine Worlds umbrella series, but there are sub-series within them. I love her Greenwing & Dart novels, lighthearted fantasy of manners, and her Red Company books. She has also written a lot of novelettes and novellas adjacent to the series which I've been reading on Kobo Plus.
6/ Heirs of Magic/ Bonds of Magic by Jeffe Kennedy
These are excellent fantasy romances. I've been buying and reading the Bonds of Magic and its sequel series Renegades of Magic as it came out, but I'd missed the Heirs of Magic series entirely, so I've been using Kobo Plus to catch up on it.
7/ Talia Hibbert romance books
Her self-published books are on Kobo Plus so I've been catching up on her backlist. If you liked the Brown sisters, you'll like her other stuff too. I recommend the Ravenswood series. Book one is A Girl Like Her and features a neuro atypical heroine with an undeserved bad reputation.
And that's all for now! If you have a series on Kobo Plus, that you either wrote or love, drop it in the comments and I'll take a look for it!
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