If the reviews seem a bit odd to read (i.e. broken English, generic 'reviewing' where the description could apply to any book in the store) it might be some sort of purchased reviews. I've seen similar in the past, and the books themselves appeared a bit dodgy at best.
Popular authors have mailing lists, and when new books are released, many readers will instantly review them.
There are also ARC reviewers (ARC = Advanced Reader Copy), where authors give out books to potential reviewers, for free. In return, the reader reviews the book. Generally, such reviews will include a disclaimer saying so.
What you describe in your second paragraph doesn't look like it would be ARC's. but who really knows.
Popular authors have mailing lists, and when new books are released, many readers will instantly review them.
There are also ARC reviewers (ARC = Advanced Reader Copy), where authors give out books to potential reviewers, for free. In return, the reader reviews the book. Generally, such reviews will include a disclaimer saying so.
What you describe in your second paragraph doesn't look like it would be ARC's. but who really knows.
