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Contemporary Romances on Sale

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Love and Other Words

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren is $2.99! Listen, Christina Lauren’s books rarely go on sale. This is a rare occurrence. Their standalones are a bit of a departure from their Beautiful and Wild Seasons series (less explicit sex). However, there is a content warning for the book. If you want to read the spoiler, you can find it here.

The heart may hide, but it never forgets.

The first women’s fiction novel from New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Christina Lauren (Autoboyography, Dating You / Hating You).

Macy Sorensen is settling into an ambitious if emotionally tepid routine: work hard as a new pediatrics resident, plan her wedding to an older, financially secure man, keep her head down and heart tucked away.

But when she runs into Elliot Petropoulos—the first and only love of her life—the careful bubble she’s constructed begins to dissolve. Once upon a time, Elliot was Macy’s entire world—growing from her gangly teen friend into the man who coaxed her heart open again after the loss of her mother…only to break it on the very night he declared his love for her.

Told in alternating timelines between Then and Now, teenage Elliot and Macy grow from friends to much more—spending weekends and lazy summers together in a house outside of San Francisco reading books, sharing favorite words, and talking through their growing pains and triumphs. As adults, they have become strangers to one another until their chance reunion. Although their memories are obscured by the agony of what happened that night so many years ago, Elliot will come to understand the truth behind Macy’s decade-long silence, and will have to overcome the past and himself to revive her faith in the possibility of an all-consuming love.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

A New Leash on Love

A New Leash on Love by Debbie Burns is $2.99! This is the first book in the Rescue Me series. Readers say this book has a slow burn romance and lots of cute animals. However, some felt the slow burn was a little too slow. It has a 4-star rating on Goodreads.

First in a fresh contemporary romance series from award-winning debut author Debbie Burns.

Every heart has a forever home.

Megan Anderson loves the animals at her no-kill shelter. She’ll do anything for them-even go toe-to-toe with a handsome man who’s in way over his head. She’ll help him sort out his troubles, but getting too close to an adorable puppy’s human counterpart? Been there, done that, got burned.

When Craig Williams arrived at the local shelter for help, he didn’t expect a fiery young woman to blaze into his life. But the more time they spend together, the more he realizes it’s not just animals Megan is adept at saving-she could be the one to rescue his heart.

Soon, Craig and Megan find that the magic of unconditional love can do anything…even lead to their forever home.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

High Heels and Haystacks

High Heels and Haystacks by Erin Nicholas is $1.99 at Amazon! It’s available elsewhere, but at full price. Though I haven’t seen anyone mention this series, Nicholas is often recommended on the site if you want some great dialogue and character chemistry.

A boss-employee romance… kind of.

Only three things stand between Ava Carmichael and her twelve billion dollar inheritance:

1. A year of living in Bliss, Kansas.
2. A relationship that lasts six consecutive months.
3. And pie.

Ava has run a multi-billion-dollar company, negotiated with shark investors, and hobnobbed with business royalty, but she’s about to be defeated by her inability to turn sugar, flour, and apple pie filling into something edible.

Conveniently, the owner of the diner next door, Parker Blake, is magic in the kitchen. And he technically works for her. So she can make him teach her to bake. And, hey, if everyone assumes they’re heating up more than the oven during their time in the kitchen…well, that’s called multitasking.

Parker Blake likes his women the way he likes his coffee: not in his diner. But gorgeous, strong-willed, type-A Ava clearly isn’t going to stop messing up his kitchen—or his simple, stress-free small town life—until the conditions of her daddy’s will are met. So, sure, he’ll teach his “boss” to bake.

But once the kitchen door closes, it’s pretty clear who’s really in charge.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

How to Tame a Modern Rogue

How to Tame a Modern Rogue by Diana Holquist is 99c! This contemporary romance was first published in 2009 and the description makes the hero sound like a superficial jerk. However, others say this one is a good contender for a fluffy, over the top romance.

Commitment-phobic Sam Carson has only dated model-gorgeous women. But one stolen kiss from a plain-Jane schoolteacher and he’s hell-bent on stripping away her floral dresses and teaching her the art of being bad. If only her good-girl ways didn’t make him want to be a better man…

Ally Giordano is at the end of her rope. Her beloved grandmother actually believes that she’s living in her favorite romance novel in Regency England and Ally doesn’t have the heart to set her straight. But now Granny Donny’s last wish is for a retreat to the country and Ally can’t refuse her…until she demands that Sam accompany them. And though his smiles turn her knees into jelly, Ally knows better than to trust a playboy…and she definitely knows better than to try to change one. Or does she?

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 


366. Amanda and The Blacksmith Queen

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If you like when we hang out and chat about books and everything else, this episode is for you. We talk about our cats waking us up, and Amanda GEEKS OUT about The Blacksmith Queen by GA Aiken.

We talk about video games we want, what books we’re excited about in September, and how I organize my reading because I’m nerdy about workflow. At about 50 minutes in, heads up: we take a side detour into talking about death, mortuary practice, cemeteries, and funerals, too. But mostly: squee. HOLY COW squee.

Special note: Use coupon code “TRASHYBOOKS” for $10 off your first box at www.fabfitfun.com!

Listen to the podcast →
Read the transcript →

Here are the books we discuss in this podcast:

In this episode, we mentioned:

If you like the podcast, you can subscribe to our feed, or find us at iTunes. You can also find us on Stitcher, and Spotify, too. We also have a cool page for the podcast on iTunes.

Thanks to our sponsors:

More ways to sponsor:

Sponsor us through Patreon! (What is Patreon?)

What did you think of today's episode? Got ideas? Suggestions? You can talk to us on the blog entries for the podcast or talk to us on Facebook if that's where you hang out online. You can email us at sbjpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave us a message at our Google voice number: 201-371-3272. Please don't forget to give us a name and where you're calling from so we can work your message into an upcoming podcast.

Thanks for listening!

This Episode's Music

Blackhouse by Peatbog FairiesOur music is provided by Sassy Outwater each week. This is the Peatbog Faeries album Blackhouse.

This track is “The Real North.”

You can find The Peatbog Faeries and all their albums at Amazon, at iTunes, or wherever you like to buy your fine music.


Podcast Sponsor

This week’s podcast sponsor is THE MUFFIA Series written by Ann Royal Nicholas. If you liked Sex & The City and The Jane Austen Book Club; or if you’re a member of a book club yourself, you’ll love this contemporary women’s fiction series set in Los Angeles.

THE MUFFIA, MORE MUFFIA and MUFF STUFF are each narrated by a different member of The Muffia book club. In each of the stories, there’s a light mystery element and a couple of book club meetings where invariably one of the muffs reveals a calamity that needs everyone’s help. THE MUFFIA is a series about the enduring power of friendship and the love of books.

Heads up, podcast listeners! Ann Royal is offering a discount on The Muffia and More Muffia on Amazon from now until September 6. Go to Amazon and you can pick up either book for 1/3 the regular price, that’s .99 each, instead of $2.99.

If you’d like to read Muff Stuff, send an email with proof of purchase from Amazon to bournosmedia@gmail.com, of either The Muffia or More Muffia and she’ll send you a PDF or epub of Muff Stuff for free during the same time period.

If you’d like to read the books in paperback, head over to Anna’s website: bournos.com/publications and if you order all 3 books at the same time, instead of $45 plus shipping, she’ll charge you $30 total (if shipping within the contiguous United States). Any issues, just use the bournosmedia@gmail.com to reach a person with your inquiry.

The first 4 orders of all three paperbacks also gets a free Muffia tote bag!

Thanks to Ann Royal Nicholas and the Muffia series!

Transcript Sponsor

fanfitfun logoThis episode and the transcript are brought to you by FabFitFun, a seasonal subscription box that’s customized to your tastes with full-size premium beauty, fitness, fashion, and lifestyle products.

You get over $200 in product for $49.99 per season.

And, if you use code TRASHYBOOKS you’ll get $10 off your first box at fabfitfun.com. They do sell out fast, so sign up now if you’re curious.

They sent me a preview of the Fall 2019 box, and it has been a while since I’ve had a subscription box arrive on my doorstep. Like sending a present to yourself, right? The items are customizable – and many are from female-founded companies, too.

In my fall box, I really love the travel yoga mat, which is perfect. I find that if I bring something with me in order to work out when I’m away from home, the fact that I schlepped it makes me follow through. This travel yoga mat is terrific because it doesn’t take up much room at all. I am very excited about it.

Also in the fall box were a massive bottle of lotion that smells incredible, and little cubes of body scrub for the shower, and other neat things I’m really excited to try. I have an aromatherapy roller on my desk now, and it’s a pity there’s no smellovision for podcasts. It does indeed smell relaxing – kind of like fresh laundry.

The FabFitFun box makes a wonderful gift for yourself or for someone you love, and is a perfect way to treat yourself.

And if you use code TRASHYBOOKS you’ll get $10 off your first box at fabfitfun.com.

That’s $10 off with code TRASHYBOOKS at FabFitFun.com

Remember to subscribe to our podcast feed, find us on iTunes or on Stitcher.

Covers & Cocktails: Storming the Castle

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Hi. My name’s Amanda and I can’t stop talking about The Blacksmith Queen by G.A. Aiken.

If you missed it, I loved this damn book. It’s more fantasy than romance, but still has Aiken’s affinity for writing all types of strong, amazing women. Even the “bad” ones were admirable in their one ways and I wanted to raise a glass to these characters.

The cover is gorgeous, with red tones and little sparks of fire. The main character, Keeley, is a blacksmith. She has such a sweetness and earnestness to her; she really cares about everyone she meets, but don’t mistake her kindness for weakness. If you do, you’ll be on the unfortunate end of her huge hammer.

The Blacksmith Queen
A | BN | K | AB
For the base of this drink, I chose a rum and coke because it’s so customizable with different flavors. The use of spiced rum adds a slight kick to the sweetness of the soda. I went with cherry coke because it reminds me of being a kid and Keeley longs for the simplicity of childhood before her sister left the family. I loved their relationship in the book and I look forward to seeing it grow and hopefully be repaired in the next installment.

Small splashes of grenadine and cherry juice help add a red tinge to the drink (if you’re holding it up to the light). To me, it lightens the rum and enhances the cherry flavors in the soda.

And the name: Storming the Castle. I was inspired by the scene in The Princess Bride where Miracle Max tells Westley and company to “have fun storming the castle.” This quote just speaks to me for this book because Keeley and her family face some rather daunting things, but they always do it with such flair, fun, and badassery

Ingredients for a cherry rum and coke

Shopping list:
Spiced rum
Cherry soda
Grenadine
Cocktail cherries

Proportions:
3 oz. soda
2 oz. spiced rum
1/2 oz. grenadine
2 tbsp. cherry juice

Directions:

  1. Fill a glass with ice.
  2. Add ingredients.
  3. Give it a stir.
  4. Voila!

Modifications and notes:

  • All of the products used are my favorite brands. I highly recommend all of them, but if you have a personal preference, go for it.
  • I used the cherry juice from my jar of Luxardo cherries. I love these things and they aren’t overly sweet and the juice is more like a syrup.
  • Putting a few cherries at the bottom of the drink is a nice little treat for when you finish. #BoozyFruitBitch

A glass of rum and coke next to the review of The Blacksmith Queen

Cheers, everyone!

Podcast 366, Your Transcript Awaits!

The Bewildered Bride by Vanessa Riley

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C+

The Bewildered Bride

by Vanessa Riley
August 12, 2019 · Entangled: Amara
Historical: EuropeanRomance

CW/TW warnings inside
CW/TW: violence against MCs (injuries that almost cause death), discussion of past attempted lynching of hero, sexual assault, heroine suffers from PTSD (fits of panic) and diminished field of vision after traumatic event.

I started weeping during the first chapter of The Bewildered Bride and never stopped. It’s a poignant, heart-wrenching, and important novel to read. The protagonists have undergone unimaginable suffering, and watching them find their happily-ever-after is both difficult and emotional. Even though I loved the heroine Ruth and her unwavering mission to seek justice for herself and her child, I never warmed up to the hero due to his inexplicable decision to deceive Ruth about his identity. While I could have forgiven the deception had it been shorter or if he had grovelled more, neither of those things happened. As a result, my feelings about the book are mixed: I’m torn between my love for the heroine and my frustration that the hero’s deception isn’t adequately punished.

In 1818, Ruth Croome and Adam Wilky elope to Gretna Green without the knowledge or approval of their families. Ruth’s family doesn’t know Adam exists as their whirlwind courtship was kept secret. Ruth is a Blackamoor heiress and the daughter of a successful, wealthy tradesman. Adam passes for White in society, but is in fact the son of a formerly enslaved woman and an English baron (the book refers to Adam as a mulatto). Their happy marriage is short: no less than five days after their vows, their carriage is attacked by henchmen.

Prior to the attack, Adam had foreseen trouble with his uncle and torn their marriage registry in half, sending his “half” to his father in an effort to protect Ruth. Adam’s uncle had embezzled money from his father, and Adam possesses proof of the crime. The carriage attack is devastating: the henchmen beat Adam up and knock him unconscious; Ruth takes a hit to the skull and sprawls unconscious to the ground. The captors take Adam and impress him to the navy for four years (impressment is the forcible recruitment of men into the military or navy). The henchmen leave Ruth alone, and Ruth is forced to fend for herself in London. Her father eventually finds her weeks later in a brothel, sick and hurt. She loses her “half” of the marriage registry during the time she stays at the brothel.

Flash forward four years later: Ruth has a three-year-old son and is about to be engaged to a barrister. She is the source of vicious whispers and gossip. No one, including her family, believes her version of events. There is no proof that she ran away with a man named Adam Wilky (her father attempts to look for him and doesn’t find evidence that he exists), and common consensus is that she faked her marriage and got pregnant in the brothel. During their courtship, Adam doesn’t tell Ruth that he’s the son of a baron and misleads her about his name (it’s Wilkinson, not Wilky).

While Ruth suffers from fits of panic and a diminished field of vision, she is determined to prove the truth for her son’s sake. After unexpectedly receiving her half of the marriage registry from an unknown sender, Ruth is finally able to visit her “dead” husband’s father (Adam had scribbled the address on the back of the registry). At the baron’s home, Ruth is shocked to discover that her father-in-law is dead and that Lord Wycliff’s successor is a strange, unrecognizable man who claims to be Adam’s cousin.

Well, the new baron isn’t strange or unrecognizable to the reader. Wycliff is Adam: he was impressed for almost four years and his voice has altered due to lacerations from his near lynching at sea. Combined with changes to his physical appearance and Ruth’s diminished vision, Ruth doesn’t recognize him as her husband. Not correcting Ruth’s mistake, Wycliff continues the deception and agrees to Ruth’s mission to find proof of her marriage.

There is so much that I loved about The Bewildered Bride. It is a deeply engrossing and heart aching story of second chances and rebuilding from trauma. I cry easily while reading fiction, and I went through half a box of Kleenex in an effort not to wet my touchscreen (I failed miserably). My reading speed was cut in half because I needed to take frequent breaks to wipe my eyes.

Ruth’s frustration and fury at not being believed struck a deep chord in me. No one, not even her beloved sister, believes her repeated assertions that she was married. The cruelty is both devastating and unsurprising: society is determined to think the worst of her and refuses to give victims — especially women — the benefit of the doubt. But the cruelty doesn’t wear her down or make her helpless. Instead, it molds her into a creature of resilience and strength. Ruth is determined to recover the truth at any cost and it becomes her mantra.

“I want truth in everything. You’ll never know what it’s like to fight to hold on to truth.”

The word “truth” is used 95 times (not including the dedication or author’s note) in The Bewildered Bride. I realized halfway through the book that Ruth eventually becomes synonymous with the truth. She is the only person who doesn’t deceive others and devotes her life to finding it. The journey inflicts pain and Ruth may regret her decision, but she never wavers from her mantra. I am in awe of Ruth, who has easily earned her place in my list of most admired heroines.

I also appreciate the depiction of a diverse 1820s English society. Unlike many historical romance novels, England in The Bewildered Bride isn’t whitewashed or home to a startling number of handsome dukes. There is a thriving community of Black people during the early nineteenth century. It isn’t a startling revelation that a union between an English baron and a formerly enslaved woman produces a legitimate heir to the title. According to the author’s note, “Mulattoes and Blackamoors numbered between 10,000-20,000 in London and throughout England during the time of Jane Austen. Wealthy British with children born to native West Indies women brought them to London for schooling. Jane Austen, in her novel Sanditon, writes of Miss Lambe, a mulatto, the wealthiest woman. Her wealth made her desirable to the ton.”

The presence of Black characters, however, does not dismiss the racism in English society. The protagonists are aware of the problems their race presents in the upper echelons of society. After their wedding, Ruth worries that Wycliff will have to sit in the back of the church and near the servants because people won’t believe her status as his wife. Wycliff also takes pains to pass as White as a method of protection.

His hair was cropped low to not show the kink of his curls. Passing was the root of his power, the only reason he was alive, but his Ruth knew that.

The diverse setting of The Bewildered Bride made me feel that I was finally reading a real depiction of 1820s England, not some whitewashed and queer-erasing fanfiction of Georgette Heyer novels. I’m not a hypocrite: I’ll confess to growing up with and loving those historical romance novels, but reading them in recent years has proven to be difficult since I now know how inaccurate they are. The history presented in The Bewildered Bride is real and painstakingly researched, giving voice to people who are rarely given attention in the historical romance subgenre.

Despite my love for the resilient heroine and the diverse setting, I really struggled with the hero’s decision to deceive Ruth. I loved her so much, and his manipulation felt like a slap in the face to her mantra of truth.

Spoilers ahead

When Wycliff and Ruth first reunite, there is no real reason for him to lie to her. He listens to her story in his office, claims that his half of the marriage registry is missing, and promises to find proof of her marriage.

But… why? I can’t really think of a reason why he does this. Why not just tell her the truth? “Ruth, it’s me, your husband. I was held captive for four years but I’m here now.” Even if he doesn’t resemble the old Adam, he still knows enough details about their courtship to validate his claim.

But I also recognize that there would be no plot without this initial deception, so I shrugged and moved on. Later, he justifies the deception for two reasons: 1) he learns about her panic attacks and fears that his sudden reveal will cause an attack and 2) he realizes that Ruth resents her “dead” husband for putting her into this position.

Wycliff’s rationale for the deception makes sense on paper, but I struggled with it so much in reality. Ruth continuously tells him how important the truth is to her; they must have at least five conversations about it. Still no reveal. Even as they become emotionally entangled, he doesn’t tell her.

At one point, he reveals to her father that he is interested in marrying her and she overhears, furious at his intentions. But they’re already married — why expand the deception to create more pretenses? The longer they spent time together, the worse I felt. After a certain point, it seemed that Wycliff was continuing the deception for his own selfish desires and not for Ruth’s well-being: he knows that she hates her “dead” husband and lying will decrease the probability that she’ll leave him for good.

Wycliff wants Ruth to put together the clues and find out on her own, which doesn’t happen until the 80% marker. While Ruth is initially angry at the revelation, Wycliff barely grovels for his crime before they make up. I’m not opposed to a hero fucking up royally, but I require a proportional amount of grovelling before I forgive him. And for me, there was not enough grovelling or apologizing. Wycliff continuously exhibits selfish behavior and never properly atones for it. I left the book feeling very angry at the hero and being unable to fully appreciate their HEA.

My feelings about The Bewildered Bride are conflicted: I adore the heroine and the diverse depiction of nineteenth century England, yet I cannot forgive the hero for his actions. What I’m not conflicted about is this: I will definitely read another Vanessa Riley historical romance because her work is compelling and emotional. And if what bothered me wouldn’t irritate you, than I recommend you pick up this novel and immerse yourself in The Bewildered Bride.

HaBO: Pickpocket Called Diamond

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This HaBO is from Barbara, who is looking for a book with romantic elements:

Over the years I’ve identified almost all my long-lost or vaguely-remembered books, but not this one.

Not so much a romance, more of a historical thriller. Smaller octavo, cheap printing, possibly a book club or uniform edition, believe it was British. Definitely printed before 1974, possibly early 1960s. It was on the library shelf near A Finger to Her Lips, by Evelyn Berckman, so the author’s name probably began with B.

Set in the 1700s, plot concerns a young woman with some sort of mysterious inheritance, who enlists the aid of a rather tough young barrister/solicitor to help her prove her case, which involved (McGuffin alert!) legal papers in a (metal?) box. They obviously fall in love, there’s a rival suitor and assorted bad guys. There’s a scene where the suitor gets into a fight with the lawyer and they are described as rolling on the floor like children but striking like men. The really memorable character is a pickpocket called Diamond (NOTHING like the boy in Behind the North Wind) who tries to steal from the young lawyer and is caught but not turned over to the Watch because he’d be hanged, causing him to become a useful ally. Diamond looks angelic and carries a knife, being small enough to get under a man’s guard in a brawl.

I know the story takes place post-Culloden, because there is a mention of Highland soldiers singing ‘Will he no’ come back again’ while looking across the water to France. The lawyer and Diamond go to the coast to investigate, and there may have been smuggling involved. Towards the end, Diamond is forced by the villain (who I think had been a cruel master to him) to row him out to a reef after the McGuffin box. Diamond abandons the guy there and rows away, weeping from the stress and fear, leaving the man to be drowned by the tide.

The book is not John Diamond by Leon Garfield or The Lothian Run by Molly Hunter. Evelyn Berckman wrote a book titled The Long Arm of the Prince, which sounds promising but seems to be quite unobtainable.

Can we solve this one?

HaBO: Someone Named Tarquin

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This HaBO comes from Ariana, and they’re looking for a historical romance:

I’m looking for a book I read years ago. It’s set in Georgian England (maybe later).

I think the hero or his cousin/brother is named Tarquin. He’s looking for a girl to wed his cousin/brother and comes upon a fresh from the country girl through some contact of his (might be a madam). There is a scene where he is spying on her in her room and another very steamy scene of them having sex.

I think she had left her country home because she is falsely accused of murdering someone.

Any help would be appreciated!

I feel like I just read a book with a Tarquin, but I’m also having trouble keeping track of my days. So who knows!

Got September Books to Promote? We have Advertisement Options to Help You!

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The Ladies, including the newest lady of color, who has a blue polka dot dress and glassesSeptember ahoy! If you’ve got a new book, a boxed set, a discounted title, or some backlist releases you’d like to promote, we have advertisement options for you!

The site survives in part because of advertisements from and for this community, so thank you in advance for your support!

What’s open? Glad you asked!

What’s available?

  • Newsletters! A new space at the top of our Smart Bitches Daily newsletter!
  • Desktop and mobile advertisement for week-long and month-long bookings starting at $80.
  • For-every-budget spots that start at $50.

Email me with your budget target and I can craft you a proposal. 

What are the most popular options?

One of the most popular options is the $50 space. If you’re looking for advertisement options and promotional opportunities on a budget, the $50 For Every Budget Space might be an ideal fit for you.

The For Every Budget Ads display on long pages, such as:

How do I reserve an ad? 

You can email me to enquire at sarahATsmartbitchestrashybooksDOTTcom, or you can use this handy form to submit your For Every Budget ad and payment.

Again, if you’ve got something you would like to promote, email me. I’m happy to work with your budget, and, as I said, you deal with me personally when you do business with the site.

As always, thanks for being here and for being part of Smart Bitches.

Cheers!


September’s New Releases

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Everyone, there are so many good books coming out this month that it’s really quite unfair. We have over forty titles we’re excited for below, but here are a few others we know you’re all anxious to read:

  • Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) is releasing! (My roommate splurged on a life-sized cardboard cutout of Baz, btw.)
  • Margaret Atwood as written a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale called The Testaments. ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
  • Rachel Caine continues her Great Library series with Sword and Pen ( A | BN | K | G | AB ).
  • No Judgments by Meg Cabot ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) comes out this month.
  • Keep up with Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series with The Unkindest Tide ( A | BN | K | G | AB ).
  • If you’re ready to get into the holiday spirit, Jill Shalvis has a new holiday contemporary romance: Wrapped Up in You ( A | BN | K | G | AB ).

All of Me

All of Me by Dani Burlison

Author: Dani Burlison
Released: September 1, 2019 by PM Press
Genre:

With women’s anger, empowerment, and the critical importance of intersectional feminism taking center stage in feminist spaces right now, an anthology like this has never been more vital. The voices in this collection offer perspectives that help women find common ground. Through personal essays and interviews about what it is like to live as a woman (cis and trans) All of Me includes vulnerable, painful truths and bold inspiration. This anthology covers topics of social and economic justice, creativity, racism, transgender perspectives, sexuality, sex work, addiction, reproductive rights, assault, relationship dynamics, families, radical self-care, witchcraft, and more.

Contributors include Silvia Federici, Michelle Cruz Gonzales, Ariel Gore, Laurie Penny, Lidia Yuknavitch, Christine No, Kandis Williams, Vatan Doost, Deya, Phoenix LeFae, Anna Silastre, Michel Wing, Bethany Ridendour, Lorelle Saxena, Airial Clark, Patty Stonefish, Nayomi Munaweera, Melissa Madera, Margaret Elysia Garcia, Leilani Clark, Ariel Erskine, Wendy-O Matik, Kara Vernor, Starhawk, adrienne maree brown, Gerri Ravyn Stanfield, Sanam Mahloudji, Melissa Chadburn, Avery Erickson, and Milla Prince.

Ellen: I only recently learned about this nonfiction anthology but I’m really excited for it. The theme seems to be personal essays with an intersectional feminist lens.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Island Fling with the Tycoon

Island Fling with the Tycoon by Therese Beharrie

Author: Therese Beharrie
Released: September 1, 2019 by Harlequin Romance

Could a fairy-tale wedding… 

..lead to her own love story?

Sparks fly when Piper Evans meets tycoon Caleb Martin on the way to her brother’s wedding. Gorgeous but uncompromising — he’s the kind of man heartbroken Piper has sworn to stay away from. Yet when the perfect wedding turns to disaster, Piper must search for the runaway groom — with Caleb’s help! Island hopping around Greece, Piper finds herself increasingly tempted by the man whose totally off-limits…

Aarya: I’m not a regular category reader these days but I enjoy Beharrie’s writing and I’m a sucker for books set during a wedding (especially if it turns disastrous!).

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

Lord of the Last Heartbeat

Lord of the Last Heartbeat by May Peterson

Author: May Peterson
Released: September 2, 2019 by Carina Press
Genre: , ,
Series: The Sacred Dark #1

Stop me. Please. 

Three words scrawled in bloodred wine. A note furtively passed into the hand of a handsome stranger. Only death can free Mio from his mother’s political schemes. He’s put his trust in the enigmatic Rhodry—an immortal moon soul with the power of the bear spirit—to put an end to it all.

But Rhodry cannot bring himself to kill Mio, whose spellbinding voice has the power to expose secrets from the darkest recesses of the heart and mind. Nor can he deny his attraction to the fair young sorcerer. So he spirits Mio away to his home, the only place he can keep him safe—if the curse that besieges the estate doesn’t destroy them both first.

In a world teeming with mages, ghosts and dark secrets, love blooms between the unlikely pair. But if they are to be strong enough to overcome the evil that draws ever nearer, Mio and Rhodry must first accept a happiness neither ever expected to find.

Aarya: Fantasy romance with a non-binary and intersex protagonist! I’m looking forward to this debut.

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A Dangerous Engagement

A Dangerous Engagement by Ashley Weaver

Author: Ashley Weaver
Released: September 3, 2019 by Minotaur Books
Genre: ,
Series: Amory Ames #6

The stylish, charming new novel in the Edgar-nominated Amory Ames mystery series, set in 1930s New York.

As they travel by ship to New York for her childhood friend Tabitha’s wedding, Amory Ames gazes out at the city’s iconic skyline, excited by the prospect of being a bridesmaid. Her husband Milo, however, is convinced their trip will be deadly dull, since Prohibition is in full swing. But when a member of the wedding party is found murdered on the front steps of the bride’s home, the happy plans take a darker twist.

Amory discovers that the dead groomsman has links to the notorious—and notoriously handsome—gangster Leon De Lora, and soon she and Milo find themselves drawn into another mystery. While the police seem to think that New York’s criminal underworld is at play, Amory feels they can’t ignore the wedding party either. Tabitha’s fiancé Tom Smith appears to be a good man, but he has secrets of his own, and the others in the group seem strangely unaffected by the death of their friend . . .

In an unfamiliar city, not knowing who they can trust, Milo and Amory are drawn into the glamorous, dangerous world of nightclubs and bootleggers. But as they draw closer to unraveling the web of lies and half-truths the murdered man has left in his wake, the killer is weaving a web of his own.

Sarah: I mainlined this series on vacation in July and was very excited to see a new one in September. Historical mystery with a very glamorous and smart heroine.

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A House of Rage and Sorrow

A House of Rage and Sorrow by Sangu Mandanna

Author: Sangu Mandanna
Released: September 17, 2019 by Sky Pony
Genre:
Series: The Celestial Trilogy #2

One kingdom. One crown. One family.

“Maybe it’s time the great House of Rey came to an end. After all, what are we now? Just a house of rage and sorrow.”

Esmae once wanted nothing more than to help her golden brother win the crown of Kali but that dream died with her best friend. Alexi broke her heart, and she vowed to destroy him for it. And with her sentient warship Titania beside her, how can she possibly fail?

As gods, beasts, and kingdoms choose sides, Alexi seeks out a weapon more devastating than even Titania. Past lives threaten the present. Old enemies claim their due. And Esmae cannot outrun the ghosts and the questions that haunt her. What really happened to her father? What was the third boon her mother asked of Amba? For in the shadows, lurking in wait, are secrets that will swallow her whole.

The House of Rey is at war. And the entire galaxy will bleed before the end.

Aarya: Four words: Mahabharata retelling in space. This is a sequel to one of my favorite YA SFF books ever (series must be read in order).

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The Avant-Guards, Vol 1.

The Avant-Guards, Vol 1. by Carly Usdin

Author: Carly Usdin
Released: September 3, 2019 by BOOM! - BOOM! Box
Genre: , ,
Series: The Avant-Guards #1-6

As a transfer student to the Georgia O’Keeffe College for Arts and Subtle Dramatics, former sports star Charlie is struggling to find her classes, her dorm, and her place amongst a student body full of artists who seem to know exactly where they’re going. When the school’s barely-a-basketball-team unexpectedly attempts to recruit her, Charlie’s adamant that she’s left that life behind…until she’s won over by the charming team captain, Liv, and the ragtag crew she’s managed to assemble. And while Charlie may have left cut-throat competition in in the dust, sinking these hoops may be exactly what she needs to see the person she truly wants to be. From Carly Usdin, the writer behind the hit series Heavy Vinyl, and artist Noah Hayes (Wet Hot American Summer) comes an ensemble comedy series that understands that it’s the person you are off the court that matters most.

Ellen: I’ve discovered a soft spot for queer sports stories, and this gets me right in that soft spot.

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Bringing Down the Duke

Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore

Author: Evie Dunmore
Released: September 3, 2019 by Berkley
Genre: ,
Series: A League of Extraordinary Women #1

A stunning debut for author Evie Dunmore and her Oxford Rebels, in which a fiercely independent vicar’s daughter takes on a duke in a fiery love story that threatens to upend the British social order.

England, 1879. Annabelle Archer, the brilliant but destitute daughter of a country vicar, has earned herself a place among the first cohort of female students at the renowned University of Oxford. In return for her scholarship, she must support the rising women’s suffrage movement. Her charge: recruit men of influence to champion their cause. Her target: Sebastian Devereux, the cold and calculating Duke of Montgomery who steers Britain’s politics at the Queen’s command. Her challenge: not to give in to the powerful attraction she can’t deny for the man who opposes everything she stands for.

Sebastian is appalled to find a suffragist squad has infiltrated his ducal home, but the real threat is his impossible feelings for green-eyed beauty Annabelle. He is looking for a wife of equal standing to secure the legacy he has worked so hard to rebuild, not an outspoken commoner who could never be his duchess. But he wouldn’t be the greatest strategist of the Kingdom if he couldn’t claim this alluring bluestocking without the promise of a ring…or could he?

Locked in a battle with rising passion and a will matching her own, Annabelle will learn just what it takes to topple a duke…

Amanda: Everyone I know is excited for this one and I am too!

Claudia: This book felt oddly current despite being set in the late 1870s, early 1880s — The heroine and her friends are competent women navigating the world of incompetent men intent on preserving their exalted (and undeserved) place in society. It’s also a very good “starchy hero undone” story, and so much more!

Aarya: I’ve read an arc and it’s EXCELLENT. There are swoonworthy moments in alcoves and Beauty and the Beast allusions. Highly recommend.

Ellen: It just sounds so fun!!

Lara Diane: Gorgeous cover? Check. Sassy boss ladies doing the damn thing? Check. Men in breeches? Check. I’m sold.

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Dear Haiti, Love Alaine

Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maika Moulite

Author: Maika Moulite
Released: September 3, 2019 by Inkyard Press
Genre:

This exceptional debut novel captures a sparkling new voice and irrepressible heroine in a celebration of storytelling sure to thrill fans of Nicola Yoon, Ibi Zoboi and Jenna Evans Welch!

When a school presentation goes very wrong, Alaine Beauparlant finds herself suspended, shipped off to Haiti and writing the report of a lifetime…

You might ask the obvious question: What do I, a seventeen-year-old Haitian American from Miami with way too little life experience, have to say about anything?

Actually, a lot.

Thanks to “the incident” (don’t ask), I’m spending the next two months doing what my school is calling a “spring volunteer immersion project.” It’s definitely no vacation. I’m toiling away under the ever-watchful eyes of Tati Estelle at her new nonprofit. And my lean-in queen of a mother is even here to make sure I do things right. Or she might just be lying low to dodge the media sharks after a much more public incident of her own…and to hide a rather devastating secret.

All things considered, there are some pretty nice perks…like flirting with Tati’s distractingly cute intern, getting actual face time with my mom and experiencing Haiti for the first time. I’m even exploring my family’s history—which happens to be loaded with betrayals, superstitions and possibly even a family curse.

You know, typical drama. But it’s nothing I can’t handle.

Shana: I need this epistolary story about Haiti to live up to its gorgeous cover.

Maya: Such a pretty cover!!

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The Glass Woman

The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea

Author: Caroline Lea
Released: September 3, 2019 by Harper
Genre: ,

Rósa has always dreamed of living a simple life alongside her Mamma in their remote village in Iceland, where she prays to the Christian God aloud during the day, whispering enchantments to the old gods alone at night. But after her father dies abruptly and her Mamma becomes ill, Rósa marries herself off to a visiting trader in exchange for a dowry, despite rumors of mysterious circumstances surrounding his first wife’s death.

Rósa follows her new husband, Jón, across the treacherous countryside to his remote home near the sea. There Jón works the field during the day, expecting Rósa to maintain their house in his absence with the deference of a good Christian wife. What Rósa did not anticipate was the fierce loneliness she would feel in her new home, where Jón forbids her from interacting with the locals in the nearby settlement and barely speaks to her himself.

Seclusion from the outside world isn’t the only troubling aspect of her new life—Rósa is also forbidden from going into Jón’s. When Rósa begins to hear strange noises from upstairs, she turns to the local woman in an attempt to find solace. But the villager’s words are even more troubling—confirming many of the rumors about Jón’s first wife, Anna, including that he buried her body alone in the middle of the night.

Rósa’s isolation begins to play tricks on her mind: What—or who—is in the attic? What happened to Anna? Was she mad, a witch, or just a victim of Jón’s ruthless nature? And when Jón is brutally maimed in an accident a series of events are set in motion that will force Rósa to choose between obedience and defiance—with her own survival and the safety of the ones she loves hanging in the balance.

 

Elyse: This novel is set in medieval Iceland and has serious Gothic overtones.

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The Harp of Kings

The Harp of Kings by Juliet Marillier

Author: Juliet Marillier
Released: September 3, 2019 by Ace
Genre:
Series: Warrior Bards #1

A young woman is both a bard–and a warrior–in this thrilling historical fantasy from the author of the Sevenwaters novels.

Eighteen-year-old Liobhan is a powerful singer and an expert whistle player. Her brother has a voice to melt the hardest heart, and a rare talent on the harp. But Liobhan’s burning ambition is to join the elite warrior band on Swan Island. She and her brother train there to compete for places, and find themselves joining a mission while still candidates. Their unusual blend of skills makes them ideal for this particular job, which requires going undercover as traveling minstrels. For Swan Island trains both warriors and spies.

Their mission: to find and retrieve a precious harp, an ancient symbol of kingship, which has gone mysteriously missing. If the instrument is not played at the upcoming coronation, the candidate will not be accepted and the people could revolt. Faced with plotting courtiers and tight-lipped druids, an insightful storyteller, and a boorish Crown Prince, Liobhan soon realizes an Otherworld power may be meddling in the affairs of the kingdom. When ambition clashes with conscience, Liobhan must make a bold decision and is faced with a heartbreaking choice. . .

Ellen: The Sevenwaters series is one of my all-time faves. Some of her other series have been kind of hit or miss for me but I have high hopes as it seems like this new series has a Sevenwaters tie-in. Plus, I love bards.

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His Billionaire Bride

His Billionaire Bride by Madeline Ash

Author: Madeline Ash
Released: September 3, 2019 by Tule Publishing
Genre: ,
Series: The Morgan Sisters #2

Business investor Carrie Morgan is guarded for a long list of good reasons. She’s battled her way to the top of her industry, dealt with enough bad sex to put her off men, and if her painful past has taught her anything, it’s that commitment always ends in heartbreak.

When Carrie’s sister asks her to sit for a portrait—as a bride—she uneasily agrees. Anything for Emmie. Even if it means intimate nightly sessions with her secret fantasy: artist Edwin Prince.

Rejected by his family and treated as temporary by past lovers, Edwin will settle for nothing less than commitment — and wants that and more from the beguiling Carrie Morgan. Startling them both, she allows him to unwind her emotional bindings one intense interaction at a time, until their chemistry builds so high, she’s blinded to the fall.

And the only way out is to break both their hearts.

Amanda: Anything with a billionaire heroine gets a second look.

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The Lady and the Highwayman

The Lady and the Highwayman by Sarah Eden

Author: Sarah Eden
Released: September 2, 2019 by Shadow Mountain
Genre: ,

Elizabeth Black is the headmistress of a girls’ school in 1830s Victorian London. She is also a well-respected author of ”silver-fork” novels, stories written both for and about the upper-class ladies of Victorian society. But by night, she writes very different kinds of stories–the Penny Dreadfuls that are all the rage among the working-class men. Under the pseudonym Charles King, Elizabeth has written about dashing heroes fighting supernatural threats, intelligent detectives solving grisly murders, and dangerous outlaws romancing helpless women. They contain all the adventure and mystery that her real life lacks.

Fletcher Walker began life as a street urchin, but is now the most successful author in the Penny Dreadful market, that is until Charles King started taking all of his readers. No one knows who King is, including Fletcher’s fellow members of the Dread Penny Society, a fraternity of authors dedicated to secretly fighting for the social and political causes of their working-class readers. The group knows King could be an asset with his obvious monetary success, or he could be the group’s undoing as King’s readership continues to cut into their profits.

Determined to find the elusive Mr. King, Fletcher approaches Miss Black. As a fellow-author, she is well-known among the high-class writers; perhaps she could be persuaded to make some inquiries as to Mr. King’s whereabouts? Elizabeth agrees to help Fletcher, if only to insure her secret identity is never discovered. What neither author anticipated was the instant attraction, even though their social positions dictate the impossibility of a relationship.

For the first time Elizabeth experiences the thrill of a cat-and-mouse adventure reminiscent of one of her own novels as she tries to throw Fletcher off her scent. But the more time they spend together, the more she loses her heart. Its upper-class against working-class, author against author where readers, reputations, and romance are all on the line.

Sneezy: The summary is promising a headlong dive into class and gender dynamics in Victorian London, all wrapped up in a romance powered by a sizzling attraction, a secret, conflicts of interest, and attempts to out maneuver each other because of said conflict. I WANT IT!!!!

Catherine: This one sounds entirely delicious, with secret identities and authorly intrigue. There’s something about romances with writer heroes or heroines that is just irresistible to me.

Susan: I adore stories about pulps and penny dreadfuls beyond the telling of it, so I am very excited .

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The Lady Rogue

The Lady Rogue by Jenn Bennett

Author: Jenn Bennett
Released: September 3, 2019 by Simon Pulse
Genre: , ,

The Last Magician meets A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue in this thrilling tale filled with magic and set in the mysterious Carpathian Mountains where a girl must hunt down Vlad the Impaler’s cursed ring in order to save her father.

Some legends never die…

Traveling with her treasure-hunting father has always been a dream for Theodora. She’s read every book in his library, has an impressive knowledge of the world’s most sought-after relics, and has all the ambition in the world. What she doesn’t have is her father’s permission. That honor goes to her father’s nineteen-year-old protégé—and once-upon-a-time love of Theodora’s life—Huck Gallagher, while Theodora is left to sit alone in her hotel in Istanbul.

Until Huck arrives from an expedition without her father and enlists Theodora’s help in rescuing him. Armed with her father’s travel journal, the reluctant duo learns that her father had been digging up information on a legendary and magical ring that once belonged to Vlad the Impaler—more widely known as Dracula—and that it just might be the key to finding him.

Journeying into Romania, Theodora and Huck embark on a captivating adventure through Gothic villages and dark castles in the misty Carpathian Mountains to recover the notorious ring. But they aren’t the only ones who are searching for it. A secretive and dangerous occult society with a powerful link to Vlad the Impaler himself is hunting for it, too. And they will go to any lengths—including murder—to possess it.

Aarya: Bennett is an excellent YA writer and this sounds like a madcap adventure in 1930s Romania.

Lara Diane: This book gives me grabby hands and a greedy heart. Get in my book-belly!

Susan’s pick!

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The Magnolia Sword

The Magnolia Sword by Sherry Thomas

Author: Sherry Thomas
Released: September 9, 2019 by Lee & Low Books/Tu Books
Genre: ,

CHINA, 484 A.D.

A Warrior in Disguise

All her life, Mulan has trained for one purpose: to win the duel that every generation in her family must fight. If she prevails, she can reunite a pair of priceless heirloom swords separated decades earlier, and avenge her father, who was paralyzed in his own duel.

Then a messenger from the Emperor arrives, demanding that all families send one soldier to fight the Rouran invaders in the north. Mulan’s father cannot go. Her brother is just a child. So she ties up her hair, takes up her sword, and joins the army as a man.

A War for a Dynasty

Thanks to her martial arts skills, Mulan is chosen for an elite team under the command of the princeling—the royal duke’s son, who is also the handsomest man she’s ever seen. But the princeling has secrets of his own, which explode into Mulan’s life and shake up everything she knows. As they cross the Great Wall to face the enemy beyond, Mulan and the princeling must find a way to unwind their past, unmask a traitor, and uncover the plans for the Rouran invasion . . . before it’s too late.

Aarya: I’d preorder a phone book by Sherry Thomas. So yeah, I’m pretty excited for this book!

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Serpent & Dove

Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

Author: Shelby Mahurin
Released: September 3, 2019 by HarperTeen
Genre: , ,
Series: Serpent & Dove #1

For her sixteenth birthday, Louise le Blanc’s mother gave her three things: a sacrificial altar, a ritual knife, and a wicked scar.

Lou’s death would have ended the ancient war between the Church and witches, but Lou refuses to become a martyr. Forsaking her coven, she escapes to the gloomy city of Cesarine and hides her magic as a thief in the criminal underworld. But life in Cesarine has its own dangers. Huntsmen roam the city revered as holy men. Witches burn without trial. And the Archbishop, the Church’s austere patriarch, revels in violence.

As a huntsman, Reid Diggory lives by one verse: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. 

He’s devoted his entire life to eradicating the occult and making his surrogate father, the Archbishop, proud. Finally given the chance to capture a witch of his own, Reid is devastated when a foul-mouthed thief thwarts him—and doubly devastated when she too disappears. Hell-bent on bringing her to justice, Reid vows she won’t escape again. But when Lou tricks him into public scandal trying to avoid capture, the two are forced into an impossible situation—marriage.

Marriage to a huntsman could provide real protection from the witches—if Lou can convince Reid she isn’t one herself. The secret proves difficult to keep as Lou begins practicing magic in secret within the heart of the Church, determined to prepare for her mother’s inevitable return. As time passes, however, Lou discovers yet another danger lurking: her own growing feelings for her husband. But Reid is still dangerous. He’s just as likely to tie her to the stake as defend her if he learns her true identity. With enemies closing in—and more than her own life at stake—Lou must decide who she can trust before it’s too late…and she’s not the only one with a secret.

Amanda: Star crossed romance between a witch and a member of the Church!

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To Be Taught, If Fortunate

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

Author: Becky Chambers
Released: September 3, 2019 by Harper Voyager
Genre: ,

In her new novella, Sunday Times best-selling author Becky Chambers imagines a future in which, instead of terraforming planets to sustain human life, explorers of the solar system instead transform themselves.

Adriane is one such explorer. As an astronaut on an extrasolar research vessel, she and her fellow crewmates sleep between worlds and wake up each time with different features. Her experience is one of fluid body and stable mind and of a unique perspective on the passage of time. Back on Earth, society changes dramatically from decade to decade, as it always does.

Ariadne may awaken to find that support for space exploration back home has waned, or that her country of birth no longer exists, or that a cult has arisen around their cosmic findings, only to dissolve once more by the next waking. But the moods of Earth have little bearing on their mission: to explore, to study, and to send their learnings home.

Carrying all the trademarks of her other beloved works, including brilliant writing, fantastic world-building and exceptional, diverse characters, Becky’s first audiobook outside of the Wayfarers series is sure to capture the imagination of listeners all over the world.

Shana: Traveling in space with the author of the Wayfarer series. Yes, please!

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Well Met

Well Met by Jen DeLuca

Author: Jen DeLuca
Released: September 3, 2019 by Berkley
Genre: ,

All’s faire in love and war for two sworn enemies who indulge in a harmless flirtation in a laugh-out-loud rom-com from debut author Jen DeLuca.

Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, for the summer to help her sister recover from an accident, but who could anticipate getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him?

The faire is Simon’s family legacy and from the start he makes clear he doesn’t have time for Emily’s lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the faire grounds he becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she’s in her revealing wench’s costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they’re portraying?

This summer was only ever supposed to be a pit stop on the way to somewhere else for Emily, but soon she can’t seem to shake the fantasy of establishing something more with Simon or a permanent home of her own in Willow Creek.

Amanda: Look at these adorable nerds.

Aarya: The author has described this book as “awkward flirting via Shakespeare,” which makes the English nerd in me happy.

Shana: I’m hoping this will fulfill my inappropriate Ren Faire fantasies without making me feel guilty for Marie Kondo-ing my faire garb.

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A Jewel Bright Sea

A Jewel Bright Sea by Claire O'Dell

Author: Claire O'Dell
Released: September 3, 2019 by Rebel Base Books
Genre:
Series: Mage and Empire #1

A whirlwind of intrigue, lies, politics, and adventure swirls around one woman—and the prize she’s been sent to reclaim …
 
It was her talent for tracking magic that got Anna Zhdanov sent to catch a thief. A scholar’s daughter sold as a bond servant, she has no desire to recover the Emperor’s jewel for herself. But a chance to earn her freedom has driven her to the untamed Eddalyon province, awash with warm breezes, lapping waves, and more danger than she could possibly guess.

Within days her cover as an indolent noblewoman is in question, and it’s clear there’s more to Anna’s task than she knows. Soon she’s the captive of the unpredictable pirate captain Andreas Koszenmarc, hunted by the Emperor’s guard, besieged by a brigand queen, and at odds with her only friend. She must trust someone if she is to survive. But when all that’s certain is that everyone is hiding something, it’s no simple thing to choose

Sneezy: I’ll be posting my review for this book soon, and I can’t wait for people to read it and tell me if I’m crazy or not!

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The Wedding Dress Maker

The Wedding Dress Maker by Leah Fleming

Author: Leah Fleming
Released: September 5, 2019 by Head of Zeus
Genre: ,

In the shadow of a love lost and being disgraced by her actions, Netta Nichol must watch from the sidelines as her child is brought up by her father and stepmother. This is not the first time her stepmother has taken what is rightfully hers. First it was her dead mother’s rainbow necklace—Netta’s only legacy—now her son. Netta is unable to protest such treatment, for it is 1945 and, in the eyes of her God-fearing community, she is doubly cursed: an unmarried mother who struggled with mental health problems after giving birth to her son. After being banished from her beloved Galloway, to a Yorkshire mill-town, Netta is determined to show she is capable of building a life for herself, so she can return to Galloway and claim back her child.

Sneezy: I’m always interested in the smaller, quieter stories that happen in and around momentous changes in time. It also talks about the ways women are punished when they bear children out of wedlock. Just from the summary, I don’t see how the romance will come into play, but it just makes the book more enticing for me in this case.

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A Match Made in Mehendi

A Match Made in Mehendi by Nandini Bajpai

Author: Nandini Bajpai
Released: September 10, 2019 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readershttp
Genre:

Fifteen-year-old Simran “Simi” Sangha comes from a long line of Indian vichole-matchmakers-with a rich history for helping parents find good matches for their grown children. When Simi accidentally sets up her cousin and a soon-to-be lawyer, her family is thrilled that she has the “gift.”

But Simi is an artist, and she doesn’t want to have anything to do with relationships, helicopter parents, and family drama. That is, until she realizes this might be just the thing to improve her and her best friend Noah’s social status. Armed with her family’s ancient guide to finding love, Simi starts a matchmaking service-via an app, of course.

But when she helps connect a wallflower of a girl with the star of the boys’ soccer team, she turns the high school hierarchy topsy-turvy, soon making herself public enemy number one.

Aarya: The fifteen-year-old heroine starts a matchmaking service on an app. I LOVE high school drama.

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Are You Listening?

Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden

Author: Tillie Walden
Released: September 10, 2019 by First Second
Genre: ,

Are You Listening? is an intimate and emotionally soaring story about friendship, grief, and healing from Eisner Award winner Tillie Walden.

Bea is on the run. And then, she runs into Lou.

This chance encounter sends them on a journey through West Texas, where strange things follow them wherever they go. The landscape morphs into an unsettling world, a mysterious cat joins them, and they are haunted by a group of threatening men. To stay safe, Bea and Lou must trust each other as they are driven to confront buried truths. The two women share their stories of loss and heartbreak—and a startling revelation about sexual assault—culminating in an exquisite example of human connection.

This magical realistic adventure from the celebrated creator of Spinning and On a Sunbeam will stay with readers long after the final gorgeously illustrated page.

Susan: Tillie Walden is one of my insta-buy creators, so of COURSE I’m here for the weird fabulist road trip story.

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Beautiful Accidents

Beautiful Accidents by Erin Zak

Author: Erin Zak
Released: September 10, 2019 by Bold Strokes Books
Genre: , ,

Stevie Adams doesn’t believe in fate, not after losing her parents in a car crash. Now twenty-eight and a star in the Chicago improv scene, Stevie puts career first. No one’s going to get in the way of her New York City dreams. When her friends beg her to tag along to go see Constance Russo, a deaf psychic, Stevie begrudgingly agrees, as long as no one makes her get a reading.

American Sign Language interpreter Bernadette Thompson has two priorities: caring for her mother and working with her best friend, Constance Russo. But when the headstrong Stevie Adams accidentally stumbles into her life, Bernadette feels an instant connection that’s so intense it frightens her. They can’t seem to stop bumping into each other, or deny their attraction.

When Stevie’s goal of starring in New York becomes more than a pipe dream, will competing desires prove their love to be everlasting or a fleeting act?

Tara’s pick!

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Gideon the Ninth

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Author: Tamsyn Muir
Released: September 10, 2019 by Tor.com
Genre: ,
Series: The Ninth House #1

Gideon the Ninth is the most fun you’ll ever have with a skeleton.

The Emperor needs necromancers.

The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.

Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.

Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated as necromantic skeletons. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy.

Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won’t set her free without a service.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will be become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon’s sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die.

Of course, some things are better left dead.

Amanda: One of my most anticipated releases of 2019!

Ellen: I have only heard good things about this book for months. And “lesbian necromancers in space” hits a lot of high notes for me.

Susan: Gideon the Ninth had me at “lesbian necromancers”, even before my corner of the internet went into raptures over it. It has politics! Queer characters! Childhood enemies working together! Swordswomen/Mage team-ups! That cover! I am extremely excited about it.

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The Nanny

The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan

Author: Gilly Macmillan
Released: September 10, 2019 by William Morrow
Genre:

When her beloved nanny, Hannah, left without a trace in the summer of 1988, seven-year-old Jocelyn Holt was devastated. Haunted by the loss, Jo grew up bitter and distant, and eventually left her parents and Lake Hall, their faded aristocratic home, behind.

Thirty years later, Jo returns to the house and is forced to confront her troubled relationship with her mother. But when human remains are accidentally uncovered in a lake on the estate, Jo begins to question everything she thought she knew.

Then an unexpected visitor knocks on the door and Jo’s world is destroyed again. Desperate to piece together the gaping holes in her memory, Jo must uncover who her nanny really was, why she left, and if she can trust her own mother…

In this compulsively readable tale of secrets, lies, and deception, Gilly Macmillan explores the darkest impulses and desires of the human heart. Diabolically clever, The Nanny reminds us that sometimes the truth hurts so much you’d rather hear the lie.

Elyse: A cold case thriller that sounds absolutely creeptastic.

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The Nobodies

The Nobodies by Liza Palmer

Author: Liza Palmer
Released: September 10, 2019 by Flatiron Books
Genre:

“Liza Palmer’s voice is fresh, exciting, and necessary. She’s a must-read author.” –Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Daisy Jones & the Six

If there’s one thing Joan Dixon knows about herself, it’s that she is a damn good journalist. But when she is laid off from yet another soon-to-be-shuttered newspaper, and even the soulless, listicle-writing online jobs have dried up, she is left with few options. Closer to 40 than 30, single, living with her parents again, Joan decides she needs to reinvent herself. She goes to work as a junior copywriter at Bloom, a Los Angeles startup where her bosses are all a decade younger and snacks and cans of fizzy water flow freely.

For once, Joan has a steady paycheck and a stable job. She befriends a group of misfit coworkers and even begins a real relationship, after years of false starts. But once a journalist, always a journalist, and as Joan starts to poke beneath Bloom’s bright surface, she realizes that she may have accidentally stumbled onto the scoop of her lifetime. Is it worth risking everything for the sake of the story?

Charmingly candid, hilarious, and deeply moving, The Nobodies is a novel about failing but never losing the core of yourself, from a beloved writer at the top of her game.

Sarah: Liza Palmer writes such thoughtful characters who I don’t mind hanging out with for a few hundred pages. The heroine of this one has taken a job at a tech startup after her journalism career flatlines badly.

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The Ten Thousand Doors of January

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow

Author: Alix Harrow
Released: September 10, 2019 by Redhook
Genre:

In the early 1900s, a young woman searches for her place in the world after finding a mysterious book in this captivating and lyrical debut. 

In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place.

Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.

Amanda: This sounds delightfully magical.

Aarya: Harrow just won a Hugo Award for Best Short Story (“A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies”) so I’m intrigued to read her full-length debut.

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Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? by Caitlin Doughty

Author: Caitlin Doughty
Released: September 10, 2019 by W. W. Norton & Company
Genre:

Best-selling author and mortician Caitlin Doughty answers real questions from kids about death, dead bodies, and decomposition.

Every day, funeral director Caitlin Doughty receives dozens of questions about death. What would happen to an astronaut’s body if it were pushed out of a space shuttle? Do people poop when they die? Can Grandma have a Viking funeral?

In Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?, Doughty blends her mortician’s knowledge of the body and the intriguing history behind common misconceptions about corpses to offer factual, hilarious, and candid answers to thirty-five distinctive questions posed by her youngest fans. In her inimitable voice, Doughty details lore and science of what happens to, and inside, our bodies after we die. Why do corpses groan? What causes bodies to turn colors during decomposition? And why do hair and nails appear longer after death? Readers will learn the best soil for mummifying your body, whether you can preserve your best friend’s skull as a keepsake, and what happens when you die on a plane. Beautifully illustrated by Dianné Ruz, Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? shows us that death is science and art, and only by asking questions can we begin to embrace it.

Amanda: Doughty’s nonfiction on death and death practices is so fascinating. I also highly recommend her YouTube channel.

Sarah: The Good Death.

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The Babysitters Coven

The Babysitters Coven by Kate Williams

Author: Kate Williams
Released: September 17, 2019 by Delacorte Press
Genre: , ,

Adventures in Babysitting meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this funny, action-packed novel about a coven of witchy babysitters who realize their calling to protect the innocent and save the world from an onslaught of evil. 

Seventeen-year-old Esme Pearl has a babysitters club. She knows it’s kinda lame, but what else is she supposed to do? Get a job? Gross. Besides, Esme likes babysitting, and she’s good at it.

And lately Esme needs all the cash she can get, because it seems like destruction follows her wherever she goes. Let’s just say she owes some people a new tree.

Enter Cassandra Heaven. She’s Instagram-model hot, dresses like she found her clothes in a dumpster, and has a rebellious streak as gnarly as the cafeteria cooking. So why is Cassandra willing to do anything, even take on a potty-training two-year-old, to join Esme’s babysitters club?

The answer lies in a mysterious note Cassandra’s mother left her: “Find the babysitters. Love, Mom.”

Turns out, Esme and Cassandra have more in common than they think, and they’re about to discover what being a babysitter really means: a heroic lineage of superpowers, magic rituals, and saving the innocent from seriously terrifying evil. And all before the parents get home.

Ellen: I will consume basically any piece of media about teenage witches.

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The Forest Feast Mediterranean

The Forest Feast Mediterranean by Erin Gleeson

Author: Erin Gleeson
Released: September 17, 2019 by Abrams
Genre:

Bestselling author returns with a gorgeously illustrated cookbook that will transport you to the Mediterranean coast 

For years, Forest Feast readers have been transported to Erin Gleeson’s picturesque cabin in the woods through her stunning photography of magical gatherings and vibrant vegetarian cooking. Now, Gleeson takes inspiration from an extended family trip around Europe, creating effortless, unforgettable meals immersed in the cultures and cuisines of France, Portugal, Spain, and Italy. The Forest Feast Travels reimagines the produce, flavors, and signature dishes of the Mediterranean coastline, presenting more than 100 new vegetarian recipes for small plates, drinks, and desserts. Richly illustrated with atmospheric images of Mediterranean coastal villages, charming watercolor illustrations, and mouthwatering food photography, The Forest Feast Travels is an irresistible escape from the everyday, no matter where you might live.

Catherine: Are we allowed to include cookbooks? Surely we are allowed to include cookbooks? Because I am super excited about this cookbook. Almost, but not quite, excited enough to have bought it in German when I saw it was published in Germany first last month. (I bought it for my German penfriend instead. But I very definitely need my own copy.) The recipes are fresh and delicious and I love the way she lays them out visually, to make them very intuitive even after a long day.

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Monster, She Wrote

Monster, She Wrote by Lisa Kroger

Author: Lisa Kroger
Released: September 17, 2019 by Quirk Books
Genre:

Meet the women writers who defied convention to craft some of literature’s strangest tales, from Frankenstein to The Haunting of Hill House and beyond.

Frankenstein was just the beginning: horror stories and other weird fiction wouldn’t exist without the women who created it. From Gothic ghost stories to psychological horror to science fiction, women have been primary architects of speculative literature of all sorts. And their own life stories are as intriguing as their fiction. Everyone knows about Mary Shelley, creator of Frankenstein, who was rumored to keep her late husband’s heart in her desk drawer. But have you heard of Margaret “Mad Madge” Cavendish, who wrote a science-fiction epic 150 years earlier (and liked to wear topless gowns to the theater)? If you know the astounding work of Shirley Jackson, whose novel The Haunting of Hill House was reinvented as a Netflix series, then try the psychological hauntings of Violet Paget, who was openly involved in long-term romantic relationships with women in the Victorian era. You’ll meet celebrated icons (Ann Radcliffe, V. C. Andrews), forgotten wordsmiths (Eli Colter, Ruby Jean Jensen), and today’s vanguard (Helen Oyeyemi). Curated reading lists point you to their most spine-chilling tales.

Part biography, part reader’s guide, the engaging write-ups and detailed reading lists will introduce you to more than a hundred authors and over two hundred of their mysterious and spooky novels, novellas, and stories.

Susan: A history of women in speculative fiction and horror that actually acknowledges queer women and women of colour? SIGN ME UP.

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The Paris Orphan

The Paris Orphan by Natasha Lester

Author: Natasha Lester
Released: September 3, 2019 by Forever
Genre: , ,

From the USA Today bestselling author of The Paris Seamstress comes a World War II novel that spans continents and crosses generations as an American soldier and an enterprising Vogue photographer brave war-torn France to help a lost little girl find the one thing she never had: a family.
 
New York City/Paris, 1942: When American model Jessica May arrives in Europe to cover the war as a photojournalist for Vogue, most of the soldiers are determined to make her life as difficult as possible. But three friendships change that. Journalist Martha Gellhorn encourages Jess to bend the rules. Captain Dan Hallworth keeps her safe in dangerous places so she can capture the stories that truly matter. And most important of all, the love of a little orphan named Victorine gives Jess strength to do the impossible. But her success will come at a price…
 
France, 2005: Fifty years after World War II, D’Arcy Hallworth arrives at a beautiful chateau to curate a collection of famous wartime photos by a reclusive artist. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, but D’Arcy has no idea that this job will uncover decades of secrets that, once revealed, will change everything she thought she knew about her mother, Victorine, and alter D’Arcy’s life forever.

Sarah: This is a WWII novel with a past heroine’s actions influencing a present-day heroine’s life, and I’m very curious about it.

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Promise of Darkness

Promise of Darkness by Bec McMaster

Author: Bec McMaster
Released: September 17, 2019 by Lochaber Press Pty Ltd
Genre: , ,
Series: Dark Court Rising #1

Princess. Tribute. Sacrifice. Is she the one prophesied to unite two warring Fae courts? Or the one bound to destroy them?

In a realm ruled by magic, the ruthless Queen of Thorns is determined to destroy her nemesis, the cursed Prince of Evernight.

With war brewing between the bitter enemies, the prince forces Queen Adaia to uphold an ancient treaty: she will send one of her daughters to his court as a political hostage for three months.

The queen insists it’s the perfect opportunity for Princess Iskvien to end the war before it begins. But one look into Thiago’s smoldering eyes and Vi knows she’s no assassin.

The more secrets she uncovers about the prince and his court, the more she begins to question her mother’s motives.

Who is the true enemy? The dark prince who threatens her heart? Or the ruthless queen who will stop at nothing to destroy him?

And when the curse threatens to shatter both courts, is her heart strong enough to break it?

Join USA Today bestselling author, Bec McMaster, on a seductive journey through a mythic land, with a wicked prince who holds a thousand secrets, a princess determined to uncover the truth, and an evil queen who threatens to tear them apart. Download this epic fantasy filled with magic and breathtaking romance today!

Ellen: I feel like Bec McMaster distills fantasy romance tropes down to their purest form and then delivers them directly to my brain.

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The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls

The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls by Mona Eltahawy

Author: Mona Eltahawy
Released: September 17, 2019 by Beacon Press
Genre:

An international mandate for how girls and women can defy, disobey, and disrupt patriarchy everywhere

Feminist activist Mona Eltahawy knows that the patriarchy is alive and well, and she is fed the hell up. Sexually assaulted during hajj at the age of fifteen. Groped on the dance floor of a night club in Montreal at fifty. Countless other injustices in the years between.

Seizing upon the energy of the #MeToo movement, Eltahawy advocates a muscular, out-loud approach to teaching girls and women to harness their power through what she calls the “seven necessary sins” women and girls are not supposed to do or supposed to want or supposed to be: angry, ambitious, profane, violent, attention-seeking, lustful, and powerful. All the necessary “sins” that girls and women require to erupt.

Illuminating her call to action are stories of activists and ordinary women around the world – from South Africa to China, Nigeria to India, and Bosnia to Egypt – who are tapping into their inner fury, and crossing the lines of race, class, faith, and gender that make it so hard for marginalized women to be heard. Rather than teaching women and girls to survive the poisonous system they found themselves in, Eltahawy arms them to dismantle it.

Brilliant, bold, and energetic, The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls is a manifesto for all feminists in the fight against patriarchy.

Sneezy: Mona Eltahawy is the kind of boss I want to be when I grow up. She has faced all kinds of adversity and traumas in her life, and no matter that happens, her conviction in herself remains unshaken. Her voice grows louder and ever more precise, refuses to confine herself to anyone else’s agenda, and remains compassionate to herself and others. I’ve admired her since I saw her debate on Al Jazeera English, and I. Can’t. Wait. For. This. Book.

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The Tea Dragon Festival

The Tea Dragon Festival by Katie O'Neill

Author: Katie O'Neill
Released: September 18, 2019 by Oni Press
Genre:
Series: Tea Dragon #2

Revisit the enchanting world of Tea Dragons with an all-new companion story to the two-time Eisner Award-winning graphic novel The Tea Dragon Society!

Rinn has grown up with the Tea Dragons that inhabit their village, but stumbling across a real dragon turns out to be a different matter entirely! Aedhan is a young dragon who was appointed to protect the village, but fell asleep in the forest eighty years ago. With the aid of Rinn’s adventuring uncle Erik and his partner Hesekiel, they investigate the mystery of his enchanted sleep… but Rinn’s real challenge is to help Aedhan come to terms with feeling that he cannot get back the time he has lost.

Critically acclaimed graphic novelist Katie O’Neill delivers another charming, gentle fantasy story about finding your purpose, and the community that helps you along the way.

Susan: This prequel to The Tea Dragon Society is INCREDIBLY cute! It’s a sweet little story full of community and friendship, and I adore it!

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Widow of Pale Harbor

Widow of Pale Harbor by Hester Fox

Author: Hester Fox
Released: September 17, 2019 by Graydon House
Genre: , ,

Maine, 1846. Gideon Stone is desperate to escape the ghosts that haunt him in Massachusetts after his wife’s death, so he moves to Pale Harbor, Maine, where there is a vacancy for a new minister. Gideon and his late wife had always dreamed of building their own church, and Pale Harbor is the perfect opportunity.

But not all is as it seems in the sleepy town of Pale Harbor. Strange, unsettling things have been happening, and the townspeople know that only one person can be responsible: Sophronia Carver, a widow who lives with a spinster maid in the decaying Castle Carver on the edge of town. Sophronia is a recluse, rumored to be a witch who killed her husband.

When Gideon meets her, he knows the charming, beautiful woman cannot be guilty of anything. Together, Gideon and Sophronia realize that the mysterious events have one thing in common: they all contain an element from the wildly popular stories of Mr. Edgar Allan Poe. And when the events escalate to murder, Gideon and Sophronia must find the real killer, before it’s too late for them both.

Elyse: A traditional gothic novel set on the Maine coast.

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A Dream So Dark

A Dream So Dark by L.L. McKinney

Author: L.L. McKinney
Released: September 24, 2019 by Imprint
Genre: ,
Series: The Nightmare-Verse #2

Still reeling from her recent battle (and grounded until she graduates), Alice must abandon her friends to complete her mission: find The Heart and prevent the Red Lady’s rise. But the deeper she ventures into Wonderland, the more topsy-turvy everything becomes. It’s not until she’s at her wits end that she realizes—Wonderland is trying to save her.

There’s a new player on the board; a poet capable of using Nightmares to not only influence the living but raise the dead. This Poet is looking to claim the Black Queen’s power—and Alice’s budding abilities—as their own.

Dreams have never been so dark in Wonderland, and if there is any hope of defeating this mystery poet’s magic, Alice must confront the worst in herself, in the people she loves, and in the very nature of fear itself.

Maya: OH MAN. I loved the first book and how it established the relationship between Wonderland and the real world, in particular how things like police brutality can create bigger, stronger nightmares in Wonderland because they feed off the fears and sadness of the community that experienced that violence. The first book ended on a cliffhanger, so I’m excited to dive back in!

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Archangel’s War

Archangel’s War by Nalini Singh

Author: Nalini Singh
Released: September 24, 2019 by Berkley
Genre: , ,
Series: Guild Hunter #12

Wings of silver. Wings of blue. Mortal heart. Broken dreams. Shatter. Shatter. Shatter. A sundering. A grave. I see the end. I see. . .

The world is in chaos as the power surge of the Cascade rises to a devastating crescendo. In furiously resisting its attempts to turn Elena into a vessel for Raphael’s power, Elena and her archangel are irrevocably changed. . .far beyond the prophecy of a cursed Ancient.

At the same time, violent and eerie events around the world threaten to wipe out entire populations. And in the Archangel Lijuan’s former territory, an unnatural fog weaves through the land, leaving only a bone-chilling silence in its wake. Soon it becomes clear that even the archangels are not immune to this deadly evil. This time, even the combined power of the Cadre may not be enough. . .

This war could end them all.

Aarya: Nalini Singh. Need I say more?

Maya: Sighhhhh my PNR queen Nalini Singh. I’m about to face unemployment with the accompanying free time and I am very worried that I might burn through all her books at once.

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The Bone Houses

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones

Author: Emily Lloyd-Jones
Released: September 24, 2019 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Genre: , ,

Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Sky in the Deep in this bewitching, historical horror novel, perfect for fans of Holly Black and V.E. Schwab.

Seventeen-year-old Aderyn (“Ryn”) only cares about two things: her family and her family’s graveyard. And right now, both are in dire straits. Since the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been scraping together a meager existence as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren, which sits at the foot of a harsh and deadly mountain range that was once home to the fae. The problem with being a gravedigger in Colbren, though, is that the dead don’t always stay dead.

The risen corpses are known as “bone houses,” and legend says that they’re the result of a decades-old curse. When Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker with a mysterious past, arrives in town, the bone houses attack with new ferocity. What is it that draws them near? And more importantly, how can they be stopped for good?

Together, Ellis and Ryn embark on a journey that will take them into the heart of the mountains, where they will have to face both the curse and the deeply-buried truths about themselves. Equal parts classic horror novel and original fairytale, The Bone Houses will have you spellbound from the very first page.

Amanda: I’m so ready to get spooky!

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Heiress Gone Wild

Heiress Gone Wild by Laura Lee Guhrke

Author: Laura Lee Guhrke
Released: September 24, 2019 by Avon
Genre: ,
Series: Dear Lady Truelove #4

Dear Lady Truelove,

My ward is driving me crazy. I have to marry her off and get her out of my life. There’s just one problem…

When Jonathan Deverill promised a dying friend he’d be guardian to the man’s daughter, he envisioned a girl in pigtails and pinafores, a child he could leave behind in some finishing school. Problem is, his ward is actually a fully-grown, defiant beauty whose longing for romance threatens to make his guardianship a living hell.

New York heiress Marjorie McGann wants a London season and a titled husband who can help her spend the Yankee millions she’s inherited, and she thinks her new British guardian is the perfect person to help her find him. But Jonathan has no intention of letting his friend’s fortune be squandered. Under his watchful, protective eye, Marjorie finds romance hard to come by . . . until one fateful night when her own guardian’s devastating kisses makes her wonder if the greatest romance of all might be right in front of her.

Catherine: Laura Lee Guhrke always feels like a guilty pleasure for me. I’m not sure why. Oh, I do know why though – that was the name of the first book of hers that I read, and it was delightful and used the language of flowers to send pointed insults. It’s probably too much to hope for a recurrence, but she does have a lovely way with humour, and her heroines are always interesting.

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Murder at Kensington Palace

Murder at Kensington Palace by Andrea Penrose

Author: Andrea Penrose
Released: September 24, 2019 by Kensington Books
Genre: ,
Series: A Wrexford and Sloane Mystery #3

Wrexford and Sloane must unravel secrets within secrets—including a few that entangle their own hearts—when they reunite to solve a string of shocking murders that have horrified Regency London…

Though Charlotte Sloane’s secret identity as the controversial satirical cartoonist A.J. Quill is safe with the Earl of Wrexford, she’s ill prepared for the rippling effects sharing the truth about her background has cast over their relationship. She thought a bit of space might improve the situation. But when her cousin is murdered and his twin brother is accused of the gruesome crime, Charlotte immediately turns to Wrexford for help in proving the young man’s innocence. Though she finds the brooding scientist just as enigmatic and intense as ever, their partnership is now marked by an unfamiliar tension that seems to complicate every encounter.

Despite this newfound complexity, Wrexford and Charlotte are determined to track down the real killer. Their investigation leads them on a dangerous chase through Mayfair’s glittering ballrooms and opulent drawing rooms, where gossip and rumors swirl to confuse the facts. Was her cousin murdered over a romantic rivalry . . . or staggering gambling debts? Or could the motive be far darker and involve the clandestine scientific society that claimed both brothers as members? The more Charlotte and Wrexford try to unknot the truth, the more tangled it becomes. But they must solve the case soon, before the killer’s madness seizes another victim…

Ellen: One of my favorite historical mystery series, with a delightful slow burn (emphasis on sloooow) romance subplot between the two Mystery Solvers. Also some very fun child characters who are not just Plot Moppets.

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The Orchid Throne

The Orchid Throne by Jeffe Kennedy

Author: Jeffe Kennedy
Released: September 24, 2019 by St. Martin's Paperbacks
Genre: , ,
Series: Forgotten Empires #1

Welcome to the world of Forgotten Empires from award winning author Jeffe Kennedy that begins with The Orchid Throne.

A PRISONER OF FATE
As Queen of the island kingdom of Calanthe, Euthalia will do anything to keep her people free—and her secrets safe—from the mad tyrant who rules the mainland. Guided by a magic ring of her father’s, Lia plays the political game with the cronies the emperor sends to her island. In her heart, she knows that it’s up to her to save herself from her fate as the emperor’s bride. But in her dreams, she sees a man, one with the power to build a better world—a man whose spirit is as strong, and whose passion is as fierce as her own…

A PRINCE AMONG MEN
Conrí, former Crown Prince of Oriel, has built an army to overthrow the emperor. But he needs the fabled Abiding Ring to succeed. The ring that Euthalia holds so dear to her heart. When the two banished rulers meet face to face, neither can deny the flames of rebellion that flicker in their eyes—nor the fires of desire that draw them together. But in this broken world of shattered kingdoms, can they ever really trust each other? Can their fiery alliance defeat the shadows of evil that threaten to engulf their hearts and souls?

Ellen: Jeffe Kennedy is one of my favorite authors so this was a no-brainer for me.

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SLAY

SLAY by Brittney Morris

Author: Brittney Morris
Released: September 24, 2019 by Simon Pulse
Genre:

Ready Player One meets The Hate U Give in this dynamite debut novel that follows a fierce teen game developer as she battles a real-life troll intent on ruining the Black Panther–inspired video game she created and the safe community it represents for black gamers

By day, seventeen-year-old Kiera Johnson is an honors student, a math tutor, and one of the only black kids at Jefferson Academy. But at home, she joins hundreds of thousands of black gamers who duel worldwide as Nubian personas in the secret multiplayer online role-playing card game, SLAY. No one knows Kiera is the game developer, not her friends, her family, not even her boyfriend, Malcolm, who believes video games are partially responsible for the “downfall of the black man.”

But when a teen in Kansas City is murdered over a dispute in the SLAY world, news of the game reaches mainstream media, and SLAY is labeled a racist, exclusionist, violent hub for thugs and criminals. Even worse, an anonymous troll infiltrates the game, threatening to sue Kiera for “anti-white discrimination.”

Driven to save the only world in which she can be herself, Kiera must preserve her secret identity and harness what it means to be unapologetically black in a world intimidated by blackness. But can she protect her game without losing herself in the process?

Maya: That cover!! The heroine is a Black teen that is good at math and a game developer!! She gets sued for “anti-white discrimination”! It all makes me want to simultaneously read it and set stuff on fire!!

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The Water Dancer

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Author: Ta-Nehisi Coates
Released: September 24, 2019 by One World
Genre: , ,

A boldly imagined work of magic and adventure from the National Book Award-winning author of Between the World and Me . 

Every plantation is a house of spies and intrigue, engineered to hide a fundamental reality: that it is built on slavery and built by the enslaved, its true geniuses and laborers stashed away in basements and fields, sleeping under beds and entering drawing rooms from passageways hidden behind sliding walls, their faces masks of compliance, their hearts beating with betrayal and insurrection. But against whom?

Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage–and lost his mother and all memory of her when he was a child–but he is also gifted with a mysterious power. Hiram almost drowns when he crashes a carriage into a river, but is saved from the depths by a force he doesn’t understand, a blue light that lifts him up and lands him a mile away. This strange brush with death forces a new urgency on Hiram’s private rebellion. Spurred on by his improvised plantation family, Thena, his chosen mother, a woman of few words and many secrets, and Sophia, a young woman fighting her own war even as she and Hiram fall in love, he becomes determined to escape the only home he’s ever known.

So begins an unexpected journey into the covert war on slavery that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia’s proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the deep South to dangerously utopic movements in the North. Even as he’s enlisted in the underground war between slavers and the enslaved, all Hiram wants is to return to the Walker Plantation to free the family he left behind–but to do so, he must first master his magical gift and reconstruct the story of his greatest loss.

This is a bracingly original vision of the world of slavery, written with the narrative force of a great adventure. Driven by the author’s bold imagination and striking ability to bring readers deep into the interior lives of his brilliantly rendered characters, The Water Dancer is the story of America’s oldest struggle–the struggle to tell the truth–from one of our most exciting thinkers and beautiful writers.

Maya: I adore this native Baltimorean. The Beautiful Struggle is a must read for anyone that wants to know more about Baltimore than what they’ve seen on The Wire and Coates’ essays for The Atlantic are always fire.

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Goalie Interference

Goalie Interference by Avon Gale

Author: Avon Gale
Released: September 30, 2019 by Carina Press
Genre: , ,
Series: Hat Trick #2

It’s goalie vs. goalie in this brand-new enemies-to-lovers hockey romance from Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn… 

Ryu Mori has had a stellar season as goalie for the Atlanta Venom. So when he’s called into management’s office, he’s expecting to hear he’s the new starting goalie for the team, not that some new guy—an incredibly hot, annoyingly bratty rookie—is here to compete for his spot.

Not everyone gets to play in the best league in the world. Emmitt Armstrong knows that, and he’s not about to waste the opportunity after grinding his way from the bottom to the top. If the Venom is looking for a meek, mild-mannered pushover, they’ve got the wrong guy.

Ryu doesn’t want to admit the other goalie’s smart mouth turns him on. Beating Armstrong at practice feels good, sure, but there are other, more fun ways to shut his rival up.

In this league, it’s winner takes all. But there’s more to life than winning, and if Emmitt and Ryu can get past their egos and competitive natures, they might just discover they work better as partners than they ever imagined possible.

Aarya: I loved the previous book in the Hat Trick series, and can’t wait to revisit the Atlanta Venom hockey team for another m/m romance (they’re rival goalies on the same team!).

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A Recommended Mystery, Maya Rodale, & More

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Polaris Rising

RECOMMENDED: Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik is $1.99! This is a sci-fi romance that released earlier this year and I absolutely loved it. You can read my A- here:

I am so incredibly happy that this book is in the world, especially after feeling like I’ve exhausted all my sci-fi romance options. Polaris Rising is exciting. It’s funny. It’s fan-fucking-tastic. My quibbles are minor in comparison to the joyful Good Book Noises I made while reading this.

As the seventh of nine children, Ada von Hasenberg knows that her only value to House von Hasenberg is as a political pawn in an arranged marriage. But after watching two of her older sisters get auctioned off to horrible men, Ada refuses to play her part. She flees off-planet and disappears for two years.

Ada’s father, fed up with her rebellion, offers a bounty for her safe return. The universe is a big place, but mercs are everywhere, and Ada is caught. With the merc ship full, she’s forced to share a cell with Marcus Loch, the Devil of Fornax Zero. Rumor has it he murdered every commanding officer who issued orders during the Fornax Rebellion. All anyone knows for sure is that the Royal Consortium wants his head.

Ada has no trouble believing the muscled man chained in the back of her cell is a killer. But when their ship is attacked by forces from rival House Rockhurst, Ada must decide whether to trust him—because once you release the devil, you can’t put him back. And when the attack heralds the opening salvo of a much bigger war, Ada must determine where her loyalties truly lie.

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The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone

RECOMMENDED: The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone by Felicity McLean is $1.99! This is part of today’s eight pages of Kindle Daily Deals and is being matched at select vendors. Elyse recently reviewed this one and gave it a B+:

The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone is one of the more unique thrillers I’ve read in a long time and it sucked me in completely.

‘We lost all three girls that summer. Let them slip away like the words of some half-remembered song and when one came back, she wasn’t the one we were trying to recall to begin with.’

So begins Tikka Molloy’s recount of the summer of 1992 – the summer the Van Apfel sisters, Hannah, the beautiful Cordelia and Ruth – disappear.

Eleven and one-sixth years old, Tikka is the precocious narrator of this fabulously endearing coming-of-age story, set in an eerie Australian river valley suburb with an unexplained stench. The Van Apfel girls vanish from the valley during the school’s ‘Showstopper’ concert, held at the outdoor amphitheatre by the river. While the search for the sisters unites the small community on Sydney’s urban fringe, the mystery of their disappearance remains unsolved forever.

Brilliantly observed, sharp, lively, funny and entirely endearing, this novel is part mystery, part coming-of-age story – and quintessentially Australian. Think The Virgin Suicides meets Jasper Jones meets Picnic at Hanging Rock.

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Lady Bridget’s Diary

Lady Bridget’s Diary by Maya Rodale is $1.99! This is the first book in the Keeping Up with the Cavendishes series and book four, It’s Hard Out Here for a Duke is also on sale. Carrie gave this one a B-:

Lady Bridget’s Diary is, structurally speaking, a total mess, and I didn’t believe a single thing that happened in it. However, the characters are delightful. I read this when I was down with the same cold that was afflicting everyone in America that particular week, and it was great for my humble purposes at the time: it was solidly entertaining and enjoyable, and I didn’t have to think a lot.

In the first novel of Maya Rodale’s stunning new series, an American heiress must learn to navigate London society and an infuriatingly irresistible rake . . .

Lord Darcy is the quintessential Englishman: wealthy, titled, impossibly proper, and horrified that a pack of Americans has inherited one of England’s most respected dukedoms. But his manners, his infamous self-restraint, and his better judgment fly out the window when he finds himself with the maddening American girl next door.

Lady Bridget Cavendish has grand—but thwarted—plans to become a Perfect Lady and take the haute ton by storm. In her diary, Bridget records her disastrous attempts to assimilate into London high society, her adoration of the handsome rogue next door, her disdain for the Dreadful Lord Darcy, and some truly scandalous secrets that could ruin them all.

It was loathing at first sight for Lady Bridget and Lord Darcy. But their paths keep crossing . . . and somehow involve kissing. When Lady Bridget’s diary goes missing, both Darcy and Bridget must decide what matters most of all—a sterling reputation or a perfectly imperfect love.

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Moxie

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu is $2.99! This is a YA novel with some girl power, which you might be needing right now. I also mentioned this in a previous Hide Your Wallet. Readers say this book is delightfully feminist, but do issue content warnings for sexual assault and rape. I’m not sure if these things are just mentioned in the book or actively described on the page. If you’ve read it, let us know in the comments!

An unlikely teenager starts a feminist revolution at a small-town Texan high school in the new novel from Jennifer Mathieu, author of The Truth About Alice.

MOXIE GIRLS FIGHT BACK!

Vivan Carter is fed up. Fed up with a school administration at her high school that thinks the football team can do no wrong. Fed up with sexist dress codes, hallway harassment, and gross comments from guys during class. But most of all, Viv Carter is fed up with always following the rules.

Viv’s mom was a tough-as-nails, punk rock Riot Grrrl in the ’90s, and now Viv takes a page from her mother’s past and creates a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. She’s just blowing off steam, but other girls respond. As Viv forges friendships with other young women across the divides of cliques and popularity rankings, she realizes that what she has started is nothing short of a girl revolution.

Moxie is a book about high school life that will make you wanna riot!

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Well Met by Jen DeLuca

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B

Well Met

by Jen DeLuca
September 3, 2019 · Berkley
Historical: EuropeanScience Fiction/FantasyYoung Adult

Well Met is a charming but slight romantic comedy about a person finding new self-esteem and purpose with a romance on the side. The romance is probably supposed to be more central but although I enjoyed it, it is the least interesting part of the story.

Emily put her college degree on hold and supported her boyfriend through his law school years with the agreement that he would support her in turn once he got his degree. As soon as he got his degree he dumped her. At about the same time, Emily’s big sister, April, was in a car accident. She needs extensive recuperation. Emily moves in with April to help her and April’s daughter, Caitlin.

Caitlin participates in the local Renaissance Faire every year, and she has to have an adult chaperone. Emily steps in and quickly learns to love the rehearsals and community – with the exception of Simon. Simon runs the Faire and Emily thinks that he is a humorless snob and that he hates her. Simon seems to think that Emily doesn’t take Faire seriously and he is very critical of her. Then Simon puts on his pirate outfit and persona and a sexy, funny, romantic Simon emerges. Emily the caregiving sister doesn’t like Simon but Emma the Tavern Wench (Emily’s Renaissance Faire persona), likes Pirate Simon A LOT.

The story is narrated by Emily and although the romance is pivotal, the story is really more about Emily learning to find her own purpose, community, and boundaries after a lifetime of putting her own needs last. I loved reading about the Renaissance Faire culture (I’ve attended a lot of fairs, but not worked at them, which is a very different experience than attending). I also enjoyed seeing Emily develop friendships and deepen her relationship with her sister.

The romance angle is fun because of the dual identities involved. Simon is mourning the death of his brother, who ran the Faire in the past. Simon feels duty-bound to take over the job and to keep everything the same as it was when his brother ran it. He’s constantly tense and sad. But in his pirate persona, he has a chance to be playful and irresponsible and silly and fabulously romantic. Watching Emily and Simon play with their Faire personas is a lot of fun. At the same time, it makes a lot of sense that it’s Emily, the outsider who has a lot of experience with living for others, who realizes how much running the Faire makes Simon feel stressed.

At the time of reading the book, I enjoyed the romance. It’s playful and fun with an undercurrent of powerful, mutual empathy and mutual emotional care. However, in retrospect, it’s the other aspects of the story that stick in my mind. I liked how April insists that Emily start to turn her attention to her own life as April gets stronger. I liked the friendship between Emily and her fellow tavern wench Stacey, and how Emily’s initial crush on a hot guy in a kilt turns into a warm but platonic friendship. I was pleased that Emily eventually got better at communicating and owning her strengths.

This was a light, quick read. It could have used expansion – in particular, I wanted to know more about April, and about April and Emily’s family background. More expansion could have made this a more powerful story. However, I also enjoyed the atmosphere of Faire, the pros and cons of small town life, and Emily’s character development. It’s a nice, breezy read for Faire season.

The Lady Rogue by Jenn Bennett

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B

The Lady Rogue

by Jenn Bennett
September 3, 2019 · Simon Pulse
Teen FictionHistorical: EuropeanYoung Adult

The Lady Rogue is a charming, magical, and exhilarating adventure across 1930s Romania. If the premise seems reminiscent of Indiana Jones, there’s a good reason for it. With treasure-hunting galore and reckless protagonists getting themselves entangled with ancient magical artifacts, The Lady Rogue is a madcap romp like no other. I wasted away a sunny afternoon recently, swaying on a hammock in my backyard while Theodora Fox and her love ex-best friend Huck Gallagher chased down her missing father and a missing ring purported to belong to Vlad the Impaler.

What makes up a madcap romp? Boisterous, impulsive, and headstrong seventeen-year-old heroine who willfully breaks the rules and tears across Europe to rescue her treasure-hunting father who is caught up in a nefarious job? Check. A ridiculously attractive teenage boy who clearly has Romantic Feelings but is determined to supress them for Mysterious and Stupid Teenage Boy Reasons (I would like to state for the record that Huck is an idiot but I love him anyway)? Check. A terrifying magical ring that may or may not (it’s “may,” absolutely “may”) have belonged to Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula? Check. Improbable survival while escaping trains, trekking through the Romanian countryside without money, and running through the middle of the woods from literal wolves? Check, check, check.

The Lady Rogue is the type of YA adventure where you have to just go with it. Theo and Huck embroil themselves in trouble that escalates in magnitude and terror with each passing chapter. You can’t question their survival/health too closely. Wondering “But are they still in the same clothes on Day 3 in the forest?”, “When was the last time anyone had a bath?”, or “How the fuck are they still alive after [incident in Chapter 16]?” is a pointless endeavor. They survive against insurmountable odds every other hour but still have the mental fortitude to joke about their terrifying escapades. I promise: it’s enjoyable as hell, but you need to just go with it. Bennett’s prose is magnetic and hilarious enough that it’s easy to forget pesky little details like that.

Regarding historical accuracy, I have zero knowledge about Vlad the Impaler, vampiric lore, or Romanian history. I’m ashamed to admit that I thought Vlad the Impaler was fictional, and was shocked to realize that he was a real person in real history (as opposed to fake history? You know what I mean). On one hand, I can’t promise that the facts that Bennett plays with are plausible to a Vlad the Impaler-enthusiast. On the other hand, the story will make complete sense if you’re a newbie to Vlad and his bloodthirsty acts of impalement.

There is a romantic thread that isn’t the main core of the story, but it’s so satisfying nonetheless. I’m a sucker for “we were best friends but then everything changed one drunken night with a kiss, at which point my dad found out and then you left and ghosted my letters for an entire year.” Oddly specific, but I do enjoy the angst this particular setup generated: the desperate longing each person clearly radiated which went unnoticed by everyone except the reader (I would like to state for the record that Theo is also an idiot but I love her anyway).

Added on to the “unrequited” and mutually suppressed feelings is Theo’s jealousy: her father chose Huck to accompany him on his latest treasure hunt and left her in Istanbul. There is a lot of animosity on Theo’s side initially, and the relationship is an interesting meld of enemies-to-lovers and friends-to-lovers. She can’t resist sniping at Huck, but it’s also hard to remain angry at someone when an occult society seems to be out for your blood. Theo’s conflicted thoughts on how to feel about Huck is one of my favorite parts of The Lady Rogue.

Unfortunately, while I thought the romantic arc was excellent for 90% of the novel, it tapers off to an unsatisfying and bewildering finish because a core conflict is never resolved.

Spoilers ahead

Huck’s abrupt departure from Theo’s life was due to her father Richard, who was furious that Huck (the son of a wartime friend and an orphan who moved in with Theo’s family at age thirteen) made romantic overtures toward Theo. Huck left New York and moved back in with his aunt in Ireland. It is clear that Theo’s absent father is the biggest antagonist to their love, and Huck is unwilling to risk a relationship with Theo lest he lose his father figure and family. I was expecting A Talk where this conflict would become resolved and everyone comes to terms with past mistakes.

This never happens. They rescue Theo’s dad and solve the mystery of the ring, and then it’s suddenly The End. Richard Fox clearly has regrets over banishing Huck a year ago, and allows Huck to join their family in their journey to visit a friend in Paris. There is no confirmation that Huck will be allowed to return to their home in NY or resume the family’s treasure-hunting activities even though Theo and Huck seem hopeful by her dad’s jovial attitude.

I mean, I can read between the lines and assume that everything will be okay. I can assume that Richard eventually apologizes for throwing Huck out of their family and approve of the relationship. I can assume that Huck and Theo won’t have to tiptoe around their relationship forever. But I have no assurance that any of those things will happen, and it’s so frustrating because Richard was the main cause of the romantic conflict. I wanted all of them to have an emotional confrontation and resolve their issues, and it just never happened. The terrific romantic arc ended in a whimper.

While the relationship conflict between Theo and Huck isn’t resolved to my satisfaction, I mostly enjoyed every second of the book and didn’t leave my sanctuary even when the bees started buzzing too close. This is a mark of high praise: I am deathly afraid of being stung (thank you, Anthony Bridgerton, for scarring teenage me) and I was too immersed in the book to sensibly retreat indoors. “Willing to risk bee stings” must be somewhere between Elyse’s “it’ll make you forget you’re sitting in cat pee” and “unwilling to leave the dentist’s sitting room to go home” on the Scale of Good Book Feelings (the latter has happened to me, and the long-suffering receptionist was too polite to kick me out). I’d recommend The Lady Rogue to any reader in need of a laugh-out-loud romp with angsty romantic feelings and many near-death experiences (I promise it ends happily!).

Contemporary Romance, Sci-Fi, & More

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Lady Derring Takes a Lover

Lady Derring Takes a Lover by Julie Anne Long is $1.99! This is the first book in The Palace of Rogues series and Carrie gave it a B-. Carrie really loved the heroine and the introduction to some awesome and strong women. However, she felt the romance was rather weak and there was a plot twist she didn’t quite care for.

A mistress. A mountain of debt. A mysterious wreck of a building.

Delilah Swanpool, Countess of Derring, learns the hard way that her husband, “Dear Dull Derring,” is a lot more interesting—and perfidious—dead than alive. It’s a devil of an inheritance, but in the grand ruins of the one building Derring left her, are the seeds of her liberation. And she vows never again to place herself at the mercy of a man.

But battle-hardened Captain Tristan Hardy is nothing if not merciless. When the charismatic naval hero tracks a notorious smuggler to a London boarding house known as the Rogue’s Palace, seducing the beautiful, blue-blooded proprietress to get his man seems like a small sacrifice.

They both believe love is a myth. But a desire beyond reason threatens to destroy the armor around their hearts. Now a shattering decision looms: Will Tristan betray his own code of honor…or choose a love that might be the truest thing he’s ever known?

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Bellewether

Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley is $2.99! We did a Cover Reveal for this one, since it was such an interesting departure from Kearsley’s usual covers. Some readers felt this one was slow to start, while others loved Kearlsey’s beautiful writing. This is a Kindle Daily Deal and is being price-matched at select vendors.

“The house, when I first saw it, seemed intent on guarding what it knew; but we all learned, by the end of it, that secrets aren’t such easy things to keep.”

It’s late summer, war is raging, and families are torn apart by divided loyalties and deadly secrets. In this complex and dangerous time, a young French Canadian lieutenant is captured and billeted with a Long Island family, an unwilling and unwelcome guest. As he begins to pitch in with the never-ending household tasks and farm chores, Jean-Philippe de Sabran finds himself drawn to the daughter of the house. Slowly, Lydia Wilde comes to lean on Jean-Philippe, true soldier and gentleman, until their lives become inextricably intertwined. Legend has it that the forbidden love between Jean-Philippe and Lydia ended tragically, but centuries later, the clues they left behind slowly unveil the true story.

Part history, part romance, and all kinds of magic, Susanna Kearsley’s latest masterpiece will draw you in and never let you go, even long after you’ve closed the last page.

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Semiosis

Semiosis by Sue Burke is $2.99! This scifi novel was featured in a previous Hide Your Wallet. Readers love all the science-y aspects of this book, while others felt it dragged down some of the momentum. It has a 3.9 star rating on Goodreads. This has been on my TBR pile for a while, though I heard the audiobook is great.

In this character driven novel of first contact by debut author Sue Burke, human survival hinges on an bizarre alliance.

Only mutual communication can forge an alliance with the planet’s sentient species and prove that mammals are more than tools.

Forced to land on a planet they aren’t prepared for, human colonists rely on their limited resources to survive. The planet provides a lush but inexplicable landscape—trees offer edible, addictive fruit one day and poison the next, while the ruins of an alien race are found entwined in the roots of a strange plant. Conflicts between generations arise as they struggle to understand one another and grapple with an unknowable alien intellect.

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Bombshell

RECOMMENDEDBombshell by C.D. Reiss is 99c at Amazon! The second book is also on sale and has a bodyguard romance. This was a new-to-me author and features a trope I don’t read very often: single parents. But I would up really enjoying it. The romance is light on angst and has a great “found family” feel to it. I gave it a B+ in a Lightning Review.

From New York Times bestselling author CD Reiss, a standalone romance about a nanny, a Hollywood star, and a love they never expected.

Hollywood bad boy Brad Sinclair always gets his way, whether it’s the role he wants or the bikini-clad model he has to have. But when a bombshell gets dropped in his lap in the form of a dimpled five-year-old from a forgotten relationship, he knows his life is about to change forever.

Cara DuMont isn’t exactly thrilled when she gets assigned to be the nanny for the latest box-office king. She has one rule: no celebrity fathers, especially single ones with devilish good looks and rock-hard abs.

But as soon as Cara meets Brad and his adorable little girl, she knows she’s in for a world of trouble. Because there’s something about the way Brad looks at her that makes her believe that some rules are meant to be broken…

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Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore

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B+

Bringing Down the Duke

by Evie Dunmore
September 3, 2019 · Berkley
Historical: EuropeanRomance

Bringing Down the Duke is a historical romance set in England in 1879. It involves the early days of the women’s suffrage movement, so basically I’m all, “You had me at suffrage movement.” Every time they focused on romance drama instead of suffrage drama I got all sad but then cheered up because the romance was very good. This story excels in terms of entertaining characters, and I’d love to see a spin-off story about almost every single one of them.

Annabelle Archer wants to go to Oxford, which just opened its first women’s colleges. Since her father died, Annabelle has been her cousin Gilbert’s “maid for everything.” I do not want a spin-off about Gilbert, who is exercable. Anyway, after some deft manipulation by Annabelle, Gilbert agrees to let Annabelle go to Oxford as long as she sends him two pounds a week so he can hire someone to take her place in the household. In addition to the money, she must have perfect moral conduct.

This is a problem, because Annabelle’s scholarship comes from the National Society for Women’s Suffrage, and a requirement of the scholarship is that she volunteer with the society, which, surely in Gilbert’s eyes, would be immoral. In addition to volunteering and studying, Annabelle has to tutor pupils and work as her professor’s assistant to raise the two pounds a week, which means that she doesn’t eat or sleep very much.

Annabelle is ordered to try to win the Duke of Montgomery (Sebastian) over to the suffrage cause, but he has his own problems. The broody and intimidating Montgomery has a ton of family baggage (literal and metaphorical) and is trying to reclaim the land that his deceased father lost at cards. He has been ordered by Queen Victoria (who, both historically and in this book, vehemently opposed women’s suffrage) to ensure that the Tories win the upcoming election. If they win, he gets one of his castles back and if he loses, well…that would not be amusing for anyone.

For various plot reasons Annabelle and Montgomery end up spending a lot of time together at his estate and obviously they fall madly in love, but alas, an ambitious aristocrat such as himself cannot marry a commoner like Annabelle, plus he has this election to manage, but clearly they are meant to be, and thus ensue many delightful scenes and awkward encounters that will surely delight the reader. Being the person I am, I was especially thrilled when Montgomery provides Annabelle with a warm bed, a new coat, a pile of books, and lots of food. Surely books, naps and snacks are the way to everyone’s heart.

I have to admit that two minutes after finishing the book I remembered almost nothing of what had happened with the exception of a few jewel-like scenes and the characters. Not only “alpha but not asshole” Montgomery, of course, and Annabelle, who is fantastic, but also the supporting characters. Through her work with the suffragists, Annabelle becomes friends with a wonderful group of women, each of whom deserve their own story. Sebastian’s younger brother Peregrin is denounced by Annabelle as being “spoiled” but I see hidden depths. I find Annabelle’s professor, Jenkins, to be quite sexy despite Annabella’s utter lack of romantic interest in him (he offers her a mutual convenience proposal):

He was, of course, a brilliant man, and an eligible bachelor, too, not too old and with nice teeth and a good set of shoulders…he had taken her to a concert. He bickered at her in Latin twice a week and he fed her apples.

My God, Annabelle, what does it take to make you happy? A man who bickers in Latin is nothing to sneeze at! Bronte-types like Montgomery are exhausting! Go for the professor!

Alas, the villains tend to be one-dimensional. Griffin is a one-note, stuffy man who is almost a parody of the type. Queen Victoria is not just mean, which to be fair she sometimes historically was, but also she is foolish. On the other hand, Sebastian’s ex-girlfriend, who he treats quite badly, does something bad but her motive is not jealousy, and she makes up for it later. Really, Sebastian’s treatment of this character lowered his estimation in my eyes so far that his book offerings to Annabelle barely made up for it.

Also, after 323 pages of “we can’t possibly marry,” in a 335 page book, the requisite romance novel happy ending kicks in and it turns out that they can, possibly, marry, and that it isn’t even difficult. Is it possible that I am becoming too much of a curmudgeon to read romance?

Click for ending spoilers and my cold dead heart.

What kind of cold, dead heart says, “Ugh, why didn’t you decide that you could just spend a couple of years laying low in the Mediterranean until the scandal dies down 323 pages ago?” Mine, apparently. Don’t worry, they are still spending time in England so Annabelle can finish her studies.

Nitpicks aside, I very much enjoyed this book and look forward to a sequel. Personally, I ship Annabelle’s society friend Hattie with Professor Jenkins. Fingers crossed!

HaBO: Risque Conversation About Horses & Bridles

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This HaBO request is from Sally, who is looking for a historical romance:

I am looking for a historical romance with possibly older dark and sinister man who is fascinated by a possibly plain and unresponsive woman.

The detail that stands out is that they have a risqué conversation about whores, horses and bridles while on a country walk and possibly quip at each other under a tree.

Ring any bells?

Though the HaBO is rather sparse, that certainly sounds like a very memorable scene.


Dukes, Lizzie Borden, & More

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Kingdom of Exiles

RECOMMENDEDKingdom of Exiles by Maxym M. Martineau is $1.99! This is a Kindle Daily Deal and is being price-matched. Many of today’s deals include romance, so check them out! This is the first book in a fantasy romance series and I enjoyed it, giving it a B+:

If you’re a patient reader and get excited at having a coterie of magical animals, you’ll have a ton of fun with Kingdom of Exiles.

Assassin’s Creed meets Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in this gripping, epic fantasy romance trilogy.

My heart wasn’t part of the deal when I bargained for my life,
But assassins so rarely keep their word.

Exiled Charmer Leena Edenfrell is running out of time. Empty pockets forced her to sell her beloved magical beasts-an offense punishable by death-and now there’s a price on her head. With the realm’s most talented murderer-for-hire nipping at her heels, Leena makes Noc an offer he can’t refuse: powerful mythical creatures in exchange for her life.

Plagued by a curse that kills everyone he loves, Noc agrees to Leena’s terms in hopes of finding a cure. Never mind that the dark magic binding the assassin’s oath will eventually force him to choose between Leena’s continued survival…and his own.

In a game of trust and half-lies, only one thing can be certain: traps capture more than beasts and ensnared hearts are impossible to untangle.

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The Trial of Lizzie Borden

RECOMMENDEDThe Trial of Lizzie Borden by Cara Roberston is $3.99! Elyse gave this one an A grade, which is pretty impressive:

If you want to read about how our understanding of gender vilified and later exonerated and then again vilified a complicated woman, then again this book is for you. It’s easily one of the best true crime books I’ve read to date.

The remarkable new account of an essential piece of American mythology—the trial of Lizzie Borden—based on twenty years of research and recently unearthed evidence.

The Trial of Lizzie Borden tells the true story of one of the most sensational murder trials in American history. When Andrew and Abby Borden were brutally hacked to death in Fall River, Massachusetts, in August 1892, the arrest of the couple’s younger daughter Lizzie turned the case into international news and her trial into a spectacle unparalleled in American history. Reporters flocked to the scene. Well-known columnists took up conspicuous seats in the courtroom. The defendant was relentlessly scrutinized for signs of guilt or innocence. Everyone—rich and poor, suffragists and social conservatives, legal scholars and laypeople—had an opinion about Lizzie Borden’s guilt or innocence. Was she a cold-blooded murderess or an unjustly persecuted lady? Did she or didn’t she?

The popular fascination with the Borden murders and its central enigmatic character has endured for more than one hundred years. Immortalized in rhyme, told and retold in every conceivable genre, the murders have secured a place in the American pantheon of mythic horror, but one typically wrenched from its historical moment. In contrast, Cara Robertson explores the stories Lizzie Borden’s culture wanted and expected to hear and how those stories influenced the debate inside and outside of the courtroom. Based on transcripts of the Borden legal proceedings, contemporary newspaper accounts, unpublished local accounts, and recently unearthed letters from Lizzie herself, The Trial of Lizzie Borden offers a window onto America in the Gilded Age, showcasing its most deeply held convictions and its most troubling social anxieties.

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No Dukes Allowed

No Dukes Allowed is 99c! This is an anthology that collects three novellas by Grace Burrowes, Kelly Bowen, and Anna Harrington; these are some great authors. I don’t think these novellas had been previously published elsewhere, but correct me if I’m wrong.

Who doesn’t love a duke?

Find out in this Regency novella trio by Kelly Bowen, Grace Burrowes, and Anna Harrington…

Three ladies share a temporary seaside residence in Brighton to escape the London season’s gossip and matchmaking. These women are most assuredly not looking for flirtation–much less love–and they would all agree that dukes are a perishing lot of bother anyway. Fortunately for our heroines, three fellows who are not dukes come waltzing by with much more than casual flirtation in mind…

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We Sold Our Souls

RECOMMENDED: We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix is $1.99! Carrie read this one and gave it an A-:

It’s a fantastic celebration of music, it has great characters, it’s funny and sad and awful and terrifying and hurrah and feminist, and it is all about how our passions can save our souls.

A new novel of supernatural horror (and pop culture) from the author of HorrorstorMy Best Friend’s Exorcism, and Paperbacks from Hell.

In the 1990s, heavy metal band Dürt Würk was poised for breakout success — but then lead singer Terry Hunt embarked on a solo career and rocketed to stardom as Koffin, leaving his fellow bandmates to rot in rural Pennsylvania.

Two decades later, former guitarist Kris Pulaski works as the night manager of a Best Western – she’s tired, broke, and unhappy. Everything changes when she discovers a shocking secret from her heavy metal past: Turns out that Terry’s meteoric rise to success may have come at the price of Kris’s very soul.

This revelation prompts Kris to hit the road, reunite with the rest of her bandmates, and confront the man who ruined her life. It’s a journey that will take her from the Pennsylvania rust belt to a Satanic rehab center and finally to a Las Vegas music festival that’s darker than any Mordor Tolkien could imagine. A furious power ballad about never giving up, even in the face of overwhelming odds, We Sold Our Souls is an epic journey into the heart of a conspiracy-crazed, paranoid country that seems to have lost its very soul…where only a girl with a guitar can save us all.

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

HaBO: Heroine From a Sailing Family

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This HaBO comes from Nicole, who is hoping to find this historical:

I have been trying to remember the name of a book and the series it belongs to an I cannot for the life of me come up with anything. I remember it being a fairly popular historical/by a popular author, and this is the story of one of the sisters in the family.

The father and possibly an older brother are sailors/pirates/seafaring dude people and she spent at least some of her childhood sailing with them. She remembers a sister and is told that this sister is imaginary, but I believe later realizes that she really does have a half sister that her father and maybe also the brother lied to her about (because it would reveal the father’s infidelity?).

At the end of one of her (acknowledged) sister’s novels, she takes off to go find her missing sister, setting up the next novel, in which she is half of the main duo.

What is this series? I’ve thoroughly forgotten basically everything I ever knew about historicals.

Forget secret baby. What about secret sisters?!

A Duke in Disguise by Cat Sebastian

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A-

A Duke in Disguise

by Cat Sebastian
April 9, 2019 · Avon Impulse
RegencyRomance

This book was like a warm hug. The characters were people I would love to know in real life, the relationships (romantic and otherwise) were tender, and gentle emotional healing was a major theme. In other words, my crops are watered, my skin is clear, my checkbook is balanced, etc., etc., etc.

Let us start with our protagonists, Verity and Ash, who felt very real and immediate. Verity is clever, ambitious, and practical, and these are some of the traits that make her desirable and appealing to Ash. He describes her early on in the book:

“She bore more in common with a hawk picking the meat from its prey’s bones than with a songbird collecting twigs and leaves.”

(#Goals). This sounds almost like the way a stereotypical sexist old guard fantasy author would describe a malevolent witch villain, but from Ash, it is clear that this comparison comes from a place of tenderness and admiration.

I find that often when a heroine has a certain ruthlessness about her, much of the romantic arc is about her becoming “softer.” Refreshingly, Verity’s character arc does not require her to become soft to become open to love. Instead, Verity’s journey towards love is about her overcoming her belief that she’s not suited for lasting romantic attachment, rather than a need for her to transmute her hardness into something more acceptably, normatively feminine. She needs to learn that she can still be her whole crusty self and be in a loving romantic relationship. (As a hard-shelled Cancer, I relate strongly to this.)

For his part, Ash is a bit of a gentle sadboy. This is not a criticism; he is basically the toxic masculinity antitoxin. He has a lot of softness and vulnerability in a very sexy way. He and Verity have incredible, wry, funny, warm, sexy dialogue. I laughed aloud at several points. One example:

“You ought to consider what conditions you’re subjecting your hairpins to if they’d rather plummet to their death than work for you.”

I also enjoyed that both Verity and Ash had professions that they were good at. Verity runs a publishing house and does some writing, and Ash is an artist and engraver. Definite historical competence porn. The descriptions of Ash’s engravings made me wish I could see them! For example:

“This one depicted Catherine leaning against a wall, one leg wrapped around Perkin Warbeck’s waist. Their robes were a tangle of light and shadow, doing more to emphasize their undress rather than to obscure it.”

(*fans self*)

The main thrust (hehe) of the romantic plot is essentially a friends to lovers story set amidst a lot of other threads, including the perils of printing seditious materials and Ash’s hidden birthright. Friends to lovers is actually not a trope I am usually very interested in because I often find that there is either a) not enough tension or b) the tension feels artificial. However, I LOVED it in this case.

I think what made it work for me was that no one was secretly completely in love with anyone at the outset of the book. Instead, they had a strong, fond friendship with an undercurrent of sexual and romantic tension that both people were aware of but were deliberately not acting on for various reasons that were legible in the context of the story and characters. (Certainly, one side of the duo seemed more aware that it could become romantic love than the other. But I would argue that no one started there.) Ash describes their initial state as a “game of feigned mutual indifference” which I found delicious. The tension is quite intense but understated, more of a softly vibrating string than a snapping rubber band. Various changes in circumstance (growing political tensions, Ash’s parental figure being away in Italy to recover from illness, having to take Drastic Steps to prevent a brother from going to prison, the need to publish an erotic novel for money…) make the tension boil over, and then the friendship and the sex kind of cross-pollinate into love in a very satisfying manner.

Both Verity and Ash have some deep emotional wounds. Verity feels the stress of being constantly on the brink of poverty and of her fractious (though loving) relationship with her reckless, revolutionary brother, Nate, and she quite reasonably fears the loss of independence that comes with marriage. Ash was abandoned as a child and passed around between foster homes due to his epilepsy, and, though he seems to have a certain amount of contentment with the life he has now, he still feels some intense grief. A lot of this book is centered on healing these wounds through not just romantic love, but friendship and family. There are some dark themes (political violence, domestic terrorism) but the overall arc tends towards optimism and love in a way that feels downright…wholesome. This book would go great with a hot cup of tea and some nice scones or shortbread.

There were also awesome secondary characters, although I mostly wanted to throttle and/or slap some sense into Nate, Verity’s brother. Portia Allenby (those who read the first book in the series, Unmasked by the Marquess, will remember Portia as the mistress of Alistair’s deceased father) continues to be excellent. We see her in a new light as Verity’s friend and former lover. I would love a book about her, although I suspect the next book in the series will be about her daughter, Amelia. Another excellent character is Lady Caroline Talbot, a noblewoman who hires Ash to make some botanical drawings. She seems fragile and delicate at first, but clearly has an iron will and, again, a level of ruthlessness I deeply appreciate.

The only thing keeping me from giving a straight A was that the pacing of the last 10% or so of the book, when the major non-romantic conflict is resolved, felt quite rushed in a way that left me feeling just slightly unsatisfied. A lot happened and yet it was strangely anticlimactic. I will also say that Ash and Verity working together on illustrating and printing the sexy novel ended up being less of the plot than I anticipated from the blurb, but that’s not really a criticism of the book, just more of an expectation management note.

Of course, since this is a Cat Sebastian book, there’s a healthy heaping dose of revolutionary politics, musings on duty and what makes a good person in the world, strong queer rep, and feminism. If I had to sum up A Duke in Disguise, I would say that it’s indulgent and deeply nourishing at the same time. (Also, I might be hung up on the food metaphor because descriptions of delicious food are another feature of this book. Cheese is practically a secondary character.) In sum, I have a hard time imagining any romance novel reader who wouldn’t appreciate and enjoy this book for one or more or many reasons.

Shifter Romance, Julia Quinn, & More

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How to Lose a Duke in Ten Days

How to Lose a Duke in Ten Days by Laura Lee Guhrke is $1.99! This historical romance is the second book in An American Heiress in London series. Featuring a marriage of convenience, our heroine only agrees to marry the hero because he’ll be living his life out on another continent, until a near death experience brings him back home. Readers do give a trigger warning for rape and abuse, which divided many reviewers.

They had a deal . . .

From the moment she met the devil-may-care Duke of Margrave, Edie knew he could change her life. And when he agreed to her outrageous proposal of a marriage of convenience, she was transformed from ruined American heiress to English duchess. Five years later, she’s delighted with their arrangement, especially since her husband is living on another continent.

But deals are made to be broken . . .

By marrying an heiress, Stuart was able to pay his family’s enormous debts, and Edie’s terms that he leave England forever seemed a small price to pay. But when a brush with death impels him home, he decides it’s time for a real marriage with his luscious American bride, and he proposes a bold new bargain: ten days to win her willing kiss. But is ten days enough to win her heart?

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The Wolf at the Door

The Wolf at the Door by Charlie Adhara is $1.99! This is a m/m paranormal romance and was recommended by Aarya in our Underrated Authors & Romances Rec League. Though this one wasn’t Aarya’s favorite in the series, she still really liked this one.

A former FBI agent is partnered with the enemy in this suspenseful male/male shifter romance from debut author Charlie Adhara

Hunting for big bad wolves was never part of Agent Cooper Dayton’s plan, but a werewolf attack lands him in the carefully guarded Bureau of Special Investigations. A new case comes with a new partner: ruggedly sexy werewolf Oliver Park.

Park is an agent of The Trust, a werewolf oversight organization working to ease escalating tensions with the BSI. But as far as Cooper’s concerned, it’s failing. As they investigate a series of mysterious deaths unlike anything they’ve seen, every bone in Cooper’s body is suspicious of his new partner—even when Park proves himself as competent as he is utterly captivating.

When more people vanish, pressure to solve the case skyrockets. And though he’d resolved to keep things professional, Cooper’s friction with Park soon erupts…into a physical need that can’t be contained or controlled. But with a body count that’s rising by the day, werewolves and humans are in equal danger. If Cooper and Park don’t catch the killer soon, one—or both—of them could be the next to go.

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband

The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband by Julia Quinn is $1.99! This is a historical romance that is inspired heavily by While You Were Sleeping. Some readers didn’t enjoy the heroine very much, while others loved the emotional punch this one packed.

While you were sleeping…

With her brother Thomas injured on the battlefront in the Colonies, orphaned Cecilia Harcourt has two unbearable choices: move in with a maiden aunt or marry a scheming cousin. Instead, she chooses option three and travels across the Atlantic, determined to nurse her brother back to health. But after a week of searching, she finds not her brother but his best friend, the handsome officer Edward Rokesby. He’s unconscious and in desperate need of her care, and Cecilia vows that she will save this soldier’s life, even if staying by his side means telling one little lie…

I told everyone I was your wife

When Edward comes to, he’s more than a little confused. The blow to his head knocked out six months of his memory, but surely he would recall getting married. He knows who Cecilia Harcourt is—even if he does not recall her face—and with everyone calling her his wife, he decides it must be true, even though he’d always assumed he’d marry his neighbor back in England.

If only it were true…

Cecilia risks her entire future by giving herself—completely—to the man she loves. But when the truth comes out, Edward may have a few surprises of his own for the new Mrs. Rokesby.

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Strange Practice

Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw is $2.99! I’ve been so curious about this one because the heroine is a “fast-talking doctor to the undead.” It sounds all sorts of awesome. I definitely bought this after the last time it was on sale. If you’ve read this one, let me know what you thought!

Meet Greta Helsing, fast-talking doctor to the undead. Keeping the supernatural community not-alive and well in London has been her family’s specialty for generations.

Greta Helsing inherited the family’s highly specialized, and highly peculiar, medical practice. In her consulting rooms, Dr. Helsing treats the undead for a host of ills – vocal strain in banshees, arthritis in barrow-wights, and entropy in mummies. Although barely making ends meet, this is just the quiet, supernatural-adjacent life Greta’s been groomed for since childhood.

Until a sect of murderous monks emerges, killing human and undead Londoners alike. As terror takes hold of the city, Greta must use her unusual skills to stop the cult if she hopes to save her practice, and her life.

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Links: Barbie, Environmentalism, & More

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Workspace with computer, journal, books, coffee, and glasses.It’s Links time! I’m excited about all of these things below and I hope you will be too once you see them.

If you had a long weekend because of Labor Day, I hope the weather held out and you have some great plans. For those in the ever-changing path of Hurricane Dorian, stay safe!

As someone who goes to therapy on a weekly basis, I loved TeenVogue‘s collection of therapy advice from fifty people.

Autumn is my favorite season and I just love Halloween. If I had money to burn, I would purchase the entirety of ModCloth’s Halloween collection.

In April, porn site PornHub launched a campaign to save the bees, now they’re cleaning up the beaches! Note: the link goes to Forbes, so it’s relatively SFW. PornHub also has a SFW landing page for their campaign, though “pornhub” is still in the URL.

There are Star Wars Barbie dolls now! I’m a little iffy on the execution, but the Leia-inspired doll is definitely my favorite.

I probably watch this Adele “prank” at least once a month:

Don’t forget to share what super cool things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!

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