RECOMMENDED: This week has brought a lot of contemporary books on sale, but here's a deal I don't want you to miss: The Kowalski Series Bundle 1 by Shannon Stacey is books 1-3 of the Kowalski series, and it's $5.99 at Amazon and BN, and $7.50-$9.99 elsewhere. However! Since it's Carina, you can use coupons – such as these Kobo coupons good for 50% off: fbr50, arl50 or mch50. They drop the price for the bundle down to about $3.80 – nice!
This bundle includes Exclusively Yours, Undeniably Yours, and Yours to Keep. I really, really loved books 1 and 3, though book 2 was not for me. I gave Exclusively Yours a B+ and wrote:
I had such a good old time reading this book. There were some flaws to the plot but while reading it, I was charmed and giggly and totally absorbed. This book made me happy. That’s probably the best way to put it: it made me smile. A lot. Books like this are why I read romance.
Exclusively Yours was a Book Club Pick in July of 2010, and Yours to Keep was a Book Club Pick in June of 2011. This series is funny, charming – and features some wonderful characters with truly loving family relationships.
Three contemporary romances about family, fun and falling in love by New York Times bestselling author Shannon Stacey
Exclusively Yours (Book One of The Kowalskis)
When Keri Daniels's boss finds out she has previous carnal knowledge of reclusive bestselling author Joe Kowalski, she gives Keri a choice: get an interview or get a new job. Joe's never forgotten the girl who broke his heart, so he proposes an outrageous plan—for every day she survives his family camping trip, Keri can ask one question. Will a little blackmail, a whole lot of family and some sizzling interludes make Keri reconsider the old dream of Keri & Joe 2gether 4ever?
Undeniably Yours (Book Two of The Kowalskis)
Bar owner Kevin Kowalski is used to women throwing their phone numbers at him, but he's more interested in finding Mrs. Right than Miss Right Now. Enter Beth Hansen. They may have started out all wrong, but Kevin knows there's more to their relationship than a one-night stand. Especially when Beth winds up pregnant…
Yours to Keep (Book Three of The Kowalskis)
Emma Shaw needs a husband, stat! Grandma Shaw is coming to town, and she'll have nonstop questions about Emma's (stagnant) love life. A little pretend kissing with recruited fake fiancé Sean Kowalski won't hurt anyone—but when innocent kisses lead to very real sparks, Emma and Sean discover that their big ruse might just lead to happily-ever-after…
Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo
I know many of you like audiobooks, and I just learned of this Amazon feature today:
My sons love to listen to audiobooks before bed, so this will help me fill their audiolibraries quickly and cheaply, too. Nice.
Daring Miss Danvers by Vivienne Lorret is .99c right now. This is a historical romance that, judging from the cover art, is about an impressionist painter who purchased too much pastel paint and has a secret affection for his tanning bed. That's not really what it's about, of course. It's a fake engagement story – the hero pretends to be engaged to his best friend's wallflower sister. That always works out the way they want.
BRRRRRIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGGG!
(Beg pardon – I forgot to set my Catnip Alarm to “silent.”)
This is the first book in the Wallflower Weddings series, and has a 3.79 average on GR.
It's all fun and games . . . until someone falls in love.
Oliver Goswick, Viscount Rathburn, needs money—and soon. With time ticking away and his inheritance held hostage until he's properly wed, Rathburn's slim options point to a single solution: a faux engagement. In need of the perfect bride, he knows of only one candidate: his best friend's wallflower sister. The plan seems flawless, except for one problem . . . He can't help falling in love with her.
Poised, polished Emma Danvers knows nothing good can come of Rathburn's scheme. Spending the next two months engaged in a mock courtship is not what she'd imagined for her final season. Yet, charmed by his roguish ways and the inexplicable hammering he causes in her heart, she accepts his challenge.
For Emma, keeping the secret seemed easy when it was just a game . . . But as Rathburn begins to see past her reserved exterior to the passionate woman within, the risk of losing her heart becomes all too real.
Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is $4.99 at Amazon (come on over, price matching fairies!). This is a fantasy novel, with a love story within it, but it's not a romance. It is, however, praised effusively for the language, the worldbuilding, and the magic of the circus itself. Have you read this book?
The circus arrives without warning.
No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing.
Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.
The Amazon-Audible link is so very cool. I am astonished at the number of books that have audio versions. Some prices are still high, but what a great idea.
Those Audible prices: there goes all my money….
Drat. Your catnip alarm forced me to one-click. Ding-a-ling, click.
I’ve read The Night Circus and enjoyed it. It’s been a while since I read it but I remember enjoying the writing style and world building but that the romance part wasn’t as well developed as I would have liked.
The kindle app now has an option that you can listen to the matching audiobooks of your kindle books right there in the app. I’ve been using it at work the last couple days and it’s pretty great. I don’t have wifi on my kindle or iPod so it was harder to sync the books when I wasn’t home before. Now I just have to hit the audio button on the app and it automatically starts where I stopped reading. I usually still read on my actual kindle since I prefer that to my iPod then I enter the location I’m at on my paperwhite into the book on my app then bit the audio version.
I should have said I don’t have a 3G capable iPod or kindle just wifi.
I loved the Night Circus. The imagery was amazing and even the love story, though not your typical romance, was sweet. I would recommend reading at the very least to give your imagination something beautiful to run with…
I also read and listened to The Night Circus. Possibly one of my favorite standalones I have ever had the joy of reading. It definitely has a particular audience, it isn’t for everyone. But if you enjoy world building and a bit of whimsy (and that not all of the questions you have are answered), you’ll enjoy it.
Loved loved loved The Night Circus.
and my catnip alarm went off too and I had sworn not to buy any more books this month. I’ll be good next month….
Awesome sales – of course I own and/or have read most. Night Circus – wonderful! Night Circus – terrific read. May need to buy the Ms. Danvers book.
Normally these sales don’t sink my budget, but today’s Amazon whisper sync blew my budget out of the water. Oh, I did fine with the 8-10 books that were in my kindle library. I spent $6-7 total in adding audible copies. But then I remembered, I’ve been wanting all of the Discworld series in audio format. Hmm, perhaps some of Pratchett’s books were on double sale – first for the kindle edition & then the whisper sync. Sure enough. I bought 10 of them and was tempted by ~10 more. If the combined prince was more than $11 it didn’t get bought, but still. I think I just spent $100 approx. on this deal. So, uh, thanks?
I am going to be the lone dissenting voice for The Night Circus, apparently. I found the plotting slow, the characters one-dimensional, and the romance undeveloped. It’s basically a love-at-first sight, and the h/h are rarely face-to-face. As for plotting, for the first 150 pages, I kept waiting for something to happen. I think The Night Circus works best for people who like “atmospheric” books and/or circuses. There’s a consistent mood throughout the book of mystery and enchantment, a mood I don’t ever think is fully deserved, but it’s there. The circus descriptions are the best part. Imaginatively rendered, the circus world is fascinating and beautiful. But I didn’t feel that it was backed up with fascinating and beautiful characters. Obviously my opinion is the outlier and YMMV.
Wasn’t a huge fan of the Night Circus. The book was a little too in love with its own cleverness, but lacked substance.
My major complaint though is that one of the characters in this book is—I shit you not—a tattooed Japanese woman who only speaks in wise riddles and otherwise exemplifies all those fucked up orientalist tropes about asian women. She’s a goddamn plot device.
Thank you for the heads up, Lulu. Was thinking about getting Night Circus, but won’t get it now that I know about the annoying sterotyped asian character. That’s the kind of thing that would make me want to throw the ereader across the room… Wish someone had tipped me off to the horridly grotesque caricature of a Chinese man that is Mr. Willoughby in Diana Gabaldon’s Voyager before I bought it and had to DNF it.
@Nancy:
This part:
for some reason made me laugh so hard I started coughing. For people who like atmosphere and/or circuses. HA!
I could only get through 100 pages of The Night Circus before giving up. I might try it again, though. But it was pretty slow.
I agree with Nancy about the night circus. I had been looking forward to reading it, and the premise sounded intriguing but it was a huge disappointment. I also kept waiting for something to happen…but it didn’t. Some of the descriptions were very lovely, but the plot and character development were lacking. Most people I personally know who have read the night circus had similar experiences. It was A huge let down for me.
I listened to The Night Circus instead of reading and that was a mistake, I think. It was hard to keep it straight—it went by dates, and they jumped around. Unlike in a written book, I couldn’t check back quickly for references, and found myself constantly confused about when things were happening. I wanted to love it like most other people, but couldn’t.