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The Secret History of the Pink Carnation
RIPPED BODICE RECOMMENDED: The Secret History of the Pink Carnation is $2.99! This has romance, a bit of mystery, and some historical elements. On a podcast episode with Bea and Leah of The Ripped Bodice, Leah mentioned that she recommends this book pretty frequently. Have you read this one?
Deciding that true romantic heroes are a thing of the past, Eloise Kelly, an intelligent American who always manages to wear her Jimmy Choo suede boots on the day it rains, leaves Harvard’s Widener Library bound for England to finish her dissertation on the dashing pair of spies the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian. What she discovers is something the finest historians have missed: a secret history that begins with a letter dated 1803. Eloise has found the secret history of the Pink Carnation the most elusive spy of all time, the spy who single-handedly saved England from Napoleon’s invasion.
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, a wildly imaginative and highly adventurous debut, opens with the story of a modern-day heroine but soon becomes a book within a book. Eloise Kelly settles in to read the secret history hoping to unmask the Pink Carnation’s identity, but before she can make this discovery, she uncovers a passionate romance within the pages of the secret history that almost threw off the course of world events. How did the Pink Carnation save England? What became of the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian? And will Eloise Kelly find a hero of her own?
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Blood of the Earth
Blood of the Earth by Faith Hunter is $2.99! This urban fantasy novel is the first in the Soulwood series, which seems to be a spin-off of Hunter’s Jane Yellowrock series. It was also recommended during our SBTB Reader Recommendation Party at RT 2017. I remember because I immediately added it to be TBR pile.
Set in the same world as the New York Times bestselling Jane Yellowrock novels, an all-new series starring Nell Ingram, who wields powers as old as the earth.
When Nell Ingram met skinwalker Jane Yellowrock, she was almost alone in the world, exiled by both choice and fear from the cult she was raised in, defending herself with the magic she drew from her deep connection to the forest that surrounds her.
Now, Jane has referred Nell to PsyLED, a Homeland Security agency policing paranormals, and agent Rick LaFleur has shown up at Nell’s doorstep. His appearance forces her out of her isolated life into an investigation that leads to the vampire Blood Master of Nashville.
Nell has a team—and a mission. But to find the Master’s kidnapped vassal, Nell and the PsyLED team will be forced to go deep into the heart of the very cult Nell fears, infiltrating the cult and a humans-only terrorist group before time runs out…
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Dare to Run
Dare to Run by Jen McLaughlin is $2.99! This is the first book in the Boston-set Sons of Steel Row series. The heroine is a bartender and the hero has criminal ties, which I know isn’t for everyone. Readers loved the pacing and action, but wanted the heroine to have more of a backbone. It has a 3.7-star rating on Goodreads.
The New York times bestselling author of the Out of Line Novels takes readers to Boston where one gang of criminals knows how being bad can be so good…
She knows what he’s like on Boston’s mean streets. Now she’s going to find out if he’s got some heart.Lucas Donahue is not ashamed of his criminal past, but after a brief stint in prison, he’s ready to go legit and live a normal life. The problem is, no one leaves the gang without permission—even if he is one of the boss’s top men. Plus someone’s placed a hit on him. And then there’s that feisty little bartender who’s going to cause him even more trouble.
Heidi Greene knows to keep her distance from a ladies’ man like Lucas—even if she can’t keep her eyes off him. When he rescues her from an attack in the alley outside her bar, she’s forced to stay by his side for safety. But the longer she spends time with him, the greater her chances are for getting hurt in more ways than one.
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The Last Man on Earth
The Last Man on Earth by Tracy Anne Warren is $2.99! This is a contemporary workplace romance set in the world of advertising. Readers loved the antagonism between the heroine and hero, but found the hero was a bit of a jerk overall. It’s the first book in The Graysons series.
From New York Times bestselling author Tracy Anne Warren comes a sexy and romantic new contemporary series about corporate combat in the boardroom and under-the-covers passion in the bedroom……
Idealistic good girl Madelyn Grayson believes in doing what’s right. Even as a high-powered executive in the mad world of advertising, she doesn’t cut corners, making her ad campaigns sizzle without having to burn anyone along the way.
Rival exec Zack Douglas never wastes an opportunity to land the next big deal—especially when it benefits him. A bad boy with a reputation to match, he has no qualms about doing whatever it takes to get ahead, no matter who gets in the way.
When a hot promotion pops up at their company, both Zack and Madelyn wind up on the short list for the position. But as the two square off, they discover that being heated rivals in the office makes for scorching bed play behind closed doors. Will Madelyn’s steamy, secret affair with Mr. Vice make her compromise her ideals—or worse, lose her heart?
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Dead Things by Stephen Blackmoore is $2.99. Necromancer with a bad attitude who’s being played by the Aztec goddess of death. I recently read the third book after a looooong break (as in years), and the first two books were memorable enough that I recalled what the hell was going on, so do recommend to those who like dark, violent, unromantic UF.
Amanda, just wanted to let you know you have a slight typo. Pretty sure you mean the Graysons plural and not possessive. But, I haven’t read the series, so what do I know?
@QOTU: Fixed! Thanks for the catch!
Lauren Willig’s books are fantastic. The stories parallel Eloise’s romantic misadventures in the contemporary world with the adventures of the spies she uncovers in historical documents. They’re fast-paced, funny, exciting and full of wonderful characters. Highly recommended.
The Unyielding by Shelly Laurenston and The Sexy One by Lauren Blakely are both $0.99 at Amazon.
Speaking of Shelly Laurenston, Dragon Actually, by her alter-ego G.A. Aiken is on sale for .99 at Amazon. Two of the later books in that series (I think the last two) are also on sale for 1.99 and 2.99. I believe that the next book in this series will be released in August or September.
I second the love for the Pink Carnation series. Those books rarely go on sale, so 2.99 for the first in the series is a good deal.
I really liked Pink Carnation and the second book, Masque of the Black Tulip. However, a combination of increasing violence toward women in the books and a mounting case of giving no shits about Eloise and her part of the narrative, I quit after book five.
I have not read (and probably won’t read) the Jane Yellowrock series by Faith Hunter, but Blood of the Earth sounded different and intriguing so I recently read it. I loved it. I don’t feel like I had any problems understanding the world building, although I’m sure I missed some things by not having read the books in the other series.
It would fit in very well with the recent Rec League asking for paranormal detective books. The heroine, Nell, has some kind of earth magic, which she slowly learns how to use over the course of the book while she helps solve some kidnappings that a paranormal crime unit is investigating. Although there’s no romance in this book, there’s a definite hint of a possible love interest later in the series.
Thanks, @SusanK, for mentioning The Unyielding. I’m not sure I’ll continue with the series since I did not enjoy The Unleashing at all, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have book 3 on hand at that price just in case.
I enjoyed Willig’s Pink Carnation series a lot, altho I did start to flag towards the end. The Orchid book was my personal favorite. And Hunter’s Soulwood series is fantastic. As noted, it’s connected to the Jane Yellowrock series (for which I have major love). Although it helps to have read the Yellowrock books, the Soulwood books can absolutely be read on their own.
Linda Howard: A Game Of Chance – 0.99
Grace Burrowes: Tremaine’s True Love- 0.62
Jill Shalvis: Instant Temptation (Wilder book 3) – 0.99
Mary Balogh’s Someone to Love is $1.99 at the moment.
Oh, I also wanted to add that, altho I didn’t enjoy the first crow book, I was absurdly excited the other day when I saw that Laurenston has a book coming out next May titled Hot and Badgered (The Honey Badgers). Honey Badger shifters! (I suspect they’ll be more trouble than Kate Daniels’s Doolittle.) 😀
Something I’ve been meaning to ask the Bitchery for awhile now – I loved Pink Carnation, took a sickie is to read Black Tulip, and quite enjoyed Emerald Ring, but then lost interest (I think about the time it was clearly not just going to be the 7 books as originally planned) I feel I HAVE to read Jane’s book, but do I have to read the ones in between?
Belinda, definitely read Turnip’s book! It is delightful, and as it was a shorter holiday book, there are no Eloise parts.