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Moon Called
RECOMMENDED: Moon Called by Patricia Briggs is $2.99! This is the first book in the Mercy Thompson urban fantasy series and I really loved this book. Admittedly, I’m not caught up in the series and have only read the first three or four books, so maybe someone can add some thoughts on how the series unfolds, whether good or bad. Many people love the heroine because she’s a bit of a badass. However, some people feel like the first book is a little slow.
Mercedes “Mercy” Thompson is a talented Volkswagen mechanic living in the Tri-Cities area of Washington. She also happens to be a walker, a magical being with the power to shift into a coyote at will. Mercy’s next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she’s fixing a bus for a vampire. This is the world of Mercy Thompson, one that looks a lot like ours but is populated by those things that go bump in the night. And Mercy’s connection to those things is about to get her into some serious hot water…
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Madly
Madly by Ruthie Knox is 99c! This contemporary romance is the second book in the New York series, but can definitely be read as a standalone. There is an age difference between the hero and heroine and the hero is a sexy Brit. Some readers had trouble connecting with the main characters, while others loved the exploration of family dynamics.
An impulsive trip to New York City, a heartthrob from London, and a scandalous to-do list turn a small-town girl’s life upside down in this sultry romance from the New York Timesbestselling author of Truly and About Last Night.
Allie Fredericks isn’t supposed to be in Manhattan, hiding in the darkest corner of a hip bar, spying on her own mother—who’s flirting with a man who’s definitely not Allie’s father. Allie’s supposed to be in Wisconsin, planning her parents’ milestone anniversary party. Then Winston Chamberlain walks through the door, with his tailored suit, British accent, and gorgeous eyes, and Allie’s strange mission goes truly sideways.
Winston doesn’t do messy. But after a pretty stranger ropes him into her ridiculous family drama with a fake kiss that gets a little too real, he finds out that messy can be fun. Maybe even a little addicting. And as the night grows longer, Allie and Winston make a list of other wild things they could do together—and what seems like a mismatch leads to a genuine connection. But can their relationship survive as their real lives implode just outside the bedroom door?
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Love in Lingerie
Love in Lingerie by Alessandra Torre is $2.99 at Amazon! To be honest, this contemporary romance sounds both steamy and cute. It’s a workplace, friends to lovers romance set in the lingerie industry. This does seem to be in slow burn territory, which readers loved or thought was way too slow. Any takers?
I hired her to fix my company, to bring Marks Lingerie back to life. I didn’t expect her to become my friend. I didn’t expect to fall in love with her.
The first rule of business is to never touch your employees. I think there is another rule about not falling for your best friend–a rule against imagining the curves of her body, or the way her breathing would change if I pulled down her panties and unzipped my pants.
Now, I can’t wait any longer. I’m tossing out the rules.
Damn the company.
Damn our friendship.
Damn my fears.Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
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The Lady and the Captain
The Lady and the Captain by Beverly Adam is 99c! This is a historical romance with a fake relationship and forced proximity at sea. Unfortunately, it only has two reviews on Goodreads, so I can’t give you many details on the plot or what readers liked. Also, I love the color scheme on that cover! It’s the second book in the Gentleman of Honor series and the first book is also on sale!
Sarah Duncan had the kind of beauty suited for the ballrooms of London, not the back alleys of Ireland. But she was a healer, not a debutante. Her life was devoted to helping others, not dressing up and attending fancy balls.
And then one stormy night she met him. He was a young, English naval officer, who arrived on her doorstep with his deathly ill friend. Her life would be forever changed.
Lieutenant Robert Smythe, acting Captain of The Brunswick, was determined to find the killer who’d poisoned his commander and friend. With Sarah’s knowledge of plants and herbs, he would investigate this devious crime. Posing as his fiancée, she would be off limits to a crew of randy men at sea.
Sarah’s beauty was captivating, but her strength and courage drew him like a talisman. He was determined to catch the killer and keep her safe. Indeed, he would protect her with his very life.
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I’m almost caught up with Mercy (I don’t believe I’ve read the newest title yet), and the series is great. Warning for a rape/near rape (I can’t recall the particulars) in the fifth book or so. What I enjoy about the series is Mercy isn’t perfect, and neither is the relationship with Adam. But both characters have grown through the series and it’s enjoyable to watch.
A heads up about the torre book – both the hero and heroine have sex with other people (in the hero’s case, multiple other people) during the course of the book. It was a DNF for me because of that, I can’t really get into a romance when that happens.
I second the rec for the Mercy Thompson series – really good. (The audiobooks are good as well.)
I loved the Mercy series, although I did find one book unexpectedly dark and upsetting compared to the others.
I bought Madly this week and devoured it in less than a day. I’ll definitely be reading more Ruthie Knox novels. I really liked the way the relationship, which could have been insta-lust/love, developed believably over a short time period.
I loved Truly, and have been waiting for-ev-uh for Madly. One-clicked!
I loved the Mercy series too. (The dark one is Iron Kissed – it probably needs a trigger warning for rape, but for what it’s worth, I think this is probably the best handling I’ve seen of that subject matter in this genre.)
It’s not a complete review, but these are my personal notes I saved after I finished the Beverly Adam book:
“Worth reading once if it’s free and nothing else is available. Odd vocabulary choices, some grammar errors, awkward plot clues, uneven writing quality. Do not buy more from this author.”
Your mileage may vary.
Georgette Heyer’s The Grand Sophy and Bath Tangle are Kindle daily deals today. Both are $1.99.
All I can say is, if you haven’t read Madly yet, do so. The hero is a splendid reserved older guy who’s clearly really matured emotionally; there are plenty of funny parts; it’s super-sexy… On my keeper shelf for sure. But you should start with the first book, Truly, to be introduced to the heroine and the family dynamics that are troubling her at the start of this book; no hardship, since that one is brilliant also.
I agree with you, Tam, about the handling of the rape in Iron Kissed. It’s not gratuitous, it’s not “sexy” in any way, and the aftermath/aftereffects are incredibly believable- and still echo throughout the continuing books, just the way it does in real life.
Agree with Tam and Kate – trigger warnings for Iron Kissed, but major props to the author for her respect for survivors and how the characters supported Mercy after the fact.
Also, as for how the series unfolds and if the later books are as good as the first I would say this series has impressive quality throughout – in fact in many ways book 9 (Fire Touched) was one of my favorites (really developed some of the female friendships, had some awesome don’t underestimate the strength of good guys moments, etc.) and it is only 1.99 right now.
Ruthie Knox is just great.
I find the Mercy books sometimes overlong, but the world-building is great, and there’s a lot of humor. I was totally blindsided by Iron Kissed — ALL THE TRIGGERS. ALL THE TRIGGERS. I didn’t sleep well for several nights after I read it, and I still quail a bit thinking about it. But I couldn’t stop reading. And I can’t say much without spoilers, but the writing of the awful stuff is SO good and smart. I admired it even as I felt physically ill.
Mercy detractor here… sorry? I’m Canadian and therefore feel compelled to apologize. For everything 😉
While I really enjoyed the first few books, I checked out midway through the book with Adam’s ex-wife. I just could not handle the woman bashing. I’m glad to hear that the female friendships get developed in the latest book, but it doesn’t excuse the fact that Mercy had basically NO adult female relationships that aren’t adversarial. The only woman she actually gets along with is Jessie, who is a teenager.
I get that it’s not an unreasonable situation considering how the other women are portrayed in the books, the female pack members in particular. But this is a novel, which means the author deliberately made these choices. And I don’t agree or enjoy these choices.
Also, I hate the kind of ridiculously rigid alpha-beta power structure in fictional werewolves. Especially in light of recent research that wolves don’t actually do this in the wild. They form families with the a breeding pair, and their offspring. The “Alphas” are really the parents and “discipline” other members of the pack as parents would their children. The whole Alpha -Beta thing with dominance challenges was a legacy of observing wolf packs in zoos, where adult wolves aren’t able to leave and form their own packs. However, it is completely artificial.
It’s never made sense to me that humans (even ones who turn into wolves) would accept such a rigid power structure, especially in modern times. It just smacks of classism. Since there’s no longer even an argument for the wolf side providing that imperative, I just can’t buy it anymore.
I know I know, this is all fiction, and fantasy at that. But I want my fantasy to be grounded in some reality!
However, if someone has written or want to write some behaviourally consistent werewolf fantasy, I will be all over that!
Agree with SusanE about the Beverly Adam book. I read another of her books (I think it was a freebie) and found the writing style to be quite antiquated and clunky. I normally always one-click nautical historical romances, but that’s a no for me.
@Linda: I’ve just begun re-reading the Mercy Thompson books, and one thing that struck me is how often we’re told that werewolves are NOT like wolves. Briggs repeatedly points out differences in anatomical structure, and also talks about differences in psychology and social structure. Wolves are much nicer. 🙂
@Linda: Some years ago a pair of writers set out to make a fantasy that was more realistic in terms of the effect that the animal nature would have on a human bonded to a wolf. I think it was called Companion to Wolves, or something like that. I wasn’t crazy about the result, but I appreciated the effort.
@Hazel, I have read this book! Although I would disagree that it’s “realistic” wolf behaviour… it’s still predicated upon the whole fighting to be pack Alpha pair, even though it’s the female that’s born Alpha in this case. And the male wolf(ves) that mate with her get elevated to pack leader. I suppose one could argue that the packs in the book are artificial since they band together for the sake of fighting trolls? And therefore behave more like zoo wolves than wild wolves… ♀️
Oh, if anyone wants to read the book, maybe check the Goodreads reviews first? There was a lot more explicit sexual content than I was expecting when I borrowed the book from the library. I read it in my early 20’s, and I distinctly remember my eyes goggling a little bit. And then flipping the book over to double-check that yes, it is indeed shelved in the fantasy section :O
Also the portrayal of gay relationships in the books is problematic. And consent is dubious, at best.
@ Linda, I’m so happy to read your comment. I had the same experience–was enjoying the series initially, then just couldn’t pick up the one with the ex-wife plot line. I also find that, while I enjoy a lot of things about this author’s writing, there’s too much rape in it overall. Like, it’s sort of her go-to trope for giving female characters a traumatic background. FWIW, I wrote a novel that will probably never see the light of day where the character you’d expect to be a macho, domineering pack alpha is actually an overbearing mom-type guy who is fixated on feeding people. The badass special forces pack members snuggle quite a bit and engage in mutual grooming behaviors. My friend who read it said it would probably be banned in Montana.
I just read Love in Lingerie by Alessandra Torre and had a record scratch moment at about 85% when I encountered some _serious_ kink-shaming. It was alluded to early in the book, but I thought that it might be challenged later in the book, but it was not. It was reinforced and pretty awful. I skimmed the rest of the book to see whether it was addressed/challenged, but no.
Spoiler: The magic genital cures the character of their desire for the kink – a totally safe, risk-aware, consensual kink. After they are made to feel really bad about it. All the nopes.
I just read Love in Lingerie by Alessandra Torre and had a record scratch moment at about 85% when I encountered some _serious_ kink-shaming. It was alluded to early in the book, but I thought that it might be challenged later in the book, but it was not. It was reinforced and pretty awful. I skimmed the rest of the book to see whether it was addressed/challenged, but no.
Spoiler: The magic genital cures the character of their desire for the kink – a totally safe, risk-aware, consensual kink. After they are made to feel really bad about it. All the nopes.