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A Rogue by Any Other Name
RECOMMENDED: A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean is $1.99! This is book one in the Rules of Scoundrels series, all of which take place in and around a gaming hall. This book was nominated for and won the RITA® for Best Historical in 2013.
In our RITA® Reader Challenge reviews, Rayvyn2k gave it an A and wrote:
I loved this book. There is a marriage of convenience (my own personal romance catnip if done well—and it is done very well here), and a hero and heroine who are both struggling with devastating self-esteem issues. Add childhood friendships, meddling friends and family members and you have my perfect story.
Jess M also gave this book an A in her RITA® Reader Challenge review, where she wrote:
This was a great story. It was engaging, entertaining and filled with scandal. This is the first story in The Rules of Scoundrels series and sets up the rest of the characters that will be involved in the series.
What a scoundrel wants, a scoundrel gets…
A decade ago, the Marquess of Bourne was cast from society with nothing but his title. Now a partner in London’s most exclusive gaming hell, the cold, ruthless Bourne will do whatever it takes to regain his inheritance—including marrying perfect, proper Lady Penelope Marbury.
A broken engagement and years of disappointing courtships have left Penelope with little interest in a quiet, comfortable marriage, and a longing for something more. How lucky that her new husband has access to such unexplored pleasures.
Bourne may be a prince of London’s underworld, but he vows to keep Penelope untouched by its wickedness—a challenge indeed as the lady discovers her own desires, and her willingness to wager anything for them… even her heart.
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Second Chance Girl
UPDATE: Deal no longer valid.
Second Chance Girl by Susan Mallery is $2.99! This is a Kindle Daily Deal and is being price-matched. Do check out the other deals (Hamilton is in there!). Readers loved the gamekeeper heroine and her menagerie of animals, though some readers felt underwhelmed by the romance.
A touching modern fairy tale that won’t let go of your heart, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Fool’s Gold romances!
Mathias Mitchell’s easy smile hides a world of hurt. After the worst kind of family betrayal, he moves to Happily Inc., California—the wedding destination town supplies a steady stream of bridesmaids, perfect for his “no promises, no pain” lifestyle. Yet he can’t stop watching for his beautiful, elusive neighbor on the animal preserve behind their homes.
Gamekeeper Carol Lund knows she’s not special enough to attract an alpha male like Mathias, so his offer to help her adopt a herd for her lonely giraffe is surprising—and his determined seduction, even more so. But just as she finally welcomes him into her bed, his careless actions crush her heart. Will she give him a second chance to prove she’ll always come first in his heart?
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Potent Pleasures
Potent Pleasures by Eloisa James is $2.99! This is James’ debut historical romance. Many readers really seem to dislike the hero, while others said this was an emotional rollercoaster that left them a bit misty-eyed. Last time this was on sale, we asked what readers thought of the book and there’s some great conversation in the comments section to check out. Be warned there are spoilers though.
Eloisa James breathes new life into one of the most popular fiction genres with her highly original debut novel Potent Pleasures, a charming, vividly peopled Regency romance. With an uncanny wit and an eye for the whimsical, she unravels a complex–and often hilarious–chain of events inadvertently set in motion by a young woman’s first taste of forbidden pleasure.
About to make her debut in London society, Charlotte Calverstill, beneath the lavish gowns and manners of a well-brought-up young lady, yearns for a taste of freedom. Pushing propriety aside, one evening she sneaks out with a friend to attend a masked ball, and there meets a devastatingly handsome stranger who relieves her–not against her wishes–of her virtue, then vanishes.
Years later, when they meet again, the rogue does not remember Charlotte. But she certainly remembers him; she has since learned not only his identity, but also a titillating piece of gossip about him that is sure to set society abuzz. The intricate web that a now-wiser Charlotte weaves to exact her due ensures justice for some and great merriment for all.
Taking the Regency historical to fresh new places, with artful smoothness and irrepressible humor, Eloisa James delivers a winsome tale of first love and life’s unexpected surprises.
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The Real Thing
The Real Thing by Melissa Foster is $1.99 at Amazon! This has a ton of catnip! A baker heroine, friends to lovers, an actor hero, and a fake relationship. Some readers want more conflict between the hero and heroine, while others say this is funny and sweet. It has a 4.1-star rating on Goodreads.
This sassy, spirited baker is fine with heat—but is her fake fiancé too hot to handle?
Bakery owner Willow Dalton’s friendship with Zane Walker has always been a bit complicated. Now a scrumptiously hot A-list actor, Zane’s always had a reputation as player. He’s arrogant, and he’s definitely not boyfriend material. Sure, he did Willow a favor by agreeing to take her virginity before college, but is that reason enough to go along with a fake engagement a decade later—even if it comes with a real diamond ring?
Zane should have known better. Nothing involving Willow has ever been easy. Still, he knows her better than anyone, and becoming America’s hottest new leading man means cleaning up his reputation. An “engagement” to curvy, sass-mouthed Willow is the perfect PR move . . . provided no one gets hurt.
Now Zane and Willow’s little white lie has turned into an irresistible recipe for sweet temptation. And soon no one will be able to tell the difference between their fake engagement or the real thing—including them.
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“adopt a herd for her lonely giraffe” is a phrase I never thought I’d read…basically anywhere.
Sarah McLean’s Scoundrel series is all good. I found the heroine of A Rogue By Any Other Name a little too passive for my taste, but the gaming hall setting is great. I especially love Never Judge A Lady By Her Cover, the final book in this series, which received an A on this site and is one of my permanent hard-copy keepers.
I DESPISED Potent Pleasures. I hated it and Your Wicked Ways so much it killed Eloisa James for me, even though I liked the Essex sisters.
It’s my issue, but cruel heroes are intolerable, especially in historicals. The power imbalance is such that just can’t cope.
I personally think the first two books in the Scoundrel series are the best. One of my absolute favorites is One Good Earl Deserves a Lover. A “non-beautiful” heroine? Sign me up.
I just read Potent Pleasures two weeks ago. Steer clear at any price (thank you, public library). The comments in the post Amanda linked say everything I would say about it except this: I have a high tolerance for old school romance and alphahole heroes, and I. Just. Couldn’t. With this book.
Actually, this could be a good book to read with friends if you want to get your rant on. The hero is unbelievably awful. (He’s not even an antihero. He’s just a jerk.)
@Michelle and @Deborah–can you elaborate on what killed the hero for you? I usually like heroes on the high end of the alpha spectrum, and I’m curious about where this one crossed the line into jerk territory (I haven’t read the book but I don’t mind spoilers in this case).
The Rules of Scoundrels series is my favorite historical series. A Rogue by Any Other Name is the first historical romance ie ever enjoyed and was the first book I read that I found on this site. I loved it and love the second one even more.
@Rose (and everybody else) – spoilers for POTENT PLEASURES below. Rose, I understand the temptation. I am with you on the alpha heroes. If you want to read this, try to check it out from the library because as tempting as it is to think that Potent Pleasures offers a retro maligned female/alpha hero megagrovel plot, it really doesn’t.
SPOILERS
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POTENT PLEASURES
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SPOILERS
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POTENT PLEASURES
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The hero has sex with the virgin teenaged heroine in the garden at a “cyprian’s” masquerade ball. (A friend, lured by her own teenage crush, brought her to this inappropriate gathering.) He falls in insta-lust with the young stranger, but makes wild assumptions about her appearance under the wig powder and mask, so when he meets the heroine again years later, he doesn’t recognize her. (This assumption thing? Turns out to be a huge character flaw for the hero.) But she reminds him of the girl he sexed up *eyeroll*, so he courts and marries her, only to discover on their wedding night that she is *gasp* not a virgin, for which he denounces her as a whore, cancels their wedding trip to Italy, and forces her to ride in the servants’ coach on their ride north to Scotland. (Now I’m thinking: it’ll be okay. The bigger the error, the more epic the grovel. Oh, no. Not here.) Once in Scotland, our hero magnanimously decides to forgive his wife by refusing to listen to her explanation (“hey, dude, you were an adult when you took my 16-year-old cherry, and frankly it hurt, but you are the only man I’ve had sex with”) because he has crafted his own more convoluted version of her past involving her having sex with his twin brother, thank you very much. Then, after a four month honeymoon period of shared sexy funtimes and happy family outings, he disappears for five months on A Secret Mission To The Continent and returns to rumors that his wife has been impregnated by his twin. Which he promptly believes, because he is a jerk. (Incidentally, his solicitor shows more faith in the heroine, suggesting she is innocent until proven guilty.) Then he threatens to take the unborn child of uncertain-to-him paternity away from her. And the cherry — the other cherry — on this sundae of asshattery is that the entire fiasco is built on coincidence and plot convenience. Although she apparently missed her cycle for three months, she had some “spotting” immediately before he left. When he confronts her on his return, she doesn’t appear nine months’ pregnant because small bumps are apparently a trait for the women in her family. (Yet she is huge a week later when she goes into labor. ’cause that is EXACTLY how pregnancy works.)
I was fully prepared to forgive him until he just wouldn’t listen to her in Scotland. Jerk. Later, I was ready to burn him alive over the pregnancy thing because his supposed trust in her just completely evaporated based on gossip alone.
(If I spoiled anyone other than Rose, please forgive me. @Amanda, if you see this and want to work your spoiler tag magic, feel free and thank you!)
I DNF “A Rogue By Any Other Name.” Penelope Marbury was too willing to accept Bourne’s coldly insulting behavior. Furthermore, I never got why Bourne was so bitter and angry. He wasn’t cast out by society. He had willingly gambled away his inheritance. Since I DNF the book, it’s possible that Bourne’s guarduan may have set him up. Yet Bourne voluntarily entered a gaming hell and wagered his assets, which made his a-holery even more unacceptable.
I loved Pippa Marbury’s story in, “One Good Earl Deserves Another.” A bluestocking who’s endlessly curious honest to a fault? Yes, please!
I also highly recommend “Never Judge A Lady By Her Cover,” which is the final book in MacLean’s series. The cover features the heroine in a power pose, condidently staring straight ahead. Personally, I’ve never seen such a strikingly feminist cover for a romance novel, which is why it’s so memorable for me. And I don’t want to spoil the backstory for Lady Georgiana/Chase, yet her motives will make readers root for her (unlike Bourne…seriously, he was such an a-hole to Penelope).
Pardon the typos in my last comment.
And @Deborah, thanks for explaining the issues with “Potent Pleasures” (or, PP). I’ve enjoyed Eloisa James’ other books, so I seriously considered purchasing PP. A hypocritical “slut” shaming hero would’ve made me throw my Kindle at the wall.
@Deborah thank you so much for that detailed litany of horrors. I would never have made it through that book. “Sundae of asshattery” is the perfect term for this.
Goodness, what timing: Wilde in Love by Eloisa James is currently 2.99 at Amazon.
So far, I’ve only read one James I want to own (A Duke of Her Own), but Wilde in Love hasn’t shown up in my library system, so I’m very tempted by the reduced price. Off to read reviews to guess whether this is today’s winner for my advent calendar of ebooks.
I liked the Rules of Scoundrels series, but the first one was my least favorite. I was surprised how much I liked No Good Duke Goes Unpunished since the pugilist hero was ‘destined’ to be the one i disliked…nope, he and the female lead were very well matched and strong characters.
My second fave historical series, after Brothers Sinister by Courtney Milan (of course)
I want to boost something from the previous thread, which is that apparently Eloisa James wrote her very first hero to behave in a historically accurate manner (based on her research). And that she apparently never made that mistake again.
(Also someone who hated Potent Pleasures, but thankfully I had enjoyed several other books by James, so I wrote it off as inconsistency.)
Even though I know it logically, it is still great to see how differently people read and react to the same book. I LOVED “A Rogue by Any Other Name.” It is a frequent re-read for me. I liked “One a Good Earl Deserves a Lover” and “No Good Duke Goes Unpunished.”. I HATED I mean really really hated “Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover.”. I rage read through most of it and thought it had plot holes a mile wide…