Special treat for your Monday: a beautiful cover to look at, and a book to one-click pre-order if the cover makes you as giddy as it did all of us!
(Side note: is “OCPO” a thing, where you’re pre-ordering with a one-click frenzy so intense you bruise your one-click finger? Would that be OCK-PO? I think OCPO should be a thing.)
You may have noticed a general excitement online regarding A Princess in Theory ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). I interviewed Alyssa Cole about the bespoke dress on the cover made by Adorned by Nicole on Etsy in podcast episode 263, and this book has been on a bunch of lists for most anticipated book this year (including many of our own TBRs). And you can read an excerpt of A Princess in Theory on Cosmo!
Curious about A Duke by Default? You can check out the cover copy right here because, well, why not? After the cover, the copy is the next thing I look for:
New York City socialite and perpetual hot mess Portia Hobbs is tired of disappointing her family, friends, and—most importantly—herself. An apprenticeship with a struggling swordmaker in Scotland is a chance to use her expertise and discover what she’s capable of. Turns out she excels at aggravating her gruff silver fox boss…when she’s not having inappropriate fantasies about his sexy Scottish burr.
Tavish McKenzie doesn’t need a rich, spoiled American telling him how to run his armory…even if she is infuriatingly good at it. Tav tries to rebuff his apprentice—and his attraction to her—but when Portia accidentally discovers that he’s the secret son of a duke, rough-around-the-edges Tav becomes her newest makeover project.
Forging metal into weapons and armor is one thing, but when desire burns out of control and the media spotlight gets too hot to bear, can a commoner turned duke and his posh apprentice find lasting love?
So we have a hot Scottish swordmaker who is a secret duke trying to resist his attraction to his wealthy American fashionista apprentice. Nah, that’s not anyone’s catnip at ALL.
Ready to see the cover for the second Reluctant Royals book by Alyssa Cole? I mean, I’ve teased you long enough. I’m sorry.
Behold, A Duke By Default ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) – also available for preorder!
This cover also features an Adorned by Nicole dress, and I think it is really adorable. We are all so excited about this book.
So, how about you? What do you think of the cover? Thanks to Avon and Alyssa Cole for asking us to host the reveal!
I need this book AND that dress stat!!!
omg gimme gimme gimme.
The cover is gorgeous and I cannot wait to read this series. Everything I’ve read by Cole has been ridiculously fantastic. Also, I have dated an unlikely number of men who are in to swords so seeing that in a romance but actually end well is exciting. I thought the end of February was a very long time to wait for A Princess in Theory, but now waiting until July for this book sounds impossible and I haven’t even read the first book in the series.
I’ll be honest, I really want to start a book reviewing blog JUST SO I CAN GET MY HANDS ON THOSE SWEET SWEET ARCS.
OMG I can’t get over this color combination.
And the bit of gray in his hair! And the sweet affectionate pose!
But mostly wow blue and orange is my new favorite thing.
Thanks for this awesome cover reveal! Made my day.
OMG this sounds amazing! And even though it’s not my style, that is a truly lovely dress, especially on that model. I definitely one-clicked the first book in this series and just one-clicked this one as well.
THIS COVER IS AMAZEBALLS!!!!
Me after reading the blurb: *_______*
Me after seeing that cover: <3____<3
*Preorders, then patiently waits for July*
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
She looks like she’s having fun.
But I’m not sure he knows what to do with her.
🙂
OMG!! That COVER!!! *runs off to OCPO so hard* **Then cries at having to WAIT UNTIL JULY TO READ THIS** 🙁
DRRRREEEEESSSSSSS! That is the most beautiful dress and I need it in my life please. Also this book because modern day blacksmith? Hells yes!
I think the cover is cute, but covers rarely convince me to buy a book. I buy based on what story the book tells which rarely has any relation to the cover. I’m interested in this but a bit confused. What expertise does she have that qualifies her to be a swordmaker’s apprentice? It seems like a strange occupation for a socialite.
The funny thing is that I’m not questioning the secret Duke! I guess Romance has indoctrinated me to those, LOL.
@MaryK I’m confused by your perplexed comment at Portia’s apprenticeship while totally giggling at the secret!Duke angle. #YoudoyouIguess
Personally, I’m rarin’ to find out why Portia sought the apprenticeship. And,since I know what a ridiculously talented writer Alyssa Cole is, I know that this book is gonna be KILLA.
Not for me based on the blurb; I can’t read books set in Scotland as they tend to portray my country and its people in a way I find totally unrealistic – including the idea the media or anyone would care about dukes now, we’re not stuck in the regency period here! – but the cover is cute.
Blacksmith + gorgeous cover = I want to rip that book out of the screen. GIMME.
@Kelly: I have similar difficulties. Can you recommend romance novels written by Scots/UK writers? Apart from Rhoda Baxter, I’ve found a couple that were more literary fiction or chick lit or family sagas; good, but not quite what I wanted.
The grey in his hair and her gorgeous red hair and the cobalt and citrine color palette? MY EYES ARE SO, SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW.
It is so very, very preordered.
OMG. … THE DRESS!!!!!!!
I’m tempted to check this one out when it debuts solely to find out just what it is the heroine does, because “telling him how to run his armory” does not jive with “an apprenticeship.”
Loving the diversity and loving the blacksmithing, but worry it’s going to be one of those instances where I know too much about the real-life art/industry to suspend my disbelief. :/
*grabby hands*
I want them both now. And I want the dresses!
That dress!!!
Wowza.
In other news today, the bbc is running a story on romance writers and how we have something to teach others in the “gig economy.”
“At a time when work is becoming increasingly solitary, it only seems fitting that a model involving mutual care and support comes from the freelancers who earn a living from imagining successful connections.”
“What Gig Workers Can Learn from Romance Writers” if the link doesn’t survive. … http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20180119-what-gig-workers-can-learn-from-romance-writers
@Hazel – unfortunately I am still on the search myself, just can’t seem to find any contemporary romances that don’t make me cringe or nitpick.
I do have On Dublin Street by Samantha Young on my kindle, which is Edinburgh-set, but i haven’t read it yet.
I could not love this more!
I would like this now, please.
This cover is amazing – a great way to start the week!
Oooooooooooooooomg so gorgeous must have must have must have
Pre-ordered!
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
@Kelly – I really didn’t like On Dublin Street, mainly because of the alphole billionaire “hero” who never takes no for an answer. This Goodreads review pretty much sums up how I felt about it: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/459440437?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
Yep this looks absolutely DELICIOUS! Love the historical-trope twist on a contemporary romance. Historicals were my first love, but I’ve been really into contemporaries lately, so this is all kinds of my catnip. Can’t wait to read it.
How did Alyssa Cole know my precise fantasy and warm my heart so? As a WOC, I’ve always, always wanted a romance with WOC and Scottish Duke (a very precise fantasy, yes)! And if that’s salt-and-pepper hair, I’m putty in Cole’s hands!
That dressssss too <3
Someone tell Meg Cabot, it is crowned, not coronated!
OMG every part of this set off my SQUEE meter! One-clicked so freaking hard!
@Kelly,@Helen: I tried a sample of On Dublin Street and wasn’t impressed.
@hazel, @helen
Ugh, I don’t think I’ll be reading On Dublin Street then! Thanks for the heads up.
This past weekend I read Rachael Lucas’ Sealed With a Kiss which is set on an island off Scotland. I’m 100% USA thus unable to speak to its authenticity, but found the story and characters charming.
@ LML – have checked and the author has spent time in Scotland, which is a plus, but it loses points because the island is fictional!
The search continues!
Beautifuuulll.
Oh, I need this BAD! Love the WOC, swooned at the silver fox, and that dress! THAT DRESS!!! Yup, OCPO, for sure!
That dress is gorgeous! I think Nicole who made the dress will be able to quit her day job after that one. And the cover as a whole is stunning! Didn’t buy the silver hair of the male model though. Am I the only one who thinks his hair looks digitally “silvered”?