-
A Court of Thorns and Roses
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas is $1.99! This book and series is insanely popular and has Beauty and the Beast elements. However, some felt it didn’t live up to the hype or it had too much sexxxytimes for a YA-positioned book. Have you read this one?
A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.
As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.
Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
This book is on sale at:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
Once Upon a Billionaire
Once Upon a Billionaire by Jessica Clare is $1.99! This is book four in the Billionaire Boys Club and it’s a series I’ve always been meaning to start. Readers loved the opposites attract romance between a stuffy royal and a spirited, “country bumpkin” heroine. However, some say the heroine’s “innocence” really got on their nerves.
The Billionaire Boys Club is a secret society of six men who have vowed success—at any cost. Not all of them are old money, but all of them are incredibly wealthy. They’re just not always as successful when it comes to love…
As a member of the royal family in a small European country, Griffin Verdi’s presence is requested at the wedding of the century. The scholarly billionaire feels out of his depth in social situations, so a good assistant is required—especially when dealing with royal etiquette.
Unfortunately for Griffin, he’s stuck with Maylee Meriweather, a pretty, charming, and thoroughly unsuitable woman who doesn’t know a thing about high society—but she sure can kiss. Her lack of polish may sink Griffin, because after all, even his money can’t buy class. But through Maylee’s eyes, he’s starting to appreciate the simple things in life—if simple means the most complicated woman he’s ever met.
Maylee is everything Griffin isn’t—and everything he wants—if he can let down his guard and step outside his sheltered world…
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
This book is on sale at:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
The Understatement of the Year
The Understatement of the Year by Sarina Bowen is 99c! This is the third book in the Ivy Years series and features a m/m romance. Readers loved the tension between the two heroes, but some felt that one of them was a bit of a jerk. It has a 4.1-star rating on Goodreads.
What happened in high school stayed in high school. Until now.
Five years ago, Michael Graham betrayed the only person who ever really knew him. Since then, he’s made an art of hiding his sexuality from everyone. Including himself.
So it’s a shock when his past strolls right into the Harkness College locker room, sporting a bag of hockey gear and the same slow smile that had always rendered Graham defenseless. For Graham, there is only one possible reaction: total, debilitating panic. With one loose word, the team’s new left wing could destroy Graham’s life as he knows it.
John Rikker is stuck being the new guy. Again. And it’s worse than usual, because the media has latched onto the story of the only “out” player in Division One hockey. As the satellite trucks line the sidewalk outside the rink, his new teammates are not amused.
And one player in particular looks sick every time he enters the room.
Rikker didn’t exactly expect a warm welcome from Graham. But the guy won’t even meet his eyes. From the looks of it, his former… best friend / boyfriend / whatever isn’t doing so well. He drinks too much and can’t focus during practice.
Either the two loneliest guys on the team will self destruct from all the new pressures in their lives, or they can navigate the pain to find a way back to one another. To say that it won’t be easy is the Understatement of the Year.
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
This book is on sale at:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
Adulting
Adulting by Kelly Williams Brown is $2.99! This is a Kindle Daily Deal and is being price-matched. The deals today focus on bestselling nonfiction. While entertaining, some readers found that the author’s voice tended to grate on them after a while.
If you graduated from college but still feel like a student . . . if you wear a business suit to job interviews but pajamas to the grocery store . . . if you have your own apartment but no idea how to cook or clean . . . it’s OK. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Just because you don’t feel like an adult doesn’t mean you can’t act like one. And it all begins with this funny, wise, and useful book. Based on Kelly Williams Brown’s popular blog, ADULTING makes the scary, confusing “real world” approachable, manageable-and even conquerable. This guide will help you to navigate the stormy Sea of Adulthood so that you may find safe harbor in Not Running Out of Toilet Paper Bay, and along the way you will learn:
- What to check for when renting a new apartment-Not just the nearby bars, but the faucets and stove, among other things.
- When a busy person can find time to learn more about the world- It involves the intersection of NPR and hair-straightening.
- How to avoid hooking up with anyone in your office — Imagine your coworkers having plastic, featureless doll crotches. It helps.
- The secret to finding a mechanic you love-Or, more realistically, one that will not rob you blind.
From breaking up with frenemies to fixing your toilet, this way fun comprehensive handbook is the answer for aspiring grown-ups of all ages.
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
This book is on sale at:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!
Don't want to miss an ebook sale? Sign up for our newsletter, and you'll get the week's available deals each Friday.
I loved A Court of Thorns and Roses and loved A Court of Mist and Fury even more. That said, yeah, the amount of and intensity of the sex did give one pause if we’re calling it YA, and that’s coming from someone who might be looking to be a youth librarian. If you had said it was straight up GoT style fantasy, I would have shrugged and been fine and it wouldn’t have fazed me at all. I don’t have a problem with sex in YA, but I do think you have to be careful about how you write it and how much you put in. All that to say, hell yeah, it’s awesome. But I’m probably going to wait until my daughter is 16 or 17 before I encourage her to pick it up.
A European royal is named…Griffin? Really? That sounds like a pass right there.
I’d like to try the Sarah J. Maas book though, the college crowd seems favorable towards it. YA seems to have become much more explicit in the last 20 years and not about just sex.
Shouts out to “Once Upon a Billionaire” — I’d say it’s the second best one in that series, behind the Beauty & the Beast troped one… I think it’s called “Beauty and the Billionaire.” I’m a sucker for Jessica Clare, though, so YMMV. This one has what I like about a My Fair Lady plot while calling out the elitist/sexist elements of that trope, so it worked well for me.
Heads up with the Sarah Maas book- the sequel is… very much inspired by the Black Jewels books by Anne Bishop. It can be a bit distracting at times if you read the books. There’s a lot that’s really well done, but the overlaps did influence how I felt about the book.
Nora Roberts: Born in Fire – 2.99
Nora Roberts: Jewels of the Sun – 2.99
Nora Roberts: Dance Upon the Air – 2.99
Amanda Quick: Reckless – 0.99
Elizabeth Lowell: The Wrong Hostage – 1.99
Jill Shalvis: Accidentally on Purpose
Susan Elizabeth Phillips: It Had To Be You – 1.99
Rachel Gibson: Simply Irresistible – 1.99
(@Amazon)
Bella Books is having one of their periodic paperback sales ($1.99-$3.99). I don’t know how long it’s going on for — they vaguely say “This Weekend”. Anyhow, here’s your chance to pick up sale books by authors who were mentioned in the most recent Rec League for Lesbian Romances (asterisks mark titles specifically recommended in that thread), as well as by perennial standbys like Radclyffe, Karin Kallmaker, and Jane Fletcher:
Heather Rose Jones – *Daughter of Mystery
Rebekah Weatherspoon – *At Her Feet; *Better Off Red; The Fling
Catherine Friend – *The Spanish Pearl; A Pirate’s Heart
Melissa Brayden – Heart Block
Meghan O’Brien – The Three; Infinite Loop
Tracey Richardson – Blind Bet; The Campaign; The Wedding Party
Carsen Taite – Do Not Disturb; Nothing But the Truth; truelesbianlove.com
Rachel Spangler – Learning Curve; Spanish Heart
Fiona Zedde – Broken in Soft Places
I think some of the confusion with Maas is that her other series, Throne of Glass, is straight-up YA, while ACOTAR is more on the border between YA and adult fantasy. That said, I sometimes feel like YA is a wide enough age range to be sort of useless as a descriptor. ACOTAR and its sequel are wonderful, though, and I can’t wait for #3, A Court of Wings and Ruin, to be released this week.
A Court of Thorn and Roses is awesome, but yeah, I’d agree that maybe it doesn’t live up to all the hype. That part comes in the second book, A Court of Mist and Fury. That book is double ACOTAR
I enjoyed Understatement of the Year. It’s #3 in The Ivy Years (NA series set in fictional version of Yale), but it’s pretty stand-alone. It’s m/m and I think the rest of the series is m/f (I stopped reading after book 4 or 5 – whichever was Bella’s book). Like Him, this is also about two queer hockey players, but the plots are pretty different. And I liked this one better.
@Vasha – thank you!
I also enjoyed Understatement of the Year (library copy) and bought the book today. My favorite of the series is still the first book, but I thought this one was very good. As Cleo mentioned, this book is the sole m/m romance thus far in the series.
A Sarina Bowen sale would lure me into a sketchy van in a dark alley. I’m not a particular fan of NA but something about her books gets me. The True North series is so perfect but if I can’t have bearded apple farmers I’ll take hockey players.
AFAIK, the ACOTAR books are supposed to be “new adult,” (that’s how they were described in the announcement that they had been purchased by a publisher I think) which I think clears up the Sexxytimes Confusion a bit if that’s something you *know* going in to it. On the other hand, there’s really not much of a niche for new adult fantasy, so that may be why it’s a bit jarring/unexpected.
I would definitely classify A Court of Thorn and Roses as NA. I had no idea it was considered YA. That being said I disliked a lot of the first book but felt compelled to keep reading and I’m glad I did because the second book was so amazing I read it twice back to back.
Understatement of the Year was my first m/m romance and I have not looked back. It’s awesome. In fact, you can’t wrong with any Sarina Bowen book.
I’ve been underwhelmed by Sarina Bowen’s later Brooklyn Bruisers and True North series (I feel that those books haven’t made the most of intriguing scenarios) but I really enjoyed the Ivy Years books. The Understatement of the Year was one of my favourites. I also liked this one a lot better than Him, which had more humour but less emotional impact, in my opinion.
I have opinions about all these!
I started A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES because I’d heard great things, but stopped a few chapters in, about when she got to the magical kingdom or whatever. It was way more of a fantasy novel than I was interested in reading, and the characters were unpleasant as far as I recall. But I also have a heavy bias toward books with lighter situations and witty tone, so I think that’s just an issue of taste.
Speaking of light and witty, I adored ONCE UPON A BILLIONAIRE. I found the intersection of class interesting, but mostly just let it be a fluffy, funny escapist fantasy. My favorite parts were definitely the hot sex scenes–they’re what make Clare’s romances stand out for me 🙂
I liked THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR a lot. I appreciate that she integrated a male/male romance into a series that mostly features male/female, as it echoes the overall trend of recognizing that LGBT is not a subgenre of romance, it’s a community of people who are in romances. I remember enjoying the chemistry between the characters, and Bowen’s writing in general. Huge disclaimer that I am not super-familiar with male/male and with any cliche or harmful tropes that might be lurking–I remember also enjoying HIM, though not as much as UNDERSTATEMENT, then seeing an extended discussion in the comments section somewhere on the site about bi-phobic elements.
Finally, I’m totally bummed that I missed the ADULTING sale. I got it out from the library a few months ago and took pages and pages and pages of notes. I enjoyed how there was a mix of the practical advice I expected (talking about housekeeping, and car care, and basic cooking) but also some advice about handling sticky interpersonal situations. I’d like to buy a copy of this sometime, either physical or electronic, for future reference, but will just stick with my notes for now. I am totally the target audience for this book–mid-twenties, starting out a career and a household and a relationship. But you can probably tell from the blurb whether it’s something you’re interested in.