The Jade Temptress by Jeannie Lin is $1.99! The first book in the series was on sale a couple weeks ago and came highly recommended. This is an opposites attract historical romance with some mystery elements. Readers loved the setting, while others mentioned it didn’t capture their excitement as well as the first book. Readers, what are your opinions?
Continue reading →
Oof. You guys. I apparently did not know what I was doing when I was picking my RITA review books. I honestly probably would have DNFed it, but I’d already DNFed my other pick and I was feeling weirdly self-conscious that the Bitchery would judge me for not being able to finish a book. So I pushed through. And now I just feel depressed and negative. Earls Just Want to Have Fun was never going … Continue reading Earls Just Want to Have Fun by Shana Galen →
Trigger warning: mentions of violence. Maxwell Derring, Earl of Dane hates the poor. They’re lazy, stupid, immoral, and “barely human.” He blames them for his father’s death—not because a poor person shot or stabbed his father, but because somebody robbed one of his father’s houses, and two weeks later he died of pneumonia. Now, you might be thinking, as I did, that that seems a very weak and specious chain of logic for deciding to … Continue reading Earls Just Want to Have Fun by Shana Galen →
Tremaine’s True Love by Grace Burrowes is 99c! This is the first book in her newest series and a RITA nominee. A few readers found the romance a bit boring and slow, while others loved the characterization of the heroine and hero.
Reader Qualisign gave it A-:
When I saw Grace Burrowes’ Tremaine’s True Love on the 2016 RITA review list, I grabbed it like a can of insect repellant in high bug season in the Northeast back-country. While I love a well written historical, until this review, I had never read anything by Burrowes. However, I had accidentally purchased a couple of her books a year ago when I was getting ready to write a 2015 RITA review of one of Tonya Burrows’ books. After realizing that the 2015 Burrows’ (no e) book dealt with SEALs and PTSD, I let the Burrowes’ (with an e) books sink down the list of my tbr e-pile, where they then faded into the ether. That was an error!
And Reader K Smith gave it an A-:
I beg you: read the book, don’t think about it. It is delightful, it is entrancing, it is perfectly crafted, emotionally satisfying entertainment. It is not morally improving. Art doesn’t have to be.
Continue reading →
For a while, I was debating whether or not I should review this. I know my fellow Smart Bitches received many a frustrated email about this book. Normally, I enjoy Shana Galen’s historicals, but this one definitely struck a nerve in the worst way possible. Also, I want to go ahead and give a TRIGGER WARNING for this review. The triggering content will be in a spoiler, but I want to make readers aware beforehand. … Continue reading Love and Let Spy by Shana Galen →
I found this book to be fun and fast paced and easy to jump in and out of, with a pretty good balance of emotion, drama, action, humor and tension between the main characters. I liked the heroine and the hero, I wanted them to figure out a way to be happy and together, and I loved their scenes together. In the larger context of the mystery they were trying to solve, I cared more … Continue reading Lord and Lady Spy by Shana Galen →
Welcome back to Cover Awe! This is where we gawk at pretty covers. Cover design by Red Raven Book Design Tara: I can’t get over how beautiful this cover is. Shana: That is lovely. Sarah: I have questions about that lipstick. Specifically which one it is because wow Gorgeous pink/red. Sneezy: Yes! And it looks so simple at first glance but everything comes together to look so warm and lush! Cover design by The Killian … Continue reading Cover Awe: Mystery, Caitriona Balfe, & More →
An all-new anthology featuring novellas from acclaimed Regency historical authors Janna MacGregor, Shana Galen, and Minerva Spencer. Bond Street is famous for its elite clubs, fashionable shops and successful businesses. Now meet the bachelors who’ve made Bond Street their domain. Are these gentlemen as lucky in love as they are in business?
Whatcha Reading for September is here! Are you ready? We are! Susan: No Good Men by Thea McAlistair! The protagonist is a pulp writer moonlighting as the mayor’s bodyguard to get by, which is a great job until the mayor gets shot. Now he’s being blackmailed by a reporter, flirted with by the “grieving” widow, and flirting with mob assassins while trying to find out whodunnit. It’s pulpy noir with a queer protagonist, which is … Continue reading Whatcha Reading? September 2019, Part One →
Enjoy eight historical romances from bestselling authors, featuring dashing, roguish dukes who are willing to risk it all to get the lady their heart desires. When these powerful, bold men take a chance on love, nothing can stop them. THE FORBIDDEN DUKE by Darcy Burke The Forbidden Duke helps ruined Eleanor find a second chance for happiness. What will she say when she learns of the role he played in her downfall? THE DUKE WHO … Continue reading The Desires of a Duke →
Fallon, the Marchioness of Mystery, is a celebrated courtesan with her finger on the pulse of high society. She’s adored by men, hated by their wives. No one knows anything about her past, and she plans to keep it that way. Warrick Fitzhugh will do anything to protect his compatriots in the Foreign Office, including seduce Fallon, who he thinks can lead him to the deadliest crime lord in London. He knows he’s putting his … Continue reading If You Give a Rake a Ruby →