For My Lady's Heart by Laura Kinsale is a Kindle Daily Deal today at $1.99, and that price is being matched at BN. Woot! (I'm leaving the Kobo link up in the event Kobo matches later today.) This is a powerful romance and is a reader favorite for many – though some struggle with the medieval language. This is the book Kat Mayo discusses in podcast 104 – it's one of her very favorite romances ever.
I love the cover quote from DearAuthor: “Yeah. For My Lady's Heart. It's Awesome.” HA!
Pursued by her enemies, flattered and courted for her lands, a powerful, devious princess is desperate to reach refuge. Melanthe can trust only one man amid the lies, the mysterious Green Knight—a true knight who never wavers; a man who cannot comprehend deceit. But as an impossible love grows between them, betrayal becomes their only future…
In this classic romance, Laura Kinsale has crafted a rich, sensual portrait of life during the Middle Ages. And, now for the first time, readers can choose between two versions of the story. Both are included in this same ebook.
The first is the original published novel filled with Middle English dialogue and deep period detail. The second (included only here in the ebook version) has been reworked by the author to include a tighter read and more modern words for dialogue. Whichever you decide to read, you'll be richly rewarded with a story of love and honor for the ages.
Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo | iBooks
RECOMMENDED: How to Catch a Wild Viscount by Tessa Dare is free right now. This is a re-release of an earlier novella originally titled The Legend of the Werestag. It was a prequel novella to Dare's Goddess of the Hunt series, and when I reviewed it, I gave it a B+ and wrote:
Despite the very heavy paranormal cues in the title, this is a historical novella with a perfect compliment of dialogue, sexual and emotional tension, characters who are flawed and real, and a happy ending that is believable and so welcome. I rooted for the protagonists, I was very curious about the story, and I was disappointed by the fact that it was over.
She's on the hunt for a hero…
Luke Trenton, Viscount Merritt, returned from war a changed man. Battle stripped away his civility and brought out his inner beast. There is no charm or tenderness in him now; only dark passions and a hardened soul. He has nothing to offer the starry-eyed, innocent girl who pledged her heart to him four years ago.
But Cecily Hale isn't a girl any longer. She's grown into a woman–one who won't be pushed away. She and Luke are guests at a house party when a local legend captures their friends' imaginations. While the others plunge into the forest on a wild goose…er, stag chase, Cecily's on the hunt for a man. She has only a few moonlit nights to reach the real Luke…the wounded heart she knows still beats inside the war-ravaged body…or she could lose him to the darkness forever.
This is a novella of approximately 20,000 words, or 80 pages. It was originally published under the title The Legend of the Werestag.
Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo | iBooks
The One That I Want by Jennifer Echols is also a Kindle Daily Deal today at $1.99, but I don't see price matching (yet – fingers crossed. I'm leaving the other links below). This is a YA romance – and reviews in several places say it reads a little younger than some of Echols' other titles – about two high school majorettes who meet two football players at summer training camp. This book has a 3.7-star average on GR, with most of the reviews being 5, 4, and 3 stars. The plot explores frenemies and bullying, particularly because the heroine, Gemma, has just lost a large amount of weight to make the majorette squad.
Gemma can’t believe her luck when the star football player starts flirting with her. Max is totally swoon-worthy, and even gets her quirky sense of humor. So when he asks out her so-called best friend Addison, Gemma’s heartbroken.
Then Addison pressures Gemma to join the date with one of Max’s friends. But the more time they all spend together, the harder Gemma falls for Max. She can’t help thinking that Max likes her back—it’s just too bad he’s already dating Addison. How can Gemma get the guy she wants without going after her best friend’s boyfriend?
Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo
The Ex Games by Jennifer Echols is also $1.99 right now. This is also YA romance, about a former couple (they broke up in 7th grade) who decide to compete against one another in a snowboarding competition after the heroine. This book has a 3.8-star average, again with most of the reviews in the 3, 4, and 5 star range.
Brace yourself for the battle of the exes…
Hayden and Nick used to be a hot item, but their brief affair ended with a highly publicized breakup. Now the two are “just friends,” excluding the occasional flirtation.
When Hayden wins the girls' division of a local snowboarding competition, Nick is unimpressed, claiming that Hayden wouldn't have a chance against a guy. Hayden calls Nick's bluff and challenges him to a head-to-head boarding contest. Their mutual friends quickly take sides, the girls on Hayden's and the boys on Nick's, making for an all-out battle of the sexes. This friendly competition is bound to get heated—and they might end up igniting some old flames.
Goodreads | Amazon | BN | Kobo
For My Lady’s Heart had me at “two versions of the same book.” The Middle English dialogue in the sample didn’t throw me off too much (perhaps being a Shakespeare nerd acclimated me to older versions of English?) but I’ll be really interested both to see such an interesting concept play out and to compare it with the “updated dialogue” and “tighter read.” (I really love comparing adaptations, and when Pride & Prejudice & Zombies came out I alternated chapters of P&P and P&P&Z to see exactly what happened, thus learning that not only were there zombies added but also some dirty jokes.) Plus I’ve never read a Laura Kinsale (I think I read the sample for Midsummer Magic but was not feeling the name Merlin or the wacky hijinks at that time) and I figure I’ve seen enough swooning over her in the romance novel community that it’s time for me to give her a try.
And I think The Legend of the Werestag (can’t get used to the new title even though it’s SO much more appropriate) is absolutely adorable. I bought it back when I decided that Tessa Dare was a “I must have everything this woman has ever published” author. (The others, to give you a sense of my taste, are Courtney Milan and Elizabeth Hoyt, who both skew a bit darker in tone/plot/whatever than Dare but all three are witty and feminist and awesome.) And now that it’s free, there’s really no reason not to go for it 🙂
@Cat C:
I agree, totally. The new title for the Dare novella is much better, and the novella itself is really adorable.
I have a copy of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight on my Arthurian keeper shelf and somehow along the way I missed For My Lady’s Heart. That has been rectified and my Kindle is happy. Can’t have less than 50 books in the TBR file, balanced between historicals and contemporaries. 🙂
The second book of the escape diaries is on sale now: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GEYM6R6/ Or possibly it’s the 3rd, but they were all cute and fun reads, and TOTALLY worth the .99 price tag.
Hayden and Nick used to be a hot item, but their brief affair ended with a highly publicized breakup.
Is that brief affair the one from seventh grade? I must be feeling really old today, but there’s a jarring disconnect with a former couple “igniting some old flames” when one of them just won the girls’ division of a competition. When did we start calling middle school relationships affairs? How can there be exes at that age?
I’m going to go watch baby Groot dance.
I heart the Kinsale book soooo much!
Dead Witch Walking is free right now in the iTunes and Kindle stores!
Must get free Tessa Dare book…
So Historical Weredeer Novel doesn’t actually have any weredeer? I’m glad it was renamed, then. Honestly expected the formerly-titular creature to be either the hero or the antagonist. Still probably will read if there’s a translation – the heroine seems interesting – but, unfortunately, werestags are more relevant to my interests than viscounts. (Though now I kind of want there to be novels about wereviscounts…)
Thanks for the tip about the Dare novella. I hadn’t read that one, because I assumed it was a paranormal, but I’ve read all her other books. Just downloaded “How to Catch a Wild Viscount” to my phone.
I loved “For My Lady’s Heart”—it was the book that first turned me on to Laura Kinsale. I had already read Chaucer and SGGK in the original ME, so the language was not at all challenging for me (and was in fact part of the appeal). I remember an author’s note that the first draft of the novel was almost entirely Middle English, but her editor convinced her to change it for publication. I was hoping that was the other version in the ebook. Oh, well.
@ Elinor – I read a lot of Middle English in college, including SGGK and Chaucer and wrote a paper on the Green Knight. Still wondering how I missed this book. 🙂 Thanks for the tidbit about the first draft being almost all ME!