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The Bronze Horseman
RECOMMENDED: The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons is $1.99! SO MANY READERS love this book. And it’s easily one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. This is an emotionally intense historical romance set in Russia during WWII. Some readers lose their consonants when describing how much they love this book; others found the story too melodramatic. This is one where people love it or hate it, but those who love it can go on for hours about all the things they adored. Have you read this book?
The golden skies, the translucent twilight, the white nights, all hold the promise of youth, of love, of eternal renewal. The war has not yet touched this city of fallen grandeur, or the lives of two sisters, Tatiana and Dasha Metanova, who share a single room in a cramped apartment with their brother and parents. Their world is turned upside down when Hitler’s armies attack Russia and begin their unstoppable blitz to Leningrad.
Yet there is light in the darkness. Tatiana meets Alexander, a brave young officer in the Red Army. Strong and self-confident, yet guarding a mysterious and troubled past, he is drawn to Tatiana—and she to him. Starvation, desperation, and fear soon grip their city during the terrible winter of the merciless German siege. Tatiana and Alexander’s impossible love threatens to tear the Metanova family apart and expose the dangerous secret Alexander so carefully protects—a secret as devastating as the war itself—as the lovers are swept up in the brutal tides that will change the world and their lives forever.
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The Brothers Sinister: Complete Boxed Set
The Brothers Sinister: Complete Boxed Set by Courtney Milan is $4.99! This is a preorder which will be released on 9/15. The set includes four full-length novels and three novellas, and I believe we’ve reviewed them all here!
The Governess Affair: B-
The Duchess War: A+
A Kiss for Midwinter: A-
The Heiress Effect: A+
The Countess Conspiracy: B-
The Suffragette Scandal: A
Talk Sweetly to Me: BThis is the complete boxed set of Courtney Milan’s acclaimed Brothers Sinister Series – four full length books, three novellas – together, almost half a million words.
The Governess Affair
Miss Serena Barton intends to hold the petty, selfish duke who had her sacked responsible for his crimes. But the man who handles all the duke’s dirty business has been ordered to get rid of her by fair means or foul. She’ll have to prove more than his match…
The Duchess War
The last time Minerva Lane she was the center of attention, it ended badly—so badly that she changed her name to escape her scandalous past. So when a handsome duke comes to town, the last thing she wants is his attention.
But that is precisely what she gets…
A Kiss for Midwinter
Miss Lydia Charingford does her best to forget the dark secret that nearly ruined her life, hiding it beneath her smiles. But someone else knows the truth of those dark days: the sarcastic Doctor Jonas Grantham. She wants nothing to do with him…or the butterflies that take flight in her stomach every time he looks her way…
The Heiress Effect
Miss Jane Fairfield does everything wrong in society–intentionally.
Mr. Oliver Marshall does everything right. So why is it, then, that the one woman he can’t forget is the exact opposite of what he needs?
The Countess Conspiracy
Sebastian Malheur is the most dangerous sort of rake. Violet Waterfield, the widowed Countess of Cambury, on the other hand, is entirely respectable–and she’d like to stay that way. Their association would be scandalous even if someone suspected lies. But the truth about the secrets they share will bring England to its knees…
The Suffragette Scandal
A suffragette meets a scoundrel, and as scoundrels do, he lies to her, attempts to blackmail her…and falls in love with her against his better judgment. By the time he realizes that his cynical heart is hers, it’s too late. Once the woman he loves realizes how much he’s lied to her, he’ll lose her forever.
Talk Sweetly to Me
Miss Rose Sweetly is a shy, mathematically-minded shopkeeper’s daughter who dreams of the stars. When Stephen Shaughnessy, infamous advice columnist and known rake, moves next door, she knows she should avoid him. But you know what they say about the best-laid plans of mice and astronomers…
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To Love a Dark Lord
To Love a Dark Lord by Anne Stuart is 99c! This book was originally published in 1994, but has gotten a bit of a facelift since then. The hero is out for revenge and plans to use the heroine to draw his enemy out. There were some readers who wanted more action and passion in the story. However, fans of the book love Stuart’s dark historical heroes. It has a 3.8-star rating on Goodreads.
To survive, Emma Langolet has committed a shocking crime. But, to her amazement, the notorious scoundrel, James Killoran, has agreed to accept responsibility for her desperate act—though the handsome, Irish earl professes no interest whatsoever in the enchanting miss whom he has surely rescued from the gallows.
Hurt and confused by his indifference, Emma is nonetheless drawn to this elegant, arrogant rogue who uses people for his own amusement—but is always there when she most needs him. For she believes Killoran hides true goodness behind his decadent façade. And only the power of love can restore hope and tenderness to a dark and damaged heart—and release the passionate lover imprisoned within.
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A Study in Silks
A Study in Silks by Emma Jane Holloway is 99c right now. This is a steampunk mystery with a heroine who is the niece of Sherlock Holmes. It’s not a traditional historical since it’s steampunk, but I’m going to include in anyway since both Carrie loved the series as well as one of our readers! This is the first book in The Baskerville Affair series.Â
Evelina Cooper, niece of Sherlock Holmes, is ready for her first London Season – except for a murderer, missing automatons, a sorcerer, and a talking mouse. In a Victorian era ruled by a ruthless steam baron council, mechanical power is the real monarch, and sorcery the demon enemy of the empire. Evelina has secretly mastered a coveted weapon – magic that can run machines. Should she trust the handsome, clever rake who speeds her breath, or the dashing trick rider who would dare anything she would ask?
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Wicked Earl Seeks Proper Heiress
Wicked Earl Seeks Proper Heiress by Sara Bennett is $2.99! This book five in the Husband Hunters Club series. For those who like a marriage of convenience plot, I believe this plot fits the bill. Though many readers found the story to be predictable, they enjoyed Bennett’s characterization. Anyone going to pick this one up?
Too wicked for proper society and in dire financial straits, Rufus Blainey, the Earl of Southbrook, knows but one solution: to marry an heiress. So when innocent and beautiful Lady Averil Martindale waltzes into his life, Rufus can’t imagine a more perfect scenario: woo her, win her, bankrupt her.
Averil has no intention of spending her life or her money alone. An orphan, she’s determined to find her lost half sister and reclaim what little family she has left. When Rufus offers to help locate the elusive girl, Averil is grateful and more than a little intrigued by the handsome, dashing rogue.
Everything is going according to Rufus’s plan. That is until, despite his best efforts, he begins to fall totally, madly, sincerely in love with Averil…but will she marry him once she learns the truth?
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OMG the Milan box set! I already own all the books, grr.
The Kindle edition of The Duchess War is actually free right now! I enjoyed this. It’s a very cuddly book in the sense that you want to just hunker down somewhere comfy with it until you’re done. I really liked the hero in it. He’s not an aggressively alpha male… he’s smart, confident, affable, and very good natured. Definitely nice if you’re burnt out on all these broody IF ONLY MY STONY HEART AND ALSO THE DARKEST REACHES OF MY PEEN COULD KNOW THE DEPTHS OF A GOOD WOMAN YET SURELY ONE DOES NOT EXIST *top hat top hat walking stick* type dudes.
Two things: Firstly, I don’t think you made it clear how *vehemently* the haters of the Horseman book feel. You kind of glancingly mention some people don’t like it… instead of acknowledging the haters really HATE.
Secondly, Whups Cover Art moment – At first I truly thought there was a bare breast on the cover of ‘A Study in Silks’… it’s apparently an elbow instead, but whoa, just so very tit-like.
@Leah: Actually one of the things I liked about Robert is that he’s not too smart in the usual sense (there’s a bit in one of the books where Robert’s friends are throwing around witty conversation full of fast-paced barbs and he can’t follow it but just beams at them amiably) but he has a lot of emotional intelligence. Interesting how he works together with the heroine who is a certifiable genius.
I’ve pre-ordered everything written by Courtney Milan since I first discovered her stuff. She simply never disappoints, and her ebooks are easy on the wallet too. There are some other authors that I do that for too. While I’m happy for new readers who’ll benefit from this deal, is it wrong of me to wish that sometimes I could get a break on the new stuff or on a pre-order. It would be so sweet to be offered something new because you’re one of the faithful and you’ve already got all the old stuff.
Are the Bronze Horseman and/or A Study in Silks YA/NA?
Joining the Courtney Milan fangirls here. She is so good and so funny. The Governess Affair is a sexy, sexy meditation on how to have consensual sex (assigned reading for all college frosh?). Talk Sweetly to Me is a sweet, sexy book starring a non-white (!) mathmetician as the protagonist. The Countess Conspiracy tackles biology and misogyny and has my two favorite characters in any romance ever. Nerds. Sex. Feminism. HEA. All the good stuff.
I agree with PamG, as a dedicated buyer of all things Milan, it would be very nice indeed if we could get a little somethin’ somethin’ for that support. I definitely paid more overall for each individual title even with the first being free.
However, that said, that same support also allows Ms Milan to continue writing books I love, so I’m just going to shut up now.
@Anne: I’m not one of the haters of The Bronze Horseman, I just found it boring, mostly because I found Tatiana boring. I tried, I really did, but after my 3rd attempt to read the book I gave up. Every minute I spent trying to get through TBH was one I didn’t spend reading Courtney Milan. Now I’m frustrated because the Milan box set doesn’t seen to be available at B&N for the Nook.
I wouldn’t consider Bronze Horseman YA or NA. I loved it
Thank you @Michelle
I won’t lose any consonants over The Bronze Horseman, but I am on the “loved it” side of the divide. Emotionally intense is exactly right – parts of it can be difficult to read, and Simmons doesn’t hold back when it comes to the period and the setting, either; wartime Leningrad was not a fun place to be, and it’s not just scenery in this book. Like Susan/DC, I had a tough time getting into it, but after 100+ pages I was hooked, and I think it’s worth persevering. It’s true that Tatiana is quite young in the beginning, and not just in terms of age. But she’s much stronger than she or her family believes her to be, and she grows into it as the story progresses. It’s not YA, or NA, and you’d have to read the second book if you want a happy ending, but I’d grab it in a second at this price if I didn’t already have the ebook as well as a physical copy.
Re Milan, here’s an unpopular opinion: I’m not much of a fan of her Brothers Sinister series, and find her Turner Brothers trilogy to be much better. I loved The Governess Affair, which is quite possibly the best romance novella ever written (who gave it a B-?!), but the rest of the series didn’t live up to it. I remember reading The Duchess War, and Robert telling Minnie to look up, and thinking that this must be the “paint your own canvas” moment in this one, but come on – “paint your own canvas” is so much better. Where Milan’s writing has probably suffered for me is that while I appreciate her focus on social issues, I think she actually explored this in more subtle and interesting ways in her earlier work than she does now. I didn’t need subtlety in The Bronze Horseman, but in Milan’s case, it worked better for me. Obviously I am in the minority on this. But I’d rather re-read TBH – or The Governess Affair – than anything else in that boxed set.
I tried to read the Bronze Horseman twice, and couldn’t get into it either time. Any book that requires an hour or more of my time to ‘get into’ has better be Ulysses or at least Jacob’s Room to repay the effort. It wasn’t the characters, for me, it was the prose. (Leaden prose with a slow starting plot is deadly, though I have been known to not care about diction as long as I have a rollicking at story).
@ Rose: I also loved TBH, and agree with your assessment. It’s definitely not a perfect book, by any means, and there are definitely tropes and characterizations in the book that drive people crazy. But… I loved it. Almost against my will/reason. Big, epic scope, star-crossed lovers, angst, struggle, love that conquers all… It’s definitely my cup of tea. The rest of the books in the series I didn’t like as much (I prefered the sequel, “Tatiana and Alexander”, with it’s original epilogue, and like to completely ignore The Summer Garden).
Re: Courtney Milan. I loved the Turner Brothers books, but I have never been able to get into the Duchess series. I tried, valiantly, but the characters were my stumbling block. I could never connect with any of them, and even felt actively annoyed to the point of DNF (in Violet and Sebastian’s book). They just didn’t seem to have the depth that her previous books had, imho.
Although I have all of Milan on my Kindle, this boxed set will make a great Christmas present for my sister.
Meh on TBH. Just couldn’t get into it either. But, oh Lordy, I love me some Milan. I periodically devote all my reading energies to re-reading my Milans. My most recently anointed favorite is The Heiress Effect. Sigh. Jane and Oliver – does it get any better????
Another Milan fangirl here! Heiress Effect is my favorite but I, too, adore the Governess Affair for its smart, sexy treatment of consent and Talk Sweetly for its whipsmart mathematician and beta hero (hello, my catnip). I have the books but some on are on nook and some on kindle. I’ll be buying the set!
One more plus for Milan – her heroes are never traditional alpha males (not even Ash Turner), which makes them accessible to me, as a straight man. Because traditional alpha males are hot assholes, and I don’t see the hot part, just the asshole…
Her series just keep getting better, to me (Carhart < Turner < Sinister). I don't see how the Worth series can be better still, but I'm hoping 🙂 (I'm just going to ignore the Cyclone series, okay? Hold Me will probably be the first Milan book I don’t read…)
I’ve never read any Milan books, so can’t respond to those. I rarely read Regency or these type books anymore. Truth to tell, I burned out on them long ago, since there are so many of that era published now.
TBH is one of my all time favorite books. I have 3 copies actually. Hard copy for keeping on my bookshelf, paperback for loaning and ebook for quick access. I’ve loaned it out numerous times and everyone I loaned it to, loved it also.