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Only You
Only You by Denise Grover Swank is 99c! This is a Kindle Daily Deal and is being price-matched elsewhere. Elyse wrote a Lightning Review of this one and gave it a C-, citing there were some major boundary issues. But she also realized this romance might appeal to others:
There’s a lot of reasons why readers will like this book. The romance is hot and funny, there’s a ton of home renovation/HGTV pr0n, and Kevin adopts a tiny kitten he finds. Plus the relationship between Holly and her grandma, and the subject of dealing with dementia, was genuine and well-done.
Never say never . . .
Romance isn’t an option for Holly Greenwood. With her wedding planner career on the line she needs to stay focused, and that means pleasing her demanding boss, not getting distracted by her mind-alteringly hot neighbor . . .
Ex-Marine Kevin Vandemeer craves normalcy. Instead, he has a broken-down old house in need of a match and some gasoline, a meddling family, and the uncanny ability to attract the world’s craziest women. At least that last one he can fix: he and his buddies have made a pact to swear off women, and this includes his sweetly sexy new neighbor.
After one hot night that looks a whole lot like a disaster in the light of day, Kevin and Holly are about to learn that true love doesn’t play by the rules . . .
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Bared to You
Bared to You by Sylvia Day is $1.99! This is an erotic romance and the first in a series that follows the same couple. Day’s books are rarely on sale, so snap this up while you can. Many readers compare this book to Fifty Shades of Grey. Some say it’s better; some say it’s worse. But how you feel about this book may depend on how much you enjoyed Fifty Shades of Grey.
Our journey began in fire…
Gideon Cross came into my life like lightning in the darkness—beautiful and brilliant, jagged and white-hot. I was drawn to him as I’d never been to anything or anyone in my life. I craved his touch like a drug, even knowing it would weaken me. I was flawed and damaged, and he opened those cracks in me so easily…
Gideon knew. He had demons of his own. And we would become the mirrors that reflected each other’s most private wounds… and desires.
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Status Update
Status Update by Annabeth Albert is 99c! This is a gay romance with some nerdy, gaming elements and some forced proximity. Sarah gave the romance a B-:
The conflict and distance the characters have to travel emotionally and geographically to make their relationship work kept me reading until the end, but there were several chapters I had to push myself through because of pacing, overly-sweet dialogue, or downright purple prose.
Adrian Gottlieb is winning at life. He’s a successful video game designer with everything a man could ask for, including a warm comfy ride to Denver and a date for his sister’s wedding. But he finds himself in need of a total reboot when he’s left stranded at a snowy campground in Utah. Holiday plans? Epic fail.
That is until Noah Walters offers him shelter for the night and a reluctant cross-country ride. Nothing about the ultraconservative geoarchaeologist should attract Adrian, but once he discovers Noah’s hidden love for video games, the two connect on a new level. Soon, a quiet but undeniable chemistry sparks.
Something doesn’t add up, though. As the miles accumulate and time runs out, Noah must face the most difficult choice of his life. Meanwhile, Adrian must decide whether he’s ready to level up. Is their relationship status worth fighting for, or has this game ended before it’s even begun?
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Unearthly
RECOMMENDED: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand is $2.99! This is a fantasy YA with angels and I absolutely loved it. I was hesitant at first, but it really won me over. It has some great coming-of-age plot with a dash of the paranormal and a really likable heroine. However, other readers on Goodreads mentioned that they felt mostly bored by the book. Have you read this one?
In the beginning, there’s a boy standing in the trees . . .
Clara Gardner has recently learned that she’s part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn’t easy.
Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place and out of place at the same time. Because there’s another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara’s less angelic side.
As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she’d have to make between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?
Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.
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Sylvia Day’s Crossfire series is just okay, and would have been stronger if it hadn’t gotten dragged out to sell more copies. It was originally supposed to be a trilogy, and because it got so popular, it got a few more books… people were understandably upset, especially because this meant more manufactured drama to pad the length.
It has a few tropes I’m not wild about, but what’s interesting is in the initial books, they’re not SUPPOSED to be good. Gideon is super possessive and domineering, and he acknowledges these are bad traits… he has a bad past, and he actively works to change his habits, and even goes to therapy to try to improve himself and heal. He’s still an “alpha” hero, but he knows a lot of his behaviour is unhealthy and it bothers him that his relationship with the heroine, who is herself “damaged”, tends to devolve into sex more than a meaningful emotional connection when they fight.
It’s super refreshing, but also frustrating, because every time they make progress, Day has to include some sort of stupid misunderstanding for them to fight about, or have the heroine flip out and storm away. For example, at some point, she gets angry because she discovers he used to pick up women at the gym he takes her to (they like to work out together), and she screams at him and runs off. He chases her down and is baffled because he doesn’t understand why she’s upset, and he wants her to explain her feelings to him so he can, you know, not make these mistakes again and know what he did wrong so he can modify the behaviour. She reluctantly apologizes, and they make up, but then she keeps. DOING IT. She runs off over and over and over, even with Gideon plainly telling her that this hurts him, and he wants her to talk to him so they can work through things. It’s a rare instance of a romance novel hero actively and consciously working towards personal growth, and getting stymied by immature behaviour from the heroine so much that I really just wanted him to dump her.
Anyway. TL;DR: pretty good, could have been better, frustrating heroine. On the plus side, unlike Sylvia Day’s earlier work, she’s stopped using “cream” as a sexual term over and over and over. (Not, like, for orgasming. It’s mostly just weird and annoying. Buy a thesaurus, woman!)
I liked Status Update – I enjoyed the entire Gaymers series. Book 2 is definitely my favorite. And one of the heroes in SU has celiac disease (which I have) – I thought that part was well done, although I personally would have been asking more questions about ingredients in a couple situations. (And yes, I’ve read the SEAL romance with a celiac heroine too).
Bared To You was a rather frustrating read for me. As Dora mentioned in her post, the characters kept doing the same thing over and over for the entire book. They get together, Eva gets upset about God knows what and storms off, they get back together, Eva gets upset about God knows what and storms off, they get back together …. ad nauseam. I can’t recommend the book.
Love Status Update. It’s pretty lighthearted, considering the main problem between the two MCs, and a very sweet read. The second one is my favorite, the third was just slightly over ‘okay’ for me.
In the Middle of Somewhere and Out of Nowhere by Roan Parrish are both $1 right now. I just finished the third book last week, really enjoyed it. These are the first two titles, which are usually around $7 each on ebook. They’re a little more emotionally heavy (especially the second book) that the third, but I really enjoy this series as a whole.
Sometimes I feel like there are more romance novels about wedding planners than actual real-life wedding planners.
I’m seconding all the comments about Bared To You. It had potential, but it was a frustrating read. Every time it felt like the characters were making progress in their relationship, they took two steps backwards. It was just arguments and sex, repeated over and over again.
@JennyME: Wedding planners are the new dukes.