There’s an awesome sale in on our Teepublic store, where tees have been marked down to $14! Not only can you get SBTB swag, but there are great designs from Karen Hallion and Jen Talley as well!
A Court of Thorns and Roses
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas is $1.99! This is a Kindle Daily Deal, and hasn’t been price matched yet. 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!Yours to Keep
RECOMMENDED: Yours to Keep by Shannon Stacey is 99c! In a previous podcast episode, Petra Mayer of NPR said this is one of her books by Stacey. This is also a contemporary romance and has a fake relationship plot. It’s the third book in the Kowalskis series and has a 4-star rating on Goodreads.
Sean Kowalski no sooner leaves the army than he’s recruited by Emma Shaw to be her fake fiancé. Emma needs to produce a husband-to-be for her grandmother’s upcoming visit, and, though Sean doesn’t like the deception, he could use the landscaping job Emma’s offering while he decides what to do with his civilian life. And, despite his attraction to Emma, there’s no chance he’ll fall for a woman with deep roots in a town he’s not planning to call home.
Emma’s not interested in a real relationship either; not with a man whose idea of home is wherever he drops his duffel bag. No matter how amazing his “pretend” kisses are…
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 Wanderer
The Wanderer by Robyn Carr is 99c! This is the first book in the Thunder Point series and Sarah gave it a B-:
Though I know it won’t be for everyone, I enjoyed the mellow, misty friendliness of Thunder Point, and even though the romance was barely secondary to the story, I liked the community and each of the characters enough that reading it made me content, which is just what I wanted.
From Robyn Carr, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the popular Virgin River novels, comes THUNDER POINT—the highly anticipated new series that will make you laugh, make you sigh, and make you fall in love with a small town filled with people you’ll never forget.
Nestled on the Oregon Coast is a small town of rocky beaches and rugged charm. Locals love the land’s unspoiled beauty. Developers see it as a potential gold mine. When newcomer Hank Cooper learns he’s been left an old friend’s entire beachfront property, he finds himself with a community’s destiny in his hands.
Cooper has never been a man to settle in one place, and Thunder Point was supposed to be just another quick stop. But Cooper finds himself getting involved with the town. And with Sarah Dupre, a woman as complicated as she is beautiful.
With the whole town watching for his next move, Cooper has to choose between his old life and a place full of new possibilities. A place that just might be home.
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!Dark Mafia Prince
Dark Mafia Prince by Annika Martin is 99c at Amazon and iBooks! It’s $3.99 elsewhere. I know mafia stories aren’t for everyone, but I added this to my TBR after seeing it recommended by Molly O’Keefe. I’ll pretty much read whatever she recommends. It’s a darker romance with a smart heroine. However, others wanted more romantic interaction between the hero and heroine.
THE DARK MAFIA PRINCE IS BACK TO RECLAIM ALL THAT HER FAMILY STOLE.
Aleksio
Don’t look at me like that. So trusting.
Like you think I’m not a monster.
Like I won’t wrap your hair in my fist and bend you to my will.
Like I won’t sacrifice you, piece by piece, to save my brother.
I’m the most dangerous enemy you’ll ever have because every time you look at me, you see somebody good. That friend who died.
And when you look at me like that, I die again.Mira
I spent years making myself invisible.
A good girl, apart from the noise. Then you came back, beautiful and deadly in your Armani suit.
Don’t look at me like you still know me, you say.
But I remember your smile and those sunny days.
Before they lowered your small casket into the ground.
Before they told us the prince was dead.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.
Eve Silver’s His Dark Kiss is 99¢ all over. Gothic governess romance with a dude who straight up tells her “there is only danger to be found in his sensual embrace,” which is obviously a dare and we are not sissies.
The first in the series, Dark Desires, appears to be permafree. Penniless woman becomes the assistant of a doctor/possible serial killer, but he’s handsome and brooding, so we overlook some idiosyncrasies.
The description says they’re standalones and can be read in any order, so pick your poison… and whichever corner of the attic you prefer to waste away in.
I read the Maas book and liked it, but of course I’m far more likely to object to YA than to sexxxytimes. I’m pretty sure it had first person narration, too, but my biggest caveat is that it is not really a stand alone, the ending is …I don’t think it constitutes a cliffhanger exactly, but …without spoilers (really hard to talk about it without spoilers) you *have* to keep reading the series. So if you need a one and done happy ending: no. On-going adventures and intrigue and drama: yes
Also, I always like Shannon Stacy books, even though there are always aspects of them that bother me after the fact, like I’ve lived in NH and ME, and it’s tough to reconcile that with a happy ending, and the family dynamics need the concept of boundaries like whoa, and oh, all kinds of stuff, but somehow the books remain thoroughly enjoyable.
Teepublic is a definite ‘hide your wallet’ for me. Postage and customs costs to the UK make it very expensive though. 🙁
I’m good friends with Jen Talley and LOVE her stuff. She has a whole Hamilton series (including Valentines!), and an alphabet of women heroes.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/mimiboo
Dark Mafia Prince sounds like an AOL screen name someone would have in an Anime role playing chat room. Can’t do it.
Will check out the ponderously named Maas book though. Can’t be any worse than that other “dark” YA Beauty and the Beast book I read a while back.
For those who have read the Stacey book – is the military aspect a big part of the book? I’m not big on military heroes, but the fake relationship plot is catnip for me. Thanks!
Kim W., I don’t remember the military aspect being a huge part of the plot in Yours to Keep. It’s definitely not like a Suzanne Brockman SEALs book or anything like that. It’s been a few years since I read it, but I really enjoyed it!
I read “Court of Thorn and Roses” and the sequel “Court of Mist and Fury”. I liked the adventure aspect of the first one and it definitely is a series. The second book went in an unexpected direction and I mean that in a good way. Loved the second one and will get the third based on how much more I liked the series as it went along. I don’t usually like series that much (shamelessly admitting I never finished the series of Twilight, Hunger Games, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). I Have stuck with the Kate Daniels and a few others so it takes a lot for me to say I’d recommend this series……and I do.
Has a single book ever turned you off of ever trying an author for incredibly petty reasons? The Wanderer is that book for me. The conflict is premised on the idea of a developer closing access to the beach. That would never, ever happen in Oregon. All our beaches are public land, and it’s illegal to block people from accessing them. This exact scenario is what triggered the passage of the Oregon Beach Bill in 1967. 1967! Fifty years ago! It’s not like it’s hard to find out about, or some new or unknown development. There’s no excuse for such shoddy research. Not when the entire state is planning a gigantic beach party to celebrate the bill’s fiftieth anniversary this year.
Not only that, but a coastal community the size of the fictitious Thunder Point would welcome a high-end development as it would bring jobs to an area that has suffered massive economic depression since the collapse of the timber industry in the ’90s. Today, tourism is one of the only viable industries left on large stretches of the Oregon coast. Especially in the area described in the book, which is near Bandon (tourist town with a renowned golf course and one of the most breathtaking beaches ever) and Coquille (not even a coastal town). I lived an hour away from that area for ten years, and I’ve driven through Coquille on my way to Bandon more times than I can count.
I really, really love my state, and I get pissy when people set books in it but get major details wrong. I had to quit the Portland Storm series because there was no sense of place at all in them. Like, until the end of the first book I still wasn’t sure whether it was taking place in Portland, Maine.
@Dread Pirate Rachel: That’s not petty. That’s actually hugely significant.
Petty is exiling an author to the “never” list because of a that/who misuse in the book description. (And I’m not sorry because we all have to thin the book herd somehow.)
@dreadpiraterachel,
I get the same way about books set in New York City especially Brooklyn.
If you the author are setting your contemporary in a place that exists, make sure you get the details right.
@Kim W iirc he’s just finished his military duty and is transitioning to civilian life, and I don’t think his military background is relevant to the story except perhaps in as much as he’s fit? I read it a while ago, though.
@Dread Pirate Rachel That’s entirely valid, not petty at all! At least, I hope so, because I do this all the time. I very nearly gave up on a book a couple pages in because the description of Cambridge was all wrong and infuriating and then I realized it was the one in England and settled back down.
Audible is having a 2-for-1 sale with some interesting possibilities. I grabbed Sherwood Smith’s Crown Duel (there were some complaints about the narrator, but I was okay with the sample—we’ll see if I’ll have to speed-listen).
Off-topic. The girl’s arm on A Court of Thorns and Roses are way too skinny. I blame Photoshop.
is … not are. Argh.
@dreadpiraterachel – I hate it when authors get settings wrong. I’m still mad about a Christmas novella I read years ago that was set in Chicago (my hometown) where the heroine took the scrounge like hero on a surprise holiday date and she drove downtown and casually and easily found street parking within walking distance of Field’s to look at the Christmas windows.
No. Just. No.
(This was before the parking meters were privatized and the prices went way, way up and now you can sometimes find street parking but it’s so ridiculously expensive that why would you?)
I haven’t actually boycotted the author because that would require remembering her name, but I have boycotted that story.
The 14 year old grandson who lives with me loves the Maas books and would have no problem recommending them to anyone.
I tried with ‘ACOTAR’, I really did. I’m a sucker for ‘Beauty and the Beast’ retellings and there was a lot of hype over it.
It does have some very nice world-building. And it’s not often you come across main characters who can’t read, especially when most heroines in ‘Beauty and the Beast’ stories often have a love of books. She also enjoys creating art so that was something I could relate to.
But there is just SO-MUCH-TIME spent in the main character’s thoughts/inner dialogue, and a lot of it was repetitive.
I’ve already bought most of the books in the ‘Throne of Glass’ series in PB, but ‘ACOTAR’ makes me worried that I’ll regret that decision.
(‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ is considered ‘New Adult’, and not YA. There’s at least one sex scene in the book that I remember.)
“The Heretic Queen” by Michelle Moran is $1.99. I like all of her books, as they are all historical fiction with women as the main characters, but her ancient Egypt books are her best work.
Not petty at all! I get salty whenever I read books that are supposedly set in the East Tennessee mountains and they get all the details wrong. One book in particular, I think possibly Diablo Lake, had the closest hospital for some routine procedure at Vanderbilt in Nashville. I was like, what the fuck is this, Christy?!? That scenario has happened in at least two books that I have read. Anyway, I find it super irritating and while I might finish the book I will never pick up another one in the series.
I also stopped reading an author because she got so many details about Chicago wrong. She had her heroine drive from Chicago to Nashville through Springfield! All you had to do was look at a map to realize that was so wrong. Also, the heroine could see Wrigley Field from the roof deck of her walk up in Hyde Park??? There were other little things that were off and it just took me out of the story. It was like the author Googled things about Chicago, then plugged them into the story as she was going along.
I can’t resist singing the title of the first book to the song “Days of Wine and Roses”. Fits almost exactly.
Definitely not petty. I had a huge problem with a book I read once where one of the minor plots was the two characters going on a scavenger hunt of sorts around Maine looking for a whoopie pie, because it was the state dessert but apparently no one had ever heard of it and they couldn’t find one anywhere. I live in NH and not only does everyone know what whoopie pies are, you can buy them in general grocery stores. Really. That completely ruined the book for me, it just felt too ridiculous. Maybe this is petty though…