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Dumplin’
RECOMMENDED: Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy is a Kindle Daily Deal for $1.99! The deal is also being matched by most vendors. I mentioned this book on a previous Whatcha Reading. I highly recommend this book, especially if you love Dolly Parton. It’s funny and emotional, and the struggles Willowdean faces as a “self-proclaimed fat girl” will relate to many who suffered from those awkward teen years. Seriously, get this book.
Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . . until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.
Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.
With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine— Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart.
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Ink and Bone
Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine is $1.99! This is the first book in the Great Library series, which Carrie has enjoyed. It’s about a great, magical library, which I know will perk up some readers’ ears. But while the concept seems awesome, some readers had trouble initially getting into it.
In an exhilarating new series, New York Times bestselling author Rachel Caine rewrites history, creating a dangerous world where the Great Library of Alexandria has survived the test of time.…
Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly—but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden.
Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family, who are involved in the thriving black market. Jess has been sent to be his family’s spy, but his loyalties are tested in the final months of his training to enter the Library’s service.
When his friend inadvertently commits heresy by creating a device that could change the world, Jess discovers that those who control the Great Library believe that knowledge is more valuable than any human life—and soon both heretics and books will burn…
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The Chocolate Thief
The Chocolate Thief by Laura Florand is $1.99! This is the first book in the recommended Amour et Chocolat series and the other books are also on sale! Sarah read this one and here’s what she had to say:
Unfortunately for me, this was the one book of the series that I didn’t enjoy as much as the others. I adored every other book in the series but the heroine, Cade, rubbed me the wrong way. That said, many other readers loved this book, and the sense of place – Paris is a character in this series and it’s lovely – is just as strong.
Paris
Breathtakingly beautiful, the City of Light seduces the senses, its cobbled streets thrumming with possibility. For American Cade Corey, it’s a dream come true, if only she can get one infuriating French chocolatier to sign on the dotted line…Chocolate
Melting, yielding yet firm, exotic, its secrets are intimately known to Sylvain Marquis. But turn them over to a brash American waving a fistful of dollars? Jamais. Not unless there’s something much more delectable on the table…Stolen Pleasure
Whether confections taken from a locked shop or kisses in the dark, is there anything sweeter?Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
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The Pages of the Mind
The Pages of the Mind by Jeffe Kennedy is $2.99! This is a fantasy romance with an arranged marriage. Readers loved the scholarly heroine, but found that the second half of the book had a very different feel than the first half. It has a 3.9-star rating on Goodreads.
An Orphan’s Throne
Magic has broken free over the Twelve Kingdoms. The population is beset by shapeshifters and portents, landscapes that migrate, uncanny allies who are not quite human…and enemies eager to take advantage of the chaos.
Dafne Mailloux is no adventurer–she’s a librarian. But the High Queen trusts Dafne’s ability with languages, her way of winnowing the useful facts from a dusty scroll, and even more important, the subtlety and guile that three decades under the thumb of a tyrant taught her.
Dafne never thought to need those skills again. But she accepts her duty. Until her journey drops her into the arms of a barbarian king. He speaks no tongue she knows but that of power, yet he recognizes his captive as a valuable pawn. Dafne must submit to a wedding of alliance, becoming a prisoner-queen in a court she does not understand. If she is to save herself and her country, she will have to learn to read the heart of a wild stranger. And there are more secrets written there than even Dafne could suspect…
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Ink and Bone has been on my wishlist since Carrie S reviewed the second book eons ago, so I was happy to grab that this morning.
In keeping with the library theme, off to investigate The Pages of the Mind…
The first book in the Anita Blake series by Laurel K. Hamilton is 1.99 today on amazon. I’ve never read the series but always heard good things about it.
Oh my, the Chocolate books are on sale. I thought I was only buying one book today, but today is not that day!
The only one of these I read was Pages of the Mind, which was too YA for me, but that’s not its fault. I wanted more of a library/librarian fantasy, and it took a deep swerve into alternative Hawaii fantasy, but again, I’m not saying it was at fault, it just wasn’t for me. It was sufficiently engaging that I read the whole thing, so my guess is, if it sounds good to you, you’re going to be in heaven.
kkw thank you for your comment as I thought the book sounded interesting, but if that is where it goes it’s not for me!
I second the recommendation for Dumplin’. I wasn’t nuts about the resolution of the romance, but the whole story is funny and touching. And this is from someone who almost never reads YA.
Dumplin’ is such a lovely book. I would like to see a movie based on it (a good one, mind you).
The Cornerstone by Kate Canterbury is on sale for .99 cents!!! I loved it! I’ve read it and listened to the audiobook at least 5 times. It is funny and sexy and has two great leads who butt heads a lot because they are both used to being in charge. It’s the fourth book in the series, but can be a standalone.
I blazed through “Ink and Bone” in a day. Same with “Paper and Fire”, the second book. Really good, really cool. Has a super-studious hijabi Muslim girl and a gay library Scholar (whose partner is a library military captain). Mad props for diversity and originality.
Darn, I was trying to resist buying “Dumplin” and “Ink and Bone” so I could check them out at the library later (‘hold back on e-books, use your local library’ is my New Years’ resolution), but the reviews here made me one-click them. Sale posts are bad for resolutions.
(Also, the description of Ink and Bone sounds so much like the way a lot of digital material copyright and licensing works and now I’m curious if that’s a coincidence or not. Probably a coincidence, but I am intrigued).
@Cassandra – I know a number of people who like the Anita Blake books, but I couldn’t get into them and gave up about a third of the way into the first book.
I’ve also heard that the series is good for the first 8 or so books, then goes downhill from there. (This entry and some of the comments go into more detail: http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2014/01/why-i-broke-up-with-paranormals/)
I thought The Chocolate Thief was just meh and I liked The Chocolate Kiss even less.
I can echo what @Helen R-S said about the Anita Blake series. I read the first 8 or so and loved them, but gave up rather abruptly when they became more about the sex and less about the characters and paranormal plot threads. Coincidentally, that was with the first book in the series to come out in hardcover. I heard that they improved down the line, but I’ve never gone back to try them myself. I’d be happy to reread the first several, though.
Pages of the Mind was a DNF for me–waaaaay too much exposition in the first couple of chapters. I’ve got my eyes peeled for another fantasy romance with a nerd/barbarian arranged marriage, because that plot is all kinds of catnip.
Cade was just ok but I loved Sebastian, and sometime I just reread the last three chapters because those are the best in the book. Jamie annoyed me a lot more than Cade did, though, and again, I loved Dom. I think that Florand wrote a lot better heroes in that series than she did heroines. She redeemed herself, though, with the flower series and Matt.