The Earl
The Earl by Katharine Ashe is $1.99! This is the second book in the Devil’s Duke series. It has a false identity, a road trip, and an opposites attract romance. Some readers loved the antagonistic relationship between the hero and heroine, but others mentioned some issues with liking the heroine in general.
How does a bookish lady bring an arrogant lord to his knees? Entice him to Scotland, strip him of titles and riches, and make him prove what sort of man he truly is.
Opposites…
Handsome, wealthy, and sublimely confident, Colin Gray, the new Earl of Egremoor, has vowed to unmask the rabble-rousing pamphleteer, Lady Justice, the thorn in England’s paw. And he’ll stop at nothing.
Attract.
Smart, big-hearted, and passionately dedicated to her work, Lady Justice longs to teach her nemesis a lesson in humility. But her sister is missing, and a perilous journey with her archrival into unknown territory just might turn fierce enemies into lovers.
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The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye is $1.99! This is a YA fantasy novel that has been sitting on TBR pile for a bit. It sounds so awesome, but I’m also hesitant to pull the trigger when it comes to YA. Readers loved the Russian setting and the magical element, but wanted more political intrigue over the romance.
Vika Andreyev can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.
And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.
Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?
For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.
And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love . . . or be killed himself.
As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear . . . the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.
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The Dinosaur Lords by Victor Milán is $2.99! Carrie read this one and gave it a B-:
If you want to read this, it will have to be because you dig medieval politics, gritty Game of Thrones-style fantasy, and knights on dinosaurs. When it comes to these three things, particularly the latter two, the book excels, but warning that the emphasis here is on “grit”.
A world made by the Eight Creators on which to play out their games of passion and power, Paradise is a sprawling, diverse, often brutal place. Men and women live on Paradise as do dogs, cats, ferrets, goats, and horses. But dinosaurs predominate: wildlife, monsters, beasts of burden – and of war. Colossal planteaters like Brachiosaurus; terrifying meateaters like Allosaurus and the most feared of all, Tyrannosaurus rex. Giant lizards swim warm seas. Birds (some with teeth) share the sky with flying reptiles that range in size from batsized insectivores to majestic and deadly Dragons.
Thus we are plunged into Victor Milán’s splendidly weird world of The Dinosaur Lords, a place that for all purposes mirrors 14th century Europe with its dynastic rivalries, religious wars, and byzantine politics…and the weapons of choice are dinosaurs. Where we have vast armies of dinosaur-mounted knights engaged in battle. And during the course of one of these epic battles, the enigmatic mercenary Dinosaur Lord Karyl Bogomirsky is defeated through betrayal and left for dead. He wakes, naked, wounded, partially amnesiac – and hunted. And embarks upon a journey that will shake his world.
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RECOMMENDED: Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo is on sale! I’m not sure what the heck is going on with pricing, but it’s $3.49 at Amazon and $2.99 at Barnes & Noble. It’s possible that the discount might be ending. Elyse LOVED this book and gave it an A+:
If you love thrillers with a little romance (or romance with A LOT of thriller) and you want something totally different from what’s being published right now, go buy this book. You won’t be disappointed.
A killer is preying on sacred ground….
In the sleepy rural town of Painters Mill, Ohio, the Amish and “English” residents have lived side by side for two centuries. But sixteen years ago, a series of brutal murders shattered the peaceful farming community. In the aftermath of the violence, the town was left with a sense of fragility, a loss of innocence. Kate Burkholder, a young Amish girl, survived the terror of the Slaughterhouse Killer but came away from its brutality with the realization that she no longer belonged with the Amish.
Now, a wealth of experience later, Kate has been asked to return to Painters Mill as Chief of Police. Her Amish roots and big city law enforcement background make her the perfect candidate. She’s certain she’s come to terms with her past—until the first body is discovered in a snowy field. Kate vows to stop the killer before he strikes again. But to do so, she must betray both her family and her Amish past—and expose a dark secret that could destroy her.
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I got the Castillo book for my MiL based on that review – she likes much scarier books than I do – and I think it’s her favorite thing I’ve ever gotten her.
There is a Murder, She Wrote book on sale right now for $1.99 called “Murder, She Wrote: Rum & Razors” by Jessica Fletcher (he!) and Donald Bain.
It seems a bit… odd to me that the Tsar would choose to kill one of the only two enchanters in Russia. Like… why does there have to be just one? Much like Double-Stuf Oreos, some things are just better when there’re more of them.
@Jess: C’mon, Jess! Have you seen Highlander? THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE!
@Jess Totally agree! Sounds like a waste of natural resources.
@Jess, @Amanda, and @Alyssa–I scrolled down to ask the same thing. There are literally two threats laid out in the synopsis. Why wouldn’t the Tsar want two enchanters? Or fifteen?
@Alyssa, @Amanda, @Rose Right?! And the enchanters are specifically stated to have different abilities, so it’s not like there’s an overlap. I mean, I could maybe understand if you had two pyromancers and ONE MUST REIGN SUPREME, but even then, it makes zero sense to kill the loser??? I dunno, man. It’s a mystery. Maybe the book explains it.
@Jess this was bothering me enough that I went and checked out the book summary on Amazon, and it says “Normally, only one exists at a time. In the rare case that two are born, they must compete, because Russia’s inherent magic will allow only one to remain alive.”
Interesting plot device. I am amused by the notion that Russia’s inherent magic is so bloodthirsty. No unicorn-and-pixie magic for Russia. It’s all Baba Yaga and gladiator death matches for competing sorcerers.
See, I was hung up on the whole “the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.” Given what we know–and knew even then–how does the author make working for the tsar a viable career choice? But that’s just me.
The above is just the best discussion… This is why I’m here, folks!
@Darlynne–wondered the same thing, but the blurbs don’t specify which Tsar. So maybe this is set far prior to the events of WWI?
And also in a world with magic, so hell, Ferdinand is never shot and Rasputin dies in 1914 and Anastasia lives happily ever after with John Cusack and Angela Lansbury.
I like the idea of Tolstoy with magic…but (Russian speakers please correct me) wouldn’t Vika be Vika Androvna, or something like that? Andreyev sounds like a masculine patronymic? (For a minute I thought this was a M/M fantasy romance, which given Russia at the moment would be quite something.)
@Rebecca Yep, you’re right! The feminine version of Andreyev is Andreyeva. Also, using “Pasha” as a form of address for the Grand Duke is kind of weird, since it’s a diminutive for Pavel. Sort of like calling Prince Charles by Prince Charlie. Not wrong, just unusual.
@Rose …That is an interesting justification. I’m almost tempted to pick up this book because I have so many questions, but the YA love triangle thing isn’t really up my alley. Like… the inherent magic system has supported them both up to this point, correct? So why would it suddenly flip out and kill one of them? Maybe once their magic “matures”, then the system suddenly can’t handle it?
I NEED ANSWERS
Also that’s such a wild concept, too, because Imperial Russia was fucking HUGE, YA’LL. There are so many distinct cultural groups and nations within that landscape, so basically the author is saying that, out of every dozen-and-a-half ethnic groups in Eurasia, the landscape can only support one mage, and that one mage is Russian. Where does this magic system end? Does it cross borders? If a republic leaves the Empire, are they suddenly free to have an enchanter of their own???
@Jess YES EXACTLY YES. This book must be great, because the sheer speculation alone is enough for a trilogy.
Maybe, like a His Dark Materials sort of thing, puberty triggers a soul-deep change and it consequently affects their magical abilities? And like you said, if a little bit of border country broke off or got annexed and the mage was there, would she suddenly be fine, since she was no longer within the bounds of the empire? Is it enough that she was born Russian? What if she gets a travel visa and spends 51% of the year in Brazil?
I don’t think I could make it through a YA love triangle novel either (honestly I can’t even make it through adult love triangles, or squares, or rhombi), so please, someone post a review! I am seriously curious about the details of this world.
I just love that so many of you have the same questions that I have along with the same reluctance to read The Crown’s Game. Orginially typed Crow’s Game, now adding some Laurensten Crows into this would certainly add to the fun!
PSA/spoiler/TW regarding The Dinosaur Lords, because if I’d known this going in I might not have read it…
…
…near the end of the book, the main female character is explicitly raped. And I had been intending to at least try and read the sequel (because dinosaurs!), but my husband made it halfway through and rage-quit, due to a scene where that same character, who is still struggling with the aftermath of her assault, gets magically coerced into an M/F/F threesome. Which is also rape.
@Lara thank you for the safety spoilers. Rape and assault do not equal character development.
@Lara – I and my TBR both thank you for the warning on The Dinosaur Lords. Getting super tired of gritty fantasy = horrible things happening to women.