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Duke of Desire
Duke of Desire by Elizabeth Hoyt is $1.99! This is a Kindle Daily Deal and is being price-matched. Yay! Do check out the other deals for today; there’s some nonfiction and more romance. This is the twelfth and I believe final book in the much-loved Maiden Lane series. If you’ve read it, what’d you think? A fitting end or a disappointing one?
A LADY OF LIGHT
Refined, kind, and intelligent, Lady Iris Jordan finds herself the unlikely target of a diabolical kidnapping. Her captors are the notoriously evil Lords of Chaos. When one of the masked-and nude!-Lords spirits her away to his carriage, she shoots him . . . only to find she may have been a trifle hasty.
A DUKE IN DEEPEST DARKNESS
Cynical, scarred, and brooding, Raphael de Chartres, the Duke of Dyemore, has made it his personal mission to infiltrate the Lords of Chaos and destroy them. Rescuing Lady Jordan was never in his plans. But now with the Lords out to kill them both, he has but one choice: marry the lady in order to keep her safe.
CAUGHT IN A WEB OF DANGER . . . AND DESIRE
Much to Raphael’s irritation, Iris insists on being the sort of duchess who involves herself in his life-and bed. Soon he’s drawn both to her quick wit and her fiery passion. But when Iris discovers that Raphael’s past may be even more dangerous than the present, she falters. Is their love strong enough to withstand not only the Lords of Chaos but also Raphael’s own demons?
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The Bear and the Nightingale
RECOMMENDED: The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden is $2.99! Right now, it’s Amazon only, so this deal could be ending soon. This fantasy novel has elements of Russian mythology and I made a soothing cocktail for it. The book is whimsical and perfect for the winter, though it can drag at times.
A magical debut novel for readers of Naomi Novik’s Uprooted, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, and Neil Gaiman’s myth-rich fantasies, The Bear and the Nightingale spins an irresistible spell as it announces the arrival of a singular talent with a gorgeous voice.
At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn’t mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.
After Vasilisa’s mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa’s new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.
And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa’s stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.
As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse’s most frightening tales.
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This Is Just My Face
RECOMMENDED: This is Just My Face by Gabourey Sidibe is $2.99! Redheadedgirl enjoyed this one and gave it an A:
This is a really interesting memoir by someone who I didn’t know much about. She’s got a complicated life story, and a great attitude as she sashays her way through her life. She’s funny, and touching. And, as ever, the inner lives of Black women are still not something that receives nearly enough attention.
The Oscar-nominated Precious star and Empire actress delivers a much-awaited memoir—wise, complex, smart, funny—a version of the American experience different from anything we’ve read
Gabourey Sidibe—“Gabby” to her legion of fans—skyrocketed to international fame in 2009 when she played the leading role in Lee Daniels’s acclaimed movie Precious. In This is Just My Face, she shares a one-of-a-kind life story in a voice as fresh and challenging as many of the unique characters she’s played onscreen. With full-throttle honesty, Sidibe paints her Bed-Stuy/Harlem family life with a polygamous father and a gifted mother who supports her two children by singing in the subway. Sidibe tells the engrossing, inspiring story of her first job as a phone sex “talker.” And she shares her unconventional (of course!) rise to fame as a movie star, alongside “a superstar cast of rich people who lived in mansions and had their own private islands and amazing careers while I lived in my mom’s apartment.”
Sidibe’s memoir hits hard with self-knowing dispatches on friendship, depression, celebrity, haters, fashion, race, and weight (“If I could just get the world to see me the way I see myself,” she writes, “would my body still be a thing you walked away thinking about?”). Irreverent, hilarious, and untraditional, This Is Just My Face takes its place and fills a void on the shelf of writers from Mindy Kaling to David Sedaris to Lena Dunham.Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
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Deadly Strain
Deadly Strain by Julie Rowe is $1.99! This book was recommended on two podcasts: one with Sassy Outwater and one with Reader Meka. It’s romantic suspense with a bioterrorism angle and while readers loved the non-stop action, some wished there was more focus on the romance. It has a 3.9-star rating on Goodreads.
Major Grace Samuels, a trauma surgeon deployed to Afghanistan, spends her life helping her fellow soldiers overcome disease and combat injuries. But her own wounds are harder to heal. Wracked with guilt over the death of a fellow soldier, she finds comfort in her only friend and appointed bodyguard, weapons sergeant Jacob “Sharp” Foster.
Sharp feels more for Grace than a soldier should, more than he wants to admit. When the team discovers a new, quick-to-kill strain of Anthrax, he tries to focus on the mission to find its source. He knows he can help Grace defeat her demons, but first they must defeat the deadly outbreak.
Sharp is Grace’s most loyal ally, but in close quarters, he starts to feel like more. She can’t watch someone else she cares about die—but she might not have a choice. The closer they get to finding the source of the strain, the closer it gets to finding them.
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AACK! A major dating a sergeant? Big no-no! I REALLY hope the book doesn’t end with her getting out of the military so they can be together without committing fraternization . . .
The cover image on “Duke of Desire” continues to bother me because it is just plain wrong. The book was solid, but the entire time I was reading it, I kept trying to figure out who the person on the cover was supposed to be. The eponymous duke? Nope. Nope. and Nope. This isn’t cover snark; this is cover rant for an otherwise wonderful series.
I recently read Gabourey’s book and loved it. I don’t usually read bios or autobios but hers was hilarious, touching, and insightful. I highly recommend it.
Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic is $1.99. This is one of my favorite movies but I never read the book. A prequel about the aunts just came out this year and reminded me that I need to read both.
Ann Leckie’s PROVENANCE is on sale at Amazon for $2.99. I know reviews have been mixed, but the three-book Ancillary series was stellar, definitely worth a gamble on this new one.
@ Qualisign – I agree. The Duke of Desire cover definitely does not match the tone of the story or the hero. My only quibble with the series ending was I would have liked to see the Ghost of St. Giles start a new generation (and a new series).
I listened to the Gabourey Sidibe audiobook because of the rec here and loved it. And I’ve never seen her perform. [I somehow never got to see Precious even though I intended to.]
DUKE OF DESIRE was a continuation of the Lords of Chaos Plot from the Duke of Pleasure, rather than a Maiden Lane story. The romance part of the story was B+ for me. I found the Heroine Iris to be lovely:she was gentle, loving and compassionate, but also courageous and optimistic. Raphael was a
seriously tortured angsty Hero who had every reason to want to destroy the Lords of Chaos. This story focused on his healing, but the ultimate scene where he finally surrendered to love sort of came out of nowhere, and was a bit melodramatic for my taste. However, there was an amazing HEA for them in the Epilogue that was just lovely. I had to pull out the tissues a couple of times during the book, especially when Iris articulated her hopefulness and optimism, even in light of dark circumstances. Overall rating: C
Red Flag warnings for some readers re: sexual abuse of children and rape and torture and some key support characters also die. This book is very, very dark in places and might upset some Readers.
In summary, overall I was a bit disappointed. Knowing this was the final Maiden Lane story, I think I was hoping that one (or better yet) all Ghosts of St. Giles might make an appearance and perhaps work together to defeat the Lords of Chaos. This lack coloured my enjoyment of the story, or perhaps the much darker, raw elements to the back story lessened my pleasure in reading Duke of Desire.
However the earlier books in the series remain on my Favourites of All Time List.
@Qualisign and @LauraL: Agreed! The cover for the last Maiden Lane novel should have a partially masked man or a male model with half of his face covered. This is yet another cover/book discrepancy that makes me wonder if authors get input on how their covers are created (I hope that they do!).
St. Giles was still crime ridden by the end of the series. So there was a need for a new generation of ghosts. I could see Joseph Tinbox taking over, as he was like a son to Winter Makepeace. And there’s definitely an epic love story brewing for Joseph and “Peaches.”
Lastly, for me,the “Duke of Desire” was a fitting end to Maiden Lane. The Lords of Chaos had abused and profoundly scarred so many characters throughout ML. These corrupted elites couldn’t be brought to justice without first confronting the consequences of their actions. Nevertheless, I’m curious to hear from those who didn’t enjoy the final ML novel. Was it too dark for readers’ tastes? I realize that in comparison, Val’s story seemed more upbeat.
@ Carol:I just saw your post. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on how Maiden Lane ended.
As much as Iris had pleaded with Raphael to accept help, I had expected to see a few Ghosts of St. Giles reappear. That was my main disappointment with “Duke of Desire.”
And don’t get me started on the cover not matching the hero’s description! Argh!
@Jolie “St. Giles was still crime ridden by the end of the series. So there was a need for a new generation of ghosts. I could see Joseph Tinbox taking over, as he was like a son to Winter Makepeace. And there’s definitely an epic love story brewing for Joseph and “Peaches.”” Agree 100%. That’s where I hoped she was going with this series, I felt like she got sidetracked into the Lords of Chaos and although I loved the earlier ones in the series, it felt like, I’m sorry to say it, she’d kind of lost interest. Sorry.
Re: the cover of Elizabeth Hoyt’s “Duke of Desire” – I just finished reading the book (should have been titled “Duke of Unrelenting Darkness”; anyone else reminded of the horror contained in “Flowers in the Attic”?). I can’t tell you how often I’d turn back to look at the cover, peering at it from any and all angles and stage-whisper to myself: WHERE IS THE F*****G SCAR?
What makes its absence all the more unbelievable (and unforgivable) is this reference in Hoyt’s acknowledgements: “Thank you to the art department team, who work hard on the covers of my books (particularly this one)”. I have to wonder about the texts, etc. that flew between the artist (Alan Ayers, who is one of the best in the genre), Hoyt, and someone at Grand Central, who must have decided that we, the readers couldn’t handle (wouldn’t pay for) a realistic portrayal of Raphael’s face. The result, while beautiful and striking FOR A DIFFERENT BOOK, ends up dismissing and insulting our abilities to be attracted to anything (anyone) less than perfect. Big mistake, Grand Central. Boo, hiss.