Once Upon a Marquess
RECOMMENDED: Once Upon a Marquess by Courtney Milan is 99c! This is book one in the Worth Saga and I think SBTB has reviewed nearly every recent Milan release. RHG and Carrie did a joint review of this one. It earned an A grade and there was a lot of squeeing.
The last man Judith Worth wants to see again is Charles Trent, the Marquess of Ashford—the man who spent summers at her family home, who kissed her one magical night…and then heartlessly ruined her father. But when a tricky business matter arises, he’s the only one she can ask for help. With any luck, he’ll engage a servant to take care of the matter, and she won’t even have to talk with him.
But Ashford has never forgotten Judith. He knows she will never forgive him for what he’s done, but when offered the chance to assist her, he arrives in person. His memory of Judith may have haunted him, but it pales in comparison to the reality of the vivacious, beautiful woman he rediscovers. Throughout his life, he has always done what is correct. But now, he finds himself doing something utterly wrong…falling in love with the one woman he can never have.
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RECOMMENDED: The Countess by Lynsay Sands is $2.99! Redheadedgirl bought this book after we featured it on sale and she gave it an A:
This was just a lot of fun, even if I had to stop in the middle and go to the other Bitches and say, “GUYS THE HERO AND HEROINE JUST FUCKED ON A DEAD GUY.”
The fairy tale courtship did not turn into a happily-ever-after…
Not until her husband dropped dead, that is. He had been horrible enough to Christiana during their short marriage, and she was not going to allow the traditional period of mourning to ruin her sisters’ debuts as well. So she decides to put him on ice and go on as if nothing’s happened…
Until the real earl appears. Richard Fairgrave had every intention of confronting his villainous twin who had robbed him of his name and title…only to discover that he had died. Quietly assuming his identity, Richard must now deal with a maddening desire for his ravishing inherited “wife”— certainly a gold digger and possibly a murderess. And Christiana must deal with an unwanted new “husband”…and they both must figure out what to do before the ice melts!
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Marine for Hire by Tawna Fenske is 99c! This is more of a novella-length contemporary (a little less than 250 pages), but the rest of the series is also on sale. You can grab all four books for less than $10. The heroine is a divorced, single mother, who has sworn off men in the military. The hero is a great friend of the heroine’s brother (we know how that goes), who’s playing nanny temporarily. Readers love the heroine and her relationship with the people around her, while others felt the book was rather forgettable. Have you read this one?
She thought she’d sworn off military men for good…
Sam Kercher is every inch a wickedly hot Marine. Tall. Sexy. Lethal. When his best friends call in a favor, Sam is forced to face an entirely new line of duty—playing nanny for their newly divorced sister and her squirming seven-month-old twin boys. If Sam can dissemble an M16 in his sleep, diaper duty should be a cakewalk…right?
Unfortunately, Operation Nanny isn’t quite that simple. Sheridan has sworn off overbearing military men, so Sam must protect her from her dirtbag ex without revealing just how much he has in common with her brothers. Or that he’s been ordered not to touch her. Ever. Problem is, Sheri’s one hell of a gorgeous woman, capable of making this hard-bodied marine even harder. And Sam wants her bad.
Protect the girl. Care for the babies. Hide his identity. And keep his hands off. But even the most disciplined Marine has weaknesses…and Sheridan is one Sam might not be able to resist.
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Witches of London – Lars by Aleksandr Voinov is 99c at Amazon! The prices are all over the place at other retailers, ranging from free at Kobo to $4.99 elsewhere. However, this romance about a gay witch seems right up the Bitchery’s alley. Readers mention there’s an age different and the romance is definitely a slow burn. But some thought the romance was too slow and wished it was more of a focus.
Some problems you can’t solve with magick—and some you can.
After a homophobic pagan group rejected him, Lars Kendall is a solitary heathen on the Northern Path, loyal to the gods of the Norse pantheon. But being on his own sucks. So when he finally meets a mixed group of other queer witches and magick-users, it’s like finding family. If family involved exploring past lives and casting spells.
Rhys Turner quit a stressful job in the City after his high-strung boyfriend of six years walked out. He sold the expensive flat in central London and bought a run-down house out in the suburbs. Never mind that it needs walls knocked down, its garden landscaped, and what the hell is up with that carpet?
With his health failing, Rhys is desperate for a clean slate and a new start. He isn’t ready to fall in love with anybody, least of all the hunky builder who looks like he’s stepped out of a TV show about Vikings—tattoos, long hair, and all. But as strong and loyal as Lars is, he also has a very soft heart, which might be the hardest thing for Rhys to resist.
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If you like fantasy romance, Song of the Nightpiper, written by Hannah Meredith and nominated for a 2018 Rita, is currently on sale for 99 cents.
For Amazon UK readers: Six books in Derek Landy’s Skullduggery Pleasant series are on sale for .99 each. These are so much fun for middle school readers (and me, too). Stephanie (a girl, yay!) inherits her horror-writer uncle’s estate and, with the help of a dead skeleton-wizard-detective, tries to save the world. The audio books are also well done, but not on sale.
The first in Mary Balogh’s Westcott series, Someone to Love, is $1.99 for kindle.
Colleen Gleason’s THE CLOCKWORK SCARAB, the first Stoker & Holmes steampunk book, is on sale at Amazon US for .99.
I enjoyed Witches of London: Lars, although it’s not my favorite by Voinov. It’s definitely not paranormal – it’s more like an inspie for pagans. Lars’ journey to find a queer pagan community is as important as his developing relationship with Rhys. It’s a nice, low conflict contemporary m/m romance.
Lars is bonkers amazing. There is some unexpected crazy that seems to be glossed over in this summary.
I’ve been wanting to try Voinov for a while, but didn’t know which book to start with. The price on this one is too good to pass up so I guess I’ll be starting with Lars:)
Somebody needs to Google the difference between dissemble & disassemble, because I can’t think of a single reason for a Marine to lie to his rifle.
The Countess!!
I loved The Countess. The only problem is that it’s almost impossible for any author to maintain that level of CrazySauce for an entire book.
But I still loved it.
@DonnaMarie: Google should permanently feature amenable vs. amendable on the home page. I’ve seen that screwup so often during the past year, I’ve wondered if it’s passed the screwup threshold to become common usage.
@Rami – it’s been awhile since I read Lars but I don’t remember much, if any, crazy-sauce. Could you remind me?
So, dearest Smart Bitches, will you be reviewing the recently published, long awaited sequel to Once Upon A Marquess? Asking for a friend… 😉
(Obviously I know that you can’t review ALL new novels, not even all by Courtney Milan, but I would dearly love to get your view on After The Wedding.)
@Katty: I believe we will be!
@Amanda: Awesome! I’m looking forward to it!
I had pre-ordered the Courtney Milan sequel and raced through it. It’s COURTNEY MILAN … you won’t be disappointed … at least, you shouldn’t be.
I hated The Countess. It was a ripoff of weekend at Bernie’s and was just horrible. I don’t even think I finished it.
Once Upon a Marquess is actually the only Courtney Milan novel I haven’t been able to get through – don’t know why! But I tried multiple times, and I was bored.
I read Lars – Witches of London based on the comments here. It was good, but not for my keeper shelf. Very much an inspiration for Paganism as @cleo mentioned earlier. I guess the crazy sauce mentioned was the dreamquest/auras/astrology bits? Not that crazy, but that might be in comparison to Laurenston’s Crows series (which I’m also presently reading), which involves the Nordic Gods in a much more in-your-face manner. Also, it felt like the romance itself was missing – we are told but not shown and I didn’t come out feeling they really were going to be HEA, just HFN. At .99, it was a lovely way to spend an afternoon.