Going Dark
Going Dark by Monica McCarty is $1.99! This is McCarty’s first book in her romantic suspense series, The Lost Platoon. I originally picked up this book because of the heroine; she’s a marine ecologist. However, I wasn’t too thrilled with our first intro to the hero and his fellow SEALs.
The members of a top secret SEAL Team can’t keep their passion under wraps in this thrilling contemporary romantic suspense series from New York Times bestselling author Monica McCarty.
Like Rome’s Lost Legion, a SEAL platoon goes on a mission and vanishes without a trace.
After walking into a trap on a covert op in Russia, the men from top secret SEAL Team Nine are presumed dead. Not knowing whom they can trust, and with war hanging in the balance, the survivors must go dark and scatter around the globe.
Marine ecologist Annie Henderson joins her new boyfriend on a trip to the Western Isles of Scotland to protest a hazardous offshore drilling venture. When she realizes that she may be swept up in something far more dangerous than she’d intended, there is only one man she can turn to. . . .
She and the mysterious but sexy dive boat captain haven’t exactly gotten off to the best start, but something about his quiet confidence makes her think that he’s the kind of man she can depend on. Because he’s gruff and guarded, she can tell Dan Warren has secrets. But she could never imagine how high the stakes are for him to keep his cover, even as he risks everything to protect her. . . .
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Seared by Suleikha Snyder is 99c! This is book one in the Master Chefs series and features a forbidden love element. It is definitely more on the erotic side with BDSM elements. I’m only saying that because some reviewers on Goodreads were rather surprised. I also made a cocktail for this book, if you prefer to imbibe while you read!
It’s been 10 years since Naya saw her stepbrother, Lachlan Christie. In that time, he’s become a famous chef, complete with his own hip and trendy Manhattan restaurant…and she’s become the woman who can give him everything — especially her body and soul. But the past doesn’t always stay dead, and you can’t escape it, no matter how far you fly or how hot you burn.
Naya’s determined to win Lachlan and secure them a happily ever after, no matter what it takes — but is love enough to save her master chef?
In the first book in the Master Chefs series, the forbidden meets the possible — and passion cooks up a storm.
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A Merciful Death by Kendra Elliot is $1.99 at Amazon! This is the first book in the Mercy Kilpatrick series and it’s a romantic suspense. I’m really interested in this series because the heroine is trying to hide the fact that she grew up in a family of severe doomsday preppers.
FBI special agent Mercy Kilpatrick has been waiting her whole life for disaster to strike. A prepper since childhood, Mercy grew up living off the land—and off the grid—in rural Eagle’s Nest, Oregon. Until a shocking tragedy tore her family apart and forced her to leave home. Now a predator known as the cave man is targeting the survivalists in her hometown, murdering them in their homes, stealing huge numbers of weapons, and creating federal suspicion of a possible domestic terrorism event. But the crime scene details are eerily familiar to an unsolved mystery from Mercy’s past.
Sent by the FBI to assist local law enforcement, Mercy returns to Eagle’s Nest to face the family who shunned her while maintaining the facade of a law-abiding citizen. There, she meets police chief Truman Daly, whose uncle was the cave man’s latest victim. He sees the survivalist side of her that she desperately tries to hide, but if she lets him get close enough to learn her secret, she might not survive the fallout…
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Widdershins by Jordan L. Hawk is 99c! This is a gay historical romance with magic. Carrie gave this book a C. She said it didn’t particularly hold her interest, but she also had a ton of other new releases that she wanted to read. Aside from that, reviewers loved the pairing of a nerdy, scholarly hero and a dashing P.I.
Some things should stay buried.
Repressed scholar Percival Endicott Whyborne has two skills: reading dead languages and hiding in his office at the Ladysmith Museum. After the tragic death of the friend he secretly loved, he’s ruthlessly suppressed any desire for another man.
So when handsome ex-Pinkerton Griffin Flaherty approaches him to translate a mysterious book, Whyborne wants to finish the job and get rid of the detective as quickly as possible. Griffin left the Pinkertons following the death of his partner, hoping to start a new life. But the powerful cult which murdered Glenn has taken root in Widdershins, and only the spells in the book can stop them. Spells the intellectual Whyborne doesn’t believe are real.
As the investigation draws the two men closer, Griffin’s rakish charm threatens to shatter Whyborne’s iron control. When the cult resurrects an evil sorcerer who commands terrifying monsters, can Whyborne overcome his fear and learn to trust? Will Griffin let go of his past and risk falling in love? Or will Griffin’s secrets cost Whyborne both his heart and his life?
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Definitely recommend Widdershins! The first novel isn’t the strongest in the series but they keep getting better with each installment. And the world building is awesome! If you like Lovecraft you will like these books!
Wild Child by Molly O’Keefe is $1.99. I prefer her Molly books to her M. books, but ymmv.
Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames is $2.99. If you like Dragon Age or Elder Scrolls or other fantasy RPGs, you’ll probably have a lot of fun with this book.
@Ren Benton: And BLOODY ROSE comes out next month. Can’t wait.
@Darlynne: I know! I’m so excited for Rose and her Bunnyman.
I’ve really enjoyed the Mercy Kilpatrick books, despite being iffier about some other Kendra Elliot titles – Mercy is a grittier and more complicated character, and so far that’s done it for me. (And, um, I’m a child of the eighties who was maybe raised just a little expecting the world to end, if mostly in a pretty prosaic sort of sense. Though ask me what’s in my bag…)
I absolutely loved Seared!
June 14, 2018: Amanda posts essay “No More Guys with Guns.”
June 27, 2018: Amanda posts books on sale entry where the FIRST book featured (and thus the only cover people who do not read below the jump will see) is also the ONLY book with a classic “Guy with Gun” cover.
I can think of 3 or 4 possible explanations for this apparent inconsistency, but I find all of them depressing.
@Rebecca: My personal feelings about guns are my own and while some readers may agree with me, I know there are others who have no problems with guns on the covers of romances.
SBTB isn’t just about me and what I like to read. The romance community is vast and varied, and to alienate other readers based on my personal preferences is the antithesis of what this site is about.
Regarding the books that are featured in the thumbnail, in case anyone wants some behind the scenes stuff, those are typically picked on the most “popular” book featured in the post.
To further address your comment, Rebecca, which I find really uncool, neither Amanda, nor I, nor anyone here has any control over what images are put on the covers of books. We can talk about what we like or dislike for years, and we have, but we aren’t in control of marketing images. Oh, that we were.
@Amanda and Sarah – Thanks for the quick response, and apologies for what I can see might have come across as a personal attack. I pointed out that you had posted both entries because I know that SBTB is a collection of diverse individuals, and while I know entries are curated, I don’t assume that they’re all of corporate authorship and have to toe some kind of line, so I expect a certain diversity of opinion.
I mentioned the apparent contradiction because I think it might be useful to think about “gun culture” the way people talk about “rape culture” (and yes, I know that’s a problematic concept that not everyone signs on to). That is, I think when parts of a culture are pervasive, people fall into accepting things as “normal” even when they may violently object to other manifestations of the same phenomena. Of course Sarah’s right that you (plural) don’t control marketing images. But that image caught my eye precisely because I remembered your essay, and it seemed odd to me that no one connected the dots. So I connected them for people, to make both those who don’t enjoy stroke-my-big-gun covers and those who do enjoy them aware of just how much we accept them as normal without thinking.
Your explanation that you were attempting to be inclusive is actually the least depressing of the explanations that occurred to me. SBTB is your blog, and I respect any decisions you make about it as either a community or a business. What worried me was that it was not a DECISION to be inclusive, but just a reflexive action without thinking at all about the cover because that’s “just how things are.”
I meant my comment to be provocative, in the sense of provoking thought, and perhaps some discomfort, among the sixty odd people who took the time to comment on the earlier essay, because I think it’s worth connecting “think pieces” to “daily life” whatever that may be. I hope it has provoked thought. But I did not mean to be snarky or insulting, and for that again I apologize.
There are apocalyptic religions in my background and in my catnip. So I just finished the first Mercy Kilpatrick book, the one in today’s sale, and did enjoy it. Thought it was well done. And the hero was allowed a weakness or two.