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The Spymaster’s Lady
The Spymaster’s Lady by Joanna Bourne is $2.99! This book has been recommended in five (FIVE!) podcast episodes, and is often attributed to being readers’ first foray into romance. Have you read it? What’d you think?
She’s never met a man she couldn’t deceive…until now.
She’s braved battlefields. She’s stolen dispatches from under the noses of heads of state. She’s played the worldly courtesan, the naïve virgin, the refined British lady, even a Gypsy boy. But Annique Villiers, the elusive spy known as the Fox Cub, has finally met the one man she can’t outwit…
British spymaster Robert Grey must enter France and bring back the brilliant, beautiful-and dangerous-Fox Cub. His duty is to capture her and her secrets for England. When the two natural enemies are thrown into prison, they forge an uneasy alliance to break free. But their pact is temporary and betrayal seems inevitable as the fates of nations hang in the balance.
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Magic Bites
RECOMMENDED: Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews is $1.99! This is book one in the Kate Daniels series, and I remember reading it and hiding so no one would make me stop reading. Be ye warned: crack ahoy. This book has a 4-star average at Goodreads and is much loved. There’s also a special edition of Magic Bites, but that one is currently priced at $12.99.
Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for magic…
One moment magic dominates, and cars stall and guns fail. The next, technology takes over and the defensive spells no longer protect your house from monsters. Here skyscrapers topple under onslaught of magic; werebears and werehyenas prowl through the ruined streets; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst of knowledge and wealth, pilot blood-crazed vampires with their minds.
In this world lives Kate Daniels. Kate likes her sword a little too much and has a hard time controlling her mouth. The magic in her blood makes her a target, and she spent most of her life hiding in plain sight. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, she must choose to do nothing and remain safe or to pursue his preternatural killer. Hiding is easy, but the right choice is rarely easy…
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Single Malt
Single Malt by Layla Reyne is 99c! This is a gay romantic suspense novel with an age difference and a workplace romance. Hello catnip! I will warn that there appears to be a cliffhanger in this book, but the next one is available for $3.99. Reviewers had mostly good things to say about the pacing and characterization, and it has a 4-star rating on Goodreads.
The heart’s a resilient beast
Eight months after the car crash that changed everything, FBI agent Aidan Talley is back at work. New department, new case and a new partner. Smart, athletic and handsome, Jameson Walker is twelve years his junior. Even if Aidan was ready to move on—and he’s not—Jamie is off-limits.
Jamie’s lusted after Aidan for three years, and the chance to work with San Francisco’s top agent directly is too good to pass up. Aidan is prickly—to put it mildly—but a growing cyber threat soon proves Jamie’s skills invaluable.
Jamie’s talents paint a target on his back, and Aidan is determined to protect him. But with hack after hack threatening a high-security biocontainment facility, time is running out to thwart a deadly terrorist attack. They’ll have to filter out distractions, on the case and in their partnership, to identify the real enemy, solve the case and save thousands of lives, including their own.
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Status Update
Status Update by Annabeth Albert is 99c! This is a gay romance with some nerdy, gaming elements and some forced proximity. Sarah gave the romance a B-:
The conflict and distance the characters have to travel emotionally and geographically to make their relationship work kept me reading until the end, but there were several chapters I had to push myself through because of pacing, overly-sweet dialogue, or downright purple prose.
Adrian Gottlieb is winning at life. He’s a successful video game designer with everything a man could ask for, including a warm comfy ride to Denver and a date for his sister’s wedding. But he finds himself in need of a total reboot when he’s left stranded at a snowy campground in Utah. Holiday plans? Epic fail.
That is until Noah Walters offers him shelter for the night and a reluctant cross-country ride. Nothing about the ultraconservative geoarchaeologist should attract Adrian, but once he discovers Noah’s hidden love for video games, the two connect on a new level. Soon, a quiet but undeniable chemistry sparks.
Something doesn’t add up, though. As the miles accumulate and time runs out, Noah must face the most difficult choice of his life. Meanwhile, Adrian must decide whether he’s ready to level up. Is their relationship status worth fighting for, or has this game ended before it’s even begun?
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Am I the only one not on the Spymaster’s Lady bandwagon? Bourne’s writing style is wonderful, but this just left me flat. It’s been a while since I read it, but I remember hanging on, hoping for a good hero grovel…that never came.
The Kate Daniels series has the distinction of being the only time I distinctly remember the three little words where I was done: “Fuck the pack.” Can’t remember if it was book 4 or 5, but I remember Kate and Curran going on a DATE while everybody else tried to stop the world from ending. My sense of responsibility was not having any more of that “dereliction of duty is romantic” nonsense.
Annabeth Albert has a bunch of books for $0.99 right now, I highly recommend her.
As @Katie Lynn says, Annabeth Albert has several .99 sales right now. Gathered Up is a collection of 3 novellas, including Knit Tight, which was reviewed here at SBTB and may be her best from the Portland Heat series.
I have to weigh in– I loved Spymaster’s Lady. After I finished the book, it ruined me for other romances for awhile. I loved the character development.
If you start the Kate Daniels series save yourself the agony and get them all. It’s one of the best ever and you won’t be able to stop. The Hidden Legacy series is the same. Actually, just go buy every book Ilona Andrews has ever written.
Like Kasi, I’m someone who really enjoyed Spymaster’s Lady. I’m repeatedly impressed at what the author had me not seeing (yes, I know) for the first eighty or so pages.
“The Restorer” by Amanda Stevens is $1.99. It’s a nicely creepy paranormal romance in which the heroine is a cemetery restorer who sees ghosts. She lives in Charleston, and much of the series takes place in and around there, so there’s a strong sense of Southern gothic place.
Spymaster’s Lady was most definitely NOT my first romance book, but it does remain one of my favorites. Joanna Bourne always seems to do the indefatigable: I find it difficult to nail down specific reasons why I love her books or break them into analyzable pieces, but each one leaves a glowing ember in my memories.
Sadly, I didn’t like the Spymaster’s Lady and stopped midway through. I remember thinking the hero was such a creep that no amount of groveling would satisfy me. I think this is a book that just hasn’t aged well. Drugging and holding women prisoner in 2018, no thank you.
@Shana I had major issues about consent in the Spymaster’s Lady. I also stopped before the end and was really uncomfortable with the entire relationship and throughout the sex scenes. The hero felt coercive and abusive to me no matter how many times the book tried to stress to me that she was an equal in their relationship (where he has her imprisoned and drugs her, but she keeps trying to escape so I guess she’s strong and independent…). However, I do seem to be in the minority because it has glowing reviews on Goodreads.
For any UK readers out there Just for Show by Jae is a kindle daily deal. I haven’t read it (just bought it though) but it’s a lesbian romance featuring a fake romance and has good reviews on goodreads.
A shout out for Status Update. I really enjoyed it and the rest of the Gaymers series. I’ve re-read them a couple of times and discover something new each one.
As for Magic Bites – amazing world building and ever deepening characters.
I didn’t like Spymaster’s Lady either, for all the reasons mentioned (questionable consent, coercive hero, unequal relationship), plus it pissed me off because I felt like the story wanted me to believe Annique was this amazing super-spy when she never really demonstrated any of that. She came off as way too young for her supposed worldly experience, too, which exacerbated the sense of inequality. Bourne’s writing is absolutely beautiful, but it didn’t save it for me.
Also, Bourne is not at fault for this, but I’m just really really sick of the fake courtesan virgins. If I were a virginal spy and my job demanded me to pose as a sexually experienced woman who definitely should not be a virgin, I would get rid of my virginity first. Like, how is that not a professional liability?
@Kareni: And the thing is, she tells you from the very first paragraph. It’s not until after you get the big reveal and go back and read again that it jumps out at you.
I liked the book, but there are others in the series that I re-read more often. Read it for some of Hawker’s back-story….
I’ve been sitting on this one for two days for reasons: Murder in Thrall by Anne Cleeland is on sale for 0.99 at Amazon.
I learned of this titles in a recent HaBo: Police Heroine Marries Her Stalker. So that should tell you everything you need to know about why this book could be problematic for the bitchery. Wait. He’s also her work superior. Also, he’s a *spoiler*, *spoiler*, and possibly a black market weapons dealer. (Neither of those spoilers is “rapist,” yay.) Classified as a mystery, this book works really well as a romance if the preceding doesn’t bother you. And it really has to not bother you, because the first book doesn’t pull any punches with the creep-level of his stalking and need to control the heroine through observation.
So much in there that makes me think “not a book for the bitchery,” but here is where I learned of it in the first place, so there’s the paradox of this place.
Spymaster was one book that I DNF’d for the reasons readers mentioned above. However the Kate Daniels series should come with the Bad Decisions Book Club warning label to not start any of the books unless you have the runway to finish it – warning you will be up all night, (just going to read to the end of chapter, uh huh) Also liked the Single Malt M/M Cop/Suspense Series, second only to the Abigail Roux & Madeleine Urban Cut and Run series for Suspense Intrigue M/M Steamy – Ty Grady and Zane Garrett seriously hot!
Me again – forgot to ask if anyone else liked Mary Calmes A Matter of Time series – hmmm another M/M with Law Enforcement Officer Sam Kage and quirky loveable Jory.
Spymaster’s Lady is not my favorite of Bourne’s books, but some of the other books in the series are repeat reads for me, so I finished it for the sake of other character stories. Joanna Bourne is so prolific with so many great books, that she’s almost an automatic buy for me, but then she has few real duds out there. If you read enough of her the stories, plot lines, and characters start to get a bit repetitive.
Seconding (or maybe its thirding) Annabeth Albert. She has a bunch of books on sale right now. She was the first m/m author I read and her books are amazing – she has a pretty wide variety of hero types which I enjoy. I think one of the reasons I started reading m/m is because I don’t read a lot of contemporary and this gave me an opportunity to do so with great characters..The female heroines in contemporary books frustrate me-how many bloggers/fashion writers/journalists/lawyers really exist (that’s not my social group).
I HATED Spymaster’s Lady. DNF’ed so hard foe all of the reasons previously mentioned. Plus, although historicals get something of a pass on this, I am really, really tired of books in which the title character is referred to as the something of some man. The Alchemists Daughter, The Time Traveler’s Wife, etcetera. Are there not enough titles in the world to go around, that we keep on having to define women by their relationship to a man?
Love Kate Daniels as much as I hated Spymaster’s Lady, though.
@Deborah, the hero of Murder in Thrall is a man I’d not want to know in real life; that said, I really enjoyed the series. (So, yes, I understand your hesitation in posting the sale!)
@Sandra, and now I’m tempted to re-read Spymaster’s Lady and the other Hawker books.
@Carole – I really disliked A Matter of Time, although I know it has a lot of fans. (The writing style was not to my taste and I couldn’t connect to the characters – plus I’m a Chicagoan and the geography made no sense to me). How similar in style is Single Malt?
I love the way Joanna Bourne writes. Doyle’s book is my favorite, The Forbidden Rose. One problem I have is that if I re-read one, I normally want to re-read all of them. So time consuming! Ha the same is true for the Kate Daniels series. LOVE it but I can’t stop my reading at a single book. Even if you don’t love Magic Bites, I encourage you to keep reading because the story gets better and better.
@Mara – so glad you said that about Magic Bites. I’ve heard many good things about the Kate Daniels series, but barely saw a reason to finish the first book, so never continued.
Love Annabeth Albert (I just read and adored her latest, Squared Away), like Kate Daniels, hated and DNF’d The Spymaster’s Lady. The part where he drugs her really hit my ick-limit. Glad to know I’m not alone with this reaction!