Clean Sweep
Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews is $2.99! I’ve heard good things about this book and it has a mix of scifi and paranormal elements, and I really don’t know why I’m dragging my feet on reading this series. Have you read it and how does it compare to Kate Daniels and Hidden Legacy?
On the outside, Dina Demille is the epitome of normal. She runs a quaint Victorian Bed and Breakfast in a small Texas town, owns a Shih Tzu named Beast, and is a perfect neighbor, whose biggest problem should be what to serve her guests for breakfast. But Dina is…different: Her broom is a deadly weapon; her Inn is magic and thinks for itself. Meant to be a lodging for otherworldly visitors, the only permanent guest is a retired Galactic aristocrat who can’t leave the grounds because she’s responsible for the deaths of millions and someone might shoot her on sight. Under the circumstances, “normal” is a bit of a stretch for Dina.
And now, something with wicked claws and deepwater teeth has begun to hunt at night…Feeling responsible for her neighbors, Dina decides to get involved. Before long, she has to juggle dealing with the annoyingly attractive, ex-military, new neighbor, Sean Evans—an alpha-strain werewolf—and the equally arresting cosmic vampire soldier, Arland, while trying to keep her inn and its guests safe. But the enemy she’s facing is unlike anything she’s ever encountered before. It’s smart, vicious, and lethal, and putting herself between this creature and her neighbors might just cost her everything.
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Bad Bachelor by Stefanie London is $2.99 at most vendors and $1.99 at Barnes & Noble! I mostly enjoyed this one; there’s a review coming soon. But I had to overcome some issues to really get to the good stuff. Your mileage may vary depending on your reading patience.
Everybody’s talking about the hot new app reviewing New York’s most eligible bachelors. But why focus on prince charming when you can read the latest dirt on the lowest-ranked “Bad Bachelors”—NYC’s most notorious bad boys.
If one more person mentions Bad Bachelors to Reed McMahon, someone’s gonna get hurt. A PR whiz, Reed is known as an ‘image fixer’ but his womanizing ways have caught up with him. What he needs is a PR miracle of his own.
When Reed strolls into Darcy Greer’s workplace offering to help save the struggling library, she isn’t buying it. The prickly Brooklynite knows Reed is exactly the kind of guy she should avoid. But the library does need his help. As she reluctantly works with Reed, she realizes there’s more to a man than his reputation. Maybe, just maybe, Bad Bachelor #1 is THE one for her.
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Devil in Tartan by Julia London is $1.99! This is part of the Highland Grooms series and I’m not sure what’s going on with the hero’s hair here. Maybe he has one of those Beyonce hair fans around. The heroine captures the hero’s ship, which is major catnip, but some wished there was more of a focus on the romance.
Peril and passion on enemy seas…
Lottie Livingstone bears the weight of an island on her shoulders. Under threat of losing their home, she and her clan take to the seas to sell a shipload of illegal whiskey. When an attack leaves them vulnerable, she transforms from a maiden daughter to a clever warrior. For survival, she orchestrates the siege of a rival’s ship and now holds the devilish Scottish captain Aulay Mackenzie under her command.
Tied, captive and forced to watch a stunning siren commandeer the Mackenzie ship, Aulay burns with the desire to seize control—of the ship and Lottie. He has resigned himself to a life of solitude on the open seas, but her beauty tantalizes him like nothing has before. As authorities and enemies close in, he is torn between surrendering her to justice and defending her from assailants. He’ll lose her forever, unless he’s willing to sacrifice the unimaginable…
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Scent of Roses by Kat Martin is 99c! This was originally published in 2006 and has since had a cover redesign. Readers enjoyed the Gothic elements in this one, but have mentioned things are a bit slow to start. It has a 3.8-star rating on Goodreads.
Read this thrilling classic romantic suspense from New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin.
Elizabeth doesn’t believe in ghosts. But this time she has no choice.
Family counselor Elizabeth Conner isn’t sure what to think when Maria Santiago comes to her for help. Pregnant and terrified, Maria claims to be visited each night by the ghost of a little girl, warning her to flee. Her husband, Miguel, a migrant worker at Harcourt Farms in the San Joaquin Valley, dismisses her fears as hormonal changes. Sympathetic to the young woman, Elizabeth agrees to help by contacting Miguel’s employers, who own the cottage where the young couple lives.
Elizabeth immediately picks up on the deep enmity between the two Harcourt brothers: Carson, the handsome scion running the estate for his incapacitated father, and Zack, the rebellious black sheep. While Carson is more interested in Elizabeth than in her concerns, Zack grudgingly agrees to help her look into the history of the house.
But even as unexpected desire draws them together, Elizabeth and Zack feel something dark and disturbing at the house. And when the cloying scent and lingering chill of pure evil surround her, Elizabeth knows something terrible has happened here before, something that has its roots in murder…
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LOVE clean sweep and it’s sequels. I’d say it’s definitely more lighthearted than Kate and Hidden Legacy, there’s some comedy and a lot of family. The current book is so good, and I can’t wait till it’s finished (they publish weekly installments on their blog, then take it down, polish it, and publish)
I really liked Clean Sweep and I think it stands up well to their other series. There’s a small tie-in to the Fate’s Edge series as well. Recommend!
I love the Innkeeper Series. I like Hidden Legacy more, but Kate Daniels less. Dina is a very different heroine than Kate or Nevada, she still kicks a$$ but with her power that comes from the Inn, not from her sword (Kate) or gun (Nevada).
FYI: On the Innkeeper website there is a spin off serial of Dina’s sister Maud.
I love Ilona Andrews, but how love triangle-y is the Innkeeper series? Because I have very little patience for those, and I don’t want to get invested if I’m just going to be frustrated, especially when I like the person that isn’t picked more.
I really enjoyed this series–#3 is my favorite. Very original! I did not know about the spinoff with Maud–thanks for that info!
Sarah–totally agree with you. Clean Sweep is second to Hidden Legacy. Just got done rereading that series too!
This is a good price!
No real love triangle in the Innkeeper series. The “vampire” guys does admire Dina but she never takes it seriously. A wonderful series, well worth your $$$
Love Clean Sweep to the point where I bought the fancy hardcover omnibus of the first 3 Innkeeper books. I can’t rank Kate, Nevada, and Dina’s series, because I read them for different reasons and they’re all destined for that desert island with me.
Ilona Andrews always works for me because of the way all elements that I love are balanced: humor, action, passion, character, and world view–not necessarily in that order. Anyway, the Innkeeper series is my comfort read of choice, and any triangle-yness in Clean Sweep is just a tease. The “loser” definitely meets a satisfying destiny by volume 3.
LOVE The Innkeepers Series and really all of Ilona Andrews writing. I’m addicted to all of their series. It’s so freakin’ good.
I LOVE the Innkeeper series so much. In fact, I’m probably going to do what PamG did, and buy my own fancy hardcover omnibus edition, because IT IS AMAZING. There’s no real love triangle, which I really appreciate, and Dina gets to be a total badass using mostly her brains rather than, like, killing people. There’s actually a decent element of like diplomacy and interaction and a lot of character development along with the action sequences.
That said, I can’t really speak to the Kate Daniels or Hidden Legacy series, as I’ve never really managed to get into them. So, YMMV.
I put off the Innkeeper series as well, though I’d read all of Kate Daniels and the Hidden Legacy series. Then I needed a new book and started Clean Sweep and couldn’t believe I hadn’t read it yet.
I’d agree with other commenters that it’s definitely a bit more light hearted than the other two series, but I liked the new perspective on werewolves and vampires, and all the new worlds and creatures to learn about. Also I REALLY want to be an innkeeper now and make my house whatever I want. It does get a bit more series in the second one, but it was nice to take some time off from the main character suffering all the time. I also read the Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, and seriously, if I were her or Kate Daniels I’d be like “JUST LET ME TAKE A NAP!!”
I also did not know there was a website posting about Maud’s side – thank you comments! I quickly reminded that, read all the chapters and am once again waiting for new material.
I JUST started Clean Sweep (coincidentally) and it’s been kind of throwing me with its differentness.
I read Bad Bachelor over the weekend and really enjoyed it! A great addition to the librarian romance canon.
Another endorsement for the Innkeeper series– at this point, I would read Ilona Andrews’ grocery list with pleasure. I would say this has the least amount of romance of her series so far, and therefore it’s usually where I steer folks who aren’t as familiar or comfortable with romance but are open to trying something new. (though to be clear– there’s a very satisfying love story by the end of the series! I just don’t think it’s as big of an element, especially compared to something like Hidden Legacies, which I think of as the most romance-heavy of her series so far)
I had trouble getting into the first Innkeeper book and ended up liking it, but I really really really liked the next ones and will auto-buy everything by Ilona Andrews.
Looooooove the Innkeeper series! Re-read the whole series multiple times. Dina is a kick-ass heroine that literally has no time for anyone’s BS but also knows what your favorite snack is and uses all her resources to give you a space tunnel stargazing water spa as a room because she’s THE BEST. Oh and she doesn’t hesitate to kick the hero out of her house, forcefully, when he’s a jerk. Recommend x100.
Loved the Innkeeper Series starting with Clean Sweep. I think the later novels get even better and it is amazing how they have managed to create a Sentient Magical Inn…Highly recommend.
Love the Innkeeper series. I would echo that it tend to feel more light-hearted than either of the other series. There is a bit of a potential love-triangle, but nothing that really progresses to that.
Re:Love Triangles: If I remember correctly, Ilona Andrews once stated that she didn’t believe in love triangles, because if you weren’t attracted to one person more, you’re probably not all that attracted to either of them that much.
@NCK @Zealith You’re absolutely right about the lighthearted nature of the Innkeeper Chronicles and the fact that you do not have to worry about Love Triangles in Ilona Andrews’ novels. While more than one person may be interested in the heroine of Clean Sweep, her preference is strongly hinted and becomes obvious in subsequent novellas. What can bother some readers is the “slow burn” progression of the romantic relationship. Be prepared to read all three in the series before any sort of HEA for the couple is reached. There is a work-in-progress related story (3.5) available free on the author’s website too.
Bad Bachelor was a DNF for me. I just can’t with books that begin with the heroine insulting the hero, a perfect stranger, because she disagrees with what she’s overheard of his lifestyle and reputation. Who does that? Especially when the hero is coming to the rescue of her struggling library. I can’t respect anyone who’s so judgey that they would shoot themselves in the foot like that. I loathe judgey people.
I devoured the Innkeeper series and it promptly became an all-time favorite. It’s very unique plot-wise, which is a rarity not to be able to point to something and say, “hey that reminds me of (whatever).” I would definitely recommend snagging while it’s on sale 🙂
Idle query for those who have read (or attempted to read) Bad Bachelor: How the heck does a “struggling library” manage to hire a “PR whiz”? I’m having a hard time working those two descriptors into the same paragraph.
@Louise: “Hires” is misleading. The hero’s PR firm is doing community outreach and volunteering to do pro bono work. The hero’s receptionist is an older woman and her grandson loves their local library, so she convinces the hero to take on the library as a free client.
I like the Kate Daniels novels but they’ve almost run their course. The Innkeeper series has an unusual setting with romance undertones. I’ve been reading Andrews latest installment online.The heroine is the innkeeper’s sister and there is much more romance. Smoldering blond vampire, dangerous intrigues and a cute kid that seems more than a plot moppet. Can’t wait for it to be finished and published so it can join the rest of the series on my Kindle.
I love the Innkeeper books—they’ve really stuck with me and give me pleasant feels when I think about them. I just finished their newest book last night (the one with Roland) and am sort of suffering whiplash… it was SO violent! I think I forgot that that kind of thing is in their repertoire…
Love, love, love the Innkeeper novels. One thing I adored when I first discovered Kate Daniels was the terrific world-building — there was nothing like Kate’s Atlanta. They took a genre that was getting a hit stale for me and breathed new, creative life into it. The Innkeeper Chronicles does this too — the way magic works, the roles people play in the society, the science fiction injected into urban fantasy (?!?), it is all really engaging and… different. New. Their take on vampires and werewolved is just …um, out of this world. (And they do play with the trope of a vampire/werewolf love triangle in the first book, but they do so in a way that makes it clear that I they are subverting the trope, since the heroine is always pretty clear on her attraction).
I am *loving* the ‘novella’ about her sister (it looks like they have blown past novella and are leaving short-novel behind, lol). That one has more romance, fwiw.
This series began as free chapters on their website (Ilona Andrews is a wife-and-husband duo), and IIRC they didn’t think people would pay for what they had posted for free, but we did.
And yeah, there is no