Ready Set Rogue
Ready Set Rogue by Manda Collins is $2.99! Elyse mentioned this book in a previous Hide Your Wallet because the heroine inherits a huge library. Hello! However, some readers said there’s a suspense element to the romance that didn’t quite fit. This is the first book in the Studies in Scandal series. A couple other books in the series are also priced at $2.99!
WHO WILL WRITE THE BOOK OF LOVE?
When scholarly Miss Ivy Wareham receives word that she’s one of four young ladies who have inherited Lady Celeste Beauchamp’s estate with a magnificent private library, she packs her trunks straightaway. Unfortunately, Lady Celeste’s nephew, the rakish Quill Beauchamp, Marquess of Kerr, is determined to interrupt her studies one way or another…
Bequeathing Beauchamp House to four bluestockings—no matter how lovely they are to look at—is a travesty, and Quill simply won’t have it. But Lady Celeste’s death is not quite as straightforward as it first seemed…and if Quill hopes to solve the mystery behind her demise, he’ll need Ivy’s help. Along the way, he is surprised to learn that bookish Ivy stirs a passion and longing that he has never known. This rogue believes he’s finally met his match—but can Quill convince clever, skeptical Ivy that his love is no fiction?
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We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!Dreaming of You
Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas is $2.99! This is book two of the Gamblers of Craven’s series and is a lot of readers’ favorites on account of the hero, Derek Craven. Check out this Twitter thread for some Craven love. However, some felt the heroine lacked the depth that the hero received. What do you think of Derek?
She stood at danger’s threshold–then love beckoned her in.
In the shelter of her country cottage, Sara Fielding puts pen to paper to create dreams. But curiosity has enticed the prim, well-bred gentlewoman out of her safe haven–and into Derek Craven’s dangerous world.
A handsome, tough and tenacious Cockney, he rose from, poverty to become lord of London’s most exclusive gambling house–a struggle that has left Derek Craven fabulously wealthy, but hardened and suspicious. And now duty demands he allow Sara Fielding into his world–with her impeccable manners and her infuriating innocence. But here, in a perilous shadow-realm of ever-shifting fortunes, even a proper “mouse” can be transformed into a breathtaking enchantress–and a world-weary gambler can be shaken to his cynical core by the power of passion. . . and the promise of love.
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We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!A Rogue by Any Other Name
RECOMMENDED: A Rogue by Any Other Name by Sarah MacLean is $1.99! This is book one in the Rules of Scoundrels series, all of which take place in and around a gaming hall. This book was nominated for and won the RITA® for Best Historical in 2013.
In our RITA® Reader Challenge reviews, Rayvyn2k gave it an A and wrote:
I loved this book. There is a marriage of convenience (my own personal romance catnip if done well—and it is done very well here), and a hero and heroine who are both struggling with devastating self-esteem issues. Add childhood friendships, meddling friends and family members and you have my perfect story.
Jess M also gave this book an A in her RITA® Reader Challenge review, where she wrote:
This was a great story. It was engaging, entertaining and filled with scandal. This is the first story in The Rules of Scoundrels series and sets up the rest of the characters that will be involved in the series.
What a scoundrel wants, a scoundrel gets…
A decade ago, the Marquess of Bourne was cast from society with nothing but his title. Now a partner in London’s most exclusive gaming hell, the cold, ruthless Bourne will do whatever it takes to regain his inheritance—including marrying perfect, proper Lady Penelope Marbury.
A broken engagement and years of disappointing courtships have left Penelope with little interest in a quiet, comfortable marriage, and a longing for something more. How lucky that her new husband has access to such unexplored pleasures.
Bourne may be a prince of London’s underworld, but he vows to keep Penelope untouched by its wickedness—a challenge indeed as the lady discovers her own desires, and her willingness to wager anything for them… even her heart.
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We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!The Companion’s Secret
The Companion’s Secret by Susanna Craig is $2.99! This is the first book in the Rogues and Rebels series. If you like historical detail and romances that incorporate real events, readers say this book is for you. However, some of the character relationships could have been detailed a bit more.
In this tempestuous new series, rebellious hearts prove hard to tame—but can England’s most dangerous rake be captured by a wild Irish rose?
They call him Lord Ash, for his desires burn hot and leave devastation in their wake. But Gabriel Finch, Marquess of Ashborough, knows the fortune he’s made at the card table won’t be enough to save his family estate. For that he needs a bride with a sterling reputation to distract from his tarnished past, a woman who’ll be proof against the fires of his dark passion. Fate deals him the perfect lady. So why can’t Gabriel keep his eyes from wandering to her outspoken, infuriatingly independent Irish cousin?
Camellia Burke came to London as her aunt’s companion, and she’s brought a secret with her: she’s written a scandalous novel. Now, her publisher demands that she make her fictional villain more realistic. Who better than the notorious Lord Ash as a model? Duty-bound to prevent her cousin from making a disastrous match, Cami never meant to gamble her own heart away. But when she’s called home, Ash follows. And though they’re surrounded by the flames of Rebellion, the sparks between them may be the most dangerous of all…
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Invitation to the Blues by Roan Parrish and Permanent Ink by Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn are $0.99 right now (possibly amazon only?). Both contemporary MM by authors I’ve really enjoyed, though I haven’t read these titles. Both are usually around $5
I accidentally put this in yesterday’s BoS comments, but Annika Martin’s MOST ELIGIBLE BILLIONAIRE (originally, MOST ELIGIBLE BASTARD) is free in the kindle store right now. I read it overnight (BDBC all the way) and it’s wonderful! Highly-recommended!
So I bought Time Served (from the July 1 sale post) – I’m barely two chapters in and I’m on the verge of a DNF because the heroine has described her primary professional rival as a “whore” and attributed her success to the fact that the heroine suspects she’s sleeping with a partner. As a lawyer who faced just this kind of slander on my way up the ladder, I literally couldn’t get past that paragraph.
Can someone who read and loved this book tell me if the slut-shaming continues or if the heroine realizes that’s a really shi*tty way to deal with another woman? Does this character get humanized, or is she just a cookie cutter villain? The book is really well-written and I’d like to continue it, but having been on the receiving end of those insults by virtue of being a young, conventionally pretty, and successful lawyer in my associate days, it’s a major turn-off.
@Katie Lynn, Invitation to the Blues is so good. It’s a sequel of sorts to Small Change. You don’t have to have read Small Change first, but it provides an interesting perspective on the characters before getting their story.
@cbackson: That character does not get redeemed in TIME SERVED, but she is the heroine of another Keyes book, IN HER DEFENSE, where you understand more of her backstory. Yeah, she is basically a villain in TIME SERVED, but her story does continue. (Also her sister is the heroine of THE GOOD FIGHT.)
@DiscoDollyDeb: Thanks…I’m not sure I can stomach it, then. It’s just such an awful way to talk about another woman, and it’s a real and serious problem in the life of many young female attorneys. I’m not sure I can connect with a heroine who talks that way about a professional rival, no matter how much I otherwise like the book.
So… I should read Dreaming of You?
@Ms. M
YES.
😉 (It’s probably my most re-read Kleypas next to Devil in Winter)
Derek Craven! Sigh. Dreaming of You must be the grandmother of all stories where the hero went from rags to owning an exclusive gambling house.
I’ve been waiting for my library to obtain the Studies in Scandal series or for the books to go on sale. My TBR file is ready to explode….
I’m in one of the minority people who could not understand the hype around Dreaming of You. I liked Derek Craven okay, I think, but I didn’t understand the level of adoration for him, and I really couldn’t understand why the heroine appealed to him because there wasn’t much to her at all. But Kleypas never works for me, so.
Just want to mention that I really enjoyed A Rogue by Any Other Name. Nicely written, a little “cute” but not in a bad way. I have re-read it a couple times when I was feeling down.
I LOVED Dreaming of You. That and Devil in Winter are two of my favorite books by Kleypas which says a lot because I have many many of her books. Well worth the look.
@DiscoDeb: I also enjoyed Annika Martin’s Billionaire book. She has another one out next week that sounds equally fun, Billionaire Wake Up Call Girl.
Put me on the list as one of the few who disliked Derek Craven. Maybe it’s because he was such an ass in the first book. He could have helped his best friend get her daughter back, but nope. And then, he basically sets her up for rape with the so-called hero. And in his own book, he sleeps with a prostitute to try to forget the heroine. No thanks!
I loved both Dreaming of You and A Rogue by Any Other Name!
Dreaming of You really didn’t work for me either. I found Derek Craven interesting as an alpha hero but the heroine, Sara, was much too mousy and uninspired that I felt she didn’t even belong in the same book. Which was a shame because the premise – she’s an author researching her novel about gambling halls- and the first few chapters led me to expect a heroine with more grit. It felt mismatched to me. But I think Kleypas may be a style that just doesn’t work for me.
More grit? Sara Fielding shoots and kills a man in the first chapter.
@Deborah- Exactly! and that’s where she had promise that didn’t really deliver for me. The first couple chapters set her up for more personal agency that I felt wasn’t fully developed. It just didn’t work for me, and I had other problems with the hero too.
@cbackson Thanks for the heads up. I was squicky about the lawyer/criminal pairing and I struggle with books about criminal lawyers generally. (One exception is the Julie James book about the Twitter terrorist actually addressed a prosecutor’s professional reputation when involved with a nonviolent offender and I thought it was handled really well). I totally agree with you about gender slandering being a huge problem for young female lawyers, We should be supporting each other, not attacking each other, especially in the early years. I had a similar experience as a new lawyer and your comments mean I probably won’t read it.
A Rogue is my favorite MacLean right behind Nine Rules to Break. None of her other books, including her latest, have held my attention past the first few chapters.
I will add my vote to Derek Craven and DoY. It was my first Kleypas and she has been an autobuy ever since.
Linking that thread was a bold movd
I couldn’t get through more than a few chapters of “Ready Set Rogue.”
The hero was a complete jerk and lacked any redeeming features (I suppose he changes over the course of the book. I wasn’t interested in watching it happen it started so far on the ass side.)
Also, it was a lot of people saying and doing things that they wouldn’t have said or done. The author should have just written a contemporary.