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Heroine Complex
RECOMMENDED: Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn is still $1.99 at Amazon! This is the first book in the Heroine Complex series and it’s one that Carrie loves. She reviewed this one and gave it a B+:
You usually can’t judge a book by it’s cover, but honestly you can totally judge this book by its cover, which features two Asian heroines with obviously different personalities, a demonic cupcake (can’t get enough of those) and bright colors. If that cover causes grabby hand syndrome, then yes, you will adore the book.
Being a superheroine is hard. Working for one is even harder.
Evie Tanaka is the put-upon personal assistant to Aveda Jupiter, her childhood best friend and San Francisco’s most beloved superheroine. She’s great at her job—blending into the background, handling her boss’s epic diva tantrums, and getting demon blood out of leather pants.
Unfortunately, she’s not nearly as together when it comes to running her own life, standing up for herself, or raising her tempestuous teenage sister, Bea.
But everything changes when Evie’s forced to pose as her glamorous boss for one night, and her darkest secret comes out: she has powers, too. Now it’s up to her to contend with murderous cupcakes, nosy gossip bloggers, and supernatural karaoke battles—all while juggling unexpected romance and Aveda’s increasingly outrageous demands. And when a larger threat emerges, Evie must finally take charge and become a superheroine in her own right…or see her city fall to a full-on demonic invasion.
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His Wicked Heart
His Wicked Heart by Darcy Burke is 99c! This is the second book in the Secrets & Scandals series. The rest are also on sale, including the first book for free! While readers mention it’s not the most realistic of historical romances, they say it’s an absorbing book with a to-die-for duke. Elyse read this previously. She compared it to Cinderella meets Fight Club, and gave it a C+. Have you read this one?
It’s hard to be respectable…
Jasper Sinclair, Earl of Saxton, made a bargain with the devil—his father—to marry in one month’s time. But instead of declaring his intentions for an acceptable debutante, he indulges his long-buried baser needs by joining a fighting club and pursuing a delectable woman who may not be what she seems. Soon he finds himself battling addictions that threaten his already wicked heart.
When you’d rather be wicked
Orphaned seamstress Olivia West wants the chance to lead an honest, respectable life, but the arrogant Earl of Saxton launches a daunting campaign to make Olivia his mistress. Destitute and desperate, Olivia agrees to one night with the dangerous peer, and draws upon her mother’s courtesan experience to seduce him. After binding and blindfolding him, she brings him to the edge of release, only to switch places with an actual prostitute. However, Jasper detects Olivia’s deception and vows to claim what he’s owed— not his money, her.
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One Night More
One Night More by Mandy Baxter is $1.99 at Amazon! This is a contemporary romance with a little bit of romantic suspense. The heroine has a one night stand with a man who will later become her bodyguard. Talk about awkward. Some readers felt the heroine suffered from a case of TSTL (too stupid to live), while others said the book reminded them of Julie James’ FBI/US Attorney series (which I think is quite the compliment).
Journalist Harper Allen still remembers the handsome stranger who saved from disaster—and the sizzling one-night stand that followed. Too bad he left without a word or a clue to his real identity . . .
Then, a year later, Harper comes face to face with the man when he’s assigned to hide her from a senator’s assassin. Galen Kelly hasn’t forgotten a single sensual minute of his night with Harper . . . or the fact that she betrayed him. With the FBI also on their trail, he has to pretend he’s never met her—or risk both their lives. But as danger closes in, Galen may not be able to protect himself from taking the biggest risk of all . . .
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Just One Spark
Just One Spark by Jenna Bayley-Burke is $2.99! This is the first book in the contemporary romance Just One series, and I want a pair of the heroine’s booties on the cover. Some readers had difficulty connecting with the writing, while others recommend this for a light and quick read.
Hannah Daniels reads steamy romance novels to forget her last trip on the love roller coaster shredded her heart and tossed it like confetti. Her instincts about men stink, but at work they’re on point. Only her busy schedule means she reads whenever she can make time. Like at the laundromat while sitting on top of a washing machine. Don’t judge.
Firefighter Mason McNally has searched his whole life for a woman who stirs his soul. When he finds her, she’s nose-deep in a racy paperback atop a vibrating washer. Her beauty, boldness, and raw sensuality ignite his interest. But there’s a problem. He’s forgotten he’s wearing a wedding ring.
No amount of hasty explanations that it’s for his brother’s psychology experiment convinces her to give him a chance. But he’s rushed into fiery situations before, and this woman is totally worth the risk. He’ll just have to prove to her that first impressions can be wrong and their spark of attraction is oh so right.
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This looks like quite the interesting read. I’m planning to stock up for my long flight next week. I’m going to the UK! I hired someone from explore London facts with escorts to help me look around but I definitely have to stock up on reading materials for days I’d just want to cozy up in the hotel room.
What is up with all the “men’s sexual consent doesn’t matter” lately? It’s like the whole point of the issue is getting lost in a turnabout-is-fair-play retaliation gambit. That’s fine for a morally ambiguous revenge thriller but not so much in a ROMANCE NOVEL when the reader is supposed to be rooting for these two to get together and live happily ever after.
After binding and blindfolding her, he brings her to the edge of release, only to switch places with some other man.
Not so cute when done to a woman? Then not any cuter when done to a man. Why is this hard?
I’ve only read the blurb here, but I think the issues of consent, in the case of a historical romance should at least be considered in context. First off, was her consent obtained under duress in the first place? “Destitute and desperate, Olivia agrees to one night with the dangerous peer…” So, somewhat? And then there are the power imbalances of money, class and gender in play (gender being particularly important because of all the double standards around sex and virtue).
Does this make it okay? Gah, none of this is okay. (And all the societal weirdness is why people read historical romance. I mean, that and the clothing, right?)
But to hold someone to the same standard of behavior when they’re at huge disadvantage as you would as when both people are on a level playing field strikes me as pretty naive.
Jayne Ann Krentz – When All The Girls Have Gone 1.99
Amanda Quick – The River Knows 1.99
@Amazon:
Yeah I think I’m gonna give ‘His Wicked Heart’ a -hard- pass based on that description but Heroine Complex was a lot of fun to read.
Heroine Complex sounds like a blast, and the only reason I don’t own a copy yet is that there isn’t an audiobook. Maybe in a few weeks, if I get to kick back and read books with my eyes…
Leipiota wrote:
But to hold someone to the same standard of behavior when they’re at huge disadvantage as you would as when both people are on a level playing field strikes me as pretty naive.
In any novel that cares about historical accuracy, I would absolutely agree that women had the dice loaded against them. That’s why makes me want to cheer when I read a novel where the character rises above her circumstances and finds a way to deal with her situation without deceit. I want her to win fair, no matter how unfair the rest of the world is being. I want a heroine.
In a romance, that stakes are even higher. I want a heroine who cares about the hero. If he’s being a jerk (forcing a desperate and destitute woman to have sex with you is a prime example) then I want her to make him feel ashamed of himself and change for the better. In this case, it sounds like she descends to his level. Perhaps they deserve each other, but it doesn’t sound like a romance.
I certainly see where you’re coming from.
It’s interesting to me how this has moved from “If it’s not right for men to do this to women, than it’s not right for women to do this to men,” to “Women,” (or at least female main characters*) are held to a higher standard.
I suppose part of it for me is that I often find as much to identify with in the male characters as the female ones? (Though I like to think I’m not a scoundrel even if I was a little wild in my younger days. I certainly wasn’t an ingenue when I was young enough for it!) Having all the female characters be just chock full of goodness and character while still maintaining some claim to purity kind of freaks me out, tbh. And I’d like the man to be worthy as well – which doesn’t mean than he never made any mistakes (but then, there shouldn’t be a rule that says only men get their mistakes forgiven – that’s too much like real life, thanks) but he should have more to offer than a title and a bank account, or it’s a really cynical story hidden under a veneer of lust.
I would, on the other hand, be perfectly happy to read the story of kind of a growing romance between messed up people from complicated and difficult backgrounds, as long as there was a lot of communication and character development. I mean, done well, that could be delicious, yes?
* Possibly main characters more broadly.
It’s true that women (at least in romance novels and American high schools and most any political arena) are always judged to a higher standard than men. But if a woman were behaving like a jerk, I’d hope the man would call her out. In this novel, especially, if it’s not right for a man to do it, it’s just as wrong for a woman to behave this way. I don’t know that she has to be pure, so long as she keeps to some kind of ethical standard.
I’m jaundiced because I just finished a YA novel where the heroine won the award for Most Self-Absorbed Heroine Ever. She decided to join a group planning to assassinate several people, and as she chats with these people at a ball, meets their children, gets to know them as people, she reflects “Well, it’s terrible they have to die, but it’s All For The Cause.” No. Just no. If I want to read of someone with that kind of mindset, I can read the news. The end does not justify the means.
I think my problem is that I hold Fiction to higher standard than I do real life. Characters can have flaws, can struggle with them, can do terrible things — if they try to address their flaws, maybe even overcome them, maybe just possible even realize that Doing Terrible Things Is Wrong.
I suppose I have an extremely dim view of a man who is trying to use a woman’s desperate circumstances as leverage to compel her to abandon her “respectability”. (I mean, also, I think women should just be able to go off and get laid and enjoy it – I certainly have!) And that this is more or less taken as expected says a lot.
It’s interesting that Elyse’s review says the heroine is milquetoast.