Books On Sale

Books by Seanan McGuire, Valerie Bowman, & More

  • The Wedding Date

    The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

    The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory is $1.99! When I first saw this on sale, I thought it was a glitch in the matrix, so get it while you can. Elyse read this one and gave it a B:

    The Wedding Date is charming and delightful, and it saved me from getting overly hysterical on a flight to Costa Rica. It’s not a perfect book, and I found myself giving the hero my “WTF” face a few times, but the awesomeness of the heroine thrilled me.

    A groomsman and his last-minute guest are about to discover if a fake date can go the distance in a fun and flirty debut novel.

    Agreeing to go to a wedding with a guy she gets stuck with in an elevator is something Alexa Monroe wouldn’t normally do. But there’s something about Drew Nichols that’s too hard to resist.

    On the eve of his ex’s wedding festivities, Drew is minus a plus one. Until a power outage strands him with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend…

    After Alexa and Drew have more fun than they ever thought possible, Drew has to fly back to Los Angeles and his job as a pediatric surgeon, and Alexa heads home to Berkeley, where she’s the mayor’s chief of staff. Too bad they can’t stop thinking about the other…

    They’re just two high-powered professionals on a collision course toward the long distance dating disaster of the century–or closing the gap between what they think they need and what they truly want…

    Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

    This book is on sale at:
    • Available at Amazon
    • Order this book from apple books

    • Barnes & Noble
    • Kobo
    • Google Play

    As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
    We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!

  • Beneath the Sugar Sky

    Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire

    Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire is $2.99! This is a Kindle Daily Deal and is the third book in the Wayward Children series. I really enjoyed the first book in this series, Every Heart a Doorway, but warn that the books are pretty short. I’m also unsure if you can read this without reading the others. Thoughts?

    Beneath the Sugar Sky returns to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. At this magical boarding school, children who have experienced fantasy adventures are reintroduced to the “real” world.

    Sumi died years before her prophesied daughter Rini could be born. Rini was born anyway, and now she’s trying to bring her mother back from a world without magic.

    Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

    This book is on sale at:
    • Available at Amazon
    • Order this book from apple books

    • Barnes & Noble
    • Kobo
    • Google Play

    As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
    We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!

  • The Right Kind of Rogue

    The Right Kind of Rogue by Valerie Bowman

    The Right Kind of Rogue by Valerie Bowman is $2.99! This is the eighth (whoa!) book in the Playful Brides historical romance series, though it can be read on its own. Some readers wished for more of an emotional connection between the main characters, while others say this is a quick read with great secondary characters.

    Can two star-crossed lovers come together―until death do they part? 

    Viscount Hart Highgate has decided to put his rakish ways behind him and finally get married. He may adore a good brandy or a high-speed carriage race, but he takes his duties as heir to the earldom seriously. Now all he has to do is find the right kind of woman to be his bride―ideally, one who’s also well-connected and well-funded. . .

    Meg Timmons has loved Hart, the brother of her best friend, ever since she was an awkward, blushing schoolgirl. If only she had a large dowry―or anything to her name at all. Instead, she’s from a family that’s been locked in a bitter feud with Hart’s for years. And now she’s approaching her third London season, Meg’s chances with him are slim to none. Unless a surprise encounter on a deep, dark night could be enough to spark a rebellious romance. . .for all time?

    Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

    This book is on sale at:
    • Available at Amazon
    • Order this book from apple books

    • Barnes & Noble
    • Kobo
    • Google Play

    As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
    We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!

  • Time Served

    Time Served by Julianna Keyes

    PODCAST RECOMMENDED: Time Served by Julianna Keyes is $1.99! This is a contemporary romance with an ex-con hero. Major content warning for this book. Please read the comments below if you want to know the specific details. Thanks to cbackson for the heads up. It was mentioned on a previous podcast with Jane, who recommends Keyes if you like “moody loner dudes:”

    You kind of have two unlikeable people. They reconnect after he’s out of prison. She’s a lawyer. She’s trying to angle for a promotion within her law firm, and they’re working on this class action suit regarding medical illnesses caused in a, a factory. So she runs into him again. There’s a lot of attraction there, lot of unresolved issues, and she can’t really bring herself to admit that she wants him, so he says, you don’t have to admit it, you only have to say no, which she never does. I thought it was a very gritty book, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

    Dean Barclay had nothing to do with my decision to flee my old life, but he is 100 percent of the reason I vowed to never look back.

    I’ve never forgotten how it felt to follow Dean—dangerous, daring, determined—away from the crowd and climb into his beat-up old Trans Am. I was sixteen and gloriously alive for the first time. When I felt his hand cover my leg and move upward, it was over. I was his. Forever.

    Until I left. Him, my mom, and the trailer park. Without so much as a goodbye.

    Now Dean’s back, crashing uninvited into my carefully cultivated, neat little lawyerly life. Eight years behind bars have turned him rougher and bigger—and more sexually demanding than any man I’ve ever met. I can’t deny him anything…and that just might end up costing me everything.

    Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

    This book is on sale at:
    • Available at Amazon
    • Order this book from apple books

    • Barnes & Noble
    • Kobo
    • Google Play

    As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
    We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!

Don't want to miss an ebook sale? Sign up for our newsletter, and you'll get the week's available deals each Friday.

Comments are Closed

  1. cbackson says:

    I need to put this up front to hopefully spare some readers a really unpleasant experience: Time Served REALLY needs a content warning. Do not read this book if the hero fantasizing about raping the heroine will upset you. And NOT in a consensual roleplaying way, in a “he hates her so much he imagines raping her” way. I would actually advise adding a warning to the post above if you all are willing to, because this is a book that could be fairly upsetting for some people to read.

    Longer comments:
    I found Time Served deeply, deeply problematic. Without getting spoilery, in order to buy this romance, you have to believe that a teenage girl walking out on her high school boyfriend (for reasons that totally made sense to me, btw) is a sin so terrible that she should be ashamed of it a decade later and be subject to both public humiliation and humiliation by the hero privately. The hero is still so angry over it that, as noted above, he fantasizes FOR YEARS about raping her. The is also MASSIVE slut-shaming of the cardboard-cutout villainness. It is so deeply steeped in toxic masculinity that I’m still angry thinking about it months later.

  2. Amanda says:

    @cbackson: Thank you so much for letting us know. I’m going to add a warning to the book’s description right now.

  3. Darlynne says:

    ALIF THE UNSEEN by G. Willow Wilson (author of MS MARVEL) is on sale at Amazon today for 1.99. This is a contemporary magical realism story set in an unnamed Middle Eastern country; love, hacking, censorship, myth all in one.

  4. kitkat9000 says:

    @cbackson: Thank you for the warning, I’ll make a note to avoid this at all costs.

    Also, is anyone else tired of the “angry” ex, who’s still pissy years later when whatever split them up was justified? I’ve found myself grumpily complaining ‘get therapy and/or grow up’ several times recently to my Kindle. **sigh** Especially lately with everything happening in the news, I just can’t anymore.

  5. Darlynne says:

    Just saw that THE NEVER-OPEN DESERT DINER by James Anderson is also on sale at Amazon for 1.99. I loved this book. Ben is a truck driver on an isolated stretch of highway in Utah. The people to whom he delivers packages are a strange crowd of off-the-grid dwellers. The mystery of what really happened at the desert diner is complicated and surprising; the characters (and Ben’s sense of honor and loyalty) are what make it just about perfect (YMMV).

  6. Lostshadows says:

    You only need to read Every Heart a Doorway, before reading Beneath the Sugar Sky.

    The second book is set before the first one, but I’m pretty sure BtSS doesn’t contain any spoilers for it.

  7. cbackson says:

    @kitkat9000: I do hate that trope, and I particularly hate it when the breakup occurred in high school/college. Honestly, my view is that even if you broke up for stupid reasons in high school/college, that is not this Terrible Thing that you should flagellate yourself over years later. You don’t owe anyone a relationship, and if there’s ever a time when your relationship mistakes shouldn’t be counted against you, it’s those years. Did you cheat on your high school boyfriend? Okay, you probably learned that was a really stupid thing that hurts lots of people – learn from it and move on. Did you break up with an SO because your friends thought s/he wasn’t cool? Okay, you probably learned that succumbing to social pressure in that way is crappy – learn from it and move on.

    I particularly hate this trope when it incorporates the the idea that the high school relationship was particularly special because the couple lost their virginity together was involved. EVEN IF YOU WERE EACH OTHER’S FIRST, YOU STILL DON’T OWE SOMEONE A RELATIONSHIP. UGH.

  8. cbackson says:

    @Amanda: Thanks! Although I was personally able to read it without emotional distress (other than near-rage!stroke), I feel like a reader who has sensitivity to that concept might have a really nasty surprise, especially because you don’t find out about the rape fantasies until you’re well into the book and the man in question has been firmly established as the “hero” that you’re supposed to root for.

  9. Emily C says:

    For some female empowerment, The Secret Life of Bees is on sale for $1.99 at Amazon and B&N. I read it a few times before purging most of my paperbacks but when I saw the kindle sale it seemed like a particularly good time for a re-read.

  10. Sarah Peach says:

    Definitely agree with cbackson re: Time Served. I was on the fence when reading it and kept waiting for some revelation that the heroine had done something else because in my opinion, her leaving town to better her life in no way warranted the ‘hero’s’ long held grudge/hatred. His admittance of his rape fantasy almost made me DNF the book. (I can’t believe I didn’t DNF it at that point)

  11. JJB says:

    I had really wanted to like Every Heart a Doorway; a friend of mine loves it and gave it to me for Christmas, and I really thought it’d be awesome… But I had a lot of issues with it, esp with one of the characters who is then featured in the second book. And things in the plot. And the main character’s story. And of course seeing so many people referring to it as this life changing magical amazing book and then coming out of it going “huh, interesting commentary on fandom, with some problems” is kind of a letdown.
    Silly, but it’s one of those books I feel myself having that cliche thought about being the only one, apparently, who doesn’t like it… (That book and Saga and a couple others, probably, lol.)
    So yeeeah not reading further in that series.

  12. Ren Benton says:

    @JJB: You’re not the only one with EHaD. I thought the heroine’s choice at the end was inadequately supported by the story I had just read, which overshadows any virtues it may have had before that. *shrugs* “I’m the only one who doesn’t like it” is my middle name.

  13. Alexandra says:

    @JJB- I really like the premise behind the Wayward Children, but there’s stuff in there that I think is problematic and isn’t talked about enough. I felt like Every Heart a Doorway needed a huge trigger warning for disordered Eating and I was really frustrated so many characters supported the disordered eating. In the second book I definitely felt like there was victim blaming and justifying abuse. Idk if I just don’t get the books, but i felt like they portrayed problematic stuff as positive a lot more than I’m comfortable with. I like McGuire/Grant’s other books a lot, but this whole series didn’t work for me.

  14. chacha1 says:

    dang it, thanks to this I have bought TWO of the books that were on my wishlist (Wedding Date plus another one that I found was also on sale when I went to go clickety-click) and then there was that other one from the promo … I was supposed to not buy more books this month. LOL

  15. DiscoDollyDeb says:

    I must say my take on TIME SERVED was very different than some of the commentators here. I can’t dispute the facts of the story, but my “read” of them was not the same. Essentially, the hero and heroine have been stuck emotionally in their teen years since they broke up ten years ago; they’re both isolated and lonely. Yes, the hero does admit he had rape fantasies about the heroine, but then tells her that once he saw her again he knew he wouldn’t be able to act on them (the confession/explanation comes during a long car drive, after the h&h have started sleeping together again). I’m not trying to minimize that, but he tells her to try to explain his mind-set when they first saw each other again. Yes, there are also some unflattering words said about another lawyer, but she IS sleeping with a senior (married) partner—she gets her own story in IN HER DEFENSE and we understand more of her story—and she does come in and take over on the case the heroine has been working so hard to prepare. Again, I don’t mean to gloss over the legitimate concerns raised here, but I also feel within the context of the story, the elements that are problematic can also be seen as character and plot elements.

  16. Ren Benton says:

    “the hero does admit he had rape fantasies about the heroine, but then tells her that once he saw her again he knew he wouldn’t be able to act on them”

    I kinda prefer men who know all along they aren’t capable of acting out rape! I don’t think openly discussing that rape was an option until the sight of her changed his mind does much/anything to redeem the grossness of that thought process. And I don’t know about anyone else, but “yeah, I’ve been fantasizing about raping you for years” is something that would affect MY decision to have sex with somebody, so withholding that information until after is a violation unto itself.

  17. @cbackson – I agree 1000% on the content warning, and shared your confusion about why the heroine felt so guilty about why they ended. Seemed completely reasonable to me in the context of the story, and I get annoyed/angered by the assumption that teenage girls are responsible for their partners’ feelings at the expense of what’s best for themselves

  18. JJB says:

    @Ren Benton + @Alexandra -Yes to all the stuff you both said! I can def enjoy a book that portrays problematic things, if it’s written the right way for me, but this had too much that I felt like was meant to be okay or positive. I really wanted the heroine to make a different choice at the end as well, and I felt like that was NOT meant to be the reader’s reaction. I think the eating issue was part of that for me, even though that isn’t a trigger for me or anything.

    It felt to me like the ending was decided before the book was written and even though the writing in the middle made sense to go elsewhere, the author just ended where she’d planned to anyway.

    I also just could not get over a…thing that one of the secondary characters, who stars in the second book, did. That level of horror movie/serial killer behavior for me needed to be dealt with a lot more/better. (Which is funny, b/c I like some pretty dark stuff from other authors/tv writers.) Maybe it is in the second book, but I ain’t sticking around for that. And I felt like more of the other kids should have given a crap about it, too. But pets are probably my number one most sensitive subject, sooo…I totally stand by not wanting to read more, lol!

  19. Starling says:

    “I get annoyed/angered by the assumption that teenage girls are responsible for their partners’ feelings at the expense of what’s best for themselves.” +10,000 to this!

    Also, I just read The Wedding Date and it was a complete charmer. I really enjoy seeing a woman of color as the protagonist.

  20. Rikki says:

    I don’t think EHaD is a bad book but I was kind of…horrified by the main character’s choices at the end.

  21. MirandaB says:

    “who’s still pissy years later when whatever split them up was justified?”

    At 18, I broke up with a guy I was desperately in love with at the time because he cheated. After I got past the initial anger, I moved on, dated other people, and married mr.miranda who is the love of my life, and could only be improved by being a billionaire vampire pirate viking.

    I don’t actually have thoughts about the guy from back then other than, ‘I probably dodged a complete trainwreck’. Certainly, I haven’t held onto the anger.

    As for the Seanan McGuire stuff, I find it overpriced and pretentious. Sticks and Bones (Book 2) had the potential to be really interesting but wasn’t. I get them out of the library.

  22. Deianira says:

    “The Wedding Date” is charming. Also, FYI, the follow-up book “The Proposal” – which stars supporting characters from the first book – is due to release on October 30. Just in time for my vacation!

    Also, @cbackson, thanks for the warning about “Time Served”. In different hands, the basic premise – lawyer reconnecting with high school boyfriend who’s now an ex-con – could be an interesting concept, but that’s a hard pass on the rape fantasies. The world is screwed up enough right now, I do not need to read yet more misogyny!

  23. Anonymous says:

    @Deianira: In different hands, the basic premise – lawyer reconnecting with high school boyfriend who’s now an ex-con – could be an interesting concept, but that’s a hard pass on the rape fantasies.

    Seconded! Sincere thanks for the warning, @cbackson, because otherwise I’d have been intrigued. The reconnecting-high-school-sweethearts setup is on my list of premises that I’m getting really sick of, just because they’re ubiquitous and often very similar, but I completely agree with @Deianira that this particular twist could have been really interesting if not for… all the other stuff.

  24. Alissa says:

    It seems to me that part of the point of the Wayward Children series is the idea that people vary widely, and consequently what makes people happy varies widely, and as long as you don’t get your jollies by hurting other people against their will, that is not wrong. A lot of the conversation in these comments about it has sounded like policing other people’s choices for themselves, on the assumption that if something sounds icky to me, it is a bad choice for you. I wouldn’t want to go to most of the worlds the wayward children loved, but there again, I loathe pushy alpha heroes and have never wanted to be a parent, while also recognizing that other people want these things. Why is it so hard to let other people be different? As an ace person, I found the portrayal of an ace character in Every Heart a Doorway very helpful, and I thought the characters were pretty true to themselves, whether or not I particularly agreed with them.

  25. cbackson says:

    @DiscoDollyDeb: I recall that you answered some of my questions about this book previously, so thanks for weighing in again as someone who liked it. On the secondary character – I was glad when you said she gets humanized in future books. But nothing in Time Served demonstrates that the rumors about her are true. You know that because you’ve read the other books, but in Time Served this just seems like the sort of nasty rumor that is, unfortunately, used to denigrate successful women associates all the time. For me, the book needs to stand on its own, and from my perspective, the portrayal of that character in Time Served is pretty inexcusable (and to me, it made the heroine come off as gossipy and jealous).

    As a woman who is a lawyer, I also know that it’s often true that a junior lawyer who has a relationship with a more senior lawyer is often not in a great situation, because that relationship may not be consensual. Or it may not exist at all. It’s just a really, really common sexist slander, and it turned me off big time from the heroine.

  26. JudyW says:

    With respect I don’t think book censoring is the right call here. A trigger warning is sufficient. You don’t have to buy a book your not interested in. There are 580 other people who gave Time Served a 5 or 4 star rating so obviously had no problem with the above mentioned issue. Deleting a book from the community for questionable content would mean deleting many old school authors back lists i.e. Kathleen Woodwiss, Betina Krahn, Bertrice Small etc. Your welcome to rant but should stop short of being judgmental to point of censorship.

  27. JudyW says:

    Hmmmm. The previous comment I replied to seems to have been deleted. So nevermind?

  28. Alexandra says:

    @Alissa- It’s been a while since I read the books, but my main issue was with everything to do with the main character of the first book, Nancy. Like, her dream world was holding still and looking nice for the King and Queen, which is incredibly objectifying. I could handle that as being her choice, and it’s one that I disagree with but whatever. But, a huge part of that world was holding still and not eating. Then the descriptions of her appearance stressed how thin and gaunt she was, how she hated eating and liked how the rulers in the other world would just drip juice into her mouth while she was holding still and it went from “her choice” to “major eating disorder” really quickly for me. And then the book made it seem like her parents were in the wrong for thinking she needed help when she got home and everyone at the school was like, “yeah, don’t eat if you don’t want to eat.” I felt like it kind of glamorized having an ED and could be really triggering to a lot of people.

    There were prts of the books I loved (obviously, bc I read all 3), but there were some really problematic elements that have kept me from reccing them to anyone else.

Comments are closed.

By posting a comment, you consent to have your personally identifiable information collected and used in accordance with our privacy policy.

↑ Back to Top