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A Court of Thorns and Roses
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas is $1.99! This book and series is insanely popular and has Beauty and the Beast elements. However, some felt it didn’t live up to the hype or it had too much sexxxytimes for a YA-positioned book. Have you read this one?
A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.
As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.
Perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and George R. R. Martin, this first book in a sexy and action-packed new series is impossible to put down!
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Born of Darkness
Born of Darkness by Lara Adrian is $2.99! This is the first book in the Hunter Legacy paranormal romance series. This is a spin-off series, though readers say you don’t really need to read anything else to understand this one. The cover model looks like someone famous, but I can’t put my finger on it. It has a 4.1-star rating on Goodreads.
New York Times bestselling author Lara Adrian introduces the first novel in the Hunter Legacy series, thrilling new vampire romances set in the darkly seductive Midnight Breed paranormal story world.
As a former assassin in the Hunter program, Asher is one of a small group of Gen One Breed vampires who survived the horrors of a madman’s laboratory and the cruelty of the training that made him one of the most lethal beings in existence. Now, twenty years after his escape from those hellish origins, Ash is a loner whose heart is as cold as his skills are lethal. But when a beautiful, secretive young woman on the run from dangerous enemies crosses his path in the middle of a dark night in the desert outside Las Vegas, Ash is drawn into a deadly game where trust can be an illusion and love may be the sharpest weapon of all.
Book 1 in a brand-new Midnight Breed spin-off series!
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Mad About the Marquess
RECOMMENDED: Mad About the Marquess by Elizabeth Essex is $1.99! Elyse recently read and loved this book, giving it an A:
This book is delightful. It’s actually fucking delightful now I think about it, which is like delightful times ten. The dialogue is wonderful and sass wars are just about my favorite thing ever. The plot is just enough crazysauce layered on top of historical goodness. There was literally nothing about Mad About the Marquess that I didn’t like.
From acclaimed author Elizabeth Essex comes the adventurous first book in the Highland Brides, a quartet of bold, brilliant lasses determined to make their own happily ever afters.
WHEN A LADY TAKES TO THE ROAD TO PLAY ROBIN HOOD
Lady Quince Winthrop has been robbing from society’s rich and giving to Edinburgh’s poor for years. But everything changes the day she can’t resist the temptation to steal from the Marquess of Cairn.
SHE MUST BE ON HER GUARD AGAINST HER SHERIFF OF NOTTINGHAM
Alasdair, Marquess of Cairn, has come back to Scotland to stop a thief, never thinking that the lass he’s trying to woo is about to give a lesson in larceny he won’t be able to forget. From the twisted streets of Auld Reeky, to the hills of the highlands, Quince leads Alasdair on a merry chase, and finds the one man she shouldn’t fall for, is the one man she can’t resist.
LOVE IS EVEN HARDER TO RESIST THAN TEMPTATION.
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Shadowheart
Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale is $1.99 at Amazon! his is the second book in the Medieval Hearts series. This book was a topic of discussion in a podcast episode with Emily Nagoski. Nagoski warns that there is rape in the romance novel, but says it does a wonderful job handling rage and shame. Definitely check out the podcast, or at least the transcript! I bought this after the podcast episode, but admittedly haven’t committed to reading it yet.
A fatally dangerous man—and the woman who stands in the way of all he has ever desired . . . Beautiful and ruthless, the elegant assassin Allegreto will stop at nothing to regain his rightful place. And the perfect instrument has just fallen into his hands, in the lovely form of Lady Elena—the long‑lost princess of the land he intends to wrest back from his enemies.
But she is no mere maiden to be possessed. Even as he forces her to bend to his will, in the heat of desire and fury Elena finds the hidden power in her own soul, a merciless passion and command that will bring her dark lover to his knees. Her mastery may destroy him . . . or build an unexpected future from the bitter ashes of his life and dreams.
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Court of Thorn and Roses and its sequel do, to me, have way more explicit sex scenes than I’d expected from YA, but I didn’t find them TOO cringe-worthy or dull. IMO the first book is fairly enjoyable but dumb in places (a lot of overly flowery writing, for me), yet worth getting thru for the second book. (If I’d seen the series hyped to the nines without “but the first one isn’t very good” I’d have given up long before reading the second. As it is, I only tried the second b/c I had both from when Amazon had them super cheap. But I’m glad I did try it!)
And I’d really like to see the series become a tv show, personally, as it might benefit from adapting..tho I’ve not yet read beyond the second book so I’m sure that feeling could change. (And I’m not sure how a tv show would deal with the whole “long limbs and fingers” on some of the characters, lol.)
Also do not understand the “great for fans of GRRM” line here tho. It did not remind me in the slightest of ASOIAF. But then I rarely see similarities of any sort when I’ve read both authors in one of these “for fans of” marketing things…
All five books in Kris Ripper’s Queers of La Vista series are on sale for 99 cents each at Amazon. I’ve seen the series recommended here on the site a few times and have always wanted to try it so I one clicked.
Penny Reid’s Truth of Beard is free on Amazon!
warning this post contains spoilers and potentially triggering things :
Now, that that’s out of the way. If you want to get into the court books i do have to warn that that the “hero” of the later books in the series, drugs the heroine in the first book (. Not for rapey purposes , but he does force the heroine to dress in a scantily clad manner to dance for him and give him a lap dance) . From what I’ve heard it’s later revealed he was under a spell when he did all that and later becomes the perfect book boyfriend ,but i’ve never read the rest of the series because of his actions in the first book. However, if that doesn’t bother you feel free to pick up the series.
I have heard the series referred to as NA rather than YA several times. Since I’ve never read it, or figured out wtf NA* is, I can’t say if it’s more accurate.
*As far as I can tell, it’s adult books with younger protagonists, which, back in my day, were just called adult books.
The cover model looks like someone famous, but I can’t put my finger on it. I keep seeing Michael Avenatti, but that can’t be right.
Contemporary NA tends to be about college kids and I generally don’t care for it at all.
Thank you for the spoilers, guys. Really, no sarcasm. I tried to read the first one and I couldn’t get into it because I’m little tired of that vibe of “I’m the only competent person keeping this family together. Everyone else is spoiled and/or useless.” It seems simplistic and is a little bit too suffering martyr for my taste.
But it was a Beauty and the Beast story which is my usual catnip! So I kept saying I should push through, but these spoilers have convinced me I can let it go. It’s just not a book for me and that’s okay.
I look at the cover and see a scowling Matthew McConaughey with a beard.
Cover guy looks like Lee Van Cleef during the height of his spaghetti western days. (You young whipper-snappers will have to google Lee Van Cleef…and spaghetti westerns.)
I know who Lee Van Cleef is and I have to respectfully and totally disagree with you that the cover model bears any resemblance to The Master.
I love the Court books! While I agree it’s more explicit than many YA books, I didn’t think it was gratuitous and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.
@K.N.O’Rear You have to actually read the second book to understand his reasons for all that. I did NOT think I could be convinced he wasn’t trash, but the author got it done totally–for me. And not with some silly “he was under a spell so it’s all fine” backpedaling. I don’t think he’s PERFECT, but…well, spoilers. The second book is long and the character development and reveal takes just the right amount of time IMO, and I felt I as the reader was generally feeling the same as the heroine as things progressed.
However, I’m glad I didn’t know anything about the second book going in other than it was better, or I probably would have passed same as you on account of his actions in the first book.
I’m not saying anyone ~just HAS to read them omg~, or that everyone will feel the same way as those who like the series, but I think it’s worth noting how plain it is in the second book that the author was being very deliberate with everything in the first and knew where it was leading, and NONE of the effed up stuff in book one is handwaved away. You do NOT necessarily have to be “not bothered” by those moments in the first book to enjoy the rest. I was quite bothered, ta, and I still very much enjoyed the second book.
(Also I never got an “I’m the only competent one” vibe from any of the characters/dynamics in the first book, but imo all the groups/ships become more complex and fleshed out in the second book. So I def didn’t get that vibe there either. *shrug*)
IDK. I get this feeling _sometimes_ reading people’s book reviews and tv reviews that some readers/viewers want every character and relationship to be some measure of perfect from the get go and there’s no trust anymore that characters and relationships will grow, and may need somewhere to grow TO. I find an arc and growth far more satisfying than perfect from the start… But I know a lot of writers can’t get it done, so I guess I can understand a lack of trust, too. :-/
…tho now I think of it I could see how someone could see the heroine being the only emotionally component one in that initial trio (and among her sisters) but those dynamics are not, I think, intended to be seen as anything other than dysfunctional (and I was quite surprised/happy with how those dynamics both changed in the second book…)
LOL I feel like I’m stanning these books so hard. I just enjoy them; they don’t even rank on my top series lists or anything.
A friend and I are reading the Court of…books now and we’re on book #3. They’re a bit uneven for both of us – large sections will be almost slow enough to quit but just then something interesting happens and we get sucked in again. Some things they do quite well (I do love the romance) and others not so much (lots of info dumping of characters backstories). I don’t think they’d be considered YA if the genre wasn’t so popular for publishers. I don’t think any of the characters are teens? And not only, as people said,are theu quite sexy but also the violence gets quite graphic.