Sin and Ink
Sin and Ink by Naima Simone is 99c! This is the first book in the Sweetest Taboo series and is an erotic contemporary. This one has been recommended to me by several of my fellow romance readers because I love a good dose of angst. Reviews say this one is definitely angsty and intense, if that is or isn’t your thing.
There’s sin, and then there’s literally going-straight-to-hell sin…
Being in lust with my dead brother’s wife pretty much guarantees that one day I’ll be the devil’s bitch. But Eden Gordon works with me, so it’s getting harder and harder to stay away. I promised my family — and him — I would, though.
My days as an MMA champion are behind me. But whenever I see her, with those wicked curves and soft mouth created for dirty deeds, it’s a knock-down fight to just maintain my distance. “Hard Knox” becomes more than just the name of my tattoo shop. However, surrendering to the forbidden might be worth losing everything…
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Mess with Me by Nicole Helm is $2.99! And this is definitely a cover I can get behind…or in front of…or under. Some found this book didn’t have the same feel as Helm’s other romances, which threw them for a loop. But, if you like grumpy reclusive heroes, you might want to give this one a shot.
In Gracely, Colorado, it’s all about the climb—into the rugged Rocky Mountains, and over the obstacles that life has thrown in your way. With the right partner, the view from the top is grand . . .
Sam Goodall knows how to hide. And in the years since his sister’s death, he’s done just that, burying himself in his work at the Evans brothers’ Mile High Adventures as a backpacking guide. Clients don’t mind his strong, silent demeanor, and he’s happy to leave the rest of the world behind when he’s hiking, or holed up in the off-grid cabin he calls home. But he owes his life—what there is of it—to the Evans boys, and when they ask for a favor, he can’t refuse.
Hayley Winthrop is looking for something she’s never had—a true sense of family, and a purpose. Finding her half brothers was the first step—discovering where she belongs in the world is the next. Could it be in the fresh air of small-town Gracely? With hunky Sam agreeing to train her as an outdoors guide, she’s torn between exploring her newfound skills and getting closer to him. But chipping away at the walls around Sam could take a lifetime . . .
Sam is stuck in the past, and Hayley is looking toward her future—they’re a mismatched pair from the start. But the connection between them right now is too good to let go . . .
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Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas is $2.99! This historical romance has a Cyrano de Bergerac feel to it and can be read on its own. Some readers found this one forgettable when compared to other Kleypas romances, while others said this one has their favorite hero or heroine of all time.
She harbors a secret yearning.
As a lover of animals and nature, Beatrix Hathaway has always been more comfortable outdoors than in the ballroom. Even though she participated in the London season in the past, the classic beauty and free-spirited Beatrix has never been swept away or seriously courted… and she has resigned herself to the fate of never finding love. Has the time come for the most unconventional of the Hathaway sisters to settle for an ordinary man—just to avoid spinsterhood?
He is a world-weary cynic.
Captain Christopher Phelan is a handsome, daring soldier who plans to marry Beatrix’s friend, the vivacious flirt Prudence Mercer, when he returns from fighting abroad. But, as he explains in his letters to Pru, life on the battlefield has darkened his soul—and it’s becoming clear that Christopher won’t come back as the same man. When Beatrix learns of Pru’s disappointment, she decides to help by concocting Pru’s letters to Christopher for her. Soon the correspondence between Beatrix and Christopher develops into something fulfilling and deep… and when Christopher comes home, he’s determined to claim the woman he loves. What began as Beatrix’s innocent deception has resulted in the agony of unfulfilled love—and a passion that can’t be denied.
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Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne is $2.99! This is a YA novel that’s described as “Jane Eyre in space.” Hello! Some readers say this book gave them all the feels, while others either didn’t understand or didn’t enjoy the world building. It has a 3.7-star rating on Goodreads.
Seventeen-year-old Stella Ainsley wants just one thing: to go somewhere—anywhere—else. Her home is a floundering spaceship that offers few prospects, having been orbiting an ice-encased Earth for two hundred years. When a private ship hires her as a governess, Stella jumps at the chance. The captain of the Rochester, nineteen-year-old Hugo Fairfax, is notorious throughout the fleet for being a moody recluse and a drunk. But with Stella he’s kind.
But the Rochester harbors secrets: Stella is certain someone is trying to kill Hugo, and the more she discovers, the more questions she has about his role in a conspiracy threatening the fleet.
Alexa Donne’s lush and enthralling reimagining of the classic Jane Eyre, set among the stars, will seduce and beguile you.
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Haha, this is funny. I just finished “Love in the Afternoon” yesterday (library copy). I read it b/c I was hankering for epistolary romances. This one didn’t quit fit that bill, but it was still enjoyable and one of the few Lisa Kleypas romances I’ve enjoyed. So maybe take my recommendation with a grain of salt 🙂
I find a lot of her heroes too over the top alpha for my personal taste, but this one didn’t bother me too much. Although he did *twice* threaten to knock the heroine down and “ravish her.” (eyeroll)
Re: Brightly Burning, I have to say it. He’s a reclusive drunk at 19? NINETEEN!?! That is just beyond sad.
I LOVE “Love in the Afternoon.” I haven’t read to for awhile, but I remember loving Beatrix and Christopher (especially Beatrix). Definitely a warm fuzzies book.
I just read a different Naima Simone book and liked it a lot (I was only threatening to disembowel the hero because his dumbassery in a friends-with-benefits situation was too real-life authentic), so despite my loathing of beards, I’m gonna go for this one.
I saw Love in the Afternoon on sale yesterday and snapped up an e copy for myself, and sent one as a gift to a romance-reading friend 🙂
Beatrix Hathaway is an amazingly unconventional heroine and this is my second favorite Kleypas (after Devil in Winter). The book has great family scenes, humorous animal characters and anecdotes, and an H learning to deal with PTSD… there are the threats to ravish, but if I remember they were mostly while he was having episodes and Beatrix was insisting on staying to help instead of going away like he asked – more as an attempt to get her to leave rather than an actual desire to hurt? For me it was not a deal breaker but YMMV.
@drewbird: DID SOMEBODY SAY HUMOROUS ANIMAL CHARACTERS?
I’m another who likes epistolary novels, so Love in the afternoon is one of my favorite Kleypas books.
C.L. Polk’s WITCHMARK is Tor’s book of the month!
Add me to the fan club for “Love in the Afternoon”. I liked most of the Hathaway family books but this one was a favorite.
@DonnaMarie: See, this is the problem with shoehorning YA into just any story, but especially one with a decidedly-not-young hero just because one can. Not that it can’t be done, but this particular aspect doesn’t work. I’m old and will see myself out.
@cbackson: YES! A hedgehog and dog are prominent, plus others that have numerous mentions… One of the reasons I loved Beatrix so much was that she is a major animal-appreciator and knowledgeably rescues/defends/rehabilitates pretty much anything sentient that she comes across. The animals themselves are a little funny (not as funny as Crusie’s animals but definite characters in the book), but the discussions about animals are very funny – humor definitely comes into play there!
Re: “Love in the Afternoon” – while “Married by Morning” remains my favorite “Hathaways” book (Leo & Miss Marks: oh, the angst!), “LitA” was responsible for the most fugly tears. As previously noted, Christopher’s PTSD is heartwrenchingly accurate and a century and a half+ away from being named (I know “shell shock” was recognized during WW1, but it wasn’t treated effectively at that point). And Beatrix: through the previous four Hathaway books, I prayed that Kleypas would make the adult Bea as singular and appealing as the child. The wait was long, but worth it. Beatrix – and her menagerie – are all that is entertaining and uplifting without being cloying. I’m telling you, break out the Puffs with Lotion, people.
I remember being interested in Brightly Burning when it came out and then being turned off by their ages. 17 and 19 and they’re a governess and ship captain? That’s so contradictory, I don’t think I even read the sample. Jane Eyre in space sounds like a perfectly good idea, but teenagers in charge of things in space? I can’t get my brain around that enough to even try it. Some things just don’t work as YA.
@Darlynne: “shoehorning YA into just any story”
Yes. Thank you. That is exactly the idea I was trying to express above.
Please tell me I’m not the only one who glanced at the Sin & Ink cover and promptly misread “Sweetest Taboo” as “Sweetest Tattoo”.
Oo dang the cover model for Mess With Me is giving me serious Milo Ventimiglia as bearded Jack Pearson in This Is Us. I am okay with this.
Re: Brightly Burning’s too-young protags:
I suspect Alexa Donne originally wrote the characters as adults, but her editor made her change them into teens so they could sell the book as YA.
Chiming in very late to add to the Love in the Afternoon accolades. It’s my favorite Hathaway book, and maybe my all time favorite Kleypas. It definitely deals with serious issues (PTSD, kleptomania) but has some scenes that make me laugh regardless of how many times I’ve read them before (the scene where Christopher approaches Cam and Leo to ask for Beatrix’s hand, for one).
I find the premise behind Sin and Ink rather weird. Why is it such a sin to be in love with someone’s widow, even if the someone was your brother? And in the Old Testament it was mandatory for a man to marry his brother’s widow, probably a form of social security. He just sounds moody, the type to be all angsty about whether or not to drink milk that is a day past its expiration date.
Love in the Afternoon is my ALL-TIME favorite Kleypas, if not my all time favorite romance novel. The writing is witty and adorable and charming, and Christopher Phelan was super dreamy.
[SPOILER ALERT] Lisa Kleypas has mentioned on Instagram that the scene where he finds out who she is gave her goosebumps writing it, and it was amazing she said that because it gave me goosebumps too while reading it. I swear I didn’t breathe during that entire scene.
@Xanthe it was illegal for them to marry until 1907 in England until they passed the “Deceased Wife’s Sister Act”. They considered so ling’s by marriage to be full siblings. It’s a fun Wikipedia rabbit hole to explore.