Suddenly One Summer
Suddenly One Summer by Julie James is $1.99! James is a contemporary romance favorite around here. Readers warn that though they loved the ending, they warn it’s not your typical romantic way to end a story (no clue what this means, but saw several people commenting on it). Many also loved the heroine. It has a 3.8-star rating on Goodreads.
Divorce lawyer Victoria Slade has seen enough unhappy endings to swear off marriage forever. That doesn’t mean she’s opposed to casual dating—just not with her cocky new neighbor, who is as gorgeous and tempting as he is off-limits. But once she agrees to take on his sister’s case, she’s as determined to win as ever—even if that means teaming up with Ford…
Investigative journalist Ford Dixon is bent on finding the man who got his sister pregnant and left her high and dry. He’s willing to partner with Victoria, despite the fact that the beautiful brunette gets under his skin like no other woman. He might not be looking to settle down, but there’s no denying the scorching attraction between them. Still, the more time he spends with Victoria, the more he realizes that the one woman as skeptical about love as he is might be the only woman he could really fall for…
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RECOMMENDED: A Gentleman Never Keeps Score by Cat Sebastian is $1.99! Carrie read this one and enjoyed it. It was given a B+ grade:
I enjoyed this book so much! A Gentleman Never Keeps Score is a Regency m/m about a disgraced gentleman and a Black pub keeper. The book has a lovely romance as well as a theme of found family and recovery from trauma.
Once beloved by London’s fashionable elite, Hartley Sedgwick has become a recluse after a spate of salacious gossip exposed his most-private secrets. Rarely venturing from the house whose inheritance is a daily reminder of his downfall, he’s captivated by the exceedingly handsome man who seeks to rob him.
Since retiring from the boxing ring, Sam Fox has made his pub, The Bell, into a haven for those in his Free Black community. But when his best friend Kate implores him to find and destroy a scandalously revealing painting of her, he agrees. Sam would do anything to protect those he loves, even if it means stealing from a wealthy gentleman. But when he encounters Hartley, he soon finds himself wanting to steal more than just a painting from the lovely, lonely man—he wants to steal his heart.
Content Warning from Author: This book includes a main character who was sexually abused in the past; abuse happens off page but is alluded to.
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RECOMMENDED: The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker is $2.99! This is a fantasy historical and reader favorite. Carrie reviewed this book in June 2013 and really liked it. She says it doesn’t have romance as its primary plot, but it’s a beautiful read:
I loved this book, but not so much for the love story. I loved the mythologies, the settings, and the characters. The neighborhoods were incredibly detailed and vivid and interesting. The cultural and religious communities felt real and fascinating. I love books that let me see into another world, and this book gave me that feeling many times. The characters were all mesmerizing. I felt like I was in each setting, meeting these real people.
Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a strange man who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian Desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop.
Struggling to make their way in 1899 New York, the Golem and the Jinni try to fit in with their immigrant neighbors while masking their true selves. Meeting by chance, they become unlikely friends whose tenuous attachment challenges their opposing natures, until the night a terrifying incident drives them back into their separate worlds. But a powerful menace will soon bring the Golem and the Jinni together again, threatening their existence and forcing them to make a fateful choice.
Marvelous and compulsively readable, The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of folk mythology, historical fiction, and magical fable into a wondrously inventive and unforgettable tale.
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Ascension by A.S. Fenichel is $2.99! This is a historical romance with paranormal elements and the first book in the Demon Hunters series. Readers definitely say the heroine has a Buffy vibe, but others wanted more in terms of the world building. If the series interests you, all three books are priced the same!
When demons threaten London, Lady Belinda answers the call.
Lord Gabriel Thurston returns home from war to find his fiancée is not the sweet young girl he left behind. She’s grown into a mysterious woman who guards her dark secrets well. When he sees her sneaking away from a ball, he’s convinced it’s for a lover’s rendezvous. Following her to London’s slums, Gabriel watches in horror as his fiancée ruthlessly slay a man.
Lady Belinda Carlisle’s only concern was her dress for the next ball—until demons nearly killed her and changed everything. A lady by day, and a demon hunter by night, she knows where her duty lies. Ending her betrothal is the best way to protect Gabriel from death by a demon’s hand.
Gabriel soon realizes, like him, Belinda has been fighting for her country. He joins in the fight, determined to show her that their love can endure, stronger than ever.
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PLEASE treat yourselves to that Julie James book!!! It is wonderful – as is pretty much everything that flows from her pen. It’s not my favorite, that honor still belongs to It Happened One Wedding, but is a close second.
Lady Belinda Carlisle! I thought she was just a Bangles member.
This Julie James book is my favorite of hers because of how therapy plays a role in the story. I was in therapy at the time and it made me feel so validated and fulfilled. Plus let’s be real here, lots more romance protagonists could use therapy as part of their personal journey. Basically: *CLICK*
OK folks I bought Ascension but if I read it I don’t remember. I was checking out the third book in the series and it sounded oddly similar to book 1. So, I checked the reviews. All were 5 star except for one gave it one star, said it was very badly edited (if at all) and repetitive. Just on a lark, I checked out the reviewer J Cross. Funny how she has given NOTHING BUT 5 STAR REVIEWS. And all with such extremely well written and quotable comments. Suspicious.
Sigh. I read a lot and buy a lot of ebooks. Recent posts about the tricks employed in getting high ratings for your books through phony reviews, buying books and rebranding then with few edits, etc. etc. makes me very sad and not as willing to give new authors a read. What’s a reader/buyer to do?
@Joy: If you haven’t checked out Goodreads, I highly recommend it. I trust the reviews I find there, but I hardly check Amazon for reviews on books anyway.
@CatC Agreed, and if you haven’t read Kate Clayborn’s “Best of Luck” you might want to check it out, because therapy had a similar role in that book (except it was the hero who was in therapy, not the heroine). The therapist in that book is a little quirkier and more present than the one in “Suddenly One Summer” which didn’t seem quite as realistic. However, I loved the discoveries that the hero made about himself.
@Joy—I don’t know (obviously) but I wouldn’t necessarily assume that the one reviewer who always gives 5 Stars is on the take, or whatever. Some bloggers, or Netgalley users, or book buyers, just review things they are super excited by. While I’ve seen others who tend to leave pretty harsh reviews over and over. I guess that isn’t necessarily a red flag to me. But maybe I am naive.
I also find Goodreads useful for tracking what I’ve read. It’s convenient to be able to link it to my Kindle so it automatically logs when I start and end a book without me needing to remember to.
Regarding fake reviews, Fakespot (https://www.fakespot.com/) is useful. You can either paste a URL into that web page to have it checked, or use their bookmarklet to analyze an Amazon page’s reviews with one click. (For example, I just had it check the page for Faleena Hopkins’s book Cocky Roommate. It gave it a review grade of F, a Fakespot Adjusted Rating of “Insufficient reliable reviews”, and reports “Our engine has profiled the reviewer patterns and has determined that there is high deception involved” and “Our engine has detected that this company employs aggressive marketing tactics.” Color me unsurprised.)
I think I say this every time Cat Sebastian is mentioned on this site, but if you’re a fan of Loretta Chase or Julia Quinn, I think you’ll like Cat Sebastian. She’s queering Regency Romance in a really accessible, respectful and delightful way. (As is KJ Charles).
That said, this is one of her less fluffy romances because one of the heroes is a survivor of sexual violence – part of the development of the relationship between the h/h is the survivor becoming more comfortable with sex and physical intimacy. I thought it was very, very emotionally satisfying even though I also thought it was a little optimistic about the time it took him to become comfortable.
Ascension has a beautiful cover but was terribly written. The storyline made little sense, and gave the impression of the author working from a checklist of things to include and explain, rather than writing anything remotely readable.
@Liz: Those of us who have been around for a while will remember Harriet Klausner, who never gave anything but 5 Star reviews. And she was prolific, to say the least. She died a couple years ago, but you’ll still come across her reviews on older titles.
@Liz: I think you mean the Go-Go’s. Also, nobody involved in the editing of that book saw the name and said, perhaps the last name should be, um, Cavendish. It reminds me of that Highland romance a few years back where the hero’s name was David Cameron. Ah, no thanks!
The Julie James book is good—although it has a subplot involving a baby conceived when the father of the child was “on a break” from his relationship. I thought his wife was way too understanding, but that’s me. I also wish that James could edit the book so that the heroine does not buy a condo in Chicago’s Trump Tower.
@DiscoDollyDeb —I knew I should have Googled before commenting! The Go-Go’s indeed.
@Joy, I confess that I tend to give mostly (although not all) 5 star reviews for a couple reasons – I generally only go through the hassle of writing a review for things that really excite me, and because in my mind I still hear my mama telling me that if you can’t say something nice, you shouldn’t say anything at all.
@Sandra- gawd, Harriet Klausner! IIRC, she didn’t even read the books. Her deal was being the very first review so she would get all the likes? So, she would literally cut/paste the publisher’s blurb? Maybe I’m conflating her with another reviewer.