Welcome to Book Beat! Think of Book Beat as Hide Your Wallet, Part Two!
In Hide Your Wallet, we talk about books coming out in a particular month that we really want to read. But there’s more to good books than just new releases!
Book Beat aims to highlight other books that we may hear about through friends, social media, or other sources. We could see a gorgeous ad! Or find a new-to-us author on a list of underrated romances! Think of Book Beat as Teen Beat or Tiger Beat, but for books. And no staples to open to get the fold-out poster.
The Covert Captain
Author: Jeannelle Ferreira
Released: March 15, 2018
Genre: Historical: European, LGBTQIA, RomanceNathaniel Fleming, veteran of Waterloo, falls in love with his Major’s spinster sister, Harriet. But Nathaniel is not what he seems, and before the wedding, the truth will out…
Eleanor Charlotte Fleming, forgotten daughter of a minor baronet, stakes her life on a deception and makes her name—if not her fortune—on the battlefield.
Her war at an end, she returns to England as Captain Nathaniel Fleming and wants nothing more than peace, quiet, and the company of horses. Instead, Captain Fleming meets Harriet. Harriet has averted the calamity of matrimony for a decade, cares little for the cut of her gowns, and is really rather clever. Falling in love is not a turn of the cards either of them expected.
Harriet accepts Captain Fleming, but will she accept Eleanor? Along the way, there are ballrooms, stillrooms, mollyhouses, society intrigue, and sundering circumstance.
Source: @Taramdscott on Twitter
Before Tara came aboard to SBTB, I followed her on Twitter and bookmarked this lovely rec, where a Waterloo veteran disguises herself as a man and falls for her superior’s sister.
It has since been recommended in our F/F Historical Romance Rec League.
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We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!Heart and Hand
Author: Rebel Carter
Released: May 5, 2019 by Violet Gaze Press
Genre: Historical: American, Romance
Series: Golden Sky #1Can a Mail Order bride find love with two husbands?
It doesn’t take long for Julie Baptiste to realize she yearns for more than the non-stop engagements and niceties dictated by New York high society. So, she decides to do something bold and answers an advertisement for a mail-order bride in Gold Sky, Montana.
Ex-Union soldiers Forrest Wickes and William Barnes have been inseparable since the War. They share everything, including the desire to find a wife. A woman who is willing to marry them both and provide the isolated town with a much needed teacher.
When Julie arrives in Montana the three of them must figure out how to navigate the boundaries of their new lives. Can Forrest and Will come together to provide what Julie needs and protect the heart of the woman who’s made her way intimately into theirs?
And how will a debutante-turned-teacher manage frontier life with two husbands?
Heart and Hand is a romantic and passionate MMF romance and Book 1 in the Golden Sky Series.
Source: Goodreads
This came across my Goodreads feed and received a glowing review from author Talia Hibbert. It’s an American historical with a throuple romance. However, I want to note that the description is slightly misleading with the “MMF” designation, as it’s more “MFM.” Hibbert mentions the heroes aren’t together sexually.
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As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!Our Women on the Ground
Author: Zahra Hankir
Released: August 6, 2019 by Penguin Books
Genre: NonfictionNineteen Arab women journalists speak out about what it’s like to report on their changing homelands in this first-of-its-kind essay collection, with a foreword by CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour
International media coverage of the Arab world is dominated by the work of Western correspondents—meaning we often view stories about those complex, interconnected conflicts through one particular lens. But a growing number of intrepid Arab women, whose access to and understanding of their subjects are vastly different than their Western counterparts, are working tirelessly to shape nuanced narratives about their homelands through their work as reporters and photojournalists.In Our Women on the Ground, nineteen of these women tell us, in their own words, about what it’s like to report on conflicts that are (quite literally) close to home. From sexual harassment on the streets of Cairo to the impossibility of traveling without a male relative in Yemen, their challenges are unique—as are their advantages, such as being able to speak candidly with other women or gain entry to places that an outsider would never be able to access. Their daring, shocking, and heartfelt stories, told here for the first time, shatter stereotypes about Arab women and provide an urgently needed perspective on a part of the world that is often misunderstood.
INCLUDING ESSAYS BY: Donna Abu-Nasr, Aida Alami, Hannah Allam, Jane Arraf, Lina Attalah, Nada Bakri, Shamael Elnoor, Zaina Erhaim, Asmaa al-Ghoul, Hind Hassan, Eman Helal, Zeina Karam, Roula Khalaf, Nour Malas, Hwaida Saad, Amira Al-Sharif, Heba Shibani, Lina Sinjab, and Natacha Yazbeck
Source: @ZahraHankir on Twitter
Sneezy submitted this one and I immediately put it on hold at my library. Politics meets feminism meets international journalism!
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As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!Tooth and Claw
Author: Jo Walton
Released: November 1, 2003 by Tor Books
Genre: Romance, Science Fiction/FantasyHere is a tale of a family dealing with the death of their father, a son who goes to court for his inheritance, a son who agonizes over his father’s deathbed confession, a daughter who falls in love, a daughter who becomes involved in the abolition movement, and a daughter sacrificing herself for her husband.
Here is what sounds for all the world like an enjoyable Victorian novel, perhaps by Anthony Trollope…except that everyone in the story is a dragon, red in tooth and claw.
Here are politics and train stations, churchmen and family retainers, courtship, and country houses…in which, on the death of an elder, family members gather to eat the body of the deceased. In which society’s high and mighty members avail themselves of the privilege of killing and eating the weaker children, which they do with ceremony and relish, growing stronger thereby.
You have never read a novel like Tooth and Claw.
Source: Kareni in our comments section
Kareni mentions that it’s been described as “Pride and Prejudice with dragons.” Hello!
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Trollope but with dragons was a one-click over here.
I’m not a huge fan of dragons (but I am a huge fan of Trollope—THE WAY WE LIVE NOW, ftw), but I strongly recommend Jo Walton’s wonderful WHAT MAKES THIS BOOK SO GREAT, where she revisits some famous SF/Fantasy novels and carefully dissects what it is that makes them classics. Even if, like me, you’re not a big SFF reader, Walton’s style and approach are a joy to read.
https://www.amazon.com/What-Makes-This-Book-Great-ebook/dp/B00FO79RV2/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3GUCCJOQIKDV&keywords=jo+walton&qid=1569072941&s=digital-text&sprefix=Jo+walton%2Caps%2C180&sr=1-6
I enjoyed Tooth and Claw back when it was first released. It’s rare to find books with dragon main characters who are not shifters and it’s pretty fun.
I’ll second DiscoDollyDeb’s recommendation of Jo Walton’s non-fiction book/columns. She currently has a monthly column on Tor.com discussing her eclectic reading.
Lord, I added ALL OF THOSE to my Goodreads. Good Book Beat, team!
What do any of these books have to do with Pride and Prejudice? I’m so confused by the title….
@LL: Tooth & Claw was pitched as P&P with Dragons.
Thanks Amanda! P&P with Dragons would be awesome. But now I have read the description of Tooth and Claw three times, and I’m not really getting it. LOL.
Heart And Hand is a promising debut, although there are a number of loose threads that never get addressed. It has a theatrical quality to it and it was easy to read, even if it left me with a lot of questions. It’s relatively low heat (not quite closed door but close to it) so it might be a good entry point for people interested in reading menage but who don’t want the explicitness of an erotic romance. (I may not be the best gauge for heat level though as I tend to read very explicit books.)