-
London’s Best Kept Secret
London’s Best Kept Secret by Anabelle Bryant is $1.99! This historical romance is the second book in the Midnight Secrets series and can we get a ruling on whether that’s a mullet on the cover? The hero and heroine are already married in this one, but some readers couldn’t get past the hero’s scheming.
In Anabelle Bryant’s latest novel of ardor and ambition, a lord will stop at nothing to possess the woman of his dreams . . .
In monetary matters, Jeremy Lockhart, Viscount Dearing, is used to being in control, but from his first sight of Lady Charlotte, his carefully cultivated world is rocked to its foundations. Determined to best her other, more eligible suitors, he goes to great lengths to ensure his betrothal to Charlotte. A locked black leather box holds the dark secret that has assured his success.Innocent Lady Charlotte is baffled by her new husband’s behavior. Why does Lord Dearing seem so distant one day, and so attentive the next? Her family’s dire financial straits did not allow her the luxury of an extended courtship. If only she could entice him into the marriage bed! When at last Charlotte’s efforts are rewarded, she revels in Jeremy’s unexpectedly bold possessiveness. But outside of their bedchambers, her groom’s guardedness quickly returns. Passion is no longer enough for sweet Charlotte, who vows to unlock the mystery of this complicated man. The truth, however, might be more than her principled heart is prepared to handle. . . .
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
This book is on sale at:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein
The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White is $1.99! This is a YA re-imagining of Frankenstein and has a 3.8 rating on Goodreads. Readers say the first two-thirds of the book are great, but then it kind of goes off the rails. Have you read this one?
Elizabeth Lavenza hasn’t had a proper meal in weeks. Her thin arms are covered with bruises from her “caregiver,” and she is on the verge of being thrown into the streets . . . until she is brought to the home of Victor Frankenstein, an unsmiling, solitary boy who has everything–except a friend.
Victor is her escape from misery. Elizabeth does everything she can to make herself indispensable–and it works. She is taken in by the Frankenstein family and rewarded with a warm bed, delicious food, and dresses of the finest silk. Soon she and Victor are inseparable.
But her new life comes at a price. As the years pass, Elizabeth’s survival depends on managing Victor’s dangerous temper and entertaining his every whim, no matter how depraved. Behind her blue eyes and sweet smile lies the calculating heart of a girl determined to stay alive no matter the cost . . . as the world she knows is consumed by darkness
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
This book is on sale at:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
The Girl Who Knew Too Much
PODCAST RECOMMENDED: The Girl Who Knew Too Much by Amanda Quick is $1.99! This is the first book in the Burning Cove series, and is a historical romance with a bit of mystery. Author Sara Flynn/Meg Tilly recommended this one on a previous podcast episode, though some reviews on Goodreads mention that the pacing is off at times.
When Hollywood moguls and stars want privacy, they head to an idyllic small town on the coast, where the exclusive Burning Cove Hotel caters to their every need. It’s where reporter Irene Glasson finds herself staring down at a beautiful actress at the bottom of a pool…
The dead woman had a red-hot secret about up-and-coming leading man Nick Tremayne, a scoop that Irene couldn’t resist—especially since she’s just a rookie at a third-rate gossip rag. But now Irene’s investigation into the drowning threatens to tear down the wall of illusion that is so deftly built around the famous actor, and there are powerful men willing to do anything to protect their investment.
Seeking the truth, Irene finds herself drawn to a master of deception. Oliver Ward was once a world-famous magician—until he was mysteriously injured during his last performance. Now the owner of the Burning Cove Hotel, he can’t let scandal threaten his livelihood, even if it means trusting Irene, a woman who seems to have appeared in Los Angeles out of nowhere four months ago…
With Oliver’s help, Irene soon learns that the glamorous paradise of Burning Cove hides dark and dangerous secrets. And that the past—always just out of sight—could drag them both under…
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
This book is on sale at:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
Her Master and Commander
Her Master and Commander by Karen Hawkins is $2.99! This is a historical romance from 2006 and the series follows a butler as he tries to “legitimize” a duke’s heirs. There is a hint of enemies-to-lovers between neighbors, which is some major catnip, though some readers found this to be slow to start.
The ailing Duke of Rochester finds himself on his death bed with no legitimate heirs. Concocting a plan to ‘legitimize’ them all upon his death, he instructs his butler extraordinaire, Reeves, to find the duke’s unsanctioned children and “civilize” them.
Reeves’s first assignment is the duke’s oldest illegitimate son, wounded-war-hero-one-time-pirate Tristan Llevanth. Wounded after the Battle of Trafalgar, Tristan sits in his gloomy house and waits for life to pass him by. Unfortunately, his bothersome neighbor, the delectable widow Prudence, has other plans. Reeves wants to mold him into a real duke while Prudence wants Tristan to keep his wandering sheep on his own property. Tristan, for his part, wished to do neither. When Reeves notices a flair of interest in Tristan’s eyes whenever the now-destitute Prudence is about, he hires the lady on the spot to teach Tristan the manners he so sadly needs.
Lessons turn into kisses which turn into a hot searing passion that even the threat of losing a fortune cannot disrupt. And eventually, Tristan realizes that in love, as in all things, if one needs the answer, all one must do is just ask Reeves.
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
This book is on sale at:
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.
“Flair of interest”
One of the times “flare” is actually correct and they used “flair.”
Sigh.
Also, are they really trying to make illegitimate children legitimate for inheritance purposes? Because titles don’t work that way. (Maybe in Scotland, if they all share the same mother, and he marries her…). Sigh. Again.
Hearty recommendation for The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein. White does girls who use their brains to survive and take no shit from a world that never stops trying to crush them so, so well. And I actually liked the swerve-it really makes the retelling its own thing.
His puffy shirt could use some “flair”! But I don’t have a flare of interest in the book.
I vote mullet! No doubt about it.
Re: “flair” of interest. Ugh, this is a pet peeve of mine! (I come by it honestly – one grandmother was a teacher, & Mom was a newspaper editor.) A spellchecking program can do many wonderful things, but it cannot distinguish between homophones because both words are spelled correctly. Use a proofreader who’s a stickler for proper English, people!
I found the Amanda Quick to be super confusing from the “when is this set again…?” perspective. It’s supposed to be 1930s (I think?) but so many of the details read as very modern. It kept pulling me out of the text to the point that I just flipped to the end, figured out who the bad guy was, and called it a day.
RE: Her Master and Commander blurb
I’m not a native English speaker and I totally missed the flair/flare thing. However, I was kind bothered by the sudden use of past tense.
I’m thinking it might not be completely wrong, but I feel like keeping the present tense would have been the better choice. (Don’t hesitate to correct me if I’m wrong.)
I wholeheartedly love the Her Master and Commander cover in all its puffy-shirted glory. That is a thing of early 2000s beauty.
Also, def a mullet. IDK what era that’s set in but odds are high he has a lifted Chevy at home.
As long as we’re piling on that blurb, “hot searing” requires a comma if the redundancy isn’t enough reason to nuke it. (Nuke it. NUKE IT.)
Another thumbs up recommendation for Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein! In agreement that the first 2/3rds are good and the last 3rd goes off the rail, but like the previous commenter stated, it does give the book its own story. Bottom line, it’s good enough for me to keep a HB version on my shelf for the foreseeable future.
…while Prudence wants Tristan to keep his wandering sheep on his own property.
This is definitely a euphemism right?
@marieke – Yeah, I didn’t notice flair but that sudden past tense tripped me up as well. I had to go back and re-read the previous sentences to figure out what was going on.
Definitely a mullet
I also missed the flair/flare goof, but in my defense I was distracted by the butler named Reeves! Do you suppose it’s only one letter off from Jeeves on purpose? And Reeves is described as a “butler extraordinaire,” much like Jeeves. Do you think the author was reading some of the P. G. Wodehouse Bertie and Jeeves books before writing this book? And now I totally want to go reread The Code of the Woosters!
@Wait, what? – When the butler was mentioned and named, I was hoping he’d be the hero. I would absolutely read a “butler extraordinaire” hero.
@MaryK Have you read Rose Lerner’s Listen to the Moon? That one has a great butler hero!
“if one needs the answer, all one must do is just ask Reeves.”
There’s no way the similarity to Jeeves is accidental.
@Stephanie Burgis – I have not. I’ll check it out!
I don’t think it’s a mullet. I can see a black line which is obviously his scrunchy. I’m wondering if someone used a sharpie like mark when creating the photo to create the hair tie. Or queue is used in some HR.
Quick’s Burning Cove series is probably her best mystery one yet, and the first is unquestioningly the best one.
Need to read the Frankenstein retelling!