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Heat Stroke
Heat Stroke by Tessa Bailey is 99c at Amazon! This is the second book in the Beach Kingdom series and this one is a m/m opposites attract romance. Expect lots of steamy situations and dirty talk, but note that this romance is on the shorter side.
They can’t be together. They won’t stay apart.
Marcus “Diesel” O’Shaughnessy is a brash, oversized CrossFit enthusiast with a naked lady tattooed on his rippling forearm. Jamie Prince is a private school teacher with an extremely low tolerance for bull. The two men have zero in common. Well, except for three things.
They’re both moonlighting as lifeguards for the summer.
No matter how hard they try, they cannot stay away from each other.
And both of them have secrets they’re determined to keep.But what happens in the shadows of the Long Beach boardwalk can only remain hidden for so long, before the July sunshine reveals the hot, unrelenting connection they never expected, forcing Marcus and Jamie to decide if they’re simply caught up in a temporary heat stroke or if they’ve found something worth rescuing…
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The Priory of the Orange Tree
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon is $3.99 at Amazon and Barnes & Noble! This was one of the most sought after ARCs at Book Expo America in 2018. It’s also over 800 pages, so a digital copy might be beneficial, though many readers felt a couple hundred pages could have been chopped. I’ve seen reviews call this one an “epic feminist fantasy” novel.
From the internationally bestselling author of The Bone Season, a trailblazing, epic high fantasy about a world on the brink of war with dragons–and the women who must lead the fight to save it.
A world divided.
A queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.
The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction–but assassins are getting closer to her door.Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.
Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.
Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.
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Dearly Beloved
Dearly Beloved by Mary Jo Putney is $1.99! This appears to be a standalone historical romance and not attached to any series. It’s also a re-release of a book first published in 1990. Some reviews gave me pause, given that some DNF’d it. Content warning for this one; do read this review if you want to go into this one informed.
LOVE MUST FIND A WAY . . .
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A sheltered life in the countryside has left Diana Lindsay restless to see the wider world, for both herself and the son she is raising alone. She cannot marry, but perhaps as a courtesan she will find love and protection despite her painful past. Gathering her courage, she moves to London—and finds herself the city’s most desired woman, as admired for her charm as for her beauty. But it is one man who captivates her—handsome, haunted, and harboring a secret as deep as her own . . .Bound by the sins of his youth, Gervase Brandelin, the Viscount St. Aubyn, has spent his adulthood seeking redemption through service to England. Now a spymaster, he can allow nothing to distract him from his duty. But when he meets Diana, his burdens seem to lift. Though she can never truly be his alone, their genuine love fills him with hope, until a treacherous deceit—and a deadly enemy—threatens to tear them
apart forever . . .Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
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The Savior
The Savior by J.R. Ward is $2.99! This is the 17th book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, and Ward’s books rarely go on sale and are often published in hardcover first. If you’re more of a frugal fan, this one is for you. Elyse wrote a pretty funny review of this one, giving it a C. She doesn’t recommend it for new readers to the series. What are your thoughts?
A vampire and a scientist’s fates are passionately entwined in a race against time in this thrilling romance in the #1 New York Times bestselling “utterly absorbing and deliciously erotic” (Angela Knight, New York Times bestselling author) Black Dagger Brotherhood series.Â
In the venerable history of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, only one male has ever been expelled—but Murhder’s insanity gave the Brothers no choice. Haunted by visions of a female he could not save, he nonetheless returns to Caldwell on a mission to right the wrong that ruined him. However, he is not prepared for what he must face in his quest for redemption.
Dr. Sarah Watkins, researcher at a biomedical firm, is struggling with the loss of her fellow scientist fiancé. When the FBI starts asking about his death, she questions what really happened and soon learns the terrible truth: Her firm is conducting inhumane experiments in secret and the man she thought she knew and loved was involved in the torture.
As Murhder and Sarah’s destinies become irrevocably entwined, desire ignites between them. But can they forge a future that spans the divide separating the two species? And as a new foe emerges in the war against the vampires, will Murhder return to his Brothers… or resume his lonely existence forevermore?
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Putney and Bailey have been consistently all over the place for me – how old IS the Putney after reading those spoilers?! It’s like the publisher reprinting that ancient old skool Betina Krahn last year.
I enjoyed HEAT STROKE, but the hero who is already out was the victim of a hate crime some years prior to the start of the book. It is referenced, but not described in this book (I think it’s more of a plot point in the earlier book, MOUTH-TO-MOUTH). There is also some physical fighting when the brother of the closeted hero discovers his brother with a man.
At this point I think that the Black Dagger Brotherhood books are only for the truly addicted. This is not one of the better entries in the series, but at this point I know I am going to read them all, even though they really aren’t worth it. If you are addicted like me, and have not read it yet, then it is worth the sale price. Otherwise, do not bother.
Every time I need a giggle all I gotta do is read a SBTB review of a BDB book.
Also, there is a woman in my Bible study who loves them and the first time she told me, I was like, “I get it but…” and she was like “…the names?” and I was like “YES WTF IS WITH ALL THE Hs?” but we never solved it.
Oh no not JR ward’s superfluous H’s again!
@Amanda — Thank you so much for linking to that review of Dearly Beloved! I’m really mad at it now, because it sounds potentially like something I would want to read (please more books about actual courtesans who are actually being courtesans, behaving like courtesans, thinking and believing and planning like courtesans, please), but apparently it’s actually full of everything I hate???
I just want to read historical romance about women who actually break rules and defy norms. Not the usual kind where the heroine makes a lot of noise about breaking rules but then behaves like every other romance heroine since the dawn of time because she has the luxury of being single, lucky, rich, connected, and/or endowed with kevlar plot armour. I want to read about all those women who litter heroes’ bedroom backstories but aren’t considered worthy of heroes; the women who say they don’t want to marry, mean it, and stick to it; the women who dare to say “okay, following the rules has got me nowhere but miserable, and rather than continuing to obey them and becoming a bitter martyr, I shall just make my own.”
I haven’t read any J.R. Ward, but back in the day I read everything Jennifer Blake (aka, Patricia Maxwell) wrote and almost every one of her heroes had names that began with R. This included heroes named Rudyard, Ransom, Ravel, Roderic, Rolfe, and Reynaud!
@Star: it’s not really a romance, but I remember enjoying Kathleen Winsor’s FOREVER AMBER many years ago. The heroine is a courtesan who gets by on her shrewdness and her wit. It was published in the 1940s, so nothing too explicit—and not a happy ending, iirc.
https://www.amazon.com/Forever-Rediscovered-Classics-Kathleen-Winsor-ebook/dp/B0087GZ8EW/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=forever+amber&qid=1569431409&sr=8-1
Heat Stroke was my favorite in the series, but I am partial to M/M.
I couldn’t get past the prologue for Dearly Beloved because of the content warning happening within moments of starting the book. I’m mad that I had to read it, that the book description didn’t say it was a republished Old School, and that it took up one of my precious library ebook holds for three months.
Yeah, the linked commentary on Dearly Beloved is accurate. 100%. It was never my favorite Putney, and it hasn’t aged particularly well. (Nothing involving hero or heroine as rapist does.)
I thought “B romance” in that book was pleasant, though.
Back away from that BDB book! Sure Murhder was this interesting little brain worm apphearing randomly in earlier bhooks, but IT’S NOT WORTH IT! I’m nless you are among the diehard fhans, reading this will only lead to heartbreak, headache and holes in your drywhall.
Dahmn it! I’ve bheen infected with h’s!
Highly recommended retelling of Moll Flanders: Fanny by Erica Jong. “As if Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones had been about a woman. http://ericajong.com/fanny.htm
@Star @NanDePlume — Two books I’ve read recently that have courtesan main characters are In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant and Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase. Very different styles, but perhaps one or both would appeal to you!
I really enjoyed the Beach Kingdom series by Tessa Bailey. I swear I have a thing for lifeguards after watching Sam Elliott in the movie aptly named-Lifeguard. I was 16 and it was a formative experience 🙂
I like the relationships between the brothers-it feels very real.
For a courtesan story, there’s “The Comfortable Courtesan” (I think I have that title right). I got it through one of the books on sale features here and enjoyed it – the narrator is a high-class successful courtesan. She has her regulars (one of whom is a retired officer who served in India and they seem to be working their way through the Kama Sutra). There is a reference to a one-time client who was abusive and she – being successful enough – was able to cut him off. There’s also a wombat.
@Mzcue Fanny was such formative reading for me, I love it!