Any Old Diamonds
RECOMMENDED: Any Old Diamonds by K.J. Charles is 99c! New reviewer Claudia submitted this for a previous guest review and gave it an A-:
For being superbly written, evocative, intellectually stimulating, risky in the way it presents two flawed main characters, and, last but not least, sexy as all heck, this book gets an A minus from me.
Lord Alexander Pyne-ffoulkes, the younger son of the Duke of Ilvar, holds a bitter grudge against his wealthy father. The Duke intends to give his Duchess a priceless diamond parure on their wedding anniversary — so Alec hires a pair of jewel thieves to steal it.
The Duke’s remote castle is a difficult target, and Alec needs a way to get the thieves in. Soldier-turned-criminal Jerry Crozier has the answer: he’ll pose as a Society gentleman and become Alec’s new best friend.
But Jerry is a dangerous man: controlling, remote, and devastating. He effortlessly teases out the lonely young nobleman’s most secret desires, and soon he’s got Alec in his bed—and the palm of his hand.
Or maybe not. Because as the plot thickens, betrayals, secrets, new loves, and old evils come to light. Now the jewel thief and the aristocrat must keep up the pretense, find their way through a maze of privilege and deceit, and confront the truth of what’s between them… all without getting caught.
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RECOMMENDED: The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden is $2.99! This fantasy novel has elements of Russian mythology and I made a soothing cocktail for it. The book is whimsical and perfect for the winter, though it can drag at time, in my opinion.
A magical debut novel for readers of Naomi Novik’s Uprooted, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, and Neil Gaiman’s myth-rich fantasies, The Bear and the Nightingale spins an irresistible spell as it announces the arrival of a singular talent with a gorgeous voice.
At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn’t mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.
After Vasilisa’s mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa’s new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.
And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa’s stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.
As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse’s most frightening tales.
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Truthwitch by Susan Dennard is $2.99! This is the first book in the The Witchlands series and it’s YA fantasy with some romantic elements in later books (not sure if there is any in this first installment). This series has been on my TBR pile for a long time, but it keeps getting passed over for other things.
On a continent ruled by three empires, some are born with a “witchery”, a magical skill that sets them apart from others.
In the Witchlands, there are almost as many types of magic as there are ways to get in trouble—as two desperate young women know all too well.
Safiya is a Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lie. It’s a powerful magic that many would kill to have on their side, especially amongst the nobility to which Safi was born. So Safi must keep her gift hidden, lest she be used as a pawn in the struggle between empires.
Iseult, a Threadwitch, can see the invisible ties that bind and entangle the lives around her—but she cannot see the bonds that touch her own heart. Her unlikely friendship with Safi has taken her from life as an outcast into one of reckless adventure, where she is a cool, wary balance to Safi’s hotheaded impulsiveness.
Safi and Iseult just want to be free to live their own lives, but war is coming to the Witchlands. With the help of the cunning Prince Merik (a Windwitch and ship’s captain) and the hindrance of a Bloodwitch bent on revenge, the friends must fight emperors, princes, and mercenaries alike, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.
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Driving Her Crazy by Kira Archer is $2.99! This is another contemporary romance with a road trip, so if that’s your catnip, be careful with your book budget today! Readers loved the opposites attract element between the hero and heroine. However, some found the beginning a little slow. Have you read this one?
Driven to (sexy) distraction…
Cher Debusshere hates being the black sheep of her posh, well-to-do family almost as much as she hates driving-which is exactly what she’s forced to do when her flight home for her perfect sister’s wedding is grounded. Fan-freakin’-tastic. Then a hot guy offers to share both the car rental and the driving duties…only to drive her crazy by assuming she’s just some spoiled little rich girl.
Mechanic Nathaniel “Oz” Oserkowski is about as blue-collar as they come. There’s never been a time he hasn’t worked his ass off, and he’s determined to prove it to the gorgeous princess in the passenger seat. As the miles pass, they bait and needle each other…until their lust and longing gets so hot it nearly overheats the engine.
They have nothing in common. Hell, they can barely stand each other. But sometimes it takes a journey to change the destination…
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I just picked up The Bear and the Nightingale randomly at the library and I was not prepared for how much I enjoyed it. There are two more books in the series and I am legit waiting until it gets cold so I can read them in front of a fire. I am discovering a new, very niche sub-genre that I love, which are romantic retellings of foreign fairy tales, like this book as well as Uprooted and Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. Apparently that is my very specific jam.
Sorcery & Cecilia is $1.99 today – love that book!
@KB for more romantic retellings of foreign fairy tales, check out Mercedes Lackey’s Five Hundred Kingdoms series.
Fortune’s Fool is based on a Russian fairy tale, One Good Knight is set in Greece with mythical beasts, and there was a Japanese tale but the name escapes me.
Not only is “Any Old Diamonds” 99 cents, but you can add the Audible for $1.99! Now that’s a deal!
I can recommend “Any Old Diamonds” … I’m perfectly happy to have paid full price for it (although, to be truthful, I’ll buy almost anything K.J. Charles writes).
@Escapeologist THANK YOU!! That series looks right up my alley. My library even has the first book in e-book format, hooray!
@KB. That is also my jam and I wish there were more books out there. I can also recommend Juliet Marillier’s Wildwood Dancing, a YA fantasy retelling of 12 dancing princesses set in Eastern Europe.
It isn’t a fairytale retelling, but Jessica Day George’s Silver in the Blood is another great Eastern European fantasy with vampires/werewolves done really well and it felt fairy-taleish to me.
@Lisa, thanks!! I love Juliet Marillier’s writing, but I haven’t read that one so I will have to check it out! I read the first book in her Sevenwaters series last year and it was awesome, if you have not read it yet. One of those books that stays with you for a while. HUGE content warning for rape and ensuing trauma though. I’m going to check out the Jessica Day George one as well! My daughters and I read a series by her for younger kids, starting with Tuesdays at the Castle, and we really enjoyed it. As another possible recommendation although I haven’t read it yet, I have a book on my Goodreads TBR right now called The Sisters of the Winter Wood, by Rena Rossner. It’s supposed to be based on Russian folklore similar to The Bear and the Nightingale. Sounds interesting at least!
There’s a sequel to Sorcery and Cecelia, set 10 years later, also on sale for 1.99.
@KB Same! And I think cold weather will be the perfect time for me to read the second book as well…thanks for the inspiration! 😀
Also in the vein of feels-like-fairytales-with-romance books I would add anything by Robin McKinley (Beauty etc. obviously, but also her original tales like The Blue Sword); The False Princess by Eilis O’Neal; Once a collection of fairy tales by Cameron Dokey; Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn; Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken; Shadowfell by Juliet Marillier. A number of these are YA, and some more fantasy than actual re-telling of fairy tales, but they all have that feel to me.