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Evvie Drake Starts Over
RECOMMENDED: Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes is $2.99! This currently a price-matched Kindle Daily Deal. We have a lovely guest squee for this one:
This is the perfect breezy summer read. It is also the perfect fresh spring read, the perfect crisp fall read, and the perfect cozy winter read. I hope I’ve adequately conveyed that I have so many feelings about this delightful book – and they are all good.
In a small town in Maine, recently widowed Eveleth “Evvie” Drake rarely leaves her house. Everyone in town, including her best friend, Andy, thinks grief keeps her locked inside, and she doesn’t correct them. In New York, Dean Tenney, former major-league pitcher and Andy’s childhood friend, is struggling with a case of the “yips”: he can’t throw straight anymore, and he can’t figure out why. An invitation from Andy to stay in Maine for a few months seems like the perfect chance to hit the reset button.
When Dean moves into an apartment at the back of Evvie’s house, the two make a deal: Dean won’t ask about Evvie’s late husband, and Evvie won’t ask about Dean’s baseball career. Rules, though, have a funny way of being broken–and what starts as an unexpected friendship soon turns into something more. But before they can find out what might lie ahead, they’ll have to wrestle a few demons: the bonds they’ve broken, the plans they’ve changed, and the secrets they’ve kept. They’ll need a lot of help, but in life, as in baseball, there’s always a chance–right up until the last out.
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A Lady Awakened
RECOMMENDED: A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant is $2.99! This book is often recommended in terms a sex-positive heroine. However, other readers found the heroine’s view of sex to be rather unromantic. I feel like this is one of the more divisive romances; people either seem to love it or hate it.
In Cecilia Grant’s emotionally rich and deeply passionate Regency romance debut, a deal with a rumored rogue turns a proper young woman into . . . A Lady Awakened.
Newly widowed and desperate to protect her estate and beloved servants from her malevolent brother-in-law, Martha Russell conceives a daring plan. Or rather, a daring plan to conceive. After all, if she has an heir on the way, her future will be secured. Forsaking all she knows of propriety, Martha approaches her neighbor, a London exile with a wicked reputation, and offers a strictly business proposition: a month of illicit interludes . . . for a fee.
Theophilus Mirkwood ought to be insulted. Should be appalled. But how can he resist this siren in widow’s weeds, whose offer is simply too outrageously tempting to decline? Determined she’ll get her money’s worth, Theo endeavors to awaken this shamefully neglected beauty to the pleasures of the flesh—only to find her dead set against taking any enjoyment in the scandalous bargain. Surely she can’t resist him forever. But could a lady’s sweet surrender open their hearts to the most unexpected arrival of all . . . love?
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The Broken Girls
The Broken Girls by Simone St. James is $1.99! James is a bit of a favorite here, especially with Elyse, and tends to write historical fiction with mystery and romantic elements. This one jumps between 1950 and 2014 Vermont. Are you a fan?
The “clever and wonderfully chilling” (Fiona Barton) suspense novel from the award-winning author of The Haunting of Maddy Clare…
Vermont, 1950. There’s a place for the girls whom no one wants–the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. It’s called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it’s located, there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming–until one of them mysteriously disappears. . . .
Vermont, 2014. As much as she’s tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister’s death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister’s boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can’t shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case.
When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor, she decides to write a story about it. But a shocking discovery during the renovations will link the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past–and a voice that won’t be silenced. . .
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My One and Only Duke
My One and Only Duke by Grace Burrowes is $1.99! This is the first book in the Rogues to Riches series, and the description compares it to a Cinderella story. There is a mystery element to this romance, which some readers loved and others didn’t.
New York Times bestselling author Grace Burrowes introduces us to the unconventional Wentworth family in this charming Regency romance with a Cinderella twist.
A funny thing happened on the way to the gallows…
One minute, London banker Quinn Wentworth is facing execution. The next, he’s declared the long-lost heir to a dukedom. Quinn has fought his way up from the vilest slums, and now he’s ready to use every dirty trick he knows to find the enemy who schemed against him.There was just one tiny problem…
Jane Winston, the widowed, pregnant daughter of a meddlesome prison preacher, crosses paths with Quinn in jail. Believing his days are numbered, Quinn offers Jane marriage as a way to guarantee her independence and provide for her child. Neither thinks they’ll actually have a future together.They were wrong.
He’s a wealthy gutter rat out for vengeance. She’s a minister’s daughter who must turn a marriage of desperation into a proper ducal union. Are they doomed from the start or destined for a happily-ever-after?Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
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Evvie Drake was so, so lovely. It’s gentle and full of kind people doing their best. The perfect thing to read right now.
That regency cover looked like it read “A Lady Krakened” and I about lost my mind – what a great title! What does “Krakened” mean? Was it a about a Lady Kraken? A Kraken shifter? Did a Kraken storm Almacks? Where is that Kraken story going?
And the the delayed comprehension hit me.
MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER by Oyinkan Braithwaite is $2.99. Kinda what it says on the tin, told from the POV of The Responsible Sibling, with whom I deeply empathized. Carrie S gave it an A- here:
https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/my-sister-the-serial-killer-by-oyinkan-braithwaite/
The Simone St. James title is very tempting. I have had her “The Sun Down Motel” on my wish list for a while now
@amanda carter the sundown motel is very very different than her usual books. I was pretty bummed reading it.
Is Evvie Drake a closed door romance ?? Or is there some steam in there?
Just one-clicked the Evvie Drake. Sounds like exactly what I need right now.
So many good books on sale on kindle today – My Sister the Serial Killer and Evvie Drake were two of my favorites from last year (although both very different). I’m considering picking up The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai, too.
Also, I loved A Lady Awakened, it’s one of my favorite romances. I thought it was an original premise and Theo’s consideration for wanting Martha to enjoy sex for her own pleasure and not his made him one of my favorite heroes. I read it on the recommendation of this site a few years back and it remains the book that really helped me realize good romance is a feminist journey for the heroine, and not just a love story.
@Ren Benton — Thank you! I have been waiting forever for that to go on sale!
My Lady Awakened is easily one of my favourites. It’s original, the character psychologies are deep, and it’s refreshingly free of contrivances made for the sake of Standard Romance Novel Conventions. Much as I love this one, though, I liked the sequel even better. I wish Grant would write more books.
@ Jennifer, I wouldn’t say Evvie Drake is entirely closed door but the few sex scenes are not detailed and mostly left up to the reader’s imagination, that said I just finished it this afternoon and found it a really enjoyable and gentle story.
@Amanda Carter, I loved The Broken Girls, it was very atmospheric and creepy and the mystery was really well done. It was one of my favorite reads in 2018.
While I thought that A Lady Awakened was a very well-written book, I wouldn’t describe the heroine as sex-positive at *all*. Honestly, I found her judgmental attitude towards sex in the first half of the book to be a big obstacle; she was constantly demeaning the hero in her internal monologue and to his face because he enjoyed sex, and at several points she expands that judgment to include women who “pretend” to like it for men, and that was hard for me to take after a while. I almost stopped reading a couple times because her internal monologue was so loaded down with baggage that she was processing via judgment and shaming–it made perfect sense for the character, and I wound up really liking where the book went, but wow, that first half was rough going.
Grant’s a very talented writer (my favorite of hers is the third book in the series, A Woman Entangled), and I was really glad for a book with a heroine’s sexual journey that isn’t “untouched virgin discovers how her body works”, but I do want to warn anyone else who might be sensitive to that. I’d definitely recommend the book–like everyone else has said, it’s original and interesting and with beautifully, uniquely drawn characters–but I could see it being very painful for some people to read.
I really liked all of Grant’s books and am sad there are so few of them! Does anyone know if maybe she’s publishing under a different name, or should I stop hoping that there will be more books from her?
I gave The Broken Girls a B+ on Goodreads. The historical timeline worked better for me than the contemporary one, but I thought both were handled pretty well. (I was surprised that a certain historical place/event was treated as if it were some obscure, forgotten occurrence. I thought it was pretty well-known so it makes me sad that it might not be the case now.) The scary bits were satisfyingly creepy without being terrifying.
Thanks for the reminder about Evvie Drake – I just clicked the link and bought it!
Cecilia Grant’s The Lady Awakened was so interesting and though not my absolute favorite of the author’s novels, it is so worth reading. I miss Grant a lot.
I think I’ve loved all of Simone St. James’s books, including The Broken Girls. And The Sun Down Motel is just the creepiest and most wonderful book I’ve read in 2020.
“A Lady Awakened” is one of my absolute favorites, and the totality of the Blackshear series is more than the sum of its parts. The characters don’t have an easy time of it, but that’s the beauty—they truly become better people in their journeys. I wish Grant would write more. Also, I adore her depiction of responsible farm and land stewardship in the first book. (I am a farmer and passionate about this always, but especially now as we see the importance of a short supply chain.)
I just recently listened to the audio of Evvie Drake Starts Over and I really loved it! I also really liked A Lady Awakened and My One and Only Duke.
The Grace Burrowes book isn’t available on kindle right now For some reason, only the French version shows.
I really loved Evvie Drake. It was in my top ten last year. I’m hoping Linda Holmes (she hosts NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour) keeps writing.