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A Gentleman Never Keeps Score
RECOMMENDED: A Gentleman Never Keeps Score by Cat Sebastian is $1.99! Carrie read this one and enjoyed it. It was given a B+ grade:
I enjoyed this book so much! A Gentleman Never Keeps Score is a Regency m/m about a disgraced gentleman and a Black pub keeper. The book has a lovely romance as well as a theme of found family and recovery from trauma.
Once beloved by London’s fashionable elite, Hartley Sedgwick has become a recluse after a spate of salacious gossip exposed his most-private secrets. Rarely venturing from the house whose inheritance is a daily reminder of his downfall, he’s captivated by the exceedingly handsome man who seeks to rob him.
Since retiring from the boxing ring, Sam Fox has made his pub, The Bell, into a haven for those in his Free Black community. But when his best friend Kate implores him to find and destroy a scandalously revealing painting of her, he agrees. Sam would do anything to protect those he loves, even if it means stealing from a wealthy gentleman. But when he encounters Hartley, he soon finds himself wanting to steal more than just a painting from the lovely, lonely man—he wants to steal his heart.
Content Warning from Author: This book includes a main character who was sexually abused in the past; abuse happens off page but is alluded to.
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The Highlander Who Protected Me
The Highlander Who Protected Me by Vanessa Kelly is $1.99 at Amazon! This is the first book in the Clan Kendrick series. It features a pregnant heiress on the run and a second chance romance, which is a very specific catnip pairing. It has a 3.8-star rating on Goodreads.
Bestselling author Vanessa Kelly returns with an enthralling new series about the men of the Kendrick clan—and the women who claim their hearts . . .
Lady Ainsley Matthews, heiress and darling of the ton, was expected to make a magnificent match. Instead she’s hiding on a remote Scottish estate, terrified that her vicious former fiancé will use her pregnancy to force her into marriage. One man can help her—Royal Kendrick, son of a distinguished Highland clan. Though a mistake drove them apart long ago, Royal is the only person Ainsley trusts to protect her baby—even if that means agreeing to never see either of them again . . .
Scarred in body and soul by war, Royal suddenly has a purpose—caring for an innocent babe and thereby helping the woman he can’t stop loving. But when Ainsley ultimately returns to Scotland, determined to be a real mother to her child in spite of the risk, there’s only one solution: marriage. And only one likely outcome: surrendering to the desire that’s simmered between them for so long, no matter how dangerous it may be . . .
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Passion for the Game
Passion for the Game by Sylvia Day is $1.99! This is book two in the Georgia series, which appears to be erotic historical romance. This one was originally published in 2007 and Day typically writes alpha heroes. Could be an acquired taste!
Infamous for satisfying his limitless wants and desires, Christopher is a free man again. And this time he’s on a mission to engage, deceive and seduce the one woman as ruthless as he is when it comes to dangerous games of passion…
Far from innocent in the ways of men, Maria is one step ahead of Christopher’s every move. It doesn’t mean she isn’t enjoying every delicious look, every unbridled kiss, every moment of abandon.
Neither of them could have imagined the moment when they would meet their match—or that they would surrender to each other again and again…
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Fortuna
Fortuna by Kristyn Merbeth is $2.99! This is part of today’s Kindle Daily Deals and it’s being price-matched. I mentioned this on a previous Hide Your Wallet, because I’m all for a family of smugglers. However, reviews on Goodreads mention the pacing could have been much better.
A rebellious young woman leads a family of smugglers who become unwittingly entangled in a galactic war in this first book of an action-packed space opera trilogy.
There’s only one thing Scorpia Kaiser wants in the whole galaxy: to finally own Fortuna, the ship she pilots and the only home she’s ever known. But when it becomes clear her predecessor – the family matriarch – has been secretly dealing with various planetary governments, Scorpia realizes that her own family may be the reason the system’s five planets are headed toward a devastating war.
Lies, manipulation, and profit are all she’s ever been taught, but as she ascends into her new position Scorpia finds she has the chance to change everything. Yet even as she takes on more responsibility for the family’s fate, fortune and influence, she is not at all sure she’s ready for it – nor that she has the support of her crew, particularly her brother and rival Corvus.
To stop the war, she’ll have to unite her family and unravel the chaos they’ve left in their wake.
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As much as the name Royal makes me roll my eyes, The Highlander Who Rescued Me looks like it has enough of my catnip–scarred hero, second chance romance, and a marriage of convenience–that I’ll pick it up.
Right now in the Kindle Store, a collection called GEORGETTE HEYER’S GREATEST HITS is available for $2.99. It includes ARABELLA, THE GRAND SOPHY, FREDERICA, and TO HAVE THE HONOR (a novella).
Also, while I know this isn’t Cover Snark, I don’t think the Highlander’s nipple is in an anatomically-correct place: it’s so far down on his torso, it looks as if it lines up with his elbow.
@DDD: Good eye and what the …?
Has anyone here read FORTUNA? I’m vacillating, mostly because of my TBR pile, which can be seen from space, but also not really up for YA, if that’s what it is.
@Darlynne: Not YA!
Georgette Heyer’s Greatest Hits is on sale at Amazon for $2.99. It includes Frederica, The Grand Sophy, and Arabella. All wonderfully entertaining.
https://smile.amazon.com/Georgette-Heyers-Greatest-Hits-Heyer-ebook/dp/B082VN5J22/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=georgette+heyer%27s+greatest+hits&qid=1597347714&sr=8-1
The audio of A Gentleman Never Keeps Score was a treat to listen to. I admire Cat Sebastian for having people of color in her books. There were people of color in England at the time, why should they be in novels?
…why shouldn’t they …
I realize coming up with book titles is hard, but “The Highlander Who Protected Me” is just so blah. Why not “My protector wore a kilt” “My Tartan Fortress” “Fierce and Kilted””Scarred savior in tartan”?
Absolutely adored A Gentleman Never Keeps Score! Cat Sebastian is so, so good.
Ainsley as a historically accurate female first name. Riiiiiight.
I gave up on most historical romances because so many seem to have given up on research and are now simply cannibalising other historical romances for spare parts. It feels like they’re set in some Regency fantasyland that is floating completely free of any actual y’know, history. (Waves pompoms and cheers for KJ Charles here. Other recommendations welcome.)
I’m happy that other people enjoy them but they do not work for me.
Also, I have used the word ‘history’ and it’s derivatives so many times in this comment.
Oh, excuse double posting but history pompoms for Cat Sebastian too!
These sound great. Also is it just me, or on the cover of A Gentleman Never Keeps Score does it look like the fellow on the left is hugging a wax figure from Madame Tussaud’s? Just something about the unnaturally stiff way the guy on the right is standing + the closed eyes.
@DDD – I’m not sure if its meant to be a nipple. It appears to be deceptive ab-shadowing. Or like, a broken rib or something.
But, totally agree that’s what it looks like at first glance.
The cover for the first book A Gentleman Never Keeps Score has that not-quite-real feel to it which reminds me of a lot of product images on Amazon: badly photoshopped into the picture.
Am I alone in this? They just look….awkward together. And I enjoy a good M/M romance! 😉
The Sebastian’s the pick of the litter for me here – I read the Kelly and sadly I couldn’t stay into it – the plot imploded mid-book for me.
Getaway Girl by Tessa Bailey is FREE on Kindle, Nook and Apple Books this week.
@Empress of Blandings: Give Lynne Connolly a try, she gets the feel, tone, mores, and titles right. (As well as writing great romances and interesting mysteries.) Her Richard & Rose series is my favorite! …It starts with Yorkshire.
I definitely recommend Passion for the Game. Day’s historicals are underrated. The hero and heroine are fantastic characters and together are one of my top 5 historical romance power couples. While this is the second book in the series you do not need to have read the first one.
@Empress of Blandings I SO agree with you about historical names ! This can be very distracting to me in a novel. Also love KJ Charles – have you tried Rose Lerner ? Her novels also give me the same vibe of actual Regency
@Empress of Blandings, Catherine Meyrick’s books set in Elizabethan England are great – she has a master’s in history. They are definitely not modern stories and characters which happen to have some vague reference to another historical period. They can be fairly dark in places and women’s lack of rights during that time is portrayed frankly.
The Day book is showing $5.99 for me on amazon. Am I too late for the sale price?
@Jen: It looks like it! Sorry about that. I always recommend checking sales posts the day they come out if you can. I just put them together and unfortunately, have no say in how long they last.
@Empress of Blandings have you tried Stella Riley’s books? Her sense of time and place is remarkable. Her Rockcliffe series is Georgian, and I just finished listening to The Marigold Chain which is set in 1666. It was one of the best books I’ve ever read, historical or otherwise. She gets her history right. It’s a romance in the same way An Infamous Army by Heyer is. There is a romance there and, while it is central to the story, in most way it is not the focus. The incredibly rich details and deeply drawn characters are the real focus.
I love how no one jumped all over the @EmpressofBlandings for voicing what could be an unpopular opinion. One of the many reasons this blog is one of my safe places these days.
@ReadKnitSnark @Lapon @Sydneysider and @CarrieG (and anyone else – sorry if I missed you)
Thanks so much for the recommendations – will check those out!