-
The Bride Test
RECOMMENDED: The Bride Test by Helen Hoang is $1.99! This is part of today’s Kindle Daily Deals. I loved this book so much and gave it an A-:
The Bride Test is so beautiful and Hoang was right when she said it was impossible not to love Esme. She’s tenacious and battles against her fear of failure, of judgement, and of her own self-doubt, to become this confident and self-assured woman. This Bride Test has only solidified my love for Hoang’s romances; they are truly a gift to the genre.
From the critically acclaimed author of The Kiss Quotient comes a romantic novel about love that crosses international borders and all boundaries of the heart…
Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions — like grief. And love. He thinks he’s defective. His family knows better— that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride.
As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. When the opportunity arises to come to America and meet a potential husband, she can’t turn it down, thinking this could be the break her family needs. Seducing Khai, however, doesn’t go as planned. Esme’s lessons in love seem to be working… but only on herself. She’s hopelessly smitten with a man who’s convinced he can never return her affection.
With Esme’s time in the United States dwindling, Khai is forced to understand he’s been wrong all along. And there’s more than one way to love.
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! -
Royal Holiday
RECOMMENDED: Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory is $1.99! This is part of today’s Kindle Daily Deals. If you missed when it was a KDD a couple months ago, grab it now! Maya loved this one and gave it an A:
In the end, this story is overwhelmingly about saying yes to good things put directly in your path. If all you want to do is wrap yourself up in a Christmas love story with two adults just admirably adulting all the way through the book, I say grab a Christmas sweater and a hot chocolate, and get ready to have a stranger ask you why you look so happy reading the book you have in your hand!
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Proposal and “rising star in the romance genre” (Entertainment Weekly) comes a dazzling new novel about a spontaneous holiday vacation that turns into an unforgettable romance.
Vivian Forest has been out of the country a grand total of one time, so when she gets the chance to tag along on her daughter Maddie’s work trip to England to style a royal family member, she can’t refuse. She’s excited to spend the holidays taking in the magnificent British sights, but what she doesn’t expect is to become instantly attracted to a certain private secretary, his charming accent, and unyielding formality.
Malcolm Hudson has worked for the Queen for years and has never given a personal, private tour—until now. He is intrigued by Vivian the moment he meets her and finds himself making excuses just to spend time with her. When flirtatious banter turns into a kiss under the mistletoe, things snowball into a full-on fling.
Despite a ticking timer on their holiday romance, they are completely fine with ending their short, steamy affair come New Year’s Day. . .or are they?
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 Tourist Attraction
The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler is 99c at Amazon and $1.99 elsewhere! I’m curious about this one and sounds super cute. However, some reviews I’ve read mention it lacks some chemistry and oomph. Have you read this one?
He had a strict “no tourists” policy…
Until she broke all of his rules.When Graham Barnett named his diner The Tourist Trap, he meant it as a joke. Now he’s stuck slinging reindeer dogs to an endless parade of resort visitors who couldn’t interest him less. Not even the sweet, enthusiastic tourist in the corner who blushes every time he looks her way…
Two weeks in Alaska isn’t just the top item on Zoey Caldwell’s bucket list. It’s the whole bucket. One look at the mountain town of Moose Springs and she’s smitten. But when an act of kindness brings Zoey into Graham’s world, she may just find there’s more to the grumpy local than meets the eye…and more to love in Moose Springs than just the Alaskan wilderness.
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! -
A Duke in Shining Armor
RECOMMENDED: A Duke in Shining Armor by Loretta Chase is $3.99! Carrie absolutely loved this one and gave it an A:
I should have been able to read A Duke in Shining Armor in a day. Instead, it took me a week. And do you know why? Because I purposely kept putting it down once I realized that eventually I would RUN OUT OF BOOK. How DARE this book be over?
Not all dukes are created equal. Most are upstanding members of Society. And then there’s the trio known as Their Dis-Graces.
Hugh Philemon Ancaster, seventh Duke of Ripley, will never win prizes for virtue. But even he draws the line at running off with his best friend’s bride. All he’s trying to do is recapture the slightly inebriated Lady Olympia Hightower and return her to her intended bridegroom.
For reasons that elude her, bookish, bespectacled Olympia is supposed to marry a gorgeous rake of a duke. The ton is flabbergasted. Her family’s ecstatic. And Olympia? She’s climbing out of a window, bent on a getaway. But tall, dark, and exasperating Ripley is hot on her trail, determined to bring her back to his friend. For once, the world-famous hellion is trying to do the honorable thing.
So why does Olympia have to make it so deliciously difficult for him . . . ?
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.
“Worth Waiting For” by Wendy Qualls, an m/m romance between a college professor and an IT guy, is $0.99 on Amazon.
“Party of Two”, Jasmine Guillory’s most recent release, is also $1.99 on Amazon US today (which shocked me since Royal Holiday is also on sale).
Man, A Duke in Shining Armor did not work for me at all. I felt like the infidelity was inexcusable—Ashmont (the groom, but not the hero) is a bit of a ne’er do well, but he’s fond of Olympia and she’s marrying him for very practical reasons. Not the best foundation, but surely not the worst, and a pretty weak reason for Olympia to run off with his best friend. I found the ending to be too much toxic masculinity and the dog side plot to just be annoying.
I have not read this series by new author Katherine Grant. In fact, I discovered her by reading her blog. That’s what happens when you do random Google searches, and get interested enough in the blog to actually try out the books. The books in her Countess Chronicles series are priced at $2.99 each. I suspect this is the original price, but you get a relatively good amount of book for that price. Each is about 200 pages. There are two out, and a third being written. This is the link to the series. https://www.goodreads.com/series/295242-the-countess-chronicles
“The Sun Down Motel” by Simone St. James and “Chaos Reigning – Book 3 The Consortium Rebellion by Jessie Mihalik are both $1.99 at Amazon and BN.
The Tourist Attraction has a fun premise but it didn’t work for me. I liked the setting and the hero, there’s funny moments, but the plot quickly got a bit too farcical for me. YMMV
When I purchased The Bride Test I noticed it is #2 in a series. Will someone tell me, please, if there are recurring characters between The Kiss Quotient and The Bride Test? I’ve noticed that some authors -or their publishers- show books as being in a series when there are no recurring characters or narrative arc. I always prefer to read a series in order, but I’m philosophically opposed and budgetarily unable to spend $9.99 on an ebook.
@LML—I think you’d be fine to read out of order. Also, have you checked your library for The Kiss Quotient? It was/is very popular and I’d be surprised if they didn’t have it as an ebook.
I enjoyed “The Tourist Attraction” at first but ended up giving it two stars on GR. I’m glad that people who buy it through here won’t spend much money, but just as a warning before you invest your time/energy, and with the caveat that ymmv: Zoey’s character wasn’t given enough depth. She’s a truck-stop waitress who aptly quotes The Odyssey and has no aspirations in life, other than visiting Alaska. (No shade to Alaska, it’s just random and never explained.) She’s given so little backstory that her employment status isn’t clear until 3/4 in, and she’s a little too much the sweet and perfect ingenue, almost MPDG-level (like when she has Graham spray her with soda for funsies).
It’ll also be marginally less enjoyable if you’re bothered by dangling participles (which sounds silly, but that’s not a euphemism) and other basic grammar mistakes. By the time I got to “the ability she had to set literal fire to him,” I was wondering if the author was intentionally trolling us nerds. But all that said, *maybe* I’ll give follow-ups a try when I want something really light.
@LML:
The Kiss Quotient and The Bride Test, are also available in Audible Escape if you want to go that route.
@Pat–thank you so much for the heads up on the St. James! I’ve been waiting forever hoping it would go on sale!
I liked the idea of The Tourist Attraction, because I love quirky books set in small towns/unusual settings… however, it ended up being, um, aggressively quirky to the point where I kept being taken out of the story. It felt like it was trying too hard.
@LML
Khai was a very minor character in Kiss Quotient so my guess is you’re safe. Possibly overlapping characters but no narrative arc.
Agree with others that The Kiss Quotient can easily stand on its own. The one moment in the book where it helps to have read the first one occurs when the three young men from the series gather to have a heart to heart talk with Khai about sexuality. Priceless scene. I can’t wait for Quan’s book next.
I checked out The Tourist Attraction from the library and it was. DNF for me. Totally agree with everyone else’s take – just too aggressively quirky and characters that made no sense. If I want quirky small town I’ll stick to Lucy Score.
Beach Read by Emily Henry currently 1.99 at amazon. Don’t know about other vendors.
The Heir Affair (Fuggirls) is $3.99
Thank you to all for answering my question, and for your suggestions. I don’t have library access right now -which is like missing a limb- and since I want to read The Kiss Quotient I’ll wait to read The Bride Test. That’s one of the nice things about books: they wait.
I envy those of you who enjoy audio books. My mind wanders away from me no matter how interesting the story.
@LML Re: audiobooks. If I’m sitting down doing nothing, my mind wanders. (Unless I’m sitting down in public transport or a car or something. Not much of that these days.) But if I’m walking, biking, cleaning house, cooking, grocery shopping, or doing other tedious tasks, my mind will accept the audiobook.
Crafting while listening to audiobooks? If I’m at home, I find it not optimal. I’m more likely to put on a crafting videocast to craft by. But again: knitting while in a car, bus, grocery store line…audiobooks are fine.
My suggestion is to start the audiobook when your hands are occupied. It’s either listen or be bored. If your hands are unoccupied, you’re much more likely to fiddle with book choice, or switch to podcasts or music. If you start an audiobook and are forced by circumstances to keep listening until you are into it, you are more likely to continue listening when less occupied.
If the story is too meandering for you, increase the speed. Your mind will pay more attention if it’s forced to keep sharp to catch all the words. If the words come too slowly, your mind will wander off. Mine does.
Anyway, some tips to try if you are sincerely interested in listening. YMMV. Maybe you want to try Whispersyncing, starting a book on Kindle and switching to the Audible audiobook when circumstances force you to stop physically reading and start doing something constructive?
@ReadKnitSnark
Such great advice! I find my house is cleaner and laundry gets folded when I’m listening to audiobooks, and I take much longer walks, so it’s a win/win.
If I am sitting down to listen to an audiobook, I play games on my tablet that don’t take mindshare (match 3, hidden object) but keep that ADHD part of my brain, and my hands, occupied.
@ReadKnitSnark, I like your ideas, thank you.
@LML many libraries are happily offering digital library cards with no proof of residency required. I have 2 of my local cities and 1 county card and I use them in Libby to check out ebooks that get sent to my kindle. Apologies of you already know this, it’s just been a lifesaver since the pandemic and the super strict SiP we are doing.