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Polaris Rising
RECOMMENDED: Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik is $1.99! This is a sci-fi romance and I absolutely loved it. You can read my A- here:
I am so incredibly happy that this book is in the world, especially after feeling like I’ve exhausted all my sci-fi romance options. Polaris Rising is exciting. It’s funny. It’s fan-fucking-tastic. My quibbles are minor in comparison to the joyful Good Book Noises I made while reading this.
As the seventh of nine children, Ada von Hasenberg knows that her only value to House von Hasenberg is as a political pawn in an arranged marriage. But after watching two of her older sisters get auctioned off to horrible men, Ada refuses to play her part. She flees off-planet and disappears for two years.
Ada’s father, fed up with her rebellion, offers a bounty for her safe return. The universe is a big place, but mercs are everywhere, and Ada is caught. With the merc ship full, she’s forced to share a cell with Marcus Loch, the Devil of Fornax Zero. Rumor has it he murdered every commanding officer who issued orders during the Fornax Rebellion. All anyone knows for sure is that the Royal Consortium wants his head.
Ada has no trouble believing the muscled man chained in the back of her cell is a killer. But when their ship is attacked by forces from rival House Rockhurst, Ada must decide whether to trust him—because once you release the devil, you can’t put him back. And when the attack heralds the opening salvo of a much bigger war, Ada must determine where her loyalties truly lie.
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If I Never Met You
If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane is $3.99! Catherine reviewed this one and gave it a C, giving a warning to temper your expectations:
Friends, this is not a romance novel, and it certainly isn’t romantic comedy. I suspect it’s somewhere in the realm of women’s fiction with strong romantic elements and lots of humour, but honestly, the main themes are around grief and betrayal and recovering from these things.
If faking love is this easy… how do you know when it’s real?
When her partner of over a decade suddenly ends things, Laurie is left reeling—not only because they work at the same law firm and she has to see him every day. Her once perfect life is in shambles and the thought of dating again in the age of Tinder is nothing short of horrifying. When news of her ex’s pregnant girlfriend hits the office grapevine, taking the humiliation lying down is not an option. Then a chance encounter in a broken-down elevator with the office playboy opens up a new possibility.
Jamie Carter doesn’t believe in love, but he needs a respectable, steady girlfriend to impress their bosses. Laurie wants a hot new man to give the rumor mill something else to talk about. It’s the perfect proposition: a fauxmance played out on social media, with strategically staged photographs and a specific end date in mind. With the plan hatched, Laurie and Jamie begin to flaunt their new couple status, to the astonishment—and jealousy—of their friends and colleagues. But there’s a fine line between pretending to be in love and actually falling for your charming, handsome fake boyfriend…
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Pride
Pride by Ibi Zoboi is $2.99! This is a Pride & Prejudice retelling. Carrie read it and gave it a B-:
I found the ending to be frustrating and I was never invested in the romance. However, I loved the celebration of family, of Afro-Latino culture, and of place.
Pride and Prejudice gets remixed in this smart, funny, gorgeous retelling of the classic, starring all characters of color, from Ibi Zoboi, National Book Award finalist and author of American Street.
Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood from becoming unrecognizable.
When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants nothing to do with their two teenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, starts to fall for the charming Ainsley. She especially can’t stand the judgmental and arrogant Darius. Yet as Zuri and Darius are forced to find common ground, their initial dislike shifts into an unexpected understanding.
But with four wild sisters pulling her in different directions, cute boy Warren vying for her attention, and college applications hovering on the horizon, Zuri fights to find her place in Bushwick’s changing landscape, or lose it all.
In a timely update of Pride and Prejudice, critically acclaimed author Ibi Zoboi skillfully balances cultural identity, class, and gentrification against the heady magic of first love in her vibrant reimagining of this beloved classic.
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A Duke in the Night
A Duke in the Night by Kelly Bowen is 99c! This is the first book in The Devils of Dover, but be warned that the hero is a bit of a jerk. However, I absolutely loved the next book in the series. As of right now, Bowen has an upcoming historical fiction title out in April, but I hope she returns to historical romance in the future.
Duke. Scoundrel. Titan of business. August Faulkner is a man of many talents, not the least of which is enticing women into his bedchamber. He’s known—and reviled—for buying and selling companies, accumulating scads of money, and breaking hearts. It’s a reputation he wears like a badge of honor, and one he intends to keep.
Clara Hayward, the headmistress of the Haverhall School for Young Ladies, on the other hand, is above reproach. Yet when she’s reunited with August, all she can think of is the way she felt in his arms as they danced a scandalous waltz ten long years ago. Even though her head knows that he is only back in her life to take over her family’s business, her heart can’t help but open to the very duke who could destroy it for good.
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I also hope Kelly Bowen returns to HR; I feel like she’s a hidden gem. Once I discovered her, I devoured all of her books (there are only 3 trilogies with a few novellas) as there was just something brilliantly different about them than other historical romances I’d been reading. Her heroines are amazing and pretty kick ass for Regency.
I think my pick out of this would be the Bowen. Pride is also very good.
Heads up that Polaris Rising has a “violent jealousy means he cares about me and that makes me horny” thing about halfway through, if that’s an Oh F*ck No for anyone else.
Sweet Home Louisiana by Erin Nichols is free
Someone to Remember by Mary Balogh is 1.99
Yes, Kelly Bowen is so underrated! This isn’t my favorite of her books, but she writes really interesting, super-competent heroines and her books have an awareness of class/marginalization a lot of historical romance totally lacks. She writes plots like “DV survivor creates network to help women escape abusive husbands” and “paid companion is actually engaged in complex Robin Hood con artistry” and sometimes that’s exactly the kind of thing one needs.
I love SF/SFR, but I DNF’d Polaris Rising about halfway thru. Maybe I’ll give it another go someday, but I’ve definitely reached the point in life where I’ve learned to just move on. Too many other books out there.
I actually really loved If I Never Met You! I agree that the marketing is misleading — it’s definitely not a light, fluffy romcom — but there is a strong romance that does end happily. I’d definitely recommend it, as long as you don’t go in expecting it to be breezy and hilarious.
Bold Seduction by Karyn Gerrard is currently free and What a Difference a Duke Makes by Lenora Bell is 1.99!
I also love Kelly Bowen’s books. All of her heroines have important occupations that they are very much living for, they are just hanging around waiting for a man to marry them.
Oops, that should have read “they are NOT just hanging around waiting for a man”!
I also liked If I Never Met You. I liked the clever way they used social media to create their public story, and I liked that in private they opened up to each other in unexpected ways. I liked that Laurie was a lawyer who was good at her job. I liked how she navigated her rather rocky relationships with her mother and father and that Jamie didn’t have to navigate his parental relationship because it was so loving and natural. I liked their growing self-knowledge as they came to know each other. I did wonder about the ending, as it seemed the consequences of their false relationship did not fall evenly and wasn’t fair (don’t want to get into spoiler territory), but I did believe in their HEA as a couple and was rooting for them all the way.
The Roommate by Rosie Danan is $2.99 at Amazon Australia
Everyone in historical romance right now seems to be trying to write heroines of the unconventional/exceptional/extraordinary variety right now, but Kelly Bowen was just about the only one I know of who consistently pulls it off, imho. She seemed to be committed to omitting the usual lip services: no informed attributes; no nonsensical trope-driven character psychology; no insistence on compromising the entire premise of a character to shoehorn her into a standard HEA; no squeamishness over allowing the heroine to be demonstrably more remarkable than the hero.
Sheesh, how could I not buy A Duke in the Night after those glowing comments? A new-to-me author to look forward to. Thanks!