Torn
Torn by Rowenna Miller is $2.99! This is a fantasy novel with a seamstress main character. Carrie read this one and gave it a C+. The pacing was too slow for her, but it’s possible future books may pick up in momentum:
This book is the first in a new series. It has a lot of potential – good technical writing, multiple female characters, discussion of class and class mobility, clothes porn, and more. If other books pick up the pace, it could be great, but this first book was too slow to keep me invested.
TORN is the first book in an enchanting debut fantasy series featuring a seamstress who stitches magic into clothing, and the mounting political uprising that forces her to choose between her family and her ambitions, for fans of The Queen of the Tearling.
Sophie is a dressmaker who has managed to open her own shop and lift herself and her brother, Kristos, out of poverty. Her reputation for beautiful ball gowns and discreetly-embroidered charms for luck, love, and protection secures her a commission from the royal family itself — and the commission earns her the attentions of a dashing but entirely unattainable duke.
Meanwhile, Kristos rises to prominence in the growing anti-monarchist movement. Their worlds collide when the revolution’s shadow leader takes him hostage and demands that Sophie place a curse on the queen’s Midwinter costume — or Kristos will die at their hand.
As the proletariat uprising comes to a violent climax, Sophie is torn: between her brother and the community of her birth, and her lover and the life she’s striven to build.
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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole is still $2.99! Simply put, GET THIS BOOK. Sarah completely loved it:
First, yes, you should absolutely read this book immediately, if you haven’t already. There is so much happening in the conflict within each of the protagonists, between the protagonists, and around them and their allies and enemies, I can’t possibly discuss all of it, but please know: if you are a reader (and why else would you be here, right?) this book is a marvelous, intelligent, respectful, breathtaking treat for your brain.
As the Civil War rages between the states, a courageous pair of spies plunge fearlessly into a maelstrom of ignorance, deceit, and danger, combining their unique skills to alter the course of history and break the chains of the past . . .
Elle Burns is a former slave with a passion for justice and an eidetic memory. Trading in her life of freedom in Massachusetts, she returns to the indignity of slavery in the South—to spy for the Union Army.
Malcolm McCall is a detective for Pinkerton’s Secret Service. Subterfuge is his calling, but he’s facing his deadliest mission yet—risking his life to infiltrate a Rebel enclave in Virginia.
Two undercover agents who share a common cause—and an undeniable attraction—Malcolm and Elle join forces when they discover a plot that could turn the tide of the war in the Confederacy’s favor. Caught in a tightening web of wartime intrigue, and fighting a fiery and forbidden love, Malcolm and Elle must make their boldest move to preserve the Union at any cost—even if it means losing each other . . .
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Happy Trail by Daisy Prescott is FREE! This is part of the Smartypants Romance publishing imprint, which is essentially books set in the world Penny Reid created. Sure, I guess. This one has a lot of my catnip: a grumpy hero and forced proximity. Have you read this or any other Smartypants titles?
A man of few words, Ranger Jay Daniels values the calm, quiet solitude of the Great Smoky Mountains. Never quite fitting in with either side of his family, he prefers the company of birds and trees to people.
Yeah, he’d most definitely prefer a bird—any bird, any bird at all, take a vulture for instance—to the human-tornado hybrid that just blew onto his peaceful stretch of the Appalachian Trail.
The path of true love never has run smooth for Olive Perry. After getting dumped and promptly abandoned in the middle of her multi-month hike, Olive swears off men. Determined to finish the long trek by herself, she doesn’t need a prince—or broody and taciturn ranger—to save her.
Yet, when an early snowstorm threatens the mountains, and Ranger Daniels is charged with getting hikers to safety, that includes hot-tempered Olive Perry. Snowed in and forced to share an abandoned cabin, can Olive’s heated intensity melt Jay’s cool reserve?
And if so, will this happy trail lead to true love? Or will their time together be just another bump in the road?
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Miranda and Caliban by Jacqueline Carey is $2.99! This has been on my TBR list forever and I just love the cover. This is somewhat of a retelling of The Tempest, though it primarily features Miranda and Caliban (obviously). Readers loved the writing in this one, but found things to be too dense at times.
Miranda is a lonely child. For as long as she can remember, she and her father have lived in isolation in the abandoned Moorish palace. There are chickens and goats, and a terrible wailing spirit trapped in a pine tree, but the elusive wild boy who spies on her from the crumbling walls and leaves gifts on their doorstep is the isle’s only other human inhabitant. There are other memories, too: vague, dream-like memories of another time and another place. There are questions that Miranda dare not ask her stern and controlling father, who guards his secrets with zealous care: Who am I? Where did I come from?
The wild boy Caliban is a lonely child, too; an orphan left to fend for himself at an early age, all language lost to him. When Caliban is summoned and bound into captivity by Miranda’s father as part of a grand experiment, he rages against his confinement; and yet he hungers for kindness and love.
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I don’t know if it’s a new thing, but I’ve noticed that—in addition to Penny Reid & the Smartypants imprint—several writers are opening up the worlds they’ve created for other writers. Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward have allowed other writers to create stories set in the world of their STUCK-IP SUIT; and Sarina Bowen’s Heart Eyes imprint will publish over 40 books this year set in her True North (Vermont) universe.
@DiscoDollyDeb There was a seminar at last year’s virtual RWA conference on doing this – having other writers use your world & publishing the book. I think it was done by Sarina Bowen, but I could be misremembering. The talk might have planted some seeds.
Things will get weird if Regency romance authors join with overlapping worlds.
If you want a seamstress fantasy and don’t mind YA, I recommend Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George. There’s a romance subplot and an Enchanted Forest Chronicles vibe. It’s a finished trilogy, check your library.
@ DDD
I think it’s a great way for authors to write what is essentially a stand-alone novel for them. If authors are in the middle of their own series, yet have ideas they’d like to play with, this world sharing seems a good way for authors to have fun with something different. It’s also a great way for readers to experience new authors while enjoying a known setting. I’ve read 3 of the Vino and Veritas books (mm set in True North world) and enjoyed getting to know two new-to-me authors.
@Escapeologist I agree about the Dragon Slippers books. They are well written and fun.
I think even prior to SmartyPants, Kristen Proby had opened up her Seattle series world to other authors. I am mostly shruggy about the worlds/imprint concept. I want to read the work of the original authors. Is that weird? Am I being a stick in the mud? Maybe and I will own it. All that said, I did read Daisy Prescott’s two books for SP and I quite loved the world she created adjacent to the Winston Bros. But then again, I always enjoy her storytelling.
@Carrie G: Agreed. I thought Sarah Mayberry did an excellent job of seamlessly blending the characters in SWEETHEART into the True North world.
I loved Sarah Mayberry’s SWEETHEART, but I already liked her as an author. I read L.B. Dunbar’s Busy Bean one and liked it pretty well, but overall I’m cautious about these. I’ve read three of the Penny Reid world ones and while I’ve grown to love her own books, the ones by other authors in her world were fine but I wanted to like them better. They’re not cheap for indie books and with so many new authors and some slight disappointment in the ones I’ve read (they just didn’t have that zing) I’m not so willing to take chances anymore. If they were cheaper maybe. Sadly I’ve already bought the Prescott freebie because I’d read and liked other books by her, but I haven’t read HAPPY TRAIL yet. I wish someone would break down the ones that would spark for me so I could find those ones–but with so many of them at their usual price point I’m unlikely to take more chances without someone going “yes, yes, that one!” at me. Now, if they were all Penny Reid’s…
HAPPY TRAIL is a nice read. The hero is very grumpy.
AN EXTRAORDINARY UNION and the other books in the series are excellent.
Miranda and Caliban is excellent, beautifully written and exploring a number of issues. Content definitely lives up to the cover.
I enjoyed Happy Trail. Grumpy heroes and forced proximity are favorite tropes. I have also liked several of the other books in the Smarty Pants world. Admittedly, most I’ve bought on sale, so I’m not reading them in order. There is a series set in the Cipher Security World (Quinn’s company) and I have read a couple of those. I think that there will be a book in that series about Steven, the account manager who features in Janie’s book and I think one of the other Knitting in the City books (maybe Kat’s book?).
There are also several set in the Green Valley Library and I really liked several of those.
I have read at least 2 of the Busy Bean books in Sarina Bowen’s world and liked both of them, in part because Zara is one of my favorite characters and Roddy is another, so getting to see them again is a treat. Plus, because of the coffee shop setting (lots of turnover) you can have characters come in and out of the work setting and it doesn’t feel forced.
Lexi Blake also did this several years ago with series of books by different authors, about bodyguards who had worked for Ian Taggert (who appears in all the books). I read them all — Ian is another favorite. Although I liked some better than others, overall, I enjoyed them.
For me, it has been a way to try new authors and revisit old favorite characters.
Would love to see a post about this type of world expansion or perhaps a podcast with one or more of the authors who are or have done this.
@Another Anne – YES!!
Now I am definitely going to check out the Busy Bean books.
The Smarty Pants universe…I’ve borrowed two from the library and have more on the list. The Phantom of the Opera retelling made me laugh out loud in some parts and yell at the characters in others. I guess it’s great to be true to the POTO musical in that the characters could use all use some therapy.
It’s interesting – and honestly reminds me of shared universes in fanfic.
It might be new to romance but I remember reading shared world books in SFF decades ago – both CJ Cherryh and Mercedes Lackey created worlds and invited other authors to write in them. I doubt that they published those books themselves – that seems new.