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Subversive
RECOMMENDED: Subversive by Colleen Cowley is $3.99! I’m unsure if that’s any sort of sale though. Carrie reviewed this one and gave it a B+:
Subversive is the first book in the Clandestine Magic trilogy and when I finished it I immediately one-clicked the next two books. Subversive ends on a cliffhanger so be prepared to rush to the next book, which also ends on a cliffhanger, before wrapping everything up at the trilogy’s end.
In an America controlled by wizards and 100 years behind on women’s rights, Beatrix Harper counts herself among the resistance—the Women’s League for the Prohibition of Magic. Then Peter Blackwell, the only wizard her town has ever produced, unexpectedly returns home and presses her into service as his assistant.
Beatrix fears he wants to undermine the League. His real purpose is far more dangerous for them both.
Subversive is the first novel in the Clandestine Magic trilogy, set in a warped 21st century that will appeal to fans of gaslamp fantasy.
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Bully
Bully by Penelope Douglas is $1.99! Readers either loved or hated this new adult romance as the hero was once the heroine’s friend and now he’s her bully. Some felt the hero was beyond redemption, while others thought he really worked to be forgiven by the heroine. I wonder if some of our darker romance readers can shed more light on this one!
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Penelope Douglas delivers an unforgettable New Adult romance that toes the fine line between love and hate…
My name is Tate. He doesn’t call me that, though. He’ll barely refer to me at all, and he’ll hardly ever speak to me.
But he still won’t leave me alone.
We were best friends once. Then he turned on me and made it his mission to ruin my life. I’ve been humiliated, shut out, and gossiped about all through high school. His pranks and rumors got worse as time wore on. I even went to Europe for a year, just to avoid him.
But I’m done hiding from him now, and there’s no way I’ll allow him to ruin another year. He might not have changed, but I have.
It’s time to fight back.
When one brave young woman stands up to her best friend Jared, now tormenter, the consequences go beyond anything either of them ever would have imagined…
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Dangerous
Dangerous by Minerva Spencer is $1.99! This historical romance features a heroine who is older than what we normally see in historicals. However, if you couldn’t tell by the plot description, it really harkens back to early romance novels, which some readers may want to leave in the past. Last time it was on sale, there were comments on either side on whether to buy it or not. I’m curious, but maybe not that curious.
What sort of lady doesn’t make her debut until the age of thirty-two? A timeless beauty with a mysterious past—and a future she intends to take into her own hands…
Lady Euphemia Marlington hasn’t been free in seventeen years—since she was captured by Corsairs and sold into a harem. Now the sultan is dead and Mia is back in London facing relentless newspapermen, an insatiably curious public, and her first Season. Worst of all is her ashamed father’s ultimatum: marry a man of his choosing or live out her life in seclusion. No doubt her potential groom is a demented octogenarian. Fortunately, Mia is no longer a girl, but a clever woman with a secret—and a plan of her own.
Adam de Courtney’s first two wives died under mysterious circumstances. Now there isn’t a peer in England willing to let his daughter marry the dangerously handsome man the ton calls The Murderous Marquess. Nobody except Mia’s father, the desperate Duke of Carlisle. Clearly Mia must resemble an aging matron, or worse. However, in need of an heir, Adam will use the arrangement to his advantage.
But when the two outcasts finally meet, assumptions will be replaced by surprises, deceit by desire—and a meeting of minds between two schemers may lead to a meeting of hearts—if the secrets of their pasts don’t tear them apart.
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Horrorstor
RECOMMENDED: Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix is $1.99! This is a dark comedy/horror novel about a haunted IKEA-esque store. Carrie reviewed the book and gave it an A:
Even in the darkest moments, the absurdity of the situation adds some sardonic humor. It’s hard not to giggle at a line like “They nailed me inside a Liripip” or a scenario in which someone’s survival depends on disassembling cheap furniture with one of those weird Allen wrench things.
Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring wardrobes, shattered Brooka glassware, and vandalized Liripip sofa beds – clearly someone, or something, is up to no good. To unravel the mystery, five young employees volunteer for a long dusk-till-dawn shift and encounter horrors that defy imagination. Along the way, author Grady Hendrix infuses sly social commentary on the nature of work in the new twenty-first-century economy.
A traditional haunted house story in a contemporary setting, and full of current fears, Horrorstör delivers a high-concept premise in a unique style.
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As the Bitchery knows, I love dark romance, but the “bully” sub-genre has never been appealing to me, either because the books featuring the bully trope tend to be “New Adult”—and Jimmy Carter was President the last time I was a “new” adult—or because I (who have no trouble reading books where women are forced into marriages with mafia dons or Greek billionaires) just cannot suspend my disbelief long enough to accept that a young woman would voluntarily have any contact whatsoever with someone who bullied her. That being said, I’ve read some other Penelope Douglas books (her BIRTHDAY GIRL and CREDENCE were both in my favorites of the year when I read them) and she is a very good writer, so it’s possible she can bring something fresh to the storyline. On the other hand, when even a writer as good as Charlotte Stein can’t make a bully romance work for me (as in her NEVER SWEETER), I don’t think I’m going in for a second bite of the apple, but YMMV.
Dangerous is showing as $6.89 for me.
‘SALEM’S LOT by Stephen King is $1.99.
THE CONDUCTORS by Nicole Glover is $2.99. Post-Civil War, two Underground Railroad conductors are now magical detectives who investigate crimes the police don’t care about.
Horrorstor is showing as 9.99 on Amazon’s kindle link. Maybe it was a flash sale?
I like dark romance and I like the bully trope, even if I rarely manage to find a book that does it to my taste. There’s only two bully romance novels I ever managed to finish and Penelope Douglas’ was one of the two. It wasn’t bad (I finished it after all) but I found the hero’s “redemption” arc lacking, it left me dissatisfied. I felt like the heroine did not get her due.
(That said, I liked her writing enough that I looked up her other books, and have my eyes on Punk 57. It’s been on my wishlist for close to 2 years now, I sould maybe do something about it…)
Bullies are a no-go for me. Unless, I don’t know, the one bullied comes at the bully with maximum effort and fire power (metaphorically speaking. Maybe.).
Cw: abuse, battering
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I’ve been bullied, & a good friend was nearly killed by her abusive ex. The whole bully genre smells like minimizing behaviors that lead to women getting murdered every damn day.
NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE HOTLINE
https://www.thehotline.org/
1.800.799.SAFE (7233)
TTY 1.800.787.3224
I always suspect stories about bullies getting a happy ending– are written by bullies. Because I don’t see why anyone else would Want bullies to have happy endings. I want to see a romance where the bully tries to romance the former victim, who laughs in his face and has a wonderful romance with someone else, which he can only watch and envy.
@Merle I agree wholeheartedly with everything you said.
I found Horrorstör DELIGHTFUL, but I think it would work better in print than on a Kindle. The narrative is not only about a terrifying Ikea-esque store, but the print book is designed to look an Ikea catalog. I suspect that the tactile experience makes the book more enjoyable.
@ Allison R-B
I’m so sorry for what you, and your friend, went through. I’m sorry if my comment caused distress.
I’ve read two of the other Minerva Spencer books in that series and I will say, they are pretty weird about race, slavery, and sex work. I think the hero in BARBAROUS was some kind of pirate and had some sort of connection to sex slavery? It was odd. SCANDALOUS has hero who had been enslaved and a sex worker (unclear if the sex work was voluntary) who ends up with a white missionary? The ending contains this doozy of a passage:
“He’d thought he was a free man but, somewhere along the way, he’d become enslaved without even realizing it. This time it was chains of love, and he never wanted to break free.”
Anyway, that passage was when I decided Spencer was not the author for me. YMMV.
I’m so glad that I’m not the only one that hates the “bully romance” trend. I think it stinks of “he’s only mean to you because he likes you” bullsh$t that litle girls get told instead of teaching them to fight back. I’m with Darlynne on this one: give me a good revenge story instead!
When I read so called bully/victim relationships, I like to imagine them telling their grandchildren how they met. If it reads along the lines of “I remember how your grandfather made me cry and fear for my safety!” Then generally I’m not going to read it.
I think the only way a bully romance could ever work for me would be if:
a) at least fifteen years have passed;
b) there was never any physical violence involved;
c) the “bully” wasn’t the main tormentor, but one of the accessories who didn’t technically do anything but is extremely guilty by association;
d) he felt terrible about it at the time and has continued to feel terrible ever since;
e) the first thing he does upon seeing the victim again is sincerely apologise with no expectation of forgiveness;
f) his version of expiation involves a lot of pretty intense D/s with him as the bottom; and
g) the impetus for (f) comes from the former victim, who has long-standing pre-existing fantasies of taking their revenge in exactly this manner (kinda like me).
And even then, it would take very careful handling from a very talented author who knows a lot about human psychology and has probably been bullied themselves.
This is never remotely the vibe I get from any of these bully books, though. They all seem to involve the opposite of (a)-(g).
I nth everyone else on bullies.
The Subversive series is absolutely delightful, though. I highly recommend that one.
Huh… Everyone’s comments about bully romances is making me want to re-read Courtney Milan’s “Unlocked” with them in mind. I loved it the first two times I read it but ? I’ll have to pay attention to whether it normalizes or breaks down bully power dynamics. Milan usually writes heroes who come to quite thoroughly understand what they’ve done wrong when they’re wrong…
Vasha, it’s also been a minute for me since I’ve read Unlocked, but my memory of it is that it takes place years after the MMC was involved in any bullying. At the start of the book he had been away for some time and reflected on his behavior, and he’s unambiguously remorseful about what a shit he had been. From the first chapter he’s apologetic and sets about trying to right his past wrongs. It’s understandable if that past dynamic still makes him a no-go as a hero for a lot of readers, but the book itself in any case is 100% a condemnation of bullying.