Books On Sale

Historical Fantasy, Olivia Waite, & More

  • The Bride Test

    The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

    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:
    • Available at Amazon

    • Barnes & Noble
    • Kobo

    As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
    We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!

  • Firelight

    Firelight by Kristen Callihan

    Firelight by Kristen Callihan is 99c! This is the first book in the Darkest London series, a series that I mostly enjoy. In the first three books, the heroines are sisters and I’d rank them in their series order. The third is my least favorite, namely because it contains a lot of tropes that aren’t my thing. However, I still have enjoyed what I’ve read thus far.

    Once the flames are ignited . . .

    Miranda Ellis is a woman tormented. Plagued since birth by a strange and powerful gift, she has spent her entire life struggling to control her exceptional abilities. Yet one innocent but irreversible mistake has left her family’s fortune decimated and forced her to wed London’s most nefarious nobleman.

    They will burn for eternity . . .

    Lord Benjamin Archer is no ordinary man. Doomed to hide his disfigured face behind masks, Archer knows it’s selfish to take Miranda as his bride. Yet he can’t help being drawn to the flame-haired beauty whose touch sparks a passion he hasn’t felt in a lifetime. When Archer is accused of a series of gruesome murders, he gives in to the beastly nature he has fought so hard to hide from the world. But the curse that haunts him cannot be denied. Now, to save his soul, Miranda will enter a world of dark magic and darker intrigue. For only she can see the man hiding behind the mask.

    Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

    This book is on sale at:
    • Available at Amazon

    • Barnes & Noble
    • Kobo

    As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
    We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!

  • The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics

    The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite

    RECOMMENDED: The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite is $1.99! Carrie read this one and gave it a B+:

    The book is evocative, interesting, and full of competence porn, fashion, art, and intelligent people saying intelligent things. Anyone who doesn’t mind a slow pace will love this.

    As Lucy Muchelney watches her ex-lover’s sham of a wedding, she wishes herself anywhere else. It isn’t until she finds a letter from the Countess of Moth, looking for someone to translate a groundbreaking French astronomy text, that she knows where to go. Showing up at the Countess’ London home, she hoped to find a challenge, not a woman who takes her breath away.

    Catherine St Day looks forward to a quiet widowhood once her late husband’s scientific legacy is fulfilled. She expected to hand off the translation and wash her hands of the project—instead, she is intrigued by the young woman who turns up at her door, begging to be allowed to do the work, and she agrees to let Lucy stay. But as Catherine finds herself longing for Lucy, everything she believes about herself and her life is tested.

    While Lucy spends her days interpreting the complicated French text, she spends her nights falling in love with the alluring Catherine. But sabotage and old wounds threaten to sever the threads that bind them. Can Lucy and Catherine find the strength to stay together or are they doomed to be star-crossed lovers?

    Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

    This book is on sale at:
    • Available at Amazon

    • Barnes & Noble
    • Kobo

    As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
    We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!

  • The Matrimonial Advertisement

    The Matrimonial Advertisement by Mimi Matthews

    The Matrimonial Advertisement by Mimi Matthews is $2.49 at Amazon! This is the first book in the Parish Orphans of Devon series and it’s a Victorian historical romance. It also has a marriage of convenience. Readers say this has a Gothic element, which they loved. However, others felt the book couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a mystery or a romance. Matthews’ books have been recommended several times.

    She Wanted Sanctuary… 

    Helena Reynolds will do anything to escape her life in London, even if that means traveling to a remote cliffside estate on the North Devon coast and marrying a complete stranger. But Greyfriar’s Abbey isn’t the sort of refuge she imagined. And ex-army captain Justin Thornhill–though he may be tall, dark, and devastatingly handsome–is anything but a romantic hero.

    He Needed Redemption… 

    Justin has spent the last two decades making his fortune, settling scores, and suffering a prolonged period of torture in an Indian prison. Now, he needs someone to smooth the way for him with the villagers. Someone to manage his household–and warm his bed on occasion. What he needs, in short, is a wife and a matrimonial advertisement seems the perfect way to acquire one.

    Their marriage was meant to be a business arrangement and nothing more. A dispassionate union free from the entanglements of love and affection. But when Helena’s past threatens, will Justin’s burgeoning feelings for his new bride compel him to come to her rescue? Or will dark secrets of his own force him to let her go?

    Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

    This book is on sale at:
    • Available at Amazon

    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.

Comments are Closed

  1. FashionablyEvil says:

    Haven’t read the Callihan, but would definitely recommend all of the others! I think the Matthews would be my top pick, although with the caveat that while it’s a marriage of convenience, it’s not what I would consider the traditional version of the trope (amazing sex for everyone!); it’s all closed door as I recall. Really enjoyed The Lady’s Guide even though f/f is usually not my jam.

  2. Lisa F says:

    Run, don’t walk, toward Ladies Guide and pick it up if you don’t have it!

    The Bride Test and the Matthews are both also great; I’ve been meaning to buy Firelight.

  3. marjorie says:

    I heartily endorse the recs for The Bride Test and Firelight. (And like Amanda, I’m not a huge fan of the other books in Callihan’s series.) Have been meaning to read Waite — her Romance column in the NYT is delightful.

  4. Shash says:

    I’ve been wanting to read the Matthews but I am WARY of coloniser heroes. I’m especially worried that the fact that he was put in an Indian prison means that the Indians are going to come off as “savages” and it’s going to be all “poor white guy”. Has anyone read this? How does it read from a post colonial mindset?

  5. LisaM says:

    @Shash, both hero and heroine suffer trauma in the book, but in England. The hero is scarred from torture while a prisoner in India, and there is discussion of attacks on civilians by both sides around the Siege of Cawnpore. The hero states he was sympathetic to the Indians in their opposition to the British and got to know people in the community where he was stationed. He joined the army to escape his childhood trauma but disagreed with British policy in India, and was suspected of being too sympathetic to the Indians.

  6. LisaM says:

    Not to say he wasn’t traumatized by what happened in India, but the focus is really on what happened and happens to both the main characters in England. The backstory of the hero’s horrible childhood sets up the other books in the series.

  7. Dorothea says:

    As I recall, I found the Matthews annoying because all the interesting events seem to happen off-screen: just when I was expecting a dramatic scene, the author seemed to deliberately avoid it, and just tell us about it after the fact.

    But perhaps my recollection is inaccurate.

Comments are closed.

By posting a comment, you consent to have your personally identifiable information collected and used in accordance with our privacy policy.

↑ Back to Top