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Bonds of Brass
RECOMMENDED: Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie is $2.99! This is a Kindle Daily Deal, and I recommend checking them out today since there are a lot of great cookbooks included, like Ottolenghi’s Flavor. Ellen read this one and gave it a B+:
I think it has elements to satisfy a wide reading audience: a sizzling slow-burn romance between people with actual significant obstacles to their relationship, a sweeping and epic plot about the rise and fall of empires, gut-wrenching internal character conflict, and wacky space hijinks.
A young pilot risks everything to save his best friend–the man he trusts most and might even love–only to learn that he’s secretly the heir to a brutal galactic empire.
Ettian Nassun’s life was shattered when the merciless Umber Empire invaded. He’s spent seven years putting himself back together under its rule, joining an Umber military academy and becoming the best pilot in his class. Even better, he’s met Gal Veres–his exasperating and infuriatingly enticing roommate who’s made the Academy feel like a new home.
But when dozens of classmates spring an assassination plot on Gal, a devastating secret comes to light: Gal is the heir to the Umber Empire. Ettian barely manages to save his best friend and flee the compromised Academy unscathed, rattled both that Gal stands to inherit the empire that broke him and that there are still people willing to fight back against Umber rule. As they piece together a way to deliver Gal safely to his throne, Ettian finds himself torn in half by an impossible choice. Does he save the man who’s won his heart and trust that Gal’s goodness could transform the empire? Or does he throw his lot in with the brewing rebellion and fight to take back what’s rightfully theirs?
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The Worst Duke in the World
The Worst Duke in the World by Lisa Berne is $1.99! Carrie read this one and gave it a B-:
The Worst Duke is not deep. It didn’t change my world. However, it does have a pig, a pug, a cat, and a lot of discussion about the many uses of vinegar, so color me satisfied. If you like historical romances that are low angst, and made of silly, feel-good fun, you may like this.
A wayward duke must choose: will he be the bad hero in a love story gone awry, or the brave and clever hero who risks everything for true love?
The acclaimed Penhallow Dynasty series continues in this fresh, fun, funny tale!
Life’s no bowl of cherries for Anthony Farr, the Duke of Radcliffe. Duty demands he remarry to provide a spare to go along with the heir — and eligible ladies keep trying to finagle him into a proposal. All he wants is to be a good father to his 8-year-old son, see the Duchess (his truly terrific pig) win first prize at the harvest fête, and stay single. Even if that makes him a Bad Duke. Maybe the Worst Duke in the World.
Then Miss Jane Kent, a long-lost relation of the illustrious Penhallow family, arrives in the neighborhood and is promptly befriended by the Duke’s son. Jane, Anthony comes to realize, is smart and fun and also very kissable and dazzlingly desirable. Still, that’s not enough to melt his resistance to marrying again. He made a stern promise to himself, and promises must, of course, be kept.
But what if that’s just his head talking, and his heart… is saying something entirely different?
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The Guinevere Deception
The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White is $1.99 and another Kindle Daily Deal! I talked about this in a previous Hide Your Wallet and it’s really gorgeous in person. I bought it from my local indie, but of course, it’s sitting in a stack somewhere. Did you read this one?
From New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White comes a new fantasy series reimagining the Arthurian legend, set in the magical world of Camelot.
There was nothing in the world as magical and terrifying as a girl.
Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom’s borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution–send in Guinevere to be Arthur’s wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king’s idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere’s real name–and her true identity–is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot.
To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old–including Arthur’s own family–demand things continue as they have been, and the new–those drawn by the dream of Camelot–fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur’s knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free.
Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?
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Imperial Stout
Imperial Stout by Layla Reyne is $1.99! This is a gay contemporary romance with some mystery and suspense thrown in. This is a spin-off series of Reyne’s Agents Irish and Whiskey series, and readers seem divided on whether reading that series first is necessary for this one.
Layla Reyne spins off from her pulse-pounding Agents Irish and Whiskey books with Imperial Stout , the first installment in the Trouble Brewing series
It’s a good thing assistant US attorney Dominic Price co-owns a brewery. He could use a cold one. Nic’s star witness has just been kidnapped, his joint operation with the FBI is in jeopardy, his father’s shady past is catching up with him and the hot new special agent in San Francisco is the kind of distraction best handled with a stiff drink.
Kidnap and rescue expert Cameron Byrne has his own ideas about how to handle Nic, but his skills are currently needed elsewhere. The by-the-book FBI agent goes deep undercover as a member of an infamous heist crew in order to save Nic’s witness, break up the crew and close the case before anyone else gets hurt. Nic in particular.
Things heat up when Cam falls for Nic, and the witness falls for Cam. As the crew’s suspicions grow, Cam must decide how far he’s willing to go—and how far into his own dark past he’s willing to dive—to get everyone out alive.
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Maybe it was just a case of a lot of fandom overlap between myself and the author, but I quit Bonds of Brass due to feeling like SO much was taken from popular IPs. Worldbuilding, dialog… It went over the line for me, past taking concepts and twisting them into something the author’s own and right into just lazily swiping from various popular fandoms. I also had to question how much of the stuff I *didn’t* recognize might actually just be from a show or movie I hadn’t yet seen.
It was a fun story but to me just far far too unoriginal.
50 percent off all books at http://www.harlequin.com if you buy at least 5 with the coupon code XMASJULY21 through tommorow at 11:59 ET.
I loved Layla Reyne’s M/M Romantic Suspense Series Agents Irish and Whiskey. Imperial Stout is the first book in the Trouble Brewing series and lovers of M/M romance might want to read the earlier series first for a bit more context as Cam and Dom’s connection comes out of their relationships with characters in the first series. Cam and Dominic are at the top of my favourite couples for M/M romance (not just sex) as well as suspense and serious steam heat – tied only with Sam/Jory in A Matter of Time Series by Mary Calmes and Ty/Zane from the Cut and Run Series by Abigail Roux & Madeleine Urban. Highly recommend.
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard is another Kindle daily deal at $2.99. It was a fascinating albeit gory read.
@AtasB – oooh interesting. I definitely felt like I was missing something reading Bonds of Brass. I read the whole thing but just ended up angry with the author for a big plot twist that made no sense to me. Maybe if I were familiar with fanfic, I would have been expecting it.
From my GR review:
2.5 stars? It’s not a terrible book but I just could NOT suspend disbelief enough to get past the plot holes, unbelievable characters and lackluster world building to enjoy the action sequences.
Reading it, I was alternately annoyed with and baffled by the actions of the narrator, Ettian. I kept hoping there was some big plot twist coming to make it all make sense. And then the big plot twist came and it didn’t explain anything and it just made me really mad at the author.