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The House in the Cerulean Sea
RECOMMENDED: The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune is $4.99! This is a Kindle Daily Deal and a little pricier than what we feature, but it’s worth the $5! Carrie gave it a B+:
I’m glad to have a book like this to read when it’s just all too much. Like Linus, who was slowly charmed by the world he entered, I loved this story so much that I did not want to leave when it ended.
A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.
Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.
When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he’s given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.
But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.
An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.
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Soulless
RECOMMENDED: Soulless by Gail Carriger is $2.99! This is the first book by the Parasol Protectorate series and for many readers, this book ignited their love for Carriger’s writing. I loved the first book, especially the heroine, but I agree with other reviewers in that there’s a lot of different things going on that conflict with one another.
Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she’s a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette.
Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire—and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate.
With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London’s high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart?
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Luck of the Draw
Luck of the Draw by Kate Clayborn is $2.99! This is a KDD and the second book in the Chance of a Lifetime series. The first book is also in today’s deals! This one has enemies entering into a fake relationship, which is all sorts of my catnip. Can I read this one out of order?
Buying a lotto ticket with her two best friends didn’t change Zoe’s life. Only following her heart would do that…
Sure, winning the lottery allows Zoe Ferris to quit her job as a cutthroat corporate attorney, but no amount of cash will clear her conscience about the way her firm treated the O’Leary family in a wrongful death case. So she sets out to make things right, only to find gruff, grieving Aiden O’Leary doesn’t need—or want—her apology. He does, however, need something else from her. Something Zoe is more than willing to give, if only to ease the pain in her heart, a sorrow she sees mirrored in his eyes…
Aiden doesn’t know what possesses him to ask his family’s enemy to be his fake fiancée. But he needs a bride if he hopes to be the winning bid on the campground he wants to purchase as part of his beloved brother’s legacy. Skilled in the art of deception, the cool beauty certainly fits the bill. Only Aiden didn’t expect all the humor and heart Zoe brings to their partnership—or the desire that runs deep between them. Now he’s struggling with his own dark truth—that he’s falling for the very woman he vowed never to forgive.
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The Book of the Untamed Midwife
PODCAST RECOMMENDED: The Book of the Untamed Midwife by Meg Elison is $1.99 at Amazon! Lots of triggers for this one, including a pandemic and sexual violence. However, Thien-Kim Lam recommended this speculative fiction on a previous podcast episode, especially for it’s handling of the main character’s liminal gender. I, for one, and very curious!
Philip K. Dick Award Winner for Distinguished Science Fiction
When she fell asleep, the world was doomed. When she awoke, it was dead.
In the wake of a fever that decimated the earth’s population—killing women and children and making childbirth deadly for the mother and infant—the midwife must pick her way through the bones of the world she once knew to find her place in this dangerous new one. Gone are the pillars of civilization. All that remains is power—and the strong who possess it.
A few women like her survived, though they are scarce. Even fewer are safe from the clans of men, who, driven by fear, seek to control those remaining. To preserve her freedom, she dons men’s clothing, goes by false names, and avoids as many people as possible. But as the world continues to grapple with its terrible circumstances, she’ll discover a role greater than chasing a pale imitation of independence.
After all, if humanity is to be reborn, someone must be its guide.
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Our book club chose THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA a couple of months ago and I was delighted by the selection. This book was all the comforting feels we needed and continues to soothe ruffled souls.
Luck of the Draw’s my personal pick here!
I really enjoyed all three of the books in Clayborn’s Chance of a Lifetime series. I don’t think you need to read them in order but the stories are very connected.
Great typo – I’m now wondering about the plot of “The Book of the Untamed Midwife”!
I bounced off the sample for The House In the Cerulean Sea. All the reviews promise fluffy warm feels but the sample stops before the protagonist escapes his dreary mundane world and reaches the magical house. If I make it to an actual book store one of these days, I’ll flip to the next chapter. I need to sample the actual good stuff, not just the sad backstory, ya know? The same thing happened with the sample for Magical Midlife Madness by K.F. Breene. Sigh.
@Escapeologist: Come back for the kids, they are everything. The dreary mundane world is very much that, but, at least for me, the rest was magic. YMMV
I read Luck of the Draw first and then went back and read the first in the series. They are all wonderful but Luck of the Draw is my favorite.
Can some please write ‘Book of the untamed midwife’ plz. Best seller for sure!!
The first two books in Anne Cleeland’s Doyle & Acton series — Murder in Thrall and Murder in Retribution — are on sale at Amazon for $1.99 each today.
(I’m always conflicted about plugging these books here because the stalker/vigilante hero and twee Irish heroine are problematic for some readers. However, since I learned about the series at SBTB, I figure there might be just one more reader here with my quirks who wouldn’t think to find a retro romance masquerading as a British police procedural. New reader friend: don’t be put off by the length of the series. Try the first book, and if you find the pairing delightful, you only need to commit to two more. Everything after that is frosting.)
I found the THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA kind of meh. It well written and funny and poignant in places, but nothing about the plot surprised me in any sort of way and there’s a lot of kind of preachy and sentimental dialogue about accepting yourself, love, and so on. It’s not at all bad, it’s just not as good as some more effusive reviews suggest, IMO.
I do love Gail Carriger (have recommended it to many people under the heading of, “yes, it’s steampunk with vampires and werewolves, but it’s very funny.”)
Also, @Elizabeth—had to scroll three times to realize you weren’t suggesting the same title that the book already had! The Book of the Untamed Midwife just sounds so obvious and awesome.
I highly recommend John & Jackie by TJ Klune. It’s a novella that tells a huge story. I was a mess by the end of it. But in a good way. I haven’t yet read The house in the Cerulean sea but it’s near the top of my tbr pile. And I’ll read anything by Gail Carriger. Her sense of humour always appeals to me.
@FashionablyEvil It’s good to hear I wasn’t the only one. It was a DNF for me, after two tries – to my surprise, after I read so many glowing reviews.
I’m an hour into Cerulean and it hasn’t picked up yet. I can tell where it’s going, but it’s a slower ride than I’d like. It’s also not that fresh if you’ve read much kid lit fantasy. But obviously many people love it!
Book of the Untamed Midwife Was good, but very very dark. I DNF’d the sequel and didn’t even try the third. I think I was in the wrong mind space.
I might pick up the Clayborn, I have looked at it before when not on sale.
You’re probably okay reading Luck of the Draw before Beginner’s Luck (#1), but I do think you need to read #1 before Best of Luck (#3). The sibling dynamic between the heroine in #1 and hero in #3 is pretty important to both books and probably wouldn’t resonate quite as effectively read out of order.
I enjoyed THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA, but it’s not a book I’m tempted to reread.
THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA was a library book for me and I liked it, but there wasn’t anything that strongly grabbed me. A couple funny moments, though, definitely helped with the preachy/predicable aspects. I did enjoy telling my brother about it–before I’d read it–and having him be so excited just from, like, the plot/sample that he immediately ordered it from his local bookstore for him and his gf to read. Maybe I’ll remember to ask how they liked it when I see them again. I have a feeling it’s the kind of thing they’ll absolutely love.
I checked reviews for the Book of the Unnamed Midwife, and seeing the complains about “too much diversity” made me buy both this and the two sequels (which might also have been on sale? It came to $9 total for three books.)