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Clanlands
Clanlands by Sam Heughan and Graham McTavis is $1.99! This is also part of today’s Kindle Daily Deals. This is a mix of travel writing and Scottish history. I’m sure it’ll appeal to Outlander fans as well!
Two Men. One Country. And a lot of whisky.
As stars of “Outlander”, Sam and Graham eat, sleep and breathe the Highlands on this epic road trip around their homeland. They discover that the real thing is even greater than fiction.
“Clanlands” is the story of their journey. Armed with their trusty campervan and a sturdy friendship, these two Scotsmen are on the adventure of a lifetime to explore the majesty of Scotland. A wild ride by boat, kayak, bicycle and motorbike, they travel from coast to loch and peak to valley and delve into Scotland’s history and culture, from timeless poetry to bloody warfare.
With near-death experiences, many weeks in a confined space together, and a cast of unforgettable characters, Graham and Sam’s friendship matures like a fine Scotch. They reflect on their acting careers in film and theatre, find a new awestruck respect for their native country and, as with any good road trip, they even find themselves.
Hold onto your kilts … this is Scotland as you’ve never seen it before.
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The Wolf and the Woodsman
The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid is $1.99! This fantasy debut was a previous Hide Your Wallet pick for me and I was definitely curious about the Hungarian history. The description also made me think there might be a romance. Have any of you read it?
In the vein of Naomi Novik’s New York Times bestseller Spinning Silver and Katherine Arden’s national bestseller The Bear and the Nightingale, this unforgettable debut— inspired by Hungarian history and Jewish mythology—follows a young pagan woman with hidden powers and a one-eyed captain of the Woodsmen as they form an unlikely alliance to thwart a tyrant.
In her forest-veiled pagan village, Évike is the only woman without power, making her an outcast clearly abandoned by the gods. The villagers blame her corrupted bloodline—her father was a Yehuli man, one of the much-loathed servants of the fanatical king. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a pagan girl for the king’s blood sacrifice, Évike is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered.
But when monsters attack the Woodsmen and their captive en route, slaughtering everyone but Évike and the cold, one-eyed captain, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he’s no ordinary Woodsman—he’s the disgraced prince, Gáspár Bárány, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. Gáspár fears that his cruelly zealous brother plans to seize the throne and instigate a violent reign that would damn the pagans and the Yehuli alike. As the son of a reviled foreign queen, Gáspár understands what it’s like to be an outcast, and he and Évike make a tenuous pact to stop his brother.
As their mission takes them from the bitter northern tundra to the smog-choked capital, their mutual loathing slowly turns to affection, bound by a shared history of alienation and oppression. However, trust can easily turn to betrayal, and as Évike reconnects with her estranged father and discovers her own hidden magic, she and Gáspár need to decide whose side they’re on, and what they’re willing to give up for a nation that never cared for them at all.
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Born in Fire
Born in Fire by Nora Roberts is $2.99! This is the first book in the Irish Born series and I remember this series being a huge favorite amongst reads. Do you have a favorite Roberts series?
Three modern sisters bound by the timeless beauty of Ireland…
The eldest Concannon sister, Maggie, is a reclusive, stubborn and free-spirited glassmaker—with a heart worth winning.
Margaret Mary is a glass artist with an independent streak as fierce as her volatile temper. Hand-blowing glass is a difficult and exacting art, and while she may produce the delicate and the fragile, Maggie is a strong and opinionated woman, a Clare woman, with all the turbulence of that fascinating west country.
One man, Dublin gallery owner Rogan Sweeney, has seen the soul in Maggie’s art, and vows to help her build a career. When he comes to Maggie’s studio, her heart is inflamed by their fierce attraction—and her scarred past is slowly healed by love…
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A Hundred Summers
A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams is $1.99! Williams often writes historical fiction with romantic elements and this one is set in Rhode Island. There was a review I read that described Williams’ books as “schmaltzy” and that you really have to lean into it. I completely agree and sometimes, we need some schmaltz.
As the 1938 hurricane approaches Rhode Island, another storm brews in this New York Times bestselling beach read from the author of The Summer Wives and The Golden Hour.
Lily Dane has returned to Seaview, Rhode Island, where her family has summered for generations. It’s an escape not only from New York’s social scene but from a heartbreak that still haunts her. Here, among the seaside community that has embraced her since childhood, she finds comfort in the familiar rituals of summer.
But this summer is different. Budgie and Nick Greenwald—Lily’s former best friend and former fiancé—have arrived, too, and Seaview’s elite are abuzz. Under Budgie’s glamorous influence, Lily is seduced into a complicated web of renewed friendship and dangerous longing.
As a cataclysmic hurricane churns north through the Atlantic, and uneasy secrets slowly reveal themselves, Lily and Nick must confront an emotional storm that will change their worlds forever…
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I’m not an Outlander fan, and don’t get STARZ, so I haven’t had the chance to watch the series Men in Kilts. That said, this book is hysterical and definitely worth grabbing as a Daily Deal (which is how I grabbed it). Told from two points of view, it’s a behind the scenes tale of how the series was made, with the crew who were packed in their van filming (even though it always looks like it’s just the two of them) playing a big part. Graham is grumpy most of the time, complaining about conditions, Sam’s hawking of his line of whiskey, and life in general. Sam is more cheerful on the whole, but he also whinges from time to time (and there is a discussion of fans who stalk).
I found myself laughing frequently, and decided I was glad I don’t get STARZ so couldn’t watch the series, because I suspect what they delivered in polished bits couldn’t be as funny as the book. If you like the grumpy and sunshine trope, you’ll enjoy this one.
Echoing everything Caro said. I also don’t get STARZ and haven’t watched Outlander, but I picked up Clanlands from my library’s new book shelf recently because I love history and desperately miss traveling. It was just the funny armchair visit to Scotland that I needed.
Is it weird to be a romance reader who’s never actually read anything by Nora Roberts? If this is something that should be immediately corrected, any recommendations?
@FashionablyEvil:
Of course, it depends entirely on what rattles your chain and your age, but they are well written.
I particularly enjoyed her ‘In the Garden’ trilogy. There is a ghost, lots of good snark and love as well as love stories for different aged protagonists.
They are definitely a ‘comfort’ read for me but then I am definitely in her demographic target audience.
@FashionablyEvil, I read Roberts’ series set on the Chesapeake Bay because I was visiting a friend, they were on her shelf, and a great portion of my life was set on the Chesapeake Bay. I enjoyed them as much for the setting as for the brothers’ stories.
I read one of her series set in Ireland, because I was visiting a friend, and they were on her shelf. In this series, one sister could light a candle by pointing at it with her finger. I recall looking at a candle, and my index finger, shortly after reading and wondering about the power of our minds which some scientists say we do not use.
I was not compelled to read more of her books. I think that in addition to writing good stores, her fame began because she was an early writer of contemporary romance set in the United States, rather than an import from England.
@Fashionably Evil- welcome to my corner of shame in the romance world! I just commented this week to a book club friend that I had not yet read a Nora book, after she recommended Vision in White to me. I started it yesterday and it’s lovely so far! Great female friendships, personal growth is coming for our heroine and a hot, nerdy teacher hero.
Happy to follow the comments for more recommendations!
I just recently finished reading The Wolf and The Woodsman and I did not like it. I’ve conveniently added a link to my review in the website field of this comment, so click my name if you like salty book reviews.
In short, there IS a major romance plot between Évike and Gáspár, but it’s an enemies-to-lovers/redemption arc, and since Gáspár represents the oppressors who persecute both sides of Évike’s family, I DID NOT buy it. At all. Plus the middle drags. So much dragging. And fingernails aren’t bones.
I’ve seen other people say it was one of their favorite books of the year, however, so YMMV.
@FashionablyEvil and @Emily C:
Here is a post from 2013 that might give you some leads ~
https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2013/03/classic-romance-which-one-first-nora-roberts-recommendations/
@The Other AJ, thanks for posting your review. I’ve had this book checked out since probably August and I still haven’t read it. Part of it is other books have captured my interest and the other part was the author participating in calling out another author for her use of Eastern European culture in a fantasy world. It sounds like Reid’s use wasn’t much better.
This thread on Nora Roberts comes at a funny time for me.I had never read anything by her b/c I figured anyone who puts out that many books cannot possibly be any good. BUT, I am just back from a Texas wedding (the bride wore white cowboy boots with rhinestones) and stayed in a guest house that had a J.D. Robb/Nora Roberts book on the shelves. It turned out to be book #36 in the Eve Dallas/Roarke series, and I thought I’d read it just to see what it was like. I sure didn’t love every sentence, but I found that I did love the plot and characters and found the mystery engrossing (as well as the the fantasy elements both from the 2058? setting and from Roarke’s extreme wealth). This book was published in 2013. So now I’ve gone back to start the series from the beginning and am happy to know that I have plenty of hours of distraction in my future. The first book was published in 1995 and it shows in the plot about women being murdered, but even this was has some really funny dialogue and quirky moments. Eve Dallas owes something to Kinsey Millhone although she’s a homocide detective rather than a PI. In any case, I am now sucked in and might even get that Irish one. Never would have guessed.
I was not a huge fan of The Wolf and the Woodsman. The cover blurb compares it to Spinning Silver and The Bear and the Nightingale, both of which I LOVED. But The Wolf and the Woodsman seemed to me like a sloppier, angstier, more YA version of those books, so it missed the mark for me.
I like “Born in Fire” more than the other books in the series. Who doesn’t like a woman who is talented and creative, especially in a physical, male-dominated art form?
My favorite Nora Roberts series? I can narrow it down to two: The Chesapeake Bay series and the Bride Quartet. I think the Bride Quartet was the last really good romance (not romantic suspense) Roberts wrote. Again, bright, talented women and lots of competence porn, baked goods and strong female friendships. The first book (Vision in White) is especially good if you like beta heroes. I believe that is also the only series of hers (outside of category romances) that does not have a supernatural element.
@Emily C I think I heard somewhere that Nora Roberts was the first author to write with a man as the primary point of view character. She came up through category romances, so she was definitely breaking some ground with, for example, heroines escaping domestic abuse. Some of those (I think she only published under Silhouette) are good examples of that kind of romance novel. The McKade Brothers are probably my favorites, although some of the many books in the MacGregor series are good (I have a real fondness for The Winning Hand, where the heroine struggles into Las Vegas, puts her last nine dollars into one of those progressive slot machines (because the last numbers are the exact amount of money in her pocket) and wins a big jackpot. Basically, it starts as a Cinderella story, but turns into a “what would you do if you could do anything with your life” story.)
I have also never read anything by Nora Roberts til recently, mostly because Regency Romance was 99% of my romance reading since my teens until last year, when I started diving deep into m/m (and not just historical). But as it happens I picked up a new-ish JD Robb Eve Dallas/Roarke novel at a street library, not knowing what it was. I love a good crime thriller and often pick them up at street libraries to read them on trips, and it’s well enough written, but the futuristic setting doesn’t do it for me… so I won’t be continuing with that series.
I dunno…I liked Maggie in Born in Fire a lot, but she did NOT need a rich dude swooping in and rescuing her in business, or in anything else. A lot of other heroines that might work for, but eh, I was just …bleah on this.
On the other hand, I like Roarke, who may be richer than God, but he always is cool with Eve doing her own thing and helps but doesn’t necessarily rescue. So I dunno.
I started out reading Nora’s series thirty years ago and enjoyed them at the time. I have re-read several of the series. Now I mostly stick with her recent stand-alones. I have enjoyed most of them and many are on my comfort read shelf. I suspect that her backlist is wide enough for many interests. That said, she does sometimes recycle her plots.
I think Nora Roberts’s best books came out between about 2000 and 2010. Earlier, and they tend to have rather stereotypical characters. Later, and she got too much into competence pr0n at the expense of plot. But she’s a good writer and has intense romantic thrillers, lovely romance series with strong female friendships, and some fantasy romances.
The guys in kilts reminded me of the TV series Long Way Round and Long Way Down, with actors Ewan McGregor and Charlie (something) riding motorcycles literally around the world. It’s fun and interesting and oddly relaxing. A friend gave the DVDs to my husband, so I’m not sure where else you can see it.
My good feelings about Nora Roberts are that she’s a consistently solid storyteller and she writes great female friendships. My lesser feelings are that she recycles her heroes (or at least their looks) and she is way more into Ireland The Concept than I am.
JD Robb, though? I’ll read all of them.
I’ve seen Men in Kilts but haven’t read the book–the show was really fun and funny, very similar to the tone of the book sample that I read, so I definitely think if you liked the book you should watch the show. The VO on the show is basically in the same style as the book. (It’s much more silly and touristy/history focused than Long Way Round and Long Way Down, which are more like, idk, what someone would make for their youtube channel now. Less produced than Men in Kilts. I’ve only seen Long Way Down, but it was pretty awesome, though there was a really upsetting scene with animal death.)
The Wolf and the Woodsman was a DNF for me. I quickly got tired of how constantly horny the heroine was for the guy, considering the peril they were in. I felt like the fairytale elements just kinda…happened? Pointlessly? Like ticking off stops on a to do list. I also found it poorly written, with laughable descriptions of horses and riding that made it clear the author and anyone who edited the book was totally clueless. RIP my suspension of disbelief.
I’m not sure it’s a Romance, either, as there’s no HEA when I flipped to the end before kicking it back to the library.
@FashionablyEvil I’m dropping out of lurk mode with my 2 cents. In my humble opinion, Nora Roberts is the diva of romance and suspense and magical realism. I’m currently in the midst of annual reread of all the books which is going to continue into 2022. Way too many book to complete in a year. I’ve read every J.R. Robb In Death book in the series several times. A good one to start with is Northern Lights which I think is one of best of her stand alone stories. Out of her series, I agree Chesapeake Bay is great along with In the Garden, as well as the Key Series. The Innsboro trilogy as well as the Bridal Quartet are a must. I’ve given you way to many choices I know and sorry for that. I like her writing, what can I say.
@One of the Ms. M’s — yes, she definitely recycles heroes. A particularly obvious example is the McKade brothers and the Chesapeake Bay series, where she not only recycled the heroes but recycled the heroines and at least one of the plots. I think they were written around the same time, too, when she was still publishing with Silhouette as well as the mass market novels. I actually like both series, so I guess I’m as fond of those heroes as Nora was!
BTW, I’ve been cleaning out my books, since I only read on Kindle now. If anyone wants a box (or two or more, or specific titles) of Nora Roberts, I will send them for the price of postage (or you can pick them up if you live in the Bay Area). I’d like to find them a good home (even if it’s temporary — don’t feel obligated to keep them). This is a limited time offer, since I’m hoping to get rid of them in the next week or two.
This offer extends to almost all of my … 2,000? … romances. All contemporary from the mid-to-late ’80s through 2009 (when I bought my first Kindle). The vast majority Silhouette Special Editions and Harlequin Superromances. I know they are considered generic and old fashioned now, but a good writer can write a good book regardless of format, and the Superromance line allowed its authors quite a bit of latitude within its framework. If you are missing a book in a series, chances are I have it.