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When a Scot Ties the Knot
RECOMMENDED: When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare is $3.99! Elyse loved this book so much and gave it an A:
Everything about When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare worked for me. Everything. Bust out the squee mop, y’all because this review is just going to be a flappy-hands Good Book Noise® mess.
Things this book has:
1. A sexy Scot hero I pictured as Sam Heughan.
2. A heroine who is a naturalist and illustrator.
3. Tons of UST.
4. A completely crazy sauce plot that Dare pulls off flawlessly.
5. A missing lobster.
On the cusp of her first London season, Miss Madeline Gracechurch was shyly pretty and talented with a drawing pencil, but hopelessly awkward with gentlemen. She was certain to be a dismal failure on the London marriage mart. So Maddie did what generations of shy, awkward young ladies have done: she invented a sweetheart.
A Scottish sweetheart. One who was handsome and honorable and devoted to her, but conveniently never around. Maddie poured her heart into writing the imaginary Captain MacKenzie letter after letter … and by pretending to be devastated when he was (not really) killed in battle, she managed to avoid the pressures of London society entirely.
Until years later, when this kilted Highland lover of her imaginings shows up in the flesh. The real Captain Logan MacKenzie arrives on her doorstep—handsome as anything, but not entirely honorable. He’s wounded, jaded, in possession of her letters… and ready to make good on every promise Maddie never expected to keep.
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The Unleashing
RECOMMENDED: The Unleashing by Shelly Laurenston is $1.99! Sarah loves this paranormal romance series. She did a little drive by squee for this one during a review for the second book, The Undoing:
Feared Viking blacksmith (of sorts) in the Raven clan has a massive crush on a former Marine who is reborn as a Crow. (Bonus: Ravens giving him shit about his crush, and his ability to admit easily that he really likes her: ALL the thumbs, all of them up.)
WINGING IT
Kera Watson never expected to face death behind a Los Angeles coffee shop. Not after surviving two tours lugging an M16 around the Middle East. If it wasn’t for her hot Viking customer showing up too late to help, nobody would even see her die.
In uncountable years of service to the Allfather Odin, Ludvig “Vig” Rundstöm has never seen anyone kick ass with quite as much style as Kera. He knows one way to save her life—but she might not like it. Signing up with the Crows will get Kera a new set of battle buddies: cackling, gossiping, squabbling, party-hearty women. With wings. So not the Marines.
But Vig can’t give up on someone as special as Kera. With a storm of oh-crap magic speeding straight for L.A., survival will depend on combining their strengths: Kera’s discipline, Vig’s loyalty… and the Crows’ sheer love of battle. Boy, are they in trouble.
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The Dating Plan
The Dating Plan by Sara Desai is $1.99! This is a contemporary romance that came out a little over a year ago and has a fake relationship. I’ve loved how colorful all of Desai’s covers have been. Have you read this one?
Daisy Patel is a software engineer who understands lists and logic better than bosses and boyfriends. With her life all planned out, and no interest in love, the one thing she can’t give her family is the marriage they expect. Left with few options, she asks her childhood crush to be her decoy fiance.
Liam Murphy is a venture capitalist with something to prove. When he learns that his inheritance is contingent on being married, he realizes his best friend’s little sister has the perfect solution to his problem. A marriage of convenience will get Daisy’s matchmaking relatives off her back and fulfill the terms of his late grandfather’s will. If only he hadn’t broken her tender teenage heart nine years ago…
Sparks fly when Daisy and Liam go on a series of dates to legitimize their fake relationship. Too late, they realize that very little is convenient about their arrangement. History and chemistry aren’t about to follow the rules of this engagement.
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Force of Nature
Force of Nature by Jane Harper is $2.99! It’s the second book in the Aaron Falk series, though it works fine as a self-contained story. I was a huge fan of the first one, The Dry, though never really went on to continue the series.
Five women reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking along a muddy track.
Only four come out on the other side.
The hike through the rugged Giralang Ranges is meant to take the office colleagues out of their air-conditioned comfort zone and encourage teamwork and resilience. At least, that’s what the corporate retreat website advertises.
Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk has a keen interest in the whereabouts of the missing hiker, Alice Russell. Because Alice knew secrets, about the company she worked for and the people she worked with.
The four returning women tell Falk a tale of fear, violence and fractured trust during their days in the remote Australian bushland. And as Falk delves into the disappearance of Alice, he begins to suspect some dangers ran far deeper than anyone knew.
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When a Scot Ties the Knot is amazing. It’s extremely funny, the hero is a secret cinnamon roll although he starts out kind of angry (something Tessa Dare is good at. See: The Duchess Deal). The heroine is more than competent at her work. It’s the only Scottish Highlander Kilt Man Etc historical that works for me.
D’VAUGHN AND KRIS PLAN A WEDDING By Chencia Higgins is 1.99 on kobo & kindle. This book got a B+ here https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/dvaughn-and-kris-plan-a-wedding-by-chencia-c-higgins/ & I’ve had my eye on it ever since! Can’t wait to read it!
I enjoyed both The Dry and Force of Nature.
Is THE UNLEASHING the one with the flying pitty plot pet (= ploppet)? I seem to remember it wearing a tutu. That dog may be my all time favorite ploppet.
When a Scot Ties the Knot was not only my first Tessa Dare, but the first historical romance I ever read! So it holds a special place in my heart for that, but it’s also such a comfort read of a book. So many great scenes, they had fantastic banter, the hero had trust issues but RECOGNIZED THAT IT WAS HIS PROBLEM TO OVERCOME, and he was in full support of her career (which was so fun to read about). Highly recommended.
“The dance ended, and Callum came to find her. He gave Maddie a grin. ‘Sorry to have stolen her from you, Captain.’
‘No need to apologize,’ Logan replied. ‘Madeline belongs to herself.’”
@Erin
Callum is very swoon-worthy. One of my favorite scenes is when they’re going to bed and Maddie walks in on him wearing a nightshirt and glasses while reading Pride and Prejudice in bed. She is understandably overcome with lust.
Qualisign, yes, she is an awesome ploppet!
If you enjoy the Unleashing, I recommend the rest of the Crows series as well. Shelly Laurenston has a way with wild, impulsive, risk-taking women that no one else matches for me. Between the Crows and the Honey Badger series, she has it down pat. These are books where I just buckle in and hold on for the ride.
Every time The Unleashing comes up in one of these posts (or the two other books in the series), I start wishing again for more books in the series. This series is so good, and it felt like there would be more books, but the last one was published in 2017. At this point I should probably give up hoping for another one, but I enjoyed these so much.
Free in the US:
Rising from the Dust by Adrianna Scoville
Steak My Heart by Savannah Kade
To get me to you by Kait Nolan
I ~really~ liked The Dry, but just wasn’t feeling the same love for Force of Nature and set it aside–not necessarily a DNF, tho, since I’m still open to the possibility of picking it back up at some point.
When a Scot Ties the Knot is probably my favorite Dare overall, come to think of it.
Sink or Swim by Annabeth Albert is on sale for $1.99. I haven’t read this forced proximity m/m romance but Annabeth Albert tends to write low conflict, very tropey mm romances.
And that is a great price for D’VAUGHN AND KRIS PLAN A WEDDING. I read it from the library but I’m tempted to pick up a copy for myself.
My last thought on When a Scot Ties the Knot I swear: it has a spectacularly pretty cover. If they update the cover to a generic cartoon or one of the new Bridgerton ones I will be so sad.
I also loved The Dry but struggled with Force of Nature, though I did ultimately finish it. I highly recommend The Lost Man, though. It’s a standalone and I think Harper’s best book.
I’m currently re-reading When A Scot Ties The Knot. It’s the novel that made me fall in love with Tessa Dare’s work.
Maddie is probably my favorite Dare heroine. I feel like I can relate to her a lot. Both as someone who sketches, and is extremely uncomfortable in social situations. (Read page 2 and that’s basically me in a nutshell.) I’m loving Logan even more the second time around.
But, the BANTER. I forgot how wonderfully entertaining the banter is in this book.
What does UST mean?
“Unresolved Sexual Tension” though I learned that it is also a form of cryptocurrency which made me very confused for a minute while researching the April Fool’s page this year.