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The Siren of Sussex
The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews is $1.99! Thank you to everyone who let us know about this sale! This is book one in Matthews’ new series, The Belles of London. The description definitely piques my interest, but I feel like Matthews books don’t get as sexy for me as I want them.
Victorian high society’s most daring equestrienne finds love and an unexpected ally in her fight for independence in the strong arms of London’s most sought after and devastatingly handsome half-Indian tailor.
Evelyn Maltravers understands exactly how little she’s worth on the marriage mart. As an incurable bluestocking from a family tumbling swiftly toward ruin, she knows she’ll never make a match in a ballroom. Her only hope is to distinguish herself by making the biggest splash in the one sphere she excels: on horseback. In haute couture. But to truly capture London’s attention she’ll need a habit-maker who’s not afraid to take risks with his designs—and with his heart.
Half-Indian tailor Ahmad Malik has always had a talent for making women beautiful, inching his way toward recognition by designing riding habits for Rotten Row’s infamous Pretty Horsebreakers—but no one compares to Evelyn. Her unbridled spirit enchants him, awakening a depth of feeling he never thought possible.
But pushing boundaries comes at a cost and not everyone is pleased to welcome Evelyn and Ahmad into fashionable society. With obstacles spanning between them, the indomitable pair must decide which hurdles they can jump and what matters most: making their mark or following their hearts?
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The Awakening
The Awakening by Nora Roberts is $2.99! This is book one is what I believe to be her latest series and looks to be a blend of contemporary fantasy and romance. I was eh on the Chronicles of One series, but still bought this one in hardcover when it came out. Have you read it?
In the realm of Talamh, a teenage warrior named Keegan emerges from a lake holding a sword—representing both power and the terrifying responsibility to protect the Fey. In another realm known as Philadelphia, a young woman has just discovered she possesses a treasure of her own…
When Breen Kelly was a girl, her father would tell her stories of magical places. Now she’s an anxious twentysomething mired in student debt and working a job she hates. But one day she stumbles upon a shocking discovery: her mother has been hiding an investment account in her name. It has been funded by her long-lost father—and it’s worth nearly four million dollars.
This newfound fortune would be life-changing for anyone. But little does Breen know that when she uses some of the money to journey to Ireland, it will unlock mysteries she couldn’t have imagined. Here, she will begin to understand why she kept seeing that silver-haired, elusive man, why she imagined his voice in her head saying Come home, Breen Siobhan. It’s time you came home. Why she dreamed of dragons. And where her true destiny lies—through a portal in Galway that takes her to a land of faeries and mermaids, to a man named Keegan, and to the courage in her own heart that will guide her through a powerful, dangerous destiny…
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The Way You Make Me Feel
RECOMMENDED: The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo is $2.99! Jen Prokop, co-host of Fated Mates, squeed about this in a guest review:
There’s so much to recommend this book to anyone who enjoys great YA. There’s a pleasing complexity and closure to Clara’s story, but The Way You Make Me Feel doesn’t feel like a book that’s been sanitized of all its rough edges to please an adult audience.
From the author of I Believe in a Thing Called Love, a laugh-out-loud story of love, new friendships, and one unique food truck.
Clara Shin lives for pranks and disruption. When she takes one joke too far, her dad sentences her to a summer working on his food truck, the KoBra, alongside her uptight classmate Rose Carver. Not the carefree summer Clara had imagined. But maybe Rose isn’t so bad. Maybe the boy named Hamlet (yes, Hamlet) crushing on her is pretty cute. Maybe Clara actually feels invested in her dad’s business. What if taking this summer seriously means that Clara has to leave her old self behind? With Maurene Goo’s signature warmth and humor, The Way You Make Me Feel is a relatable story of falling in love and finding yourself in the places you’d never thought to look.
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Spellbound
Spellbound by Allie Therin is $1.99! This is a gay fantasy historical romance with a dash of mystery. Most readers loved the writing, while others wished the execution were better. Reviews also mention that this one has closed door/off the page sex scenes.
To save Manhattan, they’ll have to save each other first…
1925
New York
Arthur Kenzie’s life’s work is protecting the world from the supernatural relics that could destroy it. When an amulet with the power to control the tides is shipped to New York, he must intercept it before it can be used to devastating effects. This time, in order to succeed, he needs a powerful psychometric…and the only one available has sworn off his abilities altogether.
Rory Brodigan’s gift comes with great risk. To protect himself, he’s become a recluse, redirecting his magic to find counterfeit antiques. But with the city’s fate hanging in the balance, he can’t force himself to say no.
Being with Arthur is dangerous, but Rory’s ever-growing attraction to him begins to make him brave. And as Arthur coaxes him out of seclusion, a magical and emotional bond begins to form. One that proves impossible to break—even when Arthur sacrifices himself to keep Rory safe and Rory must risk everything to save him.
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I like Mimi Matthews and I enjoyed Siren of Sussex. I did think it was a little unrealistic about the social barriers for Indians in Victorian England. Matthews books don’t have much (if any) explicit sex, but lots of sexual tension.
I DNF-ed Siren of Sussex, not because it was bad, but because it was…fine. It was very nice, slow-moving, but I just never regretted putting it aside and never wanted to pick it up. I write and read horse books, and ride myself, so I really wanted to enjoy it, but it just didn’t grab me.
I read the Nora Roberts’ book and found it a pleasant read. I am in no hurry to reread it.
I’ve started The Awakening twice, but didn’t get very far either time. Not sure if it was the book or my mood.
BUY THE SIREN OF SUSSZ IMMEDIATELY IDF YOU CAN. It’s so good. The next book in the series is even better.
@Mary Pagones – off topic, but I made a whole different category for this kind of books on Goodreads: “Put Down Indefinitely.” I consider them distinct from books I DNF, because unlike books I DNF I may revisit them at some future date. They just didn’t hold me for whatever reason; maybe something new and shinier came along and I put the book down for too long, maybe it just wasn’t the right vibe for my mood at the time, etc. (Now whether I will actually pick them up again is an open question given the length of my TBR list…)
I really liked THE SIREN OF SUSSEX, and I’m a fan of Mimi Matthews in general. There’s no explicit sex in her books (that I can remember, anyway), but I always believe that the main characters *want* to have sex with each other! As @Ruth L said, there’s plenty of sexual tension. I can’t wait for THE BELLE OF BELGRAVE SQUARE!
I loved The Siren of Sussex!
The Allie Therin series is a comfort reread for me. There’s a lot of action and danger, but the characters are so sweet together that it’s still low angst.
I have been very leary of Nora Roberts books since the trilogy in which she, or her researchers, couldn’t be bothered to fact check that potatoes didn’t arrive in Europe until the Spanish explorers brought them back in the 16th century and her character was eating them in the 13th c. But the worst offense was that the characters were supposed to be hereditary witches and the big bad’s name revealed in the last couple of chapters was Cernunnos. Any Google search, let alone deeper research would reveal how offensive that was. Pretty close to the equivalent of a Wiccan saying John the Baptist was Satan’s right hand man.
@Lostshadows -Same. I tried mightily to read The Awakening by Nora Roberts. It actually started great, but it lost me somewhere in the middle and I could never get more than a couple more pages before putting it away and forgetting about it. First NR book I ever DNF’d. I kinda felt like I was in the wrong. LOL.
@TinaNoir- That’s better than I did. I think I got about two chapters in the second time.
Based on that, and a couple of other books of her’s I’ve tried, I’d say I don’t really mesh with her writing, except I devour the In Death books as soon as I get them.
@TinaNoir and @Lostshadows, NR used to be a great author. I was a bookseller in a small independent new and used bookstore. After her 10-12 category romance, then her second or third fiction break-out she was an automatic buy for most of my customers. Some didn’t like her switch to paranormal and definitely didn’t like the change to soft science-fiction, but smart marketing, using the Robb pseudonym kept both audiences happy. But as she’s gotten more popular (richer) she’s gotten sloppy. No other way to put it. The first time I noticed it was in a woman’s fiction when the hero said he was named Fairlane, because he was conceived in the back of a Chevy Fairlane. For any one of millions of late 1960’s kids whose families owned a FORD Fairlane, nope, saw right through that. Again, sloppy, if you’re going to reference a specific item—make sure to have your facts straight. If the author tells me I rearranged history or these battles to suit thus and so, fine; but in modern fiction there’s no excuse.
Minor cover rant about that Mimi Matthews book and its weirdly proportioned horse! The quality and realism of the horse is in such direct contrast to the heroine. As a horse person I find it really jarring and it doesn’t make me confident the book will treat the subject any better.
Thanks, I feel better getting that off my chest 😉
@Stacey: Well, Mimi Matthews is a horse person herself (has an Andalusian, the same as the horse in the book). She is no doubt equally unhappy about the cover.
I enjoyed The Awakening, have re-read it, and am looking forward to the third in the series. NR does sometimes not work for me (couldn’t get on with the Guardians trilogy and didn’t like her last three stand-alones, Come Sundown, Under Currents and Shelter in Place) so I’m not an uncritical reader of her work. I did see lots of themes she’s used before in TA, but enough difference to make it ok for me. For instance, the initial scene with the paperwork is new. I do think her particular take on Ireland could be pretty annoying if one were Irish – the unalloyed romanticism. Breen is also a bit of a Mary Sue – her instant writing success, for example. But overall I would recommend it for escapism.