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To Have and to Hoax
RECOMMENDED: To Have and to Hoax by Martha Waters is $1.99! Aarya read this one and gave it a B:
Despite all these points, I adored To Have and to Hoax. It made me giggle constantly during a week when I had little to smile about. I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone; if the antics sound juvenile and infuriating, then you won’t like the story. But if you’re in the mood to escape into a Regency romp and swoon over a married couple falling in love again, I recommend To Have and to Hoax as your escape of choice.
In this fresh and hilarious historical rom-com, an estranged husband and wife in Regency England feign accidents and illness in an attempt to gain attention—and maybe just win each other back in the process.
Five years ago, Lady Violet Grey and Lord James Audley met, fell in love, and got married. Four years ago, they had a fight to end all fights, and have barely spoken since.
Their once-passionate love match has been reduced to one of cold, detached politeness. But when Violet receives a letter that James has been thrown from his horse and rendered unconscious at their country estate, she races to be by his side—only to discover him alive and well at a tavern, and completely unaware of her concern. She’s outraged. He’s confused. And the distance between them has never been more apparent.
Wanting to teach her estranged husband a lesson, Violet decides to feign an illness of her own. James quickly sees through it, but he decides to play along in an ever-escalating game of manipulation, featuring actors masquerading as doctors, threats of Swiss sanitariums, faux mistresses—and a lot of flirtation between a husband and wife who might not hate each other as much as they thought. Will the two be able to overcome four years of hurt or will they continue to deny the spark between them?
With charm, wit, and heart in spades, To Have and to Hoax is a fresh and eminently entertaining romantic comedy—perfect for fans of Jasmine Guillory and Julia Quinn.
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To Steal a Heart
To Steal a Heart by K.C. Bateman is $2.99! This is the first in a new series by Bateman (who also writes historical romances under Kate Bateman). I’ve enjoyed most of Bateman’s romances. How about you?
A master spy and a beautiful thief find love and intrigue in each other’s arms. . .
Forced to do the bidding of a corrupt government minister, Marianne de Bonnard agrees to plant incriminating evidence in the offices of France’s most notorious spymaster. Under cover of night, the tightrope-walking thief puts her skills to good use—until her aerial stunt is foiled when her target appears in the window and, with consummate poise, helps Marianne off the wire and into his lair. The tremors that run through her body are not just from fear; there’s an unwanted frisson of desire there, too. But is it because of her elegant, wickedly handsome host . . . or his proposition?
Nicolas Valette has had plans for his graceful trespasser since he witnessed her unique skills at the Cirque Olympique. Sinuous as a cat, Marianne is perfect for his next mission, but she refuses his generous offer for fear of disobeying her family’s tormenter. When their mutual enemy auctions off her virginity to the highest bidder, Nicolas leaps at the chance to purchase her cooperation. Keeping her will be like trying to tame a wild animal, but what’s life without a little risk? Besides, Nicolas and Marianne both want the same thing: revenge—and, perhaps, something else that’s equally delicious.
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The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley is $1.99! This is book one in the Flavia de Luce series, which I remember this being pretty popular for a while. This gives me Nancy Drew vibes.
Fans of Louise Fitzhugh’s iconic Harriet the Spy will welcome 11-year-old sleuth Flavia de Luce, the heroine of Canadian journalist Bradley’s rollicking debut. In an early 1950s English village, Flavia is preoccupied with retaliating against her lofty older sisters when a rude, redheaded stranger arrives to confront her eccentric father, a philatelic devotee. Equally adept at quoting 18th-century works, listening at keyholes and picking locks, Flavia learns that her father, Colonel de Luce, may be involved in the suicide of his long-ago schoolmaster and the theft of a priceless stamp. The sudden expiration of the stranger in a cucumber bed, wacky village characters with ties to the schoolmaster, and a sharp inspector with doubts about the colonel and his enterprising young detective daughter mean complications for Flavia and enormous fun for the reader. Tantalizing hints about a gardener with a shady past and the mysterious death of Flavia’s adventurous mother promise further intrigues ahead.
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The Paris Seamstress
The Paris Seamstress by Natasha Lester is $2.99! Sarah reviewed this one and gave it a D+, mentioning that whoa there’s a lot of trauma. Did any of you read this one?
How much will a young Parisian seamstress sacrifice to make her mark in the male-dominated world of 1940s New York fashion? From the bestselling author of A KISS FROM MR FITZGERALD and HER MOTHER’S SECRET.
1940. Parisian seamstress Estella Bissette is forced to flee France as the Germans advance. She is bound for Manhattan with a few francs, one suitcase, her sewing machine and a dream: to have her own atelier.
2015. Australian curator Fabienne Bissette journeys to the annual Met Gala for an exhibition of her beloved grandmother’s work – one of the world’s leading designers of ready-to-wear. But as Fabienne learns more about her grandmother’s past, she uncovers a story of tragedy, heartbreak and secrets – and the sacrifices made for love.
Crossing generations, society’s boundaries and international turmoil, THE PARIS SEAMSTRESS is the beguiling, transporting story of the special relationship between a grandmother and her granddaughter as they attempt to heal the heartache of the past.
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My biggest complaint with the Paris Seamstress (which I’ve added to the review) is that she’s fleeing Paris, when carrying the utter minimum that you can is the difference between life and death, and she carries her sewing machine with her. The 15-20 kg Singer that you have to carry by putting your arms around (the handle on top of the cover is only for lifting the cover on and off) and she takes it with her. No. Just … no. They had Kate Winslet carry her machine by the same handle in “The Dressmaker” and she definitely didn’t look as if she was carrying such a heavy weight.
It’s a trope that drives me nuts. Please, authors, actually check the weight of these things before blithely adding them to the story.
Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies by Misha Popp is on sale for 1.99 – has anyone read that? Looks intriguing but curious if others have opinions on this one… thanks!
Despite some ups and downs, and its inherent improbabability, I loved the Flavia de Luce series. The audiobooks narrated by Jayne Entwistle are delightful. Sadly, it appears no new books are forthcoming after #10 (the author started writing the series late in life). Flavia will have to remain young in my imagination forever.
Oh geez, really?! How do you not check that out before writing it?
@Gillian B, that sounds especially frustrating because it would be so easy to paper that over with a throwaway line about how lucky she was to have bought a special case for her machine designed to transport it, or that it perfectly fit in her duffel bag or whatever. Not only that, but authors keeping track of what its like to actually carry a heavy thing for a long time and a long distance can add such depth. The character’s dedication can be shown by how they persevere, or in how clever they are willing to get to rig carrying devices, or in what else they are willing to forego in their luggage, etc.
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is one of my favorite cozy/comfort reads. To Steal a Heart–if you like spies, enemies to lovers, and virginity going to the highest bidder you’ll love this novel (I did)
I highly recommend The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and the subsequent books in the series. The audiobooks are also well-narrated by Jayne Entwistle.
To Have and to Hoax is rather frustrating. I thought Violet’s anger well earned but her pretense of consumption ridiculous. James had a more thorough character arc than Violet. “How could he have ever thought anyone other than Violet would satisfy him? You didn’t, said the quiet, reasonable voice that occupied some small corner of his head. Not really. And he knew it was true. Why else had he spent the past 4 years as chaste as a monk, in a house with a woman who loathed him? Because he’d never stopped hoping, never stopped wanting, even if he hadn’t been able to admit it, even to himself. And that was the problem, really. Wasn’t that what Violet had been saying in her roundabout fashion last night? He’d loved her, but he’d lost faith in her at the slightest provocation. He’d let his past dictate his future, and he’d never done the slightest thing to fight for that future. He was the son of a duke, and as such, he wasn’t accustomed to having to fight for much of anything. And when something didn’t come easily to him, he abandoned it. Mathematics? Easy. Wedding Violet? Easy. Inheriting his father’s stables? Easy. But moving past childhood hurts? His relationship with West? Marriage to Violet? More difficult. And so he’d never really tried.” It was passages like that, which I found insightful and touching, that kept me reading past the ridiculous parts.
Breakaway (The Sin Bin: West Coast Book 1) E.M. Lindsey is currently free for US Kindle readers. This m/m hockey romance was released last month.
Random aside: anyone else having trouble with Cloudflare and accessing the site on a mobile device? (Laptop seems to be fine.) I had issues with Safari and switched to Chrome which fixed the problem for a time, but now it’s happening with both Safari and Chrome. Anyone figured this out? @DiscoDollyDeb?
@FashionablyEvil on my mobile device (android phone) the Chrome browser throws that error too. Try Firefox or Opera.
@FashionablyEvil: Oh, dear, I didn’t catch that you were having this problem – I’m sorry about that! It should work if you clear your cookies and browsing history, as Cloudflare was being finicky and got caught in a loop. Please email me (sarah AT smartbitchestrashybooks DOTTY com) if you want some more help? I’m sorry about that!
My android phone goes a little crazy when the ads/banners on the site change. I can only type a few characters at a time before the cursor skips to a random space or else wait for the ads to stop moving. This isn’t a complaint, more an observation, and it only affects my phone.