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The Duchess War
RECOMMENDED: The Duchess War by Courtney Milan is 99c! This is the first book in The Brothers Sinister series and Carrie gave this one an A+:
The Duchess War is lovely – smart, touching, funny, sexy, and dizzyingly romantic. Read it right away – yes, now. Everything on your to-do list can wait, believe me.
Miss Minerva Lane is a quiet, bespectacled wallflower, and she wants to keep it that way. After all, the last time she was the center of attention, it ended badly–so badly that she changed her name to escape her scandalous past. Wallflowers may not be the prettiest of blooms, but at least they don’t get trampled. So when a handsome duke comes to town, the last thing she wants is his attention.
But that is precisely what she gets.
Because Robert Blaisdell, the Duke of Clermont, is not fooled. When Minnie figures out what he’s up to, he realizes there is more to her than her spectacles and her quiet ways. And he’s determined to lay her every secret bare before she can discover his. But this time, one shy miss may prove to be more than his match…
The books in the Brothers Sinister series:
½. The Governess Affair (prequel novella)
1. The Duchess War
1½. A Kiss for Midwinter (a companion novella to The Duchess War)
2. The Heiress Effect
3. The Countess Conspiracy
4. The Suffragette Scandal
4½. Talk Sweetly to MeAdd to Goodreads To-Read List →
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If I Never Met You
If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane is $1.99 and a Kindle Daily Deal! Catherine reviewed this one and gave it a C, giving a warning to temper your expectations:
Friends, this is not a romance novel, and it certainly isn’t romantic comedy. I suspect it’s somewhere in the realm of women’s fiction with strong romantic elements and lots of humour, but honestly, the main themes are around grief and betrayal and recovering from these things.
If faking love is this easy… how do you know when it’s real?
When her partner of over a decade suddenly ends things, Laurie is left reeling—not only because they work at the same law firm and she has to see him every day. Her once perfect life is in shambles and the thought of dating again in the age of Tinder is nothing short of horrifying. When news of her ex’s pregnant girlfriend hits the office grapevine, taking the humiliation lying down is not an option. Then a chance encounter in a broken-down elevator with the office playboy opens up a new possibility.
Jamie Carter doesn’t believe in love, but he needs a respectable, steady girlfriend to impress their bosses. Laurie wants a hot new man to give the rumor mill something else to talk about. It’s the perfect proposition: a fauxmance played out on social media, with strategically staged photographs and a specific end date in mind. With the plan hatched, Laurie and Jamie begin to flaunt their new couple status, to the astonishment—and jealousy—of their friends and colleagues. But there’s a fine line between pretending to be in love and actually falling for your charming, handsome fake boyfriend…
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The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes
The Girl with Stars in Her Eyes by Xio Axelrod is $1.99! This came out in the spring and has second chance romance elements and characters involved in the music industry. This one had a lot of buzz. Did you read it?
Her name’s Antonia “Toni” Bennette (yeah, she’s heard all the jokes before) and she’s not a rock star. Neither are the Lillys—not yet. But the difference between being famous and being almost famous can be a single wrong note…or the start of something that’ll change your life forever.
Growing up in dive bars up and down the East Coast, Toni Bennette’s guitar was her only companion…until she met Sebastian Quick. Seb was a little older, a lot wiser, and before long he was Toni’s way out, promising they’d escape their stifling small town together. Then Seb turned eighteen and split without looking back.
Now, Toni’s all grown up and making a name for herself in Philadelphia’s indie scene. When a friend suggests she try out for a hot new up-and-coming band, Toni decides to take a chance. Strong, feminist, and fierce as fire, Toni B. and the Lillys are the perfect match…except Seb’s now moonlighting as their manager. Whatever. Toni can handle it. No problem. Or it wouldn’t be if Seb didn’t still hold a piece of her heart…not to mention the key to her future.
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The Ex Hex
The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling is $2.99! This is a light paranormal romance with some witchy elements. This one was…sweeter? More twee? than I had thought it’d be. I hope you get what I’m trying to say here.
New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins, writing as Erin Sterling, casts a spell with a spine-tingling romance full of wishes, witches, and hexes gone wrong.
Nine years ago, Vivienne Jones nursed her broken heart like any young witch would: vodka, weepy music, bubble baths…and a curse on the horrible boyfriend. Sure, Vivi knows she shouldn’t use her magic this way, but with only an “orchard hayride” scented candle on hand, she isn’t worried it will cause him anything more than a bad hair day or two.
That is until Rhys Penhallow, descendent of the town’s ancestors, breaker of hearts, and annoyingly just as gorgeous as he always was, returns to Graves Glen, Georgia. What should be a quick trip to recharge the town’s ley lines and make an appearance at the annual fall festival turns disastrously wrong. With one calamity after another striking Rhys, Vivi realizes her silly little Ex Hex may not have been so harmless after all.
Suddenly, Graves Glen is under attack from murderous wind-up toys, a pissed off ghost, and a talking cat with some interesting things to say. Vivi and Rhys have to ignore their off the charts chemistry to work together to save the town and find a way to break the break-up curse before it’s too late.
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Not on sale, but I know several of us have been waiting on Julie Kriss’ book Reverb, which is available for pre-order. I may re-read the three previous books in the series (Road Kings) just to stretch out my enjoyment of Reverb.
For the record, I loved THE DUCHESS WAR (so delightful), thoroughly enjoyed THE GIRL WITH STARS IN HER EYES (felt very real), and liked IF I NEVER MET YOU much more than Catherine did. I’ve been reading Mhairi McFarlane for a long time and generally know what to expect when reading her–more slow-burn women’s fiction than zippy romance, but I do nearly always feel the emotional payoff.
Agree that THE EX HEX is amusing but not very deep or substantive. (I was expecting more given the premise.)The sequel (THE KISS CURSE) is similarly twee to the point that I just skimmed it.
I definitely read THE DUCHESS WAR and gave it 3 stars on Goodreads, but have no recollection of it at all. THE HEIRESS EFFECT (book 2 in the Brothers Sinister series) was the best of the bunch, IMO.
I liked all of these but yeah, the Milan is pick of the choice here!
I’ve seen so many people down If I Never Met You I just gotta make the case for it because I adore it (but maybe that’s because I’m bitter and in my late 30s like the MC lol ). As the review noted though, it is undercut by its marketing. This is more Laurie’s story than the story of Laurie and Jamie. Laurie is a woman grappling with a huge betray and the fear that maybe she’s wasted her life and finding that actually no, there’s a lot more to look forward to and she can find new bigger better dreams. Although there’s no explicit steam (McFarlane avoids that in all her books)the couple has amazing chemistry and there’s an amazing cast of secondary characters. Some other positives to note: Laurie is older than Jamie (others comment but it’s not an issue between them), Jamie is unwavering in his support of Laurie, they bond by supporting each other as they grapple with their trauma (not fixing each other’s trauma), Laurie is believably a WoC (as one myself sometimes it’s painfully obvious when a white author has written a WoC protagonist but put no effort into showing how that identity would effect her experiences or actions- McFarlane has the details that let me know she put in some work on this front). You do need to be in the right mood to read it but if you are I think it’s one of the most enjoyable reads for me last year. Stepping down from soap box now.
I enjoy Erin Sterling for light, fun reads, but Rachel Hawkins really shines with her thrillers. I highly recommend Reckless Girls.
The Duchess War was the first romance genre book I ever read, which means I was a little nervous rereading it for the first time a week ago, as I don’t know if a newbie romance reader’s opinions can be trusted… still astonishingly good with chapter after chapter of quality romance scenes.
THE DUCHESS WAR is my favourite Milan by far. Definitely a comfort reread.
Another strong endorsement here for If I Never Met You—agree with what Dhana said. I think having a few bad breakups in one’s history (sniff) makes it quite intense. I bought it a while back, the instant it was on sale, but I would reread judiciously.
And Courtney Milan: ah, wonderful.
Agreed with @Dhana’s assessment of If I Never Met You. It was my favorite read the year it came out. Not the fluffy rom-com that the cover suggests, but still has a great romance at the center with a HEA/HFN at the end. Also it kinda does have a lot of the rom-com signifiers — we get a cool makeover scene, a running in the rain scene, and a running to catch your true love at the train station to make your declaration before they can leave scene.
And even though the central break up that begins the story is fraught, the rest of the story is rather humorous. Not a belly, laugh howl way but in a witty, bright way. The writing had a nice snap and the dry British humor and spiky BFFs of the heroine are a stand out.