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The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows
RECOMMENDED: The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite is $1.99! Carrie and Tara wrote a joint review and gave this one a B+:
This book does a lot of things right. The character work is deep and brilliant, the historical context is plentiful and guides readers along even if they know nothing, and the writing is so beautifully done. Like I mentioned above, the overall pace of the story didn’t bother me, just the pace of the romance. If that would have been sped up, this would be a near perfect book for me. I still recommend it, but you need to go into this expecting the slowest of slow burns.
When Agatha Griffin finds a colony of bees in her warehouse, it’s the not-so-perfect ending to a not-so-perfect week. Busy trying to keep her printing business afloat amidst rising taxes and the suppression of radical printers like her son, the last thing the widow wants is to be the victim of a thousand bees. But when a beautiful beekeeper arrives to take care of the pests, Agatha may be in danger of being stung by something far more dangerous…
Penelope Flood exists between two worlds in her small seaside town, the society of rich landowners and the tradesfolk. Soon, tensions boil over when the formerly exiled Queen arrives on England’s shores—and when Penelope’s long-absent husband returns to Melliton, she once again finds herself torn, between her burgeoning love for Agatha and her loyalty to the man who once gave her refuge.
As Penelope finally discovers her true place, Agatha must learn to accept the changing world in front of her. But will these longing hearts settle for a safe but stale existence or will they learn to fight for the future they most desire?
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Hounded
Hounded by Kevin Hearne is $2.99! Hounded is the first book in the Iron Druid series, a paranormal/urban fantasy series. The GR reviews are interesting – a ton of people loved this book, while others thought the hero was a Gary Stu and the characterization of the women was rather sexist. There’s a wide gap between those who loved it, and those who really disliked it. Have you read this book?
Atticus O’Sullivan, last of the Druids, lives peacefully in Arizona, running an occult bookshop and shape-shifting in his spare time to hunt with his Irish wolfhound. His neighbors and customers think that this handsome, tattooed Irish dude is about twenty-one years old—when in actuality, he’s twenty-one centuries old. Not to mention: He draws his power from the earth, possesses a sharp wit, and wields an even sharper magical sword known as Fragarach, the Answerer.
Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants that sword, and he’s hounded Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power—plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of attorneys, a sexy bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish—to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.
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Duchess by Design
Duchess by Design by Maya Rodale is $1.99! This is the first book in the Gilded Age Girls Club series. Elyse read this one, but gave it a B-, as she didn’t believe the hero really deserved the heroine. Have you read this one? Do you agree with Elyse’s assessment?
In the first novel of Maya Rodale’s enthralling new series, an English duke vows to make an American seamstress his duchess…
In Gilded Age Manhattan, anything can happen…
Seeking a wealthy American bride who can save his family’s estate, Brandon Fiennes, the duke of Kingston, is a rogue determined to do the right thing. But his search for an heiress goes deliciously awry when an enchanting seamstress tumbles into his arms instead.
…and true love is always in fashion
Miss Adeline Black aspires to be a fashionable dressmaker—not a duchess—and not even an impossibly seductive duke will distract her. But Kingston makes an offer she can’t refuse: join him at society events to display her gowns and advise him on which heiresses are duchess material. It’s the perfect plan—as long as they resist temptation, avoid a scandal, and above all do not lose their hearts.
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Adult Drama
Adult Drama by Natalie Beach is $2.99! I mentioned this one on a previous Hide Your Wallet. It’s a collection of essays from the writer of the New York Magazine piece “I Was Caroline Calloway.”
From the writer whose New York Magazine piece “I Was Caroline Calloway” broke the internet comes a fresh, incisive, laugh-out-loud funny memoir-in-essays about the frenzied journey to adulthood.
Natalie Beach became an internet sensation when her essay on her toxic friendship with Instagram influencer Caroline Calloway went viral. Now, for the first time, and in her own indelible voice, Beach offers a revelatory glimpse into her own life alongside a broader cultural criticism of the world today. Through stories of heartbreak, odd jobs, political activism, existential crises and low-rise jeans, Natalie Beach explores the high stakes and absurdist comedy of coming of age in a world gone mad.
Effervescent, hilarious and unflinchingly self-aware, Adult Drama marks the arrival of an electrifying new literary voice.
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Agree with the Gary Stu characterization on the Hearne books. He’s way too good to be true, a tree-hugging Druid rather than a human sacrifice one. (Not that there’s anything wrong with tree-hugging. I do it myself. But he’s OTT.) I read the first four, which completes a story arc, after buying them on sale. Didn’t continue, because next book was expensive, and didn’t want to invest in a multi-book arc until it was complete.
I neither loved nor hated HOUNDED. I enjoyed the MC and his dog, the action, and interesting world once I got past the male juvenile humor (eg “wedgie” from a 2,000 year-old Druid). The narrator was perfect. The rest of the books are on my TBR, but not on the short list.
I agree with everything MariaK said. I DNF’d the second book though because the pantheon of gods got more elaborate and the addition of Christian saints made me uncomfortable. I read another book by him that’s a spin off of this series set in Ireland and it was even heavier on the male juvenile humor.
The Kevin Hearne sounded appealing but I never quite bit the bullet. Sounds like it’s not for me…
I want to like Olivia Waite b/c she writes beautifully, but it’s just a little too slow for me.
I enjoyed the Iron Druid books quite a lot, but they are definitely on the lighter side of the genre. A good dog, a cool magic system, and low angst is all I need in a paranormal sometimes.
Waspish Widows is actually my favorite in this series so far and it’s a solid A for me; snag it if you can!
I wanted to love the Olivia Waite but couldn’t. It’s quite slow but it’s dense enough to keep you interested. However, for me, it’s a history rewrite that doesn’t quite work — but I’m a historian of the 19th century and a bit of a stick-in-the-mud about things, so YMM certainly V. My sticking point? When they both said “Fuck” a lot. Two economically and socially middle-class women saying “fuck” with abandon is so unlikely that every other improbability in the book was dwarfed by comparison.
Should add, re rewriting history — KJ Charles, Sarah Waters, the tragically unsung Monica Nolan, and the Bridgerton series do the same thing and it works for me? I don’t know why the difference, but if someone could triangulate this for me I’d be obliged.
I cannot not recommend Hounded enough. It’s not just that the main character is a Gary Stu (which he is), or that the characterization of the female characters is sexist (which it is) — the MC has no motivations or agency as a character, he repeatedly ignores the Plot in favor of going to his favorite restaurant and ogling hot women, he and the rest of the cast insist that he is the most paranoid man to ever paranoid when he barely shows any signs of basic common sense (example: he finds out that a witch who is working with his worst enemy might have a sample of his blood, which she can use to do all kinds of freaky magic, and he doesn’t even bother to go check and see if this is true, instead deciding to — you guessed it — go to his favorite restaurant and ogle hot women), and he’s intensely rude and occasionally cruel to basically everyone he meets (example again: there’s a point towards the end of the book where he’s supposed to go save his friend and his dog who have been kidnapped by the villain — because the queen of the Irish pantheon set them up, because the MC literally would not do anything about the plot until she did — and he actually says that he was considering running away and leaving his friends to die). The villain is virtually non-existent, the Irish gloss is paper-thin and borderline offensive in places (I have definitely seen multiple Irish people who did not enjoy these books), and so much nothing happens. Plus, in the third book, he is leading an invasion into Asgard, and convinces the Frost Giants to help by offering them Freya as “the spoils”. And no, this is not some clever double-cross. He fully means it. It’s … it’s not a good time, is what I’m trying to say. I know a guy through the Internet who has been steadily dissecting these books for the last four years or so, and slowly losing his mind as he does (link if you’re interested: http://impishidea.com/tag/Iron-Druid-Chronicles/).
Olivia Waite drew the short straw on this cover, though. The heroine in the dress looks like she’s asleep, and the blonde in the suit looks disappointed at what she sees in the other heroine’s bodice.
@TMary The Freya thing was my breaking point. Really gross.
@Christine: It was for a LOT of people, I think! There’s just … a general lack of gravity surrounding sexual violence or abuse of any kind in these books? The MMC is repeatedly harassed, borderline assaulted, and definitely coerced into sex, and it’s supposed to be funny? Or sexy? Because he’s male and they’re female??? And then there’s a minor villainous character in the first book whose backstory is that she was almost raped by Nazis, and this is just a sort of throwaway line that has no basis on her character (she’s eventually messily killed and the MMC mails her head to her leader as a warning)? It’s just … very uncomfortable all around.