Hello, everyone! I am back and have taken command over Books on Sale once again. Apologies if these deals expire as I’m getting back into the routine and may have missed whether these were limited time deals.
Battle Royal
RECOMMENDED: Battle Royal by Lucy Parker is $1.99! Catherine gave this one an A-:
I loved Battle Royal. While it did have minor flaws, it more than made up for them with humour, tenderness, and food porn.
Beloved author Lucy Parker pens a delicious new romantic comedy that is a battle of whisks and wits.
Ready…
Four years ago, Sylvie Fairchild charmed the world as a contestant on the hit baking show, Operation Cake. Her ingenious, colorful creations captivated viewers and intrigued all but one of the judges, Dominic De Vere, the hottest pastry chef in London. When her glittery unicorn cake went spectacularly sideways, Dominic was quick to vote her off the show. Since then, Sylvie has managed to use her fame to help fulfill her dream of opening a bakery, Sugar Fair. The toast of Instagram, Sugar Fair has captured the attention of the Operation Cake producers…and a princess.
Set…
Dominic is His Majesty the King’s favorite baker, the go-to for sweet-toothed A-List celebrities, and a veritable British institution. He’s brilliant, talented, hard-working. And an icy, starchy grouch. Learning that the irksome Sylvie will be joining him on the Operation Cake judging panel is enough to make the famously dour baker even more grim. Her fantastical baking is only slightly more troublesome than the fact that he can’t stop thinking about her pink-streaked hair and irrepressible dimple.
Match…
When Dominic and Sylvie learn they will be fighting for the once in a lifetime opportunity to bake a cake for the upcoming wedding of Princess Rose, the flour begins to fly as they’re both determined to come out on top.
The bride adores Sylvie’s quirky style. The palace wants Dominic’s classic perfection.
In this royal battle, can there be room for two?
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This book is on sale at:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!The Dating Playbook
The Dating Playbook by Farrah Rochon is $2.99! This is book two in The Boyfriend Project series, though it works fine on its own. The heroine is a personal trainer and the hero is an athlete who wants to get back into the NFL.
When a personal trainer agrees to fake date her client, all rules are out the window in this delightful romantic comedy from the USA Today bestselling author of The Boyfriend Project!
When it comes to personal training, Taylor Powell kicks serious butt. Unfortunately, her bills are piling up, rent is due, and the money situation is dire. Taylor needs more than the support of her new best friends, Samiah and London. She needs a miracle.
And Jamar Dixon might just be it. The oh-so-fine former footballer wants back into the NFL, and he wants Taylor to train him. There’s just one catch — no one can know what they’re doing. But when they’re accidentally outed as a couple, Taylor’s game plan is turned completely upside down. Is Jamar just playing to win . . . or is he playing for keeps?
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This book is on sale at:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!My Fair Concubine
My Fair Concubine by Jeannie Lin is $1.99! This is a historical My Fair Lady style romance – set in the Tang Dynasty in China. Readers loved the retelling and the depth of characterization. However, some readers mentioned that the story dragged at time due to the lack of external conflict.
THE NOBLEMAN WHO TURNED A TEA GIRL INTO A PRINCESS…
Yan Ling tries hard to be servile-it’s what’s expected of a girl of her class. Being intelligent and strong-minded, she finds it a constant battle.
Proud Fei Long is unimpressed by her spirit-until he realizes she’s the answer to his problems. He has to deliver the emperor a “princess.” In two months can he train a tea girl to pass as a noblewoman?
Yet it’s hard to teach good etiquette when all Fei Long wants to do is break it, by taking this tea girl for his own…
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This book is on sale at:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!It Happened One Fight
It Happened One Fight by Maureen Lenker is $1.99! I believe we mentioned this on a previous Hide Your Wallet. The Old Hollywood setting definitely grabbed our attention
From Entertainment Weekly writer Maureen Lee Lenker comes a swoony romantic comedy set in the world of 1930s film.
Joan Davis is a movie star, and a damned good actor, too. Unfortunately, Hollywood only seems to care when she stars alongside Dash Howard, Tinseltown’s favorite leading man and a perpetual thorn in Joan’s side. She’s sick of his hotshot attitude, his never-ending attempts to get a rise out of her—especially after the night he sold her out to the press on a studio-arranged date. She’ll turn her career around without him. She’s engaged to Hollywood’s next rising star, after all, and preparing to make the film that could finally get her taken seriously. Then, a bombshell drops: thanks to one of his on-set pranks gone wrong, Dash and Joan are legally married.
Reputation on the line, Joan agrees to star alongside Dash one last time and move production to Reno, where divorce is legal after a six-week residency. But between on-set shenanigans, fishing competitions at Lake Tahoe, and intimate moments leaked to the press, Joan begins to see another side to the man she thought she had all figured out, and it becomes harder and harder to convince the public—and herself—that her marriage to Dash is the joke it started out as.
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IT HAPPENED ONE FIGHT (could also be subtitled “A Story of Never-Ending Big Misunderstandings”) is peak enemies-to-lovers. But, gees, the hurt they inflict on each other is heartbreaking, especially because the reader knows the MCs have deep and real shared feelings. Despite all of this, I did enjoy the book and the Old Hollywood setting, just … ouch.
For UK readers, it appears that most of Mick Herron’s Slough House books are on sale for .99 today.
For another old Hollywood book, with a mystery and slow burn romance, try Barbara Hambly’s Scandal in Babylon (not on sale afaik). For fans of early Hambly, this is ‘Bride of the Rat God’ re-written to not have magic. Ignore the BotRG elements, and enjoy it for what it is.
THE AMAZING ALPHA TAU BOYFRIEND PROJECT by Lisa Henry and Sarah Honey is $.99 in Kindle. This is a fairly unbelievable premise of inclusive frat bros in the South, but it’s honestly an absolutely adorable and fun MM read which I highly recommend.
WE COULD BE SO GOOD by Cat Sebastian is $1.99 !
https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/we-could-be-so-good-by-cat-sebastian/
Battle Royal was excellent, even though it had a less than usual amount of Lucy’s trademark humour.
I’ve read three of these books, Battle Royal, The Dating Playbook, and It Happened One Fight. I’d probably recommend Battle Royal and The Dating Playbook.They both have weaknesses, but I liked the main characters and their interactions with each other.
I’m a big fan of 30s, 40s romantic comedies and screwball comedies, so I should be the perfect audience for It Happened One Fight and yet. It’s clear that Lenke really knows her old Hollywood films and the people who created those films. But the plot is really uneven. Lenke draws on random biographical facts about various Hollywood personalities (Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Montgomery Cliff, George Cuckor, Errol Flynn) and their filmography and mashes all this together in uneasy mess that reads more like a fanfic than a novel. If you really love old Hollywood, you might enjoy this book, just for the fun of figuring which movies and people that Lenke is referencing in various scenes. Still I would consider picking up a second book if Lenke did one, just to see if she figured out to put together her knowledge of Hollywood with a solid plot because that would be a terrific read.
If you have not read the Cat Sebastian book mentioned above it is delightful.
I miss Jeannie Lin’s Harlequin historicals so much. They were such a welcome change from the usual Regency settings, and unlike many of the other HHs set in less typical times and places, they always felt professional. Lin has a real gift for evoking settings; you can practically smell the noodles cooking in the marketplaces.
$.99:
– The Spy by Nana Malone
– Mann Hunt by Peter E. Fenton
– Letters to Kelly (Harlequin Silhouette Intimate Moments Book 1213) by Suzanne Brockmann
Free:
– The Rule: A Workplace Sports Billionaire Romance (All In Billionaires Book 1) by Maggie Cole
Man, the third act of IT HAPPENED ONE FIGHT is BLEAK. I think the way the heroine behaves is effectively unforgivable (the grovel/resolution didn’t cut it for me at all, at least in part because it felt so wildly anachronistic.) Has a cool old Hollywood vibe, but can’t really recommend it as a romance.
@Kathryn:
The sequel, His Girl Hollywood, which is about Arlene, is coming out in January of next year