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Do You Want to Start a Scandal
RECOMMENDED: Do You Want to Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare is $1.99! This is part of the Castles Ever After series, but can be read on its own. Elyse loved this book:
I loved Do You Want to Start a Scandal. It’s funny, it’s sexy and it’s got some Clue-like shenanigans going on. If you have better self control than I do, I recommend savoring this book rather than powering through in one sitting (good luck).
On the night of the Parkhurst ball, someone had a scandalous tryst in the library. Was it Lord Canby, with the maid, on the divan? Or Miss Fairchild, with a rake, against the wall? Perhaps the butler did it.
All Charlotte Highwood knows is this: it wasn’t her. But rumors to the contrary are buzzing. Unless she can discover the lovers’ true identity, she’ll be forced to marry Piers Brandon, Lord Granville—the coldest, most arrogantly handsome gentleman she’s ever had the misfortune to embrace. When it comes to emotion, the man hasn’t got a clue.
But as they set about finding the mystery lovers, Piers reveals a few secrets of his own. The oh-so-proper marquess can pick locks, land punches, tease with sly wit . . . and melt a woman’s knees with a single kiss. The only thing he guards more fiercely than Charlotte’s safety is the truth about his dark past.
Their passion is intense. The danger is real. Soon Charlotte’s feeling torn. Will she risk all to prove her innocence? Or surrender it to a man who’s sworn to never love?
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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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The Day of the Duchess
The Day of the Duchess by Sarah MacLean is $1.99! This is the third book in the Scandal & Scoundrel series. Elyse read this one and ultimately gave it C+, mainly because she couldn’t forgive the hero for his actions:
If you really like a good grovel, this book might be your catnip. As much as I loved Sera and her sisters, I just couldn’t buy the reconciliation
The one woman he will never forget…
Malcolm Bevingstoke, Duke of Haven, has lived the last three years in self-imposed solitude, paying the price for a mistake he can never reverse and a love he lost forever. The dukedom does not wait, however, and Haven requires an heir, which means he must find himself a wife by summer’s end. There is only one problem—he already has one.The one man she will never forgive…
After years in exile, Seraphina, Duchess of Haven, returns to London with a single goal—to reclaim the life she left and find happiness, unencumbered by the man who broke her heart. Haven offers her a deal; Sera can have her freedom, just as soon as she finds her replacement…which requires her to spend the summer in close quarters with the husband she does not want, but somehow cannot resist.A love that neither can deny…
The duke has a single summer to woo his wife and convince her that, despite their broken past, he can give her forever, making every day The Day of the Duchess.Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
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Shanna
Shanna by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss $1.99! Old skool alert! This is definitely a formative historical romance text, but that comes with a warning that it probably won’t hold up. One of the foreign covers of Shanna is my absolute favorite.
A pact is sealed in secret behind the foreboding walls of Newgate Prison. In return for a night of unparalleled pleasure, a dashing condemned criminal consents to wed a beautiful heiress, thereby rescuing her with his name from an impending and abhorred arranged union. But in the fading echoes of hollow wedding vows, a solemn promise is broken, as a sensuous free spirit takes flight to a lush Caribbean paradise, abandoning the stranger she married to face the gallows unfulfilled.
But Ruark Beauchamp’s destiny is now eternally intertwined with that of the tempestuous, intoxicating Shanna. He will be free . . . and he will find her. For no iron ever forged can imprison his resolute passion. And no hangman’s noose will deny Ruark the ecstasy that is rightfully his.
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I’ve said this elsewhere, so excuse me if you’ve heard this before. I remember reading Kathleen Woodiwiss when she was originally publishing. I saved up to buy the big format paperback of Shanna, and read it many times (so much so, I know exactly the scene that that foreign cover is representing). Heed the warning, this is very much old skool romance, but if you want to try reading a Woodiwiss book, this is probably the best one. It is less rapey than The Flame and the Flower or The Wolf and the Dove, but the villains are very two dimensional and stereotyped (as of course are the hero and heroine. LOL.) I loved this as a teenager, but I can only roll my eyes at it now.
What tickles me about this list is that last night I enjoyed reading Kate Bateman’s This Earl is Mine, which begins with marry someone in prison to protect from abhorrent suitor. I thought this is a new trope but nope, it goes back at least as far as 1977.
Heads up – this is the second day in a row (at least, maybe 3rd?) that your referral links for Kobo aren’t working. I would love for y’all to get a kickback when I buy nearly every book on your list (like I’m doing today)!
@taffygrrl – That’s very strange! It’s working for us, which I do not understand. Can you tell me what happens when you click on the Kobo icon? Thank you very very much for looking after our affiliate revenue by flagging this for us. I really appreciate it!
$.99:
– Hugh (Single Dads of Gaynor Beach Book 4) by Gabbi Grey
$1.99:
– Digging Deep by Jay Hogan
– By Any Other Name by Lauren Kate
– Anthony: Single Dads of Gaynor Beach by Gabbi Grey
Free:
– The Hollywood Marriage Bargain: A Fake-Dating Small Town Rom-Com (Hollywood Bachelors Book 1) by Lila Monroe
– A Beach Far Away by BL Maxwell
– Royal Alien Mate (Savage Martians Book 1) by Sue Mercury
@LML The “marry a condemned man” bit is pretty old! I’ve read it in 1950s mystery novel The Bride of Newgate, which has imo an irresistible romance setup: a woman needs to marry in order to get an inheritance, but isn’t interested in marriage so she marries a guy who just got sentenced to hang for a duel in which he killed someone; but, right after the wedding, news arrives that a couple of the guy’s cousins died overseas and he inherited a title in the meantime, necessitating a new trial in the House of Lords/overturning his sentence. Now whoops they’re married and hate each other. I remember not loving the book, but I still love the premise.
My problem is that I enjoy your reviews more than 90% of the book you cover.
I DNFed “The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows”. It wasn’t that the book was bad or anything, I just got bored because it REALLY felt like nothing was happpening, put it down, and didn’t go back to it. I honestly think “The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics” is by far the best of the books that Olivia Waite has published with Avon.
@sbsarah: It’s fixed now! It was bringing me to a Linksynergy page that said, “This link does not exist.” I’m sorry I didn’t screenshot it!
@HeatherS: That’s funny – for me each book is better than the last! I found The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics to be a bit more of a slog than the others. Different strokes for different folks, I guess!
@Taffygrrl – that’s VERY weird. Thank you so much for letting me know it’s working, and again, for flagging it. I really appreciate that!
@emilyyy, Thank you for your interesting comment. I’m going to find the book you mentioned and read it! There’s something about this set up – the desperation, the surprise, the unexpected MOC – that I enjoy reading.
It’s not just condemned men that historical romance heroines marry when they don’t really want to be married. In Mary Jo Putney’s THE WOULD BE WIDOW, the heroine needs to be married by 25 to gain her inheritance. She also wants to have an affair with a handsome rake who only has affairs with married women. To find a suitable candidate for matrimony, she goes to a military hospital and finds a (supposedly) mortally wounded soldier who, after the marriage, has the audacity to recover. There’s also a sweet romance with the soldier’s sister and the doctor.