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Spellbound at Pemberley
Spellbound at Pemberley by Abigail Reynolds is $2.49 at Amazon! I thought this might appeal to the Bitchery as there is a magical Darcy. And also the description mentions dragons!
Fitzwilliam Darcy is a powerful mage and master of illusions. His abilities make him the perfect man for a dangerous mission to end the devastating war with Napoleon – a mission that would leave him little chance of returning alive. When he meets the enchanting Elizabeth Bennet, whose magical Talents are as deep as they are inexplicable, he knows he needs her help. And there’s only one way to get that – marriage. Immediately.
Elizabeth wants nothing to do with his plan. Marrying Darcy would mean breaking her strong and beloved magical bond to Longbourn and giving up the use of her Talent forever. Then dragons enter the war in Europe, and England’s survival hangs in the balance. And Elizabeth must make the ultimate sacrifice.
In this first book of the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Mage trilogy, dragons are already watching their newlywed journey to Pemberley, and a shocking discovery will force them to question everything they believe. Can they learn to trust each other and work together to save their country–and their lives?
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The Midwinter Mail-Order Bride
The Midwinter Mail-Order Bride by Kati Wilde is $2.99 at Amazon! This is a fantasy romance with an arranged marriage or sorts. It was recently highly recommended on our latest Rec League for books with Madmartigan and Sorsha vibes!
Some might call Princess Anja of Ivermere brave for offering herself up as a bride to Kael the Conqueror, a barbarian warlord who’d won his crown by the bloodied edge of his sword. It was not courage that drove Anja from her magic-wielding family’s enchanted palace, however, but a desperate attempt to secure a kingdom of her own — even if she has to kill the Conqueror to do it. She expects pain beneath his brutal touch as she awaits her chance. She expects death if he discovers the truth of her intentions.
She didn’t expect Kael to reject her and send her back to Ivermere.
Raised in the ashes of the Dead Lands, Kael fears nothing — certainly not the beautiful sorceress who arrives at his mountain stronghold. And no matter how painful his need for her, he has no use for a bride who would only tolerate his kiss. Yet the more of Anja’s secrets he uncovers during their journey to return her home, the more determined he becomes to win the princess’s wary heart.
And Kael the Conqueror has never been defeated…
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The Candid Life of Meena Dave
The Candid Life of Meena Dave by Namrata Patel is $2.49! This was mentioned on the site before. I believe this one skews more toward women’s fiction or fiction with strong romantic elements. Have you read this one?
A woman embarks on an unexpected journey into her past in an engrossing novel about identity, family secrets, and rediscovering the need to belong.
Meena Dave is a photojournalist and a nomad. She has no family, no permanent address, and no long-term attachments, preferring to observe the world at a distance through the lens of her camera. But Meena’s solitary life is turned upside down when she unexpectedly inherits an apartment in a Victorian brownstone in historic Back Bay, Boston.
Though Meena’s impulse is to sell it and keep moving, she decides to use her journalistic instinct to follow the story that landed her in the home of a stranger. It’s a mystery that comes with a series of hidden clues, a trio of meddling Indian aunties, and a handsome next-door neighbor. For Meena it’s a chance for newfound friendships, community, and culture she never thought possible. And a window into her past she never expected.
Now as everything unknown to Meena comes into focus, she must reconcile who she wants to be with who she really is.
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To Kiss a Thief
To Kiss a Thief by Susanna Craig is $1.99! This was featured in August 2016 Hide You Wallet post. Redheadedgirl said, “Second chance, arranged marriage, secrets and lies, basically full of catnips. All the catnips.” But reviews on Goodreads that the hero is a bit undeserving of the heroine. The next book in the series is on sale for 99c as well!
Can a marriage made for money blossom into something more?
Sarah Sutliffe, Lady Fairfax, dreams of love—until she overhears her new husband proclaim his heart will never be hers. Devastated, she offers no defense when a sapphire necklace disappears during a ball and she is accused of its theft. Instead, she runs away from the scandal…and the heartbreak.
St. John, Viscount Fairfax, has sworn never to love again. How could a mousy merchant’s daughter tempt him to break that vow? Three years after Sarah vanished, St. John uncovers her hiding place. Now, he’s out to prove she’s a thief before she steals his heart.
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THE BOOK OF DOORS by Gareth Brown, a recent debut release, is $1.99 at Amazon today. For me, this was a time travel book that actually made sense, if that’s possible. The characters have a lot of baggage and some of the action is quite violent. Ultimately, the resolution was so satisfying I have to read it again in that light. Any door is every door. Highly recommended.
I started THE CANDID LIFE OF MEENA DAVE and could tell it was my kind of book. Then life happened and it slid under Mt. TBR. Thanks for the reminder to start digging.
I really loved SPELLBOUND AT PEMBERLEY! I especially love the Elizabeth Bennet/Elizabeth Darcy version in this book as she comes to understand more about her own magic powers — and as she learns that her kestrel familiar Cerridwen who may have some secrets of her own. 🙂 I can’t wait for book 2!
I see Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews is 99 cents. I love this series. My favorite in the series is book 4, Sweep of the Blade, but you want to read the entire series in order, as the books are connected.
I am always impressed by the fact that Ilona Andrews have a number of series that are all excellent, and all so different. And all of them are really enjoyable.
This is not about a sale, but I just accidentally stumbled on the Amazon listing for the long-awaited third book in Loretta Chase’s current trilogy, which is showing as a late January release. Chase had posted a few months ago that she had finally finished this book, which has given her no end of trouble, and this is the first time I’ve seen evidence of it in the outside world. I’m genuinely uncertain whether to feel more excited for us readers or for poor Chase, who must be beyond relieved that she was finally able to wrestle it into submission and has an official slot for its release to the world.
@Laura George: I looked at this and thought WHY does this have to be P&P? It sounds perfectly plausible as a Regency era romantasy without piggy-backing on Jane Austen. It’s alright to have Lizzie and Darcy type characters with different names. I may pick it up anyway and pretend their names are Fred and Sue 🙂
@Sandra: I am wondering the same. In fact, I don’t even pick up free books if they’re based on Austen’s work since I consider that just lazy and a way of riding someone else’s coattails. I figure if they can’t come up with their own ideas, then they probably don’t have any good ideas. I have so many books to read as it is that I have to be brutal about picking up (or not) new ones so this gets added to my nope list of poorly written blurbs, tropes I know I don’t care for (such as step-siblings or huge age/power gaps), and cliffhangers.
Hi @Sandra and @Karen H near Tampa: I just finished teaching a Jane Austen class at my university a few weeks ago, and I’m just used to students and other folks steeped in reading worlds where fan fiction is normal, accepted, desired, admired, all kinds of things. But totally a normed and normal way to write and read. I had some really stressful things happen in my world last fall and developed a hobby of reading Reylo fics that had been transitioned into trad published books. I read the original fic that become Ali Hazelwood’s THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS, and I have to say that reading about faculty members with names like Luke Skywalker got distracting. The LOVE HYPOTHESIS version was much easier to read although I was still picking out which Star Wars character each character was based on.
I’m not sure that the issue is lack of imagination through. My students just love Elizabeth and Darcy so much that they have a hunger for more stories that feature them, or feature characters who act like them. They devour all kinds of P&P fan fiction, and I don’t really see a problem with it. Maybe it helps readers going in to already know: Darcy will start out standoffish but will come to love Elizabeth passionately. Would I enjoy a well-written love story with similar characters more if they were called Peregrine and Harriet? I’m just not sure.
In any case, I did find this book very well-written, engaging, and extremely enjoyable. And I really am looking forward to the next one. I was born quite a lot time ago, but interacting with students of all kinds has made me completely agnostic about the fan fiction debates. FWIW.
@Sandra – P&P ‘variations’ are pretty much all Abigail Reynolds puts out. She’s published a slew of them, each sort of playing on the What If concept. I haven’t read any of them but I’ve been intrigued enough to put a couple on my tbr, though not this one since I’m not really into magical fantasy. I’m generally curious about adaptations and retellings of P&P (and other stories, like Shakespeare) but I understand they’re not for everyone.
@Star, thank you for the update. I wondered myself, while reading the second Dangerous Dukes book, how in the world Ms Chase would resolve the situation with her third duke.
@Laura George: Maybe it helps readers going in to already know: Darcy will start out standoffish but will come to love Elizabeth passionately. Would I enjoy a well-written love story with similar characters more if they were called Peregrine and Harriet? I’m just not sure.
And that’s where we’re different. Unless it’s a P&P continuation (like The Murder of Mr Wickham) where I expected to see those two characters, Elizabeth and Darcy would throw me out of the story, whereas I wouldn’t have a problem with Peregrine and Harriet. Lizzie and Darcy come with a lot of baggage, especially in something like this, where apparently the only thing in common with P&P is the time period.
$.99:
– Breaking All The Rules by Amy Andrews
– My Ex’s Baby (Crescent Cove Book 8) by Taryn Quinn
– Cinders’ Bride: Sweet Mail Order Bride Series (Mail Order Brides of Texas Book 1) by Kathleen Ball
– Taming the Texan (Billionaires and Babies Book 2564) by Jules Bennett
– The Loner (The Vers Podcast Book 1) by Riley Hart
$1.99:
– The Golem and the Jinni: A Novel (Harper Perennial Olive Editions) by Helene Wecker
– The Hellion and the Hero by Emily Sullivan
– Ecstasy Unveiled (Demonica series Book 4) by Larissa Ione
$2.99:
– Crowne Collection: Five Standalone Billionaire Romances by CD Reiss (Includes Iron Crowne, Crowne of Lies, Crowne Rules, Fake Crowne, Crowne Jewel)
– The Knotting & Braiding Bible: The Complete Guide to Creative Knotting including Kumihimo, Macramé, and Plaiting by Dorothy Wood
$5.99:
– The Shaadi Set-Up by Lillie Vale
– Out of the Clear Blue Sky by Kristan Higgins
@Laura George I love what you said about fanfic and how it’s steeped into reading worlds now; I think it just enhances a reading experience if you’re used to it (I’m on year twenty-three of reading fanfic from all sorts of fandoms, and it continues to be a joy and comfort for me).
If I’ve loved a read so much I definitely will seek out fics to keep it going just as you’ve said, although I haven’t read any of the books that have transitioned to trad publications (that I know of, but I do tend to read mostly MM books and fics).
Ok first of all, there was a Madmartigan and Sorsha rec league?!?!?!?!?
Second, The Mid-winter Mail-Order Bride is wonderful and I genuinely don’t know what the cover model is wearing, but I promise no-one in the book is silly enough to dress like that in the snow.
Nice Dragons Finish Last (Heartstrikers Book 1) Rachel Aaron is currently free for US Kindle readers.
@Ely yes!! And it’s a good one 😉 https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2021/07/the-rec-league-madmartigan-sorsha/
Good to know that the heroine of The Midwinter Mail Order Bride wasn’t a runaway from the Met Gala, which is what she looks like on the cover.