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Love on the Brain
Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood is $1.99! I feel like I rarely see Hazelwood’s books on sale and I do worry this one will poof immediately. However, if you wanted to give this one a try without waiting for a library hold to come in, this can be yours for less than $2.
A STEMinist rom-com in which a scientist is forced to work on a project with her nemesis–with explosive results.
Like an avenging, purple-haired Jedi bringing balance to the mansplained universe, Bee Königswasser lives by a simple code: What would Marie Curie do? If NASA offered her the lead on a neuroengineering project–a literal dream come true after years scraping by on the crumbs of academia–Marie would accept without hesitation. Duh. But the mother of modern physics never had to co-lead with Levi Ward.
Sure, Levi is attractive in a tall, dark, and piercing-eyes kind of way. And sure, he caught her in his powerfully corded arms like a romance novel hero when she accidentally damseled in distress on her first day in the lab. But Levi made his feelings toward Bee very clear in grad school–archenemies work best employed in their own galaxies far, far away.
Now, her equipment is missing, the staff is ignoring her, and Bee finds her floundering career in somewhat of a pickle. Perhaps it’s her occipital cortex playing tricks on her, but Bee could swear she can see Levi softening into an ally, backing her plays, seconding her ideas…devouring her with those eyes. And the possibilities have all her neurons firing. But when it comes time to actually make a move and put her heart on the line, there’s only one question that matters: What will Bee Königswasser do?
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Sorcery and Small Magics
Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy is $2.99! I just recommend this one to someone in Smart Bitches After Dark. If you didn’t know, I’m offering up personalized recommendations to subscribers and this one is a slightly cozy, queer, fantasy historical with rivals who are now magically connected after a curse goes wrong.
Desperate to undo the curse binding them to each other, an impulsive sorcerer and his curmudgeonly rival venture deep into a magical forest in search of a counterspell—only to discover that magic might not be the only thing pulling them together.
Leovander Loveage is a master of small magics.
He can summon butterflies with a song, or turn someone’s hair pink by snapping his fingers. Such minor charms don’t earn him much admiration from other sorcerers (or his father), but anything more elaborate always blows up in his face. Which is why Leo vowed years ago to never again write powerful magic.
That is, until a mix-up involving a forbidden spell binds Leo to obey the commands of his longtime nemesis, Sebastian Grimm. Grimm is Leo’s complete opposite—respected, exceptionally talented, and an absolutely insufferable curmudgeon. The only thing they agree on is that getting caught using forbidden magic would mean the end of their careers. They need a counterspell, and fast. But Grimm casts spells, he doesn’t undo them, and Leo doesn’t mess with powerful magic.
Chasing rumors of a powerful sorcerer with a knack for undoing curses, Leo and Grimm enter the Unquiet Wood, a forest infested with murderous monsters and dangerous outlaws alike. To dissolve the curse, they’ll have to uncover the true depths of Leo’s magic, set aside their long-standing rivalry, and—much to their horror—work together.
Even as an odd spark of attraction flares between them.
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The Other Bennet Sister
The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow is $2.99! Elyse read this one and gave it a B-:
I think fans of Pride and Prejudice will enjoy this novel, although it may not be very enjoyable for anyone who hasn’t read the original as we are expected to know this characters.
Mary, the bookish ugly duckling of Pride and Prejudice’s five Bennet sisters, emerges from the shadows and transforms into a desired woman with choices of her own.
What if Mary Bennet’s life took a different path from that laid out for her in Pride and Prejudice? What if the frustrated intellectual of the Bennet family, the marginalized middle daughter, the plain girl who takes refuge in her books, eventually found the fulfillment enjoyed by her prettier, more confident sisters? This is the plot of Janice Hadlow’s The Other Bennet Sister, a debut novel with exactly the affection and authority to satisfy Jane Austen fans.Ultimately, Mary’s journey is like that taken by every Austen heroine. She learns that she can only expect joy when she has accepted who she really is. She must throw off the false expectations and wrong ideas that have combined to obscure her true nature and prevented her from what makes her happy. Only when she undergoes this evolution does she have a chance at finding fulfillment; only then does she have the clarity to recognize her partner when he presents himself—and only at that moment is she genuinely worthy of love.
Mary’s destiny diverges from that of her sisters. It does not involve broad acres or landed gentry. But it does include a man; and, as in all Austen novels, Mary must decide whether he is the truly the one for her. In The Other Bennet Sister, Mary is a fully rounded character—complex, conflicted, and often uncertain; but also vulnerable, supremely sympathetic, and ultimately the protagonist of an uncommonly satisfying debut novel.
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The Wedding Witch
The Wedding Witch by Erin Stirling is $1.99! If you saw this one mentioned on Sarah’s New York Times roundup of holiday romances and wanted to snap it up…you’re in luck. It’s on sale!
The New York Times bestselling author of The Ex Hex and The Kiss Curse brightens up the Winter Solstice with another delightfully spooky novel following Bowen Penhallow and the girl he feels strangely drawn to—especially when she becomes his only hope of salvation after a strong spell sends them to a Yuletide celebration… more than 50 years in the past.
Bowen Penhallow has always been a loner, studying dark and ancient magic on a mountaintop in Wales. He prefers it that way. But when his friend Colin—who happens to be a ghost—asks him to attend a Yuletide wedding at a grand estate deep in the Welsh countryside, Bowen reluctantly agrees.
Tamsyn Bligh is not a witch, but she makes her living off of them. As a procurer and seller of magical items, Tamsyn’s business is not always above board, but she’s been trying to fix that (mostly.) Bowen is an occasional customer—as well as the star of several of Tamsyn’s dirtiest dreams—but she’s been around enough witches to know that, as a human, getting involved with one is not the smartest idea. She’s finagled an invite to the Witchy Wedding of the Century in the hopes of finally making a score big enough to retire. Just one priceless magical artifact from Tywyll House would set her up for life.
But Tamsyn isn’t the only one sneaking about in Tywyll House, and the mix of a very strong spell combined with a wedding mishap transports Bowen and Tamsyn into Tywyll House’s past, to the Yuletide Celebration of 1958. As Bowen and Tamsyn work together to get back to the present, they must also face off with the origins of Tywyll House’s haunting, the suspicions of their fellow witches…oh, and the fact that somewhere between the mistletoe and the bonfire, they might be falling in love.
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I haven’t read the Hadlow, so this isn’t a criticism of it, but it’s strange to me that there are so many Pride and Prejudice retellings/spins that feature Mary Bennet as a shy girl who loves to read, very much in the mold of more recent historical romance characters, when the book Mary’s preferred reading material is just sermons. It’s hard to portray her as a misunderstood character when one of the cringiest scenes is her taking bad news about Lydia’s future as an opportunity to lecture her sisters about chastity and how women are worthless without it! It might be interesting to write her a new story about religious trauma/overcoming her puritanical bent, but the Mary books I’ve seen definitely seem to be based on a completely different character, whereas book!Mary just reminds me of the meanest and most fervent fundamentalist girls I knew in high school.
I read Sorcery and Small Magics recently, and I did quite like it, but I’m not sure it counts as a complete romance book! Certainly the romantic storyline is the most prominent, but it doesn’t end in a HEA. The couple in question hasn’t ever confessed their feelings or hooked up by the end of the book. It was pretty frustrating overall, just because I did want that resolution.
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– Mistle-Joe Kisses: An MM holiday romance (Games We Play in Granville) by DJ Jamison
– His Boy to Tease: A Sizzling MM Christmas Romance (Naughty or Nice Season Two) by JP Sayle
– Satin Empire: An Arranged Marriage Mafia Romance (Rossi Crime Family Book 4) by B. B. Hamel
– Renewed Hearts (Thunder Ridge Series, book two) by Amy Stephens
– Forever Only Once (Promise Me Book 1) by Carrie Ann Ryan
$.99:
– Rookie Mistakes (part of the Lights Out m/m Formula 1 multiauthor series) by Beth Laycock
– Powerless: A Small Town Friends to Lovers Romance by Elsie Silver
– Reckless by Elsie Silver
– Hopeless by Elsie Silver
– Melted Hearts (Thunder Ridge Series book one) by Amy Stephens
– Unforgettable Hearts (Thunder Ridge Series book four) by Amy Stephens
– The Seduction of Lord Stone: A historical Regency romance novel (Dashing Widows Book 1) by Anna Campbell
– Tempting Mr. Townsend: An enticing Regency romance novel (Dashing Widows Book 2) by Anna Campbell
– Lord Garson’s Bride: A passionate Regency romance novel (Dashing Widows Book 7) by Anna Campbell
– An Alaskan Christmas: Now a Harlequin Movie, Love Alaska! (Alaskan Grooms) by Belle Calhoune
– The Flirt: A Single Dad Romance (The Leblanc Brothers) by Layla Hagen
$1.99:
– The Christmas Clash by Suzanne Park
– The Christmas Gathering by Shelley Shepard Gray, Rachel J. Good, Lenora Worth
– Dangerous: A Novel by Amanda Quick
$2.99:
– Broken Hearts (Thunder Ridge Series, book three) by Amy Stephens
– Cursed Calligrapher: A Tale of Witchcraft, Irish Legend, and Star-crossed Lovers. (The Perry Witches’ Legacy Book 1) by Hope Irving
$3.99:
– A Very Bellamy Christmas: A Sweet and Steamy Holiday Love Story (The Bellamy Sisters Book 5) by Minerva Spencer, S.M. LaViolette
I know I read “The Other Bennet Girl” a while back and enjoyed it, although it wasn’t particularly memorable. Still, since the BBC is turning it into a miniseries, I probably should revisit it.
I LOVED Sorcery and Small Magics, but two notes: 1, it’s not a historical, but a fantasy set in a totally secondary world, and 2, it’s the first in a trilogy with a (refreshingly) slow burn, meaning the ship hasn’t shipped yet. But boy, when it does, eventually, it will be so earned. One of my biggest issues with romantasy at the moment is that the couples are getting together way too early, so I love that Doocy chose to really build a believable connection and to make both her readers and characters suffer for love. To me, at least, that’s a lot more satisfying.
I greatly prefer slow burn over instalust. But I’m not a fan of glacial burn so I tend to side eye those and wait for the series to be complete. Especially if it’s not labeled as genre romance. I don’t trust that new to me authors will follow through on the HEA.
@Anna: Mary has always seemed to me to be trying to overcompensate. The book says she has a “pedantic air”, and we know she’s also quite plain. She’s trying to stand out as the middle of 5 daughters by trying to become accomplished, with two very pretty and sensible older sisters and two very silly younger sisters (indulgent and indulged by their equally silly mother). As a lot of us tend to do – especially in youth – she doesn’t manage to balance it well, so even when she means well, she can come off a bit harsh. The religiousness contrasts her in particular to Lydia, who is all about having fun and doing what feels good (regardless of social norms and expectations for a girl of her class).
I’ve honestly always felt bad for Mary as the largely ignored daughter, a favorite of neither parent – her father clearly preferred Elizabeth and Jane, and her mother Lydia and Kitty. If she was a bit harsh, I can’t really blame her, since Lydia’s running off to London could easily have ruined the family’s reputation and the marriage chances of all her sisters by association and rendered all the years Mary spent developing her accomplishments to wasted time and a future as a spinster. Their odds of making a good match weren’t especially good from the start, since they had almost nothing by the way of dowries and their father’s estate was entailed away and he had no title.