Amazon has 30+ pages of romance novels on sale today and yes, we’re just going to ignore that Nicholas Sparks is on there.
Swordcrossed
Swordcrossed by Freya Marske is $2.99! Many of us were very excited for this release. Sarah also had Marske on the podcast to talk about it.
High heat. Low stakes. Sharp steel.
The cozy, low stakes of Legends & Lattes meets the scorching bodyguard fantasy of Jennifer L. Armentrout’s From Blood and Ash in this enemies-to-lovers romance where, yes, the swords do cross.
A LitHub most anticipated book of 2024
Mattinesh Jay, dutiful heir to his struggling family business, needs to hire an experienced swordsman to serve as best man for his arranged marriage. Sword-challenge at the ceremony could destroy all hope of restoring his family’s wealth, something that Matti has been trying—and failing—to do for the past ten years.
What he can afford, unfortunately, is part-time con artist and full-time charming menace Luca Piere.
Luca, for his part, is trying to reinvent himself in a new city. All he wants to do is make some easy money and try to forget the crime he committed in his hometown. He didn’t plan on being blackmailed into giving sword lessons to a chronically responsible—and inconveniently handsome—wool merchant like Matti.
However, neither Matti’s business troubles nor Luca himself are quite what they seem. As the days count down to Matti’s wedding, the two of them become entangled in the intrigue and sabotage that have brought Matti’s house to the brink of ruin. And when Luca’s secrets threaten to drive a blade through their growing alliance, both Matti and Luca will have to answer the how many lies are you prepared to strip away, when the truth could mean losing everything you want?
“There’s nothing in fantasy or queer romance that Marske can’t do.”—Sarah Rees Brennan
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A Dawn of Onyx by Kate Golden is $2.99! This is book one in the Sacred Stones Trilogy. I’m definitely curious about this fantasy romance, but I find that I don’t often have the patience to follow the same romance over several books.
The breakout TikTok fantasy romance!
Captured by the king of darkness, she was forced to find the light within.
Arwen Valondale never expected to be the brave one, offering her life to save her brother’s. Now she’s been taken prisoner by the most dangerous kingdom on the continent, and made to use her rare magical abilities to heal the soldiers of the vicious Onyx King.
Arwen knows better than to face the ancient, wicked woods that surround the castle on her own, which means working with a fellow prisoner might be her only path to freedom. Unfortunately, he’s as infuriating as he is cunning—and seems to take twisted pleasure in playing on Arwen’s deepest fears.
But here in Onyx Kingdom, trust is a luxury she can’t afford.
To make it out of enemy territory, she’ll have to navigate back-stabbing royals, dark magic, and dangerous beasts. But untold power lies inside Arwen, dormant and waiting for a spark. If she can harness it, she just might be able to escape with her life—and hopefully, her heart.
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One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig is $2.99! Lara wrote a Lightning Review of this one and gave it a B-:
This really was two very different paced books stuck together, which makes reviewing it rather difficult. Overall, I’m glad I read this book and I’m glad I stuck with it through the dull parts. There are enough loose strings to the plot that book 2 in the series promises to be a belter and I’ve already preordered it.
For fans of Uprooted and For the Wolf comes a dark, lushly gothic fantasy about a maiden who must unleash the monster within to save her kingdom—but the monster in her head isn’t the only threat lurking.
Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her.
Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom she calls home—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets.
But nothing comes for free, especially magic.
When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it. Except the highwayman just so happens to be the King’s own nephew, Captain of the Destriers…and guilty of high treason.
He and Elspeth have until Solstice to gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly, darkly, taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.
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Tangled Up in You by Christina Lauren is $1.99! This is book four in the Meant to Be Disney retellings series. A couple other books in this series are also on sale. I believe I’ve heard this one has some slightly darker elements than what you’d think, specifically about the heroine’s upbringing.
She has a dream. He has a plan. Together they’ll take a leap of faith.
Ren has never held an iPhone, googled the answer to a question, or followed a crush on social media. What she has done: read a book or two, or three (okay, hundreds). Taught herself to paint. Built a working wind power system from scratch. But for all the books she’s read, Ren has never found one that’s taught a woman raised on a homestead and off the grid for most of her twenty-two years how to live in the real world. So when she finally achieves her lifelong dream of attending Corona College, it feels like her life is finally beginning.
Fitz has the rest of his life mapped out: graduate from Corona at the top of his class, get his criminal record wiped clean, and pass himself off as the rich, handsome player everyone thinks he is. He’s a few months short from checking off step one of his plans when Ren Gylden, with her cascading blonde hair and encyclopedic brain, crashes into his life, and for the first time Fitz’s plan is in jeopardy.
But a simple assignment in their immunology seminar changes the course of both their lives, and suddenly they’re thrown out of the frying pan and into the fire on a road trip that will lead them in the most unexpected directions. Out on the open road, the world somehow shifts, and the unlikely pair realize that, maybe, the key to the dreams they’ve both been chasing have been sitting next to them the whole time.
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RECOMMENDED: Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner is $2.99! Carrie reviewed this one and gave it a B+:
I had a crappy, stressful week and I was tired and I don’t care about soccer AND YET I found Cleat Cute to be delightful. Honestly if this book worked for me on this particular week it ought to work for anybody. This Grumpy/Sunshine f/f romance has clear traces to Ted Lasso but not so many as to feel derivative. It’s just a really nice story about two decent human beings falling in love.
Grace Henderson has been a star of the US Women’s National Team for ten years, even though she’s only 26. But when she’s sidelined with an injury, a bold new upstart, Phoebe Matthews, takes her spot. Phoebe is everything Grace isn’t—a gregarious jokester who plays with a joy that Grace lost somewhere along the way. The last thing Grace expects is to become friends with benefits with this class clown she sees as her rival.
Phoebe Matthews has always admired Grace’s skill and was star struck to be training alongside her idol. But she quickly finds herself looking at Grace as more than a mere teammate. After one daring kiss, she’s hooked. Grace is everything she has been waiting to find.
As the World Cup approaches, and Grace works her way back from injury, the women decide to find a way they can play together instead of vying for the same position. Except, when they are off the field, Grace is worried she’s catching feelings while Phoebe thinks they are dating. As the tension between them grows, will both players realize they care more about their relationship than making the roster?
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Radiance by Grace Draven is 99c! This was a previous book club pick on the site and a fantasy romance. I remember really liking this one, especially the beginning dynamics between the hero and heroine. Have you read it?
THE PRINCE OF NO VALUE
Brishen Khaskem, prince of the Kai, has lived content as the nonessential spare heir to a throne secured many times over. A trade and political alliance between the human kingdom of Gaur and the Kai kingdom of Bast-Haradis requires that he marry a Gauri woman to seal the treaty. Always a dutiful son, Brishen agrees to the marriage and discovers his bride is as ugly as he expected and more beautiful than he could have imagined.
THE NOBLEWOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE
Ildiko, niece of the Gauri king, has always known her only worth to the royal family lay in a strategic marriage. Resigned to her fate, she is horrified to learn that her intended groom isn’t just a foreign aristocrat but the younger prince of a people neither familiar nor human. Bound to her new husband, Ildiko will leave behind all she’s known to embrace a man shrouded in darkness but with a soul forged by light.
Two people brought together by the trappings of duty and politics will discover they are destined for each other, even as the powers of a hostile kingdom scheme to tear them apart.
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As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
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Next to You by Hannah Bonam-Young is $1.99! This is a contemporary friends to lovers romance where the main characters are turning a bus into a cozy, movable tiny home.
Two friends battle feelings for each other as they work together to renovate a school bus into a home in this charming romance novel from the viral TikTok author of Next of Kin and Out on a Limb.
“Warm, sexy, and vulnerable . . . Hannah Bonam-Young needs to be on your romance radar.”—Hannah Grace, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Icebreaker
Lane is in the middle of an identity crisis. Her friends are all partnered up, her career is heading nowhere, and simply put, she’s not happy. So, after a night out celebrating her birthday, she makes one hell of an impulsive a giant yellow forty-eight-passenger school bus that she intends to make her home.
With little-to-no renovation experience but a large sum of inheritance money, Lane enlists the help of her friend Matt—a mechanic by trade, handyman by practice, and hottie by nature.
While their mutual attraction is undeniable, Matt and Lane have silently agreed that a friendship is the only thing that can ever exist between them. Matt’s a total family guy with “settle down with me” tattooed across his forehead, whereas Lane is entirely commitment averse. It could never work . . . right?
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Truly, Madly, Deeply by Alexandria Bellefleur is $1.99! This is Bellefleur’s latest full-length novel. However, a new release is slated for October and it includes a deal with a sexy demon.
Sparks fly when a lovelorn romance novelist and a divorce lawyer who has sworn off relationships agree to cohost a podcast series offering dating advice to viewers, in Truly, Madly, Deeply, the next steamy queer rom-com from Lambda Literary Award winner and national bestselling author Alexandria Bellefleur.
As a bestselling romance novelist, everyone thinks Truly Livingston is an expert on happily-ever-afters. She’s even signed on to record a podcast sharing relationship advice. Little do they know she feels like an imposter—her parents just announced they’re separating, she caught her fiancé cheating, and her entire view on love has been shaken to the core. Truly hopes the podcast will distract her… until she meets her cohost.
Her first impression of Colin McCory is…hot. But then he opens his extremely kissable mouth. Colin’s view on love just pisses Truly off, even if he does have an annoyingly attractive face. Bickering with a cynical divorce lawyer is the last thing she needs—so she walks out, with no plans to return.
A few days later, Truly is surprised when Colin tracks her down, asking for a fresh start. Truly can’t deny the little thrill she gets from Colin begging, so she reluctantly agrees. As they go from enemies to friends to something else entirely, Truly discovers they have more in common than she ever imagined, including their shared queerness. He’s a genuinely good guy—charming, sweet, and equally as unlucky in love as herself—and there’s something about Colin that drives Truly a little wild. When their attraction reaches a fever pitch, Truly is happy for the first time in years. Yet she can’t help but wonder… is Colin truly, madly, deeply in love with her? Or is it all too good to be true?
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Dishonestly Yours by Krista and Becca Ritchie is $1.99! This is the first book in the Webs We Weave series. I mention this one in a previous Hide Your Wallet because I was tempted by the conwoman heroine.
Starting fresh is the only way Phoebe can escape a life of crime, but her best friend’s older brother complicates honest dreams in this gripping new series from the authors of the Addicted series.
Phoebe Graves grew up in a family where deception and seduction are as commonplace as breathing. The Graves and her best friend Hailey’s family have been on the run their whole lives, but after a high-stakes con job goes south, Phoebe and Hailey decide to run away and start over. The small Connecticut town they settle in seems too good to be true.
The biggest flaw in their plan is Hailey’s frustratingly handsome brother, Rocky, who insists on coming with them. Living honestly isn’t in his DNA, and his past with Phoebe is downright messy. He’s everything she wants, but nothing she can have.
Phoebe worries that Rocky will tempt them back into their old ways, where lying is second nature. She doesn’t want Rocky to mess up the new life she’s begun for herself. The longer she stays in town, the more she realizes what it means to have a reputation—and what a normal life with the man she loves could look like.
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Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is $1.99! This is a mix of urban fantasy and horror. I believe I grabbed this from the romance KDD list today (I usually open a gazillion tabs when building the BoS), but I don’t remember there being much romance.
From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic comes a pulse-pounding neo-noir that reimagines vampire lore.
Welcome to Mexico City, an oasis in a sea of vampires. Domingo, a lonely garbage-collecting street kid, is just trying to survive its heavily policed streets when a jaded vampire on the run swoops into his life. Atl, the descendant of Aztec blood drinkers, is smart, beautiful, and dangerous. Domingo is mesmerized.Atl needs to quickly escape the city, far from the rival narco-vampire clan relentlessly pursuing her. Her plan doesn’t include Domingo, but little by little, Atl finds herself warming up to the scrappy young man and his undeniable charm. As the trail of corpses stretches behind her, local cops and crime bosses both start closing in.
Vampires, humans, cops, and criminals collide in the dark streets of Mexico City. Do Atl and Domingo even stand a chance of making it out alive? Or will the city devour them all?
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For anyone who has not read everything KJ Charles has written, A FASHIONABLE INDULGENCE (Society of Gentlemen Series Book 1) is a limited time KU US deal at $1.99.
Radiance is one of the best fantasy romances out there! I will die on the hill that Grace Draven is to be protected at all costs (along with Ilona & Gordon Andrews).
Swordcrossed is *not* low stakes, cozy fantasy. I totally recommend it, but like, not for when one needs no plot only vibes. For example one of the MCs has panic attacks and his family’s survival is depending on him.
Certain Dark Things was delightful. Also not low stakes, but at least it isn’t being sold out by the cover design. I can’t always hack Moreno Garcia because I can’t do horror and she’s too good at creepy, but this one was fine for me.
Lots of good ones here; like Cleat Cute and Next to You and Truly Madly Deeply the best.
I second Radiance. I also enjoyed Tangled though some aspects are farfetched.
Free today for US Kindle readers ~
Lisa Henry’s Two Man Station (Emergency Services Book 1)
Liv Rancourt’s The Accidental Necromancer
Reading Radience led me to glom most of Draven’s back list. It has a a truly wonderful monsters to friends to lovers journey.
@kkw Big agreement on Sword Crossed, I was actually mildly stressed out due to the family financial stuff as well as the general familial dynamics for Matti, one of the MMCs. I wouldn’t count it as low stakes (or particularly cozy) at all.
It’s not my favorite book of Marske’s since it kind of hits some stuff I don’t love, especially that Mattie’s role in his family is a super strong Eldest Sibling Dynamic (weight of the world on his shoulders, strong implicit and explicit internal AND external expectations, feelings of failure/hopelessness about living up to those expectations…ugh). I did like the wool trade stuff though (maybe just me haha), I’d probably read another book set in this world.
Going back to the marketing, I’ve also heard Freya Marske’s Last Binding trilogy get the “cozy” label and…what!? It’s a great series (highly recommend, Edwardian Era with magic, house parties from hell, not at all cozy)! I don’t know where publishers/marketers are getting this from but ugh I really wish they wouldn’t do it. It must bump sales…
A Dawn of Onyx by Kate Golden isn’t showing any affiliate links 🙁
@Jazzlet: Updated. Forget to click a button!
The comments on the Marske remind me of something interesting an sf/f author friend of mine said recently. She loves cozy mysteries but not cozy fantasy, and she said that she thinks the problem is the lack of formula: with cozy mysteries, the draw is that you know every single beat in advance, but with cozy fantasy, there’s no formula and the draw is vibes, and consequently no one can even quite agree on what it is or what books qualify for it beyond at least one person finding a book similar to Legends and Lattes in some undefined capacity.
Why does poor Alexandra Bellefleur always seem to get stuck with covers full of uncanny valley mannequin people?? I thought she must be self-published, but it looks like she isn’t??
I wanted to like Sword Crossed more than I did. I gave it 3.5 / 5 stars. I enjoyed the queer/trans normative worldbuilding and the characters but the plot got tedious, especially during the last third.
I loved Freya Marske’s previous trilogy and I had high expectations for this one. I wish I’d known that this is actually the first book she wrote, even though it’s her fourth to be published. It’s pretty damn good for a debut, but it didn’t live up to my expectations.
I agree that it’s not low stakes by romance genre standards (although I guess it’s low by fantasy standards, since they’re not trying to save the world, just the family business).
$.99:
– One and Only : a single dad, fake marriage sports romance (Wilder Family) by Karla Sorensen
– Scoring Fast (Rivals) (Scotia Storms Hockey Book 8) by Cathryn Fox
– Rocky Start by Jennifer Crusie, Bob Mayer
– Scene Queen (The Court Book 2) by Charlie Novak
– Demon: A Memoir by Tosca Lee
– Wedding the Wide Receiver (The Nash Brothers Book 2) by Lisa Suzanne
– Striking a Chord at Randy’s by K.C. Carmine
– Just One Favor by Stephanie Rose
A publisher’s sale: https://entangledpublishing.com/featured-books/love-is-in-the-air
$1.99:
– One Minute to Midnight (Black Ops: Automatik Book 2) by Nico Rosso
– The Love Experiment (Stubborn Hearts Book 1) by Ainslie Paton
– Irresistibly Yours: An Oxford Novel by Lauren Layne
– Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee
– The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie
Free:
– Mission at Midnight: A Romantic Opposites Attract Mystery & Suspense Family Saga Regency Romance (Chronicles of the Westbrook Brides Book 2) by Collette Cameron
– Counted by Noelle Adams
– Taming Her by Lily Harlem
– The Flower Arrangement: MM Contemporary Romance Novella (Pursuit of Love Book 1) by K.C. Carmine
– Affogato (BrewBiz Book 1) by E.M. Lindsey
– Papa’s Gift: A Historical Daddy Dom Romance (Little Ladies of Talcott House Book 3) by Sue Lyndon, Celeste Jones
A free event today: https://www.bookedinchaos.com/bookedinlove
An LGBTQIA+ event: https://books.bookfunnel.com/GivingTheGiftOfLove2025/vctrbf8kjz
A kink event: https://kinkyourbookshelf.com/
A LOT of the Discworld books are 1.99 right now! I read The Wee Free Men recently and adored Tiffany Aching – highly recommend that one (also you can start there – this was my first Prachett and I was fine), but if you are at all interested in giving Terry Prachett a try now would be a great time to pick up a book or 2.
we’re just going to ignore that Nicholas Sparks is on there.
Confirmation that I am among my people.
These collections are more expensive at $14.74 than the sales that are usually mentioned here, but considering how rarely Georgette Heyer books go on sale, I think the price is probably worth it. The only problem I’m having is that each collection has one book that I think oh nooo, I don’t want that one.
Classic Heroines has Cotillion, Faro’s Daughter (one of my favorites), Friday’s Child (ack, not great) & the novella Bath Miss.
Classic Heroines has The Grand Sophy (the absolute definition of why Heyer is a problematic favorite), Arabella, Frederica (another one of my favorites) & the novella To Have the Honor.
And Classic Heroines has Venetia, These Old Shades, Devil’s Cub & the novella Pistols for Two. The cover for this one is making me think of the Winter Soldier auditioning for the role of Mr Darcy.
$0.99
The Boyfriend Goal, Lauren Blakely
The Royal Rebel, Elizabeth Chadwick
Rocky Start – this is apparently book 1 of a 3 book series by Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer that I’ve never heard of before?
$1.99
Kiss The Girl, Zoraida Córdova (I have a paperback of this book, considering getting an e-book also)
Sizzle & Grace Under Fire, books 8 & 14 of the Buchanan/Renard/Mackenna series by Julie Garwood
$2.99
On the Night of the 7th Moon, Victoria Holt. Hear me out. This was written in 1972. I recently re-read Mistress of Mellyn and it was just as melodramatic and “gothic” (i.e. absurd) as I remember it being when I read it in the 90s, so maybe this is too?
I enjoyed Rocky Start and the second in the series very much and impatiently await the next book It isn’t quite as lighthearted as the cover indicates, but I enjoyed these far more than earlier Crusie collaborations with Bob Mayer.