Sweetest Scoundrel
Sweetest Scoundrel by Elizabeth Hoyt is $1.99! This is book nine in the Maiden Lane series, which is a favorite with many romance readers. Elyse was pretty excited about this release last November. We ran two guest reviews during out RITA® Reader Challenge (RIP). It earned a B and a C+.
SHE’S TAKING CHARGE
Prim, proper, and thrifty, Eve Dinwoody is all business when it comes to protecting her brother’s investment. But when she agrees to control the purse strings of London’s premier pleasure garden, Harte’s Folly, she finds herself butting heads with an infuriating scoundrel who can’t be controlled.
HE’S RUNNING THE SHOW
Bawdy and bold, Asa Makepeace doesn’t have time for a penny-pinching prude like Eve. As the garden’s larger-than-life owner, he’s already dealing with self-centered sopranos and temperamental tenors. He’s not about to let an aristocratic woman boss him around . . . no matter how enticing she is.
BUT LOVE CONQUERS ALL
In spite of her lack of theatrical experience-and her fiery clashes with Asa-Eve is determined to turn Harte’s Folly into a smashing success. But the harder she tries to manage the stubborn rake, the harder it is to ignore his seductive charm and raw magnetism. There’s no denying the smoldering fire between them-and trying to put it out would be the greatest folly of all . . .
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Love Lessons by Sarina Bowen is $2.49 at Amazon! This is part of both the Brooklyn and Brooklyn Bruisers series. The hero is a hockey player and his neighbor helps him rehab his image.
He needs an image makeover, she needs a mojo upgrade. A new lessons-in-seduction hockey romance from Wall Street Journal bestselling author Sarina Bowen.
After I’m arrested for throwing a raucous party, my hockey team says I have an image problem. And I need to fix it, stat.
Charity work? Check. Haircut? Sure. But I draw the line at hiring my neighbor to style me. In the first place “style” shouldn’t be a verb. And I’m tired of people who’d judge me on appearances.
Vera and I don’t see eye to eye on anything. She wants me to try on clothes, while I just want to remove hers. She’s distractingly pretty, with soulful eyes and a sinful mouth that likes to argue with me.
But when management threatens my summer vacation, I grudgingly agree to Vera’s unusual proposal: she’ll give me an image makeover. But in return, she wants lessons in the art of seduction.
It sounds a little nutty, but I know a good opening when I hear it. Besides, it’s not like I’ll ever fall for her…
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RECOMMENDED: The Stand-In by Lily Chu is $1.99! This is a debut contemporary romance. Elyse gave this one an A:
So we have a celebrity romance, women being friends and helping each other with their mental health, and reflections on identity and community. That’s a lot to pack into a book, but it all works and delivered by Philippa Soo’s incredibly soothing voice, it was totally my jam.
How to upend your life:
–Get fired by gross, handsy boss
–Fail to do laundry (again)
–Be mistaken for famous Chinese actress
–Fall head-first into glitzy new worldGracie Reed is doing just fine. Sure, she was fired by her overly “friendly” boss, and yes, she still hasn’t gotten her mother into the nursing home of their dreams, but she’s healthy, she’s (somewhat) happy, and she’s (mostly) holding it all together.
But when a mysterious SUV pulls up beside her, revealing Chinese cinema’s golden couple Wei Fangli and Sam Yao, Gracie’s world is turned on its head. The famous actress has a proposition: Due to their uncanny resemblance, Fangli wants Gracie to be her stand-in. The catch? Gracie will have to be escorted by Sam, the most attractive—and infuriating—man Gracie’s ever met.
If it means getting the money she needs for her mother, Gracie’s in. Soon Gracie moves into a world of luxury she never knew existed. But resisting Sam, and playing the role of an elegant movie star, proves more difficult than she ever imagined—especially when she learns the real reason Fangli so desperately needs her help. In the end, all the lists in the world won’t be able to help Gracie keep up this elaborate ruse without losing herself… and her heart.
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We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!Dance of a Burning Sea
Dance of a Burning Sea by E.J. Mellow is $2.49 at Amazon! This is book two in a fantasy romance series, with each book focusing on a different sister with magical talents. Have any of you picked up this series?
From award-winning author E. J. Mellow comes the thrilling second installment in the Mousai series, featuring a powerful sorceress who finds her loyalties tested by a ruthless pirate lord.
Within the world of Aadilor, there is a hidden place called the Thief Kingdom, where both magic and pleasure abound. There, the Mousai, a trio of deadly sorceresses bound by oath and blood, use their powers to protect the kingdom’s treasures.
Niya Bassette brings the potent gift of dance to the Mousai, but behind her tempting twirls, she carries a heavy secret—that the infamous pirate lord, Alōs Ezra, has been threatening to exploit for years. Now banished from the Thief Kingdom for smuggling, Alōs resurfaces in Niya’s life with a plot to hold her hostage, leveraging what he knows to extort a pardon from the Thief King.
But Niya makes her own deal with Alōs to guard her secret and guarantee her freedom—yet in doing so binds herself aboard his pirate ship, where she must navigate deadly waters, a bloodthirsty crew, and her own traitorous heart. Soon, a simmering attraction between her and Alōs threatens their delicate truce and makes for a tumultuous ride on the open seas. Far from her kingdom, Niya is entangled in a dangerous dance indeed.
Welcome to the world of Aadilor, where dark deeds can mask noble hearts and the most alluring of sways often ends with a burn. Care for a spin?
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I recall especially enjoying the audiobook version of The Stand-In, narrated by Phillipa Soo.
Sweetest Scoundrel was a solid C read for me – not great, not bad, just average. It is a good series, but I wouldn’t start it with this book. There is a continuing plot line that runs through the series that is better enjoyed by reading in order.
Love Lessons was a B for me. I don’t read a lot of contemporary, but Sarina Bowen always seems to hit the mark for me.
I am trying to read more fantasy romance, but so many of the recommended books, like Dance of a Burning Sea, seem to be “enemies to lovers”, which is one of my least favorite tropes. Sigh.
The first book “Song of the Forever Rains” was okay. World building was cool. Very steamy at the end (not for most of the story) so more fantasy than romance in my book. However…it required quite a lot of suspension of disbelief around some secret identities and pretty horrible treatment of the heroine that she kind of just shrugs off.
@Laurel – “enemies to lovers” is one of my least favorite tropes too! I have loads of queer recs for fantasy romance that is NOT enemies to lovers if anyone wants those, but some MF ones are:
-Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn (friends to lovers)
-Star of the Morning (first in a trilogy) by Lynn Kurland (he is gobsmacked with aw by her, she finds him less annoying than his brother. LOVE this couple)
-False Princess by Eilis O’Neal (friends to lovers)
And if you don’t mind that they are often shelved in teen/kids of course there is Robin McKinley, Gail Carson Levine, and Tamora Pierce – my gateway authors into this genre 🙂
@Mzcue: I second that emotion, for both text and narration.
@Laurel @drewbird I am so baffled by the popularity of enemies to lovers. Aways here for other queer fantasy (or paranormal) romance recs! Can’t do horror, no interest in bildungsroman. KJ Charles & T Kingfisher are my go-tos.
I liked the Lily Chu and I think of Sarina Bowen as pretty reliably decent, although I don’t remember that one at all, and I have noped out of some.
@drewbird and @kkw: Thanks for sharing your feelings about enemies to lovers, and for the recommendations of other books. (I tried a facebook group for some fantasy recommendations and it seemed like 98% were enemies to lovers.) And I can’t wait for more T. Kingfisher – her Paladins series is one of my favorites.
ONE OF US KNOWS by Alyssa Cole is $1.99 🙂
@kkw—i find it fascinating that you say you don’t like horror and then mention T. Kingfisher and KJ Charles who both definitely shade and sometimes write out and out horror. (I adore them both, personally, but haven’t read Kingfisher’s books that are based on Poe.)
@FashionablyEvil thank you for noticing my plight! It’s truly difficult being stuck in my brain. All the things I love are very thinly separated (if at all) from the things I cannot handle.
I have survived by training braver friends to pre-read for me. The poor souls who’ve had to share a bed with me during Buffy induced nightmares take my issues more seriously.
Sarah Monette is another one -it’s like a checklist of everything I want, but then also scary. Why? Why???
I thought the man on the Love Lessons cover was wearing a black lace bra, no joke.
@kkw—my theory about Kingfisher and Charles is that they both excel at “decent people trying their best.” Their characters may have flaws and make mistakes, but they’re usually trying to make the best of a suboptimal situation. Sometimes the settings for that get a bit too dark (like Charles’ Magpie series), but the stuff that makes their other stuff tick is still there and so I’m usually willing to go along for the ride.