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The Fake Mate
The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson is $1.99 and a Kindle Daily Deal! Lara reviewed this one and gave it a C:
If this book had maintained its giddy pace all the way through, it would have absolutely delighted me. As it is, it’s a distinctly meh situation that I’m left with. Would I recommend it? Probably not. The first just-over-half is really fun reading, but it falls apart so dramatically after that, I ended up very disappointed.
Two wolf shifters agree to be fake mates but unexpectedly find something real in this steamy paranormal romantic comedy by Lana Ferguson.
Mackenzie Carter has had some very bad dates lately. Model train experts, mansplainers, guys weirdly obsessed with her tail—she hasn’t had a successful date in months. Only a year out of residency, her grandmother’s obsession with Mackenzie finding the perfect mate to settle down with threatens to drive Mackenzie barking mad. Out of options, it feels like a small thing to tell her grandmother that she’s met someone. That is, until she blurts out the name of the first man she sees and the last man she would ever date: Noah Taylor, the big bad wolf of Denver General.
Noah Taylor, interventional cardiologist and all around grump, has spent his entire life hiding what he is. With outdated stigmas surrounding unmated alphas that have people wondering if they still howl at the moon, Noah has been careful to keep his designation under wraps. It’s worked for years, until an anonymous tip has everything coming to light. Noah is left with two options: come clean to the board and risk his career—or find himself a mate. The chatty, overly friendly ER doctor asking him to be her fake boyfriend on the same day he’s called to meet the board has to be kismet, right?
Mackenzie will keep her grandmother off her back, and Noah will get a chance to prove he can continue to work without a real mate—a mutually beneficial business transaction, they both rationalize. But when the fake-mate act turns into a very real friends-with-benefits arrangement, lines start to blur, and they quickly realize love is a whole different kind of animal.
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A Hint of Wicked
A Hint of Wicked by Jennifer Haymore is $1.99! This is book one in the James Family historical romance series, and appears to have a love triangle. The sale price only seems to be reflected at Amazon, which I’m noticing a lot more lately.
Caught between two husbands, a woman must choose between duty and desire in this sexy Regency romance.
Sophie, the Duchess of Calton, has finally moved on. After seven years mourning the loss of her husband, Garrett, at Waterloo, she has married his cousin and heir, Tristan. Sophie gives herself to him body and soul . . . until the day Garrett returns from the Continent, demanding his title, his lands—and his wife.
Now Sophie must choose between her first love and her new love, knowing that no matter what, her choice will destroy one of the men she adores. Will it be Garrett, her childhood sweetheart, whose loss nearly destroyed her once already? Or will it be Tristan, beloved friend turned lover, who supported her through the last, dark years and introduced her to a passion she had never known?
As her two husbands battle for her heart, Sophie finds herself immersed in a dangerous game, where the stakes are not only love . . . but life and death.
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An American Beauty
An American Beauty by Shana Abé is $3.99! This is historical fiction based on the life of Arabella Huntington. I loved Abé’s paranormal historical romances, but haven’t tried her historical fiction novels.
This sweeping novel of historical fiction is inspired by the true rags-to-riches story of Arabella Huntington—a woman whose great beauty was surpassed only by her exceptional business acumen, grit, and artistic eye, and who defied the constraints of her era to become the wealthiest self-made woman in America.
1867, Richmond, Virginia: Though she wears the same low-cut purple gown that is the uniform of all the girls who work at Worsham’s gambling parlor, Arabella stands apart. It’s not merely her statuesque beauty and practiced charm–even at seventeen, Arabella possesses an unyielding grit, and a resolve to escape her background of struggle and poverty.
Collis Huntington, railroad baron and self-made multimillionaire, is drawn to Arabella from their first meeting. Collis is married and thirty years her senior, yet they are well-matched in temperament, and flirtation rapidly escalates into an affair. With Collis’s help, Arabella eventually moves to New York, posing as a genteel, well-to-do Southern widow. Using Collis’s seed money and her own shrewd investing instincts, she begins to amass a fortune.
Their relationship is an open secret, and no one is surprised when Collis marries Arabella after his wife’s death. But “The Four Hundred”—the elite circle that includes the Astors and Vanderbilts—have their rules. Arabella must earn her place in society—not just through her vast wealth, but with taste, style, and impeccable behavior. There are some who suspect the scandalous truth and will blackmail her for it. And then there is another threat—an unexpected, impossible romance that will test her ambition, her loyalties, and her heart.
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The Seventh Veil of Salome
The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is $1.99! This is a mystery novel set in Old Hollywood. Have any of you read this one?
A young woman wins the role of a lifetime in a film about a legendary heroine—but the real drama is behind the scenes in this sumptuous historical epic from the author of Mexican Gothic.
1950s Hollywood: Every actress wants to play Salome, the star-making role in a big-budget movie about the legendary woman whose story has inspired artists since ancient times.
So when the film’s mercurial director casts Vera Larios, an unknown Mexican ingenue, in the lead role, she quickly becomes the talk of the town. Vera also becomes an object of envy for Nancy Hartley, a bit player whose career has stalled and who will do anything to win the fame she believes she richly deserves.
Two actresses, both determined to make it to the top in Golden Age Hollywood—a city overflowing with gossip, scandal, and intrigue—make for a sizzling combination.
But this is the tale of three women, for it is also the story of the princess Salome herself, consumed with desire for the fiery prophet who foretells the doom of her stepfather, Herod: a woman torn between the decree of duty and the yearning of her heart.
Before the curtain comes down, there will be tears and tragedy aplenty in this sexy Technicolor saga.
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I don’t mean this to be critical of any one book, but am I the only one who’s just a liiiiittle tired of the fake dating/fake fiance/fake marriage trope? If I had met or even heard of literally one couple in my entire life who fake dated, maybe I would be less sick of it, but it just feels like there are a few tropes that are EVERYWHERE recently and I’m kind of “blah” on it (fake dating, enemies-to-lovers, rivals-to-lovers, fake dating, sibling’s-friend, fake dating). Maybe it’s the proliferation of self-published romance novels?
Ooo, loved The Seventh Veil of Salome. Old time Hollywood interwoven with a retelling of Salome’s story, questions of who gets to tell what stories and what goes into making those stories. This was a chewy read, along with being “a sexy Technicolor saga”.
The Seventh Veil of Salome is great (Moreno-Garcia does not write a bad book), in the vein of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo for historical fiction built around classic Hollywood. Moreno-Garcia also does not shy away from the racism of the period–the number of times Vera is called a “saucy senorita” or “hot tamale” by gossip columns and/or people she’s forced to work with had me *livid* on her behalf.
The Seventh Veil of Salome is my pick here too! It’s fantastic!
@Kim, I haven’t ever met a couple who’s fake dated, but for some reason, I love that trope, so maybe all those authors are targeting me, LOL. I guess it’s just outrageous enough for me to enjoy, and I find it fun how I guess it’s a version of forced proximity, which I also love…
@Kim I suspect it’s the proliferation of trope-based social media marketing. Authors are expected to throw up a cute little image with six to eight words that will supposedly tell book buyers everything they need to know to buy *this* book … and it must work, to at least some extent.
If I am tired of fake dating, I am tired of life. Or romance, at least. That and any kind of arranged marriage/marriage of convenience is my jam. It’s definitely not realistic, but I think that’s just how my buttons were installed. Not just the romances I read, but so many 80s/90s shows had an “oh no we have to be pretend to be together for dumb plot reasons.”
And I ate it up, almost every single time. I also love the movie Green Card and the TV show Spaced. The obsession is deep.
But it definitely doesn’t need to be in every book and I get that just b/c I like it’s not for everybody.
Can someone who has read the Jennifer Haymore please confirm whether they solve the problem as a thruple?
How did the cover for A Hint of Wicked miss out on Cover Snark Monday? That poor girl is finding an emergency use for that rose.
Interesting conversation on fake dating. I feel like that trope is slightly less popular than a couple years ago. I technically am not a fan but if it is well executed than I will go with it. I will say it just makes more sense to me in historical romance. The rules were more stringent. Marriage of convenience in particular is a favorite.
@Kim I think one of the reasons for why “fake dating” is everywhere is that it is seen as an easy, ready made pattern to set up the usual third act breakup with high drama and still have a believable reconciliation at the end.
It has many possible starts: from the relatable( wanting family to approve of life choices, looking great in front of an ex), to the stuff we know happens (showmance), to the ones we just accept (how many CEO have granparents that require marriage to inherit? The same amount as English Dukes in Regency historicals, I guess).
It also gives a reason for the characters not directly acting on attraction: it wasn’t in the original agreement.
For the third act break-up, there is the old “I want you to be happy, so I’ll free you to find someone you’ll love”. Which then can be solved within 30 pages by having the break-upee realizing the reason for the break-up and doing a Big Declaration.
As with every other trope, it is the writer (and editor) that make the story believable.
And I will give them all a try.
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@LisaM, I read all of Haymore’s books ages ago. Alas, there is no thruple HEA. One of the dudes is the hero of the second book.
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Late to the conversation, but yeah. I’ve never particularly sought out fake dating, and I can’t stand when a trope relies on people acting in bizarrely unrealistic ways to make it happen. Pushy meddlesome grandma requires you to have a date to Thanksgiving or you’re out of the will, or you want to show up at your 7.5 year high school reunion showing that you’re totally over your ex who went on to become a billionaire, or your high powered career is ruled by a sexist boss who thinks you need a marriage and kids to prove you deserve a promotion–sure, I guess some author could make it work. You blurt out the name of a real guy you hate, AND he agrees to pretend to be your boyfriend just because…why? Why would either of you do that?
I feel the same way with enemies-to-lovers, ostensibly one of my favorite tropes–yet every book advertising it seems to be ‘I hate his sexy, sexy face, ugh, why does my body respond so sexily to his mediocre insults?’ Why? Why is this how we’re doing this?
In general I’m just very, very tired of written-to-trope books. This is a [dark/cozy/second-chance] romance with a [curvy/quirky/tragic] heroine and a [mafioso/alpha bear shifter/adorkable] hero featuring [fake dating/sex magic/only one bed] and rated [three/four/five] ~chili peppers~ yet somehow it reads like every other mass market paperback. It’s [love/hate/confusion] at first sight.