Single Malt by Layla Reyne is $1.99! This is a gay romantic suspense novel with an age difference and a workplace romance. Hello catnip! I will warn that there appears to be a cliffhanger in this book. Reviewers had mostly good things to say about the pacing and characterization, and it has a 4-star rating on Goodreads.
TW: Sexual assault Joanna Shupe is one of my auto-buy authors, so I was bummed when The Heiress Hunt fell flat for me. This first book in her Fifth Avenue Rebels series promised a friends-to-lovers romance, which I adore, but the hero’s inability to grow or change left me lukewarm at the end. Harrison Archer is the second son to a tycoon and grew up in a pretty awful household. While his older brother, Teddy, … Continue reading The Heiress Hunt by Joanna Shupe
RECOMMENDED: Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton is $3.99! This is part of today’s Kindle Daily Deals. Carrie gave this one an A-, but warns it’s definitely not a romance:
This book broke my heart but it also made me so happy.
I am not in the mood for Christmas yet. Generally speaking, I’m not in the mood for Christmas on December 23rd even, but mid-fall is WAY too early. That said, my brain has been pretty tired lately and some Regency novellas sounded like the perfect way to unwind without investing in a full length novel. Since How the Duke Stole Christmas includes novellas by some of my favorite authors, I was willing to set aside … Continue reading How the Dukes Stole Christmas by Tessa Dare, Sarah MacLean, Sophie Jordan and Joanna Shupe
TW/CW: Domestic abuse, murder, sexual violence. Most are off the page, save for the latter. The Rogue of Fifth Avenue is a spin-off series from The Four Hundred series, though this book operates just fine on its own. It has a phenomenally gorgeous cover and the hero is Frank Tripp, a charming lawyer who we’ve met in other books. I adored the heroine’s chutzpah and how she never wavered in doing what was right, but … Continue reading The Rogue of Fifth Avenue by Joanna Shupe
A Notorious Vow is the first book of Joanna Shupe’s that I have read, though upon finishing, I immediately went and bought some backlist. What began as romance with a marriage of convenience between friends turned into a beautiful story of loving someone wholly and completely. I cried. Twice. Though this book is the third in the Four Hundred series, I had no problem reading this on its own. If characters from previous books appeared, … Continue reading A Notorious Vow by Joanna Shupe
Edited 14 December 2017: This review has been revised and the grade has been changed. Please see note at the bottom of this review for amended grade information. This week, while hanging out with the residents of my local cat café, I read my first Joanna Shupe historical. Shupe is known for writing American historicals set in the Gilded Age, and the first book of The Four Hundred Series, A Daring Arrangement, sticks to that theme. … Continue reading A Daring Arrangement by Joanna Shupe
RECOMMENDED: My Fair Duchess by Megan Frampton is $3.99! This is the fifth book in the Dukes Behaving Badly series. Several of Frampton’s titles are on sale for $3.99 or less!
The ending is a bit rushed, but that happens a lot. And the resolution of the Big Misunderstanding and the complications that are keeping Genevieve and Archie apart is pretty simple, in the end. That said, I enjoyed this SO MUCH. “Learning how to figure your shit out” stories are a particular favorite of mine at this point in my life, and this was a great read.
“Tycoon” is a charming story set in the Gilded Age. I’ve not come across many historicals set in this time period, and it’s a welcome change from the ubiquitous London Season. The novella opens with a “meet cute” – a young woman, Clara, approaches a stranger at a Grand Central Station and addresses him as “husband.” Ted is, needless to say, puzzled, although not so puzzled that he fails to notice how pretty she is. … Continue reading Tycoon by Joanna Shupe
The first full novel in Shupe’s Knickerbocker series, Magnate is about the Gilded Age in New York, a man who went from Five Points childhood to owning basically half of New York City, and a woman who wants to start an investment firm. It’s also one of those situations where the hero is a huge asshole, and the heroine only goes about halfway to call him out on it. Elizabeth Sloan is the only daughter … Continue reading Magnate by Joanna Shupe
We’re back with another trio of Lightning Reviews. These books either debuted this month or are coming out this upcoming week, so if these are on your TBR list, let us know! On the list, we have a historical romance novella, the end to a fantasy series, and a new romantic suspense.
