Today’s Steals and Deals at AAR…..

There’s something, from the perspective of 2023, about reading Medieval romances that’s deeply satisfying. Maybe it reminds us how lucky we are to have indoor plumbing and antibiotics! If you love a good Medieval, Susan King’s The Heather Moon is for sale today. (Our review is here.)

Tamsin Armstrong is a brave, stubborn woman. Half Scots and half Gypsy, she is not quite comfortable in either world. She enjoys the wandering life and comfortable clothing of her Gypsy relatives, but she finds some of their customs too restrictive. Most of the time she lives with her Scottish father, Archie Armstrong, but many Scots scorn her because of her Gypsy heritage. To make matters worse, she was born with a deformed hand. Consequently, many Gypsies feel she is bad luck, and many Scots think it’s a sign of witchcraft. Although Tamsin comes across as brash and independent, she secretly longs to be accepted and loved. But both Archie and her Gypsy grandfather have tried in vain to find her a husband.

When Tamsin and her father are caught by Jasper Musgrave during a border raid, her life is fated to change. Musgrave is English, but one of his associates is William Scott, the son of Archie’s best friend Allan Scott, who was hanged as a thief when William was a boy. Archie and Allan had always wanted their children to marry, but Allan was killed before a betrothal contract could be signed. Although William appears to be working with their English captor, Archie still feels he can trust the son of his friend. So when a chain of events places Tamsin in William’s custody, Archie agrees to let her go with him, hoping that his dreams of a match between the two will be realized.

William is actually part of a complicated plot. He is fiercely loyal to Scotland, but the English believe him to be out of favor with the Scottish court. King Henry VIII has a plot to kidnap the infant Mary, Queen of Scots, and Musgrave hopes to enlist William’s help. While William pretends to go along, he is secretly reporting to Mary of Guise, the infant queen’s mother.

However, political events fade into the background once William and Tamsin are together. The two are forced into a marriage of convenience, but they both consider the marriage to be more of a friendship which will eventually be dissolved. But when they spend more time together, they begin to wish that the marriage were a real one. Tamsin is amazed that William accepts her and finds her beautiful despite her deformity. William is enchanted by Tamsin and feels drawn to her by fate. But soon after they profess their love, political events again come to the forefront and William and Tamsin hold the fate of Scotland’s queen in their hands. They need to uncover the plot to kidnap her and secure her safety before they can make their marriage a real one.

Get it for 2.99 here.


Perhaps a similar ethos is at play when we read American Historical romances. Where the Wind Blows is a good Western romance. (Our review is here).

Jessie Strong grew up in an orphanage and was adopted as a teen by a family who wanted her to help take care of their children. She worked hard and loved the children, but the father turned out to be a bully who beat his wife to death for getting pregnant again. When he began to look at Jessie in “that way”, she ran off to try and find a job. No one would hire her, and in desperation, she ended up in a saloon, as a prostitute. Her first customer was an older man named Nathan Strong who took pity on her and married her. They live on a small farm outside of town and were about to adopt a little girl from the orphanage. As the story begins, Jessie is expecting Nathan back from a temporary job at the Bar T Ranch. When she hears a knock on the door, it isn’t Nathan there, but a young man who calls himself Chase Logan. Chase informs Jessie that Nathan has been killed.

Chase is a loner and a wanderer, moving from job to job. He owns a small ranch, but hasn’t lived on it much since he feels confined if he stays in one place for too long. While he’s at Jessie’s house, the superintendent of the orphanage comes by with the little girl for Jessie and a young teenage boy named Gabe. The superintendent thinks that Chase is Nathan and since Jessie is bent on adopting Sarah (and Gabe), Chase pretends to be Jessie’s husband and signs the adoption papers.

Jessie wants Chase to stay around for awhile, just so that the superintendent won’t get suspicious, and he agrees. He finds other reasons to stay around as well, and when Mrs. Hollyhock (a nice, but nosy woman from town) gets wind of him at Jessie’s house, Chase ends up marrying Jessie to save her reputation.

Jessie was a sweet woman who had the amazing ability to keep her golden blond hair sweet and shiny and untangled even though she spent a large part of the book with it flowing down her back and she never seemed to wash it. She’s very kind, loves children and animals and is a pretty resourceful character. She’s a virgin widow, for no good reason that I could see except to keep her for Chase. I liked her well enough, but she’s a pastel character.

Chase is more colorful. He’s a very good example of a rootless, wandering man who finds stability and community in love. He’s been on his own since he was a young teen, and due to a botched love affair several years ago, has decided he will never settle down.

It’s 1.99 at Amazon here.


Modern life is SO complicated–one of the joys of historical romances is that they make often make the past seem easier to parse. That is certainly true of Patterns of Love, a book our reviewer flat out adored.

Inga Linberg is hired by Dirk Bridger, an unmarried man in desperate need of a housekeeper. For all her twenty-two years, Inga has assumed she will never marry, but will instead be her father’s helper in his ministerial works. She believes this is God’s destiny for her and to ask for more (a man, love, marriage, babies) would be a sin. Stepping completely out of character, sensible Inga makes a snap decision to leave her family and go to work for Mr. Bridger. But, when she falls in love with her handsome employer and begins to spin “what if” dreams, she feels a tremendous amount of guilt over what she considers “wanting too much.”

At twenty-seven, Dirk Bridger’s own dreams were shattered when his brother and sister-in-law were drowned, leaving Dirk a dairy farm to run and two young nieces to raise. Now, two years later, he is also responsible for the care of his ailing mother.

Dirk had been one to dream big dreams about traveling the world, never getting tied down to one place, never marrying. But he leaves all that behind the day he returns to Iowa to take up where his brother had left off. Never one to shirk responsibilities, nonetheless, in his heart Dirk is bitter and angry at having been forced to put off his own desires to keep his brother’s legacy going. But he is not one to take out his bitterness on his nieces or mother. Dirk directs his anger inward. He views his life as one grand failure after another, and it tears him apart. He is a kind and decent man with whom Inga and I (gasp, did I say that?) could not help but fall in love.

Circumstances that move through real lives touch Inga and Dirk’s: If there’s one thing you can say about life, it’s that “things” happen . . . good things, bad things, things that shape our relationships and impact our families. Kindnesses and hurts, joys and sorrows, issues we bring with us and challenges thrust upon us. Patterns of Love is basically the story of how two very hurt, very lonely people find each other amidst all the layers, and how hearts can be healed through the power of genuine love.

Patterns of Love is not the kind of romance I usually read, so it is a testament to Ms. Hatcher’s skill that I picked up this book and did not put it down until I had finished it. And, when I finally did, that I regretted I could not look out my kitchen window and wave to Inga and Dirk, Martha and Suzanne, the Linbergs, the Dolks, Dr. Swenson, Karl and Thea, or the rest of the wonderful population of Uppsala, Iowa. Go meet these folks for yourself. And if you end up with a little smile on your lips, a gentle tugging in your heart, or a few sentimental tears in your eyes, ja, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

You can purchase it here for 1.99.


 

Historicals not your thing? No worries! How about really good PRN (paranormal) romance? We gave The Beautiful Ashes a DIK.

Ivy is just twenty the day her life changes forever. Her sister disappears, and several days after, her parents are killed in a tragic accident. Now, Ivy is alone, trying to track down her still-missing younger sister. All her life, Ivy has known she isn’t quite like everyone else, because she sees things no one else can see. Her parents took her to countless doctors. Ivy is now on medication for what everyone considers hallucinations, and she’s doing her best to live a normal life. Now, Ivy must give up all pretense of normality, especially when a handsome stranger convinces her that her hallucinations are actually glimpses into a parallel universe.

Adrian was raised among demons, and is considered to be a sort of demonic prince. What the demons don’t realize is just how much he hates them and what terrible things he has done in the name of all that is demonic. Both Ivy and Adrian have destinies to fulfill. The problem is that they are in direct opposition to one another. With Ivy by his side, Adrian could bring the demon realms down, but can he do it without doing the one thing that will ruin it all, the one thing he wants most to avoid?…

There’s a hint of romance between Ivy and Adrian. They both admit their feelings, but so much is going on, and their destinies stand in their way. I hope further books in the series will explore the romance angle a bit more while still giving us the wonderful world building and heart-stopping action found in The Beautiful Ashes.

It’s at Amazon for 1.99 here.


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