Today’s Steals and Deals at AAR…..

Happy Saturday. We’ve some big sellers for you today in our Steals and Deals!


 

We gave this one a B+.

Heartbreaker is the second book in the Hell’s Belles series. It’s a jam packed book – there’s a road trip with racing carriages, highwaymen, kissing, stabbings, witty banter, a duke, a thief, and the last room at the Inn, with only one bed, of course. It all adds up to a very good time.

The book begins off with a bang. In the opening scene, our heroine Adelaide Frampton is at her wedding, which quickly turns into a riot between two very violent, rival gangs, one of which is run by her father. She escapes and ultimately joins the Hell’s Belles, a group of very strong women. Though society knows them as part of the ton, their passion is taking down aristocrats that abuse their power and then helping save the women those aristocrats have harmed. Among other things, the Belles work to prevent young women from marrying rogues and scoundrels. Adelaide is their Matchbreaker, the one who exposes dirty secrets and breaks matches. She is skilled, brilliant, fearless, and awesome.

Adelaide grew up the daughter of a crime boss and had to pick pockets just to survive. After escaping her father, she changed her name and was taken in by The Duchess, leader of the Belles. Adelaide has bright red hair and spectacles but disguises herself as a wallflower at balls so that no one recognizes her as the daughter of a famous London criminal.

She first meets Henry, the Duke of Clayborn, at a ballroom in Mayfair where he speaks rudely to her and she believes he is a cold and arrogant. Clayborn has a flawless reputation but unlike many of his peers is passionate about changing the law in order to end child labor.

Early in the book, Adelaide is breaking into her father’s desk to retrieve information to help the Belles. She finds the information she wants but also sees he has hidden away a wooden puzzle box. Sure it must somehow be important, she takes it, too. She is leaving when, much to her surprise, Clayborn appears and stops her. He doesn’t know the office they are in is her father’s, but the puzzle box she has taken is his,  and he very much needs it back. Her father’s goons appear and the two work together to escape.

It’s on sale at Amazon for 1.99 here.


 

This Eloisa James also got a B+.

Lady Yasmin Régnier was coaxed into a false marriage at the age of sixteen by a fortune hunter who hoped that despoiling Yasmin would land him the family’s estate, which was a gift from Napoléon to Yasmin’s mother, a former courtesan who was once his mistress. A heartbroken Yasmin very fortunately has no ‘consequences’ to deal with, and her father gets rid of the man by calling his bluff, but she is understandably scarred and changed by this manipulation. Her parents blame her for being foolish and soon ship her off to relatives in England to avoid the scandal.

But Yasmin does not let the incident dim her inner light. Ten years later, she’s become a flirtatious and lighthearted member of the ton. She wears daring, clinging dresses, but in private does not give herself over to temptation.

Giles Renwick, Earl of Lilford, is a man of great dignity. He is stuffy, fussy and concerned with his reputation as a way of distancing himself from his father’s poor decisions and the general self-interest both his parents. He has no intention of succumbing to the urges his fellow members of the ton so wantonly display. And yet he’s highly attracted to Yasmin, who is light and gossipy and silly. They get on like oil and water; he’s recalcitrant, she talks too much. He’s only here because he needs to keep an eye on his teenage sister, Lady Lydia, while she goes through her Season. And yet… Giles reliably queues up at every single ball to spend time with Yasmin.

Life is not easy for Yasmin. People gossip about her and her family constantly, though they are unable to cast her out of polite society thanks to the influence of her grandfather. Giles needs a woman who is countess material, and Yasmin does not appear to be this – an opinion Lydia holds and uses to help drive a wedge between them. Will love conquer all?

The Reluctant Countess rings with James’ ear for warmth and romantic connections. Yasmin is the only person alive who can charm Giles into smiling; Giles is protective of Yasmin and her reputation. Their chemistry is electric. And yet James trips across the old miscommunication trope – and miscommunication due to an interfering relative to boot.

It’s 1.99 at Amazon here.


I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery. We gave it a B+.

The Last Party is an intriguing whodunit that revolves around a celebration that’s to die for.

“Marcus” and “Harriet” have an amazing one night stand on New Year’s Eve. It’s a lovely way to pass the evening but both are determined that the relationship, such as it is, does not extend into the next day. He pretends he’s asleep when she wakes up. She leaves without saying goodbye at what is for her the crack of dawn. Once at home she discovers she didn’t get up quite early enough because she missed the traditional New Year’s Day morning swim in the freezing waters of Llyn Drych that most in her small village consider a must-do. That means it is her mam and sister who fill her in on the dead man found floating in the frigid lake that morning. As expected, she receives a call from her boss almost immediately after hearing the news. She’s needed at the morgue to help deal with the corpse.

Detective Constable Leo Brady of Cheshire Constabulary is shocked when he arrives at the morgue to find his lady love of the night before waiting for him. How had she found him? Detective Constable Ffion Morgan of North Wales Police is equally surprised to see him. How had he found her? It takes only a few moments to sort out that they had both given fake names (Marcus and Harriet respectively) and fake careers upon meeting each other the night before. Apparently, the only real thing about their encounter was the scorching sexual chemistry between them. Something they will definitely need to put aside if they hope to work together on the case before them.

It turns out that while the two of them were banging in the New Year, famous singer and local boy made good (well, rich anyway) Rhys Lloyd somehow wound up in the frigid waters of Llyn Drych instead of the massive, fancy party at his resort. Was it a suicide, an accident – or something far more sinister?

This being a mystery it is naturally the latter and it doesn’t take long for our two detectives to figure that out. I won’t go into the details of the plot because the joy of a suspense novel lies very much in the journey of discovery, but I will say that this book uses the layered effect: Leo and Ffion will discover something and think they have the answer but when they peel it back, there is more beneath. At the center lies vigilante justice – Rhys had managed to cheat, offend or injure pretty much everyone he knew and someone decided that it had gone on long enough.

It’s at Amazon for 2.99 here.


Hazelwood has become one of contemporary romance’s favorite authors. We gave this one a DIK.

Love on the Brain is Ali Hazelwood’s second full length romcom starring women in STEM and I devoured it. It’s an utter winner!

The heroine, Bee, is a neuroscientist who just got offered her dream job to work on a project at NASA. There’s just one little problem. She’ll be co-leading the project with Levi Ward, an engineer and her nemesis from her grad school days.

Bee is a petite vegan with purple hair, a septum piercing, and is brilliant in her field. She’s not interested in love – she sees it as just something to cause pain. Her parents died young and she and her twin were bounced around between different extended family members. Added to that, two years before, her best friend had an affair with Bee’s ex-fiancé right when she was graduating. She’s so relationship averse that though she loves cats, she’s afraid to get one of her own because she doesn’t want to risk losing a creature she’d love. She limits herself to loving other people’s cats while living a loveless and thus risk free life on her own. Plus she loves her work. She says she’s like Marie Curie after the death of her husband, Pierre.

“What never ever abandoned Dr. Curie in all her years? Her curiosity. Her discoveries. Her accomplishments.Science. Science is where it’s at.”

When Bee and her assistant, Rocío, arrive at NASA it’s a disaster. None of her equipment was ordered, she doesn’t have access to the lab or emails and the staff ignores her. She decides to ask Levi to work with her to discover what is going on.  They are working on a project called BLINK, designing a new helmet for astronauts. I loved this part and couldn’t wait to find out how their work would turn out. Their banter is funny and flirty and their attraction is smokin’ hot.

It’s at Amazon for 1.99 here.


This is a flat out fabulous read. 

It’s 1913, and Laura, the wife of the superintendent of the New York Public Library, is trying to figure out what she really wants out of life. She, her husband, and their two children are currently living in an apartment within the library walls, and Laura finds this to be both inspiring and stifling. She’s always loved books, so the idea of literally living among them appeals to her on a bone-deep level, and yet she can’t help but wonder how she’ll be remembered once she passes away. Desperate to leave a tangible mark on the world, Laura enrols in the school of journalism at Columbia University. She’s one of a small group of women to actually get accepted onto the program, and she’s elated at the prospect of honing her craft as a writer.

As time passes and Laura begins learning more about what it actually means to be a serious journalist, her world expands in ways she never thought possible. Suddenly, she’s more than just a wife and mother. She’s someone who might actually have the power to make real change where it’s needed most. Unfortunately, the world isn’t quite ready for a strong, passionate woman like Laura, and a terrible tragedy befalls her family, causing her to question her place in the world.

Eighty years later, Sadie is working as a curator of one of NYPL’s special collections. She’s been tasked with putting together an exhibit, showcasing some of the library’s rarest acquisitions, and she’s eager to prove herself to her superiors. If the exhibit goes well, it could mean a promotion, something she’s been hoping for for years. So, you can imagine how dismayed Sadie is when one of the closely-guarded books goes missing, and Sadie herself is suspected of having something to do with the theft.

As Sadie does her best to solve the mystery of the missing book, she begins pouring through the library’s archives, uncovering deeply buried secrets along the way. In 1913, something terrible happened to the superintendent’s family, and it doesn’t take Sadie long to find eerie connections to her own situation. Now, she’s faced with the difficult task of convincing those in charge that the current book theft is more than it seems to be.

Fiona Davis excels at crafting addictively readable dual-timeline stories. It’s pretty common for me to find one timeline more interesting than the other when reading these kinds of books, but when it comes to Ms. Davis’ work, I’m equally invested in both stories. Laura and Sadie both lead interesting lives, and I couldn’t wait to see how things would turn out for them both.

It’s on sale at Amazon for 2.99 here.


I recently read this series–it’s a lot of fun–and this one is one of the best. And it’s free!

Ex-firefighter and current EMT Owen Kincaid lives with his teenage daughter, Becca, who has fallen pregnant by her boyfriend Hayden.  Hayden has made it clear – multiple times – to Becca during their rocky relationship that his dream of NHL glory means more to him than her or any incipient baby, so eighteen-year-old Becca is stuck between a rock and a hard place, her plans for moving out of Owen’s house to attend college dashed.  Owen sympathizes – after all, Becca was the result of a teenage pregnancy herself and he’s only thirty-seven – but he knows Hayden will not help and can only brace himself and try to help Becca cope.

Owen hires Kerry Humphrey as Becca’s midwife.  New in town and looking for a fresh direction for her life, Kerry resents Owen’s hovering and micromanaging when it comes to her care of Becca.  They fight, they become friends – and soon they become lovers. But Kerry wants kids while Owen is done with his child rearing years (and has taken measures to ensure that they will stay behind him), and in any case, Kerry can’t pursue a love affair with her patient’s dad – so what do they do now?

Reckless at Heart is a fine contemporary romance about the unexpected curveballs life can throw at you. It – and its main characters – are refreshingly likeable, and their romance moves at a gripping but realistic pace. Their differences are settled in a realistic manner, and they actually speak to one another like adults and without undue melodrama.

It’s sensual and sexy, too, and as warm and appealing as spending time with two friends, as Owen and Kerry try to find their grooves and settle into them. There’s an amusing subplot about Kerry having a crush on Ricky Martin as a teenager, and the grumpy Owen’s clash with Kerry’s brighter and lighter point of view is interesting.

Pay nothing for it here!

 


 

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