Today’s Steals and Deals at AAR…..

Maya Rodale’s It’s Hard Out Here for a Duke got a pleased B+ from us. In her review, Caz wrote:

I seem to have spent a bit of time lately saying “don’t let the stupid title put you off reading this book because it’s really good” – and now I’m saying it again.  This fourth book in Maya Rodale’s Keeping Up With the Cavendishes series is the best of the set once you get past yet another vomit-inducing excursion into Craptastic-Titles-R-Us, so try not to let it put you off reading what is actually a very well-written, tender and poignant story that is as much about the two central characters working out what it really means to be true to oneself as it is about their love for each other.

Readers who have been following the series will know that the four Cavendish siblings – James and his sisters Claire, Bridget and Amelia – have recently come to London from their home in America owing to the fact that James has unexpectedly inherited a dukedom he doesn’t want.  He would be more than content to remain at the family ranch doing what he does best and what he loves – breeding and raising horses – but is prompted to come to England because of his concern for his sisters.  All of them are no longer young (by early nineteenth century standards!) and perilously close to being on the shelf; and James thinks that perhaps moving to England will improve their prospects of making a good marriage.  He also thinks he should at least keep an open mind about the dukedom and what it entails – but the closer he gets to English shores, the more anxious and uncertain he becomes.

He and his sisters are to stay the night at an inn in Southampton before resuming their journey to London.  When they’ve gone to their rooms, James stays downstairs in the tap-room and is pondering his fate, when he notices a lovely young woman sitting alone at the bar.  He can’t keep his eyes off her, and her shy glances indicate some interest on her part, too.  James approaches her, they strike up a conversation and agree to spend the night together, ‘Just James’ and ‘Just a girl’ he’s met at a bar.

Yes, the idea that a respectable young woman at this period would sit alone at a public bar and then agree to a one night stand with a man she just met is a bit of a stretch of credulity, but it’s worth getting past it in order to enjoy the rest of the story.

You can purchase it at Amazon for 1.99 here.


Where we live, fall is in the air which means the holidays are barrelling down upon us. We loved Jenny Holiday’s yule tale, A Princess for Christmas. (You can read our A review here.) We wrote:

We meet our heroine when she’s late for an important thing that we know brings her no joy, but is dripping with royal obligation. Her solution comes in the form of our hero, a beleaguered taxi driver from the Bronx who does his good deed for the day at the behest of his sister.

Leo, aforementioned boy from the Bronx, and Marie, aforementioned princess from random European principality, get off to a slightly rocky start but warm to each other quickly. We learn about each through the eyes of the other as the story goes on. Leo and his sister end up spending Christmas at the palace – and Ms. Holiday makes enough Hallmark movie jokes that I was delighted and appeased – and the romance is both physically and emotionally wonderful.

I loved, particularly, that their individual journeys ran parallel to each other; to realize that they weren’t alone in the lives they had been forced into and that they still had agency within those lives. It resulted in a happily ever after that made me sigh with glee.

It’s for sale at Amazon for 1.99 here.


Jill Shalvis’s straight up romances are missed. Her Heartbreaker Bay series was a very good time and we enjoyed this one, The Trouble with Mistletoe. You can read our review here. In in, we wrote:

The Trouble With Mistletoe is the second instalment in Shalvis’ Heartbreaker Bay series set in a San Francisco apartment/business complex. This tale is about Willa, the owner of the pet store, and Keane, a local property developer who needs Willa’s help with a demon cat. What Keane doesn’t know is that he and Willa actually crossed paths before, or rather he doesn’t remember. This is a second chance romance of sorts, as both Keane and Willa learn that while your past may be definite, it is not defining.

When Willa Davis was in high school, life was not easy for her. It look a lot of courage to ask her crush to the Sadie Hawkins Dance, so imagine her surprise and delight when he agreed! And imagine her despair when the night of the dance rolled around and he never came to pick her up. Being stood up for a dance is not an experience anyone forgets, and so Willa has always harbored a little bit of hatred for Keane Winters in her heart.

So when he shows up at the door of her pet store some years later, looking all grown up and holding a pink bedazzled cat carrier, Willa is not quite sure what to do. When she opens the door, offers help, and realizes he doesn’t remember her, any optimism she had for the encounter goes straight down the drain.

Keane feels an immediate attraction to the pet shop owner, but cannot, for the life of him, figure out why she keeps scowling at him.  Despite the scowl, he finds himself intensely drawn to this woman, but he doesn’t initially think he has any time to pursue the connection.  His life is insane enough without having to manage this inconvenient attraction. Renovating several houses, as well as caring for an elderly aunt in a family dynamic which is less than hospitable has taken up all of Keane’s emotional bandwidth. He just needs Willa to deal with his aunt’s demon cat and all will be fine. If she could stop clearly hating him in the process, it would be a bonus, but Keane isn’t really in a position to be picky.

Keane thinks he only needs her help for a day, but as the need for cat care continues, he finds himself more and more drawn to Willa and her network of friends. Keane’s always been a bit of a loner and the possibility of joining a tribe of sorts becomes attractive.  He slowly begins to become involved and before either one of them realizes it, they’re connected for more than just the great sex they end up having, and they’re rocketing towards permanency before some complications threaten to derail them.

It’s available at Amazon for 1.99 here.


My best reading glom in 2022 was Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse novels. Shadow and Bone is Book One and it is superb. In our rave review, we wrote:

I love finding great new YA authors. Since the genre is currently saturated with paranormal novels, it is rare that the books offer anything new or different. The great news is that this tale of the Grisha magicians is new and different. It brings some variety to a market becoming glutted with similarity.

Long ago a powerful magician created the Shadow Fold, a section of land covered in near impenetrable darkness populated by the volcra, flying monsters who feast on human flesh. The Fold splits the nation of Ravka in half, leaving the bulk of the population cut off from the ports which bring the imports that are, if not the life blood of the nation, an important part of its economy. The dark wasteland can only be crossed on sandskiffs, sleds rigged with enormous sails that let them glide soundlessly across the dead sands of this dead land. But the journey across those lands is perilous, and many die trying to attempt it.

Alina Starkov is skinny, sickly and tired. She is just tough enough to be cartographer in the king’s army, although right this minute that doesn’t seem like good fortune. Her unit is about to enter the Fold. The plus is that her best friend Mal is serving in one of the fighting units that will be accompanying them. Mal and Alina grew up together, orphans of the border war, in an orphanage run by Duke Keramsov on his great estate. Close as brother and sister, they had never let anything part them. Now Alina mourns that adulthood is likely to do the parting in a gradual manner. Handsome Mal is going places that plain Alina can’t.

Then comes the crossing; When Mal is about to be captured by a volcra, Alina wishes desperately to save him. She does save him, though she has no clue as to how. The Grisha magicians on the sandskiff with her whisk her away immediately to be seen by the Darkling, the most powerful magician in the land. He determines that Alina is something they have been waiting centuries for – a Sun Summoner. Immediately, Alina is sent off in a coach to see the king. Along the way she gets an inkling of just how important she is; there is an assassination attempt almost immediately. There she beholds the Darkling’s power as she watches him slice a man in half – from quite a distance away.

Once they reach the palace it is time for Alina to begin her training. It is not easy – she has been unaware of her magic for so long it is not eager to come when summoned. The other apprentices are jealous, gossipy, back stabbing, and willing to use their magic unfairly to climb to the top of the heap. Her only friend seems to be Genya, a girl with the ability to make others beautiful. It is not the kind of gift that inspires awe in the power hungry Grisha apprentices, but Alina appreciates her kindness. Her only ally, oddly enough, seems to be the powerful Darkling. His patience with her surprises her, and his kindness is a balm against the struggles of training and cruelty of some of the apprentices. But is he being kind to her or to her power? Are his plans for friendship or control?

It’s currently on sale here for 2.99.


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