Today’s Steals and Deals at AAR…..

Love historicals? Boy, do we have them for you today!


This is one of my all time favorite dual timeline books. It’s a DIK at AAR as well!

You know a book is good when nearly 600 pages seem to fly by in the blink of an eye. This very accurately describes my experience with The Forgotten Garden. Beautiful and bittersweet, this family saga roams from the turn of the 20th century to the modern day as it tells an intricate story of secrets, identity, and, ultimately, self-discovery.

The physical garden mentioned in the title lies at the heart of an intricate maze on an estate in Cornwall. To tell the history of the garden or its inhabitants in linear fashion would be to deprive readers of one of the singular glories of this book. The various stories in this novel are told in bits and pieces, jumping back and forth in time from the early 20th century to the 1970s and the current century. Rather than feeling jumpy, the narrative actually flows smoothly, allowing readers to gradually piece together bits of important information to solve the mystery just as the modern-day heroine does.

The book opens in 1913 aboard a ship bound for Australia. A small child has been left on the ship, told by a beautiful lady to hide until the lady returns for her. Except that she never does. We learn that the little girl winds up alone in Australia unable to tell anyone who she is. The dockmaster and his wife adopt the child informally, name her Nell, and raise her as their own. It is not until much later that Nell learns the truth – a revelation that permanently alters her world and sense of identity.

In the 21st century, we meet Nell’s granddaughter Cassandra, who appears to be in her 30s. Nell essentially raised her and Cass returned to live with her grandmother in her final years. During Nell’s final illness, Cass learns of Nell’s adoption from her great-aunts. This sends her on a quest to Cornwall, armed with the only clues to Nell’s identity that she can muster – the contents of a small suitcase found with Nell when she arrived in Australia, a deed to a mysterious property in England, and notes from Nell’s own unsuccessful investigation in England in the 1970s.

From these beginnings, a vast tale of identities lost and found and of deep family secrets begins to emerge. The characters in the tale are interesting, and most are quite likable, so one cannot help wanting to know the truth and to understand what made them the people they ultimately became. The revelations are not easily gotten, nor does everything come out all at once in a neat little package. Instead, pieces of the puzzle start to fall gradually into place one by one. It’s a richly textured reading experience and I felt truly sucked into the various worlds of Edwardian England and the modern day as I read.

It’s on sale at Amazon for 2.99 here.

 


We gave One Duke Down a DIK

One Duke Down reminds me of some of my favorite older romances. A heroine hiding away in a small town, a sweet small town romance, combined with dazzling seascapes bring this love story to life.

One sunny day, Miss Poppy Summers catches a man in her fishing net. An extremely handsome man with long hair. This might be a boon to any other young lady, but Poppy is frankly confused as to how this guy ended up stuck on her line in the middle of the ocean. While her brother spends most of his time in London chasing pipe dreams of success, she’s one to mind her own business and to do whatever she can to keep the family’s fishing business together and tend to her ailing father’s aches and pains while she does so. Nonetheless, she takes her mystery catch back to her seaside home in Bellehaven Bay.

Andrew Keane – known by his surname – happens to be the fellow Poppy fished out of the drink. He’s the Duke of Hawking, and he ended up in the water following a murder attempt on his life. He offers Poppy a lot of money to lie about his death so he can figure out who tried to kill him, something she does reluctantly, even though she’s not sure he’s a duke as he says he is. But as she helps him recover and they investigate the crime together with the help of his loyal valet Diggs, they come to admire, like and love each other. But can they find Keane’s enemy – and when they do, will he bear a connection to Poppy?

This one is quite out of the ordinary, and it plays and twists tropes with complete skill. You will not expect the answer to its mystery in a billion years, and in the end you’ll be surprised.

It’s on sale at Amazon for 2.99 here.


 

I love this book. It’s unexpected and just flat out lovely. We gave it a DIK.

Even though it is early in the year, I know Till Next We Meet will be one of my choices for best historical romance of the year.

Montcreif is the third son of the Duke of Lymond. His relationship with his father and brothers was never a good one, and as a young man he joined the Royal Scots Fusiliers and became their colonel. When the regiment served in Canada, one of Montcrief’s men, Harry Dummond, received many letters from his new wife, Catherine. Harry wouldn’t take the time from his gambling and womanizing to answer his wife’s letters so Montcrief did. Gradually, he fell in love with Catherine. Her wit, her warmth, and her goodness all came through in her letters, and the lonely Montcrief responded in Harry’s name. As she read the letters, Catherine fell in love with Harry all over again. It was as if she never really knew her husband.

Harry was killed by a jealous husband, then Montcrief’s brothers died, leaving him as the Duke of Lymond. His last act as Colonel of the Regiment is to pay a call on Catherine, and he finds her sick with grief over Harry’s death. Montcrief is in torment over the suffering of the woman he has come to love, especially since he knows that Harry was unworthy of her, but he can’t bring himself to shatter her illusions. Before he goes to his own home, Montcrief visits Catherine again, and finds her almost dead from an overdose of laudanum. He plunges her into an ice cold bath, to shock her back to life and they are discovered by the vicar in a very compromising situation. So Montcrief marries Catherine, to preserve her reputation and because he loves her.

Catherine accepts the reasons for the marriage, but she still mourns Harry. She wears black, even black nightgowns, and obsessively reads and re-reads the letters. All the while, she hasn’t a clue that the author of those letters is right there with her. Catherine asks for a month to get to know Montcrief before they consummate their marriage, and he agrees, but insists they share a bed. And so they begin to discover each other.

It’s on sale for 1.99 here.


We do love a good Medieval romance and His Wicked Ways fits the bill.

Meredith Munro is in a convent where she is set to take her vows in a month, when she is kidnapped by Cameron McKay, whose father and brothers have been murdered by her father as part of a century-long clan feud. The beautiful, stubborn, deeply religious girl stuns Cameron from the start with her quiet and brave dignity. The lengthy journey back to his holding will delight readers who enjoy a good road romance.

Though his initial plan includes having Meredith’s father believe she is dead, Cameron doesn’t really know what to do with her once they return to his home. By this time, she’s saved his life, he’s saved hers, and they’ve both realized their powerful attraction to one another. Rather than throwing her into the “pit prison,” he ensconces her in one of the towers of his castle.

Meredith is reviled by the clan McKay even though no one is sure why the feud began. Through her goodness, she first reaches the children of the keep, and eventually the women, although not Moire, a lusty wench with designs on Cameron. Though Moire’s part in later nefarious goings-on is not difficult to figure out, she does make Meredith jealous, which heats things up considerably between Meredith and Cameron.

The deal Cameron eventually devises is this: if Meredith will bear him a son, he will free her. Where she will go is uncertain – she was raped at Munro keep a few years before by an unseen man, which is what caused her to go to the nunnery in the first place (she’s never told a soul about this, and when she shares her deep secret with Cameron, it’s very touching). Of course, while Cameron believes his deal is based on revenge, it is actually based on the love he has come to feel for Meredith, who loves him in return.

It’s on sale for 1.99 here.


Looking for an amusing HR? Here you go.

Secrets of a Proper Lady is a funny, entertaining story.

Daniel Sinclair and Lady Cordelia Bannister’s respective fathers have made a business deal. Part of that deal is that their children will marry. Neither Daniel nor Cordelia expect nor want this match, but try to remain open-minded for their parents’ sake.

Lady Cordelia decides to seek out Daniel’s secretary, to inquire about his personality, habits, and preferences. However, at the last moment, she decides to hide her identity, and asks Mr. Lewis her questions as Cordelia’s cousin and companion, Miss Sarah Palmer. But Mr. Lewis isn’t who he seems, either…Daniel soon finds himself pretending to be his secretary, courting a beautiful, funny “Miss Palmer” under the guise of learning about her stout, Amazonian boss and his own betrothed.

The two begin to fall for each other, each questioning the marriage and their building relationship with a person so close to their intended. They also suffer from familial pressure, which forces them to choose between the person they might love, and the wishes of their families. However, when their identities come to light, it becomes a game of playful revenge and one-upmanship.

Mistaken identity storylines tend to irritate me because they are, almost invariably, contrived, forced, and illogical. This one, though, works. The scenario seemed plausible and fit in well with the plot.

It’s on sale for 1.99 here.


Several readers have mentioned how much they love this book. So, I’m buying it!

Since childhood, Rosie’s life has been the stage—passing herself off as a boy playing women’s roles in the somewhat disreputable theatrical troupe of actor Danny Plympton, Rosie’s adoptive father. But when unanticipated danger confronts them, they must flee London, taking refuge at the estate of Sir Anthony Rycliffe. A handsome, devil-may-care rakehell, Tony quickly sees through Rosie’s disguise.

But a lush, womanly form and eminently kissable lips are not the ravishing young beauty’s only secrets—and the burning attraction Tony feels for her does not lessen the peril she has brought to his doorstep. The dashing rogue is determined to strip the irresistible lady of her mysteries—and her masculine garb—using all of his fabled seductive powers. After all, Tony has a reputation to uphold, as . . .

The Greatest Lover in All England

It’s on sale at Amazon for 1.99 here.


You can see all our current deals at our Amazon storefront here.

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