Today’s Steals and Deals at AAR…..
We enjoyed this historical romance. In our review, we wrote:
Sometimes nothing hits the spot better than a bad girl out to get her good boy. Though I use the terms girl and boy here, make no mistake that Laura Lee Guhrke’s Scandal of the Year is a mature story, well-worth the angst involved.
Trapped in a bad marriage with little hope of escaping, Lady Julia Yardley avoids her husband in inventive, yet sometimes scandalous ways. However, when a chance at freedom falls into her lap in the form of Aidan Carr, Duke of Trathen, she leaps at the chance and takes every advantage of the situation, although she knows reputations have been destroyed for less. Anything is better than where she stands currently….
It’s refreshing to read about mature characters with history who handle adult situations. Plus, both characters are sympathetic and likable and I wanted to get to know both of them. Julia seems reckless at times, but as the story develops it’s explained in a believable way. Aidan is an honorable man who longs for things he can’t have and accepts it and moves on until it becomes obvious he doesn’t have to keep moving.
It’s on sale for 1.99 here.
This HR got a B+ from Lisa who wrote:
Sophie Roseingrave is a piano teacher, tuner and composer with a problem. All she wants is to make her father proud of her, but with the whole family forced to flee London after they were fleeced out of their music shop, the most important thing is to make sure they manage to keep bread on the table. The large Roseingrave family has started over in the small English town of Carrisford, and they simply hope they can live without losing their shirts.
Ribbon weaver Maddie Crewe is trying to get out of her old life as a thief, but with wages so low and the need to fund her weaver’s union (The Weaver’s Library and Reform Society) she’s tempted back into the world of the light-fingered for one more heist. The entire union agrees that her selected mark – Mr. Giles, a greedy draper who’s betrayed all of them in some manner or another, stiffing them on money and taking credit for their work – makes a perfect target
Maddie and Sophie meet at the shop where Maddie sells her wares, and it’s lust at first sight. But Sophie – able to sniff a scam out with ease after being a victim of one herself – is suspicious of Maddie while Maddie decides to protect her plan to take down Giles by seducing Sophie – but she doesn’t expect her heart to become involved. Let the games begin.
It’s on sale for 1.99 here.
We gave this whodunnit a DIK. In her review Shannon–we so miss Shannon!–wrote:
If you’ve never picked up an Erica Spindler novel, The Look-Alike would be a great place to start, and I believe it will appeal to returning readers as well. The characters are well-drawn and the plot is compelling. It’s a book I’m glad I chose to review, and I hope other fans of complex romantic suspense will pick it up and fall in love with it too.
It’s on sale for 2.99 here.
This layered tale (now a mini-series on AppleTV) got an A from us. We wrote:
In Lady in the Lake, Laura Lippman sweeps readers back in time to 1960s Baltimore, where the body of a young, African-American woman is found floating in a lake. No one seems to know who she is, nor do they seem all that interested in finding out, so housewife-turned-reporter Maddie Schwartz decides to solve the case for reasons of her own. Not only does this novel deliver a fascinating mystery, but it also explores the darkest parts of the human heart and mind as it unearths dangerous secrets….
The mystery itself is utterly enthralling, and I found myself unable to put the book down once I started reading. There were several times I was sure I had things figured out, only to learn I was wrong on all counts. Ms. Lippman is a master storyteller, skilfully combining elements of crime, historical fiction, and even a bit of women’s fiction to create one of the best books I’ve read so far this year.
It’s on sale for 1.99 here.