Today’s Steals and Deals at AAR…..
There suddenly seem to be A LOT of Viking romances. This one is a winner. In her review Em wrote:
Thorstein and Gyda are compelling characters, exquisitely rendered in this fantastic Viking world of Ms. Morris’ imagination. Much like other women of her time, Gyda was at the mercy of the men in her life. A pawn in her father’s political games, abused by her husband and his sons, and left to fend for herself after the tragic death of everyone in her immediate family, Gyda has few options when Thorshein rescues her from the sinking ship. But despite believing she’s unlovable, Gyda doesn’t give up. She sees possibility in the settlement and in her husband, and fights hard for her own happiness. Thorstein is similarly burdened by a difficult past – first losing his parents at a young age, and then abandoned by his wife – and he deals with his feelings for Gyda by hiding from them and her. Time and proximity forces him to admit his first impressions of her were wrong; when he opens himself up to Gyda, he sees the woman hidden within her icy persona. It’s a lovely transition.
Morris’ world-building is masterful, and I happily immersed myself in it from the moment Jarl Halvor sailed away to Valhalla. Morris once said she felt unqualified to write historical romance, but decided she was wrong after spending so much time researching this story.
It’s on sale for 0.50 here.
This retelling of Sleepy Hollow is interesting. In our review, we wrote:
Charlotte is an interesting puzzlement, the classic herbalist-who’s-accused of witchery; only Charlotte has a passel of somewhat stock supernatural talents, from prophetic tarot card readings to brewing herbs that can induce visions to literally having premonitions of the future. The titular spellbook belongs more to Charlotte than Katrina in the end, and one actually wants to learn more of her, and her romance with Ichabod’s cousin. Her friendship with Katrina is fraught with complexities that are quite intriguing.
It’s on sale for 2.99 here.
This one is a winner. We wrote:
When Orion Lake kills a soul-eater in Galadriel ‘El’ Higgins’ dorm room, Orion not only steals her chance to show the Scholomance just how capable El is of defending herself, he waltzes out to receive the glory and accolades, leaving her to deal with the odorous, slimy mess he left behind. That’s when she decides he has to die. She’d forgiven him for dropping an entire lab ceiling on her head a few months earlier while he was fighting a chimaera, but she can’t allow him to keep ‘rescuing’ her. She might not survive the experience. Not only will it make her a target for all the maleficaria (wizard eaters) roaming the school in the hope of making a tasty snack out of the budding sorcerers in the building, it will prevent her from attracting the attention of an Enclave. And El desperately needs their attention. In a world where monsters gobble up the magically gifted, the chances of surviving as a lone enchanter are slim. The more powerful you are, the more delicious they find you, and she’s an alchemic nuclear bomb. Literally. Her magical affinity is world destroying, powerful sorcery desirous of murdering thousands and leveling cities. An Enclave, a banded group of witches and wizards who work together and protect each other, are the only people who could use her talent and thus, are her only chance of survival. Otherwise, once she graduates from the Scholomance, she will attract the attention of all the nasty magic munching creatures out there and will either have to stoop to truly heinous actions to fight them off or surrender to her own demise.
It’s on sale for 1.99 here.
Outlaw bikers are a thing in contemporary romance. This series is beloved. Here’s the blurb:
Eight years ago, Sophie gave her heart—and her virginity—to Zach Barrett on a night that couldn’t have been less romantic or more embarrassing. Zach’s step-brother, a steely-muscled, tattooed biker named Ruger, caught them in the act, getting a peep show of Sophie he’s never forgotten.
She may have lost her dignity that fateful night, but Sophie also gained something precious—her son Noah. Unfortunately, Zach’s a deadbeat dad, leaving Ruger to be Noah’s only male role model. When he discovers Sophie and his nephew living in near poverty, Ruger takes matters into his own hands—with the help of the Reapers Motorcycle Club—to give them a better life.
Living with outlaw bikers wasn’t Sophie’s plan for her son, but Ruger isn’t giving her a choice. He’ll be there for Noah, whether she wants him or not. But Sophie does want him, has always wanted him. Now she’ll learn that taking a biker to bed can get a girl dirty in every way…
It’s on sale for 1.99 here.