FREE/BARGAIN — Romance & Discussion

[danicca]

Did either of you perhaps try her Collegium series? It sounds similar to Parliament one, but I missed it while I had KU, so to wishlist it goes.

[sufue]

I've tried and liked her Uncertain/Hidden Sanctuary books and her Adventures of a Xeno-Archaeologist/Delphic Dame books and liked them. Both were more cute/fun than Caldryn Parliament. I'd give Caldryn 5 stars and these two series 3.5 to 4 stars. And I have tried and been okay with her Faerene Apocalypse and Interstellar Sheriff series, but maybe 3 to 3.5 stars for those. I think maybe she's been getting a bit better as she writes more/longer?

I actually already have the first Collegium book from some past freebie deal or sale (???), so I may try that on my long airplane flight. If I do, I'll see if the "getting better as she goes" theory holds , since I think that series is older.

[library addict]

Weekly Report:

Read:

• The Single Dad's Christmas in July (Holiday HEA #3) by Shannon Stacey (B-/3 stars)
• Conor (Magic of Claddare #4/Dragons of Claddare) by Veronica Scott (B-/3 stars)

Purchased:

[library addict]

Jessie Mihalik's Silver & Blood (Silver & Blood #1) on sale for $1.99

Spoiler:

On a deadly mission to kill the mythical beast that has been haunting her woods, a desperate mage finds her fate intertwined with the handsome, powerful man who saves her in this dark and sexy romantasy—perfect for readers of Jennifer L. Armentrout, Callie Hart, and Holly Black.

There’s something in the woods…

When a vicious beast begins attacking her fellow villagers, Riela reluctantly agrees to enter the forbidden forest and kill the monster as she’s the only mage available—or so she thought.

Untrained and barely armed, Riela is quickly overwhelmed when one beast turns into two. She fears her death is at hand until the unexpected arrival of a scarred, strikingly handsome man with gleaming moonlit magic changes her fate—and provides a rare opportunity to learn more about her own fickle power.

After being rescued and healed from the beast’s poison, Riela awakens in a magical castle complete with a gorgeous library, a strange wolf, and the surly man who saved her life. She soon learns Garrick is both more powerful and far deadlier than a mere mortal mage—but thanks to a century-long curse, his powers are weakening.

Trapped in his castle and surrounded by the treacherous woods, the spark of attraction between Riela and Garrick slowly ignites into fiery desire. But the more they discover about Riela’s magic, the more suspicious Garrick grows of her identity. As they unravel the secrets and lies connecting Riela’s past to Garrick’s, the tenuous threads of trust between them start to fray.

Because Riela’s life—or her death—might be the key to regaining everything Garrick has lost.

Her website book page with links to the various storefronts.


As a side note, not loving the way pubs put books on sale without even waiting six months. I read this one soon after release and she's an autobuy author for me. But still.

[library addict]

Weekly Report:

Read:

• Birth of the Witch (A Coven of Three #1) by Nora Roberts (B+/4 stars) (ARC)

Purchased:
none

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by library addict

Jessie Mihalik's Silver & Blood (Silver & Blood #1) on sale for $1.99

As a side note, not loving the way pubs put books on sale without even waiting six months. I read this one soon after release and she's an autobuy author for me. But still.

Yes, it makes you feel to wait for it (and the author is the damaged through it).

[library addict]

Weekly Report:

Read:

• Knead for Speed (Tales from the Dragon Diner #2) by Lindsay Buroker (B/4 stars)

Purchased:

[Terisa de morgan]

Good to know, this is in my TBR, so I guess it will go up....

[sufue]

So the second book in this series, A Blacksmith's Guide to Dragon-Rearing, is just recently out, and I enjoyed it almost as much as the first one. (It can be really hard for a sequel to live up to the first book, especially since I'm one of those odd people who like world-building, which is usually more pronounced in a first book...) But maybe a 5% drop-off in my enjoyment, so still plenty to enjoy. One thing is that the blurb-page calls it a "reverse age-gap romance", but I think that's a little weird - in my mind, it wasn't central to the story after the beginning, and certainly not the kind-of "yuk" that that usually brings to my mind.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FPDM2G31
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FPDM2G31

And if you haven't tried the first book because you don't have KU, it's now on sale for $0.99/£0.99 in the US/UK. Or if you just want your "own" copy, not at the mercy of KU, to the limited extent that Kindle lets you have your "own" copy . And the links below are still good for the first one.

Originally Posted by sufue

I just finished reading A Dragon Rider’s Guide to Retirement by Julia Huni, and really enjoyed it. Recently there has been a bit of a trend towards middle-aged heroines (and heros) in romance/romanstasy – a welcome trend IMO. But usually the protagonists are discovering their powers in their 40s and 50s, while in Guide, both main characters are having trouble with theirs: Calantha Stormbringer due to well….hmmmm….menopause, and William Ordell due to injury, the death of his war dragon, and a lousy king. So it’s a lot of fun to watch as they try to “retire”, but instead end up launching a sea dragon fire brigade for their adopted island home of Safe Haven. And a story hour for the local kids. And reading lessons for some of the adults. And...

As you might guess, I read this far too late into the night last night. And sadly the next book isn't going to be out until August of next year, but the author has a number of other books out under both of her pen names: Julia Huni and Lia Huni. So although my TBR list is far too long, I'm going to add a few books to it. Oh, and Guide is KU if you have that...

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FFPXRNCH
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FFPXRNCH

Oh, and the third one is coming out on June 30, just in time to read over the 4th of July holiday, if you're in the US. Or Canada Day if you're in, well, Canada...