Today’s Steals and Deals at AAR…..

Happy Giving Tuesday

We’ve got some winners for you today.


We gave this holiday themed time travel contemp a DIK.

I’ve read a lot of time travel romances, but Wendy Markham’s If Only in My Dreams blew me out of the water. She took a pair of individuals and made them part of my family, showed me their love for each other, explained time travel in a remarkably believable way, and entertained me with the refreshing and different story of Clara and Jed.

Clara McCullum is an actress whose star is rising. She’s currently working on a biopic about a group of brave serviceman from the same small town who died in the first wave of fighting at Normandy. This is to be her breakout role. Then, at 29 years old, she is diagnosed with breast cancer. It’s still treatable, but it must be treated if she wants to live.

In 1941 Jed Landry is the oldest of five siblings, recently graduated from Harvard and now running the family five-and-dime since his father’s death. He is caring for his mother and three sisters in a small town in upstate New York until his younger brother finishes college and takes over the business at which time Jed plans to join the Army. He wouldn’t mind staying if he had someone to stay for, but he doesn’t, so he sets his mind to dreaming while he bides his time.

During a shoot where Clara is to descend from a train and run into her leading man (oh, did I mention that the movie’s main character is Jed Landry?) things go awry. Clara steps off the train into 1941. Who’s the first person she meets? Jed Landry – the real Jed Landry. Even in the midst of Clara’s shock she notices the intense attraction between them. Jed, too, knows there’s a spark even if she might be acting a bit touched in the head. Clara quickly returns to the present by way of the train and has to do some major soul searching in order to figure out what she should do. Go back to warn Jed? Go back and stay with Jed? Or should she just let the past go and move on with her life?

Jed thinks she’s beautiful but the things she left behind – a suitcase full of mismatched clothes and an iPod which he thinks is a spy transmitter – make him wary, but still, he wants her to come back. When Clara does resign herself to go back and warn Jed, she finds herself in love with him. They spend an idyllic week together at the end of which Clara must decide whether to stay or go.

It’s on sale at Amazon for 1.99 here.


Saving Grace is a DIK at AAR.

Saving Grace is a wonderful example of Ms. Garwood’s medieval romances. Johanna, a young, golden-haired English Lady, had been married to a cruel, abusive man while barely out of her teens, and while her self-confidence and spirit were nearly beaten out of her during the loveless marriage, she retains enough of both to defy her king when he tries to wed her to another unworthy baron. Through clever manipulation, Johanna manages to delay the unwanted marriage. Her brother, Nicholas, knowing that her reprieve cannot last long, manages to ultimately save her from the king’s clutches, and persuades her to move to the Highlands to wed the recently appointed laird of a burnt-out castle.

Her initial meeting with large, dark and gruff Gabriel McBain does not go well. Nicholas had described the laird as a kind and gentle man; she finds, instead, that he is arrogant, demanding, and prone to giving orders.

Gabriel, on the other hand, while enchanted with Johanna’s beauty, pronounces her too timid, too frail for the rough Highland weather, naive and full of daft opinions.

However, it takes only until the next day’s wedding ceremony for their impressions to begin to change. Johanna’s acceptance of Gabriel’s illegitimate son softens his heart. The fact that Gabriel took in and is raising the boy when he could have denied his existence warms her considerably. The events that follow throughout their first months together continue to reveal their true characters to each other, and an unshakable bond of trust and love is formed that in the end helps them to defeat a royal plot set up against them.

While I often do not stop to analyze why I love particular books, it has always been clear to me why I enjoy Miss Garwood’s works. Using Saving Grace as an example, I appreciate the fact that her hero and heroine do not waste their time and intelligence (or mine, for that matter) with unfounded presumptions or needless inner conflict. The heroine is not afraid to state her opinions or to show her displeasure. The hero, while seemingly brusque and insensitive, is almost from the first accepting and possessive. And when he realizes that he’s fallen in love (something that does not take until the end of the book to occur), he doesn’t deny it or abhor it. Rather he is determined that the heroine will start feeling the same malady!

“She’d snared him all right, blindsided him she had….
“There was only one course of action left to him. Johanna was going to have to love him. By God, he wasn’t about to let himself become this vulnerable without gaining equal measure.”

 

It’s on sale for 2.99 here.


Dukes Are Forever is a very good debut by Anna Harrington.

After experiencing heartbreak as a young man, Lord Edward Westover purchased a commission and became a dedicated soldier. All of the passions that were spurned by his lover were turned into a fierceness on the battlefield that saved him and his men on many campaigns. But when his older brother is killed in a carriage accident, Edward’s life as a soldier is over and he must assume the mantle of Duke of Swarthmore. Learning that his death was caused by the drunken recklessness of Phillip Benton, who was never prosecuted for the crime, Edward once again uses his emotions to fuel his drive and purpose, turning sorrow into anger and an all-consuming need for revenge.

Using Benton’s gambling addiction against him, Edward slowly drives the man into ruin by purchasing all of his outstanding debts until he becomes his sole creditor. Faced with the reality of debtor’s prison or criminal proceedings, Benton accepts Edward’s terms but offers one stipulation; his daughter Katherine will become the duke’s ward and her security and financial responsibility will be solely in Edward’s hands. Blinded by his success against his foe, Edward is quick to agree and has legal papers drawn up to put Kate under his care. What Edward cannot know is that it’s impossible to swindle a swindler and Benton has manipulated him soundly. Arriving at Brambly House to meet with his new ward Edward is shocked to meet a twenty-year old woman, not the young girl that he expected.

Katherine Benton has been completely ignorant of her father’s misdeeds in London and cannot understand why a man only a few years older than she is now claims to be her guardian. For too long, Kate has borne the brunt of her father’s financial carelessness, slowly watching all the material goods in her home taken and sold. The only possession kept out of her father’s hands was Brambly House itself, entitled strictly to Kate until her marriage. Incredulous that her father could gamble his parental rights away and sever ties to his only child, Kate is reluctant to let Edward have any influence on Brambly House or on how she lives her life.

Seeing Edward as an obstacle to her independence, Kate is slow to lower her defenses around him. She is attracted to the handsome interloper but is puzzled as to how a man such as he would be associated with her father. His decisions regarding Brambly House begin to revitalize the struggling property, but Kate cannot shake her belief that any improvements to the land are only so that her value on the marriage market will be increased. She becomes more confused as Edward’s actions reveal his own attraction towards her but he seems reluctant to open his heart. Their relationship changes dramatically when they are trapped together during a storm, but their fragile new understanding is jeopardized when Edward learns that Kate has been in contact with her father behind his back.

It’s at Amazon for 1.99 here.


The Jade Temptress by Jeannie Lin is another winner by Lin

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Jeannie Lin’s historical novels set during the Tang Dynasty in China. This is often considered a golden era of Chinese culture and that is beautifully captured in these novels, from the intricacies of the scholar system to the delicacies of the tea ritual. In this latest offering we return to The Lotus Palace, a high end brothel located in Chang’an, the Imperial capital.

Mingyu is one of the legendary beauties of the Pingkang Li, the entertainment district of the capital. She is well trained in the arts of the courtesans and much in demand. While many might think her expertise lies only in seduction it is actually for her skills as a hostess that Mingyu is renowned. To sit in one of her afternoon teas, to converse with other scholar-gentlemen anxious to impress the beautiful courtesan, this is a highpoint of civilized society for many. For most, in fact, it is enough. But not for the general who is her most highly ranked and wealthiest patron. Mingyu has avoided becoming his concubine but when he calls, she must go. It is when she arrives at his secondary dwelling in the city that she encounters violent death once more. The general has been beheaded and in her panic she turns to the one man in the city whom she trusts implicitly – even if that faith is not returned .

All know the beautiful and talented courtesan but Constable Wu Kaifeng’s encounters with her are often less than pleasant. He had recently arrested her for a murder she had opportunity to commit. She had been cleared of that crime but now she stands over a dead body once more, the body of a man whose place in the political and financial ranks of the capital make it imperative that justice be done swiftly. Constable Wu has no desire to drag Mingyu into this but he also has no option – as the first on the scene it is possible that she either saw something that would lead them to the killer or participated in the crime herself. But spending time with this lovely woman puts something other than his career or life in jeopardy; it puts his heart and soul into her delicate hands.

The great strengths of this book lie in the complicated world building and fantastic cast of characters. Mingyu is a woman who walks a tightrope. Her beauty and elegance have captured the imagination of the city and turned her into a celebrity. But she is in an industry that will not look kindly upon her aging body and she is a slave, owned by the woman who runs The Lotus Palace. While her time may command a high price, she never sees this money and is unable to pay “Mother” what she is worth and gain her freedom. Her job places her in the sights of wealthy, powerful men who can destroy both her and the brothel if she is not careful in how she handles them. It is only with Constable Wu that she ever feels truly free to be herself but the constable is far beneath her, a man who can’t afford even an hour of her time. I love that Mingyu is a woman who must survive by her wits in a volatile situation and I especially loved that Ms. Lin showed the dark side of being a courtesan. Mingyu had more freedom and security than a concubine but she was as vulnerable to the wealthy and powerful as any other woman. What’s amazing is how she used her tenuous position and made it work for her, showing herself to be a powerful yet subtle player in the games of the capital.

It’s on sale for 1.99 here.


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