Today’s Steals and Deals at AAR…..

We gave this Medieval romance a pleased B+.

 

If you’ve been looking for a strong Medieval romance, The Conqueror is an impressive debut, indeed.

Guinevere (Gwyn) de l’Ami holds a precarious position. As an heiress to large holdings, her father’s recent death leaves her vulnerable to unwanted advances and possible forced marriage. Though she has concealed her father’s death for days, since her time will soon run out she travels to Court to seek the protection of King Stephen. England faces civil war and, as the daughter of one of the king’s backers, she trusts her safety to him.

However, Gwyn arrives to find herself still in danger. Marcus, a greedy neighbor, covets Gwyn and her land, seeking to force a marriage between the two. To her dismay, Gwyn finds herself outmaneuvered and, though she insists on believing in her king, readers will see him too weak to see what is happening and step in on her behalf. To get away from Marcus, Gwyn flees and as his men overtake her on the road, an unlikely protector steps forward to save her.

This mysterious protector, whom Gwyn knows only as Pagan, is really Griffyn Sauvage. Though Gwyn does not learn it until later, readers discover fairly early that Griffyn and Gwyn’s fathers had been on the Crusade together, but that their friendship had fallen apart. Griffyn now sees the de l’Ami family as his deepest enemies. Still, as he and Gwyn are each blissfully unaware of each other’s true identities, they start to feel attracted to one another as they travel together.

 

It’s at Amazon for 1.99 here.


 

We liked this one too. 

 

Janice Preston gets the Lochmore Legacy series off to a solid start with His Convenient Highland Wedding, even though the title is a bit of a misnomer. While the wedding in question no doubt serves a convenient purpose for the groom, this book starts with the heroine and in many ways, it is her character arc that pulls the story along.

We first meet Flora McCrieff as a twelve-year-old girl. She’s bright, curious, and to her frustration, disregarded by her traditional and domineering father. The idea that a daughter might have an intellect and ideas of her own seems not to matter in this family. Left to her own devices, Flora goes exploring in a forbidden corner of the castle. Among her discoveries is a simple and very old brooch that she keeps as her own. Pay attention – this brooch will keep reappearing and it’s going to be important over the course of the series, I do suspect.

The main story action takes place several years later. Now nineteen, Flora continues to face complete disregard for her wishes from her family, and as the family fortune has declined, she now finds herself fairly well forced into marriage. In fact, she and Lachlan McNeill meet for the very first time at the wedding itself. Flora finds herself somewhat comforted to see that her groom is handsome and shows signs of kindness, but the situation is still quite strained.

Readers will quickly see that (a) Flora tends to be fairly sensible and (b) years of crap from her family have pretty much flattened out any inclinations toward flouncing that she otherwise would have had. At times, particularly in the beginning, Flora comes a little too close to being a doormat heroine. However, readers get just enough glimpses inside her heard to see that she does in fact have a mind of her own. She sees her problems and she feels deeply frustrated with the cold emptiness of her marriage, loneliness in her new home, etc.., but she lacks the experience to know how to fix the problems.

Part of this story is a romance but a large part of it focuses on Flora coming into her own. She’s married by the end of Chapter One, and now she must work on that HEA. As readers, we get to follow the journey as Flora leaves home, meets new people, and through all of this, finds her voice. There are missteps along the way, but she grows stronger and more distinct in her character as the story progresses. I wasn’t sure I’d like Chapter One Flora, but by the end of the book, the quiet and confident Flora quite won me over.

 

It’s at Amazon for 1.99 here.


Our reviewer LOVED this one!

 

Lydia narrates her life story to the reader, and already things are not as typical as they might seem. Kitty Bennet, for one, is revealed to be a barn cat and Lydia’s familiar. Lydia enchants the animal into shapeshifting, then alters her family’s memories and Kit’s outward appearance so that they believe she was always a part of the family. Lydia thus learns she’s a witch early in life, but thankfully Aunt Phillips already knows of her trickery – and sets about acting as Lydia’s mentor in magic.

In time, Lydia comes to meet with other witch societies hidden under the genteel surface of Regency England, specifically The Order. As the Bennets come in contact with the Darcys, Lydia finds she must conceal her magical exploration as to not offend Fitzwilliam, Elizabeth’s potential suitor. When Lydia meets the wicked George Wickham, she thinks she’s found someone just as happy to flout social convention as she is. But George has some secrets up his sleeve that could separate Lydia and Kit – and Lydia from her magical abilities – for good. Lydia and Kit thus go on a search that will change them forever for better or for worse.

This is a knock-your-socks off good retelling/post-P&P novel. It takes a lot for me to sing the praises of yet another alternate history version of Pride and Prejudice, but this one definitely manages to create something new and different from Lydia. If you hate Austen’s final take on the character – for her flightiness and impulsiveness and lack of care – you will love her sparkly wit and fresh voice here. The central conceit of her social butterfly ways and playfulness shine through during the novel.

 

It’s at Amazon for 3.99 here.


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