Nov 11 2012
Daily Deals: Mysterious strangers, rock stars, and CIA agents
As You Wish by Elyssa Patrick. $ .99
From the Jacket Copy:
“Elyssa Patrick has written an amazing debut novel that is destined to be a favorite for romance readers” ~ Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews
Love doesn’t always follow the sheet music . . .
This Christmas, Portia Jackson needs a miracle to save her family’s generations-old florist shop. What she gets instead is a car that breaks down during a blizzard. Help arrives unexpectedly when the infamous Aubry Riley pulls over. She only expects him to drive her to the gas station . . . she never expects that kiss. But Portia lives in the real world—she knows this is only a holiday fling for Aubry. Except it doesn’t feel so temporary, and the last thing she wants is a broken heart.
Sometimes you have to sing some different notes . . .
Rock star Aubry Riley has no secrets. Thanks to the media, everyone knows about his troubled past. Six years have gone by since his world crashed, and now he’s ready for a comeback. But first he needs to reconcile with his family—starting with his six-year-old daughter. A month-long vacation at a Vermont lake house affords him the perfect opportunity to take a step in the right direction. He doesn’t need any other emotional entanglements, especially not with the bright-eyed florist he can’t stop thinking about. But no matter how hard he tries to resist her, he can’t. Now all he has to do is to convince Portia that there is nothing temporary when it comes to love.
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Desire Untamed with Bonus Material: A Feral Warriors Novel by Pamela Palmer. $ .99
From the Jacket Copy:
For a limited time, and at a special price, discover Pamela Palmer’s Feral Warriors with Desire Untamed, the first book in the series. Plus, receive deleted scenes and excerpts from Pamela’s entire collection, including her new book, A Love Untamed, available December 26th.
In Desire Untamed, Kara MacAllister thinks she’s just an average, small-town pre-school teacher until the night a mysterious stranger shows up at her door claiming she’s not only immortal, but the chosen one of a band of powerful shape-shifting males. Lyon steals her away from everything she knows and thrusts her into a world beyond her comprehension, a world filled with magic, nightmares, and perilous danger where Kara discovers an inner strength she never knew she possessed, and a passion in the arms of Lyon beyond anything she ever imagined.
As he works with Kara, preparing her to become the source of power for the Feral Warriors, Lyon is swept away by Kara’s vulnerable beauty and tempted beyond all reason by a desire he can’t deny. But when Lyon realizes his band of warriors has been infiltrated by an ancient evil, he begins to question whether Kara is quite as innocent as she seems.
And he begins to wonder if the woman who’s stolen his heart is destined to be his salvation…or his doom.
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The Master of Disguise: My Secret Life in the CIA by Antonio J. Mendez. $ .99
From the Jacket Copy:
From the author of Argo comes an unforgettable behind-the-scenes story of espionage in action. In the first ever memoir by a top-level operative to be authorized by the CIA, Antonio J. Mendez reveals the cunning tricks and insights that helped save hundreds from deadly situations.
Adept at creating new identities for anyone, anywhere, Mendez was involved in operations all over the world, from “Wild West” adventures in East Asia to Cold War intrigue in Moscow. In 1980, he orchestrated the escape of six Americans from a hostage situation in revolutionary Tehran, Iran. This extraordinary operation inspired the movie Argo, directed by and starring Ben Affleck.
The Master of Disguise gives us a privileged look at what really happens at the highest levels of international espionage: in the field, undercover, and behind closed doors.
The book is $2.09 at Barnes & Noble.
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Sleepwalker by Karen Robards. $ 3.99.
From the Jacket Copy:
Cops and robbers don’t mix
It’s not that Micayla Lange is afraid of the clinking she hears coming from the first floor of the empty McMansion she’s housesitting for her uncle Nicco. She’s a cop, after all. It’s just that finding out her boyfriend was cheating on her was enough drama for one night. Now she’s alone on New Year’s Eve, wearing flannel pajamas and wielding a Glock 22 as she zeroes in on the unmistakable source of the sound: Uncle Nicco’s private office.
Jason Davis steals things for a living, so unexpected developments are a natural part of the job. Getting caught red-handed by a hot, pigtail-sporting police officer in what is supposed to be a gangster’s deserted house is just one more twist in the game. Kind of like finding incriminating photos in Nicco Marino’s safe, only to discover the cop—and the security cameras— have gotten a real good look at his face.
Unfortunately for Mick, she also got a good look at the damned pictures. Her “uncle” might love her like family, but if he knows she’s seen evidence that implicates him in the murder of a city councilman, she doesn’t like her chances. Which is why she’s having a hard time reconciling her professional instincts with what she is rapidly concluding is an inescapable fact: She’s about to help a criminal get away with a suitcase full of stolen money. And she’s going with him.
Mick and Jason’s race for their lives hurtles them through the dangerous Michigan wilderness on speedboat and snowmobile. As their adventure heats up and their enemies close in, Mick is torn between her duty to the force and the combustible passion engulfing her and her unlikely partner in crime. She’ll have to turn Jason in sooner or later . . . if they survive. But will they ever get a second chance at love?
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Nov 11, 2012 @ 12:37:24
Sigh. Sounds like a retread of just about every convention that I got tired of five years ago. And obvious names are obvious.
Nov 11, 2012 @ 15:49:22
I wanted to read As You Wish when it first came out but I remember now I was waiting on you, Jane, to hear what you thought about it. Buying it at $0.99 (plus with a Kobo coupon) is a no-brainer.
I have this urge to read romances with rock stars; anyone has anything good to recommend?
Nov 11, 2012 @ 16:47:14
I bought the Mendez book for the sale price, and found it a good read. A bit too much “I designed this incredibly cool thing which was highly effective, but I can’t tell you what it looks like or how it works” for my tastes, but the background on Cold War-era espionage techniques and history was fascinating. I also went out to see the movie Argo, and it was fun to know the backstory of Mendez’s work leading up to the Tehran rescue.
Nov 11, 2012 @ 18:03:20
I enjoyed As You Wish, though I didn’t totally love it, but it’s definitely worth trying at 99c.
Nov 11, 2012 @ 18:45:13
I agree with Ros on As You Wish. I had a few issues with it, but it’s worth the try at 99 cents.
@Loosheesh: If you read M/M you can give American Love Songs a try. I gave it three stars, but everyone else I know gave it four and five stars and just loves it. Backstage Pass, M/F erotic romance, is another one I gave two stars but everyone else seems to love it. Same goes for How to Kill A Rockstar (that one made me really ragey though, so I definitely say stay away from it). Reading Tart by Lauren Dane right now, I’m definitely going to have to go back and read Never Enough (The Brown Siblings #4) to read that rock star storyline play out.
Sorry, I’m basically just listing books for you to check out since I don’t have any glowing recs to give.
Nov 11, 2012 @ 19:04:13
@Loosheesh: Karina Bliss has a retired rock star in What The Librarian Did. It’s a great book, though I can’t remember how much of the rock world there is in it.
Nov 11, 2012 @ 19:08:04
@Loosheesh – I liked it but I thought it was slow in some places and I didn’t love the hero. For rock star stories, I am not a fan of the Olivia Cunning books. I’d recommend a sample first.
The Mighty Storm by Samantha Towle had a good feel to it. There is infidelity in the middle of the book between the heroine and her boyfriend (who is not the hero rock star).
Thoughtless and Effortless by SC Stephens features a hero on the road to being a rock star. I found the stories readable but really despised the heroine. The Mighty Storm is essentially a similar story but the infidelity is compressed.
Edited to add: Elyssa’s book is totally worth the price. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed to spend the time with it either.
Nov 11, 2012 @ 19:27:02
@Ros: There’s very little of the rock world in that book. If I remember correctly, the rock star hero almost killed himself with alcohol prior to the start of the book and was trying to straighten himself out. Although I liked the book as a whole, one of my issues with it is that his alcoholism seemed to only be a past issue, with very little bearing on his present, other than needing to refuse the occasional drink.
Nov 11, 2012 @ 20:02:34
@Alicia: I don’t read M/M or menage, and the others sound like they’ll make me pull some hair out, lol. Thanks for helping me eliminate, though ;-)
@Ros: Thanks for the reminder! I’d started this one but put it aside to read the Mercy Thompson books and never remembered to pick it up again.
@Jane: I was following your updates as you were reading these and the only one I’d probably try is The Mighty Storm, but I’m still thinking on the infidelity thing.
I’m halfway through As You Wish, and Aubry is exhibiting really prick-y behavior, which is not sitting well with me.
Nov 11, 2012 @ 22:28:29
@Loosheesh: One of the secondary characters in Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ Natural Born Charmer is an older rock star. There are many things I love about this book, but in particular is how the heroine, Blue, is such a basket case around him. She grew up listening to his records, idolized him and cannot walk or talk intelligently in his presence. If you can, listen to the narration by the fabulous Anna Fields; it is perfect.
Nov 12, 2012 @ 06:19:33
@Loosheesh: You could try the Wicked series by Lily Graison. Four band members, each with their own romance.
http://lilygraison.com/bookshelf/contemporary-romance/the-wicked-series/wicked-tempt-me-not/
Nov 12, 2012 @ 16:56:03
@Darlynne: I was more looking for the main character to be the rock star but the description has caught my attention … again. I actually (*embarrassed face*) already own it!
@coeibo25: Thanks! I’ll check them out.
Jan 12, 2013 @ 05:32:19
@Loosheesh: If you can get your hands on a copy, Till the Stars Fall by Kathleen Gilles Seidel is an excellent book with a rock star hero. Seidel also has a book with a heroine who is a country music singer.
Jan 12, 2013 @ 08:46:34
@Janine: Thank you! It will go in my next order at BetterWorldBooks. The other book, A Risk Worth Taking, is available there also but from an outside seller.