Feb 8 2013

Daily Deals: Fantasy, YA, and an Ottoman set Regency Romance

By Jane • Book Deals • • Tags:

Lion of Ireland by Morgan LlywelynLyon of Ireland by Morgan Llywelyn. $ 2.99

From the Jacket Copy:

King, warrior, and lover Brian Boru was stronger, braver, and wiser than all other men-the greatest king Ireland has ever known. Out of the mists of the country’s most violent age, he merged to lead his people to the peak of their golden era. His women were as remarkable as his adventures: Fiona, the druidess with mystical powers; Deirdre, beautiful victim of a Norse invader’s brutal lust; Gormlaith, six-foot, read-haired goddess of sensuality.Set against the barbaric splendors of the tenth century, this is a story rich in truth and legend-in which friends become deadly enemies, bedrooms turn into battlefields, and dreams of glory are finally fulfilled.

Morgan Llywelyn has written one of the greatest novels of Irish history. At the publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

The reviews speak of the movie like quality of the battle scenes and the historical accuracy. I particularly like the hip thrusting action of the woman on the cover.

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Pure by Julianna Baggott Pure by Julianna Baggott . $

From the Jacket Copy:

We know you are here, our brothers and sisters . . .
Pressia barely remembers the Detonations or much about life during the Before. In her sleeping cabinet behind the rubble of an old barbershop where she lives with her grandfather, she thinks about what is lost-how the world went from amusement parks, movie theaters, birthday parties, fathers and mothers . . . to ash and dust, scars, permanent burns, and fused, damaged bodies. And now, at an age when everyone is required to turn themselves over to the militia to either be trained as a soldier or, if they are too damaged and weak, to be used as live targets, Pressia can no longer pretend to be small. Pressia is on the run.

Burn a Pure and Breathe the Ash . . .
There are those who escaped the apocalypse unmarked. Pures. They are tucked safely inside the Dome that protects their healthy, superior bodies. Yet Partridge, whose father is one of the most influential men in the Dome, feels isolated and lonely. Different. He thinks about loss-maybe just because his family is broken; his father is emotionally distant; his brother killed himself; and his mother never made it inside their shelter. Or maybe it’s his claustrophobia: his feeling that this Dome has become a swaddling of intensely rigid order. So when a slipped phrase suggests his mother might still be alive, Partridge risks his life to leave the Dome to find her.

When Pressia meets Partridge, their worlds shatter all over again.

Reviewed by Jia here: The inauthenticity problem kept cropping up for me. One of the central conceits of Pure is that those left outside the Dome during the Detonations were altered by them in strange ways, usually involving having inanimate or animate objects fused to their bodies. In Pressia’s case, it’s a doll’s head in place of (or over? I was never clear on this) one of her hands. Her grandfather has a fan lodged in his throat. Another teen, Bradwell, has birds fused into his back, birds that somehow remain alive enough to occasionally flutter their wings, though they don’t seem to eat or poop or caw or do anything else that birds do. A third character has his younger brother fused to his back; in that case, the brother does eat, and talk, though he appears to be mentally retarded or brain-damaged.

The concept was intriguing, but it didn’t hold up to scrutiny much.

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A Secret in Her Kiss By: Anna RandolA Secret in Her Kiss by Anna Randol. $ .99

From the Jacket Copy:

A rare beauty, raised in the exotic heart of the mysterious East, Mari Sinclair knows it’s time to end her career as a British spy when she narrowly avoids a brush with death. Unfortunately, there are those who think otherwise–and they are not above using blackmail to keep Mari in the game.

Saddled with a handsome, duty-obsessed “minder” to ensure that she completes–and survives–one last mission, Mari is incensed . . . for her guardian, Major Bennett Prestwood, is simply too dedicated, too unbending, and too disarmingly attractive. But in the face of dark secrets and deadly treacheries, as the true peril to Mari is slowly revealed, loyal soldier Bennett realizes that to save and win this extraordinary woman, he will have to do the unthinkable and break the rules–rules that passion and desire have suddenly, irrevocably changed.

So the description of the book makes it sound like there is overt fetization of eastern culture in this book. Despite the setting, however, the story reads like it takes place in Regency England. Only the clothes are slightly different. And the hero has no problem kissing the unmarried heroine in busy public places.

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Crewel By: Gennifer AlbinCrewel by Gennifer Albin. $ 2.99

From the Jacket Copy:

Enter a tangled world of secrets and intrigue where a girl controls others’ destinies, but not her own

Sixteen-year-old Adelice Lewys has always been special. When her parents discover her gift—the ability to weave the very fabric of reality—they train her to hide it. For good reason, they don’t want her to become one of the elite, beautiful, and deadly women who determine what people eat, where they live, how many children they have, and even when they die.

But Adelice is forced to into this powerful group, and she must learn to navigate the dangerous politics at play. Caught in a web of lies and forbidden romance, she must unravel the sinister truth behind her own unspeakable power. Her world is hanging by a thread, and Adelice, alone, can decide to save it—or destroy it.

This is Gennifer Albin’s first novel and the NYTimes said this “There are points where the logic of the world-building in “Crewel” doesn’t quite hold together. That only women can weave is a bit baffling and forced. But while the reader can pick apart the threads that aren’t quite as well woven into the pattern, it’s also easy to step back and enjoy the picture. The halls of Coventry are dark and twisted places readers will want to visit. “

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