DAILY DEALS: Pride, Poppies, and Toe Picks
Book Dealsbook deals / daily deals7 Comments
Fire on the Ice by Tamsen Parker $ 1.99
From the Jacket Copy:
Welcome to the Snow and Ice Games where competition is not the only thing that is heating up! The fourth book in bestselling Tamsen Parker’s romance series continues with two female skaters from opposite sides of the rink.
Blaze Bellamy is the bad girl of the short track speed skating world. Looking like a roller derby bruiser when she’s not in her Team USA uniform, she’s an unlikely American heroine. She’s got a punk attitude to match her provocative dress and her dyed hair, and she’s determined to get onto the front pages of the papers regardless of how she has to do it.
Maisy Harper is the workhorse of the Canadian women’s figure skating team. Serious, modest, and above all, polite, Maisy would prefer to win her victory on the ice rather than in the press, and is exasperated by Blaze’s antics. When she’s not lusting after her anyway. After they both failed to make the medal podium at the last Snow and Ice Games, they drowned themselves in gin—and each other.
Despite their hookup being drunken, they both harbor fond memories of their night together and are keen for a repeat. But they’ve got different ways of going about getting what they want, and Blaze’s willingness to go to any lengths for the spotlight could ruin any chance she has with Maisy.
Someone to Wed by Mary Balogh $ 1.99
From the Jacket Copy:
When Alexander Westcott becomes the new Earl of Riverdale, he inherits a title he never wanted and a failing country estate he can’t afford. But he fully intends to do everything in his power to undo years of neglect and give the people who depend on him a better life…
A recluse for more than twenty years, Wren Heyden wants one thing out of life: marriage. With her vast fortune, she sets her sights on buying a husband. But when she makes the desperate—and oh-so-dashing—earl a startlingly unexpected proposal, Alex will only agree to a proper courtship, hoping for at least friendship and respect to develop between them. He is totally unprepared for the desire that overwhelms him when Wren finally lifts the veils that hide the secrets of her past…
The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang $ 2.99
From the Jacket Copy:
A brilliantly imaginative talent makes her exciting debut with this epic historical military fantasy, inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic, in the tradition of Ken Liu’s Grace of Kings and N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy.
When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.
But surprises aren’t always good.
Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.
For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . .
Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.
And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts $ 2.99
From the Jacket Copy:
Upon its first publication twenty years ago, And The Band Played On was quickly recognized as a masterpiece of investigative reporting. An international bestseller, a nominee for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and made into a critically acclaimed movie, Shilts’ expose revealed why AIDS was allowed to spread unchecked during the early 80’s while the most trusted institutions ignored or denied the threat. One of the few true modern classics, it changed and framed how AIDS was discussed in the following years. Now republished in a special 20th Anniversary edition, And the Band Played On remains one of the essential books of our time.
Figure skating is as popular these days in romance as hockey? What books am I missing? The only authors I can think of are Elizabeth Harmon and Jennifer Comeaux, and neither has published anything recently. There’s Yuri!!! On Ice, of course, but that’s not a novel. Oh, and From Lukov With Love. But the excerpt there made it clear that it was not for me.
What I want is a hockey-figure skating romance in which the figure skating heroine teaches the hockey playing hero proper skating skills.
@Rose: Mina Esguerra’s Kiss and Cry has been getting buzz. That’s the main one I can think of. Also have you read Kathleen Gilles Sediel’s book, Summer’s End? The heroine is a figure skater (though she has retired from competition and is on the performance circuit). It’s an oldie but it’s very good.
Regarding the grimdark level of “The Poppy War”: The author wrote an article called “Why I Went There”. All the trigger warnings for war and a few more (self-harm).
The writing is amazing, it deserves all the praise it gets, because it depicts human beings in an actual war in graphic detail. Not for everyone, and that’s okay.
And the Band Played On actually came out in 1987, so more like 30 years ago. I remember it as a new book, too.
@Maite: Agreed. I couldn’t stop reading, horrified as I was, which I felt was kind of the point.
@Rose: I’m sure I exaggerated when I said there were as many books, but there are definitely quite a few these days. Goodreads has a list, and Bookriot had a handful last year, and if you google “ice skating romance novels” you get more. And there seem to be quite a few “Cutting Edge” inspired couples.
@Kareni: I knew it was the 80s, but I couldn’t remember exactly when. They keep rerunning the blurb they did for the 20th anniversary edition, I guess.
On The Poppy War, I agree that this seems to be one of those books where the violence and brutality are intrinsic to the storyline and themes. It gets tagged with the grimdark label in reviews and discussions, which probably isn’t fair because for quite a few SFF readers grimdark is kind of a loaded term.
And the Band Played On is brilliant – enraging and sad and fascinating and sad. I have the audiobook, the narration is great. Highly recommend this one.