Category: books on offer

books, books on offer

Recommendsday: March Kindle Offers

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It’s that time of the month again – where I buy even more books in the process of compiling the list of books on offer on Kindle this month. It is a slightly shorter list this month because there seem to be a lot of repeat offenders (so to speak) on offer this month, so I’ve tried not to duplicate too much this time. It wasn’t any less expensive a post for all that though!

So let’s start with one that I bought – and it’s The Excitements which is about two nonogenarian sisters who are World War Two veterans. On a trip to France to receive the Legion D’Honneur their nephew starts to suspect that they may be hiding some secrets about their past. This has a for fans of Richard Osman tag, but also blurbs from lots of authors that I like including Jenny Colgan and S J Bennett, so I’m looking forward to reading it. Talking of SJ Bennett, A Three Dog Problem, the second in the HM the Queen investigates series is also on offer this month.

Going back a long way to pre-BotW days, and Libby Page’s The Lido was a holiday reading pick – a sequel has just come out which I suspect explains the offer at the moment. A little more recently, I reviewed Tom Hindle’s Fatal Crossing back in January 2022 – he has two more since then, both of which are on my tbr pile, but this first one is on offer at the moment. I read Emily Henry’s Beach Read a bit more recently than that and would recommend it – I’ve read a couple of warring writers books in the last couple of ears and I think this one is my favourite – so 99p is s steal. Coming even more recently in my reading and I read Days at the Morisaki Bookshop not that long ago, and really enjoyed it – it’s 99p so if you fancy a slice of Japanese bookshop fantasy, it’s a steal.

Mhairi McFarlane’s It’s Not Me, It’s You is a book I loved in the days before this blog – I haven’t been back to it since I first read it in 2014, but my Goodreads review is positively glowing and I’ve enjoyed many of her books since so I’m not too worried about recommending it despite that. In a complete tonal about turn, Emma Cline’s The Girls is also on offer – it’s about a sort of Manson-y situation in the US in the 1960s and I enjoyed it but it was on the edge of what I can cope with – so I haven’t read her second novel, The Guest, which looked entirely too creepy for me on the basis of the blurb. Another book I enjoyed in the pre-pandemic days when I still read literary fiction is Brit Bennet‘s The Mothers.

And there is the usual offers on my favourite authors. The cheapest “proper” Georgette Heyer edition is Devil’s Cub at £1.99. And the 99p Julia Quinn is Just Like Heaven, the first of the Smythe-Smith series. This month’s Terry Pratchett is Making Money, the second Moist von Lipwig book and source of this genius quote:

‘Look, I can explain,’ he said. Lord Vetinari lifted an eyebrow with the care of one who, having found a piece of caterpillar in his salad, raises the rest of the lettuce. ‘Pray do,’ he said, leaning back. ‘We got a bit carried away,’ said Moist. ‘We were a bit too creative in our thinking. We encouraged mongooses to breed in the posting boxes to keep down the snakes …’ Lord Vetinari said nothing. ‘Er … which, admittedly, we introduced into the posting boxes to reduce the numbers of toads …’ Lord Vetinari repeated himself. ‘Er … which, it’s true, staff put in the posting boxes to keep down the snails …’ Lord Vetinari remained unvocal. ‘Er … These, I must in fairness point out, got into the boxes of their own accord, in order to eat the glue on the stamps,’ said Moist, aware that he was beginning to burble.

Making Money by Terry Pratchett

Oh and I also bought the latest Mary Balogh, Always Remember while I was writing this. Oops.

Happy reading

books, books on offer, Recommendsday

Recommendsday: January Kindle Offers

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Hello! It’s that time of the month again, hide your wallets because I’m back with a stack of Kindle offers and if you can resist all of them you’re a better person than I am! I’m not sure this month is quite as good as last month, but there were still a few interesting things at prices to tempt.

I’ve recommended Ali Hazelwood’s adult romances a couple of times, but her YA debut is 99p this month – so if you want a story about chess rivals, then maybe Check & Mate is what you need this January. The sequel to Nita Prose’s The Maid is out in the UK in about a week now, so that probably explains why the original story about Molly the Maid is 99p at the moment.

One of the Taylor Jenkins Reid novels from before she went massive is on offer this month – I haven’t read After I Do (yet!) but it’s got a fairly good average on Goodreads for what that’s worth (and for older books it tends to be worth more than the newer ones). Another older book on offer is Amor Towles Rules of Civility, which I read back in 2016 and really, really liked it – if you’ve read his newer stuff but not this, then go and read this about a woman trying to make it in Jazz-age New York.

The discount Terry Pratchett is The Light Fantastic at £1.99. If you’re adding to your Georgette Heyer collection, it’s the Gothicky and creepy Cousin Kate at 99p this month, with Devil’s Cub and a couple of others at £1.99. As I’ve said a couple of times now, Peter Wimsey (and Heyer actually) are emerging from copyright restrictions so there are a lot of very cheap editions of some of the books available now, but I can’t vouch for the quality of them. However, The Nine Tailors is the “proper” edition of a Peter Wimsey that is 99p this January. I’m on a bit of an Agatha Christie kick at the moment as well, and there’s a similar issue with hers – I’m deeply tempted by 49p French editions of some of her Poirot novels, but slightly dubious if the translations will be ok. Anyway, in English one of her non-series books The Sittaford Mystery is 99p, as are a lot of her short stories – although I’m not sure how you work out what are in the various anthologies and what aren’t.

I bought a couple of books while writing this (what’s new!) but also added a few more to the Kindle Unlimited list. All I need to do now is finish some of the other KU books I have borrowed…

Happy Reading!

books on offer, Recommendsday

Recommendsday: December Kindle Offers

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I’m messing with the schedule a bit this month to get all the Christmas recommendations in in good time along with the regular features, so today in a friday twist, it’s the December Kindle offers!

Let’s start with the Christmas books on offer – like Christina Lauren’s Groundhog-Christmas-day romance In a Holidaze, and Sweet Mercies – which only came out a few weeks back. Much much older, but still my favourite Trisha Ashely, A Winters Tale is on offer too.

Moving on, and recent BotW To Swoon and to Spar is 99p as is the Neighbor Favor, which was a pick back in July. Before Your Memory Fades, the third book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series is 99p – and was one of my purchases while writing this post!

One of this years big book adaptations was Daisy Jones and the Six and the book is on offer again this month – reminding me that I still need to watch the streaming series. Maybe a dose of California sunshine is what I need for Christmas viewing? Also adapted this year, and also one I haven’t watched yet, is Red, White and Royal Blue which seems to be basically 99p all the time at the moment, which makes a change from when it was new and it was really, really expensive on Kindle! Also now a movie is the Judy Blume classic Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret, which I first read when I was about 10 years old.

Richard Coles’ second Canon Clement A Death in the Parish is 99p as is Katy Watson’s The Three Dahlias, which as you know I love, The Windsor Knot, if you want to try the HM the Queen Investigates series, Robin Stevens’ Mistletoe and Murder from the Wells and Wong middle grade series, and T J Klune’s Under the Whispering Door. On the historical fiction front, Gill Horby’s Godmersham Park and Elizabeth Macneal’s The Doll Factory are 99p, as is Maggie Shipstead’s Great Circle, if you want a really epic read for this Christmas season.

This months’ Terry Pratchett is Small Gods, for £1.99 you can read about competitive religion on the Disc – perfect as we’re coming up for a major religious holiday… The 99p Georgette Heyer is The Tollgate, which is one of I haven’t reread in a while, so I might go back for again now! The Julia Quinn is What Happens in London, which was actually the first book of hers I bought, more than a decade ago, in Waterstones Southend!

Enjoy!

Book of the Week, Book previews, books, books on offer, historical, new releases

Book of the Week: Silver Lady

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Back to historical romance this week – and this one isn’t actually out until next week, but I’ve already finished it, so I’m going with it today – sorry and all but you can at least preorder it if you like the sound of it.

Silver Lady is the first in a new series from Mary Jo Putney and is set in a lightly magical version of Regency Britain where some people are “gifted” – which means they have special skills that border on magic. Bran Tremayne is one of this – his powers of perception have made him an excellent investigator for the Home Office. But he finds himself drawn to Cornwall, where he was born before he was abandoned by his birth parents. When he is there he meets a mysterious woman who has had her memories suppressed. As she recovers her memories in his care, Bran discovers that Merryn is at the centre of a dangerous plot – can they survive the danger to get to a happy ending?

I mean it’s a romance novel, so I think you know the answer to that, but this is a fun read – it’s got some peril and adventure and the world building is pretty good – the “dangerous gifts” of the title are explained very well and naturally as part of the plot of the book . I’m not usually a lover of amnesia storylines, but this one makes sense within the framework that you’re given for the world and Merryn is less of a damsel in distress than I was expecting her to be. I’ve had a bit of a mixed record with Putney before, but I enjoyed this and will look out for the sequels when they come along.

Silver Lady is out next week – you can preorder it on Kindle and Kobo and if you’re in the US you should be able to get a paperback too.

Happy Reading!

books on offer, Recommendsday

Recommendsday: November Kindle Offers

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It’s only the 8th, but it’s already Kindle offer o’clock, because I did the quick reviews last Wednesday on the 1st. It always slightly throws me when this happens, but that’s because I’m a creature of habit and I don’t like change! Anyway, on with the offers.

And a lot of them are distinctly Christmassy – A Holly Jolly Ever After by Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy is brand new and is the second (of a planned three I think) books set in Christmas Notch – I read the first one last year and bought this one while writing this post! Lyssa Kay Adams‘ A Very Merry Bromance is also 99p, as is Trisha Ashley‘s The Magic of Christmas.

If you don’t want Christmas vibes yet, then Elissa Sussman‘s Once More With Feeling, one of my favourite books of the year is 99p, Jenny Colgan’s summer book from this year is on offer and The Summer Skies is the first with a fresh batch of characters too. And in excellent news for me personally, the latest Katherine Center Hello, Stranger is 99 – and I bought that one while writing this too! Also on offer is one of the new autumn romances that I keep seeing everywhere – Meryl Wilsner’s Cleat Cute. In other (relatively) new releases, the latest in Jodi Taylor’s Chronicles of St Mary’s book, The Good, The Bad and the History is 99p. Dying in the Wool, which is the first in Frances Brody’s Kate Shackleton series is 99p as well, as is Shady Hollow, the first in Juneau Black’s slightly weird cozy crime series where the characters are animals. Or are they?

I haven’t read this one, but Rhys Bowen’s latest World War Two-set novel (as opposed to her historical mystery series) is also on offer this month – it’s called The Paris Assignment and features a woman spying in France to try and avenge the death of her son.

This month’s Peter Wimsey is Gaudy Night, which is maybe edging towards my favourite at this point, even if it has probably the least Peter of any of them – and it’s notable because I know I own the kindle of Gaudy Night, but its still offering me the option to buy it so they must finally have updated the Kindle edition, which is probably a good thing as the one I have has slightly weird formatting. In other authors that I love, Curtis Sittenfeld‘s American Wife is 99p this month, as is Elizabeth Taylor’s Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont.

On the historical romance front, the Julia Quinn is On a Night Like This from the Smythe-Smith series and the novelisation that goes with the Queen Charlotte Netflix series. Tthe Georgette Heyer is The Corinthian – which is one of her hero helping a heroine running away stories. And one of the books that my Romance Facebook group always raves about, Lisa Kleypas’s Devil in Winter, is also 99p – I bought it because although I’ve read the follow up, Devil in Spring, I haven’t read the original and it’s meant to be a classic. One I have read and that I love (as you know) is the first in Sarah MacLean‘s Rules of Scoundrels series, A Rogue by Any Other Name, is 99p – and you should totally read it – check my Series I Love post for the reasons why!

And that’s your lot for this month – I hope this post hasn’t cost you as much money as it cost me

Happy Humpday!

books, books on offer, Recommendsday

Recommendsday: October Kindle Offers

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It’s the second Wednesday of the month, so it’s Kindle offer day, but it’s also an Amazon promo event at the moment, so apologies in advance if there are a few deals in here that don’t last long.

But I’m starting this list the way I started the month – by buying Sarah MacLean’s latest book, Knockout, which is 99p on kindle. These don’t go on offer often, so grab it while you can. There are a few other historical romances on offer too – Just Like Heaven and The Lost Duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn as well as Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer. In contemporary romances, there is former BotW The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood and an older Katie Fforde – Wild Designs – and Trisha Ashley – Wish Upon a Star – that are 99p

Lets move on to mysteries of various types and there is Death comes to Marlow by Robert Thoroughgood, for 99p, which is the same price as latest HM The Queen mystery Murder Most Royal. In classic crime, The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham is on offer if you want a hit of Albert Campion. The very dodgy looking Peter Wimsey editions continue, but the 99p good edition is one of my favourites – Strong Poison.

Moving on to stuff in other categories, About Time in Jodi Taylor’s Time Police series is on offer for 99p, as is The Rosie Project by Graham Simsion and The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatio Sanchez by Patterson Joseph. There’s a couple of non fiction books worth a look – including Lucy Worsley’s Agatha Christie biography and Hello World by Hannah Fry

And finally it’s about to turn 20, so maybe that’s why The Wee Free Men is 99p – it’s the first of Terry Pratchett‘s four Tiffany Aching books, which are childrens books in the Discworld and I love them, even if I’ve never been able to reread the last one, which was also Terry Pratchett’s final book. As a bonus Carpe Jugulum from the adult bit is £1.99.

Happy Reading!

books, books on offer, Recommendsday

Recommendsday: September Kindle offers

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It’s that time again – second Wednesday of the month means it’s Kindle Offers o’clock. Hide your wallets, disable your one click, this could get pricey!

And lets start with a recent BotW The Boyfriend Candidate and something I recommended really quite recently – Katherine Center’s The Bodyguard which are both 99p (and Boyfriend Candidate is in Kindle Unlimited too). A BotW from slightly longer ago is The Roughest Draft which is the same price. And I’ve written a lot about Curtis Sittenfeld’s Romantic Comedy this summer, but her first novel Prep is on offer this month.

The movie version of Red, White and Royal Blue came out a few weeks ago on Amazon Prime – and the book is 99p at the moment, presumably as a tie in. And Ashley Herring Blake’s Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail is 99p at the moment, just over a month out from the release of the third book in that series.

I’m a bit New Adult-ed out at the moment, but I know that Elle Kennedy is very popular – so thought I’d mention that The Summer Girl is 99p. I read Chloe Liese‘s If Only You from her Bergman Brothers series earlier this year -and that is 99p at the moment but one of her Shakespeare retellings, Two Wrongs Make a Right, is also on offer so I may give that a go despite the aforementioned New Adult fatigue.

One of my favourite recent historical romances, Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting by Sophie Irwin is 99p – I assume to coincide with the release of the sequel. Eloisa James’s latest romance, Not That Duke, is 99p – I’ll admit that that’s one of the ones that I bought while writing this, as is Alexis Halls‘ Mortal Follies! Sarah MacLean’s latest is out – but the first in this series Bombshell is £2.99 on Kindle which is the cheapest I’ve seen it. And Cat Sebastian‘s latest We Could Be So Good is also 99p. It only came out in June and yes, I bought that too.

In plain historical (as opposed to Historical romance) the final Philippa Gregory Tudor book The Last Tudor is 99p. I mentioned it in the Waterstone’s post on Saturday, but Whalebone Theatre is also 99p on Kindle at the moment as well as getting a big push in stores. Gill Hornby‘s Miss Austen is also 99p

In classic novels, Daphne Du Maurier‘s Rebecca is 99p, as is P G Wodehouse’s The Code of the Woosters and the very first Albert Campion Murder at Black Dudley . In other classic crime, Unnatural Death is the Peter Wimsey at 99p this month in an edition I know are decent as opposed to the ever increasing number of alternative editions – some of them even cheaper but with descriptions and covers that give me reason to not entirely sure they’re to be trusted. This is also happening to the Agatha Christies now too – which is very frustrating. The 99p Georgette Heyer is The Nonesuch and there are a couple more at £1.99 including These Old Shades. And this month’s bargain Terry Pratchetts are Dragons at Crumbling Castle for 99p (this is one of his children’s short story collections) and in the Discworld it is Sourcery at £1.99.

And finally a quick bit of non-fiction – Greg Jenner‘s Ask a Historian and Dead Famous are on offer too. And Antonia Fraser’s Charles II biography is 99p as well – if you want 900 pages on the last King Charles before the current one.

Happy Wednesday!

books, books on offer

Recommendsday: August Kindle Offers

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It’s the second Wednesday of the month again – so you know what that means! Yes, hide your wallets, I’m about to tempt you into some serious buying action with the current crop of Kindle offers. After all, given that I end up buying stuff when I write it, it’s only fair that you buy some too…

First up – one of last month’s BotWs and also very new release Business or Pleasure is 99p as is You with a View (which was in last month’s Quick Reviews) and Annabel Monaghan’s latest book Same Time Next Summer (as mentioned in the Summer Romances post). Another recent BotW Christina Lauren’s The True Love Experiment is 99p as is Elissa Sussman‘s Funny You Should Ask

If you’re after Murder mysteries rather than romance, then The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz from his Hawthorne series 99p and Rev Richard Coles’s Murder before Evensong still 99p. The Murder Game – Tom Hindle’s second book after Fatal Crossing – is 99p as well and I really must get around to reading it!

Another one I need to get around to reading (but not crime as far as I know) is Small Miracles, which is 99p, I presume because it has arrived in paperback but there is also a sequel is arriving in the autumn, because I saw a proof copy in the office last week. I have Meryl Wilsner’s debut Something to Talk about somewhere in the backlog – Mistakes Were Made ahead of her next one, which is out in September. Also in romances on offer presumably ahead of the next release is Delilah Green Doesn’t Care, which I read recently along with the next in the series, Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail.

In authors I have recently enjoyed, The Storied Life of A J Fikry – from Gabrielle Zevens who wrote Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow – is 99p. I’m still waiting for news on what Brit Bennett is going to write next, but I’ve seen Vanishing Half around a fair bit recently and that’s also 99p.

I wrote about Mary Balogh’s Survivors Club series not that long ago and this month Remember Me from her Ravenswood series is on offer. It only came out in June and is book two in the series. I of course still need to read book one! As you may have noticed in the weekly posts; I still need to finish The Other Side of Mrs Wood, but its £1.99 at the moment and I think if you liked

If you want some none fiction, Adrian Tinniswood’s The Long Weekend is 99p – I read it back in the pre blog era but if you like history this is the story of the aristocracy and their house parties through the years.

This month we have an increasing number of weird looking Peter Wimsey editions so I don’t even know if I can recommend them at the moment. Oh copyright expiry, how you confuse things! But Cotillion is the 99p Georgette Heyer this month,

Happy Reading!

books, books on offer

Recommendsday: Kindle Offers

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It’s that time of the month again, but this time it’s a tricky one as we have prime day offers going on on the ‘Zon so it’s a bit of a lottery which of these are going to last all month… but I have to say it is a really good month for deals on the recent releases.

It’s Wimbledon, so it’s maybe apt that Carrie Soto is Back is 99p at the moment – it’s also out in paperback now if you want a physical copy of the former BotW. Ali Hazelwood’s Love on the Brain came out last summer and is 99p – I assume to encourage people to buy the new one. One of my favourite not-new books of the year (oops, that’s a spoiler!) Nora Goes Off Script is 99p, again because I assume the new one is out. Once More With Feeling is also 99p which is a total bargain for Elissa Sussman’s latest and one of my favourites of the year so far. Incredibly recent BotW Mrs Nash’s Ashes is also 99p as is Fake Dates and Mooncakes. And let’s not leave of Jenn McKinlay’s Summer Reading – also 99p

I have You and Me on Vacation waiting to be read – but if you’ve read some of Emily Henry’s others – like Happy Place and Book Lovers, then fill in a gap! Also waiting to be read is the new Sarah Morgan, Summer Wedding, which is 99p. I’ve read a couple of Sarah Adam’s romances and found them too New Adult for me – but I know they’re super popular so the fact that the latest Practice Makes Perfect is 99p will be good news for them. In historical detective novels, the latest in Nicola Upson’s Josephine Tey series Dear Little Corpses is £1.99.

I read it a long time ago now, but Nick Spalding’s Bricking It is £1 – as are a bunch of his other books (some are also in Kindle Unlimited). Also from quite a long time ago but on offer is Libby Page’s The Lido, while Curtis Sittenfeld’s Rodham is £1.99. And in non fiction Caitlin Doherty’s From Here to Eternity is 99p as is former BotW The Traitor King, which is really, really worth a read.

If you’re collecting series, the Bridgerton-adjacent The Further Observations of Lady Whistledown is 99p as is the non-Bridgerton Julia Quinn The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy. In other things you can find on Netflix, if you’ve watched their Wham documentary, Andrew Ridgely’s memoir Wham! George and Me is 99p.

This month’s Peter Wimsey is the brilliant Murder Must Advertise, complete with one of the best cricket matches in a book and a fascinating look at the advertising business in the 1930s. There are a couple of M C Beaton’s Agatha Raisin books on offer including one od the most recent ones – Agatha Raisin Down the Hatch and there are some Hamish MacBeth’s too – including Death of a Bore. In classic stuff, there’s a Jeeves and Wooster omnibus for 99p, as is The Color Purple, which was one of my A Level set texts back in the day. Amy Lea’s Exes and Ohs is 99p,

I bought David Sedaris’s Happy Go Lucky while writing this post, as well as Jarvis Cocker’s Good Pop, Bad Pop. And if that’s not enough books for you, I don’t know what is.

Happy Humpday everyone!

Book of the Week, books, books on offer, new releases, romance

Book of the Week: The Seven Year Slip

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Back to summer romances this week – and for the second week in a row, it’s a new release!

In Ashley Piston’s last book, The Dead Romantics (also a BotW) she was doing a spin on a romance with a ghost. This time it’s a romance with a time travel-y element. What do I mean by that? Well, here’s the plot: Clementine is trying to get through the aftermath of the worst day of her life and try and rebuild in a way that means she can’t get hurt again. She’s living in her late aunt’s apartment and trying to keep her working life as a book publicist on track. But one day she comes home and finds a stranger in her kitchen. Her aunt warned her that the apartment was a pinch in time and it turns out he’s from seven years in the past. Ian is charming and he cooks and they get on really well – but how can they ever get around that time thing?

I read this in less than 24 hours and really enjoyed it. I have a few minor quibbles – putting them in the least spoiler-y way possible it basically boils down to: I’m not sure that Clementine and Iwan actually spent enough time together across the course of the book. If it’s a romance I needed more of them together, and if it’s more woman’s fiction I needed a better resolution to Clementine’s own life dilemma/crossroads. BUT this only started to bother me once the book was over and I started thinking about it to review it. While I was actually reading it I was completely swept along by it. So on that basis it’s a really enjoyable read – and makes sort-of-time-travel really work for me. I would happily have read another 100 pages if it meant my issues above got more closure. And I liked the little glimpses of some old friends from Dead Romantics too. Another one that is great for the beach/sun lounger.

I got my copy via NetGalley – but you can definitely get it in the shows because I saw it in Foyles:

And if you’re not going into a bookstore it’s also on Kindle and Kobo.

Happy Reading!