#bareknuckle bastards

[sarah-maclean-completist]

The Years of Hattie

[petiteblasee]

E quanto a você? Você vai se entregar a ela, também? – Eu nunca serei de outra coisa que não seja dela.

*:･ﾟ✧ A Dama e o Monstro [Bastardos Impiedosos #2] - Sarah MacLean.

[sarahmaclean]

They say you have to put stuff into the universe, so...

Look: If Ben Barnes wants to play a sexy love interest with a happily ever after, The Bareknuckle Bastards (Devil) and the Hell's Belles (Clayborn) are right here waiting.

[mermaidsirennikita]

Best historical romance retellings/takes on Beauty and the Beast?

The Wickedness of a Highlander was just discussed in a previous ask, but that one is very much a clear BatB vibe! He's not ugly, but he is big (over 6'5" lmao) and growly and grumpy and sorta semi traps her. She's beautiful and fixes his place up and is obsessed with roses. The intention is clear lol

The Bastard by S.M. LaViolette has big shades of this. The hero is this hulking bareknuckle boxer-turned-successful-businessman (with Glasgow grin scars) who's out for revenge against his biological father, which leads to him ruining his father's wife (not the hero's mother). The wife's sister is this sweet woman who basically agrees to marry him (he's very smitten) in order to get the dogs called off. It gives that sort of "bargain" vibe, and there's a lot of healing power of love stuff. This hero has one of the most traumatic backstories I've ever read. So! Tbh I got the revenge!

The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare, of ocurse. The hero is very scarred and needs a wife for an heir, so ends up just marrying the woman who made his fiancee's wedding dress after said fiancee jilts him (due to his scars). A big reason why this makes me think BatB is that the hero initially just wants to have sex with the lights out, which reminds me a lot of the Cupid/Psyche stuff that predated BatB.

When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Lorraine Heath is obviously evocative of the fairy tale! Though this beast is very quickly QUITE sweet. Being a Lorraine Heath book, it made me highly emotional when the reason why he was so ostracized was revealed lol

My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid. I want to be careful as recommend this because to be clear: The hero is by no means "beastly". He's a hot duke. However, he thinks himself beastly because, following an injury, he's had to used a wheelchair and has limited mobility. It also has the whole "COME BACK TO MY PLACE OF LIVING AND STAY HERE AS A PART OF A DEAL GRR I'M V MEAN AND HATE BEING AROUND PEOPLE SO COME BE AROUND ME" thing.

(This book also has a really sensitive approach to the hero and heroine's sex life that I love. And it's also super hot.)

[fated-mates]

We're nearing the end of Season 6, and that means we're talking about one of Sarah's books! We're finishing up (or beginning?) the Bareknuckle Bastards series today with a deep dive of Sarah's Wicked and the Wallflower, the first in her Bareknuckle Bastards series--part Rumplestiltskin retelling, part Peaky Blinders fic, all justifiable face punching and ode to the darkness. This is the series she loves the best, and Jen just might agree.

[more-than-a-princess]

Hi! Love your sonia characterisation and from your ooc posting, I see your tastes are great~ Can I ask the mun: do you have any recommendations for books or TV series? c:

Hi anon! Thank you so much for your kind words regarding my IC content and OOC ramblings, that's really nice of you to say. I'm happy to recommend some things (I admit I did a 'Stitch laughing maniacally on a pile of wreckage' when I got this ask because anon, I am not sure you know what you have asked to unleash!).

However, I wasn't sure if you were asking for recommendations for books/TV series that have directly inspired my Sonia portrayal, or recommendations of things I enjoy in general. With that in mind, I'm going to be sharing a long list of books, TV series, manga/webtoons, and story-based video games that I just happen to like.

If you're looking for media that has directly inspired my portrayal though, please send another ask and I'd be happy to narrow it down for you!

In order not to keep the dash tidy, everything is under a cut, with notes (some important, some just me making jokes) beside a few of them. I hope you find a new favorite book/series to enjoy!

Books: 

General Notes: For book series where the first book title isn't the series name, I've indicated which book to start with, save for the historical romances because that's easier to find online and there's a lot of them. I hope that helps! Additionally, for all romance series, assume that there is some mention of sexual content in various degrees of description, aka. "spice." Depending on your comfort level of literary sex, I highly recommend checking out each title on https://www.romance.io/ for their spice level rating, at the very least. The site will also show you tropes found in each book as well as reviews.

Contemporary Romance:

The Time-Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

American Royals series by Katharine McGee

Crazy Rich Asians series by Kevin Kwan (way, way better than the movie! It's a trilogy, followed by China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems. I'd highly recommend this if you are writing a modern wealthy character of East Asian descent. Yes it's romance, humor, and contemporary family drama, but it gives what's apparently a very accurate look at high society)

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade (if you are looking for contemporary romance with plus size heroines, you want to check out Olivia Dade! Also Mary Warren and for young adult romance, Kelsie Stelting)

Modern Royals series by Aven Ellis (start with A Royal Shade of Blue)

The Royal Runaway by Lindsay Emory

The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (and its sequel, The Heir Affair)

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston (this was better than Red, White, and Royal Blue, IMO)

Fantasy Romance:

Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas

Crescent City series by Sarah J. Maas

A note about SJM series: I highly suggest reading TOG or ACOTAR first, with the understanding the first three or so TOG books and the first ACOTAR books have a slower pace and are more about worldbuilding than anything else. Read Crescent City after these two (CC 1 is also a big, long worldbuilding book). You must read ACOTAR to read CC, but you do not need to read TOG to read CC (though you'll miss some of the references/easter eggs!). 

The Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros (Start with Fourth Wing)

The Shepherd King duology by Rachel Gillig (Start with One Dark Window)

The All-Souls Trilogy/series by Deborah Harkness (Start with A Discovery of Witches)

Historical Romance:

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma Alban

Love by Numbers series by Sarah MacLean (start with Nine Rules to Break While Romancing a Rake. If you finish this series and like her writing, move on to the Bareknuckle Bastards series and the Rules of Scoundrels series)

Spindle Cove series by Tessa Dare (start with A Night to Surrender. If you liked this series, move on to the Castles Ever After series and the Girl Meets Duke series)

pretty much anything by Lisa Kleypas (Bridgerton fans? This is how you get over your hangover/wait between finishing the books and/or Season 3. start with the Wallflowers or the Hathaways series, then move onto the Ravenels and the Bow Street Runners series. This is mostly historically the chronological order with crossover characters between the Wallflowers and Hathaways. Bow Street Runners is chronologically before Wallflowers but it's disappointing if you read it first, trust me!)

everything by Jane Austen. Just everything. 

Series/books I'm in the middle of/currently on my TBR list so I can't recommend them fully yet but I'm actively reading them:

The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black (start with The Cruel Prince)

Letters of Enchantment duology by Rebecca Ross (start with Divine Rivals)

Crowns of Nyaxia series by Carissa Broadbent (Start with The Serpent and the Wings of Night)

Hades x Persephone saga by Scarlett St. Clair (Start with A Touch of Darkness)

The Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo (and Six of Crows. And everything else: I've yet to dive into Bardugo's series) 

A League of Extraordinary Women series by Evie Dunmore (Start with Bringing Down the Duke)

Royals series by Rachel Hawkins (start with Prince Charming)

Infamous by Lex Croucher

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

Deliciously Dark Fairytales series by K.F. Greene (Start with A Ruin of Roses)

TV series:

Downton Abbey (my love for this show runs deep. It changed my life!)

The Gilded Age (Carrie Coon deserves an Emmy for this at some point I s2g)

The Crown (Claire Foy is the best QEII, Elizabeth Debicki is the best Diana, Josh O'Connor is the best Charles)

Gossip Girl (original 2007 series, not the remake)

The Royals (the E! show)

Succession (Come for Brian Cox emotionally and verbally harass his children, stay for Kieran Culkin, Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook, Matthew MacFayden, Conheads, and a Ludicrously Capacious Bag.)

The White Lotus (Tanya is ICONIC.)

Miss Scarlet and the Duke

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (If you like Miss Scarlet, I can almost guarantee you will like Miss Fisher. And vice-versa.)

All Creatures Great and Small (the remake)

Sanditon

Black Mirror

Skins (UK series only)

Sex Education

The IT Crowd (the creator is an ass. The show is eternal.)

The Great

The Sopranos

The Empress

The Fall of the House of Usher

Midnight Mass (arguably the best Flanagan series. Fight me.)

Marie Antoinette (2022 TV series)

Dickinson

Euphoria

Stranger Things

The Tudors

Versailles

Unforgotten

Endeavour (you don't need to have seen Inspector Morse beforehand but it helps contextualize where some of this cast ends up in the future! Endeavour is the best murder mystery show ever written, IMO. Unforgotten is a close contender for second place.)

Outlander

Sherlock

Mad Men

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

American Horror Story (earlier seasons are way better than the later ones)

Gentleman Jack

Ted Lasso

Emily in Paris

Pride and Prejudice (the 1995 miniseries with Colin Firth)

Books and TV (that is, read and watch both!):

Bridgerton (books by Julia Quinn)

Magpie Murders (books by Anthony Horowitz. One of my few book recs that isn't a romance! Horowitz is a wonderful contemporary mystery writer)

Webtoons/manga:

(Because some people prefer manga/webtoons to novels! I have read all of these on MangaKatana. Mostly fantasy romance and contemporary romance, several have been made into J or K-dramas)

Under The Oak Tree

See You In My 19th Life

What's Wrong With Secretary Kim?

Like Wind on a Dry Branch

Marriage of Convenience

Father, I Don't Want to Get Married!

We Are Not Ourselves Today

An Hour of Romance

Innocent (The sole historical drama over here. Every sex and violence trigger warning you can imagine applies to this manga. It is also one of the most beautifully-drawn and intriguing stories I've ever read. Rose of Versailles fans, this is for you: this is your fave but darker.)

Marry My Husband

Video games with excellent storytelling:

(mostly. These are primarily otome games, mystery visual novels, and horror visual novels):

Zero Escape: The Nonary Games (there are three games in this series: 999, Virtue's Last Reward, and Zero Time Dilemma)

AI: The Somnium Files (There are currently two games in this series, AITSF and AITSF: Nirvana Initiative. Zero Escape and Somnium Files are basically required to play after Danganronpa. I said what I said: the storytelling is better)

Code: Realize (The best storytelling of all otome games, hands down. Do not watch the anime: it sucks. The first game is the best and really the only one you need to play. The other two games have okay side stories and are mostly romantic continuations of the first game's routes)

Collar x Malice

Cupid Parasite (mostly for the last two routes, though: if you're using a walkthrough guide. Generally much lighter than your usual otome...save for the last two routes that serve to break you.)

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (you could watch both seasons of the original anime if you really want to, but the games are better)

Umineko no Naku Koro ni (Note: please keep in mind this was written 10+ years ago in Japan, especially when you get to the Big Reveals in the final game. There are Some Takes that would go over poorly today. Like Code: Realize, do not watch the anime: IT SUCKS.)

Spirit Hunter: Death Mark

Spirit Hunter: NG (You don't technically have to play Death Mark first but it makes one of the endings far more impactful if you do!)

Honorable mentions:

Hakuoki (so many routes, so very long! But if you like Japanese history around this time, you may like this)

Olympia Soiree (good on the more mature content, bad on some of the LIs giving me pause like 'this is not a good romance idea')

Amnesia: Memories (I'm not a fan of the female main character or two of the LIs. At all.)

Piofiore (Similar complaints as Amnesia.)

[triviareads]

Recs with the heroine going to brothels or gambling hells or very dangerous places and the hero going with her because "you are crazy and in need of protection"

lmao basically every Grace Callaway heroine ever, but here are some standouts:

Her Wanton Wager: Percy approaches Gavin Hunt, a pleasure club owner with criminal beginnings, to deal with her brother's debt to him, and Hunt ends up protecting her from all the crazy shit she keeps wandering into.

Her Protector's Pleasure: okay Marianne actually has a good reason to be wandering the shady parts of London but that doesn't stop Honorable Cop Ambrose Kent from watching over her, and eventually helping her.

The Duke Who Knew Too Much: oh Emma.... all she wants to do is help assist her brother Ambrose and the hero Alaric with his murder investigation but she somehow ends up almost selling herself at a virginity auction that's only stopped because Alaric saves her and then immediately eats her out because he's Very Annoyed.

Olivia and the Masked Duke: Livy is basically her mom Emma but more competent and with actual investigative/defensive training but I'm pretty sure Hadleigh spanks her at some point because he keeps running into her in dangerous situations (but she can handle them! mostly!).

The first four Lady Charlotte's Society of Angels books all have heroines wandering into questionable situations with the heroes freaking out and running after them (or in Cull's case, kinda stalking Pippa lol), but they're generally competent gals who don't need protection, but the back-up's always nice.

The Prince of Broadway by Joanna Shupe: I debated putting this one on here because the dangerous place Florence goes to is Clay's gambling club but I feel like he kind of token objects to her slumming it before he's all "I'm not one of your PAMPERED UPTOWN GENTLEMEN flo" and then bites her. Devil of Downtown feels similar in terms of the hero protecting her but also feeling like she needs to be protected from him.

Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas: Oh Derek Craven..... he hates the idea of Sara wandering around London alone and hates it even more that she's exposed to the *debauchery* of his club because she's too good, too pure for him.

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean: Callie has a list of scandalous things she wants to do and Ralston kind of objects before he decides to help her accomplish everything on there, riding astride and all.

Bombshell by Sarah MacLean: The heroine is an explosives expert who's called upon to investigate a series of bombings, and the hero is a gruff cop type who is suuuuper bothered by her and by bothered I mean suuuuuper attracted to her, not that he'll ever admit it.

There are a few others in Sarah MacLean's Rules of Scoundrels series and her Bareknuckle Bastards series that kind of fit the bill, except the heroines are super competent or the heroes don't super care she's in questionable places lol.

[dhaaruni]

This is going to sound strange, but do you know of any historical romance novels that are about the bourgeoisie or the petite bourgeoisie?

Hmmm let me think. Of late, historical romance writers are trying to be more nuanced in their depiction of class differences etc. and you can read the descriptions of books and usually get a good idea what they're about. A lot of these are interclass romances and may not be what you're looking for but you can pick and choose what works for you.

Sarah MacLean's Rules of Scoundrels series is about disgraced noblemen who open a gambling club and her Bareknuckle Bastards series is about like a band of brothers who literally fought bareknuckle to feed themselves.

Eva Leigh's London Underground series is excellent, and the third book in particular, Dare to Love a Duke is my favorite and the heroine of it is a sex club owner and former sex worker who's trying to open a school for underprivileged girls, and she's just so awesome.

Joanna Shupe's Uptown Girls series takes place in Gilded Age New York and it's basically about the Schuyler Sisters (from Hamilton) falling in love with downtown men, and the second book, The Prince of Broadway is particularly excellent since Florence is so smart and confident but is also just a total dumbass and the entire book is her getting herself into bad situations and everybody else going "okay but you had to know this was a stupid idea."

Lisa Kleypas has a lot of interclass romances like my favorite is of course Devil in Winter which is a marriage of convenience with the heroine basically being at the financial and emotional mercy of her family and marrying Sebastian St. Vincent, a major ~rake, to escape.

Tessa Dare's Spindle Cove series and her Girl Meets Duke series are all interclass romances and at least one party is often genuinely impoverished. Like, my personal favorite, Any Duchess Will Do, has a heroine that's a barmaid taking care of her disabled sister, and the hero's a duke with a legitimately sad backstory. The book made me cry and has probably one of the hottest sex scenes in any romance novel bar none lol.

Elizabeth Hoyt's Maiden Lane series is a thriller romance series of 13 books, and some are definitely stronger than others but my favorite, Duke of Midnight, has a hero that's a duke (and more...) and the heroine is the impoverished cousin of the woman he's courting. This book has also one of the most memorable sex scenes in any romance novel ever lmao.

The leads in Lorraine Heath's Sins for All Seasons are all bastards who are adopted by the same woman and while they marry into the nobility, they all work for a living and that's a huge part of the conflict in the books.

Hopefully that gets you started! Sorry if I wasn't able to be of more help, and sorry I keep repeating myself with the same books lol.

[familyvideostevie]

📚 or 🎧 to sit in the sun and read or listen to musicsend this and a little bit about your taste to get a personalized book or song recommendation.

I'm more of a sci-fi girlie but I love reading romance too. Given if it's not a YA :)

okay!! i've been sitting on this to get you a good list. here are a few of my faves! i've tried to give you a mix of stuff so apologies if you've read any of this before :)

SCI-FI:

The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir: Three books so far, starting with Gideon the Ninth. I think this series is like, the the future of sci-fi (it really edges into fantasy but I think it's both!!!)? It's based in space necromancy but is also about politics, family, war, and sacrifice -- it's written in perhaps the most clever/confusing style. Really innovative and mind-blowing, in my opinion.

Emily St. John Mandel: Her stuff is pretty solidly literary fiction but it's sci-fi literary fiction. Station Eleven is one of my favorite books and I also loved The Glass Hotel and Sea of Tranquility.

Jeff VanderMeer: Jeff is my HOMIE. Probably one of my fave contemporary scifi writers, his books are all about the environment and biology and how humanity and nature interact. They are also pretty brutal and creepy, but I've loved everything I've read. Start with The Southern Reach trilogy, which begins with Annihilation.

ROMANCE:

Just a note here that I read mostly traditionally published romance. There is a lot of good romance that is independently published or published by small presses -- they take some digging to find and are often only available as ebooks from ebook retailers but worth looking for if you have specific tropes you love.

I read a lot of the popular traditionally published romance authors (hello Emily Henry I love you) but here are some other romances I've liked in recent years:

contemporary romance:

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan

historical romance:

My favorite historical authors are Lisa Kleypas and Sarah MacLean. Lisa's Wallflower series is really great and Sarah's Bareknuckle Bastards series is my favorite (the first two books, anyway). Other authors to check out are Tessa Dare, Beverly Jenkins, and Olivia Waite. There is so much out there!

join the celebration!

[ipoddymouth]

hi do you have any book recs? 🩷 i have seen the books you’ve mentioned in your tags and 👀

i read really fast so i will admit to reading a lot of dogshit kindle books but some of my fave books i read last year are:

the fae isles series 1-3 - there's a prequel but i aint reading that shit jglagjrgljg. the fourth book comes out this year! (eye personally think these books are better written than the acotar books even tho the second acotar (i still dont know which one it is gjlargjrlgja) is one of my fave books of all time)

the bareknuckled bastards book....i think the second one....about whit and hattie..... - which was rec'd to me by marisa (@marisa-writes). she sends me shit all the time lmfao so if you ever need romance recs go hit her up!!!!

a game of malice and greed by caroline peckham and susanne valenti - this shit was deadass a million pages long and took me a whole week and a half to read while sitting shotgun driving across the country but when i finished it i out loud said 'that really was a game of malice and greed, huh?'

reign by roxie noir - i actually dont think this was my favorite book of hers but it was interesting and i like her writing style bc i bought like three of her other books after reading this one

there's also this scifi book i read but i 100% do not remember the name; will update if i do bc it had like...nothing to do with anything else i read just a straight up random scifi book

i read a lot of romance/romantasy last year and these were all on my kindle. but i ALSO read a fuck ton of graphic novels (my fave is manifest destiny currently but i live in the midwest so like......lmao).

[sarah-maclean-completist]

You must insist that your friends who say they dislike historicals (but have never read one) read these while they're on KU.

[petiteblasee]

SARAH MACLEAN CONTINUA ME MATANDO!Até o fim da leitura eu estarei completamente largada de tanto sofrimento com ewan e grace!

Ele foi o responsável por dar um nome à ela, quase a matou, passou duas décadas seguintes procurando por ela por não conseguir viver sem e agora descobriu que mentiram para ele e ela está viva. Gritei junto quando ele descobriu a verdade 😭

[readtilyoudie]

12 Dukes of Christmas by Erica Ridley

The Bareknuckle Bastards Series by Sarah MacLean

Bi-Curious Beginnings: Enticed by an Earl Prequel by Anne Shaw

The Bridgerton Series by Julia Quinn

The Captain's Midwinter Bride by Liana De La Rosa

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Castles Ever After Series by Tessa Dare

Christmas On Scandal Lane Anthology

The Debutante Files by Sophie Jordan

Desperate Duchesses by Eloisa James

Devine & Friends by Olivia Parker

A Duchess To Remember by Christina Brooke

Duke For Hire by Nicola Davidson

Dukes Done Wrong Series by Alexa Aston

The Dukes of War by Erica Ridley

Everleigh Sisters Series by Amalie Howard

The Faerie Hounds of York by Arden Powell

Fallen Series by Nicola Davidson

Feminine Pursuits Series by Olivia Waite

Game of Dukes by Grace Callaway

The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by KJ Charles

Get Thee Off My Lawn: A Regency RomCom with a Swan Problem by Daria Vernon

Girl Meets Duke Series by Tessa Dare

Goddess of the Hunt by Tessa Dare

Gold Sky series by Rebel Carter

The Governess Who Captured His Heart by Sophie Barnes

The Grand Hotel Series by Felicia Greene

Harrow's Finest Five Series by Nancy Yeager

The Hathaways Series by Lisa Kleypas

The Heiress at Sea by Christi Caldwell

Hellions of Halstead Hall by Sabrina Jeffries

The Hellions of Havisham by Lorraine Heath

Hells Belles by Sarah MacLean

Her Husband's Harlot by Grace Callaway

Her Virgin Duke by Nicola Davidson

A Holiday By Gaslight by Mimi Matthews

How to Catch a Wild Viscount by Tessa Dare

How to Love Your Neighbor by Sophie Sullivan

How To Marry A Werewolf by Gail Carriger

How to Talk to Nice English Girls by Gretchen Evans

The Impossible Balfours Series by Gemma Blackwood

An Improper Proposal by Patricia Cabot

An Improper Proposition by Amy Rose Bennett

In Bed With The Devil by Lorraine Heath

In Which Matilda Halifax Learns the Value of Restraint by Alexandra Vasti

Just Once by Jill Marie Landis

A Laird to Love by Tammy Andersen

Last Chance Scoundrels by Eva Leigh

A League of Extraordinary Women Series by Evie Dunmore

The London Lords series by Nicola Davidson

London's Greatest Lovers Series by Lorraine Heath

Love And Let Spy by Susanna Craig

Loves and Rogues Series by Jillian Eaton

A Madness in Spring by Kate Noble

Malory-Anderson Families Series by Johanna Lindsey

The Many Sins of Lord Cameron by Jennifer Ashley

Merry Christmas, Belles and Rakehells Anthology

The Merry Misfits of Bath by Callie Hutton

Miss Lavigne's Little White Lie by Samantha Grace

Mistletoe Mistress by Nicola Davidson

Montague Siblings by Mackenzi Lee

[hellojenpenworld]

November Reading Wrap-Up

November was a busy month but one that I also was able to enjoy some reading in, even if it was a lot of shorter books. Overall it was 6 books I read and I cannot wait to share my thoughts. 

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“Halfway to the Grave” by Jeaniene Frost. This is book 1 in the Night Huntress series.

I listened to the audiobook of this and was, at first, put off by some of the voices used for the characters, especially Bones. Luckily I kept going because I found that I really enjoyed a lot of this story. I liked how the world was built up slowly over the entire book and not just given to us as a word dump early on to keep the action moving. It felt organic and like we were with Cat, learning as she learned, the entire book. It also made the ending make more sense when we got to it because we understood Cat’s perspective. I didn’t want the book to end and when it did, I just wanted to find the next one and read it. My library didn’t have the next one on audiobook so now I’m hunting for it. 

4.5/5 Stars

Started October 15th, Finished November 3rd

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“The Fae King’s Dream” by Jamie Schlosser. This is book 2 of the Between Dawn and Dusk series.

So, I really wanted to love this story. Damon was very interesting in the first book and I wanted to know his story. This just ended up being a bit lackluster for me. The characters fell in love so quickly and everything seemed to be moving so fast that I just couldn’t get into it. I also thought that Damon’s clue would be a bit more interesting but instead it turned out that his father found the girl and showed her to him in his dream. Seemed like a missed opportunity for Damon to accidentally run into another dream walker and be surprised. I don’t know if I’ll pick up the 3rd book even though I am curious, but if it is anything like this one was I know that I’ll just be disappointed again. 

3.5/5 Stars

Started October 2nd, Finished November 14th

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“Wicked and the Wallflower” by Sarah MacLean. This is book 1 in the Bareknuckle Bastards series. 

I listened to this on audiobook and just really devoured it. The characters were interesting and I really liked how Felicity and Devil interacted throughout. I also really liked the other characters and how they came into the story. It made me want to pick up the next book right away. The only thing I didn’t really enjoy was how Felicity seemed to not listen to Devil a lot of the time. I get that was part of her charm and she did need to be interacting with him in order to move the romance part along, but I think that it also could be that after the 2nd or even 3rd time she disregarded his rules that he could have become more curious about what she was up to when she didn’t show up or something. It’s minor but it did annoy me at times. 

4.75/5 Stars

Started November 6th, Finished November 17th

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“The Christmas Cookie House” by Jennifer Griffith. This is book 1 of the Christmas House Romances series.

This book was adorable. It was very short, less than 200 pages, so it was a quick read. Leela and Jay are really good together and make the entire story just flow perfectly throughout. It is a clean romance with just a few kisses thrown in so perfect to read anywhere. There was a few moments where the story didn’t work for me though. The woman in charge of the Ladies’ Auxiliary who runs the events Leela has to find a home for, Mrs. Coldicott, is really annoying throughout. I get that she has some sort of vendetta against Leela’s mother and is trying to kill the Cookie House fundraiser as a result, but it didn’t make sense to do so since the event raised so much money for the Auxiliary. I can only assume that if it had failed and they couldn’t do everything throughout the year that they needed to do as a result that she would use that to blame Leela year-round, but that just seemed like a long way to go for something so beneficial to the group that she is in charge of. It would make more sense for her to try and change the event or take complete charge of it herself to make it more about her than cancel it altogether. Just a minor thing that popped up when Mrs. Coldicott makes an appearance. 

4.5/5 Stars

Started November 19th, Finished November 20th

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“Resisting Maxu” by Victoria Aveline. This is book 6 of the Clecanian series. 

I love this series so much. All the women are very different and the men are so interesting. I found this book so fun to read overall. Maxu doesn’t want to participate in the marriage contracts so always gets himself into trouble and arrested before he has to go in order to make himself ineligible, which I found really interesting. Meg wants nothing to do with marriage after her disaster of one she had on Earth prior to being kidnapped. Overall, the whole scenario of her fighting against Maxu’s advances and him having to compromise his possessive tendencies is just too adorable. The ending was a surprise and really made me want to pick up the next book right away, but it isn’t out yet. This book was just a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it.

5/5 Stars

Started November 19th, Finished November 22nd

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“The Sleigh Bells Chalet” by Jennifer Griffith. This is book 2 of the Christmas House Romances.

Another really cute Christmas read. We follow Bing, who we met briefly in the first book, who needs a vacation and heads out to the Bells Chalet, run by Ellery in honor of her grandfather who opened the hotel. Ellery needs to find a way to save the hotel and comes up with a hook to do so by rebranding as the Sleigh Bells Chalet and offering horse-drawn carriage rides. From the moment Ellery and Bing meet there is some chemistry. Bing, who is trying to get away from horses after 2 horse-related disasters in his life, finds himself helping Ellery get her carriage ride business off the ground and rediscovering his love for horses along the way. Although more disaster strikes and threatens to separate the two of them, the ending is incredibly sweet and I just loved the story overall. 

5/5 Stars

Started November 23rd, Finished November 28th

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That’s all the books I read in November. Only have a few more to reach my reading goal. Can’t wait to finish this fantastic reading year!

[mermaidsirennikita]

hello! i'm slowly working my way through your recs and i'm having a wonderful time, you really do have amazing taste, and was wondering if you could rec any stories similar to the Victorian Prizefighters series by Alice Coldbreath? Thank you so much <3

I'm glad you're enjoying the books, thank you!

So here's the truth lol: I haven't read those books yet! I will try 'em out eventually, but for noooow I'm going to try to go off of some books with fighters!

The Bastard by S.M. LaViolette. John is a former fighter who has made his way up in the world and is seeking revenge against his biological father (a duke). In the process, he becomes obsessed with Cordelia, his father's sister-in-law (so his aunt by marriage I guess; whatever, she's younger than him, they're not related by blood, I don't care) a sweet, innocent woman who's ~too pure for him. Nonetheless, when he actually financially ruins the family, she comes to him basically offering to marry him in order to save them. It's GREAT. Pretty dark in terms of backstory, but the romance is actually quite sweet and John is a big believer in getting women off. Which. Good for him!

No Good Duke Goes Unpunished by Sarah MacLean is another one where he's a fighter, albeit with a very different scenario. He was suspected of murdering the heroine, his father's fiancee, years ago. She actually faked her death (framing him was unintentional but she didn't come back to fix it). Anyway, he finds out she's still alive later and the tension is QUITE a bit.

Obviously, Sarah MacLean's Bareknuckle Bastards series involves QUITE a bit of fighting activity, especially the second one (Brazen and The Beast). Would ABSOLUTELY recommend.

You may also want to try Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas, The Prince of Broadway by Joanna Shupe, and The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian!