Wench
Wench by Erynne Rivers is 99c! This Robin Hood retelling came out over the summer. I actually preordered this one!
Maid Marian’s life is over.
Her cowardly father has betrothed her to the most reviled man, the Sheriff of Nottingham. Devastated, she’s sent on the quickest path to meet her husband, through the fae-infested Sherwood Forest.
But everything changes when her carriage is attacked by the most feared fae, the Merry Men, followers of the infamous Robin Hood. Kidnapped and waiting on the Sheriff’s rescue, Marian finds herself surrounded by the very magical creatures she’s been raised to fear. But the more time she spends in their presence, Marian realises that not everything she’s been taught by her family is true.
And Marian can’t help but find herself drawn to her captor – the sinfully handsome Robin, who stands between her and returning to life amongst the humans.
As the Sheriff’s men close in on Marian’s location, she will soon be faced with the ultimate the family she’s always known, or the love she can choose for herself…
A breathtaking debut romantasy novel for lovers of Robin Hood, The Knight and the Moth and Heavenly Bodies.
The Starter Ex
The Starter Ex by Mia Sosa is $1.99! This is a standalone contemporary that released earlier this year. There’s a fake dating setup, but also some off limits elements.
Meet Vanessa Cordero. A cynic with a colorful past. You see, in college, Vanessa devised a profitable side gig: For a reasonable fee, she’d date your latest crush…and make his life miserable. Too clingy? Check. Jealous? Check. A mother’s worst nightmare? Check, check, check. By the time Vanessa was done with him, your guy would be ready for…YOU.
Meet Jason Torres. A certified commitment-phobe. Jason doesn’t plan on getting married anytime soon (if ever), much to his mother’s dismay. What he needs is a temporary girlfriend. A totally inappropriate girlfriend. Someone his mother will hate. So she’ll abandon her hopes of getting Jason to the altar—for a while at least.
Enter Lisa, Vanessa’s younger sister. She’s got her eye on Jason and convinces Vanessa to come out of retirement for one last starter ex engagement. The rules are simple: no touching, no fooling around, and definitely no falling in love. But nothing’s going according to plan. Because Vanessa can’t ditch Jason no matter how hard she tries. And the longer these two are around each other, the more neither of them wants to be apart.
Hex Appeal
Hex Appeal by Kate Johnson is 99c! This is book one in the Best Hex Ever series and has a witchy heroine and a small town setting.
Encanto meets Hocus Pocus in this perfect witchy romcom. An absolute must-read if you love Erin Sterling’s The Ex Hex and Lana Harper’s Payback’s a Witch!
It’s just a bunch of hocus pocus…
Essie Winterscale lives in a huge and ever-changing house in the village of Good Winter, in deepest, darkest Essex. She lives with various witches of various ages, one of whom is still a bit salty about being hanged in the 1700s, one who keeps accidentally casting fertility spells, and one who knits things that create the future.
All Essie ever wanted was to have a normal life but in the end she found herself drawn back to Beldam House because she just can’t stop her witchiness (although the ability to instantly chill wine is pretty awesome, even she has to admit).
Into this coven of chaos stumbles gorgeous, clueless Josh, their new landlord – and he’s just discovered his tenants haven’t paid rent since the 1700s! As Josh is drawn further into the lives of the inhabitants of Beldam House, Essie is determined to keep him at broomstick’s length. That is, until a family secret, lying hidden for centuries, puts Josh firmly under her spell…
Quackery
RECOMMENDED: Quackery by Lydia Kang and Nate Pederson is $2.99! Carrie wrote a Lightning Review for this one:
I recommend this book to people who enjoy trivia, the stranger the better, in the areas of history, science vs. pseudoscience, and medicine.
What won’t we try in our quest for perfect health, beauty, and the fountain of youth?
Well, just imagine a time when doctors prescribed morphine for crying infants. When liquefied gold was touted as immortality in a glass. And when strychnine—yes, that strychnine, the one used in rat poison—was dosed like Viagra.
Looking back with fascination, horror, and not a little dash of dark, knowing humor, Quackery recounts the lively, at times unbelievable, history of medical misfires and malpractices. Ranging from the merely weird to the outright dangerous, here are dozens of outlandish, morbidly hilarious “treatments”—conceived by doctors and scientists, by spiritualists and snake oil salesmen (yes, they literally tried to sell snake oil)—that were predicated on a range of cluelessness, trial and error, and straight-up scams. With vintage illustrations, photographs, and advertisements throughout, Quackery seamlessly combines macabre humor with science and storytelling to reveal an important and disturbing side of the ever-evolving field of medicine.
