Authors' keeper books: 'Pleasure for Pleasure,' 'Blue-Eyed Devil'
Today's featured authors — Joanna Shupe, author of The Courtesan Duchess, and Sarah Hegger, author of Nobody's Angel — share some books on their keeper shelves.
Joanna Shupe, author of The Courtesan Duchess
• Lions and Lace by Meagan McKinney. If I could take only one romance novel to a deserted island, it would be Lions and Lace. Set in 1870s New York City, this book has everything I love: angst, revenge, secrets, and passion. The moody and compelling hero is an Irish tycoon who is determined to destroy every Knickerbocker in Society—including the blue-blooded heroine—for snubbing his little sister. This is a battle of wills right to the very end.
• Captive Prince, Volume Two by S.U. Pacat. A male/male historical fantasy epic that is truly, well, epic. Both volume one and volume two remain on my keeper shelf, thanks to the push and pull between two very powerful heroes, Laurent and Damen, each the rightful ruler of a kingdom at war with the other. Cruelty and brutality are common throughout, so this book is not for everyone. However, this stunning saga is ripe with intrigue, machinations, battles, and compelling romance. It's fantastic.
• Pleasure for Pleasure by Eloisa James. Because Josie and Mayne!! Everyone has their favorite Eloisa James novel, and while I adore everything she's written, this particular book gets me right in the feels. A spirited, voluptuous heroine and a reformed rake hero who can't resist her. Plus, the ending always makes me laugh!
About The Courtesan Duchess:
Can a bold-faced lie lead to everlasting love? One by one, the impetuous heroines in the Wicked Deceptions series intend to find out, each in her unique way…
How to seduce an estranged husband—and banish debt!—in four wickedly improper, shockingly pleasurable steps...
Learn the most intimate secrets of London's leading courtesan.
Pretend to be a courtesan yourself, using the name Juliet Leighton.
Travel to Venice and locate said husband.
Seduce husband, conceive an heir, and voila, your future is secure!
For Julia, the Duchess of Colton, such a ruse promises to be foolproof. After all, her husband has not bothered to lay eyes on her in eight years, since their hasty wedding day when she was only sixteen. But what begins as a tempestuous flirtation escalates into full-blown passion—and the feeling is mutual! Could the man the Courtesan Duchess married actually turn out to be the love of her life?
Find out more at www.joannashupe.com.
Sarah Hegger, author of Nobody's Angel
The hardest part of this is confining myself to just three on my keeper shelf. Great characters get me every time. I'll read any genre, any setting and believe just about anything if the characters draw me in. All three of my keepers have those characters that are full, rich and real. They don't have to be perfect people, just women I want to have lunch with and men I can sigh over.
• I have reread Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas countless times. She tackles the emotional journey of Haven Travis, her heroine, from severely abused wife to a place of healing with heart-rending sensitivity. Haven's journey is so beautifully laid out, I was in tears through most of the book. And Hardy Cates. Oh, Hardy! My No. 1, all-time-favorite book boyfriend. The combination of gentleness with big and bad in Hardy Cates is irresistible.
• Kristan Higgins could take up an entire row on my keeper shelf, but I have a special place for Catch of the Day. The book is fall-off-your-chair funny, but so sweet at the same time. I think I could count on one hand the amount of words hero Malone utters, but every one is a jewel. And who can't relate to Maggie with her disastrous romantic choices and charming way of crashing through life with the best of intentions?
• Susan Elizabeth Phillips is another firm favorite of mine, and I really have to dig deep to pick one. The beginning to Natural Born Charmer is seared in my brain as one of the funniest scenes I've ever read. Picture a petite, sweaty woman dressed as a headless beaver marching down the side of the highway to the fascination of "golden boy" and star quarterback Dean Robillard. He stops to assist headless beaver, aka Blue Bailey, who's on her way to tear into her faithless, spineless ex. From there, it only gets better with all the twists, turns and tangles that Susan Elizabeth Phillips does so skillfully.
As I write this, tons of other books are popping into my head yelling, "What about me?" And I couldn't leave without a quick shout-out to Karen Marie Moning's Fever books and Darynda Jones and her Charley Davidson series — magical stories with fabulous characters.
About Nobody's Angel:
In this evocative new series from author Sarah Hegger, a woman returns home after a long absence—and wonders if two wrongs really can make a right…
Nine years ago Lucy Flint ran away to Seattle, taking her friend's boyfriend and leaving her high school sweetheart without a word of explanation. Now she's back in Willow Park, Illinois, to help care for her ailing father—and it's no surprise that her ex, Dr. Richard Hunter, is still angry.
Still, she's a different Lucy now. Sober, wiser, ready to make amends to the long—make that very long—list of those she mistreated during her wild younger days. Falling for Richard all over again would mean wreaking havoc in both their lives and possibly squandering her opportunity for redemption. But here, in the place where everything went wrong, is the one person who always felt right, and a second-chance that could be the best mistake she ever made…
Find out more at sarahhegger.com.