Bride of the Fae Duke - Lisette Marshall
Six wives. Six deaths. Can a humble housemaid break the curse?
The half-fae Duke of Locke is cursed to never find love... or so everyone says. But Nellie Finch does not believe in magic. As far as she's concerned, that leaves only one explanation for the death of His Grace's last six wives: he killed them himself.
It therefore is an unpleasant surprise when, out of nowhere, the duke proposes to her.
Marrying this cold and unpleasant nobleman is the last thing Nellie wants. But his money can save her little sister, and Locke is damnably convincing about the arrangement. All he needs is an heir, and apart from the... well, necessary duties, she won't have to see him at all. She should be able to survive that, shouldn’t she?
Except that she soon finds herself doubting her suspicions of murder. And when she starts falling for her mysterious husband, she must figure out how to break the curse that killed six women before her... or be the next to die.
Bride of the Fae Duke is a steamy Bluebeard retelling featuring a tormented, blue-haired hero, a done-with-your-nonsense heroine, and a lot of unwelcome feelings.
Of all the things she hadn’t expected, accidentally having married a decent man was probably the first.
&
What in the world did any of this have to do with enjoyment?
That was not how life worked. That had never been how life worked. Enjoyment didn’t keep little sisters alive and happy, after all. It didn’t pay the surgeon’s bills. It didn’t keep the house clean when one’s mother would no longer leave her bed.
Enjoyment… enjoyment was for people who believed in love and magic and happy endings, for people who could afford not to see the darker side of life.
She washed other people’s linen until her hands were raw instead.
She smiled even when she wanted to cry.
She married dukes who might or might not end up killing her.
When had she last done anything else?
&
She did not look like a duchess. There was no hiding the slight clumsiness of her motions that betrayed she was not used to the attire; her steps were just a little ungainly, proof her mother had not trained her since early childhood to walk straight and poised.
But there was a vibrancy to her, a light in her eyes and a sparkle in her smile, that turned her stumbling grace into something far, far more addictive than the most elegant of manners.
Something so painfully alive it might just be an antidote to the bitter, deadly poison of him.
&
‘Eleanor Finch, you have saved me, freed me, and utterly bewitched me. And I’m afraid I’ll be a bit of a mess while I come to terms with all that’s happened, I’ll probably wallow and whine and make a fuss of absolutely everything, but if you’ll have me nonetheless …’ His fingers tightened around hers. ‘I’ll be entirely, gratefully yours.’
One did not say no to a duke. Which was for the best, really – it was the last thing in the world Nellie wanted to say anyway.
Blood Slumber - Vela Roth
Her revenge depends on waking her enemy from his hundred-year sleep...
Former princess Celandine is plotting to bring down the men who stole her throne. She needs help from someone even more dangerous: the immortal who battled her ancestors. With his fangs and dark magic, he can destroy her present-day enemies, and then she'll double-cross the ancient creature to complete her victory. But when she wakes him with a drink of her blood, his bite ignites desire in her that could bring her careful plan crashing down.
Troi wakes to find that everyone he once loved is gone. With nothing left to live for but vengeance, he agrees to help Celandine. He knows he can't trust the scheming descendant of his sworn enemies, and yet the taste of her blood makes him feel like she's his.
Can he tempt her to abandon her devious plot, or will her betrayal destroy them both?
If he had died before she could get any use out of him, she would be furious with him.
&
Her old life was gone. She could never get it back.
But she would make sure that if she couldn’t have it, no one could. Least of all the men who had stolen it from her.
Wishing was for fools. Revenge was for survivors. And her revenge required the Hesperine.
&
"This isn’t a chase. It is a matter of life and death.”
“Seduction always is."
&
“I was a twenty-four-year-old widow when Rixor stripped me of my power. Now I will teach him never to underestimate a thirty-four-year-old mage.”
“He would be a fool to do so. It is not the spring maidens but the autumn matriarchs a man should watch out for. And don’t let me start on the winter crones. They’re the most terrifying of all.”
&
“Hesperines don’t marry, and the eternal bond between immortal mates is one that cannot be arranged. It is fated.”
“That sounds ominous. How does Hespera reveal this fate to you, then?”
“Addiction.”
&
His eyes blazed. “You think I would let them lay a hand on you? I will tear them limb from limb before I let them lock you away again. And if they do drag you back to your prison, I will tear down the walls to find you.”
Comments