Mailbox Monday: January 31

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. (Library books don’t count, but eBooks & audiobooks do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists!

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia @ The Printed Page, is on a blog tour. Rose City Reader is January's host, and Laura @ Library of Clean Reads hosts in February. Please stop by both of these ladies' lovely blogs and show them some love!

Well, life got in the way of blogging these past two weeks so I've got a lot of books to post about! Since I'm not anticipating any new arrivals this week, I'll split my post in two. Next week I'll share the books I received for review and this week I want to show you what I treated myself to with my B&N gift card and my Goodreads Swap credit:


When Sir Archibald Latham of the War Office dies from a heart attack while visiting her brothel, Madam India Black is unexpectedly thrust into a deadly game between Russian and British agents who are seeking the military secrets Latham carried. Blackmailed into recovering the missing documents by the British spy known as French, India finds herself dodging Russian agents-and the attraction she starts to feel for the handsome conspirator.

I'd already purchased this when I was invited to participate in the author's upcoming blog tour. I just finished it and it's a fun read! I'm looking forward to discussing it with Ms. Carr in March.

Beautiful creatures called monsters live in the Dells. Monsters have the shape of normal animals: mountain lions, dragonflies, horses, fish. But the hair or scales or feathers of monsters are gorgeously colored-- fuchsia, turquoise, sparkly bronze, iridescent green-- and their minds have the power to control the minds of humans. Seventeen-year-old Fire is the last remaining human-shaped monster in the Dells. Gorgeously monstrous in body and mind but with a human appreciation of right and wrong, she is hated and mistrusted by just about everyone, and this book is her story.

I enjoyed Graceling, the first Seven Realms book. This is not a sequel, but a companion novel, and I was intrigued to learn that Fire's story is entwined with the rise to power of the villainous King Leck from Graceling. I hope to read this one sooner rather than later!

Forced to marry Hugh le Despenser, the son and grandson of disgraced traitors, Bess de Montacute, just 13 years old, is appalled at his less-than-desirable past. Meanwhile, Hugh must give up the woman he really loves in order to marry the reluctant Bess. Far apart in age and haunted by the past, can Hugh and Bess somehow make their marriage work? Just as walls break down and love begins to grow, the merciless plague endangers all whom the couple holds dear, threatening the life and love they have built.

I've been wanting to read Higginbotham for the longest time and I snagged the free ebook of The Traitor's Wife and then scored this bargain-priced sequel!

And to satisfy my historical romance craving:

A MAN POSSESSED

If there was ever a devil who could lure and seduce the innocent, Lord Sloan Treveryan is that man. Captain of the Sea Hawk and bound to the king’s business, Treveryan may be a lord but he is no gentleman. He carried Brianna off to America and branded her with a love she could never forget, never escape, yet he refused to take her as his wife.

A WOMAN WHOSE BEAUTY DROVE MEN TO MADNESS

Bewitched by Brianna MacCardle’s beauty, Scottish inquisitors have called her the devil’s own. Though Treveryan saves her from the witch-hunter’s clutches, how can she be grateful? He'd claimed her as his own and taken her innocence. She vowed he wouldn't take her heart. Defiantly, she fought him. Against her will she loved him, swearing to reap revenge against the arrogant lord who made her...THE DEVIL'S MISTRESS.

HOW CAN THIS PASSIONATE KNIGHT...

Renowned beauty Lady Linnet is torn between two desires: revenge on those who destroyed her family or marriage to her childhood sweetheart Sir James Rayburn. One fateful night, she makes a misguided choice: she sacrifices Jamie's love for a chance at vengeance.

TRUST A BEAUTY WITH A PAST?

Jamie Rayburn returns to England in search of a virtuous wife-only to find the lovely Linnet as bewitching as ever. Their reckless affair ignites anew, even hotter than before, although Jamie vows to never again trust her with his heart. Then just as Linnet begins to make amends, she's tempted by one last opportunity to settle old scores. But a final retribution could cost her Jamie's love - this time forever.

What goodies did you get?

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