Kickass Heroines | 3.24.23
Literally, each of these women wins a fight on the page
This week’s theme is self explanatory in why someone might like it. Not only are these women genuinely impressive, they also defy the “strong female character” trope by being full of contradictions and nuance and wit. These aren’t just ass-kicking ladies who punch and kiss with no thought in between, and the books that give them their space to tell their stories let them be exactly as complicated and full as they deserve to be.
The Princess Stakes by Amalie Howard. Princess Sarani Rao is on the run. Her father, an Indian maharaja, has just been murdered, and if not for complete luck, she’d be dead as well, so she flees to her mother’s country of England and adopts the name Sara along with her mother’s last name to hide from the assassin. How does she flee? By stowing away in the ship of her former almost lover, of course! Captain Rhystan Huntley, now the Duke of Embry, would prefer to keep sailing, but his unexpected and unwanted recent dukedom promotion calls. He doesn’t want to help Sarani (not knowing she was escaping with her life at first), the woman he once loved who spurned his measly captain (they knew each other in his pre-duke days) advances to marry a much older political ally of her father’s. Only… Sarani never got married, and her reason for turning Rhystan down are more complicated than being a flighty young woman.
A book with a mixed race princess with MAD knife skills on the run, the reluctant peer who loves her, an assassin in their midst, political intrigue, spies, and the complicated intersection of identity, family, loyalty, and love? Um. Yes, please. We will see this series, and Amalie Howard, again. Don’t you worry.
Rating: 4.5/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Bombshell by Sarah MacLean. The first in Sarah MacLean’s most recent series (book 3 coming this year, book 2 was recommended previously) follows Sesily Talbot (known to the ton as Sexily for having the gall to be sex positive and a fan of showing cleavage) and her one-that-got-away Caleb Calhoun, an American businessman who owns a tavern with his best friend, Sesily’s sister whose story was told in yet another excellent Sarah MacLean book. Caleb has his reasons for keeping his distance from the beautiful and captivating Sesily despite her obvious stated interest, but they no longer cut it when he interrupts her using her feminine wiles and outrageous public behavior to punish a bad man. And so it comes out that she and a group of oddball women (who call themselves Hell’s Belles) have a pact to destroy bad men of power and influence through any means necessary, using their particular skills to do so. They’ve set their sights on a man who Caleb himself has a history with, and he has no choice but to join up, since Sesily has no intention to settle down and let someone else handle it.
There’s a bar fight early in the book where Sesily kicks the shit out of some ruffians, and another scene where she argues wittily over a corpse she’s stealing. There’s also an explosive prison break scene and an extremely hot “we’re locked in a dark closet and might be discovered at any moment, may as well make the most of it” scene. Like. Need I say more?? I should hope not!
Rating: 4.5/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥
Uncharted by Adriana Anders. Book 2 of this series (book 1 coming whenever I find another danger bang book to fill out a newsletter- SEND ME RECOMMENDATIONS IF YOU HAVE THEM!), where ace pilot Leo Eddowes teams up with the mysterious mountain man Elias Thorne (who’s supposedly and famously dead) to trek the dangerous Alaskan wilderness, caught between being hunted by deadly mercenaries and the only town in the area which has been taken over by those same mercenaries. Book 1 explains a bit more about who hired these mercenaries, a shadowy corporation with government ties who wants to release a deadly virus (the first book was released in January 2020, why do you ask??), but that’s something relevant here. Definitely read book 1 first, this is not a series that’s as satisfying out of order because it’s more romantic suspense than romance.
To be honest, it doesn’t take much to recap this book because that’s it, that’s the premise! Two people fighting their way through the Alaskan wilderness, kicking ass in a desperate bid to survive against the elements and their enemies. This book wasn’t quite as satisfying to me as book 1, because in book 1 the heroine was just a normal gal forced to do something extraordinary whereas in this book, Leo (a girl, did I mention that?) is like a special ops person, as is Elias. I always find it more fun for regular people to do the impossible rather than extraordinary, but I also adore the Mission Impossible series so maybe I’m a hypocrite. In any case, this was a breathtaking, heartstopping followup to book 1 and I am anxiously awaiting book 3! I think it even takes place in Colorado, my home state, which should be fun!
Rating: 4/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥
Next week, I’ll be recommending even more enemies-to-lovers stories.
What should I be reading next? Let me know in the comments!