It's All Alphabetical - L

We are lucky enough to have some pretty awesome book lovers in our lives, and nothing makes us happier than getting good recommendations from them. In the spirit of that, we asked our friends to play the alphabet game with us and tell us exactly why you needed to be reading these books. So, here we go! Here are the L books that come recommended from highly trusted sources.

(A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J & K Lists)

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Lady Be Good by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Holly says: This book is one of my faves from this romance author. Throw in a Texas rascal trying to reform with a proper British lady who wants nothing more than to be bad. What ensues is good time for SEP's readers.  It has all the up and downs of a fun and funny romance, and you are guaranteed to fall in love. 

Lady Emma Wells-Finch is determined to cause a scandal. Nothing big, you understand, just enough to convince her pompous British suitor that she's not an eligible candidate for marriage. She's thinking along the lines of, oh, maybe a discreet tattoo. But when suspended Texas golf pro Kenny Traveler meets her plane at Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport, Emma decides that he's the perfect candidate to destroy her reputation.

Kenny, on the other hand--who desperately wants to be reinstated on the golf tour--is just as determined to keep a low profile and remain squeaky-clean. If Lady Emma weren't a close personal friend of the golf commissioner's wife, he'd never have agreed to squire her around town. Unfortunately for Kenny, his weakness for the British beauty is growing daily, and it seems as though Emma may have feelings for him as well. In a bizarre turn of events, wild man Kenny finds himself trying to keep the prim and proper British lady from causing a scandal the size of which even the lone-star state has never seen, and the results will leave you laughing with delight.


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Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta

Anny says: Because it is one of my all time favourite fantasy books! Packed with adventure and featuring a strong heroine and a stubborn hero!

Finnikin of the Rock and his guardian, Sir Topher, have not been home to their beloved Lumatere for ten years. Not since the dark days when the royal family was murdered and the kingdom put under a terrible curse. But then Finnikin is summoned to meet Evanjalin, a young woman with an incredible claim: the heir to the throne of Lumatere, Prince Balthazar, is alive.

Evanjalin is determined to return home and she is the only one who can lead them to the heir. As they journey together, Finnikin is affected by her arrogance . . . and her hope. He begins to believe he will see his childhood friend, Prince Balthazar, again. And that their cursed people will be able to enter Lumatere and be reunited with those trapped inside. He even believes he will find his imprisoned father.

But Evanjalin is not what she seems. And the truth will test not only Finnikin's faith in her . . . but in himself. _____________________________________________________________________

Lords of Deliverance Series by Larissa Ione

Alice says: Because the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse never seemed so edible until Larissa Ione! It gives a different angle to how the Horsemen are usually perceived, throw in a little fallen angel action and its one hell of a read

They are here. They ride. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

His name is Ares, and the fate of mankind rests on his powerful shoulders. If he falls to the forces of evil, the world falls too. As one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, he is far stronger than any mortal, but even he cannot fight his destiny forever. Not when his own brother plots against him.

Yet there is one last hope. Gifted in a way other humans can't-or won't-understand, Cara Thornhart is the key to both this Horseman's safety and his doom. But involving Cara will prove treacherous, even beyond the maddening, dangerous desire that seizes them the moment they meet. For staving off eternal darkness could have a staggering cost: Cara's life. _____________________________________________________________________

Lux Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Betsy says: Because of daemon and his cookies! There are aliens and cocky attitudes and a whole lot of action!

Starting over sucks.

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

And then he opened his mouth.

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something... unexpected happens.

The hot alien living next door marks me.

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

If I don't kill him first, that is. _____________________________________________________________________

Love, in English by Karina Halle

Nina says: The story is about a girl falling in love with a married man - she's the homewrecker, the one we loved to hate in every other book. But I found myself rooting for her so hard in this beautiful story that tells things from a different perspective. It's also mostly set in Spain which gives it this unique atmosphere.

To a restless dreamer like Vera Miles, it sounded like the experience of a lifetime. Instead of spending her summer interning for her astronomy major, she would fly to Spain where she’d spend a few weeks teaching conversational English to businessmen and women, all while enjoying free room and board at an isolated resort. But while Vera expected to get a tan, meet new people and stuff herself with wine and paella, she never expected to fall in love.

Mateo Casalles is unlike anyone Vera has ever known, let alone anyone she’s usually attracted to. While Vera is a pierced and tatted free spirit with a love for music and freedom, Mateo is a successful businessman from Madrid, all sharp suits and cocky Latino charm. Yet, as the weeks go on, the two grow increasingly close and their relationship changes from purely platonic to something…more.

Something that makes Vera feel alive for the first time.

Something that can never, ever be.

Or so she thinks. _____________________________________________________________________

The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan

Dawn says: Because it's a unique love story told in small dictionary style entries. If you're a fan of unusual books, this is a must read. Not to mention the story sucks you in!

A modern love story told through a series of dictionary-style entries is a sequence of intimate windows into the large and small events that shape the course of a romantic relationship. _____________________________________________________________________

Lover Eternal by JR Ward

Bernadette says: Because it is the best paranormal romance story ever!

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war raging between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Possessed by a deadly beast, Rhage is the most dangerous of the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

Within the brotherhood, Rhage is the vampire with the strongest appetites. He's the best fighter, the quickest to act on his impulses, and the most voracious lover-for inside him burns a ferocious curse cast by the Scribe Virgin. Owned by this dark side, Rhage fears the time when his inner dragon is unleashed, making him a danger to everyone around him.

Mary Luce, a survivor of many hardships is unwittingly thrown into the vampire world and reliant on Rhage's protection. With a life-threatening curse of her own, Mary is not looking for love. She lost her faith in miracles years ago. But when Rhage's intense animal attraction turns into something more emotional, he knows that he must make Mary his alone. And while their enemies close in, Mary fights desperately to gain life eternal with the one she loves...  _____________________________________________________________________

The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman

Mariela says: I really love this book, a lot of action, suspense and just a little bit of love story.This book is not for kids there is violence in it. I just wish the author would have made the characters a little bit older.

The Sanctuary of the Redeemers is a vast and desolate place—a place without joy or hope. Most of its occupants were taken there as boys and for years have endured the brutal regime of the Lord Redeemers whose cruelty and violence have one singular purpose—to serve in the name of the One True Faith. 

In one of the Sanctuary’s vast and twisting maze of corridors stands a boy. He is perhaps fourteen or fifteen years old—he is not sure and neither is anyone else. He has long-forgotten his real name, but now they call him Thomas Cale. He is strange and secretive, witty and charming, violent and profoundly bloody-minded. He is so used to the cruelty that he seems immune, but soon he will open the wrong door at the wrong time and witness an act so terrible that he will have to leave this place, or die.

His only hope of survival is to escape across the arid Scablands to Memphis, a city the opposite of the Sanctuary in every way: breathtakingly beautiful, infinitely Godless, and deeply corrupt. 

But the Redeemers want Cale back at any price... not because of the secret he now knows but because of a much more terrifying secret he does not. _____________________________________________________________________

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

Allyson says: Because this book is heartbreaking and horrible and amazing in the worst way. It will make you question so many things, and make you hug your kids a little tighter every day. 

Once upon a time, I was a little girl who disappeared. 

Once upon a time, my name was not Alice. 

Once upon a time, I didn't know how lucky I was. 

When Alice was ten, Ray took her away from her family, her friends -- her life. She learned to give up all power, to endure all pain. She waited for the nightmare to be over. 

Now Alice is fifteen and Ray still has her, but he speaks more and more of her death. He does not know it is what she longs for. She does not know he has something more terrifying than death in mind for her. 

This is Alice's story. It is one you have never heard, and one you will never, ever forget.