Happy Hump Day Book Lovers! We are officially HALFWAY through the year! Can you believe that 2023 is half gone already? I certainly can’t - December will be here before we know it and I’ll be scrambling to reach my reading goal before the countdown to midnight. How is your reading going by the way? I’m currently on track with my 52 book goal, but with a busy period coming up, I’m hoping not to fall behind… ANYWAY, enough about what we have read, let’s take a look at what we can read, specifically what books I’m excited for that are coming out in the next three months! As always, there’s lots of goodies hitting shelves soon, so I’ve rounded up 19 predominantly romances that you need to be adding to your TBR! julyROLE PLAYING AUTHOR: Cathy Yardley GENRE: Adult Romance PAGES: 333 RELEASED: 1 July 2023 SYNOPSIS: Maggie is an unapologetically grumpy forty-eight-year-old hermit. But when her college-aged son makes her a deal—he’ll be more social if she does the same—she can’t refuse. She joins a new online gaming guild led by a friendly healer named Otter. So that nobody gets the wrong idea, she calls herself Bogwitch. Otter is Aiden, a fifty-year-old optimist using the guild as an emotional outlet from his family drama caring for his aging mother while his brother plays house with Aiden’s ex-fiancée. Bogwitch and Otter become fast virtual friends, but there’s a catch. Bogwitch thinks Otter is a college student. Otter assumes Bogwitch is an octogenarian. When they finally meet face-to-face—after a rocky, shocking start—the unlikely pair of sunshine and stormy personalities grow tentatively closer. But Maggie’s previous relationships have left her bitter, and Aiden’s got a complicated past of his own. Everything’s easier online. Can they make it work in real life? MYSTIC RIDGE AUTHOR: Lucy Lever GENRE: Rural Romance PAGES: 352 RELEASED: 5 July 2023 SYNOPSIS: Is love on the cards? Reading the tarot is in Claire's blood. It's a gift she inherited from her late mother. But her genius in helping others discover their path fails her when it comes to finding her own, especially once she learns of plans to bulldoze her carefully regenerated rainforest home and build a high-end wellness centre. She vows to rally her small community and save Mystic Ridge, although she has no idea where to start... Perhaps her first port of call should be the local newspaper, but after a fake-dating misadventure with the new editor, Leo, rising tensions - and chemistry - get in the way. Meanwhile, her old love, soapie actor Jake, promises to help protect her home. Yet Claire suspects his loyalties lie elsewhere, and she doesn't know who to trust anymore. Will Claire find the courage to fight for the rainforest, her family and her chance at love? I kindly received a copy of this book for review from Harlequin, so expect a review real soon! AN UPPER WEST SIDE STORY AUTHOR: Rachel Cullen GENRE: Romance PAGES: 300 RELEASED: 6 July 2023 SYNOPSIS: Remember the world before iPhones, Ubers, and streaming on Netflix? It’s 2004 in Manhattan, and real estate is the driving factor behind most relationship decisions. Only here can strangers go from roommates to friends to lovers in less time than it takes a co-op board to approve a purchase. Robin Cromwell is in desperate need of a roommate. She’s lucked into a rent-controlled classic-six on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, but her best friend is moving, and she can’t afford to live there alone. In addition, Robin is struggling romantically and professionally - her attempts at online dating have left her with nothing but amusing stories, and she’s overdue for a promotion she’s unlikely to get. Though the rest of her life may be spiraling downward, Robin will do what it takes to hold onto this once-in-a-lifetime real estate opportunity. Jessica Barlowe is counting the days until she moves in with her boyfriend in his renovated one-bedroom co-op. That is until she walks in on him with another woman, and all her plans, including where she is going to live, disappear into thin air. Jess is using her degree from RISD to work in a graphics department editing presentations all day - a far cry from her dreams of having her own photography gallery in SoHo. She refuses to give up on her New York City dreams and run back to her family in Northern California. When she meets a stranger in the hallway, it seems crazy to accept the invitation to live together, but sometimes the riskiest leaps are the most rewarding. Tory Wallace is determined to move out from under her abhorrent parents’ roof, even if that roof is covering a $50 million brownstone on the Upper East Side. The tension at home has reached a boiling point, and she’s finally ready to forgo the comforts of trust-fund-living, and she’ll pick through ads on Craigslist or learn how to cook and take the subway if that’s what it takes. Zach Sullivan is a successful technology executive living in a modernized pre-war two-bedroom on West 78th Street. While triumphant in his career, Zach has never recovered from a painful incident during his senior year of college, leaving a gaping hole in his personal life. He’d never planned on renting out his spare bedroom, but a chance encounter results in an impulsive offer that will change his life forever. YOU, WITH A VIEW AUTHOR: Jessica Joyce GENRE: Adult Romance PAGES: 352 RELEASED: 11 July 2023 SYNOPSIS: Noelle Shepherd is unemployed, living with her parents, and grieving the loss of her beloved grandmother when she discovers decades-old photos of Gram and a smitten man, tucked alongside a love letter. She creates a TikTok to search for the mystery man, which goes viral, and she’s shocked when his grandson responds—a man who happens to be her high school nemesis, Theo Spencer. Noelle refuses to let Theo’s annoying accomplishments in adulthood—or his sexy smirk—stand in the way of meeting his grandfather and unlocking the secrets he knew about her gram as a young woman. When she learns that their plans to elope were thwarted, Noelle decides to take the honeymoon road trip they planned but never got to carry out. There’s a catch, though: Paul, Theo’s grandfather, asks to come with her, and he insists that Theo join them. It’ll be a miracle if they make it through the trip without Noelle throwing Theo out of the moving car—or the bed they end up sharing. As the miles tick by, the tension simmers hotter between them…until she discovers that Theo’s hiding a secret that could cause their tenuous relationship to end before it can restart. DEAD & BREAKFAST AUTHOR: Emma Hart GENRE: Romance Mystery RELEASED: 11 July 2023 SERIES: The Fox Point Files SYNOPSIS: I remember the first time I ever saw Detective Inspector Noah George. We were seven, stupid, and he threw sand in my eye. I’m pretty sure that’s when I fell in love with him. Hey—I did say I was stupid. Summers in Fox Point, my grandfather’s seaside hometown, were all we had together. Then we turned eighteen, life happened, and he never spoke to me again. Until my grandfather’s death calls me back to the small town, only for his lawyer to tell me he’s left me my family’s dilapidated bed and breakfast that was home to many things—my first sleepover party, where my grandma taught me to cross-stitch, my first kiss with Noah… And apparently, my first dead body. My name is Lottie O’Neil, and I’m on the hook for the murder of a man I’ve barely met. And the one who’ll have to arrest me is the only man I’ve ever loved. Unless I find the real killer first. IN THE CASE OF HEARTBREAK AUTHOR: Courtney Kae GENRE: Queer Romance PAGES: 320 RELEASED: 25 July 2023 SERIES: Fern Falls #2 SYNOPSIS: When his hometown crush suddenly returns his affections at a seaside celebration, pastry chef Ben Parrish must find a way to pursue his dream of moving his bakery to San Francisco – without losing the love he’s always wanted… Ben has been baking his grandma’s cinnamon rolls at the family café for years. He’s been quietly in love with Adam Reed, his musician-slash-mechanic neighbor, for just as long. But Ben’s done waiting behind the pastry case. He’s entered a make-or-break competition to show off his own recipes. He’s going to buy his overprotective family out of the business. And he’s going to ask Adam out. TONIGHT. Except his big plans get punched down before they even half-rise. Soon Ben is dashing down the coast to his grandma’s 80th birthday party on the beach, hiding his broken heart in Maywell Bay, California. Sun, sea, and fresh breezes should blow in something new—except they don’t. They blow in Adam Reed, grinning like a pirate and stealing the show as the musical entertainment hired by Grandma for her big bash. Grandma’s signature Heartbreak Tea is the only remedy, and Grandma’s tea could take the paint off a fence. But there’s a burn of truth along with the booze in his bottle, and Ben has a decision to make. Can he take the sweetness in front of him, and brave the bitterness that comes after? Or is a little sea salt just what this cinnamon roll needs? Salty cinnamon rolls? Ew. Ben would never. I kindly received a copy of this book for review from Courtney, so expect a review close to release! augustTHE ROOMMATE PACT AUTHOR: Allison Ashley GENRE: Adult Romance PAGES: 400 RELEASED: 1 August 2023 SYNOPSIS: All of the fun, none of the heartache…as long as they stick to the agreement. The proposition is simple: if ER nurse Claire Harper and her roommate, firefighter Graham Scott, are still single by the time they’re forty, they’ll take the proverbial plunge together…as friends with benefits. Maybe it’s the wine, but in the moment, Claire figures the pact is a safe-enough deal, considering she hasn’t had much luck in love and he’s in no rush to settle down. Like, at all. Besides, there’s no way she could ever really fall for Graham and his thrill-seeking ways. Not after what happened to her father… Just as things begin to heat up way before the proposed deadline, Graham’s injured in a serious rock-climbing accident—and he needs Claire’s help to heal. She’ll do whatever it takes to nurse him back to health…even if it means moving into Graham’s bed and putting up with his little dog who hates her. But with this no-strings arrangement taking a complicated turn, keeping “for now” from turning into “forever” isn’t as easy as they’d planned. HOME TO ECHIDNA LANE AUTHOR: Eva Scott GENRE: Rural Romance PAGES: 432 RELEASED: 2 August 2023 SYNOPSIS: It's been thirteen years since Lacey Kane escaped the small town of Whitton for the big city, and life couldn't be better. Or so she thought. When her seemingly perfect life is exposed in the worst way, on live television no less, she suddenly finds herself facing her worst returning to her parents' home on Echidna Lane in the small Tasmanian town of her childhood. It's a decision she's willing to make for the sake of her two young sons, but there's a reason she hasn't been back for the last decade. Except the longer she spends on Echidna Lane, the less clear that reason is becoming. Is small town life really as bad as her teenage self thought? Or is she merely being swayed by the handsome owner of the neighbouring walnut farm and his gorgeous daughter? Shane Morrisey has had a crush on Lacey Kane for as long as he can remember. After the death of his wife, it became a way of protecting his heart from ever getting hurt like that again. After all, who could be more unattainable than the beautiful, charismatic woman who hasn't stepped foot in Whitton since university? Except now she is back, as beautiful as ever, and suddenly not so out of reach. But Shane's place is on Echidna Lane, and he has no plans to uproot himself or his daughter. And Lacey doesn't seem to have any plans to stay... I kindly received a copy of this book for review from Harlequin, so expect a review close to release! WHO COULD LOVE YOU, ASTOR PRICE? AUTHOR: Amy Jane Lehan GENRE: Queer YA Contemporary PAGES: 299 RELEASED: 8 August 2023 SYNOPSIS: Daughter of an alcoholic and recovering self-harmer, sixteen-year-old Astor Price is a pro at faking normal. Matty, the new kid at school, is everything Astor could hope for. Cute, charismatic, popular within days, and somehow he’s interested in her. Their first real date is set to be perfect, dinner and a movie alone. But not everything we want is good for us and the events of that night send her world into a tailspin. With a mother promising rehab and a best friend with a secret, Astor must find a way to exist in her new reality. NEW ADULT AUTHOR: Timothy Janovsky GENRE: Queer Romance PAGES: 368 RELEASED: 15 August 2023 SERIES: Boy Meets Boy #3 SYNOPSIS: Why can't we skip to the good part? Twenty-three-year-old Nolan Baker wants it all by the time he's thirty. Too bad he's single, barely able to cover his own expenses, and still paying his dues at a prominent NYC comedy club. When faced with his perfect sister's wedding, Nolan takes it as a wakeup call. It's time to quit comedy and make good on his practical dreams—most importantly, asking Drew Techler, his best friend, to be his date. But right as Nolan is about to give it all up, he's asked to fill a last-minute spot for a famous comedian. Score! He crushes his set, but stands Drew up, misses his sister's big day, and disappoints his entire family. After major blowouts with everyone he loves, Nolan desperately wishes on a set of gift "magical healing crystals" to skip to the good part of life. When he wakes the next morning, it's seven years later, he's a successful comedian, and he has everything he always thought he wanted. Everything, that is, except his friends and family, none of whom are taking his future self's calls. With nowhere else to turn, Nolan sets out to find the only person he trusts to help. Except Drew is all grown up now, too. He's hot, successful...and hates Nolan's guts. As Nolan works to get back to his younger self—and the life he so carelessly threw away—he'll have to prove he's not the man everyone thinks they know in order to regain Drew's trust, friendship, and maybe, ultimately, his heart. THE TWO WEEK ROOMMATE AUTHOR: Roxie Noir GENRE: Adult Romance RELEASED: 29 August 2023 SERIES: Wildwood Society #2 SYNOPSIS: We used to be best friends. Now we’re snowed in together. There are probably worse things than being stuck in a remote cabin with the rugged-yet-grumpy forest ranger who saved my life in a blizzard. Bear maulings, for example, though I might prefer that to eating breakfast with Gideon Bell, the guy who nearly ruined my life when we were kids. It was twenty years ago. We haven’t spoken since. Our families still hate each other, and our lives are completely different. I’m not sure we’ve got anything in common besides childhood memories. But when it’s just the two of us for a couple of weeks, none of that really matters. What matters is the way Gideon grumbles, but makes my tea exactly the way I like it. What matters is how he always gives me the spot on the couch closest to the fireplace. What matters is how he looks at me when he thinks I’m not paying attention. And those childhood memories? He’s in all my favorites. Up here, in the cabin, it’s easy to look past all that because it feels so good to kiss him. It’s easy to spend a wild night in front of the fireplace and wake up still wrapped together. But back in the real world, where everything that drove us apart is still alive and kicking? It’s a lot harder. Can Gideon and I fix what broke twenty years ago, or does what happens in the cabin have to stay in the cabin? FRENEMIES WITH BENEFITS AUTHOR: Lydia Sharp GENRE: Adult Romance PAGES: 400 RELEASED: 29 August 2023 SYNOPSIS: If there was an award for Least Able To Function Around Cute Boys, Jess Webster would clean up. She can barely talk to a guy, let alone engage in naked things. But now that high school is over, she’s vowed to kick off this final summer before college, Jess resolves to put her big girl pants on and at last bang bag the longtime object of her desire, Andrew. All she needs is someone to practice on first. Enter Benjamin Oliver. Jock hot, nerd hot (which is just greedy, really), star quarterback, and all-around pain in Jess’s ass. While Jess would rather nap on a nest of fire ants than be his girlfriend, there’s still something about him that sends a jolt through her stomach, making him her best (and only) candidate for her guy game glow-up. With summer in full swing and not one, but two, cute boys on the horizon, Jess is pretty sure she’s on the winning side of the bargain. But can her deal with Benjamin stay purely business-with-pleasure? And, the question that Jess soon can’t ignore: does she want it to? septemberTHE LONG GAME AUTHOR: Elena Armas GENRE: Adult Romance PAGES: 400 RELEASED: 5 September 2023 SYNOPSIS: Adalyn Reyes has spent years perfecting her daily routine: wake up at dawn, drive to the Miami Flames FC offices, try her hardest to leave a mark, go home, and repeat. But her routine is disrupted when a video of her in an altercation with the team’s mascot goes viral. Rather than fire her, the team’s owner—who happens to be her father—sends Adalyn to middle-of-nowhere North Carolina, where she’s tasked with turning around the struggling local soccer team, the Green Warriors, as a way to redeem herself. Her plans crumble upon discovering that the players wear tutus to practice (impractical), keep pet goats (messy), and are terrified of Adalyn (counterproductive), and are nine-year-old kids. To make things worse, also in town is Cameron Caldani, goalkeeping prodigy whose presence is somewhat of a mystery. Cam is the perfect candidate to help Adalyn, but after one very unfortunate first encounter involving a rooster, Cam’s leg, and Adalyn’s bumper, he’s also set on running her out of town. But banishment is not an option for Adalyn. Not again. Helping this ragtag children’s team is her road to redemption, and she is playing the long game. With or without Cam’s help. FLY WITH ME AUTHOR: Andie Burke GENRE: Queer Romance RELEASED: 5 September 2023 SYNOPSIS: A one-way ticket to love or a bumpy ride ahead? Flying-phobic ER nurse Olive Murphy is still gripping the armrest from her first-ever take-off when the pilot announces an in-flight medical emergency. Olive leaps into action and saves a life, but ends up getting stuck in the airport hours away from the marathon she's running in honor of her brother. Luckily for her, Stella Soriano, the stunning type A copilot, offers to give her a ride. After the two spend a magical day together, Stella makes a surprising request: Will Olive be her fake girlfriend? A video of Olive saving a life has gone viral and started generating big sales for Stella's airline. Stella sees their union as the perfect opportunity to get to the boys' club executives at her company who keep overlooking her for a long-deserved promotion. Realizing this arrangement could help her too, Olive dives into memorizing Stella’s comically comprehensive three-ring-binder guide to fake dating. As the two grow closer, what’s supposed to be a ruse feels more and more real. Could this be the romantic ride of their lives, or an epic crash and burn? THE CHRISTMAS SWAP AUTHOR: Talia Samuels GENRE: Queer Romance PAGES: 352 RELEASED: 7 September 2023 SYNOPSIS: It's the perfect Christmas love story. Margot Murray is a newly single, high-flying businesswoman with no interest in a cutesy seasonal romance. Ben Gibson is an unlucky-in-love sweetheart in need of a woman to bring home for the holidays. Together, they make a pact: Margot gets two blissful weeks away from London in a picture-perfect manor, in exchange for posing as Ben's girlfriend. The story can only go one way. Margot is sure to fall in love for real. And she does. With Ben's sister, Ellie. NINETEEN STEPS AUTHOR: Millie Bobby Brown GENRE: Historical Fiction PAGES: 320 RELEASED: 12 September 2023 SYNOPSIS: Love blooms in the darkest days… London, 1942. Despite the raging war, spirited 18-year-old Nellie Morris lives a quiet life in the tight-knit East End community of Bethnal Green. Her family and friends all tease that she will marry air raid warden Billy, the boy next door who’s always been sweet on her. The arrival of Ray, a handsome American airman stationed nearby, causes Nellie to question everything she thought she knew about her future. Nellie’s newfound happiness is short-lived when a tragic accident occurs during an air raid. Even the closest family can’t escape the devastation of war, and as the secrets and truth about that fateful night become clear, they threaten to tear Nellie – and those dearest to her – apart. OH MIRIAM! AUTHOR: Miriam Margoyles GENRE: Memoir PAGES: 336 RELEASED: 14 September 2023 SYNOPSIS: Join us on another unforgettable adventure through the extraordinary life and strong opinions of Miriam Margolyes. 'My new book is called OH MIRIAM! - something that has been said to me a lot over the years, often in tones of strong disapproval. It contains lots more revelations and stories and discoveries and I can't wait to share it with you all!' From being escorted off the Today programme (for saying what we were all thinking) to declaring her love to Vanessa Redgrave; from Tales of the Unexpected to Graham Norton's sofa, she is our most loved and most outspoken national treasure. Oh Miriam! takes you inside both her head and her heart. Buckle up for the most irrepressible, hilarious and moving read of 2023. CLEAT CUTE AUTHOR: Meryl Wilsner GENRE: Queer Romance PAGES: 336 RELEASED: 19 September 2023 SYNOPSIS: Grace Henderson has been a star of the US Women’s National Team for ten years, even though she’s only 26. But when she’s sidelined with an injury, a bold new upstart, Phoebe Matthews, takes her spot. Phoebe is everything Grace isn’t—a gregarious jokester who plays with a joy that Grace lost somewhere along the way. The last thing Grace expects is to become friends with benefits with this class clown she sees as her rival. Phoebe Matthews has always admired Grace’s skill and was star struck to be training alongside her idol. But she quickly finds herself looking at Grace as more than a mere teammate. After one daring kiss, she’s hooked. Grace is everything she has been waiting to find. As the World Cup approaches, and Grace works her way back from injury, the women decide to find a way they can play together instead of vying for the same position. Except, when they are off the field, Grace is worried she’s catching feelings while Phoebe thinks they are dating. As the tension between them grows, will both players realize they care more about their relationship than making the roster? TEMPTING THE PLAYER AUTHOR: Rebecca Jenshak GENRE: College Romance RELEASED: 19 September 2023 SERIES: Campus Wallflower #4 SYNOPSIS: He’s the last guy I should fall for. Valley U was supposed to be my fresh start after I escaped the glitz and glam of Hollywood. I didn’t want to be the former childhood star that graced TV screens across the world. I wanted to feel normal. When the same hot guy runs past my off-campus house every day, I assume he’s another college student. When he protects me from boys who still think of me as the character from their teenage dreams, I think he is being kind. When my past comes back to haunt me, he makes me feel safe. I’m falling hard and fast for a guy I barely know. Until I realize my mysterious new crush has a secret. He was hired to be my undercover bodyguard. What book releases are you anticipating for in the second half of the year? Let me know in the comments so I can add even more books to my TBR! There are still so many amazing books coming out that we are definitely going to be going out on a reading high!
Happy Reading! Victoria :) |
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