December is here and that means our last batch of new releases before 2018 starts! For me, personally, it’s a surprisingly subdued batch of books. However, the rest of the Bitches have more than made up for it. Here are a couple more books due to come out this month:
- After the Wedding by Courtney Milan is supposed to be released this month. Unfortunately, buy links aren’t up quite yet.
- Kristen Ashley begins a new series with The Hookup. ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
- The Art of Running in Heels by Rachel Gibson ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) is Gibson’s return to the Chinooks Hockey Team series.
-
Courtly Pleasures
Author: Erin Kane Spock
Released: December 4, 2017 by Crimson Romance
Genre: Historical: European, Romance
Series: Courtly Love #1What’s a neglected wife to do when her husband doesn’t know she exists? Create a scandal, of course, in this delightful Elizabethan romp.
After ten years of marriage, Frances LeSieur has faded into her role as a lady wife and mother. She has no idea who she is as a woman. So Frances joins Queen Elizabeth’s glittering court and discovers a part of herself she never knew existed—and one she’s sure her neglectful husband would never notice.
Henry has always done his duty to family and crown despite his own desires. When Frances asks for a separation then transforms into a confident and vibrant courtier, he’s floored—and finds himself desperate to learn what makes her tick, both in and out of the bedroom. After years of silent alienation, can he woo her back, or will he lose this intoxicating woman to one of the rakes hell-bent on having her?
As Frances and Henry come to realize that living is not merely surviving, can they create a second chance at love before it’s too late?
Redheadedgirl: Elizabethan RomCom. Probably less beheadings than the real thing. Hopefully.
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
The British Knight
Author: Louise Bay
Released: December 5, 2017 by Louise Bay
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceWhen I’m offered the chance to leave New York to live in London for three months, I can’t pack my suitcase fast enough.
As soon as I touch down I’m obsessing over red telephone boxes, palaces and all the black cabs.
But my favorite place is the tube. It’s wall-to-wall hot British men in suits.
When I’m offered a temporary job working for a barrister, I say, sign me up.
On my first commute into work, it’s a total accident when I lose my balance and fall against the most handsome Brit alive. He’s as charming as James Bond and as suave as Mr. Darcy. I want to lick tea from his hard abs and listen to his accent all night long.
Turns out Mr. Handsome is my new boss. And his attitude isn’t as hot as his gorgeous face, broad shoulders and tight ass. He’s brooding, short-tempered and the most arrogant man I’ve ever met.
As we’re fighting, out of nowhere he kisses me. And I’m pretty sure I see fireworks over Big Ben and hear God Save the Queen.
I wasn’t looking for the fairytale but I might have found my knight in shining armor. The problem is he lives an ocean away.
Elyse says: I tend to be leery of office romances, especially when the hero is the boss, but I’m intrigued by the fish-out-of-water aspect of this one.
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
The Joy of Doing Nothing
Author: Rachel Jonat
Released: December 5, 2017 by Adams Media
Genre: NonfictionFight back against busyness and celebrate the pleasure of doing nothing in this new guide that helps relieve stress and increase happiness in your life.
In The Joy of Doing Nothing you’ll discover how to step away from everything you think you have to do and learn to live a minimalist life. Rachel Jonat shares simple strategies to help you stop overscheduling, find time for yourself, and create moments of calm every day. You’ll learn how to focus more on the important aspects of life, such as family and friends, and scale back your schedule to create more time in the day to care for yourself.
Sarah says: I am prepared to listen to all the wisdom here.
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
Love on the Tracks
Author: Tamsen Parker
Released: December 5, 2017 by Swerve
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Series: Snow & Ice Games #1Welcome to the Snow and Ice Games where the competition is fierce and the romance is HOT.
Rowan Andrews is the unexpected darling of the Denver Snow and Ice Games. Luge has never captured the American public’s imagination as much as figure skating or even hockey, but her outsized personality and dare-devil ways have got everyone’s eyes glued to the track. Including a certain chart-topping heartthrob.
Zane Rivera is the lead singer of License to Game, the hottest band in the country. When Zane finds out Rowan Andrews has had some complimentary things to say about him, he arranges to meet her while he’s in Denver enjoying the games. And when a photo of him kissing Rowan on the cheek goes viral, they both see the advantages of faking a relationship for the publicity.
After Rowan’s injured in her final race, their relationship starts to feel all too real to Zane. But is this rock star ready to fall in love?
Sarah says: The heroine is an Olympic luge competitor, and the hero is a rock star – and there’s a fake relationship. Nobody talk to me while I read this, ok?
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
Roomies
Author: Christina Lauren
Released: December 5, 2017 by Gallery Books
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceFrom subway to Broadway to happily ever after. Modern love in all its thrill, hilarity, and uncertainty has never been so compulsively readable as in New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Christina Lauren’s (Beautiful Bastard, Dating You / Hating You) new romance.
Marriages of convenience are so…inconvenient.
Rescued by Calvin McLoughlin from a would-be subway attacker, Holland Bakker pays the brilliant musician back by pulling some of her errand-girl strings and getting him an audition with a bigtime musical director. When the tryout goes better than even Holland could have imagined, Calvin is set for a great entry into Broadway—until he admits his student visa has expired and he’s in the country illegally.
Holland impulsively offers to wed the Irishman to keep him in New York, her growing infatuation a secret only to him. As their relationship evolves from awkward roommates to besotted lovers, Calvin becomes the darling of Broadway. In the middle of the theatrics and the acting-not-acting, what will it take for Holland and Calvin to realize that they both stopped pretending a long time ago?
Amanda says: Just please lock me in a room with this book.
Elyse says: I’m a big fan of Christina Lauren!
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
To the Duke, With Love
Author: Amelia Grey
Released: December 5, 2017 by St. Martin's Paperbacks
Genre: Historical: European, Romance
Series: The Rakes of St. James #2There may be times when a gentleman is desperate to gain a lady’s attention, but a gentleman would never resort to desperate measures to obtain it.
―A Proper Gentleman’s Guide to Wooing the Perfect LadySloane Knox, the Duke of Hawksthorn is guardian for his sweet, younger sister. Due to his misguided past as one of the infamous Rakes of St James, Hawk is hoping to avoid the Season by securing a match for her before it begins. He has the perfect gentleman in mind, but for one infuriating―and unexpectedly intoxicating―obstacle: the intended groom’s own sister, Miss Loretta Quick.
Having narrowly avoided her own arranged marriage to an unacceptable nobleman, Loretta is determined that her dear brother―a gentle, good-natured soul―should marry for love. Matching wits with Hawk may be her greatest challenge yet. . .until she realizes it may also be her greatest pleasure. For the young duke’s irresistible charm has not only begun to crumble her stubborn resolve, it has claimed her heart in true love as well. . .
Sarah says: Two people working at cross purposes to ensure or prevent an engagement with some opposites attract catnip.
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
The Vanishing Season
Author: Joanna Schaffhausen
Released: December 5, 2017 by Minotaur Books
Genre: Mystery/ThrillerEllery Hathaway knows a thing or two about serial killers, but not through her police training. She’s an officer in sleepy Woodbury, MA, where a bicycle theft still makes the newspapers. No one there knows she was once victim number seventeen in the grisly story of serial killer Francis Michael Coben. The only victim who lived.
When three people disappear from her town in three years, all around her birthday—the day she was kidnapped so long ago—Ellery fears someone knows her secret. Someone very dangerous. Her superiors dismiss her concerns, but Ellery knows the vanishing season is coming and anyone could be next. She contacts the one man she knows will believe her: the FBI agent who saved her from a killer’s closet all those years ago.
Agent Reed Markham made his name and fame on the back of the Coben case, but his fortunes have since turned. His marriage is in shambles, his bosses think he’s washed up, and worst of all, he blew a major investigation. When Ellery calls him, he can’t help but wonder: sure, he rescued her, but was she ever truly saved? His greatest triumph is Ellery’s waking nightmare, and now both of them are about to be sucked into the past, back to the case that made them…with a killer who can’t let go
Elyse says: I love mysteries about people vanishing.
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
Year One
Author: Nora Roberts
Released: December 5, 2017 by St. Martin's Press
Genre: Paranormal, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: Chronicles of The One #1It began on New Year’s Eve.
The sickness came on suddenly, and spread quickly. The fear spread even faster. Within weeks, everything people counted on began to fail them. The electrical grid sputtered; law and government collapsed—and more than half of the world’s population was decimated.
Where there had been order, there was now chaos. And as the power of science and technology receded, magic rose up in its place. Some of it is good, like the witchcraft worked by Lana Bingham, practicing in the loft apartment she shares with her lover, Max. Some of it is unimaginably evil, and it can lurk anywhere, around a corner, in fetid tunnels beneath the river—or in the ones you know and love the most.
As word spreads that neither the immune nor the gifted are safe from the authorities who patrol the ravaged streets, and with nothing left to count on but each other, Lana and Max make their way out of a wrecked New York City. At the same time, other travelers are heading west too, into a new frontier. Chuck, a tech genius trying to hack his way through a world gone offline. Arlys, a journalist who has lost her audience but uses pen and paper to record the truth. Fred, her young colleague, possessed of burgeoning abilities and an optimism that seems out of place in this bleak landscape. And Rachel and Jonah, a resourceful doctor and a paramedic who fend off despair with their determination to keep a young mother and three infants in their care alive.
In a world of survivors where every stranger encountered could be either a savage or a savior, none of them knows exactly where they are heading, or why. But a purpose awaits them that will shape their lives and the lives of all those who remain.
The end has come. The beginning comes next.
Elyse says: I’m interested in Roberts’ take on a dystopian romance.
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
Man Hands
Author: Sarina Bowen
Released: December 11, 2017 by Rennie Road Books
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Series: Man Hands #1He puts the “screw” in screwball comedy…
BRYNN
At thirty-four, I’m reeling from a divorce. I don’t want to party or try to move on. I just want to stay home and post a new recipe on my blog: Brynn’s Dips and Balls.But my friends aren’t having it. Get out there again, they say. It will be fun, they say. I’m still taking a hard pass.
Free designer cocktails, they say. And that’s a game-changer.
Too bad my ex shows up with his new arm candy. That’s when I lose my mind. But when my besties dare me to leap on the first single man I see, they don’t expect me to actually go through with it.
TOM
All I need right now is some peace and quiet while my home renovation TV show is on hiatus. But when a curvy woman in a red wrap dress charges me like she’s a gymnast about to mount my high bar, all I can do is brace myself and catch her. What follows is the hottest experience of my adult life.I want a repeat, but my flying Cinderella disappears immediately afterward. She doesn’t leave a glass slipper, either—just a pair of panties with chocolate bunnies printed on them.
But I will find her.
Amanda says: The heroine runs a food blog called “Dips & Balls.”
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
Dance with Me
Author: Alexis Daria
Released: December 12, 2017 by Swerve
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Series: Dance Off #2The second book in Alexis Daria’s dancing duology finds one playboy charmer falling for his new roommate.
Natasha Díaz is having a day. She’s trying to prove she can make it as a professional dancer, but she’s overworked, out of cash, and her roommate has just moved out. When she comes home to find a hole in her ceiling and her bedroom flooded, she’s desperate enough to crash with the one guy she can’t quit. She accepts his offer with one condition: no sleeping together while she’s living with him.
Dimitri Kovalenko has never lived with a woman before. But when Tasha’s in need of a place to stay, he suggests she move in without a second thought. He accepts her condition, hoping she won’t stick to it. They’re good together, both in the ballroom and the bedroom. Since their first dance, she’s never been far from his thoughts. Sure, she’s a pro and he’s one of her show’s judges, but they’re not currently filming, so no one needs to know.
Living in close quarters shows Dimitri a side of Natasha he’s never seen before, and he likes it. A lot. Too bad she’s doing everything in her power to keep him at arm’s length. When an injury forces Natasha to take it easy or risk her ability to dance, it’s his chance to show her that the rules have changed, and she can trust him with her heart.
Redheadedgirl says: Dancing! Roommates! “We’re totally not gonna bone” pacts!
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
Hookin’ Up
Author: M.J. Williamz
Released: December 12, 2017 by Bold Strokes Books
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Erotica/Erotic Romance, LGBTQIA, RomanceLeah Davis has just been dumped by her partner of five years. The reason? Leah is no good in bed. She decides to learn to be a better lover by meeting women on a lesbian hookup site.
Dillon Franklin is Leah’s best friend and co-owner of their bar. She is also secretly in love with Leah. She is adamantly against Leah’s idea to hook up with numerous women in an attempt to learn to be a better lover. She knows she could teach her but is afraid of ruining their friendship.
Eventually, Dillon gives up on Leah and starts dating Stephanie. This causes Leah to grow insanely jealous, but she can’t understand why. Will Leah stop her string of meaningless encounters to pursue Dillon? Or will they grow apart and never find true love?
Sarah says: Friends to lovers trope, ahoy!
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
It Takes Two to Tumble
Author: Cat Sebastian
Released: December 12, 2017 by Avon Impulse
Genre: Historical: European, LGBTQIA, Romance
Series: Seducing the Sedgwicks #1Some of Ben Sedgwick’s favorite things:
Helping his poor parishioners
Baby animals
Shamelessly flirting with the handsome Captain Phillip DacreAfter an unconventional upbringing, Ben is perfectly content with the quiet, predictable life of a country vicar, free of strife or turmoil. When he’s asked to look after an absent naval captain’s three wild children, he reluctantly agrees, but instantly falls for the hellions. And when their stern but gloriously handsome father arrives, Ben is tempted in ways that make him doubt everything.
Some of Phillip Dacre’s favorite things:
His ship
People doing precisely as they’re told
Touching the irresistible vicar at every opportunityPhillip can’t wait to leave England’s shores and be back on his ship, away from the grief that haunts him. But his children have driven off a succession of governesses and tutors and he must set things right. The unexpected presence of the cheerful, adorable vicar sets his world on its head and now he can’t seem to live without Ben’s winning smiles or devastating kisses.
In the midst of runaway children, a plot to blackmail Ben’s family, and torturous nights of pleasure, Ben and Phillip must decide if a safe life is worth losing the one thing that makes them come alive.
Elyse says: VICAR HERO!
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
Seared
Author: Suleikha Snyder
Released: December 12, 2017 by Suleikha Snyder
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Series: Master Chefs #1It’s been 10 years since Naya saw her stepbrother, Lachlan Christie. In that time, he’s become a famous chef, complete with his own hip and trendy Manhattan restaurant…and she’s become the woman who can give him everything — especially her body and soul. But the past doesn’t always stay dead, and you can’t escape it, no matter how far you fly or how hot you burn.
Naya’s determined to win Lachlan and secure them a happily ever after, no matter what it takes — but is love enough to save her master chef?
In the first book in the Master Chefs series, the forbidden meets the possible — and passion cooks up a storm.
Amanda says: Delicious food and a forbidden romance!
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
My Lady Governess
Author: Elise Clarke
Released: December 20, 2017 by Escape Publishing
Genre: Historical: European, Regency, RomanceOne knight, one runaway heiress, one rollicking romance: A breath of fresh air in Regency romance!
Proud and haughty, Lord de Waare is almost as medieval as his castle…until he accidentally abducts a governess, who turns out not to be a governess at all, and who shows this knight that his heart is not as armoured as he thought.
A girl with a dangerous past, Marina would happily disappear again, but since de Waare won’t let that happen, then the least he can do is help her clear her name. But moving back into society is dangerous for her and for the stern man she’s coming to love. She knows the rules of honour and society, and she won’t allow de Waare to compromise the principles that define him.
But de Waare didn’t become the Crusader by accepting defeat. Faint heart never won a fair lady, and de Waares always win.
Sarah says: This was pitched to me as a medieval comedy. Hello!
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
A Distant Heart
Author: Sonali Dev
Released: December 26, 2017 by Kensington
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceHer name means “miracle” in Sanskrit, and to her parents, that’s exactly what Kimaya is. The first baby to survive after several miscarriages, Kimi grows up in a mansion at the top of Mumbai’s Pali Hill, surrounded by love and privilege. But at eleven years old, she develops a rare illness that requires her to be confined to a germ-free ivory tower in her home, with only the Arabian Sea churning outside her window for company. . . . Until one person dares venture into her world.
Tasked at fourteen-years-old with supporting his family, Rahul Savant shows up to wash Kimi’s windows, and an unlikely friendship develops across the plastic curtain of her isolation room. As years pass, Rahul becomes Kimi’s eyes to the outside world—and she becomes his inspiration to better himself by enrolling in the police force. But when a life-saving heart transplant offers the chance of a real future, both must face all that ties them together and keeps them apart.
As Kimi anticipates a new life, Rahul struggles with loving someone he may yet lose. And when his investigation into a black market organ ring run by a sociopathic gang lord exposes dangerous secrets that cut too close to home, only Rahul’s deep, abiding connection with Kimi can keep her safe—and reveal the true meaning of courage, loss, and second chances.
Infused with the rhythms of life in modern-day India, acclaimed author Sonali Dev’s candid, rewarding novel beautifully evokes all the complexities of the human heart.
Sarah says: As Dev described it, a Rapunzel story set in Mumbai? Yes, please!
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
The Duke of Her Desire
Author: Sophie Barnes
Released: December 26, 2017 by Avon
Genre: Historical: European, Romance
Series: Diamonds in the Rough #2He was only supposed to keep an eye on his friend’s sister . . . now he’s about to lose his heart . . .
When Thomas Heathmore, Duke of Coventry, agrees to steer his friend’s inexperienced younger sister through society, he doesn’t expect the lady in question to be so infernally stubborn. Amelia Matthews seems to have little interest in balls or suitors at all. Instead, she intends to open a school, and against his better instincts, Thomas offers to help. Yet somewhere along the line, Amelia ceases to be a simple responsibility . . . and becomes an undeniable temptation.
Since her brother inherited a dukedom, Amelia’s prospects have transformed. But though she’s long been secretly infatuated with Thomas, she refuses to heed the arrogant aristocrat’s advice. If only it were as easy to ignore his heated touch. And as Amelia soon learns, the ton is a minefield, where one moment’s indiscretion can unleash a scandal—or entice her to surrender everything to the duke of her desire . .
Elyse says: This is a “let me help you navigate society–oh crap now I Iove you” book which is so my catnip
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks! -
River Queen Rose
Author: Shirley Kennedy
Released: December 26, 2017 by Lyrical Press
Genre: Historical: American, Romance
Series: In Old California #1The ramshackle River Queen Hotel is home to vagabonds, gamblers, and heathens—and now, to new widow Rose Peterson. The rundown Gold Rush establishment is the only thing her late husband, Emmet, left her. Despite its raucous saloon and ladies of the evening, Rose can see the hotel’s potential. Her late husband’s family claim that sheltered Rose isn’t capable of running the Sacramento inn herself. But she is determined to make a new life for herself and her young daughter, even if it means flying in the face of custom and propriety. She feels as if she hasn’t a friend in the world.
Except, perhaps, one. Decatur “Deke” Fleming, a tall, lanky Australian who once served as Emmet’s farmhand. Pride prevents Deke from revealing his moneyed past; conscience keeps him from confessing his feelings for the still grieving widow. But when Rose is tempted by wealthy civic leader and hotel owner Mason Talbot, Deke may be the only person who can save her—and the one man capable of reviving her bruised and battered heart.
Redheadedgirl says: Tail end of the Gold Rush – this is a part of American history that hasn’t been touched in a while. Also the hero is Australian.
Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!
I am sooooooo excited for the new Cat Sebastian and Courtney Milan!
And hello, LOVE ON THE TRACKS!
But um… “as suave as Mr. Dracy”? Darcy wasn’t suave. Like, at all. That’s half the point of the book!
“…more than half the world’s population was decimated…”
The blurb could have used heavy editing – decimated means to reduce by a tenth (from a pubishment used by Romans on the troops – they would execute every tenth man in a unit. Marcus Licinius Crassus being the most famous proponent of this method of discipline.).
Therefore, reducing over half the world’s population by a tenth is more like a minor plague event than a catastrophic disease that brings about a dystopian world. The 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic took out 3-5% of the world’s population and that didn’t cause the collapse of civilisation!
*reads the description for The Duke of Her Desire*
*head thunks*
Can anyone explain to me the origin of “the Duke book”? Y’know, the subgenre of historical romances where the heroine’s brother is a duke, her suitor is a duke, and her suitor’s best friend is ALSO a duke? And they all get invited to a houseparty hosted by a different duke? And the dog’s name is Duke? (Okay, I strayed from the actual summary there, but still…the plethora of dukes in late Georgian/Regency/Victorian historicals had to originate from somewhere. There’s a memo out there, and I want to see it.)
The two books I’m looking forward to most in December aren’t even listed at Amazon yet: Camilla Monk’s ISLAND CHAPTAL AND THE ANCIENT ALIENS’ TREASURE (the sixth — and final? — book in her Spotless series, due out 12/12) and Alessandra Hazard’s JUST A BIT SHAMELESS (don’t. judge. me…due 12/15).
the intended groom’s own sister, Miss Loretta Quick
I will be very disappointed if there isn’t another infuriating and intoxicating obstacle in the series named Amanda Chase.
Courtney Milan’s website is now showing 2/20/18 as the tentative release date for After the Wedding.
Faith Hunter’s Flame in the Dark, the 3rd book in the Soulwood/Nell Ingram series comes out next week.
“It’s wall-to-wall hot British men in suits.” WHAT MAGICAL TUBE IS THIS? It’s definitely not the one I know, with the yellow lighting which gives everybody corpse-skin and the rats running over the lines and everybody miserably sweating and trying not to make eye contact.
I am intrigued by the Sonali Dev blurb though.
@Tam: I thought the same thing. That must have been the tube stop at Romancelandia station.
I pre-ordered Love on the Tracks, Hooking Up, and It Takes Two to Tumble as soon as I heard about them. (Which is a good thing since I kinda went OTT book buying on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. #Butthatsastoryforanotherday)
After reading the super fab Team Phison by Chance Verity, I snagged their next novella: My Heart is Ready (December 15th). Unlike Team Phison (which is M/M), this one is M/F.
Overall, a quiet month for my wallet. 🙂
You hit up most of my list. I sooo happy for a new Rachel Gibson, especially a return to the Chinooks.
Also anticipating Amid The Winter Snow an anthology featuring authors like Thea Harrison and my new auto-buy, Grace Draven.
Outside Romancelandia I’m very excited for The Man In The Crooked Hat by Harry Dolan. He has become my go to for pure mystery enjoyment. He has an elegant way with language and a gift for twisty plots. Now if the weather would be accommodating so I can justify staying curled up in a chair with a cuppa instead of, you know, Christmas shopping.
The second book in Rachel Caine’s Killman Creek duo is out this month. This is a dark twosome about a woman’s life after her husband was found out to be a serial killer.
She’s hunted by Outraged Internet Warriors and essentially turns into Sarah Connor from the Sarah Connor Chronicles.
These aren’t fun or light books. The heroine is pretty much insane from horror/stress and Caine’s good at putting you in her head. There’s a sort-of romance. Caine’s a good writer. If you like thriller/suspense, go for it.
@Deborah – I agree completely about the plethora of Dukes these days. Is there a collective noun for such a gathering? Since they’re usually rakes and rogues and black sheep, how about a Disgrace of Dukes?
I’ve taken to giving a hard pass to any book or series with a multitude of dukes. To me, it’s just lazy writing: a quick buzzword to identify someone rich and powerful.
This is the month when all my friends release books. Yes. Ok, well just wo of them. One of them is releasing three books this month.
Yeees. Give me all the books.
Oh. You are wondering which books?
Well, there are Seamaster by C. E. Murphy which released today (yay!). Then there are Redeemer which is a Kickstarter reward, and Kiss of Angel which is a Patreon reward.
There are Heart Sight by Robin D Owens and she has hinted at releasing a short story collection in December too.
And January is looking awesome too, since that’s when Cast in Deception by Michelle Sagara is out. *flails*
Then there are the new Alisha Rai and the new Alyssa Cole (though I still haven’t read the previous books, since I have been swamped this fall.) And there are a bunch of other books too. *Flails with excitement*
Heart Sight by Robin D Owens will be released on Tuesday. For those following this series, this book is about Vinni and Avellena.
I am always SUPER STOKED for a new Cat Sebastian novel and have had this one on preorder for months. No matter the plot or the tropes, I buy her books because she is AMAZING. This one will be out right after the semester ends, too, so I will stay home all day that day and just binge read it with no guilt. 🙂 When she told me that this book would have a sea captain and a vicar as the heroes, I one-clicked that preorder button SO FAST.
Car Sebastian is a little hit or miss with me, but her description of this one got me intrigued- mm Regency Sound of Music.
Ohh yes, @Deborah and @Francesca, that’s a favorite pet peeve of mine… they can’t ALL be Dukes! I’m at a point now where I actively avoid Dukes unless they’re written by someone I trust… (e.g. – I’m reading The Duchess Deal right now). Give me a baronet or a younger son, for heaven’s sake!
My other comment is, what is up with that The Lady Governess description? It’s Regency, but the hero is a Crusader? And of course the dress on the cover doesn’t even remotely look like either of those time periods… argh! Why is any historical now called “Regency”? It makes me want to get pedantic about the Prince Regent, and my poor husband suffers through my lectures at the dinner table… 😀
I have never liked books with the boss/employee trope – hello sexual harassment lawsuit (and it’s even worse when the hero is a lawyer who should know better). With everything in the news lately, the description for The British Knight just squicked me out completely. Elyse, I’ll be interested in hearing your opinion on this one.
@ lynnd: I think a lot of the “boss/intern” or “boss/employee” or “CEO/anyone else in the company” romance novel tropes are soon going to go the way of the “hero-raping-the-heroine” trope from old school bodice-rippers. No matter how carefully the writer tries to thread that needle, we’ve reached a cultural tipping point regarding workplace harassment and power dynamics, and I think it’s going to be harder to sell those storylines going forward.
@ DiscoDollyDeb and Lynnd – I agree. I’ve never like that particular trope because the thought of my dating any of my bosses over the years was just crazy sauce. My prediction is the boss/employee trope will wither away and the next generation of Smart Bitches will be saying “WTH” over it.
I have Once Upon a Christmas Eve, the Maiden Lane novella pre-ordered, along with Gina Conkle’s The Lord Meets His Lady, both out next Tuesday.
I liked the first book in Sophia Barne’s Diamonds in the Rough series and am planning on checking out The Duke of Her Desire. The new Cat Sebastian cover is eye-catching and makes me want to read that book, especially with a vicar hero!
I can get behind employer/employee in principle, but rarely in execution. It works for me if it’s a case where there’s a clear mutual attraction, but the boss makes no effort whatsoever to pursue the employee inappropriately, doesn’t belittle them, doesn’t punish them obliquely for getting them horny, &c., and the situation changes because of some sort of external circumstance. You can get a decent star-crossed lovers type story out of that scenario if both people behave like reasonable adults with actual morals and ethics and principles.
But what tends to be produced instead, it seems, is alphaholes who immediately start scheming to get in their employee’s pants and also make her depend on him and also dominate her sexually, and that never ever ever works for me.
I’ve been waiting FOREVER for the new Courtney Milan AFTER THE WEDDING. I’m so ready and I know it’ll be worth the wait.
Oooh, River Queen Rose has me bopping around in excitement. I love classic Western-era romances that explore worlds outside of the traditional Western tropes (i.e. mail-order bride and cowboy). Also, dilapidated riverside buildings are my house porn.
One-clicking that Christina Laurens title. I’ve been dying for more romances set in the Broadway/musical theater world (and someone heard me!!!!!)!!!!
None of the others really grab me, though. I’m a little sick of dukes (unless they’re expertly written, and few of them are), and I’m really sick of the Boss/Employee thing. Given our current political climate, that just really squicks me out.
Volume 8 of “Ms. Marvel” will be out towards the end of the month. I need more Kamala in my life.
Some enticing choices above. (The art on the cover of The Vanishing Season is curious. My eye sees the top and bottom halves as bodies facing in different directions.)
I only planned on reading It Takes Two to Tumble because I bought an absurd amount of books last weekend ( it will take me 2 months to read all of them ) and I need to curb this trend. But the River Queen Rose sounds interesting.
My rant about boss/employee, part 2:
Why is it (well we all know, really) that in the few examples of the boss/employee trope where the woman is the boss, part of the plot always seems to be about how the man is going to dominate her sexually and she’s going to learn that while she may be in control at work, in the bedroom she’s got to give it up? Whereas when the man is the boss, the deal is that he wants to dominate her in all spheres of life, not just at work?
Seriously, if we have to have book after book with this trope where the characters behave as though they never heard of ethics, where are the books where the female employee gets to dominate the fuck out of her boss sexually? I would so be on board for that.
I love that romance novels are (among many things) a canvas in which our various empowerment fantasies can play out safely, but I have to admit that it frustrates me a little how difficult it can be for me to find my own empowerment fantasies among the offerings.
/rant (sorry!)
Definitely looking forward to the Cat Sebastian, Nora Roberts, and Courtney Milan! And River Queen Rose, My Lady Governess (although that cover is, er, not exactly medieval), and Courtly Pleasures all have catnip elements for me. I’ll also be getting Alive in Shape and Color, a new story collection edited by Lawrence Block. I really loved In Sunlight or In Shadow, an anthology he edited last year with stories inspired by Edward Hopper paintings. (This one is paintings in general from a variety of artists.)
NEW SONALI DEV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cannot hit my Kindle soon enough. I adore all of her books.
[…] releases: Smart Bitches (romance) and Tor.com (scifi, […]