Welcome to Book Beat! Think of Book Beat as Hide Your Wallet, Part Two!
In Hide Your Wallet, we talk about books coming out in a particular month that we really want to read. But there’s more to good books than just new releases!
Book Beat aims to highlight other books that we may hear about through friends, social media, or other sources. We could see a gorgeous ad! Or find a new-to-us author on a list of underrated romances! Think of Book Beat as Teen Beat or Tiger Beat, but for books. And no staples to open to get the fold-out poster.
We hope you find something new to read through Book Beat, and please let us know what books you’ve discovered recently!
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The Bodyguard
Author: Ruchi Singh
Released: March 10, 2018
Genre: Romantic Suspense, RomanceSomeone wants Vikramaditya Seth Jr. dead.
He refuses the Z+ security option offered by the government. With too many variables trust is hard to come by…Esha Sinha prepares for her first assignment outside of active-army service, oblivious to the fact that she has to baby-sit a man who has no respect for rules or protocol—a man who is headstrong, workaholic and a tenacious flirt. As the attraction between Vikram and Esha simmers and sizzles, another attempt is made on his life.
The killer is resourceful and determined.
The motive is unclear and perplexing.Will they be able to nab the assassin before he gets to Vikram?
Source: Twitter
A romance with a bodyguard heroine!
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Unbroken
Author: Marieke Nijkamp
Released: September 18, 2018 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Genre: Teen Fiction, Young AdultThis anthology explores disability in fictional tales told from the viewpoint of disabled characters, written by disabled creators. With stories in various genres about first loves, friendship, war, travel, and more, Unbroken will offer today’s teen readers a glimpse into the lives of disabled people in the past, present, and future.
The contributing authors are awardwinners, bestsellers, and newcomers including Kody Keplinger, Kristine Wyllys, Francisco X. Stork, William Alexander, Corinne Duyvis, Marieke Nijkamp, Dhonielle Clayton, Heidi Heilig, Katherine Locke, Karuna Riazi, Kayla Whaley, Keah Brown, and Fox Benwell. Each author identifies as disabled along a physical, mental, or neurodiverse axis—and their characters reflect this diversity.
Source: Twitter
A YA anthology, with an amazing selection of writers, focusing on stories about disabled teens.
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Over and Over Again
Author: Cole McCade
Released: July 23, 2018
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, RomanceA ring of braided grass. A promise. Ten years of separation.
And memories of an innocent love with the power to last through time.
When Luca Ward was five years old, he swore he would love Imre Claybourne forever. Years later, that promise holds true—and when Luca finds himself shipped off to Imre’s North Yorkshire goat farm in disgrace, long-buried feelings flare back to life when he finds, in Imre, the same patiently stoic gentle giant he’d loved as a boy. The lines around Imre’s eyes may be deeper, the once-black night of his hair silvered to steel and stone…but he’s still the same slow-moving mountain of a man whose quiet-spoken warmth, gentle hands, and deep ties to his Roma heritage have always, to Luca, meant home.
The problem?
Imre is more than twice Luca’s age.
And Luca’s father’s best friend.
Yet if Imre is everything Luca remembered, for Imre this hot-eyed, fey young man is nothing of the boy he knew. Gone is the child, replaced by a vivid man whose fettered spirit is spinning, searching for north, his heart a thing of wild sweet pure emotion that draws Imre into the compelling fire of Luca’s frustrated passions. That fragile heart means everything to Imre—and he’ll do anything to protect it.
Even if it means distancing himself, when the years between them are a chasm Imre doesn’t know how to cross.
But can he resist the allure in cat-green eyes when Luca places his trembling heart in Imre’s hands…and begs for his love, over and over again?
Source: Twitter
This romance apparently has everything: a slow burn romance, an age difference, and BABY GOATS!
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Sugar & Ice
Author: Brooklyn Wallace
Released: November 11, 2018 by NST Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance
Series: Rose & Thorns #2SUGAR AND ICE (A Rose & Thorns Club novel)
Gwendolyn Crawford is Superwoman personified. She runs her ex’s senatorial campaign while battling gossip rags, sleazy opponents, and her self-righteous former father-in-law. She does the job well, and as far as she’s concerned, that’s all she needs. Besides, there’s no time for romance. Not even when a pair of bright eyes catch hers at the highly exclusive Rose club.Jacklyn Dunn is stuck in a rut. After a devastating stress fracture ended her WNBA career, she’s mostly been dodging her agent and binging TV. Then she meets Gwen and starts to wonder if there’s more to life than wishes and regrets.
There’s no denying the sparks between them. Jackie thrills in melting Gwen’s ice queen heart, and Gwen is instantly hooked on Jackie’s sweetness. But romance isn’t easy for two women in the spotlight. Stress, tabloids, and their own fears threaten to shake the foundation of their budding relationship. After years of building up walls, the two must open themselves up to love—and to getting hurt—to find what truly makes them happy.
Source: Twitter & Love in Panels
I originally heard about this from the author’s Twitter, but the original tweet is gone. However, Love in Panels recently did a cover reveal for this book and the affiliated Rose and Thorns series!
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Just last night I was feening for a age difference romance and then I woke up and read this post. This is why I love this site!! Also, Over and Over Again is available through Kindle Unlimited and if you have Prime, the Kindle Lending Library if you don’t wanna drop $6.99. My husband wanted to go out today, too.. OH WELL!
When I saw “age-difference” in the title of the post, I thought, ‘Well, okay, that one won’t interest me,’ because usually age difference romances don’t. Then I saw “m/m with father’s best friend” and oh dang, consider my mind changed. I’m a sucker for romances that are forbidden and/or strongly discouraged,* and it’s mostly the execution of specifically older man/younger woman power dynamics** that bothers me in age difference romances, so that’s not really applicable here.
* Why are most of the entries in the “forbidden/strongly discouraged” category about the heroine’s older brother’s best friend or best friend’s older brother? I’m SO SICK OF THOSE. Is there a requirement that every series must feature at least one or something?
** I also tend to be annoyed at younger man/older woman romances — not that this stops me snatching them up whenever I find them! — because the execution always seems to involve making the younger man the one with the power, and it rarely feels right to me? Sometimes the author seems to go out of their way to make him the worst kind of controlling asshole so that the reader won’t question who has the power on their side (I’m looking at you, Tracy Anne Warren).
Totally unrelated, but TJ Klune’s Wolfsong is on sale for 99 cents at Amazon in case anyone else has been waiting (like me) for that to finally go on sale.
I have a separate wishlist for books that are also kindle unlimited- two of these are. So good reading ahead.
Given how much I read, kindle unlimited is, so far, worth it for me.
I’ve been reading Anna Richland’s the Immortal Viking Books the last few days (thanks to SBTB), and also read her His Road Home which is a novella. I LOVED His Road Home, many thanks to the commenter who recommended that. A few characters from the Viking books are in it, but they are not the main characters. Very, very compelling story, I loved the hero and the heroine so much.
The Viking series, only two books and I’m halfway through the second, it is so good. Stig is a great character, he has a wonderful sense of humor. Now I’m nervous because I so want to read more of this series, but the last book was published in 2015. More please!
“Imre is more than twice Luca’s age. And Luca’s father’s best friend.”
Nope. Nope nope nope. Maybe I’ve spent too much time reading about the Catholic scandal in PA this week, and maybe as the parent of a small child I’m unable to picture how my kid could ever be in an okay relationship with any of my best friends, but just flat no, and I’m so baffled and weirded out by this.
You know what, I want a paranormal brother’s best friend where he might kill her if he touches her. Add some stakes back into best friend’s little sister
Thanks to a SBTB comment from earlier this week, I’ve spent the past few days devouring Emily Larkin’s Baleful Godmother historical romance series, starting with Unmasking Miss Appleby. They are well-written historicals with just a touch of magic.
While I’m probably giving this PARTICULAR Cole McCade book a hard pass, I have enjoyed his Cocky Butler one, and the crime-serial one he’s releasing episodically, like a tv show. Most of those are pretty cheap on Amazon, and a fun read.
@Anonymous: Not sure if you’re interested in recommendations but I’ve read a few older-woman-younger-man romances with no power imbalance and thought I’d share some: Anyone but You by Jennifer Crusie, Liberating Lacey by Anne Calhoun, Bad Boys Do by Victoria Dahl, Family Blessings by LaVyrle Spencer, Flat-out Sexy by Ellen McCarthy, Sleeping Beauty by Judith Ivory and Fallen From Grace by Laura Leone.
There’s also The King of Attolia but it’s not primarily a romance and you have to read the first two books to be able to follow it.
@JoS Older women younger men are my catnip, but I, too, get sick of the alpha dynamic. Thanks for all these. I’ll chase some of them up.
I read OVER AND OVER AGAIN & yes, it is squicky description wise but I will say, it’s an extremely slow burn romance, Imre is a demisexual, & pretty much says the same thing about being with Luca as others have said here. It plays more as Luca working through the baggage that has sprung up for him, and him and Imre finding a way past their crap to be together. And there’s this whole thing about not seeing each other for years. That’s not to say other interpretations are wrong because yes, I well understand the reaction. I had it myself regarding the origins of Nora and Soren’s relationship in The Original Sinners series
I also read Over and Over Again, and as @Caro said-it is a very slow burn. The older man is extremely hesitant to enter a relationship with the younger man. I read this book more for the description of the Yorkshire Dales, and of course…goats! I don’t read many M/M romances, so I am a bit curious. I felt like the Luca character was described in such a typically female way, it was a bit distracting. I don’t know if it was an older man/younger man thing, or if that was a trope in a M/M romance book.