If you’re new to Hide Your Wallet, this is where we list new releases we’re pretty excited for in the coming month.
Each reviewer has a book maximum (five per person), but we’ve separated HYW into two parts. The first HYW of the month will cover books that release from the 1st to the 14th. The second HYW will cover books released from the 15th to the end of the month.
We also think this will help us feature books from smaller publishers who don’t have buy links up as quickly as the big five.
As always, if we missed any books that you’re particularly looking forward to, tell us all about them in the comments.
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Marrying His Runaway Heiress
Author: Therese Beharrie
Released: June 1, 2020 by Harlequin Romance
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romancediamond isn’t forever…
…until it’s from the right man!
For journalist and heiress Elena John, heading to Italy on assignment is her chance to avoid her impending arranged marriage. But Micah Williams, the star of her article, is nothing like the uptight tycoon she’s been told to expect, and alone in Italy she falls under his charming spell. Their time’s almost over, but Micah’s not ready to let her walk away… His proposal? A convenient counteroffer!
Aarya: I really like Beharrie’s voice and that premise is Aarya catnip.
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Modesty: A Fashion Paradox
Author: Hafsa Lodi
Released: June 1, 2020 by Neem Tree Press
Genre: NonfictionModest fashion has been gaining momentum in the mainstream global fashion industry over the past half-decade and is now a multi-billion-dollar retail sector. Its growing and now consistent appearance on high-profile fashion runways, on celebrities and in the headlines of fashion publications and news outlets, has shown that the modest fashion movement is hugely relevant to consumers. This is particularly true for millennials who are attracted to the feminist influences behind concealing your body, follow faith-based dress codes, or are attuned to social media, where more and more modest fashion bloggers are using imagery to inspire their followers. While the movement can credit European high fashion houses, like Gucci, for making conservative dresses and layering “in style” and “on trend,” and subsequent Western labels like DKNY, H&M and Mango for dabbling in the realm of modest wear, it is the newly emerging group of faith-influenced fashion brands who are driving the revolution, along with a new crop of Muslim fashion bloggers. These have helped catapult demure dressing trends globally.
This book speaks to the various personalities and companies who have helped shape the modest fashion industry into such a significant retail sector, while also exploring the controversies that lie at the heart of the movement, such as one pressing question: even if it covers the skin but is flamboyant, modeled with the purpose of attracting attention, and publicly promoted on social media, can fashion truly be modest?
Sneezy: Clothes and style is inherently political, and from the summary, this book is promising to explore incredibly interesting questions. Like this one: “Even if it covers the skin but is flamboyant, modeled with the purpose of attracting attention, and publicly promoted on social media, can fashion be truly modest?” Be STILL, my HEART!!!!
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Conventionally Yours
Author: Annabeth Albert
Released: June 2, 2020 by Sourcebooks Casablanca
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance
Series: True Colors #1When two “big name fans” go head-to-head at a convention, love isn’t the only thing at stake.
Charming, charismatic, and effortlessly popular, Conrad Stewart seems to have it all…but in reality, he’s scrambling to keep his life from tumbling out of control.
Brilliant, guarded, and endlessly driven, Alden Roth may as well be the poster boy for perfection…but even he can’t help but feel a little broken inside.
When these mortal enemies are stuck together on a cross-country road trip to the biggest fan convention of their lives, their infamous rivalry takes a backseat as an unexpected connection is forged. Yet each has a reason why they have to win the upcoming Odyssey gaming tournament and neither is willing to let emotion get in the way—even if it means giving up their one chance at something truly magical.
Elyse: As a fan of gaming myself, I am really looking forward to this book.
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46
Author: Lynn Ames
Released: June 8, 2020 by Phoenix Rising Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romantic Suspense, RomanceIt’s November 3, 2020, and Emma McMasters has just been elected the 46th president of the United States. She’s facing a divided Congress and nation, allies that no longer trust America, enemies that have been emboldened, and the legacy of destruction left by the last administration. She must rebuild and reestablish trust in government, in the media, and in the electoral system, all the while carrying the mantle of first female president, and along with it, the hopes and dreams of millions of women and little girls who need her to prove that a woman can get the job done.
Palmer Estes has devoted her life and her career to the military, rising to become the highest-ranking female officer in the US Army. An enigmatic, battle-tested hero, she’s the perfect choice to brief the new president on one last, urgent, highly sensitive mission before she retires.
Two strong women, both driven to serve the country they love, neither prepared for the sparks that fly between them.
Tara: This book imagines that a kickass lesbian becomes the next President of the United States and wants to heal and unite the country. I might be Canadian, but that’s an idea and a world I can get behind.
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Claim the Dragon
Author: A.C. Arthur
Released: June 8, 2020 by Carina Press
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
Series: The Legion #2To save her, he’ll sacrifice everything.
Born a dream reaper, Steele Ezo, a powerful half dragon, half human, is struggling to find his place in the Drakon hierarchy. He is ready to accept his fate until he realizes the next victim on the Reaper’s hit list is the sexy thief who’s caught his eye.
She’s supposed to die.
He’s forbidden to stop it.
But their inexplicable connection makes it impossible to step aside.
Abandoned by her family and abused by local enforcers, Ravyn Walsh lives life on her own terms. She’s created an underground sanctuary for the oppressed citizens of Burgess, and she needs funds to keep it running. When a lucrative job—stealing an ancient dagger—lands in her lap, she doesn’t hesitate, not even when a smoldering tattooed stranger attempts to stop her.
A dagger that can raise the dead is a powerful tool—one that could change the course of history. As they fight to keep the dagger out of the wrong hands, Ravyn will be forced to embrace the truth of her heritage, while Steele will find himself torn between saving a life that isn’t meant to be saved and denouncing the power he was born to wield.
Aarya: Dragons are among my top tier of PNR hero types!
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Agnes at the End of the World
Author: Kelly McWilliams
Released: June 9, 2020 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young AdultThe Handmaid’s Tale meets Wilder Girls in this unique, voice-driven novel from Kelly McWilliams.
Agnes loves her home of Red Creek–its quiet, sunny mornings, its dusty roads, and its God. There, she cares tirelessly for her younger siblings and follows the town’s strict laws. What she doesn’t know is that Red Creek is a cult, controlled by a madman who calls himself a prophet.
Then Agnes meets Danny, an Outsider boy, and begins to question what is and isn’t a sin. Her younger brother, Ezekiel, will die without the insulin she barters for once a month, even though medicine is considered outlawed. Is she a sinner for saving him? Is her sister, Beth, a sinner for dreaming of the world beyond Red Creek?As the Prophet grows more dangerous, Agnes realizes she must escape with Ezekiel and leave everyone else, including Beth, behind. But it isn’t safe Outside, either: A viral pandemic is burning through the population at a terrifying rate. As Agnes ventures forth, a mysterious connection grows between her and the Virus. But in a world where faith, miracles, and cruelty have long been indistinguishable, will Agnes be able to choose between saving her family and saving the world?
Amanda: 2020 is the year of reading about cults it seems.
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Alpha Night
Author: Nalini Singh
Released: June 9, 2020 by Berkley
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
Series: Psy-Changeling Trinity #4New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh returns to her breathtaking Psy-Changeling Trinity series with a mating that shouldn’t exist…
Alpha wolf Selenka Durev’s devotion to her pack is equaled only by her anger at anyone who would harm those under her care. That currently includes the empaths who’ve flowed into her city for a symposium that is a security nightmare, a powder keg just waiting for a match.
Ethan Night is an Arrow who isn’t an Arrow. Numb and disengaged from the world, he’s loyal only to himself. Assigned as part of the security force at a world-first symposium, he carries a dark agenda tied to the power-hungry and murderous Consortium. Then violence erupts and Ethan finds himself crashing into the heart and soul of an alpha wolf.
Mating at first sight is a myth, a fairytale. Yet Selenka’s wolf is resolute: Ethan Night, broken Arrow and a man capable of obsessive devotion, is the mate it has chosen. Even if the mating bond is full of static and not quite as it should be. Because Selenka’s new mate has a terrible secret, his mind surging with a power that is a creature of madness and death…
Aarya: Inhaled it in three hours and flailed with joy for a week. I’m sure this comes as a surprise to you all.
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The Boyfriend Project
Author: Farrah Rochon
Released: June 9, 2020 by Forever
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceUSA Today bestselling author Farrah Rochon launches a new series about three young women who become friends when the live Tweeting of a disastrous date leads them to discover they’ve all been duped by the same man.
Samiah Brooks never thought she would be “that” girl. But a live tweet of a horrific date just revealed the painful truth: she’s been catfished by a three-timing jerk of a boyfriend. Suddenly Samiah-along with his two other “girlfriends,” London and Taylor — have gone viral online. Now the three new besties are making a pact to spend the next six months investing in themselves. No men, no dating, and no worrying about their relationship status . . .For once Samiah is putting herself first, and that includes finally developing the app she’s always dreamed of creating. Which is the exact moment she meets the deliciously sexy, honey-eyed Daniel Collins at work. What are the chances? When it comes to love, there’s no such thing as a coincidence. But is Daniel really boyfriend material or is he maybe just a little too good to be true?
Catherine: I love the premise of this one – three women who realise they have been catfished by the same guy join forces and become best friends. I honestly can’t see any way this could be less than delightful.
Sneezy: Three women decide to band forget a fuckboi, band together, and live their best life. Of COURSE I fucking love this!
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Dragon Unleashed
Author: Grace Draven
Released: June 9, 2020 by Ace
Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: Fallen Empire #2A dragon shapeshifter and a healer with power over the earth fight a corrupt empire in this thrilling and deeply emotional romantic fantasy from the USA Today bestselling author of Radiance.
Magic is outlawed in the Krael Empire and punishable by death. Born with the gift of earth magic, the free trader Halani keeps her dangerous secret closely guarded. When her uncle buys a mysterious artifact, a piece of bone belonging to a long-dead draga, Halani knows it’s far more than what it seems.
Dragas haven’t been seen for more than a century, and most believe them extinct. They’re wrong. Dragas still walk among the denizens of the Empire, disguised as humans. Malachus is a draga living on borrowed time. The magic that has protected him will soon turn on him–unless he finds a key part of his heritage. He has tracked it to a group of free traders, among them a grave-robbing earth witch who fascinates him as much as she frustrates him with her many secrets.
Unbeknownst to both, the Empire’s twisted empress searches for a draga of her own, to capture and kill as a trophy. As Malachus the hunter becomes the hunted, Halani must risk herself and all she loves to save him from the Empire’s machinations and his own lethal birthright.
Amanda: I had such mixed feelings about the first one and I triple checked that the release date was still June 9th. I really do love Draven’s books.
Ellen: I LOVED LOVED LOVED the first book in the series and I also LOVE DRAGONS so I am WILDLY excited for this book.
Sneezy: I love Grace Draven ANYTHING!! Plus I’ve been so excited for this one since the first book in the series. AND THAT COVER!
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Last Tang Standing
Author: Lauren Ho
Released: June 9, 2020 by G.P. Putnam's Sons
Genre: Chick Lit, Contemporary Romance, Romance, Women's FictionCrazy Rich Asians meets Bridget Jones’s Diary in this laugh-out-loud funny and irresistible debut novel in diary form about the pursuit of love, surviving one’s thirties intact, and the endless tug-of-war between pleasing one’s family and pleasing oneself.
Andrea Tang seems to have it all: an enviable job as a high-profile lawyer at one of Singapore’s most esteemed firms, a swanky apartment, and the best friends a woman could ask for. According to her mother and her Auntie Wei Wei, Tang family matriarch and holder of the purse strings to a sizeable fortune, that leaves just one thing missing: a husband. After all, at thirty-three, she’s not getting any younger. When Andrea discovers that even Auntie Wei Wei’s notoriously unattached daughter has gotten engaged, she realizes she’s become what she fears the most: the Last Tang Standing, lone singleton in a sea of married Tangs.
Andrea might be an independent career woman who doesn’t need a man to buy her the Birkin bags she loves, but she’s also a Chinese daughter who’s keenly aware that nothing in the world can pay off the debt of filial guilt. Luckily, options–and eye candy–abound in her quest to find Mr. Right-for-her-parents. There’s Suresh, her annoyingly attractive rival at the firm. There’s Eric Deng, the older, super-wealthy entrepreneur whose vision for their future entails sacrifices Andrea isn’t sure she’s willing to make. And, of course, there’s Tinder.
In diary entries as rollickingly self-deprecating as they are searingly astute, LAST TANG STANDING follows Andrea through bad dates, questionable decisions, friendship drama, career competition, and intense familial pressure. And it reminds readers that the road to happiness might be unpredictable, but there’s always room to enjoy the ride.
Aarya: Epistolary element + meddling relatives + Singapore setting (I was born there and visit occasionally). Sold.
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The Marriage Game
Author: Sara Desai
Released: June 9, 2020 by Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceA high stakes wager pits an aspiring entrepreneur against a ruthless CEO in this sexy romantic comedy.
After her life falls apart, recruitment consultant Layla Patel returns home to her family in San Francisco. But in the eyes of her father, who runs a Michelin starred restaurant, she can do no wrong. He would do anything to see her smile again. With the best intentions in mind, he offers her the office upstairs to start her new business and creates a profile on an online dating site to find her a man. She doesn’t know he’s arranged a series of blind dates until the first one comes knocking on her door…As CEO of a corporate downsizing company Sam Mehta is more used to conflict than calm. In search of a quiet new office, he finds the perfect space above a cozy Indian restaurant that smells like home. But when communication goes awry, he’s forced to share his space with the owner’s beautiful yet infuriating daughter Layla, her crazy family, and a parade of hopeful suitors, all of whom threaten to disrupt his carefully ordered life.
As they face off in close quarters, the sarcasm and sparks fly. But when the battle for the office becomes a battle of the heart, Sam and Layla have to decide if this is love or just a game.
Aarya: Loving the forced proximity and enemies-to-lovers vibes in the blurb!
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I’ve read a few Lynn Ames books in the past, and enjoyed them. This latest sounds good
In addition to my customary Dare & HP choices (Jackie Ashenden’s BAD BOSS, Caitlin Crews’s CLAIMED IN THE ITALIAN’S CASTLE), I’m really looking forward to Kate Canterbary’s THE ASH CHRONICLES, the second in her Adventures in Dating series; and Clare Connelly’s NOTHING LASTS FOREVER, the latest in her Montebellos series (but, unlike many of Connelly’s books, neither an HP nor a Dare). Because Sybil Bartel’s SHAMELESS, the next in her Alpha Bodyguards series, was bumped to July (and, by the same token, her HARD TRUTH, originally scheduled for this month, was released in May), I don’t have a huge hoard for June…but nonetheless I’m sure I’ll find enough to read to carry me to July.
Wow! Lots I want to read this month! Thank you!
Mercedes Lackey’s Spy, Spy Again (Valdemar: Family Spies #3) releases on June 9th. Not only am I excited about the release, it will tide me over until the UK (International?) edition of Nalini Singh’s Alpha Night releases on the 11th. (Why are UK/International editions so cruel to us?!!!)
But it isn’t safe Outside, either: A viral pandemic is burning through the population at a terrifying rate.
Has publishing become more agile, or have I been quarantined longer than I think?
Am I the only one who will love the first book in a series and be afraid to buy the second one in case it is not as good?
@Vicki – No, you aren’t.
June is looking to be a slower reading month for me, though I am currently reading an arc of Talia Hibbert’s Take a hint, Dani Brown, and so far am really enjoying it.
I’m waiting to read some reviews of Farrah Rochon’s The Boyfriend Project as well as Penny Reid’s Engagement and Espionage before committing to them.
@Vicki – you are definitely not alone in fearing the quality of a second book in a promising series!
Gone to Darkness by Barbara Nickless: New Sydney Rose Parnell mystery.
Ghosts of Sherwood by Carrie Vaughn: I love Vaughn’s writing in general, although I fell out of the Kitty series. I’m interested to see what she does with Robin Hood.
@Vicki – It’s not just you! I’ve been burned enough by not-as-good second books (or, sometimes, the second one is good & it’s the third, or later, that falls off) to be leery of starting a series by an author I haven’t read before.
I took a chance with Jessie Mihalik’s Consortium Rebellion series & it paid off. But I’m really struggling to get into the second book (“Rage”) in Cora Cormack’s fantasy series.
I was able to read an ARC of Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert. I loved it. It was sweet, fun, and had suspenseful game play for all the gaming geeks out there. And it’s the first in a series.
[…] releases: Tor.com (YA SFF, fantasy, SF) (plus info about Tor’s virtual books convention), Smart Bitches (romance), AAR […]