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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A Curse of Roses
Author: Diana Pinguicha
Released: December 1, 2020 by Entangled: Teen
Genre: Historical: European, LGBTQIA, Romance, Science Fiction/FantasyThis #OwnVoices debut has a little bit of everything—romance, politics, magic—and fills a need in the current market for diverse stories written in an authentic and compelling way.
17-year-old Yzabel of Aragon is engaged to the young King of Portugal, and under her touch, food turns into flowers…
With the populace starving, and barely surviving herself, Yzabel doesn’t only need to end her curse—she must reverse it somehow. Turn flowers into food. Desperate, she sets to find Fatyan, an immortal rumored to live nearby, but she is imprisoned by an old enchantment. So they must strike a bargain: Fatyan will teach Yzabel how to master her magic, and Yzabel making a deal with Fatyan will release the magical bonds holding her captive.
As she learns to control her power under Fatyan’s guidance, they grow closer in a way Yzabel has never felt for her betrothed. But she must keep this part of their relationship secret, or else lose her claim to the throne. If Yzabel is forced to leave Portugal, shamed for loving another woman, the people she was determined to save will surely die.
Amanda: First, look at the gorgeous cover! Queer, magical, and a Portuguese retelling of the Miracle of Roses.
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How to Catch a Queen
Author: Alyssa Cole
Released: December 1, 2020 by Avon
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Series: Runaway Royals #1An arranged marriage leads to unexpected desire, in the first book of Alyssa Cole’s Runaway Royals series…
When Shanti Mohapi weds the king of Njaza, her dream of becoming a queen finally comes true. But it’s nothing like she imagined. Shanti and her husband may share an immediate and powerful attraction, but her subjects see her as an outsider, and everything she was taught about being the perfect wife goes disastrously wrong.
A king must rule with an iron fist, and newly crowned King Sanyu was born perfectly fitted for the gauntlet, even if he wishes he weren’t. He agrees to take a wife as is required of him, though he doesn’t expect to actually fall in love. Even more vexing? His beguiling new queen seems to have the answers to his country’s problems—except no one will listen to her.
By day, they lead separate lives. By night, she wears the crown, and he bows to her demands in matters of politics and passion. When turmoil erupts in their kingdom and their marriage, Shanti goes on the run, and Sanyu must learn whether he has what it takes both to lead his people and to catch his queen.
Elyse: I love all of Cole’s Royals books. Totally a comfort read for me.
Catherine: Like Elyse, I find Alyssa Cole’s Runaway Royals comfort reads in the highest degree. I’m really looking forward to this one.
Shana: Cole’s an auto-buy author for me, and I love romances with already married couples.
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How to Fail at Flirting
Author: Denise Williams
Released: December 1, 2020 by Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceOne daring to-do list and a crash course in flirtation turn a Type A overachiever’s world upside down.
When her flailing department lands on the university’s chopping block, Professor Naya Turner’s friends convince her to shed her frumpy cardigan for an evening on the town. For one night her focus will stray from her demanding job and she’ll tackle a new kind of to-do list. When she meets a charming stranger in town on business, he presents the perfect opportunity to check off the items on her list. Let the guy buy her a drink. Check. Try something new. Check. A no-strings-attached hookup. Check…almost.
Jake makes her laugh and challenges Naya to rebuild her confidence, which was left toppled by her abusive ex-boyfriend. Soon she’s flirting with the chance at a more serious romantic relationship—except nothing can be that easy. The complicated strings around her dating Jake might destroy her career.
Naya has two options. She can protect her professional reputation and return to her old life or she can flirt with the unknown and stay with the person who makes her feel like she’s finally living again.
Elyse: This book looks like the perfect blend of cute and angst.
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Loverboy
Author: Sarina Bowen
Released: December 1, 2020 by Tuxbury Publishing LLC
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense, Romance
Series: The Company #2Secrets, desires, and exquisite pie. It’s all in a day’s work at The Company.
Growing up, I was the rough guy from the wrong neighborhood who couldn’t catch a break. Posy was the pampered girl I tried to impress. But I managed to steal only a single kiss before I had to skip town.
Now I’m back, and the tables are turned. Posy runs a struggling pie shop. I’m the VP of a secretive billion dollar security company.
Not that I can tell her.
There’s a murderer on the loose in New York, and he seems to spend a lot of time at Posy’s shop. I can’t let on that I’m here to bring him down before he can harm a hair on her pretty head.
Going undercover as Posy’s new barista wasn’t my idea. I don’t even drink coffee. But now I have to call her “boss,” and do everything the curvy perfectionist asks of me. I’d forgotten how much we infuriate each other, and that she somehow fills me with both irritation and desire in the same breath.
There’s nobody more skilled at stealth ops than me. I can bring this killer down. Right after I take a cold shower. And just as soon I figure out how to make a skinny peppermint latte with milk poured in the shape of a kitten…
Maya: Excited to read Sarina Bowen + romantic suspense!
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Mediocre
Author: Ijeoma Oluo
Released: December 1, 2020 by Seal Press
Genre: NonfictionFrom the author of the New York Times bestseller So You Want to Talk About Race, a history of white male America and a scathing indictment of what it has cost us socially, economically, and politically.
After the election of Donald Trump, and the escalation of white male rage and increased hostility toward immigrants that came with him, New York Times-bestselling author Ijeoma Oluo found herself in conversation with Americans around the country, pondering one central question: How did we get here?In this ambitious survey of the last century of American history, Oluo answers that question by pinpointing white men’s deliberate efforts to subvert women, people of color, and the disenfranchised. Through research, interviews, and the powerful, personal writing for which she is celebrated, Oluo investigates the backstory of America’s growth, from immigrant migration to our national ethos around ingenuity, from the shaping of economic policy to the protection of sociopolitical movements that fortify male power. In the end, she shows how white men have long maintained a stranglehold on leadership and sorely undermined the pursuit of happiness for all.
Sarah: The title alone gives me intense curiosity and grabby hands. I try not to allow White men on television to tell me things, so this book sounds incredible.
Maya: I look forward to reading this while sipping from my coffee cup that says “We will dance on the graves of patriarchy and drink the bitter tears of mediocre men”!
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Party Favors
Author: Erin McLellan
Released: December 1, 2020 by Erin McLellan
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Novella, Romance
Series: So Over the Holidays #4Three…
Amanda Ellis knows three things: she’s tired of doing what’s expected of her, she hates her job at her family’s business, and the last thing she wants to do is attend her parents’ boring New Year’s Eve ball with a date her mother picked. A few days of fun with her online best friend is exactly what she needs to ring in the New Year on her own terms.
Two…
Wren Rebello is impulsive and always ready for fun. A last-minute girls’ getaway sounds like the perfect way to spend New Year’s. But even Wren isn’t prepared for the spark of attraction she feels when she meets Amanda in person for the first time. Good thing Wren loves popping Amanda’s cork.
One…
After days spent sharing end-of-year resolutions and the one bed in their cottage, the clock strikes midnight and the ball drops on their time together. As Amanda and Wren go their separate ways, they leave new resolutions unfulfilled. Is there enough New Year’s magic left to turn their online friendship into real-life love?
Aarya: I love McLellan’s holiday novellas and this f/f New Year’s Eve installment sounds so much fun!
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Poppy Redfern and the Fatal Flyers
Author: Tessa Arlen
Released: December 1, 2020 by Berkley
Genre: Historical: European, Mystery/Thriller
Series: A Woman of WWII Mystery #2Poppy Redfern is back on the case when two female fighter pilots take a fatal dive in an all-new Woman of World War II Mystery by Tessa Arlen.
It is the late autumn of 1942. Our indomitable heroine Poppy Redfern is thoroughly immersed in her new job as a scriptwriter at the London Crown Film Unit, which produces short films featuring British civilians who perform acts of valor and heroism in wartime. After weeks of typing copy and sharpening pencils, Poppy is thrilled to receive her first solo script project: a fifteen-minute film about the Air Transport Auxiliary, known as Attagirls, a group of female civilians who have been trained to pilot planes from factories to military airfields all over Britain.
Poppy could not be more excited to spend time with these amazing ladies, but she never expects to see one of the best pilots die in what is being labeled an accident. When another Attagirl meets a similar fate, Poppy and her American fighter-pilot boyfriend, Griff, believe foul play may be at work. They soon realize that a murderer with a desire for revenge is dead set on grounding the Attagirls for good. . .
Sarah: I already reviewed this book, and weeks after reading it I still think about Poppy, the series, and the community surrounding the characters. It’s an absorbing and fascinating world, excellent for an entire afternoon of reading.
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Second Chance on Cypress Lane
Author: Reese Ryan
Released: December 1, 2020 by Forever
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Series: Holly Grove Island #1In this heartwarming second-chance romance, a woman returns home and discovers that, when it comes to finding love, there’s no place like home.
When a romance gone wrong lands reporter Dakota Jones in the pages of the tabloids, her rising star crashes and burns. Instead of getting the weekend anchor job she’d been promised, she’s promptly shown the door. Which leaves her one option: return home to lick her wounds, eat lemon meringue pie, and plot her comeback while actively avoiding the man who once broke her heart.
Dexter Roberts made a huge mistake when he walked away from Dakota, and he’s regretted it ever since. So when Dakota returns to Holly Grove Island to regroup and decide what’s next, Dex can’t pass up the opportunity to win back the love of his life. Now he just needs to convince Dakota to give him a second chance.
Sarah: This is a brand new series for Ryan, and we discussed it at length in a podcast interview so watch for that this week. Fans of small towns with food p0rn, family drama, lots of supportive characters, and realistic and therefore complicated communities will like this one a lot. Oh, and jazz p0rn too.
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Ten Things I Hate About the Duke
Author: Loretta Chase
Released: December 1, 2020 by Avon
Genre: Historical: European, Romance
Series: Difficult Dukes #2USA Today bestselling author Loretta Chase continues her Difficult Dukes series with this delightful spin on Shakespeare’s classic, The Taming of the Shrew.
This time, who’s taming whom…
Cassandra Pomfret holds strong opinions she isn’t shy about voicing. But her extremely plain speaking has caused an uproar, and her exasperated father, hoping a husband will rein her in, has ruled that her beloved sister can’t marry until Cassandra does.
Now, thanks to a certain wild-living nobleman, the last shreds of Cassandra’s reputation are about to disintegrate, taking her sister’s future and her family’s good name along with them.
The Duke of Ashmont’s looks make women swoon. His character flaws are beyond counting. He’s lost a perfectly good bride through his own carelessness. He nearly killed one of his two best friends. Still, troublemaker that he is, he knows that damaging a lady’s good name isn’t sporting.
The only way to right the wrong is to marry her…and hope she doesn’t smother him in his sleep on their wedding night.
Catherine: This is such a beautiful Victorian-England-set version of Taming of the Shrew / 10 Things I Hate About You, with a fierce, intelligent heroine, and a hero who adores every bit of her fierceness and intelligence.
Ellen: I vaguely recall that I enjoyed the 1st book in the series and I know I like Chase which are good enough odds for me!
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When a Rogue Meets His Match
Author: Elizabeth Hoyt
Released: December 1, 2020 by Forever
Genre: Historical: European, Romance
Series: Greycourt #2The second novel in New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Elizabeth Hoyt’s Greycourt Series features an enemies-to-lovers romance with her signature blend of captivating characters and sensual romance.
Ambitious, sly, and lethally intelligent, Gideon Hawthorne has spent his life clawing his way up from the gutter. For the last ten years, he’s acted as the Duke of Windemere’s fixer, performing the most dangerous tasks without question. Now Gideon’s ready to quit the duke’s service and work solely for himself. But Windermere wants Gideon to complete one last task, and his reward is impossible to resist: Messalina Greycourt’s hand in marriage.
Witty, vivacious Messalina Greycourt has her pick of suitors. When Windermere summons Messalina to inform his niece that she must marry Mr. Hawthorne, she is appalled. But she’s surprised when Gideon offers her a compromise: as long as she plays the complacent wife, he promises to leave her alone until she asks for his touch. Since Messalina is confident that she’ll never ask Gideon for anything, she readily agrees. However, the more time she spends with Gideon, the harder it is to stay away.
Aarya: New Elizabeth Hoyt! I confess I haven’t loved some of her recent work, but still excited.
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A Universe of Wishes
Author: Dhonielle Clayton
Released: December 8, 2020 by Crown Books for Young Readers
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young AdultFrom We Need Diverse Books, the organization behind Flying Lessons & Other Stories, comes a young adult fantasy short story collection featuring some of the best own-voices children’s authors, including New York Times bestselling authors Libba Bray (The Diviners), Victoria Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic), Natalie C. Parker (Seafire), and many more. Edited by Dhonielle Clayton (The Belles).
In the fourth collaboration with We Need Diverse Books, fifteen award-winning and celebrated diverse authors deliver stories about a princess without need of a prince, a monster long misunderstood, memories that vanish with a spell, and voices that refuse to stay silent in the face of injustice. This powerful and inclusive collection contains a universe of wishes for a braver and more beautiful world.
AUTHORS INCLUDE: Samira Ahmed, Libba Bray, Dhonielle Clayton, Zoraida Córdova, Tessa Gratton, Kwame Mbalia, Anna-Marie McLemore, Tochi Onyebuchi, Mark Oshiro, Natalie C. Parker, Rebecca Roanhorse, Victoria Schwab, Tara Sim, Nic Stone, and a to-be-announced debut author/short-story contest winner.
Aarya: Anthologies usually have a mix of good and meh stories, but wow that is a stellar lineup.
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Her Pretend Christmas Date
Author: Jackie Lau
Released: December 8, 2020 by Jackie Lau Books
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Novella, Romance
Series: Cider Bar Sisters #2.5She’s home for the holidays with her starchy fake boyfriend…
Although she’s the fun and outgoing one, Julie Tam has always lived in the shadow of her older sister, Charlotte. Now Charlotte has a good career and a great boyfriend whom their parents love, and Julie has neither of those things.
Her blind date with Tom Yeung is disastrous; however, he’s exactly the sort of guy her parents would like–a methodical, strait-laced pharmacist who even folds his underwear and wears paisley ties. So, she pretends they’re a couple to impress Mom and Dad in their phone conversations. When her mother insists that Julie bring Tom to her hometown for Christmas, Tom, who has no plans for the holidays, agrees.
But Julie doesn’t know how she’ll tolerate a whole weekend in his company, especially when they have to share a bed and participate in a gingerbread house competition together. The man is irritatingly proper and set in his ways.
Except after hours of baking and skating and opening presents, she’s starting to find Tom annoyingly attractive and even endearing. And now, she doesn’t want this holiday weekend to end…
Catherine: Jackie Lau has become kind of an instabuy for me, for her humour and her amazing food porn. Also, I’m sort of a sucker for white Christmas settings, since I’ve never had one!
Shana: No one writes holiday romances like Jackie Lau.
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When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain
Author: Nghi Vo
Released: December 8, 2020 by Tor.com
Genre: LGBTQIA, Novella, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: The Singing Hills Cycle #2“Dangerous, subtle, unexpected and familiar, angry and ferocious and hopeful. . . . The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a remarkable accomplishment of storytelling.”—NPR
The cleric Chih finds themself and their companions at the mercy of a band of fierce tigers who ache with hunger. To stay alive until the mammoths can save them, Chih must unwind the intricate, layered story of the tiger and her scholar lover—a woman of courage, intelligence, and beauty—and discover how truth can survive becoming history.
Nghi Vo returns to the empire of Ahn and The Singing Hills Cycle in this mesmerizing, lush standalone follow-up to The Empress of Salt and Fortune.
Aarya: Vo is my favorite fantasy debut of 2020 and these novellas are so good! Highly rec both novellas in the Singing Hills Cycle series.
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“I try not to allow White men on television to tell me things.” And there’s the quote of the day!
Now, books—
I have so many new books on my December tbr, I’m hoping Santa will fill my stocking with gift cards for the Kindle Store.
The beginning of a new month brings the usual collection of HPs from my autobuy favorites—and, after reading Maisey Yates’s brilliant CARIDES’S FORGOTTEN WIFE last month, I’ve added her to that group. Yates’s royal-arranged-marriage HP, HIS MAJESTY’S FORBIDDEN TEMPTATION, arrives December 1, along with Jackie Ashenden’s THE ITALIAN’S FINAL REDEMPTION, which appears to feature the “business rival’s daughter” trope. Clare Connelly also has a duet dropping December 1: interestingly, while the secret-baby-themed, HEIR CLAIMED BY CHRISTMAS, is being published by HP, the companion book, NO STRINGS, is being published by Dare. I suspect that because Harlequin will be discontinuing the Dare line in 2021, they are tweaking books that were already in the Dare pipeline to be published by another line. Anyway, it will be an interesting comparison/contrast exercise to see if the two books differ significantly in tone or style.
On December 8, Ainsley Booth releases TEMPT, a second-chance romance with BDSM elements. TEMPT is the first book of a duet (the second book is scheduled for publication in 2021 and features a different couple) and it was expanded from a story Booth originally published in the 2018 Christmas Anthology, REINDEER GAMES. I like Booth (aka, Zoe York), but seeing as I’ve already read the original story TEMPT is based on, I shall have to wait to see if my budget permits this purchase.
Skye Warren’s SILVER LINING, the third and final book in her trilogy of books about the younger brother of the family that runs North Security, has been postponed a couple of times, so I’m keeping my finger crossed that it really will be available on December 15. The previous book (GOLD MINE) ended on a nail-biting cliff-hanger, so I’m really looking forward to reading the conclusion.
Another book that has been postponed several times is Sybil Bartel’s HEARTLESS, the latest in her Alpha Bodyguards series. I’m being cautiously optimistic that it will finally drop on its scheduled date of December 23.
My mind wandered and I thought I was reading an exceptionally interesting Books on Sale until I linked to Amazon to purchase. Yikes!
The Lau, Cole and Chase are indeed amazing; have the Hoyt, A Curse of Roses and Party Favors on my TBR pile.
Oh, yes:
“Maya: I look forward to reading this while sipping from my coffee cup that says ‘We will dance on the graves of patriarchy and drink the bitter tears of mediocre men!'”
In high heels, backwards and forwards. Yeah, this works. Thanks, Maya.
I recall enjoying the beginning of Loretta Chase’s last book, but slogging through the middle portion (40+ pages at the inn was so unnecessary) to the end. I’m still willing to give this one a go, though, in the hopes that the pacing is better this time around.
Am I the only one who often finds that they enjoy the set up of the book more than the story in general?
I loved book one in Loretta Chase’s Difficult Duke’s series. When I click the link to purchase book 2, the ebook isn’t on sale yet in Australia at Amazon.com.au even though the release date shows as the 1st of DEC. I wonder what’s going on. I want to buy it.
I’m intrigued by Loverboy with the line “just as soon I figure out how to make a skinny peppermint latte with milk poured in the shape of a kitten”. My barista makes a tree. I haven’t yet seen a kitten in the foam.
I put Mediocre on my wish list in the hope of a future sale.
I’m glad you printed out the title of the Lau book. Between the terrible font and my even more terrible eyesight, I read it as Her Pestered Christmas Date and thought, “Well, that doesn’t sound promising.”
I’m not a fan of Taming of the Shrew stories but I just got Loretta Chase’s newsletter where she says it’s her rewriting of the story so that the correct person gets reformed. That I can do.
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