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), and 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 early as the bigger trade houses.
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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Kink Camp: Hunted
Author: Adriana Anders
Released: April 1, 2022
Genre: Erotica/Erotic Romance, Novella, Romance
Series: Kink Camp #1A Secret Fantasy
You know that one thing you don’t tell a soul? For me, it’s a desire to escape, a need to run, to be caught, held down and…That is what I’m afraid of.
And it’s what I want the most.
I’ve come here to find it.
A Primal, alone
I’m the crowned king of Kink Camp, the man everyone reveres…and stays away from. I’ve given up on finding a play partner.Until fate steps in and I see her: The woman from my statue. From my dreams.
She’s innocent, alone, begging for things she doesn’t understand. It’s dark and it’s wild and it’s dangerous, what we both want. To be hunted…to hunt. To run, to take, to plumb the very depths of our souls in pursuit of so much more than pleasure.
But now that we’ve opened this door, nothing is the same. This isn’t just desire, it’s need. What started as a game has become real life.
And once she’s gone, I’ll be a man alone. A Primal without his mate.
I’ll still be king. But what is a king without his queen?
What happens at Kink Camp stays with you…forever
Kink Camp is a world apart, a place where pain is pleasure, hate can be love, and we are all our own true selves. Every act is consensual, every person respected—unless that’s not what they want. This book plunges you into the deep end, with consensual non-consent, forced fantasy, and primal play. Tread carefully.Amanda: The set up sounds sexy bonkers and I’m willing to give this a try.
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A Whisper of Solace
Author: Milena McKay
Released: April 12, 2022
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Series: Tainted TinseltownWhat makes an Ice Queen?
Neve Blackthorne, head of one of the most successful Studios in Hollywood, is the one to rule them all. Powerful, beautiful, and aloof, she’s ruthless, yet irresistible. Above all, she has an unquenchable survival instinct.
Surely a fleeting entanglement with one Audrey Avens, a bright, young, rising star in her company, won’t bring down the Wicked Queen of Tinseltown. Or will it?
Neve’s public persona has no chink in the untouchable armor, but when the lights go out and the cameras stop rolling, what becomes of an Ice Queen whose heart is ruled by love and fear?
Tara: I’m a little unsure of the power dynamics here, but I adored the other two books by this author, so I’m still excited to read this one and see how it goes.
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Boss Witch
Author: Ann Aguirre
Released: April 5, 2022 by Sourcebooks Casablanca
Genre: LGBTQIA, Paranormal, Romance
Series: Fix-It Witches #2The second in an adorable witchy rom-com series by New York Times bestselling author Ann Aguirre, perfect for fans of:
Ride-or-die female friendships
A bisexual heroine who stubbornly refuses to accept help
A hero with an incredibly pesky moral conscience
A mouse named Benson who may or may not have all the answers to life, magic, and love (Spoiler: he does!)Clementine Waterhouse is a perfectly logical witch. She doesn’t tumble headlong into love. Rather she weighs the pros and cons and decides if a relationship is worth pursuing. At least that’s always been her modus operandi before. Clem prefers being the one in charge, always the first to walk away when the time is right. Attraction has never struck her like lightning.
Until the witch hunter comes to town.
Gavin Rhys hates being a witch hunter, but his family honor is on the line, and he needs to prove he’s nothing like his grandfather, a traitor who let everyone down. But things in St. Claire aren’t what they seem, and Gavin is distracted from the job immediately by a bewitching brunette with a sexy smile and haunting secrets in her eyes.
Can the bossiest witch in town find a happy ending with the last person she should ever love?
Aarya: For fans of small-town witches and forbidden romance.
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Portrait of a Thief
Author: Grace D. Li
Released: April 5, 2022 by Tiny Reparations Books
Genre: Literary Fiction, Mystery/ThrillerOcean’s Eleven meets The Farewell in Portrait of a Thief, a lush, lyrical heist novel inspired by the true story of Chinese art vanishing from Western museums; about diaspora, the colonization of art, and the complexity of the Chinese American identity.
History is told by the conquerors. Across the Western world, museums display the spoils of war, of conquest, of colonialism: priceless pieces of art looted from other countries, kept even now.
Will Chen plans to steal them back.
A senior at Harvard, Will fits comfortably in his carefully curated roles: a perfect student, an art history major and sometimes artist, the eldest son who has always been his parents’ American Dream. But when a mysterious Chinese benefactor reaches out with an impossible—and illegal—job offer, Will finds himself something else as well: the leader of a heist to steal back five priceless Chinese sculptures, looted from Beijing centuries ago.
His crew is every heist archetype one can imagine—or at least, the closest he can get. A con artist: Irene Chen, a public policy major at Duke who can talk her way out of anything. A thief: Daniel Liang, a premed student with steady hands just as capable of lockpicking as suturing. A getaway driver: Lily Wu, an engineering major who races cars in her free time. A hacker: Alex Huang, an MIT dropout turned Silicon Valley software engineer. Each member of his crew has their own complicated relationship with China and the identity they’ve cultivated as Chinese Americans, but when Will asks, none of them can turn him down.
Because if they succeed? They earn fifty million dollars—and a chance to make history. But if they fail, it will mean not just the loss of everything they’ve dreamed for themselves but yet another thwarted attempt to take back what colonialism has stolen.
Equal parts beautiful, thoughtful, and thrilling, Portrait of a Thief is a cultural heist and an examination of Chinese American identity, as well as a necessary critique of the lingering effects of colonialism.
Amanda: Heist novel!
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She Gets the Girl
Author: Rachael Lippincott
Released: April 5, 2022 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Genre: LGBTQIA, New Adult, RomanceTara: It’s been a looooong time since I saw She’s All That and this sounds real cute.
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The Wedding Crasher
Author: Mia Sosa
Released: April 5, 2022 by Avon
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceThe USA Today bestselling author of The Worst Best Man is back with another hilarious rom-com about two strangers who get trapped in a lie and have to fake date their way out of it…
Just weeks away from ditching DC for greener pastures, Solange Perreira is roped into helping her wedding planner cousin on a random couple’s big day. It’s an easy gig… until she stumbles upon a situation that convinces her the pair isn’t meant to be. What’s a true-blue romantic to do? Crash the wedding, of course. And ensure the unsuspecting groom doesn’t make the biggest mistake of his life.
Dean Chapman had his future all mapped out. He was about to check off “start a family” and on track to “make partner” when his modern day marriage of convenience went up in smoke. Then he learns he might not land an assignment that could be his ticket to a promotion unless he has a significant other and, in a moment of panic, Dean claims to be in love with the woman who crashed his wedding. Oops.
Now Dean has a whole new item on his to-do list: beg Solange to be his pretend girlfriend. Solange feels a tiny bit bad about ruining Dean’s wedding, so she agrees to play along. Yet as they fake-date their way around town, what started as a performance for Dean’s colleagues turns into a connection that neither he nor Solange can deny. Their entire romance is a sham… there’s no way these polar opposites could fall in love for real, right?
Aarya: I didn’t love the first book in the series, so I hope this works better for me.
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Famous in a Small Town
Author: Kylie Scott
Released: April 7, 2022 by Kylie Scott
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceWhat chance does a small-town girl have with a world-famous rock star?
Two years after his wife’s death, rock star Garrett Hayes hasn’t moved on. But he has moved out of L.A. Where better to escape his past than a small town in the Northern California mountains? If only he could get the townsfolk of Wildwood to leave him the hell alone.
Ani Bennet returned to her hometown for some much-needed serenity. The last thing she needs is a grumpy, too hot for his own good, rich and famous rock star living next door—and rent-free in her brain.
She set her fangirl tendencies aside and deleted his photo off her cell when they became neighbors. But when Garrett asks for help, she can’t say no. The problem is, spending time together is making those fangirl feelings resurface—and bringing them to a whole new level.
What chance does a small-town girl have with world-famous rock star? It’s time for Ani to set her fears aside and find out.
Aarya: I love grief books.
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Restrained Desires
Author: Katherine McIntyre
Released: April 8, 2022 by Hot Tree Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance
Series: Rehoboth Pact #3Tara: I love fake relationships and I love “falling for the best friend’s sister” stories. This sounds right up my alley.
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Amongst Our Weapons
Author: Ben Aaronovitch
Released: April 12, 2022 by DAW
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Rivers of London #9The ninth novel of the bestselling Rivers of London urban fantasy series returns to the adventures of Peter Grant, detective and apprentice wizard, as he solves magical crimes in the city of London.
There is a world hidden underneath this great city.
The London Silver Vaults–for well over a century, the largest collection of silver for sale in the world. It has more locks than the Bank of England and more cameras than a celebrity punch-up. Not somewhere you can murder someone and vanish without a trace–only that’s what happened.
The disappearing act, the reports of a blinding flash of light and memory loss amongst the witnesses all make this a case for Detective Constable Peter Grant and the Special Assessment Unit.
Alongside their boss DCI Thomas Nightingale, the SAU find themselves embroiled in a mystery that encompasses London’s tangled history, foreign lands and, most terrifying of all, the North!
And Peter must solve this case soon because back home his partner Beverley is expecting twins any day now. But what he doesn’t know is that he’s about to encounter something–and somebody–that nobody ever expects…
Effortlessly original, endlessly inventive and hugely entertaining–step into the world of the much-loved, Number One bestselling Rivers of London series.
Sarah: New Peter Grant novel! This is one series I’ve kept up with, and is the exception to many of my personal reading guidelines.
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Greener Pastures
Author: Aurora Rey
Released: April 12, 2022 by Bold Stokes Books
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, RomanceAudrey Adams would do anything for her aunt Ernestine. When Ernestine suffers a stroke, Audrey takes a leave from her fast-track CPA career to care for her. Only Ernestine’s hobby farm needs more tending than the patient herself. Audrey’s bitten off way more than she can chew, or harvest, or plant, or… How does one do hobby farming, anyway?
Enter her neighbor Rowan Marshall, the sexy cider maker. Rowan’s only too happy to come to Audrey’s rescue. Which is all well and good until Audrey realizes Rowan’s angling to buy the orchard that makes up more than half of Ernestine’s pride and joy.
It’s not long before a reluctant truce gives way to a romantic spark and forces Audrey to make the biggest decision of her life.
Tara: This blurb had me at “aunt Ernestine.” Also, I’m so ready to read about a hobby farm and a cider maker.
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No Rings Attached
Author: Rachel Lacey
Released: April 12, 2022 by Montlake Romance
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance
Series: Ms. Right #2Tara: I really liked Lia in Read Between the Lines, so I’m happy that she’s getting her own book!
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The No-Show
Author: Beth O'Leary
Released: April 12, 2022 by Berkley
Genre: Women's FictionThree women who seemingly have nothing in common find that they’re involved with the same man in this smart new rom-com by Beth O’Leary, bestselling author of The Flatshare.
Siobhan is a quick-tempered life coach with way too much on her plate. Miranda is a tree surgeon used to being treated as just one of the guys on the job. Jane is a soft-spoken volunteer for the local charity shop with zero sense of self-worth.
These three women are strangers who have only one thing in common: They’ve all been stood up on the same day, the very worst day to be stood up–Valentine’s Day. And, unbeknownst to them, they’ve all been stood up by the same man.
Once they’ve each forgiven him for standing them up, they let him back into their lives and are in serious danger of falling in love with a man who seems to have not just one or two but three women on the go….
Is there more to him than meets the eye? And will they each untangle the truth before they all get their hearts broken?
Aarya: Very excited by the celebrity narrators for the audiobook.
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The Romantic Agenda
Author: Claire Kann
Released: April 12, 2022 by Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, RomanceJoy is in love with Malcolm.
But Malcolm really likes Summer.
Summer is in love with love.
And Fox is Summer’s ex-boyfriend.Thirty, flirty, and asexual Joy is secretly in love with her best friend Malcolm, but she’s never been brave enough to say so. When he unexpectedly announces that he’s met the love of his life—and no, it’s not Joy—she’s heartbroken. Malcolm invites her on a weekend getaway, and Joy decides it’s her last chance to show him exactly what he’s overlooking. But maybe Joy is the one missing something…or someone…and his name is Fox.
Fox sees a kindred spirit in Joy—and decides to help her. He proposes they pretend to fall for each other on the weekend trip to make Malcolm jealous. But spending time with Fox shows Joy what it’s like to not be the third wheel, and there’s no mistaking the way he makes her feel. Could Fox be the romantic partner she’s always deserved?
Aarya: This unrequited love setup sounds very messy (I love mess!).
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My first half selections:
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. Station Eleven is one of the best books I’ve ever read, and even if Glass Hotel didn’t quite work for me, I’m still excited to see her play with time on a larger scale.
Chef’s Kiss by Jarret Melendez. Graphic queer NA about a recent college graduate working in a kitchen who gets a crush on the head chef.
Transfixed by the Famous rock star and whatever he’s doing with his sweatshirt. I thought it was an arm sling at first…
[…] CNN, the LA Times, Refinery29, Time, and The Millions. For all you genre fans, we’ve got romance from SBTB, sci-fi from Lit Hub, and crime reads from […]
i just finished an ARC of kink camp and hoooo boy it’s hot af.
the kindle version is only 2 bucks, everyone should get it!
Wow—that Ariana Anders book is going to the top of my tbr right now! For some reason it reminds me of Amber Bardan’s equally-hot, equally-bonkers KING’S CAPTIVE from a few years ago. Meanwhile, I suppose my April tbr could be classified as one long countdown to THE LONG GAME—but here’s what else I have on my April reading:
ONCE UPON A COWBOY by Maisey Yates (April 1): Part of her Four Corners Ranch series, this is a widowed single-dad & nanny romance. Yates always does the angst really well, so I’m expecting her to bring it.
NIGHTINGALE (April 5) is an anthology of over 50 new stories by a number of our favorite Romancelandia writers (Skye Warren, Katee Robert, Kate Canterbary, Karla Sorensen, Penny Reid, and many others) with 100% of the royalties being donated to relief and human rights organizations working in Ukraine. A worthy cause and a way to read new stories by many favorite writers? I’m there!
In addition to spearheading NIGHTINGALE, Skye Warren is releasing BEHIND CLOSED DOORS on April 12. This is a novella set in the world of her ROCHESTER trilogy but with different MCs. This one features a woman running from her past who owns an inn in a quiet town in Maine. But when a stranger shows up in the middle of the night, has her past caught up with her?
UNWANTED by Marley Valentine (April 21) is an m/m romance that begins a new series featuring MCs who grew up in foster care. I expect plenty of angst from this one, which has a very evocative and emotional cover.
Cate C. Wells’s THE HEIR APPARENT’S REJECTED MATE (April 22) is the second book in her Five Packs series of shifter romances. I loved the first book in the series, THE TYRANT ALPHA’S REJECTED MATE, which made my list of Favorites of 2021. Wells really knows how to write heroes who have screwed up and want to do better but often lack the emotional bandwidth to do so without blunders. I’m expecting more of the same from this book.
April 26 is a red-letter day: Rachel Reid’s THE LONG GAME arrives! This is my most anticipated release of 2022 so far and brings Shane and Ilya (from HEATED RIVALRY) their HEA. I would encourage anyone who plans to read THE LONG GAME to definitely read HEATED RIVALRY first. I also understand that part of THE LONG GAME’s time-line runs parallel to that of ROLE MODEL, where Ilya has a major supporting role, so it would be best to read that too. I plan a reread of both the week before THE LONG GAME drops. If you can’t tell, I’m really stoked for THE LONG GAME.
Also dropping April 26 is Jackie Ashenden’s FIND YOUR WAY HOME, the first in her new Small Town Dreams series set in New Zealand. This is an antagonists-to-lovers romance with some ties to Ashenden’s Deep River, Alaska, series. I like Ashenden’s angsty style (she excels at writing HPs), so I’m looking forward to this one.
And on April 27, Ella James (writing as Ellis James) releases WANT, an m/m age-gap romance between a U.S. Senator and a ballet dancer. Regardless of the name she’s using, James can always be relied on to bring the angst and heartache. I’m not sure that she can top the gut-wrenching emotion she brought to her last book, WRATH (one of my favorite books of 2021), but I’m interested to see if she can.
I am a big fan of Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series. It’s got richly diverse characters, oddly authentic-sounding police procedures (given the magic), and a richness of London life like you seldom see on the BBC. If you can, treat yourself with starting at the beginning with the first book. Every time a new Rivers of London comes out, it ranks among my favorites of the year.
Famous in a Small Town…I’m sure it’s a delightful book but oh that cover…he is tangled up in his sweater!
PSA for The Long Game: go in with no expectations. Because this is such a long awaited book, I feel like Brooklynaire syndrome might set in where the payoff is not to the level the audience wants. I am doing my best not to anticipate scenes or scenarios that I want to see because the author knows her characters best.
I tend to lurk on this site rather than comment, but I wasn’t sure if someone had shared the news of another bundle that’s currently available, in support of the Transgender Education Network of Texas. Donate at least $25 by April 10 and you’ll receive a bundle that includes the following: A Stitch in Time by Kelley Armstrong; Bump in the Night by Meredith Spies; Hunter of Demons by Jordan L. Hawk; Weave the Dark, Weave the Light by Anna Zabo; The Price on Her Head by Suzanne Clay; Penetration Test by Clancy Nacht & Thursday Euclid;
Our Bloody Pearl by D.N. Bryn; High Lonesome Sound by Jaye Wells; Happily Ever Afterlives by Olivia Waite; Harrington House by J.P. Noether; and Liminal Hearts by Dawn R. Schuldenfrei; Yours, Insatiably by Aveda Vice; and
Healer by R.L. Merrill.
Some of these authors are new to me but I’ve enjoyed works by Armstrong, Hawk, Zabo, and Waite. They offered me a few different file formats once I received the bundle: epub, mobi, and PDF.
For more, visit https://heafortranskids.com/bundle-1-spooky-spring/
@omphale: I share your love for Station Eleven. I only read it once but it’s etched in my brain. It was profoundly moving, devastating, and hopeful. Oddly, I loved it so much that I haven’t been able to bring myself to read the other two books of hers in my library…which probably doesn’t make sense to anyone but me.
I read an early review of The No-Show, and it’s definitely women’s fiction not romance. There’s a CW that’s a major spoiler. If you’re interested, it’s at http://elliereadsfiction.blogspot.com/2022/03/review-no-show-by-beth-oleary.html?m=1
@Susan – I loved Nalini Singh’s Angels’ Blood so much I didn’t continue the series. Completely irrational, I know. So, yeah …
I read The No Show and found it the weakest O’Leary I’ve read so far but it’s a solid B. And it is NOT a light comedy, do not let that cover fool you.
The Romantic Agenda, No Rings Attached, Greener Pastures, Retrained Desires, Famous in a Small Town, The Wedding Crashers, She Gets the Girl and Boss Witch are on my TBR. I have no idea what on earth is up with Kink Camp but I’m amused it even exists.
@Mary K – This review is pretty close to how I see the book (also I hated Joseph and couldn’t forgive him no matter how hard BOL tried to convince me).
@Lisa F – I keep remembering the Jojo Moyes cover endorsement that turned me off The Flat-Share at first and thinking it’s becoming more and more apropos.
I read Portrait of a Thief and it is very good but It is a quiet novel.
@MaryK – Yeah, the whole novel is disappointment vis who gets the HEA. I was angry about the spoiled thing and was happy about the ending only one of the women got.
DNF’d Boss Witch at 30% or so. I really didn’t gel with the first one, and this one has a lot more of the same problems. Also it kinda assumes that you’ve read the first one because the plot runs parallel, which is really strange.