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.
-
An Immense World
Author: Ed Yong
Released: June 21, 2022 by Random House
Genre: NonfictionEnter a new dimension—the world as it is truly perceived by other animals—from the Pulitzer Prize-winning, New York Times bestselling author of I Contain Multitudes.
“A stunning achievement, steeped in science but suffused with magic.”—Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of The Gene
The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields. But every kind of animal, including humans, is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of our immense world.
In An Immense World, author and Pulitzer Prize–winning science journalist Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, allowing us to perceive the skeins of scent, waves of electromagnetism, and pulses of pressure that surround us. We encounter beetles that are drawn to fires, turtles that can track the Earth’s magnetic fields, fish that fill rivers with electrical messages, and even humans who wield sonar like bats. We discover that a crocodile’s scaly face is as sensitive as a lover’s fingertips, that the eyes of a giant squid evolved to see sparkling whales, that plants thrum with the inaudible songs of courting bugs, and that even simple scallops have complex vision. We learn what bees see in flowers, what songbirds hear in their tunes, and what dogs smell on the street. We listen to stories of pivotal discoveries in the field, while looking ahead at the many mysteries that remain unsolved.
Funny, rigorous, and suffused with the joy of discovery, An Immense World takes us on what Marcel Proust called “the only true voyage . . . not to visit strange lands, but to possess other eyes.”
Aarya: I loved the audiobook. Highly rec for fans of Planet Earth. The science was very accessible/understandable to me (a non-science person).
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! -
Dinner for One
Author: Sutanya Dacres
Released: June 21, 2022 by Park Row
Genre: MemoirFrom podcast host Sutanya Dacres comes Dinner for One, an unforgettable memoir of how she rebuilt her life after her American-in-Paris fairy tale shattered, starting with cooking dinner for herself in her Montmartre kitchen
When Sutanya Dacres married her French boyfriend and moved to Paris at twenty-seven, she felt like she was living out her very own Nora Ephron romantic comedy. Jamaican-born and Bronx-raised, she had never dreamed she herself could be one of those American women in Paris she admired from afar via their blogs, until she met the man of her dreams one night in Manhattan. A couple of years later, she married her Frenchman and moved to Paris, embarking on her own “happily-ever-after.” But when her marriage abruptly ended, the fairy tale came crashing down around her.
Reeling from her sudden divorce and the cracked facade of that picture-perfect expat life, Sutanya grew determined to mend her broken heart and learn to love herself again. She began by cooking dinner for one in her Montmartre kitchen. Along the way, she builds Parisienne friendships, learns how to date in French, and examines what it means to be a Black American woman in Paris—all while adopting the French principle of pleasure, especially when it comes to good food, and exploring what the concept of self-care really means.
Brimming with charm, humor, and hard-won wisdom, Sutanya’s story takes you on an adventure through love, loss, and finding where you truly belong, even when it doesn’t look quite how you expected.
Sarah: This is a memoir from a woman who started over in Paris after her husband left her. Her cooking podcast is terrific.
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! -
Don’t Go Baking My Heart
Author: N.G. Peltier
Released: June 21, 2022
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Series: Island Bites #2Devon King has a plan. An actual with bullet points and everything plan for his life. When he’s called out at work for never participating in any of the office activities he feels compelled to take part in the upcoming office bake off competition to prove he’s a team player, as making partner at his architectural design firm is top on his list of career goals. Only problem, he doesn’t know anything about baking. Failure is not an option so when his first choice for help is unavailable, desperate times lead him to ask Reba Johnson, assistant pastry chef to his brother’s girlfriend.
Reba’s been having fun texting the super serious Devon ridiculous cat pictures, for an entire month, but she’s surprised when he asks for her help with a potential baking crisis, since their conversations have been one sided until now. When her friends make a bet that even she can’t get the stoic Devon to fall for her charms, Reba sets out to prove them wrong and get Devon to have some fun.
As the competition draws closer, their sessions get hotter with a one night stand turning into two nights then three…Reba doesn’t fit into Devon’s carefully crafted life and as he tries to focus on winning the company contest, he discovers that sweet treats aren’t the only thing baking in the kitchen, and all his perfect plans are crumbling.
Aarya: Super cute premise!
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! -
Juniper & Thorn
Author: Ava Reid
Released: June 21, 2022 by Harper Voyager
Genre: Gothic, Science Fiction/FantasyFrom the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Wolf and the Woodsman comes a gothic retelling of The Juniper Tree, where a young witch seeks to discover her identity and escape the domination of her abusive wizard father. Perfect for fans of Angela Carter, Catherynne M. Valente and Shirley Jackson.
A gruesome curse. A city in upheaval. A monster with unquenchable appetites.
As the last true witches living in a city shifting from magic to industry, Marlinchen and her two sisters are little more than tourist traps as they treat their clients with archaic remedies and beguile them with nostalgic charm. Marlinchen spends her days divining secrets in exchange for rubles and trying to placate their tyrannical, xenophobic wizard father, who keeps his daughters sequestered from the outside world. While at night, she and her sisters sneak out to enjoy the city’s amenities and revel in its thrills, particularly the recently established ballet theatre, where Marlinchen meets a dancer who quickly captures her heart.
But as Marlinchen’s late-night trysts grow more fervent and frequent, so does the threat of her father’s rage and magic. And while the city flourishes with culture and bustles with enterprise, a monster lurks in its midst, borne of intolerance and resentment and suffused with old-world power. Caught between history and progress and blood and desire, Marlinchen must draw upon her own magic to keep her city safe and find her place within it.
Amanda: Getting slightly spookier Naomi Novik vibes.
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! -
Maggie Moves On
Author: Lucy Score
Released: June 21, 2022 by Forever
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceCan these opposites turn up the heat… without burning down the house?
House-flipping sensation and YouTube star Maggie Nichols can’t wait to dig into her next challenge. Arriving in tiny Kinship, Idaho, with only a cot and a coffeemaker, Maggie is prepared to restore a crumbling Victorian mansion in four months or less. She has her to-do lists, her blueprints, and her team. What she doesn’t have is time for sexy, laid-back landscaper Silas Wright.
The man takes flirtation to a whole new level. And he does it shirtless…sometimes pants-less. He and his service school-dropout dog are impressively persistent. But she’s not interested in putting down roots. Not when fans tune in to watch her travel the country turning dilapidated houses into dream homes. A short-term fling on the other hand could fit nicely into her calendar. After all, Maggie remembers what fun is like. Vaguely.
As their summer gets downright steamy, Silas manages to demolish the emotional walls she’s spent years building, sending Maggie into a panic. He’s the wrench in her carefully constructed plans. With the end of the project looming, she has a decision to make. But how can she stay when her entire career is built on moving on?
Aarya: I’m a sucker for mansion renovations.
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! -
New World: Stay with Me
Author: Lily X
Released: June 21, 2022 by Carina Press
Genre: LGBTQIA, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: New World #1In this first of a sexy new sci-fi romance series, a galactic farmer discovers the robot she ordered is actually a flesh-and-blood woman.
Cedra: Running a farm on your own is exhausting and lonely. The Servana 200 service bot I ordered was expensive, but I need the help—and if it can also hold a conversation, it will be worth the price.
When the bot arrives, though, her hair is curlier than I selected, her skin is surprisingly soft, and she’s curvier and more beautiful than I imagined. But do bots tremble at the lightest touch? Do they smell like a heady mix of flowers and hot, sweet blood, teasing my fangs to life?
Technology is truly a marvel. Or is it?
Twyla: Running from a forced engagement is terrifying. But I’m backed into a corner, and my only escape is to crawl into a packing box for a bot modeled after me.
It’s certainly a panic move, but it got me out of one bad situation… And landed me right in the middle of another.
At first, Cedra isn’t the most welcoming sort, not when she presses a knife to my flesh and threatens to kick me out of her home. I come clean fast, pleading with her to let me stay and be her housekeeper. She’s hesitant, but I can tell she’s warming up to the idea…
Something’s flaring between us—fierce and urgent and insistent. And if these primal desires are mutual, maybe she’ll be the one begging me to stay.
Tara: I kind of love the idea of pretending to be a robot. Also, is the other lead a vampire? This sounds bonkers all around and I’m here for it.
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 Company of Fiends
Author: Kathryn Moon
Released: May 25, 2022
Genre: Erotica/Erotic Romance, Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, Paranormal, Romance
Series: Tempting Monsters #2After eight years on the stage with The Company of Fiends, the glow of the spotlight is starting to wear thin for Hazel Nix. The theater is perfect for a girl like her—one with a secret she keeps even from her more monstrous peers—but playing pretend is only exciting for so long. After so many lovers, on stage and otherwise, Hazel has yet to make a lasting connection with anyone and considers taking her last bow at the company.
Just as Hazel encounters a new and intriguing patron, disaster strikes the theater. Girls are going missing and suspiciously bad luck plagues the stage. Between ex-lovers, current bed partners, and new faces at the theater, Hazel’s heart is tangled more than ever and she finds it increasingly impossible to draw herself away from the life she’s known for so long.
It is time to make a choice. Start fresh before she’s drawn into the mess, or take a stand and fight for the family she’s found in the strangest of places.
Aarya: I hope this lives up to A Lady of Rooksgrave Manor.
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! -
From Fake to Forever
Author: Laila Rafi
Released: June 27, 2022 by Orion Dash
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceLove was never part of the deal…
Jiya Ahmed has a dream: she wants to complete her MBA and get a job in the city. The problem is that her parents think it’s high time she put her books away and focused on becoming good wife material – but surely there’s more to life than finding the right boy?
Ibrahim Saeed has a goal: he wants to avoid marriage but more specifically, he wants to avoid the arranged marriage his father has planned for him. Why would he want to end up like his (clearly unhappy) older brother with a partner of his father’s choosing?
Ibrahim’s cheeky brother introduces them with the perfect setup: a fake relationship to stall their parents. As they embark on their plan, the attraction they set out to fake starts feeling all too real … but love was never part of the deal.
From Fake to Forever is a hilarious rom-com about two people who pretend to date to escape their families’ expectations before sparks begin to fly…
Elyse’s pick!
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! -
American Royalty
Author: Tracey Livesay
Released: June 28, 2022 by Avon
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceIn this dangerously sexy rom-com that evokes the real-life romance between Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle, a prince who wants to live out of the spotlight falls for a daring American rapper who turns his life, and the palace, upside down.
Sexy, driven rapper Danielle “Duchess” Nelson is on the verge of signing a deal that’ll make her one of the richest women in hip hop. More importantly, it’ll grant her control over her life, something she’s craved for years. But an incident with a rising pop star has gone viral, unfairly putting her deal in jeopardy. Concerned about her image, she’s instructed to work on generating some positive publicity… or else.
A brilliant professor and reclusive royal, Prince Jameson prefers life out of the spotlight, only leaving his ivory tower to attend weddings or funerals. But with the Queen’s children involved in one scandal after another, and Parliament questioning the viability of the monarchy, the Queen is desperate. In a quest for good press, she puts Jameson in charge of a tribute concert in her late husband’s honor. Out of his depth, and resentful of being called to service, he takes the advice of a student. After all, what’s more appropriate for a royal concert than a performer named “Duchess”?
Too late, Jameson discovers the American rapper is popular, sexy, raunchy and not what the Queen wanted, although he’s having an entirely different reaction. Dani knows this is the good exposure she needs to cement her deal and it doesn’t hurt that the royal running things is fine as hell. Thrown together, they give in to the explosive attraction flaring between them. But as the glare of the limelight intensifies and outside forces try to interfere, will the Prince and Duchess be a fairy tale romance for the ages or a disaster of palatial proportions?
Elyse: I’m getting Harry/Megan vibes from this royal 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! -
The Dead Romantics
Author: Ashley Poston
Released: June 28, 2022 by Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Paranormal, RomanceA disillusioned millennial ghostwriter who, quite literally, has some ghosts of her own, has to find her way back home in this sparkling adult debut from national bestselling author Ashley Poston.
Florence Day is the ghostwriter for one of the most prolific romance authors in the industry, and she has a problem—after a terrible breakup, she no longer believes in love. It’s as good as dead.
When her new editor, a too-handsome mountain of a man, won’t give her an extension on her book deadline, Florence prepares to kiss her career goodbye. But then she gets a phone call she never wanted to receive, and she must return home for the first time in a decade to help her family bury her beloved father.
For ten years, she’s run from the town that never understood her, and even though she misses the sound of a warm Southern night and her eccentric, loving family and their funeral parlor, she can’t bring herself to stay. Even with her father gone, it feels like nothing in this town has changed. And she hates it.
Until she finds a ghost standing at the funeral parlor’s front door, just as broad and infuriatingly handsome as ever, and he’s just as confused about why he’s there as she is.
Romance is most certainly dead . . . but so is her new editor, and his unfinished business will have her second-guessing everything she’s ever known about love stories.
Amanda: A ghostly romance!
Sarah: I have heard really, REALLY good things about this book and cannot wait.
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! -
Half a Soul
Author: Olivia Atwater
Released: April 28, 2020 by Orbit
Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, Historical: European, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: Regency Faerie Tales #1“Whimsical, witty, and brimming over with charm” (India Holton), Olivia Atwater’s delightful debut will transport you to a magical version of Regency England, where the only thing more meddlesome than a fairy is a marriage-minded mother!
It’s difficult to find a husband in Regency England when you’re a young lady with only half a soul.
Ever since she was cursed by a faerie, Theodora Ettings has had no sense of fear or embarrassment—an unfortunate condition that leaves her prone to accidental scandal. Dora hopes to be a quiet, sensible wallflower during the London Season—but when Elias Wilder, the strange, handsome, and utterly ill-mannered Lord Sorcier, discovers her condition, she is instead drawn into peculiar and dangerous faerie affairs.
If her reputation can survive both her curse and her sudden connection with the least-liked man in all high society, then she and her family may yet reclaim their normal place in the world. But the longer Dora spends with Elias, the more she begins to suspect that one may indeed fall in love even with only half a soul.
Aarya: Orbit is rereleasing a revised/edited version of Half a Soul, so definitely check it out if you haven’t already read this delightful series.
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! -
How to Fake a Wedding Date
Author: Karen Booth
Released: June 28, 2022 by Harlequin Desire
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Series: Little Black Book of Secrets #3This socialite left her fiancé at the altar and now she needs a fake date to a wedding! What could go wrong? Find out in the third Little Black Book of Secrets novel by Karen Booth!
It started with one simple request:
“Pretend to like me for three days.”
Canceling her own million-dollar wedding made socialite Alexandra Gold infamous. Now the only way to avoid going alone to the wedding of this season—and keep vicious gossip account Little Black Book of Secrets quiet—is to bring a fake date. The almost-perfect candidate: architect Ryder Carson, her brother’s best friend. Ryder’s off-limits, yet tempting, despite their recent history. And as the celebration heats up, so do the sparks. But is it only a matter of time before Little Black Book reveals their secret?
Shana’s pick!
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! -
Patricia Wants to Cuddle
Author: Samantha Allen
Released: June 28, 2022 by Zando
Genre: Horror, LGBTQIA, Literary FictionThe contestants of a reality television dating show compete for love— and their lives— in this pulse-pounding and viciously funny fiction debut from the GLAAD Award-winning author of Real Queer America.
When the final four women in competition for an aloof, if somewhat sleazy, bachelor’s heart arrive on a mysterious island in the Pacific Northwest, they mentally prepare themselves for another week of extreme sleep deprivation, invasive interviews, and of course, the salacious drama that viewers nationwide tune in to eagerly devour. Each woman came on “The Catch” for her own reasons— brand sponsorships, followers, and yes, even love— and they’ve all got their eyes steadfastly trained on their respective prizes.
Enter Patricia, a temperamental, but woefully misunderstood local, living alone in the dark, verdant woods and desperate to forge a connection of her own. As the contestants perform for the cameras that surround them, Patricia watches from her place in the shadows, a queer specter haunting the bombastic display of heterosexuality before her. But when the cast and crew at last make her acquaintance atop the island’s tallest and most desolate peak, they soon realize that if they’re to have any hope of making it to the next Elimination Event, they’ll first have to survive the night.
Amanda: Bizarro, queer horror is having a moment and I’m loving it.
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’m looking forward to “You Were Made to Be Mine” by Julie Anne Long, which is the next book in the Palace of Rogues series and comes out on June 28th. I got into this series (and JAL’s books in general) after reading the Squee review for “After Dark with the Duke” on here.
Someone posted in Saturday’s WAYR that Julianna Keyes has a new romance arriving June 20: BIG WILD LOVE ADVENTURE. It features a heroine who is a contestant on a dating/surviving-the-elements show. I love Keyes (her TIME SERVED is one of my Keeper Shelf comfort rereads), and after she began publishing mysteries, I was worried she would not be returning to romance, so although I’m not a fan of the reality tv trope (or reality tv, for that matter), I’m really looking forward to this book.
All of these are on my TBR except for Maggie Moves In, which was a perfectly All Right experience.
I want to read The Dead Romantics, so I can find out how a ghost romance can have an HEA.
All I can think of is move on, Maggie! Your tiny town in Idaho is surrounded by white supremacist militias!
I’ve been hearing good things about The Dead Romantics!
I’ll be interested to learn (from other readers) how The Dead Romantics manages to avoid being sorrowful.
@LML – My money’s on it being another creative use of “Romance” by Berkley.
The Immense World went on my wish list. Thanks. (I think?)