You may have noticed May 1st happened and there was nary a whisper of Hide Your Wallet. That’s because we’re changing things up!
To better parse through releases, spotlight titles in a more digestible format, and include more books overall, we’re shifting Hide Your Wallet to a weekly basis. Every Tuesday, we’ll be featuring weekly releases we’re excited for and definitely invite you to include your own!
Let us know what you think and what books are on your to-read list this week!
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Ander & Santi Were Here
Author: Jonny Garza Villa
Released: May 2, 2023 by Wednesday Books
Genre: LGBTQIA, Romance, Young AdultAristotle and Dante meets The Hate U Give meets The Sun Is Also A Star: A stunning YA contemporary love story about a Mexican-American teen who falls in love with an undocumented Mexican boy.
Finding home. Falling in love. Fighting to belong.
The Santos Vista neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas, is all Ander Lopez has ever known. The smell of pan dulce. The mixture of Spanish and English filling the streets. And, especially their job at their family’s taquería. It’s the place that has inspired Ander as a muralist, and, as they get ready to leave for art school, it’s all of these things that give them hesitancy. That give them the thought, are they ready to leave it all behind?
To keep Ander from becoming complacent during their gap year, their family “fires” them so they can transition from restaurant life to focusing on their murals and prepare for college. That is, until they meet Santiago Garcia, the hot new waiter. Falling for each other becomes as natural as breathing. Through Santi’s eyes, Ander starts to understand who they are and want to be as an artist, and Ander becomes Santi’s first steps toward making Santos Vista and the United States feel like home.
Until ICE agents come for Santi, and Ander realizes how fragile that sense of home is. How love can only hold on so long when the whole world is against them. And when, eventually, the world starts to win.
Aarya: The early acclaim have me excited.
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The Daydreams
Author: Laura Hankin
Released: May 2, 2023 by Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Literary Fiction, RomanceA deliciously entertaining novel about the stars of a popular teen show from the early 2000s—and the reunion special, thirteen years after their scandalous flameout, that will either be their last chance at redemption, or destroy them all for good.
Back in 2004, The Daydreams had it all: a cast of innocent-seeming teenagers acting and singing their hearts out, amazing ratings, and a will-they-or-won’t-they romance that steamed up fan fiction forums. Then, during the live season two finale, it all imploded, leaving everyone scrambling to understand why.
Afterward, the four stars went down very different paths. Kat is now a lawyer in DC. Liana is the bored wife of a famous athlete. Noah, the show’s golden boy, emerged unscathed and is poised to become a household name. And Summer, the object of Noah’s fictional (and maybe real-life) affections, is the cautionary tale.
But then the fans demand a reunion special. The stars all have private reasons to come back: forgiveness, revenge, a second chance with a first love. But as they tentatively rediscover the magic of the original show, old secrets threaten to resurface—including the real reason behind their downfall.
Will this reunion be a chance to make things right? Or will it be the biggest mess the world has ever seen? No matter what, the ratings will be wild.
Elyse: A celebrity romance based on an early aughts teen sitcom.
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Jana Goes Wild
Author: Farah Heron
Released: May 2, 2023 by Forever
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceThe highly acclaimed author of Accidentally Engaged delivers a delightful rom-com of one woman trying to shed her perfect image at a destination wedding with hilarious — and moving — results, perfect for fans of Abby Jimenez and Jasmine Guillory .
Jana Suleiman has never really fit in—everyone always sees her as too aloof, too cool, too perfect. The one time she stepped out of her comfort zone she ended up with a broken heart and a baby on the way. Aaaand lesson learned . Now she’s a bridesmaid for a destination wedding in Serengeti National Park, and almost everyone she knows will be there. Her five-year-old daughter. Her mom. Her friends. Even her potential new boss. And of course (because who doesn’t love surprises!) her gorgeous-but-not-to-be-trusted ex.
Fortunately, Anil Malek is a great dad, even if Jana hasn’t quite forgiven him for lying to her all those years ago. Determined to show he has no effect on her whatsoever, she and the bridesmaids concoct a go-wild list to get Jana through the week. Sing karaoke? Sure. Perform their high school dance routine in front of strangers? Okay. But the more she lets down her guard, the less protection she has against her attraction to Anil. And Jana soon realizes it’s one thing to walk on the wild side . . . and quite another to fall for her ex all over again.
Sarah: Heron is so talented and a destination wedding at the Serengeti? That’s cool.
Shana: I have been been salivating over this book every time Heron posts about it on social media.
Aarya: Honestly impressed by how Heron managed to redeem this hero (he was an antagonist in the previous book).
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Love Buzz
Author: Neely Tubati Alexander
Released: May 2, 2023 by Harper Perennial
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceA chance romantic encounter during a wild night at a Mardi Gras bachelorette party sends strait-laced Serena Khan’s carefully constructed life into chaos.
A wretched maid of honor. A hangover from hell. Raucous Mardi Gras crowds. There isn’t much Serena Khan is enjoying about this four-day New Orleans destination bachelorette party for her semi-estranged cousin, the bride-to-be—until sparks fly with a handsome stranger, who, like her, is also from Seattle. After their conversation is cut short, Serena is overwhelmed by the desire to find the charming man with the brooding eyebrows, but her list of clues is pretty short:
His name is Julian.
He lives on Chamber Hill.
He works at a tech company.
He loves Lil Wayne and Nirvana.The need to find him is, for Serena, both irresistible and totally irrational. In a few short weeks, her college alumni magazine is featuring her in a “Life at Thirty” feature, cementing her as a success story. She will have officially achieved the safe, stable life her late mother insisted upon. Julian is not part of the plan.
As she combs Seattle for her New Orleans flame, stripping away the perfectly curated life that would have made her mother proud, Serena must decide if the pursuit of real passion is worth it—and fast, before she destroys the life she always thought she wanted.
Sarah: The mystery element of finding this dude the heroine Serena connected with at a bachelorette party based on a handful of clues is very intriguing.
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Meet Me at the Lake
Author: Carley Fortune
Released: May 2, 2023 by Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceA random connection sends two strangers on a daylong adventure where they make a promise one keeps and the other breaks, with life-changing effects, in this breathtaking new novel from the New York Times and #1 Globe and Mail bestselling author of Every Summer After.
Fern Brookbanks has wasted far too much of her adult life thinking about Will Baxter. She spent just twenty-four hours in her early twenties with the aggravatingly attractive, idealistic artist, a chance encounter that spiraled into a daylong adventure in Toronto. The timing was wrong, but their connection was undeniable: they shared every secret, every dream, and made a pact to meet one year later. Fern showed up. Will didn’t.
At thirty-two, Fern’s life doesn’t look at all how she once imagined it would. Instead of living in the city, Fern’s back home, running her mother’s Muskoka lakeside resort–something she vowed never to do. The place is in disarray, her ex-boyfriend’s the manager, and Fern doesn’t know where to begin.
She needs a plan–a lifeline. To her surprise, it comes in the form of Will, who arrives nine years too late, with a suitcase in tow and an offer to help on his lips. Will may be the only person who understands what Fern’s going through. But how could she possibly trust this expensive-suit wearing mirage who seems nothing like the young man she met all those years ago. Will is hiding something, and Fern’s not sure she wants to know what it is.
But ten years ago, Will Baxter rescued Fern. Can she do the same for him?
Sarah: It’s a second chance romance set at a lake resort which is LOT like summer camp and is a set up I love.
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Pas de Don’t
Author: Chloe Angyal
Released: May 2, 2023 by Amberjack Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult, RomanceHeather Hays finally has everything she’s worked for—she was promoted principal dancer and is engaged to her forever crush, ballet royalty Jack Andersen. But after Jack is caught cheating, Heather’s near-perfect life comes crashing down. Determined to prove that she rose to the top on her own merits, she accepts a guest position from the only company that will hire her without Jack: the Australian National Ballet.
There she meets Marcus Campbell, who has had the most hellish year imaginable. When he shredded his Achilles tendon onstage, he lost every chance of his dad seeing him perform before he passed away. Marcus has spent the months since in physical therapy, worrying he’ll be too old to dance by the time he’s fully recovered. Now he’s supposed to play tour guide for the company’s new arrival.
But as they tour Sydney together, Heather and Marcus discover an immediate mutual attraction—one they absolutely cannot act on. ANB has a strict no-dating policy, and even a hint of romance could cost them both their jobs.
Still, Heather has followed the rules her whole life . . . maybe it’s time to break one.
Elyse: A forbidden relationship ballet romance.
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The Salt Grows Heavy
From Cassandra Khaw, USA Today bestselling author of Nothing But Blackened Teeth , comes The Salt Grows Heavy , a razor-sharp and bewitching fairy tale of discovering the darkness in the world, and the darkness within oneself.
“This brilliant novella is not to be missed.” — Publishers Weekly , STARRED review
“With this brilliantly constructed tale…Khaw cements their status as a must-read author.” —Library Journal, STARRED review
You may think you know how the fairy tale a mermaid comes to shore and weds the prince. But what the fables forget is that mermaids have teeth. And now, her daughters have devoured the kingdom and burned it to ashes.
On the run, the mermaid is joined by a mysterious plague doctor with a darkness of their own. Deep in the eerie, snow-crusted forest, the pair stumble upon a village of ageless children who thirst for blood, and the three “saints” who control them.
The mermaid and her doctor must embrace the cruelest parts of their true nature if they hope to survive.
Amanda: I’m a huge fan of Khaw’s horror novels!
Susan: This sounds like a sequel to Cassandra Khaw’s excellent short story “And In Our Daughters We Find a Voice”. I really enjoyed the monstrous nature of the mermaids in “And In Our Daughters,” so I hope that carries through to the novella.
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One book on my TBR this week: REVERB, the fourth in Julie Kriss’s Road Kings series about a rock band that reunites for a tour after breaking up five years ago. REVERB is the story of the group’s guitarist and the journalist hired to chronicle the tour. Their story has threaded through the background of the previous books so I’m so jazzed to get them front-and-center in their own romance. I grabbed REVERB yesterday and I’m already a quarter of the way through. I can already tell REVERB is another smoothly-written winner from Kriss—who I always assert is one of Romancelandia’s most underrated writers.
Thank you for the reminder about Farah Heron’s new book! I’ve been looking forward to this one. I just checked, my library has it and now I have it on hold.
@D3: I’m saving Reverb for my weekend.
The Daydreams was good, though not great; everything else is on my TBR
I’m currently in the middle of Pas De Don’t and enjoying it very much – I love the ballet details, the two MCs, and the setting in Sydney. The author previously wrote a Nonfiction book about all of the toxic issues in ballet (classism, racism, exploitation of dancers and the expectation to ignore injuries, misogyny, etc) and the current attempts to address those issues. Some of those issues are also touched on in this book although the focus is firmly on the romance.
“Stars Collide” by Rachel Lacey came out 5/2. I loved her “Read Between The Lines”, was lukewarm on “No Rings Allowed”, and am hoping this one will be as good as RBTL. The cover is really good as far as illustrated covers go (which I am not typically a fan of).