June has kicked off with a pretty exciting release day! Lots of books by SBTB favorite authors are making the cut. One book is already rumored to have a Netflix deal!
We’ll see you again next Tuesday!
What books are you waiting to arrive on your e-reader today? Tell us below!
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Charm City Rocks
Author: Matthew Norman
Released: June 6, 2023 by Dell
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceWhen a single dad meets the former rock star crush of his youth, everything they thought they knew about happiness and love is thrown into chaos in this hopeful, heartwarming romantic comedy
Billy Perkins is happy. No, for real. It’s kind of his thing, actually. And why wouldn’t he be? He loves his job as an independent music teacher and his apartment in Baltimore above a record shop called Charm City Rocks. Most of all, he loves his brainy teenage son, Caleb. Although not the world’s most traditional parent, Billy has plenty to teach his son about art and manhood before Caleb goes off to college.
Margot Hammer, on the other hand, is far from happy. The former drummer of the once-famous rock band Burnt Flowers, she’s now a rock and roll recluse living alone in New York City. When a new music documentary suddenly puts Margot back in the spotlight, she begins to realize how much she misses her old band and the music that gave her life meaning.
Billy has always had a crush on Margot. But she’s a legitimate rock star—or at least, she was—so he never thought he’d actually meet her. Until Caleb, worried that his easygoing dad might actually be lonely, cooks up a scheme to get Margot to perform at Charm City Rocks.
It’s the longest of long shots, but Margot’s label has made it clear that any publicity is an opportunity she can’t afford to miss. When their paths collide, Billy realizes that he maybe wasn’t as happy as he thought—and Margot learns that sometimes the sweetest music is a duet.
Sarah: Two podcast guests so far have mentioned this book, and I’m very curious. A single dad meets the former rock star who he had a MAD crush on as a teen. Also Charm City!
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Mickey Chambers Shakes It Up
Author: Charish Reid
Released: June 6, 2023 by Canary Street Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance“A heartfelt opposites-attract romance…” — Publishers Weekly
Total opposites. Totally irresistible.
Mickey Chambers is an expert at analyzing modern literature. But when it comes to figuring out her own story, she’s feeling a little lost. At thirty-three, she’s an adjunct instructor with a meager summer class schedule and too many medical bills, courtesy of her chronic illness. Picking up a bartending gig seems perfect. Sure, Mickey’s never done this before, but the gorgeous, grumpy bar owner, Diego Acosta, might be the perfect man to teach the teacher…if he wasn’t so stressed.
Diego is worried he’s running his late wife’s bar into the ground. Add the pressures of returning to college part-time at forty-two, and it’s no wonder he’s making rash decisions. Like hiring the sunny, sexy woman who looks more at home in a library than slinging beers to rowdy barflies, and who turns out to be teaching his online writing course, a complication neither was expecting…
It’s not long before Mickey starts reenergizing The Saloon with cocktails, karaoke and an optimism even Diego can’t ignore. They need to fight their feelings if they want to keep things professional, but all it takes is one sip, one kiss, to shake both their worlds forever…
Lara: Someone on TikTok told me to read this book and based on the blurb, I’m sold!
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The Moon Represents My Heart
Author: Pim Wangtechawat
Released: June 6, 2023 by Blackstone Publishing
Genre: Historical: European, Historical: Other, Literary Fiction, Time Travel, Science Fiction/FantasyA lush, buoyant novel for fans of The Immortalists and Everything I Never Told You, The Moon Represents My Heart follows a Chinese-British family of time travelers as they seek connections over borders―both national borders and those created by time.
A love lost in time. An eternity to find it.
The Wang family are hiding a secret―they all have the ability to time travel. When parents Joshua and Lily depart for the past and never return, their children Tommy and Eva are forced to deal with their grief alone. Eva might be trying to find her place in the present, but Tommy is pulled further and further into a past that he hopes holds the truth. When he falls in love with a woman from 1930s London Chinatown, his inability to confront his own history has serious ramifications for the people who can truly bring him happiness.
Heartfelt and hopeful, weaving through decades and across continents and told through incredible prose, The Moon Represents My Heart is an unforgettable debut about the bond between one extraordinary family and the strength it takes to move forward.
Shana: This already has a Netflix deal, and it sounds amazing.
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Mortal Follies
Author: Alexis Hall
Released: June 6, 2023 by Del Rey
Genre: Historical: European, LGBTQIA, Romance, Science Fiction/FantasyA young noblewoman must join forces with a rumoured witch to conquer an ancient curse in this devilishly funny and heartwarming sapphic Regency romantasy from TikTok titan and bestselling author of Boyfriend Material Alexis Hall.
It is the year 1814 and Miss Maelys Mitchelmore finds her entry into the highest society of Bath hindered by an irritating curse. It begins innocuously enough, with her dress slowly unmaking itself over the course of an evening at the ball of the season, a scandal she only narrowly manages to escape.
However, as the curse progresses to more fatal proportions, she realises she must seek out urgent assistance, even if that means mixing with the most undesirable company-and there are few less desirable allies than the brooding Lady Georgiana Landrake-who may or may not have murdered her own father and brothers to inherit their fortune.
If one is to believe the gossip, she might be some kind of malign enchantress.
Then again, a malign enchantress might be exactly what Miss Mitchelmore needs.Sarah: This book has a gorgeous cover, and…a f/f romance between a noblewoman and a supposed witch? Okay!
Elyse: I’ve never read a book from Hall that I haven’t loved.
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Pageboy
Author: Elliot Page
Released: June 6, 2023 by Flatiron Books
Genre: Memoir, LGBTQIA, NonfictionThe Oscar-nominated star who captivated the world with his performance in Juno finally shares his truth.
“Can I kiss you?” It was two months before the world premiere of Juno, and Elliot Page was in his first ever queer bar. The hot summer air hung heavy around him as he looked at her. And then it happened. In front of everyone. A previously unfathomable experience. Here he was on the precipice of discovering himself as a queer person, as a trans person. Getting closer to his desires, his dreams, himself, without the repression he’d carried for so long. But for Elliot, two steps forward had always come with one step back.
With Juno’s massive success, Elliot became one of the world’s most beloved actors. His dreams were coming true, but the pressure to perform suffocated him. He was forced to play the part of the glossy young starlet, a role that made his skin crawl, on and off set. The career that had been an escape out of his reality and into a world of imagination was suddenly a nightmare.
As he navigated criticism and abuse from some of the most powerful people in Hollywood, a past that snapped at his heels, and a society dead set on forcing him into a binary, Elliot often stayed silent, unsure of what to do, until enough was enough. Full of behind the scenes details and intimate interrogations on sex, love, trauma, and Hollywood, Pageboy is the story of a life pushed to the brink. But at its core, this beautifully written, winding journey of what it means to untangle ourselves from the expectations of others is an ode to stepping into who we truly are with defiance, strength, and joy.
Elliot Page’s memoir hits shelves!
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The Single Dads Club
Author: Therese Beharrie
Released: June 6, 2023 by Montlake
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceAarya: The premise is adorable. I’ve always enjoyed Beharrie’s South African-set categories.
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The Sorceress Transcendent
Author: Casey Blair
Released: June 6, 2023
Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, Novella, Romance, Science Fiction/FantasyWhen Varius, the greatest general of the Aurelian Empire, is forced to flee his homeland, there’s only one person he can turn to.
A powerful sorceress and once his most deadly enemy, Theira is the only combatant who’s ever escaped the war between their peoples. But with the memories of how they kept each other going from opposite sides of a battlefield, when a bleeding Varius knocks on her door, she lets him in, even knowing what will follow.
Theira may have gotten away, but as long as the war goes on, she’ll never really be free. Now with both their peoples actively hunting them, the two most dangerous fighters in a never-ending war will have to join forces to do the end it once and for all, on their terms.
And if they can dare to dream boldly enough, maybe find happiness for themselves, too.
The Sorceress Transcendent is a stand-alone enemies-to-lovers epic fantasy romance novella about badasses who enjoy a cozy cup of tea after a long day wreaking epic destruction, because why choose? This story is for everyone who knows what’s coming when your former mortal enemy and best rival knocks on the door in the middle of the night and says, “I had nowhere else to go.”
Aarya: The early rave reviews have me intrigued.
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We Could Be So Good
Author: Cat Sebastian
Released: June 6, 2023 by Avon
Genre: Historical: American, LGBTQIA, RomanceNick Russo has worked his way from a rough Brooklyn neighborhood to a reporting job at one of the city’s biggest newspapers. But the late 1950s are a hostile time for gay men, and Nick knows that he can’t let anyone into his life. He just never counted on meeting someone as impossible to say no to as Andy.
Andy Fleming’s newspaper-tycoon father wants him to take over the family business. Andy, though, has no intention of running the paper. He’s barely able to run his life—he’s never paid a bill on time, routinely gets lost on the way to work, and would rather gouge out his own eyes than deal with office politics. Andy agrees to work for a year in the newsroom, knowing he’ll make an ass of himself and hate every second of it.
Except, Nick Russo keeps rescuing Andy: showing him the ropes, tracking down his keys, freeing his tie when it gets stuck in the ancient filing cabinets. Their unlikely friendship soon sharpens into feelings they can’t deny. But what feels possible in secret—this fragile, tender thing between them—seems doomed in the light of day. Now Nick and Andy have to decide if, for the first time, they’re willing to fight.
Sarah: June 6 is going to decimate some book budgets – a new Cat Sebastian? Excellent!
Lara: Cat Sebastian is an auto-read for me. Fastest finger first to get that library hold!
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Reckless
Author: Elsie Silver
Released: June 9, 2023
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Western, Romance
Series: Chestnut Springs #4Theo Silva. Rowdy bull rider. Notorious ladies’ man. Scorching hot trouble wrapped up in a drool-worthy package.
And he’s looking at me like I might be his next meal.
But I’m almost free of my toxic marriage and have sworn off men entirely. So all I see when I look back is temptation served up with a heaping side of heartbreak.
The man is hard to trust—and even harder to resist.
Make that impossible. Because Theo is persistent. And no matter how hard I try to freeze him out, he melts my icy exterior and pulls apart all my defenses.
Over a drink in a small town bar, I blurt out my deepest, darkest secrets. Then I spend the singular hottest night of my life with him.
He worships my body. He makes me blush. I come alive beneath his hands.
Then I tell him to forget it ever happened. I want simple, and with him it all feels complicated.
It was supposed to be a one-time thing.
A secret.
But that little plus sign is going to make this secret impossible to keep.
Aarya: The thing about this author is that there’s always some ridiculous conflict that decreases my rating, but the writing is compelling enough for me to keep returning to the series.
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I have nothing on my TBR this week (next week is a whole other story), but can I just say that when a blurb describes Alexis Hall as a “TikTok titan”, I feel very, very old.
I finished my ARC of the Cat Sebastian last week and give it ALL THE STARS. I still haven’t recovered enough to write a coherent review. Gah it’s so good.
Can’t wait to start reading the Cat Sebastian. I’m leaving on another long flight trip… so I’m just holding off starting it now!
Also out today:
King Hunt – Layla Reyne. Third and final part in the Perfect Play series.
Outrun the Rain – N.R. Walker. First book in a new series (Storm Boys). An prequel novella has already been out (Second Chance at First Love). The novella was cute (but, as is the nature of novellas) too short – the whole second chance thing moved very quickly! But it seems the next three books are all about the same couple.
So excited for the Cat Sebastian!
I also just read Muscle Cub by Slade James, which came out yesterday. I enjoyed this one, even though I didn’t completely buy the romance. It’s the 2nd novel in James’s Bear Camp series – mm romances set at a clothing optional men’s campground. It’s mm written by a queer man who clearly is familiar with the sub-culture he’s writing about. The writing is a little uneven but I’m enjoying the whole series (this is the 2nd novel and there are several short stories).
I’m also curious about the 3rd book in the Lights Out series – multi author mm romance series set in the world of Formula One racing. Looks like a new book is being released weekly. I enjoyed last week’s book by Lisa Henry, although I liked the setting more than the actual romance.
Pole Position by Charlie Novak comes out today and it’s about two pros in a secret, long term relationship, who end up driving on the same team. I don’t know this author but it looks good.
@cleo, the whole setting for the Lights Out series has really been a draw for me, and I think all the books I’ve read so far do a great job of pulling me into that world. Of the releases so far, I think Lisa Henry’s has been my favorite but they’ve all been solid.
I’m most excited about THE STAR by Beth Bolden, which releases tomorrow. It’s the first in a new m/m football series, which is part of an overarching universe some of her other series also exist in. While I’m not much of a real-life sports fan, I’m a huge fan of her writing, and she really brings the on-field action, the locker room speeches, and her characters vividly to life. Super excited about this one!
Somebody keep me out of the Kindle store. I just one-clicked Charm City Rocks (my little Gen X/just saw Stevie Nicks in concert heart HOPPED on that), as well as All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby, who might be the best noir guy working right now.
All on my TBR!
may have to check out Charm City Rocks, because B’more.
This week I was waiting for Maureen Ryan’s ‘Burn It Down: Power, Complicity and a Call For Change in Hollywood.’ Last week she teased a chapter on the behind-the-scenes toxicity of the tv show ‘Lost.’ But she also said her chapter on Sleepy Hollow was longer and the one that mostly engendered that ‘Burn it Down’ feeling.
I was a huge SleepyHead and a major stan of Nicole Beharie and watched in real-time as the show shot itself in the foot amidst so many rumors about BTS stuff. I cracked it open the minute it appeared on my kindle.
The cover of Mortal Follies is absolutely lovely. The colors, the font, the little birdie watching the goings-on above. If I had the creativity of an artist, that is the feeling of art I would create.
The Moon Represents My Heart looks quite interesting! I’ll have to see if my library has that and the new Therese Behairre. I am cautiously hopeful about the Alexis Hall – it looks promising but I haven’t yet found one of his that works for me.
Celebrity Memoire Bookclub with Chelsea Devontez podcast has a Pageboy episode lined up so I need to read it before it drops because I have no self-control with that podcast. Even when I tried to save some episodes for a rainy day I wound up burning through the backlist.
A podcast focused on women’s stories that takes a “trashy” genre seriously might have some appeal to the smart bitches. I can’t recommend highly enough!