Get ready for another beefy release week! This taper off slightly midway through the month, but then get stacked again toward the end.
We have some series continuations and a series starter. Lots of contemporary romances, but some mysteries and even a historical.
What are you looking forward to this week? Anything already preordered?
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Kilt Trip
Author: Alexandra Kiley
Released: March 5, 2024 by Canary Street Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceReady or Scot…
Globetrotter Addie Macrae always follows her wanderlust. As a travel consultant, she jet sets around the world—anywhere but Scotland. But when she’s sent on assignment to help a struggling family-run tour company in the Highlands—and save her own job—Addie packs away her emotional baggage and turns on the professional charm.
Rugged as the land he loves, Logan Sutherland’s greatest joy is sharing the beauty of Scotland’s hidden gems…even if it means a wee bit of red ink on the company’s bottom line. The last thing Logan wants is some American “expert” pushing tourist traps and perpetuating myths about the Loch Ness Monster—especially when Addie never leaves her desk to experience the country for herself.
As they wage an office war, Logan discovers Addie’s secret connection to Scotland: a handful of faded Polaroids of her late mother. Hoping for a truce, he creates a private tour to the places in the pictures to help Addie find closure and appreciate the enchantment in less-traveled destinations, never expecting the off-limits attraction sparking between them. But Addie’s contract is almost up, and magic won’t pay the bills. They can’t afford distractions, but how can Addie do her job if she hasn’t explored all Scotland—and Logan—have to offer?
For those who have a weakness for a Scottish setting!
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Murder Road
Author: Simone St. James
Released: March 5, 2024 by Berkley
Genre: Horror, Mystery/ThrillerA young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel.
July 1995. April and Eddie have taken a wrong turn. They’re looking for the small resort town where they plan to spend their honeymoon. When they spot what appears to a lone hitchhiker along the deserted road, they stop to help. But not long after the hitchiker gets into their car, they see the blood seeping from her jacket and a truck barreling down Atticus Line after them.
When the hitchhiker dies at the local hospital, April and Eddie find themselves in the crosshairs of the Coldlake Falls police. Unexplained murders have been happening along Atticus Line for years and the cops finally have two witnesses who easily become their only suspects. As April and Eddie start to dig into the history of the town and that horrible stretch of road to clear their names, they soon learn that there is something supernatural at work, something that could not only tear the town and its dark secrets apart, but take April and Eddie down with it all.
Lara: This author has been recommended to me a few times. Maybe I need to just dive in there.
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Speculations in Sin
Author: Jennifer Ashley
Released: March 5, 2024 by Berkley
Genre: Historical: European, Mystery/Thriller
Series: A Below Stairs Mystery #7To save an innocent man’s life, amateur sleuth and cook Kat Holloway must expose a financial scam that could ruin the most powerful aristocrats in Victorian-era London, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Secret of Bow Lane.
Kat Holloway is distressed to learn that Samuel Millburn, husband of the woman who looks after her daughter, has been accused of embezzling funds from the bank where he works as a clerk. The accusation is absurd, and Samuel’s wife fears that her husband will not only lose his post but be imprisoned. Kat vows to uncover the truth.
When she discovers the bank is involved in shockingly murky business dealings, Kat realizes she’s treading in dangerous waters. She turns to her confidante and handsome suitor, Daniel McAdam, for help. To exonerate Samuel, Kat and Daniel may have to expose the unseemly financial dealings of prominent aristocrats and government officials, and even those working to bring down the royal family. Kat will risk everything to protect the man who has sacrificed so much for her daughter, even if it means endangering herself and the friends she has come to love.
Sarah’s pick!
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Swift and Saddled
Author: Lyla Sage
Released: March 5, 2024 by The Dial Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Series: Rebel Blue Ranch #2She’s the city girl who refuses to be saddled with a man. He’s the cowboy who wants her anyway.
The last thing Ada Hart needs is a man to take care of her. Not anymore. After failing out of her interior design program and the disaster that was her short-lived marriage, Ada clawed her way up from her rock bottom. Now, the only person she trusts is herself, and that has gotten her further than ever before. She has her own business, and one of the largest ranches in Wyoming just hired her for the most important project of her career.
When Ada arrives in Meadowlark, she finds herself in a dive bar where she can’t seem to shake the eyes of a handsome cowboy. When she leads him to the back of the bar, he leaves her with a kiss that most people can only fantasize about. She almost regrets that she’ll never see him again…except it turns out he’s her new boss.
Weston Ryder is a happy guy. Even happier now that the mystery woman from the bar is the interior designer for his dream project on his family’s ranch. He feels like he hit the jackpot. Too bad she wants absolutely nothing to do with him outside of work. Ada is convinced the pull she feels toward Wes will go away, but Wes can’t stop thinking about her. Even though walls are coming down around Rebel Blue, Ada’s walls are firmly in place.
Can they make it through this project without giving in? Or will they both put their dreams on the line for a chance at love?
This illustrated cover is so striking that we had to include it!
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This Could Be Us
Author: Kennedy Ryan
Released: March 5, 2024 by Forever
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Series: Skyland #2“Heart-searing, sensual, and life affirming.” ―EMILY HENRY, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Soledad Barnes has her life all planned out. Because, of course, she does. She plans everything. She designs everything. She fixes everything. She’s a domestic goddess who’s never met a party she couldn’t host or a charge she couldn’t lead. The one with all the answers and the perfect vinaigrette for that summer salad. But none of her varied talents can save her when catastrophe strikes, and the life she built with the man who was supposed to be her forever, goes poof in a cloud of betrayal and disillusion.
But there is no time to pout or sulk, or even grieve the life she lost. She’s too busy keeping a roof over her daughters’ heads and food on the table. And in the process of saving them all, Soledad rediscovers herself. From the ashes of a life burned to the ground, something bold and new can rise.
But then an unlikely man enters the picture—the forbidden one, the one she shouldn’t want but can’t seem to resist. She’s lost it all before and refuses to repeat her mistakes. Can she trust him? Can she trust herself?
After all she’s lost . . .and found . . .can she be brave enough to make room for what could be?
For fans of Tia Williams and Colleen Hoover comes a deeply moving and personal novel about sacrifice, self-reliance, and finding true happiness from “one of the finest romance writers of our age.” ―Entertainment Weekly
Aarya: I adore the first book in this series.
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Three Kinds of Lucky
Author: Kim Harrison
Released: March 5, 2024 by Ace
Genre: Paranormal, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: The Shadow Age #1Luck is its own kind of magic, in this first book in an electrifying new contemporary fantasy series from the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Hollows novels.
Petra Grady has known since adolescence that she has no talent for magic—and that’s never going to change. But as a sweeper first-class, she’s parlayed her rare ability to handle dross—the damaging, magical waste generated by her more talented kin’s spellwork—into a decent life working at the mages’ university.
Except Grady’s relatively predictable life is about to be upended. When the oblivious, sexy, and oh-so-out-of-reach Benedict Strom needs someone with her abilities for a research project studying dross and how to render it harmless, she’s stuck working on his team—whether she wants to or not.
Only Benedict doesn’t understand the characteristics of dross like Grady does. After an unthinkable accident, she and Benedict are forced to go on the run to seek out the one person who might be able to help: an outcast exiled ten years ago for the crime of using dross to cast spells. Now Grady must decide whether to stick with the magical status quo or embrace her own hidden talents . . . and risk shattering their entire world.
Amanda: New Kim Harrison series!
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Trouble
Author: Lex Croucher
Released: March 5, 2024 by St. Martin's Griffin
Genre: Historical: European, LGBTQIA, RomanceThere’s a new governess at Fairmont House, and she’s going to be nothing but trouble.
Emily Laurence is a liar. She is not polite, she’s not polished, and she has never taught a child in her life. This position was meant to be her sister’s––brilliant, kind Amy, who isn’t perpetually angry, dangerously reckless, and who does (inexplicably) like children.
But Amy is unwell and needs a doctor, their father is gone and their mother is useless, so here Emily is, pretending to be something she’s not.
If she can get away with her deception for long enough to earn a few month’s wages and slip some expensive trinkets into her pockets along the way, perhaps they’ll be all right.
That is, as long as she doesn’t get involved with the Edwards family’s dramas. Emily refuses to care about her charges – Grace, who talks too much and loves too hard, and Aster, who is frankly terrifying but might just be the wittiest sixteen-year-old Emily has ever met – or the servants, who insist on acting as if they’re each other’s family. And she certainly hasn’t noticed her employer, the brooding, taciturn Captain Edwards, no matter how good he might look without a shirt on . . .
As Fairmont House draws her in, Emily’s lies start to come undone. Can she fix her mistakes before it’s too late?
Lara: I’ve not read any Lex Croucher books before but this one has me intrigued.
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Women of Good Fortune
Author: Sophie Wan
Released: March 5, 2024 by Graydon House
Genre: Chick Lit, Contemporary Romance, Literary Fiction, Romance, Women's FictionSet against a high-society Shanghai wedding, a heartfelt, funny, dazzling novel about a reluctant bride and her two best friends, each with their own motives and fed up with the way society treats women, who forge a plan to steal all the gift money on the big day
Lulu has always been taught that money is the ticket to a good life. So, when Shanghai’s most eligible bachelor surprises her with a proposal, the only acceptable answer is yes, even if the voice inside her head is saying no. His family’s fortune would solve all her parents’ financial woes, but Lulu isn’t in love or ready for marriage.
The only people she can confide in are her two best friends: career-minded Rina, who is tired of being passed over for promotion as her biological clock ticks away; and Jane, a sharp-tongued, luxury-chasing housewife desperate to divorce her husband and trade up. Each of them desires something different: freedom, time, beauty. None of them can get it without money.
Lulu’s wedding is their golden opportunity. The social event of the season, it means more than enough cash gifts to transform the women’s lives. To steal the money on the big day, all they’ll need is a trustworthy crew and a brilliant plan. But as the plot grows increasingly complicated and relationships are caught in the cross fire, the women are forced to face that having it all might come at a steep price…
This sounds like a fun and possibly scandalous time!
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This week I’m looking forward to LEFT ON READ by Willow Dixon (March 7), the fourth book in her Crimson Club series of m/m romances featuring at least one MC who dances at the title club. LEFT ON READ is a strangers-to-friends-to-lovers story of two men who grow closer when one is looking for his tools that were stolen from a construction site. Dixon was one of my “discoveries” last year. I really enjoy how she tends to avoid the big third-act misunderstanding and finds other ways to inject drama and tension into the story.
I can’t wait to pick up my copy of Seanan McGuire’s latest InCryptid book, AFTERMARKET AFTERLIFE, which is out today. The narrator this time is Mary Dunlavy, the Price family’s crossroads/babysitter ghost, who has guided and protected the family for four generations now. The Goodreads reviews say it’s pretty intense – several mentions of tears. It will be interesting to have a new perspective on the family. I am hoping for lots of Aeslin mice (CHEERS!).
So many good books out today! I added a couple from this post to my list. So far, I’ve picked up the latest by Elle Cosimano, FINLAY DONOVAN ROLLS THE DICE—love the Finlay Donovan series—and LADY CHARLOTTE ALWAYS GETS HER MAN by Violet Marsh, a new to me author. The cover is gorgeous and it sounds fun—must flee a surprise and unwanted engagement and get help from the evil fiancé’s brother. One click for me!
All on my TBR except Kilt Trip, which was a disappointment sadly.
Trouble seems to have some Jane Eyre references, though it’s hard to tell if they’re more than slight allusions. I bought Reputation a year or two ago and still haven’t gotten around to it, so probably I should read that first to see if I like Croucher’s writing?
I’ve been on the Libby holds list for Murder Road for months. I’ve read all of St James’s novels so far, though I haven’t liked any of her contemporary (really contemporary/historical blend, I guess, since most include historical mystery elements) novels as much as I liked her historical ghost/mystery/romance novels. The contemporaries all feel more generic, though I think she’s a much better writer at a sentence/paragraph level than 95% of pop-mystery writers working. Her stuff is always fast, easy, and enjoyable to read.
I’m’a nominate “Speculations in Sin” for Cover Awe!
I loved loved loved Trouble. Can’t recommend it enough! The spice is low, which usually isn’t my preference, but I didn’t care because the grumpy governess protagonist grabbed me by the heart.
“Kilt Trip” is a solid pun, but then the blurb slaps me with “Ready or Scot” which barely even qualifies.
Beth Bolden’s THE PLAY (the last in her Charleston Condors m/m football series) should be hitting the e-reader Wednesday! She always does an amazing job balancing the on-field and off-field action! And her sense of humor always works for me, but obviously that may not be the case for all readers 🙂
I started reading Simone St. James’s MURDER ROAD last night and then had nightmares that work me up around 2am. So for me at least she obviously created a creepy and very disturbing opening.
Like @emilyyy, I really love her ghost story romances set in 1920s Britain. I’ve also read all of her US set books (which still have ghosts) even though serial killers are just not my thing. She is a terrific writer. I just don’t like serial killers which seem to be the focus of her most (not all) of her more recent novels.
Oh, well. At least I have her earlier books to reread and enjoy again.
Holy cow, like my TBR list/stack wasn’t big enough, along comes another Hide Your Wallet! Lex Croucher’s TROUBLE in particular sounds like something I’ll enjoy.