Welcome back to Hide Your Wallet!
Lots of interesting picks this week, though they do skew heavily on the contemporary romance side. Have any of you noticed that we aren’t getting a ton of historical romance debuts or new books? Or am I just out of the loop?
Which books are on your list this week? Drop ’em in the comments!
-
The Au Pair Affair
Author: Tessa Bailey
Released: July 16, 2024 by Avon
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Series: Big Shots #2A sports rom-com about a burly, surly, single dad who falls head-over-hockey-stick for his quirky live-in nanny…
Tallulah is smart, vivacious, and studying to be a marine biologist. She’s also twenty-six and broke. So when Burgess, a battle-scarred hockey veteran and newly single dad, offers her a job as his live-in nanny, she jumps at the opportunity to get paid while living in a super fancy neighborhood and being around Lissa, his cool but introverted tween.
Her tween charge isn’t the only one who could use some help fitting in, though. According to…well, everyone except Burgess, he needs to get back on the dating scene, and adventurous Tallulah is just the girl to show him how. But as boundaries are slowly crossed and Burgess finds himself pulled between his daughter, who wants her parents back together, and his insane chemistry with Tallulah, a huge rift is formed, and Tallulah does the “right” thing—breaks her own heart and walks away.
Though Burgess knows it’s for the best—he’s too jaded, with too much baggage—a chance meeting, and a new push from his daughter, forces him to put everything on the line and fight to prove he learned his lessons well and is worthy of a happily ever after with Tallulah.
Elyse: I loved the first book in this 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! -
The Design of Us
Author: Sajni Patel
Released: July 16, 2024 by Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceOne impulsive lie leads to a weeklong adventure of fake dating for two bickering coworkers in this swoony destination wedding rom-com.
Sunshine incarnate Bhanu brings big UX energy to whatever she does, including going for the promotion where her only serious competition is her work nemesis, AKA Sunny, the grump with the Denzel voice. She expected to get a reprieve from him while visiting her family in Hawai’i, but the universe has other plans. When Bhanu runs into Sunny at the hotel and witnesses his ex criticizing him about being single, Bhanu does the first thing that comes to she impetuously claims to be Sunny’s girlfriend just to get some peace and quiet. Except Sunny is on island for a friend’s wedding and his ex has already texted the entire wedding party about this mysterious girlfriend.
Bhanu truly is the bane of Sunny’s existence. But the last thing he wants to do is cause tension during his friend’s wedding festivities, much less be the object of their pity. He has no choice except to play along, if only he and Bhanu can put aside their quarreling and act like a real couple.
Between Bhanu’s hilariously meddling family and Sunny’s ecstatic friends, the two are pushed closer together, even as stress mounts over the impending promotion.
They say what happens on island, stays on island. But as Sunny and Bhanu let their guards down, will either of them be able to resist this romantic getaway without crossing the line?
Shana: I’m a simple girl. Give me a bunch of my favorite tropes and a beautiful cover and I will drop everything to read this book.
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 Ex Vows
Author: Jessica Joyce
Released: July 16, 2024 by Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceEstranged exes must stick close together to save their best friend’s wedding after a string of disasters in this swoony and steamy second-chance romance.
Georgia Woodward lives by her lists, none more so than the one about her ex, Eli Mora. It’s full of the ironclad dos and don’ts they’ve been following since she returned to the Bay Area after their cataclysmic breakup five years ago.
With the wedding of their mutual best friend, Adam, looming, and them about to step into their roles as best woman and man, Georgia’s never needed it more. She refuses to threaten their tight-knit friend group with her messy—and still very present—feelings. The rules on that list will keep her cool, calm, and compartmentalized.
What’s not on her list? Eli arriving from New York with a new rule-breaking attitude or the all-inclusive venue burning to the ground, leaving the bride and groom in dire straits. Nor does she anticipate Adam asking her and Eli to help him make a miracle happen. Together.
As Georgia and Eli rush up to Napa Valley to pull off the perfect wedding, their old chemistry comes back in technicolor. Somewhere between cake tastings gone wrong, disastrous DJ auditions, and Eli’s heated attention, Georgia starts recognizing the man she fell in love with before. And if she lets herself break her rules, she might find what they’re building isn’t the something old that ruined them—it’s a chance at something new.
Aarya: I’ve seen nothing but glowing reviews for this.
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! -
Hate to Fake It to You
Author: Amanda Sellet
Released: July 16, 2024 by St. Martin's Griffin
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceA waitress masquerading as an influencer and a wildlife photographer are on a collision course with romance–and chaos―in Hate to Fake It to You , a zany modern twist on a screwball comedy classic about figuring out what you really want – by pretending to be someone you’re not.
Everyone gets a glow-up on social media, but Libby Lane’s online persona is the fakest of fakes. Cooked up as a joke by Libby and her best friends, Lillibet is the affluent, healthier-than-thou opposite of her glam-free life on the side of Oahu most tourists never see. The phony fronting is all in good fun, until a real influencer stumbles onto the Love, Lillibet Instagram feed and starts making waves.
When Hildy Johnson, the ambitious junior member of a media dynasty, travels to Hawaii to talk to Lillibet about parlaying her lifestyle brand into a job, Libby and her friends scramble to take the make-believe to a new level. Complicating the charade even further is Hildy’s handsome companion, a wildlife photographer named Jefferson Jones, whose keen eye sees more than he lets on.
Between the pretend husband, borrowed goats, a made-up holiday, and Libby’s very real attraction to Jefferson, it’s anyone’s guess which lie will blow their cover first … especially since Lillibet isn’t the only one with something to hide.
Dahlia: I loved Sellet’s witty and charming YA debut, By the Book, so I’m already predisposed to check out her Adult debut, but it also sounds so deeply full of hilarious hijinks and ridiculousness in the very best way.
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! -
It Had to Be You
Author: Eliza Jane Brazier
Released: July 16, 2024 by Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Mystery/Thriller, Romantic Suspense, RomanceTwo contract killers, each with a hit out on the other, must fight their growing attraction as they face off in an epic game of lust and murder across Western Europe.
When Eva and Jonathan hook up on the sleeper train from Florence to Paris, they think they’ll never see each other again. Which is too bad, because neither has ever felt a spark like this for another person. But love isn’t on the agenda in their line of work.
Six months later, they run into each other in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles. This encounter is not by chance, because Eva has been hired to kill Jonathan. She’s a contract killer, but what she doesn’t know is that he is too.
Their meeting kicks off a high-stakes adventure across Western Europe. There will be tourism. There will be bodies. Eva and Jonathan might even fall for each other.
As the two get closer to completing their assignments, it becomes clear that they are also being hunted—by something even more dangerous than love. . . .
Amanda: This sounds so fun and thrilling!
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! -
Not Another Love Song
Author: Julie Soto
Released: July 16, 2024 by Forever
Genre: Contemporary Romance, RomanceTwo string players fight their attraction for each other as they compete for center stage in this spicy and emotional romance.
Gwen Jackson and Xander Thorne are both musical prodigies, but each has had very different paths to success. Xander was born into classical music royalty, while Gwen had a natural ear for music that was nurtured by a kind shop owner.
After Gwen performs at his friend’s wedding, she’s mortified when she realizes Xander has no clue who she is—despite having worked together for a year at the Pops Orchestra. But she’s more furious that he arrogantly critiques her performance.
When Gwen is offered the role of First Chair of the orchestra, something Xander had secretly coveted for years, their existing hostility goes up a notch. But their respect for each other’s music is undeniable, and their onstage chemistry off the scale. As they begin to explore their feelings for one another, suddenly they’re box office dynamite and the fragile romance that’s growing between them is in danger of being crushed beneath a publicity stunt…
Dahlia: I confess I was totally late to Soto’s Forget Me Not, but I loved it so deeply I immediately preordered this newest. I can already tell she’s an author I’ll follow anywhere.
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! -
Unbelievable You
Author: Chelsea Cameron
Released: July 16, 2024
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance
Series: Sapph in the City #2Hunter: Things had been going pretty well for me. My time was filled with my jobs and friends, and my parents seemed to have finally given up on bullying me to go to law school. Then everything changes in the blink of an eye. One minute I’m teaching a yoga class, and the next there’s smoke and then fire and with it comes firefighters. One in particular.
Stace: There are only three things that I take seriously—my job as a volunteer firefighter, my work with the animal shelter, and my family. Everything else? Not so much. And then we get a call and I end up carrying an unbelievably gorgeous woman down the stairs and I feel like my entire world has shifted and nothing will ever be the same.
Hunter: She lifted me like some hero from a romance movie and I couldn’t help but notice how good she looked when she took her helmet off and smiled at me. But that’s neither here nor there. I’ll never pursue someone like Stace. Love doesn’t work out for me, not for any member of my family. It’s just not in our genes. Why would I sign up for the inevitable downfall that will wreck my life? I’ll keep my heart whole and intact, thank you very much. Stace is the kind of person who demands all or nothing, and I have nothing for her.
Stace: Hunter is…complicated. Closed-off. A challenge, not to mention she’s so beautiful that she’d make angels jealous. I’ve never met anyone who deserves to be seduced and spoiled by affection more than her. So that’s what I’m going to do. Because I have to have her.
Shana: I love a butch/femme sapphic pairing and Cameron’s books always bring me joy.
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 Duke at Hazard
Author: KJ Charles
Released: July 18, 2024 by Orion
Genre: Historical: European, LGBTQIA, Regency, Romance
Series: Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune #2Don’t miss the second thrilling Regency romance in the Gentlemen of Uncertain Fortune series by KJ Charles…
The Duke of Severn is one of the greatest men in Britain.
He’s also short, quiet, and unimpressive. And now he’s been robbed, after indulging in one rash night with a strange man who stole the heirloom Severn ring from his finger. The Duke has to get it back, and he can’t let anyone know how he lost it. So when his cousin bets that he couldn’t survive without his privilege and title, the Duke grasps the opportunity to hunt down his ring-incognito.
Life as an ordinary person is terrifying…until the anonymous Duke meets Daizell Charnage, a disgraced gentleman, and hires him to help. Racing across the country in search of the thief, the Duke and Daizell fall into scrapes, into trouble-and in love.
Daizell has been excluded from polite society, his name tainted by his father’s crimes and his own misbehaviour. Now he dares to dream of a life somewhere out of sight with the quiet gentleman who’s stolen his heart. He doesn’t know that his lover is a hugely rich public figure with half a dozen titles. And when he finds out, it will risk everything they have…
Shana: New KJ Charles! My favorite book of hers involves a road trip so I’m primed to love this too.
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!
A bumper crop of books for the tbr this week—and all of them releasing today:
HOME ICE ADVANTAGE (July 16) by Ari Baran is the third in her Penalty Box series of m/m hockey romances. This one involves the antagonists-to-lovers trope between two former players who are now both coaches for a struggling team.
GOLDEN TOUCH (July 16) by Sarina Bowen features a woman who manages a brewery and becomes involved with the owner’s son. There’s apparently a romantic-suspense angle to GOLDEN TOUCH because the heroine has a bad ex.
THE BEST OF ALL (July 16) by Karla Sorensen features antagonists-to-lovers between two people who have never liked each other but are forced to work together when tragedy makes them the guardians of their late best friends’ daughter. Sorensen is a master of the slow burn, so I’m expecting lots of tension—emotional and physical—in this one.
More antagonists-to-lovers with Julie Soto’s aforementioned NOT ANOTHER LOVE SONG (July 16) involving a violinist and a cello player in an orchestra. I enjoyed Soto’s earlier FORGET ME NOT, so—although it’s based on Reylo fanfic—I will be giving NOT ANOTHER LOVE SONG a try.
I’m really bummed that the paper version of KJ Charles’s book isn’t out until October, since I’m still struggling with ebooks.
I have one book on this week’s list: Kathleen Sheppard’s WOMEN IN THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS, subtitle “The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age.” It’s writing women back into the history, which is one of my favorite tropes (if you can have non-fiction tropes). I know it’s too much to hope that Amelia Peabody Emerson will make an appearance, but I know she would approve.
The Sheppard book looks really interesting – thank you, LisaM.
There’s a Jenny Crusie / Bob Meyer coming out on the 21st. Rocky Start, the first of a trilogy.
Linzi Day has a free novella out, Gretna Green goes to Manchester. It won’t make sense without reading her other books, though. Not sure how to link to it – it was in her newsletter.
Deborah Harkness!! Her series is a favorite to reread! The Black Bird Oracle is out today! And since I had the foresight to keep checking when it became available to hold, I had a fresh, delicious book served up for me today morning!!
Amanda, you are not crazy! It’s actually big Romancelandia Discourse right now. Historical romance is in a major slump. No massive buzzy books , a lot of big names are retired or have switched subgenres, and no new authors are taking their place. More than that, readers don’t seem to WANT historical right now. And no one knows why.
All on my TBR!
I am soooo excited for The Ex Vows. I read Jessica Joyce’s debut You with a View last year and absolutely adored it. I immediately preordered Ex Vows and can’t wait to read it!
I’m looking forward to Lucy Score’s latest Riley Thorn mystery, THE BODY IN THE BACKYARD and MIRRORED HEAVENS, the final book in Rebecca Roanhorse’s Beneath Earth and Sky trilogy. I am very anxious for the many, many characters because it feels like there’s an apocalypse on the horizon.
I’ve been looking forward to many of these listed, but haven’t seen BUSINESS CASUAL by B.K. Borison mentioned. It’s part of the Lovelight series, the 4th I believe. I just re-read the 3rd-MIXED SIGNALS to get into the groove for the new book. I really enjoy this cozy, romantic series and have been excited for the new release.
I’m surprised at the lack of new historical romance because Bridgerton seems so popular. It seems every blurb for a historical romance I read is something like “for fans of Bridgerton…”.
I just checked my library holds for the new releases, and the lists are long! I’ve decided today is a “treat yo’self” day, so it’s time to buy some books!!
Oooh, The Duke at Hazard is a nice surprise – Goodreads says it’s coming out in November.
I’m looking forward to Yoke of Stars by R.B. Lemberg – a novella set in the lush, queer fantasy world of Birdverse. I don’t know if it’s a romance or not but I’ve loved all of the Birdverse books and stories I’ve read so far.
I feel like I’m seeing a lot (or at least some) queer historical romance debuts, although not necessarily this week.
I want historical romance. I do not want what they’ve largely been publishing as historical romance the last few years.
An author I like has a book out today ~
JFH: Justin F**king Halstead by GiGi DeGraham
https://www.amazon.com/JFH-Justin-F-king-Halstead-ebook/dp/B0D7K1FN6W/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.hFOMFSPS4KFkDQ4UX39IWg.O73z2PR9Ww4ALElKYbIbkO08N_ouErhcZ9ero8g6CW4&dib_tag=se&keywords=JFH%3A+Justin+F**king+Halstead+by+GiGi+DeGraham&qid=1721172135&sr=8-1
Just a thought about historical romance: maybe because contemporary romance can change with the times and a lot more varied characters and plots are appearing, historical romance authors feel the need to be different too? So the books become less traditional and therefore less believably historical. Or it could be that authors don’t want to do the research to write believable historicals. Either way, the books are unsatisfying. Or maybe there are a lot of lapsed historical readers like me who just reach a point where every blurb for a historical feels like something I’ve read too many times before by better writers? And once a genre is unpopular, good writers don’t want to invest their time and talents in something that won’t sell well. It becomes an inexorable death spiral.
For urban fantasy fans, Blood Jade by Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle comes out today! The previous book (Ebony Gate) was one of my favorite new finds this past year.
I wonder if historical romance has been to some extent replaced by romance fantasy/science fiction. They are both sub-genres within romance that depend heavily on decent world-building, but romance fantasy and science fiction of course can easily pick and choose bits and pieces of different historical eras and cultures as their inspirations without worrying about historical/cultural accuracy.
Also I wonder if a lot of younger authors were inspired by a lot of the successful best-selling books of their childhood/YA years — many of which are heavily fantasy/science fiction inflected, e.g., Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Twilight, Percy Jackson, The Queen’s Thief, etc. These books weren’t all genre romances, but they did offer at the very least strong secondary romance plot-lines and exciting world-building.
Re: historical romance. I think there’s multiple things going on here, all or most of them interconnected, and if I tried to write it all out, it’d be an essay rather than a comment, but one factor that I think is never sufficiently acknowledged is the role played by the demands of the genre itself.
Romance has rules. Most of them can be bent or even broken, but only a few at a time. The problem with very rigid structures is that they’re brittle.
We started wanting different things in our romances. This was harder to accommodate in historical settings without breaking rules. Could those stories be told? Absolutely. There have always been unusual women (for instance), and they fell in love just like anyone else, but the real life versions of these women don’t make great romance heroines because they don’t follow the heroine playbook.
It’s like trying to make a building or a dress from a template with your own alterations. If the alterations are minor, all is well. If you’re very skilled, you can make more dramatic alterations and all might still be well. But if you’re not particularly skilled, and you’re getting really ambitious with your template — instead of finding a new template that fits your vision better — you’re going to end up with a mess.
Queer historical romance is doing this better partly because in a historical setting, they can’t use the traditional template, so they have more freedom to create stories that make more sense.
A good illustration is Madeline Hunter. She has been trying to write Unusual Heroines her entire career, but almost all of her books either require the heroine to compromise who she is, nerf the heroine from the start so that she isn’t really who the text claims her to be, or make the non-romantic plot centre on how badly the heroine wants children so please please forgive her for shagging at that orgy. Every single book, you can kinda see both the story Hunter or her characters wanted and exactly where she had to compromise. Hunter is both talented and experienced.
Ugh, this is already too long, sorry.
Tl;Dr: we slowly stretched historical romance until it broke, and now no wants to read it, and for some reason this is apparently shocking.
@Star: This is part of it, I think. It’s also speculated that the readers of “wallpaper historical” are getting their costumes and dancing need met by romantasy.