BP Note: This month seems to be another good reading month. Hopefully you find something below that catches your eye. Let us know what we missed because I am always looking for new to me authors/works.
Happy reading!
~E
- Contemporary Romance
- Fantasy
- Fantasy Romance
- Historical Romance
- Mystery
- Paranormal Romance
- Paranormal Women’s Fiction
- Romantic Suspense
- Science Fiction
- Urban Fantasy
Contemporary Romance
Marriage by Arrangement (Nights at Mahal #1) by Sophia Singh Sasson – 1 Aug (Harlequin Desire)
When a business proposal turns
very personal…Rule #1: Don’t fall for the client.
Because he’ll rock your world…
Architect Rani Gupta will never let a man compromise her career or freedom again. Which is a problem now that her newest client is irresistible hotelier Arjun Singh—aka the sexiest bachelor in India. A little fling with this gorgeous man would be scandal enough. But a fake engagement might just be more trouble than they bargained for—especially if Arjun has a prior arrangement!
Sin City Seduction (Sin City Secrets #3) by Zuri Day – 1 Aug (Harlequin Desire)
She’s strictly off-limits but when their worlds collide, sparks fly… will they be engulfed by the flames?
After a serious accident, worldly CEO Noah Breedlove’s family hires Damaris Glen as his live-in caretaker. She’s sheltered, far too innocent…and his instinct is to seduce her, even though he knows she’s forbidden fruit. As she heals the man, she heals his hardened heart, too. At least until their mutual attraction overrides logic, and she’s forced to choose between her family…and him.
You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria – 4 Aug (Avon)
Leading Ladies do not end up on tabloid covers.
After a messy public breakup, soap opera darling Jasmine Lin Rodriguez finds her face splashed across the tabloids. When she returns to her hometown of New York City to film the starring role in a bilingual romantic comedy for the number one streaming service in the country, Jasmine figures her new “Leading Lady Plan” should be easy enough to follow—until a casting shake-up pairs her with telenovela hunk Ashton Suárez.
Leading Ladies don’t need a man to be happy.
After his last telenovela character was killed off, Ashton is worried his career is dead as well. Joining this new cast as a last-minute addition will give him the chance to show off his acting chops to American audiences and ping the radar of Hollywood casting agents. To make it work, he’ll need to generate smoking-hot on-screen chemistry with Jasmine. Easier said than done, especially when a disastrous first impression smothers the embers of whatever sexual heat they might have had.
Leading Ladies do not rebound with their new costars.
With their careers on the line, Jasmine and Ashton agree to rehearse in private. But rehearsal leads to kissing, and kissing leads to a behind-the-scenes romance worthy of a soap opera. While their on-screen performance improves, the media spotlight on Jasmine soon threatens to destroy her new image and expose Ashton’s most closely guarded secret.
The Hitman (The Family #2) by Katrina Jackson – 8 Aug (KU)
Zahra
What would you do if you found out that your fiancé cheated on you the night before your wedding with a reality tv exotic dancer? What if you found out that they’d had a threesome with your best friend, who was also your maid of honor? What if you discovered all of this on the morning of your wedding with a camera for your own reality tv show pointing at your face?
Let me tell you what I do.
I punch her. I punch him. And then I run away to Italy on what should have been my honeymoon alone, with my ex’s stolen credit cards.
I just want to drink all the wine and cry myself to sleep at night, but I can’t even do that in peace.
Giulio
I deserve this holiday. I worked hard for it. I killed for it. Literally. But the woman next door won’t stop crying and it’s keeping me awake at night. When I go to confront her… Well, let’s just say things don’t go to plan. Not that I’m complaining.
And I know my life is chaotic, but even I can’t predict the armed man who shows up to kill me or the fact that I’ve somehow ended up on the run with the weepy goddess from the penthouse suite. It’s a mistake to bring Zahra along, but I want to keep her safe. I want to keep her with me. Also, try as I might, I can’t tell her no and mean it.
Besides, I’m beginning to suspect that I might have the guns, but I’m not running this show; she is, and she’s damn sexy while doing it.
From That Moment (Promise Me #2) by Carrie Ann Ryan – 18 Aug (Carrie Ann Ryan)
Paris Trissel is in a dating rut. Despite the pact she made with her friends to find someone to share her life with, she’s throwing in the towel after only a few blind dates. Add in the fact that the new hire at the job she used to love happens to be the Brady brother she can’t stand, and Paris is having a terrible year.
Prior Brady’s life seems pretty perfect from the outside. He has a wonderful, caring girlfriend, a family he’s never been closer to, and a new job he can’t wait to sink his teeth and talents into. Too bad the woman he has to work with for hours a day hates him on sight.
Once the two are forced to find the balance between chemistry and temptation, however, they’ll realize they’re stronger together than apart. Except when Paris’s past comes back with a vengeance, bringing terror, pain, and horror with it, both she and Prior will have to lean on each other.
In more ways than one.
The Legal Affair (Singh Family #2) by Nisha Sharma – 18 Aug (Avon Impulse)
Rajneet Hothi built her empire with sweat, blood, and information. She knows everything there is to know about Ajay Singh, the future CEO of Bharat, Inc., as well as how crucial he is in securing her future. But she didn’t expect the passion that burst between them the first time they went head-to-head. She’d never felt anything like it before, especially during her marriage to her soon-to-be-ex-husband. When her company is blamed for her ex’s dirty dealings with Bharat, she’s forced to prove that Ajay is no match for her in the art of business or seduction.
Ajay shouldn’t trust Raj or her company. He’s on the verge of losing everything his family has worked to achieve, but he can’t stop thinking about the breathtaking way Raj opens her mind, body and heart to him. Throwing his infamous caution to the wind, he tempts the gorgeous CEO into his bedroom and boardroom. He soon realizes he wants Raj by his side and he’s willing to fight the people he’s always protected to be with her.
When Raj and Ajay discover the source behind Bharat’s leak, they must trust each other and work together to defy the odds and save the Singh legacy.
Khalid (The Brothers Ali #3) by Celeste Granger – 20 Aug (KU)
Racquel Alexander, Owner of Charles’ Barber Experience, is consumed with extending her father’s legacy by expanding the Barber Experience into new markets. Losing her father changed Racquel’s worldview, narrowing her focus to only those things that help her father live on and not just in her memory.
Khalid Ali, Director of Investments for Ali International is all about the business of conquering new territories, investing in new ventures, and expanding his family’s legacy. He is persistent, determined, and focused.
A thunderstorm, a flat tire, and a knight in shining armor coming to save her changes the course of Racquel’s existence, but not in a good way. That accidental encounter brings her nemesis, Khalid Ali, into her orbit, rocking Racquel’s foundation and disturbing every preconceived notion she ever had of him. Holding on to old things is easy. Accepting new things is hard. Khalid dares Racquel to accept new things like how his nearness compels her soul to swoon and her heart to thunder in her chest; and how their undeniable magnetism seismically shifts the atmosphere and causes the earth to quake under their feet.
When enemies become lovers, it’s tumultuous and passionate and confusing and incredible. When enemies fall in love, it’s unpredictable.
Here to Stay by Adriana Herrera – 25 Aug (Carina Press)
Starting over is more about who you’re with than where you live…
Julia del Mar Ortiz is not having the best year.
She moved to Dallas with her boyfriend, who ended up ditching her and running back to New York after only a few weeks. Left with a massive—by NYC standards, anyway—apartment and a car lease in the scorching Texas heat, Julia is struggling…except that’s not completely true. Running the charitable foundation of one of the most iconic high fashion department stores in the world is serious #lifegoals.
It’s more than enough to make her want to stick it out down South.
The only monkey wrench in Julia’s plans is the blue-eyed, smart-mouthed consultant the store hired to take them public. Fellow New Yorker Rocco Quinn’s first order of business? Putting Julia’s job on the chopping block.
When Julia is tasked with making sure Rocco sees how valuable the programs she runs are, she’s caught between a rock and a very hard set of abs. Because Rocco Quinn is almost impossible to hate—and even harder to resist.
Fantasy
Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko – 18 Aug (Amulet Books)
Nothing is more important than loyalty. But what if you’ve sworn to protect the one you were born to destroy?
Tarisai has always longed for the warmth of a family. She was raised in isolation by a mysterious, often absent mother known only as The Lady. The Lady sends her to the capital of the global empire of Aritsar to compete with other children to be chosen as one of the Crown Prince’s Council of 11. If she’s picked, she’ll be joined with the other Council members through the Ray, a bond deeper than blood.
That closeness is irresistible to Tarisai, who has always wanted to belong somewhere. But The Lady has other ideas, including a magical wish that Tarisai is compelled to obey: Kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust. Tarisai won’t stand by and become someone’s pawn—but is she strong enough to choose a different path for herself?
The Memory of Souls (Chorus of Dragons #3) by Jenn Lyons – 25 Aug (Tor Books)
WHAT IF YOU’RE THE ONE WHO HAS TO DIE?
Now that the city of Atrine has been destroyed and Relos Var’s plan to free the dark god Vol Karoth has been revealed—the end of the world is closer than ever.
To buy time for humanity, Kihrin, Janel, and Thurvishar must convince the king of the Manol vané to perform an ancient ritual that will strip the vané of their immortality—a ritual that certain vané will do anything to prevent. Including assassinating the ones bringing the news.
Worse, Kihrin must come to terms with the horrifying possibility that his connection to Vol Karoth is steadily growing in strength. How can Kihrin hope to save anyone when he might turn out to be the greatest threat of them all?
Fantasy Romance
Helpless (Steel Demons MC #5) by Chrystal Ash – 28 Aug (KU)
If humans fall, so shall gods.
We’re on the run. Forced to abandon our home to escape an enemy who always seems one step ahead. The Steel Demons lost a brother, and Reaper is determined not to lose anyone else.
Tensions are high while the club wanders the desert in search of a new home. A prospect makes lofty demands. A husband’s jealousy hits a boiling point. But pleasant surprises are also among us.
Shadow is emerging from his shell, and the man shining through the scarred exterior is one I’m helpless to resist. My friendly crush has roared into a passionate flame. One that my men have noticed too.
When an unexpected rescue mission goes awry, my worst fear is not being able to save him.
I can’t lose Shadow before we’ve had a chance to begin. I won’t let him slip away without knowing what love feels like.
I’ve always been resourceful, never helpless. But to save him, I’ll have to pray to every god that listens.
Historical Romance
Someone to Romance (Westcott #8) by Mary Balogh – 25 Aug (Berkley)
Lady Jessica Archer lost her own interest in the glittering excitement of romance after her cousin and dearest friend, Abigail Westcott, was rejected by the ton when her father was revealed to be a bigamist. Ever practical, however, once she’s twenty-five, she decides it’s time to wed. Though she no longer believes she will find true love, she is still very eligible. She is, after all, the sister of Avery Archer, Duke of Netherby.
Jessica considers the many qualified gentlemen who court her. But when she meets the mysterious Gabriel Thorne, who has returned to England from the New World to claim an equally mysterious inheritance, Jessica considers him completely unsuitable, because he had the audacity, when he first met her, to announce his intention to wed her.
When Jessica guesses who Gabriel really is, however, and watches the lengths to which he will go in order to protect those who rely upon him, she is drawn to his cause—and to the man.
Mystery
Cat Me If You Can (Cat in the Stacks #13) by Miranda James – 25 Aug (Berkley)
Charlie and Diesel along with Charlie’s fianc�e, Helen Louise Brady, are heading to Asheville, North Carolina to spend a week at a boutique hotel and participate in a gathering of a mystery reader’s club composed of patrons of the Athena Public Library. In addition to seeing the local sights, the members will take turns giving talks on their favorite authors.
The always spry Ducote sisters, friends of the hotel’s owners, are helping underwrite the expenses, and they’ve insisted that Charlie, Helen, and Diesel join them. Anxious to get Helen Louise away from her bistro for a vacation, Charlie readily agrees. While Charlie is looking forward to relaxing with Helen Louise and Diesel, other members of the group have ulterior motives including a long-standing score to settle.
When an intrusive, uninvited guest turns up dead, only one mystery club member with a connection to the deceased appears to have a motive to kill. But could the answer really be that simple? Charlie and Diesel, along with the detecting Ducote sisters, know that every murder plot has an unexpected twist.
Paranormal Romance
The Enforcer Enigma (San Andreas Shifters #3) by G.L. Carriger – 1 Aug (Gail Carriger LLC)
ENFORCER
Judd has wandered from pack to pack his whole life, searching for wolves who will accept him for who he is and who he loves. Now he believes that he’s finally found the right pack and the right man.
NERD
Rejected by his family for being gay and geeky, Colin has never fit in with werewolves, yet now he is one. He doesn’t know how to react when Judd starts courting him. He’s even more lost when a famous singer, the selkie mob, and the feds also start chasing him.
Can Judd protect Colin and still prove his love? Can Colin figure out why enemy shifters are invading his favorite cafe? And what’s with all the gold sparkle?
Wild Warrior (The Weavers Circle #2) by Jocelynne Drake, Rinda Elliott – 7 Aug (KU)
Baer Manning
What happens when Baer spills his big secret about monsters and magic to a total stranger?
Chaos.
In Baer’s defense, he really thought Wiley was a lost brother.
This case of mistaken identity forces the cute artist to stay at the plantation house for his own protection while they search for a way to take down a witch.
Wiley Stuart
He never should have gotten in Baer’s Jeep.
But in Wiley’s defense, Baer is really sexy. And funny. And so sweet. And did he mention sexy?
All his life he’d dreamed of superheroes and a life of action. He just never expected to find himself swept up into a world filled with monsters and goddesses.
Wiley will do anything to stay with this magical band of brothers and help them with their fight. He just wished he could be Baer’s soul mate.
Booked for Murder (Vigilante Magical Librarians #1) by R.J. Blain – 18 Aug (Pen & Page Publishing)
Life as a bodyguard and driver for the rich, famous, and powerful is dangerous on a good day, and after sustaining a crippling injury while on duty, Janette’s left with few options. Having signed a ‘for life’ contract but unable to work, she uses her skills to disappear.
Her new life as a librarian suits her. Nobody cares she limps and sometimes requires a cane to walk. She’s wanted for her knowledge, not her lethal magic. She’s surrounded by books, a woman’s best friend.
But when her former employer’s best friend is murdered on the steps of her library, old loyalties and secrets might destroy her – or set her free.
Teaming up with her co-workers to find the killer might keep her from being booked for murder, but unless she’s careful, she’ll find out exactly how far her ex-boss will go to reclaim what is rightfully his.
Her. For life.
Paranormal Women’s Fiction
Magical Midlife Dating (Leveling Up #2) by K.F. Breene – 19 Aug (KU)
The decision has been made. Jessie has taken the magic, and all the weird that goes with it. Including wings.
There’s only one problem – she can’t figure out how to access them.
Through a series of terrible decisions, Jessie realizes she must ask for help. Gargoyle help.
But she could’ve never predicted who answers her call – he’s an excellent flier, incredibly patient, and a good trainer. He’s also incredibly handsome. And interested.
Maybe flying isn’t the only thing she needs help with. Maybe she needs help getting back on that saddle, too, emerging into the dating pool.
Except, the new gargoyle is also an alpha, just like Austin, and the town isn’t big enough for two.
Turns out, flying is the least of her problems.
Romantic Suspense
Disorderly Conduct (Anna Albertini Files #1) by Rebecca Zanetti – 18 Aug (RAZ INC LLC)
Bullets and Kisses Can Burn
The last person Anna Albertini expects to see in an orange jumpsuit in District Court—a place she SO doesn’t belong as a new prosecuting attorney—is Aiden Devlin, the man who’d saved her life when they were kids. For years, she has dreamed about him. Now here he is—his eyes blue, his chest wide, and his hands in cuffs.
Sure, Aiden says he doesn’t want her help, and his ties to a deadly motorcycle club should give her warning. Yes, her new boss is a sexy Italian bad boy who might be using the case to climb to the top. Plus, the detective assigned to the case, with his green eyes and broad shoulders, wants her to stay out of his way.
With so much testosterone surrounding her all of a sudden, most women would find it hard to concentrate. This might be why the case leads Anna to yelp during a spa appointment, fall out of a tree, and chase a naked old man around the courtroom. It’s a good thing Anna learned a long time ago to be her own hero, no matter how fast the bullets fly or the kisses consume.
Science Fiction
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson – 4 Aug (Crown)
Multiverse travel is finally possible, but there’s just one catch: No one can visit a world where their counterpart is still alive. Enter Cara, whose parallel selves happen to be exceptionally good at dying—from disease, turf wars, or vendettas they couldn’t outrun. Cara’s life has been cut short on 372 worlds in total.
On this Earth, however, Cara has survived. Identified as an outlier and therefore a perfect candidate for multiverse travel, Cara is plucked from the dirt of the wastelands. Now she has a nice apartment on the lower levels of the wealthy and walled-off Wiley City. She works—and shamelessly flirts—with her enticing yet aloof handler, Dell, as the two women collect off-world data for the Eldridge Institute. She even occasionally leaves the city to visit her family in the wastes, though she struggles to feel at home in either place. So long as she can keep her head down and avoid trouble, Cara is on a sure path to citizenship and security.
But trouble finds Cara when one of her eight remaining doppelgängers dies under mysterious circumstances, plunging her into a new world with an old secret. What she discovers will connect her past and her future in ways she could have never imagined—and reveal her own role in a plot that endangers not just her world, but the entire multiverse.
Architects of Memory by Karen Osborne – 25 Aug (Tor Books)
Terminally Ill salvage pilot Ash Jackson lost everything in the war with the alien Vai, but she’ll be damned if she loses her future. Her plan: to buy, beg, or lie her way out of corporate indenture and find a cure.
When her crew salvages a genocidal weapon from a ravaged starship above a dead colony, Ash uncovers a conspiracy of corporate intrigue and betrayal that threatens to turn her into a living weapon.
Urban Fantasy
Warping Minds & Other Misdemeanors (The Guild Codex: Warped #1) by Marie Annette – 7 Aug (Black Owl Fantasy Inc)
My name is Kit Morris, and welcome to my warped life.
Picture the scene: Me, an average guy with psychic powers—not that my abilities are in any way average—just trying to scrape by in a harsh world. So maybe I’ve conned a few people, but did I really deserve to be thrown in MPD jail alongside magic-wielding serial killers?
According to Agent Lienna Shen, one-hundred-percent yes.
But her hardass attitude and “Arcana prodigy” status aren’t enough to bring down my former best friend, who slipped through the MPD’s fingers and is days away from unleashing untold horrors upon the city. Or he’s going to steal something. I don’t really know.
Whatever he’s up to, that’s why I’m sitting in an interrogation room with Lienna. And that’s why I just offered myself as her temporary new partner for the purposes of thwarting my ex-accomplice.
And that’s how I’m going to escape. I might even help with the case before I cut and run.
Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar – 11 Aug (HarperTeen)
The daughter of a star and a mortal, Sheetal is used to keeping secrets. Pretending to be “normal.” But when an accidental flare of her starfire puts her human father in the hospital, Sheetal needs a full star’s help to heal him. A star like her mother, who returned to the sky long ago.
Sheetal’s quest to save her father will take her to a celestial court of shining wonders and dark shadows, where she must take the stage as her family’s champion in a competition to decide the next ruling house of the heavens–and win, or risk never returning to Earth at all.
Jacky Leon: Volume 1 (Books 1-3) by K.N. Banet – 14 Aug (KU)
Jacky Leon lives a quiet life, the owner and sole employee of a small bar in a small town.
She’s also a werecat that wants nothing to do with the supernatural world and doesn’t go looking for trouble.However, trouble finds her. From one precocious human girl, a pack of werewolves, and more, Jacky’s life is turned upside down and she’s dragged into a series of events that will change her life forever. She’ll be confronted with everything she has spent so long hiding from and make an important choice. Her options are limited. Continue hiding from the world she wants no part in or meet adversity head on and forge a new path.
At the end of this, being a simple bartender will no longer be an option and that is only the beginning.
This collection includes Jacky Leon books 1, 2, and 3.
Oath Sworn (Jacky Leon 1)
Family and Honor (Jacky Leon 2)
Broken Loyalty (Jacky Leon 3)
Emerald Blaze (Hidden Legacy #5) by Ilona Andrews – 25 Aug (Avon)
As Prime magic users, Catalina Baylor and her sisters have extraordinary powers—powers their ruthless grandmother would love to control. Catalina can earn her family some protection working as deputy to the Warden of Texas, overseeing breaches of magic law in the state, but that has risks as well. When House Baylor is under attack and monsters haunt her every step, Catalina is forced to rely on handsome, dangerous Alessandro Sagredo, the Prime who crushed her heart.
The nightmare that Alessandro has fought since childhood has come roaring back to life, but now Catalina is under threat. Not even his lifelong quest for revenge will stop him from keeping her safe, even if every battle could be his last. Because Catalina won’t rest until she stops the use of the illicit, power-granting serum that’s tearing their world apart.
Ink and Sigil (Ink and Sigil #1) by Kevin Hearne – 25 Aug (Del Rey)
Al MacBharrais is both blessed and cursed. He is blessed with an extraordinary white moustache, an appreciation for craft cocktails – and a most unique magical talent. He can cast spells with magically enchanted ink and he uses his gifts to protect our world from rogue minions of various pantheons, especially the Fae.
But he is also cursed. Anyone who hears his voice will begin to feel an inexplicable hatred for Al, so he can only communicate through the written word or speech apps. And his apprentices keep dying in peculiar freak accidents. As his personal life crumbles around him, he devotes his life to his work, all the while trying to crack the secret of his curse.
But when his latest apprentice, Gordie, turns up dead in his Glasgow flat, Al discovers evidence that Gordie was living a secret life of crime. Now Al is forced to play detective – while avoiding actual detectives who are wondering why death seems to always follow Al. Investigating his apprentice’s death will take him through Scotland’s magical underworld, and he’ll need the help of a mischievous hobgoblin if he’s to survive.
The monthly Must Have list is a compilation of the upcoming release titles that we, The Book Pushers, just can’t wait to get our hands on. Don’t see a title you’re excited about listed here? Add it to the comments section below. Let us know what you’re looking forward to!
Disorderly Conduct by Rebecca Zanetti is the one I’m looking forward to the most.