BP Note: Welcome to 2021. I am not at all sad to put 2020 in the rear view window because it has been a year to test everyone. I hope 2021 is better for us all. Stay safe, protect yourself, your loved ones, and others. We can get through this. We have quite the random list of books for you this month, hopefully you will find something you enjoy. And like always, let us know what we missed.
Happy reading!
~E
- Contemporary Romance
- Cozy Mystery
- Fantasy
- Historical Fiction
- Historical Mystery
- Historical Thriller
- Paranormal Romance
- Romantic Suspense
- Science Fiction
- Science Fiction Romance
- Urban Fantasy
Contemporary Romance
The Forever Girl (Wildstone #6) by Jill Shalvis – 12 Jan (William Morrow Paperbacks)
When Maze returns to Wildstone for the wedding of her estranged bff and the sister of her heart, it’s also a reunion of a once ragtag team of teenagers who had only each other until a tragedy tore them apart and scattered them wide.
Now as adults together again in the lake house, there are secrets and resentments mixed up in all the amazing childhood memories. Unexpectedly, they instantly fall back into their roles: Maze their reckless leader, Cat the den mother, Heather the beloved baby sister, and Walker, a man of mystery.
Life has changed all four of them in immeasurable ways. Maze and Cat must decide if they can rebuild their friendship, and Maze discovers her long-held attraction to Walker hasn’t faded with the years but has only grown stronger.
Special Ops Seduction (Alaska Force #5) by Megan Crane – 12 Jan (Berkley)
She’s the last woman he ever wanted to see again…
After an official operation turned deadly, Jonas Crow began a new life in Grizzly Harbor with Alaska Force. But when fellow soldier Bethan Wilcox joins the group, she forces him to remember things he actively prefers to forget. That’s unforgivable enough. But now the two of them are forced together on a mission to uncover deadly secrets tied to their complicated past, and with the heat between them at a boil, forgiveness is the least of his worries…
And the only woman he needs.
Bethan Wilcox, one of the first women to make it through Army Ranger school, didn’t join Alaska Force to deal with Jonas’s foul temper. Or her own errant attraction to him. Thrown together in a race against the clock, they have to pretend to be a couple and play nice to throw the enemy off their scent. She knows better than to let their pretend love feel real…especially while time is running out.
Jonas has always been good at saving the world. But it’s Bethan he needs to save this time around—if she doesn’t save him first.
Captured in Ink (Montgomery Ink: Boulder #4.5) by Carrie Ann Ryan – 26 Jan (1001 Dark Nights)
New York Times bestselling author Carrie Ann Ryan returns to the Montgomery Ink world with three souls bruised yet forever connected in this sexy and intoxicating ménage romance.
Julia and Ronin know their relationship is solid. They’ve been through hell and back, but their love has stayed true through it all. When Ronin’s ex, Kincaid, comes back to town, however, the two realize what they might be missing.
Kincaid didn’t mean to leave Ronin behind all those years ago. When tragedy struck not once, but twice, bringing with it the heat of horror, he couldn’t face the past he’d left behind. Now, he’s back and doesn’t know how he fits in with the seemingly perfect couple—especially not when their families will apparently stop at nothing to keep them apart.
Cozy Mystery
Room with a Roux (Pancake House Mystery #7) by Sarah Fox – 12 Jan (Lyrical Press)
Pancake house owner Marley McKinney takes a break from the Flip Side for a romantic getaway. But soon, instead of mixing batter, she’s mixed up with murder . . .
Marley and her new husband Brett need some quality couple time before the holiday madness, so they drive up into the mountains of the Olympic Peninsula to charming Holly Lodge. Before long they’re enjoying snowshoe excursions, hot chocolates, and cuddling in front of a roaring fire. Despite some barely concealed marital tension between the owners of the lodge, they’re finally able to unwind . . .
Until one morning when they notice a glove sticking out of a snowbank outside of the lodge. Inside the glove is a hand connected to a frozen corpse buried beneath the snow—lodge owner Kevin Manning has been murdered. Presented with a stack of suspects and eventually stranded at the lodge by a blizzard, Marley has to catch the cold-hearted killer before someone else gets iced . . .
Fantasy
Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor – 19 Jan (Tordotcom)
“She’s the adopted daughter of the Angel of Death. Beware of her. Mind her. Death guards her like one of its own.”
The day Fatima forgot her name, Death paid a visit. From hereon in she would be known as Sankofa–a name that meant nothing to anyone but her, the only tie to her family and her past.
Her touch is death, and with a glance a town can fall. And she walks–alone, except for her fox companion–searching for the object that came from the sky and gave itself to her when the meteors fell and when she was yet unchanged; searching for answers.
But is there a greater purpose for Sankofa, now that Death is her constant companion?
Historical Fiction
Our Darkest Night by Jennifer Robson – 5 Jan (William Morrow)
To survive the Holocaust, a young Jewish woman must pose as a Christian farmer’s wife in this unforgettable novel from USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Robson—a story of terror, hope, love, and sacrifice, inspired by true events, that vividly evokes the most perilous days of World War II. [See more on bookseller’s website.]
The Historians by Cecilia Ekback – 12 Jan (Harper Perennial)
It is 1943 and Sweden’s neutrality in the war is under pressure. Laura Dahlgren, the bright, young right-hand of the chief negotiator to Germany, is privy to these tensions, even as she tries to keep her head down in the mounting fray. However, when Laura’s best friend from university, Britta, is discovered murdered in cold blood, Laura is determined to find the killer. [See more on bookseller’s website.]
Glamour Girls by Marty Wingate – 12 Jan (Alcove Press)
During World War II, farmer’s daughter Rosalie Wright becomes a pilot assisting the RAF. But will a romantic rivalry send her aerial dreams plummeting to earth?
Ever since she was 10 years old, Rosalie Wright’s eyes have been on the skies. But at the age of 18, on the verge of earning her pilot’s license, the English farmer’s daughter watches her dreams of becoming an aviatrix fly away without her. Britain’s entry into World War II brings civilian aviation to a standstill. Then, Rosalie’s father dies, leaving her, her mother, and her brothers to run the farm.
Everything changes when she learns that the Air Transport Authority is recruiting women pilots to ferry warplanes across Britain to RAF bases. Despite her mother’s objections, Rosalie cannot resist the call of her country–and the lure of the skies. During her training on Gipsy Moth aircraft, Rosalie forms a fast friendship with fellow flyer Caroline Andrews. Her trusty Ferry Pilots Notebook by her side, Rosalie delivers to five airfields in a day–while fighting an endless battle against skeptical male pilots and ground crews.
She would much rather spend her time on the wing than on the arm of any man…until she meets gruff pilot Snug Durrant and RAF squadron leader Alan Chersey. Snug is a cynical, wisecracking playboy, and Alan is every WAAF’s heartthrob…and Rosalie catches both their eyes. As the war drags on, and casualties mount, will love and tragedy send Rosalie’s exhilarating airborne life crashing to the ground?
Find Me in Havana by Serena Burdick – 12 Jan (Park Row)
Cuba, 1936: When Estelita Rodriguez sings in a hazy Havana nightclub for the very first time, she is nine years old. From then on, that spotlight of adoration–from Havana to New York’s Copacabana and then Hollywood–becomes the one true accomplishment no one can take from her. Not the 1933 Cuban Revolution that drove her family into poverty. Not the revolving door of husbands or the fickle world of film.
Thirty years later, her young adult daughter, Nina, is blindsided by her mother’s mysterious death. Seeking answers, the grieving Nina navigates the troubling, opulent memories of their life together and discovers how much Estelita sacrificed to live the American dream on her own terms.
The Narrowboat Summer by Anne Youngson – 26 Jan (Flatiron)
Eve expected Sally to come festooned with suitcases and overnight bags packed with everything she owned, but she was wrong. She arrived on foot, with a rucksack and a carrier bag. “I just walked away,” she said, climbing on to the boat. Eve knew what she meant.
Meet Eve, who has left her thirty-year career to become a Free Spirit; Sally, who has waved goodbye to her indifferent husband and two grown-up children; and Anastasia, a defiantly independent narrowboat-dweller, who is suddenly landlocked and vulnerable.
Before they quite know what they’ve done, Sally and Eve agree to drive Anastasia’s narrowboat on a journey through the canals of England, as she awaits a life-saving operation. As they glide gently – and not so gently – through the countryside, the eccentricities and challenges of narrowboat life draw them inexorably together, and a tender and unforgettable story unfolds. At summer’s end, all three women must decide whether to return to the lives they left behind, or forge a new path forward.
Historical Mystery
The House on Vesper Sands by Paraic O’Donnell – 12 Jan (Tin House Books)
London, 1893: high up in a house on a dark, snowy night, a lone seamstress stands by a window. So begins the swirling, serpentine world of Paraic O’Donnell’s Victorian-inspired mystery, the story of a city cloaked in shadow, but burning with questions: why does the seamstress jump from the window? Why is a cryptic message stitched into her skin? And how is she connected to a rash of missing girls, all of whom seem to have disappeared under similar circumstances?
On the case is Inspector Cutter, a detective as sharp and committed to his work as he is wryly hilarious. Gideon Bliss, a Cambridge dropout in love with one of the missing girls, stumbles into a role as Cutter’s sidekick. And clever young journalist Octavia Hillingdon sees the case as a chance to tell a story that matters—despite her employer’s preference that she stick to a women’s society column. As Inspector Cutter peels back the mystery layer by layer, he leads them all, at last, to the secrets that lie hidden at the house on Vesper Sands.
Historical Thriller
In the Garden of Spite by Camilla Bruce – 19 Jan (Berkley)
They whisper about her in Chicago. Men come to her with their hopes, their dreams–their fortunes. But no one sees them leave. No one sees them at all after they come to call on the Widow of La Porte. The good people of Indiana may have their suspicions, but if those fools knew what she’d given up, what was taken from her, how she’d suffered, surely they’d understand. Belle Gunness learned a long time ago that a woman has to make her own way in this world. That’s all it is. A bloody means to an end. A glorious enterprise meant to raise her from the bleak, colorless drudgery of her childhood to the life she deserves. After all, vermin always survive.
Paranormal Romance
Abel (Sabine Valley #1) by Katee Robert – 5 Jan (Trinkets and Tales LLC)
Seven Brothers. Seven Brides. A revenge seven years in the making.
Eight years ago, my family was betrayed by those closest to us. Now we’re back in Sabine Valley, staging our return during the feast of Lammas, where I step into the ring and ensure we’re given what we’re owed. Who we’re owed.
Our enemies send their seven best warriors against me. With each victory, I win a Bride for each of my brothers. And for me? I’m saving the best for last. My Bride is Harlow, the woman claimed by the man I used to call friend—the one responsible for our exile. Eli.
And if Eli has a problem with it? Well, then I’ll take him as my Bride, too. All the better to enact my revenge…and bring Sabine Valley to its knees.
The Paine brothers are back, and we’re here to stay.
Wild Wolf (Wolf Hunt #2) by R.J. Blain – 19 Jan (Pen & Page Publishing)
After making his escape to Russia, Declan McGrady believes he finally has the chance to start over. Mysterious deaths in the small town he’s chosen as home serve to shatter his delusions.
He can only hide for so long, and in Russia, folklores aren’t just tales of the past: they’re real. Nowhere is safe in a world where the nightmares that go bump in the night are on the hunt for him and his magic. To survive, he will have to put his skills to the test—and do his best to resist the lure of the untamed outdoors.
Survival is only the first of his challenges. The winter moon is rising, and Declan’s wolf tires of being alone.
The woman they desire, however, might become the death of them both.
Big Bad Wolf (Third Shift #1) by Suleikha Snyder – 26 Jan (Sourcebooks Casablanca)
In 2016, New York became a Sanctuary City for supernaturals…but things quickly spun out of control. Now, Third Shift is an elite team of operatives tasked with exposing the gritty underbelly of New York’s criminal-supernatural underworld, taking down the worst of the worst and protecting human- and shifter-kind alike.
Joe Peluso has blood on his hands. But lawyer and psychologist Neha Ahluwalia is determined to help him craft a solid defense…even if she can’t defend her own obsession. Because Joe took out those Russian mobsters for good reason–they were responsible for the death of his beloved foster brother. Those six bad guys were part of the ruthless clan of bear shifters who control Brooklyn’s Russian mafia, so his vigilante justice has earned him countless enemies in New York’s supernatural-controlled underworld, and no friends in a government that now bends to Russia at every turn.
Joe knows that creatures like him only deserve the worst. Darkness. Solitude. Punishment. But meeting Neha makes him feel human for the first time in forever. He’s never wanted anything in his life like he wants Neha, and he’ll break almost any rule to spend a minute alone with her. But when the Russian mob attacks the jail for payback, Joe and Neha are forced to escape. Before long they’re on the run–from monsters who want him dead and from their own traitorous hearts.
Romantic Suspense
All the Colors of Night (Fogg Lake #2) by Jayne Ann Krentz – 5 Jan (Berkley)
North Chastain possesses a paranormal talent that gives him the ability to track down the most dangerous psychic criminals. When his father suddenly falls into a coma, North is convinced it was caused by a deadly artifact traced back to the days of a secret government laboratory known only as the Bluestone Project. North knows his only hope of saving his father is to find the artifact. He is good when it comes to tracking down killers but to locate the relic, he’s going to need help from a psychic who knows the shadowy world of obsessive collectors, deceptive dealers, and ruthless raiders…
With her reputation in ruins after a false accusation, antique expert Sierra Raines is looking for a fresh start. She turns to the murky backwaters of the paranormal artifacts trade, finding and transporting valuable objects with a psychic provenance. When North Chastain approaches her for help, Sierra takes him on as a client, though not without reservations. North represents the mysterious Foundation, the secretive organization established to police the underworld populated by psychic criminals and those, like Sierra, who make a living in the shadows of that world.
North and Sierra soon find themselves at the scene of The Incident that occurred decades ago in Fogg Lake. The town and its residents were forever changed by the disaster in the nearby Bluestone Project labs. The pair unearth shocking truths about what happened that fateful night, but they are playing with fire—someone in town knows what they’ve discovered and will do anything to make sure the secrets stay buried.
Operation K-9 Brothers (Operation K-9 Brothers #1) by Sandra Owens – 26 Jan (Carina Press)
Navy SEAL Jack Daniels (save the jokes, he’s heard them all) and his trusty Belgian Malinois sidekick, Dakota, are back home in Asheville, North Carolina, after a bomb left them scarred. Unable to accept that he’ll never be able to return to his team, Jack is looking for a miracle. What he isn’t looking for is a permanent relationship, though he’s open to a no-strings distraction at the magic hands of gorgeous local potter Nichole Masters.
Nichole is on a losing streak with men. Her ex-boyfriend won’t stay gone, a competitor is out to ruin her business and even her rescue pup, Rambo, is refusing to get in line. A chance run-in with a navy SEAL turned canine companion trainer might solve the dog problem. The fact Jack is easy on the eyes doesn’t hurt, either.
But when Nichole feels like she’s being watched, Jack is the only person she can turn to. He’s a protector and problem solver by nature and training. Accepting his protection is one thing—Nichole didn’t count on falling in love.
Science Fiction
Domesticating Dragons by Dan Koboldt – 5 Jan (Baen)
Build-A-Bear workshop meets Jurassic Park when a newly graduated genetic engineer goes to work for a company that aims to produce custom-made dragons.
Noah Parker, a newly minted Ph.D., is thrilled to land a dream job at Reptilian Corp., the hottest tech company in the American Southwest. He’s eager to put his genetic engineering expertise to use designing new lines of Reptilian’s feature product: living, breathing dragons.
Although highly specialized dragons have been used for industrial purposes for years, Reptilian is desperate to crack the general retail market. By creating a dragon that can be the perfect family pet, Reptilian hopes to put a dragon into every home.
While Noah’s research may help Reptilian create truly domesticated dragons, Noah has a secret goal. With his access to the company’s equipment and resources, Noah plans to slip changes into the dragons’ genetic code, bending the company’s products to another purpose entirely.
Persephone Station by Stina Leicht – 5 Jan (Gallery/Saga Press)
Persephone Station, a seemingly backwater planet that has largely been ignored by the United Republic of Worlds becomes the focus for the Serrao-Orlov Corporation as the planet has a few secrets the corporation tenaciously wants to exploit.
Rosie—owner of Monk’s Bar, in the corporate town of West Brynner—caters to wannabe criminals and rich Earther tourists, of a sort, at the front bar. However, exactly two types of people drank at Monk’s back bar: members of a rather exclusive criminal class and those who sought to employ them.
Angel—ex-marine and head of a semi-organized band of beneficent criminals, wayward assassins, and washed up mercenaries with a penchant for doing the honorable thing—is asked to perform a job for Rosie. What this job reveals will affect Persephone and put Angel and her squad up against an army. Despite the odds, they are rearing for a fight with the Serrao-Orlov Corporation. For Angel, she knows that once honor is lost, there is no regaining it. That doesn’t mean she can’t damned well try.
We Could Be Heroes by Mike Chen – 26 Jan (MIRA)
An extraordinary and emotional adventure about unlikely friends and the power of choosing who you want to be.
Jamie woke up in an empty apartment with no memory and only a few clues to his identity, but with the ability to read and erase other people’s memories—a power he uses to hold up banks to buy coffee, cat food and books.
Zoe is also searching for her past, and using her abilities of speed and strength…to deliver fast food. And she’ll occasionally put on a cool suit and beat up bad guys, if she feels like it.
When the archrivals meet in a memory-loss support group, they realize the only way to reveal their hidden pasts might be through each other. As they uncover an ongoing threat, suddenly much more is at stake than their fragile friendship. With countless people at risk, Zoe and Jamie will have to recognize that sometimes being a hero starts with trusting someone else—and yourself.
Science Fiction Romance
Operation Artemis (The Drift: Nova Force #4) by Susan Hayes – 12 Jan (Black Scroll Publications)
She’s the sexiest woman he’s ever seen…and his new assignment.
Kurt just got the worst mission of his life – investigate JAG officer Bobbi Castiel. He wants to get to know the vivacious beauty better, but his plan was to wine and dine her, not scrutinize every aspect of her life. If she’s the spy they’re hunting, then his life just got more complicated, and his heart might never recover.
She hates secrets – but she’s keeping a big one.
Bobbi is on a classified mission to learn who is spying for the enemy, and she’s running out of time. If she fails? It’s just the stability of the galaxy that’s at stake – no pressure.
She’s not the only one after the spy. Nova Force’s best are on the case, too, including Kurt. He’s as sexy as sin and ranks higher than chocolate on her to-do list. When the enemy strikes, Bobbi and Kurt are thrown together on a mission only one of them is trained for, and a romance neither one of them expected…
Urban Fantasy
Wicked Words (TechWitch #2) by M.J. Scott – 5 Jan (emscott enterprises)
I never expected to discover that I was a witch—one being hunted by a demon. I’d taken down the demon but the price I paid was high—I lost both my best friend and the man I loved. Now all I want is to leave magic far behind . . .
Maggie Lachlan is the Techwitch. A computer whisperer, able to bring recalcitrant systems to their knees with a single keystroke. But now she knows she is more than a geek, she’s an actual witch as well. But magic has brought only pain and for the last nine months she’s been mourning her losses and ignoring her powers.
But when her ex, Damon Riley, reappears in her life, bringing in his wake a magical mystery, she will need every ounce of her computer mojo and her magic. Trouble is, she seems to have lost both. And without magic, she’s vulnerable to the kind of control demons like to wield.
With a curse to unravel and a demon’s revenge to avoid, Maggie needs to find her power and save the day and Damon. Because sticks and stones can break your bones but, when it comes to magic, words can be deadly…
Blood Heir (Kate Daniels World: Ryder #1) by Ilona Andrews – 12 Jan (NYLA)
Atlanta was always a dangerous city. Now, as waves of magic and technology compete for supremacy, it’s a place caught in a slow apocalypse, where monsters spawn among the crumbling skyscrapers and supernatural factions struggle for power and survival.
Eight years ago, Julie Lennart left Atlanta to find out who she was. Now she’s back with a new face, a new magic, and a new name—Aurelia Ryder—drawn by the urgent need to protect the family she left behind. An ancient power is stalking her adopted mother, Kate Daniels, an enemy unlike any other, and a string of horrifying murders is its opening gambit.
If Aurelia’s true identity is discovered, those closest to her will die. So her plan is simple: get in, solve the murders, prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled, and get out without being recognized. She expected danger, but she never anticipated that the only man she’d ever loved could threaten everything.
One small misstep could lead to disaster. But for Aurelia, facing disaster is easy; it’s relationships that are hard.
Cry Wolf (Big Bad Wolf #5) by Charlie Adhara – 18 Jan (Carina Press)
Agent Cooper Dayton never thought anything could be harder than solving murders. Until he had to plan a wedding.
After taking down an old adversary, Agent Cooper Dayton of the Bureau of Special Investigations has earned a break. Not that planning a wedding to his sexy shifter partner, Oliver Park, is necessarily stress free, but it’s better than worrying about the ominous warning, delivered months ago, that Cooper’s life is in danger.
When he’s dragged to an event by his family, Cooper braces for an awkward evening, but instead finds himself in the middle of an ugly feud between Park’s ex and a rebel pack leader. What was supposed to be a quick outing turns into a full-blown murder investigation after the pack leader ends up dead, Park’s ex goes missing, and Cooper and Park are sent a series of disturbing wedding gifts that are somehow connected to it all.
The list of potential suspects is long, and with the bodies piling up, Cooper must turn to the one person he trusts the least: the villain he’s already put behind bars once and who has nothing to lose by lying and everything to gain if Cooper is out of the picture—for good.
Monsters (Kaliya Sahni #3) by K.N. Banet – 19 Jan (Self)
My life is out of control. Raphael is now my lover, Mygi is trying everything they can to kill me to get him back, and I’m still a ruler of a dying people with enemies lurking in every shadow.
And for all of that, I only have a single lead that could unravel the mysteries of Raphael’s past. His mysteries, which are also the secrets of Mygi, a company very much willing to kill to keep those secrets.
All I can do is focus on one problem at a time, follow the threads, and connect the dots. I need to take the fight to them and I won’t be stopped. The threads are coming together, the pieces are falling into place. For him, I’m going to expose them as the monsters they are. I’m going to bring every secret into the light. For him, I’ll do anything, even though he doesn’t know what he really is to me.
I’m Kaliya Sahni, a Tribunal Executioner, a ruler of the nagas, and the secret mate of Raphael Alvarez.
And I kill monsters.
Moment of Truth (The Potentate of Atlanta #5) by Hailey Edwards – 31 Jan (Black Dog Inc)
Witches are marching down the streets, shifters are prowling the night, and portals to Faerie are popping up all over downtown.
Hadley has one chance to save Atlanta, but it means trusting her dark side to get it done.
The city will survive. She’ll see to that. But will her soul?
Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Romance
Dirty Deeds by Faith Hunter et al – 12 Jan (Pen & Page Publishing)
When the going gets tough, the tough get their hands dirty. Join NY Times Bestselling author Faith Hunter, USA Today Bestselling author R.J. Blain, and National Bestselling authors Diana Pharaoh Francis and Devon Monk on a wild romp where the damsels bring the distress and what can go wrong will go wrong.
Venture into a thrilling spinoff tale from the world of Jane Yellowrock; join vacationing gods in what appears to be a quiet, ordinary town; visit a supernatural hotel where the bedbugs could very well eat you; and dive into the zany, deadly world of the Magical Romantic Comedy (with a body count) series.
In this collection of all-new urban fantasy novellas and other stories, no job is too big or too small — if the price is right.
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!