BP Note: The world is in turmoil at the moment with established norms to include weather patterns no longer holding true. Yet small things, small actions, one person to another can make a difference. In some cases, it might make all the difference to someone who is dealing with struggles they can’t show in public. Just like stories since the beginning of humanity make a difference to all of our lives. Share what you look forward to read this month. Share what you are rereading this month. Share what you are listening to this month. Share what you recommend to your fellow book fiends. Take care of yourself and others. Tell the ones you care about how much they mean to you. Words as we all know have meaning.
Happy reading!
~E
- Contemporary Romance
- Fantasy
- Fantasy Mystery
- Fantasy Romance
- Historical Romance
- Mystery
- Paranormal Romance
- Science Fiction
- Science Fiction Romance
- Urban Fantasy
Contemporary Romance
The Usual Family Mayhem by HelenKay Dimon – 11 Mar (Avon)
Kasey Nottingham needs a splashy idea at her company where they find and develop the next big thing for investors—her job depends on it. Impulsively, she pitches Mags’ Desserts, a beloved small-town business run by her grandma Mags and live-in “best friend” Celia, two women who overcame deadbeat husbands and financial ruin to build a word-of-mouth clientele. Kasey expects her boss to say no. Instead, he sends her home to North Carolina to land the deal…and now she has a problem.
Mags and Celia aren’t interested, which isn’t a surprise, but something else is going on in their kitchen. Locked cabinets. Cryptic conversations. Unexpected notations on business records. The ladies have secrets and whatever they’re hiding is big. As reports of mysterious deaths of abusive men in the area surface—all in households that recently received a delivery from Mags’ Desserts—Kasey worries Gram and Celia have gone into the poison pie business.
As investors start circling, Kasey enlists Jackson Quaid, Celia’s nephew and Kasey’s long-time crush, as her reluctant investigation assistant. Jackson is practical. Kasey has a wild imagination. Together, they dodge Kasey’s boss and gather intel. And kiss. Lots of kissing, though probably not the best idea to start an unexpected romance. Doing it while keeping two feisty ladies from going to jail for knocking off bad husbands—even if those husbands deserve it—might be impossible…but Kasey never shied away from a challenge.
Fantasy
Idolfire by Grace Curtis – 11 Mar (DAW)
On one side of the world, Aleya Ana-Ulai is desperate for a chance. Her family have written her off as a mistake, but she’s determined to prove every last one of them wrong.
On the other, Kirby of Wall’s End is searching for redemption. An ancient curse tore her life apart, but to fix it, she’ll have to leave everything behind.
Fate sets them both on the path to Nivela, a city once poised to conquer the world with the power of a thousand stolen gods. Now the gates are closed and the old magic slumbers. Dead — or waiting for a spark to light it anew…
A character-driven science-fantasy road trip book with sword fights and a slowburn romance, Idolfire delves into the vastness of history and the terrifying power of organized faith.
Fantasy Mystery
The Tomb of Dragons (Cemeteries of Amalo #3) by Katherine Addison – 11 Mar (Tor Books)
Thara Celehar has lost his ability to speak with the dead. When that title of Witness for the Dead is gone, what defines him?
While his title may be gone, his duties are not. Celehar contends with a municipal cemetery with fifty years of secrets, the damage of a revethavar he’s terrified to remember, and a group of miners who are more than willing to trade Celehar’s life for a chance at what they feel they’re owed.
Celehar does not have to face these impossible tasks alone. Joining him are his mentee Velhiro Tomasaran, still finding her footing with the investigative nature of their job; Iäna Pel-Thenhior, his beloved opera director friend and avid supporter; and the valiant guard captain Hanu Olgarezh.
Amidst the backdrop of a murder and a brewing political uprising, Celehar must seek justice for those who cannot find it themselves under a tense political system. The repercussions of his quest are never as simple they seem, and Celehar’s own life and happiness hang in the balance.
Fantasy Romance
Tea You at the Altar (Tomes & Tea #3) by Rebecca Thorne – 4 Mar (Bramble)
Kianthe and Reyna are ready to finally walk down the aisle, and in just seven days their wedding of a wifetime will become a reality. There’s still so much to do but, like all best-laid plans, everything seems to be going awry.
Their baby dragons are causing mayhem in the town of Tawney, and Kianthe’s uptight parents have invited themselves to the wedding. Yet, worst of all, Reyna has become embroiled in a secret plot to overthrow Queen Tilaine. The world seems against them – and how are they going to live long enough to say ‘I do’?
Historical Romance
A Gentleman’s Gentleman by TJ Alexander – 11 Mar (Vintage)
The notoriously eccentric Lord Christopher Eden is a “man of unusual make” and even more unusual habits: he prefers to live as far from the prying eyes and ears of the ton as possible, and would rather have the comfortable company of his childhood cook and his aged butler, Plinkton, than the swarm of servants and hangers-on befitting a man of his station.
But Christopher’s pleasant, if occasionally lonely life is upended when he receives word from his lawyers that, according to his late father’s will, he must find a wife by the end of the Season if he intends to keep his family’s fortune and the Eden’s End estate. Christopher cannot imagine a worse fate: as he isn’t attracted to women, his chances of making a wife happy are slim. Furthermore, if his quest to marry has any hope of succeeding, he must move to London posthaste and acquire some more suitable staff.
Enter James Harding, Christopher’s new, distractingly handsome—if rigidly traditional—valet. After a rocky start, the two strike up a fragile friendship amid the throes of the London Season . . . a friendship that threatens to shatter under the looming shadow of Christopher’s impending nuptials—and the secrets both men are keeping.
With its heady combination of dry wit, slow-burn romance, and a nuanced, complex portrait of trans identity and relationships that’s as relevant now as it was during the Regency era, A Gentleman’s Gentleman stands to transform the historical romance genre as we know it.
The Lady Sparks a Flame (Damsels of Discovery #2) by Elizabeth Everett – 25 Mar (Berkley)
Lady Phoebe Hunt never anticipated returning from exile. A fatal choice drove her from England, but the death of her father—and the revelation of his debts—has brought her home. Once she settles her father’s estate, she will return to America, where she has reinvented herself. There’s no reason to remain, not even for one gravitationally challenged but deliciously tempting Sam Fenley.
Samuel Fenley is all ambition. Rising from shop boy to wealthy investor, he’s left knocking on doors that open only for those with a title. Unless he buys the damned door itself—and the estate that goes with it. Sam offers to relieve Phoebe of her burdens, but is her crumbling mansion all Sam wants? Or is it the Lady herself?
When threats from Phoebe’s past spark new dangers, Sam and Phoebe discover that neither is what the other expected. Standing on the edge of disaster, the disgraced Ice Queen will have to decide if she wants to forge through life alone, or let an unlikely hero melt her heart.
Mystery
Kills Well With Others (Killers of a Certain Age #2) by Deanna Raybourn – 4 Mar (Berkley)
After more than a year of laying low, Billie, Helen, Mary Alice, and Natalie are called back into action. They have enjoyed their rest, but the lack of excitement is starting to a professional killer can only take so many watercolor classes and yoga sessions before she gets the itch to get back in the game. When they receive a call from Naomi Ndiaye, the head of the elite assassin organization known as the Museum, they are ready tackle the greatest challenge of their careers.
Someone on the inside has compiled a list of important kills committed by Museum agents, all of them connected to a single, shadowy figure, an Eastern European gangster who rules her business empire with an iron fist and plays puppet master in international affairs. Naomi is convinced this criminal queen is bent upon revenge, killing off the agents who attempted to thwart her, and the aging quartet of killers is next.
Together the foursome embark on a wild ride across the globe on the double mission of rooting out the Museum’s mole and hunting down the gangster and her assassin. But their nemesis is unlike any they’ve faced before, and it will take all their experience and a whole lot of luck to get out of this mission alive.
Paranormal Romance
Alphas Never Hide (Willow Lake Supernaturals #5) by Lori Ames – 5 Mar (November Snow)
Hayden Walker might be trapped in Willow Lake by guilt and duty, but he’s no one’s alpha. It doesn’t matter how many times people call him Alpha, with a capital A like it’s his name, he just isn’t—just ask his last pack. They had no problem rejecting him to follow his traitorous brother, Robbie, twelve years ago.
Hayden thought he’d come to terms with what happened back then, but it turns out some things don’t get easier to accept with time. After discovering his brother’s latest sinister activities, Hayden can’t hide from the truth anymore. He has to stop him, particularly when Ryley Bell, his fated mate, is his brother’s latest victim.
Hayden can’t let his brother harm anyone else. Robbie won’t take anyone else from him. Not again. Never again.
Werewolves Don’t Howl (SingSong City #6) by Juliann Whicker – 12 Mar (Self)
In the heart of Singsong City, a gnome-elven reporter keeps her head down so that her secret werewolf identity isn’t revealed. But when the monster who infected her starts leaving behind a trail of dead or mutated girls, she’ll need to face her past and put on her investigative reporter hat, however much it disturbs the local pack and her own peace of mind. With the help of an impossible ally, she must unravel the mysteries of her own past before they consume her future. Will she find a murderer and a happy ending, or will the monster under her skin devour everything she loves?
Science Fiction
Murder by Memory (Dorothy Gentlemen #1) by Olivia Waite – 18 Mar (Tordotcom)
Welcome to the HMS Fairweather, Her Majesty’s most luxurious interstellar passenger liner! Room and board are included, new bodies are graciously provided upon request, and should you desire a rest between lifetimes, your mind shall be most carefully preserved in glass in the Library, shielded from every danger.
Near the topmost deck of an interstellar generation ship, Dorothy Gentleman wakes up in a body that isn’t hers—just as someone else is found murdered. As one of the ship’s detectives, Dorothy usually delights in unraveling the schemes on board the Fairweather, but when she finds that someone is not only killing bodies but purposefully deleting minds from the Library, she realizes something even more sinister is afoot.
Dorothy suspects her misfortune is partly the fault of her feckless nephew Ruthie who, despite his brilliance as a programmer, leaves chaos in his cheerful wake. Or perhaps the sultry yarn store proprietor—and ex-girlfriend of the body Dorothy is currently inhabiting—knows more than she’s letting on. Whatever it is, Dorothy intends to solve this case. Because someone has done the impossible and found a way to make murder on the Fairweather a very permanent state indeed. A mastermind may be at work—and if so, they’ve had three hundred years to perfect their schemes…
When the Moon Hits Your eye by John Scalzi – 25 Mar (Tor Books)
From the New York Times bestselling author of Starter Villain comes an entirely serious take on a distinctly unserious subject: what would really happen if suddenly the moon were replaced by a giant wheel of cheese.
It’s a whole new moooooon.
One day soon, suddenly and without explanation, the moon as we know it is replaced with an orb of cheese with the exact same mass. Through the length of an entire lunar cycle, from new moon to a spectacular and possibly final solar eclipse, we follow multiple characters — schoolkids and scientists, billionaires and workers, preachers and politicians — as they confront the strange new world they live in, and the absurd, impossible moon that now hangs above all their lives.
Science Fiction Romance
Chaos (Uncharted Hearts #3) by Constance Fay – 11 Mar (Bramble)
He’s a mind controlled killing machine, until her touch frees him
Engineer Caro Ogunyemi thinks she has everything in control. Sure, she has a dark secret in her past and aim so bad that she can’t shoot the side of a spaceship when she’s right in front of it, but those are minor details in the life of a space mercenary. When Caro embarks on a solo mission infiltrating a prison planet that is run by the deadly Pierce family, she embraces the opportunity to prove she’s a hero.
It’s there that Caro meets Leviathan, a super soldier with a chip in his head that turns him into a mindless killer. He’s drop dead gorgeous with an emphasis on drop dead, until she touches him and renders his chip inert. The danger begins when she lets him go.
In the heart of enemy territory, where love is at stake, life is treacherous and time is short, Caro and Leviathan must figure out how to recover his agency, protect her crew from Pierce’s sinister machinations, and stage a prison-break before Leviathan is lost to her―and himself―forever.
Her Cyborg Commander (The Drift: Haven Colony #9) by Susan Hayes – 28 Mar (Black Scroll Publications Ltd)
Coming to Haven colony should have marked the start of her new life, but the past isn’t done with her, yet.
River had negotiated the agreement that brought the survivors of Reamus Station to Haven. Back then, she’d dreamed it would be a sanctuary for her cyborg brethren, somewhere out of reach from those who had created and tormented them. She’d been wrong.
Now her home, her friends, and the future she worked so hard for are all in danger… because of her.He’d vowed to protect every cyborg in Haven… but he’d take on the galaxy to keep her safe.
Edge doesn’t have any illusions about who or what he is–a weapon forged in the heat of battle and quenched in the blood of his kills.
As happy as he is for the rest of his brethren to settle into new lives, he can’t see himself doing the same. It’s enough for him to watch over them from a distance, especially when it comes to River. She’s beautiful, frustratingly stubborn, and far too good for him.When an old enemy threatens their new home, these broken souls will have to decide which rules are worth breaking, and which chances are worth taking.
Urban Fantasy
Thaumaturgic Tapas (Hidden Dishes #3) by Tao Wong – 1 Mar (Starlit Publishing)
With Magic Comes Mayhem
For the Nameless Restaurant, once a discreet hole-in-the-wall meant for a cast of supernatural regulars, the increasing levels of background magic has brought with it that most dreadful of locusts – new customers.
The staff of the Nameless Restaurant are finding the influx of new customers – both mortal and magical – to be a challenge. They’re reaching a breaking point and something has to give.
The only question is, will it be Mo Meng’s rules on magic or the restaurant itself?
The Vampire and the Case of the Hellacious Hag (Portlock Paranormal Detective #5) by Heather G. Harris – 7 Mar (Hellhound Press Limited)
I’ve been to the Police Academy, I’ve seen things I can’t unsee, and learnt things I can’t unlearn. I’m returning to Portlock stronger than ever, so naturally the stakes have risen too.
I have the skills now to track down the military group that distributed foul drugs into my hidden paranormal town, and it is time to hold them accountable for their actions. But I won’t be alone. Fluffy, Shadow and Sidnee are riding shotgun with me. And Sidnee has a score to settle.
Things are going to get fiery. Luckily, I’m all about the flames.
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!