BP Note: Welcome to June. Normally I try to put something anticipatory here but this month is going to be a bit different. We lost another member of the Romance community during May or let me say the universe gained another shining star one known to most of us as Piper J. Drake. During this past year, she shared many of her wonderful adventures and memory making to include her wedding ceremonies to her chose life partner. One of the last responses she made to one of my comments on the beauty of her ceremonies and the care and attention which went into every detail is that their relationship was one of choosing each other over and over again. This stuck with me because that is what romance and the HEA we require for the genre is all about. People choosing each other. Sure we have insta-love/insta-lust, mating heat, mystical connections in some subgenres but that is the beginning, that isn’t the HEA. The HEA comes after it is the choosing, the getting to know each other, the softening of some edges and the growing of others. It is the belief the reader has at the end when the author has layered actions, reactions, emotions, conversations, and quiet moments and leads us to trusting the characters will continue to choose each other against others. I think this deliberate choice isn’t only a romantic thing, I think and choose to believe it is what has allowed and will allow humanity to grow. We HAVE to chose each other instead of choosing self. We aren’t made to be solo individuals but a society bound together by deliberately choosing the group over the individual. I think we are being scared away from making those choices. I am also writing this on the US Memorial Day when we remember those who didn’t come home. Many of which because they chose to stay with their group to move with them and in some cases to chose them over self. The belief in the bond of the group makes impossible things possible. We just have to make that choice over and over again…
But enough of my rambling thoughts – we have a random line-up for you this month. Including one whose release date moved up to the end of May instead of early June. However, the most interesting is no contemporary releases made the list this time. Did we miss something? Many things? Let us know what your early summer or winter reads are.
Happy reading!
~E
- Cozy Fantasy
- Cozy LitRPG
- Cozy Mystery
- Epic Fantasy
- Fantasy Romance
- Historical Fict
- Historical Mystery
- Mystery
- Paranormal Romance
- Science Fiction
- Science Fiction Romance
- Urban Fantasy
Cozy Fantasy
Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous by Autumn K. England – 26 May (Poisoned Pen Press)
When Oaklin Nettlewood accidentally joined an evil world-ending cult, mind control magic forced them to do unspeakable things. Years later, the realm’s heroes have finally saved the day, defeated the villain, and shattered the last remnants of the spell…leaving destruction in their wake. And so, with a spell-damaged memory and whole bushel of trauma, Oaklin escapes to a small farm on the edge of Mossley’s Rest and swears an oath: After all the things they were forced to do with their magic, they will never use it again. Ever.
The no-nonsense ghost granny who lives in Oaklin’s house has other ideas. As she coaxes Oaklin out of their shell and back into the world, they find companionship (a grumpy horse and a very good dog), friendship (a local bard and magical baker who should just kiss already), and tentative romance (a paladin-librarian who makes Oaklin’s heart come alive for the first time in ages.) Magic even seems possible again―though strictly for foraging magical mushrooms and protecting the farm from bugs.
Healing comes in gentle waves, and Oaklin doesn’t have to do it alone. So what does it mean when an inquisitor comes to town to hunt former cultists just as Oaklin begins to think that maybe, just maybe, they deserve a happy ending after all?
Cozy LitRPG
The Tired Mercenary Just Wants to Farm in Peace (Seneca Farm #2) by Wolfe Locke – 10 Jun (Self)
The farm made it through winter and Kain his first full year. The debt didn’t go anywhere.
Kain owes fifty silver on a horse and has four new plots that won’t plant themselves. The east side of the property sits on a clay hardpan that nobody mentioned when he bought the place. Breaking through it is weeks of pickaxe work he didn’t plan for.
His brother’s son is almost a year old. The boy’s mother runs the only tavern in town alone, and the back stairs are rotting, and the storage room leaks, and she won’t ask for help. Kain finishes his farm work at midday and walks to town. Splits firewood, patches walls, holds the baby while she pours drinks.
A farmer’s daughter on the west road knows more about soil than he’ll learn in ten years. She brought him a seed catalog and told him his drainage was wrong. She was right. She keeps being right, and she keeps showing up to say so, and he hasn’t figured out what that means yet.
Something has the wolf nervous. It won’t go north anymore.
This is the story of showing up.
Cozy Mystery
Murder at the Spirit Lounge (Nora Breen Investigates #2) by Jess Kidd – 16 Jun (Atria)
When Dolores Chimes, a famous medium, arrives in Gore-on-Sea, even surly Detective Inspector Rideout is lured in by her promises of messages for the afterlife.
But after a reading goes disastrously wrong, Dolores loses her life—and the six sitters at the séance with her fall victim to supernatural deaths themselves in the days following the nightmare of a reading.
Determined to unveil the truth, Nora finds herself chasing a ghostly serial killer she believes to be responsible, before the sixth victim—Detective Rideout himself—perishes along with the others.
Epic Fantasy
Heaven’s Graveyard by Grace Curtis – 16 Jun (DAW)
“What do you want to know?”
It’s been 2,000 years since the events of Idolfire, and we’re in a whole new Kite-drawn cargo ships race across thoroughly chartered seas, hauling the latest innovations in convenience and slaughter. It is developed, learned, interconnected, and on the brink of catastrophic war.
Archeologist Cod couldn’t care less about the conflict brewing between neighboring powers. She spends her days in happy obscurity, cataloging relics in the Republic of Asha and searching for clues about her lifelong obsession, the mythical hero Aleya Ana-Ulai.
Then a letter arrives summoning her home. Cod’s old teacher has made the discovery of a lifetime. But her home is Palgaro, and the discovery—the ruins of the enchanted city of Nivela—is set to change the world. And not for the better…
Six Savage Thrones (Queens of Elben #2) by Holly Race – 16 Jun (Orbit)
DIVIDED HE WINS, UNITED HE FALLS.
The kingdom of Elben is in turmoil. One of its magical palaces lies in ruins at the bottom of the ocean and the king is on the hunt for the traitor Queen Seymour. He will not stop until he brings her to her knees.
No one would ever suspect Queen Howard of treachery or spy craft, but she is no longer content to be the king’s songbird. She will see to Henry’s downfall. But there is a new gentleman at court, one who seems to know more about her true motives than he should—is he friend or foe?
Queen Cleves has already survived a war. She knows what she must do to protect herself, but now she finds herself fighting a longing for another queen that is so fierce it might swallow her up.
Amidst the turmoil, King Henry’s sister Cecilia vies for the power she has been denied. But the queens will soon learn they must work together to break the bonds that tie them to the king. For Henry is delving deeper into strange old magics, ones that could birth a monster.
Fantasy Romance
The Barbarian’s Musician (Savagely Sweet Barbarians #3) by Amy Padilla – 2 Jun (Self)
After the gronnok attack, my life was never the same. I was left scarred, ashamed, and certain I would spend the rest of my days alone.
Then Henry arrived.
Blind since childhood, he somehow sees me more clearly than anyone ever has. Where others flinch, Henry offers kindness. His music seems to be the only thing that puts my heart at ease and allows me to finally rest.
But Henry was never meant to stay.
His life is already complicated enough without the hardship and uncertainty of our nomadic lifestyle. If I want any chance of keeping him, I’ll have to convince him that it’s possible for him to build a life here with me and with the clan. Because if I fail, I won’t just lose Henry. I’ll be left to face the darkness alone.
Historical Fiction
The Windsor Affair by Melianie Benjamin – 2 Jun (Delacorte)
Feuding Windsor brothers and their wives—some things, it seems, never change. The Men: Edward David Windsor, heir to the British throne, and Albert, known as Bertie, his younger brother, “the spare.” The Women: Edward’s wife Wallis, an American divorcée, and Bertie’s wife Elizabeth, descended from Scottish nobility. The Feud: a rivalry that will last all their lives, make headlines, and still fuel gossip pages nearly a century later.
The Windsor Affair recreates the cataclysmic events that nearly toppled the monarchy and incited the power struggle between Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the queen-to-be, and Wallis Simpson, aka “That Woman,” who fell into a calculated love affair with Prince Edward. Told from the perspective of both women, the novel propels readers into the fabulous world of the debonair Prince of Wales, café society of the 1930s, and the glittering private lives of the Windsors.
Daughters of Sun and Moon by Lisa See – 9 Jun (Scribner)
In 1870, three Chinese women arrive in the small, dusty and violent pueblo of Los Angeles. Dove, the bound-footed daughter of an imperial scholar, is entrancing and innocent. These characteristics should bring her great rewards, beginning with her arranged marriage to a much older merchant. Petal, the big-footed daughter of peasants, has grown up hungry and with dirt between her toes. In a moment of desperation, Petal’s father sells her to buy money for rice seed, and she is loaded onto a ship to the Gold Mountain – America – where she is once again sold. Moon is married to a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine. She is educated, speaks fluent English and has been endowed with a face of great beauty, yet her failed footbinding as a child has left her with a limp that lessens her value in the eyes of many.
Each woman has her own desires. Dove wants to love and be loved, Petal desires freedom and Moon seeks justice. Together they face a larger society that wishes them not one ounce of good will. Anti-Chinese sentiment is strong in Los Angeles, and this eventually leads to the Night of Horrors during which all three women are challenged in ways they could not have imagined.
Brought together by hardship and heartbreak, they must use their bravery, endurance and ability to ‘eat bitterness,’ discover their voices, find freedom and connect through solace and friendship. Together they are daughters of the sun and moon.
Historical Mystery
An Artful Dodge by Karen Odden – 2 Jun (Soho Crime)
She’s stolen gems, purses, and hearts—but can she steal her life back from the ring of thieves that’s claimed it?
London, 1879: Twenty-year-old Kit Jimeson has fingers so nimble she can nick a necklace off a lady in a crowded theater without raising alarm. Kit and her dodge partner, Mary, are the highest earners in the notorious all-women thieving ring in South London’s Elephant and Castle district.
Kit, whose mother had been a thief before her, dreams of a different life, one where she’s not constantly on the lookout for constables and plainclothes detectives, and where a mistake or pure bad luck won’t land her in the hangman’s noose. She has been saving her earnings so her younger sister, a maid for a wealthy Mayfair family, might have a shot at respectability.
Kit is very close to leaving the life entirely when the legendary former thief Maggie O’Connell brings her plans to a halt. Beautiful, charismatic Maggie has returned to reclaim leadership of the ring after twenty years in a brutal Australian penal colony. But Maggie desires more than mere wealth or power: She longs for revenge against those who sent her away. Kit, with her quick mind and dangerously clever hands, is Maggie’s best weapon. If Kit wants to walk away with her life, she must carry out a heist that will demand every skill she possesses.
Mystery
The Disaster Gay Detective Agency by Lev A.C. Rosen – 2 Jun (Poisoned Pen Press)
Brandon is a hopeless romantic. So when a handsome stranger named Jon checks in at the hotel he works at and invites Brandon to his room, Brandon ignores the advice of his crew—a group of loveable and messy queer twenty—somethings—and accepts. What follows is a tale as old as time: they hook up, Jon promises to text, Brandon falls in love, and Jon ghosts. Case closed—or is it?
When Jon checks out early, leaving behind a bag of belongings and his cellphone, Brandon takes the phone and sets out to find him, thinking that this must at last be his Cinderella story.
But he gets more than he bargained for when he witnesses a murder—and sees Jon fleeing the scene.
Determined (and not in over their heads whatsoever), Brandon, Ollie, Nicole, and Ian decide to solve the mystery of the murder and uncover Jon’s true identity…they just have to figure it out before a target falls on their own backs.
Paranormal Romance
Bright Dead Things (Bitter Legacies #1) by Hailey Turner – 3 Jun (Self)
If the forest stares back at you, you’re already prey.
Bran Gallagher grew up with three rules passed down through his coven: beware forest paths that lead to dangerous mounds, always keep iron close, and never speak of magic.
Cillian Dunne grew up with his mother’s love, his father’s absence, and secret warnings to never trust a witch.
In Pelham’s forest, where bright lights haunt the trees and hunt the lost, there are traditions kept for survival and others out of habit, none of which should be broken.
Bran and Cillian unknowingly broke tradition and ruined each other in the aftermath of a kiss years ago. Reunited in the wake of a family tragedy, they cross paths with something old, something terrifying—something that wants them dead. When Bran’s younger sister is stolen away by a nightmare into the Otherworld, they can only follow and try to keep each other alive in a strange and haunting land.
Trapped in a dangerous Fae Court, Bran learns being a witch comes with a death sentence. To save him, Cillian must fight against those who seek power from a past he has no memory of, and the only person he can trust is the witch who broke his heart.
But it might be too late.
For the Fae have never been kind, and they have always hungered, and this time, what they hunger for is revenge.
A Pack for Summer (Cozyverse #4) by Eliana Lee – 18 Jun (G.P Putnam’s Sons)
The four of us. Under one roof. It’s going to be one hot summer.
Summer Pham has never been shy about going for what she wants. She’s just moved into a cute apartment and fulfilled her dream of opening her very own Vietnamese bakery. Starlight Grove has just found its new lunch obsession, and her friends and family are cheering her on every step of the way.
Everything is perfect . . . as long as you ignore the fancy new patisserie next door and the water pipe that’s just burst and flooded her building. Faced with the prospect of no home and no bakery, a town meeting offers a lifeline. An offer to work and live alongside the Beaufort brothers, who are only in town for the summer.
Lucien, a high-powered executive and eldest alpha brother.
Mercer, the grumpy beta pastry chef she now has to share a kitchen with.
And Jae, her tattooed alpha childhood crush all grown up.
It’s the first time the brothers have been together since the breakdown of their parents’ pack. With temperatures soaring and chemistry sizzling with the omega in their home, it doesn’t take much for the temporary living situation to turn into a friends-with-benefits arrangement.
But hazy summer days are fleeting and when tragedy strikes, Summer may need what they cannot give her—a pack.
Falling for the Felid (Elf Magic #3) by Louisa Masters – 18 Jun (Self)
Secrets like mine aren’t compatible with love… so why am I falling for a felid shifter?
I’ve never watched a hockey game in my life, so being assigned as the liaison to the Warhammers, the local Community of Species Hockey League team, is the last thing I want. Worse, that’s the team Felix Ansas plays for. How do I build a good working relationship when one of the star players hates me?
Not that I blame him. I did accuse him of some pretty awful stuff, and now I need his cooperation if I’m going to fulfil my promises to my king.
I’m not the only one with something to prove. Felix needs to impress his new coach with his team spirit, and teaching me about hockey is his solution. Me and Felix, alone together? Hello, disaster.
Except… it’s not. Felix is a lot more complex than I thought, and I find myself wishing for things that can’t happen. Like sharing my own past. Like a future together.
But if the truth comes out, everything between us will shatter.
Enter the Nightmare (Harmony #19) by Jayne Castle – 30 Jun (Berkley)
Alice Radstone should have known not to return. Her life before the Hotel of Dreams had been the perfectly cloistered world of a teacher at the Ballantine Academy. When the death of her mentor forced her out, she was left to reinvent herself in the big city. Since then, things have not gone well. Ten months ago, after her first trip to the hotel, she woke up in the locked ward of a hospital for the criminally insane, told that she had murdered her husband on their wedding night. She has no memory of the husband or the wedding but after escaping the asylum, one thing is certain—she is never going back.
Unfortunately, Alice’s second reinvented life is also deteriorating rapidly, which is why she finds herself once again at the Hotel of Dreams—this time hiding in the shadows of her room, a dead body in the shower, and two men wearing masks creeping toward the bed to kidnap her. Again.
When the enigmatic and decidedly dangerous Owen March shows up, claiming he’s there to rescue her, she has no choice but to accept his offer—and hope that he doesn’t intend to kidnap her, too.
With Alice and now Owen in the killer’s sights, time is running out. Alice and Owen must trust each other and the electric passion between them if they are to make it out of this hotel alive.
Science Fiction
Foundling Fathers by Meg Elison – 23 Jun (Tachyon)
When a radical think tank clones America’s founding fathers, The Boys from Brazil meets the bicentennial in this ingeniously satirical mashup of U.S. history, cloning, and technocracy gone terribly wrong.
The trouble starts when a curious teenager, Benjamin, finds an iPhone in his privy. The problem is, it’s supposed to be 1750.
Ben takes his discovery to his brothers—Thomas, John, and George. The boys have been raised in isolation on an island plantation by a firm but kind woman, Mary Libertas. All four of them chafe at Mary’s restrictions upon them—especially Thomas, who has impregnated yet another servant.
Meanwhile, their de facto father figure, Jeff Hancock, complains to the shadowy Antediluvian Society that it is past the time to explain to the boys where they come from and what they must do: Run America the way it used to be run.
Green City Wars by Adrian Tchaikovsky – 23 Jun (Tor Books)
In the solar cities of the future, the humans relax in the sun and the animals work in the shadows. Genetically engineered Little Helpers, serving humanity—unseen, unheard.
Meet Skotch. Racoon, P.I.—Yours for a few buttons as long as the job isn’t too illegal, whatever that means.
A mouse has gone missing. Normally this wouldn’t raise any hackles, nor any alarms, but this mouse has something that everyone seems to want, though nobody appears particularly eager to say what that something is.
The fee is good—perhaps too good. Certainly not something Skotch can easily turn down.
If only Skotch can work out where the mouse is hiding, what he’s hiding, and why his secrets are upsetting a lot of animals caught up in the Green City wars.
Science Fiction Romance
Her Cyborg Bounty Hunters (The Drift: Defiance Station #1) by Susan Hayes – 26 Jun (Self)
She’s alone, in trouble, and needs to disappear.
Corporations call it a service contract. Tish calls it slavery with an expiry date. On the run from her new owner, she’s working off the books and keeping out of sight until it’s safe to come out of hiding.
It was a simple, straightforward plan…but when does a plan ever survive contact with reality?
They swore they were done fighting other people’s battles.
Best friends. Bounty hunters. Cyborg batch-brothers. Mace and Sabre have carved out a life for themselves since the end of the Resource Wars, but they never found a place that felt like home.
These two battle-weary veterans are about to discover that for them, home isn’t a place. It’s a person. And they will go to war again if that’s what it takes to keep her safe.
Urban Fantasy
Mack’s Horribly Hellacious Ghost Town (Mack’s Marvelous Manifestations $5) by A.J. Sherwood – 12 Jun (Self)
Apprentices, and two ghost towns, and almost-demons oh…no.
Mack doesn’t mind the apprentice part of this job; in fact, finding Gwyn is delightful, though he hates she grew up in such a haunted town with parents who don’t believe she’s a Medium.
Mack really hates the old mining ghost town is locked down with weird energy and none of the ghosts can see them, which makes passing them difficult.
Mack especially hates that in Black Rock there’s an almost-demon ghost inciting other ghosts to cause a mob, how is that allowed to be a thing?!
Who you gonna call for help when you’re the experts? Mack wants to know for a friend. (Him. He’s the friend.)
Mack has found hell on earth, this was not on his bucket list, Accidental apprentice acquisition, Lachlan is back!, ghost gangs, chaos magician, Seiji is a new bonk bro, wedding, almost demons lurking, too much water and limestone for a medium’s peace of mind, uncharted haunted mines make Lachlan’s day, Eli is her usual scary self, Mack goes Wild West, Brandon can see ghosts here, that’s not a good thing, Brandon gets to have an apprentice too and can’t be happier, ghost pranks, Mack has picked too many battles, he’s putting some back, Ghost-hunting squad–assemble!
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!