June 2024 Stuffed With New Romance Books
Sad News
Hi, I’m sorry I haven’t made a post in a while. I’m very sad to say that my Mom passed away in March and it’s been a rough time lately. I’m trying to get back to things I love so let’s concentrate on that.
Forward, Always!
Welcome, Summer! I’ve already read a great new favourite this summer, Ellie K. Wilde’s “Only In Your Dreams“. I gave it five stars and will be including it in my yearly favourites list.
Listicle Ahead!
Now, on with new releases. June is going to be a spectacular month for new romances releases with a absolutely packed publish date on June 4th. There are at least 16 new romances publishing on that date. I’ve included those 16 on my list today. I’ve got 34 books that I’m dying to tell you about in this June 2024 Romance Releases list. (There were two from St. Martin’s Press that I couldn’t include because I and the group at Readers for Accountability are still boycotting them for the racist content that was published on their social media.) Okay on to the LISTICLE: June 2024 Stuffed With New Romance Books!
If I’ve missed a book that you feel deserves to be on my list, please let me know. Be sure to bookmark this page so you can refer to it when you need to throughout the month.
Thanks, Kate
✓ Get your books on next month’s list.
✓ Let me know if you are having problems commenting.
June 4 (the busiest release date in a while)
I’m listing 16 titles that are publishing on this date. That is not all of the titles that are releasing but they are the ones I thought my readers would want to know about. Let me know what you’re most looking forward to this month in the comments below or contact me at the link above.
A sweeping small-town romance about love, loss, and a Montana legacy from USA Today bestselling author Devney Perry.
I met West Haven when I was eight years old. He taught me to play poker when I was nine, and we made paper airplanes together when I was eleven. He kissed me when I was sixteen. He was the best part about my family’s summer vacations to Montana. He was the boy who stole my heart. I was twenty-three when life ripped us apart.
Years later, I’m breaking my vow and returning to the ranch, not as a guest but its new owner. West might want me gone, but even he has to admit the only way to save his family’s legacy is with my help.
It’s not easy working side by side and facing those old memories. But this situation is only temporary. We’re at a crossroads. And as long as I don’t let myself fall in love with West Haven again, maybe this is our chance to put those ghosts to rest. Maybe this time we’ll finally be able to say goodbye.
Contract killer Lachlan Kane wants a quiet life working in his leather studio and forgetting all about his traumatic past. But when he botches a job for his boss’s biggest client, Lachlan knows he’ll never claw his way out of the underworld. At least, not until songbird Lark Montague offers him a deal: use his skills to hunt down a killer and she’ll find a way to secure his freedom. The catch? He has to marry her first.
And they can’t stand each other.
Indie singer-songwriter Lark is the sunshine and glitter that burns through every cloud and clings to every crevice that Lachlan Kane tries to hide inside. The surly older brother of her best friend’s soulmate, Lachlan thinks she’s just a privileged princess, but Lark has plenty of secrets hiding in the shadows of her bright light. With her formidable family in a tailspin and her best friend’s happiness on the line, she’s willing to make a vow to the man she’s determined to hate, no matter how tempting the broody assassin might be.
As Lachlan and Lark navigate the dark world that binds them together, it becomes impossible to discern their fake marriage from a real one. But it’s not just familiar dangers that haunt them.
There’s another phantom lurking on their doorstep.
And this one has come for blood.
The New York Times bestselling author of Almost There delivers the start of a new rom-com series with an enemies-to-lovers romance, perfect for readers of Abby Jimenez and Jasmine Guillory.
Ashanti Wright is ecstatic over the success of her dog boarding business, Barkingham Palace. In fact, it has become so successful that Ashanti has plans to expand her empire with a doggie bake shop. There’s just one problem, the building she’s had her eye on has just been sold to the surly grandson of one of her favorite customers.
Thaddeus Sims is not a dog person. He’s barely a person’s person. But when his grandmother is transferred to a senior living facility that doesn’t accept pets, the former army officer agrees to care for her annoying Standard Poodle, Puddin’. After all, it was with his grandmother’s help that Thad was able to buy the building that will soon house The PX, a sports bar/all-around hangout space for former servicemen that he plans to open.
Puddin’ and Ashanti’s French Bulldog, Duchess, have become a bit of a sensation on Barkingham Palace’s livestream because of their budding romance. When a video of the dogs sharing a doggy treat Lady and the Tramp-style goes viral, their owners are sucked into a media frenzy that captures the nation by storm…and creates some sparks for their owners too.
For fans of Emily Henry, a debut about a rom-com screenwriter who doesn’t believe in love and a divorce attorney who does, forced together at their high school reunion fifteen years after their breakup
Molly Marks writes Hollywood rom-coms for a living—which is how she knows “romance” is a racket. The one and only time she was naive enough to fall in love was with her high school boyfriend, Seth—who she ghosted on the eve of graduation and hasn’t seen in fifteen years.
Seth Rubinstein believes in love, the grand, fated kind, despite his job as, well…one of Chicago’s most successful divorce attorneys. Over the last decade, he’s sought “the one” in countless bad dates and rushed relationships. He knows his soulmate is out there. But so far, no one can compare to Molly Marks, the first girl who broke his heart.
When Molly’s friends drag her to Florida for their fifteenth high school reunion, it is poetic justice that she’s forced to sit with Seth. Too many martinis and a drunken hookup later, they decide to make a bet: whoever can predict the fate of five couples before the next reunion must declare that the other is right about true love. The catch? The fifth couple is the two of them.
Molly assures Seth they are a tale of timeless heartbreak. Seth promises she’ll end up hopelessly in love with him. She thinks he’s delusional. He has five years to prove her wrong.
Wickedly funny, sexy, and brimming with laughs and heart like the best romantic comedies, Just Some Stupid Love Story is for everyone who believes in soulmates—even if they would never admit it.
When a Mexican heiress defies Victorian society to protect her country a British war hero makes it his new mission to protect her…
Isabel Luna Valdés has long since resigned herself to being the “forgotten” Luna sister. But thanks to familial connections to the Mexican ambassador in London, wallflower Isabel is poised to unearth any British intelligence hidden by the ton that might aid Mexico during the French Occupation. Though she slips easily from crowded ballrooms into libraries and private studies, Isabel’s search is hampered by trysting couples and prowling rogues—including the rakish Captain Sirius Dawson.
As a covert agent for the British Home Office, Sirius makes a game of earning the aristocracy’s confidence. He spends his days befriending foolish politicians and seducing well-born ladies in order to learn their secrets. But after he spies a certain sharp-tongued Luna sister lurking in the shadows where no proper debutante should venture, it’s clear Sirius is outmatched, outwitted, and soon to be outmaneuvered by the one woman he can’t resist.
Their mutual attraction is undeniable, but when Isabel discovers private correspondence that could turn the tide of political turmoil in Mexico, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to protect her country—even if this means ignoring her heart and courting danger…
Do not touch the sword.
Do not turn the key.
Do not open the gate.
In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn’t much a girl wouldn’t do for a glass of water.
Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses, or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen’s reservoirs for as long as she can remember.
But a secret is like a knot.
Sooner or later, it is bound to come undone.
When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently reopens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares…but it turns out they’re real, and Saeris has landed herself right in the middle of a centuries-long conflict that might just get her killed.
The first of her kind to tread the frozen mountains of Yvelia in over a thousand years, Saeris mistakenly binds herself to Kingfisher, a handsome Fae warrior, who has secrets and nefarious agendas of his own. He will use her Alchemist’s magic to protect his people, no matter what it costs him… or her.
Death has a name.
It is Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate.
His past is murky.
His attitude stinks.
And he’s the only way Saeris is going to make it home.
Be careful of the deals you make, dear child.
The devil is in the details…
N.B. Quicksilver contains depictions of graphic violence/adult situations and is therefore recommended for readers 17+. For a full list of tropes and TWs, please visit the author’s website.
Ex-best friends, Tiwa and Said, must work together to save their Islamic Center from demolition, in this romantic story of rekindling and rebuilding by award-winning authors Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé & Adiba Jaigirdar!
Let’s get one thing straight: this is a love story.
These days, Said Hossain spends most of his time away at boarding school. But when his favorite hometown librarian Ms. Barnes dies, he must return home to New Crosshaven for her funeral and for the summer. Too bad being home makes it a lot harder to avoid facing his ex-best friend, Tiwa Olatunji, or facing the daunting task of telling his Bangladeshi parents that he would rather be an artist than a doctor.
Tiwa doesn’t understand what made Said start ignoring her, but it’s probably that fancy boarding school of his. Though he’s unexpectedly staying through the summer, she’s determined to take a page from him and pretend he doesn’t exist. Besides, she has more than enough going on, between grieving her broken family and helping her mother throw the upcoming Eid celebration at the Islamic Center—a place that means so much to Tiwa.
But when the Islamic Center accidentally catches fire, it turns out the mayor plans to demolish the center entirely. Things are still tense between the ex-friends but Tiwa needs Said’s help if there’s any hope of changing the mayor’s mind, and Said needs a project to submit to art school (unbeknownst to anyone). Will all their efforts be enough to save the Islamic Center, save Eid, and maybe save their relationship?
June 4 (still!)
It’s hate-at-first-sight when a jilted Irish chef returns home to Inishmore and immediately clashes with a mouthy American tourist.
This steamy romance novel by New York Times bestselling author Amy Ewing is perfect for fans of Abby Jimenez and Beth O’Leary.
Cordelia James was once at the top of her game—a renowned street photographer with a massive social media following, gallery showings in Chelsea, and a lucrative book deal. But after the sudden death of her father, Cordelia can barely force herself to leave her apartment. That is, until she sees an ad for a summer gig at a cozy cottage on Ireland’s picturesque Inishmore island. Cordelia is on a plane before she can talk herself out of it.
The moment she steps off the boat, she crashes—literally—into Niall O’Connor, a grumpy local who’s just returned home to Inishmore from Dublin. Niall is nursing a broken heart and trying to patch up a broken life, and he has no time for posh American tourists. The more Cordelia’s and Niall’s paths cross, the more they make each other’s lives hell. But as with all rivalries, their hatred is about to reach a tipping point—and it’s going to heat up their cool coastal nights.
Featuring a lovable band of quirky supporting characters, The Irish Goodbye is a steamy, emotionally gripping tale of love, passion, art, food, and finding where you belong.
A jaded bartender is wooed by a charmingly quirky couple in this fresh and sizzling polyamorous rom-com, set in the exclusive world of high-end cocktail bars.
As a bartender at Terror & Virtue, a swanky New York City cocktail lounge known for its romantic atmosphere and Insta-worthy drinks, Mel has witnessed plenty of disastrous dates. That, coupled with her own romantic life being in shambles, has Mel convinced love doesn’t exist.
Everything changes when Bebe walks into the bar. She’s beautiful, funny, knows her whiskeys—and is happily married to her partner, Kade. Mel’s resigned to forget the whole thing, but Bebe makes her a unique since she and Kade have an open marriage, she’s interested in taking Mel on a date.
What starts as a fun romp turns into a burgeoning relationship, and soon Mel is trying all sorts of things she’d been avoiding, from grand romantic gestures to steamy exploits. Mel even gets the self-confidence to enter a cocktail competition that would make her dream of opening her own bar a reality. In the chaotic whirl of all these new experiences, Mel realizes there might be a spark between her and Kade, too. As Bebe, Kade, and Mel explore their connections, Mel begins to think that real love might be more expansive than she ever thought possible.
A woman inherits a beach house, along with a series of weekend guests, while butting heads with the irritable (and irritatingly handsome) man next door, in this sparkling new escape from Jane L. Rosen.
When a Zoom disaster upends Addison Irwin’s decade-long career at a posh Manhattan advertising agency, things look bleak for the thirty-something mid-western transplant. But an unexpected inheritance from an aunt she barely remembers—a property on Fire Island, complete with guest house and artist’s studio—changes everything.
While debating whether to stay or sell, Addison learns that she’s also inherited her aunt’s list of eclectic guests, tying her to the island for seven summer weekends. Eager to convince Addison to keep the house rather than let a new buyer build a monstrosity in its place, the neighbors welcome her to their laid-back community. Well, all except the moody guy next door, who seems intent on glowering his way through life.
Steadfast in her path since college, Addison is determined not to let this detour on Fire Island throw her off track. But soon, between the revolving door of weekend visitors and the up-and-down relationship with her neighbor (and his adorable dog), she finds herself in unfamiliar territory. Should she try to pick up where she left off—or embrace entirely new possibilities?
Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear high heels and a wig.
Patrick’s acting career is on the rise, and the superhero movie he’s currently filming is the key to putting him on the map… if the endless reshoots ever stop. Will is a secondhand bookseller and part-time drag queen extraordinaire who’s just trying to live his best life—and maybe find love along the way.
They come from different worlds, but after a chance encounter on a particularly chaotic night out, a curious friendship forms between the two men. At least, that’s what they tell each other it is. Sure, Patrick finds Will captivatingly hilarious, and Will can’t help but keep thinking about who is really behind the perfect mask Patrick shows the rest of the world, but nothing could ever really happen, right? Superheroes don’t date drag queens, after all.
When reality comes crashing into the fantasy world they’ve built together, Will has to make a choice between the man of his dreams and being true to himself. Can Patrick be the hero Will’s been waiting for, or will Will be the one to save Patrick, after all? Uproarious and touching, We Could Be Heroes is an ode to queer joy and a romance that just might save the world.
I, Amelia Quinn, am dating again.
I must be out of practice though because I sat down at the wrong man’s table…and kissed him. And now I’m wrapped up in the middle of an FBI case… DREAM COME TRUE!
Except the super sexy agent doesn’t want my help solving this case.
I, Caleb Harris, am a stupid, stupid man. Nothing says rookie agent like kissing a civilian just to get rid of her.
But somehow that didn’t even work because she keeps showing up wherever our suspect is. And now, I’m not so sure she’s innocent in all this. Especially when someone ends up dead.
Date With Danger is a closed door, light hearted, romantic comedy with mystery and suspense.
He’s a pro surfer who lives by one rule – No Distractions. She’s his teams new Social Media Manager, set on breaking through his grumpy exterior and the very rule he holds dear.In the sunny small town of Saltwater Springs, Griffin “Fin” Jones is battling more than just the waves. Returning from a career-threatening injury, he’s not only healing his body but also guarding a wounded heart. Focused on leading his surf team to victory in the regional finals, Fin is determined to keep one rule — No Distractions.
Eliana Ward, a spirited Social Media Manager, finds herself navigating the wreckage of her professional life in the wake of malicious hometown gossip. Offered an unexpected lifeline managing the social media accounts of a small-town surf team, she relocates to Saltwater Springs, where she encounters the grumpiest man she’s ever met – Fin, who’s intent on making her new role anything but smooth sailing.
As Fin struggles to regain trust in himself on the board, Eliana faces her own challenges of winning over the closed-off surfer while battling the demons from her past. In this small-town surf romance, can they learn to heal together, or will Fin’s determination to avoid distractions keep them from the love they never saw coming?
A burned-out bisexual confronts old demons, her estranged chosen family, and the ex she maybe shouldn’t have walked away from when she attends her five-year college reunion.
Charlotte Thorne does not want to go back to Hein University. Her life postcollege isn’t what she expected—her career in media is stalled, her passion for drawing has fallen by the wayside, and she’s done a terrible job keeping in touch with her queer chosen family since graduation day. Willingly spend a full weekend with her incredibly successful classmates? Hard pass.
But when her demanding boss, tech journalist Roger Ludermore, is invited to give the commencement address at this year’s graduation—which falls on the same weekend as her five-year reunion—Charlotte has no choice but to return to campus.
The minute she steps foot on Hein property, the past comes crawling back in its glory and cringe: disco parties at the LGBTQIA+ program house, sleeping in a twin XL bed, and her chemistry with Reece Kreuger, the hockey player she rebounded with after a traumatic breakup. Suddenly the weekend Charlotte has dreaded for months feels like an opportunity to go back in time. Determined to have some fun, Charlotte dodges her best friend’s questions about her mental health, ignores her boss’s constant Slack messages, and tries to avoid the truth about why she ghosted Reece five years ago. But can she really outrun her past and get her life together in seventy-two hours?
Juliette doesn’t hate Priya Pendley.
At least, not in the way teen movies say she should hate the hot popular girl. They don’t do cat fights, love triangles, or betrayal. To survive their intertwined small town lives, they agree to a truce: complete group projects without fighting, don’t gossip to mutual friends, and stand on opposite sides of photos so it’s easy to crop each other out.
Priya seems to have everything during the school year—social media stardom, the handsome track captain boyfriend, and millions of adoring fans. And Juliette is at peace with that, because she has Fogridge Sleepaway Camp, the one place she never feels like “too much.”
But Juliette’s dreams of five Priya-free weeks in paradise are shattered when her rival shows up on move-in day… as her cabinmate, no less. Juliette is determined to enjoy her final summer at camp, even if it means (gag) tolerating Priya Pendley, but fate seems has other plans. If Juliette can’t find something to like about her situation—and about Priya—she risks hating the only home she’s ever had, right before she says goodbye to it forever.
June 5 (wow. finally)
He’s a billionaire in need of a wife …
And I’m his ex who can’t say no to him.
Ten years ago Carson Knight was my one great love, but he abandoned me without a trace.
Now he’s a billionaire single-dad in need of a temporary wife.
And he’s at my house on one knee with a proposal …
Marry him, so he’s more likely to win full custody of his daughter, keeping her safe from her unstable mother. In return, he’ll take care of the medical expenses for a surgery my father needs to survive.
Reluctantly, I agree to tie the knot, on one condition. Once those custody papers are signed, we go our separate ways. Because he’s even more gorgeous, charming, and sweeter than he was back then, and I don’t trust myself not to fall for my fake husband.
Especially when I hear him say “my wife.”
Or feel his hands on my skin. Taste his kiss or see the way he looks at me with those blue eyes and know that our carefully crafted rules will shatter.
Right alongside my heart.
Right alongside my heart.
June 6
Love was a losing battle for this country music darling and a single dad, baseball star until one night brings them together and one small town sets the playing field for a possible winning streak.
They call me Lady Boss. Maneater. Queen. But beneath the makeup, blond wig, and glitzy costumes, I’m just a country girl who likes to sing. I don’t hate men, I’m just struggling to find a good one. I’ve learned my lesson. Fool me once, and it will never, ever happen again. So I’m baffled when I meet Ford Sylver.
A superstar in his own right as the centerfielder for the Chicago Anchors baseball team, plus a single dad to three adorable little girls, we share a moment when I save his firm backside and pretend he’s mine. Something that he can never be.
Only, when he suffers a season-changing injury and I need a place to disappear, we both end up back in Sterling Falls, where I’m suddenly and unwittingly his nanny.
There’s danger in having a wild side. I’ll try anything once. However, forced into close quarters with Ford, acting as his personal nurse, and caring for his three little ones might backfire. Because I’m staring at all I ever wanted and never thought would happen for me.
After losing at love in the past, could I finally be on a winning streak?
To achieve her lifelong dream, Farah needs to pretend she’s in love.
How hard could it be …?
When aspiring actress Farah Sheikh accidentally goes viral for exposing a prejudiced theatre company, she decides to put on her own production with the Tragedies – a group of theatre kids who are similarly desperate to break into the industry.
They have the crew, all they need now is a stage … and money.
Enter former superstar Zayan Amin.
The deal? Zayan will star in and fund the Tragedies’ play, in exchange for a publicity boost generated by a new and (fake) romance with Farah.
There’s just one problem: they can’t stand each other…
Golf is for rich, pretentious jerks who need something to do while they gossip.
That’s always been my opinion. So when my best friend lands me an interview with Miles Day–the youngest golfer to ever win the Masters–I almost say no.
But the six-figure salary attached to the position is too good to pass up.
Miles gives me the job as his assistant, with one caveat–don’t fall in love with him. Easy. So easy that I laugh in his face when he so much as suggests the possibility.
Except… the more time I spend with Miles, the harder it is to resist his charming smile and glittering green eyes.
Catching feelings for him isn’t an option though, because I have goals to reach, and he has an aversion to commitment. Falling in love would be a mistake, one neither of us are willing to make.
June 7
Which cover do you prefer?
Kyle Robbins: Seattle’s rookie tight end and the first boy to break my heart.
Oh, did I mention he’s also my new client… and fake boyfriend?
I thought I left Kyle and our complicated past behind me, but when he saunters up as my new client at a house showing, I’m quickly reminded how much he still haunts me.
I try to walk away, but the stubborn jerk isn’t having it. In fact, he doubles down on working with me, as if our tragic history doesn’t exist at all.
The commission from working with him is the key to a new life for me and my son. It’s worth putting up with the cocky athlete long enough to find him a house. But when Kyle sees the bruises left by my darling ex-husband, he thinks he can save me — and suddenly, he’s interested in much more than just being a client.
Before I know it, I’m wrangled into a scheme so crazy it just might work. Kyle pretends to be my fake boyfriend so he can keep my ex in line until I get the commission from this house sale and get the hell out of Seattle for good.
But with a past as thick with chemistry and tension as ours is, it’s not long before those fake touches feel all too real. Every brush of his hand against my back has me spinning back to that night. Every kiss has me dizzy with the love I felt at eighteen. And every day that passes without me finding him a house has me wondering how much longer I can survive this game we’re playing.
Fake-dating each other was supposed to be for my safety.
But I can’t help thinking my heart is more at risk now than ever before.
________________________________________________
TROPES:
Sports Romance
Fake Dating
Second Chance
Single Mom
He Falls First
“Who Hurt You”
One Bed
June 9
Who says politics and (fake) dating don’t mix?
Congressman Jamie Montgomery knows that re-election will be tough as a young, single man representing a newly redrawn district in North Carolina.
And that’s without him coming out as bisexual.
But when he sees Adrian across a bar, Jamie forgets about the political need for discretion.
It’s supposed to just be one night, but after being publicly outed, fake dating the gorgeous veterinarian may be the only thing that can save Jamie’s campaign.
The more time they spend together, the more they want with each other. But after a childhood as a military brat, big-hearted but anxious Adrian is used to keeping everyone at a distance, finding it easier to connect with animals than people.
As November approaches, Jamie’s re-election is anything but certain. And even if he wins, can introverted Adrian be happy as a politician’s boyfriend?
Bi-Partisan is a charming, fake-dating, political romance, with a bi-awakening and physical and mental health representation. This is the first book in District Love, a series of interconnected stand-alone novels set in Washington, D.C.
June 10
My brother’s best friend might be a cocky wide receiver with an ego the size of Texas, but I did not mean to almost kill him with a ghost pepper. He did that all by himself.
Logan Murphy should come with a warning.
He’s as hot as a Carolina Reaper on black asphalt in the middle of July.
With perfectly messy dark hair and smoldering blue eyes—and don’t even get me started on the way that black tee stretches across his toned chest…
He’s my brother’s best friend.
He’s also a football star on track to win the first wide-receiver MVP in league history.
Good thing I only date golfers… or I did.
Good thing he’s only visiting for a month, because the more I see he’s not a player, the harder it is to block him from running away with my heart.
I’ve always loved football, but after eight years pro, everything about it leaves me cold.
So when I agree to head south with my best friend, the last thing I expect is to have my face melted off by his pepper-loving little sister.
Dylan Bradford was supposed to be a kid, not a feisty pinup who looks at me like she’s never seen a man before.
She’s all curves and cutoffs, bare feet dancing in the warm summer night,
But I’m only in town a month, and she doesn’t date football players.
Then late-night talks turn to sharing past hurts and future dreams, and shy looks turn to confident kisses.
The heat between us can’t be denied.
It’s spicy and sweet, and it melts us together.
Until the way we touch becomes more than friendly—it’s forever.
(THE WAY WE TOUCH is a small-town, brother’s best friend, sports romance with hilarious “accidents,” and a dirty-talking hero. No cheating. No cliffhanger. No third-act breakup.)
June 11
A forbidden, secret affair proves that all’s fair in love and science.
Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a few friends she can always count on, the financial stability she yearned for as a kid, and a successful career as a biotech engineer at Kline, one of the most promising start-ups in the field of food science. Her world is stable, pleasant, and hard-fought. Until a hostile takeover and its offensively attractive front man threatens to bring it all crumbling down.
Eli Killgore and his business partners want Kline, period. Eli has his own reasons for pushing this deal through – and he’s a man who gets what he wants. With one burning exception: Rue. The woman he can’t stop thinking about. The woman who’s off-limits to him.
Torn between loyalty and an undeniable attraction, Rue and Eli throw caution out the lab and the boardroom windows. Their affair is secret, no-strings-attached, and has a built-in deadline: the day one of their companies will prevail. But the heart is risky business – one that plays for keeps.
Mae Kellerman is content. After forty years of ups and downs, she has a meaningful job at a queer community center in Portland, Oregon. She has an apartment full of plants, a ride-or-die group of friends.
Until the day her best friend and mentor actually does up and die. Leaving Mae with a hole in her heart—and a shocking amount of money from his inheritance.
Before she can think about the cash, she has to focus on throwing his perfect death party, followed by spreading his ashes on the Oregon coast. Only then does she take a breath, and in the process, stumbles upon an empty storefront for sale in the tiny whale-watching town of Greyfin Bay. Overnight, an old dream surfaces…and her newfound inheritance could make it possible.
If only Dell McCleary didn’t stand in her way.
Real estate agent and owner of said storefront, Dell only sells property to the folks actually invested in the best interests of Greyfin Bay. Not some Portlander with pink hair who breezes in on a whim. A Portlander who, irritatingly, refuses to take no for an answer.
As Mae upends her life for the pursuit of opening a queer-owned bookstore in a conservative coastal town, she and Dell are forced to work together, navigating prejudices and past traumas along the way. But as opening day of Bay Books grows nearer, Mae’s heart grows increasingly tangled with her landlord’s—even if his own heart might already belong to someone else.
Heartwaves is a contemporary queer romance that explores the risks and rewards of life in any landscape, and the freedom to lift the limitations we put on love.
June 13
A standalone enemies-to-lovers, marriage of convenience romance.
I fell for the villain.
It happened back when I was a clueless girl.
But he ruthlessly broke my heart and trapped it in a jar.
Since then, I’ve sworn to hate him to the end of my days.
Eli King might be a savage devil, but I’m out of his way. And league.
That is until I wake up in a hospital and find him holding my hand.
He tells me the words that change my life forever.
“We got married two years ago, Mrs. King.”
So I set out to investigate how I landed myself into this marriage.
Turns out, my memories are darker than my present.
I thought I was ready for the hurricane.
I thought I could handle his soulless eyes and cold shoulder.
I thought wrong.
Nothing can stop my husband.
Not the secrets surrounding us.
Not the hatred between us.
Not even me.
This book can be read on its own, but for a better understanding of the world, you might want to start with God of Malice.
June 14
He’s the hottest rookie running back the league has ever seen.
He knows how to score a touchdown.
But he’s never scored… with a woman.
She knows nothing about football, but she does like his tight end.
So do her cats.
Her older brother (by two whole minutes) does not.
The next book in the Cocky Kingmans series will have you swooning and wishing you were a part of the Kingman family all over again.
June 18
Rafael
Ellie Sinclair is a hopeless romantic who writes love songs.
I’m a struggling workaholic who could inspire a hundred breakup albums.
On paper, we have nothing in common except for my son.
For eight months, I avoid her until our summer trip.
Fourteen days. Two islands. And one nanny I shouldn’t be attracted to.
Spending time with Ellie is expected, but enjoying her company?
That isn’t part of our travel plans.
After my divorce, I swore to protect my heart at all costs.
Even if it means breaking hers in the process.
Ellie
What’s worse than working for a grumpy single dad?
Admitting that I once had a secret crush on him in high school.
Thankfully, Rafael Lopez and I have changed since we graduated from Wisteria High.
He is a billionaire with a company to run and a child to take care of.
I’m an unemployed songwriter he hired to watch his son and teach music.
We coexist without any issues until a vacation changes everything.
Lines blur and old feelings for Rafael return with vengeance as I face a new dilemma.
Being his son’s nanny is one thing, but wishing for more?
Sounds like a heartbreak song waiting to be written.
A professional baseball player and his heckler prove that true love is worth going to bat for.
Daphne Brink doesn’t follow baseball, but watching “America’s Snoozefest” certainly beats sitting at home in the days after she signs her divorce papers. After one too many ballpark beers, she heckles Carolina Battery player Chris Kepler, who quickly proves there might actually be a little crying in baseball. Horrified, Daphne reaches out to Chris on social media to apologize . . . but forgets to identify herself as his heckler in her message.
Chris doesn’t usually respond to random fans on social media, but he’s grieving and fragile after an emotionally turbulent few months. When a DM from “Duckie” catches his eye, he impulsively messages back. Duckie is sweet, funny, and seems to understand him in a way no one else does.
Daphne isn’t sure how much longer she can keep lying to Chris, especially as she starts working with the team in real life and their feelings for each other deepen. When he finds out the truth, will it be three strikes, she’s out?
June 19
I’ll tell you about the two very large pickles I’ve found myself in, but only if you promise not to laugh…
Pickle number one: I’m unexpectedly pregnant by an NHL star, who just so happens to be my big brother’s best friend—and no, we weren’t exactly dating. For reasons that totally make sense (trust me for now), I never told him about the baby.
Pickle number two: I’m about to lose my family’s charming bed and breakfast unless I can get hitched within six months, thanks to an ancient deed and a ridiculous family feud.
So I made a deal with the baby’s dad, Jake Summers—the dashing captain of the Vermont Vandals hockey team.
Our plan? Fake an engagement, have a showy wedding, solve our little problems, then amicably split. It’s simple: I keep my B&B, and he shows his team he’s serious about cleaning up his act. Perfect, right?
But Jake doesn’t know how to do things by halves. Before I know it, I’m in Manhattan picking out lavish engagement rings and getting swept off my feet. I’m being paraded around charity galas like a princess and becoming the envy of every woman in the country. All this while he’s diving headfirst into being a dad—without knowing he actually is one.
It’s practically foolproof, with hardly any room for this to spectacularly blow up in our faces. So, save the date for our big, fake wedding! What could possibly go wrong?
June 25
She has a dream. He has a plan. Together they’ll take a leap of faith.
Ren has never held an iPhone, googled the answer to a question, or followed a crush on social media. What she has done: Read a book or two, or three (okay, hundreds). Taught herself to paint. Built a working wind power system from scratch. But for all the books she’s read, Ren has never found one that’s taught a woman raised on a homestead and off the grid for most of her twenty-two years how to live in the real world. So when she finally achieves her lifelong dream of attending Corona College, it feels like her life is finally beginning.
Fitz has the rest of his life mapped out: Graduate from Corona at the top of his class, get his criminal record wiped clean, and pass himself off as the rich, handsome player everyone thinks he is. He’s a few short months from checking off step one of his plans when Ren Gylden, with her cascading blonde hair and encyclopedic brain, crashes into his life, and for the first time Fitz’s plan is in jeopardy.
But a simple assignment in their immunology seminar changes the course of both their lives, and suddenly they’re thrown out of the frying pan and into the fire on a road trip that will lead them in the most unexpected directions. Out on the open road, the world somehow shifts, and the unlikely pair realize that, maybe, the key to the dreams they’ve both been chasing have been sitting next to them the whole time.
A professor of literature finds herself caught up in a work of fiction… literally.
Eileen Merriweather loves to get lost in a good happily-ever-after. The fictional kind, anyway. Because at least imaginary men don’t leave you at the altar. She feels safe in a book. At home. Which might be why she’s so set on going to her annual book club retreat this year—she needs good friends, cheap wine, and grand romantic gestures—no matter what.
But when her car unexpectedly breaks down on the way, she finds herself stranded in a quaint town that feels like it’s right out of a novel…
Because it is.
This place can’t be real, and yet… she’s here, in Eloraton, the town of her favorite romance series, where the candy store’s honey taffy is always sweet, the local bar’s burgers are always a little burnt, and rain always comes in the afternoon. It feels like home. It’s perfect—and perfectly frozen, trapped in the late author’s last unfinished story.
Elsy is sure that’s why she must be here: to help bring the town to its storybook ending.
Except there is a character in Eloraton that she can’t place—a grumpy bookstore owner with mint-green eyes, an irritatingly sexy mouth and impeccable taste in novels. And he does not want her finishing this book.
Which is a problem because Elsy is beginning to think the town’s happily-ever-after might just be intertwined with her own.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong delivers a fun romantic comedy about a woman writing under a male pseudonym and the man she hires to play the role in public.
Daphne McFadden already knows that as a female author, the cards are stacked against her. Now she knows just how much. Because her sudden whim to pose as an “outdoorsy hunk of masculinity” male author for her new book just resulted in the a bidding war, a huge book deal, and the kind of fame every author dreams of. Now she’s in big trouble. Because she needs to convince the world that Zane Remington actually exists . . . but how?
By hiring an actor, of course. Only Chris Stanton is not an actor—not officially. He’s used to balancing the books, not pretending he wrote one. Still, he’s mostly certain he can pose as some overly macho bro-author. But when the media descend on Daphne’s gorgeous remote home in the Yukon, it’s not enough for Chris to just be the face of Zane Remington—he’ll have to become him. All while hilariously balancing the terrifying dangers of the wilderness, a massive femme fandom, and a serious crush on Daphne. But as the hype circus gets more out of control, it’s just a matter of time before someone discovers their little write lie . . .
Grey’s Anatomy meets a gender-swapped Wedding Crashers in this spicy rom-com about a one-night stand with The One, walking the tightrope of love and workplace ethics, and knowing which rules are worth breaking.
Every summer, superstar surgeon Whitney Aldritch crashes weddings with her best friend. The first one was an accident though after a decade of dropping in uninvited, they’re masters of their craft. They keep the rules simple and they never go to bed alone.
Then there’s Henry Hazlette, best man and the best one-night stand of Whit’s summer. She never imagined she’d see him again but now he’s one of her new surgical residents—and completely off-limits.
Whitney has staked her reputation on leading the hospital’s new ethics initiative. While Henry is under her supervision, they have to keep it professional. But it doesn’t help that she can’t turn around without running face-first into his offensively broad chest or rubbing up against him in crammed elevators. Also not helping: the way he smiles at her like he can hear her every not-safe-for-work thought.
All they have to do is survive this residency—and the accidental tarot card readings that hit too close to home, a few uninvited houseguests, and the hospital’s hyperactive rumor mill—but only if they’re prepared to bend some rules as the feelings go from just for tonight to get it out of our systems to mine.
Which books are you most excited about? The new Rina Kent? Ali Hazlewood’s latest? Do you prefer romantic comedy or dark romance? Are you into Romantasy or Historical Romance? Let me know!
Check out what was coming out a year ago here.