Thursday, May 9, 2013

Make Your Reservations!




It's time again to mark your calendars and Make Your Reservations for June! Here are a few of the romances we are looking forward to next month. Are any of these upcoming books on your list? If so, which ones? If not, which books are on your list?




Once Upon a Tower
By Eloisa James

To win her love. . .

As an extremely wealthy laird, Gowan Stoughton, Duke of Kinross, can have any of the maidens at the ball he attends. The only problem is they are all English and Gowan is not so certain they are suitable. He is accustomed to the hard-working lasses from his Highlands, not these dainty noblewomen who spend their days drinking tea or some other such nonsense. But then he makes the acquaintance of Lady Edith Gilchrist. Utterly bewitched by the emerald-eyed beauty with lush golden locks, he knows he must have her.

He must free her from her tower. . .

"Edie" had the misfortune of being dreadfully ill at her debut ball and barely remembers what Gowan looks like. Even worse, she accepted his proposal the following day. Edie's only true passion is playing music—until Gowan writes a scandalous letter and stirs the most irresistible desire. Yet when they marry, Edie realizes her husband needs a lesson and locks herself in a tower. Somehow Gowan must find a way to enter the tower and convince his new bride that she belongs in his arms.

(Avon)


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It Had to Be You
By Jill Shalvis

Ali Winters is not having a good day. Her boyfriend left her, everyone in town thinks she's a thief, and now she's about to be kicked out of her home. Her only shot at keeping a roof over her head and clearing her name is to beg for help from a police detective who's as sexy as he is stern....

After a high-profile case goes wrong, Luke Hanover returns to his hometown for some peace and quiet. Instead he finds a bombshell brunette in a heap of trouble. As he helps Ali put her world back together, the pieces of Luke's own life finally seem to fall into place. Is this the start of a sizzling fling? Or are Luke and Ali on the brink of something big in a little town called Lucky Harbor?

(Grand Central)


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What the Duke Desires
By Sabrina Jeffries

Maximilian Cale, the Duke of Lyons, long ago buried his grief for his missing elder brother, Peter, who was presumed dead after being kidnapped. When a mysterious note arrives from investigator Tristan Bonnaud asserting that the Duke’s brother is alive, it leads Max straight to the winsome Lisette Bonnaud, illegitimate daughter of a viscount and Tristan’s sister. Soon he and Lisette are traveling to Paris posing as husband and wife, in search of Tristan, who has disappeared. And the longer he spends with Lisette, the easier it is for Max to see that the line between dukedom and desire is easier to cross than he imagined…

(Pocket)


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Carolina Girl
By Virginia Kantra

Meg Fletcher spent her childhood dreaming of escaping Dare Island—her family’s home for generations. So after she landed a high-powered job in New York City, she left and never looked back. But when she loses both her job and the support of her long-term, live-in boyfriend, she returns home to lick her wounds and reevaluate her life.

Helping out her parents at the family inn, she can’t avoid the reminders of the past she’d rather forget—especially charming and successful Sam Grady, her brother's best friend. Their one disastrous night of teenage passion should have forever killed their childhood attraction, but Sam seems determined to reignite those long-buried embers. As Meg discovers the man he’s become, she’s tempted to open her vulnerable heart to him. But she has no intention of staying on Dare Island—no matter how seductive Sam’s embrace might be…

(Berkley)


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Any Duchess Will Do
By Tessa Dare

What's a duke to do, when the girl who's perfectly wrong becomes the woman he can't live without?

Griffin York, the Duke of Halford, has no desire to wed this season—or any season—but his diabolical mother abducts him to "Spinster Cove" and insists he select a bride from the ladies in residence. Griff decides to teach her a lesson that will end the marriage debate forever. He chooses the serving girl.

Overworked and struggling, Pauline Simms doesn't dream about dukes. All she wants is to hang up her barmaid apron and open a bookshop. That dream becomes a possibility when an arrogant, sinfully attractive duke offers her a small fortune for a week's employment. Her duties are simple: submit to his mother's "duchess training"… and fail miserably.

But in London, Pauline isn't a miserable failure. She's a brave, quick-witted, beguiling failure—a woman who ignites Griff's desire and soothes the darkness in his soul. Keeping Pauline by his side won't be easy. Even if Society could accept a serving girl duchess—can a roguish duke convince a serving girl to trust him with her heart?

(Avon)


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A Cookbook Conspiracy
By Kate Carlisle

It’s a recipe for disaster when bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright is asked to restore an antique cookbook….
Brooklyn has always been a little obsessed with food, but it was her sister Savannah who became a chef, graduating from the prestigious Cordon Bleu school in Paris. She and her classmates all went on to successful careers, but none of them achieved culinary superstardom like Savannah’s ex-boyfriend Baxter Cromwell.

When Baxter invites the old gang to participate in his new restaurant’s gala opening in San Francisco, Savannah looks forward to seeing her friends, and even asks Brooklyn to restore a tattered cookbook—an old gift from Baxter—as a present for him. But Brooklyn immediately recognizes that the book, which has strange notes and symbols scrawled in the margins, is at least two hundred years old. She thinks that it probably belongs in a museum, but Savannah insists on returning it to Baxter.

Shortly after receiving the gift, Baxter is found dead, with Savannah kneeling over him, bloody knife in hand, and the rare cookbook has disappeared. Brooklyn knows her sister didn’t kill him, and she suspects the missing cookbook might lead to the real villain. Now Brooklyn will have to turn up the heat on the investigation before Chef Savannah finds herself slinging hash in a prison cafeteria.

(Obsidian)


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A Hundred Summers
By Beatriz Williams

Memorial Day, 1938: New York socialite Lily Dane has just returned with her family to the idyllic oceanfront community of Seaview, Rhode Island, expecting another placid summer season among the familiar traditions and friendships that sustained her after heartbreak.

That is, until Greenwalds decide to take up residence in Seaview.

Nick and Budgie Greenwald are an unwelcome specter from Lily’s past: her former best friend and her former fiancĂ©, now recently married—an event that set off a wildfire of gossip among the elite of Seaview, who have summered together for generations. Budgie’s arrival to restore her family’s old house puts her once more in the center of the community’s social scene, and she insinuates herself back into Lily's friendship with an overpowering talent for seduction...and an alluring acquaintance from their college days, Yankees pitcher Graham Pendleton. But the ties that bind Lily to Nick are too strong and intricate to ignore, and the two are drawn back into long-buried dreams, despite their uneasy secrets and many emotional obligations.

Under the scorching summer sun, the unexpected truth of Budgie and Nick’s marriage bubbles to the surface, and as a cataclysmic hurricane barrels unseen up the Atlantic and into New England, Lily and Nick must confront an emotional cyclone of their own, which will change their worlds forever.

(Putnam)


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One Sweet Ride
By Jaci Burton

Gray Preston was born into money, but he’s built his racing empire on hard work and muscle. And now that Gray has millions of fans, his senator father sends one of his aides, Evelyn Hill, to elicit Gray’s help in garnering votes for the upcoming national election. Gray wants nothing to do with his estranged father’s campaign, but Evelyn can be pretty persuasive. She’s willing to learn about racing, and maybe even get a little dirty.

Evelyn’s number-one goal is politics, which makes working with Gray difficult, because his only passion is fast cars. As she and Gray spend time together, he teaches her about the sport he loves, and she learns a lot about the man behind the wheel. The more she learns, the more she wants him. But any desire that threatens to derail the carefully laid plans for her future is a dangerous one.

With the passion Gray and Evelyn share running hotter than either imagined, one of them is going to have to compromise, or else run the risk of losing more than their hearts.

(Berkley)


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Sisters of Mercy Flats
By Lori Copeland

The three wily and beautiful McDougal sisters can swindle a man faster than it takes to lasso a calf. But their luck is running out, and they’re about to be hauled off to jail. When the wagon carrying them falls under attack, each sister is picked up by a different man. Unfortunately for Abigail, she’s grabbed by a twit of a shoe salesman, Mr. Hershall Digman. She steals his horse and rides off to the nearest town, not giving him another thought…until she discovers those secret papers in his saddlebags. Could Mr. Digman be a Confederate spy?

As if to prove it, the man who comes storming after her is no shoe salesman, but a handsome captain who wants his papers back…at any cost. And Abigail wants a ride back home. Together they embark on his mission, determined not to trust each other…or the God who won’t seem to let them go.

(Harvest House)

30 comments:

  1. I'm eagerly awaiting Jaci and Jill's upcoming releases.

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    1. Me too! Isn't that an awesome cover on Jaci's book? Yum!

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  2. I have been waiting for Kate Carlisle, Jill Shavis, and Tessa Dare's new ones. Oh and Sabrina Jeffries slid one in there when I wasn't looking too!

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    1. I'm just getting into Jill Shalvis' books. I've been buying them but just haven't had the time to read. Kate Carlisle, Tessa Dare and Sabrina Jeffries are all auto-buy authors for me.

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  3. I am looking forward to Eloisa James and Tessa Dare's books.

    Is the Jaci Burton book a part of her Play by Play series? The cover is to die for.

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    1. Yes, Antonia, One Sweet Ride is part of the Play by Play series.

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  4. I'm looking forward to Jill, Tessa, Eloisa and Sabrina's books.
    I'm not familiar with Kate, Beatriz, Jaci, Virginia or Lori's writing.

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    1. Laurie, Kate's bibliophile mystery series is filled with quirky, likable characters and set (mostly) in the San Francisco area. The main characters are continuing throughout the series.

      Virginia Kantra's new contemporary series is set on an island off the coast of North Carolina and centers around the Fletcher family. Carolina Girl is the secnd book in the series. Here's a link to my review of Carolina Home, the first book in the series. http://tinyurl.com/c9mwsow

      Lori Copeland, in my opinion, is one of the best inspirational writers in the market today. Her books are well-written, emotional, often humorous and never preachy.

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  5. Shalvis, Kantra, Burton's.
    Pat L.

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  6. I've read Once Upon a Tower and Any Duchess Will Do, and both were five star reads for me. I'm sure I'll be rereading both. I've been eager to read Virginia Kantra's second Dare Island book since I finished the first one, and Jeffries, Shalvis, and Kate Carlisle's mysteries are autobuys for me. I loved Beatriz Williams's debut book and look forward to A Hundred Summers. I'm also REALLY eager to see what Manda Collins does with Amelia Snow, the mean girl in her Ugly Ducklings trilogy in the enovella "The Perks of Being a Beauty" and to How to Tame Your Duke, the first book in a new trilogy from Juliana Gray. Then there's Megan Mulry's Earl Meets Girl and a new one from Barbara Delinsky and . . .

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    1. I've read Once Upon a Tower and Any Duchess Will Do, and both were five star reads for me.

      I have ARCs of both and am hoping to get to them this weekend!

      I'm also REALLY eager to see what Manda Collins does with Amelia Snow, the mean girl in her Ugly Ducklings trilogy in the enovella "The Perks of Being a Beauty"

      Me too!

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  7. The books by Dare, Shalvis, Jeffries and James are high on my TBR list. Right now, I'm reading one of Grace Burrowes' Lonely Lords books (Nicholas) and I'll be ready for the June one (Ethan) soon. Great list.

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    1. I'm saving Burrowes' books to read together. Love her writing!

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  8. Ack I'm not ready for June lol. I just got Eloisa James' When Beauty Tamed the Beast so I'm sure I'll want her new one. And oh so many good historicals and Jill Shalve and, and and...

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    1. Double ack! I'm not ready either! Where has this year gone???

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    2. ack I mispelled Shalvis - sorry, Jill lol.

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  9. I'm w/ catslady -- not ready for June, I've barely started May ;) but both Sabrina's & Tessa's books are at the top of my June list w/ my reservations already placed on copies :)

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    1. Gamistress, have you read Tessa Dare's recent e-novella, "Beauty and the Blacksmith?" It's Diana Highwood's story. I highly recommend it! (It's only $1.99!)

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  10. Andrea, it's safe to say I'm looking forward to many of these! I love Lucky Harbor, really got into Eloisa James's fairy tale-inspired romances, love Kate Carlisle's Brooklyn Wainright, have had my eye out for Sabrina Jeffries' Dukes Men, and have been antsy to get the next installment of Virginia Kantra's Dare Island series.

    So I'm now watching for all of them to be released.

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    1. Nancy, I've read an ARC of CAROLINA GIRL and it's wonderful. The only problem with it is that I want more, more, more...now, now, now!

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  11. I'm glad to see I'm not alone in my love for these upcoming books and their authors!!! And thank you to those who have added more books to my TBB list. My husband might not thank you, but I will. *g*

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  12. I can't wait for the Shalvis, James, Jeffries and Dare books!

    Marcy Shuler

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  13. I can't wait for the new books by Eloisa James, Sabrina Jeffries and Tessa Dare to hit the bookstores! Three of my favorite must read authors.

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  14. I have Eloisa's, Jill's, Jaci's & Sabrina's books on my list, too. I haven't read the rest of Tessa's series, but that will eventually be on my list when I catch up!

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  15. I have to definitely put Lori Copeland' s book on my TBR list!

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  16. Another terrific line-up. The historicals are all by favorite authors. Virginia Kantra, Jill Shalvis, and Kate Carlisle are all favorites.

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  17. ONCE UPON A TOWER is on the top of my wish list right now.

    So many great books here.

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  18. So many books............You gals are wrecking budget as usual!

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  19. My top 3 for June are: Sabrina Jeffries, Jill Shalvis and Eloisa James. Three of my favorite authors, can't wait! :)

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