Hot new book recommendations for our Modern Romantics this Summer
Take advantage of these enticing must-read books to indulge in the enticing appeal of summer romance. They evoke feelings of warmth and anticipation as they carry you to wonderful places where love flourishes.
SEPTEMBER NEW RELEASES
The Beginning of Everything
by Jackie Fraser
An irresistible friends-to-lovers novel of resilience, hope, and new beginnings from the author of The Bookshop of Second Chances
"A charming book about hope for a new life full of love!"--Nancy Thayer, New York Times bestselling author of All the Days of Summer
After escaping a bad relationship, Jess Cavendish is running and leaving it all behind, carrying just a few treasured belongings in her knapsack. She needs to start over, but that means sleeping where she can and making the most of her slim savings. Luckily, she comes across a recently sold, unoccupied house. It couldn't hurt to stay there while she saves up enough to get her own place, right?
Gethin Thomas is also looking to move on after the end of a long-term relationship. He's returned to his hometown, anxious to renovate the fixer-upper he bought and move out of his sister's cramped guest room. When he walks through the door one morning, he finds Jess, who's ready to run again, and surprises them both by offering to let her stay. It feels like the right thing to do, but Jess doesn't want a handout. They strike a bargain: Jess will help with the restoration, furnishing, and decorating in exchange for room and board.
Picture Perfect Autumn
by Shelley Noble
A Manhattan photographer finds inspiration and new possibilities in a Gothic Rhode Island beach house in this uplifting fall-set read from New York Times bestselling author Shelley Noble.
Dani Campbell is the latest darling of the Manhattan art scene. As a self-taught photographer, Dani is loving every minute of her sudden popularity, but has no idea how she got there, or a clue as to how to stay. On a shoot at an antiques barn, she discovers an envelope of old photos and sees in them what her photos are missing. Her search for their source leads Dani to a small Rhode Island town, a dilapidated American Gothic beach house--and Lawrence Sinclair.
Reclusive and bitter, the last thing eighty-year-old Lawrence wants to think about is photography--the thing that inadvertently led to his son's death and tore his family apart. But Dani is determined and persuasive, and Lawrence can't help but be intrigued by the girl with spiky hair who wants to learn from him, when almost everyone else just wants to relieve him of his substantial fortune.
Enchanted to Meet You: A Witches of West Harbor Novel
by Meg Cabot
A witchy rom-com from New York Times bestseller Meg Cabot about a plus size witch who must team up with a handsome stranger to help protect her village from an otherworldly force--but will she be able to protect her heart?
It's Magic When You Meet Your Match
In her teenage years, lovelorn Jessica Gold cast a spell that went disastrously wrong, and brought her all the wrong kind of attention--as well as a lifetime ban from the World Council of Witches.
So no one is more surprised than Jess when, fifteen years later, tall, handsome WCW member Derrick Winters shows up in her quaint little village of West Harbor and claims that Jess is the Chosen One.
She's the Chosen One
Not chosen by West Harbor's snobby elite to style them for the town's tricentennial ball--though Jess owns the chicest clothing boutique in town. And not chosen finally to be on the WCW, either--not that Jess would have said yes, anyway, since she's done with any organization that tries to dictate what makes a "true" witch.
Things We Left Behind
by Lucy Score
#1 New York Times bestselling author Lucy Score returns to spicy-sweet Knockemout, Virginia with Lucian and Sloane's story.
There was only one woman who could set me free. But I would rather set myself on fire than ask Sloane Walton for anything.
Lucian Rollins is a lean, mean vengeance-seeking mogul. On a quest to erase his abusive father's mark on the family name, he spends every waking minute pulling strings and building his empire. The more money and power he gains, the safer he feels.
Except when it comes to one feisty small-town librarian...
Bonded by an old, dark secret from the past and their current mutual disdain, Sloane Walton trusts Lucian about as far as she can throw his designer-suited body.
Thank You for Sharing
by Rachel Runya Katz
Our new favorite trope: Childhood friends. To enemies. To lovers. In a chemistry-filled debut romance.
Daniel Rosenberg and Liyah Cohen-Jackson's last conversation--fourteen years ago at summer camp--ended their friendship. Until they find themselves seated next to each other on a plane, and bitterly pick up right where they left off. At least they can go their separate ways again after landing...
That is, until Daniel's marketing firm gets hired by the Chicago museum where Liyah works as a junior curator, and they're forced to collaborate with potential career changing promotions on the line.
With every meeting and post-work social gathering with colleagues, the tension (and chemistry) between Daniel and Liyah builds until they're forced to confront why they broke apart years ago at camp. But as they find comfort in their shared experiences as Jews of color and fumble towards friendship, can they ignore their growing feelings for each other?
With sexy charm and undeniable wit, Rachel Runya Katz's sparkling debut, Thank You For Sharing, proves that if you're open to love, anything is possible.
"[An] excellent, multilayered look at the experiences of Jews of color in this deftly woven story...Katz successfully portrays how romance meets real life in this terrific debut." - Library Journal (starred review)
"Rachel Runya Katz's Thank You for Sharing is a magical love story. This is a poignant, sharp and sexy romance with the kind of complex, big-hearted characters and emotional honesty readers will adore. I loved it!" - Carley Fortune, New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After
The Wake-Up Call
by Beth O'Leary
Two hotel receptionists--and arch-rivals--find a collection of old wedding rings and compete to return them to their owners, discovering their own love story along the way.
It's the busiest season of the year, and Forest Manor Hotel is quite literally falling apart. So when Izzy and Lucas are given the same shift on the hotel's front desk, they have no choice but to put their differences aside and see it through.
The hotel won't stay afloat beyond Christmas without some sort of miracle. But when Izzy returns a guest's lost wedding ring, the reward convinces management that this might be the way to fix everything. With four rings still sitting in the lost & found, the race is on for Izzy and Lucas to save their beloved hotel--and their jobs.
August NEW RELEASES
Cruel Seduction
by Katee Robert
Aphrodite has never flinched at getting her perfectly manicured hands dirty, and she's not about to start now--even if that means marrying Olympus's enemy number one, the new Hephaestus. She has a wicked plan to keep her deadly new husband off-balance, seducing the one person he seems to care about most in this world: Pandora, a woman as beautiful as she is sweet.
Two can play the seduction game, however, and Hephaestus is all too happy to put his new wife in her place. Her ex, Adonis, seems like he'll do the trick. It doesn't hurt that he's gorgeous in the way of fallen angels, either.
The only problem with using seduction as a weapon? Hearts are all too quick to get involved. With Hephaestus and Aphrodite trading venomous strikes that feel a whole lot like foreplay, lines become blurred and emotions entangled. But a broken heart may be the least of their worries. With unrest in Olympus reaching new heights, these bedroom games may have deadly consequences for themselves, their city, and everyone they've come to love.
The One That Got Away
by Charlotte Rixon
Two years together.
Twenty years apart.
One day to change their story.
2000. Benjamin's world is turned upside down the night he meets Clara. Instinctively, he knows that they are meant for each other, but a devastating mistake on their last night at university will take their lives in very different directions.
20 years later, Clara has a high-profile job and a handsome husband. But despite the trappings of success, she isn't happy, and she knows that a piece of her heart still belongs to Benjamin, the boy she fell in love with years earlier. The boy whose life she fears she ruined.
When a bombing is reported in the city where they first met, Clara is pulled back to a place she tries not to remember and the first love she could never forget. Searching for Benjamin, Clara is forced to confront the events that tore them apart. But is it too late to put right what went wrong?
In Charm's Way
by Lana Harper
Six months after having been hit by a power surge that nearly obliterated her memory, Delilah Harlow is still picking up the pieces. Her once diamond-sharp mind has become shaky and unreliable, and bristly, self-sufficient Delilah is forced to rely on friends, family, and her raven familiar for help. In an effort to reclaim her wits and former independence, she casts a dangerous blood spell meant to harness power with healing capacities.
While the spell does restore clarity, it also unexpectedly turns Delilah into an irresistible beacon for the kind of malevolent supernatural creatures that have never before ventured into Thistle Grove. One night--just as things are about to go terribly sideways with a rogue succubus--a mysterious stranger appears in the nick of time to save Delilah's soul.
Gorgeous, sultry, and as dangerous as the knives she carries, Catriona Quinn is a hunter of monsters--and half-human, half-fae herself, she is the kind of sly and morally gray creature Delilah would normally find horrifying. Though Delilah balks at the idea of a partnership, she has no choice but to roll the dice on their collaboration. As the two delve deeper into the power that underlies Thistle Grove, they uncover not only the town's hidden history but also a risky attraction that could upend Delilah's entire life.
JULY RECOMMENDATIONS
Must Love Flowers
by Debbie Macomber
Two women at different stages of life find themselves on a journey of renewal after undergoing hardships in this uplifting novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber.
"Wise, warm, witty, and charmingly full of hope, this story celebrates the surprising and unexpected ways that family, friendship, and love can lift us up."--Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Four Winds
Joan Sample is not living the life she expected. Now a widow and an empty-nester, she has become by her own admission something of a recluse. But after another birthday spent alone, she is finally inclined to listen to her sister, who has been begging Joan to reengage with the world. With Emmie's support, Joan gathers the courage to take some long-awaited steps: hiring someone to tame her overgrown garden, joining a grief support group, and even renting out a room to a local college student. Before long Joan is starting to feel a little like herself again.
Across town, Maggie Herbert works mornings as a barista, tending to impatient customers before rushing to afternoon nursing classes. She lives with her alcoholic father, ducking his temperamental outbursts and struggling to pay the household bills. But her circumstances brighten when she finds a room for rent in Joan's home. In the unexpected warmth of her new situation, Maggie finds a glimmer of hope for a better life. But will Maggie's budding attraction to one of her favorite customers ruin the harmony she's only recently found with Joan? Meanwhile, what is Joan to make of the mysterious landscaper who's been revitalizing her garden--a man who seems to harbor a past loss of his own?
As Maggie and Joan confront difficult life choices, they draw strength from this new friendship in surprising ways--discovering in the process that "found family" is often the very best kind.
A Soul of Ash and Blood: A Blood and Ash Novel
by Jennifer L Armentrout
Only his memories can save her...
A great primal power has risen. The Queen of Flesh and Fire has become the Primal of Blood and Bone--the true Primal of Life and Death. And the battle Casteel, Poppy, and their allies have been fighting has only just begun. Gods are awakening across Iliseeum and the mortal realm, readying for the war to come.
But when Poppy falls into stasis, Cas faces the very real possibility that the dire, unexpected consequences of what she is becoming could take her away from him. Cas is given some advice, though--something he plans to cling to as he waits to see her beautiful eyes open once more: Talk to her.
And so, he does. He reminds Poppy how their journey began, revealing things about himself that only Kieran knows in the process. But it's anybody's guess what she'll wake to or exactly how much of the realm and Cas will have changed when she does.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout revisits Poppy and Casteel's epic love story in the next installment of the Blood and Ash series. But this time, Hawke gets to tell the tale.
To Have and to Heist
by Sara Desai
To exonerate her best friend, one woman must mastermind a jewelry heist during the wedding of the season in this hilarious romantic-comedy caper from the author of The Dating Plan.
Simi Chopra is on a bad-luck streak. She's lost yet another job, her student loan debt won't stop growing, her basement apartment is a certifiable flood zone, and now her best friend has been accused of stealing a multimillion-dollar diamond necklace. To put it lightly, she's desperate for a break--that's right when Jack waltzes out of the bushes and into her life.
Jack is just as charming as he is mysterious. When he offers to help her find the missing necklace and steal it back, Simi jumps at the chance to clear her friend's name and collect the substantial reward. But every good heist needs a crew. All she needs to do is transform a ragtag group of strangers into an elite heist crew, infiltrate a high-society wedding and steal the necklace from a dangerous criminal before the happy couple say "I do." Meanwhile the bride is keeping secrets, a detective with a slow-burn smile keeps showing up at her door, and the ultimate robbery might not be the wedding con, but the way Jack is stealing her heart.