We’re celebrating the release of Full Speed to a Crash Landing this week! Read on for more details!
Full Speed to a Crash Landing (Chaotic Orbits #1)
Publication Date: August 6, 2024
Genre: Sci-Fi/Romance
A high octane sexy space heist from New York Times-bestselling author Beth Revis, the first in a novella trilogy
Ada Lamarr may have gotten to the spaceship wreck first, but looter’s rights won’t get her far when she’s got a hole in the side of her ship and her spacesuit is almost out of air. Fortunately for her, help arrives in the form of a government salvage crew—and while they reluctantly rescue her from certain death, they are not pleased to have an unexpected passenger along on their classified mission.
But Ada doesn’t care—all that matters to her is enjoying their fine food and sweet, sweet oxygen—until Rian White, the government agent in charge, starts to suspect that there’s more to Ada than meets the eye. He’s not wrong—but he’s so pretty that Ada is perfectly happy to keep him paying attention to her—at least until she can complete the job she was sent to pull off. But as quick as Ada is, Rian might be quicker—and she may not be entirely sure who’s manipulating who until it’s too late…
A phenomenally fun novella that kicks off a trilogy of sexy space heists and romantic tension, Full Speed to a Crash Landing is packed with great characters and full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the end.
In Regency England, twenty-seven-year-old Leonora Appleby is considered by many – herself included – to be beyond her most eligible marrying years. With her childhood home, Hasterleigh Manor, soon to be taken over by the heir to the land, George Lockwood, Leonora has happily resigned herself to a quiet life as a country Miss.
But life has a way of springing surprises and the return of the brooding war hero Earl Rokeby, presumed dead on the French battlefields, to the magnificent neighbouring Rokeby Abbey has the village atwitter with speculation. Earl Rokeby has returned, scarred in mind and body, with news for Leonora’s best friend Charlotte Blythe – news that will change everything.
Now Charlotte and Leonora must travel to Town for the Season and take their futures and fate into their own hands in the whirl of balls, parties and gossip. But will either of them return to Hasterleigh with a husband and a fortune, and what other secrets does the devastatingly dashing Alistair Rokeby have up his silken sleeves…
Sunday Times bestselling author Jane Dunn brings the Regency period irresistibly to life. Perfect for fans of Jane Austen, Janice Hadlow, Gill Hornby, and anyone with a Bridgerton-shaped hole in their lives.
Jane Dunn is an historian and biographer and the author of seven acclaimed biographies, including Daphne du Maurier and her Sisters and the Sunday Times and NYT bestseller, Elizabeth & Mary: Cousins, Rivals, Queens. She lives in Berkshire with her husband, the linguist Nicholas Ostler.
My thoughts: Jane Dunn is rapidly becoming one of my favourite authors, I love her independent minded, spirited and often very funny heroines, and Leonora is no different. She’s decided that at 27 in Regency England, she’s on the shelf and happily looking forward to spinsterhood. The distant cousin who has inherited her father’s estate is rather nice and she’s not too upset about moving into the smaller home on the family estate.
Then the Earl of Rokeby (her neighbour) returns from the front (fighting Napoleon) and turns everything upside down. Suddenly Nora is off to London for the Season with her friend Charlotte and the delightful Nanny P (I think she and the Countess should get their own spin-off book solving crimes or something).
In the whirl of parties and social functions, the two women find time to ride in Hyde Park, and run into both George Lockwood (Nora’s cousin) and the Earl. Unfortunately there’s also an Army captain with a grudge hanging around looking to cause trouble. But surely Leonora and her friends can sort things out and everyone can find the right person to spend their lives with?
I really enjoyed this book, it was lots of fun and had a great plot, with a wonderful HEA. If you’re missing Bridgerton or just want a bit of love in your reading, Jane Dunn’s books are a great place to start.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
We’re thrilled to present the cover for the next book on The Belladonna Trilogy by T.F. Johnson! Pre-order The Cold Blade of Fear now!
The Cold Blade of Fear (The Belladonna Trilogy Book 2)
Expected Publication Date: October 31, 2024
Genre: Gaslamp Fantasy Romance
Strong FMC
Revenge
Very Slow Burn Romance
“Who did this to you?”
Found Family
Reluctant Hero
Assassins & Mages
Cinnamon Roll MMC
Strong Friendships
“She’ll get what’s coming to her.”
With her friend gone and the man responsible on the run, Piper is prepared to fight for custody of both Caleb and Madelyn. But then they are taken from her, and Piper is accused of a murder she did not commit.
Forced into hiding, Piper searches for a way to clear her name. She soon discovers that someone she swore to find is in the neighbouring country of Elaros. The only way to find them is to sneak out of Silvaein, right under the army’s very noses.
Now Piper must navigate a foreign culture without revealing she is a woman – until she uncovers a clue that could lead to her acquittal.
‘Incredibly atmospheric, haunting and poignant.’ Nicola Cornick
1648 – Hertfordshire
Thirteen-year-old Katherine Ferrers is in despair at being betrothed to arch-Royalist Thomas Fanshawe whose family are hellbent on plundering her family’s fortune to champion the exiled Charles. As her unhappy marriage stretches before her, her only comfort is her beloved childhood home The Cell. But as the years pass and Kate grows restless, a new passion, a new love and a dangerous calling threaten to upend everything she’s ever known.
Present Day – Hertfordshire
Charlie Wolfe jumps at the chance to help his uncle renovate a tumbledown cottage overlooking Nomansland Common. Number One Constable’s Cottages was once the home of the man charged with ridding the common of the highwaymen who terrorised travellers. But it’s the story of The Wicked Lady, the notorious female highway robber, that captures Charlie’s imagination, and some long winters’ nights he’s sure he can the hoofbeats of her horse echoing across time. What drove this mystery woman to risk everything for a life of crime, and why is she still restless, wandering the common in grief? It seems only Charlie can finally uncover the secret Katherine Ferrers has kept for hundreds of years; a secret of a terrible betrayal and a tragic love that was never meant to end this way…
USA Today bestselling author Judy Leigh writing as Elena Collins, brings you this spellbinding and heartbreaking timeslip novel, uncovering the intriguing story of another brave woman that history forgot. Perfect for fans of Barbara Erskine, Nicola Cornick, Diana Gabaldon and Louise Douglas.
Elena Collins is the pseudonym for Judy Leigh. Judy Leigh is the bestselling author of Five French Hens , A Grand Old Time and The Age of Misadventure and the doyenne of the ‘it’s never too late’ genre of women’s fiction. She has lived all over the UK from Liverpool to Cornwall, but currently resides in Somerset.
My thoughts: my dad is from the same part of Hertfordshire as Katherine Ferrers and when I asked him about Markyate, he said he knew it well. St Albans is somewhere I know, quite well, so this story really resonated with me because it hasn’t changed a whole lot in all the hundreds of years since The Wicked Lady rode her horse.
Katherine was a real person but we only know the bare bones of her story, and here Judy Leigh (writing as Elena Collins) has put flesh on those bones and created a vividly realised and fascinating story about a woman all but forgotten by history.
I enjoyed Charlie’s story too – he’s rebuilding not just a cottage but also his life after the end of a relationship. He meets new people and starts to look into Katherine’s story, bringing her back to life through his music.
This was an interesting, intelligent and very enjoyable read, I love learning more about forgotten women and the story was compelling.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Welcome to the tour for Ritual Income by B.L. Brown, a witchy, enemies to lovers fantasy romance!
Ritual Income: Witch of the Demesne
Publication Date: August 2023
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Slow burn
Enemies-to-lovers
Grumpy x sunshine
Black cat energy
Dark secrets
Strong FMC
Golden retriever MMC
Shadow daddy
LGBTQ rep
Pan-rep
Diverse characters
Open door spice
A hipster witch takes on MLM Huns in this slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers, urban fantasy.
Every witch has her Way
Milla is a witch who wants to hide. Grieving the loss of her mentor, she retreats to St. Augustine where her only goals are to run her antique store and tend her demesne into obscurity.
But C.R.O.W. has other plans for the formerly wicked witch.
As if being saddled with a new apprentice and trying to get rid of the Aural Insurance Adjuster sent to observe her isn’t enough to deal with, a pack of multi-level marketing huns sets their sights on Milla, intent on burning her store to the ground. When a threat to the demesne, and the witches and mortals under Milla’s care, raises its ugly head it is up to her to decide:
Is living out her days as a nothing witch in a nowhere demesne what she truly wants, or is the formerly wicked witch ready to rejoin the witchy world of C.R.O.W.?
Can love conquer all in a war between those who save lives and those who take lives?
Day Shift: A Medical/Mafia Romance (Broken Heroes #2)
Publication Date: July 29, 2024
Tropes:
Amnesia
Love Triangle
Why Choose Scene
Enemies to Lovers
He falls first and He falls hard
Protective “I will burn down the world to keep you safe.”
Golden Retriever Playboy
Brother loyalty and Twin loyalty
Can love conquer all in a war between those who save lives and those who take lives?
When a daughter of a powerful mafia family crashes into a tree thousands of miles from home, she lands in the care of a fierce, ink-covered nurse with a scarred heart—left with no memories, no past, and no idea who she is.
Constantine, Conan to his buddies, is a happy-go-lucky guy turned ER nurse who believes true love is just a fairytale. In a twist of fate, a beautiful woman arrives in his emergency department, unconscious and unidentified. Meeting Jane Doe in her most vulnerable moment, he is inexplicably drawn to protect her, plunging him into a perilous world he never knew existed.
Raised in the shadow of powerful organized crime, Anastasia faces an arranged marriage to a man she despises with death as the price of refusal. She agonizes over a life without affection or personal choices, all while holding dangerous secrets of her own. After a high-speed chase and a devastating crash, Anastasia wakes up in St. John’s Hospital with no recollection of where she came from or the threats that surround her. As she grapples with her amnesia, the threat of her ruthless family looms ever closer, putting her and everyone around her at imminent risk.
And as if that’s not bad enough, what are the odds that the mysterious woman’s family wants to exact revenge on the ER nurse who helped save her life—the very man they seek to settle a score for a previous altercation?
Can they overcome the deadly forces that threaten to tear them apart, or will their budding love story be cut short by the mafia families they are trying to escape?
Day Shift is the second book in the Broken Heroes series, set in the same world as Night Shift. Each book in the series features a different couple and can be read as a standalone with a happily ever after, but for maximum enjoyment, follow the recommended reading order.
We are thrilled to present the cover for The Shadow of Polaris by D.L. Houpt! Make sure to pre-order a copy today!
The Shadow of Polaris (Heir of Darkness Book 1)
Expected Publication Date: September 3, 2024
Genre: Romantic Fantasy
🐺enemies to lovers 🗡️black cat/golden retriever 🐺animal companions 🗡️meddling gods 🐺morally grey FMC Spice – 🌶️ World Building – 🏛️🏛️ Violence – 🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️
When winter and spring coincide, darkness’s heir brings the light of truth and the fall of vanity. Only embers of life can destroy visions of death.
Following the accusation of her sister’s murder, five years ago, Elpis was sentenced to a life in the Tower outside of Ursae. Banished, far across the Northern Flatlands, to an eternity of unruly abuse and mind numbing isolation.
Now, broken and beaten, she receives an anonymous gift that will alter her fate forever. Haunted by nightmares of a malevolent goddess, Elpis must unravel the secret of an ancient prophecy and tame the shadows rising within her in order to take back her freedom.
With enemies at every turn, Elpis must choose her allies wisely, and learn that sometimes, freedom may come at a price.
Trigger Warnings: Suicidal thoughts, self harm, and self hate
Ever since they first met at university, Beth and Nick have circled in and out of one another’s lives: supporting each other through grief, marriage, divorce, career crises and family dramas.
Fourteen years ago, when they were on the cusp of adulthood, they both survived a devastating fire that sent their lives in different directions. And they’ve been running ever since: from the pain, from the memories, and most devastatingly of all, from the guilt.
But no matter how hard they try, there’s something else they can’t run from. The inescapable, terrifying truth: they’re in love with each other.
But how can they move forward, when neither of them can stop looking back?
Charlotte Rixon is the pen name of Charlotte Duckworth, USA Today-bestselling author of suspense fiction published by Quercus. Charlotte studied Classics at Leeds University and went on to gain a PGDip in Screenwriting. She worked for many years as a magazine journalist, and is a graduate of the Faber Academy ‘Writing A Novel’ course.
My thoughts: University wasn’t everything Beth and Nick had wanted it to be, after a terrible tragedy that Beth feels she could have prevented, they both go on to their adult lives, never acting on their feelings.
As they drift in and out of each others’ lives, never talking about what happened all those years ago, never dealing with their feelings about what happened or each other, it gets more complicated to ignore. Love is never straightforward but only by confronting the past, can these two lovers move on and be happy.
Moving and intelligent, this is a fascinating read about unrequited love, learning to let go of the past and find happiness.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists and one overall winner.
If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the @Foliosociety (if you love beautiful books, you NEED to check out their website!) and the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.
A reluctant necromancer, a man killed before his time, and the crime that brings them together.
Felipe Galvan’s life as an investigator for the Paranormal Society has been spent running into danger. Returning home from his latest case, Felipe struggles with the sudden quiet of his life until a mysterious death puts him in the path of the enigmatic Oliver Barlow.
Oliver has two secrets. One, he has been in love with the charming Felipe Galvan for years. Two, he is a necromancer, but to keep the sensible life he’s built as a medical examiner, he must hide his powers. That is until Oliver finds Felipe murdered and accidentally brings him back from the dead.
But Felipe refuses to die again until he and Oliver catch his killer. Together, Felipe and Oliver embark on an investigation to uncover a plot centuries in the making. As they close in on his killer, one thing is certain: if they don’t stop them, Felipe won’t be the last to die.
Kara Jorgensen (she/they) is a queer, nonbinary oddball with a penchant for all things antiquated, morbid, or just plain strange. While in college, they realized they no longer wanted to be Victor Frankenstein but instead wanted to write like Mary Shelley and thus abandoned their future career in science for writing. Kara melds her passions through her books and graduated with an MFA in Creative and Professional Writing in 2016. When not writing, they can be found hanging out with their dogs watching period dramas or trying to convince their students to cite their sources.
My thoughts: I really liked this book, I loved Oliver and just wanted to give him a hug, thankfully he has Gwen and eventually Felipe for that.
Investigating a nun’s death is a little awkward, since the church frowns on their kind, but the sister isn’t just a nun, she has a gift and someone was willing to kill her to steal her secrets.
Oliver and Felipe are thrown together by circumstance and then when Oliver accidentally brings Felipe back from the dead, and might be the only reason he’s still alive, they can’t resist the pull between them, so they don’t.
But they’re still on the case, especially after Oliver’s lab is broken into and he and Gwen attacked. But why would anyone want some medical curios?
A fun and clever adventure with a sweet romance at its centre.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.
Congrats and happy release day to author Meghan Ciana Doidge! This looks amazing friends!
Grand Romantic Delusions and the Madness of Mirth, Part 1
Publication Date: July 25, 2024
Genre: urban fantasy romance/why choose
Book cover designer: Alicia McFadzean (@Cheeky Lettering)
why choose
slow burn
shifters
mages
magic
Still grieving the death of my beloved elder brother, but needing to fortify my newfound position, I’m forced to participate in a matchmaking event.
No matter that I have no desire, or any of the required skills, to hold one of the intersection points on my own, I am now the heir to the United European Nation. My chosen bond mates will be selected from the elite of society. Titled, wealthy, practiced in politics — and accomplished in all the essence-wielding skills I lack.
Chosen bond mates.
Not soul bound, not fated.
A love connection isn’t even a fever dream or a fleeting thought. A glam rock star, my childhood best friend, a staid earl, a bareknuckle fighter turned archduke, or a horse breeder …
I don’t get to choose any or all of them.
Because despite the purple eyes marking me as one of the powerful awry, I am in fact an ineffectual dud. The time to find and fortify any such predestined-by-the-universe connections — if such connections even exist for me — ran out when my brother died.
The Mirth duology is set in the Conduit World. While it’s not necessary to read all the interconnected series, the ideal reading order is as follows.
Awry (Conduit 1)
Grand Romantic Delusions and the Madness of Mirth, Part 1 (Mirth 1)
Grand Romantic Delusions and the Madness of Mirth, Part 2 (Mirth 2)(TBR
[TBR] (Conduit 2)
Adult 18+ While choice vs. duty is a strong theme in the Mirth duology, Mirth doesn’t have to choose between her suitors, and they’re more than happy to lend a helping hand to each other as well. Content notes and a list of tropes can be found on MCD’s website (on the book detail page).
ramblingmads 