I have not read most of the new releases listed (although I always end up one-clicking a bunch as I prepare these posts LOL) and as always I recommend sampling before you buy!
It’s a mix of the genres in no particular order. Also the term “new” is generally plus or minus a week or two. I try to catch up on ones I missed in recent months.
(NOTE: If the author provides me with buy links I insert those; otherwise I default to Amazon and iBooks. Pricing and availability are current as of the day I prepare the post – things can change fast in the ebook world LOL.)
Also, I usually include only the beginning of the book blurb…
DARK THOUGHTS (REFUGE BOOK 1) by Cynthia Sax
VS NOTE: I was lucky enough to read the ARC for this and was thoroughly fascinated by both Kralj and Dita, and their character growth in the book. Really enjoyed it!
Can love redeem a monster?
The Refuge is home to some of the most violent beings in the universe. Kralj, its leader, reigns over the remote outpost with terrifying ease, ruthlessly squashing any rumors of rebellion, killing anyone who breaks his rules. Primitive, deadly, powerful, he’s a monster, scarred both on his face and his soul. He has never met a being he couldn’t control.
Until he meets her.
Dita has one mission—to kill the three targets claiming sanctuary within the Refuge. Or so she claims. For the first time in his long lifespan, Kralj isn’t certain of another being’s intentions. The tiny assassin is immune to his powers, her thoughts unreadable. He can’t predict her movements, can’t control her, can’t stop wanting her.
Dita is rare, as unique as he is, and, to keep the residents of the Refuge safe, Kralj will have to kill her. But first, he’ll touch her, taste her, show her how passionate the beast inside him can be.
NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE (ARTECHT ALLIANCE BOOK 1) by C. E. Kilgore
Seeking an escape from her life back in Kansas, Dottie signs up on a whim to become a Federation space captain! – of a tiny, solo-crew cargo hauler. Alone in space and wishing for adventure, Dottie goes off course to an uncharted star system to answer a distress call. Sure, the call is in an alien language she’s never heard, and yes, she’s probably going to get fired on her first Federation mission, but… to adventure!
After being forced down to the planet by an alien probe in orbit, Dottie meets Croen, a handsome gray-skinned man with vivid purple eyes and an energy rifle pointed right at her. Learning they are in a shared predicament, they set off together in search of the probe’s origins, what happened to the aliens whose ancient ruins litter the jungle, and how to get back home.
Along the way, they’ll face challenges, meet unexpected friends and learn home is where your heart is.
HEART OF STONE (BAD THINGS BOOK 5) by Cynthia Eden
VS NOTE: This author was my gateway to paranormal romance, years ago, and the one whose stories made me realize my ancient Egyptian crocodile god character was a shifter, which started me on my road to becoming published with Priestess of the Nile…so I have a real fond spot for her. When I finally met her, she’s also a very delightful person in real life. Plus I can’t ever resist a gargoyle hero! One clicked this.
She was created to tempt…and enchant.
Sabrina Lark is a muse who has the ability to inspire any man…to do absolutely anything. Unfortunately for Sabrina, the latest human to fall under her spell has turned out to have one very dark side. Now he’s obsessed with her, and she’s realized—too late—that she just inspired a serial killer. She truly has the worst luck in the world.
Desperate, Sabrina makes a deal with the devil in order to get some serious paranormal protection. Her protection comes in the oh-so-sexy form of Adam Cross, a man who is able to resist her magic…because Adam really is made of stone.
He’s a real beast on the outside…
Cursed centuries before, Adam is a gargoyle. Fierce, strong, and absolutely unstoppable, he is the guard who is placed at Sabrina’s side. He’s supposed to protect her from every danger…he is not supposed to find himself falling under the seductive Sabrina’s spell. But even a man with a heart of stone can find himself pushed too far…
Sabrina thinks she may have found the perfect lover, but Adam’s past is about to come back and bite them both…and he may not be the man she can trust, after all. If she can’t find a way to touch the man inside the beast, if she can’t make his stone heart burn for her, then they’ll be lost.
CHASING SHADOWS (THE UNDERGROUND SERIES BOOK 4) BY Erin Bedford
Sometimes death is just the beginning.
Just when Kat thought it was over, a cryptic message from the beyond has her right back in the thick of things.
A little blood and a few words, it was supposed to be a fix all and it shouldn’t have ended this way. Kat’s new position as moderator will have to wait, the Shadow Realm was calling and it was time to end it for once and for all.
A final showdown will have everyone putting their cards on the table and not even the Reaper can stop Kat now.
AMBASSADOR 6 (THE ENEMY WITHIN) by Patty Jansen
VS NOTE: I don’t see that there’s a romantic element but I have to say the mystery sounds cool. I do enjoy a good scifi mystery!
Two men went on a surfing trip in a remote area. Only one came back, accused of murdering the other.
Sounds simple, right?
Not quite, because the alleged murder happened on another planet, the accused is a member of the secretive Pretoria Cartel of super-rich business tycoons–with illegal off-Earth ventures–and the only person who can remotely be called a witness is an alien, the elder Abri from the Pengali Thousand Islands tribe.
Diplomat Cory Wilson is asked to accompany Abri to the Nations of Earth court, but when he and his team arrive there, their contacts have been moved to different cases, their rooms are bugged and their movements restricted. No one is answering their questions, but it is when a lawyer is murdered and Cory’s team captures a mysterious stalker that things get interesting.
Just as well they are prepared in the usual way: alert and highly armed.
DEFIANCE (EARTH EVOLUTION SERIES BOOK 5) by K. D. Jones
VS NOTE: From February
Commander Devlon Estro has the survival of an entire race of people depending on him—and his own people’s protection on top of that. His superiors are pressuring him to quickly get the people of Earth set up to take care of themselves, so that he can return to Drasta. The problem is that the Earth’s people are fighting his every effort, and now there are threats to his people to consider. One Earthling has been a constant thorn in his side; a frustrating, but very sexy and beautiful thorn.
Heather Bates has struggled her whole life to be taken seriously. First as a wife on Earth, wanting to work against her husband’s wishes, and then in a workforce that favored men. That struggle continues even now: someone wants to take her position as a tribe leader and they are willing to kill to make that happen. Her concentration should be on her people and protecting her status, but thoughts of a sexy alien commander plague her.
THE DJINN FALLS IN LOVE (AND OTHER STORIES) by Neil Gaiman and Various
VS NOTE: Collection of short stories, no idea how much actual romance there might be but who can resist that title?
Imagine a world filled with fierce, fiery beings, hiding in our shadows, in our dreams, under our skins. Eavesdropping and exploring; savaging our bodies, saving our souls. They are monsters, saviours, victims, childhood friends. Some have called them genies: these are the Djinn.
And they are everywhere. On street corners, behind the wheel of a taxi, in the chorus, between the pages of books. Every language has a word for them. Every culture knows their traditions. Every religion, every history has them hiding in their dark places.
There is no part of the world that does not know them. They are the Djinn. They are among us.
With stories from Neil Gaiman, Nnedi Okorafor, Amal El-Mohtar, Catherine Faris King, Claire North, E.J. Swift, Hermes (trans. Robin Moger), Jamal Majoub, James Smythe, J.Y. Yang, Kamila Shamsie, Kirsty Logan, K.J. Parker, Kuzhali Manickavel, Maria Dahvana Headley, Monica Byrne, Nada Adel Sobhi, Saad Hossein, Sami Shah, Sophia Al-Maria and Usman Malik.
DEMON RAGE: THE CAINE BROTHERS by Christine Ashworth
Justin Caine was a chill kind of guy. A healer. A peacekeeper.
Was.
Until Kendall Sorbis cooked up a massacre on the winter solstice and woke the demon sleeping in Justin’s blood. Maybe when Sorbis is dead, Justin can get his soul and his girl back. Maybe, if Magdalena ever pulls her head out of her ass.
Maggie has her own issues. Such as stumbling over dead demons, and not wanting to see Justin mated to some other woman. She just needs a little peace to sort things out.
But the demon pulling Sorbis’s strings has other plans. It’s past time for him to return to the human Plane. He has an ancient score to settle…one that reaches back in time to Spain, and Maggie’s ancestors.
CONQUERED (THE HIDDEN PLANET) by Sophie Stern
VS NOTE: Intriguing description. Book was brought to my attention by Meredith Gurr of the Scifi Romance Group on FB.
Fiona doesn’t know true fear until she is whisked away from her loving family and doting boyfriend. When she finds herself on an alien ship with only a giant beast for company, her fear turns to anger when she realizes her loved ones have betrayed her.
Quinn doesn’t know what to do with the squirrely little human aboard his ship. Yeah, he bought her, but only to save her from a worse fate. She has no idea what could have happened to her if he hadn’t found her. She has no idea what could have happened on Dreagle.
But now she’s on his ship and somehow, she’s wormed her way into his heart.
Can he ever let her go?
FORTUNA (THE APPRENTICE VOLUME 4 THE TWELVE SYSTEMS CHRONICLES) by E. G. Manetti
For a year and a half, Lilian has endured the hostility, spite, and deadly violence of those who despise her for her father’s crimes. If not for the protection of the powerful warrior Lucius Mercio, Lilian might not have survived. Without Lilian’s courage and brilliance, Lucius might have lost the Serengeti Cartel to a vicious traitor. Instead, Lucius has total control of his Cartel, and few within Serengeti will risk his wrath to torment his apprentice.
Determined to advance his ambitions and reward Lilian for her role in his success, Lucius prepares for the voyage to Fortuna in the Fourth System. There, they will oversee the next phase of the first interstellar space exploration in two centuries. Lilian’s anticipation soon turns to dread as dark dreams haunt her nights, increasing in frequency and force as they journey to Fortuna. On a distant world, cut off from her few friends, Lilian will face dangerous intrigues as her nightmares take form.
SYNAPSE CONTINUUM (ALPHA CORE TRILOGY BOOK 3) by Vikki Romano
VS NOTE: Discovered on the From the Whiskey With My Book Blog; a February release
In the thrilling conclusion to the Alpha Core Trilogy, Calder McKenna and Sierra Mason are forced to face the demons that plague them and brought their team to its knees. As GenMed closes in, finding them at every turn, pushing them to run from the places and people they love, they realize once and for all that they must stand and fight or see their lives and those around them forfeit.
How far can a person be pushed before instinct overpowers the one thing that drives them to kill? How long can a person hide before fear is eradicated by sheer will?
For Calder and Sierra, the answer lies within the key and the key lies within them. All they need do now is find it.
THE DRAGON CLAIMS HIS TREASURE (STAR CROSSED DATING AGENCY BOOK 2) by Georgette St. Clair
Everyone is always pushing “too nice for her own good” Rosamund around, but that’s it, no more, she’s had it. Unfortunately, when she finally decides to find her mojo, it’s sexy, terrifying Kodran Sky-Reign that she mouths off to.
The leader of the clan of alien dragon shifters promptly takes her sass as a marriage proposal. Next thing she knows, Rosamund is being whisked away to Kodran’s home planet, with a fleet of wolf shifters in hot pursuit – and a teenaged robot stowaway hiding a secret. Kodran claims Rosamund is his “heart’s fire”, and he’ll never let her go – but Rosamund’s closest friends want her home yesterday, and they won’t tell her why.
Plus, you’re supposed to end up happily ever after with the good guy. Yet the deeper Kodran and Rosamund get immersed in the cyborg war, the more her hot-in-bed, hot out-of-bed, hot every-damn-where dragon lover seems to be one of the scary bad guys…
ANARCHY MISSING: ALPHA CASE (A SUPERVILLAIN ROMANCE ANARCHY SERIES BOOK 2) by J A Huss
Everyone wants justice.
That’s what Assistant DA, Lulu Lightly, tells me. “Cathedral City needs you to set things right,” she says. “To rid this place of corruption, once and for all.”
I’d like to rid Lulu Lightly of her clothes. And maybe her moral superiority. But mostly her clothes.
“I want you to fight the good fight with me,” she says.
Hell, yeah. I’m always up for a fight.
“We should stand up and be the voice of the people,” she says.
Sure, I hear voices. Sometimes I even listen to them.
“Figure out what’s good for the City and put it first,” she says.
Oh, honey… what’s good for the City is bad for the people. Trust me, I know. I’m Case Reider—insane Alpha, nefarious inventor, and I understand this town better than anyone.
Cathedral City needs me all right. Just not the way you think.
I’m not the justice you’re looking for, Lulu Lightly.
I’m still the same villain you left behind.
Only now… there’s something very, very wrong with me.
MATCHMAKER ABDUCTION: ALIENS IN KILTS, ABDUCTION 1 by Donna McDonald
True love is said to defy time, but can it survive space, aliens, and being abducted? Angus MacNamara and Erin O’Shea are about to find out.
The big blue planet that most call Earth desperately needs matchmakers. There is only one small—okay, BIG—problem. No one wants the alien dating service job… No one. The original matchmakers are dead, and much worse, their DNA is no longer viable for cloning.
Solution? Go back in time to some of Earth’s other—thankfully slower spinning—versions, and retrieve the alternates of the one couple in any universe who seems able to do the job.
Far easier said than done though, especially when the alternates are anything but a loving couple, and both are none too pleased to be thrown into the future.
What does oil and water create? Salad dressing or a real mess of aliens, humans, and matchmaking fun!
FIGHTER BEAR (ENFORCER BEARS BOOK 4) by Zoe Chant
When curvy Lily Carmichael wins the lottery, it seems that all of her dreams have come true. It’s just enough money to buy the little farm her uncle left behind. But when she arrives, she finds out that the farm was just sold to a stranger – who turns out to be a gorgeous, charismatic man who leaves Lily breathless from the first moment their eyes meet.
Bear shifter Logan Anders hides from the pain of his past, fearing that he can never regain the trust of the family he tried to protect all his life. Tired of pain and conflict, he’s decided to settle down on a small farm, trying to befriend the skeptical animals who can sense the bear in him. When he recognizes his mate in Lily, it seems as if fate might have shown him a way to find redemption – but can a born fighter like Logan settle down and prove himself worthy of a woman like Lily?
Just when two lonely souls start to teach each other to trust again, and Logan begins to believe that he has a right to a family and happiness, an intruder disturbs the peacefulness of the quiet farm. Can Logan and Lily defend their home and the animals against a mysterious attacker? And can Lily’s love heal Logan’s wounded heart and teach him that it is never too late to return to those who love you?
ZODIAC SHIFTERS: BOUND BY WATER by Monica La Porta
The only merman shifter alive, Atreides is a famous painter, rich, and sophisticated. In his spare time, he helps the police recover stolen art.
A mere human—although exceedingly strong-willed—Ariel is an accomplished art thief who has sworn never to steal again. Until she’s forced to repay her father’s substantial debts, and the only way out is robbing an Etruscan artifact.
One night, they meet. He isn’t looking for a soulmate, and she doesn’t have time for a relationship. Yet, it only takes one passionate kiss under the full moon to intertwine their fates. Unfortunately, there’s a werewolf biker gang on their heels, and they won’t leave Atreides and Ariel alone.
Will love triumph over a bunch of enraged shifters?
BEAUTY OF THE BEAST (FAIRY TALE RETELLINGS) by Rachel L. Demeter
Reclusive and severely scarred Prince Adam Delacroix has remained hidden inside a secluded, decrepit castle ever since he witnessed his family’s brutal massacre. Cloaked in shadow, with only the lamentations of past ghosts for company, he has abandoned all hope, allowing the world to believe he died on that tragic eve twenty-five years ago.
Caught in a fierce snowstorm, beautiful and strong-willed Isabelle Rose seeks shelter at a castle—unaware that its beastly and disfigured master is much more than he appears to be. When he imprisons her gravely ill and blind father, she bravely offers herself in his place.
Stripped of his emotional defenses, Adam’s humanity reawakens as he encounters a kindred soul in Isabelle. Together they will wade through darkness and discover beauty and passion in the most unlikely of places. But when a monster from Isabelle’s former life threatens their new love, Demrov’s forgotten prince must emerge from his shadows and face the world once more.
BEAST: AN ANTHOLOGY by Various
Eight stories inspired by the classic fairytale, Beauty and the Beast. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Wildlife Conservation Network.
TAMING THE BEAST: 11 PARANORMAL ROMANCES by 
Various
Eleven Paranormal Tales of Werewolves, Werebears, Shapeshifters, Magic, Witches, and More.
WAYWARD MAGIC: A PARANORMAL ROMANCE BOX SET by Various
Sometimes magic goes as planned. Sometimes, you get Wayward Magic.
MAGIC AWAKENED: A PARANORMAL ROMANCE BOXED SET by Various
Enjoy eleven stunningly romantic supernatural tales in one divine boxed set. Fantastic beasts, shifters, and unearthly creatures face all too human conflicts and heartbreak, but always with a promise of a happily-ever-after ending.
With mates and magic, each story brings to life a unique world where anything is possible, including finding true and everlasting love, no matter who…or what you are. ”
THE ROSE MARK (BLACK ROSE SORCERESS BOOK 1) by Connie Suttle
VS NOTE: I didn’t see any mention of romance in the blurb or the reviews but the premise is intriguing…
We belong to the King–those of us with the black roses tattooed on our left wrist, directly over our pulse. As if every beat of our hearts reminds us that we are not our own.
All the women with the fire burning within them are culled, tattooed and taken to the warriors, to provide more energy. Energy that the warriors will then use to defeat the barbarians from the ocean of sand. Women with black roses on their wrists are emptied of their power by those warriors, who care not that they die a shrunken husk.
In the King’s library, The Book of the Rose says to honor the tattooed women. More than anything, I want to spit on its pages.
As for running–there is one thing worse than having a black rose on your wrist. That is for the enemy to find you and see the black rose on your wrist. Your death will be slow and excruciating at their hands.
VS: And since this is my blog, I’d like to mention I have two scifi romance books currently on sale for $.99 – LADY OF THE STAR WIND (“Luckless lovers or legend reborn?”) and TRAPPED ON TALONQUE (which is in part a take on Sleeping Beauty but with an alien heroine).
An EPIC eBOOK Award Finalist!
Buy Links: iBooks Amazon KOBO Barnes & Noble
Buy Links for Trapped on Talonque: Apple iBooks Amazon Kobo Barnes & Noble
Thank you so much for mentioning Dark Thoughts!
(tackle hugs)
My pleasure, best wishes with the book!
You perform a valuable service with these posts, Veronica. Keep it up.
Thanks, Ed, that means a lot to me! I appreciate the support…
Thank you Veronica. I look forward to these posts every week. You are my go to person for books to read.
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