As always, I recommend sampling before you buy! 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).
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LOVE THY GALACTIC ENEMY (REPELLING THE INVASION BOOK 4) by Ed Hoornaert
Minta, the reserved secretary for a spy team that spread a man-made plague, leaves the planet too late — the team abandons her on the enemy’s space station. She’s forced to fend for herself until she can make contact with an elusive spy, Watcher, who has a starship. To avoid arrest, she nurses a plague victim — a gentle, whimsical man who spouts Lewis Carroll. But to know this enemy is to love him . . .
When Finn Shanwing falls ill, he doesn’t intend to hide that he’s actually an high-ranking cyborg warrior. Neither does he intend to fall in love with the secretive nurse who saves his life . . . but by the time he reveals to Minta she saved an enemy commando, it’s too late for his heart. Or hers. Also too late to escape the wrath of Watcher — half-human, half-machine, and both halves obsessed with her.
DRAYKE: BOOK 5 IN THE GALAXY GLADIATOR SERIES by Alana Khan
Abducted from Earth and forced to become a gladiator, Nova resigns herself to a short, loveless life. But after being injured in the arena, she meets Drayke, the hunky blue alien doctor, who informs her they’ve already bonded.
And he has a secret. One that could change everything. Now they’re in a fight, not just to open the Three Gates, but for her heart. And the stakes are high. Life, death, and love.
TERROR (THE HORDESMEN BOOK 2) by Milana Jacks
Terror Hordesman came. With flowers. Red roses. He came, he marked me, and he moved into my house. This is bad. Very bad. Because, I’m funding the Betaren project he’s trying to destroy. If he finds out, I fear, he’ll kill me.
THE UNCERTAIN SCIENTIST (THE LOST PLANETS SERIES BOOK 4) by K Webster and Nicole Blanchard
I had everything I ever wanted.
I was brilliant, successful, esteemed.
Alone.
But I didn’t mind. I liked being alone.
Until they stole me.
And I wake up, captive, pregnant with an alien baby—and still a virgin.
For a race of freaks nearing extinction, there seems to be far, far too many of them.
Everywhere I turn, one of the morts or their human mates wants to comfort me, make me feel welcome and safe. But I don’t want to feel welcome or safe. I want the life they stole from me.
None of them pay any heed to my angry tirades, least of all the father of the child I carry. There’s no doubt he wants the baby, but that isn’t all he wants.
In fact, I’m beginning to think if some of the morts had their way I’d never be alone again.
ENSLAVED BY THE ALIEN DRAGON (GALACTIC ALPHA’S CONQUEST BOOK 4) by Stella Cassy
Survivor. Slave. Worthless human jinx…After Yvette causes a fatal disaster at a slave auction, her Pax owners give her away to the nearest buyer just to get rid of her. Her dragon captor is huge and domineering, with just a hint of vulnerability that calls to her. Yvette shouldn’t want to bring any warmth to his life, but the longer she spends with him, the more she wonders what’s hiding under her warrior’s grumpy exterior.
He’ll lead his people to glory…Ranel is no stranger to heartbreak. He’s closed himself off rather than once more risk suffering the shattering intimacy that love and loss bring. Who needs love when there’s a war against the Pax to be won? This gruff old dragon doesn’t have time for a weak lover or a soft heart, even if something inside of him yearns for the sweetness that his newest slave offers.
Yvette’s strength is well hidden, tamped down by the Pax who once held her captive, but as it begins to peek through, Ranel knows that Yvette is the person who belongs by his side. Her body may belong to him, but he’s determined to claim her heart.
THE MYTHIC DREAM by Various
VS Note: A fantasy/scifi/myth retelling story collection – not romance but a release of note.
An all-new anthology of eighteen classic myth retellings featuring an all-star lineup of award-winning and critically acclaimed writers.
Madeleine L’Engle once said, “When we lose our myths we lose our place in the universe.” The Mythic Dream gathers together eighteen stories that reclaim the myths that shaped our collective past, and use them to explore our present and future. From Hades and Persephone to Kali, from Loki to Inanna, this anthology explores retellings of myths across cultures and civilizations.
Featuring award-winning and critically acclaimed writers such as Seanan McGuire, Naomi Novik, Rebecca Roanhorse, JY Yang, Alyssa Wong, Indrapramit Das, Carlos Hernandez, Sarah Gailey, Ann Leckie, John Chu, Urusla Vernon, Carmen Maria Machado, Stephen Graham Jones, Arkady Martine, Amal El-Mohtar, Jeffrey Ford, and more
MY ALIEN’S OBSSESSION (DRACI ALIEN ROMANCE) by Stasia Black
The human female spins and runs straight into my chest.
“Oh!” she says but then she stops, frozen as she stares up at me. “Hi.”
I, too, am stopped in place.
This female is nothing like the others I have seen. She is petite, with long flowing black hair. Her features are as foreign to me as any humans, but for some reason I find her face pleasing.
Before I can think better of it, my tongue sneaks out over my lips to scent my surroundings.
But all I can smell is her.
And I’ve never scented anything so delicious in my life.
MINE.
It’s all but a convulsion that tears through my body.
What? No! No, this cannot be happening!
My denials are weak, though.
Far louder is the cry: Mine, mine, mine, mine, MINE, MINE.
HOUSE OF STRIFE (POISONED HOUSES BOOK 4) by Lyn Forester
Raised to stand as a leader of Leton, I never felt like I belonged. Too small, too emotional, and too separated from peers. I planned to escape, to forge a future of my choosing outside of my family’s expectations and restrictions. But the time for childish dreams is over.
I’m tired of being silent, of letting events unfold around me. It’s time to step up, to take my future into my own hands. Because someone is threatening those closest to me, and death has already struck too close to home. As the High Houses come under attack, we must stay one step ahead of our enemy to stay alive. But what can we do when the government we help uphold turns on us?
JEROF: INTERGALACTIC WARRIORS BOOK 1 by Phoebe Nix
Stranded on a strange planet and rescued by a hot alien warrior…Vacation in Egypt was supposed to be the perfect getaway, but when a strange object transports her to an alien planet, Liz gets far more adventure than she bargained for. Separated from her friends and disorientated she’s in danger from strange creatures all around her. That is until she’s rescued by a hunk of an alien who whisks her away to his palace and introduces her to a world she never imagined. Would it really so bad to give in to the heat she sees in his eyes?
A human mate for the alien prince…Prince Jerof Url’San isn’t ready to be king, but with his father’s teetering on the edge of death he must face his destiny. His people see him as nothing more than a hotheaded warrior, and now he must prove that he’s ready to lead. Nothing is more important. But when he comes upon a struggling Earthling, Jerof is hopeless to resist her, even if succumbing to her lure puts his position at risk and her life in danger.
He’ll have to fight to prove himself worthy of the Kingdoms of Hargan and with war on the horizon, failure to secure his position could doom his people. He doesn’t have time for love, but Liz is part of his destiny and if he doesn’t figure out what role she’s meant to play, their time together might be over before it begins.
VEILS (VEILS TRILOGY BOOK 1) by Linda Mooney
VS note: Ooh, sounds post apocalyptic crossed with a dash of the Twilight Zone maybe! One clicked…
After three tours of duty, and serving the last four years overseas, Griffin Strong is looking forward to finally returning home and living out his life without bombings and bloodshed. After a 300-mile drive home, a quick trip through the car wash ends in another reality. An eerie, fog-covered reality where he is all alone…or so he thought.
With no electricity, cars that don’t function, and guns that won’t fire, Griff has to find protection for himself, but protection against what exactly? What the hell even happened? Survival instincts kicking in, he stocks up on whatever he can carry, and sets out on his own.
Griff soon learns that he’s not completely alone, although life of any form is rare to come across, but whom can he trust?
When the subway in Manhattan dumps Natalia Westfall in a snow-covered, deserted town far from New York, she’s left alone, frozen, and desperate. Hope lies in a uniformed military man, but will he want to be weighed down by a sick, weak female like her? Griff takes a chance, and it doesn’t take him long to learn she’s anything but weak.
Facing thirst, starvation, acid rain, enemies, and extreme temps–what will get them first? The odds are stacked against them, and all they can count on is each other.
CHOSEN BY THE ALIEN HYBRIDS (THE LOST ARENA BOOK 2) by Lia Nox
Rule one. Survival above all. The only time I broke that rule, I was betrayed.
Now I’ve crashed on an alien planet, putting my scavenging skills to the ultimate test.
Rule two. Trust no one. Except a breathtaking trio of tall, broad horned aliens has saved me. Yup. Horns. And thats not even the breathtaking part. They’ve protected me from the dangers of this world, and the fears trapped in my own mind.
Given me their trust.
Rule three. Let no one in. But with every heated touch, with every moment of danger survived, they’ve worked their way deep into me. Not just across my body.
Much further in. Now the only rules are the ones we make for ourselves.
But will that be enough to keep us together against the mysteries of this planet?
FIRST CONTACT CAPTIVES: VIDAR (AN ALPHA QUADRANT SERIES BOOK 1) by Enid Titan
He fell from the sky with one mission…Learn everything about the Earth and its people.
When the purple-skinned Polluxian named Vidar falls to earth, his fate lies in the hand of the naïve human scientist, Minnie. She can’t help but think that this creature is more than what he seems…That he understands her better than she realizes…That he’s more than a terrifying extra-terrestrial…Lust takes hold of her the moment they’re alone.
A desire she felt was impossible…A desire she knows is wrong.
WRATH (THE DEADLY SEVEN BOOK 3) by Lana Pecherczyk
VS note: apparently a superhero story…romance…
Wyatt Lazarus’s ex-fiancée betrayed him in the vilest of ways, and he failed to see it coming. Now alone and ashamed, the unquenchable influence of his sin fuels his anger. Instead of redeeming sinners—he ends them. Wrath becomes his identity until a brutal mistake throws him into the path of a cheeky yoga instructor in need of a savior.
Misha Minski believes in karma, but after years of suffering blackmail from an old mafia acquaintance, it’s hard to stay strong. Soon her number is up. Rather than spend her last days wallowing in self pity, she’s determined to enjoy one last night of pleasure with her new mysterious protector, but instead, finds something much more—a future.
But when the evil Syndicate join forces with Misha’s psychopathic blackmailer, Wyatt must push through his bitterness and reunite with his heroic family, or the woman who gave him back his voice will be lost to him forever.
BY THE SEA OF SAND by Megan Hart
VS Note: Seemed intriguing. I one clicked after reading the ‘look inside’.
Their love is a memory too dangerous to recall.
Life is not easy by the Sea of Sand. The remote outpost and its lighthouse were never meant to serve as a place for wounded soldiers to recover, but that’s what it has become. Teila has lived in the lighthouse for her entire life, and now she also takes care of the men and women who gave their sanity fighting the Wirthera’s hive mind.
Captain Kason Reed was willing to give his life for the Sheirran Defense Forces, but now he can’t remember anything except bits and pieces of the war. When his attraction to his caregiver, Teila, causes him to make advances toward her, she becomes the aggressor, urging him with her body to explore the memories of his past—memories that all seem to draw him back to Teila…
Those returned by the Wirthera never come back whole. Their bodies are flooded with nanobots designed to trigger homicidal rage when the soldiers remember what happened to them. No matter how much Teila wants her new patient to remember her and the life they shared, before, she can’t remind him.
If she does, he might kill them all.
THE HUNT FOR RED FLUFFY (BRIMSTONE BOOK 6) by Angel Martinez
Someone abandons a pedigree hellcat right where Shax can conveniently claim her and sets off a cataclysmic domino line of events. It’s time for the other shoe to drop since the Brimstone has a shadow cabal after them—partly due to Shax’s own, er, interesting decisions and partly due to the presence of Agent Julian Parallax onboard.
As ship security officer, Ness has a lot on his mind—a dangerous new pet, even more dangerous criminals tracking the Brimstone, and yet another unexpected rescued guest. The last thing he needs is a distraction and Julian, who confuses and confounds him more every moment, is exactly the distraction he doesn’t need. Between Shax’s reckless gambits and Julian’s disregard for his own safety, how is Ness supposed to keep anyone safe?
The Brimstone and her intrepid crew do all they can to stay one step ahead, but this time the hunters are closing in.
GIDEON THE NINTH by Tamsyn Muir
The Emperor needs necromancers. The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman. Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead nonsense.Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated as arcane revenants. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy.
Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won’t set her free without a service.
Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will be become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon’s sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die. Of course, some things are better left dead.
LORD REGRET’S PRICE: A JANE AUSTEN SPACE OPERA by Joely Sue Burkhart
VS note: I’ve been told this may be a re-release…
After weeks of travel, Lord Sigmund Regret’s nerves are frayed. He’s gone too long without a mark, but that’s not the only thing making him edgy. Once the reality of his profession sinks in, he wonders how his Lady Charlotte Wyre will feel when he comes to her bed with fresh blood on his hands.
Of course, the other man in her life adds more stress to an already complicated relationship. Gilead Masters’s needs are so…normal…compared to Sig’s, which leaves Charlotte turning to him to explore her darkening fantasies. Bondage is one thing. But pain? That’s too close to his bloodline’s violent weakness for Sig’s comfort.
Charlotte can feel Sig pulling away, but there is no time to heal the rift before they land in Zijin, where she is immediately attacked. Britannia’s reach is long, and Queen Majel’s reach is even deeper—and more deadly. As Imperial politics come to a dangerous boil, Charlotte must risk everything to keep her freedom. Who can she trust? Is her love enough to keep Lord Regret at her side? Alas, Dear Reader, even her beloved assassin has his price.
SEEDED: A DARK SCIFI ROMANCE by Loki Renard
I was on a routine patrol when my ship encountered an anomaly orbiting Earth. I broke protocol to investigate, only to suddenly find myself in a very small cell with a very large alien male. He is Talon, captain of the Virility, and I am now his captive. His crew’s mission is to seed the universe, breeding with every form of life. Including me.
THREE DAYS by Travis Hill
His future will be her past, three days at a time…Once every nine years, Chase Matthews and Patricia Wellesley find themselves compelled to step out of their normal lives and into each other’s for three days of passion, desire, and curiosity at the strange phenomenon that binds them together. Outside of those three days, each has a normal life: a career, a family, love, loss, trials and triumphs, yet the universe seems determined to conceal them from one another.
Neither understands what is happening, only that as one of them moves forward through time, growing nine years older, the other moves backward, somehow becoming nine years younger, forcing them to question the potential pitfalls of revealing each other’s futures—futures that might not be set in stone, but could potentially cause the collapse of reality itself if the unknown rules they are bound by are broken.
A DIFFERENT MODEL (I, ANDROID BOOK 1) by Heather Killough-Walden
Malcolm Antares, “Zero” to his enemies, is charismatic and magnetic. The handsome and dangerous man is the perfect machine, tall and strong, fast and brilliant, a strategist and tactician capable of out-thinking anyone on the planet. With his wealth and power, he can have anything, and with his intelligence he can outsmart anyone. Except the one person he actually desires: Samantha Hart.
Androids are not only human-like, they have become so real they’ve waged a war to win their freedom from slavery and servitude, much like their human predecessors had centuries ago. Their sole aspiration is equality. To this goal, the rebel group Prometheus is formed, with the beautiful and genius human inventor and android sympathist Samantha Hart at its core.
The androids are slowly winning, and they have hope. However, one day a different model of android emerges from the shadows, one whose designed purpose is not uniformity or egalitarianism – but to reign supreme. This captivating model is a mystery; no one knows who designed or created him. Within Zero’s enigmatic programming lies the ability to bend the world’s most influential people to his will. He is endlessly cunning, ruthless and cold. And unfortunately for Prometheus, he’s on the wrong side – that of the human oppressors.
To make matters worse for the rebel group, who must now attempt to outwit a machine perpetually one step ahead, the new model’s main goal has become patently clear: He wants the heart of their operation, the source of every winning idea they’ve ever had. He wants Sam. He will stop at nothing to obtain her. For in her own mysteriously unique make-up lies the miraculous ability to make a machine feel. What’s more, within the confines of her priceless mind hides a well-kept secret that means the difference between kneeling as a slave… and ruling the world.
THE TESTAMENTS: THE SEQUEL TO THE HANDMAID’S TALE by Margaret Atwood
VS Note: Not a romance obviously but a release of note…
More than fifteen years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale, the theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, but there are signs it is beginning to rot from within. At this crucial moment, the lives of three radically different women converge, with potentially explosive results.
Two have grown up as part of the first generation to come of age in the new order. The testimonies of these two young women are joined by a third voice: a woman who wields power through the ruthless accumulation and deployment of secrets.
As Atwood unfolds The Testaments, she opens up the innermost workings of Gilead as each woman is forced to come to terms with who she is, and how far she will go for what she believes.
RUTH AND THE KING OF THE GIANTS: A SEVEN KINGDOMS TALE 5 by S E Smith
The King of the Giants has met his match…When her brother goes missing, Ruth Hallbrook follows the only lead that she has – a story told to her by a strange woman she meets in town. Armed with a ‘magical’ shell that will supposedly guide her, all she has to do is repeat the words she hears when she puts it to her ear. That would have been fine if she could have understood what it was saying! One wrong word lands her in a kingdom filled with giants, including one very large, irritating one who thinks she belongs in his gilded cage – fat chance of that!
An opportunity to escape for a little peace and quiet turns into a disaster when Koorgan, the King of the Giants, finds himself stuck in an old well. Unable to climb out, he is sure his only hope of rescue is the search party eventually finding him. The last thing he expects is his rescuer to be barely larger than his hand.
Afraid that something might happen to the tiny creature, he feels duty bound to help her find her missing brother and return her to her world. The trouble is, the more time he spends with her, the less he wants to let her go.
Life is dangerous on the Isle of Giants for the diminutive Ruth. It will take every skill this King of the Giants possesses to protect her. Guided by the legend of a mythical plant said to have created the giants, Koorgan will not rest until he finds a way to keep Ruth by his side. Find out if love can overcome the barrier created by a misspoken spell!
AT DEATH’S DOOR: A DEADMAN’S CROSS NOVEL by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Valynda Moore was born cursed. So when she dies as the result of a spell gone wrong and is trapped in the body of a voodoo doll, she expects nothing else from her messed up life. Until Thorn, leader of the Hellchasers, offers her a chance at redemption and a new life.
But nothing has ever gone her way, for the Malachai, the very beast she and her crew of Deadmen have sworn to keep locked away, has risen. And this time he’s taken prisoners. Valynda must keep her wits about her or be denied her salvation and forced to watch as the entire world falls into the hands of absolute evil.
It’s a demon-eat-demon world where the stakes have never been higher and either redemption or the ultimate betrayal waits for her at Death’s Door.
A WITCH IN TIME (CAT’S PAW COVE BOOK 1) by Wynter Daniels and Catherine Kean
In a violent storm in 1645, Colin Wilshire’s Barbados-bound ship is swept off course. He’s sure he and his pregnant bride are fated to drown when he’s tossed into the sea. He wakes in a strange land and is saved by a blue-haired angel.
Twenty-first-century witch and cat rescuer Luna Halpern has fallen for more than her share of unsuitable guys—including one with a long-distance fiancé, and another who was more interested in other dudes than in Luna. Finally, a safe, drama-free guy is interested in her, and she’s confident that she’ll muster up an attraction to him. When she stumbles upon a handsome, mysterious man who speaks oddly, seems not to know where he is, or even what century it is, her first instinct is to help him.
Certain he’s either stuck in a crazy dream or in limbo between life and death, Colin stays close to Luna. As his feelings for her grow, he’s forced to choose between his obligations in the past and his hopes for the future.
REAWAKENING THEIR BEARS (WITCHES AND WERES OF SILVER LAKE BOOK 12) by Vella Day
To say werebear Detective Kalan Murdoch is stressed out would be an understatement. Between trying to solve murders, muggings, and miscellaneous crimes in Silver Lake, he wants to spend time with his two adorable kids and beautiful mate. Too bad he fails most of the time. If only he could learn to juggle the job and his family, he’d be totally content.
Elana is also frustrated. While her floral shop is going well–okay better than well–things at home are not. Her super sexy mate, Kalan, works late almost every night, and their three-year old son keeps asking why his father isn’t home–and she can’t blame him for being upset. Elana wants more of Kalan too.
It isn’t until their home is broken into that Elana and Kalan have to work together to bring down the group responsible and to help save a friend who’s been taken by the Changelings. But will their journey be enough to save what connection they’ve lost?
MAGIC AND FATE (FATED MAGIC SERIES BOOK 6) by Ally Summers
All hell has broken loose in Charleston. There are new shifters. Old shifters. Magic so ancient and dark, no one can identify it.
The line that separates good and evil is about to be dissolved, and Finn and I are the only ones who can stop it. Only, it’s going to require the most dangerous use of our magic.
I’m confident I can save them. All.
ORACLES AND OBITUARIES (AN AVERY SHAW MYSTERY BOOK 15) by Amanda M Lee
Halloween is Avery Shaw’s favorite time of year. What’s not to love? Slasher movies, hot chocolate and corn mazes. She’s addicted to them all.
During a visit to one of those mazes, she runs across several men trying to kidnap a teenage girl. In true Avery fashion, she intervenes … resulting in a severe injury. While she’s on the mend, she starts tracking information on a group of people working in the area.
Avery can’t decide if she’s on to something or imagining things. The attack leaves her weaker than she would like, something she refuses to acknowledge, and questioning her investigative mind.
Eliot Kane, her live-in love, decides to help. As much as he wants her safe, he understands she needs to take control. Together, they’re going to dig until they find the information they need. Unfortunately for both of them, the deeper they get, the more they start to wonder just how big of an operation they’re dealing with.
Information pours in, leading to questions about missing girls from years before … and an odd woman serving as an oracle for the Halloween fans in the present. She’s keeping a secret, too, and Avery is determined to figure out what it is.
As she’s proven her entire life, Avery won’t quit until she wins. This time, however, the battle is going to be long, dark and deadly.
She won’t ever give up … even if the search for the truth ultimately kills her.
RISEN (RISE OF THE ILIRI BOOK 10) by Auryn Hadley
In the final stretch of the war, the rules are changing faster than Anglia can keep up. The Kaisae of all Iliri is gone. Her mates are holding the army together. Her dreams are changing everything—and Sal? She’s not done yet. The Emperor has taken too much from her. Life, loves, and much of her happiness. All she has left is desperation—and blind trust. But she’s not alone. She never has been. If the iliri want to finally know peace, she’s going to need some help. For once, the success of their species is out of her hands.
Ryali has promised to handle the situation in Dorton. This leaves the King free to focus on the assault of Terric. Elite units are lining up to help. The end of the war is near, but can Anglia truly make this happen? The fight is the least of their concerns. Killing a man is easy. Changing minds? That’s going to be impossible. And yet it’s the whole reason the iliri have risen up: to finally be seen as equals. If this is going to work, it’s going to take more than ayati—more than the fate the iliri believe controls the world. It’s time for the pattern to change.
DARK WATER (ACADEMY’S RISE BOOK 2) by L A Boruff
As firstborn, my sister, Meda, will be High Alpha to all the lycans and vampires in the world—The Collective. She’s just found her mates and one of the three is heir to a huge witch Circle, which will one day unite the three major paranormal races.
I dodged a major bullet there. Thank Lucifer. I’m not a leader. I’m not someone to look up to. I like to do my own thing and go my own way. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure I’m fighting a mating bond myself. As if I needed three guys hanging on to my every freaking word. And now, I’m having visions of what’s to come. It isn’t pretty.
My sisters and I must race against time to figure out what the vision means and how to stop the pending evil from destroying everyone we love. Failure isn’t an option.
WOLF’S BANE (ONCE UPON A VILLAIN BOOK 3) by Donna Mercer
What secrets lie beneath the hood? Villains aren’t bad people; they are just victims of circumstances. Granted, they are usually the ones to create that circumstance, but that is not the point. Lucius was living the good life. Spending time with his mate as she pranced around in her sexy red hood. Mmmm, he couldn’t wait to get a bite of that luscious little cupcake. Nothing was better than tasting her cream filling. Then his mate betrayed him.
Next, a dead body turned up, and all fingers were pointing at Lucius for making it that way. A shiny example of life sticking it to him once again. Waking up in jail, accused of killing his biggest rival, Lucius thought his day couldn’t get much worse until help was offered from his most hated enemy. Before he knew it, he was accepting help from a witch, the last creature on the planet that he trusted. His whole situation just screams shady.
Second chances are a thing of Fairy Tales. Two things Lucius doesn’t believe in, Second Chances and Happily Ever Afters. Now he is being offered both. And all he has to do was avoid screwing up his second chance, and find a murderer all while convincing his mate to fall in love with him again and not keeping his date with the Woodman’s ax.
KING OF BLOOD (BLOOD COURT BOOK 3) by Ava Mason
Whatever the sacrifice, I would protect my Fated Mate.
Even if it meant killing the men I once loved.
I would always come home. That is something I vowed to myself as soon as I was old enough to take up the yoke of ruling the Blood Court.
Whether it was as a hero, or carried home on a shield, I would always come home. It was where I was born.
It was the place I’d devoted myself to and sworn to defend. It was my birthright, my legacy.
Now home meant even more. It meant her, my Fated Mate. And nothing was going to stop me from bringing her there. Not the men I had once trusted above anyone else.
The men now standing in my way.
Whatever the sacrifice, I would protect my Fated Mate.
MINOTAUR: PRAYER (THE BESTIAL TRIBE BOOK 2) by Naomi Lucas
Calavia was known as the hag, a swamp witch, and a dangerous being to those who threatened her sanctuary, Prayer. No one knew the lost girl that she truly was, surviving each day in the cursed Labyrinth, hiding her humanity from the hordes of monsters who would tear each other limb-from-limb to possess it. When a minotaur arrived on her doorstep with a human woman, she helped them… for a price.
And when they fled, she was left alone with the wrath of the centaurs that had been chasing the pair. With her magic dying, her protection failing, and a war on the horizon, she summons a champion.
Astegur Bathyr—the third bull begat of the legendary warlord Steelslash, and heir to the Bathyr tribe—was drawn to Prayer and the haunting female within. But for what reason? The wiles of mist witches had never held his interest, but her mouthwatering scent on the curse-laden night mist held him as surely as any mortal chain.
WARRIOR FAE TRAPPED (A DEMON DAYS VAMPIRE NIGHTS NOVEL) by K F Breene
Charity hasn’t had it easy. Growing up in a bad part of Chicago, left by her mother at sixteen, she’s a survivor. So when she gets a scholarship to a good college out in California, she thinks all her dreams have come true.
Instead she falls head first into a nightmare.
At a posh party she doesn’t belong, she gets the shock of her life: vampires and shifters are real! Magic is real. And she is anything but a mundane poor kid just trying to make it.
Warrior runs in her blood. If only she knew how to use it.
Suddenly she is trapped between two magical super powers – a cunning elder vampire who wishes to use her for her blood ties and maybe tie her to the bed, and a sexy alpha shifter who will protect her at all costs.
Her life of surviving could’ve never prepared her for this. And if she doesn’t learn to harness the fae magic running through her blood, she’ll be imprisoned forever.
A CROWN OF IRON AND SILVER (SOULBOUND BOOK 3) by Hailey Turner
New York City is decked out for the holidays, and Special Agent Patrick Collins is looking forward to a reunion with his old team when he gets assigned a new case. A human child is missing, and the changeling left in her place causes a prominent witch family to demand justice from the fae.
Meanwhile, continued harassment from the New York City god pack forces Jonothon de Vere to formally establish his own with Patrick. Doing so will mean a civil war within the werecreature community—a war they risk losing from the start without alliances. Making bargains with the fae is never wise, but Patrick and Jono have nothing to lose when a fae lord comes asking for their help.
The Summer Lady has been kidnapped from the Seelie Court, and if they can find her, Patrick and Jono will cement an alliance with the fae. But the clues to her disappearance are found in Tír na nÓg, and the Otherworld has never been kind to mortals.
Venturing past the veil, Patrick and Jono risk losing territory, time, and their very lives while searching for answers. Because the Queen of Air and Darkness knows they are coming—and the ruler of the Unseelie Court has an offer for them they can’t possibly refuse.
THE FROZEN WITCH (THE COVEN ACADEMY MAGIC BOOK 4) by Chandelle LaVaun
My magic runs ice cold. I am Judgement. I’ve gone from human to witch…to now Coven member. It’s amazing, awesome, and entirely overwhelming. I’m scared out of my mind right now. I shouldn’t be, I know that. I finally have real magic. I have elemental magic. I have ice at my fingertips and its the deadliest weapon I’ve ever seen.
But now I can’t run from Joseph. I have power and with that comes responsibility. Our war is getting more dangerous by the day and now I have to face him head on. I need to learn how to use my new magic before someone I care about gets hurt. Because Eden is no longer safe.
ALPHA BULLY (WOLF RIDGE HIGH BOOK 1) by Renee Rose
SHE RUINED EVERYTHING… I WILL MAKE HER PAY.
Her mom robbed my dad of his job. Destroyed his life.
Now I have to look at her every day.
The girl next door. A human. A hot little nerd.
She doesn’t belong here–not in Wolf Ridge,
not at our high school, definitely not in my life.
She doesn’t know what I am.
Which makes it all the easier to take revenge.
I will bring her to her knees. Pierce her heart.
Make her bleed. For me.
All for me.
SURVIVING DEATH: A TREBLE AND THE LOST BOYS NOVELLA by G R Lyons
VS Note: From August
How can you find purpose when you’re already dead? Cam Lucius has always felt useless and helpless, but never so much as the day his father pulled the plug, ending Cam’s life. As a ghost, there are only a handful of people who can see Cam, leaving him lonelier than ever.
Until he meets Taylor. Taylor Ainsley can’t touch anything without suffering, leaving him isolated from family and abandoned by friends. As for ever having a boyfriend? Not a chance. Until he meets Cam. Taylor can touch Cam without pain, and Cam may not be as straight as he thought he was. Now Cam is determined to help Taylor find a reason to live. Until that plan puts Taylor right in harm’s way.
Note: This story is a spin-off of Illumined Shadows (Treble and the Lost Boys, 3) and thus should not be read as a standalone.
PIED (ONCE UPON A VILLAIN BOOK 7) by Brooklyn Knight
She cannot see me, but she can hear me; and that is all I’ll need to make her fall in love… with me. Everything I’ve ever needed, is right here in my Paradise, including the whining brats I led away from their parents eons ago with my magical flute; but when that sorceress, Celeste Dubois, shows up and suggests that things need to change – that I need to change, I know she has lost her mind. That is, until she presents me with a brown beauty named Melodie, who awakens something deep inside me with her own music. I thought I had everything, but suddenly, I’m considering that maybe I don’t. I’m full of magic and music, but will those be enough to win Melodie’s heart? Especially when she learns that I’m the villain she despises from the folktales of old?
I can’t see him, but his music is like magic, and it restores my belief in true love. Patrick appeared out of nowhere – not that I can actually see him, but the aura and the vibe he carries is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Sometimes, I think I can actually see his radiance, and when he plays that flute of his, the sound is like healing magic. But my son, Rafael, has reservations. He says he recognizes Patrick from somewhere, though he’s not totally sure. Rafael is my eyes. I want to follow his lead, the way I always do, but Patrick is like magic, and his music is beckoning me closer.
DAY OF NO SHADOWS by Sonia De Leon
Fulfilling her father’s last request, Ines sets off to tour Mayan ruins. Her guide, Nash, instantly notices she bears a striking resemblance to the Mayan moon goddess, prompting the wheel of destiny to steer them on an unimaginable journey. A passionate kiss turns into a fall through time, where the heavens dictate the future, and the gods demand the impossible. When their attempt to change history turns into a fight for survival, will Ines find the courage to make her own sacrifice?
THE SOUL OF WBVR (PARANORMAL GRIEVANCE COMMITTEE CHRONICLES BOOK 3) by Elizabeth Andre
A voice from the past. A deejay at the pinnacle of her career.
Call-in radio shows are fun until a ghost calls. Popular soul music deejay Joyce Barkley thinks someone is pulling a prank when the voice of her dead girlfriend comes through clear as day during a call-in segment on her Saturday afternoon show. But it is no prank. The woman, who has been dead since a tragic accident in the mid-1960s, is back. Her voice is forcing Joyce to confront her decision to hide her true self and the truth of what really happened on that dark night.
With help from Maya and Julie, lead investigators with the Paranormal Grievance Committee, Joyce has to figure out how to soothe Natasha’s restless spirit. If she doesn’t, Joyce’s career will be over, and her heart will stay closed to love that could be hers.
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A NIGHT’S TAIL (MAGICAL CATS BOOK 11) by Sofie Kelly
Spring is coming to Mayville Heights, and Kathleen’s brother, Ethan, has arrived in town with his band, The Flaming Gerbils. But not everything goes as scheduled when one of Ethan’s bandmates gets into a fight with a man interested in investing in the town. When the businessman’s body is later found, Ethan’s friend is implicated in the crime.
Kathleen wants to help her brother by solving the case, but she has no shortage of suspects from which to choose. Prior to his death, the investor was fighting like cats and dogs with lots of people. If this librarian wants more than a whisker’s chance of solving the case, she will need to rely on her trusty feline sidekicks, Owen and Hercules.
THE TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY by Alix Harrow
In the early 1900s, a young woman embarks on a fantastical journey of self-discovery after finding a mysterious book in this captivating and lyrical debut.
In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place.
Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.
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MASTER OF THE WORLD (WORLDSHAPERS BOOK 2) by Edward Willett
VS note: Not a romance but a release of note…
Shawna Keys has fled the world she only recently discovered she Shaped, narrowly escaping death at the hands of the Adversary who seized control of it…and losing her only guide, Karl Yatsar, in the process.
Now she finds herself alone in some other Shaper’s world, where, in her first two hours, she’s rescued from a disintegrating island by an improbable flying machine she recognizes from Jules Verne’s Robur the Conqueror, then seized from it by raiders flying tiny personal helicopters, and finally taken to a submarine that bears a strong resemblance to Captain Nemo’s Nautilus. Oh, and accused of being both a spy and a witch.
Shawna expects–hopes!–Karl Yatsar will eventually follow her into this new steampunky realm, but exactly where and when he’ll show up, she hasn’t a clue.
In the meantime, she has to navigate a world where two factions fanatically devoted to their respective leaders are locked in perpetual combat, figure out who the Shaper of the world is, find him or her, and obtain the secret knowledge of this world’s Shaping. Then she has to somehow reconnect with Karl Yatsar, and escape to the next Shaped world in the Labyrinth…through a Portal she has no idea how to open.
THE PRESENCE (ENTANGLED SERIES BOOK 4) by Jill Sanders
VS Note: Listed in Paranormal Ghost Romance
Freshly released from a bad marriage, Liz takes off on a self-discovery trip through the States. After finding the picturesque town of Hidden Creek, she sees something strange, leaving her reeling and pretty sure someone or something is out to get her.
Joe hated being stuck in his hometown of Hidden Creek. Hell, he’d tried to leave more times than he could count, but each time, he got pulled back somehow. He was sure he was destined to die in this hellhole, but when a pretty blonde runs into the store begging for help, he might have finally found a reason to stay.
MIRROR BOUND (THE WITCHLING ACADEMY BOOK 2) by Monica Sanz
Conspirator. Failure. Murderer. Seraphina Dovetail is used to being called all these things. As the seventh-born daughter to a witch, and the cause of her mother losing both her powers and her life, Sera has always felt isolated. Until Nikolai Barrington.
The young professor not only took an interest in Sera—he took her into his home, hired her for his moonlighting detective agency, and gave her the one thing she’d always dreamed of: a chance. Under Barrington’s tutelage, Sera can finally take the School of Continuing Magic entrance exam to become an inspector and find her family. Now if only she could stop her growing attraction to her maddening boss—which is about as easy as this fiery elementalist quitting setting things on fire.
But when ghosts start dragging Sera into possessions so deep she can barely escape, and then the souls of lost witches and wizards appear trapped in mirrors, these two opposites will have to work together to uncover a much deeper secret that could destroy the Witchling world.
THE FAE LORD’S MISTRESS (THE NEW EARTH CHRONICLES BOOK 1) by Lisa Kumar
Ever since the day a fae raid stole away my parents, poverty and scavenging have been two constants in my life. Home is the human slums of Chimra, though it was once known as the great city of Chicago. The fae rule over New Earth and humanity with a neglectful and ruthless fist. But everything changes when Gabreon, the fae lord who led that raid six years ago, finds me in the forbidden dumping grounds and claims me as his own. Which leads to anger, confusion, and heartache—on my side and his.
Lina. The human Gabreon couldn’t forget. When he sees her in the dumping grounds, he no longer can ignore the pull between them. Though claiming her goes against everything he was brought up to believe, he takes her as his companion. During the day, she holds herself away from him, but at night, she sparks to life in his arms. As a human revolution ferments and his growing relationship with Lina becomes even more perilous, he discovers that he and his society have much to make amends for. Earning her forgiveness will be hard, but keeping both of them alive in the meantime might prove impossible.
TROPICAL DRAGON’S DESTINY (SHIFTING SANDS RESORT BOOK 10) by Zoe Chant
Scarlet Stanson, the owner of Shifting Sands Resort, has spent decades guarding her secrets… and her heart. Now both are at stake when she discovers that her resort isn’t the safe place she intended it to be…and that the arrogant lawyer she’s been battling over the resort lease isn’t the enemy she thought he was.
Dragon shifter Mal Moore has trained all his life for the fight he knows is coming. But no training could prepare him for meeting the enigmatic woman who has been obstructing his plans… and no magic can save his heart when he recognizes her as his destiny.
RIPE FOR THE ALPHA (THE RIDGE BROTHERS BEAR SHIFTERS BOOK 4) by Olivia T Turner
I’m in desperate need of a savior.
Kidnapped. Tied to a bed. Out of options. Out of luck.
Until the Sheriff comes roaring in and busts the place up.
He’s just the man I was waiting for.
I’ve always loved older men.
I’ve always loved a man in uniform.
With the Sheriff, I don’t stand a chance.
He has me on board before he even says one word.
He’s a protective polar bear shifter named Austin Peters, and once he gets his hands on me, he refuses to let me go. And I can tell by the possessive look in his icy blue eyes that he’s going to keep me. He keeps saying I’m his territory. That my body is his to claim.
He says I’m his mate and that he waited fifty-two years to have me……and now, he’s done waiting. Well, so am I.
A STEP IN TIME by Laura Liller
VS Note: From August
Never start with the weather. Television star Lucas McNeill knows it’s the basic rule of any good script. His wife, Kathryn “Hot Date Kate,” however, can’t seem to help herself from churning the skies till it explodes into a maelstrom of wind, thunder, and rain. Their story is doomed from page one.
Kate is the beautiful but spoiled daughter of Davis Harte, a politically ambitious billionaire, and her one agenda is to get the attention she’s been denied her whole life. Lucas’s one agenda is to buy back and restore his family’s ancestral home, a weed-choked farm in upstate New York currently owned by Davis. When Lucas brings Kate to the property to reveal her father used the farm as leverage to broker their marriage, a real storm begins.
The calm hills and dips that stretch out for acres are suddenly disturbed. Dewy ferns, wild grasses, and feathery conifers, are lashed by a wind, manic and furious. To escape the riotous weather Lucas and Kate take refuge in an old hunting shed. When a cannon blast of hail becomes no more than a delicate ping they emerge into bright sunshine, into a place of tilled fields and groomed trails, into a place with air faintly scented of chimney smoke. They have somehow stepped through the doorway and into 1954.
A Step in Time steals Kate from her Manhattan penthouse, her exclusive clubs, and high-end stores, and drops her into a whistle-stop town during the Eisenhower Administration. Kate, sadly and oftentimes, comically has to learn to navigate a world without Ovation hair products, Starbucks, and Jimmy Choo’s. She also has to watch as Lucas settles into a life he seems perfectly suited to.
Will Kate conquer her obstacles and find her way back to the present, or will she and Lucas finally channel their passion for one another and find love in the past? Only time will tell.
SELENA’S MEN: RAVENS OF WAR BOOK 1 by Elle Boon
A Goddess unknown by all even herself…Stolen from her birth parents as an infant, Selena lived her life as a normal human, loved by her adoptive parents until tragedy took them from her. Life had given her more knocks than most could take, but she was determined to survive, even when faced with death. Until she came face-to-face with two men who offered her so much more. But could she face what loving them could cost her?.
A set of Demi-Gods…Max and Malcolm King were once warriors called the Ravens of War for Zeus. They’ve searched the Earth for the one woman to complete them. They’ve fought alongside battlefields for thousands of years, protecting humanity from demons and beings bent on destroying all that’s good in this world. Now that they’ve found their Fated, the one female who they’d give their life for. Will it be for nothing when they find out who her father is? (…more blurb on ebook seller page…)
FOREVER LATELY: A REGENCY TIME TRAVEL ROMANCE by Linore Rose Burkard
1816, England – Julian St. John needs a wife. An oath to a deceased guardian must be kept. Miss Clarissa Andrews, a vexatious beauty, has dangled after him all season but he has no intention of choosing such a she-devil.
Maine, Present Day – Author Claire Channing is desperate to write a bestseller to save her failing career. She moves into her grandmotherʼs abandoned cottage to write the book, but a local resort baron wants to raze the place. Without the deed, the clock is ticking on how long she can stay. She thinks she’s writing St. Johnʼs story. But when she discovers an old prayer shawl and finds herself in his Regency world, she falls in love with him, a man she thought she invented! Miss Andrews, however, is also real—and she’d rather see Julian dead than in another womanʼs arms!
Claire must beat the clock to prevent a deadly tragedy, but can love beat the limits of time itself?
AUCTIONED TO THE WEREWOLF PRINCES by Daniella Wright
VS note: an excerpt from the blurb…more blurb on ebook seller page…
“If we didn’t buy you, you would have been sold to some big angry brute who only wants you around for one thing.”
“We got you a great room in an amazing castle. You can eat whatever you want. We can buy you anything you could ever desire…”
I felt a simultaneous urge to both keel over with laughter and to slap him right across his smug face.
“That’s rich. What you’re saying is that you saved me from being a pleasure-slave and that I should be grateful, because I have a cushy bed and silk pajamas.”
THE MIDNIGHT BRIDE by Kati Wilde
To save her family from a tyrant king, Mara of Aremond must win a tournament—and she won’t let anyone stop her from claiming the prize. Especially not Strax, the barbarian warrior who has tormented her every step of the way. But when a sorcerer’s trap binds them together, Mara must decide whether Strax is her greatest enemy, or if everything she seeks can only be found in the barbarian’s arms…
The audiobook version of this novella was originally featured on the Read Me Romance podcast. This release marks the first time this story is available in ebook or print, and includes a bonus epilogue and map not included in the podcast version.
WITCHLING ACADEMY: SEMESTER FIVE (SPELL TRAVELER CHRONICLES BOOK 5) by Avery Song
I, Brianne Marie Harlow, never thought much about death. Sure, I had a few close calls here and there, but the thought of actually dying at age eighteen wasn’t something I considered — does any healthy person think about death before they turn twenty?
Nevertheless, I’m trapped in a dark place and unsure how to get out of it. A powerful and familiar voice tells me to keep hanging on because my existence has a far greater purpose than I could begin to fathom. However, the clock is ticking, and I don’t think I have much time left to figure things out.
When the power in the dark finally reveals itself, I discover that I’m not some average student with a few extra gifts. Not at all. What is revealed cannot be undone, which makes me question if fighting the pull to sleep forever is worth it.
The only things stopping me from letting go completely are my family, my adorable familiar, and my Notorious Four. In the depths of the darkness, I hear their voices, and in moments of despair, I can see exactly what they’re going through while I wait. For me, Semester Five is up in the air, but one thing is certain: if I get the chance to live again, there won’t be any innocence left in me. I’ll be reborn into something stronger, braver, and wiser.
HUNTED BY THE WINTER KING (FAETED MATES BOOK 1) by Ariel Hunter
Mara Wylde is a small-time bounty hunter who just can’t seem to catch a break no matter how hard she tries. Her rent’s two months overdue. Her antiques shop is failing. She’s eaten ramen five nights in a row now and is desperate for a way out of debt.
When Mara’s offered a hundred grand to nab a high fae right out of Faerie, she knows she can’t turn down the job no matter the risks. Even if it means catching the eye of the elusive Winter King.
Tortured by his past and not-wanting to rule anymore, Vareck Blackthorne is ready to cede his crown and journey to the nether to escape his torment. Minutes from delivering this news to all of Faerie, he sees her—a fae woman with hair like the dawn and eyes that remind him of summer. A summer that has been gone for centuries. After six hundred years of suffering he’s finally found her—his Faeted Mate. The only problem?
She’s kissing his nephew—the heir to his throne.
SOLD TO HER ENEMIES (SHIFTER DATING SERVICE BOOK 5) by Jasmine Wylder
Being with two men at the same time has always been my fantasy. And now that fantasy might actually come true. Wayne and Samuel. Neither of them are ordinary.
They’re filthy rich… vampires. Annoying, arrogant, and hot as hell…(more blurb on ebook seller page…)
INKSPELLED (INKHAVEN ACADEMY BOOK 1) by Kenna Bardot and Tove Madigan
By the end of the day, I’ll be dead.
Every person in the City of Crimson has the date of their death Inked onto their skin. On that day, an Assassin of the Order of Zeevar comes to sacrifice our lives to the God of Resurrection. Children who survive are given the highest honor in the city – the opportunity to serve Zeevar and the Order themselves as one of the four Mages.
But people like me have no chance of passing the gruesome Trials. Four sexy-as-sin guardians aren’t likely to volunteer themselves for protection duty, and one does not survive InkHaven Academy by sheer, dumb luck. Right?
LORE (WHISPERS FROM THE BAYOU BOOK 4) by Sandra R Neeley
Lore is an Ancient and is just what his name describes – Lore. The lore of a thousand peoples and places, their magics and their beliefs all evolved over the passage of time and now walking the Earth as this male — Lore. He’s wandered this realm and the next for eons in search of his beloved mate. She was taken from him as punishment for his deviant behavior, and as retribution for betraying his own brother. He’s searched for so long he is near insanity — some even think he has crossed that line.
Evangeline is a true innocent, lured from the safety of her brethren by a beautiful, sensual male filled with promises and magics as old as time. She’s locked away from everything she loves. She has no idea why — she has no memories. They’ve all been stolen from her. All she does know is that she has to remain hidden. Those who tend her tell her that her love wants to kill her, and they keep her imprisoned for her own good. Now if she could only remember her love, maybe she’d know who she should be hiding from.
Lore refuses to cease his search for the female that holds not only his heart, but his soul. He’s long ago stopped believing that she’ll ever love him again — she doesn’t even remember him. But she’s locked away, treated as a prisoner in a place no innocent should ever be held, simply because she once loved him, she trusted him. And for that she suffers. He won’t stop until she can dance in the sunshine to her heart’s content, and he can hear her musical laughter on the winds. If it costs him his very existence, he’s willing to give it. Will he be able to find her this time, before his brother spirits her away from him again? He’s tired. He’s ready to give in to the insanity and nothingness that berate his mind on a daily basis. This is his last chance at saving her.
CLAIMING BITE by Silvia Violet
What if the one thing you wanted most was forbidden? Alpha werewolf King Howler seems to have everything he could want: power, wealth, and his own club where he can act out his dominant fantasies. But the one thing he lacks is his fated mate.
Shy loner Emerson has always craved submission, not to another human—to a shifter. Handing over control to anyone could be dangerous, but with a shifter, it might be deadly. Yet all his fantasies star a werewolf who can make him beg.
When King and Emerson meet, the bond between them is instinctive and undeniable. King can’t resist the pull he feels toward the younger man, even though giving Emerson what he longs for is risky. Emerson doesn’t care how vulnerable he is. He knows he belongs with King, and he’s willing to do anything to prove it. As longing turns to love, King knows he must find a way to keep Emerson safe, both from his enemies and from himself, because in the end, nothing can stop an alpha from claiming his mate.
RICKTOR (DRAGON ELEMENTS BOOK 4) by Sarah J Stone
I thought she was dead… but fate has given us a second chance. Finding Marina alive felt like a surreal dream. It also brought me back to life… and gave birth to fears. She’s a feisty dragon. Independent, smart, and gorgeous. But I still consider it my job to protect her. I can’t let anyone snatch her away from me again. I’ll keep her out of harm’s way… even if that means risking her love for me.
DESCENDANT OF CHAOS by M Sinclair
Stay away from mages. It was a singular phrase my father had ingrained in me from the time of my birth. Sorry, dad. I have a feeling that is going to be a f*cking problem.
You have to understand… my life has been bland at best. Everything in my life, every single day, has been scripted, organized, and neat. Calm, cool, and collected. The problem? It wasn’t real. I wasn’t like the other witches in my father’s coven. I had a chaotic storm growing inside of me and the moment these mages stepped into the picture, it began to escape. My perfect image of my life shattered. Everything seemed to pale in comparison to them. Their magic was exotic and powerful. Their pull on me nearly… well, magical.
But what are these men hiding? Why are they in Seattle at my high school? More importantly, what in the heck do they want with me? I have a feeling nothing will ever be the same after meeting them.
They say it only takes a singular moment to change everything.
No one tells you what to do after!
HOPE (FORBES MATES BOOK 5) by Grace R Duncan
Miguel Garcia and Luis Rodriguez have been best friends all their lives. For the last year, they’ve been hiding the fact that they’re also destined mates. When Luis’s family finds out, they kick him out. Miguel’s family would keep them… except their alpha has been known to be downright violent against gay wolves.
With the help of Miguel’s mother, they set out to find a pack that will accept them. They run into more that a few obstacles before they end up in Denver, at the national wolf headquarters, meeting the alpha prime. They’re stunned to find, not only offers to join more than one pack, but that their struggle can shine light on a bigger problem–and make things better for LGBT wolves across the country.
THE ROYAL COURT: A MULTI GENRE ANTHOLOGY by Various
VS note: May contain some paranormal…
The authors of the Royal Court Anthology formally request your presence inside the steamiest highborn literary event for the season. Featuring 11 multi-genre stories filled with secrets, intrigue and adventure surrounding the monarchy and bluebloods of lands from the contemporary to the other worldly.
DAMNATION: A CINDERELLA RETELLING (TALES OF CINDER BOOK 3 ) by M J Haag
Abused but not beaten, I will break the curse.
With the reason behind her mother’s death revealed, it’s a race for Eloise to exact her revenge and prevent her stepsisters from marrying the prince. However, amidst the glittering jewels and colorful ball gowns, the royal court holds secrets of its own that will devastate Eloise and strike a final blow to her plans. Betrayed by the one person she thought she could trust, Eloise questions how far she’s willing to go for revenge.
After all, in the game of kingdoms, everyone is a pawn.
THE AWAKENING: A VAMPIRE ROMANCE (THE BRYN AND SINJIN SERIES BOOK 6) by H P Mallory
While returning from a scouting mission to attempt to locate Luce’s camp, Bryn stumbles on a wolf-girl strapped to a rack and left for dead. Once rescued, the girl, Dayna, tells Bryn and company all about the newest flavor of Luce’s evil and, most specifically, what Luce plans to do to Bryn, if he ever takes her as prisoner again…And Bryn’s time in Luce’s breeding program will pale in comparison to the newest torture he’s devised…
Upon returning to the queen and Kinloch Kirk, a new arrival starts heating up the scene and making waves. Audrey Chevalier, Dureau’s beautiful French sister, seems to be overly interested in Master Vampire, Sinjin Sinclair.
And unless Bryn’s mistaken, Sinjin appears to return Audrey’s affections.
Will this budding new romance push Bryn into the arms of Dureau? Or will it make her second guess her decision to avoid a romantic attachment with Sinjin? Meanwhile, Jolie continues to gain allies as it appears the Underworld is soon to go to battle with Luce’s forces yet again. That is, until Dureau informs Bryn about the true nature of her ancestry, information which could absolutely change the tide of the war for all involved.
THE INSTITUTE: A NOVEL by Stephen King
VS note: I can’t read him any more, too much horror for my vivid imagination (I like to sleep without nightmares) BUT this one sounded interesting. Not a romance obviously! A release of note…
In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis’s parents and load him into a black SUV. The operation takes less than two minutes. Luke will wake up at The Institute, in a room that looks just like his own, except there’s no window. And outside his door are other doors, behind which are other kids with special talents—telekinesis and telepathy—who got to this place the same way Luke did: Kalisha, Nick, George, Iris, and ten-year-old Avery Dixon. They are all in Front Half. Others, Luke learns, graduated to Back Half, “like the roach motel,” Kalisha says. “You check in, but you don’t check out.”
In this most sinister of institutions, the director, Mrs. Sigsby, and her staff are ruthlessly dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extranormal gifts. There are no scruples here. If you go along, you get tokens for the vending machines. If you don’t, punishment is brutal. As each new victim disappears to Back Half, Luke becomes more and more desperate to get out and get help. But no one has ever escaped from the Institute.
THE MAGNOLIA SWORD: A BALLAD OF MULAN by Sherry Thomas
VS Note: I love Mulan so I put this on my TBR list.
CHINA, 484 A.D. – A Warrior in Disguise – All her life, Mulan has trained for one purpose: to win the duel that every generation in her family must fight. If she prevails, she can reunite a pair of priceless heirloom swords separated decades earlier, and avenge her father, who was paralyzed in his own duel.
Then a messenger from the Emperor arrives, demanding that all families send one soldier to fight the Rouran invaders in the north. Mulan’s father cannot go. Her brother is just a child. So she ties up her hair, takes up her sword, and joins the army as a man.
A War for a Dynasty – Thanks to her martial arts skills, Mulan is chosen for an elite team under the command of the princeling—the royal duke’s son, who is also the handsomest man she’s ever seen. But the princeling has secrets of his own, which explode into Mulan’s life and shake up everything she knows. As they cross the Great Wall to face the enemy beyond, Mulan and the princeling must find a way to unwind their past, unmask a traitor, and uncover the plans for the Rouran invasion . . . before it’s too late.
MILES AND THE MAGIC FLUTE by Heidi Cullinan
VS note: A re-release
When unemployed Miles Larson retreats to rural Minnesota to lick his wounds, his dissatisfaction turns him into prey for a powerful, ancient being. With an enchanted silver flute in his hand, Miles enters an erotic fairyland where the sorrows weighing on his heart don’t exist at all. The catch to his newfound paradise: three different magical beings have their eye on his soul.
To escape the dreamworld, Miles must battle against the Lord of Dreams who wants a new slave, escape the mysterious beast who craves a bridegroom, and resist the sensual lures of the fairy Terris’s charms. First, though, Miles has to overcome the bitterness in his heart that led him here in the first place. He must acknowledge that sometimes to find happiness, we must face our pain and sorrows—and for Miles, that’s the most difficult challenge of all.
MATCH MAGE (ENCHANTED CROSSROADS BOOK 1) by Zenina Masters
Tomas has lived a carefree life, his family is gone, and he has no one to cater to but himself, so he spends his nights drinking and paying for it with magic.
It was supposed to be a small spell to let young lovers have a night together without the interference of the lady’s fey godmother. It was little enough to do; he simply waited until the appointed time and opened a rift in the wall of magic around the woman in question.
He really should have asked her first.
His client tried to kill her, and Tomas ended up sentenced to having his magic bound to him for fifty years. Only one spell would come when he called, and it was the balancing spell. He was now a servant of the Crossroads, glyphed and bound.
Trill is assigned to keep an eye on his adjustment to the Crossroads, and a more reluctant parole officer has never been seen.
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VS Note: If you’ve been tempted to try my Badari Warriors series (ten books now and counting), there’s a boxed set of the first three books!
This Badari Warriors box set gathers the first three science fiction romance novels from this award winning series into one collection. Featuring genetically engineered soldiers of the far future, the Badari were created by alien enemies to fight humans. But then the scientists kidnapped an entire human colony from the Sectors to use as subjects in twisted experiments…the Badari and the humans made common cause, rebelled and escaped the labs. Now they live side by side in a sanctuary valley protected by a powerful Artificial Intelligence, and wage unceasing war on the aliens.
Please note each novel has been previously published on its own and all are standalone tales. No new material has been added, aside from a brief Author’s Note about why I wrote each novel.
AYDARR: Jill Garrison, a maintenance tech at the Sectors Amarcae 7 colony, goes to sleep one night as usual only to wake up in her nightgown stranded in the middle of a forest on an unknown world. There’s no time to think as she’s stalked by carnivorous predators and rescued by genetically engineered warriors calling themselves the Badari. Turns out they and she, along with her whole colony, are now prisoners of the Khagrish, a ruthless race of alien scientists. Working for enemies of the Sectors, the Khagrish have created the Badari to be super soldiers.
Aydarr, the Badari alpha, isn’t sure he can trust Jill but his attraction to her is undeniable. He impulsively claims her as his mate to prevent her death at the hands of the Khagrish.
MATEER: Megan Garrison, a doctor at the Sectors Amarcae 7 colony, goes to sleep one night as usual only to wake up in her nightgown, strapped to a table in an alien lab, destined to be the subject of terrifying experiments. Granted a brief reprieve, Megan and the other kidnapped humans are released in the middle of a forestlike enclosure on this unknown world and told to survive as best they can for now.
Her only hope is Mateer, the genetically engineered alien warrior imprisoned with the humans. He knows more than he’s sharing about this planet, their captors and the fate of other humans, including perhaps her own sisters. Turns out everyone from her colony has been kidnapped by the Khagrish, a ruthless race of alien scientists. Working for enemies of the human-led Sectors, the Khagrish have created the Badari to be super soldiers.
Mateer, a tough Badari enforcer, now a rebel, is captured while infiltrating the lab to help his pack bring it down. He’s also been ordered by his leaders to search for Megan and save her life at all costs. Tortured by the enemy, he’s offered one chance at survival – convince Megan to become his mate and assist the Khagrish with further experiments.
TIMTUR: Far from her home in the human Sectors after the mass kidnapping, teacher Lily Garrison is making a niche for herself in the valley by running a school for the Badari young. Although she yearns for Timtur, the pack’s healer, another Badari male has his eye on her and won’t take no for an answer.
Timtur feels the weight and responsibility of being the pack’s only healer, constantly on call as the soldiers fight ferocious battles against the alien scientists and their troops. With scarcely a moment to himself, he’s drawn to the gentle Lily but worries he won’t be able to juggle his duties, his loyalty to the pack and a relationship with a human woman.
When Lily’s stalker takes direct action to kidnap her and steal her from the safety of the valley, she’s forced to reach deep inside to find the strength to battle for her life. Timtur realizes too late how foolish he’s been to resist the bond with his fated mate and leads the rescue effort.
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LINKS TO RECENT NEW RELEASES POSTS from Veronica:
The term “new” is generally plus or minus a week or two. I try to catch up on ones I missed in recent months. And I may mention ‘special items’.
I do NOT cover every single new release in SFR/FantasyR/PNR. I never have. That would be an impossible task for any human! I assemble my list by hand every week based on various informal inputs, and I do curate the list to some extent…
I check and verify all the buy links at the time I create the post but after that I’m not responsible.
I noticed you didn’t have Hunted by Grace Goodwin included. My calendar says it’s going to be released tomorrow Sept 12.
Thanks for mentioning the book and we can all keep an eye out for it. If there’s no Amazon listing for a book by noon on Tuesday, I have to let it wait for next week. I do enjoy Grace’s novels!