Top Picks 24th May 2020 : New Romance book releases from Shelly Laurenston, Juno Rushdan, Jackie Lau & Sonali Dev

Posted May 24, 2020 by Nix in Top Picks / 0 Comments

Top Picks is a weekly meme that we do here at Scorching Book Reviews. In this post, I highlight the Romance books that I want to read that are released this week.

They are all books on my TR pile and only books we are interested in spending money on. I do not ask people to recommend books or highlight releases for author promo.

I feel I have to point out that books in a series are only going to be featured on here if I have started the series. I can’t recommend a series at book 14 when I haven’t read the others. I don’t read NA. I also don’t recommend books from authors who have engaged in awful behaviour or have bigotted views – I chose not to give them my money so you won’t find them on here.

Status on the TR list : I can’t wait for this book – I love Eggie! This is one of my favourite series.

Eggie Ray Smith may be a wolf and a killer, but he’s one of the good guys in this sizzling novella by NewYork Times bestselling author Shelly Laurenston . . .

LIKE A WOLF WITH A BONE

Quiet little Darla Lewis doesn’t know what to think when the most-feared member of the South’s rowdiest wolf pack kidnaps her. Does he want to protect her or kill her? It could be either! Everyone knows about Egbert Ray Smith and how dangerous he is. Every pack avoids him, and the U.S. military uses him as their own killing machine. And Darla is just a nice girl who likes to bake and occasionally follow the Grateful Dead around. She doesn’t have time for this sort of foolishness. And yet . . . there is something about Eggie Ray. He just doesn’t seem as bad as everyone says. In fact, the more she gets to know him, the cuddlier he seems.

Something her overprotective family is not going to be happy to hear . . .

Status on the TR list : I have the first of these books on my series – It gets rave reviews. Once I climb out of the comfort read hole I am in, it is on the list.

“Juno Rushdan is the real deal. Every Last Breath is an electric combination of heart-stopping thriller and swoon-worthy romance.”—LEXI BLAKE, New York Times bestselling author

He’s strong. Fierce. Relentless.
And he may be her only chance of surviving the night.

Gray Box operative Castle Kinkade always gets the job done, no matter how tough the assignment. But when he agrees to protect white-hat hacker Kit Westcott, Castle’s loyalty is tested like never before. Trapped in the closest of quarters, protective instincts flaring, he can feel the ice surrounding his heart melt…and he knows he’d do anything to keep Kit safe.

Even defy the rules that shaped his life.

Castle is the last person Kit should confide in, let alone be attracted to, but he’s the only ally she has left. Under threat of imminent attack—and a chilling conspiracy that hits too close to home—Castle and Kit are forced to put their hearts and lives on the line…and stop at nothing to face the greatest danger the world has ever known.

The Final Hour Series:
Every Last Breath
Nothing to Fear
Until the End

Status on the TR list : Love Jackie Lau – this is on the list.

I’ve got a pretty great life, if I do say so myself. I made a fortune when I sold my tech start-up, and I’ve spent the years since partying, drinking, and inviting a parade of women into my bed.

I should be happy, but I feel an annoying lack of fulfillment, and there’s no way I’m going back to the work I did before.

At a friend’s party, I meet Marissa. We have hot sex against the door and agree to spend the weekend together. Just one weekend. I never expect to see her again.

Except now she’s pregnant with my baby…and I think this is the solution to all my problems. This is what will bring meaning to my life. I’m going to be a devoted father and husband.

Marissa—whose last name I still don’t know—wants me to be involved, though she rejects my marriage proposal. But before the baby arrives, I’m going to prove to her that I can be something other than a playboy.

And the rare times I set my mind to something, I don’t fail…

Status on the TR list : I enjoyed Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors so I can’t wait for this one. I have it on the TR list.

From the author of Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors comes another , clever, deeply layered, and heartwarming romantic comedy that follows in the Jane Austen tradition—this time, with a twist on Persuasion.

Chef Ashna Raje desperately needs a new strategy. How else can she save her beloved restaurant and prove to her estranged, overachieving mother that she isn’t a complete screw up? When she’s asked to join the cast of Cooking with the Stars, the latest hit reality show teaming chefs with celebrities, it seems like just the leap of faith she needs to put her restaurant back on the map. She’s a chef, what’s the worst that could happen?

Rico Silva, that’s what.

Being paired with a celebrity who was her first love, the man who ghosted her at the worst possible time in her life, only proves what Ashna has always believed: leaps of faith are a recipe for disaster.

FIFA winning soccer star Rico Silva isn’t too happy to be paired up with Ashna either. Losing Ashna years ago almost destroyed him. The only silver lining to this bizarre situation is that he can finally prove to Ashna that he’s definitely over her.

But when their catastrophic first meeting goes viral, social media becomes obsessed with their chemistry. The competition on the show is fierce…and so is the simmering desire between Ashna and Rico. Every minute they spend together rekindles feelings that pull them toward their disastrous past. Will letting go again be another recipe for heartbreak—or a recipe for persuasion…?

In Recipe for Persuasion, Sonali Dev once again takes readers on an unforgettable adventure in this fresh, fun, and enchanting romantic comedy.

Status on the TR list : I really really want to read this book. It is currently above my price-point for eBooks (It’s £10.99) but I have put it on my tracking list.

Set on breathtaking Coates Island, off the coast of North Carolina, bestselling author Rochelle Alers’ new series debut brings together three book-loving women whose summer will offer a chance to rewrite their
own stories . . .

For three decades, the Seaside Café has served delicious meals to locals and island tourists alike. Kayana Johnson has moved home to help her brother run the café—and to nurse her wounds following a deep betrayal. Between cooking favorite recipes—creole chicken with buttermilk waffles, her grandmother’s famous mac and cheese—and spending time reading, Kayana is trying to embrace a life free of entanglements, while staying open to new connections . . .

After striking up conversation with two customers, Kayana suggests a summer book club. Each week, they’ll meet on the patio to talk about their favorite novels. But there are plot twists awaiting them in real life too. For schoolteacher Leah, this two-month sojourn is the first taste of freedom she’s had in her unhappy marriage. Cherie, filled with regret about her long-term affair with a married politician, discovers a powerful new passion. And Kayana finds a kindred spirit in a reclusive visitor who’s ready to make his true identity known, and fill this summer with new possibilities . . .

Status on the TR list : I like the sound of this blurb and the cover is just so lovely – I have only read one book from this author but I would like to read more.

The boy who always felt like mine is now the man I can’t have…

Dig a little and you’ll find photos of me in the bathtub with Ezra Stern.
Get your mind out of the gutter. We were six months old.

Pry and one of us might confess we saved our first kiss for each other. The most clumsy, wet, sloppy . . . spectacular thirty seconds of my adolescence.

Get into our business and you’ll see two families, closer than blood, torn apart in an instant.
Twenty years later, my “awkward duckling” best friend from childhood, the boy no one noticed, is a man no one can ignore.

Finer. Fiercer. Smarter.

Taken.

Tell me it’s wrong.

Tell me the boy who always felt like mine is now the man I can’t have.

When we find each other again, everything stands in our way–secrets, lies, promises.

But we didn’t come this far to give up now.

And I know just the move to make if I want to make him mine.

Status on the TR list : I quite like this author and the drama in her books – she isn’t autobuy so I will be marking it to read some reviews.

Ria Phillips has a plan. Stay strong. Stay busy. Stay focused on what’s important. And don’t start daydreaming again about a certain pair of soulful hazel eyes.

No, it won’t be easy. Jacob Worth was her first love. Her first time. Her first everything. Until he left town one day without explanation. He broke her heart back then, but she’s not a teenager with a crush anymore. She’s an adult–with a plan.

In the past eight years, Ria has built a good life for herself in her small hometown. She and her friends have used their creativity and business savvy to turn the little florist shop she inherited into an astonishing success. She’s got more than enough in her life to be proud of, and she’s going to make sure Jacob sees that.

She’s not going to let him rattle her. She’s not going to watch him from afar, even if he’s even hotter than before. And she’s definitely not going to fall into bed with him. Or, if she accidentally slips up, it will only be once.

She learned her lesson a long time ago, and she’s not going to fall for Jacob again.

Status on the TR list : I always mark Nora’s books but this one is too high a price point again – marked to watch the price point 🙂

One day, she thought, one moment, one innocent game. How was it that day, that moment, that game never seemed to end?

Caitlyn Sullivan is just nine years old when a game of hide and seek at a family party will change her life forever.

The betrayal she experienced that night will shape Caitlyn’s life – and for years she runs and runs, hiding from the aftermath of the trauma. But Caitlyn comes to realise that if she wants to not just survive but thrive, she must return to the family home to face up to her past.

What happened that night may always haunt Caitlyn but she must decide if it’s what you’re running from that matters. Or who finds you.