Top Picks 24th Sept : HEA from Nalini Singh, Katie Reus & Eve Langlais

Image Copyright Protected from Pin  Up Toons
Licence details on tab above

Top Picks is a weekly meme that we do here at Scorching Book Reviews. In this post we highlight the books that we want to read that are released this week. They are books on our TR pile and only books we are interested in spending money on.

This weeks Top Picks are..

.

Status on TR list : I’ve had it pre-ordered for months … I’ve wanted this book since Archangels Blade. Excited!!!!

Enter New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh’s breathtakingly passionate Guild Hunter world with the story of a woman who isn’t a vampire or an angel…or human…

Once a broken girl known as Sorrow, Holly Chang now prowls the shadowy gray underground of the city for the angels. But it’s not her winged allies who make her a wanted woman–it’s the unknown power coursing through her veins. Brutalized by an insane archangel, she was left with the bloodlust of a vampire, the ability to mesmerize her prey, and a poisonous bite.

Now, someone has put a bounty on her head…

Venom is one of the Seven, Archangel Raphael’s private guard, and he’s as infuriating as he is seductive. A centuries-old vampire, his fangs dispense a poison deadlier than Holly’s. But even if Venom can protect Holly from those hunting her, he might not be able to save himself–because the strange, violent power inside Holly is awakening…

No one is safe.

Status on TR list : I really enjoyed book one so another pre-order!

From USA Today bestselling author Katie Reus comes the second book in the ALL NEW Redemption Harbor series where sparks fly and so do bullets…

He’s a former Marine, her new fake boyfriend, and the only way to escape her dangerous past.

Having a child changed everything for Olivia—she vowed to keep her little girl safe from the mistakes of her past. But when the most dangerous person she ever met blackmails her into doing one last heist, the world she’s so carefully built goes into a tailspin. Frantic, she heads to Redemption Harbor in search of help. Sparks fly when she meets Savage, a man who will do anything to keep Olivia and her daughter safe. He’ll help her get her life back, but can he handle seeing who she once was?

Can they pull it off?

Savage poses as her obsessive ex during a daring undercover operation—and soon the line between reality and their cover story becomes blurred. He’ll use every trick he knows to keep the sensual woman alive and out of jail—and in his life. But the clock is ticking and if they can’t find a way to trust each other, no one will make it out alive.

 

Status on the TR List : I LOVED book two. Pre-ordered (even if some of my trusted reviewer friends didn’t enjoy it that much)

Everest. If they can make it there, they can make it anywhere. Maybe even New York, where Ruthie Knox takes her charming rom-com style to new heights.

Beneath her whole “classic English beauty” appearance is an indomitable spirit that has turned Rosemary Chamberlain into something of a celebrity mountain climber. But after an Everest excursion takes a deadly turn, Rosemary is rescued by her quick-thinking guide, New York native Kal Beckett. Rosemary’s brush with death brings out a primal need to celebrate life—and inspires a night of steamy sex with the rather gorgeous man who saved her.

The son of a famous female climber with a scandalous past, Kal Beckett is still trying to find himself. In the Zen state of mind where Kal spends most of his time, anything can happen—like making love to a fascinating stranger and setting off across the world with her the next morning. But as their lives collide in the whirlwind of passion that is New York City, the real adventure is clearly just beginning. . . .

Ruthie Knox’s irresistible New York novels can be read together or separately:
TRULY | MADLY | COMPLETELY

 

Status on the TR List : This one looks like a Jill-Shalvis type book … I’ve put it on the list.

Mia DeAngelis knew it was time to make a change. Wanting to provide a better life for herself and her ten-year-old nephew, Ben, she took a chance and moved to the small town of Compass Cove. Now, the college librarian is adapting to a new job, a new town, and living with her feisty seventy-eight-year-old grandmother. Mia is determined to make it all work, hoping the coastal hamlet gives both her and Ben the sense of community, family and belonging they both want so much.

Adam Miller, a retired NFL quarterback, has come back to Compass Cove to start over after an injury puts an end to his high-octane life. Settling into the small town routine proves to be a challenge, but his job coaching at Jennings College gives him a sense of purpose, while keeping him connected to the game he loves.

There couldn’t be two people more different, yet the minute they meet, friends and family have no doubt they belong together. Now if Mia and Adam can only get out or their own way and embrace a little home town magic, they can find the happy ever after they both crave…

“A warm and lovely comfort read that will make you fall in love–not only with Mia and Adam, the endearing leads, but with the town of Comfort Cove!” — Virginia Kantra, New York Times Best Selling Author

 

Status on the TR List : I have a policy of reading all Eve Langlais new series … on the list.

I am the Son of Perdition, foretold by legend and feared by all of mankind. One day I will rule the world with my army of darkness.

At least that’s what Christopher was told as a kid by the satanic group worshiping him. They raised him with visions of grandeur, and spoiled him rotten – until his mom got arrested for murder. Life went down hill after that.

I’m the antichrist. Where is the glory? The minions? The women? All he has is his job as a gravedigger and the weed he grows behind the mausoleum.

And then it happens. A chance encounter with a hot chick is followed by the dead rising, and he meets some mysterious force claiming to be his mother.

Can this lazy prince in waiting rise to the occasion and embrace destiny?

 

Status on the TR List : I really do like Annabel Joseph and I’m a fan of BDSM clubs … win/win! On the list.

Not all fantasies are safe, sane, and consensual. Welcome to the world of The Gallery…

Juliet meets Fort St. Clair on a miserable, drunken night, and wakes up the next morning cuffed to his guest room bed. Of course, Fort would never take advantage of her. No, the pleasure and pain he wants to inflict on her body must be negotiated in advance, because once Juliet sets foot in his private, exclusive dungeon, she belongs to him.

BDSM at The Gallery is supposed to be a straightforward arrangement, an affair by the rules, but Juliet and Fort’s growing connection brings unexpected emotions they can’t control. She’s the free spirit who transforms his rigid world, and he’s the Dominant she can finally trust—or can she?

Status on the TR List : Pretty pretty cover and a dog whisperer heroine … on the list!

Country boy, Ryder Davis has the world at his feet. A stellar rugby career, a winning way with women and a beach view that keeps him in blue sky and bikini babes. He’s living the dream. The last thing he needs is a Great Dane called Tiny destroying his feng shui.

Dog whisperer, Juliet Morgan is about to start living her dream and she’s counting down the days. In two months she’ll finally be moving to Italy and no man’s going to stop her this time. Not even a rugby superstar with a badly behaved pooch.

But when Ryder skids into the animal shelter looking for help Juliet agrees to assist him with his canine issues. Pretty soon they’re assisting each other out of their clothes and tumbling headlong into a sex thing with an expiry date.

Neither of them expected it to become more. But when for now starts to feel like forever Juliet hits the panic button. Ryder knows he has to play the long game and let her walk away. After all it’s not over until the final hooter sounds and all’s fair in love and rugby.

Each book in the Sydney Smoke Rugby series is a standalone story that can be enjoyed out of order.
Series Order:
Book #1 Playing By Her Rules
Book #2 Playing It Cool
Book #3 Playing the Player
Book #4 Playing With Forever

 

Status on the TR List :  I love Desiree Holt and this one looks fab. On the list!

FROM MULTI-PUBLISHED, AWARD WINNING, AMAZON AND USA TODAY BEST-SELLING ROMANCE AUTHOR DESIREE HOLT

Newly edited version!

Ten years after—can they rekindle the heat?

One hot night with Gabe Carter has haunted Jill Danvers for ten years, almost as much as his decision to marry someone else.

Now a successful journalist, she’s back in town to write about the city’s Bicentennial Celebration—and Gabe is the chairman.

This time around he’s determined not to let other people control his life where Jill’s concerned, especially his vicious, vengeful ex. It might not be possible to get past ten years of pain, but as they work together on the article and solving the mystery of the undercurrents flowing beneath the surface of the town, they might just find a way back to each other.

 

Status on the TR List :  I haven’t read the series but I enjoy Jill Shalvis and I love xmas novels … I WILL read this 🙂

Chasing Christmas Eve is the fourth in New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis’s Heartbreaker Bay series, featuring her trademark gift for humour, warmth and romance. Perfect for fans of Jill Mansell, Debbie Macomber, Nora Roberts and Marie Force.

Run for the hills temporarily. That’s Colbie Albright’s plan when she flees New York for San Francisco. Wrangling her crazy family by day and writing a bestselling YA fantasy series by night has taken its toll. In short, Colbie’s so over it that she’s under it. She’s also under the waters of a historic San Francisco fountain within an hour of arrival. Fortunately, the guy who fishes Colbie out has her looking forward to Christmas among strangers. But she’s pretty sure Spencer Baldwin won’t be a stranger for long.

Spence’s commitment to hiding from the Ghosts of Relationships Past means he doesn’t have to worry about the powerful – OK, crazy hot – chemistry he’s got with Colbie. Just because she can laugh at anything, especially herself…just because she’s gorgeous and a great listener…just because she gets Spence immediately doesn’t mean he won’t be able to let Colbie go. Does it?

Now the clock’s ticking for Colbie and Spence: Two weeks to cut loose. Two weeks to fall hard. Two weeks to figure out how to make this Christmas last a lifetime.

 

Status on the TR List : Unicorn’s? I want to read this. On the TR list.

‘A unicorn walks into a bar….’
That is not a joke.

Look, I’m a bartender, I have nothing to do with the xenos. I don’t care if it’s an elf or a vampire–as long as they don’t bother me, I steer clear. I have my reasons–you can see them in the scars on my neck.

I never wanted to get involved. But my life changed for the second time when I saved the life of a unicorn. I made an enemy of something old–old and evil, and whatever it was, it’ll be back for another try. I also made a friend when I decided to help March. He’s only been a human man for a day. I’m responsible for him now. He’s my friend…and maybe something more. Maybe a lot more.
It doesn’t matter to me that he isn’t magical anymore. I don’t care if he’s not PURE.

But he does.

From best-selling author Kim Alexander, a modern fairy tale of magic, love, and redemption.