Top Picks : My Pick of the new Romance releases from the week starting the 17th September

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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 books on my TR pile and only books we are interested in spending money on.

This week’s Top Picks are…

Status on TR list: I adore this series – I have pre-ordered this one.

A Romantic Dreamer
Letty Gonzalez is a true romantic. She’s spent her life waiting for flowers, poetry, the grand gesture that will finally sweep her off her feet—without any luck. After her latest dating fiasco, she’s ready to give up on the idea of Prince Charming—but not on down and dirty fantasies about her new
boss—gorgeous, out-of-her-league Max Delgado.

A Restless Romeo
Maxis more pragmatic than romantic—and with his looks and charisma, beautiful women usually fall at his feet. Bubbly, generously curvy Letty just isn’t for him, and maybe if he finally lets his grandmother set him up with someone new, Letty will finally believe it.

A Sultry Surprise
But the senior citizen’s matchmaking is trickier than anyone anticipated. And when Letty and Max find themselves stuck in Key West together for a seductively sexy weekend, one kiss is enough to light a fire neither of them wants to put out . .

 

Status on TR list : I really REALLY enjoyed book one in the series and this one has an amazing cover! Pre-ordered…

“Tight end,” noun: 1. a position in American football, 2. NFL star Marcus James, 3. what any hot-blooded woman can’t stop staring at every time Marcus walks by.

Bree Novak is so close to earning her Ph.D. she can taste it, but she’s supposed to be writing her dissertation, not giving lectures while her advisor slacks off. The semester gets even crazier when veteran tight end Marcus James—Bree’s celebrity crush—enrolls in her “Intro to Physics” class. The man’s even hotter in person than he looks on Sunday Night Football. So why is Bree hoping he drops out? Maybe it’s because Marcus, with his cocky smile and chiseled body, is the ultimate distraction. . . .

Drafted  out of college years ago by the Milwaukee Dragons, Marcus is taking advantage of a season-ending knee injury to finish his bachelor’s degree. Plus, thanks to a required science credit, he’s also getting to know the geek goddess who teaches physics. With brains and beauty, Bree is living proof that opposites attract. She’s even kind enough to give Marcus extra help with the material, as if she didn’t have anything better to do. And the more time Marcus spends with her, the more he realizes he’s not just crushing on his teacher—he’s falling for her.

 

Status on TR list: This is a rerelease but I didn’t read the original. I like this author – on the TR pile.

Now with expanded scenes and a new epilogue!

The first book in a new contemporary series from USA Today BestSelling Author Melissa Schroeder that is hot as the Texas sun.

As a firefighter, Cooper Murray has had his share of close calls, both on and off the job. When he’s injured in a four-alarm fire, he’s left at the mercy of Misty, his soon to be ex-wife. They’ve been estranged almost since their whirlwind romance and Vegas wedding. No woman has ever made him so insanely crazy or tugged at his heartstrings the way she does. Still, being in the same room is always dangerous for both of them.

Misty is convinced she’ll pay for her mistake of a marriage for the rest of her life. Coop was the one man who had captured her heart, and then he stomped on it and went back to Dallas. She had just started to live her life again when she got the call about Coop and his injuries. Misty isn’t in the mood to play nursemaid, but since he has refused to sign their divorce papers for eight months, she plans on using his confinement to force him to do just that.

With his injuries forcing close quarters, both Coop and Misty discover they have more in common than just the passion they share. Little by little, the pain of their past fades. But when things get tough, will they be able to hold the fragile new relationship together, or are they doomed to commit the mistakes of their past?

 

Status on TR list: OOOOOHHHH, this looks fun. I love Cynthia Eden – on the list.

To catch a killer…you have to use the perfect bait.

FBI Agent Bree Harlow is working the biggest case of her career. She’s undercover on the hunt for a killer who has murdered three women—and she isn’t going to stop until she brings down her prey. She’s scored a job at Fantasy, the hottest club in New Orleans, and she’s just caught the attention of the club’s owner, the sexy and dangerous Kace Quick. Everyone knows the guy is shady—and probably linked to every criminal activity in the Big Easy. She shouldn’t find him so attractive. Shouldn’t want to do anything but lock the guy away. After all, he is her chief suspect.

Be careful…sometimes, you can’t see the danger coming.

Kace knows there is far more to Bree than meets the eye. He isn’t a fool, and he can spot a Fed from a mile away, though he does admit that Bree is the sexiest FBI agent he’s ever seen. He lets her play her game, though Kace plans to keep his hands very far off his gorgeous new problem. Then the attacks begin. Attacks all focused on Bree. And suddenly, it’s not a game any longer because Kace isn’t about to let his FBI agent get caught in the crossfire.

To hurt a man, you have to destroy what he wants most.

Kace has a powerful enemy working in the darkness—a man who wants to destroy Kace by making him look guilty as hell. Kace is being set up for murders he didn’t commit. And now, the killer has locked onto his next victim—Bree. Despite Kace’s best efforts, he has let Bree get too close. For the first time in years, Kace cares about someone else—a fatal flaw. And the killer in the dark can’t wait to make Kace pay for past sins…The killer thinks he can hurt Bree, and by hurting her, the mighty Kace Quick will fall.

Things aren’t always as they appear…

Bree won’t be anyone’s victim. She’s not the damsel in distress—she’s the woman ready to take down a murderer. She’ll break every rule in the FBI’s precious handbook in order to protect the lover she knows is innocent. Kace is hers, and Bree won’t let anyone hurt him. She’ll catch the real killer, she’ll prove his guilt, and maybe, just maybe, Bree and Kace can stop their world from going down in flames.

Sex, murder, and lies…just another day in the Big Easy…

Status on TR list: I like this series a lot. Not pre-ordered but definately on the TR list.

The Montgomery Ink series continues with the so-called sensible sister and the one man she never should have fallen for.

For Thea Montgomery, baking isn’t only therapeutic, it’s also her dream job. She’s worked countless hours keeping her bakery afloat, and now that it’s where she wants it to be, she’s ready to expand and take the next step. When it comes to work and her family, she’s on top of her game. Her personal life, however, is a different story.

When Dimitri Carr isn’t teaching and hiding his ink under long sleeves to keep the bosses happy, he’s trying to be the best brother and friend he can be. After his divorce, he’d thought he would lose Thea from his life forever because she’s his ex-wife’s best friend. But now that he’s free, and the two of them realize they want to keep their friendship. Then he finally sees what he’s been missing all this time.

But there are more problems than the fact that Dimitri is Thea’s best friend’s ex. And when accidental touches and flirtations aren’t enough for either of them, and they’re finally ready to take the next step, they’ll find out exactly what that cost is for crossing that line. And will need to find the strength to face it.

 

Status on TR list: I haven’t started this series but I adore Nalini Singh – on the list.

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh continues her Hard Play series with a sweet, sexy romance featuring big, fat, OTT weddings, a meddling grandma, and a too-serious hero who needs to be unbuttoned…

Nayna Sharma agreed to an arranged marriage in the hope it would heal the fractures in her beloved family… only to realize too late that a traditional marriage is her personal nightmare. Panicked, she throws caution to the winds, puts on the tiniest dress she can find, and ends up in the arms of a tall, rough-edged hunk of a man who has abs of steel—and who she manages to mortally insult between one kiss and the next.

Abandoned as a child, then adopted into a loving family, Raj Sen believes in tradition, in continuity. Some might call him stiff and old-fashioned, but he knows what he wants—and it’s a life defined by rules… yet he can’t stop thinking about the infuriating and sexy woman who kissed him in the moonlight then disappeared. When his parents spring an introduction on him, the last woman he expects is her. Beautiful. Maddening. A rule breaker in the making.

He’s all wrong for her. She’s all wrong for him. And love is about to make rebels of them both.

Status on TR list: I love this series. I have this one on the TR list.

If she learns the truth about what he is, there’ll be Hell to pay.

Demonic trouble always finds Varina, no matter how far she runs. When she learns her late father left her something at their ancestral home, Varina is drawn back to a place she never thought she’d see again.

Ever since the world almost ended, Campbell, Sin of Pride, has been nursing scars both inside and out. Ashamed, he’s determined to keep his head down until he’s back to his old self. Yet when he learns that Legion, the biblically notorious demon, has escaped, Campbell has a choice—capture it, or advertise how low Pride has fallen.

Varina has been chased by too many demons to believe Campbell is a normal man. Yet she sees herself in his haunted eyes, and realizes he’s like her—a demonic-possession survivor. Despite reservations, Varina lets her walls down, and slowly accepts the possibility that she might not have to go through life alone.

Though deception is part of the job, lying to Varina is the hardest thing Campbell has ever done. But as they get closer, and Legion gains strength, the truth is bound to come out. He just doesn’t know what it will cost him.

Status on TR list: I am waayyy behind on this series but I have enjoyed each of the books I have read. On the list.

The 9th Book in the bestselling 1797 Club series from USA Today Bestseller Jess Michaels

Robert Smithton, Duke of Roseford is known for his lusty appetites and his cold, cold heart. Still thanks to his title and his fortune, everyone wants him and he’s bored of it all. He wants something, but he cannot place what exactly that is. Until he meets Katherine, the Countess of Gainsworth.

Married for six months to an old man who died when they were making love, Katherine is just returning to Society. Although scandal follows her, so does interest, as the men of Society wonder about her prowess if it could kill a man. When Robert begins to pursue her, she is horrified. After all, she blames him for the circumstances that sent her into her loveless marriage in the first place.

When Katherine ignores him, Robert only pushes harder and ultimately she begins to wonder if revenge is a dish best served through desire. What she finds when she touches him at last is pleasure unlike any she’s ever known, and a connection she does not wish to feel. Now she must decide if she wants revenge or happiness and Robert must determine if love is worth fighting for.

Length: Full-length novel
Heat Level: Seduction, scandal and lots of sin!

This book is part of a series (The 1797 Club), but can be read as a standalone book.