Welcome to Top Picks. This is a weekly post which features books out this week which have caught my eye.
I have decided to split the list into three; On my List, On my Radar and Caught My eye. The first is those I have every intention of reading. On my Radar feautures books that I have marked on a wishlist, possibly as I am awaiting a price drop or am not up to that book in the series. The last are more one’s I know next to nothing about but have caught my eye for some reason. All books are one’s which I would potentially read.
As always, I do my due diligence on all books I put on here. I don’t recommend books from authors who I know 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. If I make a mistake and feature an author who has engaged in bad behaviour, tell me in the comments and the book will be removed.
I don’t read NA. I do not read reverse harem. I also do not read Pandemic romance. Those books will not feature here.
Due to issues with prices, I will no longer be posting RRP’s of these books – the prices I post seem to be accurate for a day so I feel it is completely pointless.
Also, CLICK ON THE BOOK COVER TO GO TO AMAZON PAGE
Paint your toes. Pick up the wrong coffee and bagel order. Drive from Brooklyn to Jersey in traffic so slow you want to tear your hair out. It’s amazing all the useless things I can accomplish while on hold for three hours with customer service. Three hours when I should be getting the Date-in-a-Box website ready to launch at the big business expo in a few days. Except my shiny new website is glitching, and my inner rage-monster is ready to scorch some earth . . . when he finally picks up. Not the robot voice I expected but a real live human named Cal. He’s surprisingly helpful and really knows his stuff, even if he’s a little awkward . . . in an adorable way.
And suddenly I’m flirting with him? And I think he’s flirting back.
And suddenly it’s been hours, and we’re still on the phone talking and ordering each other takeout while he troubleshoots my website.
And suddenly we’re exchanging numbers and sending texts and DMs every day, leaving voice mails (who even does that anymore?!).
And suddenly I’m wondering if it’s possible for two people to fall in love at first talk.
Because I’m falling . . . hard.
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Readers are loving Call Me Maybe!
‘An adorable and thoroughly enjoyable read . . . I didn’t want it to end’
In this dangerously sexy rom-com that evokes the real-life romance between Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle, a prince who wants to live out of the spotlight falls for a daring American rapper who turns his life, and the palace, upside down.
Sexy, driven rapper Danielle “Duchess” Nelson is on the verge of signing a deal that’ll make her one of the richest women in hip hop. More importantly, it’ll grant her control over her life, something she’s craved for years. But an incident with a rising pop star has gone viral, unfairly putting her deal in jeopardy. Concerned about her image, she’s instructed to work on generating some positive publicity… or else.
A brilliant professor and reclusive royal, Prince Jameson prefers life out of the spotlight, only leaving his ivory tower to attend weddings or funerals. But with the Queen’s children involved in one scandal after another, and Parliament questioning the viability of the monarchy, the Queen is desperate. In a quest for good press, she puts Jameson in charge of a tribute concert in her late husband’s honor. Out of his depth, and resentful of being called to service, he takes the advice of a student. After all, what’s more appropriate for a royal concert than a performer named “Duchess”?
Too late, Jameson discovers the American rapper is popular, sexy, raunchy and not what the Queen wanted, although he’s having an entirely different reaction. Dani knows this is the good exposure she needs to cement her deal and it doesn’t hurt that the royal running things is fine as hell. Thrown together, they give in to the explosive attraction flaring between them. But as the glare of the limelight intensifies and outside forces try to interfere, will the Prince and Duchess be a fairy tale romance for the ages or a disaster of palatial proportions?
A wedding mistake? Or a marriage for keeps?
Wedding planner Honor Bellini is glad to see a familiar face when she runs into her sister’s ex-fiancé, Owen Stone, in Las Vegas during business trip. That is until a night of drinking leads to them waking up in bed together – and a marriage certificate from a wedding that neither of them can recall.
Owen suggests an immediate annulment and Honor agrees, but when they spend the day together, their chemistry is overwhelming. Plus, Honor has a flash of memory of their steamy wedding night, and she definitely likes what she remembers. They decide to wait and head back to Oklahoma determined not to tell anyone at home what happened in Vegas.
The problem is, Honor and Owen can’t seem to stay away from each other. This huge secret has the potential to hurt someone they both care about. But could this accidental marriage be turning into love?
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Want more Jaci Burton? Check out the rest of her sizzling and romantic series!
Boots and Bouquets
Hope
Brotherhood by Fire
Play-By-Play
“I can think of the perfect way to keep you occupied and your mind diverted,” she murmured. “Come to my room. If you’re not too tired…”
Lust flashed in his gaze and then he caught her face between his hands and kissed her. “For you, my beautiful Artemis, I’d stay up all night.”
Artemis Jones—”respectable” finishing-school teacher by day and Gothic romance writer by night—has never lost sight of her real dream: to open her own academic ladies’ college. When Artemis is unexpectedly called upon by a dear friend, a fellow Byronic Book Club member, to navigate her first London Season, she comes at once. Who knows, perhaps she can court the interest of a wealthy patron for her school. As long as she can avoid her high-handed aunt’s schemes to marry her off.
Dominic Winters, the widowed Duke of Dartmoor, needs a wife—someone who will provide him with an heir and help him to manage his spitfire adolescent daughter. The problem is, Society has dubbed him “The Dastardly Duke.” Rumors are rife that he murdered his mad wife so his choices for a suitable bride are limited. But then he meets the ravishing and passionate Artemis Jones who might just be everything he needs.
“The perfect blend of sexiness and humor… Amy Rose Bennett has created a lush, vibrant love story, her characters sharing a fabulous sensual chemistry that fairly scorches the page.”—Christina Britton, award-winning author
Tinder, Hinge, Bumble – thirtysomething journalist Saffie has tried them all. Now she’s wondering whether it’s time to throw in the towel and give up on love for good – and she’s not alone…
Saffie’s boss Tamara has been single since her divorce four years ago, but at forty-five, running her own magazine and with three kids at home, she doesn’t feel she has the time, energy or confidence to go through the dating mill again. Meanwhile, Saffie’s best friend Milo has just been dumped – again. A hopeless romantic with terrible taste in men, this is his fourth break-up in six months. There must be a secret to finding Mr Right, surely – but what?
Step forward The 24-hour Dating Agency, a matchmaking service with a difference. Instead of wasting months on casual dates, they promise to send you on an intense twenty-four-hour date with your perfect match – like speed-dating but in reverse. And even better, the agency offers a soulmate guarantee: meet The One or your money back.
Figuring they have nothing to lose, the three friends sign up. But when their matches turn out to be not what they were expecting, it seems like even the soulmate guarantee can’t find them what they’re looking for. Or can it?
Broken hearts meet foam swords in a new contemporary romance novel by bestselling author Charlie N. Holmberg.
Eight years ago, Rue Thompson fell in love with her brother’s roommate. From across the country, he started writing her letters out of the blue—letters that encouraged her, amused her, and healed her.
Then he ghosted her and broke her heart.
Fortunately, Rue’s now stone-cold heart protects her from anything that dares make her feel, except when she’s live-action role-playing with her friends in the park. When in costume and wielding a foam sword, Rue can be whatever she wants.
But then the boy—now most definitely a man—suddenly reappears in her life and shows renewed interest. The catch? He doesn’t recognize her. Apparently eight years and new hair masks all wounds. But Rue remembers everything. No amount of make-believe can change that. She’s taken enough damage, thank you very much.
But this time, Landry Harrison plans to convince Rue he’s leveled up—even if it means dressing up in tights and a cape to prove it.
It’s time everyone knew the truth, and what better way to announce you’re getting married (and gay) than on your family WhatsApp group?
Amar can’t wait to tell everyone his wonderful news: he’s found The One, and he’s getting married. But it turns out announcing his engagement on a group chat might not have been the best way to let his strict Muslim Bangladeshi family know that his happy-ever-after partner is a man—and a white man at that.
Amar expected a reaction from his four siblings, but his bombshell sends shockwaves throughout the community and begins to fracture their family unit, already fragile from the death of their mother. Suddenly Amar is questioning everything he once believed in: his faith, his culture, his family, his mother’s love—and even his relationship with Joshua. Amar was sure he knew what love meant, but was he just plain wrong?
He’s never thought of his relationship with Joshua as a love story—they just fit together, like two halves of a whole. But if they can reconcile their differences with Amar’s culture, could there be hope for his relationship with his family too? And could this whole disaster turn into a love story after all?
Call Me Maybe was really good.