July books on my radar
09:00
Just Playing House
Series: None
Author: Farah Heron
July 2nd 2024 by Forever
As a luxury fashion sales associate, Marley Kamal is known for being cool, aspirational, and just the right amount of detached. One thing she is passionate about, getting surgery to reduce her chance of breast cancer after she learns she has the BRCA gene. But right before the scheduled operation, she has the professional opportunity of a lifetime - to style the latest up-and-coming Hollywood heartthrob.
Nikhil Shamdsani is either on the brink of superstardom or a complete breakdown. Going from a nobody actor to major Hollywood superhero hasn't been a smooth transition. Comic nerds think he's a diversity hire, while fans expect him to singlehandedly represent the entire Indian community. When Nikhil learns his old high school friend and prom date is now in high fashion, he's thrilled to have someone he can trust as his stylist.
So Marley and Nikhil make a deal. She'll style him for his events, and Nikhil will help care for her in the few critical weeks of after surgery. But soon Marley finds herself leaning on Nikhil as more than just a caregiver. And Nikhil finds his feelings growing stronger, too. When their rekindled friendship becomes something more, Marley fears her whole private life is about to be upended.
Goodreads
The Undermining of Twyla and Frank
Series: The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy #2
Author: Megan Bannen
July 2nd 2024 by Orbit
From the author of The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy comes a heartwarming fantasy with a best friends-to-lovers rom com twist--When Harry Met Sally, but with dragons!—set in the delightful demigod and donut-filled world of Tanria.
The entire town of Eternity was shocked when widowed, middle-aged Twyla Banneker partnered up with her neighbor and best friend, Frank Ellis, to join the Tanrian Marshals. Eight years later, Twyla and Frank are still patrolling the dangerous land of Tanria, the former prison of the Old Gods.
Twyla might look like a small town mom who brings cheesy potatoes to funerals and whips up a batch of cookies for the school bake sale, but her rewarding career in law enforcement has been a welcome change from the domestic grind of mom life, despite the misgivings of her grown children.
Fortunately (or unfortunately) a recent decrease in on-the-job peril has made Twyla and Frank's job a lot safer ... and a lot less exciting. So when they discover the body of one of their fellow marshals covered in liquid glitter--and Frank finds himself the inadvertent foster dad to a baby dragon--they are more than happy to be back on the beat.
Soon, the friends wind up ensnared in a nefarious plot that goes far deeper than any lucrative Tanrian mineshaft. But as the danger closes in and Twyla and Frank's investigation becomes more complicated, so does their easy friendship. And Twyla starts to realize that her true soul mate might just be the person who has lived next door all along...
Goodreads
Fun Fact: I Love You
Series: None
Author: Gina Lynn Larsen
July 2nd 2024 by Shadow Mountain
In this friends-to-lovers romance, high school senior Nellie has her future all planned out—except for a disastrous first kiss, a hurtful prank, and the unexpected twist of falling in love with her childhood friend.
Fun fact: Nellie Samsin has ten days left of high school, and she’s never been kissed—which is fine with her. Being the yearbook editor and valedictorian has taken all her attention. But when she has a chance to kiss her longtime crush, she hopes it will be a magical experience, except it turns out to be super-not-magical, leaving Nellie heartbroken and angry.
Jensen Nichols has been keeping three massive secrets: first, he’s been writing a best-selling romantasy series under the pseudonym “Jen Dimes”; second, he’s been harboring a secret crush on Nellie for years; and third, Nellie’s dad has been his writing mentor and coach. Then he sees Nellie kissing his best friend, and his unexpected rush of jealousy means that the time for keeping secrets is over.
When a family tragedy rocks Nellie’s world, and she learns the people she thought she could trust have lied to her, she feels lost and betrayed. At least she has Jensen. But as their relationship grows closer, Nellie suspects Jensen is hiding something from her. (Fun fact: Keeping secrets is the worst.)
It seems Nellie and Jensen are perfect for each other, but they will need to separate fact from fiction for their unplanned romance to last beyond graduation day.
Goodreads
The Love Dare
Series: None
Author: Abiola Bello
July 4th 2024 by Simon & Schuster Children's UK
Can a bet made at Notting Hill Carnival turn into true love? He’s All That meets How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days in this trope-filled sizzling summer romance, perfect for fans of Joya Goffney and Lynn Painter.
Clumsy but popular Eva Ojo is used to men falling for her without her trying. So when her best friend dares her to talk to a guy at Notting Hill Carnival , she meets Saint.
Comic obsessed Saint Rowe-Falade connects with Eva and agrees to attend her upcoming birthday party, but it’s soon clear he’s not interested in her in that way.
When Eva’s friends set her the ultimate bet to get Saint to fall in love with her, Eva makes it her mission to find out all of Saint’s interests and even get a job at the comic book shop he works at. But just as Saint starts to warm to Eva, and her own feelings towards him develop, Saint finds out about the bet. Can Eva pull out the big guns and convince Saint she’s into him, or is it too late to fix the damage that’s been done?
Goodreads
A Matter of Class
Series: None
Author: Mary Balogh
July 9th 2024 by Hachette Books
From New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh comes a classic historical tale that sizzles with romance and unforgettable drama, now back in paperback!
Reginald Mason is wealthy, refined, and, by all accounts, a gentleman. However, he is not a gentleman by title, a factor that pains him and his father within the Regency society that upholds station over all else. That is, until an opportunity for social advancement arises, namely, Lady Annabelle Ashton. Daughter of the Earl of Havercroft, a neighbor and enemy of the Mason family, Annabelle finds herself disgraced by a scandal, one that has left her branded as damaged goods. Besmirched by shame, the earl is only too happy to marry Annabelle off to anyone willing to have her.
Though Reginald Mason, Senior, wishes to use Annabelle to propel his family up the social ladder, his son does not wish to marry her, preferring instead to live the wild, single life he is accustomed to. With this, Reginald Senior serves his son an ultimatum: marry Annabelle, or make do without family funds. Having no choice, Reginald consents, and enters into a hostile engagement in which the prospective bride and groom are openly antagonistic, each one resenting the other for their current state of affairs while their respective fathers revel in their suffering.
So begins an intoxicating tale rife with dark secrets, deception, and the trials of love—a story in which very little is as it seems.
Goodreads
Not You Again
Series: None
Author: Ingrid Pierce
July 9th 2024 by Alcove Press
Wedding gown designer Andie Dresser is hanging on by a thread. Gaining a following on TikTok for her one-of-a-kind fairytale gowns has earned her a spot at Atlanta’s Fashion Week, but the time and upfront costs to design a full bridal line have stretched her to her limit. When her best friend suggests she sign up for a reality show with a potential $100,000 prize, she realizes the money could allow her to hire some desperately needed help. All she needs to do is marry a stranger—sight unseen—and opt for divorce at the end of filming. No big deal, right?
Architect Kit Watson just returned to Atlanta to help his loving but stubborn mother through a health crisis. However, she’ll only accept his help if he agrees to settle down, insisting he sign up for the matchmaking reality show that’s filming in the area. Willing to do anything for his mom, he finds himself at the altar—on camera—staring at Andie, the woman he abruptly left without explanation seven years ago.
In the blink of an eye, Kit and Andie tie the knot on TV for the world to see. Now, they must live together for eight weeks with cameras following their every move. But as the newlyweds reconnect and sift through their past, old feelings females spark…and old grudges cast a shadow over their “marriage”. With decision day looming, Andie must decide if forgiving Kit for his mistakes—past and present—is worth more than her dreams of success.
Goodreads
The Next Best Fling
Series: Librarians in Love #1
Author: Gabriella Gamez
July 9th 2024 by Forever
Two broken hearts decide that the best way to get over their first loves is with a no-strings-attached relationship in this spicy and charming debut romance.
Librarian Marcela Ortiz has been secretly in love with her best friend for years—and when he gets engaged, she knows it’s long past time to move on. But before she gets the chance, she has a bigger problem to contend with in the form of Theo Young, ex-NFL player and older brother of the man she’s in love with. When she discovers Theo's plans to confess his feelings for his brother’s fiancée at their engagement party, Marcela is quick to stop him—despite how tempting it is to let him run away with the bride-to-be. She manages to convince Theo to sleep off his drunken almost-mistake at her place and when they arrive at a family brunch the next day together, everyone wrongly assumes they hooked up.
Since Theo needs a cover for his feelings for the bride and Marcela needs a distraction from her unrequited feelings for the groom, they decide to roll with the lie. Until one late night at a bar, they take it a step further and discover a layer of attraction neither realized existed. Soon, they find themselves exploring the simmering chemistry between them, whether in library aisles or Marcela's bed. There are no boundaries for the rebound relationship they form—just a host of complicated feelings, messy familial dynamics, and uncovered secrets that threaten to tear them apart before they can even admit to themselves that their rebound is working. Maybe a little too well.
Goodreads
Business Casual
Series: Lovelight #4
Author: B.K. Borison
July 16th 2024 by Berkley
Two opposites decide to test their chemistry with one steamy night together. But will once be enough?
Nova Porter isn’t looking for love, and she certainly has no explanation for her attraction to buttoned-up, three-piece-suit-wearing investment banker Charlie Milford. Maybe it’s his charm? Or maybe it’s his determination to help her fledgling business however he can. Either way, she’s distracted every time he’s around. With her new tattoo studio set to open in her hometown of Inglewild, she doesn’t have time for frivolous flirtations.
In an effort to get Charlie out of her system once and for all, Nova offers a proposition. One night. No strings. They’ll kick their uncomfortable attraction to the curb and return to their respective responsibilities. But their explosive night together scatters their expectations like fallen leaves. And with Charlie in town as the temporary head of Lovelight Farms, Nova can’t quite avoid him.
And Charlie? Well, Charlie knows a good investment when he sees one. He’s hoping he can convince Nova he’s worth some of her time.
Goodreads
Hate to Fake It to You
Series: None
Author: Amanda Sellet
July 16th 2024 by Griffin
A waitress masquerading as an influencer and a wildlife photographer are on a collision course with romance–and chaos―in Hate to Fake It to You, a zany modern twist on a screwball comedy classic about figuring out what you really want – by pretending to be someone you’re not.
Everyone gets a glow-up on social media, but Libby Lane's online persona is the fakest of fakes. Cooked up as a joke by Libby and her best friends, Lillibet is the affluent, healthier-than-thou opposite of her glam-free life on the side of Oahu most tourists never see. The phony fronting is all in good fun, until a real influencer stumbles onto the Love, Lillibet Instagram feed and starts making waves.
When Hildy Johnson, the ambitious junior member of a media dynasty, travels to Hawaii to talk to Lillibet about parlaying her lifestyle brand into a job, Libby and her friends scramble to take the make-believe to a new level. Complicating the charade even further is Hildy’s handsome companion, a wildlife photographer named Jefferson Jones, whose keen eye sees more than he lets on.
Between the pretend husband, borrowed goats, a made-up holiday, and Libby’s very real attraction to Jefferson, it’s anyone’s guess which lie will blow their cover first … especially since Lillibet isn’t the only one with something to hide.
Goodreads
The Au Pair Affair
Series: Big Shots #2
Author: Tessa Bailey
July 16th 2024 by Avon
A sports rom-com about a burly, surly, single dad who falls head-over-hockey-stick for his quirky live-in nanny...
Tallulah is smart, vivacious, and studying to be a marine biologist. She’s also twenty-six and broke. So when Burgess, a battle-scarred hockey veteran and newly single dad, offers her a job as his live-in nanny, she jumps at the opportunity to get paid while living in a super fancy neighborhood and being around Lissa, his cool but introverted tween.
Her tween charge isn’t the only one who could use some help fitting in, though. According to…well, everyone except Burgess, he needs to get back on the dating scene, and adventurous Tallulah is just the girl to show him how. But as boundaries are slowly crossed and Burgess finds himself pulled between his daughter, who wants her parents back together, and his insane chemistry with Tallulah, a huge rift is formed, and Tallulah does the “right” thing—breaks her own heart and walks away.
Though Burgess knows it’s for the best—he’s too jaded, with too much baggage—a chance meeting, and a new push from his daughter, forces him to put everything on the line and fight to prove he learned his lessons well and is worthy of a happily ever after with Tallulah.
Goodreads
Let the Games Begin
Series: None
Author: Rufaro Faith Mazarura
July 18th 2024 by Penguin
It’s the Athens 2024 Olympics and Zeke and Olivia are there to win.
Zeke Moyo is the star athlete of Team GB. He’s in Athens to claim the title of fastest man in the world.
Olivia Nkomo has landed a career-making internship, finally earning her seat at the table.
Then Zeke and Olivia collide – literally – on the first day of the games, and something unexpected begins.
But the competition is stirring up uncomfortable memories from Zeke’s past. And Olivia’s dream job is turning into a nightmare.
Will love become a hurdle? Or could running beside the right person change the whole game?
Goodreads
The Ex Vows
Series: None
Author: Jessica Joyce
July 18th 2024 by Transworld Digital
Estranged exes are forced to help replan their best friend's wedding in this swoony and steamy second chance romance from the author of You, With a View.
When Georgia Woodward lived in New York, she had a doting boyfriend and a tight-knit group of friends, but now she's living alone in San Francisco, feeling lonely and unsure of her role in the group as her best friend's wedding approaches. She knows that her ex Eli Mora is the Best Man to her Best Woman, and she is all too aware that her feelings for Eli have only grown since their breakup, but what she doesn't expect is for the Napa Valley venue to burn to the ground a week before the wedding. Or that she and Eli will simultaneously volunteer to replan the entire wedding in time for the original date.
As Georgia and Eli rush to mount a perfect wedding, their old chemistry comes back like an unshakable case of déjà vu - and the fact that there's only one bedroom at the winery pours more fuel on the glowing embers of what was. The idea of trying again is terrifying - but the possibilities of what could be just might make falling worth the risk.
Goodreads
Something More
Series: None
Author: Jackie Khalilieh
July 18th 2024 by Hashtag Press
A contemporary teen romance novel featuring a Palestinian-Canadian girl trying to hide her autism diagnosis while navigating her first year of high school, for fans of Jenny Han and Samira Ahmed.
Fifteen-year-old Jessie, a quirky loner obsessed with the nineties, is diagnosed as autistic just weeks before starting high school. Determined to make a fresh start and keep her diagnosis a secret, Jessie creates a list of goals that range from acquiring two distinct eyebrows to getting a magical first kiss and landing a spot in the school play. Within the halls of Holy Trinity High, she finds a world where things are no longer black and white and quickly learns that living in color is much more fun. But Jessie gets more than she bargained for when two very different boys steal her heart, forcing her to go off-script.
Goodreads
Ne'er Duke Well
Series: None
Author: Alexandra Vasti
July 23rd 2024 by Griffin
In this steamy Regency romp, Lady Selina is determined to find the Duke of Stanhope the perfect wife―the only problem is she's starting to think that might be her.
Peter Kent―newly inherited Duke of Stanhope and recently of New Orleans, Louisiana―must become respectable. Between his radical politics and the time he interrupted a minor royal wedding with a flock of sheep―not his fault!―he’s developed a scandalous reputation at odds with his goal of becoming guardian to his half siblings. For help, he turns to the cleverest and most managing woman of his acquaintance, Lady Selina Ravenscroft.
Selina is society’s most proper debutante, save one tiny secret: she runs an erotic circulating library for women. When Peter asks for her help, she suggests courtship and marriage to a lady of unimpeachable reputation. (Which is to say, definitely not herself.)
But matchmaking doesn’t go according to plan. Peter’s siblings run rampant on Bond Street. Selina ends up in the Serpentine. And worst of all, the scorching chemistry between Peter and Selina proves impossible to resist. For the disreputable duke and his unpredictable matchmaker, falling in love just might be the ultimate scandal.
Goodreads
Asking for a Friend
Series: None
Author: Kara H.L. Chen
July 23rd 2024 by Quill Tree Books
This charming YA rom-com follows a strong-willed, ambitious teen as she teams up with her childhood frenemy to start a dating-advice column, perfect for fans of Emma Lord and Gloria Chao.
Juliana Zhao is absolutely certain of a few things:
1. She is the world’s foremost expert on love.
2. She is going to win the nationally renowned Asian Americans in Business Competition.
When Juliana is unceremoniously dropped by her partner and she’s forced to pair with her nonconformist and annoying frenemy, Garrett Tsai, everything seems less clear. Their joint dating advice column must be good enough to win and secure bragging rights within her small Taiwanese American community, where her family’s reputation has been in the pits since her older sister was disowned a few years prior. Juliana always thought prestige mattered above all else. But as she argues with Garrett over how to best solve everyone else’s love problems and faces failure for the first time, she starts to see fractures in this privileged, sheltered worldview. With the competition heating up, Juliana must reckon with the sacrifices she’s made to be a perfect daughter—and whether winning is something she even wants anymore.
Goodreads
A Photo Finish
Series: Gold Rush Ranch #2
Author: Elsie Silver
July 23rd 2024 by Bloom Books
I’ve seen every square inch of Violet Eaton’s delectable body and she has no idea who I am.
Until now.
What happened between us online, in our chats, was meant to stay anonymous and in the past.
Until it didn’t.
It’s a small world, but Ruby Creek is even smaller. When I move to the tiny town, the grumpy facade I’ve created slips when we’re forced to live under the same roof.
Every flush of her cheeks, every time her eyes flare with heat, every time she begs me not to stop, the ice I’ve encased myself in melts. She has me wanting things I can’t want. Things I’ve been dreaming about since I first laid eyes on her two years ago—things I don’t deserve.
But my invisible wounds have the power to ruin us both. As a former soldier, I should have the discipline to walk away, but the more I open up to Violet, the more I want to keep her.
I came back from the war a different man, but my scars are older and deeper than anyone knows—and I planned to keep it that way. I planned to keep my secrets hidden.
Until her.
Goodreads
Do Me a Favor
Series: None
Author: Cathy Yardley
July 23rd 2024 by Montlake
Willa Lieu-Endicott moved from California to the Pacific Northwest to start over. Since her husband’s death, she’s been struggling to get back her old career as a cookbook ghostwriter. Unfortunately, her latest project—ghostwriting for a viral cooking sensation known more for his washboard abs than his meals—has her stuck.
Until she meets her new neighbor.
Hudson Daws, the handyman next door, lives on a farm with his parents and two adult children. He’s the opposite of everything she’s ever known. His happily chaotic life includes biker barbecues, an escape artist dog, and adorably menacing goats. He’s also got a sinfully sexy smile and a rumbling bass voice that makes her shiver. He inspires her.
From their first meeting, the two fall into an escalating cycle of favors, paybacks…and attraction, even though Willa’s trying to keep her distance.
They both have their own pasts to deal with. Now, they just have to figure out if they have a future.
A delectable rom-com about a widowed cookbook writer and a divorced handyman who find that it’s never too late for a fresh start.
Goodreads
Cross the Line
Series: Lights Out #1
Author: Simone Soltani
July 23rd 2024 by Berkley
Her brother’s best friend sends her heart racing in this sparkling Formula 1 romance.
Formula 1 driver Dev Anderson’s career is on the line. After a social media disaster leaves him with an angry team and sponsors threatening to jump ship, he needs someone to help save his image. At a party in Monaco, he bumps into the woman who can fix it all. There’s just one problem: she’s his best friend’s little sister. And, okay, maybe there’s another problem—he kissed her last year and hasn’t been able to stop thinking about it since.
Recent college grad Willow Williams needs a job. She may have a talent for seeing the bright side of any bad situation, but it’s hard to stay positive when she’s struggling to get hired. So when Dev offers her a temporary solution, she can’t help but say yes. Even if it means ignoring the crush she’s had on him since childhood.
Willow and Dev are determined to keep things strictly professional, regardless of old feelings and the blazing chemistry between them. But in the glittering and high-stakes world of Formula 1, some lines are meant to be crossed…
Goodreads
Viscount in Love
Series: Accidental Brides #1
Author: Eloisa James
July 23rd 2024 by Avon
Two eccentric orphans bring together a grumpy viscount and the free-spirited heroine who steals his heart in the first novel in Eloisa James's new Accidental Brides series, in which haughty aristocrats find themselves married to the wrong women.
He wants a nanny, not a bride...
Suddenly guardian to twins, Viscount Dominic Kelbourne is luckily betrothed to a suitable lady--until she elopes. With no time to woo, Dominic decides to marry his fiancée's unconventional sister. Torie isn't perfect, but their kisses are so passionate that society thinks he's actually chosen her.
She wants to marry for love...
Torie has never been able to make sense of words on a page, so she has turned her talents to art. She longs for a man who values her as she is... but marries for the sake of the twins. She doubts Dominic is capable of love, let alone respect, but as their heated debates turn into something more, Torie begins to imagine a life as a wife, not a nanny.
But when the arrogant viscount finds that his viscountess has stolen his heart, he'll have to give all he has to win her love.
Goodreads
Take a Chance on Me
Series: None
Author: Emily Houghton
July 25th 2024 by Transworld Digital
She likes to be in control.
Olivia Jackson’s life is one big to-do list. But after her sister tragically dies and leaves her a ticket to go travelling, Olivia has to leave her perfectly ordered world – albeit with a meticulously organised itinerary.
He throws caution to the wind.
Jacob Green couldn’t be more different. He’s been travelling the world for five years and lets destiny decide where he goes next with a roll of some dice.
Do opposites really attract?
When the two first meet, Olivia finds Jacob’s laid-back attitude infuriating. Not to mention her unanswered question as to why he’s been travelling for so long without going back home. But as they part ways, she can’t help but wish her carefully laid plans involved him.
Will fate bring them together again? And if it does, what secret is Jacob hiding?
Goodreads
The Right Place
Series: None
Author: Sophia Money-Coutts
July 29th 2024 by HQ
Maggie Lemon has been trying to have a baby with her slightly boring, pretentious husband Mungo Lemon (Le Mon, actually) for five years. She’s followed dozens of diets and recommendations from countless fertility specialists but still the baby room at the top of her house remains achingly empty. But when she receives the news that her estranged aunt has died, leaving her hotel in Provence to Maggie in her will, everything changes.
Handsome Hollywood actor, Gray Hudson, is hiding out at the hotel after being chased by the world’s paparazzi. Maggie and Gray form an unlikely bond, grappling with the choices that they’ve made and how their life has changed from what they expected, or rather, where they’ve been made to feel they should be at. But is it too late to divert off course and find their own path?
Goodreads
The Mirror of Beasts
Series: Silver in the Bone #2
Author: Alexandra Bracken
July 30th 2024 by Hachette Children's Group
With the dream of Avalon in ruins, Tamsin and her friends are all that stands in the way of Lord Death's plans to unleash the horrors of Anwnn on the world of the living. As the Wild Hunt carves a bloody path across continents, Tamsin is mustering allies, tracking down powerful artifacts, and traversing into new otherlands in search of a way to stop him.
Legend tells of a “Mirror of Beasts,” powerful enough to trap even Lord Death in its accursed glass, but the mirror is not all that it seems. Tamsin must confront her own darkest secrets if she hopes to tap the mirror's strength to defeat her enemies.
Arthurian legend bleeds into contemporary action, and scars of the past are torn open anew by a starcrossed love that refuses to go quietly. This riveting conclusion to the Silver in the Bone duology will hold you in its thrall until the very last page.
Goodreads
Never Date a Roommate
Series: None
Author: Paula Ottoni
July 30th 2024 by Afterglow Books by Harlequin
Celebrated Brazilian author Paula Ottoni makes her English-language adult romance debut with a hilarious, heartwarming romance about finding happiness in unexpected places—maybe even in your very own apartment…
To find true happiness, they’ll have to fake it first.
Sol Carvalho desperately wants to get ahead in her career—and where better to do that than Copenhagen, the happiest city on earth? But there’s more to this place than cozy sweaters and hot cocoa; there’s a rich, vibrant culture the Brazilian game developer is eager to drink in. Especially since her boss wants to hand a promotion to someone who’s ready to put down roots in Denmark—which means having a steady place to live and an even steadier significant other. And Sol, unfortunately, has neither.
Unless she can convince Viking look-alike Erik Storm to be her roommate…and maybe even her fake boyfriend?
But Erik lost everything the last time he got involved with a roommate, including his job and the app he’d developed. Convincing him to take a risk on her is a big ask, but Sol is up for the challenge. As long as she can ignore how he fills a room with that broad chest and somehow makes stoic brooding look sexy.
Instead, she’ll win him over with the end her promotion will bring down their mutual tech nemesis. Before long, though, the lines between what’s fake and what’s real blur. And when their ruse reaches its boiling point, they’ll both have to Should they trust their hearts to a roommate this time?
Goodreads
That Prince Is Mine
Series: None
Author: Jayci Lee
July 30th 2024 by Griffin
A love-averse Korean royal court cuisine instructor in search of a perfect-on-paper husband is waylaid from her practical, heartbreak-proof plan when she meets a gorgeous professor—and prince in disguise—who will do anything to prove to her that love and happily ever after can be theirs.
Emma Yoon runs a small business as a culinary instructor in Los Angeles teaching Korean royal court cuisine to young ladies striving to marry into the exclusive upper crust Korean families. She has built her business alongside her renowned Korean matchmaker godmother, which brings her one step closer to her dream of opening up a culinary school on her own. But when her godmother’s fellow matchmakers decide to meddle in Emma’s love life in a bid to sabotage her godmother, and indirectly push Emma's dream out of her reach, she must go on a series of arranged first dates and find herself the perfect-on-paper husband to help save both, her godmother's reputation and her dream--even if she's not ready for love. But when she meets Michel Aubert, a professor at USC, after a series of disastrous first dates, she wonders if she might reevaluate her position on love.
Prince Michel Aubert is bound by duty and responsibility to his country, but an arranged marriage is the last thing he wants. If he is going to spend the rest of his life in service of his people, then he at least wants someone he loves and trusts by his side while doing it. He needs to find a woman who loves him for who he is before his engagement to his handpicked bride is announced. Emma Yoon might be just the woman he is looking for.
Goodreads
The Fiancé Dilemma
Series: The Long Game #2
Author: Elena Armas
July 30th 2024 by Atria Books
Josie Moore has given the opposite sex—and love—plenty of chances. Four exactly, if you count all her failed engagements, and five if you include the absentee father who kept her existence a secret until very recently. So when her father decides to announce his retirement with a splashy magazine piece about the family, Josie realizes her romantic history is a complicated PR issue.
Matthew Flanagan is in the mud, literally. Not only has he been fired from his job, but also the tires of his car are stuck in the muck after taking a wrong turn as he enters Green Oak, North Carolina. So, he grabs a duffel with his essentials and goes in search of a place to crash until he gets his life back on track. But instead, he finds his best friend’s sister, Josie, greeting him as her fiancé.
What starts as a big messy misunderstanding quickly turns into an arrangement with Matthew playing a new role as doting fiancé. A fifth engagement—and a stunt, at that—makes Josie’s stomach turn, but every dilemma requires a choice between equally undesirable alternatives, and Matthew doesn’t seem to mind becoming one more number in a colorful list of grooms-that-never-were. Despite the ring on her finger, Josie knows this is only temporary, even if the rest of the small town believes that the fifth time’s the charm.
Goodreads
Beneath These Cursed Stars
Series: None
Author: Lexi Ryan
July 30th 2024 by HarperTeen
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lexi Ryan comes a romantic fantasy in which a human princess armed with death’s kiss and a fae shifter on the run become unlikely allies when a mission to assassinate an evil king collides with a fatal prophecy.
Princess Jasalyn has a secret. Armed with an enchanted ring that gives her death’s kiss, Jas has been sneaking away from the palace at night to assassinate her enemies.
Shape-shifter Felicity needs a miracle. Fated to kill her magical father, she’s been using her unique ability to evade a fatal prophecy.
When rumors of evil king Mordeus’s resurrection spread through the shadow court, Jasalyn decides to end him once and for all. Felicity agrees to take the form of the princess, allowing Jas to covertly hunt Mordeus—and starting Felicity on the path that could finally take her home.
While Jasalyn teams up with the charming and handsome Kendrick, Felicity sets out to get closer to the Wild Fae king, Misha. Kendrick helps Jasalyn feel something other than anger for the first time in three years, and Misha makes Felicity wish for a world where she’s free to be her true self. Soon, the girls’ missions are at risk right alongside their hearts.
The future of the human and fae realms hangs in the balance as fates intertwine. Between perilous tasks, grim secrets, and forbidden romances, Jasalyn and Felicity find that perhaps their stars are the most cursed of all.
Goodreads
One Year Ago in Spain
Series: None
Author: Evelyn Skye
July 30th 2024 by Del Rey
A woman must woo her lover’s soul back into his body to wake him from a coma—or risk losing him forever—in this moving novel from the author of The Hundred Loves of Juliet.
Claire Walker has always had her life in perfect order, including her high-powered job at one of Manhattan’s top corporate law firms. Yet the one thing she cannot seem to find is a perfect love to complete it, until fate pushes Matías de León into her path. Matías is a Spanish artist who is everything that Claire is not: free-spirited and creative, chaos to her order. She falls for him, hard—and he for her.
A year later, however, Claire begins to question everything about their relationship. How can they possibly work long-term when they’re so different? Might it be best to end it before they are both in too deep?
Then tragedy strikes while Matías is visiting family, leaving him gravely wounded in a Madrid hospital. And when Claire drops everything to race to his side, she finds she is the only one who can see and talk to Matías’s soul, detached from his comatose body. But that soul has no memories of his year in New York, of her, or of their relationship. Claire soon realizes that in order to lure Matías back to his body, she will have to convince him to fall in love with her all over again. But can lightning strike twice? Can the same magic that brought them together once do so again?
Goodreads
What has caught your eye for July? Have you read any of these? Let me know :)
Series: None
Author: Farah Heron
July 2nd 2024 by Forever
As a luxury fashion sales associate, Marley Kamal is known for being cool, aspirational, and just the right amount of detached. One thing she is passionate about, getting surgery to reduce her chance of breast cancer after she learns she has the BRCA gene. But right before the scheduled operation, she has the professional opportunity of a lifetime - to style the latest up-and-coming Hollywood heartthrob.
Nikhil Shamdsani is either on the brink of superstardom or a complete breakdown. Going from a nobody actor to major Hollywood superhero hasn't been a smooth transition. Comic nerds think he's a diversity hire, while fans expect him to singlehandedly represent the entire Indian community. When Nikhil learns his old high school friend and prom date is now in high fashion, he's thrilled to have someone he can trust as his stylist.
So Marley and Nikhil make a deal. She'll style him for his events, and Nikhil will help care for her in the few critical weeks of after surgery. But soon Marley finds herself leaning on Nikhil as more than just a caregiver. And Nikhil finds his feelings growing stronger, too. When their rekindled friendship becomes something more, Marley fears her whole private life is about to be upended.
Goodreads
The Undermining of Twyla and Frank
Series: The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy #2
Author: Megan Bannen
July 2nd 2024 by Orbit
From the author of The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy comes a heartwarming fantasy with a best friends-to-lovers rom com twist--When Harry Met Sally, but with dragons!—set in the delightful demigod and donut-filled world of Tanria.
The entire town of Eternity was shocked when widowed, middle-aged Twyla Banneker partnered up with her neighbor and best friend, Frank Ellis, to join the Tanrian Marshals. Eight years later, Twyla and Frank are still patrolling the dangerous land of Tanria, the former prison of the Old Gods.
Twyla might look like a small town mom who brings cheesy potatoes to funerals and whips up a batch of cookies for the school bake sale, but her rewarding career in law enforcement has been a welcome change from the domestic grind of mom life, despite the misgivings of her grown children.
Fortunately (or unfortunately) a recent decrease in on-the-job peril has made Twyla and Frank's job a lot safer ... and a lot less exciting. So when they discover the body of one of their fellow marshals covered in liquid glitter--and Frank finds himself the inadvertent foster dad to a baby dragon--they are more than happy to be back on the beat.
Soon, the friends wind up ensnared in a nefarious plot that goes far deeper than any lucrative Tanrian mineshaft. But as the danger closes in and Twyla and Frank's investigation becomes more complicated, so does their easy friendship. And Twyla starts to realize that her true soul mate might just be the person who has lived next door all along...
Goodreads
Fun Fact: I Love You
Series: None
Author: Gina Lynn Larsen
July 2nd 2024 by Shadow Mountain
In this friends-to-lovers romance, high school senior Nellie has her future all planned out—except for a disastrous first kiss, a hurtful prank, and the unexpected twist of falling in love with her childhood friend.
Fun fact: Nellie Samsin has ten days left of high school, and she’s never been kissed—which is fine with her. Being the yearbook editor and valedictorian has taken all her attention. But when she has a chance to kiss her longtime crush, she hopes it will be a magical experience, except it turns out to be super-not-magical, leaving Nellie heartbroken and angry.
Jensen Nichols has been keeping three massive secrets: first, he’s been writing a best-selling romantasy series under the pseudonym “Jen Dimes”; second, he’s been harboring a secret crush on Nellie for years; and third, Nellie’s dad has been his writing mentor and coach. Then he sees Nellie kissing his best friend, and his unexpected rush of jealousy means that the time for keeping secrets is over.
When a family tragedy rocks Nellie’s world, and she learns the people she thought she could trust have lied to her, she feels lost and betrayed. At least she has Jensen. But as their relationship grows closer, Nellie suspects Jensen is hiding something from her. (Fun fact: Keeping secrets is the worst.)
It seems Nellie and Jensen are perfect for each other, but they will need to separate fact from fiction for their unplanned romance to last beyond graduation day.
Goodreads
The Love Dare
Series: None
Author: Abiola Bello
July 4th 2024 by Simon & Schuster Children's UK
Can a bet made at Notting Hill Carnival turn into true love? He’s All That meets How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days in this trope-filled sizzling summer romance, perfect for fans of Joya Goffney and Lynn Painter.
Clumsy but popular Eva Ojo is used to men falling for her without her trying. So when her best friend dares her to talk to a guy at Notting Hill Carnival , she meets Saint.
Comic obsessed Saint Rowe-Falade connects with Eva and agrees to attend her upcoming birthday party, but it’s soon clear he’s not interested in her in that way.
When Eva’s friends set her the ultimate bet to get Saint to fall in love with her, Eva makes it her mission to find out all of Saint’s interests and even get a job at the comic book shop he works at. But just as Saint starts to warm to Eva, and her own feelings towards him develop, Saint finds out about the bet. Can Eva pull out the big guns and convince Saint she’s into him, or is it too late to fix the damage that’s been done?
Goodreads
A Matter of Class
Series: None
Author: Mary Balogh
July 9th 2024 by Hachette Books
From New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh comes a classic historical tale that sizzles with romance and unforgettable drama, now back in paperback!
Reginald Mason is wealthy, refined, and, by all accounts, a gentleman. However, he is not a gentleman by title, a factor that pains him and his father within the Regency society that upholds station over all else. That is, until an opportunity for social advancement arises, namely, Lady Annabelle Ashton. Daughter of the Earl of Havercroft, a neighbor and enemy of the Mason family, Annabelle finds herself disgraced by a scandal, one that has left her branded as damaged goods. Besmirched by shame, the earl is only too happy to marry Annabelle off to anyone willing to have her.
Though Reginald Mason, Senior, wishes to use Annabelle to propel his family up the social ladder, his son does not wish to marry her, preferring instead to live the wild, single life he is accustomed to. With this, Reginald Senior serves his son an ultimatum: marry Annabelle, or make do without family funds. Having no choice, Reginald consents, and enters into a hostile engagement in which the prospective bride and groom are openly antagonistic, each one resenting the other for their current state of affairs while their respective fathers revel in their suffering.
So begins an intoxicating tale rife with dark secrets, deception, and the trials of love—a story in which very little is as it seems.
Goodreads
Not You Again
Series: None
Author: Ingrid Pierce
July 9th 2024 by Alcove Press
Wedding gown designer Andie Dresser is hanging on by a thread. Gaining a following on TikTok for her one-of-a-kind fairytale gowns has earned her a spot at Atlanta’s Fashion Week, but the time and upfront costs to design a full bridal line have stretched her to her limit. When her best friend suggests she sign up for a reality show with a potential $100,000 prize, she realizes the money could allow her to hire some desperately needed help. All she needs to do is marry a stranger—sight unseen—and opt for divorce at the end of filming. No big deal, right?
Architect Kit Watson just returned to Atlanta to help his loving but stubborn mother through a health crisis. However, she’ll only accept his help if he agrees to settle down, insisting he sign up for the matchmaking reality show that’s filming in the area. Willing to do anything for his mom, he finds himself at the altar—on camera—staring at Andie, the woman he abruptly left without explanation seven years ago.
In the blink of an eye, Kit and Andie tie the knot on TV for the world to see. Now, they must live together for eight weeks with cameras following their every move. But as the newlyweds reconnect and sift through their past, old feelings females spark…and old grudges cast a shadow over their “marriage”. With decision day looming, Andie must decide if forgiving Kit for his mistakes—past and present—is worth more than her dreams of success.
Goodreads
The Next Best Fling
Series: Librarians in Love #1
Author: Gabriella Gamez
July 9th 2024 by Forever
Two broken hearts decide that the best way to get over their first loves is with a no-strings-attached relationship in this spicy and charming debut romance.
Librarian Marcela Ortiz has been secretly in love with her best friend for years—and when he gets engaged, she knows it’s long past time to move on. But before she gets the chance, she has a bigger problem to contend with in the form of Theo Young, ex-NFL player and older brother of the man she’s in love with. When she discovers Theo's plans to confess his feelings for his brother’s fiancée at their engagement party, Marcela is quick to stop him—despite how tempting it is to let him run away with the bride-to-be. She manages to convince Theo to sleep off his drunken almost-mistake at her place and when they arrive at a family brunch the next day together, everyone wrongly assumes they hooked up.
Since Theo needs a cover for his feelings for the bride and Marcela needs a distraction from her unrequited feelings for the groom, they decide to roll with the lie. Until one late night at a bar, they take it a step further and discover a layer of attraction neither realized existed. Soon, they find themselves exploring the simmering chemistry between them, whether in library aisles or Marcela's bed. There are no boundaries for the rebound relationship they form—just a host of complicated feelings, messy familial dynamics, and uncovered secrets that threaten to tear them apart before they can even admit to themselves that their rebound is working. Maybe a little too well.
Goodreads
Business Casual
Series: Lovelight #4
Author: B.K. Borison
July 16th 2024 by Berkley
Two opposites decide to test their chemistry with one steamy night together. But will once be enough?
Nova Porter isn’t looking for love, and she certainly has no explanation for her attraction to buttoned-up, three-piece-suit-wearing investment banker Charlie Milford. Maybe it’s his charm? Or maybe it’s his determination to help her fledgling business however he can. Either way, she’s distracted every time he’s around. With her new tattoo studio set to open in her hometown of Inglewild, she doesn’t have time for frivolous flirtations.
In an effort to get Charlie out of her system once and for all, Nova offers a proposition. One night. No strings. They’ll kick their uncomfortable attraction to the curb and return to their respective responsibilities. But their explosive night together scatters their expectations like fallen leaves. And with Charlie in town as the temporary head of Lovelight Farms, Nova can’t quite avoid him.
And Charlie? Well, Charlie knows a good investment when he sees one. He’s hoping he can convince Nova he’s worth some of her time.
Goodreads
Hate to Fake It to You
Series: None
Author: Amanda Sellet
July 16th 2024 by Griffin
A waitress masquerading as an influencer and a wildlife photographer are on a collision course with romance–and chaos―in Hate to Fake It to You, a zany modern twist on a screwball comedy classic about figuring out what you really want – by pretending to be someone you’re not.
Everyone gets a glow-up on social media, but Libby Lane's online persona is the fakest of fakes. Cooked up as a joke by Libby and her best friends, Lillibet is the affluent, healthier-than-thou opposite of her glam-free life on the side of Oahu most tourists never see. The phony fronting is all in good fun, until a real influencer stumbles onto the Love, Lillibet Instagram feed and starts making waves.
When Hildy Johnson, the ambitious junior member of a media dynasty, travels to Hawaii to talk to Lillibet about parlaying her lifestyle brand into a job, Libby and her friends scramble to take the make-believe to a new level. Complicating the charade even further is Hildy’s handsome companion, a wildlife photographer named Jefferson Jones, whose keen eye sees more than he lets on.
Between the pretend husband, borrowed goats, a made-up holiday, and Libby’s very real attraction to Jefferson, it’s anyone’s guess which lie will blow their cover first … especially since Lillibet isn’t the only one with something to hide.
Goodreads
The Au Pair Affair
Series: Big Shots #2
Author: Tessa Bailey
July 16th 2024 by Avon
A sports rom-com about a burly, surly, single dad who falls head-over-hockey-stick for his quirky live-in nanny...
Tallulah is smart, vivacious, and studying to be a marine biologist. She’s also twenty-six and broke. So when Burgess, a battle-scarred hockey veteran and newly single dad, offers her a job as his live-in nanny, she jumps at the opportunity to get paid while living in a super fancy neighborhood and being around Lissa, his cool but introverted tween.
Her tween charge isn’t the only one who could use some help fitting in, though. According to…well, everyone except Burgess, he needs to get back on the dating scene, and adventurous Tallulah is just the girl to show him how. But as boundaries are slowly crossed and Burgess finds himself pulled between his daughter, who wants her parents back together, and his insane chemistry with Tallulah, a huge rift is formed, and Tallulah does the “right” thing—breaks her own heart and walks away.
Though Burgess knows it’s for the best—he’s too jaded, with too much baggage—a chance meeting, and a new push from his daughter, forces him to put everything on the line and fight to prove he learned his lessons well and is worthy of a happily ever after with Tallulah.
Goodreads
Let the Games Begin
Series: None
Author: Rufaro Faith Mazarura
July 18th 2024 by Penguin
It’s the Athens 2024 Olympics and Zeke and Olivia are there to win.
Zeke Moyo is the star athlete of Team GB. He’s in Athens to claim the title of fastest man in the world.
Olivia Nkomo has landed a career-making internship, finally earning her seat at the table.
Then Zeke and Olivia collide – literally – on the first day of the games, and something unexpected begins.
But the competition is stirring up uncomfortable memories from Zeke’s past. And Olivia’s dream job is turning into a nightmare.
Will love become a hurdle? Or could running beside the right person change the whole game?
Goodreads
The Ex Vows
Series: None
Author: Jessica Joyce
July 18th 2024 by Transworld Digital
Estranged exes are forced to help replan their best friend's wedding in this swoony and steamy second chance romance from the author of You, With a View.
When Georgia Woodward lived in New York, she had a doting boyfriend and a tight-knit group of friends, but now she's living alone in San Francisco, feeling lonely and unsure of her role in the group as her best friend's wedding approaches. She knows that her ex Eli Mora is the Best Man to her Best Woman, and she is all too aware that her feelings for Eli have only grown since their breakup, but what she doesn't expect is for the Napa Valley venue to burn to the ground a week before the wedding. Or that she and Eli will simultaneously volunteer to replan the entire wedding in time for the original date.
As Georgia and Eli rush to mount a perfect wedding, their old chemistry comes back like an unshakable case of déjà vu - and the fact that there's only one bedroom at the winery pours more fuel on the glowing embers of what was. The idea of trying again is terrifying - but the possibilities of what could be just might make falling worth the risk.
Goodreads
Something More
Series: None
Author: Jackie Khalilieh
July 18th 2024 by Hashtag Press
A contemporary teen romance novel featuring a Palestinian-Canadian girl trying to hide her autism diagnosis while navigating her first year of high school, for fans of Jenny Han and Samira Ahmed.
Fifteen-year-old Jessie, a quirky loner obsessed with the nineties, is diagnosed as autistic just weeks before starting high school. Determined to make a fresh start and keep her diagnosis a secret, Jessie creates a list of goals that range from acquiring two distinct eyebrows to getting a magical first kiss and landing a spot in the school play. Within the halls of Holy Trinity High, she finds a world where things are no longer black and white and quickly learns that living in color is much more fun. But Jessie gets more than she bargained for when two very different boys steal her heart, forcing her to go off-script.
Goodreads
Ne'er Duke Well
Series: None
Author: Alexandra Vasti
July 23rd 2024 by Griffin
In this steamy Regency romp, Lady Selina is determined to find the Duke of Stanhope the perfect wife―the only problem is she's starting to think that might be her.
Peter Kent―newly inherited Duke of Stanhope and recently of New Orleans, Louisiana―must become respectable. Between his radical politics and the time he interrupted a minor royal wedding with a flock of sheep―not his fault!―he’s developed a scandalous reputation at odds with his goal of becoming guardian to his half siblings. For help, he turns to the cleverest and most managing woman of his acquaintance, Lady Selina Ravenscroft.
Selina is society’s most proper debutante, save one tiny secret: she runs an erotic circulating library for women. When Peter asks for her help, she suggests courtship and marriage to a lady of unimpeachable reputation. (Which is to say, definitely not herself.)
But matchmaking doesn’t go according to plan. Peter’s siblings run rampant on Bond Street. Selina ends up in the Serpentine. And worst of all, the scorching chemistry between Peter and Selina proves impossible to resist. For the disreputable duke and his unpredictable matchmaker, falling in love just might be the ultimate scandal.
Goodreads
Asking for a Friend
Series: None
Author: Kara H.L. Chen
July 23rd 2024 by Quill Tree Books
This charming YA rom-com follows a strong-willed, ambitious teen as she teams up with her childhood frenemy to start a dating-advice column, perfect for fans of Emma Lord and Gloria Chao.
Juliana Zhao is absolutely certain of a few things:
1. She is the world’s foremost expert on love.
2. She is going to win the nationally renowned Asian Americans in Business Competition.
When Juliana is unceremoniously dropped by her partner and she’s forced to pair with her nonconformist and annoying frenemy, Garrett Tsai, everything seems less clear. Their joint dating advice column must be good enough to win and secure bragging rights within her small Taiwanese American community, where her family’s reputation has been in the pits since her older sister was disowned a few years prior. Juliana always thought prestige mattered above all else. But as she argues with Garrett over how to best solve everyone else’s love problems and faces failure for the first time, she starts to see fractures in this privileged, sheltered worldview. With the competition heating up, Juliana must reckon with the sacrifices she’s made to be a perfect daughter—and whether winning is something she even wants anymore.
Goodreads
A Photo Finish
Series: Gold Rush Ranch #2
Author: Elsie Silver
July 23rd 2024 by Bloom Books
I’ve seen every square inch of Violet Eaton’s delectable body and she has no idea who I am.
Until now.
What happened between us online, in our chats, was meant to stay anonymous and in the past.
Until it didn’t.
It’s a small world, but Ruby Creek is even smaller. When I move to the tiny town, the grumpy facade I’ve created slips when we’re forced to live under the same roof.
Every flush of her cheeks, every time her eyes flare with heat, every time she begs me not to stop, the ice I’ve encased myself in melts. She has me wanting things I can’t want. Things I’ve been dreaming about since I first laid eyes on her two years ago—things I don’t deserve.
But my invisible wounds have the power to ruin us both. As a former soldier, I should have the discipline to walk away, but the more I open up to Violet, the more I want to keep her.
I came back from the war a different man, but my scars are older and deeper than anyone knows—and I planned to keep it that way. I planned to keep my secrets hidden.
Until her.
Goodreads
Do Me a Favor
Series: None
Author: Cathy Yardley
July 23rd 2024 by Montlake
Willa Lieu-Endicott moved from California to the Pacific Northwest to start over. Since her husband’s death, she’s been struggling to get back her old career as a cookbook ghostwriter. Unfortunately, her latest project—ghostwriting for a viral cooking sensation known more for his washboard abs than his meals—has her stuck.
Until she meets her new neighbor.
Hudson Daws, the handyman next door, lives on a farm with his parents and two adult children. He’s the opposite of everything she’s ever known. His happily chaotic life includes biker barbecues, an escape artist dog, and adorably menacing goats. He’s also got a sinfully sexy smile and a rumbling bass voice that makes her shiver. He inspires her.
From their first meeting, the two fall into an escalating cycle of favors, paybacks…and attraction, even though Willa’s trying to keep her distance.
They both have their own pasts to deal with. Now, they just have to figure out if they have a future.
A delectable rom-com about a widowed cookbook writer and a divorced handyman who find that it’s never too late for a fresh start.
Goodreads
Cross the Line
Series: Lights Out #1
Author: Simone Soltani
July 23rd 2024 by Berkley
Her brother’s best friend sends her heart racing in this sparkling Formula 1 romance.
Formula 1 driver Dev Anderson’s career is on the line. After a social media disaster leaves him with an angry team and sponsors threatening to jump ship, he needs someone to help save his image. At a party in Monaco, he bumps into the woman who can fix it all. There’s just one problem: she’s his best friend’s little sister. And, okay, maybe there’s another problem—he kissed her last year and hasn’t been able to stop thinking about it since.
Recent college grad Willow Williams needs a job. She may have a talent for seeing the bright side of any bad situation, but it’s hard to stay positive when she’s struggling to get hired. So when Dev offers her a temporary solution, she can’t help but say yes. Even if it means ignoring the crush she’s had on him since childhood.
Willow and Dev are determined to keep things strictly professional, regardless of old feelings and the blazing chemistry between them. But in the glittering and high-stakes world of Formula 1, some lines are meant to be crossed…
Goodreads
Viscount in Love
Series: Accidental Brides #1
Author: Eloisa James
July 23rd 2024 by Avon
Two eccentric orphans bring together a grumpy viscount and the free-spirited heroine who steals his heart in the first novel in Eloisa James's new Accidental Brides series, in which haughty aristocrats find themselves married to the wrong women.
He wants a nanny, not a bride...
Suddenly guardian to twins, Viscount Dominic Kelbourne is luckily betrothed to a suitable lady--until she elopes. With no time to woo, Dominic decides to marry his fiancée's unconventional sister. Torie isn't perfect, but their kisses are so passionate that society thinks he's actually chosen her.
She wants to marry for love...
Torie has never been able to make sense of words on a page, so she has turned her talents to art. She longs for a man who values her as she is... but marries for the sake of the twins. She doubts Dominic is capable of love, let alone respect, but as their heated debates turn into something more, Torie begins to imagine a life as a wife, not a nanny.
But when the arrogant viscount finds that his viscountess has stolen his heart, he'll have to give all he has to win her love.
Goodreads
Take a Chance on Me
Series: None
Author: Emily Houghton
July 25th 2024 by Transworld Digital
She likes to be in control.
Olivia Jackson’s life is one big to-do list. But after her sister tragically dies and leaves her a ticket to go travelling, Olivia has to leave her perfectly ordered world – albeit with a meticulously organised itinerary.
He throws caution to the wind.
Jacob Green couldn’t be more different. He’s been travelling the world for five years and lets destiny decide where he goes next with a roll of some dice.
Do opposites really attract?
When the two first meet, Olivia finds Jacob’s laid-back attitude infuriating. Not to mention her unanswered question as to why he’s been travelling for so long without going back home. But as they part ways, she can’t help but wish her carefully laid plans involved him.
Will fate bring them together again? And if it does, what secret is Jacob hiding?
Goodreads
The Right Place
Series: None
Author: Sophia Money-Coutts
July 29th 2024 by HQ
Maggie Lemon has been trying to have a baby with her slightly boring, pretentious husband Mungo Lemon (Le Mon, actually) for five years. She’s followed dozens of diets and recommendations from countless fertility specialists but still the baby room at the top of her house remains achingly empty. But when she receives the news that her estranged aunt has died, leaving her hotel in Provence to Maggie in her will, everything changes.
Handsome Hollywood actor, Gray Hudson, is hiding out at the hotel after being chased by the world’s paparazzi. Maggie and Gray form an unlikely bond, grappling with the choices that they’ve made and how their life has changed from what they expected, or rather, where they’ve been made to feel they should be at. But is it too late to divert off course and find their own path?
Goodreads
The Mirror of Beasts
Series: Silver in the Bone #2
Author: Alexandra Bracken
July 30th 2024 by Hachette Children's Group
With the dream of Avalon in ruins, Tamsin and her friends are all that stands in the way of Lord Death's plans to unleash the horrors of Anwnn on the world of the living. As the Wild Hunt carves a bloody path across continents, Tamsin is mustering allies, tracking down powerful artifacts, and traversing into new otherlands in search of a way to stop him.
Legend tells of a “Mirror of Beasts,” powerful enough to trap even Lord Death in its accursed glass, but the mirror is not all that it seems. Tamsin must confront her own darkest secrets if she hopes to tap the mirror's strength to defeat her enemies.
Arthurian legend bleeds into contemporary action, and scars of the past are torn open anew by a starcrossed love that refuses to go quietly. This riveting conclusion to the Silver in the Bone duology will hold you in its thrall until the very last page.
Goodreads
Never Date a Roommate
Series: None
Author: Paula Ottoni
July 30th 2024 by Afterglow Books by Harlequin
Celebrated Brazilian author Paula Ottoni makes her English-language adult romance debut with a hilarious, heartwarming romance about finding happiness in unexpected places—maybe even in your very own apartment…
To find true happiness, they’ll have to fake it first.
Sol Carvalho desperately wants to get ahead in her career—and where better to do that than Copenhagen, the happiest city on earth? But there’s more to this place than cozy sweaters and hot cocoa; there’s a rich, vibrant culture the Brazilian game developer is eager to drink in. Especially since her boss wants to hand a promotion to someone who’s ready to put down roots in Denmark—which means having a steady place to live and an even steadier significant other. And Sol, unfortunately, has neither.
Unless she can convince Viking look-alike Erik Storm to be her roommate…and maybe even her fake boyfriend?
But Erik lost everything the last time he got involved with a roommate, including his job and the app he’d developed. Convincing him to take a risk on her is a big ask, but Sol is up for the challenge. As long as she can ignore how he fills a room with that broad chest and somehow makes stoic brooding look sexy.
Instead, she’ll win him over with the end her promotion will bring down their mutual tech nemesis. Before long, though, the lines between what’s fake and what’s real blur. And when their ruse reaches its boiling point, they’ll both have to Should they trust their hearts to a roommate this time?
Goodreads
That Prince Is Mine
Series: None
Author: Jayci Lee
July 30th 2024 by Griffin
A love-averse Korean royal court cuisine instructor in search of a perfect-on-paper husband is waylaid from her practical, heartbreak-proof plan when she meets a gorgeous professor—and prince in disguise—who will do anything to prove to her that love and happily ever after can be theirs.
Emma Yoon runs a small business as a culinary instructor in Los Angeles teaching Korean royal court cuisine to young ladies striving to marry into the exclusive upper crust Korean families. She has built her business alongside her renowned Korean matchmaker godmother, which brings her one step closer to her dream of opening up a culinary school on her own. But when her godmother’s fellow matchmakers decide to meddle in Emma’s love life in a bid to sabotage her godmother, and indirectly push Emma's dream out of her reach, she must go on a series of arranged first dates and find herself the perfect-on-paper husband to help save both, her godmother's reputation and her dream--even if she's not ready for love. But when she meets Michel Aubert, a professor at USC, after a series of disastrous first dates, she wonders if she might reevaluate her position on love.
Prince Michel Aubert is bound by duty and responsibility to his country, but an arranged marriage is the last thing he wants. If he is going to spend the rest of his life in service of his people, then he at least wants someone he loves and trusts by his side while doing it. He needs to find a woman who loves him for who he is before his engagement to his handpicked bride is announced. Emma Yoon might be just the woman he is looking for.
Goodreads
The Fiancé Dilemma
Series: The Long Game #2
Author: Elena Armas
July 30th 2024 by Atria Books
Josie Moore has given the opposite sex—and love—plenty of chances. Four exactly, if you count all her failed engagements, and five if you include the absentee father who kept her existence a secret until very recently. So when her father decides to announce his retirement with a splashy magazine piece about the family, Josie realizes her romantic history is a complicated PR issue.
Matthew Flanagan is in the mud, literally. Not only has he been fired from his job, but also the tires of his car are stuck in the muck after taking a wrong turn as he enters Green Oak, North Carolina. So, he grabs a duffel with his essentials and goes in search of a place to crash until he gets his life back on track. But instead, he finds his best friend’s sister, Josie, greeting him as her fiancé.
What starts as a big messy misunderstanding quickly turns into an arrangement with Matthew playing a new role as doting fiancé. A fifth engagement—and a stunt, at that—makes Josie’s stomach turn, but every dilemma requires a choice between equally undesirable alternatives, and Matthew doesn’t seem to mind becoming one more number in a colorful list of grooms-that-never-were. Despite the ring on her finger, Josie knows this is only temporary, even if the rest of the small town believes that the fifth time’s the charm.
Goodreads
Beneath These Cursed Stars
Series: None
Author: Lexi Ryan
July 30th 2024 by HarperTeen
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lexi Ryan comes a romantic fantasy in which a human princess armed with death’s kiss and a fae shifter on the run become unlikely allies when a mission to assassinate an evil king collides with a fatal prophecy.
Princess Jasalyn has a secret. Armed with an enchanted ring that gives her death’s kiss, Jas has been sneaking away from the palace at night to assassinate her enemies.
Shape-shifter Felicity needs a miracle. Fated to kill her magical father, she’s been using her unique ability to evade a fatal prophecy.
When rumors of evil king Mordeus’s resurrection spread through the shadow court, Jasalyn decides to end him once and for all. Felicity agrees to take the form of the princess, allowing Jas to covertly hunt Mordeus—and starting Felicity on the path that could finally take her home.
While Jasalyn teams up with the charming and handsome Kendrick, Felicity sets out to get closer to the Wild Fae king, Misha. Kendrick helps Jasalyn feel something other than anger for the first time in three years, and Misha makes Felicity wish for a world where she’s free to be her true self. Soon, the girls’ missions are at risk right alongside their hearts.
The future of the human and fae realms hangs in the balance as fates intertwine. Between perilous tasks, grim secrets, and forbidden romances, Jasalyn and Felicity find that perhaps their stars are the most cursed of all.
Goodreads
One Year Ago in Spain
Series: None
Author: Evelyn Skye
July 30th 2024 by Del Rey
A woman must woo her lover’s soul back into his body to wake him from a coma—or risk losing him forever—in this moving novel from the author of The Hundred Loves of Juliet.
Claire Walker has always had her life in perfect order, including her high-powered job at one of Manhattan’s top corporate law firms. Yet the one thing she cannot seem to find is a perfect love to complete it, until fate pushes Matías de León into her path. Matías is a Spanish artist who is everything that Claire is not: free-spirited and creative, chaos to her order. She falls for him, hard—and he for her.
A year later, however, Claire begins to question everything about their relationship. How can they possibly work long-term when they’re so different? Might it be best to end it before they are both in too deep?
Then tragedy strikes while Matías is visiting family, leaving him gravely wounded in a Madrid hospital. And when Claire drops everything to race to his side, she finds she is the only one who can see and talk to Matías’s soul, detached from his comatose body. But that soul has no memories of his year in New York, of her, or of their relationship. Claire soon realizes that in order to lure Matías back to his body, she will have to convince him to fall in love with her all over again. But can lightning strike twice? Can the same magic that brought them together once do so again?
Goodreads
What has caught your eye for July? Have you read any of these? Let me know :)
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