Our Books to Binge On feature is pretty simple in its purpose. Every month, we put together a monthly new releases list of books that we’re all looking forward to. These are the books that we can’t wait to read and want everyone to add to their monthly binge-reading lists. Here are the books that we plan to binge on in September of 2020.
Lies & Lullabies (Hush Note #1) by Sarina Bowen
Once upon a time, he gave me a summer of friendship, followed by one perfect night. We shared a lot during our short time together. But he skipped a few crucial details.
I didn’t know he was a rock star.
I didn’t know his real name.
Neither of us knew I’d get pregnant.
And I sure never expected to see him again.
Five years later, his tour bus pulls up in Nest Lake, Maine. My little world is about to be shattered by loud music and the pounding of my own foolish heart.
Casee: Does this book not sound amazing?! I can’t wait to read it.
Holly: I’m such a sucker for Rock Star romances.
Wild Fire (Chaos #6.5) by Kristen Ashley
You know you can’t keep a good brother down.”
The Chaos Motorcycle Club has won its war. But not every brother rode into the sunset with his woman on the back of his bike.
Chaos returns with the story of Dutch Black, a man whose father was the moral compass of the Club, until he was murdered. And the man who raised Dutch protected the Club at all costs. That combination is the man Dutch is intent on becoming.
It’s also the man that Dutch is going to go all out to give to his woman.
Casee: I’m into anything MC right now. The Chaos MC is my first love.
Holly: I didn’t love the last few Chaos books, but I’m curious about Dutch so I’ll probably read this.
Dark Song (Dark #34) by Christine Feehan
Stolen from her home at a young age and tormented for centuries, Elisabeta Trigovise is scared to show herself to anyone. Even though she has been rescued and is now safe within the Carpathian compound, she has lived in fear for so long she has no idea how to survive without it. She wants to answer the siren call of her lifemate–but the very thought terrifies her.
Before he found Elisabeta, Ferro Arany was an ancient warrior without emotion. Now that his senses have come alive, he knows it will take more than kind words and soft touches to convince the fractured woman that they are partners, not master and prisoner. For now, he will give her his strength until she finds hers, allowing the steady rhythm of his heart to soothe Elisabeta’s fragile soul.
But even as she learns to stand on her own, the vampire who kept her captive is desperate to claim her again, threatening the song Elisabeta and Ferro are writing together.
Casee: I’m a die-hard fan of this series. I love the turn that it has taken and am really looking forward to reading this one.
Hard Fall (Trophy Boyfriends #2) by Sara Ney
“Hard Fall”
That’s what my mom is always saying: “The bigger you are, the harder you fall.” She’s talking about love—I’ve never been in it myself, but that doesn’t stop me from secretly matchmaking for my friends. Who would suspect me, a world class athlete, of meddling in other people’s love lives? I love Love, especially when it’s not me who’s doing the falling…
“No Thanks.”
That’s what Hollis Westbrooke said when I asked her on a date. Well, propositioned her, actually—but it was all a big joke; one she doesn’t think is funny. My stomach is in knots since I might actually like this girl so the joke is on me. Hollis’s father is my boss—and she doesn’t date players.
The bigger they are, the harder they fall—especially when biggest player is me.
Holly: I’ve only read one book by Ney, but I liked it. This one sounds cute.
Beauty Tempts the Beast (Beauty Tempts the Beast #6) by Lorraine Heath
She wants lessons in seduction
Althea Stanwick was a perfect lady destined to marry a wealthy lord, until betrayal left her family penniless. Though she’s lost friends, fortune, and respectability, Althea has gained a scandalous plan. If she can learn to seduce, she can obtain power over men and return to Society on her terms. She even has the perfect teacher in mind, a man whose sense of honor and dark good looks belie his nickname: Beast.
But desire like this can’t be taught
Benedict Trewlove may not know his parentage but he knows where he belongs—on the dark side of London, offering protection wherever it’s needed. Yet no woman has ever made such an outrageous request as this mysterious beauty. Althea is out of place amongst vice and sin, even if she offers a wicked temptation he can’t resist. But as the truth of his origin emerges at last, it will take a fierce, wild love to overcome their pasts.
Holly: I’m seriously behind in this series, but someday I will catch up.
The Traitor Queen (The Bridge Kingdom #2) by Danielle L. Jensen
Lara has only one thought when her husband is taken prisoner: I will do whatever it takes to set you free.
A queen now in exile as a traitor, Lara has watched Ithicana be conquered by her own father, helpless to do anything to stop the destruction. But when she learns her husband, Aren, has been captured in battle, Lara knows there is only one reason her father is keeping him alive: as bait for his traitorous daughter.
And it is bait she fully intends to take.
Risking her life to the Tempest Seas, Lara returns to Ithicana with a plan not only to free its king, but for liberating the Bridge Kingdom from her father’s clutches using his own weapons: the sisters whose lives she spared.
But as Lara and her companions formulate a plan to free Aren from her father’s palace, they soon discover that while it is easy to get in, it will be quite another thing to get Aren, and themselves, back out. Not only is the palace inescapable, there are more players in the game than Lara ever realized, enemies and allies switching sides in the fight for crowns, kingdoms, and bridges. But her greatest adversary of all might be the very man she’s trying to free – the husband she betrayed.
With everything she loves in jeopardy, Lara must decide who – and what – she is fighting for: her kingdom, her husband, or for herself.
Holly: I listened to the audiobook earlier this year and loved it. I’m super excited to get the ebook.
The Duke Who Didn’t (Wedgeford Trials #1 by Courtney Milan
Miss Chloe Fong has plans for her life, lists for her days, and absolutely no time for nonsense. Three years ago, she told her childhood sweetheart that he could talk to her once he planned to be serious. He disappeared that very night.
Except now he’s back. Jeremy Wentworth, the Duke of Lansing, has returned to the tiny village he once visited with the hope of wooing Chloe. In his defense, it took him years of attempting to be serious to realize that the endeavor was incompatible with his personality.
All he has to do is convince Chloe to make room for a mischievous trickster in her life, then disclose that in all the years they’ve known each other, he’s failed to mention his real name, his title… and the minor fact that he owns her entire village.
Only one thing can go wrong: Everything.
Holly: It’s Courtney Milan. Enough said. Bonus, that cover!
A Hero’s Christmas Hope (Holidays in Heart Falls #3) by Vivian Arend
Single father Ryan Zhao didn’t expect a ghost from his past to literally slide across his path and down a snow bank. His relationship with Madison Joy was a bright spot during college, and there’s a lot to catch up on. Can holiday magic turn these friends into forever love?
Holly: I love Viv Arend, plus the blurb sounds good.
The Ippos King (Wraith Kings #3) by Grace Draven
The WRAITH KINGS saga continues.
The demonic horde that threatened to devour the world has been defeated, but at great cost.
Plagued by guilt and nightmares, Serovek Pangion sets out to deliver the soulless body of the monk Megiddo to the heretical Jeden Order for safekeeping. Accompanying him is sha-Anhuset, the Kai woman he admires and desires most–a woman barely tolerant of him.
Devoted to her regent, Anhuset reluctantly agrees to act as a Kai ambassador on the trip, even though the bold margrave known as the Beladine Stallion gets under her skin like no other, and Anhuset fears he’ll worm his way into her armored heart as well.
But guilt and unwelcome attraction are the least of their problems. The demons thought vanquished are stirring again, and a warlord with blood-soaked ambition turns a journey of compassion into a fight for survival. When the Beladine king brands Serovek a traitor, Anhuset must choose between sacrificing the life of a man she’s grown to love and abandoning lifelong fealty to the Kai people.
A tale of loyalty and acceptance.
Holly: I’m not sure if this book is truly coming out, but I hope so. I’ve been waiting years.
All Scot and Bothered (Devil You Know #2) by Kerrigan Byrne
He is first and foremost—at everything. A man who’s made his own way in the world through ruthless cunning and sheer force of will. A strong and imposing Scot who can turn on the charm but does not suffer fools. His title: Lord Chief Justice of the High Court. His name: Cassius Gerard Ramsay. His mission: To investigate the goings-on at London’s most notorious gaming hell, owned and operated by one of the most intriguing and desirable women he’s ever met.
IN THIS GAME OF LOVE, THE RULES DO NOT APPLY
Cecelia Teague was an orphan facing a rather dire future—until a secret benefactor from her mother’s scandalous past swept into her life. Sent to prestigious boarding school and later to university, Cecelia believed high society was at her fingertips…Then, from out of nowhere, she became the inheritor of a gambling establishment. Now Cecelia must live two lives: one as a proper lady who finds herself undeniably drawn to Lord Ramsay and the other as a savvy gaming hell owner trying to save her business from the very same man. He has no idea she is both women…and Cecelia would like to keep it that way. But what happens when consuming passion and escalating danger threaten to reveal the truth?
Holly: I love this title and I’m super intrigued by a heroine who went to university and runs a gaming hell.
What books are you looking forward to reading this month? Share in the comments!
I have quite a few books on my September list, but because several of them have been postponed from previous dates, I’m trying not to get my hopes up:
Of course, a new month brings new releases from my favorite Harlequin Presents and Dare authors. Clare Connelly’s HARDEN MY HART (from Dare) is the next in her series about the Hart siblings. The previous book in the series was really dull, so I’m hoping Connelly gets back on track with this one. Meanwhile, Jackie Ashenden has a new HP, THE MOST POWERFUL OF KINGS, obviously a royal romance. The hero here is the brother of the hero in her previous HP, PROMOTED TO HIS PRINCESS, which I liked very much, so I’m hoping she continues her streak.
September 15 is going to drain my book budget if all of these books do make their publication date: Skye Warren’s GOLDMINE, the second of a three-book series that started with DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH; J. Kenner’s MY FALLEN SAINT, the start of a new trilogy (and pricey for an ebook, $6.99–that may have to go to the “wait for a sale” list); Ainsley Booth’s much-postponed FILTHY LIAR, the fifth and final of her Forbidden Bodyguards series; and Natasha Knight’s UNHOLY INTENT—the first book of the duet, UNHOLY UNION, is out this week, but I prefer to wait and read both books together.
Rachel Reid’s COMMON GOAL, her next m/m hockey romance, is scheduled for September 21. One of the heroes is apparently a retired player and the book appears to include the age-gap trope.
At the end of the month, Annika Martin concludes her Billionaires of Manhattan series with the fifth and final installment, RETURN BILLIONAIRE TO SENDER. We saw a little of the book’s h&h as background characters in the previous book, THE BILLIONAIRE’S FAKE FIANCÉE. The heroine is a mail carrier—which seems very timely right now.
Also at the end of the month comes CD Reiss’s CROWNE RULES, the next in her series about the Crowne family. In this one, the family’s black sheep son is staying in a house in Tuscany when a family friend, fleeing scandal, lands on his doorstep. Based on its description, this one appears to involve a D/s relationship.
Hmm, Sarina Bowen’s Lies & Lullabies definitely sounds appealing. I’ll also be interested to learn more about Rachel Reid’s COMMON GOAL that @DDD mentioned above.