Books to Binge On: August 2015

Rowena: Ugh, I can’t believe that we’re already in month 8 of the year. I can still remember what I ate for my first meal of the year. Anyway, there’s quite a few books coming out this month that I’m pretty anxious for. You’re welcome. 😉

1. Brown Eyed Girl (Travis Family #4) by Lisa Kleypas.

Wedding planner Avery Crosslin may be a rising star in Houston society, but she doesn’t believe in love–at least not for herself. When she meets wealthy bachelor Joe Travis and mistakes him for a wedding photographer, she has no intention of letting him sweep her off her feet. But Joe is a man who goes after what he wants, and Avery can’t resist the temptation of a sexy southern charmer and a hot summer evening.

After a one night stand, however, Avery is determined to keep it from happening again. A man like Joe can only mean trouble for a woman like her, and she can’t afford distractions. She’s been hired to plan the wedding of the year–a make-or-break event.

But complications start piling up fast, putting the wedding in jeopardy, especially when shocking secrets of the bride come to light. And as Joe makes it clear that he’s not going to give up easily, Avery is forced to confront the insecurities and beliefs that stem from a past she would do anything to forget.

The situation reaches a breaking point, and Avery faces the toughest choice of her life. Only by putting her career on the line and risking everything–including her well-guarded heart–will she find out what matters most.

Rowena: JOE’S BOOK! I’m so freaking thrilled that we’re finally getting Joe Travis’ book. I’ve been waiting for so long!

2. Until Friday Night (Field Party #1) by Abbi Glines.

To everyone who knows him, West Ashby has always been that guy: the cocky, popular, way-too-handsome-for-his-own-good football god who led Lawton High to the state championships. But while West may be Big Man on Campus on the outside, on the inside he’s battling the grief that comes with watching his father slowly die of cancer.

Two years ago, Maggie Carleton’s life fell apart when her father murdered her mother. And after she told the police what happened, she stopped speaking and hasn’t spoken since. Even the move to Lawton, Alabama, couldn’t draw Maggie back out. So she stayed quiet, keeping her sorrow and her fractured heart hidden away.

As West’s pain becomes too much to handle, he knows he needs to talk to someone about his father—so in the dark shadows of a post-game party, he opens up to the one girl who he knows won’t tell anyone else.

West expected that talking about his dad would bring some relief, or at least a flood of emotions he couldn’t control. But he never expected the quiet new girl to reply, to reveal a pain even deeper than his own—or for them to form a connection so strong that he couldn’t ever let her go…

Rowena: This book sounds like my kind of party so I’m mighty curious about it. It sounds good and I’m looking forward to reading it.

3. When a Scot Ties the Knot (Castles Ever After #3) by Tessa Dare.

On the cusp of her first London season, Miss Madeline Gracechurch was shyly pretty and talented with a drawing pencil, but hopelessly awkward with gentlemen. She was certain to be a dismal failure on the London marriage mart. So Maddie did what generations of shy, awkward young ladies have done: she invented a sweetheart.

A Scottish sweetheart. One who was handsome and honorable and devoted to her, but conveniently never around. Maddie poured her heart into writing the imaginary Captain MacKenzie letter after letter … and by pretending to be devastated when he was (not really) killed in battle, she managed to avoid the pressures of London society entirely.

Until years later, when this kilted Highland lover of her imaginings shows up in the flesh. The real Captain Logan MacKenzie arrives on her doorstep—handsome as anything, but not entirely honorable. He’s wounded, jaded, in possession of her letters… and ready to make good on every promise Maddie never expected to keep.

Rowena: I don’t even need to read the blurb for this book. It’s a title by Tessa Dare so I know that not only am I going to read it, but I’m more than likely going to love it to pieces too. I can’t wait to dig in!

4. Better When He’s Brave (Welcome to the Point #3) by Jay Crownover.

In New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jay Crownover’s third novel in her sexy, thrilling Welcome to the Point series, a woman’s search for repentance leads her to the one man from her past she can’t forget as they join forces to save their city—and the explosive love neither can live without.

Titus King has always seen his world in black and white. There is a firm right and wrong in his mind, which is why as a teenager he left behind the only family he’d ever known to make a better life for himself. Now a police detective in one of the worst cities in the country, he can’t deny his life has turned into a million different shades of gray.

The new criminal element in The Point has brought vengeance and destruction right to Titus’s front door, and walking the straight and narrow seems far less important now. The difference between right and wrong is nothing compared to keeping those he loves alive. To add to his already strained moral compass, the beautiful and mysterious Reeve Black has made her way back to town. This girl might be as dangerous to Titus as the guy trying to destroy the Point but he can’t walk away because he needs her—in more ways than one.

Reeve knows all about the threat trying to destroy The Point. She knows how ruthless, how vicious, and how cruel this new danger can be… and instead of running away, she wants to help. Reeve knows that she has a lot to repent for and saving the city, plus the hot cop that she hasn’t been able to forget might just be the only way she can finally find some inner peace.

With an entire city poised on the brink of war, Titus and Reeve stand in the crossfire—and it will take two brave souls to fight for the ultimate love.

Rowena: This is one of those series that I kept meaning to start and never got around to. Shame on me. I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about this series and after reading the blurb for this book, it’s back on my radar. I want to read this.

5. The Boy Most Likely To (My Life Next Door #2) by Huntley Fitzpatrick.

Surprises abound and sparks ignite in the highly anticipated, utterly romantic companion to My Life Next Door

Tim Mason was The Boy Most Likely To:
– find the liquor cabinet blindfolded
– need a liver transplant
– drive his car into a house

Alice Garrett was The Girl Most Likely To:
– well, not date her little brother’s baggage-burdened best friend, for starters.

For Tim, it wouldn’t be smart to fall for Alice. For Alice, nothing could be scarier than falling for Tim. But Tim has never been known for making the smart choice, and Alice is starting to wonder if the “smart” choice is always the right one. When these two crash into each other, they crash hard.

Then the unexpected consequences of Tim’s wild days come back to shock him. He finds himself in a situation that isn’t all it appears to be, that he never could have predicted . . . but maybe should have.

And Alice is caught in the middle.

Told in Tim’s and Alice’s distinctive, disarming, entirely compelling voices, this return to the world of My Life Next Door is a story about failing first, trying again, and having to decide whether to risk it all once more.

Rowena: I read and really enjoyed the first book in this series so it was a no brainer that I want to read this. I’m seriously all over this one. I can’t wait to dig in.

6. Falling Under (Ink & Chrome #2) by Lauren Dane.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lauren Dane delivers the second book in her dark, gritty and romantic Ink & Chrome series

Duke Bradshaw, co-owner of the custom motorcycle shop Twisted Steel, is great with his hands and not afraid to get dirty . . . especially in his fantasies about his redheaded neighbor Carmella Rossi.

Carmella has been secretly lusting after her hot, tattooed neighbor for the last three years. His gravelly voice combined with the throaty purr of his custom bike never fails to send thrills down her spine. When Duke asks her to join him at the shop, she can’t say no. Soon their days together spill over into nights that bring her pleasure beyond anything she imagined. But Carmella grew up with bikers, and knows how bad a bad boy can be. Can she put herself at risk for someone who has heart-breaker written all over him?

Rowena: This is another series that I’m looking forward to, I just haven’t gotten around to. I haven’t read very many books by Dane but what I have read, I really enjoyed so I’m looking forward to reading these books. This one sounds like a good one, too. Also??? How gorgeous is that cover though?

Holly: I really liked the first book and I’m really looking forward to this one. Dane does awesome heroines.

7. Most Likely to Succeed (Superlatives #3) by Jennifer Echols.

In this sexy conclusion to The Superlatives trilogy from Endless Summer author Jennifer Echols, Sawyer and Kaye might just be perfect for each other—if only they could admit it.

As vice president of Student Council, Kaye knows the importance of keeping order. Not only in school, but in her personal life. Which is why she and her boyfriend, Aidan, already have their lives mapped out: attend Columbia University together, pursue banking careers, and eventually get married. Everything Kaye has accomplished in high school—student government, cheerleading, stellar grades—has been in preparation for that future.

To his entire class, Sawyer is an irreverent bad boy. His antics on the field as school mascot and his love of partying have earned him total slacker status. But while he and Kaye appear to be opposites on every level, fate—and their friends—keep conspiring to throw them together. Perhaps the seniors see the simmering attraction Kaye and Sawyer are unwilling to acknowledge to themselves…

As the year unfolds, Kaye begins to realize her ideal life is not what she thought. And Sawyer decides it’s finally time to let down the facade and show everyone who he really is. Is a relationship between them most likely to succeed—or will it be their favorite mistake?

Rowena: I’ve read this book already but it’s one that I want to keep on everyone’s radar because even though the heroine of the book got on my nerves and I hated her mother and her ex-boyfriend, the love interest Sawyer was freaking great. I adored him. Like, a lot. You should put this on your to buy list because it’s a good one.

8. Heat Exchange (Boston Fire #1) by Shannon Stacey.

Lydia Kincaid’s shipping back to Boston, but she’s not happy about it. She left to get away from the firefighting community—her father was a firefighter, her brother’s a firefighter and, more important, her ex is a firefighter. But family is number one, and her father needs her help running the pub he bought when he retired. Soon, Lydia finds it hard to resist the familiar comfort and routine, and even harder to resist her brother’s handsome friend Aidan.

Aidan Hunt is a firefighter because of the Kincaid family. He’s had the hots for Lydia for years, but if ever a woman was off-limits to him, it’s her. Aside from being his mentor’s daughter, she’s his best friend’s sister. The ex-wife of a fellow firefighter. But his plan to play it cool until she leaves town again fails, and soon he and Lydia have crossed a line they can’t uncross.

As Aidan and Lydia’s flirtation turns into something more serious, Lydia knows she should be planning her escape. Being a firefighter’s wife was the hardest thing she’s ever done, and she doesn’t know if she has the strength to do it again. Aidan can’t imagine walking away from Boston Fire—even for Lydia. The job and the brotherhood are his life; but if he wants Lydia in it, he’ll have to decide who’s first in his heart.

Rowena: This sounds like a good book and while I haven’t read very many books by Stacey, I’m looking forward to this one.

Holly: Firefiighters by Shannon Stacey? Sign me up.

9. Bounce (Boomerang #3) by Noelle August.

Playing the occasional club gig just isn’t cutting it for twenty-two-year-old cellist Skyler Canby, who’s trying to support herself and her mother back home in Kentucky. Persuaded by her best friend Beth to accompany her on an audition for the first feature film launched by Blackwood Entertainment, she figures why not? Beth’s a shoe-in for the lead, but maybe Skyler’s newly dyed pink hair will help her stand out enough to score a small speaking part.

Never in her wildest dreams does Skyler imagine she’ll land the lead role or that she’ll have her shoes knocked off her feet by the kiss her audition partner, Grey Blackwood, plants on her—a kiss that feels very real and not at all “acted. ”

After throwing a party that causes thousands of dollars of damage to his older brother’s home, reckless musician Grey Blackwood gets roped into working off his debt on the set of his CEO brother’s newest project. Grey spends his days fetching coffee and doing odd jobs around the studio, but he lives for nights when he performs with his band. He knows if he can stay focused, success as a singer is just around the corner. But that’s tough with a distracting pink-haired girl occupying his every waking thought.

Skyler and Grey have every reason to resist each other. But, like a song neither of them can get out of their minds, they have no choice but to go where the music takes them.

Rowena: This is the third book in the Boomerang series and while I didn’t absolutely LOVE the last book in this series, I’m curious about Adam’s brother Grey. I’m down for his book.

10. Running Wild (Sisterhood Diaries #4) by Susan Andersen.

They can’t escape the heat…

Magdalene Deluca isn’t the damsel-in-distress type. But if she has to involve a stranger in a dangerous chase through South America, she’s glad Finn Kavanagh’s the guy she sucked into her problems. Very glad. The man oozes sex and magnetic confidence. And since their connection is steamier than the sultry rain forest, why waste time resisting him?

Finn’s peaceful vacation is blown to bits the second Mags strides into view. For years he’s ignored his family’s pleas to settle down. Now he’s falling hard for a blonde force of nature who’s allergic to commitment. First he has to keep Mags safe as they search for her missing parents. Then they can determine if it’s time to stop running—and take a chance on the wildest thrill he’s ever known…

Rowena: The last book in this series was published in 2011. Holy cow that’s a long time between books. It’s been so long that I don’t remember a thing from the third book, only that I read it. But the summary looks good so I’m in.

11. The Darkest Flame (Roadmap to Your Heart #1) by Christina Lee.

From the author of There You Stand, a new male/male romance about an errant motorcycle recruit and the captivating bartender who sends his wheels spinning down an all too tempting road.

Vaughn O’Keefe has been part owner of the Hog’s Den for years. Privy to plenty of Disciples of the Road business, he’s never been more ruffled as when a new recruit named “Smoke” walks through the door. Something about the man gets his blood pumping, but he knows to keep his preferences under wraps around the club.

“Smoke” Callahan has done a couple of rehab stints and is finally clean, thanks to help from the Disciples. He’s on the right path and isn’t about to get sidetracked, no matter how much the guy who manages the bar gets beneath his skin. Besides, his last relationship with a man left him scared, alone, and with a nightmare of an addiction.

When the Hog’s Den becomes shorthanded, and Smoke is ordered to help out the one man he can’t have, his longing for the bartender reaches blistering proportions. Vaughn figures a night together should be enough to satisfy their mutual attraction. But neither banks on just how scorching hot it might be.

As Smoke’s past unravels and the one person he hopes never to lay eyes on again messes with all he holds sacred, it’s time to involve the Disciples. Problem is, he’ll have to risk his membership, his heart, and his own hide to keep everyone he cares about safe.

Rowena: It’s Christina Lee. Of course I want to read this!

Holly: What Rowena said.

12. Trouble When You Walked In by Kieran Kramer.

She’s a woman of her word.

Cissie Rogers likes to do everything by the book. Literally. The town librarian in Kettle Knob, North Carolina, she’s determined to preserve the future of literature-and the library’s romantic legend-for her patrons. It’s not easy when the mayor himself, Boone Braddock, wants to close the library down. There’s only one way for Cissie to put a stop to him: By running for mayor herself!

Is he a player-or does he mean business?

Boone is Kettle Knob’s favorite son, a champion athlete and stellar football coach with deep local roots. Cissie will need more than a savvy slogan and a pair of three-inch high heels to stand a chance at the polls. But what about the campaign that’s underway in her own heart? What began as professional rivalry has transformed into a simmering attraction that neither contender can ignore. Could it be that the keeper of the town’s card catalog and the legendary football hero are ready to team up…and write their own storybook romance?

Rowena: I’m a sucker for a romance with a librarian heroine and an athletic hero. This sounds like a cute contemporary romance that I can definitely get down with.

13. Joni, Underway by Kelly Oram and Jonathan Harrow.

Nineteen year old Joni Monday is loving life as an adult—living on her own, dealing with grown-up things like jobs, hook-ups, and doing her own laundry. Best of all: after finishing her first year at ASU, she will never again be called a freshman.

But when her brother is suddenly killed in a car accident, Joni’s adult life is turned upside down. Struggling to cope with loss, guilt, and anger—not to mention the meddling of friends and family trying to “fix” her—Joni is relieved to be presented with an escape in the form of a sailing trip her brother had been planning for months before he died.

With her first step onto the sailing vessel Lady Marguerite, Joni plunges into an adventure that will mark the beginning of her real adult life—a journey across the ominous dark blue of the Atlantic Ocean with a small, eccentric crew, and the young Captain Reid, whose gorgeous looks are only outmatched by his talent for care and kindness. Unfolding through the ups and downs of life at sea is an unforgettable story reminding us that love will always be a work-in-progress and coming of age never gets old.

Rowena: I’ve read a couple of Kelly Oram books and enjoyed them and when I read the blurb for this book that she wrote with her husband, I became interested. It sounds like a good one. I’m in.

14. Dare to Rock (Dare to Love #7) by Carly Phillips.

Avery Dare lives a quiet life in Miami as an online fashion/makeup video blogger. She has good friends, a close, large family and if her love life is lacking, she likes it that way. But when she receives an invitation to one of her ex’s concerts along with an invitation to meet him back stage, she decides to take the risk… and comes face to face with the reality of his rock star lifestyle – the press, the crowds, and the half naked groupies.

At eighteen, Grey Kingston left everything he knew and loved behind to seek fame and fortune as a rock star, and he found it as the lead guitarist and singer for the band, Tangled Royal. Fans adore him, women throw themselves at him, and he can afford everything he couldn’t growing up. Yet at the height of his career, he’s ready to walk away and return home to a simpler life… and the woman he left behind, if he can convince her to give him another chance.

Except moving on isn’t as easy as Grey would like. When Avery is threatened by a stalker, it becomes evident Grey’s fans not only don’t want him to retire, they don’t want Avery in his life either. And Avery isn’t sure she wants the pressures that are part of Grey’s life… but she doesn’t want to lose him again, either. Can their recently renewed love survive the fallout?

But Meg’s future is one Scott has accepted he’ll never have, even if his growing feelings say otherwise …

Rowena: I’ve only read one book in this series and liked it but after reading the blurb for this book, I want to read it. I’ve got a thing for rock stars and for the one that got away stories…and some stalking and hero protecting heroine goodness and well, I’m sold.

15. All Wound Up by Jaci Burton.

In the latest Play-by-Play novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Quarterback Draw, a sexy baseball player is done striking out…

Tucker Cassidy is going through a slump—but not on the field. It’s his dating life that’s suffering. After having a painful altercation involving his ex-girlfriend’s knee, Tucker is convinced it couldn’t get worse…until a gorgeous doctor comes to the rescue at his most embarrassing moment.

As the daughter of the owner of the St. Louis Rivers, Dr. Aubry Ross has been around jocks all her life. She knows the ins and outs of all their games, and she isn’t interested in playing.

When Tucker repeatedly lands in the hospital where she’s working, Aubry starts to think he’s getting injured just to see her. Tucker is both funny and sexy, and Aubry is pleasantly surprised to discover he actually respects her job.

When her father disapproves of their relationship, Aubry knows she’d rather lose Tucker than have him lose his job. But Tucker isn’t about to let threats of a trade get in the way of a game-changing love…

Holly: I’m seriously behind with this series. I’ve been stockpiling them and plan to binge-read them at some point in the future.

16. Two Minutes by Dannika Dark.

Paranormal Romance, Book 6 by USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR

After years of living abroad, Maizy returns home to the only family she’s ever known—a pack of wolves. When she confronts her childhood watchdog to see where they stand, his resentment leaves her uncertain about where she really belongs.

Behind Denver’s charming smile is a tragic past—one that’s made his wolf savage and unpredictable. Only Maizy has been able to tame that darkness, and when they’re reunited after many years apart, he no longer sees a child he once protected. She’s captivating and intelligent—a woman with the world at her fingertips and two suitors offering more than he ever could.

Torn between two worlds, Maizy must choose how her fairy tale ends. Tragedy, murder, passion, and imprisonment all collide with a heart-stopping twist.

Destiny will find you.

Cliffhanger-free
HEA

Holly: I picked up the first book in this series when it was free on Amazon and ended up bingeing on the entire series in the course of a couple days. I’m on the fence about this book since the heroine was a child (7 or 8, I think) in the earlier books. I’m not sure enough time has past for me to enjoy a story about her being an adult. I want to read it, but I may have to wait a few more months.

17. Chase the Darkness by J.D. Tyler.

The author of Wolf’s Fall returns with her “hot and to die for”* Alpha Pack—a top-secret band of Navy SEALs with Psy powers and shifter prowess whose dangerous missions sometimes require a more intimate call to duty…

Believed dead by his Pack mates, Micah Chase, a wolf shifter and Dreamwalker, was held captive for months, subject to tortures that left him physically scarred and emotionally unsettled.

Now under the care of the Alpha Pack’s doctors, he’s been prescribed an experimental healing drug, but he still can’t shake the nightmares. Even more damning is that Micah’s problems pose a danger to his team, and if he doesn’t get himself under control, they’ll all suffer a terrible fate.

There is a key to his salvation. Jacee is a beautiful coyote shifter, and though her kind is hated, she’s falling in love with a man whose very future is in her hands. Together they’ll face his personal demons as well as a deadly enemy—and for both of them desire has never come with such risk.

*Dark Faerie Tales

Holly: I’ve read a couple books in this series. Since I’m still into Shifters (perpetually?) I’m adding it to the list.

18. Night’s Surrender by Amanda Ashley.

Aspiring actress Abbey Marie Cordova knows more than most people do about vampires—she was born among them, the only human child in a centuries-old family of the undead, and determined to stay that way. But a chance encounter with dark, mysterious Niccola Desanto rocks her to the core. Nick is a vampire, and he’s the only man who has ever made her feel so beautiful, so cherished, and so passionately desired …
Nick has spent hundreds of years on his own, and the decadent pleasures of the world have lost their appeal. Rumor has it the vampire who made him has regained her humanity—the temptation to find her and demand to know the secret is overwhelming. But one glance at innocently alluring Abbey changes everything. Drawn to her with dangerous, consuming passion, Nick will need more than a lifetime to love her…

Holly: I’m not a huge fan of vampires, but I thought I’d give this one a try. Though I liked it, I didn’t love it.

19. Just Kiss Me by Rachel Gibson.

New York Times bestselling author Rachel Gibson returns with this dazzling love story filled with sizzle, sass, and just a bit of southern charm…

“Hello, Ms. Vivian . . . it’s been a long time.”

And with those words, Vivian Leigh Rochet nearly melted. It’s been years since she last saw Harrison Whitley-Shuler. She was a teenager scrubbing houses for a living. He was the gorgeous son of rich parents, not fit for the likes of her.

Vivian had vowed to get out of Charleston, become a big Hollywood star, and stick it to the snooty girls who made her cry.

She got what she wanted—and more—but why does her glamorous life seem so trivial?

Harrison got out too . . . making it all the way to Wall Street, until a heart attack forced him to trade in his cufflinks for a good set of hand tools.

Making furniture soothes his soul, but escaping the Whitley-Shuler heritage is nearly impossible. And now he’s come face-to-face with the one who got away. He’s not looking for love. He’s not even looking for sex . . . so why is resisting her the hardest thing he’s ever done?

Holly: Rachel Gibson used to be an auto-buy author for me, but somehow she fell off my radar. I didn’t even know she has a release out, and to be completely honest I’m not sure I read her last two or three. It’s clearly time to get back to it.

Rowena: I have read Gibson’s last few releases and I just wasn’t that into them. I’m sure I’ll pick this one up eventually but I’m sad that one of the first authors that I read back when I got into reading hasn’t delivered a story that I have completely loved in a while.

20. Ransom Canyon by Jodi Thomas.

From New York Times bestselling author Jodi Thomas comes the first book in a compelling, emotionally resonant series set in a remote west Texas town—where family can be made by blood or by choice…

Rancher Staten Kirkland, the last descendent of Ransom Canyon’s founding father, is rugged and practical to the last. No one knows that when his troubling memories threaten to overwhelm him, he runs to lovely, reclusive Quinn O’Grady… or that she has her own secret that no one living knows.

Young Lucas Reyes has his eye on the prize—college, and the chance to become something more than a ranch hand’s son. But one night, one wrong decision, will set his life on a course even he hadn’t imagined.

Yancy Grey is running hard from his troubled past. He doesn’t plan to stick around Ransom Canyon, just long enough to learn the town’s weaknesses and how to use them for personal gain. Only Yancy, a common criminal since he was old enough to reach a car’s pedals, isn’t prepared for what he encounters.

In this dramatic new series, the lives, loves and ambitions of four families will converge, set against a landscape that can be as unforgiving as it is beautiful, where passion, property and pride are worth fighting—and even dying—for.

Holly: Thomas does small-town sagas better than anyone. I love how she blends her romance with the every day lives of her characters. I’m excited for this new series.

Rowena: What books are you looking forward to this month? Anything we missed?

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