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 April of 2023.
Lassiter (Black Dagger Brotherhood #21) by JR Ward
Lassiter, the fallen angel, is too good at the savior business. In his new role overseeing the fates of all vampires, he’s influenced outcomes he shouldn’t have- so the Creator is calling him home. But the angel has a reason to stay in Caldwell. He’s bonded with a mysterious female who’s seemed to appear from out of nowhere… and has powers that defy all reason.
Rahvyn is well aware that she doesn’t belong in the present. And she never intended to stay, for her true place is in the past. Lassiter proves to be undeniable, however, and she lets herself fall for the angel- until a secret he’s been keeping comes out and she fears that for him, it’s not about love, but duty.
As the Omega’s son reestablishes the Lessening Society, and the Brotherhood must resume the deadly war- an unfathomable tragedy occurs. In the aftermath, Rahvyn has to decide whether to stay and help- or save herself from an immortal heartbreak she knows will crush her very soul…
Casee: I’m really looking forward to this book & I really hope it’s not a letdown. Fingers crossed.
Football star. Single dad. And once, a long time ago, mine.
I’ve spent the better part of a decade forgetting Ford Ellis. If he had just stayed away from Montana, I might have erased the memory of his striking blue eyes and rugged smile forever. Avoiding him was easy when the only place I saw his face was on ESPN—and a remote control could fix that problem.
Except my boss just hired Ford as the new head coach for the Treasure State Wildcats. Not only will I be stuck watching him on the sidelines this season, but avoiding him will be impossible now that we’re working together.
Maybe I haven’t forgotten Ford. Maybe I still dream about what we might have been. Maybe he hasn’t forgotten me either.
Except those maybes won’t change the fact that we were never meant to be. Maybe he was mine once. But as of today, the only thing I’ll be calling Ford Ellis is Coach.
Casee: I’m not huge on sports romances, but I love Devney Perry so I’m going to give this one a whirl.
Ancient Warrior (Ancients Rising #8) by Katie Reus
The last time she saw him…
Long before The Fall, before the world changed forever, tiger shifter Harlow worked in Black Ops for the safety of all shifters. She excelled at her job, loved everything about it, until the male she loved tried to kill her. So she was forced to kill him first.
She killed him.
Now Aodh is back. And this fierce, dominant dragon shifter won’t stop until he gets answers. But things aren’t what they seem and now he has more than a battle with Harlow on his hands. If they want a chance at a future, they’ll have to take down an ancient enemy who has targeted not only them, but their friends—and it’s going to take uniting all their skills to survive.
Casee: I adore this dystopian dragon/shifter series. I can’t wait for Harlow’s book!
The Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune
In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots–fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe.
The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio-a past spent hunting humans.
When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.
Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?
Holly: I’ve only read one other book by Klune, but I really enjoyed it and the premise of this one intrigues me.
The Study of Poisons (The Chronicles of Ixia #1) by Maria V. Snyder
Fierce, determined, dangerous. No wonder her soul called to his.
As Chief of Security of Ixia, Valek has spent the last fifteen years keeping Commander Ambrose and his citizens safe. With his complex network of spies, informers, and soldiers, it’s his job to hunt down and capture criminals, including the intriguing Yelena.
Sensing there is more to the story of why she killed a general’s son, Valek arranges for Yelena to become the Commander’s new food taster, training her in the delicate art of detecting poisons. As mysteries and a devious plot to harm the Commander unravel, Yelena’s presence becomes crucial. Will her intelligence, stubbornness, and survivor instincts be a help to Valek’s investigation, or a hinderance?
A companion novel to Poison Study, The Study of Poisons reveals Valek’s side of the story. Return to the world of Ixia and discover just how the lovely Yelena got Valek’s cold heart pumping!
Holly: Okay, I don’t know how I feel about this book. Valek has long been a favorite of mine, and I’m ridiculously excited to get his POV. But it’s been years since I read this series, so….maybe I need to do a reread first?
Between Us by Mhairi McFarlane
When Joe and Roisin join their group of friends for a weekend at a country house, it’s a triple celebration – a birthday, an engagement and the launch of Joe’s shiny new crime drama on TV.
For Roisin, it’s a chance to connect with the group of friends she made a decade before, working at Waterstones. But for Joe, it’s a distraction as his writing career soars.
As the weekend unfolds, tensions are revealed between the group and Roisin’s sense of foreboding about her own relationship grows.
And when the friends watch the first episode of Joe’s drama, she realises that the secrets she told him are right there on the screen.
But is that all he’s used? What if the fictional hero’s infidelity also isn’t fictional after all?
Holly: I pretty much know what to expect from this author and I expect this will be a good read.
Not much on the April TBR, but two of the books are my most highly anticipated books of the year, plus there’s a new Cate C. Wells that I knew nothing about until a few days ago—so April is shaping up to be a great reading month!
WHEN WE FELL (April 6) by Elizabeth O’Roark is a second-chance “forbidden” romance between a woman and her ex-boyfriend’s best friend. I liked O’Roark’s Devil series and this one looks to be equally angsty.
Since January, I’ve been squeeing like a fan-girl over KD Casey’s m/m baseball romances, and Casey’s DIAMOND RING (April 11) is my most anticipated book of 2023 so far. DIAMOND RING, the third in Casey’s Unwritten Rules series, is a second-chance romance between two players who blame each other for a bad pitch/bad catch that cost their team the World Series ten years ago.
HERO WORSHIP (April 11) by Amelia Wilde appears to be a “next generation” book about the now-adult children of characters from an earlier Wilde series where characters & storylines were loosely inspired by Greek mythology. The MCs of HERO WORSHIP are cousins—but the hero was adopted later in life, so they’re not technically related and didn’t grow up together; still, I’ll be interested to see how Wilde handles that aspect of the storyline.
REBEL AT HEART (April 23) by Zoe York is, after DIAMOND RING, my second-most anticipated book of 2023. It’s the fifth and final installment of York’s Kinkaid Brothers series and features one of my favorite (and, in my opinion, most underutilized) tropes: a couple, long divorced, discover their divorce was never finalized and “Ooops, we’re still married!” Is the spark still there? You know it!
Although A. Zavarelli wrote one of my all-time angsty & melancholy favorites, TAP LEFT, the rest of her output has been hit-or-miss for me (she can get extremely dark). However, CONTEMPT (April 25), the third book in her Sin City Salvation series of rock star romances, has an interesting concept: a rock star encounters the woman he loved years ago and thought was dead; apparently, she faked her own death—but why? Anyway, the plot seems intriguing enough for me to give CONTEMPT a try.
A new Cate C. Wells is always cause for celebration: HIS CURVY REJECTED MATE (April 27) is the fourth book in Wells’s Five Packs series, and the title seems fairly self-explanatory. Wells always brings an interesting & feminist take to her shifter romances, and I’m looking forward to how she will incorporate that into her latest.
KING OF PRIDE (April 27) is the second book in Ana Huang’s Kings of Sin series of New Adult romances. This one includes the opposites-attract trope. I usually don’t care much for N/A, but Huang’s books feature MCs (especially heroines) who are just that little bit older, often with more life experience, than most MCs of N/A.
I, too, was excited when I heard about The Study of Poisons, Holly. And, yes, perhaps a reread of Poison Study might be in order!
@DDD: a new Cate C. Wells book is definitely worth celebrating!