It's Raining New Releases

This is no joke. There is a bounty of new books coming to bookstores near you this month. Here's a look at just a few to be on the lookout for. What is on your radar for this month?

Books to Enjoy as Spring Approaches

by Donna Huber

Spring is just around the corner. Here is the south my yard is already green and turning a bit wild so I'll be spending my weekends with yard work and airing out the house. Then we lose an hour next weekend as we change to Daylight Savings Time. With all the new releases this month I need all the hours I can get for reading. But I guess the good news is that these books can be a reward for all that spring cleaning and yard work.

New Releases: February 2018

Winter might be hanging on a bit longer so there will be plenty of time to snuggle up with a good book. I have my fingers crossed for at least one more snow day before winter turns to spring. There are plenty of books coming out this month that would great for curling up on the couch for the day.


Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. Covers and descriptions are from Goodreads.com.

Spirits, Diamonds, and a Drive-thru Daiquiri Stand by Deanne Chase
Pyper and Julius are getting married. There’s a wedding to plan, dresses to order, and daiquiris to consume. But when Pyper’s younger brother starts dating a young woman who looks remarkably like the new ghost haunting her café, suddenly the plans are on hold until Pyper can unravel a curse that threatens to not only ruin her big day, but her brother, too.

Available February 4
Buy Spirits, Diamonds, and a Drive-thru Daiquiri Stand at Amazon

Speak: The Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson, Emily Carroll (Illustrator)

The critically acclaimed, award-winning, modern classic Speak is now a stunning graphic novel.

"Speak up for yourself-we want to know what you have to say." From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless--an outcast--because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. Through her work on an art project, she is finally able to face what really happened that night: She was raped by an upperclassman, a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. With powerful illustrations by Emily Carroll Speak: The Graphic Novel comes alive for new audiences and fans of the classic novel.

Available February 6
Buy Speak: The Graphic Novel at Amazon

The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
oy has always been relegated to the outskirts of his small village. With a large hump on his back, a mysterious past, and a tendency to talk to animals, he is often mocked and abused by the other kids in his town. Until the arrival of a shadowy pilgrim named Secondus. Impressed with Boy’s climbing and jumping abilities, Secondus engages Boy as his servant, pulling him into an expedition across Europe to gather the seven precious relics of Saint Peter. Boy quickly realizes this journey is not an innocent one. They are stealing the relics, and gaining dangerous enemies in the process. But Boy is determined to see this pilgrimage through until the end—for what if St. Peter can make Boy’s hump go away?

This compelling, action-packed tale is full of bravery and daring, stars a terrific cast of secondary characters, and features an unlikely multigenerational friendship at its heart. Memorable and haunting, Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s epic medieval adventure is just right for readers of Sara Pennypacker’s Pax, Adam Gidwitz’s The Inquisitor’s Tale, and Pam Muñoz Ryan’s Echo.

Features a map and black-and-white art throughout.

Available February 6
Buy The Book of Boy at Amazon

Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella
After being together for ten years, Sylvie and Dan have all the trimmings of a happy life and marriage; they have a comfortable home, fulfilling jobs, beautiful twin girls, and communicate so seamlessly, they finish each other's sentences. However, a trip to the doctor projects they will live another 68 years together and panic sets in. They never expected "until death do us part" to mean seven decades.

In the name of marriage survival, they quickly concoct a plan to keep their relationship fresh and exciting: they will create little surprises for each other so that their (extended) years together will never become boring. But in their pursuit to execute Project Surprise Me, mishaps arise and secrets are uncovered that start to threaten the very foundation of their unshakable bond. When a scandal from the past is revealed that question some important untold truths, they begin to wonder if they ever really knew each other after all.

Available February 13
Buy Surprise Me at Amazon

Fallen Five by Erica Spindler
Descended from an ancient race, Earth’s few remaining Lightkeepers battle the forces of darkness that threaten humanity...

Detectives Micki Dare and Zach Harris are called in to investigate when a millionaire developer leaps from atop his luxury hotel on the night of its grand opening.

After Micki receives a mysterious package from her long-dead mentor, and Zach suspects something supernatural working against them, they realize this is no ordinary case. A dark force is once again threatening the Big Easy.

Aspects of this case prove eerily similar to an unsolved murder from years before, making the stakes dangerously personal for Micki. This time it’s her life on the line.

It will take the ingenuity and special skills of their misfit band of light beings and humans to bring this perpetrator down...but can they do it before they lose one of their own?

Available February 13
Buy Fallen Five at Amazon

Sunburn by Laura Lippman
One is playing a long game. But which one?

They meet at a local tavern in the small town of Belleville, Delaware. Polly is set on heading west. Adam says he’s also passing through.

Yet she stays and he stays—drawn to this mysterious redhead whose quiet stillness both unnerves and excites him. Over the course of a punishing summer, Polly and Adam abandon themselves to a steamy, inexorable affair. Still, each holds something back from the other—dangerous, even lethal, secrets that begin to accumulate as autumn approaches, feeding the growing doubts they conceal.

Then someone dies. Was it an accident, or part of a plan? By now, Adam and Polly are so ensnared in each other’s lives and lies that neither one knows how to get away—or even if they want to. Is their love strong enough to withstand the truth, or will it ultimately destroy them?

Something—or someone—has to give.

Which one will it be?

Available February 20
Buy Sunburn at Amazon

Agent in Place (Gray Man #7) by Mark Greaney
Court Gentry is back in action. This time he's working on behalf of a well-connected group of Syrian expats to secure the Syrian president's mistress so they can use her to bring down the president's regime. But the expats' plan goes awry when it's discovered the mistress has a baby--the Syrian president's only male heir--hidden away in a Damascus safe house.

Court goes after the baby, a decision that comes at the price of the mistress's life. The expat organization deems the boy now useless to their cause and refuses to protect him against the Syrian first lady and the notorious Swiss assassin in her employ. With no support on the way, Court realizes he'll have to take down the Syrian president himself if he and the boy are going to make it out alive.

Available February 20
Buy Agent in Place at Amazon

The Tuscan Child by Rhys Bowen
From New York Times bestselling author Rhys Bowen comes a haunting novel about a woman who braves her father’s hidden past to discover his secrets…

In 1944, British bomber pilot Hugo Langley parachuted from his stricken plane into the verdant fields of German-occupied Tuscany. Badly wounded, he found refuge in a ruined monastery and in the arms of Sofia Bartoli. But the love that kindled between them was shaken by an irreversible betrayal.

Nearly thirty years later, Hugo’s estranged daughter, Joanna, has returned home to the English countryside to arrange her father’s funeral. Among his personal effects is an unopened letter addressed to Sofia. In it is a startling revelation.

Still dealing with the emotional wounds of her own personal trauma, Joanna embarks on a healing journey to Tuscany to understand her father’s history—and maybe come to understand herself as well. Joanna soon discovers that some would prefer the past be left undisturbed, but she has come too far to let go of her father’s secrets now.

Available February 20
Buy The Tuscan Child at Amazon

The Tangled Lands by Paolo Bacigalupi, Tobias S. Buckell
From award-winning and New York Times bestselling authors Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias Buckell comes a fantasy novel told in four parts about a land crippled by the use of magic, and a tyrant who is trying to rebuild an empire—unless the people find a way to resist.

Khaim, The Blue City, is the last remaining city in a crumbled empire that overly relied upon magic until it became toxic. It is run by a tyrant known as The Jolly Mayor and his devious right hand, the last archmage in the world. Together they try to collect all the magic for themselves so they can control the citizens of the city. But when their decadence reaches new heights and begins to destroy the environment, the people stage an uprising to stop them.

In four interrelated parts, The Tangled Lands is an evocative and epic story of resistance and heroic sacrifice in the twisted remains surrounding the last great city of Khaim. Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias Buckell have created a fantasy for our times about a decadent and rotting empire facing environmental collapse from within—and yet hope emerges from unlikely places with women warriors and alchemical solutions.

Available February 27
Buy The Tangled Lands at Amazon



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First New Releases of 2018

by Donna Huber

Happy New Year! It's a new month of a new year, which means that new books are hitting the shelves. 2017 had a number of blockbusters and I can't wait to see what 2018 has to hold. Here are a few books to watch for this month. Pre-order today so you don't miss them.

New Books for December 2017

by Donna Huber

Here we are, the last month of 2017. There have been some truly great books this year. I would love to hear what your favorite reads on 2017 are. If you are trying to fit in another new release or two before the year-end, there are a few books coming out this month from popular authors.

Plenty of Reading Options This Month

by Donna Huber

Another month full of great new releases? The flood of new releases that started last month is continuing through November. Here's a few to keep an eye out for.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. Covers and descriptions from Goodreads.com.

Tank (SEAL Team Alpha #4) by Zoe Dawson

US Navy SEAL Thorn "Tank" Hunt has been there done that, but when he loses his best friend and military working dog Echo, he’s heartbroken, but he has to pick up the pieces and get another partner. He met tough as nails and way too confident for her britches, Army Reserve veterinarian, Dr. Alyssa St. James through his baby brother and her fundraising efforts on behalf of MWDs. The undeniably beautiful, but contrary woman takes on the mission to teach Tank some new tricks and in the process, discover that maybe every once and a while he could roll over and let someone else take the lead.

Doc, as Alyssa is affectionately known at her practice, has had to deal with plenty of macho assholes in her years as a reservist, but although Tank looks like one of them guys, he’s anything but. A big man with a big heart tears down her walls and barriers, except, getting involved with a military man like her jerky ex-husband seems counter-intuitive. The distance and the separation devastated their marriage. Determined to stay in control, she's compelled to help him when he is introduced to Blade, a beautiful Belgian Malinois to replace the one lost in battle. Just as much a warrior as the man she is finding irresistible. But as their relationship progresses and Tank works himself deeper into her heart, can they take the hardships of serving their country in stride and make it work?

Available November 1
Buy Tank at Amazon


Longing for His Kiss (Serpent's Kiss #2) by Sherri Hayes

Eight months ago, two uniformed men showed up at Grace Martin’s door and told her that her husband wasn’t coming home. She’s tried to move on, but nothing will make that ache in her chest go away. Kurt wasn’t only her husband. He was also her Master. With him gone a part of her is missing and she has no idea how, or even if, she can repair the hole that has been left.

A lot has changed in the last eight months for Alexander Greco. He was injured, spent six months in a VA hospital recovering, was discharged from the Army after ten years of service, and then moved himself halfway across the country to find his friend’s widow. He has a letter to deliver to Grace—her husband’s final goodbye.

Little does either of them know the letter contains something that will change both their lives.

Available November 2
Buy Longing for His Kiss at Amazon


Hooking Up by Helena Hunting

Amalie Whitfield is the picture of a blushing bride during her wedding reception–but for all the wrong reasons. Instead of proclaiming his undying love, her husband can be heard, by Amalie and their guests, getting off with someone else. She has every reason to freak out, and in a moment of insanity, she throws herself at the first hot-blooded male she sees. But he’s not interested in becoming her revenge screw.

Mortified and desperate to escape the post-wedding drama, Amalie decides to go on her honeymoon alone, only to find the man who rejected her also heading to the same tiny island for work. But this time he isn’t holding back. She should know better than to sleep with someone she knows, but she can’t seem to resist him.

They might agree that what happens on the island should stay on the island, but neither one can deny that their attraction is more than just physical.

Filled with hilariously scandalous situations and enough sexual chemistry to power an airplane from New York City to the South Pacific, Hooking Up is the next standalone, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy from Helena Hunting, the New York Times bestselling author of the Pucked series and Shacking Up.

Available November 7
Buy Hooking Up at Amazon


Written in Blood by Layton Green

Detective Joe "Preach" Everson, a prison chaplain turned police officer, is coming home. After a decade tracking down killers in Atlanta, and with a reputation as one of the finest homicide detectives in the city, his career derailed when he suffered a mental breakdown during the investigation of a serial killer who was targeting children.

No sooner does Preach arrive at home in Creekville, North Carolina--a bohemian community near Chapel Hill--than a local bookstore owner is brutally killed, the first murder in a decade. The only officer with homicide experience, Preach is assigned to the case and makes a shocking discovery: the bookstore owner has been murdered in exactly the same manner as the pawnbroker in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment.

With the help of Ariana Hale, a law student and bibliophile who knew the victim, Preach investigates the local writer's community. As their questions increase, a second body is found, this time eerily resembling the crime scene in a famous Edgar Allan Poe novella. Preach and Ariana realize that their adversary is an intelligent, literate killer with a mind as devious as it is disturbed--and one or both of them may be his next target.

Available November 7
Buy Written in Blood at Amazon


End Game (Will Robie #5) by David Baldacci

Will Robie and Jessica Reel are two of the most lethal people alive. They're the ones the government calls in when the utmost secrecy is required to take out those who plot violence and mass destruction against the United States. And through every mission, one man has always had their backs: their handler, code-named Blue Man.

But now, Blue Man is missing.

Last seen in rural Colorado, Blue Man had taken a rare vacation to go fly fishing in his hometown when he disappeared off the grid. With no communications since, the team can't help but fear the worst.

Sent to investigate, Robie and Reel arrive in the small town of Grand to discover that it has its own share of problems. A stagnant local economy and a woefully understaffed police force have made this small community a magnet for crime, drugs, and a growing number of militant fringe groups.

But lying in wait in Grand is an even more insidious and sweeping threat, one that may shake the very foundations of America. And when Robie and Reel find themselves up against an adversary with superior firepower and a home-court advantage, they'll be lucky if they make it out alive, with or without Blue Man.

Available November 14
Buy End Games at Amazon


Fragments of the Lost by Megan Miranda

Jessa Whitworth knew she didn't belong in her ex-boyfriend Caleb's room. But she couldn't deny that she was everywhere--in his photos, his neatly folded T-shirts, even the butterfly necklace in his jeans pocket . . . the one she gave him for safe keeping on that day.

His mother asked her to pack up his things--even though she blames Jessa for his accident. How could she say no? And maybe, just maybe, it will help her work through the guilt she feels about their final moments together.

But as Jessa begins to box up the pieces of Caleb's life, they trigger memories that make Jessa realize their past relationship may not be exactly as she remembered. And she starts to question whether she really knew Caleb at all.

Each fragment of his life reveals a new clue that propels Jessa to search for the truth about Caleb's accident. What really happened on the storm-swept bridge?

Available November 14
Buy Fragments of the Lost at Amazon


Perennials by Julie Cantrell

When two estranged sisters reunite for their parents’ 50th anniversary, a family tragedy brings unexpected lessons of hope and healing amid the flowers of their mother’s perennial garden.

Eva—known to all as Lovey—grew up in Oxford, MS, surrounded by literary history and her mother's stunning perennial gardens. But a garden shed fire and the burns suffered by one of her best friends seemed to change everything. Her older sister Bitsy blamed her for the fire—and no one spoke up on her behalf. Bitsy the cheerleader, Bitsy the homecoming queen, Bitsy married to a wealthy investor. And all the while, Lovey blamed for everything that goes wrong.

At eighteen, Lovey turns down a marriage proposal, flees from Oxford and the expectations of attending Ole Miss, and instead goes to Arizona—the farthest thing from the South she can imagine. She becomes a successful advertising executive, a weekend yoga instructor, and seems to have it all together. But she's alone. And on her 45th birthday, she can't help but wonder what's wrong.

When she gets a call from her father—still known to everyone as Chief from his Ole Miss football days—insisting that she come home three weeks early for her parents' 50th wedding anniversary celebration, she's at wits end. She's about to close the biggest contract of her career, the one that will secure her financial goals and set her up for retirement. But his words, "Family First," hit too close to home. Is there hope for her estranged relationship with Bitsy after all this time?

Eva's journey home, to the memory garden her father has planned as an anniversary surprise for her mother, becomes one of discovering roots, and truth, and love, and what living perennially in spite of disappointments and tragedy really means. Eva thought she wanted to leave her family and the South far behind . . . but she's realizing she hasn't truly been herself the whole time she's been gone.

Available November 14
Buy Perennials at Amazon


Hardcore Twenty-Four (Stephanie Plum #24) by Janet Evanovich

This Jersey girl hits hard—twenty-four seven. The blockbuster Stephanie Plum series continues with Hardcore Twenty-Four from #1 New York Times bestselling Janet Evanovich.

Available November 14
Buy Hardcore Twenty-Four at Amazon


Sweet Little Memories (Sweet #3) by Abbi Glines

Book #3 in the Sweet Little Series. Trusting again and facing the lies that had surrounded her entire life, Beulah is ready to move on. Love and enjoy the man she’s found happiness with. When the past comes back yet again with one last skeleton in the closet.

Available November 16
Buy Sweet Little Memories at Amazon


The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories by Charlaine Harris 

For the first time together in one volume, here is the complete short story collection starring Louisiana's favorite telepathic waitress, Sookie Stackhouse--from #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris. New fans can fill in the gaps in their Sookie lore while old friends can revisit some of their favorite moments and characters. From investigating the murder of a local fairy to learning that her cousin was a vampire, from remodeling her best friend's house to attending a wedding with her shapeshifting boss, Sam, Sookie navigates the perils and pitfalls of the paranormal world.

Belly up to the bar at Bon Temps's favorite watering hole and hear stories that will make you wish Sookie never left, including...

"Fairy Dust"
"One Word Answer"
"Dracula Night"
"Lucky"
"Gift Wrap"
"Two Blondes"
"If I Had a Hammer"
"Small-Town Wedding"
"Playing Possum"
"In the Blue Hereafter"

This definitive collection is the perfect binge read for people who like their stories with bite!

Available November 21
Buy The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories at Amazon


The Brightest Embers (Broken Destiny #3) by Jeaniene Frost

You can run from your destiny, but you can't hide

Ivy thought that she and Adrian had conquered their fates. Yet with thousands of innocents still trapped in the demon realms, she's determined to locate the final hallowed weapon and harness its unparalleled power to free them. But the last relic nearly put Ivy in the grave—there's probably no coming back from this one.

Adrian's dark lineage has made him the most powerful of his kind, yet even his incredible abilities might not be enough now. Instead, the treacherous fate he has fought so hard to escape might be the only way he can save Ivy. Their scintillating bond has been tested before, but never with so much on the line. Now fate will come head-to-head against true love, and nothing they've endured can prepare Ivy and Adrian for the unthinkable choices they'll face.

Available November 28
Buy The Brightest Embers at Amazon



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Plenty of New Books are Arriving This Month

With school back in full swing and cooler weather arriving, are you finding more time for reading? There are so many great new books coming out this month. What are you looking forward to reading this month?

New Books for August 2017

We've already featured several books that were among the first new releases of August. Be sure to check out our reviews for those books and then see below more great titles that'll hit the shelves this month.

An Explosion of New Books Coming Out in July

Have you already read through your summer reading pile? Never fear, July is filled with great new releases from some of the most popular authors. What books are you looking forward to?

Amazon affiliate links are used in this post. Covers and descriptions are from Goodreads.com

The Reason You're Alive by Matthew Quick

The New York Times-bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook offers a timely novel featuring his most fascinating character yet, a Vietnam vet embarking on a quixotic crusade to track down his nemesis from the war.

After sixty-eight-year-old David Granger crashes his BMW, medical tests reveal a brain tumor that he readily attributes to his wartime Agent Orange exposure. He wakes up from surgery repeating a name no one in his civilian life has ever heard—that of a Native American soldier whom he was once ordered to discipline. David decides to return something precious he long ago stole from the man he now calls Clayton Fire Bear. It might be the only way to find closure in a world increasingly at odds with the one he served to protect. It might also help him finally recover from his wife’s untimely demise.

As David confronts his past to salvage his present, a poignant portrait emerges: that of an opinionated and goodhearted American patriot fighting like hell to stay true to his red, white, and blue heart, even as the country he loves rapidly changes in ways he doesn’t always like or understand. Hanging in the balance are Granger’s distant art-dealing son, Hank; his adoring seven-year-old granddaughter, Ella; and his best friend, Sue, a Vietnamese-American who respects David’s fearless sincerity.

Through the controversial, wrenching, and wildly honest David Granger, Matthew Quick offers a no-nonsense but ultimately hopeful view of America’s polarized psyche. By turns irascible and hilarious, insightful and inconvenient, David is a complex, wounded, honorable, and loving man. The Reason You’re Alive examines how the secrets and debts we carry from our past define us; it also challenges us to look beyond our own prejudices and search for the good in us all.

Available July 4
Buy The Reason You're Alive at Amazon

Harrison's Heart by Dale Mayer

Welcome to Harrison’s Heart, book 7 in Heroes for Hire, reconnecting readers with the unforgettable men from SEALs of Honor in a new series of action-packed, page turning romantic suspense that fans have come to expect from USA TODAY Bestselling author Dale Mayer.

When a call for help comes from Ice’s father, Harrison steps up. A senator has been shot, his wife beaten and his kids are in the wind. It’s up to Harrison to find the answers everyone is looking for.

Including finding the senator’s ex-military and pissed at the world daughter. Only she doesn’t want anything to do with him.

Zoe is on a mission. There’s no room in her world for heroes – especially not Harrison. But he won’t take no for an answer. Only Zoe has angered the wrong people, and they won’t stop until they put an end to her meddling or better yet – to her.

With so much going on, Harrison struggles to pull the pieces together – before their world is completely blown apart – permanently.

Available July 11
Buy Harrison's Heart at Amazon

Last Breath by Karin Slaughter

The fantastic prequel to The Good Daughter, the stunning new standalone from the No. 1 bestselling author of the Will Trent and Grant County series.

Protecting someone always comes at a cost.

At the age of thirteen, Charlie Quinn’s childhood came to an abrupt and devastating end. Two men, with a grudge against her lawyer father, broke into her home – and after that shocking night, Charlie's world was never the same.

Now a lawyer herself, Charlie has made it her mission to defend those with no one else to turn to. So when Flora Faulkner, a motherless teen, begs for help, Charlie is reminded of her own past, and is powerless to say no.

But honour-student Flora is in far deeper trouble than Charlie could ever have anticipated. Soon she must ask herself: How far should she go to protect her client? And can she truly believe everything she is being told?

Available July 11
Buy Last Breath at Amazon

I Need a Lifeguard Everywhere But the Pool by Lisa Scottoline

The bestselling and “perennially hilarious” mother-daughter team is back with a new collection of stories from their real lives, guaranteed to make you laugh out loud. Join Lisa and Francesca as they regret drunk-shopping online, try smell-dating, and explore the freedom of a hiatus from men - a Guyatus. They offer a fresh and funny take on the triumphs and facepalm moments of modern life, showing that when it comes to navigating the crazy world we live in, you’re always your own best lifeguard.

Available July 11
Buy I Need a Lifeguard Everywhere But the Pool at Amazon

Because of Lila by Abbi Glines

Prim, proper, classic good girl, and her least favorite label - icy.

Lila Kate Carter has heard them all. The last one, being the newest. She is not icy. She just doesn’t care for Cruz Kerrington and his spoiled, selfish, careless ways. That doesn’t make her icy, that makes him a jerk!

Tired of being labeled and doing what is expected of her, Lila Kate leaves Rosemary Beach, Florida ready for an adventure. Wanting to recreate herself, find a new path, and become something more.

Eli Hardy is tired of women who always act the same, do the same thing and expect the same thing. He's ready to swear off women until he can get the rest of his life together.

Two weeks into his no-women-rule he meets Lila. She’s so damn sweet and polite. Like she walked right out of an etiquette book. But he’d already been drunk before she walked in so there was a good chance she might not be as stunning and perfect as he thinks. He’s just too drunk to worry about that.

The next morning, he swears he can still smell her on his skin. He just can’t remember why or what happened after that third dance.

Their worlds are about to collide, and so are the secrets and lies.

Available July 11
Buy Because of Lila at Amazon

Two Nights by Kathy Reichs

Meet Sunday Night, a woman with physical and psychological scars, and a killer instinct...

Sunnie has spent years running from her past, burying secrets and building a life in which she needs no one and feels nothing. But a girl has gone missing, lost in the chaos of a bomb explosion, and the family needs Sunnie's help.

Is the girl dead? Did someone take her? If she is out there, why doesn't she want to be found? It's time for Sunnie to face her own demons because they just might lead her to the truth about what really happened all those years ago.

Available July 11
Buy Two Nights at Amazon

The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter

The stunning new standalone, with a chilling edge of psychological suspense, from the No. 1 bestselling author of the Will Trent and Grant County series.

Twenty-eight years ago, Charlotte and Samantha Quinn's happy smalltown family life was torn apart by a terrifying attack on their family home. It left their mother dead. It left their father – Pikeville's notorious defence attorney – devastated. And it left the family fractured beyond repair, consumed by secrets from that terrible night.

Twenty-eight years later, and Charlie has followed in her father's footsteps to become a lawyer herself – the archetypal good daughter. But when violence comes to Pikeville again – and a shocking tragedy leaves the whole town traumatised – Charlie is plunged into a nightmare. Not only is she the first witness on the scene, but it's a case which can't help triggering the terrible memories she's spent so long trying to suppress. Because the shocking truth about the crime which destroyed her family nearly thirty years ago won't stay buried for ever …

Available July 13
Buy The Good Daughter at Amazon

The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley

An astonishing historical novel set in the shadowy, magical forests of South America, which draws on the captivating world of the international bestseller The Watchmaker of Filigree Street.

Deep in uncharted Peru, the holy town of Bedlam stands at the edge of a forest. The shrine statues move, and anyone who crosses the border dies. But somewhere inside are cinchona trees, whose bark yields quinine: the only known treatment for malaria.

On the other side of the Pacific, it is 1859 and India is ravaged by the disease. The hunt for a reliable source of quinine is critical and in its desperation, the India Office searches out its last qualified expeditionary. Struggling with a terrible injury from his last mission and the strange occurrences at his family's ruined estate, Merrick Tremayne finds himself under orders to bring back cinchona cuttings at any cost and dispatched, against his own better judgement, to Bedlam.

There he meets Raphael, a priest around whom the villagers spin unsettlingly familiar stories of impossible disappearances and living stone. Gradually, he realises that Raphael is the key to a legacy left by two generations of Tremayne explorers before him, one which will prove more dangerous and valuable than the India Office could ever have imagined.

Available July 13
Buy The Bedlam Stacks at Amazon

Seeds of Malice by Dale Mayer

Charged with murder. Betrayed by her lover. Shunned by her friends.

After being acquitted of the murder, botanist Fern Geller runs from her past to learn everything she can about poisonous plants. She ends up doing a six month contract at the Garden of Death before finding the answer she’s seeking...

When she returns to the same conservatory where she’d worked before, the new boss is missing and several other men are dead. Once again, all eyes turn her way.

FBI agent, London Behring hadn’t expected Fern to look like she does now. Ethereal. Gorgeous. Gentle. Why and how had she been a murder suspect? Even more intriguing, how had she been acquitted of all charges? And more mysteriously, she’d come back to the scene of the crime… at the perfect time to fall under suspicion – again.

What magic did she possess to walk away from such crimes? And how can he stay free of her charms… a lure he’s finding impossible to resist.

Available July 18
Buy Seeds of Malice at Amazon

Collared by David Rosenfelt

Lawyer Andy Carpenter's true passion is the Tara Foundation, the dog rescue organization he runs with his friend Willie Miller. All kinds of dogs make their way to the foundation, and it isn't that surprising to find a dog abandoned at the shelter one morning, though it was accompanied by a mysterious anonymous note. But they are quite surprised when they scan the dog's embedded chip, and discover that they know this dog. He is the -DNA dog.-

Two and a half years ago, Jill Hickman was a single mother of an adopted baby. Her baby and dog were kidnapped in broad daylight in Eastside Park, and they haven't been seen since. A tip came in that ID'd a former boyfriend of Hickman's, Keith Wachtel, as the kidnapper. A search of his house showed no sign of the child but did uncover more incriminating evidence, and the clincher that generated Wachtel's arrest was some dog hair, notable since Wachtel did not have a dog. DNA tests showed conclusively that the hair belonged to Hickman's dog. Wachtel was convicted of kidnapping, but the dog and baby were never found.

Now, with the reappearance of the dog, the case is brought back to light, and the search for the child renewed. Goaded by his wife's desire to help a friend and fellow mother and Andy's desire to make sure the real kidnapper is in jail, Andy and his team enter the case. But what they start to uncover is far more complicated and dangerous than they ever expected.

Available July 18
Buy Collared at Amazon

Vanguard by Ann Aguirre

The Razorland saga continues. Since the war ended, Tegan has dreamed of an epic journey, so when she has the opportunity to sign on as ship's doctor, she can't wait. It's past time to chart her course. Millie Faraday, the kindest girl in the free territories, also yearns to outrun her reputation, and warrior-poet James Morrow would follow Tegan to the ends of the earth.

Their company seems set, but fate brings one more to their number. Tegan will battle incredible odds while aiding Szarok, the Uroch vanguard, who has ventured forth to save his people. Szarok is strange and beautiful, like a flower that blooms only in the dark. She shouldn't allow him close, as such a relationship is both alien and forbidden. But through stormy seas and strange lands, she will become stronger than she ever knew.

Available July 25
Buy Vanguard at Amazon





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What's Popular in Young Adult Fiction?

The kids are home from school and my niece is a huge reader. The books in the picture above are what she bought for her birthday. Because she reads so much it can be hard to keep up with what she's reading. If you have a teen like this in your family, here are 5 of June's most popular young adult titles that they may have already read! ~ Donna

New Releases - June 2017

Armchair Book Expo Wrap-Up Note from Donna:

It has been another successful year for Armchair Book Expo. I thought the topics were a bit more thought-provoking and fresh. If you missed any of them you'll find links below. The Twitter parties were fun and I met some new-to-me bloggers. I really liked the Instagram challenges. It really made me step up my game on my pictures. I wish there was a bit more promotion opportunity for them to encourage people to check them out. Here at Girl Who Reads we are resuming out normal programming with our look at new releases for June.

Armchair Book Expo posts:

Introduction & Best Practices

What Readers Want & Let's Collaborate

Book Diversity & Dining with an Author

Book Recommendations & Giveaway

Check out my Instagram photos.

May was a super busy month with all the great new releases. June slows down just the tiniest bit. You can still expect some big summer blockbuster books this month and into July. There is pleny of books to keep you entertained on your summer vacation. What books are you looking forward to?

Same Beach, Next Year by Dorothea Benton Frank

by Susan Roberts

a lovely novel about love and friendship and keeping marriages happy

Amazon affiliate links are used in this post. An ARC was provided for an honest review.

From the book cover: One enchanted summer, two couples begin a friendship that will last more than twenty years and transform their lives.

May 2017; William Morrow; 9780062390783
ebook, audio, print (384 pages); women's fiction

A chance meeting on the Isle of Palms, one of Charleston’s most stunning barrier islands, brings former sweethearts, Adam Stanley and Eve Landers together again. Their respective spouses, Eliza and Carl, fight sparks of jealousy flaring from their imagined rekindling of old flames. As Adam and Eve get caught up on their lives, their partners strike up a deep friendship—and flirt with an unexpected attraction—of their own.

Year after year, Adam, Eliza, Eve, and Carl eagerly await their reunion at Wild Dunes, a condominium complex at the island’s tip end, where they grow closer with each passing day, building a friendship that will withstand financial catastrophe, family tragedy, and devastating heartbreak. The devotion and love they share will help them weather the vagaries of time and enrich their lives as circumstances change, their children grow up and leave home, and their twilight years approach.

My Review:  I am a real fan of Dot Frank and know that when her new book comes out every spring, it's time for summer and the beach! I have enjoyed all of her books but this is one of my favorites -- but I think that I say that every time I read one of her books.

Eliza and Adam had been happily married for several years and were spending their vacation on the Isle of Palms with their toddler twin sons when Adam sees Eve - his first love from high school. Eve is at the same vacation complex with her husband Carl and their young daughter. They make plans for the two families to meet for drinks and even though they both tell their spouses that they were friends from high school, neither goes into detail about how deep their love for each other was. Sparks fly between Adam and Eve, even though they are both happily married, and it's apparent to Eliza and Carl that they were more than friends years ago. They manage to build a friendship between the four of them and they meet at the same complex at Isle of Palms every year until something happens years later to ruin the friendship and possibly the marriages. Will they be able to overcome the transgression that appeared to happen and become friends again?

This is a lovely novel about love and friendship and keeping marriages happy as people head into their later years. I enjoyed all four of the characters but thought that Eliza was the most real and the best of the four. She grew more as a character and was able to learn to be herself and love who she was as a person and not just as a wife and mother. I also, as always, loved the setting. I love books about the SC Lowcountry - the beach and the sand and the feeling of being there with the characters always makes me enjoy a book even more.

Buy Same Beach, Next Year at Amazon


About the Author:
Dorothea Benton Frank was born and raised on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the Lowcountry Tales Series which includes the books Sullivan's Island and Plantation. Her title's Porch Lights, The Last Original Wife, The Hurricane Sisters, All the Single Ladies, and All Summer Long made the New York Times bestseller lists in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Susan Roberts lives in North Carolina when she isn't traveling.  She and her husband enjoy traveling, gardening and spending time with their family and friends.  She reads almost anything (and the piles of books in her house prove that) but her favorite genres are Southern fiction, women's fiction and thrillers. Susan is a top 1% Goodreads Reviewer. You can connect with Susan on Facebook.

Get even more book news in your inbox by signing up for our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/mHTVL. Girl Who Reads is an Amazon advertising affiliate; a small commission is earned when purchases are made at Amazon using any Amazon links on this site. Thank you for supporting Girl Who Reads.

A Few More May Books You Should Read

by Susan Roberts

This is a continuation of reviews of the wonderful books that I read that are publishing in May. Be sure to read my reviews of early May releases. Amazon affiliate links are used in this post. ARCs were provided for honest reviews.

New Releases for May 2017

by Donna Huber

Summer is coming! And the plethora of new releases this month rivals the blooms of May flowers. The summer months see some of largest rollout of new releases, presumably because people have more time to read as they take vacations and kids are out of school. You will see a number of reviews of new releases this month, but here are some of the new books coming out from authors I've read.


Amazon affiliate links are used in this post.

A four man unit brushes up against Mason and his 'Keepers' unit. Sparks fly from the beginning as not one of the men are looking for romance. But there's no choice - cupid has a soft spot for SEALS and he's lined his sights up on Devlin next. :)

The right place at the right time… or the very wrong place…

As part of a group helping to training Iraq soldiers, Devin is doing additional training on how to use the latest drones. But when a murder is committed on the base and suspicion is thrown on the drone’s designer, he can’t stop himself from helping her. When they return stateside, another employee in the same company is murdered. Once again suspicion falls on the designer. And as tension climbs, Devin wonders who will be next…

Bristol didn’t want to take her latest drone models to Iraq, but she was behind schedule and her bosses were pushing.

Then disaster strikes, and she’s the one everyone blames. She loses her research and her best friend, and now she’s determined to find out who did this… no matter how dangerous it is.

The killer isn’t done. He got what he wanted but there’s more that he needs… and he’ll kill to get it. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time…

Available May 1

Buy SEALS of Honor: Devlin at Amazon

Zeus has punished his son Apollo—god of the sun, music, archery, poetry, and more—by casting him down to earth in the form of a gawky, acne-covered sixteen-year-old mortal named Lester. The only way Apollo can reclaim his rightful place on Mount Olympus is by restoring several Oracles that have gone dark. What is affecting the Oracles, and how can Apollo do anything about them without his powers?

After experiencing a series of dangerous—and frankly, humiliating—trials at Camp Half-Blood, Apollo must now leave the relative safety of the demigod training ground and embark on a hair-raising journey across North America. Fortunately, what he lacks in godly graces he's gaining in new friendships—with heroes who will be very familiar to fans of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus series. Come along for what promises to be a harrowing, hilarious, and haiku-filled ride...

Available May 2

Buy The Dark Prophecy at Amazon

In response to an awful camp orientation video created by the god Apollo, Percy Jackson and other residents of Camp Half-Blood answer such questions as "What is this place?" and "Do I get to keep the T-shirt?" Newbies can check out the section on the Divine Cabins, read up on Magical Landmarks, and consult the chapter of Training Arenas. But Camp Half-Blood Confidential explores much more than just the buildings and grounds. It includes info that can only be learned from those who live there. For instance, campers do not always co-exist in peace and harmony. The camp is not run with superior efficiency. Prophecies do not flow forth with great regularity. Sprinkled throughout are stories from heroes who have called Camp Half-Blood home or just passed through on their way to places unknown. Chiron himself introduces the book with a brief history of training based on his millennia of experience. And, of course, there are divine words of wisdom from the god Apollo himself, because . . . well, because the demigod authors would prefer not to be struck down, thank you very much.

Available May 2

Buy From Percy Jackson at Amazon

When Jyn Erso was five years old, her mother was murdered and her father taken from her to serve the Empire. But despite the loss of her parents she is not completely alone—Saw Gerrera, a man willing to go to any extremes necessary in order to resist Imperial tyranny, takes her in as his own, and gives her not only a home but all the abilities and resources she needs to become a rebel herself.

Jyn dedicates herself to the cause—and the man. But fighting alongside Saw and his people brings with it danger and the question of just how far Jyn is willing to go as one of Saw’s soldiers. When she faces an unthinkable betrayal that shatters her world, Jyn will have to pull the pieces of herself back together and figure out what she truly believes in…and who she can really trust.

Available May 2

Buy Rebel Rising at Amazon

Evie Blackwell's reputation as a top investigator for the Illinois State Police has landed her an appointment to the governor's new Missing Persons Task Force. This elite investigative team is launched with plenty of public fanfare. The governor has made this initiative a high priority, so they will have to produce results--and quickly.

Evie and her new partner, David Marshal, are assigned to a pair of unrelated cases in suburban Chicago, and while both involve persons now missing for several years, the cases couldn't be more different. While Evie opens old wounds in a close-knit neighborhood to find a missing college student, David searches for a private investigator working for a high-powered client.

With a deep conviction that "justice for all" truly matters, Evie and David are unrelenting in their search for the truth. But Evie must also find answers to the questions that lie just beneath the surface in her personal life.

Available May 2

Buy Threads of Suspicion at Amazon

Celebrate American independence with this delightful picture book as you travel to Revolutionary America and meet the amazing Amelia Simmons: mother's helper, baker of delectable cakes, and soon-to-be authoress of the first American cookbook!

Master of the historical fiction picture book Deborah Hopkinson takes us back to late eighteenth-century America and the discombobulated home of Mrs. Bean, mother of six strapping sons, who simply can't manage until Amelia Simmons arrives and puts things in order. And how well she cooks everything from flapjacks to bread pudding to pickled cucumbers! She even invents new recipes using American ingredients like winter squash. Best of all, she can bake, and to honor the brand-new president, George Washington, she presents him with thirteen Independence Cakes one for each colony. "Delicious!" he proclaims. Author's Note and original recipe included!

Available May 9

Buy Independence Cake at Amazon

Memorial Day weekend means that seasonal visitors have descended on the glamorous island of Nantucket. For year-round resident Darcy Cotterill, it means late-night stargazing in the backyard of the beautiful house she grew up in and inherited from her beloved grandmother. It s also Darcy s chance to hit the beach and meet her new summertime neighbors. But the last person the thirty-year-old librarian expects to see staying next door is her ex-husband, Boyz, along with his wife, Autumn, and stepdaughter, Willow.

Darcy must also navigate the highs and lows of a new romantic relationship with local carpenter Nash Forester even as she becomes smitten with handsome vacationer Clive Rush, a musicologist in town to write a book and visit family. And she finds herself pulled into the concerns of Boyz, Autumn, a charming elderly neighbor, and an at-risk teen.

As the season nears its end, Darcy must decide her next move: retreating to the comforts of her steady and secure island life, or risking it all for a chance at true happiness.

Available May 16

Buy Secrets in Summer at Amazon

Welcome to Flynn’s Firecracker, book 5 in Heroes for Hire, reconnecting readers with the unforgettable men from SEALs of Honor in a new series of action packed, page turning romantic suspense that fans have come to expect from USA TODAY Bestselling author Dale Mayer.

Some jobs are more pleasant than others…
Flynn agrees to do a security job for Levi as a trial run for more work. Looking after Anna and her animal shelter is a breeze. Trouble free. Until he leaves…

Having Flynn around was both good and bad. To have the help at the shelter was huge, but they drew sparks just being around each other. She tells herself she’s relieved when he’s gone but when a dead man shows up, she’d do anything to have him back.

Someone is after Flynn… and he doesn’t care who he kills in the process…

Available May 16

Buy Flynn's Firecracker at Amazon

Ruby Scott is months behind on rent and can't seem to land a steady job. She has one chance to turn things around with a big audition. But instead of getting her big break, she gets sick as a dog and completely bombs it in the most humiliating fashion. All thanks to a mysterious, gorgeous guy who kissed--and then coughed on--her at a party the night before.

Luckily, her best friend might have found the perfect opportunity; a job staying at the lavish penthouse apartment of hotel magnate Bancroft Mills while he's out of town, taking care of his exotic pets. But when the newly-evicted Ruby arrives to meet her new employer, it turns out Bane is the same guy who got her sick.

Seeing his role in Ruby's dilemma, Bane offers her a permanent job as his live-in pet sitter until she can get back on her feet. Filled with hilariously awkward encounters and enough sexual tension to heat a New York City block, Shacking Up, from NYT and USA Today bestselling author Helena Hunting, is sure to keep you laughing and swooning all night long.

Available May 30

Buy Shacking Up at Amazon

New this month from Roane Publishing:

It’s not easy, being an unmarried woman in the England of 1814. But Nancy Worth will not marry where there is no love, and every man in her small Sussex village is either too old, too young, or has a face like a fish. Except for the handsome Bartholomew Boult, and he has his own reasons for pursuing her.

When, against all the odds,  Nancy does find love, both her family and his are determined to put a stop to it.  He is gentry, and she a farmer’s daughter. With lies and gossip flying, as well as the unexpected resumption of war, it seems everyone is trying to separate her from Will Carlton.

Even Napoleon Bonaparte.

Available May 8



Are any of your favorite authors publishing books this month? Please share in the comments!


Get even more book news in your inbox by signing up for our newsletter: http://eepurl.com/mHTVL. Girl Who Reads is an Amazon advertising affiliate; a small commission is earned when purchases are made at Amazon using any Amazon links on this site. Thank you for supporting Girl Who Reads.