AAR Shannon Archives — All About Romance

Coming Soon… June 2018

Difficult as it is to believe, we’re heading into June and looking ahead to summer – and it’s time for AAR staffers to take a look at upcoming releases and choose the ones we’re most excited about reading over the next few weeks. Just a reminder that this isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list of what’s coming out next month; it’s just a selection, by the reviewing team, of the titles we’re eager to get our hands on and our noses stuck into! You might have some other ideas, and we’re only too happy to hear what those might be – so please do jump into the comments and let us know if you think we’ve missed something we really MUST read 🙂

Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah MacLean (19 Jun)

A literal bastard persuades a […]

By Caz Owens| 2018-05-14T09:49:44+00:00 May 14th, 2018|Categories: AAR Shannon, Anne Marble, Books with Buzz, Caroline AAR, Caz AAR, Eagerly Awaiting, EmAAR, Lee AAR, Lisa F, Maggie AAR, Maria Rose, Romance reading, Upcoming releases|Tags: coming soon, new releases|12 Comments

Coming Soon… May 2018

When it comes to the books AAR staffers are most looking forward to reading in May, there’s a huge consensus of opinion; we can’t wait to read Lucy Parker’s Making Up, the third in her London Celebrities series, and Someone to Care, book four in Mary Balogh’s series of books about the Westcott family. Ms. Parker is a relatively new author – not only is Making Up the third book in a series, it’s her third published work, while Ms. Balogh is – I hope she won’t mind my saying this – a veteran of the genre with something over one hundred novels, novellas and short stories to her credit.

Other favourite authors appearing on this month’s list – Julie Anne Long with the next of her Hellcat Canyon books, Amanda Quick, Jenny Colgan, Sarah J. Mass and the follow-up to Sandhya Menon’s hugely enjoyable When Dimple Met Rishi, From Twinkle with Love.

By Caz Owens| 2018-04-29T08:27:48+00:00 April 29th, 2018|Categories: AAR Shannon, Caroline AAR, Caz AAR, Eagerly Awaiting, EmAAR, Keira Soleore, Lee AAR, Maggie AAR, Maria Rose, Mary Dube, Romance, Romance reading, Upcoming releases|Tags: coming soon|18 Comments

Coming Soon… March 2018

We are excited about March! There are new releases from Alisha Rai, Simone St. James, Penny Reid, Anna Lee Huber and Patricia Briggs, to name but a few. The AAR staff has picked the contemporary romance, mysteries, thrillers, paranormals, YA, women’s fiction and historicals we are most looking forward to. Here’s hoping our “Coming Soon” choices make your TBR pile grow! (And, as always, let us know any we missed.)

Counting on a Countess by Eva Leigh (27 Mar)

Eva Leigh is a must-read author for me. I loved From Duke Till Dawn , book one in her London Underground series, and given marriage of convenience plotlines are my catnip, this story of the impoverished earl and the lady smuggler promises to be another great read. – […]

By Caz Owens| 2018-02-22T22:54:27+00:00 February 22nd, 2018|Categories: AAR Shannon, Anne Marble, Caz AAR, Dabney AAR, Eagerly Awaiting, EmAAR, Keira Soleore, Lee AAR, Maggie AAR, Maria Rose, Romance, Romance reading|11 Comments

The Best of 2017 – Shannon’s List

2017 has turned out to be a stellar reading year for me. Sure, I’ve read my share of duds, but I’ve also read some truly remarkable novels. In no particular order, here are the ones I’ve loved most.

Keystone by Dannika Dark

I first discovered Ms. Dark’s work back in 2014, and she’s now one of my auto-buy authors. Keystone, the first book in her Crossbreeds series, won my heart completely. It’s the absolute perfect blend of romance, mystery, and magic, set in a super unique world. It’s one of those books I wanted to go on forever.

Buy Now: A/BN/iB/K

By Shannon Dyer| 2017-12-18T22:36:57+00:00 December 19th, 2017|Categories: AAR Shannon, Best of List, Romance reading, Shannon AAR|Tags: Best of 2017|4 Comments

Coming Soon… November 2017

It’s not all that often that there’s a hands-down favourite when it comes to a post like this, but a new book from Loretta Chase is a red-letter day on any romance reader’s calendar and many of us here have put a big red circle around 28th November, which is when her latest release, A Duke in Shining Armor is hitting the shelves and our e-readers. Also coming in November is the next in Mary Balogh’s Westcott series, Someone to Wed, along with Loreth Anne White’s next Angie Pallorino novel and the next instalment – Undercover Attraction – in another favourite series, Katee Robert’s The O’Malleys.

Whatever your preference, there’s a lot to look forward to in November, ready to curl up with on those long, cold winter evenings.

What are you most looking forward to reading in the weeks ahead? Drop by and let us know in the comments.

By Caz Owens| 2017-10-18T21:24:06+00:00 October 16th, 2017|Categories: AAR Shannon, Alexandra AAR, Anne Marble, Books with Buzz, Caz AAR, Dabney AAR, Eagerly Awaiting, EmAAR, Keira Soleore, Lee AAR, Lisa F, Maggie AAR, Maria Rose, Mary Dube, Romance, Romance reading, Upcoming releases|3 Comments

Coming Soon… September 2017

While we AAR staffers have fairly diverse tastes on the whole, there are some books and authors that pull us together for various reason – we like the authors, we like their writing, we like their storytelling – and into genres that sometimes we don’t read very often. This month, the big draws appear to be historicals, with new titles from Sherry Thomas, Katharine Ashe and Juliana Grey all eagerly awaited by many of us.

A Conspiracy in Belgravia by Sherry Thomas (5 Sept)

I was fairly bowled over by A Study in Scarlet Women and am sure this second instalment in the Lady Sherlock series won’t disappoint. Our heroine is approached by the wife of her dearest friend to find the man she loved years before… but there’s bound to be a lot more to it than […]

By Caz Owens| 2017-08-24T23:37:51+00:00 August 25th, 2017|Categories: AAR Shannon, Caz AAR, Dabney AAR, Eagerly Awaiting, EmAAR, Keira Soleore, Kristen D, Lisa F, Maria Rose, Romance, Romance reading, Upcoming releases|Tags: Eagerly Awaiting|7 Comments

The Book Blind Taste Test – Pick a book… any book…

I have always loved libraries, but I admit I had fallen out of the habit of using my local one recently. One of my dear friends is a middle school librarian and she (appropriately) shamed me a bit for it, telling me the best way to make sure libraries stay around and keep their funding is to use them. So, a few months back, I started building weekly trips to my local temple of knowledge into my schedule and added a particular challenge to myself. I would walk directly to the New Releases section and pick up the first book by an author I didn’t recognize.

This has led to some real gems (Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinsborough was one) and some duds (which I will leave out for politeness). I told the AAR Staff about my new project and several of them jumped on board, saying it sounded like a great challenge. So many other staffers joined […]

By Kristen Donnelly| 2017-07-16T13:08:37+00:00 July 14th, 2017|Categories: AAR Shannon, Books, Historicals, Kristen D, Lisa F, Mini reviews, Reading, Romance reading, Shannon AAR|8 Comments

Coming Soon : July 2017

Heading into July, it’s time to take a look at what’s looking good in the next batch of upcoming releases. Staffers have selected a couple of historicals as the most highly anticipated releases of the month, closely followed by the conclusion to Ilona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy series and the latest from Jennifer Probst. We’ve got our normal, fairly eclectic mix of the various sub-genres in our list of what we’re looking forward to next month; are any of these on your Wish List? Or have we missed out on something awesome that you’re just dying to tell us about?

Scandalous Ever After by Theresa Romain (4 July)

I’m a big fan of Theresa Romain’s and despite knowing absolutely nothing about horse racing have thoroughly enjoyed the books in the Romance of the Turf series so far. […]

By Caz Owens| 2017-06-23T18:29:55+00:00 June 23rd, 2017|Categories: AAR Shannon, Caz AAR, Eagerly Awaiting, Keira Soleore, Kristen D, Lisa F, Maggie AAR, Maria Rose, Mary Dube, Romance, Romance reading, Sara AAR, Upcoming releases|Tags: upcoming books|17 Comments

Coming Soon… in June

It’s time to look ahead to see what books we’re most excited about reading in June. As usual, we’ve a wide variety of choices, although it seems there’s a bit of a consensus about our most looked-forward-to new releases, K.J. Charles’ An Unnatural Vice and Sarah MacLean’s The Day of the Duchess. What are YOU looking forward to reading next month?

An Unnatural Vice by K.J. Charles (June 6)

As a big fan of both K.J. Charles and the Victorian Sensation Fiction which has inspired this series, I can’t wait to read this story of the battle of wits between a former-lawyer-turned-journalist and the man he suspects of being a sham spiritualist. The author’s ability to imbue her stories with a strong sense of time and space is superb, and I do love a good enemies-to-lovers romance. – Caz

I loved An Unseen Attraction (book one […]

By Caz Owens| 2017-05-22T08:53:19+00:00 May 22nd, 2017|Categories: AAR Shannon, Anne AAR, BJ Jansen, Caz AAR, Dabney AAR, Eagerly Awaiting, EmAAR, Keira Soleore, Kristen D, Lisa F, Maggie AAR, Maria Rose, Mary Dube, Sara AAR|13 Comments

Coming Soon… in April and May

The question “What books are you looking forward to reading over the next couple of months?” is the sort of thing we love here at AAR. We’re always on the lookout for our next great read, so here are a few of the upcoming releases we’re keen to read in April and May.

Anne

The Girl With The Make-Believe Husband: A Bridgertons Prequel by Julia Quinn (30 May)

First, it’s Julia Quinn, and it’s a Bridgertons prequel. Second, the plot sounds really fun — an amnesia twist and a heroine traveling to the Colonies. A/BN/iB/K