Coming Soon… April 2018

Heading into April, AAR staffers are taking a look at the books they’re most looking forward to reading over the next few weeks. By the looks of it, there’s a bumper crop of historicals coming up – there are new titles coming from Anne Gracie, Theresa Romain, Joanna Shupe and Cat Sebastian –  plus a couple of long-awaited sequels to books by Kate Claybourn and Ainslie Paton which were chosen as among the Best of 2017. Claybourn’s The Luck of the Draw and Paton’s The Love Coupon are among our most anticipated reads this month; and we’ve got an eclectic mix of mysteries, contemporaries, inspies and YA for you to browse through.

Marry in Scandal by Anne Gracie (3 Apr)

It’s no secret that the marriage of convenience is pretty much my favourite trope in historical romance, so […]

By | 2018-03-31T16:48:57+00:00 March 31st, 2018|Categories: Anne Marble, Books, Caz AAR, Dabney AAR, Eagerly Awaiting, EmAAR, Keira Soleore, Lee AAR, Lisa F, Maggie AAR, Maria Rose, Romance reading, Shannon AAR, Upcoming releases|Tags: , |14 Comments
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The Best of 2017 – Shannon’s favourite mysteries & thrillers

I definitely love a good romance, but I’m also a huge fan of mysteries and thrillers. So, since I read so many great ones in 2017, I figured I’d compile a list of the ones I loved most.

 

 

The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond

How far would you go to ensure your marriage was perfect? That’s the question the characters of The Marriage Pact grapple with, and it seems they’ll go pretty darned far. I love books about secret societies, and the idea of the existence of such a society devoted to keeping marriages perfect really caught my attention. The characters were relatable, the plot was fast-paced, and the twists were surprising without being over the top. Everyone who loves domestic thrillers should give this one a try.

Buy it […]

By | 2018-02-17T09:44:57+00:00 February 17th, 2018|Categories: Best of 2017, Best of List, Mysteries, Romance reading, Shannon AAR|Tags: , |5 Comments
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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 | 2017-12-18T22:36:57+00:00 December 19th, 2017|Categories: AAR Shannon, Best of List, Romance reading, Shannon AAR|Tags: |4 Comments
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Romancing it Royally – Some of our favourite Royal Romances

With the recent engagement of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle, royal romance is on our minds. Here are some of AAR’s favorite royal stories, real and fictional, for anybody else in the mood.

Caz: One of the things that made the books that make up Lilah Pace’s His Royal Secret/His Royal Favorite duology such great reads is that the author chose to set her story in a Britain I was able to easily recognise as the one in which I live while at the same time creating a very believable ‘alternate’ Royal Family. (There’s none of that carving off bits of Scotland and giving them names that sound like supermarket chains or making the Isle of Man into a […]

By | 2017-12-02T15:41:20+00:00 December 3rd, 2017|Categories: Anne Marble, Caroline AAR, Caz AAR, Dabney AAR, Keira Soleore, Kristen D, Lisa F, Romance reading, Shannon AAR|12 Comments
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Coming Soon… October 2017

It’s time once again to look ahead to the books we’re looking forward to getting stuck into next month, and as the nights are drawing in, I’m sure we’re all looking for reads to help us curl up and forget the encroaching cold.  AAR staffers have chosen quite a diverse bunch of titles as those we’re most looking forward to in October – some big names and favourite authors (Jackie Ashenden, Karen Harper, Elizabeth Hoyt, Eloisa James) have new books out this month, and maybe our picks of some less familiar names might encourage you to give something new a try.

Duke of Desire by Elizabeth Hoyt (17 Oct)

I admit, I’m not quite convinced by the set up for this that we glimpsed at the end of Duke of Pleasure, but what the hell – this is […]

By | 2017-09-23T19:03:16+00:00 September 23rd, 2017|Categories: Anne AAR, Caroline AAR, Caz AAR, Eagerly Awaiting, Keira Soleore, Kristen D, Lee AAR, Maggie AAR, Maria Rose, Mary Dube, Romance reading, Shannon AAR|Tags: |5 Comments
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Coming Soon… August 2017

AAR staffers have taken a good look at the wealth of new books being published in August and decided which ones are most likely to make the biggest dents in our bank balances! Joanna Bourne is at the top of several of our lists, closely followed by Tessa Dare, Shana Galen, Layla Reyne and K.J Charles, among others. Here are the books we’re most looking forward to reading next month. How about you? Do you agree with our choices or think we’ve missed out on something really good? Jump into the discussion in the comments.

Beauty Like the Night by Joanna Bourne (1 Aug)

Um. It’s a new book in the Spymasters series by Joanna Bourne.  Surely I don’t need to say anything else?! – Caz

Joanna Bourne. […]

By | 2017-07-20T15:42:09+00:00 July 20th, 2017|Categories: Anne Marble, Caz AAR, Dabney AAR, E-books, Eagerly Awaiting, EmAAR, Keira Soleore, Kristen D, Lee AAR, Lisa F, Maggie AAR, Maria Rose, Romance reading, Sara AAR, Shannon AAR, Upcoming releases|Tags: , |4 Comments
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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 | 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
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Amanda Bouchet’s A Promise of Fire: A Roundtable Discussion

a promise of fire

Catalia “Cat” Fisa lives disguised as a soothsayer in a traveling circus. She is perfectly content avoiding the danger and destiny the Gods-and her homicidal mother-have saddled her with. That is, until Griffin, an ambitious warlord from the magic-deprived south, fixes her with his steely gaze and upsets her illusion of safety forever.

Griffin knows Cat is the Kingmaker, the woman who divines the truth through lies. He wants her as a powerful weapon for his newly conquered realm-until he realizes he wants her for much more than her magic. Cat fights him at every turn, but Griffin’s fairness, loyalty, and smoldering advances make him increasingly hard to resist and leave her wondering if life really does have to be short, and lived alone.

available at Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, Barnes and Noble

 

AAR staffers Melanie, Mary and Shannon read – and […]

By | 2017-06-23T08:30:07+00:00 August 5th, 2016|Categories: Books, Books with Buzz, Mary AAR, Melanie AAR, Romance reading, Roundtable, Shannon AAR|Tags: , , , |Comments Off on Amanda Bouchet’s A Promise of Fire: A Roundtable Discussion
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Midweek Minis: RITA nominees Part Two

tmkcpfqv-600x323In advance of RWA2016, AAR staffers have been taking a look at some of the books nominated for RITA awards.  In our post yesterday, you’ll find a number of mini reviews of some of the titles featured in the various Contemporary Romance categories.  Today, BJ, Caz, Maria Rose, Sara and Shannon review some of the other nominated books.

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By | 2017-06-23T08:30:08+00:00 July 7th, 2016|Categories: BJ Jansen, Caz AAR, Maria Rose, Mini reviews, RWA, Sara AAR, Shannon AAR|Tags: , |8 Comments
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