Coming Soon – The Books We’re Most Looking Forward to Reading in August 2023
It’s that time again, when the AAR team is looking ahead at which new romances we think are the best bets for some entertaining reads over the coming weeks. With so many books being released every week, it’s impossible to make a comprehensive list, and we love it when you, dear reader, bring to our attention something we may have missed or been unaware of. Let us know which – if any – of our choices you’re eager to get your hands on, and tell us if you think we’ve missed any must-reads for August.
Releasing week of 31st July 2023
Releasing week of 7th Aug 2023
Releasing week of 14th Aug 2023
Releasing week of 21st Aug 2023
Releasing week of 28th Aug 2023
I’ve just seen that Aster Glenn Gray released a new book yesterday (7th August). It’s called The Sleeping Soldier and appears to be a take on Sleeping Beauty. A Union soldier is woken up in 1965……………
Her gorgeous writing and a Sixties setting – yes, please!
Although I’m taking a reading break from WWII novels…I may add Madeline Martin’s The Keeper of Hidden Books (August 1) to my TBR. I enjoyed The Librarian Spy and The Earl’s Hoyden from her backlist.
Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher (August 15) – novella; fairytale retelling of Sleeping Beauty but with a fae called Toadling as the MC.
An Earl to Remember (Unforgettable Love #2; August 22) by Stacy Reid.
Shadow Dance (Shadow Riders #8; August 22) by Christine Feehan. This series is still interesting enough to stay on my TBR.
I’m most looking forward to reading Codename Charming by Lucy Parker and Allie Therin’s Once a Rogue.
I first read “once a rogue” as “once a pogue” and wondered why someone would write a romance about a former member of an irish punk band. :)
Jennifer Crusie (after a very long hiatus) is publishing again! She and Bob Mayer are self-publishing a new mystery/romance trilogy over the next month or so. The first one, Lavender’s Blue, came out on July 25th and the next one, Rest in Pink, will be out on August 22nd, while the third one, One in Vermillion, will be out in September. The ebook versions are available on most major platforms; while the hardback and trade paperbacks are, I think, Amazon only.
I inhaled Lavender’s Blue and it was so much fun — all the best Crusie/Mayer hallmarks were there — a great sense of comedy, lots of sharp fun dialog, a nonstop plot with lots of twists, and of course a dog. The h/H were both great characters and the development of their relationship made sense. I’m eagerly anticipating the next book in the series.
The other book I’m looking forward to in August is Codename Charming by Lucy Parker.
Thank u for those wonderful news. They go to my TBR pile just now! I didn’t know anything about this and Jennifer is one of my favourite authors.
I’m definitely going to give this a try, for nostalgia if nothing else. I loved so many of her books.
Yahoo!! These two (Crusie and Mayer) collaborated on my absolute, hands-down, don’t even have to think about it, favorite audiobook of all time: Agnes and the Hitman. Just clicked on this new title to buy. Thanks for letting us know about it.
The one I’d like to read, from the ones you put here, is ‘Hot to the touch’, by Kate Meader. And ‘Codename Charming’ by Lucy Parker. Perhaps not next month but I think I’ll read them sometime in the future.
Other three books could be bought in the future, it depends on the price and what the reviews say: those of Sarah MacLean, Penelope Ward and Jackie Ashenden.
The one I’ve already bought and I’m waiting to receive at home (I bought it in hardcover!) is the yearly book by my favourite romance novelist, Sandra Brown: ‘Out of Nowhere’. His annual novel is the Romantic event of the year for me.
‘Her annual novel’, sorry for the misgendering!
So I’ve read a bunch of books by a Kiwi M/M author named Jax Calder. She wrote a trilogy about rugby players that I liked and I also enjoyed her most recent book Beautiful Hearts, which is an age gap romance featuring a widower with a daughter who is a science teacher and falls in love with the new sports coordinator at his school. It features a super dramatic twist that I actually didn’t see coming (but should have) and a really beautiful ending. I think the book is the first in a series so I was expecting the next but instead she is putting out a book in August called The Unlikely Heir. The blurb says it features an American who unexpectedly becomes the new Prince of Wales and falls in love with the Prime Minister!!! Obviously I am going to have to suspend a lot of disbelief in this wildly improbable premise but I really like this author’s works and I’m willing to go for it. I don’t think I have ever seen a M/M Prince of Wales-Prime Minister romance!
I don’t think I’ve read any of their books, so I might give them a try – thanks for the rec! But I’ll DEFINITELY be steering clear of the latest one you describe! Just reading the description makes me want to run away screaming.
I think the only book here on my list is Allie Therin’s Once a Rogue. I have a review copy from NetGalley, but I’m considering waiting for the audiobook since Joel Leslie Froomkin is at the helm.
I’ll eventually read Codename Charming since I’ve enjoyed Lucy Parker’s other books, but I’m not paying the $12 Kindle price for it. Hopefully I can get it on sale eventually, or from the library. Mine usually gets the audiobooks of her books.
That’s exactly why I’m not going to read Lucy Parker’s book straight away. I’ll wait for it to be cheaper. And she is one of my favourite authors. But I don’t pay that for a eBook.
Of all the covers in the list above, the one that completely stands out to me is Lainey Davis’ Melting Silver. People who are fully dressed (!), in normal clothes, and are clearly a couple but not overly “posed”. Even better, they are of a certain age. But I don’t know this author and there are no reviews for any of her work here at AAR. The summary at Amazon makes this compilation of two titles sound a little overwrought. Anyone here at AAR whose read Davis looking forward to this release? Thanks.
I think we should do a favorite covers contest for this month!
For me, it’s Accidentally in Love. That chick is ROCKING it!
Worst cover – the Sarah MacLean. Doesn’t say “historical romance” at all.
The open legs and slouchy posture just looks silly.
Speaking of covers, I’m not fond of the cover for the new Lucy Parker book, Codename Charming, much. I almost missed that it was by her since the cover is cutsey-generic. I love the covers for her London Celebrities series.
I don’t see any covers here that really stand out, although like Dabney I think the Accidentally in Love cover has some sass. I like the Once a Rogue cover just fine, too, and it fits with her other books.
The first in the Parker series has a cartoon cover as well, but that had a light background, whereas this one has a dark one for some reason, and is certainly easy to miss.
The cover of A VIKING HEIR TO BIND THEM is giving me big WTF vibes. I know the little girl is supposed to be the man’s child, but…given that the standard Harlequin Historical cover usually features an adult male & adult female in a semi-clinch, it’s just bizarre to have the same cover setup featuring a little girl. Very odd, bordering on creepy.
RED FLAGS (August 15) is the first book in Skye Warren’s new Cirque des Miroirs trilogy about a young woman from a dysfunctional home who runs away to join to circus—and meets the mysterious older man who runs the show.
MAFIA KINGDOM (August 22) by CD Reiss does not have a blurb on Amazon yet, but if it’s anything like Reiss’s previous mafia romances, it’s going to be super-duper dark…and hot!
THE DESERT KING’S KIDNAPPED VIRGIN (August 22) is the latest HP from Caitlin Crews, and is the first book in her Innocent Stolen Brides duet. The title pretty much tells us what to expect.
Postponed from July, ENTWINED WITH YOU (August 24) is the 11th in J. Kenner’s Stark Security romantic-suspense series. In this outing, the hero is an FBI agent; the heroine is the sister of the hero’s late girlfriend. The heroine is also planning a heist that the hero is charged with stopping. Oh, and there’s a big secret too.
NO PLACE FOR SINGLE COWBOYS (August 29) is the first book in Genevieve Turner’s new Star Crossed Springs: The Southwinds Ranch series. This one involves a single pregnant woman and the area’s most notorious playboy (who is not the father of her child). Imho, Turner ranks right up there with Maisey Yates as a great writer of cowboy romances, and I’m looking forward to a new series from her.
Oh, I hadn’t realised that Milo and Mungo’s story, in Cloud White by Fearne Hill, was coming next month!
I’m very excited for Gregory Ashe’s The Face in the Water as I think I read somewhere that it features Tean and Jem and Theo and Auggie?
I’m also looking forward to Lily Morton’s French Fancy on 22nd August. It is the second in her Model Agency series and features the lovely, snarky Pip.
The Face in the Water is the first book in the crossover series to end all crossovers series – Iron on Iron. It’s 4 books – each one has a different lead couple – Jem & Tean (book 1), Theo & Auggie (book 2), North & Shaw (book 3) and Hazard and Somers (book 4) – and they all appear as secondary characters in the other books. It’s quite a feat! I read it over the weekend and it’s great – I probably won’t review it here (I’ll put a review at GR and my blog, though) – all the characters are very much “them” and although the mystery is solved, it leads into another one and there’s an overarching plot. There’s a lot of humour and some really nice scenes between characters who have never met before.
I didn’t realise the Hill was out in August either – she posted something on her FB from the publicist she’s using which said it was out 8/10/2023, so I put it on my reading schedule for October. (She’s British – 8/10 is 8th October here!). It was only when I saw it on GR that I realised it was August, and the date was the wrong way around. Just as well, otherwise I might not have been able to fit it in!
I’m even more excited about The Face in the Water now!
That UK/US date difference is SO annoying – it’s so easy to get caught out! I think some systems default to the US way, like spellings.
I think the US (and maybe Canada? Calling Maria Rose!!) is the only country that does their dates that way – and I always have to actually stop and think about it! But honestly, I’d have missed that book if Fearne hadn’t responded to my comment on that post.
I used to work in the international wire room of an American bank that was a subsidiary of an English banking conglomerate. All of our wire transfers had to be sent with a unique code that was calculated using numbers assigned for the month and the day. We frequently got “Invalid code” bounce backs from all over the world because someone would accidentally use the American MM/DD/YY system when calculating the codes. I can’t tell you how many times (as a manager) I tried to explain that regardless of how we expressed the date in the States, we had to use DD/MM/YY to calculate our codes. Ah, good times!
French fancy is out. July 22!
Amazon has it as 22nd August. I didn’t include it because I didn’t know about it in time.
Also Lily Morton’s promo on Twitter and website. ????
Sorry, my mistake!
It is on my KU recommended list in Amazon.de, and I did not notice that it is not out yet. Until recently, books only came up in KU when they were out. New approach on Amazon.
Sorry
I thought you might have an ARC x
I’m really excited about French Fancy as well. When I first read The Sunny Side (Model Agency book 1), I thought it was OK but over time, I kept coming back to it and re-reading bits and it has become one of my favorites. I just love Dean in that book. And I have been amused by the Model Clinic podcast in Lily Morton’s monthly newsletters, which now feature Pip. He hasn’t really seemed “hero” material to me (as opposed to sidekick) so I am interested to see what the author does with him.
I really liked The Sunny Side too and would place it as a high middle/low top in my list of Lily Morton books!
I thought she did a great job in turning Dean from a comedy stoner sidekick, in the earlier books, into a charming MC with a plausible back story.
Pip has always seemed like one of her ultra-snarky Oz/Felix-type characters to me, so I’m not surprised – and very happy! – that he is getting his own book.
I’ve been on a break from LM – the last couple of books of hers I read felt like she was just phoning them in. I might give TSS a go if you and Carrie think it’s an improvement!
Caz, save it for a time when you want something relatively light. It’s not Rule Breaker, but Joel’s narration on the audio, for me at least, brought out some underlying emotions that I must have skimmed over when reading it.
Interestingly, when I listened to The Cuckoo’s Call on audio I felt like I’d must have missed some of the deeper character development when I read it in print, too. I especially under appreciated Wren. when I read it I felt like he was a bit too perfect, but when listening I saw his mishandling of the situation due to his own issues more clearly. This is what great voice acting can add to a book.
I gave both books B+ for the story on audio, and A for the narration.
I think my impression of Pip is colored by all the comments from Jonas (Pip’s boss for those who don’t know) that seem to imply that Pip doesn’t do a good job. Oz and Felix are snarky but they are very good at what they do. But there have been some moments here and there where Pip seemed to show a softer side and I am happy to read his book.
I just listened to The Sunny Side on audio and felt the same way you did. When I read it I thought it was good, but on relistening, I was surprised to find I appreciated it more. The character development was quite good. Maybe it was in part Joel Leslie’s narration, but Dean’s view of himself, his willingnenss to accept the way other’s treated him, really got to me this time. It was so heartwrenching. The third act drama which many reviewers didn’t like actually rang true to me this time around.
I’m so glad Pip’s love interest is Olivier. During my reread of The Sunny Side I kept hoping Ms. Morton would give Olivier a book. I agree Pip hasn’t seemed to be MC material, but paired with Olivier it could be very interesting.
I so agree – I loved how Dean was shown, and how he developed in this book.
In prior books, he was more comic relief and also seemed a bit of a thoughtlessly mean person – Lily Morton did super well in how she made him into a hero here.
Based on your reactions, I will definitely reread this book before jumping into French Fancy.
I was intrigued by Olivier too but never imagined he would be paired with Pip. It should be interesting!