Looking for inspiration for summer/holiday reads? Here’s our selection of the July releases we think will be your best bets! You can see all the books at Amazon on our July 2023 list!
I’m a musician, teacher and mother of two gorgeous young women who are without doubt, my finest achievement :)
I’ve gravitated away from my first love – historical romance – over the last few years and now read mostly m/m romances in a variety of sub-genres. I’ve found many fantastic new authors to enjoy courtesy of audiobooks - I probably listen to as many books as I read these days – mostly through glomming favourite narrators and following them into different genres.
And when I find books I LOVE, I want to shout about them from the (metaphorical) rooftops to help other readers and listeners to discover them, too.
For fans of Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton series, I just found out that she published a novella earlier this month called Dead Letter Days which takes place between the Rockton series and the new spin off series. The novella is from Eric’s point of view.
I saw that. I also have the latest spin off book on my TBR but, sadly, the first one in that series just didn’t wow me. It wasn’t bad, it just didn’t have a spark for me. I’m hoping #2 is more engaging.
I got the Eloisa James as a NetGalley. I enjoyed it and inhaled it but I found the characterization of the MMC to be not as deep as I would like and it kept the book from being as good as it could. It was still about 4 stars for me. Also, you really should read the previous book in the series, The Reluctant Countess, in concert with this one.
Stella Riley always delivers excellent storytelling…looking forward to reading The Shadow Earl.
M.L. Wang’s The Sword of Kaigen left me heart-stunned…if I can take liberty with wordsmithing…so her next release Blood Over Bright Haven (Fantasy / Dark Academia / Steampunk / Gaslamp; July 1) is on my list.
Hunted (Dark in You #9) by Suzanne Wright (July 6)
Also the Julie Anne Long, Kati Wilde and Nalini Singh.
I’m looking forward to The First and Last Adventure of Kit Sawyer by S.E.Harmon (M/M contemporary). I’ve read criticisms of some of this author’s previous books such as plot holes or unresolved threads but I myself have typically enjoyed her work. This book looks like an Indiana Jones-style action adventure starring a bookish historian and an archeologist. I think it will be just pure fun!
I am also looking forward to the books above by Annabeth Albert, N.R. Walker and Nicky James.
I’ve enjoyed several of S.E. Harmon’s books, but her recent Formicary series was a real cop out – lots of plot holes and, frankly, lazy writing. I love action/adventure stories, but they still have to make sense within the world the author has created, and those just didn’t. I did see the Kit Sawyer book and am intrigued, but I’m going to wait for some reviews before I decide whether to give it a go or not.
I’ve just pre-ordered Stella Riley’s new book. I see that the Harry and Meghan saga just won’t go away as there appears to be another re-telling in The Duchess Effect; yuck, no more please, pretty please. And the cover of How to Tame a Wild Rogue looks like it is from about 1978; I thought that these sorts of covers were passe though obviously not; another yuck. I look forward to a review of Her Younger Man; a trope that is interesting and under-used. And I thought Unorthodox Love could be worth a look-in as well.
I actually love the cover of the upcoming Long. It’s unapologetic!
I’ve found the covers of all the Palace of Rogues series to be just odd.
I’m interested in the new Katherine Center book! sounds really lovely.
I hope she gets the science right in the heroine’s case.
I really enjoyed Hello Stranger.
I have nothing on my tbr for the first part of July, but then the books start arriving fast:
SNOW PLACE LIKE LA (July 11) is the second book from Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone in their Christmas Notch series. The story features the second-chance romance, and, based on the characters’ names (Angel & Luca), I’m thinking it’s an m/m romance…but I’ve been wrong about these things before. Either way, I’m looking forward to another “hot-com” from this duo.
RELUCTANT RENEGADE (July 12) is the next book in Garrett Leigh’s Rebel Kings series of m/m motorcycle club romances. The previous books have been gritty but also emphasizing found family. In this entry, one MC is fighting for custody of his daughter and there appears to be a fake relationship element to the plot.
THE ROUGH RIDER (July 25) is the next book in Maisey Yates’s Four Corners Ranch series of contemporary cowboy romances. In this book, a young woman, pregnant and alone, enters into a marriage of a convenience with a reclusive rancher. I anticipate all sorts of angsty goodness with this one.
ENTWINED WITH YOU (July 27) 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.
THE MIDSUMMER BRIDE (July 31) is the fourth book in Kati Wilde’s Dead Lands series of fantasy romances. These books are always fun, with strong, determined heroines and heroes who understand the meaning of ongoing consent. A new book from Kati is always something to look forward to…I can’t wait for this one to drop!
I generally like Garrett Leigh’s stuff, but I’m not a fan of MC romances, so I’ve skipped that series. I’m hoping her next one will be more my thing.
I thought the most recent book in the series, LOVE THY BROTHER, was something of a turning point. Yes, there was still quite a bit of violence (some on-page, some referred to as happening in the past), but many of the criminal activities the were money-makers for the club under previous leadership (strip clubs, drugs, even turning a blind eye to human trafficking) have been eliminated and been replaced by legitimate business endeavors. It looks like the focus going forward will be more on found family. I don’t expect the books’ angst level (always high) to decrease, but I think there might be less of the criminal & violent aspects to being part of a motorcycle club.
Nazri Noor’s first in a new series, Hex and the City (Stolen Hearts Book 1), is out June 30th, but I don’t think he’d announced it in time to get on the June “Looking Forward To” post. I’m still catching up with a couple of his other series, but I’m looking forward to trying this one.
I’ll definitely be picking up Annabeth Albert’s Make Me Stay. I thought the first book in the series was quite good. I’ll probably read Touching Lightning by Walker. I wasn’t crazy about the first book, but if I like the second I’ll give this last on a go. I really enjoyed Jess Everlee’s debut novel, so I’ll be picking up A Rulebook for Resltless Rogues, although I may wait until it comes out on audio, especially if it has the same narrator as The Gentleman’s Book of Vices (Tommy Hawthorne).
I’m also looking forward to the new Stella Riley book, The Shadow Earl. Her Brandon Bros series wasn’t quite up to her Rockliffe series, but they were still very entertaining, so I’m pretty sure I’m going to enjoy this new book, too.
I just looked up Everything I Didn’t Know By Nicky James and noticed it’s been pumped back to an August release date.
I loved Stella Riley’s Civil War/Restoration novels. I have not read her other historical novels. I am not sure which historical period this new one is set in.
The Rockliffe and Brandon series are set in the Georgian Era – as is The Shadow Earl.
No – the James is definitely July. When she originally announced it, NJ said she’d put it at August (due to Amazon… stuff) but that she was aiming for a late July release. I checked with her before I added it to the post, and she said it’s on course for late July.
There is also Sujata Massey’s The Mistress of Bhatia House, #4 in Perveen Mistry series which is a historical murder mystery romance set in early 20th century colonial India.
Laura Lippman is one of my favorite crime novelists. I have read her entire Tess Monaghan series and most of her stand alone novels. I am intrigued by this one—Amazon blurb makes it seem like a romance story with a dark side.
Also, coming out on July 6, Uzma Jalaluddin’s Much Ado About Nada. Her first book, Ayesha At Last, was reviewed here (twice, with one DIK).
I too love Laura Lippman. I’m excited to read her. By the way, the best crime novel I’ve read thus far this year is Dennis Lehane’s Small Mercies. I think it’s his best book yet. He knows Boston like Lippman and her ex, David Simon, know Baltimore.
Novels/series anchored in a specific city/neighborhood is my jam. Crime novelists do this much more and better than romance novelists: Marcia Muller’s San Francisco; Sara Paretsky’s Chicago
Small Mercies is just phenomenal. Grim but not as much as Mystic River.
You have convinced me. I am reading it next.
I hope you like it as much as I did.