The Baroness’ Choices of New Books Publishing This Week
2024, Week 7’s New Books
My choices for this week include Sweet Romantic Comedy, Cozy Mystery, Paranormal Romantic Comedy, MG Fantasy, Cozy Culinary Animal Mystery, Dystopian Romantic Suspense Mystery, Cozy Paranormal Mystery, Sweet Romance, and Women’s Fiction.
It’s the week of Mardi Gras and Valentine’s Day. How are you celebrating?
Jen already reviewed one of the books below. I will be reviewing two more. Although, all of the books sound so interesting, and the covers are gorgeous as well.
Here are my choices for New Books Publishing Week 7 of 2024!
Faking After All by Cece Louise
Happily Ever After All #3
Publication Date: February 13, 2024
Genre: Sweet Romantic Comedy
Goodreads | StoryGraph | Amazon | Look for my Book Review later
Pretend to be in love with the most obnoxious man alive? I’m up for the challenge.
Victoria
When a forbidden workplace romance goes south, I’m left scrambling to save my dignity and my job. In the process, I drop the name of a fake boyfriend—only the name I use isn’t fake. To put my money where my mouth is, I’m forced to ask grumpy Caleb Ellis to pretend to be my boyfriend until I can get a promotion and get the heck out of Dodge.
But executing this ruse is messier than I expected, especially since his sister seems to think we’re the real deal, and I find myself being roped into all sorts of Ellis family functions—including a celebrity wedding. In addition to finally feeling like I’m part of the family I never had, I also discover there’s more to my fake boyfriend than meets the eye.
Turns out, my heart may be in just as much jeopardy as my job. But it doesn’t matter—our contract has an expiration date. And I always uphold my contracts.
Caleb
When my sister’s uptight friend Victoria asks me to pretend to be her boyfriend to help save her job, I literally laugh in her face. We can’t stand each other, so there’s no way anyone would buy that. But then she promises to help me with my gym opening in return. Since she’s a proven marketing genius, and I’m in way over my head, I make the deal.
Only I didn’t expect that deal to involve her butting into every aspect of my life, my sister acting like I’ve found my soulmate, or a long list of fake dating rules—that’s right, rules—I’m supposed to follow. Which is getting harder by the day when I find myself feeling things for Victoria I never expected.
Whatever—I can ignore that and ride this out. Because she’s planning on leaving town for good, and I’m a no-strings-attached kind of guy. Everybody wins, right?
A fake-dating, enemies-to-lovers sweet romance with opposites attract vibes, hilarious banter, swoony kisses, and zero explicit content!
Author’s Note: Every book in the Happily Ever After All series is a standalone read and can be read in any order, however, the books are numbered chronologically.
Fatal First Edition by Jenn McKinlay
Library Lover’s Mysteries #14
Publication Date: February 13, 2024
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Goodreads | Bookhype | BookBub | StoryGraph | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Nook | BAM
People are dying to get their hands on a rare, valuable book in the newest Library Lover’s Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of The Plot and the Pendulum.
Briar Creek Library director Lindsey Norris and her husband, Sully, are at a popular library conference in Chicago to hear book restoration specialist Brooklyn Wainwright give a keynote address. After the lecture, Lindsey looks under her seat and finds a tote bag containing a first edition of Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, inscribed to Alfred Hitchcock. Brooklyn determines the novel is one of a kind and quite valuable, so Lindsey and Sully return the book to the conference director, not wanting to stir up any trouble.
But just hours after the pair boards the train back to Connecticut, rumors that the Highsmith novel has gone missing buzz amongst the passengers, and they soon find the conference director murdered in his private compartment. And worse—the murderer planted the book in Lindsey and Sully’s room next door, making them prime suspects. Now, they must uncover the murderer and bring them to the end of their line, before they find themselves booked for a crime they didn’t commit.
Featuring a cameo by a beloved character from the New York Times bestselling author Kate Carlisle’s Bibliophile series!
Not Your Crush’s Cauldron by April Asher
Supernatural Singles #3
Publication Date: February 13, 2024
Genre: Paranormal Romantic Comedy
Goodreads | Bookhype | BookBub | StoryGraph | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Nook | BAM
In April Asher’s next Supernatural Singles novel, Not Your Crush’s Cauldron, a buttoned-up witch takes a stroll on the wildish side, sparking an alert that lands her a familiar Guardian Angel.
Olive Maxwell much prefers teaching about the Supernatural world to taking part in it and leaves the magical shenanigans to her two sisters. After assigning her college students a project designed to nudge them outside their comfort zones, Olive realizes she’s never once stepped a toe out of her own . . . and it’s about time that changed. Her first trip into the unknown? Moving in with her longtime crush and friend . . . tattooed, motorcycle-riding, and pleasantly pierced Baxter Donovan.Bax Donovan, Guardian Angel not-so-extraordinaire, has acquired so many black marks on his record it looks like a Scantron test. He’s been given one last chance to keep his Guardian wings―a high-profile Assignment he knows all too well. Olive is usually as low-risk as it gets. Hell, she wrote the safety manual. But something landed her on the Guardian Angel Affairs radar, and he guesses it has something to do with the heart-pounding stunts she’s determined to check off her Dare I Docket list.
Keeping Olive out of trouble is about to be his toughest Assignment. He’s at real risk of shattering the only Guardian Angel code of conduct rule he’s yet to break: Don’t fall in love with your Assignment. And he isn’t so sure that’s a bad thing.
If love doesn’t play by the rules, why should they?
The Princess Protection Program by Alex London
Publication Date: February 13, 2024
Genre: MG Fantasy
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Where can a princess hide if her Ever After isn’t all that Happy? Bestselling author Alex London turns classic fairy tales on their heads in this fast-paced, funny fantasy about embracing change and taking control of your own story. For fans of the School for Good and Evil and the Chronicles of Never After series.
Every fairy tale ends with its characters living happily ever after, right? A valiant prince quests long and hard to reach the castle where the sleeping princess lies. And with a kiss, he awakens her.
But what if the princess does not think a kiss from a stranger is a very pleasant way to wake up? Yuck!
When Rosamund flees her prince, a Door of Opportunity opens, and she steps through it to the Home Educational Academy (the HEA for short). Rosamund has found the Princess Protection Program, where fugitive fairy-tale princesses escape unwanted affections, untimely ends, and all the other perils of their stories.
But the longer Rosamund lives in the real world, the more questions she has. Does anyone ever graduate from the HEA? Why doesn’t anyone seem to remember the former students? Is the kindly fairy headmistress all she appears to be? Is anyone? And the most important question of all: Can Rosamund change her story?
Acclaimed and bestselling author Alex London weaves together several beloved fairy tales in this fast-paced, funny, and slyly subversive adventure about finding your place in the world.
Bamboozled Brides by Mildred Abbott
Cozy Corgi Mysteries #32
Publication Date: February 14, 2024
Genre: Cozy Culinary Animal Mystery
The day has come–Katie and Joe are getting married. Everything will be pink, purple, full of pastries and hippos, and… well, maybe a murder or two. Luckily, Katie needn’t worry with Winifred Page-Lopez as her Maid of Honor. The wedding cake needn’t worry, either. No matter what shenanigans get underfoot, Fred’s beloved corgi sidekick, Watson, will make sure not a single crumb goes to waste.
Fiery Nights Tempted by Sarah Westill
Bella and the Beast Master #4
Publication Date: February 14, 2024
Genre: Dystopian Romantic Suspense Mystery
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Summer nights are heating up for Beast Master Markus Ralston and his new mate, Bella.
Someone is setting fires in the adult entertainment industry of Haven City. Markus and Bella are hired to discover who wants to eliminate curtain show houses and nearby hotels. The exposure to nightly sensual sights couldn’t come at a worse time for the couple.
Markus has learned he’ll be departing in the days to come as per an agreement with his home nation, made so he could marry Bella. Not wanting to leave Bella with the possibility of learning she’s pregnant alone, he makes the difficult choice to abstain from the physical side of their relationship. A decision that tests their bond to the breaking point.
Navigating crude show house owners, the dangers of human rabies syndrome, and jealousy, Markus and Bella are in a race to catch the arsonist before another fire claims a business. All while fighting against desires that threaten to ignite their marriage into smoldering ruins or passion-filled nights….
The Cannoli Caper by Kirsten Weiss
Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum Mystery #10
Publication Date: February 14, 2024
Genre: Cozy Paranormal Mystery
Goodreads | BookBub | Amazon | Nook
Ex Files Italian Style…
Paranormal Museum director Maddie is navigating the waters of post-breakup life in sunny Sicily. But there’s no time to wallow as she prepares to play bridesmaid for her famous sister’s castle wedding.
But are the pre-wedding celebrations a veil for something sinister? Because Maddie is snatched from Sicily’s cobbled streets and thrust into a quirky caper of misadventures and murder. And when a man from her past rushes to her rescue, Maddie must face uncomfortable questions about her heart and her family.
And the biggest question of all…can Maddie stop a killer before he strikes again?
If you love quirky heroines, twisty mysteries, and laugh-out-loud humor, you’ll love thisshort travel mystery, book ten in the Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum novels. Get cozy with The Cannoli Caper and start this hilarious whodunit today! (A book written entirely by a natural, semi-intelligent human and not by AI).
The Runaway Bride’s Vow by Jennifer Faye
Seabreeze Wedding Chapel #3
Publication Date: February 14, 2024
Genre: Sweet Romance
Goodreads | BookBub | Amazon | Nook
A runaway bride turned wedding planner finds herself questioning her life’s choices after a run-in with a grumpy contractor upends her sunshiny life.
Brooke Campbell had run away from her perfectly planned out life and settled in San Francisco. She loved the hustle and bustle of city life. She vowed to never again have her life dictated to her. She would make her own choices going forward.
Single dad, Logan Montgomery had a five-year life plan until an unexpected divorce has him struggling to maintain ownership of his renovated house. When he’s offered a restoration job for a historic wedding chapel, he jumps on it. This is exactly what he needs to put him back in the black but an unrealistic deadline has him worried.
With Brooke temporarily in charge of the Perky Pink Wedding Planner office, she’s overseeing plans for her boss’s wedding—including the chapel’s renovations. On her way to meet the contractor, she makes a stop for her favorite coffee at her favorite coffeeshop. A strikingly handsome man with a forbidding frown reaches for the same cup of coffee as her. Maybe some would assume it would be a sweet meet much like a frothy, creamy whipped coffee, but instead their first meet was more like a pot of day-old coffee that not even a heap of sugar packets and a dose of creamer could help. Just wait until they find out they are working together… Oh my!
Postcards from the Cove by Jennifer Bardsley
Sand Dollar Cove #1
Publication Date: February 15, 2024
Genre: Women’s Fiction
The little cottage sits atop the cove’s rugged cliffs, with its whitewashed walls and views of the deep blue sea. When Hannah discovers a jar of timeworn postcards hidden inside, will they lead to the fresh start she’s longing for?
Hannah Turner has always lived in the historic and beautiful seaside resort of Sand Dollar Cove. Now grieving the loss of her father, Hannah finds comfort in the places that remind her of him, including one of the resort’s oldest cottages. Heartbroken that it’s due to be knocked down—taking her memories with it—Hannah’s heart leaps when she finds the old postcards concealed within.
Reading “I still believe in our happily ever after” on one of the cards, Hannah feels a pang for the happy ending her father never had. She can’t bear someone else’s precious memories being destroyed, so she traces the postcards’ owner to New York and sends them off—inspired by her discovery to finally seize the day.
After watching Guy—the resort’s handsome new trainer—charming their older guests, Hannah’s new attitude pushes her to give dating a chance for once. Hannah can’t resist gazing into Guy’s blue eyes as she shows him the delights of the cove. But just as she’s about to let him into her heart, she is stunned to find one of the postcards in Guy’s bag. Is Guy somehow connected to them? Is this why he came to town in the first place?
Hannah is devastated that Guy is hiding something, but can she keep her heart open to love? And when the postcards reveal a surprising link between Hannah and Guy’s pasts, will the truth bind them together or tear them apart for good?
Let yourself be swept away to the beautiful coastal town of Sand Dollar Cove in this uplifting story of long-buried family secrets, the struggle to prove your worth, and learning to be vulnerable in love. Fans of Susanne O’Leary, Mary Alice Monroe and Kristin Harper will fall head over heels for this gripping novel.
Photographs from the Cove by Jennifer Bardsley
Sand Dollar Cove #2
Publication Date: February 15, 2024
Genre: Women’s Fiction
The old cinema sits proud—but neglected—on the cove’s sun-bleached main street. Mary is determined to bring it back to its former glory, but when she discovers a crumbling photo album inside, one picture will change everything…
Mary Turner’s hopes of a happy life in beautiful Sand Dollar Cove come crashing down when her boyfriend leaves her. After her mother walked out when she was just a child, Aiden’s betrayal destroys the last shred of belief in love that Mary’s been clinging on to.
When the cove’s newest resident Steven Clarke hires her to renovate the town’s historic movie theater, Mary is scared of failing. But she dreams of bringing the fading theater back to its 1960s glamor. Plus, the more she works with the elusive Steven, the more she comes to like him and his striking good looks—against her better judgement…
As Mary’s confidence grows, her heart starts to reopen to the possibility of love. But then, hidden in the cinema’s storage room, Mary discovers a mysterious photo album containing pictures of a little girl who looks just like her. She can’t believe her eyes. How is Mary connected to this album and the cinema? And will the answers help to heal her broken heart?
Mary is willing to risk everything to learn the truth. But when she uncovers a secret that casts a shadow on her family, on Steven, and on Sand Dollar Cove, will the past haunt her forever? Or will she choose to believe in love and finally claim her happy ending?
Step into the beautiful coastal town of Sand Dollar Cove in this heart-healing story of long-buried family secrets, learning to love yourself, and overcoming the wounds of the past. Fans of Susanne O’Leary, Mary Alice Monroe and Kristin Harper will adore this sweeping novel.
Well, that’s it for the New Books Releasing Week 7 of 2024
Drop a comment if you like one of the books above or if you have one to recommend.
Thank you for stopping by,
Happy Reading!
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