It’s a Whopper of a Release Week
While everything looks different this year, one thing remains the same: there’s a crop of summer reads ready to whisk you away. Even if you’re just taking a staycation, take a trip back in time with these historical romances available now or coming in July. If a contemporary read is more your style, we’ve got some of those, too.
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A DUKE, THE LADY, AND A BABY by Vanessa Riley
Release Date: June 30, 2020
When Patience Jordan, a West Indian heiress, questioned her English husband’s mysterious suicide, she lost everything and was falsely imprisoned. She gets hired as her own son’s nanny and discovers working for Busick Strathmore, Duke of Repington, has its own challenges. But she soon discovers this ex-rake is a man of honor, and unexpected passion.
Gah, I need this book now! And rumor has it, there’s a killer coconut bread recipe in here, too!
Get A Duke, The Lady, and a Baby at The Ripped Bodice | Bookshop.org |IndieBound | Amazon | Apple Books
THE DEVIL OF DOWNTOWN
Release Date: June 30, 2020
With the Devil of Downtown, Joanna Shupe closes out her Uptown Girls series with an absolutely delicious opposites attract story about a determined do-gooder and a kingpin. The Greene girls continue to tackle social issues and fight for women’s rights in Gilded Age New York. Add in a charming, so-wrong-for-her-he’s-right hero, and you’ve got the recipe for a great read.
Check out our review of the first book in the series — The Rogue of Fifth Avenue.
Get The Devil of Downtown from The Ripped Bodice | Bookshop.org | IndieBound| Amazon |Apple Books
DARING AND THE DUKE by Sarah MacLean
Release Date: June 30, 2020
Binge readers, get ready. In Daring and the Duke, Sarah MacLean wraps up her Bareknuckle Bastards series with the self-described “grovel novel” readers have been waiting for. Second chance romance Daring and the Duke pits Grace Condry against Ewan, Duke of Marwick, who’s spent the last decade looking for Grace. But Grace has revenge more than reconciliation on her mind. Ewan’s got a lot to make up for. So how far will he go to win her back?
Get DARING AND THE DUKE from The Ripped Bodice |Bookshop.org |IndieBound| Amazon | Apple Books
If you’re more of a contemporary romance reader, try on these new and upcoming releases:
THE UPTOWN COLLECTION by Ruby Lang
Release Date: June 30, 2020
Ruby Lang’s three Uptown series novellas are collected into one volume. Playing House, Open House (review) and House Rules (review) follow three couples living in Harlem. Whether your fave trope is fake relationship, enemies-to-lovers or second chance, Ruby’s got ya covered. The novellas also feature Chinese American and Filipino American characters. Open House is my favorite of the bunch.
Get THE UPTOWN COLLECTION from The Ripped Bodice | Amazon |Apple Books | IndieBound | Bookshop.org
The Heir Affair – Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan
Release Date: July 7, 2020
Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan aka the Fug Girls, are back with their follow up to The Royal We. In The Heir Affair, Rebecca “Bex” Porter and her husband Prince Nicholas are in self-imposed exile after a secret upends their fairytale wedding. The public is in an uproar, the Queen is furious, so the two cut themselves off from the world. Eventually, they have break out of their bubble and head back to London to figure out where their happily ever after fits in to the big picture. This is one my most anticipated reads of the summer, and it sounds like just the escape I could use right now.
Read an Excerpt of The Heir Affair.
Get THE HEIR AFFAIR at The Ripped Bodice | Bookshop.org | IndieBound | Amazon | Apple Books
Not Like the Movies by Kerry Winfrey
Release Date: July 7, 2020
Not Like the Movies picks up with Chloe Sanderson and Nick Velez, the coffee shop crew who inspired Annie’s rom-com in Waiting for Tom Hanks. But Chloe’s life is precisely like the title. In addition to working at the coffee shop, she’s a caregiver for her father who has Alzheimer’s. And the last thing she has time for is romance, even if she’s got great banter with Nick. But as the movie premiere rolls closer, she finally realizes that Nick’s the guy who’s been there for her all along. The only question is, does she have room for her own happily ever after?
Get Not Like the Movies at The Ripped Bodice | Bookshop.org | IndieBound | Amazon | Apple Books
Paradise Cove by Jenny Holiday
Release Date: July 28, 2020
Paradise Cove starts like a lot of small town stories — a big city doctor escapes to small town for a slower pace and cheaper cost of living and falls for a hunky local. But Jenny Holiday elevates the trope in a friends-to-lovers (and friends-with-benefits) story that’s funny, sexy, and deeply emotional.
Around town, everyone knows Jake Ramsey’s story. He lost a young son to the flu and his marriage crumbled in the aftermath. The grief is still overwhelming, and he’s known for being the guy who doesn’t say much. He and Dr. Nora Walsh end up meeting in the local beauty shop, and it’s the beginning of an unexpected friendship as she gets settled in town, and finds her new rental needs a lot more help than she thought.
They keep things low-key, knowing Moonflower Bay’s busy bodies never rest when it comes to matchmaking. Both Nora and Jake know what they want, and it’s not romance (mm-hmm). Once things heat up, they’re pretty combustible. It leads to an easily predicted conflict, but the overall arc (and character growth) for both characters is so good, I can’t be that mad at it.
I loved Paradise Cove. Holiday’s approach to small town and her directness about issues like mental health and feminism make this series one I want to come back to again and again. The good news is Maya and Law are up next.
Read an excerpt from Paradise Cove.
Get PARADISE COVE at The Ripped Bodice | Bookshop.org | IndieBound | Amazon | Apple Books
If you’re looking to escape into more summer reads, check out:
12 Summer Reads by Asian Authors to Put on Your TBR
