MOST ANTICIPATED NEW ROMANCES OF JULY 2021
11 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in July 2021
It’s not unheard of that I’d schedule real-life commitments around book release dates, and on any given month, a handful of books can determine how much sleep I get. And while July 2021 isn’t shaping up to be a typical summer month for so many of us yet, there is no reason we can’t indulge in some amazing books. So I hope you enjoy my little list of choice highlights, and that you find YOUR next great read here.
Happy reading, book junkies! ♡
Out of Character | Annabeth Albert
Every book I’ve ever read from this author has left me all googly-eyed, so a quirky new series set in the world of tabletop gamers and cosplayers that kicked off with Conventionally Yours had me at hello. When popular jock Milo Lionetti gambles away his brother’s super-rare trading cards not knowing how valuable they are, he asks his former childhood best friend, Jasper Quigley, for help finding replacements. Jasper accepts on one condition—they’ll both have to don cosplay at the upcoming children’s hospital charity ball. But as they spend more and more time together, nostalgia for their lost friendship turns into something more. Annabeth Albert is best known for taking her time developing the romantic connection between the leads, and this nerdy cosplay caper full of costumes and heart promises to delight.
Release date: 6 July
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Exposed | Kristen Callihan
Given how much I am champing at the bit for this book, I’ve been surprisingly chill ever since it was suddenly announced and have only tried to pre-order it three times. From the moment we met Kill John bassist Rye Peterson and his publicist Brenna James in Idol, Managed, and Fall, we’ve been dying for their chemistry to finally ignite in their own book, and this is their story. Rye is the boyishly handsome guy who seems to never take anything seriously, his flirty banter with the band’s sexy publicist always treading that fine line between funny and inappropriate, but everything changes when he overhears her confessing that she is as lonely as he is. Wanting to be the one to give her what she craves, Rye offers her the greatest temptation of all—a no-strings-attached, sex-only relationship with him, without romance or complications. But we all know what they say about best laid plans . . . things can get very very messy.
Release date: 13 July
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Pause | Kylie Scott
I always go all weak-kneed when there’s a new Kylie Scott romance on the horizon, but one set in the same world as an old favourite, Repeat, has the power to turn me into a puddle of emotions. The heroine wakes up from a months-long coma after a car crash and finds out that not only has she been replaced at work, but her husband has also cheated with her best friend. Determined to move on with her new normal, she decides to track down the stranger who saved her life during the crash. But as she spends more and more time with the sexy tattooist, their new friendship begins to help them both heal from past tragedies and heartbreak. Now, let me reiterate the most important part—there’s a sexy tattooist.
Release date: 13 July
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The Brazen | Willa Nash
The third book in Devney Perry’s (writing as Willa Nash) Calamity Montana series is a ‘stranded together’ romance between Kerrigan Hale, a young woman who’s been making a name for herself in Calamity with her entrepreneurial ventures, and Pierce Sullivan, grandson of her former investor and man who now holds her fate in his hands. Forced to make a case for herself as someone deserving of not being ruined by the brazen billionaire, Kerrigan drives to Pierce’s ritzy mountain lodge to confront him, but a snowstorm traps them together and leaves them stranded together for days. DAYS! With nothing but candlelight and sexual tension to keep them warm. Whether she writes as Devney Perry or Willa Nash, this author continues to deliver characters that are unique, interesting, and easy to love, and I’m always in the mood for that kind of storytelling.
Release date: 15 July
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon AU | Print
Travis | Mia Sheridan
It’s been seven years since we all fell head over heels in love with a beautiful silent man named Archer Hale, and we are finally returning to Pelion, Maine with a brand new story set in the same world as Archer’s Voice. The author tells us that it’s a friends-to-lovers tale of redemption with a few splashes of humour and a big dose of heart, featuring town sheriff Travis Hale, a man whose past is riddled with mistakes and regrets, and a young woman from California who is only in town for the summer, but whose brother crossed Travis in a way that is both shocking and indefensible. And that is literally all I can tell you about this book because I am so afraid of anything spoiling this story for me, I don’t even want to read the blurb past the few opening sentences. Just go in blind with me, but be ready for an emotional ride start to finish. I mean, it’s a Mia Sheridan novel.
Release date: 19 July
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The Second Blind Son | Amy Harmon
Whether she is writing about Italy during World War II, Ireland in the 1920s, New York City in the 1960s, or the Oregon Trail in 1853, Amy Harmon’s breathtaking writing never fails to dazzle, turning any story into a gripping, electrifying work of art. But her extraordinary gift of storytelling is never more apparent than in this fantastical series woven with Norse mythology, as we return once more to the cursed kingdom of Saylok with the story of an orphaned stowaway girl whose song is laced with magic and the blind boy who can only see when she sings. Caught up in a world of warring clans and power struggles, the two must work together to defeat the cursed forces that could destroy a kingdom, while also protecting the fated bond between them. I haven’t even read this book and I’m already vibrating with excitement.
Release date: 20 July
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Hot Under His Collar | Andie J. Christopher
Nothing screams Forbidden Romance to me more than a love story involving a man who’s committed to a life of celibacy, and a ‘hot priest leaving the Church for love’ scenario will always have my full attention. Struggling to reconcile his faith with his growing desire to live a different life, Father Patrick Dooley is a man who no longer sees priesthood as his true calling. So, when he starts working closely with event coordinator and self-professed ‘good girl’ Sasha Finerghty on raising funds for a church-affiliated community program, sparks begin to fly between them. But for a chance at true love, they would both need to turn their backs on everything they believe in, and that is something that neither of them might be quite ready to do. Andie J. Christopher is known to be a storyteller first and foremost, and I cannot wait to experience her writing for the very first time, stirred with a healthy dollop of taboo.
Release date: 20 July
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Waylaid | Sarina Bowen
Whenever I’m in the mood for a small town romance with stellar writing and characters with unique identities and emotions, I know that Sarina Bowen’s True North world will not disappoint. We return to the stunning Vermont landscape with Daphne Shipley’s story in which the author takes the roommates-to-lovers trope and puts an fresh spin on it—bad boy meets good girl, he makes a daring proposition, but then the boy suffers a mysterious head injury and loses a year of his life. When they meet again, he doesn’t remember the six hours they spent together. Not even when they become roommates and their attraction sparks anew. I can’t wait to go back to this world.
Release date: 20 July
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Private Player | Louise Bay
Billionaire romances are pure escape reading to me, and Louise Bay is a master at delivering sexy, heartfelt page-turners with characters that erupt from the page. Madison Shore and Nathan Cove first meet at a mutual friend’s wedding, after which they end up spending a fun, no-strings-attached night together. When they meet again some days later, it’s in Nathan’s London office where he finds out that Madison is a journalist and the article she is currently writing is about him. Seeing that as the perfect opportunity to steer the narrative away from his playboy reputation to the strong and successful businessman that he is, Nathan agrees to let Madison shadow him for several weeks in order to show her that he is not the player everyone thinks he is. If you like to experience your fictional British billionaires complete with the Queen’s English accent they were born with, I hear the audiobook is fantastic.
Release date: 27 July
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Devil in Disguise | Lisa Kleypas
The moment a Lisa Kleypas Historical Romance is released, I drop everything, and I plan to do just that when her beloved Wallflower/Ravenels series crossover continues with the tender love story between a strong-willed young widow in charge of her late husband’s shipping company and a handsome Scottish whisky distiller whose mysterious past has put him on the run from deadly danger. Both equally smitten at first sight, they seem to be ill-matched for a real relationship, but their attraction is raw and powerful, and once the hero’s life comes under attack, the heroine will do anything within her power to protect the man she loves, even help him slowly unravel the deadly mystery surrounding his birth. Consider me unavailable on this day.
Release date: 27 July
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Love Next Door | Helena Hunting
An enemies-to-lovers romance kicks off a brand new series from Helena Hunting, set in a sleepy lakeside town, where a young woman reluctantly returns to her hometown to help with the family business, only to bond with her incorrigible new neighbour who is dealing with family issues of his own. They ruffle each other’s feathers any chance they get, but an undeniable attraction burns bright between them, and when they are forced to work together towards a common goal, we all know what undoubtedly happens. I’m hoping for plenty of angst in this story given the family drama, but regardless, a Helena Hunting novel will always hit the right spot for me.
Release date: 27 July
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