New Releases for June 2024 – Historical Romance Books and Contemporary Romance Books

Finding Mr. Write by Kelley Armstrong (2024)

Contemporary romance. Standalone novel. Super cute and fun rom-com about an author who fakes her identity to get a chance at a book deal. Daphne is in a whole lot of trouble when she realizes that her teenage zombie fighter book has sold under the pen name and fake biography of Zane Remington. Luckily, her best friend and lawyer has an actor lined up to play Zane for photo ops and interviews. Except Chris is not actually even an actor, he’s actually a nerdy accountant who needs a break. Chris and Daphne are adorable together and definitely each have a crush on the other, even as they try to keep things professional. It’s nice to see them team up together as the book gets even more popular and they end up on book tour. It’s a whole lot of mess as they navigate their respective fake identities.

Advance ebook provided by Forever Books via NetGalley.

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The Duke Has Done It Again by Jane Ashford (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 6 of the Duke’s Estates series. Rose and Gavin are from rival families who believe that a certain estate belongs in one of their families instead of having been left to some unknown duke. They end up in a shouting match in front of the estate’s front lawn when the duke arrives to evaluate the estate, pretty much embarrassing themselves. Luckily the duke and duchess are quite astute to the problem and invite both Rose and Gavin to stay with them for awhile to foster goodwill. They end up in a truce and then maybe kind of sort of start to truly like each other, away from the angry influence of their respective parents. We get to see a connection form between Rose and Gavin, ever so slowly, but satisfying all the same.

Advance ebook provided by Sourcebooks via Edelweiss. Audiobook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

The Captain and the Duchess by Alexa Aston (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 4 of the Strongs of Shadowcrest series. Widowed duchess Dinah is back out in the courting scene after the death of her husband, but she’s uninterested in any of the suitors she’s met this season. In the back of her mind, she’s still thinking about her stepson’s captain friend Drake, who had flirted with her upon first meeting. Back from his first journey as captain, Drake’s first stop is the call on Dinah and see if he can arrange a dalliance. Lucky for everyone involved, she’s very much interested. It’s a quick connection for these two, both physically and emotionally, even with their different social stations. This was a pretty quick low-angst steamy romance that was very fun to read.

Advance ebook provided by Dragonblade Publishing via NetGalley.

Barely Even Friends by Mae Bennett (2024)

Contemporary romance. Standalone novel. Super cute and steamy Beauty and the Beast retelling. We’re off to a historic estate renovation with Bellamy who is in charge of the project because her father Maurice is ill and she finds a grumpy recluse Oliver there. Oliver is resistant to the renovation mostly because his grandfather is being overly controlling and also because he doesn’t want anyone in his house. But the house isn’t really his and he’s stuck doing whatever his grandfather has dictated. Bellamy is the ultimate sunshine full of ideas and energy to complete the project, and she wears these cute suspenders that Oliver is obsessed with. She’s also got some hang-ups related to relationships because her last guy was a total dud who told her that she’s not the kind of girl that sparks commitment. We get to see Bell and Oliver super slowly come to a truce, then friendship, then more. Absolutely delightful.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby.

Wager with a Siren by Sofie Darling (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the All’s Fair in Love and Racing series. Super stern and serious Julian is actually just trying to keep himself under control, thinking he doesn’t deserve love and acceptance while also distancing himself from his father’s reputation. He gives the outward appearance of respectable dullard. Except when he meets Tessa, the sister of a newly minted duke, who challenges him with her disdain. They end up making a wager about the horse he has in an upcoming race and his prize is one night in bed with her. Tessa is not at all prepared for her new station in life and would prefer to stick to what she already knows as the co-owner of a gambling hell. But she and Julian are totally drawn to each other and she’s ready and willing to spend that night with him. There’s a lot of compromise needed here on both their parts to figure out how they fit together. Super steamy and emotional.

Advance ebook provided by Sofie Darling via NetGalley.

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Isabel and the Rogue by Liana De la Rosa (2024)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 2 of the Luna Sisters series. Middle sister Isabel is often overlooked by everyone, making her perfect for sneaking around English manor houses looking for useful information to aid the Mexican government. While Isabel and her sisters have fled Mexico for the safety of England, she’s doing her best to aid in any way possible. Unfortunately, that puts her in the sights of Captain Sirius Dawson, who has his own assignments to learn about potential connections to the French government. Sirius has cultivated a reputation as a rogue as he seduces his way into his information, and thereby earned Isabel’s disdain. However, when he spends more time with her, he finds that there is a lot more to her than it seems and he develops a newfound respect and appreciation for her intellect. There’s a lot of hiding and spying and getting stuck together in precarious circumstances and pretty soon, a fiery affair begins. Super steamy and emotional and perfect for all the overlooked bluestockings.

Ebook borrowed from my local library via Libby. Advance audiobook provided by Penguin Random House Audio.

The Earl and the Country Girl by Eva Devon (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Standalone novel. Felix is doing such a terrible job at pretending to be a stablemaster that local apothecary’s daughter Alice realizes that he’s a fraud pretty quickly. Felix is actually the earl who owns to village and estate and he’s trying to find out if his estate manager is embezzling funds. In exchange for Alice’s help in learning how to play his part, he promises to set her up as a perfumer’s apprentice in London. The books is split pretty much into two parts, with the first being all the village happenings and catching the villain there; then when we go to London, Alice gets to learn the trade she’s so interested in. Plus, we get Felix and Alice start an affair with each other, knowing that neither are interested in marrying each other. Alice is afraid that having a husband will derail her dreams and plans, while Felix is afraid of any attachment at all because he doesn’t want to cause or feel loss or grief. But you know they’ll fall in love with each other anyway, and at least they’re having a good time along the way.

Advance ebook provided by Entangled Publishing via NetGalley.

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The Scot Who Made June Hot by Fenna Edgewood (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 6 of the Rake Review series. A dramatic house party reconnects June and Cameron, who were once handfasted, but separated due to various reasons. June is now married to a horrible terrible abusive earl who basically spent all her dowry money and is now throwing a house party to find investors in some sort of scheme. Cameron is invited to the party because he’s a duke now, and June had no idea that he was the same person as her long lost love. While they talk out how they were separated all those years ago, they’re still dealing with the horrible husband and his cousin/mistress that he’s been flaunting at the house party. We get loads of drama and chaos here as we uncover what’s going on. Super fun read, despite the emotional upheaval.

Advance ebook provided by Fenna Edgewood.

Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood (2024)

Contemporary romance. Standalone novel. Rue’s a food engineer working with her mentor at a small biotech company that seems to be in the process of a financial takeover. And it turns out one of the guys on the opposing team is a thwarted one night stand she met via an app. They’re both totally shocked to see each other in a new setting, with attraction definitely still simmering in the background, but now they’re workplace enemies so it’s not a good idea. While Eli is supposedly the enemy, he’s also completely gone for Rue and is willing to take whatever scraps of attention or conversation she hands out. He’s the ultimate supportive guy, even if he has his own baggage. These two tell each other these awful truths about themselves (that they’ve never told anyone else) and it comes with no judgment whatsoever. Just acknowledgement and acceptance. And somehow this twisted style of communication brings them closer together. Rue is the epitome of anti-social and basically a ball of social anxiety, but she’s calm and comfortable around Eli. Maybe because he’s so terribly accommodating, but also maybe because he also has a terrible past and can understand her. While Rue thinks that she’s betraying her boss and mentor by spending more time with Eli, the boss has a ton of secrets we get to uncover through the business-drama of the story. I liked seeing Rue ever-so-slowly start to open up with Eli and also see him drown in his affection for her.

Advance print book borrowed from a friend.

The Lord Who Adored Her and Other Love Songs by Charlie Lane (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 5 of the Art of Love series. Lord Atlas just wants to hire a cabinet-maker to help finish the repairs on the dower house at his family estate, so it can be rented out, and so he can leave town. He’s an injured soldier who is hiding his pain and sorrows from his family as he helps them restore their finances. Instead of just hiring an artisan, he ends up marrying her instead. Clara is a widow who has run away from her controlling father-in-law with her young son in tow. She’s the daughter of a skilled cabinet-maker, so she’s qualified to assist in the renovations, but ends up needing the protection of Atlas and his family. They decide on a marriage of convenience, knowing that Atlas plans to leave once his work is done. It was wonderful seeing Atlas fall in love with Clara and become a father to his son, plus wrap up the series with all of his siblings matched up.

Advance ebook provided by Charlie Lane.

Lady Scandal by Laura Lee Guhrke (2024)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 2 of the Scandal at the Savoy series. Thrice-widowed countess Delia works as a party and event planner at the illustrious Savoy hotel and she’s loyal to the manager who gave her a job here. Unfortunately, there’s a new boss in the hotel, Simon, who is looking to cut budgets and bring in actual profits to the shareholders. At least, that’s what he’s telling people. He’s really there as a cover for the investigation looking for evidence of much deeper fraud and theft of hotel funds. He’s not sure if Delia is part of the corruption, so he has to keep her at arms length and not tell her the truth about his work. These two start off arguing about the approach to running the hotel, but are mostly angrily attracted to each other. It seems they fall pretty quickly in love, despite not knowing each other that well, and Simon keeping a big secret. I was mostly more interested in seeing Delia realize that her hotel friends really were guilty of corruption and proving Simon right.

Advance ebook provided by Forever via NetGalley.

A Simple Marriage by Janna MacGregor (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Millionaires of Mayfair series. All Pippa wants to do is own her own dress shop, but her overbearing duke of a brother won’t release her dowry. She plans to solicit a marriage of convenience to a gentleman her brother would likely approve of so she can get the money, but her brother’s best friend Hugh ends up intercepting the letters and her suitors. They bicker and argue and neither are interested in a marriage to each other, except for the fact that they’re attracted to each other. Actually, the attraction is why they don’t want to marry each other because Pippa is afraid that passion will lead to horrific arguments that she witnessed her parents having and Hugh is afraid that love will cause the immense grief that he witnessed his mother experiencing after his father died. Clearly, they’re both suffering from some generational trauma. Add in an overbearing brother/best friend, and we’ve got a recipe for forbidden romance. However, Hugh is very supportive of Pippa’s dress designing skill and business dreams, so he’s pretty much the perfect match for her.

Advance ebook provided by Janna MacGregor.

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The Mistress Experience by Scarlett Peckham (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 3 of the Society of Sirens series. Renowned and exclusive courtesan Thaïs has auctioned off a month of her time to raise funds for her friends’ charity and is expecting to spend a month in the country with a dissolute rake. She’s surprised to find herself at a rustic cottage with a very straightlaced earl instead. Alastair is planning to take a wife this season and needs some lessons in the bedroom to ensure that he’s fulfilling his wife’s needs. He’s secretly hired Thaïs to help him be able to perform. Due to all sorts of insecurity and hang-ups and his overwhelming desire for her, Alastair is incredibly awkward and reserved. He clearly needs to have trust and an emotional connection to be open to any sort of physical activity and it takes quite some time to pull him out of his shell. Over this month in isolation, we get to see a steamy slow burn romance develop and these two people connect and let down their walls. The heartbreaking downside of course is that they’ll have to go back to reality and it’s not like this ever-proper earl could marry a courtesan. Or so he thinks.

Advance ebook provided by Avon Books via NetGalley.

In Scandal with the Duke by Stacy Reid (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Sins and Sensibilities series. American heiress Elizabeth would rather stay unmarried than be stuck with a suitor who prefers her money, so she tries to keep her wealth quiet, until her meddlesome aunt blabs about it. Also, she keeps running into this super arrogant and pretentious duke who is friends with her brother. James finds Elizabeth refreshingly honest and he can’t get her out of his mind, even though he doesn’t mess with marriage-hunting innocents. They start a little affair, knowing that Elizabeth is planning to go home to New York and she just wants to experience a bit of fun before she goes. We get a very steamy book here with weeks and weeks of trysting, only to be interrupted by the development of real feelings and that meddlesome aunt again.

Ebook accessed from Kindle Unlimited.

The Viscount’s Marriage of Inconvenience by Barbara Russell (2024)

Historical romance. Victorian-era England. Book 4 of the Victorian Outcasts series. Keith and Violante meet when she injures him in the snow with her sled and then brings him home to be cared for by her physician father. He was a malnourished servant from the neighboring estate, but pretty much rescued by Violante’s father when allowed to stay and recuperate, and then join the servants there. Over the next year or so, Keith and Violante develop a strong friendship and a crush on each other, despite their differences in social station. Everything comes crashing down when Keith discovers the father’s terrorist plot and goes to the police. From here, the paths diverge greatly and Violante ends up a pickpocket and Keith is a wealthy businessman recently awarded a viscount title. When they run into each other again, Keith wants very much to care for Violante, even though her pride will not accept his charity. For business reasons, they end up in a fake marriage at a country house party, and of course things get all sorts of messy. This was another high-drama addition to this series and I enjoyed reading it.

Advance ebook provided by Oliver Heber Books via BookSprout.

Her Runaway Duke by Ellie St. Clair (2024)

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 1 of the Noble Pursuits series. Beauty and the Beast vibes with a grumpy scarred reclusive duke and a runaway bride. Siena is running away from her wedding day, gets lost in the woods, and needs rescuing from highwaymen. Luckily, Levi is there to save the day, even though he does it begrudgingly. He thinks that his scarred appearance will scare people away, but it’s really his personality. Siena and Levi are stuck together at his manor due to a rainstorm and of course she’s kind and understanding and helps him soften up a bit. Things get more dramatic when there are rumors about her disappearance and then the arrival of unwanted guests. This one was steamy and emotional and also plenty dramatic.

Advance ebook provided by Ellie St. Clair.