Lots of great romances are coming out this month—so many, in fact, that I had to expand my best-of list from the usual ten to a delicious dozen.This month's bounty includes a pair of cops who have to figure out how deep their partnership goes, a mercenary and ornithologist on the run in Alaska, voodoo in the Louisiana bayou, plus much, much more. Happy reading!
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Print Book | Kindle Book Cuff Me by Lauren Layne - Though the guy on the cover looks like a goofy Matt Damon, the hero on the pages is much grumpier. Lucky for Vincent, the only one who understands and likes him despite his gruff exterior is his longtime police partner, Detective Jill Henley. But Jill throws their comfortable working relationship and casual friendship for a loop when she returns from a three-month hiatus with a big engagement ring on her finger. The perplexing murder of an aging Hollywood star adds pressure on the detectives even as Vincent and Jill renegotiate what exactly they mean to each other. There's a lot of delicious "Does he like me? And do I like him?" tension throughout, and Layne does a marvelous job keeping the reader rooting for Jill and Vincent without taking the easy out of making Jill's fiance A Bad Man. Emotions run high, and danger lurks in the shadows. What's not to love?
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Because of Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn - Quinn takes readers back to the Bridgertons, but this time we're a generation earlier, and Edmund Bridgerton is a youngster off at school--and never part of the plot. Tomboy Billie Bridgerton has always assumed she'd marry one of the Rokesby brothers, but it never really mattered to her which one—as long as it wasn't George, the eldest. When Edward Rokesby goes missing in the wilds of America, Billie and George begin to learn that the aspects of their personalities that irritated the other just might be the glue that keeps their families from falling apart. Read more in our interview with Julia Quinn about this new Bridgerton novel that builds love out of a fraught friendship.
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The Undoing by Shelly Laurenston - If you ever wondered if rampaging supernatural Vikings who live in modern-day Los Angeles could be both sweet and hilarious, Laurenston answers that question with a bellowed yes. The second book in her Call of Crows series returns readers to the Crows clan, a group of women who live together, sorority-like, and even throw some great parties, but on most days they're out and about, taking care of Russian mobsters who've stolen magical items and keeping an evil Nordic goddess from taking over the world. Everyone is a badass in this story, but Laurenston gives these warriors softer edges as well. Heroine Jace is an introvert with a gift for languages, and hero Ski belongs to the Protector clan, which is obsessed with books. This is a crazy-absurd romance adventure that will make some readers giggle like mad and others roll their eyes. But if you like it, you'll really like it.
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Darkness by Karen Robards - Dr. Gina Sullivan is studying birds in a remote part of Alaska—and still trying to recover from a tragedy that tore her family from her years ago—when a plane crashes in front of her boat. There's only one survivor, a man named Cal, who is suffering from a gunshot wound that he refuses to talk about. When the people who shot down the plane come after Cal and Gina, the couple must learn to trust each other or die. Robards packs in both emotion and brutal action to create an explosive romantic suspense novel that I think could be considered the first big beach read of the year—and it's only April.
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Wild Man's Curse by Susannah Sandlin - The Louisiana bayou probably tops the list of places where death can lurk unseen, whether by alligators or a voodoo priestess's curse. When Eva Savoie is murdered in her ancient cabin perched on the swamp, wildlife agent Gentry Broussard is pulled into an investigation that threatens his hard-won peace after the shooting death of his brother—and also introduces him to Eva's great-niece, Celestine. Down on her luck after many unsuccessful years of trying to break into the music scene in Nashville, Celestine returns to the cabin and picks up the voodoo teachings that Eva taught her long ago. Downright creepy and sizzling with tension between Gentry and Celestine, this romantic suspense novel will remind readers of early Tami Hoag.
See the entire list of our picks for best romances of the month, which includes new titles from Heather Graham, Sylvia Day, Katie Lane, Amanda Quick, J. R. Ward, Kylie Scott, and Katie Ruggle.
You might also be interested in:
RWA's Romance Finalists Are Announced
Spring Romance: 10 Upcoming Books with Buzz
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