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WHEN THE VISCOUNT WANTED ME: Release Day Blog Post Featuring Author Lydia Lloyd!

Hello everyone! 

I am Lydia Lloyd and today is release day for my book, WHEN THE VISCOUNT WANTED ME. The second in my Rake Chronicles series, this book is an ultra-steamy, older brother’s best friend/brother’s best friend, age gap romance—it is a total romp, with a good amount of humor, a splash of angst, and a lot of spice. 

What is it about? Henrietta Breminster is the belle-of-the-ton, but she has just made a mistake that could jeopardize everything. Tired of watching everyone else have fun while she is constrained by the rules for Regency debutantes, Henrietta decided to take her friend, Justin, the Earl of Hartley, up on his offer of a night of no-strings-attached pleasure. Unfortunately for her, after their tryst, Hartley reveals that he is actually in love with Henrietta and tries to pressure her into marriage—and Henrietta does not feel AT ALL the same way and is running out of ways to put him off. Enter her brother’s best friend, Hugh Aldershot, the Viscount of Tremberley, aka Trem. Trem hears Hartley talking about his night with Henrietta in their gentlemen’s club. He assumes that the earl is lying about his liaison with Henrietta and steps in to shut him up. When Trem confronts Henrietta about his claims, she finds herself confessing her sins to the handsome viscount, for whom she has always nursed a wicked crush. Once Trem vows to help her out of this delicate situation, they are drawn closer together than ever before. Henrietta and Trem soon realize that they might be perfect for each other…but, to make their relationship a reality, they must contend with a world (including her brother!) that does not want to see them together. 

I am so excited to introduce this book to readers—it was so fun to write and is very much the daring, bold historical romance that I myself want to read. To give you a better sense of the book and celebrate its release, I present my five favorite moments from WHEN THE VISCOUNT WANTED ME below: the steamy, the sweet, and everything in between! 

#1) When Trem DRAGS a passed-out Hartley to Breminster House 

This moment is right at the beginning of the book and it really sets the tone for the wild fun to follow. Trem wants to punish Hartley for drunkenly blabbing about Henrietta in the premier gentleman’s club in London—but then the man stone-cold passes out from drinking. So Trem, along with the help of a friend of Hartley’s who he intimidates into submission, loads the inebriated earl up into his carriage and takes him to Breminster House to be dealt with by him and John, Henrietta’s brother. Of course, when he arrives there, he realizes that John is out and only Henrietta is at home. 

#2) Henrietta’s response to Trem’s hypocrisy 

When Trem finds out about Henrietta’s tryst with Hartley, he expresses his dismay at her actions—and asks how she could do something so irresponsible. Henrietta, however, does not waste any time clapping back and turns the tables on Trem. She asks him how he could do any of the irresponsible and reckless things that he has done over the years (he is a rake, after all!) and if he is really going to be that hypocritical. To Trem’s credit, he quickly sees her point and apologizes. 

#3) The Drawing Room scene 

Once they are thrust together by circumstance, it is not long before Trem starts to realize that his feelings for Henrietta have (even before this incident) begun to take on a distinctly non-brotherly cast. With Hartley still trying to court Henrietta despite her disinterest, Trem becomes increasingly infuriated by the young earl. When he comes across Hartley in Henrietta’s drawing room, he intimidates him into leaving—and then a very steamy scene between Henrietta and Trem ensues. 

#4) Trem’s marriage proposal to Henrietta 

The next day, Trem and Henrietta dance at a ball—and then sneak off onto the balcony. Trem wants to propose marriage to Henrietta because he can’t stand the idea of having anyone else as his wife or her marrying any other man (and she has a lot of suitors!), especially now that they’ve been intimate. Henrietta knows that he wants to propose, but she thinks it is only out of a sense of honor and because he wants to do the decent thing, particularly because she is his best friend’s sister. I won’t give away what exactly happens on the balcony, but I can guarantee it is very spicy and they come back to the ballroom engaged! 

#5) Mr. Foxcroft 

When Henrietta goes back to Trem’s estate towards the end of the book for their wedding, she meets his steward, Mr. Foxcroft, who is like a father to him. Trem has been an orphan since his parents died in a carriage accident when he was two years old and Henrietta knows that Trem tends to be very unsentimental about his parents’ deaths. However, when she meets Mr. Foxcroft, he reveals to her that, when Trem was a child, he made him recount the same story about what his parents were like over and over to him. Both Trem and Mr. Foxcroft remember every word of it even now—and they recite it to her. 

Okay, so, as I wrote this list, I realized that I could have easily picked another five scenes and called them my favorites—such is my love for this book. 

If you want to learn more about this book, the whole Rake Chronicles series, or just like talking historical romance, I encourage you to come over to my Instagram. I hope you love reading this book—and come back for the third in the series, WHEN THE EARL DESIRED ME, out May 14!  

xoxo,
Lydia 

About the Author.

Lydia Lloyd writes high-heat historical romance set during the Regency period. She enjoys creating love stories between roguish heroes and complex heroines that are driven by authentic conflict and steamy encounters. Lydia holds a PhD in nineteenth-century British literature and, when she isn’t writing historical romance, works as a teacher and scholar.

Start the New Year Off Right! Check out our January 2024 Releases (Plus Giveaway!) Now!

Read more about our new releases for January!

GIVEAWAY: We will pick ONE winner to receive a digital book of their choice from the January releases. Comment down below saying which book you’re looking most forward to reading! Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY. The winner will be randomly selected at the end of the month.

A Little Highland Magic
by Gerri Russell (Muse)

Release Date: January 9, 2024
Guardians of the Isles, Book 5

To have a future, she must face her past…

Half human, half fairy, Aria traveled to the human realm seeking safety with her family, the powerful MacLeods, where she is welcomed and accepted as a warrior. But her happiness will be short-lived if they discover her inadvertent role in their beloved mother’s death and the kidnapping of their infant brother, Kieran, by the cruel fairy king. Still, Aria plans to right the wrong by rescuing Kieren, but traveling to the fairy realm is dangerous and potentially a betrayal, for she must use the legendary Fairy Flag and its one last miracle to barter Kieran’s release.

Graeme Duff and his ancestors have served as flag bearer and protectors of Clan MacLeod for centuries. It’s his duty to guard the Fairy Flag, and when the beautiful, fierce, and intriguing Aria proposes using the flag to negotiate Kieran’s freedom, Graeme suspects treachery. He determines to accompany her, vowing to ignore the passion she evokes.

Can two independent warriors learn to trust? Or are they risking the destruction of everything they know and love?

Killer Close to Home
by Carol Light (Tule Mystery)

Release Date: January 11, 2024
Cluttered Crime Mysteries, Book 3

Not all clutter is visible to the human eye… 

Professional organizer Crystal Ward’s latest client, her neighbor Roscoe Tremaine, is changing his will, an announcement that sets off an explosive reaction within his family. That same night, a gas leak ignites, destroying his house, killing him, and rocking the Ward family at its foundation.

Her husband, Rick, is injured in the blast, so Crys hires Roscoe’s former caregiver, Wink Keller, to help him recover after surgery. But trouble is just beginning. Both Crys and Wink are beneficiaries in Roscoe’s will, and their alliance sends accusations flying from the Tremaines’ side of the fence.

Crys has her hands full dealing with her client’s not-so-grieving relatives, a teenaged girl stalking Wink, and a suspicious fire inspector. But when threatening “gifts” left on the Wards’ doorstep escalate, Crys is forced to sort through a tangled web of relationships, including her own, to keep her family safe.

Was Roscoe’s death just an accident, or is there a killer close to home?

When the Viscount Wanted Me
by Lydia Lloyd (Muse)

Release Date: January 16, 2024
The Rake Chronicles, Book 2

Her reputation is at risk. He vows to help…but soon finds resisting her the greatest challenge of all.

When Lord Hugh Aldershot, the Viscount of Tremberley, overhears the drunken Earl of Hartley claiming to have bedded Lady Henrietta Breminster, his best friend’s little sister, he is livid. He drags the passed-out earl to Breminster House to face punishment for his blathering, only to find himself face-to-face with Lady Henrietta in a sexy night dress and little else.

When Lady Henrietta Breminster sees the Viscount of Tremberley dragging the unconscious Earl of Hartley to her doorstep, she panics. Not only was she indiscreet with the earl, but she has long nursed a flaming tendre for her brother’s best friend. Now she must ask Tremberley to help her keep her biggest mistake from the gossips of the ton.

Drawn closer by their efforts to subdue the jealous earl, Trem and Henrietta soon discover their own forbidden attraction. But even as Henrietta discovers true passion with Trem, she knows she could never marry for anything less than love.

Lucky Strike
by Janine Amesta (American Heart)

Release Date: January 23, 2024
Love in El Dorado, Book 3

Is finding an unexpected gem a lucky strike?

After getting a late jumpstart in life, Luna Lanza isn’t afraid to get what she wants, including the place of her dreams. When she loses out on the perfect duplex and settles for a standard apartment, she’s disappointed. But Luna remains determined to make it work, even if it sparks a contentious relationship with her new landlord– the same guy she accidentally kissed in an impromptu photo shoot.

Still grieving the sudden death of his brother, reformed bad boy Sam Sunderland feels trapped managing his father’s rundown apartment building. When the spunky beauty, who unexpectedly kissed him, moves in full of ideas, he can’t help being intrigued– that is until she starts changing things behind his back, endangering his position and the relationship with his father.

Sam and Luna wrangle over rules and misunderstandings while fighting against the undeniable attraction between them. It’s a hard lesson to learn that ‘perfect’ can take many different forms. But will the renovations they do together lay a foundation to something more?

A Stolen Shadow
by H L Marsay (Tule Mystery)

Release Date: January 25, 2024
Chief Inspector Shadow, Book 7

This winter, the York pantomime opens as a farce but closes as a murder scene

Chief Inspector John Shadow returns from a rare holiday to Italy but before he can unpack, he’s investigating the theft of an antique sabre. Everyone involved assumes it’s a prank, however later that evening, a reluctant Shadow attends the local pantomime—his least favorite form of entertainment—with his star struck sergeant. They watch stunned as Prince Charming dies on stage. Shadow suspects poison and launches an investigation. When he discovers the missing sabre backstage, Shadow realises the theft was no joke and the entire cast and crew are murder suspects. Then another body is found….

John Shadow is a man of contradictions. A solitary figure who shuns company but is a keen observer of all he meets. A lover of good food, but whose fridge is almost always empty. He prefers to work alone but is assisted by the eager Sergeant Jimmy Chang. Together, the two men must work through an ever increasing list of jealous husbands, angry fathers and spurned lovers to discover the identity of the killer.

Someone Rotten Riding the Rails
by Kris Bock (Tule Mystery)

Release Date: January 30, 2024
The Accidental Detective, Book 6

Kate Tessler and her crew of misfits set out to blow the whistle on two feuding crime families . . . 

Former war correspondent Kate Tessler has solved multiple murders since returning to her Arizona hometown, to the grudging appreciation of the local police. Now Detective Padilla and the FBI approach Kate with a proposal. Two Russian crime families have rented a private historic train to the Grand Canyon for their children’s wedding. The route is scenic and remote. No cell phones. The FBI needs to surveil, but anyone infiltrating the train must be above suspicion.

Kate poses as herself, sent by the newspaper to cover the society wedding, while her sister Jen is the photographer. Their multi-generational and eccentric crew pose as train staff. The goal is to observe, but that quickly derails when the groom disappears, and a search for him turns up a dead body. Everyone’s a suspect and trapped on the train.

The mob families won’t contact the police, so it’s up to Kate and friends to uncover the truth before their whole mission goes off the tracks.

WHEN THE DUKE LOVED ME – Release Day Blog Post Featuring Author Lydia Lloyd!

Woman in purple dress kisses shirtless man

Hello everyone! 

I am Lydia Lloyd and today is release day for my debut historical romance, WHEN THE DUKE LOVED ME. It is a steamy, tropetastic, enemies-to-lovers road trip romance and, hopefully, a whole lot of fun to read. My hero, John Breminster, and my heroine, Catherine Forster, first meet at a ball and soon find themselves in the gardens sharing a kiss…but soon discover that, due to a mix-up with their identities, they have stumbled into an embrace with the enemy. As it turns out, their families hate one another due to a scandal that disgraced both the Breminsters and the Forsters years before. John and Catherine are only drawn back together when John realizes that he has a big problem that only Catherine can help him solve. In need of cash, Catherine agrees to help him for a price. They set off across the English countryside together—with only their enmity and a whole lot of sexual tension between them. 

Along the way, there a LOT of steamy moments between John and Catherine; this is a Regency romance with spice! If you’re interested in hearing about some of those scenes, head over to my Instagram @LydiaLloydRomance, where I’ve been highlighting the extra sultry interchanges between John and Catherine. For this blog post, though, I wanted to do another kind of list—while this book IS steamy, it also has a lot of sweet moments (and some of those steamy moments are super sweet!!). That said, I thought I would use this opportunity to describe my five favorite sweet moments in WHEN THE DUKE LOVED ME. So, here it goes…

#1) The letters between John and Ariel
When Catherine first agrees to work with John, her chosen family isn’t sure what to think. Catherine’s parents died years ago and she has lived since the age of eleven with her father’s friend, Lady Wethersby, and her son, Ariel. When the book opens, Ariel is ten years old and only starting to understand the world around him. When Catherine explains that she will be traveling with John, Ariel is very suspicious. He is super protective of Catherine, who he sees as kind of a combination between a sister and an aunt. So, Ariel sends John a letter threatening to duel him if he does anything to insult or harm Catherine. His letter is hilarious—it is shown on page with all of the misspellings that a ten-year-old would make—and it not quite as scary as Ariel intends. But it does show John how beloved Catherine is to Lady Wethersby and Ariel. And then, when John shows his letter back to Ariel to Catherine and she sees how kindly he responds to his concerns, it totally melts her heart. 

#2) When John cleans Catherine’s fingers
Catherine is a scholar and so she is always taking notes, drafting, and editing. Because this book takes place in the Regency period, that means that she frequently has ink on her fingers…and it totally drives John wild. Seriously, he has a total fetish for her ink-stained fingers! When he is trying to resist his attraction to her and they are stuck in a small carriage together, they have a quick luncheon of bread and cheese…and John can’t stand the sight of Catherine’s ink-stained fingers any longer. He also can’t believe that she would eat with such dirty hands. He brusquely commands her to give him her hands and he cleans each of her fingers with the whiskey from a flask in his pocket. It is the first time that they have touched since their kiss in the gardens seven years before!  

#3) Catherine and John in the apple orchard
When Catherine and John travel back to his estate, they are both forced to encounter the ghosts of their pasts. Catherine grew up on the estate that borders John’s, but it has long since been sold. After they have fallen for each other, Catherine and John walk in the apple orchard that marks the boundary between his estate and her old one. As they share an early-season apple, they trade stories about their childhoods and recall glimpsing each other at rare intervals when they were kids. Catherine tells John that she once saw him and his father walking together and remembers a snippet of conversation that she overheard. Her memory is super meaningful for John because his father has recently died and he remembers their walks in the orchards together, but he can’t recall what he and his father actually said to each other. Catherine gives him back a piece of his childhood in this scene and it really shows how they complete each other on so many levels. 

#4) The Extra £500
When John and Catherine are traveling for hours in the carriage, they, of course, end up talking quite a bit. As John fails at containing his feelings for Catherine, he begins to ask her quite a few probing questions about her past, including whether she has ever had ~carnal relations~ with anyone. Of course, she refuses to dignify this question with a response…that is, until he offers to pay her £500 for the answer. With so much money on the table, she does answer (and you’ll have to read the book to hear her response!!). Much later in the book, when so much has happened since this moment and Catherine thinks that she and John can’t be together, he sends her the payment he promised her at the beginning of the book. She notices, however, that he has paid her an extra £500 and, at first, she is confused. Then, she remembers their conversation in the carriage and has to laugh—he has remembered his absurd promise to pay her a truly ungodly sum to answer his invasive question. It gives her a little bit of hope that they’ll find their way back to one another. 

#5) John’s Grand Gesture
Okay, I am going to leave this moment a little bit of a mystery because I don’t want to spoil it. But I can say that this grand—and it’s quite grand!!—gesture happens in the epilogue. Let’s just say real estate purchases might be one of John’s love languages. 

Well, that concludes my list. Thank you so much for reading. If you want to learn more about WHEN THE DUKE LOVED ME, the whole Rake Chronicles series, or just want to talk historical romance, I encourage you to come over to my Instagram. I hope you enjoy this book—and come back for the second in the series, WHEN THE VISCOUNT WANTED ME, in January! 

xoxo,
Lydia 

About the Author

Lydia Lloyd writes high-heat historical romance set during the Regency period. She enjoys creating love stories between roguish heroes and complex heroines that are driven by authentic conflict and steamy encounters. Lydia holds a PhD in nineteenth-century British literature and, when she isn’t writing historical romance, works as a teacher and scholar.

Tule Publishing August 2023 Releases (and Giveaway!)

Read more about our new releases for August!

August New Releases Graphic with Watercolor background

GIVEAWAY: We will pick ONE winner to receive a digital book of their choice from the August releases. Comment down below saying which book you’re looking most forward to reading! Giveaway is open INTERNATIONALLY. The winner will be randomly selected at the end of the month.

Cowboy holding rope over shoulder with field behind him. Text reads Paula Altenburg, USA Today Bestselling author, and the title of The Cowboy's Redemption.

The Cowboy’s Redemption by Paula Altenburg (Montana Born)

Release Date: August 1, 2023

The Endeavour Ranch of Grand, Montana, Book 5

She’s done with cowboys for good…

Cowboy Levi Harrington oversees the innovative breeding program at the Endeavour Ranch. He knows how to read aggression, personality, and mood in bulls and horses better than anyone in Grand, Montana. When he sees the fiancée of his best friend, who died during a rodeo several years ago, struggling to control her horse, he wants to help. He’s loved Dana from afar for years, but she’s always been off-limits—even now.

Barrel racer Dana Barrett’s relationship with a popular bull rider killed in the arena was complicated, messy, and not at all the fairy tale love story rodeo fans chose to see. She’s ready to step out of the tragedy’s limelight and move on, starting with taking her career to the next level. That’s hard to do when everyone still sees her as a tragic heroine and when her beloved champion horse is at the end of her career.

Dana needs a fresh start, starting with a new horse. When a twist of fate throws Levi and Dana together again, can they move beyond the past and forge a future together?


Chocolate cake with candles for Dial M for Mud Cake book cover.

Dial M for Mud Cake by Kaz Delaney (Tule Mystery)

Release Date: August 3, 2023

Hart of Texas Murder Mysteries, Book 6

This wrong number is turning out to be deadly…

As summer settles over Airlie Falls, Texas, baker Rosie Hart is gearing up for the upcoming Fourth of July celebrations. Orders are coming in fast, but when someone calls in an order for a mud cake, Rosie feels uneasy. After a series of confusing phone calls, she comes to the chilling conclusion that the term ‘mud cake’ is in fact code for a ‘hit’—someone is ordering a murder!

As the dough for her Apple Custard Brioche Bread rises, so does Rosie’s anxiety. This isn’t like any of the cases she’s solved before. This time she has to save someone, but first she has to discover exactly who she’s supposed to be saving—and more importantly, who wants that person dead.

With her commitment to the town’s week-long festivities, trying to control her nonagenarian friends who’ve just discovered the home shopping network, determining if a long-lost child has indeed resurfaced, and not to mention an Elvis impersonator on every corner, Rosie’s wondering if she can really unmask the person with murderous intent before they take matters into their own hands.


Man holding pregnant woman in his arms and kissing her shoulder

A Baby for the Billionaire Cowboy by Kris Bock (Texas Born)

Release Date: August 8, 2023

The Accidental Billionaire Cowboys, Book 4

This runaway bride needs a fresh start.

After falling unexpectedly pregnant, Daisy Taylor barely had a moment to think. The baby’s father proposed, her parents rushed the wedding, and Daisy fled the altar. She runs away to Last Stand, Texas, to stay with her aunt and arrives in time for a fundraising ball—where her wedding dress blends in—and dances with a handsome stranger. He seems sweet and kind, and when Daisy later secures employment as an assistant at a nearby ranch, she’s pleased to see the man again. But she’s humiliated that he doesn’t recognize her.

The youngest of his siblings, Xander Tomlinson is still uncomfortable with his family’s unexpected lottery win. He prefers a quiet and peaceful life on the ranch caring for creatures in need. When his mother hires an office assistant, Xander is immediately protective of Daisy and her ever-growing belly.

Daisy won’t take charity and Xander struggles to fight his attraction to Daisy who, as an employee, is off-limits. As their friendship teeters on the edge of becoming more and the baby’s father starts making demands, will Xander learn that some things are worth fighting for?


Bride swinging and kissing groom. Kyra Jacobs "Once Upon a Beast"

Once Upon a Beast by Kyra Jacobs (American Heart)

Release Date: August 10, 2023

Bourbon Falls, Book 1

It’s a fairy tale as old as time…

Everyone in Bourbon Falls knows Delaney Brooks doesn’t need a man—including Delaney. So when a storm sends her niece’s car hydroplaning into the town hermit’s bushes, it’s nothing Del can’t handle herself. But the winds also cause costly damage to the roof of her family’s beloved bookstore, and Del accepts it’s time to seek help.

Isaac Manning never intended to be the bad guy. But a slanderous post went viral, and he’s forced to take cover in Bourbon Falls, Indiana, hiding to protect his tech company until the online storm blows over. The strategy goes smoothly until a teenage girl destroys his lawn. Now two locals have seen his face, and one is tugging at his heartstrings.

Del’s fundraiser can save her family’s bookstore but she’ll need an amazing website built to draw the crowds in. Isaac, wanting a break from his loneliness, is happy to trade his skills for Del’s landscape panache. But can the two truly work together to support the town’s biggest event of the year without jeopardizing their hearts and reputations too?


Blonde man in business suit standing next to smaller blonde woman in blazer with yellow cloud background and city skyline.

Love and Order by Stella Holt (American Heart)

Release Date: August 14, 2023

Legacy of the Maguires, Book 4

She’s keeping secrets—and he has the answers she doesn’t know she needs.

Finn Maguire may be the baby of his close-knit family, but this former Navy SEAL has never shied away from a challenge. Now a lawyer with a plan to practice business law, he’s ready for a normal life. The coveted junior partner position is his next goal—but he’s pitted against the enigmatic woman he’s spent two years admiring from afar, and he can’t resist his desire to learn more.

Hailey Adams grew up in foster care, where she learned how to avoid danger. Her intense self-discipline and vow to never let anyone make her feel vulnerable again have landed her one case away from the security of partnership at a prestigious D.C. firm. But teaming with the charming Finn tests her well-honed ability to keep people at a distance.

Finn finally breaks through Hailey’s walls just in time for her to find out he kept the biggest secret of all. Will this be a case Finn loses, or can Hailey learn to trust the first person who’s made her feel safe?


Woman in red dress standing on balcony overlooking ocean.

The Remarkable Rise of Amanda Appleby by Trish Morey (Holiday)

Release Date: August 15, 2023

With Love, Cornwall, Book 2

Before Amanda Appleby’s rise comes the fall…

When Amanda Appleby catches her husband messing with the belly dancer hired for his fiftieth birthday party, her once-perfectly curated life crashes down. With her marriage in ruins and little money from the property settlement, Amanda finds herself fifty, divorced, and broke.

Amanda retreats to her family’s charming cottage in Cornwall to regroup and hits on a way to make money. She writes a book about how to renovate and sell a house. Peppered with cynical tips from Amanda’s own failed marriage, the book goes viral. Hailed as the “Marie Kondo for the Unhappily Married Woman,” Amanda is thrust into stardom. Invited as a contestant on a dating show, she meets Jack Walker, the show’s crabby—but surprisingly kind-hearted—scriptwriter and Amanda discovers that maybe romance isn’t dead after all.

But when she’s enlisted as the public face of a man-hating site, suddenly Amanda’s success turns toxic, threatening to derail both her career and her newfound relationship. But Amanda is no longer the dutiful wife she once was. Can the woman Amanda has become find it in herself to keep her star rising?


Riverboat at the dock at sunset for Nan Reinhardt's "Meet Me in River's Edge"

Meet Me in River’s Edge by Nan Reinhardt (American Heart)

Release Date: August 17, 2023

The Weaver Sisters, Book 2

He ticks every one of her “never again” boxes…

Jo Weaver loves her job as a boat mechanic for her family’s marina in River’s Edge, Indiana. But when she’s pulled away from her high school reunion with her sisters to fix a stranded yacht, she can’t restrain her irritation. Jo doesn’t like wealthy men who think they can have whatever they want, and she has no intention of falling for rich and charming again.

Born into the international Briggs Hotels empire, Alex Briggs has never felt comfortable with his life of privilege. Abandoning his family’s business to pursue medical research, he’s far more at home in his lab. When the yacht he restored himself breaks down on the way to an important conference, Alex begrudgingly goes in search of a boat mechanic and falls, literally, into Jo Weaver’s arms. The fireworks he feels are impossible to ignore.

Jo does her best to keep Alex in the business zone, but he keeps slipping into something more. Can she trust her fragile heart, especially when Alex and his life-altering research are so far from River’s Edge?


Man and woman embrace at sunset

Striking Gold by Janine Amesta (American Heart)

Release Date: August 24, 2023

Love in El Dorado, Book 1

Not all that glitters is gold…especially in love.

Mia Russo is well aware that being voted “most likely to succeed” in high school doesn’t guarantee anything, especially after her political career crashes and burns. Without a plan for the first time in her life, Mia moves back home with her dad. After being rejected by the handsome local jewelry store owner who seems way too familiar, she takes a barista job while she determines her next steps.

Orphaned at a young age, Ross Manasse finally finds peace when he inherits his grandfather’s jewelry store. It’s been a tough road, and Ross is looking for quietness and stability. When his former high school tutor—someone Ross once thought of as a friend—barges into his shop looking for a job and doesn’t recognize him, his safest option is keeping her at arm’s length.

Mia’s determined to make something in her life work, but in rekindling a relationship with the grumpy jeweler, she digs up more about their shared history than they expect. Mia and Ross will need to decide what’s more important: finding success or true happiness?


Woman in purple dress kisses shirtless man

When the Duke Loved Me by Lydia Lloyd (Muse)

Release Date: August 28, 2023

The Rake Chronicles, Book 1

They are both pretending to be someone else for the night…

When Catherine Forster asks a handsome stranger to lead her out of the ballroom and into the Tremberley gardens, she hopes to glimpse its renowned Roman ruins…and maybe steal a kiss. But when she and her delectable escort are discovered in a scandalous embrace, Catherine is horrified to learn that she has been kissing John Breminster, heir to the man who ruined her family.

Given that the Forsters are his sworn enemies, John had no choice but to walk away from Catherine that night. But he has never been able to forget their close encounter—and, even years later, still longs for her touch. Worse, when his father dies, John, now the Duke of Edington, finds himself with a problem that only Catherine can help him solve.

Catherine agrees to aid him in his quest…for a price. On their journey, they soon begin to give into temptation, even as they uncover troubling revelations about the past. Will John and Catherine overcome this shared history? Or will its secrets tear them apart forever?


Illustrated book cover with dead woman's feet and a white Pomeranian dog on a walking path.

A Wasp in the Woods by Geri Krotow (Tule Mystery)

Release Date: August 29, 2023

Shop ‘Round the World, Book 3

Retired Navy Pilot Angel Warren’s sleuthing days are behind her. At least, that’s what she tells herself after finding two dead bodies during her first year back in Stonebridge, Pennsylvania. Murders make customers wary and Angel’s sales are suffering. With her daughters back in college and the cases behind her, Angel focuses on attracting more customers into her novelty shop.

Hoping to boost local tourism, Angel researches how to create a walking history tour. During a dry run for her inaugural walk, her brother’s Pomeranian leads her through the woods and to her third body, the apparent victim of multiple stings from a nearby wasp nest. Angel recognizes the deceased as her sister’s cherished employee who was days away from being married.

The scene doesn’t sit right with Angel’s best friend, Detective Trinity Colson, however, who suspects foul play. When the autopsy reveals a different cause of death, Angel dives into her most dangerous case yet. Soon Angel, along with her eclectic crew featuring two dogs and a feisty parrot, are once again on the hunt for a murderer. But is Angel also being hunted?


Man and woman sitting in a field, embracing.

The Cowboy’s Lost Family by Roxanne Snopek (Montana Born)

Release Date: August 31, 2023

The Malones of Grand, Montana, Book 1

He’s looking for the one thing she’s done with: family.

Brade Oliver arrives in Grand, Montana, looking for blood—and answers. Genetic tests reveal that his biological family may reside in the small, western town, and he’s on a mission to finally discover the one thing his adoptive family couldn’t give him: the truth.

Kendall McKinley craves a normal life, free of the demands, drama, and constraints of her dysfunctional family. Despite being focused on building her career and working on a restoration project, Kendall can’t help herself from noticing a handsome stranger the first night he arrives. But when Brade starts asking uncomfortable questions around town, Kendall is determined to protect her community and friends. The harder she tries to steer Brade away from the answers he seeks, the more he pushes back…and the more irresistible he becomes.

Brade is determined to uncover the truth no matter what, and Kendall finds herself torn between keeping the secrets of people she cares for and finding answers for the man she loves.