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Today, you can look forward to kissing and crime at Christmastime, a sapphic sports story, and two bakery romances that take the cake!
Bookish Goods
I Read Banned Books Sticker by TheCraftyPretzel
Last week was Banned Books Week, but it’s always the purrfect time to declare your support with this adorable sticker. $4+
New Romance Book Releases Out This Week
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
Knives Out but make it a kissy crime caper! Cozy mystery writer Maggie Chase arrives at a Christmas house party at an English estate expecting to have fun. She wasn’t expecting thriller author Ethan Wyatt, who irritates her to no end. But Maggie is determined not to let it put a damper on her good time. After all, the host of the party is Eleanor Ashley, the most famous mystery author in the world. But neither Maggie nor Ethan were anticipating it turning into a mystery party, which is just what happens when Eleanor goes missing from a locked room. Is it part of the party or something sinister? Snowbound by a sudden storm while trying to ignore the sparks between them, can the two rival writers use their criminal minds to sort out the clues and solve the crime?
Love and Sportsball by Meka James
Score! Khadijah Upton is starting her dream job as an athletic trainer for the Atlanta Cannons. She’s determined to put everything out of her mind, including a recent steamy one-night-stand, and focus on work. But on her first day on the job, she discovers that basketball star Shae Harris was the beautiful stranger from that night. Shae has a reputation for leaving broken hearts in her wake, and Khadijah doesn’t want anything to interfere with her dreams. And besides, work and play don’t mix. But as the season goes on, and the heat between them lingers, Khadijah wonders if she could love the player and the game.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Just One Bread: Two Great Romances Set in Bakeries
Things are heating up in these two fun romances filled with baked goods and chemistry galore!
Battle Royal by Lucy Parker
This romance takes the cake! If a unicorn opened a bakery, it would look like Sylvie Fairchild’s shop. She creates colorful confections that capture the eye and the imagination. Her new bakery is basically the exact opposite of Dominic De Vere’s shop across the street. He is all about tradition and subtlety when it comes to baking. Which is why he voted her off the reality baking show Operation Cake four years ago. So far, they’ve mostly avoided each other despite being neighbors. But then Sylvie is asked to come back to the show as a judge, and they learn they are both in the running to make the cake for the royal wedding of the decade. Working together stirs up some delicious feelings between them, but will their rivals-to-lovers romance prove to be a recipe for disaster?
Fake It Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley
And speaking of reality shows and getting some sugar: After a disastrous appearance on a reality dating show, Jada Townsend-Matthews returns home to San Diego to lay low. She takes a job at a new cupcake bakery, Sugar Blitz, where she has to contend with its grumpy but handsome owner, professional football player Donovan Dell. A job’s a job, as far as Jada’s concerned, but when a reporter mistakenly believes that Jada and Donovan are dating, she smells opportunity. A bakery romance between the two famous figures will help sales and Jada’s public image. But how long can they pretend to be into each other before their relationship catches fire away from the cameras?
Romance Books Links:
New on Book Riot: 8 Great New Romance Comics to Satisfy Your Romantic Heart.
Read an excerpt of Payal Mehta’s Romance Revenge Plot by Preeti Chhibber.
Lizzie Damilola Blackburn revealed the cover of her upcoming romance The Re-Write. I loved Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?, so I am excited to get my hands on this one!
That is all for me today, love lovers! I had a blast talking about kissing books with you. (Okay, at you.) If you want to hear about more romance books, or all sorts of other genres, be sure to subscribe to the All the Books! podcast. Until next time, see ya, hope you get your HEA.
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