Hide Your Wallet: April 8th Release Week!

Welcome back to Hide Your Wallet!

It’s Tuesday and we’re talking new releases! It appears that Sarah’s trend prediction of romance with mystery elements is spot-on. There are also a couple emotional contemporaries and of course, more fantasy romances.

What new releases are you excited for this week? Let us know in the comments!

• A Proposal to Die For

  

  A fast-paced, witty, and delightful new mystery about a marriage proposal planner whose biggest job yet is threatened by a dead body (or two).

  Jessamine Bricker loves a plan. Contingency plans and pros-and-cons lists are her love language, and because of that, her proposal planning business is thriving. But with rent costs rising at her office building, Jess jumps at the chance to plan a proposal between her snobby high school classmate, Diana, and her very wealthy boyfriend, Trenton Tillard…the Fourth.

  Roped into joining Diana’s ”pre-bridal” retreat at the exclusive Golden Ash resort, Jess hopes to fade into the background, get some work done, and maybe find some time to unwind. Their first day is anything but relaxing: Diana is furious about the mountain spa’s lack of cell phone reception, the couple next door argues constantly, and Jess swears she just saw a drug deal go down. To top it all off, she’s warned to stay out of the woods by the gruff and sexy chef, Dean Osbourne. Is this a retreat or a horror movie?

  As Jess tries to do her job while placating the bride-to-be and her increasingly over-the-top demands, she spends more and more time with the resort owners, finding herself much more in tune with the laid-back Osbourne family than her social climbing “boss.” Between a meditation garden-related drowning and Jess’s discovery of a body in a sauna, it’s clear that deadly secrets abound at the Golden Ash. Now it’s up to Jess to unravel the mysteries here in the mountains—before all her plans are cancelled…permanently.

  Sarah: Does anyone else remember when all the big historical writers started writing thrillers? I feel like that trend/planet has reached its return because a lot of romance authors are now writing mysteries. A proposal planner (whut) is at a pre-bridal retreat when a body shows up, and the chef at the retreat center is hot. I’m curious!

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• Firebird

  

  House of the Dragon meets From Blood and Ash in this epic, scorching dark romantasy.

  A conqueror captivated…
  A witch prophesied to save them all…
  A world where dragons rule Rome.

  From the moment Roman general and nephew to the emperor Julianus Dakkia laid eyes on Malina, he was enthralled by the Dacian dancer. Years later, the fierce beauty stands before him on a scarred battlefield, her life in danger. He instinctively shifts into his fierce dragon form to save her, an action that may mean his head on the imperial gate. But he and his dragon know one thing: she belongs to them.

  Malina can’t believe that the centurion who had once bestowed a secret talisman on her is the Roman general of legendary brutality. His warrior prowess cannot be denied, yet they don’t reveal the secret he hides. All Malina knows is his protection and gentle touch. And she cannot deny how her soul has always seemed to answer his.

  As they navigate a world where flying deathriders conquer and burn, their love will ignite a firestorm that can only end in heartbreak or death. Or both.

  Amanda: I’ve been a fan of Juliette Cross’s books for years and I’m curious about the Roman setting.

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• Flirting Lessons

  

  The exciting new contemporary romance—and her first to feature a queer romance—by New York Times bestselling author Jasmine Guillory

  Avery Jensen is almost thirty, fresh off a breakup, and she’s tired of always being so uptight and well-behaved. She wants to get a hobby, date around (especially other women), flirt with everyone she sees, all the fun stuff normal people do in their twenties. One Avery doesn’t know how to do any of that. She doesn’t have a lot of dating experience, with men or women, and despite being self-assured at work, she doesn’t have a lot of confidence when it comes to romance.

  Enter Taylor Cameron, Napa Valley’s biggest flirt and champion heartbreaker. Taylor just broke up with her most recent girlfriend, and her best friend bet her that she can’t make it until Labor Day without sleeping with someone. (Two whole months? Without sex? Taylor?!?!) So, she offers to give Avery flirting lessons. It will keep her busy, stop her from texting people she shouldn’t. And it might distract her from how inadequate she feels compared to her friends, who all seem much more settled and adult than Taylor.

  At first, Avery is stiff and nervous, but Taylor is patient and encouraging, and soon, Avery looks forward to their weekly lessons. She tells herself it’s because the lessons are fun, not because she kind of might have a little bit of a crush on Taylor. Taylor doesn’t even try to deny that she’s intrigued by Avery, but she’s still got a bet to win. With Taylor’s help, Avery is finally doing what she wants to flirting with lots of women, making friends, having fun! But after a while, it becomes impossible for Avery and Taylor to ignore their attraction to one another, despite them both insisting to themselves and everyone else that it isn’t serious. When Taylor is forced to confront her feelings for Avery, she doesn’t know what to do, how to deal with it, and most importantly, if she’s already ruined the best thing she’s ever had.

  Jasmine Guillory’s latest contemporary romance and it’s f/f!

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• The Geographer’s Map to Romance

  

  Geography professors in a failed marriage of convenience inconveniently reconnect for an emergency mission in this swoony historical-fantasy rom-com.

  Professor Elodie Tarrant is an expert in magic disasters. Nothing fazes her—except her own personal disaster, that Professor Gabriel Tarrant, the grumpy, unfriendly man she married for convenience a year ago, whom she secretly loves.

  Gabriel is also an expert in magic disasters. And nothing fazes him either—except the walking, talking tornado that is his wife. They’ve been estranged since shortly after their wedding day, but that hasn’t stopped him from stoically pining for her.

  When magic erupts in a small Welsh village, threatening catastrophe for the rest of England, Elodie and Gabriel are accidentally both assigned to the case. With the fate of the country in their hands, they must come together as a team in the face of perilous conditions like explosions, domesticated goats, and only one bed. But this is easier said than done. After all, there’s no navigational guide for the geography of the heart.

  The second book in Holton’s historical fantasy romance where nerds find their niches and fall in love. 

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• House of Blight

  

  The first novel in an eerie, darkly creative, and romantic new gothic fantasy duology from Maxym M. Martineau, for readers of Sarah J. Maas and Rachel Gillig.

  Edira Brillwyn is a threadmender. She holds a rare, lifesaving power that can cure disease and heal injuries in the blink of an eye. But magic always comes with a cost, and saving anyone sacrifices a sliver of her own life. She’s always kept her abilities hidden…until the powerful Fernglove family discovers her secret.

  The Ferngloves are charming and beautiful, possess powerful magic, and don’t take no for an answer—especially Orin, the head of these ruling elites. When Edira’s brothers unexpectedly contract blight—an incurable virus killing people throughout the town, and an illness too strong for her to heal them both—Orin offers to help. Together at his estate they’ll research a cure while Orin slows their sickness and Edira hones her magic. His kindness and honesty surprises Edira, as does her undeniable attraction to him.

  But the other Ferngloves are suspicious of her power and may be more dangerous than the ever-present disease. The longer Edira stays within the confines of the Manor, the more the family’s pristine exterior begins to crack—until Edira discovers a terrifying secret and must choose who she can save and at what cost…

  Amanda: I enjoyed Martineau’s debut adult fantasy romance, and then they repackaged it for YA audiences and she switched fully to writing for YA audiences, which aren’t usually my bag.

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• The Matchmaker

  

  A society matchmaker realizes she’s in danger when her clients’ weddings are sabotaged in increasingly disturbing ways—an utterly original mystery from New York Times bestselling author Aisha Saeed.

  Nura Khan is a third-generation matchmaker in Atlanta and business has never been better. Her exclusive clientele benefits from her impeccable track record. And while a single thirty-one-year-old matchmaker would normally raise some perfectly threaded eyebrows in the community, Nura’s childhood best friend Azar is willing to double as her pretend fiancé at her clients’ weddings—as long as Nura is able to hide that her feelings for him might not be so pretend.

  But Nura quickly learns that all that glitters isn’t gold. While it’s not uncommon to get the occasional hate mail from rejected prospective clients, after a couple’s carefully constructed wedding implodes, Nura is blindsided by a cascading chain of increasingly terrifying events and realizes someone is taking things too far. With Azar by her side, Nura embarks on a dangerous cat-and-mouse game that threatens not only her safety but everything she’s worked so hard to build.

  Sarah: A matchmaker is in danger after her clients’ weddings are sabotaged. And she has a pretend fiancé? Ok, I’m in!

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• Passion Project

  

  “Passion Project will charm your pants off and carve itself a permanent place in your heart. Full of deep emotion and top-tier banter, this authentic, affectionate slow burn is absolutely worth the wait.” —Laura Hankin, author of One-Star Romance

  “Not only a sparkling romantic comedy, but a thoughtful look at navigating grief and the hopefulness of opening yourself to new possibilities. Bennet is messy and relatable, and her chemistry with Henry is delicious, crackling, and immediate.” —Trish Doller, internationally bestselling author of Float Plan

  If your twenties are supposed to be the best years of your life, Bennet Taylor is failing miserably . . . with a big emphasis on the miserable. Where’s that zest she keeps hearing about? She’s a temp worker in New York City with no direction, no future, and no social life. And at the painful center of this listlessness is grief over the death of her first love.

  When Bennet runs into Henry Adams just hours after standing him up for a first date, she makes an alcohol-fueled confession: She’s not ready to date. In fact, it’s been years since she felt passion for something. Not even pottery, or organized sports—not anything. Rather than leaving her to ruminate, Henry jumps at the opportunity for adventure: Bennet needs to find a passion for life, and Henry will help her find it. Every Saturday, they’ll try something new in New York City. As friends, of course.

  As their “passion project” continues, the pair tackle everything from carpentry to tattooing to rappelling off skyscrapers, and Bennet feels her guarded exterior ebbing away. But as secrets surface, Bennet has to decide what she wants, and if she’s truly ready to move on. With emotional resonance and sparkling banter, Passion Project is a fun, flirty, thoughtful story of finding a spark—and igniting happiness.

  Dahlia: This one is so quietly devastating in a way that really captures depression, and then gets progressively more delightful thanks to the absolutely sparkling chemistry between the characters. I truly did not want to put it down (except for needing some breathers from the MC’s extremely relatable self-destructive tendencies, which is entirely complimentary), and it’s a perfect read for fans of Trish Doller’s Float Plan, of which I’m probably in the top ten.

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