Monday, June 27, 2016

Must-Have July Releases

        I can’t believe it’s already almost July! On the one hand, it feels like summer just started and I have barely been home a couple of weeks, and on the other hand it feels as if I haven’t seen my friends from school in a year. No matter which it is, time is marching on the same as it always has, and before I know it, or after it seems like forever has passed, school will be starting back again. But let’s not talk about that! Summer most definitely isn’t over yet, and I’ve got a great list of books that would be fantastic additions to your summer reading list!


Sarah’s Surrender
        When Sarah Worley rejects Luke McNeil’s proposal to pursue property in the Oklahoma Territory land lottery in 1901, the ranch hand pulls up stakes and goes after her. But he’s the last person she wants to see. The land lottery gives Sarah the chance to realize her dream of independence and a home of her own. But with it comes challenges she never considered. When her dream becomes a nightmare, she must decide whether to stay on her land or give up and return to the life she left. Luke hopes that by winning a claim, he can give Sarah the home she’s always wanted. How can he prove his love and show the stubborn woman the he’s the right man for her?


        Sarah’s Surrender is the third book in Vickie McDonough’s Land Rush Dreams series, coming after Gabriel’s Atonement and Joline’s Redemption. I’ve read both the previous novels in this series; in fact, I own the both of them, and I absolutely loved them. Clearly, I’ve been anticipating this novel for a while, and have plans to add it to my personal collection so that I will own the whole series. Because of that, you can be sure to hear my glowing review of this book sometime soon!

A Beauty Refined
        Phoebe Von Bergen is excited to accompany her father when he travels from Germany to purchase sapphires in Montana. Little does she know that her father’s plans—for the gemstones and his daughter—are not what they seem.
        Ian Harper, a lapidary working in Helena, finds the young woman staying at the Broadwater Hotel more than a little intriguing. Yet the more he gets to know her, the more he realizes that her family story is based on a lie—a lie that she has no knowledge of. And Ian believes he knows the only path that will lead her to freedom.
        Meeting Ian has changed everything. Phoebe is determined to stay in America, regardless of her father’s plans. But she may not be prepared for the unexpected danger as the deception begins to unravel.


        A Beauty Refined is the second book in Tracie Peterson’s Sapphire Brides series, coming after A Treasure Concealed. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to read the first book since it wasn’t at my library yet, but I am confident that I would like both that novel, and this one!

An Elegant Façade
        Lady Georgina Hawthorne has worked tirelessly to seal her place as the Incomparable for her debut season. At her first London ball, she hopes to snag the attention of an earl.
        With money and business connections, but without impeccable bloodlines, Colin McCrae is invited everywhere but accepted nowhere. When he first encounters the fashionable Lady Georgina, he’s irritated by his attraction to a woman who concerns herself only with status and appearance.
        What Colin doesn’t know is that Georgina’s desperate social aspirations are driven by the shameful secret she harbors. Association with Colin McCrae is not part of Georgina’s plan, but as their paths continue to cross, they both must decide if the realization of their dreams is worth the sacrifices they must make.


        An Elegant Façade is the second book in Kristi Ann Hunter’s Hawthorne House series, coming after A Noble Masquerade. I absolutely loved the first novel, so I’ve been dying to read this book for what seems like forever. I’m a huge fan of Kristi’s, so you can be sure this is another book I’ll be reviewing in the near future.

Honor Redeemed
Two men vie for her affection—survival will depend on choosing the right one.
        Two years ago, Prosperity Jones waved farewell to her beloved David as the army send him to faraway Key West. Now with her parents gone, she has but one prospect for the future: make the dangerous journey from Nantucket to Key West to reunite with David and secure a happier life. Arriving penniless in the South, Prosperity is dismayed to find David married to someone else. Scrambling to survive and nursing a broken heart, she gains the friendship—and the affection—of a kind doctor. Could he be the answer to her loneliness? Or will her life be upended by circumstance yet again?


        Honor Redeemed is the second book in Christine Johnson’s Keys of Promise series, coming after Love’s Rescue. I didn’t really enjoy Love’s Rescue all that much, but I’m still hopeful that this new installment will be better than the first.

No Way Up
        When Cimarron ranch patriarch Chance Boden is caught in an avalanche, the quick actions of hired hand Heath Kincaid save him. Badly injured, Chance demands that his will be read and its conditions be enforced immediately.
        Without anyone else to serve as witness, Heath is pressed into reading the will. If Justin, Sadie, and Cole Boden don’t live and work at home for the entire year, the ranch will go to their low-down cousin Mike.
        Then Heath discovers the avalanche was a murder attempt, and more danger might follow. Deeply involved with the family, Heath’s desire to protect Sadie goes far beyond friendship. The danger keeps them close together, and their feelings grow until being apart is the last thing on their minds.


        No Way Up is the first book in Mary Connealy’s Cimarron Legacy series, but wouldn’t be the first book I’ve ever read by her. I read Petticoat Detective a while back, and absolutely loved it, so I’m super excited for this new series. I can’t wait until I get to read it!

What Matters Most
        Leta Breckenridge is forced to drop out of college to care for her dementia-ridden mother. After learning a severely delinquent account may force her mother into a less desirable facility, Leta steps out of her comfort zone and lands a high-paying job at an Austin public relations firm. But her dream job turns into a nightmare when she learns the firm is a front for a political opposition machine—and that the research she’s been collecting will be used against her new love interest, Nathan Emerson.
        Nathan is a rising political star being pressured to run a bid to unseat the current governor of Texas. He’s already in a relationship with a woman much better suited to be a politician’s wife, but he’s never met anyone like Leta. Could this feisty, challenging woman hold the key to his heart?


        What Matters Most is the fourth book in Kellie Coates Gilbert’s Texas Gold series, coming after A Woman of Fortune, Where Rivers Part, and A Reason to Stay. I only had the chance to read the first one, but I absolutely loved it, so I’m positive that I will enjoy the other two novels in the series, and this latest release!

The Loyal Heart
Robert came to Galveston to fulfill his promise to a dying man and look after his widow. He didn’t expect to find love in the unlikeliest of places.
        Robert Truax, former Second Lieutenant and Confederate officer in the Civil War, made a promise to his comrade Phillip Markham. If anything happened to Phillip, Robert would look after his beloved wife, Miranda. She was his life, his world, his everything.
        After the war, Robert is left to pick up the pieces and fulfill his pact. When he arrives at Miranda’s home in Galveston, Texas, things are worse than he imagined. Phillip’s name has been dragged through the mud, everyone in town believes him to be a traitor, and his widow is treated as an outcast. Even more disturbing is her emotional well-being. Miranda seems hopeless, lost, and so very alone.
        Robert had thought his duty would be simple. He would help Miranda as quickly as possible in order to honor a promise. But the moment Robert laid eyes on her, his plans changed. He’s mesmerized by her beauty and yearns to help her in any way he can.
        He makes it his duty to protect Miranda, turn her reputation around, and to find some way to help her smile again. But it doesn’t prove to be an easy task—Robert knows something about Phillip that could shake Miranda to the core and alter her view of the man she thought she knew so well.


        The Loyal Heart is the first of Shelley Shepard Gray’s Lone Star Hero’s Love Story novels, but definitely wouldn’t be the first book I’ve ever read by her. One of her historical fiction novels, Whispers in the Reading Room, is one of my favorite novels of all time, and I’m also fond of her Amish novels as well. Therefore, I have great hope that this will be another wonderful novel.

To Follow Her Heart
        It is 1664 and Patience Terry is devastated to learn that Captain Jeremy Horton’s ship has been shipwrecked off the coast of Barbados, with no survivors. She had hoped that Jeremy would someday give up the sea and settle down with her in Southold, Long Island.
        Unaware his memorial service is being planned, Jeremy is rescued and aboard a British Naval Gunship with secret orders to attack New Amsterdam and claim it for the British Crown. When he makes his surprise return to Southold—and to an overjoyed Patience—it’s not the happily-ever-after his beloved had hoped for.


        To Follow Her Heart is the third book in Rebecca DeMarino’s Southold Chronicles series, coming after A Place in His Heart and To Capture Her Heart. I read A Place in His Heart quite a few months ago, but because of my busy summer schedule I didn’t have a chance to read the second novel. I wasn’t exceptionally fond of the first installment, but I did enjoy it to a degree, so I’m hopeful that this novel will be one I can enjoy!

        Those are my must-have releases for the month of July! What about you? What are some new releases you can’t wait for?
        Happy July and happy reading!


To see where I’m linking up, check out my Where I Party page.

All credit for the italicized synopses goes to each author and their respective publishers.

2 comments:

  1. Wow, you have a lot of reading to do.Thanks so much for sharing these titles on the #LMMLinkup. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really do! It seems as if my TBR pile never ends! Thanks so much for hosting the linkup!

      Delete