Authors and Their New Releases

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday is actually all about ten things books have made me want to do or learn about after reading them, but I just didn’t really have any inspiration for that topic. So, I decided to pick a topic I did have a lot of ideas for. What I’ve currently been unable to stop thinking about are books that are coming out in the next year, and the authors that I absolutely love. Because of that, I decided that this would be a bit of a hybrid topic. It will be the top ten authors whose books I add to my bookshelf as fast as they come out, and their newest releases. So, in other words, this is about my top ten favorite authors, and their next book that’s releasing! Here goes! Oh, and click on any of the coral colored titles to see my full reviews of one of the books!

Melanie Dickerson

Melanie has been on my list of favorites for quite some time, probably because all of her novels are absolutely fantastic. I most recently read The Beautiful Pretender which came out just two months ago, but I’m definitely super excited for The Silent Songbird, and can’t wait until it comes out in November!

Evangeline is gifted with a heavenly voice, but she is trapped in a sinister betrothal—until she embarks on a daring escape and meets brave Westley le Wyse. Can he help her discover the freedom to sing again?

Desperate to flee a political marriage to her cousin King Richard II’s closest advisor, Lord Shiveley—a man twice her age with shadowy motives—Evangeline runs away and joins a small band of servants journeying back to Glynval, their home village.

Pretending to be mute, she gets to know Westley le Wyse, their handsome young leader, who is intrigued by the beautiful servant girl. But when the truth comes out, it may shatter any hope that love could grow between them.

More than Evangeline’s future is at stake as she finds herself entangled in a web of intrigue that threatens England’s monarchy. Should she give herself up to protect the only person who cares about her? If she does, who will save the king from a plot to steal his throne?

Shelley Shepard Gray

Shelley is definitely an author I love, though I have to say, I like her historical novels even more than her Amish ones. The most recent novel I read by her is A Daughter’s Dream, which also released two months ago, but I’m more excited for The Loyal Heart, which released just a couple of weeks ago and is on its way to my house now!

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 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.

Rachel Hauck

Rachel is an author who has been on my list of favorites since I read my first novel by her years ago, and her place on the list just got higher when I read her most recent release, The Wedding Chapel. Because of that, I’m even more excited for The Wedding Shop, which comes out next month.

Two women separated by decades. Both set out to help others find their dreams when their own have crumbled.

It’s the early 1930s, but Cora Scott is walking in stride as a career woman after having inherited her great aunt’s wedding shop in Heart’s Bend, Tennessee, where brides come from as far away as Birmingham to experience her famed bridal treatment. Meanwhile, Cora is counting down the days until her own true love returns from the river to make her his bride. But days turn into months and months to years. All the while, Birch Good continues to woo Cora and try to show her that while he is solid and dependable, he can sweep her off her feet.

More than eighty years later, former Air Force Captain Haley Morgan has returned home to Heart’s Bend after finishing her commitment to military service. After the devastating death of her best friend, Tammy, and discovering the truth about the man she loved, Haley is searching for her place in life.

When Haley decides to reopen the romantic but abandoned wedding shop where she and Tammy played and dreamed as children, she begins a journey of courage, mystery, and love.
As Cora's and Haley's stories intertwine through time in the shadow of the beloved wedding shop, they both discover the power of their own dreams and the magic of everyday love.

Denise Hunter

Denise is by far one of my top five favorite authors, and I’ve just grown to love her writing even more as I’ve read her most recent series, namely the latest installment, The Goodbye Bride. What I’m really excited for though, is the next book in the series, Just a Kiss, which comes out in September!

Riley Callahan’s plans to reveal his secret feelings for his best friend are ruined when his life is drastically altered in Afghanistan.

Watching the love of his life falling for his brother was enough to send Riley straight to boot camp. But over a year later, he’s officially a marine, and Beau and Paige are no longer an item. When Riley’s tour in Afghanistan is up, he intends to confess his feelings to Paige and win his best friend’s heart once and for all.

But all that changes when an IED takes the life of a comrade and leaves Riley an amputee. Now he’s heading home, injured and troubled. His plans to win Paige are a distant dream. She deserves so much more than the man that’s left. All he can do now is put some healthy distance between them. But upon his return he discovers his family has arranged for him to stay with Paige.

Paige is a nurturer at heart and happy to take care of her best buddy. By all appearances he’s adjusting miraculously well to his disability. But as the days pass, Paige begins to see that the smiles and laughter are just a mask for the pain he’s hiding. He has nightmares and mood swings, and his unwavering independence keeps him from accepting help from anyone, including her. To make matters worse, her job is in serious jeopardy. The animal shelter that she’s poured her heart into has lost its funding, and she has three months to come up with the money needed to save it.

As the weeks wear on with the two in such close proximity, Paige’s feelings for Riley begin to shift into unchartered territory. Why is she suddenly noticing his corded arm muscles and the way his lips curl at the corners? Will she be able to deny her feelings for another Callahan brother? And will Riley let his heart heal so he can let Paige in?

Kristi Ann Hunter

Kristi Ann has been on my list of favorite authors even before her debut novel came out, because I read her e-short prequel that released before it. Just last week I finished her most recent addition to the series, An Elegant Façade, and I absolutely loved it, so now I’m even more excited for the next book—An Uncommon Courtship—and its release this January.

Life for Lady Adelaide Bell was easier if she hid in her older sister’s shadow—which worked until her sister got married. Even with the pressure of her socially ambitious mother, the last thing she expected was a marriage of convenience to save her previously spotless reputation.

Lord Trent Hawthorne couldn’t be happier that he is not the duke in the family. He’s free to manage his small estate and take his time discovering the life he wants to lead, which includes grand plans of wooing and falling in love with the woman of his choice. When he finds himself honor bound to marry a woman he doesn’t know, his dream of a marriage like his parents’ seems lost forever.

Already starting their marriage on shaky ground, can Adelaide and Trent’s relationship survive the pressures of London society?

Julie Klassen

I’ve read every single one of Julie’s novels, so it was a no-brainer that she belonged on this list. Her most recent novel, The Painter’s Daughter, was definitely one of my favorites, and I can’t wait for her newest release that comes out in December, The Innkeeper of Ivy Hill.

On a rise overlooking the Wiltshire countryside stands the village of Ivy Hill. Its coaching inn, The Bell, is its lifeblood—along with the coach lines that stop there daily, bringing news, mail, travelers, and much-needed trade.

Jane Bell lives on the edge of the inn property. She had been a genteel lady until she married the charming innkeeper who promised she would never have to work in his family’s inn. But when he dies under mysterious circumstances, Jane finds herself The Bell’s owner, and worse, she has three months to pay a large loan or lose the place.

Feeling reluctant and ill-equipped, Jane is tempted to abandon her husband’s legacy and return to her former life of ease. However, she soon realizes there is more at stake than her comfort. But who can she trust to help her? Her resentful mother-in-law? Her husband’s brother, who wanted the inn for himself? Of the handsome newcomer with secret plans of his own?

With pressure mounting from the bank, Jane struggles to win over naysayers and turn the place around. Can Jane bring new life to the inn, and to her heart as well?

Sarah E. Ladd

Sarah has also been one of my favorites ever since I read my first book by her; in fact, every single book of hers that I have read, I own. I really, really enjoyed her most recent novel, Dawn at Emberwilde, and that made me super excited to read the next book in the series, A Stranger at Fellsworth, when it comes out in May.

 

When a stranger comes to Fellsworth School, everything begins to change…including the stranger.

Annabelle Grayson has it all—beauty, wealth, and wit, but when her guardian brother loses their fortune, he insists that she marry his colleague to help restore his business—a colleague she knows is involved in illegal activities. She sees only one way out of the dangerous situation: she escapes from her home in London to the safety of her estranged uncle’s home at the Fellsworth School.

Owen Stratford, a widower, father, and gamekeeper at Amberton Park, is intrigued yet suspicious of the newcomer. His daughter, along with the townspeople, sings her praises, but something about this stranger is different. As the only person in town aware of her secret past, he determines to solve the mystery surrounding her in order to protect those he loves.

After settling into a new way of life, Annabelle falls for the humble gamekeeper and dreams of a future in this simpler life, and over time, Owen thinks he can trust Annabelle, despite the dark mystery shrouding her. But when Annabelle’s brother learns of her whereabouts and blackmails her back into his world, she grows desperate. She wants to resist her brother’s demands, but by remaining at the Fellsworth School she puts everyone in danger. When the unthinkable happens, only Owen can piece together the puzzle to set Annabelle free. When all comes to light, the two souls must come to terms with the secrets in the shadows before they can find peace and love in the light.

Sarah Sundin

I just recently added Sarah to my favorites list, and that was purely because of her most recent release, Anchor in the Storm. I absolutely loved it, and that made me super excited for the next book, When Tides Turn, which releases in March.

When Quintessa Beaumont learns the Navy has established the WAVES program for women, she enlists, eager to throw off her frivolous ways and truly contribute to the US effort in World War II. Determined to make admiral, Lt. Dan Avery employs his skills to fight U-boats, and the last thing he wants to see on his radar is fun-loving Tess. When Tess is assigned to work with Dan at the Anti-Submarine Warfare Unit in Boston, she finds her affections drawn by the no-nonsense officer, realizing he sees her as the greatest nonsense of all. As she works hard to prove her worth as a WAVE, she also investigates strange happenings in her friend Yvette Lafontaine’s group of French ex-patriates. Is there a spy in their midst? And has that spy infiltrated the anti-submarine research group? When Dan is assigned to a new escort carrier at the peak of the Battle of the Atlantic, he is torn between his lifelong career goals and his desire to help Tess on shore. While the German Navy challenges Dan’s skills, the changes in Tess challenge his notions—and his heart.

Jen Turano

Jen has also been one of my favorites for quite some time, and I was just reminded why when I read her most recent novel, Playing the Part. Now I’m super excited for Behind the Scenes, her newest novel that releases in April.

Miss Permilia Griswold may have been given the opportunity of a debut into New York high society, but no one warned her she wasn’t guaranteed to “take.” After spending the last six years banished to the wallflower section of the ballroom, she’s finally putting her status on the fringes of society to good use by penning anonymous society gossip columns under the pseudonym “Miss Quill.”

Mr. Asher Rutherford has managed to maintain his status as a reputable gentleman of society despite opening his own department store. While pretending it’s simply a lark to fill his time, he has quite legitimate reasons for needing to make his store the most successful in the country. When Permilia overhears a threat against the estimable Mr. Rutherford, she’s determined to find and warn the man. Disgruntled at a first meeting that goes quite poorly and results in Asher not believing her, she decides to take matters into her own hands, never realizing she’ll end up at risk as well.

As Asher and Permilia are forced to work together and spend time away from the spotlight of society, perhaps there’s more going on behind the scenes than they ever could have anticipated…

Roseanna M. White

Roseanna has been one of my favorite authors for a very, very long time, and I was once again reminded why when I read The Reluctant Duchess, her most recent release. That novel also made me even more excited for her next book, A Lady Unrivaled, that comes out in September.

Lady Ella Myerston can always find a reason to smile—even if it’s just in hope that tomorrow will be better than today. All her life everyone has tried to protect her from the realities of the world, but Ella knows very well the danger that has haunted her brother and their friend, and she won’t wait for it to strike again. She intends to take action…and if that happens to involve an adventurous trip to the Cotswolds, then so much the better.

Lord Cayton has already broken two hearts, including that of his first wife, who died before he could convince himself to love her. Now he’s determined to live a better life. But that proves complicated when old friends arrive on the scene and try to threaten him into a life of crime. He does his best to remove the intriguing Lady Ella from danger, but the stubborn girl won’t budge. How else can he redeem himself, though, but by saving her—and his daughter—from those dangerous people who seem ready to destroy them all?

Those are ten of my favorite authors and their soonest-to-release novels!

Happy Tuesday and happy reading!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

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.