Anticipation, Part I: The Books I’m Looking Forward to in 2013 (January-June)

So the best of 2012 lists have been posted and discussed, but there’s another list I enjoy creating and sharing just as much—my list of the romance fiction I look forward to reading in 2013. This is not a comprehensive list. The Romance Dish, Heroes and Heartbreakers, and All aboutRomance all post lists each month of the romance novels and novels with strong romantic elements in all subgenres. (Links are to January lists.) I encourage you to check the lists at those sites because they are inclusive. My list is from my book calendar, and it includes only those books I plan to read the first six months of this year. Even with this restriction, the list may be incomplete, particularly for books scheduled for release after March 31. I’m sure I’ll be adding to the list as I read ARCs, reviews, and raves from friends and as I discover more new releases from authors who are self-publishing. Sometimes publishers change titles and release dates after early information is released, but based on the information available to me on January 1, 2013, these are the romance novels (and a few novellas) that have me singing a variation of an old Carly Simon song.

We never know all about the books to come,

but we dream about them anyway, yay.

And I wonder if they’ll really be keepers

or just books to read and give away.

Anticipation, anticipation

is making me sigh

and keepin’ me smilin’

These are the great new books—

Anticipation!

JANUARY 

1

The Baby Bump* (HSE), Jennifer Greene

Waking Up with a Rake (Royal Rake #1), Mia Marlowe

Beach House Beginnings* (prequel Beach House series), Christie Ridgway

The Scoundrel Takes a Bride (Regency Rogue #5), Stefanie Sloane

2

Back to the Good Fortune Diner* (HSR), Vicki Essex

Countdown to First Night* (anthology), Jillian Hart et al.

A Hometown Boy* (HSR), Janice Kay Johnson

That Weekend* (HSR), Jennifer McKenzie

The Other Side of Us* (HSR), Sarah Mayberry

The Truth about Comfort Cove* (HSR--Comfort Cove #2), Tara Taylor Quinn

Something to Believe In (HSR), Kimberly Van Meter

8

Dream Eyes (Dark Legacy #2), Jayne Ann Krentz

15

Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker – Jennifer Chiaverini

22

Be Mine: Sizzle/Too Fast to Fall/Alone with You (anthology),

Jennifer Crusie, Victoria Dahl, Shannon Stacey

Moonlight Masquerade (Edelian #8), Jude Deveraux

The Downfall of a Good Girl* (Harlequin Kiss), Kimberly Lang

Out of Warranty, Haywood Smith

The Marriage Campaign* (Summer Sisters #3), Karen Templeton

24

The Lost Art of Mixing, Erica Bauermeister

28

How to Misbehave (novella, introduction to Camelot series), Ruthie Knox

29

When She Said I Do (Worthington #1, Celeste Bradley

How to Entice an Earl* (Ugly Ducklings #3), Manda Collins

That Scandalous Summer* (Rules for the Reckless #1), Meredith Duran

Here I Go Again, Jen Lancaster

One Good Earl Deserves a Lover* (Rules for Scoundrels #2), Sarah MacLean

The Temptation of Your Touch, Teresa Medeiros

That Night on Thistle Lane* (Swift River Valley #2), Carla Neggers

When Summer Comes* (Whiskey Creek #3), Brenda Novak

Crazy Thing Called Love* (Crooked Creek Ranch #3), Molly O’Keefe

Beach House No. 9* (Beach House #1), Christie Ridgway

The Long Way Home* (Chesapeake Diaries #6), Mariah Stewart 

FEBRUARY

1

Finding Justice (HSR), Rachel Brimble

Lady Eve’s Indiscretion (Windham Sisters #2), Grace Burrowes

The Closer You Get (HSR), Kristi Gold

Reservations for Two (HSR), Jennifer Lohmann

Wild for the Sheriff (HSR), Kathleen O’Brien

In from the Cold (HSR), Mary Sullivan

Bending the Rules (HSR), Margaret Watson

5

The Autumn Bride (Chance Sisters #1), Anne Gracie

A Duke Never Yields (Affairs by Moonlight #3), Juliana Gray

Crystal Cove (Friday Harbor #4), Lisa Kleypas

19

One Less Lonely Cowboy (HSE), Kathleen Eagle

Bungalow Nights (Beach House #2), Christie Ridgway

More Than Words, Where Dreams Begin (anthology),

Sherryl Woods, Christina Skye, Pamela Morsi

21

Captain Durant’s Countess (The London List #2, ebook), Maggie Robinson

26

Perfect Timing (Kendrick/Coulter #11), Catherine Anderson

A Bride by Moonlight* (Fraternitas Aureae Crucis #4), Liz Carlyle

The Best Man* (Blue Heron #1), Kristan Higgins

Lord of Darkness (Maiden Lane #5), Elizabeth Hoyt

The Conquest of Lady Cassandra (Fairbourne Quartet #2), Madeleine Hunter

The Earl Is Mine (House of Brady #2), Kieran Kramer

The Last Debutante (Secrets of Hadley Green #4), Julia London

A Most Scandalous Proposal*, Ashlyn MacNamara

Three Sisters* (Blackberry Island #2), Susan Mallery

The Duke Diaries* (Royal Entourage #3), Sophia Nash 

MARCH

1

Back Where She Belongs (HSR), Dawn Atkins

The Next Right Thing (HSR), Colleen Collins

An Act of Persuasion (HSR), Stephanie Doyle

Anything for Her (HSR), Janice Kay Johnson

Maybe This Time (HSR), Joan Kilby

Home to Laura (HSR), Mary Sullivan

5

The Heart of a Hero (Spellbound Falls #4), Janet Chapman

What Darkness Brings (Sebastian St. Cyr #8), C. S. Harris

The Second Chance Café* (Hope Springs #1), Alison Kent

11

Along Came Trouble (Camelot #1), Ruthie Knox

12

With This Kiss (e-short: Seducing the Pirate 2^nd Generation, Part 1), Eloisa James

14

Family Pictures, Jane Green

19

With This Promise (e-short: Seducing the Pirate 2^nd Generation, Part 2), Eloisa James

Leaving Everything Most Loved (Maisie Dobbs #10), Jacqueline Winspear

26

Secrets of a Runaway Bride (Secret Brides #2), Valerie Bowman

And the Miss Ran Away with the Rake* (Rhymes with Love #2), Elizabeth Boyle

The Wanderer (Thunder Point #1), Robyn Carr

The Handbook to Handling His Lordship (Scandalous Brides #4), Suzanne Enoch

The Paris Affair (Suzanne & Malcolm #3), Teresa Grant

With This Ring (e-short: Seducing the Pirate 2^nd Generation, Part 3), Eloisa James

Once Tempted (Silver Creek #1), Laura Moore

Last Chance Book Club (Last Chance #6), Hope Ramsay

Sins of a Ruthless Rogue (Sinners #2), Anna Randol

The Love Shack (Beach House #3), Christie Ridgway

What She Wants (Icicle Falls #3), Sheila Roberts

Currant Creek Valley (Hope’s Crossings #4), RaeAnne Thayne

Sandcastle Bay (Ocean Breeze #1), Sherryl Woods

APRIL

1

Far in the Wilds (prequel novella), Deanna Raybourn

2

Talk of the Town (HSR-Shady Grove #1), Beth Andrews

Darius (Lonely Lords #1), Grace Burrowes

A Better Father (HSR), Kris Fletcher

The Summer Place (HSR), Pamela Hearon

You Are Invited . . .  (HSR), Holly Jacobs

Love Irresistibly (FBI/US Attorney #4), Julie James

The First Move (HSR), Jennifer Lohmann

Right from the Start (HSR), Jeanie London

Starting Now (Blossom Street #9), Debbie Macomber

Let It be Me (Blue Raven #5), Kate Noble

The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After (2^nd Epilogues), Julia Quinn

Sweet Madness (Veiled Seduction #3), Heather Snow

One Texas Night, Jodi Thomas

While We Were Watching Downton Abbey, Wendy Wax

8
Hero of My Heart, Megan Frampton

9

It Happened at the Fair, Deeanne Gist

The Mystery of Mercy Close (Walsh Family #5), Marian Keyes

The Ashford Affair*, Laura Willig

16

Whiskey Beach, Nora Roberts

19

Aunt Dimity and the Lost Prince (Aunt Dimity #18), Nancy Atherton

Making His Way Home (Mirror Lake #6), Kathryn Springer

23

Tarnished Among the Ton, Louise Allen

Fly Away, Kristin Hannah

Her Hesitant Heart (HH), Carla Kelley

The Greatest of Sins, Christine Merrill

The Mystery Woman (The Ladies of Lantern Street #2), Amanda Quick

A Spear of Summer Grass*, Deanna Raybourn

30

Half Moon Hill (Destiny #6), Toni Blake

Midnight Temptations with a Forbidden Lord (Dangerous Rogues #2), Tiffany Clare

Run to You, Rachel Gibson

Cowboy, Take Me Away (Rainbow Valley #1), Jane Graves

Lord of Wicked Intentions (Lost Lords of Pembroke #3), Lorraine Heath

The Devil’s Heart (Chatham’s Curse #3), Cathy Maxwell

What a Lady Needs (Redgraves #2), Kasey Michaels

A Passion for Pleasure (Daring Hearts #2), Nina Rowan

Barefoot in the Sun (Barefoot Bay #3), Roxanne St. Claire

Wind Chime Point (Ocean Breeze #2), Sherryl Woods

MAY

1

Halfway There (Fool’s Gold novella), Susan Mallery

6

Ten Reasons to Stay (novella, School for Heiresses 7.5), Sabrina Jeffries

7

A Prior Engagement (HSR, SAS #4), Karina Bliss

Jane’s Gift (HSR), Abby Gaines,

True to the Law, Jo Goodman

A Family Reunited (HSR), Dorie Graham

Dead, White, and Blue (Death on Demand #23), Carolyn Hart

April Showers (HSR), Holly Jacobs

Where It May Lead (HSR), Janice Kay Johnson

Whisper’s Edge (Cricket Creek #7), Luanne McLane

Her Perfect Cowboy (HAR), Trish Milburn

It’s Never Too Late (HSR), Tara Taylor Quinn

Heart on His Sleeve, Jodi Thomas

21

Meant to Be (Book #1), Terri Osburn

28

The Secret Life of Lady Julia, Lecia Cornwall

Any Duchess Will Do (Spindle Cove #4), Tessa Dare

Exposed (Tracers #7), Laura Griffin

I’ll Be Seeing You, Suzanne Hayes & Loretta Nyhan

Once Upon a Tower (Fairy Tales #5), Eloisa James

Just One Kiss (Fool’s Gold #11), Susan Mallery

It Had to Be You (Lucky Harbor #7), Jill Shalvis

Love at First Sight (Cupid, Texas #1), Lori Wilde

Sea Glass Island (Ocean Breeze #3), Sherryl Woods

30

A Hundred Summers, Beatriz Williams

JUNE

1

Earl Meets Girl (Royal Pain #2), Megan Mulry

2

Swept Away (novella), Mariah Stewart

4

Ladies Night, Mary Kay Andrews

A Cookbook Conspiracy (Bibliophile Mystery #7), Kate Carlisle

Just for Today (HSR), Emmie Dark

How to Tame Your Duke, Juliana Gray

A Walk down the Aisle (HSR), Holly Jacobs

Carolina Girl (Dare Island #2), Virginia Kantra

A Time for Us (HSR), Amy Knupp

Romanced by a Rake (Royal Rakes #2), Mia Marlowe

The Father of Her Son (HSR), Kathleen Pickering

His Uptown Girl (HSR), Liz Talley

Can’t Stop Believing (Harmony #6), Jodi Thomas

Once a Champion (HSR), Jeannie Watt

The Time Between, Karen White

10

Flirting with Disaster (Camelot #2), Ruthie Knox

18

Whistling Past the Graveyard, Susan Crandall

Sweet Salt Air, Barbara Delinsky

What The Duke Desires (Duke’s Men #1), Sabrina Jeffries

Through the Evil Days (Clair & Russ #8), Julia Spencer Fleming

25

London’s Last True Scoundrel (Ministry of Marriage #4), Christina Brooke

The Newcomer (Thunder Point #2), Robyn Carr

Vixen in Velvet (Dressmakers #3), Loretta Chase

Scandal in the Night (Reckless Brides #3), Elizabeth Essex

A Woman Entangled (Blackshear Family #3), Cecilia Grant

The Duchess Hunt (House of Trent #1), Jennifer Haymore

It Happened One Midnight (Pennyroyal Green #8), Julie Anne Long

Two of a Kind (Fool’s Gold #12), Susan Mallery

The Sum of All Kisses (Smythe-Smith #3), Julia Quinn

The Miss Education of Dr. Exeter (Paranormal Investigator #3), Jillian Stone

Anything But Sweet, Candis Terry

Willowleaf Lane (Hope’s Crossing #5), RaeAnne Thayne

All Out of Love (Cupid, Texas #2), Lori Wilde

June ?

Fatal Mistake (Fatal #6), Marie Force

That’s 179 books I hope to read in the first six months of this year. I have read twenty-five already (those marked with an asterisk), and I’m excited about the rest. What am I anticipating most eagerly between now and June 30? A tough question, but here’s my top ten: the release of How to Entice an Earl (featuring my favorite hero in Manda Collins’s Ugly Duckling trilogy), the start of a new Anne Gracie series with The Autumn Bride, Eloisa James’s three-part second generation tale that’s a spinoff from The Ugly Duchess and “Seducing the Pirate,” the two books (The Wanderer and The Newcomer) in Robyn Carr’s first new series in almost six years, the print publication at long last of the Bridgertons’ second epilogues  (Happily Ever After), Wendy Wax’s provocatively entitled While We Were Watching Downton Abbey, a return trip to Virginia Kantra’s Dare Island (Carolina Girl), a new book from Susan Crandall (Whistling Past the Graveyard), the eighth Pennyroyal Green book from Julie Anne Long (It Happened One Midnight), AND the release of Meant to Be (Terri Osburn’s debut) on May 21.

What books are you most eagerly anticipating in the first six months of 2013? What should I add to my list?

Note: Anticipation, Part II: The Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2013 (July-December) will be posted in late May.