Saturday, January 5, 2013

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 2nd Generation, Part 1), Eloisa James

14
Family Pictures, Jane Green

19
With This Promise (e-short: Seducing the Pirate 2nd 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 2nd 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 (2nd 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.


12 comments:

pjpuppymom said...

I love your anticipation lists, Janga. I bookmark them and refer back to them to make sure I don't miss anything. :)

Many of the books on your list are on mine as well. Offhand, there are two books (not on your list) coming out in the first quarter that I highly recommend. First is the delightful historical romance debut from Jennifer McQuiston, WHAT HAPPENS IN SCOTLAND (Feb. 26). I gobbled this book up from first page to last.

The other is a small-town contemporary from Juliana Stone that kicks off a new series about three childhood friends (the heroes)who come home to their small Michigan hometown to bury one of their own. THE SUMMER HE CAME HOME (Apr 2) features a rock singer/guitarist hero at a crossroads in his life and a heroine with a small son to protect from the secrets of her past. It kept me up reading until 2:15am.

pjpuppymom said...

Oops! Only one is first quarter but April 2nd is pretty close, right? ;-)

Janga said...

Thanks, PJ. I saw your FB comment on the McQuiston book and made a note about it then. I'll be sure to check out The Summer He Came Home too. Did I see that one on Net Galley.

Janga said...

No worry about the April 2 date. This part of the list runs through June. :)

pjpuppymom said...

Yes, Janga. THE SUMMER HE CAME HOME is on NetGalley.

Keira Soleore said...

PJ: Thanks for the McQuiston rec.

Janga, thanks much for this list. I always wait for your lists since not only do you have all the titles I want to read with the correct dates, but you also have good suggestions for books I haven't tried.

Here are others on my list. You don't read Jane Porter?

January
"His Very Own Girl" by Carrie Lofty

February
"The Good Daughter" by Jane Porter

September
"The Burning Sky" (Elemental Trilogy) by Sherry Thomas
"An Ideal Scoundrel" by Miranda Neville

November
Book by Jane Porter

February 2014
"Flavor of a Blue Moon" by Barbara O'Neal

Janga said...

Good. I'll check it out ASAP. Thanks, PJ.

Janga said...

Keira, I'm glad you find the list useful. I always enjoy creating it.

I have read Jane Porter, but I've had mixed reactions to her books. I had some problems with The Good Woman and probably won't read the rest of the Brennan sisters series unless I try library copies at some point.

However, I loved Carrie Lofty's His Very Own Girl. I gave it five stars when I reviewed it for The Romance Dish and included it on my Top 12 for 2012 list. I just didn't think about adding the print release to the 2013 list. I should have because I hope it will win the attention it deserves. Thanks for reminding me. I'll have to make up for that omission.

Miranda Neville's An Ideal Scoundrel will show up on part II of the list (July-December), which I'll post in late May or early June. Neville is an autobuy for me, as is Barbara O'Neal/ Barbara Samuel. I'm sad she won't have a new release in 2013, but I never tire of rereading her books. I'll have to console myself with rereads and with looking forward to 2014--early 2014, I hope.

I'm also a huge Sherry Thomas fan, and I rejoiced when she clarified her "no-more-historicals" statement. The Ideal Gentleman--or whatever its final title may be--will definitely be on part II of the list, but I'm not so sure about The Burning Sky. "Reverse-Harry Potter meets The Matrix" doesn't sound like my kind of book. I'll probably wait for reviews to decide about that one.

Jane said...

I'm always excited when Meredith Duran has an upcoming release. I'm also looking forward to Laura Griffin's "Exposed" and Suzanne Enoch's "The Handbook to Handling His Lordship."

Janga said...

Jane, I've recently read Duran's When Summer Comes, and it's definitely worth anticipating with excitement. Enoch has long been one of my autobuys; I'm looking forward to her new one too. Although I don't read a lot of romantic suspense, I've enjoyed Laura Griffin's books ever since Manda Collins recommended her so enthusiastically that I was persuaded to give her a try. Lots of good reading ahead in 2013.

Quantum said...

This list leaves me gasping for air; I can only cope with 1 month at a time!

For Jan I have noted Brenda Novak, Teresa Maderos, MANDA COLLINS, Jennifer Crusie, Jayne Anne Krenz, Sarah Mayberry. Manda is a must.

Janga, I think I'll wait for your reviews of the best before emptying my TBB fund. LOL

Fascinating to see so many brilliant authors in one month. Just shows how fierce the competition is for new authors.

PS
AVG anti-virus detected the following threat on the site:

File Name: www.terriosburn.com/favicon.ico

Threatname:
Exploit Black Hole Exploit Kit

Janga said...

Q, I like your January list. Manda definitely deserves the caps. :)

Horrors, a virus! now I have to figure out what to do.