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
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.
