Summer Reading 2013

Officially, the first day of summer is June 21, but all the signs of summer are present and accounted for at my house. It’s a humid 80 degrees with afternoon thunderstorms forecast, the grands are out of school, we’ve already had picnics and cookouts, Braves baseball accounts for a steady stream of conversation, and the summer reading program at the local library is in full swing. Oh, yes, it’s definitely summer here.

My reading calendar is just one more piece of evidence that summer has begun. I have almost one hundred books on my TBR list for June, July, and August. I’ve already read nineteen of them. (See the bolded titles on the list below.) I can tell you that you have some wonderful books coming to bookstores near you this summer. I’m reading Carolina Girl by Virginia Kantra today, and I have another ten books from the list waiting on my Kindle. (See titles marked with an asterisk.) I’ve already reviewed a few of these books. You will see the rest here At Just Janga, at The Romance Dish, or at GoodReads over the summer months.

I’m particularly excited about new books from Susan Crandall (Whistling Past the Graveyard, a coming-of-age story with a nine-year-old narrator set in 1960s Mississippi, set for release  on July 2) and Pamela Morsi (Love Overdue, a romance with a sedate Kansas librarian who is longing to free her Inner Vixen, set for release on August 27). Crandall and Morsi are both authors whose voices I love and whose books always leave me longing for the next one.

Historical romance is my favorite subgenre, and I am eagerly anticipating the summer offerings, especially Manda Collins’s Wicked Widows series which debuts on July 30 with Why Dukes Say I Do and Anna Campbell’s new Sons of Sin novella (Days of Rakes and Roses) on July 2 and novel (A Rake's Midnight Kiss) on August 27. I am also enthusiastically looking forward to the Billionaire Brothers series by Lily Everett (aka Louisa Edwards). This contemporary series, consisting of three enovellas (The Firefly Café, The Summer Cottage, and Island Road) releasing on July 2, 9, and 16, is set on Sanctuary Island and serves as a prequel to the novel Sanctuary Island (July 30), described as a place “where broken hearts come to heal—and where every lost soul will find a home.”  

Every book on this list promises to be a great summer read.

 JUNE

3 Stewart, Mariah Swept Away (novella) 4 Andrews, Mary Kay Ladies Night Burrowes, Grace Ethan Carlisle, Kate A Cookbook Conspiracy* Dark, Emmie Just for Today Gray, Juliana How to Tame Your Duke Jacobs, Holly A Walk Down the Aisle Kantra, Virginia Carolina Girl* Kaye, Robin You're The One Marlowe, Mia Romanced by a Rake Pickering, Kathleen The Father of Her Son Talley, Liz His Uptown Girl Thomas, Jodi Can't Stop Believing White, Karen The Time Between 18 Collins, Manda The Perks of Being a Beauty Delinsky, Barbara Sweet Salt Air (HB) Goodnight, Linda Baby in His Arms Jeffries, Sabrina What the Duke Desires Wilde, Lori One True Love 25 Beaton, M. C. Hiss and Hers (pb of 2012 release) Brogan, Tracy Hold on My Heart* Carr, Robyn The Newcomer Grant, Celia A Woman Entangled Griffin. Laura Exposed Haymore, Jennifer The Duchess Hunt Long, Julie Anne It Happened One Midnight Mallery, Susan Two of a Kind Monroe, Mary Alice The Summer Girls Pappano, Marilyn A Hero to Come Home To Rice, Luanne Little Night Richards, Emilie            Somewhere Between Luck and Trust Stone, Jillian The Miss Education of Dr. Exeter Terry, Candis Anything But Sweet Thayne, RaeAnne Willowleaf Lane Wilde, Lori All Out of Love

JULY 1 DeStefano, Anna A Sweetbrook Family  2 Krotow, Geri Navy Orders O'Brien, Kathleen Betting on the Cowboy Brooke, Christina London's Last True Scoundrel Burrowes, Grace Beckman Campbell, Anna Days of Rakes and Roses Crandall, Susan Whistling Past the Graveyard Everett, Lily The Firefly Café (enovella) Essex, Elizabeth Scandal in the Night Frank, Dorothea Benton The Last Original Wife Mulry, Megan If the Shoe Fits Rice, Luanne The Lemon Orchard Robinson, Maggie In the Arms of the Heiress 9 Everett, Lily The Summer Cottage (enovella) Naigle, Nancy Wedding Cakes and Big Mistakes* St. Claire, Roxanne Don't You Wish (YA) 15 Foley, Gaelen My Notorious Gentleman 16 Everett, Lily Island Road (enovella) 23 DeStefano, Anna Three Days on Mimosa Lane 30 Andersen, Susan Some Like It Hot Ashe, Katharine How to Marry a Highlander Collins, Manda Why Dukes Say I Do Cornick, Nicola The Lady and the Laird* Everett, Lily Sanctuary Island Jordan, Sophie How to Lose a Bride in One Night* Linden, Caroline Love and Other Scandals* Mallery, Susan Three Little Words Novak, Brenda Home to Whiskey Creek Ranney, Karen The Devil and Clan Sinclair* Robinson. Maggie Lady Anne's Lover* AUGUST 1 Kelly, Carla The Double Cross 6 Andrews, Beth What Happens Between Friends Altman, Kathy Staying at Joe's* Beverley, Jo Seduction in Silk Burrowes, Grace Once Upon a Tartan Drake, Laura Her Road Home George, Lily Healing the Soldier's Heart Johnson, Janice Kay From This Day On Lee, Jade What the Bride Wore Quinn, Tara Taylor Second Time's the Charm Ross, JoAnn Castaway Cove Scott, Regina The Courting Campaign* Warner, Kaki Behind His Blue Eyes Willig, Lauren The Passion of the Purple Plumeria 13 London, Julia Homecoming Ranch Macomber, Debbie Rose Harbor in Bloom 20 Allen, Louise Rumors: Scandal Comes to Wimpole Hall Ashley, Jennifer The Untamed MacKenzie Greene, Jennifer The Bonus Mom (HSE) Stuart, Anne Never Kiss a Rake 27 Ashe, Katharine I Married the Duke The Arrangement Mary Balogh Campbell, Anna A Rake's Midnight Kiss Carr, Robyn The Hero Castle, Jayne Deception Cove Chapman, Janet For the Love of Magic Kramer, Kieran Say Yes to the Duke Macnamara, Ashlyn A Most Devilish Rogue Morsi, Pamela Love Overdue Neville, Miranda The Ruin of a Rogue Putney, Mary Jo Sometimes a Rogue Will you be reading this summer? At the beach?  At the mountains? At home with the airconditioner on low? What books are you most eagerly anticipaing?