Happy Monday! Today I’m spotlighting of my most anticipated book releases in December. There are so many books I need to add to my bookshelves, including contemporary and historical romances, paranormal romance, ya fantasy, and more. Let’s check them out!
Dec. 1st: A Gentleman Will Never… Forget a Lady by Emily Windsor
Title: A Gentleman Will Never… Forget a Lady
Author: Emily Windsor
Series: The Governess Chronicles #3
Page Length: 200
Publication Date: Dec. 1, 2022
Publisher: Senara Press
Synopsis: Get swept away this winter to rugged Wales…
Having lost her beloved, Lady Gwen Evans is planning a life of travel, writing books on her adventures.
But will the arrival of a dark, scarred stranger, one winter’s eve, disrupt all her plans…
A heart-warming Regency tale with sensual scenes.
Dec. 6th: Witcha Gonna Do? by Avery Flynn
Title: Witcha Gonna Do?
Author: Avery Flynn
Series: Witchington #1
Page Length: 336
Publication Date: Dec. 6, 2022
Publisher: Berkley
Synopsis: Could it possibly get any worse than having absolutely no magical abilities when you’re a member of the most powerful family of witches ever? It used to be that I’d say no, but then I keep getting set up on dates with Gil Connolly whose hotness is only matched by his ego. Seriously. I can’t stand him. Even if I also can’t stop thinking about him (specifically kissing him) but we’re going to pretend I never told you that part.
So yeah, my life isn’t the greatest right now, but then it goes straight to the absolute worst hell when I accidentally make my sister’s spell glitch and curse my whole family. And the only person who can help non-magical me break the spell? You guessed it. Gil the super hot jerk.
Now we have to work together to save my family and outmaneuver some evil-minded nefarious forces bent on world domination. Oh yeah, and we have to do all that while fighting against the attraction building between us because I may not be magical, but what’s happening between Gil and I sure feels like it.
Dec. 6th: The Poison Season by Mara Rutherford
Title: The Poison Season
Author: Mara Rutherford
Page Length: 384
Publication Date: Dec. 6, 2022
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Synopsis: One choice could change everything.
Leelo has spent her whole life on Endla, coexisting with the bloodthirsty forest and respecting the poisonous lake that protects her island from outsiders who seek to destroy it. But as much as Leelo cares for her community, she struggles with the knowledge that her brother will be exiled and forced to live with the outsiders unless he gains enchantment powers before his next birthday.
Then comes the day that Leelo sees a young outsider on the verge of drowning in the lake. She knows she is supposed to leave him to his fate, but, instead, she betrays her family, her best friend, and her whole community by helping nurse the young man, Jaren, back to health, understanding that discovery could lead to unthinkable consequences for both of them.
As they grow closer, Leelo and Jaren discover that not all danger comes from beyond the lake—and they can only survive if Leelo is willing to question the very fabric of her society, her people, and herself.
Dec. 6th: A Dash of Salt and Pepper by Kosoko Jackson
Title: A Dash of Salt and Pepper
Author: Kosoko Jackson
Page Length: 384
Publication Date: Dec. 6, 2022
Publisher: Synopsis: Sometimes two cooks in the kitchen are better than one in this swoony romantic comedy from the author of I’m So (Not) Over You.
Xavier Reynolds is doing less than stellar. He just got dumped, was passed over for a prestigious fellowship, and to top it all off he’s right back home in Harper’s Cove, Maine (population: 9,000). The last thing he wants to do is to work as a prep chef in the kitchen of the hip new restaurant in town, The Wharf. Especially since the hot, single-father chef who owns it can’t delegate to save his life.
Logan O’Hare doesn’t understand Xavier or why every word out of his mouth is dipped in sarcasm. Unfortunately, he has no choice but to hire him–he needs more help in the kitchen and his tween daughter, Anne, can only mince so many onions. It might be a recipe for disaster, but Logan doesn’t have many options besides Xavier.
Stuck between a stove and a hot place, Logan and Xavier discover an unexpected connection. But when the heat between them threatens to top the Scoville scale, they’ll have to decide if they can make their relationship work or if life has seasoned them too differently.
Dec. 6th: The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique by Samantha Vérant
Title: The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique
Author: Samantha Vérant
Page Length: 352
Publication Date: Dec. 6, 2022
Publisher: Berkley Books
Synopsis: Kate Jenkins doesn’t believe in fate. She believes in a clear vision, meticulous planning, and hard work in order to achieve her culinary dreams. On the cusp of opening her own Parisian restaurant, Bistro Exotique, she isn’t even concerned when her standoffish–and annoyingly sexy–neighbor dismisses her as a crazy American tourist or when she meets the wildly eccentric Garrance, the self-proclaimed Spice Master of Paris, who ominously warns her of the previous owner’s failures.
Confident and optimistic, Kate keeps calm and cooks on. Until a series of unfortunate events derail her plans and her entire staff quits.
Kate is about to throw in the kitchen towel on her lifelong dream when Garrance offers to use her mastery of scents and spices to help her, but it comes at a price: Kate must work with Garrance’s son, Charles, a world-class chef and total jerk. After Kate hesitantly concedes to the deal, she slowly learns to open her heart and mind to new concepts, not quite sure if the magic she’s experiencing comes from Garrance’s spices, from within herself, or from the growing chemistry with Charles. One thing is certain, though: her kitchen is getting increasingly hot.
Dec. 6th: The Girl by Victory Witherkeigh
Title: The Girl
Author: Victory Witherkeigh
Page Length: 354
Publication Date: Dec. 6, 2022
Publisher: Cinnabar Moth Publishing
Synopsis: The parents knew it had been a mistake to have a girl. At birth, the girl’s long, elegant fingers wriggled and grasped forward, motioning to strangle the very air from her mother’s lungs. As she grew older, she grew more like her father, whose ancestors would dream of those soon to die. She walked and talked in her sleep, and her parents warded themselves, telling the girl that she was evil, unlovable, their burden to bear only until her eighteenth birthday released them.
The average person on the streets of Los Angeles would look at the girl and see a young woman with dark chocolate eyes, curly long hair, and tanned skin of her Filipina heritage. Her teachers praised her for her scholarly achievements and extracurricular activities, from academic decathlon to cheer.
The girl knew she was different, especially as she grew to accept that the other children’s parents didn’t despise them. Her parents whispered about their pact as odd and disturbing occurrences continued to happen around her. The girl thought being an evil demon should require the skies to bleed, the ground to tremble, an animal sacrifice to seal the bargain, or at least cause some general mayhem. Did other demons work so hard to find friends, do well on their homework, and protect their spoiled younger brother?
The demon was patient. It could afford to wait, to remind the girl when she was hurt that power was hers to take. She needed only embrace it. It could wait. The girl’s parents were doing much of its work already.
Dec. 13th: How to Win a Wallflower by Samara Parish
Title: How to Win a Wallflower
Author: Samara Parish
Series: Rebels With a Cause #3
Page Length: 384
Publication Date: Dec. 13, 2022
Publisher: Forever
Synopsis: When John Barnesworth is forced to take his brother’s place as viscount, he discovers that not only are the estates bankrupt, he’s been contracted into an engagement with a cruel debutante. Now he’s looking for a way out—some way to save the estates and the people who work on them without shackling himself to a lady who sees him for what he is—broken, defective, and unworthy of being the viscount.
Lady Charlotte Stirling has been in love with her brother’s best friend since they were children. But his return to London was not what she’d hoped. Not only is he betrothed to her mortal enemy, he’s determined to return to America. So, she sucks up her feelings and sets out to find him an American heiress whose dowry can pay off his debts and who would be happy to have a life in America. But the more time they spend together on the marriage mart, the more it becomes clear that the only bride he needs is the one who’s been by his side all along.
Dec. 13th: The Magician by Heloisa Prieto
Title: The Musician
Author: Heloisa Prieto
Page Length: 200
Publication Date: Dec. 13, 2022
Publisher: Koehler Books
Synopsis: Thomas has felt alone most of his life, his only companions the musical creatures that he can see but others can’t. Wealth, talent, charisma, good looks, and fame conceal the eighteen-year-old’s lingering pain following the loss of his parents. His music is his bridge to the world, and his favorite form of connection.
A chance meeting with a group of strangers leads to the eventual revelation of his magical musical secret-and there are those who wish to steal it from him. Soon the wealthy Dr. Alonso and his beguiling daughter, Dora, trick Thomas into joining a cult from which he may never escape.
When Marlui, a young Guarani shaman, senses the danger surrounding Thomas, she vows to protect him from Dr. Alonso at all costs. Can she rescue him, or will Thomas succumb to the advances of Dora and lose not only his heart but the powers that bring him joy?
Dec. 27th: A Wicked Game by Kate Bateman
Title: A Wicked Game
Author: Kate Bateman
Series: Ruthless Rivals #3
Page Length: 304
Publication Date: Dec. 27, 2022
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Synopsis: A teasing bet.
Shipwrecked and imprisoned thanks to an incorrect map, Captain Morgan Davies has returned to London to exact sweet revenge on the cartographer responsible for his suffering. He’s also vowed to claim the winner’s prize―three kisses―in the bet he made with his long-time nemesis, the prickly, smart-mouthed Harriet Montgomery. His incarceration has clarified his feelings for her, but convincing the infuriating woman he wants to marry her is going to be his greatest challenge yet. When Harriet’s revealed to be the very mapmaker he seeks, Morgan decides to combine revenge and seduction into one delightful package. . .
A dangerous enemy.
Harriet’s always wanted witty scoundrel Morgan, and now he’s back; as handsome and as taunting as ever. She has enough on her plate dealing with her father’s failing eyesight and a rival mapmaker copying her work to play wicked games with a dastardly Davies―however tempting he might be. But when a threat from Morgan’s past puts them both in danger, Harry discovers that she and Morgan might not be enemies at all . . .
Dec. 27th: Cinderella and the Duke by Lydia Drake
Title: Cinderella and the Duke
Author: Lydia Drake
Page Length: 352
Publication Date: Dec. 27, 2022
Publisher: Entangled Amara
Synopsis: Miss Julia Beaumont has exactly one night to find herself a husband…
The Weatherford Ball is the last chance Julia Beaumont has to escape the clutches of her horrid stepmother. Any potential husband will do—rich, poor, even a reasonably well-groomed walrus. But all of Julia’s matrimonial chances are completely obliterated…thanks to the actions of an infuriating and utterly rakish duke.
Gregory Carter, Duke of Ashworth, would never risk his cherished bachelorhood by flirting with marriage-starved debutantes. But one look at the luscious and refreshingly clever Julia, and he simply can’t resist a stolen kiss—scandal be damned. Then just as things start getting deliciously interesting, the lady flees…leaving only a slipper behind.
And it must have been one dandy of a kiss. Because now Julia has proposed to him. After all, the lady needs a husband, and this roguish duke will certainly do. It’s simply a matter of making him the perfect scandalous offer…
Dec. 27th: Stolen From the Demon Prince by Lauren Crowne
Title: Stolen From the Demon Prince
Author: Lauren Crowne
Series: Sins of the Blood War #2
Page Length:
Publication Date: Dec. 27, 2022
Synopsis: The demon prince is possessive, jealous, and determined to protect what is his.
Can the prince ever see me, a former fae slave, as his equal?
Or will he always see me as only a possession to protect?
The longer Leo and I are in the demon kingdom, the more obvious it becomes to both of us that it’s not safe for me to stay there with him. Demons want to take me from him at every turn, and rival factions are eager to use me as a pawn to hurt the prince.
When it seems impossible for us to be together, will the prince abandon his title, throne, and kingdom for me?
Or should I seek out the fae city and find a new home with my own kind?
Despite all of the forces working against us, deep down I know that the only home I’ve ever wanted was with him.
Unfortunately for me, there are demons who will refuse to let that happen.
Are you looking forward to any of these? Comment below!
There have been some really good releases this year!
I agree. It’s been a great reading year!
So many of these look really good, but The Poison Season is right at the top of my list! Great post.
Thanks, Leah! I hope you enjoy The Poison Season.
I hope you enjoy these!
Thanks so much!
a dash of salt and pepper is AMAZING!! maybe my fave romance of the year.
Really!? That makes me even more excited to read it!!!