Happy Thursday! Today I’m spotlighting some April releases I’m super excited about. There are so many fantastic-sounding books here, and I’ve even read a few already. SPELL BOUND is a wonderful read that I absolutely loved, as is DIVINE RIVALS.
Let’s check out all of the books I’m most eager to read. In addition to the fantasies, there are several contemporary, historical, and paranormal romances, as well as a darker NA romantasy!
April 4th: Spell Bound by F.T. Lukens
Page Length: 336
Publication Date: April 4, 2023
Publisher: Simon Teen
Synopsis: Two rival apprentice sorcerers must team up to save their teachers and protect their own magic in this lively young adult romantic adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of In Deeper Waters and So This Is Ever After.
Edison Rooker isn’t sure what to expect when he enters the office of Antonia Hex, the powerful sorceress who runs a call center for magical emergencies. He doesn’t have much experience with hexes or curses. Heck, he doesn’t even have magic. But he does have a plan—to regain the access to the magical world he lost when his grandmother passed.
Antonia is…intimidating, but she gives him a job and a new name—Rook—both of which he’s happy to accept. Now all Rook has to do is keep his Spell Binder, an illegal magical detection device, hidden from the Magical Consortium. And contend with Sun, the grumpy and annoyingly cute apprentice to Antonia’s rival colleague, Fable. But dealing with competition isn’t so bad; as Sun seems to pop up more and more, and Rook minds less and less.
But when the Consortium gets wind of Rook’s Spell Binder, they come for Antonia. All alone, Rook runs to the only other magical person he knows: Sun. Except Fable has also been attacked, and now Rook and Sun have no choice but to work together to get their mentors back…or face losing their magic forever.
April 4th: Ana María and the Fox by Liana De la Rosa
Series: The Luna Sisters #1
Page Length: 352
Publication Date: April 4, 2023
Publisher: Berkley Books
Synopsis: Ana María Luna Valdés has strived to be the perfect daughter, the perfect niece, and the perfect representative of the powerful Luna familia. So, when Ana María is secretly sent to London with her sisters to seek refuge during the French occupation of Mexico, she experiences her first taste of freedom far from the judgmental eyes of her domineering father. If only she could ignore the piercing looks she receives across ballroom floors from the austere Mr. Fox.
Gideon Fox elevated himself from the London gutters by chasing his burning desire for more: more opportunities, more choices. For everyone. Now as a member of Parliament, Gideon’s on the cusp of securing the votes he needs to put forth a measure to abolish the Atlantic slave trade once and for all–a cause that is close to his heart as the grandson of a formerly enslaved woman. The charmingly vexing Ana María is a distraction he must ignore.
But when Ana María finds herself in the crosshairs of a nefarious nobleman with his own political agenda, Gideon knows he must offer his hand as protection…but will this Mexican heiress win his heart as well?
April 4th: Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Series: Iris at the Front #1
Page Length: 368
Publication Date: April 4, 2023
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Synopsis: When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever.
After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.
To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish―into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.
Shadow and Bone meets Lore in this epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.
April 4th: What the Hex? by Jessica Clare
Series: Hex #2
Page Length: 336
Publication Date: April 4, 2023
Publisher: Berkley Books
Synopsis: Penny Roundtree wants nothing more than to be a familiar to a witch. She’s been a member of the Society of Familiars ever since she was old enough to join the Fam. There’s just a small problem–no one’s hiring. Witches and warlocks are so long-lived that there are far more familiars available than witches to train them. So when an unorthodox arrangement to apprentice under the table to a forbidden warlock presents itself, she takes it.
Willem Sauer is banned from having a familiar due to past transgressions, thereby limiting his magic-casting abilities. Unfortunately for the surly, Prussian warlock, he has no choice but to work with enthusiastic Penny as a familiar. They immediately clash like dried roan horsehair and honeycomb gathered by moonlight (it’s a terrible spell combination, ask anyone).
Casting spells has delightful perks Penny never could have dreamed of, but also greater dangers. Someone is targeting Penny. Willem and Penny must work together to catch their enemy, and if their ploy requires a little kissing on the side, who is to question the rules of magic?
April 4th: Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken
Series: Silver in the Bone #1
Page Length: 480
Publication Date: April 4, 2023
Synopsis: Tamsin Lark didn’t ask to be a Hollower. As a mortal with no magical talent, she was never meant to break into ancient crypts, or compete with sorceresses and Cunningfolk for the treasures inside. But after her thieving foster father disappeared without so much as a goodbye, it was the only way to keep herself—and her brother, Cabell—alive.
Ten years later, rumors are swirling that her guardian vanished with a powerful ring from Arthurian legend. A run-in with her rival Emrys ignites Tamsin’s hope that the ring could free Cabell from a curse that threatens both of them. But they aren’t the only ones who covet the ring.
As word spreads, greedy Hollowers start circling, and many would kill to have it for themselves. While Emrys is the last person Tamsin would choose to partner with, she needs all the help she can get to edge out her competitors in the race for the ring. Together, they dive headfirst into a vipers’ nest of dark magic, exposing a deadly secret with the power to awaken ghosts of the past and shatter her last hope of saving her brother. . . .
April 11th: Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
Page Length: 400
Publication Date: April 11, 2023
Publisher: Forever
Synopsis: Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin’-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass” scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter.
And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who’s terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her “sob closet,” and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable—a kidney for her brother—she wonders just how she can resist this quietly sexy new doctor . . . especially when he calls in a favor she can’t refuse.
April 11th: Light My Pyre by Kat Kinney
Series: Everwood Falls #1
Publication Date: April 11, 2023
Synopsis: EVERWOOD FALLS… a small supernatural community tucked up in the Colorado Rockies where witches, werewolves and vampires can live without fear of discovery, and those with curses they can’t control are sent to keep the existence of magic from being revealed to Mundanes.
As a prince of the fae High Court, Asher Heath has always been caught between two worlds—the kingdom of faerie where his fire magic is unparalleled and the human realm where he works as a firefighter. But two months ago, he lost control of a blaze his fae magic was supposed to contain, with tragic results. With his magic poisoned by a demon curse, he can’t risk getting close to anyone… including Gwyn, the fierce and beautiful dragon shifter he encounters out in a thunderstorm in the woods. But trouble has followed Asher to Everwood Falls. An arsonist is setting fires around town using demon magic to possess their victims—and their targets get bigger every time.
Gwyneth Drake doesn’t need a prince to save her. She shifts into a twenty-foot fire-breathing dragon who can fight her own battles. A fierce advocate for the dragon community, she was forced into hiding when an ex tried to sear her dragon from the skies. Now dragon blood has been found at one of the arson sites and she and Asher will have to work together to stop the arsonist before they strike again. Someone from Gwyn’s past may have followed her to Everwood Falls, and they’re too close to the case for comfort…
With a herd of enchanted elk, carnivorous spruce trees, and sentient pumpkins that stalk the local landscaping, Everwood Falls is a quirky mountain town where fangs and fur mean found family.
April 11th: A Problem Princess by Anna Harrington
Series: Lords of the Armory #6
Publication Date: April 11, 2023
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Synopsis: General Clayton Elliott, Home Office Undersecretary and new viscount, gets suspicious when London is too quiet. Everyone says that the anarchist group he’s been fighting died along with its leader, but his instincts say just the opposite.
Then he meets Her Serene Highness Princess Cordelia of Monrovia. She’s supposed to be on an innocent visit to London to make a match with one of the royal dukes. Resigned to doing her duty for her country, she doesn’t even care which duke. But when she is shockingly attacked at a party, Clayton becomes her bodyguard. Is there a connection between the evil group Spectre and whoever apparently wants the princess dead? The longer Clayton and Cordelia spend evading her enemies and pursuing their individual missions, the more they realize they can depend only on each other…
April 18th: The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart
Series: The Drowning Empire #3
Page Length: 624
Publication Date: April 18, 2023
Publisher: Orbit Books
Synopsis: Lin Sukai has won her first victory as Emperor, but the future of the Phoenix Empire hangs in the balance – and Lin is dangerously short of allies.
As her own governors plot treason, the Shardless Few renew hostilities. Worse still, Lin discovers her old nemesis Nisong has joined forces with the rogue Alanga, Ragan. Both seek her death.
Yet hopes lies in history. Legend tells of seven mythic swords, forged in centuries past. If Lin can find them before her enemies, she may yet be able to turn the tide.
If she fails, the Sukai dynasty – and the entire empire – will fall.
April 18th: Jasmine and Jake Rock the Boat by Sonya Lalli
Page Length:
Publication Date: April 18, 2023
Publisher: Berkley
Synopsis:An impulsive decision to join an Alaskan cruise getaway brings the chance for an onboard romance in this new enemies-to-lovers romance from the author of A Holly Jolly Diwali.
Jasmine Randhawa likes everyone to think she has it all—great job, perfect Seattle apartment, and a handsome boyfriend. But she’s not as confident or successful as she seems, and her relationship is at a breaking point.
When Jasmine finds herself single and tagging along on her parents’ vacation, she’s not sure her life can get any farther off course. It’s a nightmare for someone who’s been so fiercely independent to find herself on a cruise full of family friends who’ve judged her since childhood. Things only get worse once the ship leaves the harbor and she realizes that this is a seniors’ cruise, and the only other person under fifty on the entire boat is her childhood acquaintance, cocky and successful Jake Dhillon.
Jasmine and Jake clash right away, with Jasmine smarting over how their South Asian community puts him on a pedestal as the perfect Indian son, whereas her reputation as a troublemaker precedes her. Except they can’t avoid each other forever during the ten-day cruise, and they soon recognize a surprising number of similarities, especially in how many secrets they’re keeping hidden from their families. Their restlessness seems to disappear whenever they’re together, but is this relationship strong enough to last on land?
April 18th: One Night With the Duke by Jodi Ellen Malpas
Series: Belmont Square #1
Page Length: 304
Publication Date: April 18, 2023
Publisher: Forever Pub.
Synopsis: It’s 1814 and nineteen-year-old Eliza Melrose, daughter of a printing magnate, is about to be launched into London’s high society – much to her distaste, the last thing she wants is a husband.
Eliza’s ‘misplaced’ thirst for adventure, knowledge and the creative word is a bone of contention for her father, who battles endlessly to keep her curiosity and ambitions in check, for women are not meant to ask questions or give opinions in matters of business.
But then she meets the youngest son of the late Duke of Chester, a disgraced nobleman who is shrouded in mystery and proving quite impossible to resist…
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon
April 21st: Royal Rebel by Heather Frost
Series: Fate of Eryinthia #4
Publication Date: April 21, 2023
Synopsis: A PRINCE fighting to save a princess
A SERJAH torn between duty and desire
A PRINCESS willing to sacrifice everything
A DECOY with nothing to lose
A WORLD about to be torn apart
After his father’s latest punishment, Grayson isn’t at his full strength. Trapped in Ryden and surrounded by enemies, he knows escaping with Mia will be more complicated than anticipated. Tyrell is determined to claim Mia for himself, and Henri’s plans for the rest of Eyrinthia are more horrific than Grayson ever imagined. Despite the increased danger, he and Mia must return to Mortise and warn Desfan of what’s coming—even though it may already be too late.
In Mortise, the palace is still reeling from the brutal attack that left many dead and even more wounded. Regardless of the chaos, Desfan is determined to continue with his coronation. As serjan, he hopes to bring stability to his country and solidify the peace with Devendra. But things in Eyrinthia are always complicated. When Prince Liam reveals they may be facing dangers from old enemies, Desfan will have to decide what kind of ruler he will be.
Devastating news from home has left Clare broken. Despite her heartache, she must once again be Serene’s decoy when a terrifying report sends the princess on an unexpected mission to Zennor. Left at the palace, Clare helps Desfan build trust with the elite in Mortise while guarding a treasonous secret. Because as her grief transforms into a burning desire for vengeance, she is finally ready to embrace a new role—rebel.
Eyrinthia is consumed by uncertainty. Duty. Desire. Sacrifice. Every rebellion has its cost.
April 25th: In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune
Page Length: 432
Publication Date: April 25, 2023
Publisher: Tor Books
Synopsis: In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots–fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe.
The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio-a past spent hunting humans.
When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.
Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?
Inspired by Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio, and like Swiss Family Robinson meets Wall-E, In the Lives of Puppets is a masterful stand-alone fantasy adventure from the beloved author who brought you The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door.
April 25th: Perfect After All by Cece Louise
Series: Happily Ever After All #2
Publication Date: April 25, 2023
Synopsis: I would do anything for my best friend’s sister—except tell her how I really feel.
Rob
I’ve been secretly in love with my best friend’s younger sister for years. And does she have a clue? Nope.
Maybe I would’ve made a move if she ever hinted she felt anything for me besides platonic friendship. But she hasn’t. And in addition to being smart, funny, and beautiful, she’s another thing—loyal to her on-again off-again jerk-extraordinaire boyfriend.
Only this time when they break up, things seem different. Do I risk our friendship by telling her how I feel, or is this one secret best kept?
Kelsey
When my boyfriend of eight years dumps me for another woman, my take-charge coworker convinces me it’s time for me to get back out there.
But searching for the perfect man in the online dating world is no picnic. Especially when I have no clue who I am or what I want.
And most confusing of all? Circumstances keep throwing me together with my brother’s longtime best friend, and suddenly, I’m feeling things for him I have no business feeling. As if that wasn’t complicated enough, we also work together—a recipe for disaster.
But what if the perfect guy is the one who’s been there all along?
A standalone friends-to-lovers sweet romantic comedy featuring a he-falls-first workplace romance with laugh-out-loud moments and swoony kisses without any explicit content!
April 25th: Highland Beast by Heather McCollum
Series: Sons of Sinclair #4
Page Length: 384
Publication Date: April 25, 2023
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Synopsis: Bàs Sinclair is the cold and brutal hand—and sword—of justice across the Highlands. He has one destiny: to bring fear into the hearts of guilty men. But when he is called to execute a midwife for her crimes, he cannot raise his weapon. For Bàs already knows this lovely, part-wild creature. After all, she gave him his first and only kiss…
Shana Drummond will do anything to protect her beloved sister. Now her cruel, merciless brother-in-law has called upon Bàs to have Shana killed for crimes she didn’t commit. She can’t reconcile the cold, lethal warrior before her with the gentle one she met—nay, kissed—only days before.
But mercy from Bàs can only lead to one thing: war among the clans. A war that will test allegiances, tear families apart, and challenge everything Bàs knows about himself and his heart. Because once this Highlander knows love, nothing will stop him from keeping Shana safe…even if it means destroying his own destiny.
April 25th: Bear With Me Now by Katie Shepard
Page Length: 416
Publication Date: April 25, 2023
Publisher: Berkley Books
Synopsis: Two people are ready for their lives to get a little wilder in this romantic comedy by debut author Katie Shepard.
After being hospitalized for panic attacks two years after his mother’s death, charitable foundation executive Teagan van Zijl is dragged by his sister to a wilderness therapy retreat in Montana. Lost in the woods, Teagan nearly gets eaten by a bear but is saved by an angel in muddy hiking boots—the program’s handywoman, Darcy Albano, that is. After spending the summer with Darcy, Teagan realizes he doesn’t want to return to New York without her. He hires Darcy as his sober companion—a position he doesn’t actually need filled and for which Darcy is completely unqualified—hoping she can help him figure out how to move forward. But once they get to the city, all Teagan can think of is how to confess the truth while keeping her in his life.
Darcy Albano thought she was going to work as a wilderness guide when she was hired on the camp staff, but ended up a handywoman instead—only the latest screwing-over she’s endured since her ex stole her car and her parents ruined her credit score. But Teagan van Zijl is the silver lining she didn’t expect to appear—clearly going through something but willing to commit to Darcy’s unique brand of wilderness education as the cure for what ails him. They form an unlikely bond based on the unexpected support they provide each other. Darcy never imagined staying in the city, but with Teagan’s unshakeable belief in her abilities, anything seems possible.
April 25th: The Poison and the Paladin by Sarah M. Cradit
Series: The Book of All Things #6
Page Length:
Publication Date: April 25, 2023
Synopsis:
He’s the calm in her storm.
Disappear into this entrancing tale of the forbidden love between a young poison mistress and her brother’s best friend.
Edriss Blackwood has always been alone. Neglected. Abandoned. She converts this angst into action, wielding her vibrant imagination as both sword and shield, slashing through the malevolence slowly destroying her homeland.
Her one light in the darkness is her steadfast protector, Lorcan James.
It all began by a riverbank a decade ago when he found his best friend’s little sister, broken and alone. What started as a matter of honor blossomed into an unshakeable bond between two passionate souls, forged in love, trust, and fierce loyalty.
There was only rule: don’t fall in love. Too bad hearts don’t play by the rules.
But the very thing that brought them together—honor—is what will tear them apart. Their friend Arwenna, extorted by the men waging war against Edriss’s family, convinces a reluctant Lorcan to secretly pretend to be her lover, an elaborate, twisted ruse she claims is the only way to keep Edriss safe. The truth, however, is much more sinister.
Edriss licks the wounds of her shattered heart by wading deeper into the war tearing the Westerlands apart. Reckless, and with nothing left to lose, there’s no limit to what she’ll do to bring down the men responsible.
But one young woman alone cannot stand against pure evil.
If Lorcan can’t find a way to win back her faith, both Edriss and the Westerlands will be irrevocably consumed by the flames.
April 25th: How to Best a Marquess by Janna MacGregor
Series: The Widow Rules #3
Page Length: 384
Publication Date: April 25, 2023
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Synopsis: Beth Howell needs to find her dowry, post haste. After her good-for-nothing first husband married her―and two other women, unbeknownst to them all―she’s left financially ruined and relegated to living with her brother, who cares more for his horses than he does his blood relatives. If Beth fails to acquire her funds, her brother will force her to marry someone fifty years her senior and missing half his teeth. She’d prefer to avoid that dreadful fate. But her now-deceased husband, Meri, absconded with her money mere days after their illegitimate marriage. To find it, Beth will have to leave town and retrace Meri’s steps if she’s to take her future into her own hands.
Julian Raleah, Marquess of Grayson, cares not a whit for social norms and generally growls at anyone in his path. Grayson has had a heart of stone ever since his engagement to Beth Howell went down in flames―long before she married that cad, Meri, and sealed her own fate for good. But now she’s on his doorstep, asking for use of his carriage and accompaniment on the hunt to find her lost dowry. Surely Grayson cannot go on the road with the woman who has occupied his thoughts for the past decade. Yet, knowing she needs him, how can he resist helping her this one last time? And maybe that’s just enough time to change the ending to their over-too-soon love story.
Are you excited about any of these? Which other releases are you looking forward to? Comment below!
This is one mega list, Julie! I’ve just requested an arc of Ana Maria and the Fox, so keeping my fingers crossed for that one. I’m also planning in picking up Divine Rivals soon, so glad to hear you loved it 😀
Ooooh, I hope you get approved!! And I think you’ll love Divine Rivals. It was sooo good!
Yes- In The Lives of Puppets (honestly had no clue it was going to be an April release)
I love TJ Klune!!
House in the Cerulean Sea is my favorite of his so far
I hope you’re able to get to all of these. They all look great.
Thanks, Cheri!!
Eek April 18 is so close now!! I need to finish my current ARC so I can start BONE SHARD WAR.
Oooh, I hope you love it!!!
I preordered What the Hex. I hope it’s a good one ❤️
Ooooh, i hope you love it, Tessa!
wow wow what a list!! I keep seeing the Rebecca Ross everywhere lately so that definitely has my attention, haha. – H
YES!!!!! Divine Rivals is a fantastic read! Highly recommend. 🙂