From Enemies to Lovers, Forced Proximity to Hate at First Sight – there’s a pick n mix below of my Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2024.
Check out the list here for future topics: thatartsyreadergirl.com/top-ten-tuesday
Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2024
1) The Fiancé Dilemma – Elena Armas
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Josie Moore has given the opposite sex––and love––plenty of chances. Four exactly, if you count all her failed engagements, and five if you include the absentee father who kept her existence a secret until very recently. So when her father decides to announce his retirement with a splashy magazine piece about the family, Josie realizes her romantic history is a complicated PR issue.
Matthew Flanagan is the mud, literally. Not only has he been fired from his job, but also the tires of his car are stuck in the muck after taking a wrong turn as he enters Green Oak, North Carolina. So, he grabs a duffel with his essentials and goes in search of a place to crash until he gets his life back on track. But instead, he finds his best friend’s sister, Josie, greeting him as her fiancé.
What starts as a big messy misunderstanding quickly turns into an arrangement with Matthew playing a new role as doting fiancé. A fifth engagement––and a stunt, at that––makes Josie’s stomach turn, but every dilemma requires a choice between equally undesirable alternatives, and Matthew doesn’t seem to mind becoming one more number in a colourful list of grooms-that-never-were. Despite the ring on her finger, Josie knows this is only temporary, even if the rest of the small town believes that the fifth time’s the charm.
2) Think Again – Jacqueline Wilson
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Whatever happened to beloved Girls series characters Ellie, Magda and Nadine?
They’re all grown up now – but if they think life’s done surprising them, they’d better think again…
Being an adult isn’t quite what Ellie Allard dreamed it would be when she was fourteen years old. Though she’s got her beautiful daughter Lottie, her trusty cat Stella and life-long best friends in Magda and Nadine, her love life is non-existent and she feels like she’s been living on auto-pilot, just grateful to be able to afford the rent on her poky little flat.
But this year on her birthday, it seems it’s time to for all that to change – whether Ellie wants it to or not. As she navigates new, exciting and often choppy waters, she’s about to discover that life will never stop surprising you – if only you let it.
3) The Burnout – Sophie Kinsella
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Sasha has had it. She cannot bring herself to respond to another inane, “urgent” (but obviously not at all urgent) email or participate in the corporate employee joyfulness program. She hasn’t seen her friends in months. Sex? Seems like a lot of effort. Even cooking dinner takes far too much planning. Sasha has hit a wall.
Armed with good intentions to drink kale smoothies, try yoga, and find peace, she heads to the seaside resort she loved as a child. But it’s the off season, the hotel is in a dilapidated shambles, and she has to share the beach with the only other a grumpy guy named Finn, who seems as stressed as Sasha. How can she commune with nature when he’s sitting on her favorite rock, watching her? Nor can they agree on how best to alleviate their burnout ( manifesting, wild swimming; drinking whisky, getting pizza delivered to the beach).
When curious messages, seemingly addressed to Sasha and Finn, begin to appear on the beach, the two are forced to talk—about everything. How did they get so burned out? Can either of them remember something they used to love? (Answer: surfing!) And the question they try and fail to ignore: what does the energy between them—flaring even in the face of their bone-deep exhaustion—signify?
4) The Thirty Before Thirty List – Tasneem Abdur-Rashid
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Maya’s life is safe, predictable, quiet . . .
She spends her days at the same job she’s been at for years, her evenings watching Bollywood movies with her parents and her Saturday nights eating out at the same restaurant with her childhood best friend.
When Maya meets Noah on the Underground, for twenty glorious minutes her life becomes exciting. Until he jumps off the train, accidentally leaving behind a notebook containing a list of thirty things he wants to do before he turns thirty.
Crushed by the abrupt ending to what could have been her happily ever after, Maya challenges herself to work through the items on his list, secretly hoping that whilst climbing out of her rut and (quite literally) climbing mountains, she may find Noah as well as herself. Instead, she meets Zakariya; an annoying suitor brought to her by her parents via a dodgy marriage CV.
But how can a flawed, real life person ever compare to the man in the notebook?
5) Under Your Spell – Laura Wood
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She only wants three things. He isn’t one of them…
Dumped by her cheating ex, fired from her dream job, about to lose her flat: Clementine Monroe is not having a good day. So when her sisters get her drunk and suggest reviving a childhood ritual called the breakup spell, she doesn’t see the harm in it.
But now Clemmie has accidentally ruined a funeral, had her first one-night stand, and she’s stuck with a new job she definitely doesn’t want – spending six weeks alone with the gorgeous and very-off-limits rock star, Theo Eliott.
He’s the most famous man on the planet. Her life’s a disaster. When it comes to love, Clemmie is learning you should be careful what you wish for…
6) Love Story – Lindsey Kelk
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She’s a small-town schoolteacher.
He’s a hotshot marketing director.
Together, it’s hate at first sight.
Sophie Taylor has a secret and Joe Walsh thinks he knows it (all). He’s devilishly handsome, incredibly hot – and far too sure of himself.
Unfortunately, Sophie desperately needs his help. She has lost her laptop – and her sequel to the sensational, spicy romance that everybody’s talking about.
Because Sophie is not just hiding something small. She is Este Cox, the mysterious romance author the entire world is desperate to unmask.
When a trip to Sophie’s home town leads to the disgruntledpair sharing a one-bed cottage, it’s a short step to sharing a whole lot more besides… Can Sophie trust Joe with the truth – and be herself?
7) Finding Mr Write – Kelley Armstrong
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Daphne McFadden already knows that as a female author, the cards are stacked against her. Now she knows just how much. Because her sudden whim to pose as an ‘outdoorsy hunk of masculinity’ male author for her new book just resulted in the unthinkable: a bidding war, a huge book deal, and the kind of fame every author dreams of. Now she’s in big trouble. Because she needs to convince the world that Zane Remington actually exists . . . but how?
By hiring an actor, of course.
Only Chris Stanton is not an actor – not officially. He’s used to balancing the books, not pretending he wrote one. Still, he’s mostly certain he can pose as some overly macho bro-author. But when the media descend on Daphne’s gorgeous remote home in the Yukon, it’s not enough for Chris to just be the face of Zane Remington – he’ll have to become him. All while hilariously balancing the terrifying dangers of the wilderness, a massive femme fandom, and a serious crush on Daphne. But as the hype circus gets more out of control, it’s just a matter of time before someone discovers their little write lie . . .
8) One Summer in Miami – Amber Rose Gill
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Kya’s work is her life. She graduated from a rigorous engineering programme at MIT and landed a highly competitive job at one of the best tech firms in Silicon Valley. She even runs a whole online community empowering women in tech.
It’s not great, then, that she’s just been unceremoniously sacked mid-flight en route to a much-needed holiday in Miami.
So Kya heads straight to the trendiest bar in town in search of tequila shots and a spot of Destiny’s Child. What she finds instead is the extremely cool, extremely hot, might be an actual angel Jade Quinn – the hottest DJ on Miami’s nightlife scene. Quinn’s life couldn’t be further from Kya’s, but maybe a taste of something different is just what she needs…
9) Enemies to Lovers – Laura Jane Williams
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Flo Greenberg: highly strung. Over-achiever. And desperate for a relaxing Greek holiday with her family.
Jamie Kramer: her brother’s best friend. Pain in the arse. And somehow on Flo’s relaxing Greek holiday too…
With two surprise weeks of sharing meals, boat trips and sun-loungers, Flo must endure the company of this irksomely chiselled Lothario. But after what happened last year, she’s determined not to let him get the better of her.
In fact, spending time with the enemy will be the perfect cure for Flo’s all-consuming anger towards Jamie, right?
(Spoiler alert: wrong…!)
10) Betrayed by the Billionaire – Clare Connelly
Hating someone’s never felt so good…
Sparks fly in this sizzling enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies romance.
He’s her sworn enemy, and her heart’s desire…
Rocco Santoro is hell bent on success; when this billionaire sets his mind to something, nothing will stand in his way. And it just so happens, he wants Maddison’s childhood home. Her sanctuary. A place that means more to her than words can express.
At loggerheads from their first meeting, the animosity is off the charts. But so is their chemistry…and some things are just too hard to fight, and too good to ignore.
Only, there’s no way on earth Maddie is going to let this man into her heart. It’s bad enough he’s taken over her bed! Maddie will never forgive him for trying to buy her family home out from under her, taking away the touchstone of security she’s craved all her life. But hating someone’s never felt so good…
What are your Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2024?
