By now you’ve probably seen many lists in many subgenres of most anticipated romances coming out this year. I decided I want to highlight some Indie and small press books, since they tend to be overlooked, and you can find hidden gems.
January 2nd
EYES OPEN, a Ruskin City Novel by Devin M Cressman
This gritty urban fantasy romance with a very possessive and protective alpha hero is available now!
EYES OPEN by Devin Cressman
Ruskin City #1
It has been three years since Kendra woke up in Ruskin City Memorial Hospital with no memory of what happened or who she was. And for the past three years, she’s made a life for herself with new friends and loved ones. She became one of the most respected enforcers throughout the city and somehow managed to develop a friendly acquaintance with one of the most feared crime bosses around town.
Her comfortable world, however, begins to tear apart around her when Roland Skaustrand barges into her life and tips everything on it’s axis. Now she’s stuck with him as her shadow and torn between the need to protect him and the burning desire to ram her knife into his gut. It doesn’t help that secrets are unraveling at the seams, and memories of a man from her past have begun to invade her dreams and her waking memories.
Marcus had to watch as his mate died within his arms, feeling her warmth and power leave her as she laid torn open before him. Lost in his rage, he was imprisoned for over 150 years to relive one night over and over for what was meant to be eternity. Now that he’s free, the only thing keeping him from giving into his instincts is the need to keep her safe…even from himself.
Fantasy Urban [Self Published, On Sale: January 2, 2024, e-Book, / ]
January 26th
PRINCE OF ENDLESS TIDES Darkmourn Universe Book 4 by Ben Alderson
This steamy m/m little mermaid romantasy retelling looks bound to make us want to be part of that world!
PRINCE OF ENDLESS TIDES by Ben Alderson
Darkmourn Universe #4
A new MM Fantasy Romance Stand Alone, inspired by The Little Mermaid and Atlantis… what if the Prince and the Sea Witch fell in love in a world ruled by evil mermaids and vengeful gods? For fans of Kellen Graves, Elise Kova, and Carissa Broadbent.
‘Do I please you, my Prince?’
Prince Ernest Ire will do anything to please his controlling father. Even if that means using his god-given magic to sway the minds of everyone he has ever met. Wealth, royalty, and control over the land and everything on it, but still, it is not enough. With the power to achieve anything, all he wants is to give it up. But everything changes when he is infected with the deadly poison of a Mer bite, and his magic is stolen.
Killian Metropoli made a deal with the god of the ocean, Karakos, on the fateful night when his mother took a blade to his throat and killed him. Gifted with immortality and the power over sea and storm, Killian was offered a second chance at life, for the sole purpose of ridding the oceans of the evil soulless creatures – the Mer, terrifying monsters made from a union between two warring gods.
Killian is faced with duty or escape; he must choose to go against a powerful god for a bad-mouthed prince, who could give him the one thing he desires most…freedom. Time is of the essence, otherwise, Killian will be forced against his will to kill Ernest if he becomes the very monster his life is dedicated to destroying.
Fate is fickle, the threads knotted, and time is running out. Ernest must save his people before he becomes the very monster he has always feared. Killian will do anything to rid himself of his shackles. But an evil darkness is rising, and they must become allies to stop it before the world they know becomes a battlefield for benevolent gods.
Prince of Endless Tides is a stand-alone in the Darkmourn Universe and can be read in or out of order. It’s for readers looking for a fantasy romance with enemies to lovers, gods, monsters and heroes, sacrifice, forbidden and slow-burn romance with
on-page spice that will leave your mouth burning! POET has a twisted but Happily Ever After.
LGBTQ Romance | Fantasy [Self-Published, On Sale: January 26, 2024, e-Book, / ]
February 1st
CAPTURED BY THE CUPID: Roars and Romances, Book 2 by Emily Shore
This Valentine’s gargoyle Romantasy looks spicy and perfect if you love Valentine’s Day and also perfect if you hate Valentine’s Day!
CAPTURED BY THE CUPID by Emily Shore
Roars and Romances #2
If you love Valentine’s Day, you will love this book.
If you hate Valentine’s Day, you will also love this book!
Captured by the Cupid is a dark romantasy standalone in the Roars and Romances series following the Amazon bestseller, Kidnapped by the Krampus. With a subtle Valentine’s theme starring a broody bad boy gargoyle and the sweet and sassy girl who can capture his arrow—and maybe his heart—this spicy standalone can be read any time of the year!
ARADIA
“I didn’t expect you to be some sexy gargoyle monster.”
In the blink of an eye, I find myself in Purgatory, where I meet Eros, the God of Love. Not your cutesy Cupid, Eros is a very hot and very broody and very cursed gargoyle demon with a heart of stone. I fall hard for him and his tragic realm. But can he find love with this love-struck, curvy clairvoyant who sees auras, likes pranks, and is determined to be more than just a chapter in his love story?
I might love his multi-chocolate milkshake.
EROS
She is the butterfly who plays with the beast.
Psyche is lost to me. And now this glowing little mortal with her pink curls and thick curves like an aphrodisiac is complicating my quest to find my goddess wife. Her laughter echoes through my stone corridors, making my arrow hard while softening my stony heart. Will she be my new heartbreak like my missing Psyche? Or can she love the god and the gargoyle and break my curse?
Seems I’ve discovered her chocolate addiction.
With whimsical twists as unpredictable as a box of chocolates, Captured by the Cupid promises an arrow straight to your heart. So, swap out the candy and flowers with this slow-burn dark fantasy meets laugh-out-loud rom-com—complete with a serenading cinnamon roll sidekick, a tantalizing touch of trauma-healing, and a sizzling feast of Cupid kink.
Romance Erotica Sensual | Romance Paranormal [Self Published, On Sale: February 1, 2024, e-Book, / ]
February 1st
EMISSARY OF DARKNESS, Ethereal Realms, book 3 by Kate Seger
This Dark Romantasy featuring a fae gladiator and his enemy’s sister will be tense and hot!
EMISSARY OF DARKNESS by Kate Seger
Ethereal Realms #3
Loyalty’s edge cuts deep in the game of deceit, and the heart is the ultimate pawn.
In the dark heart of the Shadow Court, Huntmaster Osiris grapples with his rise to power. Once a gladiator, now a pawn in Empress Ereda’s cruel game, he is haunted by memories of Lorna, Ereda’s gentler sister, and his own acts of treachery. When Ereda forces Osiris to commit unthinkable atrocities for her entertainment, he realizes he’s become a monster in her shadow. But an unexpected mission offers a glimmer of hope: a chance to infiltrate the Resistance – and change the Shadow Court forever.
Torn between loyalty, love, and a burning desire for redemption, Osiris must navigate the treacherous political landscape, where one wrong move could cost him everything. Will he find his way back to the light or be consumed by the shadows of betrayal?
Fantasy [Self Published, On Sale: February 1, 2024, e-Book, / ]
February 2nd
BITE ME, YOUR GRACE new, improved edition, Scandals With Bite, book 1, by Brooklyn Ann
The cat’s out of the bag! My regency paranormal romance, Bite Me, Your Grace is getting a re-release on February 2nd with the whole series to follow.
It’s like Bridgerton with Vampires!
BITE ME, YOUR GRACE by Brooklyn Ann
Like Bridgerton, but with Vampires
Angelica Winthrop wants nothing more than to ruin her reputation to avoid marriage and be a gothic authoress like her idol, Mary Shelley. Unfortunately, all her schemes keep backfiring and the wedding noose is tightening. To find inspiration for her next story, she breaks into the reputably haunted home of Ian Ashton, Duke of Burnrath. But when she tumbles down the stairs, Angelica finds something far more dangerous than ghosts.
Ian is the Lord vampire of London and is currently at his wit’s end. Thanks to a vampire craze spawned by the publication of John Polidori’s The Vampyre, tongues are wagging and wagers are being made about his nocturnal proclivities. The solution to his problem tumbles into his lap in the form of the vivacious heiress.
The duke destroys Angelica’s plans by publicly proposing marriage to save his reputation. Sparks fly as the authoress attempts every impropriety to dissuade the vampire and he retaliates with his skills of seduction.
After a quirky courtship and a tender wedding night, their rocky marriage of convenience is played out before the scandalized eyes of the ton. If that weren’t enough, a vampire hunter and John Polidori himself are also watching…and plotting.
Subgenres: paranormal regency romance, historical paranormal romance, vampire romance, gothic paranormal romance, regency vampire romance
Tropes: arranged marriage romance, grumpy romance, grumpy sunshine romance, enemies to lovers romance, angsty romance, age gap romance, medium heat level
Romance Paranormal | Romance Historical [Broken Angels, On Sale: February 2, 2024, Paperback / e-Book, / ]
A popular novel, a determined debutante, and a vampire hunter threaten London’s lord of the undead.
Buy BITE ME, YOUR GRACE: Amazon.com | Kindle | Powell’s Books | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
February 3rd
THE WITCH’S FAMILIARS: The Familiars Chronicles, book 1, by Susan Bowman
This witchy enemies to lovers paranormal romance sounds like a wicked good time.
THE WITCH’S FAMILIARS by Susan Bowman
The Familiars Chronicles #1
When their mistress, the witch Karolina, is taken, enemies Jinx and Stormshadow must go on a quest to save her. Their journey will be filled with peril, but they will find something magical along the way.
Fantasy [Self Published, On Sale: February 3, 2024, e-Book, / ]
February 14th
MMM Paranormal Romance
DRAGONRIDER Dragonkin, book 1 by S. Rodman
This gay, why choose Paranormal Romance features hot dragonriders and an even hotter love triangle!
Preorder HERE!
February 26th
THE TIMELESS TRIALS by A.C. Guess
This dystopian fantasy romance between a contestant in a deadly game and the brother of a prince will be a thrilling ride!
THE TIMELESS TRIALS by A.C. Guess
In Orogi, time is currency. Earn enough, and you can live forever; fall short, and you will meet an untimely death.
Rae’s time is running out.
When she is selected as the first female to participate in the Timeless Trials, the brutal games meant to entertain the rich, Rae knows it’s a death sentence. Only one can survive the games.
But if she can survive a little longer…
If she can set aside her dangerous attraction to the prince’s brother…
She could win the grand prize of immortality.
Stuck in a deadly competition, caught between two brothers in a game of royal politics, and tempted by love, Rae must find a way to buy a little more time before her time runs out.
Romance Fantasy [Self Published, On Sale: February 26, 2024, e-Book, / ]
March 13th
A GAME OF LOVE AND BETRAYAL: The Choosing Chronicles, Book 1 by Elayna R. Gallea
This enemies to lovers romance between a vampire and a fey is guaranteed to bring the spice!
A GAME OF LOVE AND BETRAYAL by Elayna R. Gallea
The Choosing Chronicles #1
He requires a wife. She needs to kill him. All’s fair in pursuit of love and revenge.
What’s a vampire to do when the fae who made her an orphan is searching for a wife?
Make him choose her and end his life on their wedding night, of course.
Brynleigh has been carefully planning this for years. Her plan is simple: date Ryker Waterborn, the Fae Representative’s son, make him fall in love with her, and kill him after they say, “I do.”
Unfortunately, it will not be that easy. She won’t be the only one going after Ryker’s hand. Far from it. Two dozen men and women are competing in the Choosing, each searching for their perfect partner. The catch? It’s a blind selection process, and contestants won’t see each other until they have made their choice.
Nothing will stand between Brynleigh and her revenge, not even a competition for love.
A Game of Love and Betrayal is the first book in The Choosing Chronicles, a captivating enemies-to-lovers, new adult contemporary high fantasy romance.
Romance Paranormal [Self Published, On Sale: March 13, 2024, e-Book, / ]
May 14th
Fans of Sapphic romance will enjoy this adventurous historical paranormal romance featuring mages and gangsters set in the backdrop of 1932 Seattle! Finally, more Pacific Northwest historical rep!
Right now it’s just preorder on paperback, but the ebook preorder should be up soon.
BLOOD REMAINS by Cathy Pegau
Butcher and Blood Mage, Callie Payne, once left a city behind for a different life. But when she is forced to return to the streets of Seattle, the woman and the things she thought she left behind come to reclaim her.
Callie Payne once ran with the Jackson Street Roses, but she left Seattle—left the Roses—to marry a rancher. After his death, she returns to take over the family butcher shop; a fitting career for an out-of-practice blood mage. When the leader of the Roses, Eileen “EJ” Jordan, stops by, Callie knows it isn’t just to buy T-bone steaks. What does the suave gangster really want after all these years?
EJ needs Callie’s magic against rival gangster Paul Underwood, who is horning in on Rose territory. Callie refuses to get involved; she won’t risk violating the Laws of the Covenant forbidding intentional harm. Then EJ tells her Underwood was responsible for the death of one of the Roses years ago. Callie is compelled to get revenge however she can.
A three-day incantation to repel Underwood re-establishes and strengthens Callie’s connection to the Roses, particularly EJ. Old feelings return, but EJ worries a personal relationship will endanger Callie. Their desire, however, proves impossible to ignore.
Days after Underwood threatens them, he’s found dead in an area awash in magic residue. The cops and the Covenant Investigation Office are eyeing EJ and Callie for the crime. Whoever is responsible knows magic well enough to be a step ahead, and they’re setting up EJ and Callie to take the fall.
EJ is determined to find the culprit, no matter the cost, and Callie is willing to bend the Laws for her. Can they catch the killer before more blood is spilled?
Fantasy Urban [Bywater Books, On Sale: May 14, 2024, Paperback, ISBN: 9781612942834 / ]
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