Even though it’s already August, there’s still time for some summer reads before lazy beach days are over and kids are back to school. Retired spies, obsessive love, messy murders, wedding crashers and more are some of the highlights we have for you in our selections that are publishing this month. Take a look and make sure to schedule some reading time before summer is over!
How to Ruin a Wedding by Elba Luz
Twice divorced Lucy Delgado pays the bills by sabotaging weddings because she no longer believes in “happily ever after.” Her goal is to save couples from making the same mistakes she did when it came to love and marriage. When she meets billionaire Anders Kennedy at an event, he hires her to derail his sister’s wedding. But as Lucy takes on the challenge of fake-dating Anders in order to ruin his sister’s wedding and get rich, she soon finds out that she might be totally wrong about everything she thought love was. How to Ruin a Wedding published on August 1, from Mindy Kaling’s publishing company, Mindy’s Book Studio.
Clean Slate by Brianna Labuskes
Olive Hunt has a job not many people would want. She’s a crime scene cleaner, and while it’s a dirty job, someone’s got to do it…and it does pays well. Olive has seen it all until there are two back-to-back suicides with too much in common despite their different locations. She finds the same item at each scene and knows there is a connection. When a third crime scene shows similar signs, she knows there is a serial killer on the loose. Then she receives roses and an anonymous thank you note. This is a killer who wants to be followed and Olive is dead set on finding him before he makes his next disastrous move.
Hate Me Take Me by Laura Bishop
If you’re into dark rom-coms, Hate Me Take Me hits all the marks! Amanda Bennett is skeptical about the new Obsess AI boyfriend app…until it delivers with a hot and brooding motorcycle stud – her digital fantasy. He won’t tell her his name, refuses to remove his helmet, and knows very personal things about her. And that’s because this mystery fantasy man is her ex-husband, Kade Steele, who disappeared years ago. Now he’s back, and through a bit of mystery and romance, and certainly some stalking, Kade is determined to win back Amanda’s heart. This is the follow-up to Love Me Stalk Me, the first in the Obsessively Yours series.
How to Find Love in the Cereal Aisle by Alissa DeRogatis
Romance novelist Ainsley Green has just been dumped and a severe case of writer’s block hits hard. In her despair, she starts to wonder if real love exists outside of the pages of her favorite romance novels. With the help of her best friend Lucas, Ainsley decides to start her own “meet-cute” plan. She’ll search for men out in the wild (aka the cereal aisle, coffee shops, airports) to get her writing back on track. After several awkward encounters, Ainsley discovers that you can’t plan to fall in love, and that sometimes the thing you want most is right in front of you.
My Sister Is Going to Kill Me by Nina Simon
Murder and adventure go hand-in-hand in My Sister is Going to Kill Me, another family-focused whodunnit by New York Times bestselling author Nina Simon. On their annual sister trip, Liv and Mandy are doing what they can to not drift apart as their lives are heading in different paths. And so they set off on a whitewater rafting trip through the Grand Canyon with a bunch of strangers. If the rapids and reptiles weren’t enough, the group is soon faced with something even more dangerous. There is a murderer amongst them, and while the river is raging and people are dying, Liv and Mandy must figure out who the murderer is before they become the next victims.
The Shadow Friends by Tess Gerritsen
The Martini Club retirees are back in action in the third installment of Tess Gerritsen’s widely popular series, The Shadow Friends. When a renowned disease expert and Russian defector is found dead, and a waitress is also murdered at the same conference, Ingrid Slocum knows the murders are linked to a mission that nearly killed her thirty years prior. A former CIA colleague (and past lover) convinces Ingrid they need to go to Amsterdam to find the assassin and complete their doomed mission from long ago. But Ingrid’s frantic husband Lloyd, and fellow retired spy Maggie Bird are not letting Ingrid do it on her own. The group is back together using their espionage skills to find a killer and get the revenge they deserve. If you’ve not checked out the Martini Club series, you can read them as standalones, or enjoy the series with The Spy Coast, followed by The Summer Guests before diving into The Shadow Friends.
You Know Why by J.T. Ellison
Brooklyn Locke and her family are on their way to Italy for the holidays when plans go awry. Her husband Trey disappears at the airport and a stranger seems to know what happened. That stranger is Eden Barrow who shocks Brooke when she shares that she is the sister of Trey’s first wife and that Trey was the main suspect in the murder ten years ago. Brooke is desperate to find her husband and get answers, but a horrible accident leaves her nearly dead. As she fights for her life, she depends on Eden to help yet every passing day leaves her more suspicious. Is Eden really being kind and is she telling the truth about Trey? And with a dark past herself, will Brooke be able to escape the trap that is clearly being set?
