Picks From the Bottomless List: April

Posted March 31, 2017 by Dale

I can’t believe is April already. Where has time gone? It was Christmas just two days ago! But well, April is here and we can’t fight it. But we can tell you which books we’re excited to read this month, and also which ones held our attention during March. Maybe between those you’ll discover something you want to read during April too. So let’s talk books!

BOOKS WE READ AND LOVED IN THE PAST MONTH:

I read some amazing books this month, and if you follow me on social media you’ll have seen I’ve talked a lot about the Tournai Chronicles by Antonia Aquilante (I loved those books!)

But when it comes to choosing one book only, one that stood out for me, I have to say that one was The Lawrence Browne Affair by Cat Sebastian. It touched me deeply, and the way Lawrence’s anxiety was described helped me learn about my own anxiety.

An earl hiding from his future . . .

Lawrence Browne, the Earl of Radnor, is mad. At least, that’s what he and most of the village believes. A brilliant scientist, he hides himself away in his family’s crumbling estate, unwilling to venture into the outside world. When an annoyingly handsome man arrives at Penkellis, claiming to be Lawrence’s new secretary, his carefully planned world is turned upside down.

A swindler haunted by his past . . .

Georgie Turner has made his life pretending to be anyone but himself. A swindler and con man, he can slip into an identity faster than he can change clothes. But when his long-dead conscience resurrects and a dangerous associate is out for blood, Georgie escapes to the wilds of Cornwall. Pretending to be a secretary should be easy, but he doesn’t expect that the only madness he finds is the one he has for the gorgeous earl.

Can they find forever in the wreckage of their lives?

Challenging each other at every turn, the two men soon give into the desire that threatens to overwhelm them. But with one man convinced he is at the very brink of madness and the other hiding his real identity, only true love can make this an affair to remember.

Goodreads / Amazon

I don’t suppose it would come as any surprise that my top pick for the moth of April is Ghosts & Ashes by F. T. Lukens. A long anticipated sequel to The Star Host, this book did not disappoint! I am huge YA reader, and although I’ve never really been a sci-fi reader, amazing authors like Lukens and van Rooyen have been converting me. Lukens does world building so skillfully. She also navigates Ren and Asher’s relationship past the initial honeymoon phase, which I love seeing in books.

I was also very excited for Tamryn Eradani’s Start of Something New. Again this is a sequel, but it is part of a series of short stories being published by Ninestar Press. I love love love well written BDSM with good negotiation. It’s not just sexy — it’s a series that’s building a relationship, and doing it well. I am anticipating the third installment like crazy. If you haven’t read previous installments, I’m pretty sure they get discounted when a new one comes out.

Three months have passed since the events of The Star Host, and Ren is living aboard the Star Stream under the watchful eyes of the Phoenix Corps. Plagued by vivid nightmares that ravage the ship in his sleep, he struggles to prove he isn’t a threat and fears he has traded one captor for another. His relationship with Asher, whose efforts to balance his personal loyalty to Ren with his professional duties to the Corps are failing, fractures.

Adrift without an anchor, Ren must return to his home planet of Erden if he has any chance of reversing his dangerous descent into madness. There, he hopes to search for his missing brother and salvage his relationship with Asher. What he finds is knowledge that puts everyone’s allegiance to the test.

Goodreads / Interlude Press
Jude’s Review

After a successful first scene together, Daniel and Ryan explore the possibility of continuing their relationship. Negotiating likes and dislikes in BDSM play is one thing, but can Daniel, who likes to keep his life ordered and free of mess, loosen up enough to let the relaxed and uninhibited Ryan deeper into his life?

Goodreads / NineStar Press
Jude’s Review

Choosing one favourite is hard this month. Because I read several books I really liked – March definitely was a great book month – and there were two that absolutely stood out for me. I won’t even try to choose one of them because it’s impossible and you can’t really compare the two of them. One is an action-packed story that is more suspense/political thriller than romance and the other one is a sweet romance about a triad and how to navigate that new relationship.

You might have already guessed which books I’m talking about:
One is The Art of Three by Racheline Maltese and Erin McRae (I reviewed it here) and the other one is Enemy Within by Tal Bauer (review is here). I simply can’t choose between them. I loved the amazing bi- and poly-rep in The Art of Three. Loved that it features two older MC’s, each of the characters is just bloody awesome (side characters included) and it’s just so heart-warming and sweet.
And Enemy Within.. Boy that book! It was the wild ride I expected and more. An awesome addition to the series and excellent conclusion of Ethan and Jacks story. (Though I hope this isn’t the last we’ve seen of them because I just need more. I highly recommend you to read them both!

Jamie Conway has a charmed life. At 24, he’s relocated from Dublin to London to star in his first feature film. Unfortunately, he also has one very big problem: He has a huge crush on his happily married costar.

British heartthrob to middle-aged women everywhere, Callum Griffith-Davies should have better sense than to flirt with his new-to-the-business colleague, but good judgement isn’t one of the qualities for which he’s known.

Nerea Espinosa de Los Monteros Nessim has better things to do than fret about her husband’s newest conquest. She’s busy planning her daughter’s wedding at the family’s farmhouse in rural Spain. Besides, she and Callum have been married and polyamorous for almost 30 years; she’s content to let him make his own bad choices.

But when Nerea flies to London after her artwork is selected for a high-profile museum show, she falls for Jamie too. Soon Callum, Jamie, and Nerea have bigger problems, and surprises, than international logistics. From ex-lovers and nosy neighbors to adult children with dramas of their own, The Art of Three is a contemporary romance that celebrates families, and farce, in all shapes and sizes.

Goodreads / Amazon

The White House, infiltrated.
The president, running for his life.
A traitorous general, intent on burning the world to the ground.

When everything falls apart, who do you trust?

President Jack Spiers fled Washington DC on the heels of a devastating attack on CIA headquarters, masterminded by one of America’s own, former General Porter Madigan. While the world believes Jack was killed in the bombing, he embarks on a wild infiltration mission, smuggling himself into occupied Russia to rescue the love of his life: former Secret Service Agent and First Gentleman Ethan Reichenbach.

Reunited, Jack, Ethan, and deposed Russian president Sergey Puchkov, along with President Elizabeth Wall—the only person left in Washington DC who Jack trusts—must work together. They piece together a desperate plan, hunting Madigan to the ends of the earth and the bitter frigidity of the Arctic, where Madigan’s world-shattering doomsday plan comes together.

Outnumbered, outmaneuvered, and outgunned, Jack, Ethan, Sergey, and the rest of the team struggle to put a stop to Madigan and his army. In the desolate extremes of the Arctic, their resolve, their strength, and even their love is tested, pushed to the absolute limits as choices must be made: choices that pit the fate of the world against the love in their hearts, and the loves of their life.

As the world crumbles around them, Jack and Ethan find themselves waging a war on two fronts—against an enemy they can see, and another, hiding within their ranks.

Who can be trusted when the enemy is within you?

Goodreads / Amazon

UPCOMING BOOKS WE CAN’T WAIT TO READ:

When it comes to upcoming books, I have a clear choice for April: a new Alexis Hall! And how can I resist a book called “How to bang a billionaire”? It conveniently comes out on my birthday, so I know what I’ll be treating myself with this year.

Rules are made to be broken . . .

If England had yearbooks, I’d probably be “Arden St. Ives: Man Least Likely to Set the World on Fire.” So far, I haven’t. I’ve no idea what I’m doing at Oxford, no idea what I’m going to do next and, until a week ago, I had no idea who Caspian Hart was. Turns out, he’s brilliant, beautiful . . . oh yeah, and a billionaire.

It’s impossible not to be captivated by someone like that. But Caspian Hart makes his own rules. And he has a lot of them. About when I can be with him. What I can do with him. And when he’ll be through with me.

I’m good at doing what I’m told in the bedroom. The rest of the time, not so much. And now that Caspian’s shown me glimpses of the man behind the billionaire I know it’s him I want. Not his wealth, not his status. Him. Except that might be the one thing he doesn’t have the power to give me.

Goodreads / Amazon
Release Date: April 16th

I’m a big fan of Annabeth Albert’s work, so I am very excited about At Attention, the second in her Out of Uniform series. I was super intrigued by Apollo Floros when we met him in Off Base. He seemed so rigid and hard core, I’m really excited to watch him fall in love. Plus a widower falling in love story is right up my alley.

See My Words by Melanie Hansen (book 2 in her Spectrum Nights series) is coming out at the end of April, and I’m very excited! I read Pieces of Me a few months ago and have been at the edge of my seat after it ended on a painful cliffhanger. Pieces of Me is currently on sale, so I recommend you grab it now.

Lieutenant Apollo Floros can ace tactical training missions, but being a single dad to his twin daughters is more than he can handle. He needs live-in help, and he’s lucky a friend’s younger brother needs a place to stay. He’s surprised to see Dylan all grown up with a college degree…and a college athlete’s body. Apollo’s widowed heart may still be broken, but Dylan has his blood heating up.

It’s been eight years since the teenage Dylan followed Apollo around like a lovesick puppy, and it’s time he showed Lieutenant Hard-to-Please that he’s all man now—an adult who’s fully capable of choosing responsibility over lust. He can handle Apollo’s muscular sex appeal, but Apollo the caring father? Dylan can’t afford to fall for that guy. He’s determined to hold out for someone who’s able to love him back, not someone who only sees him as a kid brother.

Apollo is shocked by the intensity of his attraction to Dylan. Maybe some no-strings summer fun will bring this former SEAL back to life. But the combination of scorching desire and warm affection is more than he’d expected, and the emotion between them scares him senseless. No fling lasts forever, and Apollo will need to decide what’s more important—his past or his future—if he wants to keep Dylan in his life.

Goodreads / Carina Press
Release Date: April 10th

Successful underwear model Scott Ashworth is lucky—his attack at the hands of an unknown assailant will leave no visible scars. His professional goals are still within reach, and best of all, his stepbrother Rylan Mahoney is back in his life, their teenage infatuation at last getting the chance to deepen into something more.

Thrown together by the circumstances of Scott’s injury, Rylan’s long-dormant feelings for him are quickly rekindled, though he’s haunted by the memory of Scott’s disappearance on the night of his eighteenth birthday and the six missing years that followed. Rylan pushes Scott for the truth, a firm believer in the maxim that secrets lose their power once they’re shared—but resurrecting old demons almost always comes with a price.

Before Scott knows it, his life is spiraling out of control, his toxic insecurities welling up to threaten the fragile relationship he’s building with Rylan. Learning to let go of the past and believe in himself will be Scott’s greatest challenge, or else he risks losing Rylan forever this time.

Goodreads / NineStar Press
Release Date: April 24th

I’m cheating here because I already read this book.. so it’s not really a book I’m looking forward to read, anymore. Though maybe rereading it when I get the paperback counts? And I am looking forward to *you* reading it, I feel like that should count too. The book I’m talking about is Thaw by Elyse Springer. It’s the second book in the Seasons of Love series. I really liked Whiteout but absolutely adored Thaw.
There’s so much I love about it: it has a librarian MC, an actress/model MC, deals with class differences and there’s no angsting about being “broken”. And the best: it has an asexual MC! (And it’s own-voices too!)

Abigail is content with her quiet life as a librarian. But when she’s invited to a high-profile charity auction, she finds herself dancing with one of the most beautiful women she’s ever met. Abby’s sure she’ll never see her again, but then Gabrielle calls and asks her on a date. And soon after, another.

Supermodel Gabrielle Levesque has a reputation as the Ice Queen—cold and untouchable—except she warms up whenever she’s with Abby. Only Abby isn’t interested in the heat between them; she’s asexual, and she’s worried that admitting as much to Gabrielle might spell the end of their blooming romance.

They’re two different women from two very different worlds, but Abby knows she can love Gabrielle. Her passion for books, travel, and theater prove there’s more to the Ice Queen than meets the eye. But they’ll have to overcome Abby’s fears—and Gabrielle’s own threatening secrets—in order to find their way to love.

Goodreads / Riptide Publishing
Release Date: April 24th