Fifteen new paranormal romance titles continue the downward trend in major-release love stories for the fanged and furred crowd, including new series additions from, among others, Sheryl Nantus (Tales from the Edge), JR Ward (Fallen Angels), Shona Husk (Court of Annwyn), JT Geissinger (Night Prowler), Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter), and CC Hunter (Shadow Falls: After Dark).
Fiction Affliction details releases in science fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and “genre-benders.” Keep track of them all here. Note: All title summaries are taken and/or summarized from copy provided by the publisher.
WEEK ONE
In the Void (Tales from the Edge #2)—Sheryl Nantus (October 6, Carina)
Catherine Rodgers doesn’t like Mercy ships, or the courtesans who work on them, not after her husband left her for a Mercy woman. After her yacht gets blown up to prevent her from cracking the lid off a corporate scam that’s left hundreds dead and a few people very rich, the only ship around to save her is the Bonnie Belle. Sean Harrison has worked as one of the Belle’s courtesans for years. When he’s asked to care for Catherine while the Belle brings her to safety, it should be just another job. Sean is captivated by Catherine’s sense of justice and responsibility. Catherine finds a softer, more emotionally intelligent man in Sean than she expected. They find the beginning of something lasting. With pirates after the Belle and a price on Catherine’s head, that beginning might be all they get. (Digital)
Mine Tomorrow—Jackie Braun (October 6, Harlequin E)
Devin Abernathy dreams of escaping to a simpler time. It’s why she owns a vintage clothing shop, fulfilling her lifelong fantasy of surrounding herself with period style. All she has to do is slip on a garment to be spirited away to a bygone era, in her imagination, anyway. But lately she’s also dreamed at night of a passionate affair with a handsome World War II naval officer named Gregory Prescott, who seems oddly familiar. Fantasy becomes reality when Devin dons a mysterious estate-sale coat and is suddenly whisked back in time, to New York City in 1945 on V-J Day, where she’s welcoming Gregory home with open arms and ruby-red kisses. All she wants is to stay in his embrace, but to do so means choosing between his past and her future. (Digital)
Reap and Redeem (The Reapers #2)—Lisa Medley (October 6, Harlequin E)
After a century of enslavement to pure evil, Kylen Larson is finally free. But he’s long past caring. The only woman he ever loved is dead, and he’s tormented by memories of the horrors his demon parasite forced him to commit. Now, he lives for nothing more than hunting down the infernal creatures invading Meridian, Arkansas, and destroying them. Olivia Evans is in the final stages of cancer when Kylen accidentally saves her from demonic possession. When he rescues this innocent soul, Kylen rediscovers his mission, and his heart. All he wants is to help Alivia stay alive. He’ll just have to fight off an invasion from Hell first. (Digital)
Ghost Phoenix (The Phoenix Institute #3)—Corinna Lawson (October 7, Samhain) Richard Plantagenet, self-exiled prince of an immortal court, is content living the uncomplicated life of a California surfer. Until his brother’s sudden death and his Queen’s wasting illness wrest him from his ocean-side solitude for one last quest. The Queen needs a cure. Richard needs assistance from someone with a singular and slightly illegal talent. As the latest of a long line of ghost-walkers, Marian Doyle can, literally, walk through walls bringing objects with her. Her gift comes in handy for her family s shady antiquities business, but Marian’s had it with breaking the law. Their mission seems simple: Find the body of Gregori Rasputin and procure a small sample of his DNA. They discover the Mad Monk of Russia is very much alive. The prince and the phantom must form a bond to battle a man who desires to remake the world in fire. (Digital)
Immortal (Fallen Angels #6)—J.R. Ward (October 7, NAL)
This is a world where sin and salvation collide. This is a world where a cynical fallen angel struggles with the seven deadly sins and seven chosen souls. The riveting series comes to an epic close as mankind’s reluctant savior struggles with his greatest challenge yet.
To Love a King (Court of Annwyn #3)—Shona Husk (October 7, Sourcebooks Casablanca)
To keep the balance between good and evil at the court of Annwyn, Prince Felan ap Gwyn has two weeks to marry and take the crown. But he wants more than just power, he wants love; a love he once had but was too stubborn to hold on to. It took years for Jacqueline Ara to put her life back together after Felan abandoned her. She’s moved on, even if her heart still burns for him. But with war in Annwyn looming and death bleeding into the mortal world, Felan and Jacquie will need to heal old wounds and rekindle the passion that once welled between them, or face losing everything.
WEEK TWO
Sublime—Christina Lauren (October 14, Simon & Schuster)
When Lucy walks out of a frozen forest, wearing only a silk dress and sandals, she isn’t sure how she got there. But when she sees Colin, she knows for sure that she’s here for him. Colin has never been captivated by a girl the way he is by Lucy. With each passing day their lives intertwine, and even as Lucy begins to remember more of her life, and her death, neither of them is willing to give up what they have, no matter how impossible it is. And when Colin finds a way to physically be with Lucy, taking himself to the brink of death where his reality and Lucy’s overlap, the joy of being together for those brief stolen moments drowns out everything in the outside world. But some lines weren’t meant to be crossed.
The Fire Artist—Daisy Whitney (October 14, Bloomsbury)
Young Adult. Aria is an elemental artist, she creates fire from her hands. Her power is not natural. She steals it from lightning. It’s dangerous and illegal in her world. When she’s recruited to perform, she seizes the chance to get away from her family. But her power is fading too fast to keep stealing from the sky. She has no choice but to turn to a Granter, a modern day genie. She gets one wish at an extremely high price. Aria’s willing to take a chance, but then she falls in love with the Granter, and he wants his freedom. Aria must decide what she’s willing to bargain and how much her own heart, body, and soul are worth. In a world where the sport of elemental powers is the most popular form of entertainment, readers will be swept away by a romance with stakes higher than life and death.
WEEK THREE
Beware of the Wild—Natalie C. Parker (October 21, HarperTeen)
Young Adult. It’s an oppressively hot and sticky morning in June when Sterling and her brother, Phin, have an argument that compels him to run into the town swamp, the one that strikes fear in all the residents of Sticks, Louisiana. Phin doesn’t return. Instead, a girl named Lenora May climbs out, and now Sterling is the only person in Sticks who remembers her brother ever existed. Sterling needs to figure out what the swamp’s done with her beloved brother and how Lenora May is connected to his disappearance, and loner boy Heath Durham might be the only one who can help her.
Into Darkness (Night Prowler #6)—J.T. Geissinger (October 21, Montlake Romance)
In New Vienna, capital of the oppressive global government formed after the Flash, three things are certain: the sun is poisonous, speaking out is dangerous, and being different will get you killed. And Lumina Bohn is extraordinarily different. Lu knows nothing of her past, but she knows she must pretend to be human to survive. When an incident at work triggers her astonishing powers, she becomes the target of an international manhunt. Only one person can save her: Magnus, the enigmatic stranger haunting her dreams. Magnus rescues the outcasts called Aberrants from capture and torture. When a shocking revelation threatens the lives of every remaining Aberrant, Lu and Magnus must risk everything, confronting their enemies in a final stand to save their kind from the darkest fate of all: extinction.
WEEK FOUR
Archangel’s Shadows (Guild Hunter #7)—Nalini Singh (October 28, Berkley Sensation)
In the wake of a brutal war, the archangel Raphael and his hunter consort, Elena, are dealing with the treacherously shifting tides of archangelic politics and the people of a battered but not broken city. The last thing their city needs is more death, especially a death that bears the eerie signature of an insane enemy archangel who cannot— should not—be walking the streets.This hunt must be undertaken with stealth and without alerting their people. It must be handled by those who can become shadows themselves…Ash is a gifted tracker and a woman cursed with the ability to sense the secrets of anyone she touches. But there’s one man she knows all too well without a single instant of skin contact: Janvier, the dangerously sexy Cajun vampire who has fascinated and infuriated her for years. Now, as they track down a merciless killer, their cat-and-mouse game of flirtation and provocation has turned into a profound one of the heart. And this time, it is Ash’s secret, dark and terrible, that threatens to destroy them both.
Burn For Me (Hidden Legacy #1)—Ilona Andrews (October 28, Avon)
Nevada Baylor is faced with the most challenging case of her detective career, a suicide mission to bring in a suspect in a volatile case. Nevada isn’t sure she has the chops. Her quarry is a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, who can set anyone and anything on fire. Then she’s kidnapped by Connor “Mad” Rogan, a darkly tempting billionaire with equally devastating powers. Torn between wanting to run or surrender to their overwhelming attraction, Nevada must join forces with Rogan to stay alive. Rogan’s after the same target, so he needs Nevada. But she’s getting under his skin, making him care about someone other than himself for a change. And, as Rogan has learned, love can be as perilous as death, especially in the magic world.
Eternal (Shadow Falls: After Dark #2)—C.C. Hunter (October 28, St. Martin’s Griffin)
All her life, Della’s secret powers have made her feel separated from her human family. Now, she’s where she belongs, at Shadow Falls. With the help of her best friends Kylie and Miranda, she’ll try to prove herself in the paranormal world as an investigator, all the while trying to figure out her own heart. Should she choose Chase, a powerful vampire with whom she shares a special bond? Or Steve, the hot shapeshifter whose kisses make her weak in the knees? When a person with dark connection to her past shows up, it’ll help her decide which guy to choose, and make her question everything she knows about herself.
Home In Time for Christmas and An Angel for Christmas—Heather Graham (October 21, Harlequin)
Home in Time for Christmas: Melody Tarleton is driving home for Christmas when a man, clad in Revolutionary War era costume, appears out of nowhere. Jake Mallory claims he’s a Patriot soldier executed by British authorities. Melody brings Jake to her parents’ house. He’s passionate, charming and unlike anyone she’s ever met. Can a man from the distant past be the future she truly longs for? An Angel for Christmas: The holidays have never brought out the best in the MacDougal family. They gather in the Blue Ridge Mountains to try to make the season merry. In the midst of a sibling shouting match, a mysterious stranger appears. When another stranger arrives, they don’t know which of them to believe. One of these men can’t be trusted. And one is about to bring Christmas into their hearts.
Love Me To Death (Underveil #1)—Marissa Clarke (October 28, Entangled Select)
Elena Arcos has always lived her life under the radar. She is shot in a convenience store robbery. Elena finds herself in supernatural insanity courtesy of her own private angel of death. Her death angel is convinced she’s some kind of freaky half vampire thing and that her deceased dad was the real deal: a blood sucking monster. The guy claims to be some immortal law enforcer and has taken her prisoner.Nikolai Itzov had expected to fight the urge to torture the progeny of his father’s murderer, but he’d never anticipated battling the urge to kiss her her. Nikolai and Elena find themselves in a life and death battle to stop a plot designed to lift the Underveil and enslave humans. They might be able to foil the plot with their lives and maybe their hearts intact. He must help her become the very thing he hates the most: an Undead.
Suzanne Johnson is the author of the Sentinels of New Orleans urban fantasy series and, as Susannah Sandlin, author of the Penton Legacy paranormal romance series and The Collectors thriller series. You can find Suzanne on Facebook and on her daily blog, Preternatura.
