Next Month in Books – October 2021

After twenty months of staying home and safe, I’m finally able to go on holiday next month and I’m so unbelievably excited. Even without the global pandemic, it’s still been the toughest twelve months of my life. I’ve been challenged in ways I didn’t think possible. At my very lowest, the one constant in my life was my love of books. Without being overly dramatic, they saved me.

One of the best things about a holiday is choosing which books you’re going to read while you’re there. The five books below by my favourite authors have already been pre-ordered and earmarked for my Holiday TBR (if I don’t cheat and sneakily read them beforehand!).

If you’ve got any suggestions for October 2021 releases I might have missed out on, please let me know in the comments.

Until next time, happy reading!

Note: I don’t get paid for including any of the links below, they’re just the books I’m most looking forward to being published each month.

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1ST OCTOBER 2021

On The Ropes by Kathryn Nolan

Dean “The Machine” is a South Philly legend. Much to the dismay of fans who still hound him, the broody former fighter walked away from his boxing career right before clinching another championship belt. Tight-lipped on his reasons for retiring, he’s busy trying to figure out his future when the past literally falls in his lap.

Tabitha Tyler, the fiery redhead who captured his teenage heart, is back in town and staying next door. Only now the girl that got away is all grown up and offering him a strings-free, summer fling. Dean knows better than to start something that will leave him flat on his back and seeing stars.

But there’s only so much temptation a man can take.

Kept away by the secrets that tore her family apart, sparkly filmmaker Tabitha is home for the first time in nine years. And her old friend and new hunky neighbor is just the distraction she needs. It’s the perfect relationship for her – one with an expiration date.

She’s got two weeks to convince him to cave.

He’s got two weeks to convince her to stay.

But when she refuses to let down her guard, Dean realizes that this time…he just might get knocked out for good.

Author’s note: A smokin’ hot, friends-to-lovers, opposites-attract love story in a close-knit South Philly neighborhood with a quirky cast of nosy but well-intentioned neighbors.

Links: Amazon UK / Amazon US / Goodreads

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12TH OCTOBER 2021

Boyfriend (Moo U) by Sarina Bowen

The dreamiest player on the Moo U hockey team hangs a flyer on the bulletin board, and I am spellbound:

Rent a boyfriend for the holiday. For $25, I will be your Thanksgiving date. I will talk hockey with your dad. I will bring your mother flowers. I will be polite, and wear a nicely ironed shirt…

Now everyone knows it’s a bad idea to introduce your long-time crush to your messed-up family. But I really do need a date for Thanksgiving, even if I’m not willing to say why. So I tear his phone number off of that flyer… and accidentally entangle our star defenseman in a ruse that neither of us can easily unwind.

Because Weston’s family is even nuttier than mine. He needs a date, too, for the most uncomfortable holiday engagement party ever thrown.

There will be hors d’oeuvre. There will be faked PDA. And there will be pro-level awkwardness…

Links: Amazon UK / Amazon US / Goodreads

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14TH OCTOBER 2021

The Certainty of Chance by Jacquelyn Middleton

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT DECEMBER…

Madeleine Joy is feeling more meh than merry. When an Icelandic volcano erupts six days before Christmas, hazardous ash congests European airspace, canceling flights indefinitely—including the thirtysomething’s connection to Paris. Stranded alone in London, separated from her sister, and with the devastating one-year anniversary of her best friend’s tragic death just days away, Madeleine has never felt less festive. And as if things couldn’t get worse, the cute guy driving the cab to her hotel won’t shut up about carolers and tinsel…

Julian Halliwell is one of life’s sunny optimists. A former music journalist, he’s embraced his love for London by starting his own black cab business, enthusiastically ferrying passengers from one historic landmark to another. But life hasn’t always been easy for Julian. Having navigated several life-changing setbacks including a cruel betrayal by his former fiancée, Julian remains hopeful that he’ll meet somebody kind, who shares his love of music, his corgi named Winnie, and of course, the magic of Christmas time in London.

Despite being an unlikely match, fate seems determined to throw them together. But can the grieving American find joy again in a world where the lights have all but dimmed?

Links: Amazon UK / Amazon US / Goodreads

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19TH OCTOBER 2021

Save Me (Phoenix #3) by Stacey Kennedy

Series: Watch Me (#1) & Keep Me (#2)

Can this fantasy last forever?

Reporter Hazel Rose has a new assignment: locate the masked man in a photograph taken at the Phoenix sex club and snag an interview with him. The only problem? She recognizes him as her new roommate, Kieran Black. The elusive mystery man she’s been lusting after for months. But her biggest problem is that there’s no way Hazel could ever talk to Kieran about a secret sex club. His smile alone makes her blush. And after being beaten down by an emotionally cruel ex-boyfriend, Hazel has never really regained her self-confidence.

Kieran loves his sex dirty and his relationships brief. A child of a terrible divorce, Kieran has never seen the point in commitment. But suddenly, all his of best friends are getting married, and he’s beginning to realize how empty his life is. As Kieran and Hazel are both forced to attend wedding celebrations, he starts to learn more about his quiet roommate. When she explains her past struggles with relationships, he offers her a trade. He’ll fulfill all of her wildest sexual fantasies if she’ll help him understand how to be the type of partner a woman wants in a relationship.

Hazel knows this sizzling fantasy with Kieran isn’t supposed to last, but she quickly finds herself falling for the sweet, caring Kieran who is much better at relationships than he believes. But when Hazel’s job invades her personal life, she’ll have to decide what’s more important. A career that hinges on revealing Kieran’s identity or a fake relationship that is starting to feel very real…

Links: Amazon UK / Amazon US / Goodreads

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21ST OCTOBER 2021

The Christmas Escape by Sarah Morgan

It was supposed to be Christy Sullivan’s perfect Christmas escape – a trip to Lapland with her family and best friend, Alix. But facing a make-or-break marriage crisis, Christy desperately needs time alone with her husband. Her solution? Alix can take Christy’s daughter to Lapland, and they will reunite there for Christmas Day. What else are friends for?

There’s nothing Alix won’t do for Christy, but Christy’s request to save Christmas is giving Alix sleepless nights. She knows something is wrong, but for the first time ever, Christy isn’t talking. What is going on?

As secrets unravel and unexpected romance shines under the Northern Lights, can Christy and Alix’s Christmas escape give them the courage to fight for the relationships they really want, and save the precious gift of each other’s friendship?

Links: Amazon UK / Amazon US / Goodreads