Top Pick
When a Duchess Says I Do by Grace Burrowes stars a delightful and deserving pair. Having been tasked with salvaging a crumbling country estate, Duncan Wentworth is saved by a mysterious woman during a violent encounter with poachers. Curious, he manages to finagle the lovely “Maddie,” who is obviously in dire circumstances herself, into agreeing to stay and help him edit his travel journals. Widowed duchess Matilda Wakefield is on the run to protect her father and possibly herself. Though determined and resourceful, she can’t resist the temporary respite that Duncan offers—or, finally, the man himself. Readers will root for these two wary people as they learn to trust each other with their foibles and their truths. With revealing dialogue, games of chess and subtle sensuality, this romance sings.

A paranormal wolf pack struggles to maintain its way of life in Maria Vale’s Forever Wolf. The wolves of the Great North Pack can shift into human form, but must remain wolves during the full moon. Varya is an influential and powerful Shielder, a bodyguard and taskmaster for the pack. Her duty to her family’s survival is born of love, and she considers no sacrifice too great. But when she stumbles upon a strange, injured wolf, Varya’s loyalties are challenged even as danger threatens her clan. In an almost mythical voice, Vale deftly conveys the complexity of the pack’s hierarchy as well as their hopes and needs—while still including the broad strokes of a romance. Adventurous readers will appreciate Vale’s unique love story, including the unconventional but poignant happily ever after.

Tiffany Reisz spins an erotic romance based on Greek myth in The Rose. Lia Godwick reaches the age of 21 with a broken heart and a few years’ experience at running a lucrative escort service. The world at large remains unaware of her work until her graduation party, where she meets a mysterious and handsome man. August Bowman is interested in an ancient Greek wine cup that Lia received as a gift and tells her that the artifact was used in the temple of Eros to bring sexual fantasies to life. Lia puts herself into the hands of the seductive August, who joins her in a series of erotic adventures. Lia’s delightfully humorous and sexually open parents nearly steal the show, but the growing love between the main couple and their willingness to sacrifice for each other lend depth to this uninhibited tale. Reisz masterfully balances explicit description with emotional honesty in a way that will entrance readers.

When her own Arctic pack was annihilated, Varya was taken in by the Great North Pack. Clawed and marked for an ancient transgression, Varya is now a feared and respected member of the Pack and Alpha Shielder for the Great North's 12th Echelon. She would lay down her life for the Pack, but with inner dissension and outside danger threatening, the Pack is on edge. When Varya comes across Eyulf, a severely wounded Arctic wolf whose fair hair and unmatched eyes mark him as the mythical doom-bringing Bone Wolf, she knows the Pack will kill him if she can't keep his existence secret until he is ready to leave. But concern soon turns to love, and when a traitor succeeds and the survival of the Pack hangs in the balance, Varya and Eyulf are faced with a life-altering decision. VERDICT Tender, heart-wrenching, and drenched in legend and lore, this bittersweet romance highlights the tension between following rigid law and adapting to change; a fierce, fulfilling addition to this mesmerizing series. Vale (A Wolf Apart) lives in New York.

Vale's third Legends of All Wolves paranormal romance (after A Wolf Apart) brings the conflicts from both within and outside the Great North Pack to satisfying peaks, in a powerful story about the nature of belonging and the relationship between love, law, and duty. Werewolf Varya, "the Indurate Timursdottir, Alpha Shielder of the 12th Echelon," is fiercely loyal to the Pack. She develops a deep fondness for Eyulf, an injured lone white wolf she discovers while patrolling, but must keep him hidden because his mismatched eyes represent a fearful omen of the end of days. Meanwhile, incursions by human hunters into Pack territory can no longer be controlled, and some Pack wolves want to acquiesce to the violent Shifters' demand to breed with Pack females and raise children no longer tied to the cycles of the Iron Moon, while others see that approach as sacrificing all that it means to be wolf. Vale balances tender romantic and familial love with a thrilling helping of bloody dominance clashes, and readers of the series will find characters from the earlier stories grown gracefully into their power. This is a fitting capstone to the three-book arc, with the door left ajar for further stories. Agent: Heather Jackson, Heather Jackson Literary. (Apr.)

Vale's third Legends of All Wolves paranormal romance (after A Wolf Apart) brings the conflicts from both within and outside the Great North Pack to satisfying peaks, in a powerful story about the nature of belonging and the relationship between love, law, and duty. Werewolf Varya, "the Indurate Timursdottir, Alpha Shielder of the 12th Echelon," is fiercely loyal to the Pack. She develops a deep fondness for Eyulf, an injured lone white wolf she discovers while patrolling, but must keep him hidden because his mismatched eyes represent a fearful omen of the end of days. Meanwhile, incursions by human hunters into Pack territory can no longer be controlled, and some Pack wolves want to acquiesce to the violent Shifters' demand to breed with Pack females and raise children no longer tied to the cycles of the Iron Moon, while others see that approach as sacrificing all that it means to be wolf. Vale balances tender romantic and familial love with a thrilling helping of bloody dominance clashes, and readers of the series will find characters from the earlier stories grown gracefully into their power. This is a fitting capstone to the three-book arc, with the door left ajar for further stories. Agent: Heather Jackson, Heather Jackson Literary. (Apr.)