This feature essentially looks at titles that are being released in eBook format without an accompanying hardback or paperback. Sometimes it’s a release ahead of those formats, sometimes it’s a release after and sometimes it’s only being released in eBook format. At the minute I have one reliable (free) source (not Amazon, which doesn’t work for this). So lets give it a go and see whether this idea has legs!
Just a reminder as I don’t see any advance copies, my choices are based on the cover, blurb, gut instinct and what takes my fancy at the time. Essentially that’s how I decide on my own purchases.
(NB This post features Affiliate links from which I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases)
Index
Crime, Thriller and Mystery (includes Historical Crime/Mysteries)
Crime, Thriller & Mystery
Always the Quiet Ones by John Carson
When teenager Heather Ross disappears in rural Fife, it evokes dark local folklore about the Shadow Watchers—figures that supposedly guard buried secrets in the Scottish hills. DCI James Craig catches the case, and it quickly becomes clear this is no ordinary missing persons investigation. With DS Leanne Chalmers newly assigned to his team, the pressure to solve it intensifies quickly.
Craig’s Major Investigation Team uncovers more than they anticipated. Significant money is involved in local land deals, stolen artefacts appear in unusual places, and individuals are prepared to kill to keep old sins hidden.
His evolving relationship with pathologist Dr. Annie Keller offers a fresh perspective on the investigation. Her forensic expertise uncovers vital details about the case, while their personal connection provides Craig with stability amidst the turmoil.
As people begin to die and the Shadow Watchers appear more fact than fiction, Craig realises he is running out of time. An ancient and dangerous force is awakening in the hills.
The Fatal First Edition by Agatha Frost
As Ellie and Maggie prepare to officially reopen Meadowfiled Books, the buzz of their launch event grows: Meadowfield’s least romantic man, Benjamin Brown, is launching his first romance novel. The book’s debut is raising more eyebrows than hearts, but it’s Peter Cookson’s sudden return that truly steals the spotlight. Nervous, evasive, and clutching secrets from an old drowning in the village pond, Ellie is unsettled by her father’s return, especially when he clashes publicly with Benjamin at the book launch.
When Benjamin is found dead just days later, all fingers point to Peter, whose past and present are shrouded in suspicion. Determined to protect her father, Ellie digs into the truth—but what she uncovers ties Benjamin’s strange literary ambitions to an unsolved tragedy from Peter’s youth. With tensions rising and time running out, Ellie must unravel the mystery before her family is torn apart forever.
Can Ellie solve the case and keep the bookshop’s grand opening from being overshadowed by scandal—or will Meadowfield’s dark secrets claim another victim?
My Daughter is Missing by JD Kirk
My little girl has vanished. And I can’t tell anyone…
My nine-year-old daughter Hollie should be leaving school smiling and laughing with all the other children but she’s not here. I run frantically, checking everywhere, my voice growing louder, but I can’t see her bright blue eyes and heart-shaped face anywhere. Pure panic washes over me. This is my worst nightmare.
Her teacher asks me if she should call the police. My heart stops.I shake my head and pretend I’ve made a mistake. I see a look of suspicion creep into the teacher’s eyes. But the police can’t know. No one can. My hands shake as I realise I’m completely on my own.
I know in my gut my daughter hasn’t just wandered off. She’s been taken. Someone must know the truth about my past…
I’ve spent so long protecting Hollie, but I always knew this day might come. And I’ll stop at nothing to get my little girl back.
Romance
Catch the Kiss by LB Dunbar
Meeting Bolan Adler, professional baseball catcher and single dad, is a complicated story.
One involving a one-time kiss when I was young and silly. And a two-time tryst as some kind of midlife breakdown moment.
Anyway, in the game of baseball, three strikes mean: you’re out.
I thought my third one might happen when Bolan Adler is the newest client of the sports management agency I work for.
The same business that just promoted me to agent status when I haven’t asked for the position.
Also, the ridiculous company that wrote up a reputation repair report for the newest member of the Chicago Anchors which includes:
Bolan Adler needs a wife.
He’s decided I’m it. Only this isn’t a game of tag.
Hearts are on the line when I meet Bolan’s sweet sixteen-month-old, and my role goes from babysitting the bad boy of baseball to bonus-mom for his precious daughter.
Complicated, like I said.
Add in when my fake husband starts tossing out real emotions about love, marriage, and another baby, and I’m just hoping to stay out of the strike zone. Because the obvious opponent on the field is love.
Will it win or lose at the end of the season?
The Midnight Bakery by Emma Davies
Nestled at the end of a tiny, cobbled backstreet, is a charming, careworn bakery, its doorstep scrubbed clean and pale green linen blinds neatly drawn. Every night, long after customers have gone and the last crumbs wiped from the shelves, a key turns in the lock. This is a haven, a place where a candle burns through the night for anyone feeling lost or lonely.
Frankie, kneading dough through the night and shaping croissants to bake for morning, hopes the bakery will keep her safe from the heartbreak of her past. But what she hasn’t expected is to meet others who need to heal as much as she does.
William appears one moonlit night. Forging his own new path following years of heartache, he begins to check in on Frankie nightly, his gentle smile letting her know he’s keeping an eye.
Tam, lost and alone, stumbles upon the bakery and it becomes the one place where he can be himself.
Beth, who nurses patients by night and her husband by day, is drawn in by the scent of freshly baked bread and warm sugar, with Frankie’s custard tarts the one bright spark in her long, lonely nights.
Each of them finds comfort, companionship, and hope, as they begin to reveal secrets they’ve kept hidden for so long.
But one night, Frankie finds a letter neatly folded on the countertop. As she unfolds the perfect creases, her heart plummets when she sees the scrawled writing: will everything she’s been working towards be undone in an instant?
Can the four new friends fight for the place they love? Or will they lose the midnight bakery just when they need it most?
First Love, Second Draft by Becca Kinzer
She’s a romance writer burned out on love. He’s her famous baseball star ex-husband. The last man she wants to be forced to work with is the one who broke her heart.
Rom-com writer Gracie Parker hasn’t written a bestseller since she and her husband, a major league baseball star, divorced five years ago. On thin ice with her publisher—and with a looming deadline—Gracie couldn’t have picked a worse time for a painful injury that has her flat on her back. At this point, she’d accept help from anybody . . . except her first love and ex-husband, Noah Parker.
The baseball season has just ended in massive disappointment for Noah. He’s facing the stark reality that he gave up everything for a career that’s let him down and that it might be too late to get back the one person he should’ve held on to. So when Gracie’s nephew calls, saying Gracie’s looking for a tenant for her next-door rental, it feels like it’s meant to be.
All Gracie cares about is turning in her manuscript on time, which is directly at odds with Noah’s attempts to win her back, even if she is slightly charmed by his kindness. But can people ever really change? Then Noah throws a curveball that could give Gracie the extension she needs, but it will mean working directly with Noah, something she’s not sure she can face. With no other choice, and everything on the line, Gracie must decide if it is too late for a second draft of their own love story.
Just a Little Crush by Carly Phillipa and Erika Wilde
It’s just a little crush. What could possibly go wrong?
I’ve had more than enough relationship drama to last a lifetime, so romance with Stevie Palmer, the gorgeous server I had a hot one-night stand with, isn’t in the cards. However, she would make the perfect fake girlfriend to help me win my custody battle.
When I offer her an obscene amount of money to play along, she agrees. I insist this arrangement is strictly business. No feelings. No complications.
Easy, right?
Except nothing about Stevie is easy. She’s unexpected softness, stubborn as hell, and impossible to ignore. I tell myself I can keep my hands off of her. That I can ignore the way she makes me feel. Then one kiss turns into another. One night into more. And suddenly, our perfect little arrangement is anything but simple or straightforward.
With so much at stake, can I turn our fake relationship into a real happily ever after?
Replay by LA Shaw
I’ll never forget the first time I saw Berkley Black.
I can still picture what she was wearing and how she took my breath away—she was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen.
The love we shared was something I know I’ll never experience again…
but I walked away, even though it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
When an injury takes away my spot as QB1, I jump at the chance to be near her again, even if it means torturing myself.
What I didn’t expect was the gut-wrenching pain of seeing her with him. Someone I used to call a friend until he let his jealousy get in the way. I know I deserve it after how I hurt her, but that doesn’t mean I have to make it easy for them.
Especially when I realize that everything I put us through was ultimately for nothing.
Now, all that’s left is to hope it’s not too late for her to give me one last chance.
Fall Apart by Dakota Forest
Lizzy Frank has sworn off relationships after finding out her ex had been cheating on her. She is just looking for a fun distraction before her friends get to town for a vacation. When a tall, tattooed construction worker pulls up a seat next to her at the bar, she thinks she’s found the one, at least for tonight.
As a former competitive skier, Clay Chapman is not looking for any distractions. He thrives on order and being in control. Everything has its place, including where he usually sits at the dive bar by one of his job sites.
These two might be opposites, but their pull to each other is magnetic.
Can they each work through their pasts to move on and find love? Can they keep it together and not FALL APART?
So that’s all for this week.
Happy Reading!
