Waiting For Wentworth

Waiting On Wednesday (776) Built to Last (Common Grounds #3) by Merry Farmer

Built to Last
(Common Grounds #3)
by Merry Farmer

Expected Publication: October 2, 2026

Genre: MM, Romance

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event that is hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings
that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating.
(WoW was previously hosted by Breaking The Spine.)

This is my favorite day of the week because I love sharing and discovering new books.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Gilbert:

Kyle Jameson broke my heart eight years ago and never looked back. Now he's flexing his construction muscles right next door to my family's café, and every hammer strike on the other side of that wall feels personal. I've spent eight years building a life and a business that doesn't need him in it. I don't care how good he looks swinging a sledgehammer. And I definitely don't care that some stubborn, hopeful part of me still lights up every time he walks through my door.

I do not care. I'm just very loud about not caring.

Kyle:

I panicked once. I let Gilbert Meyers go because I wasn't ready to be seen, and I've regretted it every day since. Now I'm building a shop next to his café, catching hell from him at every turn, facing him down on the baseball diamond, and losing my mind a little more every time he glares at me like he wants to kill me. Or maybe he wants to kiss me. I came back into his life to finish a project. I didn't expect to find out I still have unfinished business with the one guy I never stopped wanting.

This time, I'm done hiding. The only question is whether Gilbert will let me back in.

This is a series of novellas set around a family owned coffee shop, so no heavy storylines. Just nice, easy reading for days when you need a little pick me up and no drama or angst.

Happy Birthday to my son who just turned 32. Damn, I feel old.

What are you waiting on this week?

Too Close to Home
(Whitton & Black Mystery #1)
by C.F. White

Expected Publication: September 25, 2026

Genre: MM, Romance

This is my favorite day of the week because I love sharing and discovering new books.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Starting over might mean getting too close.

When DI Harrison Black transfers from the Met to the small Yorkshire town of Hartswick, he’s chasing distance—from London, guilt, and the grief of losing his husband. He expects a quieter life.

Instead, within hours of his arrival, a seventeen-year-old girl vanishes on a woodland path, plunging Harrison straight into a case with a chilling echo. Thirteen years earlier, another young woman disappeared from the very same place. Robyn Whitton was never found. Her brother Jake never stopped looking for her.

Jake Whitton is everything Harrison should keep at arm’s length. Roofer. Drummer. Ex-con. Local troublemaker with a temper and absolutely no faith in the police. He’s also fiercely loyal, infuriatingly persistent, and determined to involve himself in Harrison’s investigation whether Harrison likes it or not.

Jake knows better than to trust a copper. The police failed Robyn. Then they failed him. And DI Harrison Black, with his quiet authority, wedding ring and grief he wears like armour, should be the last man capable of getting beneath Jake’s skin.

As a present-day disappearance drags Robyn’s cold case back into the light, Harrison and Jake are pulled closer together, blurring the line between professional and personal. Because Harrison isn't only getting dangerously close to a man connected to his investigation.

He might finally be getting close to the truth. And in a town that has kept its secrets for thirteen years, someone will do anything to make sure they stay buried.

New to me author and the first book in a trilogy, so hopefully this book goes well and I can continue reading. I can't tell you how many series I have given up on after reading the first book. If I'm not invested in the story or not interested in the characters, it's bye bye for me. I've got no time to spare for mediocrity! (Not that I haven't read my share of duds, because I have, mostly because I hate to DNF anything if I can help it.)

Also, Happy 29th Birthday to my daughter. Bad Mom moment - for a hot minute I thought she was turning 28. She wasn't pleased with me. Jeez, it's been a rough freaking year and I'm just trying to survive out here!!

What are you waiting on this week?

Axe Backwards
(Axford Brothers #3)
by May Archer

Expected Publication: September 15, 2026

Genre: MM, Romance

This is my favorite day of the week because I love sharing and discovering new books.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
A fake engagement to the hot sheriff who escorted me to family camp? Weirdly delightful. Failing to tell him that my family is a bunch of professional thieves? Small oversight.

I left the Callahan family business years ago. These days I’m a law-abiding citizen. A photographer who takes nothing but pictures. A man who’s learned not to get greedy for anything… or anyone.

But my family hasn’t gotten that memo, so I expect my week at family camp to be filled with guilt-trippy attempts to lure me back into the fold.

Winsome’s gorgeous sheriff was supposed to be nothing more than a one-night-stand. He doesn’t have a clue why I’m dreading this week, but he takes his protection game seriously. So when he thinks I need a rescue, he steps in and declares himself my fiancé… and I’m too busy swooning to argue.

Now Holden’s planning a camp heist (for fun, obvs!) and charming my family of criminals. Our motto is ‘Callahans don’t get caught’ but nobody warned me about catching feelings.

Unfortunately, secrets don’t stay buried forever. And when someone forces the Callahans toward one last impossible job, protecting the family I love means becoming the man I swore I’d never be again.

But if Holden learns the truth about my past, it’ll be goodbye fake engagement, goodbye sheriff… goodbye heart.

I read a lot of this author's books, and I'm enjoying this series, so this automatically goes on my tbr. Can't wait to read it!
I've been reading a lot more because I'm in a life slump, can't decide what I want to do, so I read and avoid all the things. I'm also still trying to get back to a normal working routine, but it's hard!

What are you waiting on this week?

Kiss Slay Replay
by Rachel Harrison

Published: September 1, 2026

Genre: Horror, Romance

This is my favorite day of the week because I love sharing and discovering new books.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
It’s the picture-perfect wedding. The venue is dreamy, the weather is beautiful, love is in the air—and Willa Sullivan is having a bad time. She’s excited to celebrate her best friends finally having the big wedding they’ve always wanted, but this is the first time she’s seen her ex-fiancé in months, and he brought a date. Everything feels off, like she stumbled into an alternate universe. But things start to look up when Willa meets Danny, the groom’s charming and single childhood best friend. When they sneak off together, their rendezvous is interrupted by a masked killer terrorizing the reception. Willa and Danny fight to save the ones they love and survive the night, but the killer is unrelenting. A final girl, Willa is not.

Or is she? She wakes up and it’s the morning of the wedding. She just had the most intense nightmare of her life. Only as the day unfolds, there are some uncanny coincidences that make her question whether it was really a dream, déjà vu, or something more sinister. After a horrifying turn of events, Willa comes to understand that she’s stuck in a loop of carnage and terror that she must learn how to escape or else suffer a fate worse than death—being an eternal wedding guest.

Something a little different for me this week. I'm pretty sure I saw this as someone else's WoW pick a while back. It's also been popping up on my Goodreads feed, so I added it to my tbr. I hope I like it!

What are you waiting on this week?

Tracking Wolfe
(Made Marian Legacy #4)
by Lucy Lennox

Expected Publication: September 1, 2026

Genre: MM, Romance

This is my favorite day of the week because I love sharing and discovering new books.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
I’ve been in love with Trace Bishop half my life…  And I’ve been hiding it just as long.

He’s my father’s best friend.  The man who tracked me down and kept me safe my entire childhood…

The man who looked me in the eyes six years ago and said we were impossible.

So I poured my longing into love songs. Songs no one knows are about Trace.  I shared them with the world under a secret identity and won a Grammy. Just another thing to hide. 

Then one stupid kiss changes everything.

Trace can’t want me back.  It would cost him his friends, his family, and the life he’s built.  And I’m tired of wanting the impossible.   So I run…

Straight into the crosshairs of someone who knows all my secrets and doesn’t care who gets hurt.

Trace does what he always does–he finds me.  But this time, he’s not tracking his best friend’s son. He’s tracking the man whose kiss he can’t forget.  The man he’ll burn his life down to keep. 

Because if Trace and I want a chance at forever, hiding is no longer an option.

This book is totally not my favorite trope. The only reason it is on my tbr is because it is the third generation of this family and I have read every book up until now. I feel bad skipping a book in such a long running storyline. I can at least start it and see if I like it.

On a sad note, my Mother passed away on Sunday. Not what I wanted so soon after my Father's passing, but it is what it is. Never thought this is how it would end for either of them. Mom went quick after she "fell" and broke her hip. Her brain (dementia) just never recovered from the anesthesia from surgery. She was not the same person when she woke up. I highly recommend not placing a loved one in long term care at a nursing home.

What are you waiting on this week?

The One Night Heist
(Stolen Art, Stolen Hearts #1)
by C. Rochelle

Expected Publication: August 28, 2026

Genre: MM, Romance

This is my favorite day of the week because I love sharing and discovering new books.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
For fans of Knives Out, The Thomas Crown Affair, White Collar, The Art Thief, and The Mastermind, with the humor of The Blonde Identity mixed in, this dark MM rom-com asks, how much will you risk to get everything you’ve ever wanted?

As the sole heir to his family’s estate, Giancarlo Luxford is focused on one thing: auctioning off his late mother’s art collection to the highest bidder. A chance encounter with an ex-con has him setting his sights on a new goal, and nothing—not even the threat of mutual destruction—will stand in his way.

Longtime grifter Rowen Quincy only cares about the game, but after one too many bad decisions, he finds himself in a tight spot, dreaming of escape. Billionaire Giancarlo Luxford seems like an easy mark, and a ticket out of his situation, but this one-time heist may end up becoming the longest con of all.

I haven't read anything by this author before. I get a lot of recs from people I'm following on Goodreads, so I guess this author hasn't been prominent on there. So, new to me author, and I'll see if I like this book!

What are you waiting on this week?

Just the Pool Boy at Vampire Mansion
by Ariana Nash

Expected Publication: August 28, 2026

Genre: MM, Romance, Paranormal

This is my favorite day of the week because I love sharing and discovering new books.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Owen Marsh just wants to keep his head down and get on with job of being Coconut Grove's local pool boy.

But when he accepts the Witherbornes as clients, his life takes a turn in a very unexpected and potentially deadly way.

Vampires are out and they're part of the community, but he didn't expect to have to interact with one.

Now there's been a murder, the Witherborne heir is a hot, sexy disaster, and the pool's pH levels are way off...

It's just another day for the pool boy. What's the worst that can happen anyway?

This cover is SO far removed from what this author usually puts out that I didn't realize it was her! Her covers are typically very dark and moody (to match the stories!) so I've never read anything by her before. But this looks light and fun and I really need something different to read right now.

What are you waiting on this week?

Axes and Ohs
(Axford Brothers)
by May Archer

Expected Publication: August 11, 2026

Genre: MM, Romance

This is my favorite day of the week because I love sharing and discovering new books.

Synopsis from Goodreads:
They say everyone’s good at something, right? Well, my superpower happens to be making catastrophically bad decisions. Sabotaging my father’s multi-million-dollar ad campaign because his client was a homophobic jerk? Done.

Accidentally causing a viral scandal? Check.

Confessing the whole thing, then road-tripping from Manhattan to pickle-obsessed Winsome, Vermont, to apologize to the poor guy who got blamed? You bet your gherkin.

After this, I’m done with impulsive behavior for good. No more reckless choices. No more big gestures…

Until Carlos Morales sits beside me at the bar.

He’s gorgeous, kind, grounded, funny, and until approximately five minutes ago, straight. He lives for family, forests, and small-town festivals the way I live for nightlife, neon, and high fashion.

Flirting with him is foolish. Kissing him is worse. And falling for this man when our lives couldn’t be more different is either my next spectacularly impulsive disaster…

Or the best decision I’ll ever make.

This is a short novella set between books 1 and 2. I read alot of this author's works, and I like this series, so I'll be reading this book soon.

What are you waiting on this week?