New Releases I’m Excited About: Early 2022 Contemporary Fiction

Hello, dear readers. A new year and a new book season are upon us!! Which means… It’s time once again to valiantly find some more space on our out-of-control TBR lists. Susan (and any other list makers), break out your lists because Early 2022 is bringing so many fabulous-looking new releases!! Let’s click our list-making pens in a toast to our TBRs & start with Early 2022 Contemporary New Releases (January – April).

Here is the schedule of posts for the week so you can zero in on your fave genre!

TODAY: Contemporary Fiction (non-Amish & non-suspense)
Tuesday: Historical Fiction (non-Amish & non-suspense)
Wednesday: Mystery/Suspense (non-Amish)
Thursday: Amish Fiction
Friday: Speculative/Youth
Saturday: Non-Fiction

In my continued quest to streamline these posts I’m only selecting the few* that most caught my eye to spotlight here. I’ll also include links to all the January-April 2022 releases, each in their own list by month. You can also keep up with 2022’s new books as I learn about them by bookmarking the ‘2022 Releases‘ page on my blog menu & checking it periodically!

*My definition of ‘a few’ will become very loose by Wednesday. Okay… yeah… today too. And tomorrow. #dontjudge

spotlight on titles i’m most giddy about

(click on book title to go to its goodreads page if available)

THE GIRL WHO COULD BREATHE UNDERWATER
Erin Bartels
Revell / January 4, 2022

When novelist Kendra Brennan moves into her grandfather’s old cabin on Hidden Lake, she has a problem and a plan. The problem? An inflammatory letter from A Very Disappointed Reader. The plan? To confront Tyler, her childhood best friend’s brother–and the man who inspired the antagonist in her first book. If she can prove that she told the truth about what happened during those long-ago summers, perhaps she can put the letter’s claims to rest and meet the swiftly approaching deadline for her next book. But what she discovers as she delves into the murky past is not what she expected. While facing Tyler isn’t easy, facing the consequences of her failed friendship with his sister, Cami, may be the hardest thing she’s ever had to do.

HER FAITH RESTORED
(Welcome to Ruby #3)
Cynthia Herron
Mountain Brook Ink / January 5, 2022

Sunset Meadows’ activity director Melinda Brewer has her work cut out for her. As a five-year veteran with the cutting-edge retirement community, “Mel” wears many hats. But her job is more than a title. The residents at “The Meadows” are like family—some of whom she’s known her entire life. Leave it to new kid on the block Matt Enders to upset the apple cart. When Enders is hired as the facility’s new social worker, his idea of a well-oiled machine is to eliminate a few rusty cogs—chiefly, some of Mel’s most successful programs. While he’s willing to meet the pint-size package of TNT halfway regarding new ideas and innovation, he won’t sacrifice improvement for the sake of hurt feelings. Ironically, crabby Clinton Farley, a Meadows’ resident and devout non-believer, is the catalyst that draws Matt and Mel closer. Together, the two must set aside differences to work for a common cause—introducing Clinton to a sunnier side of life and a new way of living.

AN ORPHAN’S HOPE
Christina Miller
Love Inspired / January 25, 2022

Twice left at the altar, preacher Jase Armstrong avoids commitment at all costs—until he inherits his cousin’s three-day-old baby. Pushing him further out of his comfort zone is Erin Tucker, the nurse for his live-in octogenarian boss, and her lessons on caring for an infant. But can Jase open his heart enough to see the family forming around him?

FINDING HER WAY BACK
(K-9 Companions #2)
Lisa Carter
Love Inspired / January 25, 2022

After a tragic event leaves Rob Melbourne’s little girl traumatized, he’ll do anything to help her recover—even enlist his first love, Juliet Newkirk, and her therapy pup, Moose. Working with Juliet stirs up old feelings for Rob, a distraction he doesn’t need. But with the dog’s help, the road to healing his daughter might just give Rob and Juliet a second chance at happiness…

THE REBEL’S RETURN
(The Ranchers of Gabriel Bend #2)
Myra Johnson
Love Inspired / January 25, 2022

Called home after an injury in the family, prodigal son Samuel Navarro shocks everyone by arriving with his surprise baby in tow. When Samuel’s mom is unable to act as a full-time babysitter, his childhood love, Joella James, reluctantly takes the job. But can the newly devoted dad convince Joella he’s a changed man…and that she’s the perfect final piece to his little family?

HER HOMETOWN HERO
(Polk Island #2)
Jacquelin Thomas
Harlequin Heartwarming / January 25, 2022

Wounded marine Trey Rothchild has returned to Polk Island. People call him a hero, but will he ever feel that way after losing his team? Reuniting with high school crush Gia Harris buoys his spirits. Though she’s focused on making her physical therapy clinic a success—and avoiding romance with patients—Gia can’t bear watching the former athlete sit on the sidelines of life. Could helping Trey recover include loving him fearlessly?

LOVE ON ICE
(Original Six Hockey Romance #2)
Carolyn Miller
January 27, 2022

Aussie short track skater Holly Travers has one goal – make the Vancouver Games, no matter what it takes. She has no time for distractions, even if they come in the handsome form of her Canadian best friend’s twin brother. This hockey player may say he’s not a player, but can she trust him? Brent Karlsson has one goal – make his sister’s best friend realize he’s a changed man and she should give him a chance. When a set-up in Hawaii helps these two opposites realize they have more in common than they thought, what happens when he wants to turn their fake relationship into something real?

THE VALENTINE PROPOSAL
(Pine Valley Holiday #1)
Beth Pugh
Candlelight / February 1, 2022

Award-winning photographer Mason Montgomery is back in Pine Valley, Kentucky. On paper, he’s the perfect buyer for Forget-Me-Not Photography. Too bad the seller, Ol’ Man Rowe, doesn’t see it that way. He’s looking for a family man to take over, and Mason’s bachelor status doesn’t fit the bill. For shy Lily Anne Dawson, life has not turned out the way she’d hoped. Working at her mother’s bakery and editing for the local newspaper is a far cry from her journalistic dream. She’s a failure. A lonely failure worrying about infertility with no romantic prospects in sight. That all changes when a decade-old promise to marry on Valentine’s Day pushes the two together at their high school reunion.

SHAPED BY THE WAVES
Christina Suzann Nelson
Bethany House / February 1, 2022

Cassie George is barely staying above water as she works to get her doctorate and raise her daughter. But she stubbornly keeps swimming to prove a few bad decisions haven’t ruined her forever. Plus, it’s all a great excuse to stay away from the small Oregon town she fled in shame years prior. But when she receives a call that the aunt who raised her has had a major health crisis, she knows it’s time to return. Cassie is surprised to be more welcomed by the quirky seaside community than she expected, even if there’s still tension between her and her former classmate Nora Milford. But she still can’t help feeling unsettled and is mystified by a mysterious package that appears, full of typed pages that tell the story of an anonymous woman’s life. As her curiosity sends her on a journey toward truth, Cassie will discover that who she thought she was and what she wants for her life are both about to change.

IN SEARCH OF A PRINCE
Toni Shiloh
Bethany House / February 1, 2022

side note: I’ve read this book and it is FABULOUS!!!

Brielle Adebayo is fully content teaching at a New York City public school and taking annual summer vacations with her mother to Martha’s Vineyard. But everything changes when her mom drops the mother of all bombshells–Brielle is a princess in the kingdom of Oloro IlZ, Africa, and she must immediately assume her royal position, since the health of her grandfather, King Tiwa Jimoh Adebayo, is failing. Distraught by her mother’s betrayal, Brielle is further left spinning when the Oloro IlZ Royal Council brings up an old edict that states she must marry before assuming the throne or the crown will be passed to another. Uncertain who to choose from the council’s list of bachelors, she struggles with the decision along with the weight of her new role in a new country. With her world totally shaken, she must take a chance on love and brave the perils a wrong decision may bring.

MEET ME IN THE MARGINS
Melissa Ferguson
Thomas Nelson / February 15, 2022

You’ve Got Mail meets The Proposal—this romance is one for the books. Savannah Cade’s dreams are coming true. The Claire Donovan, editor-in-chief of the most successful romance imprint in the country, has requested to see the manuscript Savannah’s been secretly writing while working as editor herself—except at her publishing house, the philosophy is only highbrow works are worth printing and commercial fiction, particularly romance, should be reserved for the lowest level of Dante’s inferno. But when Savannah drops her manuscript during a staff meeting and nearly exposes herself to the whole company—including William Pennington, new publisher and son of the romance-despising CEO herself—she races to hide her manuscript in the secret turret room of the old Victorian office. When she returns, she’s dismayed to discover that someone has not only been in her hidden nook but has written notes in the margins—quite critical ones. But when Claire’s own reaction turns out to be nearly identical to the scribbled remarks, and worse, Claire announces that Savannah has six weeks to resubmit before she retires, Savannah finds herself forced to seek the help of the shadowy editor after all. As their notes back and forth start to fill up the pages, however, Savannah finds him not just becoming pivotal to her work but her life. There’s no doubt about it. She’s falling for her mystery editor. If she only knew who he was.

SAY IT’S FOR GOOD
(Laurel Cove Romance #4)
Teresa Tysinger
Good Day Publishing / February 22, 2022

Professional chef Leah Spencer is level-headed, responsible, and practical—making it an easy decision to move home to Laurel Cove, North Carolina to care for her ailing father. All he wants is for his only child to find love and partnership like he had with his late wife—before he leaves her all alone. Desperate to ease his worries, as well as her own, she breaks character and creates a fake relationship with the one man in town who likely wants nothing to do with her. And the one man she’s ever truly loved. Ladies’ man Jasper Bowdon has successfully avoided commitment ever since his heart was broken a decade ago. Casual dating, however, had grown tiresome and he’d recently decided to take a break from women to finally figure out what he really wants. Why, then, does he agree to a pretend relationship with the very woman who’d ruined him in the first place? And why is he left wondering if it could all be part of God’s plan to heal them both?

FATHERHOOD LESSONS
Gabrielle Meyer
Love Inspired / February 22, 2022

When his twins’ nanny leaves for a family emergency, single dad Knox Taylor knows he’s in over his head caring for the girls alone. But having their aunt’s aid for the summer wasn’t the assistance he had in mind. But Merritt Lane’s crash course in fatherhood might just teach Knox what he desperately needs to know…and reveal she’s the partner he didn’t know he was missing.

THE ADOPTION SURPRISE
Zoey Marie Jackson
Love Inspired / February 22, 2022

“She looks like me!” When her orphaned niece utters those words, Kelsey Harris is shocked—not only that Morgan has a long-lost twin but that the grieving five-year-old spoke at all. Overjoyed by Morgan and Mia’s instant connection, Kelsey and Zach Johnson, Mia’s widowed adoptive father, agree to be friends—and only friends. But can they ignore their growing feelings when the matchmaking sisters put their plan into action?

SECRETS OF THEIR PAST
(Wander Canyon #5)
Allie Pleiter
Love Inspired / February 22, 2022

Veterinarian Neal Rodgers is in Wander Canyon seeking the truth about his past—not to rescue a litter of kittens under his next-door neighbor’s porch. But persistent single-mom Tessa Kennedy is impossible to ignore—especially when she uncovers a family secret of her own. Discovering the hidden facts of their histories could be the key to unlocking everything in this small town.

THE VETERAN’S VOW
(K-9 Companions #3)
Jill Lynn
Love Inspired / February 22, 2022

After a traumatic brain injury, military vet Behr Delgado refuses the one thing that could help him—a service dog. But Ellery Watson is sure the perfect pup will change Behr’s life and offers to work with him one-on-one. As Behr sets about overcoming his fears, Ellery’s surprised to find herself opening up about her troubled nephew. Will family obligations force them to deny what’s in their hearts?

CHECKED IMPRESSIONS
(Original Six Hockey Romance #3)
Carolyn Miller
February 24, 2022

Jai Mullins is used to being the fastest man on ice. Trouble is, his ability to find a genuine woman is tracking at glacial melt levels. He’s trusting God she’s out there, but he’s wary of getting trapped by a superfan, when all he wants is someone with whom he can be real. Allie Davis has two great loves: impressionist art and hockey. More specifically, a certain hockey player. But between her shyness and her family, she’s convinced she’ll never meet him, let alone connect with him in a non-embarrassing way. Until she does. And they connect. And romance sparks. But she is hiding a big secret, and he’s about to find that first impressions sometimes need a reality check. Will they learn to trust and find a way forward, or will half-truths lead to further hurt on opposite sides of the country and lonely lives?

SOMETHING GOOD
Vanessa Miller
Thomas Nelson / March 8, 2022

Alexis Marshall never meant to cause the accident that left Jon-Jon Robinson paralyzed—but though guilt plagues her, her husband hopes to put the past behind them. After all, he’s in the middle of selling a tech business—and if Alexis admits to texting while driving, the deal could collapse and cost them millions. Meanwhile, Alexis’s life is not as shiny and perfect as it may seem from the outside. She has secrets of her own. As she becomes consumed with thoughts of the young man she hit, can she reconcile her mistake with her husband’s expectations? Trish Robinson is just trying to hold it together after the accident that left Jon-Jon dependent and depressed. As the bills pile up, Trish and her husband, Dwayne, find themselves at odds. Trish wants to forgive and move on, but Dwayne is filled with rage toward the entitled woman who altered their lives forever. Trish can’t see how anything good can come from so much hate and strife, so she determines to pray until God intervenes. Then one afternoon Marquita Lewis rings their doorbell with a baby in her arms and changes everything.

THE DO-OVER
Bethany Turner
Thomas Nelson / March 15, 2022

Career-driven McKenna Keaton has devoted her life to attaining the senior partnership at her law firm. But the past four days have been the worst of her life and have called everything she thought she knew about herself into question. Besides, she can’t remember her last real date—one that didn’t involve using a blind date as an opportunity to get a stranger’s perspective. (It’s like sharing fondue with a jury!) But a real date? And with shy, nerdy Henry Blumenthal, McKenna’s high school rival for valedictorian who took three hours to beat her at chess in high school? Scratch that. He’s Hank Blume now, the famed documentarian, Durham’s darling son, who has attained all his dreams and more, and also happens to look like he stepped out of an Eddie Bauer catalog. Whereas McKenna is a disgraced workaholic from New York on unpaid leave, accused of a white-collar crime she would never commit, succumbing to panic attacks, watching her dreams unravel. At age thirty-eight—and destined by the family curse to die before she turns forty, it appears—it’s absolutely the wrong time to have a major crush on a man. Especially one who treasures his memories of McKenna as the girl Most Likely to Succeed.

HEARTS AND GOALS
(Original Six Hockey Romance #4)
Carolyn Miller
March 24, 2022

After a series of tragedies, Maggie Joly’s dreams have been confined to her work at Montreal’s botanic gardens and caring for her little boy. But when a surprising workplace encounter sees her in the arms of a handsome sweet-talking stranger, she’s soon forced to reassess whether romance might still be in her future after all. Working in this fairytale-like city is a dream come true for Beau Nash, Montreal’s new goalie. And while he’s excited to explore all his new city offers, he hadn’t counted on meeting a striking brunette with heart-melting eyes, or so quickly bonding with her and her son, even though Maggie’s faith is a little tenuous, and shadows from the past mean she might never really be ready to love again. An incident at the Gardens forces Beau to choose between his dream job and the woman of his dreams, while an accident on the ice invites Maggie’s deepest fears. Perhaps a Pumpkin Ball might help convince them to believe in happily-ever-afters once again.

AN ALASKAN SECRET
(Home to Hearts Bay #1)
Heidi McCahan
Love Inspired / March 29, 2022

Back home in Hearts Bay, Alaska, Asher Hale’s past has caught up with him. His son Cameron’s new reading tutor, Tess Madden, is actually Cameron’s mother—but she doesn’t know it. Their teenage romance is one neither has forgotten, but Asher’s secret lies between them. Now he will have to risk it all. Because telling the truth is the only path to a family reunion.

KEEPING THEM SAFE
(Sundown Valley #2)
Linda Goodnight
Love Inspired / March 29, 2022

Focused on his business and charity work, rancher Bowie Trudeau can’t afford a distraction. Then his childhood crush, Sage Walker, returns home after thirteen years with her niece and nephew in tow. Helping the troubled kids and their aunt might put his career—and heart—in jeopardy. But uncovering her secrets and convincing Sage to stay might give him the family he’s always wanted…

HER EASTER PRAYER
(K-9 Companions #4)
Lee Tobin McClain
Love Inspired / March 29, 2022

After a tragic loss, reading teacher Emily Carver dedicates her life to educating troubled boys with the help of service dog Lady. Tutoring new school handyman Dev McCarthy’s struggling son reminds Emily of everything she’s missing. Time spent with them could heal her heart—only, Dev has a secret. Can she see past what he’s hiding to the family forming around her?

A FOSTER MOTHER’S PROMISE
(Kendrick Creek #3)
Ruth Logan Herne
Love Inspired / March 29, 2022

Raising three children alone is tough, but single mom Carly Bradley makes it work—until she takes in one more. As she struggles to handle the new arrival, grumpy new neighbor Mike Morris seems to bond with little Hannah. But a past tragedy keeps Mike at arm’s length from Carly. Will they both learn to trust again before discovering happiness next door?

THE RANCHER’S WYOMING TWINS
(Back to Adelaide Creek #1)
Virginia McCullough
Harlequin Heartwarming / March 29, 2022

Heather Stanhope wants to despise the man who now owns the ranch her family lost. But Matt Burton is raising his late sister’s adorable twins, loves horses, and is known for his loyalty and honesty. Sneaking into Adelaide Creek for her friend’s wedding, Heather hopes to avoid Matt, but fate and family have them crossing paths. Heather knows falling for Matt means risking her heart, but it’s a risk she can’t resist.

THE PARAMEDIC’S FOREVER FAMILY
(Smoky Mountain First Responders #2)
Tanya Agler
Harlequin Heartwarming / March 29, 2022

Bachelor paramedic Mason Ruddick doesn’t know what he’d do without Lindsay Hudson. The widowed mom is his sounding board, his neighbor and, since the death of her husband and his best friend, his lifeline. Only lately, Mason can’t stop noticing just how beautiful and special Lindsay is. Or how often he thinks about her. Now Mason’s heart is caught between the best friend he lost…and the one he’s falling for.

SEA GLASS COTTAGE
(Hope Harbor #8)
Irene Hannon
Revell / April 5, 2022

Christi Reece is desperate. The one-time golden girl’s life has tarnished, and a cascade of setbacks has left her reeling. She needs help, and she’s certain Jack Colby is in a position to provide it. When she shows up in Hope Harbor, however, Jack wants nothing to do with the woman who betrayed him. He’s built a new life on the Oregon coast–and there’s no room in it for Christi, even after she takes refuge in a charming but mysterious cottage nearby. Yet it soon becomes apparent his opinion of her may need revising . . . especially when he ends up needing her help.

ALL THAT IT TAKES
Nicole Deese
Bethany House / April 5, 2022

When the ever-cautious Val Locklier finally agrees to a cross-country move with her nine-year-old son to take a job with her best friend, Molly, everything she had planned for the future unravels within the first week. After pushing aside her anxieties about renting an apartment from Molly’s twin brother, whom she barely knows, she accepts an invitation for an elite filmmaker’s mentorship. Caught between her insecurities and new possibilities, she feels completely unprepared for the challenges ahead. Pastor Miles McKenzie returns home from abroad to discover that not only does he have an intriguing new tenant living upstairs, he’s been banished to a ministry on life support. Disillusioned and restless, he pursues a relationship with Val without stopping to consider the timing or asking God to direct his steps. As Val struggles to stop hiding behind the camera and Miles wrestles with shattered expectations, they’ll find that authentic love and sacrifice must go hand in hand.

WHAT MATTERS MOST
(Nantucket Love Story #3)
Courtney Walsh
Tyndale House / April 5, 2022

Emma Woodson is hoping the cobblestone streets of Nantucket and the charm of her late husband’s family cottage will be the fresh start she and her young son, CJ, need. Securing a dream job at an art gallery is one more step along the path to a new life . . . and away from a piece of her history she hopes will never be revealed. Falling in love with the kind and handsome guy she hires to clean out the rental apartment above the garage wasn’t part of the plan. Jameson Shaw came to Nantucket for one reason: deliver his letter to Emma and never return. But when he sees an opportunity to help her, he takes a chance, desperate to atone for his past. He never planned to keep his connection to her husband a secret or to fall in love with her. After all, he knows that their new relationship might not survive the discovery of who he really is.

MULBERRY HOLLOW
(Riverbend Romance #2)
Denise Hunter
Tyndale House / April 19, 2022

Avery Robinson decided to be a physician after helplessly watching her mother lose a battle with a terrible disease. Now at risk of developing the same illness, Avery guards her heart from love. She’s driven to protect her loved ones as a workaholic doctor in the tiny mountain town of Riverbend Gap, North Carolina. Contractor Wes Garrett is hiking the Appalachian trail, in memory of the man who died saving his life, when an illness racks his body. After an agonizing fifteen-mile hike to Avery’s clinic, he collapses on her doorstep. He recovers to find himself in debt again, this time to a beautiful doctor. When he decides to help her renovate a rundown carriage house, the obstacles to their attraction sprout like weeds—starting with the woman waiting for Wes at the end of the trail. Will he be able to relinquish the debt he owes his best friend? And will Avery find the courage to risk everything for love?

A NEED TO PROTECT
(Widow’s Peak Creek #4)
Susanne Dietze
Love Inspired / April 26, 2022

A safe, quiet life—that’s what shepherdess Clementine Simon wants for her niece and nephew. There’s nothing safe or quiet about globe-trotting cameraman Liam Murphy. It’s only right that life pulled them in separate directions. But when he returns—temporarily—old feelings resurface. Can she take the biggest risk of all…falling in love?

THEIR ALASKAN PAST
(Home to Owl Creek #5)
Belle Calhoune
Love Inspired / April 26, 2022

Veterinarian Maya Roberts has complicated feelings about her ex—Iditarod racer Ace Reynolds—returning to Owl Creek, Alaska. But he’s the perfect person to help with her dog rescue. Now they’re working together, caught by their tangled past and still-unresolved feelings for each other. But a second chance with Ace isn’t just about forgiveness. It means sharing the secret that’s kept them apart…

add these to your wish list

all the new releases by each separate month
(amazon affiliate links used)

my most very favorite covers?

(because I have to narrow it down somehow lol)

What about you? Which Early 2022 Contemporary New Releases are you most anxious to read? Which covers are your favorites?

If you don’t see your book mentioned here OR in my amazon lists, I apologize! It’s impossible to keep up with all the books LOL! Please feel free to leave your release info for Christian / clean contemporary fiction (not mystery/suspense or Amish) in the comments.