Promoting and reviewing romance novels one book at a time
Author: professorromance
I teach students to write for college. I love to read writers who write romance. Why not review and promote the writing of people who love to write romance? Win-win for me
From USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling author Jewel E. Ann comes a novel so heartfelt and real it redefines the meaning of love.
I’m the wrong guy in the right place the night I steal Tatum Bradshaw from another man. When she mistakes me for her blind date, I decide she deserves a man who shows up on time … like me. Emmett Riley, Mr. Punctual.
Once I confess my true identity and convince her I’m not a creep–just a thief–it’s only a matter of time before my sexy smile and quick wit claim her heart, her hand in marriage, and the perfect life.
Unfortunately, perfection is an illusion, like the promises of our wedding vows. No one can prepare for the unimaginable–the heartbreaking exception to all the rules in life.
When thirty seconds destroys everything, I have to find a new existence and keep my promise to always love our daughter, Lucy, the most.
For Lucy, I will keep a secret, and I will watch my wife drift into the arms of another man.
Given the chance … can I reclaim my wife and the pieces of our life?
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*This story contains sensitive subject matter.
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Jewel is a Wall Street Journal & USA Today best selling author a with a quirky sense of humor. When she’s not saving the planet one tree at a time, you can find her role modeling questionable behavior to her three boys, binge-watching Netflix with her husband, and writing mind-bending romance.
Max Monroe’s Grumpy Cowboy deserves a might “yee-haw.” It takes the sweetness and humor of the usual Max Monroe fare. It mixes in a cowboy angry with the direction of his life: taking on his family’s ranch in the shadow of his father, having to turn away from a future of rodeo riding, and handling his adorable daughter without her mama who would rather be a rodeo queen. Add to that a horrible accident that leaves him unable to adequately do his job. And add to that a heroine who is an up-and-coming orthopedist ready to kick his butt if he doesn’t take the proper care of himself. All of these elements work together to create a fantastic story with a sprinkling of slow-burn chemistry, opposites attracting, and a sweet happily ever after. GrumpyCowboy is the perfect read for right now.
Rhett is the type of character who is equal parts compelling and crotchety. It’s actually interesting how long it takes for him to recognize his interest in Leah. Much of the story is about him putting Leah through her paces. It’s in those moments when the humor you come to expect from Max Monroe is found. Rhett creates a gauntlet of sorts for Leah to run as a way to run her off. This portion of the book will make you chuckle as you can see their burgeoning attraction.
Even better, the character of Leah is Rhett’s perfect foil and romantic partner. She keeps Rhett guessing and she challenges him in ways that no one else in the story can. As their interest grows, for me, their story feels more serious. There is still Max Monroe’s signature humor sprinkled in, but once Rhett fully sees Leah, the vulnerability of their interest in the other lends seriousness and adoration to the romance.
Along with Rhett and Leah’s journey is the addition of Rhett’s daughter, Joey. Joey adds a sweetness to this tale, and Leah’s ready acceptance of her makes you love her character even more.
In the end, this cowboy romance is exactly what you can expect from Max Monroe: funny, fierce, and fabulous. If you want a quick read for the weekend, order GrumpyCowboy today.
He’s a real-life, blue-eyed, tough-as-nails, thirtysomething cowboy who is so darn strong he looks like he could lift a car just for the heck of it.
He’s also stubborn, rude, and we don’t get along…at all.
Grumpy Cowboy, an all new laugh out loud rom com from New York Times bestselling author Max Monroe is available now!
ATTENTION: If you have been a victim of false advertising, you may be entitled to compensation. If you were ever hired to take care of a fourteen-year-old boy’s knee injury on a luxury ranch in the Middle of Nowhere, Utah, but that fourteen-year-old boy ended up being a tall, rough-and-tumble, muscular, one-hundred-percent all-man cowboy by the name of Rhett Jameson, you may have been put at risk for falling in love. Please seek counsel immediately.
Dear Counselor,
It was supposed to be simple favor for my very important boss, Frank Kaminsky of the Salt Lake Slammers professional basketball team—go to his good friend Tex Jameson’s luxury ranch and provide personal medical care for his recently injured teenage son.
I thought it’d be a working vacation of sorts—a chance for my city-girl self to experience something I would never otherwise do—but everything is upside down, and absolutely nothing is as I thought it would be.
For one, this patient is not a teenage boy. He’s a real-life, blue-eyed, tough-as-nails, thirtysomething cowboy who is so darn strong he looks like he could lift a car just for the heck of it.
He’s also stubborn, rude, and we don’t get along…at all.
Add in the heart-melting vision of him as a single father to the cutest little girl on the planet, and I’ve found myself in a whole different dimension of trouble.
Lust. Feelings. A whole lot of enemies-to-lovers-style complication.
Please help me. My name is Dr. Leah Levee, I am a victim of false advertising, and if I’m not careful, this Grumpy Cowboy might just be the death of me.
About Max Monroe A duo of romance authors team up under the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling pseudonym Max Monroe to bring you sexy, laugh-out-loud reads.
Max Monroe is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of more than ten contemporary romance titles. Favorite writing partners and long time friends, Max and Monroe strive to live and write all the fun, sexy swoon so often missing from their Facebook newsfeed. Sarcastic by nature, their two writing souls feel like they’ve found their other half. This is their most favorite adventure thus far.
Claudia Burgoa has revealed the cover for Yours to Keep!
Releasing: September 7, 2021
Cover Design: Hang Le
Opposites attract in this dynamic romantic comedy featuring M/M leads by USA TODAY Bestselling Author Claudia Burgoa.
I know everything about brains, but nothing about hearts.
Love isn’t in my future. Romance isn’t in my cards. I focus on my job and nothing else. Neurosurgery doesn’t play well with distraction, anyway. If only my meddling, matchmaking Mom would get the hint.
Accepting a move to Baker’s Creek, getting off her radar and away from any eligible bachelors that she knows should keep me safe, right?
Wrong.
I might not want a boyfriend but I do have a type: broody, angsty, and quiet. And there’s one of those living in this small town.
Vance Aldridge.
He’s a military man who’s numbed himself to the point of no return. He’s been forced to choose between love and family one too many times, and I just saved the life of his baby brother.
He fascinates me far beyond his chiseled good looks. I want to know how he thinks, what makes him tick, and if I can make him smile…
But can I learn to read his mind without giving away my heart?
The Baker’s Creek Billionaire Brothers series is a fun and flirty saga that combines sweet stories with sensual heat. This is a gay male contemporary romance that’s sure to make your heart swoon.
Claudia is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author.
She writes alluring, thrilling stories about complicated women and the men who take their breath away. She lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband and her youngest two children.
She has a sweet Bichon, Macey, who thinks she’s the ruler of the house. She’s only partially right.
When Claudia is not writing, you can find her reading, knitting, or just hanging out with her family. At night, she likes to binge-watch shows with her equally geeky husband.
Stacy Travis’s Falling for You is hands-down my favorite book on her book list. Hands-down! There is something special about her hero, Owen, and her heroine, Isla. Travis crafts their chemistry so carefully and beautifully that you absolutely need them to be together from the beginning of their story. Most importantly, these two are friends at the foundation of their love. As Isla struggles through her business challenges and as she overcomes the backlash from her past relationship, Owen reads like a steady presence for her.
What I love most, though, about Travis’s Berkeley Hills series is the inclusion of the family network. In every story thus far, it’s clear the importance of family as the Finleys support, interrogate, and machinate to the betterment of its people. Thus far, in the first two books of this series, you can’t fully accept the relationship of the hero and heroine of the story until they’ve run the gauntlet of the Finleys. That camaraderie and love provide the perfect backdrop for a story such as Falling for You.
Even more, the way in which Stacy Travis treats her setting like another character in the story is seamlessly integrated into Owen and Isla’s romance. The steaminess of their time away at his vineyard just adds an additional layer that pulls you into Travis’s book.
I simply adore Owen and Isla together. They are everything you love in a hero and heroine: compatible, supportive, challenging, and combustible. When you finish Stacy Travis’s Falling for You, you won’t want to miss any future Finley family stories.
Have you ever watched the Jane Lynch game show Hollywood Game Night? There is a game on that show called Kaboom!. It entails a large bowl, full of confetti, and a timer. As the game show celebrities try quickly to answer questions, they pass the bowl back and forth with the fear that the timer will go off, the bowl will express a huge puff of air, and the confetti will explode into the face of the celebrity (don’t worry – they wear protective glasses). The kick of this game is the anticipation of that explosion. The timer is set to some undetermined period of time, and you have no idea when the burgeoning energy will be exposed, leaving you with a quick shock of fear and anticipation. You can feel its palpability even through your television screen.
As I was reading Karla Sorensen’s Forbidden, the last book of her Ward Sister’s series, I kept trying to compare the feelings of anticipation running through me as I turned page after page, chapter after chapter of this emotionally grave, beautifully drawn story. And the best comparison is Hollywood Game Night’s Kaboom!. Sorensen’s genius in this book brings a three-fold gift: building that anticipation of the coupling of Aidan and Isabel, articulating the frenzy of their attraction through the careful craftsmanship of her words, and expressing the will of one of her most complex characters to date in Isabel. All of these conspire to build, build, build your emotions about these characters and their story in a way that makes turning the pages difficult because you can’t do it fast enough. Then, once you’ve done it, you’re sad because you know this world is complete, and you hate to leave the Ward sisters behind. This maelstrom of emotions makes for a book that is the perfect end to this series.
Where to begin.
It’s clear from the beginning of my review that my love for this book lies first in Sorensen’s careful plotting of her story. In her acknowledgments, she writes of the difficulty of bringing Isabel’s story to life. Interestingly enough, as you read the story, you can’t find that difficulty anywhere because her capacity to build such explosive chemistry between Isabel and Aidan is extraordinary. You hold your breath as the story progresses because you just can’t help it. Aidan and Isabel’s chemistry takes up so much space that the story itself feels like an exercise in edging (see any erotic romance for that understanding). If Sorensen is the dom in this situation, then you the reader are her sub, and she makes you wait all the glorious minutes and hours to the eventual consummation of all of Aidan and Isabel’s attraction. When it happens, it isn’t disappointing at that moment, which can often be the case when you anticipate something so much. It feels right and it is a testament to Sorensen’s pacing of her story. Even if you’re impatient for heroes and heroines to finally end up together, you won’t be disappointed by Sorensen’s story here. It’s just so right.
I’ve loved Karla Sorensen’s style through her books. It’s as though the syntax of her prose, the careful construction of her words, match the meter in my mind. Through her words, I can feel the soul of her books in ways that match something in me. There is a chapter in Forbidden, Chapter 28, where this feels like the zenith of her writing. Through her use of repetition and the meter of her words, you can feel the spring-loaded tension of her characters through the careful selection of her words and phrasing. This happens over and over again in her books, and it’s one of the reasons she’s one of my favorite authors. Again, I just get her style in a way that makes me feel complete in her stories. I didn’t realize how important this was to me until, recently, I’ve found myself in a bit of a desert of stories. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve read a couple of other exceptional stories recently, but I’ve read several that stylistically make me stutter through the story. Honestly, I thought I was a little broken, that maybe my love for romance had diminished. I found myself interrupting my reading for bouts on TikTok to give me a break from having to wade through the stories that I connected only with the story. Yet, Sorensen’s Forbidden reminded me how much her stories call to me through her capacity as a writer, not just as a storyteller. Forbidden, honestly, made my heart soar again at the words on the page because Sorensen’s style brought it back to life. Maybe that sounds dramatic, but it’s the honest truth.
And lastly, the one place where I connected the most with Forbidden is in its characterization of Isabel. Could I be talking about Aidan and his journey through grief? Yes. But I won’t. Should I mention that the Ward family is all here, and Logan Ward is still my favorite book boyfriend? That his brief moments with his sisters ALWAYS make the tears stream down my face? That even writing those words on the page make me tear up because I adore the gentle giant’s fierce words over his sisters? Yes. I should spend time on it, but Isabel calls to me in ways her sisters don’t. Karla Sorensen develops her in a way that feels kindred. If you’ve read The Marriage Effect, you know that Isabel stuffs her feelings until they become rage. In that book, Paige introduces her to kick-boxing as a vehicle to help her unleash it, to help her connect with her emotions, to help her express them to others. Isabel is a character study in control to sometimes its detriment, and I felt every one of her internal thoughts as she denies her attraction to Aidan. As she locks herself down so that she doesn’t make a fool of herself. As she struggles to contain her essence. As she loses her composure with her sister, Molly, in the face of potentially seeing their mother again. And mostly in her belief of her difference from others, her soul that sets her apart from others because she can be difficult to read. There is a poignant moment in the story when she wishes for a man who “sees” her beyond that outer shell that is protective of her soft underbelly, and I. Felt. All. Of. It. Because her struggles are my struggles. When you see your reflection in a character, you can’t help but fall deeply for them and their story. And that, my friends, is what I did.
As I said above, Karla Sorensen’s Forbidden is the perfect ending to this series. Thankfully, we will circle it in coming stories in her book world, and I’m thankful for that because I need glimpses of Logan, Paige, and his sisters. But even if they are quick glimpses, Forbidden has left me replete; it’s satiated my need for the Wards. In the end, Karla Sorensen brought to life a family, one who endured the trauma of abandonment, and in the end, taught us all that family isn’t always blood; it’s the people we choose to love and who love us in return.
No man has ever been able to rattle Isabel Ward. Until Aiden Hennessy walks in the door of her gym—ownership papers in hand.
The former fighter is a lot of things- a devoted single dad, a widower trying to start over, and a watchful presence that knocks her off her very capable feet.
To make matters worse, Isabel had a crush on him for the entirety of her teenage years. Doodles in her diary, and letters declaring her admiration—while never sent—haunt the absolute crap out of her now that she has to face him every single day.
She’s not the only one affected.
No woman has tempted Aiden to move on from the memory of his wife—until Isabel. But she’s too young, too feisty, too much of everything he should avoid.
Working together makes avoidance impossible, and so is pretending like the blistering chemistry between them doesn’t exist.
Now that the unshakeable woman is shaken and the un-temptable man is tempted, Isabel and Aiden have to decide what they’re willing to risk for a taste of the forbidden.
Well, let’s see … I’m a wife and a mother. If the things that I write bring a smile to someone’s face, then I’ve done my job.
I am obsessed with Outlander (both the books and the show). I’m almost exclusively a romance reader, which means some people will never consider me a literary snob.
If I could meet one historical figure, it would be Jane Austen. I received my Bachelors in Public Relations and worked in health care marketing before I had my babies.
I hate Twitter. I do it, but I hate it. Also, if you want to get on my good side, bring me wine and I’ll love you forever.
From USA Today bestselling author Meghan Quinn, and narrated by Connor Crais and Mackenzie Cartwright, comes THE STRIKE OUT…
It started with one night out with the boys. She was the hot diner waitress putting herself through school. I was the rich, arrogant player everyone misjudges. On paper, we didn’t match. Yet all it took was one day. One single day to change her mind.
She wasn’t planning to spend her day off with me. She wasn’t supposed to fall for my charm. But one day, one smile, turned into several nights of her calling out my name.
I’m not the guy she should end up with. I’m jealous, possessive. Not here for a long time – just a good time. She’s changed me. But, for some reason, I feel her slipping through my fingers, and no matter what I do, I fear I’m going to strike out with the one and only girl I’ve ever fallen for.
About the Author:
USA Today Bestselling Author, wife, adoptive mother, and peanut butter lover. Author of romantic comedies and contemporary romance, Meghan Quinn brings readers the perfect combination of heart, humor, and heat in every book.
Falling for You, an all-new slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance from Stacy Travis is available now!
When brilliant, logical Owen Miller walks into my bakery and witnesses the worst break-up in the history of public, mortifying break-ups, I can only think of one thing to do… so I kiss him.
Is it a mistake? Yes. Do I regret it? Maybe.
Friends aren’t supposed to kiss—or have red-hot moments next to the bread oven. And respected bakers with designs on a San Francisco bread empire aren’t supposed to manhandle their customers.
It’s a rebound, pure and simple. We both admit it. I don’t have time for anything more, especially when I’m on the cusp of achieving my dream—expanding my business into hand-picked, perfect locations.
But Owen is a savvy hotel owner who knows a thing or two about business. So when location scouting leads to wine tasting, long leisurely drives, and a hands-on meeting in a wine cave, I decide mixing business and pleasure with the smoking-hot charmer might be the best of both worlds.
Until an anonymous competitor seems determined to sink everything I’ve put my heart and soul into. Maybe it’s time to end our friends with benefits arrangement before I lose everything.
But what if losing Owen is losing everything? What if I’m falling for my rebound guy?
It’s a rough world out there, and we all sometimes need a good, romantic beach read, even if we can’t make it to the beach. I’ve spent many lazy days walking the streets of Paris and other gorgeous European cities, and if I’m doing it right, I’m bringing you a dash of romance and a vacay fantasy. I can’t sit still, so when I’m not hiking, biking or running, I’m playing a very average game of tennis. Background music for writing undoubtedly features some U2, Lizzo, Billy Joel, Pink, Taylor Swift, and Led Zeppelin. Not necessarily in that order. And if I could only eat one food group, it would be cheese. Or wine. Or bread. Are those food groups? Whatever.
Emma Renshaw has revealed the cover for Vow of Justice!
Releasing: July 20, 2021
Cover Designer: Hang Le
She’s been betrayed by everyone she trusted.
Daphne has been keeping her past a secret from everyone in her new life. Her best friend doesn’t even know her real name. All she wants is her quiet life with foster animals and the justice she finds through crime scene photography. She’s built a wall around herself to stay safe. That was until the rugged detective crashed into her world.
He lives for the honor of his badge.
For Maddox, rules and routine are necessary. He has been living with the sole focus of making up for his past mistake. A mistake that almost cost him everything.
The wild and quirky photographer was a distraction that he didn’t need, but her beauty is impossible to ignore. With one snap of Daphne’s shutter, her past comes back to taunt her and puts her life in danger. Every answer Maddox finds only brings more questions. As a spark flares between them, Maddox finds he wants to protect her more than his badge.
When Maddox and Daphne get too close, someone is watching and keeping them in their crosshairs and they’ll do anything to keep them in the dark.
Emma loves to write, just don’t ask her to write about herself. If she isn’t writing, you can find her lost in a book or trying to get her doggo to take a selfie with her. He usually refuses. At the end of the day, you can find Emma at the closest Mexican restaurant eating queso and sipping on a margarita. She lives in Texas with her husband and dog.
Professor Romance 