Author: professorromance

Play Smart, an all-new enemies to lovers rockstar romcom from Aly Stiles, is now available in Kindle Unlimited!

Read my review HERE.

Nash Ellis knows music. Producing, performing, writing—if it involves the creative process he’s there for it. He knows nothing about copy machines. Or financial reports. Or anything related to the stuck-up business world his best friends have been chasing since they were kids. But Nash also needs money, so when his roommate gets him a paid internship at Reedweather Media, he reluctantly agrees. At least his know-it-all intern competitor is kind of cute in a nerdy-librarian sort of way—especially when she’s being tormented by an angsty rocker she can’t stand.

The only thing Paige Andrews hates more than failure? Nash Ellis. She has little patience for incompetence and zero tolerance for indifference. He clearly doesn’t belong in their corporate world, so why does he insist on ruining her dream job? And the worst part—he’s not what he seems. In fact, it’s all the things he’s hiding behind those electric blue eyes that make him straight-up captivating in an ironic-slacker sort of way.

But their smoldering friction bursts into open flames when the feuding interns are forced into a high-stakes mission that requires intimate knowledge of the music industry. Yep, what could go wrong when the least-qualified candidate to ever walk the halls of a major corporation becomes their only hope of success?

‘Play Smart’ is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #5 in the Work For It series, Educated Romance World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

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Excerpt

Turning around, he stops in his tracks when he sees me. His face falls, and I don’t know how to read the mix of emotions that filters over him. He clearly doesn’t know what to do next, so I close the gap and grab his wrist.

“Let’s dance,” I say.

“What?”

“Dancing.” I wave behind me at the sea of bodies demonstrating this ancient ritual.

“You… wait. You want to dance with me? You’ve been turning me down all night.”

I nod. “Yes. Because I don’t dance.”

“But you do now?”

“No.”

“I don’t understand. What’s changed?”

“My internal—and a few external—organs.”

“Huh?”

His brow scrunches, and I notice for the first time how much I like the image of his silver piercing when he does that. I reach up and brush my finger near it, then let my touch drift down the side of his face. My gaze settles on his lips and a sharp wave of desire surges through me.

“I turned you down because you’re extremely attractive tonight,” I explain. “Dangerously so.”

“Wait, you’ve been turning me down because you wanted me too much?”

I nod again, forcing my attention back to his entrancing gaze. “Yes, and since we agreed we can’t have what we want, it felt like a terrible idea to indulge in a sample of the forbidden fruit.”

His confusion morphs into amusement. “Do you always have to say stuff in the weirdest way possible?”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Do you always have to be a jerk when I’m trying to be nice?”

“This is you being nice?”

About Aly Stiles

From angsty and dark to snort-laugh funny, Aly writes romance from her soul to yours.

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🎶 99 CENT SALE & COVER REVEAL 🎶

A.L. Jackson has revealed the alternate covers for the Bleeding Stars series, filled with brooding rockstars, strong heroines, spicy scenes and suspense! 

To celebrate, A Stone in the Sea is ON SALE for 99 cents for a limited time.

Don’t miss out on Shea & Sebastian’s epic single mom, rockstar romance!

As the lead singer of Sunder, I come with a reputation.

A bad one.

I’m no stranger to trouble.

It follows me wherever I go.

So, I should have known Shea Bentley would be a problem. But this sexy Southern girl is all I can see.

Now, we’re both drowning in a sea of desire, sinking hopelessly into a world of lust.

But she has an inescapable past.

One that might destroy both of us . . .

Get your copy ➝ https://geni.us/ASITSAmznFBP

Looking for signed copies? You can grab the new covers or a Bleeding Stars Gift Box here ➝ https://geni.us/ALJacksonShopOP

Well Acquainted, an all-new swoony second chance historical romance from Laney Hatcher, is LIVE in Kindle Unlimited!

There are three things you need to know about Lady Eliza Morgan:

1. In addition to being a busy physician, she’s an accomplished seamstress.

2. She’s the victim of a broken heart.

3. The man who shattered it is the one man she can never have.

Some things are better left in the past, but Eliza has spent years running from hers. When the man who upended her life re-enters it in the most unexpected way, Eliza must decide if reacquainting herself with Nicolas is worth the heartache. He’s charming and irritating and makes her realize there is so much more than the life she’s been living. But first she must confront her painful past if she and Nicolas have any hope for a future.

‘Well Acquainted’, a Penny Reid Universe Reimagining, is a full-length historical romance, can be read as a standalone, and is book #2 in the London Ladies Embroidery series, Smartypants Romance Out of this World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

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Audiobook: Coming this winter!

About Laney Hatcher

Laney Hatcher is a firm believer that there is a spreadsheet for every occasion and pie is always the answer. She is an author of stories that have a past, in a language of love that’s universal. Often too practical for her own good, Laney enjoys her life in the southern United States with her husband, children, and incredibly entitled cat.

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Overall Grade: 4.5 ⭐️

Tropes: best friend’s sister; second chance romance (sort of); one night stand into more; soulmates; hero falls first; generational trauma; found family

Devney Perry’s contribution to the Madigan Mountain series does a beautiful job of laying out the story of Crew, the youngest Madison brother, and Raven while bringing a finish to the Madigan Mountain series. While brother #2, Weston Madigan, is still my favorite, Crew runs a very close second. This series, so deftly drawn by Sarina Bowen, Rebecca Yarros, and Perry, is about the impact of generational trauma, specifically the death of a parent and its impact on the family. As the youngest, the impact on Crew was the greatest. In the wake of his mother’s death, a woman to whom he felt tethered to this world, Crew loses his foundation and a bit of himself. He turns this absence into becoming a world-class snowboarder, and it provides him an escape from his pain. These feelings are never processed until he returns for his brother’s wedding. It’s then that the timer begins for him to finally handle his mother’s death as his brothers do in the earlier books of this series. For me, this is one of the emotional challenges of A Little Too Wild. 

What is surprising and delightful about Perry’s romance is the way that Crew falls for Raven, her heroine, first. In fact, Crew has liked Raven from afar. However, throughout their youth, Raven never really sees Crew as anything more than her brother’s best friend. On his return to Madigan Mountain, something changes, and Raven finds herself drawn to him. Unfortunately, aspects of his life remind her of her father’s, a roustabout who never took his role as a father seriously.  As such, Raven is reticent to have anything more than the physical with Crew. This, however, becomes impossible when both of them begin to develop feelings. Then, the complications of a relationship arise for both of them. This complication fuels the fire of Perry’s plot development, and she keeps her readers engaged with Raven and Crew’s “will they/won’t they” journey. Add in the difficulties of Crew’s reconciliation of his mother’s death and the healing of his family, his career responsibilities, and Raven’s own ambition for her future, and A Little Too Wild becomes an emotional story about the power of love to help heal old wounds. 

Everything magical about Devney Perry’s romances is found in A Little Too Wild, even down to her delicious bonus epilogues. As a storyteller, Perry never disappoints. Instead, she offers up scintillating stories that steal your heart and keep you believing in happily ever afters.

In love and romance,

Professor A

Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes: over 40 romance; workplace romance; fake relationship; marriage of convenience; small-town romance; a bit of suspense

L.B. Dunbar’s Merging Wright returns us to her Road Trips & Romance series with Mach and Jane’s story. Coming into this book, we know that Jane, the story’s FMC, has adored Mach from afar. This isn’t an easy task because he’s ambitious, an overachiever, and immune to Jane. When he receives a delivery from his past, Jane and Mach are on a road trip to his family hometown, Wrightwood. It’s there where the ghosts of Mach’s past reside, and Jane must fight against them to win Mach’s heart. Their journey involves a death, a will reading, a marriage of convenience, a steamy honeymoon, and a grumpy hero who can’t decide from one day to the next if he wants his heroine or needs to keep her at arm’s length. Overall, I enjoyed Merging Writing, finding myself lost in Mach and Jane’s romance…sometimes. 

While I enjoyed this story, I struggled with the pacing and inconsistency of Mach’s characterization. Merging Wright was a slow read for me. It took me a bit to get lost in their story, and I never fully fell into it which is disappointing because I normally don’t have that issue with L.B. Dunbar’s stories. This one, though, was a struggle. It mostly has to do with Mach’s character development. In a phrase, Mach gave me whip-lash. One minute, he can’t live without Jane, and the next, he pushes her away. It isn’t that this happens just once or twice. This occurs throughout much of the story. The wash cycle for Merging Writing is overwhelming attraction, $ex, denial, and possessiveness. Over and over again, Mach follows this cycle, which becomes tiring. Even more, his willingness to reside in the hurts of his past for much of the story, I think, is the reason for the slow pacing of this story.

For me, the bright spot of Merging Wright is Jane. She’s decided, intelligent, and, when Mach cannot move beyond his past, creates the space necessary to inspire Mach’s change. She saved the story for me, investing me in her and Mach’s journey. She was everything Mach isn’t initially: compassionate, introspective, and inspired.

L.B. Dunbar’s Merging Wright is more hit than miss, but it needed Mach to resolve his issues sooner. Additionally, while I love spice in romance like any romance reader, the $ex of this book overwhelmed its plot development and characterization. If you’re a Dunbar fan, you should read this newest story in her booklist. It is quintessential Dunbar.

In love and romance,

Professor A

Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes: enemies-to-lovers; hate-to-love; opposites attract; workplace romance; found family;

hero with a heart of gold, but a cold exterior; tenacious heroine; slow burn

“Most people aren’t damaged by dreams they never achieve. It’s having those dreams ripped away that break us.”

Aly Stiles returns to the world of corporate espionage in her newest offering to the SmartyPants Romance world, Play Smart. Situated in the Educated Romance Work for It Series, her first book of the series, Street Smart, placed us squarely in Reedweather Media, the media counterpart to Brighthouse and Sandeke Telecom, contemporaries of Penny Reid’s Hypothesis series. Like her first book, Stiles treats us to inept leaders of entitled companies and subordinates whose genius is foiling the destructive plans of privileged CEOs. 

In Play Smart, there is much to love.

1. The Keystone Cops/Three Stooges-esque humor of Street Smart returns and finds a place in Play Smart. In an interesting turn, the smartest people in Stiles’s book are her women. There are also intelligent men who aid them, but the true impetus for change lies at the feet of her heroines, shining the light of female empowerment in corporate America. 
2. Her hero, Nash, is drawn with many layers. Outwardly, he’s abrupt and guarded, hiding behind his street smarts. He’s a perfect foil to Stiles’s heroine, the buttoned-up, rule-following, Paige. Their chemistry develops through the attraction of their opposites rendering, and it begins as hate-to-love or adversaries-to-lovers, one of my favorite tropes. However, this leads us to the message of Stiles’s Play Smart.
3. There is more to Nash’s rendering. A foster kid, he has endured serious trauma in his life, culminating in a separation from his love, music. Paige and Nash judge each other based on their initial perception of the other. Once they realize there is greater depth to their character, their attraction grows. Yet, Nash must move beyond the trauma of his past. He must accept that he doesn’t traverse the world alone, but he has a “found family” who will support him whether he is at his best or his worst. This lesson takes most of the book to learn, and Nash’s portrayal is the emotional tether of Stiles’s Play Smart. 
4. Similar to Nash, we find there is more to Paige’s characterization. Through her character development, Stiles underscores the message about not being “fine”. Paige is incredibly competent, and she’s accepted her parents’ expectations of her. In contrast to her brother, who has chosen a different path and been ostracized because of it, Paige has played peacemaker and followed their path for her even if it isn’t her dream. Through her journey, we are reminded that we aren’t all fine, and that we can make choices for ourselves so that we can be happy. Stiles seeks to encourage her reader to avoid “be[ing] something else […] they wanted…” Instead, we should choose to be who we are meant to be. 

Aly Stiles’s Play Smart isn’t a decidedly $exy book. It’s a slow-burn story meant to challenge the idea of first impressions and internal struggles. It’s insightful, funny, and emotional as it asks us to choose ourselves and believe we’ll have people to catch us when we fall. It’s another great addition to the SmartyPants Romance universe.

In love and romance,

Professor A

An age gap, roommates-to-lovers small town romance from USA Today bestselling author Catherine Cowles…

Fractured Sky, an emotional and swoony contemporary romance from USA Today bestselling author Catherine Cowles, is now available!

Damaged. Broken. Destroyed. I’ve heard it all. A single moment of trusting the wrong person shattered my life into pieces, and my family has never looked at me the same. It’s impossible to convince them that I’m anything more than the broken girl they rescued all those years ago.

Until I meet him.

Ramsey’s surly demeanor and menacing scowl scare most of the world away. But not me. Not when I’ve seen his gentle hands soothe an abused colt or comfort a terrified mare.

And when I finally get up the courage to strike out on my own, Ramsey’s there. Roommates felt like such a safe proposition until Ramsey’s lingering touches and wicked smile light a fire in me I don’t think will ever be extinguished. And he feels it, too…

But just as my new life begins to take root, an evil from my past emerges from the shadows, casting a darkness on my newfound freedom. And this time, they won’t settle for pieces of me. They want everything…

Fall in love today!
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About Catherine Cowles

Writer of words. Drinker of Diet Cokes. Lover of all things cute and furry, especially her dog. Catherine has had her nose in a book since the time she could read and finally decided to write down some of her own stories. When she’s not writing she can be found exploring her home state of Oregon, listening to true crime podcasts, or searching for her next book boyfriend.

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Every Chance With You by Lexi Ryan is now live!

When I met Alec Hayes in Vegas, I thought I’d stumbled into a love affair with the man of my dreams. Alec’s sexy, confident, and charming. Our night together was full of laughter and the kind of toe-curling kisses that tempted me to believe in fate for the first time in years.

Until I flew out to LA to surprise Alec and ran into the unnamed half-brother he’d admitted to despising.

But I know Oliver Rhett as soon as I see him.

Oliver’s the reason I stopped believing in destiny. He was my first love and my first heartbreak. And now he’s the reason I can’t be with Alec.

It’s not fair to give one man the scraps of my heart when Oliver would always be right there to remind me he still holds the rest.

But when Alec needs a favor, I can’t turn my back on him. Even if it means falling a little more for his gentle charm every day. Even if it means facing Oliver and remembering exactly how brazenly he stole my heart.

My plan is to walk away. I can’t make this family feud worse. But I didn’t realize just how hard a broken heart can fall.

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Meet Lexi Ryan

Lexi Ryan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of emotional romance that sizzles and the 2018 winner of the Romance Writers of America® RITA®  award for Best Long Contemporary Romance. She considers herself the luckiest girl around to make a living through storytelling. She loves spending time with her kids, weightlifting, ice cream, swoony heroes, and vodka martinis.

Lexi lives in Indiana with her husband, two children, and a spoiled dog.

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Snowed In with the Player by Rebecca Jenshak is now live!

It was supposed to be a weekend of holiday cheer.
Just me and my twin sister, watching Christmas movies and baking cookies.
My brother was absolutely not supposed to show up with half the football team.
Including Teddy. My brother’s best friend and my secret crush.
I’m the shy sister. The one with her nose stuck in a book and quoting every word of Elf, not the one getting attention from guys like Teddy.
He’s cool and smart and so handsome I could die.
The only thing that could make things worse is if I got snowed in with him.
Alone.

  Download today on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and Kobo!

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Meet Rebecca Jenshak

Rebecca Jenshak is a USA Today bestselling author of new adult and sports romance. She writes sexy, feel-good stories with lots of swoon-worthy moments.

Rebecca lives in Arizona. When she isn’t writing, you can find her cheering on local sports teams, hanging out with friends and family, or curled up with a good book.

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Aveke by Tijan is now live!

I watched him in high school. Knew his reputation. Knew he was wealthy, privileged, and mean.
He ran the show back then, a partier and a player.
Then he came back from college, back to the town I never left. He’s different now.
He comes into the bar, and I know his routine.
I know which stool he’ll pick.
I know his favorite drink. I know which sports team he’ll want on the television screen.
And I watch as he gets hit on.
Sometimes he leaves the bar with a woman. Sometimes he doesn’t.
But I’m always there, tending to his drinks. He gives me a smile and a polite nod back.
Then one night, after a long appraising stare, he asked, “Ava, why are you single?”
I leaned in, told him a lie, knowing the truth.
What I didn’t know was that my world was about to shatter after that night.


Something else I didn’t know: would the man I watched all those years help put my heart back together… or smash it into pieces?

** A 42k novella written as a standalone from two characters in the Fallen Crest/Roussou universe.

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Meet Tijan

Tijan is a New York Times Bestselling author that writes suspenseful and unpredictable novels. Her characters are strong, intense, and gut-wrenchingly real with a little bit of sass on the side. Tijan began writing after college and once she started, she was hooked. She’s written multi-bestsellers including the Fallen Crest series, Ryan’s Bed, Enemies and others.
​She is currently writing many new books and series with an English Cocker she adores.

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