While Stories of September is sitting waiting for my reading pleasure, this review is for one of its stories, “Just for a Little While” by Fiona Cole. If you love a little forbidden romance, then you want to read this story. I gobbled it in a single sitting, and I was not disappointed. If I had to characterize it, it’s a little forbidden in the sense the Willem, Cole’s hero, is the step-brother of the heroine’s father. While Arabella and Willem share no blood, there is still the potential messiness of family relationships. Additionally, Arabella and Willem have a nice age gap further complicating their romantic feelings. Even more, initially, Arabella enrolls herself in Uncle Willem’s economics class, so Cole has thrown several daggers of forbidden at you which makes the story quite delicious if you love that trope as I do.
What I think I loved the most is Willem’s characterization. Going into it, I made the assumption that Willem would be a strong, domineering alpha-male. Instead, Cole has crafted him to be a perfect match for her Arabella and kind of a softie. And while Arabella needs to work on maturing a bit more, it never feels as though they aren’t suited for each other. It’s clear from the start that Willem and Arabella should easily find a happily-ever-after trotting the globe (which I hope they do).
I always forget how much I love novellas and short stories. They are bite-sized nuggets of romance that tug at your heart-strings, move the butterflies in your stomach, and steam your glasses in such a short space. And Fiona Cole’s “Just for a Little While” is perfect for all of those things.
“Catherine Cowles creates a world you’ll want to stay in forever.” – Grahame Claire, USA Today bestselling author
Perfect Wreckage, an all-new, emotional and unforgettable small-town romance from Catherine Cowles is available now!
My past taught me to play it safe. To stay far away from handsome men who promised it all. My life was good without them. Stable, secure, predictable.
But one kiss showed me that I’d been playing it safe for far too long. One night, and all I wanted was more of his wildfire. One challenge and my carefully constructed walls tumbled down.
Amidst the rubble, I realized there was more to this man than I ever dreamed. When everything fell apart, he showed me what it meant to stay. How to truly live.
But some demons don’t stay buried. The past can come knocking when you least expect. And the life he’s showing me might be shorter than either of us expected…
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.
I shouldn’t have come back…but I couldn’t stay away.
They call me a football god. A legend in the making.
After winning back-to-back championships with Baltimore, I shocked the world when I decided to take my talents elsewhere. But not just anywhere. Back to the town I despised growing up.
Because that’s where she is. The girl who stole my heart when we were kids.
She’s all grown up and more beautiful than ever, living her best life as a popular sports reporter.
I hate her for what she did to me.
She didn’t just break my heart. She crushed it beneath her sneakered foot and burned it to ashes.
She wrecked me. But I’m still not over her.
I can have any woman I want with a crook of my finger.
I want her. Only her.
Call me crazy. Call me obsessed.
Both would apply.
I blew up my whole world for her. Because I want her back in my life. Back in my bed.
And yeah, I want a little revenge . . . .
Get Over You is the first book in the new Dare Me Series, an interconnected contemporary romance series.
Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited!
Skylar Hunter is an author of scorching contemporary romance. Hot alpha heroes and double fudge brownies make her weak in the knees. She loves to write deeply emotional romances that stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page. When she’s not writing, she enjoys traveling, hanging out with her family, catching up on her favorite shows, and watching pet videos (anything with kittens is like catnip to her). As a new author on the scene, she looks forward to interacting with readers and gaining lifelong fans. Please sign up for her newsletter and look her up on social media.
Grab this ALL-NEW collection of sweet and sexy romance novellas from 10 best selling authors obsessed with falling in love today, for ONLY $2.99 DURING RELEASE WEEK!!!
All new. All standalones. Guaranteed to make you swoon.
This collection will feature brand new stories from: Fiona Cole Willow Winters Meghan Quinn Skye Warren Ella Fields Jade West K. Webster Amelia Wilde Trilina Pucci Meagan Brandy
“Stop what you’re doing and read Scandalous Prince by Rachel Van Dyken RIGHT NOW! It’s action packed with plenty of secrets and full of smoldering romance! If you love mafia romance, you will LOVE this book!” – New York Times bestselling author Monica Murphy
Scandalous Prince by Rachel Van Dyken is now live!
A mafia romance about secrets and soulmates by Rachel Van Dyken, the number one New York Times bestselling author of the Eagle Elite series.
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, but I have promises to keep and miles to go, before I sleep. –Robert Frost
I was born under fire and swore to protect her until my dying day, I just never knew that one day, I’d be the very monster I was protecting her from.
She didn’t know it was me.
She didn’t know that I had no choice and would do it again and again to save her.
I may as well have given her the mark on her finger.
The one that shows where her loyalty must lie.
Because we don’t sin in silence.
And eventually, you have to pay up what you owe.
My need to protect her turned into a lie to save her.
And when she found out–I turned in to the very monster I was trying to protect her from.
Watching Violet Abandonato walk out of my life was like a knife to the chest, a wound that refused to heal.
The bosses sent me to protect her, to watch over her even though I was the demon she fled.
We both carry scars.
But if all I can have is her hate for as long as I breathe.
I’ll take it.
Because at the end of the day, I should burn in Hell forever thinking Chase Abandonato’s perfect angel would pick me–over her perfect life.
“I broke you,” I confessed.
“The worst part… is that you liked it,” she snapped right back.
Welcome to the second generation of the mafia, may the best man or woman, be left standing.
Rachel Van Dyken is the #1 New York Times Bestselling, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of over 90 books ranging from contemporary romance to paranormal. With over four million copies sold, she’s been featured in Forbes, US Weekly, and USA Today. Her books have been translated in more than 15 countries. She was one of the first romance authors to have a Kindle in Motion book through Amazon publishing and continues to strive to be on the cutting edge of the reader experience. She keeps her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, adorable son, naked cat, and two dogs. For more information about her books and upcoming events, visit http://www.RachelVanDykenauthor.com.
Blurb: If I can keep Hush Note’s leading guitarist, Nixon Winters, on the straight and narrow for the next six months, I’ll finally get my own band to manage—assuming we don’t kill each other first.
The egotistical, irritating rock star is fresh out of rehab, but it’s obvious his demons followed him home—and now I’m sleeping down the hall. I’ve watched him self-destruct every summer, and with album deadlines and tour dates looming, I can’t let it happen again. My career is in his hands.
But tattoos can’t cover every scar, and I’m starting to see through his trademark, irresistible charm to the damage beneath.
Everyone wants the rock star. I’m falling for the man.
If he doesn’t let me in, he’ll never break the cycle— And when these six months are up, I might be the one left broken.
About the Author:
Rebecca is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of over fifteen novels, and is always ready to bring on the emotions. She’s also the recipient of the Colorado Romance Writer’s Award of Excellence for Eyes Turned Skyward from her Flight and Glory series.
She loves military heroes and has been blissfully married to hers for eighteen years. She’s the mother of six children, ranging from kindergarten to law school, and is currently surviving the teenage years with two of her four hockey-playing sons. When she’s not writing, you can find her at the hockey rink or sneaking in some guitar time. She lives in Colorado with her family, their stubborn English bulldog, and a feisty chinchilla. Having fostered then adopted their youngest daughter, Rebecca is passionate about helping children in the foster system through her nonprofit, One October.
Kristen Ashley is headed back to Chaos, and Dutch Black about to take you on a ride!
Wild Fire, the all-new incredibly sexy 1,001 Dark Nights and CHAOS series standalone novella from New York Times bestselling author Kristen Ashley and is available now!
“You know you can’t keep a good brother down.”
The Chaos Motorcycle Club has won its war. But not every brother rode into the sunset with his woman on the back of his bike.
Chaos returns with the story of Dutch Black, a man whose father was the moral compass of the Club, until he was murdered. And the man who raised Dutch protected the Club at all costs. That combination is the man Dutch is intent on becoming.
It’s also the man that Dutch is going to go all out to give to his woman.
**Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you’ll enjoy each one as much as we do.**
Kristen’s novel, Law Man, won the RT Book Reviews Reviewer’s Choice Award for best Romantic Suspense. Her independently published title Hold On was nominated for RT Book Reviews best Independent Contemporary Romance and her traditionally published title Breathe was nominated for best Contemporary Romance. Kristen’s titles Motorcycle Man, The Will, Ride Steady (which won the Reader’s Choice award from Romance Reviews) and The Hookup all made the final rounds for Goodreads Choice Awards in the Romance category.
If you aren’t reading A.L. Jackson’s Falling into You, then you are not living. It’s really quite simple. This is the fourth book in her Falling Stars series, and like its predecessors, is an angst-driven, beautifully drawn story of second chances. Page after page finds gorgeous prose, a quickened heart-beat of a story, and a couple so fated for each other that you cannot breathe deeply until their happy ending is wrought on the page. That’s really the essence of Jackson’s writing: she crafts this quiet spirited story and causes you to incrementally hold your breath until the story’s revelation is brought forth. Over and over again, with this series, you find yourself lost in the secrets of her fictional band, Carolina George. Each book holds its own secrets, and there is no peace until her heroes and heroines realize that hidden secrets are a detriment to true love. Once the secrets are revealed, the beauty of the love articulated on her pages is heightened to a fever pitch, and you honestly believe that you’ve never read anything like it. Reading Falling into You felt like I was sitting on a beach, sinking deeper in the sand with the waves crashing over me. However, a hand reaches out and pulls me from the gravity of the moment and places me in the brightest sun spot where I warm myself in the light of it. Overwhelmingly beautiful, emotionally satiating, Falling into You reveals Jackson’s deftness at creating characters and a story that feels timeless.
The big reasons for why you should run and grab A.L. Jackson’s newest book:
Richard Ramsey is a revelation. Like I said at the beginning of this review, as is the case with the other books in this series, Richard is holding onto secrets. We believe we know those secrets, but carefully and craftily, Jackson exposes them slowly. You think you know Richard, but you have absolutely no idea. In his characterization, you are met with a brute force, a warrior, and a broken man. Even more, through Ramsey, Jackson illustrates her greatest flex: the ability to unravel a story that has been growing since the men and women of her Bleeding Stars series. When you realize the depth of her ability to thread a story through multiple books, you find yourself astounded by it. She uses Richard’s character to progress and end it in Falling into You. It illustrates her profound ability as a writer to create story.
Her heroine, Violet, is the type of heroine you can’t help but fall in love with. She falls in line with Mia and Emily, women who have endured the worst of life and yet prevailed. As a woman, it’s important to read the resilience of a woman such as Violet.
The family is all here. My favorite moments in this book are the moments of community. Those are also my favorite moments in the Bleeding Stars books as well. When the community isn’t right, Jackson builds a discord, and you can feel the brokenness. When the community comes together to show Violet their willingness to protect her at all costs, the beauty of this story is overflowing. My most favorite moments are the ones with Emily, Violet, Maggie, and Melanie. When these women are together, they elevate each other. Violet’s parents, Richard’s mother, and little Daisy add these layers of love to an already overflowing story of passion and adoration. It draws you in as the angst of the story tries to push you away. I love this dissonance, and it once again illustrates Jackson’s capacity as a writer.
The story is the driving force of Falling into You. It’s captivating and entrancing. As Richard and Violet struggle to right the wrong of their past, the suspense of a bigger story keeps you turning the page. Richard and Violet’s adversity can be difficult to read especially if you pine for their reconciliation. However, the underlying story, the reasons for Richard’s choices, drive you forward until its dramatic conclusion.
Once again, Jackson’s prose is poetic. I haven’t read another romance writer where the writer’s syntax, diction, and phrasing feel as though you are reading a book of poetry. Over and over again, Jackson’s words pull at your heart and soul, and you feel awed by her ability.
Falling into You holds special moments of a heart-wrenchingly, beautiful love affair. It overwhelms you as you read, but it feels like it whispers out to your heart even in its moments of ugliness. I felt this push to finish it, while a pull to stop prolonged my reading. This tells you that A.L. Jackson’s aptitude as a writer transfixes you as a reader. She takes the trials of her characters, and she emotionally invests you in them even if your life experiences are at odds with theirs. Time and time again, Jackson reminds you why you can’t stop reading her books. Simply put, she holds you captive to the idea that love, no matter the circumstances, will prevail.
A Falling Stars stand-alone romance from A.L. Jackson
Available Now on Amazon and Free with Kindle Unlimited
“This moves to my #1 standalone this year, and definitely goes on my favorite book list! A.L. Jackson’s writing is so gripping and deep…I need you to run to this book & read it. You have no idea what you’re in for.”
-Queen of the Pages
“Falling into You is another masterful heartwrenching story by AL Jackson. When I finished it I wished I could re-read it. Richard and Violets’ redemptive journey of love is perfection.”
Richard Ramsey is the guitarist for the world’s hottest new band.
Gifted. Charismatic. Hot as sin.
Lend your ear, and he’ll steal your heart.
Nah, you can’t have his considering he left it in his hometown years ago.
He knows better than going back. But it’s his younger sister’s wedding, and there’s no way he can say no to that.
He should have known she would be there, invading his senses and making him thirst and hunger for what he wants most.
Violet Marin hates him for what he’s done. He left her empty-handed with their wreckage strewn all around. She’s picked up the pieces and is living her life the best way that she can.
But their connection is fierce.
Their attraction unending.
It only takes one glance for their worlds to collide.
One touch to set them on fire.
But she doesn’t know the dark secrets he keeps. If he had understood the true price of fame, he would have known he’d sold his soul and this debt is something he cannot repay.
Letting her go is impossible, but will loving her cost it all?
A sensuous, captivating contemporary stand-alone romance in the Falling Stars series from NYT & USA Today Bestselling Author, A.L. Jackson . . .
“This book is one of those stories that stays with you, one that you can’t stop playing over in your mind, one that leaves you with the biggest book hangover and one that will be on your Top Reads List just as it is on mine!”
A.L. Jackson is the New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance. She writes emotional, sexy, heart-filled stories about boys who usually like to be a little bit bad.
Her bestselling series include THE REGRET SERIES, CLOSER TO YOU, BLEEDING STARS, FIGHT FOR ME, CONFESSIONS OF THE HEART, and FALLING STARS novels. Her latest novel is FALLING INTO YOU, a stand-alone, second-chance romance that is not to be missed!
If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the pool with her family, sipping cocktails with her friends, or of course with her nose buried in a book.
Be sure not to miss new releases and sales from A.L. Jackson – Sign up to receive her newsletter http://smarturl.it/NewsFromALJackson or text “aljackson” to 33222 to receive short but sweet updates on all the important news.
Charismatic. Confident. Powerful. Controlling. Meet Devlin Saint, J. Kenner’s all new tortured alpha hero.
My Fallen Saint, an all-new addictive romance with a hero that will have you begging for more from New York Times and #1 International bestselling author J. Kenner is available now!
A brilliant investor with a Midas touch, Devlin Saint turned a modest inherited fortune into billions, and now operates one of the world’s foremost international philanthropic organizations. He’s a man determined to help the underprivileged, to fight injustice, and to make the world a better place. And that, at least is true.
It’s not, however, the full truth.
Because Devlin Saint is a man with a dangerous secret. One he’ll do whatever it takes to protect. And when investigative reporter Ellie Holmes turns her attention to an unsolved murder, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue and passion as Devlin draws her closer and closer. But as the intensity and sensuality of their relationship grows, so do Ellie’s suspicions. Until she is no longer certain if the heat between her and Devlin is real, or only a facade he constructed to hide his dark and twisted secrets.
I cross the patio, clearing the south side of the building. To my left, I now have a straight-on view of the SeaSide Inn, the small hotel on the other side of PCH that has been a fixture of Laguna Cortez for as long as I can remember. At one point, my uncle actually owned it, along with a few others around town. I even helped decorate the office, in so much as going to Home Depot and looking at paint chips counts as helping. Or decorating. I turn the other direction so that I’m facing the ocean. The tidal pools are only a short walk away, and I take a step that direction, then stop. The tidal pools had been our place, mine and Alex’s, and I’d cherished that time among the clusters of porous gray rocks that rose out of the long, empty stretches of sand. It was the place he’d first kissed me. A place I always felt safe. More, it’s a place I haven’t been back to since he left. I’m not sure if it’s in defiance of or protection for those memories, but I can’t bring myself to go back now. Instead, I turn once again toward the highway and start walking forward, the south wall of the foundation on my left. From this perspective, I can see the fourth floor balcony, and I know from the article I read about the building’s architecture that I’m looking at Saint’s private office. Not that I can see much. From where I’m standing, my view is of the underside, a hint of the balcony’s glass barrier, and only the tiniest glimpse of the glass door leading inside. Even so, I pause for a moment, imagining that Saint’s standing at his window, and that he’s watching me, too. I frown, wondering what came up that forced him to postpone our interview. Did he leave town? Or is he right now in his office? Hell, maybe he really is at his window looking down at me. There’s no reason he would be, of course, and so I continue walking the length of the building so I can circle around and get back to Shelby. But with each step, that tingling sensation becomes stronger, the uncanny sensation of being watched. It’s not something I can ignore. Hell, I was raised by a cop and was on the job for two years myself before going back to school. Mid-stride and without warning, I turn and look behind me. At the ocean. The path to the tidal pool. And the balcony off of Devlin Saint’s office. That’s where he’s standing. A man lost in the shadows cast by the building that shelters him. It has to be Saint. And he’s watching me.
About J. Kenner
J. Kenner (aka Julie Kenner) is the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal and #1 International bestselling author of over one hundred novels, novellas and short stories in a variety of genres.
Though known primarily for her award-winning and international bestselling erotic romances (including the Stark and Most Wanted series) that have reached as high as #2 on the New York Times bestseller list, JK has been writing full time for over a decade in a variety of genres including paranormal and contemporary romance, “chicklit” suspense, urban fantasy, and paranormal mommy lit.
JK has been praised by Publishers Weekly as an author with a “flair for dialogue and eccentric characterizations” and by RT Bookclub for having “cornered the market on sinfully attractive, dominant antiheroes and the women who swoon for them.” A six time finalist for Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award, JK took home the first RITA trophy awarded in the category of erotic romance in 2014 for her novel, Claim Me (book 2 of her Stark Trilogy) and in 2017 for Wicked Dirty in the same category. Her Demon Hunting Soccer Mom series (as Julie Kenner) is currently in development as a television show.
Her books have sold over three million copies and are published in over twenty languages.
In her previous career as an attorney, JK worked as a clerk on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and practiced primarily civil, entertainment and First Amendment litigation in Los Angeles and Irvine, California, as well as in Austin, Texas. She currently lives in Central Texas, with her husband, two daughters, and two rather spastic cats.
Professor Romance 