Rex Gunderson had it coming, right? A long suffering fool, Rex, needed his own romance. He is the one character in Sara Ney’s How to Date A Douchebag series who seemed irredeemable. Until he was. In The Coaching Hours, we found a changed and apologetic Rex, and his commitment to Annabelle offered a Rex we hadn’t seen before. It made us realize that douchebag guys can actually become heroes.
In The Teaching Hours (which first appeared in the Team Player 2 Anthology), Rex meets Hannah, the best friend of Skylar from Ney’s The Lying Hours. Hannah struggles with meeting and talking with guys. She would like to find a fella who rivals her friend Skylar’s Abe, but her weirdo behavior has a tendency to deter men. Enter Rex. Hannah and Rex meet each other on the LoveU app, and Rex decides to “teach” Hannah how to meet guys. Are Hannah and Rex a love match, or are they destined for quick hookups and loneliness?
I read this story in the Team Player 2 Anthology, and I appreciated Rex’s chance at love. I have to admit that I was underwhelmed by it because (1) it needed a bit more editing and (2) I wanted more story for Rex. I’ve read posts in Ney’s Facebook group where people indicated “no” to a happy ending for Rex. However, Ney did such a great job of redeeming him in The Coaching Hours that I think “why not Rex?” As such, I wanted more story for him. When Ney indicated that she would be releasing The Teaching Hours, I had hoped that the story had been developed further and the editable errors corrected. Alas, this isn’t the case. There are still some errors, and I’m still pining for more of Hannah and Rex together.
Should you read The Teaching Hours? If you’re a devoted Ney fan, yes. Do I wish there was more? Yes.
At first glance, there is a seeming simplicity to Melanie Harlow’s storytelling. In looking at the Cloverleigh Farms series, you find this family of characters who love, trust, and care for each other to the edges of their beings. Five women with five different stories, yet the thread of family and hope runs deep through all of them. This is the tie that binds all of the stories together, and nothing in this series best illustrates the truth of the Sawyer family than Harlow’s newest book, Unforgettable.
Yes, it would be easy to reduce this book to its trope: second chance romance. Yes, it would be simple to say it’s a story about two people needing to let go of their pasts in order to set upon a journey into the future. Yes, I could further reduce it to a grumpy, disillusioned hero and an emotionally-gripping, intelligent heroine who complete each other to their very depths. Unforgettable holds all of these characteristics and more. Yet, the essence of Unforgettable, the heart of it, lies in the depth of family. This book above any of the other ones, I think, cuts the deepest in showing the power of family to love, sacrifice, and empower. Unforgettable beautifully articulates the message of adoption and its ability to bring people together. For me, this book became my favorite Cloverleigh Farms story because it takes hurt people and heals their wounds through the unbreakable spirit of family.
I refuse to give the secrets of this book away to the readers. What I want to note is Harlow’s ability to craft these exquisite stories that reflect the human spirit. In Unforgettable, April and Tyler need to “let go” of their pasts in order to move forward. While April has achieved professionally, her personal life feels meted out in tiny moments. She seems suspended yet ready to move forward to find love. For Tyler, professionally and personally, his life has been derailed. He has lost his purpose and sense of self. Like April, he needs to examine and move beyond his past so that he can find new professional and personal purpose. With the help of family and their own profound connection, April and Tyler allow love to move them forward away from the hurts and disappointments of their pasts. The depth of this message relates to any of us who have felt trapped, disillusioned by change, or disappointed. In April and Tyler, Harlow helps us see the ways we intersect with their stories and encourages us to move forward, letting family and love guide our way forward.
Harlow’s storytelling draws you in. When I began Unforgettable, I had been impatient to start it. April and Tyler’s life choices are powerful ones. It isn’t that the other books in the series aren’t. However, April’s sacrifice illustrates the capacity to love beyond yourself. As their journey progresses, you simply cannot set this book aside. You need Tyler to determine that he is more than baseball; you need April to move past her guilt, and you need these two to realize their souls’ connection. As Harlow crafts moments of dissension and chemistry and humor, you simply need more. Once I began, there was absolutely no stopping my read. And in the end, Harlow’s epilogue brings the sweetest of moments. When I finished Unforgettable, I already felt nostalgic for the stories of the Sawyers. In giving us April and Tyler’s ultimate happy ending which offers a Tyler who is finally complete in himself, an April who has been blessed beyond measure for her sacrifice, and a family that exudes love, you can’t help but wish there were more Sawyers.
There is something sweet that whispers through Melanie Harlow’s writing. While the idea of “family” is the foundation of the Cloverleigh Farms series, it is really Harlow’s care and quietude in her writing voice that impresses. It’s the reason that so many of us need more of her books. Unforgettable is no different. Second chance, small town romance with a grumpy hero confounded by life and a self-reflective, intelligent heroine ready for more for herself might not be your thing. If it isn’t, then it should be.
At Santa Cruz Central High School, they called them the misfits, the outcasts, the weirdos. But most of us knew them as the Lost Boys…
The Girl in the Love Song, book one in the Lost Boys, an interconnected coming-of-age series of standalones, from USA Today Bestselling author Emma Scott releases on June 7, 2020!
Cover Designer: Lori Jackson
Miller Stratton is a survivor. After a harrowing childhood of poverty, he will do anything it takes to find security for himself and his mom. He’s putting all his hopes and dreams in the fragile frame of his guitar and the beauty he creates with its strings and his soulful voice.
Until Violet.
No one expects to meet the love of their life at age thirteen. But the spunky rich girl steals Miller’s heart and refuses to give it back.
Violet McNamara’s life hasn’t been as simple as it looks. Her picture-perfect family is not so perfect after all. Her best friend Miller is her one constant and she is determined not to ruin their friendship with romantic complications.
But the heart wants what it wants. As Miller’s star begins to rise to stratospheric heights, what will it take for Violet to realize that she’s the girl in all of his love songs?
Emma Scott is an internationally bestselling author whose books have been featured in Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, New York Daily News and USA Today’s Happy Ever After. She writes emotional, character-driven romances in which art and love intertwine to heal, and in which love always wins. If you enjoy emotionally-charged stories that rip your heart out and put it back together again, with diverse characters, and heroes with a heart of gold, you will enjoy her novels.
“April and Tyler are just meant to be! I held my breath all the way to the end!” Sarina Bowen, USA Today bestselling author
Unforgettable, an all-new sexy and emotional second chance romance guaranteed to bring all-the-feels from USA Today bestselling author Melanie Harlow, is available now!
Back then, I had it all.
Wicked fastball. Killer instinct. Cocky grin. Full package.
(And believe me, I knew how to score.)
My senior year, I was a first round draft pick with a two-million-dollar signing bonus. Before I could even legally buy myself a beer, I made my Major League debut.
Point is, I was invincible.
Until one day I wasn’t.
After tanking my career—during the World Series, no less—the last thing I want to do is return to my hometown, where every jerk in a ball cap has an opinion about what went wrong with my arm. So when my sister drags me back to town for her wedding, I vow to get in and out of there as quickly as possible.
Then I run into April Sawyer.
In high school we were just friends, but I’d always wanted her, and I’d never forgotten her—the red hair, the incredible smile, the crazy, reckless thing we did in the back of my truck the night we said goodbye. It’s been eighteen years, but one look at her and I feel like my old self again. I can still make her laugh, she can still take me down a notch, and when the chemistry between us explodes, it’s even hotter this time around—and I don’t want it to end.
But just when I think I’m ready to let go of the past and get back in the game, life throws me a curveball I never saw coming.
USA Today bestselling author Melanie Harlow likes her martinis dry, her heels high, and her history with the naughty bits left in. When she’s not writing or reading, she gets her kicks from TV series like Schitt’s Creek, Homeland, and Fleabag. She occasionally runs three miles, but only so she can have more gin and steak.
Melanie is the author of the CLOVERLEIGH FARMS series, the ONE & ONLY series, AFTER WE FALL series, the HAPPY CRAZY LOVE series, the FRENCHED series, and the sexy historical SPEAK EASY duet, set in the 1920s. She lifts her glass to romance readers and writers from her home near Detroit, MI, where she lives with her husband, two daughters, and pet rabbit.
With A Twist, the first in the Bad Habits series from Staci Hart, is FREE for a limited time. This friends to lovers romance is just what you need! Available now for free from all online book retailers.
Love is somewhere near the bottom of Lily Thomas’ list of life goals, right next to competitive eating and underwater cave diving. She’s spent six years pirouetting and pliéing her way up the ranks of the New York Ballet with her eye on the prize and love in the back seat. But now that Blane Baker — Lily’s long time crush — is finally single, she’ll throw her rules out the window without thinking twice.
Reality with Blane isn’t as epic as the fantasy she imagined, and the truth sends her spinning straight into the arms of the man she never knew she’d always wanted.
West Williams has been friends with Lily since the day she moved into their building and he saved her armoire from a swift, sudden death by staircase. Their friendship has always been easy, the boundaries clearly defined. With neither of them willing to risk their relationship, they’ve drifted happily through the years as companions, never considering more.
That is, until they do. And that realization changes everything.
With a Twist is a standalone romantic comedy and part of the Bad Habits series.
Staci has been a lot of things up to this point in her life — a graphic designer, an entrepreneur, a seamstress, a clothing and handbag designer, a waitress. Can’t forget that. She’s also been a mom, with three little girls who are sure to grow up to break a number of hearts. She’s been a wife, though she’s certainly not the cleanest, or the best cook. She’s also super, duper fun at a party, especially if she’s been drinking whiskey. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, sleeping, gaming, or designing graphics.
“I learned at a young age what can be seen through the lens (my emphasis) is often a skewed version of reality. A bent perspective. Manufactured, therefore, losing all sense of authenticity.”
At the heart of writing lies style. Every writer creates a specific voice, marked and distinct. I’ve stated in other reviews that my favorite part of reading different authors is listening for that voice, identifying the treasures of it. Some have concise, clear writing voices, using a sparse syntax to assert their message. Others write words overwrought with details that set every scene, offer every detail, leave nothing unsaid. It’s up to the reader what they adore or what they pass on.
Insightful writers craft a combination of the two. They don’t overcomplicate their style, yet they use metaphor/simile, imagery, allusion to create the visual pictures behind their words. For me, it’s in those visual representations where emotional connection is created. When the reader can place themselves in that picture, empathize with her H or h, then writers have created a moment of experience, one that reaches into the chests of their readers and plucks at their souls. This is THE power of writing.
You’re probably wondering why all the set up in this review for K.K. Allen’s Through the Lens. Well, it’s because her newest book forges that connection in her extended metaphor, contained in her title. The title, Through the Lens, is no mistake. It wasn’t haphazard in its choice. The title becomes the ultimate representation of the message of this book: that the perception of something isn’t its reality. Time and time again throughout her story, Allen deftly articulates this message through the extended metaphor of the lens, through her characterizations, and through her story. In doing so, she reminds her readers, once again, WHY you should read her books because she is an intentional, skilled writer who clearly knows her voice and challenges her readers to “see” her as an accomplished author.
Through the Lens follows Maggie “Mags” and Desmond “Des”. We met these two in Allen’s Under the Bleachers, as Maggie is Monica’s sister and Desmond is Ryan’s best friend. It is there where we realize that sparks fly between these two. This story begins with Maggie in Seattle, living with her sister, after upending her modeling career. Desmond’s cooking school is growing, and he has a potential television show offering to grow his business further. These two conflict when Maggie, as a student at the cooking school, pushes back against Desmond’s control. When Maggie’s living situation becomes problematic, Desmond reticently offers her an apartment above the school and a position assisting him in the school. Neither of them is happy with this situation, but it helps each other during a difficult time. What they don’t realize is how easily their chemistry will light, and the two find themselves drawn to each other. Are Desmond and Maggie destined for each other, or are they a “quick flash in the pan” of chemistry?
Throughout the story, Allen illustrates her prowess with writing by using the metaphor of the lens. It seems fitting since Maggie is a former model and Desmond enjoys photographing his food. This title feels apropos. However, these characterizations are too obvious. With Maggie, looking through the lens of the camera underscores her “lack,” her imperfections and unattainable standards. By looking through it, her sense of self is defined by the evaluations of others, causing her to be “othered.” With Desmond, while he loves to photograph his food, his intent isn’t to share it with the world. Instead, his food photography is his connection with his father. It becomes a representation of their fraught relationship. As Allen weaves this metaphor through her story, we recognize that Allen is illustrating that Maggie and Desmond’s masks or social constructions of themselves don’t actually match their truth. The “lens” isn’t a reflection; instead, it distorts it. As you read this story, and that truth plays over and over again, the profundity of Allen’s message flows over you like a wave repeatedly. It’s here where I fell in love with this book.
In Maggie’s depiction, I found myself. Like Maggie, I have some “daddy issues.” Allen uses moments in the story to push against Maggie’s figurative “bruises” related to her fractured relationship with her father, and I felt that push to my own bruises. Writing a character such as Maggie becomes a reflection of anyone who has been left behind. Like Desmond, I like control. I imagine much of this is similar to Desmond’s reasons for it: our pasts were wrought with moments where we felt out of control. Through Desmond’s characterization, Allen deftly connects her readers to the lens of control as a way to assuage guilt or worry or fear. She does this so well that you feel emotionally connected to bother her hero and heroine.
And Allen’s story is rife with moments of learning. How do we let go of our past? How do we move past fears of rejection? How do we allow people beyond the walls we’ve erected in protecting our heart? This is the depth of story found in K.K. Allen’s Through the Lens. The metaphor, the character development, and the story conspire to remind us that the present is all we have, and we must live it without regrets. The past is in the past, and the future is only a promise. All of this profundity is wrapped in a heart-felt, sultry package of enemies-to-lovers romance that grabs you from the first page, sets your heart on fire, and leaves you sizzling in the pan. Through the Lens is no value meal; it is the exclusive chef’s table meal created to both ravish and assuage your soul.
“Epic enemies to lovers with a sweet, emotional kick. I was rooting for them from page one and have been left completely satisfied at the end. A top 2020 read for me!”- Harloe Rae, USA Today bestselling author
Through the Lens, an all-new angst-filled new-adult standalone from USA Today bestselling author K.K. Allen is available now!
“I had become his muse. What he didn’t know was that he had become mine too.”
Maggie Stevens is done feeling objectified.
After spending her entire life in the spotlight and climbing the high fashion ranks as a model in LA, she’s willing to leave it all behind for a fresh start. Moving to Seattle seems like the perfect solution.
A clean slate.
New adventures.
Endless opportunities.
All is going according to plan. Until she meets the drop-dead gorgeous cooking instructor who delights in adding to her misery.
Desmond Blake is determined to make a name for his culinary school—one that speaks to his hard work and undeniable passion.
When his food photography hobby garners attention from an unexpected source, his dreams are finally within reach. The obstacle he never sees coming is the sharp-tongued bombshell with a distaste for all he stands for.
When Desmond accidentally captures a photo of Maggie during a moment of weakness, he starts to see there’s more to the fashionista than meets the eye…
Sometimes what can be seen through the lens is a skewed version of reality. A bent perspective. Manufactured, therefore losing all sense of authenticity. And sometimes all it takes is a different angle to see what’s right in front of you.
Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!
K.K. Allen is a USA Today Bestselling and award-winning author and interdisciplinary arts and sciences graduate from the University of Washington who writes heartfelt contemporary romance stories that are as real as they are inspiring. K.K. is a Hawaiian girl who was raised in Seattle, and currently resides in central Florida. She works full time as a digital producer for a leading online educational institution and is the mother to a ridiculously handsome little dude who owns her heart.
K.K.’s publishing journey began in June 2014 with the YA Contemporary Fantasy trilogy, The Summer Solstice. In 2016, K.K. published her first Contemporary Romance, Up in the Treehouse, which went on to win the Romantic Times 2016 Reviewers’ Choice Award for Best New Adult Book of the Year. With K.K.’s love for inspirational and coming-of-age stories involving heartfelt narratives and honest emotions, you can be assured to always be surprised by what K.K. releases next.
Tips for Surviving a Fling with a Sexy Younger Man
First, you’d think as a thirty-something-year-old woman, I’d be immune to Griffin’s flirty comments and six-pack abs. You’d think that his carefree playboy attitude, or the fact that he’s still finishing grad school, would deter me.
You’d be wrong.
If you accidentally bang your best friend’s younger brother, here are a few important tips . . .
One: Do not brag to your friend about how well-endowed her brother is.
Two: Do not go back for seconds (or thirds).
Three: Do not let him see your muffin top or jiggly behind. And definitely don’t let him feed you cookies in bed. Cookies are bad. Remember that.
Four: Act like a damn grown-up and apologize for riding him like a bull at the rodeo. And do not flirt with him when he laughs at said apology.
Five: This one is crucial, so pay attention.
Do not, under any circumstances, fall in love with him.
A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of more than three dozen titles, Kendall Ryan has sold over 3 million books and her books have been translated into several languages in countries around the world.
Her books have also appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists more than 100 times. Ryan has been featured in such publications as USA Today, Newsweek, and InTouch Magazine.
Emily I fell in love with him when I was fourteen. Under the stars, he told me he loved me, and under the stars we promised to love each other always. But under the stars, he broke my heart by walking away.
He left me without a second glance. I was just an afterthought.
Now he’s back, but this time, I’m not falling for his Southern charm.
Maybe.
It’s time I get my happily ever after, even if part of me wishes he was still mine.
Ethan
I found out on my twenty-first birthday that everything I thought I knew was a lie, and the man I had grown up thinking was my father wasn’t.
The pain I felt blinded me, making it impossible to hear what anyone said.
I left them all behind, including her, my best friend and the woman I was going to marry.
Five years later, I’m back, only to find the woman I still love has another man’s ring on her finger.
She’s going to marry my best friend unless I stop her. And this time, I only have until sunrise to change her mind.
When her nose isn’t buried in a book, or her fingers flying across a keyboard writing, she’s in the kitchen creating gourmet meals. You can find her, in four inch heels no less, in the car chauffeuring kids, or possibly with her husband scheduling his business trips. It’s a good thing her characters do what she says, because even her Labrador doesn’t listen to her…
Saffron A. Kent is a Top 100 Amazon Bestselling author of
Contemporary and New Adult romance. More often than not, her love stories are
edgy, forbidden and passionate. Her work has been featured in Huffington Post,
New York Daily News and USA Today’s Happy Ever After.
She lives in New York
City with her nerdy and supportive husband, and a million and one books.
Meet K.K. Allen
Professor Romance 
