“An electrifying love story filled with heart and heat. Definite five star read!”
— Jenika Snow, USA Today bestselling author
Between Now and Forever, the first book in the all-new emotional and epic Forever Trilogy from Dylan Allen, is available now and FREE in Kindle Unlimited!
Real love stories, the ones worth telling, never end.
He was searching for the truth.
I was living a lie.
Our paths should never have crossed.
But, when we kissed it felt like destiny.
Falling in love was messy.
We broke rules we should have followed.
We made promises we couldn’t keep.
Forever felt impossible.
Heartbreak was inevitable.
Always would cost us everything.
This is not a fairytale.
This is a love story.
Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!
“I don’t regret a single day of the past five years because, for those five years, she’s been my favorite person in the world to spend time with. “
To say that I’ve been insanely excited about the SmartyPants Romance books would be an understatement. To say that I was ecstatic when I found that one of my favorite authors, Karla Sorensen, was writing a book for SmartyPants would not be a surprise.
I just finished the book, Baking Me Crazy, and I have all kinds of love for it. I finished it two days ago, and I’ve been trying to find the words for this review because (1) I want people to read this treasure of a story, and (2) I want people to recognize the treasure who is Karla Sorensen.
What should you know? This story is a “best friends turned lovers” book. The trope isn’t life-changing or earth-shattering. Yet, there is a complexity to this story, coupled with a tenderness in its story. Baking Me Crazy tells the story of Levi Buchanan and Jocelyn “Joss” Abernathy. These two meet when Levi assistant coaches Joss’s basketball team. At first sight, Levi is done for over Joss. According to his family legend, the Buchanan men fall in love at first sight and eventually marry the woman. Unfortunately, Joss spurns his invitation for dinner and asks for his friendship instead because she is newly dealing with living life in a wheelchair. After her rejection, the story fast-forwards five years, and Levi still pines for Joss. Yet, Joss doesn’t know it. They are best friends, and Levi has spent the last five years of their friendship, toeing the line between love and friendship. Until one day when Joss finds herself attracted to a new man in town. These are feelings she has never felt before. Levi, nervous that Joss will enter a relationship with this man, ups his flirting game to try and win her heart. Will Levi finally earn the prize of Joss’s affection, or will she choose the other man?
Karla Sorensen has this way of writing a variety of heroes. She easily writes the cocky player, the reticent hero, and the sweet but masculine best friend. It doesn’t matter the story she easily finds the voice of her hero, and it becomes a foundation for her book. It would be easy to say that Jocelyn is the center of this book. I’ll explain later why I love her so much. But, for me, Levi Buchanan is the heart of Baking Me Crazy. He is all man: works out at the gym, drives a big truck, earns his muscles through hard work, and has an intelligent mind. In spite of his masculinity, though, he is more tender than Joss. He feels her, knows her, and sees her through the entire story. Sorensen does this amazing job of showing us Levi’s heart in all the metaphors that Levi has created over the years to Joss’s eye color. Each new description was highlighted in my book, and boy did I swoon hard. When Joss struggles to accept his interest in her, Levi doesn’t push her. He waits. And he does this because he knows her, sometimes, better than she knows herself. There are these indelible moments that show the depth of Levi’s love for her, and Sorensen places all of her writing gusto behind them through her words and imagery. You can’t help but fall in love with Levi because Sorensen makes it so. As such, he becomes one of the best parts of Baking Me Crazy.
Similarly, Sorensen decides to break the heroine mold with Jocelyn. How many romances have you read where the heroine is wheel-chair bound? Not many. With Joss, though, Sorensen can question and remind us of the perceptions of peoples with disabilities. Joss’s inability to “see” Levi’s love for her resides in her identity as someone in a wheelchair. Her perception of love is tainted by her feelings of insecurity. Sorensen eloquently illustrates the ways in which disability can re-define a person. It creates a new ‘normal’ for them that suggests they are “less than,” that they are “too much.” And while Sorensen creates this mindset in response to Joss’s disability, really this mindset is common for any of us who don’t feel like we are enough. It doesn’t matter if our legs don’t work; if we think our beauty, our body size, our intelligence, etc. isn’t enough, sometimes, our mindset doesn’t allow us to recognize the blessings in front of us. Sorensen creates the essence of her book through Joss’s character, and it’s an admonishment that, with the “right’ person, anyone can be loved fully.
With Levi as the heart of this book and Joss as its essence, it’s easy to understand why this simple story comes with so much depth. I’ve been trying to find the words to say why I adore Karla Sorensen’s books, and I think it comes down to the story we see in her book, Baking Me Crazy. She takes these simple romantic tropes and breathes life into characters that we can’t help but connect to. It’s easy to fall in love with her characters and their story. I’ve done it over and over again. She makes her words visceral and important, and her story unfolds its truth in the beauty of her characters’ connection. Baking Me Crazy is no different. Joss’s story is an important one to read; Levi Buchanan will steal your heart and prompt you to remember what it feels like to be loved at your core; and Karla Sorensen will remind you once again why you should be reading her books until she chooses not to write them.
“You are everything I ever wanted, Harper. But more than anything, I want you to be happy, even if that means being with someone else.”
When I wrote my review for the first book in Emily Goodwin’s newest duet, Hard Place, I mentioned that Goodwin was setting us up for a triangle. The Hard Love duet offers the story of Harper and Alex. In Hard Place, we found them fighting each other, but also fighting their feelings. When they begin to recognize their attraction to each other, they realize that their initial judgments of each other are wrong. Their chemistry grows exponentially, and they finally act upon it towards the end of that first book. All of it becomes complicated when Alex decides to tell Harper that he’s falling in love with her except he walks in on her seeing her “baby daddy” Michael for the first time in over 5 years.
Hard Truth starts up where the first book leaves off. This second book explores Harper’s complicated feelings for Michael and Alex. With one, she idealizes their interaction because it offered her a security she needed at the time. With the other, she feels the most like her self and a connection that transcends the other. This book isn’t the “enemies-to-lovers” trope. Instead, it sets up the triangle and takes its time in showing us how Harper reconciles her connection to both men.
I had mixed feelings about Hard Place. As I mentioned in my review for that book, I felt as though it could have moved the story along more quickly. I was hoping Hard Truth would do the same. Harper’s character tends to wax poetic on everything, sometimes feeling repetitious. After reading Hard Truth, I do feel like this duet could have been revised to one book. Generally, I like Emily Goodwin’s books. But I struggled with this duet simply because it felt as though Goodwin was “gilding the lily” with respect to Harper’s story. I understand her need to develop Harper’s background, Alex’s past, and finding a place for Michael since he is her “baby daddy.” However, there were moments that sounded as though we had heard it before. Even more, Goodwin offers up a stalker sub-plot. I’m not sure it was necessary as an addition to the triangle story. It’s clear that it underscores Harper’s poverty, and it provides a way to get Alex to Harper again. But this subplot didn’t feel organic to the story. So what do I think is done well with this story?
Alex’s journey. In the first book, Alex is emotionally closed off due to the abuse of his past. He says it best in this book when he talks about overcompensating for his emotional scars with drinking, women, and work. This second book is his ultimate victory over his past. Watching him mature emotionally in his love for Harper, reclaiming himself, is the strongest part of Goodwin’s story.
The general storyline of the book is interesting. Again, with more revision, this would have been more engaging. Harper and Alex’s evolution into love, Michael’s complication of that journey, and the insertion of Alex’s sister and Harper’s friends pull you through the romance.
There is really so much that is important about Harper and Alex’s story. This is a romance of resilience, of overcoming past hurts, past choices, and the present. Thankfully, both Alex and Harper find redemption in themselves and with each other. Their “happily-ever-after” is a beautiful reward to a hard-fought battle. If you are a fan of enemies-to-lovers, love triangles, then you should download Emily Goodwin’s, Hard Truth (and its first book, Hard Place).
In an exclusive interview, RITA® Award winning author Kennedy Ryan, reveals the covers for her upcoming powerful and emotional duet, ALL THE KING’S MEN. The Kingmaker is coming October 28th, but you can see the gorgeous cover today on Entertainment Weekly!
What’s worse than hating your boss? Falling in love with him….
Hard Truth, the much anticipated conclusion to Hard Place by Emily Goodwin is LIVE!
The first time I met Alexander Harding, I yelled at him for taking my parking spot. Rich and powerful, I saw him as nothing more than my new coldhearted boss. I hated him once but now…now things aren’t that simple. There’s a man beneath the beast, and the more I get to know him, the more I fall in love with him.
Though just as I’m able to envision a future together, the past comes back to haunt us both.
Six years ago, my life changed forever when I found out I was pregnant. The last thing I expected was to see Michael Cooper again, but now he’s here and is ready to make up for lost time. He wants to be involved in his daughters’ life. My life. And it’s making me question everything.
I never thought it was possible to be in love with two men at the same time. One from my past, and one I want in my future. My heart is completely torn in two, with each half going in a different direction. I’d give them each half if I could.
But then I would be left with nothing.
Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!
Emily Goodwin is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of over a dozen of romantic titles. Emily writes the kind of books she likes to read, and is a sucker for a swoon-worthy bad boy and happily ever afters.
She lives in the midwest with her husband and two daughters. When she’s not writing, you can find her riding her horses, hiking, reading, or drinking wine with friends.
Emily is represented by Julie Gwinn of the Seymour Agency.
He was the bad boy I fell for in college. Now he’s a sexy single dad and Charleston’s most successful venture capitalist. Dominant and decisive, Ford Montgomery is used to getting what he wants. And he just set his sights on me…
Southern Heartbreaker, an all-new standalone contemporary romance in the Charleston Heat series by Jessica Peterson is coming October 24, 2019!
Ford Montgomery was my first everything.
First love.
First guy I slept with.
First heartbreak when he dumped me without explanation.
A decade later, it’s just my luck he’s the first guy I run into after moving back to my hometown of Charleston. Three piece suit, tie, and a watch worth more than my car–being a mogul looks good on Ford. So does being a doting dad to his adorable four-year-old daughter.
I tell myself I can resist him. But one impulsive, ill-advised kiss later, and Ford is in hot pursuit. He’s determined to make up for his past mistakes, and convinces me to give him a second chance.
What started out as fun between the sheets gets really serious, really fast. Problem is, I swore I’d never give up the dreams I worked so hard for to settle down and do the family thing.
But seeing Ford light up around his daughter–seeing how he’s chasing his ambitions while rocking fatherhood–is making me rethink what I want out of life.
It doesn’t help that behind his corporate veneer is the bad boy I fell in love with. And bad boys aren’t afraid to play dirty…or break hearts.
Southern Heartbreaker is part of the Charleston Heat Series, which is a series of interconnected standalone novels set in the steamy southern town of Charleston, South Carolina.
Coming October 24, 2019 to Amazon and Kindle Unlimited!
Cover Designer: Najla Qamber of Najla Qamber Designs
Photographer: Dany Fantoni
Cover Model: Marco Boscolo
About Jessica:
Jessica Peterson writes smart, sexy romance set in her favorite cities around the world. She grew up on a steady diet of Mr. Darcy, Jamie Frasier, and Edward Cullen, and it wasn’t long before she started creating irresistible heroes of her own. She loves strong coffee, stronger heroines, and heroes with hot accents.
She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband Ben and her smelly Goldendoodle Martha Bean.
Perfect Strangers, a scorching and addictive new standalone romance from J.T. Geissinger is Available Now!
“These kisses of his…they’re demanding and possessive. They’re hungry and deep. They’re the kisses of a man who wants more of a woman—who wants everything—and isn’t going to stop until he gets it.”
Author Olivia Rossi hasn’t been able to write a word since tragedy struck two years ago and ripped her world apart. Heartbroken and still haunted by the past, she accepts an offer to spend the summer at a friend’s apartment in Paris in search of healing and her lost muse.
What she finds instead is James, an enigmatic stranger who ignites in her an unexpected and all-consuming passion.
Agreeing to tell each other nothing more than their first names, Olivia and James embark on a torrid affair. But the more time they spend together, the more Olivia begins to realize her summer fling is turning into a powerful connection…and that the magnetic man she’s falling in love with might not be what he seems at all.
J.T. Geissinger is a bestselling author of emotionally charged romance and women’s fiction. Ranging from funny, feisty rom coms to intense, edgy suspense, her books have sold more than one million copies and been translated into several languages.
She is the recipient of the Prism Award for Best First Book, the Golden Quill Award for Best Paranormal/Urban Fantasy, and is a two-time finalist for the RITA® Award from the Romance Writers of America®. She has also been a finalist in the Booksellers’ Best, National Readers’ Choice, and Daphne du Maurier Awards.
Her first novel was published in 2012. Since then she’s written eighteen more novels. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, drinking wine, surfing the internet, and daydreaming about all the things she’s going to be when she grows up. She lives near the beach in Los Angeles with her husband and deaf/demented rescue kitty, Ginger.
A single billionaire, a young nanny, and a surprise baby.
Daddy Issues, an all-new emotional and sexy single dad romance from USA Today bestselling author Liv Morris, is coming October 20th and we have the hot cover!
My life was ordered. Smooth and neat like my scotch. I had arranged relationships with a beginning and an end. No romantic attachments was my motto.
Then I met Maggie. A beautiful, young woman trying to find her place in the gritty world of Manhattan. She deserved more than a jaded man like me, so I let her walk away.
But fate stepped in and an ex-lover surprised me with a baby she claimed was mine. Desperate I hired a well-recommended nanny sight unseen. When she knocked at the door of my penthouse, I opened it to find Maggie standing on the other side.
I watched Maggie lovingly care for my child and wanted to learn to be a father to my daughter. But having Maggie so close was dangerous. She was a terrifying ray of sunshine that threatened to thaw my frozen heart.
USA Today bestselling author Liv Morris resides in Manhattan with her first and hopefully last husband. She received a degree in communication from the University of Maryland. Liv has published many short stories for her Love in the City series (now a box set) and is featured in numerous anthologies.
I’m a writer, a hopeless romantic, a wanderer, a dreamer, a cynic, and a believer. And, oh yes…I might be a bit crazy – but who isn’t?
I believe in happy endings, however I know that not everyone is lucky enough to get one, but such is life. I think fine lines exist to be pushed and possibly crossed.
I was naïve to think my marriage to Luka Catano might work.
I was infatuated with him from afar…
Until I met him.
He loved the challenge of his next conquest, anyone would do…
Except me.
A wife was never something he wanted.
Torturous was not a strong enough word to describe how I felt when I was in a room with Luka. Besides hating nearly every word that came out of his mouth, I also drowned with lust every time I looked at him.
At times I thought he might feel the same.
But nothing prepared me for what his family would make me become.
Professor Romance 