Getting Real by Emma Chase is now live in audiobook!
A sexy, hilarious, emotional, new romance from New York Times bestselling author Emma Chase.
Connor Daniels never thought he’d be starting over at dating square one. His career as a successful doctor, and his three boys, are everything to him. It’s not exactly a setup conducive to a scorching social life—but he’s giving it a shot.
ER nurse Violet Robinson never intended for Connor to find out she’s had a crush on him forever. It was a dirty little secret only meant for her dirty dreams. Her heart trips every time he’s around—and so do her feet.
When Connor sees Violet coasting across the grocery store parking lot—and she falls on her face—he starts falling for the gorgeous, young nurse right back.
Dating can be tricky. And life can be beautiful and crazy and unpredictable. But when it gets real, you discover what matters most . . . and the one person you want loving you through it all.
Emma Chase is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance novels filled with humor, heart and heart. Her stories are known for their clever banter and sexy, swoon-worthy moments. Emma’s novels have been translated in over twenty languages around the world.
Emma lives in New Jersey with her amazing husband, two awesome children, and two adorable but badly behaved dogs. She has a long-standing love/hate relationship with caffeine
Excited about Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward’s upcoming release, Well Played?
Check out this SNEAK PEEK!
Presley
Harper picked up the notebook that contained my to-do list from the table and opened to a fresh page. Clicking the pen open, she scribbled across the top.
To do with Levi
I chuckled. “Are we making a dirty to-do list?”
She wiggled her eyebrows and put the pen to the paper. “We certainly are.” “Tell me one thing you fantasize about doing with him.”
Yep, I was definitely drunk, because sober me wouldn’t have participated in this. Though, even in this state, I felt my cheeks blush. “Well, every day he goes out back and does pull-ups in that big oak tree. Sometimes I imagine he’s naked while doing them, and then I walk out naked, too. I wrap myself around him like a koala and he’s a tree, and he keeps doing the pull-ups. Hoisting us both up and down.”
Harper smirked. “Nice start.” She then jotted down koala pull-ups. “What else you got?”
“Well, I also have this running fantasy that I’m watching him do the pull-ups from my bedroom window with binoculars, and then I lie down on the bed and…you know…go to town on myself. And when I’m just about to orgasm, I look up at the window and see Levi with the binoculars. He’s watching me masturbate from outside.”
“Oooh… I like that one.” Harper wrote down voyeur masturbation.
For the next half hour, we polished off our spiked lemonades, laughed a lot, and added more than a dozen sexual to-do tasks to my list. It was the most fun I’d had in ages. But Harper had to fly home in the morning, and I didn’t want her to have a raging hangover. So rather than make another pitcher of spiked lemonade, I grabbed her a water bottle and some Motrin and told her to drink up before going to bed.
But as I walked around and shut off the lights, another fantasy hit me. “That peach cobbler we had for dessert at the restaurant was orgasmic, wasn’t it?”
“It sure was.”
I pointed to the notepad. “Sit on Levi’s face while eating that pie.”
Harper had been drinking water and spit it out all over the place. “Oh my God. That is most definitely going on the list!” She picked up the pen and spoke while jotting something down. “Double orgasmic peach cobbler.”
We started to crack up, but a knock interrupted our laughter. At least it interrupted mine. I looked up to find Levi standing in the doorway to the living room.
My eyes widened. “Levi… What are you doing here?”
His brows lifted. “I own half the place.”
“No, I meant I didn’t know you were back.”
He looked between Harper and me and seemed to smirk. “Oh, I’m back.”
My palms started to sweat. “I didn’t hear you come in. How long have you been…standing there?”
Levi tilted his head, and his smirk elevated to a cocky smile. “Not too long.”
Oh my God. I wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. What if he heard? I suddenly felt pretty damn sober. “Umm…well, this is my friend Harper. She’s leaving early tomorrow, so we were just going to bed.”
He nodded. “Nice to meet you, Harper.”
Harper stood and hiccupped. She covered her grinning mouth. “Nice to meet you, too. Your family’s inn is beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
Her eyes shifted to me. “Although there’s a lot to do around here. Presley and I made a list. You might want to take a look at it and get going on some of the new to-do tasks we added.”
My eyes nearly bulged out of my head, and I lunged for the notebook on the table.
Levi squinted at me. “Everything okay, Presley? You seem stressed.”
“I’m fine!”
He nodded slowly. “Right.”
“Alright….” I grabbed Harper’s arm and tugged. “We’re going to bed. Welcome home.”
Levi never moved from the living room doorway as he watched me drag my friend out of the room.
Harper waved over her shoulder. “’Night, Levi. Enjoy your to-do list!”
Somehow I managed to get Harper to her room without her yelling anything too obscene. But for the next half hour, I lay in my bed with my heart pounding. What if he’d heard us? What if he’d been standing there listening the entire time? Oh my God. I covered my face with my hands. The things I said I wanted to do to him. My head began to ache, and tomorrow’s hangover hadn’t even started yet.
After another twenty minutes of lying there freaking out in the dark, my mouth was so parched that I needed a bottle of water. But there was no way I wanted to run into Levi again. So I cracked open my bedroom door and listened for any sounds of someone moving out in the common area. Finding it quiet, I snuck down the hall and peered around the corner to see if any lights were still on. They weren’t, so I breathed a sigh of relief and went to the kitchen for a drink.
I guzzled half a bottle of water before turning to slink back to my bedroom. But I froze at the sight of Levi standing in the kitchen doorway. My hand flew up to cover my racing heart. “Oh my God. You scared me.”
“Sorry. I was just going to head out to grab a bite to eat.”
“Oh…there are leftovers from lunch in the fridge, if you want. I made chicken pot pies this morning.”
Levi held my eyes for a moment. “Thanks, but I think I’m going to go out.” He walked over and leaned down to whisper in my ear. “I have a real hankering for peach cobbler.”
Oh.
My.
God.
My jaw dropped to the ground. I had no idea what to do or say.
Levi winked as he walked to the door. “Get some sleep. I wouldn’t want you to be too tired to work on that to-do list.”
Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles have appeared in over a hundred Bestseller lists and are currently translated in twenty-five languages. She resides in New York with her husband and their three children where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.
Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance.
She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son, and beautiful daughter with autism.
With over two million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over twenty novels. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.
Once upon a time, the Vlasta Vipers hockey team was so incredible — on and off the ice — they were almost mythical.
All the other college athletes across the country wanted to be them.
All the chicks who glided into their gazes were excited to bang them.
Their reputation was that of Gods who wore skates instead of sandals.
And thanks to a certain center’s constant leadership on the ice, they are true champions once again.
Captain Patrick Peck lives and breathes hockey, yet one glimpse at his head coach’s loud-mouth, full of life niece who has just moved to Vlasta, and suddenly, he wants more.
More days of watching old TV shows and less days of listening to hockey podcasts.
More nights of hearing her scream his name and less nights of scheduling extra practices.
More memories out of the rink and less memories of only being loved in it.
Will this overly focused center be able to balance hockey and love, or will he be forced to abandon one for the other?
About the Author:
Xavier Neal is a best-selling romance author who enjoys hopping from sub genre to sub genre like a game of Hopscotch she can’t resist.
In between writing, she loves to read (everything from romance to self improvement books), watch movies (old and new), eat too much Tex-Mex (her Chuy’s t-shirt collection is out of control), and watch AHL hockey games LIVE (preferably against the glass whenever possible).
She currently resides happily in Texas with her bearded husband “Lumberjack” and their two fur babies.
The Man from Sanctum, the all new must read standalone in the Masters and Mercenaries: Reloaded from New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake is coming March 8th, 2022 and we have the stunning cover!
A painful past
Deke Murphy and Maddie Hall should never have worked as a couple in high school. She was the class valedictorian and he the jock who took nothing seriously…except her. Together they formed an amazing team, and young love blossomed into something that strengthened them both. Until tragedy struck and Deke made a sacrifice that split them up forever.
An unexpected reunion
Seventeen years later, Maddie is living her dream working for a brilliant tech guru in the beauty of Southern California. She’s made a life for herself and it’s first class all the way. She rarely thinks of the jock who dumped her all those years ago. But when Maddie realizes her boss might be part of an international conspiracy, she can’t deny Deke might be her best bet to solve the mystery. Her one-time sweetheart works for one of the world’s premiere security and investigative firms. She’ll hire him and prove to herself their relationship could never have worked.
A dangerous future
As Maddie and Deke begin to uncover her boss’s secrets, they can’t deny the chemistry that has reignited. But before they can explore the connection growing between them, they must survive the deadly forces hunting them down.
About Lexi Blake New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband and three kids. Since starting her publishing journey in 2010, she’s sold over three million copies of her books. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance that she found success. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes in happy endings.
Before Hannah was a 9-5 working, dinner making, homebody, she was Ashton James: a paparazzi-stalked pop star with more enemies than friends.
These days she has one priority: keeping her sister safe and away from the public eye.
Hannah was doing a great job, until the pesky little brother of an ex-fling discovers where she is, and wants her help launching his career.
Now she has to trust Johnny—whom she betrayed in more ways than one—to protect her whereabouts. Johnny may have an infuriating moral compass and the timing of a storybook hero, but is he immune to the temptation of revenge?
Johnny’s focus has always been his music business, and a bad influence like Hannah is the last thing he needs at work, or around his brother.
But some things are too powerful to be stopped. For someone like Hannah, second chances—in life and in true love—don’t exist. She didn’t think so, at least.
Johnny is about to prove her wrong, and being wrong has never felt so right.
‘Key Change’ is a full-length contemporary romance, can be read as a standalone, and is book #3 in the Common Threads series, Seduction in the City World, Penny Reid Book Universe.
“You’re a real piece of work. You don’t even remember me, do you?” Johnny said the words, knowing for years they were true but feeling that hurtful sting having to admit it out loud. He had been a nobody to her then. He needed to make peace with that.
Ashton shook her head. “I don’t remember most things,” she said, and it had the kind of ring of truth that sounded too real. She rapidly scanned the interior of the townhouse and her gaze paused on his guitar resting in the stand in the living room.
He held his breath for a minute.
The guitar was the one he’d had when they’d first met. Its sound was on her first record.
It wasn’t fancy by any means, but it was and always would be his favorite. A black Gibson orchestra model. The years of wear showed the scratches and bruises of the life of a working musician.
He wondered if she remembered the night she’d sat in his bed, naked, holding that guitar and singing to him.
Because he thought about it all the time.
“I don’t remember you,” she said after a beat, her voice quieter. The admission hurt more than he expected. “But I know that it doesn’t matter. Going with the odds and how you’re looking at me, it was probably pretty awful.”
Johnny wasn’t sure why hearing that didn’t make him feel any better.
Just then the door opened, or it tried to, but it bumped into the bodyguard, who moved to the side and let Shawn in.
The facilitator of Johnny’s current problem.
Shawn frowned in confusion at the bodyguard, and then his gaze drifted to Ashton. All the color drained from his face, and his round eyes darted to Johnny.
“Oh my God,” Shawn whispered.
“Oh, He can’t save you now,” Johnny cautioned.
Shawn dropped his bag on the floor and his hands came up in a placating fashion. Though he couldn’t figure out which person to direct them to. He faced Johnny, then Ashton, then the bodyguard in quick succession.
“I-I-I can’t believe you’re here,” he finally spit out, obviously speaking to Ashton. He spun to Johnny. “It’s her. I told you it was her.”
Johnny ran his tongue over his bottom lip and nodded once.
Shawn shoved both hands through his hair, unable to conceal the sheer joy on his face. “Did-did you listen to it?” he asked Ashton cautiously.
For the first time since Johnny had opened the door, he saw a crack in her exterior as she looked at his younger brother.
“No,” she said after a beat. “I haven’t listened to it.”
Undeterred, and oblivious to the tension in the room, Shawn eagerly grabbed the envelope off the table and removed the thumb drive. “That’s fine. You can listen to it here and then I can get your reactions up close.”
“Shawn,” Johnny tried to get his attention.
“This is better, actually,” Shawn continued, a slight tremor in his voice, which was pitching a little higher. “I mean, I would have invited you over earlier today if I’d known you would say yes.”
“Shawn,” Johnny said louder and sharper.
It got his attention.
“Read the room, bud.”
Shawn’s hands dropped to his side and his shoulders dropped. “I don’t understand. If you’re not here about the music, then why are you here?” he asked.
“I think…” Johnny said with a slight grimace. “That she’s here to pay us to keep quiet? Did I get that right?”
Ashton glared at Johnny.
“Pay us?” Shawn repeated, confused and devastated all at once.
For a split second, guilt sliced through Johnny. But the sooner Shawn figured out who Ashton James really was, the better for him. In the long run.
Though watching him find out that the artist he looked up to was a lying, selfish, horrible person kind of hurt like hell.
Silence descended like a thick fog as Shawn stared at Ashton, waiting for a response.
Finally, she took in a deep breath and let it out. “Who have you told? I really need to know how far this goes. Please.”
Her tone was different than the last time she’d asked that question.
“No one,” Shawn replied roughly. “Just Johnny.” He waved a hand in that direction. “And he didn’t believe me until Saturday when he saw you at the school. Even then, he told me not to do anything about it.” He shrugged helplessly. “But I didn’t listen.”
Her eyes moved to Johnny, looking for honesty and verification.
He hadn’t told Shawn about helping jump her car. He didn’t want to have to answer any uncomfortable questions that he didn’t have the answers to. Like, why was she so different in that moment than the woman he remembered? And was it real? Or did she just get a lot better at faking things?
Shawn took a step toward her, speaking excitedly.
“I was just so happy to finally meet you. I never thought I’d get a chance to, and then one day, I saw you get off the train. I wasn’t looking for you. Ashton, you have to believe me. I would nev—”
“Please don’t call me Ashton,” she stopped him. She regarded both of them carefully. “I haven’t been Ashton James in a very long time. And I have no intention of being her again.”
About Heidi Hutchinson
Heidi Hutchinson creates funny, clever, slow burn romance for readers looking for a guaranteed happily ever after.
She hopes the stories she writes inspire her readers to take their hearts on one more adventure.
She lives in the Black Hills with her alarmingly handsome husband, their fearless child, and a rather large and spoiled dog.
She is fueled by her unwavering and perfectly normal devotion to Dave Grohl and coffee.
“She anchors me, and until this moment, I didn’t realize how untethered I’ve been.”
L.B. Dunbar’s Love in A Pickle, her newest title in the SmartyPants Romance world, is divine. Seriously divine. You might want to know why. I’m a huge fan of the redemption of a former “mean” character, and Scotia Simmons of Green Valley, Tennessee has terrorized this small-town in various Penny Reid and SmartyPants Romance stories. However, you have heard that people who “bully” others or speak ill of them do so out of insecurity or some type of pain. And the interrogation of those underlying influences makes for some of the best stories, stories such as Dunbar’s Love in A Pickle.
To believe that Scotia is purely evil is to diminish and reduce her. In the first two books of this series, Love in Due Time and Love in Deed, Dunbar teases Scotia’s humanity as she steps in to support her sisters. The Queen of Mean shows her softer side in those books, and if you’ve been following the bouncing ball of Dunbar’s stories, then you have waited for Scotia’s story.
And Dunbar’s book did not disappoint. I’ve seen other reviews, and it’s a resounding response that Dunbar deftly wrote a compelling character in Scotia that changes your perception of her. Very easily, it changes your opinion of her character.
Without giving any details, let me talk around the parts of the story that simply work to cull together a beautiful story of redemption and love:
There are secrets in this book that should not be divulged in any review. You definitely won’t find it in this one, and it absolutely is one of the factors that turns your head towards Scotia. For me, it brought tears to my eyes. It connects directly to Scotia’s most vulnerable place.
Her hero, Chet/Chester/Big Poppy, is a revelation, and I appreciate how much Dunbar works to craft a character who is much like Scotia while seemingly very different. Dunbar’s story plays with the idea of identities or the masks we wear for different situations. Interestingly, Dunbar also admonishes her reader with the double-standard of judgment between men and women. Chet can throw ugly at someone, and it seems more acceptable, while Scotia is judged and characterized with ugly names.
Even more, Chet is a force of change. He challenges Scotia, while he falls in love with her. However, I wrote a note in the margins of my book around the 50% mark when I noted how much I wasn’t his biggest fan. One minute, Chet is beguiled by Scotia, wanting to protect her and encourage her to be a better person. The next minute, though, he pushes her away and cuts at her soul as she becomes more vulnerable. And this is the genius of Dunbar’s storytelling. It’s in these moments, along with Scotia’s other secrets, where Dunbar humanizes Scotia. It feels so calculated and necessary in order for people to accept a love story for Scotia Simmons.
Ultimately, the camaraderie of the Winters sisters is the backbone of Love in A Pickle. Revisiting Naomi and Beverly while they support and encourage Scotia reminds us why these stories exist. They bring us back to Penny Reid’s Green Valley, Tennessee.
I’m sad that these stories seem complete for L.B. Dunbar. Maybe we need the children of these women to have stories, something to keep us in their small circle of sisterly love. What I do know is I think Scotia’s story is my favorite of the three. To take the villain of Green Valley and turn her into a puddle of love is a testament to L.B. Dunbar’s writerly craftsmanship.
I find, when I read a novella by an author I adore, I simply want more. Piper Sheldon’s newest offering to the SmartyPants universe is very much the case. I would say that the biggest downfall to her Hopelessly Devoted is its insistence in wanting more story for her MM heroes, Jack and William “Skip.” What Sheldon has done well with her newest book is weave it into the fabric of her Scorned Women’s Society. She’s teased out Jack from My Bare Lady, and Skip from The One That I Want and crafted a space for them to meet, fall in insta-love, struggle with their baggage, and find their happy ending. Sheldon invites you into a story that adds dimension and diversity to the bigger SmartyPants universe. While there is a bit of steam here, this story isn’t really about that. Sheldon’s story suggests that we must find our own happiness, erecting healthy boundaries that allow us to fall in love and live more abundant lives. She marries the sweet, compassionate Jack persona with the grumpier, more reserved Skip. Sheldon gives us the story that Skip and Jack need while reminding us of the stories of the other Scorned Women’s Society members, but I would have loved a bit more flesh on this apple of a story. In the end, however, I enjoyed the journey of William and Jack, and I can only hope we will find them again in future Piper Sheldon stories.
The quintessential question asked to every couple. And the answer is usually some bubbly, lovey dovey tale of being struck in the bum by Cupid’s arrow.
My meet cute (well not so meet cute) is slightly different. I was trolling a wealthy neighborhood in Beverly Hills, searching for someone to take me as their bride, you know, to make my arch nemesis jealous who consequently just fired me.
He was stomping around the block like some sort of gorgeous ogre, mumbling about a business deal gone wrong and attempting to finagle his way out of it.
And that’s when we bumped into each other.
There were no sparks.
Not even a hint of blossoming love.
But next thing I knew, I was scarfing down free chips and guac, listening to this man lay out all of his problems which led to his big ask . . . he wanted me to be his Vivian Ward, you know, from Pretty Woman–minus the frisky behavior.
We’re talking about living in a mansion, intimate double dates, and pretending we were head over heels in love . . . and engaged. Can you imagine?
The absolute audacity.
But people do crazy things when they’re desperate. And I reeked of desperation. So, I struck up a deal.
My one big mistake, though . . . big . . . HUGE? I accidentally fell for the incomparable Huxley Cane.
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.
What’s a girl to do when her celebrity crush needs her to be his fake girlfriend?
Sealed With a Kiss, an all-new opposites attract romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Erin Nicholas is available now!
Keep her damned feelings to herself, of course. Child TV star turned adult wallflower Naomi LeClaire has vowed never to return to the spotlight. But when she’s stuck in a storm with Donovan Foster, the hot, charming, wild-life rescuing internet sensation, and she finally gives in and kisses him…and a few articles of clothing end up on the floor…suddenly her simple, quiet life is tossed upside down.
Especially after the paparazzi catches a heat-of-the-moment kiss. Now everyone assumes she’s his girlfriend and, when she realizes that’s the best way to keep Donovan out of trouble, Naomi agrees to play along. Even though it puts her center stage with her private life in very public view. Again.
They’re a whirlwind of opposites-attract chemistry the fans love, but they’ll surely blow over faster than a Gulf Coast hurricane. As long as they can keep straight what’s real and what’s just a once-in-a-lifetime fantasy.
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Erin Nicholas has been writing romances almost as long as she’s been reading them. To date, she’s written over thirty sexy, contemporary novels that have been described as “toe-curling,” “enchanting,” “steamy,” and “fun.” She adores reluctant heroes, imperfect heroines, and happily ever afters. Erin lives in the Midwest, where she enjoys spending time with her husband (who only wants to read the sex scenes in her books), her kids (who will never read the sex scenes in her books), and her family and friends (who claim to be “shocked” by the sex scenes in her books).
Beauty and the Baller, an all-new small-town sports romance from Wall Street Journal bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills is coming March 29th, 2022 and we have the stunning cover!
An NFL quarterback turned small-town coach gets sacked by a Texas beauty queen in this swoony, passionate romance from Wall Street Journal bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills.
Gorgeous, talented, and brilliant, NFL quarterback Ronan Smith has the world in his hands. But after losing his career and his fiancée in a car accident, he falls into a pit of grief and bad choices. When a mysterious girl shows up to his party, he feels drawn to her and makes her his…for one night.
Former beauty queen Nova Morgan is on a mission. Scantily clad as a princess from a galaxy far, far away, she sneaks into a high-profile party to capture the attention of her favorite quarterback. But her hopes crash after an awful one-night stand.
Fast-forward two years. Broke and desperate, Nova returns home to Blue Belle, Texas, where, by a cosmic twist of fate, her broody neighbor is none other than Ronan, the shiny new football coach everyone adores. But he has no idea who she is.
The booster club keeps shoving women at Ronan to keep him in town. His solution? He proposes fake dating to Nova. But things heat up for real under these Friday-night lights when he realizes she’s the one who slipped away.
Has this jaded beauty found her forever baller, or will his past keep them apart?
About Ilsa Madden-Mills Wall Street Journal, New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Ilsa Madden-Mills is best known for her angsty new adult romances and romantic comedies.
Eight of her eleven novels have placed in the Amazon Top 10 Best-seller List: Dirty English #1; Fake Fiancée and I Dare You #2; I Bet You, Filthy English, and Very Bad Things #6; Boyfriend Bargain #8; The Last Guy, her collaboration with Tia Louise, #4.
A former high school English teacher, she adores all things Pride and Prejudice, and of course, Mr. Darcy is her ultimate hero.
She’s addicted to frothy coffee beverages, cheesy magnets, and any book featuring unicorns and sword-wielding females. Feel free to stalk her online.
Professor Romance 