Book three in the Dirty Wild trilogy that began with Wild Rebel.
Secrets, surprises, and second chances.
This trip down memory lane with Jolie has mended as much as it’s torn up.
I promised her I could handle anything. Whatever she was hiding, my wild heart would always belong to her.
But I could never have imagined this truth.
And she can’t blame me for how this will all end.
About the Author:
With millions of books sold worldwide, Laurelin Paige is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling Author. She is a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there’s kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband doesn’t seem to complain, however.
When she isn’t reading or writing sexy stories, she’s probably singing, watching Killing Eve or Letterkenny, or dreaming of Michael Fassbender. She’s also a proud member of Mensa International though she doesn’t do anything with the organization except use it as material for her bio.
1. That we don’t know what we want. That one is straight up BS. I know exactly what I want—to win this bet with my cousins by any means necessary even if it means finding the worst possible date in all of Harbor City and agreeing to whatever she asks in exchange for her pretending to fall for me.
2. That we are soft, little wimps. Yeah, you don’t get to be CEO of a multibillion dollar company by letting other people take advantage of you. So as soon as I realize my date Fiona Hartigan isn’t exactly who she appears to be, there’s nothing that will stop me from figuring out the truth—no matter how many dates it takes to unravel that mystery.
3. That we don’t know how to kiss. Oh yes we do. The only problem is that once I start kissing Fiona, I don’t want to stop and I have to because we’ve already agreed that all of this is temporary.
Now I’m the guy that every woman wants to bring home to mom—except for the woman I’m fake dating and falling in love with for real.
When Avery Flynn isn’t writing about alpha heroes and the women who tame them, she is desperately hoping someone invents the coffee IV drip. She has three slightly wild children, loves a hockey-addicted husband, and has a slight shoe addiction. Find out more about Avery on her website, follow her on Twitter, like her on her Facebook page, or friend her on her Facebook profile. Also, if you figure out how to send Oreos through the internet, she’ll be your best friend for life. Contact her at avery@averyflynn.com. She’d love to hear from you.
Surprise! Wish Upon a Star, an all-new moving and poignant must-read from New York Times bestselling author Jasinda Wild is coming October 15th and we have the SURPRISE cover!
Grandma always said dying is the easy part; it’s the living that’s hard. I’ve been fighting to live since I was seven years old, and now the doctors say I’m gonna lose that battle soon. I’ve crossed off just about everything on my bucket list—I’ve seen the Eiffel Tower and the Coliseum and I’ve been swimming in the Caribbean; I’ve lived like I’m dying, because I am.
There’s just one thing left on my list: I want to be a bride. I want to wear white and have my dad walk me down the aisle. I want a first dance and cake and a night to feel like a princess…and I want it with Westley Britton.
The perfect guy. Musician, actor, and every girl’s dream man. My dream man. Only, he doesn’t even know I exist.
It’s the start of a strange, improbable fairy tale. When you’re talking about terminal leukemia, happily ever after seems impossible, but when your celebrity crush and the man of your dreams shows up out of the blue and proposes to you, it makes you feel like anything is possible. Even that hardest thing: living.
Helena Hunting’s When Sparks Fly reminds us how much we love Hunting’s brand of stories. In her newest book, her heroine, Avery, and her hero, Declan have been best friends since college. They live together, and their lives are deeply entwined. When Delcan fails to keep plans with Avery, she ends up in a serious car accident. Feeling guilty and knowing that he let her down, he decides to become her caretaker as she recovers. Very quickly, Declan and Avery’s forced proximity and latent feelings of attraction create “sparks” that “fly.” Best friends turned lovers, Avery and Declan begin a journey of love until complications from the past along with Declan’s unresolved issues related to relationships undermine their future.
Hunting’s story is simple, and it makes for the perfect weekend read. Avery and Declan’s chemistry isn’t as profound as you expect, but you fall in love with them as they navigate a change in the status of their relationship. When Declan, given his family history, causes problems in their burgeoning relationship, it creates these moments of gravity for her characters. Hunting deftly balances the familiarity and humor of their relationship with her requisite steam and a broken relationship’s angst in her story. However, Hunting also isn’t doing anything different here, thus my reason for the solid 4 rating.
That being said, I will always trust Helena Hunting as a storyteller as she writes stories that provide a mix of hilarity, romance, and seriousness. With a mix like that, you will want to read When Sparks Fly.
When Sparks Fly, an all-new sweet and sexy best friend standalone romance from New York Times bestselling author Helena Hunting is available now!
Charming, hilarious, and emotional…When Sparks Fly is Helena Hunting at her very best!
Avery Spark is living her best life. Between her friends, her sisters, and Spark House, the event hotel her family owns, she doesn’t have much time for anything else, especially relationships. She’d rather hang out with her best friend and roommate, Declan McCormick, than deal with the dating scene. But everything changes when she is in a car accident and needs someone to care for her as she heals.
Declan avoids relationships, giving him a playboy reputation that he lives up to when he puts a one-night stand ahead of a promise he made to Avery. While he may not have been the one driving the car, he feels responsible for Avery’s injuries and is determined to make it up to her by stepping into the role of caretaker.
Little did they know that the more time they spend in compromising positions, the attraction they’ve been refusing to acknowledge becomes impossible to ignore. When they finally give in to the spark between them, neither is prepared for the consequences. Their love is fragile and all it will take is a blow from the past to shatter it all.
Commotion from across the field catches my eye. Two of the riders seem to be at odds with each other. The hand on hip, head tip, nose-to-nose business gives me reason to believe there’s some kind of disagreement happening. “That doesn’t look very friendly.” I nod in their direction. “Maybe the horses need a time-out,” Harley mutters. I give her the side-eye, and she fights a smirk. “Uh-oh, we have hand and hobbyhorse flailing,” London says, pulling my attention back to the field. The argument seems to be heating up, not cooling down. “You need to deal with that.” London gives my shoulder a shove. She’s amazing with finances and she’s great at connecting me with the right vendors, but dealing with conflict is not her strong suit. “Not in the mood to mediate stuffed horses?” I drop my bag on the ground beside Harley’s feet and briskly cross the field as the argument escalates to yelling. I’m about twenty feet away when one of the men hauls off and whacks the other one with his hobbyhorse. “Whoa! Whoa! Gentlemen! Time-out. That’s not very sportsmanlike conduct!” I call. My admonishment goes unheeded, and the two men begin dueling with their hobbyhorses. The bigger of the two jabs the other man in the stomach and snatches his hobbyhorse when he loses his grip on it. “Gentlemen! Please!” I shout, but it’s hard to be heard over their yelling and the newly formed crowd of hobbyhorse enthusiasts who have gathered and are now heckling the fighters. Two other men toss their hobbyhorses to the hobbyhorse-less man with shouts of “Kick his ass!” And here I thought this was a chill sport. Apparently I’m very, very wrong. The hobbyhorsers face off again, each one holding a broom horse between their legs and another like . . . a sword, maybe? It reminds me of medieval jousting. Especially when they start stomping their feet, pawing at the ground, and prancing in place. I know things are about to escalate when they shake their heads back and forth, braying loudly and breathing out through their noses in a hardy snort. Then they run toward each other, while yelling. Even if they’re beating on each other with stuffed horse heads, I’m not interested in anyone ending up with a concussion. I jump in between them before they collide, which I realize a second too late puts me in a very perilous position. However, the man on my right swerves at the last second and ends up crashing into the trough, toppling it and at least half a dozen of the “feeding” hobbyhorses. The other man skids to a stop mere inches from me, loses his balance, and falls backwards onto the ground. It rained yesterday, so while it’s sunny and dry now, the ground is still soft and mucky. And he happens to land in a seriously squishy pile of muddy grass. He also manages to hit himself in the family jewels with the hobbyhorse. He rolls onto his side, clutching the muddy horsehead and his junk. It’s quite the spectacle. Before it turns into absolute mayhem, I grab the megaphone from the group MC and shout, “Whoa, Nelly!” like an idiot. However, it does the trick. Every single one of them freezes. “Rider number seventeen and twenty-three, you are disqualified from this round for roughhousing and inappropriate use of your hobbyhorse!” I’m totally making this up on the fly, but someone needs to get these guys under control, and they don’t seem to be able to manage it on their own. The guy who nut slapped himself—number twenty-three—picks himself up off the ground and hobbles gingerly over to the bench, which is now assigned to disqualified hobbyhorsers. Number seventeen throws himself down on the other end with a huff. I lower the megaphone and cross my arms. “This is supposed to be about team building and sharing something you’re passionate about. If you want to joust, I suggest you either join a club or interview for a position at Medieval Times.”
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of PUCKED, Helena Hunting lives on the outskirts of Toronto with her incredibly tolerant family and two moderately intolerant cats. She writes contemporary romance ranging from new adult angst to romantic sports comedy.
“This book has the perfect blend of small-town feels, an unputdownable mystery, and a love story that will have you cheering for the happily ever after. I loved this book!” ~Willow Aster, USA Today bestselling author
Beneath the Wreckage, an all-new moving and incredible love story from bestselling author Catherine Cowles is available now!
It was supposed to be a summer we’d never forget. Instead, everything was stolen from me. The best friend who was more like a sister. The innocent way I looked at life. Leaving me with only unanswered questions.
Returning to the island is the second chance I didn’t know I needed. And Hunter is the surprise that knocks me sideways.
There’s a hurt in him that calls to my own. A strength I find in sharing our scars. Igniting a spark that turns to flame.
But someone isn’t happy about the world I’m building for myself. And nothing will stop them from tearing it all apart…
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 think you need to write your own code of ethics when it comes to who you love.”
I’ll begin this review by offering up my complete and utter adoration for April White. Throughout the SmartyPants releases, her stories have stood out as some of the best of the series. Her newest offering, Code of Ethics, is no different. Researched, reasoned, and romantic, this story is compelling and articulate. In this book, you’ll find a narrative that doesn’t capitulate to romantic norms. It’s developed layer upon layer with the nuance of romance as its least important quality. For avid romance readers, you might be disappointed by that. For this reader, however, I found myself in awe of April White’s choices.
Here’s the business of this book: it’s set in Penny Reid’s Cipher Systems world, and Quinn, Alex, and their ilk are present and accounted for. April White’s heroes and heroines from the first two books of her Cipher Security series also play parts in this tableau. As far as I’m concerned, that’s all you need to know before you enter this book.
What is brilliant about Code of Ethics is its ability to marry current societal challenges with the fictional world of Penny Reid’s beloved characters. White dazzles you with her capacity to write heady, investigative romance. Her heroine, Dallas, is an Indigenous woman from the Yukon who has become a close protection security specialist. Her skills were honed on the plains of the Yukon through the education of her Grandpop. Buttoned up and terse, Dallas meets Oliver, White’s hero, accidentally through a game she loves to play to keep her skills fresh. Intending only to follow him and allow him to show her his life, she unintentionally saves him from being killed. Freaked out and afraid, they cross paths again when he finds himself at Cipher Security. After another threat, Dallas takes on the job of protecting Oliver, even though his entitled, privileged ways annoy her. When he must go with her to the Yukon to her family’s compound, Oliver and Dallas grow closer, and the personas that both of them have created are relaxed. It is there where they start to realize their attraction to each other. However, the threat against Oliver continues, and any potential for a future is confused by their working relationship. Even more, Oliver and Dallas are opposites, and it seems impossible that they can have a future.
In the articulation of Dallas and Oliver’s journey, White takes the space to talk about the trials of Indigenous people, about the way in which their culture has been stolen from them through assimilation. She highlights white privilege through Oliver’s inability to “see” Dallas’s reality. But what is lovely about April White’s focus on these social ills is her response to them through her characterizations. Oliver is a challenge. At first, she makes it difficult for you to like him in contrast to Dallas. While Dallas covers her vulnerabilities with a strong exterior, you can’t help but admire her capability (as Oliver would call it). White has intentionally drawn her as the strongest person in the room at any given time (even in the presence of her Grandpop). Given her ability to temper her responses and save Oliver from outside threats, you can’t help but adore her, even when she uses her “walls” to push Oliver away. Over the course of the story, White deftly humanizes Oliver, so that you can’t help but begin to root for him. Through his characterization, White shows us appropriate responses to other cultures and $exes. When he makes the mistake of viewing another culture through the filter of his privilege, he apologizes for it and begins to research for better responses. He recognizes Dallas’s capability and strength from early in the story. Initially, it reminds him of his mother, and he believes it to be her fatal flaw until he recognizes the reasons for her ability to do many things. Once he understands it beyond the filter of his privilege, he listens and obeys her when it is meant to protect him.
Over and over again, April White plays with her title, Code of Ethics. She contrasts Dallas and Oliver’s sense of ethics to tell a story about the attraction of opposites. But she also does this through the societal ills that she highlights in her story. Bigger than Dallas and Oliver’s story, April White challenges us to think beyond the pages of her book, to know more, and to do more. That, my friends, is the true power of literature, even a romance story inspired by the world of Penny Reid. Don’t miss this one; you will regret it.
She’s the perfect fiancée… except for the perfect stranger part.
Being single wasn’t a problem until it was… to my new boss.
So I picked the hottest girl out of the crowd, as though there was any chance she wasn’t already promised to some other alpha jerk.
Turns out she was a unicorn.
Single, willing to play along, and oh so dedicated to her role as my wife-to-be. In dinners with the boss and even more so in the executive suite.
It’s the most fun a guy can have at a work conference.
But what if I want to keep having fun?
What if she does too? It’s just a flight away. So easy. But making it easy means wondering just what things could be like if we kept faking it.
Guess I forgot to ask her.
About the Author:
JD Hawkins writes erotic romance with modern-classic alpha males and strong, independent women. He currently lives with his wife in Austin, TX. He loves to travel and has lived in many places, including LA, New York City, India and Thailand. When he isn’t writing, JD enjoys surfing, training in Mixed Martial Arts, reading and taking naps. He once dreamed of becoming a ballerina. He’s always loved making up stories, especially ones inspired by real life.
Book three in the Dirty Wild trilogy that began with Wild Rebel.
Secrets, surprises, and second chances.
This trip down memory lane with Jolie has mended as much as it’s torn up.
I promised her I could handle anything. Whatever she was hiding, my wild heart would always belong to her.
But I could never have imagined this truth.
And she can’t blame me for how this will all end.
About the Author:
With millions of books sold worldwide, Laurelin Paige is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling Author. She is a sucker for a good romance and gets giddy anytime there’s kissing, much to the embarrassment of her three daughters. Her husband doesn’t seem to complain, however.
When she isn’t reading or writing sexy stories, she’s probably singing, watching Killing Eve or Letterkenny, or dreaming of Michael Fassbender. She’s also a proud member of Mensa International though she doesn’t do anything with the organization except use it as material for her bio.
Professor Romance 