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★★COVER REVEAL★★⁣⁣  

From Smartypants Romance… CODE OF ETHICS, an all-new enemies-to-lovers romantic suspense novel from April White is coming September 21st, and we have the fun new cover!

Pre-order Code of Ethics TODAY!

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★ ★ BLURB ★ ★

There are three things you need to know about Oliver: 
1) He’s a privileged playboy who happens to be a code-writing genius 
2) For once in his life he’s trying to do the right thing
3) Someone wants him dead.

Dallas is a close protection specialist at Cipher Security whose bodyguard skills have already saved Oliver’s life once. But when the assassin gets too close to her uncooperative client, Dallas takes the party boy away from the city where he’s the social king, to the Yukon wilderness where she’s a master of survival.

If Dallas has to put her life on the line for a self-absorbed guy she doesn’t respect, then Oliver has to take orders from the too-serious woman he can’t charm. But living wild brings out their true natures, and suddenly funny is hot, capable is dangerous, and trust is the strongest survival skill of all.

‘Code of Ethics’ is a full-length enemies-to-lovers romantic suspense and can be read as a standalone. Book #3 in the Cipher Security series, Seduction in the City world, Penny Reid Book Universe. 

Romancing His Rival

Poppy St. James

Release Date: August 16, 2021

About the Book

Two enemies. One wedding.

The plan was simple . . . until they started to fall for each other.

Noah and Olivia are total opposites. She’s buttoned up and proper, focused entirely on her career, and has no time for messy, inconvenient feelings. He’s a big-hearted bachelor who loves pushing her buttons and has always secretly pined for the feisty heroine. The fact that she’s vowed to never fall for him? Doesn’t deter him in the slightest.

A NYC playboy turned business mogul has ninety days to win over the woman he’s always desired in order to save his father’s company. One tiny problem: she hates his guts.

Note: This book was previously published under an alternate pseudonym.

Purchase Links

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Audible: 

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About Poppy St. James

Author Poppy St. James writes fun, flirty, sweet romance. As a full-time novelist for more than ten years, she turned her passion for reading into a literary career and has sold millions of copies of her novels, published under various pen names, worldwide in more than a dozen languages. When she isn’t writing, you can find her attending one of her sons’ basketball or hockey games or cleaning up after her very naughty bernedoodle puppy.

Find her at:

Website: https://poppystjames.com 

Facebook: https://facebook.com/poppy.st.james.39

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/PSJ-GR

BookBub: https://bit.ly/PSJ-BB

UNFORGETTABLE BY MARLEY VALENTINE

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Series Page → https://hearteyespress.com/wotn#/vino-and-veritas/

About the Book:

One night with Reeve Hale wasn’t enough. I knew it when I kissed him, I knew it when I slept with him, and I was certain of it when I walked out of his motel room the very next day. 

So when the shy, gorgeous man is introduced as our newest employee at Vino and Veritas, I can’t help but conjure up all the ridiculous ways to convince him to repeat that unforgettable night. Like asking him to be my fake boyfriend at my sister’s upcoming wedding. 

Only, I didn’t expect him to say yes. 

Playing pretend shouldn’t feel this real. Especially when Reeve is planning on leaving Vermont after the summer. 

We agreed to one night. We negotiated a fake relationship. But I’m the one who broke our terms. I wasn’t supposed to fall in love and he was never supposed to be so unforgettable.

SHOWSTOPPER BY REGINA KYLE

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Series Page → https://hearteyespress.com/wotn#/vino-and-veritas/

About the Book:

I swore I wouldn’t do this again. Mix sports, school, and sex. But right now the only thing standing between me and the NHL is six feet of frenemy packed into a pair of form-fitting jeans that have me thinking all kinds of things I shouldn’t. Mostly how to get him out of them. 

I don’t just want Kolby. I need him. Because I’ve got to pass this theater class–yeah, I said theater–if I’m going to keep my spot on the team. When tutoring sessions turn into dates-not-dates over Shipley Cider at Vino and Veritas, I realize it’s going to be harder than I thought to keep my hands on my stick and off of Kolby. Worse, I think I might be falling for him. But I’m not ready for that. I want to keep this thing between us on the down-low for now. 

But Kolby hates secrets. Especially his own . . .

EXCERPT:

Let the games begin.

The professor’s words are like nails in my improv coffin. Aside from Kolby’s brief description of Questions Only and a handful of Whose Line episodes, I’m completely clueless as to what we’re doing here.

My body language must give away my nervousness because Kolby puts a hand on my shoulder. It’s warm and strong and reassuring. I try not to think about how much more I like his touch than Quinn’s. How much more I like everything about him, even though she’s objectively hot and practically throwing herself at me and he’s an emotional vault who thinks I’m a dumb, entitled jock.

Not that it matters, I remind myself. Because I’m not here to make friends. Or get laid. I’m here to play hockey and save my shot at the NHL.

And, apparently, because the universe hates me, do improv. It’s like my worst nightmare coming true, the one where I’m accepting the Calder Memorial Trophy for best NHL rookie in my underwear. No, I take it back. This is worse. I may have been half naked in my dream, but at least I had a script. Having to go up there and pull something out of my ass is just cruel.

Professor Frost is barking out instructions, and I force myself to pay attention. I’m already lost. The last thing I need is to get myself even further behind by zoning out.

“Rachel and Ian, since you two obviously understand what we’re doing, you’ll start.” He motions them to the center of the room.

“The rest of you, form a line along the wall near the whiteboard. When a player takes too long to respond or fails to answer with a question, they’ll hear this sound.” He produces a plastic dinosaur from behind his back and presses a button on its back. It comes to life with a tinny, electronic roar. “That’s their cue to take a seat, and the first person in line will replace them. Got it?”

Apparently, I’m the only one who thinks it’s weird that a grown man is playing with a toy T-Rex because the rest of the class just nods and murmurs their assent as they line up against the wall. I can’t believe my parents are paying good money for me to take this ridiculous, useless class. And that my future as a hockey player rests on me passing it.

I drag my feet, in no hurry to be part of the action. The further back I am, the more time I have to figure out what the fuck I’m doing. I feel a hand on the small of my back, nudging me toward the end of the line. To my surprise, it’s Kolby. I thought he’d be racing to the front, dying to get up there and show off.

“Come on,” he says. “We can watch the others so you can see how it’s done before it’s your turn.”

“We?”

His lips quirk into a cheeky grin that lights up his face and simultaneously makes me want to push him away and pull him closer. “You didn’t think I was going to desert you in your time of need, did you?”

Honestly, yeah, I did. It wouldn’t be the first time someone’s let me down. 

He gives me another subtle nudge forward. What’s not so subtle are the tremors racing up and down my spine from the spot where his hand rests, just above the waistband of my track pants. It burns through the thin fabric of my T-shirt like there’s not even a barrier between us. I don’t even want to think about what a mess I’d be if we were skin-on-skin.

We take our places at the back of the line. Kolby stands in front of me, letting me go last. Does he have to be so damn nice in addition to being so freaking hot? It makes him harder to resist, even though I know he’s only doing it because the professor forced him to. Kolby made his opinion of me loud and clear in the registrar’s office. As far as he’s concerned, I’m the poster child for pampered jocks.

I cling to that thought in the hope that it will kill any feelings I’m starting to have for this guy. I have to focus if I’m going to pass this class.

Totally Folked, the all-new folking delightful and bestselling small town contemporary romance from New York Times bestselling author Penny Reid, is available now!

One unforgettable night leads to an unlikely shared connection, and unlikely connections never go unnoticed by the good folks in Green Valley, Tennessee. . .

Jackson James follows the rules. He has to. He’s a sheriff’s deputy in a super small town with a super big personality. However, strict adherence to the law during the day has been enjoyably balanced by rakish rules at night. Jackson, typically happy to protect and serve (and serve, and serve), starts questioning the value of wayward evenings when they begin to feel more like being waylaid rather than getting laid. Could it be that Green Valley’s most eligible—and notorious—bachelor longs for something (and someone) real?

Mega movie star Raquel Ezra follows only one rule: always leave them wanting more. Strict adherence to this single rule has served her well. Studio execs, reporters, audiences, fans, lovers—no one can get enough of the smart, savvy, and sexy bombshell. But when “generous offers” begin to feel more like excessive demands, years of always leaving has the elusive starlet longing for something (and perhaps someone) lasting.

When Raquel abruptly returns to the quirky Tennessee hamlet, her path crosses with the delectable deputy with whom she spent one unforgettable night. Unfortunately, scandal and intrigue soon follow. Raquel and Jackson must decide which is more important: following their rules? Or, at long last, finding something real.

TOTALLY FOLKED is a standalone, contemporary romantic comedy novel and book #1 in the Good Folk: Modern Folktales series.

Fall in love today!
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Enter now for a chance to win a bundle of incredible signed books>>>

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Excerpt

“Rae. It’s late.”

“I know, but—”

“Rae,” he ground out, using my hold on his hand to bring us back to a stop. I faced him, my stomach erupting in uncertainty butterflies as I encountered the stern line of his jaw and the glittering, frustrated spark behind his eyes. “We need everyone to believe we’re just friends, right? And if we go inside the house, I don’t think I’m a good enough actor to pull that off.”

My mouth formed an O, and I released him, folding my arms over my chest while I wrestled with a strange combination of disappointment and pleasure at his words. I wanted to spend time with him, talk to him, get to know this mystery of a man so I could understand my feelings better.

But . . . I conceded his point.

We couldn’t seem to be around each other without kissing. Bringing him inside a dark, empty house in the middle of the night was something better left to my fantasies.

For now.

Oh really, inner voice? Now you’re impudent? Now?

He exhaled a short breath, it also sounded frustrated, but his tone was soft as he said, “Hey.”

I placed a tight smile on my face, it was the best I could manage. “Hey.”

Jackson seemed to be considering me, debating what to do next. He didn’t take too long. “Do you want to go for a drive?”

“Yes,” I said immediately. “Yes, I do. Let me grab a jacket.”

“Okay. I’ll wait here.” He shifted his weight to his back foot and hooked his thumbs in his jeans pockets.

I wanted to take a picture of him like this, all handsome reluctance and sexy self-control. This man, he just did something to me. I couldn’t explain it.

But maybe if we took this drive and spent some time together talking—just talking—I’d start to figure it out.

Meet Penny Reid
Penny Reid is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Best Selling Author of the Winston Brothers, Knitting in the City, Rugby, and Hypothesis series. She used to spend her days writing federal grant proposals as a biomedical researcher, but now she just writes books. She’s also a full time mom to three diminutive adults, wife, daughter, knitter, crocheter, sewer, general crafter, and thought ninja.

Connect with Penny
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PennyReidWriter/
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2lakzsD
Twitter: @ReidRomance
Mailing List: http://pennyreid.ninja/newsletter/
Website: http://www.pennyreid.ninja

Overall Grade: 4.5 ⭐️

Okay, what do you do when you enter a story, and within the first few pages, you find that you cannot stand the hero. He’s a rich playboy with no purpose in life other than to spend money. Yes, he makes sound investments with a diverse portfolio, and yes, he steps in to assist his best friend. Yet, initially, he isn’t anywhere near heroic. 

Then, the heroine enters the story. This woman is focused, driven, independent, and self-controlled. Almost to a fault. She’s taken on her family’s construction business in the wake of her father’s illness, and everyone trusts her vision and her work ethic. However, she struggles with finding fun. You know the saying, “all work and no play…” 

With those two characterizations, you know where this story is going. These two will need each other in a way that is otherworldly because they are the yin to the other’s yang. And this, my friends, is Jasinda Wilder’s newest contemporary romance, The Parent Trap. 

No. This isn’t anything to do with the 1961 or 1998 movies. The name comes from the consequences of the wishes of the heroine’s father. He admonishes Delia to “have fun” because she’s only living a half-life, and his will creates a situation for her twin brother that creates the trap. The stage is set for Matthais “Thai” and Delia to meet, become attracted to each other, and find their happy ending. 

This romance is all kinds of things. For one, it’s a bit of a slow burn. For good reason. Thai and Delia’s twin brother, Dell, were, quite frankly, awful bullies to her in their youth. The reason for Delia’s rigidity of spirit is a direct result of Thai and Dell’s bullying. As such, Thai and Delia must work beyond their past together as they find themselves attracted to each other. 

One of my favorite parts of this book is Delia. Here’s the thing. She’s been bullied in horrible ways, and Thai and Dell are rather flippant about it for much of the story. In most romances, Delia would work to mete out retaliation. She’d find every way to undermine Thai. Yet, Wilder has crafted her to be “set above” her past in her initial conversations with him. When he’s right, she calls him that. And I loved this. I kept waiting for her to engage in gameplay with him, and it didn’t happen. Instead, Delia, while carrying a world of past hurts, is reasonable and mature with Thai who spends much of the beginning of the story showing his immaturity. 

Because Delia is careful and thoughtful, this allows Thai to transcend his own past and find a better version of himself. It is a bit strange that he so easily falls for Delia (and vice versa), but Wilder makes it clear that the attraction had always existed with Thai bullying her because of his interest in her. 

Jasinda Wilder’s The Parent Trap isn’t trying to do anything earthshattering in romancelandia. I simply loved Thai and Delia’s journey because it allowed them to become the best versions of themselves. It makes for a story that steals a little bit of your heart and it feels like a perfect weekend read.

 
In love and romance,

Professor A

Overall Grade: 3.5 ⭐️

E. Davies’s Limelight is a story about overcoming the past and finding your peace in the future. It also focuses on the danger of lies as a foundation for a relationship, and Davies does a good job of laying out those messages. 

At its core, I liked Tag and Caleb. Yet, I wasn’t bowled over by them, and I found myself wandering away from their story. Davies’s style isn’t the problem. It’s the choices for her heroes that I struggled with. First of all, I’m not a huge fan of insta-love romances. Sadly, you never know this as you enter a story, or realistically speaking, I probably wouldn’t have read this one. Tag and Caleb fall for each other at first look, and that’s strange to me. 

They are sweet together, and there is the spice to offset the sweet, but it’s a little too sweet for this girl. Yes, Caleb and Tag encounter trouble due to withholding information, but it doesn’t ameliorate their sweetness. 

If you love that insta-love type of romance, then you should definitely read Limelight. It just wasn’t quite right for this reader. 

In love and romance, 

Professor A

Overall Grade: 4.5 ⭐️

What do you get when the owner of a beachfront home in the Hamptons shows up and finds a woman in his house who is cleaning it up like it was a party house? A story that at first glance seems all fireworks. However, as you delve deeper into its pages, you find a story about a man trying to transcend his past at any cost, even at the cost of his soulmate.

Hamptons Heartbreak is quintessential Tara Leigh. It has this innocuous facade yet something deeper resides below it. The story follows Vivienne and Lance. At the story’s beginning, we find out that Vivienne is out of a job, a home, and a boyfriend, all in one fell swoop. Not particularly interested in living with her parents, when her best friend, Savannah, suggests she acts as a caretaker of a share home in the Hamptons for the summer, she jumps at the chance, figuring she can live rent-free while working various jobs to save up for finding her own place at summer’s end. 

One day, while she is cleaning up after a party weekend, a man enters the home, Lance. Lance is the home’s owner, although he hides that fact from Vivienne. They are instantly attracted to each other, yet neither of them lets the other know. Not wanting her to leave his home, he lies that the home is his “friend’s” and she can continue on as the caretaker of it, while also redesigning it (Vivienne is a designer, intent on starting her own business). As they live together as roommates, their attraction pulls them closer together until they finally give in to their urges. However, Lance wants more of her time as protection from the brigade of single women in the Hamptons intent on landing him as a rich boyfriend or husband. He asks Vivienne to act as his fake girlfriend for a sum, squashing whatever future they might have. It doesn’t matter, though, because Lance will leave at the end of the summer and Vivienne will hopefully open her own design studio. How can they have anything more than the summer?

As I mentioned earlier in this review, Tara Leigh’s brand of romance is a guaranteed angst fest. On a few occasions, she has put me through some serious anxiety and tears with her stories, and it’s why I love to read her stories. They make me feel, they pull me through, and they remind me that life isn’t easy; yet, if we find that certain person in our life, when life is hard, we can survive it with this person by our side. Hamptons Heartbreak is all of this. 

I haven’t read the earlier books in this series of standalones, but, honestly, it wasn’t necessary because Lance and Vivienne stand on their own well. Lance’s friends, Tripp and Jolie, simply help us understand him better while also showing us why we should love Vivienne for him. Their love acts as a reflection of Lance and Vivienne’s journey. And there are other characters here that we’ll see in other stories, which I cannot wait to read. Yet, not having any of their stories didn’t detract from Lance and Vivienne. 

What I loved the most is Leigh’s character development of Vivienne. This woman has been taken advantage of and humiliated, yet she doesn’t retaliate initially. She simply decides to find her own space elsewhere. You don’t view it as cowardice. It looks like self-protection. As she encounters Lance, it’s clear who the better human being is. She’s independent, focused, goal-oriented. She isn’t vain, and she stands as a contrast to the fabricated, rich wives and girlfriends of Lance’s social level. Vivienne knows who she is, and she becomes a foil to Lance. 

While Lance is wealthy, he accumulated it in adulthood. He is “new” rich, and he lives his life with imposter syndrome. He mentions throughout the story that he’s lying to everyone because his past is a far cry from his present. While Vivienne knows herself, Lance struggles to accept his reality. He throws money around easily and becomes upset when people take it from him. When Vivienne agrees to be his fake girlfriend, she is absolutely reticent to do it, but he almost forces it on her in somewhat of a predatory way. Since she feels that she has no choice, she agrees, but she’s never comfortable with it. Lance reads the entire situation wrong, and it causes all of their problems. Vivienne knows her place and herself that comes out of this book as its best trait. 

Thankfully, Lance can be redeemed, and his heroic journey helps him evolve to the Lance of the epilogue. Yet, don’t be surprised if you don’t like him for much of the book. Leigh writes moments of clarity for him, but he’s rather stubborn and self-involved that his story almost doesn’t end in a happy ending. 

I love the highs and lows of an angsty read such as Hamptons Heartbreak. It reminds me that I’m an emotional human being when I can laugh and cry in equal measure. Like I said previously, I’m ready for more stories in Tara Leigh’s New York City Romance series, reminding me that Tara Leigh has definitely grabbed my reader’s heart. 

In love and romance,

Professor A

Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

So this girl loves a good second chance romance. And Ana Ashley’s Stronghold, another Vino & Veritas story in the World of True North universe offers up a solid, emotional romance between childhood best friends.

This is the story of Judson and Skyler, childhood best friends since birth. Judson has been living in Paris for ten years, estranged from his friend, Skyler. While in high school, Skyler spoke against his friend which causes Judson to run away. While gone, Judson changes and becomes a popular chef, leaving it behind when his boyfriend cheats on him. Now home, Judson tries to avoid Skyler; however, their town is small and it’s impossible. On meeting, these two are instantly attracted to each other. Yet, before he left, Judson was the only one who had come out and endured bullying. A decade later, he realizes that Skyler has also come out. All of the feelings he felt for Skyler in their youth cannot be contained, these two journey forward, looking for forgiveness and love. 

Ana Ashley’s Stronghold hits on some interesting messages. The most predominant is finding forgiveness. This is the most overt focus of the book, as Judson and Skyler have past wrongs to overcome. Until they do, they cannot find a future together. 

Secondly, Judson’s character development is an interesting one as he deals with body dysmorphia. I thought Ashley wrote him responsibly highlighting his constant body issues. Additionally, I love seeing this story wrought through a male character. Even more, the bullying of his youth has skewed perceptions of himself. Of the two main characters, his is the most interesting characterization.

Beyond that, Skyler and Judson’s story feels easy. Ana Ashley’s Stronghold has its moments of tension, but overall, there is a sweetness between Skyler and Judson that you can’t help but love. 

In love and romance,

Professor A

Monica Murphy has revealed the cover for The Junior!

Releasing: September 9, 2021

Cover Design: Hang Le

Photographer: Kevin Roldan

Model: Wyatt Cushman

 

Caleb Burke.

Charming. Funny. Sexy.

Major player – both on the field and with the ladies.

I hate him.

Well, not really. I resist his so-called charms because I recognize them. We’re a lot alike, Caleb and I. He’s afraid of commitment? Me too. A giant flirt? Same here. He knows how to party? I am the absolute queen of the party.

Until I realize it’s time for me to grow up and become a responsible adult. I’ll be student teaching next year, so to save money, I move in with my two new roommates — Eli Bennett and Caleb. Then I find a summer job — where Caleb works. Soon, I’m spending almost every single day with the guy.

He’s growing on me too. We’ve always had this unspoken chemistry brewing between us. When we finally give in to it, it’s just as spectacular as I secretly predicted. The sex, and everything else, keeps getting better and better between us too.

But can I really take this guy seriously? Or am I only setting myself up to fail?

Pre-order your copy today!

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Meet Monica

Monica Murphy is a New York Times, USA Today and international bestselling romance author. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and have sold over two million copies worldwide. Both a traditionally published and independently published author, she writes young adult, new adult and contemporary romance. She’s also known as USA Today bestselling author Karen Erickson.

A native Californian, she lives on fourteen acres in the middle of nowhere with her husband, two kids, one dog, and four cats. When she’s not writing, she’s an assistant coach for her daughter’s high school cheer team, which is a two season sport. Meaning, she’s at practice with a bunch of teenage girls all the time. Or she’s at a football game. Or a basketball game. Maybe someday, she’ll even write about this experience.

Connect with Monica

Website: http://monicamurphyauthor.com

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