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new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4 ⭐️ Review: Lexi Blake’s Start Us Up, book 1 of the Park Avenue Promise series ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes: band of sisters; standalone in an interconnected series; intelligent STEM heroine; golden retriever hero; rom-com; workplace romance; close proximity; grump/sunshine; starting over; office romance; found family; returning to hometown; insta-attraction

Lexi Blake’s Start Us Up reminds readers of her versatility as a romance writer. She pivots so easily from rom-com to romantic suspense to MFM to paranormal/fantasy romance to women’s fiction that she makes it look easy for her readers. Start Us Up shows the spark she has for writing as she details the journey of Ivy Jensen, her two best friends, Anika and Harper, and her hero, Heath Marino. There is much to like about this new story: a band of sisters/close friends which drives this new series, the Park Avenue Promise series; Heath’s general easiness with Ivy, who is strong and independent, but struggling with the imposition of failure; a found family that is diverse and progressively feminist; and a sweet story sprinkled with the angst of failure and parental strife. I love that Lexi Blake’s Start Us Up highlights women who are decided and tenacious in their career-chase, but messy in their lives. She has written main female characters who are likable and provoking, and she partners them with characters who hold the wisdom of age and the insight of having lived entangled lives. These make the romance intriguing and loveable. 

My biggest issue, however, lies with the believability of Heath and Ivy’s romance. Two issues complicate their chemistry: the one-person POV (Ivy’s) and the instant attraction. Coupling these together makes it difficult to “buy” how quickly Heath reads Ivy and endures her temperament so they can become romantic. If we had his POV, it would be more easier to accept them. If we had a dual POV with the instant attraction, again, it would be more acceptable for their pairing. My difficulty in believing their easy coupling is my reason for a 4-star review. 

Beyond that, I will absolutely be ready for Anika’s story, coming next in the series. If the synopsis at the end is any indication, I predict some exciting things for Anika and her besties in future stories. 

In love and romance,

Professor A

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Cover Reveal

✍🏻 I have to admit…Elsie Silver’s discreet cover for Hopeless is a work of art. Check out the covers for her upcoming release and preorder your copy of it NOW. ✍🏻

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Elsie Silver has revealed the covers for Hopeless!

Releasing October 13, 2023

Beau Eaton is the town prince, a handsome military hero with a tortured past.

I’m the outcast bartender, a shy girl from the wrong side of the tracks.

He’s thirty-five and all man, and I’m twenty-two and all… virgin.

He’s also my fiancé. Correction: my fake fiancé.

We start out as a bet. He doesn’t believe that anyone holds my last name against me. So he offers me his to prove a point.

It’s win-win. He gets a break from his concerned family’s prying, and I get a chance to shed my family’s reputation while I save up to ditch this small town.

He says all I have to do is wear his ring, follow his lead, and pretend I can’t keep my hands off of him in public.

But it’s what happens between us in private that blurs all those carefully drawn lines.

It’s what transpires behind closed doors that doesn’t feel like pretending at all.

This engagement was supposed to be for show. This agreement? It has an end date.

He once told me he’d never fall in love.

And yet here I am, head over heels for my fake fiancé.

Cover Designer: Echo Grayce
Photographer: Madison Maltby 

Preorder today on Amazon!

https://geni.us/gethopeless

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/471OOJY

Meet Elsie Silver


Elsie Silver is a Canadian author of sassy, sexy, small town romance who loves a good book boyfriend and the strong heroines who bring them to their knees. She lives just outside of Vancouver, British Columbia with her husband, son, and three dogs and has been voraciously reading romance books since before she was probably supposed to.

She loves cooking and trying new foods, traveling, and spending time with her boys-especially outdoors. Elsie has also become a big fan of her quiet five am mornings, which is when most of her writing happens. It’s during this time that she can sip a cup of hot coffee and dream up a fictional world full of romantic stories to share with her readers.

Connect with Elsie

Website | www.elsiesilver.com

Goodreads | https://bit.ly/3WSjFlR

Amazon | https://amzn.to/3BR6HwY

Facebook | https://bit.ly/3YIJwia

Facebook Group | https://bit.ly/3YJuOYk

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TikTok | https://bit.ly/3VifDCH

Twitter | https://bit.ly/3PIekMb

Bookbub | https://bit.ly/3jnBTh9

Pinterest | https://bit.ly/3Vi25ai

Newsletter | https://bit.ly/3BU0sbN

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new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4.5 ⭐️ Review: Melanie Harlow’s Hideaway Heart, book 2 of the Cherry Tree Harbor series ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: 4.5 ⭐️

Tropes: a little bit of hate to love; small town romance; forced proximity/one bed; bodyguard/music star romance; found family; opposites attract; cinnamon roll alpha hero; best friend’s little sister

“I didn’t have to let fear stand in the way.”

Melanie Harlow’s Hideway Heart handily reminds us of the power of fear. Both her MMC and FMC struggle with different types of fear (fear of relationships and the consequences of standing up for oneself), and Harlow does many things well in this book to illustrate these struggles. Making this the focus of her characters’ journeys creates a tension that expands and recedes, creating an explosive chemistry between Xander and Kelly Jo, the main characters of her book. From one minute to the next, Harlow deftly keeps her readers guessing as to when they will finally consummate their relationship. The eventuality of that becomes explosive, offering up some serious 4-star steam.  Crafting this tension is one of Harlow’s standards, the reason for her dedicated fan base. 

Additionally, the initial hate-to-love between Xander and Kelly Jo turns up the fire of their chemistry making their physical moments much spicier. Xander’s domination of Kelly Jo and her willingness to feign fighting him create shades of fanciful dub-con in this book. It’s not spicy enough or problematic enough to warrant a content warning, but it feels fresh in a Melanie Harlow romance.

Harlow also adds nuggets of suspense in Hideaway Heart, which is a great vehicle for highlighting Xander’s protectiveness. In book 1 and even in much of this book, Xander is carefree, a bit of a jokester, and seemingly easygoing. It becomes apparent through Xander’s care of Kelly Jo that there is a gravity to his character. Xander and Kelly Jo’s chemistry and connection are a result of Xander’s possessiveness towards Kelly Jo as he unravels the suspense of her story. The intentionality of Harlow’s choices for this part of the story highlights her giftedness as an author.

Add to all of this the feeling of “found family” for Kelly Jo with Xander’s family plus a sweet epilogue and bonus epilogue to round out the textures of Hideaway Heart. The balance of humor, saccharine, and fieriness creates the perfect confection of romance. I will say that I felt something missing from the story which I can’t put my finger on. I’m still a bigger fan of the first book of Harlow’s Cherry Tree Harbor series, Runaway Love. But it’s inconsequential enough for me in the grand scheme of this series. I’m absolutely looking forward to the rest of the Buckley siblings’ stories. The teases for them in Hideway Heart have already ramped up my anticipation.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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new release

✍🏻 Lexi Blake’s Start Us Up is about a woman trying to find herself after failure. While it would be easy for her to lose herself in the hero of this book, instead, they find a partnership that makes her a better person. Grab this one FAST! ✍🏻

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Start Us Up by Lexi Blake is now live! 

From New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake, discover The Park Avenue Promise Series…

Three young women make a pact in high school—
to always be friends and to one day make it big in Manhattan.

She’s a high-tech boss who lost it all…

Ivy Jensen was the darling of the tech world, right up until her company fell apart completely after she trusted the wrong person. Her reputation in tatters, she finds herself back in the tiny apartment she grew up in, living with her mom. When a group of angel investors offer her a meeting, she knows she has to come up with the new big idea or her career is over.

He’s an up and coming coder…

Heath Marino has always been fascinated with writing code. He’s worked on a dozen games and apps and is considered one of the industry’s more eccentric talents. But now he’s back in New York to spend time with his grandmother. She was known as one of the city’s greatest matchmakers, and he wants to know why. Surely there’s some kind of code in his grandmother’s methods, and he’s going to find them.

When Ivy meets Heath it’s instant attraction, but she’s got a career to get back to and he just might be her on-ramp. It could be a perfect partnership or absolute heartbreak.

  Download today on Amazon, Apple Books, Audible, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and Kobo!

Amazon: https://bit.ly/43toWF1

Apple Books: http://bit.ly/3UugkKm

Nook: http://bit.ly/3KwmuVF

Kobo: https://bit.ly/408fCDE

Google Play: https://bit.ly/3UDa2YY

Audible: https://bit.ly/3KmleoR

Narrated by: Kitty Bang

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/3KRJfVs

Meet Lexi


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.

Connect with Lexi

Website: www.lexiblake.net

 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5124235.Lexi_Blake

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Lexi-Blake/author/B005JVSDJ0

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlexiblake/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/526080691345626

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorlexiblake/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorlexiblake

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lexiblakeauthor

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lexi-blake

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lexiblakeauthor/

Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCORVsrIAcbqMFxp0cHi51nw

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Cover Reveal

✍🏻 Lauren Rowe’s Who’s Your Daddy is coming September 15th! Check out the cover of this single mom, age gap rom-com! ✍🏻

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WHO’S YOUR DADDY

Lauren Rowe

Release Date: September 15

Alternate Cover

Maximillian Vaughn:
Once I saw Marnie Long, a sassy, sultry, charismatic older woman in a bar, I couldn’t peel my eyes off her. I wanted her. At least, for one night. I’m way too busy with my career these days for anything more. As it turned out, after recently getting burned, Marnie was on the same page as me—all she wanted was one night of fun. I was happy to be of service. What I didn’t expect during our night together, however, was how deeply we connected. Also, how much I was dying to see her again the next morning.

Marnie Long:
After accepting Max’s surprising breakfast invitation the next morning, I was floating on air. Mere minutes later, though, all hell broke loose and I had no choice but to bolt out of Max’s place like my hair was on fire. It was such a pity, too. That scorching-hot patent attorney was the best I’ve ever had.

A year later, when I ran into Max at a party, I was a very bad girl and didn’t resist doing that very naughty thing. Now, thanks to my utter lack of willpower and common sense, I’ve risked my horrible secret getting out. Even worse, I’m in danger of catching real feelings for Max. Which I simply can’t do. Obviously. I’m not sure I can control what happens next, though. When I’m with Max, I feel like a runaway train, on the verge of hurtling off my tracks.

Who’s Your Daddy? is a single mother, age gap, forced proximity, standalone, unputdownable rom com that will keep you laughing, fanning yourself, and swooning, all the way to Max and Marnie’s happily ever after.

Add to your Goodreads TBR:

https://bit.ly/3q4SHgK

Meet Lauren Rowe:

Lauren Rowe is the USA Today and international #1 best-selling author of bestselling Standalone Smitten, The Reed Rivers Trilogy, as well as The Club Trilogy, The Josh & Kat Trilogy, The Morgan Brothers Series, Countdown to Killing Kurtis, and select standalone Misadventures.

Lauren’s books are full of feels, humor, heat, and heart. Besides writing novels, Lauren is the singer in a party/wedding band in her hometown of San Diego, an audio book narrator, and award-winning songwriter. She is thrilled to connect with readers all over the world.

To find out about Lauren’s upcoming releases and giveaways, sign up for Lauren’s emails here!

To learn more about Lauren Rowe & her books, visit here!

Connect with Lauren Rowe:

lrowebooks@gmail.com

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new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 4.5 ⭐️ Review: Jewel E. Ann’s Right Guy, Wrong Word ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: 4.5 ⭐️

Tropes: rom-com; insta-attraction; second chance romance

I’m fairly certain this review will be a word salad of incomprehensibility as I try to bring my thoughts to the page. Jewel E. Ann’s Right Guy, Wrong Word has acted as a conduit to so many thoughts that trying to find the words to express them in any meaningful way feels overwhelming. So let me start where it feels necessary to begin.

I read a few early reviews of Right Guy, Wrong Word, and there was a common thread between a few of them regarding, Anna, Jewel’s heroine. Several of them spoke of their annoyance with her, especially at the beginning. And I see their point, but…BUT they missed it. Anna is seemingly annoying because she becomes frustrated with Eric’s perception of her favorite book. She feels strongly about this book, and Eric’s response feels flippant. And it’s not really about the book anyways (I mean, it kind of is, but it isn’t). The first quarter of Jewel’s book is about being “seen”. If Eric can’t like the one thing that Anna loves, how can he fully accept the depths of her spirit? It’s one of the things that makes me cry in the world: the need to feel seen and understood. Where Anna might be read as frivolous in her responses to Eric’s words, the depth of that frivolity is the want to be truly understood and accepted. So it’s important that readers don’t get caught up in Anna…it’s not about the book; it’s about acceptance. 

As the book progresses, the love affair has twists and turns to whet your romance thirst. Jewel is always deft in her balance of spice and seriousness, and it’s all here. She calls this a rom-com. And it is, but it also has a depth to it that had my brain pinging with thoughts. Eric and Anna have an easy banter that develops their chemistry. My one struggle with Anna and Eric’s story was their “why” at the beginning. Eric was immediately enamored with her at a level that didn’t feel commensurate with the progression of their story. I believe this might have also coincided with his later POV entry into the story. However, Jewel eventually remedies my curiosity about this insta-attraction when she develops a depth of feeling between the two over the latter portion of the story. 

But here’s the thing I really want to get to with regards to Right Guy, Wrong Word…I believe this story is really about storytelling. I’m probably, absolutely going out on a ledge with this review to say that I feel Jewel exposes herself as a storyteller in this book. There is a metastory in this book: this is a book about the book. There is something in this about romance, about how the reality of the real world never really owns up to the fantasy of the romantic world and the disappointment in that lack of perfect love. There is a HUGE message about the perfect love of romance versus the imperfect love which makes us the most human and the most loveable. And the romance feels like a response to the way that readers respond to books. Is it possible that Eric’s response to Anna’s favorite book is Jewel’s examination of how people view her books or her peers’ books? She also highlights the futility of words to truly capture one’s feelings. I told you “word salad of incomprehensibility” with a side of a Master’s degree in English which leads me to overthink just about everything I read. 

Jewel E Ann’s Right Guy, Wrong Word is funny and witty and sad and compelling. It woke up my brain from a summer slumber, and it allowed me to escape from reality for a day. It sparked my thinking about AI and writing and the soul that will surely be missing from it because this book is an apt reminder of a person’s capacity to make us feel feelings and think thoughts. Her story highlights the reality that we are all perfect in our imperfections, and stories offer us that reminder.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s 5 ⭐️ Review: Meghan Quinn’s The Way I Hate Him ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes: small town romance; enemies to lovers; forced proximity; insta-attraction; rockstar romance; grump/sunshine; workplace romance; cinnamon roll hero 

“She’s peace, but she’s anarchy. She’s a challenge, but she’s effortless. She’s simple…yet complicated. And I like all of it. I’ve become accustomed to her presence.”

Meghan Quinn is a puzzle. Her pieces come together into a complex work of art, yet her surface seems as simple as a 100-piece puzzle. As you delve into her stories, you find quickly that there is always more than what meets the eye. The Way I Hate Him is an emotional juggernaut that I didn’t expect. It begins light but evolves its depth into a story that will make you cry with joy and a side of pain. I couldn’t put it down.

Quinn’s main characters, Hayes and Hattie, are a paradox. At the outset, you’ll find yourself entranced with their fun banter and overwhelming chemistry. These two run hot for each other, and the fun of this book is the way they fight their attraction. Their oppositional forces make you smile and laugh. This is everything you enjoy about Quinn’s romance.

For me, though, it’s the latter portion of the story where Hattie’s sunshine becomes the foil to Hayes’s grump, exposing his soft underbelly. It’s there where the romance morphs from hot lust and fireworks to something more significant. Quinn walks us through themes of grief and familial trauma. She humanizes Hayes, creating vulnerability in him that matches the feelings of grief in Hattie. In that moment, I shed a few tears for their hurts, but Quinn deftly weaves her story into a space of healing, culling her main characters’ happy ending into something with depth. The ending does not go the way of its beginning, and Quinn leaves her readers sated by Hattie and Hayes’s happy ending. 

Finally, the ancillary characters of The Way I Hate Him add layers to this roller coaster of a romance. I fell in love with Hattie’s siblings, Ryland and Aubree, her best friend, Maggie, and Ryland and Hayes’s friend, Abel. Hayes’s grandmother adds humor to the story, but she acts as Hayes’s wizened guide. And the piece de resistance is Hattie’s relationship with her sister, Cassidy. It’s one of the most special portions of Quinn’s book. 


Meghan Quinn’s The Way I Hate Him stole my heart. It was one of my favorite reads to end the month of July and begin August. If you love enemies to lovers with witty banter and spicy fun, grab this one FAST! It’s a great beginning to, what I hope, is a new series. There are too many exciting characters whom I want their stories.

In love and romance,

Professor A

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new release

✍🏻 Jewel E. Ann’s Right Guy, Wrong Word reads like an ode to books and book lovers. And in true JEA fashion, this story is never as simple as it seems. Grab this refreshing read TODAY! ✍🏻

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He was almost perfect.

Right Guy, Wrong Word by Jewel E. Ann is now live! 

Do books have souls?

Anna Black has the perfect novel choice for her book club. She also has a sexy new neighbor who jumps at the opportunity to join fellow bookworms in discussing her pick for their summer read.

It’s lust at first sight and the marriage of two literary souls.

The charismatic owner of a new T-shirt store in Des Moines’s East Village, Eric Steinmann, has a confident air and an irresistible “mating dance.” He’s almost perfect … until he says the wrong word. 

Will Anna and Eric write their own story? Or will their chemistry die when fiction turns into reality?

**Right Guy, Wrong Word was originally written as a short story, The Last Person. It’s been revised with significant changes to the original content and extended into a full-length novel.

  Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

Amazon: https://bit.ly/3ovAzf7

Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/RGWW

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3BCo7gx

Meet Jewel E. Ann

Jewel is a Wall Street Journal & USA Today bestselling author with a quirky sense of humor. When she’s not saving the planet one tree at a time, you can find her role modeling questionable behavior to her three boys, binge-watching Netflix with her husband, and writing mind-bending romance. 

Connect with Jewel

Website: https://www.jeweleann.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7505427.Jewel_E_Ann

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jewel-E-Ann/e/B00IJYHDIG/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjeweleann

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/485996228236493

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorjeweleann/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JewelE_Ann

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jewel-e-ann

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jeweleannauthor/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeweleannauthor

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new release

✍🏻 Like your romance dark with a “dark-hearted hero?” Grab Jagger Cole’s Twisted Hearts which is out now! ✍🏻

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Twisted Hearts by Jagger Cole is now live! 

He saw what I did. Now he owns me.

Brutal, formidably gorgeous, and head of a vicious Bratva organization.

They call Gavan Tsarenko a king. I call him a tyrant.

But now, the man with the gun-metal gray eyes and scarred past has come to conquer me.

You see, I screwed up. I traded my good-girl status for a bad grad-school prank that went horribly wrong.

And now, for six months, I’m Gavan’s.

My enemy.

My monster.

My dark fantasy.

The savagely beautiful villain holds my debt and my fate in his hands.

And what does the man who can have anything want with me?

Everything.

But he’ll never take my heart.

Twisted Hearts is a standalone dark mafia, blisteringly steamy enemies-to-lovers romance with a smart, good-girl heroine, and an ultra possessive dark-hearted hero with “look at her and I’ll unalive you” energy. Readers are advised to read the TW inside. No cliffhanger; HEA included.

  Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

Amazon: https://bit.ly/3OM9Xkv

Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/TwistedHeartsJC

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3Nf92b6

Meet Jagger Cole

A reader first and foremost, Jagger Cole cut his romance writing teeth penning various fan-fiction stories years ago. After deciding to hang up his writing boots, Jagger worked in advertising pretending to be Don Draper. It worked enough to convince a woman way out of his league to marry him, though, which is a total win.

Now, Dad to two little princesses and King to a Queen, Jagger is thrilled to be back at the keyboard.

When not writing or reading romance books, he can be found woodworking, enjoying good whiskey, and grilling outside–rain or shine.

You can find all of his books at https://jaggercolewrites.com/

Connect with Jagger

Website: https://jaggercolewrites.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20095206.Jagger_Cole

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jagger-Cole/e/B085CH1CB4

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jaggercoleauthor/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/jaggersrebelreaders

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaggercoleauthor/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@authorjaggercole

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jagger-cole

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/jaggercolewrites/

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Cover Reveal

✍🏻 P. A. DePaul’s Shadow of Doubt, a riveting romantic suspense/thriller, is coming October 17th, and the cover is HERE. Now’s the time to preorder this story! ✍🏻

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Release Date: October 17
\

He wants something for himself…

If only he could believe in her innocence.

Michelle Alger flees when her secretly recorded tryst winds up on the internet. She

has no option but to hide. Her one-night stand—the son of a powerful US

senator—was murdered. Learning she’s the prime suspect is traumatizing. Already

a member of witness protection thanks to a Colombian drug lord kidnapping her in

college, she now has to run from the senator and law enforcement. To make

matters worse, the drug lord finally knows her location and is hot on her trail.

There’s only one man she trusts. He saved her once, can he do it again six years

later?

Captain Jeremy Malone no longer wears a Green Beret. He’s traded in his fatigues

for a new life leading Delta Squad, a covert unit within SweetBriar Group. His

latest orders from the senator: find the unknown woman and bring her to me. But

Jeremy knows her identity. He once rescued her from a Colombian cartel, and has

never forgotten her. He assigns his squad a new mission: find Michelle first and

learn the real story.

Michelle and Jeremy can’t deny their explosive chemistry. But, with every new

piece of evidence, Jeremy’s faith in Michelle’s innocence is questioned. Is her plea

for help a ruse…or a trap set by a beautiful woman determined to expose Jeremy’s

own secrets…

PreorderYour Copy Here
Meet P.A. DePaul
 

P. A. DePaul is an award-winning author who earned the prestigious Sapphire Award from Romance Writers of Australia and has achieved multiple placements on the Publishers Weekly Bestsellers listings.

Her favorite genre to write is Romantic Suspense. Her books are full of action, suspense, and romance. But, she can’t promise she won’t branch out into other genres. When an idea grabs hold, she allows it to take her for a ride.

As a hybrid author, she has books traditionally and independently published. Her traditional publishers include Berkley, a Penguin Random House imprint, and Harlequin Books.

She loves connecting with readers!

 
Connect with P.A. DePaul
 
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