Tag: found family

new release

✍🏻 I haven’t been charmed by a book in a bit. Amy Daws’s Nine Month Contract made me laugh and sigh and tear up, hitting me in my feels. If you love a found family trope (one of my favs), you will ADORE this story. ✍🏻

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Title: NINE MONTH CONTRACT

Author: Amy Daws
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Release Date: April 11th, 2024

Cover Designer: Cat at TRC Designs

Cover Photographer: Wander Aguiar Photography

Cover Model: Jack Atherton

We live by different rules on the mountain…

🐐 🪓🐐 🪓🐐
Read Now: https://geni.us/NineMonthContract

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Add to your TBR:  https://bit.ly/NMCGoodreads

From Amazon #1 bestselling author Amy Daws, comes an all-new small town, spicy romance sure to hit you in the gut with laughs, feels, and mountain man grunts.

Help Wanted: Grumpy Mountain Man seeks baby momma. Job is an incubator position only. Surrogate must be impervious to grunting in the form of communication and nosey brotherly neighbors. Rustic mountain range housing available upon request.

I wanted to pummel my irritating brothers when they posted their own version of a wanted ad to help me with my life.

But I can’t fault the results once the right woman lands on my lap.

Becoming a single father is not a decision I made lightly. In fact, it’s the biggest decision of my entire life.

Which is why when I interview Trista, I know she’s perfect.

She’s wild, she’s opinionated, she wears cowboy boots. Even my pet goat loves her…

She’s the exact type of person I was holding out for.

And to my great horror, I realize on our first night of attempting this baby making dance…when the lights are low, the cheap wine is flowing, and the home insemination supplies are laid out on the kitchen counter…

I want to do a lot more than just make her my surrogate.

I want to make her mine.

Excerpt:

“Who is the pen for?” I ask, staring up at the giant mountain man.

“Your pig.”

My eyes widen. “You expect my Reginald to sleep in the barn?”

“Where else would he sleep?”

“In his sleeping quarters upstairs next to me, obviously.”

“Come again?” Wyatt is loud in the quietness of the peaceful barn.

“Reggie is a rescue, Wyatt! He came from a horrible situation where the owners neglected him. He had hoof rot and couldn’t freaking walk. I had to give him daily doses of antibiotics and hand-feed him, or they were going to put him down!”

“Jesus Christ,” Wyatt murmurs under his breath, looking away in obvious agitation.

“Sir Reginald sleeps on a nice little crib mattress I bought second-hand. He even has a special blanket and likes to sleep in most mornings.”

Wyatt’s head snaps to the open wooden stairs leading to the apartment. “How are you going to get him up the stairs every day? Those legs don’t look long enough to climb stairs.”

“I’ll carry him.” I shrug.

The mountain man’s eyebrows shoot to the moon as he points an accusing finger at Reggie. “He’s got to weigh at least fifty pounds.”

“Sixty-five, actually, but my vet friend just put us on a low-calorie feed even though I think Reggie is beautiful just the way he is.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Wyatt growls and jams a hand through the top of his hair. “You aren’t going to be able to carry him up those stairs when you’re pregnant, Trista.”

“Well, I’m not pregnant yet.” I scoff, my chin cocking up to meet his as he looms over me with his giant mountain-man stature.

He pauses for a second as his eyes rove over my face. His voice is deep and husky when he replies, “Yet.”

Goose bumps erupt over my flesh as one of the tiniest words in the English language just had a massive impact on my not-so-tiny body. I realize I’m a surrogate so we’re not doing this pregnancy thing the old-fashioned way, but it’s been a while since I’ve been laid, and with that one little word, my traitorous mind wandered to a reality where we did it the old-fashioned way. And I liked that thought.

I swallow slowly, desperate to get control of myself. I glance down at our chests, which are nearly brushing each other. When did we get so close? His scent of pine trees, woodchips, and hay is intoxicating.

Wyatt’s eyes flick down to my lips as I wonder what the hell are we actually arguing about? I want to be pregnant. And I suppose he’s right…I shouldn’t be lifting sixty-plus pounds once I have a baby growing inside me. I guess Reginald’s sleeping quarters never came up in all our lawyer negotiating.

And why is he looking at me like that? And why does my body feel the way it feels right now? I’m hot and agitated having him so close to me and telling me what to do. I like it, and I loathe it.

The voices of men outside force us to pull away from each other just as they walk into the barn with armloads of my stuff.

“Trista, these are my brothers Calder and Luke.” Wyatt’s voice is strained as he avoids eye contact with me. Oh, he’s mad mad.

The two giant men in flannel stop talking and gape at me for a moment. The heavily tattooed one with devilish eyes tips his chin up and says, “What’s up, MB?”

Wyatt glowers at his brother. “Calder…”

The slightly smaller one (although none of them are small, honestly…I’m in a barn full of flannelled giants) with floppy blond hair laughs boyishly, clearly enjoying the tension between his two brothers.

“What’s MB mean?” I ask curiously.

“Don’t ask,” another voice echoes from behind them.

Calder and Luke spread apart to reveal what I can only assume to be another brother.

“This is my eldest brother, Max,” Wyatt explains with a wave of his hand. “He doesn’t live up here on the mountain with us though.”My brows lift knowingly. “Didn’t want to join in on the Seven Brides for Seven Brothers remake up here?”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Number 1 Amazon Bestselling author Amy Daws writes spicy love stories that take place in America, as well as across the pond. She’s most known for her footy-playing Harris Brothers and writing in a tire shop waiting room. When Amy is not writing, she’s likely making charcuterie boards from her home in South Dakota where she lives with her daughter and husband.

Follow Amy on all social media channels, including Tik Tok under @amydawsauthor

For more of Amy’s work, visit: http://www.amydawsauthor.com

STALKER LINKS:

Website/Newsletter: http://www.amydawsauthor.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/amydawsauthor

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Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/amy-daws

Book and Main: https://bookandmainbites.com/amydaws

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/amydawsauthor/

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/amydaws

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/amydawsauthor

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Tia Louise’s A Little Naughty, the final book of the Be Still series ✍🏻

professorromance

Overall Grade: A-/B+

Tropes: small town romance; marriage of convenience; bad guy/good girl; found family; he falls first; touch her and die

Tia Louise’s Hamiltown Heat series had all the angsty feels mingled with a huge helping of spice. Coming out of that series, I needed some levity, and she didn’t disappoint with her Be Still series. From the first book of the series, A Little Taste, I found myself engaged with Tia Louise’s rendering of small-town couples finding love against the odds. It is a lighter series than her Hamiltown Heat series, but its power lies in the sometimes light-angsty nature of the couplings. 

Her final book of the series, A Little Naughty, is the perfect exclamation point to the series. It happens to be my favorite. Jemima and Raif are magical in that they know they want each other from the start, and they don’t allow outside forces to keep them apart. Even more, Tia Louise has drawn Raif as a good man from a “bad” family, and the protectiveness that Jemima shows him draws you into their relationship. The complications of Raif proving to people he isn’t his family makes you fall hard for him, but it’s also how he falls hard for Jemima, protecting her at all costs that really cements it. To me, this is the lightest feeling book of the series, and I believe it’s because Tia Louise brings Raif and Jemima together and keeps them there. A Little Naughty sets out to offer you a marriage of convenience, and she has underscored the found family/community of the special small town of Eureka. That’s really the gem of this story. As the happy ending unfolds, you cannot help but be filled with all the good feelings. Tia Louise’s Be Still series is a feel-good series of special romances that will absolutely steal your heart.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release

✍🏻 Raif and Jemima are DIVINE. They are equal parts sweet and spicy. I’m certain Tia Louise saved the best for last. Run and grab A Little Naughty by Tia Louise. ✍🏻

professorromance
✨Let’s celebrate! It’s release day for A LITTLE NAUGHTY by @authortlouise! Grab it now in KU!

#OneClickHere
https://geni.us/ALNamz

Why you need to #ONECLICK this book…
🔥Small Town
🔥Marriage of Convenience
🔥Found Family
🔥Protective Hero
🔥Touch her and Die
🔥Opposites Attract
🔥Angsty
🔥He falls first

I wasn’t planning to propose to Raif Jones, the bad boy from the wrong side of town.

The one with the tattooed muscles, naughty blue eyes, and dimpled, James-Dean grin.

It all started with a series of bad decisions.

First was flirting with a dangerous criminal to rescue a little girl I didn’t even know.

Second was throwing a massive, masked gala in my small-town hideout (complete with drag queens) and not expecting to draw attention…Then Raif rode in on a motorcycle and melted my undies (and my heart), saying he wouldn’t let anybody hurt me.

Of course, I asked him to marry me.

Imagine my surprise when he said yes.

We’re a little naughty and a lot hot, and the perks of being married are very… perky.

They’re perky in the shower, on the kitchen table, against the front door…But when Bad Decision #1 tracks me down (thanks to Bad Decision #2), my outlaw husband turns Alpha Protector and risks everything to keep us safe.

It’s just a marriage of convenience. It’s supposed to have an end date.

But walking away from Raif Jones could be the worst decision I’ve ever made.

(A LITTLE NAUGHTY is a small-town, marriage of convenience romance with single-mom vibes, a protective hero, no third-act breakup, and light suspense. No cheating. No cliffhanger.)
new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Lexi Blake’s Live, Love, Spy, a Masters & Mercenaries New Recruits romance ✍🏻

professorromance

Overall Grade: B+

Tropes: best friends to lovers; found family; romantic suspense; next generation; opposites attract

I have figured out why I adore Lexi Blake’s Masters and Mercenaries in all its iterations: her books are a wonderful mix of serious, steamy, suspenseful, and amusing (there was no great “s” word for funny). Her newest series, Masters and Mercenaries: the New Recruits, continues to bring us more of what her original series and its various offshoots have brought us: an investment in the found family of the Taggarts and their colleagues. 

In her latest book, Live, Love, Spy, TJ Taggart and Lou (the daughter of the FMC in Delighted, a Masters and Mercenaries novella). Lou and TJ have loved each other from afar from the time they’ve met. TJ, however, believes they are too different to become a couple, and he essentially friendzones Lou until he realizes he can’t live without her. Much of this story is TJ convincing Lou of their potential future, and Lou holding him accountable for his earlier decisions. Blake deftly draws the complications of their journey to underscore the reality of timing in a relationship. While it takes much of the book for them to find equal footing, Blake ends her newest story with the HEA typical of her other M&M’s romances. They earn their happily ever after against the backdrop of a burgeoning suspense. 

I’m invested in the underlying story of the New Recruits. Blake has laid the perfect foundation for more stories in this world, and she continues to keep her readers guessing about new couples, the new twists and turns of espionage, and the “world in danger” stories. 

If you’re a fan of dom/sub and romantic suspense books, start reading Lexi Blake’s Masters & Mercenaries romances.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release

✍🏻 Lexi Blake is back with her next New Recruits story. And it’s a rollercoaster ride. Live, Love, Spy is HERE, and TJ and Lou’s journey has everything you love about Lexi Blake’s romances: intrigue, D/S, and a HEA worthy of the Taggart clan. ✍🏻

professorromance

Live, Love, Spy by Lexi Blake is now live! 

Life can often be awkward when you’re a child genius. For Louisa Ward, that came in the form of meeting her one true love at the age of 12. TJ Taggart was perfect. But being a year younger and a full grade ahead of him in school always made things weird. Working in the CIA has turned her into a strong and capable woman. Until TJ walks into a room. Fifteen years later, she still gets butterflies every time she sees the gorgeous soldier, but she’s tired of waiting and ready to find love, even if it can’t be with him.

TJ Taggart always knew he wanted to be a soldier. But joining the Army would require a sacrifice. Since meeting Louisa, TJ knew she was the one for him, but they had different paths in life. Lou was meant to change the world at some prestigious research job or maybe teach at an Ivy League school. There would be a chance to sweep her off her feet when his time in this dangerous life was done, and their happily ever after could begin.

Before he can make it home on his latest leave, TJ is kidnapped by an unknown adversary. As he waits to die, all he can think of is the time he wasted and how badly he wants to be with Lou. He’s more than a little surprised when his sweet, quiet girl shows up leading a CIA special ops squad to bust him out. Back in Dallas, it’s time to claim the woman of his dreams. He has a plan to win her over, until the adversary who almost killed him returns to finish the job.

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

Amazon: https://bit.ly/45x75Oc

Apple Books: https://bit.ly/44BklA1

Nook: https://bit.ly/3R3mBgi

Kobo: https://bit.ly/44OdC65

Google Play: https://bit.ly/3R85Fp7

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3YXhAaY

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

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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

Excerpt/Sneak Peek

✍🏻 Penelope Ward’s The Surrogate is coming Monday, February 26th! I’m 25% in, and I can’t put it down. Get ready for Sig, the grumpy, closed-off MMC and Abby, his biggest challenger.✍🏻

professorromance
Title: The Surrogate
Author: Penelope Ward
Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance
Tropes: Age Gap/Widower/Found Family
Forbidden/Enemies to Friends to Lovers
Release Date: February 26, 2024
BLURB
From New York Times bestselling author Penelope Ward comes a new, STANDALONE novel…

ABBY:

I’m falling for the father of the baby I’m carrying.
The problem is: it’s not my baby.
And the broody widower is not looking for a long-term partner.
As a surrogate, the deal was that I’d only be in England long enough to give birth.
At first, the man seemed as pretentious as his name: Sigmund Benedictus.
He and I butted heads.
Sig challenged my intentions, accused me of just wanting to do this for the money.
Gradually, he learned to trust me.
He even became protective.
Over time, our heated animosity turned into fiery chemistry.
I was falling in love with him.
But my time here had a limit.
I needed to protect my heart from the devastatingly gorgeous older man who’d end up breaking it.

SIG:

When my in-laws told me they wanted to use my dead wife’s eggs to conceive a grandchild, I wasn’t immediately on board.
They swore that on her deathbed Britney told them it was what she wanted—but only if I fathered the baby. Her parents insisted they would be the ones to raise it.
Against my better judgment, I agreed.
I vowed to keep my heart out of it, though.
I’d continue to pretend it wasn’t happening and live the empty, single life I’d become accustomed to the past five years since Britney died.
And despite the fact that a certain younger American named Abby Knickerbocker had awakened things inside me that I thought were long dead…
I most certainly wouldn’t fall in love with the surrogate.
PRE-ORDER LINKS
**No Amazon e-book preorder.
Both the Kindle version and man-cover paperback will go live on/around release day. 
The current paperback preorder is for the special-edition cover only.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT
AGE GAP
WIDOWER
BRITISH HERO
FOUND FAMILY
SLOW BURN
FORBIDDEN
ENEMIES-TO-FRIENDS-TO-LOVERS
EXCERPT
Copyright © 2023
By Penelope Ward
My phone rang, and I looked down to find it was Lourdes, a woman I’d hung out with over a year ago. She’d been texting me lately to get together, and I’d been ignoring her messages. I silenced the ringer.
“Who was that?” Abby asked.
“Someone named—none of your business.”
“A woman? Is that why you’re in such a rush to get back to London?”
“Trust me, I haven’t met anyone worth rushing anywhere for.”
“Well, excuse me, Mr. Picky.”
I rolled over a bit to face her, resting my chin on my hand. “You think it’s odd to be selective?”
“I don’t think you’re being selective. I think you’re closed off to everyone. There’s a difference.”
“You seem to have me pegged, but what about you? Why are you single?”
“I had a bad experience, as I think I’ve mentioned, and haven’t felt like having my heart toyed with again.”
“How long ago was that? The guy who broke up with you…”
“Nearly three years now.”
“But you’ve dated since that breakup.”
“Yeah. There’ve been a few brief…”
“Hookups?” I arched a brow.
“I guess I can admit that now that you’re not actively assessing my character.”
“Why would I judge you for that? Sex is natural—necessary for survival, if you ask me.”
“You just don’t want to have anything to do with the women after.”
Unable to deny it, I shrugged. “There haven’t been that many women since Britney. At least nothing compared to when I was younger. Most of the time, I meet someone and decide not to go through with anything. But of the encounters I have had, yeah, it’s never mattered whether I saw them again.”
“What was different about Britney? I mean, when you met her? How did you know she was the one?”
My chest constricted. “I’d love to be able to give you a less cliché answer—because I hate clichés—but I just knew. After about an hour together, I never wanted to be apart from her.”
“Fair enough. They say that’s what happens sometimes. You just know.”
“You’ve never experienced that?”
“Nope.” Abby shook her head. “Still waiting for it to happen to me.” She smiled. “Anyway, for the record, I don’t just hook up with people randomly, like some people.” She elbowed me. “I have to know them first.”
“Knowing you, Abby, I can’t imagine you not asking someone a million questions before you sleep with them.”
“Well, yeah. I need to know who I’m dealing with. I’m not going to waste my time with anyone who’s not a good person—even if I’m wildly attracted to them.”
“Sometimes less is more,” I mumbled.
“This from the man who interrogated me the first time he met me.”
“Well, I need to know a bit more about someone who’s going to be carrying my child than I would someone I’m merely going to…”
“F*ck?” She finished my sentence.
The word on her tongue gave me an unwanted thrill. I wouldn’t have minded hearing her say it a few more times, which probably meant I needed my head checked.
“You wanna go?” she asked.
Somehow I’d forgotten my urgency to leave. I’d become pretty comfortable in this spot on the hay. It wasn’t about the hay at all, though, was it?
“Well, now you’ve made me lazy. You’re a bad influence, Knickerbocker.”
She leaned her head on her hand. “Why don’t you just sleep at the inn tonight? Lavinia loves your company.”
“She’ll be conked out by the time we get back there, but I suppose you have a point. At this hour, I might as well just drive into London with you in the morning.”
“You keep work clothes at The Bainbridge, right?”
“Yes. I have everything I need in my room.” I looked out through the barn door. It was now completely nightfall. “Now that it’s dark, you need to be careful driving back.”
“You’ll be behind me anyway, in case I run into trouble, right?”
“Well, you won’t find me driving in front of you ever again,” I teased.
“Good one.” She laughed as she stood and brushed off her dress. “Can you turn around for a minute?”
I narrowed my eyes but did as she asked. “Okay…why am I doing this?”
A few seconds passed. “All good now.”
“What was that all about?” I asked.
“You promise not to make fun of me?”
“No. But tell me anyway.”
“I had a piece of hay stuck in my underwear.” She flashed a goofy smile.
And then…I laughed for what felt like the first time in years.
AUTHOR BIO
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 forty books. Her novels have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.

AUTHOR LINKS
OTHER BOOKS BY PENELOPE WARD
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
SEE MORE BOOKS HERE
Cover Reveal

✍🏻 I know I should say I LOVE the male cover for Penelope Ward’s The Surrogate, but it’s the discrete cover that actually has me swooning! ✍🏻

professorromance
Title: The Surrogate
Author: Penelope Ward
Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance
Tropes: Age Gap/Widower/Found Family
Forbidden/Enemies to Friends to Lovers
Cover Design: Letitia Hasser, RBA Designs
Release Date: February 26, 2024
BLURB
From New York Times bestselling author Penelope Ward comes a new, STANDALONE novel…
ABBY:
I’m falling for the father of the baby I’m carrying.
The problem is: it’s not my baby.
And the broody widower is not looking for a long-term partner.
As a surrogate, the deal was that I’d only be in England long enough to give birth.
At first, the man seemed as pretentious as his name: Sigmund Benedictus.
He and I butted heads.
Sig challenged my intentions, accused me of just wanting to do this for the money.
Gradually, he learned to trust me.
He even became protective.
Over time, our heated animosity turned into fiery chemistry.
I was falling in love with him.
But my time here had a limit.
I needed to protect my heart from the devastatingly gorgeous older man who’d end up breaking it.
SIG:

When my in-laws told me they wanted to use my dead wife’s eggs to conceive a grandchild, I wasn’t immediately on board.
They swore that on her deathbed Britney told them it was what she wanted—but only if I fathered the baby. Her parents insisted they would be the ones to raise it.
Against my better judgment, I agreed.
I vowed to keep my heart out of it, though.
I’d continue to pretend it wasn’t happening and live the empty, single life I’d become accustomed to the past five years since Britney died.
And despite the fact that a certain younger American named Abby Knickerbocker had awakened things inside me that I thought were long dead…
I most certainly wouldn’t fall in love with the surrogate.
PRE-ORDER LINKS
**No Amazon e-book preorder.
Both the Kindle version and man-cover paperback will go live on/around release day. 
The current paperback preorder is for the special-edition cover only.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT
AGE GAP
WIDOWER
BRITISH HERO
FOUND FAMILY
SLOW BURN
FORBIDDEN
ENEMIES-TO-FRIENDS-TO-LOVERS
AUTHOR BIO
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 forty books. Her novels have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.
AUTHOR LINKS
OTHER BOOKS BY PENELOPE WARD
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
SEE MORE BOOKS HERE
new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Karla Sorensen’s Head Over Heels ✍🏻

professorromance

Overall Grade: A

Tropes/Characteristics: opposites attract; cinnamon roll MMC; city girl stuck in a small town FMC; found family

“I wasn’t trying to change who she was; I just wanted her to trust me with the parts she kept hidden.”

Karla Sorensen’s newest book, Head Over Heels, is a treasure. I’ve been marinating on it since I finished it because she did something special with this story. This book continues to follow the Wilder family. We’ve met the first of these siblings in her books, The Plan, The Crush, and One and Only. I have delighted in the emotionally wrought stories in these books. But something important is happening in Head Over Heels, and I believe this is one of Sorensen’s best books. Let me try to find the words to tell you why I loved it so much.

  1. Her FMC, Ivy, is a complicated character. She is like a crab: she has a soft underbelly with a hard outer shell. This isn’t her doing; she was raised this way. Her journey involves recognizing that vulnerability is not weakness; it’s actually a way to connect with people who want to love you. Sorensen has drawn her in such a beautiful way that you can’t help but see her unraveling and reveling in it. Her journey into feeling her emotions and sharing them underscores an important part of this book: intimacy. 
  2. The manner in which Sorensen approaches the depiction of intimacy is impeccable. In reflecting on how romance authors create intimacy between two characters, it’s often charged and grounded in $ex. However, Sorensen builds Ivy and Cameron’s intimacy and, by extension, vulnerability with each other quietly. It’s nuanced, and it’s built with actions. As Ivy’s journey moves her further into acknowledging her feelings, had Cameron spoken directly of his feelings for her, it would have ground their burgeoning to a halt. Instead, Cameron builds a relationship with her through his quiet actions. When I think of Head Over Heels, these moments steal my breath. Her characters don’t need to speak their feelings; instead, they know them because the actions are present. I found it built a foundation in the book that made it easy for Ivy to eventually accept she loves Cameron. There’s a quietude in that realization, and it makes you feel as though you’re wrapped in a fuzzy blanket.
  3. Head Over Heels doesn’t have a predictable happy ending. Instead, Sorensen leaves us with a happy-for-now ending. We can decide that, given some final choices by Ivy, they will have a happy ending, but they have peace in the now without needing the predictability of marriage and babies (although it’s hinted at in the story). I found I enjoyed this ending. It feels different from other romance books that want to wrap up the story in a red bow of a wedding ceremony and pregnancies. We don’t know the exact nature of Ivy and Cameron’s future; instead, Sorensen shows us that, at this moment, they are ridiculously happy.
  4. Lastly, and one of my favorite parts of this story is Cameron’s ability to love Ivy just as she is. This is a common message in romancelandia, but Sorensen has written it so that it steals your breath. He truly accepts her self-protection and struggle with vulnerability. He simply lets her be and loves her through it. A cinnamon roll hero, he is. 

Karla Sorensen continues to grace her readers with emotional, compelling stories. Head Over Heels gifts us with more entrance into the compelling Wilder family. You will need tissues for this story, but you will also end it with hope. I am so thankful for a writer such as Karla who grants me access to a world of small-town love and family.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release

✍🏻 Karla Sorensen’s Head Over Heels is one of my top reads of 2024. This story is an emotional, gorgeous read that has left me with a huge book hangover. It’s now LIVE! Don’t miss this one. ✍🏻

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HEAD OVER HEELS

Karla Sorensen

Release Date: January 24

FREE IN KINDLE UNLIMITED

There’s only one course of action when your dad wants you to marry a clammy-handed wimp to make one of his board members happy—you get yourself stuck in an elevator with a hot stranger and have the steamiest make-out session of your life. Years of etiquette lessons went out the window thanks to Cameron Wilder, who managed to unleash my hidden bad girl with naught but his talented mouth and deliciously rough hands.

Afterwards, he went back to his small-town life, and I marched home to inform my dad there would be no business-centric nuptials. As punishment, he shipped me off to Sisters, Oregon and demanded I turn a healthy profit on a not-so-healthy property.

You see where I’m going with this—the buttoned-up city girl stuck in a small town hires a local builder to help her … and he’s the hot stranger from the elevator. Turns out, I have a weakness for the broad-shouldered nice guy who’s not so nice behind closed doors. Keeping things professional gets harder the longer I’m in town, until the only lesson I have left to learn is how to keep both our hearts from getting broken.

Grab Your Copy!

https://amzn.to/47vuHnt

Meet Karla Sorensen:

Karla Sorensen is an Amazon top 20 bestselling author who refuses to read or write anything without a happily ever after. When she’s not devouring historical romance or avoiding the laundry, you can find her watching football (British AND American), HGTV or listening to Enneagram podcasts so she can psychoanalyze everyone in her life, in no particular order of importance. With a degree in Advertising and Public Relations from Grand Valley State University, she made her living in senior healthcare prior to writing full-time. Karla lives in Michigan with her husband, two boys and a big, shaggy rescue dog named Bear.

Keep up with Karla Sorensen and subscribe to her newsletter: http://www.karlasorensen.com/newsletter

To learn more about Karla Sorensen & her books, visit here!

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new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Kristen Ashley’s Rock Chick Rematch, a 1001 Dark Nights/Blue Box Press novella in the Rock Chicks Universe ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: A

Tropes/Characteristics: soulmates; morally gray MMC; single mom; standalone in an interconnected series; found family

I didn’t realize how much I needed to read Kristen Ashley’s Rock Chick Rematch. If you’ve read her Rock Chicks series, Darius Tucker is the silent yet present, morally gray character who keeps on giving to the resolution of trepidatious situations. Yet, until now, his story along with his soulmate, Malia’s, has been unknown. Reading Rock Chick Rematch was like returning home after a long time away. Unlike many of my fellow Rock Chicks, I don’t do an annual re-read of Ashley’s stories. That’s simply because her book list is so prolific that I find myself working through it still after beginning to read her a year and a half ago. Even more, whether you are reading one of her novellas from 1001 Dark Nights/Blue Box Press or independently published full novels, Ashley treats her readers to a full meal of story. I can’t tell you the number of times I leave a novella wanting more. This isn’t the case with Rock Chick Rematch; instead, she gifts you a story between two long-suffering, but deeply-in-love characters who receive the happiest of endings. It has everything you love about the Rock Chicks and the Hot Bunch: an undying love, an MMC who protects beyond any measure of his own happiness, and a quirky, but independent FMC who keeps him and his “brothers” on their toes. 

What did I love about Rock Chick Rematch?

  • Malia is fierce. Kristen Ashley knows that you can’t gain entry into the Rock Chick world unless you can go toe to toe with a possessive, alpha-male Hot Bunch guy. I love strong female characters, and Kristen Ashley’s portrait of Malia and the Rock Chicks is exactly that. While Malia doesn’t know herself when she’s young, she figures it out quickly, and she doesn’t suffer fools, namely Darius. In fact, my only disappointment was how quickly she forgives Darius for a secret, and I understand this is a novella so KA has only so much space to write this story. However, I felt Malia’s pain and hurt, and I wanted her to revel in it a bit more. Even more, I wanted it seen and acknowledged more by the participants in that secret. Kristen Ashley has written a saint in Malia.
  • I loved Darius’s journey. That we are gifted his story is a treasure. My favorite moments of Rock Chick Rematch are Malia’s realization that Darius has become the best of his father. I won’t divulge more details, but Darius’s swooniness comes through his need to protect and care for Malia and their son, Liam. A morally gray character is always one of my favorites, and Darius has taken a top 10 spot of morally gray romance heroes for me after this book. 
  • The reunion with the Rock Chicks and Hot Bunch. This is the sweet cream of this story. If you’ve read this series from Kristen Ashley, you know that it never lets go. It sticks to your ribs forever. Being granted the opportunity to return to it, to recognize the parallels of other stories as Kristen Ashley divulges Malia and Darius’s story is the thing that will make bubbles in your soul. Everyone is here. Everyone. And there’s a nod to the future. For me, this is Kristen Ashley’s superpower: developing her universe and allowing us continued access to it even when a particular world seems closed. She knows her reader fans, and she gifts us stories such as Rock Chick Rematch constantly, earning our undying love.

Rock Chick Rematch is all caps DIVINE. I inhaled this story of lost love and love regained. I am so thankful to Kristen Ashley for writing this beautiful book about soulmates who needed to wait for their time. In the end, they find it and a wealth of happiness that will absolutely warm your soul.

In love and romance,

Professor A