Tag: hate to love

Excerpt/Sneak Peek

✍🏻 I’m halfway through Meghan Quinn’s The Reason I Married Him, and it’s divine: lots of banter foreplay, a golden retriever MMC, and a compassionate FMC whose feelings are hidden so deep the MMC has to dig them out. Check out this excerpt and preorder it TODAY! ✍🏻

professorromance

From USA Today and Amazon Charts bestselling author Meghan Quinn, comes a new marriage of convenience romantic comedy. This steamy, laugh out loud, enemies-to-lovers small town standalone delivers the perfect happily ever after. Releasing February 6th in all formats, check out the excerpt below and pre-order your copy today!

https://mybook.to/TheReasonIMarriedHim

About THE REASON I MARRIED HIM (Coming 2/6/2024):

He proposed . . . and I said yes.
Normally a jovial occasion for a couple in love, but this proposal has a very different feel.
Because the man that I’ll be calling my husband blew into town with one thing on his mind . . . to make my life a living nightmare.

So why did I say yes?

Well, because we both need something from each other.

Namely, I want the farm land he currently owns, and he needs a wife in order to inherit his family cabin in his grandfather’s will.

So as he so eloquently put it, my hand, for his land.

At first, I thought the idea was nuts.
Who really gets married out of convenience?
Apparently, I do.

And now we have to sell our relationship to the town. Meaning, we’re holding hands, he’s pinching my cheeks . . . upper and lower. We’re even forced to share the one-bedroom guest house on the farm where his monstrous body is taking up a large percentage of the bed.

But we’re so persuasive about our farse, that now I’m starting to think he actually might like me. Especially when he grabs me by the wrist and teases the shell of my ear as he whispers, “Mine.”

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY!

https://mybook.to/TheReasonIMarriedHim

Read the Excerpt Here!

I peek a look over at Wyatt, and he does the same. When our eyes meet, he keeps them locked for a few seconds before they drop to my mouth and back up again.

I do the same.

And when our eyes lock, I can feel it, this electric energy bouncing between us. It’s worrisome but also exciting. It shouldn’t be happening, but oh my God, I can’t stop myself from leaning into him, letting him touch me, stare at me, and make me feel unlike anything I’ve felt before.

He was right. I avoided him for a reason today, and that was because I felt something. Something toward him. Something I shouldn’t be feeling, but I can’t help.

I’ve grown accustomed to having him around.

I look forward to him holding me at night.

And I crave his witty comebacks that provoke an eye roll from me.

But tonight, tonight it feels different, and I don’t know why.

Tonight, it feels like something’s going to happen. Someone will break, and I just hope it’s not me.

Stella Hunter and Aaron Shedlock narrate in duet this sexy, marriage of convenience romance. THE REASON I MARRIED HIM will be released on February 6th in a live release on Audible!

ABOUT MEGHAN QUINN:

USA Today Bestselling Author, wife, adoptive mother, and peanut butter lover. Author of romantic comedies and contemporary romance, Meghan Quinn brings readers the perfect combination of heart, humor, and heat in every book.

Never miss another NEW RELEASE, text READ to 474747.

Connect w/ Meghan:

Website: https://authormeghanquinn.com/

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

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorMegQuinn

Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Melanie Harlow’s Make-Believe Match ✍🏻

professorromance

Overall Grade: A-/B+

Tropes: marriage of convenience; opposites attract; meddling grandmother; hate to love or enemies to lovers; one night stand; small town romance

Melanie Harlow has cornered the market on small-town romances set in Michigan and its surrounding areas. She has this way of connecting her series and inviting readers into her world…where you hate to leave. Her newest series, Cherry Tree Harbor, also reads like her dirtiest, enticing more readers into the lives of the Buckley siblings. Make-Believe Match proffers up Devlin Buckley’s marriage of convenience romance. He meets Lexi one night in a bar, and they share a fiery memorable evening together. When it’s revealed a day or so later, that Devlin is the representative of the company wanting to buy her family’s ski resort, fireworks fly as Lexi vows to block Devlin’s efforts. When complications arise, the only way forward is a marriage of convenience between Devlin and Lexi. Hate slowly evolves into love, and Lexi and Devlin must acknowledge their feelings to move forward into a future together, one that saves her family’s resort, or they must be content with the consequences. 

Make-Believe Match reminds readers that change can be good when you have an apt partner to inspire and uplift you. Both Devlin and Lexi have lost parents, so they’ve created emotional mechanisms to handle their pain. Instead of setting them free, it has reduced their capacity to process change and embrace love. Melanie Harlow has woven their journeys together in a way that provides the emotional ungirding for her romance. 

She has also whipped in a spicy treat for her readers who love a little smut with their romance. Devlin and Lexi are pure fire. Additionally, the treat of extended family is my favorite part of this new series. Besides returning to Devlin’s older brothers whose stories we received in the first two books of this series, Lexi’s grandmother’s machinations and her cousin’s villainy add emotional depth to Harlow’s romance. All of these elements conflate to bring about a captivating and titillating story. 

Small-town romance fans, if you’re not reading Melanie Harlow, you are missing out. She continuously crafts regional romances that tug at heartstrings and fog up glasses. Her Cherry Tree Harbor has been an absolute delight, and I inhaled Make-Believe Match.

In love and romance,

Professor A

header with brand information and book pages
new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Ilsa Madden-Mills’s Christmas Cupid ✍🏻

professorromance

Overall Grade: B

Tropes: hate to love; enemies to lovers; forced proximity; pro hockey MMC; feisty FMC; brother’s best friend/teammate

Ilsa Madden-Mills’s Christmas Cupid is Hallmark charming with an extra helping of steam. It’s sweet and spicy and everything in between. 

Let me begin with the reasons it’s a “B” read for me:

I wanted more. I would have liked some parts of the story to be filled in more. There were some places that were outlined and required more development.

There were a few inconsistencies with details in the story. I’ve read everything from Madden-Mills, and this one isn’t as “neat” as her other stories.

Here are the reasons to read it:

The banter between Madden-Mills’s characters, Iris and Kyler, is everything to love about enemies to lovers. It’s clearly their foreplay, and it sets up their chemistry while also keeping the story a funny little nibble of romance.

Ilsa Madden-Mills doesn’t fall prey to writing the oft-used trope “I can’t get hot with my teammate’s younger sister.” Instead, Iris’s brother is the one responsible for their little tete-a-tete.

Forced proximity/one bed is the go-to set-up for a Christmas novella. 

Christmas Cupid is a quick little read that feels perfect for days that seem heavy. The journey she takes Kyler, specifically, on is an important one as Iris reminds him what’s important in life: community and relationships with people. In a world such as ours right now, Ilsa Madden-Mills’s Christmas Cupid is EXACTLY the read we need.

In love and romance,

Professor A

header with brand information and book pages
new release

✍🏻 Ilsa Madden-Mills’s Christmas Cupid is a perfect first offering for the Christmas novella season. Forced proximity ☑ Hate to love ☑️ Heat and Spice and everything nice (or naughty) ☑️ ✍🏻

professorromance

Christmas Cupid by Ilsa Madden-Mills is now live!

From #1 Amazon Bestselling Author Ilsa Madden-Mills comes a brand new enemies to lovers holiday novella (40,000 words) about finding love in unexpected places.

Dear Sneaky Santa, 

I’d like to have a word about your sense of humor. Was it really necessary to stick me, a professional hockey player nursing an injury and avoiding the media, in an isolated cabin with a bratty, boot-designing princess who seems to have made it her mission to despise me? I mean, come on, what did I ever do to you?

And let’s talk about our first encounter. Was it your intention for her to barge in on me while I was enjoying a soak in the tub? It wasn’t exactly my finest moment, and I’m sure she didn’t appreciate the view of my massive body floundering around as I tried to grab a towel.

Now, I’m stuck with her, thanks to a mutual acquaintance, in the middle of a snow blizzard, navigating through bear attacks, sketchy neighbors, and whole lot of tension. I had plans, Santa, plans to escape to Cabo and forget about the world, not to be trapped with a woman who thinks I’m unworthy of her time just because she can’t stand hockey players.
Oh, and speaking of our delightful Iris, she’s stingier with her food than Scrooge was with his pennies! I’m not asking for a feast, but a guy’s got to eat! And could you possibly turn her yippy dog into a reindeer or something? It would certainly add to the Christmas spirit and save my eardrums.

I’m trying to rediscover the meaning of Christmas, and you throw me into this chaos? Is this some kind of test, or are you just having a jolly laugh up there in the North Pole?

So here’s my Christmas wish, Santa: sprinkle a bit of your magic and either get me out of here or be a Cupid and ignite a fiery, undeniable passion between us, because right now, this scenario is frostier than a snowman.

Slapshotting Through the Snow, Kyler Blanchette

Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited!

https://amzn.to/3F6i9WW

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/46ILq5H

Meet Ilsa Madden-Mills


#1 Amazon Charts, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and USA Today best-selling author Ilsa Madden-Mills pens angsty new adult and contemporary romances.

A former high school English teacher and librarian, she adores all things Pride and Prejudice, and of course, Mr. Darcy is her ultimate hero.

She’s addicted to frothy coffee beverages, cheesy magnets, and any book featuring unicorns and sword-wielding females. Feel free to stalk her online.

Connect with Ilsa

Website | www.ilsamaddenmills.com

Goodreads | http://bit.ly/2EESfM9

Amazon | http://amzn.to/2nY2pxT

Facebook | www.facebook.com/authorilsamaddenmills

Facebook Group | https://bit.ly/44pq5Nc

Instagram | www.instagram.com/ilsamaddenmills

TikTok | www.tiktok.com/@ilsamaddenmills

Bookbub | http://bit.ly/2GaR6cn

Newsletter | www.ilsamaddenmills.com/contact

Text Updates | Text ROMANCE to (877) 207-0713

header with brand information and book pages
new release

✍🏻 Tempest and her Angry Thorn are HERE. Saffron A. Kent’s You Beautiful Thing, You is LIVE…and it will steal all your time. ✍🏻

professorromance

💋 ℍ𝕆𝕋 ℕ𝔼𝕎 ℝ𝔼𝕃𝔼𝔸𝕊𝔼 💋

YOU BEAUTIFUL THING, YOU by USA Today bestselling author Saffron A. Kent is LIVE! Don’t miss this all new angsty, enemies to lovers, forbidden romance!!! 

#Oneclick today!

➜ https://www.thesaffronkent.com/frontpage_ancora/you-beautiful-thing-you

FREE in Kindle Unlimited

 BLURB

Nineteen-year-old Tempest Jackson wants a baby.

No, her biological clock isn’t ticking, but she’s desperate for unconditional love. Rejected by all except her brother and soon to be married off by her father for financial gain, she aches for someone to hold close and call hers.

Enter Ledger Thorne. Soccer god, devastatingly handsome and her brother’s rival.

Once upon a time they had a thing. A beautiful thing. But while Tempest thought she was madly in love, Ledger was only using her for petty revenge.

So Tempest has a plan: seduce the sexy jerk who broke her heart, use him to get pregnant and then leave him in the dust like he left her, to marry a stranger.

Only the problem with making babies is that it doesn’t feel like revenge. It feels a lot like that thing they used to have: Hot and stormy, and intense and intimate.

But Tempest isn’t a fool. She’ll stick to the plan.

Because wasn’t it Ledger who turned their beautiful thing into something ugly?

Now it’s her turn…

NOTE: This is a STANDALONE set in the world of Bardstown, a St. Mary’s Rebels spin-off.

 Add to Goodreads ➜ https://bit.ly/YBTY-Gr

💋Order NSFW art from her website store: https://www.thesaffronkent.com/product-category/art-prints

💋Order the SE ‘Vintage’ cover:

https://www.thesaffronkent.com/product-category/se-special

ABOUT THE SAFFRON: 

Saffron A. Kent is a USA Today Bestselling Author of Contemporary and New Adult romance. 

She has an MFA in Creative Writing and she lives in New York City with her nerdy and supportive husband.

CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR

Website | Facebook | Readers Group | Instagram | Pinterest | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub  | TikTok | Newsletter 

header with brand information and book pages
new release, Review

✍🏻Professor Romance’s Review: Tijan’s Pine River ✍🏻

professorromance

Overall Grade: B-

Tropes: small town dark romance; hate to love; cousin’s best friend MMC; MMA MMC; found family; new adult romance

If you’ve read Tijan’s Fallen Crest series, her newest story, Pine River, will feel similar. With two main characters who begin the book disliking each other while also overwhelmingly attracted to each other, Scout and Ramsey feel similar to her main couple, Sam and Mason, of her popular Fallen Crest series. The draw of Pine River is its engrossing story. Chapter after chapter of Scout and Ramsey spurning each other while struggling with combustible chemistry draws you into this new universe from Tijan. 

I love ‘hate to love’ and messy romance. It makes for an exciting story, and Tijan has definitely crafted this messiness well into Pine River. She had me enticed when this story existed as her newsletter story. While I was excited about this book, I was sad when she stopped publishing it in her newsletter because the push and pull of Scout and Ramsey’s chemistry drew me in. 

Here’s my issue with Pine River. It’s a disjointed read. Even though she’s done a revision of those newsletter chapters, there were times when, from chapter to chapter or paragraph to paragraph, I struggled with the flow of her storytelling and the construction of her characters’ journeys. In fact, I read some of the earlier reviews for this book because I wondered if anyone else felt the fractures in her development. Alas, I might be the only early reader who feels this way. 

Did I appreciate Ramsey and Scout’s journey? Yes. The power of the found family trope in Pine River is the best part of this story beyond her main characters’ attraction to each other. The traumas that Ramsey and Scout carry from their pasts are healed in their union but ALSO through their relationships with the ancillary characters of this story. Much as she did with her Fallen Crest series, I’m certain that Tijan has unlocked a new space in which to draw other stories. When you finish this book, that almost feels like a promise from Tijan. 

While I like the way that Tijan has crafted Ramsey and Scout in Pine River, for all intents and purposes, they aren’t Mason and Sam. Their romance, however, will entice and beguile you because Tijan has found a way to bring so much story to her readers that you can’t help but read it through to the final page.

In love and romance,

Professor A

header with brand information and book pages
new release

✍🏻 If you’re a Tijan’s Fallen Crest series fan, you will WANT to read her Pine River. This book has all the feels of that series and more. Scout and Ramsay are pure fire! ✍🏻

professorromance

Pine River by Tijan is now live! 

​​Pine River was supposed to be a new start for me.

And it was, especially attending school with my three overprotective cousins, who were the triplets at the top of the social hierarchy.
Except they weren’t alone there, and the first day when I came to school, I saw him.

Scout Raiden.
Tall. Lean. Tattooed. Mesmerizing.
He was a golden god with dark and piercing eyes—looking like he wanted to eat me up.

The feeling was mutual, and that was a problem.
It was lust-want-must have-loathing-hate all at once. I was affected.
And I couldn’t have that. No way.
Not after what I’d just left in Cedra Valley.

I didn’t care how much money his uncle had.
I didn’t care that it seemed every girl wanted him.
I didn’t care about his reputation as an up-and-coming fighter.
Or the promise of how those hands would make me feel.

What I did care about was staying as far away from Scout as possible.
Because the promise of his presence, the heat that was going to turn the light back on in my world wasn’t a promise at all.
It was a threat.

I wasn’t going to survive Scout Raiden.

  Download today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon US: https://bit.ly/3Fp6nam

Amazon UK: https://bit.ly/3Md4bGR

Amazon CA: https://bit.ly/3Q44t3P

Amazon AU: https://bit.ly/3tGd6ds

Audible: https://bit.ly/46PI1lK

Narrated by: Savannah Peachwood & Teddy Hamilton

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

Meet Tijan

Tijan is a New York Times Bestselling author that writes suspenseful and unpredictable novels. Her characters are strong, intense, and gut-wrenchingly real with a little bit of sass on the side. Tijan began writing after college and once she started, she was hooked. She’s written multi-bestsellers including the Fallen Crest series, Ryan’s Bed, Enemies and others.
​She is currently writing many new books and series with an English Cocker she adores.

Connect with Tijan

Website: http://www.tijansbooks.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4851199.Tijan

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tijan/e/B00DJG52QE

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

Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/tijansreadergroup

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

Twitter: www.twitter.com/tijansbooks

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@tijan_author

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tijan

header with brand information and book pages
Uncategorized

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Jessica Peterson’s I Wish I Knew Then ✍🏻

professorromance

Overall Grade: A-/B+

Tropes: opposites attract; he falls first; second chance romance; small town romance; hate to love

Jessica Peterson’s I Wish I Knew Then is the perfect beginning to her newest series, Harbour Village. Peterson has envisaged a world that captivates her readers and promises more enticing stories. In this new story, Riley and Louise “Lu” meet in their youth and fall madly in love, but circumstances and familial expectations pull them apart, changing their life plans. Ten years later, Lu finds herself back in the small town where they met for her best friend’s wedding. In one moment, she reconnect with Riley, but initially their situation is precarious. The longer Louise stays in town, the more she is drawn to Riley, and she realizes quickly that Riley never forgot “Lu.” Instead, he created the world he imagined for them, and he’s insistent on reminding her of and encouraging her to realize her dreams. Can Lu move past her hurt and anger towards Riley who left her heartbroken ten years earlier?

Throughout I Wish I Knew Then, Jessica Peterson focuses on real-life situations through the course of her characters’ journeys. It’s what I love about her. It would be easy to write romance focused on crafting $ex scene after $ex scene. And Peterson lays it on “thick” in her newest book. Riley and Lu have chemistry and attraction in spades; however, Peterson has always infused her romance with real life truths. In her newest book, she untangles the difficulties of people from varied socio-economic backgrounds, the difficulty of choosing your dreams over the expectations of your family, the capacity for someone of a lower socio-economic class overcoming it to achieve success, and the balance of work and life in achieving dreams. Peterson creates characters who are female positive without giving up masculinity or being seemingly heavy-handed in its feminism. Riley is both alpha and beta. He strives to provide the means for Lu to imagine and live her dreams. He’s meant to raise her up, and this is a decided character trait, intentionally drawn by Peterson’s deft writing hands.

While Lu might be portrayed as indecisive about her future, this isn’t the case. Lu makes the greatest strides as she must buck her family’s expectations for her, pushing back against decades of familial tradition. To realize her dreams, she must choose herself. While it might seem that Peterson crafts Riley to give Lu her dreams; instead, Riley is drawn in such a way as to provide the space for her. Lu makes her own choices in her own time in her own way. Riley is simply there to protect Lu’s dreams. And that is the beauty of this romance. Riley doesn’t explain them to her; he doesn’t gift them to her; Riley simply encourages her to embrace her most truest self. My favorite moments in this book were the ones when Riley’s internal life reflects on his love for all parts of Lu. His love provides Lu with bravery because she can buck her family’s expectations for her own future.

Whether it’s the steam of her story or the intellectual insights threaded throughout her stories, Jessica Peterson has written I Wish I Knew Then to both titillate and test our perceptions. Riley and Lu’s romance will make you laugh, make you cry, and make your glasses fog. Ultimately, it will ask you to believe that love can transcend the challenges of life.

In love and romance,

Professor A

header with brand information and book pages
new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Rebecca Jenshak’s Tempting the Player ✍🏻

professorromance

Overall Grade: A- / B+

Tropes: bodyguard romance; forbidden relationship; new adult romance; former celebrity; grump/sunshine

Rebecca Jenshak’s Tempting the Player is my favorite of her Campus Wallflowers series. I believe it has a lot to do with its ability to wrap up a beloved series while potentially launching a new one. Even more, Jenshak has drawn Jane and Hendrick in such a way that they grab your attention from the start of their story. I was obsessed with Hendrick’s want to protect Jane from an outside threat. His grumpy, closed-off exterior was unraveled with Jenshak’s deft pacing. His story is particularly heartfelt as he navigates re-entering his family after a time away, a situation fraught with angry feelings and worry over his leaving again. Jenshak uses Jane’s need for protection as the perfect catalyst for Hendrick’s reconciliation with his brothers.

Jane’s story arc is the foundation of Tempting the Player, as she must navigate an outside threat, the renewed attention of fans, and a hold on the normalcy of life she’s created since starting at Valley U. The suspense portion of Jenshak’s story is no surprise, even though Jenshak tries to put us off the trail with other characters. Even though I was able to figure out the person threatening Jane, Jenshak shows her skill as a seasoned romance writer in the navigation of Hendrick and Jane’s burgeoning forbidden relationship. Their chemistry and attraction are easy distractions in her story.

Lastly, I absolutely loved Hendrick’s brothers, and I’m hoping there are future stories for this motley crew of “lost boys” – there is no better term for them. Jenshak has crafted them in such a way that makes them intriguing, specifically his brothers, Knox and Archer. You’ll find me downloading these stories, if Rebecca Jenshak decides to write them.

Tempting the Player is a beautiful end to this series of female friends. Yes, it keeps us at Valley U longer, and it entwines itself with Jenshak’s beloved hockey and football teams. But this sweet sentence near the end of the book, “a few weeks later, four wallflowers gather in the living room of their off-campus house,” brought feelings of nostalgia and felt like an homage to the oft-mentioned Pride and Prejudice (from this series) and Little Women. There is nothing better to read than four friends who support and love each other through the ups and downs of falling in love.

In love and romance,

Professor A

header with brand information and book pages
new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: J. Saman’s Irresistibly Risky ✍🏻

professorromance

Overall Grade: A- / B+

Tropes: ONS to more; surprise baby; doctor/patient; workplace romance; found family; pro football romance; hate to love; insta-love

J. Saman’s Irresitibly Risky feels lighter than its predecessors even though its themes lean towards the serious. Two words: Asher Reyes. Saman’s MMC brings light into the dark of its FMC’s life.  Asher’s ability to win Wynter’s love acts as the driving force of Saman’s book, and it’s slid into the top spot of her Irresistibly Yours series. To be fair, I suspect that my favorite story will be the forthcoming one, Irresistibly Dangerous, with a broody hero such as Lenox, but that isn’t the point of this review.

Instead, Saman has wielded her pen to create a story where her MMC falls instantly for his FMC and spends much of it chasing her. This is the dream of many a romance reader: a “golden retriever” of a man who falls hard and fast and uses his riches and influence to win her heart. Women want to be pursued and adored, and Saman grants that wish in Irresistibly Risky. 

What I loved about the journey of her characters is Wynter’s path. Like Wynter, my biological father left my life with many questions and few answers. The pain of that experience forever marks your soul, and Saman has captured this through the difficulty of Wynter accepting Asher’s interest in and love for her. The juxtaposition of Asher’s easy adoration for Wynter with Wynter’s inability to accept his love for her creates tension that breeds a rabid need for their happy ending. I loved sitting in their tension even though I wanted Wynter to give her heart to Asher easily. But that wouldn’t be true for someone such as Wynter who gave her heart to the first man in her life, and he obliterated it. It’s difficult to give it away again because that pain never leaves you. Saman captures Wynter’s internal struggle well, and even if you become frustrated by her willingness to run from Asher, you at least understand it well because Saman draws it with skill.

The ups and downs of Irresistibly Risky and the underlying story behind Wynter’s father drive the story forward. I found one moment in the story where Saman should have provided more of the story because a gap was created. She didn’t acknowledge that pocket of time, and I wanted her characters’ actions. That moment is the reason for my lower grade; however, Wynter and Asher’s chemistry and story arcs make up for it. The inclusion of Asher’s found family, Zax, Greyson, Callan, and Lenox, as well as their respective significant others, adds humor and wisdom to its main characters, providing a reminder of the power of their connection to the entire series. 

J. Saman’s style is simple: she creates characters who set the pages on fire and make us fall in love with them. Irresistibly Risky is a perfect example of this.

In love and romance,

Professor A