Tag: marriage of convenience

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: J. Saman’s Irresistibly Dangerous âśŤđźŹ»

professorromance

Overall Grade: A- / B+

Tropes: forbidden relationship; marriage of convenience or fake marriage; band of brothers; best friends’ cousin; romantic suspense

“She’s my beauty, and I’m her beast.”

They say, “Be careful of the quiet ones.” J. Saman’s Irresistibly Dangerous showcases this truth through its sweeping drama for Lenox and Georgia. In fact, for me, this final book of her Irresistibly Yours series is my favorite, thanks to its driving plotline, detailed characterizations, and eroticism. Lenox is a dirty, dirty man.

Likes:

  • Lenox and Georgia’s journey of recompense. The upheaval of their constant back and forth makes for enjoyable reading.
  • The band of brothers situation that has been the foundation for this series. It’s on full display here with the added complication of the forbidden nature of Lenox and Georgia due to her cousins.
  • The general storyline. This is the romantic suspense of this series. While it isn’t much of a surprise, the suspense elements add another entertaining plotline to the book. Lenox working to find all the dirt on her CEO and his son is engaging.
  • Lenox’s protectiveness over Georgia. There is nothing more swoon worthy than a protective, fully consumed MMC. Saman has drawn Lenox well. Add to his characterization dom-feels, and it’s pure erotic fire.

Criticisms:

  • Georgia’s easy forgiveness of Lenox. I’m not partial to an FMC who forgives and forgets so easily or who is ready to get intimate with the MMC after he’s treated her with indifference. It always tweaks me.
  • Lenox’s constant reminders that he can’t be with Georgia. Saman took this further than I think it needed. When he finally decides to live his life on his own terms, I whispered a “finally” as it should have happened sooner. 

I have absolutely loved J. Saman’s Irresistibly Yours series. Generous stories coupled with keen character journeys have ingratiated themselves into my heart, and Lenox and Georgia’s Irresistibly Dangerous is the icing on the cake of this compelling series.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release

✍🏻 They say to always be careful around the quiet broody ones. I’m fairly certain J. Saman has saved the very best for last with Irresistibly Dangerous, out NOW! âśŤđźŹ»

professorromance
image2.png
image3.jpg
image4.png

Georgia Monroe. Billionaire Heiress. Stunning. My best friends’ cousin. The woman whose heart I broke six years ago. And now my fake wife. 

Irresistibly Dangerous  by J. Saman is now live! 

For the record, I knew I never should have touched her.

She was everything good in this world and I was everything but.

I was too broken to care about how off-limits my best friends’ cousin was.

And I didn’t want to stop.

She was the air I needed while drowning in darkness.

Until I broke her heart and finally forced myself to do the right thing and walk away.

Six years later she’s on my doorstep asking me for a favor I can’t say no to.

Only a marriage of convenience to Georgia Monroe is anything but convenient.

Not with how I still crave her despite the promises I made to never touch her again.

Not with the dangers lurking around us, coming after her in ways she knows nothing about.

I’m the only one who can help her.

Her dark knight. A silent hacker.

The cold, broody man who never felt worthy of her love.

But now everything is different.

I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe and prove I deserve a second chance at owning this irresistibly dangerous woman’s heart.

No matter what comes my way. 

  Download today or read for FREE with #kindleunlimited

Amazon: http://geni.us/IrresistiblyDangerous       

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/46XCeL0 

image7.png

Meet J. Saman

image5.jpg

J. Saman is a USA Today and Amazon top 40 bestselling author who writes sassy, swoony, and scorching contemporary romances. She is addicted to Diet Coke, sour candy, and indie rock. She swears way too much (especially after a glass of wine) and has a penchant for sarcasm (or so her husband and children like to tell her).

J. is an admitted lover of second chance romances, enemies to lovers, and the perfect amount of angst. She is best known for writing funny and emotional romances filled with smart, strong women, and sexy alphas who have a softer side—especially for their women.

Connect with J. Saman

Website: http://jsamanbooks.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14923699.J_Saman

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/J.-Saman/author/B01FOIUR46

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jsamanbooks

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

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/jsamanbooks

Twitter: http://twitter.com/jsamanbooks

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

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/j-saman

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

Verve: https://ververomance.com/app/jsamanbooks

Cover Reveal

✍🏻 Gulp…well, hello handsome! I say “yes please” to J. Saman’s cover for Irresistibly Dangerous, the final book of her Irresistibly Yours series. I am SO ready for this marriage of convenience romance. âśŤđźŹ»

professorromance
image2.png

J. Saman has revealed the covers for Irresistibly Dangerous!

Releasing: January 15, 2024

Designer: Lori Jackson

Photographer: Michelle Lancaster

For the record, I knew I never should have touched her.

She was everything good in this world and I was everything but.

I was too broken to care about how off-limits my best friends’ cousin was.

And I didn’t want to stop.

She was the air I needed while drowning in darkness.

Until I broke her heart and finally forced myself to do the right thing and walk away.

Six years later she’s on my doorstep asking me for a favor I can’t say no to.

Only a marriage of convenience to Georgia Monroe is anything but convenient.

Not with how I still crave her despite the promises I made to never touch her again.

Not with the dangers lurking around us, coming after her in ways she knows nothing about.

I’m the only one who can help her.

Her dark knight. A silent hacker.

The cold, broody man who never felt worthy of her love.

But now everything is different.

I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe and prove I deserve a second chance at owning this irresistibly dangerous woman’s heart.

No matter what comes my way. 

Pre-order your copy today!

Amazon: http://geni.us/IrresistiblyDangerous        

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/46XCeL0 

Meet J. Saman

J. Saman is a USA Today and Amazon top 40 bestselling author who writes sassy, swoony, and scorching contemporary romances. She is addicted to Diet Coke, sour candy, and indie rock. She swears way too much (especially after a glass of wine) and has a penchant for sarcasm (or so her husband and children like to tell her).

J. is an admitted lover of second chance romances, enemies to lovers, and the perfect amount of angst. She is best known for writing funny and emotional romances filled with smart, strong women, and sexy alphas who have a softer side—especially for their women.

Connect with J. Saman

Website: http://jsamanbooks.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14923699.J_Saman

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/J.-Saman/author/B01FOIUR46

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jsamanbooks

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

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/jsamanbooks

Twitter: http://twitter.com/jsamanbooks

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

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/j-saman

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

Verve: https://ververomance.com/app/jsamanbooks

Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Ilsa Madden-Mills’s My Darling Bride âśŤđźŹ»

professorromance

Overall Grade: B

Tropes: marriage of convenience; grump/sunshine; pro football MMC; soulmates

Ilsa Madden-Mills will always be a must-read author for this reader. Her stories hit you right in the heart and tend to last long past their reading. Her newest romance, My Darling Bride, is an engaging, yet uneven marriage of convenience romance. When her MMC, Graham, requires a bride to acquire an inheritance as help for his brother, he chooses Emmy, the woman who “borrowed” his Lamborghini, as her penance. There is actually more to it, but Graham, the ever-serious grump who is too focused on football, cannot admit his attraction and interest in her. Madden-Mills’s story is a journey of tears and smiles as Graham comes to recognize his need for Emmy.

There is much to love about My Darling Bride:

*Emmy and Graham’s chemistry is at the top of this list. It’s clear from their meet-cute in the hallway of a motel in Arizona. Their attraction to each other is undeniable, and Madden-Mills deftly builds on that attraction throughout their story, turning up the heat once they return to New York. It is everything you expect from one of her romances.

*Graham’s struggles with life change make for an emotional read. Through his character’s journey, Madden-Mills is able to highlight the inherent danger of football, notably CTE. She has written Graham to struggle with his identity and whether he can be more than football. It’s this struggle that infuses him with the “grump” trope so many of us love in romance; however, he is more cinnamon roll hero as he becomes Emmy’s protector, even when he can’t explain the “why” behind it. Even more, Graham’s family life is fraught, and Madden-Mills uses it as a contrast to Emmy’s loving family, one she created.

*I connected the most with Emmy. She’s the woman who has taken care of everyone around her. Through her journey, Madden-Mills interrogates the trauma of DV in one’s past. There is nothing overt about it in the story, so I don’t think Madden-Mills’s book requires a content warning, but it’s good to acknowledge. With Emmy, we receive the warmth of the story. She loves and is loved, but she sacrifices her comfort for the lives of those she loves. This reality allows Graham to swoop in and care for her. It’s here where Madden-Mills builds the emotion of her story. When Graham cares, it gives Emmy (and the reader) hope for their future. However, Madden-Mills doesn’t make it easy on her reader, and Graham’s subsequent disinterest in hiding his feelings breeds the angst of the romance.

I state all of this to show My Darling Bride‘s beauty, but I struggled with this story. There is something missing from this book: a disconnect at moments in the story. While I clearly understood Graham and Emmy’s relationship, Graham’s indecisiveness throughout much of the story undermines the development of feelings in their relationship. When they are first intimate, I was confused because it was difficult for me to accept they’d move so quickly given Graham’s insistence on space. I found this occurring at different moments through their journeys. And it made the believability of their coupleship difficult.

Ilsa Madden-Mills’s My Darling Bride is a beautiful story about recognizing what matters in life: love and family. But it doesn’t quite have the same magic as her former stories, and I wonder if Graham and Emmy just needed a bit more spark to pull this book together.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release

✍🏻Ilsa Madden-Mills’s My Darling Bride is HERE. Emmy and Graham are delicious in this new story from one of my fav authors. âśŤđźŹ»

professorromance

My Darling Bride by Ilsa Madden-Mills is now live!

In a sizzling romance that sparkles with wit and depth, two wounded souls meet by chance in the desert and agree to get married, and their lives will never be the same.

On a normal day, Emmaline Darling isn’t a car thief. She’s just a simple girl who runs a bookstore and adores cats. But when she’s stranded in the desert and needs to get away from her dangerous ex-boyfriend, she picks her only option: swiping the keys to a famous football player’s Lamborghini and speeding away.

Football star Graham Harlan is in chaos. First he took a hit on the field that left him with a near-death experience, and now he’s promised his brother he’ll get married to secure the family inheritance. Trouble is he isn’t even seeing anyone.

Then a mystery woman steals his car. With his usual stubbornness, he tracks her all the way to Manhattan and gives her an ultimatum: marry me or I’ll press charges.

Her choice is obvious, only neither of them expect the sparks that ignite between them.

As the end of their arrangement looms, will Graham take a chance on love or let his darling walk away forever?

Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited!

https://mybook.to/mdb

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/44q7eS2

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

Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Adriana Locke’s Flame, a Carmichael Family series book âśŤđźŹ»

professorromance

Overall Grade: B

Tropes: second chances; bodyguard; forced proximity; marriage of convenience; band of brothers

I have loved Adriana Locke’s Carmichael Family series from its first book, Flirt. I was ready for Foxx Carmichael’s story because he’s been the most mysterious, very little of his story divulged throughout the series. With mysterious texts about an animal to his brothers in the first four books of the series plus the Carmichael matriarch insisting on a new couch, there were mysteries to be divulged in this final book of the series. So many expectations in a single book, and Locke meets them, but I’ll be honest, the answers to these enduring questions are answered, but they aren’t as impactful as I had anticipated. Even more, while Foxx Carmichael shines in this book, his second chance/marriage of convenience romance with Bianca, the object of his undying affection, was a bit underwhelming. The necessary tension found in the earlier books of this series was profound. In this one, it seemed like a machination to move through the book. I didn’t believe the reason Foxx denies a relationship with Bianca at first, even more so, when Foxx and Bianca must marry each other, essentially deflating their emotional struggle. Locke deftly adds tension through Bianca’s relationship with her father, but, for me, it wasn’t enough to resurrect the necessary tension and resolution of this story. 

Did I fall in love with Foxx Carmichael? Indeed.

Was Bianca the perfect FMC for Foxx? For sure.

There was something missing, though, from Flame, this final book in Adriana Locke’s Carmichael Family series. I believe it was the pacing as it felt rushed, and it lacked the emotional punch of the first books of the series. Adriana Locke will always be a must-read author for me. I was just hoping for a bit more for our silent but deadly Carmichael brother.

In love and romance,

Professor A

Review

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

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

new release

✍🏻 Alert! Alert! Foxx Carmichael is HERE. I repeat, Foxx Carmichael is here. I don’t know about you, but I have been WAITING for Adriana Locke’s Flame…because Foxx Carmichael. You can grab it NOW! âśŤđźŹ»

professorromance

Flame by Adriana Locke is now live! 

RSVP to my Marriage of Convenience

I swore I would only get married if my life depended on it. Oh, the irony.

Many things have happened over the last few weeks that I didn’t see coming. My family imploded. Our business was turned upside down. And someone threatened to harm me if I didn’t make good on my father’s promises.

But the biggest thing I didn’t see coming?

Foxx Carmichael demanding marriage.

He’s doing it out of loyalty to my brother. I know that. But I can’t help but think if, through that deliciously hot, grumpy exterior, my bodyguard doesn’t have ulterior motives.

There’s no denying the fire in his touch or the heat in his blue eyes. He protects me with a ferocity that leaves me breathless. He makes me rethink many things I thought I knew for sure—like my position on marriage.

But how we dance around our fake relationship makes me wonder what part of this is pretend. None of it matters if he doesn’t admit he feels the same way.

Our sham wedding will fall apart as soon as the threat is contained. But what happens if the flames between us burn everything to the ground first?

  Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

Amazon: 

Amazon Worldwide: 

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3QU81HQ

Meet Adriana


USA Today and Amazon Charts Bestselling author, Adriana Locke, writes contemporary romances about the two things she knows best—big families and small towns. Her stories are about ordinary people finding extraordinary love with the perfect combination of heart, heat, and humor.

She loves connecting with readers, fall weather, football, reading alpha heroes, everything pumpkin, and pretending to garden.

Hailing from a tiny town in the Midwest, Adriana spends her free time with her high school sweetheart (who she married over twenty years ago) and their four sons (who truly are her best work). Her kitchen may be a perpetual disaster, and if all else fails, there is always pizza.

Connect with Adriana 

Website: www.adrianalocke.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8379774.Adriana_Locke

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Adriana-Locke/author/B00NPBY8FE/

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

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

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

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/authoralocke

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

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/adriana-locke

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

Other: https://www.youtube.com/adrianalocke

Verve: https://ververomance.com/app/adrianalocke

header with brand information and book pages
Cover Reveal

✍🏻 Who’s READY for Foxx Carmichael and all his secrets? ME!!! Check out the cover for Adriana Locke’s Flame! I’m certain Adriana has saved the best for last. âśŤđźŹ»

professorromance

Adriana Locke has revealed the gorgeous cover for Flame!

Releasing: November 2, 2023

Wanted: A Marriage of Convenience 

I swore I would only get married if my life depended on it. 

Oh, the irony. 

Because the universe took that as a challenge, I’m now in the market for a husband. But if I’m going to be stuck in a temporary marriage, I want it to be with the right man. 

I might as well try to enjoy this experience, right? 

Considering the circumstances, I need a protector—someone who will throw down for his short-term wife with no questions asked. He’ll be fit. Intelligent. My potential short-term husband will have a dry sense of humor. And, if I’m dreaming big, he’ll be drop-dead gorgeous and a little grumpy. Hot, grumpy men are so attractive. 

I mean, if a marriage of convenience is the only way out of this precarious situation, I may as well look for a perfect, broody bodyguard, right? 

It could be fun. Lots of fun. 

Especially if the one man I know who fits the bill will play along.

But, if Foxx Carmichael does agree to this crazy plan, for better or worse, death might do us part in a whole other way. 

Pre-order your copy today!

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

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

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3QU81HQ

Meet Adriana


USA Today and Amazon Charts Bestselling author, Adriana Locke, writes contemporary romances about the two things she knows best—big families and small towns. Her stories are about ordinary people finding extraordinary love with the perfect combination of heart, heat, and humor.

She loves connecting with readers, fall weather, football, reading alpha heroes, everything pumpkin, and pretending to garden.

Hailing from a tiny town in the Midwest, Adriana spends her free time with her high school sweetheart (who she married over twenty years ago) and their four sons (who truly are her best work). Her kitchen may be a perpetual disaster, and if all else fails, there is always pizza.

Connect with Adriana 

Website: www.adrianalocke.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8379774.Adriana_Locke

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Adriana-Locke/author/B00NPBY8FE/

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

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

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

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/authoralocke

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

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/adriana-locke

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

Other: https://www.youtube.com/adrianalocke

Verve: https://ververomance.com/app/adrianalocke

header with brand information and book pages
Cover Reveal

✍🏻 Mr. Tall, Dark, and Yummy is coming in Ilsa Madden-Mills’s next story, My Darling Bride. Check out this cover, and preorder your copy of it NOW. You won’t want to miss this one. âśŤđźŹ»

professorromance

Ilsa Madden-Mills has revealed the cover for My Darling Bride!

Releasing December 5, 2023

In a sizzling romance that sparkles with wit and depth, two wounded souls meet by chance in the desert and agree to get married, and their lives will never be the same.

On a normal day, Emmaline Darling isn’t a car thief. She’s just a simple girl who runs a bookstore and adores cats. But when she’s stranded in the desert and needs to get away from her dangerous ex-boyfriend, she picks her only option: swiping the keys to a famous football player’s Lamborghini and speeding away.

Football star Graham Harlan is in chaos. First he took a hit on the field that left him with a near-death experience, and now he’s promised his brother he’ll get married to secure the family inheritance. Trouble is he isn’t even seeing anyone.

Then a mystery woman steals his car. With his usual stubbornness, he tracks her all the way to Manhattan and gives her an ultimatum: marry me or I’ll press charges.

Her choice is obvious, only neither of them expect the sparks that ignite between them.

As the end of their arrangement looms, will Graham take a chance on love or let his darling walk away forever?

Cover Designer: Letitia Hasser, RBA Designs 

Preorder today on Amazon!

https://mybook.to/mdb

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3R4d1tw

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