From USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Meagan Brandy comes a steamy forbidden romance featuring a possessive hero … who falls first and will stop at nothing to get what he wants.
Bastian Bishop. That’s his name.
He’s rough, rugged, and utterly unpredictable.
He’s not cautious or contemplative. He’s a volcano. Silent and steady one second, and a nightmare in the next.
But that’s not the worst of it.
This guy? He’s an outsider and in my world outsiders don’t belong.
They’re unwanted, unwelcome and known to disappear without a trace; yet he doesn’t seem to care.
After one night of reckless rebellion, the tattooed tyrant keeps coming back, sneaking into my world without permission, and causing trouble I can’t allow.
I should end this now before my father discovers his existence and does it for me, but he won’t allow it.
He says, like it or not … I am his now, that nothing and no one will stand in his way.
What he refuses to understand is I’m a Girl of Greyson, a coveted queen of sorts in the underground crime world.
He’s a nobody, an insignificant man with nothing to his name, marking him a threat to my own.
We could never be, but he won’t hear it.
And me? I know exactly how this ends.
Or so I thought I did, until betrayal burns so deep that suddenly nothing makes sense.
Meagan Brandy is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal
Bestselling Author of New Adult and Sports Romance books. Born and raised in California, she is a married mother of three crazy boys who keep her bouncing from one sports field to another, depending on the season, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Starbucks is her best friend and words are her sanity.
Tropes: friends to lovers; opposites attract; slow burn; close/forced proximity; college romance; new adult romance; contemporary romance; STEM FMC
Allie Winters’s Can’t Fight It is a bit of a revelation. There are some tropes that don’t entice me as much as others, namely friends to lovers and sometimes slow-burn (specifically when the pacing is off). However, with Winters’s newest Smartypants Romance book, I found Winters’s pacing appropriate and chemistry-inducing. I was compelled forward through Winters’s romance as her main characters, Tessa and Austin, navigate moving past first impressions (Tessa is initially frightened by Austin’s large stature), learn the complexities of each other, move through life (she’s a student researcher/future grad student and he’s a boxer turned eventual business person), and fall in love. What grounds their story is their mutual respect for each other which begins as neighbors turned friends but eventually becomes attraction due to Austin’s protection and kindness for Tessa. Winters crafts Austin to be physically overwhelming, but he has the biggest heart and shows unending kindness towards Tessa. And Tessa becomes Austin’s motivation to consider more for his life. She impresses on him to stand up for himself with his father and challenge himself to attend school. Before there is love and attraction between Tessa and Austin, they are the other’s biggest ally. And this is why I fell in love with their story.
Readers should know that this is a serious slow-burn romance. In fact, Can’t Fight It is a romance between introverts, but it felt real to me. There are several lessons to be learned from this story: overcoming fear (literal and perceived); accepting that failure is a part of the learning process; and recognizing that loving and protecting someone doesn’t make them a burden; it’s a byproduct of one’s love for the other. Smartypants Romance continues to tell compelling stories.
Can’t Fight It, an all-new friends to lovers college romance from Allie Winters, is now available in Kindle Unlimited!
Mousy bookworm. Psychology nerd. The kind of girl who constantly sticks her foot in her mouth.
The last thing I am is the type to attract the intimidating, motorcycle-riding guy in the apartment next door. Especially when that mouth of mine gets me in trouble and he overhears me talk smack about him…
So no one’s more surprised than me when he shows up as a participant in the psych study I’m running on campus. Or when he generously offers me some much-needed self-defense lessons. Or when we grow closer than I thought possible. It turns out some people aren’t at all what they seem at first glance. They can actually be everything you never knew you wanted in a man.
The thing is, Austin Langford is so far out of my league, it’s laughable. Muscled boxers don’t go for nobodies like me. I need to forget about this one-sided attraction.
Even when it feels like I can’t fight it.
‘Can’t Fight It’ is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #3 in the Lessons Learned series, Educated Romance World, Penny Reid Book Universe.
An hour and a half later, I’m ahead of schedule as my fifth participant finishes. That only leaves one more.
Austin.
And as I decided last night, it’s not a big deal at all. Just because he makes me sort of… flustered… doesn’t have to mean anything.
I head out into the lobby, my stomach jumping around a bit as the main door opens, but it’s not my guy.
Not that he’s my guy.
Half a minute later, it is him, though.
He runs a hand through his dark blond hair, natural streaks of lighter blond sprinkled throughout, and searches the lobby, looking for…
Me.
Our gazes lock, my belly dipping low for a moment at the way he seems to take me in all at once, his movements slowing, then speeding up as his heavy footfalls sound on the carpeted floor, getting closer, closer…
“Hey, Tessa.”
I bite my lip, containing the unintelligible noise that itches to escape, and hold up a hand instead, waving.
God, why can’t I be normal?
I spin around, silently berating myself as I lead us down the hall. Every time, I forget how much of the room he seems to take up, how my brain goes a little fuzzy, how my lips seem to get looser. I just need a minute to acclimate to him. To remember how to be myself.
“Lexie was telling me last night about the boxing you and Ethan do. She said you’re really good.”
There, that was totally normal. I breathe a sigh of relief, glad that my mouth is at least temporarily in working order.
He tilts his head in acknowledgment, taking off his worn leather jacket to hang on the back of his chair. He’s got a different henley on this week, this time a charcoal color that complements the gray of his eyes. “I do all right.”
“She said you’re undefeated. Twenty wins or something?”
He shrugs, taking a seat. “Yeah, I guess.”
I don’t know why, but the way he says it has me smiling as I sit behind the desk. “You’re awfully humble.” Other guys would brag if they had that kind of skill.
Rubbing at the back of his neck, he says, “I mean, it’s punching people. It’s not important or anything. Not like what you do.”
I stare at him for a moment. “You think my study’s important?” I didn’t get the impression he even thought all that much of it last week.
His mouth opens and closes, then he leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Everything that goes on in this building must be, right?”
“Yeah, you could view it like that. But you shouldn’t sell yourself short. It would be cool if I knew how to do what you can.”
What would it be like to watch him box? To see him in action?
He looks over at me, a small smile on his lips. “You want to box?”
I can’t help the laugh that escapes me. “Can you imagine me in a ring? I’d get pounded flat in about a second.”
His smile grows. “We have some girls that come to the gym and train. Even Mia comes in and punches the heavy bags.”
I shake my head. “No, I’d be ridiculous. Although, I’ve always wanted to learn some self-defense moves.” Maybe it would help me feel better prepared if something were to ever happen again. Maybe if my mom had known…
No. Best not to go down that path.
“I could teach you.”
It takes me a moment to process his words. “You’d teach me self-defense?”
He shrugs. “Yeah, sure.”
Have I completely misinterpreted all our previous interactions? I thought he was barely tolerating me.
About Allie Winters
Allie is the author of the Suncoast University series, the Bishop Brothers series, and the Lessons Learned series. She lives in sunny Florida with her husband, daughter, and two cats. A librarian by day, she spends her nights writing happily ever afters. She enjoys reading, playing video games, and all things Disney.
From USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Meagan Brandy comes a steamy forbidden romance featuring a possessive hero … who falls first and will stop at nothing to get what he wants.
Bastian Bishop. That’s his name.
He’s rough, rugged, and utterly unpredictable.
He’s not cautious or contemplative. He’s a volcano. Silent and steady one second, and a nightmare in the next.
But that’s not the worst of it.
This guy? He’s an outsider and in my world outsiders don’t belong.
They’re unwanted, unwelcome and known to disappear without a trace; yet he doesn’t seem to care.
After one night of reckless rebellion, the tattooed tyrant keeps coming back, sneaking into my world without permission, and causing trouble I can’t allow.
I should end this now before my father discovers his existence and does it for me, but he won’t allow it.
He says, like it or not … I am his now, that nothing and no one will stand in his way.
What he refuses to understand is I’m a Girl of Greyson, a coveted queen of sorts in the underground crime world.
He’s a nobody, an insignificant man with nothing to his name, marking him a threat to my own.
We could never be, but he won’t hear it.
And me? I know exactly how this ends.
Or so I thought I did, until betrayal burns so deep that suddenly nothing makes sense.
Meagan Brandy is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal
Bestselling Author of New Adult and Sports Romance books. Born and raised in California, she is a married mother of three crazy boys who keep her bouncing from one sports field to another, depending on the season, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Starbucks is her best friend and words are her sanity.
Can’t Fight It, an all-new friends to lovers college romance from Allie Winters, is LIVE in Kindle Unlimited!
Mousy bookworm. Psychology nerd. The kind of girl who constantly sticks her foot in her mouth.
The last thing I am is the type to attract the intimidating, motorcycle-riding guy in the apartment next door. Especially when that mouth of mine gets me in trouble and he overhears me talk smack about him…
So no one’s more surprised than me when he shows up as a participant in the psych study I’m running on campus. Or when he generously offers me some much-needed self-defense lessons. Or when we grow closer than I thought possible. It turns out some people aren’t at all what they seem at first glance. They can actually be everything you never knew you wanted in a man.
The thing is, Austin Langford is so far out of my league, it’s laughable. Muscled boxers don’t go for nobodies like me. I need to forget about this one-sided attraction.
Even when it feels like I can’t fight it.
‘Can’t Fight It’ is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #3 in the Lessons Learned series, Educated Romance World, Penny Reid Book Universe.
Allie is the author of the Suncoast University series, the Bishop Brothers series, and the Lessons Learned series. She lives in sunny Florida with her husband, daughter, and two cats. A librarian by day, she spends her nights writing happily ever afters. She enjoys reading, playing video games, and all things Disney.
I can still taste her on my lips, lingering there like a shot of pretty poison.
A Shot of Pretty Poison, an all-new angst-filled, brother’s best friend, new adult romance and the final book in the Pretty Poison Trilogy from USA Today bestselling author Kelsey Clayton is available now!
I can still taste her on my lips, lingering there like a shot of pretty poison.
I should hate her for what she did. No one would blame me for it—not even her brother. The pain I felt that day ripped me apart until all that remained was the shell of the man I used to be. And now I’m left to lie in the aftermath.
Devastating news has my life spiraling further out of control. If I don’t get a handle on it, I could end up losing it all. But nothing cuts deeper than the shards of a broken heart, and the scars that won’t fade make it hard for me to care.
Everything changed for us when tragedy struck. The events of that night still haunt all of our dreams. We think the darkest moments are behind us, leaving a black stain on our past, until we realize that this nightmare is far from over.
Someone is out there who knows our secrets and gets off on risking the lives of those I love most. You can’t trust anyone, especially when your enemies crave the taste of revenge, but we’re not going down without a fight.
I’ll burn the world to the ground before I let anyone hurt her—even if she’s responsible for hurting me.
They say that when a love burns too bright, it’s bound to burn out—especially those wrapped in secrets and doused in lies.
A Drop of Pretty Poison, an all-new angst-filled, brother’s best friend, new adult romance and the second book in the Pretty Poison Trilogy from USA Today bestselling author Kelsey Clayton is available now!
They say that when a love burns too bright, it’s bound to burn out—especially those wrapped in secrets and doused in lies.
After a risk is taken and a confession is made, one relationship heats up while another hangs in the balance. When everything rests on shaky ground, we find the stability we need tangled up in each other. Guards are let down and trust is repaired, but all vulnerability comes with a side of weakness. And the betrayal that hits us is one we never saw coming.
Revenge is a dangerous game, especially when fueled by jealousy. We’ll do whatever it takes to protect our own, even if it means seeking help from unlikely sources. While every favor comes at a price, choices made in distress have a tendency to backfire.
As our world comes crashing down around us, loyalties are put to the test. Nothing should be able to shatter the promises we made, but there’s a fine line between tenacious and toxic.
Someone should’ve warned us that even a drop of pretty poison will spread until all that’s left are shattered pieces and broken memories.
Tropes: sports romance; new adult romance; inter-connected series; tortured lead; mental illness; hockey romance
Tijan’s Hockey with Benefits is more than its blurb. I didn’t realize, on entering her book, that we would be re-introduced to Mara, the somewhat throwaway character from Tijan’s Rich Prick. One of my favorite characterization treats is having a vilified character humanized. In her newest tome, Tijan takes Mara, who stands as a bit of a foil to the heroine in Rich Prick, challenging and insidious, and invites us into her backstory, which is complicated and heartbreaking. After Hockey with Benefits, everything makes sense about Mara, and Tijan’s capacity for drawing sympathy and empathy around her endears us to this new story.
Adding Cruz to the mix and the complication of their relationship creates a depth of emotion in this story. Cruz’s capacity to understand Mara’s situation is one of my favorite aspects of their relationship. It makes it so that it’s impossible for them NOT to become more than a situationship. When he protects her from the complications of her life, their tether becomes more defined and bold. Tijan makes us work through their complicated relationship in an almost tedious manner, allowing us to experience the difficulties of their lives. You can’t help but “feel” the characters’ emotions.
Add to the decided characterizations of Mara and Cruz messages about mental illness and its impact on loved ones and the trauma and process of dealing with SA. These plot lines undergird Hockey with Benefits with a depth of story that is compelling for the reader. Honestly, I couldn’t stop reading it because 1) I needed Mara to enact boundaries with her mother, and 2) I really needed the story’s villain to get his comeuppance. Tijan uses these story lines along with Cruz and Mara’s burgeoning and evolving relationship to engage us with her story.
My only criticism of Tijan and her Fallen Crest and spin-off stories are the sheer number of characters she infuses into an individual story. It can make it tedious to remember who is who, especially when she, as in Hockey with Benefits, vacillates between their first and last names. I love the supporting ancillary characters, but I’m not sure this book required so many.
If you haven’t grabbed Tijan’s Hockey with Benefits, you should. You won’t be able to put it down.
Hockey with benefits. That was what Mara proposed, and I was down. She said no feelings and she meant it. Just benefits. No strings attached. Nothing else. Not even friendship. College was her escape, including us. I didn’t have time for a girlfriend. I had classes, the team, my family, and the game. It was all working too… Until somewhere down the line, things got messy. Until somehow we were dealing with threats, secrets, rivals, and so much more. Until I began to want her in ways that weren’t part of the deal. Our agreement didn’t just get checked into the wall, it got obliterated.
Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited
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.
Tropes: Enemies to lovers; childhood friends; brother’s best friend; surprise baby; sports romance
Maggie and Olly bring all the spice to Lex Martin’s The Baby Blitz. This book has it all: the tension of enemies to lovers, the forbidden quality of a brother’s best friend, the angst of a surprise baby, and the underlying drive of a sports romance. Martin does an apt job of juggling Maggie and Olly’s story, highlighting the difficulty of balancing familial responsibilities with a complicated pregnancy, a football dream, and unexplored feelings from the past. The Baby Blitz is a constant tug-a-war of tension and chemistry as Maggie and Olly work toward their happy ending. After a laundry list of issues, Martin gifts her readers with the type of happy ending that will make you sigh. Olly and Maggie find their partnership, resolving their litany of issues.
Professor Romance 