Tag: new release

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: Kandi Steiner’s Love Overboard ✍🏻

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Display of romance novels stacked on a table with a sign that reads 'New & Noteworthy Romance - Fall in Love again & again.'

Grade: A-

Tropes: second chance; forced proximity; forbidden; found family; workplace 

I fell in love with Kandi Steiner’s romances through two books: On the Way to You and Black Number Four. When you consider the scope of her work, you might be surprised I didn’t lead with A Love Letter to Whiskey, one of her most popular and well-known romances. But it was those earlier stories that first hinted at the genius behind her writing. Those early characters, complicated in their characterization, were mixed with a manageable level of angst that grabbed my attention. Her way of creating self-aware characters with real foibles, characters who face the narrative’s difficulties with honesty and complexity, captivated me. There was something fresh about her voice that kept me coming back for more. I bring this up because her newest book, Love Overboard, reminds me of exactly that.

While the story of her FMC and MMC, Ember and Finn, is anything but simple, Steiner’s voice is. This romance calls to mind her popular Palm South University series in the way it is written. At the start of each chapter, Steiner anchors us in the book’s reality-show setting, and it also feels like a playful nod to her own past as she experiments with narrative form.

Another strength of Love Overboard is the way Steiner underscores the complexities of reality-show life. We are reminded throughout that editing determines public perception, and that perception has real consequences for the people living inside it. It would have been easy to treat the reality show backdrop as mere set dressing. Ember and Finn’s individual journeys are compelling enough on their own, but grounding the story in the impact of public perception on a relationship born of that world makes the book feel relevant and real in ways romance does not always aim to.

The heart of this romance, though, is the character journeys of Ember and Finn. Ember’s struggle as a people-pleaser, particularly her need to satisfy her father, is deeply relatable. It takes much of the story for her to recognize that pleasing him would ultimately require erasing herself, and it is Finn’s love that buoys her as she arrives at that realization. Finn’s journey is less prominent, partly by design since Love Overboard is told through Ember’s point of view. His challenge in owning a restaurant built on the memory of his grandmother is meaningful, but without his perspective on the page, his evolution feels secondary to hers and doesn’t carry the same emotional weight.

Love Overboard is the kind of romance that entertains and titillates in equal measure. There is something for everyone here, with a full cast of characters creating conflict while also championing Ember and Finn. And despite the strife they encounter, there is something wonderfully unproblematic about their journey together. Steiner’s ability to write about two people who yearn for each other and to bring them into a gorgeously drawn happy ending makes this book a genuine must-read.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: B.B. Reid’s Chrysalis, book 2 of her Men of the Wilds duology ✍🏻

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Promotional image for the audiobook 'Chrysalis' by B.B. Reid, featuring an audio player and e-book display. Text reads 'Available Now' and highlights Kindle Unlimited.

Overall Grade: B

Tropes; MFMM; forced proximity; dub con; why choose; found family; dark romance

B.B. Reid’s Chrysalis finally brings the happy ending to her Men of the Wilds duology. Both Crucible, the first book, and Chrysalis are action-packed. There is not a moment of downtime for Aurelia, Thorin, Khalil, or Zeke/Seth/Bane. Reid has gifted her readers with rich story and character development across both books, and Chrysalis provides a satisfying ending to their story.

What kind of reader should pick up this duology? One who loves an FMC who is self-possessed and self-aware. An FMC who can capture the attention of three (rather, five) very different personalities and hold it. The reader of Chrysalis should also be prepared to suspend their disbelief, because Reid puts her characters through their paces as they survive the wilds and civilization in equal measure. She does not hold back in developing challenges, both physical and emotional, for her characters or her readers. And a reader of this book should absolutely adore smut of the “why choose” variety.

Both books of the duology are saturated with the undeniable attraction between these characters, and it would be easy to conclude that is the core of the story. Yet Reid takes the space of two full books for her characters to genuinely evolve. This duology is not simply a retelling of the Goldilocks fairy tale. It explores characters who are seemingly villainous yet also victims, people who have resorted to dark actions simply to survive. Reid draws complex characters who must navigate harsh physical conditions and traumatic experiences as they grow. Amid these layered characterizations, the narrative pulses with murderous revenge and hard-won reconciliation. Chrysalis and Crucible are deliciously smutty without ever negating the depth of character development underneath.

Did I struggle with the dub con elements at the start? Yes. However, Reid builds enough understanding of her characters that we come to accept it, and she continues developing their relationships to show Thorin, Khalil, and Zeke/Seth/Bane’s genuine adoration and respect for Aurelia as the story unfolds. Are there moments that could have used further development to feel more believable? Sure. But first and foremost, B.B. Reid’s intent is entertainment, and this duology delivers. It is spicy and action-filled, with the underlying idea that love is love, no matter how messy it becomes.

If you are a fan of the “why choose” trope, B.B. Reid’s Chrysalis, book two of her Men of the Wilds series, should be your next read.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release, Uncategorized

✍🏻 Complicated Love: NFL Quarterback Meets Single Mom – It’s Time to Grab Karla Sorensen’s How Not to Fall in Love ✍🏻

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An advertisement for the book 'How Not to Fall in Love' by Karla Sorensen, featuring a graphic design with a book cover illustration, a stylized couple, and text promoting its availability on Kindle Unlimited.

A bad-boy NFL star meets his match in a feisty single mom with this sweet, steamy, and emotional novel about second chances and breaking the rules of romance.

Raising my ten-year-old son, running an animal rescue, and caring for my grandfather leaves zero time for complications, let alone cocky athletes who get under my skin. Too bad the universe didn’t get the memo.

Because a big complication just crashed into my life—literally—in the form of towering NFL quarterback Archer Evans, sentenced to community service at my shelter after a scandal. Despite his mistakes, I try not to judge. He’s got demons of his own, and even though he’s made it perfectly clear he wants me, the last thing he needs is a wary single mom seeing the vulnerable man beneath the muscles and the attitude.

Though I’ll admit, I’m tempted to look.

Not that I’d cave. With his notoriety, Archer would never make it past date two of my eight-date rule. I want simple. Safe. He’s too successful. Too arrogant. Too everything. The definition of complicated.

But as the walls around Archer start to crumble, so do mine. And this complication feels suspiciously like love.

I made the rules. Maybe it’s time I broke them.

How Not to Fall in Love is LIVE! https://a.co/d/07Xs37WT

Promotional image for the book 'How Not to Fall in Love' by Karla Sorensen featuring a male figure on the cover with text highlighting themes like 'Bad Boy Quarterback', 'Single Mom', and 'Sports Romance'.
new release

✍🏻 Ready to return to The Men of the Wild? B.B. Reid’s Chrysalis is LIVE! Aurelia and her men are waiting for you. ✍🏻

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Promotional image for the book 'Chrysalis' by B.B. Reid, featuring a tablet displaying the book cover with butterflies and a yellow background. Text highlights 'Available Now' and 'Kindle Unlimited'.

CHRYSALIS

Aurelia George was prepared to let the world believe she was dead. Tangled in the arms of her mountain men and bound only by the rules they make, the twice disgraced pop star had found her happily ever after.

Or so she thought.

The only thing surprising about learning her uncle wants her dead is realizing how eager she is to return the favor. Convincing her mountain men to leave their world behind and step into hers won’t be easy. Thorin is desperate to disappear again, Khalil is quietly drowning, and Zeke wants her gone.

For better or worse, this quartet of villains will have to leave their Eden.

And now that the tables have turned, Aurelia’s the one they’ll need to survive. But as she and the rest of the world are about to learn, you can take these men out of the wilds, but you can’t take the wilds out of them.

Two book covers by B.B. Reid: 'Crucible' on the left featuring a dark forest design with birds and a tagline, and 'Chrysalis' on the right with a golden background showcasing butterflies and a tagline.

GRAB this story HERE:

eBook https://amzn.to/3MrL7aW

Audio https://geni.us/chrysalisaudio

Paperback https://geni.us/chrysalisDPB

new release

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: Kristen Ashley’s The Woman From Nowhere ✍🏻

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Book cover of 'The Woman from Nowhere' by Kristen Ashley, featuring a lantern and a blurred natural background.

Overall Grade: A

Genre/Tropes: contemporary romance; one night stand to more; romantic suspense; small town romance; close proximity; standalone in an interconnected series; found family; they heal each other of their past traumas; finding home

A Kristen Ashley romance is like a seasoned sommelier uncorking the perfect wine. She knows how to let a story breathe. It’s the reason I love her books even when a plotline feels rushed in places or a character’s development doesn’t quite reach where I’d hoped. When you crack the cover of a KA novel (or swipe to the first page on your Kindle), you know you’re being gifted with a depth of story not readily found across romancelandia. Whether she’s writing contemporary romance, romantic suspense, MC romance, romantasy, or paranormal, Ashley takes her readers on a journey that doesn’t end with a third-act breakup — an actual rarity in her books, especially her most recent ones. Instead, she gives you their beginning, their middle, their end, and then more of their happy ending. Her books are deliciously thicc, and her commitment to giving readers everything about her characters makes it easy to become completely engrossed in their story.

In her most recent book, The Woman From Nowhere, the next installment in her Misted Pines series, Ashley writes the story of Mabel, a new addition to the Misted Pines community and local shop owner, and Hutch, the town’s loner who trains quality guard dogs. As she has done throughout this series, Ashley builds a threat around her FMC, leaving the alpha male MMC to intercede and eventually fall hard. Mabel and Hutch have chemistry in spades, and their one-night stand to FWB arc is entirely believable for longtime Ashley readers. If anything strains credibility, it’s the sheer volume of trouble that plagues Misted Pines, but that’s by design. This series operates like Twin Peaks et al., where a daily dose of drama fuels episodic glory. In the real world, no one would live in Misted Pines. In the book world, its troubles are irresistible.

Unlike some of Ashley’s more recent titles, her Avenging Angels series, for example, where the suspense elements hover at the edges while the character work takes center stage (a personal frustration of mine), The Woman From Nowhere blends Mabel and Hutch’s romantic journey with the suspense plotline in a way that feels genuinely balanced. And just when you think the criminal activity in Misted Pines has been resolved, Ashley reminds you exactly why she has the readership she does. The jaw-dropping action that follows also serves as a catalyst for pushing Mabel and Hutch from FWB to something more. Though if you think that’s a spoiler, you’ve never read a KA story. There is a distinct guarantee in every Ashley book that the MMC and FMC fall hard and fast; what she loves to toy with is the progression.

The Woman From Nowhere is among my favorite Kristen Ashley books from her most recent work because it has everything: a compelling FMC and MMC with personal histories full of emotional gravitas, a strong plotline, and a glorious cast of characters who make you feel all your feelings while also reminding you why you fell in love with this series in the first place.

Simply put, I couldn’t stop reading. The Woman From Nowhere holds its readers in thrall, much like the first sip of a wine you never want to finish. If you’re looking for a romantic suspense with genuine heart, you will not be disappointed.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: Jessica Peterson’s Ryder, the final book of the Lucky River Ranch series ✍🏻

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Book cover of 'Ryder' by Jessica Peterson, featuring a romantic scene between a cowboy and a woman in a cowboy hat against a rodeo backdrop.

Overall Grade: A-/B+

Tropes: friends to lovers; brother’s best friend’s sister; small town romance; forbidden

Jessica Peterson’s final story in her Lucky River Ranch series, Ryder, is a lovely yet steamy conclusion to a series that ingratiates itself into your heart. In Ryder, I am reminded of some of Peterson’s earlier stories where the romance is simply the conduit for deeper societal messages. This newest story investigates the complications of grief as well as outdated parental expectations that influence one’s sense of identity.

Through Ryder’s characterization as well as his brothers’ earlier stories, Peterson illustrates the many ways people process grief. She shows us that each person handles loss differently. For the older brothers, they became busy, attending to the younger brothers and ensuring their family ranch remained intact. As the youngest brother, Ryder compartmentalized his grief, avoiding feeling it because the pain felt too great. As we see through his journey, this causes him to live a “half life.” It is Billie who helps him see that he must go through the process of pain to arrive at a well lived life. This is the most powerful message in this final book, and for me, it is Ryder’s story that adds the deepest meaning to the series. Peterson’s careful handling of the brothers’ grief is a masterclass in marrying romance with the struggles of human nature.

Adding to that is Billie’s journey from the girl who wants to find a place that matches her inner sense of self as she battles her parents’ expectations. Like Ryder, Billie is more than sass and independence. She is a people pleaser when it comes to her parents, and they, being traditionalists, cannot see to the heart of her interests because they see her first as a woman. Her journey involves allowing herself to have her wants (Ryder, horse therapy, and more) and standing brave in her choices. Both she and Ryder live half lives until they eventually realize, through their adoration of each other, that they can choose something fuller and more meaningful.All of this is wrapped up in the smexiness Peterson’s readers have come to love, though as always, the steam is secondary to the story. Jessica Peterson’s romances challenge what we know and feel and ask us to consider living more complete lives. Ryder and the Lucky River Ranch crew challenge us to choose love while also choosing ourselves.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: Jessica Peterson’s Duke ✍🏻

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Book cover of 'Duke' by Jessica Peterson featuring a cowboy lifting a woman inside a rustic cabin, highlighting a romantic connection.

Overall Grade: A

Tropes: surprise pregnancy; forced proximity; friends to lovers; insta-attraction; cowboy romance; small town romance; golden retriever MMC/black cat FMC

I think of myself as “not an easy woman.” As a Gen Xer raised by Boomer parents, I live with a constant internal dialogue—who I am versus who others see versus who I wish I could be. This overthinking creates protective barriers that, while shielding a vulnerable heart, can leave you profoundly alone.

When authors like Jessica Peterson write these complex women who find men willing to love them fiercely, I feel seen. It’s bittersweet but hopeful—knowing that somewhere in this vast world exist people who look past our carefully constructed walls to the tender hearts beneath.

This is why I adored Duke, Peterson’s latest Lucky River Ranch novel. Duke and Wheeler inspire genuine emotion. Duke’s gift for seeing and loving Wheeler’s truth makes this story exceptional. Wheeler has spent a lifetime hearing lies about herself from her father and brother, their words born from their own insecurities. She’s countered those lies through hard work and success, but that independence comes at a cost—those old wounds make her guard against anything threatening to derail her carefully planned life.

Duke represents everything that could upend Wheeler’s world. The tension between their undeniable attraction and Wheeler’s determination to stay single adds rich complexity to their story. Duke is patient, tenacious, and intentional—qualities that make him irresistibly attractive. He becomes Wheeler’s friend first, lover second, creating a bond that’s both hard-won and deeply satisfying. Their relationship evolves from friendship to something eternal.

Peterson excels at crafting compelling narratives that propel readers forward. Her prose captures attention and holds it, while her ability to reveal a character’s core essence keeps readers invested. Her talent for writing independent, headstrong women who find partners who love them as they are—not as they need them to be—continues to resonate with her growing fanbase.

If you’re seeking a cowboy romance with genuine heart and emotional depth, Duke should be your next read.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: J. Saman’s Bossing My Holiday ✍🏻

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Cover art for 'Bossing My Holiday' by J. Saman, featuring a woman in a red dress and two men in suits near a decorated Christmas tree with gifts and the Eiffel Tower in the background.

Overall Grade: A-

Tropes: MFM; holiday romance; workplace romance; enemies to lovers/hate to love; grumpy/sunshine; he falls first; golden retriever MMC

J. Saman’s Bossing My Holiday is the romance you’ll want to read if you’re a bit of a Scrooge when it comes to holiday romances. I oftentimes struggle with holiday romances: the overwrought Christmas innuendo, the romance that reeks of Hallmark Christmas with a side of spice. All of it makes me feel scroogey. 

But Bossing My Holiday is littered only with holiday references, with the setting of a family Christmas event as the only real holiday connection. 

Instead, this book is a spicy MFM workplace romance that is titillating. For your smut reader, Bossing My Holiday offers up a big helping of spicy romance. For your enemies to lovers. Saman has you covered. For those of you who love a golden retriever MMC, you’ll swoon over Braxton, one of the M’s in the MFM. For the reader who loves an adventurous, independent FMC, Waverly is crafted to take on Tristan and Braxton and hold them in their places. 

J. Saman has written a story that is the antithesis of your favorite Hallmark Christmas movie. Bossing My Holiday is the Christmas romance you didn’t know you needed to read.

In love and romance.

Professor A

new release

✍🏻 J. Saman’s Bossing My Holiday is finally here. This smexy, hot-as-f*ck book will melt your panties. ✍🏻

professorromance
Cover image for the book 'Bossing My Holiday' by J. Saman featuring a festive scene with a Christmas tree, presents, and two men and a woman in an intimate pose near the Eiffel Tower.

🎄🔥🗼𝐁𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄!🗼🔥🎄

The holiday just got a lot hotter… 𝘽𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙈𝙮 𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙮 by J. Saman is LIVE!

Cover of 'Bossing My Holiday' by J. Saman featuring a Christmas tree, two men and a woman in a romantic pose, with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

What you’ll love…

🤭MFM Romance-no crossing swords

👔Grumpy billionaire co-CEO

👗Sassy assistant in a tough situation

🥼Nerdy golden retriever co-CEO

🤫Fake relationship

🛏Forced proximity in PARIS! (one bed)

😋Age gap (10 years)

🔥Steam, spice, and everything naughty and nice

READ FREE IN KINDLE UNLIMITED: http://geni.us/BossingMyHoliday

Book cover for 'Bossing My Holiday' featuring a couple embracing in front of a decorated Christmas tree and the Eiffel Tower, with festive elements like snowflakes and directional signs indicating themes like fake relationship and age gap.

Things not on my Christmas wish list? Fake dating my billionaire Scrooge of a boss, Tristan Ouest.

But that’s exactly what I’m doing and why I’m on a plane heading to Paris with him and my other boss, co-CEO Braxton Hicks.

According to Braxton, this is the perfect arrangement. I act as the doting girlfriend to get Tristan’s matchmaking, old-money family off his back and he pays off the large debt I have from caring for my grandmother.

Except Braxton has other things in mind with this trip…like sharing me with Tristan.

And the things they want to do to me put them straight on the naughty list.

I should say no to all of this. After all, I need my job and sleeping with both of my bosses is a recipe for disaster. Especially when things start to get messy and complicated.

But they don’t just want me as a holiday treat. They want more.

Now they’re bossing my holiday. And before I know it, I’m in way over my head–falling for my grumpy fake boyfriend and his sinful best friend.

Bossing My Holiday is a standalone holiday, fake relationship, forced proximity in Paris, spicy workplace MFM romance with a swoony why-choose style HEA! It’s delicious holiday fun for anyone who likes being on Santa’s naughty list–and for anyone who dreams of two men worshiping them at once.

A colorful promotional image for the book 'Bossing My Holiday' by J. Saman, featuring a romantic scene with a couple in formal attire, surrounded by festive decorations, Christmas gifts, and a holiday-themed graphic design.
new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: Kandi Steiner’s Stand Your Ground ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: A

Tropes: professional hockey romance, opposites attract, spicy lessons, virgin hero, he falls first, he’s obsessed, doctor/patient, age gap, workplace romance, black cat/golden retriever, grumpy/sunshine

Resilience. This word, woven throughout her novels, explains why Kandi Steiner’s romances continue to captivate her readers. Steiner crafts characters who overcome personal emotional and mental struggles to reach beautifully rendered, emotionally grounded happy endings. Her earlier works, written during a period of personal growth, were gut-wrenching, angsty stories that turned readers’ souls inside out before piecing them back together. Her recent novels, inspired by her own happiness, retain that signature angst but take a different path. Rather than guiding readers through an almost spiritual journey toward understanding, they embrace heat and passion. The transcendent quality of her earlier angsty stories has evolved into tales where initial reluctance transforms into deep, abiding, forever love. Same Kandi Steiner, different shade.

I’ll be honest: I was nervous about Stand Your Ground when she revealed the cover and blurb. If I had paired Livia with anyone, Coach seemed the obvious choice, not Carter. While I could imagine Carter and Livia together, the prospect didn’t excite me. Reading this book forced me to examine my initial skepticism. I entered the story doubting Steiner could make me believe in Livia and Carter. I finished it reminded of Steiner’s remarkable ability to develop characters and story, drawing readers so deeply into the angst, steam, and love that leaving feels like loss.

What captivated me about this book?

Steiner’s willingness to venture into new territory with both courage and artistry stands out. This marks her first exploration of “the Lifestyle.” She handles it with a light touch while showing its meaningful impact on Livia’s life and its role in helping Carter process his perfectionism and feelings of inadequacy. This demonstrates Steiner’s versatility in embracing tropes that might seem outside her usual brand, and she executes it brilliantly. Her willingness to take this risk excites me as a reader, suggesting openness to future experimentation. In our social media age where trying something new feels perilous, this risk pays off beautifully within Livia and Carter’s story.

Livia’s masterful character development provides the story’s emotional foundation. A woman’s personality emerges from both nature and nurture. Often, intelligent, driven, independent women develop these traits through social influences. Livia’s need for control over her career, her carefully curated friendships, and eventually her situationship stems from past trauma. Steiner’s construction of Livia resonated most deeply because I felt and understood her struggle intimately. Carter’s eventual interest in and care for her elevates him to swoon-worthy heroic status. Livia’s characterization became my favorite element of the book.

The found family trope continues to evolve beautifully throughout the story. Carter and Livia cannot exist without their surrounding circle of friends. These characters, familiar from the earlier Kings of the Ice series, receive deeper development as Steiner continues exploring their happy endings. Vince and Maven, Grace and Jaxson, Will and Chloe, and Aleks and Mia all appear within Carter and Livia’s orbit. They provide humor, wisdom, and family bonds essential to Livia’s story, especially given her complicated biological family dynamics. Steiner’s skill with this trope highlights her ability to draw devoted fans. By continuously deepening these relationships, she illustrates love’s power beyond romance. She reminds us that solitude isn’t inevitable; we can build our own families when biological ones fall short.

Steiner’s generous storytelling continues to impress. I never anticipated loving Livia and Carter as deeply as I now do. I finished Stand Your Ground feeling satisfied, emotional, and eager for Coach’s story. Kandi Steiner’s creativity and genuine care for readers through her writing make her books essential reading every time.

In love and romance,

Professor A