Tag: romance books

new release

✍🏻 Xavier is HERE! Ana Huang’s King of Sloth is LIVE. Sloane and Xavier are going to be FIRE! ✍🏻

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King of Sloth by Ana Huang is now live! 

He’d never wanted anyone enough to chase them…until he met her.

Charming, easygoing, and rich beyond belief, Xavier Castillo has the world at his fingertips.

He also has no interest in taking over his family’s empire (much to his father’s chagrin), but that hasn’t stopped women from throwing themselves at him…unless the woman in question is his publicist.

Nothing brings him more joy than riling her up, but when a tragedy forces them closer than ever, he must grapple with the uncertainty of his future—and the realization that the only person immune to his charms is the only one he truly wants.

***

Cool, intelligent, and ambitious, Sloane Kensington is a high-powered publicist who’s used to dealing with difficult clients.

However, none infuriate—or tempt—her more than a certain billionaire heir, with his stupid dimples and laid-back attitude.

She may be forced to work with him, but she’ll never fall for him…no matter how fast he makes her heart beat or how thoughtful he is beneath his party persona.He’s her client, and that’s all he’ll ever be. Right?

King of Sloth is a steamy forced proximity romance. It’s book four in the Kings of Sin series but can be read as a standalone.

Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

Ebook: https://geni.us/kingofsloth

Amazon Paperback: https://mybook.to/KingofSlothPB
Barnes & Noble Paperback: https://bit.ly/3RsPFxt
Audible: https://adbl.co/3QhaXxh
Narrated by: Elena Wolfe & Gregory Salinas
Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3QNzhHI

Meet Ana

Ana Huang is a #1 New York Times, Sunday Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today,
and #1 Amazon bestselling author. Best known for her Twisted series, she writes New
Adult and contemporary romance with deliciously alpha heroes, strong heroines, and

plenty of steam, angst, and swoon.

Her books have been translated in over two dozen languages and featured in outlets

such as NPR, Cosmopolitan, Financial Times, and Glamour UK.

A self-professed travel enthusiast, she loves incorporating beautiful destinations into

her stories and will never say no to a good chai latte.

Connect with Ana
Website: http://www.anahuang.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/authoranahuang
Amazon: https://amazon.com/author/anahuang
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoranahuang
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/anastwistedsquad

Instagram: https://instagram.com/authoranahuang
Twitter: https://twitter.com/authoranahuang
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@authoranahuang

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/ana-huang

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: Rebecca Jenshak’s Burnout ✍🏻

professorromance

Overall Grade: A-

Tropes: bad boy/good girl; opposites attract; grump/sunshine; sports romance; alpha-hero; band of brothers

Who knew how refreshing an Olympic gymnast FMC and a motocross MMC could be as romantic characters? Let’s face it; there’s a run on hockey romance right now in romancelandia. Rebecca Jenshak has inhabited the world of college basketball, college hockey, and professional hockey at great length. Bringing us into the worlds of motocross and gymnastics was refreshing, and it raised the level of her storytelling. 

I couldn’t put down Jenshak’s Burnout for the first time in a bit. Knox and Avery’s banter, their compelling attraction, and the complication of their friends-with-benefits/situationship are enticing. I hated to leave them because Jenshak has created a chemistry between the two that is undeniable and engaging. Highlighting the tension of Knox’s need to care for his family is the emotional foundation of this story, and it draws the reader in. The way that Jenshak takes her reader to almost the end for Knox’s revelation about his feelings for Avery keeps you glued to the book. My one criticism is the ease at which Knox realizes this. He moves from failing to communicate with Avery to being all in which created a bit of a continuity issue for me. However, his profession of love is magnetic and romantic. Even more, the ending of Burnout and its bonus epilogue are adorable. 

Rebecca Jenshak earned a gold medal with Burnout. She should stand proudly on the podium and accept all the accolades for a compelling new story.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: Nora Everly’s Passing Notes, book 1 of the Green Valley High Teachers’ Lounge series ✍🏻

professorromance

Overall Grade: B-

Tropes: second chance romance; single divorced dad; close proximity – neighbors; soulmates

Nora Everly has been a staple of the Smartypants Romance world. Her Oh Brother! Series is a favorite, as it’s easy to fall hard for the Monroe brothers. Everly continues this world in her newest story, Passing Notes, book 1 of the new Teachers’ Lounge series. In this book, Nick and Clara are high school sweethearts, split apart by some manipulations, only to be reunited years later. When Nick moves next door to Clara, their latent chemistry is ignited, and they must decide if they want more. 

Clara is the sister of the FMCs in the Monroe brothers’ stories, and I love that Everly found a space for her to inhabit. I loved her edginess; she’s the grump of this story. It’s Nick’s almost golden retriever, pining characterization that humanizes her. My issue with Everly’s book, however, is her choice to delay a talk about the past. In my opinion, it was delayed too far into the story, and it felt manipulative to me. Instead, for me, there was a repetition of Nick and Clara’s struggles. As they grow close, one or both of them push the other way, which grows tiring after a while. They simply needed to talk, and Everly kept that from happening with too much delay. 

Does Passing Notes have the charm of Smartypants Romance’s small-town world? Indeed. Am I looking forward to more stories in the Teachers’ Lounge series? For sure. Do I think Nora Everly could have taken Nick and Clara in a different direction, granting us more spice and more development of their relationship? Absolutely. She wrote a beautiful ending for this couple, and you’ll end the story with a swoony sigh. It’s the middle of the book that needs a bit more focus.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: Max Monroe’s What I Should’ve Said ✍🏻

professorromance

Overall Grade: B-

Tropes: runaway bride; single dad; small town romance; hate to love; enemies to lovers; grumpy/sunshine; “I’ll kill anyone who hurts this woman”

Let me begin with this: I adore Max Monroe. From my head to my toes, I have loved their stories. I have felt, however, that some of their humor had become a bit staid. It didn’t have the same punch as their earlier billionaires’ books, and I was excited by how they talked about What I Should’ve Said, their newest book. This is a single dad, runaway bride, small-town romance at its most basic level, but they (they being Max Monroe) are right: it is something they haven’t written in a while. I’m an unusual Max Monroe reader because my favorite Max Monroe book is The Girl in the Painting. It’s unlike much of their book list, and something about it grabbed me. It’s hung onto my soul even though it’s been a couple of years since its release. For me, What I Should’ve Said feels shaded in the same feelings as The Girl in the Painting, which made me think I would love this story beyond measure. While I was caught in the thrall of Norah and Bennett and felt the tense emotion of this story, I struggled with this story. Not because I needed it to have the humor of the billionaires or the Winslow brothers or the funny stories series. One part of this book was developed in a way that caused one of the most important parts of the book, the chemistry and relational development of the couple, to be underdeveloped. The plotting and development of the story were uneven, ticking me off. Why? Because Max Monroe have found another place to inhabit in romancelandia, and I love it when authors try something new. 

I can’t divulge details even though I’m sure the emotional gravitas of this story has been revealed elsewhere. However, I can speak to Norah and Bennett’s story. You see, their initial hate-to-love was developed well and intentionally. It made sense that Bennett would be annoyed with Norah; she represents aspects of his past. And his present is taken up with his daughter. The more Max Monroe had them cross paths and fight their attraction, the more I was enticed into the story. When Norah meets and falls in love with Bennett’s daughter, Summer, the story becomes more complicated, and I was curious how they’d bring Bennett and Norah together because it seemed so complicated. Except in dealing with Summer’s emotional storyline, they gave up the tension between Bennett and Norah. They attempt to resurrect it later in the story, but by then, the ship has sailed, and it reads as more manipulative of the readers’ emotions than congruent with the story. And it saddened me.  

There is a depth of emotion in What I Should’ve Said that is striking and looks good on Max Monroe. I want more of these stories. I think the stories can be balanced, and this one got away from them given the plot line regarding Summer. The ending of this book is absolutely beautiful, and you will end it feeling bittersweet, a great emotion to feel at the end of a book. There is much more to cull from this small-town world, and I am ready to see where Max Monroe takes us.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: Kandi Steiner’s Learn Your Lesson, book 3 of her Kings of the Ice series ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: A

Tropes: single dad; teacher/nanny; forced proximity; hockey romance; band of brothers; forbidden; grump/sunshine; age gap; opposites attract; spicy lessons

Two weeks out and Kandi Steiner’s Daddy P still sits with me. Learn Your Lesson, book 3 of her Kings of the Ice series, is my favorite. Why? Well, for a number of reasons.

  1. Kandi Steiner’s writing voice has evolved. I’d like to think it has more to do with her personal life, but the angst of A Love Letter to Whiskey seems a thing of the past. Is there angst in Learn Your Lesson? Why yes there is! However, this isn’t “steal-your-soul-angst”; Steiner recognizes that people are fraught and it affects relationships. Every relationship has ups and downs, and as Will allows himself to love and be loved, he and Chloe must struggle through his battle. This is organic to Learn Your Lesson, and one of the reasons I adore their journey.
  2. Add a kid, and I’m in. Create an unique relationship between the kid, in this case, Ava and Chloe, and the emotional gravitas is built. Ava is everything you love in romance: precocious, adorable, and also fraught like her daddy. Like Chloe and Will, she also undertakes a character journey. While it isn’t the most important journey of the story, Steiner uses it to build Chloe’s character as the true hero of Learn Your Lesson.
  3. Steiner’s craftsmanship of Chloe is my favorite. She is a woman battling the matriarchal rule of her childhood and finding herself. She’s insightful, joyful, and independent. Her tenacity to bring joy into Will and Ava’s life is one of the draws to this story. She knows herself and her wants, and she goes after it. She’s the type of female character romance readers are drawn to.
  4. The band of brothers of the hockey team adds layers to the story. For one, it allows us to revisit the characters of the series’ first two books, but it evolves the characters who have stories to come. Steiner entices and invests us deeper into her series by bringing the old while mixing it with the future. I cannot wait for Aleks’s story based on how much more Steiner gifts us about him in this story.

I’m invested. Daddy P (Will) currently owns my heart in this series. What’s not to love about a recovering grump who falls hard for his sunshiney nanny? Everything!

In love and romance,


Professor A

new release, Review, Smartypants Romance

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: Lissa Sharpe’s Nun Too Soon, book 1 of the Bad Habit Book Club, a Smartypants Romance story ✍🏻

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Overall Grade: A-/B+

Tropes: forced proximity; romantic suspense: former nun, librarian, virgin FMC; bounty hunter MMC

Lissa Sharpe’s Nun Too Soon, book 1 of the new Bad Habit Book Club series under the Smartypants Romance universe, was a delightful read. I was worried that the former nun, virgin librarian FMC, Helen, would be too virginal. However, Sharpe has crafted her in such a way that she’s compelling. She’s a moonlighting romance writer who simply wants to experience all that $ex entails; she’s not intentionally forgoing it based on her past occupation. Instead, it’s just an inconvenience. Sharpe is smart in adding an MMC with all the experience but a reticence for relationships. This creates romantic tension between Thad, Sharpe’s MMC, and Helen, driving the story forward. 

Honestly, I couldn’t put Nun Too Soon down. As the second release of the Spring season, I was excited to read this new-to-me author, but also a story that grabbed my attention. I’m excited for the stories in this new series because there is such great potential with characters who are former nuns and priests finding love after that experience. It’s creative and a win for the Smartypants Romance world.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release

✍🏻 J. Saman’s Undeniably Convenient is unputdownable. I HATED to leave Katy and Bennett to adult. It’s out NOW, so grab it today! ✍🏻

professorromance

Undeniably Convenient by J. Saman is now live! 

From USA Today bestselling author J. Saman comes a sizzling-hot billionaire, second chance, boss/employee romance about a broody doctor and his feisty resident who both want a baby but nothing to do with love.

Have a baby with my new boss? Not exactly what I had in mind when I decided I wanted to try to get pregnant.

But that’s exactly the situation I find myself in with Dr. Bennett Lawson.

The ridiculously gorgeous, broody billionaire I kissed years ago is asking to have a baby with me.

We both have our reasons for wanting this and with our ugly pasts, it’s an undeniably convenient arrangement.

No love. No relationship. Strictly business.

Now I’m living with him and pretending every searing touch, whispered word, and moaned breath is all in the name of our contract and nothing more.

Even as it becomes harder to keep our hands to ourselves and our feelings separate.

But when that stick shines with two pink lines, we both know what we’ve grown addicted to has to stop.

Except what happens when everything starts to fall apart and what we promised would never happen becomes the one thing we can no longer live without?

  Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

https://geni.us/9h73D

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

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, Smartypants Romance

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: Aly Stiles’s Stage Smart ✍🏻

professorromance

Overall Grade: C

Y’all…I didn’t get it. If you’ve read my reviews, you know I give high scores on my books because 1) I’m careful who I read. Once I find an author I love, I keep reading them. There’s a reason for loving them. And 2) I view books as an author’s baby so I don’t get pleasure in completely trashing a book for the sake of clout or whatever. I guess there’s a third reason: it has to have fatal flaws with characterization or story/plot progression that I can’t get over to give it a low rating. 

But I struggled for the first time in the Smartypants Romance universe. I hate writing this review because I want to be fair, but Aly Stiles lost me with Stage Smart. I read Street Smart, Play Smart, and Look Smart, and I enjoyed those stories, but I think she tried too hard for the silly that she failed to fully develop the chemistry between Larinda and Val in a way that is believable. I will recognize that Aly Stiles is an insta-attraction/insta-relationship author. Through her other “smart” books, this wasn’t as pronounced as Stage Smart because I spent much of this book questioning Val and Larinda’s relationship. Even as a forbidden/secret relationship romance, I kept asking “why.” 

I’m also over Chad Smith and Sandeke Telecom/Reedweather Media’s ineptitude. It’s time to move away from it or shade it in a different color because I wanted to love Stage Smart, but I just couldn’t.

In love and romance,

Professor A

Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: Louise Bay’s Dr. Single Dad

professorromance

Overall Grade: B

Tropes: single dad; nanny; cinnamon roll hero; grump/sunshine; forced proximity; insta-attraction; slow burn; forbidden

Louise Bay’s The Doctor Series, which follows various family members as they chase dreams and the women they love, culminates in Dr. Single Dad. This book is one of my favorites of the series because Bay has drawn her characters, Dax and Eira, into likable characters who you cannot help but cheer on and celebrate. For me, this is the strength of this story: Dax and Eira, along with Dax’s family, are engaging characters. The struggles of this story are the development of Dax and Eira’s chemistry and subsequent relationship. Yes, this is a slow burn, but it isn’t the type of slow burn that tortures its reader. Once Bay has brought Dax and Eira together, she allows them to accept their attraction. However, the challenge of this story is the unevenness of Dax’s rendering. At the start, Bay has crafted Dax to be driven and career-focused. However, he comes across as almost a spectrum character with few feelings. Yes, Eira, as his nanny, draws those feelings out of him, but it’s a quick flip of the switch, and he’s an entirely different character in one moment. This seemed too sudden, making it difficult to believe their story arc. I would have liked to see Eira melt his personality in smaller measures while continuing to build their attraction, and Bay had the space to do this. Even more, she made an interesting choice, granted an ethical one for her characters, but I felt it broke up the forward motion of her plot. I thought the plot jumped the shark a bit. 

All of that to say, that, overall, I enjoyed reading Dr. Single Dad. Eira’s capacity for humanizing Dax and their eventual happily ever after with the background of Dax’s family make for an engaging read.

In love and romance,


Professor A

Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Reviews: Pippa Grant’s Until It Was Love

professorromance

Overall Grade: A

Tropes: enemies to lovers; hate to love; brother’s teammate; sports romance; soulmates; grumpy/sunshine; fake dating

Pippa Grant and her ilk (Penny Reid, for example) have this innate ability to both make you giggle and tear up in equal measure. A cornerstone of Grant’s romance is incorporating animals that either bring her MMCs and FMCs together or wreak havoc in an adorable way throughout her stories. You pick it up and think, “this will be light reading” only to be hit with the power and emotion of the overall message. In her newest book, Until It Was Love, Pippa Grant charms us immediately with the enemies to lovers’ banter of her characters, Goldie and Fletcher. Even though we aren’t present at their meet-cute, a time from their past that was less about falling in love and more about falling into hate…at least for Goldie, Grant begins their present with a meet-cute that entails Fletcher fainting after he donates blood and falling on top of Goldie, as she tries to save him from hurting himself from the fall. This, of course, follows her internal dialogue about his unfortunate mustache, a foible that mars his face. Only these actions can be found in a story from a writer such as Grant who entices her readers with some silliness, only to hit her readers over the head with a helping of spice (she’s more of a 3 chili pepper writer) and an emotional torrent. Honestly, it makes for a compelling read because you’re never quite sure if you will laugh at the ridiculousness of her characters’ behavior or cry at their heartbreak. 

All of this is wrapped up in Until It Was Love. I couldn’t put this book down, and I loved the adventures of Goldie and Fletcher. Goldie hates Fletcher, realizes she misunderstood him, uses him to fake date as a means to frustrate her brother, shows us the pain of her past, becomes enamored with Fletcher, struggles with the challenge of leaving town while falling in love with him, and learns to love her life in the small town of her youth.  Fletcher must learn to love and trust himself again, and Grant writes his pain in ways that make you commiserate with him. Pippa Grant owned me with this book, and she reminded me why I adore her stories. There is just something deeper under the surface of stories. 

If you want to be entertained, engaged, and enticed, Pippa Grant’s Until It Was Love is EXACTLY the story you need right now.

In love and romance,

Professor A