Tag: romance books

new release

✍🏻 Stacy Travis’s next Buttercup Hill romance is LIVE. Run and grab this brother’s best friend, a little hate to love (at the beginning), and small-town romance in Love You Anyway. ✍🏻

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Love You Anyway by Stacy Travis is now live! 

A Swoony Small-Town, Brother’s Best Friend, Age Gap Romance

I thought hot nerdy billionaires only existed in books.

Then brilliant astrophysicist Colin Hathaway moved in next door.

After losing his cool on camera, tech’s most eligible bachelor is hiding out in Buttercup Hill, getting a two-week taste of small town life while driving me crazy with that gorgeous smile and those deep blue eyes.

But I need to keep my distance. Not only is he ten years older and my brother’s college best friend, but I’m busy fending off the vultures trying to take over our family winery–and my siblings are just waiting for their little sister’s next bad decision.

Unfortunately, Colin is everywhere I turn. Offering to build me bookshelves, eating grilled cheese sandwiches in my kitchen, flying me off in a luxury helicopter to look at Mars through some fancy telescope.

Who knew the solar system was so sexy?

He’s impossible to resist.

The heat between us is white hot, and no one has ever looked at me the way he does–like I’m smart. Beautiful. Worthy. Strong. When he defends me in front of my family, I realize I’m in deep.

But one slip in front of the media could derail both of our careers. And my heart bears the scars of mistakes I’ve made in the past.

Trusting him could ruin everything I’m working for.

But what if I love him anyway?

Welcome to Buttercup Hill, where the men are hotter than the Napa Valley sun, and the wine flows all day long. LOVE YOU ANYWAY is Book 2 in the series of standalone novels, each with a happily ever after.

  Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

Amazon: https://bit.ly/3Su0X53

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

Paperback: https://amzn.to/3UWDjQo

Special Edition Paperback: https://amzn.to/430rURN

Audio Live Alert: https://bit.ly/48LcFgt

Narrated by: Hannah Chiclana & Aaron Donaghue

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/48RdK7G

Meet Stacy

Stacy Travis writes spicy small-town romance about bookish, sassy women and the hot heroes who fall for them.

Writing makes her infinitely happy, but that might be the coffee talking. 

She’s worked as a journalist, camp counselor, TV writer, SAT tutor, corporate finance researcher, education technology editor, and non-fiction author. When she’s not on a deadline, she’s in running shoes complaining that all roads seem to go uphill. Or on the couch with a margarita. Or fangirling at a soccer game.

She’s never met a dog she didn’t want to hug. And if you have no plans for Thanksgiving, she’ll probably invite you to dinner.

Stacy lives in Los Angeles with her two sons and a poorly-trained rescue dog who hoards socks. And she’s serious about the Thanksgiving thing.

Connect with Stacy

Website: https://www.stacytravis.com

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/3t2hb64

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3bPwy8H

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

   Facebook Group: https://bit.ly/2B1psS4fbgroup

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

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

Bookbub:  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/stacy-travis

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

Cover Reveal

✍🏻 One of the queens of sweet & spicy small-town romance has a new book coming, March 18th. Check out the smexy cover for This Much is True, the next book in Adriana Locke’s Marshall Family series. ✍🏻

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When celebrity Laina Kelley bolted from her small hometown church on her wedding day, she ran to the first place that came to mind—to the home of the local farrier, a gorgeous playboy who just so happens to be her first love … and biggest frenemy. 

Adriana Locke has revealed the gorgeous cover for This Much Is True!

Releasing: March 18, 2024

Cover Designer: Kari March Designs

Photographer: Wander Aguiar

USA Today bestselling author Adriana Locke delivers a new “sweet and spicy!” standalone romance about a runaway bride who finds herself in the arms, and horse barn, of her deliciously handsome frenemy—who just so happens to be her first love.

This isn’t your average romance. It begins with me in a wedding dress, just not at an altar …

I never expected to be a runaway bride. I also never thought I’d end up on my ex’s doorstep to flee from said wedding. Now that I’m here, it’s easy to find the key in an old boot by the door and let myself inside. It’s not breaking and entering if I have a key, right?

It’s safe to say that Luke Marshall didn’t expect to find me on his couch in my wedding dress, my veil over my face in tears. He has no choice but to listen to my panic-induced plea for salvation. It’s only a matter of time before the tabloids get wind of my disappearing act, and my life is over.

Luke takes pity on me and says I can stay… on one condition.

I can’t sing for my supper—I have to earn it. I have to work in the barn alongside him, up to my elbows in horse manure. Oh—and because there’s only one bed, I get the couch.

This works … in theory. However, when sparks start flying, and the small-town farrier asks me to stay, I’ll have to decide between my life as a pop star or a second chance with my first love.

Pre-order your copy today!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/485qtCr

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

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

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

Cover Reveal

✍🏻 I’m ready for Abel and Jen’s epic romance. Take a peep at the gorgeous cover for their story in I Wish We Had Forever by Jessica Peterson ✍🏻

professorromance

Jessica Peterson has revealed the gorgeous cover for

I Wish We Had Forever!

Releasing: April 11, 2024

Cover Design: Najla Qamber, Qamber Designs

A scorching hot, brother’s-best-friend, bad-boy/good-girl, fake-marriage standalone romance in the small-town Harbour Village series …

I’ve been pining for Abel Miller since we were teenagers. He’s sexy as hell, and has always played a starring role in all my fantasies. Too bad he only sees me as his best friend’s little sister.

He’s also a broody playboy who takes home a new girl every night, while I’m looking to find forever with someone. Abel and I couldn’t be more different.

But when my dad gets sick and says he just wants to see me safe, settled, and happily in love, Abel shocks me by offering to pretend to be my husband.

Now I’m living with the man of my dreams in his luxe bachelor pad as his fake wife. Plot twist: it only has one bed. Which isn’t a problem, until he accidentally walks in on me naked and I wind up bent over the couch with him on his knees between my legs.

Turns out my feelings weren’t so one-sided after all. But Abel swears he’s too much of a bad boy for the type of relationship I’m looking for, and warns me not to fall in love with him.

Can I convince him he’s always been the one for me? Or am I just headed for heartbreak by wishing we had forever?

I WISH WE HAD FOREVER is book three in the standalone interconnected Harbour Village series. 

Pre-order your copy today!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3uyGjrx

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

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

Meet Jessica

Jessica Peterson writes romance with heat, humor, and heart. Heroes with hot accents are her specialty. When she’s not writing, she can be found bellying up to a bar in the south’s best restaurants with her husband Ben, reading books with her adorable daughter Gracie, or snuggling up with her 70-pound lap dog, Martha.

A Carolina girl at heart, she fantasizes about splitting her time between Charleston and Asheville, but currently lives in Charlotte, NC.

Connect with Jessica

Website: https://www.jessicapeterson.com/

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/JessicaPetersonGR

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2KoS0sb

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

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

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JessicaPAuthor

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jessica-peterson

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

new release

✍🏻 This book is EVERYTHING. If you haven’t grabbed or preordered or handed over your first born for Kennedy Ryan’s This Could Be Us…it’s time to GRAB it! ✍🏻

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𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐑𝐲𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐁𝐞 𝐔𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤. 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐛 𝐢𝐭 𝐓𝐎𝐃𝐀𝐘!

🌺 Ebook, print, audio: https://read-forever.com/…/this-could-be-us/9781538706824/

🌺 Signed paperbacks here: https://page158books.com/book/9781538706824

🌺 Updated tour info: https://kennedyryanwrites.com/tcbu/

new release

✍🏻 Lexi Blake is back with her next New Recruits story. And it’s a rollercoaster ride. Live, Love, Spy is HERE, and TJ and Lou’s journey has everything you love about Lexi Blake’s romances: intrigue, D/S, and a HEA worthy of the Taggart clan. ✍🏻

professorromance

Live, Love, Spy by Lexi Blake is now live! 

Life can often be awkward when you’re a child genius. For Louisa Ward, that came in the form of meeting her one true love at the age of 12. TJ Taggart was perfect. But being a year younger and a full grade ahead of him in school always made things weird. Working in the CIA has turned her into a strong and capable woman. Until TJ walks into a room. Fifteen years later, she still gets butterflies every time she sees the gorgeous soldier, but she’s tired of waiting and ready to find love, even if it can’t be with him.

TJ Taggart always knew he wanted to be a soldier. But joining the Army would require a sacrifice. Since meeting Louisa, TJ knew she was the one for him, but they had different paths in life. Lou was meant to change the world at some prestigious research job or maybe teach at an Ivy League school. There would be a chance to sweep her off her feet when his time in this dangerous life was done, and their happily ever after could begin.

Before he can make it home on his latest leave, TJ is kidnapped by an unknown adversary. As he waits to die, all he can think of is the time he wasted and how badly he wants to be with Lou. He’s more than a little surprised when his sweet, quiet girl shows up leading a CIA special ops squad to bust him out. Back in Dallas, it’s time to claim the woman of his dreams. He has a plan to win her over, until the adversary who almost killed him returns to finish the job.

  Download today on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and Kobo!

Amazon: https://bit.ly/45x75Oc

Apple Books: https://bit.ly/44BklA1

Nook: https://bit.ly/3R3mBgi

Kobo: https://bit.ly/44OdC65

Google Play: https://bit.ly/3R85Fp7

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

Meet Lexi


New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband and three kids. Since starting her publishing journey in 2010, she’s sold over three million copies of her books. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance that she found success. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes in happy endings.

Connect with Lexi

Website: www.lexiblake.net

 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5124235.Lexi_Blake

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Lexi-Blake/author/B005JVSDJ0

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

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/526080691345626

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorlexiblake

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

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lexi-blake

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

Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCORVsrIAcbqMFxp0cHi51nw

Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Melanie Harlow’s Small Town Swoon, a Cherry Tree Harbor romance ✍🏻

professorromance

Overall Grade: A-/B+

Tropes: best friend’s brother MMC; hate to love; second chance romance; he spoils her; small town romance

Small Town Swoon is one swoon worthy romance. Melanie Harlow has created a small-town romance series in her Cherry Tree Harbor series that absolutely steals your heart. In fact, until this book, the first book in the series, Runaway Love, had been my favorite by quite a landslide. Now, Dash and Ari in Small Town Swoon have solidly inched up to right below my favorite in this series. To be clear, I’ve loved the love journeys of the Buckley siblings for various reasons; however, Dash’s intentional actions spoiling Ari, the young woman he’d scorned years earlier, makes this book special.

Dash and Ari’s story feels the lightest of the first four books in this series. Harlow has lightened up this series over her Cloverleigh series, but there is still a bit of angst. The underlying thread of trauma for the Cherry Tree Harbor series is the death of the Buckley’s mom when they are young. It informs their actions, so seriousness creates the tension of the story. However, Dash and Ari’s strife doesn’t match the earlier books of this series. As such, I inhaled Harlow’s Small Town Swoon because it vacillates between the initial reticence of Ari towards Dash, their explosive chemistry, their eventual spicy agreement, and their romantic acceptance of their feelings. Page after page, I was drawn further into exploring their romance. 

Add to all of this the continued relationships between the Buckley siblings. The humor, the wisdom, and the connection are grafted together to add depth to Harlow’s book. There is so much to love about this story, and I recommend a dive into it for your Monday reading.

In love and romance,

Professor A

new release

✍🏻 Melanie Harlow’s Small Town Swoon has moved quickly to be tied with the first book of the Cherry Tree Harbor series. The way that Dash and Ari fall HARD for each other is heavenly. This is the book you need for a Monday! ✍🏻

professorromance

From USA Today bestselling author Melanie Harlow comes a best friend’s brother, steamy small town romance.

Only in the movies does the Hollywood heartthrob fall for the small town diner waitress.

So when Dashiel Buckley returns to Cherry Tree Harbor for a wedding, I’m determined not to let my massive crush on my best friend’s older brother hijack my good sense.

(It happened once before. Do not recommend.)

But when my hand is injured, it’s Dash who steps in at the diner. The moment he realizes I can’t afford to fix my car, he takes care of it. And when he hears about the way my toxic ex treated me, he refuses to let it go.

Now it’s not just his blue eyes and sexy smile that have me swooning, it’s the way he wants to help me. Encourage me. Protect me.

I can’t resist.

Our text messages heat up. Our phone calls melt all my defenses. “Just friends” turns into “just once,” and “just once” becomes a distant memory. Night after night, he warms my bed, my body, and my heart.

But it can’t last.

Our dreams have us on two different paths–Dash wants the lights, camera, action of Hollywood, and I’ll always be a small town girl.

If only I could be his.

🍒 Friends with benefits

🍒 Best friend’s brother

🍒 He spoils her

🍒 Second chance romance

🍒 Protective hero

🍒 Secret crush

🍒 Small town girl x hollywood heartthrob

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗧𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗦𝘄𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆! 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗶𝗻 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱!

Amazon → https://harlow.pub/SmallTownSwoon-amazon
Amazon Worldwide → https://mybook.to/SmallTownSwoon
Paperback → https://harlow.pub/SmallTownSwoon-pb
Alt Male Paperback → https://harlow.pub/SmallTownSwoon-altmalepb

ABOUT MELANIE HARLOW

USA Today and #1 Amazon bestselling author Melanie Harlow writes sweet, sexy, feel-good romance. She likes her martinis dry, her heels high, and her history with the naughty bits left in. If she’s not writing or reading, she’s probably at Orangetheory or watching Schitt’s Creek again. She lifts her glass to readers from her home near Detroit, MI, where she lives with her husband, two daughters, and pet rabbit.

Connect with Melanie

Website: www.melanieharlow.com

Amazon: https://harlow.pub/amazon

Bookbub: http://harlow.pub/bb

Goodreads: http://harlow.pub/goodreads

Facebook: http://harlow.pub/ap

Facebook Group: http://harlow.pub/harlots

Instagram: http://harlow.pub/insta

TikTok: https://harlow.pub/tiktok

Newsletter: http://harlow.pub/mh-news

Cover Reveal

✍🏻 Check out this gorgeous cover for L.J. Shen and Parker S. Huntington’s My Dark Desire! I cannot WAIT for this story. ✍🏻

professorromance

L.J. Shen and Parker S. Huntington have revealed the covers for My Dark Desire!

Releasing March 10, 2024

From Wall Street Journal bestsellers Parker S. Huntington and L.J. Shen comes a tantalizing forbidden romance between a broken Prince Charming and a disgraced Cinderella.

The task was simple.

Sneak into Potomac’s most heavily guarded manor.

Steal back my pendant. Slip out.

Problem number one?

America’s most unattainable bachelor caught me.

Problem number two?

He decided to keep me. As the help.

Zachary Sun’s winter may be the coldest I’ve ever felt,

but he makes my skin burn.

Reserved, calculated, and savagely cruel,

he thrives on the weaknesses of others.

Little does he know, he just met his match.

He may be American royalty.

But this peasant will rise to become Queen.

Preorder your copy today!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3SMJuE5         

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/48iSWWb 

Meet L.J. Shen


L.J. Shen is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, and #1 Amazon bestselling author of contemporary, new adult, and young adult romance. Her books have been translated in over twenty different countries, and she hopes to visit all of them.

She lives in Florida with her husband, three rowdy sons, and even rowdier pets. She enjoys good wine, bad reality TV shows, and reading to her heart’s content., Parker S. Huntington is a stay-at-home dog mom from SoCal, where she discovered her allergy to rain. In spite of her shoddy attendance record and strong aversion to homework, she earned a B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of California, Riverside and an A.L.M. in Literature from Harvard. When she’s not writing or exchanging food pics with her friends, she’s binge-watching an unhealthy amount of Netflix while curled up with her dogs.

Meet Parker S. Huntington



Parker hates talking about herself and is (also) allergic to social media, but you can catch up with her in her newsletter at http://www.parkershuntington.com. Occasionally, she’ll post a TikTok video, which you can find at @parkershuntington.

Connect with L.J. Shen, Parker S. Huntington

Website | https://www.authorljshen.com/ 

https://www.parkershuntington.com

Goodreads | https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13531492.L_J_Shen

https://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomparkershuntington

Amazon | https://amzn.to/41KqHgC

https://www.amazon.com/author/parkershuntington

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/authorljshen

https://www.facebook.com/parkershuntington

Facebook Group |  https://www.facebook.com/groups/813953952051284

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Parkerettes

Instagram |  https://www.instagram.com/authorljshen/

https://www.instagram.com/parkershuntington

TikTok |  https://www.tiktok.com/@authorljshen

@parkershuntington

Twitter |  https://twitter.com/lj_shen

Bookbub |  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/l-j-shen

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/parker-s-huntington

Pinterest |  https://www.pinterest.com/authorljshen/

Newsletter |  https://bit.ly/3LhsIrbhttps://parkershuntington.com/pages/the-vip-list

Cover Reveal

✍🏻 Kilby Blades + Smartypants Romance = MAGIC! Check out the cover for her forthcoming story in the Green Valley Heroes series, Young Buck! I can’t WAIT! ✍🏻

professorromance

Kilby Blades has revealed the gorgeous cover for

Young Buck!

Releasing: May 7, 2024

Available in Kindle Unlimited May 9th

When her husband died in bed with a 19-year-old college student, Loretta Boggs swore off men. Now she moonlights as Green Valley’s finest infidelity investigator. When she’s not staking out scumbags, sidelining sugar babies, and catching cheating bastards, she’s the fearless leader of Cheated On-onymous, a secret support group for betrayed women that meets in the basement of Green Valley Library.

Fire Lieutenant Buck Rogers is Green Valley Fire Department’s newest recruit. He’s also renting the house next door to Loretta’s. When a mysterious family secret compels him to seek the talents of a private investigator, he calls in a friendly favor.

But keeping things neighborly isn’t easy. Not with Loretta spying on Buck’s chin-up routine through his open bedroom window. Not with Buck’s shameless flirting and beguiling blue eyes. Buck may be testing her resolve, but Loretta is testing his mettle. Can she get over the fact that he’s just so young?

*’Young Buck’ is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #5 in the Green Valley Heroes series, Green Valley Chronicles, Penny Reid Book Universe.*

Pre-order your copy today!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3wyjaG0

Apple Books: https://apple.co/49Jq6ic

Nook: https://bit.ly/3UPtHXE

Kobo: https://bit.ly/3UNIq5u

Google Play: https://bit.ly/49AhlXK

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3uM543m

Influencers sign up here to help promote!

https://bit.ly/3T6Y3Uq

Meet Kilby


Kilby Blades is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance. Her debut novel, “Snapdragon”, was a HOLT Medallion finalist and a Publisher’s Weekly BookLife Prize Semi-Finalist and she won an RSJ Emma Award for Best Debut Author in 2018. She’s been lauded by critics for “easing feminism and equality into her novels” (IndieReader) and “writing characters who complement each other like a fine wine does a good meal” (Publisher’s Weekly). She’s an oenophile, a cinephile and, most of all, a glutton for a good story.

Connect with Kilby 

Website: http://www.kilbyblades.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/kilbyblades

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Kilby-Blades/e/B01N4770M0

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

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

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kilbyblades

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kilby-blades

Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/kilbyblades

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

new release, Review

✍🏻 Professor Romance’s Review: Adriana Locke’s Nothing But It All ✍🏻

professorromance

Overall Grade: A

Tropes: marriage in trouble; small-town vibes; second chance; blue-collar

Dear Adriana,

I decided to write this review as an open letter to you because it’s been a week and a half since I finished reading Nothing But It All, and this book continues to cling to my soul. Reading this book was like looking into a mirror and seeing my reflection. You deftly and beautifully captured the challenges of two middle-aged parents and the strife of marriage. Yes, Lauren and Jack find their happy ending again, but the book’s ending promises that life will continue challenging them, and they will need to continue working hard at their marriage. The truth and reality of this book are couched in the tenderness and spice of Jack and Lo’s reconciliation, so anyone who doesn’t want to read the reality of romance can still melt with the love portrayed between these two characters. Yes, Jack’s father and their kids are critical to your story in getting Jack and Lauren to the place where reconciliation can happen, but they aren’t necessary to Jack and Lauren’s journey. 

I have to be honest, though. I had to step away from the book several times because it was so real, and I saw myself in your story. My husband and I are essentially married roommates after 26 years of marriage. Unfortunately, my husband isn’t Jack, whose self-awareness is refreshing in your story. So the hope projected through Jack and Lauren’s story is a bitter pill for me. My choices for my marriage, though, are represented in the truth of your book: marriage takes dedication and work through the good and bad times. Lauren says something like she would rather have Jack in her life than a life without him, and I think that’s true for me too. 

Thank you for writing this book even though it was sometimes difficult to read because it’s so true to my life now. I am exceedingly grateful for the quality of your writing voice, and for how you create characters that look and sound like real people in real situations with the promise of finding their happy endings. Nothing But It All is a primer on how romances can be written about the challenges of middle-aged love and the hope for different outcomes.

Forever a fan,

Professor A