A swoony, heart-wrenching small-town romance from USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller Sarina Bowen!
Leila:
What I meant to do: quietly divorce my lout of a husband and then have a child all on my own.
What happens instead: my crush comes back to town when I’m at my most vulnerable. After too many cocktails, I ask him to be my baby’s father.
In my defense, it’s been a rough couple of months. Seeing Matteo Rossi again after fourteen years has done a number on my emotions. And my libido.
In the morning, I’m hoping he’s forgotten the whole thing. But no such luck. In fact, Matteo has a few clarifying questions. And a few naughty ideas, too…
Matteo:
What I meant to do: visit Vermont for my brother’s wedding. Make amends to my family, and mourn the loss of a friend.
What happens instead: a hot affair with the one who got away. But it can’t last. My life is two thousand miles away, and Leila deserves everything. She’s as good as gold.
Fall for Nash and Maddie in their friends-to-lovers, only one bed, small town romance from USA Today Bestselling Author, Catherine Cowles!
Nash Hartley has always been my everything: Protector. Partner in crime. Best friend.
The person who was there for me in my darkest hour.
But my heart wanted so much more. So, when I knew for certain Nash didn’t feel the same about me, I tried to move on. What a mistake that turned out to be.
Now, I’m back in our small town, desperate to escape my living nightmare, and the only person I want to see is him.
As secrets are revealed, and Nash finds out what happened to me, he’ll do anything to keep me safe.
But there are those who will do anything to stop him, and this time neither of us may make out alive…
Writer of words. Drinker of Diet Cokes. Lover of all things cute and furry, especially her dog. Catherine has had her nose in a book since the time she could read and finally decided to write down some of her own stories. When she’s not writing she can be found exploring her home state of Oregon, listening to true crime podcasts, or searching
A successful writer accidentally sends her new (and super-dreamy) editor the wrong manuscript. Instead of the full-length paranormal novel she promised Longstrand Publishing, she sends the fan fiction she’s written about her crush…on him—including every detail of the hot, steamy “physical activity” she’s fantasized about happening between them.
And Chase Dawson may be the hottest man alive and a super-talented editor to boot, but he’s completely oblivious that he’s the star of the manuscript he just convinced his boss to green-light.
Brooke Baker has been through a lot in her thirty-one years of life.
A divorce.
A career change.
A move to New York City from “small-town” Ohio.
Not to mention, she has a bit of a medical condition that involves occasional fainting spells, mild embarrassment, and the companionship of her adorable service dog and canine sidekick, Benji.
But none of it has prepared her for this.
None of it prepared her for Chase Dawson.
Strong jaw, blue eyes, cut muscles, and a perfect swoop of superhero-worthy black hair, Chase’s features are those of a book boyfriend and then some. Obviously, Brooke would know—she literally filled an entire manuscript with it.
A manuscript no one was ever supposed to see.
Will she survive two months of revising and editing the sizzling romance she imagined with Chase in extremely close quarters with him? Or will the constant white lies and overwhelming attraction make her spontaneously combust?
USA Today bestseller, Catherine Cowles, has a sneak peek of her upcoming friends-to-lovers, small town romance, Echoes of You, coming May 2nd!
MADDIE
His fingers found the buttons on my shirt, though he paused for a moment, silently asking for permission.
I nodded, my heart hammering against my ribs. A million different emotions warred inside me. Want, anxiety, excitement, fear. But most of all, hope. For this moment. For us.
Nash’s fingers deftly unfastened each button. But he seemed to be in no hurry. My hands lifted to the top buttons to help the process along.
“Don’t.” His voice was all husky smoke.
“Why?”
“Because I’ve been dreaming of peeling the clothes from your body for as long as I can remember. And I’m going to enjoy every damn second.”
My eyes flared as my hands fell back to the mattress. “Oh.”
Nash leaned over me, his lips skimming the column of my neck. “I’ve dreamt of how this skin would feel. How it would taste. I’ve come to pictures of you in my mind more times than I can count. And I know the real thing will ruin me forever. But it’ll be so damn worth it.”
My breaths came in short pants, my fingers fisting in the sheets. “Nash…”
He pulled back, moving from button to button. “Hmm?”
His focus was zeroed in on each expanse of skin my parted shirt revealed as if it were the most riveting sight he’d ever seen. Nash’s thumb circled my belly button. It was the most innocent of movements, but it had everything in me drawing up and winding tighter.
“Please.”
Nash unbuttoned another clasp. “Don’t rush me.”
I squirmed in place, a million curses on the tip of my tongue. But two could play this game. I ran my bare foot up the inside of his leg from his calf to his thigh to what stood at attention between us.
“Maddie…” he growled.
I grinned. “What? If you get to touch, I get to touch.” I stroked Nash through his sweatpants.
The sound that slipped from his lips wasn’t altogether human. Nash took both sides of my blouse and tugged. The remaining buttons went flying across the room.
I gaped at him. “You did not just do that.”
Nash grinned as he slid the blouse down my arms. As the fabric parted more, he stilled, his gaze zeroing in on the kaleidoscope of colors on my side.
I swallowed. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
His fingers lightly skimmed the marred skin, then he bent and ghosted his lips over the fading bruises. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. That I didn’t—”
I grabbed Nash’s tee and gave a hard tug. “No. It’s not on you. And he doesn’t get a place here. Not when it’s you and me. Not when I finally have what I’ve wanted all these years.”
Nash took my mouth in a long, slow kiss. “It’s you and me.”
“Always you and me,” I whispered against his lips.
Writer of words. Drinker of Diet Cokes. Lover of all things cute and furry, especially her dog. Catherine has had her nose in a book since the time she could read and finally decided to write down some of her own stories. When she’s not writing she can be found exploring her home state of Oregon, listening to true crime podcasts, or searching for her next book boyfriend.
Tough Cookie, an all-new heartfelt fake dating small-town romance from Talia Hunter, is LIVE in Kindle Unlimited!
Noah Malone is back in his hometown for a short break from his stunt work, but his mother’s set on convincing him to settle down in Green Valley so he can give her grandbabies like the good Lord intended. Not only is she pushing him to help out at the Donner Bakery decorating cookies, but her matchmaking is relentless.
To end his mother’s awkward set-ups, Noah needs a no-strings-attached pretend girlfriend. And who better than Carla, a mysterious recluse who seems to have taken an instant dislike to him? When she reveals she’s been isolated by illness, he proposes a fake relationship that’ll stop his momma’s shenanigans and help Carla ease back into the world.
Tech-geek Carla creates a spreadsheet of fake-date challenges. She’s serious and focused on her goal of slowly becoming more social… until daredevil Noah starts messing with her spreadsheet. He’s ridiculously charming, and his sexy additions may be even more appealing than the cookies he brings her, but Carla won’t let her resistance crumble.
Opposites may attract, but can such different people find a recipe for love?
‘Tough Cookie’ is a full-length contemporary romance, can be read as a standalone, and is book #3 in the Donner Bakery series, Green Valley Chronicles, Penny Reid Book Universe.
Talia Hunter likes to include her three favorite things in her novels: toe-curling romance, snort-laughs, and heart-warming friendships. She recently moved to Australia’s beautiful Gold Coast, where she’s constantly amazed and not at all freaked out by the weird and wonderful critters. When she’s not writing, you can usually find her with a glass of wine, a good book, at least one of her three cats, and a jumbo-sized can of bug spray.
Dough You Love Me?, an all-new second chance small-town romance from Stacy Travis, is LIVE in Kindle Unlimited!
First rule when returning to your hometown after storming out of sight: don’t fall for the guy who broke your heart.
Julia Browne should know better than to kiss where she bakes. She’s built a bread empire in California, and only plans to stay in Green Valley long enough to sell the family house.
She certainly won’t spend any more time with Shane Meadows than she has to…and she will not let him draw her in with his soft blue eyes or level her with his handsome smirk of a grin.
The last thing she wants is a temporary gig at Donner Bakery, baking sourdough side-by-side with Shane and clashing with his ego. And he thinks the sassy baker should take her fancy bread and go back where she came from.
But that’s before they take a series of wrong turns on a road trip to look at wheat, leaving them stranded for the night. Out on the open road, neither of them can escape the sizzling attraction and old feelings that feel a lot more real this time around.
But life is complicated, and Julia’s life in California might derail their second chance at love. Will they wake up and smell the sourdough?
They say you should leave the past in the past, but what if it’s the winning recipe for love?
‘Dough You Love Me?’ is a full-length contemporary romance, can be read as a standalone, and is book #2 in the Donner Bakery series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.
Stacy Travis writes charming, spicy romance about bookish, sassy women and the hot alphas 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 very tall sons and a poorly-trained rescue dog who hoards socks. And she’s serious about the Thanksgiving thing.
She’s his opposite in every way…and the greatest temptation he’s ever known. King of Pride by Ana Huang is now live!
Reserved, controlled, and proper to a fault, Kai Young has neither the time nor inclination for chaos—and Isabella, with her purple hair and inappropriate jokes, is chaos personified.
With a crucial CEO vote looming and a media empire at stake, the billionaire heir can’t afford the distraction she brings.
Isabella is everything he shouldn’t want, but with every look and every touch, he’s tempted to break all his rules…and claim her as his own.
***
Bold, impulsive, and full of life, Isabella Valencia has never met a party she doesn’t like or a man she couldn’t charm…except for Kai Young.
It shouldn’t matter. He’s not her type—the man translates classics into Latin for fun, and his membership at the exclusive club where she bartends means he’s strictly off limits.
But she can’t deny that, beneath his cool exterior, is a man who could make her melt with just a touch.
No matter how hard they try, they can’t resist giving into their forbidden desires.
Even if it costs them everything.
Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited
Ana Huang is a USA Today, international, 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 sprinkled in.
Her books have been sold to over two dozen foreign publishers for translation 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.
When she’s not reading or writing, Ana is busy daydreaming and scouring Yelp for her next favorite restaurant.
Tropes: anti-hero; alpha hero; mafia romance; forced proximity; grumpy/sunshine; opposites attract; heroine in danger; tragic past
Tijan’s next Kings of New York story, A Cruel Arrangement is a fitting follow-up to Tijan’s A Dirty Business. Both books envelop the reader in a harrowing tale of mafia tribulations couched in sultry romance. Where Trace and Jess’s love story is fraught with the forbidden element of their relationship, Ashton and Molly’s romance is high adrenaline from the very start to its end.
As Tijan does well, A Cruel Arrangement is full of minute-by-minute tension. Ashton and Molly are opposites: he’s the new head of a mafia family, and Molly is the owner of a local bowling alley. Her father is a street “rat,” owned by Ashton’s family due to his extravagant gambling debt, and Ashton has taken on the family business in the wake of the deaths of his uncles. They shouldn’t work; however, something in Molly matches Ashton’s darkness, and the two are drawn together like magnets.
This book has much to be solved because danger is afoot at every corner. Tijan places her characters in sundry difficult situations, and Ashton and Molly must work their way out of them. A Cruel Arrangement is page after page of trials, yet Ashton and Molly forge ahead, their attraction palpable on the page. Even in its darkest moments, Tijan has grafted a sweetness in Ashton and Molly’s pairing.
Given the suspense in this book, I didn’t figure out the villain’s accomplices until Tijan revealed it. This, thankfully, kept me turning the pages of her story. The ending, however, was abrupt and not fully fleshed out. Yet, I’d like to believe there might be another book.
If you’re an avid reader of suspenseful, dark mafia, A Cruel Arrangement will give you some good feels, but I’m not sure the most dedicated reader of mafia romance will find it dark enough. In the end, I’m here for Tijan and her stories, and this newest book didn’t disappoint.
This was my place. My business. Easter Lanes. Then a guy comes in, trying to rob me, daring to take it away from me. My home. My life. Hell no. I won’t let my livelihood be threatened. No one knows what I’ve done to build this life for myself. Except he might. Ashton Walden, a man I remember from when we were kids. Even back then I could tell how dangerous he would be one day. He’s now the head of the Walden mafia family, and my father is so in debt to them that they practically own him. My dad and I are estranged and I want nothing to do with him or his debt, but the day after the attempted robbery, I don’t wake up in the hospital. I wake up in Ashton Walden’s home. And he drops a bomb on me. If I want my livelihood back, I need to earn it back. And thus begins our cruel arrangement.
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: friends to lovers; forbidden romance; opposites attract; forced proximity; band of brothers; found family; rockstar romance
I’m in love. I’m in love with J. Saman’s Greyson from her newest book, Irresistibly Perfect. If you had told me that I would not be able to put down a friends to lovers romance, I would have laughed at you. It isn’t my favorite trope, but I’m a fan of J. Saman’s stories. And Greyson and Fallon don’t disappoint. This is delicious friends-to-lovers romance. Greyson is swoony in that he adores Fallon even after years of estrangement. When Fallon decides to break her engagement and end her engagement, Greyson becomes her “ride-or-die” and the deliciousness of their attraction takes center stage in this book.
What did I adore about this story?
*Once Fallon knows she’s not marrying her fiance, Greyson is intent on wooing Fallon. I was drawn into their relationship even as Fallon was denying her feelings for Greyson. His ability to win her over through spice and care is pure swoon!
*I love Fallon’s journey because I relate to her need to do what others expect. She’s the good girl, doing everything her parents want for her even if it’s at the expense of her happiness. As the details of her life unfold, J. Saman invests us in Fallon’s resolve to live her life on her terms. This quickly evolves into Greyson and Fallon acknowledging their feelings. This happens about 70 to 80% into the story, and they become a power couple through the book’s end.
*I will always love the found family/band of brothers trope. In Saman’s series, she’s writing the camaraderie of Greyson’s former boy band members and brother in a way that begs for more stories. Their ability to be real with each other, while advising and protecting each other is a huge draw in Irresistibly Perfect.
If you haven’t read J. Saman yet, grab this book. Even better, start with book 1, Irresistibly Broken. I dare you not to fall in love with the guys of Central Square. I can’t wait for future stories in the Irresistibly Yours series.
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Professor Romance 