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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Love was a losing battle for this country music darling and a single dad, baseball star until one night brings them together and one small town sets the field for a possible winning streak.
They call me Lady Boss. Maneater. Queen. But beneath the makeup, blond wig, and glitzy costumes, I’m just a country girl who likes to sing. I don’t hate men, I’m just struggling to find a good one. I’ve learned my lesson. Fool me once, and it will never, ever happen again.
So I’m baffled when I meet Ford Sylver.
A superstar in his own right as centerfielder for the Chicago Anchors baseball team, plus a single dad to three adorable little girls, we share a moment when I save his firm backside and pretend he’s mine. Something that he can never be.
Only, when he suffers a season-changing injury and I need a place to disappear, we both end up back in Sterling Falls, where I’m suddenly and unwittingly his nanny.
There’s danger in having a wild side. I’ll try anything once. However, forced into close quarters with Ford, acting as his personal nurse, and caring for his three little ones might backfire. Because I’m staring at all I ever wanted and never thought would happen for me.
After losing at love in the past, could I finally be on a winning streak?
L.B. Dunbar loves sexy silver foxes, second chances, and small towns. If you enjoy older characters in your romance reads, including a hero with a little silver in his scruff and a heroine rediscovering her worth, then welcome to romance for those over 40. L.B. Dunbar’s signature works include women and men in their prime taking another turn at love and happily ever. She’s a USA TODAY Bestselling Author, as well as an Amazon Top 10 Later in Life Romance with her Lakeside Cottage and Road Trips & Romance series. L.B. lives in Chicago with her own sexy silver fox.
To get all the scoop about the self-proclaimed queen of silver fox romance, join her on Facebook at Loving L.B. or receive her monthly newsletter, Love Notes.
A single dad sheriff doing his best to protect his town. A gorgeous stranger caught trespassing. A love never expected…
So, it turns out the town sheriff is a total cinnamon roll. A big, burly, grumpy, hot as sin, cinnamon roll. He found me hiding out on private property. Trespassing. I lied and told him I was only there because I was out of cash and had to sleep in my car.
I thought he’d give me a ticket and send me on my way.
Instead, he insisted that I stay at his guest house—right next door to him and his three kids.
I know better than to let them get close. I’ve been betrayed too many times to put my trust in anyone.
Too bad the air crackles every time he comes near, and I feel like I’m going to burn up every time I look at him.
All it takes is one reckless night to completely spiral into the bliss of the man and his big, capable hands. One dinner with his little family to completely fall.
Only I never told him why I really came to Time River. Now I have to choose to trust him with my secret before it’s too late for both of us…
A.L. Jackson is the New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance. She writes emotional, sexy, heart-filled stories about boys who usually like to be a little bit bad.
If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the pool with her family, sipping cocktails with her friends, or of course with her nose buried in a book.
I Wish You Were Mine by Jessica Peterson is now live!
A smoking hot standalone romance in the small-town Harbour Village series, featuring a single dad, a nanny, and an accidental pregnancy!
I know Tuck Monroe is trouble the second I walk in to interview for the nanny position. Six-four and covered in tattoos, he’s distractingly hot. He’s also grumpy as hell. But I need to pay for school, so I take a job as his daughter’s live-in caretaker and move into the apartment above his garage.
I fall hard for Katie, his adorable four-year-old. But I never expected to fall for my new boss, who’s a decade older than I am. Turns out there’s a heart of gold beneath Tuck’s broody exterior, one I work to reveal bit by bit. Casual small talk leads to late-night conversations I can’t get enough of.
No surprise our simmering sexual tension explodes with one deep, toe-curling kiss.
He tells me I’m his good girl; I tell him I love the praise. We give ourselves one night, and one night only, to explore the fiery attraction between us.
It’s the best sex of my life. But when I wake up, Tuck is gone, and life goes back to normal. Or at least I think it does, until I start to feel nauseous. Turns out I was right: my boss is trouble. The kind that comes with one night I can’t forget and two pink lines that will change our lives forever.
Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited
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.
Tropes: single mom; single dad; insta-attraction; prequel
Helena Hunting’s Where It Begins is the romance you didn’t know you needed. This engaging novella, a tome under the 1001 Dark Nights press, is the prequel story of Skye, Violet’s mom from Hunting’s beloved Pucked, and Sidney, Miller’s father from that same book. There isn’t much complication in this story; it’s one of those reads that will put a smile on your face because it breeds nostalgia for one of Hunting’s favorite series. Skye is the OP to Violet’s characterization. If you loved Violet in Pucked, you will adore Skye because Violet is a carbon copy of her mother. This means lots of nervous, inappropriate chatter, gut problems, and huge ti…knockers. Sidney’s characterization is underwhelming in this story because he’s simply her love interest. That isn’t to undermine his character development. Where It Begins is a love note to Hunting’s Pucked series fans. It’s intended for you to read and feel nostalgic for that series (at least that’s the case for me). I finished this fun and entertaining novella, pining for a re-read of Pucked. And that is the brilliance of this story.
Even if you haven’t read Helena Hunting’s Pucked series, you can read Skye and Sidney’s story. When you’re done, jump into the Pucked world. You will not regret it.
Single dad, hockey coach, and the last guy this single mom should fall for.
Where It Begins, an all-new swoon-filled Pucked novella from New York Times bestselling author Helena Hunting, is available now!
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Helena Hunting comes a new story in her Pucked series. The untold story of Skye and Sidney, and the origin story where Vi and Miller are teens when their parents start dating and fall in love…
I accidentally grabbed the wrong drink at the coffee shop. On the upside, the hot guy it belonged to chased me down to kindly swap with me. On the down side, the reason I grabbed the wrong drink in the first place is because the hot guy had just caught me checking out his ass…sets.
In my defense, his rear view is rather magnificent.
In true, humiliating form, I word-vomited a bunch of horrible nonsense. Including an unnecessary explanation of the trauma I’d evaded thanks to his chasing me down. Nothing could ruin my lactose-intolerant day faster than my one true nemesis: dairy.
I did not expect him to ask me out on a date after that.
I also didn’t expect the date to go well since my tendency to truth-vomit is high, and not everyone finds that quality endearing.
But apparently he does. Because he asks me out again. And again.
Sidney Butterson (yes, it’s a weird last name) ticks all my boxes. He’s smart, he’s funny, he’s employed and he’s ridiculously hot. There’s one catch.
We’re both single parents. With teens.
And if our kids don’t like each other? Well, we’re doomed.
**Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you’ll enjoy each one as much as we do.**
Hubert, the barista, calls out, “Skye and Sidney! Your lattes are ready!” I rush forward and grab mine, muttering a hasty, “Thanks!” Then beeline for the exit. Of course, that’s the moment a hoard of teens barrel through the door, forcing me to hold it open until the entire gaggle has stormed the café. Once outside, I hustle to the crosswalk. I punch the button and glare as the sign counts down from thirty. And then I hear my name being called. I glance toward the café and, much to my horror, the attractive man whose butt I was admiring is rushing toward me, coffee in hand. “Hey! You’re Skye, right?” he asks. “Yes. That’s me.” Maybe he didn’t mind my checking out his butt. “You took the wrong coffee.” He taps the side of the cup with the name SKYE written in Larissa’s lovely cursive. “Oh.” I turn mine around and see Sidney scrawled on the side. And it’s a pumpkin spice latte. Half sweet, skim milk. “Wow. I would have spent the rest of the afternoon working from a bathroom stall if you hadn’t caught me.” At his questioning expression, I continue with the embarrassing word vomit. “I’m lactose intolerant and this much dairy would mean stomach cramps for days.” I bite my lips together and close my eyes. “Sorry. You didn’t need to know that. I haven’t taken a sip. See. No lipstick prints.” I thrust the cup toward him and reluctantly crack a lid. He’s smiling. Widely. “I’m very glad I caught you when I did then. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for an afternoon of prolonged discomfort.” We exchange takeout cups. “It would’ve been my fault for not checking more than the S, but I was trying to escape my embarrassment. Seems like it’s following me around and making things worse.” I step away from this exceptionally hot man who inspires an unprecedented amount of word vomit. “Thank you for stopping me. You, uh…you didn’t drink out of mine, did you?” “I didn’t.” His eyes are blue. So vibrant and pretty and his teeth are straight. I glance at his hand. His ring finger is bare. Then I realize he’s giving my hand the same inspection. “Do you work around here?” “Just across the street.” I thumb over my shoulder. “You?” “No, but I’m in the area often.” He tucks a hand in his pocket. “Maybe you’d like to grab a coffee later this week?” I blink at him. Then open my mouth and ask a stupid question. “Are you asking me out?” “Unless you’re already seeing someone. I didn’t see a ring, so I was hopeful.” His bottom lip slides through his teeth and for a moment, he looks boyishly handsome. “But…you don’t know anything about me.” I don’t know why I haven’t said yes yet. He’s attractive and thoughtful enough to stop me from drinking the wrong coffee. His kindness saved me from ending up curled in the fetal position on a bathroom floor. He rubs the back of his neck. “I’ve seen you here before. I’ve been working up the nerve to introduce myself. Looks like the universe gave me a push in the right direction.” He holds up a hand and gives his head a little shake. “I’m probably making this awkward. I’ll be here Wednesday at eleven-thirty. Hopefully, I’ll see you then.” And with that, he turns and disappears into the crowd.
Jessica Peterson has revealed the cover for I Wish You Were Mine!
Releasing: January 18, 2024
A smoking hot standalone romance in the small-town Harbour Village series, featuring a single dad, a nanny, and an accidental pregnancy!
I know Tuck Monroe is trouble the second I walk in to interview for the nanny position. Six-four and covered in tattoos, he’s distractingly hot. He’s also grumpy as hell. But I need to pay for school, so I take a job as his daughter’s live-in caretaker and move into the apartment above his garage.
I fall hard for Katie, his adorable four-year-old. But I never expected to fall for my new boss, who’s a decade older than I am. Turns out there’s a heart of gold beneath Tuck’s broody exterior, one I work to reveal bit by bit. Casual small talk leads to late-night conversations I can’t get enough of.
No surprise our simmering sexual tension explodes with one deep, toe-curling kiss.
He tells me I’m his good girl; I tell him I love the praise. We give ourselves one night, and one night only, to explore the fiery attraction between us.
It’s the best sex of my life. But when I wake up, Tuck is gone, and life goes back to normal. Or at least I think it does, until I start to feel nauseous. Turns out I was right: my boss is trouble. The kind that comes with one night I can’t forget and two pink lines that will change our lives forever.
I WISH YOU WERE MINE is coming January 18 to KindleUnlimited!
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.
Tropes: small town romance; single dad; grump/sunshine; opposites attract; boss babe FMC
“You’re my true north, Marly Rivers. I’ll always find you.”
Nothing makes my blood hum more than a good old-fashioned romance where the MMC is grumpy, and the FMC is sunshiny and independent and fun. This is the case with Juliette Cross’s Peaches and Dreams. Every moment of this story is a delight. Marly and Wade are opposites who attract. Wade has this tendency to judge Marly’s actions, but she quickly shows her tenderness and kindness toward his son, and it wins his heart.
Juliette Cross has crafted a new Smartypants Romance story in Peaches and Dreams, challenging her readers to look beyond the “cover” of a person and find ways to live life to its fullest extent. It’s okay to choose yourself over your family’s expectations, and a father who loves his child is better than raising one to be just like you.
Corinne Michaels has revealed the gorgeous covers for Broken Dreams!
Releasing: December 1, 2023
Cover Designer: Sommer Stein
Photographer: Michelle Lancaster
Model: Chad Hurst
What could possibly go wrong fake dating the gorgeous single dad in a small town?
The answer, you fall for him.
It started out perfect. Grady Whitlock needed a plus one for his business meetings, and I needed a date for a wedding.
We had a plan. It was a good one.
Until it wasn’t.
I was not supposed to have feelings for him. I was not going to let my heart race when his soulful blue eyes stared into mine. No way should I have noticed his smile or the dimple on his right cheek or his strong arms when he held me close. I especially wasn’t going to melt when I saw him play with my daughter.
Most of all I was not going to sleep with him.
Nope. None of that was supposed to happen, but it does.
Now I find myself dreaming of him every night. Wishing we were really a couple because the way he kisses me doesn’t feel as if it’s pretend.
But we’ve both watched our dreams shatter, and I can’t handle another broken heart.
Meet Corinne Corinne Michaels is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of romance novels. Her stories are chock full of emotion, humor, and unrelenting love, and she enjoys putting her characters through intense heartbreak before finding a way to heal them through their struggles.
Corinne is a former Navy wife and happily married to the man of her dreams. She began her writing career after spending months away from her husband while he was deployed–reading and writing were her escapes from the loneliness. Corinne now lives in Virginia with her husband and is the emotional, witty, sarcastic, and fun-loving mom of two beautiful children.
Tropes: fake relationship; single dad; sports romance; slow burn
“I wanted her everywhere. All her sounds, every flicker of her eyes, and every smile, I wanted them inked on my skin and threaded through my veins.”
There is something very special about Karla Sorensen’s One and Only. Let me be clear: Sorensen is a must-read author for me because her style, her storytelling, her genius at crafting characters speaks to me as a reader. I can hear her characters and their story distinctly in my head, and the way she puts words together flows easily through my mind. I’ve loved her romances and especially adored Logan Ward, the ultimate book boyfriend, for his capacity to love his sisters and his eventual soulmate, Paige. I note all of this because her newest book has taken the top spot for my favorite Sorensen romance. Here’s why…
The romance is nuanced in a way that shreds your heart. Everything feels understated and small, but the specter of it fills your soul. One and Only is a slow burn. Like…a really slow burn. Think, they finally give in to their chemistry at the 90-ish percentage mark. And it’s pure perfection. It’s exactly as it should be because Sorensen knows that her characters, Greer and Beckett, require the space of the story to find themselves while falling in love with each other.
I’ve tried to understand why Sorensen’s romances captivate me, and One and Only helped me realize that her superpower is crafting small, quiet moments between her characters that shout out their attraction and chemistry in powerful, heartrending ways. Even with a big character such as Greer who takes up space with her spontaneity, the small moments between her and Beckett cause you to hold your breath and fall deeply in love with them. There’s a moment when Beckett shares his experience growing up with older parents and feeling minimized. He tells Greer how he’s insistent on wanting all the time with his daughter, Olive, because he wants to give her more than he had. In that moment, he recognizes how Greer takes his truth and holds it dear: “Greer’s attention never wavered, and I could see the way she tucked every word of my answer somewhere important. I wanted to know where she kept it. Where she locked it away. What question it answered in her mind. This answer, the biggest piece of who I was, mattered to her. And that, in turn, mattered to me.” This is a purely internal moment, and it causes you to hold your breath a little at Beckett’s gravity of interest in Greer. It’s here where love is created, and it jars you a little in all the best ways. Beckett is incredibly internal, and Sorensen uses it to draw her readers to his character.
Beckett speaks few words, but his eventual choices breed a big love. That’s where I fell in love with him. It’s where he surpassed my love for Logan Ward. His integrity and his willingness to sacrifice Greer in order for them to have a future are what made me fall deeply for him. It’s hard to describe why it feels special to this story, but I think, in a world where it feels harder and harder to trust people, Sorensen plays with the idea of integrity through the fake relationship trope and rectifies it in a way that feels both devastating and promising in equal measure. That’s where she blew my mind and made me appreciate her even more as a writer.
The tertiary relationships of One and Only are its foundation. They give Beckett and Olive a family, challenge Greer, add humor, and make me cry. The Wilder family is magical, and I won’t be okay when Tim dies. I know it’s a matter of time, but I’m not ready for it yet. Even more, there is the promise of more stories, and I can’t wait to reside in Ian, Parker, Cameron, or Poppy’s stories because Sorensen has constructed a family that we’d all love to belong to.
I’m still not over One and Only. Beckett’s silent strength and Greer’s fierce love have burrowed spaces into my heart. As I think about the sweet bonus epilogue and the beauty of their journey, I don’t want to move on from them. Hopefully, we will see them again in future Wilder family books, but it’s a testament to Karla Sorensen’s gift that we hate to leave her stories. That we’d love to live in the day-to-day of Beckett and Greer always.
Professor Romance 