Title: Brooklyn Cupid
A Hidden Identity Roommate Romance
Author: Lexi Ray
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
Tropes: Hidden Identity/Roommates to Lovers
Release Date: July 25, 2023
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HE IS ABOUT TO SHOOT HIS DREAM GIRL...
Bounty hunting can be dangerous, but Jace Reed is used to danger and always follows the rules. Including the most important one—never get emotionally involved.
But everything goes haywire when the Brooklyn “it girl” interrupts his most important assignment.
Beautiful Lucy Moor may or may not hold the only clue to the target that Jace has been tracking for months. So becoming her roommate to get the intel from her should be easy… right?
SHE IS ABOUT TO CHANGE HIS LIFE...
Nothing is easy when Jace's simple organized life collides with hers.
His most important rule? Broken as soon as he moves in.
His sanity? Shattered when he discovers her secret.
Turns out, his new roommate is not as innocent and sweet as she seems at first. And her secret is, oh, so spicy!
Jace never knew love. But now that he falls fast and hard, he is determined to claim it and keep it for himself.
If only he hadn’t brought the danger of his job right to her doorstep…
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Title: Refrain
Series: Off the Record #3
Author: Madelynne Ellis
Genre: Rockstar Romance
Tropes: Polyamory/Bisexual Lead
Release Date: July 25, 2023
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When your angst-ridden past collides with your present, you wind up broken, and you walk away, lest you break everyone else.
Rock guitarist Spook Mortensen has spent a decade hiding from his traumatic past. Now everyone knows his secrets, and their judgement leaves him broken inside and out. To avoid destroying everything that matters to him, Spook leaves both Black Halo and the woman he loves.
But there’s no running from the demons that lurk in the darkest corners of your soul, because they hitch a ride with you wherever you run.
There doesn’t seem to be a path out of the darkness, until the band’s irresistible, sex addicted, bad boy frontman swoops in determined to stage an intervention.
Xane’s prepared to do whatever it takes, no matter the sacrifice, to mend the hole in Spook’s heart and ensure he returns to where he belongs – Allegra Hutton’s arms and the Black Halo line-up. What neither of them expects is how intense the bond between them will become.
Refrain is an angsty, spicy, heart-wrenching rockstar romance with flawed characters, broken and damaged souls, intense friendships, all the feels, and a lot of bed sharing. It’s complicated… okay?
This is the third novel in the Off the Record series and forms part of the wider Black Halo world. These books are intended to be read in order.
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EXCERPT
Early June. Southampton, UK.
“Don’t die. I’ll never fucking forgive you if you die.”
The miserable rain wouldn’t let up. It dripped into his eyes and hammered incessantly against Xane’s head and back as he folded himself over Spook’s prone form. The cacophony of it drummed in his ears in place of the heartbeat he was frantically trying to detect. “Spook. Goddammit. Please.”
What did he do? What the fuck did he do?
Why wouldn’t his fingers work?
He managed to wrestle his phone from his pocket. “Ambulance,” he barked at it. So many questions. Too many that he didn’t have answers to. The moment the operator ended the call he hit speed dial for Luthor. “Shipping containers about a hundred yards from the bus. Spook’s out cold. He’s been attacked.”
“Badly hurt?” his boyfriend asked.
“There’s blood everywhere. He’s a fucking mess.”
“Tell me you called an ambulance first?”
“Course. Fucking get here. Please.”
“Hang tight. I’m already on my way.”
Luthor continued to talk to him, but Xane dropped the phone, so that he could strip off his leather jacket and gently cover Spook’s shoulders. It did little to keep off the rain. Fucking weather never cut you a break when you needed one. By the time Luthor skidded to a halt beside him, Xane was wet through and shaking so hard he could barely communicate.
His lover dropped the bus’s first aid kit between them but didn’t bother opening it. Sticking plasters weren’t going to cut it. He fell onto his bare knees and entwined Xane in a rough hug. “Ash is watching for the ambulance. Help’s coming. Who did this? Xane… Who did this?”
“I don’t know,” he croaked into the warmth of Luthor’s shoulder. “Is he breathing? I don’t know if he’s still breathing.”
Heedless of the dirty red puddle, Luthor leaned right down so that his cheek was on a level with Spook’s mouth. “He is. He’s still with us, Xane. He’s hanging in there. What he needs is for you to do the same. Take a breath for me, eh?”
His hand touched Xane’s face, bringing both focus and comfort.
“Steve,” he blurted. “He wasn’t nearly this badly…” That event was imprinted directly over the top of the present. Steve, blood erupting from his nose in a gush outside the casino in Monte Carlo. Red everywhere. Red as the pool they were kneeling in. Red as the rivulets coursing over Steve’s parted lips and mingling with the hairs of his designer scruff. Red as spilled ketchup. Red as the entire right side of Spook’s head.
He should have stayed with him. Should never have taken his eyes off him.
“Xane. It’ll be okay.”
The gleam in Luthor’s mismatched eyes was too bright. “Don’t promise me. You don’t know that.”
“What happened to Steve was a freak accident. He was alone. This isn’t the same. We’re right here and you don’t have to let Spook out of your sight, not for a second. Nothing’s going to spirit him away. You can ride with him to the hospital. They’ll be here soon. But only if you keep it together, otherwise you’re no use to him. Do you understand me, Xane? Nod that you understand.”
“I get it. Yeah.”
“Yeah?”
He shivered, desperate to rid himself of the clammy sensation creeping over his skin. “I’m good.”
Luthor squeezed his arm. “Another few minutes, that’s all.”
The sound of running feet had them both turning. Rock Giant’s moss green hair settled like fronds of seaweed over his eyes as he slid to a halt, sending a spray of water into the air. “Which bastard did this?”
Ronnie Bush shunted in behind him, canopying them with a corporate golfing umbrella. “Shouldn’t we get him out of the puddle?”
“I don’t think we should move him.” Luthor reached a protective arm over Spook’s prone form. “Let’s leave it to the experts, eh? He’s not at risk of drowning, only of getting cold.” On cue, Rock Giant shrugged off his coat, and spread it overtop of Xane’s jacket. “Where’s Alle? Has someone told her?”
Alle. Christ, yes. Xane hadn’t given so much as a thought to Spook’s girlfriend. Hard to think of her as that, after watching his friend actively avoid relationships for the best part of a decade. Someone ought to tell her what had happened. “I have her number in my phone, if you want to call.”
“It’s okay, I’ve got it.” Ronnie passed the umbrella to Paul then hunched against the shelter of the nearest shipping container to see his phone screen. It was more likely that Alle would pick up a call from Ronnie. While she’d taken what had gone down between him and Spook back in Gothenburg a darn sight better than his girlfriend, that didn’t mean she wasn’t holding a grudge. Fuck, it was all a right bloody mess in an all too literal sense.
“I’m not getting a reply. I even tried calling—went straight to voicemail.”
“Could just be shitty reception,” Luthor griped.
An electronic chirp sounded nearby. “Did you hear that?” Xane asked.
“Hear what?”
The answer was evidently no.
Rock Giant mushed his lips together, which lent his jawline an extra granite-like quality. “Wasn’t she hanging out with Dani and Mrs Gore today? Maybe give one of them a try.”
“Luthor?” Xane prompted his lover. Dani had barely said a word to him in the last twelve hours. It was unlikely she’d take his call, and being used as a messenger service to reach Spook’s girlfriend was going to go down like a lead balloon regardless of the emergency.
“I’ll try.” Luthor rose and backed away from their little huddle. His absence left a chill down the side of Xane’s body. The shakes hit him again as a continual tremor. “Paul, will you try Ginny?”
“Would do,” the big guy said. “If I had her number.”
“Why don’t you?” He had been in possession of it. They all had.
“Ash purged it from my contact list before the wedding. Something about unnecessary schmoozing. Seriously, he’s lost his marbles since they cut that cake. All I asked was whether she had a spare pair of fishnets I could b—”
“Not now, eh?” Luthor cut in. “I’m not getting a response.”
“I’m still not having any joy either,” Ronnie remarked. “And I’ve set it to auto redial.”
Xane swore he heard another electronic chirp.
Luthor re-joined Xane on his knees, having stuffed his phone back into one of his many pockets. “Dani’s going straight to voice mail. Wherever the ladies are, it’s obviously a reception dead zone.”
“Maybe Ash—” Rock Giant began.
“Let’s not distract him.” It was far more important that Ash directed the paramedics to the right place. Xane didn’t want them delayed, even by a second.
Time drizzled on. Xane wound his fingers around Spook’s wrist. There was a certain measure of relief in feeling the steady rhythm of Spook’s pulse. He’d frozen in place by the time the paramedics arrived, breaking the stillness that had settled around them like a shroud. He had to uncurl each finger separately, then his legs protested him rising too. Bits of gravel clung to the skin of his knees. He knew he ought to feel sore, but he couldn’t feel much of anything anymore. He’d stopped being cold, though evidently, he was still shaking as someone wrapped a blanket around his shoulders.
“Is he okay?” Xane asked.
One of the paramedics shone a light into his eyes.
“I want to go with him,” he blurted as the ambulance crew were hopping into the interior with Spook strapped to a trolley.
“Maybe get dried off and follow.”
“No.” Xane threw off the blanket. “I need to be with him.”
Luthor wrapped him up again. “It’s important,” he told the woman.
She inclined her head as if to say your call, but you’re gonna stay wet. Like he cared about that. Steve had died because he’d let him go. There was no way he was leaving Spook. “Fine, just stay out of the way. She pointed him at a seat. Buckle in, don’t move.”
Luthor slipped Xane’s phone back into his hand, then kissed him goodbye. “Keep us updated. We’ll find Alle.”
“And you’ll explain to Dani.”
“She’ll get it, Xane. No explanation necessary.”
He didn’t quite have Luthor’s faith. Maybe she’d understand that Spook needed him right now, but maybe it’d be confirmation that he cared more for Spook than he did for her. It wasn’t true. He didn’t rank the people he loved.
What she had to understand was that while he’d apologise for his actions as many times as she liked, he’d never regret making them. Time over, he’d do the same thing again. And, if he was really the man she wanted him to be, the man worthy of her love, she’d never ask him to do otherwise.
The slam of the ambulance doors snapped him out of his thoughts. It didn’t matter. None of it did. The only thing of importance right now was Spook. He clasped his friend’s ice-cold hand. “Stay with me, eh?” The words were as much for his benefit as Spook’s. He wasn’t even sure Spook could hear him.
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AUTHOR BIO
Madelynne is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author. She wrote her first novel after discovering Black Lace Books in the 1990s. Having escaped the Hotel California, she dived into storytelling full-time. Her books are filled with bisexual bad boys who like to get down and dirty, and stories so angst-filled you know they’re going to hurt.
She lives in the UK near the Welsh border, where you can find her surrounded by books, drinking rapidly cooling decaf coffee, and listening to loud music. Her family still haven’t grasped that noise-cancelling headphones really do mean she can’t hear them.
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Title: Jigsaw's Blayde
Series: Royal Bastards MC: Tonopah, NV #15
Author: Nikki Landis
Genres: Dark MC/Paranormal Romantic Suspense
Tropes: Organized Crime/Secret Baby/Second Chance
Release Date: July 25, 2023
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Five years ago, I made a mistake.
I walked away from the woman I loved.
Every day since, I’ve been living a lie, burying my regrets as I tried to move on.
It only takes one chance meeting to know I messed up.
Abby isn’t safe.
She’s got a stalker leaving threatening messages at the newspaper she works for.
There’s a hit on her head, and every shadow is a threat.
I thought I was protecting her when I left, but I was wrong.
When I see the son I never knew I had staring into my eyes, I swear I’ll do anything to make this right.
I’ll cut through every enemy and let the monster inside me take control.
My reaper won’t hold back his fury.
We won’t fail again. This second chance is a gift.
I’m wreaking havoc and unleashing the full potential of the demon within.
I’ll save my little Blayde and win back her heart.
And I’ll make damn sure no one stands in my way.
Jigsaw's Blayde is a full-length standalone second chance, secret baby romance and includes steamy scenes, biker slang, cursing, violence, dark content, a paranormal REAPER twist, and, of course, an HEA. This is a dark romance with forced proximity and an OTT protective, possessive outlaw. For best enjoyment, the series should be read in order. It is highly recommended that Devil's Ride, Hell's Fury, and Viciously Mine are read before Jigsaw's Blayde.
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AUTHOR BIO
Nikki Landis is the USA Today & International Bestselling, Multi-Award-Winning Author of over 50 romance novels in the MC, reverse harem, paranormal, dystopian, and science fiction genres. Her books feature deadly reapers, dark alpha heroes, protective shifters, and seductive vampires along with the feisty, independent women they love. There's heart-throbbing action on every page as well as fated mates and soul bonds deep enough to fulfill every desire.
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Title: Beautiful Sin
Series: Beautiful Sin #1
Author: Jennilynn Wyer
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Tropes: Reverse Harem/Why Choose/Opposites Attract
Cover Design: Angela Hadden
Photographer: Wander Aguiar
Model: Cooper A.
Release Date: August 29, 2023
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I was at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong men. Men who are not what they seem. But neither am I.
Scarred, isolated, and practically alone–that was my life before attending Darlington Founders University.
I spent my days in the shadows, fading into the background and hiding the person I was ten years ago. A broken, damaged girl I didn’t want to remember.
My life changed when I met them. Three men who altered everything. I witnessed something I shouldn’t have, and now I’m suddenly the object of their obsession. Tristan Amato, Hendrix Knight, and Constantine Ferreira. Wealthy playboys hellbent on claiming me for their own.
When I’m thrust into their lives and given no choice but to live with them for my protection, I realize there is a lot more to these dangerous, enigmatic men than meets the eye. As the past and the present collide, dark truths are revealed and whispers of a secret society start to surface. I’m forced to face the very things I repressed all those years ago and question everything I know about who I am, who I can trust… and something much worse…
Am I falling in love with the enemy?
Beautiful Sin is a full-length New Adult romance with dark themes and damaged anti-heroes. It is book one in the Beautiful Sin series and ends with a cliffhanger. Recommended for mature readers. Please check Reader’s Note in the front matter of the book for potential TWs.
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EXCERPT
Beautiful Sin by Jennilynn Wyer, copyright 2023
“Can I ask you a question?”
He twists around and looks up at me. “Depends on the question. It’s a definite yes if you want to massage lower.”
My eye roll is intentional.
“Do you always have to ruin a moment with a jerk response—Don’t,” I quickly say when I see his eyes alight with humor, and I realize my verbal faux pas.
“I didn’t know we were having a moment.”
He flips fully over, taking me by surprise, and I collapse backward onto the soft ground with Tristan braced above me. Without thinking, I flatten my palms to his chest. I can feel the solid thump of his heartbeat beneath my fingertips. My gaze gravitates to his mouth. He’s not smiling anymore.
“Are you involved in organized crime? Like the son of a don or something?”
He bursts out laughing, and the sight is wondrous.
“Was that the question you wanted to ask?”
I nod, feeling foolish, but it was the only thing I could come up with to explain everything that has happened. I’m trying to make sense of things that are way outside my realm of comprehension. Guns. Violence. His abusive father. Aleksander. Why Tristan thinks my life may be in danger from the latter two.
“No, Red. Just because my family is Italian—”
Shit. Not what I meant.
“I swear that’s not what I was implying. It’s just…”
Flustered, I turn my head and look at the red bell flowers hanging down in clusters on the nearby bush, but he takes my face and forces me to look at him.
“Who are you?” I whisper, afraid to find out the real answer.
I want him to lie to me. Make up a story. Anything to maintain the illusion.
“Who are you, Synthia Carmichael?” he counters.
“I am no one.”
The effect those words have on Tristan is the same as Hendrix when I say it. He takes my throat and leans in. But unlike with Hendrix that night at the top of the stairs, Tristan’s touch is enticingly provocative, not punishing. Seems I like both.
“Don’t ever say that again.”
He moves his hand from my throat to my mouth and pulls at my bottom lip, then shoves his finger inside. Some innate instinct takes over, and I suck, stroking my tongue up his thumb. Black eclipses his irises, hiding the golden brown.
His voice is husky when he warns, “Careful, Red. I won’t ask for your permission. I’ll just take what I fucking want.”
I’m barraged with lurid promises of what it would be like to be taken by a man like him. Hendrix in the pantry had stoked those embers, but Tristan is the gasoline that will ignite those sparks into a wildfire.
And I would burn once again.
Which is why I push him off me and scramble to my feet, then run back inside the house and up the stairs to my room.
I’m good at running away. I’ve been doing it my entire life.
AUTHOR BIO
Jennilynn Wyer is multi-award winning romance author (Rudy Award winner for Romantic Suspense, HOLT Medallion Award winner, three-time Contemporary Romance Writers Stiletto Finalist, three-time HOLT Medallion Award Finalist, and a Carolyn Reader's Choice Award Finalist). She writes steamy, New Adult romances as well as dark reverse harem romances. She also pens YA romance under the pen name JL Wyer. She is a sassy Southern belle who lives a real-life friends-to-lovers trope with her blue-eyed British husband. When not writing, she’s nestled in her favorite reading spot, e-reader in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, enjoying the latest romance novel.
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Title: Letters from the Heart
Series: Willow Valley #3
Author: S.L. Sterling
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Tropes: Small Town/Widower/Military
Release Date: July 26, 2023
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Peggy
After the death of my husband, I drowned myself in flowers, a bittersweet memory of the good times we’d shared. I’d had the good fortune to fall in love with a man who wasn’t great with words but understood the language of flowers. There had been flowers for every occasion, which culminated into the biggest flower delivery of all, my own shop in the small town of Willow Valley, Peggy’s Petals. So I spent all my time and energy building my small flower shop.
Eight years later, my friends are trying to encourage me to move on, but how does a person do that and leave behind the guilt they hold? Instead, I tried something safer. My best friend, Trinity, suggested I join the Army pen pal program. It seemed the safest way to test out the waters with someone new, and the best part, we’d never meet, or so I thought.
Ethan
I’d now been widowed longer than I’d been married and thanks to countless deployments, I knew the men under my command better than I knew my own daughter. As I neared retirement, I wanted to change that. I started talking to my daughter. She explained that she had been doing some volunteer work for a non – profit. She was starting a pen pal program for military men and women and she wanted me to get involved.
Apparently, all I needed to do was write a pen pal provided by the non-profit. So, I signed up, and began exchanging letters. This went on for a few months. The more I knew about her, the more I wanted to know. Then kismet played its hand. Melinda, my daughter, and Peggy, my pen pal lived in the same small town.
As I prepared for retirement, I finally knew where I wanted to settle down. The military had given me an amazing life, now I wanted the job of being a family man, which meant being with my family. I planned to move to Willow Valley, build a relationship with my daughter, and if I had my way, build one with Peggy too.
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AUTHOR BIO
USA Today Bestselling Author S.L. Sterling was born and raised in southern Ontario. She now lives in Northern Ontario Canada and is married to her best friend and soul mate and their two dogs.
An avid reader all her life, S.L. Sterling dreamt of becoming an author. She decided to give writing a try after one of her favorite authors launched a course on how to write your novel. This course gave her the push she needed to put pen to paper and her debut novel "It Was Always You" was born.
When S.L. Sterling isn't writing or plotting her next novel she can be found curled up with a cup of coffee, blanket and the newest romance novel from one of her favorite authors.
In her spare time, she enjoys camping, hiking, sunny destinations, spending quality time with family and friends and of course reading.
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Title: 4 Hints You Love Your Best Friend
Series: Bower Boys #4
Author: Kelly Siskind
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Tropes: Friends to Lovers/Forced Proximity/Roommates
Release Date: July 26, 2023
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A rule follower gets stuck living with the off-limits woman he’s always wanted in this small-town romance that sizzles with slow-burn heat.
Jolene Daniels is my best friend. Sorry…was. She was my best friend a lifetime and ten years of witness protection ago. Now that I’ve returned to my hometown, Jolene and I are once again hanging out.
As friends.
I do not fantasize about the time we fell asleep in the tree house we built, and I woke up with her tucked against my aching chest. I don’t replay the days we raced through the woods, nothing but carefree adventure and laughter filling the air.
Nope. We’re just old pals, and I’m thrilled to have her back in my life. Of course, I notice how stunning she is, but it’s fine.
Until her apartment floods and she temporarily moves into my place. In the room beside mine. Nothing but a thin wall between us. She also walks around in flimsy tank tops. Zero bra.
Did I mention she’s my brother’s ex and he’s looking to rekindle their romance?
Good thing Jolene Daniels and I are nothing but the best of friends.
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AUTHOR BIO
Kelly Siskind lives in charming northern Ontario. When she’s not out hiking or skiing, you can find her, notepad in hand, scribbling down one of the many plot bunnies bouncing around in her head. She loves singing while driving, looks awful in yellow, and is known for spilling wine at parties. Sign up for Kelly’s newsletter at www.kellysiskind.com and never miss a giveaway, a free bonus scene, or the latest news on her books. And connect with her on Twitter and Instagram (@kellysiskind) or on Facebook and TikTok (@authorkellysiskind).
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Title: Built to Last
A Good with His Hands Series Standalone
Author: Kat Baxter
Genre: Steamy Romantic Comedy
Tropes: Curvy Girl/Best Friend's Brother/Small Town
Release Date: July 26, 2023
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Sadie
My nerdy co-worker is my perfect guy. Trouble is, he doesn’t “see me that way '' Despite my three degrees, it’s a problem I can’t figure out. Until, everyone in my office sees me with my best friend’s brother and assumes we’re together. Turns out a little competition was just what the man of my dreams needed to sit up and take notice.
Suddenly I’m in a fake relationship with Finn, the hottest guy I’ve ever known. He’s blue collar and rough around the edges and oh, so good with his hands. He makes me notice all the ways my “perfect guy” isn’t so perfect after all. Even worse, he makes me wish this fake relationship was built to last.
PURCHASE LINKS
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AUTHOR BIO
USA Today Bestselling Author Kat Baxter writes fast-paced, sweet & STEAMY romantic comedies. Readers have dubbed her books “laugh-out-loud funny,” “hot enough to melt your kindle,” and “The Queen of Adorkable.” She lives in Texas with her family and a menagerie of animals. Kat is the pseudonym for a bestselling historical romance author.
Connect with Kat online.
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Title: Hot Chicken
A Man of the Month
Christmas in July Series Novella
Author: LM Fox
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Tropes: Unrequited Love/Small Town Beach Romance
Release Date: July 31, 2023
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Matt
Returning to my hometown to help care for my ailing mother
wasnât on my radar at age twenty-eight.
But neither was Ellie Albright.
This small seaside town and its obsession with Christmas
had me packed and ready to leave at a momentâs notice.
Who knew a trip to the corner convenience store
could make this holiday grump want to grovel?
Because this girl is all I can think about,
and Iâm not wasting my chance this time.
Ellie
Itâs Christmas in July in Candy Cane Key.
However, winning Best on the Beach is the only thing
on my wishlist.
Definitely not my blazing hot high school crush
turned firefighter whoâs come back home.
July is tourist season for our little beach town.
The entire community enjoys a lift in sales
as travelers visit for sun, surf, and holiday silliness.
Yet itâs not as easy when your place of business
is a run-down gas station.
But Iâm keeping my eye on the prize.
Not on Matthew Hightower.
Thatâs one gift even Santa canât deliver.
This steamy novella is a return to hometown,
unrequited love, small-town beach romance
with a guaranteed HEA!
This is a standalone, but stars characters from Naughty & Nice,
A 2022 Man of the Month Club Sycamore Mountain series novella.
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EXCERPT
Matt I put my truck in park and hop out, walking toward the door with trepidation. I hope the food tastes better than this place looks. A metal bell chimes overhead as I open the door. Iâm surprised to find the inside is quite different than what greets you in the service area of this place. The area is bright with white linoleum floors and shiny gunmetal countertops. Thereâs a soda fountain and coffee stations to the left and the cashierâs check out to the right. A portly appearing older gentleman appears to be reading the newspaper, sitting on a stool behind the counter. âHi. Are you Elliot? Iâm working with my brother this summer and he sent me to pick up lunch for his crew.â âAh, Harry your brother?â he asks around a toothpick dangling from the corner of his mouth. âYes, sir.â âWell, any brother of Harryâs is a friend of mine. Iâm Jo.â âMatt. Nice to meet you. Oh. Salty Jo is you?â He grins, and I instantly have the feeling this man is a fixture in Candy Cane Key. âI donât recall this place from when I grew up here.â âWhatâre you? Thirty?â âClose. Twenty-eight.â The bell chimes again, and I notice customers meandering around the place. No one seems the slightest bit concerned about the condition of the place. Iâm sure they have to pass inspections with the health department, but I still canât help being a tad concerned about eating lunch from a place like this. âWell, weâve been here as long as youâve been on the planet, son. Although it probably looked a bit better back then. Time and multiple tropical storms have taken their toll on the place. After a while, it gets to feel silly sinking any more money into it. But your brother has come to our aid more than once for the important stuff.â This makes me smile. My brother really is a good dude. âSpeaking of your brother, I guess we need to keep his boys fed.â Jo removes the toothpick that remains in place throughout our conversation and points toward his right. âElliotâs over there. In the deli area.â A mischievous smirk curls the corner of his mouth. Whatâs that about? âThanks.â âNice to meet you, Matt. Hope to see you âround.â I turn in the direction of the deli and feel my stomach grumble as Iâm hit with the aroma of fried chicken. Now I live in a mountain town in North Carolina where home cooking is a staple. So for the scent of these gas station offerings before me to cause me to salivate says something. Bending forward, I take in the options within the glass case. There are perfectly prepared pieces of chicken, both on and off the bone, macaroni and cheese, green beans, collard greens, baked apples, and an assortment of pies. Hell, they even have banana pudding here. As my eyes travel to the back of the display area, I find Iâm drooling for an entirely different reason. A set of shapely calves, thick thighs, and the hottest backside Iâve ever seen is bent over before me. This girl is leaning into the oven while her tiny cut-off shorts ride up her legs, causing my dick to twitch. Hell, is she on the menu? As if on cue, she stands to her full height. Sheâs probably about five foot five, with generous curves in all the right places. Those perky tits have to be at least a C cup, if not more. They are perfectly proportioned to her rounded hips and trim waste. Her thick auburn hair is pulled up in a messy bun, covered with a hair net. Yet, I canât help picturing it tumbling down her back toward that fantastic ass. Shit. I donât remember anyone in Candy Cane Key looking like this when I lived here. Well, maybe one girl, but she was just that. A girl. While this one is all woman. I barely finish my thought before said stunner turns to face me. While I stand here with my mouth hanging open at the beauty wielding silver tongs before me, Iâm met with the biggest green eyes Iâve ever seen. She simply gives me the once over as if this happens all the time. This curvy girl has my mouth watering when it suddenly hits me. Wait. Do these guys come here for the hot chicken or the hot chick?
AUTHOR BIO
Born and raised in Virginia, LM Fox currently lives in a suburb of Richmond with her husband, three kids, and a chocolate lab.
Her pastimes are traveling to new and favorite places, trying new foods, a swoony book with either a good cup of tea or coffee, margaritas on special occasions, and watching her kids participate in a variety of sports.
She has spent the majority of her adult life working in emergency medicine and her books are written in this setting. Her main characters are typically in the medical field, EMS, fire, and/or law enforcement. She enjoys writing angsty, contemporary romance starring headstrong, independent heroines you canât help but love and the hot alpha men who fall hard for them.
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Title: Dip's Flame
Series: Satan's Legacy MC #5
Author: Andi Rhodes
Genre: MC Romance
Trope: Opposites Attract
Release Date: July 27, 2023
BLURB
Dip…
I’m not a good man, and I’ve never pretended otherwise. As the Road Captain of Satan’s Legacy MC, I’ve seen and done things most wouldn’t be proud of, but me? I couldn’t care less. Good, bad, or indifferent, I am who I am, and you either accept me or don’t.
That has always been the way I lived my life. Until the night I walk into a bar and see her. She shouldn’t captivate me the way she does, but those eyes, those tits, and that mouthwatering ass suck me in. Despite that, it’s clear she doesn’t belong here. She’s a good girl, a nice girl, a girl I could corrupt in a heartbeat.
So when she gives me a proposition, how can I say no?
Kennedy…
When I got married at nineteen, it was because I had to. My husband was chosen for me by the church, and I had no say in any of it.
But now I’m a widow, and my life is just beginning. For the first time in ten years, I feel in control, and all I want to do is lose it, throw caution to the wind and experience all the sins I can without damning myself to Hell.
And I think I know just the person to help me do it.
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AUTHOR BIO
Andi Rhodes is an author whose passion is creating romance from chaos in all her books! She writes MC (motorcycle club) romance with a generous helping of suspense and doesn’t shy away from the more difficult topics. Her books can be triggering for some so consider yourself warned. Andi also ensures each book ends with the couple getting their HEA! Most importantly, Andi is living her real-life HEA with her husband and their boxers.
For the most up-to-date information on releases, preorders, signings, and all things Andi Rhodes, visit her website at www.andirhodes.com.
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Title: Wicked Demands
Series: Kingdom of Sin #3
Author: Jordan Marie
Genre: Contemporary Mafia Romance
Tropes: Age Gap/Forced Marriage/Enemies to Lovers
Cover Design: LJ, Mayhem Creations
Photographer: J. Ashley Converse
Model: Chris David
Release Date: August 17, 2023
BLURB
He rescued me when I had nowhere else to turn.
Now, this filthy talking man is demanding payment, but he doesn’t want money.
He wants me in his bed, obeying his every command.
All my life, I wanted to be loved. Instead, I was ignored.
My father gave me what I wanted so he could go back to ignoring me.
Once I understood that, life became easier.
When he arranged to marry me off to the son of his biggest ally, I didn’t mind.
Marco was the older brother of my best friend and honestly, he made me burn.
I wanted to belong to him.
I wanted in his life, his bed and definitely in his heart.
It didn’t quite work out that way.
Marco treated me just like my father did—maybe worse.
Being tolerated by the man you love is a level of pain that I couldn’t endure.
So, I left.
The fact Marco didn’t fight to keep me was horrifically painful.
When one really bad decision lands me in hot water.
I reach out to the only person who has ever cared about me, my best friend Lina.
Too bad, she’s also Marco’s little sister. Marco rescues me, but he’s no white knight.
He’s a monster.
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AUTHOR BIO
I'm just a simple small town country girl, haunted by Alpha Men who talk in my head 24 hours a day. I'm quirky, a little crazy and try to find something every day to make me laugh. I write stories that will ultimately give you a happy ever after--sometimes the couples just have to work for it. I love hearing from readers!
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