I met Ben Wells at an airport on one of the worst days of my life. We talked, laughed, connected, and survived a travel disaster. Then we shared one wild, passionate night together.
“I’m pregnant,” I blurt the words in one go, like ripping off a Band-Aid.
His face drains of all color. His mouth is hanging open, and I can see his chest start to rise and fall as if he’s just run a marathon. I know exactly how you feel, buddy.
“Yeah, so.” I put my own hand to my chest as my heartbeat starts to match his. “I would have told you when I found out, but I didn’t know who you were.”
“I’m sorry.” He shakes his head, as if wishing the words away. “What did you say?”
I look around one more time, then back to him. “I’m pregnant.” I say it so low it’s a touch higher than a whisper. “I know this is a shock to you. It took me a full two weeks to wrap my head around it.” I can’t look into his eyes, so instead I focus on my fingers on the table. “With that being said, I want you to know I won’t tell anyone that you’re the father.” I close my eyes when the stinging hits them. “No one is going to know.” My eyes rise up to his reluctantly. “After I saw you yesterday, I figured the least I could do was tell you.” I push away from the table now. “I have to go.” I grab my bag. “Bye, Theo.”
Scarlett Cole is a contemporary romance and romantic suspense author who calls both Toronto, Canada and Manchester, England home. A born city dweller, she periodically quashes the urge to live in the country by hiking up a mountain to remind herself that living away from people would terrify the pants off her.
She believes everybody deserves their love story to be told and loves her heroes on the rough and rugged side…and usually tall (because she married one of those 6ft 6” men you read about in romance!). She’s an A-type personality and Scorpio star sign, so good luck getting her to do anything she doesn’t want to.
When she isn’t writing, she’s happy to talk hot men and expensive shoes while drinking a cold gin and tonic. Don’t bring up olives. As far as Scarlett is concerned, they are the devil’s food. As long as you don’t bring up olives, she’s happy to hear from any time.
From USA Today bestselling author, Scarlett Cole, writing as S. Cole, comes an electrifying small town, opposites attract, single mom romance.
VANDAL
The men who took me thought they could break me, and maybe they did.
Physically, I get better every day. By my head is so messed up, I can’t tell the difference between a memory and a nightmare. The club says I survived. Most days, it doesn’t feel like it.
Then a little girl calls my phone by mistake.
One wrong number puts Daisy and Elsie right in the middle of my wrecked life. Daisy with her gentle touch and guarded eyes. And Elsie clutching her teddy bear, looking at me like I’m someone safe.
I’m not.
I’m an Iron Outlaw. Damaged. Barely holding myself together.
But Daisy’s running from dangerous men. And I start wanting things I stopped believing I deserved. A home. A family. Her.
So, when Daisy’s past finally catches up to her, they’re going to learn exactly how dangerous a broken man can be when you threaten the only people keeping him alive.
Two years after suffering from a stress-induced breakdown, defence lawyer Beth Gunning is struggling to cope with life. When her husband, Rory, suggests they join Beth’s sister and partner on a wild camping trip in a remote part of Montana, she decides that the freedom and tranquillity of a place far away from London might be what she needs. A chance to repair, relax, and get her head together.
Rory’s brother, Elliott, invites himself and his two teenage kids along for the trip. So it’s set to be a wild adventure of a lifetime. Provided that Rory and Elliot can set aside their sibling rivalries, that is.
Apart from some quarrelling and physical struggles, the trip seems to be going well. The Bob Marshall Wilderness is a stunning place, and everybody is embracing the fabulous experience.
But after a GPS malfunction and one wrong turn that leads them off course, cracks quickly form within the group. As some clash and others struggle with their dire predicament, the situation goes from bad to worse.
But Beth’s dark past is about to come back to haunt her and rock the very foundations of her world. Because it appears that someone in their hiking group has an ulterior motive for joining this trip.
Something extremely sinister that could ruin everything.
And out here in the vast, untamed wilderness, Beth knows she can no longer run from her bleak past and must finally face her dire demons…
HI! I’M SERENA AKEROYD, AKA G. A. MAZURKE USA Today and International Best Selling Author, I am most known for my mafia and MC series set in the Five Points’ Mob Universe.
An avid reader of all things romance, I first started my career as a Why Choose author in both contemporary and paranormal. I eventually made my way to MF romance where I found my groove with the O’Donnelly brothers, the Satan Sinners, the Valentini Family, and most recently, the New York Stars and Pigeon Creek series!
In my back list, you can find some MM, MF, MFM and Why Choose romances. HEA guaranteed!
When I’m not writing, I’m either reading, traveling or coloring.
The first time he sent me the decapitated head of my enemy, I fell in love.
No, it wasn’t exactly appropriate, but the world is dark and mine is only getting darker.
There’s a secret society seething behind my college’s preppy image—and I want in.
Who better to go to for help than my psychotic suitor, Maxim Lyanov?
The Veronians selected me to be the well-connected future wife of a brother.
I’ll play their games, prove my worth but the only person who’ll decide whose ring I wear is me.
They’re about to learn the hard way that I’m a brat and I’ve already chosen my man.
Cloaked in Maxim’s protection, I, Victoria Vasov, will be the next kingmaker.
Welcome to Oakwood College, Poughkeepsie, NY, where you will catch up with peeps like Shay, Victoria, Sofia, Wynter, Callan and so many new faces!! Classes start this summer!!
🔥Review🔥 There hasn’t been a time that Maxim hasn’t known that Victoria was meant to be his however he also knew for that to happen he needed to be patient. They are now in college when she approaches him as she wants to help out someone she loves and that means joining the secret society. He will help her but he has his own agenda which is claiming her as his own.
Victoria is strong, independent and will do anything for those she loves. She will join the secret society, but she isn’t about to just bend to their will as she will do whatever is required except when it comes to the choice of her husband as she has already chosen Maxim and isn’t about to let anything or anyone stand in their way.
Maxim may be protective and possessive but rather than standing in her way he will support her unconditionally while Victoria has no qualms about doing what is necessary as they take us on a surprising and suspenseful journey that includes a love that may be unconventional but is also unconditional.
Theo Williams loved and lost once and isn’t interested in doing it again. He has his family and friends, and plenty of women passing through his new hometown who are happy with a no-strings attached night of passion. Working as a partner at his cousin’s construction company, he’s perfectly content with his life—until he meets Collins Henderson, the one-night stand who will change his world forever.
Collins grew up on the wrong side of her small hometown. Thanks to her parents’ shady schemes, every local knows a Henderson cannot be trusted. She works hard as a paramedic, putting in every extra hour she can to save for a better life. But every time she starts to get ahead, her parents show up to pull her back down. Having one night of passion with a man she doesn’t know is not something she’d normally do, but there was just something about him … And two months later, she finds herself unexpectedly pregnant.
When she runs into the mysterious stranger again, she has to tell him, not because she needs or wants anything from him, just so he knows. But now he’s showing up at her house to cook her meals, stocking her refrigerator, and doing everything he can for her. Collins has always taken care of herself, she wasn’t looking for a relationship, but she can’t deny the chemistry between them.
She knows it’s only a matter of time before he learns who she is and changes his mind. She can’t let herself fall for this guy, but every day he’s getting harder to resist …
An enigmatic figure emerges into the Hallowed World, promising a gift of unfathomable worth to the people of earth. Crown sorcerer, Ambrose Drake must negotiate terms with this peaceful invader, but Drake and his companions soon find themselves drawn into a warped reality from which there seems no escape.
Coupled with this external threat, Drake fights a losing battle with the demonic sovereign housed in his mind, a battle whose outcome may well determine the fate of the Hallowed World.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lauren Blakely, comes the second standalone small town rom com in her bestselling Darling Springs series, I’VE GOT A CRUSH ON YOU! This spicy, grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, workplace, forbidden small town romantic comedy releasesJuly 28thin all formats, including the deluxe edition paperback featuring stunning salmon-colored sprayed edges, and will be free to read in Kindle Unlimited! Check out the sneak peek andpre-order your copy today!
Ready for whatever the night brings, I cross the lobby and turn the corner into the bar. My heart stupidly skips a beat when I find Sawyer exactly where he promised he’d be. At the end of the bar, with a glass of iced tea in front of him. Music plays overhead. Sounds like Journey. Maybe “Don’t Stop Believin’”?
And is Sawyer…singing along to it?
Well, air singing, since he’s sort of mouthing the words, drumming out a beat on the counter with his hands.
I smother a smile so I don’t look too giddy when I walk his way. But really, this is a great sign. Would a beheader sing along to Journey? I don’t think so. I march over, eye the stool next to him, and say, “Is this seat taken?”
Sawyer rises, a knowing look in his eyes as he sweeps them up and down me in a shameless tour of my body. But he doesn’t answer my question with words. He answers with actions when he cups my cheek, strokes his thumb down my jawline, then comes in close, dipping his face toward mine. Giving me time to say no.
I don’t. I lift my chin in invitation.
He drops his mouth to mine, and for a few dizzying seconds, the kiss is as slow and sweet as a summer afternoon. It’s hazy and warm as he brushes his lips across mine in a teasing whisper of a kiss.
It’s deliciously unexpected. I’m not used to men knowing their mind, making a plan, and sticking to it. But I think I could get used to it in the kissing department, since this kiss goes straight to my head. And, well, my bikini. I’m aching between my thighs already. I grab the collar of his shirt, twisting my fingers around the material so I can hold on tight.
He kisses me for a few more delirious seconds, that trim beard whisking across my face in a light scratch. When he breaks the kiss, I figure that’s when we’ll sit down, but there’s no reprieve. After his mouth quirks up in a too pleased grin, he rasps out, “Come here, Chloe.”
“I’m here,” I whisper.
“Closer,” he says, hauling me against him before he takes another kiss. This one knocks the breath right out of me. It’s hard, demanding, full of teeth and tongue and desire. He kisses me like he wants to f*&k me. His tongue explores my mouth. One hand grips my face. The other ropes around my waist.
There’s no hesitation from him.
No games.
No dicking around.
I have a feeling that Sawyer is unapologetic. A man who wants what he wants and tonight that’s…me.
About I’VE GOT A CRUSH ON YOU (Coming 7/28/2026):
My secret workplace romance starts innocently enough at a birthday party.
But when a rowdy partier knocks me into a lake and a sexy stranger comes to my rescue – my night becomes one to remember.
A night so steamy I almost forget why I’ve sworn off men after a failed workplace romance.
Trouble is, the brand new doggy daycare in Darling Springs that I’ve contracted with is owned by none other than my sexy stranger. Thanks, fate.
Sawyer turns out to be a total grump in a tailored suit, no matter how sunshine-y I am. Even when he squeezes that hard body past me as I bring donuts to work. Or when he pretends he’s not roaming his dark eyes over me as I teach Fido to sit, stay and come.
But I’m focusing on my shiny new future—my dog-training business is suddenly the hottest thing in town, thanks to a new actress client. And when I’m roped into a charity dance number, I smell an opportunity, especially when I learn my hot landlord has an alter ego and a fandom.
Turns out Mr. Serious Boss is up for dance lessons.
Then the entire Dirty Dancing experience.
Giving into our chemistry once won’t hurt. Two might be pushing it. By the seventh, it’s undeniable–I’ve got a crush on him too.
A #1 New York Times Bestselling, #1 Wall Street Journal Bestselling, and #1 Audible Bestselling author, Lauren Blakely is known for her contemporary romance style that’s sexy, feel-good and witty. Her books have been featured in US Weekly and People. Lauren likes dogs, cake and show tunes and she is the vegetarian at your dinner party.
T.K. Drake is a dynamic duo comprised of best friends who couldn’t find the perfect romance novel and decided to write it themselves. As only children, they spent their childhood entertaining each other with elaborate stories and games. Reuniting as adults has inspired them to unleash their creative energy into contemporary and dark romances, bridging gaps in the genre and writing books they long to read. Based in the Southeastern United States, when not writing they are usually reading, lounging on the beach, or planning their next international vacation.
Thanks for joining me for a cocktail and some girl talk. I live the dream in my own slice of paradise where I get to enjoy colorful sunsets from my rocking chair while I’m working. I have my very own romance hero with Mr. Rose and there’s more than a few little rose buds running around. A couple aren’t so little anymore! We keep things interesting with cats and a dog and the critters that roam though the yard (fingers crossed the mountain lions stay away).
Lane Foster was supposed to be a potential client—nothing more than the quiet, sinfully attractive co-owner of a Montana distillery. An account big enough to put my brand-new marketing company on Denver’s radar. A simple meeting for a make-or-break pitch.
Instead, it was one night. One explosive kiss. One promise to see him again.
Then I ghosted him.
So imagine my surprise when I return home for my father’s funeral and learn Dad’s final wish: I will inherit my childhood home. But only if I marry Lane Foster first.
Fine. I’ll marry the man. One month. One simple house sale. One emotionless divorce.
Except then he fixes up my father’s old truck without being asked. He makes space for me to work—and for my rapidly growing flock of chickens. He talks to me, touches me, makes me feel things way too much.
To make it worse, the tiny, judgmental town I ran from is welcoming me home.
I’m starting to wonder if my husband really wants a divorce. Or if I do either. What began as a whiskey proposal feels way too neat. But in my experience, that means it’s time to settle up because everything’s about to go sour.
Kari's Book Reviews and Revelations 