Not in boardrooms. Not in backroom deals. And definitely not in Halo City—where money talks, secrets kill, and the underbelly has teeth.
But his brothers’ hunt for their missing father drags Banks straight into a blood-slick maze of power players, dirty cops, and men who smile like friends while they sharpen knives behind their backs.
Then she becomes the target.
She’s the one loose end no one saw coming—too brave, too stubborn, and suddenly standing between Banks and the truth. Protecting her should be simple: lock it down, move her somewhere safe, burn anyone who gets close.
Except she doesn’t want saving… and Banks doesn’t know how to want anyone this much.
Halo City wants her silenced. Banks wants her in his arms.
And the moment he claims her, this stops being business.
Because in a city like this, love is leverage— and Banks Hawthorne is about to turn ruthless.
Not only are Banks and his siblings trying to find the father they had believed passed away but now it appears that two of his brothers have been abducted. The trail leads to Halo City so his decision to take an assignment is twofold as not only will it give him a cover for his personal investigation, but it will allow him to protect Anniston as well.
When Anniston realized that all was not as it should be she decides to do the right thing which has placed her in danger. Her first meeting with Banks is both humorous and adventurous and the only way to ensure the people responsible are held accountable requires a little forced proximity and action.
Flirty banter, a touch romance and suspense all add up to an entertaining story which leaves us needing to know what the future holds for the Hawthorne family.
✨Did you see?✨JUST MY LUCK by @authorlenahendrix is available NOW! Grab the *DELUXE LIMITED EDITION PAPERBACK featuring stenciled edges, holographic foil, designed interior covers, chapter headers, and full color special character art!*
*DELUXE LIMITED EDITION PAPERBACK featuring stenciled edges, holographic foil, designed interior covers, chapter headers, and full color special character art!*
Unexpected sparks ignite a slow burn in this grumpy/sunshine workplace romance when a single mom proposes a marriage of convenience to save her boss’s brewery.
Fans of Lucy Score, Elsie Silver, Carley Fortune, and B.K. Borison will find their next obsession with this second standalone in bestselling author Lena Hendrix’s spicy, emotional, deeply romantic Kings Series set in small town Michigan.
You might think it’s reckless for a single mom to enter into a marriage of convenience with her boss. You would be correct.
Lark Carrington came to Coral Bell Cove for a fresh start. A fading inn, a quiet life, and a chance to rebuild something steady after everything she’s lost. She didn’t expect her first real connection to come in the middle of chaos.
Holt Wright is used to being underestimated—long before he ever put on a uniform. The easygoing one. The goofball. The brother no one expected much from. Until he became a firefighter. Now, when the alarm sounds, he’s the one people trust when it matters most.
The one who shows up.
The one who stays.
Even for her.
At First Spark is a tender, slow-burn small-town romance about healing, showing up, and discovering that sometimes the person who saves you… is the one you choose to stay for.
She’s here to expose hockey’s biggest flaws. He’s the complication she never planned on. Neither one is prepared for the sparks that fly every time they collide.
Warm, witty, and unexpectedly emotional, CROSBY launches the Portland Wildfire series with a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance between a skeptical filmmaker and the goalie determined to stay out of her spotlight… until she becomes the one thing he can’t turn away from.
It is only days before the majority of Humanity lands onto the Crucible as they finish their Tutorials and Jeb still has no clue what City it will be only that it will not be the one he is in. In the meantime, Jessica Lewis, the nerdy girl who took the portal that was meant for her older Brother, is lost, scared, looking to the broken Jeb to save her, to teach her, to make her strong enough to stand on her own or at least to stand in his shadow without being obliterated. There is only one place according to the Blood-elf, Nes, to do so, the Endless Dungeon, the place Jeb and Bose had been dumped in, to begin with, the place they almost died multiple times, the place of their birth within the Crucible of War.
Both have some payback to give to the lizards who almost took their lives when they were only Copper Ranked, weak. Now they are Iron, two Tiers higher, and with many plans and little time. They need to get Jessica stronger while Jeb needs to keep his mind from breaking on the anvil of madness if they are ever going to protect his soldiers lost within the Crucible. The Empire is watching ever closer as the exiled Network Journalist, the dhampir, Shovani Tor, decides he and Bose and Bogie are her ticket back to relevance. All of it is spiraling in ever growing circles. Throw in the Greenskin hit squad led by the Vulture, hired by a Weaver through the Bloody Skull and you have a shit storm in the brewing.
Will they survive? Will Jessica and Nes find their own fates tied to the broken old soldier? Will Bogie get his rent paid?
Samantha Skye is a contemporary romance author from Melbourne, Australia. A country kid turned city slicker, Samantha writes characters that are as diverse as they are devilishly handsome.
Her unique brand of suspenseful spice deftly combines the risky and the risqué, setting hearts pounding for more than one reason! When she’s not plotting her next novel, Samantha can be found chatting on podcasts, or anywhere there’s sunshine.
An avid traveler, Samantha is just as comfortable in gumboots as she is in Christian Louboutins…but she’s usually having more fun in the latter.
I came to Whispers to start over. Just me, my baby, and a bakery that smells like second chances.
No more judgmental glances. No more family who treated me like a stain they couldn’t scrub out. Just flour, sugar, and the quiet hope that I can build a life worth living.
I didn’t expect to meet Griffin.
Grumpy, gorgeous, and maddeningly closed off, he’s the town’s most elusive billionaire and the man who built homes for the rich but never made one for himself.
He sees me. Not just the bump or the baggage, but the woman underneath. And when he looks at me like I’m the only thing that’s ever made sense, I forget how to breathe.
But trust isn’t something I can afford. My past has taught me to be wary of everyone. Even if the grumpy builder says he’s ready to fight for something real.
🥃Review🥃 Savannah has recently moved to Whispers to start a new life for her and the baby she is expecting. When her family found out she was pregnant thy had their own plans for what would happen and she wants no part of it. She is opening a new bakery however funds are tight so when Tanner suggests that Griffin could help her with some of the renos at no cost she offers to pay with baked goods.
Griffin is a man with a devastating past who never believed that love or a family would be part of his future. When he meets Savannah his first instinct is to protect her and be there for her which includes having them both face their pasts.
Griffin may come across as grouchy, but he has a heart of gold and will do anything for those he loves while Savannah shows how strong and resilient she is as life keeps throwing her challenges to overcome. The voice of Ryan West was the ideal choice for the character of Griffin while Savannah Peachwood allows you to feel what Savannah was experiencing.
That’s the one thing Brace Cordova is convinced of when he’s released from a five year stretch in a military prison.
He figures the best he can do is spend the rest of his days as a freighter pilot and vicariously live out his dream of a Commonwealth Fleet career through his cousin, Commander Letessa Cordova.
His plans unravel when he’s accosted by gangsters, rescued by smugglers, and swept up in the search for an ancient Earth relic.
With a vengeful crime lord and a Commonwealth Fleet gunship both hot on his heels, Brace soon realizes he might not live long enough to ever get a taste of the quiet life.
The Cordova Vector is book one in The Brace Cordova Space Opera Series. It’s an action packed science fiction adventure filled with diverse alien races, ruthless criminals, dedicated soldiers, and millennia-old mysteries.
Harlow James is a pen name I use to protect my identity as a high school teacher. Keeping those two roles in my life separate is necessary, but also fun! It’s like a live two lives, and anonymity gives me the opportunity to be bold and take risks in my stories.
I stumbled upon romance novels in 2018 when I picked up Driven by Kristy Bromberg, and I was obsessed. I had just lost my grandmother too, so reading offered me an escape from reality and a chance to grieve on my own terms.
About a year later, I got an idea for my own book and started writing. I researched self-publishing and jumped in with both feet. I had no idea what I was doing!
But now I’ve built a business and hobby that I LOVE! I have an outlet that’s just for me. When I write, I’m not a mom, a wife, or a teacher…I’m a woman who gets to tell stories that no one else can.
My books are the perfect blend of heartwarming moments, full-bellied laughs, and PLENTY of steam to melt your Kindles 😉 And there are always elements of me sprinkled in to every character and story that I write.
When I’m not writing you can find me reading or spending time in my kitchen. I love to cook and feed my family and friends. Otherwise, you can find me watching comedy specials with my husband, camping with our kids, or taking naps. I live for naps 😉
Pretending to be fake engaged to my enemy might not be my brightest idea.
But it is definitely necessary.
On the brink of the biggest car show of my career, I start to panic because it’s the first time I have to see my ex since our break-up.
Spoiler alert: it wasn’t clean or amicable.
Then when Elliot Thorne’s ex-fiancé shows back up in town, I devise a plan for both of us to get what we want: a buffer from our exes with a dash of revenge.
The problem is Elliot takes his role to protect me too seriously.
He brings me food while I’m working to make sure I eat. He even silences the self-doubt I feel on a day-to-day basis.
And before I know it, he has me on my knees in my garage, and on my back on the hood of my car.
The hate I’ve harbored toward him melts away as fast as my panties, and I soon realize we have more in common than I thought.
Then he tells me a secret that makes me reevaluate our entire relationship.
Now I’m left to consider if something fake could be real…
And that maybe it’s about time I admit that Elliot isn’t my enemy after all.
JJ Hanson is as incredible as a father as Beckett is. And damn if that isn’t my kryptonite. As much as I despise this attraction to him, I’d never wish those traits away. I absolutely adore his daughter, and how could I not want him to be a great dad for her?
“I’m leaving shortly,” I reply.
“We’re going to the same place. Might as well ride together,” he says.
I swear every eye in the room is on us, like they’re all waiting for me to explode.
Avery peers up at me, her eyes the same glacier blue as her father’s. “You should remind him he’s not the boss of you.” She gives me one of her signature saucy smiles. “You’re the boss of him.”
The room erupts into laughter, the tension breaking. Grinning, I pull Avery onto my lap, hugging her tight. Her mother disappeared recently, so I’ve made even more of an effort to show her love and affection since. I still don’t know why she left, but that woman has caused more than enough grief for a lifetime. It serves me well not to think of her. I will, however, always have her little girl’s back. Even if she happens to be JJ’s daughter.
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to remind him repeatedly.” I dart a look at JJ, who is wearing one of his many guarded expressions, his focus on us.
“I’m driving.” His eyes instantly light up like he’s surprised by my response. “Fine by me, Coach.”
That’s the other thing I got wrong when I pictured my future. I’m not the legend in the NHL. I’m just the legend’s coach.
My best friend is settled. He met the love of his life and was granted guardianship of his younger siblings. I’ve had the goal to help him for what seems like forever, and now that things are good for him, I should feel complete, right?
But there’s always been a piece missing for me. Has been for a long time.
Something I don’t think I can ever fix.
And then suddenly, that part of my past shows back up in my life. He should hate me. I hate me. But that’s the thing about Remy . . .
He’s far too good for this world, and I’m once again terrified I’ll break him.
Because that’s what I do.
Remy
I want to forget about my past. It’s my life’s goal.
I’m not that weak little boy trapped in foster care anymore. I’m stronger now. I’m the principal at a major school in the Kansas City area. I’ve grown into the man I knew I could be.
I don’t talk about the past. I refuse to.
But then it’s shoved into my face, and I can’t look away. I can’t walk away like he did all those years ago.
Sometimes I despise this stubborn streak inside me. I should stay away. He has.
But there’s this pull there—even after all these years.
I can put on a show for everyone else, but when he’s around, I start to crack.
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.
That was where the story was supposed to end.
Ben went back to his life as a professional rugby player, and I went back to mine as a college student. Except mine came with a positive pregnancy test and a life I never planned for. One Ben made it clear he wanted no part of.
I didn’t fall apart or chase him. I picked myself up and brushed myself off, raised my daughter, and fought my way into law school.
For five years, we did just fine without him. We were happy, even.
Then, out of nowhere, Ben crashes back into our lives, smiling like nothing ever happened, and everything I thought I knew comes undone. Because some misunderstandings don’t just break hearts. They steal years.
Now Ben is determined to make up for lost time, and not just with our daughter.
The passion we shared is still alive and well, but the stakes are much higher now. But if there’s one thing Ben is good at—besides being relentlessly cheerful and sexy in his rugby uniform—it’s persistence. He doesn’t give up.
If Ben has it his way, the end of our story will be only the beginning.
From USA Today bestselling author Scarlett Cole, writing as S. Cole, comes an electrifying small town, enemies-to-lovers, age gap romance.
KNOX
I rule Gator Flats.
Seventeen years wearing the president’s patch, and every man in this swamp answers to me. So when someone gives up a club member’s location, not to the cops, but to a man who already tried to put him and his family in the ground, I take it personal.
There’s a rat close to my table.
I’ll find them.
What I don’t need is Maren Caldwell driving past my compound like she doesn’t know exactly who I am. Like her father didn’t shoot my brother and keep his badge.
She’s too young. Too tied to things that never washed clean. And every time I look at her, I forget that wanting something and taking it are two different things.
A heart-mending romance for a small town marriage-in-repair between reunited lovers seeking a second chance at love later in life.
Dart Rivers is my ex-husband, or so I thought.
Three years ago, he drove out of our small town to chase racing dreams, leaving me and my broken heart in his rearview mirror.
Couple goals and shattered promises brought feelings of failure on both our parts.
Then one night, a special delivery is left on my back step. A stork-drop of sorts. (Think Baby Boom). At first, I believe there must be a mistake, but when the sweet bundle swaddled in pink gazes at me, I’ll do anything to keep her.
Enter Dart Rivers again.
An accident on the track leads to him sneaking into the house, crashing on my couch, and announcing he’s still mine.
Close proximity provides honest conversations, friendly couch time, and familiar attractions. With silver speckled in his hair, Dart is still the best-looking man I’ve ever seen, making my belly flutter and my heart beat again.
But can I trust that fragile organ? Can I give my ex-not-ex-husband a second chance? Can I believe Dart’s new promises?
+ + +
Rogue River series is a spin-off from the Sterling Falls series, specifically Sterling Touch, giving readers small-town romances with characters over 40.
Kari's Book Reviews and Revelations 