She’s a preacher’s daughter, a runaway bride and now the (not quite) qualified nanny for a sexy tattoo artist with a beautiful daughter—and a dirty mouth.
What’s a bad boy to do with a woman like her?
Everything…
Aaliyah Montgomery isn’t just ditching her wedding. She’s also fleeing her suffocating small town and her family’s expectations. She’s got plans—for college, for finding herself. But landing a job in Chicago that fits her schedule isn’t easy. Good thing Von Howard is desperate to find a live-in nanny. Bad thing that he’s a gritty, grumpy, gorgeous tattoo artist carrying as much baggage as he has ink.
Von’s new hire is inexperienced and a fire hazard in the kitchen. She’s also all thick curls, thicker curves, and a distracting mix of innocence and sensuality. After the upheaval of a divorce, he just needs a nanny, not a sneaky link. Meanwhile, Aaliyah is bonding with his seven-year-old and showing an unexpected flair for tattoo art. Who could resist?
Yet deep down, Aaliyah’s still running—from her feelings and her fear of losing herself to someone else’s expectations again. Even as their pasts return to haunt them, their undeniable heat says maybe it’s time to stand and fight for a love they didn’t see coming.
Aaliyah has always followed the edicts of her family which includes planning to marry a man she doesn’t love and live a life she doesn’t want. Deciding she can’t do it she ventures to Chicago to stay with her cousin and follow her dreams. One of those dreams is college so she agrees to take a job working for Von as a nanny.
Von is a tattooist and a single father to his daughter. His marriage is a mistake he doesn’t want to repeat, and he believes that Aaliyah is everything that he doesn’t want in a woman but the more time he spends with her and sees the woman she is destined to be the more intriguing she becomes.
I enjoyed seeing Aaliyah spread her wrings and with the support of Von gain the confidence and realize that she doesn’t have to conform to anyone’s view of her but that she is a fierce woman who deserves to be loved for who she is and not what people want her to be.
AUTHOR BIO
USA Today Bestselling author Naima Simone loves writing sizzling romances with heart, a touch of humor and snark. Her books have been featured in The Washington Post and Entertainment Weekly, and described as balancing “crackling, electric love scenes with exquisitely rendered characters caught in emotional turmoil.”
She is wife to Superman, or his non-Kryptonian, less bullet proof equivalent, and mother to the most awesome kids ever. They all live in perfect, sometimes domestically-challenged bliss in the southern United States.
He’s not looking for love, and she isn’t looking for him… but when opposites attract, the rules of the game change.
Anders As a pro hockey player for the Lauderdale Knights, my life is great—friends, hockey, and casual flings are all I need. Love isn’t even on my radar. But I’ll admit, dating my teammate’s hot sister sounds like a fun distraction.
Until I see her shy, nerdy friend sitting alone at the team party. Claudia’s nothing like the women I usually go for. She’s awkward, brilliant, and inexperienced, and I still find myself wanting more.
The problem? She’s headed back to Philadelphia, and I’m stuck here in Lauderdale.
Claudia
One bad experience left me done with men. I’ve got a great job, supportive family, and friends who mean the world to me. The last thing I need is a smooth-talking playboy hockey hunk trying to worm his way into my heart— and pants.
But then I meet Anders, my best friend’s brother’s teammate, the swoon-worthy Swedish player who’s breaking through my walls.
What started as one week together turns into something I never expected. But I can’t trap him like his ex did. I love him too much.
It’s the most important rule and the easiest to break.
Riding with the Knightdale Charter isn’t my first choice. But home is where you go when you leave your heart in a pine box. Grief is like a magnet, and I’m surrounded by shadows. Living life among the darkness, just like her.
She’s buried an even bigger piece of herself than I have.
And all she wants is to finally find the light.
If we had any sense at all, we’d steer clear of each other.
But I’d rather feel anything than nothing at all.
Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.
When is it love and not just lust? Don’t ask me. I’m a disgrace no matter what.
NYT and USA Today Bestselling author Kaylee Ryan brings you a new grumpy-sunshine standalone holiday romance
Blakely
When my boss tells me I’m taking over the planning of the annual Christmas gala, I can barely contain my excitement. Not only is it a huge opportunity, but I also love all things Christmas.
I’m on cloud nine until I realize I have to work closely with the grumpy doctor, who is my opposite in every way. He loathes the holidays. At least that’s what he says. His eyes tell me a different story.
That’s why I make it my mission to make him fall in love with Christmas. That’s our family motto after all. I’ll make him love the holidays harder than ever before. How hard can it be?
Oliver
My contract states I have to serve on a committee. When I fail to submit which committee I’d like to work on, I’m assigned the Christmas gala. Me… the guy who detests the holiday.
In years past, I let the marketing manager handle it all. I was there if she needed me. She never did. I expected more of the same this year, but it turns out, I get more than I bargained for. I didn’t anticipate her. Miss Ray of Sunshine, assistant manager.
That’s how I find myself attending holiday events and attaching myself to her any way I can. She’s trying to make me fall in love with Christmas. Instead, I’m falling in love with her.
When Blakely is given the opportunity to plan the Christmas party at the hospital where she works, she is determined to prove her worth and ensure that it is a resounding success. She has been partnered with Oliver but rather than letting his attitude detract her from her goal she is determined to show him what has been missing both in his life and when it comes to the holiday season.
Oliver is a successful doctor who would prefer to have nothing to do with the planning of the party as due to the past the season holds difficult memories for him. He now finds himself obligated to spend time taking part in traditions and it forces him to take a good look at his life and the way he has been living it.
I enjoyed seeing Blakely come into her own as she goes after who and what she wants and despite the difference in their life experiences and ages she is his perfect match in every way.
AUTHOR BIO
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Kaylee Ryan has been crowned the Queen of Swoon by her readers. With nearly fifty romance books under her belt, she’s known for penning happily ever afters with heart. When she’s not writing, you can find her with a book in her hand or hanging out with her family where she resides in her home state of Ohio.
When you’ve lost literally everything but your own life, can you learn to be loved or will you give up fighting the negative voice in your head and finally lose yourself completely?
Nora Hart is twenty-four years old, but she’s lost everything, rebuilt her life, fought through grief and worse, all while managing to avoid the shifter world that broke her in the first place.
Despite her near death and struggle for survival all on her own, she’s done quite well and has created a pretty normal life for herself. Despite all that, fate isn’t done messing with her.
Her heart and soul aren’t ready to open up to new mates, and may never be, but fate has brought them into her life anyway, causing her to move across the country as she tries to deny her connections and keep some semblance of the life she’s created.
Not only that, but that little voice in her head begging for death is back stronger than ever, those from her past who broke her down are back for more, and now she’s being hunted by humans out to rid the world of shifters.
Will she be strong enough to get through all of this, to find herself again and have a happy life, or will her struggle finally come to an end?
My teammate’s little sister is all I’ve ever wanted. Now I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her.
I’ve loved her in secret for years. I kept her safe from the sidelines, even though I knew better.
Everyone knows me as the good times guy, the player with a million dollar smile. Never taking anything too seriously.
Except for her.
She’s my end game. I’d sacrifice anything for Brooke, but my choices risk my team and the future of the Denver Kodiaks.
The past never forgets and I’m about to play for my life.
The world might count me out, but I won’t go down without a fight. I have my team at my back and the girl of my dreams on the line.
Everyone’s going to learn I’m hard to break.
Hard to Break is a pro basketball romance with banter, spice, and all the swoony vibes! It’s the third and final book in the Denver Kodiaks series. Miles and Brooke’s addictive story begins in Hard to Fake and continues in Hard to Take.
Download today on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and Kobo!
🏀Review🏀 You cannot help but feel for the tribulations that Miles is facing as it is so undeserving. The one bright spot is that even though it causes some turmoil her belief in him deepens their relationship and proves that together they can overcome anything.
Seeing the fierce side of Brooke emerge as she works to protect Miles and their relationship show how strong she and their relationship truly is as she isn’t about to just stand back and let things happen without a fight.
Both Miles and Brooke are great characters who you can’t help but root for and seeing them finally get the happiness they deserve is everything you can ask for and more.
Years earlier Dom found himself in a difficult decision and he believed that the best way to protect Lucy, the woman that he loved, was to end their relationship. Now that she is back in town, he wants a second chance and now he needs to convince her.
Personally and professionally Lucy’s life is in chaos so she returns to her hometown to stay with her mom. The last person she wants to see is Dom, her first love and the man who broke her heart, however the more time she spends with him the more she realizes that things may not be as they appear.
Dom and Lucy’s story if one of enduring love that hasn’t diminished over time but first they must deal with not only what happened when they were together but when they were apart as well.
As a bounty hunter, I’ve hunted the supernatural, yet nothing prepared me for the truth about my bloodline.
Exiled by a harsh twist of fate, I’m thrust into the cold heart of Norway. Here, amid ancient forests and icy waters, I’m supposed to start over. But shadows from my past cling tighter than ever.
A mission that was supposed to be my redemption throws me into the path with him—a man as dangerous and mysterious as he is infuriating. He’s hiding secrets that will get me killed, revealing he’s my fated mate.
Unbelievable!
His touch sparks a flame inside me, leaving me questioning everything.
Together, we stumble upon a dark conspiracy, centuries in the making, binding our fates together. As truths surface, we’re forced to work together.
As lines blur between us, I’m faced with a choice. Can I trust the man who awakens my soul but might be my ultimate undoing?
My pack thinks I’m stoic. In truth, I’m a murderer who has never shaken off the scars of my first kill when I was a child. Once my life was forfeit, now it belongs to my King. And when the Panther King orders me to retrieve his mate from the chaos happening on Earth, I do it without asking questions.
That is until my first whiff of the woman who my panther believes is his fated mate.
She will undoubtedly be my queen.
But does my loyalty rest with the crown the king, my best friend, wears?
Or at the feet of a witch whose touch is forbidden to me?
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁: » Hockey Romance » Alpha Males » Found Family » Trip of a Lifetime » Sports Fiction » Scheming Raven named Monty » Later in Life » Meeting Second Generations » On the Road
🏒 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘣𝘺 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥-𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 but you can catch up with the entire Chicago Steel Series now with #KindleUnlimited ➜ https://mybook.to/ChicagoSteelSeries
An all new holiday grumpy-sunshine rom-com with banter, delicious tension, and plenty of festive spice from Kendall Hale.
Life doesn’t go according to plan, but sometimes it brings you exactly what you didn’t know you needed.
I’m Noelle Holiday, lover of all things cozy and festive. I thought moving into my grandma’s rent-controlled apartment in New York would be a fresh start. What I didn’t expect was sharing a wall with Jacob McCallister, my grumpy, Grinch of a neighbor who hates joy, cinnamon candles, and any music with jingle bells.
He’s broody, blunt, and allergic to holiday cheer.
I’ve never met someone so bothered by a string of twinkling lights or the scent of freshly baked cookies. Naturally, I made it my mission to thaw his frosty exterior.
The problem is that the more time we spend together—whether it’s bickering over decorations or sharing late-night conversations through the walls—the more I realize there’s more to Jacob than scowls and sarcasm.
And when Grumpmas Eve arrives, we’re both faced with a choice: keep things the way they are or risk it all for a love worth unwrapping.
Kari's Book Reviews and Revelations 