Tropes: Holiday Romance, Childhood Crush, Brother’s Best Friend, Forbidden, Second Chance, Contractor, and Grumpy Meets Sunshine
Release Date: Tuesday, January 9, 2024
BLURB
This Christmas, I’d better not fall in love with my brother’s best friend… again.A long time ago I fell in love with my brother’s best friend, Heath. We kept our relationship a secret, knowing my brother would never approve. I had faith that in time we would come clean and declare our love to the world, but Heath broke things off before that could ever happen. I fled from my hometown and vowed never to return.
Now I’ve inherited my grandmother’s Inn and I have no choice but to go back. It’s not as simple as just selling the property, it needs to be renovated first. When the realtor said he knew just the guy, I never suspected it would be Heath. The moment he steps back into my life, I can’t deny that the attraction is even greater than it was all those years ago.
While renovating the Inn, Heath is determined to remind me of everything I loved about my grandmother’s property and his family’s Christmas tree farm. Nothing has ever felt more like home, than when I’m with Heath. Could these feelings be real or is it the magic of the holidays fooling me into falling in love with Heath again?
Lea Coll worked as a trial attorney for over ten years. Now she stays home with her three children, plotting stories while fetching snacks and running them back and forth to activities. She enjoys the freedom of writing romance after years of legal writing.
She grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania and currently resides in Maryland with her family.
Marley fell in love with Heath when she was a teenager however when he chose his loyalty to her brother rather than his love for her she couldn’t stay and be near him but not with him. It is only when her grandmother passes away and she needs to deal with her inheritance that she returns and the one thing she does know is that she needs to protect her heart.
The biggest regret in Heath’s life was ending his relationship with Marley and he wants a second chance. He convinces her to let him help with restoring the Inn she inherited while he shows her what their life could be like if she agrees to stay however, they must also make peace with the reason that their relationship ended the first time around.
After the pain of the past Marley is cautious and Heath is still concerned about how her brother will feel but they also realize how special the love they share is and aren’t about to let anything or anyone stand in their way.
I left because I had to; my father was selling me off to the most dangerous man in the world like I was a prized pony. There was already so much taken from me at the hands of my father, and I would allow nothing else to be ripped from me – especially my future.
It was simple. I found a new identity. I wasn’t Caprice DiGiovanni, I was Amber, a sweet and sassy Southern girl from Alabama. I ran to the last place my father would expect me to go – Ireland.
Everything was working out great for me – that is, until Sergei found me. I just never anticipated Liam Mackenzie coming to bat for me. He knew Amber; he never knew Caprice. Now he’s got us both.
Liam:
From the second she walked into my bar and asked for a job, I knew she was special. Something about this Southern girl caught my eye. It didn’t take me very long to discover that she was hiding something; her awful accent was proof of that.
It turns out she was far rarer than I could ever imagine. When her world came crashing down around her, I was the one ready to pick her up. It didn’t matter that she was off-limits, or that she was forbidden in every sense of the word. I’d find a way to make her mine, and I did. Caprice DiGiovanni is my forbidden love.
The Cowboy and His Best Friend’s Daughter by Kaci Rose is now live!
Jenna Everyone thinks I’m the aimless lost little girl. But the truth is I’m falling for my dad’s best friend. He’s everything I never thought I wanted. I spend my days writing my novel or working in the diner – dreaming of a different life. With Josh, my dreams aren’t about leaving Walker Lake anymore. Every moment I’m near him, I crave his touch. Small-town gossip and the man I shouldn’t want could ruin my life forever.
Josh I know better than to want Jenna. My best friend would lose his mind if he knew how much I dreamed about a life with his daughter. When she’s with me, I feel at ease. She’s beautiful and kind. Watching her on my ranch makes me think we might have a chance. But falling for Jenna could mean losing everything else.
🤠Review🤠 Before returning home from college Jenna ended her relationship with her boyfriend. Since being home from college the feelings she has for her father’s best friend Josh have escalated and the age difference or how her parents feel might slow her down, but they aren’t going to deter her.
Ever since Jenna returned home from college Josh has begun to see her as a woman and not his best friend’s daughter. He tries to keep his distance out of loyalty to his friend but that is proving to be difficult as she shows him how empty his life was without her.
This is a heartwarming story about fighting for you and what you want as Jenna and Josh are determined to show that theirs is the love of a lifetime.
Fool me once? Shame on you. Fool me twice? Not going to happen….
Step one: Go back to school with a thick skin and an impenetrable heart.
Step two: Make the queen bees pay.
Step three: Bring down the Rogues of Everly Prep.
Bullied, befriended, and betrayed, my life has been an emotional roller coaster since moving into the Kincaid Mansion and enrolling at Everly Prep. After everything they did to me, and all I went through to prove myself innocent, they received a slap on the wrist and a stern talking to – their punishment wasn’t nearly enough.
So I had to take matters into my own hands.
I had a plan and a few select friends I trusted to help me pull it off. Together, we were going to turn this school upside down.
Last semester, they nearly destroyed me. This semester was Chaz Miller’s time.
The second move was mine, and it was going to be epic.
Anyone who thinks star-crossed love is romantic has never actually experienced it.
Natalie
I know two things about Dalton Wick.
First, he’s unreasonably hot. And … my father would disown me if I ever got involved with him.
The hatred between our families runs deep. We’re still suffering from what his father did to our small town decades ago.
So, I’ll work with Dalton on our school project because my grade depends on it. But I will not fall for him.
Or so I think …
Dalton
I know two things about Natalie Spencer.
First, she hates my family, specifically my dad—almost as much as I do. And … I want her so much that it hurts.
But her being with me would ruin her relationship with her father. So, I should walk away. Everything would be much easier if I did. Logically, I know that.
Too bad my heart doesn’t seem interested in logic where Natalie is concerned …
How We Hated, book 1 in the Leighton River series, is a standalone, enemies-to-lovers, new adult, sports romance with plenty of emotional and angsty moments and some spicy times. Download it today and get ready to fall for Natalie and Dalton.
When I learn of the secrets he’s been keeping for two decades from a source other than him, I’m devastated. I don’t know how I’ll ever trust him again.
But I’m keeping a secret of my own. One he deserves to know.
I thought the final score ended in a tie where we both lost, but maybe there’s hope to put a little more time on the clock.
FINAL SCORE is the final book in the VEGAS ACES: THE COACH series. This series must be read in order.
I was four when my parents gave me my first pair of skates. By six, I was hooked on hockey and couldn’t get enough. At twelve, I had made a name for myself on the ice. And when I was fifteen, colleges were starting to take notice.
Life was great—until it wasn’t. Because when I was seventeen, my best friend died in my arms. And nothing made sense after that. Drinking turned to smoking. And smoking turned to pills. But no matter how high I got, I couldn’t erase that night. Or the guilt I felt.
Because that night had been my fault. And my friend was dead … because of me.
As my best friend’s baby sister, an actual angel sent from above, Haley Thompson is forbidden fruit, and I should stay away from her. Because everything I touch turns to crap. But like all things I’m not supposed to do, chasing her is another temptation I’m not strong enough to avoid. But when I spiral down, hitting my lowest point, I know I can’t take her with me. Because innocent, sweet souls like her, they don’t belong at the bottom.
The trouble is, she refuses to let go of me. Even if it will ruin her.
Liza knows that cocky billionaire Matt Russo is the wrong man for her. She could make a long list of reasons why she’d be smart to stay away, including his tenacious ex-girlfriend, the fact he’s trying to destroy her family, and, oh yeah, did she mention he’s a cold, distant bastard? However, after their tempestuous one-night stand, she’s finding it hard to hang on to their well-established nemesis routine.
Matt is the master of control—of his life, his emotions, his future. Except, of course, for that night he slipped up…with Liza Moretti. Reassuming his grip on the reins, he’s determined it won’t happen again. Unfortunately, doing the right thing in regards to the tempting woman fails because doing the wrong things with her—to her—are too alluring to resist.
An impromptu invitation to share his private plane leads to an unexpected break from reality and some very steamy nights in Hawaii. Until real life comes knocking and Matt is forced to face the mistakes of his past. Mistakes that could destroy the one thing he can’t control, and the one thing he can no longer live without—Liza.
Virginia native Mari Carr is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller of contemporary sexy romance and romantic suspense novels. With over three million copies of her books sold, Mari was the winner of the Romance Writers of America’s Passionate Plume award for her novella, Erotic Research. She has over a hundred published works, including her popular Wild Irish and Italian Stallions books, along with the Trinity Masters series she writes with Lila Dubois.
To anyone who didn’t know better Matt appears strong and dominant, but he hides the emotional scars from everyone even those he is closest to. He isn’t comfortable with the strength of his feelings for Liza so after their night together he tries to distance himself from her, but fate has other ideas.
Due to the difficult relationship between their families Liza know that the last person she should develop feelings for is Matt. Not only do they have that complication to overcome but there is also the past that he refuses to acknowledge but still haunts him. Liza has never given up without a fight and she isn’t about to start now.
The chemistry between Matt and Liza was never in question but they take us on quite the emotional rollercoaster as learning that they were exactly what the other needed wasn’t without its turmoil.
Why you will love this book… 🔥Small Town 🔥Fake Relationship 🔥Billionaire 🔥Marriage of Convenience 🔥Grumpy/Sunshine 🔥Opposites Attract 🔥Found Family 🔥No Third Act Breakup
Heading to a teachers’ conference hundreds of miles away from my small town should have been a nice break. Until I was propositioned by a stranger to be his wife for the next six months. And for whatever reason, I said yes.
Talon Beckett was a domineering billionaire with a steely-blue gaze that made me forget my own name. It was my excuse for agreeing to his terms…that and he agreed to play up our recent vows when we attended my ex’s wedding.
We both decided that we’d go our separate ways when our six months were up. He’d get full control of his bank account and the hotel chain that bared his mother’s maiden name, and I’d get whatever I needed in return.
When our time was coming to an end, I realized the one thing I wanted was something he had no desire to give. It was the affectionate side he’d kept hidden from everyone despite his need to say, “My Wife” when we were out in public. And as I crossed the days off the calendar, it was harder to remember that our marriage wasn’t real. Especially when we needed to sign those termination papers.
I feared I’d lose not only my new last name and job, but my heart along the way.
When I learn of the secrets he’s been keeping for two decades from a source other than him, I’m devastated. I don’t know how I’ll ever trust him again.
But I’m keeping a secret of my own. One he deserves to know.
I thought the final score ended in a tie where we both lost, but maybe there’s hope to put a little more time on the clock.
FINAL SCORE is the final book in the VEGAS ACES: THE COACH series. This series must be read in order.
𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐝 by Jennifer Sucevic is live on Jennifer’s website!!! The book will be wide on most retailers on January 12th, but will go into Kindle Unlimited on January 19th.
There was a time when my world revolved around him, and I’d foolishly thought he’d be the one to claim all my firsts. Those dreams shattered into a million jagged pieces when the unthinkable happened.
Five years later and we both attend the same college. He’s a superstar goaltender for the Western Wildcats with a ticket to the NHL. I’m just trying to make it through the last year and a half of college all the while doing my best to avoid him.
Wolf has decided that it’s time for us to get reacquainted. As far as I’m concerned, he can shove that idea where the sun doesn’t shine.
Better yet, he can bend over, and I’ll happily do it for him.
He might not realize it, but my life is splintering apart at the seams. My parents have lost everything and can’t pay my tuition for the second semester, which means I need to figure something out.
Fast.
Or I’ll be forced to drop out and move back home.
Unwilling to allow that to happen, I decide to sell the only thing I have of value.
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸 by L.B. Dunbar is the second book in the Sterling Falls series, a small-town series with several silver foxes and is releasing January 25th!!
Love wasn’t part of the blueprint when high school sweethearts reunite in their small town. But this former military man never forgot the girl he left behind and he’s more determined than ever to rebuild their relationship brick by brick and heart by heart.
Getting locked in the men’s restroom during my mother’s funeral wasn’t exactly how I expected to run into my high school sweetheart. The one who got away. The one who broke my heart.
I could toss the busted doorknob in my hand at him, but I’d prefer to get the heck away. Because twenty years later, Knox Sylver isn’t a teenage boy anymore but a broad-shouldered, thick scruff man with eyes that still look at me like I’m the only person in the room.
As a newly divorced mother of two teenagers, it’s been a long time since anyone sees me. And Knox is definitely watching.
Unfortunately, he made choices in the past and I wasn’t one of them.
According to him, that is ancient history.
Also, according to him, it’s never too late for a second chance. He’s out to prove he’s solid and stable, having returned to our small hometown, in a better place after a career in the military. He’s a local hero as a fireman and he wants to rekindle the flame between us.
I’m the one with decisions this round.
Do I stay where memories hurt? Or do I leave my past, and Knox, behind me again?
+ + +
From L.B. Dunbar comes an all-new small-town romance with a big family and the silver fox swoon one expects from her love over-40 romances.
I’ve always been a wild card – the first to start a fight on the ice, and the life of the party off it – but appearances can be deceiving.
Being traded to the Boston Rebels could not have come at a better time. With serious family obligations to fulfill and a contract renewal with a new hockey team on the line, I have no time for anything else. I return to Boston knowing I need to buckle down and focus on what really matters.
But the first night I’m back in town, I come face to face with Audrey, my college calculus tutor. We had a brief fling right before I was drafted into the NHL. Now, her five year old son is standing by her side, and I don’t need a tutor to do that kind of math.
Audrey insists she doesn’t want me involved in Graham’s life unless I can commit to being a dad. With everything else going on, this is the worst possible timing.
But every minute I spend with Graham and Audrey feels exactly right, and I’m left questioning everything I thought I wanted.
Because now my goals are shifting, and getting what I really want might come at the expense of the game I’ve given my entire life to.
Change. It can happen slow and steady or all at once.
For me, it was fast and unexpected. I showed up to work one day, only to leave that evening, directionless. My career had become my life. My entire life. And in the blink of an eye, betrayal stole it all away.
I find myself escaping to the small town of Sullivan’s Way. It’s a place known for world-class slopes and unparalleled mountain views. And as I navigate my complicated past, I meet a new group of friends. I meet him. Zane. He’s moody and brooding. He’s a snowboarding legend. And he’s so gorgeous that he steals my breath away.
He seems to hate me at first sight. And I don’t have time for any more complications, even ones that come in pretty packages. But the more time that passes, the more I think a distraction might be exactly what I need.
My past is looming. My present is uncertain. But my future … is suddenly full of possibilities.
🔥 COMING NEXT WEEK 🔥
Seeking revenge has never been hotter!
Looking for your next smoking hot book boyfriend? A Vicious Proposal releases next Wednesday, Jan 17th!
Fans of the forced marriage trope, funny banter, and steamy chemistry will absolutely love A VICIOUS PROPOSAL.
𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲, an enemies to lovers sports romance and prequel novella, by Kelly Finley is releasing February 5th. We are thrilled to share a teaser with you!
I just lost the Super Bowl — but tonight, I’ll win her.
Blair Monroe has always been off-limits. In college, I dated her best friend, while Blair and I were total opposites according to those romance books she always read. She hated football, and secretly, I loved that about her. So the pranks we played were legendary, the tension between us intoxicating.
Blair was an epic tease I could never win.
Until one night, we confessed our secrets, our guilty attraction. We never did anything about it… and we never spoke again.
But this Valentine’s night, when the only romantic company is my right hand, fate sends me stumbling into Blair at an adult store. And now the game we’ve waited eight years to play is finally ON. I want her to clean up the mess she made of my heart, and she wants to show me what dirty really is.
Who can out-tempt the other? It’s the forbidden game we’ve agreed to play for one night only.
I don’t do girlfriends, and Blair doesn’t do love.
Or so we thought.
Shameless Play is a prequel novella to Shameless Game (coming soon). It is in a series of interconnected standalones set in the author’s spicy world where MMCs and FMCs are drawn to this special store and to each other. They do not need to be read together, but you can devour more of this world, the couples and their group romance, in other Kelly Finley books.
Life hasn’t always been unkind to her, but that’s probably because she’s always been cautious. She wasn’t looking for trouble, but over the last year, too much happened outside of her control. Everything had gone from bad to worse. And if Indy doesn’t want to spend the winter living out of her car—and possibly freezing to death—her only hope is landing a job at the local ski resort.
Griffin Ross doesn’t want for anything.
Part of that is because he built his fortune as a professional surfer, but it’s mostly because he doesn’t live a lavish lifestyle. Griffin lives for the adventure. That’s why he’s currently living out of his camper traveling all over the west coast wherever the snow is falling.
Under normal circumstances, it’s unlikely Griffin and Indy would have ever crossed paths. But when an avalanche traps the pair at a Colorado resort, the opposites find avoidance is impossible.
Within days, Indy finds herself struggling not to make all the same mistakes again. But Griffin is determined to show her that, sometimes, it’s okay to chase the storm.
Indy has always preferred security especially since the one time she took a chance she found herself homeless and with no income. The opportunity at the ski resort would not only give her a job but a place to stay as well. An avalanche leaves her stranded at the lodge and brings Griffin into her life, but will she be willing to take a chance on love?
Griffin is a professional surfer in Hawaii, and he spends his off season in the US where he follows the next storm in his camper so that he can snowboard. He has always gone from one adventure to the next never considering laying down roots but the feelings he has for Indy are unlike anything he has ever felt before.
Griffin is everything you could want in a boyfriend as he allows her to set the pace while showing her that the love they share can overcome anything including their very different lifestyles.
A.K. Evans is a contemporary romance author of over forty published novels. While she enjoys writing a good romantic suspense novel, Andrea’s favorite books to write have been her extreme sports romances. That might have something to do with the fact that she, along with her husband and two sons, can’t get enough of extreme sports.
Before becoming a writer, Andrea did a brief stint in the insurance and financial services industry and managed her husband’s performance automotive business. That love of extreme sports? She used to drive race cars!
When Andrea isn’t writing, she can be found homeschooling her two sons, doing yoga, snowboarding, reading, or traveling with her family. She and her husband are currently taking road trips throughout the country to visit all 50 states with their boys.
From USA Today bestselling author Claudia Burgoa comes an angsty, fake-fiance, opposites attract, secret billionaire romance.
What do you do when you’re tired of being the loser?
You make up the perfect fiancé, of course.
I know it sounds desperate, but hear me out.
In my family, everyone is someone.
But me? I’m just a small-town librarian with no prospects and no future.
At every family reunion, my older sister reminds me of that fact.
So when she announced her own upcoming nuptials, I knew I had to act fast. I needed a fake fiancé to bring to the wedding and prove that I was happy and successful too.
Enter River Kershaw, the town playboy.
My bestie Wren suggested him, and I was hesitant at first.
He’s the complete opposite of me: a charming extrovert.
But I can’t deny that he’s tall, strong, and hot.
I know it’s a risk, but I’m determined to show my family that I’m just as happy and in love as they are. Even if that means pretending to be with someone who’s totally not my type.
I’m ready to give the performance of a lifetime.
Dirty Secret Love is the second book in the Heartwood Lake Secret Billionaire Series—an emotional rollercoaster of a journey that combines the intense drama of Succession and the hilarity of Schitt’s Creek. A must-read.
Sutton is happy with her career as the town librarian and the friendships she has made however her family doesn’t agree. With her sister’s upcoming nuptial Sutton is once again being viewed by her family as not being worthy so she invents a fake fiancé. The only problem is that now she must introduce him and although she knows that River would be the perfect choice, she isn’t sure how to persuade him.
River finds himself in Heartwood Lake trying to keep a low profile for the safety of those he cares about. He isn’t sure why Sutton would have chosen him but when he sees the way her family treats her it only reinforces that he wants to be there for her but developing feelings for her wasn’t part of the plan.
I enjoyed how protective and supportive that Sutton was of River. As they spend time together, they realize that they didn’t really know each other at all and the more they know the more they realize that there is nothing pretend about their relationship.
Meet Claudia Burgoa:
Claudia is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author.
She writes alluring, thrilling stories about complicated women and the men who take their breaths away. Her books are the perfect blend of steamy and heartfelt, filled with emotional characters and explosive chemistry. Her writing takes readers to new heights, providing a variety of tears, laughs, and shocking moments that leave fans on the edge of their seats.
She lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband, her youngest two children, and three fluffy dogs.
When Claudia is not writing, you can find her reading, knitting, or just hanging out with her family. At nights, she likes to binge watch shows or movies with her equally geeky husband.
Claudia is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author.
Kari's Book Reviews and Revelations 