Both are dangerous, deadly, and powerful. Both are second-generation soldiers proving themselves in the Roríguez cartel.
Both want me.
Of course, I wasn’t told until it was too late. That’s the way things work in the famiglia. My fate is up to Dario Luciano, my guardian.
He doesn’t care the way the men make me feel. How when I’m near them, the air crackles and my skin warms with stinging electricity, stirring something deep inside me that never before existed.
One fills me with desire, twisting my insides.
The other recognizes my need to be loved, filling me with a comfortable warmth.
By the time I learn that both have requested my hand, a deal has been brokered.
Neither man from the Roríguez cartel will have me.
I’ve been promised to another, the son of Dario’s sworn enemy.
Will I have any say in my future?
What will happen to the alliance between the Luciano famiglia and the Roríguez cartel when tragedy strikes?
Have you been Aleatha’d?
QUEENS AND MONSTERS is a stand-alone dangerous Mafia/cartel romance in the “Brutal Vows” series. Each arranged-marriage story is filled with the suspense, intrigue, and heat you’ve come to expect from New York Times bestselling author Aleatha Romig.
Jasmine has always been sheltered from the harsher sides of the mafia life by Dario however it has been decided that it is now time for her to marry. What began as an attempt to claim her independence with Reinaldo and Emiliano takes a twist that no one saw coming and now she finds herself engaged to a man she doesn’t want.
One kiss is all it would take for the man that Jasmine is destined to be with to realize the lengths he would go to for her. He is determined to protect her from the future that has been planned for her and that means showing Dario who she truly belongs with.
The love between these two is enduring as there is nothing that our hero won’t do for Jasmine with little concern for the consequences as they take us on quite the ride filled with suspense that keeps you on edge, surprises you don’t see coming and a future worth fighting for.
Meet Aleatha Romig:
Aleatha Romig is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author who lives in Indiana. She grew up in Mishawaka, graduated from Indiana University, and is currently living south of Indianapolis. Together with her high-school sweetheart and husband of over thirty years, they’ve raised three children. Before she became a full-time author, she worked days as a dental hygienist and spent her nights writing. Now, when she’s not imagining mind-blowing twists and turns or her new lighter side, she likes to spend her time with her family and friends. Her pastimes include reading and creating heroes/anti-heroes who haunt your dreams!
Genie tilts her head, smiling at the inventiveness. “And what would National Judd Day involve?”
“Doing whatever Judd says.”
“Like the game Simon Says?”
I hum. “Something like that.”
“And what is it Judd would demand on National Judd Day?”
I dig my teeth into my lower lip and roam my gaze over her face. Then I lower my eyes to take in the column of her throat and the curve of her shoulders.
“I’ll come up with a list of bylaws and get back to you.”
I press my forehead against hers, my breath ragged, my body trembling with the force of holding back.
This is it.
I line myself up with her, my breath coming fast and hard, my entire body trembling with the need to claim her. When I push inside, all the way in one deep thrust, I lose myself completely.
She cries out, her body tensing against mine, and I realize too late how rough I’ve been. The sound of her pain cuts through the haze in my mind, and I freeze, buried to the hilt inside of her.
The tight, wet heat of her grips me, and I feel her body quiver as she sucks in sharp, shallow breaths. My stomach twists violently, guilt and possessive need warring inside me.
I drop my head to her neck, inhaling her soft scent, trying to restrain myself, but the feel of her nails digging into my shoulders only deepens the ache in my chest.
“Breathe, princess,” I whisper, and my voice breaks.
Three thousand miles, two shattered hearts, and a new life on the way.
Three years after their life-changing road trip, Samantha Smiles and Tristan Montgomery are back at it again—only this time, the stakes are higher. Samantha is pregnant with Tristan’s child, and they are no longer together.
Now, as they embark on another cross-country trip to move Samantha back to LA, the air between them is thick with unresolved pain and misunderstandings. Their once-passionate connection has been strained by time and separation. Samantha is struggling to navigate her own emotions while dealing with the realities of impending motherhood, and Tristan is haunted by the mistakes of their past and the burden of his own fears.
Forced into close quarters, old wounds are reopened, and new truths are revealed. Can they mend their fractured relationship and find common ground for the sake of their child? Or will the weight of their past and the pressure of their future drive them further apart?
In a journey fraught with emotional turbulence and unexpected revelations, Samantha and Tristan must confront their deepest fears and rediscover the love that once bound them together. Will they find their way back to each other before it’s too late, or will their latest road trip be their last?
The Man I Love is a poignant exploration of love, forgiveness, and one choice. To cherish one another for the rest of their lives, or lose the love they once cherished forever.
From Wall Street Journal bestsellers L.J. Shen and Parker S. Huntington comes a twisted second-chance romance between a prince haunted by a dark secret and his reluctant Sleeping Beauty.
Oliver
I don’t usually trap women with amnesia into marriage.
But I guess there’s a first time for everything.
When the woman of my dreams falls into my lap, I can’t help but wonder what else she can do in that position.
She’s here. In my house. At my mercy.
And she thinks we’ve been lovers the entire decade we spent apart.
Briar and I have always been unfinished business.
Now it’s time to seal the deal.
Briar
I’m marrying a beautiful monster.
A crooked fraud. America’s wealthiest bachelor.
He claims we’re in love, yet all I taste in our kisses is hate and lust.
I don’t remember why or how.
But I do remember he’s the enemy.
Now, I’m stuck inside a nightmare.
And Oliver will do anything to keep me in the dark.
Authors’ Note: My Dark Prince is a standalone enemies-to-lovers Sleeping Beauty retelling, in which a damaged billionaire with a dark past and his childhood sweetheart fall in love—literally. It is set in the decadent Dark Prince Road universe.
Parker S. Huntington is a stay-at-home dog mom from SoCal, where she discovered her allergy to rain.
In spite of her shoddy attendance record and strong aversion to homework, she earned a B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of California, Riverside and an A.L.M. in Literature from Harvard.
When she’s not writing or exchanging food pics with her friends, she’s binge-watching an unhealthy amount of Netflix while curled up with her dogs.
Parker hates talking about herself and is (also) allergic to social media, but you can catch up with her in her newsletter or through the occasional TikTok video.
L.J. Shen is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, and #1 Amazon bestselling author of contemporary and NA romance. Her books have been translated in over twenty different countries. She hopes to visit all of them.
She lives in a picturesque beach town with her family, pets and inner demons, and enjoys reading, traveling, cooking and spending time with her grumpy cat.
As the rookie catcher of the Daytona Fury, I have a lot to prove. Not only do I need to be perfect on the field, but I’m doing it all while fulfilling a promise to the woman who raised me. Graduating college was never as important to me as it was to my grandma, but I gave her my word that I’d finish, even though my future in the majors was sealed. When I find out I need one more class—one I know nothing about—I decide to hire a tutor to help me through it. But as soon as we get into our lessons, I realize I want her to teach me much more than the curriculum suggests.
LARK
Starting over isn’t easy, especially when your ex-husband and his family are set on making it impossible. When I find myself without a job because they don’t want me switching to a “less respectable career”, I’m stuck paying for my own tuition to make my dreams come true. So when a side gig tutoring the city’s hottest professional baseball player in his Human Sexuality class lands in my lap, I take it, not expecting to feel all sorts of conflicting emotions once I get to know him. Ace Mathers may be ten years younger than me, but he’s determined to show me how to live.
✨Did you see?✨ SOMETIMES YOU FALL by @harlowjamesauthor is available NOW! Grab it in ebook, paperback & audio narrated by the amazing Sebastian York and Samantha Brentmoor!
Not many people can say they woke up dead. Even fewer people wake up as ghosts. Guess I’m the unlucky one since no one can see or hear me, and I have no recollection of how I ended up like this.
I thought I’d spend the afterlife alone… until him. The solitary man who stumbled across me during my restless wandering of the Scottish Highlands. He doesn’t want me around. I can’t seem to stay away.
It turns out Ciaran has a dark secret. And I’m determined to discover exactly what he’s hiding even if it might mean the death of me all over again.
From USA Today best selling author, Scarlett Cole, writing as S. Cole, comes an electrifying MC, grumpy/sunshine, widowed hero romance.
Raven
I don’t know where my husband has disappeared to, but I know I’ll do anything to keep our son safe from the men he conned before he fled.
If that means moving to a small town in Colorado to live a different kind of life, I’ll do it.
But what I wasn’t expecting was the grief-stricken biker who feels the urge to protect us both.
Even though he clearly resents every minute of it.
Wraith
Two years ago, enemies of my motorcycle club took my wife and baby daughter from me, killing me without stopping my heart.
From that day, I’ve lived for one thing.
Vengeance.
Until a single mom shows up in town with her young son, reminding me of the life I lost.
And when danger finds them, I’m forced to make the choice that will change my life forever.
Since the tragic death of his wife and daughter two years ago Wraith has been surviving rather than living. He is focused on ensuring that the people responsible are held accountable by his own brand of justice. He doesn’t believe he could survive pain like that a second time but when he meets Raven and her son Fen he is now focused on keeping them safe.
All Raven wants to do is escape her past and build the best life she can for her and her son. She believes that getting involved with Wraith would be akin to repeating the mistakes of the past however that doesn’t stop the connection between them or the fact that he is there when she needs someone the most.
Neither Wraith nor Raven were looking for love but sometimes it finds you where and when you least expect it. They both must make peace with their pasts as they take us on an adventurous journey that is captivating and filled with all the feels.
Meet S. Cole:
The tattoo across my right hip says it all really. A Life Less Ordinary. Inked by the amazingly talented Luke Wessman at the Wooster Street Social Club (a.k.a. New York Ink). Why is it important? Well, it sums up my view on life. That we should all aspire to live a life that is less boring, less predictable. Be bold, and do something amazing. I’ve made some crazy choices. I’ve been a car maker, a consultant, and even a senior executive at a large retailer running strategy. Born in England, spent time in the U.S. and Japan, before ending up in Canada where I met my own, personal hero – all six and a half feet of him. Both of us are scorpios! Yeah, I know! Should have checked the astrological signs earlier, but somehow it works for us. We have two amazing kids, who I either could never part with or could easily be convinced to sell on e-bay.
I’ve wanted to be a writer for a really long time. Check through my office cupboards or my computer and you’ll find half written stories and character descriptions everywhere. Now I’m getting the chance to follow that dream.
To find out about S. Cole’s upcoming releases and giveaways, sign up for her newsletter here
I’ve had a thing for Ivy Scott since I first laid eyes on her a year ago. She’s smart, sexy, and everything I’ve ever wanted.
Too bad she was engaged to one of my best friends.
But that idiot leaves her at the altar.
So, as one of the groomsmen, I have to be there for her, right?
Even if that includes a cross country road trip with the other two groomsmen—her best friend, Liam, and my best friend, Harrison–-to the beach house she’s inherited in South Carolina.
Sure, her car is tiny, she’s massively hungover, and Liam and Harrison hate each other (despite hooking up almost a year ago) but this will be fine.
But then I find out Liam’s in love with Ivy too.
And we’re caught in a rainstorm after a night in a Texas honky tonk, and the only option is to stop at a motel with just one room left—and only two beds for the four of us. Suddenly we’re all a lot closer.
When we finally get to the small coastal town of Honeysuckle Harbor two beds become only one and, well, you do the math.
Ivy and Liam think our fun, laughter-filled days and our hot-as-sin nights are just to get me and Harrison out of their systems before they head back to their lives in California. But Harrison and I are in love for the first time and we’re determined to make this foursome last forever.
Three Grumpy Groomsmen is a jilted bride why choose rom com with grumpy-sunshine combos galore, where the guys fall first, millionaires really enjoy a run down motel’s “room service”, and the girl gets her man… times three. No cheating, no other woman or other man drama, and a definite HEA.
When I toss my shirt on the floor outside the bathroom, she reaches out to undo my belt, then shakes her head when she remembers that one of her hands is splinted. I take that arm by the elbow, raising her hand to my lips. “I’d never have wanted you to get hurt like this. Never. But is it wrong that I’m the tiniest bit grateful that it led us here?”
“I don’t know yet,” she says, her voice breathless. “Why don’t you take your pants off and make it worth my while?”
My chuckle fills the entire bathroom as I set her hand back in her lap. “You literally can’t wait to get me naked.”
Defiance takes over her face. “Don’t tell me the same isn’t true for you.”
“Oh, Sunshine, I’ve been waiting for you for a f*cking decade. I could wait longer . . . I would wait longer, if I had to.”
Her lips part with a soft sigh. “Why do you have to keep saying things like that?”
“Because they’re true.”
What to expect:
🏒 Enemies to lovers
🏒 Single dad
🏒 Reverse age gap
🏒 Forced proximity
🏒 Workplace romance
🏒 She’s his boss
Blurb:
Some people might call it a grudge, but in reality, hating Alessandra Jones is more like an obsession.
AJ is the league’s first female general manager, and my boss. As the team captain, I have to play nice with her—in public, at least.
But in private, the gloves come off. And then one time, our clothes do too.
We vow it won’t happen again.
Not only can we not stand each other, but we’re in tense negotiations over my contract right now, and AJ is up for the league’s GM of the Year award. Getting involved wouldn’t just be a PR nightmare—it would be unethical.
It doesn’t help that we have a history, or that she and my daughter adore each other. When AJ is injured protecting my baby, there’s no choice but to move her into my place.
Taking care of someone I hate shouldn’t feel so right. Getting to know her better shouldn’t break down my defenses. She’s hurt me once before, and I’d be a fool to trust her again.
But the more time we spend together, the more I realize that maybe I’m not obsessed with hating her . . . maybe I’m just obsessed with her.
Blurb: Loyal, hardworking, and trustworthy, I’m used to putting everyone’s needs before my own. I’m the ultimate good guy. But when Sophia Jones walks into my life, everything changes. Beautiful, guarded, and completely off-limits, she’s all I can see. Even though she’s being set up with one of my best friends, I want her for myself.
I try to fight my feelings but soon realize it’s futile. Thrown together at our friends’ wedding in Vegas, the more I spend time with her, the greedier I am for longer.
Vegas has a way of turning rules upside down, and one night changes everything. Between stolen glances and secret moments, I do the unthinkable—I ask her to marry me. Maybe it’s the drinks. Maybe it’s the city. Or maybe it’s because she feels the same connection I do, but she says yes.
Sophia’s hiding something—I can see it in her eyes—but it doesn’t matter. She’s mine now. And I’ll do whatever it takes to convince her this isn’t just a mistake. This is the beginning of forever.
Clara Winslow knows what she signed up for—stolen nights, whispered promises, and a love that exists behind locked doors. She’s given her heart to a man who can never give her more, but she tells herself it’s enough.
One Valentine’s Day changes everything…
Luke has spent his entire life playing by the rules. Hockey comes first. Reputation is everything. And Clara? She was his one indulgence. His biggest weakness. But when their relationship is exposed in the most public way possible, it threatens everything—his career, his family, and the only woman he’s ever truly wanted.
But with the media circling and his career on the line, Luke has to decide: Is she worth the risk? Or was she always just a beautiful mistake?
This Valentine’s Day, more than love is in the air when six of your favorite authors bring you a series full of temptation.
Each story is filled with true love, twists and turns along with unexpected surprises. From the spark of a first kiss to happily ever afters, you’ll find everything you need and more this holiday season.
The past never stays buried. From childhood, it was clear that my body was never my own. My mind kept me safe, shielding me from things better left in the dark. I don’t remember life before Cam Axley and I’m not sure I want to. Cam holds the key to whatever is left of my heart. Every piece of me was forged by those who saw me as nothing more than something to use-except him. He calls me his beautiful little psycho. But now, with the truth clawing its way to the surface, I’m forced to confront the monster I was made to be. I’m not just a weapon they bred. I am the darkness that was programmed into me. And if I’m going to survive this wicked game, I’ll have to face my past, even if it means burning the last pieces of light in my soul.
Cam:
I am the monster I was created to be. The rage is all that’s left of me, the only thing that keeps the demons at bay. I am the wildcard, the monster hiding in the dark. Lakey Aldrich… she’s the only one who still sees me—really sees me—and maybe that’s why I’m still here. Together, we’ve made it this far, holding each other through this hell. We are bound by the fire that tried to destroy us. There once was a time where we tried for a normal life. But the more I remember, the more I realize there’s no escape from the person I’ve become. The past isn’t something I can redeem. It’s the thing that defines me, and it’s coming for me, piece by piece. We’ll be waiting. Our love isn’t soft or gentle. It’s fire and blood. And it’s the screams of everyone who gets in our way.
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Kari's Book Reviews and Revelations 