In Blackthorn Bay, magic is woven into everyday life. The coffee is enchanted, the town council is run by monsters, and the local bakery might just change your fate.
Daisy Flowers never planned to stay.
A human from neighboring Thistlebrook, Daisy only came to Blackthorn Bay for a temporary apprenticeship at Hex & Honey, the town’s beloved enchanted bakery where love potion danishes, lucky scones, and heartbreak brownies fly off the shelves daily. But somewhere between the sea salt air, the magic-soaked streets, and the people who make her feel seen for the first time in her life… Blackthorn Bay begins to feel like home.
Then she meets Dr. Enoch Infernalis.
Elegant. Calm. Dangerously handsome. Enoch is Blackthorn Bay’s resident demon psychiatrist, known for helping everyone from anxious vampires to feuding witches work through their supernatural baggage. He’s patient, perceptive, and entirely off-limits.
Especially after Daisy jokingly suggests becoming his patient.
Enoch refuses immediately. Dating a patient would be unethical.
Taking her to dinner instead?
Far more complicated.
What begins as harmless advice quickly becomes stolen evenings, undeniable chemistry, and a romance neither of them expected. But when Daisy’s deeply anti-monster parents demand she return home to Thistlebrook, Daisy must decide where she truly belongs.
Because leaving Blackthorn Bay would mean leaving behind the life she’s always wanted… and the demon who’s slowly stealing her heart.
Welcome to Blackthorn Bay, where the pastries are magical, the monsters are charming, and falling in love can be absolutely infernal.
Daisy has come to Blackthorn Bay to enhance her pastry skills by working at the bakery even knowing that her family doesn’t agree that she should be living in a town that includes paranormal residents. She is drawn to Enoch, who is a demon and the town’s psychiatrist, and she sees the man who is always there for everyone else and doesn’t allow anyone to be there for him.
Enoch doesn’t allow anyone close but with one baked treat at a time Daisy has worked her way beyond his walls and shown him not only how empty his life without her was but that he deserves the happy life they could have together.
This is a sweet and steamy romance and the small-town setting, especially the focus on the bakery, only make it more appealing. Both Daisy and Enoch were looking for their place in life and found it in each other.
She’s planning their life together. He’s planning to end hers. A serendipitous meet-cute between a bubbly travel influencer and a reclusive billionaire gets twisted in this immensely sexy, darkly funny romance.
One misdirection, and effervescent vacation-home reviewer Sage Featherstone comes bounding up to the door of the wrong cabin. Lucky her.
The owner is Travis Blacksburg, a broody, out-of-this-world-sexy tech billionaire. A quick look at that GQ body, and Sage’s fantasies are running wild. So are Travis’s. With Sage’s spirited personality, mop of pink hair, and lack of boundaries, Travis can’t wait to kill her. Because that’s what he does. Thirty-eight victims so far. And his latest target just walked into his life, looking absolutely irresistible.
But for a man who usually takes great care with his kills, it’s getting complicated. He’s falling for her. And when Sage catches on to Travis’s secret life, she doesn’t run screaming. Maybe she can fix him. Her life could depend on it, and he’s too hot to abandon. They’re taking ride-or-die romance to the next level, but his moral vices aren’t the only unexpected threat to their happily ever after…
🩷Review🩷
Sage is a woman who follows her heart and never considers the consequences. When she arrives at the cabin she believes she has rented she is surprised to see a swoony man at the door. Even after the mistake is revealed she isn’t about to that stand between her and the man she is destined to be with however she is about to find out their future plans for each other are very different.
After selling his business Travis has time on his hands to plan the pursuits he enjoys to the smallest detail. When he meets Sage he believes that she is the perfect woman to be his next victim however as they spend time together as much as she annoys him she intrigues him as well, but will it be enough for him to change his ways.
The situations they find themselves in are humorous and Sage’s personality brings so much fun to a story with a darker theme. Their love story isn’t a fairy tale, but it is exactly the happy ever after that you would expect from this couple.
To make the splash I need, I have to sell the team’s most complicated story: hometown catcher Jake McKinney and his estranged, all-star father, Roddy. Only problem? Just because they’re teammates now doesn’t mean they’re talking.
I’ve dealt with difficult athletes before, but Jake is a special brand of prickly. He’s bullheaded, defensive, and completely hell-bent on ignoring me. But I have my own hyper-critical father to answer to, and failure isn’t an option. If Jake thinks he can freeze me out, he’s underestimated how stubborn I can be.
But when his walls finally crack, I don’t just see a player destined for greatness, I see a man determined to right his father’s wrongs. I see the shared scars we both try to hide. And when he kisses me, the carefully planned future I’ve spent years building suddenly starts to blur.
Falling for a player is a massive line to cross. Choosing my career means reopening wounds Jake has worked so hard to heal. But walking away means letting go of my lifelong dream and proving my father right.
Do I stay the course and protect my future, or risk it all for a love I never saw coming?
My whole life, I’ve chased women, thrills, and anything that keeps things uncomplicated.
Commitment? Not my style.
Except for Amy. My best friend is the only woman who’s ever been completely off-limits. She’s the one person who’s kept me grounded since the days when my bank account barely covered rent.
The one woman I’ve secretly wanted for years… but never touched.
But after a minor car crash reminds me how quickly life can change, waiting suddenly feels like the worst mistake.
So when Amy asks me to chaperone a school field trip and inspire her students with stories from my career, I say yes without hesitation. Any excuse to spend more time with her.
But the trip doesn’t go as planned. A freak accident leaves us stranded in a small town overnight.
Just the two of us.
One hotel room.
Years of tension finally snapping.
One reckless kiss turns into an unforgettable night.
Falling for my best friend might be the most dangerous move I’ve ever made…
But once I have her in my bed, there’s no way I’m letting her walk away.
I ride bulls for a living—chasing buckles, eight seconds at a time. It’s the only thing I’ve ever been good at. Tough. Disciplined. Built for the dirt and the danger. When I’m not on the road, I’m back home in Wildhaven, Wyoming, putting in work at the Raintree-Storm Rodeo Academy — training the next generation on my family’s land.
It’s a simple life. The way I like it.
Then Jovie Asbury walks into the arena and wrecks everything.
She’s not the kid I remember—the sweet, quiet girl who used to trail after my little brother, Cabe, with hearts in her eyes. No, she’s grown into something else entirely. Smart. Driven. Off-limits in every way that matters. She’s interning at the academy, working toward a career in sports medicine, determined to earn her place on the rodeo circuit.
And I can’t stop watching her or thinking about her. Can’t stop wanting her.
And that’s a big problem.
Because Cabe never stopped loving her.
And some lines, no matter how bad you want to cross them… you don’t.
Except the longer she’s here, the harder it gets to stay on my side of that line.
And I’m starting to realize that eight seconds on the back of a bull is nothing compared to trying to hold on to my self-control around Jovie Asbury.
I knew falling for Evangeline Carrington would ruin everything.
I just didn’t know how fast.
She was my twin brother’s girlfriend in college.
But I’d wanted her first.
Gorgeous, sharp-tongued, impossible to ignore, Evangeline is the kind of woman you never really forget. And when I run into her at a teammate’s wedding years later, one dance turns into too many drinks … and one reckless night neither of us can take back.
I try putting distance between us again, but that becomes impossible once Evangeline starts covering my team as a field producer. She’s determined to prove she earned her place, and keeping us a secret is the only way to protect the career she’s fought for.
And I want to keep us a secret because my brother wants her back.
But secrets like ours were never built to survive.
Not with cameras following her every move, looking for a scandal.
Not with my brother suddenly showing up at my games and making a play for my girl.
And definitely not when every stolen touch between us feels less like a mistake … and more like something neither of us is willing to give up.
Because the deeper I fall for Evangeline, the more impossible the decision becomes—choosing my family … or the woman I think was always meant to be mine.
Title: One Last Frog (Small Town Southern Boys) Author: Deanndra Hall
Genre: Romantic Suspense/Small Town Romance Release Date: June 30, 2026 Hosted by:Buoni Amici Press, LLC.
Farming eats up his time, but Kentucky widower and single dad Kyle Miller thinks he’s finally ready for dating. He signs up on a dating site designed for the rural lifestyle and expects to have to kiss some frogs, but he soon finds there aren’t many princesses!
With her abusive ex-husband finally in prison, Gina Pritchard can concentrate on running her family’s farm store and taking care of her kids. When a handsome farmer comes into the store claiming he talked to her on a dating site she’s never heard of, she knows who’s to blame. But she chases him down anyway and asks him to have a cup of coffee.
In no time, they’re thrilled to be headed straight into a happily ever after. But someone from Gina’s past is determined to keep that from happening, and they’ll use a bullet if necessary. Gina’s willing to let go just to keep them all safe. For Kyle, that’s a no. He’ll fight to keep their love, even if it’s to the death.
The Small Town Southern Boys series is a collection of independent novels, each set in a different southern state with its own flavor and designed so you can jump in anywhere. Discover a world of hunky home-town sexiness that just won’t quit and see for yourself why the temperature’s always hellahot when there’s a drawl coming from between those lips with a slow, charming smile.
A bell jingled on the door to announce his entrance, and from somewhere in the back he heard a voice say, “Be right with you.” Everything was neat and tidy. There were plenty of garden chemicals, brightly-colored ceramic pots, and bags of different kinds of soils and soil additives. Stepping around the end of an aisle, he found himself right at the counter and there, behind it, was Gina.
“Hey! You’re Gina, right?”
She gave him the side-eye. “Yes.”
“I’m Kyle!” He held out his hand, but she just stood there. “Kyle. You know, Kyle. I said I’d be here today.”
“Okay. Did you have an order to pick up or …”
“No. Kyle. You know, from the site? I’m a farmer? I have a daughter?” Holy shit, did she do this so much that she had him confused with somebody else?
“I’m sorry. I don’t understand. You know my name but—”
“Here. Lunch. Let me go get the drinks and …” The woman who’d just bustled into the space behind the counter looked up and her eyebrows flew upward. “Kyle!”
What the hell is going on here? he wanted to scream. “Yes. I’m Kyle. Do I know you?”
“My name is, uh, I’m Sabrina, and this is my sister, Gina.”
“We’ve met,” the first woman said gruffly.
“Yes. But there seems to be some confusion,” Kyle said.
Sabrina glanced from Kyle to Gina and back to Kyle. “I’m sorry. I thought you’d get here later. I probably should’ve—”
Gina wheeled on her sister. “You didn’t.”
“Look, you really need to—”
Gina’s face was bloodred. “I can’t believe you’ve done this! How dare you! You had no right to—”
“You need to get out and meet people, Gina! Please don’t be mad! I just—”
“You just what? Hijacked my life? What did you do? Put a profile up on one of those dating websites?”
Uh-oh. Fuck me. I need to find a way to get out of this. Kyle couldn’t believe it. How unfuckingbelievably awkward. “I should just—”
“Not really what? Mad? Sabrina, I swear to god, I should—”
“Um, I think I’ll just be going,” Kyle said in barely more than a whisper as he started backing toward the entrance.
“Gina, don’t do this! He’s a nice guy! You should—”
“I should have a sister who stays out of my business! That’s what I should do! I can’t believe you …”
Kyle didn’t hear the rest. He took off out the door as fast as he could go. I’m done with this.Never again, he told himself as he neared the truck. Just as he opened the door, he heard someone yell, “Kyle!”
I’m going to chew this bitch out for setting me up this way, he told himself as he turned, but he got a big surprise.
It wasn’t Sabrina; it was Gina. “Kyle, please. Hold up.”
🐸Review🐸
After his wife passed away several years earlier Kyle has been focused on his farm and his daughter. He has decided that he is reading to begin dating however he wasn’t prepared for how much it had changed and was almost ready to give up when one of those women turns out to be Gina.
Gina is happy that her husband is out of her and her children’s lives and had no plans to begin dating until her family decided otherwise. When she meets Kyle there is something about him that draws him in however not everyone is happy that they are together and will do whatever is necessary to ensure it doesn’t continue.
This is a touching story about that includes love, romance, family and a little suspense as Kyle and Gina fight for a second chance at love with each other.
About Deanndra:
Deanndra Hall is a working author living in the far western end of the beautiful Bluegrass State with her husband of over 35 years and small menagerie of weird little dogs. When she’s not writing, she’s editing. When she’s doing neither of those two things, she’s having dinner with friends, spending time with family, kayaking, eating chocolate, drinking beer or moonshine, or looking for something that she put in the wrong place and can’t seem to find (which is pretty much everything she owns).
A hockey team captain and a bubbly staffer mix business with pleasure when they start fake dating through the wedding season in this hot sports romance perfect for fans of Mariana Zapata and Elle Kennedy.
Darcy Kendrick is used to putting out fires. As an overworked admin to a hockey team, she’s seen it all. But nothing prepares her for accidentally DMing her very private, very NSFW fantasy to the subject of this fantasy: team captain Eric Tremaine. Nobody actually dies of embarrassment. Right?
But when a wedding invite puts them on a collision course with her chaotic family and his emotionally fraught past, Eric suggests a plan: they fake-date their way through the “Wedding Experience.” It’s mutually beneficial. Totally strategic. And definitely not real. Except between mini tacos, slow dances and lingering glances, Eric starts to wonder if the sharp-tongued assistant with a bottomless to-do list might be the one person who truly sees him. And for Darcy? The fire in her heart might be the only one she can’t put out.
It’s supposed to be fake. It’s supposed to be temporary. So why is it so hard to walk away?
Darcy works for a hockey player and has had feelings for Eric, one of the players, for a while and knows that he is off limits, but a girl can dream. When she sends a text to her bestie about what she would like to happen with Eric it winds up in his messages and that is when things begin to get interesting when they find out they are attending the same summer wedding and both need a date, let the mayhem begin!
Eric is a professional hockey player who is always there for everyone and that includes his team and his family regardless of the toll it takes on him. Getting the message from Darcy is a revelation and has him looking at her in a different way. When they find out they are attending the same wedding which will be filled with family drama they decide to go together, and we see how complicated their pasts truly are.
I really enjoyed how supportive they were of each other through the ups and downs of the wedding. Neither Darcy nor Eric are perfect which makes them relatable and will have you rooting for them to overcome all the obstacles they are facing.
Almost two decides earlier Ross was living a much different life as a rockstar with a bright future until tragedy struck and is now working as a manager for the band Onyx Knight. He wants to leave his previous life in the past however he finds himself recruited to help out on a temporary basis.
Wynter is the sister-in-law of one of the members in the band and she had a crush on Ross when she was a teenager. She knows about Ross and his past which creates some rough moments between them, but the turmoil is about to impact the growing relationship with him when Ross must face the past he has never healed from.
The relationship between Wyner and Ross was tumultuous, emotional and heartwarming as these two relatable characters work to find a path forward despite all the challenges they must overcome.
Meet Kat Mizera:
USA TODAY Bestselling Author Kat Mizera was born in Miami Beach with a healthy dose of Wanderlust. She’s lived from coast to coast, and everywhere in between, but home is wherever her family is. A devoted mom and wife to her wonderful and supportive husband (Kevin) and two amazing boys (Nick and Max), Kat loves to travel the globe with her adventurous, hockey loving family. Greece is at the top of that list. She hopes to one day retire there, spending her days writing books on the beach.
Kat is former freelance sports writer who now writes steamy hockey romance about her favorite fictional teams, the Las Vegas Sidewinders and the Lauderdale Knights. The library of novels she’s penned also include sexy contemporary stories about baseball stars, alpha sex club owners, bodyguards, rock stars, and royalty. Regardless of genre, her books about bad boys with hearts of gold will steal your breath, rock your world and melt your heart.
To find out about Kat Mizera’s upcoming releases and giveaways, sign up for her newsletter here
She thinks he’s arrogant. He thinks she’s judgmental.
Neither one of them can stay away from each other.
Rule number one of being a sports journalist. Never get too close to the players.
Rule number two. Oops, too late.
Nate Sandler is the franchise quarterback for the Harbor Bay Hawks. He is confident, infuriating, and way too charming for his own good.
I’ve made it my job to ask tough questions, while he’s built a reputation of dodging them. Every time we are in the same room, the interviews turn into verbal sparring matches.
Especially when he makes a point to call me sweetheart in front of my peers. I should hate it. Instead, my pulse spikes for all the wrong reasons.
To top it all off, my boss assigns me to an exclusive interview with the same man who hates the press as much as he does losing. For the sake of my career, I can’t exactly turn it down. How hard can it be? It’s only a few weeks after all.
Well, the joke is on me because this isn’t as simple as I thought.
Not when every smirk feels like a challenge and every touch feels like a dare. Instead of keeping things professional, I’m breaking every rule and boundary I set for myself.
Now the closer I get, the more I realize Nate is not the man I thought he was. And that’s a problem, because I’m falling for the one man who could derail my career with a single headline.
If I’m not careful, the story I’ve been chasing might not just cost me my career, but my heart too.
Lisa Suzanne has revealed the cover for Backup Plan!
Releasing: August 13, 2026
Cover Designer: Qamber Designs
BACKUP PLAN is an emotional and spicy sports standalone romance with a single mom, a secret relationship, and a pro football player who falls first from Amazon Top Ten Bestselling Author Lisa Suzanne.
Moving into my best friend’s brother’s penthouse was never part of my plan. Neither was falling for him. But when a few drinks with pro football quarterback Liam Bradley leave me tangled in his sheets, my plans have been derailed.
When Liam offers me a room in his penthouse so I can move out of my soon-to-be ex’s house, it seems like the perfect backup plan while I navigate an ugly divorce and try to keep my life together for my two young boys.
Somewhere between video game tournaments with my boys and late-night conversations over cereal, what was supposed to be a one-time thing is turning into more. But Liam is the last man I should want and the worst possible distraction…which is why we’re sneaking around in secret.
While Liam fights for the chance to finally become more than a backup quarterback, I’m fighting to protect my boys from a man determined to use every mistake against me.
And falling for my backup plan is already complicated enough before another woman shows up carrying Liam Bradley’s baby.
I needed a wife on paper. What I got is so much more.
As a billionaire venture capitalist and part-owner of Sterling Capital, I don’t leave things to chance. Every deal is calculated. Every move serves a purpose. That is, until the board starts questioning my image. They want someone settled down—someone who’s stable and committed. So, I treat the situation the same way I treat everything else: as a business transaction.
It should be simple, no feelings, no complications, and no exceptions.
Until I meet her.
Cory Pierson is everything I never knew I wanted: fiercely independent, unimpressed by money, and challenges me at every turn.
Our marriage is meant to be temporary, but the longer she wears my ring, the more the lines blur. She’s no longer just my wife on paper. She’s the woman I can’t let go.
📕 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 ✔️Marriage of Convenience ✔️Fake Relationship ✔️Billionaire Hero ✔️Forced Proximity ✔️Blurring the lines
❤️Review Dom is a successful businessman who has turned the fortunes of his father’s business around but even that isn’t enough to convince the board to agree to a business deal he wants to close. They need assurances that his decisions are responsible, and he believes the best way to show them is a marriage of convenience.
From the moment that Cory saw Dom the sparks fly however she is dealing with a lot from her career as a nurse, her family responsibilities and her student loans. When she agreed to marry Dom it seemed like the answer to both their problems however she is about to find out that Dom has plans to make it very real.
The chemistry between them is intense and their relationship moves at warp speed as once Dom gives in to his feelings for her he is determined to have her in his life permanently.
Please check trigger warnings within the the preorder link!
Lila Brooks chases tornadoes, not relationships. The road is her home, storms are her comfort zone, and commitment is not on the forecast.
Jonah Reed can model a supercell but has never chased one until academic politics force him to spend two weeks on the road with Lila during peak tornado season. He brings spreadsheets and theories. She brings instincts, experience, and gas-station nachos.
What starts as mutual irritation turns into high-wind chemistry neither of them planned. When the storms end, Jonah must choose between the safe life he’s built and the woman who’s twisted his heart completely off course.
About the Author:
Avelyn Paige is the mischief-maker behind steamy dark romance, gritty mafia love stories, and high-octane motorcycle club tales that have blazed their way onto the Wall Street Journal and USA TODAY bestseller lists. She calls Indiana home, where she lives with her husband and five furry troublemakers who think they’re her editors.
When she’s not fighting the good fight in cancer research, Avelyn trades test tubes for plot twists and dives into worlds filled with danger, devotion, and deliciously bad decisions. She writes romance because it’s the one place where chaos and love can coexist, bullets can fly, hearts can heal, and everyone still gets the kind of ending worth fighting for.
After losing her dad in 2015, she turned heartbreak into creativity and never looked back. Now, she’s on a mission to prove that even the darkest hearts can find redemption, and that love, no matter how twisted, always leaves a mark worth remembering.
🌪️Review🌪️ Lila enjoys the exhilaration of chasing tornados and the unpredictability that they bring. She has practical experience in her field and is used to working alone so when she and Jonah are forced to team up she isn’t sure what to make of the man who is her complete opposite.
Jonah is a scientist who understands the theory of tornados but has no practical experience. Working with Lila will allow him to expand his horizons however she is unlike any person he has ever met and has him feeling outside of his comfort zone.
Although Lila and Jonah couldn’t be more different they are so much fun together as they appreciate each other for who they are and find the perfect balance in each other.
TEASER: THE COMEBACK PLAN by @sjonesauthor releasing July 31st!
Kari's Book Reviews and Revelations 