PAPER RINGS by Brittanée Nicole

Blurb:

From the bestselling author of the Boston Bolts Hockey Series comes a friends-to-strangers-to-lovers hockey romance featuring the next generation of Langfields.

There are only two things I’ve ever truly wanted in my life. To be a goalie in the NHL and JJ Hanson.

In a twisted way, both dreams have come true. Rather than a spot on the roster though, I’m now the first female goalie coach in the NHL. JJ Hanson’s coach, specifically.

Not only is he one of my players—making him totally off limits—he’s also a single dad and still technically married. Oh, and thanks to my father’s meddling, he’s now my roommate, along with his cousin and her three kids, my sister and her four-year-old twins, my cousin, and JJ’s daughter, who I unfortunately adore.

Yup, I’m living with six kids under the age of five, and the only man I’ve ever loved.

There was a time when JJ was my closest friend, and for one perfect moment, he was mine. Now we don’t even talk. JJ is determined to change that, though, and when opportunity strikes and suddenly both of my dreams are within reach, I have to make a decision. Can I step out onto that ice as the first female goalie in the NHL and trust JJ with my heart?

I’ve never been one to walk away from a challenge. Maybe the only way JJ and I can move forward is to go back to the start.

Paper Rings is a friends-to-lovers, single-dad, second-chance hockey romance with dual POV and a dual timeline featuring a Brownstone like Mother Faker and many of your favorite characters from the Langfield Brothers’ family. It is the first book in the New Romantics Series and a complete standalone.

Pre-Order Link:

https://a.co/d/0gLvznJv

Available in KU

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 4 Stars

Paper Rings is the first book in Brittanee Nicole’s New Romantics series, which is a next-gen spinoff from the Bolts series. I loved Adeline and JJ’s second-chance romance, and the long history between the two characters just added so much to their reunion.

There is tension. Chemistry. Longing. Regret. And the miscommunication that has kept them apart for four years. Oh yeah, during which time, JJ married a puck bunny, had a daughter, and has been abandoned by his wife. The lack of communication between JJ and Addie kind of bugged me a bit, because so much heartache could have been avoided had they had a conversation… but I guess that would have been a different story then, wouldn’t it?

Generally, I’m not a fan of the cheating trope. And while JJ’s marriage to Tabitha was only in name at this point, I still struggled with that. Especially since Addie had made such a big issue about him being forbidden since he was a married man. But I really loved the groundwork that BN set up with the Past chapters of Addie and JJ as teenagers, so I was looking forward to the payoff of them reuniting and was willing to look past my personal ick.

Overall, this was a pretty good read, and I am looking forward to the rest of the New Romantics finding love!

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

Meet Brittanée Nicole:

Brittanee is an author who lives in Rhode Island with her husband and two children. Her town is a character in itself in all of her books. 

When she is not writing she enjoys spending time outdoors by the water with her children, reading at the beach or by the pool (or really anywhere), dancing with her friends, singing Karaoke, spinning, bike riding and boating. 

Some of her favorite authors are Sophia Kinsella, Elin Hilderbrand, Liane Moriarty, Mary Higgins Clark, Meghan Quinn, Daphne Elliott, Amy Alves, Claire Kingsley, Melanie Harlow, Christina Lauren, Sally Thorne and Sarah Adams. (Clearly, she has a problem and can’t pick favorites.)

Connect with Brittanée Nicole:

https://linktr.ee/brittaneenicoleauthor

🩷 𝗔𝗩𝗔𝗜𝗟𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗘 𝗡𝗢𝗪 🩷⁣

A stolen kiss.⁣

A devastating fire.⁣

A second chance ten years in the making.⁣

⁣𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗧’𝗦 𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 by USA Today bestselling author Melanie Harlow is 𝘈𝘝𝘈𝘐𝘓𝘈𝘉𝘓𝘌 𝘕𝘖𝘞 from Entangled Publishing!⁣

⁣Four friends made a promise to live one night like it was their last.
That night changed everything.

Ten years ago, Mila Ferguson fled Hart’s Landing with a devastating fire, a stolen kiss, and a shattered circle of friends in her wake. But when a crisis brings her home, Mila just wants to get in and get out, unscathed by her mother’s constant criticism and unseen by her former crush, Everett McKean.

Only…Everett is everywhere. The boy Mila once loved is now the town’s scorching hot, beloved mayor. And when he’s not serving his constituents or running the family farm, Everett is taking advantage of his second chance with Mila—the one who got away.

As Mila reconnects to her roots and opens her heart, she discovers that coming home again isn’t about where you’ve been—it’s about who you’re brave enough to become. But when old wounds threaten to open after questions emerge about what really happened the night Mila left, it’s that bravery that will finally set her free.

Sexy, heartfelt, and steeped in small-town charm, Hart’s Landing is a story of forgiveness, friendship, and finding the family who loves you no matter how far you wander.

🌸 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝘁’𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆! 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗶𝗻 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 (𝗨𝗦 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆)!⁣

➙ https://harlow.pub/hartslanding⁣

⁣Sunny Shelly’s Review: 4 Stars

Hart’s Landing kicks off a new series by Melanie Harlow, and it was a wonderful slow-burn, second-chance romance full of small-town charm, secrets, and forgiveness.

Ten years ago, Mila walked away from Hart’s Landing after a devastating fire destroyed her business. She’s back in town now to deal with a situation with her mom, and is hoping not to run into her former crush, Everett. But considering he is now the mayor, he is everywhere. Once they reconnect, it’s a lovely journey for these two as they get to know one another again. With Everett by her side, Mila also confronts her tragic past and her toxic relationship with her awful mother. (Seriously, I really disliked that woman!)

This book also nicely sets up the circle of friends, who will presumably be the focus of the future books in the Hart’s Landing series. Can’t wait to see what comes next!

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

ABOUT MELANIE HARLOW

USA Today and #1 Amazon bestselling author Melanie Harlow writes sweet, sexy, feel-good romance. She likes her martinis dry, her heels high, and her history with the naughty bits left in. If she’s not writing or reading, she’s probably at Orangetheory or watching Schitt’s Creek again. She lifts her glass to readers from her home near Detroit, MI, where she lives with her husband, two daughters, and pet rabbit.

Connect with Melanie

Website: www.melanieharlow.com

Amazon: https://harlow.pub/amazon

Bookbub: http://harlow.pub/bb

Goodreads: http://harlow.pub/goodreads

Facebook: http://harlow.pub/ap

Facebook Group: http://harlow.pub/harlots

Instagram: http://harlow.pub/insta

TikTok: https://harlow.pub/tiktok

Newsletter: http://harlow.pub/mh-news

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 4 Stars

Another great book from Jewel E. Ann! Having grown up in the foster system, auto mechanic Flynn has a lot of scars (both physical and emotional). When he’s caught taking a wealthy customer’s car for a joyride, Rupert hires him to be his wife’s “muse” and inspire her to not want to unalive herself. Odd, right? But let’d go with it. The day he’s hired as Callie’s muse, Flynn randomly meets bike tour guide June, and for a guy who’s never had a relationship, he is immediately smitten.

I loved how sweet and kind of awkward Flynn was around June. I just really loved Flynn as the H. He didn’t quite know what to do when he regularly started experiencing kindness from people (June, Callie and even Rupert), and I adored seeing him trying to figure out how to handle that. His romance with June was very much the rich girl/poor guy/opposites attract dynamic, and I thought there was a lot of growth on Flynn’s part as he began to see himself in a different light through June’s eyes. His insecurities slowly faded away and he became more confident and at ease with himself. And began to place his trust in people.

For a while, I wasn’t sure what purpose Flynn’s employment as Callie’s “muse” had until Callie and Rupert’s backstory was revealed. And once it was, I really enjoyed the addition to the storyline of Callie and Rupert’s grief and recovery. And then how Flynn became part of their family made me smile.

The Muse was emotional and angsty and kind of messy, but so, so enjoyable to read! I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

SUNSHINE SEEKS ROOMMATE by Kat Savage

Blurb:

Waylon Dupree loves love. He just doesn’t want to be in it right now or anytime soon. But in ten years or so, he’s looking forward to landing a badass wife, worshipping her, and poppin’ out a couple of little Duprees.

For now, he just needs a roommate—someone dependable, who won’t be moving out in a few months because they fell in love like the last two did.

Lyric Sweeney loves dead people. Which is convenient, considering she’s a mortician. Spending her day making the recently departed look alive again has also resulted in her having more conversations with them than people who are still on this plane of existence.

So when her best friend suggests she get a new roommate, her reasons why come with undeniable receipts. But does it have to be Waylon? Does it have to be that sort of almost hookup from a year ago who also happens to be her best friend’s new man’s best friend?

To appease the worried parties, she agrees to see his place. It would have been hard to say no to the chef’s kitchen but she would have done it. But when he shows her what will be her own bathroom and tells her she can fill the sunroom with all her plants? Well, every girl has their price.

One awkward conversation later, they’ve put the past behind them and shake hands on starting fresh. There’s just one rule: No hanky panky. Neither of them were very good at following rules though. And forbidden fruit is the sweetest kind. Besides, nothing can go wrong hooking up with your roommate, right?

Why you need to #ONECLICK this book…

🫠 Tattoo Artist MMC

🧠 She’s a mortician

🫶🏻 ROOMIES

😅 She’s grumpy, He’s sunshine

🐈‍⬛ Black Cat x Golden Retriever

💔 NO ONE wants love

😈 Banter x100

Buy Link:

https://amzn.to/49TGvU8

Available in KU

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 4 Stars

Sunshine Seeks Roommate is a short and sweet second-chance, reverse grumpy-sunshine roommates story between black cat mortician Lyric and golden retriever tattoo artist Waylon.

Lyric is Darcy’s former roommate from The Single Dad Dilemma. Now that Darcy is happily paired off with Ridge, she suggests that Lyric move into Waylon’s house after his latest roommate moves out. The only problem is that Lyric and Waylon shared a kiss and an amazing night of conversation about a year ago. The first thing Lyric does when she moves in is declare that there is to be no hanky-panky, which suits Waylon just fine because although he loves the idea of love, he doesn’t want a relationship… but that devolves into a roommates-with-benefits situationship before too long.

This story is fun and chaotic. Lyric is full of sass and the complete opposite of Waylon. The tension between these two was sizzling, but there was also a deep connection between them since they had both lost their mother, and that colors how they both approach relationships. I really enjoyed the everyday moments between these two characters, like shared dinners and hanging out in the sunroom, and how that bonded them. There’s a great group of supporting characters with the other misfits, so this book has great found-family vibes. And the banter between the friends was just as hilarious as the banter between Lyric and Waylon!

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

Meet Kat Savage:

Kat Savage resides in Louisville, Kentucky with her three beautiful children, her hunky spouse, and two spoiled dogs. She secretly has hopes of getting chickens one day.

By day, she’s an office manager, pushing paperwork and dreaming. When she’s not at her nine-to-five, she’s writing. Or thinking about writing. Or preparing books and book stuff to procrastinate writing. Or quite possibly, designing stuff for other people’s books.

She was driven to write out of a need for distraction and self-preservation after the death of her sister in 2013. Since then, it’s snowballed into a full blown passion she can’t escape. Even on the toughest days, she wouldn’t want to.

She writes poetry packed with real, raw, and sometimes ugly truths. She won’t lie. Her goal is to make you ache, in that perfect delicious way we often secretly crave.

Shortly after putting her poetry and prose out into the world, she turned to novel writing. Savage is a natural storyteller, getting better with each book. She tries to give the characters in her novels depth, whether they’re serious or comical, she builds them in layers with the hope that you see a little of yourself in some of them.

Connect with Kat Savage:

Hunter Calloway is a small town smokeshow and the kind of man my father warned me about.

He’s got a reputation a mile wide, a smile that could burn through any girl’s good sense, and did I mention he’s also the man my sister once loved and left behind?

He strolls through town like he owns it, tips his hat with a promise in his eyes, and slides those calloused hands across my bakery counter like they haven’t been haunting my dreams for years. He’s six feet of pure temptation wrapped in worn Wranglers, and every time I’m near him, it’s like striking a match during a drought…

Dangerous, inevitable, and exactly what I shouldn’t want.

I try to convince myself I don’t notice the way his gaze lingers, or the way he says my name as if he’s tasting it. But all my good intentions crumble to dust when we find ourselves alone under a sky full of stars with nothing but whiskey and want between us.

And it changes everything.

We promise each other we’re just having fun, yet his fingertips brush across my skin when no one’s watching, and we pretend we don’t ache for each other in a room full of people who would never understand. Every kiss stays in the dark, every desire whispered like a secret, and every touch brands me with guilt.

I know better than to fall for a cowboy like him.
I know better than to want my sister’s past.
But when his eyes find mine, I forget every reason I’ve ever had to say no.

Every touch feels like a risk and every secret like a countdown. I’m lying to everyone, falling harder for a man who never promised me anything, and wondering how much longer I can pretend I don’t care whether I’m just another notch on his well-worn belt.

Because I’m in love with Hunter Calloway regardless of the cost.

Amazon: https://geni.us/smalltownsmokeshow

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 4 Stars

I love an always-been-you romance, and Hunter and Maggie’s story was made even better with the added angst and forbidden factor of him being her sister’s ex.

Right from the prologue, the chemistry between these characters jumped off the page, and the yearning between them was scorching hot. Maggie and Hunter try their best to hide their feelings for one another, and the slow burn between them builds to a delicious explosion. Once they finally gave in, it was a well-deserved payoff for the reader! Seriously, it took until almost the end of the book, so I was eagerly turning the pages to get there.

I enjoyed spending more time with Blaire, Colt, and Ruby, and getting to know McCoy better. There was a nice addition with the new-to-town siblings Sutton and Brody, and I am looking forward to seeing how they fit into the future Calloway Ranch books!

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

AT FIRST SPARK by Renee Harless

Blurb:

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.

What begins as a single moment—smoke, heat, and the steady presence of the man who pulled her back from the edge—turns into something neither of them can ignore. Long days restoring the Carrington Inn. Late nights that feel a little too honest. A connection that builds slowly… and burns deeper than either of them expected.

Because Lark doesn’t trust easily. And Holt is still learning what it means to be the man people finally believe in.

And when the past Lark tried to outrun starts to catch up with her… they’ll have to decide if this is just a spark—or something worth risking everything for.

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.

Buy Link:

https://mybook.to/atfirstspark

Available in KU

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 4 Stars

At First Spark was a lovely addition to Renee Harless’ Coral Bell Cove series!

Lark arrives in town after her father’s death to fulfill his dream of restoring the Carrington Inn. And she really has her work cut out for her because the place is a mess. After taking in a stray dog on her way into town (seriously, I loved that dog), Lark eventually crosses paths with Holt, the goofball of the Wright family. Having spent his life being somewhat of the family joke, Holt is excited to start a new chapter in his life as part of Coral Bell Cove’s new firefighter team. So when he gets to play hero for Lark, it also starts a beautiful friendship between them that deepens as he helps her restore the inn.

There was instant chemistry between these characters. Because Lark has a lot on her plate (not only the physical demand of restoring the inn but the emotional trauma of navigating her grief after her father’s death), she keeps Holt at arm’s length at first. The slow burn between these two was delicious. There’s also an element of suspense to this story with Lark’s past, and Holt really became her protector when she was in danger.

I loved the journey that these characters went on. Being Lark’s cheerleader gave Holt, the guy who everyone always underestimated, a sense of purpose and duty, and in turn, he became a safe space for Lark to finally relax and catch her breath.

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

Meet Renee Harless:

Renee Harless is a USA TODAY bestselling author with an affinity for wine and a passion for telling a good story. 
 

Renee Harless, her husband, and children live in Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. She studied Communication, specifically Public Relations, at Radford University.

Growing up, Renee always found a way to pursue her creativity. It began by watching endless runs of White Christmas – yes even in the summer – and learning every word and dance from the movie. She could still sing “Sister Sister” if requested. In high school she joined the show choir and a community theatre group, The Troubadours. After marrying the man of her dreams and moving from her hometown, she sought out a different artistic outlet – writing.

To say that Renee is a romance addict would be an understatement. When she isn’t chasing her kids around the house, working her day job, or writing, she jumps head first into a romance novel.

​

Represented by Stephanie at SBR Media for Foreign and Audio Rights.

Connect with Renee Harless:

https://www.reneeharless.com/mobile

HAT TRICK by E.M. Lindsey

Blurb:

“For five million dollars, would you send a relative to jail?”

“Bud, I would pay five million dollars to send a few there.”

Problem number one: Almost everything the world thinks they know about me is a lie.

Problem number two: Two people know the truth.

Problem number three: One of those two is a stalker and he’s having a blast using that information against me to get his way.

The good news is, the second person who knows the truth about who I am seems pretty dedicated to taking my stalker down.

The bad news is, it’s NHL goalie Vanya Maximov, and he and I had a one night stand that I can’t stop thinking about. And while Vanya might be walking sunshine so bright he can make even my blind ass see light, we have no business being together.

I’m a mess, and while Vanya is everything I’ve ever wanted in a partner, he deserves better than me.

If only he was willing to listen to reason. If only he was less stubborn and able to give up on a lost cause.

But with his ability to give me exactly what I want—a little pain with my pleasure—and his refusal to treat me like I’m fragile, something dangerous starts happening.

I’m beginning to think that maybe—just maybe—he’s right, and I am worth everything he sees.

Hat Trick is the second book in the Punk as Puck spin-off series, Legends and Fury. It’s a high heat, friends to lovers romance with a sunshine NHL goalie who also might be a golden retriever in disguise, a PPHL goalie with big black cat energy, a stalker, and no faith in himself, hooking up in a friend’s car, praise and pain, high stakes romance, hockey bro banter, tons of chirping, and the swooniest happily ever after.

Buy Link:

https://a.co/d/0io1BhPZ

Available in KU

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 3.5 Stars

EM Lindsey is a new-to-me author; I’ve only read Hat Trick and the previous book in the series, Stick Around. I enjoyed both, but I found Hat Trick to be a little more intense and deeper (thanks to Micah’s stalker) than the last.

I really enjoyed watching Micah’s relationship with Vanya go from a one-night stand to something more. He was so hesitant to let Vanya in and allow anyone to see behind the playboy mask he presents to the world. The real guy underneath was wildly insecure and carrying around a ton of trauma, so it was interesting to see how Vanya became a safe space for him.

However, I thought that the story was a little one-sided; I wanted to get to know Vanya more and felt that the character development was heavily focused on Micah, almost to the point that Vanya was a supporting character and not the other MC. I would have liked to have seen his relationship with his sister/roommate padded out more, and loved the bits that we got from his hacker brother.

Overall, Hat Trick was an engaging story with a disability representation (Micah’s blindness) that was handled well. Especially when it came to how his stalker’s actions really impacted him.

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

Meet E.M. Lindsey:

E.M. Lindsey is a Romance author, an ancient historian, and avid lover of nerdy things.  EM lives on the East Coast of the United States. 

Connect with E.M. Lindsey:

https://linktr.ee/emlindseyauthor

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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.

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Sunny Shelly’s Review: 5 Stars

I have been waiting for Amanda’s story, and I absolutely loved her romance with Coach Will!

Throughout the series, we’ve gotten to know Amanda as Bellamy’s best friend, who was trying to adopt a baby with her MIA husband. Shortly before this book begins, she has divorced her neglectful husband (who was cheating on her), and adopted baby Mia as a single mom. The Rampage guys and their WAGs have adopted Amanda into the group, which now also includes Will as he and Bellamy have reconnected after years of estrangement.

What starts out as some help from Will with babysitting turns into spontaneous pizza dinners, and slowly, Amanda and Will aren’t viewing each other as best friend’s father/daughter’s best friend any longer. For the first time in a long time, Will (who was always married to his job) has something to look forward to when he spends time with “his girls” rather than coming home to an empty house. And for Amanda, Will gives her the support and friendship that she was lacking from her husband.

For a while, they keep their relationship a secret, but it eventually gets to a point where the guilt of keeping it from Bellamy is crushing them both. Amanda doesn’t want to risk losing the found family she’s made in the Rampage crew by telling Bellamy, and Will doesn’t want to risk losing the second chance he’s gotten with his daughter by not telling Bellamy.

I really enjoyed this story, and all of the emotions that came with it! I am sorry to see this series come to an end, but I thought it ended on a high note.

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

The Rulebreaker by Piper Rayne is NOW LIVE

I’m the coach’s daughter. Falling for one of my father’s players was never the plan.

Especially not Decker Davis.

Chicago Colts third baseman.

Dependable. Steady. The guy everyone trusts.

And the man who’s spent years keeping his distance—especially from me.

We have history. The kind that ten years and a thousand miles can’t touch.

So, this time, I promised myself I’d be smarter.

No getting attached. No blurred lines. And definitely, no falling.

He broke every last one within the first week.

Because Decker doesn’t just show up for me. He shows up for my daughter.

Because he fits into our lives like he was always meant to be there.

Because he looks at me like I was never something he wanted to lose.

And suddenly, the walls I’ve spent years building don’t feel nearly as solid as they used to.

But if I let him in, I’m not just risking my heart—I’m risking hers too… and I already know what losing him costs.

I won’t let my daughter pay that price.

THE RULEBREAKER is now live in Kindle Unlimited & in Audio (FULL CAST!!!)

https://books2read.com/t-rb

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 5 Stars

Decker and Penelope’s second-chance romance has been my favorite of this series so far! This book was a classic tale of right person, wrong time.

There is so much history between these two characters, and I was dying to get into the nitty-gritty of it after learning in #2 that Penelope also had a past with Decker’s twin brother, Foster! (And why did it take me so long to realize that Decker was Teddi’s fake date in Mr. Charming?!?!?)

As much as I loved Decker finally getting out of his own way and claiming the girl he’s loved for 20 years, some of my favorite scenes were the therapy sessions with Decker and Foster. Those two had so much to unpack, and my heart went out to both of them as they dug deep into their childhood scars and tried to figure out how to drop some of that baggage that they’ve both been carrying around.

I loved the relationship that Decker developed with Pen’s daughter, Hazel, and how she became just as important to him as Penelope was. As with the rest of the books, the friend group is right there every step of the way, offering encouragement while placing bets on how long it was going to take Pen and Decker to finally get together. I did both the ebook and audio for The Rulebreaker, the latter having a full cast narration led by Teddy Hamilton and Willa Jaymes as the main characters. I will listen to anything featuring Teddy!

So I know I started out by saying Decker and Pen have been my favorite…. but I am fully prepared for Easton Bailey to steal that spot, because I have been waiting for his story since I finished reading Ryan and Calista’s book!

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.