FOREVER FLAMES

Kaylene Winter

Release Date: October 13

Twenty years. One unforgettable flame. Some love stories never burn out.

I never wanted fame.

All I ever needed was her.

Stevie Hayes set my world on fire from the moment we met.

First kiss. First love. First time. The girl next door who became my whole future.

Late-night rehearsals. Promises whispered in the dark. A fire so intense it felt eternal.

She believed in me when no one else did.

Then life pulled us apart.

Different paths. Different cities. A slow unraveling I never saw coming.

I thought letting her go would set her free.

Instead, it broke us.

Years later, tragedy brings us back together.

Older now. Scarred. Still burning for something we never stopped wanting.

Old wounds resurface. Hard truths come to light.

The spark? It never left.

We were never supposed to fall apart.

Now I’ll fight like hell to put us back together.

Forever Flames is a swoon-worthy, second-chance rockstar romance packed with emotional angst, soul-deep devotion, and the kind of once-in-a-lifetime love that never truly dies.

Grab Your Copy!

https://getbook.at/Charming_FF

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 5 Stars

I have been waiting for Padraig and Stevie’s story ever since we got that tease in the last book, and Kaylene Winter delivered a great second-chance romance for them in Forever Flames!

Childhood friends and high school sweethearts who seemed to have it all…. but then Stevie and Padriag drifted apart as his celebrity star rose. Now, it’s years later, Stevie is a widowed single mom, and life has put them back in each other’s orbits. And for Padraig, Stevie has always been the one he never got over. Their reunion is messy and a bit chaotic, and it’s a rollercoaster of a romance as they navigate who they are now and how they move forward.

Stevie and Padriag’s story is told in dual timelines between the past and the present as they both do a lot of growing up and self-discovery. I think this book is my favorite of the Charming Irish series so far! I will definitely be putting this on my re-read list.

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

Meet Kaylene Winter:

Kaylene Winter is an Amazon best-selling author of steamy, contemporary romance.

Each character-driven novel is filled with snappy dialogue, pop-culture references and enough steam to make you fan yourself. Kaylene weaves authenticity, emotion and angst into a turbulent rollercoaster ride of love, passion and soul-searing romance always ending with a delicious HEA.

Kaylene lives in Seattle with her amazing Irish husband and gorgeous Siberian Husky. She loves creating art of all kinds.

Keep up with Kaylene and subscribe to her newsletter: https://kaylenewinter.com/newsletter/

To learn more about Kaylene Winter & her books, visit here!

Connect with Kaylene Winter:

https://kaylenewinter.com/contact/

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Choosing a Forever by Daisy Wren is AVAILABLE NOW

Talmage Monson has a good job, the best dog, and regular Sunday dinners with his loving family. On the outside, he’s the epitome of a golden boy, but on the inside? Something is missing. He can’t help feeling it’s the girl he let go of thirteen years prior.

Mackenzie Thorpe is barely scraping by. Between working two jobs and trying to raise her teenage twin sisters, she has no time for dating—or any desire to since her heart still belongs to the boy she loved when she was fourteen. Life may be hard, but she’s here, and she’s trying her best. 

When Mackenzie crashes back into Talmage’s life, it feels like the missing piece slots into place. Talmage takes it as a sign to rekindle the flame between them, but Mackenzie is hesitant. Talmage is undeterred, determined to do whatever it takes to get her to trust him again. After learning she’s been struggling under the burdens of medical bills, Talmage proposes a plan to help. Mackenzie hesitantly agrees, not realizing just how much her life is about to change. 

Will this marriage of convenience force them to confront their past, their unresolved feelings, and bring them back together?

What you will find inside this book:🚒Second Chance
🌼Marriage of Convenience
🚒Single Guardian
🌼”It’s Always Been You”
🚒Golden Retriever MMC
🌼Plus Size FMC
🚒Virgin MMC
🌼Hurt/comfort

AMAZON: LINK HERE
GOODREADS: LINK HERE

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 3 Stars

I love a second-chance, always-been-you romance, so the blurb for Choosing a Forever drew me in.

This was the first book I’ve read by Daisy Wren, and while I enjoyed it, I didn’t love it. I want to be *shown* not *told,* and I often felt that I was being told things were so between Tal and Mack rather than being shown how their relationship developed. Due to that, I had a hard time getting invested in the couple and probably wasn’t rooting for them as much as I normally would have been.

I found the religious trauma surrounding the Mormon background interesting; I’d never encountered that in a book before, and I thought it was an interesting angle on how religion affected these characters.

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

WHEN HEARTS UNRAVEL by Victoria Lum is AVAILABLE NOW

Blurb:

Therapy has rules. They break them all.

He’s her patient. She’s his last chance. And breaking the rules was never part of the treatment plan. But when obsession meets unraveling, someone always gets burned.

Dr. Olivia Lin never wanted to treat Rex Anderson, the reckless billionaire with a grin like sin and a death wish to match. But taking the case aboard a private cruise means funding for her mental health nonprofit and confronting a grief she’s never escaped. So she says yes, even when every instinct tells her to run.

Rex doesn’t want help. Therapy is a smokescreen to keep his family off his back. But Olivia is sharper than he expected. She sees through his charm and finds the fractures. And worse, she makes him feel.

As the luxury cruise winds through glittering ports, Olivia is drawn deeper into Rex’s world of secrets and sin. The line between them doesn’t just blur—it shatters.

But Rex is hiding more than heartache. And the closer they get to their final destination, the more dangerous it becomes—for their hearts, their futures and their lives.

Because some patients want to be healed. And some were made to destroy everything.

Note: Victoria’s books are standalones and can be read out of order.

Buy Link:

https://geni.us/whenheartsunravel

Available in KU

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 4 Stars

When Hearts Unravel is a forbidden doctor/patient romance set on a cruise ship; I love that setting, and how the European cities play a part in the backdrop of this story, and contribute to the forced proximity between Olivia and Rex.

Rex is the epitome of a tortured soul. He is just going through the motions in life, hiding his pain behind a wicked grin, biting sarcasm, and charming charisma. But underneath that facade, the guy is a mess of a man, drowning in guilt and childhood trauma that has paralyzed him in many ways. He agrees to therapy with family friend Olivia just to get his family off his back, but the cruise ends up changing them both in many ways. Olivia isn’t as damaged a character as Rex is, but she’s got some hefty baggage of her own and is also carrying around a lot of guilt. At first, these two seemed to be pretty opposite, but as I got to know them, it became clear that they have so much in common.

In addition to the forbidden doctor/patient relationship, there’s a thread of mystery woven through the story, and secrets that threaten to destroy the fragile relationship these two are building.

I only came into this series with #5, When Hearts Remember — and I didn’t have the same gut-renching reaction to Olivia and Rex that I’d had to Ethan and Lexy. Still, When Hearts Unravel was a dark, intense romance with a hard-won happy ending for Rex and Liv. And I appreciated the extended epilogues that wrapped up this series in this final installment.

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

Meet Victoria Lum:

Victoria Lum writes angsty, emotional romances that dive deep into the complexities of love and the human heart. She’s the author of The Orchid and LA Hearts series, which follow characters through love’s twists and turns, secrets, and second chances. A true romantic at heart, Victoria loves crafting stories that resonate with readers who crave a mix of passion, tension, and genuine connection.

When she’s not writing, you can find her curled up with a caramel latte and a good book or spending time with her family in sunny California.

Connect with Victoria Lum:

https://linktr.ee/authorvictorialum

Hat Tricks & Chrismukkah Nights by Evey Lyon is Available Now

It all starts just before Halloween—with sparks flying between me and my next-door neighbor. And not the fun, flirty kind.

Lainey is a single mom with a sharp tongue, a killer glare, and hockey’s #1 hater—her brother’s my biggest rival on the ice, too. She calls me grumpy, which is fair. I’m not exactly the “borrows jars of pumpkin spice for holiday cookie baking” type.

But then her ridiculously adorable kid ropes me into snowman building, Thanksgiving dinner, and—somehow—getting to know the woman behind the eye rolls.

Before I know it, things are heating up. Less arguing, more flirting. Less tension, more tangled up in my sheets…and Christmas lights.

Now we’re navigating Hanukkah chaos thanks to my loud and nosy family. While surviving Chrismukkah madness, I think I might be realizing this isn’t just a fling with the girl across the hall.

Because this year, the best holiday surprise didn’t come wrapped in paper. It came with sass, a smile, and a kid who thinks I’m a superhero.

This steamy, fast, and low angst romance brings together Tyler, a tough-as-ice hockey player, and Lainey, a fiercely independent single mom. A story filled with families who celebrate the winter magic of both Hanukkah and Christmas. Author’s Note: Tyler is a second-generation character as he is the son of Layla and Josh in The Unexpected Card. Does not need to be read to enjoy this story. Just a bonus!

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 4 Stars

This book was so fun! It’s a short and spicy holiday novella between single mom Lainey and Tyler, the pro hockey player who lives across the hall.

They definitely get off on the wrong foot, since Lainey and her son Enzo think Tyler is a bit of a grump when it comes to the holidays. Lainey’s brother is Tyler’s biggest rival in the hockey league, so she doesn’t exactly like him anyway. But when Tyler strikes up a friendship of sorts with Enzo, he and Lainey begin to realize that there’s a fine line between love and hate. I loved how Tyler learned to embrace the holidays the more he spent time with Lainey and Enzo.

Tyler plays for the Sparks, so this novella is connected to Evey Lyon’s hockey universe, and he is the son of a couple from her book The Unexpected Card, so it’s a next-gen romance, too.

Definitely check out Hat Tricks & Chrismukkah Nights if you are in the mood for a low-angst, steamy novella to get you through the holidays! I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

POPPY KISSES by Marie Marie Johnston is AVAILABLE NOW

Blurb:

I need a husband. Jensen needs a business makeover. A marriage of convenience should solve both our problems.

Moving back to Coal Haven should have been simple—start my tutoring business, settle into the historic house my grandmother left me, and move on from my past. But there’s a catch: I can’t claim the house unless I’m married.

Jensen Hollis. My childhood rival. The guy I spent years trying to outdo. The one who married our mutual friend while I watched from the sidelines. Now he’s divorced, a single dad, and—somehow—my only option.

It’s a perfect arrangement. A temporary marriage. One year with no feelings involved. At least, that was the plan… until playing house starts to feel a little too real.

Pre-Order Link:

https://geni.us/poppykisses

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 5 Stars

I’m really enjoying this fake-marriage series from Marie Johnston, and loved Poppy and Jensen’s story in Poppy Kisses.

The same as her siblings, Poppy has to be married to inherit the house left to her by her late grandmother. The house is charming, but it needs a ton of work. Her former friend, Jensen, is the single dad of one of the students Poppy tutors for dyslexia, and he suspects he is dyslexic himself. They agree to get married so Poppy can help Jensen build his carpentry business in exchange for renovating the house.

I loved the added layer to this fake relationship that they used to be friends back in high school, and Jensen dated the pretty, popular girl who used to be her best friend. But you never know what goes on behind closed doors, because Jensen’s marriage was anything but picture-perfect. He’d been hurt by his ex-wife, yet he had no idea that he’d said things to Poppy in the past, comparing her to his ex, that hurt her. There’s a lot for this couple to work through, and since their marriage-of-convenience doesn’t happen right off the bat, the reader really gets to go along for the ride as they navigate their rekindled friendship.

And when they finally get together? That slow burn was worth the wait!

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

Meet Marie Johnston:

Marie Johnston is a RITA® Finalist, and a best-selling and award-winning writer of paranormal and contemporary romance – and an avid reader of them both.

Several years ago, when kids started outnumbering adults in the house, Marie Johnston left her job as a public health microbiologist to stay at home. Settling into working part-time and shuttling kids around gave Marie the opportunity to think about what she wanted to be when she grew up. A die-hard science geek, she explored her previously thought to be non-existent creative side after much time spent making snowman crafts and coloring princesses. Having entertained thoughts of writing a book one day then subsequently deciding it would be too hard, she finally put the figurative pen to paper and began to type – and fell in love with story telling.

The Sigma Menace is the first series by Marie with Fever Claim being her first book EVER.  She is humbled by the fact that people are willing to read to her books and looks forward to keeping readers entertained for many years.

Marie lives with her husband and four kids in North Dakota where the summers are gorgeous, the winters are brutal, and spring and fall are luxuries.

Connect with Marie Johnston:

https://linktr.ee/mariejohnstonwriter

ALL THIS TIME by Harlow James is AVAILABLE NOW

Blurb:

Fletcher Adams is not just the man that stole my heart at fifteen and never gave it back.

He’s also my brother’s best friend, and now one of the most famous players in the NFL.

But now he’s back in Blossom Peak for our mutual friend’s wedding, and guess who are the maid of honor and best man?

That would be us.

I’ve spent the past twelve years ignoring what happened between us that fateful night, and avoiding him as much as possible when he did pop into town to visit.

But now he’s everywhere.

In my salon getting a massage to support my business.

Participating in yoga to support my family’s winery.

And even hacking into my phone to monitor my glucose—which makes me furious and also a little bit weak in the knees.

Then he finds out that my ex-fiancé never satisfied me in the bedroom, so he instantly volunteers for the job.

Turns out time couldn’t snuff the flames that still burned between us.

But Fletcher has demons from his past he hasn’t faced, the kind that you can try to bury but always manage to get washed up in a storm.

And this storm just might destroy us both.

There’s one thing we can’t deny however, even though we try—feelings still matter, even after all this time.

Buy Link:

https://mybook.to/allthistime

Available in KU

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 5 Stars

All This Time is a wonderful start to a new series by Harlow James. I absolutely loved the journey that Laney and Fletcher went through in this second-chance, always-been-you romance, but I also adored the friendships between Fletcher and the rest of the guys!

Twelve years after Fletcher broke Laney’s heart, he is back in town to be the best man as she is the maid of honor at a mutual friend’s wedding. Lucifer, as Laney calls him, is the last person she wants to be doing wedding prep left, and it isn’t long before she realizes that the hate she feels is a thin cover-up for the love she still has for him.

In chapters that flash back to when they were teenagers, we learn that Laney and her brother’s best friend had a secret friendship that no one knew about. She was his safe place, his angel, who got him through a very difficult home life. (And oh, how my heart hurt for Fletcher.) But Fletcher had a pact with his friends never to go for another’s sister, despite the feelings he had for her, then a miscommunication on a night that changed Laney’s life led her to not speak to him for over a decade.

Now that they are forced to face their past, can Laney and Fletcher find a way to move forward together?

Teddy Hamilton and Samantha Brentmoor did a great job with the narration of this book. This is like the fourth TH audio I’ve listened to in a row, and I could happily listen to him narrate a hundred more!

The friendships between Fletcher, Laney’s brother Rhonan, and the rest of the crew were also such an integral part of this story. And when the group hits a rocky point, I loved how Rhonan’s dad shows up with his band of brothers in an intervention to show the younger generation that they need to rely on one another. In the epilogue, HJ nicely set up the next book in this series, and I am really looking forward to seeing the other guys in the Blackjack Brotherhood fall in love!

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

Meet Harlow James:

Steamy Romance Author

Harlow James is a pen name I use to protect my identity as a high school teacher. Keeping those two roles in my life separate is necessary, but also fun! It’s like a live two lives, and anonymity gives me the opportunity to be bold and take risks in my stories.

I stumbled upon romance novels in 2018 when I picked up Driven by Kristy Bromberg, and I was obsessed. I had just lost my grandmother too, so reading offered me an escape from reality and a chance to grieve on my own terms.

About a year later, I got an idea for my own book and started writing. I researched self-publishing and jumped in with both feet. I had no idea what I was doing!

But now I’ve built a business and hobby that I LOVE! I have an outlet that’s just for me. When I write, I’m not a mom, a wife, or a teacher…I’m a woman who gets to tell stories that no one else can.

My books are the perfect blend of heartwarming moments, full-bellied laughs, and PLENTY of steam to melt your Kindles 😉 And there are always elements of me sprinkled in to every character and story that I write.

When I’m not writing you can find me reading or spending time in my kitchen. I love to cook and feed my family and friends. Otherwise, you can find me watching comedy specials with my husband, camping with our kids, or taking naps. I live for naps 😉

Connect with Harlow James:

https://linktr.ee/harlowjamesauthor