For the second couple in Natasha Madison’s Made For series we get Xavier and Vivienne, and I just fell in love with this grumpy/sunshine couple! He is a broody loner, a former hockey pro, who lives alone with his dog, and his world gets turned upside down when hockey royalty moves into the yacht next slip over at the New York marina he now calls home.
They definitely did get off on the right foot, and that just made their falling in love that much sweeter because, dang, I love an enemies-to-lovers romance! Once Xavier started opening up to Vivienne, my heart cracked open for the cranky brute. He really had a rough go with things with the last team he played for before his fall from grace, and my heart went out to him. In return, he got to see a side of Vivienne that not many people know, and I loved how Xavier fangirled after finding out her secret!
This story has the perfect amount of spicy and sweetness. I also found this book to be a bit deeper than some of the other Natasha Madison books I’ve read simply because Xavier’s mental health is such a big part of this story. And I thought that Madison handled it wonderfully.
Bring on Abbie!
I read an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Meet Natasha Madison
When her nose isn’t buried in a book, or her fingers flying across a keyboard writing, she’s in the kitchen creating gourmet meals. You can find her, in four inch heels no less, in the car chauffeuring kids, or possibly with her husband scheduling his business trips. It’s a good thing her characters do what she says, because even her Labrador doesn’t listen to her…
You Can’t Kiss the Nanny, Brady Banks by Piper Rayne is now live!
Brady Banks.
The Kingsmen’s best wide receiver.
Rich AF.
Hot as hell.
A stallion in the sack.
How do I know that last fact? I may have shared a one-night stand with him six months ago when I was rebounding from a broken heart.
I didn’t forget him, but I was done with him, until I discovered he’s the single dad of the boy I’ve been hired to nanny.
It’s near impossible to ignore my attraction to him now that we’re living under the same roof—but I have no choice.
First, this job pays well, and I need the money to move out of my parents’ spare room.
Second, he’s a public figure and there’s no room for me to get caught up in a scandal with him—I can’t disappoint my parents again.
Third, men like Brady were built to break hearts. I barely managed to piece mine back together after my failed engagement and Brady would do irreparable damage if I gave him the chance.
Let the longest three months of my life begin…
Download today on Amazon, Apple Books, Audible, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and Kobo!
You can’t kiss the nanny, Brady Banks. Even if she was the one-night stand you haven’t been able to get out of your mind for months!
But of course, kissing the nanny is exactly what Brady Banks does! And Violet, the nanny, loves kissing him back! There is so much sexual tension simmering between these two, and it’s just compounded a hundred times over by the fact that they had a one-night stand months ago and are trying to ignore the undeniable chemistry between them!
This story is sexy and fun, a little bit forbidden, and a whole lot of steamy. Aaron Shedlock and Cindy Kay did a wonderful job with this duet narration (which I’ve decided is the best narration of all!).
Brady is a great dad, and Violet is wonderful with Theo. And Brady and his ex, Hannah, have a wonderful relationship co-parenting their son. I loved that, rather than the meddling ex-wife trope. Instead, we have Violet’s meddling mom! Seriously, she drove me bonkers. But I loved Brady’s mom, Lennon, and dad, Jasper, and hope we see more of them as owners of the Kingsmen in future books!
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Meet Piper Rayne
Piper Rayne is a USA Today Bestselling Author duo who write “heartwarming humor with a side of sizzle” about families, whether that be blood or found. They both have e-readers full of one-clickable books, they’re married to husbands who drive them to drink, and they’re both chauffeurs to their kids. Most of all, they love hot heroes and quirky heroines who make them laugh, and they hope you do, too!
They’ve proved it time and time again for as long as I can remember. You’d figure I’d be used to it, but that feeling, the one of losing someone you love, it can be unbearable. That’s why it’s easiest to never let people too far in to begin with.
It’s the cardinal rule that I broke with one look into his deep blue eyes. I let him in. All of him. His touch, his love, his secrets, his lies. I thought it was the fairytale that I never believed in.
I thought that we were soulmates. But how could he be my soulmate when my soul was broken from the start?
I can’t believe Forget Me Not is a debut novel. Jess Taylor blew me away with this beautiful, deep, emotional romance between Kade and Logan.
This book was not easy to read — both Kade and Lo have some major trauma in their past. But their souls seek out one another because they are each other’s other half. And together, they find a way to heal. What starts out as a fake date becomes a consuming passion as they understand one another on a level that they haven’t found with anyone else. But Kade is keeping a secret from Logan that will threaten to destroy the happiness they’ve found together.
These two characters go on a lovely journey together. And there is such a nice development in Kade’s relationship with his sister/Lo’s roommate Demi. (I really hope that Demi and Asher get a story, because WOW!) The characters that Jess Taylor introduces us to are wonderful. There is a tight bond between the friends, and I loved getting to know the supporting characters as much as I loved getting to know Kade and Lo.
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
AUTHOR BIO
Jess Taylor is an author of romance in all of its many forms.
She fell in love with romance as a reader at a young age, and it wasn’t long before she started creating her own fictional love stories. She aspires to write love stories that are equal parts steamy and swoon worthy.
Jess currently lives in South Florida with her two baby kittens, Boo and Luna. When she isn’t writing, you can find her at the theme parks, reading, or binge watching reality tv.
An act of hysterical blackmail between two work enemies kicks off this flirty and utterly ridiculous laugh-out-loud romantic comedy from USA TODAY bestselling author Stevie J. Cole.
I hated Vance Morgan, my arrogant office mate, more than anyone in the world. And yet, there I was, on a Paris-bound flight, cramped in the small space by his six-foot-four, arrogant frame.
And why?
Because after the sexy, thieving bastard stole my dream assignment, I found out he had a Lonely Fans page. One dedicated to pictures of his man-meat stick in front of world monuments. So, I did what any rational woman in my situation would do.
I blackmailed his hot, article-swindling ass. The problem was, he blackmailed me right back. And thanks to him and his can’t- lose-attitude, we ended up stuck together, Traveling around Europe while coming up with tips and tricks on how to survive vacationing with someone you hate. Easy. Like I said, I despised the man. Or at least I thought I did…
After a few days of tiny hotel rooms and steamy tension, everything between us came to a head—a really big, massive, enticing head.
Now the only tip I’m desperately seeking is how to survive falling for my used-to-be enemy.
Sunny Shelly’s Review: 5 Stars
In all seriousness, I could barely contain my snorts of laughter while reading Meet Hate Love in the lobby during my daughter’s dance class. It is hilariously funny, with likable characters, over-the-top scenarios that just somehow make complete sense, and two workplace rivals that are just perfect for each other!
Every time I thought things couldn’t get weirder or more awkward between Vance and Blake… they did. And I loved it. The banter between these two is so witty, and as they go on Vance’s *ahem* Europeen tour as a side project of their work assignment, things just kept getting funnier and funnier. Let me tell you — if I ever get to the Sistine Chapel, I will be looking for that bathroom!
Don’t let this one pass you by. Blake’s Eat Pray Love trip may have not started out how she’d imagined it would, but it brought her to her happily ever after and the trip there is an absolute riot!
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
About Stevie J. Cole:
Stevie J. Cole likes to write realistic stories with raw, gritty characters you should hate but can’t help but to love.
She’s obsessed with rock music, loves sloths, and has an unnatural obsession with British accents.
Her books are not recommended for the faint of heart.
I’m in love with Lucas Blaze, the player grandson of the woman I take care of. I’m nothing like the women he dates, so the chances of him noticing me are slim to none. Until the day he asks me to marry him.
Lucas is the youngest Blaze Brother. He works twenty-four seven, and his only use for women is to get his rocks off when he’s taking a break from putting his family’s liquor brand into every store in the country.
I don’t wear the right clothes, I don’t mingle in the same high-profile groups, and I sure as heck don’t know the first thing about pleasing a man.
But to make his Granny happy, Lucas is willing to marry me.
Our marriage is one of convenience and I know it won’t last.
But try telling that to my heart.
He doesn’t believe in love and happily ever after.
I want a love that lasts forever.
In the end, will he give us a chance? Or will he walk away holding my heart?
USA Today Bestselling author Hope Ford, brings you a standalone first book in the Whiskey Men series. If you love reading about curvy women getting the hot guy, opposites attract, jealousy trope, marriage of convenience, and small-town romance, then you’ll love Lucas and Isabella’s story.
Reluctant Husband is a cute (if not predictable) fake marriage/marriage of convenience romance between a hero who doesn’t believe in love and the family friend who has been in love with him for her entire life.
Lucas has more or less been raised by his grandmother since his mom abandoned the family when he was a newborn. As a result, he doesn’t really trust or believe in true love. Isabella is the family friend who takes care of Lottie, aka Granny G, and has always been in love with Lucas. G, of course, knows this, and as her health deteriorates, she tells Lucas that she would love to see him settle down and get married — and that she’s worried about Isabella, who doesn’t have any other family. With the seed planted by his grandmother, Lucas proposes a fake marriage to Isabella.
Predictable? Of course. But Hope Ford did a nice job of showing how Granny really knew best because Bella and Lucas are a well-matched pair. The major conflict for this couple comes from his crazy assistant (who wants him for herself), but I was glad to see that Lucas quickly put her in her place. Because it didn’t take much for this fake marriage to become something very real for Lucas and Bella.
Hope Ford is a new-to-me author, and I enjoyed this story very much. I’m interested in reading about Lucas’ brothers as well in the rest of this series. I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Hope Ford is a USA Today Bestselling author of Steamy, Sweet, Satisfying Romance.
She loves writing about small towns, swoony men, and curvy women that get their happily-ever-after. Stay up to date with new releases at authorhopeford.com
Jimmy’s always been the one who protected me—at any cost. I was content to let him clean up my messes. And when he kept his promise to get us out of our hometown and living the lives we always dreamed of, I was happy to pretend everything would be okay… for a while.
While Jimmy was able to leave the past behind, mine felt like a tattoo I could never scrub clean.
Jimmy thinks he can fix me—he tries, and tries, and tries.
Sometimes love isn’t enough to heal all the wounds from the past. Sometimes even your savior thinks you’re not worth saving.
And he’d be right… until everything changed.
Jimmy
I’ve loved Lilah for as long as I can remember.
And for as long as I can remember, she’s pushed down the traumas of her past until they became poison running through her veins, infecting everything she touched.
Watching the woman you love destroy herself piece by piece is the slowest, most painful form of torture I know.
Giving her up may be the only way to save her. But how do I just walk away from the one person I love most in this life?
Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited
Beautifully Scarred is quite a different story than the lighthearted contemporary romcoms I’ve come to know and love from Piper Rayne. Writing as P. Rayne, these co-authors do a fabulous job of presenting an emotional best-friend romance between Lilah and Jimmy — a darker, more intense tale touching on a whole host of deep and somewhat taboo subjects.
At their best and at their worst, Lilah and Jimmy have an intense, binding connection. Yet as their careers rise — he’s Hollywood’s latest golden boy and she’s a rising superstar model — their friendship veers off to different paths. While he does his best to be there for her, Lilah falls deeper into addiction as a way to cope with the trauma of her childhood. Her history is heartbreaking and even though most of it happened off-page, the way it has affected her is there in every move that she makes. And P. Rayne did a great job of portraying the heartache and pain in this character.
Beautifully Scarred takes place in two parts with a six-year time jump as these two damaged souls find their way back to one another. It’s a long and bumpy road for Lilah and Jimmy to find peace, and there is a lot of growth from both characters on the journey. This book is a whopper of a story at nearly 80 chapters — it was originally released as a duet several years ago before being repackaged –but it grabbed me from the start. I will definitely come back to read this angst-fest again!
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Surely nobody has ever met their great love while using duct tape to pull cactus needles out of their girl parts on a mountain trail.
Except I just did.
Let me tell you about Axel Pickle.
He’s a bronzed god.
Totally outdoorsy.
Worth half a billion after selling his nature app.
And he hikes naked.
He showed up in nothing but his hiking boots when I ran shrieking onto his private property after peeing on a prickly pear and being unable to put my pants back on.
We’ve been staring at each other’s private parts from the moment we first laid eyes on each other.
But I can’t date him.
I shouldn’t even talk to him.
And why he’s showing up at the hotel deli where I work, volunteering to slice the salami is a mystery to me.
I’m running from a terrible situation, and I need to keep my head down and avoid the world.
But something about the way Axel looks at me gets under my skin.
And this time, no duct tape in the world can yank the hooks he’s set in my wary, introverted soul.
__
Tasty Pickle is a full-length standalone rom com about the most charming, witty, completely useless hunk of man-meat ever to nature walk au naturel, a skeptical, purposefully underachieving deli worker, and the ghost pepper pickle relish that brings them together with a kiss so fiery that it ends up requiring medicated lip gloss.
It is part of the bestselling Pickleverse, but you do not need to read any other books before this one. You can start your outrageous adventure into the world of the Pickles right here.
Then, I got tired and slowed down for like fifteen seconds and somehow lost the group.
Then, I got pelted with nuts by maniac squirrels with a grudge.
I ran in the direction where I thought the group was headed and lost the trail completely.
Of course, I had no cell signal.
Of course.
Just like a horror movie.
I started stress-drinking Gatorade.
Then, I had to pee.
So, I popped a squat.
Apparently on a cactus hidden in the brush.
Tiny spines attached to my girl parts.
And now, I’m on my back, my cactus-impaled vajajay flashing in the sun, my yellow daisy underwear caught on my ankle.
I would like very much to be eaten by a mountain lion.
I can think of nothing else to do, so I close my eyes, lay my head in the dirt, and wish for death.
Then something nudges my shoe.
Uggh.
I ignore it.
Nudge.
No. I’m dead. Death has become me.
Nudge.
“Hey.”
Someone is here. Great.
I open one eye in a squint. A man stands over me like a bronzed god, wearing a backpack, a neckerchief, and hiking boots. And nothing else.
Sunny Shelly’s Review: 4 Stars
I have loved the Pickle family right from the beginning, and I’m so glad that JJ Knight has found ways to continue telling stories with the extended family members. Now we have Axel Montgomery, who is a first cousin of OG Pickle Anthony.
The meet-cute between Axel and Calypso Ash is while he’s hiking — naked — and she’s just fallen on a cactus, getting needles in her hoo-ha. Yep. It’s hilarious and awkward, yet these two somehow manage to move past all that and develop a sweet friendship as she’s working at Havannah’s castle hotel opening a Tasty Pickle deli. But Calypso is a former debutante running from her oppressive past, and when she finds out that Axel is a self-made (half) billionaire, she freaks out because of how wealth has controlled her life in the past.
Axel is so sweet in his dedication to not giving up on Calypso. While Calypso hates how restrictive her old life was because of her family’s societal status, Axel can never trust if someone likes him for him or for his money. Their very vulnerable first encounter kind of put them on a level playing field, and they got to know each other for who they are, not the money in their bank account.
This sweet story is infused with all the zaniness that comes with the Pickle family, and I loved seeing Uncle Sherman and John Boudreaux and the rest of the bunch when it came to getting Tasty Pickle up and running. There are a few cameos from Indigo (aka Lilli from Royal Escape), as part of this story overlaps a bit with hers.
Tasty Pickle delivers a sweet bite of romance, steam, and family drama, and I loved how Axel supported Calypso and gave her the confidence to stand up for what she wanted — and didn’t want — from her past.
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
JJ Knight is the USA Today and Amazon Top 100 bestselling author of contemporary romance and romantic comedy including Single Dad on Top and Big Pickle.
I am a walking nerdy girl cliche. Smart? Check! On the spectrum? Check! Awkward? Check! Virgin? Check! The only nerdy-girl box I don’t check is “friendless.” That’s because I have the coolest best friend ever—Zane. Everyone in town thinks Zane is just a hot, bad boy inkslinger, but I know better. With me, he’s kind, sensitive and thoughtful. I know he doesn’t see me as anything more than a friend, but when I decide it’s time to lose my virginity so I can finally date and find love, he’s the only man I can imagine asking for help.
Zane
Emmy thinks we’re just friends, but I know better. I’ve been in love with her for damn near half my life. Until now, I could be satisfied being just her best friend. But now that I know she’s ready for a physical relationship with a man, all bets are off. She wants help losing her virginity so she‘ll be comfortable dating some super geek she works with? Fine. I will take her V-card, but I plan on ruining her for other men.
Zane is a quick, no-drama romance between a quirky, curvy heroine and her tattoo-artist best friend, who has been in love with her for years. At only 11 chapters, I read this book in a little under an hour, and it was the right amount of sweet and sexy.
I thought the character of Zane was a little underdeveloped and not as well-rounded as Emmie’s. But oh, I loved how patient, sweet, and kind he was with Emmaline. Emmie is on the autism spectrum, and I thought that Kat Baxter did a great job of incorporating those quirks into the character development and the romance that unfolded between the two.
This book is from a “bad boys” series, but I didn’t really think Zane is a “bad boy” aside from his physical appearance of tattoos and piercings. He was actually a pretty great, nice, sweet, guy, who is utterly devoted to Emmie.
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
USA Today Bestselling Author Kat Baxter writes fast-paced, sweet & STEAMY romantic comedies. Readers have dubbed her books “laugh-out-loud funny,” “hot enough to melt your kindle,” and “The Queen of Adorkable.” She lives in Texas with her family and a menagerie of animals. Kat is the pseudonym for a bestselling historical romance author.
Emma Sanders has always dreamt of being a bride, wearing fancy gowns, pretty pearls, and—of course—falling madly in love. Then life happened. Finding herself one fiancé short of her happily ever after, she leaves the fairytales behind. Some days are simply too perilous for pink gowns and pearls.
Riley Lockhart is the sort of man who can make a woman lower her gaze with only a smile. That he doesn’t realize his charm makes him all the more enchanting. Determined to save Emma the pain of her breakup, he steps in as a friend, but soon finds himself wanting more.
She was just a girl, but she somehow winds up being the strongest woman he’s ever known. Losing her is not an option and when life can’t be tied neatly in a pretty little bow, he holds tight to all that he loves—his Emma. His hero.
Sometimes the greatest scars are worn on the inside.
This book has a beautiful cover, but the inside is a raw, messy, emotional, yet beautiful, story about love and life that will hit you hard. It’s been on my TBR list for a while and I’m glad that I was able to listen to narrator Brian Callanan bring this story to life.
Riley and Emma’s story starts out as the typical friends-to-lovers trope. He is her best friend’s brother, and the three of them share an apartment in NYC. After Emma is unceremoniously dumped by her fiancé, she and Riley grow a lot closer while Rarity is out of town. It’s not long before Riley begins looking at Emma in a different light. Has she always been this beautiful? He is in awe of her courage and strength, and they soon grow closer and take their friendship to the next level.
And then comes the news that will change their lives forever.
The second half of this book is gut-wrenching. I hadn’t read many reviews, so I wasn’t expecting the cancer twist in the story. As light-hearted as the first part was, the second half of this book made me shed so many tears. I thought Lydia Michaels handled it wonderfully, and as hard as it was to read that part of the book, it was well done and I related to the journey and trials that these characters were going through.
Just Breathe.
After some time passes, I will return to this book again.
I received a complimentary audio copy and voluntarily left a review.
This is the first book I’ve read by Tegaan Hunter in a while, and I enjoyed this fake marriage romance. Ryan and Rhodes accidentally drunkenly get married while in Las Vegas with their best friends. But because their photo has gone viral on social media, it will help his rep in the NHL for them to stay married. And Ryan is caught between a financial rock and a hard place, so there’s a benefit for her as well to stay married to Rhodes for a year. Then they part ways, easy peasy.
But then…. Lines begin to blur between the two. They both catch feelings, and the fake marriage suddenly feels all too real. This grumpy/sunshine story is loosely based on Beauty & The Beast: There are some really sweet moments between the two, and I appreciated how the scar on Rhodes’ face was a non-issue for Ryan. Narrators Tim Page and Callie Dalton did a great job with Rhodes and Ryan.
I received a complimentary copy and voluntarily left a review.
✯
𝗕𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗗 𝗣𝗔𝗦𝗦 by 
