His for the Holidays by Samantha Chase is now live!
What better way to unwind from the stress of a family Thanksgiving, than escaping with an armload of Christmas cookies?
Hannah Christy was eager to head home and devour her treats in solitude, while doing some prep work for the promotion she was vying for. Those plans came to a screeching halt… along with the elevator…. trapping her inside with her sexy neighbor.
After being trapped with his match-making family over Thanksgiving, getting stuck in an elevator was a welcome reprieve for Gage Lawson.
If it was up to him, he would gladly stay stranded well into the new year. Especially since his neighbor has a whole treasure trove of ideas on how to pass the time. The best Christmas cookies he’s ever tasted. Delicious spiced wine. Fun getting-to-know-you games. It’s the most holiday merriment he’s had in a long while.
Somewhere in the midst of it all, Gage comes up with the perfect plan. A fake romance to help make both their family get-togethers more jolly! To his surprise, Hannah agrees to be his for the holidays. Yet with the mistletoe in full bloom, and her on his arm, Gage soon realizes their little Christmas show isn’t enough. He wants her for real… and forever.
Roast the chestnuts and hang the stockings, Gage has a plan! With the help of the 55 and over residents, magical flurries, and a never-ending supply of hot cocoa with extra marshmallows, he’s determined to show Hannah that Christmas is the most wonderful time of year to fall in love.
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His For The Holidays is one of those charming feel-good romances set at Christmastime that would make a perfect made-for-tv movie!
Hannah and Gage are so adorable, and their romance sweetly grows from a fake relationship to them both wanting moreā¦. But afraid to ask the other for it.
This book is a perfect feel-good Christmas romance, easily read in a single sitting. I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Samantha Chase is a New York Times and USA Today bestseller of contemporary romance that’s hotter than sweet, sweeter than hot. She released her debut novel in 2011 and currently has more than seventy titles under her belt – including THE CHRISTMAS COTTAGE which was a Hallmark Christmas movie in 2017! She’s a Disney enthusiast who still happily listens to 80’s rock. When she’s not working on a new story, she spends her time reading romances, playing way too many games of Solitaire on Facebook, wearing a tiara while playing with her sassy pug Maylene…oh, and spending time with her husband of 30 years and their two sons in Wake Forest, North Carolina.
I always believed in fairy tales, but he preferred horrors.
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Damian Blackstone didnāt care about my existence. He came into my world for one reason only. He came to find answers about his past.
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He moved like the villain in my favorite fairy tales. He wasnāt the one who received the happily ever afters; he was the one who destroyed them.
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Which was why I couldnāt understand why the man who raised me set it up in his will for Damian and me to be married. I wasnāt certain Iād be able to live with a man like Damian. We were as opposite as any two people could be. I loved to bathe in the sunlight while he prospered in the shadows.
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I didnāt think Iād develop feelings for the one who looked at me as if I were nothing more than a means to an end. Yet in his darkness, sometimes Iād see sparks of light. Iād see gentleness. Iād see his soul.
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We became entangled with one another as we fell into mistakes and called them fate. I was his Cinderella, and he was my Beast.
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I wasnāt certain that twisted fairy tales ended with happily ever afters.
Western Waves is full of all of the heart, emotion and tears that I’ve come to expect from a Brittainy C. Cherry story ā but there was just *something* missing from Damian and Stella’s story that made the difference in this not being a book I want to give unlimited starts to.
This story takes grumpy, scarred, cold hero with abandonment issues who rarely lets anyone get close to him and teaches him how to find love with a happy, cheery, free-spirited heroineā¦ who loves everyone so hard because she, too, has abandonment issues. What I really loved about Damian and Stella is that they were both so damaged as a result of their childhoods. Yes, she was raised in a huge home with an adoptive father who loved and adored her while he bounced from foster home to foster home. But the psychological torture that she went through from a parade of stepmonsters was almost worse, in a sense, than the mental damage that being a foster kid caused Damian. There really is a lovely arc as Stella comes to terms with that and learns to love herself. While Damian had to learn that he is worthy of being loved, she had to learn how to feel that she is good enough just as she is.
As much as I loved the way the hate-to-love relationship grew between Cinderstella and The Beast, I had some issues with WW. First, Stella has a boyfriend of a decade who is okay with her marrying a stranger? We later find out that Jeff is a grade-A jerk, and their breakup leads to Stella and Damian finally hooking up. But the hookup began as more of a sexual favor than anything else, and I wished something different brought them to act on their feelings.
I think my biggest problem with WW is that I thought I was going to get Damian’s backstory tied up… and I didn’t. The whole who-is-his-mom subplot ended quite anti-climactically. I needed more of an explanation than the two words that he got. When comparing that scene to the lovely flashback chapter where we see how Damian and Connor (Eastern Lights) first met, I felt almost cheated out in not getting that huge piece of the guy’s history. But it was great catching up with Connor and Aaliyah!
Also, the personalities of Damian and Stella were so similar to those of Graham and Lucy from The Gravity of Us. And while I truly loved WW and cried over Damian and Stella, their story just didn’t punch me in the gut the same way that TGoU had.
Overall, I really, really liked Western Waves ā but I didn’t think it was one of BC’s best books.
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Brittainy Cherry has been in love with words since the day she took her first breath. She graduated from Carroll University with a Bachelorās Degree in Theatre Arts and a minor in Creative Writing. She loves to take part in writing screenplays, acting, and dancing–poorly of course. Coffee, chai tea, and wine are three things that she thinks every person should partake in! Brittainy lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. When she’s not running a million errands and crafting stories, she’s probably playing with her adorable pets.
There are three words most men canāt resistāI dare you.
So as you can see, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I had no choice when my buddies said āI bet you canāt get that brunette beauty to kiss you before the night ends.ā
I proved them wrong, and oh how good it felt to be right when I swept the quick-tongued woman into my arms and kissed the breath out of her at the party.
But, I made a slight miscalculation.
Turns out sheās my brand new enemy.
And soon Iām locked in a fierce battle of wits with my sexy-as-sin nemesis. Iām determined to show the whole city that my company is offering the best new path to romance, and sheās dead-set on knocking me down. Publicly.
Itās the hottest game of one-upmanship Iāve ever played, punctuated by fiery kisses, dirty letters, and, after a heated argument, hate s-e-x.
You know what they say. Keep your enemies closer.
I keep her so damn close to my favorite body part.
Everything is fun and gamesā¦until I gamble something I canāt afford to lose.
He is back!!! Sebastian York narrates this hot tamale!
Sunny Shelly’s Review: 4 Stars
Return to the Big Rock world with Lauren Blakely’s male POV romcom Come Again. Easton runs a successful elite matchmaking service dedicated to capitalizing on real-life chemistry between people when they meet up at his swanky parties — even though he is one of Manhattan’s biggest playboys. Bellamy is a romance podcaster who believes in online dating apps. They first cross paths at a masquerade party where they are dressed as Jay Gatsby and not-Daisy Buchanan, when Easton’s friends dare him to make a move on her. Their chemistry is undeniable and they share a searing kiss neither one of them can forget, but things don’t quite work out the way Easton wanted them to when his mystery woman takes off and leaves them hanging.
Bellamy, meanwhile, knows exactly who Easton is. When they cross paths again, he does not want to let her slip through his fingers again — and they set off on a friends-with-benefits relationship that is full of steam! (He’s been burned by a past relationship and is quite happy with the casual.) Bellamy and Easton have very different viewpoints on how to find romance, however, and their casual fling gets complicated when feelings get involved. I loved Bellamy as a heroine, and her confession to Easton — and his subsequent reaction — was heartbreaking. After she’s gone, Easton realizes what he had and let go and sets out on one hell of a grovel tour.
There is a lot of great snark and banter between Bellamy and Easton, and then on the flip side are these super sweet emails and messages as they fall in love. These characters are so well-written, and the hot scenes are as captivating as the vulnerable ones.
I enjoyed the cameos from some of the other Big Rock couples, and Grandma Coco was one of my favorite characters in this book! I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
About Lauren Blakely:
A #1 New York Times Bestselling, #1 Wall Street Journal Bestselling, and #1 Audible
Bestselling author, Lauren Blakely is known for her contemporary romance style thatās
sexy, sweet, and witty. She also writes USA Today bestselling LGBTQ romance.
With fourteen New York Times bestsellers, her titles have appeared on the New York
Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Lists more than 100 times, with
more than 55 titles on the USA Today Bestsellers list alone. Sheās sold more than 4.5 million books. A Brown University graduate, Lauren likes dogs, cake and show tunes and is the vegetarian at your dinner party.
I might have thought he was worth breaking my āno datingā rule.
He might have even given me the best orgasm Iāve ever experienced to date.
But it was a farce.
A trick.
Another lie.
And I donāt make mistakes twice.
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Now he says he needs me.
One week of my help and I never have to deal with him again.
For ten grand, I can suffer anything for seven days.
Even Riggs Stanton.
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Exceptā¦
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The more time I spend with him, the more I get to know him, the more I question myself.
What if what we shared before was real, and itās everything else thatās fake?
****Better With YouĀ is the secondĀ interconnected standalone in theĀ Better LoveĀ series by Brit Benson.
This enemies-to-lovers new adult romance is sassy, sexy, and has a guaranteed HEA.
It is not necessary to readĀ Love You BetterĀ before enjoyingĀ Better With You, butĀ Better With YouĀ will contain minor spoilers forĀ Love You Better.
I have never read anything by this author before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect… Better Than You was a wonderful story of love, betrayal, family drama, illness, death, parental expectations, and so much more!
Riggs and Bailey had insane chemistry from the start. This fling-turned-enemies-turned-lovers story has so much heat, but so much heart, too. The family issues that they are both struggling with added a huge layer of depth to this college romance. Brit Benson beautifully wrote their relationship with witty banter, and lots of betrayl then groveling. I get why Riggs was so torn about his feelings for Bailey due to the situation he’d put himself in. And Bailey had been through so much, and despite the crappy situation with her parents, tried so hard to rectify a wrongdoing to another family member. She was so strong, yet allowed herself to be vulnerable with Riggs. I was so glad that he ultimately did the right thing and worked to get her back.
This book is the second in a series, and I feel like some aspects of Bailey’s relationships with her friends would have been better understood had I read Book #1 first. But that didn’t affect the way I fell for Bailey and Riggs and was rooting for them to get their HEA!
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Meet Brit Benson
Brit Benson writes romance novels that are sassy, sexy, and sweet.
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When sheās not dreaming up her next swoony book boyfriend and fierce book bestie, sheās reading.Ā
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When sheās not reading, sheās probably marathoning a Netflix series or wandering aimlessly up and down the aisles in Homegoods.
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Brit currently resides somewhere near the Blue Ridge Parkway with her husband, daughters, and dogs.
Title: Knockout Series: Whiskey Dolls Author: Jessica Prince
Contemporary Romance; Small Town Romance
It wasnāt fair that the man I hated with a passion was so freaking gorgeous.
Things in Layla Foxās life were going great. She had a fantastic job, amazing friends, and a killer apartment. There was just one tiny glitch in all that perfect. Her upstairs neighbor was the very definition of tall, dark, and handsome . . . and she hated the man with every cell in her body.
Jude Kingsley was the most arrogant jerk sheād ever met, making the fact that she was attracted to him more than a little inconvenient.
When the two of them are forced together by Judeās meddling grandmother, the bitter rivalry between the two feuding neighbors suddenly turns into something very different. And a raw, intense chemistry like theirs is bound to explode if they arenāt careful.
**Whiskey Dolls is a series of interconnected, standalone, small town romances.**
The doors of the elevator slid open and the good mood Iād been in all day evaporated like a single drop of water falling onto desert sand.
āOf freaking course,ā I grumbled sullenly as Jude Kingsley stepped into the elevator.
He returned my glare before stopping beside me and turned to face the front. āAnd Iād been having such a good day up to this point,ā he muttered bitterly.
I let out a snort and fluttered my eyelashes. āWhat, did you pop a little kidās balloon? Maybe cut in front of a pregnant lady in line at the coffee shop?ā I snapped my fingers. āOh, I know! You kicked a poor, innocent puppy on the sidewalk. Thatās what had you so chipper, isnāt it?ā
He gave me a smirk, and damn it, why did it have to look so good on him? The son of a bitch.
āI woke up happy,ā he stated, and it would have been a lie if I claimed I didnāt find that admission somewhat intriguing.
Turning to face me, he took a step toward me, closing some of the distance between us. The move was unexpected, and my heartrate spiked at his closeness. The small elevator car suddenly felt even tinier, like the walls were closing in. The air was filled with his scent. Something like cedar and sun mixed with a spicy musk that reminded me of the outdoors. My chest stuttered on a choppy inhale when I tilted my head back to look up at him. In all the months weād been enemies, this had to be the first time weād been so close to each other.
With hardly any space between us, I was able to see that those midnight blue eyes of his also held flecks of golden honey. He blinked slowly as he stared down at me, those long, sooty lashes lying across his sharp cheekbones before he opened them again.
āI had the best dream last night.ā He stopped, waiting for me to ask what he dreamed about, like he knew that statement and his proximity had left me way off-kilter, my curiosity piqued.
Stupid intuitive jerk.
Unable to help myself, I arched a questioning brow. āOh?ā
His voice dropped lower, taking on an almost velvety soft quality. āYeah. You were in it, princess.ā
My skin felt tingly, my mouth was Sahara dry. I didnāt feel like myself all of a sudden. It was almost as if heād cast a spell, and I was just along for the ride, unableāor maybe unwilling at that pointāto take control back. It was those eyes, man. Those freaking dark, alluring, sexy bedroom eyes. There wasnāt a woman in the world whoād be able to resist their power up close. Not even me.
I tried to swallow past the cotton taking up residence in my throat and croaked, āWhatāwhat was your dream about?ā
He started speaking in a tone that could only be described as intoxicating. āWell, you see, it was a beautiful, sunny day, and we were standing on the sidewalk outside the building. You were in these jeans that made your ass look incredible.ā His tongue peeked out and swiped across his plump bottom lip. āI couldnāt stop staring. Then . . . ā
I was straight up enraptured at that moment.
Oh my God. What is happening right now? āThen what?ā
āThen . . . you stepped off the curb and got hit by a bus.ā It was like a bucket of ice water being dumped over my head. Whatever voodoo he was working broke right then, and I remembered instantly that I wanted this man to die by a thousand papercutsāpreferable by my hand.
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Sunny Shelly’s Review: 5 Stars
I fell hard for Jude and Layla in Knockout! This enemies to lovers romance is one of the best Iāve read, and Jessica Prince adds her special brand of small-town, slow burn goodness to this story.
I loved the slow burn of Jude and Laylaās relationship, and how wrong he realized his assumption was of her once he really got to know her. It takes some meddling from his awesome Grandmother Sybil, but once these two stop fighting the sizzling chemistry that is behind their wicked bickering, it is explosive.
There is a whole lot of family drama on Judeās side, which is what leads to the conflict between them. When Jude is ready to walk away rather than let his toxic DNA hurt Layla, will she be able to help him see that they really are stronger together?
Knockout is an amazing addition to the Whiskey Dolls series, and I binged it in a single sitting!
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
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Meet the Whiskey Dolls a series of interconnected, standalone, small town romances
Born and raised around Houston Texas, Jessica spent most of her life complaining about the heat, humidity, and all around pain in the ass weather. It was only as an adult that she quickly realized the cost of living in Houston made up for not being able to breathe when she stepped outside. Thatās why God created central air, after all.
Jessica is the mother of a perfect little boyāshe refuses to accept that he inherited her attitude and sarcastic nature no matter what her husband says.
In addition to being a wife and mom, sheās also a wino, a coffee addict, and an avid lover of all types of booksāromances still being her all time favs. Her husband likes to claim that reading is her obsession but she just says itās a passionā¦thereās a difference. Not that sheād expect a boy to understand.
Jessica has been writing since she was a little girl, but thankfully grew out of drawing her own pictures for her stories before ever publishing her first book. Because an artist she is not.
āAll I wished for was to experience that spark you read about, just once. What I wasnāt expecting was the Fourth of July, Christmas and heaven on earth all rolled into one.āĀ
~Stella
Bass player Kade Tucker is known as the Magic Man, and not just for his riffs. After breaking off a disastrous relationship, he swears off women. Only problem is, five minutes later, he might have just met the love of his life.
Stella Bell has always done whatās expected of her. Until a secret letter and an unexpected proposal on the same day prove to be her breaking point. For once in her life, sheās going to do something for herself. As fate would have it, that means taking a spur of the moment trip to Nashville.
A hopeless romantic, Stella has been hiding her true self for far too long. And when a gorgeous, mysterious stranger rescues her from a torrential downpour, she decides to go with it. The hot, dreamy Kade Tucker proceeds to enlighten Stella in every possible way, until she begins to realize that some dreams really can come true.
But will Kadeās twisted ex and Stellaās family secrets ā and a very accidental pregnancy āget in the way of their HEA? Or is this a star-crossed match made in Music City heaven?
Nashville Dreams is a super-sexy standalone romance starring a hot alpha musician and a sweet & sassy dreamer whoās the one he always knew was out there somewhere. Now that heās found her, he has no intention of letting any one of her dreams go unanswered.
Nashville Dreams is book 3 in the Music City Lovers series, each of which tells the story of a Tucker sibling. This time, Kade is up, and I just knew from the first chapter when he breaks up with his horrid girlfriend that Kade was going to fall hard and fast when he met our heroine! It legit happens like a hot minute later when Kade crosses paths with college student Stella.
I loved that both Kade and Stella were kind of hopeless romantics, searching for the great love of their life. The one that gives them all the feels and makes them want to live every day with that other person. At first, it doesn’t seem like a world-known country rock star and a college student would have much in common. But these two have that instant connection, and they know what they’ve found in one another is worth fighting for. That becomes really important when Kade’s crazy ex makes a return and threatens to tear apart everything he and Stella are trying to build together.
From the first page to the last, Stella and Kade’s story was magical, and a wonderful addition to the Nashville Nights series! I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Meet Julie Capulet
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Julie Capulet writes fun, sexy romance starring obsessed alphas and the sweet and sassy women who bring them to their knees.Ā
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Her stories are inspired by true love and sheās married to her own real life hero.Ā
When sheās not writing, sheās reading, walking on the beach, drinking wine and watching rom-comsĀ ā„
The quintessential question asked to every couple. And the answer is usually some bubbly, lovey dovey tale of being struck in the bum by Cupidās arrow.
My meet cute (well not so meet cute) is slightly different. I was trolling a wealthy neighborhood in Beverly Hills, searching for someone to take me as their bride, you know, to make my arch nemesis jealous who consequently just fired me.
He was stomping around the block like some sort of gorgeous ogre, mumbling about a business deal gone wrong and attempting to finagle his way out of it.
And thatās when we bumped into each other.
There were no sparks.
Not even a hint of blossoming love.
But next thing I knew, I was scarfing down free chips and guac, listening to this man lay out all of his problems which led to his big ask . . . he wanted me to be his Vivian Ward, you know, from Pretty Woman–minus the frisky behavior.
Weāre talking about living in a mansion, intimate double dates, and pretending we were head over heels in love . . . and engaged. Can you imagine?
The absolute audacity.
But people do crazy things when theyāre desperate. And I reeked of desperation. So, I struck up a deal.
My one big mistake, though . . . big . . . HUGE? I accidentally fell for the incomparable Huxley Cane.
I had to cover up so many snorts while reading this book because I was in a public place! Lottie and Huxley are HILARIOUS and A Not-So Meet Cute is everything that I needed to escape into after a hellish week.
Pretty Woman is one of my favorite movies, and Meghan Quinn brilliantly takes that movie and turns it into a wonderful, addictive contemporary romcom between a desperate heroine and an uptight billionaire. The escapades that Huxley and Lottie have as they put up the front of a fake engagement had me in tears. Where did MQ get this stuff from, like the impregnating scene?!?
The connection these two shared is fantastic, and it is a lovely slow burn as they fall head over heels for each other.
I was sad to see Huxley and Lottieās story come to an end, but I canāt wait to see what comes next for his brothers!!
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
USA Today Bestselling Author, wife, adoptive mother, and peanut butter lover. Author of romantic comedies and contemporary romance, Meghan Quinn brings readers the perfect combination of heart, humor, and heat in every book.
Only One Regret is another great addition to Natasha Madison’s Only One series. This time, we have Cooper Grant — a third-generation character within the author’s hockey series. (His grandfather is the original Cooper and his father is Matt.)
The story opens as Cooper is about to get divorced. He’s a doting dad to his adorable little girls, but feels like a failure because his marriage didn’t work out. Cooper has always had his best friend Erika by his side, and he relies on her support even more in the wake of his divorce. After a night of drinking tequila at his divorce party, Erika and Cooper cross the line and have an explosive night in bed. But when the sun rises, will they regret their actions? And when Cooper’s wife claims she wants her family back, will Erika bow out?
I really liked the chemistry between them. Because their relationship is rooted in years of friendship, everything between them is effortless and easy. And once they get going, things are really hot and heavy. Wow, Cooper is a dirty talker!
My only complaint about this book is the number of side characters involved from Cooper’s family. I have read some of NM’s books over the years but forgot the connections between many of them. The author provides a Stone family tree, which I kept flipping back to since characters weren’t ID’d as Cooper’s aunt or cousin or sister. But aside from that, Only One Regret checked off all the right boxes.
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Meet NatashaĀ MadisonĀ
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…
Wish Upon a Star, an all-new emotional read that gives all the feels from Wall Street Journal bestselling author Jasinda Wilder is available now!
Grandma always said dying is the easy part; itās the living thatās hard. Iāve been fighting to live since I was seven years old, and now the doctors say Iām gonna lose that battle soon. Iāve crossed off just about everything on my bucket listāIāve seen the Eiffel Tower and the Coliseum and Iāve been swimming in the Caribbean; Iāve lived like Iām dying, because I am.
Thereās just one thing left on my list: I want
to be a bride. I want to wear white and have my dad walk me down the aisle. I want a first dance and cake and a night to feel like a princessā¦and I want it with Westley Britton.
The perfect guy. Musician, actor, and every girlās dream man. My dream man. Only, he doesnāt even know I exist.
Itās the start of a strange, improbable fairy tale. When youāre talking about terminal leukemia, happily ever after seems impossible, but when your celebrity crush and the man of your dreams shows up out of the blue and proposes to you, it makes you feel like anything is possible. Even that hardest thing: living.
Wish Upon A Star is an emotional instalove celebrity/ordinary girl story, compounded by the fact that Jo is literally dying of leukemia. Suspend belief for a moment and jump into a world where a dying girl with literally nothing to lose posts a marriage proposal on TikTok to her celebrity crush and he then knocks on her door to accept. There is an immediate connection, marred by her bad days outnumbering her good ones, but Wes and Jo’s sweet, intense romance had me flipping page after page, hoping that these two would have more than just the here and now.
I really felt for Jo, and her desire to have just a few weeks of an ordinary life. She and Wes both knew that their relationship was insane, but it felt so right to them and that’s all that mattered at the end of the day. Wish Upon A Star is every bit a fairytale come true — but will Jo and Wes get a miracle or are they living on borrowed time?
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Meet Jasinda Wilder NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, WALL STREET JOURNAL and international bestselling author Jasinda Wilder is a Michigan native with a penchant for titillating tales about sexy men and strong women. Her bestselling titles include ALPHA, STRIPPED, WOUNDED, and the #1 Amazon and international bestseller FALLING INTO YOU. You can find her on her farm in Northern Michigan with her husband, author Jack Wilder, her six children and menagerie of animals.
Jingle Bell Hell, an all-new awkward meets sexy rom com from New York Times bestselling author Denise Grover Swank and USA Today bestselling author A.R. Casella is available now!
Sheās a sexually repressed control freak. Heās a muscular ex-con with heavier baggage than Santaās toy bag. Theyāre everything each other never wanted.
Mary Iām usually the first person on my block to decorate for Christmas. This year? Humbug.
My six-year-old son, Aidan, just had a meltdown after learning some hard truths from a drunk Santa impersonator, and I can no longer deny we both need help. Change is hard for Aidan, and right now heās dealing with several big ones, including A) his father abandoning us, B) our move to Asheville, and C) the Santa snafu.
And me? Iām a control freak, and my life is more out-of-control than a sled on ice.
Thatās why I agree to let Aidan join Butterfly Buddies, a group that matches kids with adult mentors.
Itās also why I agree to a mentor of my ownāterrifying, pink-haired Nicole, who wants to help me live life on the wild side. Her advice is strangely compelling, especially after I meet Aidanās new ābuddy,ā a gorgeous tattooed hunk of a man who makes me wish there werenāt cobwebs in my…well, you know.
********* Jace
Mary OāShea is sexy as hell, but she doesnāt know it.
She also doesnāt know Iām an ex-con, and if she finds out that I served three years in prison, extenuating circumstances wonāt matter to her.
The last thing I should do is get attached to her kid…or her, but I didnāt get in this position by making good decisions.
Jingle Bell Hell is so much fun. I loved everything about Jace and Mary. This book beautifully blended lots of fun with lots of heart.
Mary is struggling to adapt to being back in her hometown and raising her autistic son, Aidan, after her husband walked out on them. She meets Jace when he’s paired with Aidan through a program that pairs special-needs children with volunteer mentors. Jace is a few years out of prison, having made a dumb mistake when he was a kid, and volunteering with Aidan helped ease the ache he feels over losing his connection to his sister and nephew as a result.
Sparks fly immediately between Jace and Mary, even though their relationship gets off to a rocky start. They both have a ton of baggage to unpack, but they soon find that a safe place in each other. Mary is uptight and sexually repressed, having been married to a jerk of a guy, and I loved seeing how she bloomed into a confident woman when she’s with Jace. Meanwhile, Mary helps Jace discover a lot about his past and helps him build a future he never imagined he’d be able to have.
As much as I loved Jace and Mary’s connection, I also adored Jace and Aidan’s friendship. Jace is incredible with Aidan, and I adored the bond those two developed.
This book was quite unexpected, and I enjoyed it from start to finish. This is the second book in this duo’s Bad Luck Club series, but it is a standalone.
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Excerpt
Jace reaches toward my face, and my heart feels like itās about to beat out of my chest as his fingers near the soft flesh of my cheek. When he tucks an escaped lock of hair behind my ear, I almost melt into a puddle.
āYouāre a good mom,ā he says. āAnd you were probably right. It might not be a good idea for Aidan to get too attached to me, and me to him, given that you and I are attracted to each other.ā
Shock roils through me. Itās as if Iāve opened my eyes and found myself on a different planet, where the ground is as solid as a bounce house and left is right and right is left.
No, itās not possible.
I gawk at him, taking in his sparkling eyes, the golden ends of his hair, and that short beard that shouldnāt look good, but oh God, it looks really goodā¦
āDid you just sayā¦?ā I start.
Itās then that Aidan bursts through the door, holding something in his hand. He thrusts it out in front of him, scrunching his nose. āDid you get me this, Mom? It came in the box with my game. It was in a container, but I took it out.ā
Shock renders me mute and still, like a pillar of salt. Especially since I can feel the intense scrutiny of Jaceās eyes. Thereās no way Aidan knows what heās holding, but Jace must know.
No, no, no, no, no, this canāt be happening.
The vibrator wasnāt supposed to come until tomorrow. Why would they pack it with a childrenās board game?
A twisted sense of humor? A lack of reasonable bathroom breaks in the warehouse?
Aidan waves the bright pink vibrator around.
āThereās a little rabbit on it. Is it some kind of toy for Christmas? The package says itās a magic wand thatās supposed to make people moan, but they spelled magic with a k, and it didnāt come with a spell book or anything.ā He pulls a face. āI guess I can just use it with the Harry Potter spells. It does vibrate like itās doing magic, and it can whirl in circles too.ā
A short laugh sputters out of Jace.
My face is so red, it might as well be a fire truck. Magik wand. At least the name offers a reasonable explanation. For a six-year-old. God help me, I canāt bear to look at Jace.
I make a grab for the vibrator, but Aidan evades me.
āWhyād you get it in pink, Mom? You know greenās my favorite color.ā
Jace clears his throat, but nope, I still canāt look at him. Heās not laughing anymore, but I know he probably wants to. Who wouldnāt? If he did feel some sort of passing attraction to me before this, he certainly doesnāt now.
āAidan,ā Jace says slowly, his voice husky. āThere are toys for adults too. Thatās probably something your mom got as a treat for herself, although Iām sure sheāll get you a Harry Potter wand for Christmas if you want one. Let her have it.ā
Aidan does, which is what I wanted, but then I have a vibrator in my hand.I think for a moment and then stuff it into my bag. The tip instantly pops out, unmistakable.
What is happening to me?
āIt must be some kind of mistake,ā I say, finally forcing myself to meet Jaceās gaze. āI didnāt order this. I wouldnātā¦ā
I thought Iād see laughter there, because heās only human, but all traces of it are gone, and now heās looking at me like Iām the last slice of birthday cake at an office birthday party. No, like Iām the first.
About Denise Grover Swank
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Denise Grover Swank was born in Kansas City, Missouri and lived in the area until she was nineteen. Then she became a nomadic gypsy, living in five cities, four states and ten houses over the course of ten years before she moved back to her roots. She speaks English and smattering of Spanish and Chinese which she learned through an intensive Nick Jr. immersion period. Her hobbies include witty Facebook comments (in her own mind) and dancing in her kitchen with her children. (Quite badly if you believe her offspring.) Hidden talents include the gift of justification and the ability to drink massive amounts of caffeine and still fall asleep within two minutes. Her lack of the sense of smell allows her to perform many unspeakable tasks. She has six children and hasnāt lost her sanity. Or so she leads you to believe.
A.R. CASELLA is a freelance developmental editor by day, writer by night. She lives in Asheville, NC with her husband, daughter, two dogs, and a variable number of fish. Her pastimes include chasing around her toddler, baking delicious treats, and occasional bouts of crocheting. Any Luck at All, co-written with New York Times bestselling author Denise Grover Swank, is her first book.
Sunny Shelly Reads 