Holding You Close is now available on all retailers!
After serving a decade long prison sentence for an accident that resulted in my husband’s death, Noah Reid returns. Even if he was my childhood best friend and the first man I secretly loved, I refuse to make it easy for him. But the heart never forgets and those old repressed feelings quickly bubble to the surface.
Loving him is a dangerous game but one I’m willing to play.
Flirting leads to falling between the sheets, and I’m forced to deal with the guilt of what we’re doing. Viciousness towards Noah runs rampant and while revenge trickles through the streets of Lawton Ridge, I realize there’s more on the line than just my heart. While I’m afraid that my son and I will be caught in the crossfire of those who want to hurt Noah, I can’t walk away.
Secrets are revealed and revelations are made, but losing him again isn’t an option—especially since I’m pregnant.
HOLDING YOU AWAY is a slow burn, angsty friends to lovers romance with lots of small-town, Southern drama. It’s book 2 in the Noah & Katie duet and must be read in order.
I have loved all of these duets by Kennedy Fox, going back to the Roommates series. I was anxiously waiting for the conclusion to Noah and Katie’s story, and it did not disappoint!
There is a definite formula that Kennedy Fox follows in writing these books, so I know what to expect as the story unfolds. But the authors still always do a great job of piecing together a fantastic romantic story with a thread of mystery. And now that I know what the twist is to Noah and Katie’s story, I can’t believe I didn’t piece it together earlier!
I loved the connection between these two childhood best friends, and how that grows as they fall in love. Noah is so great with Katie’s son, Owen, and they really develop a nice relationship themselves. My heart broke for the kid when he asked Noah for the truth about how his father had died, but Noah handled it well and he and Owen had a stronger bond as a result of it. I also really liked the family reconciliations that came about by the end of the book, and there is a great set-up for Everleigh’s forthcoming book with Tyler’s former cellmate, Asher. Oh, and that epilogue from Owen’s POV was adorable!!
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Brooke Cumberland and Lyra Parish are a duo of romance authors who teamed up under the USA Today pseudonym, Kennedy Fox. They share a love of Hallmark movies, overpriced coffee, and making TikToks. When they aren’t bonding over romantic comedies, they like to brainstorm new book ideas. One day in 2016, they decided to collaborate under a pseudonym and have some fun creating new characters that’ll make you blush and your heart melt. Happily ever afters guaranteed!
From New York Times bestseller Katy Regnery comes a new twist on the beloved American legend, “Rip Van Winkle.”
Sometimes, the journey is the love story.
On the night of his high school graduation, Ripley Van Winkle—local quarterback, prom king and all-around big man on campus—swan dives off the top of the Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse. . . and lands on jagged pile of rocks. Suffering massive brain trauma, Rip isn’t expected to live, but he somehow manages to beat the odds: most of his physical injuries heal, though he remains in a deep coma for the next twenty years.
When Rip awakens two decades later, he will need to relearn his body’s most basic functions, in addition to catching up on twenty years’ worth of history, progress and change.
Something called the “internet” has the answer to every question you could ever dream of asking, and people are reliant on mobile telephones smaller than a Walkman. His high school girlfriend is married with children, and he has an eighteen-year-old sister who was born while he was “sleeping.”
As Rip struggles to find his place in this strange, new world, one presence in his life will become both a beacon and guide: his childhood friend, Katrina Van Tassel. But Trina has a challenging adult life of her own, and there’s no guarantee she has space in her life (or her heart) for her one-time high school crush . . . Rip Van Winkle.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Love is Never Lost is part of the ~a modern fairytale~ collection: contemporary, standalone romances inspired by beloved fairy tales.
The Vixen and the Vet (Beauty & the Beast) Never Let You Go (Hansel & Gretel) Ginger’s Heart (Little Red Riding Hood) Dark Sexy Knight (Camelot) Don’t Speak (The Little Mermaid) Shear Heaven (Rapunzel) At First Sight (Aladdin) Love is Never Lost (Rip Van Winkle)
Sunny Shelly’s Review: 4 Stars
Love Is Never Lost is a brilliant reimagining of the Rip Van Winkle fairytale! I’ve read a few of Katy Regnery’s Modern Fairytale stories now, and she never ceases to amaze me with her retelling of classic tales!
The story is told in two parts — before Rip’s accident and after. Part 1 is set in 1985, when Rip and Katrina are seniors in high school. They were once family friends, but as their families grew apart after the death of Trina’s mom, so did the kids. Now they are about to graduate high school, and Rip is the popular jock while Trina is the bookish nerd. But in the weeks leading up to graduation, Rip and Trina rekindle their friendship… and as Rip’s relationship with his girlfriend Becky begins to fall apart, he begins to develop feelings for his childhood friend.
Part 2 is set after Rip’s accident — he wakes up after being in a coma for 20 years. I loved this part of the book. I loved how KR wrote (with creative license) the struggles he felt in adapting to how different the world is around him. Internet, cell phones, having a sister born while he was sleeping… and Katrina is still there by his side to help him through it all.
It’s not all roses and unicorns for Trina and Rip to get together. There are real issues for them to work through regarding her ex-husband, and Rip’s recovery. There is a great scene in particular where they clash while trying to discuss their feelings — Rip feels like he’s being treated constantly as a patient, not as a man, and Trina’s lack of social skills prevents her from understanding what Rip is trying to get across to her.
Rip and Trina’s journey is a wonderful slow burn. Another great story in the Modern Fairytale series!
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
About the Author: New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Katy Regnery has a heart for smart romance featuring strong women and decent men. Almost exclusively self-published, Katy claims authorship of almost 50 titles, including three RITA® finalists. Translated into French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and Turkish, Katy has sold over two million books worldwide.
Fearless Kaylene Winter (Less Than Zero, #3) Publication date: March 17th 2021 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Family is everything, I protect mine with my life..
Connor McGloughlin had it all, a great family, a college scholarship and music. Tragedy forced him to grow up too fast. When his life finally is on track, Ronni Miller appears like a dream. Kindred spirits in the most unlikely of circumstances. There’s only one thing in the way— Her dark past he’s determined to protect her from.
When your innocence is stolen, trust is a precious gift..
Actress Ronni Miller tasted fame at a young age. But her path to stardom was riddled with tragedy. She never imagined falling for Connor McGloughlin, a rogue, Irish rock star. The thing is? Ronni’s got revenge on her mind. Regardless of the risk or the consequences. Or losing the one thing in her life that makes her feel alive.
Connor has only ever asked Ronni for one thing: her heart. But when her bravery is couched in lies? She risks losing the man who would do anything for her. Unless she finally realizes being fearless means placing your trust in true love.
“Fuck my life!” Byron Angel, the pampered second-bit actor screeched just before shoving his chips over to me. Yanking his fancy mirrored-lens sunglasses off, he tossed them on the poker table, unable to mask his disdain at losing 50k to a lowly bass player in a rock band. His words, not mine.
Not bothered in the slightest, I carefully stacked my bounty of chips and assessed the situation without saying a word. I’d learned over the years that being stealthy allowed you to fly under the radar. It also came in handy to observe and learn things about the people around you. Stuff that was often quite useful.
Like winning big hands in an invitation-only poker game.
“Angel, you’re out. So it’s time to get the fuck out.” The A-list director of Phantom Rising pointed to the door.
“Maybe I’ll stay and just hang out for a bit?” Byron’s desperate pandering was not endearing. It was pathetic, truth be told.
Glancing up at the other players’ bemused expressions, I knew without a shadow of doubt that his failure to read the room was fatal. It had cost him a significant amount of money. Worse, it cost him respect.
Respect was always better than money. Always.
The director sniffed sharply. Probably to clear the last of the coke from his sinuses. Barely even giving Byron a second glance, he waved him off with a “shoo” gesture. “Nah. Jermaine will see you out.”
And just like that, the eejit Byron Angel was booted the fuck out.
Good riddance.
The director’s exclusive games were always a veritable male celebrity cock-fest. Filled with actors, directors, producers, and other industry bigwigs who felt the need to throw their power around. All it really meant was a bunch of yammering on and on about their looks, their women, and their stupid cars. Oh, how I loved to slag these boyos. To their face. My slight second-generation Irish accent made my insults harder to understand if I turned up the brogue. Easier to swallow.
Tonight wasn’t my first go-round. A few months ago, I’d been in LA with my band, Less Than Zero, recording the soundtrack to Phantom Rising. The director found out I liked poker and invited me to his regular underground game hosted in his Hollywood mansion. Tonight, my band was in New York City for the movie premiere and to play a private concert afterward. He’d practically dragged me out of the VIP party to attend his relocated poker game, which happened to be here in his Manhattan penthouse.
In other words, an underground game that wasn’t actually underground. This one was thirty-six stories up.
After a few hours, I’d all but forgotten about the dim-witted actor. I had a huge pile of chips. It was turning out to be a good night. Especially when I mentally calculated my winnings. Factoring in the implied odds, I was on target to strip these losers of a couple hundred thousand dollars. Give or take a few grand after subtracting the buy-in.
Not that I’d keep any of this ill-begotten money for myself.
I just liked winning. Especially against arseholes.
Jermaine’s booming voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “Need a beer, McGloughlin?”
“Nah, I’m grand.” Studying my cards with a covert glance at the table, I estimated I was about one hand away from shutting the director out.
“I’m all in.” The director pushed his chips to the center of the table.
Boom.
“Call.” I barely looked up.
The director blanched, only for a second. Had to maintain the appearance of dignity. Or whatever. Just as the dealer was about to lay down the river card, the door burst open. Byron Angel was back, tugging a divine, auburn-haired woman behind him. I was surprised to see her but steeled my expression to keep it neutral. Waiting to see WTF was going on. The mystery was solved when the actor produced a stack of hundred-dollar bills.
“Well, well, well.” The director tapped a couple of chips roughly on the table and visibly ogled the woman’s ample breasts. “I haven’t seen you in a while. I think you’ve been avoiding me.”
She ignored him completely. She pointedly ignored everyone, actually.
“I want back in; my girl is staking me.” The desperate actor’s slick, veneered grin made me want to punch a hole in his face just for existing.
Without being obvious, I kept an eye on her. For a split second her soulful green eyes locked with mine, but she quickly looked away to study something fascinating on the floor. It gave me a prime opportunity to more openly admire her. Delicious tits straining against a snug, plain black blouse that bared her shoulders. Lightly sculpted muscles. Curvy waist. Long, slim legs clad in tight jeans.
Luscious.
Author Bio:
When she was only 15, Kaylene Winter wrote her first rocker romance novel starring a fictionalized version of herself, her friends and their gorgeous rocker boyfriends. After living her own rockstar life as a band manager, music promoter and mover and shaker in Seattle during the early 1990’s, Kaylene became a digital media legal strategist helping bring movies, television and music online. Throughout her busy career, Kaylene lost herself in romance novels across all genres inspiring her to realize her life-long dream to be a published author. She lives in Seattle with her amazing husband and dog. She loves to travel, throw lavish dinner parties and support charitable causes supporting arts and animals.
We end up talking through letters and sticky notes in a book. One sticky note. Two sticky notes. Ten sticky notes. All baring our darkest, deepest secrets.
It’s all fun and games until I find out who my pen pal is…
Xavier Emery. King of my basketball-obsessed town, my childhood bully, and the guy I am in grave danger of falling in love with.
But the rules were clear: we can never know who we’re talking to, and the confessions can never, ever get out. Seriously. It would destroy lives.
Fine by me. Even if Mr. Popular does find out his confidant is little old me, it’s not like he’d ever love me back…
Right?
Sunny Shelly’s Review: 4 Stars
Dear Love, I Hate You is the first book I’ve read by Eliah Greenwood. It hit all the marks of an enemies to lovers/high school romance, a mistaken identity, opposites attract romance. Aveena (Vee) is a loner, Xavier is the popular athlete. They were friends ages ago, and he broke her little heart. Their paths diverged in the years since, and when Xavier finds an angry letter that Vee mistakenly left behind in the school library, their lives again cross paths and are changed forever.
I thought the author did a great job of balancing out Xavier’s cockiness with his vulnerable side. His family life is a mess behind closed doors, and he’s trying his best to hold it all together. And Vee is a strong heroine, even if she’s been living her life in her gifted little sister’s shadow for years. Through her relationship with Xavier, she really comes into her own, and they see the best in one another. They see the hidden parts that nobody else sees.
Through their secret pen pal letters, these two form a wonderful connection, and I really liked how the letters were used as a tool for Vee and Xavier falling in love without truly knowing who the other one was. They connected on a much deeper level by sharing their innermost thoughts and deepest confessions, a level that they likely wouldn’t have reached they just started talking at a high school kegger. I loved the beauty in that raw emotion, the way they opened themselves up to one another.
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Eliah Greenwood is a Canadian author, proud Wattpad Star, Fiction Awards 2018 Winner, coffee addict and cliché with a twist lover!
She started her writing journey on a website called Wattpad at the age of fifteen. She wrote the majority of her first book Unwritten Rules on the bus on her way home from school. When her debut gathered 31,000,000 reads on the platform, she decided to self-publish the trilogy that set so many hearts, including hers, on fire.
When she’s not writing and screaming at her computer screen, you can find her binge watching her favourite TV shows on repeat or reading in a warm blanket.
She is currently working on her fifth book. It is expected to come out in 2021.
After an ill-fated one-night stand, Wyatt Landry was the last person I ever expected to see again.
By design, mind you, as I spent the last two years avoiding him.
He was only ever meant to be a good time—a really good time—and now, thanks to one teensy little mistake, he’s back in my life and wielding an entirely different set of tools.
It’s not like I intentionally hired a bogus contractor to redo our chapel, and Lord knows I never imagined Wyatt would ride up in his pickup truck, like a knight in thigh-hugging blue jeans, to save the day.
But here he is, and to make matters worse, he’s every bit as charming as I remember, and before I can fully process his reappearance in my life, he has my six-year-old daughter wrapped around his finger, my parents eating out of the palm of his hand, and my best friend shipping us like we’re some celebrity couple.
Thankfully, working in the death industry, I’ve mastered the skill of compartmentalization. Keeping my growing feelings tucked away should be a piece of cake. Except, seeing him every day definitely throws a wrench in that plan.
Before I know it, we’re trading favors for dates, and as much I don’t want to admit it, the feelings for him I thought were dead and buried are taking root and growing into something that looks a lot like love.
Daigle Family Funeral Services… don’t be caught dead any place else.
Sunny Shelly’s Review: 5 Stars
Mourning Wood was all kinds of fun! Whitney is a funeral director (the Mourning) and Wyatt is a contractor (the Wood) hired to rebuild the chapel in her family’s funeral home after the first construction crew ran off. But their paths first crossed years ago, when they had a hot hookup next to a dumpster outside a bar during his cousin and her bestie’s joint bachelor/bachelorette party.
Even though Whitney doesn’t want Wyatt to be on the job, her hands are tied and she has no choice. But it seems like Whitney is the only person in her family who doesn’t want Wyatt around, because her parents and daughter are smitten with the guy. Little by little, Wyatt starts trading favors around the funeral home for dates, and he totally wins Whitney over.
These characters were so funny! I wasn’t sure how this would translate being set in a funeral home, but Heather Orgeron did a bang up job with this story. The writing is concise and sharp, the scenarios are organic and funny, and the dialog is fantastic. Not only with Wyatt and Wyatt, but all of the other characters, too! I loved her daughter Prissy. Her parents, her best friend Kate… And I learned so many things about the funeral industry I didn’t know, too! I wish we’d gotten to see more of Wyatt’s friendship with his cousin, Beau, but getting to know the grandparents who raised him so well made up for it.
There is zero drama, zero angst and no big split in Mourning Wood. Just a lot of fun, fantastic characters and a swoony guy who seems to good to be true… but is the exact prince he proves to Whitney over and over agin that he is!
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
About the Author: Heather M. Orgeron is a Cajun girl with a big heart and a passion for romance. She married her high school sweetheart two months after graduation and her life has been a fairytale ever since. She’s the queen of her castle, reigning over five sons and one bossy little princess who has made it her mission in life to steal her Momma’s throne. When she’s not writing, you will find her hidden beneath mounds of laundry and piles of dirty dishes or locked in her tower(aka the bathroom) soaking in the tub with a good book. She’s always been an avid reader and has recently discovered a love for cultivating romantic stories of her own.
Brody McCallister was only supposed to be a means to an end. My golden ticket to get me closer to what I really needed—a way to make peace with what I’d done when I was eighteen, dirt poor, and left to fend for myself.
I only had six weeks in the middle of a hectic world tour to do it.
So the last thing I needed was to fall for a cocky cowboy. A walking contradiction with a charming grin, a dirty mouth, and a gift for healing wild and broken things.
His life was in Texas.
Mine was on the road.
He guarded his privacy fiercely.
I was constantly hounded by paparazzi.
Everyone warned me it could never work, that ultimately I’d be forced to choose—my music career or him.
I didn’t listen. I fell for him anyway.
Hook, line, and proverbial sinker.
But Brody was hiding secrets.
And when the storm finally broke, it destroyed everything in its wake … including us.
When The Storm Breaks is the second book in the Lost Stars series, following the McAllister family. This time, we get cousin Brody’s story — the moody rancher. There were breadcrumbs we got about Brody’s backstory in When The Stars Fall, and I loved getting to find out more about him!
Brody is such a tortured hero. He is the foster kid with the tragic past, who was lucky to be taken in by his aunt and uncle, who showed him what a loving home looked like. He’s trying to now do the same for his teenage brother, Ridge, so that history doesn’t repeat itself. I definitely got the feeling in When The Stars Fall that Brody was hung up on Lila (they had one drunk night together while Jude was MIA that resulted in the birth of Noah) — but I so, so loved Brody’s romance with Shiloh!
Country rock star Shiloh is hiding out in Texas for six weeks in between tour dates. She sought Brody out for a specific reason, and while I thought that was going to be a bigger part of the story, Shiloh’s reasons for seeking him out was kind of wrapped up pretty early on. The bigger issue between Shiloh and Brody became issues of trust (her working with her ex-boyfriend/former bandmate), lifestyle differences between the Cowboy and the Rock Star — and a wicked twist in the story that I didn’t see coming.
It took a lot for Brody to open up to Shiloh, especially since he didn’t think he was worthy of her love. And when the skeletons in his closet were revealed to the media, my heart hurt for Brody — it wasn’t his fault, yet he was made out to be a monster. This book was one of the cases where the heroine comes groveling for forgiveness — and I loved the reconciliation.
While I didn’t quite love this story as much as I loved When The Stars Fall, when The Storm Breaks is still an epic, emotional journey of true love, soul mates and forgiveness. Brody and Shiloh were destined for each other!
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Emery Rose has been known to indulge in good red wine, strong coffee, and a healthy dose of sarcasm. When she’s not working on her latest project, you can find her binge-watching Netflix, trotting the globe in search of sunshine, or immersed in a good book. A former New Yorker, she currently resides in London with her two beautiful daughters.
Second Chance At Us, an all-new sweet and emotional second chance romance from Stacy Travis is available now!
In high school, I was the bubbly cheerleader and he was the quiet debate guy I didn’t even know existed.
But Blake Fulton made me believe in love after just one day.
Two weeks after my dad died, I was spiraling out of control and my friends had gone AWOL. Blake had never spoken to me before, but suddenly he was there. We ditched school, he bought me a burger, he made me laugh. And he kissed me better than any of those football guys ever did.
Then he ghosted me and broke my heart.
Fifteen years later, he’s back in my life. He wants to apologize and explain. He wants to prove he’s a better man now.
All I want is to resist.
But there’s something about him… the way his gorgeous gray eyes see me like I’m the only woman in the room, the way he ignites a fire that burns only for him, the way he knows what I need even before I do.
I could fall for him all over again. I’ve never believed in second chances. Will he be the one to change my mind?
“Do you always wear scrubs? Or do they sometimes let you wear those little nurse’s outfits with the short skirts?” My eyes bulged in horror. “You’re kidding, right?” He looked unsure. “Right…?” “Blake have you ever been in a hospital before? And have you ever seen any nurse wearing what I’m certain is a slutty Halloween costume?” He held up a finger. “First, no, I’ve never been in a hospital, knock on wood.” He thumped the Formica table, and I rolled my eyes. “And two, I hope you don’t mind me saying you’d rock the slutty nurse costume.” He was so cocky. This wasn’t the guy I knew in high school. That guy was shy, thoughtful, earnest… and a fucking ghoster. This guy, with the Hollywood abs, the pretty face, and the confident attitude could only be that much worse. I shook my head. “Just… stop.” Damn it, despite the years I’d spent hating him, I was still wholly attracted to him, which was wrong for so many reasons. He was a jerk. A jerk who still made my stomach do backflips and caused heat to roam up my neck and across my cheeks. So I sat there, pink in the face and gaping at him with a flutter in my heart that felt like hope. I reprimanded that flutter. No hope allowed. Blake was the enemy. He’d made that clear years ago, and some things couldn’t be written off with apologies fifteen years too late. And yet… there was no denying that my attraction to him in high school hadn’t even needed a breath of oxygen to rear up and reignite. It didn’t hurt that his unsure gaze had evolved into a smoldering certainty and he’d gotten control over the pout of his lips and now wielded them like a weapon.
Sunny Shelly’s Review: 4 Stars
Second Chance at Us is a standalone contemporary romance — but Becca is Finn’s sister from In Trouble With Him! I love when those connections are made!
Fifteen years after Rebecca and Blake spent one amazing night together back in high school, they come face to face in the most unlikely of places. Neither one of them has forgotten the night they spent together, or the way that Blake blew Rebecca off. He’s been carrying around a ton of guilt over how he ghosted her, always thinking of Rebecca as the one that got away. And Rebecca has been so emotionally damaged by that night that she hasn’t let herself get close to another guy since Blake. But when fate offers them a second chance, will Blake be able to convince Rebecca to give him a fair shot?
I liked how this story unfolded. Rebecca was hesitant to get involved with Blake again, and her indecision really came through as she struggled in trusting him again. And then when it came back to bite her in the butt, she knew her instincts had been right. I really liked that particular twist, because I felt that Blake’s reasonings for blowing her off were kinda lame. I get that he was a nerdy 16 year old and she was a popular cheerleader… but the twist in the scenario made it all make more sense.
Overall, I really liked this second-chance contemporary romance. Blake and Rebecca are really likable characters, the story is well-written and unfolds nicely, and it all wraps up with a pretty HEA bow at the end! I’m guessing that this is the start of a new series featuring the rest of Finn’s sisters, and I am all in for that! I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
About Stacy Travis
It’s a rough world out there, and we all sometimes need a good, romantic beach read, even if we can’t make it to the beach. I’ve spent many lazy days walking the streets of Paris and other gorgeous European cities, and if I’m doing it right, I’m bringing you a dash of romance and a vacay fantasy. I can’t sit still, so when I’m not hiking, biking or running, I’m playing a very average game of tennis. Background music for writing undoubtedly features some U2, Lizzo, Billy Joel, Pink, Taylor Swift, and Led Zeppelin. Not necessarily in that order. And if I could only eat one food group, it would be cheese. Or wine. Or bread. Are those food groups? Whatever.
From USA Today and Wall St. Journal bestselling author, Emma Scott, comes the third and final novel in the Lost Boys series–a gritty, angsty love story about two lost souls searching for their place in the world, and what it means to be truly found.
The Last Piece of His Heart by Emma Scott is now live!
At Santa Cruz Central High School, they called them the misfits, the outcasts, the weirdos. But most of us knew them as the Lost Boys…
Ronan Wentz has been to hell and back, and he carries the scars to prove it. Worse, the blood of a monster runs through his veins. After ten years in foster care, eighteen-year-old Ronan is finally reunited with family. His uncle gives him a roof over his head and puts him to work, managing a shabby apartment complex in Santa Cruz, California.
But a second chance is still a second chance. Ronan becomes a solitary hunter, a vigilante, walking the streets at night to keep the nightmares at bay. If he can use the anger burning in his tainted blood to protect instead of hurt, maybe then he’ll find the absolution he seeks.
Then he meets Shiloh.
Shiloh Barrera looks like she has it all together. Smart, ambitious and full of artistic creativity she channels into making beautiful one-of-kind jewelry. But Shiloh’s cool, capable demeanor is all a front. Her demons drive her to succeed as much as her ambition. To prove her worth to the mother who can’t stand to look at her, and who’s harboring secrets of her own.
When Shiloh and Ronan meet, the physical attraction is instant and scorching. Neither believe it will last. Falling in love is an impossible pipe dream saved for those less shattered and damaged than they are.
But as hard as they try to resist, the growing feelings between them seem inevitable… until one terrible night destroys Shiloh’s dreams and Ronan’s future. When the smoke clears, and the rubble settles, they’ll have to choose – do their pasts determine their future, or can they build a new one from the broken pieces of their hearts?
Lost Boys is a new series of interconnected, coming-of-age standalones from USA Today bestselling author Emma Scott.
Oh my goodness! The last book in the Lost Boys series was just as angsty, beautiful and emotional as the others! Since the timeline of all three Lost Boys books overlap, there were some nuggets previously dropped about Shiloh and Ronan… and gah! This story was worth the wait.
Ronan has had a hell of a life. Bounced from foster home to foster home, he never found a place he fit in until he met Shiloh. The scars of his past have made Ronan a bit of a recluse — or the vampire of the Lost Boys in Santa Cruz— but he is a fierce, fierce protector when it comes to those he cares about. Miller, Hunter and Shiloh especially! Meanwhile, Shiloh is determined to make her jewelry store dream come true, to prove to herself (and the mother who seems to hate the sight of her), that she has a life worth living.
Ronan and Shiloh’s relationship is a slow burn as they go from friends to more, but because Ronan has this deep need to protect her, and for a good cause, their relationship is kept in the shadows. Once they do go public, everything that he feared would happen does, and it literally tears them apart for years.
The last few chapters of this story are especially amazing. After all that Shiloh and Ronan go through, I was so happy to see them get a happy ending. The reveal of why Shiloh and her mom’s relationship is so fractured was a gut wrenching scene. But I am so happy with the way Emma Scott repaired that relationship and how much of a presence Marie became in Shiloh’s life afterwards!
And that final scene with the three Lost Boys… I cried. Ugly fat tears that I had to keep clearing from my eyes. The lost boys and their created family… this series was epic. And I won’t forget it.
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Meet Emma
Emma Scott is a USA Today and Wall St. Journal bestselling author whose books have been translated in five languages and featured in Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, New York Daily News and USA Today’s Happy Ever After. She writes emotional, character-driven romances in which art and love intertwine to heal, and in which love always wins. If you enjoy emotionally-charged stories that rip your heart out and put it back together again, with diverse characters and kind-hearted heroes, you will enjoy her novels. Visit http://www.emmascottwrites.com
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Someday, Someday (M/M standalone)
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Bring Down the Stars (Beautiful Hearts #1)
Long Live the Beautiful Hearts (Beautiful Hearts #2)
Get your binge read on (and grab your tissues), The Lost Boys series is now complete!
“At Santa Cruz Central High, we called them the misfits, the outcasts, the weirdos. But most of us knew them as the Lost Boys.”
Heartbroken by the loss of her fiancé, adventurous Anna finds a second chance at love with an Irish sailor in this riveting, emotional romance.
After a reminder goes off for the Caribbean sailing trip Anna was supposed to take with her fiancé, she impulsively goes to sea in the sailboat he left her, intending to complete the voyage alone.
But after a treacherous night’s sail, she realizes she can’t do it by herself and hires Keane, a professional sailor, to help. Much like Anna, Keane is struggling with a very different future than the one he had planned. As romance rises with the tide, they discover that it’s never too late to chart a new course.
In Trish Doller’s unforgettable Float Plan, starting over doesn’t mean letting go of your past, it means making room for your future.
“The perfect escape. Fresh, funny, and romantic. I wish I could sail away with this book.” – Meg Cabot, New York Times bestselling author of The Princess Diaries and Little Bridge series
EXCERPT
Anna—
There’s a kind of jacked-up happiness that comes when you know your life is almost over, when the decision to end it becomes solid. It might be adrenaline. It might be relief. And if I had always felt like this, I might have climbed mountains or raced marathons.
Now it’s just enough to see this through.
I should have left you alone that first night at the bar. If I had, you wouldn’t be reading this letter at all.
You’d be walking your dog or watching TV with your boyfriend. You didn’t deserve to be dragged into my shit, and you definitely don’t deserve the pain I’m about to cause. This is not your fault. For two years you have been my only reason for living. I wish I could give you forever.
You are strong and brave, and someday you’ll be okay. You’ll fall in love, and I hate him already for being a better man. Someday you will be happy again.
I love you, Anna. I’m sorry.
—Ben
ten months and six days (1)
I walk out of my life on Thanksgiving Day.
Last-minute shoppers are clearing shelves of stuffing mix and pumpkin pie filling as I heap my cart with everything I might need. (Dry beans. Canned vegetables. Rice.) I move through the grocery store like a prepper running late for doomsday. (Boxed milk. Limes. Spare flashlight.) I am quick so I won’t lose my nerve. (Apples. Toilet paper. Red wine.) I try not to think beyond leaving. (Cabbage. Playing cards. Bottled water.) Or about what I might be leaving behind.
My mother calls as I’m wrangling the grocery bags into the back seat of my overstuffed Subaru. I haven’t told her that I won’t be there for Thanksgiving dinner, and she’s not ready to hear that I’m skipping town. Not when I’ve barely left the house for the better part of a year. She’ll have questions and I don’t have an- swers, so I let the call go to voicemail.
When I reach the dock, the Alberg is right where it should
4 Trish Doller
be, the shiny hull painted navy blue and the transom empty, still waiting for a name. For a moment I expect Ben’s head to pop up from the companionway. I wait to see his little fuck-me grin, and to hear the excitement in his voice when he tells me today is the day. But the hatch is padlocked, and the deck is covered in bird shit—another part of my life I’ve let fall into neglect.
Ten months and six days ago, Ben swallowed a bottle of pre- scription Paxil and chased it with the cheap tequila that lived under the sink, and I don’t know why. He was already gone when I came home from work and found him on the kitchen floor. In his suicide note, he told me I was his reason for living. Why was I not enough?
I breathe in deep, to the bottom of my lungs. Let it out slowly.
Step onto the boat and unlock the hatch.
The air is stale and hot, smelling of wood wax, new canvas, and a hint of diesel. I haven’t been aboard since before Ben died. Spiders have spun their homes in the corners of the cabin and a layer of dust has settled on every surface, but the changes leave me breathless. The interior brightwork is varnished and glossy. The ugly original brown-plaid cushion covers have been replaced with red canvas and Peruvian stripes. And a framed graphic hangs on the forward bulkhead that reads i & love & you.
“Why do all this work for a trip you’ll never take?” I say out loud, but it’s another question without an answer. I wipe my eyes on the sleeve of my T-shirt. One of the things I’ve learned is that suicide doesn’t break a person’s heart just once.
It takes me the rest of the morning to clean the boat, unload the contents of my car, and stow everything away. Traces of Ben are everywhere: a saucepan at the bottom of the hanging locker,
Float Plan 5
an expired six-pack of Heineken in the cockpit lazarette, a moldy orange life jacket stuffed in the refrigerator. I throw these things in the trash, but even with my spider plant hanging from an overhead handrail and my books lining the shelf, the boat belongs to Ben. He chose it. He did the renovations. He charted the course. He set the departure date. My presence feels like a layer as temporary as dust.
The last thing in my trunk is a shoebox filled with photos taken using Ben’s old Polaroid, a dried hibiscus flower from our first date, a handful of dirty-sexy love letters, and a suicide note. I take out a single photo—Ben and me at the Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse about a week before he died—and stash the box in the bottom drawer of the navigation station. I tape the photo to the wall in the V-berth, right above my pillow.
And it’s time to go.
My only plan was to spend today in bed—my only plan since Ben’s death—but I was startled out of sleep by an alarm. The notification on my phone said: TODAY IS THE DAY, ANNA! WE’RE GOING SAILING! Ben had programmed the event into my calendar almost three years ago—on the day he showed me his sailboat and asked me to sail the world with him—and I had forgotten. I cried until my eyelashes hurt, because there is no lon- ger a we and I’ve forgotten how to be me without Ben. Then I got out of bed and started packing.I’ve never been sailing without Ben. I don’t always get the ter- minology correct—it’s a line, Anna, not a rope—and I’ll be lucky if I make it to the end of the river. But I am less afraid of what might become of me while sailing alone in the Caribbean than of what might become of me if I stay.
Author bio:
TRISH DOLLER is the author of novels for teens and adults about love, life, and finding your place in the world. A former journalist and radio personality, Trish has written several YA novels, including the critically acclaimed Something Like Normal, as well as Float Plan, her adult women’s fiction debut. When she’s not writing, Trish loves sailing, traveling, and avoiding housework. She lives in southwest Florida with an opinionated herding dog and an ex-pirate.
She hides behind a camera lens. He’s played himself into a corner. Can they outrun the rumor mill and make way for forever?
Hayley Brooke is done with men. So when a sloshed guy at a party makes a sloppy play for her affections, the wedding photographer is relieved when a hunky stranger comes to the rescue. But her gratitude quickly sours when she realizes her savior is the same infamous womanizer she once met on a bad blind date.
Mark Hastings is tired of trying to tough it out. Heralded online as the hottest bachelor on the market, the rugby player’s crippling anxiety steers him well away from the suffocating public spotlight. So saving a familiar pretty face and then being rejected is made a million times worse when pictures light up the internet with salacious gossip.
Horrified to be caught up in the swell of fangirl spite, Hayley demands he set the record straight by being seen with somebody else… only to be bitten by unexpected jealousy. And when they’re forced back together to plan a mutual friend’s engagement bash, they give in to their physical attraction and Mark vows to finally expose his vulnerability.
With social media commenting on their every move, will Hayley ever believe Mark’s love is real?
Just My Type is a heart-fluttering contemporary romance novel. If you like endearing characters, steamy excitement, and breathtaking twists, then you’ll adore Sophia Karlson’s sensual scrum.
Mjlovestoread – “Perfect little love story!”
Marcie’s on the Books – “Mark Hastings Is Just My Type and MORE!”
Wendy’s Book Reviews – “Sweet read!!”
Sunny Shelly’s Review: 4 Stars
Just My Type is a sexy and sweet opposites attract friends to lovers romance. Sophia Karlson is a new-to-me author, and I really enjoyed her writing style and the journey Mark (aka Stings) and Hayley went on. It’s set in South Africa, and tells the story of a rugby star who has a reputation as a womanizer who never sleeps with the same woman twice and the photographer who is convinced that she is not his type.
Mark and Hayley have mutual friends, so they run in the same circle and have known each other for years. As they get to know one another during their best friends’ engagement party, Hayley realizes that she really misjudged Stings, and she just may be his type after all…
This book started off as a slow burn for me, but once it really got going, I loved Mark and Hayley, and what they drew out of the other. I thought this was going to be another lighthearted manwhore-falls-for-the-good-girl story — and it was — but there are a whole host of deeper topics that come into play in this book, like anxiety, mental health and depression. And the effects that social media can have on a person. I loved the scene where Mark kind of freaks out and doesn’t know how to handle being surrounded by his fans… it brought another aspect of the life of a celebrity to light, one that I haven’t seen much of in the sports romance genre.
A gem of a romance!
Sophia Karlson writes sensual, emotional, and evocative contemporary romance, often set in far-flung settings. She used to work in the travel industry before turning to full-time writing. Her first book, Perfect Mistake, was a finalist for the Daphne Award for Romantic Suspense and won the Kathryn Hayes award in 2019. All her novels can be read as standalone, although she tends to write about siblings because family dynamics are so intriguing.
Taking readers on a journey of their own with her books is part of the plot. Bon voyage!
After serving a decade long prison sentence for an accident that resulted in my husband’s death, Noah Reid returns. Even if he was my childhood best friend and the first man I secretly loved, I refuse to make it easy for him. But the heart never forgets and those old repressed feelings quickly bubble to the surface.
Sunny Shelly Reads 