CAN’T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT by Sara Ney is NOW LIVE!

Blurb:

There are two sacred rules in the Montagalo household:

1. Family comes first.
2. Don’t date my brother’s teammates.

Of course I went and broke both…

It started with a little banter on a dating app.

A teeny, tiny secret:Flirty messages with Luca Babineaux, the sweet, charming—and stupidly attractive forward on the Houston Baddies—who makes sweat and bruises look so f’ing hot. One spark turns into a secret first date. A few kisses become way more.

Now I’m tangled in a full-blown secret romance and every time Gio walks into the room, I have a full-blown anxiety attack.

Dating in secret? Thrilling.
Lying to my brother? Exhausting.

Falling for Luca Babineaux obviously wasn’t part of the game plan.

He wants to go public with our relationship. I’d rather not.

Now I have to decide what matters more: keeping my promises to my dumb, overprotective brother…or choose myself for once.

All’s fair in love and hockey. Right?

Buy Link:

https://books2read.com/CAGWYWSNeyKU

Available in KU

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 4 Stars

I have been looking forward to Nova and Luca’s book ever since I read her epilogue tucked at the back of Hit Me With Your Best Shot. And Sara Ney did not disappoint!

Unlucky in love, Nova didn’t quite know what to do when she matched with her brother’s teammate, Luca, on a dating app. At first, she thought she was being catfished, so she was definitely surprised to discover that it was indeed Luca himself on the app. Their relationship progressed quite quickly, and I loved the witty banter, the flirty text exchanges, and the hilarity of Luca and Nova sharing custody of a giraffe cup from Rainforest Cafe.

I knew this was going to be a brother’s best friend book where said brother warns his teammates not to date his sister. What I wasn’t expecting was to feel so much for Luca as Nova insists on keeping their relationship a secret. I loved that he wasn’t afraid to share his feelings with her, and insist that he deserved more than her lying about who they are to each other. Most books have the guy making the Grand Gesture after an argument, but it’s Nova who goes big in this story to apologize to Luca for downplaying what he means to her… complete with landing herself in hockey jail. It’s a thing.

I loved Gio in all his overprotective glory as a side character in this story, and seeing him and Austin as parents. I can’t wait for Poppy’s story!

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

Meet Sara Ney:

Sara Ney is the USA Today Bestselling Author of the How to Date a Douchebag series, and is best known for her sexy, laugh-out-loud New Adult romances. Among her favorite vices, she includes: iced latte’s, historical architecture and well-placed sarcasm. She lives colorfully, collects vintage books, art, loves flea markets, and fancies herself British.

Connect with Sara Ney:

https://linktr.ee/authorsaraney

Hugo by Jennifer Millikin is now live! 

Retired fencing Olympian Hugo De la Vega lives a quiet life in Olive Township. He has his friends, his olive orchard, and a recurring daydream about what he would say to his father’s murderer if given the chance to look him in the eyes.

True crime podcaster Mallory Hawkins arrives in the eclectic small desert town with one purpose: to investigate Hugo’s father’s unsolved murder from twenty years ago.

A chance meeting at a sandwich shop has Hugo harmlessly flirting with Mallory, until he realizes she’s the stubborn woman who has been hounding him for months. Hugo’s swift and emphatic refusal to support her investigation forces Mallory to reveal her personal connection to the case.

Now Hugo is spending time with the woman whose emails he once deleted. She’s witty, eternally curious, and pregnant. Finding this out should make it easier for Hugo to deny the magnetic pull he feels toward her, but it has the opposite effect.

When a situation threatens Mallory and her baby’s safety, Hugo finds himself moving her into his house at the orchard. Now they’re splitting time between a search for justice and fighting their mutual attraction… until a middle of the night encounter in the kitchen has them taking their relationship from professional to personal.

With each passing day, Hugo gets closer to laying it all out on the line for Mallory.

As long as the killer doesn’t get to her first.

*Hugo is the second in a four-book contemporary romance series inspired by the film The Princess Bride. Expect swoon, sass, spice, and happily ever afters.

  Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

Amazon: https://amzn.to/42ouBgZ

Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/HugoJM

 Audio: Coming Soon!

Check out the Olive Township series on Audible here:

https://bit.ly/45muPHt

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/4cd0b4T

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 5 Stars

I so enjoyed this story, inspired by The Princess Bride!

I was intrigued by Hugo after reading Penn, and I wanted to get to know him better and find out what happened to his dad, who was murdered many years ago. Hugo’s world is turned upside down when true crime podcaster Mallory arrives in Olive Township. But she’s not just curious about Hugo’s father’s death because it’s a cold case — she thinks it may be connected to the cold case of her own sister’s murder.

I loved the journey these two went on, how connected they were right from the start. Hugo really has been stunted for years, and Mallory breathes life back into him. On the flip side, Mallory is at a crossroads in her life. Her ex signed away all rights to the baby she’s expecting, and she’s looking at life as a single mom. But not only does Hugo fall in love with Mallory, but he wants her and Peanut to be his forever girls. Swoon.

And I loved that Hugo, the Olympic gold medal fencer, got his Inigo Montoya moment after all.

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

Meet Jennifer

Jennifer Millikin is a bestselling author of fifteen contemporary romance and women’s fiction novels. She is the two-time recipient of the Readers Favorite Gold Star Award, and readers have called her work “emotionally riveting” and “unputdownable”.

Following a viral TikTok video with over fourteen million views, Jennifer’s third novel, Our Finest Hour, has been optioned for TV/Film. She lives in the Arizona desert with her husband, children, and Liberty, her Labrador retriever.

Connect with Jennifer

Website: https://www.jennifermillikinwrites.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jennifermillikin

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B0161EZ30K

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferMillikinwrites

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/jennifermillikinreadergroup

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenmillwrites/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@authorjenmill

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jennifer-millikin

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jenmillwrites

A Good Book by Jewel E. Ann is now live! 

Gabriella Jacobson has one goal for her freshman year of college: Get Matthew Cory to fall in love with her.

Lucky for Gabby, her best friend, Ben, is attending the same college on a music scholarship. He is the perfect resource—girls love him, and he’s more experienced with relationships than her, since she’s never had a boyfriend.

When Gabby panics before her first date with Matt, she begs Ben to show her how to kiss. But Ben has a secret, one he’s been keeping from Gabby for years. He’s in love with her.

One kiss turns into two, leaving Gabby confused and scared that their friendship might not survive the unforeseen emotions. She avoids Ben until something unexpected changes his life forever, and he’s forced to drop out of school.

Gabby tries to contact him, but he won’t respond. And Matthew Cory, her sister’s ex-boyfriend and handsome law student, is ready to fill the void Ben left behind.

Now that Gabby has the man she thought she wanted, can she forget about the boy who kissed her twice?

Dive into this unforgettable coming of age romance today!

  Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

https://readerlinks.com/l/4489506

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/4jplKSP

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 5 Stars

From the first book in the Sunday Morning series through the third, I have loved the journeys of the Jacobsen sisters. In each installment, Jewel E. Ann delivered the high emotions, heartache, angst, drama, and swoon that I’ve come to love in her books.

Gabby’s story sets out with her convinced that she is destined to be with her older sister Sarah’s ex, Matt. But — as Gabby likes to say — God has a plan, and her journey is full of twists and turns, and the young college student ends up on a path she was not expecting. I was ALL IN on the rollercoaster of emotions that came with Gabby and Ben’s story. Beyond the “love lessons” that Gabby asks of Ben in preparation for her dates with Matt, there is so much more depth brought to this story when Ben’s life unexpectedly gets turned upside down. I loved that Ben had been in love with Gabby his entire life, and just as his life got thrown into turmoil, she realized there was more to her feelings for him than just friendship.

The angst in this one is much higher than the previous books in the series. While I teared up reading Sarah and Eve’s books, I was full-blown crying during parts of A Good Book. And once it was over, I was both relieved and sad that I’d come to the end.

A Good Book is most certainly a good book.

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

Meet Jewel E. Ann

Jewel is a Wall Street Journal & USA Today bestselling author with a quirky sense of humor. When she’s not saving the planet one tree at a time, you can find her role modeling questionable behavior to her three boys, binge-watching Netflix with her husband, and writing mind-bending romance. 

Connect with Jewel

Website: https://www.jeweleann.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7505427.Jewel_E_Ann

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jewel-E-Ann/e/B00IJYHDIG/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjeweleann

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/485996228236493

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorjeweleann/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JewelE_Ann

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jewel-e-ann

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jeweleannauthor/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jeweleannauthor

A playboy football player. A shy librarian. When old friends reunite, opposites attract in a witty and lighthearted romance about taking chances and falling in love against the odds.

It’s an unwritten rule small-town librarians shall not commit spontaneous acts, for fear of mortal embarrassment. I’d certainly just proved it true, though hiring an escort was perfectly logical. How else should I overcome my fear of intimacy without risking heartbreak?

Unfortunately, what came next wasn’t so logical.

Instead of a dating coach, Griffin King showed up. Yes, that Griffin my childhood neighbor and now, to my dismay, an obscenely handsome pro football player. He’s not actually an escort, but how was I supposed to know that?

Avoiding him after the mix-up is impossible. The man is everywhere—put in time-out by his agent after a PR snafu. Griffin might be an outrageous flirt determined to torment me until I snap, but he’s also the perfect man to help me.

The lessons aren’t what I thought they’d be. Neither is Griffin. Every time we touch, every time he shows me a different side to myself—and to him—I can’t help but wonder if we’re about to break another the playboy and the good girl aren’t supposed to fall in love.

BUY NOW —->bit.ly/LessonsInHeartbreak

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 5 Stars

Holy moly, Lessons in Heartbreak was a delicious slow burn!

Griffin and Ruby are former childhood neighbors; now in their thirties, they run into each other while he’s hiding out in the small Colorado town where she lives. He’s in town for a few weeks to lay low after a media fiasco, and they cross paths again when Ruby mistakenly believes he is the escort she hired to help her get over her fear of being intimate with a man. Not the ideal reunion, but it was certainly a memorable one!

Ruby has had some health issues that have left her feeling isolated the past few years. She desperately wants to get past her fears of being with a man, but does not want to put herself in a situation where love is part of the equation. Deciding that he can do a better job than any escort, Griffin takes it upon himself to be Ruby’s intimacy coach… and she ends up teaching him a thing or two in return.

While Ruby’s vulnerability stems from her health issues, Griffin has deep-rooted issues of not being good enough that trace back to his lifelong rivalry with his twin, Barrett. Watching these two open up to one another through their movie dates and book talk was heartwarming. Having been burned by an ex, Griffin never expected that he could be the “forever” kind of guy, and Ruby has zero desire to get into a long-term relationship because of her past. So of course, when these two fall in love, the Big Feeling have them both running scared. Seeing who he is on the inside, not just the monster football player the rest of the world sees, softens up the big brute.

Ruby and Griffin’s chemistry was electric. By the time they *finally* got together, I was on the edge of my seat… even though it was the most bittersweet moment of their situationship.

The two epilogues with this book were absolutely perfect, especially the one set 10 years in the future. I can’t wait to read more in this series! As a longtime Karla Sorensen reader, I loved the cameo from Liam and Zoe, now that Liam and Griffin are teammates. I really hope that Lauren and Marcus have a book of their own coming — because I need more of those two — and look forward to seeing Ice Man Barrett fall in love as well!

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley and voluntarily left a review.

JUST BUSINESS by Jenny Cross is NOW LIVE!

Blurb:

Country music star Austin James’ career is slowly unraveling. When faced with an ultimatum, he seeks refuge in small town Alabama.

Maybe its singing river and legendary studio are exactly what he needs to find his way back to himself.

What he doesn’t expect is Penny Miller, the fiercely independent studio owner. She’s filled with a stubborn fire that threatens to burn down every wall he’s built around himself.

Penny is fighting to revive her family’s recording studio and carve out her place in a male dominated industry. A floundering country music star is the last thing she needs.

Penny’s determined to keep things just business with the lines of professionalism firmly in place, but Austin James’ flirty smile and undeniable charm is hard to resist.

Haunted by heartache, she finds her life hitting the same notes as his, their worlds slowly harmonizing in ways she never expected. Their chemistry is undeniable, but so are the risks. Will this be their undoing, or the first verse of something new?

Buy Link:

https://a.co/d/9zqfvhB

Available in KU

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 4 Stars

Just Business was a beautiful story! I read somewhere that this was a debut novel from Jenny Cross, and I was quite impressed!

Both Austin and Penny are dealing with some major baggage, and I really liked how they were just *there* for one another. This story is not lighthearted and frilly, but deals with some heavy themes (familiar abuse, alcoholism/addiction, grief) — and Jenny Cross handles it wonderfully. The pacing is right, the chemistry between the two MCs leaps off the page, and the slow burn between Austin and Penny had me rooting for them every step of the way.

I am definitely keeping Just Business on my re-read list and look forward to more from this author! I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

About Jenny Cross:

Jenny resides in small-town Alabama with her husband, daughters and veritable zoo of pets. When she’s not writing swoony love stories, you can find her with her nose stuck inside someone else’s love story.

Connect with Jenny Cross:

https://linktr.ee/authorjennycross

BEFORE NOW by C.G. Blaine is NOW LIVE!

Blurb:

“She’s a sinner pretending to be a saint, crushing your soul while you kneel at her feet.”

Remi  

They chant his name. They play his songs.

Adams North has the world in a chokehold. Rock god on the rise.

Except the frontman for Of Men and Wolves isn’t Adams to me.

He’s Foster West, the man whose voice stole my heart five years ago. The one I left behind and needed to forget.

Now I’m directing his band’s documentary, trapped on tour, sleeping on their bus.

And Foster doesn’t intend to make my job easy.

Because while I ache from reminders of what we could have been, Foster hates we happened at all.

Foster  

I broke every rule for her. Trusted her. Laid myself at her feet.

I fell hard for the sad girl who shared whispered promises.

Then she shattered them—walked away like it wasn’t real.

Now my worst mistake is coming on tour.

She’s filming us on stage and off, giving a glimpse of the men behind the band.

I’m expected to be open. Vulnerable. Let her in after the wreckage she caused.

I hate how I still crave her. I hate every look and word, threatening to drag me back under.

Remi Sinner nearly destroyed me once.

This time around, there’s no escaping this beautiful liar.

Buy Link:

https://mybook.to/beforenow-omaw1

Available in KU

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 5 Stars

Why have I not read anything by C.G. Blaine before now? To be honest, I’d never even heard of her until I signed up for this book because the blurb was intriguing. I am so glad that I took a chance on this book, because it was phenomenal!

Before Now is exactly the kind of angsty love story that I love to read. Foster and Remi’s story had me hooked from the start, and I loved, loved, loved the dual timelines of their relationship five years ago and their reunion in present day. There is angst, high emotions, hurt, regret, longing, and so much more packed into this book!

Blaine is author besties with Brit Benson, so there is a tie between Foster’s band, Of Men and Wolves, and the band in Benson’s series, The Hometown Heartless. I loved the cameos by Sav, Levi and Torren!

I was hoping that there would have been more of a resolution with Foster and his dad, but I’m surprisingly okay with not having that part tied up in a neat bow. There were teases at the end of this book about Foster/Adams’ bandmates, so I’m expecting that to be explored further in future books. And I look forward to that!

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

Meet C.G. Blaine:

C.G. Blaine writes unapologetically messy and emotional romance novels. She loves her characters complicated, the connections intense, and rip-your-heart-out feels.

When she’s not writing, she’s likely to be found guzzling iced coffee, buying too much seasonal decor, or begging for book recs to fit her current mood.

Carrie lives in the middle of nowhere with her husband, vicious cat, and an adorably demanding bunny.

Connect with C.G. Blaine:

https://linktr.ee/authorcgblaine

EVERYTHING I NEEDED by Evey Lyon is AVAILABLE NOW!

After one night with my older ex-husband at a wedding, I return to our small town with some unexpected news:
My morning sickness is his fault.

My ex-husband—the town sheriff—pulled me over for speeding. Throwing up on him instead of getting a ticket? Definitely not my proudest moment. Neither was telling him the tiny little detail that I’m pregnant… from the one night we spent together at his brother’s wedding. It was supposed to be a one-time thing, for old times’ sake. But Carter insists on doing everything his way.

Including taking a chance—on us.

I refuse to get back together just for the sake of our baby. But Carter moves me into his home and stubbornly proves that maybe we gave up on each other too soon. As we grow close again and prepare to become parents, I start to wonder if maybe, just maybe, things could work out better this time around.

Because maybe now… I finally have everything I ever needed.

For lovers of books low on angst and a swoony hero who falls first. This is the third and final book in the Everhope Road series and can be read as a standalone.

Author’s Note: You may have met the characters before. Rosie Blisswood (The Blisswood Brothers, Something Right) and Sheriff Carter (Lake Spark Off-Season, Waiting to Score) find themselves in an accidental pregnancy with a second chance that has everyone on Everhope Road talking. You do not have to read these books to enjoy the story.

BUY NOW —–> https://buff.ly/v5f7Lsa

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 5 Stars

Sheriff Carter finally gets his HEA in Everything I Needed! I’ve been rooting for the guy ever since he went on a date with Violet, and I was so happy that he got his second chance with his ex-wife, Rosie!

Everything I Needed hits all the right notes for a second-chance, accidental pregnancy, small-town romance. The night of his brother Oliver’s wedding, Carter and Rosie have a drunken one-night stand. When she comes back to town a few weeks later to tell him that she’s pregnant, Carter takes his shot at winning his ex-wife back. Free-spirited Rosie is hesitant to make the same mistakes she made in their relationship the first time, and worries that Carter resents her for breaking up their marriage the first time. With lots of love and patience, Carter proves to Rosie that he’s not afraid of being hurt by him again because they belong together.

This was such a charming story. I love the greater community in Lake Spark, and the crossover of characters from the other books.

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

BEAUTIFUL MESS by A. James is AVAILABLE NOW

Blurb:

I’m pretty in pink dipped in sunshine and sweet Southern smiles.

He’s blue collar wrapped up in a gruff summer storm with a scowl.

He also happens to be my ex-boyfriend’s dad.

Not only is Conway Levine grumpy, arrogant, and entirely too handsome for his own good, with the salt and pepper scruff lining his sharp jawline and his thick, corded arms, but he also had a front row seat fourteen years ago to a drunken night so mortifying I can’t look him in the eye without feeling the shame all over again.

Living in a small town makes avoiding him impossible, even more when you add in the fact that his daughter is friends with mine.

When a little tardiness and a whole lot of bad luck lands me partnering with him at our children’s school, I’m certain I won’t survive.

Before I know it, the dread from having to work with him turns into a burning desire impossible to ignore when his once stone cold demeanor shifts into longing, heated stares, and somehow, he knows all the right things to whisper in my ear to get under my skin… and my dress.

Between his filthy mouth and stifling need to devour me any chance he gets, the chemistry we share between the sheets quickly becomes something out of my wildest dreams.

Except Conway doesn’t do relationships, and I’m not built for casual.

But I couldn’t quit him even if I tried.

When all is said and done, will I be able to protect my already tattered heart or will it end up shattered into a million beautiful, messy pieces?

Buy Link:

https://geni.us/beautifulmessbb

Available in KU

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 4 Stars

As main characters, Conway and Grace aren’t the kind of couple I would normally read, but I read the first book in the Blossom Beach series and was intrigued by Grace’s preview at the end… so I was quick to sign up for Beautiful Mess and I ended up really liking these two!

I knew what I was getting as far as the ex’s dad, forbidden, single-parents’ romance. But what I was not expecting was how swoon-worthy this story was. Conway is a helluva dirty talker, but beyond the daddy kink and once Grace gets past her humiliation over the night she hit on him 14 years ago, this is actually a very sweet story about letting yourself fall in love again.

Both Grace and Conway have been burned in the past (and for her, not just by his son). Neither one of them is happy to be paired with the other on the PTA fundraising committee, but underneath all that griping and bickering are two hurting people, closed off to love, who end up finding comfort, healing, and love in the other.

CJ Bloom and Alex Kydd did a fantastic job narrating this story. I loved the vulnerability that Bloom brought to Grace, and Kydd was a pleasure to listen to with his Southern drawl and filthy mouth.

I am really glad that I took a chance on this! I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

Meet Ashley James:

Ashley James is a romance author who enjoys writing (and reading) LGBTQIA+ books. She is from Washington State—and no, not Seattle—and currently resides in South Carolina with her two kids and hairless kitties, Goose, Maverick, and Houston. Ashley is introverted and slightly (okay, majorly) awkward. She refuses to make this section sound like a tacky dating app profile, so she won’t be telling you how much she enjoys music, how she thoroughly enjoys dancing and singing in her kitchen, despite not being able to carry a tune, and she won’t be telling you about her love of toxic and broken fictional men.

Connect with Ashley James:

https://authorashleyjames.com/links/

STOLEN DREAMS by Natasha Madison is AVAILABLE NOW!

Blurb:

Lilah

I was left for dead when I was eighteen.

Coming to Mustang Creek Ranch gave me something to live for.

My boss is grumpy and reclusive.

But I’m secretly in love with him, even though he’s made it known he’ll never settle down.

Even though he’s made it clear, he’ll never be mine-or anyone’s.

Emmett

I’ve kept my distance from Lilah for years. No matter how much I want her, she’s off-limits.

The only family I will ever have are the ones I fought beside in battle-the family I chose.

Until the phone rang and I found out I had an eight-year-old daughter.

Watching Lilah with my daughter makes me wonder what it would be like to do the thing I swore I never would: have a family and fall in love.

When I move her into my house to keep her safe from the dangers of her past, all bets are off.

Buy Link:

https://books2read.com/KUStolenDreamsNM

Available in KU

Sunny Shelly’s Review: 4 Stars

Another great book from Natasha Madison in the Dreams series. Emmett and Lilah’s story was a wonderful secret crush, grumpy single dad romance.

I always enjoy it when a broken hero who thinks he has nothing to offer turns out to be super swoony and considerate, surprising himself… and that is exactly what happened with Emmett. Through Lilah’s bond with his daughter Lucy, both Emmett and Lucy bloomed. The progression from mutual pining to something so much deeper developed naturally, and I enjoyed seeing these characters come together.

There’s an element of suspense with Lilah’s stalker, which leads Emmett to finally get out of his own way and realize that his desire to be with her outweighs his fears that he could never be enough for her. The healing that these two broken souls find in one another was lovely.

There was one thing that left me a bit disappointed however and unsettled by the time I got to the end of the book. I felt like the reasons behind Lilah’s accident all those years ago weren’t fully explained. There were a few toss-away mentions, but the *why* of it all could have used a better explanation, in my opinion.

Overall, this did not disappoint as a grumpy single dad romance! I received 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…

Connect with Natasha Madison:

https://linktr.ee/natashamauthor