Can you imagine getting stuck alone on a deserted island with the person you hate most in the world? And no end in sight?
Well, that’s me. Bailey Johansson, former assistant to the absolute worst boss ever to boss in the boss world. Stranded on a tiny island owned by a cruise line in an abandoned party hut.
In a tropical storm.
This is not a love story.
It’s not a tale of redemption or heroism.
It’s a revenge drama. No — a revenge COMEDY.
Because I’ll get the last laugh. The cruise ship leaving early due to an approaching storm while we yelled at each other on the opposite beach was a SIGN.
I’m going to get that man back for everything he did to me. I’ve decided that Mr. Juicy, as my old coworkers called him (yeah, THAT’S a story), is going to rue the day he ever fired me.
And no, I’m not going to fall in love with him.
Not on your life.
__
Juicy Pickle is the wildest not-love story that ever became a love story between a boss and his former assistant, stuck together on a private island with a manual-crank margarita machine and a ten-gallon bucket of pickles, surviving primarily on adrenaline and stress-banging. It’s part of the Top 100 bestselling Pickleverse, but you do not need to read any of the other books before this one. You can start your wild adventure with the Pickle family right here.
I have been reading the Pickle Family books from the beginning, and I love that JJ Knight has extended the Pickleverse with the cousins. In Juicy Pickle, we have Rhett Montgomery, brother of naked hiker Axel from Tasty Pickle. Rhett is the CEO of a successful company, silently and secretly backed by Uncle Sherman (from the OG series). Two weeks before the book begins, Rhett had fired his assistant, Bailey, over a marketing snafu without ever investigating the claims.
The book opens as Bailey is sneaking onto a cruise ship for a company anniversary sailing. Sure, she’s not supposed to be there, but where is the fun in that? She manages to pretty much go undetected Day 1 and 2, and makes her grand reveal to her former colleagues on Day 3 at the private island. Of course, when Rhett sees Bailey, he goes ballistic. Not only because he fired her, but because he’s had the hots for her from Day One, and now she’s wearing just a bikini. Then the fun starts: The two accidentally get stranded on the island when an unexpected tropical storm rolls through, and need to put their hate for each other aside in order to survive.
There’s a fine line between love and hate, right? It gets crossed pretty quickly. As it turns out, the only reason Rhett was so prickly with Bailey the past two years was because he mistakenly thought she was unavailable. When the hate-fueled tension between these two combusts, it’s electric!
Once Rhett and Bailey get rescued, will their island romance survive? Will they discover who was behind the snafu that led to her firing? And what will Rhett do once his true identity is revealed?
I loved this book. It was funny and spicy, and had the same charm and humor that the earlier Pickle books have! Well done!
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review
AUTHOR BIO
JJ Knight is the USA Today and Amazon Top 100 bestselling author of contemporary romance and romantic comedy including Single Dad on Top and Big Pickle.
Vaughn Madden is hockey’s hotshot who moves to a small town, only to learn that Isla Chase has kept a nine-month secret from him.
It was one night trapped with a hockey god due to a hurricane. We shared one bed too. I also ignored the little fact that Vaughn has always been my brother’s rival on the ice. And when the storm cleared, so did Vaughn. Months later, he shows up in my hospital room in Lake Spark where it only takes one look at me and the man is counting back in his head, or maybe it’s my face that explains it all.
He’s going to be a dad. And I didn’t tell him.
His eyes inform me that he won’t let me off easy. He wants answers to why I kept this a secret—and he quite possibly needs a scotch for his nerves too. Vaughn is soon adamant that he isn’t going anywhere, especially as he is the new General Manager of our hockey team that trains in town. He also has a list of demands that I owe him due to my secret keeping. Hence, why I move into his house. I’m not sure if developing feelings for a man with a wicked smirk is good for me or our child, but he’s becoming more than my baby daddy. And it turns out that Vaughn’s head has been working overtime, because the family image that I’ve dreamed about is the game that Vaughn seems to have been waiting to play…
Vaughn and Isla bring you a heartwarming and steamy secret- and accidental-baby romance in forced proximity setting. Waiting to Play can be read as a complete standalone and is the third book in the interconnected Lake Spark Off-Season series which is part of the Lake Spark world. For lovers of small-town romance with a touch of hockey.
I’d been looking forward to Vaughan and Isla’s story ever since that tease at the end of Waiting to Win and it did not disappoint!
Granted, I thought Isla was wrong for holding out as long as she did to tell Vaughan that their one-night-stand during the hurricane knocked her up. But I get why she did it. Both Vaughan and Isla have some major parental abandonment issues resulting from their childhoods. And while that causes a hurdle for them at first, it ultimately bonds them together when it comes to Baby Nora.
I liked that Nora’s birth comes fairly early on in the book, because we get to see Isla and Vaughan together as co-parents and then, eventually, as they move into a romantic relationship. They are both afraid to take that leap, but they fall effortlessly and naturally into being parents and partners.
Evey Lyon did a great job in crafting Vaughan and Isla’s story! This wrapped up the Lake Spark Off-Season series, but I can’t wait to see who we meet next since she has more Lake Spark stories planned… starting with Vaughan’s brother!
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Duke Sullivan is the oldest brother of my family’s hated rival. He also happens to be my good morning text and the man I have no right to have a secret crush on. Duke is strictly forbidden.
After months of keeping our friendship hidden, the stars align, sparks ignite, and we finally give into temptation.
Knowing our relationship could never be more than stolen glances and longing looks, we agree to stay secret friends––until two pink lines change everything.
With our small town and both our families in an uproar, Duke does the unthinkable.
He packs up my belongings and moves me into his house. Despite agreeing to weather the storm together and to try to figure out how to co-parent, living with Duke proves nearly impossible.
Every soft smirk, every brush of his calloused hand against my sensitive skin makes me want to burst into flames. It becomes clear, despite the feud, Duke is relentlessly going after what he wants and I think that might be . . . me.
I’m the quiet daughter with the wrong last name, but it’s obvious he wants so much more than just one night.
Sunny Shelly’s Review: 5 Stars
One Night is a fabulous Romeo & Juliet-inspired small-town romance and a great addition to the Sullivan Family series! I adored grumpy Duke and sunshine-y Syliva. Their chemistry was off the charts, and I fell in love with them as they built their secret friendship and fell in love — despite the generations-long rivalry between their families.
When their one steamy night leads to a surprise pregnancy, Duke goes all Alpha Male, moving Sylvie into his farmhouse to take care of her. It was sweet and swoony, and I think that Duke is my favorite of all the Sullivan brothers! I loved how he stood his ground when it came to protecting Sylvie and sticking up for her around her barbarian brothers.
Most of all, I loved learning more about the Sullivan-King feud! I was sorry to see the Sullivans come to an end, but can’t wait to see how this all continues in the King series next!
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
From Wall Street Journal & USA Today bestselling author Natasha Madison comes a Small town, Enemies to lovers, Single Dad, Age Gap, Forbidden, Workplace Romance.
Grace
It wasn’t hard for me to walk away from my family without looking back—the time had come for me to live for myself.
New city. New job.
My new boss? He’s gorgeous.
It’s too bad that handsome face is wasted on such a condescending prick.
He hates me, and the feeling is mutual.
The only reason he may not be the literal devil is because he’s a devoted single dad, making it clear Caine is, in fact, capable of human emotion.
Caine
I’m good at two things:
1. Raising my daughter to be strong and independent.
2. My job.
When my new assistant walks into the office, I become good at ignoring her. She’s sassy. Smart. Beautiful.
Much younger and off-limits for more reasons than I can count.
That doesn’t mean I want her any less.
She hates me—but as each day goes by, it’s harder and harder to remember why I hate her too.
When you get this many books (#8!) into a series, it can sometimes be hit or miss, especially if the author isn’t keeping each individual story fresh. That is not the case with Mine To Keep — Natasha Madison did a great job in creating Grace and Caine’s enemies-to-lovers workplace romance! (And honestly, that surprised me a bit because Southern Comfort — which is Grace’s grandparents’ book, Olivia and Casey — was a DNF for me years ago. Go figure.)
These two got off on the wrong foot and I loved every minute of their snarky banter and proverbial punches. The goldfish crackers and juice boxes at the staff meeting was a brilliant move on her part! Caine is a bit of a stick in the mud, but he’s had to be as a single dad raising a toddler. He hates how attracted he is to his younger assistant, and that’s the base for so many of the barbs exchanged between he and Grace. The fun chemistry slowly builds from there until it just explodes between them. And when they finally get together, it’s absolutely delicious.
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…
𝓟𝓔𝓡𝓕𝓔𝓒𝓣 𝓟𝓤𝓒𝓚𝓘𝓝𝓖 𝓜𝓐𝓣𝓒𝓗: A Hockey Romance (Puckered Hearts Book 1) by USA Today bestselling author Ivy Fox is LIVE! Don’t miss this all new angsty, hockey romance!!!
Perfect Pucking Match is the first book I’ve read by Ivy Fox and I absolutely loved everything about Nathan and Lottie’s romance!!
These two characters had such a great connection from the get-go. I loved how Lottie saw something in Nate that many people overlooked. Rather than just seeing the brute, she saw a vulnerable and lonely soul, and that spoke to her — even though she was in a long-distance, long-term relationship, she was very lonely herself when it came to the day-to-day affection of a partnership.
And poor Nate was such a troubled soul. There is such trauma in his background and he is just kind of fumbling through life despite his professional success. Lottie is a balm to his soul, and I loved how these two established a friendship and fell in love.
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
ABOUT IVY FOX
Ivy Fox is a USA Today bestselling author of angst-filled, contemporary romances, some of them with an unconventional #whychoose twist.
So don’t be surprised if you pick up a book of hers and find out that her heroine ends up with more than one guy.
Wink wink.
Just like her, Ivy lives a pretty chill life, surrounded by her two most important men—her husband and son. The only thing that keeps her up at night are the fictional characters in her head that can’t seem to shut up until she writes their story.
But she’s gotten used to them running the show and is all too happy to oblige.
Books and romance are her passion.
A strong believer in happy endings and that love will always prevail in the end, both in life and in fiction.
A companion novel to Say I’m the One and Let Me Love You
Reeve, an all-new emotional, angsty, new adult romance, and the fourth book in the All of Me Series, from USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling author Siobhan Davis is now available!
Vivien Grace Mills has been the center of my universe since the second she entered this world.
Every memory I hold precious includes her.
She’s my biggest champion and the one person keeping me sane during some of the most testing times of my life.
Vivien shows me what it means to love and be loved.
I know she’s the one from an early age.
When I land my dream role, plans for our future are finally coming true.
Until everything falls apart, leaving a complicated trail of broken, scarred hearts and long-lasting consequences.
I messed up: I failed her. I failed me.
I won’t rest until the only woman I love is back in my arms.
Nothing or no one will stop me from reclaiming her heart. Not my manipulative costar, my greedy agent, or the backstabbing studio publicist.
And especially not him.
My determination and patience are successful, and Vivien is back where she belongs.
I finally have the family I have craved my entire life.
But I sacrificed so much for my poor decisions, and I’m not finished paying the price.
Sitting on my bed, fresh from my post-workout shower, I clear my throat and press record on my phone. “Hey, guys. Today is a very special day, because on this day eighteen years ago, the most important person in my life was born.”
I fight a smirk as I hold up the cutest baby picture of Vivien. Lauren sent me a few after I told her I wanted to record a birthday video. My girl is probably gonna string me up by the balls for sharing this publicly, but I want the world to know I love her and how much she means to me. I can’t think of a more perfect way to do that.
Plus, I’m missing her big-time today. This is the first time I have missed her birthday, and I’m all up in my feels. If I can’t be with her, I still want her to know how much I adore her. I want her to feel surrounded by my love even if I’m thousands of miles away. I already got confirmation the lavender roses I sent her were delivered, and Moira confirmed she dropped my gift off at the house last night and her parents will give it to her today.
“I wouldn’t be the man I am today if it wasn’t for this gorgeous, smart, funny, compassionate, loving woman,” I add, holding up a different photo. This pic is one we took while in Big Bear in January. We are wrapped up in one other, both sporting matching wide smiles for the camera. “Have you ever loved someone so much it physically pains you to be apart from them?” A tight pain spreads across my chest, confirming my words. I rub at the pain, but it does nothing to alleviate the perpetual ache for my girl. “As much as I am loving bringing Camden Marshall to life, I am missing my baby so much.”
Emotion swirls inside me as I lean in closer to the screen, speaking these next words directly to my love. “I love you, Viv. You are the best thing to ever happen to me, and I don’t even care that the guys are going to give me shit for this.” I blow her a kiss. “You are my world, and I wish I could be there to hug you and kiss you. Only twenty-seven days until I see you again. I can’t wait. Till then, have the happiest of birthdays, my love.” I blow her one final kiss before ending the recording and pressing publish. I like the thought she will wake up and see my message first thing.
Predictably, when I show up on set, the guys give me a ton of shit for my “sappy” birthday message.
“Look what I dug up online.” Rudy smirks as he holds out his cell phone while we are assembled around one long table in the cafeteria eating breakfast.
“Where the hell did you get that?” I swipe the phone from his hands so I can look at the picture up close. It was taken the night we attended our first Harry Potter premiere together, and I remember it as if it was yesterday.
“It’s amazing what you can find when you google shit. There are tons of pics of you and Viv from when you were kids. I see what you mean now. There’s no way you can hide your relationship from fans, and I don’t think you should. You two are the ultimate Hollywood love story. I think fans will eat that shit up.” A fake swoony expression coasts over his face as he places one hand over his heart. “Even my cynical ass believes in the dream.”
Pity my agent and the studio publicist don’t share that sentiment. I have tried making the same argument, but they are not listening to me.
Thank you, Siobhan Davis, for writing this book! Reeve is the fourth book in the All of Me series and is not a standalone, but rather a companion book to the initial duet told from Reeve’s POV. After sobbing my way through the first 3 books, I knew I was going to cry again reading Reeve’s story. And did I ever!
In addition to pivotal scenes in Vivien and Reeve’s relationship told from his perspective, there is a lot of new content in this book. We really get to see how he struggled with being on his first movie set as well as the emotional and physical abuse he endured as a child at the hands of his father. Reeve made some horrible decisions as he grappled with his rising star while trying to hold on to his love for Vivien, this explores that wonderfully.
When I initially read the duet, I was torn between being Team Reeve or Team Dillon. I came around to liking Dillon in the end, but I always wondered what would have happened between Viv and Reeve. The epilogue absolutely gutted me! It was the perfect ending for Reeve’s side of the story! I can’t wait for Dillon’s book to hear his perspective!
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
For more information about Siobhan Davis and her books, visit her website:
I love when a reformed playboy falls hard and fast, and The Playboy — as the title suggests — did not disappoint! Marni Mann kicks off a new series with this hot romance that starts as a one-night stand between Macon and Brooklyn.
After having his heart broken while in college, Macon swore off relationships and has fully embraced his reputation as a playboy. So he doesn’t quite know what to do when he’s completely mesmerized by a beautiful woman dancing by herself at a club one night. They have a hot one-night stand, not exchanging names or numbers — but he still can’t get her out of his mind.
With just a few months to go before she graduates college, Brooklyn is hyper-focused on finishing her degree and starting her career. Her only release is dancing at the club a few nights a week. It’s out of character to have a one-night stand with a random stranger, but she breaks her rules that night, never expecting to see the guy again.
But life keeps bringing Macon and Brooklyn together — even if she wants nothing to do with him. It’s not an easy road for Macon to break down Brooklyn’s walls, but bit by bit, he breaks her down. However, will the secrets that they’ve been keeping from one another tear them apart just as they are starting?
Macon and Brooklyn are great characters. There is a lot of sizzle between them, and this book is sexy as sin.
This Spade Hotel series is tied to The Daltons — Macon’s cousin Jo (who is head of marketing for the Spade business) is engaged to Jenner Dalton. So there are several cameos by the Dalton family members, which I loved seeing.
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Meet Marni
USA Today best-selling author Marni Mann knew she was going to be a writer since middle school. While other girls her age were daydreaming about teenage pop stars, Marni was fantasizing about penning her first novel. She crafts sexy, titillating stories that weave together her love of darkness, mystery, passion, and human emotions. A New Englander at heart, she now lives with her husband in Sarasota, Florida. When she’s not nose deep in her laptop, working on her next novel, she’s scouring for chocolate, sipping wine, traveling, boating, or devouring fabulous books. Want to get in touch?
Ian Williams and Lola Adams met when they were kids.
Living in a dreadful place, they leaned on each other to get through the day.
Then, at age sixteen, Ian had to go away and leave Lola behind.
At the crossroads, before parting ways for good, they promised each other they would always remember their time together.
Fifteen years go by, and the impossible happens.
They meet again in the unlikeliest of places.
Lola has never forgotten her friend from childhood, and over the years she has developed a crush on the man that appears in papers on a weekly basis. But Ian doesn’t seem to remember the girl from his past right away.
Seeing the hurt on Lola’s face drives Ian to make things right. But, how can he do that when he’s keeping secrets that could destroy everything?
Brought together by fate, and still getting to know each other as adults, they face the massive battle of beating demons from the past, and the hostile world of Formula One, trying to give their future a chance.
I haven’t read many books set in the racing world since K. Bromberg’s Driven series — and then I came to find out that Homecoming is set in the Driven World. So there’s that! This was a well-paced, second-chance story between former childhood best friends Ian and Lola and all the heartbreak and pain that goes along with a hero with a traumatic past.
Years after Ian was forced to move out of their trailer park, Ian and Lola reconnect on the Formula One circuit where he is a top driver. Their reunion gets off to a somewhat rocky start, but it doesn’t take long before these two reconnect and have the chance as 20somethings that they never had as teenagers.
Homecoming is a lovely story about the one that got away. I received a complimentary copy and voluntarily left a review.
Meet Ana Balen:
Ana Balen was born in Zagreb, Croatia, where she still lives with her husband, their son (read boss!) and the son’s pet rabbit named Shhh! (or some other gibberish that’s the favorite of their son for the day.)
She spends her days driving her husband up the wall (when he can’t get her ass up from the bed in the mornings), reading and daydreaming, or following orders from a two-year old. In the hectic life she leads (and loves every second of it), she never thought about writing. But, then one day a name popped in her head, then, the snippets of things, and she sat down and started typing. Next thing, she wrote a book. And now, she’s trying to write another one ;)I couldn’t be more grateful for this wonderful career.
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To learn more about Ana Balen & her books, visit here!
Protecting Piper by Jennifer Bonds is now live! Brady Vaughn is sweet, sexy, and totally into me…
Too bad I don’t have time for distractions, especially the relentless football player kind. If I want to graduate next semester, I need to focus on student teaching, not on my love life. But Brady’s incredibly hard to resist. Not only is he the most gorgeous guy I’ve ever laid eyes on, he has the personality to match. He’s sweet. Attentive. Real.
When he crashes my pole dancing class, swearing he’ll return every week until I give him a shot, I’m certain he’ll be the first to crack. But with each passing week, he’s melting my defenses, and it’s getting harder and harder to resist his quiet charm.
The only problem? He doesn’t know about my side hustle as a cam girl, and I plan to keep it that way.
As much as I like Brady, I can’t risk my future—or my career in education—on anything less than a sure thing.
If life has taught me anything, it’s that there are no guarantees, and if my secret gets out, I’m not the only one with something to lose…
Jennifer Bonds is a new-to-me author; I liked Protecting Piper, but didn’t completely love it. I adored Brady, but never quite warmed up to Piper and I’m not sure why. i loved that she embraced her curves as a camgirl, but there was just something about her as the fmc that I couldn’t connect with.
Brady and Piper come from different backgrounds (he has a tight-knit family and having grown up on a farm is a bit naive while she has a complicated relationship with her mom and is more wordly), but it works for them. I bought into the instant connection between them, and felt that the story explored the progress of their relationship nicely.
Having not read the other books in this series, I felt a bit disconnected from Brady’s friends, and felt like there is a lot more to the bigger picture that I was unaware of based on the previous books. But overall, this was an entertaining story.
I received a complimentary copy and voluntarily left a review.
Meet Jennifer Bonds
Jennifer Bonds writes sizzling contemporary romance with sassy heroines, sexy alphas, and a whole lot of mischief. She’s a sucker for enemies-to-lovers stories, laugh out loud banter, and over the top grand gestures. Jennifer lives in Pennsylvania, where her overactive imagination and weakness for reality TV keep life interesting. She’s lucky enough to live with her own real life hero, two adorable (and sometimes crazy) children, and one rambunctious K9. Loves Buffy, Mexican food, a solid Netflix binge, the Winchester brothers, cupcakes, and all things zombie. Sings off-key.
“I pick guys that I know are incapable of commitment. Over time, I became good at reading people. Or so I thought. Because every single guy ends up falling for me, and every single time, I have to break their heart. Until him.”
Macy is smart, beautiful, and driven, but she hasn’t always been confident. Early on, she learned a secret about herself. Heartbreak fuels her fire. She finds herself self-sabotaging every relationship she gets into because the pain motivates her to work on herself and toward her goals. With every new relationship, comes a new goal. They start off small and gets bigger over time. Here’s the kicker: she allows herself to fall effortlessly for a short period of time, then breaks her own heart, pushing herself to achieve that next milestone. Until she finally has everything she’s ever wanted and finds herself falling for the competition that could cost her, her last goal.
Paxton Meyers. The handsome, educated, and witty law student who she sees the potential for a future with. But she soon realizes that she’s 25 with no idea how to be in a normal relationship.
Secrets are kept and lies began to unfold during her journey to discover the truth about the man who she was ready to give up the game for.
I can’t believe that Worth The Hurt is a debut novel, because Ashley Dranguet knocked it out of the park! Paxton and Macy’s story is so well-written, with so many layers and plot twists. They are completely relatable characters in a relatable situation, and I was blown away by how well-done this story was.
Macy has some major commitment issues, but there is something about Paxton that is different. Meanwhile, Paxton has been keeping a pretty big truth about himself from Macy. Will she be willing to let down the walls around her heart? Will the secret that Paxton has been hiding put an end to their relationship before it really gets started?
Worth the Hurt is full of emotions, and I loved the angst. I enjoyed this book so much and can’t wait to see what Ashley Dranguet brings to the table next!
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Meet Ashley Dranguet
By day, Ashley is a radiation therapist, and at night she’s constantly creating stories she hopes you’ll love. She’s a mom of two and a wife to a state trooper, residing in Louisiana.
Writing has always been a passion of hers, and she’s finally ready to share all of her ideas with the world. When she’s not writing romance, she’s reading it. You can find Ashley on social media at @author.ashleydranguet.
To learn more about Ashley and her book, visit here!
HOT NEW RELEASE!!! 
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…
Ana Balen was born in Zagreb, Croatia, where she still lives with her husband, their son (read boss!) and the son’s pet rabbit named Shhh! (or some other gibberish that’s the favorite of their son for the day.)
Sunny Shelly Reads 