Category Archives: Contemp. Romance

Contemp. Romance, New Release

#WOTR21 #NewRelease – A Heart Redeemed:An Everyday Heroes World Novel (Everyday Heroes World) by Dawn Brower

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A Heart Redeemed (Heart's Intent, #6; The Everyday Heroes World)

Dawn Brower’s A Heart Redeemed is a Suspenseful, Emotionally-Charged, Contemporary romance written in K. Bromberg’s Everyday Heroes Worlds.

Paige Morris has secrets…

Her life has been filled with darkness for too long. After a terrorizing experience with her daughter’s father she makes necessary changes. Redemption isn’t always possible, but she hopes in time she’ll achieve hers. When she is asked to foster a little girl whose parents were murdered she automatically agrees.

Alexander “Lex” Foster is battling demons of his own…

He has witnessed a lot of awful things in his life, but the gruesome murder he’s assigned to investigate tops the list. The little girl he finds cowering in a cupboard breaks his heart. Solving the case becomes his top priority. What he doesn’t expect is his instant attraction to the foster mother who takes in the victim’s daughter.

Deception, murder, and inescapable passion…

What could go wrong? As Paige and Lex grow closer, so does the killer. After several disturbing messages Lex moves in to protect the girls. Ensuring their safety is his priority. He cannot afford any diversions; however, his growing desire for Paige may be his undoing. When the psychopath makes his move he might be too late to save them.

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Amazon

USA TODAY Bestselling author, DAWN BROWER writes both historical and contemporary romance. There are always stories inside her head; she just never thought she could make them come to life. That creativity has finally found an outlet.

Growing up she was the only girl out of six children. She raised two boys into productive young men. There is never a dull moment in her life. Reading books is her favorite hobby and she loves all genres.

She is active on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. To follow her or can find more about her check out her website for the pertinent information: www.authordawnbrower.com

Contemp. Romance, Fighters, Part of a Series

#Review – Hook Me (Men Of Inked, #2) by Chelle Bliss

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Bad boy fighter meets good girl doctor.

Michael Gallo spends his mornings training for the UFC championship and his nights working as a piercer at Inked, his family-owned tattoo shop. He’s on the road to winning a title when he meets woman who alters his world forever.

Dr. Mia Greco is dedicated to saving lives and helping the less fortunate. She doesn’t have time to meet Mr. Right and buries herself in her work instead. Then fate steps in and sweeps the rug out from under her. She tries to deny the pull to a man that uses his fists, but the universe won’t let her walk away so easy.?

This book includes Throttled, a Men of Inked bonus novella.

Oh well this series only gets better and better. I know I know. I’m super late to the game and should have read these books forever ago. Chelle’s going to be writing the grandchildren’s stories by the time I’m done.

Michael is a MMA fighter and a bad boy. Never thinking he’d settle down. You know the type.

Mia is a doctor and she definitely never thought she’d settle down. With her job taking most of her time, she doesn’t have any time for dating, that’s for sure.

Michael ends up in her ER after getting hurt and there was an instant connection. After bumping into each other again, sparks fly and they end up going on a date.

They have some fun because of course, Mia feels she isn’t ready for a relationship but Michael is a persistent one. He wants her happy and does something sweet for her that I had a smile on my face the whole time when he revealed the surprise to her.

I loved reading about the side characters again and reading about the Gallo family dynamic. The characters are strong and I want to be best friends with the girls.

Age Gap, Contemp. Romance, Part of a Series

#REVIEW – Scandalous (Sinners of Saint Book 4) by L.J. Shen

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From bestselling author L.J. Shen, comes a new, standalone, contemporary romance.

NOW A TOP TEN AMAZON BESTSELLER

“Best book of the year” – Angie’s Dreamy Reads.
“Best book I HAVE EVER READ” – Bookalicious Babes Blog.

They call him The Mute for a reason.
Hard, cold and calculated, he rarely speaks.
When he does, it’s with disdain.
When he does, his words aren’t meant for me.
When he does, my stomach flips and my world tilts on its axis.
He is thirty-three.
I am eighteen.
He’s a single dad and my father’s business partner.
I’m just a kid to him and his enemy’s daughter.
He’s emotionally unavailable.
And I am…feeling. Feeling things I shouldn’t feel for him.
Trent Rexroth is going to break my heart. The writing isn’t just on the wall, it’s inked on my soul.
And yet, I can’t stay away.
A scandal is the last thing my family needs. But a scandal is what we’re going to give them.
And oh, what beautiful chaos it will be.

This is by far my favourite book of the series! Until I read Bane of course cause he intrigues me. But for now, lets talk Trent! Holy schmoly. What a man! So I didn’t read the blurb for any of these books, so I had no idea that this was an age gap romance.

Leigh did an amazing job at bringing these two broken souls together. Even though Edie is much younger than Trent, I forgot the age gap half the time until her age was mentioned.

This book is filled with scandal, twists and turns and so many lies!

I also found this book the dirtiest of the series, which I definitely didn’t complain at all. Trent is fun. So so fun. But as fun as he is, Edie gives it right back to him. Tenfold.

I also loved seeing all the side characters again. Vicious is still a favourite and I enjoyed seeing him happy.

If you love age gap romances with some twists and turns, then I think you’ll like this one! All of the books in this series can be read as a standalone as well but I do think reading from the beginning would help you enjoy it more.

Contemp. Romance

#WOTR21 #BookSpotlight – The Wedding Rescue: Love in Little Tree, Book One by Megan Kelly

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The Wedding Rescue

LEFT IN THE LURCH…
Rancher Jack Walker eagerly anticipates marrying the quiet, lovely artist who has agreed to be his wife and stepmother to his six-year-old daughter. Their union will mirror the peace and security of his previous marriage.

AT THE CHURCH
Veterinarian Lexi Marshall is tricked into her twin sister’s wedding dress minutes before the bride disappears out the back door. Now Lexi must tell Jack there is no wedding. But instead of “guess what?” she says, “I do?”

ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED
Covering for her sister by marrying Jack is a big mistake. But even Lexi’s confession can’t untangle the mess after she learns he could lose his ranch if they divorce.

Legal problems aside, how will they handle the attraction simmering between them?

Goodreads

Megan Kelly read her first Harlequin Romance as a teenager and became an avid romance reader. She dreamed of writing those exciting and moving stories she loved. She sold to Harlequin American Romance in 2007 and published four books with them before venturing into self-publishing.

THE WEDDING RESCUE is the first book in the Love in Little Tree series, followed by RUNAWAY BRIDE, BABY MAKES THREE, and a novella, Ghost of a Chance.

SANTA DEAR and HOLLY & IVEY make up the Christmas in Stilton series. (So far.)

She lives in the Midwest with her husband and two children and is well-known at her local bookstore and library

Please visit her website https://megankellybooks.com

Sign up for her newsletter at eepurl.com/dlq1dP

Contemp. Romance, Romantic Comedy, Writers on the River Attending Author

#WOTR21 – #Review – Jason (Love In Scrubs #2) by AJ Renee

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Jason

From the author of the St. Fleur series comes a fun tale of finding love in the most unexpected place.

Being stood up for a first date was the last thing on Ava King’s mind. Yet Mr. Wrong opened the door to Mr. Sexy, who’s already sitting next to her at the bar. One drink becomes two, and going against her own code, she goes home with the charming stranger.

Waking in Jason’s foreign bed sends her into a panic, and she escapes before any morning-after awkwardness can ensue.

Can fate bring them together again to see if their chemistry transcends one steamy night of passion?

Goodreads

Review by Twinsie Kelly

This book! Just read it! It’s super adorable, funny as hell, and insanely hot! Being stood up on a first date, having a one night stand, and then finding out that this person is your doctor! OMG! The embarrassment alone, that both of the characters were feeling, had me dying! The universe has a funny way of bringing people together and Ava’s and Jason’s story is witty and cute and perfect. This was a short, quick read that will absolutely hold ALL of your attention until the pages are gone. Once you start the story, just finish it. The characters are perfect for each other and reading along while they are figuring each other out will keep you smiling the entire time. I cannot stress to you enough that you NEED to read Jason. It has a little bit of everything that gives you all the feel goods. Now, just read it!

A.J. Renee

AJ Renee is the author behind the St. Fleur series, Love in Scrubs series, Beauty Unmasked, Winter’s Surprise, Unlucky in Love, Surviving Paris, and Finding Love at the Falls…. She’s a military wife and mother to three young girls. She graduated from the University of Central Florida with her Masters of Science in Criminal Justice and a Bachelors of Science in Psychology while working at the library.

She loves to write steamy romance with suspense and a happily ever after. When she isn’t writing or interacting with her readers, you can find her spending time with her family or reading. AJ enjoys traveling, researching family history, and all things New Orleans.

https://www.facebook.com/ajreneeauthor

https://www.instagram.com/ajreneeauthor

Contemp. Romance, Novella, Review, Romantic Comedy, Writers on the River Attending Author

#WOTR21 – #Review – Joshua (Love in Scrubs #1) by AJ Renee

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Joshua (Love in Scrubs #1)

From the author of the St. Fleur series comes a fun tale of finding love in the emergency room.

The single life had been treating Hazel Rivera better than she’d anticipated. With no one to report to, she did as she pleased, which included if and when she’d have a man in her bed. She felt no shame in satisfying her own needs, but when toy-play goes wrong, she earns herself a visit to the emergency room.

Squirming in pain, the last thing she expected was to find a sexy nurse assigned to her room. She could lose herself in a man like him—sinful eyes, full lips, and a kindhearted attitude—but before she can catch Joshua Bradley again, she’s sent home.

When life hands them a second chance, will they risk their hearts?


Goodreads



Amazon

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You need something sweet and funny…you must read Joshua! The way that Hazel and Joshua meet is incredibly embarrassing, but look out because the entire book is hilarious and sooooo sweet. Orgasms, burning sensations and a hot nurse….bahahahaha! Hazel and Joshua are both very independent people but their paths cross when Hazel ends up in the ER after using a new lube. As if I wasn’t already cringing and laughing by this point, then she meets Joshua, Nurse Hottie, in the ER. From here their chemistry is on fire, no pun intended, lol! These two were so sweet and funny, just absolutely made for each other. The epilogue finished this story perfectly. The story continued to be embarrassing, funny, and sweet the whole way through. This is a short and fast read. I was laughing from the first page clear up to the last page. I definitely was not ready for this story to be over but it ended perfectly. I loved it!



A.J. Renee

AJ Renee is the author behind the St. Fleur series, Love in Scrubs series, Beauty Unmasked, Winter’s Surprise, Unlucky in Love, Surviving Paris, and Finding Love at the Falls…. She’s a military wife and mother to three young girls. She graduated from the University of Central Florida with her Masters of Science in Criminal Justice and a Bachelors of Science in Psychology while working at the library.

She loves to write steamy romance with suspense and a happily ever after. When she isn’t writing or interacting with her readers, you can find her spending time with her family or reading. AJ enjoys traveling, researching family history, and all things New Orleans.

You can also find her:

https://www.facebook.com/ajreneeauthor
https://www.instagram.com/ajreneeauthor
https://www.twitter.com/ajreneeauthor

Contemp. Romance, Romantic Comedy, Writers on the River Attending Author

#WOTR21 – #Review – Four Rounds by Jillian Jacobs

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Four Rounds

Four Rounds—A completely ridiculous way to fall in love.
You Tube influencer and syndicated morning talk show host, Cricket Kelly lives life with purple tips on her red locks and unicorn socks on her feet. Theodore Brooks lives by the numbers with nary a hair out of place.
They meet between boxing bags and even though opposites attract, Cricket’s father is being implicated for money laundering, and Theo is the lead investigator on the case.
Will four rounds be enough to discover true love? Or will disastrous dates end their chance at happiness? Find out with this slightly silly but absolutely fun fight for love


Goodreads


Amazon

BookBub

I loved this so hard! Four Rounds is the right amount! Cricket is crazy hilarious and funny but beneath all the spunk and sarcasm is a woman that wants to be loved, completely. Theo is by the books and mostly business. Their paths cross when Cricket basically kicks Theo’s butt when he attends a kickboxing exercise class that Cricket teaches. The banter, right from the start, is freaking hilarious. I laughed out loud many many times, so great! Theo doesn’t really get a chance to decline but has signed up for four dates with Cricket, at her insistence. He is very conflicted as he is investigating a case that her father is involved in. He knows he should stop but can’t. And OMG, these dates! If anything could go wrong, it does. And they just can’t stop it from happening.   “I’m hysterical. I can’t control what’s happening right now There’s a murder scene of sauce everywhere, your bits are likely charred, and I’ inappropriately turned on by you smelling like fried cheese.”   The sexual innuendos, sarcastic comments and hilarious banter do not stop. Even when stuff hits the fan, these two make it out alive. Not necessarily unscathed but they make it out…together. This is a fun, fast paced read that will have you laughing so hard while keeping your heart happy. A must read!

Jillian Jacobs

Contemp. Romance

#NewRelease #PreQual – Roses with Thorns by Lyssa Layne

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Roses with Thorns

Jordan Crecelius was always a ranch girl at heart but she and her best friend, Mia Tomko, enjoyed watching Mia’s brother play baseball, too. In between horses and high school, the best friends always made time to catch a game or two. Robby Glastetter was a city boy with a baseball addiction. The sport was paying his way through university as he studied to be a day trader once he graduated… that was until Jordan Crecelius walked into his life. It only took one hello for Robby and Jordan to know that they were meant for each other. The two were destined for one another, soulmates meant to never be separated but with a six-year age gap, their love story didn’t begin at hello. Robby patiently waited for Jordan, trading in trains for horses just for the opportunity to get to know her better. Once she turned eighteen, their love story was on the fast track and the two became adults together on the freight train of love as life began to unfold.

Wanna know what happens when this book ends???

Until You Fall in Love is HERE


Goodreads


Roses with Thorns by Lyssa Layne
I received this book from the author for an honest review.
GAH! When Lyssa offered to let me read this book I was excited because I always love her men…they are extra lickable. I admit I wondered how she was going to tell a love story of a 14 year-old and a 20 year-old but she did it well.
Jordan and Robby meet when she is visiting her brother from another mother during his first college baseball game. The dynamic of the two was sweet and innocent. Robby thought she was sweet and going to be an amazing girl when she got older.
Jumping forward a couple of years we see Robby NOTICING the young woman Jor has become but also knowing it is inappropriate to do anything given her age. But everything changes in the blink of an eye when Abram is hurt. Robby and Jor spend the summer together where love starts to blossom.
As the story jumps for ward in time, we see them falling more and more in love but also realizing they have a lot to accomplish to be together. They always work toward building a life together and having the HEA everyone wants. If you know this is a prequal to a story you KNOW what happens to our couple and their happiness. If NOT, then I won’t spill any of the beans so you read it and then run to down load Until You Fall to get the ending of this story.

Lyssa Layne is first, and foremost, the proud momma to her precious daughter, AR. In addition to working full-time and being a mommy to AR, she is also an avid St. Louis Cardinals fan, a runner, blogger, and an infertility survivor.

Having watched one too many medical dramas and being inspired by author Rachelle Ayala, who introduced her to the world of indie writing, Lyssa decided to try her hand at writing a romance story. Her attempt turned into the Burning Lovesick series. You can find Lyssa’s own interests throughout her stories although all stories are fictional.

Contemp. Romance

#WOTR020 #BookSpotlight #SeriesStarter #KU – The Double D Ranch (Fortuna, Texas #1) by Rochelle Bradley

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Longhorns and lingerie…

Much to the chagrin of foreman Josiah, Jessie Davidson wants a romance reduction. But the Double D Ranch hides a secret. Since inheriting the property, Jessie kept her grandmother’s hoard concealed, but now she’s found the courage to purge the unwanted items: steamy novels, thousands of them. Romance has to go! Donating the books is a good thing, right? Not when coupled with a dare.

The dare spirals out of control. The ante is upped when caches of the spicy books, left in barber shops, pool halls, and pubs, challenge others to join the fad. A perverted prankster runs amok playing on the town’s fantasies. Book clubs are formed. Plots acted out. In a town saturated with romance, Jessie finds her love life underdeveloped.

Keep Jessie safe. It’s the promise Josiah Barnes made to Jessie’s dying grandmother. He aims to honor it, even if it means protecting Jessie from himself. Failing her in the past has him on high alert when the Double D becomes ground zero for the arousal avalanche sweeping the town. As a full-support, silent partner, Josiah will do anything to augment the Double D. But when Jessie starts selling handmade lingerie, keeping his hands to himself is easier said than done…

Will she shelve happily ever after like a rejected novel, or open her heart and start a new chapter?


Goodreads

Rochelle puts an artistic spin on everything she does but there are two things she fails at miserably:
1. Cooking (seriously, she can burn water)
2. Sewing (buttons immediately fall back off)

She loves baking and makes a mean BTS (Better than Sex) cake. When in observation mode she is quiet, however, her mouth is usually open with an encouraging glass-is-half-full pun or, quite possibly, her foot.

She is a Bearcat, a Buckeye, an interior decorator, and fluent in sarcasm.

In 2008, when her youngest entered Kindergarten, she decided to get the stories out of her head. Midway through her first novel, hurricane Ike (yes, a hurricane in Ohio) rendered the laptop useless with a nine-day power outage. She didn’t give up, but continued to pursue her dream.

Every November Rochelle takes on the challenge of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.org) where she endeavors to write 50,000 words in thirty days. You can often hear her cheering the Dayton area Wrimos (those who join her in this crazy pursuit).

Rochelle shares her home with a big black cat, an itty-bitty orange tiger kitty, her daughter, her son, and her Prince.

She loves to connect with readers. You can find her on Facebook (search for Author Rochelle Bradley), Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Visit Rochelle’s website to sign up for her newsletter to keep up to date about future novels and book signings (RochelleBradley.com).

Contemp. Romance, Fantasy, Fantasy Romance, M/M, Paranormal, Review, Writers on the River Attending Author

#WOTR20 – #Review – Smoky Mist (The Legend of the Ghost Train) C.J. Baty

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Smoky Mist (The Legend of the Ghost Train)

Jesse Lawson was never afraid of the strange and unusual dreams he had. But lately, they were becoming darker leaving him with a need to discover why he was having them. He believed he would find answers at the site of logging camps in The Great Smoky Mountains. His great grandfather had lived and died there, and Jesse was sure it was Jackson Douglas haunting him.
Carter Thompson never knew his great great uncle George Thompson, but he inherited his land, home, and money. George had come here to America to find work in the lumber camps. Meeting Jesse Lawson was about to turn his world upside down. Jesse’s dreams somehow involved Carter, and the more they searched the closer they became.
George left journals that could clear up many mysteries, including Jackson Douglas’s death. Now it seemed that something was trying to destroy Carter and Jesse’s growing attraction to each other. Whoever it is will stop at nothing to keep them apart, even if they have to repeat the past to do it.

There will be three books in this series. Each is a stand alone and can be read in any order. Each has a HEA.


Goodreads


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BookBub

A ghostly romantic story! This is a new to me author and I am completely happy with this story. The author does a fantastic job of weaving an incredible history into this beautiful story. Jesse has been having some weird “dreams” or “visions” of the past and goes to investigate the source. He meets Carter who runs the museum. These two have a wonderful connection that is so sweet and sincere. As they both start looking into the past they find that Jesse’s great grandfather and Carter’s great great uncle knew each other and were lovers, which was completely unheard of back in that time. As Jesse and Carter spend more time together their attraction grows as well but is jeopardized by Carter’s ex and some forest animals that all seem to have been possessed. They find that the only way to help each other and their grandfather and uncle is to find out the truth about their deaths and to be sure their story was told correctly. Things get super creepy throughout their encounters with the paranormal but these two do prevail. It’s a powerful story with a beautiful HEA. I look forward to reading more by this author.

C.J. Baty