Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense Tropes: Alpha Hero/Heroine in Distress/Close Proximity/Enemies to Lovers/Opposites Attract
BLURB
The moment I witness a murder, my quiet, careful existence goes up in smoke. I’m thrust into the world of Santiago Hernández, Central America’s most ruthless cartel leader.
In exchange for my life, I’m placed under his watchful eye. Day in and day out, he waits for me to betray my promise of silence.
The longer I stay in his world, the deeper I fall for the glimpses of the man beneath that handsome yet cunning exterior. The man whose possessive touch ignites a long-lost part of me.
But I should know better than to open my heart to a cold-blooded criminal with a laundry list of deadly sins and secrets. Especially when he has no idea who I really am.
Because when the lies unfold, he’ll discover I have a list of sins and secrets of my own.
Genre/Tropes: Fantasy Romance, Enemies-to-Lovers Romance, Forced Proximity , Slow Burn, Touch her and die, Grumpy/sunshine (Hades/Persephone and Beauty and the Beast)
Release Date: May 9, 2024
Tagline: My father sold me to the Shadow King.
Blurb:
My father sold me to the Shadow King.
I would kill for a normal life, but my father took a reckless gamble, and I must pay the price. His betrayal forces me to live in Faerie with king Damian and grow my magic, even though it’s forbidden.
Now, I must learn to protect myself from the nightmares, dreams, and fantasies that govern this mysterious realm.
If I don’t, my kingdom will fall.
***
Nothing will get in the way of my duty, not even a witty beauty like Penelope Darcy.
I’m in ruins, and the Shadow Court, too. The rules of the curse are simple. They draw our enemies away and keep us safe.
For her, I’d break all the rules, but I’ve got to tear her kingdom apart to survive.
This novel is a full-length fantasy romance with a happy ending, and though it’s part of an interconnected series, it also stands alone.
Beauty and the Beast and Hades and Persephone collide in this enemies-to-lovers, forced-proximity fantasy romance. The mysterious Shadow King is hot as sin, and the secrets of his world will bring any mortals to their knees. Slow-burn. 18+. Full list of triggers inside.
A mesmerising dark fantasy romance, that’s a creative mix of beauty & beast, Hades & Persephone and Acotar. – Kez Marie
This was one of the best reads I have read all year from the beginning we started turning the pages we were engrossed in this story and could not put it down. – Angels with Attitude Book Review
About the Author
Anya J Cosgrove writes heart-pounding paranormal and fantasy romance novels. She lives in Québec with her husband, her beautiful son, and two mischievous cats. When she’s not slaying monsters and dreaming up dark, mysterious heroes in front of her keyboard, she’s working as a veterinarian and planning her next Disney trip.
If I want to prove to my dad that I can take his place as CEO of our family’s liquor company, I need to show him I won’t let work consume my life the way it did his.
He wants me to be a family woman? I can fake it till I make it.
A fake fiancé is the perfect solution, and the man I’ve found is the ideal candidate.
He’s smart and successful, and he’ll look great on paper as well as on my arm …
Until I realize he’s also my stiff competition.
Julian
She’s supposed to be a trophy wife. The missing ingredient I needed to toast my success.
I was hoping the ten million reasons I offered in exchange would be enough to get her to agree. But it turns out, she’s got her own reasons for using me.
From the boardroom to the bedroom, this woman has turned my world upside down.
She might be good at faking it, but her beauty and brains have me falling for real.
I’m just getting started, and I’m already drunk on her.
Nikki Ash resides in South Florida where she is an English teacher and mom by day and a writer by night. When she’s not writing, you can find her with a book in her hand. From the Boxcar Children to Wuthering Heights to the latest Single Parent Romance, she has lived and breathed every type of book.
While reading and writing are her passions, her two children are her entire world. You can probably find them at a Disney park before you would find them at home on the weekends!
Title: The Keeper Series: Fall River #1 Author: G.K. Brady
Genres: Contemporary Romance Tropes: Small Town/Opposites Attract/Forced Proximity/Grumpy-Sunshine/Black Sheep Release Date: May 23, 2024
BLURB
A mountain blizzard. An injured dog. A romance that caught them both by surprise.
Hailey Bailey craves safety. Raised by an alcoholic father chasing a dream of surfing superstardom, the down-to-earth health inspector just wants a comfortable salary and benefits. But when she attempts to save a lost dog in a blizzard and causes a pickup truck to crash, she’s awed by the handsome driver who protects her from the storm.
Noah Hunnicutt can’t catch a break. Struggling to keep his tavern afloat and impress his judgmental father, the twenty-eight-year-old family pariah is also fending off an obsessed hookup and his money-grabbing, two-timing ex-girlfriend. To top it off, he never expected he’d be rescuing the very woman who made him wreck his truck. But with the gregarious beauty now stranded in town, he can’t say no when she offers to help him out by waiting tables.
Enchanted by the tiny hamlet’s cast of quirky characters, Hailey begins to envision a life there … with the hunky bar owner on her arm. But a series of menacing notes has her rethinking that future. Meanwhile, Noah discovers his troubles aren’t only with vengeful exes when the lovely lady’s smarmy boss arrives to shut his business down. As Noah grapples with doubts about Hailey’s honesty, she contends with an increasingly hostile work environment that has her questioning her moral compass.
Can they overcome the outside forces working against them and cultivate a lasting love? Or will they be left to wonder what could have been?
She removed her puffy coat, folded it beside his, and shimmied into the nest he’d created. She lay on her side, making herself as narrow as possible, facing the back of the seat as he’d instructed her. Sliding behind her, he tugged the covers over his shoulders, and a woodsy man small enveloped her. She froze in place at the feel of his big body behind hers, luxuriating in his heat while trying to keep some distance between them. Doing so proved impossible on the narrow bench seat. He folded one arm under his head and draped the other over his hip, taking obvious care not to touch her more than he had to. “You warm enough?” His chest rumbled with the words. “Y-Yes,” she stammered. “What about you?” Was his back exposed? The blankets weren’t big enough to cover them both completely, and his frame was too long to stretch out. “I’ll live. We can switch it up if we need to.” His warm breath stroked her cheek. He tucked his knees behind hers and shifted his weight in the too-tight space, his limbs stretching, flexing, and finally softening. He was all hard angles and planes, and an unwanted thrill coursed through her entire body. She’d never lain beside a man who felt so … manly.
#2
Hailey leaned against a cluttered credenza Noah needed to clear. “Did you know they call you the ‘keeper’?” He shook his head. “Why?” He kept his eyes fixed on hers so they didn’t drift down to her neckline and all that skin. “Well, the most obvious reason is you’re their favorite bartender. But apparently you have a reputation for listening to everyone’s troubles and keeping them to yourself. Your female customers are especially appreciative of your ability to keep a secret. I wonder why?” She sent him a sly wink. “Oh,” came his witty response. While part of her statement gave him a warm flicker of pride, the other part made him squirm under her amused scrutiny. Or maybe the shots of whiskey sloshing in his empty stomach explained his sudden discomfort. “I can’t blame them. You do shake a mean martini, barkeep. And the way you toss those liquor bottles. Phew!” She faked a forehead swipe. For a breath-stealing moment, their eyes locked, and he couldn’t break it. What is really going through that beautiful head of yours? She cast her gaze down and pushed away from the credenza in an uncharacteristically jerky way, so different from her usual feline grace. A spray of greenery stuck to the hem of her skirt, and she plucked it off and held it in her open palm. “Oops, I hope I didn’t crush this. What is it?” He ate up the distance between them, leaving mere inches of space, and lifted the vegetation from her hand. “Mistletoe. I really need to organize that credenza.” Her pale blue eyes darkened as she scanned his face. “Mistletoe?” The word rolled out of her mouth in a breathless rush. Was it possible she was as hot and bothered as he was? “It’s left over from Christmas last year. We had it hanging everywhere,” he stammered. “Dixie thought we could save it and reuse it this year, but it’s looking a little ragged.” He held it over his head to see if it would crumble. “Barkeep, are you trying to get yourself kissed? If so, it’s the wrong time of year.” He yanked his gaze back to hers. “I thought any time of year was the right time,” his mouth said for him. A kiss wasn’t what he’d been going for … or was it? Hailey had been dancing in his line of sight and his mind’s eye, dousing him with hits of dopamine for most of the day, and the Jameson had dissolved his restraints into a mellow amber puddle. He wanted her. Despite knowing he shouldn’t, despite the sirens blaring in his head. It wasn’t only his libido talking, though. Something else was at work, an undercurrent that was as powerful as it was vague and elusive. For an electrified instant, he swam in the depths of those crystalline eyes, recording every fleck, every nuance of their shading, while a debate escalated in his head. He shouldn’t do this. It was a bad idea. The reason why was a little fuzzy, though, and the alarms faded to a dull noise. She probably thought he had lost it as he stood there, holding the damn mistletoe in the air while he stared down at her. But if she did, she didn’t show it. Instead, she tilted her chin up and glanced at the desiccated plant, murmuring, “So are you just going to hold it there all night?” Again, his mouth took over for his short-circuited brain. “Until I can invent a different reason why you should let me kiss you, then, yeah, I probably am.” Her eyes flared and lowered to his mouth before slowly leveling with his again. “Who says you have to invent anything?”
AUTHOR BIO
Since childhood, all sorts of stories and characters have lived in G.K. Brady’s imagination, elbowing one another for attention, so she’s finally giving them their voice on the written page.
An award-winning writer of contemporary romance, she loves telling tales of the less-than-perfect hero or heroine who transforms with each turn of a page. She also writes historical fiction under the pen name Griffin Brady.
G.K. is a wife and the proud mom of three grown sons. When she’s not writing, she might be reading, traveling, drinking wine, listening to music, or gardening—sometimes all at once! She currently resides in Colorado with her very patient husband.
Title: The Promise of You Series: Emerald Creek #2 Author: Bella Rivers
Release Date: May 22, 2024
Genre: Small Town Steamy Romance Tropes: One Night Stand/Wounded Hero Business Rivals/Found Family
BLURB
We had a deal: One night, no names, no numbers.
Chloe He’s Emerald Creek’s hot, wounded, and emotionally unavailable pub owner. My unforgettable one-night-stand with a stranger. And now, my business rival.
I should be able to handle that, right? After all, I’m the strong woman who totally survived losing her job, being kicked out of her apartment, and finding her boyfriend in bed with another woman–all in one day. What else could go wrong? Meeting the perfect man, and having to walk away from him. I keep my promise and slip out in the morning, never to see him again–until my cousins beg me to run their family’s restaurant after my uncle suddenly dies, and he’s the next-door pub owner. Except now he inexplicably hates me, and wants me gone. But this job is all I have. I’m not going anywhere.
Justin I know trouble when I see it. And I saw her: smart, sexy, and beautiful-–the worst kind of trouble.
The mysterious woman I cradled through the night could have been the one, if I were that type of guy. The one I could change for. But I like it fine just the way I am. So when morning comes and she’s gone, I’m both devastated and relieved. Until she appears in my hometown, on my doorstep, causing trouble to my business. She doesn’t seem to know it, but there’s literal bad blood between our families. I need her gone. But everyone in Emerald Creek thinks differently, and even my dog plays matchmaker. Falling for the enemy has never been so tempting.
Bella Rivers writes steamy small town romances with a guaranteed happily ever after, and themes of found family and forgiveness. Expect hot scenes, fierce love, and strong language! A hopeless romantic, Bella is living her own second chance romance in the rolling hills of Vermont. When she’s not telling the stories of the characters populating her dreams, you can find her baking, hiking, skiing, or just hanging around her small town to soak in the happiness.
Her newsletter is where Bella shares progress on her writing as well as sneak peeks into upcoming books, the occasional recipe from her characters, and books from other writers she thinks her readers might like. Subscribe from her website, www.bellarivers.com.
You can also connect with Bella on TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook, all @bellariversauthor, or through the contact form on her website.
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