Title: The Gossip and the Grump Series: Three BFFS and a Wedding #2 Author: Pippa Grant
Genre: Romantic Comedy Tropes: One Night Stand/Enemies to Lovers Release Date: October 5, 2023
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See that guy over there? The insanely tall, broad-shouldered, dark-haired, scowling, “I don’t drink coffee” suit? Surprise! He’s the new owner of my family’s mountain café. The café that has been my life purpose since I was born in the kitchen there almost thirty years ago. The café that he’s planning to completely gut and renovate for revenge against one of my family members. He’s also the funny, charming, irresistible guy I spilled all of my secrets to last week. During the hottest one-night stand of my life. As my dog would say, woof me. Secrets and gossip keep getting me in trouble, and I swore I was done with both, but now my family’s café is on the line. It’s time to use every last trick I know to uncover every secret this man is hiding. I don’t care how much I liked him our first night together, or how much I keep seeing glimpses of that man beneath his gruff exterior. One of us has to go. It won’t be me.
The Gossip & The Grump is a one night stand to enemies to lovers romcom featuring a woman desperately trying to unlearn everything she knows about everyone, a grumpy misfit hiding a secret heart of gold, an unfortunate incident with powdered cheese, and the world’s biggest lap puppy. It stands alone, but you wouldn’t go wrong to read The Worst Wedding Date first.
Pippa Grant wanted to write books, so she did. Before she became a USA Today and #1 Amazon bestselling romantic comedy author, she was a young military spouse who got into writing as self-therapy. That happened around the time she discovered reading romance novels, and the two eventually merged into a career. Today, she has more than 30 knee-slapping Pippa Grant titles and nine written as Jamie Farrell. When she’s not writing romantic comedies, she’s fumbling through being a mom, wife, and mountain woman, and sometimes trying to find hobbies. Her crowning achievement? Having impeccable timing for telling stories that will make people snort beverages out of their noses. Consider yourself warned.
I’m justice. I’m deliverance. I’m punishment. Ultimately, I’m a dealer of death.
It’s exactly what they need from me. To push back the enemy. To keep them all safe. I’m always one step ahead. Until her.
She wasn’t meant to be here. She’s tempting a cruel twist of fate. Now he’s got her in his crosshairs. He’ll feed off her vulnerability. He’ll make her a victim of his obsession.
If I can’t pull her out, she’ll drown in the dark. She’ll become as twisted as the rest of us.
“You’re just a little freaked by what I showed you the other night.” “A little freaked?” I asked with disbelief. “Don’t you think that’s playing it down just a ton?” “No, what I think is that you overreacted. And you’re still overreacting.” “Trying to gaslight me is your strategy here?” “Not what I’m doing. It’s just the reality of the situation. It unsettled you and instead of dealing with it and accepting it, you’re running.” “I’m cutting my losses, that’s all.” “Bullshit.” “I made a mistake. I was in a bad headspace when I came to you. I appreciate everything you’ve done, all the time you’ve put into training me and—” “Stop!” he thundered, his voice echoing harshly off the walls of the empty gym. “Don’t use that stoic, business tone with me, like I’m just some trainer to you.” “I’m sorry, but this is the way it needs to be.” I reached out to open the door behind me, but he was there in a flash, slamming his hand to it, forcing me back against the wall. He slapped his hands down either side of my head, boxing me in. My pulse quickened as he leaned in close and I inadvertently breathed him in, that fresh, minty cologne infusing my senses. That was the least of it, honestly. As much as I wanted it to be simple and to believe it was just adrenaline from his sudden, aggressive move, it was a whole lot more than that. It couldn’t have been more complicated or conflicting. He had me trembling with the overwhelming nature of it as he growled at my ear, “I was very clear that there’d be no more running, Kar. I told you this was on.” “I know, but things have changed.” “You’re right on the precipice. That’s what this freakout is all about. If you back away now, you’ll regret it. You’ll be turning your back on who you really are, the person they’ve all kept you from becoming for way too long already.” “I see now that it was for the best.” “You’re afraid what you saw in me is in you. And it is. It’s fucking there all right. And I’m here to tell you that it’s the most freeing thing in the world. All that power… there’s nothing else like it.” “I don’t want it.” “You are it! Stop fucking denying it! Stop!” He smashed his fist into the wall behind me. “They caged you! Don’t you see that? They kept you from all of this! Adam’s still doing it now. He wants you to question it, it’s his voice in your head. People like us can’t be subjugated!” “Rick, I—” I went to push off the wall, but he slapped his hand to my chest, knocking me back against it. “I need to go, let this settle with you, and—” “I told you once that I won’t let you go. I meant it.” Oh my God. “I don’t think you really want me to,” he said, getting right up close again, pushing his hard body into mine. He grasped my chin with his bloodied left hand, forcing my eyes right to his. “You want to know what it’s like, don’t you?” he breathed, as his other hand fondled the waistband of my bootcut pants, that amethyst ring of his scraping against the fabric. “To be with me?” With one decisive jerk of his fingers, he pulled them open and slid his hand inside beneath my panties. I jolted at the sudden feel of his rough fingers dragging through my folds. “To have me unleash all over you, to coax the same from you.” He thrust two fingers deep, making me cry out. “To give into that animalistic need and fucking well revel in it.” “Rick,” I gasped as he started to slide in and out at a teasing, torturous pace. I honestly wasn’t sure if I wanted him to stop or continue, or even up the ante. The aggression, the fear, the stimulation, and the pleasure he was eliciting from me… it was all an overwhelming contradiction. “There’s not just the fight to experience. There’s also this. Nothing will ever compare.” His eyes flashed. “No one.” The pointedness of his comment wasn’t lost on me for a second. “He’s got nothing to do with this.” Rick twisted his fingers inside me, making me buck against the wall. “God!” “Sure he does.” He tightened his hold on my chin to a painful grip. “You’re here with me, but part of you is still there with him.” His thumb started strumming my clit, sending jolts of pleasure through me that had my whole body shuddering. He was overstimulating me, overwhelming me on purpose, making it harder and harder to maintain steady thought and focus. “What would he think if he knew I had my fingers deep inside your sweet cunt? If he knew you were soaking my hand, your body surrendering to me like this?” “Don’t.” “You want my goddamn darkness, Kara. Admit it.”
Franca writes emotional and gritty reads about alphas with a dark side and the kickass women who turn their worlds upside down.
A Marvel and DC fan, you’ll often find her binging on superhero shows and movies. Away from that heart-pumping action, she’ll relax with a good book, or work on conquering her next 1,000-piece puzzle.
She writes to alternative and hard-rock with her storyboard of inspiration by her side and some tasty snacks along for the ride. A cross between a pantser and a plotter, she’s happiest when she’s fully immersed in crafting her fictional worlds.
Genre: Contemporary Romance Tropes: Second Chance/Sports Romance Release Date: October 10, 2023
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Nate
All I wanted to do was be me, for one night. I didn’t want to be the number one quarterback in the league. I just wanted to be Nate. I couldn’t tell you exactly what made me stop at that dive bar on the outskirts of town, but it changed my life.
Our connection was instant and undeniable. Our night together was explosive, which led to another, and then another. No strings. Neither of us had time in our busy lives for more.
When tragedy strikes, we part ways, but those strings we swore were not there tethered me to her. An invisible line from my heart to hers. It doesn’t matter how much time has passed. I still want her.
Oaklyn
After a long day at work, the last thing I should have done was stop at a seedy establishment at the edge of town, but something had me pulling my car into the lot and going inside. The place was empty, except one man. An impossibly gorgeous guy with sexy eyes as dark as the night.
I threw caution to the wind and invited him home. Our night together was magic, and when it came time to part ways, we both decided not to. No strings. Just great sex.
However, our time is cut short when he sustains an injury on the field and leaves, breaking my heart into a thousand pieces on his way out the door. What was supposed to be just for fun turned out to be anything but, and when he returns to town years later, I realize I’m in trouble. My heart still craves him.
I really enjoyed Watch and Learn….. more than I expected if I’m honest though I should have know it would be fab given how much I enjoy Lacey Black’s own books!!
I read this practically in one sitting – only put my kindle down as dinner needed to be made – Nate & Oaklyn’s story had me fully invested and captivated.
This pair were meant to be. He needed someone to see him for himself and she needed someone who understood her crazy work life. Fate definitely pulled these two together initially but it certainly wasn’t finished with them even after things went so wrong.
I have to say I honestly could have smacked Nate upside the head more than once – I completely understood his initial thinking and his emotions and reasoning behind it but his continued path of being a bloody eejit….. 🙄🤯🤬 – I was so glad when he finally got his head on straight!
The slight lack of communication – on both sides – wound me up a tad BUT the story wouldn’t have been the same without it. There was one wee point about their earlier ‘relationship’ that Oaklyn got a bit peeved about where I was shouting in my head “hold on a minute missy… YOU agreed to that as much as Nate did, you stated your reason very clearly!!” but again, once she saw what Nate was trying to show her, I could let that go.
Great chemistry, an interesting initial meeting, two broken heart, low angst but a hopeful chance at a HEA…. All in all a really great story from 2 fab authors. I’m gonna go check out their other work together.
This is definitely a story I’d pick up again. Solid 4* recommended read.
AUTHOR BIO
Rebel Shaw is the alter ego of the romance writing duo Lacey Black and Kaylee Ryan.
I Wish I Knew Then by Jessica Peterson is now live!
Blurb
My grandmother has a saying: what’s done in the dark always comes to light, especially in small towns with big secrets. And I was hiding the biggest secret of them all.
Every summer I spent growing up at my grandparents’ coastal estate was the same. Same cousins. Same chaos. Same long golf cart rides along the beach.
But everything changed the summer I turned eighteen, when my grandparents’ new housekeeper moved in with her son, Riley. With his big personality and head-turning looks, he was the local heartthrob.
We fell in love instantly. Riley was my first everything. First love. First time.
And my first heartbreak when he dumped me at the end of the summer.
Ten years later, I’m back on the island for my best friend’s wedding as her maid of honor. Who’s the first person I literally stumble into?
Riley Dixon. Even worse? He’s the groom’s best man, and a self-made billionaire to boot.
Being forced to spend an entire week together for wedding festivities quickly leads to more: hot hate sex, late nights of sneaking out, and unexpected revelations. The boy I knew a decade ago is gone, and the hate becomes…something else entirely. And I begin to wonder if Riley is hiding some secrets of his own.
I WISH I KNEW THEN is a small town, standalone romance. It is the first book in the Harbour Village Series.
Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited
Jessica Peterson writes romance with heat, humor, and heart. Heroes with hot accents are her specialty. When she’s not writing, she can be found bellying up to a bar in the south’s best restaurants with her husband Ben, reading books with her adorable daughter Gracie, or snuggling up with her 70-pound lap dog, Martha.
A Carolina girl at heart, she fantasizes about splitting her time between Charleston and Asheville, but currently lives in Charlotte, NC.
Title: That Conflicted Feeling Series: The Dashwood Billionaires #2 Author: Nicky Redford
Genre: Romantic Comedy Tropes: Enemies to Lovers/Small Town Release Date: October 5, 2023
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I thought he was my knight in shining armor. In fact, he’s the big bad wolf in a designer suit…
The handsome stranger who tried to rescue me when I fell headfirst into a crate of potatoes (don’t ask) was perfect. He made me tingle in places I didn’t even know could tingle.
But now I’ve learned how unreliable those kinds of feelings are.
Turns out my would-be hero is Max Dashwood—the billionaire owner of a monstrous grocery chain that’s about to crush my small-town organic produce shop.
My only option is to crush him first if I want to save my livelihood, and every other mom-and-pop store on Main Street.
So I won’t stop until I send the jerk back to Manhattan once and for all. I will not fall for his sexy smile, charming wit, or twinkling blue eyes. He will definitely never make me fall in love with him.
And most importantly, I will definitely not kiss him.
Well, not again, anyway…
This laugh-out-loud, enemies to lovers, rom-com is part of the Dashwood Billionaires series of interconnected standalones. Packed with quirky characters, a local spring festival and adorable baby goats, it features a billionaire hell-bent on ripping out a small town’s heart, and the spunky produce seller who discovers the big bad wolf might have one of his own beating under that thousand-dollar shirt.
Nicky Redford writes bladder-threateningly funny rom-coms with all the steam and all the feels.
She loves heroes who think they know what they want (they’re wrong, obviously), the feisty, independent, heroines who don’t take their crap, and the sparky banter that inevitably ensues.
Her idol is Nora Ephron, and if anyone tries to say When Harry Met Sally is not the greatest film ever made they’ll be treated to a very detailed explanation as to why they are wrong.
Nicky aims to bring you page-turning, laugh-out-loud stories that brighten your day, put a smile on your face, and make you need to sit on an ice pack.
Title: The Gossip and the Grump Series: Three BFFS and a Wedding #2 Author: Pippa Grant
Genre: Romantic Comedy Tropes: One Night Stand/Enemies to Lovers Release Date: October 5, 2023
BLURB
See that guy over there? The insanely tall, broad-shouldered, dark-haired, scowling, “I don’t drink coffee” suit? Surprise! He’s the new owner of my family’s mountain café. The café that has been my life purpose since I was born in the kitchen there almost thirty years ago. The café that he’s planning to completely gut and renovate for revenge against one of my family members. He’s also the funny, charming, irresistible guy I spilled all of my secrets to last week. During the hottest one-night stand of my life. As my dog would say, woof me. Secrets and gossip keep getting me in trouble, and I swore I was done with both, but now my family’s café is on the line. It’s time to use every last trick I know to uncover every secret this man is hiding. I don’t care how much I liked him our first night together, or how much I keep seeing glimpses of that man beneath his gruff exterior. One of us has to go. It won’t be me.
The Gossip & The Grump is a one night stand to enemies to lovers romcom featuring a woman desperately trying to unlearn everything she knows about everyone, a grumpy misfit hiding a secret heart of gold, an unfortunate incident with powdered cheese, and the world’s biggest lap puppy. It stands alone, but you wouldn’t go wrong to read The Worst Wedding Date first.
Sabrina Sullivan & Grey Cartwright are my new fave couple in this series!!!!
Following on from the wedding disaster in book one, Sabrina is out and about in Hawaii before she heads home when she meets a guy at a bar. They have a connection and a great night but she’s still on a bit of a downer and leaves him without exchanging details.
Back home, she knows that she’s gonna end up with a new boss at what used to be the family cafe …. she’s just not expecting who her new boss is!!!! Their initial interaction back in Snaggletooth Creek wasn’t grand, to say the least!!
To really get this story in this book fully I think you have to start with The Worst Wedding Date… it explains quite a bit of what goes on in The Gossip & The Grump!
Sabrina was the local gossip but following the wedding she’s stopped or is trying not to listen or talk about anything or anyone, but when she talks to Grey, especially about things in town, she does it in code and seeing him work out who’s who was funny! Her gossiping is never nasty and in all honesty she’s kinda hard on herself for a while when it’s not entirely warrented.
Grey, yeah, in Snaggletooth Creek and at work he comes across as a real grump but he’s been hurt and used and he’s not in the mind to trust many folk, so finding out the girl from Hawaii is now an employee doesn’t incline him to trust her either…. He’s actually a good guy, cares about those important to him and I liked him more than I expected I would.
I loved the connection these two had. There was fun, banter, heat and steam and when you add in great side characters… especially Zen (who made me laugh so often!) & Jitter (crazy lovable fur baby) …. the story was fab.
I was a tad annoyed at Emma tbh, especially when she finally spoke with the girls but I’m definitely looking forward to her book and finding out who her person is gonna be!
Pippa Grant wanted to write books, so she did. Before she became a USA Today and #1 Amazon bestselling romantic comedy author, she was a young military spouse who got into writing as self-therapy. That happened around the time she discovered reading romance novels, and the two eventually merged into a career. Today, she has more than 30 knee-slapping Pippa Grant titles and nine written as Jamie Farrell. When she’s not writing romantic comedies, she’s fumbling through being a mom, wife, and mountain woman, and sometimes trying to find hobbies. Her crowning achievement? Having impeccable timing for telling stories that will make people snort beverages out of their noses. Consider yourself warned.
The Crawford family has underestimated me again. But this time, it’s not just about vengeance; it’s about safeguarding my future and protecting the family I hold dear. And Zeek—the sinister brother of my former best friend—has no idea what my sister is capable of. Justice must be served. The past may haunt me, but I’m determined to leave it behind. Even if it means a fresh start for not only the Shadow Pack, but other packs, too. The battle for a new beginning has just begun.
Shadow Queen is a full-length rejected mates, wolf shifter romance. There are strong omegaverse themes throughout, so please read the author’s note. Due to the explicit language and steamy scenes, it is intended for readers 18+. While not considered a dark romance, there are darker themes present (see author’s note). It is the third and final book of the Shadow Pack trilogy.
If you like your alphas sweet and caring but with fiery, touch-her-and-you-die vibes, this book is for you. If you like kickass females who aren’t afraid to talk back, this book is for you. Happy reading!
Kory (K.) Easton is the paranormal romance pen name for Amazon bestselling author Amanda Richardson. She gravitates toward dark tales of otherworldly creatures and beasts. She currently resides in Yorkshire, England, with her husband and two kids.
They’ve made the ideal connection on a hot, new, no-strings hook-up app. But their hearts have other plans in an unpredictable and wildly sexy romance by a USA Todaybestselling author.
Blurb:
Hooked. An app designed for the ideal one-nightstand is the brainchild of Harvard graduate students Easton Jones and his two best friends. When Easton creates his Hooked profile, he gets a 100 percent perfect match.
Who is this sure thing? Her username is Love.
Their chemistry is off-the-charts explosive, and just when Easton begins falling for her, she disconnects from the app and disappears.
Five years later, Hooked is now the number one dating app in the country.
But that’s not the only thing on fire.
Easton’s brilliant, gorgeous new recruit, Drake Madden, has ignited a desire he hasn’t experienced in years. Professionally and personally, they’re sizzling.
Just as things really start getting serious, Love resurfaces. She wants a chance to explain, and she’s sending Easton’s heart into rewind.
He has a loving woman in the flesh and a fantasy from his past—Easton’s world is about to be rocked.
And rocked hard.
Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited
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 unique stories that weave together her love of darkness, mystery, passion, and human emotions. A New Englander at heart, she now lives in Sarasota, Florida, with her husband and their yellow Lab. When she’s not nose deep in her laptop, working on her next novel, she’s scouring for chocolate, sipping wine, traveling, or devouring fabulous books.
When a biker needs a fake girlfriend to bring home for the holidays, his Club President plays Santa and hires Las Vegas’ most expensive escort for the job.
It’s all fun and games until his feelings stop being fake and start getting real. Is this just another job for her or does she feel it too?
Come along for a festive trip to New Orleans for Christmas done the Creole way.
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When a biker needs a fake girlfriend to bring home for the holidays and meet his grandmother, his Club President plays Santa and hires Las Vegas’ most expensive escort for the job.
The woman who shows up at his door turns out to be the one-night stand he’s never been able to forget. Can he play it cool and ignore the embers burning just under the surface?
It’s all fun and games until his feelings stop being fake and start getting real. Then he can’t help wondering if this is just another job for her or if she feels it too.
With plenty of sexual tension, witty humor and some good old fairy godmother Christmas magic, it’s a romantic holiday sure to delight.
Come along for a festive trip to New Orleans for Christmas done the Creole way.
Nicole James is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author who loves writing about hot alpha men who’ll do anything for the women they love! Her stories are filled with struggle, conflict and real human emotion. She is the author of the Evil Dead MC series, the Brothers Ink Tattoo series and more.
Nicole loves to hear from her readers! You can contact her via e-mail, her website contact form or on her social media accounts.
On a flight to a funeral, an incredibly handsome yet irritatingly smug Real Estate tycoon sat next to me–changing my life forever.
Maverick Stern.
As an investigative journalist aspiring to the anchor desk, I landed a hot tip about a young billionaire committing fraud.
The accused scammer? Maverick.
The kicker? At the same time, my wealthy grandmother threatens my father’s inheritance if I don’t get married. Now.
I shut off my ability to love years ago after my college sweetheart died in an accident. I don’t want to be married. It’s been years since a man’s made butterflies take flight in my stomach but Maverick has my full attention.
Going undercover, I need to clear his name or expose my fake fiancè to the world.
With the mounting anxiety causing turbulence in my brain, my best friend forces me to ask a higher power for a helpful sign about Maverick: feathers.
Is this what happens when you catch flights and feelings?
***Encounters In Flightis book 3, the final installment, in The Signs Series – a series of interconnected standalones. You can start from Emma’s journey or read Juliette’s in book 1, Fortunate Encounters. You’ll find plenty of steam, sass, and a touch of manifestation.
Former TV News Producer turned Romance author, Caterina Passarelli has always had a love for words. From reporting on real-life Detroit breaking news to writing fictional love stories around the globe, she hopes to take her readers on fast-paced adventures full of spice.
Caterina is the author of seven titles in multiple genres: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Comedy, and Romantic Suspense.
When she’s not writing about alpha males and strong, sarcastic women, she is playing with her rescue dog, Piper, and her energetic nephews. Or solo traveling and making TikToks … lots and lots of Tiktoks!
She loves hearing from her readers on her social media pages, feel free to find her! She also has a private Facebook group for her readers, “Cat’s Crew.”
Book Loving Pixies 