Title: Maverick Mogul Series: Billionaire Bachelors Club #1 Author: Lila Monroe
Genre: Romantic Comedy Release Date: January 24, 2022
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The Billionaire Bachelors are BACK! Fall for a new trope-tactic, fake dating rom-com series from USA Today bestselling author, Lila Monroe!
Playboy bachelor Charlie Fox is handsome, charming — and looking for a date to the TWELVE weddings he’s attending this month. He’s topping the city’s ‘Most Eligible’ lists, but he needs a woman who won’t swoon at his feet — or go diving to catch that bouquet. A fake girlfriend is the perfect solution, he’s just not expecting a very familiar face to show up as his plus-one…
Me.
The last time I saw Charlie, he was playing Mr Popular at our high-school… while I was stuck being Miss Invisible. Now — thanks to a rogue Chihuahua, my frat-bro boss, and a gallon of gluten-free frosting — he’s making me an offer I really should refuse. Play his fake girlfriend for a summer of wild weddings?
It’ll be worth it, as long as we can keep our hands to ourselves. And our mouths. And… other parts, too.
As the wedding marathon gets underway, the sparks between us are anything but fake – and breaking the rules has never been so fun. Can ‘just for now’ turn into ‘forever’? Find out in the sizzling, hilarious new romance from “the reigning queen of romantic comedy” Lila Monroe!
Combining her love of writing, sex and well-fitted suits, Lila Monroe wrote The Billionaire Bargain. Lila enjoys writing, as it gives her a flexible schedule to spend time with her kids and a wonderful excuse to avoid them. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, who strips out of his well-fitted suits nightly.
New York Times best-selling paranormal romance author Felicity Heaton is set to release book 19 in her epic Eternal Mates series on February 15th, and today we’re getting the first look at the cover of Inflamed by an Incubus.
Delve back into this compulsive and addictive paranormal romance series and be ready for your passions to be ignited by incubus Fenix as he fights a powerful curse to claim his forever after with his bonded fated mate, phoenix shifter Evelyn.
Plus, you can get book one, Kissed by a Dark Prince, for FREE right now at your favourite retailers!
Check out the cover and discover more about the book, including where you can pre-order Inflamed by an Incubus.
Condemned by a blood mage as an act of revenge, Fenix will do anything to shatter the eternal cycle of losing his beautiful phoenix shifter mate whenever she falls for him again. As he hunts for a way to break the curse, he battles the fierce compulsion to find her latest incarnation, but a moment of weakness brings him to the last place she lived—and what he finds there changes everything.
When a wickedly handsome incubus attacks her partner, Evelyn does what any Archangel hunter would—she takes him down and takes him in. But there’s something about the alluring fae, something that teases at her lost memories, and the powerful pull she feels towards him has her falling dangerously under his spell and brings her to a life-shattering realisation.
Swept up in a tempest of danger and with a dark threat on the rise, can Fenix find the one who cursed them before fate steals his mate from him this time? Or will the soul-searing passion that blazes between them burn everything to ashes again to restart the cycle?
Felicity Heaton is a New York Times and USA Today international best-selling author writing passionate paranormal romance books. In her books, she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons! All of them alpha as you would expect in paranormal romance, and every book with a guaranteed HAPPILY FOREVER AFTER!
If you’re a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter, Larissa Ione, Kresley Cole, Donna Grant and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.
If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, the best-selling Her Angel series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm series or any of her stand-alone vampire romance books. If you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try the best-selling London Vampires series. Seven sexy and sinful Greek god brothers can be your new addiction in the Guardians of Hades series. Or how about four hot alpha shifter brothers in her Cougar Creek Mates series? Or if you prefer huge detailed worlds filled with hot-blooded alpha males in every species, from elves to demons to dragons to shifters and angels, then take a look at the Eternal Mates series.
If you want to know more about Felicity, or want to get in touch, you can find her at the following places:
Title: Bite Marks Series: The Lycans #5 Author: Jenika Snow
Genre: Paranormal Romance Release Date: January 24, 2022
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Adryan
I was ruthless, brutal. A sociopath by all accounts. The leader of the American Vampire Clan, a male who all feared because I was merciless. And then I found my mate. Kayla. So fragile. Breakable. So human. I’d make her mine, and she’d hate me for it. I wanted to give her pain with pleasure, wanted to break her skin and lick up the blood I spilled… take Kayla into me like she’d take me into her. I’d have her surrendering to my needs. I’d give her my body but wouldn’t be able to give her my heart. How could I when it wasn’t something I had to offer, when I was nothing but a coldhearted killer? So when the threats come to my front door, it’s time to show my female she’s mated to the most dangerous vampire in the world.
“So if I’m playing along and accept that you’re a vampire”—holy shit, how weird did that sound?—“how old are you? Like Dracula old, or are we talking decrepit like Nosferatu?” He tipped his head back and laughed loud and hard, his thickly corded neck coming into view. His Adam’s apple bobbed for a second before he sobered. “One hundred twenty years.” It was my turn to sober so hard and fast I might have died. “Goddamn,” I murmured. “You take ‘robbing the cradle’ to a whole new level. You do know I’m not even twenty-five?” He hummed as if that turned him on. “You could have been old and wasted away when we first met, and I’d still find you the most gorgeous female to ever walk the planet.” Okay. That was… beautiful. And weird. Definitely weird, but whatever. “You don’t eat?” I asked instead of saying anything in response to that. My voice was a squeaky whisper before I cleared it and pulled my shoulders back. Adryan made sure to keep his glass full, and damn him for even making that look sexy. He leaned back in his chair but didn’t respond, just watched me as he lifted his glass, peering at me over the rim, and took a pull of the alcohol. When he set the crystal down, his fingers still wrapped loosely around it, the smirk he gave me had equal parts of annoyance and arousal raging against each other. “Oh, I eat.” He was still smirking as he lowered his gaze down my body. He couldn’t see much because of how the table was situated, but I knew if he could, he’d be looking at one particular spot. “I’m just not eating right now, kitty. I’m more concerned with you and your needs.” I cleared my throat and shifted on the chair, looking everywhere but at him. Stay focused. Stay focused. “So why don’t you tell me what kind of man you are.” Of course I knew, or at least had a pretty good notion by the way he held himself, the things he said, hell, the clear abundance of money, judging by his place. Then there was the whole “import and export” business that seemed super shady, given his evasiveness about it. I expected him to smirk arrogantly again, but his expression stayed stoic. “What kind of man do you think I am?” I pursed my lips. “You want me to be honest?” “Abso-f*cking-lutely. I don’t ever lie and wouldn’t want my mate to either.” My throat was so tight and dry. “I think you do bad stuff.” He didn’t respond, didn’t even breathe. “You’re a criminal, among other things, and you’re not going to let me leave.” “No.” His tone was so… final. “I won’t let you leave. And yes. I am all those things… and more.” My eyes narrowed at his cockiness. “You’re an arrogant assh*le.” “I am.” He grinned slowly. “But that’s one of the nicer things I’ve been called, princess.”
Starting out as an avid reader, Jenika took up penning her first story and published it in 2009. Since then, she’s written books in just about every trope and sub-genre in romance.
I’m terrified of falling for him. But one taste might be all it takes.
TASTE, an all-new enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, surprise pregnancy small town romantic comedy from USA Today and #1 Amazon bestselling author Melanie Harlow is coming March 7th, and we have the delicious cover!
The last person on earth I want to be stranded with is Gianni Lupo.
But thanks to the blizzard of the century, I’m trapped in a roadside motel room with that cocky bastard for two straight days.
With one small bed.
Some women might thank Mother Nature for delivering a polar vortex that maroons them with six feet of solid muscle, those deep blue eyes, that sexy grin–but not me. I’ve known Gianni Lupo all my life, and he’s never brought me anything but bad luck and trouble.
So when the tension between us explodes with enough fiery heat to melt my icy defenses, I should have known what the disastrous end result would be–
A big fat plus sign.
After the snow melts, I’m left with more than just memories of the night we spent keeping each other warm. And he might be a rising star on the culinary scene, but he’s got no idea how to handle this bun in the oven.
He says he wants to do the right thing, but I’m not about to spend the rest of my life feeling like someone settled for me.
But just when I think I’ve got Gianni Lupo all figured out, he gives me a taste of the man he could be, of the family we could become, of the way he could love me if I let him.
Cover Designer: Hang Le Photographer: Michelle Lancaster @lanefotograf Model: Chase Mattson
About Melanie Harlow
USA Today bestselling author Melanie Harlow likes her martinis dry, her heels high, and her history with the naughty bits left in. When she’s not writing or reading, she gets her kicks from TV series like Ted, Lasso, Schitt’s Creek, and Fleabag. She occasionally runs three miles, but only so she can have more gin and steak.
Melanie is the author of the BELLAMY CREEK series, the CLOVERLEIGH FARMS series, the ONE & ONLY series, AFTER WE FALL series, the HAPPY CRAZY LOVE series, and the FRENCHED series. She lifts her glass to romance readers and writers from her home near Detroit, MI, where she lives with her husband, two daughters, and pet rabbit.
Title: Dusk Unveiled Series: Ravenwood Coven #2 Author: Carrie Ann Ryan
Genre: Paranormal Romance Release Date: January 13, 2022
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NYT Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan continues her magical paranormal series where a town keeps its secrets, but an aging curse might just be their downfall.
The Christopher curse is one of legend—so old that every new generation knows they will be touched by it. With every spell muttered, every magical pull needed to save her town, Laurel Christopher knows she’s one step closer to burning to ash and leaving those she loves behind. She’ll fight with all she has to protect her people—and the man she loves—but she might not have enough strength remaining to save herself.
Jaxton Dark lost his best friend to the necromancer attacking Ravenwood but refuses to lose his mate to a curse that could take them both. He’s well aware of the loss calling them, but before he can stand up for those he loves, a betrayal cuts him to the core.
Sacrifice was always an inevitability when it comes to the curse that threatens their fate. Yet it’s only when the darkness makes a subtle and surprising move that star-crossed lovers, Laurel and Jaxton, will truly find out the meaning of who they could be and what they must give up to survive.
Carrie Ann Ryan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary, paranormal, and young adult romance. Her works include the Montgomery Ink, Redwood Pack, Fractured Connections, and Elements of Five series, which have sold over 3.0 million books worldwide. She started writing while in graduate school for her advanced degree in chemistry and hasn’t stopped since. Carrie Ann has written over seventy-five novels and novellas with more in the works. When she’s not losing herself in her emotional and action-packed worlds, she’s reading as much as she can while wrangling her clowder of cats who have more followers than she does.
Genre: Romantic Comedy Cover Design: Kelly Greer Photos: Wander Aguiar
#1 Scored – Releasing March 1
Begging my brother’s best friend—aka NHL superstar, Ian Fox—to help me ditch my V Card wasn’t part of my “make it big in NYC” plans.
But after years of being “cute little Evie,” I’m tired of waiting for Mr. Right. I’m ready for Mr. Right Now, and Ian is everything I’ve ever wanted in a first time. He’s kind, funny, confident, and has a legendary…stick.
Seriously, his stick has its own page of search results, complete with gray sweatpants shots hot enough to make even a clueless virgin drool.
And yes, my brother will murder us if he finds out, but we’re both grownups.
We can keep a secret. We have to since I just landed an art therapy job working with his troubled team.
All we’re doing is a little practice. (Or…ehem…big practice.)
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ian this nervous, not even before the championship game his senior year of high school, when he knew NHL scouts were up in the stands, ready to break his heart or make his wildest dreams come true. Ian isn’t an anxious person. He’s steady, chill, and confident. To see sweat beading on his forehead as he moves to stand in front of the darkened television, studying the small stack of notecards in his hand is disarming. Is he really this stressed about teaching a bunch of virgins how to make a love connection? Or maybe it’s the fact that his best friend’s little sister just offered him her V-card on a platter. The inner voice has an excellent point.
#2
“No good comes from insomnia scrolling or reading articles about sugar.” I head into the kitchen, fetching the stepladder from beside the fridge. “And what about withholding funny texts from one of your best friends?” Jess tosses casually over her shoulder. “Any good come from that?” “It was nothing,” I say, collecting the small Tupperware container from under the pile of empty coffee bags we’re collecting to earn a free sock cap. “Just a goofy thing. Not worth sharing.” She hums thoughtfully. “Right. And I wasn’t secretly hoping to be teacher’s pet and get Ian’s monster cock to sledgehammer through my V-card.” I tumble off the stepladder in surprise, sending the cookies flying as I reach out to catch myself on the lower cabinets before I crush my tailbone on the tile. “You okay?” Jess calls out. “I’m fine,” I say, my heart still racing. “And the cookies?” I glance over to see the Tupperware container still closed though it has rolled halfway into Cam’s giant tennis shoe. “Also fine, but what are you… How did you…” “Nothing gets past me,” Jess says. “You should know that by now. I appear to see nothing, but I see all. Like the Eye of Sauron.”
#2 Screwed – Releasing April 19
My best friend’s older brother excels at many things—being a bossy grump, a jerk, and…this hopeless virgin’s fake fiancé?
I need a guy who understands that this is all pretend, and who better than a man who can’t stand me—and vice versa? Besides, Derrick is the kind of cocky, confident, successful dude bro my gram will adore.
We’ll convince my ailing grandmother I’m not going to die alone, Derrick will honor that favor he owes me, and we’ll part ways as enemies with NO benefits.
It’s a rock-solid plan…until it isn’t. Turns out I may have made a slight miscalculation.
Now Derrick is charming my family, sweeping me off my feet, and making me want crazy things.
Suddenly, I think I might actually want him to be my first and maybe…my only?
Last night I made out with a gorgeous, funny, quirky older woman. Today I learned she’s the new executive chef at my restaurant. AKA my new boss.
Yep, that’s the hot mess I’m in at the moment. But the chemistry between Beth and me is even hotter. The problem? She’s a single mom focused on helping her little girl adjust to life in the big city. Dating right now—especially a co-worker—is asking for trouble. So, what’s my next move? Seduce the hell out of the woman, of course.
I may still technically be hanging onto my V Card, but I know how to drive a woman wild in bed. Even more importantly, I know I’m the kind of man Beth’s looking for. I love hard, keep my promises, and I’ll put her and her daughter first.
And then I learn the real reason she’s been holding me at a distance…
Most men would be scared away. Me? I’m even more determined to prove I can make this wounded woman’s dreams come true.
Eight years ago, Sam Baxter and I were best friends and the goofiest computer nerds to matriculate from our swanky high school.
We also made a pact to meet up and get busy if one or both of us were still virgins by our twenty-fourth birthdays.
I assumed that was a silly pinky swear we’d both forgotten about untilSam shows up at my twenty-fourth birthday party. He no longer needs a V-Card puncher, but he’s ready and willing to help me out.
Boy is he ready…
Gone is the lanky kid with glasses who made me snort-laugh when we played video games. In his place is a sex god with massive biceps, designer clothes, and a smolder that transforms women to quivering puddles of lust.
I’m out of my league with this new Sam. But I’m also every bit as drawn to him as I used to be.
So, when he dares me to give him three dates to prove he can be trusted to rock my world, I agree. What do I have to lose aside from my V Card?
Author of over forty novels, USA Today Bestseller Lili Valente writes everything from steamy suspense to laugh-out-loud romantic comedies. A die-hard romantic, she can’t resist a story where love wins big. Because love should always win. She lives in the Northeast with her two big-hearted boy children and a dog named Pippa Jane.
Lili also writes naughty serials as Everly Stone. Learn more at www.lilivalente.com.
From brothers in arms – to teammates on horseback.
Meet the men of High Mountain Trackers, a specialized, mounted search & rescue team in the wilds of northern Montana. Bound by a brotherhood forged as a former special ops unit, they now put their skills to good use finding missing people and helping law enforcement track down criminals.
While at home in the mountains, they are out of their element with the women who cross their path.
USA Today bestselling author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories.
With forty-plus books already published, she continues to create characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy.
Recipient of the ReadFREE.ly 2019 Best Book We’ve Read All Year Award for “Covering Ollie, the 2015 RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for Best First Book, “Slim To None”, Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, and Finalist for the 2020 Kindle Book Award with “When Hope Ends”, Freya spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!
Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance Release Date: January 10, 2022
Excited about Vi Keeland’s upcoming release, The Summer Proposal? Check out this SNEAK PEEK of CHAPTER 1!
CHAPTER 1
Georgia
“What can I get you?” The bartender set a napkin down in front of me.
“Ummm… I’m meeting someone, so maybe I should wait.”
He rapped his knuckles against the bar. “Good enough. I’ll keep my eye out and stop back over when I see someone join you.”
But as he started to walk away, I reconsidered. “Actually!” I raised my hand like I was in school.
He turned around with a smile and arched a brow. “Change your mind?”
I nodded. “I’m about to meet a blind date, so I wanted to be polite, but I think I could use something to take the edge off.”
“Probably a good idea. What are you drinking?”
“A pinot grigio would be great. Thank you.”
He came back a few minutes later with a hefty pour and leaned his elbow on the bar. “So, blind date, huh?”
I sipped my wine and let out a sigh as I nodded. “I let my mom’s seventy-four-year-old friend Frannie set me up with her grandnephew to make my mom happy. She described him as ‘a smidge ordinary, but nice’. We’re supposed to meet here at five thirty. I’m a few minutes early.”
“First time letting someone fix you up?”
“Second, actually. The first was seven years ago. It took me this long to recover from it, if that tells you anything.”
The bartender laughed. “That bad?”
“I was told he was a comedian. So I figured, how terrible could it be going out with someone who makes people laugh for a living? The guy showed up with a puppet. Apparently his comedy act was as a ventriloquist. He refused to speak to me directly—wanted me to talk only to his dummy. Who, by the way, was named Dirty Dave, and every other comment out of its mouth was obscene. Oh, and my date’s mouth moved the entire time, so he wasn’t even a very good ventriloquist.”
“Damn.” The bartender chuckled. “Not sure I’d give another blind date a chance after that, even after a few years.”
I sighed. “I’m sort of regretting it already.”
“Well, if anyone comes in with a puppet, I got you covered.” He gestured toward a hallway behind him. “I know where all the emergency exits are, and I can sneak you out.”
I smiled. “Thanks.”
A couple sat down on the other end of the bar, so the bartender went to help them while I continued to stare at the entrance. I’d purposely taken a seat in the back corner so I could watch the front door, hoping to get a look at my date before he saw me. Not that I planned to ditch if he wasn’t handsome, but I didn’t want him to read disappointment on my face if I felt any. I’d always been terrible at masking my feelings.
A few minutes later, the restaurant’s door opened and a drop-dead gorgeous guy walked in. He looked like he belonged on a men’s cologne ad, probably emerging from crystal blue Caribbean water. I got excited, until I realized he couldn’t be my date.
Frannie had described Adam as a computer nerd. And pretty much any question I’d asked her about him, she’d answered, “About average.”
How tall is he? About average.
Is he handsome? About average.
Body type? About average.
This guy was tall, with broad shoulders, big, blue bedroom eyes, a chiseled jawline, dark hair that was sort of messy, but totally worked for him, and even though he was wearing a simple dress shirt and slacks, I could tell he was buff underneath. Frannie would have to be crazy to think anything about him was average.
Oh.
Oh!
Well, she was a little…different. Last time I went to Florida to see Mom, we went to lunch with Frannie, and she’d glowed orange from an excessive amount of self-tanner she’d bought on the Home Shopping Network. She also spent all afternoon telling us about her recent road trip to New Mexico to attend a UFO convention in Roswell.
But even with that factored in, this guy didn’t look like a computer nerd. Nevertheless, his eyes scanned the room, and when they met mine, he smiled.
Dimples.
Deep ones.
Oh, Lord. My heart did a little pitter-patter.
Could I be this lucky?
Apparently it was possible. Because the guy headed right toward me. I probably should’ve played it cool and looked away, but it was impossible not to stare.
“Adam?”
He shrugged. “Sure.”
I thought that was a bit of an odd response, but his smile widened, and those cavernous dimples seemed to turn my brain to mush.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Frannie. My mom is friends with Georgia.” I shook my head. “Sorry. I mean, I’m Georgia. My mom is friends with Frannie.”
“Nice to meet you, Georgia.”
He extended his hand, and when I placed mine in it, mine felt really…small.
“I have to say, you are definitely not what I was expecting. Frannie didn’t describe you very accurately.”
“Better or worse?”
Was he joking? “She may have described you as a nerd.”
He sat down on the stool next to me. “I usually don’t admit this when I first meet a woman, but I do have a Star Wars action figure collection.” He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. “In fact, I almost always have one on me. I’m a bit superstitious, and they bring me luck.”
Adam unfolded his big hand to reveal a tiny Yoda. He leaned over and set it on the bar in front of me, and a hint of cologne wafted through the air. Smells as good as he looks. There had to be something majorly wrong with him.
“Women tend to not like Star Wars for some reason,” he said. “Or a grown man carrying around an action figure.”
“I actually like Star Wars.”
He put his hand over his heart. “A beautiful woman who likes Star Wars? Should we skip the formalities and just grab a flight to Vegas to get married?”
I laughed. “Maybe, but first promise me you aren’t into ventriloquism.”
He crossed his heart. “Star Wars is as bad as it gets.”
The bartender came over to take Adam’s drink order. I was surprised when he asked for a Diet Coke.
“You’re not going to join me for a cocktail or a glass of wine?”
He shook his head. “Wish I could, but I have to work later.”
“Tonight?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I wish I didn’t. But I actually need to get out of here in a little while.”
I’d thought we were meeting for drinks and dinner, but perhaps Frannie had gotten that wrong.
“Oh, okay.” I forced a smile.
Apparently Adam saw right through it.
“I swear I’m not making that up. I do have to work. But I definitely would love to stay. Since I can’t, is it too early to say I’d love to see you again?”
I sipped my wine. “Hmmm… I’m not sure about that. Normally, I get to know someone on a first date, so I can weed out the serial killers and nutjobs. How am I supposed to know you’re not the next Ted Bundy if you’re running out of here?”
Adam stroked the scruff on his chin and looked at his watch. “I have about fifteen minutes. Why don’t we cut the small talk and you can ask me anything?”
“Anything?”
He shrugged. “I’m an open book. Take your best shot.”
I gulped my wine and turned in my seat to face him. “Alright. But I want to watch your face as I grill you. I’m terrible at hiding lies on mine but great at reading others.”
He smiled and turned, giving me his full attention. “Go for it.”
“Okay. Do you live with your mother?”
“No, ma’am. She doesn’t even live in the same state. But I do call home every Sunday.”
“Have you ever been arrested?”
“Public indecency in college. I was pledging a fraternity, and me and a bunch of other guys had to walk through the center of town naked. A group of girls stopped us and asked if any of us could hula hoop. Everyone else kept walking. I figured they were all too chicken, so I stopped. Apparently, the guys weren’t afraid; I was just the only one who didn’t see the cop coming out of a store a couple of doors down.”
I laughed. “Can you actually hula hoop?”
He winked. “Only naked. You wanna see?”
The smile on my face widened. “I’ll take your word for it.”
“Shame.”
“When was the last time you had sex?”
For the first time, the smile on his face wilted. “Two weeks ago. Are you gonna hold that against me?”
I shook my head. “Not necessarily. I appreciate the honesty. You could have lied and said a while ago.”
“Okay, good. What else you got?”
“Have you ever been in a relationship?”
“Twice. Once in college for a year, and then I dated a woman for eighteen months, and that ended two years ago.”
“Why did they end?”
“College, because I was twenty and…it was a crazy time in my life. And the woman I dated a few years back, because she wanted to get married and start a family, and I wasn’t ready.”
I tapped my pointer to my bottom lip. “Hmm… Yet you just asked me to go to Vegas and marry you.”
He grinned. “She didn’t like Star Wars.”
We were both too busy laughing to notice a guy walk up to us. I figured he must have known Adam, so I politely smiled and looked to him. But the guy spoke to me.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but are you Georgia Delaney?”
“Yes?”
He smiled. “I’m Adam Foster. Frannie showed me a picture of you, but it was from a costume party.” He motioned to the side of his head, twirling his hand around in a circle. “You were dressed as Princess Leia, with your hair all pinned up on the sides, so you looked a little different than you do now.”
I furrowed my brow. “You’re…Adam?”
The guy seemed just as confused as I was. “Yes.”
Now this man looked like what I’d been expecting: worn, brown tweed jacket, cropped hair parted to one side—sort of the average Joe that worked in the IT department at your office. But…
If he was Adam, then who was this?
I looked at the guy sitting next to me for an answer. Though that’s not what I got.
“Did you really dress as Princess Leia for a Halloween party?”
“Yes, but…”
Adam, or whoever the hell the guy sitting next to me was, put his finger over my lips and turned to the man who was apparently my date. “Can you just give us a minute?” he asked.
“Umm…sure.”
As soon as average Adam walked away, I laid into hot Adam. “Who the hell are you?”
“Sorry. My name is Max.”
“Do you make a habit of pretending to be someone else?”
He shook his head. “I just…I saw you sitting at the bar through the window when I was passing by, and you had such a pretty smile. I came over to introduce myself, and it was clear you were here to meet someone else. I guess I sort of panicked that you weren’t going to talk to me since I wasn’t Adam. So I went with it.”
“And what if my date hadn’t showed up? Would you have pretended to be Adam on a second date?”
Max dragged a hand through his hair. “I didn’t think that far ahead.”
Normally catching a date in a lie would make me angry, but finding out Max wasn’t Adam was more disappointing than anything. We’d had great chemistry, and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laughed so much meeting someone new.
“Was every answer a lie? Do you even like Star Wars?”
He held up both hands. “I swear. The only thing that wasn’t the truth was my name.”
I sighed. “Well, Max, thanks for the entertainment. But I don’t want to keep my real date waiting.”
He frowned, but nodded and stood. “It was nice meeting you. I guess asking for your number would be stupid right about now?”
I gave him a look. “Yes, it would. Have a good night, Max.”
He looked at me for a few seconds, then slipped a bill out of his wallet and tossed a hundred on the counter. “You, too, Georgia. I really enjoyed meeting you.”
Max took a few steps away, but then stopped and walked back. He again took out his billfold, only this time he peeled off what looked like a ticket of some sort and placed it on the bar in front of me. “I’d really love to see you again. If your real date turns out to be a dud or you change your mind, I promise I will never tell you another lie.” He pointed to the ticket. “I’ll be at the hockey game over at the Garden at seven thirty, if you would consider giving me another shot.”
What he said seemed heartfelt, but I was here to meet another man. Not to mention, I was really disappointed. I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”
With a sullen face, Max nodded one last time before walking away. I didn’t have time to process everything, but I felt a strange sense of loss when I watched him walk out the door. Though as soon as he disappeared from sight, my real date was next to me.
I had to force a smile. “Sorry about that. We, um, just had some business to wrap up.”
“No problem.” He smiled. “I’m just glad that guy wasn’t hitting on you, and I didn’t have to defend your honor. He was a tank.” Real Adam sat down. “Can I order you another wine?”
“That would be great. Thank you.”
“So…I take it you’re a big Star Wars fan?”
“Hmm? Oh, because of the costume.”
Adam pointed to the bar. “And the little Yoda.”
I looked down. Max had left his Yoda figurine behind. I guess he hadn’t been lying about being a Star Wars fan, considering he carried an action figure in his pocket. At least I hoped it wasn’t just a prop he used when he told strangers tall tales at bars and lied about his name.
***
Real Adam talked about artificial intelligence—a lot.
I tried to get my head back in the game after the Max letdown, but I knew before my actual date and I had finished a drink at the bar that this would be our only date. Adam was a nice-enough guy; there was just no connection, physical or mental. I wasn’t into computers or Bitcoin, which seemed to be a big thing for him, and he wasn’t into any of my hobbies, such as hiking, traveling, and watching old black-and-white movies. He didn’t even enjoy going to the movies. Who doesn’t love bingeing on popcorn and a gallon of soda while watching a big screen? Not to mention, when I told him about my work, he said he was allergic to flowers.
So when the waitress came by with a dessert menu, I politely declined.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t like a coffee or something?” Adam asked.
I shook my head. “I have to work in the morning. Having caffeine after noon keeps me up all night. But thank you.”
He nodded, though I could tell he was disappointed.
Outside the restaurant, he offered to share a cab, but I only lived eight blocks away. So I extended my hand to set the tone for the end of the evening.
“It was very nice to meet you, Adam.”
“You, too. Maybe we can…do this again sometime?”
It was so much easier to be upfront and tell a guy there wouldn’t be a second date when he was a jerk. But I always struggled with the nice ones. I shrugged. “Yeah, maybe. Take care, Adam.”
It was late April, but the cold weather just wouldn’t relent and allow spring to start this year, and a gust of wind blew while I waited at the intersection at the corner of the restaurant. I shoved my hands into my pockets for some warmth, and inside, something pointy pricked at my fingers. I slipped it out to see what it was.
Yoda.
His plastic ears were tapered to points, and there was a tiny chip on the left one. I’d forgotten I’d stuck him in my pocket when Adam and I had moved from the bar to a table. Looking down at him, I sighed. God, why couldn’t your owner have been my actual date tonight?
It had been a very long time since a man gave me the warm fuzzies in the pit of my belly—not since the day I’d met Gabriel. So maybe finding Yoda in my pocket was a sign? The light changed, and I walked a few more blocks, lost in thought.
Did it really matter that he’d pretended to be Adam? I mean, if he was telling the truth, he only did it so I’d talk to him. Let’s face it, if he had walked over and introduced himself as Max, I wouldn’t have invited him to sit down. I would have been polite and told him I was waiting for my date, no matter how gorgeous the man was. So, I couldn’t really say I blamed him…I guess.
I stopped for another red light at the crosswalk on 29th Street, this time at the corner of 7th as I made my way down to 2nd Avenue where I lived. While I waited, I looked to my right, and the neon lights of a sign hit me. Madison Square Garden. Now that was definitely a sign—quite literally. Between Yoda and walking right past the place Fake Adam had said he’d be…perhaps it was more than that.
I checked the time on my phone. Twenty after eight. He’d said he would be there at seven thirty, but I was sure the game took a few hours. Should I?
I nibbled on my lip as the light in front of me turned green. People on both sides of me started to walk…but I just stood there, staring down at Yoda.
Screw it.
Why not?
What do I have to lose?
The worst that could happen was that our initial connection fizzled or it turned out lying was one of Fake Adam’s hobbies. Or…the spark we’d had might lead to just the distraction I was looking for. I wouldn’t know unless I tried.
For the most part, I was pretty conservative with my choices in men. And look where that had gotten me. I was a twenty-eight-year-old workaholic, going on blind dates with my mom’s friend’s relatives. So screw it—I was going.
Once I made the decision, I couldn’t wait to get there. I practically jogged to Madison Square Garden, even in my heels from work. Inside, I showed my ticket to an usher standing at the entrance to the section listed, and he showed me to my seat.
As I walked down the stadium stairs, I looked around and noticed I was pretty overdressed. Most of the people had on jerseys and jeans. There were even a few shirtless guys with their bodies painted, and here I was wearing a cream silk blouse, red pencil skirt, and my favorite Valentino pumps. At least Max had been pretty dressed up.
I hadn’t noticed the row number on the ticket before handing it over to the usher, but the seats must’ve been decent because we just kept walking down toward the ice. When we hit the very first row, the usher extended his hand. “Here you go. Seat two is the second one in.”
“Wow, first row, directly in the middle on the fifty-yard line.”
The guy smiled. “In hockey we call it center ice.”
“Oh…okay.” But the seat next to the one he’d shown me to was empty, and Max was nowhere in sight. “Did you happen to see the person sitting in the seat at the end?” I asked.
The usher shrugged. “I’m not positive, but I don’t think they’ve arrived yet. Enjoy the game, miss.”
After he walked away, I stood looking down at the two empty seats. This was one outcome I hadn’t thought about: I might get stood up. Actually, would it even be considered standing someone up if the other person didn’t know you were coming? I wasn’t sure. But I was here, so I might as well take a seat and see if Max showed. He’d said he had to work, so perhaps he was running late. Or maybe he was already here, just in the men’s room or in line for a beer.
A woman sat on the other side of me. She smiled as I settled in. “Hi. Are you here to watch Yearwood? He’s on fire tonight, already slashed two in the net. Too bad they’re probably not going to be able to hold onto him for next season.”
I shook my head. “Oh. No, I’m actually meeting someone. I’ve never been to a live hockey game before.” Just as I said it, two guys slammed into the glass wall directly in front of me. I jumped, and the woman next to me laughed as they skated away.
“That happens a lot. You’ll get used to it.” She reached out her hand. “I’m Jenna, by the way. I’m married to Tomasso.” She pointed to the rink. “Number twelve.”
“Oh, wow. I guess I’m sitting next to the right person for my first game.” I put my hand to my chest. “I’m Georgia.”
“Anything you want explained, Georgia, you just let me know.”
For the next twenty minutes, I tried to watch the game. But I kept looking around to see if Max was coming down the stairs. Unfortunately, he never did. By nine o’clock, it was pretty clear I’d wasted my time. Since I had early meetings tomorrow morning, I decided to call it a night. The game clock showed less than a minute until the end of the second period, so I figured I’d wait until then so I wouldn’t be blocking people’s views as I climbed the stairs back up to the exit. These hockey fans seemed pretty into the game.
When the clock hit nine seconds, one of the guys scored a goal, and the place went crazy again. Everyone jumped up, so I did the same, only I used it as an opportunity to slip on my jacket. I leaned to the woman next to me and yelled. “I don’t think my date’s coming, so I’m going to head out. Have a good night.”
But as I turned to leave, something caught my attention on the Jumbotron. The player who’d scored held his stick up in the air celebrating, and a bunch of the guys on his team were whacking him on the head. His helmet covered most of his face, but those eyes… I know those eyes. The player took out his mouth guard, waved it in the air, and smiled right at the camera.
Dimples.
Big ones.
My eyes went wide.
No…it couldn’t be.
I continued to stare at the screen with my mouth hanging open until the guy’s face was no longer on it.
The woman next to me finished cheering. “See? I told you he was on fire. If this is your first game, you’ve picked a good one to watch. You don’t see a lot of hat tricks in a single period. Yearwood is having his best season ever. Too bad the rest of his team isn’t.”
“Yearwood? That’s the name of the guy who just scored?”
Jenna laughed at my question. “Yup. Team captain and arguably the best player in the NHL these days. They call him Pretty Boy for obvious reasons.”
“What’s his first name?”
“Max. I figured you knew him, since those are his seatsyou’re sitting in.”
★★★
Excited? We are too!
RELEASING JANUARY 10th!
ABOUT THE BOOK
The first time I met Max Yearwood was on a blind date. Max was insanely gorgeous, funny, and our chemistry was off the charts. He also had the biggest dimples I’d ever laid eyes on. Exactly what I needed after my breakup. Or so I thought… Until my real date arrived. Turned out, Max wasn’t who I was there to meet. He only pretended to be until my real date showed up. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. Before he left, he slipped me a ticket to a hockey game a few blocks away, in case things didn’t work out on my actual date. I tossed the ticket into my purse and went about trying to enjoy the man I was supposed to meet. But my real blind date and I had no connection. So on my way home, I decided to take a chance and stop by the game. When I arrived, the seat next to me was empty. Disappointed again, I decided to leave at the end of the period. Just before the buzzer, one of the teams scored, and the entire arena went crazy. A player’s face flashed up on the Jumbotron. He was wearing a helmet, but I froze when he smiled. You guessed it: Dimples. Apparently, my fake blind date hadn’t invited me to watch hockey with him, he’d invited me to watch him play. And so began my adventure with Max Yearwood. He was everything I needed at the time—fun, sexy, up for anything, and only around for a few months since he’d signed with a new team three-thousand miles away. Max proposed we spend the summer helping me forget my ex. It sounded like a good plan. Things couldn’t get too serious when we had an expiration date. Right? Though, you know what they say about the best-laid plans.
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AUTHOR BIO
Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles are currently translated in twenty-six languages and have appeared on bestseller lists in the US, Germany, Brazil, Bulgaria, and Hungary. Three of her short stories have been turned into films by Passionflix, and two of her books are currently optioned for movies. She resides in New York with her husband and their three children where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.
Title: Don’t Cry Over Spilled MILF Series: G.D. Taylors #4 Authors: Willow Aster & Laura Pavlov
Genre: Contemporary Romance Release Date: November 18, 2021
BLURB
A hot, sexy playboy and a gorgeous single mother who wants nothing to do with him. Buckle up, Susannah Brighton. Gus is coming for you. No pun intended.
Susannah I make my living writing romance. I prefer my heroes to remain fictional. But Gus Taylor is better than anything I could have dreamed up. Sexy and funny and dauntingly handsome. My little girl and I have been on our own for a long time and that’s the way I want to keep it. But Gus Taylor makes me question everything I believe.
Gus I’m a good-time guy. I’ve always worn the title with pride. But from the moment Susannah Brighton moves next door, I’m a goner. And she’s got a little girl. In the beginning, I think she’s just a mom I’d like to—forget about it. All that’s changed now that I know Susannah and her angelic daughter. I’ll do whatever it takes to win her over. Because when you know, you know. And I plan on writing myself into her happily ever after.
“I don’t want to have dinner with you tonight. That’s it.” She takes a step back and claps her hands together a few times as if she’s brushing off some crumbs. “I am happy to pay you for the job with a dinner here at the apartment with Olive as we negotiated. But a date is not going to be payment.”
I gasp. “I’m not a whore. I want to take you out to dinner because I’m attracted to you, not because I expect payment.”
I turn and storm toward the bookshelves because now I’m offended. And I don’t get offended.
Aside from my disdain for olives, I’m an even-keeled dude. And I don’t need to beg for a date. I have a slew of ladies dying for me to take them out.
“I wasn’t saying you were a … prostitute,” she says, and her tone is much softer now.
I don’t turn around even though I’m dying to, because I like that she’s being nicer now.
I have no shame in my game if making her feel guilty gets her to sway my way.
“It’s fine,” I say, as I run my hands along the wood, giving her a nice look at my oversized hands. They happen to match certain other body parts. I sniff the air, frowning. “I don’t smell cookies either. Clearly, you don’t keep your end of the bargain.”
“You had cookies yesterday,” she huffs and I grin at the bookshelves. She is so fun to rile up.
“Today’s a new day,” I say quietly. “And since you’re not agreeable to dinner tonight and you’re making me wait until Friday, and I don’t want your money, I would take a cookie or five today. I deserve something today, don’t I?”
#2
“She’s coming. Hop back in the elevator so it will look like it just stopped to let you off.” I see her walking toward the building and I hurry into the elevator, yanking my brother back on.
“Are you fucking kidding me with this shit?”
“Do not make me tell Mom that you won’t help me. Put on a smile, and say something nice to me when she gets on, and pump me up,” I say, as the doors close, and then I hit the button to reopen them just as she steps in the lobby.
“See ya, brother,” I shout a little too loud.
“Uh, yes. I will see you at the office, you smart, strong man,” Spence says and I close my eyes with irritation. Dude can’t play a role if his life depends on it.
Susannah chuckles and waves at him as she moves to get on and he moves to get off.
“Hello, ma’am. I’m Spence.”
Jeez, dude. How did he even land a girl like Emma? The dude has no game.
“Hi. I’m Susannah.” Her gaze finds mine and I turn on the smold intensity like I’m going for a motherfucking Oscar. I mean, I feel it down to my core. I am owning my inner Briggs.
“Nice to meet you,” Spence says, and I push the button to close the door and flip him the bird when her back is to me.
“You too,” she calls out, before moving to the other side of the elevator and turning to face me.
“How are you, pretty girl?”
She studies me, and I wonder if that whole shtick is too much. That one worked for both Jacob and Daniel, so I’m confident she must like it.
“I’m fine. Are you coming from the gym?” Her gaze scans my body and it takes all I have not to break out in a Dirty Dancing routine that Pen and I always do when we celebrate.
“Yep. I’ve been pumping some iron this morning,” I say. I give her the look and flex my bicep at the same time, which let me tell you, is no easy feat. We’re talking Karate Kid type of preparation to pull that off. Wax on. Wax off. Full focus. And. I. Nail. It.
She bursts out in laughter and covers her mouth.
What the fuck is she laughing at?
“Wait—are you having some sort of seizure? Do you need a doctor?” she asks, and now she’s looking at me with concern.
“No, Sweetheart. I’m just suffering from a bad case of attraction. The only one who can help me is you.”
Damn. I’m silently patting myself on the back because that shit was smooth. And Briggs never even said those words. Not exactly. I put my own Gus spin on it and made some magic.
She chuckles again, but it’s better than nothing. “Is that so?”
“That is so,” I say, moving into her space.
“What do you think you need to do about that?”
Think. Don’t blow it. She said no to dinner. No to going on a date.
“I think some coffee and a muffin might be a temporary fix.”
She sucks in a breath, and I can’t even believe this shit is working. I’ve never worked so hard for a coffee date, but I’m feeling the way she’s looking at me.
Her grey eyes search mine and I swear I stop breathing in that moment.
“Sounds fair. I am hungry. How about you go grab a shower and I’ll go reply to a few emails. And then…”
“And then we’ll grab coffee. And a muffin.” I’m standing so close to her that I can’t help myself from rubbing my nose against hers. I don’t think Daniel Briggs would do this, but Gus Taylor definitely would.
She puts her hand on my chest and pushes me back just a little. “All right. I’ll meet you in the hall in twenty minutes. But it’s not a date. I don’t date.”
“I will meet you in the hall for our non-date in twenty minutes.”
The doors open and we walk in silence until she puts her key in the door and waves. “See you in a little bit, Gus Taylor.”
Laura Pavlov writes sweet and sexy contemporary romance that will make you both laugh and cry. She is happily married to her college sweetheart, mom to two awesome almost-grown kids, and dog-whisperer to a couple crazy yorkies. Laura resides in Las Vegas where she is living her own happily ever after.
The Wedding Crasher and the Cowboy by Robin Bielman is coming out in one week! Check it out and be sure to grab your copy today!
Title: The Wedding Crasher and the Cowboy
Author: Robin Bielman
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Blitz: October 26th
About The Wedding Crasher and the Cowboy:
Kennedy Martin is shocked when her ex calls days before his wedding, expressing serious second thoughts. Doesn’t he see his fiancée’s actually the glaze to his doughnut? Now she’s got no choice but to crash his wedding and convince the man he’s with the right woman.
Instead, she crashes into the absolute last man she ever wanted to see: Maverick Owens, her old college nemesis. Maverick is still as awful, infuriating, and just The Worst as ever—even if he looks way too sexy in his cowboy hat. And of course he’s convinced she’s actually at the seaside ranch to ruin the wedding.
Now the only way to get some face time with the groom and save this marriage is to participate in all sorts of pre-wedding events…with Maverick. Stuck on a canoe, making small-talk at cocktail hour, and even a hoedown with her worst enemy? This just might be the longest week of her life…
He caged her in with his body, one hand going to her waist, the other to her chin to tip her face up exactly where he wanted it. Their first kiss had been tentative. Their second kiss would leave no doubt to how much he desired her. He may never admit it, but he could show her, hidden under the pendulous branches of the weeping willow while the sound of the rain trilled its sweet yet powerful tune, he could show her how much he craved her.
“Mav,” she whispered. She’d never called him Mav before.
About Robin Bielman:
USA Today bestselling author Robin Bielman lives in Southern California with her awesome family and her very cute dog, Harry. She writes both sweet and sexy contemporary romances with one goal in mind: to leave you with a smile on your face. When not attached to her laptop, she loves to read, go to the beach, and frequent coffee shops with friends. She also dreams of traveling to faraway places and loves to connect with readers. Keep in touch on social! Xoxo
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