TEASE, an all new billionaire, fake engagement, small town romantic comedy from USA Today and #1 Amazon bestselling author Melanie Harlow is coming July 11th, and we have the delicious cover!
I didn’t mean to say I was engaged to a hot billionaire–it just slipped out.
In my defense, I’d had a really bad haircut, a really strong drink, and I was trying to save face in front of the Mean Girl at my high school reunion.
Lucky for me, I happen to know a hot billionaire. Hutton French and I have been friends forever, and even though big social gatherings are not his thing, I called him from the coat closet and begged him for a favor–show up and play my fake fiancé for the night.
Except that word of our engagement spreads like wildfire. Our families are ecstatic. We’re front page news. My little food blog is launched into the stratosphere.
Of course, I offer to set the record straight right away, but Hutton wants to give it a little time–the phony engagement will keep his matrimony-mad mother and every matchmaking granny in town off his back.
He even suggests I move in with him to make the ruse more real.
And we don’t stop there.
We practice kissing. Undressing each other. Saying things–and doing things–we’d never dare if we weren’t pretending. Because it’s all for show, right? We’re just role-playing. Hutton doesn’t want a real relationship, and I don’t want to get hurt. But the more time we spend faking it, the more I start to wonder.
Could Hutton French and I actually be right for each other, or is it all just one big tease?
Cover designer: Hang Le @byhangle Photographer: Michelle Lancaster @lanefotograf
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.
Meet the newest expansion team in hockey–The Portland Icehawks. They’re a group of guys with chips on their shoulders out to make their former teams regret letting them go. They won’t be stopped until they win it all. What they haven’t counted on is love being part of that equation.
As a thirty-five-year-old hockey player, I’ve learned a hard lesson in loyalty. I was supposed to be a lifer for the Chicago Tigers, but the team left me out in the cold, choosing to protect younger players in the expansion draft. The next thing I know, I’m in a strange city with a fledgling team, and my estranged wife has served me with divorce papers. Not the best way to start a new chapter in my career.
As the team struggles to find its identity and win games, I struggle with my role as team captain, proving I’m not too old to play at a high level, and getting beyond my failed marriage. All this is complicated by an undeniable attraction to the owner’s daughter. As the team racks up the losses, I seek solace with the one woman whose very presence could destroy what’s left of my career.
Sometimes love is comfortable and subtle. Other times it hits you with the force of a puck to the jaw. I’ve never experienced the latter until now, and I can’t stay away regardless of the consequences.
USA Today Bestselling Author Jami Davenport writes sexy contemporary and sports romances, including her Seattle Sockeyes, Seattle Steelheads, Gone Missing, and The Scoring Series.
Jami lives on a small farm near Puget Sound with her Green Beret-turned-plumber husband, a Newfoundland drool monster, and a prince disguised as an orange tabby cat.
Jami worked in IT for years and is also a former high school business teacher but recently achieved a life-long dream and is now a full-time author. A horse lover since birth, Jami showed dressage horses for over thirty years. Now she gardens and goes glamping, along with other travelling adventures. She’s a lifetime Seahawks and Mariners fan, a proud season ticket holder for the Seattle Kraken hockey team, and still misses her SuperSonics. An avid boater, Jami has spent countless hours in the San Juan Islands, a common setting in her books. In her opinion, it’s the most beautiful place on earth.
Only a bad nanny knows what it’s like to kiss the boss.
CEO millionaire, Max Fletcher is a single dad in desperate need of a nanny.
Cozy Barlow is in the middle of her self-appointed “gap year” and doing everything she can to detach from her past.
But when her sister begs her to interview for the nanny position of a high maintenance client, she doesn’t have a good enough reason to say no.
And when Max locks eyes on the twenty-something in a tie-dye sweatsuit who pitches the idea of daydreaming all summer—he prepares to give this bad nanny the boot.
One problem: Max’s little girl thinks this plus-sized in body and spirit nanny might be her new bestie, so she hires her on the spot.
Now Max is stuck with this bizarre woman who hates everything he represents—corporate greed, money, status, power.
But one stormy night when the power goes out, he discovers Cozy doesn’t hate him. In fact, he’s the leading role in her fantasies.
Fantasies, he would very much like to make a reality.
My boss’s head turns forward as his jaw shifts from side to side, his body vibrating with irritation. “You can’t just go around touching men’s eyebrows, Cassandra.”
“Why not?”
“Because it makes them think you want to sleep with them.” His voice is acidic as he stares broodingly back at me.
I inhale sharply at his response. It’s definitely not the way I’m used to him speaking to me. I’m also not used to seeing him at a bar. At my bar specifically. Which is why his opinion on this situation doesn’t mean anything to me.
I jut my chin out defiantly. “Other men’s thoughts are not my problem.”
“No, but they’re mine,” he growls and then swivels in his stool. His denim-clad legs straddle me as he hovers closer, blanketing me in his mouthwatering cologne and the spicy scent of the whiskey on his breath. His brow furrows as he scrutinizes my entire face. “You would really hook up with another man with my mark still on you?”
Excerpt:
“Max, I’m going to bed,” Cassandra groans, pulling her cotton robe tightly across her chest as she steps outside and leans against the side of the house. “Let’s just forget this horrible evening ever happened.”
“I can’t forget,” I bark, pointing at my head like a lunatic as I continue to pace. “Because I have a daughter. And knowing that she could grow up someday and have messed-up thoughts about her physical appearance will never be something I’m okay with.”
Cassandra’s brows knit together. “What?”
“What you said about me throwing you over my shoulder earlier? First of all…I could do that. Feel free to challenge me on that. I love a challenge.” I turn on my heel to march the other way. “But second of all, who cares if I couldn’t? Do you think that makes you any less worthy of someone? It doesn’t. It’s a superficial nothingburger of a thing. It tells nothing about the person you are or the beauty you possess.”
I pause to prop my hands on my hips, hitting her with a lethal glare before I deliver the next bit. Her lips are parted, her eyes are wide and glistening in the security light as she falls back against the white siding.
She looks like an angel.
“Third of all, you are not now, nor could you ever be a convenience hook up. In fact, you are the most inconvenient hook up of my life. Which is why I need you to hear the next part.”
“There’s more?” she gasps, her fingers touching her parted lips.
“A lot more, Cassandra,” I growl, my voice echoing off the house as I stalk toward her…
When romance novelist, Kate Smith, finds her long lost writing mojo in the customer waiting area of a tire store, the complimentary coffee isn’t the only things that’s hot. But sexy mechanic, Miles Hudson, is just up for a friendly test-drive of her new book idea. At least, that was the agreement…
Number 1 Amazon Bestselling author Amy Daws writes spicy love stories that take place in America, as well as across the pond. She’s most known for her footy-playing Harris Brothers and writing in a tire shop waiting room. When Amy is not writing, she’s likely making charcuterie boards from her home in South Dakota where she lives with her daughter and husband.
Follow Amy on all social media channels, including Tik Tok under @amydawsauthor
Title: Perfect for Her Series: Harbour Cove #5 Author: S.A. Clayton
Genre: Contemporary Romance Release Date: June 13, 2022
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A brand new single mom romance from S.A. Clayton set in her new Harbour Cove series!
Mark Winters prides himself on never settling down. He thrives on one-nightstands and chasing after any girl who looks his way. Then why is it that after five years he still can’t get that one girl from college out of his mind?
Harlow Bennett always knew giving up her dream of being a model was the best decision she ever made for her and her son. But moving to Harbour Cove in order to find the one person she thought she would never have to see again might be the worst.
Mark knew the second he saw Harlow’s son that he was the father. There was no doubt that those bright eyes and dark hair were his. But he can’t understand why Harlow would keep this secret for all of these years and walk back into his life and expect him not to be angry.
But what happens when Harlow’s life is threatened and their son gets pulled into the middle? Can Mark put aside his anger to help keep them safe or will his feelings cause him to lose everything he never knew he wanted?
S.A. Clayton lives in a small town outside of Toronto, Canada with her husband and her scary large collection of books that seem to take over every room.
She has worked on both sides of the publishing industry, both in a bookstore and for actual publishing companies. Although she loved both for different reasons, she found that writing was her true passion and has spent the last few years breaking into the industry as best she can.
She is a lover of all things romance and began her writing journey in her late twenties. Since then, she has immersed herself in the romance genre and couldn’t be happier.
When she’s not writing or reading, she enjoys binging a great Netflix show (Stranger Things anyone?), baking (because who doesn’t love cookies!) and spending time with her family.
Can a grumpy former Ranger find lasting happiness in a marriage of convenience with a sunny single mom?
After losing his leg, former Army Ranger Holt Steele is building a new life and a new business with his friends. Sure, he never expected to put small-town baker on his resume, but he finds he likes the quiet, simple life. If only he didn’t like the sunny single mom who works across the street–or her adorable kid–quite so much.
After escaping a controlling husband, event planner Cayla Black has one focus–growing her business and maintaining a safe, happy home for her daughter. She has no time or interest in a man. Not even one who charms her child with Disney songs and keeps turning up like a mind-reader to help without being asked.
But when her ex’s conviction is overturned on a technicality, and he shows up intending to reclaim his wife and child, Holt intervenes with an outrageous lie. The only way to fix it is to make his falsehood the truth. As they struggle to convince everyone that their marriage of protection is real, these two reluctant hearts fall deeper, until the lines between the fiction and the dream begin to blur, and they have to risk it all to protect the family they didn’t know they wanted.
“We’ll get to the bottom of it. But I need you to tell me everything that happened. Everything he said. Can you do that?”
Her voice was muffled as she told the story against his chest.
“He said he’d had good luck with his last appeal. That all his convictions were overturned, and he was a free man. I don’t understand. They said they had all the evidence they needed. How could it be overturned when he’s already been serving his sentence?”
It was a damned good question. “I’ve got a guy who can dig into it. But let’s talk about the more immediate issue. Will he come after Maddie, or is he all talk?”
Cayla lifted her head, and the look in her eyes shredded his gut. “Oh, he’ll come after her. Not out of any kind of love or desire to have a relationship with his child, but because he’ll believe she belongs to him. The same way he thinks I still do.”
“You’re divorced.”
“That doesn’t matter to a man like him. He views me as his property. And I have no idea what he’s going to do with what you threw out. What were you thinking, claiming to be my husband?” Baffled consternation knit her brows together.
He hadn’t been thinking. Not really. He’d already been walking over when he’d gotten her voice text. From that point, the only thing in his head was getting to Cayla, protecting her in whatever way he could. And when he’d walked in and seen her there, face sheet white, his immediate instinct had been to shield what was his. But he hadn’t had a chance to process what the hell that meant, and he didn’t think Cayla would appreciate that just now.
“That it might intimidate him. It seemed like a good idea in the heat of the moment.”
She pulled away, swiping at her face. “Yeah, well, you basically just waved a red flag at a very smart and calculating bull. He’s not going to just let this go because I allegedly belong to someone else. He’ll never acknowledge that claim. I was his first, and as far as he’s concerned, I’m his always. I only felt safe because he was behind bars and was supposed to stay there for a good long while. Now I… I don’t know what to do.”
Her shoulders shook as the tears fell harder.
Holt curled his hands into fists, desperate to do something. “He’s not going to get to either of you. I swear it.”
“How can you promise that?”
His brain spun, considering and rejecting scenarios. If Raynor sued for some kind of custody of Maddie, being caught out in a lie would hardly be in Cayla’s favor. And even if he didn’t, would they even be safe in their own home? The man she’d described wouldn’t let a piece of paper like a restraining order stop him—if they could even get one. They needed protection on site. Both of them. And there was one obvious solution.
“Marry me.”
Meet Kait Nolan:
Kait Nolan is a RITA® Award-winning Mississippi author who calls everyone sugar, honey, or darlin’, and can wield a ‘Bless your heart’ like a Snuggie or a saber, depending on requirements. She believes in love, laughter, and that tacos are the world’s most perfect food. When she’s not writing, reading, working the evil day job, or wrangling family (both the two-legged and the four-), you can find her obsessively watching The Great British Bake Off.
Good girls are saved by princes, but my savior is a monster.
After my father died and my family splintered, I became a target, a pawn in a game I didn’t know I was playing. Then he appeared–dark, dangerous, tormented, and always just within reach. He makes me feel something I lost years ago: Safe. And he thinks he can keep me at arm’s length.
Once upon a time I was a hero, until the sins of my father caught up with me, and I was forced into darkness. I should’ve died in that fire. Instead, I served evil men, until I risked it all by walking away. Now I’m a wanted man. At any time, I could be taken down for what I owe. What I don’t expect to find in my hiding place is her–broken, beautiful, so damn tempting. I shouldn’t touch her with my filthy hands. I was hired to keep her safe. But every day it gets harder, then she starts sneaking into my bed.
Together, we’re filthy, but together, we can find our way through the flames.
(FILTHY is a stand-alone, bodyguard, romantic suspense novel. It contains a fierce, wounded alpha-protector and the filthy girl he’s hired to protect… No cheating. No cliffhangers.)
Tia Louise is the USA TODAY best-selling, award-winning author of super-hot and sexy romances. All her heroes are alphas with hearts of gold, and all her heroines are the smart, sassy ladies who love them.
Title: Bittersweet Promises Series: Montgomery Ink Legacy #1 Author: Carrie Ann Ryan
Genre: Contemporary Romance Cover Design: Sweet N Spicy Designs Photo: Wander Aguiar Release Date: October 24, 2022
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New York Times Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan returns with the next generation of Montgomerys and a second chance romance bound in memory and heat.
Leif Montgomery fell hard for Brooke Alder in Paris when they were young, and he thought their fling was just an early taste of what life had in store for him.
But life had other plans, and he didn’t find that kind of love—or see Brooke’s face—for years.
Until he visits his cousin’s house and sees who’s moved in next door.
They’ve both changed: she’s a struggling single mom, he’s running from a past he’s trying to hide while opening up a new tattoo shop. Yet the moment he sees her again, he knows she’s the one for him.
And with one look, Brooke knows that she can’t fight the desire that pulled them together before, despite the skeletons in both their closets.
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.
Title: Etched in Honor Series: Aspen Pack #1 Author: Carrie Ann Ryan
Genre: Paranormal Romance Release Date: May 23, 2022
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NYT Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan returns to the world of paranormal and Pack worlds in the thrilling and dynamic new Aspen Pack series.
The betrayal that had nearly taken out the Aspen Pack has passed, but the ramifications of starting with a new hierarchy are taking their toll on Audrey Porter. Once traitor to the former leaders for trying to save their people, now she’s the Beta of the Pack and must try to hold their shattered remains together. Only she never expected the man from her past to awaken memories long since buried.
Gavin Powers is the new Tracker for the Aspen, yet it feels as though he’s always been part of the Pack, rather than a newcomer trying to heal a people long since thought forgotten. There are secrets within the den that could alter how the world sees shifters, and if Gavin isn’t careful, his attraction to Audrey could ruin everything.
There is a mysterious new enemy on the horizon, one long since vanquished into myth. As the darkness surrounded the Packs is unveiled, it will take a wolf and a lioness to unbury the past and fight for their future—or risk losing everything before it begins.
I dodged the blacked-tipped talons handily but nearly tripped over the wolf to my side. I winced as I jumped over Ronin and didn’t let the fact that he cowered beside me insult my cat. After all, he was a new wolf. And he didn’t know exactly how to fight yet. This wasn’t exactly the training I had planned for the day, but there was no going back now, not when I needed to fight whatever these things were.
It looked like a man, a normal man, with excessive strength. Its eyes were dark-rimmed, but I couldn’t see its irises to tell what color they were. And its fingernails had turned into claws, or perhaps the talons I had once thought. But they looked as if they had been dipped into black ink. The nails were black for sure, but even the fingertips seemed to radiate that darkness.
I had never seen the like, but as I was part of the Aspen Pack, I knew that not all was what it seemed, and there were many unknowns out there.
I let my claws push through my fingertips and raked the nails down the back of one. The man in front of me let out a shocked gasp, then fell to his knees. I didn’t want any of that black tar or whatever it was to touch me. My cat didn’t like the scent of it, and frankly, neither did the human part of me.
I was a lion shifter in the middle of a wolf Pack, a wolf Pack that was like none other.
And my cat already had enough and arched its back up.
There were two of these creatures in front of me, and they didn’t scent of the rogues that we had been fighting for years, nor did they scent of wolf.
I wasn’t sure if they were a witch gone bad or not, but whatever they were, we needed to deal with it before it was too late.
I grumbled a bit, then found a branch to toss at Ronin. Ronin gave me this odd look, his human face looking puzzled, and I sighed before I made sure he held the stick, and I pulled the dagger out of my boot.
I used my claws on the creature’s back, but I wasn’t about to get anywhere near its mouth.
My senses told me it wasn’t a good idea, no matter what it was.
I used the dagger to stab the closest creature at the base of the skull and twisted. It let out a scream, one abruptly cutoff, before it fell to its knees, its body at an odd angle on the ground.
I went to the other one, but it came at Ronin quickly, ignoring me. I cursed under my breath, my cat ready to slice at those who endangered our people. Ronin was under our watch, and we refused to let him get hurt because we weren’t strong enough.
I kept moving towards it, but Ronin smacked the thing with the branch.
Well, that was one way to fight it. Probably not the best way, but we were getting somewhere. At least I hoped so.
Ronin smacked it again, but then the creature gripped the branch and shook it. He tossed Ronin twenty feet back, and my brows winged up.
Well then, that was some strength. He probably could even beat Hayes when it came to strength, and that polar bear was the strongest person I knew.
It seemed it was time for me to stop pussyfooting around, as it were, and take care of this thing.
It was bleeding from the claw marks, and the blood was red, so I counted that as something to take note of, but I wasn’t sure what it meant.
I didn’t want to wait to find out, so I moved forward and tossed my dagger directly into the creature’s eyes.
It screamed, pulling at the dagger but not falling down.
That image would haunt my nightmares for years to come. Considering the number of things that already haunted my nightmares, that was saying something.
“Okay then. Why won’t you die?”
“This is only the beginning,” the creature growled as he pulled the dagger out of its eye.
I swallowed hard. I hadn’t been aware it could talk. I had no idea what it was, but it wasn’t dead from a dagger to the eye, and it stepped forward once, twice, and fell.
Oh good. It was dead. Thank the goddess because I wasn’t sure exactly what I was supposed to do now.
I sighed and then went to take my dagger back.
Ronin sat on the ground and looked up at me before lowering his gaze.
His wolf was in the golden glow surrounding his iris, and my cat wanted to reach out, bat him on the head, and then hug him close.
Ronin wasn’t submissive by any means, nor was he a paternal wolf. He was a dominant, but so in the middle of the chain that he could wobble either way depending on who was around him. And my cat was one of the most dominant shifters in the Pack.
It didn’t matter that the rest of them were wolves except for a select few. My cat was Beta of the Aspen Pack and had held that title longer than any other leader within the Pack. Everyone else had gained their connection and responsibility after everything had changed.
I alone remained.
My heart ached, but I pushed away the pain.
Just because the rest of the hierarchy was relatively new in the past year and a half didn’t mean we were falling or breaking.
I just happened to be the only one with experience.
Experience that was met with hatred in some eyes, but I was good at ignoring that.
I leaned down in front of Ronin and gripped the back of his neck as I would a pup. He looked up at me then, meeting my gaze for an instant before lowering his eyes but not his chin.
My cat purred in happiness. That was showing who was more dominant, but not lowering. And that I counted as progress.
“Are you okay? Did their claws or teeth or anything else out of the ordinary touch you?”
Ronin shook his head. “No, I’m fine. I’m fine, but I messed up.”
I shook my head. “Whatever that was, was far stronger than either one of us was prepared for.”
He looked up at me then for just an instant and blinked in surprise. “You don’t know what that was?”
I didn’t want any more lies in my Pack, not after years of pain and sacrifice and nothing but lies. So I told him the truth. Chase would have to find his own path and tell me exactly what he wanted the rest of the Pack to know in general. After all, he was my Alpha and had once been my friend.
I pushed that thought away and squeezed the back of Ronin’s neck again. The younger wolf relaxed marginally, and I knew he liked the action. “I don’t know what that was. We’re going to find out, though. It was strong, so strong that I had to use my dagger rather than my claws or strength. You did what you could, and while you aren’t ready to hold a weapon on you at all times like that, we’re getting there.”
“I nearly tripped you,” he grumbled.
“We were just finishing a long training session when those whatever they were slithered out of the trees as they did. They came on us out of nowhere, and we’re both exhausted after our training.”
He wrinkled his nose, and I knew he smelled the lie on that.
“Okay, you were exhausted. I’m tired. Does that make your wolf feel better?” I asked, putting a lighthearted note in my tone.
Ronin nodded. “Yes. Sorry. I’m still getting used to all these scents and everything.”
My heart ached for him, and my cat wanted to reach out and lick his face just to make sure that he felt better. Doing that in human form with a new wolf, one that didn’t know me well, was probably not the best thing.
“Everything’s okay. We are going to figure out what these are and put them in the basement so that way our Healer can take a look at it.”
“Maybe the other Packs know?”
That made me smile. “Hopefully, the others do. They’ve all dealt with many strange things.”
“Well, we have our own strangeness,” Ronin said with a bit of pride, and I felt it too. The Aspen Pack was unique in that we were not just wolves. Other than a few people who held our secrets, the rest of the world thought the only shifters out there were wolves. After all, they were the ones that had been forced to be revealed to the public. And after a war and scary end of times, humans and wolves lived in a decent harmony. The fact that the government had wolf sympathizers helped. Any scary laws that could have restricted the movements and freedoms of anyone magical in nature were now scrubbed off the table indefinitely.
Wolves and witches were able to live freely.
Cats and bears, on the other hand, were unheard of.
I knew of a couple of cats that roamed the earth as individuals, but I was the only lioness that I knew of near here other than Aimee. There was a lynx shifter as well, and she was my best friend, but other than that, it was just me here.
And there was only one bear that I knew of.
Perhaps there were other secret Packs that held them, and I had the hope in my heart that there were. But even most wolves didn’t know we existed, and that had been for a reason years before.
Now I wasn’t even sure what the reason could be.
I looked down at the two dead bodies next to me, my cat hissing, and ran my hand over Ronin’s back. Then I stood up and helped him do the same.
“We should head back into the den, behind the wards. But we need to tell the others what happened.”
There was no doubt that Chase as Alpha would be able to feel that something had indeed happened.
The others would as well since Steele was the Enforcer, and he could feel outside threats to the Pack. This just felt like such a different threat that I wasn’t sure he would be able to tell what it was.
Cruz might be able to tell as well, but he was the Heir and felt so lost that I wasn’t even sure he would know to respond at all. It didn’t matter that he was a dominant wolf. We were all so far out of our depths, it was a little scary.
I rubbed at my chest and then was reminded again that I wasn’t the only cat shifter around. At least the only lioness around. I wanted someone of my own kind, even if it didn’t make sense. I should see Aimee. And check on her. She was a lioness like me because of what I had to do to save her.
I shook my head, remembering the Talon Pack lioness who now lived in a Pack of wolves as I did.
She was strong, mated to the Healer, and could handle anything on her own.
At least, that’s what I figured. It wasn’t like I could truly speak to her often these days, not with my needing to be with the Aspens as much as I was.
I turned to see Steele coming towards me, a glare on his face as always. I didn’t know him well, though that was only because I had to hide my true loyalties for so long that I didn’t know my Pack as I should.
He gave me a tight nod as he looked around at his lieutenants. “What happened here?”
I raised a brow because he wasn’t as dominant as I was. The only person that was within this Pack was Chase, and even then, some days, it didn’t feel like it.
Steele just shook his head, his own wolf understanding that he didn’t get to growl at me like that in front of others. We were all still finding our place, figuring out how to work together as a cohesive unit. The fact that I hadn’t had a cohesive unit with the previous hierarchy spoke volumes. We were taking our cues from the Redwoods and Talons. But even then, the Redwoods had decades of learning to work together and were an actual family. The hierarchy before the current generation was still around, guiding them. They weren’t elders per se, but they were a tight unit.
The Talons, on the other hand, had to rebuild from the ground up at one point, and so we were trying to follow their lead. Much like the Central Pack was doing. Though their Pack had been completely demolished, only coming back with a blessing from the actual moon goddess, the goddess of wolves.
I shook my head and looked over at Steele. “I don’t know. I’m trying to figure it out myself.”
I explained about the dark claws and the fact that it had spoken even after we had shoved a dagger into its eye. Steele raised a brow, then pulled out his phone. “We should talk with the Redwoods and the Talons. They might have seen something when they were down south.”
I frowned, then remembered that nearly a year ago the Tracker for the Redwood Pack had gone down south to meet another Pack of all things and had come up with something similar. The dark smudges and black bite marks.
“Do you think it’s that? I thought that those were genetically modified rogues or whatever that they had found.”
“Not exactly. The dead bodies that piled up happened to be because of that rogue, the wolf that had gotten out thanks to the drug that is no longer a problem within our borders. However, the black marks seemed to be something different.”
I cursed under my breath. “I didn’t know that.”
“I only think I know it because I was talking with Gina.”
Gina was the Enforcer of the Redwood Pack, his counterpart, and had more experience than he did, but only barely.
“Okay. I’ll talk with Chase then. Do you guys have this settled?”
“We do. We’ll meet up with Wren.”
A smile slid over my face at the mention of my best friend’s name. Wren was a lynx shifter and our Healer.
As long as she was connected to the Pack, she could use those bonds to heal those around her. She was also an MD and kept up with her medical studies throughout her years. She had been a doctor before the goddesses had called on her to become the Healer of our Pack. It had fit, and now she worked on the mystical side and the medical side.
“Hopefully, she’ll figure it out, and hey, I hear there’s a new geneticist joining the Pacific Northwest Pack Alliance.”
I grinned. “Is that the name that you’re going with now?” I asked.
Steele rolled his eyes. “I think Cruz is having a little too much fun with the other Packs forming names. But since we’re working so close together, the Pacific Northwest Pack Alliance seems to be working with the four of us.”
That made me smile because it wasn’t just the Redwoods and the Talons any longer. The Aspens were going to bring things to the table, and I knew the Centrals were doing the same. Even though the Centrals had a dark past with the Redwoods, we had just as much of a dark one with the Talons.
My stomach ached at that thought, and my cat scratched at me, so I pushed that thought away and sighed. “I need to go meet with Chase.”
“I take it training’s over then?” he asked, looking at Ronin.
Ronin lowered his head, and if he were in wolf form, his tail would’ve been tucked between his legs. I moved forward, went on my tiptoes, and ran my hand through his hair. “You’re fine. We’ll finish up the day after tomorrow. I know you have your studies.”
The kid, and he really was a kid, only in his early twenties, beamed at me. “Yes, true. Thank you so much for your help. I know I’m getting better, right?”
“You are. You fought well today. We weren’t expecting this, but we made it out because we had each other. So thank you.”
His eyes widened before he walked away, speaking with another wolf his age that was a Lieutenant. That Lieutenant was far stronger in dominance but had just an edge of maternal nature to her that she seemed to ease Ronin’s wolf.
“You’re good with him.”
I looked at Steele. “I’m trying. Sometimes I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing.”
He swallowed hard. “I feel like that too. Even though you’ve been Beta for longer, you had to be a different Beta before.”
I knew he’d said it as a compliment, but it felt like a slap nonetheless. “I know. But we have new wolves joining the Pack every week, it seems.”
“We do. And that’s something that Chase is going to want to talk to you about,” he added with a grimace.
“What?”
“Allister’s here.”
I blinked at his mention of the Thames Pack Alpha. The Thames Pack was over by the actual Thames River in England. “I didn’t realize he was visiting.”
“He wanted to meet with our alliance, or whatever else he wants to call it. And in doing so, he brought with him a lone wolf that’s been with them for a while but wanted to come back to the United States. And since the Centrals and the Aspens are pretty much recruiting for Pack members at this point, he figured this guy would work out well with us.”
“Oh. Okay. What does it have to do with me?”
“As Beta, Chase wants you to help him get acclimated to the den. He’s going to blood him in later today.”
“Him? Just one?”
“There are two women that are joining the Central Pack, from what I can tell. But we get the Tracker.”
My lion perked up, her tail swishing back and forth. “He’s a Tracker?”
“He is, and has the talent for it, and since our Pack doesn’t actually have one as part of the hierarchy, Chase says the moon goddess will bestow the new guy with the title.”
A Tracker was someone who could follow the Pack lines and use extrasensory abilities to find anyone within the Pack. If magic or other impediments were in the way, it didn’t always work, but a Tracker was great to have. We hadn’t had one in a decade. Not since our former Alpha had killed him for daring to disobey him.
I swallowed hard, thinking of another Tracker that I’d met in my lifetime. One I didn’t want to think about too hard because it hurt even to imagine.
“I guess since I’m the Beta, it’s my job to see to the needs of the Pack.”
Steele saluted me as he turned back to work with the dead bodies that I had left behind, and I shook my hair out before making my way towards the den.
The den was situated in the northern part of California, amongst the Redwood trees, much like the Redwood namesake Pack that was a little more north of us. We took over Washington, Oregon, and California once you put all of the Pack territories together. We were a large group, but insular.
Our wards protected the den itself, but a lot of our Pack lived outside the den, within the communities of humans and witches. That was how it should be. A den was a place to come home to.
It hadn’t been like that for so long that it almost felt odd to think that now this den could be healthy once again.
I walked through the wards, past the sentries, and let the magic settle over my skin. My cat preened, enjoying the tingles of magic, and I shook my head at it.
Silly cat.
She wanted to run, to let the world look at her glorious golden pelt, but I ignored her. We had things to do. We could laze in the sun later.
I turned the corner, my cat perking up, an odd scent hitting her nose.
I frowned, wondering why it scented so familiar.
“Audrey. You’re here. Good,” Chase, my Alpha, stated as I came towards him, but my heart stuttered, my skin breaking out into a cold sweat. I couldn’t focus. Not on him.
It couldn’t be.
This wasn’t him.
It was a ghost, a death. This was nothing. I was dreaming. Maybe I had been bitten by whatever I just fought, and now I was dead.
Because this couldn’t be true.
“Audrey, you know Allister, and this is Gavin. He’ll be a new member of the Aspen Pack.”
Gavin. That was the name of the stranger, the stranger with the eyes.
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.
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Stephanie Rowe is both “contemporary romance at its best” (Bex ‘N’ Books) and a “paranormal star” (JR Ward). The author of more than fifty novels, Stephanie is a 2021 Vivian Award Nominee, and a 2018 winner and a five-time nominee for the RITA® award, the highest awards in romance fiction. As an award-winning author, Stephanie has been touching readers’ hearts and keeping them spellbound for more than a decade with her contemporary romances, romantic suspense, and paranormal romances. For more info on Stephanie, visit http://www.stephanierowe.com, follow her on Facebook: @StephanieRoweBooks, Twitter: @stephanierowe2, and Instagram: @stephanierowe2.
Only a bad nanny knows what it’s like to kiss the boss.
CEO millionaire, Max Fletcher is a single dad in desperate need of a nanny.
Cozy Barlow is in the middle of her self-appointed “gap year” and doing everything she can to detach from her past.
But when her sister begs her to interview for the nanny position of a high maintenance client, she doesn’t have a good enough reason to say no.
And when Max locks eyes on the twenty-something in a tie-dye sweatsuit who pitches the idea of daydreaming all summer—he prepares to give this bad nanny the boot.
One problem: Max’s little girl thinks this plus-sized in body and spirit nanny might be her new bestie, so she hires her on the spot.
Now Max is stuck with this bizarre woman who hates everything he represents—corporate greed, money, status, power.
But one stormy night when the power goes out, he discovers Cozy doesn’t hate him. In fact, he’s the leading role in her fantasies.
Fantasies, he would very much like to make a reality.
EXCERPT
“So that’s really your proposal as the nanny to my daughter for the summer? To do nothing?” I ask dryly, hoping this Cassandra person has a backup response that she’s going to pull out of her back pocket at any moment to save this horrible interview.
Cassandra nods proudly. “We’ll also do a lot of sitting. I’m an expert at sitting,” she deadpans.
“Okay…I think we’ve heard enough, Cassandra.” I move to stand, but she reaches out and touches my arm, halting me in my tracks.
“I said to call me Cozy,” she corrects with a wink.
The teasing look in her eyes causes my skin to tighten. I do my best to shake it off as she refocuses on my daughter to share with her the last book that made her cry. Her hand slides off my arm, and my eyes lock on the way her index finger trails off the fabric of my suit.
I’m left struggling to shake this silvery feeling her delicate touch has left on my arm, so I take a moment to inspect Cassandra a bit closer now that her focus is off me. Her facial features are round, a faint dimple appearing in her cheek as she talks animatedly to my daughter. Her alabaster skin is a stunning contrast to her nearly black hair cropped bluntly just above her shoulders. She has shockingly plump lips slathered in a pale pink gloss that thankfully doesn’t match the orange jumpsuit that looks like something a teenager would wear. Her ample curves indicate she’s very much not a child.
“How old are you?” I blurt out in the middle of my interview with this bizarre potential nanny. I blanch at how unprofessional of a question that is and curse under my breath. “I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer that.”
“I’m twenty-six, Big Daddy,” Cassandra replies with another wink and then immediately dives back into conversation with my daughter.
Big Daddy? I frown at that very unpleasant label. Jesus Christ, she is so unprofessional. No fucking way…over my dead body. This will not work. I click my tongue and bring out my CEO voice. “Cassandra…I thank you for coming in, but I’m afraid—”
“You’re hired!” my daughter bursts out, standing up so she’s eye level with me. She thrusts her hand across my face and reaches for Cassandra’s, mimicking me to a T how I’ve handled many successful boardroom transactions.
My mouth hangs open as I sit frozen, watching Cassandra stand in what feels like slow motion to take Everly’s hand and accept the offer.
“This is so awesome!” Cassandra shakes Everly’s hand so hard, she starts to giggle. “This summer is going to be GOAT!”
“Goats?” I exclaim, finally breaking free of my stunned-stupid response to my daughter taking over this meeting. How is Everly so charmed by this…this…I don’t even know what to call a person like Cassandra. “No one said anything about farm animals.”
Cassandra and Everly burst out laughing like they’ve been buddies their entire life. Everly places her slender fingers on my shoulder in a way that makes me feel like the eleven-year-old in the room. “Dad, GOAT means greatest of all time.”
My shoulders slump. “Oh.”
Everly leans over to Cassandra and whispers loudly, “I’m so glad this worked out. If we didn’t hire someone today, my dad was totally going to get a case of his stress poops again.”
“Everly!” My eyes fly wide when Cassandra turns her green gaze at me. I push a nervous hand through my hair and quickly rush out, “I don’t get stress poops. I don’t know what that kid’s talking about.”
Cassandra reaches out and pats me on the other shoulder. “Hey Mr. Fletcher, no judgment here. Maybe you should try some of that kombucha in the waiting room that you won’t let your staff have? It’s really good for the digestive system.”
I groan and pinch the bridge of my nose. This summer is going to be a disaster.
BINGE THE SERIES
Wait With Me (optioned for film by Passionflix)
When romance novelist, Kate Smith, finds her long lost writing mojo in the customer waiting area of a tire store, the complimentary coffee isn’t the only things that’s hot. But sexy mechanic, Miles Hudson, is just up for a friendly test-drive of her new book idea. At least, that was the agreement…
For a chance to win a signed copy of Last on the List, go check out my cover reveal post on Facebook: www.facebook.com/amydawsauthor
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Number 1 Amazon Bestselling author Amy Daws writes spicy love stories that take place in America, as well as across the pond. She’s most known for her footy-playing Harris Brothers and writing in a tire shop waiting room. When Amy is not writing, she’s likely making charcuterie boards from her home in South Dakota where she lives with her daughter and husband.
Follow Amy on all social media channels, including Tik Tok under @amydawsauthor
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