Title: The Small-Town Seduction Plan Series: Hollywood Bachelors #5 Author: Lila Monroe
Genre: Romantic Comedy Tropes: Grumpy/Sunshine, Enemies to Lovers Fake Dating/Small Town Romance Release Date: June 10, 2024
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Fall for the hot and hilarious grumpy-sunshine romantic comedy from USA Today bestselling author, Lila Monroe! Perfect for fans of Tessa Bailey, Ali Hazelwood, and Emily Henry.
Duke Hendricks is grumpy, infuriating… and my new fake boyfriend?!
I never figured running out on my Hollywood wedding in search of true love would put me on the tabloid hit list, but with my reputation up in smoke, I need to lay low for the summer in Blackberry Cove. The quirky small town would be the perfect spot for a relaxing summer… if it wasn’t for the hunky local craftsman cursing my name at every turn.
Duke’s shaping up to be the bane of my existence — and the object of some unwelcome late-night desires. I’m determined to keep my distance… until the paparazzi catch him sucking snake venom from my thigh at the worst possible time.
My inner thigh.
Now I’ve got an(other) epic scandal brewing, and the only chance to turn my career around is pulling off the Oscar-worthy performance of a lifetime:
Faking a relationship with the man who can’t stand me.
Who says I don’t suffer for my art? The rules should be simple, but it turns out, Duke’s hiding a heart of gold under all that flannel. You can’t fake chemistry like this, and soon, those staged PDAs are turning into sizzling secret hook-ups. But between small-town gossip, rapid paparazzi, and Hollywood drama, Duke and I might be heading straight for a very real heartbreak.
Can we change the script and find our happily-ever-after? Find out in the sizzling grumpy-sunshine romance with all the small-town fake dating fun! New from USA Today bestselling author, and the ‘reigning queen of romcom’ Lila Monroe!
HOLLYWOOD BACHELORS: 1 The Hollywood Marriage Bargain 2 The Great British Bachelor Chase 3 The Treasure Hunt Hookup 4 The Tropical Romance Test 5 The Small-Town Seduction Plan
I wasn’t entirely sure what to make of Avery when I read The Tropical Romance Test and having not read the Hollywood Marriage Bargain I hadn’t encountered her character previously. I must say though that I really did like her.
There was so much more to her than she let people see which, given her profession and abrupt departure from her wedding and the furore that caused, was understandable.
Avery was just a girl who had a big dream that she had escaped her past and worked so hard for and she’d never considered there might be more out there for her. Hitting BlackBerry Cove to hideout until her latest personal storm blew over gave her more than a little breathing space and started a potential new chapter for her. I loved seeing the real Avery flourish and realise what she wanted from life.
Duke….. the gods, the guy was a grump but a sweet cinnamon roll covered in icing grump once you got past his walls. His past lent to how he was now when it came to letting people in, which was understandable when we learned what his ex was like. He didn’t give the best impression when Avery arrived in the Cove but as the story progressed we got a front seat to just how caring, considerate and supportive he was – and OMG, he was even better than I expected him to be!!! The thing was, even when he was trying to dislike Avery you just knew he was interested in her. Their attraction and spark grew with each interaction and felt like a neon sign that neither of them initially wanted to acknowledge!!!
Loved the supporting characters and just how fun this book was. Lila has given us another great read in the Hollywood Bachelors series!!!
I’m gonna be going back to read the couple of books I’ve missed so far in the series.
5* read
AUTHOR BIO
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.
Title: I Can’t Even Series: Carter Brothers #2 Author: Lani Lynn Vale
Release Date: June 4, 2024
Genre: Romantic Suspense Trope: Bad Girl/Good Guy
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Ellodie Cassandra Solaire made a single, solitary New Year’s resolution.
That resolution was set in stone, and she wouldn’t be breaking it, no matter what.
It was simple: Say yes to every person who asks her out on a date until she finds a boyfriend.
Easy, right?
Wrong.
She breaks that New Year’s resolution three months into the year after a guy gives her serial killer vibes.
Fast forward three months, and she’s unhappily saying yes to any man who asks.
Until one day, there she is, eating a chicken burrito waiting for traffic to clear, and he appears like a knight in shining armor.
One second, she’s counting down the seconds until the parade dissipates so she can go home, and the next, a car is flying through the air directly beside her, courtesy of a hot cop performing a PIT maneuver.
It’s during the middle of the arrest when Quaid Carter’s eyes find hers.
From that moment on, she’s lost to anyone else but him.
The only problem is that serial killer vibe she got off of her potential date a few months ago isn’t just a vibe. It’s a full-blown obsession. And the serial killer decides that she won’t be the one to get away.
Ellodie and Quaid were just meant to be….. but their road to getting to a happy future was not an easy one!!!!
Quaid is a policeman who is trying to catch a suspect when he first encounters Ellodie. He runs into her again at the end of a disastrous date she’s had and the third time he’s at the hospital where she’s a nurse to investigate some thefts. Each time there’s a spark, an interest and a definite connection. These Carter men know what and who they want and I’m enjoying watching them try to catch the women they fall for.
Ellodie made a New Year’s resolution to go on dates to see if she could find Mr Right, she signed up to a dating app but it appeared that along with catching a few Mr Definitely-Not-Rights she might have also caught the interest of Mr Stalker-possibly Serial Killer and now she’s on Quaid’s radar for more than his attraction to her,
Although there’s a lot of heat and humour in the series this book, especially towards the end, was a hard read at times. There was a lot of bad stuff that happened and while I thought I knew who the monster was, LLV did well to make me second guess myself a time or two.
I’m enjoying this series. The Carter siblings/family are entertaining, are all up in each others business but they’re a tight group who have each others backs (and that of their significant others) when things get tough.
Looking forward to the next book in the series.
AUTHOR BIO
Lani Lynn Vale is an American author of humorous romantic suspense novels. Born in the Great State of Texas, she has lived the majority of her adult life in East Texas where most of her novels are based. She’s married to her high school sweetheart whom her readers refer to as “LLV’s Bearded Half.” She published her first novel, Boomtown. in the summer of 2013 after the birth of her third child. She’s gone on to publish over 100 novels, with most of them going on to become USA Today Bestsellers.
Sneaking around with my best friend’s father wasn’t a part of my plans. We tried to resist, but we can’t help ourselves. Did I mention, he’s also my boss?
To keep suspicion from us, I decide to see other guys—specifically the new goalie for the Opal Springs Ghouls, and their defenseman, who I’ve had a crush on for ages. They love burning up the ice and my heart.
When all three of them get together, they hatch a plan to make me theirs forever. The problem? It might destroy us instead.
**This is a RH/why choose hockey romance with darker themes and pregnancy trope.**
Maggie Alabaster lives in NSW Australia with her husband, two daughters, a beloved dog, countless birds and a growing collection of books and dragons. She writes reverse harem, both paranormal and contemporary.
Title: The Copper Valley Fireballs The Complete Series Author: Pippa Grant
Genre: Romantic Comedy Release Date: May 30, 2024
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Meet the Copper Valley Fireballs, baseball’s lovable losers whose hot heroes are determined to turn this team around and resisting finding love along the way!
This box set includes four full-length romantic comedies and a bonus novella.
About the books:
Jock Blocked is a home run of a feel-good romantic comedy featuring the world’s most superstitious sports fan, baseball’s oldest virgin hero, a rogue meatball, an adorable puppy with a cussing problem, and a happily ever after more satisfying than a game-winning grand slam.
Real Fake Love is a line drive straight to the heart featuring a grumpy athlete, a jilted bride, a fake relationship, and the world’s laziest cat. It stands alone and comes complete with sibling rivalry, the world’s most awkward shower scene, and a sweetly satisfying happily ever after.
The Grumpy Player Next Door is a fun-filled enemies-to-lovers romcom featuring a ray of sunshine on a mission, an athlete who’s only grouchy around her, and an epic prank gone wrong. It stands alone and comes complete with small-town shenanigans, a goat who’s not nearly as wise as his name suggests, and proof that sometimes, love is the best kind of vengeance.
Irresistible Trouble is a hilarious grand slam of a romcom about a baseball player whose ego is catching up to him, a pop star who’s a bit of a hot mess when the cameras aren’t looking (and sometimes when they are), and the kind of family and teammates that everyone deserves… in small doses.
Have Yourself a Grumpy Little Christmas is a hit of holiday sweetness featuring a grumpy retired baseball pitcher who hates the holidays, his best friend’s little sister, and a Christmas tree mishap.
Pippa Grant wanted to write books, so she did. Before she became a USA Today and #1 Amazon bestselling romantic comedy author, she was a young military spouse who got into writing as self-therapy. That happened around the time she discovered reading romance novels, and the two eventually merged into a career. Today, she has more than 30 knee-slapping Pippa Grant titles and nine written as Jamie Farrell. When she’s not writing romantic comedies, she’s fumbling through being a mom, wife, and mountain woman, and sometimes trying to find hobbies. Her crowning achievement? Having impeccable timing for telling stories that will make people snort beverages out of their noses. Consider yourself warned.
Release Date: May 5, 2024 Genre: Dark Romance Tropes: Enemies to Lovers/Forced Marriage Touch Her and Die
#1 Shattered Pieces
Ava Ward is mine…
Mine to use.
To bend.
To break.
I’ll bind her to me. First with my ring on her finger and then in my bed.
Her innocence is like a drug. The Little Red Riding Hood to my Big Bad Wolf.
She can fight me all she wants, but the secrets of her past are the key to my future, and I won’t let anything stand in my way. This isn’t about love. It’s about revenge. She is nothing more than a pawn to move across the chessboard as I see fit for my pleasure and my needs.
And she’ll either fall in line or I will devour her.
The world around me is shadowed in lies. Those I believed I could trust have become my enemies. The wolves are crowding at the door, clawing to get a piece of my flesh. Waiting with bated breath for me to fail.
I won’t.
New allies have emerged, but the losses we’ve suffered bear down on us all. Christian thought he could beat me, break me, kill me. But I only came back stronger. Fiercer. A warrior. A queen. I’ll cut his strings and tear down his puppeteer. The man behind the curtain controlling it all.
Jo McCall writes dark, contemporary and PNR romance. She is an avid reader of anything dark and steamy and when she isn’t writing, you can find her making a rather large dent in her TBR.
She is a lover of strong heroines who find their own and hot, sexy alpha males who might be a tad bit over-possessive. Jo loves to lose herself in her characters and the flaws and darkness that surround them.
There is no shame found here, and she often gets lost when writing out those erotic, steamy scenes that make women’s (and men’s) fantasies come true.
“There is nothing like getting lost in something you know is wrong, but still can’t resist.”
Jo currently resides in the beautiful state of Washington with her two dogs and has dreams of quitting her day job and traveling in a converted van around the states as she writes.
Release Date: May 30, 2024 Genre: Contemporary Menage Romance Tropes: Forced Proximity/Mercenaries Age Gap/Found Family
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Born to a man of faith who let his vision for the future twist his mind, I learned to stay in the shadows, collecting the kids that ended up in this godforsaken place with me. They’re the lost ones, and I’m their Wendy. The forgotten one, the dud, the failure. My only use now is as a future breeder to the cause. But they’ve taken enough, and I’ll be damned if I let them take more. When the chance of escape is dangled before me like a carrot on a stick, I take it. I run with my lost ones toward a new life where the kids can be kids, and I can be free. But freedom is an illusion when you belong to another, and your nightmares are ready to hunt you down and drag you back to hell. What do you do when you can’t run anymore and have nowhere to hide? You turn back. You fight back. And slay your monsters before they get you first. Forgive me, Father, for I’m about to sin…
Authors note:The Lethal Touch is the final book in the Apex tactical series. It is a ménage romance intended for 18+ readers.
Trigger warning: As with most of my books, The Lethal Touch contains some scenes that readers may find upsetting, so please proceed with caution.
Candice Wright is the international bestselling author of the Underestimated Series. Hailing from the UK, Candice lives with her three slightly unhinged children and the long-suffering partner. When she isn’t busy raising the next generation of crazy, you can find her sitting at the computer writing words she hopes will resonate or snuggled up reading stories by the authors that cultivated her love of the written word.
I’m a man who people don’t want to meet. The wheelman you don’t take home to Mamma, unless you need someone, exactly like me.
When asked to do a job for the crime family, it should be easy. Drive to Deadwood, South Dakota and make certain no one hassles the casino owners who my bosses protect.
Easy enough, except for the fiery, red-headed beauty who will do whatever it takes to keep her family home. At least, until the price becomes far too much for her to pay.
Our rivals should have thought this through because now they’ll deal with the Angel’s Guardian. No one touches Lacy, and they will learn that lesson today.
Forceful Protector is the explosive second book in the Ruthless Guardians series by International Best-Selling Author, Via Mari. You will love these spicy, instalove bodyguard novels set in Deadwood, South Dakota, where the passion is fiery, the loyalty is fierce, and the stakes are high. Each book is a standalone with different couples in each book. All have a guaranteed happily ever after.
Via lives in the Midwest with her husband. As a child raised in both the United States and the United Kingdom, she spent countless hours traveling and developed a passion for the written word at a young age.
She is also an avid reader of romance. In fact, you can find her curled up in an overstuffed chair, especially during winter when the wood fire is crackling and popping, reading a page-turning novel until the early hours of the morning.
Title: The Copper Valley Fireballs The Complete Series
Author: Pippa Grant
Genre: Romantic Comedy Release Date: May 30, 2024
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Meet the Copper Valley Fireballs, baseball’s lovable losers whose hot heroes are determined to turn this team around and resisting finding love along the way!
This box set includes four full-length romantic comedies and a bonus novella.
About the books:
Jock Blocked is a home run of a feel-good romantic comedy featuring the world’s most superstitious sports fan, baseball’s oldest virgin hero, a rogue meatball, an adorable puppy with a cussing problem, and a happily ever after more satisfying than a game-winning grand slam.
Real Fake Love is a line drive straight to the heart featuring a grumpy athlete, a jilted bride, a fake relationship, and the world’s laziest cat. It stands alone and comes complete with sibling rivalry, the world’s most awkward shower scene, and a sweetly satisfying happily ever after.
The Grumpy Player Next Door is a fun-filled enemies-to-lovers romcom featuring a ray of sunshine on a mission, an athlete who’s only grouchy around her, and an epic prank gone wrong. It stands alone and comes complete with small-town shenanigans, a goat who’s not nearly as wise as his name suggests, and proof that sometimes, love is the best kind of vengeance.
Irresistible Trouble is a hilarious grand slam of a romcom about a baseball player whose ego is catching up to him, a pop star who’s a bit of a hot mess when the cameras aren’t looking (and sometimes when they are), and the kind of family and teammates that everyone deserves… in small doses.
Have Yourself a Grumpy Little Christmas is a hit of holiday sweetness featuring a grumpy retired baseball pitcher who hates the holidays, his best friend’s little sister, and a Christmas tree mishap.
OH MY BASEBALL GODS…… I love Pippa Grant and I adored MacKenzie & Brooks, they were both a little dorky in their own way, had big hearts, loved their families and had baseball in common – though Mac was just a tad more obsessional about the sport than Brooks…. Their initial meeting had me laughing hard and to be honest, I didn’t stop laughing for most of the book.
It was fab that they were each what the other needed but didn’t realise even though their ‘relationship’ didn’t start off on the best footing…. though that added to the fun!
With crazy antics on the leads parts, madcap families, lot of great friends (who we all know and love from previous books), full-of-fun baseball team mates and a guest appearance by a favourite hockey team, JOCK BLOCKED was a fabulous read and another hit from Ms Grant!!!
Can I just say, those epilogues……. there were tears reading one… I admit it!!
A home run 5* laugh-a-lot read………
Irresistible Trouble
OH EM GEEE… Adored Cooper & Waverly!!!
🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
AUTHOR BIO
Pippa Grant wanted to write books, so she did. Before she became a USA Today and #1 Amazon bestselling romantic comedy author, she was a young military spouse who got into writing as self-therapy. That happened around the time she discovered reading romance novels, and the two eventually merged into a career. Today, she has more than 30 knee-slapping Pippa Grant titles and nine written as Jamie Farrell. When she’s not writing romantic comedies, she’s fumbling through being a mom, wife, and mountain woman, and sometimes trying to find hobbies. Her crowning achievement? Having impeccable timing for telling stories that will make people snort beverages out of their noses. Consider yourself warned.
Title: An Inevitable Marriage Series: Destined Vows #2 Author: A.K. MacBride
Release Date: May 30, 2024
Genre: Contemporary Romance Tropes: Arranged Marriage/Billionaire Curvy Girl/He Falls First
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He needs a wife. She needs her dad’s hospital bills taken care of.
Desperate to keep my mother’s legacy alive, I agree to marry a stranger to secure my inheritance. At first, a no-strings-attached marriage of convenience seems perfect. However, I didn’t expect Everlee Sutton to be so witty… or beautiful. From the moment we meet, her piercing eyes captivate me in ways I didn’t think possible. One look, one curve of her luscious red mouth, and deep in my soul, I already know she’s everything I never knew I wanted. And what starts as a simple business transaction becomes more. Unexpected feelings emerge, causing the walls I’ve built around myself to crumble at her feet. But I have secrets. Secrets that could cost me—us—everything. Unfortunately, skeletons have a way of crawling out of the deepest, darkest hole. It’s inevitable Everlee discovers the truth. Once she knows what I’d done, will my wife stand by me, or will she walk away and take my broken heart with her?
**An Inevitable Marriage is a marriage of convenience romance between a curvy girl who desperately needs to love herself and a broken British billionaire who doesn’t think he’s worthy of love. Come along for this swoony, low-angst tale of two crushed souls finding each other exactly when they need to.
Introducing A.K. MacBride, whose pen flows with love, passion, and longing.
When she’s not busy crafting captivating love stories, you can find her indulging in her two guilty pleasures – a freshly brewed cup of coffee and a decadent piece of dark chocolate.
Hailing from a quaint small town in South Africa, she finds inspiration in the charming beauty of her surroundings and the warmth of her family. Speaking of family, she shares her cozy abode with her loving husband and adorable daughter—and don’t forget the two lovable furbabies—who never fail to inspire her writing.
With her heart on her sleeve and her pen in hand, she weaves tales of heartbreak, forgiveness, and true love. Join her on a journey of passion, romance, and pure bliss, and experience love like never before.
Genres: Chick Lit/Romantic Comedy Release Date: April 9, 2024
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“Best new book to read.”—New York Post
“… a wonderfully witty chronicle of awkward first dates, with Avalie slowly coming to understand what makes a relationship work, guided along the way by a supportive network of friends…. Abedi’s emotionally charged portrait of what it takes to heal from heartache resonates. It’s an uplifting ode to self-love.” —Publisher’s Weekly
Newly heartbroken, a woman embarks on a glamorized summer of couch surfing to rediscover herself and learns that though life may not go according to plan, there is magic in the unexpected.
Avalie Monfared has a theory about saying “I Do”—that the magic ends there. After thirteen years of magic-free marriage to her high school sweetheart, she’s discovered where it went: gambling and prostitutes.
Now, Ava is on a quest to rediscover herself—and men. Her soul-searching finds her living on a succession of friends’ and family’s couches, which happen to be in some of the most luxurious zip codes in and around Los Angeles. What follows is an unpredictable summer full of shamans, attack birds, awkward dates, sizzling flirtations, and unsolicited advice—especially from her traditional Persian family members, who are eager to see her remarried. With every laugh-out-loud adventure in each locale, Ava finds more solace and wisdom. And while it’s not how she planned to spend the last year of her thirties, Ava learns that there is power in letting go.
Uncaged Summer is a loosely based memoir about my couch-surfing summer with different friends after my divorce. Post Hill Press and Simon & Schuster distributing. Jenna Mattison, the screenwriter for two of Sophie Kinsella’s novels (one is at Netflix), as well as the writer for a James Patterson series is attached to adapt. Giuliana Rancic, my best friend, is attached to producer and it’s being packaged now.
Colet Abedi is an Iranian American bestselling author, television and film producer and currently lives in Los Angeles. She writes contemporary romance, young adult and women’s fiction.
Abedi was head writer and showrunner for the FOX-owned MyNetworkTV serials, American Heiress and Fashion House where she wrote and oversaw over 100 episodes of the telenovelas. She was the creator and executive producer of Unsealed: Alien Files and Unsealed: Conspiracy Files, which originally ran in syndication for four seasons with over 100 episodes and ran on Netflix, Discovery and the Fox stations as well as internationally.
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