Who doesn’t love a good trope? Everybody’s got a favorite, from tense enemies to lovers reads to playful fake relationship romances. I’ve always got certain expectations when I start reading a story that plays up a trope, and the books on this list all exceeded those expectations.
I’ve selected the two books that I think best represented each trope in 2023 – at least out of the nearly 200 romances I’ve read this year! I also tried to limit myself to sticking to one or two tropes per book, even though some books would be perfect for several. I’ve got links to my review for each book below, as well as the blurb and links to Amazon for easy addition to your collection. They’re all 5-star contemporary romance novels that fulfilled my trope-tastic cravings.
FRIENDS TO LOVERS
Like this trope? Check out my list of 15 Fabulous Friends to Lovers Romance Novels here.
The Brightest Light of Sunshine by Lisina Coney
A woman ready to move on. A man who can’t afford distractions. An inspiring journey of healing love.
Determined to walk away from a traumatic past, 22-year-old Grace Allen feels ready to take the next step in her healing journey—dipping a toe into the dating pool. Although she should probably start by making a friend or two, right?
Samuel ‘Cal’ Callaghan isn’t who she had envisioned as her first male friend in… well, forever. With an intimidating build, tattoos everywhere, eight years her senior, and a little sister under his care, the last thing she expected was to warm up to him so easily. As their friendship evolves, Grace can’t help but wonder if Cal is exactly who she’s been looking for all this time.
Cal can’t afford to lose sight of his priorities—making sure his tattoo parlor thrives and taking care of his little sister. Especially the latter. He wants to make sure 4-year-old Maddie has a healthy and happy childhood, despite their mother going off the rails and her father’s blatant neglect. There’s certainly no room for love in his life right now. But when a sweet blonde with a veiled past breaks down his walls, he finds it difficult to stick to his guns.
CONTENT NOTES: This book contains themes of sexual assault (there are no explicit scenes depicting sexual assault), profanity, alcoholism, and explicit sexual content. Recommended for 18+.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3YXath1
Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver 🎧
A friends-to-lovers dark romantic comedy full of murder, chaos, and spice, unlike anything you’ve read before.
Every serial killer needs a friend.
Every game must have a winner.
When a chance encounter sparks an unlikely bond between rival murderers Sloane and Rowan, the two find something elusive—the friendship of a like-minded, pitch-black soul. From small town West Virginia to upscale California, from downtown Boston to rural Texas, the two hunters collide in an annual game of blood and suffering, one that pits them against the most dangerous monsters in the country.
But as their friendship develops into something more, the restless ghosts left in their wake are only a few steps behind, ready to claim more than just their newfound love.
Can Rowan and Sloane dig themselves out of a game of graves?
Or have they finally met their match?
Butcher & Blackbird is the first book in the Ruinous Love Dark Romance trilogy of interconnected stand-alone dark romantic comedies. This dual POV novel ends on a HEA.
***Butcher & Blackbird is a DARK ROMANCE intended for an adult audience – please see Brynne’s website for a comprehensive list of CWs***
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3QE2nch
ENEMIES TO LOVERS
Like this trope? Check out my list of 15 of My Favorite Enemies to Lovers Romance Books here.
Things We Left Behind by Lucy Score
There was only one woman who could set me free. But I would rather set myself on fire than ask Sloane Walton for anything.
Lucian Rollins is a lean, mean vengeance-seeking mogul. On a quest to erase his father’s mark on the family name, he spends every waking minute pulling strings and building an indestructible empire. The more money and power he amasses, the safer he is from threats.
Except when it comes to the feisty small-town librarian that keeps him up at night…
Sloane Walton is a spitfire determined to carry on her father’s quest for justice. She’ll do that just as soon as she figures out exactly what the man she hates did to—or for—her family. Bonded by an old, dark secret from the past and the dislike they now share for each other, Sloane trusts Lucian about as far as she can throw his designer-suited body.
When bickering accidentally turns to foreplay, these two find themselves not quite regretting their steamy one-night stand. Once those flames are fanned, it seems impossible to put them out again. But with Sloane ready to start a family and Lucian refusing to even consider the idea of marriage and kids, these enemies-to-lovers are stuck at an impasse.
Broken men break women. It’s what Lucian believes, what he’s witnessed, and he’s not going to take that chance with Sloane. He’d rather live a life of solitude than put her in danger. But he learns the hard way that leaving her means leaving her unprotected from other threats.
It’s the second time he’s ruthlessly cut her out of his life. There’s no way she’s going to give him a third chance. He’s just going to have to make one for himself.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/45QyUAG
String Me Along by Lilian T. James
This is a standalone, rivals to lovers, slowburn romance in the Learning to Love Series. Although it is not necessary, it is recommended to read Meet Me Halfway first.
Between moving across the country to help her best friend and building her music career from scratch, Layla is pretty dang proud of what she’s accomplished.
She’s booked every weekend, and her name is quickly becoming well known in the area.
So it comes as a shock when her booking agent slowly stops calling her. That is, until she runs into the musician who’s been stealing her gigs.
She can’t deny he has a voice to die for and the body of a god, but neither helps the fact that his personality is pure poison.
Their exchanges never fail to boil her blood, but it’s a game she starts to look forward to, and she’s determined not to back down first.
She always thought she wanted the sweet love she sings about. But with every quick-tongued remark and heated glance, she realizes sweet might not burn the way she needs.
And what better way to stoke a fire than with a little bit of hate.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3J2fhwJ
SECOND CHANCE
Like this trope? Check out my list of 15 Sexy Second Chance Romance Books here.
Happy Place by Emily Henry 🎧
A couple who broke up months ago pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.
Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t.
They broke up five months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.
Which is how they find themselves sharing a bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blissful week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.
Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week…in front of those who know you best?
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Ko3iKO
Final Offer by Lauren Asher
Callahan
I’m the Kane brother everyone gossips about behind closed doors.
Trust fund brat. Washed-up athlete. High-functioning alcoholic.
No one knows the real me but her.
Lana Castillo—my childhood best friend and the only woman I ever loved.
When I broke her heart six years ago, I promised to never return to Lake Wisteria.
I kept my word until my grandfather’s will changed everything.
To receive my inheritance, I was tasked with spending a summer at the family lake house
before selling it.
The request was simple in theory until my entire plan blew up on the very first day.
Turns out Lana doesn’t just live at the house, but she claims to own it, too.
Alana
Falling in love with Callahan Kane was a mistake.
He told me so before destroying my heart and our friendship six summers ago.
When he promised never to come back, I foolishly believed him.
But then Cal showed up again, intending to sell his grandfather’s lake house.
The biggest flaw in his plan?
My name is on the deed.
Final Offer is the third and final book in a series of interconnected standalones following three billionaire brothers.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3uCJoDp
SIBLING’S BEST FRIEND
Like this trope? Check out my list of 15 Sibling’s Best Friend Romance Books here.
The Worst Wedding Date by Pippa Grant 🎧
I didn’t know bridesmaid was code for babysitter for the bride’s brother, but if that’s what my best friend needs of me for her dream wedding to go off without a hitch, that’s what I’ll do.
Even if Theo Monroe has been a pain in my rear since third grade.
Even if he should be responsible enough to not wreak havoc at his sister’s destination wedding.
Even if it means we have to share a hotel room in Hawaii, which might be the final duty that breaks me.
Not only does Theo know exactly how to push my buttons, but he never wears clothes, he’s hiding a litter of kittens in his room, and he keeps showing up with fresh-baked cookies that seemingly come from nowhere.
Also?
I have no idea what’s up with the tension between him and the groom.
Or why he’s so proud of the world’s strangest wedding gift.
Or why I suddenly want to know what makes him tick. The story behind his tattoos. How he can afford to rent a convertible in Hawaii. And if maybe all of that utter frustration and irritation I’ve felt for him for years is suppressed attraction that a good girl like me isn’t supposed to feel for the biggest bad boy of Snaggletooth Creek.
But I do know one thing.
When I find out his biggest secret and the answer to all of my questions, it will change everything.
The Worst Wedding Date is a frolicking good time of a destination wedding enemies-to-lovers romcom, complete with a good girl bridesmaid, her best friend’s troublemaking but secretly big-hearted brother, and more than one hitch on the way to happily ever after. It stands alone, has no cheating, and comes complete with ooey gooey goodness.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3KBL3l8
The Plus One by Mazey Eddings 🎧
What starts out as a fake wedding date turns into something these childhood enemies never expected in The Plus One, a sparkling romantic comedy by Mazey Eddings.
She’s not looking to fix him. She’s looking to love him, if he’ll let her in.
Some facts are indisputable. The sun rises in the east, sets in the west. Gravity exists. Indira doesn’t like Jude. Jude doesn’t like Indira. But what happens when these childhood enemies find the only thing they can rely on is each other?
On paper, Indira has everything together. An amazing job, a boyfriend, and a car. What more could a late twenty-something ask for? But when she walks in on her boyfriend in an amorous embrace with a stranger, that perfect on paper image goes up in flames.
Jude has nothing together. A doctor that’s spent the last three years traveling the world to treat emergencies and humanitarian crises, a quick trip home for his best friend’s wedding has him struggling to readjust.
Thrust into an elaborate (and ridiculously drawn out) wedding event that’s stressing Jude beyond belief and has Indira seeing her ex and his new girlfriend far more frequently than any human should endure, the duo strike a bargain to be each other’s fake dates to this wedding from hell. The only problem is, their forced proximity and fake displays of affection are starting to feel a bit…real, and both are left grappling with the idea that a situation that couldn’t be worse, is made a little better with the other around.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3THZmrk
FORBIDDEN
Like this trope? Check out my list of 15 Fiery Forbidden Romance Novels here.
The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren 🎧
Sparks fly when a romance novelist and a documentary filmmaker join forces to craft the perfect Hollywood love story and take both of their careers to the next level—but only if they can keep the chemistry between them from taking the whole thing off script—from the New York Times bestselling authors of The Soulmate Equation and The Unhoneymooners.
Felicity “Fizzy” Chen is lost. Sure, she’s got an incredible career as a beloved romance novelist with a slew of bestsellers under her belt, but when she’s asked to give a commencement address, it hits her: she hasn’t been practicing what she’s preached.
Fizzy hasn’t ever really been in love. Lust? Definitely. But that swoon-worthy, can’t-stop-thinking-about-him, all-encompassing feeling? Nope. Nothing. What happens when the optimism she’s spent her career encouraging in readers starts to feel like a lie?
Connor Prince, documentary filmmaker and single father, loves his work in large part because it allows him to live near his daughter. But when his profit-minded boss orders him to create a reality TV show, putting his job on the line, Connor is out of his element. Desperate to find his romantic lead, a chance run-in with an exasperated Fizzy offers Connor the perfect solution. What if he could show the queen of romance herself falling head-over-heels for all the world to see? Fizzy gives him a hard pass—unless he agrees to her list of demands. When he says yes, and production on The True Love Experiment begins, Connor wonders if that perfect match will ever be in the cue cards for him, too.
The True Love Experiment is the book fans have been waiting for ever since Fizzy’s debut in the New York Times bestselling The Soulmate Equation. But when the lights come on and all eyes are on her, it turns out the happily ever after Fizzy had all but given up on might lie just behind the camera.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3onk7gM
Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood 🎧
Rival physicists collide in a vortex of academic feuds and fake dating shenanigans in this delightfully STEMinist romcom from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis and Love on the Brain.
The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she’s an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of landing tenure. By otherday, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people-pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs.
Honestly, it’s a pretty sweet gig—until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down. Because Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and arrogant older brother of her favorite client, turns out to be the cold-hearted experimental physicist who ruined her mentor’s career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And he’s the same Jack Smith who rules over the physics department at MIT, standing right between Elsie and her dream job.
Elsie is prepared for an all-out war of scholarly sabotage but…those long, penetrating looks? Not having to be anything other than her true self when she’s with him? Will falling into an experimentalist’s orbit finally tempt her to put her most guarded theories on love into practice?
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3w2xfrR
FAKE RELATIONSHIP
Like this trope? Check out my list of 15 Sexy Fake Relationship Romance Books here.
The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson 🎧
Two wolf shifters agree to be fake mates but unexpectedly find something real in this steamy paranormal romantic comedy by Lana Ferguson.
Mackenzie Carter has had some very bad dates lately. Model train experts, mansplainers, guys weirdly obsessed with her tail—she hasn’t had a successful date in months. Only a year out of residency, her grandmother’s obsession with Mackenzie finding the perfect mate to settle down with threatens to drive Mackenzie barking mad. Out of options, it feels like a small thing to tell her grandmother that she’s met someone. That is, until she blurts out the name of the first man she sees and the last man she would ever date: Noah Taylor, the big bad wolf of Denver General.
Noah Taylor, interventional cardiologist and all around grump, has spent his entire life hiding what he is. With outdated stigmas surrounding unmated alphas that have people wondering if they still howl at the moon, Noah has been careful to keep his designation under wraps. It’s worked for years, until an anonymous tip has everything coming to light. Noah is left with two options: come clean to the board and risk his career—or find himself a mate. The chatty, overly friendly ER doctor asking him to be her fake boyfriend on the same day he’s called to meet the board has to be kismet, right?
Mackenzie will keep her grandmother off her back, and Noah will get a chance to prove he can continue to work without a real mate—a mutually beneficial business transaction, they both rationalize. But when the fake-mate act turns into a very real friends-with-benefits arrangement, lines start to blur, and they quickly realize love is a whole different kind of animal.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Rf1FS3
Unexpectedly Mine by Erin Hawkins
Emma
Since the man I thought I would be walking down the aisle with broke up with me, I’ve been focused on my business.
As the designer of Emma Belle Bridal Gowns, headlining the Blushing Bride Convention in Las Vegas has been the highlight of my year. And the legendary editor of The Dress magazine wants to feature me in their upcoming issue?
A dream come true.
And it’s my birthday! Nothing can get me down…except maybe my ex’s engagement splashed across social media.
What’s a girl to do other than drink a truck load of champagne and see a male revue show?
When a dancer pulls me up on stage, the chemistry between us is undeniable.
Forget holy matrimony, I’m going to lower my expectations for one night.
One night that just may last forever.
Griffin
One last night…
After twelve years raising my baby sister, Sophie, and dancing for Las Vegas’s top male revue in order to pay bills and ensure she graduates college, I’m ready to hang up my tearaway pants and start a new life.
My intentions were to protect Emma, a captivating and tipsy woman at the show, from doing something she regrets. With chemistry neither of us can deny, the night takes an unexpected turn and we find ourselves waking up married.
It happens. We’ll correct our mistakes and move on.
But with a viral wedding video, our nuptials end up on Page Six, and Emma needs me in New York to play the part of doting new husband for a career-boosting interview.
I’ll play the part, do what she asks, then we’ll part ways.
Emma’s smart, enchanting and beautiful…and completely unexpected.
But right now, I have nothing to offer a woman like her, let alone forever.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/41B22uc
OPPOSITES ATTRACT
Like this trope? Check out my list of 15 Awesome Opposites Attract Romances here or my list of 15 (More) Grumpy/Sunshine Romance Books here.
1 Last Shot by Nikki Castle
He’s running from his past.
She’s searching for a new future.
Their journeys are about to collide.
When an injury overturns her ballet career, Isabella decides to move to a new city so she can start fresh and discover who she is without dance. The last person she expects to meet is the angry MMA fighter living next door.
Kane has spent his entire life putting up walls to keep people out, and he’s never had any problem doing it—until Isabella. Because the second the sweet ballerina appears in his life, it becomes apparent that his short fuse and brazen rudeness are not going to be enough to keep her away. And suddenly, that doesn’t seem like the worst thing in the world.
While Isabella searches for a new identity for herself, Kane has to decide if he’s willing to take a chance on someone for the first time in his life.
Can Kane and Isabella help each other to find their new paths in life? Or will Kane’s ugly past keep them from their happy ending?
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3PHJ8yk
Whisky Business by Elliot Fletcher
Opposites attract when a fish-out-of-water actress and a grumpy Scottish whisky distiller are forced to work together to save the business they both love.
As a child, April Sinclair dreamt of escaping her quiet island life to become a world-famous actress. Now fully grown and with her once-flourishing career at an all-time low, what better way to figure out where it all went wrong than to go back to the beginning? April has her sights set on a new challenge, and that is saving her family’s distillery on the idyllic Scottish Isle of Skye. What she doesn’t expect to find is Malcolm Macabe, short-tempered and exceedingly attractive, living in the home she has just inherited. He may be a million miles away from the shy teenager she knew growing up, but one thing is for certain: he doesn’t want her around anymore.
Master distiller Mal has three loves in his life: Whisky, his dog, and silence. He has no time for the pampered princess poking her nose around his distillery, even if said princess is the one who got away. More comfortable in the shadows than the spotlight, Mal is content to wait her out. She’ll grow bored and run back to her glamorous world of nail salons and takeaway coffee eventually. When sparks begin to fly, he tells himself it doesn’t matter… because April Sinclair could never want a man like him, right?
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/47reGOu
FORCED PROXIMITY
Like this trope? Check out my list of 15 Fantastic Forced Proximity Romance Novels here.
Some Kind of Blunderful by Livy Hart
Mia Madden is pretty sure that the road to dating app hell is paved with suspiciously hot profiles. Take tonight’s date, for example. Alex Conroy is unreasonably gorgeous—he’s got that whole “board-room in the streets, lumberjack in the sheets” happening—but he also represents everything she loathes about corporate hustle culture. Yet another lousy date to laugh-cry about later.
Except, it turns out that Alex is also the hot-shot new boss her dad can’t stop complaining about—the Forbes 30-under-30 company fixer of his nightmares. Worse, their respective best friends are dating. F. M. L.Suddenly, Mia and Alex are constantly thrown together, whether they’re forced to double date, trapped on a sunset cruise, or having to mingle at the company picnic. Not awkward at all.
Now she’s stuck in a romantic-comedy of errors, where she’s kinda, sorta, accidentally dating her enemy. And she’s not sure which is worse: that he could ruin her dad’s career, or that she might actually like him.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3OJyKUI
Happy Place by Emily Henry 🎧
A couple who broke up months ago pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.
Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t.
They broke up five months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.
Which is how they find themselves sharing a bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blissful week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.
Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week…in front of those who know you best?
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Ko3iKO
STRANGERS TO LOVERS
Like this trope? Check out my list of 15 Sensational Strangers to Lovers Romance Novels here.
Planes, Trains, and All the Feels by Livy Hart
Fans of Christina Lauren and Tessa Bailey will adore this witty and unforgettable rom-com about skyways, highways, and all the perfectly wrong ways to fall in love.
As the black sheep of the family, choreographer Cassidy Bliss vowed she’d do anything to get home in time to help with her sister’s wedding and avoid family disappointment…again. She just never expected “anything” would involve sharing the last rental car with the jerk who cut her off in line at the airport this morning. But horrible times apparently call for here-goes-nothing measures.
Driving across the country with Luke “life can be solved with a spreadsheet” Carlisle must be a penance for some crime she committed. Because the second he opens his mouth, it’s all she can do to not maim him with her carry-on. But somewhere between his surprisingly thoughtful snack sharing and his uncanny ability to see straight to the core of her, her feelings go unchecked.
Suddenly, their crackling chemistry is just one more thing they have to navigate—and it couldn’t come at a worse time. But after a lifetime of letting the expectations and needs of others drive her life, Cassidy must decide if she’s ready to take the wheel once and for all.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3JdH4cV
Christmas in Coconut Creek by Karissa Kinword
A romantic comedy debut from #1 bestelling science fiction romance author Karissa Kinword!
There are a few things Coconut Creek has that Pine Ridge does not. Palm trees, sandy beaches, butterfly museums—infuriatingly attractive special forces veterans.
When Colorado elementary school teacher Ophelia Brody decides to ditch her divorced family for a Christmas in the sunshine state with her college roommate, she doesn’t expect a mile high meet cute to tailspin the entire trip.
Frankie Casado is cocky, he’s presumptuous, he’s shameless—and he’s just the right distraction from her depressing, fruitless dating life back home for a few weeks. It just so happens the retired fighter pilot is in somewhat of a rut of his own, and the circumstances around their coincidental meeting and unavoidable physical attraction are the perfect excuse for a festive fling.
The rules are simple: Ophelia teaches him how to date again, and Frankie shows her exactly what she should be demanding behind closed doors. Friends with benefits until the ball drops in the New Year.
But a little bit of long-lost Christmas magic just might find a way to stir up more than their complicated pasts.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/47LnUWm
SPORTS
Like this trope? Check out my list of 15 Hot Hockey Romance Books here or my list of 15 Sexy Sports Romance Novels here.
Unravel Me by Becka Mack
Golden boy. Notorious serial dater. The NHL’s most eligible bachelor.
That’s what the headlines say about me, at least. I wish I could say they’re not accurate, but truthfully? I don’t even know who I am anymore.
Between a soul-crushing ex-girlfriend and a never-ending queue of dates gone wrong, one thing has become glaringly obvious: I don’t want to be Adam Lockwood.
So when my dog decides to play matchmaker, taking down a sweet little thing with rose gold waves, brilliant green eyes, and a smile for days, I can’t believe my luck that she doesn’t have a clue who I am. I know I should tell her, but for once in my life someone sees the man behind the goalie mask.
Rosie gives me all of her–her heartache, her laughter, and her son. But me? I’m holding on a little too tightly to the pieces I’m scared to give up, the pieces she might not like.
One small lie becomes a secret hanging above my head, but what if there’s another one hiding right around the corner?
Suddenly, my deepest desire becomes my biggest fear.
I’m terrified she’s going to unravel me.
Unravel Me is book #3 in the Playing For Keeps series, a series of interconnected standalone mature hockey romance stories that contain relatable characters, lots of heat, swoon, laughs, and a ride on an emotional rollercoaster!
Unravel Me contains emotional references to the past death of parents and its surrounding grief, as well as brief discussions of foster care, depictions of child neglect (not by the main character), and the death of an animal (minimal descriptions and as it pertains to the FMC’s training as a veterinarian student; not main character’s pet). If you are sensitive to these subjects, please use this information to make an informed decision about whether to proceed with this story.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/44Nzlvp
Caught Up by Liz Tomforde 🎧
Kai
I’m a single dad and starting pitcher for Chicago’s MLB team.
I’m stretched too thin, but I don’t want help raising my son.
Each of his previous nannies only lasted a few weeks before I let them go.
Now, my coach is putting his foot down by hiring the one person I can’t fire—his daughter.
Miller Montgomery is the last woman I should fall for. Too wild, too young, and too unattached.
Chicago is just a quick stop for her. I thought I’d be counting down the days until she left, but summer feels too short when I start thinking about forever.
Miller
As a high-end pastry chef who recently won the most prestigious award in my industry, I’m desperate to prove I deserve it. But with a new title comes new pressure, and I can’t create a fresh and inspiring dessert to save my life.
With only two months to get back on track, I should be focusing in the kitchen, but instead, I let my dad talk me into using my time off to nanny for his star player’s kid.
Kai Rhodes forgot how to have fun, and I’m eager to jog his memory. But when he and his son start to feel like home, I have to remind us both that my time in Chicago ends with the summer.
Besides, I’ve always been a runner, and the last thing I want is to get caught.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3tGQhWI
OFFICE / WORKPLACE
Like this trope? Check out my list of 15 Grumpy Boss Rom Coms here or 15 Sexy Office Rivals Romance Books here or 15 Sexy Office Romance Books here.
With Love, From Cold World by Alicia Thompson 🎧
She has a to-do list a mile long and falling for her coworker isn’t on it—yet somehow he’s become her top priority in this romantic comedy from the national bestselling author of Love in the Time of Serial Killers.
Lauren Fox is the bookkeeper for Cold World, a tourist destination that’s always a winter wonderland despite being located in humid Orlando, Florida. Sure, it’s ranked way below any of the trademarked amusement parks and maybe foot traffic could be better. But it’s a fun place to work, even if “fun” isn’t exactly Lauren’s middle name.
Her coworker Asa Williamson, on the other hand, is all about finding ways to enliven his days at Cold World—whether that means organizing the Secret Santa or teasing Lauren. When the owner asks Lauren and Asa to propose something (anything, really) to raise more revenue, their rivalry heats up as they compete to come up with the best idea. But the situation is more dire than they thought, and it might take these polar opposites working together to save the day. If Asa thought Lauren didn’t know how to enjoy herself, he’s surprised by how much he enjoys spending time together. And if Lauren thought Asa wasn’t serious about anything, she’s surprised by how seriously he seems to take her.
As Lauren and Asa work to save their beloved wintery spot, they realize the real attraction might be the heat generating between them.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/47SET9W
Desserts for Stressed People by Letizia Lorini
Nothing brings stressed people together like desserts.
Revenge is a dish best served scorching hot. That’s why professionally stressed and dessert loving Heaven Wilson creates a fake profile on the app her cheating boyfriend is using to find hookups.
But when she unexpectedly matches with Shane H, a man who seems as sweet as the baked treats he tempts her with, revenge becomes the least of her problems.
A more pressing issue? Not falling for the man she’s catfishing until she can ditch her unfaithful boyfriend. More pressing still? Shane turns out to be the professionally stressed, intimidating new boss she’s sent to work with.
And he has no idea she’s the girl whose messages leave him craving more every night.
With a boyfriend who could doom her to enormous financial debt, a hot and cold, irresistible boss complicating her work life, and the intricate web of lies she’s designed for herself, this is the perfect recipe for disaster.
When it turns out Heaven isn’t the only one keeping secrets, will the cookie finally crumble?
Desserts for Stressed People is a steamy, slow burn, laugh out loud story about love, friendship, and sweet treats. It features two stressed workaholics who, relying on each other’s strength, find the courage to chase the happily ever after they deserve.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3FA91KW
SINGLE DAD
Like this trope? Check out my list of 15 (More) Sexy Single Dad Romance Books here.
Caught Up by Liz Tomforde 🎧
Kai
I’m a single dad and starting pitcher for Chicago’s MLB team.
I’m stretched too thin, but I don’t want help raising my son.
Each of his previous nannies only lasted a few weeks before I let them go.
Now, my coach is putting his foot down by hiring the one person I can’t fire—his daughter.
Miller Montgomery is the last woman I should fall for. Too wild, too young, and too unattached.
Chicago is just a quick stop for her. I thought I’d be counting down the days until she left, but summer feels too short when I start thinking about forever.
Miller
As a high-end pastry chef who recently won the most prestigious award in my industry, I’m desperate to prove I deserve it. But with a new title comes new pressure, and I can’t create a fresh and inspiring dessert to save my life.
With only two months to get back on track, I should be focusing in the kitchen, but instead, I let my dad talk me into using my time off to nanny for his star player’s kid.
Kai Rhodes forgot how to have fun, and I’m eager to jog his memory. But when he and his son start to feel like home, I have to remind us both that my time in Chicago ends with the summer.
Besides, I’ve always been a runner, and the last thing I want is to get caught.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3tGQhWI
Off the Hook by Julie Olivia
I need a nanny, but I may need her more.
I know about my reputation as Never Harbor’s secluded single dad. But I have everything I need: my imaginative son, my dog, and our remodeled cottage by the sea.
That is, until my nanny quits.
My brother’s ex-fiancee, Wendy Darling, is an elementary school teacher with a free summer. The last thing I need is to get tangled in his mess, but my family thinks she’s a perfect fit for the job. Turns out, she fits in better than I could have imagined.
Wendy is nothing like I expected. She’s kind and adventurous, with a beautiful laugh that washes my worst nightmares away. She pushes past my silence and sees more of my true self than anyone has in years. And my six-year-old son is falling for her just as quickly.
Being with Wendy can never happen. Not when my younger brother is her ex-fiance. Not when she’s so close to our family. Not when our small coastal town gossips the way that it does.
But after so long in the dark, Wendy makes me feel something. Falling for her feels a lot like flying instead.
I know happy endings only belong in fairy tales, but I’m close to stealing one for myself.
OFF THE HOOK is a grumpy-sunshine, single dad romance with lots of slow burn spice! This is book one in Never Harbor, a series of interconnected stand-alone contemporary romances inspired by Peter Pan.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3ZutsSd
SINGLE MOM
Like this trope? Check out my list of 15 Great Single Mom Romance Novels here.
Your Last First Kiss by Avery Maxwell
My name is Penny Mulligan and my life is a mess.
After a disastrous marriage that left me with three perfect, rowdy boys and an ex-husband whose middle name might as well be Trouble, I’ve got more than enough testosterone in my life. I’m absolutely not getting involved with anyone.
Besides, at the end of the day when I collapse into bed, I’m too exhausted to think sexy thoughts. Except maybe about the one man who makes my life just a little easier…Mr. Wednesday, a.k.a. Dillon Henry.
Handsome, charming, thoughtful—the man is fantasy material.
And not just because he brings me my favorite coffee every Wednesday when he meets with my boss.
I’ll be ready to date again…someday…maybe after my boys are in college and I finally have the energy to think about myself. For now, I’m content to stick to my late-night fantasies about a certain coffee-bringing, suit-wearing flirt.
At least, that’s what I tell myself until Dillon Freaking Henry shows up on my doorstep in my hometown, demanding that I let him out of the friend zone.
He’s not intimidated by the fact that I’m a package deal or that my calendar is chaos or that my ex is a monumental pain in the…neck. Nope. Dillon is determined to change my mind.
Part of me almost hopes he can.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3nL2bN2
Unravel Me by Becka Mack
Golden boy. Notorious serial dater. The NHL’s most eligible bachelor.
That’s what the headlines say about me, at least. I wish I could say they’re not accurate, but truthfully? I don’t even know who I am anymore.
Between a soul-crushing ex-girlfriend and a never-ending queue of dates gone wrong, one thing has become glaringly obvious: I don’t want to be Adam Lockwood.
So when my dog decides to play matchmaker, taking down a sweet little thing with rose gold waves, brilliant green eyes, and a smile for days, I can’t believe my luck that she doesn’t have a clue who I am. I know I should tell her, but for once in my life someone sees the man behind the goalie mask.
Rosie gives me all of her–her heartache, her laughter, and her son. But me? I’m holding on a little too tightly to the pieces I’m scared to give up, the pieces she might not like.
One small lie becomes a secret hanging above my head, but what if there’s another one hiding right around the corner?
Suddenly, my deepest desire becomes my biggest fear.
I’m terrified she’s going to unravel me.
Unravel Me is book #3 in the Playing For Keeps series, a series of interconnected standalone mature hockey romance stories that contain relatable characters, lots of heat, swoon, laughs, and a ride on an emotional rollercoaster!
Unravel Me contains emotional references to the past death of parents and its surrounding grief, as well as brief discussions of foster care, depictions of child neglect (not by the main character), and the death of an animal (minimal descriptions and as it pertains to the FMC’s training as a veterinarian student; not main character’s pet). If you are sensitive to these subjects, please use this information to make an informed decision about whether to proceed with this story.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/44Nzlvp
MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE
Like this trope? Check out my list of 15 Marvelous Marriage of Convenience Romance Books here.
One and Only by Karla Sorensen
You are cordially invited to my fake wedding.
Marrying Beckett Coleman is the best idea I’ve had in years. I can grant my sick dad’s wish to walk one of his daughters down the aisle, and Beckett has my help solving a custody situation with his daughter. Our plan is to spend a year together, then part ways. Easy, especially since I’m not his type, and he’s not mine either.
He’s too quiet and too serious. And while he’s distractingly gorgeous, he’s also my brother’s teammate. Beckett is fake husband material, not the real deal. I just have to remember that.
Until I move in with him. Get to know him. Share a bed with him. Turns out, the line between fake and real isn’t just blurry, it’s almost impossible to uphold when he looks at me the way he does.
This marriage is a whole lot more complicated than we bargained for. We’re threatening to destroy everything we’ve built, something neither of us can risk.
Marrying Beckett might’ve been the best idea in years. But falling in love with him would be the worst.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3GRnqTu
King by S.J. Tilly
Okay, so, my bad for assuming the guy I was going on a date with wasn’t married. And my bad for taking him to a friend’s house for dinner, only to find out my friend is also friends with his wife. Because, in fact, he ismarried. And she happens to be at my friend’s house because her husband was busy working.
Confused? So am I.
Unsurprisingly, my date’s wife is super angry about finding out that her husband is a cheating asshole.
Girl, I get it.
Then, to make matters more convoluted, there is the man sitting next to my date’s wife. A man named King, who is apparently her brother, and who lives up to his name.
And since my date is a two-timing prick, I’m not going to feel bad about drooling over King, especially since I’ll never see him again.
Or at least I don’t plan to.
I plan to take an Uber to the cheater’s apartment to get my car keys.
I plan for it to be quick.
And if I had to list a thousand possible outcomes… witnessing my date’s murder, being kidnapped by his killer, and then being forced to marry the super attractive but clearly deranged crime lord, would not have been on my Bingo card.
But alas, here I am.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3OaKalr
FLING TO MORE
Like this trope? Check out my list of 15 Spicy Hookup to HEA Romance Books Released in 2022 here.
Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon 🎧
A ghostwriter and a struggling actor help each other on the page and in the bedroom in this steamy romantic comedy from the New York Timesbestselling author of The Ex Talk.
Chandler Cohen has never felt more like the ghost in “ghostwriter” until she attends a signing for a book she wrote—and the author doesn’t even recognize her. The evening turns more promising when she meets a charming man at the bar and immediately connects with him. But when all their sexual tension culminates in a spectacularly awkward hookup, she decides this is one night better off forgotten.
Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done. Her next project is ghostwriting a memoir for Finn Walsh, a C-list actor best known for playing a lovable nerd on a cult classic werewolf show who now makes a living appearing at fan conventions across the country. Chandler knows him better from their one-night stand of hilarious mishaps.
Chandler’s determined to keep their partnership as professional as possible, but when she admits to Finn their night together wasn’t as mind-blowing as he thought it was, he’s distraught. He intrigues her enough that they strike a deal: when they’re not working on his book, Chandler will school Finn in the art of satisfaction. As they grow closer both in and out of the bedroom, they must figure out which is more important, business or pleasure—or if there’s a way for them to have both.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/44SuoBs
Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams 🎧
A small-town sweetheart and an emotionally unavailable bad boy try to find some common ground in this chemistry-filled romance from the author of The Cheat Sheet and When in Rome.
Annie Walker is on a quest to find her perfect match—someone who complements her happy, quiet life running the local flower shop in Rome, Kentucky. But finding her dream man may be harder than Annie imagined. Everyone knows everyone in her hometown, and the dating prospects are getting fewer by the day. After she overhears her latest date say she is “so unbelievably boring,” Annie starts to think the problem might be her. Is it too late to become flirtatious and fun like the leading ladies in her favorite romance movies? Maybe she only needs a little practice . . . and Annie has the perfect person in mind to be her tutor: Will Griffin.
Will—the sexy , tattooed, and absolutely gorgeous bodyguard—is temporarily back in Rome, providing security for Amelia Rose as excitement builds for her upcoming marriage to Noah Walker, Annie’s brother. He has one personal objective while on the job: stay away from Annie Walker and any other possible attachments to this sleepy town. But no sooner than he gets settled, Will finds himself tasked with helping Annie find the love of her life by becoming the next leading lady of Rome, Kentucky. Will wants no part in changing the sweet and lovely Annie. He knows for a fact that some stuffy, straitlaced guy won’t make her happy, but he doesn’t have the heart to say no.
Amid steamy practice dates and strictly “educational” tutoring lessons, Annie discovers there are more layers to Will’s usual stoic attitude. As the lines of their friendship become dangerously blurred, Annie reconsiders her dream guy. Maybe her love life doesn’t need to be perfect—it just needs to be real.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3W8b6Vu
WOMEN’S FICTION CROSSOVER
Like this trope? Check out my list of the 15 Great Women’s Fiction/Romance Crossover Books here.
Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn
The acclaimed author of Love Lettering weaves a wise and witty new novel that echoes with timely questions about love, career, reconciling with the past, and finding your path while knowing your true worth.
Longtime personal assistant Georgie Mulcahy has made a career out of putting others before herself. When an unexpected upheaval sends her away from her hectic job in L.A. and back to her hometown, Georgie must confront an uncomfortable truth: her own wants and needs have always been a disconcertingly blank page.
But then Georgie comes across a forgotten artifact—a “friendfic” diary she wrote as a teenager, filled with possibilities she once imagined. To an overwhelmed Georgie, the diary’s simple, small-scale ideas are a lifeline—a guidebook for getting started on a new path.
Georgie’s plans hit a snag when she comes face to face with an unexpected roommate—Levi Fanning, onetime town troublemaker and current town hermit. But this quiet, grouchy man is more than just his reputation, and he offers to help Georgie with her quest. As the two make their way through her wishlist, Georgie begins to realize that what she truly wants might not be in the pages of her diary after all, but right by her side—if only they can both find a way to let go of the pasts that hold them back.
Honest and deeply emotional, Georgie, All Along is a smart, tender must-read for everyone who’s ever wondered about the life that got away . . .
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3C3nbSX
Mrs. Nash’s Ashes by Sarah Adler 🎧
A starry-eyed romantic, a cynical writer, and (the ashes of) an elderly woman take the road trip of a lifetime that just might upend everything they believe about true love.
Millicent Watts-Cohen is on a mission. When she promised her elderly best friend that she’d reunite her with the woman she fell in love with nearly eighty years ago, she never imagined that would mean traveling from D.C. to Key West with three tablespoons of Mrs. Nash’s remains in her backpack. But Millie’s determined to give her friend a symbolic happily-ever-after, before it’s (really) too late—and hopefully reassure herself of love’s lasting power in the process.
She just didn’t expect to have a living travel companion.
After a computer glitch grounds flights, Millie is forced to catch a ride with Hollis Hollenbeck, an also-stranded acquaintance from her ex’s MFA program. Hollis certainly does not believe in happily-ever-afters—symbolic or otherwise—and makes it quite clear that he can’t fathom Millie’s plan ending well for anyone.
But as they contend with peculiar bed-and-breakfasts, unusual small-town festivals, and deer with a death wish, Millie begins to suspect that her reluctant travel partner might enjoy her company more than he lets on. Because for someone who supposedly doesn’t share her views on romance, Hollis sure is becoming invested in the success of their journey. And the closer they get to their destination, the more Millie has to admit that maybe this trip isn’t just about Mrs. Nash’s love story after all—maybe it’s also about her own.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3M1uks0
ROOMMATES
Like this trope? Check out my list of 15 Sexy Roommates Romance Books here.
The Right Move by Liz Tomforde
RYAN
She’s a distraction, that’s what she is.
I’m the newest Captain of the Devils, Chicago’s NBA team, and the last thing I needed this year was for Indy Ivers, my sister’s best friend, to move into my apartment. She’s messy, emotional, and way too tempting.
But when the team’s General Manager vocalizes his blatant disapproval of my promotion to Captain, referring to me as an unapproachable lone wolf with no work-life balance, I can’t think of a better way to convince him otherwise than pretending to date my outgoing roommate.
The only problem? Faking it feels far too natural.
Having a fake girlfriend wasn’t supposed to be messy but having Indy under my roof and in my bed is complicated, especially when she wants all the romantic parts of life that I could never give her.
INDY
I never imagined I’d be living with my best friend’s brother, NBA superstar Ryan Shay. Even more unbelievable? He needs me to act as his loving girlfriend who’s suddenly changed him into a friendly and approachable guy.
Because, well…he’s not. He’s controlling of his space and untrusting of others.
Our arrangement isn’t one-sided, though. I’m in a wedding coming up, one where every one of my childhood friends, including my ex-boyfriend, will be in attendance, and there’s no better date than my ex’s celebrity hero.
Blurred lines make it almost impossible to separate real from fake. Falling for my roommate was never part of the deal, especially when Ryan is quick to remind me that he doesn’t believe in love.
I’m a romantic and can’t help fantasizing that he’ll change, but soon enough, I find myself questioning if sharing a roof with my best friend’s brother was the right move after all.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3XtnLlz
The No-Judgment Zone by Ellie K. Wilde
Two players. One apartment. A whole new game.
Serial dater Finn Palmer has it down to a science: dinner, drinks, the this-is-just-sex conversation, and he’s back in his own bed by midnight. With his infectious smile and preference for one-night flings, he’s exactly the distraction Jenna Carling needs when she returns home for her sister’s dreaded wedding.
So when Jenna shows up on his doorstep looking for a hot do-over of their failed one-night stand from a year ago, she’s shocked that Finn offers her something entirely different: his spare bedroom for the summer.
Finn’s self-prescribed singledom means two things: he is woefully cuddle-starved, and he will never, ever sleep with a woman he’s interested in. He knows there’s something different about Jenna. She’s charming, warm, lets him wax poetic about his favorite documentaries… And there’s no way he can sleep with her without catching serious feelings. But he can definitely keep her around as a platonic roommate. And he can definitely get this pesky crush under control.
Problem is, Jenna’s now convinced she’s lost her mojo. And the harder she tries to tempt Finn into more—more sex, more midnight bakery rendezvous, more… cuddling?!—the harder it is not to fantasize about a future with her. Too bad he’s witnessed the destructive effects of love. And Finn would never put himself through that.
He only needs to survive the summer. Soon, her evil sister’s wedding will be over. Jenna will be gone. And Finn can get back to… What, exactly?
The No-Judgment Zone is a steamy romantic comedy with the roommates-to-lovers, reformed player, forced proximity, sunshine/golden retriever, and wedding date tropes. This romance has a happily ever after.
It’s the second book in the Sunset Landing series but can be read as a standalone.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3IvwZYv
FOUND FAMILY
Like this trope? Check out my list of 15 Romance Books with the Found Family Trope here.
Your Last First Kiss by Avery Maxwell
My name is Penny Mulligan and my life is a mess.
After a disastrous marriage that left me with three perfect, rowdy boys and an ex-husband whose middle name might as well be Trouble, I’ve got more than enough testosterone in my life. I’m absolutely not getting involved with anyone.
Besides, at the end of the day when I collapse into bed, I’m too exhausted to think sexy thoughts. Except maybe about the one man who makes my life just a little easier…Mr. Wednesday, a.k.a. Dillon Henry.
Handsome, charming, thoughtful—the man is fantasy material.
And not just because he brings me my favorite coffee every Wednesday when he meets with my boss.
I’ll be ready to date again…someday…maybe after my boys are in college and I finally have the energy to think about myself. For now, I’m content to stick to my late-night fantasies about a certain coffee-bringing, suit-wearing flirt.
At least, that’s what I tell myself until Dillon Freaking Henry shows up on my doorstep in my hometown, demanding that I let him out of the friend zone.
He’s not intimidated by the fact that I’m a package deal or that my calendar is chaos or that my ex is a monumental pain in the…neck. Nope. Dillon is determined to change my mind.
Part of me almost hopes he can.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3nL2bN2
Christmas in Coconut Creek by Karissa Kinword
A romantic comedy debut from #1 bestelling science fiction romance author Karissa Kinword!
There are a few things Coconut Creek has that Pine Ridge does not. Palm trees, sandy beaches, butterfly museums—infuriatingly attractive special forces veterans.
When Colorado elementary school teacher Ophelia Brody decides to ditch her divorced family for a Christmas in the sunshine state with her college roommate, she doesn’t expect a mile high meet cute to tailspin the entire trip.
Frankie Casado is cocky, he’s presumptuous, he’s shameless—and he’s just the right distraction from her depressing, fruitless dating life back home for a few weeks. It just so happens the retired fighter pilot is in somewhat of a rut of his own, and the circumstances around their coincidental meeting and unavoidable physical attraction are the perfect excuse for a festive fling.
The rules are simple: Ophelia teaches him how to date again, and Frankie shows her exactly what she should be demanding behind closed doors. Friends with benefits until the ball drops in the New Year.
But a little bit of long-lost Christmas magic just might find a way to stir up more than their complicated pasts.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/47LnUWm
ACCIDENTAL PREGNANCY
Like this trope? Check out my list of 12 Surprise/Accidental Pregnancy Romance Books here.
Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young
Winnifred “Win” McNulty has always been wildly independent. Not one to be coddled for her limb difference, Win has spent most of her life trying to prove that she can do it all on her own. And, with some minor adjustments, she’s done just fine.
That is until she has a one-night stand with the incredibly charming Bo, a perfect stranger. And that one night changes everything.
While Bo is surprisingly elated to step upto the plate, Win finds herself unsure of whether she can handle this new challenge on her own or if she’ll need a helping hand.
Together, Win and Bo decide to get to know one another as friends and nothing more. But, as they both should know by now, life rarely goes according to plan.
Content Warnings:
-graphic sexual content, pregnancy and symptoms of pregnancy, brief discussion of abortion (pro-choice stance, not performed), ableism in reference to a limb difference, verbally abusive ex-partner (no reappearance), death of a parent (past, off page) depression and suicide (past, off page), cancer (past, not reoccurring), amputation (referenced, past)
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Ntv4aK
Reckless by Elsie Silver 🎧
Theo Silva. Rowdy bull rider. Notorious ladies’ man. Scorching hot trouble wrapped up in a drool-worthy package.
And he’s looking at me like I might be his next meal.
But I’m almost free of my toxic marriage and have sworn off men entirely. So all I see when I look back is temptation served up with a heaping side of heartbreak.
The man is hard to trust—and even harder to resist.
Make that impossible. Because Theo is persistent. And no matter how hard I try to freeze him out, he melts my icy exterior and pulls apart all my defenses.
Over a drink in a small town bar, I blurt out my deepest, darkest secrets. Then I spend the singular hottest night of my life with him.
He worships my body. He makes me blush. I come alive beneath his hands.
Then I tell him to forget it ever happened. I want simple, and with him it all feels complicated.
It was supposed to be a one-time thing.
A secret.
But that little plus sign is going to make this secret impossible to keep.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3MZPLer
SUSPENSE
Like this trope? Check out my list of 15 Contemporary Romance Books with a Side of Suspense here.
Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver 🎧
A friends-to-lovers dark romantic comedy full of murder, chaos, and spice, unlike anything you’ve read before.
Every serial killer needs a friend.
Every game must have a winner.
When a chance encounter sparks an unlikely bond between rival murderers Sloane and Rowan, the two find something elusive—the friendship of a like-minded, pitch-black soul. From small town West Virginia to upscale California, from downtown Boston to rural Texas, the two hunters collide in an annual game of blood and suffering, one that pits them against the most dangerous monsters in the country.
But as their friendship develops into something more, the restless ghosts left in their wake are only a few steps behind, ready to claim more than just their newfound love.
Can Rowan and Sloane dig themselves out of a game of graves?
Or have they finally met their match?
Butcher & Blackbird is the first book in the Ruinous Love Dark Romance trilogy of interconnected stand-alone dark romantic comedies. This dual POV novel ends on a HEA.
***Butcher & Blackbird is a DARK ROMANCE intended for an adult audience – please see Brynne’s website for a comprehensive list of CWs***
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3QE2nch
Things We Hide From the Light by Lucy Score
Bestselling author Lucy Score returns to Knockemout, Virginia, following fan-favorite Things We Never Got Over with Knox’s brother Nash’s story.
Nash Morgan was always known as the good Morgan brother, with a smile and a wink for everyone. But now, this chief of police is recovering from being shot and his Southern charm has been overshadowed by panic attacks and nightmares. He feels like a broody shell of the man he once was. Nash isn’t about to let anyone in his life know he’s struggling. But his new next-door neighbor, smart and sexy Lina, sees his shadows. As a rule, she’s not a fan of physical contact unless she initiates it, but for some reason Nash’s touch is different. He feels it too. The physical connection between them is incendiary, grounding him and making her wonder if exploring it is worth the risk.
Too bad Lina’s got secrets of her own, and if Nash finds out the real reason she’s in town, he’ll never forgive her. Besides, she doesn’t do relationships. Ever. A hot, short-term fling with a local cop? Absolutely. Sign her up. A relationship with a man who expects her to plant roots? No freaking way. Once she gets what she’s after, she has no intention of sticking around. But Knockemout has a way of getting under people’s skin. And once Nash decides to make Lina his, he’s not about to be dissuaded…even if it means facing the danger that nearly killed him.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3PFRkxl
ROAD TRIP
Like this trope? Check out my list of 15 Travel/Road Trip Romance Books here.
You, With a View by Jessica Joyce 🎧
Two high school enemies must reunite for a road trip inspired by their grandparents’ broken engagement in this electric debut romance.
Noelle Shepard is unemployed, living with her parents, and grieving the loss of her beloved grandmother when she discovers decades-old photos of Gram and a smitten man, tucked alongside a love letter. She creates a TikTok to search for the mystery man, which goes viral, and she’s shocked when his grandson responds—a man who happens to be her high school nemesis, Theo Spencer.
Noelle refuses to let Theo’s annoying accomplishments in adulthood—or his sexy smirk—stand in the way of meeting his grandfather and unlocking the secrets he knew about her gram as a young woman. When she learns that their plans to elope were thwarted, Noelle decides to take the honeymoon road trip they planned but never got to carry out. There’s a catch, though: Paul, Theo’s grandfather, asks to come with her, and he insists that Theo join them.
It’ll be a miracle if they make it through the trip without Noelle throwing Theo out of the moving car—or the bed they end up sharing. As the miles tick by, the tension simmers hotter between them…until she discovers that Theo’s hiding a secret that could cause their tenuous relationship to end before it can restart.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3QLh65R
Planes, Trains, and All the Feels by Livy Hart
Fans of Christina Lauren and Tessa Bailey will adore this witty and unforgettable rom-com about skyways, highways, and all the perfectly wrong ways to fall in love.
As the black sheep of the family, choreographer Cassidy Bliss vowed she’d do anything to get home in time to help with her sister’s wedding and avoid family disappointment…again. She just never expected “anything” would involve sharing the last rental car with the jerk who cut her off in line at the airport this morning. But horrible times apparently call for here-goes-nothing measures.
Driving across the country with Luke “life can be solved with a spreadsheet” Carlisle must be a penance for some crime she committed. Because the second he opens his mouth, it’s all she can do to not maim him with her carry-on. But somewhere between his surprisingly thoughtful snack sharing and his uncanny ability to see straight to the core of her, her feelings go unchecked.
Suddenly, their crackling chemistry is just one more thing they have to navigate—and it couldn’t come at a worse time. But after a lifetime of letting the expectations and needs of others drive her life, Cassidy must decide if she’s ready to take the wheel once and for all.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3JdH4cV
HIDDEN IDENTITY
Like this trope? Check out my list of 15 Hidden Identity Romance Novels here.
Possession by Brynne Asher
From USA Today Bestselling author Brynne Asher…
An arranged marriage, forced-proximity, thrilling romantic suspense.
I’m nothing but a payment, bartered to the most powerful cartel in the northern hemisphere and forced to marry a man I do not know.
My father sold me to save his own skin. He might as well have ushered me to the gates of hell.
The Marino family is sadistic. If rumors are true, they’ll own me, use me, control me, and strip me of every freedom I’ve taken for granted. I’ll be a shiny new toy in a dark and deadly underworld.
So when my husband drops the bomb that our arranged marriage is only a means to an end, I realize there’s something worse than merely being a possession.
My stupid, stupid heart.
In the end, the last thing I expected to do was fall in love.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3SeJwpr
Rook to King by Carina Taylor
A romantic adventure
Being an antique expert and authenticator isn’t as glamorous as it seems.
Not nearly the amount of excitement I’d hoped for—at least not until I have some competition looking for the missing pieces of an engraved chess set.
My competition is dashing—but more likely to swoop off with the chess set than me.
Bodie King. Alias Sullivan Keene, Robby Landon, Captain Sexy Pants, The Trade King, and I’m sure many, many more that he would never admit to.
To make it simple: he’s a con man.
Bodie shows up in my antique store with a smile and promise of things to come
I don’t trust him. And I definitely don’t want him to end up with the chess set. Which means I’m going to have to keep those pieces safe—and hopefully find them before he does. But more people than just Bodie and I are interested in the chess set, and we’re forced into a tentative alliance—at least until I’m out of danger.
But as we race against the clock and across the globe to find the missing pieces, Bodie surprises me by being real. Authentic. Dare I say loveable?
But can you ever really trust a con?
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3yPnKxy
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