NEW RELEASES
✭ NBJ TOP RECOMMENDATION
Love isn’t blind, it’s just a little blurry.
Sadie Montgomery never saw what was coming . . . Literally! One minute she’s celebrating the biggest achievement of her life―placing as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition―the next, she’s lying in a hospital bed diagnosed with a “probably temporary” condition known as face blindness. She can see, but every face she looks at is now a jumbled puzzle of disconnected features. Imagine trying to read a book upside down and in another language. This is Sadie’s new reality with every face she sees.
But, as she struggles to cope, hang on to her artistic dream, work through major family issues, and take care of her beloved dog, Peanut, she falls into―love? Lust? A temporary obsession to distract from the real problems in her life?―with not one man but two very different ones. The timing couldn’t be worse.
If only her life were a little more in focus, Sadie might be able to find her way. But perceiving anything clearly right now seems impossible. Even though there are things we can only find when we aren’t looking. And there are people who show up when we least expect them. And there are always, always other ways of seeing.
This is a standalone novel.
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✭ NBJ TOP RECOMMENDATION | ENEMIES TO LOVERS + FORCED PROXIMITY
Two high school enemies must reunite for a road trip inspired by their grandparents’ broken engagement…
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.
This is a standalone novel.
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COMING OF AGE + DARK PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER
When Sarah Taylor arrives at the exclusive St. Ambrose School, she’s carrying more baggage than just what fits in her suitcase. She knows she’s not like the other girls—if the shabby, all-black, non-designer clothes don’t give that away, the bottle of lithium hidden in her desk drawer sure does.
St. Ambrose’s queen bee, Greta Stanhope, picks Sarah as a target from day one and the most popular, powerful, horrible girl at school is relentless in making sure Sarah knows what the pecking order is. Thankfully, Sarah makes an ally out of her roommate Ellen “Strots” Strotsberry, a cigarette-huffing, devil-may-care athlete who takes no bullshit. Also down the hall is Nick Hollis, the devastatingly handsome RA, and the object of more than one St. Ambrose student’s fantasies. Between Strots and Nick, Sarah hopes she can make it through the semester, dealing with not only her schoolwork and a recent bipolar diagnosis, but Greta’s increasingly malicious pranks.
Sarah is determined not to give Greta the satisfaction of breaking her. But when scandal unfolds, and someone ends up dead, her world threatens to unravel in ways she could never have imagined. The St. Ambrose School for Girls is a dangerous, delicious, twisty coming-of-age tale that will stay with you long after you turn the last page.
This is a standalone novel.
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ROOMMATES TO LOVERS + FORCED PROXIMITY + SMALL TOWN
Roommate Not Wanted
I’m a forty-year-old homeowner and former detective. My friends think a roommate is the solution to my recent funk, but I know that’s the last thing I need.
And even if they’re right, sharing my home with Cal is a bad idea. The prickly SEAL rescue diver has muscles for miles, haunted eyes, a wounded soul, and wandering feet that won’t be happy for long in Safe Harbor. Yet those fathoms-deep blue eyes have me making an offer I’ll surely regret.
Our arrangement may be doomed, but Cal is an amazing roommate. We’re soon cooking my mom’s favorite recipes, watching terrible TV, accidentally cuddling, and trying not to cross the line from friendship to fling.
Until I discover Cal’s sexy secret.Boundaries blur, and I forget I’m not supposed to fall for Cal. Every kiss, touch, and discovery we make together pulls us deeper until there’s no denying our feelings.
I want nothing more than to keep Cal in town, in my bed, and in my heart, but Cal seems destined to swim back to his solo ways.
Can I bear to let him go, or will our love make him stay forever?
This is a standalone novel in the Safe Harbor series. Each book focuses on a different couple, but the background mystery of the town’s secrets ties the series together.
Series recommended reading order: Bring Me Home | Make Me Stay | Find Me Worthy (28 Sep 2023)
Twisted, unhinged, insane—all words used to describe Gage Presley by those closest to him. A pretty boy with a face that misleads you. He’s one of the deadliest members of The Family.
Five years ago, his possessiveness and insane jealousy over a girl unleashed his crazy and in the wake of his retaliation he was given the choice: prison or the United States Marines. The girl who owned his soul turned her back on him and left town without a goodbye.
Shiloh Ellis became a name he never mentioned again.
When she walks back into Gage’s life, no one in The Family is happy about it, especially Gage. It’s clear they all loathe her but she has no memory of them at all…
This is the fourth book in the Smoke series.
Series reading order: Smokeshow | Fireball | Smoke Bomb | Straight Fire | Firecracker (30 Jul 2023)
SECOND CHANCES + SINGLE PARENT
Second-chance romance only works out in movies. In real life, it’s …messy.
I don’t need a man for anything.
Love and romance? Pfft. No thanks. Never again.
Between my career as a wedding planner and being a single mother, I barely have time to think about men. I wasn’t looking for a hero when I ended up locked outside a hotel that was engulfed in a blazing inferno, wearing nothing but a robe. I would’ve eventually saved myself. Too bad he didn’t give me a chance.
Yep, you guessed it. Luke Incendio, the sexy firefighter who came to my hotel rescue and the man who had caused me to swear off love years ago is one and the same.
Now, he says he wants to make amends. He says he’s never stopped wanting me. His words are laced in regret as he says he made a mistake.
But talk is cheap—and the tingly feelings he inspires in me are not to be trusted. Because this time around, I’m not the only one who’ll get burned if he proves to be unreliable.
And there’s no way I’m going to let that happen.
This is a standalone novel in the Love Explained series.
Series recommended reading order: Love…It’s Complicated | Love…It’s Messy | Love…It’s Wild (Nov 2023)
SINGLE DAD
Dear Diary,
My dad needs a girlfriend, and I’ve already picked her out.
Miss Adler would be perfect for him, right? She’s super pretty. She has the best smile and she gives the best hugs. And she’s, like, the most amazing teacher in the world.
Dad is my hero, but I can tell he’s lonely. He tries to hide it from me, but sometimes at night, when he thinks I’m asleep, I’ll sneak downstairs and find him sitting on the couch, staring at nothing. He’s never had a girlfriend, not since the divorce. Mom messed him up. She’s good at that.
He’s smart and funny, but he doesn’t laugh enough. I’ve seen other moms at school check him out so I guess he’s handsome. (Eww.) And he makes up the best nicknames. He calls me Dandelion. I bet he’d give Miss Adler an awesome nickname too.
They’re perfect for each other. I just know it. Now I only have to show them I’m right.
Wish me luck.
Katy
This is a standalone novella in the Maysen Jar series.
Series recommended reading order: The Birthday List | Letters to Molly | The Dandelion Diary (novella)
SINGLE PARENT + GRUMPY/SUNSHINE + SECOND CHANCES + SMALL TOWN
Tucker Beckett and I likely never would have met if our spouses weren’t having an affair.
Newly divorced with a young son to raise Tucker Beckett is the last man Miranda Owens should be itching to figure out, to make smile, and hear laugh. Still there is something about the detective with haunted blue eyes and a dirty mouth that draws her in from the moment they meet.
If only life were so simple.
As Tucker and Miranda begin to navigate their new relationship, Tucker is tasked with solving the murder of a young woman, while their ex’s begin to play games in an attempt to split the two of them up.
Before they fall, these two will need to figure out if the only thing tying them together is the circumstances that brought them together in the first place or if it’s something more.
Love isn’t complicated but sometimes life is.
This is a standalone novel.
FORCED PROXIMITY + SECOND CHANCES + SPORTS ROMANCE
Colton St. George is the league’s star quarterback, the most eligible bachelor in the country, and the poster boy for “nice guy”.
Everyone wants a piece of him.
Including me—because I need him in front of my camera to raise money for charity.
There’s just one problem.
Before he was famous, I took his already broken heart and shattered it.
So he only agrees to do the photos on one condition—I go first.
In his home, at his discretion.
And in private? He isn’t quite the good guy I remember.
Before I know what’s happening we’re unraveling in a game of favors and bets.
One I’m not sure either of us can win.
This is the second book in the Seattle Phantom Football series of standalone novels with interconnected characters.
Series recommended reading order: Pick Six | Overtime
ENEMIES TO LOVERS + DARK FANTASY ROMANCE
There is no escaping the middle lands, the gloomy buffer between the human kingdom and the faerie realms. When my guardian is killed by the Wild Hunt after waiting twenty years to trade me for her human daughter, I’m left with no choice but to try.
To find those who discarded me at birth, I must sneak into Faerie.
But my deceased guardian left more than scars upon my heart. Debts are owed to the madam at the Lair of Lust, and I’m forced to repay them.
My first client is a faerie king who offers to give me everything I’ve always wanted. The king will take me to Faerie if I make a blood vow to marry him. A collection of sweltering meetings fool me into believing his reasons for choosing me to be his queen—a changeling without so much as a name.
For upon my arrival in his kingdom, I receive the answers I’ve craved and the truth behind his motives.
My wonder and infatuation for the king and his wintry realm are snuffed by hatred and fear. Though loathing him is futile when venomous words and spiteful games only prove to excite him. Once again, I’m trapped. This time, with an enemy I cannot hide from. One with enough heat in his eyes to melt my resolve, and enough power at his frosted fingertips to accomplish his sinister goals.
To survive all I’ve discovered, not only will I need to unearth King Florian’s dead heart—I will need to guard my own before he tricks it, too.
This is the first book in the all-new Deadly Divine duet.
Series reading order: Nectar of the Wicked | Wrath of the Damned (Dec 2023)
ROMANTIC COMEDY + MYSTERY
Welcome to Fox Point—not everyone leaves this town alive.
I remember the first time I ever saw Detective Inspector Noah George.
We were seven, stupid, and he threw sand in my eye. I’m pretty sure that’s when I fell in love with him. Hey—I did say I was stupid.
Summers in Fox Point, my grandfather’s seaside hometown, were all we had together. Then we turned eighteen, life happened, and he never spoke to me again.
Until my grandfather’s death calls me back to the small town, only for his lawyer to tell me he’s left me my family’s dilapidated bed and breakfast that was home to many things—my first sleepover party, where my grandma taught me to cross-stitch, my first kiss with Noah…
And apparently, my first dead body.My name is Lottie O’Neil, and I’m on the hook for the murder of a man I’ve barely met.
And the one who’ll have to arrest me is the only man I’ve ever loved.
Unless I find the real killer first.This is the first book in the all-new The Fox Point Files series.
SECOND CHANCES + CHRISTIMAS IN JULY
After Angel and Luca connected on the set of Duke the Halls and had a whirlwind romance in the literal snow globe of Christmas Notch, Vermont, Luca found himself falling in love. Hard. He’d never been one to believe in fate or true love, but one thing was certain: Angel was his person. He knew it as well as he knew the history of American figure skating. But when Angel left for an art school semester abroad without a word, Luca’s already brittle heart was broken. No one ghosted Luca. Unless he was in a haunted house.
But with the spring semester long over, Angel is back home in Los Angeles for the summer, and unfortunately for Luca, this big town is turning out to be smaller than either of them ever expected.
This is a standalone novella in the A Christmas Notch series.
Series recommended reading order: A Merry Little Meet Cute | Snow Place Like LA (novella) | A Holly Jolly Ever After (10 Oct 2023)
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More New Releases...
Latest Top Recommendations
Two high school rivals find themselves on a two-week honeymoon road trip that their grandparents never went on in one of the most enjoyable romances I read this year. While browsing through her late grandmother’s belongings, Noelle Shepard finds a dusty old envelope containing photos and a letter from a secret lover who clearly loved her grandmother deeply but never got to marry her. Through a social media video that ends up going viral, she tracks down the man in question, only to realise that his grandson is her high school arch-nemesis Theo. Desperate to hold on to her beloved grandmother’s memory any way she can, Noelle agrees to go on a road trip with them both, following the sixty-year-old honeymoon that never happened. But two weeks on the road with a man who drives her crazy in every possible way can only spell trouble…of the best kind. Jessica Joyce paints the characters with vibrant brush strokes, delivering a timeless love story that is equal parts sexy, sweet, and aching in its telling of two young people desperate to be loved by someone who wants them exactly as they are.
This was my first book from Tal Bauer and it’ll be my first of many. I’m not sure what I fell in love with more—Tal’s exquisite prose or his ability to rip my heart out of my chest with just a few words, but Wyatt and Noël’s slow-burning love story owned me beginning to end. In this opposites-attract romance, two men meet on their way to a romantic resort in Mexico; one of them is going there for his brother’s destination wedding, and the other is on the honeymoon of a wedding that never happened—his own. They start off as friends, as two lonely men looking for an emotional connection with someone who makes them feel safe, but their bond grows fast and deeply, until the mere idea of parting ways hurts them both. When real life forces them in two very different directions, they must decide whether what they found in Mexico is worth fighting for. I get shivers just thinking about this story.
There’s nothing that makes me believe in happily-ever-after more than the idea of an estranged couple finding their way back to one another after years apart, and Kristen Ashley’s new novel is an absolute masterclass in character-driven storytelling, and in its nuanced portrait of two people fighting for what they should have never stopped being—perfect together. But nothing in this novel is easy or cheaply sentimental. Familial tensions, complex human bonds, and long-hidden truths transform the story into a powerful pressure-cooker of emotions that never loses its distinctive Kristen Ashley flavour and depth. There are passages I wanted inked on my skin for the rest of my life, there are scenes I would never want to relive, and there is so much beauty in the most unexpected of moments, all coming together to tell a story of love, forgiveness, and second chances in life, but also of breaking the cycle that is holding us down and setting the example for those we love the most.
One of my favourite books of the year so far, this delightful friends-to-lovers romance has everything I’ve always loved about Abby Jimenez’s writing—wit, heart, SO much emotion, and a cinnamon roll hero you’d slay dragons for. It’s the story of two emergency room doctors, both trying to get over complicated breakups, who meet as potential rivals, become best of friends while faking to date one another, and end up falling in love while desperately trying to ignore the sizzling sexual tension between them. This is the kind of book you wish you could read for the first time over and over again, every time falling a little more in love with Jacob Maddox.
Bookish News
We have the cover of Catherine Cowles’ next suspenseful small town romance in her Lost & Found series, coming in October 2023.
Sarina Bowen‘s sexy new Hockey Guys series continues on Nov 2, and we have the cover.
A quirky small town sundae of older brother’s best friend, grumpy/sunshine, with an extra scoop of enemies-to-lovers, and the cherry on top guest appearances from Shay and Noah from In a Jam is coming in August from Kate Canterbary and we have the cover.
An all-new forbidden, enemies-to-lovers romance is coming in August from Penelope Ward, and we have the beautiful cover.
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