Category Archives: Contemporary Romance

I’m determined to enjoy myself during what was supposed to be my honeymoon, crashing alone at my brother’s best friend’s houseboat. But I’m not alone–he’s here, and he’s tan, toned, and tempting as hell. Readers who enjoy the Man of the Month Club collection will devour Flirt Like a Fool by Ellen Brooks, a steamy, small town, brother’s best friend, beach romance.

Buy Now or Read FREE with KindleUnlimited!

Blurb

I don’t need a change of pace; I need a change of life, but for now I’ll settle for a week of surf, sand, and fun in the sun, along with my new mantra—flirt like a fool.

I’m determined to enjoy myself during what was supposed to be my honeymoon even though, thanks to a cheating ex-fiancé, I won’t be a newlywed lounging at a five-star resort in the Caribbean, but rather crashing solo at my brother’s best friend’s houseboat in the Florida Keys while he’s away.

It might be a Christmas themed small town, but it’s still the beach, right? As long as there’s a fruity frozen cocktail with my name on it, I’ll be fine, really.

Until I arrive and discover my brother’s best friend isn’t away after all. He’s right here and is toned, tan, and tempting as hell. But, he’s off limits… even if his houseboat only has one bed.

Add to Goodreads Here!

Excerpt

Copyright 2023 Ellen Brooks

With one towel wrapped turban-style around my wet hair and another around my body, I emerge from the bathroom, belting out the chorus and dart to grab my clothes from the dryer down the hall, not expecting to slam directly into AJ’s broad frame.

Startled, I slip, and my wet feet slide out from underneath me. I flail one arm out and try to grab the doorjamb but go down, landing unceremoniously on my ass with a loud, “Oomph.”

My other hand keeps a deathlike grip on the towel, which fortunately, has prevented it from falling off completely. As it is, the slit gapes wide, and my entire thigh and half of my ass are on display. I squeeze my legs closed and hope he’s tall enough that, from his angle, my position doesn’t reveal any more than that.

AJ springs forward and reaches down to help me to my feet. With one warm hand on each of my shoulders, he holds me steady. His eyes, wide with concern, meet mine. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” I insist, aware of how my breathless answer sounds completely unconvincing, and add a firm nod.

Our bodies are mere inches apart. Close enough the towel brushes him. I secure it tighter around my naked body. The fall jarred the one wrapped around my head, and it’s about to slide off, so I reach up and pull it down, shaking out my hair. The wet strands fall past my shoulders. I don’t even want to think about how I look right now, not that my thoughts are anywhere close to coherent at the moment. Not with this sexy man so close his body warmth is raising my temperature—fast.

Then I register his appearance. If someone told me an athletic apparel company was doing a photoshoot on Candy Cane Key and AJ was the model, I wouldn’t doubt it. His face is flushed, eyes bright with energy, and the light stubble across his cheeks and jaw beg for my touch.

A sheen of perspiration glows on his skin, and sweat darkens his light blue shirt. He opens his mouth as if he is going to speak but then snaps it closed without uttering a word. He shakes his head. Not a vigorous movement. In fact, it’s barely noticeable. Likely, I would have missed it if he wasn’t so close. And staring directly at me.

My tongue darts out to wet my lips, and his gaze falls to my mouth. His eyes narrow, and it might be my imagination, but he leans in, and I tilt my head up.

He’s going to kiss me. I feel it in my bones. But the boat rocks on a wave and interrupts the moment. As if coming to his senses, he releases my shoulders and steps back. Cool air rushed to fill the gap, and I shiver.

Buy Now or Read FREE with KindleUnlimited!

About Ellen Brooks

Ellen Brooks believes in love at first sight, eating cake for breakfast, and staying up way too late.

She’s a classically trained pastry chef who now spends her days whipping up sexy and satisfying modern day love stories.

When she’s not dreaming up her next characters, or plotting a happily ever after, you’ll find her absorbed in a book, relaxing into shavasana, or downing a caffè americano. Oh, and belting out the lyrics to Hamilton.

Ellen lives in the desert southwest where she still *occasionally bakes a batch of cookies for her real-life hero and two girls.

*code for not often enough, if you ask them

Follow: Website | Facebook | TikTok | Instagram | Goodreads | Bookbub | Amazon | Newsletter | Pinterest

This promotional event is brought to you by Indie Pen PR.

Taken, I’m bound inside the home of a dangerous man. He may have saved me from his sadistic cousin, but it seems I’ve only traded one monster for another. Fans of The Five Families series by Jill Ramsower will love Violent Ascension by Giorgia Blake, a steamy, enemies-to-lovers, forced marriage, mafia romance.

Buy Now!

Blurb

I’m a Rising Star. A boss. A Real One.

Yet I’m here. Taken and bound inside the home of Alessandro Parisi.

A dangerous man who holds my life and my secrets close to the chest.

He has all the answers but refuses to answer any of my questions.

All he’s told me is that I’m his and the key to his ascension.

He saved me from his sadistic cousin; but it seems I just traded one monster for another.

The first one stalked and taunted me until I was convinced death was around every corner.

This one orders me to cooperate, bend to his touch, and obey.

Too bad obedience isn’t in my nature and sacrifice is my birthright.

We probably won’t make it out of this blood war alive…The likelihood of my heart surviving Alessandro is even less.

Violent Ascension is the first book in the Made Men of Chicago Collection, and can be read as a standalone.It is a forced marriage mafia romance with themes of organized crime, violence, and BDSM. If this is your type of romance, the happily ever after will knock your socks off!

Please read responsibly!

Add to Goodreads Here!

Excerpt

Copyright 2023 Giorgia Blake

“Why would your sick cousin, if he does indeed exist, want anything to do with me? He doesn’t even know me but I’m supposed to believe  he had some plot to kidnap and torture me? Why would he do that? WHY THE FUCK AM I HERE?!”

 I scream the latter with as much effort as my weakened voice can carry and tears stream uncontrollably down my face.

I’m making a spectacle of myself. Something my proud Creole mother taught me never to do.  I can imagine her strong posture and head held high while reading the letter my father left for her. She was pregnant and alone. Then she found out she was tied to the mafia and its dangerous liaisons. I know she never cowered. Chrisette Augustin never cowered. But my response to Parisi can’t be helped. I’m not as strong as my mother. I never was.

I’m scared shitless.

Parisi leans back on his haunches to examine me. Yet again, I’m the specimen under his microscope. I feel naked inside and out when he fixes his eyes on me and I hate it. He’s digging out all the parts of myself that I hide away from the world. He ogles them to feed a sick fetish. Refusing to be his meal. I turn away and look at the wall, but he simply reaches out and draws my face back to him.

“Look at me Isabella.” His voice is quiet and surprisingly tender; like he’s coaxing a wild and wounded animal out of a trap. Chained to his floor, that’s exactly how I feel. He strokes an errant strand of my curly hair behind my ear and levels me with his attention.

“You will marry me, because that’s the only way to save your life and the lives of many others. You will sacrifice your freedom, to ensure blood doesn’t run down Chicago’s streets. I know you don’t understand any of that now, but you will as you begin to understand Cosa Nostra and your father’s place inside it. You are the key to everything, because he who has you, has your father in the palm of his hand. I can’t let Leonardo have that kind of power.  You are just going to have to trust me from this moment on because life as you knew it is over. As a matter of fact, the life you were living was always temporary. At some point, your debt as Matteo’s daughter had to  come due. The sooner you accept that; the happier you will be.”

Something inside of me registers what he’s saying as fact. It doesn’t make any logical sense, but I know whether it’s his fault or not, my life as I knew it really is over and I need a release.

So, I slap him.

I slap him like my Creole mother used to slap me whenever my mouth wrote a check my butt couldn’t cash. Parisi’s head jerks to the side and I immediately regret my action. I contract my body to make myself smaller, but I don’t take my eyes off of him.

He’s eerily calm and that scares me more than the rage I thought was sure to come. He reaches into his pocket and takes out a key to unshackle my ankles. I dart my eyes to the cell door, trying to estimate how far I can go before he catches me and his eyes arrest me.

I’m not going anywhere.

Buy Now!

About Giorgia Blake

I’m a contemporary romance author dedicated to the dangerously delicious world of Mafia Romance. Every story will dare you to believe in the power of love, even when there doesn’t seem to be one sane reason to do so!

My stories feature sexy alphas and smart heroines finding love in the most breath stealing of circumstances. If someone can’t die at any moment–it’s not a Giorgia Blake Romance!

Every plot is full of heat, suspense, and steamy passion that would make the Karma Sutra blush.

So come join me on this wild ride…you won’t regret it!

Follow: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | BookBub | Newsletter | Amazon

This promotional event is brought to you by Indie Pen PR.

When the new theater director wants to shake up the routine, Candy Cane Key’s mayor has some issues to take up with her. Readers who love Jessa Kane and Jamie Schlosser will enjoy Tidal Ides by Layne Daniels, a steamy, small town, enemies-to-lovers, beach romance.

Buy Now or Read FREE with KindleUnlimited!

Blurb

My job as mayor of the most Christmasy town South of the North Pole comes with enough perks to overlook the headaches of municipal leadership. Most of the time. The new owner of Candy Cane Key’s Community Playhouse is putting that theory to the test.

Austie Norman, with her holly berry red lips and evergreen eyes, fits in perfectly. If I ignore the way she’s messing with tradition and making changes. And if I ignore the way she blazes past tradition and brings fresh energy to town. Definitely if I ignore the way she makes my heart trip over itself every time we argue about her plans to produce an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Ides of March. We can’t do Shakespeare when we’re meant to be doing Seuss. This is Candy Cane Key and people have certain expectations when they come here.

I can ignore all of that to fall in love. I just need to find a way to make Austie ignore all the ways I drive her crazy so she falls in love with me, too.

The MAN OF THE MONTH CLUB is a steamy small-town collection featuring a new hottie (or two!) every month. In 2023, escape to Candy Cane Key, Florida, and celebrate ALL the holidays with your favorite group of romance authors and their delicious men. Can’t wait to see you there!

Buy Now or Read FREE with KindleUnlimited!

Add to Goodreads Here!

About Layne Daniels

Layne is a USA Today Bestselling Author, a long time reader of steamy romance, and began writing her own stories in December of 2020. Her favorite books to read are about Daddy Doms, strong alpha men who fall in love with fierce women, and sex positive living. When she’s not writing, she’s wrangling her family of jocks into some semblance of chill, running a business, getting ALL the tattoos, and living her love-at-first-sight fairytale with Mr. Mine.

Follow: Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Bookbub | Amazon | Newsletter | Reader Group

This promotional event is brought to you by Indie Pen PR.

FAKING IT WITH THE GRUMP

Kate O’Keeffe

Release Date: March 14

He’s grumpy, boring, and thinks it’s okay to wear a suit and tie to a small town bar full of lumberjacks. But when I kiss him? Let’s just say I wasn’t expecting THAT.

Harper
It’s one thing to be dumped by the huge Hollywood star you thought you were going to marry. It’s quite another to move back to the small town you’re both from.

As a booby prize for being shown the door by Dex Ryder, everyone is trying to set me up with their son, their nephew, or their long-lost cousin’s gardener. Either that or they’re throwing me pitying looks that say, “You’re a big loser.”

I’m not going to put up with their patronizing sympathy anymore.

So, when I spot new-guy-in-town Christopher Young, I set out to make him mine. Or you know, pretend to make him mine. I’m still in a horrible funk over Dex, and Christopher is an uptight grump. Not exactly my type.

The fact that despite appearances, he’s gorgeous and doing weird things to my blood pressure doesn’t mean a thing.

Really.

Not. A. Thing.

Christopher
Hunter’s Creek, population next to nothing, is the reason I work all the time. I’m solely focused on buying the town’s lumber mill so I can go back to NYC and get my big promotion. This small town is a means to an end. Nothing more.

That is until the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen superglues her lips to mine in an unexpected and very public way. She’s not the kind of woman I usually go for with her boho dress and ankle boots, but that kiss…

I’m disappointed when she comes up for air and tells me it’s all for show. But if Harper Cole wants me to be her fake boyfriend while I’m here in town, who am I to turn her down? Being attached to a local might ingratiate me to the townsfolk and make my job that much the easier.

After all, dating Harper can only be make believe. Not when my entire future is at stake.

Faking It With The Grump is a grumpy-sunshine, opposites attract, fake relationship romance set in the small town of Hunter’s Creek, Washington. It’s the first book in the new Second Chance Café series. Each book follows a different sister’s love story and can be read as a standalone novel or as part of a series.

Buy Link:

https://books2read.com/FakingWithGrump

Meet Kate O’Keeffe:

Kate O’Keeffe is a USA TODAY bestselling and award-winning author who writes exactly what she loves to read: laugh-out-loud romantic comedies with swoon-worthy heroes and gorgeous feel-good happily ever afters. She lives and loves in beautiful Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand with her family and two scruffy but loveable dogs.

When she’s not penning her latest story, Kate can be found hiking up hills (slowly), traveling to different countries around the globe (back when we used to be able to do that), and eating chocolate. A lot of it.

Right now, Kate is working on the fourth and final title in her hugely popular laugh-out-loud rom com series, It’s Complicated. Never Fall for Your One that Got Away is out on July 30th. Find out more here.

Connect with Kate O’Keeffe:

linktr.ee/kate.okeeffe