Heart of Thorns by S. Massery and S.J. Sylvis is now live!
As the number one quarterback in college football, my only dream is to make it to pro.
My richer-than-sin parents have a different goal.
Their plan is for me to score a trophy wife whose trust fund can hold its own against mine, then join the family empire after graduation. The latter half of that plan means giving up my dream of professional football. The first part means sitting through excruciating dates with girls who already have their wedding vows written.
In an attempt to free myself from one of my perpetual nightmares, I announce that I’m already in a serious, long-term relationship.
Which is a great excuse to get out of a date–if it were true.
To save the lie, I talk the intriguing campus black cat, Briar Hart, into pretending to be my girlfriend. She has a prickly heart, and she’s made it clear that she hates jocks.
But after I offer her something she can’t refuse, we’re suddenly faking our happily-ever-after to everyone.
If I’m not careful, I may start to believe it too.
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S. Massery is a dark romance author who loves injecting a good dose of suspense into her stories. She lives in Western Massachusetts with her dog, Alice.
Before adventuring into the world of writing, she went to college in Boston and held a wide variety of jobs–including working on a dude ranch in Wyoming (a personal highlight). She has a love affair with coffee and chocolate. When S. Massery isn’t writing, she can be found devouring books, playing outside with her dog, or trying to make people smile.
S.J. Sylvis is an Amazon top 50 and USA Today bestselling author who is best known for her new adult romances. She currently resides in Arizona with her husband, two small kiddos, and pets! She is obsessed with coffee, becomes easily attached to fictional characters, and spends most of her evenings buried in a book!
Charming and seductive. Cold-blooded and merciless. Kenzo Mori, the wrathful king of the Mori Mafia family, is a sinfully beautiful devil with a heart of ice.
He’s an enemy who’s had a target on my back for years.
Now, he’s my new husband.
Our marriage of inconvenience is supposed to end the violence between the Bratva and the Yakuza.
Little does he know, the realwar has only just begun.
Kenzo thinks I belong to him.
I think he’d better sleep with one eye open.
But while the enemy in my bed might be slowly dominating my nights and darkest fantasies, my heart is a battle he’ll never win.
They say all’s fair in love and war.
And ours has just begun.
Emperor of Wrath is a standalone dark mafia romance with a smart, untamable heroine, and an ultra possessive psycho hero with “look at her and I’ll unalive you” energy. Readers are STRONGLY advised to read the TW inside. No cliffhanger; HEA included.
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A reader first and foremost, Jagger Cole cut his romance writing teeth penning various fan-fiction stories years ago. After deciding to hang up his writing boots, Jagger worked in advertising pretending to be Don Draper. It worked enough to convince a woman way out of his league to marry him, though, which is a total win.
Now, Dad to two little princesses and King to a Queen, Jagger is thrilled to be back at the keyboard.
When not writing or reading romance books, he can be found woodworking, enjoying good whiskey, and grilling outside–rain or shine.
Jagger Cole has revealed the gorgeous cover for Emperor of Wrath!
Releasing: August 29, 2024
Cover Design: Plan 9 Book Design
Photographer: Michelle Lancaster
To stop a war, I’m forced to marry a monster.
Charming and seductive. Cold-blooded and merciless. Kenzo Mori, the wrathful king of the Mori Mafia family, is a sinfully beautiful devil with a heart of ice.
He’s my nemesis; an enemy who’s had a target on my back for years.
Now, he’s my new husband.
Our marriage of inconvenience is supposed to end the violence between the Bratva and the Yakuza.
Little does he know, the realwar has only just begun.
Kenzo thinks I belong to him.
I think he’d better sleep with one eye open.
But while the enemy in my bed might be slowly dominating my nights and darkest fantasies, my heart is a battle he’ll never win.
They say all’s fair in love and war.
And ours has just begun.
Emperor of Wrath is a standalone dark mafia romance with a smart, untamable heroine, and an ultra possessive psycho hero with “look at her and I’ll unalive you” energy. Readers are STRONGLY advised to read the TW inside. No cliffhanger; HEA included.
A reader first and foremost, Jagger Cole cut his romance writing teeth penning various fan-fiction stories years ago. After deciding to hang up his writing boots, Jagger worked in advertising pretending to be Don Draper. It worked enough to convince a woman way out of his league to marry him, though, which is a total win.
Now, Dad to two little princesses and King to a Queen, Jagger is thrilled to be back at the keyboard.
When not writing or reading romance books, he can be found woodworking, enjoying good whiskey, and grilling outside–rain or shine.
A grouchy mafia hitman put it there and I barely know him.
I know how that sounds but let me explain…
Everyone knows Carmine ‘Cale’ Connelly is the second in command to his terrifying uncle, head of the Amato crime family. A decade older and formerly one of my brother’s best friends, Cale has always been a man to steer clear of. The fact that he’s a towering monument of muscled sin and piercing eyes needs to be ignored.
Anyway, I haven’t seen much of Cale in years. He’s practically a stranger by now. I had no reason to change that.
All I cared about was finding a way to save my beloved animal sanctuary. This wasn’t easy, especially when my family and I were barely on speaking terms after I ditched wedding plans to the horrid son of my father’s business partner.
When Cale suggested we could help each other, I thought he was kidding.
But Cale was looking for a way out of a marriage arrangement.
Meanwhile, I needed enough cash to save my rescue ranch.
All we had to do was tie the knot, convince everyone that we’re in love and hope that Cale’s mafia boss uncle doesn’t catch on.
Just a few simple lies, right?
But something happened while we were pretending.
Our arguments turned flirtatious. Our kisses became passionate.
And Cale Connelly turned out to be far more than a fearsome enigma.
Now this little game of make believe we’ve been playing is the biggest lie of all.
And I’m in WAY over my head.
About the Author:
Cora Brent was born in a cold climate and escaped as soon as it was legally possible. Now, she lives in the desert with her husband, two kids and a prickly pear cactus she has affectionately named ‘Spot’. Cora’s closet is filled with boxes of unfinished stories that date back her 1980’s childhood and all her life she has dreamed of being an author. Amazingly, she is now a New York Times and USA Today bestselling writer of contemporary romance and begs not to be awakened from this dream.
The gorgeous CEO of Brewer Air is my boss and, thanks to a bet, my new husband for six months.
Why? Because I begged.
I have a grandmother to support, a stack of bills higher than my five-foot frame, and as a cherry on top, I need to find a new place to live. Soon.
Sure, Jason Brewer’s bright green eyes and chiseled jawline steal my breath. His smirk makes me weak. The former military hero’s protective nature is as sexy as watching him control a boardroom or fly a plane.
But none of that matters. I’m desperate—not foolish. I know forever-level commitments aren’t real. This is simply a business transaction with a billionaire.
It’s too bad we didn’t consider all contingencies.
Our first kiss was to seal the deal. The second was in front of an Elvis impersonator. The third kiss led to a honeymoon that was so hot it burned into my memory.
I tell myself it’s okay because there’s an arrangement in place. It’s a—very—enjoyable means to a much-needed end. There’s nothing to worry about.
Except there is …
Jason is determined to prove that we could be more. When he proposes a new arrangement, it changes everything in ways I never saw coming.
From USA Today and Amazon Charts bestselling author Adriana Locke comes a new age-gap workplace romance featuring a former military hero who falls first and hard for his heroine. You will swoon over this spicy standalone romance.
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USA Today and Amazon Charts Bestselling author, Adriana Locke, writes contemporary romances about the two things she knows best—big families and small towns. Her stories are about ordinary people finding extraordinary love with the perfect combination of heart, heat, and humor.
She loves connecting with readers, fall weather, football, reading alpha heroes, everything pumpkin, and pretending to garden.
Hailing from a tiny town in the Midwest, Adriana spends her free time with her high school sweetheart (who she married over twenty years ago) and their four sons (who truly are her best work). Her kitchen may be a perpetual disaster, and if all else fails, there is always pizza.
The One I Stood Beside by Piper Rayne is now live!
It’s the classic story—best friends since childhood agree to a fake marriage, thinking they can pretend to love each other without their relationship changing.
Jude would do anything for me. He’s stood by my side since we were six, and I’ve done the same for him.
When my father dies, leaving our family farm drowning in debt and on the brink of being auctioned, I’m not surprised Jude steps in to help. I just never dreamed he’d fall to bended knee and devise a plan for us to fool everyone into thinking there’s more than a lifelong friendship between us.
Soon, I’m moving into his house, we’re planning a wedding on his family’s ranch, and we discover a new side to our relationship. I keep reminding myself it’s not real—it’s only to secure a loan to save the farm.
I’ve secretly loved Jude all my life, and now that I know how good we are together, I’m not sure we can return to being just friends.
Download today on Amazon, Apple Books, Audible, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and Kobo!
Piper Rayne is a USA Today Bestselling Author duo who write “heartwarming humor with a side of sizzle” about families, whether that be blood or found. They both have e-readers full of one-clickable books, they’re married to husbands who drive them to drink, and they’re both chauffeurs to their kids. Most of all, they love hot heroes and quirky heroines who make them laugh, and they hope you do, too!
Bright Lights & Summer Nights by Kat Singleton is now live!
Summer nights can be full of surprises.
As a single, unemployed, and unapologetic twenty-five year old mess, I came to the Hamptons this summer for one reason—to focus on myself and work out my quarter-life crisis. I didn’t come here planning to sneak into a private party and meet a handsome stranger.
I definitely didn’t come here expecting for that stranger to be Preston Rhodes—billionaire and superstar quarterback for the Manhattan Mambas.
And that’s not even the crazy part.
He asked me to be his pretend girlfriend for a week while his family is in town. He needed a date for his sister’s wedding, and I’d never turn down the opportunity to be spoiled by a rich man.
The only thing is, Preston’s not very good at pretending.
Now instead of discovering myself, I’m spending the week discovering what life would be like with him. Instead of focusing on me, I’m focusing on how he looks at me, how he touches me, how he wants me.
But now that neither one of us is faking it, I only hope that we can hold on to what we have through the bright lights and summer nights.
Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited
Kat Singleton is an Amazon top 5 bestselling author best known for writing Black Ties and White Lies. She loves writing elite banter and angst mixed with a heavy dose of spice. Kat strives to write an authentically raw love story for her characters and feels that no book is complete without some emotional turmoil before a happily ever after.
She lives in Kansas with her husband, her two kids, and her two doodles. In her spare time, you can find her surviving off iced coffee and sneaking in a few pages of her current read.
It’s not every day you ask your older brother’s teammate to be your fake boyfriend. But desperate times call for gorgeous, impulsive measures.
Miles Garrett is a pro basketball player with a heartstopping smile and infamous cocky charm.
But to me, he’s always been more than a celebrity. Miles is the guy who puts friends and family first…and my college crush.
When my sorority sister decides to bring my ex to our reunion, I need a plus-one who can have my back and save my pride. Asking Miles is the perfect solution.
Until he raises the stakes for both of us.
He says he’s only playing to win. He’ll be the best fake boyfriend I’ve ever had.
But his gaze hunts mine across a crowded room. He protects me with a fierceness that steals my breath. Our just-for-show kisses ignite a wildfire inside me.
I’m fighting feelings that have been simmering for years. Soon our pretend relationship starts feeling dangerously legit…
Because it’s hard to fake what’s always been real.
Download today on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and Kobo!
We are so excited to share the cover for the upcoming Halloween anthology, Once Upon a Halloween Night. We’ve got eight brand-new, sexy novellas just waiting for you to sink your teeth into. Keep reading for more details.
Congratulations!
You’ve been invited to attend the exclusive Once Upon A Halloween Night bash.
This year, join us in New Orleans Warehouse District on Halloween Night for an evening of fun, costumes and… romance?
Wait. What?
That’s right.
The Indie Pen PR and Beyond the Bookshelf Publishing is proud to host Lauren Helms, Aubree Valentine, Kate Stacy, Mel Walker, Susan Renee, Kartina Marie, Courtney W. Dixon, and Louise Lennox – in this fun Halloween romance anthology.
So, throw on your best costume and get ready to sit back and enjoy eight brand new novellas to celebrate spooky season with a romantic twist.
Lauren Helms is a romance author her nerdy and flirty contemporary words. Lauren has forever been an avid reader from the beginning. After starting a book review website, that catapulted her fully into the book world, she knew that something was missing. While working for a video game strategy guide publisher, she decided to mix what she knew best–video games and romance. She decided to take the plunge and write her first novel, Level Me Up. Several published novels later, Lauren created PR company, Indie Pen PR, to help other authors promote their books.
Lauren lives in Indianapolis, Indiana sharing her love of books and video games with her own Gamer Boy husband and three young kid nerds who will hopefully grow up to share the love of things that united Lauren and her husband on their own happily ever after.
Author of emotionally-gripping, contemporary romance, Kate Stacy’s novels feature sassy heroines, swoony heroes, life, love, friendship, and all the angst. When she’s not writing or spending time with her family and friends in small-town North Carolina, Kate can most likely be found nose deep in her Kindle. She stays up too late, swears too much, and loves too hard.
Katrina Marie lives in the Dallas area with her husband, two children, bonus child, grandchild, and fur babies. She is a lover of all things geeky and nerdy. When she’s not writing you can find her at her children’s sporting events, curled up reading a book, or binge watching her favorite shows.
Courtney W. Dixon loves to write steamy romance, but in each story, she gives her character’s challenges and struggles. She writes m/f and m/m stories within one series to add a variety to her characters. And she writes her characters as having flaws, imperfections, and who don’t always do the right thing. Humans are never perfect, and make a lot of mistakes in their lives. In the end, she tries to help them grow to be better as they achieve their HEAs.
You can find Courtney working in Central Texas with her husband, two boys, and two crazy dogs, none of whom know how to knock on a door while she’s working.
Aubree Valentine began her book world career back in 2016 as a virtual assistant for a friend/author and as a book blogger. While working with authors, PR companies, and fellow bloggers, she fell even more in love with the Indie community and decided to launch her own small scale PR company where she continued to hone her skills as a virtual assistant to several authors and studied the ins and outs of what it takes to help succeed in the industry.
Aubree doesn’t always hang out behind the scenes though and has put her business knowledge to good use for herself as well. Her first book, Take Back My Heart, was released in the fall of 2016, with its follow-up – Come Back to Me launching a year later.
When she’s not working with her favorite clients, you can find her penning fun and flirty stories about all of her imaginary and very smexy alphas. This includes her current and most popular series, Too Hot To Handle.
Aubree has a degree in sarcasm and resides in Pennsylvania. She enjoys reading, chasing after her twins and her three furbabies, cuddling with her husband, and coming up with new project ideas that often involve power tools.
Mel Walker has been writing fiction most of his adult life. Specializing in Short Stories and Contemporary fiction and Romance Novels. A native New Yorker and life-long frustrated NY Mets fan. He loves to write about ordinary people placed in difficult situations, especially as it relates to their closest relationships.
Mel Walker is a rare bird, the male romance author. Specializing in heartfelt small town romance, he enjoys telling compelling romances with all the feels. A native New Yorkers and life-long frustrated NY Mets fan, he enjoys long walks, bike rides and taking in the energy of the city.
Susan Renee wants to live in a world where paint doesn’t smell, Hogwarts is open twenty-four/seven, and everything is covered in glitter. An indie romance author, Susan has written about everything from tacos to tow-trucks, loves writing romantic comedies but also enjoys creating an emotional angsty story from time to time. She lives in Ohio with her husband, kids, two dogs and a cat. Susan holds a Bachelor and Masters Degree in Music Education and a self-awarded Doctorate in Sass and Sarcasm. She enjoys laughing at memes, speaking in GIFs and spending an entire day jumping down the TikTok rabbit hole. When she’s not writing or playing the role of Mom, her favorite activity is doing the Care Bear stare with her closest friends.
Contemporary romance Author Louise Lennox is a hopeful romantic writing steamy romances full of heart and healing.
A Spelman College and Georgetown University graduate, Louise provides women with diverse and meaningful representation in romance novel pages. Not seeing enough women like herself headlining positive love stories, she launched #HappyBlackRomance; a community of readers and writers committed to the creation and sharing of positive romance stories featuring Black heroines.
Louise Lennox plots highlight the joys of Black relationships across the diaspora; pushing readers from all cultural backgrounds to admire them for their strength and downright sexiness. In her novels sparks always fly; the sex amazes; and the characters always leave the world better than they found it through their love.
When she’s not writing, Louise is enjoying her work as a school leader, wife, and mother of the two cutest dragons to ever walk the earth!
To learn more about #HappyBlackRomance and to score a free book or two, check out her website http://www.lovelouiselennox.com.
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