Bitter Sweet Heart, an angsty and sizzling, forbidden age gap New Adult romance from New York Times bestselling author Helena Hunting writing as H. Hunting is coming September 1st, and we have the sinfully hot cover!
From the outside looking in, I live a charmed life: hockey legend for a father, my own promising future in the league, a great family, awesome friends. It’s not untrue, but it’s not quite that simple either. My dad’s advice has always been to make hockey my number-one priority—at least until I make it to the pros. So, going into my senior year of college, I have a plan. I’ll put in the effort required to pass my classes, play hockey like my life depends on it, and avoid relationships. All I have to do is stay focused on the end game, and I’ll walk away with a degree and into a career in the NHL. It should be easy.
But when a woman literally floats into my dock, just before summer ends and my senior year begins, I can’t resist one last hookup. What harm could a one-night stand do? It’s not like we even exchanged numbers.
Everything is fine until I run into her on campus. It’s a big school. I should be able to avoid her. Except she happens to be in my class. And she’s not a student. She’s my professor.
NYT and USA Today bestselling author, Helena Hunting, writing as H. Hunting, lives on the outskirts of Toronto with her incredibly tolerant family and two moderately intolerant cats. She started her writing career with new adult angsty romance and branched out in sports romance and romantic comedies that will make you laugh and swoon. But sometimes she likes to serve up a little heartache on the way to the happily ever after.
An age-gap, billionaire romance where secrets and revenge are embraced in a dangerous tango…
It began with lies. So many lies.
I was born unwanted. In pain. Addicted. A crack baby.
I was given a second chance, but I want a third. A fresh start—out from under my parents’ control. I was on my way to building my new life when my neighbor crashed into it, wrecking all my plans.
Heir to his family fortune, Henry Ward III, returned to Texas with a plan of his own. With burdens as heavy as my own secrets, he needed a distraction.
And with a man like him—who could own the boardroom and my body with one gruff gaze from his intense dark eyes—I was down for a distraction too.
Little did we know, his burdens and my secrets are so heavily entwined, there’s no way to untangle them.
I’m a Montgomery.
He’s a Ward.
We might as well be the Capulets and Montagues. Our connection is that rife with drama. That forbidden.
That dangerous.
When the past repeats itself, a distraction is the last thing we need. We need a lifeline as much as we need each other. The vicious cycle has to stop.
It’s life and death.
Review :
4 stars
****
This was a good book and it got me out of a book funk as an added bonus! Betrayed Love is Quinn and Henry's story. Quinn is a young woman who has recently discovered that she was the daughter of a drug addict and that her parent's adoption of her was not exactly legal. Now she's trying to figure out who she is, without being under her parent's thumb, and to get to know her new biological brother and extended family in the Montgomerys. Henry is her neighbor in her new/first apartment. He just moved to town to take over his terrible father's company and also has to help with his addict sister's four year old daughter. Quinn and Henry meet when his moving truck hit's her car on the day they both moved into the apartment. They have an instant attraction and agree to help each other through all the drama going on in their personal lives by being each other's distraction. Of course that turns into much more as love develops. Together, they deal with lots of family drama and more, but they come out together stronger for it.
This was an enjoyable story. I really liked Quinn and Henry. They were a good couple. Henry's neice Nora was an adorable addition to the story as their relationship developed as well. Quinn was sweet and Henry was a great guy who adored her. This story had a good balance of suspense and romance too.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was great catching up with the Montgomerys and Quinn and Henry's story was a good addition to this series. I am sad to see the series end but look foward to whatever Ms. Asher comes up with next.
When the new general manager of the Chicago Rebels tasks Tara Becker with faking it with one of his players to help clean up the naughty jock's act, she's all over it. She'll make that misbehaving hunk of muscle look good and get her dream guy into the bargain.
Only the path from fake to real is riddled with thorns . . .
New Rebels GM Hale Fitzpatrick thinks ditzy blonde and wannabe WAG Tara is the perfect solution to his PR problem - until she isn't. Soon Fitz realizes that maybe he doesn't have control of the strings after all . . . especially when he starts to fall for his pretty little puppet.
A fake relationship hockey romance - with a twist!
This was an okay book for me. Jock Wanted is Tara and Hale's story. Tara is a friend of the other Wags of the Rebel's pro hockey team. She briefly dated a player in the past and has made no secret of the fact that she wanted to date and marry a player. She is often around the team's get togethers too. Hale is the new GM of the team. When one of the players has a bad reputation, the team decides to hire Tara to pretend to be his girlfriend to keep him from getting into trouble with the press. But Hale and Tara are the ones that have a connection, only they have to keep it under wraps. Their relationship develops into love and they have to navigate themselves through this situation to come out together stronger in the end.
This story was not bad, but it wasn't my favorite in this series. I found it a little too long and too slow in parts. Hale and Tara were extremely lacking in chemistry. I did think the story was a bit too complicated, convoluted and overly angsty for my taste. The fact that Tara pretended to be an air head and a gold digger, even though she felt like she had reason to do it, really did not sit well with me. It was very overly harped on throughout the story. But I did like Tara and felt bad for her. I liked her and Hale together by the end, despite their lack of chemistry. I was entertained by the story by the end, as well, but it was not my favorite.
Overall, this was not my favorite book in the series, but still worth reading. Tara and Hale were a different and interesting couple. I was glad that they got their HEA together. I look forward to more from this series and from Ms. Meader in the future.
The Friendship Pact by Jill Shalvis is now available!
New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis returns to Sunrise Cove with a powerful, moving story about a young woman on a quest to find the truth about her father who learns the meaning of true love along the way.
Alone in the world, Tae Holmes and her mother April pretty much raised each other, but as Tae starts asking questions about the father she's never met, April, for the first time in her life, goes silent. To make matters worse, Tae is dangerously close to broke and just manages to avoid financial meltdown when she lands a shiny new contract with an adventure company for athletes with disabilities and wounded warriors.
Her first big fundraiser event falls flat, but what starts out as a terrible, horrible, no-good night turns into something else entirely when Tae finds herself face-to-face with Riggs Copeland. She hasn't seen the former Marine since their brief fling in high school, and while still intensely drawn to him, she likes her past burned and buried, thank you very much. Hence their friendship pact.
But when April oddly refuses to help Tae track down her father, it's Riggs who unexpectedly comes to her aid. On a hunt to unlock the past, the two of them find themselves on a wild ride and learn a shocking truth, while also reluctantly bonding in a way neither had seen coming. Now Tae must decide whether she's going to choose love ... or walk away from her own happiness.
This was a pretty good book, but quite as good as some of the others. The Friendship Pact is Riggs and Tae's book. In high school, Rigg's and Tae had a fleeting romantic moment that never developed into anything more before they graduated. Now Rigg's is home visiting his brother from his military career. Tae is an event planner working with Rigg's brother's company, where he is helping out while on leave. They give into lingering feelings between them, but both are afraid to get too close with Rigg's leaving soon. But the heart wants what it wants and they both get the HEA they need.
I liked this story in general, but found it a little slow moving. I didn't really feel the love between the couple or feel like their relationship ever quite got there for me. I liked Riggs and Tae but I didn't love the way their relationship developed or feel any chemistry between them. Overall, I did think the story was interesting, as well as the couple's past history. Still, this was not my favorite book by Ms. Shalvis. I am still a fan though and look forward to her books in the future.
Delighted, an all-new captivating Masters and Mercenaries novella from New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake and 1,001 Dark Nights, is available now!
Brian “Boomer” Ward believes in sheltering strays. After all, the men and women of McKay-Taggart made him family when he had none. So when the kid next door needs help one night, he thinks nothing of protecting her until her mom gets home. But when he meets Daphne Carlton, the thoughts hit him hard. She’s stunning and hardworking and obviously in need of someone to put her first. It doesn’t hurt that she’s as sweet as the cupcakes she bakes.
Daphne Carlton’s life revolves around two things—her kid and her business. Daphne’s Delights is her dream—to take the recipes of her childhood and share them with the world. Her daughter, Lou, is the best kid she could have hoped for. Lou’s got a genius-level intelligence and a heart of gold. But she also has two grandparents who control her access to private school and the fortune her father left behind. They’re impossible to please, and Daphne worries that one wrong move on her part could cost her daughter the life she deserves.
As Daphne and Boomer find themselves getting closer, outside forces put pressure on the new couple. But if they make it through the storm, love will just be the icing on the cake because family is the real prize.
**Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you'll enjoy each one as much as we do.**
“It was a rough day. I could use a hug, if you don’t mind,” she said, trying to hold back tears. “The oven is going to die soon, and I don’t have the money to fix it, and I’m going to fail.” His arms came around her, and she breathed him in. He smelled clean and crisp, like a spring wind. Her brain knew it had to be soap, but she associated the smell with him, and it soothed her. “It’s okay.” He rocked her a little. “I’ve got a friend who is good with appliances. I can ask her to look at it. Don’t worry, Daph. It’s going to be all right. Lou’s good here. I promise. Lou’s good, and you’re going to be okay. I can’t let you go under or Big Tag would get mad at me. He really likes lemon cupcakes.” They stood there for a moment, his warmth melting some of the ice that had built up over the last several years. She tilted her head up, and that gorgeous man was staring down at her like he could eat her up, and warm was no longer the word she would use. Hot. Desire flooded her system like a flash fire, and she wanted nothing more than to go up on her toes and kiss those magnificent lips of his. Those lips belonged to another woman, and that woman was in the building. What the hell was she thinking? He was a nice man. He didn’t want to kiss her. He was being kind. She stepped back, wiping her eyes. “Thank you, Boomer. And if you do have someone who can take a look at the oven, I would so appreciate it. You get all the cupcakes. What kind does MaeBe like? Would she be okay with the hugging thing?” He frowned, like he was trying to figure something out. “I hug Mae a lot. At least I used to. She’s not so huggy these days. She likes anything chocolate.” Boomer had looked sad when he’d said Mae didn’t hug him much anymore. She hated the thought of this big cuddly god of a man being in a cold relationship, but she wasn’t going to be the reason they broke up. “Then I will make her something
chocolate, and the lemon ones for your boss,” Daphne promised. She had to get these crazy urges under control or she would need to find Lou another place to stay, and she got the feeling Lou would object. “So where is the lounge? Or the gulag. That one kind of scares me.” “Kala? Oh, that proves you have excellent instincts.” Boomer turned to walk back down the hall. Those heads were back up above their cubicle walls, and she also noticed the doors to a whole bunch of offices were open. “Is there a reason everyone is watching us?” She hurried down the hall to catch up with him. “Because they’re all nosy bastards, and I can’t even complain,” Boomer replied. “I was a nosy bastard, too. We’re a weird family, and everyone is always in everyone else’s business, but it’s not a bad thing. The kind of people who would take advantage get weeded out very quickly around here. Big Tag takes care of them, and there’s usually a lawsuit, but that’s what Mitch is for. Hey, we also have a criminal defense attorney on call. Her name is Lea, and she’s really scary. Now if she had been working the reception desk when we invaded, we might have had trouble.” She loved listening to him talk. His voice was deep, but every word was tinged with the humor he seemed to have for the world around him. The positive light he exuded was always there in his words. If only the man weren’t attached… She shoved aside the thought because he was totally out of her league. They weren’t even playing the same game. But maybe they could be friends.
Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/34UVtdS
Review:
4 stars
This was a good read. This is a novella from the Masters and Mercenaries series and is Boomer's book. Boomer meets Daphne, his next door neighbor, who is a single mom having some security troubles. He helps keep her and her daughter safe, they become friends and fall for each other.
This was a sweet, short story for Boomer. I would have loved a longer book for him, as he's been a favorite character of mine, but this was still very good. He was such a sweet, wholesome, good guy. He deserved the good, easy HEA he got. Daphne was a great match for him. Also, I loved Daphne's daughter, Lou, seeing her come into her own and become good friends with the Taggart girls. I loved the epilogue sooo much. It was the best epilogue ever. I can not wait for the future of this series!
Overall, this was a fun, sweet read. I was glad to see Boomer happy and settled. I love this series so much and I can not wait to see what Ms. Blake comes up with next!
About Lexi Blake
New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband and three kids. Since starting her publishing journey in 2010, she’s sold over
three million copies of her books. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance that she found success. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes in happy endings.
For More information about 1,001 Dark Nights, visit
Facebook: https://bit.ly/3ONzTtZ Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rTZdo3 Website: https://bit.ly/2AIIr3A Stay up to date on all 1001 Dark Nights releases, join their mailing list today! https://bit.ly/2zgxaHu
If they make it through the storm, love will just be the icing on the cake…
Delighted, an all-new spicy and intriguing novella set in the Masters and Mercenaries world from New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake and 1,001 Dark Nights, is available now!
Brian “Boomer” Ward believes in sheltering strays. After all, the men and women of McKay-Taggart made him family when he had none. So when the kid next door needs help one night, he thinks nothing of protecting her until her mom gets home. But when he meets Daphne Carlton, the thoughts hit him hard. She’s stunning and hardworking and obviously in need of someone to put her first. It doesn’t hurt that she’s as sweet as the cupcakes she bakes.
Daphne Carlton’s life revolves around two things—her kid and her business. Daphne’s Delights is her dream—to take the recipes of her childhood and share them with the world. Her daughter, Lou, is the best kid she could have hoped for. Lou’s got a genius-level intelligence and a heart of gold. But she also has two grandparents who control her access to private school and the fortune her father left behind. They’re impossible to please, and Daphne worries that one wrong move on her part could cost her daughter the life she deserves.
As Daphne and Boomer find themselves getting closer, outside forces put pressure on the new couple. But if they make it through the storm, love will just be the icing on the cake because family is the real prize.
**Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you'll enjoy each one as much as we do.**
Review:4 stars****This was a good read. This is a novella from the Masters and Mercenaries series and is Boomer's book. Boomer meets Daphne, his next door neighbor, who is a single mom having some security troubles. He helps keep her and her daughter safe, they become friends and fall for each other.
This was a sweet, short story for Boomer. I would have loved a longer book for him, as he's been a favorite character of mine, but this was still very good. He was such a sweet, wholesome, good guy. He deserved the good, easy HEA he got. Daphne was a great match for him. Also, I loved Daphne's daughter, Lou, seeing her come into her own and become good friends with the Taggart girls. I loved the epilogue sooo much. It was the best epilogue ever. I can not wait for the future of this series!
Overall, this was a fun, sweet read. I was glad to see Boomer happy and settled. I love this series so much and I can not wait to see what Ms. Blake comes up with next!
About Lexi Blake
New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband and three kids. Since starting her publishing journey in 2010, she’s sold over
three million copies of her books. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance that she found success. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes in happy endings.
For More information about 1,001 Dark Nights, visit
Facebook: https://bit.ly/3ONzTtZ Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rTZdo3 Website: https://bit.ly/2AIIr3A Stay up to date on all 1001 Dark Nights releases, join their mailing list today! https://bit.ly/2zgxaHu
