Tag: WWW Wednesday

WWW Wednesday: October 8th, 2025

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that Sam hosts at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here is what I am reading, recently finished, and plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday.

Let me know if you have read or are planning on reading any of these books!!

Happy Reading!

What I am currently reading:

She’s one defiant, forbidden, pain in my as*.
One I can’t touch.

One I can’t train.

But Vivienne is mine. Body. Soul…

And most importantly, her bloodline.

None of them understand how important she is.

But I know.

My sons and I will protect that information – her – to the death to keep it for ourselves.

So, she’ll remain here, under my roof…obeying my rules.

Resisting me at every goddamn opportunity.

Playing her defiant little games with our control.

Until I find my resolve slipping.

I’m cold, calculating.

But I’m a man who finds himself becoming obsessed with her.

And I’m not the only one.

I see the hunger in my son’s eyes.

See the way they react around her.

She won’t be wearing red for us…

Because she won’t be wearing anything at all.

I’ll take her downstairs…and show her exactly who is in control here.

I’ll show her what it’s like to be owned…

Owned is a dark age gap romance. The men in this story are cold, ruthless and intense and if you are sensitive to particular content make sure you check the warnings inside the book before you begin.

What I recently finished reading:

Secrets. Lies. Betrayal.
I’ve done my fair share, risking everything to save her.

My princess…

My Ryth.

Now we’re cornered by those who run the Order.

And we’re at their mercy.

Only one man can get us out.

The man who knows the truth about this place…

Her father.

Deals are made to free us.

Only she doesn’t know everything.

She soon will…

She’ll expect my brothers to be standing outside the gates..

Waiting…

But I don’t think they will.

I’ll be there to pick up the pieces.

I’ll make sure she’s safe.

Our little mouse. Our princess. Our…stepsister.

What I plan on reading Thursday through Sunday:

The Order took something from me… My property. Vivienne. And now she belongs to another man… Macoy Daniel’s. The moment he signed that contract, he signed his own death warrant. With the sons, we track her down. Only when we get there, we find something unexpected. Her…savage and full of fury. We don’t call her wildcat for no reason. I don’t know if I’m saving her from her abductor…or the other way around. All I know is I that want answers… And revenge. I become the man I fought hard to leave behind. The cold, heartless mercenary. I’ll use…I’ll betray…and I’ll lie. Anything to keep her safe. For her we hunt. For her we kill. And when we’re forced by Haelstom Hale for a trade; contract for a life… I do the only thing that savage need to protect her allows… I send Macoy Daniels back to Haelstom Hale… In pieces.

They came…They took…

Now it’s time to destroy them from the inside out.

But first I need to get him back…my son…Colt.

To do that I send the two people I hold close back into The Order.

Colt’s vengeful twin, Carven.

And the woman I’ve fallen for…Vivienne.

As I watch them disappear inside that Hell, I call for war,

forcing every powerful man and woman in the city to choose a side.

Mine…

Or Halestrom Hale’s.

Only when those I love return from that place, they bring back a look of horror.

What Carven tell me sends me reeling.

With our backs against the wall, an unexpected allay rears her head.

Vivienne’s older sister Helene.

She might be more than my way to King.

But she might just give me back my family.

Together, we destroy all we can.

We came for vengeance…and we won’t stop.

Not until we’re together once more.

If there’s anything worth dying for…

it’s love.

Trouble. I hit it with my car… Then I carried her home. Taking care of her wounds with my own dark depravity. Her scars tell a story, burns, cuts…some old…but there are some wounds that are fresh. So fresh they tell a dangerous, intriguing tale . One I’m captivated to learn. When she opened her eyes she didn’t recoil like the others. Instead, she told me her name. Helene… There is something about her. About the way she meets my stare. She’s not afraid of me. Some dangerous part of me wants to keep it that way. Just this once… When Halestrom Hale and the controlling fist clenches around me. I hide her in the only place I know. A place I can control. A place where I can watch her… The Order. When my brothers find out, they are furious. Everything we’ve worked for. All the lies we’ve told. All the sick, depraved things we’ve done. Could be all for nothing. If she tells. So all three of us make sure that she doesn’t whisper a thing. We keep her busy. Every night…and all day long. And pray we make it out alive.

She was a liar. A deceiver. A seductress. And now Helene King is a Daughter of the Order.

Under the guise she was headed for the place where Halestrom Hale held our sister she is forced into a truck.

Only that wasn’t where she was headed.

A new breed of evil rose. One that told us exactly what Hell waited for her.

With the cold, hard bite of steel at my head, my last hope lays in the only man who can help us now.

A loner.

A Commander.

The one we call The Hunter.

He is a ghost. A shadow. A trained, predatory killer with a team of ruthless men at his back.

Violence is all he knows.

I only hope his allegiance of blood is strong enough.

When he saves Helene and the other Daughters, he keeps her for himself.

He heals her. Protects her…

Even from us.

As my brothers and I race to find her, a new alliance forced upon us.

One we never imagined in a million years.

Tobias, Caleb and Nick Banks demand to join forces, alongside the merciless London St James and the killers he calls Sons.

Together we hunt.

We destroy.

And try to survive long enough to uncover the truth.

WWW Wednesday: October 1st, 2025

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that Sam hosts at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here is what I am reading, recently finished, and plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday.

Let me know if you have read or are planning on reading any of these books!!

Happy Reading!

What I am currently reading:

Set in the near future, this hopeful story of survival and resilience follows Wanda—a luminous child born out of a devastating hurricane—as she navigates a rapidly changing world.

Florida is slipping away. As devastating weather patterns and rising sea levels wreak gradual havoc on the state’s infrastructure, a powerful hurricane approaches a small town on the southeastern coast. Kirby Lowe, an electrical line worker, his pregnant wife, Frida, and their two sons, Flip and Lucas, prepare for the worst. When the boys go missing just before the hurricane hits, Kirby heads out into the high winds in search of his children. Left alone, Frida goes into premature labor and gives birth to an unusual child, Wanda, whom she names after the catastrophic storm that ushers her into a society closer to collapse than ever before.

As Florida continues to unravel, Wanda grows. Moving from childhood to adulthood, adapting not only to the changing landscape, but also to the people who stayed behind in a place abandoned by civilization, Wanda loses family, gains community, and ultimately, seeks adventure, love, and purpose in a place remade by nature.

Told in four parts—power, water, light, and time—The Light Pirate mirrors the rhythms of the elements and the sometimes quick, sometimes slow dissolution of the world as we know it. It is a meditation on the changes we would rather not see, the future we would rather not greet, and a call back to the beauty and violence of an untamable wilderness.

Includes a Reading Group Guide.

What I recently finished reading:

Possessing the Secret of Joy is the story of Tashi, a tribal African woman who lives much of her adult life in North America. As a young woman, a misguided loyalty to the customs of her people led her to voluntarily submit to the tsunga’s knife and be genitally mutilated (pharoanoically circumcised). Severely traumatized by this experience, she spends the rest of her life battling madness, trying desperately through psychotherapy – she is treated by disciples of both Freud and C.G. Jung, and even by Jung himself – to regain the ability to recognize her own reality and to feel. It is only with the help of the most unlikely ally she can imagine that she begins to study the mythological “reasons” invented by her ancient ancestors for what was done to her and to millions of other women and girls over thousands of years. As her understanding grows, so does her capacity to encounter her overwhelming grief. Underneath this grief is her glowing anger. Anger propels her to act. Action brings both feeling – life, the ability to exist with awareness in the moment – and death, of which she finds she has completely lost her fear.

While not a sequel to The Color Purple or The Temple of My Familiar, Possessing the Secret of Joy follows the life of a barely-glimpsed character from those books. Combining fact and fiction, communing with the spirits of the living and the dead, Alice Walker in this novel strikes with graceful power at the heart of one of the most controversial issues of our time.

What I plan on reading Thursday through Sunday:

In 18th century France, the choices for a young black woman of modest means are slim.

Véronique Clair loves her parents and their small home in the countryside of Burgundy but dreams of using her talent for sewing and embroidery to make her own way, without having to rely on a man.

When Véronique’s well-meaning parents find her a suitor of elevated station their happiness turns into her despair. Véronique must make the difficult choice between agreeing to an arranged marriage–with its promise of elevated status in society–or embark upon an unpredictable journey across France and into a world she’s never known.

…for a young woman of honor, only the heart can guide the way.

This story is a 19K-word novella.

A determined witch. A rebellious fae. An enemies to lovers romance that will bring a queen’s court to its knees.
He was supposed to kill me. Now I’m his prisoner.

I was supposed to hate him. Now I’m falling in love.

But neither love nor magic can save me. And now time is running out…

When the Queen of the Fae is after you sometimes your best bet is falling in love with the enemy, even when he’s your kidnapper…

Family is everything…

I always knew my father was a cold, heartless bastard.
But the moment he took Elle Castlemaine and her pathetic daughter into our home, barely a month after our mom died, he unleashed something savage inside me.
I didn’t care they lost their home. Didn’t care their father was behind bars.
Didn’t care he betrayed the notorious Stidda Mafia boss, Benjamin Rossi, and now their lives were in danger.
All I cared about was her.
Ryth.
I wanted to hurt her. Wanted to make her squirm.
I wanted to make her pay for the moans coming from my father’s bedroom.
When he slipped a ring onto her mother’s finger, Ryth became mine.
Mine to bully.
Mine to break.
And I’ll use my brothers to do it.
She’ll become our favorite obsession.
Our sick, tormented game.
She’ll become the only thing I think about, until not thinking about her tears me apart.
I’ll hate her. I’ll hate her so much it hurts…

My brother is bleeding.
My stepsister is gone.

The ones responsible called themselves family.

By blood, and now by marriage.

I want to destroy them for what they’ve done.

Burn everything they have to the ground.

But first I need to find her.

Ryth.

The pathetic, little mouse that scurried into our lives and made a home.

I can’t forget her, can’t get her out of my head.

She unleashed something dangerous in me.

Something that drove me to ruin her.

And ruined myself in the process.

She was once a game to me…

She still is…only this time it’s for keeps.

WWW Wednesday: September 24th, 2025

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that Sam hosts at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here is what I am reading, recently finished, and plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday.

Let me know if you have read or are planning on reading any of these books!!

Happy Reading!

What I am currently reading:

A defiantly joyful adventure set in California’s San Gabriel Valley, with cursed violins, Faustian bargains, and queer alien courtship over fresh-made donuts.

Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six. When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka’s ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She’s found her final candidate. But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four. Shizuka doesn’t have time for crushes or coffee dates, what with her very soul on the line, but Lan’s kind smile and eyes like stars might just redefine a soul’s worth. And maybe something as small as a warm donut is powerful enough to break a curse as vast as the California coastline. As the lives of these three women become entangled by chance and fate, a story of magic, identity, curses, and hope begins, and a family worth crossing the universe for is found.

What I recently finished reading:

K. Ancrum’s The Legend of the Golden Raven novella, part fairy tale and part gritty reality, follows a boy as he descends into madness.

August and Jack weren’t meant to be friends. One is a misfit with a pyro streak and the other a golden boy on the rugby team. But as their relationship intensifies, Jack slowly begins to lose his mind—taking readers on an intimate journey into the fantasy kingdom creeping into the edges of his world.

As the novella moves back and forth between a medieval legend and our own, contemporary world, nothing is as it seems. The boys alienate everyone around them as they struggle with their sanity and as Jack’s quest to fulfill a dark prophecy begins to consume them both . . .

Devour this companion novella to The Wicker King.

What I plan on reading Thursday through Sunday:

Ella is transgender. She’s known since she was young; being a woman just fit better. She was happier in skirts than trousers, but that was before her stepmother moved in. Eleanor can’t stand her, and after Ella’s father passes she’s forced to revert to Cole, a lump of a son. She cooks, she cleans, and she tolerates being called the wrong name for the sake of a roof over her head. Where else can she go?

An opportunity to attend the royal ball transforms Ella’s life. For the first time, strangers see a woman when she walks down the stairs. While Princess Lizabetta invited Cole to the ball, she doesn’t blink an eye when Cinderella is the one who shows. The princess is elegant, bold, and everything Ella never knew she wanted. For a moment she glimpses a world that can accept her, and she holds on tight.

She should have known it wouldn’t last. Dumped by her wicked stepmother on the farthest edge of the kingdom, Ella must find a way to let go of the princess and the beautiful life they shared for an hour. She’ll never find her way back. But it’s hard to forget the greatest night of her life when every rose she plants is a reminder.

Life wasn’t easy for Celie. But she knew how to survive, needing little to get by.

Then her husband’s lover, a flamboyant blues singer, barreled into her world and gave Celie the courage to ask for more – to laugh, to play, and finally – to love.

A visionary cast of characters weave together their past and present in a brilliantly intricate tapestry of tales.

It is the story of the dispossessed and displaced, of peoples whose history is ancient and whose future is yet to come. Here we meet Lissie, a woman of many pasts; Arveyda the great guitarist and his Latin American wife who has had to flee her homeland; Suwelo, the history teacher, and his former wife Fanny who has fallen in love with spirits. Hovering tantalisingly above their stories are Miss Celie and Shug, the beloved characters from THE COLOUR PURPLE.

Possessing the Secret of Joy is the story of Tashi, a tribal African woman who lives much of her adult life in North America. As a young woman, a misguided loyalty to the customs of her people led her to voluntarily submit to the tsunga’s knife and be genitally mutilated (pharoanoically circumcised). Severely traumatized by this experience, she spends the rest of her life battling madness, trying desperately through psychotherapy – she is treated by disciples of both Freud and C.G. Jung, and even by Jung himself – to regain the ability to recognize her own reality and to feel. It is only with the help of the most unlikely ally she can imagine that she begins to study the mythological “reasons” invented by her ancient ancestors for what was done to her and to millions of other women and girls over thousands of years. As her understanding grows, so does her capacity to encounter her overwhelming grief. Underneath this grief is her glowing anger. Anger propels her to act. Action brings both feeling – life, the ability to exist with awareness in the moment – and death, of which she finds she has completely lost her fear.

While not a sequel to The Color Purple or The Temple of My Familiar, Possessing the Secret of Joy follows the life of a barely-glimpsed character from those books. Combining fact and fiction, communing with the spirits of the living and the dead, Alice Walker in this novel strikes with graceful power at the heart of one of the most controversial issues of our time.

WWW Wednesday: September 17th, 2025

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that Sam hosts at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here is what I am reading, recently finished, and plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday.

Let me know if you have read or are planning on reading any of these books!!

Happy Reading!

What I am currently reading:

What happened in Vegas? Definitely didn’t stay in Vegas.

Gabe’s the oldest. Brody’s the bad boy. Clark’s the strong, silent warrior. Amanda’s the girl. And Easton—well, Easton’s the panty melter.

I’m Kane.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not a bad job. But usually, I’m not the one people are talking about.

That’s about to change. Because the woman I had a smoking hot one-night stand with in Vegas? The one I should have stayed far, far away from, since women like her are my kryptonite?

She’s the same woman my brother just hired to redesign his fancy new glamping RVs.

I haven’t seen her since Vegas, but the instant I lay eyes on her, I can tell my quiet role as the boy-next-door brother is about to change.

She’s pregnant.

And it’s mine.

A steamy, small-town, accidental pregnancy, one-night-to-forever standalone romantic comedy by the USA Today bestselling author of Sleepover.

What I recently finished reading:

This tent is too small for the both of us. And I like it that way.

Gabe
I was minding my business. Literally. I promised my dad I’d take care of the Wilder family adventure business in our little Oregon town of Rush Creek, which also means looking out for my mom, my sister, and my rowdy co-workers, AKA my brothers.

Now the business is in trouble. Overnight, Rush Creek has become a spa-and-wedding destination, and the new tourists aren’t interested in getting dirty—or at least not in the woods.

Then Lucy comes to town, all blond hair and silky blouses and spike heels. It’s her job to give Wilder Adventures a makeover. Camping to glamping, rafting to paddle board yoga, fishing trips to girls’ night sunset cruises. If she gets her way, Wilder Adventures will become Wilder Romantic Adventures.

Lucy hates small towns, getting messy, and anything involving the woods or the water—which pretty much makes her Not My Type.

That doesn’t explain why when I see her, I can’t look away. Why when I touch her, I can’t stop. And why, even though I know no one can talk a city girl into small town life, I’m still trying.

She’s driving me wild. All I can do is make her wilder.

What I plan on reading Thursday through Sunday:

The secrets of the past are always closer than we think…

Stained glass artist Callie Davis is in desperate need of a vacation. Burnt out and on the edge of a nervous breakdown, she’s fleeing the pressures of her career and is taking refuge on Massachusetts’ tiny Carter Island. Callie yearns for long, lazy days and pretty walks on the beach—blessed solitude and an escape from the complications of her life. Then she bumps into gorgeous Nate Carter and everything changes.

Sheriff Nathan Carter couldn’t be happier now that the height of the summer season has finally come and gone. After four endless months, tourists have packed their bags and headed for the mainland. The quiet days of autumn are about to befall the town—the way Nate and his fellow Sandersonians like it best.

But nothing ends up quite the way Nate expects when he meets the beautiful blonde with the big blue eyes. Callie’s pretty smiles hide secrets—deep, dark mysteries that could cost them both their lives if they continue digging into the past and cross a killer’s path.

*A contemporary romance with twists of mystery and suspense

K. Ancrum’s The Legend of the Golden Raven novella, part fairy tale and part gritty reality, follows a boy as he descends into madness.

August and Jack weren’t meant to be friends. One is a misfit with a pyro streak and the other a golden boy on the rugby team. But as their relationship intensifies, Jack slowly begins to lose his mind—taking readers on an intimate journey into the fantasy kingdom creeping into the edges of his world.

As the novella moves back and forth between a medieval legend and our own, contemporary world, nothing is as it seems. The boys alienate everyone around them as they struggle with their sanity and as Jack’s quest to fulfill a dark prophecy begins to consume them both . . .

Devour this companion novella to The Wicker King.

An ImprintBook

A defiantly joyful adventure set in California’s San Gabriel Valley, with cursed violins, Faustian bargains, and queer alien courtship over fresh-made donuts.

Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six. When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka’s ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She’s found her final candidate. But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four. Shizuka doesn’t have time for crushes or coffee dates, what with her very soul on the line, but Lan’s kind smile and eyes like stars might just redefine a soul’s worth. And maybe something as small as a warm donut is powerful enough to break a curse as vast as the California coastline. As the lives of these three women become entangled by chance and fate, a story of magic, identity, curses, and hope begins, and a family worth crossing the universe for is found.

Ella is transgender. She’s known since she was young; being a woman just fit better. She was happier in skirts than trousers, but that was before her stepmother moved in. Eleanor can’t stand her, and after Ella’s father passes she’s forced to revert to Cole, a lump of a son. She cooks, she cleans, and she tolerates being called the wrong name for the sake of a roof over her head. Where else can she go?

An opportunity to attend the royal ball transforms Ella’s life. For the first time, strangers see a woman when she walks down the stairs. While Princess Lizabetta invited Cole to the ball, she doesn’t blink an eye when Cinderella is the one who shows. The princess is elegant, bold, and everything Ella never knew she wanted. For a moment she glimpses a world that can accept her, and she holds on tight.

She should have known it wouldn’t last. Dumped by her wicked stepmother on the farthest edge of the kingdom, Ella must find a way to let go of the princess and the beautiful life they shared for an hour. She’ll never find her way back. But it’s hard to forget the greatest night of her life when every rose she plants is a reminder.

WWW Wednesday: September 10th, 2025

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that Sam hosts at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here is what I am reading, recently finished, and plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday.

Let me know if you have read or are planning on reading any of these books!!

Happy Reading!

What I am currently reading:

Get an exclusive peek inside the global sensation and international bestselling Crave series from New York Timesbestselling author Tracy Wolff—with new revelations and shocking secrets never before revealed!
 
Always wanted to be a student at the boarding school with bite? The Katmere Academy Insider’s Guide will transport you. Explore everything Katmere has to offer and get lost within its walls with exclusive bonus content available for the very first time. Katmere Insiders will be able to dig deeper with full character bios—from Grace, the Vega brothers, Macy, and Flint to fan favorites like Eden, Remy, and even Byron. Get to know the staff, learn the history of some of the most unique and exciting traditions at Katmere, and discover which Court you would belong to. And, of course, enjoy numerous deleted scenes and outrageous outtakes from your favorite characters’ POVs, giving readers insights into Crave series lore not found anywhere else. Bonus features include a never-before-seen Q&A with Tracy Wolff, where she reveals insider information about the series fans won’t want to miss, as well as a brand-new novella from Hudson’s POV!

What I recently finished reading:

I may have reached my breaking point. As if trying to graduate from a school for supernaturals isn’t stressful enough, my relationship status has gone from complicated to a straight-up dumpster fire. Oh, and the Bloodletter has decided to drop a bomb of epic proportions on us all… Then again, when has anything at Katmere Academy not been intense?

And the hits just keep coming. Jaxon’s turned colder than an Alaskan winter. The Circle is splintered over my upcoming coronation. As if things couldn’t get worse, now there’s an arrest warrant for Hudson’s and my supposed crimes—which apparently means a lifetime prison sentence with a deadly unbreakable curse.

Choices will have to be made…and I fear not everyone will survive.

What I plan on reading Thursday through Sunday:

No one survived the last battle unscathed. Flint is angry at the world, Jaxon is turning into something I don’t recognize, and Hudson has put up a wall I’m not sure I’ll ever break through.

Now war is coming, and we’re not ready. We’re going to need an army to have any hope of winning. But first, there are questions about my ancestors that need answers. Answers that might just reveal who the real monster is among us.

And that’s saying something in a world filled with bloodthirsty vampires, immortal gargoyles, and an ancient battle between two gods.

There’s no guarantee that anyone will be left standing when the dust settles, but if we want to save this world, I have no choice. I’ll have to embrace every part of me…even the parts I fear the most.

He’s under my skin . . .

After Katmere, I shouldn’t be surprised by anything. Including the existence of a world beyond my world called the Shadow Realm. Yet here I am, stuck in a strange, dangerous place with the worst of the supernaturals, the monster that other monsters fear: Hudson Vega. He might be Jaxon’s brother and ridiculously hot, but he’s a complete bona fide pain in my ass.

The question is whether we’ll find a way out before I kill him . . . or run out of time.

She’s stealing my heart . . .

It’s a truth universally known—at least according to Grace—that everything is my fault. But I have a nasty suspicion that Grace isn’t as human as she thinks, and she’s the one keeping us trapped. Now we’ll have to work together not only to survive, but to save all those we’ve come to call family who live here.

Because there’s something connecting us. Something stronger than fear . . . and way more bloody dangerous.

The sensational conclusion to Crave series…

It’s been over three months since my friends and I took down Cyrus. Three months where my biggest fear was what paper was due next… But I should have known it was too good to last. Now everything is falling apart.

The Vampire Court has no king, the Dragon Court has no heart, and the Gargoyle Court has me―a teenager in way over her head. And it’s the worst possible timing, because a threat is brewing just as the Circle is collapsing.

I have no choice but to return to the Shadow Realm and face the terrifying queen who nearly ended us…and make a deal with her to save Mekhi. But this time, I’m bringing my powerful friends with me―and Hudson. Except something is wrong with him, too. He’s keeping a secret―even from me.

All I know is that everyone’s life hangs in the balance. And it’s my fault―because I still owe the Crone a favor… and now she’s come to collect.

Who is this guy?

Sophia Mason’s junior year of college isn’t exactly off to the best start. The semester has just begun, and the president of her sorority has already ousted her from the house. With nowhere else to turn, she ends up at her brother’s apartment—only to find it inhabited instead by a handsome stranger.

On paper, Drew Nolan doesn’t have much going for him as an uneducated bartender from a sketchy family. But when a spoiled rich kid asks Drew to take over his life so he can travel around Europe instead of attend classes, Drew sees the opportunity to get the college education he’s always dreamed of.

Forced into a cover-up under the same roof, Sophia and Drew forge an unlikely friendship. As the two grow closer, lines blur and boundaries stretch, and they find comfort in living the lie they’ve adopted. But reality comes knocking all too soon, and Sophia and Drew will have to weigh what’s worth fighting for and what should never ever have been.

WWW Wednesday: September 3rd, 2025

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that Sam hosts at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here is what I am reading, recently finished, and plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday.

Let me know if you have read or are planning on reading any of these books!!

Happy Reading!

What I am currently reading:

HARRY DRESDEN — WIZARD

Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.

Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he’s the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the “everyday” world is actually full of strange and magical things—and most don’t play well with humans. That’s where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a—well, whatever. There’s just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks.

So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry’s seeing dollar signs. But where there’s black magic, there’s a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry’s name. And that’s when things start to get interesting.

Magic – it can get a guy killed.

What I recently finished reading:

What happens when just pretend becomes all too real?

Lexie Hale is happily single and loving her life in Hawaii as a dive instructor and manager of the Big Island Dive shop.

Lt. Commander James Borden thinks he’s found the perfect navy wife for a man like him. That is, until his prospective bride goes AWOL.

After a few too many Mai Tais on a Honolulu beach, all it takes is three shoelaces, two wedding leis, and a bowl of sand to turn both their worlds completely upside down.

What I plan on reading Thursday through Sunday:

From the number one New York Times bestselling The Dresden Files series, a brand new novella set after Battle Ground, that thrusts Chicago’s only professional Wizard, Harry Dresden, back into battle–both a legal one… and the kind with explosions.

Not every danger comes in the form of a mega-threat like a Titan. Some predators are a lot cozier… more personal.

When one such creature threatens an independent tutor, Harry Dresden must shake off the blood and dirt of his most recent battles and rise to the occasion, even when it turns out that the new predator is far more dangerous and connected than first appearances would suggest.

My whole world changed when I stepped inside the academy. Nothing is right about this place or the other students in it. Here I am, a mere mortal among gods… or monsters. I still can’t decide which of these warring factions I belong to, if I belong at all. I only know the one thing that unites them is their hatred of me.

Then there’s Jaxon Vega. A vampire with deadly secrets who hasn’t felt anything for a hundred years. But there’s something about him that calls to me, something broken in him that somehow fits with what’s broken in me.

Which could spell death for us all.

Because Jaxon walled himself off for a reason. And now someone wants to wake a sleeping monster, and I’m wondering if I was brought here intentionally—as the bait.

Everything feels off—especially me. I’ve returned to Katmere Academy, but I’m haunted by fragments of days I have no recollection of living and struggling to understand who, or what, I really am.

Just when I start to feel safe again, Hudson is back with a vengeance. He insists there are secrets I don’t know about, threatening to drive a wedge between Jaxon and me forever. But far worse enemies are at our doorstep.

The Circle is caught in a power play and the Vampire Court is trying to drag me out of my world and into theirs. The only thing Hudson and Jaxon agree on is that leaving Katmere would mean my certain death.

And not only am I fighting for my life, but now everyone else’s is at stake—unless we can defeat an unspeakable evil. All I know is that saving the people I love is going to require sacrifice.

Maybe more than I’m able to give.

I may have reached my breaking point. As if trying to graduate from a school for supernaturals isn’t stressful enough, my relationship status has gone from complicated to a straight-up dumpster fire. Oh, and the Bloodletter has decided to drop a bomb of epic proportions on us all… Then again, when has anything at Katmere Academy not been intense?

And the hits just keep coming. Jaxon’s turned colder than an Alaskan winter. The Circle is splintered over my upcoming coronation. As if things couldn’t get worse, now there’s an arrest warrant for Hudson’s and my supposed crimes—which apparently means a lifetime prison sentence with a deadly unbreakable curse.

Choices will have to be made…and I fear not everyone will survive.

WWW Wednesday: August 27th, 2025

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that Sam hosts at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here is what I am reading, recently finished, and plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday.

Let me know if you have read or are planning on reading any of these books!!

Happy Reading!

What I am currently reading:

An emotional and sexy novel about guarded hearts, finding love, and families lost and found by Melissa Foster, the New York Times bestselling author of Maybe We Will.

After spending years wondering who she was, tattoo artist Cait Weatherby finally found her answers on the sandy shores of Silver Island. With two half sisters she never knew existed, a group of friends she adores, and a devastatingly charming admirer who flirts with her at every turn, she’s ready to figure out her next steps. The trouble is, Cait lives in the shadows of a dark past, and she can’t afford complications that might cause her to lose the family she’s only just found—complications like blue-eyed boatbuilder Brant Remington, who is as open as she is guarded. If only the sexy charmer would take the hint…

Brant is Cait’s opposite in every way, but he’s drawn to everything about the sexy newcomer—from the quiet strength that rivals the caution in her mossy-green eyes to her tough facade that he can’t wait to strip away.

As Brant works his magic, Cait’s walls come down. But as sweet as that feels, Cait knows how quickly good things can turn bad. It’s going to take more than a little trust to beat the ghosts of her past and claim the future they both deserve.

What I recently finished reading:

From Melissa Foster, the New York Times bestselling author of She Loves Me, comes a sexy and heart-warming novel about finding love—and family—where you least expect it.

When chef Abby de Messiéres returns to Silver Island with her sister to get their late mother’s affairs in order, she expected to inherit her mother’s bistro along with their childhood home, not to discover a half sister they never knew existed, and a handsome vacationer camped out on her mother’s patio.

Workaholic Aiden Aldridge has been sent to Silver Island on a work-free vacation, armed with a “Let Loose List,” and ordered to get a life by the much-younger sister he raised after the death of their parents. After years of focusing on his sister’s well-being, he’s blindsided by his intense attraction to the gorgeous, free-spirited Abby.

Aiden might not know much about chilling out, but he’s excellent at striking deals. He helps Abby with the restaurant in exchange for her help in tackling the items on his list. Sparks fly as Aiden and Abby work, and play, side by side. Intimate conversations lead to steamy kisses and undeniable passion. But there’s more to Aiden then Abby knows, and when the truth comes out, their new romance is put to the test, as the two find out if true love really can conquer all.

What I plan on reading Thursday through Sunday:

A sexy and soul-stirring novel about love, family, and rediscovering what matters most by Melissa Foster, the New York Times bestselling author of Maybe We Will.

When workaholic Boston attorney Deirdra de Messiéres is passed over for a well-deserved promotion, she takes a two-month hiatus to show her boss just how much he needs her and heads home to Silver Island. But beyond seeing her sisters happy, home is not where Deirdra’s heart is. She has no interest in their family restaurant, the Bistro, or reliving hurtful childhood memories, and absolutely no interest in spending a single second with Josiah “Jagger” Jones, the Bistro’s too-laid-back musician and chef. Sure, the hippie is hot, but he drives her nuts. The guy lives in a van with his dog, and he can’t even commit to a solid work schedule. To make matters worse, he’s always around. She needs to get off the island, stat.

Jagger has overcome his own personal trials to place stock in life’s family, friends, peace…and if he has his way, one positively beautiful, absolutely uptight attorney. Jagger knows he’s the perfect person to help Deirdra deal with her hurtful past and find her way back to being happy.

A chance encounter leads to deep conversation, and night after liberating night, Deirdra lets down her guard. But neither has plans to stay on Silver Island. Free-spirited Jagger has wanderlust, and Deirdra has a career to return to. They’re on different paths, and plans for a future together don’t stand a chance. But when has anything gone according to plan?

Surrounded by death.
Tethered to a fate she didn’t choose.
The only hope for those she loves.
This is the reality for Abbigail Norrington–and she doesn’t give up easily.
Earth is quickly becoming an undead wasteland, that much is for sure. What isn’t certain is the fate of her three children, as their desperate bid to find safety at their family cabin is cut off by the revelation of world-altering proportions. What seems like a lifetime ago, the secret battle to be the first superpower to perfect the perfect bioweapon has been corrupted into a scourge now headed straight for them.
Suddenly Abby’s past becomes just as unclear as her future. Could any of this be true? Could she or her husband have had a hand in creating this encroaching doom?
Now the die has been cast, and although Abby may not have had a choice in her part at the beginning of the end, she sure as hell has one save them, Abby. Save them all.
How far will one woman, mother, and friend go to secure salvation denied to many at the edge of oblivion? Shaken by the memory of the man she thought she knew and unsure of what nightmares lay ahead, Abby must ready herself for the reckoning.
The time for uncertainty is over. The time has come to the living & the dead.
Beware the specter of death, but even more a woman’s wrath.

A non-stop zombie apocalypse adventure written by FMP’s bestselling author, SJ Morris.

The entire planet is overrun by the dead. Millions of people have fallen to the Perdition Virus. The humans who have outlasted this zombie plague have proven to be ruthless killers willing to do anything to survive this post-apocalyptic world.

When a shadowy stranger is found watching her cabin, it raises the question, will this person prove to be the savior Abbigail Norrington and her band of survivors need? Or will they only make everything more complicated for Abby and those she promised to keep safe?

Will Abby survive the struggle between her past and her future? Or will the tangled link between the enemies known and unknown unravel everything Abby has worked so hard to maintain? Perhaps more importantly, will the human race survive or will the road to perdition end with the undead inheriting the earth?
*Warning* There is a Cliffhanger

What happens when just pretend becomes all too real?

Lexie Hale is happily single and loving her life in Hawaii as a dive instructor and manager of the Big Island Dive shop.

Lt. Commander James Borden thinks he’s found the perfect navy wife for a man like him. That is, until his prospective bride goes AWOL.

After a few too many Mai Tais on a Honolulu beach, all it takes is three shoelaces, two wedding leis, and a bowl of sand to turn both their worlds completely upside down.

WWW Wednesday: August 20th, 2025

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that Sam hosts at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here is what I am reading, recently finished, and plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday.

Let me know if you have read or are planning on reading any of these books!!

Happy Reading!

What I am currently reading:

Two besties and a baby make for an instafamily and a surprising romance in a delightful series by Melissa Foster, the New York Times bestselling author of the Sugar Lake novels.

Ben Dalton has always been honest, except where his heart is concerned. He’s been in love with his best friend—saucy, smart-mouthed Aurelia Stark—forever. But Ben’s a planner, and timing has never been on his side. When he finally decides to make his move, Aurelia beats him to the punch with a move of her own—to a different town.

Aurelia loves her new life in the charming town of Harmony Pointe. She has a great apartment and her very own bookstore, and best of all, the sinfully hot, commitment-phobic friend she’s crushed on for years is no longer just around the corner. Maybe she’ll finally be able to leave her unrequited love behind and move on.

But when a baby is left on Ben’s front porch—a baby that is presumably his—Aurelia is there for him. Neither one knows the first thing about babies, but how hard can it be? Ben and Aurelia are catapulted into a world of love, laughter, and tracking down the baby mama, and it might even add up to a very happily ever after… just not one either of them expects.

What I recently finished reading:

A free-spirited proposal planner and a grumpy professor form a hilarious and unexpected situationship that just might lead to more in this steamy romantic comedy by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Foster.

Dog groomer and budding marriage-proposal planner Destiny Amor believes in true love and happily ever afters. Though it’s not in the stars for her yet—honestly, who can live up to the criteria on her Mr. Right Checklist?—she wants it for others. When Destiny’s first misguided attempt at romance concierge ends in disaster, she’s ready to call it quits, until the supposed groom-to-be steps in with a proposal of his own.

Ryan “Fletch” Fletcher, a divorced-and-never-going-there-again professor, needs to get his matchmaking family off his back, and the disorganized, too-in-love-with-love proposal planner is the perfect solution. He offers to help Destiny get her business on track, if she’ll play the part of his adoring girlfriend at his brother’s wedding.

A professional situationship with her grumpy dog-grooming client? Destiny adores his pup, and she could put up with him to get her business off the ground. With any luck, she might even get that chip about love off his shoulder.

What I plan on reading Thursday through Sunday:

She has everything money can buy, but her bodyguard is all she wants—and together they’re exactly what each other needs in this heart-racing romance by Melissa Foster, the New York Times bestselling author of Call Her Mine.

Actress Remi Divine is sick of bodyguards, sick of stalkers, and sick of feeling like she is always under a microscope. But this movie star isn’t helpless by any means. She’s got a rebellious streak, and she knows how to use it. First order of business: getting rid of the overbearing bodyguards who are sticking to her like glue.

Mason Swift has made protecting others his life, and when Remi ditches his two best men, he takes over and gives it everything he has. Having grown up in the foster-care system, and as a former special operative, he knows all the tricks. Nothing gets by him, especially not gorgeous, sneaky Remi.

He thinks she’s a diva. She thinks he’s arrogant. But when sparks turn to flames and their walls come down, their true hearts are revealed, and their connection is unstoppable. And when tragedy strikes, Remi realizes that being protected isn’t the worst thing in the world—but losing Mason just might be.

What are two besties willing to risk for something more? The New York Times bestselling author of This Is Love has the answer in this fun, sexy, and emotional romance about friendship, family, and giving love a chance.

Something is off in Piper Dalton’s life, and she has a feeling it might just be her. All her siblings are blissfully settled with their forever loves. But while her sisters were dreaming of white weddings, Piper was left heartbroken and commitment phobic by her first love, her best friend’s younger brother. As a woman dominating the male-driven construction industry, Piper has no interest in turning in her hammer for an apron—even if hot and hilarious Harley thinks otherwise.

Burly bar owner Harley Dutch has a bum ankle and two preteen nieces to take care of, and having his best friend, tough-as-nails and sexy-as-sin Piper Dalton, come to his rescue is just the remedy he needs. Piper is her snarky self, and she kind of sucks at caregiving, but she’s owned his heart for years, she’s got a way with the girls, and Harley would sure like to have his way with her…

As things heat up between Piper and Harley, she warns him not to fall in love with her because she’ll only break his heart. Harley is the right man for that challenge—until he makes the biggest mistake of his life, and they begin to wonder if true love really can conquer all.

From Melissa Foster, the New York Times bestselling author of She Loves Me, comes a sexy and heart-warming novel about finding love—and family—where you least expect it.

When chef Abby de Messiéres returns to Silver Island with her sister to get their late mother’s affairs in order, she expected to inherit her mother’s bistro along with their childhood home, not to discover a half sister they never knew existed, and a handsome vacationer camped out on her mother’s patio.

Workaholic Aiden Aldridge has been sent to Silver Island on a work-free vacation, armed with a “Let Loose List,” and ordered to get a life by the much-younger sister he raised after the death of their parents. After years of focusing on his sister’s well-being, he’s blindsided by his intense attraction to the gorgeous, free-spirited Abby.

Aiden might not know much about chilling out, but he’s excellent at striking deals. He helps Abby with the restaurant in exchange for her help in tackling the items on his list. Sparks fly as Aiden and Abby work, and play, side by side. Intimate conversations lead to steamy kisses and undeniable passion. But there’s more to Aiden then Abby knows, and when the truth comes out, their new romance is put to the test, as the two find out if true love really can conquer all.

An emotional and sexy novel about guarded hearts, finding love, and families lost and found by Melissa Foster, the New York Times bestselling author of Maybe We Will.

After spending years wondering who she was, tattoo artist Cait Weatherby finally found her answers on the sandy shores of Silver Island. With two half sisters she never knew existed, a group of friends she adores, and a devastatingly charming admirer who flirts with her at every turn, she’s ready to figure out her next steps. The trouble is, Cait lives in the shadows of a dark past, and she can’t afford complications that might cause her to lose the family she’s only just found—complications like blue-eyed boatbuilder Brant Remington, who is as open as she is guarded. If only the sexy charmer would take the hint…

Brant is Cait’s opposite in every way, but he’s drawn to everything about the sexy newcomer—from the quiet strength that rivals the caution in her mossy-green eyes to her tough facade that he can’t wait to strip away.

As Brant works his magic, Cait’s walls come down. But as sweet as that feels, Cait knows how quickly good things can turn bad. It’s going to take more than a little trust to beat the ghosts of her past and claim the future they both deserve.

WWW Wednesday: August 13th, 2025

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that Sam hosts at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here is what I am reading, recently finished, and plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday.

Let me know if you have read or are planning on reading any of these books!!

Happy Reading!

What I am currently reading:

This sassy, spirited baker is fine with heat—but is her fake fiancé too hot to handle?

Bakery owner Willow Dalton’s friendship with Zane Walker has always been a bit complicated. Now a scrumptiously hot A-list actor, Zane’s always had a reputation as player. He’s arrogant, and he’s definitely not boyfriend material. Sure, he did Willow a favor by agreeing to take her virginity before college, but is that reason enough to go along with a fake engagement a decade later—even if it comes with a real diamond ring?

Zane should have known better. Nothing involving Willow has ever been easy. Still, he knows her better than anyone, and becoming America’s hottest new leading man means cleaning up his reputation. An “engagement” to curvy, sass-mouthed Willow is the perfect PR move . . . provided no one gets hurt.

Now Zane and Willow’s little white lie has turned into an irresistible recipe for sweet temptation. And soon no one will be able to tell the difference between their fake engagement or the real thing—including them.

What I recently finished reading:

Welcome to Oak Falls, Virginia, home to horse farms, midnight rodeos, bookstores, coffee shops, and quaint restaurants where you’re greeted like family and treated like treasured guests. Buckle up for a wild ride. Like any Southern girls worth their salt, the sweet-talking, sharp-tongued Montgomery sisters can take men to their knees with one seductive glance or a single sugarcoated sentence.

A second chance at their first love…
Leaving New York City and returning to her hometown to teach a screenplay writing class seems like just the break Grace Montgomery needs. Until her sisters wake her at four thirty in the morning to watch the hottest guys in town train wild horses and she realizes that escaping her sisters’ drama-filled lives was a lot easier from hundreds of miles away. To make matters worse, she spots the one man she never wanted to see again—ruggedly handsome Reed Cross.

Reed was one of Michigan’s leading historical preservation experts, but on the heels of catching his girlfriend in bed with his business partner, his uncle suffers a heart attack. Reed cuts all ties and returns home to Oak Falls to run his uncle’s business. A chance encounter with Grace, his first love, brings back memories he’s spent years trying to escape.

Grace is bound and determined not to fall under Reed’s spell again—and Reed wants more than another taste of the woman he’s never forgotten. When a midnight party brings them together, passion ignites and old wounds are opened. Grace sets down the ground rules for the next three weeks. No touching, no kissing, and if she has it her way, no breathing, because every breath he takes steals her ability to think. But Reed has other ideas…

What I plan on reading Thursday through Sunday:

Love only works when your heart is in the right place. Hers could be right next door…

Single mom Bridgette Dalton doesn’t have time to stop and smell the roses—not even in her own flower shop. But that doesn’t mean she hasn’t noticed Bodhi Booker. Her ruggedly handsome next-door neighbor would be the perfect candidate for a no-strings fling. Having loved and lost, Bridgette’s not ready to hand over her heart…but she could use a distraction.

Bodhi has one rule: never leave anyone behind. As a special operative, he knows that each new mission is more dangerous than the last. He’s never made a promise of forever to a woman, not even to the beautiful widow who has him tied in knots. And if there were anyone who could tempt him into putting down roots, it would be Bridgette and her adorable son.

But as his next deployment nears, they make a startling discovery. Their passion, meant only for the here and now, might already be blossoming into something more…

One wrong move, and she meets a guy with all the right ones…

Talia Dalton lives her life on cruise control. Despite her successful career as a professor, she prefers protecting her broken heart to taking chances. She’s calm, cool, collected, and steady. Until the morning she takes her eyes off that familiar road and almost runs over the sexiest man she’s ever seen. It may not be the best way to start the day, but it might be the type of shake-up she needs.

Male dancer Derek Grant has goals, and nothing is going to get in the way of achieving them. As a graduate student and the sole caretaker of his ailing father, he hasn’t much time for relationships. Then Talia crashes into his life. Sweet, pretty — and so buttoned-up that he can’t wait to help her cut loose.

For Derek, falling in love was a beautiful accident waiting to happen. And it might be exactly what Talia needs — if she’s willing to let go of the past and embrace every surprise Derek has to offer.

FINDING MY GIRL / LOVING TALIA is a companion booklet to the contemporary romance novel, LOVE LIKE OURS (Sugar Lake series).

If this is your first Melissa Foster book, please note that Finding My Girl / Loving Talia is not a novel, a novella, or even a typical short story. It is a companion booklet to the full-length contemporary romance novel, Love Like Ours, featuring Talia Dalton and Derek Grant. In Love Like Ours, one of the many ways Derek shows his love for Talia is through cute and loving sketches depicting their lives as they came together. Finding My Girl / Loving Talia is a collection of those images, along with a couple of images that Jonah, Derek’s father, had drawn for his wife, Eva. Within these pages you will also find heartfelt messages from Derek to Talia that are not found in the original novel. As a bonus, I have included the first chapter of Love Like Ours in the back of the booklet.

I hope you enjoy this quick, visual adaptation of Derek and Talia’s journey into coupledom. To read their full-length love story, please buy Love Like Ours, a Sugar Lake novel (available in digital, paperback, and audio formats).

Two besties and a baby make for an instafamily and a surprising romance in a delightful series by Melissa Foster, the New York Times bestselling author of the Sugar Lake novels.

Ben Dalton has always been honest, except where his heart is concerned. He’s been in love with his best friend—saucy, smart-mouthed Aurelia Stark—forever. But Ben’s a planner, and timing has never been on his side. When he finally decides to make his move, Aurelia beats him to the punch with a move of her own—to a different town.

Aurelia loves her new life in the charming town of Harmony Pointe. She has a great apartment and her very own bookstore, and best of all, the sinfully hot, commitment-phobic friend she’s crushed on for years is no longer just around the corner. Maybe she’ll finally be able to leave her unrequited love behind and move on.

But when a baby is left on Ben’s front porch—a baby that is presumably his—Aurelia is there for him. Neither one knows the first thing about babies, but how hard can it be? Ben and Aurelia are catapulted into a world of love, laughter, and tracking down the baby mama, and it might even add up to a very happily ever after… just not one either of them expects.

WWW Wednesday: August 6th, 2025

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that Sam hosts at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Here is what I am reading, recently finished, and plan to read from Thursday to Wednesday.

Let me know if you have read or are planning on reading any of these books!!

Happy Reading!

What I am currently reading:

Ellie Parker is a master at building walls around her heart. In the twenty-five years she’s been alive, Dex Remington has been the only person who has always believed in her and been there for her. But four years earlier she came to Dex seeking comfort, and then disappeared like a thief in the night, leaving him a broken man.

Dex Remington is one of the top PC game developers in the U.S. He’s handsome, smart, and numb. So damn numb that he’s not sure he’ll ever find a reason to feel again.

A chance encounter sparks intense desires in Ellie and Dex. Desires that make her want to run—and make him want to feel. A combination of lust and fear leads these young lovers down a dangerous path. Is it possible to cross a burned bridge or are they destined to be apart forever?

What I recently finished reading:

Danica Snow has always been the smart, practical, and appropriate sister. As a therapist, she prides herself on making reasonable, conservative choices, even if a bit boring, and as part of the Big Sister Program, she has little time for anything more in her life.

Blake Carter is a player. He never gets bored of conquering women, and with his sexy good looks and successful lifestyle, he has no trouble finding willing participants. When his friend and business partner dies in a tragic accident, he suddenly, desperately, wants to change his ways. The problem is, he doesn’t know how to stop doing what he does best.

When Blake walks into Danica’s office, the attraction between them is white hot, but Danica isn’t the type to give in to the heat and risk her career. Danica’s desire sets her on a path of self-discovery, where she begins to question every decision she’s ever made. Just this once, Danica wants to indulge in the pleasures of life she’s been so willingly ignoring, but with her Little Sister in turmoil and her biological sister’s promiscuousness weighing heavily on her heart, she isn’t sure it’s the right time to set her desires free.

What I plan on reading Thursday through Sunday:

Daisy Honey fled Trusty, Colorado, after years of battling rumors sparked by her gorgeous looks and lust-inducing name. Now a physician on the brink of a promising career, she reluctantly returns home when her father is injured in a farming accident. Daisy expects the small-town girls who hurt her in the past to take cheap shots again–but she’s completely unprepared for a run-in with tall, dark, and wickedly sexy Luke Braden, the only man who has ever stood up for her–and the man she’s never forgotten.

Luke Braden is handsome, wealthy, and the best damn gypsy horse breeder in the Midwest. After a restless youth, he’s finally ready to settle down–only connecting with women is nothing like connecting with horses, and he’s never met a woman worth the energy. After an arrest in a neighboring town, Luke’s past comes back to haunt him, and he realizes that his inability to find love runs deeper than he ever imagined.

A chance encounter sweeps Luke and Daisy into a world of passion. For the first time ever, Luke feels a connection, but Daisy’s life in Trusty is anything but permanent, and Luke can’t manage a future until he puts his past to rest.

**CONTENT WARNING: Due to mature content, recommended for readers aged 18+.**

This Braden novella features Kat Martin, Brianna Heart’s best friend from Hearts at Play (The Bradens, #6) with appearances from the hot, wealthy, and wickedly naughty Bradens you know and love.

Kat Martin knows what she wants in a man—someone stable and adoring, definitely not the type of guy who sleeps around. After all, Kat rarely does the wrong thing—until she meets seductively enticing Eric James, and suddenly wrong has never felt so right.

When it comes to his career, race-car driver Eric James is intense, obsessive, and passionate, but when it comes to sex, there’s only one kind—daring, unbridled, and no-strings-attached.

One stormy night, a delayed flight and the dangerous allure of the unknown leads Kat to throw caution to the wind, and she indulges in a rendezvous that she vows to immediately forget—but the secret tryst stirs something possessive in Eric, and forgetting is not an option.

The Bradens are a series of stand-alone romances that may also be enjoyed as part of the larger Love in Bloom series.

Tempest Braden adores her family and her small hometown, but sometimes too much of a good thing can be confining. At almost thirty, having watched most of her siblings find true love, she’s anxious to experience her own happily ever after, and the move to Pleasant Hill, Maryland, is just the change she needs. When she rents a room from ruggedly handsome, and closed-off, artist Nash Morgan and his adorable son, Phillip, she thinks she’s found a little slice of heaven on the outskirts of town, where she can concentrate on building her business. That is, if she can ignore the undeniable heat between her and the sinfully hot single father.

When Nash bought his farmette, he had one goal in mind—to provide a loving, stable home for his son. He never imagined he’d be raising Phillip alone, or renting out a room to keep their heads above water. Then again, he never imagined losing his brother, or spending two years sailing around the world with parents who seemed to forget one son was still alive.

Sparks fly from the moment Tempest moves in, and her positive energy and inquisitive nature brings new life into Nash and Phillip’s quiet, confined world. For the first time in years, Nash wants to let a woman into his world, but while his loss made him stronger, that strength came at a price, leaving him walled off and wary of opening his heart again.

Lizzie Barber runs a successful flower shop by day and secretly hosts the Naked Baker webcast at night to help pay for her younger sister’s education. To keep friends and family from finding out about her sexy secret, she’s put her social life on hold until her sister’s education is paid off and she can stop filming the webcast.

Blue Ryder fell hard for Lizzie Barber when he met her a year ago, and he hasn’t been able to get her off his mind since. Everything about the feisty little brunette, from her tight bod to her seductive smile, cuts straight to his heart. Though Lizzie has turned down every invitation he’s extended–Blue is not about to give up trying.

Renovating Lizzie’s kitchen brings Blue further into Lizzie’s life, and the oven is not the only thing heating up. One night and one powerful kiss changes everything. But when Lizzie’s secret is revealed and the safe bubble she’s hidden in shatters, true love may not be enough to put the pieces back together.