Play with the Pros Snippet from BRADEN (Intergalactic Dating Agency)

Braden’s agreed to be a fake date for a bridesmaid at one of the biggest celebrity weddings in the Sectors. He learns the groom, who is a top sports star, has arranged a special afternoon for the guys, playing a ‘flag’ version of the Sectors’ beloved tisba game. He even brought in a professional  officiating crew. The pros and the fans in the extended bridal party and guests at this destination wedding will take the field together.

The excerpt:

Enthusiastic? Hell, yes, he was pumped about the morning’s event. Who would have ever dreamt he’d share a playing field with Renald Desanch and other SIPTL professional players? Determined to uphold the reputation of the Ardannan Special Forces, he trotted onto the field ready to go all out. Renald gathered the men in a circle and introduced a man who really needed no introduction, Marv Veronix, star back from a perennial conference champion and three-time winner of the Sectors Trophy. He and Renald were perpetual candidates for the MVP award each season.

“Marv is captain of the other team today,” Renald announced. “We’ve divided the professional athletes between the teams, trying to be fair. I’ll read off the other assignments in a minute but first a reminder we’re playing flag tisba, not the real thing so no tackles. Tamarind won’t be happy if anyone breaks a bone today and has to bow out of the wedding party or sit on the sidelines. I’m assuming we’ve all played tisba before” —there was general laughter from the group—“so let’s get out there and have fun. IDA brought in a team of SIPTL referees for the occasion, just to keep us all honest.” He indicated a group standing nearby in black and white uniforms, who smiled and waved.

The credits being spent on this week could buy a whole planet, Braden thought to himself. His family was considered well to do on Ardanna and he’d spent time with Nikko and lesser members of the royal family but compared to the riches Renald and Tamarind  were casually tossing around, he and his relatives were paupers.  Who imports an entire team of SIPTL referees to supervise a game of flag tisba? Well, these people obviously. Elodie had certainly invited him into a whole new world with her request to be her date for the week.

Next the two captains put them through a vigorous sequence of exercises and stretches, which didn’t faze Braden. He kept himself in top physical condition all the time since his life and the lives of his team could depend on it. He saw some of the other guests wheezing a bit, red-faced and already tiring. Chet was on the opposing team and coping with the exertion fine so far. Braden kept an eye on him, trying to imagine Elodie as part of a couple with the man, which stirred unusual jealousy up but also disbelief. Chet didn’t seem like the type to appreciate a woman like Elodie—quiet, reserved, sensitive, gorgeous, yes, but in a vastly different style than the maid of honor, Chet’s current fling who was frankly all ass and tits and come hither. It was like she couldn’t turn it off even if she was in a relationship with Chet.

Phony, that was Braden’s take on it.

The game began with a booming kickoff from Marv’s kicker, who was a SIPTL player.

Tisba balls were deceptive, looking like any other round ball with alternating patterns of black and white but inside each one was a microscopic AI and a  tiny antigrav impeller, both of which came to life periodically, sending the ball in a different direction from its original course. Renald’s fame and success were built in part on his uncanny ability to sense when the ball was going to ‘come alive’ and veer off. He was usually ahead of it and had endured countless conspiracy theories of having an AI chip in his head to communicate with the one in the balls. Renald had even had a special sensor test run at a big Inner Sectors medcenter to verify there was no such chip. He was naturally gifted and damn good. As the group played, Braden observed most of the SIPTL players had the same ability to one degree or another, anticipating the ball instead of chasing it. To his astonishment, he also seemed to have the ability, if he’d let himself. After the first quarter, in which he’d resisted his instincts, he let go and played more from the heart. At one point he intercepted a pass from Marv and took it all the way to the goal for seven points. The referee called it back for a penalty but on the next play Braden was able to score again.

“You should have tried out for one of our farm teams,” Renald told him as they were assembling for the next kickoff. “You’re damn good.”

“Thanks but the military was my calling,” Braden said, taking an electrolyte bottle from one of the sideline aides and gulping it down. “This is fun today though. Thanks for hosting this.”

“It is fun, isn’t it?” Renald shook his head. “This is the way tisba should be, just a bunch of guys or girls out on the field for the sheer joy of it.” Snapping out of his reflective mood, the star added, “Of course no one pays me the big credits to play flag tisba. No endorsement deals here.” He nodded and moved away to his position on the field as the teams lined up.

Chet was on Marv’s team, which Braden found interesting since he was Renald’s best man and old friend. The two didn’t interact much. Chet was definitely a weekend athlete, despite his gym-built muscles. He stayed on the fringes of the action and when a ball came to him unexpectedly he muffed it. Braden ran into him, flattening him to the grass unintentionally. Chet cursed and refused the offer of Braden’s hand as he stood up. He glared at the nearest official. “Call the penalty, throw the damn flag. What are you waiting for?”

“Accidental contact,” the ref ruled immediately. “No foul. Play ball, boys.”

“Do that again, jackass,” Chet said to Braden as the two men trotted to the line. “And I won’t hold myself back.”

Incredulous, Braden blinked. “You do know what I do for the day job, right? You and ten of your pals couldn’t take me, not in a fair fight or a dirty one. You don’t scare me.”

“Cheap talk.” Chet spat and walked away to take his position.

BRADEN (INTERGALACTIC DATING AGENCY) SOLDIERS OF THE ARDANNAN BOOK FIVE by Veronica Scott

Braden Hartwell’s five day date on the Intergalactic Dating Agency’s Resort Planet has crashed and burned already. His date failed to show up, having gotten married on her home planet. While he’s absorbing this setback he receives a surprising offer. Elodie Farantson is on Resort Planet to be a bridesmaid for her childhood friend. Her cheating ex-boyfriend is the best man and Elodie has been telling everyone about her wonderful new boyfriend to save face. Except he doesn’t exist. Panicking she takes refuge in a noisy club before going to the first wedding party. Upon seeing Braden all alone at the club, she strikes up an acquaintance over drinks, inviting him to be her fake date to the wedding and all the activities for the week. With nothing better to do and all his friends matched up with IDA dates, Braden agrees. The situation turns out to be much more complicated than Elodie explained. The bride and groom are famous interstellar celebrities, the events are nonstop and he soon realizes he wants something real with Elodie. For her part, Elodie is falling head over heels for Braden but after her last relationship disaster she’s reluctant to take a risk. When danger from an unknown source stalks her Braden has to step up and do whatever is necessary to save her life.     Amazon     Apple Books     Kobo      NOOK       GooglePlay

New Releases in SciFi/Fantasy/Paranormal Romance for OCT 21

I have not read most of the new releases listed (although I always end up one-clicking quite a few as I prepare these posts LOL). 

‘AB’ denotes audiobook and the Amazon buy link.

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STONE COLD ALIEN: STARLIGHT GARGOYLES BOOK TWO (INTERGALACTIC DATING AGENCY) (STARLIGHT ALIEN MAIL ORDER BRIDES BOOK 11) by Skye MacKinnon

She spends her days keeping hearts beating. His hasn’t beaten in five hundred years.
ICU nurse Robyn has spent her whole career surrounded by doctors and nurses, so when she signs up to the Hot Tatties Dating Agency, she has one simple rule: match her with someone completely different from her usual crowd. The agency doesn’t send her on a date so much as a dare: a windswept Scottish castle, a weathered stone gargoyle and one deeply unromantic instruction – climb the ladder, touch him and see whether he wakes. He does. Sten has been cold, still and stone for centuries, and he would happily have stayed that way – until Robyn’s touch drags him back into a world he no longer recognises. But there’s a catch: stray too far from Robyn and Sten turns straight back to stone. Her presence keeps him alive, while a taste of her blood gives him the freedom to leave her side. Robyn is used to medical emergencies, but nothing prepared her for a grumpy, possessive alien who insists she’s his fated mate. She’s determined to find a way for him to survive without her. She’s considerably less determined to resist the permanent bite that will complete their bond.     Amazon     Apple Books     Kobo

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HIS PREDATOR (THE UNNATURALS BOOK THREE) by Mel Teshco

She was made to kill. He was made to be her target. My name is Nyra. I’m the perfect weapon—silent, fast, and deadly. My handler points, I hunt. I don’t use bullets. I use my teeth. My claws. The way nature intended. A gun is a coward’s weapon. My prey deserves to face their predator. It’s simple. Clean. I don’t question the names on my list because I’m told they’re monsters who deserve what’s coming. Until Barrett. He’s supposed to be my next target. Another evil man who needs to disappear. But when I get close, nothing adds up. He knows I’m hunting him. Worse, he doesn’t seem afraid. And the longer I’m near him, the harder it becomes to make the kill. He’s supposed to be my prey. So why does it feel like I’m the one being hunted? My spots are breaking through my skin, my teeth extending, my eyes burning amber with predator fire—a warning I’m losing control. My claws ache to extend. Not to kill him. To protect him. But my handler is watching. Waiting. And if I don’t complete this mission, we’ll both pay the price. Some prey should never be hunted. Some predators were never meant to be caged.       AmazonKU

HEALED BY THE REBELLIOUS ROBOT: MAPLETOWN MONSTER MATES BOOK THREE by Ivy Knox

A powerful witch whose life is in danger…Mayor Emma Crane prides herself on being the unshakable leader Mapletown needs, but when her closest confidant suffers a violent attack, she doubts whether she’s the right person for the job. Her overbearing family offers an ultimatum disguised as a solution: To ensure her safety, Emma must agree to let a tall, imposing robot guard her every move, or she’ll lose her place in the local coven and her powers will disappear. Emma’s resentment toward her bodyguard, model ABE39, is palpable, especially when he watches her sleep and even follows her into the bathroom. She hates him, and she mourns the loss of her privacy, no matter how much safer she is with him around. A guard bot who’s so much more than he seems…When Emma starts receiving mysterious threats, she has no choice but to accept his presence. After an attempted kidnapping as she’s leaving the office, Abe proves he’ll stop at nothing to protect her. That’s when she starts to see his value, and his once vexing habits become charming little quirks. His programming is limited to keeping her safe, so why does he grow desperate to hear her laugh? To learn how she longs to be touched? He wasn’t built for companionship, but after meeting Emma, he’s eager to remain at her side for all of her tomorrows. The last thing she wanted was to be sidled with a clingy android, but she’s about to find out this machine has a mind of its own.      AmazonKU

VS: A reminder of my new release from last week:

BRADEN (INTERGALACTIC DATING AGENCY) SOLDIERS OF THE ARDANNAN BOOK FIVE by Veronica Scott

Braden Hartwell’s five day date on the Intergalactic Dating Agency’s Resort Planet has crashed and burned already. His date failed to show up, having gotten married on her home planet. While he’s absorbing this setback he receives a surprising offer. Elodie Farantson is on Resort Planet to be a bridesmaid for her childhood friend. Her cheating ex-boyfriend is the best man and Elodie has been telling everyone about her wonderful new boyfriend to save face. Except he doesn’t exist. Panicking she takes refuge in a noisy club before going to the first wedding party. Upon seeing Braden all alone at the club, she strikes up an acquaintance over drinks, inviting him to be her fake date to the wedding and all the activities for the week. With nothing better to do and all his friends matched up with IDA dates, Braden agrees. The situation turns out to be much more complicated than Elodie explained. The bride and groom are famous interstellar celebrities, the events are nonstop and he soon realizes he wants something real with Elodie. For her part, Elodie is falling head over heels for Braden but after her last relationship disaster she’s reluctant to take a risk. When danger from an unknown source stalks her Braden has to step up and do whatever is necessary to save her life.     Amazon     Apple Books     Kobo      NOOK       GooglePlay

AS WE FALL THROUGHH TIME  by Claire North

VS Note: LBGTQ+ Time Travel Romance.

In the beginning, the world will end. This is the story of what happens next. When Cal meets a soldier of the French Revolution, he knows his lover is destined to die. But what’s the point of being a time traveler if you can’t make a few small tweaks to the course of history? A little paradox here, an alteration there—nothing Cal can’t fix, to save the man he loves. When Fadimatu walks into a museum in 2018, she stumbles upon her own mummified corpse, setting her on the path to a betrayal that has already killed her, and a murder that has not yet come to pass. And when a sudden rupture in the fabric of history rips through the lives Cal and Fadimatu have built, breaking both past and future, they must reckon with death foretold, love forsaken, and a secret that will shatter time itself.

Amazon      AB       Apple Books       Kobo

DISCORD’S BLADE (THE MEDUSA SYNDICATE) by Ariadne Webb

A genesplice mercenary. A fallen cop. Shattered trust. When she’s not serving drinks to gruff solar-harvester technicians or cuddling her cat Silas, unsanctioned splice Eris prowls the star quadrant, delivering vigilante justice at the end of her blade. Juggling assignments from The Medusa Syndicate and her life on Janus isn’t easy. And that delicate balance is threatened when she takes matters into her own hands to protect a friend. Disgraced detective turned private investigator Miles Beckett is Nightside City Police Department’s go-to expert for solving tough cases. When a body with a familiar face bearing a distinctive clue is added to his docket, his professional and personal lives collide. Forced to question everything, Beck balances on a knife’s edge with an uncertain future. When secrets are exposed and trust betrayed, estranged lovers must set aside differences and forge uneasy alliances. Will Eris beat the clock — or will she lose it all?       Amazon

ALIEN DEVIL’S CROWN (VINDUTHI STOLEN BRIDES BOOK SIX) by Ava York

He feels nothing. She’s spent six years waiting to burn it all down. And the only way to end the war is to trust each other. Rylos has been the leader so long he’s forgotten how to be anything else. The Architect. The one who plans every job, carries every life, and wants nothing for himself. He’s watched all five of his Vinduthi brothers find their mates and told himself a leader can’t afford the distraction. Then she walks out of the enemy’s inner circle with everything he needs to end the war. Lika is sharp, lethal, and patient. A Conclave strategist who spent six years undercover, building her case, waiting for a weapon capable of destroying the people who murdered her brother and erased his name. Rylos is that weapon. She doesn’t need him to trust her. She just needs him to use what she’s brought him. But cracking the most fortified target in the galaxy means weeks shoulder to shoulder. Two control freaks who think the same way, argue like a blade fight, and cannot stop circling each other. He doesn’t do distractions. She doesn’t do trust. And the closer they get to the vault buried beneath the enemy’s throne, the harder it gets to remember why he’s supposed to keep his distance. One last key. One impossible heist. The full crew assembled for the fight six books in the making. And the one woman who can crack open the coldest male in the galaxy. The Vinduthi Stolen Brides series ends here. Claim your happily ever after.      AmazonKU

THROUGH UNCHARTED SPACE (PHOENIX ADVENTURES BOOK NINE) by Anna Hackett

A deep-space convoy master who demands everyone follow his rules discovers a stowaway on his ship who’s never met a rule she wouldn’t break. Previously published – has been lightly edited – Dare Phoenix runs his convoy with absolute control. In uncharted space, lives depend on it. When one dowdy woman comes aboard, he knows something is off about her. Soon there are assassins and sabotage on his ship, and he discovers his drab passenger is a smart-mouthed scam artist who defies him at every turn. Life has taught Dakota Jones that if you don’t grab what you want, someone else will snatch it. She’s stolen a map to an immense lost treasure from Earth. Okay, so maybe snatching the map from a deadly terrorist group wasn’t her best decision, but she just needs hide out on the Phoenix Convoy and decode the map. Easy. As soon as she sets eyes on the sexy, in-charge Dare Phoenix, she knows she’s made a terrible mistake. Dare and Dakota strike sparks at every turn, but they reluctantly join forces to find the treasure. Every step of their adventure is dogged by danger, and the biggest threat is getting burned by their incendiary attraction.     AmazonKU

MUSIC OF THE OCEAN (DON’T TOUCH THE WATER BOOK ONE) by M A Church

VS Note: LGBTQ+ SFR.

The SC Heathglow’s orders from the Federation were simple: survey and report. Lieutenant Saxby expected another dull “bag and tag” mission. What he finds instead is a sentient world that claims him—rewriting his DNA strand by screaming strand the moment he touches the water. Adapt or die. Those are Saxby’s only choices. Indigo, the planet’s living heart, has seen countless species fail to adapt. But Saxby’s stubborn resilience draws Indigo close. As Saxby develops scaled skin, gills, and a physiology designed for the crushing depths, Indigo helps him navigate the shift, quietly hiding his growing attraction. Saxby flees back to the planet after realizing the Federation may have deliberately sacrificed him. There, as their bond deepens, Indigo’s otherworldly anatomy redefines everything Saxby knew about intimacy. What begins as survival becomes a love that transcends species, space, and the cold ocean depths. Together, Saxby and Indigo must stand against an empire desperate to control what it cannot understand—even if it means revealing the planet’s deadliest secret. Music of the Ocean, book one in the Don’t Touch the Water series, is a story of transformation, belonging, and the terrifying beauty of falling in love with something not quite human.     AmazonKU

KAVAN by Cara Stone and Athena Storm

I was assigned to keep her safe. I never stood a chance. Nineteen years of order, discipline, and control. I have never once let anything matter more than the mission. Then Dr. Sophie Larkin puts her arm into a hole in the ground and pulls out a city no one was supposed to find. She should be easy to manage. She isn’t. She goes where I tell her not to. She laughs like she’s already won. She puts herself in danger, and the only thing I feel is how badly I want to keep her. I tell myself it’s professional interest. It isn’t. My people have a word for what she makes me feel. One I’m afraid to use. One that I don’t dare say out. She thinks I’m here just to keep her safe. I want that and more.
I already know what it will cost. I have already decided I don’t care.      AmazonKU

GUARDED BY MY WEREDRAGON WARRIOR  (WEREDRAGON MATES BOOK TWO) by Celeste Raye

She was the ambassador. He was an exile. They were never supposed to become mates. Athena Livingstone has survived a year on Dobromia by relying on discipline, strength, and never letting her guard down. Then a mysterious Weredragon warrior saves her patrol and disappears back into the wilderness. Varek has lived alone for two years, banished for speaking the truth. Athena is the first person to see the man beneath the exile—and the first thing he can’t walk away from. But danger, politics, and enemies threaten everything they’ve found. When an exiled warrior finds his fated mate, guarding her may cost him everything.      AmazonKU

THIS IS HOW WE LIVE by Ellie Richards

A plumber. An early childhood educator. A zombie apocalypse. Ava needs to get home to her sister in Melbourne. Luke just wants to make it out of Sydney alive. With the dead reanimating and roads becoming increasingly dangerous, hundreds of kilometres stand between Ava and the sister she’s desperate to reach. Making it to Melbourne means trusting strangers, stealing cars, and learning how to fight back against a world that changed while they were in the air. As their temporary alliance becomes something that neither of them had planned for, Ava and Luke discover that surviving the journey might just be the easiest part. Every kilometre brings them closer to Melbourne, and closer to finding out exactly what home means.     AmazonKU

VIOLET MEANS HE LIKES ME by Leevoy Carroll

VS Note: LGBTQ+ SFR. From SEPT 17.

Brandon Penney has spent most of university perfecting the art of not being noticed. Then he gets assigned a seven-and-a-half-foot alien lab partner whose body refuses to stop noticing him. When Wrenford University becomes part of the first full academic merger between a human university and an alien institution, twenty-one-year-old Brandon expects awkward lectures, unfamiliar customs, and plenty of opportunities to embarrass himself. He does not expect Kyith Thenn. Kyith is enormous. Midnight blue. Four-armed. Equipped with a powerful tail, defensive spines, and the kind of intimidating presence that makes most humans instinctively move out of his way. Unfortunately, Brandon has been assigned the seat beside him. Even worse, every time Brandon gets close, violet light begins spreading across Kyith’s skin. Brandon is fairly certain it means the alien hates him. So he apologises. Repeatedly. For three weeks. Because nobody thinks to tell him that among Kyith’s species, violet means attraction. And colour is only the beginning… (more blurb on ebook seller’s page)    AmazonKU

BLOOD SONG: ASAD INTELLIGENCE by Annie Lucas

Leila Hunter never expected to be kidnapped from her quiet Charleston street, trained as an intelligence operative, and sent to negotiate with a planet full of dragon shifters. But when the Alliance awakens Drakhone from seven hundred and fifty years of forced hibernation, someone has to bridge the impossible gap between humanity and the most dangerous warrior species in the universe.
King Kavan has spent centuries haunted by the memory of his blood song—the one woman whose scent called to his dragon soul—murdered before he could claim her. When the Alliance sends a human diplomat to his world, he’s prepared for politics and manipulation. What he isn’t prepared for is Leila’s scent, impossibly familiar, singing to him like a symphony he thought he’d lost forever.
She thinks he hates her. He thinks she’s an Alliance trick designed to break him. The truth is far more complicated—and far more dangerous. But as political conspirators plot against their growing connection and anti-human factions threaten everything they’re building, Kavan discovers something that changes everything. Leila isn’t a ghost of his past. She’s the future he never dared to hope for. But when enemies strike and Leila vanishes, Kavan will burn the world to ash to get her back. Because some bonds are worth fighting for. Some loves are worth any price. And some mates are worth waiting seven hundred and fifty years to find.      AmazonKU

THE CLOCKWORK COUNTESS (MINE THROUGH TIME BOOK FOUR) by Kate Serzenta

How do you steal from the one man who makes you feel alive? Florence, 1499. English-born Cly Varrens is watching her inventor father die slowly. The only cure is a vial held by a stranger five centuries away. To reach it, she must use time traveling powers that once drew the attention of a sinister force, driving her into exile. Los Angeles, 2023. Cole Marshall holds all his devotion for the family business. But its secret, a vial that bends time, is not of his own making. Losing it would mean failing himself, and the company that saved him. Cly shows up posing as Cole’s assistant. She knows he’s a thief, so the plan is simple: seduce him, steal the vial. But their forced closeness reveals the man behind the cold mask, and she realizes he could give her what she yearns for: freedom. If Cole is not the villain, had Cly been manipulated by the same force that stole her childhood? And even if she resist it, can she break Cole’s heart to save her father?      AmazonKU

TALUSH: CYBORG CHRONICLES BOOK EIGHT by Pauline Baird Jones

NOTE: Author states book will come to retail ebook platforms in NOV. Choice of two covers at Author’s online store.

A dead man has just tried to kill Lara. So much for leaving her past behind. She has a new name, a ship of her own, and a small dragon with far too many opinions. What she doesn’t have is peace. A clone carrying another woman’s memories, Lara is still haunted by the man who used her—and stopping him means returning to the abandoned outpost she barely escaped. Tals asked for a mission. Newly restored to a human body, the former cyborg is ready for a problem he can solve. Protecting Lara seems straightforward. Figuring out why her smile matters so much is considerably harder. But the outpost isn’t as dead as it should be. Neither is its master. As time shifts around them and familiar faces conceal dangerous intentions, Lara and Tals must hold on to each other—or risk being stranded in different moments forever. For Lara, survival means trusting the memories she’s tried to bury. For Tals, it means facing a past no amount of cybernetic strength can defeat. And just when they begin to want a future together, their mission threatens to erase it.       Author’sOnlineStore

CLAIMED BY THE CONDEMNED ALIEN: MATES OF THE CONDEMNED WORLDS – BOOK ONE by Clarissa Lake

They declared her dead. Then they dropped her on a condemned world. Kesta Frank was never supposed to survive Kharon-Veil. Officially, she no longer exists. In reality, she’s been abandoned on a brutal prison world where the descendants of condemned prisoners have built their own society—and where an unprotected woman can become someone else’s property. Then Dreven For claims her. Powerful, dangerous, and unmistakably alien, Dreven is a condemned commander with reasons of his own to distrust the empire that sent Kesta to his world. His claim offers her protection, but Kesta has spent too much of her life fighting for control of her own future to surrender it now—even to the male whose touch awakens a hunger she never expected. Dreven tells himself the claim is only necessary to keep Kesta safe. But protecting the stubborn human woman quickly becomes something far more personal. He wants her trust. Her desire. And eventually, he wants the one thing a claim alone can never give him. Her choice. But something about their attraction is wrong. As Kesta and Dreven uncover the truth behind the empire’s secret Helix experiments, they begin to question whether the desire drawing them together is truly their own—or another form of control. Because Kesta’s arrival on Kharon-Veil was not an accident. The empire chose where she would fall. It may even have chosen who would find her.      AmazonKU

TRICKSHOT (HARMONY SERIES BOOK TWO) by Rebecca Writes and  S L Wrights

VS note: There’s a LOT more blurb/backstory on the ebook seller’s page. Dystopian.

Heiress. Performer. Killer. I walked away from the life I knew after shots rang out in that dark alleyway. Shedding the version of me that could live comfortably as long as I conformed, I became something that could only exist cloaked in the shadows of Harmony. Something that shoots first and asks questions second. Trickshot. But now, my past is running to catch up with me as a new player makes a move for power. My friends and I have done what we could to free the city from The Corporation and we aren’t going to let another corrupt mind come into power. Especially not her. All the while, I do my best to not let it show that the man I saved so many years ago is the man I fall asleep thinking about. The man I look for first when I enter a room and search for on my darkest nights. The man who reminds me of my humanity all with a simple glance in my direction. I wonder what we could be if we didn’t live in a world like this. • • •Successor. Brother. Traitor. The only thing I ever wanted was to run the family business. I’d worked for years to make it something worth bringing into the light, but a single act of betrayal changed everything. Disappearing into the night, she and I left behind everything we’d ever known and started over together. While our group has grown and our mission has found a new focus, one thing has never changed. She’s the reason I wake up and choose to live another day. She’s the reason I continue to survive in the bleak world we live in. She’s the one who carries my heart with her. Nothing will get between us and our fight to save the city we call home. Just like nothing will stand between me and protecting the woman who saved my life all those years ago. I wonder if she knows that I’ll love her forever.     AmazonKU

*******************BRIEF BREAK BEFORE THE FANTASY/PNR BOOKS!**************************************

VS: Have you seen my spooky backlist books, perfect for reading in this season? All available wide, including on Kobo Plus!

************************* THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT IF YOU DECIDE TO CHECK OUT THE BOOKS (because my own books pay my bills) AND A BIG THANK YOU IF YOU ALREADY HAVE! AND ONWARD WE GO!*********************

 

WANING GIBBOUS by Cassandra Featherstone

Fate and I have beef, and it started long before I learned how hard it hits back. I get yanked back to Faerie fresh off a cultish nightmare in Briarvale and shoved straight onto the road with my Fae prince’s rock band. No recovery time, no answers—just a one-way ticket to the Midnight Court. The Midnight Court is a Goth’s wet dream, and crawling with secrets—and that’s before we’re captured while snooping and hauled into a covert meeting with a shadowy council who swear they’re allies. Sure… because nothing says trust us like secret chambers and ominous silence. That’s when they confirm my worst fear; the documents we found that suggest I’m not who I thought I was are real. These guys want me to claim a destiny that could save Faerie but I just want the truth about who murdered my family. I’m screwed no matter what, but that doesn’t matter. Luckily, Dezi, Rev, Tiernan, and Khol are at my side when the claws come out and the Fae start circling. With the tour only halfway over, my enemies multiplying, and the Fey Stag’s clues dragging us deeper into Midnight and toward the Court of Reaping, time is running out. The question isn’t whether I’ll survive Faerie—it’s whether Faerie survives me.      AmazonKU

THE OGRE & THE TEA WITCH’S DAUGHTER by Ava Ross

One sunshine-y tea witch. One gruff ogre with a crush. And a matchmaking cat familiar. Hijinks ensue. Rain: The storm that eats my roof drops me three miles east, into the ogre’s farmhouse and the ogre’s bed. Goran Brack has delivered vegetables to my tea shop every week for the last two years, and he always brings me the prettiest squash. He gives me smooth river stones without explaining why. He rations his words like they’re a sprite’s hoard. And he blushes all the way to his horns when I tease him. Now I’m sharing his kitchen, his mornings, and the most peaceful home I’ve ever known. If only my heart didn’t keep insisting I belong here forever. Goran: Ogres choose once. I chose her across a market counter two years ago but haven’t told her because her people court with words and mine court with stones she keeps mistaking for river-junk. She sleeps under my roof, close and unclaimed, and my whole chest rumbles when she laughs. I only have a short time to show her what a gift-giving ogre needs before her roof is completed. One copper buys a kiss at the harvest fair booth, and I’ll be standing there waiting. She only has to be brave enough to spend it.       AmazonKU

A VAMPIRE’S KISS (DARK PROTECTORS: REBELS NOVELLAS BOOK FOUR) by Rebecca Zanetti

VS note: A re-release. From SEPT 26.

Unlike several of his brothers, Athan Maxwell accepted the curse inherent in his DNA and solved the problem a century ago by mating his one true mate and saving her life at the same time. Now they only meet up four times a year to exchange blood and keep themselves healthy because that was the deal. Yet after a hundred years, his mate has only become more beguiling and intriguing, and when he discovers a new threat on her tail, his promise of sitting back and leaving her alone goes right out of the window. Ivy O’Dwyer has enjoyed the last century as an immortal being, evolving from being a farmer’s daughter to the successful CEO of an Internet company. Sure, life gets lonely without the chance to date, and yes, she’s grateful to her vampire mate for saving her life so long ago, and yet the dreams she has of the sexy male won’t desert her. So when he storms in to save her life, in all vampire-possessive mode, it’s difficult to stand her ground. Unfortunately, when they finally discover that living forever but alone isn’t worth it, it might be too late.     AmazonKU

A PACT FOR PORTER (OMEGAS OF ANIMALS BOOK 19) by Lorelai M Hart

VS Note: MM PNR.

A mating pact between besties. Alpha wolf shifter Porter and his college roomie promised each other that if they didn’t find their fated before they turned thirty, they would mate each other. Eight years later, it’s time to admit Fate doesn’t have their back. It might not be the happy ever after of Porter’s dreams, but a life with his bestie at his side doesn’t sound too bad. Sometimes you just need a nap. 
Omega capybara shifter Chip is excited to work on Animals’ indoor habitat. It is one thing to have a pool, yet another to bring the outdoors in. The place is spectacular and doesn’t need much work. When they offer to let him use it anytime he wants, he instantly accepts. Who doesn’t want to float the day away, taking a nap? When Porter arrives at Animals, he runs into his college roomie in the parking lot with his fated. He’s happy for him, but it is hard not to be a little jealous. Until the wind shifts.       AmazonKU

WITH HEARTS OF FLAME: A NOVEL (BLOODWING ACADEMY BOOK FOUR) by Briar Boleyn 

They say love makes you foolish. At Bloodwing, it makes you dangerous. I thought surviving a vampire academy was the hardest thing I’d ever have to do. Then I fell in love with a boy who can turn into a dragon. After the attack on Veilmar, I should help to keep the school running. But instead, I’ve been pulled into a secret dwarven quest to recover something the other side can never be allowed to claim. The only problem? The enemy is down here with us—and they’re already ahead. Back at Bloodwing, our friends are caught between the demands of the highblood elite and the fragile revolution blooming in the halls. Regan must reclaim a title she once wielded cruelly. But this time she’ll use it to protect the students she helped oppress. Meanwhile, far to the north, another fight is unfolding. At the Bonewood, love has become both a weapon and a weakness. As dragons rise, the dead stir, and an ancient prophecy tightens its grip, my friends and I must choose once and for all what we’re willing to sacrifice for a better world.      AmazonKU

BETWEEN TWILIGHT (SKYE DRUIDS BOOK NINE) by Donna Grant

She came to destroy me. Now I’ll burn the world to keep her. She gets beneath my skin. Haunts my thoughts. Strips away my control. And I keep going back for more. Every glance pulls me deeper. Every touch weakens my grip. And when she looks at me with those silver eyes full of secrets and fury, I know I’m already lost. Something dark is closing in around us. Power is shifting. Truths are unraveling. And the woman I can’t stay away from may be the key to it all. I should walk away before she ruins me. Before this obsession consumes us. But when she’s in my arms, nothing else matters. Not the lies. Not the danger. Not even what’s coming. Because once I claim something as mine, I never let it go. And I’m beginning to realize she was always meant to be mine.        Amazon     AB      Apple Books     Kobo

RUTHLESS WOLF BOND (MAFIA PACK BOOK FIVE) by Heather Hildenbrand

As a hex witch, I know magic always comes with a price. In a city full of mafia wolf shifters, that price is usually blood. I never thought it would be my heart. The wards around Indigo Hills are failing, leaving the pack exposed to humans, enemies, and a vengeful witch with a blade powerful enough to destroy everything. I should do the job, collect my payment, and disappear before anyone gets close enough to matter. Especially Crow. Quiet. Ruthless. Lethal when provoked. He doesn’t waste words or make promises lightly. And the way he watches me makes me feel like he already knows every secret I’ve spent years hiding. Somehow, that makes him impossible to resist. But when the full moon rises and the enemy comes for us, I’ll have to decide whether love is another kind of trap… Or the one bond ruthless enough to save us all.       AmazonKU

THE DRAGON’S TEMPORARY MANNY: MM MPREG SHIFTER ROMANCE  (PARANORMAL AU PAIR AGENCY) by Colbie Dunbar

My bag’s always packed, but nobody warned me I’d want to unpack it. I take work with an expiry date for six weeks or three months, then I’m gone while it’s still fun. So a temporary manny gig for a single dad and his triplet daughters should’ve been easy with a clean exit. But the girls are always pulling tricks, they talk about dragons like they’re in the room with us, and they never take off their charm bracelets. Their father is the most gorgeous man I’ve ever met, but he keeps his distance even when I catch him looking. Somewhere between bedtime stories and the almost kisses, I stop watching the exits. And wanting to stay scares me far more than whatever this family’s hiding.    AmazonKU

ORACLES AND ODYSSIES (HAVEN HOLLOW BOOK 49) by J R Rain and H P Mallory

Indigo Hallewell would go to hell to save her friends. Unfortunately, that’s becoming an actual travel itinerary. Being High Witch of Scapegrace Coven should be an honor. For Indigo, it means suspicious witches, endless arguments, and hiding a secret that could get Wanda Depraysie burned at the stake. Wanda is a vampire now, and her terrifying new powers make her the perfect vessel for an ancient vampire god. Indigo is determined to find a cure before he claims her. Wanda’s latest attempt to help, involving a possessed porcelain doll, isn’t exactly making the situation less complicated. Neither is RJ. The handsome, infuriatingly kind man Indigo has been trying to keep at a safe distance refuses to stay there. And the closer he gets, the more she stands to lose. Then Dory, the gorgon oracle helping protect Haven Hollow, begins falling dangerously ill. Her search for a cure offers Indigo a desperate possibility: the waters of the River Lethe might help them both. There’s just one problem. Collecting those waters requires venturing into the Greek underworld. With RJ at her side and a crew of vampire bodyguards she’d rather not trust, Indigo sets out for a land where one wrong look can turn her to stone—and surviving the journey means submitting to the judgment of Hades himself. Indigo has spent years regretting the price of power. Now she’ll discover the price of saving the people she loves. Return to Haven Hollow in Oracles & Odysseys, a paranormal adventure filled with sharp humor, dangerous magic, and a witch discovering that opening her heart might be her bravest act yet.      AmazonKU

HEART OF THE LIGHT KINGDOM (THE ELEMENTAL PHASES BOOK SEVEN) by Cassandra Gannon

Randa, of the Stone House has a stalker. Being a civilized, practical woman, she hires the notoriously uncivilized and deadly Light Phases to deal with the problem. Who better to stand guard than muscle-bound barbarians? In exchange, she offers to clean them up and teach them how to attract human women, so they can finally find their fated mates. It should be a very straightforward business arrangement. …Except for him. Kahn, of the Light House’s entire family is dead and he partially blames Randa for it. He doesn’t like her scandalous past. He doesn’t like how easily she navigates the human world, while he flounders to understand grocery stores. He doesn’t like how beautiful she is, even when she’s arguing with him. He doesn’t like the pain and secrets lurking in her dark eyes. …And he especially doesn’t like that this mysterious, aggravating woman might just be the key to his whole future.       AmazonKU

BOUGHT BY THE GORGON: MONSTERS’ BRIDE MARKET by Eva Brandt

I am a shrine maiden of the Wilds, raised to celebrate life. Now, I belong to a Gorgon whose gaze turns flesh to stone. My father stripped away my right to choose. He dressed me in ceremonial silks and entrusted me with a sacred duty. To ensure peace between our people and the Blighted Ones. I walked onto the bride market auction block, knowing I was nothing more than a political sacrifice. Then Eryx steps forward. The Ambassador of Asphodelia. He is a massive monster who hides his ruined eyes behind a band of dark silk. He radiates the same death energy that has been destroying our lands for years. With a fortune in gold that silences the crowd, he claims me as his bride. Banished to an isolated estate, I expect a nightmare. Instead, my terrifying husband treats our marriage as a sterile duty. Haunted by the violent history that scarred his weave, Eryx refuses to touch me. He keeps his distance, convinced his cursed nature will only corrupt me. I disagree. I refuse to be a ghost in his shadowed halls. So when the snakes in his hair reach for me, I reach back. In Eryx’s arms, I find freedom. I find a music stronger and brighter than the song of the Wilds. But our peace is a fragile illusion. An unseen enemy is hiding in the vibrant beauty of my homeland. And if we can’t learn to embrace our bond, the ghosts of his past will destroy us both. Welcome to the bride market! Monsters bid, you choose.        AmazonKU

A DEMON CHEF’S RECIPE FOR LEMON TART (THE FORKED TAIL RESTAURANT) by  Ariana Jade and Arizona Tape

VS Note: Sapphic PNR.

The DemonChef kitchens are calling again and this time, Chef Lana will be faced with her greatest challenge yet. Dessert. Can she create a showstopper dessert to wow the judges and beat her competitors to the race to the top? Maybe. It depends on if she can get a handle on her feelings because someone from Demi’s past has appeared and Lana is experiencing something she’s never felt before. Envy. **** A Demon Chef’s Recipe For Lemon Tart is the third book in the Forked Tail Restaurant series. It’s a cozy urban fantasy series about a determined and ambitious demon chef, a sapphic romance, found family, and mouth-watering food.

Amazon     Kobo

THE CITY THAT SHATTERED THE WORLD (THE CURSED MAGE BOOK TWO) by Fiona Fenn

Happily ever after isn’t all that magical…With Hell’s chasm closed and magic sealed away, Orpheus and Fenrir find themselves at the center of the Empire’s reconstruction. But when mysterious assailants kidnap Orpheus to a city once powered by the chasm he closed—the redeemed villain discovers all magic may not be lost…only his. Presented with a choice: Fix the city or die, Orpheus comes face-to-face with a young mage named Gwen whose magic is too weak to cast a spell, let alone help the broken city. Enamored by the former dark sorcerer, Gwen offers to help keep Orpheus’ missing powers a secret in exchange for magical tutelage, buying Orpheus the time he needs for Fenrir to come to his rescue. But when weeks pass without Fenrir’s arrival while Gwen only grows stronger, Orpheus looks to his unlikely student and wonders…Is there a way to steal Gwen’s magic and save himself?      Amazon        AB        Kobo

A DRAGON MISSING: MORNTAG DRAGONS & KINGDOMS BOOK THREE by Annabelle Raven

A missing sister. A cursed captain. And a dragon trying to un-bond herself. Lilith has always run from fear, but when her sister vanishes without a trace, she’ll do anything it takes to find her again—even if it means sneaking onto a pirate ship. Kadir knows he’s cursed. It’s the only explanation for the fact that everyone who trusts him ends up dead, and he refuses to add one more name to that list. But as Lily’s search uncovers the truth behind her sister’s disappearance, it also reveals another attack that Kadir cannot ignore and an enemy neither he nor Lilith can face alone. Lilith’s dragon hates her, Kadir is haunted by guilt, and neither of them likes to trust others. But if they can’t work together, they will both lose the people most precious to them. And like every good romantasy, the journey they take exposes their deepest fears and feelings neither can afford to indulge. Can they truly protect their own hearts without hurting the other’s? Some disappearances are no accident. And some loves are worth sailing into darkness for.       AmazonKU

CURIOUSITY KILLED THE CAT LADY (COUNTRY COTTAGE MYSTERIES BOOK 34) by Addision Moore

I’m Bizzy Baker Wilder, and nothing says spooky season disaster quite like the Scream Queens Showcase booking my Country Cottage Inn for their week-long horror hosting convention. Between Gothic fashion shows, deadly cocktail parties, and a documentary filming everyone’s darkest secrets, these vintage glamour divas make backstabbing look like a competitive sport. So naturally, when the reigning queen of horror hosting drops dead during the festival kickoff, I’m suddenly investigating a murder where everyone had motive and half the suspects are literally experts on killing people. Have I mentioned I can read minds? Yeah. And believe me, it turns out that animals have far more interesting things to say. My talking pets, Fish and Sherlock Bones, help me navigate a world of rival horror hostesses who smile while sharpening their claws. But someone at this festival is willing to kill to keep their secrets buried, and I’m running out of time to stop them before another body drops. My pets are conducting unauthorized haunted mansion investigations, my sister’s selling “guaranteed soulmate” candles to desperate festival-goers, and my hot detective husband is solving a homicide case during the spookiest week of the year. Meanwhile, I’m juggling a one-year-old vampire, a ghost-kissing octogenarian named Georgie, and enough fake fog to make every ghost jealous. Good thing I can read minds—because when the veil between the living and the dead is this thin, even thoughts can be deadly. And in a group this cutthroat, the trick is figuring out who’s treating murder like a treat.   AmazonKU

SQUAD GHOULS: MM PNR by A M Rose

Haunting #500: The Last Resort B&B – Number of ghosts: between 5 and 34, depending on whether the pirate ship crew counts as they are not, technically, inside the house? TBD? Location: Pembrokeshire Coast,Wales – History: Unknown. Owner made a purchase of the estate in secret and refuses to share information with anyone. Wanted: Immediate ghost removal. Owner being kept against his will. Possible mind control at play as he claims ghosts are his friends. The ExorSquad Team: New recruit on a first assignment, Ryan Brolyn. Additional notes: Do not go on board the pirate ship. Do not accept cookies. Massages are not complimentary and might result in unwanted possession. The shorts on the owner are a style choice, not a seduction attempt. Act accordingly. Owner has no clue his ass has the ability to topple nations. Welsh spoons are not supposed to be used like that. Owain – Listen. Owain was aware of the fact that ghosts in general were considered of…well…a questionable friendliness level, okay? Despite what his exes said, he wasn’t a complete ditz. But his ghosts, the ones that were indefinite guests at The Last Resort B&B when he bought it, were lovely. Were they a bit…(more blurb on ebook seller’s page)      AmazonKU 

DOOMED BY A DEMON (KINKTOBER) by Ivy Knox

As a last-ditch effort to save their marriage, Fiona surprises her husband, Josh, with a romantic weekend getaway for Halloween. They love geeking out over ghosts and all things horror, so she’s booked them a famously haunted vacation rental. This should rekindle the spark that died long ago, right? During their drive, they can’t seem to stop fighting, and it gets even worse once they arrive. Not only because of their bickering, but because whomever is haunting the house clearly has it out for Josh. When Josh demands they leave, she refuses, determined to enjoy what’s left of the trip. He abandons her there, threatening to file for divorce once he gets home. Mere moments after he slams the front door, the presence in question makes itself known, and it’s no ghost. Arthur reveals himself as the demon she summoned twenty years prior through a spell she uttered with her college friends one lonely Halloween night. He also confesses his lust-filled intentions to give Fiona the time of her life. Once Fiona overcomes her initial shock, she decides she’s game to rebound with the scorchingly hot monster. But when the weekend ends, can she really return to her life as if this demon hasn’t ruined her for all other men?       AmazonKU

HIS STUBBORN MATE (BATTLEBORN ORCS BOOK TWO) by Veronika Kane

He claimed me once. Now he’s back to finish the job. Eight months ago, Maardok of the seafaring Battleborn clan spent a fortnight in my home and in my bed. Oh, I am no fool; a widowed mother like me knows the ramifications of such a reckless act. But everyone knows orcs and humans cannot breed. It turns out, everyone was wrong. Now my son and I have been banished, and face a harsh Highland winter on our own…as I grow great with child. Maardok’s child, an impossible child. But when he returns, he claims me before he even knows the truth of the miracle I carry. Can we make a place for ourselves in his world, even when my past threatens us all?     AmazonKU

WILL CURSE FOR MILK by Sarah Spade

When you open a pie shop in a town that is real big on Halloween, you expect the occasional ghost story as October hits. Maybe even a cranky witch or two—and let’s not even get started about the rumors that we have a pair of vigilante serial killers who rule Shadowvale behind the scenes…What you don’t expect, though? A naked man in your kitchen, claiming to be your recently rescued—and former stray—cat in human form. Mr. Whiskers—sorry, Vincent—insists he’s a cursed warlock doomed to spend eternity as a feline until his fated mate breaks the spell on him. And, apparently, that fated mate is me. Now I’ve got one day—before midnight on Halloween—to figure out if magic is really real, if my new houseguest is a nut job and/or a liar, and if I’m about to fall for a man who once left a dead mouse on my pillow. Welcome to Shadowvale—where the pies are sweet, the men are too gorgeous for their own good, and love might just be the most powerful magic of all.    AmazonKU

MOTHSBLOOD by Lynn D Jung

VS Note: FF Fantasy Dark Academia.

On a rain-soaked night in modern-day Paris, Larkspur Lee and her academic rivals find themselves at the center of an impossible crime-the murder of their university’s headmistress, the immortal Petronelle Flamel. In the aftermath of Flamel’s death, the school devolves into chaos. The mysterious investigator assigned to the case, Violaine, believes a cult known as the Promethean Genesis is responsible for Flamel’s murder. But Lark, who knows all too well what kind of horrors that the Prometheans commit, will do anything to stay out of the cult’s reach. Matters are complicated when the mentor she crossed an ocean and a continent to escape re-enters her life, enticing her to his side once again while secretly wielding an agenda of his own. As the Prometheans’ plans come to fruition and the university’s dark history comes to light, Lark has no choice but to decide whether the power she desires is truly worth the price.      Amazon     AB     Apple Books     Kobo

FOUND BY HER GUARDIAN (YULETIDE SHIFTERS BOOK EIGHT) by R E Butler

Polar bear shifter Winter has spent years protecting Northernmost as one of Santa’s elite Guardians. When a violent winter storm sends an injured snowy owl tumbling out of the sky, Winter rushes to help, only to discover the beautiful shifter is his truemate. Snowy owl shifter True never expected to find her mate in the frozen north, but the handsome, protective polar bear who claims her heart feels like destiny. Even though she’s separated from her owl Parliament and family, at least she has her truemate to keep her warm. But the worsening winter storms aren’t just seasonal bad weather. They’re coming directly from Jack Frost, who spreads darkness, cold, and fear across the world while stealing magic to make himself stronger. When the Guardians rush out to rescue an elf left to die in the snow, they walk straight into a trap and Winter is taken captive. True’s rescue attempt is cut short when she’s captured too. Can these truemates rescue each other before Jack Frost and his new ally, the god of nightmares, destroy good magic and take over the world?         Amazon     Apple Books     Kobo

THE DEMON NEXT DOOR (FORTY, FIRED AND FIGHTING DEMONS BOOK EIGHT) by Brenda Trim

I found a message carved into my basement floor this morning. It wasn’t a grocery list. Or a passive-aggressive note from a neighbor. Instead, it was an interdimensional inscription in a language older than Hell’s entire organizational structure. And it was left by something that opened a door my magic couldn’t find. This entity simply did what it came to do and disappeared without a seam. Vesper is being cryptic about it, which means he knows more than he’s saying. Victoria can’t identify the signature, which has never happened in her years on the council. And Zane has the look he gets when he’s already three steps ahead of the problem, and none of the steps are good. Turns out someone ancient has been watching me since the moment I fully integrated the Echo. It seems as if there’s a woman who’s been holding a failing seal together alone for three thousand years, and I’m apparently the reason she’s been sending signals into the dark. Turns out Hell was built as a buffer zone and not a punishment system, which explains a lot and makes me significantly angrier about everything that happened inside it. Also there are people who think the responsible solution here is to kill me before I become someone else’s problem. Let’s not forget I have a renovation business to run. There’s a subfloor situation at the Kowalski house, and my contractor boyfriend is starting to resent that I say yes to things without calling him first. Believe me, I understand where he’s coming from. But there’s a message in my basement with a blank space in the center, and everything I’ve learned about dimensional architecture tells me exactly what goes there. I’m starting to think I’ve been building toward this since before I knew what I was doing. Either that, or this entire enterprise is about to finally crumble around me.       AmazonKU

BOUND TO BE YOURS: MONSTERS BETWEEN THE SHEETS by Bella Blair

One year after the infamous Frankenpunch turned the residents of Screaming Woods into dragons, fairies, gargoyles, and creatures straight out of legend, nurse Poppy Hale is still painfully, stubbornly human. No magic. No wings. Not even adorable fox ears. Then she discovers she’s been sharing her life with an invisible infernal Demon from Hell. For an entire year. Azaren is ancient, grumpy, and dangerously powerful, a demon ripped from his own realm and magically bound to the one woman who talks to squirrels, rescues beetles, and insists on feeding every lonely soul in town. He should terrify her. Instead, she makes him laugh. But when an ancient creature awakens beneath Screaming Woods, draining the magic that keeps the worlds apart, Poppy and Azaren are forced to confront a darkness older than Hell itself. To save the town—and each other—they’ll have to risk everything, including their hearts. Because falling in love with a demon was never part of the plan. And neither was finding home in his arms.      AmazonKU

HOWL WILL I KNOW: MONSTERS BETWEEN THE SHEETS by Violet Rae

Hewit – I stopped speaking to people a long time ago. I left the world behind, disappeared into Screaming Woods, and convinced myself solitude was the only way to keep everyone safe from the monster inside me. Then Nora Moon moves in next door. She’s sunlight where I’m shadow. Warm smiles, endless questions, and coffee left on my porch as though she hasn’t noticed I’m scarred, dangerous, and barely capable of holding a conversation. She walks through our strange paranormal town like she belongs here—and somehow makes me wonder whether I could belong beside her. Nora doesn’t look at me and see a monster. She sees a man. That should make it easier to stay away from her. Instead, every day she slips further beneath my defenses, awakening instincts I’ve spent years trying to bury. My wolf knows what she is the moment he scents her. Mine. But wanting Nora is dangerous. Touching her could destroy the fragile control I’ve fought so hard to build. And when the past I’ve been running from finally finds me, I’ll have to decide whether loving her means letting her go…Or trusting that even a broken man deserves a mate—and a second chance.     AmazonKU

TOTO’S TORMENTED TRIO: MONSTERS BETWEEN THE SHEETS by Lara London

Intense desire. Burning passion. True love. My brothers and I have fought our attraction to the voluptuous, bubbly firecracker who captured our hearts ten years ago. It was then that we made our pact: our sister’s best friend was strictly off-limits. Especially since we bring a whole host of baggage, including a wicked witch out for blood and a past better left buried. But when Toto needs our help, none of us are willing to let sleeping dogs lie. Who are we to turn down a woman in peril? Particularly when she’s the curvy goddess who stars in each of our nightly fantasies? Oz is our home, yet the demons of our past draw us back to the beginning. When it becomes clear that salvation can only be found in Screaming Woods—a place that also holds the key to our history—we have no choice but to follow the yellow brick road toward our fate. Will we find what we need to make ourselves whole again and win Toto’s heart forever? Or will our pasts come back to destroy our chances of a happily ever after?      AmazonKU

INHERITED CASTLES AND CURSES by TJ Nichols

VS Note: MM PNR.

At fifty-two, Kieran Sherry suddenly finds himself the owner of a ramshackle castle half a world away. Being in the castle unlocks his magic and the family curse. Now he has bigger problems than an inheritance he never asked for. If he doesn’t break the curse, it will claim his life. Owl shifter Lewis Hart’s family has been the caretaker of the property for more than a century. Like most people in town, he’s aware that there is some kind of magic wrapped around the castle, but the truth of the curse has been lost. So when Kieran’s magic awakens and they accidentally become fated mates, tying Lewis’ life to the curse, he becomes more invested in unearthing the truth, even if that means dealing with the spriggans in the woods.     AmazonKU

DEAD TO RITES (LAST CALL BOOK ONE) by Christine Pope

She inherited a haunted house, a Whiskey Row wine bar, and the ability to see ghosts. Then someone got murdered in her men’s room. Designer Lorelei Cosgrove was perfectly content drifting in Scottsdale — mourning her parents, running a small Etsy shop, and not particularly interested in being responsible for anything more demanding than her own takeout order. Then her great-aunt Hazel passed away and left her a Victorian house in Prescott, a wine/beer/mead bar called Copper State Cellars, and one stubborn stipulation: live there and run the bar, or lose it all. A near-fatal reaction to a bee sting on Lorelei’s first afternoon in town wakes up a latent Cosgrove family gift — one Hazel apparently forgot to mention. The Victorian’s most prominent resident is Hazel herself, still wearing her twin sets, still bossy as ever, and apparently not too worried about being dead. Then there’s the 1920s Prohibition-era federal agent who haunts Copper State Cellars and calls Lorelei “doll” and the murdered priest who turns up dead in the men’s room — and immediately starts haunting it himself, unable to remember anything about who killed him…or why. With a local police detective eyeing her as a suspect, a defrocked priest turned bookstore owner she can’t quite figure out, and a local parish where every suspect has a secret worth hiding, Lorelei has to learn the rules of her new gift on the fly. Because ghosts can witness. They can warn. They can mislead. But what they can’t do is solve the case for her.      Amazon     Apple Books      Kobo

ORC’S MOON (VEIL LANDS BOOK 17) by Cyn Blade and Milly Taiden

Lyessa: I spent seven years being treated like a traitor just for hunting down the truth. Now our city is on fire, assassins are on my tail, and the only thing standing between me and death is a lethal orc captain. Vorren Blackfang is massive, battle-scarred, and completely untouchable. I need him to guide me through the forbidden ruins to unlock an ancient magic, but every time his hands touch my skin, the air between us turns electric. He looks at me like he wants to protect me—and tear into me all at once. I was supposed to be his prisoner. Instead, I’m the one bringing him to his knees. Vorren: I’ve obeyed orders without question for twelve years. Then this fierce, stubborn woman crashes into my world with a target on her back and fire in her eyes. I’m supposed to turn her over to the Council. Instead, watching her hold a blade and talk back to me makes something wild and primal snap in my chest. Trapped alone in a deadly, waking city, every protective instinct I have goes up in flames. I don’t just want to keep her alive—I want to press her against the stone and make her mine. I was built to destroy anyone in my path. Now, I’ll burn the entire kingdom to the ground before I let anyone touch her.      AmazonKU

HOT FLASHES AND HEXES (GERRI WILDER’S MAGICAL MIDLIFE RESET BOOK ONE) by Milly Taiden

Hot flashes, hexes, and one growly wolf sheriff who definitely wasn’t part of her post-divorce plan. Althea Virelli is freshly divorced, has zero patience for mysterious plumbing failures, and has a minor habit of setting local property on fire when she gets stressed. All she wanted in Spelltide Cove was a quiet place to relax, lick her wounds, and reset. She didn’t expect her long-dormant magic to wake up with a bang, accidentally incinerate a boardwalk festival banner, and hurl her straight into the path of the town’s devastatingly handsome sheriff. Sheriff Drayce Varyn likes order, control, and keeping his heart safely locked away. Then one curvy, sharp-tongued brunette nearly burns down his boardwalk, and his wolf announces one very inconvenient truth: Mate. Drayce plans to give Althea all the space she needs. His possessive wolf has other ideas—especially when ancient creatures start coming after her. Worse, he can’t stop thinking about pulling her into his arms and kissing her. When strange creatures start targeting the thinned magic surrounding Althea, Drayce’s territorial instincts go nuclear. Just when she thought things couldn’t get any weirder, they do. Now Althea has a possessive sheriff breathing down her neck, a coven of wine-loving witches insisting she’s powerful, Gerri Wilder meddling with suspiciously good cookies, half the town waiting to see what she sets on fire next, and enough sexual tension to blow up the local espresso machine.     AmazonKU

THE FEEDER LEGACY (THE VAMPIRE DOMINION BOOK ONE) by Louisa Master

VS Note: MM PNR.

When the family secret is a history of being lunch…I don’t have the best track record when it comes to jobs. Since finishing uni, I’ve been drifting from hospo to retail and back again, searching for something that will hold my interest and leaving a trail of irritated wanker bosses behind me. When I once again find myself unemployed, my long-lost cousin steps in with a fantastic opportunity. Turns out, when my parents decided to walk away from the family, they left a generational business as well, and there’s a job waiting for me if I want it. The catch? Vampires are real, and they’ll pay to drink my blood. The Barale family sets the gold-star standard for vampire feeders, and the mere mention of my name gets me a job with a salary and benefits beyond my wildest dreams. In return, I need to move into a vampire’s house and offer him my wrist twice a day. Simple. Except my new community—including my vampire, Tristan—doesn’t know that I’m clueless about their world, and it’s more complicated and dangerous than I thought. I’ve got to keep my head down and mouth shut while I learn the basics. How hard can it be? After all, I’m a legacy.      AmazonKU

CURSED BY FATE (BLIND FURY BOOK THREE) by Annabel Chase

Maya August can barely keep up with her cat’s litter box. So naturally, she’s now responsible for an entire island of supernatural retirees. As Director of Security for the Neighborhood, Maya has no time to catch her breath, especially with a new assistant to train. The local werewolves are stirring up trouble, and something monstrous is lurking in Savannah’s waterways. When Vale shows up asking for her help—or maybe just an excuse to see her—Maya has to wonder: is any of this actually in her job description? But Maya’s biggest threat might not be in the waterways at all. Her new assistant is far too perceptive for Maya’s comfort, asking questions she can’t afford to answer, and if her buried past comes to light, it won’t just cost her the job—it could cost her everything she’s finally found worth protecting.      AmazonKU       AB

RUBY AND THE WOLF by Lisa Carlisle

An alpha wolf tired of war. The human assassin sent to kill him. Ruby has been wearing the red cloak since she was a child. All she knows is her life as an operative in the Crimson Order. When she’s sent to find a wolf shifter hiding in a cottage, he surprises her by opening the door and inviting her inside. He knows her code name. He knows her grandmother. He knows too much. She shouldn’t trust him. He’s her enemy. But what if he’s telling the truth? And the wolf wasn’t the monster?     AmazonKU

A DEMON FOR CHRISTMAS (SEASON’S SUMMONINGS BOOK ONE) by Candice Gilmer

Shelby Foster built a nine-figure meal-kit empire on one carefully guarded secret: she cannot cook. Smoke alarms in three states will testify. So when her family guilt-trips her into hosting Christmas dinner — fourteen Fosters, her grandmother’s recipes, no caterers allowed — Shelby does what any desperate CEO would do. She practices. And burns a turkey. And reads a strange old recipe card out loud over the smoke. Enter Asharoth: nine hundred years old, contractually bound to her penthouse until Christmas Eve, infuriatingly good in the kitchen, and absolutely forbidden from cooking the dinner for her. Contract law says her hands have to do the work. His job is to teach her — knife skills, gravy, and the one lesson she never learned: how to be loved without earning it. The clock says the binding dissolves at midnight on Christmas Eve. Her heart is starting to have opinions about that. And her grandmother’s recipe tin has one more secret in the bottom that changes everything        Amazon

THE INFIRMARY FOR SRAGON BURNS AND MIDAIR MSHAPS (THE EMBER RIDGE SERIES BOOK ONE) by Elizabeth Hrib

VS Note: FF PNR. From AUG 28.

Burn nurse Eden has accepted a job from her old mentor at the Infirmary for Dragon Burns and Midair Mishaps, hoping for peace and quiet in Ember Ridge — a charming mountain town famous for singed tourists and reckless dragon riders. Instead, she arrives to find the infirmary in chaos. Her mentor is stranded out of town, wild dragons are causing havoc and Eden is left running the infirmary on her first day. Worse, she keeps crossing paths with Vaela, the town’s dragon wrangler, whose talent for surviving impossible situations is matched only by a talent for getting under Eden’s skin. Vaela is everything Eden hates: brooding, reckless and arrogant. But when local dragons begin acting strangely and the kingsguard descends on Ember Ridge, whispers spread of the Wretch — the most feared dragon in the realm. Eden and Vaela are forced into an uneasy partnership to save the town, but every argument between them sparks into something hotter and far more dangerous than they expected. Because falling for a dragon wrangler was never part of Eden’s plan. But neither is watching Ember Ridge — and her guarded heart — go up in flames.     AmazonKU       AB

FORSAKEN FATE: PART TWO (FORSAKEN FATE TRILOGY) by Kimber White

A steamy wolf-shifter paranormal romance with forbidden fated mates, a dangerous mating bond, revenge, stolen magic and supernatural politics. She took the wrong wolf’s mark to save her father. Now the man fate chose has to watch her wear it. Brynna has made an impossible choice. To find the father who was taken from her years ago, she has accepted the mating mark of Theo’s greatest enemy. His brother. She tells herself it’s only temporary. One dangerous deception. One chance to uncover the truth before walking away forever. But mating magic was never meant to be used as a weapon. The mark gives Brynna the access she needs, but every secret she steals brings her enemy one step closer to discovering hers. And every stolen moment with Theo makes it harder to remember why she chose this path in the first place. Theo knows Brynna is his fated mate. Watching another wolf mark her was almost unbearable. Watching her risk herself to finish what she started may be worse. He would burn the world to protect the woman fate chose for him. But how do you save someone determined to sacrifice herself? Especially when loving her may be the very thing that destroys them both.      AmazonKU

FATED TO THE WOLVEN MAGE by R L Perez

She thinks he killed her grandmother. He thinks she’s plotting against his kingdom. And they have to work together to uncover the truth. Cerise is a witch training under her grandmother, eager to uncover the secrets of her past. But when she discovers her grandmother has been murdered, she yearns for retribution. And the only person who can give her the answers she seeks is the wolf shifter she suspects is behind the murder. Alaric is a Wolven Mage who shares a soul with a wolf. As the captain of his tribe, he is in charge of tracking down criminals and protecting his people. When he finds out the Mage King has been killed, he finds evidence that Cerise and her grandmother were involved. With the growing hatred between witches and Wolven Mages, Alaric is convinced Cerise is guilty. As they work together to solve both murders, they realize the connection between the grandmother and the Mage King goes deeper than they thought. And the more they uncover, the more they realize that everything they thought they knew was wrong. Including their feelings for one another. As secrets are unearthed and tension between them burns hotter, Cerise and Alaric find themselves caught up in an elaborate conspiracy that has been ongoing for decades. And if they aren’t careful, the secrets and lies could destroy them both.     AmazonKU

FATED TO THE FROZEN PRINCE by Clara Hartford

VS Note: From SEPT 29.

Every winter must have a summer. Yet eternal winter sweeps across the continent, freezing everything in its path. Unfortunately, there’s nothing Wrenora hates more than the cold, other than Prince Callan Vostbain, whose magic is rumored to be the cause of the winter blight. As a human prisoner of war, she tries to keep out of his way to avoid punishment, but when Callan learns she’s an imbuing mage, capable of creating a gem that can harness his power, he offers Wrenora freedom in exchange for her help. But Wrenora hasn’t used her imbuing magic since before the war. She’s not sure she can help him. And she’s certainly not prepared for the man she finds hidden beneath the icy mask, much less the real reason Callan wishes to control his magic. As more assassins are sent to kill him and rumors of an uprising grow, Callan struggles to keep the fiery human from melting the armor he’s carefully frozen around his heart. Or to focus on controlling his magic and stopping the winter blight before the entire continent is solid ice. The cure for the winter blight may be at his fingertips, if only he can keep from freezing his only hope with a single touch.      AmazonKU

FATED TO THE PUMPKIN PRINCE by Rebecca L Garcia

Elle’s lifelong dream was to manage her family’s bakery, and perhaps, just once, catch the prince’s eye. Little did she know, the day she gained his attention would be the same day she’d face total ruin.
After years of working under her cruel stepmother and stepsisters, Elle strikes a bargain that unknowingly shackles her fate to the very prince who wronged her. With little to their names, Elle and the prince are forced to work together to find a way out of the terrible mess they’ve found themselves in. Their only hope lies in a half-sunken city where an ancient enchantress trades in tears, but magic always demands its price and the closer they come to breaking the spell that binds them, the more they must reckon with the truth that some spells only reveal what was already there all along.   AmazonKU

FATED TO THE NIGHT KING by Krista Fox

Sena survived the Silver Sickness—but it stole her ability to shift, her place in the pack, and the future she thought she’d have. When her Alpha sends her to spy on the Night King, ruler of the vampire court, she expects a monster. She finds a man carved from shadow and devotion. Alkan recognizes Sena instantly—something rare, something powerful, something his. As danger coils between their warring peoples, Sena is drawn deeper into his dark kingdom… and into a bond she was never meant to claim. But secrets are rotting the shifter world from within, and Sena’s past is far more dangerous than the Night King’s teeth. When betrayal strikes, she must choose between the pack that raised her and the man who would burn the world to keep her alive.     AmazonKU

FATED TO THE GROTESQUE: A GARGOYLE ROMANCE by C M Hutton

It’s the absolute worst time of the year. Fortunately, I, Miko Gowdie, planned to spend the miserable summer tucked inside the air-conditioned halls of Eldritch University, surrounded by Victorian architecture while finishing one of the last three courses needed for my Master of Architecture degree. Once I landed a job to meet my financial aid requirements, nothing would stand in my way. At least, that’s what I thought. Then, I discovered the magical and paranormal world exists, and my carefully planned future unraveled thanks to a hulking stone brute who grins more than he breathes. Creatures like him belong perched on rooftops, not stalking my every move. Unfortunately, all those years spent reading Grimm’s Fairy Tales did nothing to prepare me for this new reality. Now, I have one question: can I survive long enough to earn my degree, keep my sanity, and make it to the fall semester?   AmazonKU

THE SECRET OMEGA’S SECRET BABY: AN MM MPREG ROMANCE (BABIES FOR BROKEN DADS BOOK EIGHT) by Anna Wineheart

Uriel has two secrets: Secret #1: Even though he looks like an alpha, he’s actually an omega. Secret #2: His baby’s other dad… is his enemy. And the alpha, Bruiser, has no idea that Cassie is his daughter. It’s for the best. When a rescue mission turns complicated and Bruiser is the only one left with Uriel and his baby, he starts to notice things about Cassie that seem… off. Things that remind him of himself. Like the color of her eyes. The weird birthmark on her belly. Uriel’s an alpha who wants nothing to do with Bruiser, so… What the heck is going on?     AmazonKU

THE NETHER CROWN (CAMP NETHERWORLD BOOK ONE) by K N Lee

Falsely accused. Betrayed. Abandoned. When Sylvia finds herself at Camp Netherworld, she discovers that everything that led to her enrollment was planned by an elite organization of supernatural beings. The camp is odd; with magical creatures, a ‘mean girl’ from back home; and two ridiculously hot faction leaders who have their sights set on her. But, what surprises Sylvia the most, is that she has a rare special ability, and that there is a target on her back that can be deadly.     AmazonKU

THEIR FIERCE LITTLE MONSTER (MONSTER GAMES) by Mila Young

Welcome to the Day of the Choosing. Where the sacred Chalice decides your fate. And monsters always take those selected as their brides…I’ve spent my whole life fearing the moment my name might be called. But before the ceremony even begins, I’m dragged away and branded a heretic for what I am. Then sentenced to burn alive. Only, I don’t die. Instead, the fire wakes something inside me. Something savage and unworldly. The problem is that a Monster Lord claimed me before the Chalice ever could. And according to village law, that means there’s only one way to prove I’m his to keep. Go before the Elite Mountain King. Now I’m being hauled into the dangerous city with two Monster Lords and a hunter who swears he’s here to protect me. Escape might no longer be an option. Because the more they close in, the harder it becomes to deny the truth. I was never meant to survive them. I was meant to belong to them.     AmazonKU

FATE AND REVEL (CROWNS AND RUIN BOOK ONE) by Tess Oliver

He’s sworn to protect me. Forbidden to touch me. Two princes were promised my body. Neither of them has ever seen my face. My whole life, I’ve believed I’m human. Now I know the truth. I was born in Troikana, fated to both. Two crowns. One bride. A death sentence. So my mother hid me among the humans. Untouched. Unaware. But now the princes’ armies are hunting me. And only one man can keep me safe. Revel. The massive Valian warrior sent to bring me home. And I was never supposed to want him back. The armies are closing in. Every touch is treason. Every look, a war. The kind that could finally set me free…Or get us both killed.     AmazonKU

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ROUGE: MM MONSTER ROMANCE by L Waltree

Will – I’m not well. Never have been, really. Monsters have chased me most of my life. And recently, I let them get out of control. Now I’m a divorced single dad trying to get my life back on track. I do everything I can to make the monsters go away. But one stays. Nothing stops him. I’m at my breaking point. Until slowly, I find myself chasing him…Even if it ends up ruining me. Rouge – He’s not like the others. My sweetling. His misery is unique. A taste that I do not wish to give up. I have a role to fulfill. I should move on from him. But I won’t. I’ll stay. Even if it ends up ruining him.     AmazonKU

WYLDER MAGICK by Camille Anthony

Eight days…Elias Wylder, that egotistical SOB, had the gall to trick Moriah into bonding with him during her Opening Ceremony! Now her year of hiding is almost up. Only eight days and she’ll be free. In eight days, Moriah can repudiate the bond with Wylder and claim her rightful place in Arcane Society. Until then, she dare not allow the powerful warlock to discover she still loves him, despite his trickery. She must keep her distance, no matter how close she wishes they could be. But Wylder’s not the kind to take no for an answer. Humbled by her loss, Elias will do anything to find Mariah, even begging the Council of Magick for help. Unfortunately, his year of futile searching is almost up. An Athame Warlock must present his lady to the Council before the year passes, or lose her forever. Elias can’t allow that to happen. Mariah’s taken more than Wylder’s magick — she’s stolen his heart. He’s got just eight days to find her, and win her back!        Amazon     Apple Books     Kobo

DAUGHTER OF THE TEMPEST (MYTHS OF THE EMPYRIEOS BOOK TWO) by Braidee Otto

Spy. Princess. Songbird. Traitor. Aella is on the run. After freeing a mysterious prisoner from the Aviary, the spy order she once swore loyalty to, Aella has no choice but to flee with him. The pair form an uneasy alliance: She’ll help him evade capture if he teaches her to harness her unruly magic—magic she hopes will allow her to return to Nyssa and keep them both safe. As the two traverse cities, forests, and mountains, Aella finds herself drawn to the very man whose mere survival could cost her everything—and discovers his secrets may rival her own. Nyssa, meanwhile, is trapped. Suspected of aiding Aella’s betrayal of the Aviary, she’s forced into hiding—disguising herself as a servant in the Southern Kingdom’s palace under the care of its condescending, petulant prince. The only thing Nyssa and Prince Kallias have in common is their desperation to protect Aella, but between the upcoming Empyrieos Games, the constant threat of discovery, and the palace’s ever-watchful eyes, Nyssa has no choice but to trust him. Both unsure if the other is still alive, Aella and Nyssa fight to survive amid a manhunt across the realm. To those in control, their capture is a crucial move in the game of power, but they underestimate the storm brewing inside Aella—and the devastation it will bring.     Amazon     AB     Apple Books     Kobo

GOBLIN MARKET by A J Hackwith

Being a changeling is hard enough, but Toast was older than most changeling children when her goblin parents stole her back from her human family and returned her to the harsh, bustling world of the Goblin Market, where anything from your fondest dream to your strongest talent can be bought—or sold. Nearly a decade later, Toast has grudgingly cobbled together a life there as the Market’s guide for mortal visitors. But when the next arrival is her long-lost sister and the ancient beast whose magic the Market depends on disappears under strange circumstances, everything starts falling apart. Now the Market itself is dying. With the Summer Court of noble fey plotting to claim the weakened Market for themselves, Toast, her friends, and an infuriatingly charming fey knight with an agenda of her own must negotiate their differences to make the trade of a lifetime and win back the Market’s future. To do so, Toast will have to decide what home–and the flawed community within–is ultimately worth.

Amazon      Apple Books      Kobo

SPATIALLY UNAWAREWOLF bySarah Honey

VS Note: MM PNR.

Newly minted werewolf Luke Forrest was prepared for fangs, fur, and full moons. But nobody warned him that ‘lack of rear end awareness’ was something he’d be dealing with. What do you mean, he can’t remember how to climb stairs and ladders? If Luke wants to keep his job as a construction worker he’s going to have to figure this out, and fast. Enter Hunter Madison, an expert who specializes in shifter coordination issues. When Hunter stumbled upon the supernatural world, he also found a niche market for his Personal Training skills. Who knew so many new shifters had trouble making their brains and limbs cooperate—or that they’d need a PT to help them figure it out? What follows is a series of hilarious and hopeless efforts to help improve Luke’s coordination. To be fair to Hunter, his training sessions would probably be more effective if they both weren’t so distracted by the sizzling chemistry between them—but Hunter has a hard and fast rule about not dating werewolves, even if they are exactly his type. It looks like Luke is going to have to jump through some hoops if he wants a chance with his hunky personal trainer.       AmazonKU

OUR DARK INCANTATIONS by Wanda Hellmund

After the war, ex-healer Mira Winters swore she’d never touch magic again. And yet here she is attending the newly reopened Ivercrest University, enrolled in the wrong magic department, paired up with the absolute wrong partner—the infuriating Aidric Dawson. Instead of learning how to make a potion strong enough to heal her incurable scar, Mira attends demonology lessons, casts deadly spells…and is accidentally dragged into a murder investigation on campus—one with devastating ripples that bleed into the magical world far beyond the university. Even more devastating? Aidric Dawson. Rumored to have been a high-ranking soldier during the war, the lethal Wielder is arrogant, aristocratic, and shrouded in secrets…but with his own wounds from the war, he may also be the only one who truly understands Mira. A labyrinth of clues pulls Mira and Aidric deep into a sinister plot hiding in the shadows of magical society, threatening war once more. Can the two enemies work together without losing their hearts—or their lives—in the process?      Amazon     AB      Apple Books      Kobo

SHADOW AND SON (SHATTERED CROWN BOOK THREE) by Gretchen Powell Fox

A Fractured World – The fragile peace forged in the wake of the Crucible is unraveling. With the rise of an old foe and ancient magic stirring, the scars dividing Arcanis have begun to bleed anew, and the future of the realm hangs by a thread. A Queen of Shadow – Elyria Lightbreaker has paid a devastating price to save her loved ones. Now, she faces a whole new darkness—and must decide how much more of herself she is willing to give to save a world that has already taken so much. A Man on the Brink – Rocked by the secrets of his past and the truth behind his power, Cedric Thorne scours the continent in search of the woman he loves. But as enemies emerge from hiding and Elyria is pulled ever farther from reach, he must face the terrifying possibility that saving her may mean becoming something unforgivable. And once his fire is unleashed, there may be no putting it out. A Final Reckoning – Bound by love but burdened by prophecy, Elyria and Cedric stand at the crossroads of Arcanis’s future. Together, they will confront a truth neither can escape: Not all wounds can be healed, and the price victory demands may not be worth paying.      Amazon     AB

THE TAROT TRIALS: A NOVEL by Katee Robert

The deck has always been stacked against her. Kestrel has trained her whole life to compete in the Tarot Trials. Her mother won once, earning a place among the five ruling Cinque—then paid for it with her life, executed for alleged treason against the Minor Court. But fortune favors the bold. Now it falls to Kestrel to take up her mother’s mantle as Champion of the Moon, enter the Trials, and face her fate. If she can master her new powers of shadow and illusion, navigate the poisonous game of alliances and lies, and corner the fellow Champion who dealt the killing blow to her mother years ago, she may uncover the truth she’s seeking without losing her head… or her heart. But in the Trials, betrayal is a question of when, not if. And winning the game isn’t about what she must do to win, but who she needs to survive.

Amazon     AB      Apple Books     Kobo

WILD WICKED MATE (MAPLE HOLLOW BOOK TWO) by Laurie Gilmore

The closer the proximity, the stronger the spark…Phoebe never expected to fall in love, and especially not with the annoyingly handsome werewolf she’s been hanging out with for years. Theo has spent his life comparing himself to his brothers, never quite matching up to his father’s expectations. But in Maple Hollow, everything is different. Theo finally has a life of his own and a chance at redemption and he’s reluctant to risk it for anything, or anyone. But after years of fighting their attraction to each other, Phoebe and Theo find that denying their feelings is no longer possible. Especially when they end up on a road trip that might change everything.

Amazon       Apple Books      Kobo

GUIDED BY THE MOUNTAIN ORC (PEARL PEAKS BOOK ONE) by Zoe Ashwood

I fell for his voice before I ever saw him. Moving to Pearl Peaks wasn’t the plan. Neither was crushing on Bowen, the gruff orc mountain guide who calls the tourist center like clockwork to check in whenever I’m working. He’s older. Invisible online. The kind of guy who lives in the wilderness and definitely doesn’t date girls like me. But when a tour cancels, he looks at me and says, “Let me take you instead.” We’re visiting a hidden mountain lake. Spending one night under the stars. We barely know each other. But he wants me as much as I want him, and I’m not holding myself back anymore. By morning, I’m wrapped around a mountain man who looks at me like I’m already his—and talks about a future that includes babies, a cabin, and forever. When Bowen falls, he falls hard.   AmazonKU

REJECTED BY THE WINTER WOLF (THE BLOOD WITCH’S CURSE BOOK ONE) by S Massery

The Winter Wolf is feared amongst witches – and I’m his newest target. Searching for my abducted mother hundreds of miles from home, I thought life couldn’t get much worse. Then the terrifying, gorgeous wolf shifter finds me. He claims I’m his fated mate – an absurd notion. Witches and wolves hate each other. But he needs me to break a curse, and according to him, no isn’t an option. Suddenly in enemy territory, surrounded by violent wolves, I strike a bargain: I’ll help him with this curse if he helps rescue my mother from the shadow realm. When danger presses in, our survival means working together. The bond between us grows, and the line between loathing and attraction blurs. Too bad I didn’t learn from the stories. A wolf shifter is never to be trusted. And betrayal hits hardest when you’re least expecting it.       AmazonKU

BLOOD AND BIRTHRIGHT (LIBRARIANS BOOK FIVE) by Amelia Spencer

In the thrilling finale of The Librarians, the battle for the Library begins in earnest. The Library’s secret history has been revealed, and it’s time for Foundation to make its final stand. Newly anointed as the Catalogue’s choice for Head Librarian, Emerson is faced with a daunting task: unite the factions and repair the rift that has splintered the Library for centuries. As time runs out, Emerson and her Council embark on a mission to win alliances with the major players who can turn the tide of their rebellion. Will the Guardians turn against the Council? Will the mysterious, aloof Eastern Block finally enter the fray? And will a dark secret within the Moon family lineage destroy the Atalanthya’s iron grip on The Central Library? New secrets will come to light, old enemies will confront one another, and those who desired to remain neutral may be forced to choose sides. Foundation feared their mission to retake the Library would end in war and bloodshed. But the reality of what they are facing soon becomes clear, and somehow it’s even worse. This isn’t a war. It’s a political campaign.   AmazonKU

FLAMES AND FURY by V V Strange

She is the strategist, fire honed to a blade. He is the berserker, fury made flame. Together, they will burn Dornwulf to the ground and from its ashes, they will claim a new kingdom. In Dornwulf, strength makes kings and cruelty keeps them in power. Elske, daughter of the Alpha, wields the brightest fire of her bloodline. But in a court where only raw strength earns respect, her precision is overlooked and her power scorned because of her weak wolf. She hides her defiance behind a perfect mask, waiting for her chance to strike and save her people. That chance comes snarling, scarred, and chained in wolfsbane. Dierk is a drifter, a nobody half-shifted and raging when he was dragged before her. He should have been cast out. Maybe even killed. Instead, Elske sees in him a weapon strong enough to shatter Dornwulf’s corrupt throne and offer the only thing Dierk values: vengeance. What begins as a reluctant alliance soon blazes into dangerous, reckless, and undeniable desire. Together, the ember princess and the untamed wolf turn whispers of defiance into the roar of war. As the Alpha and his heir tighten their bloody grip on the pack, Elske and Dierk’s bond will be tested in fire and blood. Part of the Wyldings Kingdoms Series        AmazonKU

ZODIAC ACADEMY: ON THE CURSED DAY OF CHRISTMAS by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti

Read a never-before-seen, full-length story inside this fun, festive special edition and open a chapter a day on the run up to Christmas. Inside, readers will discover a brand new tale featuring all their favourite characters! The chapters will be stuffed with gorgeous character and scene art too, plus Faebook and Booktok posts that will be #dirtyanddiabolical. Get ready to enjoy the holidays like never before, immersed in the land of Solaria where you can spend Christmas at the Palace of Souls…T’was the cursed day of Christmas and all through the palace, spirits were lingering with thoughts full of malice. Did you think Solaria was out of peril at last? Well, the stars aren’t done with their games yet. And you know how they love to ruin the holidays. On the Cursed Day of Christmas my true love gave to me…A box of hexed ornaments to decorate my tree. Yeah… not what I’d been hoping to find on Christmas Eve, but it’s no problem. So long as the enchanted decorations aren’t broken, the malignant entities trapped inside them by a Vega monarch hundreds of years ago can’t escape, and the whole of Solaria isn’t threatened by their wrath. It’s going to be a very merry Christmas indeed.    AmazonKU      AB

VAMPIRE PACK (SOULMATE UNIVERSITY BOOK ONE) by Lola Glass

I’ve been sleeping with a hockey player I can’t stand for the last five years, and it’s finally come back to bite me. Literally. I should’ve known better. Soulmate University has one rule, after all: DON’T keep your enemies close. Because everyone in this place is either a werewolf or a vampire. And vampires and werewolves? We end up mated when we bite each other. Now, I’m stuck with my enemy-with-benefits… forever. Send condolences, please? And chocolate, while you’re at it?      AmazonKU

SHIFT OF SHADOWS (SHIFTER LORDS BOOK 12) by S E Babin

Moira has survived monsters, betrayal, and heartbreak. But captivity may be the thing that finally breaks her. As her friends search desperately for any trace of her, Moira grows weaker behind enemy lines, waiting for the single opportunity that could mean freedom—or death. She intends to make it count. Ethan has problems of his own. The woman living in his house claims to be the one he loved, but the deeper he digs into the gaps in his memories, the more convinced he becomes that his entire reality has been built on lies. With time running out and the truth threatening to destroy everything they hold dear, Moira and Ethan will have to decide how much they’re willing to sacrifice for the people they love. Because not everyone will make it out alive.      AmazonKU

LUST (FLOWERS IN HELL BOOK ONE) by Kathryn Ann Kingsley

Two seconds. That’s all the deal cost Lilly Acharya Anderson. Two seconds of an ordinary life, bargained away in a frozen subway car to stop a bullet she never saw coming. There wasn’t time to read the fine print. No one warned her that two seconds on Earth buys an eternity below. Maxwell—a copper-eyed devil in a bloodstained suit—didn’t drag her down to damn her. He took her because she’s a Magus: angel-blooded, and the one fragile thing standing between the Fallen and the ash they’d make of his kind. He’s buried every woman who came before her. He fully expects to bury her too. What neither of them expects is the wanting. But he’s patient, cruel, and the most beautiful monster she’s ever been afraid of—and the desire comes anyway, slow as a flower opening in the dark. So when something far older than the devil offers Lilly a way home? She should take it. Hell is the last place anywhere in existence she should want to be, after all. But God help them both, it may just be the thing that kills her.      AmazonKU

SCARED WATERS (AN ENCHANTED WATERS MYSTERY BOOK 16) by Jenna St James

A Midlife Sea Witch Used to Working Alone – A Handsome Demigod with a Penchant for Trouble – An Island Full of Secrets as Deep as the Ocean ***A crossover from the A Witch in the Woods Mystery Series set in the PADA world. It’s the annual Samhain Festival happening in the Bermuda Triangle. That means lots of kiddie rides, bobbing for apples, corn mazes, and a Soul Cake ceremony. The three islands have turned out to welcome in the things that go bump in the night. Little did Jace and Isla know by the time the festival ended, they’d have another mystery to solve. But when it’s discovered the murder weapon belongs to their friend, Teeka Veale, things really take a turn. Now, Ren and Joe Dirk insist on pitching in and doing their part to prove Teeka is being set up. Can Jace, Isla, Glo, and the rest of the gang keep Ren and Joe out of trouble long enough to clear Teeka’s name before the veil falls, All Souls’ Day arrives…and another soul is added to the list?      AmazonKU

HEARTS OF LEGEND AND LOYALTY: ELVEN LEGACY: LAESORNYSH by Tara Grayce

Legendary elves, loyal friends, and a love that might heal or destroy them. Adriana Laesornysh, the half-elf daughter of a legendary warrior, longs to walk in her famous father’s footsteps. Yet she’s currently sidelined at the elven capital city, training and guarding the treasures of the elves, while her father and brother fight on the front lines of the war. When her brother and his best friend both crash, Adry confronts the realities of war for the first time. After losing his leg in a devastating crash, half-elf aeroplane pilot Merrik Loiatir is sent home to the capital city of the elves to recover, leaving behind his best friend, his squadron, and the war that nearly stole his life. Healing his body is only the beginning of his journey, and he finds himself leaning more and more on Adry, his best friend’s little sister and the only girl Merrik has ever loved even if he doesn’t dare show it. But war is relentless, destroying all in its path. Together, these childhood friends will cultivate healing, face war, and perhaps forge a romance strong enough to stand the tests before them.       AmazonKU

LEAPING INTO LOVE by Karla Doyle

VS note: A re-release.

Magic is everywhere. Most humans aren’t aware of it, don’t see it unless fate pulls some magical strings—as it did with Tiana, the mate I’ve longed for my entire life. It’s been years since I sent out my mating call. So long, I’d given up hope it would ever be answered. Then Tiana applied for a job posting as live-in groundskeeper of my estate. A job I never posted, for a position that doesn’t exist. Fate and magic at work in a most interesting way. Those forces guide her to my home in Rita’s Hollow, a magically hidden town full of lonely monsters. Her arrival triggers magic that wraps around us, glamouring us so Tiana can’t see what we truly look like, what we truly are. I hate deceiving my mate, especially as our connection grows deeper, but the old magic prevents me from telling her what I truly am. Only Tiana’s love for me can break the spell. But when the glamour is gone, will the sight of my true frog-man self send my mate leaping away forever?      AmazonKU

KNOTTED BY THE YAKUZA by Kenya Wright

Yoichi is a powerful kitsune who has spent centuries protecting a bloodline and accepting that whatever curse chained him to his mafia boss, the Dragon, took his fated mate too. He has survived the bloodiest yakuza war Japan has ever seen, crawled to an abandoned shrine outside Kyoto to heal, and made peace with walking this earth alone. Then a New Orleans Voodoo witch enters his shrine, and everything changes. Gabrielle is love-cursed—any man that falls for her will die. She went to Japan to find a magical root that can break her family curse, and found so much more. Eight tails. Two curses. One red thread. Will fate save them or will their curses kill them both?     AmazonKU

AWAKENED: THE LAST DAUGHTER BOOK TWO by Bernadette Blackthorn

Idril – I spent the first two decades of my life locked away, tormented and used. I broke free only to learn I’ve traded one prison for another. Alphas who dedicate their lives to rescuing innocent Omegas are convinced I’m somehow the only Omega alive capable of the monstrous things they accuse me of. My Mates call me a liar. A traitor. A weapon they can’t trust and don’t understand. They make me suffer for it. I can’t completely fault them. My blood is being used in horrific experiments led by my own father—the only one who may know who—or what—I really am. When the truth finally comes to light, the very mates who tried to break me will discover that some things aren’t strong enough to survive their betrayal. Not even Fate. Daxen – I’ve spent the last two weeks convincing myself I was right about the Omega. Every tear, every lie, every moment of supposed vulnerability I dismissed as manipulation. Now my carefully curated beliefs are fraying. Every new truth I uncover reveals another mistake. Another wound. Another reason for Idril to hate me.       AmazonKU       AB

COURT OF FURY (COURTS AND KINGS) by K A Knight

There are many things that go bump in the night, and I am one of them. I was born into power, and greatness was expected of me. When I discovered the truth behind the throne and tried to expose it, however, I was thrown into Gehenna, better known as hell. It’s a place for monsters who commit the most heinous crimes, there I am forced to adapt or perish. No one expected that I would not only survive, but thrive, and then they arrive…Five monsters come to ensure I truly died on the orders of the person who betrayed me. Only we never expected a mate bond to slam us together as soon as we lock eyes. Trapped and forced to fight this tightening connection, we have no choice but to work together to break this pesky bond and finish our personal missions—theirs is for life, but mine is for revenge. I will not stop until those who betrayed me pay. These mates can decide whose side they are on. Personally, I don’t care. Nothing will get in my way, not even love. I don’t need monsters to save me, because I am one. Welcome to the Court of Fury, where revenge is all we know.      AmazonKU       AB

DON’T FALL (HIUNT THE RED HOOD BOOK ONE) by B B Reid

“Guard your heart, foolish girl. The wolves will come to steal it.” In a quiet French town steeped in old folklore, Nyx has always believed in logic―not legends. So discovering she’s descended from a line of Red Hood witches feels more like a mistake than destiny. But some stories refuse to stay buried. The Volkovs have been cursed for generations, and time is running out. The only way to break it? A Red Hood witch must fall in love with one of them. Mikhail Volkov is desperate to save someone he loves―and ending the curse is his last hope. Getting close to Nyx was supposed to be a means to an end… until it becomes something far more dangerous. Gray, the watchful hunter who seems to linger on the edges of every secret, is thrust into Nyx’s life next. Protective, intense, and impossible to ignore, he draws Nyx deeper into a world she doesn’t understand―and can’t escape. Caught between wolf and hunter, instinct and reason, Nyx must decide who to trust―and what she’s willing to risk.       AmazonKU      AB

BRIDE OF STONE (HOUSE AVERRE) by Lisette Marshall

She’s a princess married off against her will. He’s the guard delivering her to the altar. The powerless sister to a volatile crown prince, Estegonde Averre has spent her whole life surviving at court. But when her brother’s schemes leave her betrothed to a vicious nobleman, she must leave her cutthroat family home and travel to the estate of her husband-to-be – accompanied by his most dutiful guard. Gon knows she shouldn’t trust a man loyal to her horrendous betrothed. But Errik Eirikson isn’t the brute she expected: he’s quiet, ruggedly handsome, and uncannily determined to tend to her every wish even when she tries to guard her heart. Worse, he saves her life the very first night of their journey, when a mysterious assassin comes for her head. As the royal family turns against itself and rivals move to eliminate Gon before her wedding can take place, Errik soon becomes the last man she can trust. And the more she learns about the secrets behind his unreadable grey eyes, the harder it becomes to ignore the dangerous attraction between them. But Gon is promised to another. Errik is sworn to obey his lord. Falling in love would be treason … and to the House Averre, treason means death.      AmazonKU

THE UNSEELIE HERI’S CLAIM (COURTS IN CONFLICT BOOK THREE) by Elisa Rae

The Unseelie throne is in crisis, and the whole Wild Wood is in an uproar as the hunt is on for the missing heir. Kent is aware of the news, and even the humans just beyond the borders of fae land have heard rumors. He didn’t think it had anything to do with him. But then he comes home to a Dullahan in his mother’s kitchen claiming Kent is the lost heir. Rue doesn’t belong. Left on the doorstep of the foundling home as a baby, she only knows she has some fae blood. Now an adult, she hides her differences from the humans beneath a quiet demeanor. But that doesn’t stop her from seeing magical things, like a glowing crown on the head of her new friend.       AmazonKU

DRAKE LEGION by Victoria Danaan

VS Note: There were review quotes mixed in with the blurb. I omitted those here.

ALLIES ENEMIES SPIES RIVAL LOVERS All have a stake in this high-risk war with only two possible outcomes: prevail or die. For centuries, Rivlothia has been isolated from technology while their natural resources are plundered by alien overseers. But hope lives through an ancient prediction that a young woman from unknown origins will rise and lead an army of dragon riders to an age of peace and prosperity. Twenty-year-old Galen Unworld was stolen from Earth as an infant and raised by the kingdom’s most powerful mage in a remote cottage at the edge of the deep wood. Her formative years were spent mostly alone either reading or exploring and communing with other creatures in the forest. At school she was shamed by her unique status as “uncaste” and shunned because of her unique surname. But that was just the beginning of Galen’s journey. Fate brought her quiet seclusion to an end overnight. After the kingdom was attacked by a neighbor, the cottage was temporarily occupied by a military unit of seven rearguardsmen. At the same time, she encountered a dragon, the first sighting in almost a hundred years. She was both baffled and delighted when she realized she could communicate with him. Galen thinks she’s the least likely person to be the champion of lore, but the dragon and the beautiful young Rearguard Captain, are convinced that she’s the one called by destiny. If she can manage not to be too distracted by her feelings for the king’s nephew.      AmazonKU

FIRST FLOOR MAGIC (THE MILAFLORES BUILDING BOOK ONE) by Jamie Bennett

What would you do if it happened to you? Would you believe?? Kat Truman isn’t sure what’s going on. Her new apartment in Detroit is perfect, just what she has always wanted—but what, exactly, is she hearing? There’s music, a song that keeps playing, but her upstairs neighbor insists that it’s not his fault. As the building manager says, that Oliver Marchand is a real cutie-patootie, except he’s not being very nice by bothering her with his tunes so often! And if it isn’t Oliver, then what’s happening? Things get louder and even crazier, and she finds out that he definitely is involved, just not in the way she thought. It couldn’t be magic, because Oliver and Kat are too sensible to believe in that kind of thing. It couldn’t be a strange force trying to pull them together…and they are pulled together, as friends. But who wouldn’t be interested in a guy like him? He totally is a cutie-patootie and he’s so nice, too. Nothing like this has ever happened to Kat before, not this weird song and not everything that goes along with it, and definitely not the feelings that she has for Oliver. With his past, would he ever want her in the same way? Strange things are happening on the first floor of the Milaflores Building…but a happy ending is waiting, if they can figure it all out!   AmazonKU

UNBOUND (A CURSE OF BLOOD BOOK TWO) by Sadie Kinkaid and LJ Morrow

Rosa – I was raised for one thing: hunt vampires, kill monsters, protect the innocent. But then Luca da Firenze walked into my life and destroyed every rule I live by. Now I’m trapped in a web of Mafia bosses, supernatural politics, shapeshifters and witches. Luca says I’m his. Fate says we’re bound. But is this love, or an ancient spell stealing the choice from both of us? He saved my life, but the more I learn, the harder it is to tell whether he’s my salvation or my greatest threat. War is coming, and I’m ready to fight. With him. For him. Or against him. Only time will tell. Luca – 
I never asked to rule a Mafia vampire court. I never wanted to become the monster everyone fears. And I certainly never asked for Rosa Capelli—the fierce, beautiful vampire hunter who sees straight through my darkness and still has the power to bring me to my knees. She is the one thing I cannot afford to lose, and the one weakness my enemies will use against me. Every crown is paid for in blood, and mine is no exception. To protect her, I will betray old alliances, destroy ancient enemies, and become whatever kind of king this war demands. But I cannot be a king without my queen. The world may be determined to tear us apart, but I will carve my way back to her—one bloody step at a time.        AmazonKU

NOBODY WARNED ME VIRTUAL PETS COULD SUMMON DEMONS by Lindsey Devin

Her virtual pet should have died in 1999. Instead, it waited twenty-seven years to file a neglect complaint against her. Now Nora is being investigated by Hell’s most ridiculously attractive demon accountant, trapped in a supernatural custody battle, and forced to spend way too much time with a grumpy, by-the-book demon who looks far too good in a suit. She wanted a little nostalgia. She got a hot demon, a legal nightmare, and a virtual pet with a serious grudge. And falling for the demon handling her case? That’s definitely not in the rulebook.      AmazonKU

KNOT CURSED by Jarica James and Jenee Robinson

Everyone knows Prudence Ever is cursed. Five years ago, an alchemical chemistry class ended in catastrophe when every vial, beaker, and bottle in the room exploded at once. The resulting disaster left lives shattered and Prue was branded as the cause. Banished to Moonlit Grove, a town reserved for the cursed, she has spent years searching for answers about the strange misfortune that follows her everywhere. When the annual Solstice Bazaar arrives, Prue hopes to find a rare ingredient for her latest curse-breaking experiment. Instead, she comes home with an antique mirror she couldn’t seem to leave behind. The mirror’s first vision saves her neighbor from a terrible accident. The second predicts a murder. Soon Prue finds herself tangled in a deadly mystery alongside three very different men. Dorian, her flirty and protective neighbor. Rook, a brilliant researcher obsessed with unraveling the secrets of curses. And Merrick, an anxious shapeshifter whose emotions make his magic impossible to control. As the visions grow darker and threatening messages warn her to stop investigating, Prue realizes someone is hunting the cursed residents of Moonlit Grove. When the mirror reveals a future where she is the next victim, she’ll have to trust her growing pack and finally uncover the truth behind the curse that changed her life forever.       AmazonKU

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LINKS TO RECENT NEW RELEASES POSTS from Veronica

October 14

October 7

September 30

September 23

September 16

September 9

“New” is generally plus or minus a week or two. I try to catch up on ones I missed in recent months.  And I may mention ‘special items’. I go by the ebook release.

NOTE: I’m doing my best to avoid listing anything generated from use of AI but it’s sometimes tricky to detect from the resources I have available. As far as covers go, I list the Amazon cover whether it’s AI or not. 

I do NOT cover every single new release in SFR/FantasyR/PNR. I never have. That would be an impossible task for any human! I assemble my list by hand every week based on various informal inputs, and I do curate the list to some extent…

Some authors aren’t in KU but still don’t list books with Apple or other platforms. This report is very time consuming to prepare so I’ve always had to limit myself and cannot go and look up every book on all the platforms. If an author gives me their other buy links, I include them here but generally I develop the post on my own, not from author-supplied information. I curate and prepare this post individually every week to help connect readers/books/authors and I have to be very careful not to give it so much time as an activity that I don’t write my own novels! Thanks for the feedback and happy reading!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why I Wrote BRADEN (Intergalactic Dating Agency) + Excerpt

One of my favorite old movies to rewatch is “Wedding Date” and when I was pondering what romantic tropes to use for this year’s Intergalactic Dating Agency novellas, I wondered if there was a way to write a fake date situation revolving around a wedding. I thought it would be amusing to have a fake date unfolding in the middle of this highly organized dating experience the Ardannan government had set up for their eligible men.

(As I’ve mentioned before in these “Why I Wrote” posts, I try to center each Intergalactic Dating Agency story around one romance trope and build my story from there.)

I always like to refresh my mind on what the reader expectations are for a story featuring a specific trope and so I read four or five of the best reviewed, top ranked fake dating romances, with emphasis on wedding dates. That doesn’t make me an expert on the subgenre by any means but I could test my plot against the various stories and feel confident I wasn’t missing a key element.

Then I launched into writing my story and had so much fun. I decided this would be a big interstellar celebrity wedding, with the Female Main Character being a childhood friend of the bride and serving as a bridesmaid. Her nasty ex is the Best Man of course and there’s about a week’s worth of events the bride has planned to amuse her guests at this destination wedding, leading up to the main event. Elodie, the FMC, had created a fictional hot boyfriend after the breakup with her cheating ex to save face, especially with her family, but now people expect to meet him. Lucky for her Braden’s date never showed up for the Ardannan contract and he’s free to step in and support her.

I gave them fun events to attend together and separately. For Braden it’s the thrill of a lifetime getting to play tisba (the highest ranked sport in the Sectors, which I’ve referenced before but never really got into any details of) with professional players since the groom is the most famous player in the league. For Elodie it’s a not-quite-so-happy bachelorette party where she becomes the awkward center of attention against her will.

Years ago I read an account of a group of ‘civilians’ who got to attend one of the cinematic award events and it always stayed with me how they expected, as I would have too, being at a table with celebrities and having a chance to chat with them and maybe make the start of a few friendships. Instead to the great disappointment of the group I was reading about, the movie stars and movers and shakers at the table basically ignored them the entire time and talked and laughed among themselves about people they knew and shared experiences they had which these Cinderella-like civilians were totally outside of.  (I think maybe they had a documentary in the running for an award.) When the evening ended the celebrities got up and left, still never having engaged in any conversation with the civilians. As if they hadn’t been there at all.

I used that for Elodie, who isn’t a part of her celebrity friend’s life except on occasions when she’s invited to a special event. So as the week goes on she realizes what an outsider she truly is, despite her old friend’s efforts, and the high flying people in whose circles the bride now moves don’t make much, if any effort to include Elodie. They don’t know her, she isn’t part of their world and won’t ever be, as it’s a fluke she’s even at the wedding.

But then there’s Braden, who stands up for Elodie and helps her deal with various setbacks and issues. And when danger seems to be stalking her, of course he steps in to help. (And since he’s a Soldier of the Ardannan, he’s also a shifter…)

And fake turns to real, as it always does in the best romances! HEA achieved.

Here’s an awkward situation where Braden saves the day (although I’m cutting the excerpt off before the details of how that happens – sorry!).

Depositphotos

Tamarind, the bride, wants to have her bridesmaids, of which there are many, do a dance routine with her at the reception…

When Elodie walked into the dressing room, it was empty and she heard music and laughter from the studio adjoining so she rushed to shove her things into an empty locker and join the others.

The two women who were professional dancers were performing a routine together, having fun, showing off their high kicks and seductive hip shimmies and even while she was enjoying the show, Elodie felt dread creeping over her. Surely they weren’t going to expect to teach the other bridesmaids to do anything similar? The precision of the moves and the skill on display was daunting. Elodie checked the faces of the other bridesmaids and was dismayed at how cheerful everyone looked. But after all they were models, actresses, influencers and even one of Tamarind’s own backup dancers. Probably none of them were going to have a hard time learning the moves.

Elodie never knew left from right, had never been on a dance team and wasn’t the most limber person in the room.

The music ended and the two women took a bow as the rest applauded. Then they were all business, lining the bridesmaids up in two lines, with Tamarind in the center. Elodie ended up on the end in the back, which was actually fine with her. The pros demonstrated the dance they’d created and a few tweaks were made in real time before they began teaching the steps to the women.

Elodie was lost from the third step. She did her best to keep up. She whirled and twirled and shimmied and tossed her hair (really? With the elaborate hairdos we’ll be wearing?) but was always behind the others and missed steps in between. Eventually one of the teachers took her aside and did one on one coaching during the break while everyone else was gossiping and practicing steps. She was embarrassed beyond belief, hot, flushed and sweating. Trying to imagine herself going through a performance of this routine, let alone in her bridesmaid dress and heels was a nightmare.

After the break, the bridesmaids and the bride lined up and ran through it three more times before the teachers were satisfied and told them all to clap for themselves because of a job well done. Elodie was positive they weren’t talking to her and she made a break for the dressing room before anyone else moved.

***************

Braden arrived at the dance studio gritting his teeth. This wasn’t his idea of how to spend a beautiful day on a resort planet, not when he had the ocean and a gorgeous girl to share it with. But he’d signed up for this mission when he’d agreed to be Elodie’s date and that meant all of it, not just the fun parts like playing tisba with sports idols. He walked into the studio with a group of the other dates, some of whom he recognized from the tisba match, to find the bride and her bridesmaids gathered in the studio, chatting happily.

Elodie was nowhere to be seen. Puzzled, he asked the nearest woman where she might be. The bridesmaid gave him a seductive smile and eyed him up and down. “She’ll be back. In the meantime—”

“I think she went outside to cool off,” said another girl, frowning at the one speaking to him. “She uh she had a hard time with the routine.”

“Thanks.” Whatever that meant, Braden had a feeling things hadn’t gone well for his plucky lady so he hastened outside to search for her.

She was sitting on a bench under a nearby tree and even from a distance he could see she was crying.

Kneeling beside her, he said, “Hey, what’s this? Are you okay?”

Elodie shook her head and turned away from him. “I just spent the worst two hours of my life in that room. I can’t go back. I won’t. I’m going home.” She hiccupped and ended on another huge sob. He could tell she was having trouble breathing.

Never one to hesitate, Braden rose, picked her up and sat on the bench with her curled in his lap. “Tell me and we’ll figure out a way to fix it.”

BRADEN (INTERGALACTIC DATING AGENCY) SOLDIERS OF THE ARDANNAN BOOK FIVE by Veronica Scott

Braden Hartwell’s five day date on the Intergalactic Dating Agency’s Resort Planet has crashed and burned already. His date failed to show up, having gotten married on her home planet. While he’s absorbing this setback he receives a surprising offer. Elodie Farantson is on Resort Planet to be a bridesmaid for her childhood friend. Her cheating ex-boyfriend is the best man and Elodie has been telling everyone about her wonderful new boyfriend to save face. Except he doesn’t exist. Panicking she takes refuge in a noisy club before going to the first wedding party. Upon seeing Braden all alone at the club, she strikes up an acquaintance over drinks, inviting him to be her fake date to the wedding and all the activities for the week. With nothing better to do and all his friends matched up with IDA dates, Braden agrees. The situation turns out to be much more complicated than Elodie explained. The bride and groom are famous interstellar celebrities, the events are nonstop and he soon realizes he wants something real with Elodie. For her part, Elodie is falling head over heels for Braden but after her last relationship disaster she’s reluctant to take a risk. When danger from an unknown source stalks her Braden has to step up and do whatever is necessary to save her life.

Amazon     Apple Books     Kobo      NOOK       GooglePlay

 

New Releases in SciFi/Fantasy/Paranormal Romance for OCT 14

I have a new release this week too! My next Intergalactic Dating Agency novella…

I have not read most of the new releases listed (although I always end up one-clicking quite a few as I prepare these posts LOL). 

‘AB’ denotes audiobook and the Amazon buy link.

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BRADEN (INTERGALACTIC DATING AGENCY) SOLDIERS OF THE ARDANNAN BOOK FIVE by Veronica Scott

Braden Hartwell’s five day date on the Intergalactic Dating Agency’s Resort Planet has crashed and burned already. His date failed to show up, having gotten married on her home planet. While he’s absorbing this setback he receives a surprising offer. Elodie Farantson is on Resort Planet to be a bridesmaid for her childhood friend. Her cheating ex-boyfriend is the best man and Elodie has been telling everyone about her wonderful new boyfriend to save face. Except he doesn’t exist. Panicking she takes refuge in a noisy club before going to the first wedding party. Upon seeing Braden all alone at the club, she strikes up an acquaintance over drinks, inviting him to be her fake date to the wedding and all the activities for the week. With nothing better to do and all his friends matched up with IDA dates, Braden agrees. The situation turns out to be much more complicated than Elodie explained. The bride and groom are famous interstellar celebrities, the events are nonstop and he soon realizes he wants something real with Elodie. For her part, Elodie is falling head over heels for Braden but after her last relationship disaster she’s reluctant to take a risk. When danger from an unknown source stalks her Braden has to step up and do whatever is necessary to save her life.

Amazon     Apple Books     Kobo      NOOK       GooglePlay

ERRIK: INTERGALACTIC DATING AGENCY (VAXXLIAN MAIL ORDER BRIDES BOOK 12) by Sue Mercury and Sue Lyndon

The fierce warrior has finally found his mate. Now he’ll do anything to keep her…Vaxxlian warrior Errik has always had a restless spirit. After the war, he postpones settling down on the new planet his people have claimed, choosing instead to travel the galaxy as a cage fighter. He never loses a battle and soon makes a fortune, but it’s a hollow existence. He finds himself yearning for something more. A mate. A home. A reason to finally stop running. Holly has spent years traveling North America in her RV, taking odd jobs wherever she goes. But with unrest spreading across Earth, her nomadic lifestyle is becoming increasingly dangerous. Then she discovers she needs lifesaving surgery she can’t afford. When a friend suggests she sign up for the Vaxxlian Alien Mail Order Brides program, Holly reluctantly agrees. In exchange for becoming an alien warrior’s mate, she’ll receive the healing nanobots that can save her life. She’s not prepared for Errik. The handsome and attentive warrior is nothing like she imagined. His kisses leave her breathless, his touch makes her burn, and she soon begins to wonder if the mating union she entered into out of desperation could become something more. But when Holly is suddenly offered a way out, Errik fears his mate will choose freedom over him. And the warrior who spent years running from commitment becomes more determined than ever to keep the woman who has finally given him a reason to stay.       Amazon     Apple Books      Kobo

RIVER DRAGON’S SONG (DRAGONS ON MARS BOOK THREE) by Honey Phillips

A hidden river. An impossible discovery. A dragon who’s been waiting in the darkness. When Frankie is separated from her team, she doesn’t expect a single wrong step to plunge her deep beneath the surface of Mars. Lost in a vast underground world, she discovers the impossible—an ancient river flowing through the darkness and evidence that she’s not alone. Korrak has been wandering the hidden waterways alone since he awakened, listening for a song that never comes. Until her. The pretty female is stubborn, determined, and far too tempting. Korrak knows he should keep his distance, but every instinct urges him closer. The longer Frankie remains trapped beneath the surface, the harder it becomes to resist the dragon who has quietly claimed her heart. Finding a way home should be her first priority. If only she could convince herself to leave him behind.   AmazonKU

TRUTHFUL DECEPTIONS (ORIGINS + ABDUCTION BOOK ONE) by RK Munin

It could be worse, but Opal wasn’t sure how. Then she found out! Everything was going wrong, and Opal didn’t know how to fix it. Well, that’s not true; she knows one thing that would fix all her woes–wealth. With things too dire to ignore any longer, Opal did the one dangerous job she swore never to do; she agreed to work a night at a contract brothel. She braced herself for a full day and night of unpleasant roughness and discomfort. What she didn’t expect was for her time with a male from a species called Talin to be the most pleasurable of her life. Maybe working at a brothel wasn’t such a bad idea. Then she finds herself kidnapped. Nope, not happening. Despite the good time she experienced, she won’t be kept as a slave.      AmazonKU

VIGILANTES OF DANGER (FISA AGENTS BOOK FIVE) by BL Jones

VS Note: MM Superhero SFR. 

Hell isn’t a place you go to. It’s a place inside you. Hell is a pit inside your mind, a dark hole where nightmares are born and hope dies screaming. Sami Malik isn’t a hero. He was raised an OI assassin. When he was rescued by Damon North, he became the first Liquid Onyx FISA agent. Years later, Sami comes home from an extended mission and finds himself unwillingly dragged into a dangerous, messy situation with another volatile superhuman assassin. There will be dire fall outs from exposed secrets and fractured relationships in need of healing. Nothing and no one will remain untouched by what came before, and everyone will need to move forward into their uncertain futures with a bravery born from hope.      AmazonKU

THE FROST WARDEN’S CAPTIVE (THE HOLIDATES OF BOREALIS IV BOOK ONE) by Eden Ember

I offered the galaxy’s coldest billionaire a deal: Three holiday dates for the contract he needs. I didn’t expect him to play for keeps. Drax is the owner of the Aurora Grand, and he is the definition of a Grinch. He’s seven feet of violet-skinned arrogance, richer than a star system, and he needs my signature. I own a tiny share of a mine he’s desperate to buy. He thinks he can intimidate me with his sharp suits and high-tech visor. He’s wrong. I’m not selling—unless he proves he has a heart. My terms? Complete three Solstice traditions with me. Cut a tree. Buy a gift. Share a meal. He agrees, thinking it’s just business. But as we check off the list, the icy CEO begins to crack. I see the possessive heat in his eyes when he shields me from the snow. I feel the tremble in his massive hands when he pins me against the wall of his penthouse. His glowing tattoos are telling me a truth he refuses to speak: I’m not just a business acquisition. I’m his mate. But Drax has spent a lifetime guarding his heart, and I have one rule: I don’t give myself to men who only know how to take.     AmazonKU

VALDIER’S HIDDEN WORLD (DRAGON LORDS OF VALDIER) by S E Smith

A hidden magic comes alive…Ariel Hamm-Reykill has always shared a unique bond with animals. On the secluded sanctuary she’s created with her mate, Mandra, and their son, Jabir, she offers refuge to creatures from across the universe. When Ariel’s dragon senses a creature in need, she sets out on what should be a quick rescue mission. Returning home early, Mandra is eager to surprise Ariel with some much-needed time together-only to find their sanctuary empty. His search leads him deep into the untamed wilderness of Valdier, where he uncovers a secret hidden beneath the surface of their world. What began as a simple rescue turns into a journey that will test their bond and reveal an ancient, forgotten magic. As Ariel and Mandra delve into the heart of Valdier, they’ll discover that the planet they love holds mysteries they never imagined-and a power that could change everything. Are you ready to uncover the secrets of Valdier? Join Ariel and Mandra on this unforgettable journey of love, adventure, and discovery-and let the magic of their story sweep you away.

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MAY THE DEAD STAY DEAD (OM1N0US, NOM1N0US bOOK TWO) by Lizzie Strong

Vivian Darkwater is about to embark on the next chapter of her life: Personal Healer to the Mphronatch, Aka, her college roommate and bestie Aphrodite. As the mate to a prince of the Vroskrowz and very pregnant, Aphrodite created a brand new job for the sarcastic, fiery Vivian. Today’s her last day. In a few short hours, she’s going to be on a ship to the other end of the stars. Until patient zero for a horrifying outbreak enters her healing bay. The dead begin to walk again and they’re mutating rapidly in a way she can’t explain. And the dead are hungry. Trapped in the Council Station, Vivian must keep her wits about her in order to survive. Good thing the flirty, charming Reevar, a Vroskrowz hunter, is stuck in there with her. If only it wasn’t for that pesky fated mate thing! She’s ready to risk it on him but she’s afraid to get her heart broken when he finds his Fated Mate…because he would have said something if she was his mate, right? Reevar has known Vivian is his mate for a few months now, but after witnessing the massive political scandal of Xexis and Aphrodite, he’s sworn to himself to do better. Smoother, subtler, slower, if only Vivian wasn’t so curious about all the ways he could make her see the stars. Danger lurks out in those stars and an age old foe has returned to destroy the Vroz. But that’s what Reevar was built to be, the one who takes the hit. He’s the one who takes the final blow, the spare, the right hand to the Kannatch and the one whose never afraid to die. Until the day, that is, he’s actually got something…someone to lose.   AmazonKU

AS YOU WAKE, BREAK THE SHELL by Becky Chambers

VS Note: FF SFR.

Life on the resource-poor planet of Fortune is challenging, but for its inhabitants, it’s home. For two of them, Signy and Cora, this home might no longer be enough. Signy is a brilliant but reclusive botanist who bio-prints medicine from her small plant shop, often bending the rules to help those the system leaves behind. Her life is filled with the green of her store, the warmth of her one elderly friend, and the quiet determination to help others without putting herself in danger. Cora is a rorqual pilot, one of the few with the unique ability to navigate the massive, living ships that connect the scattered settlements of their solar system. Her bond with her rorqual, Colibri, is profound—a connection that is both her greatest gift and a threat to her career. It is that threat—the “mindbleed,” a dangerous side effect of her piloting—that brings her to Signy’s shop, and her appearance puts Signy in the danger she so fears. But it’s soon apparent it’s not just about losing her license—this delicate balance between risk and trust has the potential to change everything for them. Told in an alternating timeline of their initial coming together and a not-so-distant future where they have found domestic bliss, this is a story harrowing and haunting, heartfelt and hopeful. Through a love story centered around survival, we are given a glimpse into the very best of what Becky Chambers does in her writing: explore what it means to be human, and what it means to come together.

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FAKE DATING THE ALIEN BOUNTY HUNTER: GALAXY HUNTER GUILD by Tai James

How did I end up on the hot mess express? I’m Zoe Marshall, stuck on a backwater moon serving fai’kia flakes and coffee until the alien bounty hunter I’ve been secretly lusting after makes me an offer I can’t refuse. Axion Tarr needs a fake girlfriend to crash an exclusive couples retreat on a remote planet. Five days. All expenses paid. Enough credits to fix every one of my problems. The catch? There’s only one bed. And neither of us can keep our hands to ourselves. What could possibly go wrong pretending to be in love with the hot alien I’ve been in love with all along? (Spoiler: almost everything.)       AmazonKU

SHIELDED IN THE SHADOWS (FORTUSIAN MATES BOOK FOUR) by Lisa Edmonds

She’s a criminal who always flies solo. He’s the intergalactic lawman who breaks the rules to steal her heart. Smuggler Keela Wren has a problem. There’s a bounty on her head big enough to attract the attention of every mercenary and privateer in the sector, and even her allies can’t be trusted anymore. When a lead on her missing sister forces her out of hiding, bounty hunters converge, plunging Keela into a desperate battle for her freedom. Intelligence agent Jarrix Tov’ok is just surviving. His latest undercover assignment aboard a pirate ship is disrupted when the captain sets aside their planned raid to go after a lucrative bounty on a female smuggler. The moment he encounters their target, Jarrix realizes the fierce human warrior is his true mate, forcing him to betray his crew and his mission to get her off the space station alive. Keela has no use for a mate, even one as well-trained and apparently devoted as Jarrix. The sooner she can be rid of this absurdly attractive male, the sooner she can get back to tracking down her sister. But Jarrix is equally determined to use their temporary alliance to prove he’s the ideal mate for a woman who’s fought too long and too hard to compromise on anything—especially command of her ship, her destiny, and her heart.      AmazonKU

EMPIRE OF STARS BOOK FOUR: MM SFR by X Aratare

Humans, AI, Tha’fell and Altaeth get a lesson in working together is the only way they have a chance of holding their own against the Khul. Even the Osiris discovers it has more to learn. But after the battle, Jace and Khoth finally become bonded mates, a status that has great personal happiness for their families, but worrying consequences should something happen to one of them. And finally, Chili the pig gets a new bow, and Gehenna gets a new terrifying form in this action-packed fourth book.   Amazon

STUFFED BY THE ALIEN (HOLIDAY HEARTMATES BOOK SIX) by Julie K Cohen

He needs a mate. She needs a safe place to hide. Together, they find something neither expected—home. Tammi came to the alien world of Zyan for a job—and to escape a past that nearly destroyed her. She never expected to be claimed by a scarred warrior… or to fall in love with his mute son. Torvikk sought a mate to secure his child’s future. He never expected a human woman to awaken what he thought he’d lost forever—need, desire, and a bond that goes far beyond duty. But when Tammi’s dangerous ex resurfaces and powerful forces at the embassy threaten to tear them apart, she must choose: run like she always has… or fight for the family she’s found and the love she never dared hope for. Torvikk has already made his choice. Tammi is his heartmate—and no one will take her from him.        AmazonKU

VICTORIOUS (VILLAINS BOOK THREE) by V E Schwab

VS Note: Not a romance. Superheroes and villains. A release of note.

Eli Ever. Victor Vale. Two men, first best friends, then mortal enemies, each destined to be the other’s shadow. One left standing—but the game isn’t over yet Against all the years–and the odds—a group of allies and arch rivals meet on a chess board set by an opponent they couldn’t have predicted… to see who will be victorious.

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WRITTEN IN STARLIGHT: A NOVEL by Sloane Brooks

Della Farley has always known her place: scrubbing floors, keeping her head down, and dreaming of something more. But when she stumbles upon a strange book that seems to be writing itself—a story about a man named Ansel Tulzok, a wanted fugitive traveling the stars—her quiet life turns extraordinary.  Light-years away, Ansel finds a mirror copy of the same book. Page by page, the story unfolds with details of a woman he’s never met—one whose words feel achingly familiar. As the two begin writing to each other through the mysterious pages, they open doors not just to each other’s worlds, but to their most vulnerable hopes and fears. But every story has its price. And as their worlds entwine and their hearts collide, Della and Ansel must decide how far they’re willing to go to change the ending fate has written for them.

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ABDUCTING THE ALIEN (HALLOWEEN TEMPTATIONS) by Val Simons

VS Note: MM SFR.

Fun-loving August is just trying to get some air when he finds a guy in an alien costume alone, half-naked, and shivering in the forest. The second they lock eyes, August wants him, and before he knows it, he’s sneaking the stranger into his home. Clay knows August is his mate. That’s not a bad thing, since August seems more than willing to explore their mutual attraction. There’s just one complication. Okay, two: August doesn’t know soul bonds exist, and Clay is a kissless virgin who’s spent his whole life saving his strongest bond for the person he was destined for. Their attraction is immediate, and one very steamy night later, Clay is more sure than ever that August is his future. But Clay’s career on his home planet is only just beginning, and he can’t stay on Earth forever. Convincing August to leave his entire life behind is harder than surviving a crash landing. But Clay crossed the galaxy to find his mate, and he’s not going home without him.     AmazonKU

I MARRIED A SYLLEN (PRIME MATING AGENCY) by Regine Abel

She heard Fate’s call from across the stars. The Syllens become Mirella’s obsession from the moment she discovers their existence, and she dedicates her life to studying them. Today, after centuries of being dormant, the mythical species finally awakens, and she is in the front row to meet them. Despite the tragedy that brings them together, once she lays eyes on Taelen, she knows he is who Fate always intended for her. The last thing Taelen needs is to deal with a new wave of off-worlder colonizers. But as soon as he stirs from the Long Sleep, he finds himself not only contending with the humans and their deadly schemes, but entangled with Mirella, a delicate female with sun-filled hair. Why would the Goddess pair him with one of those evil creatures? And yet, as they join forces to eradicate the menace, the bond between Taelen and Mirella is undeniable. Even the land claims her. As even more insidious attacks threaten the very survival of the Syllens, can the two of them prevail, or will the clash between their worlds tear them apart? NOTE: It is highly recommended to read I Married Kayog first as the Syllens are introduced there with important context that will let you better appreciate this book.      AmazonKU

STARFIGHTER’S SALVATION (STARFIGHTER TRAINING ACADEMY: SECOND WAVE BOOK TWO) by Grace Goodwin

Gina Reyes thought Starfighter Training Academy was just a game—until winning it got her abducted by the dangerously real alien warrior she’d spent months fantasizing about. Corvan is everything Gina designed him to be: lethal, controlled, infuriatingly honorable…and determined to keep his distance. Eighteen months ago, Corvan made an impossible choice during a rescue mission. He saved twelve lives and left his best friend behind. He made the right call. He also knows he could never make it again. Not if Gina were the one he had to sacrifice. As a combat rescue pilot, Corvan’s judgment has to be absolute. But loving Gina would make him dangerously biased, because if the choice ever came down to saving her or saving everyone else, he already knows the truth. He would choose her. Every time. Now Gina has been pulled into a real interstellar war, wounded soldiers are trapped behind enemy lines, and she and Corvan must fly straight into the fire together. He refuses to become the kind of man who would let the world burn to save one woman. Too bad he’s already halfway there.     Amazon     Apple Books     Kobo

MY UNDEAD LOVE LIFE (LIFE AFTER ZOMBIES BOOK TWO) by Lyra Winters

Three minutes changed everything. One minute, my boyfriend and I were trapped in a subway train car surrounded by the undead. The next, Keith stayed behind and pushed me into the arms of three strangers. With Keith gone, I was stranded in the city with the three men who had become my only chance at survival. To make it home, we’d have to brave a relentless blizzard, wait out an endless horde of undead, and escape the infected snow leopards stalking us through the storm. After months on the run, the last thing I expected was to fall for the three men who never gave up on me. But survival has a funny way of changing your heart. Especially when the past isn’t as dead as you thought.     AmazonKU

SUBMERGE (COMPANIONS TO THE LEVIATHANS BOOK SEVEN) by Deiri Di

VS Note: A short read.

Trust can’t be stolen, but on a dangerous alien world, it might just be rescued. Abducted from Earth and stranded on an enigmatic starship, Wren survives by relying on no one. Her golden rule is simple: never trust anyone, alien or human. But when a routine sample-gathering run on a dead planet turns lethal, her self-reliance isn’t enough to keep her alive. And the person who comes to her rescue is the last one she expected. UNI-CAL 56109 knows one thing for sure: the human females on board are dangerous. They use their wiles to incapacitate his fellow Calicium units, and even though they’ve removed his mind-control chip, he’s convinced they still have sinister plans for him. He knows he should stay far away. But when Wren needs help, he doesn’t hesitate. Rescuing her means risking the one thing he has left: his freedom. The only problem? He isn’t sure he knows what to do with freedom anyway…or what to do with the human woman making him question everything he knows.   AmazonKU

HOMICIDE IN HELIX SECTOR (LADY ELIZABETH COZIES IN SPACE BOOK EIGHT) by Diana Xarissa

VS Note: Not a romance.

I should have known what was coming. After everything that had happened over the past seven sectors, I should have expected exactly what happened, really. All I want to do is get to Val Segas. Long-distance space travel isn’t fun, even on a luxury spaceship, especially not when murders keep happening in nearly every sector. When Edwardo Beezle sat down next to me at breakfast and started talking about problems on the Lady Elizabeth, I should have immediately seen what was coming and done something to stop it. Instead, I agreed to try to set up a meeting between him and Colonel Jonathan Brazee, a man I considered a friend, especially during murder investigations. I will admit to a sense of impending doom as Jonathan and I took the elevator down to C Deck for the meeting. At the time, I just ignored it. And then we found Edwardo’s body. And I realized that on some level I’d been expecting exactly that. Nothing that happened after that was at all expected, though. First, Jonathan told me to stay out of the investigation. Then Becca, the Chief Medical Officer, ruled that the man’s death was an accident. Just when it seemed as if things couldn’t get any stranger, people started asking me to investigate the murder behind Jonathan’s back. And I found myself agreeing to do so.       AmazonKU

WILD SILVER AND LEAD (SNAKE OPS BOOK ONE) by Lexie Axelson

VS Note: Cliffhanger.

In a world undone by a terrifying virus, a fierce female survivor and a cruel military captain fight the living, the dead, and their lethal desire in this genre-shattering dark dystopian romance. I survived ten years after the Raven virus turned the dead into monsters. Then elite soldier Slade Reece put a bullet through my chest. I was searching for my family, torn from me in a raid, when the ruthless ex–Delta Force captain found me. He should have left me to die. Instead, he dragged me to his military base, where a lethal, classified armed force guards civilization in the frozen North. Outsiders are forbidden. Execution is the penalty. Our chance encounter ignited an obsession he can’t control. His solution? Marriage—the only way to keep me alive. The deal: my body for his protection, help finding my family for my vows. I should hate him—I do—but hate turns to fire as he kills anyone who threatens me. Falling for Slade is blurring everything I know about survival. But now his enemies have discovered my existence—and they’re hunting me. I must choose: the family I’ve lost, or the devil who’s claimed me.       AmazonKU

TEMPTING FATE: STARKISSED MATES BOOK TWO  by Lyra Strake

He’s suffering a desperate, unnatural desire—and all he wants is her. Imani didn’t ask for a new life on a distant planet, but she’s going to make it work. Helping an inexperienced alien through his heat? Not part of her plan. Except… he’s seven feet of muscle, wears nerdy little glasses, and he begs so beautifully. There’s plenty of time to get back on track afterwards, right? Airida thought he’d be safe on the refuge of Vadias. While he struggles through his body’s physical awakening, Imani is the only bright spot in this daunting new world. As she teaches him pleasure he never dreamed possible, he melts under her praise—and craves far more than the ‘friends with benefits’ she’s offering. She plans to walk away. The past isn’t going to let him go so easily. As bounty hunters close in on their quiet sanctuary, so does a soul bond, the last thing Imani wants. But after years of being told he could never have a mate, Airida is convinced she’s his fated one—and he’ll do anything to keep her.    AmazonKU

*******************BRIEF BREAK BEFORE THE FANTASY/PNR BOOKS!**************************************

VS: Just a reminder, DERIUS was my first Intergalactic Dating Agency novella for 2026.

DERIUS: SOLDIERS OF THE ARDANNAN BOOK FOUR (INTERGALACTIC DATING AGENCY by Veronica Scott

Ordered by his planet’s government to enter this year’s round of dating as arranged by the Intergalactic Dating Agency Derius Tate reported to the resort planet with low expectations. He’d never been able to get over the mystery woman he’d had a passionate one night stand with prior to his last, disastrous deployment as a Special Forces operator. Leonie Bradnum signed up for the five day date trip hoping to get over her feelings once and for all for the handsome soldier who’d seemed like her dream man and then cruelly ghosted her three years ago. The IDA’s infallible algorithm paired her up with…Derius, the very man she’d been pining for and hating equally since the morning she woke up to an empty bed and no way to contact him. Will five days and nights on the luxurious IDA Resort Planet be enough for the two of them to resolve the events of three years ago and find their way back to each other? And when danger strikes can Derius do what has to be done to save Leonie? Fate has given them a second chance.

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************************* THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT IF YOU DECIDE TO CHECK OUT THE BOOKS (because my own books pay my bills) AND A BIG THANK YOU IF YOU ALREADY HAVE! AND ONWARD WE GO!*********************

BOUGHT BY THE GREEN MAN: MONSTERS BRIDE MARKET by Ava York

I chose him off the auction block. He didn’t even know he’d bought me. By the time I found out the cold lord at the other end of this contract never agreed to any of it, I was already standing in his forest, soaked through and furious, while a four-hundred-year-old monster twice my size told his court to send me back. But they couldn’t. So now I live here. In the dark, in the green, with a creature of bark and branch, who says he doesn’t want me. But his forest isn’t listening to his words. It grows me a room I never asked for. It blooms white flowers in his footsteps outside my door. It gives me better food than it gives him, warms the floor where I walk, and betrays every single thing the lord won’t let himself say out loud.       AmazonKU

ORC’S HARVEST (VEIL LANDS BOOK 16) by Cyn Blade and Milly Taiden

Zalie: I’ve spent my life hiding on our quiet farm, keeping my dangerous plant magic buried in the dirt. Now our boundary wards are breaking, and nightmare creatures are rising from the wheat fields, ripping away the memories of everyone I love. To save my people, I’m forced to make a deal with the territory’s fiercest warrior. Kalthor Wildstorm is seven feet of raw muscle, wicked battle-scars, and terrifying, lethal control. He takes over my land, claims my kitchen, and commands me like he owns the ground I walk on. He’s supposed to be my weapon against the monsters, but every accidental brush of his skin lights a dark, reckless fire between us. Instead of keeping my distance, I’m daring him to cross the line and take everything I have left. Kalthor: I’m a warlord built for one thing: bloody obedience to my clan. I expected a fragile human farmer when I marched onto Bouchier land. Instead, I find a stubborn witch tangled in deadly thorns, glaring up at my tusks without a shred of fear. She defies my orders, mocks my authority, and makes my blood boil in ways that have nothing to do with battle. When we’re forced into a forbidden blood ritual to survive the horde, our minds lock together—and the fierce, untamed want radiating from her destroys the last bit of my restraint. I swore to protect this valley with my life. Now, my dark, dangerous instincts are screaming for only one prize: to pin her down and make her mine.      AmazonKU

OVERBEARING by Neve Raine and Milly Taiden

She thinks she’s chasing a killer. She’s about to find out he’s been across the garage from her the whole time. And he’s the only thing in this town keeping her alive. Sadie Quinn came to my town to find out why her brother never came home. She’s sharp, relentless, impossible to lie to twice — exactly the kind of stubborn that got Owen killed. So every question she asks pulls her closer to the people who did it, and every day she stays, I get more desperate to keep her breathing. Because someone already wants her gone the exact same way. What she doesn’t know is I’ve started closing the shop early just to walk her back, and making two cups of coffee at the open bay door like the second one isn’t hers. I let one Quinn slip through my hands already. I’m not burying another. My clan’s law says send her home before she digs any deeper. The bear already decided: she’s already home.   AmazonKU

VAMPIRE’S STAKEHOLDER by Dominique Crave and Milly Taiden

Five centuries of discipline taught me to want nothing. One journalist just undid all of my restraint. Juno Maddern is relentless. Unflinching. The first person in five centuries to look past my money and ask what I actually am. My oath says keep the Compact’s secrets buried. My heart just handed her the shovel. But I can’t hide what I am anymore. Not when she sees past my walls. And I’m desperate to let her in. Someone in my ranks is setting her up. Every lead she follows gets a little more lethal. And I’m the only thing standing between her and a trap she doesn’t know is waiting. She thinks she’s uncovering a financial cover-up. She’s about to find out the cover-up has fangs. I’ve buried everything I’ve ever loved across five centuries. I am not burying her too.      AmazonKU

CAN’T TAME THE FLAME (PARANORMAL DATING AGENCY BOOK 116) by Milly Taiden

Romily Devlin has hot glass, overdue bills, and absolutely no patience for rich men with control issues. So when Gerri Wilder shows up with cookies and a too-good-to-refuse job at Sharpe Global, Romily takes it. She expects a corporate art commission. She does not expect Norden Sharpe—broody, gorgeous, built like sin, and staring at her from across the room like he already knows what she looks like naked. Eight-hundred-year-old dragon shifter Norden Sharpe likes order, obedience, and having everyone do exactly what he says. Then Romily storms into his hotel, insults his marble, ignores his rules, and makes his dragon roar one very inconvenient word: mine. She’s stubborn, sexy, and completely immune to his authority. Worse, every argument leaves him wanting to pin her against the nearest wall, and every accidental touch has Romily wondering whether getting burned by a dragon might be worth the risk. Then someone starts hunting the strange magic hidden inside Romily’s glasswork, and Norden’s protective instincts go nuclear. Now Romily has a rogue dragon on her trail, one possessive Alpha breathing down her neck, and enough sexual tension between them to melt steel. Norden is ready to scorch anyone who threatens his mate. Romily is ready to prove she doesn’t need saving. And Gerri is already wondering if she should go ahead and open her own wedding venue.       AmazonKU

OPERATION: OGRE: MM MONSTER ROMANCE (CREEPIN U SEASON 2) by Mars Quinn

We’re just friends. Nothing more. Jaxon – My crush on the hot ogre goalie isn’t going anywhere, but my best friend and roommate, Christopher, is certain that he can help me and Aaron get together. Chris should know; he’s famous on campus for his hook-ups and dates. I’m hesitant about his plan, but I can never say no to Christopher. And then I will be with Aaron, and that’s what I want, right? Christopher – Jaxon, my shy ogre best friend, needs my help to get Aaron, one of the most popular guys in school. I’ll help him, of course–I’d do anything for Jaxon–but I have no experience with romance besides fictional. So armed with romance books and a foolproof plan, I decide we’ll pretend to date each other to make Aaron jealous. It’s genius and will definitely work! Nothing is going to get in the way of my plan, not my annoying siblings, not my lack of dating experience, and definitely not this odd feeling I have when I see Aaron and Jaxon together.     AmazonKU

TEMPTING DEATH (MORTAL MISHAPS BOOK ONE) by J L Jackola

An urban fantasy with a rom-com twist. She wasn’t supposed to see the reaper, and she definitely wasn’t supposed to die…over and over and over again. Lilly is an average mortal with a penchant for talking too much and coordination skills that are frequently challenged. She doesn’t mean to see the Reaper collecting souls, nor does she mean to step into the path of the car that heralds her first death. When Eclipse, aka the Reaper, steps back into the mortal world after eons of self-imposed seclusion, he doesn’t expect Lilly to see him because he’s invisible to mortals. But she does, and that creates a complication, especially since she dies every single time, in the clumsiest ways. And that’s a problem in a world where mortal deaths are predetermined and falling for one is forbidden.   AmazonKU

THE GARGOYLE AND THE EXECUTIONER’S DAUGHTER (MOONBELL HOLLOW BOOK ONE) by Olivia T Turner

It’s a usual day at work. Head. Chop. Neck. Hang. Line-up. Fire. Strap-up. Electrocute. One after another, it’s boring work being the assistant to the town’s only executioner (aka my dorky dad). It’s just another day at the dark dank office until we get a strange customer (aka condemned soul awaiting execution). A gargoyle. They’re rare enough to be interesting. And strong enough to cause quite the inconvenience. My father’s saw breaks on its impenetrable skin. The rope snaps when we try to hang him. Needles, axes, swords—nothing works. When my father leaves to get reinforcements, I’m left alone with the strange, but alluring statue with the large muscles and giant… ahem… rock. If I rub it will he come alive or is that only a genie’s lamp? I try it and find out…Boy, does he come alive. And even though I’m supposed to be the executioner, he’s the one slaying me…With those wicked eyes, those skilled hands, and that oh so delicious tongue. Maybe my dad will let this one go? Yeah, I didn’t think so either.      AmazonKU

FANGS AND FIRST AID by Maison De Loup

Cordelya – Leaving my fiancé at the altar was the easy part. Staying gone is harder. I’ve packed up my pets, buried every trace of my old life, and found myself a fresh start where no one knows me—or why I’m so determined to keep it that way. Then one accident puts Augustus in my path. He’s a devastatingly handsome paramedic with old-fashioned manners, an instinct for taking care of me, and a habit of making it very difficult to remember that getting attached is the last thing I can afford. I came here to disappear. Falling for the man determined to spoil me was never part of the plan. Augustus – I’ve spent a very long time in complete control of myself. Then I smell Cordelya’s blood. One second, I’m treating an injured woman at the scene of an accident. The next, my fangs drop. That hasn’t happened before. Now I can’t stop thinking about the curvy, secretive human who has somehow awakened instincts I don’t understand—and every one of them is telling me the same thing. Mine. Cordelya keeps her secrets close, so I keep my suspicions to myself. For now. I can be patient. I can be a gentleman. I can even pretend I’m only checking on her because I’m a dedicated paramedic. But the closer I get, the more certain I become that our meeting wasn’t an accident. And if Cordelya really is the woman fate chose for me, I have no intention of letting her disappear.   AmazonKU

THE NECROMANCER’S REIGN (THE BEACON HILL SORCEROR BOOK NINE) by Sheena Jolie

VS Note: MM Urban Fantasy.

The final book in the bestselling Beacon Hill Sorcerer series has arrived….Angel Salvatore has been battling the High Council of Sorcery for far too long, and he’s decided to end the war before it gets even worse. A duel to the death, and to the victor goes the spoils. Angel has started something he cannot stop–not that he wants to. Meanwhile, Simeon has trouble brewing at home in the Bloodclan to contend with while Angel trains for the toughest fight of his life. Angel feels he’s ready to take on the Grandmaster of the Council, confident he can beat the blood mage one on one. Simeon has faith in his mate Angel, but none in the rest of humanity. Facing a corrupt politician skilled in ancient blood magic is no guarantee of a fair fight, even with powerful witnesses on both sides attending the duel to keep things honest. Simeon expects things to go awry, and when he’s proven right, Angel and his expanded family come together to save themselves and the city. Yet even as their situation grows dire and things get deadly, Angel and Simeon grow closer, their soulbond forged by love and blood, unbreakable even in the face of powerful enemies. The pair share a destiny and they refuse to be separated, even by death.      AmazonKU

HER WICKER GUARDIAN (WICKER MEN BOOK ONE) by Alana Khan

I didn’t come to the bonfire to burn the last piece of a marriage I barely managed to escape. My friends and I are supposed to be working on the wicker bear we’ve spent weeks building for the town festival. Instead, after too much wine and too much truth, somebody brings up the question women have been arguing about for years: would you rather meet a man or a bear alone in the woods? I say there ought to be a third choice. The joke should end there. Instead, later that night, I throw my wedding ring into the bonfire and whisper a wish I’ve never said aloud to another living soul. The wicker bear begins to move. Willow twists. Branches rearrange. And when I press my palm to the chest of the Wicker Man standing where the bear used to be, something beats beneath my hand. He’s alive. Locke is powerful enough to frighten half the town and gentle enough to make me question everything I thought I knew about strength. Somehow, he also heard us before he ever had ears, including the things women say when we think no men are listening—and the wish I never wanted any man to know. I wanted to feel safe again. I never expected safety to look at me like I’m the only woman in the world. And I definitely never expected people in town to decide a man like him shouldn’t exist.       AmazonKU

DARK SUBMISSION (REJECTED MONSTER MATES BOOK FOUR) by Taylor Spratt

The High Tower has fallen. The shifters are scattered. And Malek is coming for me. I’ve been running from my feelings for my demi-god mates since the beginning. But surviving the end of the world together has a way of breaking down walls. My heart wants to forgive them. Wants to love them. Wants to let go of the past and just be theirs. But can I really forget what they took from me? And even if I can , the man I once loved is now the monster I have to stop. No more excuses. No more hesitation. The only problem? Stopping Malek means forging alliances with a cowardly mage king hiding behind his castle walls and a human president with secrets of his own. Neither can be trusted. Both are essential. What could possibly go wrong? Three possessive alphas pulling at my heart. One demon god who destroyed everything I loved. A web of alliances that could unravel at any moment. Some wars are won with power. This one will take something far more dangerous — me.   AmazonKU

EARTH’S REAPER (EARTH’S MAGIC BOOK SEVEN) by Eve Langlais

The sunderer of souls had his heart stolen. Thaddeus is half Grim Reaper with the power to take people’s souls. As a child, his ability led to him having issues at school, as his strangeness made him a target for bullies—who never stood a chance when he got mad and let loose. Needless to say, his social life sucked. His best friend growing up? The ghost in the graveyard up the street. As for girlfriends? Only ever tried dating once and let’s just say it didn’t end well. Upon his rescue from a lab where scientists forced him to use his ability, this loner tries to get through life without any trouble, but apparently Mother Earth has other plans. She’s set him on a quest to find the person behind his creation and expects him to put an end to their experiments once and for all. The problem is finding the culprit. The decades-old trail is cold, unlike his super-hot female companion. Must not give in to temptation. The last thing Thad needs is to lose control and accidentally steal her soul. It would help if she wouldn’t tease and tempt at every turn. Fiona’s convinced he won’t hurt her, but he’s afraid she’ll end up screaming like the last woman he dared to touch. Thankfully, he’s got the mission to concentrate on, which has now switched to rescue mission. The mastermind behind his birth has taken his mom hostage, and it’s up to Thad to free her, but infiltrating the secret lab, with his ghostly sidekick and Fiona, leads to revelations that are almost too much to handle. To prevail, he’s going to have to do the impossible, but if he succeeds, he might finally have a chance at happiness.

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SHADOW LORD: COZY MM MONSTER ROMANCE (SHADOWMEN BOOK THREE) by S Rodman

I have a crush on my shadow. Ok, he’s not actually my shadow, he’s a shadow man from the Shadow Realm. But he follows me around like he’s attached to me. Wherever I turn he’s there, watching me from a shadowy corner with those fathomless amber eyes. He’s silent, looming, brooding and terrifying. Me? I’m annoyingly cheerful, apparently. So having a being called Dark decide to stalk me is, you know. Ironic. Not that I mind, because for a literal monster, he’s kinda sweet. Considerate. Extremely attentive. All in all, moving to the city really has been wilder than I thought. I work in a coffee shop where the owner is engaged to a shadow prince and my manager is a witch, and that’s how I met my shadow. Although he isn’t actually mine. But I think I want him to be. There’s just the small matter of saving the world from a doomsday prophecy to deal with first.      AmazonKU

COMMANDING SCYTHE AND SKY (GRAYSHELL RISING BOOK FOUR) by S J Barnett

When humanity is the price, all will stand united… or all will fall. The Great Commander vowed to dismantle Moros’ regime of terror, but it came at a devastating cost: his mate now captive in the mentalist’s lair. Now, alongside a splintered alliance of warriors, healers, and shadows, August embarks on a bloody quest to avenge humanity and bring her home before Moros shatters her mind entirely. Still cut off from their hierarchy, an elite squad of warriors make a desperate bid to reunite Grayshell’s forces by traversing the treacherous and illusion-riddled wasteland of The Middle—and time is not on their side. With every moment that passes, the enemy’s talons sink deeper into the Seer of the North, twisting her reality until even lies look like the truth. Still reeling in the wake of their fractured Mate Bond, Freya and Cyrus are left Earthbound, ensnared in history’s twisted threads. As the newly-ascended Paladin queen attempts to secure a tense—but crucial—alliance with the Northern assassins, the young historian must sort through the charred riddles of his ancestor’s mercurial past. But only by working together can they maneuver all of the necessary pieces onto the board and maintain hope of reclaiming their lost souls. Forced into servitude behind the enemy’s brutal walls, Blythe clings to her loyalties as she navigates hidden motives, ancient curses, and political turmoil. Humiliated and downtrodden, she fights to conceal the secrets lurking beneath her skin in hopes of escaping with Alvara. With revenge at last in her grasp, Blythe must choose between her convictions and protecting the last heiress of a fallen bloodline. Loyalties are tested. Ancient bonds are frayed. And only one thread remains.       Amazon

YORK (CLAN OF MALONE BOOK ONE) by Kathi S Barton

He’s spent centuries hunting monsters. He never expected his mate to be the one woman who could drive him mad. York Malone is no ordinary vampire. As the vampire slayer, he’s spent centuries enforcing the council’s laws and destroying rogues who prey on humans. Powerful, wealthy, and more than a little set in his ways, York has no interest in changing his life for anyone. Then Rose MacIntyre walks into it. Rose is a talented mechanic with a sharp tongue, an independent streak, and no patience for the arrogant man who insists he owns the cars she’s been hired to repair. She certainly doesn’t believe his ridiculous claim that he’s a vampire—and she has enough problems already. Her violent father and brother have made her life a constant battle, and Rose learned long ago that the only person she can depend on is herself. But York knows something Rose doesn’t. She’s his mate. 
Keeping her safe awakens every protective instinct he possesses, but convincing Rose that she belongs at his side may prove harder than killing any rogue vampire. She doesn’t need a savior; she refuses to be controlled, and the more York pushes, the harder she pushes back. Yet the attraction between them is impossible to deny, and when danger closes in, Rose may discover that trusting York could change her life forever. A vampire slayer has finally met his match—and she has no intention of surrendering without a fight.       Amazon     Apple Books      Kobo

DEATH SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS (SHROUDED NATION BOOK 38) by Brenda Trim and Tia Didmon

The dead keep rising, but losing my gargoyle could ruin me. The plague spreading through our magical town is getting worse. As my friends fight to save me, my bond with Cal deepens into something fierce, fragile, and impossible to ignore. But the closer we get to the truth, the more I fear the enemy isn’t lurking in the shadows at all… but standing beside us as an ally. And then there’s the egg. Even weakened, it calls to me. Pulls at me. Changes me. If I can’t stop the dead, my town will fall. But if I hold too tightly to the power binding me to the egg and to the man I’m starting to love could kill me. Will I save the people depending on me… or lose myself, Cal, and everything I’m trying to protect?       AmazonKU

TWISTED IRON MARKS (TWISTED LEGACIES BOOK TWO) by Hailey Turner

VS Note: MM Fantasy.

When the Council of Witches demands Bran Gallagher cast aside his dying coven and join a new one, he flees to the Otherworld with the man he loves to escape his sentencing. Cillian Dunne returns to the Otherworld as the long-thought-dead Winter Prince, his past still lost to him in his mind. To win back the Winter Court stolen from him, Cillian must seek allies in the Fae who judged him guilty of associating with witches long ago. Among the Fae, who are his sworn enemy, Bran will do and become anything to stay by his lover’s side, even if it means wearing Cillian’s collar and being seen as his pet. Journeying with Bran to the Autumn Court, Cillian rejoins Fae high society during the Midsummer Festival. Little do they know the pitfalls that await, including an adversarial King Lugh, who wants Bran for his personal entertainment. Cillian will do whatever it takes to keep Bran safe. Navigating a dance of long-forgotten manners and insidious words, he strikes an unbreakable bargain with Lugh that sets the clock ticking for Cillian to prove his innocence. But as a threat to the Autumn Court creeps ever closer, the stakes become impossibly high. In the end, Cillian must choose between keeping his bargain and his life…or lose forever the witch who owns his heart.      AmazonKU      AB

MISTRESS OF FEAR (A LEGACY OF VENGEANCE AND MAGIC BOOK ONE) by Lauretta Hignett

All I ever wanted in life was to fall in love. Which was a little ironic, all things considered. I grew up in a secretive commune of magical warrior women. We were the hidden powerbrokers of the supernatural world; spies, assassins and undercover operatives, trading in secrets and death. We didn’t help anyone except each other, and we didn’t trust anyone at all. Especially not men. Only my sisters mattered. Everyone else in the world was a target, a tool to be used, or totally irrelevant. The Flowers of the Sword didn’t fall in love. I never really fit in with my family, though. Even from a young age, I knew I wanted a different life. A soft life—one without pain, without fighting, without hiding, without deception. A life where I didn’t need to use my magic as a weapon. A life where I could trust people, and use my powers to help them heal. So I turned my back on my family, and I walked away. And I did it; I fell in love. I thought I was going to be happy forever. I was wrong. My family was right all along. Men weren’t to be trusted. Love isn’t real. Now, vengeance will be my legacy. I’m going to rip the whole world apart to find the people who did this to my sisters. The path to revenge will take me right to the doorstep of the powerful political factions that rule the biggest supernatural city in the whole continent. Witches and wizards, vampires, combat mages, shapeshifters and fae… it doesn’t matter to me. The Senate of Magical Detroit won’t know what hit it.      AmazonKU

A WALTZ OF SINISTER IMPORT  (SUPERNATURAL ADVENTURES OF LADY AND LORD RIVEN BOOK THREE) by Stephanie Burgis

When the notorious Lady Riven is summoned to Vienna to solve a supernatural mystery, her debonair vampiric husband insists on accompanying her. However, neither of them is prepared for the true scope of the danger lurking within the sprawling Hofburg Palace…and by the time they uncover the truth behind every glittering illusion, their relationship may change forever. The third and final (for now!) sparkling installment of The Supernatural Adventures of Lady and Lord Riven contains copious amounts of delicious cake, a protective vampire husband, unexpected new friendships, and a waltz that might just sweep the whole continent into war unless Margaret is stubborn enough to prevent it.       Amazon      Apple Books      Kobo

THE FERRYMAN’S REST INN AND GROGSHOP (SAM QUINN BOOK NINE) by Sean Kelly

Meg, or Megaera, is one of the Furies you probably read about in Greek Mythology. She’s also been sitting on one of Sam Quinn’s stools in The Slaughtered Lamb Bookstore & Bar since it opened, glaring into silence anyone who tries to strike up a conversation with her. Sam, being Sam, eventually broke through Meg’s walls and a tentative friendship grew—not a warm one, certainly. Meg doesn’t do warm. She has, though, in a crisis situation, shown up to fight alongside Sam. Until recently, that is.
Sam’s getting more and more concerned about Meg’s strange absences and then she and Clive receive a text that turns their lives upside down. Meg tells Sam and Clive it’s their turn to help her…in Greece…in the Underworld. Sam badgers her friend Stheno into coming with them. I mean, if you have to descend into Hades’ realm, a Gorgon can be pretty handy. Keep your fingers crossed. Things are about to get downright mythological around here.

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MOONKISSED: AN UNHINGED MM MONSTER ROMANCE (POOK BOYS BOOK ONE) by Rhea Fox

Hector has his life under control. Mostly. He’s got a steady job, a plan to dig himself out of debt, and exactly zero room for distractions—especially not gorgeous ones with teasing smiles and too much confidence. At twenty-nine, Hector is a virgin by choice, a grumpy wolfman who keeps his head down, works hard, and refuses to rely on anyone. He’s learned the hard way that family is a liability. Unfortunately, his job comes with Mason Grant. Mason is everything Hector isn’t: charming, infuriating, tattooed, pierced, and impossible to ignore. A Pooka with biker vibes and a face that promises trouble, he used to needle Hector relentlessly—until one day, he didn’t. Now there are soft words, lingering looks, and a warmth that sinks under Hector’s skin no matter how hard he fights it. Mason knows exactly what Hector is. And more importantly, who he is. Hector is his mate—fierce, loyal, breathtaking—and Mason is done pretending otherwise. If banter pushed him away, then devotion will pull him close. He’ll be patient. He’ll be gentle. He’ll worship every sharp edge and stubborn refusal until Hector finally understands that wanting doesn’t make him weak, and that being claimed doesn’t mean being owned. The moon is rising. The bond is pulling tight. And Mason’s demon agrees on one thing: Hector belongs with them.      AmazonKU

THE MEMORY TREE by Heather Davey

VS Note: Gothic, dual timelines.

When her husband, Ben, takes on his first parish in the rural community of Hope-under-Barrow, Kate Greenwood feels like it could be a fresh start for the family. But from the moment they arrive, something just feels… off. It could be the locals, with their strange rituals and rites. Or it could be the yew tree which stands in a graveyard bordering their garden, whose presence brings headaches, visions and disturbing, unfamiliar memories that do not belong to Kate. As she investigates the strange things happening to her, Kate begins to delve into the history and memories of Hope-upon-Barrow, and the more she uncovers, the more she risks losing herself to something deadly and ancient.      Amazon     AB      Apple Books      Kobo

OWL HALLOWS’ EVE (OWL STAR WITCH MYSTERIES BOOK 24) by Leann Leeds

A Halloween festival in a town full of mediums. A medium dead in the corn maze. And a debt to the god of the dead that just came due. Astra Arden has avoided Cassandra—hard to feel welcome when the mayor blames you for her son’s death. But when the town’s ghosts go silent and Hades calls in her mother’s old favor, avoiding it stops being an option. Someone in Cassandra is keeping a soul that belongs to the Underworld, and the Arden sisters have until the festival ends to bring it home. Then a medium turns up dead under a sign in her own handwriting, the town closes ranks, and the mayor bans Astra from the grounds. Now she’s solving a murder from the couch above a gas station—in a town that won’t talk, hunting a soul in a town that talks to nothing else. And midnight is coming either way.      AmazonKU

LEVI (SEVEN DEADLY SINS BOOK THREE) by N J Walters

Bounty hunter, bodyguard, and werewolf Levi Sin takes a temporary protection detail in New York for reclusive singer and songwriter, Etta Storm. She refuses all public appearances and disguises her appearance for online events. The attraction between them is explosive, but past trauma and a present threat have her keeping her distance. All Etta wants is to write songs, make music, and live a quiet life with her dogs. Captivated by her music and by the woman herself, Levi knows she’s hiding something, but even he has no idea just how explosive it is or how it will change his life forever. When the past threatens, secrets are revealed that jeopardize their relationship. Needing to protect her, Levi takes her to home to Sin Mountain to face the final battle.      Amazon      Apple Books      Kobo

CRASH COURSE IN BECOMING A MEDIUM by Andrea Meuwissen

VS Note: MM PNR.

Phillip Gregory, or as his students affectionately call him, “Professor Gory,” is deeply dedicated to the field of thanatology—the study of death and bereavement. Yet at nearly sixty years old and well-versed in the effects of death on the living, even after a decade, he still hasn’t gotten over the loss of his husband. Determined to take his sabbatical finally and further his research into artistic depictions of specters, death gods, and other undead around the world, the last thing Phillip wants is company, least of all in the form of a handsome young grad student he never asked for. Only Corbin Fearnley might be more than he appears. A stray touch to Corbin’s hand awakens something in Phillip—a connection to the dead he never expected. Suddenly able to see the spirits in his library that he once thought a quirk of his imagination, Phillip is brought into a world beyond the study of death and into the real reason Corbin was sent to him. A malevolent spirit somehow tied to Phillip’s library is growing in power, and Corbin and the society of death he belongs to, Aborientes Umbrae, are the only ones capable of stopping it. With Phillip’s newfound abilities, and Corbin boasting powers of his own, the two embark down a path of danger, discovery, and mutual attraction. But is Phillip ready to accept new love into his life or is the malicious force growing in power around them destined to keep them apart?      AmazonKU

DEATH: A TOWERFALL NOVEL by Kristin Cast

In a world built on illusion, the truth is often deadly…Juniper Chase has perfected the art of being exactly what everyone needs, especially her best friend’s older brother, Beckett Davenport. He’s the one man she’s spent years pretending she doesn’t want…and the one man she cannot have. When a magickal tarot card rips her and Beckett from their world and into the enchanted Kingdom of Swords, Juniper is mistaken for their future queen, but slipping into the role should be instinct. After all, she knows how to play a part. Except things in the Kingdom of Swords are not what they seem. Prince Luca Sterling, the man she’s meant to marry, is hiding something beneath his devastating charm. Juniper can feel it, because in this kingdom, her instincts are literal power. And the deeper she falls into the prince’s glittering, carefully crafted world, the clearer it becomes: This kingdom is built on lies, and it’s collapsing under their weight. To uncover the truth behind the throne and the ancient Tower pulsing at the heart of the kingdom, Juniper will need the help of the man who sees her more clearly than anyone ever has. And when Beckett takes to his position as her guard with a fierce yet gentle protectiveness that brings new heat between them, Juniper uncovers the truth between them, too. But exposing Luca’s lies could send the realm crashing down around them. And choosing the truth might cost Juniper her future, her heart, and any chance of making it home.       Amazon     AB      Apple Books      Kobo

UNMASKING THE ORC by Leslie Chase

Kor is the most aggravating monster I’ve ever met. Unfortunately, he’s also the hottest. Six foot six of glowering, muscular orc, Kor makes my heart flutter every time he gets too close. His gravelly voice does extremely inconvenient things to me, but when I listen to what he says, I remember exactly why I can’t stand him. It would be manageable if we weren’t stuck planning the Halloween Ball together. For one enchanted night of the year, monsters and humans mix freely, their identities hidden beneath magical masks. It’s an important part of Blackrose Hollow’s culture, and I’m determined to make this year’s the best one yet. So far, Kor has blocked my fog machines, vetoed my inflatable pumpkin, and developed an infuriating habit of stepping in to fix every problem before I’ve finished being properly annoyed by it. The worst part? Every argument leaves us standing a little too close. Every glare lasts a little too long. And I am absolutely, positively not wondering what those tusks would feel like against my skin. Nope. Not thinking about that. Falling into bed with Kor would be a terrible idea. And falling for him would be even worse.    AmazonKU

UNMASKING THE MUMMY by Sayla Masse

Merytamun “Mary” has spent her career uncovering Egypt’s past. But after a disastrous excavation awakens something that should have remained buried, nothing feels right anymore. The stars have changed. An impossible fifth canopic jar refuses to leave her thoughts. And the mummy she uncovered seems determined to follow her home. Then her new neighbor moves in. Kind, handsome, and hopelessly out of his depth in New York City, Kayvon should be the perfect distraction from Mary’s spiraling obsession. Between rooftop stargazing, pizza dates, museums, and Halloween costumes, falling for him feels effortless. More unsettling still, every moment together feels strangely familiar… as though they’ve loved each other before. As ancient forces awaken and forgotten forces begin to stir, Mary and Kayvon discover they’re connected by a history older than memory itself. To save the world from a darkness that once nearly consumed it, they’ll have to uncover the truth buried beneath centuries of lies—even if it means confronting the lives they left behind.    AmazonKU

UNMASKING THE TROLL by Sabrina Silvers

She came to Iceland looking for forgotten monsters. She found a love story instead. Professor Dana has spent her career proving myths and legends belong to everyone, not just scholars locked away in libraries. Her latest research project, The Forgotten Monsters of Iceland, is supposed to help secure her academic future—not lead her straight to a very real troll. Eirikr prefers books to people and history to the uncertainties of real life. He’s spent centuries preserving Iceland’s stories while secretly writing Viking romances under a human pen name. Falling in love is something he writes about, not something he intends to experience. Until Dana. Thanks to his twin brother’s spectacularly misguided matchmaking scheme, Dana and Eirikr are thrown together among ancient legends, hidden archives, and more than a few secrets. But when mating marks appear and the truth finally comes out, they’ll have to decide whether their growing feelings are just another story…Or the happily ever after neither of them expected.      AmazonKU

ONCE UPON A LIBRARY WISH (CITY WISHES & ENCHANTED DREAMS BOOK THREE) by Jessica E Subject

VS Note: MM PNR.

I don’t think this wish was meant for me… but that didn’t stop me from making one. I need a new job. Due to budget cuts by the township, today is my last day working at the library. And I dread spending any time at the home I half own ever since my mom’s latest parasite of a boyfriend moved in. As I’m shelving a paranormal romance novel, a white business card drops out of it. I pocket it for later, expecting it to be some kind of bookmark promoting the author. At the end of the day, I reach into my pocket for the key to my bike lock when the card falls out. Instead of the author’s website or a QR code to scan, it tells me to make a wish. Why not? I would love to meet a hot dragon shifter like the one on the cover of the book the card came from. It wasn’t as if I was going to have any luck finding love in my small town. That’s when everything changes. Instead of biking home, I am standing on the edge of a field, watching a minotaur come charging toward me. He promises to introduce me to a dragon, but not until I agree to stay in their world. It seems like a dream, or perhaps a nightmare, but what if I finally found everything I’ve ever longed for?      AmazonKU

VERY MERRY DEMONS by Eva Chase

This Christmas visit home is going to be different. I’m done hearing my family fret about my lack of job prospects and love life. So I’ll take that job at the cozy inn… even if it’s a teensy bit haunted. I’ll gamble that my totally human self can use a dusty spell book to summon my true love. One mispronounced word later, and instead of my Prince Charming, I’ve summoned three fanged, purple demons. Oops. Thankfully, the demons are more excited than annoyed by my accidental summoning. They’ve got a paranormal problem only a witch can fix. They offer me a deal: they’ll solve my romantic crisis, and I’ll use my newly discovered magic powers to set them right. All three demons guide my awkward attempts at dating in their own tempting ways: one sweet, one grouchy, one seductive. Flirting practice evolves into scorching kisses and taking turns posing as my fake human boyfriend for Christmas… until I’m wondering if the love spell worked after all. Are these incredible paranormal men exactly what my wounded heart needed? Or will they vanish from my life as soon as our deal is done?     AmazonKU

THE BAKER’S SHADOW by Lilliana Rose

When grief calls to darkness, sometimes darkness answers. Kaia Brennan is drowning. Her husband is dead, her bakery is failing, and she’s kneading dough at 3 AM just to feel something, anything, other than the crushing weight of loneliness. Then he comes. Malak is an ancient incubus, bound to hunt during the blood moon eclipse. He should take a virgin and disappear into shadow. Instead, he’s drawn to Kaia’s grief like a moth to flame and makes a catastrophic mistake. He doesn’t just feed on her darkness. He fills her emptiness with something of his own. Something that shouldn’t be possible. Now Kaia is pregnant with a child that pulses with shadow-magic, her bread is enchanted with emotions that manipulate the town, and a corrupt businessman is determined to destroy the supernatural barrier protecting them all, even if it means unleashing an ancient evil that devours everything in its path. With the barrier cracking and monsters clawing their way into the world, Kaia and Malak must choose to run and let the town fall, or stand together and risk everything for a family that was never meant to exist.      AmazonKU

THE WEAKNESS OF JUSTICE (SCALES OF JUSTICE) by Laura Greenwood

Rera wants to support the Temple of Ma’at, but is she able to? Having accepted that she wants a career as a Priestess of Ma’at, Rera knows what she has to do next. The only problem is that her personal ties lead her to make decisions for the wrong reasons. To make matters worse, she finds herself faced with having to reveal secrets that she doesn’t want to share with anyone from either side of her life. Can she find her way back to the Halls of Justice? The Weakness of Justice is book seven in the Scales of Justice series, an urban fantasy series based on Egyptian mythology and set in the same world as The Apprentice of Anubis. It includes a slow burn m/f romance, a morally grey main character, and clashing worlds. If you love Egyptian mythology, alternative versions of the modern day, temple politics, slow-burn workplace romance, and a world where the gods are real, then the Scales of Justice series is for you!

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SEARCH FOR THE LOST: CHAOS AND ORDER BOOK TWO by J Scott Coatsworth and Kim Fielding

VS Note: MM Fantasy.

Leopold Lane—after being “collected” for the Office of the Lost by Crispin Eladrin Moss’caladin—is tucked away cozily with his beloved office fae in their treehouse. Happily ever after, right? Not so fast. Before Leo can even get settled, Crispin’s mother disappears, leaving Crispin in charge and his brother Aspin in a panic. As Queen of the Fae, she has also left them a little surprise: a bit of oxymoronic magic that turns their world upside down. Crispin and Leo set off in search of the queen and a solution to their predicament. Aspin tags along, with some less-than-helpful friends. On the way they will discover important family secrets and learn new things about each other… and themselves. Nothing is simple when Chaos and Order get involved. Besides, it wouldn’t be a proper quest if it was straightforward, would it?     Amazon     Apple Books      Kobo

THE CALL OF THE SEA: A COLLECTION OF DARK FANTASY TALES by Various

The Call of the Sea cannot be ignored…Beneath the waves lies another world, one filled with creatures of myth. Mermaids and sirens who find themselves torn between the land and the sea. As they struggle to choose, they will encounter danger, betrayal and love that cannot be. Dive into the pages and discover a world you have never seen before. Will they find love or will it all end in tragedy?   AmazonKU

FIND ME WHERE IT ENDS by Cassandra Khaw

Antigone is no stranger to death. For the women of her family, death always comes in the form of a black dog. When Antigone’s own black dog arrives, she isn’t afraid. She invites it inside, where it soon becomes a daily source of companionship and comfort. It also forces her to reflect on the life she’s led―the parts of herself she’s hollowed out for the sake of others, and the bone-deep exhaustion that’s hounded her every step. Her Death’s arrival must be a sign, permission to finally let go. To rest. Because while mortality is inevitable, living is a choice. But a good death comes at a price.      Amazon     AB     Apple Books     Kobo

HEAR THE DEAD: A THRILLER by Ann Davila Cardinal

One woman. A string of unsolved murders. Only she can hear the victims. For more than forty years, Elena Altieri has been hiding from the tragedies of her New York City punk rock youth. Tragedies that left her best friend, Sin, dead, and other women in their orbit missing. Now, the past is catching up with her in more ways than one. Not only is she hearing strange noises under the hum of her tinnitus, but the photographs she took of a recently deceased musician are going viral, thrusting her back into a world she hoped would remain locked away forever. When Elena begins to hear the screams of a woman ringing in her ears, she becomes convinced that she’s somehow hearing Sin’s murder. Desperate for answers, she has no choice but to revisit her past, and what she’ll uncover will not only force her to reckon with her own fractured memories, but might prove that Sin, and other innocent women from their youth, were the victims of an unspeakable crime that only she can solve.  Old punks never die, and Elena’s going to prove that.      Amazon     AB      Apple Books      Kobo

MONSTERA by Delilah S Dawson

VS Note: Sapphic gothic horror.

When Lucy McClintock moves into a dreamy Victorian in downtown Savannah after years of suffering under the rule of her overbearing grandfather, she feels like she’s won the lottery—well, outside of the creepy landlord. She soon notices a glorious green haven in the backyard and meets her downstairs neighbor, Saskia, a weightlifter who lives in a magical apartment overflowing with plant life and beautiful artwork. Naïve and lonely Lucy is drawn to strong and secretive Saskia, and as the two women grow closer, they discover they share more than just an apartment building…A seductive, heady, sinister read: breathless romance and bone-chilling suspense collide in this sweet and deadly tale.       Amazon     AB     Apple Books     Kobo

THE HOUSE BUILT ON ALLIGAOTR BONES: A NOVEL by Sophia Honeycutt

VS Note: Southern Gothic with romance.

Dartrine Beaumont believes her mother’s sudden death has left her alone in the world—until she learns of long-lost wealthy relatives living in Florida. Confused but delighted by the possibility of extended family, Dart travels to her grandmother’s stately Gilded Age mansion on Amelia Island for answers, just in time to stake a claim on an unusual inheritance: an alligator farming empire. Her arrival at Greer House isn’t everything she hoped. Without warning, Dart finds herself in fierce competition with her grandmother’s arrogant heir apparent, and tensions rise as threats escalate on one of the farms. More unsettling is her hostile grandmother’s fanatical belief that the danger stems from a curse; according to legend, a larger-than-life alligator hunted down by a bloodthirsty ancestor haunts the family. Yet Dart can’t deny that the farm’s alligators hiss only at Greers, or that a shadowy figure creeps through the mansion’s halls. As Dart uncovers the truth about her violent birthright, she faces a terrible choice: accept her place in her family’s grim legacy or forge a new path by slaying a different beast entirely.       Amazon     AB     Apple Books      Kobo

THE LAST CRANE: A HELLSING UNIVERSE SHORT STORY by Margaret Couplet

Oscar Crane, the last of his Hunter Family, finds a fae’s head in his newly inherited attic. Blackwell has been waiting generations to escape the Crane’s attic, he just wasn’t expecting his freedom to come at the hands of one of those Cranes. This short story takes place a few years before the first book in The Hellsing Siblings Series but may be best enjoyed after finishing the series.    AmazonKU     AB

PORTRAIT OF A HAUNTING by Madison Taylor Nelson

To Tatum Alexander, the Sight—her ability to see spirits—has always been more of an affliction than a gift. Having inherited the power from her mother, Amarina, an infamous artist known for murdering her lover and using his blood for her final painting, Tatum has been reluctant to step into her talent or even get close to the man she loves. She’s been able to find a safe space to hide her Sight with the largest witch coven in Manhattan and her best friend, Mischa. But when Mischa is murdered, the act eerily connected to Amarina’s own crime, a traumatized Tatum must reckon with both the loss and the sudden surge of spirits vying for her attention and her life. The spirits have a message: the murderer is coming for her next and a price must be paid. To learn the truth of her past and catch the killer she’ll have to rely on her loved ones’ helping hands—some witchy friends, the man who won’t let her go, and her eternally perplexing mother—in order to embrace her Sight while keeping them all safe. The clues will lead Tatum to a dangerous secret that Amarina has spent decades trying to keep. And when the secret is out, Tatum will be forced to risk it all.

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BAITING THE WEREWOLF: SPICY MM PNR (HALLOWEEN TAMPTATIONS) by Tara Sterling

When I stalked my best friend into the woods, I didn’t expect to get my reality shattered… or my world thoroughly rocked. Logan and I are just friends. Nay, best friends. Do I want more? Sure. But why would a giant Greek god who can have anyone he wants choose a tiny introvert with an attitude problem? Besides, Logan is extremely straight. Which is probably why following him into a dark forest wasn’t my brightest idea. But I need to know why he’s been lying to me. So, when my poor life choices make me bait for the monsters lurking in the darkness, I’m not even surprised. But when rescue comes in the form of a very familiar wolf, I have a lot of questions. Starting with how the giant animal that’s been randomly showing up at my doorstep for years ended up here? Turns out those visits weren’t random at all. Will the truth break the one relationship I can’t live without? Or will it finally unleash the desires I’ve spent my whole life denying?       AmazonKU

BIRD KING RISING: LETTERS FROM MAYNARA BOOK TWO by Samantha Bansil

A new queen reigns. A rebellion stirs. Will she risk it all to rule? Newly crowned queen Laya Gatdula is determined to prove her worth to her subjects, her family, her rivals—and herself. When whispers of rebellion and rumored sightings of a giant raptor in the mountainous Skylands reach the capital, Laya must face the terrifying realization that her ex-lover and rival, Luntok, might still be alive and coming for the throne. Though she already wields power over wind and rain, to quell the threat from the north, Laya seeks the ultimate weapon: lightning. Torn between the counsel of two men—her beloved confidant and her ruthless uncle—Laya must trust herself to cement her legacy and hold the throne. Is it better to earn her nation’s loyalty through benevolent rule, or risk everything to become an all-powerful god? And with Luntok rapidly gathering his army, will she live long enough to make the choice?    Amazon     AB     Kobo

THE DANCER AND THE DREAM THIEF by Rowenna Miller

Evelyn Pulaski spends her evenings selling dreams working at the Palace Ballroom. For a dime a dance, she plays into a cheap fantasy of romance before returning to the gritty reality of everyday life. When dance hall girls start disappearing, a mysterious group of elfin bootleggers is the prime suspect. Raife is also in the business of selling dreams. He is part of an operation stealing dreams from humans and peddling them in the elfinlands. Raife takes a shine to Evelyn, telling himself his interest is purely professional, but there is something…entrancing about her. When Evelyn’s best friend disappears, she is forced into an uneasy alliance with Raife. And together they’ll discover the power of dreams to change, or even remake, the world.     Amazon     AB     Apple Books      Kobo

DARK READING MATTER: THE LAST THURSDAY NEXT NOVEL BOOK EIGHT by Jasper Fforde

Ex-Literary Special Ops agent Thursday Next is embarking on her eighth and final fictional adventure, and she is well aware of the fact. The problem is, others are aware of it, too. Old foes and new are plotting a terrible revenge: to disrupt the narrative and make the last Thursday Next novel, Dark Reading Matter, not just unreadable but unpublishable. Thursday can’t let that happen, and needs to use all her guile and narrative trickery to unmask the antagonists. It won’t be easy. The Martians have broken out of their H. G. Wells novel and threaten both the real world and the BookWorld. Agents from a higher reality want unfettered access to the Dark Reading Matter, the realm where deleted books and unrealized literary ideas end up. A Gateway to Hell has opened up at Wantage’s Shakesmania, the nation’s second-worst Shakespeare theme park, and the cozy world of Enid Blyton has been hijacked by ultra-right-wing nationalists. With Reality Field Distortion experiments going haywire, a partially redacted donkey, a BookWorld on the brink of losing its imaginative energy to Big Tech and a murderous stamp collector with philaticide on their mind, Thursday has to navigate a tightrope of borderline unusable narrative devices to bring the series to a satisfying conclusion. It’s a tall order, but Thursday has several secret weapons: her own adaptability; her husband, Landen; a host of stalwart friends and ultimately the most loyal compatriots she can call upon—her readers.      Amazon     AB      Apple Books      Kobo

CRAVING THE INCUBUS (HALLOWEEN TEMPTATIONS) by Jules Simon

VS Note: LGBTQ PNR.

A nerdy gamer, an exiled incubus, and one night to break a curse. Halloween parties aren’t my thing, so I opt for a late-night jaunt into the forest to explore reports of a supernatural phenomenon. When I trip and sprain my ankle, a hulking guy donning super realistic horns appears out of nowhere. He offers to carry me to his nearby (hopefully not a murder) cabin so I can ice my injury. By the time we arrive, I’m an overstimulated mess. It’s not my fault! He’s wearing me like a backpack and, uh, things bump and rub a lot. Finally relaxing in his surprisingly swanky digs with my leg elevated, I doze off and experience the most sensual dream of my life, featuring none other than my big horned host. I wake craving him for real, but I’ve never been with a man. When he confesses a secret that leaves me questioning everything I know, he makes me an offer I can’t refuse. I have the power to break his curse, and in exchange, he’ll give me everything I desire. Am I brave enough to accept?   AmazonKU

ENTITIES TO LOVERS by Mallory Marlowe

Paranormal medium Rory Woods spends her days offering psychic readings at Ye Olde Spirit Shop and nights haunting the streets of Boston as a ghost-tour guide. Sure, business could be better, but she’s proud of the shop she runs with her mom. Enter Ezra Blackwell: adjunct history professor, noted thorn in Rory’s side, and—though she’d only admit it under threat of medieval torture he surely knows too much about—a distractingly handsome, charismatic coworker. Rory can’t stand Ezra’s know-it-all, show-offy behavior. Ezra loves to tease the gorgeous, brilliant medium at the shop. And when the two are forced to host a tour together? It’s no wonder they end up hexed after disturbing a matchmaking ghost. Saddled with perpetual bad luck unless they’re physically near each other, Rory and Ezra will try anything, from séances to kissing, to stop the jinx from wreaking havoc on both their lives. But in their quest to appease the spirit, they realize that growing closer might not be the curse they once thought it was.      Amazon     AB      Apple Books      Kobo

LOVE YOU TO DEATH by Jenna Levine

Lucy McKenzie’s life has always been a disaster. So it should come as no surprise when one day she’s hit by an inconveniently-timed bus—and dies. Unfortunately for the handsome grim reaper who shows up to take her to the afterlife, Lucy is not about to go quietly. Daniel is tired of his job collecting souls. While working for the Agency beats the heck out of going to Hell, he’s been doing this for literal ages. The drudgery has him yearning for more. Touched by Lucy’s plea for more time on earth, he convinces the Agency to make a deal: Lucy can have six more weeks of life if Daniel can observe her and report back on humanity. But as Lucy and Daniel navigate the chaos of life and afterlife together, they discover that a second chance at living might be their real chance at love.      Amazon     AB      Apple Books      Kobo

MYSTERY PLAY: A NOVEL by Elizabeth Kostova

After his beloved mother passes away suddenly, Jay Turner finds himself at a crossroads. She was always secretive, and when he returns to their Boston home to clear out her possessions, he finds an unusual item: a partially burned scrap of newspaper bearing the name “Gael Brogan.” Soon after, a deliveryman leaves behind a package containing a small antique volume bound in leather—and two bloody footprints. The sight of the volume is chilling. As a young scholar, his mother had been given the medieval book—one of a set commissioned by Vlad Țepeș, otherwise known as Dracula, just before his death in 1477. She’d always warned Jay of the dangers associated with it, and had donated it to a museum before she died . . . yet here it is, back in his possession. Jay sets out to learn more about Gael Brogan, a prominent nineteenth-century actor whose last and most famous role was based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula. As Jay begins to dig deeper—with the help of a mysterious woman named Rhiannon—he uncovers the frightening story of a young actress who fell under Brogan’s sway long ago. Before long, Jay and Rhiannon realize that something similarly implacable is pursuing them.     Amazon     AB     Apple Books      Kobo

BLITHE SPIRITS ON THE PUMPKIN PATCH (GHOSTS OF ROWAN VALE BOOK FIVE) by Sharon Booth

VS Note: FF PNR.

Halloween is fast approaching, and in the beautiful Cotswold living history village of Rowan Vale, a day of events is planned. There’ll be pumpkin carving, apple bobbing… and a not-so traditional midnight séance. The spirit medium will be Melissa, better known as ‘Madam Mariska’ on television’s It’s Haunted! But Melissa is keeping a career-threatening secret: she’s lost her ghost-whispering abilities, and it’s her sister and general dogsbody assistant Verity who she relies on to contact the spirits. With the resident village ghosts going on strike in protest at the booking, and sibling rivalry at its highest, it’s no wonder Verity is unhappy, and her feelings aren’t helped by her unexpected attraction to the calm and beautiful Mia. Leaving her sister to the midnight séance, Verity follows an illuminated pumpkin path to the stone circle on the edge of the village and does something very out of character… and which she hasn’t a clue how to fix. Has she just changed life – and afterlife – in Rowan Vale forever?       AmazonKU      AB

ONCE IN A TIMELINE by Iman Hariri-Kia

Get ready with me… to break out of the algorithm – Laia Grace is the New York City lifestyle influencer… or at least, she’s determined to be. After leaving her past behind to pursue her dreams, failure is not an option. Every day, she films her aesthetic routine — the perfect light, the perfect latte, the perfect life. Until one morning, her day starts to… glitch. Her neighbors flicker. Her best friend loops. And Laia realizes she’s no longer the creator, but the content — and she’s trapped inside of her last “day in the life” video, forever playing on an endless, infinite loop. That’s when a brooding, unshaven, decidedly unfiltered man (literally) crashes into frame. Noah’s been stuck in Laia’s timeline, too, and he’s desperate to get them both out. Together, Laia and Noah fight to outsmart the algorithm that’s captured them, uncovering secrets and confronting biases along the way.  As they grow closer, the line between performance and personhood blurs, and Laia realizes she might have to face the one thing she’s been avoiding all this time: herself.

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STONE MAD by D M Pulley

Life fell apart for Mannie Wallace after her daughter’s best friend was abducted from the playground right under Mannie’s nose. Six years later, Mannie is working as an engineer turned insurance investigator and barely holding the pieces of her family together. When an eccentric developer hires her to survey an infamously haunted Gilded Age mansion, Stone Mad Castle, it could be just the thing she needs to get her career and life back on track. But once inside the abandoned castle, her dream job becomes a nightmare when the motley crew of investigators discovers a dead body in the basement and Mannie starts seeing ghosts. Probing deeper into the mansion, she begins to suspect that Stone Mad’s sinister past may be connected to the little girl she lost. Her daughter, now fourteen and obsessed with true crime, is convinced that girls have been mysteriously disappearing near the haunted house at an alarming rate for more than a century. Twist follows twist, like the hidden passageways that honeycomb the castle, as Mannie risks everything to unravel the mansion’s secrets and uncover the fate of her daughter’s missing friend. In the end, Mannie must solve the mystery of Stone Mad once and for all … or become the next chapter in its haunted story.     Amazon     AB

UNDER THE IRON SKY by A T Emerald

Vordell was beautiful once. Its people lived in harmony, and their civilization flourished as they learned to harness and control the power of Light. Then the darkness came. The Iron Sky unfolded dark clouds across the land, thick enough to choke out the light of the suns. The ground cracked, releasing vicious creatures and evil magic-wielding soldiers. The Dar’rak—an enemy long believed to be buried and forgotten—returned to claim the world above. Soraya Tollmere has spent most of her life on the front lines of the brutal war that followed. Now a high-ranking commander, she knows loss better than anyone. By day, she leads troops across ruined landscapes and guides covert teams through enemy territory. By night, she meets with a Dar’rak defector who has kept humanity alive with his steady stream of secrets. On a mission to investigate his latest lead—one that could turn the tide of the war—Soraya is captured by the Demon, the Dar’rak’s most feared soldier, his true identity unknown. His orders are simple: Break the human commander and uncover where the humans are keeping a weapon that could win them the war. But as he gets to know the fierce warrior, the lines between interrogator and enemy, prisoner and ally, begin to blur. Devastating truths surface and loyalties shatter, forcing Soraya to decide who to trust in a world where Light is dying—and where her greatest enemy may be her only salvation.        Amazon     AB      Apple Books      Kobo

THE SPELLREADER AND THE PHOENIX: MM URBAN FANTASY ROMANCE (CELEBRATIONS WITH MYTHICAL MATES BOOK TWO) by Ellie Ash

Can a happily ever after start with an accident? Max – Owning a bookshop would be perfect if only it didn’t involve customers. As a witch who’s also a rare Spellreader, Max can find the spells that other witches need, as long as they’re not so rude that he hangs up on them. This keeps his store afloat, and his life follows a predictable pattern, just the way he likes it, until Rory crashes—literally—into his life. Max has never met anyone like this cheerful shifter, and he doesn’t know quite what to do with him, but he’s also… intrigued. Rory – Rory’s spent the last ten years—he’s pretty sure it’s not more than ten years!—in his bird form. He takes life as it comes, and he’s happy flying place to place as he waits to find his mate. When his excitement at finally spotting the man leads to him crashing right into his mate’s window, he seizes the opportunity to get to know him. Together, Rory’s certain there’s nothing they can’t do… if he can convince his grumpy mate that they’re meant to be together.   AmazonKU

THE WITCH by Freida McFadden

VS Note: I one clicked. I love her books, so twisty and I’m always surprised by the ending.

Some secrets don’t die―they wait. When Julia Barlow loses her job and her apartment, she has nowhere left to go but Pemberton, her family’s sprawling seventeenth-century estate in rural Massachusetts. Officially, she’s there to check in on her aging grandmother. Unofficially, she’s hoping the old house will give her a place to disappear. Instead, Pemberton begins to unravel her. Every night, the grandfather clock stops at exactly 3:41 a.m. The lights flicker without warning. And a disembodied voice cries for help outside Julia’s bedroom door. As Julia digs into the house’s dark history, she uncovers the story of a woman executed for witchcraft in 1692―and realizes the past may not be finished with Pemberton yet. When decades of family lies begin to surface, Julia must confront a terrifying truth: Pemberton may be haunted by women whose voices refuse to stay silent.    Amazon     AB

HOTEL HEX (SALEMDIPITY INN WITCH COZY MYSTERIES BOOK ONE) by Lily Harper Hart

Being a real witch in Salem isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Just ask Piper Knight, who fled the East Coast for the West Coast after graduation—grand plans of being a “normal” naturalist taking up residence in her head—only to have to return to her hometown if she wants to save her grandmother’s failing boutique hotel, the Salemdipity. As a descendent of one of the original women accused of being a witch during the trials hundreds of years ago, Piper is determined to keep her grandmother’s legacy alive. Unfortunately, the old witch might be going a little batty. Since Piper’s parents refuse to help—they’re threatening to lock up Wanda Alden and throw away the key if she causes one more public incident—that means Piper is on her own. She’s a witch, so everything should be okay. Or maybe that’s just witchful thinking. Jasper Cage grew up in Salem hating witch stories. There are other paranormals in the world after all, thank you very much. Why should witches get all the attention? As a half-vampire—he’d much prefer being a whole one but he didn’t get a say in the matter—he has attitude to spare. That’s why, when he collides with Piper over a dead body, things immediately come to a head. Jasper wants…(more blurb on ebook seller’s page)        AmazonKU       AB

WICKER by Ursula Wills

VS Note: A short read.

A comedic fable about sex, marriage, and the absurdities of social convention. Soon to be a major motion picture starring Alexander Skarsgård and Olivia Colman!In a small coastal village, a fish-gutter lives a lonely existence, shunned by neighbors and smelling of brine. Desperate for companionship, she trades her life savings — three gold coins — to a local basket-maker with a single request: make me a husband. Woven from willow, her new partner is broad-shouldered, gentle-spoken, and utterly devoted. As he mends her leaky roof, shares her bed and restores her happiness, the woman blossoms, wearing flowers in her hair and singing as she works. But her transformation sparks deep jealousy among the villagers, whose own marriages begin to curdle with envy. Driven by malice, the townspeople hatch a wicked scheme to convince her that her wicker spouse has betrayed her.       Amazon     AB      Apple Books      Kobo

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WITCHES ANONYMOUS by Alyson Root

VS Note: Sapphic PNR.

Wren Fletcher just wants to survive her court-mandated support group without wrecking her life any further. One drunken dive into a fountain, one brutal breakup and one bogus firing later, she arrives at her first compulsory meeting expecting stale biscuits and total anonymity. Instead, she finds a room full of women looking at her as though they know something she does not. They are right. Wren is a water witch—born into a hidden magical world she never knew existed, with powers she cannot control and a babysitter she definitely did not ask for. Maisie Stonecroft is composed, infuriatingly capable and next in line to lead the country’s most powerful coven. She does not do chaos. Wren is chaos, armed with razor-sharp sarcasm and no patience for rules, magical or otherwise. They should not work. But between disaster-prone lessons, dangerous coven politics and a spark threatening to become a wildfire, Wren begins to wonder whether she is ready to stop hiding—from magic, from Maisie and from life itself.      AmazonKU

TRICK OR TREAT FOR THE DEAD DRAGON: MONSTER ROMANCE WITH HEART by Julia Mills

Love wasn’t supposed to happen– but in Arrhythmia, the sweetest treats are the ones you never see coming. Everyone thought Knox MacAllen died a century ago. He didn’t. Presumed dead after an oil-rig explosion, the Texas Ranger and Dragon Guardsman spent the last hundred years trapped in Hell– fighting, surviving, and forced to serve a Demon Lord.  Then a Hellmouth spits him back into the land of the living. But Hell still knows exactly how to find him. Alicorn Shifter Maisie MacDonald takes one wrong turn through the Magical Wards surrounding Arrhythmia, Texas. She finds herself trapped with demons, ghouls… and one supposedly dead Bronze Dragon whose Dragon King immediately declares her their Mate. The Alicorn Princess with whom she shares her soul agrees. Maisie does not, no matter how good-looking the man is, have time for a Mate. But something marked Knox. Something is tracking him… And that is just not cool. She needs to help him… and keep her raging hormones and her Alicorn Princess at bay. Then Knox says he’s leaving. He thinks it’s the only way to protect everyone he loves. Maisie thinks he’s an idiot. Just another day in the Dragon Guard…Welcome back to Arrhythmia, Texas—where monsters fall in love, Magic goes wrong, and Fate refuses to behave.       Amazon      Apple Books      Kobo

FALL OF THE FORSAKEN: WAR OF THE BROTHERHOOD by Michelle Miles

Some wars begin the moment he chooses her. The Brotherhood turned Anna Walker into a weapon. Escaping them should have set her free. It didn’t. Now her dream-walking is awakening again—violent, invasive, and impossible to control. The nightmares leave blood in her mouth, bruises on her skin, and the horrifying sense that someone is reaching for her from the other side. Kincade knows how to protect what’s his. He can lock down Walker Manor, station guards at every entrance, and kill anything that crosses the line. But this threat doesn’t come through the gates. It comes for Anna in the dark, through the part of her the Brotherhood already broke once. And Kincade is running out of ways to save her without turning her into a prisoner. When Sebastian Crane makes his move, Kincade must open the door to the darkness that forged him and become the very thing he swore he’d never be again. Because if the Brotherhood wants Anna back, they’ll have to come through him first. And Kincade will burn them to the ground before he lets her go.

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ON BRUTAL THRONES (SHIELD OF THE GOD BOOK THREE) by Lacey Carter Andersen

The final trials have begun, and this time, there’s nowhere left to run. The strongest teams still stand between me and my sister’s freedom, and the gods are more determined than ever to see us fall. If I’m defeated now, Lyra will be lost forever. But I’m not the same woman who entered these trials. The hidden power I’ve spent my life concealing is finally awakening, and for the first time, I’m strong enough to fight back. At my side are three dangerously powerful men. A darkly brooding half god wreathed in fire. A fiercely protective berserker who becomes a monster for those he loves. And a wickedly seductive vampire whose heated touch leaves me craving far more than I can afford. What began as survival has become something far more dangerous. Every trial pushes us closer. Every heated glance and stolen touch deepens the bonds between us. And with the end finally in sight, the temptation to claim all three men as mine burns hotter than ever. Now we must face the gods, defeat the deadliest competitors left standing, and survive the brutal final trials. Because if we lose, I won’t just lose my sister. I’ll lose the future waiting for all four of us.       AmazonKU

THE DISCARDS (TALES OF TAVAMARA BOOK NINE) by Megan Derr

VS note: LGBTQ Fantasy.

Farrokh sacrificed everything to build a life of his choosing, instead of being a dutiful son and living the life his parents wanted. Then he lost everything to a scheming, backstabbing wife who left him broken and alone. Now he spends his days a mere tutor of wealthy, entitled brats—and the beautiful, fascinating Crown Prince Bakhtiar, wishing for things he will never have. Kurosh does not usually take loud jobs. The money isn’t worth the risk or attention. But when he’s approached to assassinate Crown Prince Bakhtiar, he’s at least intrigued enough to investigate the matter further—and finds not only a man who doesn’t deserve to die, but a man worth dying for.

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THE SPELLBOUND COTTAGE (THE SPELLBOUND SERIES BOOK ONE) by Genevieve K Thomas

Freshly single and heartbroken, Beatrix Bilberry moves to a tumbledown cottage in the magical village of Little Sparrow. But her new home comes with unexpected company: gnome infestations, troublesome pixies, a melodramatic ghost haunting the attic, and Barnaby, an adorably sleepy hearth dragon. Her annoyingly handsome neighbour Angus takes delight in teasing her about the impossible renovation work. Tall, tattooed, and effortlessly charming, Angus has a way with people and animals that makes him far too easy to fall for… to everyone, it seems, except Beatrix, as his careless comments grate on her nerves. Besides, Beatrix has no time for romance. Winter is approaching fast, and she’s racing to restore the cottage before the first snowfall. She’s promised her family a magical festive season – and she’s determined not to let them down. Beatrix works around the clock, but with a complete lack of plastering skills and magical creatures constantly undoing her hard work, she soon realizes there’s only one way to fix Spellbound Cottage. She’ll have to swallow her irritation and accept Angus’s help…But when the meddling cottage keeps locking them in rooms together, Beatrix realizes she’s facing something far more dangerous than rebuilding a home: opening her heart to love again.       AmazonKU      AB

BLOODBOUND (SCROLLS OF THE ESHANI BOOK ONE) by J A Good

Six strangers. One soul-bound Ring. No way out. Isara Virelle has spent her entire life avoiding people. Unfortunately, becoming Eshani means binding your soul to five of them. When the Binding Ceremony assigns her to Ring Six—the most elite fighting unit in Veryuun—Isa is forced into the last place she wants to be: surrounded by strangers who can hear her thoughts, feel her emotions, and know her secrets. Worst of all, their commander is Niko Veyshar. Feared across the continent as Rathvenorn’s deadliest weapon, Niko is everything Isa has been taught to hate. Cold. Dangerous. Untouchable. And now they’re bound together. As political tensions rise between nations and whispers of forgotten gods begin to spread, cracks appear within Ring Six. Ancient powers stir beneath the surface, forbidden magic awakens in Isa’s blood, and the bond tying her to her team may be unraveling before it has a chance to hold. To survive, Isa must learn who she can trust. Because in Veryuun, loyalty is sacred. And betrayal can cost far more than your life.      AmazonKU

KING OF BLOOD AND SIN (CURSED CROWN SERIES BOOK ONE) by Jessica Hall

Alessia enters the bloodbank to save her sister. She leaves as the Vampire King’s prisoner. Magic is a death sentence in Purgatory, so Alessia has spent her life concealing the power in her veins. But when Sable is taken and sold, hiding no longer matters. Alessia needs money, and in a world where blood is currency, she has only one thing left to trade. Then King Kylian tastes her. Her blood exposes the secret she has protected for years. It should earn her an execution. Instead, it awakens something inside the cursed Vampire King. A need. An obsession. A cure. Kylian promises to help find Sable in exchange for Alessia’s obedience. Trapped in his kingdom, she becomes bound to a king who is as addictive as he is dangerous. But Alessia’s heart already carries another secret. Arlo is the boy she was forbidden to love, the one person who knew her before blood and magic changed everything. When she finds him beaten and imprisoned among Kylian’s captives, Alessia realizes the price of the Vampire King’s jealousy. Kylian does not share. With war spreading between the cursed kingdoms and the sea swallowing what remains of the world, Alessia must choose between the love she once trusted and the dark king who refuses to release her. Every path may lead her closer to Sable. Every choice may cost someone she loves.        AmazonKU

MY BOYFRIEND FORGOT TO MENTION HE’S A WOLF SHIFTER by Roxie Ray

Apparently, there’s a fine-print problem with boyfriends. One is a neurodivergent roommate who agrees to fake dating and accidentally catches very real feelings. One is a charming cooking instructor whose biggest secret is considerably bigger, hairier, and more complicated than expected. And one is an emergency contact who goes to therapy, communicates his feelings, and occasionally turns into a wolf. They aren’t alphas looking for mates. They aren’t brooding supernatural kings waiting to claim anyone. They’re just men falling messily, sweetly, and sometimes hilariously in love. Three complete wolf-shifter rom-coms. Three different couples. Three happily-ever-afters.      AmazonKU

HER VAMPIRE, HIS RUIN by Bea Paige

Edie Valenti is done with men. At 44, perimenopausal and newly divorced, she has no interest in risking her heart again. Until she meets Dorian Crow. He’s charming, dangerous, and exactly the kind of man she swore she’d avoid. He’s also a three-hundred-year-old vampire carrying a curse he doesn’t know exists: if he ever falls in love, he’ll die. Dorian has spent centuries keeping his relationships shallow, but Edie is different. He can’t compel her, can’t feed on her, and can’t stay away from her. What starts as a no-strings affair soon turns into an obsession neither of them can resist. For Edie, falling for Dorian could end in heartbreak. But for Dorian, falling in love will be the death of him. Can a love doomed from the start break an ancient curse, or will it destroy them both?    AmazonKU

RED MARKED (THE DRAGON TRIBUTES BOOK 13) by Charlene Hartnday

The dragons on Mistveil Island are not your run-of-the-mill kind. They’re something else entirely…
Star – I died five years ago. At least, that’s what my family thinks. Instead, a group of us were left in the heart of the feral jungle to rot. I wasn’t supposed to survive, or to keep the other females alive.
I did both. I just stopped living somewhere along the way. Then he came along and turned my world upside down. Flint – We were told that there were no females in the mountains. That what I saw that day was the light playing tricks on me. It wasn’t. Now I’m wrapped up in something I can’t get out of. I need to help Star get her life back. More importantly, I need to keep my hands off her while doing it.
Both feel impossible.        AmazonKU

OWED IN BLOOD (DRAGONBLOOD DYNASTY BOOK 16) by BE Brouillard

Every man I take to my bed forgets me by morning. I remove the memory myself. Clean, permanent, and I have never once failed. Then my Court sends me into a room with a dragon. He is the last of his line and the oldest enemy my kind has. He has personally guaranteed the good behavior of a prisoner the rest of us would rather see buried, and nobody has been foolish enough to doubt his word in centuries. My Court wants someone there to watch him keep it. Someone who will report the moment he doesn’t. He picks me. I have wanted him dead since before I knew his face. He doesn’t seem to care. He watches me, and he notices the things a man notices about a woman. Then I do the one thing I should never have done and let him too close. I already know how the night ends. I reach into his mind to take myself out of it, the way I have with every man before him. Nothing happens. For the first time in my long life…(more blurb on ebook seller’s page)      AmazonKU

CINNAMON BAKER BEAR (FALLING FOR THE BEAR CREEK BOOK ONE) by Harmony Raines

She came to Bear Creek to take the vacation her ex ruined. She didn’t expect to find a bear shifter who already knows she’s the one. Mara Benton was supposed to spend ten romantic fall days in Bear Creek with the man she thought she’d build a family with. Instead, she arrives alone, newly single, and determined not to let a broken relationship steal the vacation too. Then she walks into a bakery filled with cinnamon, coffee, and one very distracting baker. Gabe Roper knows the instant Mara enters Bear Creek that he’s found his mate. His bear is delighted. Gabe is trying very hard to behave like a normal man. Because Mara has only just ended a long relationship, she knows nothing about shifters, and the last thing Gabe wants is to turn fate into another man telling her what her future should look like. So he gives her time. Time for fall-color walks and lantern-lit evenings. Time for cinnamon bears, family chaos, and ordinary days behind the bakery counter. Time for Mara to discover that Bear Creek might offer more than a beautiful place to escape to, and for Gabe to show her that knowing she’s his mate isn’t the same as expecting her to choose him. But Mara’s old life isn’t quite finished with her yet. And before Gabe can tell her the truth, the man she left behind comes to Bear Creek wanting her back.     AmazonKU

HAUNT ME, MAYBE (AMBER GROVE SERIES) by E M Rinaldi

Aven Ashwood just wants one thing: a quiet place to hide. After barely escaping the warlock who slaughtered her family, she’s pretending to be human while hiding in the small town of Amber Grove; keeping her illusion magic buried and her familiar—a giant, snarky toad named Fenn—on stealth duty. Everything’s going according to plan…until the attic room she rents turns out to have a tenant. A very loud, very grumpy ghost. Wes Hale has been haunting the Harvest Hill Inn since the 1950s, when a séance meant to debunk magic left him permanently dead and permanently annoyed. He doesn’t trust witches—especially not the stubborn, lavender-haired kind who can see him, touch him, and refuses to move out. She wants peace. He wants her gone. Too bad they can’t stay away from each other. As autumn settles over the town and shadows from Aven’s past creep closer, her fragile illusions begin to unravel—and Wes’s ghostly magic reacts to hers in ways neither of them can explain. Working together might be the only way to survive the warlock hunting her…But every spark between them makes it harder to remember that one of them isn’t alive.      AmazonKU

RIGGS: THE BEARS (KING LAKE SHIFTERS BOOK FIVE) by R E Butler

A steamy instalove paranormal romance featuring a protective bear shifter, a sweet library assistant, and a small-town happily ever after that begins with one perfect day. Bear shifter Riggs knows he’s found his truemate the moment he catches Shyla’s scent in Mill Creek’s park. One conversation turns into dinner, and when their perfect date leads to an unforgettable night together, Riggs knows he’s finally found the woman he can build a life with. Shyla never expected leading the library’s summer reading program would change her life, and then she met Riggs. Falling for the big bear shifter was easy. Trusting that a love this fast could be real isn’t. Can Riggs convince Shyla that love doesn’t have to happen slowly to be real? Because in King Lake… forever doesn’t follow a timeline.     AmazonKU

SHIFTED DESIRE (MONSTERS OF MOONVALE BOOK THREE) by Emily Antoinette

A steamy masked encounter leads to forbidden desires in this high-heat paranormal romance. Samantha Pierce has always been the mess of her family, but when she loses her job and has to move back home in her late 30s, she’s hit a new low. What’s a commitment-phobic half-succubus to do when she’s feeling down? Have an anonymous hookup with a stranger, of course! Except it turns out the masked man she spent her night with is none other than her dad’s best friend, Nathan—the handsome older werewolf she had a youthful crush on. After forty years of suppressing his transformations and corporate drudgery, Nathan is desperate for a fresh start. But accidentally hooking up with his best friend’s daughter is not the kind of change he’s looking for. Neither is hiring her as his assistant, but he can’t say no to his friend’s request to give Samantha an interview. Nathan’s resolve to turn her away and forget about their unfortunate encounter crumbles when Samantha makes an unconventional proposal: Hire her to help not only as his assistant, but to sate the intense mating urges that come from ignoring his curse. Everything about their secret arrangement is forbidden. Bound to end in disaster. But as they explore their taboo connection, ruined friendships aren’t the only stakes. When lines of their contract blur, will indulging in their desires be worth risking their hearts?       AmazonKU

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DISCLOSURE: Required Statement: As an Apple Books Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

LINKS TO RECENT NEW RELEASES POSTS from Veronica

October 7

September 30

September 23

September 16

September 9

September 2

“New” is generally plus or minus a week or two. I try to catch up on ones I missed in recent months.  And I may mention ‘special items’. I go by the ebook release.

NOTE: I’m doing my best to avoid listing anything generated from use of AI but it’s sometimes tricky to detect from the resources I have available. As far as covers go, I list the Amazon cover whether it’s AI or not. 

I do NOT cover every single new release in SFR/FantasyR/PNR. I never have. That would be an impossible task for any human! I assemble my list by hand every week based on various informal inputs, and I do curate the list to some extent…

Some authors aren’t in KU but still don’t list books with Apple or other platforms. This report is very time consuming to prepare so I’ve always had to limit myself and cannot go and look up every book on all the platforms. If an author gives me their other buy links, I include them here but generally I develop the post on my own, not from author-supplied information. I curate and prepare this post individually every week to help connect readers/books/authors and I have to be very careful not to give it so much time as an activity that I don’t write my own novels! Thanks for the feedback and happy reading!

 

 

 

4 Charity Anthologies for Ukraine Relief #StandWithUkraine

VS Note: I originally published this post in 2022, with 18 anthologies. I’ve updated it today and only 4 are still available.

In many cases more details may be available on the ebook seller page, as to specific authors participating etc.

In no certain order:

21 STORIES FOR UKRAINE by Various

We are a group of writers who, along with the rest of the world, were stunned and appalled by the invasion of Ukraine and the consequent refugee crisis. However, war brings out the good as well as the bad in mankind and around the globe people are doing amazing things in an enormous effort to raise money for Ukraine and its people. With this in mind, we came together to compile this book; a variety of lighthearted short stories. Everyone has given their expertise freely and all royalties will go to DEC towards the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. Authors: Linda Barrett, Rob Nisbet, Wendy Janes, Ginny Swart, Fran Tracey, Kath Kilburn, Madalyn Morgan, Sally Trueman-Dicken, Sharon Haston, Glynis Scrivens, Jenny Worstall, Carrie Hewlett, Liza Miles, Elizabeth McKay, Christine Sutton, Elaine Chong, Claire Buckle, Kitty-Lydia Dye, Alan Barker, Raine Cooke. Cover design: Jonathan Temples.

Amazon

POETRY FOR UKRAINE edited by Robin Barratt

From award-winning multi-published poet laureates, to emerging poets exploring words for the very first time; from university professors, actors, psychologists, artists and journalists, to students, domestic workers, librarians, teachers and care-workers; from high-schoolers, to the over eighties, POETRY FOR UKRAINE brings together an incredible 254 poets from 53 countries around the world, all showing their support for Ukraine! All profits from this publication will go to the Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund. (VS: More on e book seller page…)

Amazon

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BATTLE OF THE HEART by Various – April 11

Make love, not war. Battle of the Heart is a collection of short stories centred around the theme of military and war romances. Can love prevail? 100% of the proceeds of Battle of the Heart will be donated to the Red Cross as part of the Ukraine crisis appeal.     Amazon

 

 

 

CHILDREN OF WAR by Various – August 24

A future torn apart by war…Adolescence lost to battle…What becomes of those who lose their childhood to armed conflict? In this anthology, a diverse group of authors from around the globe bring you a multi-genre collection of short stories exploring the experiences of children trapped in war, to honour those affected by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and support their healing in the future. No one’s potential should be crippled because of trauma inflicted during their most impressionable years, and yet an entire generation of Ukrainians is threatened with just this outcome. All proceeds of this anthology will be donated in perpetuity to Voices of Children Foundation in Ukraine or another similar charity.      Amazon

 

Ghosts,Curses & More! 6 Books from My Backlist for the Spooky Season

I thought it would be fun to do a list of the books on my backlist that are especially good to read in the spooky season!

I have to start with STAR CRUISE GHOST SHIP, which one reviewer said  “Lovecraftian”. I was inspired by the story of the Mary Celeste, a sailing ship in the 1800’s found sailing along uncrewed.

STAR CRUISE GHOST SHIP by Veronica Scott

After losing his Space Navy career due to an unfortunate accident, Theo Knox is looking for any opportunity to distinguish himself as an officer aboard the luxury cruise liner Nebula Zephyr. When they come upon a derelict freighter, he’s happy to lead a small crew to salvage the ship and bring her to port. But once he’s boarded the little ship questions pile up. What happened to the original crew? Why is the lifeboat still docked? Is the ship haunted? What’s in those mysterious crates in the cargo hold? Security Officer Jayna Evans has complicated feelings about Theo so she’s pleased to be assigned to his salvage crew. She hopes they can work out their future while bringing the derelict to port but the uncanny events aboard the abandoned vessel pile up and she can’t trust anyone, not even Theo. Can Theo and Jayna salvage the ship and their relationship? Will anyone survive a cruise on the Ghost Ship? This 38K word Star Cruise novella is the latest installment in the ongoing, connected series. Have you booked your Star Cruise yet? There is a very brief mention of the loss of a previous pregnancy.      Amazon     Apple Books     Kobo     NOOK     GooglePlay

Next would be GHOST OF THE NILE, which is a ghost story of a completely different type, being set in ancient Egypt and using the beliefs and myths of the time about ghosts.

GHOST OF THE NILE

2016 RONE Award Finalist

Dear Author sez: 

“There’s Egypt and gods and magic and strong men and stronger women and love even beyond death and into the Afterlife. The historic details add spice throughout the story and these definitely aren’t 21st C people in linen kilts.”

The story:

1550 BCE

Betrayed, murdered, and buried without proper ceremony, Egyptian warrior Periseneb is doomed to roam the gray deserts of the dead as a ghost for all eternity.

But then the goddess of truth offers him a bargain: return to the world of the living as her champion for 30 days. If he completes his mission, he’ll be guaranteed entry into Paradise. Periseneb agrees to the bargain but, when he returns to the living world, two hundred years have passed and nothing is quite as he expected.

Neithamun is a woman fighting to hang onto her family’s estate against an unscrupulous nobleman who desires the land as well as the lady. All seems lost until a mysterious yet appealing ex-soldier, Periseneb, appears out of nowhere to help her fight off the noble’s repeated attacks.

Meanwhile, Periseneb’s thirty days are rushing by, and he’s powerless against the growing attraction between himself and Neithamun. But their love can never be. For his Fate is to return to the Afterlife, and Death cannot wed with Life…

Amazon       Apple Books      Barnes & Noble    Kobo   Google Play

Switching gears to curses, there’s BREAKING THE ALIEN LOVE CURSE, which was actually written for a Halloween-themed anthology, Figuring out how to deliver an alien curse and then break it was a fun challenge. The MMC was also my first ever alien with a tail. I’d like to write another Halloween-themed book with these characters, maybe in 2027.

BREAKING THE ALIEN LOVE CURSE by Veronica Scott

VS Note: This 23K word novella was previously in the Supra Vellum Anthology, which is no longer available, No new material has been added.

Amellia Taneek loved her job as the office manager for a group of Sectors agents from various organizations, all based out of her central location. She enjoyed the challenges of handling administrative details for them and the excitement of constantly meeting new offworlders. She was especially intrigued by Hagan Raljarr, seven feet of green, scaled, muscular SCIA agent, and more than a little curious about his tail. Hey, she was a healthy unmarried, unattached female and there was no rule against dating a co-worker.

But so far he’d shown confusing signs of reciprocating her interest.

Hagan was an honorable warrior and before he could pursue his definite interest in Amellia, who might even be his fated mate, he had to clear up one little detail – the engagement contract he’d been entered into as a child with a female from his own planet. They barely knew each other and she was highly ambitious. Surely in this modern day and age she’d be happy for him to sever the contract and set her free, right? Leaving him in the perfect position to begin courting the lovely human.

But the jilted fiancée sends a mysterious box across the galaxy to him and when he unwisely opens it, a powerful love curse is activated, striking both him and Amellia. They’ll die at dawn if the curse isn’t broken. With help from Amellia’s aunt, who is said to have magic powers, the pair set out on a desperate quest for three special ingredients needed to break the spell. Over the course of a very long night, will Hagan and Amellia find their way to a relationship, break the curse in time and survive? Is such a thing even possible?

Amazon     Apple Books     Kobo     Nook     GooglePlay

My characters are also dealing with a curse in STAR CRUISE IDOL’S CURSE. My inspiration was the legends about the bad luck that befalls anyone who steals a rock from a national park or certain beaches in Hawaii.

STAR CRUISE IDOL’S CURSE

An unusual bequest….

Juli Shaeffer, the Nebula Zephyr’s cruise director, receives a mysterious bequest from the estate of a longtime passenger – a lump of rock taken from a reef on the planet Tahumaroa. Legend states anyone who steals from the ocean gods will be cursed. The passenger’s will requests the rock be returned to the beach so his heirs won’t be affected by the bad luck he believed he’d incurred. Juli doesn’t believe in superstitions and she agrees to carry out this small favor on the ship’s next stop at the planet in question.

Until the rock disappears from her office…

When the rock disappears and reappears in various locations around the ship, and seems connected to a steadily escalating series of mishaps, Juli turns to Third Officer Steve Aureli as the only one she feels she can trust. Along with Steve and his elderly Aunt Dian – a passenger aboard the Nebula Zephyr for this cruise – she investigates the strange series of malfunctions plaguing the interstellar luxury liner. Steve and Juli enlist his Aunt Dian’s dog, Charrli, a retired Sectors Z Corps canine, to help them track the missing rock as it moves about the ship.

Juli and Steve must find the rock, hang onto it and transport it to the planet’s surface, before the alien idol’s curse turns deadly. The attraction between the two of them grows as the threat to Juli becomes more and more focused. Can she carry out her task while he keeps her safe from the alien curse? Will the capricious alien idol bring them good fortune…or disaster?

This is a re-release of the 42,000+ word novel I included in the Pets in Space® 4 anthology, which is no longer available. No revisions or additions have been made to the original novel for this re-release. I have also now included a 4,000 word prequel story Butterfly Hair, in which the diva Azlaya arrives on board the Nebula Zephyr. This short story was a free reader magnet available only in the time before the anthology was originally published.

Amazon     Apple Books    Kobo    Nook    Google Play

For a wicked witch, try the Witch Queen in my romantasy THE CAPTIVE SHIFTER.

THE CAPTIVE SHIFTER

Concealing her own considerable magical powers, Caitlyn enters the service of the northern Witch Queen masquerading as a simple healer. Under order from her goddess, she’s searching for a magical gem stolen long ago from her own people, believed to be hidden in the massive castle. The task is daunting but Caitlyn is sure she can locate the gem and escape, bringing the prize back to the temple where it belongs. Until she meets the captive shifter and her loyalties become dangerously divided.

In payment for her past services to his people, Kyler the leopard shifter has entered into a life of servitude far from his forest home, allowing the Witch Queen to tap his magic to power her ever darker spells. Factions at Court are threatening to turn the Queen to the Shadow. Her increasing demands for magic will cut short his nearly immortal lifespan. Kyler’s resigned to his fate until the day he crosses paths with the new arrival, whose secrets and magic entice and attract both man and leopard. Has he met his mate at last?

The Queen will never willingly release him from captivity. Caitlyn’s goddess refuses to grant her any delay in accomplishing her own task. Can they locate the magical gem, fight the Shadow and win free of the Witch Queen to earn the right to be together?

Amazon    Apple Books Barnes & Noble      KOBO      Google Play

And to finish off the post, let me offer STAR CRUISE CHEF’S KISS, which takes place on an alien planet on a Halloween-like night and deals with an alien demon, who gives the ship’s chef one night to cook him the meal of a lifetime or be forever doomed to work in his kitchen in hell…I pulled on all my years of watching ‘Top Chef’ for this one!

STAR CRUISE CHEF’S KISS by Veronica Scott

Five star chef Stephanie Clemmons has a contract to cater a Halloweenlike party on the planet where her cruise ship the Nebula Zephyr orbits.  Little does she know the dangers of a night where alien demons walk among humans and never expects the deadliest demon of all to offer her a bargain. She has to cook a special dinner to satisfy him or spend the rest of eternity laboring in his hellscape kitchens. But as the night and the meal progress, Stephanie and the demon lord discover they both may be getting more than they bargained for, as undeniable attraction grows between them. Can an ancient Lord of the Underworld and a human chef find a way to make a new bargain for love? This story first appeared in the Celestial Seductions anthology, which is no longer available. I’ve added 6K words including an epilogue to the original story for a total of 17K words.

Amazon     Apple Books     Kobo     NOOK     GooglePlay

Wishing you a spine tingling spooky season full of treats, not tricks!

 

New Releases in SciFi/Fantasy/Paranormal Romance for OCT 7

I have not read most of the new releases listed (although I always end up one-clicking quite a few as I prepare these posts LOL). 

‘AB’ denotes audiobook and the Amazon buy link.

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EMRYLD: FORGED FOR HER (INTERGALACTIC DATING AGENCY) by Zoey Indiana

She has spent two years documenting everything the IDA did wrong. The IDA just told her she has a 94.1% match. Dr. Novalie Ikenna is not the kind of woman who signs up for alien matchmaking services. She is the kind of woman who writes peer-reviewed papers about why alien matchmaking services require stronger accountability frameworks. When the reformed IDA’s notification arrives — 94.1%, a Drevhari security specialist named Emryld — she prepares a formal objection and keeps working. Emryld of the Drevhari does not do subtlety. He is built wide, dense, and burns emerald when he’s feeling anything he hasn’t chosen to feel, which is something he cannot control and has stopped pretending otherwise. He was sent to Earth to meet his match, not to be interrogated about the ethics of the matching process. He did not anticipate that his match would ask better questions than anyone who has ever debriefed him. He finds this unexpectedly difficult to leave. She needs to finish her research. He needs to convince her he’s worth the risk. Both of them are going to have to reckon with the possibility that the institution she’s been critiquing just got one thing exactly right… and that the same institution is hiding a crime her research is about to expose.         Amazon       Note yet on Apple the day I checked       Kobo

CROWN: MOST WANTED ALIEN BRIDES (INTERGALACTIC DATING AGENCY) by Candice Gilmer

I proposed a marriage of pure strategy. I did not plan on chasing my own wife. Darik of Vorjan House holds final authority over the trade agreement, the weight of an entire noble line, and a simple plan: marry an Earth woman, prove his people’s commitment to the alliance, and manage the whole affair with his usual flawless control. Then he proposes to Beka. She hears him out. She asks questions he isn’t prepared for. And she agrees — on one condition. Equal partnership and genuine respect, or there’s no deal. Then she goes back to work, and Darik realizes he’s just been dismissed for the first time in his life. Beka clawed her way free of a family that tried to own her and built a life entirely her own. She doesn’t need Darik’s rank, his protection, or his approval — and she hasn’t so much as noticed that the most powerful man on the station has started rearranging his schedule just to be in the same room as her. The marriage was supposed to be a performance. Neither of them planned on it becoming real.

Amazon     Apple Books       Kobo

BROKEN RIVAL: A NOVEL by Tessa Bailey

Magnolia Brown loves Friday night football games, volunteering and dominating at high school swim meets. Just your average everyday eighteen-year-old. Except for one thing: She’s from fifty years in the future. Magnolia’s parents, two brilliant scientists, are the inventors of time travel, but due to widespread destruction and rampant abuse of the technology from a corrupt few, time travel is outlawed and punishable by death. When Magnolia’s parents are seized and executed for illegally traveling to the past, they leave Magnolia stranded in 2026 without a way to get home. Now Magnolia has nowhere to turn but a complicated Kansas family with two sons—Fallon, her high school sweetheart with secrets of his own, and Ramsey, the brooding militia commander who hunts and kills criminals like her. Magnolia knows Ramsey resents and hates her, but how can he be her true enemy when he looks at her with such hunger, despite his callousness, and guards her with his very life? Which brother can she trust and is the real danger coming from inside the house?      Amazon     AB      Apple Books     Kobo

CAPTIVE OMEGA: ALIEN MM OMEGAVERSE ROMANCE  (STARVERSE OMEGAS BOOK ONE) by E M Riley

An awakened Omega. A dangerous High Lord. A prophecy written in the stars. At twenty-three, Brenner McKinney was already struggling with his sexuality on Earth. Now he’s stranded on a rogue alien planet where his earthly riches mean nothing and survival isn’t guaranteed. When the powerful and enigmatic Pytharian High Lord, Torin Kange, offers him a way out, Brenner knows he should be cautious. But walking away from a man so commanding, intelligent, and impossibly captivating may be harder than he expected. After a brutal attack leaves Brenner in the hands of a lethal Eclipsian hunter, Faelixz Saurox, everything changes. Drawn to the fierce warrior in ways he doesn’t understand, something deep within him begins to awaken, binding them in ways neither can ignore. As ancient instincts stir and a long-forgotten prophecy comes to light, rivalries ignite and loyalties are tested. Can Torin and Fae set aside their differences for the fate of the galaxy, or will their growing obsession with the Omega between them destroy everything first?      AmazonKU

STRANGE LIGHTS by Mira Gonzalez

Parenting is never easy, but it’s a hell of a lot harder when your toddler is a chupacabra. Paranormal investigator and cryptozoologist Reggie has embraced her fate as parent to an adopted toddler, Eldi—a bloodsucking chupacabra with a fondness for goats. Reggie wants nothing more than to put her complicated past in the rearview mirror and fade into as much obscurity as her toddler will allow. But a rash of UFOs in the night sky and a couple of crop-circle-carving Roombas force Reggie into an investigation that attracts the attention of an old enemy, an anti-supernatural agency hunting for creatures like Eldi. To outwit them, Reggie must team up with Calvin, a podcaster-turned-werewolf whose charm is a real threat to Reggie’s rule against romantic attachments. With Reggie’s history quickly catching up to her and Eldi in the agency’s crosshairs, any shred of normalcy evaporates. Reggie must decide: Can she confront her dark past to save Eldi—and an entire alien species—from getting wiped out of the universe?        Amazon     AB        Kobo

A WALL IS ALSO A ROAD by Annaless Newitz

VS Note: LGBTQ SFR.

Gardenpath is a graduate student. They also happen to be an amoeba–a slime mold, to be exact–from an ancient civilization that dwells in the space between the stars. And when they turn their many eyes to researching a remote spot on one spiral arm of the galaxy, they stumble upon a discovery that will change everything they thought they knew: a mysterious planet teeming with unexpected life, language, and culture. One of these alien animals is a creature named Murtis, who lives in a city she calls Pompeii and works in a brothel known as “the lupanar.” Unfazed when her strange visitor says she’s from the stars, Murtis takes Gardenpath into her care, introducing her to the seaside tourist town full of immigrants and shopkeepers who are just trying to get by. Before they met Murtis, Gardenpath expected to finish their research, present their discovery, and return home to become an acclaimed scientist. But as they look into their new friend’s bizarre sensor bulbs from within the suit that allows them to survive and blend in on her surprising planet, they are beginning to wonder if there’s more to life than academic achievement. They’re not sure what it is, but they’re going to use science to find out.         Amazon     AB      Apple Books      Kobo

WOMEN IN COMICS: ICONIC CHARACTERS AND INFLUENTIAL CREATORS FROM THE 1890’S TO TODAY by Susan E Kirtley, PhD and Nhora Lucia Serrano

VS Note: Nonfiction. Only available in hardback as far as I can tell.

A beautifully illustrated and in-depth look at the important roles women have played in comics history, from the late nineteenth century to today. Comics in the form of editorial cartoons, comic strips, digital comics, comic books, and graphic novels have combined words and images to tell stories of hundreds of years. Though often overlooked, women have played a vital role in shaping this genre, both as creators and characters within the stories themselves. Through six archetypes frequently found in comics―the patriot, the working woman, the socialite, the fashionista, the reporter, and the spy―Susan E. Kirtley and Nhora Lucía Serrano trace some of comics’ most influential women. This insightful exploration of international characters celebrates the feminist role model Wonder Woman, the warrior-maiden Oscar François de Jarjayes in the gender-defying manga tale Berusiyu no Bara (The Rose of Versailles), the real-life groundbreaking journalist Nellie Bly, and many others. Profiles throughout the book highlight the important work of female creators, heralding the bravery of political cartoonists such as Corinne “Coco” Rey and Rayma Suprani, the power of biography as reportage with Marjane Satrapi and Sophia Glock, and the value of visibility with Alison Bechdel and Mariko Tamaki. Women in Comics is a richly illustrated, essential guide to the importance of women in the comics space from across time and around the globe.      Amazon

BITE FOR SORE EYES (PARANORMAL DATING AGENCY BOOK 115) by Milly Taiden

VS Note: Takes place on another planet.

Lana Morales has one year left to live and zero intention of spending it being careful. So when Gerri Wilder offers the former NSA cybersecurity specialist one outrageous final adventure on the alien world of Nova Aurora, Lana says yes. She expects danger, excitement, and maybe a few questionable decisions. She does not expect two enormous, devastatingly handsome bear shifters waiting for her on the other side. Co-Alphas Rath and Torren have shared battles, leadership, and responsibility for years, but never a woman. Then Lana walks into their lives and both bears instantly roar mate. Rath wants to pull the brilliant, curvy human against his chest and keep her there, preferably where no other male can look at her. Torren wants to coax out every smile, every laugh, and every breathless sound she’s capable of making. She’s smart, fearless, sexy as hell, and completely irresistible to both of them. For the first time, the two Alphas agree on something without question—they want Lana between them, and neither bear has any intention of letting her go. But someone is sabotaging Varkesh Hollow, and Lana’s cyber skills make her the perfect person to uncover the traitor—and the perfect target. Rath and Torren are ready to tear apart anyone who threatens their mate, while Lana is determined to fight right beside them. Between rogue attacks, dangerous secrets, and enough heat to scorch an alien moon, Lana came to Nova Aurora expecting one final adventure. Gerri, naturally, intends to give her forever.       AmazonKU

TOPPING OFF THE ALIEN (HALLOWEEN TEMPTATIONS) by Jenny Pineapple

VS Note: MM SFR.

I leave the Halloween party after finding out my girlfriend cheated on me. Then I meet a seven-foot alien in the woods, and what he needs from me is something I’ve never done with a man. Solverian needs physical contact to restore his powers and get home. It should be simple enough. I help him, he gets what he needs, and we go our separate ways. Except when I put my hands on him, it gets harder to remember that’s all I’m here for. The more he lets go, the more I want to know what makes him shake and beg for it. Before long, I’m not sure who’s really in control, and I’m discovering I want things of my own. Things I never expected to want from a man. I know Solverian will have to leave by the end of the night. Which is probably why I shouldn’t get too attached, or start hoping for more.   AmazonKU

HUNTER’S HARVEST (XARC’N WARRIORS) by Lynnea Lee

After my shuttle goes down in the ruins with a shipment of citrus and my trade crew aboard, I wake up with a Xarc’n warrior wrapped around me and purring like a big cat. Var’n is a seven-foot-tall, muscle-bound Xarc’n warrior who spent years hiding out instead of learning to live with humans. The plan is simple: talk him into finding my crew, then get us to New Franklin before the Halloween Harvest Haunt. Too bad his translator is borked. He barely understands me, and he has already decided I’m his to protect. And worse? Var’n’s chest rumbles every time he looks at me. I know what it means, but I’m pretending I don’t. It’s a cruel world out there, and I’ve sworn off relationships to save myself from heartbreak. But how long can I keep this up when he’s the only warm thing for miles?   AmazonKU

THE HAUNTED ALIEN’S MATE  (A SCIFI ALIEN ROMANCE BOOK ONE) by Arcadia Shield

I fix impossible starships. His happens to be haunted. I’m the best starship salvager in the business. Ex-Army bomb disposal, unshakable under pressure, and worth every credit I charge, I’m the reason aliens cross half the galaxy to Eden Shore. So a cursed alien spaceship won’t scare me off. Except the Hollow Chorus doesn’t want to be fixed. It whispers through empty corridors. Guards decades of buried secrets. And now the sentient starship is trying to bond with me in a way no human should survive. Then there’s its owner. Rennick is seven feet of stubborn, possessive Kelvane alien. Huge, protective, and too tempting for my peace of mind. And he’s discovered I’m something even rarer than a functioning ghost ship. I’m his bond mate. His one true mate. His only chance at forever. I don’t believe in fate, and I certainly don’t intend to belong to an overprotective alien jerk just because his biology says so. Unfortunately, resisting Rennick gets harder as we work on the haunted spaceship. The attraction between us is impossible to ignore, and my alien mate has no intention of letting me face the danger alone. Because someone close to Rennick needs the secrets buried inside the Hollow Chorus silenced for good. And I just became the human standing in their way.   Amazon

WATERED DOWN (SHATTERED STARS BOOK 24) by Viola Grace

Running a food stall on an alien world is Cloudy’s new normal. Things are going great until a group of guardians comes for lunch, and one wants to stay for more. Cloudy and her entire village came through the end of the world with minimal fatalities. They were assigned as a group to a world run by the descendant of a Hmrain named Vecchin. Five hundred people were slowly trying to settle on their new world, and things were going fairly well. Cloudy opted to change her pigment to make her look more like the locals. The gills she had installed were just for peace of mind, as her food stall was on a dock, and behind her was endless ocean. Working with her business partner is profitable, and things have a reliable rhythm until the day the guardians arrive, and one of them begins to ask questions—a lot of questions. Hazor is the grandson of the Hmrain who owns the world she lives on, and his uncle has recently had a very successful union with one of her people. Hazor is interested in seeing if lightning can strike twice, and he has chosen her as his target.

Amazon     Apple Books      Kobo

JARRAN (VIRILIAN MAIL ORDER MATES BOOK SIX) by Ella Blake

He’s an imprisoned intergalactic supercriminal with amnesia. She’s a doctor sent to help him recall his past crimes so he can stand trial. They have no business falling in love, but fate makes her own business, and rarely listens to reason. Dr. Evie Carr is a neurologist and psychologist sent to see if her new patient’s memories of his past as the notorious Pella Rin can be unearthed. She doesn’t expect her new, high-profile patient to be a gentle, kind Virilian male who farms in the agricultural bay of the ship he’s imprisoned in. Working with Jarran every day, she ignores the growing forbidden attraction simmering between them. When he begins to remember snippets of his past, Evie learns that the story of Pella Rin is far more complicated than that of a man who turned evil. Jarran Bando can barely form words when he meets Evie. He is happy and at peace tending the acres of crops, but seeing her is like pure sunlight cutting through fog. Soon, she is the brightest part of his day. Even though he knows his love for her will always be one-sided, he works hard to speak better and remember what he can of his past. But it comes at a cost. As memories seep back, he’s devastated to learn the atrocities committed by this past version of him. He doesn’t remember being Pella Rin, but begins to understand that the villain still lies beneath the surface of his mind. When the “Sifters,” the criminal group he used to lead, return for him, Jarran must fight not only for Evie’s life and safety, but also for control of his own mind. For just as Jarran is learning who he is, Pella Rin is fighting to regain control of the empire that terrorized the galaxy.       AmazonKU

FEVER BOUND: A POST APOCALYPTIC ROMANCE by Anna Callaway

One hundred and forty-eight years after a virus wiped out civilization, Beckett has learned that survival comes down to two rules. Trust no one, and never miss a dose of the medication keeping the infection in his blood under control. When a poker game leaves him responsible for returning a runaway woman to one of the last uninfected cities left standing, he takes the job for only one reason. Ruby is his ticket behind the walls, and the best lead he’s had in over a century to find his missing sister. Returning home is the last thing Ruby wants. An arranged marriage waits for her within the city’s walls. Freedom lies somewhere in the wasteland, if she can escape the grumpy, fang-bearing infected man determined to drag her in the wrong direction. She fights him every step of the journey. Beckett doesn’t trust her for a second. She talks too much, asks too many questions, and looks at a ruined world like it could still be beautiful. The more she pushes, the more he refuses to let his guard down, no matter how often she …(more blurb on ebook seller’s page)       AmazonKU

ALIEN’S NURSE MATE (COSMIC CONNECTIONS ALIEN DATING AGENCY ROMANCE STORIES BOOK SIX) by Emerald Cox

She came to the alien dating agency with an unopened match notification and no intention of rushing it. The station’s consent software had other plans. Amira has spent her nursing career being everyone’s steady place. On Vrax Prime, she wants time to decide what she needs—and whether she wants a match at all. Rhelan, the station’s medical-response coordinator, is all formal competence, careful restraint, and a tail that reaches to help before he remembers to ask. When a glitched routing system starts treating them as each other’s comfort contact, they have to work together to stop an algorithm from making their choices for them. Fixing the software is one thing. Resisting the alien who keeps learning how to care for her is another.      AmazonKU

ALIEN’S RUNAWAY MATE (RESONANCE FRONTIER) by Emerald Cox

My alien rescuer is enormous, silver, and far too good at making room for me. That last part might be the real danger. I’m Romilly. I used to manage backstage disasters with a headset and a roll of tape. Alien abduction was beyond my job description. So is wanting the gentle giant helping me find my feet on a planet where I can’t even read the signs. Tavren offers me safety without a price. He listens to my ridiculous jokes. And when I touch him, those luminous markings make keeping our attraction quiet a spectacular failure. Between a chaotic riverport festival and an unexpected little creature with opinions, staying close to him is easy. Keeping my hands to myself is proving considerably harder. But someone still sees me as cargo. I need a way to stay free—and Tavren is giving me far too many reasons to stay near him.      AmazonKU

10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT ZOMBIES by Hazel Graves

Smoothie shop owner Zoey has always had a thing for men with brains. So, when she meets the brilliant and stunningly handsome local mushroom farmer, Nick she’s instantly drawn to him. Wanting a reason to call her new crush, Zoey enlists Nick help (and his mushrooms) with her latest brain-boosting smoothie recipe. Before long, they have a viral sensation on their hands. Sparks fly as Zoey and Nick grow closer, but when the locals start behaving weirdly—with strange mumblings and a fondness for biting—they wonder just how viral the side effects might be for their brand-new drink. Can they find an antidote to the zombie apocalypse they may have unwittingly started before everything falls apart… literally?     AmazonKU      AB

*******************BRIEF BREAK BEFORE THE FANTASY/PNR BOOKS!**************************************

VS Note: Something a little different today if you’ll indulge me for a moment – I’m doing a Kickstarter for a gorgeous Special Edition of my DANCER OF THE NILE Trilogy. These 3 books are romantasies set in ancient Egypt and there’s plenty of romance and adventure in all three. There are fun extras too, like these chibis! Kickstarter Link   

 

 

 

 

 

********************* THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT IF YOU DECIDE TO CHECK OUT THE BOOKS (because my own books pay my bills) AND A BIG THANK YOU IF YOU ALREADY HAVE! AND ONWARD WE GO!*********************

 

HELLGOLD (BLOOD AND BOND BOOK THREE) by Meg Xuemei X

We lure the Collector to the fortress. He walks through the gate smiling, holding a marriage contract sealed in my infant blood. It hands me to him. Kill him, and I die with him. Blood contracts don’t break. Not by law. Not by fire. Not by four princes willing to raze the continent to keep me. Woven into the ink is a geas. Any man who touches me with desire burns. So do I. Aelindor reaches for me. Burn. Nikolai’s mouth finds my throat. Burn. Caspian pulls me under him. Burn. Four men I’d bleed for, and not one can put his hands on me without both of us screaming. Then an Oracle’s severed head whispers through the glass. One bloodline can break the contract. My father’s. So Drakken goes into Hell with me. Demon law sets the price. I have to mate him in front of the entire court, and Hell watches me come. Fake it and the geas holds. And I belong to the Collector forever.     AmazonKU

THE VAMPIRE AND THE CASE OF THE GHASTLY GOLEM (PORTLOCK PARANORMAL DETECTIVE SERIES BOOK EIGHT) by Heather G Harris and Jilleen Dolbeare

Dead bodies are bad. Dead bodies that break the laws of magic are worse. Finding a dead fox in someone’s garden isn’t normally a police matter. Finding a dead fox shifter who should have turned human the second he died? Yeah, that’s more my department. Remmy has no wounds, no blood and no obvious cause of death. He’s simply dead, trapped forever in his fox form. Apparently there’s only one thing that can do that to a shifter: drain every last drop of magic from them. Great. Because what Portlock really needed was another magical murderer. I’ve got an eidetic memory, a badge and two extremely questionable sidekicks. One is a traumatised werewolf who prefers being a German Shepherd, and the other is an ever-growing lynx with a criminal disregard for personal property. Between us, surely we can crack one impossible murder. Then some local teenagers report seeing a huge creature stalking through the woods, covered in branches and leaves with blazing red eyes. And red eyes are always bad. I’m starting to think our mysterious monster and our dead shifter might be connected, which means I need to find whatever is prowling Portlock before anyone else ends up magically drained. Unfortunately, murder isn’t my only problem. Connor’s father, the Vampire King of the US and an all-round arsehole, has announced he’s coming to town. And he’s bringing the other vampire leaders with him. So now I have a supernatural killer to catch, a creepy forest monster to find and the most powerful vampire in America heading straight for my home. Portlock has survived murderous shifters, deadly conspiracies and more supernatural disasters than any tiny Alaskan town has a right to. Hopefully we can survive this too. Preferably without anyone else turning up dead.   AmazonKU

THE STOLEN CROWN (THE EVER SEAS BOOK FOUR) by LJ Andrews

She is the life of the party. He is the villain you never wish to meet alone. Tait Heartwalker may be the cousin of the Ever King, but royally good company he is not. He’s ill-tempered and unapproachable, sharpened by the hard responsibilities of life and loyalty. But to the dismay of Mira Sekundär, princess of the glamour fae, he’s also intoxicating to look at. Despite doing their best to avoid each other, fate has other plans when an otherworldly storm shipwrecks Tait and Mira far beyond the boundaries of the Ever Kingdom. They are forced to break through the thorny barriers between them and work together to find their way home. One wrong step and they’ll never return alive…Yet as their feelings deepen, a new threat rises from the waters. And this enemy is so dangerous, even the history books tried to forget their existence.

Amazon     AB      Apple Books      Kobo

BEAR WITH ME (BIKER BEARS BOOK THREE) by Minerva Howe

VS Note: MM PNR.

Milo has been a bear shifter in captivity for a long time. So after his brothers, Race and Nolan, and their mates rescue him, he kind of becomes a hermit. The one unattached grizzly brother, Warrick, has taken him in, and is trying to ease him back into the world, but Milo just isn’t sure he wants to participate. Oldest brother and protector Warrick knows Milo needs to let his bear self heal him, and for that he needs to shift. His human side needs closure, too, so he sets out to make sure the people who held him hostage pay for what they did. Milo learns to trust Warrick, and to love his mate dearly, but he also knows he has to stand on his own two feet or four paws and defend himself. Can he find the courage, with Warrick’s love, to live with his past and move on to the future? Bear with me is a MM bear shifter omegaverse romance with a big, protective grizzly, an uncertain black bear, and a kick butt campaign to take down a trafficking ring.      AmazonKU

THEIR ROYAL PET by Lexi C Foss

Welcome to Monster Island. Once a year, candidates are chosen to participate in mating games. And by chosen, I mean sacrificed…When my name is picked from the sacred Chalice, I know my time in this world has come to an end. A week from now, I’ll be hunted by monsters from other realms. There’s nowhere for me to hide. But that doesn’t mean I won’t fight fate. Only, it seems I’ve attracted the attention of the Elite Island King. As well as two rival royals from alternate kingdoms. The problem is, they want me to choose between them. And I refuse. In a world where monsters reign, choice is a subjective term. But these royals are determined to win my heart. And I just might let them all claim me in the end.      AmazonKU

OTHER WORLDS THAN THESE: A TALISMAN NOVEL (THE TALISMAN TRILOGY BOOK THREE) by Stephen King and Peter Straub

This is Stephen King and Peter Straub’s epic and unforgettable finale to the Talisman Trilogy (including the novels Talisman and Black House) and a wrapping up of the fate of the worlds in King’s iconic, fiercely beloved Dark Tower epic. It is also a magnificent stand-alone novel, that will appeal to new readers, as well as to King’s Constant Readers. Other Worlds Than These is the story of Jack Sawyer, whom readers first met when he was twelve, crossing America and “the territories” to save his mother’s life, and met again in Black House, where Jack faces a child killer and the Crimson King (among other evils). In Other Worlds Than These, Jack must stop a rampaging gang of infected teenagers from America-side, and the forces of the mysterious Gullet at the edge of Mid-World, before it destroys our world and all worlds. Jack is older now; his Ka-tet (echoing the world of Roland) is fraying; and his task, nearly impossible. Magnificent, riveting, full of heart, and humor, Other Worlds Than These is a spectacular, propulsive adventure, and features thirty-six exclusive black-and-white illustrations by artist Gabriel Rodriguez. The title instantly announces to readers who already know these other worlds that King has returned to them. Other Worlds Than These will appeal to new King readers and his Constant Readers.     Amazon     AB      Apple Books      Kobo

FELINE PURRALYSIS: A PAWSITIVELY PURRFECT MATCH (CATS OF THE GODDESSES BOOK 19) by Pepper McGraw

The matchmaking cats of the goddesses are back in Villa del Ukumari. Why? Because bears, that’s why. Despite their determination not to match any more bears, the matchmaking cats of the goddesses have four on their radar in desperate need of both mates and lap kitties. This, of course, means finding the purrfect cat companions and fated mates for the bears. Good thing the matchmaking cats of the goddesses know just where to start–a few cat shifters and some earthbound cats on their caseload and these matches will be pawsitively purrfect. Of course, South America isn’t exactly on the list of territories they’ve been assigned, nor are the cloud forests of the Andes the purrfect location for a clowder of domesticated cats, but Bygul and his matchmaking colleagues have never left a mission incomplete and they’re not about to start now. Four very stubborn bear shifters are about to learn even they are no match for a determined team of matchmaking cats who specialize in happily furever afters.       Amazon      Apple Books      Kobo

VENGEFULLY MATCHED: A NOVEL by Audrey Goldberg Ruoff

VS Note: Sapphic witch romance.

Priscilla Hart does not do regret—except maybe for the spectacularly disastrous choice of fleeing her own wedding in a cloud of magical fireworks. Now the town’s most infamous runaway witch, she’s determined to rebuild her reputation on the Witchery Council and prove she’s more than a scandal in designer heels. Agatha Vanderbilt Voisin, the newly elected council president, is everything Priscilla can’t stand: composed, proper, and infuriatingly perfect. But when a string of dangerous magical explosions points to Priscilla as the culprit, Agatha makes an impulsive move—announcing that they’re dating—to save her from exile. Faking a relationship in public should be simple even for such opposites…until late-night arguments turn into slow-burn attraction, and the two discover that something wicked is brewing in Hallowcross. To survive the magic—and their feelings—they’ll have to stop pretending and risk falling for real. Can they outwit a magic powerful enough to destroy them, or will trust be the most dangerous risk of all?       Amazon     AB      Apple Books       Kobo

WITCHY CHICK (MARRIED TO A MONSTER BOOK FOUR) by Juliann Whicker

He cheated. And now she’s raising the dead. Marigold Carnell, stay-at-home mom is living the life when she realizes that her husband of sixteen years has been cheating. She moves to a house on the outskirts of the city, where the kids can run wild and free, and she can come to grips with her new single status and have meltdowns without any neighbors to see. But the thing is, the house has as many feelings as her teenager, and it wants her to be the next heir of dark magic and necromancy. When she realizes that her husband isn’t who he seems, and there are more conspiracies and enemies that you can raise a cemetery to fight, it’s time to reevaluate her marriage and face the music.   AmazonKU

THE BLOOD QUEEN (SPY AND GUARDIAN) by Sara Raasch and Beth Revis

Alyth and Samson finally know the identity of the High Blade, leader of the bloodthirsty Red Cap army, and it’s someone they never suspected. They’ll use every bit of courage, smarts, and luck they have to escape her grasp and flee to the fae court, where they hope to find aid in the fight against the Red Caps. But the fae princes have been apathetic since the Faerie Queen disappeared years ago at the hands of the High Blade. They seem unwilling to help. And if they find out Samson’s true identity, he’ll be killed and Alyth banished. Alyth and Samson can only depend on each other and their love as they navigate fae politics, try to win allies, search for the missing queen, and face down the greatest threat the two worlds have ever known.

Amazon     AB      Apple Books      Kobo

BANSHEE: IRISH MYTHS RETOLD by Various

Editor and journalist Ailbhe Malone was raised on these legends—but the women, always cast as mothers, warriors, or witches, were never given the lead. And so, Banshee was born: not just a retelling, but a radical reclamation. Banshee transports you to treacherous landscapes and crashing seas, generational curses and mystical islands. Here you’ll find unruly mothers, rule-breaking queens, and women outrunning their destinies—their stories pulsing with desire, danger, and defiance.’?     Amazon     AB     Apple Books     Kobo

HIS LONELY MONSTER: MM VAMPIRE ROMANCE NOVELLA (SHEARWATER LANDING SHORTS) by Colette Rivera

VS Note: A re-release.

A shy human – A lonely vampire – A fright that turns into a lasting love – The last thing Lucas expects when he sets out to explore a supposedly haunted house is to run into a vampire. He doesn’t believe in paranormal entities, but what else would you call a man with glowing eyes and fangs dripping blood? Lucas should put the incident behind him, except he can’t get the vampire out of his head. What if he isn’t the only lonely one looking for more in life?        AmazonKU

DEVOURED: A BITTEN NOVEL by Jordan Stephanie Gray

Welcome back to the Wolf Queen’s Court. Vanessa Hart is done being a victim. After the brutal winter massacre stole everything from her, she vows vengeance against her enemies once and for all—even if that means killing the boy she once loved …Vanessa bides her time playing the role of a docile subject. But beneath her mask, she sharpens her powers, embracing the werewolf within while weaving a complicated web of lies, betrayals, and alliances to topple the throne. Unfortunately, vengeance isn’t easy, and nothing in the Wolf Queen’s Court is ever as it seems. As the darkness of the castle bleeds into human society, it’s clear no one is safe. Cora’s vicious reign grows stronger by the day, Sinclair continues hiding deadly secrets, and Calix—the boy Vanessa might loathe most of all—is threatening her every plan. With nowhere to run and no place to hide, Vanessa sheds the last of her humanity to play this lethal game of werewolves. And if she doesn’t win, the consequences will destroy her life—and the entire world as she knows it—forever.      Amazon     AB      Apple Books      Kobo

THE DUES AND DON’TS OF MAGIC (THE MAGIC DUES TRILOGY BOOK ONE) by Delemhach

Spidena Kettle runs a quiet magic shop at the edge of town, selling just enough spells and potions to keep herself afloat—and out of trouble—when Benthrop Hozel enters her shop one day. On the run from the nefarious sort, he simply wishes to be forgotten by his pursuers. In exchange, he promises a favor to Spidena. Such a deal could have dire consequences if Ben is unable to fulfill his end of the bargain. Not that the witch is overly concerned—after all, there’s no risk to her making such an arrangement with a normal human. Only Ben may be more than he seems. With their fates forcibly intertwined for a full journey, Spidena and Ben must not only evade their enemies and use precious magical resources to get by, but confront the secrets they’ve long kept…that is, if they can manage to stop getting on each other’s last nerve for long enough to do so.

Amazon      AB       Apple Books      Kobo

HALLOWED BONES: A SONS OF SALEM NOVEL by Lucy Smoke

Four men. One woman. Five families accused of witchcraft. A dark desire they all share. I was warned to stay away from the Sons of Salem. Not because they’re monsters—but because they’re broken enough to recognize one. Ezra Bishop. Cameron Goode. Lyall Corey. Reyes Scott. And me—Haven Wardwell. Legacies. Witches. Something far worse than myths. Now that I’m here, there’s no telling what the Gods will ask for in return. Ghosts haunt the corridors of Ipswich College, and if I’m not careful, I might just become one of them.

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DIES IRAE: LGBTQ+ GAY VAMPIRE REGENCY ROMANCE by Autumn Montague

Makoto and Will must accept their bond in order to stop a madman’s killing spree. London, 1816. Someone is killing vampires and their Hosts, leaving brutalized bodies on display in the heart of London. Makoto Morinaga, minore and lead hunter for the Baron of Colbourne, must find and stop the madman. Yet the mission is in peril almost from the moment it starts. In despair over loving his master’s Host, he breaks his oath and finds himself bound through Compulsion to the last person he would choose as his Host — the flamboyant young man who has spent years pining over their master. Makoto can ill afford this appalling distraction while he hunts for a monstrous killer. Will Carter is an experienced Host who has offered up body and blood to vampires since reaching his majority. He spent years learning the duties of the Colbourne Host, only to have his dreams crumble when his master finds a man more perfect than Will. In his frustration, he taunts Colbourne’s lead hunter into committing a forbidden act. His punishment? Being bound to the last person he would ever wish to hold his contract — Makoto Morinaga, a man whose body he knows well, but whose heart is a dark mystery and whose stoicism grates on Will’s every nerve. An unexpected emotional connection heats their hearts even as their Host bond heats their bodies. Just as they begin to find common ground, the madman strikes again. Finding the madman’s lair might end the violence, but the price might destroy them both.

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THE HAUNTED LIBRARIAN by Auralee Wallace

It’s a dark and stormy night…and Amelia Bates is caught in the rain. Life hasn’t always been kind to her, and being a ghostseer certainly doesn’t make things any easier. Glowing warmly through the autumnal downpour is her safest haven: the library. Amelia, the newly hired librarian, has always relished the comfort of curling up with a novel, vastly preferring it to the company of humans (alive or ghostly). But Amelia is shocked to discover the building is full of more than quiet stories and warm cups of tea. There are curious, talkative patrons, a shy, bespectacled head librarian who makes her heart skip a beat, and three quirky spirits causing paranormal havoc that endangers the future of the library. To help the ghosts and save the building, Amelia will have to gather all her bravery and wits, because learning to trust others might just be the first step to a happily ever after she only thought was possible in books.

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HOUSE HAUNTERS by KC Jones

Grace Wonderly needs a hit show, or her career is dead. But saving her job might just kill her. With her studio relying on AI to greenlight new projects, finding the next breakout series is Grace’s only shot to save her job. And her sanity. Her solution may be Frank Pendleton: a brilliant but abrasive – and admittedly handsome – ghost hunter who claims he can’t feel fear, making him uniquely attuned to the paranormal. Frank is either a fraud or the real deal. Skeptical, but hoping for TV gold, Grace assembles a crew to shoot a proof of concept. But when the production descends into a nightmare, Grace is forced to face the impossible: ghosts are real, and though cold and distant, Frank may be their only chance of getting out alive.

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THE LOST GUARDIAN by Natalia Hernandez

The stories we’re told aren’t myths. They’re warnings. Santiago Rios didn’t plan to leave his quiet life in Los Angeles. But when his grandfather sends him a map to the lost tomb of the final Incan emperor, the young archaeologist is thrust into a brutal race across the Andes, pursued by ruthless tomb raiders who will stop at nothing to steal the emperor’s treasure. His only hope is Ali, a fierce Peruvian woman whose secrets could unlock Santiago’s map—or spell his doom. The closer they grow, the more certain Santiago becomes. Ali is trouble…just the kind of trouble he likes. To save their world, Santiago and Ali must solve ancient riddles, outwit deadly enemies, and lay a spirit to rest before it’s too late. Because if they fail, the past won’t stay buried—and neither will the curse.

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CLEAN SLATES AND CHECKMATES (FANGED MISTAKES BOOK FOUR) by Alice Winters

VS Note: MM PNR.

Yorick – Pretending that I’m not in love with the thousand-year-old vampire who is the bane of my existence is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I know what you’re thinking… “Yorick the Great, you are far too good for Atticus the Old and Boring,” and you would be right… but I’m determined to woo this man if it’s the last thing I do. And it might very well be when someone stabs me with a poison that limits my healing. This is the perfect opportunity for Atticus to step up and pamper me, but instead, he tosses me a poisoned-coated weapon and throws me right into the lion’s den! Sent off for some revenge nonsense when what I want is so simple: for Atticus to moon all over me while showering me with love, giving me presents, and moving into my house with me (a dog wouldn’t hurt as well). Atticus – Nearly five hundred years ago, Yorick fell into my life, stole from me, set me on fire, and ran off. That meeting set the tone for the rest of our lives. The problem is that my past haunts me, and no matter what I do, no one in my life is safe from the consequences. I know Yorick wants more, but it’s something I can’t give him when every move I make is being watched. Then a poison that affects vampires sets my world spiraling as truths come to light about that fateful night all those years ago. One thing I know: no matter how many years pass, the only piece of my life that keeps me moving forward is the man I vowed to never love.       AmazonKU

A MASTERPIECE IN BLOOD by Megan Scott

Nicole and Kyan are playing a dangerous game. Nicole is on the run, hiding from The Wake as she attempts to track down her mother’s last artistic clue and the truth of her death. Kyan is pretending to still be The Wake’s loyal Empyreal assassin, even though his feelings for Nicole—and the mate bond that ties them together—have changed everything. Separated, yet determined to be together, Nicole and Kyan must embark on a quest that will take them from the most powerful Vampire in England, to ancient Celtic treasures, and lost Druid sites. Meanwhile, the Wake sees all, and the Wild Hunt is stirring. As Nicole and Kyan get close to the dark secrets at the root of the organization, they court complete destruction—of themselves, each other, and all they hold dear.      Amazon     AB      Apple Books      Kobo

A MEMORY OF BORROWED BOOKS: A NOVEL by Meg Anderson

Deep in the library lives a hidden room where magic lines the shelves and memories lie in wait – Ready for readers daring enough to finally discover the truth. In the coastal town of Foxhollow Bay, librarian Claire Ashford keeps her life as meticulously ordered as the centuries-old library she calls home. But when the town announces plans to shut it down, her sanctuary, and the life she’s built within its walls, begins to crumble. One night, while wandering the stacks after hours, Claire discovers a door that shouldn’t exist. And behind it lies a secret room filled with books no one else can see. Each book pulls her into the memories of those who have passed through the library’s doors—moments half-lived and stories left unfinished. Buried within these pages is a message the library has been trying to share, urging Claire to uncover the path to saving it. With the demolition looming and time running out, Claire must piece together what the library is trying to show her. But one book keeps calling her back, and in its pages is a memory that could change everything. One that reveals the key to saving the library may be tangled in her own memories more than she ever could have imagined. An ode to the power of community and hope, The Memory of Borrowed Books is a sweeping story about what’s at stake when the places we love—and the memories they hold—are threatened. A reminder that what we fight to preserve just might be the very thing that saves us in return.       Amazon     AB      Apple Books       Kobo

REAP & SOW by Charlotte B Plumb

The penniless in Blackbridge have only two choices: Sell the body or sell the soul. And thanks to Eda Shaw, business is booming. Indentured to a capricious demon known as Mr. Night, Eda and her brothers arrange illicit Pacts on his behalf, luring the city’s most desperate into trading years of their lives for their deepest desires. When a Pact goes awry and her brothers are arrested, Eda realizes she’ll need an infernal ally of her own: Kit’rath, an infuriating demon with a curious penchant for humanity and the only being in Blackbridge that Mr. Night seems to fear. As they race to rescue her family and save the city from ruin, an undeniable connection sparks between mortal and demon. But Kit’s help doesn’t come cheap. Now Eda risks losing her heart to the one who claims her years—and saving herself may prove the steepest cost of all.      Amazon     AB      Apple Books     Kobo

IN YOUR LIGHT (TENEBRAE COVE SERIES BOOK FOUR) by N R Walker

VS Note: MM Fantasy.

Hadeom had always revelled in the darkness. The belief that he was doing the righteous thing fed him, sustained him. But as time stretched on, the world around him changed. Humans changed. And somewhere in the thick of it all, Hadeom lost his way. Fyn is the embodiment of sunshine and all things good in this world. His life in the faun camp he grew up in is simple and peaceful, but he yearns for more. He wants excitement. He wants love. He wants the tall, dark, and handsome stranger who’s lodging at the hut. As Hadeom heals and finds his true form again, he can no longer hide who he really is. His identity is revealed, and he knows Fyn deserves so much better than his darkness and shadows. But as humans threaten life in Tenebrae Cove, Hadeom must first fight his past, and Fyn must fight for Hadeom. Because after everything Hadeom has done, it will be Fyn who brings him out of the darkness and into the light.     AmazonKU

THE SECRETS OF EVERLIGHT (SHATTERED KINGDOMS BOOK ONE) by Julie Hall

For nineteen years, Rowan has fought to survive: first on the streets scavenging for scraps, then bound by a decade-long contract to a corrupt master. She longs for freedom but spends her days stealing from the highborn to pay off her servitude. When a mysterious fae buys her contract, Rowan seizes her chance to escape. But her freedom comes at a price: she must uncover the assassin targeting Prince Dryden of the Ember Kingdom. To do so, she will pose as a princess among the royals competing for his hand in marriage. Thrust into a world of silks and finery, Rowan has just weeks to master her role while hunting a killer hidden in plain sight. Eavesdropping and sneaking through gilded halls may come naturally, but the bonds she forms with the other princesses—and Dryden’s growing interest in her—are complications that threaten to unravel everything. As whispers of danger beyond the kingdom rise, Rowan realizes the stakes are far greater than she imagined. And every stolen glance with the prince pulls her closer to a desire that could cost her not only her future but the kingdom itself.     Amazon     AB       Apple Books      Kobo

THIS SHATTERED TEMPEST: HURRICANE WARS FINALE by Thea Guanzon

When the storm swallows the world, who will be left standing? Throughout their political marriage, Alaric and Talasyn struggled to resist the undeniable pull between them, even as rising tensions forced them on opposite sides of a looming war. Hand in hand, they vanquished the cataclysmic threat of the Moonless Dark—and started to hope for a future together. That hope is shattered when a devastating attack sets off a chain of events that tears them apart once more. Now, as two rival nations prepare for a final, decisive clash, the Master of the Shadowforged Legion and the last Lightweaver fight to find their way back to each other. But the odds are stacked against them, and time is running out…Is love enough to rewrite destiny? Can a new beginning rise from the ruins of the past? Or are Alaric and Talasyn doomed to meet as enemies on one last battlefield? This explosive third and final book brings the beloved Hurricane Wars series to a stunning conclusion—where passion and power collide, and the fate of a divided world hangs in the balance.        Amazon     AB       Apple Books       Kobo

WHAT HAPPENS AT NIGHTFALL: A NOVEL by Lauren Willig

In the sprawling Gothic expanse of Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery, some secrets refuse to stay buried. Recently laid off and searching for purpose, Jess reluctantly joins her best friend on a supposedly fun nighttime cemetery tour. Separated from her group by accident, she discovers a bunch of terrified boys and a strange, ancient key. Both lead to Green-Wood’s surprisingly handsome resident arborist, Adam Chervinsky. Recently widowed, Adam has more to protect than the leafy residents of Green-Wood. His children, still dealing with the loss of their mother, are acting strangely. A haunting is afoot, and Jess seems to know more than she’s letting on. Sparks fly between Jess and Adam—and the unquiet spirits of Green-Wood rise from their century-long slumber. As Jess and Adam delve deeper into the cemetery’s haunted history, they uncover a Gilded Age curse, a ghostly socialite, and a demonic pact that stretches across generations. What lies hidden in the Green-Wood’s splendid Vanderwilt mausoleum? As the line between the living and the dead blurs, and the shadows of Green-Wood begin to stir with malevolent intent, Jess must confront not only the supernatural forces but a shocking connection to the past if she and Adam truly want to live happily ever after.      Amazon     AB       Apple Books       Kobo

TAUNTING THE GHOST: MMM PNR (HALLOWEEN TEMPTATIONS)  by Pat Lewis

Caleb had a secret. The kind that would destroy his tough guy reputation as the enforcer on his college hockey team. Not that he was gay – that’d be easier to hide. He had a girlfriend, he couldn’t be gay. No, it was much worse. He was afraid of ghosts. And now he was trapped in a cabin in the woods. It was haunted. The ghost knew his secret. And strange things kept happening. Like falling forward and kissing his best friend Isaac. The ghost had pushed him! And now Isaac wanted to try being filled. They had nothing better to do. It’s not gay if he’s the one doing the filling, right?     AmazonKU

MATING HER DRAGON (DRAGON GUARD LEGACY BOOK THREE) by Julia Mills

Fate made them Mates. Choosing each other could open the road to Hell. Sydney Kavanaugh has spent her life being told she is the Special One—a prophecy, a Dragon Queen, a power the Universe has been waiting centuries to unleash. She’s done letting Destiny make her decisions. Garrett Acheson survived a hundred years of imprisonment, torture, and a Demon Lord determined to turn him into something he was never meant to be. Now he’s finally free, reunited with his Dragon King, and standing beside the one woman he was born to love. But freedom came with a price. Buried deep within Garrett’s soul is a scar that was never meant to heal—a doorway between Realms created by an Ancient Elven Sorceress and connected to the Demon Lord still waiting on the other side. And completing their Mating may be exactly what he needs to open it. Sydney and Garrett have one choice: walk away from the Bond the Universe created…Or finish it on their terms. Because Leviathan thinks Mating her Dragon will finally give him the Special One. He’s about to discover the door swings both ways. Fate may have brought them together, but this time, Destiny doesn’t get the final say.      Amazon      Apple Books      Kobo

SASQUATCH’S MATE (NORTHERN REALMS) by AC Ruttan

His secret heartache…Caleb is happy for his brothers who have found love, but inside his heart is broken and cold. Worst of all, he can’t tell anyone why. It’s his secret. He’s had a mate, but she’s been missing for years. Caleb still yearns for her and blames himself for her disappearance. Now, he knows who took her and he’s out for revenge! Colette doesn’t remember much, except that she’s been trapped in a dark cell for a long time. At least she has her child. She doesn’t know her son’s father, but remembers the love deep in her heart. Now, she’s worried her captors will take away her son. She has to escape, but doesn’t know how. All she wants is freedom and safety for her and her child. Her wish is granted. A tall, hairy beast comes to her rescue. He seems familiar. He’s quiet, but gentle with them both and has the same eyes as her son. Could he be her missing mate? She’s completely drawn to him, her silent protector. And even though she doesn’t know him, her body longs for his touch. Caleb can’t believe he has Colette back in his life and he’ll do his best to make her remember him and keep her and his son safe. She’s his mate. His. However, her former captors won’t let her go without a fight and the northern realm has to band together to protect their own.       AmazonKU

STORM OF A SONG (FALLING KINGDOMS BOOK SIX) by M Lynn and Melissa A Craven

A fragile truce. A rising tide. A love the world will not forgive. The seas have not been appeased, the dragons have not departed, and prophecy has only tightened its grip. Prince Damien Maris has done everything required of him—denied his heart, shouldered a broken crown, and bound himself to a future devoid of love. Yet the waters continue to rise, as if daring him to fail. Odessa Chrysos was never meant to return to prophecy’s grasp. Exiled, hardened, and determined to pay for the sins of her past, she agreed to stand beside Damien only as a solution—never as a temptation. Never as something more. But the song beneath Sheema is changing. Ancient magic stirs in the flooded tunnels below the city. Dragons answer calls no one remembers making. And the closer Damien and Odessa grow, the more the prophecy seems to watch… and wait. Because it was never just about love. It was about choice. And the price of defying fate is far steeper than either of them imagined. As alliances strain and the sea threatens to claim everything, Damien and Odessa must decide what they are willing to sacrifice—each other, their people, or the land itself.

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SHARED WITH THE PACK: SPICY MMMM SHIFTER ROMANCE (HALLOWEEN TEMPTATIONS) by J J Jude

One runaway witch. Three alpha werewolves. A happily ever fated (and mated) Halloween. I’m supposed to be walking down the aisle. Offering my neck to a fanged immortal to secure an alliance between my coven and a vampire clan. Instead, I grab my broomstick and fly directly into the eye of a storm to escape my wedding. I think I’m finally free. I thought wrong. I end up crash landing in the dark woods. Lost. Hurt. Alone. My rescue comes from the most unlikely source: a pack of rugged werewolves. Griff, the grumpy leader. Ridge, the gentle giant. Heath, the feral one. Shifters hate witches. Yet these flannel-clad beasts don’t hesitate to help me. Taken to their rustic cabin, they tend to my wounds. Each promises to protect me. They keep calling me mate. I’m about to learn everything my coven kept hidden from me. My first lesson? How to be shared between all three of my unlikely rescuers.      AmazonKU

POSTPARTUM SPELLS AND INFANT HELLS (MYSTICAL MIDLIFE IN MAINE BOOK 21) bty Brenda Trim

Two weeks of peace. That’s all I got. After defeating the Harvesters, I thought my biggest challenge would be functioning on zero sleep with three-month-old triplets. Lucky for me, supernatural motherhood has a few more surprises in store. Like ghost children appearing in my nursery. Translucent kids with haunting silver eyes, begging for help I don’t know how to give. And the thing that’s hunting them is also hunting my babies. Of course, I can’t just let lost souls suffer. So despite the warnings, despite the cost (hello, instant aging), I perform a ritual to help them cross over. Because that’s what we do in this family—we help, even when it’s stupid. Big mistake. Huge. Turns out, saving those echo children caught the attention of something ancient. Something that’s been stealing convergence-born children for centuries, trapping them in a place between worlds. And my triplets? They’re broadcasting their location like a magical lighthouse. Now I’ve got a choice: hide and hope this thing gets bored, or figure out what the hell it’s building with all those stolen children before it comes for mine. You know me. I’m not great at hiding. So even though I’m sleep deprived, it’s time to go on offense and take the fight to an entity that can literally reshape reality. With a network of questionable allies, a familiar who thinks I’m insane, and a husband who’s definitely not thrilled about me using our babies as bait. What could possibly go wrong?       AmazonKU

QUEENS WILL PLAY (OTHERWORLD UNLEASHED BOOK ONE) by Yasmine Galenorn

We’re the D’Artigo Sisters: Half-human, half-Faerie, our mixed-blood heritage short-circuits our talents at all the wrong times. My sister Delilah is a werecat and also the consort of the Autumn Lord. She’s finding out that motherhood to an Elemental princess isn’t so easy. And Menolly? She’s living on the edge of the Crimson Veil and neck-deep in vampire politics. As for me? I’m Camille–a wicked-good witch and now, the Queen of Dusk and Twilight. Life in the royal Fae Courts has it’s issues, and now I’m stuck in the middle of a delicate situation that could blow sky=high with one wrong move…Two years has passed since Shadow Wing bit the big one. Now that the dust has settled, we’re adapting to our new roles. But not all is safe, sound, and comfy. The Queen of Darkness and Night is furious with Vanzir, and out for revenge, putting me smack in the middle of their argument. Meanwhile, I discover a new type of astral nasty is threatening a friend, and to the dismay of my advisors, I enlist my sisters to help find out what the creature is, where it’s from, and how to stop it before my friend ends up dead.       Amazon     Apple Books      Kobo

MANE BREW (MISTVALE FILES BOOK FOUR) by Milly Taiden

She’s 100% chaos. He’s 100% documentation. Together, they’re 200% trouble. Zephyra Grimwood is a brew witch whose magic hasn’t behaved since her familiar died. Her Mistvale brewery is a haven for mishaps, featuring everything from sentient foam to beer that makes alpha shifters speak in rhymes. She’s mostly fine with the chaos until her latest batch triggers a shared historical hallucination that hits every supernatural in town. Now, she has to solve a mystery while ignoring the fact that the grumpy lion investigator has a pair of hands she’s spent four years trying not to notice. Rhodes Blackthorn, the Pride Leader of the Sunridge Lions, is a man who schedules sunbathing, color-codes his filing cabinets, and has a fifty-three-page file dedicated solely to Zephyra’s safety violations. He’s officially assigned to investigate Zeph’s latest brewing disaster. But between bickering over alphabetized ingredient jars and surviving magical explosions, he’s struggling to file away the realization that her magic is the only thing that makes his orderly heart skip a beat. To save Mistvale from an ancient curse, the lion and the witch must admit that their professional antagonism is actually fated devotion. It’s time to find out if love can be properly categorized.    AmazonKU

GRIZZLY BUSINESS by Kala Aster and Milly Taiden

Every instinct in me says protect the secret. Every look at her says protect her instead. Nora Ellis came to Graywater Cove to study seals. She has no idea the harbor’s biggest mystery walks on two legs. Just one problem…My eight-year-old already picked her out for me. She’s sharp. Steady. Patient with things nobody else is. Like a guarded widower who gives her nothing to work with. My job is keeping this clan hidden. My heart just outed itself instead. Somewhere between the tide pools and my daughter’s laughter, careful stops being something I can afford. She thinks she’s just documenting seals. She’s about to find out what’s really guarding this coastline. And how far it’ll go to protect what’s his. I buried my heart once already. I’m not burying this too.      AmazonKU

THE PANTHER’S EDGE: GAY MM SPICY PNR ROMANCE (BATHHOUSE BEASTS BPOOK 16) by Blake R Wolfe

A burnt-out nurse. An exclusive bathhouse. And a werepanther who will keep him teetering on the edge of bliss for as long as it takes…Wes has worked the ER night shift for seventeen years, leaving his life empty, lonely, and hopelessly stuck in the dark. After the heartbreaking loss of a beloved patient, he breaks down in the parking garage. Recognizing a man on the edge, his seasoned charge nurse hands him an address to an unmarked warehouse and orders him to take his long weekend to go feel alive again. The address leads Wes to a discreet, men-only bathhouse where anyone can let go and just exist. After indulging in the main pool, a kind stranger gifts Wes an expensive private session with the house masseur. Ravi is a hulking, gorgeous werepanther whose treatment plan is as thorough as it is unconventional. Binding Wes in pure pleasure, the massive panther uses warm oil, gentle words, and a deep massage to strip away years of emotional armor. Under Ravi’s careful, commanding touch, Wes finally surrenders the crushing weight of his loneliness, discovering that letting go might just be the exact medicine he needs to start living again.       AmazonKU

HEARTFLAME: GAY DRAGON SHIFTER MM PNR ACADEMY ROMANCE (WIDDERSHINS ACADEMY BOOK EIGHT) by Blake R Wolfe

A stubborn witch. A rare red dragon. A bond he doesn’t dare name… And a betrayal that brings a whole world down. Quill: I don’t chase legends. I chase mileage. Run the course, go to class, keep my head down. Graduate, go home, and drag my parents’ failing potion shop into this century. That’s the plan. I’ve never needed a better one. Then Aeron Pyre walks through the gates. A red dragon — the first at Widdershins in two hundred years, grandson of the dragon who runs the Elder Council, and so far up his own tail he can’t see daylight. The entire academy loses its mind over him. But I want nothing to do with him. Apparently that makes me the most interesting person on campus, because now he’s on my running route. Across the table in the library. In the doorway of every room I walk into, smirking like he already knows how this ends. He says he’s going to make me beg for it. What he won’t say is why he’s started looking at me like I’m something he’s terrified of losing. Aeron: Dragons choose once. One mate, one time, out of a life that runs for centuries. I’m eighty-five, practically a teenage, and planning to spend the next eighty exactly like the first. No titles, no politics, no promises, no committment. Then I ended up in the dark with a mouthy ginger witch who hates everything about me, and a word surfaced in me like it had been waiting there since I hatched. Mate. He can’t know. Not while he…(more blueb on ebook seller’s page)      AmazonKU    AB

BOUGHT BY THE MASKED CANTOR (MONSTERS’ BRIDE MARKET) by Cara Wylde

I’ve been worshipped. I’ve never been loved. For centuries, I’ve lived alone. Cantors are rare, and we can’t stay together. Our song poisons minds. People kneel, build cults around us, and forget they ever wanted anything but to please us. I’ve imagined a companion for longer than I care to admit. Someone of flesh and blood to sit next to me, speak to me because that is what she wishes. A woman whose affection I could trust. A foolish dream. I’ve never allowed myself to hope. Then, one night, the people above lower an offering into my den. A bride with pale hair, bright eyes, and skin marred by deep scars, yet beautiful enough to make me ache. I dread the moment my voice will steal her mind. My first words to her are that I will not harm her. She shakes her head, points at her ear, and tells me: “I’m deaf.” She can’t hear me. She can’t be compelled by my song. Whatever she thinks of me, whatever she feels, belongs to her. I promise myself I will free her. Too soon I discover it was easy to be unselfish when I had nothing I wanted to keep.    AmazonKU

JEALOUS JINXES (A LUNA THORN WITCHY MYSTERY) by Amanda M Lee

Luna Thorn has a lot on her plate. Between construction at the Cathedral — she’s getting a second greenhouse, thank you very much — and all the pesky time travel stuff she’s been dealing with, she doesn’t have time for much else. Of course, that’s when her boyfriend, Jesse, has a past girlfriend show up … and she seems interested in getting her high school paramour back. She’s going to ply him with baked goods until he sees things her way, at the very least. Luna would love to work up a full head of jealous steam, but she has one other problem to deal with. It seems she’s fallen victim to a bad luck curse. What’s worse is that she’s not the only one suffering. A myriad of do-gooders—people who donate their time and money to help those less fortunate, like the homeless—are literally being jinxed to death. And who is investigating it? The one man who has something to gain if he can cover up the death of Luna, along with the others. That’s right, her father. He’s knee deep in jinxes and jealousies of his own. The Grimlocks are determined to keep Luna safe, whatever it takes, even as she’s determined to keep her distance from them. She won’t let her bad luck rub off on the people she loves most. With time running out, though, Luna is her own worst enemy. It’s going to be a fight to the finish to figure out who jinxed her, and what that means for everybody Luna holds dear.
Something evil is afoot in Detroit, and it’s coming for Luna. Again.      AmazonKU

PUMPKIN’S WICKED PATCH (SEASONAL SIN MONSTERS) by M Q Rush

VS Note: Also listed in Erotica.

I came to this creepy farm looking for a scoop. Instead, I became the harvest. The pumpkins look like peens. Seriously. Every gourd at this pumpkin patch is anatomically indecent, and what kind of agriculture journalist would I be if I didn’t find out why? My nosy instincts are on fire, leading me straight to the source. Too bad the source turns out to be a menacing plant-man who refuses to let me go. Rootface is huge, with a pumpkin for a head and thick roots making up his body. He’s obsessed with my plus-size curves, and he plans to sow his roots deep inside me. I’m putting up a fight, like any smart person would. But what if he finds out my body’s begging to be plowed?      AmazonKU

HUNGRY FOR THE VAMPIRE: SPICY MM COLLEGE ROMANCE (HALLOWEEN TEMPATIONS by Sylvia Wetwood

I want him to hold me in his big arms all night long. Getting lost in the woods isn’t fun. Getting cornered by wolves is even worse. Getting saved by a huge guy in a cape…well, that part I liked.
Roman goes to my college, but we’ve never really talked. Now, I’m wondering how I never noticed him before. And after saving me in the woods, Roman seems very protective of me. He wants to spend a lot of time together. The strange thing is…I want to be with him, too. I’ve never felt this way about another guy before. And I’m so focused on his ripped body and his surprising sweetness, I hardly have time to wonder how he scared off a pack of wolves, or how he gets from place to place so fast without a car. Roman can have his secrets. I just know there’s something that I want to tell him.    AmazonKU

LORD OF TIDES: GREEK MYTHOLOGY RETELLING by K D Stark

Gods watch. Men bleed. Tides rise. Lord of Tides is a retelling of Homer’s Odyssey as a dark, character-driven epic in which the journey home proves to be the most brutal trial of all, and the greatest threat Odysseus faces is the man he must become along the way. The war is over. Troy has fallen. And Odysseus, king of Ithaca and architect of the war’s brutal victory, turns his fleet toward home, not knowing the harrowing journey that lies ahead. When he earns the wrath of Poseidon, storms scatter his ships. Monsters rise from the deep and men vanish beneath waves. With every trial, the cost of survival grows steeper, and honor erodes as Odysseus comes to understand the man who reaches Ithaca may not be the one who left its shores. But in Ithaca, Penelope fights a different kind of war. With Odysseus gone, wolves have come to the kingdom to claim its throne and queen. Led by ruthless Antinous, they camp on Ithaca’s shores and abuse its wealth and people while Penelope works tirelessly to preserve peace and raise their son, Telemachus. When Odysseus at last sets foot on Ithaca, he arrives not as a king but as a grief-worn outcast. His men, gone. His palace, overrun. His wife and son, besieged by strange men. But for every ruin, there is a reckoning…Now the tides turn.    Amazon

EAGLE EYE (KING OF PREY BOOK EIGHT) by Mandy M Roth

An ancient eagle warrior with a sworn grudge. A human bartender running from a past she doesn’t understand. And a collision on a dark city street that changes everything. Alok of the Eagles has spent centuries fighting wars and decades nursing a blood feud against the ruthless vultures who shattered his family. Stationed in the concrete chaos of New York City to track dangerous enemy cells, the battle-hardened commander never expects to be knocked flat on his back by a tiny mortal woman. Kelsey Nesbit is just trying to survive. Juggling three jobs, dodging city creepers, and shaking off childhood memories of her late mother’s ravings about “demons with wings,” she keeps her head down and keeps moving. But when a late-night commute turns into a terrifying chase, she collides headfirst with a golden-eyed stranger who feels impossible, lethal, and intoxicatingly safe. One touch ignites a primal fire neither of them can control. When deadly predators shatter her apartment door to tear Kelsey away, Alok will unleash every lethal instinct he possesses to protect her. But Kelsey is tied to a dangerous secret that threatens to upend two realms—and with enemies closing in, the raptor who swore off mercy will have to risk everything to keep her safe.       Amazon     Apple Books      Kobo

THE TRUTHS WE HOLD: GREYSON ACADEMY YEAR THREE by Serenity Rayne

The world knows what she is now. The world is still deciding what to do about it. Ashley Dawn walked out of Greyson Academy’s shadows with crimson wings and a Voice that freezes Hunters where they stand and the quiet knowledge that the girl she used to be is not coming back. The institution can’t eliminate what three hundred witnesses saw. So it’s doing something worse — it’s evaluating her. Wrapping the bridge in six months of procedure while the people who built the broken world figure out how to keep it broken. She has a possessive ancient vampire whose claim on her predates her birth and whose darkness shelters her the way only a fated mate bond can. She has a forbidden professor who burned his career to the ground and would burn the rest of the world to follow. She has a Voice that rewrites minds and shadows that think for themselves and the growing, structural weight of every morally grey choice she’s made to survive. What she doesn’t have is the third bond. The prophecy carved in bedrock says three. Blood. Fire. And something else — a light she hasn’t met, a presence her vampire hasn’t named in centuries, an ancient force walking toward her from a distance measured in time, not miles. He is coming. And when he arrives, Ashley will discover that the bridge between shadow and light requires something she hasn’t been asked to give yet. The harbinger rose. The institution answered. And from the deep places where the world was broken, the missing piece begins to move.      AmazonKU

BEAR AND BOOK (SUGARPAW SPRINGS BOOK THREE) by Fel Fern and Ria Lake

VS Note: MM PNR.

He’s sunshine and cinnamon rolls. His fated mate? A grumpy, reclusive fox shifter. Leo has always been the easygoing one, Sugarpaw Springs’ golden-retriever bear shifter, quick with a smile and always ready to help. But when a storm sends him to repair a damaged bookstore, he meets Elias, the prickly, older fox shifter who wants nothing to do with him. Elias has built walls around his heart after a painful past, and the last thing he needs is a younger, overly cheerful bear barging into his sanctuary. Yet fate does not care what he wants. The bond between them crackles stronger with every touch, every glance, every argument that feels far too much like flirting. When danger from Elias’s old life slinks back into Sugarpaw Springs, Leo refuses to let go. He may be soft around the edges, but when it comes to protecting his fated mate, this bear has claws.       AmazonKU

BANE BLOOM by Sharon Lynn Fisher

In 1850, Catherine Gray, a botanical illustrator from London, travels to a remote estate in the Lake District to catalog and paint the specimens thriving in a mysterious glasshouse garden. The most bewildering find is a water lily that somehow alters its appearance. Nearly as puzzling is Thomas Bane, the brooding groundskeeper, who closely guards the estate’s secrets—including the disappearance of Catherine’s predecessor. The mystery deepens when Catherine discovers the diary of Prudence Bane, Thomas’s late mother, which contains revelations about the odd flora and its hold on a family touched by madness. The more she uncovers, the more the line between fantasy and reality—and superstition and fact—begins to blur. Unable to trust her own thoughts, Catherine draws closer to Thomas, her only anchor in this strange place. But even he can’t fully protect her from the house and his otherworldly family. Only Catherine can break the Bane family’s cycle of heartbreak…but first she’ll have to confront her own.       Amazon

LITTLE CURSE OF DEATH (CREATURE CAFE SERIES BOOK 20) by Clio Evans

Creatures of all kinds go to the Barista to find love. But some fated mates bonds are cursed. Like the one between Layla and Death himself. Death is trying to make things right. He’s picked a new, less ominous name to go by—Nox. He’s attempted to understand why his body suddenly feels desire after an eternity of nothing. He’s even tried to reason with the little reaper who haunts him. But Layla is determined to take matters into her own hands. When her world is ripped apart, she rushes to the only place that might have the answers. Hell. Unfortunately, that means Layla is not in the realm she is meant to be, and her former fated mate has no choice but to hunt her down and return her to where she belongs. Did fate truly make a mistake, or will Layla and Nox finally get their own happy ending?   AmazonKU

TRICK OR TREAT FOR THE DESPERATE DEVIL by C D Gorri

Love was the last thing I was looking for—but in Arrhythmia, every trick comes with a treat. There’s nothing normal about Arrhythmia, Texas—and I should know. I’m Damian Leeds, resident Jersey Devil, professional recluse, and currently one magical mishap away from losing control completely. My magic is running amok. My shifts are getting harder to control. And according to every supernatural law I’d rather ignore, there’s only one thing that can fix me. My fated mate. Too bad I’ve given up on finding her. Then Belinda Ramos rolls into town and reopens her recently deceased aunt’s haunted bed-and-breakfast. She’s a Witch with practically no magic, my brand-new neighbor, and a walking invitation for everything I hate. Her B&B caters to lovesick newlyweds, honeymooners, and longtime couples looking to rekindle the romance. In other words, my own personal hell. With Halloween approaching, I decide a few well-placed tricks might convince Belinda—and her ridiculously romantic clientele—to leave me in peace. Except Belinda doesn’t scare easily. And the more I try to drive her away, the more my Devil wants her close. Turns out my annoying new neighbor isn’t just the Witch next door. She’s my fated mate. And this desperate Devil just found the one Halloween treat he intends to keep forever.

Amazon      Apple Books      Kobo

RAVISHED BY THE RAVENS: SPICY MMM SHIFTER ROMANCE (HALLOWEEN TEMPTATIONS) by T M Moon

“Do you normally snatch people from the woods?” “No, only you,” one answers. “Because you’re ours,” the other adds. Asher takes the long way home, not wanting to feel the loneliness of his apartment just yet. In the woods, he comes across two strange ravens. They follow him, croak at him, and dance around him until he can’t look away. And when they turn into humans right before his eyes—Asher doesn’t want to leave them. So, they whisk him away to their castle. They’re broad, covered in tattoos, and demanding. And they keep calling him theirs. They teach him things about pleasure he’s never experienced. Twice the men. Twice the fun. And twice the chances to rile them up until they snap.     AmazonKU

BOUND AND UNBOUND: PNR NOVELLA DUOLOGY by Ali Hazelwood

Bound – A reluctant con artist and a professor with too many secrets are bound by an arcane text—in more ways than one. Veronica “Vero” Mercer grew up with grifters for parents, and she knows her way around a con. When grad school bills pile up and her friends are in trouble, she turns her art history skills into a forgery side hustle. It’s supposed to be a short term deal, but her work draws the attention of Dr. Viktor Ashworth, a reserved, very British professor. Instead of turning her in, Ashworth kidnaps her—politely—and makes an unusual offer: forge a mysterious ancient manuscript for him. Soon Vero finds herself spending long nights with Viktor, bent over rare vellum samples and obscure inks. But as the con grows riskier, Vero has to wonder: what does Viktor really want, and why can’t she stay away? Unbound – A five-thousand-year-old woman who has outlived empires. A doctor who has spent his life fighting death. They fates collide in a blood game of vengeance. Lilit of Nineveh has spent millennia in control. As a powerful revenant, she enforces one rule above all: protect mortals. Disciplined and focused, she has never made the same mistake twice, and she has learned that attachments can only lead to ruin. Enter Roman Martin. An overworked and relentlessly kind ER physician, he is the one mortal Lilit cannot quit. Any relationship between them is against everything Lilit has fought for. Still, she keeps coming back to him. Until someone starts hunting Lilit, and Roman is caught in the crossfire. When everything comes crashing down, Lilit must choose between the world she has sworn to protect and the man she was never meant to love.       Amazon     AB      Apple Books      Kobo

INFINITE RAGE (HERCULES MUST DIE BOOK TWO) by Eliza Raine

The stakes could not be higher in the Immortality Trials. With four crews competing for eternal life, nothing is off limits. Alliances and enemies are made, and secrets are formed and shared. But Lyssa still doesn’t know why Alexios bound himself to her. Their fake relationship is holding up to scrutiny, but behind closed doors, she can’t stop herself reacting to him. In all the wrong ways. Worse, she still doesn’t know how to kill her father. He’s too strong, and his cruelty grows daily. With the people she loves in constant danger, she’s starting to wonder if her revenge mission has come at too high a cost.   AmazonKU

LOOKING FOR SETH (JINX PARANORMAL DATING AGENCY BOOK 16) by Laura Greenwood

Avoiding goddesses was easy until Seth started to fall for one…Seth prefers to live his life away from the other gods, and that definitely means avoiding dating one. But when he turns up to a speed dating event to discover the woman he’s been talking to online is a goddess, everything could change.
Menhit never meant to hide her identity from Seth, but not having realised who he was when they first started talking, she’s now in too deep to want to walk away. Can she convince him to take a chance on their budding relationship? Looking for Seth is a mythology-inspired paranormal m/f romance and part of the Jinx Paranormal Dating Agency series. It features a reclusive Egyptian god of chaos, a determined war goddess who isn’t afraid to pull him out of his shell, dating app flirtations, and a case of mistaken identity.       Amazon     Apple Books     NOTE: Did not see the book on Kobo yet as of the day I checked

RIDING THE REAPER (HALLOWEEN TEMPTATIONS) by Lucas Blaze

VS Note: MM PNR.

Death never looked this good. Halloween night. Freshly dumped by my girlfriend in front of the whole party. And now there’s a Grim Reaper in the woods telling me he’s here to collect my soul. Sure, buddy. Great costume. But I’m enjoying his little roleplay. And secretly, this six-foot-seven tower of muscle in that dark robe is exactly what I’ve been craving. I’ve spent years fantasizing about a big dude stretching me open. I just never had the guts to admit it out loud. And hey, I’m about to die, right? So maybe he can give me one last ride before I go.      AmazonKU

BETROTHED TO THE BONE KING (MONSTER MATRIMONY FILES BOOK SIX) by Evangeline Priest

She expected a monster. She got a king who memorized the world for her. When Reverie Datura agrees to a Monster Matrimony match, she’s running out of options. Her eyesight is fading, life inside Sanctuary is becoming harder every day, and a monster husband offers stability, protection… and apparently, a crown. But she wasn’t prepared for Sevaereth. The Bone King rules a strange kingdom suspended between realms—a land of moonlit gardens, ancient magic, wandering souls, and mischievous bone fairies. Hidden behind a mask of carved bone and a rack of imposing horns, he looks like something pulled from a nightmare. Yet beneath his fearsome appearance is a patient, tender ruler who notices every hesitation, every stumble, every detail Reverie can no longer see for herself. As Reverie learns to navigate the enchanting realm between worlds and Sevaereth slowly lowers the mask around his lonely heart, an arranged marriage begins to feel like something far more dangerous. Like love. Even at the edge of darkness…Reverie can still find her happily ever after.   AmazonKU

VASMORA (THE EATING WOODS) by Keri Lake

Fate has never been entirely kind to Maevyth Bronwick. Though, after having survived a sinister plague, grotesque monsters, and gut-wrenching tragedy, she never imagined things could possibly get worse. But cursed gods, she was wrong. It seems fate was only sharpening its claws. Ensnared in the golden gauntlet of the most sadistic general in Aethyria, Maevyth faces the wrath of a jealous tyrant who longs to watch her suffer a slow and painful ruin. A torment said to be worse than death. Without the protection of her blood magic, Maevyth is no more than a powerless mortal and must fight the urge to succumb to the cruelty. Not an easy task, given the devastating loss she refuses to accept—and rightly so. Because Zevander “The Scorpion” Rydainn isn’t dead, after all. He’s very much alive and seething with vengeance. Brimming with rage. Merciless in his pursuit to reclaim his beloved mate and bring the ancient godsflame to anyone who stands in his way. A necessary brutality when a slumbering god awakens and Aethyria’s foretold destruction reignites the hunt of those who seek Maevyth’s precious blood. Prophecies will unravel. Walls will crumble. Kingdoms will fall. And through it all, a monolith of truth stands unbroken: Their love may conquer all, but death will tear them apart.       AmazonKU

IMMORTAL VAMPIRES OF LONDON by Colleen Gleason

VS Note: Re-releases.

Dark and decadent, Immortal Vampires of London gathers three full-length Regency vampire romances—sultry, witty, and shadowed with danger—following the immortal Dracule and the mortal Woodmore siblings whose fates become bound to theirs. Three immortal rogues. Three mortal hearts. One decadent trilogy. Immortal Rogue. After centuries of lust and hedonism, Voss, the Viscount Dewhurst, is rarely bored—a rogue of the first order who wants little more than a warm woman, an excellent vintage, and a puzzle to occupy his mind. Then one of his idle manipulations sets him on a course to seduce the beautiful Angelica Woodmore, and nothing stays simple, or safe, for long. Immortal Saint. For decades, Dimitri, the Earl of Corvindale, has denied himself every pleasure in a grim bid to break his covenant with the devil. But when he’s made guardian to two young women—among them the maddening, stubborn Lady Maia Woodmore—the solitude he’s armored himself in begins to crack. Immortal Siren. Trained as a warrior and enslaved by her brother Cezar, the cruelest of all the Dracule, Narcise has every reason to trust no man—not even Giordan Cale, who vows to free her, and whose promise gives way to a betrayal that shatters her. Her one hope may lie with vampire hunter Chas Woodmore, a man who wants her, worships her, and will kill for her.     AmazonKU

AMUSING THE ANGEL OF DEATH (HALLOWEEN TEMPTATIONS): SPICY MM PNR by J B Warrick

“You are delightful, especially when you run.” Publicly dumping my girlfriend at a frat house Halloween party should be the most dramatic thing to happen to me this semester. Then I take a short cut on the way home. He’s waiting in the trees, shirtless, sporting a pair of black angel wings. And wearing a grin like he’s been bored for a thousand years and has finally found someone who sparks his interest. I’m not gay. He doesn’t seem to care. He’s already waited centuries for me, and he’s not waiting any longer. He’s not here for my soul. He’s here for the rest of me.    AmazonKU

THE PROMISE OF THE GILDED FLAME (THE FAE SPARK TRILOGY BOOK THREE) by Jen L Grey

One moment, Kai was holding me beneath the stars. The next, his castle exploded. Now its heart is destroyed, its magic is gone, and the Night King is closer than ever to unleashing the New Night. And Dusk won’t be the last court to fall. Something inside me is changing too. Magic is answering me in ways I don’t understand, secrets are surfacing, and the bond between Kai and me has become impossible to ignore. Especially when I can feel exactly how far he’d go to keep me. Kai would burn every kingdom in this realm before letting anyone take me from him. The problem is, he’d sacrifice himself just as quickly to save me. He should know by now I’d never let him. With the courts unraveling and the Night King closing in, we’re running out of time. Because whatever Fate has been leading us toward, stopping the New Night may cost us the one thing neither of us is willing to lose. Each other.      AmazonKU

BOUND BY THE SCARRED MOON (BONDS OF SILVER AND SPELL BOOK ONE) by Hannah Haze

An enemies-to-lovers why choose romance where fate bites deep, desire is dangerous, and love is most definitely forbidden. I was trained to kill shifters—not fall into their arms. I clawed my way out of the orphanage to the top of the academy—twenty stars on my belt, one for every shifter I’ve killed, and a single promise in my heart: make them pay for the family they stole from me. Then one mistake sends me plummeting toward death—and into the grasp of the enemy’s most feared alpha. He doesn’t kill me. He saves me. Then he sinks his teeth into my arm and marks me as his mate, binding me to the monster I swore to destroy. A mage marked by a shifter is a dead mage. A mage who hides it is a traitor. If the academy finds the bite, I won’t be punished. I’ll be erased. But the wound won’t heal. My senses are sharpening into something inhuman. I’m becoming the very thing I’ve spent my whole life learning to hate—and the alpha whose bond now runs in my blood isn’t the only one who’s caught my scent. A masked executioner is closing in on a bitten mage. A wolf who’s seen me in his visions won’t let me go. And something ancient is waking in the mountains—something that will hunt us all. I belonged to no one. Now fate has decided I belong to them.      AmazonKU

CROWN OF ASHES (DRAGON TRIALS BOOK THREE) by M K Dawson

The Fae stole our magic. Now I’m taking it back. I survived the Dragon Trials. I awakened an ancient and deeply unenthused dragon. And I made the lying, scheming dragon prince my husband. Now Fear and I are coming for the queen. Her monsters are tearing through the sky, my brother fights at her side, and the clans don’t know whether to follow us into war or beg for her mercy. If we can’t unite them, the queen will keep sending dragon shifters smoking to the pyres and crushing mortals beneath Fae boots. But I am the only one in the kingdom who can rip away the queen’s stolen power. I have a dragon of my own, Bismyth behind me, and my trickster prince at my side. I never wanted a crown. But I’ll turn hers to ashes.     AmazonKU

THE BAKER’S DRAGON MATE (SHIFTER NATION: MONTANA MATES) by Meg Ripley

A wolf shifter baker. A hot dragon uncle on babysitting duty. And five cupcake-fueled dragon toddlers who accidentally play matchmaker. Brianna Montclair has no time for romance. She’s finally living her dream: running a bakery with her best friend in Red Lodge, Montana. The hours are brutal, the to-do list never ends, and Brianna is determined to make her bakery a success. Then Flynn Ashford walks through the door with five sugar-hungry dragon toddlers in tow. He’s charming. Ridiculously handsome. And according to her wolf? Her mate. As if that weren’t complicated enough, meeting Flynn awakens magic Brianna never knew she had. Suddenly, her carefully organized life is spinning out of control. Flynn Ashford has been guarding the hidden dragon world beneath the mountains. But throughout the centuries, no challenge has been as great as babysitting his sister’s five toddlers. He bribes them with the promise of cupcakes. Then he meets Brianna at the bakery. Flynn falls first—and hard. Now, he’s juggling five dragon toddlers, stolen moments with Brianna, and the growing certainty that he wants a life he never imagined outside the mountain. But choosing his wolf mate could cost him his position, his home, and his place among his own kind. And as tensions rise between the dragons determined to stay hidden and those longing for freedom, Flynn must decide how much he’s willing to risk for the she-wolf his dragon has already chosen.     AmazonKU

A BOND SO DEADLY (FATED MATES OF SHADOWBONE ACADEMY BOOK THREE) by Mia Hartson

Graduates of Shadowbone Academy. Stand as one, our forgotten, lost warriors. For without you… there will be no times at all. When the queen finds out I’m fated to Thane and the others, I think my time is up, but now my bestie Blake, the demon queen, is here, and everything has changed. An unlikely alliance is forged, but there’s no telling how long it will last. If I’m going to survive, I need to claim my immortality, but even though I have most of my memories, I’m still prophesied to destroy my mates. Thane, Knox, Galen, Raith, and I work hard to unravel the truth, but in the end there’s only one thing we know for sure: one way or another, my mates and I are the ones who will end this war. I just hope that when the shadows clear, we’ll be standing over more than just ashes. Let the battle begin.        AmazonKU

BLOOD TIES (BLOOD CROWN DUET BOOK ONE) by Blake Quinn

As a probate solicitor, I was used to strange final instructions. None had ever sealed me under a country house with a starving vampire king. Stellan Varen was chained, dangerous and certain my blood was his way out. Staying in control grew harder when feeding him felt nothing like a sacrifice. Every willing bite loosened another chain and deepened the bond between us. Freeing Stellan was our only escape, but the vampire who imprisoned him was waiting for me to claim the Crown. If I did, he could force me to command Stellan to surrender his heartblood and steal the Blood King’s power for himself. Escaping meant trusting a king who first saw me as his way out. Failing meant becoming the weapon that killed him.      AmazonKU

SNATCHED BY THE SCARECROW (HOLIDAY HOOKUPS BOOK THREE) by Kayla Grosse

HARPER VEIL is looking for a fresh start. Leaving the city behind, she settles into an old farmhouse in the quiet town of Silas Valley, hoping a little peace and solitude will help her start over. Then she notices the scarecrow in her field. He’s been there for as long as anyone can remember. The townspeople swear he’s the reason their harvests are so bountiful, but there’s something about him Harper can’t quite shake. Something about the way he seems to watch her. When she’s invited to a small gathering on Halloween night, Harper expects a quiet evening with the locals, but she gets something else entirely. There’s more to Silas Valley than meets the eye…And the scarecrow in Harper’s field may be far more than straw and old clothes.       AmazonKU

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LINKS TO RECENT NEW RELEASES POSTS from Veronica

September 30

September 23

September 16

September 9

September 2

August 26

“New” is generally plus or minus a week or two. I try to catch up on ones I missed in recent months.  And I may mention ‘special items’. I go by the ebook release.

NOTE: I’m doing my best to avoid listing anything generated from use of AI but it’s sometimes tricky to detect from the resources I have available. As far as covers go, I list the Amazon cover whether it’s AI or not. 

I do NOT cover every single new release in SFR/FantasyR/PNR. I never have. That would be an impossible task for any human! I assemble my list by hand every week based on various informal inputs, and I do curate the list to some extent…

Some authors aren’t in KU but still don’t list books with Apple or other platforms. This report is very time consuming to prepare so I’ve always had to limit myself and cannot go and look up every book on all the platforms. If an author gives me their other buy links, I include them here but generally I develop the post on my own, not from author-supplied information. I curate and prepare this post individually every week to help connect readers/books/authors and I have to be very careful not to give it so much time as an activity that I don’t write my own novels! Thanks for the feedback and happy reading!

 

Golden Bracelets from the Snake Goddess Excerpt DANCER OF THE NILE

In honor of my Kickstarter for the Special Edition of the DANCER OF THE NILE Trilogy I’m sharing an excerpt today:

Nima the dancer has been recaptured by the enemy general who desires her and put in a cell. Earlier in the book the snake goddess Renenutet had given her a golden bead and now Nima tries to use the magic contained in the bead to aid in her escape.

Tiny gold and red sparks were flying into the air from the bead, disappearing into the gloom. She sat bolt upright, watching wide-eyed as the five tiny serpents untangled themselves from each other. Only a few inches long, they were too beautiful to be frightening, golden scales glinting as each slowly undulated across the blanket, ruby eyes glowing in the darkness of her cell. Reaching out in wonder, Nima let the closest snake crawl into her hand, exclaiming at the tickling sensation as the snake’s belly rasped across her palm. The snake coiled for a moment, hood flared, wisp of an emerald tongue flicking in and out, tasting the air.

One of the others slithered across the bed, falling off the side. As Nima watched, still holding the first snake, the free-falling reptile winked out in a blaze of colorful sparks just as it hit the floor. Worried if she didn’t move quickly, she’d lose them all, Nima got off the bed, hand closed around the snake she held. Its tongue touched her fingers in featherlight sensations. She grabbed her mug with her free hand, tossed the dregs on the floor and dropped the snake into it, going back to the bed to catch the others. A second snake was working its way down the wooden leg of the bed, and Nima managed to capture it by the tail just before it reached the floor, dropping her captive into the cup with its fellow. Yet even as she did so, a third snake disappeared in a soundless explosion of color. She was searching in the blanket for the fifth when a voice spoke from right behind her.

“Foolish girl, you squander the weapons I gave you.”

Renenutet—for it was the snake goddess herself, in human form—reached past Nima’s shoulder, holding out one hand. The remaining three snakes flew through the air to her like tiny arrows, wrapping themselves around her wrist to create a fabulous bracelet.

Heart pounding, Nima sank down on the bed.

Stroking the living bracelet as if to calm the snakes while frowning at Nima, the goddess said, “You can’t call the snakes of Nebu merely to amuse yourself, girl.”

You didn’t exactly provide me a scroll of instructions with the gift. Nima bit her tongue as she left the bed to go to her knees before the Great One. “I’m grateful for your continued assistance, my lady.”

The goddess reached out to stroke her hand through Nima’s hair, patting her cheek as a mother might. “You are so like her, and she was my favorite.”

“My mother?” Nima asked hesitantly.

“Yes. She was trained to my service from the day she could walk, would have been the high priestess over all my temples one day. She was like a daughter to me, the child of my heart. Until she let herself be distracted—” Renenutet frowned, withdrawing her hand, and the snakes on her wrist writhed, hissing.

“Distracted by my father.” Nima closed her eyes for a moment, wishing for the thousandth time with a dull aching pain in her heart that her mother had told her more about the mysterious father she’d never met.

“You and I must both let the past go, child,” Renenutet answered in a low voice.

The goddess put her hand under Nima’s arm and effortlessly drew her to a standing position. Tingles of energy ran from the spot where Renenutet held Nima upright with inhuman strength. Passing through her body in torrents, the sensation fizzed and sparked, settling in her injured ankle. Pain assaulted Nima as the injured muscles and tendons knit back together. She bit her lip to keep from crying out.

In an attempt to distract herself from the healing process, she blurted out a question. “How—how are you here? The Hyksos boasted to me no Egyptian Great One could enter this place because of their god’s spell.”

Laughing so hard the black plumes on her crown shook, the goddess released her and stepped back. “These males—gods and humans—they always think they rule the world, forgetting I’m an Elemental Elder goddess, born in the start of time. I have powers and abilities the modern ones like Qemtusheb and Horus fail to consider.” She raised a finger. “They forget my creatures own the cracks and crevices of the earth. Let foolish men block access above ground or through the sky—I can’t be deterred so easily. Luckily for them and all their schemes, I prefer my own duties to their endless quest for power and dominance.”

The door crashed open, startling Nima. Sword at the ready, the guard stepped across the threshold. “Who are you talking to—”

Turning her head, Renenutet snapped her fingers, and the man fell dead in a boneless heap, his sword clattering away across the stone floor. Nima ran to the corpse, swallowing her nausea, and wrenched his belt knife from its sheath despite her shaking hands.

VS: The adventures are far from over. Nima still has to be reunited with Kamin, the Egyptian soldier she’s fallen in love with and the enemy army is preparing to launch a surprise attack on Egypt…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you enjoyed this excerpt and are intrigued to know more about the entire story and the other two books in the trilogy, please check out the Kickstarter! The Special Edition is gorgeous, with character art, custom end papers, sprayed edges (and there are chibis available through the campaign (just one example below).

About My DANCER OF THE NILE Trilogy Special Edition Kickstarter

Having three of my ancient Egyptian romantasy novels available in a Special Edition hardback has been a dream of mine forever. Doing a Kickstarter for the DANCER OF THE NILE TRILOGY is so much fun and exciting besides. I commissioned three pieces of original character art, one for each book, and then I went deep into the character chibi universe. There are so many cute ones to go with this set of books, although we’ll need to unlock some of the stretch goals to make them all available.

I kept asking my daughter, who has done very successful KS campaigns for her own special editions and who is managing this one for me, “Don’t you think we need a chibi of a cat? A baby camel? Another god or goddess…” She assured me we had enough to offer now.

I probably drove my cover designer to distraction trying to explain what I was visualizing. I wanted a cover that really emphasized the richness and beauty of ancient Egypt while remaining clear this was a set of romances full of magic and adventure. I think she did an excellent job and the gilding is the final touch of perfection. We did a wonderful set of custom end papers and sprayed edges with more symbols. And I was very happy with the back cover and the gilded lotus flowers, which I felt really seemed as if they’d been plucked from a book in a Pharaoh’s tomb.

None of the photos do justice to the covers! The book is amazing in real life and the colors and the gold accents really pop.

Of course the books themselves are the most important piece of this Special Edition and DANCER OF THE NILE features one of my favorite couples, Nima the tavern dancer and Kamin the high born soldier. The duo comes together in an enemy camp where both are prisoners and clever Nima engineers their escape. Then it’s action and adventure as the pair are on the run from the enemy, fighting black magic, encountering various Egyptian gods and goddesses who help or hinder, a caravan master who may or may not be an ally, a troupe of Minoan dancers and more…and of course they fall in love.

In the sequel RETURN OF THE DANCER OF THE NILE (and okay I’m the first to admit I’m not too inspired when it comes to titles) Nima has to appeal to her patron goddess Renenutet the Cobra for help yet again while Horus the Falcon god assists Kamin. Another major figure in the Egyptian pantheon appears as well. This one is partially inspired by various actual events in ancient Egyptian history.

Then the third book DANGER ON THE NILE features their grown up son who is a captain in Pharoah’s Own Guard and a charioteer,  and the priestess of Isis who is his true love as they’re on the run from invaders at the southern border of Egypt and trying to keep a sacred golden statue from falling into the wrong hands.

DANGER was the most recent book I’d written in my connected Egyptian series (in 2023)  but I’m going to write a special novelette for this Kickstarter if we manage to unlock that stretch goal.

The Kickstarter did fully fund in the first 24 hours – thank you to everyone for their support! – but I’d really like to unlock the stretch goals and share all those cool chibis and the new story, etc.

Here’s the Kickstarter link if you’d like to check it out and support the campaign at any level.

The Creative Team:

Qamber Designs – design of cover, end papers, and sprayed edges

Maddie Moore – the couple illustration for The Dancer of the Nile

vitadrawss – the couple illustrations for The Return of the Dancer of the Nile and Danger on the Nile

Surya Dexter – chibi character designs

Eli Donovan – Project Manager

I am the sole author of these works.