Giada Conti is determined to set her life back on track. Sure, Luca Marino is charming, generous, and dangerously good in bed. But he’s also, well, dangerous. Giada’s ready to accept that she chose the wrong man, but Luca isn’t making it easy for her to leave.
Adrian’s thrilled when Giada finally sees Luca’s true nature, but his relief is short-lived. When the Conti family business thrusts Giada into harm’s way, pretending to date Luca is the one thing that might keep her safe.
As the lines blur between Giada’s true feelings and what’s just for show, Adrian isn’t so sure where Giada’s heart will lead her. And as Luca lays all his cards on the table, Giada questions if she was so wrong about him in the first place.
Liza Malloy writes contemporary romance, new adult romance, women’s fiction, and fantasy romance. She’s a sucker for alpha males, bad boys, dimples, and muscles, and she can’t resist a man in uniform. Liza loves creating worlds where the heroine discovers her own strength and finds her Happily Ever After. When Liza isn’t reading or writing torrid love stories, she’s a practicing attorney. Her other passions include gummy bears, jelly beans, and the occasional marathon. She lives in the Midwest with her four daughters and her own Prince Charming.
Knives Out meets One of Us is Lying with a hint of the Inheritance Games. Like the original whodunnit, Clue, this suspenseful mystery also has three possible endings explaining what could have happened.
They all have secrets. They all have motives. They all tell lies.
Every year, at a prestigious boarding school, Professor Groff hosts the Midnight Masquerade. But this year, before the festivities, he’s discovered dead in his office. Yet six students still receive invitations. The same six students who’re questioned about his murder.
The show must go on. At the Masquerade, two additional students claim to know the truth. The lights go out and when they come back on, one of them is dead. Anyone could’ve been at fault.
Francisca blind in one eye and deadly on the rugby field. Toshi a number ninja and the campus punching bag. Taz who struggles with anxiety and lingers in the shadows. Fish the golden boy hiding wounds and not only in his heart. Caroline the heiress and the image of perfection. Gorgeous George the resident Greek God with nothing to lose.
The six receive anonymous notes, making them question themselves and the assumptions they’ve made about each other. Brought back together, they must prove their innocence before the all-school meeting the next morning, otherwise, they risk humiliation if their secrets are exposed exposed—and worse, if they’re found guilty.
It’s a long night of theft, danger, and threats by a secret society that shows Professor Groff was right during his final lecture.
Dean Hammond straightens a stack of papers then looks up. With a severe lift to her eyebrow, she scans those of us present, and then says, “Oliver Groff was found dead in his office at 3:22 pm, shortly after his last class of the day.”
A weight in my stomach sinks just as it did when Arpad made the announcement in the dining hall. Questions roll through my mind and collide when the realization hits me full force. He was alive, teaching earlier today, making dire pronouncements about how basically everything sucks.
Boy, was he right. Now, he’s gone.
The circumstances were different the first and second times someone in my life died but the familiar emptiness, the void, vacancy returns—or maybe it never left.
“Yeah, we heard—” George’s tone tells me he wants to say something more about loss and tragedy, something sentimental perhaps, but he’s hard-wired for nonchalance as the campus crush and most likely to smoke, hook up, and skip classes.
Caroline clasps her hands in front of her chest. Her knuckles pale. “I’m so sorry to hear that.” She pauses. “He was an…efficient teacher.”
I imagine she struggles to think of a nice thing to say about Groff. I sneak a glance at the others because I can’t be the only one wondering why we’re here.
Arpad already announced the news in the Refectory. There’s a good chance not everyone was there. Hammond inhales.
“Francisca Thompson-Sanchez, nice seeing you again.”
Francisca’s expression doesn’t suggest the feeling is mutual, although she is wearing a mud-streaked rugby uniform and likely feels as out of place in the plush office as I do.
“Can you please tell me where you were from the end of English class until now?” Hammond asks.
She focuses on something on the wall behind the dean but her hands tremble slightly. “I went to talk to Mr. Groff after class, but he looked, um, busy. Then I went to the bathroom.” She glances at Caroline. “Uh, then my dorm, followed by rugby practice, and then the Refectory.”
Arpad writes rapidly on a yellow pad.
Hammond’s penetrating gaze lands on a math whiz, gamer kid whose dorm room is by the day student room in my dorm. “I was at the Library then Refectory.” He speaks clearly, but he’s all-over sweaty.
“Tazmin King?” Hammond says, going down the line.
“Taz,” she corrects. Eyeliner stains the space around her big brown eyes like she’s been crying. “After class, I went to my dorm and then dinner. If Oliver died, it was because of a broken heart,” she blurts. Emotion streaks across her features, but she captures it and makes it disappear.
“And how would you know that, Tazmin?” Hammond’s tone is dark.
“It’s none of our business,” she answers. Then it’s as though she ghosts even though she’s still in the room with us. Hammond barely conceals a look of disgust.
“Moving on. John?”
“Maybe the professor was tired of his life and wanted to escape. Suicide? Or maybe he just wanted out. Faked it. On a plane to Tahiti.”
By Hammond’s pinched expression, I instantly realize this is the wrong answer. My sweat now rival’s Toshi’s. I cannot get kicked out. I cannot afford to go back to Burningham. Whatever this is about… I cannot lose my spot here.
“No, we found the body. Poetic though. However, the question was where were you this afternoon?” Accusation fills Hammond’s tone.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. I misunderstood. I was in the dayroom at my dorm, Varth Dader, then lacrosse practice in the lower fields.”
She glances at me dismissively and nods at Caroline. I know all too well not to allow relief to replace the nerves inside. Best to stay alert.
“I was with the Promenade committee, finalizing some items for tomorrow. Wait. You’re not canceling prom because of this are you?” Typical Caroline, always concerned about her agenda.
The goth girl, Taz, narrows her eyes. “It should be after the tree went up in a blaze and now Oliver, I mean Professor Groff, is dead.”
Hammond hardly looks at them. “Ladies, that’s none of your concern. Now, George. If you please.”
“I was in the student center. You can ask Mrs. Carson.” He smirks. Likely, he was hooking up with someone.
“Do any of you have a reason to want Oliver Groff dead?” Hammond’s question is like a stone thrown in a lake. The ripples of this implication could be devastating.
Deirdre Riordan Hall is the author of the contemporary young adult bestsellers Sugar and Pearl as well as the High School Murder Mystery series. She’s in an ongoing pursuit of words, waves, and wonder. Her love language involves a basket of chips, salsa, and guacamole, preferably when shared with her family.
Title: Love on the Run Author: Suzanne Rylee Ridolfi Genre: Romantic Comedy
Lily Hart is the semi-famous host of Love Lily, a podcast dedicated to love and relationships. Her bubbly enthusiasm for all things romance has caught the eye of a few swanky sponsors who offer her the chance to host a Valentine’s Day mega event. Unfortunately, Lily’s own happily-ever-after has hit a rocky patch. She’s not sure if Henry, her longtime boyfriend, is even the one. When they decide to discuss things over dinner, Lily’s left questioning everything she knows about love. She panics and calls for a getaway car.
Blaze Steel thinks the notion of love is a mythical fable made up to ruin his life. Instead of relationships he pours his energy into the opening of his new bar the Steel Taproom. Until it’s up and running, however, Blaze is forced to continue his duties as an Uber driver. When a frantic Lily jumps into the backseat of his car, Blaze doesn’t know what hit him. All he knows is he hopes he never has to lay eyes on this woman again.
Fate has different plans for them, as their paths continue to cross. When Lily realizes she can’t show up to her own event dateless, Blaze reluctantly agrees. No feelings, just a plus one. How hard could it be? After all, they’re the last couple in the world who would ever fall in love.
*For fans of sweet romance, Debbie Macomber books, and all things Hallmark. There is no steam, sweet short read.
Pulling my head up from my computer long enough to take a long slurp of hot cocoa, my eyes dart open. I jump to my feet and rush over to the pink and red floral book my best friend Addie printed me for a Christmas gift. A beautiful collection of all my blogs neatly bound together for eternity. My clammy fingers push open the cover. My heart drops like a lead balloon as I read each entry, so beautiful, touching and filled with hope.
I rush to my pup and gather her sweet face in my hands, “Lola, I have misled my loyal fan base. What do I even know about love? Research, yes research, that’s what I must do.”
I run to my desk and slide the Reese’s wrappers off the pile of notes smeared with a greasy spot of peanut butter. I fumble until my greedy fingers find a pen. I punch the word “love” into the search bar of my laptop. Tearing out the peanut butter-stained page, I feverishly begin jotting down the facts which represent the core beats of love. The first definition reads:
When two people realize there’s no one else in this world they want to be with.
My heart thuds wildly against my chest. There are millions of people in this world. You can’t possibly have met all of them. That is preposterous. How can you possibly know you don’t want someone in Antarctica, Michigan, Ireland, if you never met them?
My fingers tap to the next version of love in the search que. An intense feeling of deep affection.
NO, that can’t be right either. I have intense affection for the Amazon Prime driver that shows up to my door three times a week.
I hit the back button and search for the next entry. To feel more than liking toward someone.What does that even mean? Subjective I say. How much more? Geez, I could be in love with fifteen people. I consult the experts. I feverishly type in Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
Strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties. “Wait, kinship means blood relative. Whew, there’s a part two.” Attraction based on sexual desire.
“Oh gosh, I’m in love with Ryan Gosling. Who are the actual people that write the dictionary? What gives them the authority to define a behavior?” My neck feels hot. “Lola, the short answer is love is a feeling you attach to someone when you’re tired of looking for the mythical version of the word.” My hands slap over my mouth which has just betrayed me eeking out a long-buried notion I’ve successfully silenced for years.
Rylee is a hopeless romantic. She loves a cozy fireplace, a furry blanket and a romantic book. She strives to bring lovable characters to life.This has resulted in the creation of some of the most awkwardly charming heroines that are guaranteed to steal your heart. She’s a believer in happily ever after and is mildly addicted to fabulous shoes. She loves writing about her favorite things- Christmas, fashion, family, and the ability to go for your dream, no matter how grand. When not writing you can find her spending time with her husband and three children at their home in New Jersey.
