An arranged marriage is already quite dramatic, especially with two grooms. When a bomb goes off at the wedding reception, Gabriella Torres is left wondering who exactly she just married.
This might have been an assassination attempt aimed at her new husband Vincente, the security minister for Castile. Or maybe the bomb was meant for her other new husband Emiliano, a politician with dangerous enemies. Either way, the get-to-know-you honeymoon is on hold as Gabriella, Vincente and Emiliano race against the clock to find the deadly bombers—and figure out which of them has secrets so dangerous that the bomber just might strike again.
New York Virginia native Mari Carr is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller of contemporary romance novels. With over one million copies of her books sold, Mari was the winner of the Romance Writers of America’s Passionate Plume award for her novella, Erotic Research. She has over a hundred published works, including her popular Wild Irish and Compass books, along with the Trinity Masters series she writes with Lila Dubois.
Lila Dubois is a multi-published, bestselling author of erotic, paranormal and fantasy romance. Her books have been nominated for many awards including RT Book Reviews Erotic Novella for Undone Rebel and the Golden Flogger. Having spent extensive time in France, Egypt, Turkey, Ireland and England Lila speaks five languages, none of them (including English) fluently. Lila lives in California with her own Irish Farm Boy and loves receiving email from readers.
“I…” I didn’t even know. I couldn’t explain what I didn’t know. “Ask me about Jake in a different way.”
“There is no other way.”
“You know there is! Ask it in a different way.” I shoved up to my feet. This was the fight here.
I was sick of the killing.
I could not handle one more body, especially not someone I knew.
My chest heaved. “Ask it in a different way.”
I liked Jake. I was hurt by what he said, but he wasn’t on my list anymore.
I frowned. “What happened with Cavers?”
“None of your business!” he erupted, his hands flying in the air, but he was moving farther away from me. His back hit the wall, and he let me see him, how haunted he was, how stricken. He let it all out for me to see and read, though I wasn’t sure he knew it. “I don’t run my decisions through some pussy I like plowing.”
Okay, now I was mad.
“Take that back,” I said quietly.
He swore, low and long. Then he moved, flipping a chair into the wall. It impaled there, and the wall held it. It looked like an abstract piece of art.
“Take it back!” I clipped out, folding my arms over my chest.
He looked away.
I didn’t know what was going on here, but fuck him if he didn’t take back calling me pussy he liked to plow.
I screamed, “Take it back!”
“No!” He was across the room and in my face in the next second. I braced myself, but he didn’t touch me.
He stopped just short of it, his breath in my cheek, his eyes taking me in, scanning my face.
He was panicking.
I saw it now, lurking there.
Good! That filled me with satisfaction.
My chest started pounding.
No, that was my heart.
It was thumping in my chest, getting stronger, faster—a steady and powerful beat now. I could feel it all the way to my toes—in my fingers, my neck. His eyes lingered on my lips.
He couldn’t look away.
Stark hunger flashed in his eyes, and he raised a hand, holding it in the air.
It curved gently, as if he wanted to touch my neck, or the side of my face.
But he didn’t move. He just held it there, a few inches from my skin.
His eyes lifted to mine. “You bitch.”
My heart still pounded, trying to reach him. “You’re a murdering asshole,” I whispered back, seething.
“What?”he sneered. “You want to fuck now? Forget you put a fucking gun to your head?”
“Don’t kill Jake.”
He pressed into me, his eyes wild, on the edge of control. “Why?” His breath was hot on me. He bent down, his eyes glittering now.
Then he found his control. He rested one hand against the wall, next to my head. The other found my hip and slid up, moving under my shirt, raising it.
God. I almost moaned.
Wetness flooded me, and I started to throb.
I wanted him.
So fucking bad.
He bent and his lips grazed over mine, my cheeks, my chin. Tingles raced through me.
Jesus.
I wanted him deep inside of me. I shifted, pressing against him, and both of us groaned from the contact.
I began moving, a slow grind, and he was quiet, grinding back.
This was different from the other times. The terms had flipped. Roles were changing. Everything was being upended between us.
Tijan is a New York Times Bestselling author that writes suspenseful and unpredictable novels. Her characters are strong, intense, and gut-wrenchingly real with a little bit of sass on the side. Tijan began writing later in life and once she started, she was hooked. She’s written multi-bestsellers including the Carter Reed Series, the Fallen Crest Series, and the Broken and Screwed Series among others. She is currently writing a new series from north Minnesota where she lives with an English Cocker she adores.
He’s determined to bulldoze her childhood dreams. She’ll fight him with everything she has – including her heart…
When a ruthless company buys Holly Winter’s small home town, she’s determined to stop them.
But then she meets the CEO. Josh Gerber is handsome, smooth, and disgustingly successful. He’s also the man that Holly spent a night with eight years ago. And now he’s back to steal the home she’s always loved.
If anybody can stand up to him, Holly can. She’s clever, determined, and most of all, she understands his weaknesses. She has the same ones, after all.
But the more she fights him, the stronger the attraction between them grows. And before long, their arguments are ending in deliciously hot, stolen kisses that make her forget that Josh is supposed to be her enemy.
Holly may be able to save Winterville, but will she have to sacrifice her heart in the process?
It’s A Wonderful Life meets The Hating Game in this gorgeously festive standalone romance. Why not take a trip to Winterville today?
I absolutely loved Welcome to Winterville by Carrie Elks. It mixed the fun and flirty feeling with all the wonderful spiciness of a sexy small-town romance. It was the best of both worlds. Winterville feels like a town held back in time with all the traditional values and friendliness, but it’s not doing so well financially.
When the Winter cousins find out that their parents had sold the town to a developer, they pull everyone together to come up with a plan to keep Josh Gerber and his company from tearing the town down. There are a lot of brains in the Winter cousins group, and I expected a few more ideas from them. This was really my only disappointment in the story. They seem to come up fairly empty-handed.
It seems all their hopes rest on Holly Winter rekindling a very brief fling from many years ago with Josh Gerber. it’s a pretty flimsy plan to save the town, but it leads to some pretty romantic and heated moments for Holly and Josh. The two are crazy good together and their conversations and banter had me grinning all the way through. They were amazing.
When the inevitable argument comes up between Holly and Josh, I just about screamed because I saw it coming and business got in the way. But Holly’s cousins are the heroes of her story because they were there for her through every page and every up and down. I loved it so much.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
Title: Kisser of Death Author: M.H.B. Series: Kisses of Sorrow Series #1 Genre: Dark Contemporary Romance
One accident. Two men. Almost three years of despair. Four beating hearts growing in pain. Five lives forever changed.
Everything fell apart in the blink of an eye.
These days my own misery keeps me company.
I never thought this would be me—a twenty-four-year-old—stuck in a dead-end relationship.
Gone are the thrilling adventures with Harvey Stark.
Gone is his smile.
Gone is the sight of his dimples and the sparkle in his bright blue eyes.
He’s changed into a hollow version of himself and I’m just a shadow following him around our home.
Then I meet my new boss at a firm in Downtown Chicago. Damon Dreygon challenges me in ways I never knew existed and makes me believe in myself again. Our souls match instantly, and meeting Damon feels like a step towards peace.
Except it’s not. Because everyone grieves differently.
So while one man refuses to touch me, the other can’t love me.
And I’m crawling through the crippling chaos, barely holding on . . .
About M.H.B.
M . H . B . graduated law from a Canadian University and loves spending time with her German Shepherd Dog. She has a passion for animals and enjoys the simple things in life: books, music, chocolate, sunny days and overall wellness. When she is not writing, her mind is in another world, with a book in hand.
For centuries, my maker and I have indulged our appetites together, seeking out partners willing to satisfy our… unique needs.
But from the first time we strip sweet Nissa down to her bare flesh and feast, I know she will be different. I live for the taste of her blood on my lips, the feel of her body writhing beneath me.
For the first time since I was turned, I want a human for my own. Mine to taste, to tease, to take as often and as brutally as I wish.
Nissa was not the kind of girl who put up with shit from anyone. Pushing her way through the crowded tube platform and toward the green-tiled tunnel leading to the stairs —and shoving aside a morphie begging for change—she wished the ancient escalators still worked. Not that much in London had worked since the Anti-Monarchy riots in 2040, the year of her birth—the riots where her parents had died doing nothing more than trying to make their way home to her and her grandmother.
Nana had been gone for twelve years now, leaving Nissa alone in the flat in Camden Town, next to what was left of Regent’s Park, but she was used to it. Being on her own since the age of seventeen had taught her to be independent, street-smart, and savvy about the rough world she lived in. She knew how to walk through a dark neighborhood without getting mugged, knew what to do about it if it did happen. She went where she liked, slept with whomever she liked, then kicked him out the next day without looking back. She was used to being entirely without connections, and that was exactly how she wanted things.
And being on her own meant there was no one to miss her if things went the way she hoped they would tonight.
Using her elbows and the occasional stomp of her stiletto-heeled boots, she finally got to the stairs, her legs pumping as she moved toward the small halo of dark sky above. Careful to keep a watchful eye on the others around her, she gripped her stunstick in her hand in case anyone tried anything. These dense crowds were even more dangerous than walking down a dark, empty street alone. Not that she would usually be so foolish, armed or not.
She was always armed.
Smacking away a groping hand just as she reached the top of the stairs, she turned her head and caught sight of a cocky grin on a handsome face—a pretty enough blond boy with a wicked gleam in his cool, grey eyes.
“Sorry, love.” He winked at her, giving her a quick nod as she moved away.
He really was pretty, and perhaps on a different night she would have encouraged him, but she’d had her fill of beautiful boys. Tonight she had much more in mind, and it had taken her too damn long to get this invitation for her to risk screwing it up over a common beautiful boy.
The damp air hit her as she pushed her way outside into the cold night, stepping over a pile of broken concrete.
“So much for the joys of the New Democracy,” she muttered under her breath.
There was never anyone around to clean up the streets after a bombing, and you had to watch your step everywhere you went, other than in the most exclusive neighborhoods. But Nissa never went to such places.
She moved down the block, into the heart of the old theatre district that now housed nightclubs, pubs and cafés, shops selling leather goods, personal protection devices, and sex toys. Jagged bolts of neon light reflected in puddles in the street, making glowing pools of eerie watercolor. Noise came from every direction—the low rumble of voices, the rattle of an engine as a car, heavy with armor, passed by, the scratchy cry of a street player’s guitar somewhere, and in the distance, the shrill of sirens that seemed to be ever-present in London. She could smell the damp as it worked its way through her worn wool pea coat and into her bones, along with the scents of wet cement, smoke, the acrid smell of unwashed humanity, and the press of too damn many people.
Walking faster, she passed a group of morphies huddled in a doorway, a woman passed out in their midst as they muttered over her, passing a pipe around with shaking hands and glazed eyes. One called out to her, asking for money. She turned her head, moving faster. As if she’d be fool enough to take out her purse in Soho at night.
Anyway, she had someplace important to be, and she didn’t want to be late.
Someplace crucial—the place she’d dreamed of for years.
Midnight Playground.
She turned the corner onto Shaftesbury Avenue, and there it was.
The old Palace Theatre stood like an elegant fortress of red brick and arched windows, surrounded by high, intricate, iron gates to keep the rabble out. Nissa pulled in a breath, ignoring the London stench.
She was here, at the most exclusive vampire club in London. The most exclusive sex club. There was a Midnight Playground in nearly every major city in Europe: Berlin, Paris, Rome, Madrid, Amsterdam, Prague. These places were nearly impossible to get into—for humans, anyway—and they never accepted anyone over thirty into their membership. At twenty-nine, Nissa was close to being excluded forever, but she’d managed it, finally. Or her friend Ilana had managed it for her.
She moved in, tucking her stunstick into the pocket of her coat and clipping it into its harness, then flipping open the hidden pocket that held her identification and invitation as she approached the gates. The bouncers were a pair of hulking, bald figures in black leather trench coats, arms crossed over massive chests.
She nodded to them. “I have an invitation.”
Holding it out, she pinched the heavy velum between her fingers, running her fingertips over the raised lettering and the embossed Celtic dragon’s head logo that matched the design in the center of the towering iron gates of the club.
One of the bouncers held his beefy hand out. “Let’s have a look.”
Nissa narrowed her eyes, looking for the telltale tinge of pink in the skin. Human. She supposed a vampire wouldn’t have to work as a gate bouncer. Vampires were an elite society—revered, feared. Desired.
She shivered even thinking about it, thinking about them. About the inherent sense of power that radiated from the few she’d ever come upon.
“Identification,” one of the enormous men demanded, and she handed it over. He glanced at the other man, holding out the invitation for him to peruse, as well as her ID.
“Is there a problem?” she asked, her heart thundering.
Both men turned to her. One held her identification up to the lamp mounted on the gate, then gave a sharp jerk of his chin. “You’re in, girl.”
Her heart lurched as the gate opened, and she stepped through and into another world altogether.
Immediately, the air seemed to clear of the ever-present London gloom, even to smell better, which was impossible, of course. But she was there, through the gate and walking up to the heavy iron doors, her boot heels ringing in her ears.
She was asked for her ID once more at the doors by another leather-clad bouncer, then she was ushered through, into a dark foyer lit only by red neon lights. There, an exquisite young woman in a short, tight leather dress palmed her identification card and silently helped her out of her coat, turning to take it away.
“Wait.” Nissa reached out and grabbed the girl’s shoulder. “Where are you taking my things?” “You won’t need them here—everything you could ever need is inside. Everything, and things you’ve never imagined. Don’t worry, you’ll have your belongings back when you leave. If you do.”
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Julia Kent writes romantic comedy with an edge. From billionaires to BBWs to n
New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author Eden Bradley aka Eve Berlin has written erotica and erotic romance for Berkley, Bantam, Harlequin Spice/HQN, Samhain Publishing and Black Lace, as well as indie publishing. Her work has been called “elegant, intelligent and sensual”. Her debut novel THE DARK GARDEN was praised as “a masterpiece”, and was a Romantic Times Top Pick. More recently, her novella GIRL (Book One in The Training House Series) has repeatedly been called “phenomenal”, and BDSM author Jenna Jacob said “Nothing has touched me like this since ‘Story of O'”. Her novels and novellas have been translated into German, Romanian, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Polish, Indonesian and Japanese.
As someone who has been involved in BDSM practice for much of her adult life, she relates in particular to her kink stories, infusing them with her own truth about kink practice from her life experiences. Eden speaks regularly on BDSM psychology and practice, as well as sex positive culture for women. She lives in Northern California, and loves art, shoes, tattoos, her Boston Terrier puppy, chocolate, and reading and writing smutty books, of course, not necessarily in that order.
Half-vampire Cat Crawfield is now Special Agent Cat Crawfield, working for the government to rid the world of the rogue undead. She’s still using everything Bones, her sexy and dangerous ex, taught her, but when Cat is targeted for assassination, the only man who can help her is the vampire she left behind.
Being around Bones awakens all her emotions, from the adrenaline rush of slaying vamps side by side to the reckless passion that consumed them. But a price on her head – wanted: dead or half-alive – means her survival depends on teaming up with Bones. And no matter how hard Cat tries to keep things professional between them, she’ll find that desire lasts forever … and Bones won’t let her get away again.
The second Night Huntress book picks up a few years after the first. Cat’s life is drastically different. Working for the government with a team of commandos behind her is a far cry from preying on lone vamps in dive bars. Her fighting tactics have changed, and she’s taking out vampires that are more dangerous than she has in the past. And then one of them puts a price on her head.
Cat’s team is mostly fun. I feel like Frost fell back on some pretty standard stereotypes with them, but they still meshed together and seemed to really care for Cat. They feel more like a family at times – although I think they all want to sleep with Cat which is a little weird.
Bones was a little jaded after the end of book one – for good reason. I feel like he and Cat jumped back into a serious relationship way too fast. Even with instant-fated-chosen-ones that often go with vampire romances, I feel like he should have been a lot more upset with her wanted to take time to hash out the past.
Frost added a good layer to the world in One Foot in the Grave. I feel things moving along, but I’m still caught up in the moment of each page. I hope Cat’s team can turn away from the stereotypes a little as the story moves along, and I really love the way the vampire society is being built.
He might be one of the best riders in the world, but she’ll give him the buck of his life.
WOULD YOU RATHER… Go through your entire life without ever falling in love? OR… Have a rough-and-tumble cowboy stomp all over your heart with his sharpened spurs before riding off into the sunset like John f***ing Wayne?
Yeah, that happened. And frankly, I knew better. All cowboys are trouble. I’ve grown up around them my entire life, so I know how they operate. I’ve broken some of the toughest horses in the business. But for some reason, I found this thoroughbred impossible to resist.
A lot of good it did me too. Nothing but tears and comfort eating in the aftermath.
Suddenly, after a year away with no phone calls or texts to show for it, he’s back. He thinks we can pick up where we left off. But I’ve got news for him: His eight seconds with me are already up.
Little do I know, there’s a reason why he’s come back. And it’s the absolute last thing I expect.
Melanie grew up in the Midwest, but she loves living in the Southeast (where the beaches are!) now with her husband and daughter. Melanie’s other passion is traveling and seeing the world. With anthropology degrees under their belts, she and her husband have made it their goal in life to see as many archaeological sites around the world as possible. She has a horrible food addiction to pasta and candy (not together…ew). And she gets sad when her wine rack is empty. At the end of the day, she is a true romantic at heart. She loves writing the cheesy and corny of romantic comedies, and the sassy and sexy of suspense. She aims to make her readers swoon, laugh out loud, maybe sweat a little, and above all, fall in love. Go visit Melanie’s website and sign up for her newsletter to stay updated on release dates, teasers, and other details for all of her projects!
Title: Forbidden Love Author: Siobhan Davis Genre: Dark, Contemporary Romance
Natalia Mazzone has grown up knowing she is promised to a made man. As the only daughter of one of New York’s most powerful mafia dons, she knows she can’t refuse. It’s her duty, and she would never dishonor her beloved father.
But the man she’s promised to is a monster. And there is nothing but torture, pain, and heartache lying in wait.
So, she grabs happiness when she finds it—in the somewhat reluctant arms of Leonardo Messina.
Leo is her brother’s best friend. A soldato for the Mazzone famiglia. A man with strong ambition and an even stronger resolve. He won’t allow them to give in to temptation, so Natalia is forced to love him from afar.
Until one forbidden night changes everything, and she readily hands Leo the key to her heart.
Leo risked everything for the one woman he can never have. He doesn’t regret it. It saved Natalia from a life of hell, but his actions set her on a different course.
One that doesn’t involve him.
Years have passed, and his feelings remain the same. Yet he keeps his distance, dedicating himself to his new role as underboss to Bennett Mazzone, while the love of his life is married to another man.
Until a twist of fate puts Natalia in his path again, and this time, he is powerless to resist.
Gently, I tuck her hair behind her ears, removing a handkerchief from my pants pocket and wiping her clammy brow. “I need to see the damage,” I softly say. “Can I unbutton your shirt to look?”
Her big blue eyes look too trusting as she nods. With careful movements, I unbutton her white school blouse, hoping she can’t see how my fingers are shaking as I slowly reveal her body to me. I’m instantly appalled at the devastation on her skin. Bruising is already appearing in several places on her torso, mainly centered around her ribs on both sides, but there’s an impression of a shoeprint on her chest and discoloration on her stomach. I stuff a hand in my mouth to strangle my agony, squeezing my eyes shut as I struggle to get a grip on myself.
“Leo.” Her melodious voice is a sensual caress over my skin, helping to ground me. “Do I look that bad?” she whispers.
My eyes snap open at that. “Dolcezza.” I take her hand in mine. “You look beautiful. Like always. But I cannot stand to see what those cunts have done to you. I want to go in there and riddle them with bullets until they stop breathing.”
“I wouldn’t oppose that plan,” she says, and I can’t tell if she’s serious or not.
I shake my head. “No, dolcezza.” I bring her hand to my mouth, planting a kiss on her warm skin. “Don’t say that. I know you are hurting, but that’s not who you are.”
“There is more darkness inside me than you realize, Leo. More hatred than I ever thought I was capable of feeling.” I don’t like hearing that, but it’s naïve to think she is immune to the darkness that is an inherent part of the world we inhabit.
Siobhan Davis is a USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Amazon Top 10 bestselling romance author. Siobhan writes emotionally intense stories with swoon-worthy romance, complex characters, and tons of unexpected plot twists and turns that will have you flipping the pages beyond bedtime! She has sold over 1.5 million books and her titles are translated into several languages.
Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Siobhan forged a successful corporate career in human resource management. She lives in the Garden County of Ireland with her husband and two sons.
Sofia Romano, eldest sister of the tight-knit Romano family, was one to be envied. A posh society darling since birth, proudly sitting atop the highest pedestal. So high that no one could see the cracks in her perfect façade, including that of her marriage, which was nothing more than a shelter from her parents’ death a decade ago.
And she was perfectly content, until now.
It’s the holiday season and she’s left alone, forced to face the cracks in her picture perfect life—the husband who’s never there, the home that’s always empty, and the heart that never had a place in her marriage.
All this culminates when she has a chance encounter with her brother’s new neighbor.
Eric Walker had just moved to New York. A big-hearted country guy exploring the city for his next book. He had a zest for life, no cares about what others thought, and a heart that leapt out of his chest the second he saw Sofia Romano waiting in his hall.
First impressions go awry; second impressions fail just as miserably, but as they say, third time’s the charm.
That country boy with a heart of gold is about to show this uptight city girl how great love can truly be. This will be a Christmas & New Year’s Sofia will never forget!
Summer Leigh, author of the Incidental Fate 6-book Series (Gavin & Sadie) and the spin-off series Romanoverse® (Luca, Sofia, Stefano, & Giorgia Romano) coming to Amazon Summer 2021.
Her books have amassed over 3,000,000 reads on Wattpad.
As an affiliate at retail sites, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. See my disclosure for more details.
Three Reasons You Should Read This Sweet Western Romance:
A Lock of Death by Beena Khan is an incredibly dark romance that takes you deep into human psyche and trauma.
Both the lead characters really take a deep look inside themselves trying to understand their darkness which gave a very unique perspective to their actions and thoughts.
There’s a good mafia romance that leads the story and drives a lot of the action.
I am Number Nine, and I serve at the pleasure of those who come knocking at my door.
Once upon a time… I was locked in a skyscraper in New York City with eight other girls.
I can’t belong to no single man because I’ve belonged to all. No identity, no friends, and no life outside the gilded door of this tower. When I’m not working, I paint the wall every day, the outside sun I’ve imagined that I’ve never felt on my skin.
One day, the Bratva Brotherhood comes for me. Sociopath. Barbaric. Inhuman. The merciless man, Dimitri Nikhaelov wears no smile on his face as he barges into my room. No greetings. No words of assurance.
Imagine my surprise when he says, “You’re being delivered.”
Now I’m on a road trip across the country with the deadly Russian man to my final assignment. I thought he was my prince charming, that he might be my savior, but I was so wrong. I didn’t know my freedom would come at a high price.
A Lock of Death is one of the darkest romances I’ve read. While many mafia-based romances tend to lean that way, this one dives straight into the deep end without looking back. There are also very few side characters to distract from the leads. They are put under a microscope for the reader to see, and all of their darkest sides are exposed.
Nine – known only by her number and never really by her name – was deeply traumatized by life. There were many things I never really understood about her at the beginning. Her past remains a mystery until the very end of the book, and when it’s finally revealed, I wish I had known it sooner. It would have made her a more sympathetic character. I would have fallen into her mindset and believed a little more readily.
Dimitri seemed to be your typical mafia sociopath through most of the book. He was a lot more extreme than most, but I pictured him as his family’s enforcer and all-around bad guy for the bad guys. He takes everything to the extremes and then takes it even further.
Don’t go into this book expecting any particular thing, because it will surprise you all along the way. Their journey together – both physical and emotional – was quite the rollercoaster and I found it fascinating.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
