Title: The Other Belle
Author: Whitney G.
Release Date: November 4, 2022
Genre: Fantasy Romance, Steamy Fairy Tale

 

 

 

Once Upon a Time

Belle

I’ve always known that I am the biggest disappointment in my family.

Since the day I was born, my father has made it painstakingly clear that my older sister Isabelle, “the better Belle,” is his golden child.

I’m an unwanted copper tin that he can’t wait to throw away, the rubbish that he keeps hidden from sight as much as possible.

Only a few people in our village know that I exist…

On countless nights, I’ve awoken to the sound of his ugly whispered prayers, wondering if he knew I could hear.

“Please change Belle into someone else so she can land a suitor who will help pull us out of our debt.”

“Why couldn’t you drag her to heaven instead of her mother?”

“Can you at least teach her how to read books as well as Izzie so the town library might have a job for her when I die?”

I can’t help but see the irony in his last prayer since my sister is a living, breathing fraud, but that’s a story for another day.

“This is your last chance to prove your worth to this family, Belle.” He suddenly steps in front of my bed, holding out a bright red ribbon.

“If the prince’s glass slipper doesn’t fit your foot today, there’s no shame in that, but if it does and you even try to resist, I swear on everything I own that—”

“You’ll punish me by locking me in the basement until I’m forgiven.”

“I’ll never forgive you.” He snaps his fingers. “Izzie! Come help Belle with her hair and face, please!”

Stifling a groan, I walk over to the window and watch heavy sheets of rain attack our land. I silently wish the hills would rise and roll over our cottage, so I won’t have to take part in this.

Then again, an escape from my bleak existence might be nice.

Every woman in town is buzzing with glee over the day’s big news: A prince from the Second Kingdom is crossing through The Whispering Woods in search of his lost love via a “Which maiden’s foot can fit the slipper she left behind?” contest.

I desperately want to know why he can’t remember what this woman looks like and attempt to find her that way, but no one else seems to find this odd.

Can a prince really be that stupid?

“Your eyes are so beautiful, Belle.” Izzie pulls a brush through my curls, yanking all the life from them. “Dark emerald and grey like our mother’s. You should help the prince focus on those when he arrives instead of opening your mouth.”

“I’ll try.”

“Try hard.” She scolds. “I mean, that’s what I would do if this was my only shot at landing a prince. This is as close as you’ll ever get to attracting a suitor, so don’t cry if it doesn’t work out.”

“Right…” I don’t dare mention that she cried bloody murder this morning when she found out she was ineligible for this silly fitting game.

“Are you reading anything good lately?” she asks.

“Romeo & Juliet,” I say. “Oh, and I’m almost done with Oedipus Rex.”

“I see.” She loops a red ribbon around my smoothed hair. “Are they romances?”

“No, Izzie.” I hold back a sigh. “They both end in utter tragedy.”

“What?” She sucks in a breath. “Then why are you reading them? Better yet, how could any author bother to write such awful things?”

I bite my tongue as hard as I can.

Moments like this are what I wish most people witnessed when they complimented how “well-read” and “worldly” my sister is.

They’re completely unaware that she reads the same three books every week—usually skipping ahead to revisit her favorite chapters—and I’m convinced that she can recite those stories word for word. All without ever glancing at the page. She complains about being misunderstood, wanting to explore the world outside of our small kingdom, but whenever I tell her that we should go together, she comes up with an excuse.

Standing still, I force myself to smile as she paints my face in pale powder and coats my lips in a crimson rouge.

“Okay, you’re all set.” She spins me around to face my father. “This is the best I can do.”

“Much better.” He glances at his pocket watch and pushes me closer to the door. “Don’t keep him waiting when he’s close. Make a good impression and say all the right things.”

“All the right things” means utter silence in his book.

I stare through the glass as a sparkling golden carriage, led by four grand white horses, makes its way down our winding road.

With every galloping step, I can’t help but wonder what life in the other kingdoms is like.

They can’t all be this way…

When the procession stops in front of our gate, two footmen step into the rain and roll out a royal blue carpet.

Another servant opens the back door and holds up a parasol, while another ties the stallions to our fence.

The prince emerges in a white and blue coat, and I crane my neck to steal a glimpse of his face.

With a hard, chiseled jawline and deep green eyes, he’s utterly breathtaking, but my heart doesn’t race at the sight of his features.

Not a single butterfly flutters in my chest.

I’m not attracted to him in the slightest. 

He knocks a few times, and I contemplate letting him stand there until he walks away.

“Open the door, Belle.” My father hisses. “Now.”

I let out a breath before pulling it open.

“Your Grace.” I offer a weak curtsy. “How may I help you?”

“I’m Prince Charming,” he says, “son of King Aries II & Queen Arabella Windsor, victor from the War of Beasts, and heir to the throne of the Second Kingdom.”

“Please tell me that you don’t have to say all that every time you introduce yourself.”

“I do.” He smiles. “I’m looking for the eligible maiden of the house.”

His gaze ventures toward Izzie, and I can practically see him undressing her with his eyes like every man in town does.

“The eligible maiden is me.” I roll my eyes and usher him inside.

“Oh.” He looks Izzie over one last time before looking my way. “Please have a seat so that my men can determine if you’re my long-lost true love.”

“Can’t you see that I’m not already?” I ask. “I think we would both remember if we’d ever met.”

“Belle.” My father warns.

“Right over here.” Izzie guides me onto a chair, mouthing, “Stop it.”

Prince Charming’s footman clears his throat and reads from a long scroll.

We can hardly hear his words over the heavy rainfall.

“And now, let the fitting begin.” He pulls a sparkling glass slipper from his satchel and slides it onto my right foot. “Please rise, Madam.”

I stand to my feet, hoping to show that the shoe is too small, but it fits perfectly.

What the …

 

Keep reading more from the first chapter here!

 

 

Whitney G. is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author. Her books have been published in twelve languages.

 

Whenever she’s not penning a new novel, you can find her blogging about self-publishing at The Indie Tea, drinking hot coffee, or traveling the world in sweater boots.

 

You can connect with Whitney via whitneyg.com & via social media

 

 

 

 

 

Title: Sweet Dandelion
Author: Micalea Smeltzer
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Dandelion Meadows is cursed.

Horrible name.

Horrible luck.

At eighteen she should be headed off to college, all smiles and naivety.

Instead, a victim of a school shooting, she’s starting her senior year in a new city and living with her brother.

Nightmares of that terrible day haunt her, affecting her daily life and the relationships around her.

Forced to meet with the school counselor, Dani finds him chipping away at the walls she’s built around herself, and even her heart.

Lachlan Taylor doesn’t know what to make at first of the broken student he’s tasked with helping. She’s survived a trauma he’s not sure he can save her from, but he knows he has to try.

The more time they spend together, the more they learn about what it really means to live. 

Some things are forbidden.

Some things are necessary for survival.

Their love is both.

Does it get any better than Lachlan’s Note???

Keep reading to see the full Love Note!

Dandelion Meadows.

Years ago, when your name first appeared on my desk and I learned a little about your past and that I’d be seeing you every day I couldn’t have imagined what was to come—how much you’d mean to me. 

I used to guilt myself for that, for loving you when you weren’t mine to love. But I haven’t done that in a long time.

The circumstances might not have been perfect but I wouldn’t change a thing, because all of it, even the heartache, gave me you and our children. And selfishly, I love that you’re Dandelion Taylor now. Mine in a way I didn’t use to allow myself to imagine. 

You have no possible way of knowing what you mean to me, but I try to show you every day. 

You’re one of a kind. A wildflower free of constraints. Your beauty, the kindness in your heart, is unmeasured. 

Thank you for allowing me to love you in the light. 

I don’t know about you, but I think it’s time for us to take another trip. Don’t worry, Sage is going to watch the kids. I’ve got it all arranged. I even packed your bags. Now meet me in the car, we’ve got a flight to catch. 

31.6295 7.9811

Happy Valentine’s Day, baby.

Yours, 

Lachlan

Micalea Smeltzer is a twenty-something author from Northern Virginia. She has four dogs, which is as crazy as it sounds. As a recent kidney transplant recipient she’s dedicated to raising awareness around the effects of kidney disease, dialysis, and transplant as well as educating people on living donation. When she’s not writing you can catch her with her nose buried in a book.

Title: Stolen Soulmate
Author: Mary Catherine Gebhard
Release Date: February 27, 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult, Bully Romance

There’s a rule in Crowne Hall: never look a Crowne in the eyes.

It protects us more than them.

I broke it once, the night Grayson Crowne mistook me for his true love and stole my first kiss. I’ve regretted it every day since.

He hates me.

He torments me.

He won’t let me go, because that night he whispered a secret against my lips not meant for me. Grayson Crowne, heir to the Crowne empire and notorious playboy prince is… a virgin.

I signed a contract in my heart’s blood as much as ink: help him get back his love, repair what I broke. Give him my body, my soul, my heart, let him use all of me, so when the time comes to marry her, he won’t need me.

I shouldn’t need him.

But he’s my stolen soulmate, and I’m at his mercy. 

Want more from the Crowne world? Check out Heartless Hero!

Title: Heartless Hero
Author: Mary Catherine Gebhard
Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult, Bully Romance

There are rules to being Abigail Crowne’s bodyguard, rules to watching the infamous billion-dollar heiress, otherwise known as the Reject Princess.

Never forget your place, always put the Crowne name above all else, and never, ever hurt the Reject.

Especially don’t torment the Reject.

Even if she is a spoiled brat.

So when an opportunity presents itself to punish her, you definitely shouldn’t take it.

Then again, Abigail loves to be tortured, and I’ve waited patiently for revenge.

I’ll keep her safe… with cruel protection.

Love is off limits with Abigail Crowne, but no one said anything about hate.

Ready for a taste of more?

The ink was barely dry on the pages. I don’t know if I was ready for this. Somehow I felt like I was more of a virgin than Grayson. Nervous, skittish. He’d warned me when all of this began that the things he’d seen and done would wreck me.

I should’ve believed him then.

When I didn’t do anything for a minute, he arched a brow.

Do whatever he says.

I could use my safe word, but a twisted part of me liked doing what he told me to do. Liked the rush and the way his eyes hardened. It felt like power, power over one of the most powerful people in the world.

I’d barely taken a step to him, when he ripped me to him by the small of my waist. His other hand tangled in my hair, yanking my head to the side.

“Fuck,” he said, lips at my neck. “Which part do I eat first.”

Delicious tingles spread along my skin at his words. His nose ran along my neck, goosebumps following in his wake. His hands slid from hair, from my waist, along my body, feeling every inch of me, like he couldn’t do it fast enough, before settling back in my hair.

Deliriously, I found the zipper of my dress, but his overtook mine. Stopping me.

“I’m going to ruin your white dress, Snitch. Ruin you. Until you’re all fucked up from me.”

Mary Catherine Gebhard bites off more than she can chew. She’s lived in Salt Lake City, Utah her entire life, but occasionally goes on vacation from reality. Don’t worry, she sends postcards.

Title: Slow Dancing
Author: Stylo Fantome
Release Date: February 21, 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance

A rising pop star who can’t let go of her emotional baggage, and a cocky dance partner who doesn’t know what monogamy is.

She’s inhibited.

He’s free-spirited.

She doesn’t want a relationship.

He doesn’t believe in them.

She can’t believe that anyone would love her.

He can’t seem to stop himself from loving her.

When their differences collide and sparks start to fly, he’s sure it’s the start of something amazing.

And she’s sure it’s the end of her career.

Who will be right?

I love this cover! It’s so pretty! And I cannot wait to read this book – that blurb has me hooked.

Ready for a taste of more?

Woods’s voice was suddenly behind her, startling her.

“Why do you always sneak up on me?” she demanded, not able to keep the grin from her face. He beckoned her with one finger, and she swayed into him, her body moving to the music. Closed her eyes as she remembered their dance from the beach.

“Because I like to see you blush,” he replied, one arm coiling around her waist as he moved in rhythm with her.

“Mean man, that’s not very nice,” she laughed, looking up at him again.

“I’m not a very nice man.”

She snorted. The tequila was rolling around in her brain, making her feel loose. Bold.

“No, you’re not, are you? You’re a tease.”

“A tease?” his eyebrows shot up. “Explain, please.”

“You. Sneaking up on me, talking to me the way you do.”

“And how do I talk to you, hmmm?” He raised a beer bottle to his lips – she hadn’t even realized he’d had one in his free hand.

“You talk to me like …” she tried to think through the tequila fog. “Like you know me. Like you know secrets about me, and you’re keeping them from me.”

“Maybe I do,” Woods challenged before necking the rest of his beer. She watched the tendons in his neck stretch and pull taut. Ridiculously wanted to place her tongue against them.

“And what secrets do you know, pray tell?” she asked, loosely wrapping her arms around his shoulders as a slow song came on.

“I know a lot of things.”

“I think you’re full of shit,” she called him out. “I think you just like to tease people. Poor Jeremy.”

“I didn’t once tease Jeremy,” Woods corrected her. “If you asked him, I think you would find that he was highly, and often, fulfilled.”

“Fulfilled? Or just filled?” she joked before she could stop herself.

“Ooohhh, I think I’m going to like drunk-you very much,” his voice was low as he laughed at her response.

“And none of that is a secret – everyone knew you two were sleeping together. I don’t think you know any secrets, Woods Donahue,” she said.

He pulled her in tight to him, pressed his mouth to her ear.

“I know some things,” he breathed. “I know you look at me when you think I’m not looking at you. I know you wonder what it was like between Jeremy and me. But mostly, you wonder what it would be like between youand me.”

Her temperature skyrocketed and she felt like she couldn’t breathe. Forget blushing, she was on fire, and she couldn’t decide if she wanted to run away, or cry, or strip. Possibly some combination of all three.

Crazy woman living in an undisclosed location in Alaska (where the need for a creative mind is a necessity!), I have been writing since …, forever? Yeah, that sounds about right. I have been told that I remind people of Lucille Ball – I also see shades of Jennifer Saunders, and Denis Leary. So basically, I laugh a lot, I’m clumsy a lot, and I say the F-word A LOT.

I like dogs more than I like most people, and I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t drink. No, I do not live in an igloo, and no, the sun does not set for six months out of the year, there’s your Alaska lesson for the day. I have mermaid hair – both a curse and a blessing – and most of the time I talk so fast, even I can’t understand me.

Yeah. I think that about sums me up.

Title: King of Shadows
Author: Amelia Wilde
Release Date: January 27, 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Luther Hades has always been my family’s sworn enemy. He’s the opposite of everything we stand for—ruthless to the core. 

I want my freedom, but Hades wants me. And I’ve walked straight into his trap.

There has to be a way out of his fortress of a mansion. I’ll get away—I have to. Even if it costs me everything. 

And it will cost me everything: my body, my soul…and my heart. 

Are you ready for a taste of Hades?

Hades kneels down in front of me, and even kneeling, he is absolutely in control. 

“Punishment,” he says, as if I’ve been a naughty schoolgirl, being intentionally obtuse, “can take many forms.” He wraps two fingers around my ankle and lifts my foot off the ground, exposing the tender arch. “I could punish you here.” He draws a finger down the center, the spot so sensitive I throw my head back against the wall and squeeze my eyes closed. Then the quick swipe of a fingertip on the tops of my feet. “Or here.” 

God, what kind of horrible things does this man have up his sleeve? Is there no limit? No, whispers that voice. There is no limit. 

He drops my foot and runs two hands hard up the backs of my legs, then squeezes the backs of my thighs. 

“Here, until they’re criss-crossed with stripes from my belt.” His belt. Oh, my god, I might not survive this, not even one single day. His hands go upward, and he’s testing the curve of my ass. “And here. This is what you were thinking of, I’m sure of it. A spanking. But you know, Persephone, there are far more interesting punishments.”

Amelia Wilde is a USA TODAY and Amazon Top 100 bestselling author of steamy contemporary romance and loves it a little too much. She lives in Michigan with her husband and daughters. She spends most of her time typing furiously on an iPad and appreciating the natural splendor of her home state from where she likes it best: inside.

Title: Fake You (Boys of Trinity Hall Series Book #2)
Author: MV Ellis
Release Date: January 31, 2020
Genre: Bully Romance, Contemporary Romance

Drew

I hate the lies you tell.

For as long as I can remember, everything in my world has been fake. The happy nuclear family. The loving parents. The close father-son relationship. The respectable family business. All lies. I’ve had it with the pretense and the show, but I’m been trapped on a dizzying merry-go-round of deception, and I can’t get off.

So when she’s thrown unexpectedly into my path, and I discover she’s just another fake, I need to make her pay. Little do I know, the deceit runs deeper than I imagined, and nothing is as it seems.

Kik

I tell the lies I hate.

I hate the lies and the pretense, but if I ‘m going to achieve what I want in life, they’re a necessary evil. Truth is, I’ve mostly made peace with the idea. What I’m doing is a means to an end, and the end definitely justifies the means. Besides, it’s not forever—nothing ever is.

Everybody has to do what they have to do, right? I can live with that. Kinda. Sorta. Maybe. At least I can until he comes bursting into my life, and is determined to tear down everything I’ve worked so hard to build.

Check out the first book in the series!

Title: Break You (Boys of Trinity Hall Series Book #1)
Author: MV Ellis
Genre: Bully Romance, Contemporary Romance

Xavier
This is not a love story.
I hate you not for who you are, but what you represent. 
I’m the whispers in the darkness you can’t quite hear. 
I’m the unease that can’t be explained, but won’t go away. 
I’m your worst nightmare come to life. 
I’m the filthy rich guy who’s coming for revenge. 
Everything you’ve ever had. 
Everything you hold dear. 
I won’t stop until I break you. 

Rocky
You were once my savior. 
Now you’re my bully. 
I’m the girl from the wrong side of the wrong side of the tracks. 
No match for your money, your might, or your wrath. 
But I’m not going down without a fight. 
When I go, I’ll take you with me. 
Because we’re more alike than you want to admit. 
And more connected than you know. 
This is not a love story.

Get read for a taste of Drew and Kik!

“Kiss me again.”

She hesitated a moment, searching my face. I stared back, unblinking. If she was hoping to see anything other than pure naked desire, she was looking in the wrong place, as her expressive brown eyes met mine. The moments ticked by like a thousand eternities, and as much as I wanted to skip to the part where I got what I craved, I held my nerve and waited.

She blinked slowly, before rising onto her knees, leaning forward, and pressing her lips hesitantly to mine. Her kiss was whisper soft, and if it wasn’t for the fact that I could see her with my own eyes, and was touching her with my own hands—without even realizing it, I’d gripped her thighs, and was squeezing them gently—I could have believed I’d imagined it. As it was, with the way she was looking at me as she made up her mind, she seemed like a dream.

She reached out to grab the back of the couch, arms either side of my head, and kissed me like she meant it. I returned the favor, tilting my body a little so that I could push my lips up to hers, hard and fast. At the same time, I moved my hands from her thighs, and looped them around her neck, linking my fingers. 

My sense of the world altered as the kiss intensified. As we licked, sucked, nibbled, and bit, every fiber of my body became attuned to hers. I allowed my heavy eyelids to fall closed, but even so, I saw her face in my mind’s eye. I could feel, smell, taste, and hear nothing… but her. We kissed until I was on the verge of losing my mind—the vision of Kik being gradually obscured by a black cloud of burning desire. 

Just as I was trying to fathom how to maneuver her right where I wanted her without doing myself further damage, she did the honors, bracing herself on the back of the couch then lifting her butt, and lowering it again onto my waiting, straining dick. Sweet baby Jesus. 

I tilted my hips even more, intensifying the pressure. I wanted her so bad, my dick threatened to tear a trail through my sweats as she ground hard against it in a slow circular motion. I unlocked my hands from around the back of her neck, and reached into my pants pocket. When I drew it back out, palm upturned, she pulled her lips away from mine to see what I was holding. She nodded toward the condom.

“I don’t even want to talk about the level of presumption here.” That made two of us.

“Me neither. I just want to fuck you like nothing else matters.” 

MV ELLIS knows what it’s like to fall head over heels in love with a badass musician. She followed her heart halfway around the world to be with one. She moved from London to Sydney after a steamy holiday romance with a sexy bass player in sultry Brazil.

Twelve years, two children and a dog later, and she’s still smitten. All this with a guy she sat next to on a bus for 36 hours! She has toured internationally as a “WAG,” and her experiences inspire her writing.

Ellis’s love of romance began when she was 11 years old, after a summer spent secretly reading her auntie’s books. She’s been a sucker for an alpha hero and strong heroine ever since.

An avid reader, Ellis always knew she’d write a book of her own one day. She was right about that. Following a career spanning advertising, marketing, and social media, she finally wrote her debut novel, Catching London in 2017.

Title: Love To Hate Her (Wild Minds Duet Book #1)
Author:  J. Saman
Release Date: February 27, 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance

A rare moment of weakness. 

A burning desire impossible to deny.

Forbidden words I should never have spoken.  

Seven years ago, I confessed my darkest secret to my brother’s girlfriend. When she broke up with him and walked out of our lives, she took my secret with her.

But, with my band set to go on tour around the world, I have a problem. I need a nanny for my autistic daughter. And unfortunately, Viola Starr, my brother’s ex, is the perfect fit.

Now, there is no escaping her. Or our past. 

Especially when my brother seems determined to win her back.

Five months and she’ll be out of my life again.

Five months of ignoring lingering, heated glances. 

The fire she draws out of me. The way she loves my daughter.

Five months… And my world is about to come crashing down around me.

Title: Hate To Love Him (Wild Minds Duet Book #2)
Author:  J. Saman
Release Date: March 19, 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance

A gorgeous, brooding rock god. 

An unstoppable chemistry we fight to ignore. 

Desperate passion I want indelibly inked on my soul. 

Jobless and financially destitute, I have no choice but to see this tour through. Even with my boss hating my guts. A fact he goes out of his way to prove every chance he gets. 

Lucky for me, the best part of Jasper Diamond is his daughter. But being the nanny on the road with one of the world’s biggest rock bands poses more challenges than I was expecting – including falling for the elusive front man. 

But with the world chasing after us, how long can we hide what others are determined to exploit? 

They say there is a thin line between love and hate.

That all good things must come to an end.

Set on a collision course, nothing could have prepared us for this.

Or for what fate has in store for us.

Get ready for a taste of the Wild Minds Duet…here’s an excerpt from Love To Hate Her!

Her fingers rake through my hair, tugging until my eyes drag up to hers. 

“I have a million reasons to leave, Jasper. A million. You push me past my every limit day in and day out. You hate me. Ignore me. Fight with me. Tease me. Tempt me. Make me feel alive and forgotten in the same breath. I have a million reasons to leave. I need one reason to stay. One reason that isn’t your little girl.” 

I stare into her, my fingers brushing back the long strands of her hair from her face. I hold that reason on my tongue, tasting its sweetness as it burns me like venom. It’s a truth I can’t let go. One I’m not ready for her to have. 

I’ll probably never be. 

“He loves you. You love him. How’s that for a reason?”

She shakes her head at me, her frustration palpable. “Is that what you’re really thinking right now while I’m sitting on your lap in the dark? With all that we’ve done together this past week? That I love him?” 

“It’s the only thing that matters between us.” 

“You’re a liar.”

“Am I?” I question, tilting my head, Jules’s words pounding through my skull so loud I can hardly see, let alone think, past them. She loves him. Not you. Again, what reason would Jules have to lie to me about that? They’re best friends. Best friends who likely tell each other everything. Isn’t that what girls do?

“I don’t want to hurt like this when I look at you anymore. I’m tired of hating you while not being able to stop thinking about you.” 

My lips descend into the base of her neck, directly over her pulse that thrums beneath me. My eyes close, and I inhale a silent breath. I’m tired of loving you while not being able to have you. 

“You don’t hate me, Viola.”

“You’re right. I don’t hate you, Jasper. You’re the one who can’t make up his mind.”

“What is it you’re looking for from me?” I speak against her skin. “What is it you think I have to give you when you belong to him? You want me to stop hating you? Done. You want me to be nice? I can fucking try. You want me to fuck this thing out of us? I will. Tell me what you want, and I’ll give you anything. Because while you have a million reasons to go, and you’re looking for one to stay other than my daughter, she’s the only reason I can give you to stay when I have a million for you to go.” 

Her breath hitches, her head falling back as my tongue swipes out, stealing a taste. 

My hands drop from her hair, sliding along her narrow shoulders, over the top of her chest, down her ribs, my thumbs brushing the sides of her full tits through her shirt as I go. Her body trembles against mine as my hands grasp her waist, my nose gliding up the long column of her neck. 

My body unable to hold back as I lick and suck and kiss her there. 

Only there. If I kiss her mouth, there will be no going back.

J. Saman loves all types of novels, but finds herself always going back to writing/reading romances. She’s addicted to Diet Coke and sour candy, and swears way too much. She’s an admitted lover of picking at old wounds, second chance romances, love triangles and the perfect amount of angst . She writes smart, strong women and sexy alpha (slightly nerdy) men who have a softer side.

Title: Rebel Soul
Author: LK Farlow
Release Date: January 23, 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance

West Larson comes from old money—the kind of wealth that comes with expectations steeped in archaic traditions. So, it’s not surprising when he learns the conditions of his trust fund: produce an heir before he turns twenty-five.

Enter Stacia Kellan. Her lowkey personality makes her the perfect baby mama…without the drama. And thanks to her wild-ass hair, colorful tattoos, and smart mouth, she’s exactly the kind of girl his parents would never approve of. Add in the fact that she’s a total smokeshow…knocking her up certainly wouldn’t be a hardship.

Stacia lives her life fast and loud. The idea of settling down isn’t on her radar. So, when her long-time friend asks her to have his baby, her immediate answer is a big, fat hell-to-the-no. Seriously, is he crazy?

West pulls out all the stops in wooing her and with every heated encounter, Stacia finds herself falling a little more for his charm and wit. Oh, and his forearms…yum.

Obligations. Lust. Friendship. Love.The lines begin to blur as emotions enter the equation and besides, everyone knows you can’t deny your rebel soul.

I am LOVING this excerpt! Check it out…

“What’s got you smiling?” West questions, joining me at the island in nothing more than a pair of low-slung sweats.

I turn my dopey grin his way and gasp. Holy-dick-print, Batman.

He chuckles and palms his morning wood. “I’d apologize, but it’s a natural reaction.”

Finding my voice, I say, “Noooo. No need to apologize. Everything is great. Fine. Perfect.”

West chuckles and flexes his hips so that his sizable erection virtually leers at me. “You keep staring at him, and he’s gonna think you want sausage for breakfast.”

I tear my eyes away from his groin as we both guffaw at the utter absurdity of what he just said. “Damn, dude. You spit game like that, it’s a wonder women aren’t beating down your front door!”

A scoff passes his highly kissable lips. “Please. You know firsthand exactly how much game I have. As I recall, it landed you in my lap in Brock’s backseat.”

I roll my eyes even as I feel my cheeks heat. “Once, and you didn’t even get to seal the deal.”

He steps closer to me. “Only because Brock and Abby Jane came back. If they’d have been thirty—hell, ten minutes later, I guarantee, I’d have had you writhing in pleasure and chanting my name like a sacred prayer.”I laugh him off, unwilling to admit that my panties pretty much just burst into flames.

LK Farlow (A.K.A Kate) is a small town girl with a love for words. She’s been writing stories for as long she can remember. A Southern girl through and through, Kate resides in beautiful, sunny LA–that’s Lower Alabama, y’all–with her amazing husband and three rambunctious children. When she’s not writing, you can find her snuggled up on the couch watching car shows while she crochets or with her nose in a book.

Oh…my…goodness – my excitement level is off the charts right now! I am severely obsessed with the True North Series and I’m THRILLED to be able to share this exclusive excerpt of Heartland with all of you!

Title: Heartland (True North Series Book #7)
Author: Sarina Bowen
Release Date: January 28, 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance

An emotional friends to lovers romance full of risky secrets and late-night lessons in seduction.

Dylan is my best friend, and the only person in my life who understands me. He doesn’t mind my social awkwardness or my weird history. The only glitch? He doesn’t know that I’ve been hopelessly, desperately in love with him since the first day we picked apples together in his family’s orchard.
But I know better than to confess.
Now that we’re both in college together, I’m seeing a new side of him. College Dylan drinks and has a lot of sex. None of it with me.
Until the night I foolishly ask him to tutor me in more than algebra…and he actually says yes.
But the cool morning light shows me how badly I’ve endangered our friendship. And I don’t know if anything will be the same again.

You HAVE to read the other books in the series!  They are all so amazing!

Title: Bittersweet (True North Series Book #1)
Author: Sarina Bowen
Genre: Contemporary Romance

The new series is set in Vermont. True North is populated by the tough, outdoorsy mountain men that populate the Green Mountain State. They raise cows and they grow apples. They chop a lot of wood, especially when they need to blow off steam. (Beards are optional but encouraged.)

If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the orchard.

The last person Griffin Shipley expects to find stuck in a ditch on his Vermont country road is his ex-hookup. Five years ago they’d shared a couple of steamy nights together. But that was a lifetime ago. 

At twenty-seven, Griff is now the accidental patriarch of his family farm. Even his enormous shoulders feel the strain of supporting his mother, three siblings and a dotty grandfather. He doesn’t have time for the sorority girl who’s shown up expecting to buy his harvest at half price.

Vermont was never in Audrey Kidder’s travel plans. Neither was Griff Shipley. But she needs a second chance with the restaurant conglomerate employing her. Okay—a fifth chance. And no self-righteous lumbersexual farmer will stand in her way.

They’re adversaries. They want entirely different things from life. Too bad their sexual chemistry is as hot as Audrey’s top secret enchilada sauce, and then some.

Title: Steadfast (True North Series Book #2)
Author: Sarina Bowen
Genre: Contemporary Romance

She’s the only one who ever loved him—and the only one he can never have.

Jude lost everything one spring day when he crashed his car into an apple tree on the side of the road. A man is dead, and there’s no way he can ever right that wrong. He’d steer clear of Colebury, Vermont forever if he could. But an ex-con in recovery for his drug addiction can’t find a job just anywhere.

For Sophie Haines, coming face to face with the man who broke her heart is gut-wrenching. Suddenly, he’s everywhere she turns. It’s hard not to stare at how much he’s changed. The bad boy who used to love her didn’t have big biceps and sun-kissed hair. And he’d never turn up volunteer in the church kitchen.

She knows it’s foolish to yearn for the man who returned all the heartsick letters she wrote him in prison. But the looks he sends her now speak volumes.

No one wants to see Sophie and Jude back together, least of all Sophie’s police chief father. But it’s a small town. And forbidden love is a law unto itself.

Title: Keepsake (True North Series Book #3)
Author: Sarina Bowen
Genre: Contemporary Romance

There’s a first time for everything.

Lark Wainwright used to be fearless. Her life was a series of adventures, each one more exhilarating than the last. But her recent overseas adventure was one too many. Now she’s home and in one piece. Mostly. But her nights are filled with terror.

When her best friend offers her a stay at the orchard in exchange for help at the farmers’ markets, Lark jumps at the chance to spend fall in Vermont. But her nightmares don’t stop. Desperate to keep her fragile state a secret, she relies on the most soft-spoken resident of the Shipley Farm to soothe her when her dreams prove too much.

Zachariah is a survivor, too. It’s been four years since he was tossed aside by the polygamist cult where he grew up. He’s found a peaceful existence on the Shipley’s farm, picking apples and fixing machinery. But getting thrown away by your own people at nineteen leaves a mark on a guy. He doesn’t always know what to make of a world where movie quotes are the primary means of communication. Before hitchhiking to Vermont, he’d never watched TV or spoken on the phone.

Actually, there are a lot of things he’s never done.

Zach and Lark slowly grow to trust one another. One night they become even closer than they’d planned. But Lark may still be too broken to trust anyone. When she pushes Zach away, he will have to prove to himself that he’s good for much more than farm labor.

Title: Bountiful (True North Series Book #4)
Author: Sarina Bowen
Genre: Contemporary Romance

No last names. No life stories. Those were the rules. Now a USA Today bestseller!

Once upon a time a cocky, copper-haired tourist sauntered into Zara’s bar. And even though she knew better, Zara indulged in a cure for the small-town blues. It was supposed to be an uncomplicated fling—a few sizzling weeks before he went back to his life, and she moved on. 

Until an accidental pregnancy changed her life. 

Two years later, she’s made peace with the notion that Dave From Brooklyn will never be found. Until one summer day when he walks into her coffee shop, leveling her with the same hot smile that always renders her defenseless.

Hockey star Dave Beringer has never forgotten the intense month he spent with prickly Zara. Their nights together were the first true intimacy he’d ever experienced. But the discovery of his child is the shock of a lifetime, and his ugly past puts relationships and family out of reach.

Or does it? Vermont’s countryside has a way of nurturing even tortured souls. The fields and the orchards—and hard won love—are Bountiful.

Title: Speakeasy (True North Series Book #5)
Author: Sarina Bowen
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Sometimes you fall for Mr. Right. And sometimes for Mr. Right Now… 
May
Did you hear the one about the girl who walks into a bar and catches her live-in lover kissing someone else? No? You’re the only one in town who missed it. 
Luckily Alec is there to wrap me up in strong arms and carry me out the door before things get too ugly. And that’s not all Alec is good at. Our unexpected chemistry makes him the perfect rebound guy. 
Alec
I should know better than to hook up with my rival’s little sister, but the fiery look in May’s eyes really turns my crank. She needs cheering up, and I’m just the guy for the job. 
It’s not like I’ll fall in love. Not even after a string of scorching hot trysts, and the realization that we’re good at the same things: wild nights and familial disappointment. I don’t do love, never have, never will. So this is the perfect arrangement, for both of us. 
Nobody would approve, but nobody has to know…

Title: Fireworks (True North Series Book #6)
Author: Sarina Bowen
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Skye Copeland is on paid leave from her broadcasting job after accidentally drawing a pecker on the traffic map. 

Let that sink in. Like it’s her fault the traffic pattern that day created a perfect schlong? 

Skye isn’t laughing. She needs this job. And that’s the only reason she’s agreed to chase down a story in her least favorite place—that hell on earth known as Vermont. 

A quick trip. In and out. Much like – never mind. Skye can sneak into the town that once tried to break her, get the story and get back into the good graces of her producer. Easy peasy. 

Except things go sideways even as she sets foot over the county line. Her step-sister is on the run from a violent drug dealer. And the cop on the case is none other than Benito Rossi, the man who broke her teenage heart. 

His dark brown eyes still tear her apart. And even as she steels herself to finally tell him off after twelve years, the old fireworks are still there. 

Things are about to go boom.

Are you ready to read this excerpt? Prepare yourself…it’s AWESOME!

         I don’t believe this. These girls count themselves as Dylan’s friends? Is that how friends behave? They enjoy your hospitality and then laugh behind your back? My pulse pounds in my throat. 

         Somebody’s got to tell him, and I guess that somebody is me. So I stand up slowly, slipping away from the fire. I’m used to being invisible, and nobody is watching me as I become the third person to walk toward the forest’s edge. I take a different route through the shadows of the cider house, out of sight from those girls. 

         I cut across the pitch-black lawn toward the back of the bunkhouse. It’s reallydark back here, and I feel a little skittish sneaking around near the tree line. Some horror movies begin like this. 

         At first I can’t guess where Dylan might be waiting, but then I notice that the door to the outdoor shower is ajar. And as my eyes grow more accustomed to the dim light, I spot Dylan’s Chuck Taylors under the saloon-style wall. He’s whistling softly, a stray melody from one of the fiddle tunes he played earlier. 

         The sound is so very Dylan. It’s patient, maybe a little lazy, but still cheerful and fun. Suddenly, there’s nothing creepy about this moment. I pace toward the open door where the grass gives way to a bed of pebbles. 

         The crunch of those pebbles announces my presence. I’m just about to say something when the whistling breaks off. Two hands reach from the open door, seize my hips, and pull me inside. I let out a gasp of surprise as my back hits the wooden planks. Then Dylan’s mouth descends toward my open one.

         Oh! My gaze locks with his. 

         His eyes widen immediately, but it’s too late. The kiss is like jumping off the Quechee bridge into the river. Once your feet leave the edge, you’re going into the water whether you’ve come to your senses or not. 

         And so we jump. Together.

         Dylan’s firm lips collide sweetly with mine. I taste toasted marshmallows and whiskey as our breath mingles. My reaction is swift and fierce; my hands grip his shirt, and my tongue melts against his.

         He makes an eager grunt, and I feel it rumble through my chest. His lips press and kiss, and then they do it again. 

         Dylan Shipley is kissing me. Really kissing me. His tongue strokes mine, and his body presses me against the wall. 

         My knees are Jell-O, and I don’t ever need to breathe again. I’ll just stay right here, thanks, while Dylan takes second and third helpings of my eager mouth.

         Everything is total bliss for at least thirty seconds, until a loud pop startles us both.

         Dylan jerks back, as if it were the firing squad coming for him. A half-second later, I recognize the sound as the first firework splitting the night sky. But the damage is done. Dylan takes a staggered step backward, chest heaving. He lifts the back of his hand to his mouth, as if sealing it off.

         “Sorry,” I say as a reflex. And then I immediately want to kick myself. Because I am sonot sorry.

Is that excerpt not the best?!?!? I cannot wait to read Heartland!

Sarina Bowen is the USA Today bestselling author of many things, including: the True North series, Him/Us and the WAGs series with Elle Kennedy, The Ivy Years series and the Brooklyn Bruisers. And more!
Are you looking for a friends-to-lovers story or maybe even a secret baby book? You can read a list of Sarina’s books broken out by trope and style.
Need to know what’s coming next ? Get all the latest news on Sarina’s website, and sign up for her newsletter so you don’t miss a book or a deal.

White Trash Circus will be taking an extended break and won’t be playing any time in the foreseeable future. Please lodge all your complaints to my guitarist—and my ex best friend—who I found inside the girlfriend I’ve had since high school. I will pull the freaking knife from my back and continue—without either of them—when the time is right. With enough hate and anger coursing through my veins to keep me in therapy for life, I’m going to save my cash and let the music heal me. Prepare all your bleeding hearts to be tormented with the most righteous, heavy and cataclysmic tunes to ever come out of me. So there’s that to look forward to. Thank you for all the support over the years, the gigs, the love and most of all memories. Don’t trust anyone and stay metal—Vaughan.

PS. Connor, you left your guitar and rig at my house so I took the liberty of relocating it to my front lawn. I might have dropped it on the way out the door. In your own words, brother, “Sometimes stuff just happens.”

PPS. Our drummer spontaneously combusted and is no longer with us.

WhiteTrashMegaFan- Whoa! Is this real?

VaughanLover4Eva – I love you Vaughan, you were too good for her anyway. I want to have your babies.

HeavyBrad69– So rock and roll!! Can’t wait for the new stuff, it’s going to be metal AF!

Nico – Ummm, Vaughan, what about me?

LicksNStick – LOL awks

White Trash Circus – No one cares about the bass player, Nico.

T Gephart is a USA Today and International bestselling author from Melbourne, Australia.

With an approach to life that is somewhat unconventional, she prefers to fly by the seat of her pants rather than adhere to some rigid roadmap. Her lack of “plan” has resulted in a rather interesting and eclectic resume, which reads more like the fiction she writes than an actual employment history. She’d tell you all about it, but the statute of limitations hasn’t expired yet. But all those crazy twists and turns have led her to a career she loves—writing romantic comedy.

When she isn’t filling pages with sassy and sexy characters with attitude, she’s living her own reality show in the ‘burbs of Melbourne with her American husband, two teenage children, and her fur child—Woodley.

She loves adventure, to laugh, travel, and strives to live her life to the fullest.