A new, sexy standalone novel from New York
Times Bestsellers, Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward…
The last thing I needed was a live-in bodyguard. And I
definitely didn’t want him. Six foot two, with broad shoulders that were
impossible to ignore and a talent for getting in my way, Wes Callahan was a
walking bad decision.
But when you’re the daughter of a notorious mob boss,
apparently your opinions stop mattering the moment your father ignites another
war. I’d spent my entire life trying to escape that crooked world—new name, new
city, newfound freedom. At least until I was suddenly shacked up with my new
bodyguard.
Wes knew exactly how to push my buttons. He was also
infuriatingly protective. And smart. And funny. And thoughtful when he thought
I wasn’t paying attention. Little by
little, the walls I’d built started to crack, and falling for the bodyguard
became the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done. Because if my father found out,
Wes wouldn’t just lose his job. He’d lose his life.
Getting involved with him was reckless, yet I couldn’t
find a way to stop it, no matter how hard I tried. But while I was busy losing my heart, the man
who took it was hiding a secret.
And it turned out, the most dangerous man in my life wasn’t my father after all—it was the one who threatened to break my heart.
This is another hit by the 2 queens. There’s nothing better than sitting down and reading and immersing yourself in one of there’s books. I couldn’t put this down and I happily read the day away. The story like always has a lot of emotion in it and the journey throughout it for Juliette and Wes was not simple or plane sailing. There was a lot of complexity in there story. I loved the fact that both of the characters were forever butting heads and Juilette is constantly trying to get away from Wes but then at the same time we slowly got to see how Juliette started to open up Wes up and see his more vulnerable self. They had amazing chemistry and great banter. The story though was high tension but the more and more time they spent together the more actual feelings was developed. Another hit by these 2 authors.
VI KEELAND
Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles are currently translated in twenty-seven languages and have appeared on bestseller lists in the US, Germany, Brazil, Bulgaria and Hungary. Three of her short stories have been turned into films by Passionflix, and two of her books are currently optioned for movies. She resides in New York with her husband and their three children where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.
Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance.
She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son, and beautiful daughter with autism.
With millions of books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over thirty novels. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.
Discover a brand-new world where demons, vampires, fallen angels, gods, and fae roam the earth in modern day Seattle in a gripping romantasy from #1 New York Times bestselling author Rachel Van Dyken. There isn't a lore that doesn't exist around Mt. Olympus, and nobody is safe from the wrath of the immortals who watch.
My only goal: Beat him at his own game. His: Save the world and himself.
Thousands of people have disappeared from this world by way of his hand and the universe breathes for only one more drop of blood--mine. He promised he would help me find my brother. He lied.
I don't know why I immediately trusted Cyrus. He was stunningly gorgeous, nice, and so accommodating that maybe I felt too safe—maybe that was the first red flag. The second was that he always said my missing twin was fine, that he'd come back when he was done traveling and that I should stay put until his return. Looks are deceiving. And I forgot..
Now I'm completely screwed. I'm trapped here until the eclipse and the great Sun God says I'm the last sacrifice he has to make in order to ascend to Olympus. I have so many questions about the mixed mythology and each answer that crawls out of Seattle has me more terrified and confused than the first.
I'm surrounded by fallen angels, demons--basically every terrifying yet perfectly normal looking creature on the planet and working at a bar called Styx, counting the days until two of the very coins I take on a daily basis will be used to cover my travel.
Anubis seems nice enough but I don't want to die. There has to be a way and I'm hellbent on finding it even if it means I join the other side.
Rachel Van Dyken is the #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of over 100 books ranging from new adult romance to mafia romance to paranormal & fantasy romance. With over four million copies sold, she's been featured in Forbes, US Weekly, and USA Today. Her books have been translated in more than 15 countries. She was one of the first romance authors to have a Kindle in Motion book through Amazon publishing and continues to strive to be on the cutting edge of the reader experience. She keeps her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, adorable sons, naked cat, and two dogs.
From USA Today Bestselling Author J.H. Croix comes a swoony, small-town firefighter romance packed with heat, heart & all the feels!
It all started with a bee sting, and ended with a firefighter who changed everything.
When a bee sting sends me into a near-anaphylactic shock, I crash into a boulder. Enter Kincaid Greene — rugged, swoon-worthy hotshot firefighter, all calm strength, quiet confidence and my unexpected hero. Even in my dazed, half-conscious state, my hormones take notice. Extra points: my dog instantly adores him.
Kincaid is the kind of small-town hero who falls hard and doesn’t hesitate. Protective, loyal, and determined to win my heart one slow, sizzling kiss at a time. He’s not afraid of the trust issues I’ve built brick by brick. But trusting a man like him—one who burns this hot—feels like playing with fire.
Too bad my heart doesn’t get the memo.
What starts as a slow burn turns into chemistry that smolders. Every touch feels like striking a match with an emotional pull we can’t ignore.
An emotional, steamy small-town Alaska firefighter romance with a protective hero who falls first, slow-burn tension, emotional angst, surprise baby, sizzling chemistry, hurt/comfort, found family and happily ever after.
USA Today Bestselling Author J. H. Croix lives in a small town in Maine with her husband and two spoiled dogs. She writes swoony contemporary romance with sassy women and alpha men who aren't afraid to show some emotion. Her love for quirky small-towns and the characters that inhabit them shines through in her writing. When she’s not writing, you can find her cooking, counting the turtles in her backyard pond, and running with her dogs, which is when her best plotting happens.
It’s understandable, really. I mean, there didn’t seem to be anything worse than walking in on your elderly parents doing things no child should ever see. Add into that their proclivities, and Eddy is disgusted and disturbed.
So of course, after seeing the atrocious things her parents—the pastor and pastor’s wife that are supposed to be holy and a teacher of faith—are into, she makes it her life goal to expose them to their masses. The cult-like following her father has will see him for the man he is—an abuser who gets a sick thrill at seeing his girls suffer.
She will no longer allow the people of Sawtooth, Montana, to think that they’re safe when they’re anything but.
That’s where Weaver Grant comes in.
A sexy lineman who climbs poles for a living, has forearms that can break a woman in mind, body, and soul, and a smile that does things deep inside of her that she refuses to acknowledge just yet.
She has a plan.
A really good one, too.
But that plan dies a thousand deaths when she’s attacked by a bear on a hike that she was using to cleanse her soul. She thought she was supposed to be afraid of men, but that rabid bear showed her a new side of herself.
She spends weeks in the hospital, and a certain hot lineman takes it upon himself to see her healthy again. He never leaves her side. He solves all her problems. And he shows her how a real man treats a woman.
But once she’s healed and her world is once again righted, will he have a reason to stay since she no longer needs saving?
This is book 3 in the series and each one has been brilliant so far ! It’s as if with each book the series just gets better but I think it’s because with each book you get more invested with characters you’ve met before and they’ve now become family and friend #imweirdthatway#😍🙃
So Eddy walks in on her pastoral parents and company doing despicable things and she’s sick and shocked to her core but she does the right thing and heads straight to Sheriff Black with her evidence but clamping down on them and bringing them to justice isn’t going been clean cut and he calls on Apollo , Weaver and the Dixie Wardens MC to help him ….
Our introduction to Weaver and his sister Pippa was heartbreaking and nerve wracking to say the least and it ends up with a dead federal agent , a family torn apart and an innocent man serving life for a crime he didn’t commit and Apollo makes his appearance and gives him a fresh start in Montana along with the Dixie Wardens and company ….
Eddy and Weaver start off as “ crime fighters “ but there’s chemistry from the start and when she survives a bear attack Eddy has Weaver as her carer and he’s so good at it I feel like looking for a bear of my own 🙃🙈😵💫
Eddy and her twin Nettie are soccer stars but only nettie went pro because injuries ended Eddy’s career but she still coaches at the local high school and her players adore her and their bond is something special and I wish more kids had this ….
There was so much to keep me busy in this book , the disgusting parentals and their company being brought to justice , Pippa and Weaver reuniting albeit short lived ( she’s got a battle of her own to fight ) Boston getting to live with her dad and I must admit the 3 of them ( Eddy, Weaver , Boston ) make for a special family unit 🥰
I didn’t want this to end but knowing there’s more to follow placated me and believe you me when I tell you I’ve started the countdown for 14 April when book #4 release I just have to know what happens between Boone and Nettie because these 2 are off the charts with their love/ hate relationship 🙃
What can you expect:
🏍️ Motorcycle Club
🖤Age Gap
🔥 Second Chance at Love
🏃♀️ Woman on the Run
😈 Possessive Alpha Hero
💔 The One Who Got Away
💃 Exotic Dancer
🌶️ Spicy
☠️ Touch her and X
BLURB:
She’s the one who got away… the dream that haunts his sleep.
They’re after me.
I’m on the run, desperate to keep the monsters away that lurk in the shadows. They’re close. Close enough that I can feel their breath on my neck. If they find me, I won’t survive..
There’s only one place that can protect me.
The Vicious Reapers Motorcycle Club.
They’re the only men powerful enough to keep me alive. The kind of men who bury problems and never look back. I’m not ready to ask for their help yet.
Instead, I lie low in Raleigh, building a new life. Close enough to the Reapers if everything goes to hell. Far enough away that I won’t see him.
Until I do.
The moment the dancer steps onto the stage, drenched in gold and moving beneath the lights, my past collides with my present.
Millie. It’s her. Ten years later, and I still remember exactly how she tastes. Time has been good to her–too good. Watching her seducing every man in the room twists something inside my chest.
We were young.
I was reckless.
Too damn immature to deserve her.
But she’s back now… and running into her again was never part of the plan.
What comes next?
Not even in my wildest dreams prepared me for it.
REVIEW
Reviewer: Tammi
Rating: 4 Groupie Stars
A second chance Mc story. Yes please thats definitely my jam.
Written by Hayley Faiman its a no brainer!
Loved their story.
Its strange to say but I really liked it wasn't loaded down with their past. You got enough to know she loved him, he hurt her, she left.
BUT.....
They never forgot the love!
She was back, she was stronger and more secure but in danger and needs him
If that doesn't make a good story I don't know what does.
It was everything I love in a STEAMY romance.
A sneak peek at the next assures me I will be continuing this series.
Tropes: Age Gap (17 Years), Best Guy Friend's Father
Single Dad, Forbidden, Second Chance
Protective Hero, Sassy Heroine
Release Date: February 22, 2026
BLURB
From New York Times bestselling author Penelope Ward comes a new, STANDALONE contemporary romance…
When my best friend Taylor gifted me a vacation at a resort owned by his grandparents, the last thing I expected was to bond with a man seventeen years older.
Tate was also vacationing alone.
He’d come to Midnight Key to clear his head and reevaluate his life.
I’d come to get over my high school sweetheart who’d dumped me.
I’d spotted the brawny, tattooed Adonis in the lobby on the first day and thought he had to be someone’s hot dad.
But then we matched on an app that paired single men and women by proximity.
The problem was? At nineteen—almost twenty—I’d lied and said I was twenty-nine.
Tate outed me on our first date, and I fessed up to my real age.
But we continued to run into each other.
And eventually we found our connection was too magnetic to deny.
While we agreed to only use first names and to part ways at the end of the trip, I’d really fallen for Tate.
I never forgot him and knew he was the one who got away.
Remember that guy friend who gifted me the trip?
Well, four years later, Taylor got married.
He’d been estranged from his dad for years, though recently they’d reconnected.
What I didn’t know was that the man I’d had that torrid affair with at the resort would be standing next to Taylor in the receiving line.
My dream man Tate? Was Taylor’s father.
REVIEW
Reviewer: Heidi
Rating: 5 Groupie Stars
Taylor’s father is the exact genre I want to read daily and to have my favourite author write my favourite genre was a complete dream. Who doesn’t love some taboo, age gap, forbidden love story? As all that was in the story I knew they’d be lots of great angst between the 2 characters. Surprisingly through there was a lot of banter between the characters and all the banter levered out some of the angst and lightens up the story some. There was so much to say about this book but I loved everything I’ve said above but I also loved the drama and tension. There was push and pull with the characters throughout which was great. This was a second chance romance and a very entertaining and gripping story
A model-cover paperback will be live on release day.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT
17-YEAR AGE GAP
BEST GUY FRIEND'S FATHER
SINGLE DAD
FORBIDDEN
SECOND CHANCE
PROTECTIVE HERO
SASSY HEROINE
AUTHOR BIO
Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance.
She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son, and beautiful daughter with autism.
With millions of books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over forty books. Her novels have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.
Jocelyn Hernandez loves romance books, but ever the skeptic, she doesn’t believe that they are anything more than some great fairy tales.
She’s been spending the last year working at a romance bookstore while she finishes her graduate degree. But with her graduation coming up soon, she’s not sure what she’s going to do with her life. She’s been burnt so many times by family, guys she’s dated, and even friends that she isn’t sure who to trust. It doesn’t help that she swears she keeps seeing a man that might be her long lost father. Her head is spinning with indecision, and she feels adrift with no anchor. Can she even trust herself to figure out her next move?
Hutch Cromwell had everything he wanted. He had a perfect girlfriend, his dream career playing football, and an enormous home near his parents’ farm. But when a tractor accident on the farm left him injured, his whole word came crashing down. He’s now living in the city, working in a job that pays his bills, and not trusting women enough to date.
Jocelyn and Hutch have flirted, talked for hours at happy hour, and even given each other hugs during hard times over the last year. But when they end up sharing a guesthouse on a group vacation, their hidden feelings come bubbling to the surface. The only question is: Can these two friends get over their trust issues long enough to give each other a chance at romance?
I’ve been spoilt of late catching up with my book peeps ❣️📚
Everyone needs a little Viking (Hutch) in their life ! He may be a big man but don’t let that fool you his heart is all jello ❣️ hello he’s trying to solve a floral mystery and makes friends with a trash panda and names him/her Clive !!!! How can you not fall in love with him !?!?
Jocelyn love her job at the bookstore and happy hour with Al and the other tenants but they’re more like family really anywho she’s got to write a paper and she’s struggling on what to write and she’s crushing so hard on Hutch so when Hitch takes everyone on holiday she’s both excited and nervous ….
Jocelyn also has dad issues and is convinced she sees him about town and while on holiday in Porto Rica she traces her family and gets to meet people that accept with open arms , it was precious to be part of the family reunion . Everyone jumps on board to help solve the mystery of her dad and I can’t help but be angry with him and sad at the same time such unnecessary heartache that could’ve been avoided
Hitch has family issues as well and restoration of his family is important and again so much heartache that could’ve been avoided so in both cases communication would’ve been key 😉
Hutch and Jocelyn finally cross that line of friends to lovers and man they’re so good together I was cheering from the side and whooping all the way 😍
My heart is full , I’ve caught up with old friends , I laughed ( especially the pool antics ) I cried and just had good time with good folk 🥰📚
Meet SE Rose:
USA Today & International Bestselling romance author, S.E. Rose lives near Washington D.C. with her family.
When she's not wrangling her cats or keeping up with her kids, she's plotting her next story.
She loves all things wine, coffee, and cats.
In her non-existent free time, she enjoys traveling, going to concerts, binging on her favorite shows, and reading, especially if it's a good mystery or comedy.
