Tag: romance

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Blog Tour: Love at First Sight – Jessica Gilmore

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‘A lovely warm escapist read’ KATE EBERLEN

She’s in love. Just with the wrong man…

Nora is done with dating, but still dreams of finding the one. So when a handsome stranger comes to her rescue one night and vanishes leaving only a business card, it’s like a scene out of a movie…

It doesn’t take long for the two to ‘bump’ into each other again, and Nora falls for the perfect-on-paper Gabe. Only a few weeks later, he invites her to Sicily, and she cannot believe her luck!

Until Gabe is forced away for work, leaving her alone with his big and warm family in gorgeous Sicily who welcome her with open arms. Everyone but Luca, his older and distrustful brother, who is
always around.

Soon Nora finds herself on a dreamy, romantic getaway-just with the wrong brother.

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A charity-working, dog-walking, child-wrangling, dust-ignoring bookworm, Jessica lives in the beautiful and historic city of York with one patient husband, one daughter, one very fluffy dog, two dog-loathing cats and a goldfish called Bob.
As day dreaming is her very favourite hobby and she loves a good happy-ever-after Jessica can’t
believe she’s lucky enough to write romance for a living. Say hi on Twitter at @yrosered or visit sprigmuslin.blogspot.com

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My thoughts: I seem to be reading a lot of books set in Florence recently, maybe it’s a sign! Nora visits Florence while staying with her sort-of fiancé’s family in Sicily, on the trail of her father, the great love story of her mother’s sadly cut short life.

Her own love story is a bit bumpy too. She’s dating Gabe, who doesn’t really seem too interested in her as a person and abandons her at the airport with his entire family, who she has never met before, and goes off to New York for work. Which considering he works in finance and the internet exists seems suspicious. I’m sure he could have stayed in Sicily and worked from there. I’m onto you Gabe.

However, Gabe aside, the Catalano family are a delight, loud, loving Italians (Sicilians don’t always identify as Italian, I was told once, the island’s history being quite complicated) who feed her, give her a place to stay and take her to their hearts. And then there’s Gabe’s older brother Luca. Well, I think he might be the perfect Italian Stallion. And so does Nora. Which might be a bit awkward.

I loved Nora and her supportive and charming friends, the Catalanos never stop talking and embrace her so thoroughly, and it just has such a sweet and charming ending. Delightful, lovely heartwarming stuff.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Cover Reveal: The Red Woman and the White Bear – Fern A. Ellis

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Check out the cover for The Red Woman and the White Bear by Fern A. Ellis! Coming this Fall!

Front Cover

The Red Woman and the White Bear

Expected Publication Date: Fall 2024

Genre: Romantic Fantasy

  • Fae courts
  • Enemies to lovers
  • Hurt/comfort
  • Shadow magic
  • Court politics
  • Opposing religions/religion is magic
  • Slow burn forbidden love
  • Hidden identity
  • Morally grey characters
  • Reluctant chosen one
  • Soul-deep connection

It is both the fate and the burden of the Red Woman to bring peace.

The Fae are real—this is a fact that Aisling Morrow has believed with varying degrees of certainty since she was a child. Her late mother’s accounts of their beauty still linger in her mind, but always with the caveat: Do not involve yourself uninvited with matters of the Fae. Aisling has no plans to do so—until she discovers an arcane prophecy which names her the Red Woman, destined to turn the tides of war in the realm of Wyldraíocht by ensuring the fall of the Unseelie Court.

On a quest to understand her role, Aisling ventures into Wyldraíocht. Except Fae prophecies aren’t so easily interpreted, and she is soon ensnared in a dangerous web of political machinations, opposing religions, and dark magic—at the center of which stands the fierce and vengeful Unseelie King.

King Kael Ardhen, a vessel for raw power bestowed upon him by an eldritch god, is consumed by his own unbridled rage—a rage which he would not hesitate to turn on the human woman prophesied to destroy his court. Yet something about the way Aisling calls to his shadows draws him in, at once both granting him control over his violent magic and inviting him to relinquish control over his guarded heart.

As unsettling truths about the world her mother so loved challenge Aisling’s convictions and call into question the true purpose of the Red Woman, the Veil between realms grows ever weaker with the echoes of war. Soon, the crueler sorts of Fae will no longer be confined to Wyldraíocht. With time running out to protect those she loves, Aisling finds herself at the crossroads of fate and choice—and the ultimate price of peace may demand more than she is willing to pay.

COMING SOON

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Blog Tour: Cursed Under London – Gabby Hutchinson Crouch

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Two strangers.

Two Londons.

Two hearts that won’t stop beating…

In an alternative Elizabethan London, Fang awakes from his death to discover he is not quite human anymore. In fact, despite having somehow acquired the power of immortality, he’s also not quite vampire, zombie, werewolf or any of the other supernatural beings who roam the twin cities of Upper London and its underground counterpart, Deep London.

A jaded traveller from the Ming Empire, Fang is desperate to find a way to reverse the spell and get on with being dead when he stumbles upon Lazare de Quitte-Beuf, a theatrical Frenchman who is afflicted with the same mysterious condition. Thrown together by the curse they share, the two men set out to undo the strange magic that binds them. As they are drawn further into the shadowy world of Deep London, they unearth a dangerous plot which they appear to be right in the middle of…

And, surely, when in grave danger, the worst thing they could do would be to fall in love, wouldn’t it?

My thoughts: this is very very funny, very silly and just a bit brilliant. I loved it.

Fang is cursed not to die, he gets stabbed a fair bit, but nothing seems to kill him. He’s fed up, tired and a long way from home. Lazare also gets cursed but nothing (except maybe not getting cast in Kit Marlowe’s play) gets him down, he’s basically happy all the time. Thrown together in an attempt to undo their curses, successfully avoid getting arrested and finding themselves in Deep London, literally under the city, with a small dragon called Amber (I would love a small dragon pal), Nell the apothecary and a little girl who is very scared, they’re on the adventure of a lifetime and right in the middle of a total lunatic’s scheme! 

It’s just a lot of fun, there’s so many fantasy (and romance) tropes and little references and I just had a ball reading it. The first in a new series, it’s an absolute treat. 

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: It Started With a Book – Camilla Isley

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Lose yourself in Lakeville Hills in this gorgeous new romance from bestselling author Camilla Isley…

When she’s ghosted by yet another Tinder match, Leighton swears off dating for life. Who needs apps and blind dates when she has the perfect-in-every-way (apart from being fictional) heroes of her beloved romance novels?

That night Leigh finds a second-hand book on her TBR pile, which transports her to the small-town of Lakeville Hills, where the heroines wear shorty-shorts and the men drink bourbon. And as Leigh drifts
off to sleep, she dreams of billionaire cowboy Killian St Clair, who could win a gold medal for smouldering and bicep flexing.
For a while, Leigh finds it easier to stomach misogynistic supervisors, newly coupled friends, and extravagant bridesmaid duties knowing she can return to Lakeville Hills each evening.

Until one day, she wakes up to find she’s brought a bit of Lakeville Hills back with her: the impossible sexy and entirely implausible Killian St Clair is in her apartment.
Now Leigh must help Killian navigate the real world. But as she gets to know the man behind the trope, can she keep her heart safe, or does she risk falling in love with her book boyfriend in real life?

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Camilla is an engineer who left science behind to enter the whimsical realm of romantic fiction.
She writes contemporary rom-coms. Her characters have big hearts, might be a little stubborn at times, and love to banter with each other. Every story she pens has a guaranteed HEA that will make your heart beat faster. Unless you’re a vampire, of course.
Camilla is a cat lover, coffee addict, and shoe hoarder. Besides writing, she loves reading—duh!—cooking, watching bad TV, and going to the movies—popcorn, please. She’s a bit of a foodie, nothing too serious. A keen traveler, Camilla knows mosquitoes play a role in the ecosystem, and she doesn’t want to starve all those frog princes out there, but she could really live without them.

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My thoughts: this was lots of fun, we all have that romantic lead that we think we’d fall in love with if they were real, and suddenly right there. Well, Leighton wakes up with her book boyfriend in her bed.

Killian St Cloud is a cowboy billionaire, suddenly in Chicago, no billions in the bank, because he doesn’t exist. Except he does, other people can see him and now they have to make him a life. First there’s getting him some non-cowboy clothes, a job, an ID, and are they really in love?

Funny, silly, entertaining and with a fantastic pair of protagonists, this is a fab read and will keep you amused for hours.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Book Blitz: The Love Chase – Emily Schneider

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If you love sweet, small-town romance with a marriage of convenience, you are going to want to get a copy of The Love Chase by Emily Schneider!

ebook

The Love Chase

Publication Date: July 8, 2024

Genre: Romance/ Contemporary Romance

TROPES:

💍Marriage of convenience
🩷Friends to lovers
⛈️Storm chasing
🎸Country music
🏠”One townhouse”
💕Forced proximity
🏘️Small town romance
🥰”It’s always been you”
💘She fell first, he fell harder

Marrying my best friend for money without revealing my hidden feelings for him…How hard could it be?

Everything was going great until my life fell apart. One minute, I had a great internship, I was accomplishing my dream of becoming a storm chaser, and I was happy.

But in one single day, I became jobless, homeless, and deeply in debt, my life stuttering to a crashing halt.

Forced to head home to Meridel, proverbial tail tucked between my legs, things only got worse when I ran into my best friend, Liam—err, ex-best friend.

We’d been friends since we were kids, up until he moved away two years ago to chase his own dream of being a famous country music singer, effectively cutting me out of his life for good.

But now he’s back, and to top it off, his manager has created a harebrained scheme to improve his new bad boy image—marrying me.

If it weren’t for the money promised to me in exchange, I never would have agreed, especially when I’d been hiding the fact that I’d been in love with Liam for years.

But now, I have to marry my best friend, live in close quarters with him, and help him fix his reputation, all while keeping my feelings hidden?

Should be a piece of cake. Right?

The Love Chase is a sweet, closed-door romantic comedy, full of laugh-out-loud moments, sizzling chemistry, and swoony kisses.

This is the third interconnected standalone in the A Sweet Meridel Romance series.

GET IT HERE!

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Cover Reveal: Of Monsters Of Kings – Kelly St Clare

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We are thrilled to present both the stunning cover and blurb for Of Monsters Of Kings by Kelly St. Clare! Now available for pre-order!

image

Of Monsters Of Kings (Unworldly City Book 1)

Expected Publication Date: July 25, 2024

Genre: Gothic Romantasy

  • Destined to be
  • Royal immortals
  • Monsters with manners
  • Age-gap
  • Hidden society
  • Ancient magic
  • Romance vs. duty
  • New girl in town

Bring. Take. Raise. Change. See.

Three princes, each, shall come to thee.

Monsters to guide kings to thrones,

To keep real monsters chained with blood and bone.

Your immortal burden cold and lonely,

Hear! Rule until the bloody finish.

For the mighty never stirred at dawn,

They burst forth at dusk,

into toothed beast’s yawn.

In the 1200 years since The End, fifty mothers in my line have passed the truth to their daughters. They passed truths of how the world was, of how the world changed, and even mythical stories of powerful romances that sparked great tragedy and war.

Those romances are dead and gone, and as the fiftieth daughter, I am determined the truths of my ancestors will die with me too.

I will be the last daughter to bury her withered mother.

But ancients pull back the bloodied curtain without warning, and I cannot unsee the hidden world revealed beyond. Sinister impossibilities lurk in this walled city. They have always existed—dusk immortals who battle and prowl, filled with menace and conflicting purpose. And they, even the dark creature I blind with my presence, must decide the fate of all.

Yet fifty mothers prepared for nightfall. They knew five kings could not win.

Now the fiftieth daughter will walk into the toothed beast’s yawn.

For the mighty never stirred at dawn… and I’m about to inherit something more monstrous than the truth.

Of Monsters Of Kings is a dark fantasy romance thoroughly drenched with the morally gray and intended for mature audiences. This story contains monsters with manners, heaped teaspoons of spice, magical impossibilities, and not many conventional things at all, really.

PRE-ORDER ON AMAZON

About the Author

Kelly St. Clare is the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Supernatural Battle, The Tainted Accords, The Darkest Drae, and Honey & Ice Trilogy.

She exists in her own fantasy in New Zealand where she works to regenerate the land, grow marvelous things, and create magical memories for her family.

Books are her fated mate, and she is immortally grateful to exist in this world of words where fresh opportunities hook her at every new chapter.

KELLY ST. CLARE

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Cover Reveal: Since We’re Here – Chrissy Hopewell

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We’re thrilled to present the cover for the next Hart Sister’s book by Chrissy Hopewell, Since We’re Here!

Since We're Here_Chrissy Hopewell_Cover_Media

Since We’re Here: A Grumpy Sunshine Irish Romance

Genre: Romance/ Interconnected Standalone

Expected Publication Date: September 9

  • Grumpy sunshine
  • Irish setting
  • Close proximity
  • He falls first
  • Fish out of water
  • Main characters in their 30s
  • Just once to get it out of our system
  • Pet sheep
  • Open door/ medium spice

Nine messy breakups, nine jobs lost. When restaurant manager Maddie Hart learns that number ten—a surf instructor based in the Caribbean—is cheating on her, she changes her destination flight (but not the contents of her suitcase) to Ireland. She’ll delay disappointing her family and figure out how to get her life back on track, while also planning her oldest sister’s pre-wedding Irish road trip. Except the groom-to-be’s best friend isn’t replying to her emails.

Ex-pro soccer goalkeeper Patrick McNulty has deep roots in the seaside town of Dingle, Ireland. He’s got clear priorities: be there for his aging parents, support his sister and nieces, and take over the family brewery while also managing his pub. None of that includes dating, because after one disastrous engagement, Patrick is done with relationships.

When the sunshine-y American tourist who asked him to kiss her in the pub turns out to be the same woman emailing for help planning a road trip, Patrick vows to keep it platonic. Especially after his pub manager quits and Maddie jumps in to help. Their sizzling chemistry leads them to sleep together just once, but it’s not nearly enough for either of them.

Maddie knows her future isn’t in Ireland—or with Patrick. And he needs to stay focused before his carefully planned life unravels with the distraction of the American tourist. The Irish road trip is their last chance…Will Patrick be able to convince her (and himself) that fighting for number eleven is worth the journey?

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Book Blitz: Dream Walker – Brittany Gossin

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Happy release day and congratulations to author Brittany Gossin on the release of Dream Walker, the first book in a brand-new series!

ebook

Dream Walker (Realm of Dreams #1)

Publication Date: July 2, 2024

Genre Romantic Fantasy

🗡️found family
🗡️Secrets and betrayal
🗡Closed-door spice
🗡️magic, fae, elves
🗡Dragons and demons
🗡️slow burn

In the aftermath of a harrowing nightmare, seventeen-year-old Ella Windsor must face a chilling reality as the wounds from her dreams appear on her body. To add to her terror, she witnesses the intrusion of a nightmarish creature come to life, lurking on her high school campus.

Faced with no choice but to escape the nightmares and search for why she’s the only one who can see them, Ella ventures into the mysterious Astral Realm. Alongside Ethan Wessex, a stunningly gorgeous Lieutenant of the Queen’s Astral Guard with his own air of mystery, Ella discovers a realm on the brink of war.

Azvameth, the King of Nightmares, harboring secrets of his own, seeks dominion not just over the Astral Realm but every waking world. With the assistance of other dream walkers, including the devastatingly handsome Cole, a Fae Prince, and Rhea, a feisty Elven female, each armed with latent magic, Ella may prove to be the missing piece in destroying Azvameth and saving her precious Mortal and Astral Realms.

In this epic romantasy, Ella grapples with love and betrayal, torn between the mysterious Ethan and the potential true love of Cole, all while embarking on a journey of self-discovery and found family. The nightmares have awakened, but so has she.

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON & THE AUTHOR’S WEBSITE

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Blog Tour: Our Little Monster – Lashell Rain

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We’re celebrating the newly released vampire romance, Our Little Monster by Lashell Rain!

Our Little Monster: A Why Choose Vampire Romance (Deviant Desires Series)
Publication Date: May 28, 2024
Genre: Vampire Romance/ Why Choose
Inspired by The Vampire Diaries & Supernatural
Monster Hunter FMC
Touch Her & Di3
She Saves Them
Why Choose MFM
Vampires
She doesn’t know whether to kill them or keep them…
In a world where monsters lurk in the shadows, Serina Velika is a hunter, born and raised to keep the balance between humans and everything that goes bump in the night.
But no one is safe in the dark.
When vampires viciously attack her and her father, she is left shattered and bleeding on the forest floor, forced to bear witness to the horrifying scene as they mercilessly take her father’s life. The one person who anchored her is gone and now she has nothing left to lose.
She embarks on a mission for vengeance, keeping her heart guarded and her loved ones at arm’s length. But fate has other plans.
After eight months of little to no answers, Serina crosses paths with three captivating vampires—Bastian, Nox, and Thorne, who propose an intriguing deal. With no other options, she reluctantly allows them into her life and is thrust into a world of deception, unaware that with every shared moment her resolve weakens and her emotions ignite like wildfire.
Will their love conquer all, or will her need for vengeance tear them apart? Dive into this thrilling adventure where passion ignites, bonds are tested, and a new dawn of hope awaits.
18+ Adult content and explicit scenes
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Blog Tour: The Light Between Us – Elaine Chiew

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The Light Between Us is a Southeast Asian historical romance that defies time and
space as an archivist explores Singapore’s tumultuous past through a supernatural
connection.

At work one night, photography archivist Charlie Sze-Toh receives a misdirected
letter from Wang Tian Wei, a 1920s colonial era Chinese photographer.

Through a mysterious digital folder and photographic plates, a conversation is sparked, leading to a romance that spans lifetimes.

In his time, Tian Wei scours a turbulent Singapore for his missing friend, Aiko,
leading him to the perfumed chambers of a Japanese brothel. Meanwhile, in the
modern day, Charlie struggles against a family dynamic dominated by her
stepmother, a manipulative matriarch who uses family secrets as bargaining chips.

Communication starts to become difficult and Tian Wei’s letters are tinged by the
increasing threat of Japanese Occupation. Will one last fate-defying letter from
Charlie allow Tian Wei to keep their love alive?

Inspired by her research into Singaporean historical archives, Elaine Chiew weaves
Chinese mythology and early 20th century colonial Singapore into this speculative
epic.

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Elaine Chiew is a writer, editor, creative writing teacher/mentor, and visual arts
researcher. Her debut novel The Light Between Us (Neem Tree Press), long listed
for the inaugural Cheshire Novel Prize, will be out May 16, 2024.

Her short story collection The Heartsick Diaspora (Penguin SEA 2019 & Myriad
Editions UK 2020) explores the Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese diaspora living
primarily in London, New York, and Singapore; it has been mentioned as a
recommended read in The Guardian, The Straits Times Singapore, BookRiot and
Esquire SG, been featured in literary festivals in Singapore, Malaysia and Kerala, received a Special Mention in the UK Saboteur Awards, and reviewed favourably in Malaysia, Singapore, UK and US.

She is also the compiler/editor of Cooked Up: Food Fiction From Around the World
(New Internationalist, 2015).

Twice winner of the Bridport Short Story Competition in the UK, she has had
numerous stories published in Singapore, US and UK anthologies, most recently
with BBC Radio Four.

Originally from Ipoh, Malaysia, she has a J.D. from Stanford Law School and was a corporate securities lawyer working in New York, Hong Kong and London. In 2017, she received an MA in Asian Art History from Goldsmiths, University of London. She is based in London. You can find her on X @ChiewElaine
and IG @epchiew.

My thoughts: In the archives of a Singapore gallery, Charlie catalogues photographs, finding on her screen one day a strange letter, she can’t work out what it’s doing there, but intrigued she saves it for later. After another appears, she decides, despite the fact it seems to come from another age, to write back. And so begins a rather unusual love story.

Charlie and her new pen pal, a 1920s photographer called Tian Wei, share the details of their lives – Tian Wei is searching for a young Japanese woman he considers his sister, she’s vanished and no one seems bothered. In modern Singapore Charlie is struggling with her family relationships, her stepmother is something of a nightmare, her half brothers not kind and she’s closest to her adopted brother Sebastian.

Sebastian’s business and romantic relationship are on the outs, and he vanishes for a time. But Charlie and Tian Wei sustain each other through their crises via their letters.

It’s a beautiful quantum entanglement, their letters, and later photos, reaching back and forth in time. But when Charlie crosses a line, things change in her time, and political changes in Tian Wei’s put him in danger.

It’s hard to define this book, part romance, part science fiction, part mystery, and it took me a while to like Charlie – she keeps all of her emotions very tightly bound, letting no one in. Tian Wei is much more open, there’s a joy and lightness to him for much of the book, despite his worries about Aiko, despite the political turmoil.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.