I couldn’t possibly have been more wrong the night I’d tackled Hunter Moore to the ground in the middle of the night.
To be fair, the street was pitch-black, the wheel to my suitcase had popped off, and I found myself face to face with a stranger charging at me.
My instincts had kicked in, and instead, I’d landed him straight on his back with my knee pressed to his chest. Turns out, the stranger I’d tackled to the ground was my brother’s roommate… which meant he was also mine.
With my dreams coming to a screeching halt, I was left with no other choice than to move in with my brother and his roommates.
Hunter Moore was star pitcher for the Northeast Rebels. Although I’d found his incessant talk of baseball obnoxious, I couldn’t help but relate to how deep his passion ran. Even if our dreams were completely different.
With a shared bathroom and a single wall between our bedrooms, we couldn’t resist pushing the boundaries.
Potent green eyes.
Perfectly sculpted muscle.
I was inevitably drawn in.
But the closer we became, the more I learned just how dedicated Hunter was to his dream, no matter the cost.
Only I was unaware, he’d already traded mine for his.
The Wrong Pitch is a spicy roommates, enemies to lovers college sports romance. It is a complete standalone.
Brittany is a New Adult, Contemporary romance author best known for writing steamy, heart-clenching love stories, pulling out all the feels. She resides in Maine with her two sons and husband. She loves reading and writing spicy romances and is a Starbucks addict.
Roadkill feels just like his name when he gets a glimpse at the battered, bruised face in front of him. She’s the one who got away–but never again. She was meant to be his–always.
Arrogant isn’t just a word. It is who he is. It is what ruined them.
Their storm isn’t easy to navigate. It is full of pain and heartache.
Their worlds had already collided and separated, but what was once can be again, can’t it?
My storm almost killed me…
Roadkill.
He’s exactly as I remembered, except better.
In the end, I wonder if he’s saving me or if I’m saving myself.
I was born and raised in California. My husband and I met when I was just 16. We were married a few years later, we lived in Oregon while he was in the US Coast Guard.
Texas is now where we call home, where our boots rest, and where we’re raising our two little boys and a chocolate lab named Optimus Prime.
As best friends, Glory and Killian had loved each other in one way or another since they were kids. When they got older, that love began to evolve into something deeper.
But then a scandal overtook their town, changing their relationship status from best friends to enemies.
Killian is all sunshine and golden-boy vibes while Glory is quiet and focused on soccer, tortured by small-town gossip.
As the end of their senior year approaches, Glory plans to move across the country, leaving behind everyone who has hurt her, including Killian. When he decides enough is enough and tries to make amends, Glory chooses to take the leap, trusting him to catch her, transforming their relationship for a second time.
Until Killian and Glory are forced to confront what tore them apart in the first place.
Can they ever go back to the way they were, or can they maybe become something else, something more?
KM currently lives in Nashville with her pup Dwight…yes, as in Dwight Schrute! When not writing you can find KM in the comment section of her favorite authors begging for early releases or in the kitchen trying to recreate something she saw on Great British Bake Off.
After ending a relationship that began in an era before social media, Alan finds that good friends, a thriving medical practice, and an abundance of dates with a vast array of intriguing men in progressive Seattle aren’t enough to surmount the shortcomings of his own insight.
From endearing Justin to cultured Bradley, to his fantasy man, Marley, Alan frustrates his friends and therapist by being better at ambivalence than connection. The characters in A City of Hopes Unrealized represent people we all know and, although uncomfortable, may even remind us of ourselves as we try to navigate circumstances we would never choose and might never even envision.
If you’ve not yet picked up on it, I’m Alan. I feel like an Alan. Alan is not a very sexy name, but apparently an adequate one. Being single at fifty, I’m rounding down, I didn’t count on my sex appeal to win me a man. To my immense surprise, I was wrong. Who knew a balding, moderately hairy, average height, not too out of shape, older than middle-aged, Jewish professional man would be a “type”? I’m a type. And seemingly a popular one at that. I first hit my stride on this one particular Friday night. This is about my stride.
The story doesn’t begin where most of the plot picks up. It begins at the Boardroom, a man’s bar and dance hall with a hint of a backroom at the urinals. This is Seattle, a city of gay bars without backrooms. Nearing midnight on a Friday, the Boardroom exploded with men. Paying the inflated cover and walking in, I heard the thumping of my heart drowning out the thumping of the music, at least in my own ears. I ordered my standard rum and Coke, a process which took long enough to add to the mystique of the Boardroom by providing a sense of privilege for being able to hand over a ransom-worthy sum of money. Accompanied by fear, I made my way to the lower-level dance floor. Late enough to be packed, dancing meant moving up and down from one’s heels to one’s toes over and over, forcing me to try to not spill my overpriced drink, as the drink and I were being unavoidably knocked around by the beer-drinking crowd. This was a crowd where Friday meant ecstasy as assuredly as Monday would mean missing work to nurse a hangover.
I began my night by standing off to the side of the dance floor, feeling simultaneously unseen and conspicuous, fighting to dismiss that shy little boy from Massachusetts. The moment was one of those where a night pivots one way or another, in this case, toward the dance floor or toward the exit. I expected to be as surprised as anyone as to which way my pounding heart would direct my feet.
Then I saw him, Mr. Green Plaid. I’ll forever picture and fantasize about his shirt. His shirt had green-and-white checks with thin black lines that were illuminated when the disco laser hit him directly. The shirt must have cost him twice what it sold for when new. I imagined that Mr. Green Plaid had found this exact right outfit only hours before in one of Capitol Hill’s seriously overpriced men’s vintage clothing stores.
Green Plaid had the confidence to know his clothes would be the perfect calling card for his night out. His shirt, tucked into tight jeans, cemented in me a fetish that would forever drive my attraction to both the collegiate boy next door and the Wrangler Man. As soon as I saw him, I lost myself in a fantasy of Green Plaid as a twin, one the cute boy next door, and the other a hot Montana cowboy. Then, knocked out of my fantasy by a stumbling patron, I was jarred into an unplanned urgent decision which would soon tell me what direction my thumping heart and conflicted brain would carry my feet.
I did not head for the exit. I continued watching Mr. Green Plaid for several minutes, long enough to hurriedly and self-consciously guzzle my drink. I made my way to the bar, in almost a panic-driven mode, afraid he’d disappear, but much more afraid to be there without a second rum and Coke.
The gamble proved worth it. I got another drink and miraculously found that my previous spot on the side of the dance floor had reopened. Even better, Mr. Green Plaid had left the dance floor and coincidentally stood close by and was himself focused on the dance floor. Over the next twenty minutes, I concocted his life story in my head. More importantly, the man he had been dancing with, and now stood at his side, and with whom he shared an occasional word, likely drowned out by the music, was clearly not Mr. GP’s boyfriend. Their disconnect suggested that this man might be Mr. Green Plaid’s backup plan for the night. In my head, I was certain that GP must be single, at the Boardroom alone, and a bit short on courage, which caused him to stand beside his plan B to avoid the risk of approaching any man who might carry that plan A mystique.
My second drink now history, I surreptitiously moved closer to him with alcohol enhanced chutzpah and self-consciousness. Before my feet were firmly planted, the crowd pushed a man into me, which pushed me into Mr. GP’s left shoulder. We bumped, thanks to my compromised balance. What luck! GP glanced over and didn’t exactly smile, but he also didn’t dismiss me. I knew I had but a few seconds to commit myself to saying something, or the awkwardness would become overwhelming and an embarrassing admission of my inadequacy. So without having the time to indulge my anxieties further, I touched his left shoulder with my right hand. When he leaned in, I asked him to dance. Green Plaid answered by grabbing my right hand, and he led me onto the dance floor.
I fell in love! Mr. Green Plaid hadn’t rejected me. In fact, Mr. GP danced with me without even looking over my shoulder for someone better. Maybe I had become his new plan B, as there would be no convincing me I’d be anyone’s plan A. Yet even as plan B, this was the first moment I considered I might just be a type someone could perhaps possibly desire. At that moment I felt desired.
I’d like to tell you what happened after we left the dance floor, but there’s not much to tell. Even though my latest love and I hardly spoke given the loud music had destroyed any possibility of being heard, his expression reinforced my new beginning. My journey suddenly moved into second gear, and I had a first taste of confidence in my not yet fully drunken state. Shockingly, I might actually have the power to navigate the new and up-to-now terrifying terrain of dating. Perhaps dating could even be fun. I found myself walking home with an unfamiliar and unpracticed resolve, even though I walked home alone. I had a good evening and a new fetish. I had hope.
Howard Leonard earned his PhD in Clinical Psychology in 1981. Dr. Leonard and his partner moved to Seattle, Washington, in 1983, where he began a private practice which he maintained for thirty-five years. He chose Seattle in part due to his belief the region would allow two men to legally create a family through the use of surrogacy, something largely unchallenged by gay men in the eighties. He has two daughters, now adults, and one grandchild. Howard and his husband, Robert, live in Palm Springs, California. Writing has become an important part of his life since retiring from clinical practice. A City of Hopes Unrealized is the first novel in the “Seattle City Limits” series. Find Howard on Facebook.
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Burning for the Truth A.B. Medley
(Finding the Truth Series, #3)
Publication date: February 28th 2023
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Suspense
Once the fire starts, no one is safe until the smoke clears.
He’s the one who broke her heart first, the one she can’t let go, and still always saves her when it seems all hope is lost.
He’s also her brother’s best friend and way off limits.
***
She’s the one he dreams about, the one he’s always drawn to, but the one he keeps at arm’s length..
She was meant to walk away—he made sure of it—but he can’t stop holding onto her.
Even though she’s the one woman he can never have.
***
Dean and Briella think their feelings are under control—all they’ll ever be is friends—until tragedy strikes, followed by a string of mysterious fires targeting the hearts of Greendale Valley’s police and firefighters. The aftermath pushes them apart completely, only to drive them back together as they risk burning everything down in search of justice.
Will the flame between them continue to burn, or will uncovering the truth leave nothing but ashes?
The ride to my apartment is silent. When we get back, I keep quiet as I get ready for bed.
“Is everything okay?” he finally asks.
“Fine. Why wouldn’t it be?” I clip frostily.
“I don’t know, maybe because you’ve been acting like a spoiled brat since we left the diner.”
I stop what I’m doing and face him with my jaw clenched. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me, Bree. You’re mad because she talked to me. Admit it.”
“I’m not mad. What you do and who you do it with is none of my business,” I reply coolly even though he’s right. I don’t want to think of him with anyone else even though I have no right to those feelings.
He steps closer, almost nose to nose. “You’re lying.” He searches my face for a crack in my armor.
I step closer so there’s no space between us. “I don’t tell lies. It sounds like you made your move with her and I’m happy for you.”
He scoffs and laughs humorlessly. “I was on duty and checked her detectors, one of the other guys was with me. We were in and out in a matter of about fifteen minutes. This dinner she keeps wanting to have with me is her idea, not mine.”
“So go. You might have fun. You might even be able to give your heart to her and be happy. You won’t know until you try. What do you have to lose?” My chest is aching as I say the words. I don’t mean them. I want him to be happy, but not with her.
“You.” He slides his hand into my hair at the base of my neck; his stormy gaze blazing with fury and passion. “I stand to lose you. Chelsea’s nice, but she’s not you. I can’t give my heart to her or anyone else. You have it. You took it a long time ago.” His breath fans my face as his lips lightly brush against mine.
He brings both hands to either side of my face as I lean into him for an instant, my body and my heart responding in every way, until I think about all the ways this can go wrong. “No. You don’t mean that. And even if you did, we can’t.” I take a step back with my hand placed firmly on his chest as if it will keep him from coming closer.
“The hell I don’t. But if you don’t want me, then I’ll back off.” He takes a few steps back as if demonstrating what he means.
My heart squeezes painfully. “It’s not that I don’t want you. This isn’t only about me and you. If we take a chance and we fall instead of fly, we risk hurting other people too,” I admit honestly.
He comes closer and pulls me into his arms. “We won’t fall. I won’t let go. We can do this if we’re in it together. Hold on to me, Briella. Don’t let go.”
His lips crash down on mine as he pushes me toward my bed, and I know with certainty I’ll do exactly as he says. I won’t let him go. I don’t think I ever truly did.
Author Bio:
A.B. Medley lives in Tennessee with the love of her life and two sons. Her husband stole her heart when she was sixteen and their relationship is one of those meant to be love stories you find in magazines and novels.
She is a dental hygienist who loves to read and has always dabbled in writing. When she’s not making people’s smiles shine, she enjoys belting out songs with her boys, dancing, raspberries, baseball, and anything vintage. Like any proper Tennessean, Sundrop is her drink of choice.
She loves her family and friends fiercely and believes in always chasing your dreams.
Deception in the Truth is her debut novel—but now she’s hooked, and there’s more to come!
Snowed in for days with a gorgeous soccer star? Maybe that’s someone’s else’s dream vacation, but not mine. I’m a small town girl with big-city dreams of seeing San Francisco-cable cars and wine bars and the Golden Gate Bridge-not getting stranded during a blizzard in a tiny mountain cabin. And definitely not fixing leaks and playing endless board games with my brother’s grumpy best friend, who has zero construction skills and even less charm. Did I mention there’s only one bed? I’m on a self-imposed man ban, so I try to ignore his sculpted abs and gorgeous dark eyes. He tests my resolve with his gourmet cooking and perfect campfires, but even those can’t make up for his prickly personality. Problem is, once Danny Weston starts to drop his guard, I begin to understand him. His painful secrets rival my own, and his beautiful, tender heart begins to melt mine. Which leads to one unforgettable night when our resistance wears so paper thin, it rips to shreds. I shouldn’t want him at all. And I shouldn’t think about what would happen if this vacation fling becomes permanent. Weston is known for breaking records on the field. But what happens if he breaks my heart? He’s a Charmer is a brother’s best friend sports romance and a full-length standalone novel. It is Book 3 in the San Francisco Strikers series.
Stacy Travis writes spicy small-town romance about bookish, sassy women and the hot heroes who fall for them.
Writing makes her infinitely happy, but that might be the coffee talking.
She’s worked as a journalist, camp counselor, TV writer, SAT tutor, corporate finance researcher, education technology editor, and non-fiction author. When she’s not on a deadline, she’s in running shoes complaining that all roads seem to go uphill. Or on the couch with a margarita. Or fangirling at a soccer game.
She’s never met a dog she didn’t want to hug. And if you have no plans for Thanksgiving, she’ll probably invite you to dinner.
Stacy lives in Los Angeles with her two sons and a poorly-trained rescue dog who hoards socks. And she’s serious about the Thanksgiving thing.
Victoria Lum has revealed the cover for The Sweetest Agony!
Releasing March 29, 2023
Jess
I thought I knew my best friend.
Transcontinental video chats didn’t do him justice.
He’s not an awkward teenager anymore, and one look from him sets my body on edge.
I’m the type of woman who has her life together. Sure, a panic attack here or there might derail my day, but I’ve got this. I have my life under control.
I’m not the type of woman to lust after the most important person in my life.
But he knows me better than I know myself—even the anxious parts I try my best to hide.
Now that we’re in the same place, everything in our relationship is changing.
James
I’m back for her.
She’s my best friend.
Being in love with Jess has been the sweetest agony, and I’ve waited long enough.
I’ve watched her fall for men who don’t appreciate her.
I’ve waited for her to see me.
Now it finally seems like she might, and I won’t hold back until she’s mine.
Victoria is a lover of all things romance, including movies, books, and television shows. A hopeless romantic since childhood, she is always dreaming up stories and happily ever afters. Caramel lattes are her fuel in the morning and she can usually be found reading anything she can get her hands on. She lives with her family and a beautiful Siberian husky in sunny California.
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author S.L. Scott brings the charm and romance, smiles and laughs to Along Came Charlie. This friends-to-more novel is packed with heartfelt emotion reminiscent of the best of chick lit of the past with a modern twist for today’s readers.
I’ll be your date, and you’ll be mine.
Who says a funeral can’t be romantic?
Okay, everyone. Including myself.
That doesn’t stop the rumor mill from turning when I show up with a beautiful redhead on my arm.
That redhead also just happens to be a stranger, relatively speaking. Charlotte Barrow and I have run into each other a few times—on the subway, at a bar, and now on our way to separate funerals. Instead of the prodigal son who let his parents down showing up alone, I traded favors and brought a date. The deal made sense at the time.
You be my date, and I’ll be yours.
Who knew bringing a date to your ex-fiancé’s funeral would cause such a stir?
Technically, I did.
I invited him anyway for moral support. It didn’t hurt that he was handsome.
The cold-hearted stares that greeted us didn’t matter. We found comfort in each other and formed a friendship from there. Charles Adams was nothing like my ex. The pressure wasn’t there to be anyone other than who I was. He also loved my cupcakes as much as I enjoyed his company.
I always dreamed of finding my soul mate, and then along came Charlie. My perfect match was right here all along. Did I realize it too late?
Living in the capital of Texas with her family, Scott loves traveling, avocados, beaches, and cooking with her kids. She’s obsessed with epic romances and loves a good plot twist.
Scott writes character driven, heart-racing, and swoony romances to suspense that will leave you glued to the page. Her stories are regarded as emotion-filled and soulful. With stories ranging from light and witty beach reads to heart wrenching and heart healing, Scott has a story for all readers. Her books are more than escapes for the voracious readers of today. They are journeys of the heart that always come with a happily ever after reward at the end.
To learn more about S.L. and her books, visit here!
Previously published on Kindle Vella as Farmhouse Bliss.
She’s relearning to trust. He’s healing his heartache. Can two shattered souls piece together a happily ever after?
Crystal Whitman is determined to redefine herself. Pulling double shifts to break free from a cheating ex, the single mom worries her life can’t get any more chaotic until her own mother dies. The city gal returns to her painfully rural hometown in the hopes of flipping her vacant ancestral farmhouse fast, so she never expected her hunky hired hand would make her want to slow down and enjoy the view.
Derek Fischer can’t shake his grief. Twelve years after losing his wife, the devoted dad’s broken heart beats only for his daughter, until a sexy school teacher sparks a different kind of love. But with a dying home improvement business to keep afloat, the contractor fears muddling the line between business and pleasure could only end in financial ruin.
When Crystal hires Derek to fix the old farmhouse, so she can sell it and return to her frenzied life, she moves in for the summer to save some money and give him a hand.
Fighting their growing attraction, she wonders if she’s destined to be alone and he wonders if his wife will ever forgive him for moving on.
When a vivacious blonde sinks her claws into Derek, Crystal relives her ex-husbands betrayal, and may sabotage their growing relationship.
Can Crystal and Derek fix the farmhouse and mend their fractured hearts?
Farm Cove Bliss is a small-town sweet romance. If you like small-town settings, relatable characters, and mid-life love, you’ll fall in love with E.D. Hackett’s Farm Cove Bliss.
Crystal picked up her paintbrush to touch up the trim but couldn’t reach the top. She felt Derek’s heat behind her before she realized he had moved. His hand grabbed her wrist, and she turned to face him. He was inches from her lips, and she could feel his minty breath on her. Her heart pounded with desire and electric shocks traveled up her legs, making them tremble.
She tried to break free from his grip but instead found herself moving into him. He closed the final gap between them and his lips met hers. Fireworks exploded behind her eyes. His lips were unexpectedly soft, such a contrast from the feel of his rough beard, and Crystal leaned into him for deeper pressure.
Like a film reel, memories of her past flipped through her mind at high speed, and she could barely make out the images. Her mother gardening, her father drinking coffee, the summer she lost her virginity, and the day she graduated from college sped through her mind. Jeremy proposing on the banks of Niagara Falls and the joy and pure delight she felt in that moment, making love that night, and then standing beside him on their wedding day. She saw herself holding Mason with joy and wonder, then fighting, then lipstick, and then the final fight when she threw Jeremy out of the house. Images of isolation and abandonment, losing her mother to a devastating illness, saying goodbye, and stumbling back to this house. The last image was Derek kissing her. The film reel flipped faster through her mind on a continuous loop.
She pushed him away, fear replacing lust. “I can’t do this.”
He stepped back immediately, his lips pressed together and his eyes pleading.
“I live three hours away, Derek. My life is not here, and I’m leaving to go home.”
Author Bio:
E.D Hackett is a Speech-language pathologist by day and a writer by night. She has been writing since the first grade and still has her first book, “How I Lost My Tooth.” She has self-published novels that investigate layers of self-expectations, family dynamics, following dreams, and learning how to love and accept yourself. She hopes that her novels create a safe and cozy environment for her readers to fall into and explore.
Her two kids keep her busy, when they aren’t hanging out on video games or with their friends. Her husband has encouraged her to follow her dreams, no matter their size.
She lives in New England but in her heart, she feels that she belongs in Ireland. If she could figure out how to move, live, and work over there she would do it in a heartbeat.
She loves to read, write, knit, and cook.
She hopes that you fall in love with her characters the same way she did!
Morgan
Eight years of marriage and a beautiful son didn’t stop my husband from walking out on us.
He got the house, all the money, and a girlfriend.
I got the SUV, a few boxes of things, and our son.
I’m starting over and it’s terrifying.
A new town. A new job. A new home.
My goal is to care for my son and give him a semblance of normality while I pick up my broken pieces and mend my shattered self-esteem.
The last thing I expected was for my tattoo-covered landlord to nestle his way into my heart.
He’s broody and quiet, all grunts and head nods.
Letting him close means opening myself back up to the potential of getting hurt.
I’ve got my son to think about.
So why do I lie in bed at night thinking of him?
Callen
My demons haunt me. They run through my veins.
I accepted long ago that my life will never have a happy ending.
My gray world will never have any color.
Until her.
The strong, single mother with eyes the color of sapphire gems.
All the colors in her world shine a light into my damaged and broken soul.
But I’m incapable of giving her love and affection—all the things she deserves.
My secrets will have her running away.
However, that doesn’t stop me from wanting to stain her world with my darkness.
Taint it with gray.
Little do I know, she’s the very air I didn’t know I needed.
TC Matson is an international best-selling contemporary romance author with a passion for all things romance. Love is never perfect and easy, so her stories share all the ups and downs of finding that spark and falling hard while bringing heat, heart, laughs, and swoony moments to every couple.
She lives in the peaceful Piedmont area of North Carolina with her husband, kids (#boymom), and her spazzy Doberman.
When TC isn’t writing or forced into adulting, you can find her feeding her coffee addiction with her Kindle in hand. She often wins employee of the month for her stay-at-home mom and housewife duties and has won the award for “Mom’s dinner is awesome!” countless evenings.
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