‘Tis the season for twinkling lights, cookies, joy, and a little sprinkle of mom guilt on the side. Did I say little? I mean an entire sleigh full. Which is exactly why I’m on my way home to Winterbury for the holidays, something my parents have been pleading for since I left the small-town life for a view of the city nearly ten years ago.
It’s not that I don’t come home to visit. I do.
Just not at Christmas.
The last time I was there, I got wrapped up in the romantasy of the town’s mistletoe legend, and it ruined my entire life. Okay, maybe not my entire life, but it did turn my best friend into my biggest enemy.
And maybe gave me a raging case of mistletoe PTSD.
Don’t laugh. It’s a thing.
Which is exactly why I’m going to do everything possible to avoid the raising of the mistletoe, Archer Hodge, and his Christmas tree farm. I’m just going to help my father out with the family animal clinic and mind my own business.
So of course Archer walks right into the clinic and nearly runs me over with his clompy boots, pine-scented flannel, and trademark scowl. Turns out, even after ten years, he still plucks every last nerve in my body. It doesn’t matter that he looks better than I remember and he’s cradling a beautiful dog who steals my heart.
Archer is my sworn frenemy, and no amount of forced proximity, small-town tradition, or mistletoe magic will ever change that.
Cambria Hebert is a bestselling novelist of more than fifty titles. She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair.
Besides writing, Cambria loves a pumpkin spice latte, staying up late, sleeping in, and watching K drama until her eyes won’t stay open. She considers math human torture and has an irrational fear of chickens (yes, chickens). You can often find her running on the treadmill (she’d rather be eating a donut), painting her toenails (because she bites her fingernails), or walking her chihuahuas (the real bosses of the house).
Cambria has written in many genres, including new adult, sports romance, male/male romance, sci-fi, thriller, suspense, contemporary romance, and young adult. Many of her titles have been translated into foreign languages and have been the recipients of multiple awards.
Awards Cambria has received include:
Author of the Year 2016 (UtopiaCon2016)
The Hashtag Series: Best Contemporary Series of 2015 (UtopiaCon 2015)
#Nerd: Best Contemporary Book Cover of 2015 (UtopiaCon 2015)
Romeo from the Hashtag Series: Best Contemporary Lead (UtopiaCon 2015)
#Nerd: Top 50 Summer Reads (Buzzfeed.com 2015)
The Hashtag Series: Best Contemporary Series of 2016 (UtopiaCon 2016)
#NERD Book Trailer: Best Book Trailer of 2016 (UtopiaCon 2016)
#Nerd Book Trailer: Top 50 Most Cinematic Book Trailers of All Time (film-14.com)
#Nerd: Book Most Wanted to be Adapted to Screen: (2018)
Amnesia: Mystery Book of the Year (2018)
Cambria Hebert owns and operates Cambria Hebert Books, LLC.
You can find out more about Cambria and her titles by visiting her website:
Genre/Tropes: Clean Romance; Small Town; Forced Proximity; Damsel in Distress; Insta-love; Protector; Christmas Miracle; Cinnamon Roll; Lone wolf
Release Date: October 30, 2024
He thought his holidays were ruined until he was rescued by… an elf in Santa’s sleigh. Christmas just got interesting.
Seth hasn’t been home for Christmas in over a decade, but now his niece and sister-in-law demand his presence. Last-minute complications at the factory mean driving hours through a snowstorm. One wrong turn, and he finds himself stranded on a farm in the middle of nowhere.
Mackenzie’s overwhelmed running Santa’s village, and this blizzard isn’t helping. The last thing she needs is an unexpected guest. With her family out of town, taking in a tall, handsome stranger may not be wise, but she can’t let him freeze to death.
Can Seth help Mackenzie save Christmas for the small town of Cloverdale before he loses his heart and unwraps a love he never thought he wanted?
“I know you aren’t a farm boy, so am I right in assuming you have no experience with tractors?” Mack inquired, trying to see where she could delegate some of the work.
“Actually, I have quite a bit of experience with them. I would feel confident doing just about any task you ask. You may need to explain the controls for the sake of time as each manufacturer is a little different, but its operation is within my purview.”
“Really, do tell how you came by such skills,” Mack challenged, surprised.
“I told you I grew up in Hickory Falls. If you want money in a logging town, you help with the logging operations. They don’t often use mules and chains to move logs anymore, so I spent many a summer and afterschool afternoon moving trees around with a tractor or forklift. Dropping one of those things can cause a lot of damage or kill someone, so you learn how to operate them safely and efficiently, or you don’t keep your job. That and when it comes to operating machinery, it just comes naturally,” Seth explained.
“Well, that takes a load off. You can clear the snow while I work on setting up the village. When you finish, you can come help me with what’s left. We will save the rest of the cookie prep for later tonight or tomorrow morning. I’m still praying my family makes it back before this thing kicks off. I don’t think I can run this event without them, even with the townspeople stepping up to help.”
Seth reached across the table and squeezed her fingers comfortingly where she fingered the edge of her paper pad. “It will be all right. We will prioritize and get as much done as we can. Whatever doesn’t get finished, the guests will understand. Your family’s Santa Village will happen; it just might be a little different this year. Stop worrying. Whatever it takes, we’re in this together. We’ve got this!”
A mischievous grin lit Mack’s beautiful face. “I hope you mean that because if my family doesn’t arrive on time, you’re in the hot seat to be Santa, which means… you get to drive the sleigh.”
The color drained from his face as understanding dawned. “You mean, with the reindeer that like snacking on me more than their grain? Can’t Santa arrive in a tractor this year?”
Her laughter rang out in the kitchen as she stood to put on her boots. “Not likely, and the reindeer don’t actually snack on you. They just nibble a bit. It’s playing to them. Besides, that’s Dasher. I think she has a crush on you. Donner’s the lead, and she is perfectly civilized. She has been doing this long enough not to need any help. You’ll be fine if it comes to that. Getting you to fit in my father’s Santa suit will be the biggest challenge. Come on, let’s get the village set up and then worry about how we’re going to pull this off nine people short.”
Deanna Lilly is an Amazon best-selling author of heartwarming, clean romance novels that always end with a happily ever after. She drinks way too much tea, loves anything with peach, and forest bathes whenever she needs to destress.
As a struggling reader who grew up on a secluded farm without television, Deanna had to rely on her imagination for entertainment, and every one of her stories included a prince charming or knight in shining armor. After 20 years as a public school literacy and special education teacher, Deana decided to take a leap of faith and share some of her stories with the world.
If she isn’t in her office or out in her hammock writing, she can be found baking in the kitchen, hiking in the Smokey Mountains, or relaxing at the beach. She currently lives on the west coast of Florida with her husband and their 19-year-old Manx cat, Harley, who is totally queen of the castle.
We are both honored and thrilled to present the cover of Iron & Embers, the first book in a brand new trilogy The Ashes of Thezmarr by Helen Scheuerer!
Iron & Embers (The Ashes of Thezmarr Book One)
Expected Publication Date: January 28, 2025 (USA, CA, ANZ), February 6, 2025 (UK)
Genre: Epic Fantasy Romance
Publisher: Alchemy (US/CA), Tor Bramble (UK), Pan Macmillan (ANZ)
Page Count: Approx 600
Formats: ebook, paperback, hardcover (audio TBC)
Audience: Suitable for adults (18+)
Tropes:
Bodyguard Academy
Forced proximity
Hairpin to the throat
Found family
Brooding hero
Touch her and d!e
“You look like you’re going to kiss me,” she said, her own eyes hooded, her body singing out for his touch. “You look like you’d enjoy it.”
Alchemist. Poisoner. Storm wielder.
Wren Embervale, alchemist-turned-assassin, finds solace in only one thing: seeking vengeance for the death of her friends. The wars of the past may be over, but her thirst for revenge is far from quenched.
For years, she has been content with her poisons and potions for company, but when an unknown form of alchemy is used to attack a king of the midrealms, Wren’s time in the shadows comes to an end.
She’s offered a place at the ancient alchemy academy of Drevenor to find a cure to the dark magic threatening the kingdoms. To win her spot, she must conquer the Gauntlet, a grueling series of deadly trials that could cost her sanity, or her life.
More is at play than sabotage from fellow competitors. Magic wielders are being targeted and Wren becomes tangled in a dangerous web of deception and bloodshed that puts the entire realm at risk.
But the biggest threat of all might come from the man assigned to protect her —Torj Elderbrock, the silver-haired war hero who has hated her since she assassinated his last charge.
Their shared history ignites a simmering tension that threatens to consume them both.
Peace is fragile, trust is scarce and enemies lurk around every corner… Will love heal all wounds—or will it be the most lethal poison of all?
Iron & Embers is the breathtaking first instalment in the epic fantasy romance series, The Ashes of Thezmarr. With its lush world-building, sizzling chemistry, and heart-pounding action it’s perfect for fans of Fourth Wing, Throne of Glass, and The Bridge Kingdom.
Serving a three-year sentence after a violent manic episode, I own this psychiatric institute and every last patient in it.
Dealing contraband to the desperate and disturbed has earned me this kingdom. To survive, I simply sacrificed my soul.
They all fear me.
Worship me.
Hate me.
But no more than the demons I barely escaped last year. They thought they’d broken me with their greed and depravity. Instead, they made me ruthless.
Now, my enemies are back.
And they’re out for blood.
Lennox wants to kill me.
Xander wants to break me.
Raine just wants to feel alive.
But in here, it’s kill or be killed. As the horrifying reality behind Harrowdean’s lies starts to surface, a bloody battle for survival begins.
Their social experiment is set to burn.
And I’m the one holding the matches.
Author’s Note: Sin Like The Devil (Harrowdean Manor #1) is a dark why choose romance and book one in a duet. It does end on a cliffhanger. Set in the J Rose shared universe.
Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited
J Rose is an independent dark romance author from the United Kingdom. She writes challenging, plot-driven stories packed full of angst, heartbreak and broken characters fighting for their happily ever afters.
She’s an introverted bookworm at heart, with a caffeine addiction, penchant for cursing, and an unhealthy attachment to fictional characters.
For six months, Crow has been consumed with vengeance.
It’s become the driving force for nearly every decision in the club ever since his father, the former president Rook, was murdered.
But when the woman he loves is kidnapped, and a vicious, unpredictable enemy takes Bella, he’ll have to join forces with unlikely allies.
Nothing will prevent him from rescuing her, even if he must travel into the heart of his enemy’s territory and face the beast head-on.
Revenge is served in ways he could never imagine.
What happens when your enemy isn’t your enemy?
What if everything Crow believed to be true was a distortion of the facts, twisted to manipulate his father in a game of lies?
The past exposes painful truths when he receives an unexpected visitor. Can he forgive the wrongs that destroyed his parents and nearly ripped his club apart?
Now all the cards are on the table, the hand has been dealt, and Crow will have to win the game before he loses Bella, his club, and his sanity.
Crow must be read before Crow’s Revenge. It’s also highly recommended to read Talon first. For best enjoyment, the series should be read in order.
Crow’s Revenge is a full-length, dark romance with a paranormal twist, violence, biker slang, forced proximity, revenge, torture, and a possessive, protective outlaw president willing to risk everything to protect his club, his sister, and the woman he loves.
Nikki Landis is the USA Today & International Bestselling, Multi-Award-Winning Author of over 50 romance novels in the MC, reverse harem, paranormal, dystopian, and science fiction genres. Her books feature deadly reapers, dark alpha heroes, protective shifters, and seductive vampires along with the feisty, independent women they love. There’s heart-throbbing action on every page as well as fated mates and soul bonds deep enough to fulfill every desire.
From author Rayvn Salvador comes an all new paranormal romance set in the mystical city of New Orleans.
Remember, you must die.
Spurred on by her mother’s need for the family’s fifteen minutes of fame, jaded skeptic Hanlen Arbor returns to her hometown, the root of her past terror, only to be thrust into a new nightmare. Someone is murdering the good people of the city in a macabre scene of blood and ritual.
When Hanlen gets pulled into the mystery, she’s not prepared for what she finds or the dangers that await her in the bayou. And she’s certainly not ready for the handsome-as-sin man whom she’s forced to put her faith in.
Ghost hunter and Vodou Houngan Deveraux Glapion has seen a lot and dealt with more as the descendant of one of the most well-known people of New Orleans. When the intriguing and somewhat-broken caretaker of his TV show’s latest location comes to town, he’s thrown for a loop, the likes of which he’s never experienced before.
And that’s just the beginning. Because evil is afoot in New Orleans, and he may be the only one who can stop it—but only if he can get Hanlen to trust him and believe in things that most people think are merely ghost stories.
Rayvn Salvador is a lifelong bibliophile who left her eighteen-year IT career in Software Quality Assurance to live her dream: getting paid to read as a full-time editor (done as her alter ego), and to write when the mood strikes. She lives in Florida with three crazy cats and her incredibly supportive beau, dreaming about the Midwest’s changing leaves as she perfects her yoga poses on the beach.
