Smooth Hoperator (Love on Tap, #2)

Smooth Hoperator (Love on Tap, #2) By Sylvie Stewart
Publication date: July 6, 2023
BuyLink: Amazon
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Summary:

SMOOTH HOPERATOR: A FAKE-RELATIONSHIP ROMANCE

After tanking my career in politics, I’m looking for new direction. But my GPS must be broken because it keeps leading me to a kooky librarian’s front steps.

It’s not easy, but I’m doing my best to let go of my old ambitions and embrace the simple life of slinging beer at my family’s brewery. But some powerful players from my past are determined to cause problems for me and my family.

When a chatty local librarian with the wardrobe of a third grader and the optimism of Spongebob begins sticking her nose into my business, I want to tell her to get lost. As fate would have it, though, Sunny and her ill-tempered grandfather are my only remaining option to get free of my past for good.

It will take some convincing to get this goofy, goat-loving librarian on board with my risky plan. But if she’ll do things my way, I’ll return the favor by playing her fake boyfriend to make her true love finally take notice and fall head over heels.

But the deeper we get into this venture, the more I realize there’s nothing fake about Sunny at all. Including the way I’m beginning to feel about her.

—

EXCERPT:

My first indication that I’m not in the attic at home is the mattress spring digging into my back. The second is the warm hand on my junk that doesn’t belong to me. I may have just awoken this second, but my dick has beaten me to it by several minutes, at least.

When I blink my eyes open, sunlight filters through the closed curtains of the motel room, allowing enough illumination for me to make out the body of my bedmate—the very same one whose hand has wandered during the night. Sunny’s hair is splayed over my shoulder, and she’s using my chest as a pillow.

It Feels Like Home

It Feels Like Home By Ali Lucia Sky
Publication date: July 5, 2023
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Romance, Young Adult
Summary:

Jacelyn Waverly might need a twelve-step program for jerks.

One jerk, in particular, Ky Linley, because even two years apart hasn’t stopped the butterflies from taking flight in her stomach when he’s around.

After humiliating her in her freshman year and starting rumors that dogged her reputation, Ky shouldn’t get a second chance. Still, she’s returned home older and wiser, and everyone seems different now. 

But with an angry sister, an overworked mom, a father on the opposite side of the country, and a best friend who is just starting to fall in love for the first time, it all seems like a lot.

But sometimes, growing up feels like coming home.

—

EXCERPT:

“Hey, baby?” My mom shook my shoulder, and I jumped and her iPad thumped to the carpeted floor. I rubbed my eyes. “Jacie, I told you not to worry about getting a job. We’re fine. You’re exhausted, and you only just got home. We can make it on my paycheck. I appreciate it, but you don’t have to do this.”

“I’m not exhausted, I’m a little tired because I got up to talk to Mare this morning. I made her breakfast too–crap, I left dishes everywhere. Sorry mom.” I facepalm. Here I was trying to make her life easier, and I made chores for her.

Still Sky

Still Sky By Skylar Nightingale
Publication date: June 20, 2023
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Summary:

Sky Hartman is enduring another conversation with her mom about her nonexistent love life when she slams into sexy business mogul Mateo Jacobson with a hot cup of coffee in her hand.

Despite their messy meeting, Sky is quickly swept up in his charismatic charm. 

Her best friend warns her of his notorious playboy ways, but after a few warm and cozy nights by the fire, Sky realizes she’s falling for him.

Until his womanizing ways leave her heart shattered.

When Mateo’s best friend, Cade, swoops in to console her, Sky questions his intentions. Although it makes her uneasy to learn his true feelings for her, she wonders if his sweet, romantic nature is what she needs.

But when Mateo is attacked and left for dead, Sky volunteers to help nurse him back to health. Faced, once more, with the selfless and tender ways of the suave casanova, will Sky risk heartbreak again by choosing Mateo? Or will Cade’s kindness and laughter provide her with the happily ever after she hopes for?

—

EXCERPT:

I was walking along a peaceful path in the woods when a branch snapped beneath my barefoot. Birds flew away, shrieking in the distance. 

For some strange reason, I was not wearing any shoes. I wiggled my toes and continued my peaceful journey. But I came to a screeching halt when I noticed splotches of blood on the ground. My heart raced, and I thought about turning back. 

Whiskey (The Alpha Elite, #7)

Whiskey (The Alpha Elite, #7) By Sybil Bartel
Publication date: June 20, 2023
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Suspense
Summary:

Mercenary.

Navy SEAL.

Unconventional Operative.

I didn’t join the Teams. I was recruited. They called me the Specialist. They said I had a unique skill set. I knew who I was.

For eight years, the Navy tried to rein me in with their tactics, techniques and procedures—operations, missions, objectives—they told me to adapt and overcome. I didn’t adapt. I did my time.

Now I worked for Alpha Elite Security. If you called me Specialist, I’d eliminate you before you took your next breath. If you recognized me, it was already too late. I lived by my instincts, and used the resources around me. No target was out of my scope…until my boss unknowingly handed me the only assignment that was.

The one woman I couldn’t kill.

Code name: Whiskey.
Mission: Eliminate.

WHISKEY is a standalone book in the exciting Alpha Elite Series by USA Today Bestselling author, Sybil Bartel. Come meet Will “Whiskey” Damien and the dominant, alpha heroes who work for AES!

—

Above the Fold

Above the Fold By Corrina Lawson
Published by: City Owl Press
Publication date: June 20, 2023
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Adult, Mystery, Romance
Summary:

In 1980s New York City, a crime reporter with little to lose risks the only thing that matters to uncover the truth….

Trisha Connell’s journalism reflects her punk rock lifestyle: relentless, confrontational, and bitingly honest. 

It’s a style that scores front-page headlines but has her forever teetering on the verge of victory or disaster. Now one crime will forever change Trisha’s life.

As she charges into the story of a sensational theft at an art museum, she discovers a murdered guard is someone she knew, a former foster kid who was adopted and supposed to be living a good life. 

To make it worse, the guard is suspected to be one of the thieves.

Determined to uncover the truth, Trisha bulls her way into the story, risking her life and career on what could be the story of the decade, if her editor doesn’t fire her first. She finds an ally in Edmund Grayson, a security expert assigned to the museum, who’s driven by his own guilt in failing to stop the murder.

Chasing the story will take Trisha from the punk clubs to the high society to the inner workings of newspapers of New York in the 1980s. It will take all her street skills to survive.

—

EXCERPT:

TRISHA STAGGERED to her motorcycle just as hangover dizziness hit full force. She dropped to one knee on the slimy blacktop of the narrow alley, clutching the soft leather of the bike’s seat for balance. A deep breath brought a whiff of urine and wet rats into her nostrils.

The rising sun peeked over the far corner of the four-story brick monstrosity that held the punk club where she’d spent the night.

Best time to see the sunrise, when I’m ready for bed.

But the beeper in her jacket pocket vibrated. Her fingers fumbled over a wad of tissues, breath mints, quarters, and subway tokens before she finally clutched the beeper.