definitely, possibly, maybe

the thing about the duke i once knew  is that if only the hero weren't such a gross horndog when we first met him, i might like him better. because honestly, he's not that bad, but first impressions are hard to beat and when we first see the main characters interacting abigail has just heard max finger some random widow in his library. this doesn't scream romance. and on the one hand she writes it off as this is just max being max and not the guy i fell in love with who must have really only wanted in my pants and became a jerk when i said no. but like, isn't that terrible? it's also weird to me that abigail is fed all these stories of him being this gross libertine. like why would she want anything to do with this guy. in the here and now we don't see much evidence of this. and the reasons they were kept apart also make no real sense. his dad didn't want him to find love, because his mom was probably manic depressive? i don't know. these things didn

American Gods  meets the Da Vinci Code in ANALIESE RISING (Entangled; 01/08/19), a suspense-filled novel by New York Times bestselling author Brenda Drake. This first book in a new fantasy series offers a new take on the paranormal romance genre—with a mythological spin. Gone are vampires and werewolves; in are descendants of the God of Death. Brenda Drake is known for creating addictive, entertaining series with strong female characters (Library Jumpers and The Fated) and her fans will not be disappointed. ABOUT THE BOOK When a stranger gives Analiese Jordan a list of names before he dies, the last thing she expects to see is her own on it. Not. Cool. Her search for answers leads to the man’s grandson, Marek, who has dangerous secrets of his own. Both are determined to unlock the mystery of the list. But the truth is deadly. Analiese is a descendant of the God of Death, known as a Riser, with the power to raise the dead and control them. Finding out she has hidden powers

okay, so apparently male pregnancy (mpreg) storylines are a subgenre of m/m romance. i did not know this. preston walker has several series revolving around werewolves and male pregnancy and twice bitten  is the second book in his welcome to wheaton series. so this story starts out strong, but then loses it's way sometime around the pregnancy reveal. and i think one issue is that the werewolf thing doesn't feel necessary to the plot at all. so the weird pack dynamics between alistair and kenneth weren't really working. and two this book explains none of the mythology behind these wolves at all. and i get that it's a book two, and i have not read book one, but even a refresher could have been useful. the other issue is that the main source of conflict between the two main characters is that alistair doesn't want to talk about his past with matthew. which, okay. but like, dude, just sit down and talk to the guy you claim to love. on the performance side, ran

a charm like you is the last installment it seems in a series about a group of friends whose lives have been touched by a mysterious mr. bailey. (maybe it's the last, don't quote me on that. there's an air of finality about how this book ends, but there's totally room for at least one spin-off, if not more both leads have siblings who seem to need happily-ever-afters of their own.) anyway, gabi graham has been through a lot. her ex, cheated on her, failed to make payments on her home, got his mistress pregnant and is marrying her. so when she decides to go to a divorce support group, it makes sense. She could use some support. but she gets more than she bargains when she meets this hot guy there. hot guy turns out to be her best friend's older brother. and also her business partner. one of the more confusing things about coming into a series like this late is that some of the friend interactions are super confusing. i couldn't figure out who everyone was

a new series from elizabeth hoyt is most certainly a gift, so it's appropriate that not the duke's darling  has published just before christmas. freya de moray is a wise woman, or rather a *wise woman* part of a sect of women who have dedicated their lives to helping other women in need. as the macha, she provides the organization with vital intelligence to help the people they are charges with protecting. when she encounters christopher, duke of harlowe on a mission, her anger and resentment for the wrongs her family suffered that she lays on his door nearly overwhelms her. he wears her brother's ring, and it's such an outright insult even as he fails to recognize her that she can barely contain her rage. when they cross paths again at a house party she is determined to get her revenge. it takes a while to suss out what happened the night of the greycourt scandal. not the duke's darling  actually includes a third point of view, beyond freya and christopher

i don't know what it is about 14th-century highland romances, but i love them. there's something about the setting, the time period that really appeals to me. all the alpha posturing by the clansmen should put be over the edge, but it rarely does. i think because the heros are usually super progressive and the women they fall in love with are always so clearly ahead of their time. it's funny to me that sometimes that same progressiveness will drive me batty in a regency romance, but in these renaissance-set novels i have no problems with it.  anyway,   the bride chooses a highlander  finds katherine mackenna with the unusual chance to make her own choice for a husband. when she chooses hamish drummond, she's determined that they get along pleasantly enough and it should all work out for the best. when she finds him in another woman's arms at their betrothal celebration, she's quickly disabused of that notion. electing to run away, she quickly falls into the

i'm slightly obsessed with jessica hawkins' books. because they are so angsty and amazing. her latest release is coming just before the new year and i can't wait. here's a sneak peek of the cover and blurb.

this is the third in a series about three friends finding love in unlikely places. the nashville bet has the friends coming together for the cma fest, and while they're there they meet up and coming country star chase hudson. when ava trent runs into him (literally) on the dance floor there's a spark that neither of them are ready to let extinguish. instead they have a whirlwind of a weekend, spending time every chance they get. because this is a vacation romance, you have to rely on instalust and instalove, but the author handles the way these characters open up to each other in a very deft manner. you see the speed with which their emotions develop but you also understand why they fall as hard as they do. in the end this is a fun read, and you don't have to read the previous books in the series to enjoy it. **the nashville bet will publish on december 18, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (amara) in exchange for my ho

set in the small, coastal town of new milton, between the lines  finds two men at a crossroads of sorts. luca moretti's family legacy has been his touchstone, but now it's in danger of being sold to a hotel conglomerate out to make it another luxury golf resort. he's too much of a ramblin' man to settle down, he has old hurts and wounds that won't allow him to take over for his mother. some of his anger rational, and some just covering some deep hurts. and then there's theo wishart, who longs to be the ruthless businessman his father wants him to be, but who struggles with dyspraxia that makes him feel awkward and unable to read social cues. luca makes him feel like a bumbling idiot most of the time, but he also is the only person who has a viable solution for the majestic and as much as he wants to help luca preserve his family legacy, he is enough of a realist to know that it might not be possible. luca and theo connect and it's both sweet and challe

as a wedding planner toby has one strict rule. don't fall for the groom. usually this isn't a problem, since most grooms are straight and also less than involved in their wedding day. but when he meets his latest bride, julia and the guy she's with, hunter, he finds that he has a big problem. hunter keeps flirting with him. he's always at every meeting and pays extra attention to toby every time julia's attention is on something else. this coupled with the fact that julia seems more concerned with how everyone else will think about her marriage than making it one special to her, and toby is at his wit's end. when hunter comes on to him during a meeting, toby finally calls him out. only to realize that the person he's mistaken as the fiancé is the bride's brother .  once the confusion over who is marrying who is all cleared up, toby and hunter make a real go of things. but julia and her wedding come between the two once more, when hunter fails to st

kiss me slowly  is a collection of short and sweet stories celebrating first-time love. up first there is "snack bar" about a camp counselor who finds the perfect first partner in the guy who runs the snack stand. everything happens so fast, but given the short format the breakneck speed of the plot makes sense. then there is "method actors" where two straight actors find themselves in love while filming a gay romance. this is the longest entry in the collection and it's also maybe the kookiest. i'm actually impressed the narrator made it through this story without losing his composure. i lost my composure. there is a plot point that is so unbelievable, so absurd, so insane, that i still cannot deal. the suspension of disbelief required was a bridge too far for me. but i did keep listening. up next is "building hearts" in which a young man estranged from his family because of his sexuality is assaulted on the job, and finds love in the arms o

i was excited to realize that we were getting more of the everest brothers in bad reputation . and this story, it's totally a fairy tale. there's a princess who is trapped in a tower and she needs someone like hunter everest to set her free. she was never supposed to meet him. never supposed to fall in love. he wasn't supposed to fall in love with her either. what's keeping them apart isn't a small thing. it's her birthright. it's her country. it's her people. this story is so dreamy and romantic. i love, love hunter as a hero. he's just so dreamy. how he fights for his girl is just out of this world swoonworthy. he knows that they are right together. they just need to find a way to make the world right for them. **bad reputation published on december 7, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of s.l. scott in exchange for my honest review. keep reading for more information about the book...

and fin. and i think that finally wraps up all the fanfic i had stored up. crazy to realize it's been a 3-year project basically.

i've been a literary agent for over a year, and reading inbox queries for over two years. authors do a lot of things that start things off poorly. i mean, listen, every agent is different and will find different things annoying or off-putting. but since i'm making a concerted effort to get my query inbox under control, i have a lot of time to stew about this. ergo, i'm just going to share some of my pet peeves because i need to vent about this somewhere. via GIPHY 1. not following submission guidelines listen all agents have their own set of guidelines. some want the first ten pages, some want only the synopsis, some want one chapter, some want three, some want the pages attached in a word document, some want the pages attached as a pdf, some don't want any attachments at all! i get it. it's confusing and maddening. and yet, if you are taking the time to query an agent because you think they'd be a good fit for your work, take the time to follow their

millie and reid are clearly otp. as super smart university professors you'd think they'd be smarter about their love lives, but they are not. my favorite half-night stand  is a frothy, enjoyable rom-com that has a lot of heart. i love millie and reid's relationship. and the way they complicate their feelings for each other. how they misunderstand each other. how they open up to each other in unexpected ways. millie is the one who really messes up here, and i love that she's the one who grovels. there are so many romance novels where it's pretty clear the heroine has been the one to mess up communication and the hero is still the one with the grand gesture. this is the main reason i dislike the grand gesture most of the time, because the wrong person is doing it. but here, the way millie works her way back into reid's life is perfection. and i pretty much enjoyed everything about this book. the real friendships these characters have. the way they communic

the final book in the woodbury boys series, rough trade , finally sheds light on the ever-enigmatic ghost. abused in every way possible, ghost's moral compass is somewhat lacking. but he's trying to do the right thing. his problem is that the right thing keeps blowing up in his face. on his way to share some important evidence with duncan rook, an honest police officer on medical leave, ghost is left fighting for his life with the evidence he was meant to put to use completely destroyed. duncan isn't sure what to do with ghost, except he believes him, and he sees all his broken pieces and wants to help. but ghost is so damaged, it's hard to fathom that it would ever be possible for him to be whole and healthy enough to be the person duncan believes he could be. this series is gritty and suspenseful and tells these beautiful love stories. there's so much angst and anger and pain, but there is also romance and this astounding love and healing that these charac

dmitri's adorable younger brother nik gets his happily ever after in this holiday-themed dance off novella. dance all night introduces us to jess davenport, a ballroom dancer on the dance off who has a chance encounter with nik on new year's eve. they kiss and have a discussion about settling down where nik is clearly not into that idea. nearly a year later, they run into each other at an ugly sweater party and nik wants a do-over. his views on settling down have shifted, and he believes that jess could be the girl he wants to settle down with. jess is skeptical. and she's been burned one too many times by others and isn't willing to take a chance on nik. so he asks her for three dates to prove to her that christmas is magical. and she agrees, believing there is no way he is serious. but nik is dead serious. he's a guy who knows what he wants. he's not sure iess wants the same thing, but he's all-in. he puts himself out there emotionally in ways that